Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1868-02-14

NhtAT W. SMALL t"t"t"@''s N Nv
Gently Gov Brownlow has pardoned sew
eral peniien,iary eoDvicts, and we under
stand the eniirc number confined are
being thoroughly overhauled with the
view Of sending adrift those convicted Of
petty crimes who have already serveda
portion Of their time and are a burden TO
the State. Itappears from investigation
that out Of $40 conyicts now confined,
232 we're sentenced for petty larceny, not
averaging, as we learn from the Nash
Vile Banner, in the aggregate, five dol
lars in each separate case, making the
sum total but fraction over $1,000, for
which accommodation must be made for
232 convicts in the penitentiary walls and
cells. 1t is a matter Of documentary
proof that many criminals arc sent there
for oifenses ranging from eight cents-the
value of a fence rail-to all intermediate
sums not reaching s., from remote coun.
ties Of the State, entailing, directly, an
expense Of over two hundred dollars for
the delivery Of the prisoner at the peni-
tentiary-asin recent case, where the
offense was for stealing an old pair OF
shoes, worth, perhaps, 6ty cents, and re-
sulting indirectly TO a loss of from $500
to $500 to the State before the expiration
of his term Of service. In the aggregate,
then, the Directors feel justified in sta
ting, that, for the pecuniary loss or dam
age of $1,000 in amount, the State incurs
cash liability, in advance, of between
| $50, 900 and 100000, to be abated only
by whatever Of profit she can realize out
of the labor Of the convict, and all past
experience has proven the unreliability of
that source. As general fact, il may be
stated that, from close Investigation, it
is found that oil the cases, of both petit
and grand larceny, out of the whole
number of $40 convicts, will not foot up
to exceed $4,000. During the last twelve
months, the number Of admissions into
the prison have increased two hundred
over all releases, either by Executive
clemency, expiration of service, death,
or escape. The present commitments
average nearly one per day, SO that the
future numbers are alarming to any
arithmetical calculation or economy, un-
less there shall be some organic change
in the minimum amount or character OF
the ofiense for which the State, instead
of the county, shall be held responsible
for the safe keeping or punishment of
the criminal. While it is fact
fact that petty criminals are hugied into
the penitentiary by scores, the prison
records reveal that during the past three
years only Al persons have been con-
fined for the different grades OF murder.
Nearly that number of murders have
occurred in Shelby county within the
same period, but we cannot recall the
name ola single criminal of this charac
ter who has been punished for his crime
by one of our courts. 1t is next to i'm
possible to convict, in this city, crimi-
nal who has either money or friends.
Men who shoot their fellow men dead in
cold blood are in almost every instance,
"cleared after few months delay, no
matter how strong the proof Nearly every
week furnishes homicides, without con-
victions But petty criminalsare sent to
Nashville by dozens. This is an alarm
ing condition of affairs, which is begin
ming to make people nervous, and ask
what is to come of it ? There are thou
sands who believe that volcano is
slumbering beneath the surface, which,
unless something is done to produce a
reaction, will burst forth, sooner or
later, with terrible results.