The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1917-07-06
FEW HAVE. TO SERVE SEN
TENCE IN BONE DRY"
ARlZONs
PARDCNS PLENTIFUL
Governor Campbell Orders that
No Mere Requests for Len
iency Be Made BY State Par
don Board Accused Men
Have Powerful Friends

Bone Dry" Arizona, supposedly the
most parched spot in America. is not
SO dry" after all Listen to this
from the Arizona Republican
The recommendation OF Governor
Campbell that the Board of Pardons
and Paroles issue no more recommen-
dations for the relief OF persons con
victed OF bootlegging viii be given gen
eral approval Comparatively few Of
the bootleggers who have had Infu
entail friends have served out the
terms for which they have been SEN
fenced, and in many cases the fnes
assessed against them have gone by
the board II is remarkable how many
OF the bootleggers have become vic
Tins during their Incarceration Of dis
ease which would certainly end in
death in their cells unless they were
released From which We conclude that
the bootleggers are persons Of ex-
tremely low vitality. much more so
than thieves, forgers ana other classes
Who place themselves behind the bars
II Is To Laugh.
The wholesale turning out of jail OF
these Offenders against the constitu-
tion OF the state tends to make a joke
Of the constitution and TO override the
will OF the people so decidedly express
ed last November 1t is an encourage
ment to repeated violations of the pro
hibition law 1t conveys an impress
sion that it is officially believed that
bootlegging is rather respectable
breach Of the law notwithstanding it
| IS engaged in only by men who have
occupied the lowest levels of society.
A very large number Of the bootleg
gers who have been convicted are sec
ond, third and even fourth offenders.
They took the chance because it in
yolyed only a minimum of ultimate
risk.
All applications for pardon or parole
are accompanied by petitions signed
by many respectable, law-ahiding citi.
I zens who. we think. would thank the
/ Governor and the Board of Pardona
and Paroles for relieving them OF
signing petitions in the future As a
rule, these signers either know or care
nothing about the bootleeger. They
sign, with inward reluctance. because
somebody has asked them to do so.
/ There is no man so low in the scale
OF humanity that ne is without indi-
/ rect connection with the best people
IN his community He has friend
slightly but only slightly, higher than
I himself That friend has a still higher
friend and SO the line extends to the
uppermost level The line frequently
and generally runs an upward, tortu
pus course along q political line, or
maybe a lodge line but anyway II
runs upward through the whole struo-
/ ture of society
! The Governor Is Angry.
In his letter to the Board of Pardone
and Paroles, the Governor says, IN
part:
The cost of securing evidence and
conviction in booHeggiDg cases is
great Increasiue. II bitter complaints
from county officials are being re
4 ceived at this office against the parole
of such prisoners. and the impression
! is abroad that there is little use oi
spending great sums of money to bring
these people to punishment. if our acts
are to make them ree upon the pap
ment of fines, or because they are in
physical and mental distress, such as
is alleged to warrant executive Glenn
ency
There is no doubt that the trafls
In intoxicants has been increasing. II
is carried on boldly at the present
time. No good reason can be giver
why all such miscreants should MOI
suffer the full penalties for their skill
fully premeditated acts, regardless o.
their influence or past record as law
abiding citizens The laws governing
these practices are not obscure ant
they are widely understood l lrml,
believe that it is not only the large
profit which attracts persons, whS
might otherwise become economic fac
tors m our industrial life, into thil
Illegal traffic, but the comparative I'm
munity from punishment which you
recommendations and my acts OF elem
ency lead them to expect, should the,