New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1844-02-29


for he ser epdlas Sept. 80 s.2 60;
DO. do. do. 1873. ............ $50 %
Showing dninution Of 7,7i922
The receipts for l843 were from the State
Treasury s32,500, and from prison earnings.
s36,970 37-making S69,470 81. 1t thus ap-
pears that the Prison has fallen short, during
l843, S27 1884 80 of supporting itself
The sum paid for salaries of the officers, &c.
OF the Male Department in l943, was S29,3O0.
The Board anticipate permanent reduction
Of $4,000 or $4,000 from the average expcn-
ses of the Prison for the last few years.
The Board foundthe books and accounts Of the
Prison in a state OF wretched confusion, and were
at first opposed in their efforts to give them a
thorough ovcrhauling. They at length succeeded,
however, and the following is synopsis Of the
results of their Investigations:
IN the Female Prison there coavics Register SO
Four whose We're not registered but wlose
Vitments We're found. ................ $3.50.
Total prisoners By the books and papers o2
The number actually IN the Prison was
In the Lunatic Asylum 81
OF these 20, the terms of II were found to have
expired; but whether they went out by expiration
Of sentence, death or pardon, fire, land or water,
nowhere appeared. OF the remaining it was
asccrtaincd that one had escaped, one had been
pardoned and one had debut no entry of either
of these events had been made. The other FIVE
are entirely non mn fec0rdo.
In the Male Department there were convcs according TO
The ' nsI n5s,i actually here ~
Deficiency. 50
loc tod for 20
torily as the other. AS a specimen of the man
ner ia which the "books are kept" in this estab-
lishment, the Report states that convict dunng
the past summer claimed that his term had cx-
PRED His name was not on the Register nor
could his commitment be found and, from any
thing that appeared to the contrary, this phllan-
thropic prisoner had been for Ave years COLIN
teer in the service Of the State They let him
side" as quietly as possible. Another convict
was kept several days over his time. His name
was not on the Register; and when at length his
commitment was found, it appeared that he should
have been liberated some time before.
1t appears from the books that the sum OF
S89,850 Sc is due the prison from various indl-
viduals--some OF the debts being of fifteen years
standing. The Inspectors have not been able to
get any satisfactory information about this little
| trfle They are certain Of one thing, however:
'no sort of reliance can be placed on the books"
The worst of this part Of the business IS that IN
! til they do ascertain something about the condi-
ton of these debts, they cannot determine whe-
Their the agent has accounted for all the money he
has received. This seems to be rather mixed"
business.
AS further illustration of the inaccuracy of
the books, the Inspectors annex the account OF
the Prison with the State, as II stands on the
books, by which it appears that there Is slight
difference of $4,000 between that and the &C
count on the Comptrollcr's books 1t seems also,
that the Agent has never had his account OF
moneys receiued examined at all. HIS account
of erpenditures has been duly submitted and
compared with the vouchers-but the Inspectors
could not learn that his cash receipts had ever
been subjected to that interesting process, nor
could thew find in or about the Prison any books
of original entries or vouchers which would ena-
bic them satisfactorily to perform that task
II was discovered that the books were kept IN
manner singularly compounded of single entry
and double entry principles. They found five
different ledgers, all in use at the same time
some kept by single entry, and some by double,
while others were kept as books of original entry
The charges were entirely arbitrary, having no
reference to any thing else than the will and plea
sure of the Accountant. The necessary conse-
ouence of all this was that the greatest confusion
reigned throughout all the accounts, and it vas
utterly impossiblefor the Inspectors to make any
thing out of them, without the constant attend
ancc of the book-keeper. 1t is not surprising,
therefore, to learn that numerous errors had crept
into the books, and kept their places for years
without detection, and without being disturbed
themselves or at all disturbing the rest of The &C
counts. To extrcate the records of the estab-
lisbmcnt from this confusion, the Board have
directed the books to be closed at the end OF the
last fiscal year, and entire new set to be opened;
and they have adopted such regulations for keep
inc them as, they trust will prevent recurrence
of the existing evil.
On the 10Th of September, 1913, the convlcts
were employed as follows:
( In the Stone shop 20
In The Quar- .,;.: :,o,s Sc IS. 1852
:; At the Hating business -. -
Snot n.est. ''''' - -. ....... %