Omaha daily bee., 1919-03-27
ia BuRCL AR|ESIOWA GOVERNOR
ADMITTED BY TWO TELLS OF PARDON
BOYS, POLICE SAY GIVEN RATHBUN
Harding Before Legislative
Committee Asserts That Now
Believes No Question Of
Young Mans Guilt. i.

Des Moines, Ia, March 26.-(Spe- !,
cial Telegram )--Governor w. L.
Harding was on the witness stand
today, in tn. Rathbun pardon probe,r
end held to his original explanation,
saying the pardon was granted cna
the record of the case as the facts
were presented to him. He said he,
thought from the way the judge
and the county attorney wrote, the
boy should be pardoned. 4
The governor was subjected to
severe examination by Attorney
Byers and was asked If he tried to
get any other evidence than what I
was presented to him when the par
don was asked. To this Governor
Harding replied that he came to the
conclusion that the Judge thought it
was time for him to act and for that%
reason did not go further into the
case. He said he did not know Of
the reputation Of the Rathbun
family. Y
1t was brought out that the gov-1
ernor's information in the case, be-
fore granting the pardon, was con-;
fined to an examination of an alb
straet of testimony in the trial and
letters from George Clark, the
Rathbun attorney, with recommen-
dations of clemency from the trial
judge and Ida county attorney.
Nothing Said About Money.
No reference was made by either
the governor or members of the.
committee to an affidavit by William
Rathbun, father of the pardoned
youth, in which the senior Rathbun
asserted it was his understanding
the $1,000 he gave Clark for cbtaifi-
ing the pardon was to go to the
governor.
The governor was on the stand
only short time before recess, was
taken until tonight He was pre-
coded by Clark, who reiterated state
ments he previously made to the
committee and Charles Witt, the
governors secretary.
Governor Contradicts Charge.
One phase of the governors tess
timony contradicted that of Clark5
in that the chief executive asserted
it was late in September when Clark
approached him regarding the par
don, while the Rathbun attorney had !
said it was about November Az
when he first took up the matter
with the governor.
The governor testified he now be-
lieves there is no question as to the
guilt of Ernest Rathbun, who is in
Anamosa reformatory, following re-:
vocation of his pardon at the in
stance of Attorney General Havner.
When he said this opinion was
based on the records in the case,
Special Counsel Byers asked:
"And you could have obtained the,
same opinion if you had, with slight
diligence, investigated the case be
fore granting the pardon
Could Have Found Out.
"Well, not with slight diligence.
the governor replied, "but / could
have found it out all right"
IF at the time you granted the
pardon you knew what you now
know, would you have granted the
pardon?" Byers queried.
No, | wouldn't" was the execu-.
tive's reply.
Then why didn't you cali in the
parole board and let the pardon be
issued in the customary way?" he
was asked.
"My mind was made up" the
governor answered. after reading
the abstract given me by Clark and
the recommendation for clemency
signed by the presiding judge and
the county attorney, | thought the
boy innocent"
Governor Visited by Clark.
Governor Harding's declaration
that Clark first approached him rela-
tive to the pardon late in Septem-
Der, agreed with his statement be-
fore the Iowa legislature recently,
when he said he considered the mat
ter six weeks before granting the
pardon.
Only a few hours before the gov
ernor took the stand, Clark told the
committee he did not see the gov
ernor regarding the pardon until
November 3 or 4, and that he was
not in Des Moines before that time
to see the chief executive.
The governor answered all ques-
tons without hesitation, although it
was apparent he was somewhat
vexed at times through frequent
repetition of questions relating to-
his inquiry into the case before
pardoning Rathbun.
Clark told the committee that the
only person he showed the pardon
to other than the Rathbuns was to
the father of Ray O'Meara, who
was jointly indicted with Ernest
Rathbun for criminal assault. The
attorney said he offered to endeavor
to obtain a similar pardon for