The log cabin Democrat., 1920-11-02
SEVERELY ARRA|CNS
 PARD0NNC ktCOkD
BURkETT IS ANSWERED
Judge Clark, Replying to Pen. Secre. tary, Again Bitterly Scores Par
 dons of Criminals.

the state penitentiary commission, in which the pardon records of Govern or Brough and Acting Governor Me
 Perrin were defended against attacks by Circuit Judge George W. Clark of Conway, Judge Clark in a communi- cation to the Log Cabin Democrat to- day scathingly arraigns not only the i pardoning of criminals but the man. agement of the state penitentiary His communication follows:
 1 Editor Log Cabin Democr1t:
 read with interest the attempted defense of Secretary Burkelt in be- half of the pardoning record of the present governor and I presume that he interposes a similar defense upon behalf of the lieutenant governor, and I must say that 1 know of no other person in the state who could have been induced to attempt such a diff cult task, unless it would have been one of the other members of the pen itentiary commission. But lest we forget, permit me to call attention to the fact that MT Burkett is the same person and the same commissioner who Honorable Thomas J. Terral, late candidate for the nomination of gov eror of this state, charged from the public arena and in campaign docu- ments which were scattered over the state that Mr Burkett was using large number of the convicts in clear ing lands for himself and his brother in- law without any consideration be- ing passed to the state for the work and labor of these men. So far as I or the public is advised no denial of these charges has ever been made, and if true it partially explains why the penitentiary is a liability instead of an asset to the taxpayers of the state.
 And any thoughtful person when he considers that the state owns two rich alluvial bottom farms, farm imple- ments and live stock and all the labor required to cultivate these lands and the only compensation given for this labor is plain food and cheap cloth ing, no rent or taxes to pay, and yet can not make this institution self sup porting, is driven to the conclusion that there is either gross mismanage- ment and inefficiency upon the part of the management or wilful corruption as public officials upon their part.
 This fact can be established by comparison of the handling of this institution under former superintend- ents and the present officials. E. T. Mcconnell was superintendent of the penitentiary from January, 1894. un- til January, 1902, and he informs me that on the date of his entry into this office there was to the credit of the penitentiary fund the sum of $629.44 and at the expiration of his term the appraisement of the property belong ing to this institution showed S246, ,000 This showing was made while the state was a share-cropper, giving one-half of the products raised by the conVicts for the use of the lands, tools and teams to the land owner, and at this time the price of cotton was from five to eight cents And I apprehend the incoming governor will demand an eT- planation why you and your fellow commissioners can not under such fa vorable circumstances at least dupli- cate this showing, and the tax payers of this state will indeed be interested in your answer and in all probability your task will be equally as laborious as your attempted defense of the pres ent governors pardonIng record.
 Secretary Burkett says that Gov ernor Brough has pardoned fewer con victs than former governors, and quotes numbers in support of this statement. Is it a defense to crime that other men have committed sim liar crimes or should not the errors of former governors have been a signal warning to him when he went into of flee to have avoided these errors Before the governor was inaugurated he recognized the errors of former governors and was so impressed with this fact that he sent to the great Baptist state convention then in ses- sion wire that under no conditions would he grant a pardon to a liquor seller. How well has your governor kept this pledge, Mr Burkett?
 That there has been an indiscrimi- nate use of the pardoning power by the present administration is known to all the circuit judges, prosecuting attorneys and all other citizens who have tried to inform themselves of conditions, except the commissioners of the pententiary. Secretary Burkett admits that mistakes have been made in the granting of these pardons, and I will mention just a few of the many mistakes so made One of the first was the pardoning of Anderson, con- victed of embedding the funds of the state while employed at the peniten- tiary. This pardon was granted not withstanding the fact that the people of the state were assured by the pres ont governor priOr tO his rOD,inat ion