Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1915-03-12
MERCY IN PARDONING power
Tremendous Responsibility Imposed
by State Constitution.
RECOGNITION OF DEMANDS OF mercy

and Impulses in the Exercise OF
cIemeney-FeeIs that tho Downtred.
den and Abused Convict 10 Entitled
to a Fair Show in the Interest Of
Right and Humanity.
Ed. Case and COMMENT
This notable article reached US
after the pages Of this number were
printed. 1t is 80 In harmony with the
subject and spirit Of this issue Of
Case and Comment that we delayed
the appearance Of the magazine in or
der that the article might be inserted
with special page numbering. No ad-
vocate Of humanitarianism which Is
the essence Of the New Penology" has
done more than Ex-Governor Blease
to demonstrate his faith by his works.
Ed. Note and Comment
1t is not my purpose to discuss,
from a legal standpoint, the pardoning
power Of a states chief executive.
What 1 shall have to say must be
understood as applying solely to the
view which l held Of my duty, as
governor Of South Carolina, under the
constitution and statute laws Of my
state.
The constitution Of South Carolina
provides that the governor shall have
power to grant reprieves. combinations
and pardons after conviction Except
in cases Of impeachment), in such
manner on such terms, and under
such restrictions as he shall think
proper etc.
It also provides:
He shall take care that the laws be
faithfully executed in mercy"
During my four years as governor,
I obeyed that mandate Of the consti-
tuition as the Supreme Ruler Of the
Universe gave me the light to see the
right.
1t has been said, with great force,
that "the pardoning power has too
often been permitted to lie dormant"
When I took the oath Of office as
chief executive Of my state, in Janu-
ary, 1911, I began personal investi-
CATION Of the penal institutions Of
South Carolina. I made a personal
investigation Of the penitentiary /
did not hesitate, when I was In the
Of county chaingang,
to visit 1t. I found what I conceived
to be most appalling conditions-and
these conditions were the rule, and not
the exception.
l found men serving life sentences
who had been convicted Of offenses
which were trivial as compared with
offenses committed by men who had
served or were only serving a short
term. found negro in the state
penitentiary who had already served
twenty-five years for stealing a
watch valued at $27. I found another
negro who had served eleven years
for stealing 50.
But, even worse than these In
stances which I have cited, I found
in operation, within the walls Of the
state penitentiary, a hosiery mill, ope-
rated by contractors to whom the con-
victs were leased, which was a sure
and rapid breeder Of tuberculosis.
Immediately inaugurated pardon
and parole system, and began a fight
for the abolition of this hosiery mill.
The general assembly Of my state
was politically opposed to me. Fac
tional politics in South Carolina had
been, and are yet, bitter But when
the facts in regard to this hosiery
mill were brought out, the sentiment
of the people was so strong that even
a hostile legislature was forced to
take notice. I wrote message after
message to the legislature. and de-
manded that the state Of South Caro-
lima cease to condemn her unfortunate
wards to a slow death by the most
dreaded and dreadful disease-that
she cease to commit legal murder by
conducting a tuberculosis Incubator"
After one Of the most stubborn fights
ever waged in this state, the bill
to abolish this hosiery mill passed the
house Of representatives by a good
majority, and when it went to a hos
tile senate, it received every vote ex-
cept one-and that one was the senator
from Newberry county.
If I had accomplished nothing else,
in my four years as governor except
the destruction Of this hosiery mill, l
would be satisfied because I feel that
1t was a service to humanity, and that
1t wiped black spot from the escutch-
con Of one Of the proudest states In
the American Union.
1 pardoned some convictes who
ought not to have been convicted,
and some others who were guilty, but
who ought to have been pardoned long
ago. l inaugurated 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 l
reached upon each individual case, as
any man who has ever been in public
life in the history Of this country. l
cared not for the condemnation or
the praise I was seeking to do my
duty under the constitution, to exc
cute the laws faithfully in mercy, and
striving to do the right, and to give
human beings who had made mistakes
q chance to correct them and to do
their part for the benefit Of society.
I have always entertained the view
that the object Of Imprisonment should
not be to make men suffer. and there
by make hardened criminals, but that
1t should be to correct. II a young
boy gets into bad company, and Is In
duced to steal $50, the offense in this
state Is grand larceny, for which the
punishment Is severe. A jury, under
their oaths, must convict him, and
properly so. But when he has been
taught his lesson, and has repented,
why not give him a chance to make
good and do something worth while In
the world Not punishment, but the
protection Of society, was the princi-
pie upon which acted.
have stated that I made a personal