Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1919-01-28
,uvs,usArl ,na aAvasvu PARDON.

IL has been suggested that thS ies's
lature should take !cosnizance OF the
pardon granted Rathbun. the confessed
and convicted rapist Of Ida county, One
newspaper boldly states that has
been informed thru official sources
that attorneys for the prosecution of
the case were approached with the
suggestion II $1,000 apiece would be
any object 10 them the thing might
possibly be arranged The same news
paper states plainly that from an I'M
official source II hears that in an I'M
guarded moment the chief actor con-
fided 10 a friend that it cost his father
81, 600 to get him out"
The pardon has caused scandal
that reaches outside the state and has
been canvassed in hundreds OF thous-
ands of homes in Iowa. II would ere
ate no further scandal to open 1t up
from the bottom and clear up the mat
ter definitely. II the governor was
deceived and trapped into mistaken
leniency II is only fair to him 70 as
sumo that he would desire TO see the
mistake corrected and justice done
decently in Iowa.
There Is little doubt in the minds OF
those who have followed the exposure
that a serious miscarriage Of justice
took place when the confessed and con-
victed rapist was pardoned without
having served day Of his prison SEN
tence for crime that under military
courts. has been penaiized by hanging
in the state and at the capital where
Rathbun was granted complete i'm
munity from the consequences Of his
shameless and heinous crime. The at
torneys who prosecuted and the judge
who sentenced him are in accord as &c
the character Of the crime and the de-
sert of the criminal. The pardon would
he ineScusable except thru deceit IN
its p<ucuration. And IL deceit and per
Jury were used 10 free a brute those
deceived thus should. II would seem, be
first 10 desire and assist investigation
and Just correction Of what appears and
must continue to appear until explained
10 the satisfaction Of the citizens who
constitute the commonwealth" OF
Iowa. as an unbearable and arbitrary
misuse Of the pardoning power.
These are ticklish times about the
world, not alone IN Europe but IN
America. When the courts and the
attorneys and the county whence n
confessed criminal has been sentenced
agrees as to the outrageous characte-
OF his crime and its desert Of penalty
and in the face of all that agreement
and protest the perpetrator Of crime
! TO prevent in Belgium and France
/ walks free in the community where his
crime was committed what becomes If
! the sacredness Of courts and the pro-
| lection the laws are assumed to throw
about womanhood? Such incidents
lend their strength to those who argue
that protection is only for the wealthy
and the powerful politically. who scorn
| courts as the tools of the powerful and
| politics as a game" They are the
seed beds Of distrust and discomfort,
| and bolshevism.
| The suggestion to the Legislature Is
not out Of the line Of good government
The decency and the laws Of the state
that govern crime and outrage are not
to be suspended thru the deceit OF
criminals or at the within or necessity
Of politicians or political factions. And
this case has been so glaringly brougn,
before the homes OF the state that a
complete investigation and finding b.
trusted investigators is about the only
way to satisfy.