Jasper County Democrat, Volume 7, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 December 1904 — Guilty, but Hurt. [ARTICLE]

Guilty, but Hurt.

“I was governor of my state for two terms,” said a well known western politician, “and I made up my mind as soon as I was sworn in the first time to right any wrong I might find In the two state prisons. I had somehow got the Idea that many innocent men were sent there.”

“And did you find it so?” was asked. “I did. There were over a thousand convicts in all, and I investigated 350 cases before I stopped. According to his own story, every one was an innocent man and the victim of injustice. There was Just one exception. He had been sent to prison for stealing a cow, and he lied to me for a long time. At length, one day after I had gone over the case with him for the fifth time and showed him that he must be guilty, he said: “It’s no use to try to deceive you, governor. I’ll admit that I did the stealing, but what hurts my feelings is the mistake they made. It wasn’t a cow at all, but a blamed old jackass, and the jury convicted me because It was sworn to that be gave twelve quarts of milk a day.”—Chicago News.