Part 8

Governor’s private office in State Capitol, St. Paul, Minn. Pardon Board hold their meetings here.

[Governor’s reception room, State Capitol, St. Paul, Minn.]

Governor’s reception room, State Capitol, St. Paul, Minn.

The laws of man ever since the days of Moses, Confucius, Lycurgus, Solon and Christ are intended to be just and impartial to all men; but no law yet created by our wise jurists and statesmen can eradicate from the individual the brand of Cain placed upon him by society,—that of an ex‐ convict. The Pardon Board can enlarge a man’s liberty by making him a free citizen and a tax‐payer, but it cannot free his conscience from the stigma of disgrace that clings to him until the portals of eternity open to receive him. We believe that the pardoning power, judicially applied, is the greatest aid to true reformation yet discovered.

The Minnesota State Board of Pardons consists of the Governor, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the Attorney General. Its meetings are held quarterly in the state capitol building, and they meet on the second Monday in January, April, July and October.

The law governing the granting of pardons is as follows: “Such board may grant an absolute or a conditional pardon, but every conditional pardon shall state the terms and conditions on which it was granted. A reprieve in a case where capital punishment has been imposed may be granted by any member of the board, but for such time only as may be reasonably necessary to secure a meeting for the consideration of an application for pardon or commutation of sentence. Every pardon or communication of sentence shall be in writing and shall have no force or effect unless granted by a unanimous vote of the board duly convened.”

A convict in the prison Mirror writes as follows:

“Exercising clemency toward convicted persons is a subject that arouses many editorial writers. These newspaper men are creators of public opinion, and it would seem possible for them to calmly, impartially consider the subject instead of disseminating personal ideas immature in reasoning and founded on the erroneous conception that every person in prison has received a fair, impartial trial and that the sentences must be warranted upon the trial court’s proceedings. In fact, the majority of editorial writers should refrain from casting reflections upon the pardon power because it seems too lenient or applaud it for refusing leniency toward prisoners. Their attitude shows plainly a lack of discernable ability. Few prisoners appeal to the pardon power of a state for clemency. Clemency is a term used for pity. Prisoners, as a rule, detest being considered seekers after pity. This is the concealed idea of many editorials, and thereby erroneous. The prisoner appeals to the pardon power because it is a lawfully created power to entertain his appeal, which is based upon his opinions concerning the justice of a sentence as opposed to the injustice of the trial court’s imposed sentence. The appellant is not after pity, but expects justice. He has a right to the benefits of the law, and has a right, not only to ask for, but to demand justice. And no class of persons should exploit these facts more than editorial writers. Today they are greatly responsible for the necessity of wives, children and mothers practically begging for pity for some loved one in prison. We need Websters to interpret the law and demand justice for clients—not wives, mothers and friends to beg for pity.”

PATHETIC INCIDENTS AT MEETINGS OF PARDON BOARD.

“My little girl Virginia, only four years old, has been praying to Santa Claus every night for the past week, instead of to God. She has asked Santa every night to give her her papa for Christmas.”

“It seems all a dream, and I am afraid that I will awake to find it isn’t true. But I felt all day that the pardon would come. I don’t know why it was, but I caught myself singing this morning as I went about the house. It is the happiest day of my life. It will be the happiest Christmas that my family has ever spent.”

“Fred doesn’t know that the pardon board meets today. He expects that it will meet Thursday. I am going to take the pardon with me to the prison, present it to Warden Wolfer and take my husband home with me.”

It is a young woman, the wife of a chief of police convicted of grafting, pleading before the pardon board for his release. She has worked a year securing evidence. It is just two days before Christmas and the board is called for a special session. The governor, the chief justice of the supreme court and the attorney general, who constitute the pardon board, hear her case with tears in their eyes. Attorneys and others plead for him also. Then the board goes into session. They decide that seventeen months in prison has served the ends of justice. They summon the young wife.

“Your husband has been granted a full pardon,” announces one of the members.

“May he come home with me now?” she asks, faltering, then she swoons. Soon she recovers. The pardon is signed. She takes it with her to Stillwater, presents it to the warden and a moment later husband and wife are in each other’s arms. Merry Christmas it was for them.

“He’s all I’ve got, judge. I’ll take him anywhere, or I’ll keep him right at home in Minneapolis, if you will only let him out. I want to take care of him, for he’ll die if he stays there.” Tears drop from the mother of a youth of twenty‐two who has been sent to prison for twelve years for larceny. “I’ve saved $250 in the last five years, and me doing day work,” she says proudly. Her son is suffering from tuberculosis. The board believes that it is better for him to be under such a mother’s care than die in the prison and he is released.

Nowhere else, unless it be at a hospital, must one gaze at such a seemingly unending sad procession of pain‐torn hearts, the anguished souls of mothers, fathers, sisters, sweethearts and wives, than at the meeting of the pardon board every three months. Nowhere else are the grinding knives of the law more apparent. Few are as fortunate as the two cited above. Of the two or three dozen cases at each meeting, seldom are more than two or three persons shown any mercy.

Here is the case of a murderer sentenced to hang. An attorney pleads for him; points out that the evidence was doubtful, says that the spirit of vengeance guided the jury. But the board has the evidence before it. “It clearly shows that the crime was premeditated,” remarks one member. There is no hope.

A sweet faced girl who has journeyed all the way from Seattle to take her brother back with her, finds that the law could not pardon an offender because his sister believes in him and loves him. The board must be shown that the punishment was too severe for the crime or that life at home will serve better to make the offender a useful citizen than doing penance at the prison.

To an aged father and mother of a boy serving a thirty‐month sentence for stealing $56 worth of grain, the sad news is meted out that their son must serve out his sentence. They had trusted with the blind faith that the board would release him because they needed him. “The farm is running down and Charlie ought to be home to help care for things. He had always been a good boy,” they said.

Scathing lectures are often given those asking pardon for the undeserving, by the members of the board. “Do you think fifteen months is too much for a man who shot his wife? It was not his fault she did not die,” the chief justice recently told some friends of a man who had hunted up and shot a wife who had left him. “If my sister were outraged by a man, shooting would be none too good for him,” the governor recently told a smooth‐ tongued attorney who was making a plea for a man serving a long sentence for a heinous crime.

So it goes. There is mercy for a few; there is the stern and unrelenting law tor the many.

[decoration, smoking gun]

PRESS NOTICES.

MORE LIGHT.

Mr. Heilbron’s book on Convict Life at the Minnesota State Prison should obtain a wide circulation. The world outside regards the world inside much as it would regard another planet, and is curious accordingly. As a general rule, the “heroes” of this work of art are saying nothing and spinning twine and when they get back to Civilization they keep up the habit. While apt to examine books of this kind in a decidedly critical light, the heroes aforesaid will find in this one no misstatements of fact and no flights of fancy. The illustrations too are excellent, the one of No. 1055’s back being a speaking likeness. Another first‐class picture is the one which reproduces the magnificent polish on Mr. Nelson’s counter in the tailor shop. The bindery, too, that smoothly running one‐man department, has quite a palatial appearance. The “chiel amang us takin’” flashlights is to be congratulated. It may be doubted whether a copy of this little book will hereafter be found in every home in the state, but it would not do any harm. Maybe when Horace was hesitating about signing papa’s name in papa’s checkbook, the family copy would strike his eye and induce him to—go ahead?—

(Prison Mirror, July 29, 1909.)

A NOVEL VOLUME.

“Convict Life at the Minnesota State Prison” Published by Mr. W. C. Heilbron of St. Paul.

“Convict Life at the Minnesota State Prison,” of which Mr. W. C. Heilbron, assistant public examiner, St. Paul, is the author and publisher, is a neat volume, replete with halftone illustrations of scenes, views and incidents of this institution, occupying 134 pages of text, including pictures.

The frontispiece is a remarkably good likeness of Hon. Henry Wolfer, the warden, under whose guidance during the past eighteen years the Minnesota State Prison has made its remarkable penological and financial success.

To one unacquainted with the modus operandi of dealing with prisoners in a penitentiary, “Convict Life at the Minnesota State Prison” affords an accurate and sustained story from start to finish. In this book is given a detailed description of the reception of the prisoner, the manner in which he is handled, clothed, fed, assigned to duty and governed by the resident officials, with excellent sidelights upon the situation.

The illustrations are numerous and give interior views of buildings, shops, departments and hospital, together with interesting scenes of parades, drills and other matters of moment to the reader.

Citizens—even those who have visited penal institutions—obtain but a very scant conception of the method and manner in which they are conducted by a casual observance upon the occasion of a visit. “Convict Life at the Minnesota State Prison,” however, is written so that all may gain a proper conception by reading it, and the illustrations materially aid in that respect. This book will be the means of doing a great deal of good in removing false notions regarding inmates and it ought to enjoy a large sale.—(Prison Mirror, July 22, 1909.)

EDITORIAL.

On the first page of this issue of The Mirror will be found a brief review of the volume entitled “Convict Life at the Minnesota State Prison.” Until recently the publication of matter of that character has been tabooed by managers of penal institutions. However, there is no harm in such publicity. Conditions are constantly improving and penologists recognize that fact. Corporal punishment and the lockstep have been abolished in many prisons.

The problem confronting wardens is not “how to punish prisoners,” but rather how to reform them and restore them to society as good citizens.

The Minnesota State Prison is referred to as a model, and, while the buildings now occupied are old and antiquated, unfit for prison purposes and manufacturing, nevertheless the morale of the inmates is of a high grade and credit is due to those who have brought this condition about. As the author, Mr. W. C. Heilbron, truly states, the first two months of incarceration for the average prisoners provide punishment enough to last a lifetime. Of course this does not apply to all inmates, but it is certainly true of many of them.

It is neither the purpose nor the province of The Mirror to laud any one in particular regarding the management of the Minnesota State Prison. The facts speak more eloquently than all the eulogies that could be uttered. The Mirror, however, desires to direct the attention of the public to the fact that no harm is done by the publication of such a volume as “Convict Life at the Minnesota State Prison,” and much good may result from its compilation and circulation.

There have been prisons and dungeons since the earliest days of recorded history and no doubt such institutions will be in vogue until the end of the universe. Great advancement has been made in the treatment of those who have been so unfortunate as to be segregated from society in general and the publication of facts instead of fancy will be the means of clarifying the atmosphere considerably as to what is just and humane and of the greatest earthly benefit to men and women who have, either through ignorance, accident, design or viciousness, fallen from grace and become the wards of the commonwealth in a prison or penitentiary.

To the end that the public may be fully and reliably informed of the facts in relation to prison life the volume mentioned must prove to be of great value to all those who peruse its pages with an open mind and a generous heart—(Prison Mirror, July 22, 1909.)

[decoration, twine ball]

[Minnesota State Fair advertisement] [Minnesota’s New $2,250,000 State Prison Now in Course of Construction]

Minnesota’s New $2,250,000 State Prison Now in Course of Construction

1 Editor’s Note.—In the preface we stated that the names of former inmates of the Minnesota State Prison with sensational reputations would not appear in this book. However, there has been such an arbitrary demand from the general public, that we have concluded to insert the version of an exploit by one of the early inmates of the institution. Page 49 shows hospital cell occupied by Cole Younger during the 25 years of his incarceration. This is the first time this story has been published in book form. It is surmised the names Howard and Woods indicate Jesse and Frank James respectively.