Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1859-03-11
Maine State Prison.
Mr.. Blaine. Representative from Augu


was appointed last May by the Gov. Commits
sioner to examine the affairs of the Main,
State Prison. He has made his report ant
We are indebted to the author for copy
We have examined the same attentiyely and
Ind it thorough and careful examination O.
the Prison, its internal management. location
and non-adar tation to the purposes required
and wants Of the State. Instead of giving a
statement Of our own If this able Report, we
copy the following notice of it from the Au-
gusta correspondent of the Boston journal:
Mr.. Blaine reports that since the prison
was established-in lS23-there has been ap-
propriated from the State Treasury the sum
OF 1921 140 90. or between 10000 and :
oOo yearly, over and above what has been
earned by the convicts, while many of the
prisons of the land have paid expenses. and
some have been source of revenue to the
State He finds the average cost of each con.
vict's support is $500 per annum, and, bv
carefully ascertaining the amount of food
consumed, it averages annually to each con-
Wet 900 lbs. breadstuffs, 600 lbs. meat and
hsh, 10 bushels potatoes, and one buslel of
beans, besides rice, molasses and coffee; while
the United States soldiers have but seventeen
ounces of bread and one pound of meat daily
thus an lnordlnate amount of food is used
1t cannot be eaten, for if it were, as Mr.
Blaine observes, it would be capital punish
ment, tor no man could eat 50 much and
live. lie finds that inexcusable extravaganza
and wastetulress have characterized the af-
fairs OF the prison generally, from wear to
year, so much so that if Maine had done as
the United States government does, sent her
convlcts to Charlestown and paid two dollars
week tor their board, she would have saved
since the prison was built, $3.50 So In
deed, the disbursements OF the establishment
Tor feeding and clothing the prisoners, sala-
ries OF attendants, &c, are shown to have
oeen most absurdiy extrayagant from year to
year.
Nor has the labor of the prisoners been
any better managed. The convict's labor
does not pay the State, in many instances,
twenty cents day. and in one case, under
one contract, thirty-6ve men did not average
to the State over thirteen cents daily; and
still worse, another contract was made in
when eighteen men earned SO year, or
less than twenty cents week, or three cents
day! He says:
III we take the aggregate receipts for the
year unoer the three contracts, and then de-
duct the aggregate advances of the State. we
snail get at the net result of the labor of all
the conyicts. The following will show the
aggregate receipts as already exhibited:
FROM r shoe contract S3.los rs
From carriage and blacksmith contract, 2,ss5 90
fion' quarry ana miscellaneous, 9s4 46
whole amount, $500 II
To superintend the convicts while labor
ing under these contracts, the State pavs
$3050 in salaries to seven overseersLtbe
profit of those labor, performed in addition
to their duties of supervision, goes into the
pockets of the contractors. For fuel. wear
and tear of tools in all the departments, and
numerous other expenses entailed upon the
State by the contracts, the sum total must.
as We have already shown, be at least $3.50,
which. added to the amount for overseers
salaries. makes the gross amount advanced
by the State, $500. Deducting this sum
from the total amount received for labor. il
leaves for net profit but $3.50 II for the la
Dor OF all the convicts. As the average num-
Der in prison for 1858 was III, the net
earnings of each for the year amount to but
$2S SS-a little more than nine cents each +
working day. The average number of con-
victs, however, at work, seems to have been
but 81, leaving an average of 35 or nearly
ene-third of the whole either entirely idle or
else employed as cooks, walters tailors. DC.
Estimating the earnings per capita of those
actually al work, the annual average would
amount to Sal 20, or a little more than thir-
teen cents for each working day. These re-
suits are certainly of most unsatisfactory
and discouraging character.
During 1858. the receipts from the con-
victs' earnings were $6e79 II, and the dis
bursements sol ,699 -: that is the convicts
did not earn one-third of their expenses
Mr.. Blaine recommends that the State adopt
the plan that has succeeded lest in other
States-the States retain the discipline and
government of the conyicts, and sell their la
Dor to contractors who supply material, and
sell manu- factures. This plan he also recon-
mends to our comfy jailS.
The discipline in the Maine Prison is on
the Auburn, as opposed to the Philadelphia
plan. TIE former is solitary confinement
nights, Sundays and meal-times, instead of
unvarying confinement and solitary labor.
1t is the wisest and most philanthropc plan.
The discipline has always been mild, yet
strict, solitary confinement, on bread and
water, instead Of showering and whipping,
and no officer was ever seriously resisted.
With slight exceptions the report speaks
well Of the discipline in the Maine Prison.
Mr. Blaine finds that in 1857, the New
Hampshire State Prison made cash profit
to the State-with the same number of con-
victs as Maine-ot $2551 IS; the Connecti-
cut Prison pays the State over and above ex-
penses, from $1,000 to $4,000 per annum; in
Vermont. with two-thirds as many convicts,
but one-third as much was expended. He