Those who are moving to have Governor McLean extend executive clemency to the 20 convicted members of the mob that stormed the county jail at Asheville last September will find little encouragement in the published record of the governor’s pardoning for the past year.
Although there has been a great deal of talk about pardons, the records show that only eight have actually been granted by the governor, and when it is considered that there were 1,275 appeals for pardons made it does not look any too bright for the Asheville men. Governor McLean has signified on more than one occasion that he believes in letting the work of the courts stand unless it can be shown that there was an error committed through lack of information or otherwise.
However, those who are behind the effort are still very active and apparently are letting nothing stand in the way in bringing every possible pressure to bear for the release of these men.
The petitions asking that the men be pardoned are still being circulated and are known to bear thousands of names of citizens of the community. There is no doubt but there is considerable sentiment in favor of releasing these men, largely because they represent merely a pitiful handful from the hundreds who were at the jail on the night of the trouble.
There are others who stand in such horror of violence, however, that they apparently are willing for the court action to stand without tampering, and they have refused to sign the petitions. They, it must be added, are very much in the minority. The palpable injustice of making 20 men pay for the work of several hundred does not sit well with the average citizen, apparently.
From the front page of the Polk County News, Tryon, N.C., Thursday, January 7, 1926. “Polk County—The Gateway of Western North Carolina”
newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/sn94058241/1926-01-07/ed-1/seq-1/
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