.
glARCII 27, 1908
The Commoner.
9
treasurer of the federation, and George A. Pet
ifibone, the trials of Haywood and Pettibone and
She. nlea of iruiltv entered by Orchard to the
Sharge of murder in the ilrst degree, the punish-
picnt for which, under the Idaho statutes, is
Heath. In regard to the part of Orchard in
the. trhilH .Indue Wood said: 'I am more than
satisfied that the defendant now at the bar of
his court awaltliiK final sentence has not only
feted in irood faith in making the disclosures
Khat he did. but that he also testified fully and
gairly to the whole truth, withholding nothing
that was material, and declaring nothing which
find not actually taken place. It was the par-
HTmilnr nrovince of the court to observe and
follow this witness upon the former trials and
Wain of the opinion that no man living could
conceive the stories of crime told by the wit
ness and maintain himself under tne inertness
fine of the leading cross-examining attorneys of
Sffe country, unless upon the theory thai lie was
RRtifvinir to facts and circumstances which had
fin actual existence within his own experience.
R. child can testify truly and maintain itself
Son cross-examination. A man may be able to
frnmn his storv and testify to a brief statement
m facts involving a short single transaction.
But I can not conceive of a case where even tne
greatest intellect can conceive a story of crime
TTovGrinc vears of duration, with constantly
Shifting scenes and changing characters, and
maintain that story with circumstantial detail as
7 times, nlaces. nersons and particular circuin-
KfincGs and under as merciless a cross-exam ina-
h7 r ......c mmr trtvnn o wltnncvt In fill AlllOrh'fltl
fcourt, unless the "witness thus testifying was
aggpeaking truthfully and without any attempt
Either to misrepresent or conceal.
CONTINUING HIS address, Judge wood
said: "Believing as I do, that the de
fendant acted in good faith, and that when
fcalled as a witness for the state, he told all
and withheld nothing, I can the more readily
fulfill the duty that I consider the law imposes
fupon me. In passing upon this question it is
immaterial that juries in the two cases tried
have declared that they were not satisfied with
the guilt of the defendants on trial. The stat
ute of the state imposes a bar to conviction on
tthe testimony of an accomplice alone, no matter
though he may be believed by the jury, unless
'there is other independent evidence tending to
'connect the defendant on trial with the com-
amission of crimes. And, again, in each of the
cases tried, tne court, at tne written request
of each of the defendants, instructed the jury
that a verdict of not guilty did not mean that
the defendant on trial was innocent, but rather
that his guilt had not been proven beyond a
reasonable doubt in the manner and form pre
scribed by law. For these reasons it is at once
apparent that the verdict of the juries referred
to are not necessarily at variance with the
Views here expressed. I am thoroughly satis
fied that under the facts in this case the court
has a plain duty to perform, and that the au
thorities quoted leave no alternative in the mat
ter, and under these authorities the defendant
must be recommended to the clemency of the
tpardoning board with the full assurance that
rit is not to be presumed that the equitable title
lo mercy which the defendant has acquired by
testifying to the truth will not be sacredly ac
corded to him by the board in which power to
pardon or cummute is vested by the state con
stitution. The recommendation of the court
to the pardon board is that the sentence of the
court about to be imposed upon this defendant
be commuted and that the death penalty be re
mitted. Aside from the reasons already given
for this recommendation, there is another rea
son in my opinion which should appeal strongly
to the court and to the pardoning board for
remitting the death penalty against the defen
dant. For several years a series of atrocious
crimes have been committed in this and other
states, and the confession and testimony of this
witness is the first direct evidence which has
been secured fixing responsibility for a consid
erable number of said crimes."
O
JUDGE WOOD referred to the crimes of arson
and murder in 1899, which culminated in
I the blowing up of the Bunker Hill and Sullivan
concentrator -and the death of two men and to
the fact that although a thousand men were
involved, only one man was identified and pun
ished therefor in the state courts. "Orchard
1 and Dewey, who at the time was a miner in
! the Couer D'Alenes, are the only two men of
the large number concerned," said Judge Wood,
"who have had the courage or disposition to dis
close the truth with reference to the crimes then
committed. This defendant also testified to a
long series of most atrocious crimes committed
by himself and others in the state of Colorado
and he was corroborated in such details in re
lation thereto that there can be no doubt about
his participation therein. While these offenses
were committed in the state of Colorado, this
stite, I think, under the rlrcumstancoH, is under
some obligation to withhold the execution of
the only person who has voluntarily and freely
disclosed these transactions. It is impossible
to believe that such a series of crimes can bo
committed with many persons connected there
with without one or more of said parties sooner
or later yielding to the remorse of conscience
and joining this defendant in confirmation of
the disclosure which ho has already made.
Again, under the circumstances, involving the
defendant, no good purpose can be advanced by
his execution, and there can be no demand
therefor except from those persons who stand
charged by his voluntary confession with the
grave crimes or by the defenders and apologists
of such persons. If there were no moral obliga
tion on the part of the state to grant the partial
immunity recommended I would still say that
there could be no good reason in this case for
inflicting the extreme penalty while so many
crimes have been disclosed that are yet un
punished." Judge Wood, after reading his rul
ing, formally sentenced Orchard and fixed May
15 as the date for the execution. Orchard
asked permission to speak and it was granted.
He thanked the court for the review of the
case and for the kindly remarks in regard to
him. He repeated that he had told the whole
truth and that no promise of immunity or of
mercy had ever been made to him. Before he
had concluded tears were streaming from his
eyes and he all but broke down as he again in
a broken voice thanked Judge Wood for his
recommendation to the board of pardons."
O
A WASHINGTON dispatch said that Senator
Aldrich had told the president that Wil
liam R. Hearst had picked Senator LaFollette
as the presidential candidate of the Indepen
dence League. An Emporia, Kan., dispatch to
the Chicago Record-Herald says: "E. S. Wa
terbury of Emporia, populist national commit
teeman from Kansas and delegate to his party's
national convention at St. Louis, is quoted as
saying today that United States Senator Robert
M. LaFollotte of Wisconsin would be nominat
ed on the first ballot for president by the popu
lists. He stated further that Senator LaFol
lotte would not be given a chance to accept or
refuse the nomination until after the republican
national convention is held."
TIE DULUTH News-Tribune (rep.) prints
this editorial: "When Mr. Dalzell said to
his democratic colleagues in congress, 'You may
have dissensions in your ranks, there is no dis
sension in ours; we are unanimously in favor
of the nomination at the Denver convention as
democratic candidate for the presidency of the
great commoner and the great uncommoner,
William Jennings Bryan,' he came as near tell
ing the truth as was safe for him under the
circumstances. Partisan politicians of the party,
such as Mr. Dalzell, hope for Mr. Bryan's nom
ination, because they believe, in their short
sighted arrogance, that a republican 'yellow dog'
could defeat him. The great body of the party
hope for his nomination for a very different
reason. They are no longer afraid of him. The
free silver issue is dead and not even Dalzell
can blow life into it. The government owner
ship of railroads under our political system is
but a far cry of vengeance. The initiative and
referendum as a national issue is in the dim
distant future. But on the one great and dom
inant issue the people know just where Mr.
Bryan stands, and that he stands unhitched ex
cept to honest, unswerving, patriotic conviction.
The republican rank and file want Mr. Bryan
as a refuge in case their own party should nom
inate a reactionary. If the interests control the
Chicago convention there are hundreds of thou
sands of republicans who will vote for Mr.
Bryan, if he is a candidate. This is what the
Dalzells are too narrow-minded and too politi
cally provincial to Bee, but it is no less a recog
nized fact with those who tread the earth, if
not with those whose feet wear the marble floors
at Washington. Mr. Bryan is but little more
popular in congress than is President Roosevelt.
Were ft not for the fenr of public opinion on
both sides, the day of Andy Johnson might
bo repeated. Vet in spile of thin knowledge of
public sentiment a personal to themselves, ro
publlcan congressmen seem to think that thoy
can foist an anti-Roosevelt cHiididute upon the
country and defeat Mr. Bryan. If they should
succeed, they would awake next November from
their folly and begin earning an honest living."
o
) ISFtilUlIXG TO former Governor Phorlridgc,
l who died recently at Devil's Lake, N. D.,
the Grand Forks (N. D.) Dally Herald says:
"Eli C. D. Shortrldge was born In Cabell county,
West Virginia. March 29. IS.'H), and therefore
at the time of his death was seventy-elichl years
of age. He was educated in the district school
of the neigh borhood and later at an academy at
Par, Mo., to which locality he moved at an early
dale. He engaged in mining in that state, and
twenty-five years ago married Miss Anna Bur
ton at Moberly, Mo. Soon afterwards he moved
to Dakota, and took a prominent part In the
struggles of the early pioneers. He settled at
Larimore, where he helped to lay out the pres
ent townsile of that place. At one time ho
owned a large farm in (hand Forks county. In
the campaign of I M2 he was persuaded to run
for governor on tin fusion ticket, he then hold
ing a position as Just lee or the peace at Lari
more. He never aspired to public oillce, but
he made a personal canvass throughout the
state, in the end defeating Andrew II. Burke,
who was running for a second term on the re
publican ticket. At the expiration of his term
of office, he was succeeded by Roger Allen, re
publican. Shortridge's gubernatorial adminis
tration was run entirely In the interests of the
people. Ills career since coming to North Da
kota, twenty-seven years ago, has been consis
tent with a life of unbroken honesty and un
swerving devotion to the better aspiration of
life. He was engaged In the grain commission
business In Minneapolis after the close of his
term as governor and later removed to Devils
Lake, where he has since made his homo."
O
J AMISS 12ADS HOWE and other members' of
the "national committee" of the unem
ployed have addressed a petition to the pres
ident, congress state legislatures and to the
general public asking for remedial legislation.
This petition demands that something be done
to insure against "onfoiced idleness" and sug
gests that sufficient of the public domain be
put at the disposal of the unemployed for
colonization and settlement. It demands the
modification of vagrancy laws so that when
men are punished for vagrancy they shnll he
entitled to a credit of fifty cents each for every
day's imprisonment, said sum to be paid to
them in cash at the time of their release. As
further measures of relief the petition sug
gests: "First, that congress issue and appro
priate $150,000,000, or as much as shall be
necessary, to improve and deepen the water
ways of tlie entire country, and especially those
of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, by means
of which enterprises employment shall bo fur
nished to the unemployed. Second, that con
gress make ample provision and appropriation
for a system of national highways and better
rural free delivery routes, and that these en
terprises also be made to furnish employment
to the unemployed. Third, the enactment into
law of the so-called Coxey non-interest bearing
bond bill, an act to provide for public improve
ments and for the employment of the citizens
of the United States, whereby towns, counties,
cities or states, desiring to make public Im
provements and give employment to those un
employed, may deposit with the secretary of
the treasury of the United States a non-interest
bearing twenty-five year bond, said bond to be
retired at the rate of four per cent of the prin
cipal per annum; and that against this bond the
secretary of the treasury of the United States
shall cause to be engraved and printed treasury
notes in the denominations of one, two, five,
ten and fifty dollars each, which shall be a full
legal tender for all debts, public and private,
to the full face value of said bond and deliver
in return for it ninety-nine per cent of said
notes, retaining one per cent for the expense
of taking care of this department. And in order
that in future the victims of enforced idleness,
together with the whole people, may be able,
by direct legislation, to enact such remedial or
corrective measures as they may deem adequate,
we call for the establishment of the system of
initiative and referendum in municipality, state
and nation."
