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Show "Mercy Seasons Justice" By LEONARD A. BARRETT Shakespeare's plea that mercy seasons sea-sons justice has found expression In - much of our best literature, notably in the character of I Jean Valjean in Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables." Try however hard he would to reinstate himself in society, the fact that Jean Valjean had spent nineteen years in prison, marked him as a man to be both feared and distrusted. When after having paid the penalty for his crime, he was given a yellow passport which described him as "a very dangerous dan-gerous man." Justice would have its pound of flesh regardless of its cruel workings upon a sensitive conscience. The fact that Jean Valjean had not only paid the price demanded by justice, jus-tice, but had the ability to make good and was actually achieving that end, had no influence whatever upon what the courts of France regarded as the imperial rights of the law. Occasionally we learn of a counterpart counter-part of the story of Jean Valjean enacted en-acted in real life today. Recently public opinion was aroused and did not hesitate hesi-tate to express Itself in many editorial edi-torial columns regarding the pursuit, for six years, by prison officials of the state of Ohio, of a man, who in a time of distress, stole a typewriter. Confessing his guilt he was sent to a reformatory, being only nineteen years of age, from which he escaped. Having pondered deeply upon the more serious aspect of life and the opportunities oppor-tunities it offered to youth with ability, he decided he was a fool, and would begin life all over again. Specializing Specializ-ing in the field of advertising he obtained ob-tained a thorough education, and rapidly rap-idly rose to one of the most important positions in the firm with which he was connected. But, "Justice" was in search of its prey, and was finally repaid re-paid for Its tremendous cost of six years of travel by cunning detectives, which the taxpayers of Ohio had to pay, by discovering its fugitive in a lucrative position and living a life which was in every way an asset to the community. When the prison authorities au-thorities demanded, in the name of justice, the return of the fugitive to prison we were not surprised to read that the firm for whom he worked remarked, re-marked, "All of the resources of this company will be available to fight against his return to prison." Why punish crime? There can be but one intelligent answer, for the protection of society. When that has been accomplished, let justice be seasoned sea-soned with mercy. , 1933, Western Newspaper Union. |