New Britain herald., 1915-08-26
GOVERNORS REVIEW
 MILITIA OF MASS.
Blease Says "Tbird Degree" IS
 Worse Than Lyncbing

III NAN"AA1lS WICn tne lIlAlo prisons, was the general topic or ols- l cusslon at todays session or the soN- ernors' conference Two of the soV- ernors, E. F. Dunne, of Illlnols' ana w. P. Hunt of Arizona, had prepareo formal addresses on the abohuon ol capital punishment and former IoV- ernor Cole L. Blease of South oaro- lima, was announced to speak on the duty and responsibility of the govern or in dealing with prisoners
 A review of the state militia, ''ooo strong, was the feature of the alter- noon.
 The thanks of the administration for the resolution adopted by the govern ors on Tuesday, pledglng support to President Wilson, was eXtendea to the conference today by Attorney General Thomas w. Gregory. MT. gregory said that at the present time the ao- ministration felt the need or pelng m close touch with the states, ana sucn an encouraging expression as was sent to the president was greatly appreciat- ed especially as it came from d Oooy in which party lines had been ellmi- mated
 Ex-Gov. BIease Criticised.
 A statement by former Gov. Blease of South Carolina that when mops are no longer possible, liberty Will be dead" met with criticism from Gov. F. L. Goldsborough of Maryland Dur ing a discussion of the addresses of the day. Gov. Goldsborough said "I cannot sit silently by and permit such statements to go unanswered. That is unchristly. If capital punishment be wrong, how much more so is cap ital punishment at the hands of a mob."
 Blease UphoIds Lynching.
 Former Governor Cole Blease of South Carolina in an address on The Duty and Responsibility of Chief Executives in Dealing with Prisoners declared that the lynching of men in the south for certain crimes is pro- lection to civilization. He condemned the third degree" in dealing with prisoners and expressed the opinion that it was worse in some respects than lynching.
 The money we spend for courts and prisons is very ill laid out" said Ex-Governor Blease. He continued in part: We make, by distrust, the thief, the burglar, and incendiary, and by our court and jail we keep him so. An acceptance of the sentiment of love throughout Christendom for a season would bring the felon and the outcast to our side in tears, with the devotion of his faculties to our ser vice.
 Too Weak to Talk.
 within the past few weeks we read in the newspapers of man who had made an attempt upon the lie Of another being piled with questions un- til he was too weak to talk, then be- ing walked up and down the corridors of his prison to revive him, then piled with questions again, and subjected to God alone knows what else, in the ad- ministration of the third degree' Later this prisoner was found on the floor of his cell with his skull crushed in, and it was stated that he had climbed to the top of his cell door and jumped to the floor killing him. self. Whether he was murdered or whether he really committed suicide I do not know; ;but this I do know, that the suicide of any man would hardly be unnatural under such cir cumstances, and that the treatment ac- corded him, before conviction, would have been a disgrace to our civiliza- tion even had it occurred after he had been tried and sentenced.
 "This third degree method that is practiced in the north and east and the west-less frequently, I am glad to say, in the south-whether a man be killed during it's administrati ton, or r, hn 61-iIy fn suicide, or whether he be tortured snmetimes into confessing crimes of which he may be innocent, is barbarity in a sneaking form, under the sane tion of law, and those guilty of prac- ticing it evidence a spirit as mean and contemptible as the malice which anil mates the midnight assassin.
 Protection to Civilization.
 Three years ago I had the pleasure of addressing this conference in Rich mond. My remarks were telegraphed throughout the nation, and I was heralded to the world as chief execu- tive who advocated mob violence. I dc not propose to go into discus sion of that here; it is entirely beside the question. Suffice it for me to say that in the south, the lynching of a man for the nmentionab ble crime is a protection to our civilization, while | the practice of this third degree vio- lates theletter of our constitution at 1 it's most vital point and is blow to the whole spirit of our institutions. | In the south an aroused mob is an | outraged community which carries out | the law, but brushes aside with mighty | force the laws techniCalities and de- | lays. There is no hypocritical, sanc- 1imoniOus violation of fundamental i rights under the cloak of law by those | sM orn to uphold the law; the deed is l open and civilization and justice are 1