The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1870-01-13

z, January 13, I87
thOrizing Indebtedness, may require
further restrictions upon the power to
borrow money. 1t is therefore sug-
gested, for your consideration, to limit
the amount of debt for a single pur
pose, and the total amount for all pur-
poses, which any local authority may
) contract, to a certain per centage of the
taxable property of such locality.
/ The evils here considered are not
| new. Fourteen years ago, Governor
Medill, in his annual message, used
the following language, which isias
applicable to county aud municipal af-
fairs now as when it was written:
"The irresponsible and extravagant
Isystem of administration which pre-
walls in some of our counties and cities
furnishes the principal cause for the
1exactions which are 80 generally COM
plained Of. There, public contracts
are given to favOritss which occasion
the most lavish expenditures. There,
also, we find officers with incomes
which shock all correct ideas of public
compensation. These things have their
effect upon the general tone of public
morals County reform is a duty en-.
Joined by every consideration Of public
virtue"
The whole Of this important subject
is commended to your candid consid-
Grafton. -..s
THE PENITENTIARY,
The management of the affairs of
the Penitentiary, during the past year,
has been good; discipline has been
maintained; under kind and iudiciOu5
treatment the prisoners have been in
dustrious and orderly, and the pecuni-
fary results are satisfactory. The num-
Der Of prisoners on the 3lst of October,
1869, was 974, and the number Of con-
victs admitted during the year ending
on that day wds 347. This is a de-
crease, compared with the preceding
year, of q in the number of convicts
admitted, and of 81 in the number
confined in the Peniteutiary.
The earnings during the year
ending October 81, WeFe-......$l75, ,663 O6
The expenses Were.................. l43. .635 50
Excess Of earnings over e1-
pendltures s..........................S S32 OPT %
Last year the earnings ere..,..SI7I, ,O37 As
The expenses WeTe........-......... l4l, ,794 95
And the excess OF earnings over
expenses were......,................ 1924 so
REFORMATION OF CoNvICTs.
A large proportion Of the convicts,
when admitted, are quite young. The
age of about one-third does not exceed
twenty-me years. More than two
thirds of the inmates of the prison are
now under thirty years of age. 1t will
occur to any one who considers these
facts that, under our system Of prison
discipline, too little effort has hereto
fore been made to reform these Young
men. A high authority has said, mo
human being is so debased and wicked
that he cannot be reclaimed" 1t is
believed that, under wise system,
the young, at least, can be reformed
and prepared for useful and worthy
citizenship. The present system has
two capital defeCts-the mingling in
intimate association of the young with
the hardened criminals, and the fail !
ure to educate the eOnvicts in habits Of
thrift and selfcOntrOl. The defects
are in the system. The convict. when |
he leaves the Penitentiary, is exposed !
to greater temptations than ever before. |
and the result Of his prison life is that
he has less power to resist evil influ- |
enCes, and, too often, less disposition
to resist them. do not enlarge upon
the objections to the present system;
it is not claimed to be refOrmatOry. !
In recent report, the Directors said /: !
"The great mass of cOnvicts still leave
the Penitpntiary apparently as har-
denPd and as dangerous to the State as |
they were when they were sentenced"
The vital question is, how to remove /
this reprOsch on our penal legislation. |
In considering it l commend to YOU
the remarks Of the Board Of State I
Charities on the Irish convict system. |
The distinguishing merit of that sys-
tenn is "that it enlists the cooperation !
Of the prisoner in his own amendment |
without Withholding from him the
punishment due to his crime" IftheI
adoption of that system, with such |
notifications as our condition requires,
is deemed an experiment which it is |
inexpedient for the State to try until |
its advantages are better understood, |
I submit that the least that ought now |
to be attempted is to provide for
classification of convicts, so as to sepa-
rate beginners in crime from hardened |
offenders. Whether this can best be
done by alterations and an extension |
Of the present Penitentisry or by the
erection OfR new one, is for your wis
dom to determine.
In several other States voluntary as
sOciatiOns have been formed to pro
vide for, encourage, and furnish en-
plOyment to discharged cOnvicts, and |
their efforts have been Of incalculable !
benefit to this unfortunate cbiss. If a |
similar association should be formed |
by the benevolent citizens of Ohio, |
they will reasonably expect to receive
proper assistance from the General AS
sembly, and in that expectation |
trust they will not be disappointed.
COMMON SCHOOLS.
The total number of persons oil
school age in the State in 1869, was
officially reported at l, ,O28,675 an in
crease of 1I,1O8 over the previous
year. The total number enrolled in /
the public schools in 1869 was 40, ,382,
an increase of $3.50 over the year
1868. The average daily attendance
in the public schools in 1869 was 434.-
865, an increase over 1863 Of 24,l44.
The total tax for schools. school
buildings, and all purposes, the pres
ent fiscal year, is $6,578, 1868, an in
crease over the taxation of the previ