New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-06-01
Roam, in Letter, Said tic
Possibly Showed Undue
Difference to jury.
DECISION OF PRISON
BOARD IN 10 DAYS
Governor Will Then Consider
Observation-Disclosures
of Petitions for Clemency.
Up. r.l.sr,ph 70 N. Tribune J

Atlanta. Nav S1.-Within tn days
Leo NJ. Frank will know his fate. The
hearing on his application for com
r,ptst;on Of sentence from death 10
life imprisonment came TO a close pc
fore the Prison Commission late thIs
afternoon. The compassion slsteu '" az
they would make recommehu ~
Covernor will study the record ana
consider the applications for clemency'
ord will probably hold another near
INC Then he will announce his oecl-
With the splendid showing made TO-
dev nv the defence, every lnolcalioh
,of,+s 20 the success of the plea Tor
rIemencv. Delegations Of citizens were
here 10 plead for the prisoner IRON
brunswick. Dalton, Mrs. Frank Ola
home; Athens, Columbus oANahrIan
and Atlanta, while two commltIees aiSo
urred clemency in behalf OF th0H I,s no.
of petitioners from Northern anu esv.
erp seats Ore of the committees vas
60. chicago. and consisted of Mrs.
Mary Delaney Fisher, representing
oo0 6Oo women. whose petitions she
nresented. ". y. Bauer, 7. \. Hlggln..
botbam and John VI. O'Connor, Chlel
Ivs,;re ~ the Criminal Court OF Cook
Conntv. Illinois. The other was from
Roston. and included ex-governor
Evoone Foss. DR.. ]. W. Coughlln, OF
Eeil River. and Ernest Gruenlng, man,
aging editor of The Boston Traveller
The Frank plea was based manly on
sensational letter from Judge L. ;.
Roam. who presided over the FRANK
trial. From his death bed ne wrote
that he had never been satlsned OF
Franks guilt, and that II he llved ne
would make a personal plea for Glenn
ency.
Other features we're letters from ).
T. Roam, the judges brother VINO pore
testimony TO the judges doubt IN me
case, and from Paul Donehoo' the
Coroner who bound the prisoner over
The last event Of the afternoon before
the conclusion of the hearing was an
eloouent address delivered by eX-Con-
gresham William NJ. Howard, who
drew a comparison between Frank and
Conley. his accuser; laid stress on the
doubt in the mind of the presiding
Judge and Of citizens generally, and
declared the defence was asking Tor
nothing more than its right, nothing
more than the jury itself could have
given had il recommended mercy IN
stead of verdict without recommen-
dation.
Great Interest in Rosn's Letter.
The reading Of Judge Roan's letter
was attended with unusual interest as
its existence had not been publicly
known until yesterday.
The letter, dated in December, 1914.
was addressed to Luther q. Rosser and
Reuben r. Arnold, Franks principal
counsel at his trial. Judge Roam died
in New York last March. II said:
after considering your cOmmunica-
ton asking that / recommend clemen-
cy in the punishment Of Leo NJ. Frank,
I wish 10 say that at the proper time
! shall ask the Prison Commission to
recommend and the Governor to COM
mute Franks sentence 70 life lmprls-
onment
at is possible that | showed undue
Difference TO the opinion of the jury
in this case when ] allowed their yer
dict to stand. They said by their
verdict that they had found the truth.
] was still in state of uncertainty
end so expressed myself My search
for the truth, though diligent and
earnest, had not been so successful.
In the exercise Of judicial discretion,
restricted and limited, according to
NV Interpretation Of the decisions Of
the reviewing court, | allowed the
iury's verdict TO remain undisturbed.
had no way of knowing it was err
roneous.
after many months Of continued de-
liberation / am still uncertain Of
Franks guilt. This state Of uncer-
tainty is largely due to the character
of the negro Conley's testimony, by
which the verdict was evidently
reached.
Therefore, consider this case in
which the chief magistrate of the state
should exert every effort in ascer-
tanning the truth. The execution of
any person whose guilt has not been
satisfactorily proved to the constituted
authorities is too horrible to contem-
plate. ! do not believe that a person
should meet with the extreme penalty
of the law until the court, jury and
1 Governor all shall have been satisfied
II of that persons guilt. Hence. at the
Y proper time ! shall express and en-
large upon these views directly TO the
Governor and the Prison Commi ssion.
However. if for any cause am pre-
vented from doing this, you are at lib
erty TO use this letter at the hearing
Frank Not Present.
Frank was not present during the
hearing Mr.. Howard first read the
prisoners brief application for com