Daily national Democrat., 1860-04-22
Leasing Penitentiaries.


The Governor Of Missouri has vetoed a
bill for leasing the Penitenliary, aud gives
the following reasons;
GENrLENEN OF THE SENATE l herewith
return to YOU without my signature, Oill
entitled "An Act to lease the Pcnitenuary
An eminent poet has said: "Mans lnhu-
manity TO man makes countless thou.
sands mourn" Because OF the lnhumahlly
which in nv estimation. characterizes the
lin, | withhold my approval from IT. AS ID,
dieated in the several messages In which
have had occasion to allude to our Peniten-
tiary. regard the system Of leasing as cal
celated to cause the iuhiclion Of needless
wrongs upon the convict, and therefore lily
adapted to the relormatory ends for which
such institutions are intended Their Object
is not revenge. and hit were, there Is excess
in all revenge that may be done with less.
Reform is the only legitimate purpose for
which punishment is ever inflicted, so far as
the offender is concerned, and all excess of
punishmen hasanopposte tendency. The fact
that the convicts have offended against laws
efthe land is no reason why lawmakers should
do violence to the noble impulses of the hu-
man heart, in imposing penalties upon them
to place large number of cOnyicts under
the management of those who are only in
terested in making their labor profitable,
without the immediate care of disiuterested
officers, would inevitably result in neglect
and cruelty Such system is wholly un-
worthy of this enlightened age, aud is not
demanded, as has been repeatedly stated, on
account of economy. Entertaining these
views, the objections in my mind, are ia
superable. Very respectfully,
r. NJ. STEWART.
Governor Stewart is a man who has been
very severely attacked by the Missouri press
for the conduct of which he has been guilty,
during seasons of beastly drunkenness but
| the sentiment of the above message is one
which does honor to him as man. lie We
toes the bill for leasing the Pententary, on
the ground Of its inhumanity. We all know
what the leasing system has been in this
State, and we can appreciate the reasons, in
opposition to the leasing Of Peuitentiares,
which the good sense and humane feeling Of
Governor Stewart suggested.
This State leased to Estell the State Prison
grounds with the control of the labor of all
the eonvicts therein, for a term Of five years.
Long before that term expired, Committee
Of the Legislature, appointed to examine
into the condition of affairs, reported that
the convets were treated with a degree of
nhumanity of which they could recolleet no
parallel. They were ragged and filthy in
adequately clad and furnished with food
which was almost unfit for use, and which
was certaily unhealthy if not absolutely de-
structive of life The condition of the poor
convicts was wretched in the extreme, and
the State Prison was represented as a place
Of narrowing misery and torture. 1t was
evident that the Lessee was making all the
money that he possibly could out of his con-
tract, while the poor, starving, filthy, rag
/ ged convicts were vainly praying to the God
of Hea zen and earth for a mitigation Of their
sorrows In the face of this report, the Leg
islature so managed as to allow, notwith-
standing the plain violation of his contract,
/ Estill to sub-lease the Prison and convicts TO
McCauley and subsequently tc McCauley &
Teyis. The contract on the part of the
Lessee has never been fully complied with,
but the Supreme Court has decided that the
State must pay two hundred thousand dollars
or more to McCauley ct al, in just the same
manner as if they had fulfilled every part
and particle of their contract
Ofcourse there is no remedy, but it afford:
a lesson which the present Legislature should
heed; and that is that the leasing system is
impolitic unwise, inhuman, wrong and that
a different system should be adopted