The Ocala evening star., 1915-08-26
LAW AND LYNCH|NG
Cole Blease, Ex-Governor of South
Carolina, Addresses the Gov
ernOrs' Conference


Cole Blease of South Carolina, in an
address delivered here today before
the governors conference on -The
Duty and Responsibility of Chief Ex-
ecutives in Dealing with Prisoners"
declared that the lynching of men in
the South @for certain crimes is a pro-
lection to civilization" He condemn
ed 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 i'll laid out" said
Governor Blease- He continued in
part: I'VE make, by distrust, the
thief, the burglar, and incendiary,
and by our court and Jail we keep
them so. An acceptance of the SEN
timent of love throughout Christen-
dom for a season would bring the
felon and the outcast to our side in
tears, with the devotion of his facul-
ties to our service
within the past few weeks we
read in the newspapers of man who
had made an attempt upon the life
of another being piled with questions
until he was too weak to talk, then
being walked up and down the cor
ridors of his prison TO revive him,
then piled with questions again, and
subjected to God alone knows what
else, in the administration 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 climbed to the top Of his cell
door and jumped to the floor, killing
himself. Whether he was murdered
or whether ne really committed sui
eide / do not know; but this / do
know, that the suicide of any man
would hardly be unnatural under such
circumstances, and that the treat
ment accorded him, before conviction,
would have been disgrace to our civ
ilization even had it occurred after
he had been tried and sentenced.
~This third degree method that is
practiced in the North and the East
and the West-less frequently, / am
glad to say, in the South-whether
the man be killed during its admin
istration or whether he be driven TO
commit suicide, or whether. he be in
nocent, is barbarity in a sneaking
form, under the sanction of law, and
those guilty of practicing it evidence
spirit as mean and contemplate as
the malice which animates the mid
night assassin.
Three years ago / had the pleas
ure Of addressing this conference in
Richmond. My remarks were tele-
graphed throughout the nation, and
was heralded to the world as chief
executive who advocated mob VOL
ence. do not propose to go into a
discussion of that here; it is entire
ly beside the question. Suffice it for
me TO say that in the South, the lynch
ing of any man for the unmention-
able crime is a protection to our civil
third degree violates the letter Of
our constitution at its most vital point
and is a blow to the whole spirit Of
our institutions. In the South an
aroused mob is an outraged eommuni-
" which carries out the law, but
brushes aside with mighty force the
laws technicalities and delays. There
is no hypocrital, sanctimonious viol-
alton Of fundamental rights under the
cloak of law by those sworn 10 up
hold the law; the deed is open, and
civilization and justice are vindicat-
ed. And when mobs are no longer
possible, liberty viii be dead.
''The chief executive Of state has
not a more serious duty nor graver
responsibility than the obligation i'm
posed upon him in dealing with pris-
oners-and by prisoners mean to in
clude those in jail awaiting trial.
a state or a nation that allows its
prisoners to suffer eruelties is guilty
Of a greater crime than the prison
ers themselves have committed.
I'VE have prisons and prison meth
DDS in the United States today which
are a disgrace to any civilization.
when assumed the Office Of gov
ernor Of South Carolina. inaugural
ed in my state the parole system, and
granted hundreds of paroles. was
as vigorously condemned on the one
hand and as heartily praised on the
other, for nearly every decision
reached upon each individual case, as
any man who has ever been in public
life in the history Of this country. I
cared not for the condemnation or the
praise. The parole system which 1
inaugurated was entirely successful.
Out Of the hundreds Of paroles grant
ed, very few failed TO lead good lives
Il believe more firmly today than
ever before in the parole system IS
the most advanced step that has ever
been taken IN prison reform
81 believe that the whipping Of
prisoners should be forbidden except
in cases Of wilful disobedience Of
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