Pardon

He was innocent of any crime. Yet he had spent three years and four months in Sing Sing prison for a forgery he did not commit. Last week portly Bertram M. Campbell (TIME, Aug. 6), a free man again, got a magnanimous pardon from the state.

It was a little embarrassing for all concerned: the Governor who pardoned the innocent man had been the District Attorney who sent him up the river. But the ceremony went off without a hitch. Governor Thomas E. Dewey summoned Campbell from New York City to the Executive Chamber in Albany. There, in Campbell's presence, he signed a specially engraved document. The traditional wording of a pardon had been changed from "fit object of our mercy" to "innocent of the crime for which he was convicted."

There were tears in Campbell's eyes as Governor Dewey shook his hand. Then Tom Dewey promised that he would ask the Legislature to pass a special act "liberally" compensating Campbell for his wrongful imprisonment. It was all very efficient and complete. Only one thing was lacking: no one said: "I'm sorry."

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