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TTTE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS, MONDAY, APRIL 21. 1012. 3 “ - F T Brown On Pardons—Opposes Blease *•* +•+ +•+ +•+ +•* *•* Governor Won’t Defeat the Courts _ j **+ *•+ *•* +•+ +•+ *•+ *•* +•* I Asks Rivets, Not Elastics, for Law MEN OF RICHES 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 East, during the progress of which he dropped off for a few days in Washington, taJks most interestingly of the general political situation as he found It outlined there. He preferred not to discuss specific differences of opinion existing here ind 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 tevision. 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—most noticeably, but as a rule they will not fail 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, even though they are keeping up a brave front, as it is.” Friends of P. D. 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 DalTin not only has 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 ne has ren dered the city* of Savannah without compensation. ‘ * Dafiin has little to say about his Candida- : except that he is in the race to stay. H 1 says he is stronger than some people imagine, and that as a “dark horse” 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 Park 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 somew'hat 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 if 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. It is rumored that there are other turndowns to come, moreover! The fast of trie Confederate pen sions for the current year have just been paid—more than three months late. Of course, under the present sys- ! «m. the delay cannot be helped, but ’be incoming Legislature might make a note of the. delay, and see if it cas • .f a ramuflv next summer. 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 on tertained by the Governor of South Carolina, as set forth in Hearsth 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 personal prerogative of the executive office largely; the other looks upon it as an impersonal and logical provision of the funda mental law r to be most carefully ex ercised. Opinions Are Sinoere. 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 set 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 b^en 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 Ask*. “Why, then, must the executive of ficer, who was not in the cxmrt room and did not hear or see the witnesses 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 ? “Jn clemency hearings it lias, been stated to me time and again that the Stat f> does not need to hold that man i j wav from his family a longer time 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 innccent 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.” *L_ 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 eases 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 passion, sweeping over a community, influences a jury into ex tremes. It is true tlrat judges them selves sometimes err, and sometimes, I am sorry to say, are prejudiced, and that it is the duty of the executive to protect the people against such judges. “There are other causes which call for tlie exercise of clemency in ex ceptional cases, bt*t, these are excep tions. As a rule, those placed in au thority by the people should conform their official, as well as personal, acts to the words spoken by the Almighty Himself, viz: 'They shall keep the way of 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 <lo not doubt that 50 guilty men go free to one innocent man who is adjudged guilty. Quite likely the proportion is even 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 but stating it* correctly when 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 tin* 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 law. “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.” 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 unterrifled electo rate Into the ease of Blea&e 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, stern 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. 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 it. Each State seems abundantly sat isfied with its Governor. • Which, then, is right in his view of the pardoning \ ower it is as pretty a problem as might be submitted in a thousand efforts! Vice President Reasserts Rever sion of Great Fortunes to State Is Coming. WASHINGTON. April 20. -Vice President Marshall declared thut “if the men of power and wealth con- cult their consciences in business they will not have to worry so much about the law.” He has been deluged with criticism from rich men and women following his speech in New York, when ht warned millionaires that if they were not careful they would find a propo sition raised ^and carried that the State dispose of great fortunes. Mr. Marshall, however, declared the idea was not original with him. that it had been indorsed by the attorneys of the country generally and that some such plan would eventually be adopt ed in this country. "When I said in New York that Karl Marx and hunger and a longing for happiness were abroad in the land," said the Vice President, “I was ex pressing not only my own opinion, but the opinion of others. From men of nil classes I have heard expressions of disgust with present economic pol icies. 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 1 said: The right to inherit and the right to devise are neither inherent nor con stitutional, but on the contrary they arc- simple privileges given the State to its citizens.’ “I think it war the State Bar As sociation of Illinois which at one time recommended that a large part of 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 o me the opinion that were a vote to be taken on the proposition that rill estates over $160,000 revert to the State upon the death of the owner— the $100,000 being exempt—it would be curried two to one?. “The prevent tariff monopoly is thf chief cause of our unrest, and mer are asking with concern whether there is any difference between the manufacturer who comes to the Gov ernment to ask for help in his busi ness and the poor man who goes tc the workhouse to got help. People Now Want Chance. “The people were told in the lust campaign that trusts were a natural evolution and that the bnlv way tc deal with them wav to regulate them. The people are tired of being told such things. What they want is tin- kind of opportunity that formerly ex isted in this country. “One man in my State told me he had $106,000 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. < )ne of his own friend.-' told him he had better not go on a 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 v< ry able man might not want to earn $20,000 working for the steel trust, however. He might prefer to Kart a little rolling mill of his own. so that he would be inde pendent and his own master, even though he made but $5,000 a year “The question is being pressed why the Government should be expected to guarantee profits to the manufacturer when It does 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 arc many evils that can not be reached by statute, and men are saying—and strong men, too— that if business men do not consult their 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. 1 would go down into the ditch to shake the hand of the poor man, but I would aleo be glad to shake the hand of the rich mar. We are all brothers. But T be lieve that the men of power should know what the rest of the people are saying, and I repeat merely what has been said to in? “The w hole 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 j’our qualifications?’ asked Butler. I know all the statutes of the State of Massachusetts,” said the young man. ‘Well, then.’ said Butler I’m 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. is fighting tuberculosis in a scien tific way. Dr. James H. Morrison, county health commissioner, and a brother-in-law of I)r. Essex, is as sisting him Dr. Essex is afflicted with the disease and is giving his own case 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 1 Dr Morrison make*’ this gas himself 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! $10,000,000 Structure Planned for the i- Metropolis to be Most Modern L in Countrv. 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 Knee Mrs. Brim’s first marriage, in 1868. and they decided quickly to wed. Jubilantly they made they way to Belleville, where Mrs. Brim wan 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 lie wheeled about and departed. Re turning with hie 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 di.**agreeably so.” SOLD BOTTLES TO PAY EUCHRE DUES, WIFE SAYS ST LOUIS, April 21.—To raise 4c cents to pay her dues in a euchre club. Mrs*. Katilie E Anderson was forced to sell her husband’s empty whisky bottles, she testified in the suit of Charles J. A. Anderson, » j •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 said. 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 Y’ork City’s proposed $10,000,000 court house. Thin 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 Colosseum in Rome. It will be 500 feet in diameter and five stories, or a total oi 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 !>** devoted en tirely to court rooms. The fir.K floor will contain eleven City Court rooms and one large auditorium or court room to be used for special occasions. 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 Dumoht, 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 v. ill be sixty - two. Eight of these will be large# than the other fifty-four. Each court room will have a gallery for specta tors. « Guy Lovvell, who.-e plans were chosen in a competition with twenty- two leading architects, is the first ar chitect to design a round public build ing in this country. When asked how, h» cam' to make this decision, h^ said ■ Got His Idea In Rom*. “I got the idea when I was in Rome last year. I saw there a model of the city of Rome as it existed 1.800 years'ago. I found many round build ings in the group, and was struck by their beauty and the economy iu space and cost of construction.” There will be four main enframe* with eight Corinthian columns at each, with -pace for eight statues of the world's great law givers, from Mosey down to the present day. Above this the entire building is to be sur rounded by eighty Doric columns^ each forty feet in height. The Corin thian columns will be fifty feet high. The ground floor will cover the en tire site, and will contain 120,00(1 square feet of floor space. There will be twenty-four public and eight pri vate elevators leading from the ground floor. There will also be freight service and food elevators. Of course. New York's proposed < ourthouse e- probably much larger* than any needed in Atlanta, but local contractors who have studied the plans of this building, declare that it. is.an ideal construction; and a con struction of a similar one in Atlanta would be a step forward along “Tho City Beautiful” line. $1 Bet Nearly Costs a Swimmer’s Life After Hearty Meal at Clambake Man Tries Mile Dash in Long Island Sound. NEW YORK, April 21.—Stephen Pender, 38, of New Rochelle, N% Y., lost a wager of $1 and very near-* ly his life in an effort to swim a mile in the cold water of Long Island Sound. As the result of exhaustion ir:& shock he is in a critical condition ;viT the Ford ham. Hospital. The wag^ was made during a clambake m Hunter’s Island and after Pendtrr hkti eaten h hearty meal.