administer and execute the law. They have it in their power to make the punishment for murder speedy and certain. Without their co-operation little or nothing can be accomplished.

APPENDIX "A"

SUGGESTIONS FOR
AN ACT

REGULATING APPEALS IN CASES WHERE PERSONS HAVE BEEN SENTENCED TO DEATH, FIXING THE TIME WITHIN WHICH SUCH APPEALS SHALL BE TAKEN, AND PRESCRIBING THE PRACTICE IN RELATION THERETO.

SECTION I. Be it enacted, &c., That when a person who has been convicted of murder of the first degree and sentenced to death desires to appeal to the Supreme Court he shall give notice of his appeal, as hereinafter provided, within ten days from the day upon which the sentence was pronounced, which day shall be counted as the first.

SEC. 2. Such notice shall contain the title, term and number of the case, the date when it is given and the date of the sentence, and shall be in the following form with the blank spaces properly filled in; and shall be signed by the person so appealing or his counsel.

day of

19

.....

AND NOW, This ...

.........

the defendant, who was sentenced to death in the said Court upon the

day of

enters an appeal to the Supreme Court.

19

.....

hereby

(Signed)

SEC. 3. Such notice shall be transmitted personally or by registered mail on the day upon which it is dated, one copy to the Prothonotary of the Supreme Court, one copy to the clerk

of the Court in which sentence was pronounced and one copy to the district attorney of the county in which such conviction took place, each of whom upon receiving the same shall note thereon the date of the receipt thereof.

SEC. 4. It shall be the duty of the clerk of the Court in which such conviction took place and he is hereby required within ten days from the receipt of such notice, the day when it is received to count as the first, to transmit to the Supreme Court the full and complete record of the trial and conviction, including the copy of notice of appeal and the transcript of the stenographer's notes of testimony and charge of the Court, and no bill of exceptions shall be required.

SEC. 5. It shall be the duty of the Prothonotary of the Supreme Court and he is hereby required to note upon his copy of the notice of appeal the date upon which the said record was received, and attach the said copy to the said record.

SEC. 6. Writs of error and of certiorari are hereby abolished in cases where a person has been sentenced to death, and such cases shall be appealed to the Supreme Court only in the manner and within the time herein provided, and execution shall be stayed until they are determined.

SEC. 7. [A repealing clause.]

SUGGESTED MODIFICATIONS OF RULES OF SUPREME COURT IF ABOVE ACT SHOULD BE ADOPTED

RULE 8. All appeals in cases of conviction and sentence of death for murder of the first degree shall be assigned for argument at the head of the list upon the third Monday next after the record of the case has been received by the Prothonotary. Provided, that if the court shall then be in session in any district the prothonotary shall certify the record to the district in which the court shall be sitting. If the court shall not be in session at that time the record shall be certified to the district in which the next term shall be held.

RULE 9. The appellant's paper book in such cases shall contain the following matters in the following order:

1. The title of the case. 2. The dates of jury called, verdict, sentence, motions made and the court's action thereon with any opinions filed. 3. A statement of the question involved. 4. A history of the case. 5. The charge of the court with the points,

if any, which were submitted in writing to the court below,
together with the court's answers thereto. 6. The specifications
of error. 7. A brief argument. 8. An appendix containing the
evidence in full.

The appellant is not required to print the transcript of the
stenographer's notes of the examination of jurors, unless he raises
some point of law in relation thereto, in which case he shall
print the entire examination of the juror whose acceptance or
rejection is excepted to. The appellant is not required to print
the indictment and other parts of the record, except as herein-
before provided, unless he raises some point of law in relation
thereto, in which case he shall print such part of the record as
may be necessary for a proper consideration of the question
involved.

NOTE

The writer desires to express his thanks to Mr. George W.
Geasey, of Philadelphia, for assistance rendered in the collection
of data, in preparation for the press and in correction of proof.
To Mr. McAfee, the Secretary of the Commonwealth, for his
courtesy in placing his office at the writer's disposal. To Mr.
Thorn, Clerk of the Board of Pardons, for his assistance in making
accession to the records and books practicable. To Mr. Dein-
inger and the other gentlemen in the office for their uniform polite-
ness and cheerful willingness to lend their aid. To the members
of the Bar, too numerous to mention, for supplying data. To Mr.
Hartmann for accomplishing the difficult task of making the com-
putations, and lastly to the Printer for his efficiency, courtesy and
promptness in getting the matter through the press.

Black Spot, J. W. Williams, alias, Clearfield..