The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-01-01
PEOPLES FORUM


Editor The virSnian;
Sir,-In recent number of The vIrwtnian
there appeared an article by @. w. perryman,
Norfolk. Va. dealing with the case of Floyd
and Claude Allen. Your correspondent regrets
that such wave Of sentiment has been Gre
sted IN 1ayor OF the young man which ex.
presses itse1 in the petitions that his life be
spared. He also cites cases in other s.atea
where like petitions have been presented for the
Ire OF some notorious criminal. 10 drawing
ms parallels ne admits he does not know tho
facts OF the Allen case. but says that the verdict
of Jury should be anal Allow me to present
another side of the case
In the frst place, with due regard for the
hohest verdict OF twelve men. those men were
not lnfaliibie They may have erred The
nrse jury failed to agree. the second gave Claude
nlteeh years In the penttentiary. A third Jury
on new indictment with thu same evidence
sentenced him to death. Later on Wesley Ed .
wards and Sidney Allen are each given nfteen
years ON the frst Indictment and their cases
compromised with thtrty-hvs years each In the
pehtenIary II Claude Allen had not been
s n,eo wnen ne was no one believes he would
have been convicted. Prejudice was strong.
The law recognizes this possibility and gives
the nudge the right TO set aside the yerd,rs NJ
any Jury 1t goes further than that and saws
the niShest court in the state may err and gives
the governor the power to set aside it's YER
olct ny the exercise of the pardoning power
vested IN him. Thirty thousand people In vir-
Sihia peheVe that Claude Allen should not die
IN the electric chair, and have asked Governor
1asnn 70 spare HIS life I can nothing in
appropriate in such action
But your correspondent calls this ssntin,ar,
and speaks Of Justice versus Sentiment In
this he speaks Of the great principle of Justice
IN doing SO he confuses the yerdicts of courts
with abstract Justice. In many cases thew are
far different Juries do not deal out Justice.
courts DO not decree Justice Their verdfcts ara
only approximate justice They are merely ex-
pedients to- help protect society. To deal out
Justice TO a man you will need TO know his
hereditary influences, his ancestry his environ :
act. and then punish him accordinsly--with IAN
eye for an eye and tooth for tooth Such
In impossible, hence abstract justice Is impos-
sible; We are merely doing what we can to
protect society from harmful characters and
warn others To put to death the least re-
sponsibie of four criminals will not gain these
ends, but will make feel less respect for
the courts
Your correspondent speaks OF sentiment as
II II were characteristics Of the weak-ninded
Sentiment Is the most powerful force in human
life. Mans being is not chiefly ntellect1ai II
is largely emotional, Consider what part OF
your life Is controlled by the emotions, what
part sentiment is the chief factor In and YOU
will see how largely emotional we are
We have Just passed through a wonderful
week in the child's yearly life, and yet the
Christmas tide with all Of ts Joys and glad
ness is purely matter OF sentiment yet the
man Or Woman so practical 50 prostate "a that
tsf~y w6nfd rob Christmas or ynYs sentiment and
give us only the bare facts--there is no place
for them In world where children are
1t may be sentiment, yet II is a sentiment con-
sstent with good Judgment and belief in Justice
CT the highest kind that makes us feel that
Claude Swanson Allen has not had a square
deal and. with thousands OF others, trust Gov
error Mann can feel that his life should be
spared JOSEPH GULdcK.