The copper era and Morenci leader., 1913-04-18
THE GOVERNORS VETO.

i The Democrat does not intend to abuse the governor for his veto of the penal code It is his privilege and right if he deemed it prudent to do so, but his message is not in har- mony with the facts in the case and his plea for broader privileges and greater latitude is absurd. No man, president or governor, ought to be clothed with autocratic power. No official ought to ask for such an un- American privilege as a special plea to the lawmaking body for power to set aside the laws of the country and trample every statutory right into the dust. Bigger, braver and more pa triotic men than Governor Hunt have tried such things and no man in the history of the world, since civiliza- | tion was born, has ever succeeded. Laws are enacted for officials to obey and not to violate, and the legislature owes it to itself and the good name of the state, to reenact the penal code as found in the murdered bill. If the governor had stood upon the I theory that this opposition to capital punishment compelled him to defeat the measure, and not the demogogic plea of curtailment of powers, it would have been another matter The history of this state administra- tion is ablaze with the records of the wanton waste of power, disregard of 1 the constitution, utter and deplorable | i'm hn cfof fI1fn nf ha state, ignoring the rights of juries and courts, and setting aside the edicts of both whenever such judgments come in contact with the governors ideas of the proprieties of the case. The I governors of the various states of this republic have for years demanded of the legislatures the curtailment of eX- ecutive powers, deeming it unwise and imprudent to lodge such arbi- trary and far reaching authority in the hands of one man. But now comes our Arizona czar, who has been shrieking let the people rule,' for many months, and demands that he be clothed with powers that the KING OF ENGLAND HAS NEVER SOUGHT to exercise in the most cor rupt period of it's governments his tory.
 The penal code which met it's death at the hands of the governor, gave him power to reprieve any convicted murderer for a period not exceeding ninety days, upon the discovery of new evidence in the case, and allowed the governor to be the sole judge of what constituted new evidence, a DOW CT, in our opinion, too broad to be lodged in the hands of any one man, particularly an official who from the beginning of his administration cen sidered himself ABOVE THE LAW. The Democrat is not demanding the taking of human life. It is serious matter at best, but 20OO years of gov ernmental experience has demonstrat- ed that wisdom and justice of courts and iuries in determining such mat ters in the interest of the protection of society and good government.
 It was never contemplated for Il moment that the powers lodged in state executives to stay the execu- ton of criminals carried with it the right and privilege of setting aside statutes and constitutions because of PERSONAL VIEWS upon the pro- priety of capital punishment. These powers were very properly given to governors to right any wrong that might be committed in the name of the law: to interpose executive elem ency to a convicted man when new evidence was discovered which dis closed his innocence or justification of the crime committed But never was it given to governor to be applied in discriminatory to set aside the verdict of jurors and sentence of courts at will, simply because the individual in the governors chair entertained sentimental notion against capital punishment. Governor Hunt ought either to obey the laws he made oath to execute or resign his position as governor We do not believe in this loud acclaim for recall, but no man is above the law and no man ought to set himself above the courts and the peoples verdict When he assumes this position he is either a fool or a knave or both.-The Arizona Demo- crat.