Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-05-06

ent time he has not become cognizant
of any fact or teaching that seems to
even remotely question the correctness
of such teaching. The thing Is abso-
lutely true.
It is universally recognized that while
the law in the abstract is one Of the
most exact of sciences, 1t Is neverthe-
less as generally recognized that how
ever perfect the law may be theoreti-
cally, in its practical application, It is
faulty as a thing can we'll be, and al
though many Of the ablest minds of the
world have given their best thoughts to
pointing out the trouble. the remedy,
even though 1t may generally be known,
has not been successfully applied.
Say you are a straight up
right citizen, who stands ready to obey
the law even to your own loss, and
there are many such. Say you under
stand the text and meaning of a par
ticular statute as we'll as you under
stand the text and meaning of the
Lords Prayer. You become cognizant
of a fragrant and unquestionable VIOLA
ton Of that statute. You may be vic
tim either directly in the experiencing
Of personal consequences, or indirect
ly, as a member of the injured body
polite. You see the offender that you
know to be guilty, taken in hand by the
courts and finally acquitted through
the shrewdness of his attorney, the in
difference Of the prosecution, or the
stupidity If not worse, Of the jury. Now
even under these circumstances, there
are those who hold that you should ac-
cept such a situation philosophically as
the result Of due process Of law; but
now as an honest, intelligent man, can
you do It?
We do not pretend to say that Gov
ernor Blease has acted wisely or justly
in the case of every pardon he has
granted. We are not questioning his
motives in the matter or suggesting that
he has deliberately granted an un-
worthy pardon. That is matter upon
which Governor Blease alone can be
the Judge. But we do feel warranted
in making this assertion: Whatever
may have been the governors motives
over and beyond those motives he HIM
self assigns, II when he went into office
he had found in the penitentiary the
same number of convicts he did find
there, and not only knew himself; but
knew that the people Of South Carroll
ma knew, that every convict behind
those bars was there as the honest re-
suit Of reasonably accurate and just
judicial processes, his list Of pardons
and paroles would not be within 80 per
cent as long as 1t now Is.
In the first place, we do not believe
that Governor Blease would have been
willing to grant so many pardons and
paroles, and in the second place we be-
lieve that If he had been willing, the
public would not have stood for them.
Now we do not want to be understood
as suggesting that all these people who
have been pardoned or paroled were in
nocent or improperly convicted. No,
not that. On the contrary we believe
that most of them got their just de-
serts at the hands Of the courts But
the rebuke to criminal processes in the
matter, such equity and justice as Is to
be found in most Of the paroles and
pardons, lies in the fact that 80 many
others who were even more guilty, or
at least equally guilty, had escaped,
sometimes without even having been
presented by grand jury; but no less
often through hypocritical or specious
pleas before Indifferent and inefficient
petit jurors.
For all this kind of thing, we believe
that there is an adequate and eficient
remedy, and that remedy is to be found
along the lines on which President
Wilson Is working in New Jersey. Give
us jury drawing system that will not
only admit but compel the service OF
the entire eligible citizenship, and the
administration OF not only the criminal
laws; but of the civil laws as well, will
be raised to a level hat win command
the respect of the whole people.