Martinsburg gazette and public advertiser. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1826-1833, 1827-12-13
$3.50
In pursuance of the provisions Of the .


80, $40
In pursuance of the provisions Of the act OF
January s, 1926, appropriatiug certain funds
for the purchase Of Public Library; and OF
the act Of March 7th, 1926, extending the APP.
preparations for the same object. the whole Of
the flnds which have been received for That
purpose, have been invested IN the purchase OF
books. which are now deposited IN the Conn'
Gil Chamber subject to the dsposiuon OF the
General Assembly. have received an spph
cation from the Hon. Jgdge Brooke in behalf
of the Court of Appeal, tor the use of such
books as msy be found Necessary 10 the course
of the judicial proceedings Of that court. TINS
application was submitted to the councils; and
compliance there With refused without further
legislative provisions, extending the powers
OF the executive 10 that subject II Is now
respectfully submitted TO the General Assem-.
BIZ, to determine, whether Il be best To ex
iend the powers VI the executive IN relation TO
this Public .lhrsry,of TO adopt some other mode
of bringing the booka which have oeen eady
purchased into practical usefulness. A copy
of Judge Brooke's letter marked IL, IS here
with commun Gated for the information OF the
General Assembly.
Among the first duties. ! found myself called
upon to perform, afi er entering luto this ofFice
sica effects OF the ,hree principal points OF state
policy which bad for many years occupied a
great portion Of The attention of the Legislature
Education punish Dent VI crimes and lnteI-
nal Improvemens.-ihs duty bad been rem
defed the more necessary, IN Consequence of
my long retirement from publ; life, and the
extreme debI!itated safe OF my health during
great part of that time.
In looking to the subject of education. as Of
the first Importance, and particularly, primary
instruction. found that my highly respected
predecessor had, IN an sble and impressive
manner, urged tha subject upon the consider.
alton OF the last legislature that the subject
cordingly occupied much Of the attention Of
the House Of Delegates, and that system Of
instruction was then rep DRted for consideration,
bit was not finally acted upon during the lasi
session. concluded, however, ,hat it would,
as matter Of course, attract the early atten.
ton OF the pregen; session OF the General As.
sembly, and would receive all the coasidera.
tion, its primary importance demands.
The punishment of crimes seems at the
present day, to attract the attention and to IN.
terest the feelings of great portion OF the lear
ned and philsnlhropic part of mankind. Two
objects only can justify human punishment;
The prevention of crimes; and the reformation
ofcriminsls. The latter object seems to have
OF the Peniteh,;ary System. After several
interesting conversations with Mr.. SAINT p.
Parsons, the able and worthy Supern,ends
OF our own p niten'iarl, upon The subject OF
prison discipline grounded upon his own expr.
rpence of his own ms tuition; and after receV.
ing and considering several able written com
mnnlca'i1ns upon the same subject. from sever.
oil phlanthropsls of the first sisnd,Dg and ia.
Tents, ic,me 90 the conclusion, that for the
purpose Of pr )ducng the reformation of Grim
inals, under tie Penitentisry System, a separ.
alton ofthe convicts was All indispe nsible pre-.
req iSlte: That solitary confinement, either
with or without labor, was the chef material
for producing ref: nation: and that its benef.
cisi effects would depend very much, upon
judicious application Of due propor ton OF that
mode ofpunishment. to the nature Of the crime,
and the temper and disposition of he criminal
After much reflection upon this interesting
subject, thought II would be advisable to
avail myself Of the experience OF all the Penl.
Tertiary establishments within the u States;
and tor the purpose of obtaining the necessary
Information to enable me 20 form a proper
Judgment thereupon, addressed note 10 Mr..
Parsons, requiring him 10 obtain from the
several Penitentlaries within the United States
the following information: 1st, The number OF
convicts in each. 2nd The crimes. Sd, The
tins OF confinement of esch. 4th, What portion
ofthe time, solitary, without lahour. 5th, What
portion If the time, solitary. with lsbour, sen.
fenced to the Penitentiary, according to the
laws Of the respective States. regret that the
time has been too short, to enable Mr. Par
sons to obtain full reply TO all these enquiries
but from his prompt attention to my request, he
has obtained much useful, as we'll as speculs-
tive information, from several of the principal
Penitentiaries within the United States, which
he has reported to in an able and sat siactory
manner From this report it will appear that
the number of convicts IN Maryland Penitents.
ny on the 30th OF October, 1927 were 292 of
which SO were females, snd that this State has
afree population Of That in Pennsylvania
PeniteuGsry, IN PHILADELPHIA, there were re-
naming n the prison on the LIST day of January
1875; 482 male convc,s, and II females-and
IN 1926, sos males, and 76 females; and that
this State has free population of l,049, 800.
That in New.York City State prison, there
we're confined on the LIST of January, 1927, 5Sl:
IN Auburn Penitentisry, (New York; 427-
and employed in building a new Penitent,sry
SO miles from the city, 2l0-making total in
this State of l048. New York has population
OF l,572, 800 Thst in Massachusetts, State
Prison, there were 3i3 convcts on the 3Oth Of
September, 1926, and that this State has pop
ulation Of $4,000. That on the thirtieth of
Septem5er, 1896, there were oIfned in our
own institution l47 cUnvicts, of which number
l35 were white men, coiored do. and white
women, and cuared do.-snd that this State
has population of l,O66 900. IL occurred to
me, when calling for this inform ration, that in
addition TO the lights it might serve to throw
upon prison d, cipIne under the Penlentiary
System, it might also serve 10 throw some light
upon the relative moral tendencies of the c,vl