Governor To The General Assembly Of Georgia June 23 1915 State Vs Leo Frank Page 4

I desire to say in this connection that the people of the State of Georgia desire the esteem and good will of the people of every State in the Union. Every citizen wishes the approbation of his fellows, and a State or Nation is not excepted. In the preamble to the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote that 'When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.'

Many newspapers and multitudes of people have attacked the State of Georgia because of the conviction of Leo M. Frank and have declared the conviction to have been through the domination of a mob and with no evidence to support the verdict. This opinion has been formed to a great extent by those who have not read the evidence and who are unacquainted with the judicial procedure in our State.

I have been unable to even open a large proportion of the letters sent me because of their number, and because I could not, through them, gain any assistance in determining my duty.

The murder committed was a most heinous one. A young girl was strangled to death by a cord tied around her throat, and the offender deserves the punishment of death. The only question is as to the identity of the criminal.

The responsibility is upon the people of Georgia to protect the lives of her citizens and to maintain