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| Joseph Weldon Bailey. |
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| Chauncey M. Depew. |
Cortland Evening Standard, Thursday, April 3, 1902.
WIT IN THE SENATE.
The American Girl and the Suppression of Oleomargarine.
Washington, April 3.—Mr. Bailey conceded the right of congress to enact the proposed bill as a measure of revenue, but if any senator should vote for it to suppress the oleomargarine industry he would "do violence to his sense of duty and to his obligations of office." He declared that the purpose of the bill was not to raise revenue, and in support of his assertion quoted the statements of the principal proponents of the pending measure. He maintained that the proposed bill contained a palpable violation of the constitution in that it sought to place a tax on the article manufactured and sold within a state.
Mr. Bailey sharply arraigned the creameries and cheese factories of the country, the former of which, he said, were the real backers of the legislation proposed.
Mr. Depew followed Mr. Bailey and supported the bill. He said he had never heard. a speech which so fired his fancy, so appealed to his imagination and had so little effect on his judgment as that of Mr. Bailey. He had been taught that competition was the life of trade, but competition should be honest. If a merchant deceived his customers by foisting a fraud on them he believed that man ought to be reached by law.
Mr. Depew, referring to a remark by Mr. Bailey, said that the American girl had been put in a wrong position before the people of the United States.
"I forgot for the moment," interjected Mr. Bailey, "a recent occurrence [marriage] in the life of the senator from New York or I should not have made the allusion. "(Laughter).
"And but for that occurrence," retorted Mr. Depew, laughing, "I should have left a younger man to come to the defense of the American girl. It was the senator's youth and beauty (great laughter) which astonished me when he made that remark. If he had been soured and disappointed in love, or if the sex had treated him in some way that would lead him to remark about it like that, I should understand him. But no one can meet the senator, no one can see him socially, or in his grave and dignified position, no one can see his photograph on Pennsylvania avenue without recognizing that his geniality, his happiness, his eloquence, have come because the American girl has admired him and loved him." (Long continued laughter.)
"And he never ought to have gone back on her today by saying she is a fraudulent specimen of living oleomargarine." (Laughter.)
At the conclusion of Mr. Depew's remarks, Mr. Bailey and Mr. Spooner became involved in a colloquy as to some legal phases of the bill. This was followed by an amusing colloquy between the Wisconsin senator and Mr. Stewart as to the meaning of the words "paramount" and "primary."
The senate went into executive session and soon adjourned.
Troops Coming Home.
Washington, April 3.—With the transports already at Manila or on their way there from San Francisco it is calculated that all the troops which have been in the Philippines since 1899 will be back in the United States or on their way home by June 1 next. One reason for hurrying these troops home is the presence of cholera in the Philippines.
Soldier Hanged at Manila.
Manila, April 3.—Private Healy of the Twenty-seventh infantry was hanged for the murder of Sergeant Moreland in April, 1901.
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| Benjamin Barker Odell, Jr. |
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| John Truck. |
APPEAL FOR CLEMENCY.
Attorney McCrahon Appears Before Governor Odell for John Truck.
Claims that Truck was Insane and that there had been Insanity in his Family—Governor will not lnterfere with Law, but will appoint two Eminent Alienists to Ascertain Truck's Mental Condition—Governor's Letter to District Attorney Dowd and the Latter's strong reply.
ALBANY, April 3.—Governor Odell gave a hearing this morning to Attorney McCrahon for the condemned murderer John Truck, who is now in Auburn awaiting the execution of his death sentence. Counsel said that Truck was undoubtedly insane at the time of the commission of crime; insanity had been in his family and the four experts at the trial were unable to agree as to his sanity.
The governor said he did not want to interfere with the carrying out of the law, but nevertheless he would appoint two prominent alienists, among them Dr. Pilgrim, superintendent of the Hudson River State hospital, to examine into Truck's mental condition and make report.
District Attorney Thomas H. Dowd has received a communication from Governor B. B. Odell, through his secretary, James G. Graham, in regard to the application for executive clemency that has been made by Attorney McCrahon for John Truck who is convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of Frank W. Miller of Virgil. The letter received by the district attorney and his reply to it:
STATE OF NEW YORK,
EXECUTIVE CHAMBER,
ALBANY, April 1, 1902.
Thomas H. Dowd. Esq., Cortland, N. Y.:
DEAR SIR—Application for executive clemency having been made on behalf of John Truck who was convicted of murder in the county of Cortland and sentenced March 17, 1900, to be executed, I am directed by the governor respectfully to ask your opinion of the merits of the application. The governor has a copy of the appeal book and also a copy of the opinion of the court of appeals in which the facts are set forth. No statement of the grounds upon which the application is based has yet been filed.
It is particularly requested that each letter of inquiry from the executive chamber should be separately answered.
Very respectfully yours,
JAMES G. GRAHAM, Secretary to the Governor.
District Attorney Dowd has made following reply to the governor:
CORTLAND, N. Y., April 3, 1902.
His Excellency, Hon. B. B. Odell, Governor of State of New York, Albany. N. Y.
DEAR SIR—I have received your request of April 1, 1902, for my opinion with reference to the application made on behalf of John Truck, who was convicted of murder in the county of Cortland, and which judgment of conviction was recently affirmed by the court of appeals. I thank you for the opportunity of expressing my opposition to a commutation of the sentence imposed upon the defendant Truck; and in expressing this opposition, I believe that I voice the sentiments of all those persons who were concerned in the prosecution, and assisted in securing the conviction. By reference to the appeal book, your excellency will observe that no evidence was submitted by the defendant, except upon the question of his insanity. It was conceded upon the trial, therefore, that Truck was guilty of killing Miller, his victim, and no contention has since been made that he might be innocent of that charge.
The murder was unusually atrocious in its character. Frank W. Miller, the victim, was murdered on the 14th day of March, 1899, at his home in the town of Virgil, Cortland county, N. Y., where he resided alone. His house was located in a sparsely settled neighborhood, on a crossroad about three-fourths of a mile from the main highway. His nearest neighbors were so far removed from his house, that the Miller house could not be seen from their residences. At about 11 o'clock on that night, neighbors discovered a fire in Miller's house, and arriving upon the scene they found the house wrapped in flames. As the sides of the building burned away, they saw what appeared to be a human body lying face down in a lower bedroom, and covered with clothing. When the floor gave away, this object was precipitated head down into the cellar. Shortly afterward, the body was recovered and fully identified as being that of Miller. The autopsy disclosed that death was caused by a blow upon the head, which fractured the skull, resulting in hemorrhage and suffocation, and was not caused by burning. The defendant formerly lived in this neighborhood, but at the time of homicide, resided at Homer, some ten miles distant. On the 13th and 14th days of March, the defendant was seen in the Miller neighborhood, and to the various persons who met him there, made contradictory statements as to the nature of his business in that locality. Immediately after the murder, it was discovered that a gray horse, a wagon and harness, and other articles of personal property had been stolen from Miller's barn and house, and the most of this personal property was found in the possession of this defendant, two days after the murder had been committed. It will be therefore observed, that there is no question but that this defendant killed Miller, and the purpose of killing was to gain possession of Miller's personal effects.
The crime was skillfully planned, and if his victim's body had been consumed by the flames, the people would have been unable to establish the corpus delicti, and Truck could not have been convicted. The defendant entirely failed upon the trial, to establish the defense of insanity. The bulk of the testimony offered by defendant's witnesses upon this subject was confined to the personal appearance of the defendant, and to certain habits of life. In rebuttal of this testimony, the people's witnesses showed conclusively that Truck was possessed of much intelligence and considerable mechanical skill; that he has been, for the greater part of his life, a laborer, and has worked at various occupations in which he has shown himself apt and willing, diligent and faithful, and has generally received for his services, the average wages paid laborers of his class.
During the defendants confinement in prison, and his trial, he demonstrated that be not only comprehended the nature of his crime, and knew that it was wrong, but also understood fully the nature of the punishment therefore. While confined in Cortland county jail, he wrote two letters by means of which he sought to throw suspicion upon a third party. The letters were sent in the name of the third party, and declared that the defendant, John Truck, was not the person who committed the crime, but that the writer was the real criminal. The defendant also systematically endeavored to deceive experts as to his real mental condition.
The question of defendant's insanity was thoroughly tried. Two eminent alienists, to wit: Dr. Allan McLean Hamilton and Dr. Henry Allison, made careful examinations of the defendant and his mental condition, and testified that Truck was not insane, but comprehended the nature of the crime, and knew that it was wrong. The question was submitted to the jury, and the unanimous verdict of the jury was that Truck was not insane, but was responsible for his deed. This question was submitted to the court of appeals, and that court found no reason for a reversal of the judgment.
The prosecution of the defendant has been attended with great expense to the county of Cortland. Much labor and care have been exercised in securing the defendant's conviction, and the subsequent presentation of the case to the court of appeals. The defendant was guilty, and has been so found, of a cold blooded murder. No case that has recently come under my observation is so undeserving of executive clemency. If this defendant should not be deprived of his life as a punishment of his crime, then the law of capital punishment should be repealed. The people of this county have no personal enmity or feeling against John Truck. His crime has caused them great expense and trouble, all of which they have incurred and undergone in order that the law might be vindicated and the guilty punished. They hope that the law may be allowed to take its course to the end that justice might be vindicated, and society and its safety be protected.
Yours respectfully,
THOMAS H. DOWD, District Attorney.
PAGE FOUR—EDITORIAL.
Truck's Appeal for Clemency.
Attorney McCrahon of Syracuse this morning appeared before Governor Odell to ask that the sentence of John Truck, the condemned murderer of Frank W. Miller, be commuted to life imprisonment. His plea was on the ground of insanity. The governor declined to interfere with the execution of the law, but said that he would appoint two eminent alienists to examine into Truck'» mental condition and report to him.
Meanwhile the governor inquired of District Attorney Dowd as to his ideas of commuting the sentence and his letter and the district attorney's reply both appear in another column. The district attorney is to be especially congratulated upon and commended for his reply. It is a strong letter, and it states the case exactly. It was a most atrocious crime and it was carefully planned and would have been skillfully executed but for the fact that two people were belated in going home from church and discovered the fire before it had gotten well under headway.
We are confident that there is not a person in Cortland county who believes in his heart that Truck was insane at the time. The prosecution produced two of the most eminent alienists in the country, and one of them is constantly accustomed to dealing with the criminal insane, and both of them pronounced him of sound mind. The defense swore two physicians who declare him insane. They had subpoenaed another expert upon insanity, but he came to Cortland, examined the prisoner, saw him for a whole day in the court room and went home again and it was announced that he was ill and not able to come again to testify and he continued so ill during the rest of the trial that he was not able to appear. It was generally believed at the time that he was not willing to appear in court and stake his reputation as an expert upon insanity upon testifying that Truck was insane, and it was not believed that the attorneys for the defense cared to hear the kind of testimony be would give. In fact the expert was afterward interviewed upon that very point by a representative of this paper and his evasive replies were more convincing as to his belief than any other statement could have been. As District Attorney Dowd has said in his letter, the people of Cortland county have no hostility or enmity against John Truck personally, but they know that he is guilty of an atrocious crime and they do not believe he was insane, but they do believe that he knew the nature of his act at the time and knew that it was wrong, and they believe that he should now pay the penalty of his crime.
BREVITIES.
—Arbor day this year will be observed on Friday, May 2.
—The annual meeting of the Presbyterian church and society occurs at the chapel of the church this evening at 7:30 o'clock.
—At the regular meeting of the police board last evening the resignation of Patrolman E. J. Byrnes was accepted. The bills of last month were audited.
—The last dancing party of the series given by the Assembly party will be held tomorrow evening in Red Men's hall. McDermott's orchestra furnishes music.
—There was a large crowd of people in attendance upon the auction sale of horses conducted by F. P. Saunders at the Messenger House stables this afternoon.
—Chief of Police Barnes escorted David Finn to the Onondaga County penitentiary this morning. During the chief's absence today Night Captain Baker acted in his stead.
—The new display advertisements today are—Cortland Fish & Oyster Co., Fresh fish, etc, page 7; S. P. Smith. Meats, page 7; City Cycle Co., Bicycles, page 4; McKinney & Doubleday, Wallpaper, page 7; Warren. Tanner & Co., Drygoods, page 4; E. MacClain, Mutual Life Insurance Co., page 4.
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