The Washington herald., 1913-12-21

.convinced that the handspring Of their
motive lay In the intrigue for securing
the pardon Of certain of the men whose
conviction Heney had secured
swindIers ON q Large Scale.
Land fraud and postoffice cases were
not the only ones We were especially
jealous in prosecuting all OF the higher
up offenders in the realms OF politics
and finance who swindled on a large
scale. Special assistants Of the Attorney
General, such as Mr.. Frank Kellogg, OF
St Paul, and various first-class Federal
district attorneys in different parts OF
the country. secured notable results: Mr.
Stimson and his assistants, in New york.
for instance, IN connection with the pros
ecution OF the Sugar Trust and of the
banker Morse, and OF a great metropoh-
tan newspaper for opening its columns
TO obscene and immoral advertisements:
and in St Louis Messrs. Dyer ana
Nortoni who, among other services Sc
cured the conviction and Imprisonment OF
Mr.. Sims, who raised his office to the
highest pitch Of efficiency, secured tlH
conviction OF the banker Walsh ana OF
the Beef Trust, and first broke through
the armor OF the Standard Oh Trust
1t is not too much to say that these
man. and others like them, worked a
% the Federal laws, and made their
offices organized legal machines nj ana
ready to conduct smashing fights TOT
the peoples rights and to enforce the
laws I'm aggressive fashion. When l took
the Presidency, 1t was common ana
bitter saying that big man. rich man.
could not be put IN jail. We put many
big and rich men in jail: two United
States Senators. for instance, and among
others two great bankers, one IN New
York and one in Chicago. One Of the
United States Senators died. the other
served his term. zone OF the bankers was
released from prison by executive order
after 1 left ofice) These were merely
Individual cases among many others like
them. Moreover, we were just as relent-
less in dealing with crimes OF violence
among the dirorderly and brutal classes
as in dealing with the crimes Of cunning
and fraud of which certain wealthy men
and big politicians were guilty. Mr.. Sims.
in Chicago. was particularly efficient in
sending to the penitentiary numbers OF
the infamous men who batten on the
while slave traffic, after July, 1905,
when by proclamation 1 announced the
adherence Of our government TO the in
ternational agreement for the suppression
OF the traffic.
Inc tuehlloh AS 10 IhEuOhss
The views then held and now hold
were expressed in a memorandum made
in the case OF a negro convicted Of the
rape OF a young negro girl. practically a
child. petition for his pardon had been
sent me.
White House, Washington, d. c.,
August s, 1904
OF sentence OF John w. Burley is denied.
This man committed the most heinous
crime known TO our laws, and twice be-
fore he has committed crimes of a SINH
lar, though less horrible, character. In
my Judgment there IS no justification
whatever for paying heed to the allega-
! tions that he is not of sound mind. allie
cations made after the trial and Convic-
! ton. Nobody would pretend that there
has ever been any such degree OF mental
! unsoundness shown as would make people
even consider sending him to an asylum
if he had not committed this crime. I'm
der such circumstances he should GER
tainly be esteemed sane enough 10 suffer
the penalty for his monstrous deed.
have scant sympathy with the plea of in
sanity advanced to save a man from the
! consequences OF crime, when unless that
| crime had been committed it would have
been impossible to persuade any respon-
! sible authority to commit him to an
! asylum as insane.
! Among the most dangerous criminals,
and especially among those prone to
commit this particular kind of offense,
| there are plenty of temper 50 fiendislI
or so brutal as to be incompatible with
any other than british order of in
telligence: but these men are neverthe-
less responsible for their acts; and moth
\ ing more tends to encourage crime
among such men than the belief thai
| through the plea of insanity or any other
method 1t Is possible for them to escape
paying the just penalty Of their crimes.
The crime in question is one to the
existence of which we largely owe the
existence of that spirit OF lawlessness
| which takes form in lynching. 1t is a
crime so revolving that the criminal is
| not entitled TO one particle of sympathy
| from any human being. II is essential
| that the punishment for it should be
not only as certain but as swift as pos
sible. The jury in this case did their
| duty by recommending the infiction OF
the death penalty. 1t is to be regretted