The Daily Nashville true Whig. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1851-1855, 1855-11-14

any portion of her people; and that the original
resolution ought not to have been introduced, nor
ought the matter to have been made the subject oil
grave discussion in the messages of the Governor
to the present and preceding session of the Legis
lature. Now, upon which horn Of the dilemma dc
gentlemen wish to ride?
/ But the Governor, in his message to the LegsIa.
ture, says of the pentitentiary
''This institution has, SO far failed in all the lead
ing objects of lis creation The confinement of per
sons within the prison house or prison walls of a
pentitentisry, with the view Of reforming them 10
their moral character, has been proven by all expe
ence TO be great error and it is not cCntended
/ for as reforming institution by any one who has
become at all familiar with the subject. There is
not one in every thousand convicts whose moral
condition is improved by such imprisonment, but,
the contrary. most Of them, if not all, are made
than t4ey were before, and become more
confirmed in crime.
at will take but little investigation
of this subject to satisfy any discerning mind that
the penitentiary exerts no beneficial moral influence
on society, out of The peniientiaTy, and that 1t
Is nov, and has been, an incubus on the treasury,
and will most likely continue So unless the whOLe eS-
| tdbIishDtert u,tdergoes a thorough change.
While the institution has failed in all the lead
ing objects of its creation, the manner IN when It
has been conducted has been made to operate inJu'
ilOuclN upOu lile iHISAOs1o VI WV SSN'-
try. 1t has been made practically State mechanic
institute fostered and sustained by the treasury Ut
the State and brought into direct competition with
the mechanics of the country to the extent OF its
entire operation"
Now, here are matters of grave import-evils Of
no small moment which Gov. johnson tells US exist
In our present penitentiary system, and what
changes necessary to remedy these evils? The
Governor seems in the outset to be OPT osed to the
nf cOnvicts in ha nanitpptiarv What
mode of punishment, then, should be substituted
The Governor contends that confinement in the
penitentiary does not improve the morals OF con
victs. What change is necessary to secure this
Improvement of their morals ? The Governor tells
us it is now, and has been an incubus on the treas
ury. What change is necessary to make it prohta-
bic TO the State? The Governor regai DIS it an
evil that the labor of the convics is brought into di
rect competition with that of the honest aud ndustri
mechanics Of the State. At what sort Of labor
should the convicts be employed to avoid this, and
at the same time be profitable to the State? In
regard to the proper remedy for the grave evils he
has set forth in bis message, the Governor is as ST.
lent as the grave. And now, when it is proposed
to respectfully ask the Governor for his plan where
by these evils may be remedied, we are told that
we might as well lay aside our legislative prerOga
tives and ask the Governor to make such laws as
the interests of the State require that might
win tuial pippilCtl dSh tue bOfSIHOT W IdiHS
bill to carry out any suggestion contained in his
message. Gentlemen seem to forget that this
solution does not ask Gov. johnson for a bill, but
simply TO suggest plan whereby the evils to which
he alludes as existing in our penitentary system
may be remedied. The Governor had set forth IN
his message, in elaborate manner, such changes
as he thought ought to be made in the constitution
Of the United States; and in regard to the question
Of claw reform" he had not only referred to the
he do
TEN, but called the attention of the Legislature to
bill presented at the last session, the adoption OF
which he recommended as a remedy for these evils.
Why not, then, respectfully ask him to present to
the Legislature his plan for remedying the evils OF
our present pententary system, I" of which he so
seriously complains?" He has made the subject q
study for years, and is perhaps, familiar with
than any other man in the State, and the views OF
one thus well informed would undoubtedly be of es-
sential service in aiding the Legislature to devise
and pertect system that will exert wholesome
reformatory influence upon the convicts, while it
will come in competition with the industrial pursuits
Of the people of the State to as limited an extent
as possible, and will, at the same time be of pecu-
mary advantage to the State.
Again, (said Mr.. d. the eleventh section of the
third article of the constitution requires that the
Governor "shdi, from time to time, give to the
General Assembly information of the State of the
OONSihLntut, dhu IeCOWHScJu W lutlT COuSucIdLlOu
such measures as he shall judge expedient" Now,
had Gov. johnson complied with this requirement
of the constitution in regard to the penitentiary >
He had dwet upon the evils of the penitentiary,
but had recommended no measure for the eradca.
ton of these evils The Governor had treated of
the pententary in fault fnding spirit from begin
ing to end audit was respectful on his part-t was
due to the Legislature, that he should recommend
some measure by which the evils of that institution
cCutd be remedied. The constitution imposed this
duty upon the Governor.
He regretted that gentlemen on the opposite
side Of the House should attempt to justify their
opposition to the resolution he had offered, on the
grounds that il is impoitc or that it is a political
since similar resolution was introduced
and voted for by the political friends of the Gov
ernor two years ago, and it was adopted 1t was
right in principle then and il is right now, and
ought to be adopted again. II Gov. johnson sin
cerely believes what he says in regard to the fail
Of the pententiary in all the leading objects of its
creation, and the evils to both the State and her
honest and industrious mechanics, growing out of
It's management and the labor Of the convicts, he
will gladly embrace the oppotuniUy which this reso.
luton will afford him, to present perfect and fea
sible plan by which all these evils can in future
DO avoided. II he should refuse to answer, the
public will not fail TO understand his motives; and
the defeat of the resolution by his friends will not
shield him from the odium that justly attaches to
the political trickster and demagogue.