Dayton daily empire. [volume] (Dayton [Ohio]) 1850-1865, 1859-11-30
For the Empire.
The new PemitentiaFY.

Ma. EpSrOHi--Yca stated in Mondays Rm-
pire that you aggecd with the Dayton Journal,
that Oolumbus was neat enough to Dayton for
the location of Renitsniiary As different
cities in the State are competing for the Penis
tentiafy 70 be bniltin addition to the one already
At Columbus, ! take It that you are opposed to
isS location near Dayton, on the ground that
prison labor would be injurious 10 the interest
Of our mechanics ] will admit that such used
to be the case. bni he system at the p, o. was
ehaoged some years ago. 40 that now the cons
viet labor does GOT 10 any way come 10 oOmpe
tition with the mechanics Of Columbus, OF inter
fere with the intereeta Of the working classes
there. Itis not necessary to speak on question
at tlsugthl but will remark that the work In
all the mechanical arts in the prison is prinei
pally executed for large contractors who reside
ia different parts Of ths State. and is obtained
on The highest bids. Ths prison work, in fact.
comsa principally in competition with the
wholesale trade Of the eastern cities. Such, st
least is my understanding Of the system in
operation az Columbus.
The location Of the new Penitentary near
Dayton would give us Me advantage arising
out Of the contract foF building il, if nothing
more; aud that would doubtleaa be felt for some
years to come. There are, however, many other
items Of advantage ineid6nlhlly groing out Of
it's location here, while can conceive of moths
ing deleterious to our interests, under the pre-
ept system. hope the new buildings will be
located near this city. and that the Commis>
sieners will hnd Il 10 their advantage to do so.
ENTERPRISE
About week ago, iD answer to some remarks
In the HilsborO Gazette, about Cincinnati being
able to put up the projected Pspitentiary Build.
ings sooner than any other locality in the State,
we replied that as the stone would hsvst to be
obtained here. it was reasonable that we could
soonest complete the job. While we did not
directly bid for the job, we claimed that we
could complete the work here sooner than it
could be done in Cincinnati, or at almost any
other point in the State, as we have the qusrries
here from which 10 procure the best stone in the
State--thc greater consideration Ia the matter,
as other material is just as accessible here as at
any other point. Not having been very well
posted on the changes made 10 regard to prison
labor, and remembering the constant growiings
Of the Columbus mechanics and the industri-
al classes generally, in times agoAe, we were
not very favOrably impressed with the idea Of
locating the new prison here. That the con.
tract for building II will benefit US, is quite true
whether the contractor reside here OF not
Whether 1t will be of any advantage to the inN
erests Of Dayton afterward is : question Of
not much moment, SO that It does not prove
positive disadvantage. The supplies" necesN
sary for the institution, after it should "get to
going" would probably make our markets
brisk, and the ''business" II would bring here
might possibly more than compensats for any
annoyances it would cause Us.
In the mean time we would like to hear from
our business men and property hOldsrs--,hcse
who are most interested in the question. What
do they say