Buchanan County bulletin and guardian., 1868-01-24

, ted as follows: Davenport branch, 537,
Cedar Falls, 270, and Glenwood IL. The
!. trustees recommended that the allowance for
sur port and current expenditures be increas-
! ed to the rate Of twelve dollars per month,
for each child in attendance, which amount
in their opinion, will furnish no more than
adequate support for the proper and efficient
maintenance Of the institution. They also
recommend that the buildir q be improved
and extended, in order to provide suitable
accommodations for the present and increas-
ing number of inmates. For this purpose,
according to the estimate Of the Trustees,
$27,o0O will be required.
The subject deserves and should receive
your deliberate and considerate attention
The responsibility If providing for these
children was assumed under sense of duty
to the men who nobly filed the largest mess-
ure Of responsibility TO the country by laying
down their lives in its defense and, in do
ing this, we but discharge to limited extent
the highest ob!igasion that can be imposed
1 upon patriotic and grateful people.
PExIrExrIARY.
Your attention is respectfully invited to
the condition Of the penitentiary, and 70 the
necessity which exists for additional xppro.
priations TO increase its capacity and secu.
rty. The report Of the Warden and accom-.
paDying documents will fully explain to you |
the condition and wants Of this institution |
The necessity for an increase Of cell room |
10 SO manifest and urgent that / trust It will /
receive your prompt and favorable attention. |
The biennial period just elapsed began with |
| eigt y seven convicts and las cells, and /
closed With leo conyicts and I62 cells, leav.
ing only two uBoccupied. It viii be obssrv.
cd that the number of convicts has nearly
doubled within the last two years, and with
| the progress of population it is but reasona>
BILE to anticipate . continued increase Of
crime, requiring additional facilities for the
keeping and accommodation of eonvicts.
1t should be borne in mind that these ad-
ditional cells must be provided for irmedi.
atsly, unless the State il prepared to adopt
the vicious and discarded system Of doubling
the convicts in their cells, which is prejudi>
eial to health not only, but destructive Of
proper discipline.
With the large amount Of combustible
material unavoidably kept in the various
workshops and about the prison enclosure,
the danger from destructive fires is constant |.
and imminent, and its occurrence would n
produ immense loss both TO the State and
the Ii ssees Of the consict labor. To provide
against such ca, astrorhe, inssmuch ~ no
insurance can be effected upon The buildings
or their contents, it il necessary to construct
. reservoir Of sufficient dimensions, at some
point on the prison walls, with suitable pipes I
and other fixtures requisite for flooding the
various buildings when necessary, ia any
alarm Of FIRE. The reservoir must be sup>
piled With water obtained from the river by |
means Of hydraulic power all Of which can ,
- am advised be accomplished at . mod>
crate expense to the State.
The accounts and vouchers Of the Warden
have been examined from time to time, aud
found TO be correct. The business and sf
fain Of this institution appear 70 have been
managed in al respects, With eommendabls
prudence. Its sanitary condition 10 exccll-
ent not death having occurred Amon2 the
convicts during the last two years, and the
good order and system which prevail are
evidence that the discipline Of the pri.oa i
efficient and eouplets.
STATE REFoRM SCHOOL.
The report of the Warden shows. out Of
one hundred and sixty convics, now in the
Psnitentiary, thers are 50 under swenty-0.Si
ysaB Of sgs, and 81 Of fthess vary in age from
twelve to eighteen years. An examination
of our criminal returns will reveal the mel.
ancholy fact that very large and incrcas-
ing proportion Of those arraigned in our
Courts, upon criminal accusations, are per-
sons of tender age, many Of whom End their
way into the Penissntiary, there TO serve for !
. term Of years in companionship with old
and confirmed offenders. A lar e majority
Of these unfortunate youth are either orphans,
cast out on their own resources, or the neg> ,
leeted offspring Of parents who are either too :
poor to support, or have, with criminal indif. .
ference, neglected the education and moral :,
training Of their children. Thus neglected, :
4, deprived of the restraining influences ofa !
well ordered home, these unfortunate child,
ren are often driven into association With !
older companions, BY whose corrnpting man. h
ners and vicious propensities they are con-
Quoted, BY sure degrees, into the perpetration
Of crimes, from which their better natures, If
they had been properly directed would have d
turned with horror. Q
Some years Of observation and experience e
both ~ = judicial and executive officer have .
deeply impressed me with the conviction that &
the sountest considerations OF public econo> b
my, and every sentiment Of gu enlightened b
and Christian philanthropy, imperatively de- =
mard the erection of reform school. for the (
and reformation of juvenile Of. .
tenders. Instead Of working the reformation I
Of such persons, . term in Tie State peniten> FIJI
tiary, BY keeping them in the psrnicious a. .
mosphere of prison life, constantly subjected c
to the demcraixing influences Of confirmed il
and hopeless criminals, only serves to pre- n
pare them for entering upon . higher aud 1
bolder career Of crime.
Many other States have deemed il ex. :
pediens to adopt the policy here suggested.
and the signal success which has marked the !
experiments of reform schools, and their q
popularity wherever they have been {
tried, serves to encourage me in urging the @
General Assembly to establish one in this .
State at the earliest day practicable. For q
this purpose, l would recommend that . q
tract Of land, say from fifty to one hundred q
acres, be procured BY donation or otherwise, /
At some eligible and convenient point, aud {
that an appropriation be mad. for the erec> q
ticn Of suitable buildings to put the school +,
into immediate and successful operation. q
Reference should be had TO the erection Of Z
workshops where these offenders may also !
acquire knowledge of some mechanical art, Z
which, combined with we'll directed intellec> !
tual and moral instruction, will serve to I
qualify them for . useful manhood, and Z
stimulate them to higher and nobler aims i
alter their terms of sentence shall have ex,
pired. With the income derived from these
operations, the institution may al
so, to great extent, if not altogether, be
rendered self,sustaining. II
In my opinion subject more grave and '
far-renching in its character can not engage 9
the attention Of an enlightened and humane {
legislator.
SCHOOL FUND. q
respectfully and earnestly renew the srg- )
gestions contained in my biennial message to !,
the Eleventh General Assembly, in reference
to the urgent necessity Of requiring the per- !
mauent school fund, now on loan to the
counties, 10 be returned to the State Treas
ury, for the purpose Of more safe and
available inves. nent.
This suggestion did not originate with me,
nor am alone in entertaining the opinion /,
that it has become a subject Of grave con-
ceru. Ny predecessors, Governors Grimes,
Lowe and kirkwood, Wisely directed legisla.
tive attention TO this subject, and, in forcible
terms urged the necessity Of a more prudent
mana cement Of this fund. In these views
they were cordially sustained BY the account
ing and financial officers Of she State, whose
dutiaa and n.eans Of observation entitled