Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1868-01-16

Directors why minimum prlce 10
convict labor should not be estat
lished by law. The accounts Of th
prison demonstrate that since th
passage Of the existing statute Of
that subject, there has been clea
loss to the State of two thousan,
dollars per month by reason Of th
unemployment Of c0nyicts 70
whose labor responsible bids ha'
been made before the law took effect
[ believe the reasoning Of the rcpor
on this subject to be sound, and rec
ommend the repeal Of the statut
referred to. The true mode Of en-
hancing the price of labor in tn
prison is to perfect the disciplin
and management Of the institution
so that the labor itself will be NOR
valuable and reliable, and leave it Z
the zeal Of honorable and cOmpe
tent Directors and officers 10 pro
cure the highest market price for it
No legislation can remove the n,
cessity Of having honest men in
charge Of 50 important an institu
ton, or of confding in their trust
worthiness.
A NEW PRISON.
The number of convicts in the
Peniten,ilry has averaged one thou.
sand; twelve hundred and ninety.
one having been in it during the
year, and one thousand and one re-
naming there at the date of the re-
port. 1t is manifest that it will not
do to put off any longer the task OF
providing for the increase of con
victs, which keeps pace with our in
crease of population. Such thought
as | have been able to give the sub
ject has convinced me that the in.
crease of prison room ought to be
made by building an intermediate
prison, taking grade between the
Reform Farm and the present Peni
tentiary, where a thorough effort
may be made to test the value of a
really reformatory system upon the
younger men and less hardened class
of criminals convicted of first often
ses by the Courts.
BOARD OF STATE CHARITIES.
This topic, amongst others, has
been carefully examined by the
Board of State Charities, and their
report will be found to contain a
lucid and intetesting discussion OF
it. l think their conclusions are
sound, and that they will make a
proper and safe basis for legislation.
This Board has, besides, made care
full examination of the condition of
our county jails and infrmaries, and
the facts disclosed are startling ev-
idence how easily abuses grow up
in the most enlightened communi-
ties, where there is no regular or
efficient mode of making the public
acquainted with the true condition
of institutions at their very doors.
| recommend the printing Of an cX-
ira number Of copies oftheir report,
believing that the full details con
tanned in it should be widely known,
and that the knowledge would
arouse a public sentiment which
would most efficiently second such
legislation as the subjects will AN
doubtedly receive at your hands.
l would also recommend that the
Board be made more efficient, by
providing a permanent secretary
for them, whose whole time might
be devoted to continuing and eXten-
ding the investigations they have so
well begun.
ATTORNEY GENERALS REPORT.
The reforms needed in the organ
ization and administration of the
local correctional institutions, nat
urally lead to the consideration of
reforms in the criminal law. The
Attorney General, in his report, ur-
ges the Importance of cOdification
of the crimes act, and of the sim
of the rules and practice
Of criminal procedure, so that they
nay be freed from cumbrous tech
1icalities, which are too often found
% impede instead of furthering the
cause of substantial justice. Much |
abor was bestowed upon the per
Icction of bills for the above men
.ioned purpose at the last session
)f the Legislature, but they had
lot finally been acted upon at the
adjournment. An act was. howey- !
,r, passed allowing accused persons
o testify upon their own trials for
,rimes. Although this measure
vas supported by most respectable
authorities upon the bench as well
is in the Legislature, my observa-
ion of its practical workings as
hey have been revealed to me in
ny examination of applications for
pardon, compels me to believe that
he change is, upon the whole, an
one. When prisoner
las the right to testify in his own
,ehSlf, his failure to do so is almost
ure to be taken as a confession Of
,uilt. When to the knowledge Of
his fact is added the temptation to
invent a plausible theory to account
or circumstances proven in ovi-
ence, in the hope of escaping pun
shmcnt thereby, few criminals will
e found who will not add perjury
0 the crime already committed
he plausibility that in some rare
cases innocent persons