Wheeling times and advertiser. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1839-1849, 1840-01-14

senate of Olis. The section IF The M,
which 10 employed for that purpose had n,
maAner ut resereice tn the rel,,,on of cred,
tor and debtor, and could not by possrb l,,x
sunJrct toe eebtnr To the control of his credi.
tnr. None know better than the authors of
me caIumny that the alleged section il utter
y at variance with the charge which :, ;s
attempted To fbui.d upo, H.; and that, SO far
rom a proposition 10 invest a creditor with
'nwer over ths liberty of his debt n. IL had
'espsct only to the mode az dispensing uf pub.
tic III ;nders. who had been found guilty by a
Jury at th"ir fellow CT zsns ut some crime
against the laws 1t their State. That was
exclusively the import and design of The sec
ton OF the bill upon the motion Of s,r, se on,
Which,. voted in the mega. iye. So y,u DER
ea'vc that IN the place of voting to enla rye
he powes Of creditors. the vote which 7
gave concerned alone the treatment Of male
,'ctors' convicted otcri mes against the pub
lie.
II would extend this lstte. 10 an ineonvo.
nien' length to go fully into ihc reasons which
ted the al the tune Ia an opinion in favor n
the proposed treatment Of that class of ofr,n-
hcrs who would have fallen within tie opera
ions nor Is such an expose called Tor. The
measure vas by no means a novelty m Other
parts OF the country. In the St,tc rf D.la-
ware there is an act now in furce in similar
words with the section of the bill before The
ONO Sen,te, Inch has been made uf lat
the pretcxt of such invidious invectiye.
Laws OF somewhat similar provisions NAV
probably be found IN m ~ othet ofthe Sta. es
In practice The measure would have nm .lo.a
ted The condition OF those whu wrr. under
concentration. As the law stood they were
liaole under the sen enc.H TO conf cement i'm
he common jtil, where offenders of various
degrees OF prof gscy of different nrss, sex
ana color, were Crowded together. Under
suchcircum stances, IL is nbviaus that the bad
must become worse. whilst reform ,tion could
hardly be expected in respect TO any. The
youthful OF nder, IL might be hoped. wosla
De re claimed under the operation Of n pa
Iosed systein; but ;herc was great r=a.un To-
tar HE still greater CORRUPTION au,d the con-
lagoon OF a common receptacle of the wee.
BESIDES, the prop ised amend men,s OF The Law
1rc.suppoSed that the del,nque nj was IN con.
hnement for the non payment Of a fine aud
Gusts OF prnsecuiicn-(,he payment OF wh Oh
was a part Of he sen;encel IL seemed. IN ere
tore, humane, in respect t. the off ,ndar, 70 re
lieve him from confinement which derived
him OF The means Of di~scharging the penalty,
md TO place him in a slIation in which he
might wOrk out his deliverancc, even at th
'nss for a time Of his personal liberty.
bu, ] forbnar To 90. further in the reasons
~ INC cl1ItCH wears uHD. u n III stI-
her at the Ohio Senate, TO entertain g favura
hin opinion Of All alteration which was pro
posed in the crimIua! police of the ) ate. I,
3 certain tina; neither in respec, 10 myself,or
those who cnncurred with me, wa the opin
'"n nj the time considered rs the result of un
friendly bias towards the p pnr OF unfortunate.
Nay, The LIST Object which / could have an
'lcipated, even from the eager and reckless
d-sirc To assaIl ne, was a charge vi unfrlrnG
Illness 10 The humble and poor Of the commu-
nIty.
hu'nbi- servant. w. II. HARRI SON.
, ii. PLEAsANTs, Esq.
The foregoing letter is conclusive. The
following is the one alluded to, ~sriIen, BY
Gu. HtrrIs1n 10 n CILcIauau EDITOR. in 1921
IL also - eonclu live.
Sir: Ia your paper OF the Is b INST, 7 oh.
served a m,st violent attack upon elcy.t
other members OF ih- IL 20 Senate and n,ys.i
or a su posed vote grven at The last session.
TOR a passage of I law 20 "ssl II deb ors IN Ger
taIn'eases." Isuch had been our conduct,
acknowledge that W. should not only deserve
tn censu:e which the writer had bestowed
upon Us but the cxccration of every homes
'nan IN Fociety. An act Uf that kind IL not
ONLY opposed to he principles Of Justice and
humanity, but wcul! b. a pllpable violation
ut the Constitution uf the 8 ate, " hich every
legislator - sworn To support. and saoction
ed by a House D! REPRESENTATIVES and twelve
Sen 'tors, it would Indicate a state Of depray.
~, winch would hll every patriotic bosom
with the most alarming anricipatiuns. BIZ
the fact rs, thar no such proposition was ever
made IN the Legislature. or even thouyht-of
The act TO which the writer nlludes, has n
more relation ia the collection of "dr bt-'
"A m Al "a - -.
was aE act for The punIshm mt of offenc,s''
against the State; and that part Of Il which
has So deeply Sounded the feelings Of yout
correspondent, was passed by ,hs House of
Representatives. and voted for by the IL Sen
ttors, Gnder the impression that IL was tho
most inild and bUnsne mode Ct dealing with
me on'ndcrs Tor whsoe cases il was Intended.
u vas adopted BY the House If Represent.
tves az a part Of the general system of the
law, " hich was then Undergoing >
complete REVISION and Amsndm snt; the ne
scsslty Of this is evinced by the following
ticts! For several years pact It had bccUm-
apparent tnat the Psnitentiary System wac
tecpming m1re and more burdensone at eve.
~ session.; large appropriations were called
Tor TO meet the excess Of CT pendituts sloJe
The receipts of the establishment. In the
commencement OF the Session Of 1870, the
deficit amounted to near 500 OOO.
This growing evil required the immediate
interpolation ofsOme Wig ,ruus legislative mea
sure. Two were recomma nded as beng Ike
ly TO produce the eff-c fret, placing the in.
stnution D nder better management; and, sec
md y, Jesse ing tho number Of convicts who
we're sentenced for short periods. and whose
lrbsr was found Of course 10 be most unpro
due i've. In pursuance ofthe latter prime rlc
thefts To the amount of $50 or Jp wards, we
a cred To %uni-hment ~ the Psnetsntiary.
m .tead Of $40 which was the former mini.
mum furi this was rssiy doae. But the
great difficulty r"m,ioed - determine what
should be iiis punishment o. those num45oI-
below the sum Of $50. By s,m
whipping was proposed; by mhsrs, puc E,
.Heh' y oarh laoonr ~ the county I1ii.; and
~ others il was thought best u q e them
work on The highways. To al those tbers
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