Squealer

Mrs. Alma Petty Gatlin went to the Rev. Thomas F. Pardue, in Reidsville, N. C., to confess her sins. She told him that she had killed her father and was sorry. The Rev. Thomas F. Pardue accepted her confession and told the police. Mrs. Petty was tried for murdering her father; despite Thomas Pardue's testimony, which was admitted, the jury found Mrs. Petty not guilty. That was two weeks ago (TIME, March 5).

It has always been taken for granted by most people that the things they tell their confessors are twice-sealed secrets. Southern newspapers commented on the actions of the Rev. Thomas F. Pardue.

Said the Birmingham (Ala.) Age Herald: ". . . Many persons will feel that the preacher erred, that his lips should have been sealed. . . ."

Said the Columbia (S. C.) Record: ". . . We imagine penitents in his sector will find other confessors, who hold confidences sacred and inviolate. . . ."

Said the Americus (Ga.) Times Recorder: "We rather think it a case of religious fanaticism running wild. Pardue is . . . wrapped in his little shell of self-conceit . . . he used underhand methods . . . he soiled the cloth he wears. And what good has his babbling accomplished? . . . He created a furor in his woodland village and he had the pleasure of seeing his name and picture in the papers. . . . For a few days he was a big pig in a little pen. . . ."