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THE ATLANTA (JEORCUAN AND NEWS. MONIKAY, APRIL 21. 1913. 3 UP FEU Bro w nO n Pardom--qppo^Blease M£N OF m® Governor Won’t Defeat the Courts +•+ +•* +•+ +•+ +•+ ♦ +••!. -f** +•* 1 Asks Rivets, Not Elastics, for Law Georgia Man Talks of Task Con fronting Democrats in Con gress—Political Sidelights. By JAMES B. NEVIN. A well-known and observant Geor gian, recently returned from a trip Bast, during the progress of which he dropped off for a few days in Washington, talks most interestingly of the general political situation as he found it outlined there. He preferred not to discuss specific differences of opinion existing here and there inside the Georgia Con gressional delegation, as concerns both men and things, but he did loosen up a bit as to the anticipated effects of the proposed tariff legis lation and the results that may be expected of it. “The particular fear of Democratic Congressmen nowadays,” said this gentleman, “is that the people are expecting entirely too much of tariff revision. They think the people are anticipating, for one thing, a sharp drop in the cost of living, immedi ately upon the heels of the law’s enactment, and this the Congressmen know is not at all likely to come true. “Tariff reform, in the opinion of the more conservative of talkers, will not mean so much a drop in the present cost of living as It may mean an arrest of its further prog ress upward. In other words, a re vised tariff is not expected to cheap en things particularly, but it is ex pected to check their advance. “In a few specific instances, to be sure, prices will drop—or should drop—moat noticeably, but as a rule they will not fall off to that degree anticipated by many. Indeed, if it were not for the Congressional fear of public disappointment. I think the tariff laws would be revised most hesitatingly, and certainly with an eye to effecting changes gradually rather than at once. “To be sure, if the idea becomes fixed in the minds of the people that tariff revision has checked the furth er advance in the high cost of living merely, and that only a Democratic administration could have effected that, it still will be creditable to the party—but there are those who quake when they look forward to the pos sible necessity of eventually having to fall back on that point of view and that argument. “Wherefore, I conclude that the tariff revisionists are not altogether happy*over the outlook for tariff re form, Qven though they are keeping -up a brave front, as it is.” Friends of P. I). Daffln, chairman of the Park and Tree Commission of Savannah, are discussing with vigor and confidence hi application for the position of Collector of the Port of Savannah. They assert that -Daffin not only lias strong political backing and a fair chance of winning out in a fight waged along political lines, but that he is entitled to the office on his merits and for services he has ren dered the city of Savannah without compensation. Daffln has little to say about his candidacy except that he is in the race to stay. H • says he is stronger than some people imagine, and that as a “dark hor.~ " he may surprise the unbelievers. He says being Collector of the Port of Savannah would in no way interfere with his duties as chair man of the Para and Tree Commis sion, and that if they did, he would not take the job. Georgia has no living ex-Senator of the United States within her bor ders. Mr. Bacon and Mr. Clay were chosen to three and four consecutive terms, respectively, and with Sena tor Terrell’s passing, the list of ex- Senators temporarily was closed. An interesting sidelight is thrown on the present situation in Georgia with respect to the enforcement of the criminal law by the fact that fif ty per cent, of the applications for clemency now pending before the .Prison Commission come from viola- . tors of the prohibition law, in one or Another of its phases. It somewhat dispels the nation that the prohibition law is more or less enforced, anyway. Evidently, viola tions of it land quite a number of miscreants in the penitentiary. The people of Muscogee County have become more convinced than ever that the fee system for paying county and State officials is wrong, since the publication of the receipts of several offices in the county. The figures show that the Solici tor General’s office has received in fees for the first, quarter $3,843.65; the clerk of the court. $2,644.01; or dinary, $1,146.75, and the sheriff’s of fice, $2,168.69. The Officials have to pay their help out of these receipts, but, after de ducting these expenses from the of fices, they are found to pay from $300 to $1,200 per month. Judge Charles Brand, of Athens, thinks one meeting of the esteemed Georgia Legislature every four years would be quite sufficient to the nec essities of Georgia. He says the State already has too many laws, and that every annual meeting of the General Assembly promulgates a new batch “Nothing is easier than getting a new law through the Legislature," says the judge. Comptroller General Wright' is scanning corporation tax returns with a forty-horse power microscope this year, and already has turned down those of the Southern Bell. Which was later .adjusted, and the Pullman Com pany as inadequate. Jt is rumored that there are other turndowns to come, moreover! The last of the Confederate pen sions fur the current year have just been paid—more than three months late. Of course, under the present sys tem, the delay cannot be helped, but the incoming Legislature might make a note of tile delay, sfhd see if it carf Atlanta Executive Urges Premium for Respect, Not Viola- tion, of Statutes. Views Power i n the Abstract. This article, published yesterday in Hearst’s Sun day American, attracted wide attention. It is repub lished by request. By JAMES B. NEVIN. The Governor of Georgia, Joseph Mackey Brown, is possessed of clear- cut, definite and matured ideas with respect to the unrestricted and arbi trarily discretionary power of clem ency conferred upon him by the Con stitution of the State. And those ideas are diametrically and utterly opposed to the views en tertained by the Governor of South Carolina, as set forth in Hearst’s Sunday American of last Sunday. Governor Blease generally is looked upon as the easiest 'source of pardon, parole or commutation in the South. Governor Brown generally is looked upon as the most difficult. The former yields to the slightest of pressure; the latter yields only in the final most favorable analysis. The one looks upon the power of clemency as a per* oal prerogative of the executive office largely> the other looks upon it as an impersonal and logical provision of the funda mental law to be most carefully ex ercised. Opinions Are Sincere. The opinions of the two Governors may be accepted as sincere, and as having been arrived at in a conscien tious endeavor upon the part of each to come to a righteous conclusion in respect of the most sweeping, the most extraordinary, the most unham pered, the most picturesque, and the most trying of all the rights, powers and duties prescribed for Governors of sovereign States. For within the right of clemency dwells the power of life and death, of liberty, of property and the pursuit of happiness—to individuals and to so ciety collectively—and these are the ideals around which the very Decla ration of Independence itself was framed. Governor Blease boasts that it is his ambition to make his pardon rec ord in South Carolina the greatest the state ever has known, in so far as the total number of released pris oners is concerned. And to make it that, he is willing to stretch the law in the prisoners’ favor to its utter most limit. Holds State Is Supreme. Governor Brown has no ambition to jet a record paralleling Governor Blease’s at any point. To him, the rights of society and the State are superior to the petitions of a duly convicted criminal, and he contracts the law sternly and jealously to its written limits in considering pleas for clemency. I interviewed Governor Blease per sonally upon this pardon question, spending more than two hours with him in the State House in Columbia. His views were set forth, just as he gave them in last Sunday’s Amer ican. I interviewed Governor Brown for this Sunday's American upon his ideas and his theory of the pardon ing power. Governor Brown said: “In considering the matter of ex ecutive clemency, I will say, in the first place, that those who are in clined to deeds against the peace of society should be made to know that it is a very serious thing to violate the laws of Georgia. “In the second place, ’with that ele ment undoubtedly the strength of the law is the certainty of its enforce ment. “Yet, weakening this, there seems to be growing in the minds of many of the better element of our people a belief that after a criminal has been in the penitentiary for several months or several years he has been ‘suffi ciently punished’ and that the ex ecutive of the State owes It as a kind of moral duty to set him free, so that he may re-establish himself as a man of character. "There is one consideration here which these people overlook. That is the fact that if. after a trial, be ginning with indictment by the Grand Jury and running through the proceedings in the trial court and the appeal to the higher court, a violator of the law has been sentenced to serve a given-number of years, it is a fair assumption that the Jury knew its business when it found him guil ty and that the trial Judge, with the case fresh in mind, knew and at tended to his business when he fixed a certain period of time as the proper limit of his punishment. “Why?" Governor Asks. “Why, then, must the executive of ficer, who was not In the court room and did not hear or see the w itnesses testify, change, say, a ten-year sen tence to one of only two years, or any other term shorter than ten years’.' Why should he use this of fice to defeat or to supplant the courts or attempt to make of it a court of correction? j ‘In clemency hearings it has been 1 stated to me time and again that the State does not need to hold that man • V : .. l nn>n r . iw -a' - 3jjjp! tv] 4 ' 2S! Gov, Brown's Views OnPardoningPower “The strength of the law is the certainty of its enforcement.” "Why should the executive of fice be used to defeat the courts?” “Criminals must realize that if they incur the penalties of the law, the law will be enforced.” “Fifty guilty men go free to one innocent man adjudged guilty.” “There must be extraordinary reasons for reversing the courts.” “We should have higher sympa thy for the law abiding than for the criminals.” “Instead of putting a premium on crime, we should put it on re spect of law.” “Instead of excusing those who violate the law, we should encour age and protect those who obey it.” '"We need more rivets and less elastics in the application of the criminal law.” than the period he has already served. Harrowing accounts of the necessi ties of the family are brought be fore the Prison Commission and the executive. There is too much truth in these stories of suffering; but what shall we say of the suffering of the families of those law-abading citizens whom these criminals have shot down, in very many cases with out warning? “They (the criminals) have re moved forever the power of those men to provide for their families, and co-ordinately made it necessary for the State to withdraw the offenders from the power to take care of their own families. The confinement com plained of is not the fault of the State, but it is a supreme duty which the lawless acts of criminals have made necessary. It must in such cases be made clear to those in the criminal element that if they incur penalties those penalties will be en forced. Extends to All Laws. “In these remarks I have referred primarily to criminals who have taken human lives;-but the same ob ligation rests upon the people of the State to OBEY all the laws, and the same obligation is upon the offi cers of the State to ENFORCE all the laws. ( "Of course, no hard and fast rule can be laid down to govern all cases alike. The Constitution places upon the executive officer the power to grant pardons In his discretion; but that discretion he is expected to use only after the exercise of the great est care It Is true that occasionally a wave of piston, sweeping over a community, influences a jury into ex tremes. It is true that Judges them selves sometimes err, and sometimes, I am sotry to say, are prejudiced, and that it is the duty of the executive to protect the people against such judges. “There arc other .causes which call for the exercise of clemency in ex ceptional cases, but these are excep- ♦ « ml** thnw nlared in au thority dv the people should conform their offic ial, as well as personal, acts to the words spoken by the Almighty Himself, viz: ‘They shall keep the way uf the Lord to do justice and judgment.”—Genesis xviii: 19., Safe to Trust Courts. “As a general proposition, the ex ecutive is safe in assuming that if the solicitor general, the jury and the judge have steered the case through mazes, quibbles, false swearing, tech nicalities and sometimes sophistical speeches and found the accused guil ty, he is. really guilty. “I do not doubt that 50 guilty men go free to one innocent man who is adjudged guilty. Quite likely the proportion is eveh greater. Hence while in the-courts the burden is upon the State to prove the arraigned man guilty, in the executive office the conditions are reversed, and the as sumption is that the courts have done their duty, and there must be EXTRAORDINARY reasons for mod ifying or reversing their action. “It is hut stating it correctly wh^n I say that while criminals are on trial there are some other matters on trial. Our laws are on trial, our very civ ilization is on trial. Not only do technicalities specious pleadings and false swearing in the trial of crimi nal cases contest the law, but mis guided sympathy after conviction be comes the most powerful advocate of the criminal. It is against this that we must take a firm stand. “While we are having so much sympathy for the criminal, we should have even higher sympathy for the law-abiding people. “Instead of putting a premium on crime, we ought to put it on respect for law. “Instead of excusing or condoning those who violate the law, we ought to encourage and protect those who obey it. "We need more rivets and less elas tics In the application of the crimi nal lav,. “We should force it upon the knowledge of the good and the bad that the law is a solid rock wall, not a woven wire fence.” t Here, then are two Southern Gov ernors. chief magistrates of two of the proudest and bravest Common wealths in the Union—■each tracing Its history back to the “original Thir teen”—entertaining absolutely con trary* views concerning the tremen dous and unrestricted power of clemency lodged in the person of the executive. Each is the choice of his people for Governor: the titles of both rest upon the verdict of an unterrified electo rate. Into the case of Blease enter those things which go to make for “human interest” in newspaper stories, ele ments that encourage the “sob” re porters to do their worst—or best— as the case may be. Abstract Versus Personal. Into the case of Brown enters the abstract, impersonal, stem contem plation of the law—the sure protec tion of the honest man against the criminally* inclined. The case of Blease considers the executive in his most intensely per sonal attitude 1 . The case of Brown considers the executive as the execu tive—nothing more. If Blease asked the people of South Carolina to-morrow to re-elect him Governor, they likely would do it. If Brown asked the .people of Geor gia to-morrow to re-elect him Gov ernor, they likely would do Jt. Each State seems abundantly sat- j isfled with its Governor. Which, then, is right in his view J of the pardoning power? It. is as pretty a problem at* in .gilt *■»*» Ki hmUft,.! In a thousand effort*? I Vice President Reasserts Rever sion of Great Fortunes to State Is Coming. WASHINGTON. April 20. Vice President’ Marshall declared that “if the men of power and wealth con- cult their consciences in business they will not have to ootry so much about the law.” Ht has been deluged with criticism from rich men and women following his speech in New York, when he warned millionaires that if they were, not careful they would find a propo sition raised and carried that the State dispose of great fur tun oh. Mr. Marshall, however, declared the idea was not original with him, that it Irk? been indorsed by the attorneys of the country generally and that some such plan would eventually be adopt 'd in this* country. “When I said In New York that Karl Marx and hunger and a longing for nippiness were abroad in the land,” said the Vice President, “I was ex- ressiftg not only my own opinion, but the opinion of others. From men of all classes I have heard expressions >f disgust with prevent economic pol- fifs. Men are asking that the oppor tunities that once existed, now mo nopolized, shall be restored to them. State Gives Right to Inherit. “In my speech in New York I said: The right to inherit and the right to devise are neither inherent nor con stitutional, but on the contrary they are simply privileges given the State to its citizens.’ "I think it waf the State Bar As sociation of Illinois which at one time recommended that a large, part ot estates revert to the State. I have never recommended such a thing, but I have simply pointed to it to show that the power to inherit and to de vise are simply privileges given by the State to its citizens. “Men of judgment have expressed to me the opinion that were a vote to be taken on the oroposition that all estates over $100,000 revert to the State upon the death of the mvner— the $100,000 being exempt—it would be carried two to one. “The present tariff monopoly is the chief cause of our unrest, and men are asking with concern whether there Is any difference between the manufacturer who cornea to the Gov ernment to ask for help in his busi ness and the poor man who goes to the workhouse to get help. People Now Want CHanotf. “The people were told in the Iasi campaign that trusts were a natural evolution and that the only way tc deal with them who to regulate them The people are tired of being told such things. What they want is the kind of opportunity that formerly ex isted in this country. “One man in my State told me he had >100,600 and was about to set up in a business that was controlled largely by a trust and that he was warned not to proceed. He had fig ured out the amount that would be needed for his plant, how much his raw material would cost and what labor could be had. One of his own friends told him he had better not go on; the trust would drive him out of business. “This is the kind of business against which the people are complaining. They are being told that there are just as many opportunities to-day as ever before; that there are any num ber of jobs ranging from $10,000 to $20,000 waiting for the capable man. It may be that a Vfry able man might not want to earn $20,000 working for the steel trust, however. He might prefer to rtart a little rolling mill of his own, so that he would be Inde pendent and bis own master, even though he made but $5,000 a year. “The question is being pressed wbv the Government should be expected to guarantee profits to the manufacturer when it docs not guarantee the dif ference in the cost of food at home and abroad to the consumer, with an extra dollar for a rainy day. Golden Rule Not Followed. “There is a growing feeling tha* many of our great financiers are mak ing the restrictions of the law their touchstone of guidance instead of ad hering more closely to the Golden Rule. There are many evils that cun not be reached by statute, and men are saying—and strong men, too— that if business men do not consult thffir lawyers when they are think ing of driving a weaker competitor out of business, the people will take the matter into their own hands and go to extremes to remedy the situa tion. “I am an American. I would go down into the ditch to shake the hand of the poor man. but I would also be glad to shake the hand of the rich man. We are all brothers. But 1 be lieve that the men of power should know what the rest of the people are saying, and 1 repeat merely what has been said to m?. “The whole idea of vested interests can be summed up by the story of the yOung lawyer who appealed to Ben Butler to have him admitted to the bar. 'What are your qualifications?’ asked Butler. ‘I know all the statutes of the State of Massachusetts,” said the young man. ‘Well, then,’ said Butler, Tm afraid you won’t do. The Massachusetts Legislature might re peal all you know in twenty-four hours.’ ” doctor’ afflicted with PHTHISIS, TREATS SELF COLUMBUS. IND.. April 19—Dr Herman L. Essex, trustee of Haw- creek township. Bartholomew Coun ty. iy fighting tuberculosis in a scien tific way. Dr. James H Morrison, county health commissioner, and a brother-in-law of Dr. Essex, is as sisting him. Dr. Essex is afflicted with the disease and is giving ills own ca?*e careful study. Dr. Essex has Just returned from a camp In North Carolina where he took a special treatment that will be continued at home. The affected lung is inflated with compressed gas. after which the cells are squeezed and the circulation of the blood arrested in its flow through the healthy tissues in the hope of stopping the progress of the disease. Nitrogen is used and Dr Morrison makes this gas himself I H ERE is the last word in municipal buildings, the new New York County court house, which will cost $10,000,000. The pictures below show drawings made by the architect, Guy Lowell, whose fee was $60,000. 73, BUT HE ELOPES WITH 4TH BRIDE $10,000,000 Structure Planned for Metropolis to be’Most Modern in Country. the Veteran, Crippled by Bullet at Shiloh, Weds Woman, 63, Three Times Widowed. ST. LOUIS, April 21.—J. H. Scott, seventy-three years old, took his fourth plunge into the sea of matri mony when he eloped with and be came the fourth husband of Mrs Anna V. Brim, sixty-three years •old. Mr. Scott is the fourth Civil War veteran to whom Mrs. Brim has been married, and he still is compelled to use crutches in walking, as the re sult of a bullet wound he received in the battle of Shiloh. Despite his physical disability the aged veteran slipped away from his home in El Dorado, Ill., early in the morning and went to the residence of Mrs. Brim in Harrisburg. The two had been friends s>inee Mrs. Brim's first marriage, in 1868, and they decided quickly to wed. Jubilantly they made they way to Belleville, where Mrs. Brim was taken to a hotel, while the bridegroom went in search of a license “You’ll have to bring your intended bride with you. or we cannot issue a license, as she may not be of legal age,” County Clerk Bosquet told the crippled veteran. Mr. Scott’s eyes twinkled as he wheeled about and departed. Re turning with his* blushing bride, he was soon in possession of the coveted document and on his way to Justice of the Peace Fred Obst’s office, where the ceremony was performed. “The fact that we are along in years does not make a bit of differ ence," the couple said last night, when seen at the Belleville House. “Our children will be surprised, but not disagreeably so.” SOLD BOTTLES TO PAY EUCHRE DUES, WIFE SAYS ST. LOUIS, April 21.—To raise 40 cents to pay her dues in a euchre club. Mrs. Kathie K. Anderson was forced to sell her husband’s empty whisky bottles, she testified in the suit of Charles J. A. Anderson, a prominent attorney, for divorce. To follow him to a banquet at For est Park Highlands during the sum mer of 1910, she got the money to defray her expenses by cashing a book of trading stamps, she Raid One of the greatest problems of the present time in the South is the question of new public buildings. At lanta is only one of the cities of the South which has a crying need of new buildings in which to house its municipal affairs. Therefore, contractors who make a business of constructing public build ings, are watching closely New* York City’s proposed $10,000,000 court house. This building, which will actually be two separate round build ings. one within the other, is said to be the last word in public buildings. The outer building is modeled after the (Yfiosseum in Rome. It will be 500 feet in diameter and five stories, or a total of 200 feet in height. 275-Foot Pile Inside. The inner building will be eight stories high, or a total of 275 feet. The three upper Kories will be re served exclusively for the Justices of the Supreme and City courts. In addition to its resemblance to ; the Colosseum from the outside it, will contain a replica of the Pantheon , In Rome about the central court or! main lobby, which rises to the height of three stories. The Pantheon was 102 feet in diameter. The lobby will be 115 feet in diameter. The outer shell will be devoted en tirely to court rooms. The first floor will contain eleven »’ity Court rooms and one large auditorium or court room to be used for special occasion?. The smallest of the City Court rooms will be 48x46 feet. Others are 48x48. The other floors in the outer build ings will be devoted to Supreme Court Honeymoon Salute Brings Out Firemen Friends of Newly Wedded Tarry- town, N. Y., Couple Cause Scare With Red Fire. NEW YORK. April 21.—Edward O. Wiley and his bride, Miss Elsie Peck, married at Dumont, N. J.. while bound up the Hudson on a night boat were given a salute as they passed Tar- rytown by Wiley’s friends, who burn ed a great quantity of red fire on the dock. The boat threw her searchlight on the pier and the reflection spread over the whole business section, giv ing the appearance of a big fire, in a few minutes the entire fire depart ment was dashing to the scene. rooms, of which there will be sixty - two. Eight of these will be large** than the other fifty-four. Each court room will have a gallery for spectaV tors. Guy Lowell, whose plans werae chosen in a competition with twenty-j two leading architec ts, is the first ar-U chitect to design a round public build-i ing in this country. When asked bowk he came to make this decision. hV said: Got His Idea In Rome.