Thursday, 19th August 1915: Prison Guards Held Blameless For Deed By Governor Harris, The Atlanta Journal

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After Conference With Commission, Governor Says Any Prisoner at Farm Could Be Released by Determined Effort

$500 REWARD EACH FOR FIVE IN MOB

All Money in Reward Fund Will Be Used to Bring Lynchers of Frank to Justice, He Declares

Governor Nat E. Harris held an hour's conference Thursday with the members of the Prison Commission and went over with them in detail the manner in which Leo M. Frank was removed last Monday night from the State Prison Farm at Milledgeville by the mob that later lynched him near Marietta.

After the conference, the Governor said he had ascertained definitely one fact on which his mind had not been clear before and had reached two definite conclusions.

First, he ascertained from the commissioners the fact that Frank was not in the dormitory of the prison building where the prisoners sleep, and where Frank was sleeping on the night William Creen tried to kill him by cutting his throat, but was in an improvised hospital room adjoining the office of the prison warden.

This fact the Governor asked the newspaper men to emphasize, as he seemed to be under the impression that the fact had not been quite definitely settled in the public mind by the newspaper accounts of what transpired at the prison.

The two conclusions reached by the Governor and stated by him were as follows: First, that the guards in the prison could not have prevented the mob from removing Frank if they had tried, and that resistance on their part would have been suicidal and might have endangered the lives of other prisoners in the building. Second, that a delegation of the friends of any prisoner in the building, if they planned as well as the mob had operated with as much determination, could with comparative ease go to the prison and liberate their friend.

NOT A PENITENTIARY.

"The building at the State Prison Farm is not a penitentiary in any sense of the word," said Governor Harris. "It is designed primarily as a place to detain prisoners. There are very little, if any, facilities for resisting an attack from the outside, whether the attack be made by a mob for the purpose of lynching a prisoner or made by a delegation of friends of a prisoner for the purpose of liberating him."

"The need of an adequate building that will afford protection to the state both from within and without was stressed in my inaugural message."

The Governor was asked whether he ascertained facts that might lead to the identification of any members of the mob.

He stated that this feature of the conference would have to be treated as an executive matter, not yet ripe for publication, but he said he would like to be quoted as saying, along this line, that no effort within his power will be spared to bring the guilty to justice.

REWARD OFFERED.

"I will today offer a reward of $500 each for the arrest and conviction of any men in the mob," said the Governor. "The total amount of money at my command for reward purposes is $3,000. The maximum reward that I can offer is $500. I propose, therefore, to use all the available money except $500 in offering rewards in this case."

Asked whether he had yet finished his prepared statement to the public concerning the lynching, which statement he announced Thursday morning that he would issue, the Governor said he expected to finish it either late Thursday afternoon or early Friday morning.

The members of the Prison Commission R. E. Davison, E. L. Rainey and T. E. Patterson when interviewed Thursday, threw no light on the manner in which the mob removed Frank from the prison. They expressed the opinion that the guards could not have prevented the mob from accomplishing its work, if they had tried. They declared the mob operated with such silence, such swiftness and such precision that resistance was entirely out of the question.

HANDCUFFS KEPT.

Concerning the handcuffs with which a part of the mob handcuffed Superintendent Burke, R. E. Davison, chairman of the commission said today that they were left on Burke's wrists by the mob and later removed by Superintendent Smith with one of his handcuff keys that happened to fit them.

"Whether the handcuffs can be used as a possible means of tracing the identity of any member of the mob, I do not know," said Chairman Davison. "I have been informed, however, by a hardware dealer that on every pair of handcuffs can be found the name of the manufacturer and the number of the handcuffs, stamped into the metal, and that it is sometimes possible to trace handcuffs through the manufacturer and the dealer to the man who purchased them. At any rate, the handcuffs left on Burke's wrists are being kept at the prison, so that if they are of any value as a clue, they can be used."

Resolutions were unanimously passed Thursday by the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce calling on the Governor and all officers of the law to use their utmost power to bring to justice the members of the mob that took Frank out of the prison and lynched him.

Mayor Pro Tem I. N. Ragsdale, who is acting mayor in the absence of Mayor James G. Woodward, Wednesday night sent the following telegram to the New York World in answer to a request for a statement: "The daily and the weekly press of Georgia is practically unanimous in condemning mob law and urging the Governor to take action in the Frank case at once. He is investigating now, and will probably offer a reward tomorrow that will bring the guilty to justice. While a large percentage of our people believed Frank guilty, yet they are law-abiding and heartily disapprove of the action of the mob."

Lynching Party Said to Have Returned Toward Roswell

(Special Dispatch to the Journal.)

MARIETTA, Ga., Aug. 19. Unofficial investigations here are said to have established an alibi for practically every man in the city who, it is thought, could possibly have been a member of the party lynching Leo M. Frank. The only men known to have been away from their homes Monday night have, it is said, proven the fact that they were out of town on business trips. The general belief among prominent persons here is that Frank's lynchers all came from points far away from Cobb County.

Strengthening this belief is the report that W. J. Frey, former sheriff, and J. B. Wing, county commissioner, both have said that they saw the automobiles supposed to have contained the lynching party drive toward Marietta, and later back toward Roswell.

Mr. Wing is said to have recalled seeing the party drive by Roswell. Later, when on his way here to attend a meeting of the Cobb County Commissioners, he is said to have passed the party returning toward Roswell.

Frank's Body Arrives in New York Under Guard

(By Associated Press.)

NEW YORK, Aug. 19. The body of Leo M. Frank arrived here early today on board a Pennsylvania Railroad train. More than a score of detectives and police were on hand to guard against any demonstration, but few persons were gathered at the station. Mrs. Frank, who accompanied the body of her husband on the trip from Atlanta, was greeted by her sister-in-law, Mrs. Otto Stern, and others of Frank's relatives.

Frank's body was taken to an undertaker's establishment, a few blocks from the home of his father, Rudolph Frank, in Brooklyn, where his parents were waiting. Mrs. Frank was escorted to an automobile and went with Mrs. Stern to the Brooklyn home.

Several motorcycle patrolmen accompanied the automobile carrying Frank's body from the station to Brooklyn.

Mrs. Leo M. Frank was met at the Brooklyn house by her mother-in-law. Only a few persons witnessed the greeting between the two women, and it was more than an hour later when the presence of moving picture machines in front of the house caused a crowd to gather.

Otto Stern, brother-in-law of Frank, said the funeral would be private and declined to say whether it would be late today or tomorrow. A close friend of the family said later that funeral would not take place until tomorrow.Mrs. Rudolph Frank, mother of Frank, gave out a Statement today, in which she thanked the public for the kindness and sympathy extended to the Frank family. Mrs. Frank said she and her husband had received a large number of messages of sympathy from Southerners during the past two days. She said the family now asked to be left alone, and hoped to make the Funeral entirely private. For this reason, she declined to announce when it would take place.

The Funeral Services will be conducted by Rabbi David Marx, who accompanied Frank's body from Atlanta. Interment will be in the family plot at Cypress Hills Cemetery, Brooklyn.

By 10 o'clock, a crowd of more than 200 people had gathered in front of the Frank home. Police Reserves kept the crowd at a distance from the house. The crowd was quiet and did not attempt a demonstration of any kind.

Mr. Slaton Replies to Remarks by Woodward

The following Telegram was received from former Governor John M. Slaton Thursday: "San Francisco, Aug. 19, 1915." "Woodward's Statement that my return to Georgia would be dangerous is an outrage to the State. Such declarations under the false guise of Defense do incalculable damage and foster Lawlessness." "Everywhere I defended Georgia and attributed the feeling over the Frank Case to chivalric sympathy with a working girl and a mistaken view that I had not observed Court Decrees." "I granted Commutation solely in conformity with Constitutional Provisions made for such a Case when the trial Judge requested it and two Supreme Court Judges dissented and new evidence was produced which the Jury did not pass on." "The danger is that the heinousness of an Offense may cause the Identity of the Perpetrator to be overlooked." "My action protected every White Farm Hand and White Mechanic in Georgia from the conflicting prejudice of a drunken Criminal Negro." "A human Life should not be made the football of selfish politics." "Georgia is a great State, populated by Just-Thinking and Law-Abiding Citizens." "Mobs commit their depredations everywhere." "JOHN M. SLATON."

Board Will Take Proper Action, Asserts Patterson

COLUMBUS, Ga., Aug. 19. Prison Commissioner Patterson, who spent yesterday in Columbus on an inspection tour, declined to discuss the Frank Case in any form, other than to state that he did not know of the capture of the Prisoner until it was all over. "The Prison Board will look into the Affair thoroughly and take the proper action in the Case," is all that the Commissioner would say.

Statement Is Issued by Dr. Guy D. Compton

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga., Aug. 19. After reading published Statements criticizing conditions at the State Prison Farm here, Dr. Guy D. Compton, Prison Physician, tonight issued a formal Statement defending the management. In part, Dr. Compton said: "The Statement published in the form of an anonymous letter that Chairman E. E. Davison, of the State Prison Commission, had told me that we should throw all medicine in the dump heap and use leather, is absolutely untrue. Nothing of the kind ever was mentioned to me. The further Statement that Prisoners have been mistreated or severely whipped is wholly untrue, for if such had been the Case, it would have come under my observation and been reported to the Prison Commission."

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Chamber of Commerce Calls On the Governor to Bring Lynchers of Frank to Justice

The following resolutions, denouncing the lynching of Leo M. Frank and calling upon the Governor to use the Power of the State to bring the guilty Parties to Justice, were unanimously adopted by the Directors of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce at a meeting Thursday morning: Whereas, on Monday night, August 16, an armed Mob, after overpowering the Warden, Superintendent and Guards, took from the State Penitentiary at Milledgeville, Leo M. Frank, a Prisoner serving a Life Sentence and hanged him onto a tree in Cobb County, near Marietta, and left him there dead. Therefore, be it resolved, by the Directors of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce that by this Crime and its flagrant defiance of Officers of the Law, the State has been disgraced, its Sovereignty insulted and a grievous reproach cast upon our Civilization. It is no longer a question of the guilt or innocence of the Prisoner, of the right or wrong of Executive Clemency, or of the Life of one man. The question now is, shall we have a State Government in Fact as well as in name, or shall we be ruled by an organized Mob which scorns State Authority, overpowers its Officers, and executes with bloody hands the Decree agreed upon in midnight meetings of a secret Oath-Bound Organization. The Law-Abiding people of Georgia, who constitute the great mass of its Citizenship, will not be silent or indifferent when confronted by an issue like this. What we are dealing with is Anarchy in its most dangerous form. If it continues, no man's Life will be safe. Today the Mob claims one victim for one cause; tomorrow, unless this Lawless Spirit is curbed, a larger Mob will claim a hundred lives on some other pretext. This Spirit must be crushed with relentless determination. Therefore, we call upon the Governor and all Officers of the land to use all the Power of the State to bring the guilty parties to Justice. Resolved, further, that we call upon all true and brave Georgians to lift up their voices in denunciation of this foul Crime and its Perpetrators. Let every man show that he is on the side of Law and Order, giving no countenance to truckling Demagogues who pander to the Mob, and let every man who is a man stand ready to support and actively aid the Officers of the Law in stamping out the Mob Spirit wherever it is found.

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FRANK'S WEDDING RING ENTRUSTED TO REPORTER

O. B. Keeler Says Ring Was Handed to Him by Unknown Messenger

O. B. Keeler, a newspaper Reporter who lives in Marietta, has made public a signed Statement in which he claims that the wedding ring of Leo M. Frank was delivered to him Wednesday night by an unknown messenger with the request that it be turned over to Mrs. Frank. Mr. Keeler states the manner in which the ring was delivered to him as follows: "It was a little later than 8 o'clock Wednesday evening, and I was in the front room of my small house at No. 303 Polk Street, Marietta. I had just started the Victrola on a selection passionately adored by two very young Members of the family 'The Robert E. Lee Medley,' by a lively band. I like it, myself. It is very lively and ragged." "The band had just got into full swing when there was a step on the veranda outside the open door. Then a knock. I went to the door, opened the screen, and stepped out." There was a man on the veranda. He had something white in his hand. The following Dialogue took place. "Is this Mr. O. B. Keeler?" "It is." "I have a note for you." That was all. He spoke clearly and deliberately. He handed me an Envelope. He turned and walked down the steps and away in the dark. He wasted no time, but he was not in a hurry. I went inside. The Envelope contained a small object of some weight that had settled in one corner. It was addressed "Mr. O. B. Keeler." Under that was "Personal." Inside was the wedding ring of Leo M. Frank and a note, typewritten. I quote it from memory: "Frank's dying request was that his wedding ring be given to his wife. Will you not see that this request was carried out?" "This note will be delivered to you by a man you do not know and who does not know you. Make no effort to find out his Identity." "Your article in the paper of the 17th is good very good. The article in today's paper, evidently written by you, is also good." "You are expected to destroy this note after reading it."

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A Typical Eastern Comment On the Lynching of Leo Frank

Practically without exception, newspapers throughout the United States, North, South, East and West, are publishing Editorials severely condemning the lynching of Leo M. Frank. The following from Heart's New York of Wednesday, August 18, is typical of what the New York newspapers are saying.(From Hearst's New York American.)

Governor Slaton, of Georgia, was not afraid to deal justly with Leo M. Frank. Governor Harris, his successor, will not be afraid to deal justly with the ruffian mob that tore Frank from his cell and brutally murdered him.

Governor Harris has said: "It can be taken for granted that I will use my every power to see to it that the members of this mob receive fitting punishment for their crime. I will see to it that the authorities of the county in which the crime occurred are given every help at the disposal of the state."

These words will be heartily approved by every representative citizen of Georgia. That commonwealth no more condones lynchings than New York or Pennsylvania or Massachusetts condones assassinations which may occur within their borders.

The outcry against Frank was raised by hate-crazed irresponsibles in whose ranks were enough criminals to carry out the hideous plot that resulted in Frank's assassination.

For this outrage there can be no toleration, north or south, east or west. To allow the murderers to go unpunished would be to abandon justice and set anarchy up in its stead.

If the offering of a reward for the apprehension of the butchers will facilitate their capture, it should be offered.

Never have government and law and order been more flagrantly set at naught. Never has justice been more ruthlessly trampled upon.

Backed by the opinion of the best lawyers of the land, and sustained by the enlightened people of the state, Governor Slaton refused to permit Frank to be executed while there still existed grave doubt of his guilt.

The man was not freed. His sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. There was a brief demonstration against Slaton, which was frowned on by all intelligent Georgians.

Not daring to molest a courageous man, the cowards who composed the mob retired. But among them were a few who, encouraged by a spirit of sullen hatred and anarchy, plotted to overthrow justice at a blow, and glut their hatred by an act unparalleled, even in the bloody history of lynch law.

Mobs are always cowards. The murderers hoped to strike swiftly and escape. They did strike swiftly. Waiting till the act of Governor Slaton in commuting Frank's sentence had been generally accepted as the wisest course, they organized a force sufficient to overpower the ordinary penitentiary guard, dragged their victim forth and put him to death.

The attack was not expected. The guards were easily overpowered. Night aided the assassins in the purpose, and in skulking to cover once it had been carried out.

Until every man who took part in this crime is found and punished, the people of Georgia will have a duty to perform.

Governments are not set up to be overridden by assassins. Governors are not elected and put in office to have their decisions flouted by murderous mobs.

There can be no condoning any lynching. A lynching of this daring and atrocious character is an insult not only to the people of Georgia, but to the people of the whole United States.

There must be no refuge for these butchers. To give them aid or comfort, to offer them opportunity for concealment is a criminal act and should be punished as such.

For the authorities to rest while they are still at liberty would be an inexcusable dereliction of duty.

Governor Slaton vindicated the honor of the State of Georgia when he commuted Frank's sentence, defying, when he did so, the threats of the men who are now cowering from justice. Governor Harris has again vindicated it in his courageous determination to hunt down the murderers.

No means must be spared to bring this about. While they have their liberty, the honor not only of a state, but of the entire nation is at stake.