The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-06-17

one of those calls I heard from one of the lawyers something that Set me to thinking along a line whlch was agreeable to my plan for arous- ing favorable public sentiment.
 Now, MT. Kane the lawyer re- against you, the jury would<have had to be almost superhuman to render verdict showing you any mercy. They were human-just that and nothing more-and even though they might have been unconscious of it., they were really influenced by pub lie sentiment in their findings.
 If Twelve, Then Five.
 At the time my attofney told me that, which was late in May, nc writ of supersedeas staying the execution had as yet been asked for. l knew though that, in accordance with legal procedure in the matter of an ap- peal, such stay would be granted which is tantamount of saying 1 even then knew that l would not be executed on June 24, the day set by the judge of the trial court. And after the lawyer had left me that day, I pondered along his words concern ing the effect-perhaps unknown to most people-of public sentiment upon the findings of the jury, even one in truth composed of good men and true" And that very afternoon as l was pacing back and forth in my cell, to myself I said: If twelve good men from various walks cf life may in so mSmentous a matter be Influenced, eithed consciously or un- consciously. by public sentiment, then by the same token five good men upon the supreme bench may also. perhaps, be so Influenced
 The immediate result of that cont c;, hxt tn1d i, graphs. l began at once right there in that cell on the so-called Mur- derers' Row to direct my correspon- dence gradually. growing campaign whereby every bit of possible influ- ence might be brought to bear upon that community in which my offense had been committed. ot upon the su- preme court, mark you, but upon people who lived within the jurs- diction of that court. To do that re- qured alr the intelligence and req soning power I could muster. l had to be guarded at all times in what wrote ,and how l wrote it.
 My way invariably Was to. place myself in the situation of the fecipi- ent of the letter and the reasCn from his standpoint.
 ent of the letter and reason from
 One thing was favorable to me. was always telling the truth about the tragedy and was not handicapped by that burden so common to those under the shadow-the burden of posing as innocent. l freely admit ted my own responsibility. but would set up a question as to whether or not, despite the necessary 'declara- tion of the statute as preventive measure, there ought Tn reason to be some place to draw a line between crime committed in the heat of min gled passion and fear and one com mitted in cold blood with full de- sire to actually take life. That was an invariable part of my own cor respondence, and it was, in accord ance with my request, part of the letter pleadings of others who took up the fight with and for me.
 My plan soon resulted in kind of endless chain correspondence. I was amazed at the success it was she wing and soon began to have fears that the thing might run away with itself, that is. that eventual effect might be reaction. But, those who were en- listed to help me were not by any means maudlin sentmentalists. tried to guard carefully against that kind, because they have neither req soning nor convincing power. So. then. whatever was said in my behalf was based upop some' measure of