Baton-Rouge gazette. [volume] (Baton-Rouge, La.) 1819-1856, 1842-06-11
BATON ROUG f.
SAruRpAY, June II, 1912.

I'nE PfytrEvrTAuy.--A mmunicatiot.
ernsuttne in no measured terms the proceed
ipyy of a meeting of the Hoatl of Inspectors,
held on Monday last, has been handed us for
publication. The language, and not the sem
timen'S, induces us to withhold IT. The board
seems to have wandered strangely from those
CON mon-placo considerations which should
guide an delibcratiye bodies. The reduction
made in the salaries Is gradtaicd on no esta-
bIlshcd basis unless 1t he that of increasing
the discount in proportion as tho sum of the
principal di,ninislles. For instance the Sala-
" of the chief warden has been $3.50 per
month; from this is deducted 500, or 20 per
cent. The salary Of the guards has been s3a
pet month. and from this is deducted SIS, or
IS per cent, Now, although the penitenuafr
j. not q darling institution with the citizens Of
Baton Rouge. ala naturally feel one interest
in its management. namely, that It shall be
under the care of sober, responsible men and
such men, all know, cannot he hired IN the
south for tho trihinE sum d twentF dollars per
month. There is not n member of the board
of inspectors who would hire n good negro at
that price. and whenever free falls below
slave labor, the period will have arrived 10
make some important notifications III our
domestic institutions.
The guards now employed in the penltcn-
tiary are. We believe, all citizens OF Baton
Rouge, and chiefly men of family, whose re-
sideBce may be considered permanent, and of
permanent interest ID the place. Such men
cannot he employed at the rates fixed iy The
board. and their situations must, of course, be
filed hy irresponsible men, having 40 eomnlon
t+rs with the citizens Of the town. and from
whom VIC can only anticipate annoyance and
injury. Did members of the board reflect ma
tneriv an This view of the n%ueStlOn .t-.
Again the regular physician has been trsr
charged, and DIR. Hough. Of udious memory.
appointed to his duties. Now, the latter indh.
vitual is n convict he was condemned for q
"fiagrant violation of natural as well as CON
ventinnal law, 10 two years Imprisonment and
hard labor. The board have assumed the pre-
negative Ut committing the latter part ottlsc
sentence, and elect h~im--what! Why, an Of
tccr in the penitentiarv, in which quality he
may set at defiance the authorities to whose
Surveillance he has been committed! This il
really a strange step, and oac'that will meet
the appreciation ola very small number Of the
citizens Of the parish and state.
If we are rightly informed. the law establish
ing the renitentiary provides for the employ
Fl . physician, fixing the amountof his salary.
We have not learned that that Law has been
modified in this particular; and unless this
can be shown, the board have acted illegally
IN making the change mentioned.
With one feature Of the business, however,
We are not dispieased. The mechanics have
long demonstrated unsuceessfully, and with
very little aid from professional men, against
the system on which the penitcntiary is at
present conducted. The professional men
find themselves touched in their turn, and the
consequence is, they bounce like galvanized
cats. They are all Of a sudden filled with
wrath and reform. Their wrath we hope they
will allow to ebb, without injury 10 any; in
their spirit Of reform. we trust they will Join
and be joined by the mechanics, the united
efforts of all must soon effect the objects
desired.