, 1864-12-05
THE PENITENTIARY LEASE,
Jo11Er, December I, 1861

JoL1Er, December I, 1864.
! Editors Chicago Tribune:
In your Issue Of the goth ult. you have an
article headed "The n&ase Of the Penitenti-
ary," In which, 80 far as 1t goes, think there
are great many truths set forth: But there
are come errors Of factin some Of the state
ments which desire to correct; and decl
dcd meagernees In the statement Of all the
facts connected with that disgracefnl affair,
which am at loss to account for except
upon one Of the two following suppositions:
| Either you are unacquainted with the whole
7 modsa operandi by which the end sought was
accomplished, or you did not then choose to
tell all you knew.
Now, Mr. Editor, my idea Is that the Peni-
tcntia1y is an institution in which the whole
people Of the State, of both political orSani-
cations, have Joint and equal interest. The
extensive buildings have been constructed
| by the taxes levied upon the property OF men
| Of all parties alike. In the ends sought
to be accomplished By its construction
men Of all parties hare an equal inter
est. Why, 1 ask, then, II there has
been any malfeasance In tue letting ot the
Penitentiary, should not the members Of both
narfies. in So far rs they had anything to do
T1;,h % f3,a afIa,r. he held to an cqual acconuta-
t,Ilitve You Indignant y arraign j. II. Pitt
man & Co.. for procuring the lease Of the
PcnitcntiaTy. You charge that the Demo'
whole 15,;ng. and assert that none Of the Re-
nubIicans Voted for the bill. In tlis last as
sertion desire to correct you, and, in gencr-
al. 10 ask you the following questions touch
inc the actions Of certain Republicans in this,
as You say and I believe, stupendous fraud
upon the rights and interests OF tue people Of
tie Stale. :.
First. How came Ira A. ". Buck, at that
time one Of the Commissioners, and whom
GOV. Yates, as he Buck) frequently affirmed,
had promised to appoint Warden under the
new bill, and who had traversed the State
from one end to the other, decrying the leas-
ing system, and 1amenting the awful cruelties
witch were daily practiced upon the poor con
yfcts, as he said, md who, as every member Of
the Legislature, and everybody else at Spring
field will remember, was oyeraowing
with The desire for the adoption Of the
new system, and also when the result Of
the first effort to pass the leasing bin
standing 80 to 30, and requiring 43 to become
a law), could scarcely contain himselffor Joy
at the certain prospect OF its dc1eat-and who
between the hours of II O'Clock at night and
some mvaus then quite Unknown to the writer,
suddenly, like the Apostle Of old, saw new
lieht: I say how came this Commissioner,
who, Of all other men, should have the best
interests of the State and tho best good OF
the poor conyicts most ut heart, to turn SO
sudden and singular summcrset,; and from
being so bitter ind uncompromising an oppo-
nent Of the leasing system, become ut once
its var1nest and most effective advocate?
Up to II o'clock Of tho night upon which
the bill failed 10 pass, he was the most loud
mouthcd and violent opponent Of the awful
enormity Of the leasing system. The next
morning found him the first man in the lobby,
waylaylne every Republican member as they
came into the Housc, Ind advising them.
'undtr tie circumstances, and al things conssd-
cryd," to 90 for the bill
I'd. How came Coy. Yates, who, when. the
new plan was presented TO him by Comnlis~
sioner Buck, emphatically endorsed the same,
lions in the phraseoloSy OF the manuscript,
and who, In his message to the Legislature,
recommended its adoption in the most posi-
tive terms, and who, upon the morning OF the
passage of the leasing bill, declared in the
most emphatic terms that he would never
sign the act, and who, when the alternative Of
the passage ordefcat Of the bill appropsta ting
s50,O0 to a eo-called soldiers relief fund wns
presented and made contingent upon his ap-
proyal Of the act in question, positively re-
fused for long time to give lis sanction to
so enormous and outrageous swindlc upon
the rights and interests Of the people Of the
State-I say, with all solemn earnestness,
; what considerations Of public policy (for il
must be presumed that none Others could
have had any influence upon him) could have
induced him to alter his mind, and cause
linn to lend his al potent sanction
to an act, which violated all his
previously expressed opinions, and which,
aside from the manifest injustice it did the
poor convict and the State, gave over into the
; hands Of the leaders Of the Democratic party
for another six years, without SO much Us the
return Of q single cent. the labor Of all the
convicts in the State, large proportion Of the
proceeds Of which-amounting IN the assgre-
j will be FUSED to defeat the men nnd measures
! of the very party Of which Governor Yates is
so distinguished members
Sd. How came Governor Yates to retain DR..
: Buck as Commissioner for thirteen long
: months after being repeatedly informed of the
fact, that those having the most reliable means
Of knowing, believed him to be BE- Joint part M
; while he was acting as Commissioner for the
State at the same time
9TH. While yon are dcnouncing the Democ-
!! yacy for their stupcndous sWtndle, as you say,
why don't you arrafsn Governor Yates for his
very effective cooperation In bringing about
; the end you SO much deprecate:
5th. While you are lamenting the loss to
the State OF the huge SUMS which are
annually going into tie pockets of Demo
:. cratic contractors, why don't Tou mention
Dr.. Buck for the larger slice, which. as one Of
the joint partners Of the firm Of J. n: Httman
d c., amounting to not less than s6o, ,0o, and
probably us high as $4,000 be carried of as
Lis legitimate share of spoilss Consistency Is
a great jewel, and will ndorn you as well as
Democrat.
9th. Why don't you publish list Of all the
members Of the House who voted for the bill
in question, and see how many Republicans
you catch in that net? Especially sec If :ny
Of those who 7oted against the bill on the
day Of its defeat, changed their views during
the night which brought such new light to
the mind Of Dr.. Buck.
Now, Mr.. Editor, when Jon have answered
the above list Of interrogatorics to the satis-
faction Of the people Of Illinois, who, CON
cciye, have been quite as much outraged by
the action OF some members OF the Kepnbi-
can party as they have been By the Democra-
cy, 1 have long list more to propound.
Yours, FAIR PLAY.