Show THE TWO EXECUTIONS Two men were deprived of i life yesterday yester-day In clue process of law for Iheh I crimes one In Utah the other InWyo ming Both died protesting their Innocence Inno-cence to the last But was there any reasonable doubt of guilt In either case We do not bclovc that there was wasPelcr Mortciuvm was shot to death within the walls of the Utah penllen tiiry within about half an hour oC the earliest time fixed by the court for the execution of the death penalty He had been given his choice between hanging and that form of death and he chose to be shot In his case the whole possibilities possi-bilities of the law have been tried and tried again and appeals have been made to every possible authority of the State to no purpose There has been in the minds of many a reluctance to this execution of the law because the case was considered one of clrcumsUin tinl evidence alone While It is true that It Is a case of circumstantial evidence evi-dence it Is also true that the guilt of the accused was rendered so clear that all reason to doubt Mortensens guilt was taken away this means that it Is unreasonable to doubt his guilt The l story of the crime appears elsewhere In this paper Mortensens story of his having the money to pay the note and luring his victim James Hay to his house being one thoroughly unbelievable unbeliev-able We are confident that the public judgment will be that he met the fate which is just so long as we have a law for putting murderers to death In tins case we consider that all the officials having to do with it from the courts to the death watch have done their full duty under very trying circumstances and arc entitled to the approbation of the public The hanging at Cheyenne of Tom Horn for shooting a fourteenyearold boy ends a case which has aroused very keen and widespread interest in Wyoming The Snllueueea which endeavored en-deavored to save Horn from the gallows gal-lows werc very powerful and persistent But the Governor and the Sheriff were firm and did their duty like men They are steadfast admirable officers and deserve well of their fellowcitizens It seems a barbarous thing to thus take human life and when it is done I one is apt to think that civilization is but skin deep after all The life SH forfeit to he State without doubt butt but-t is n poor use for the State to make oC It to snuff it out leather would It not be better and more In accord with science and civilization to use lives which are thus forfeit for the good of humanity at large Why not follow the suggestons of men of science and pat such convicts to medical and chemIcal Ical use testing on their systems such problems as present themselves In med ical practice and scientific research It will probably be objected that this would be inhuman Perhaps so but at least the human race would probably get some benefit out of it and the qucs ion of Inhumanity can hardly be raised by any one who advocates either the death penalty or the shutting xip of a man for life in prison |