New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1874-01-10
YCOnmunic ateG.1
THE STATE PENITENTINRY

4
] attracts the eye OF a visitor 70 the aneen
! city ct Baton Rouge, is d huge, unsighNy
| editice of dingy red brick, and on closer
inspection is seen within the walls. at the
| rear of the building. sundry other build
ings. in the midst OF which rises q huge
Thitewashed circular chimney IL is on q
| rather smaller scale than the monument II
London: about the inscription on it Byron
| said:
Like = tall bully. fsafs tie lead and lies
The grounds are /. paralleiogranl. being
surrounded by those dingy walls. which
resent a frontage 0; some 400 feet, by SOC
fee: in depth. There are also towers at in
tervals along the walls, where the guards
amuse themselves by keeping a lookout
tor speculative prison breakers. and sInok'
ing their ealurnets with the Necessary &C.
comp animent OF the latest newspapers.
This institution boasts OF a. cells. in
which o.9hs to be confined the basess sort
Of criminals who have found refuge in
Louisiana. or who are - the manor born:
ou: our pateraa! State government has
pity upon the poor quito asts. and instead OF
keeping them in the confinement 10 which
they were respectively sentenced. sends
them TO fresh fields and pastures new. or.
20 drop metaphor. deploys them in squads.
some TO work Oh plantations. and others to
improve the physical condition Of our
!evees and railroads.
7ha. may De a.! very wei: in certain
cases, but when nineteen Of the frailey sex
are dispatched TO Caddc parish to pick cot
ton. leaving bu: one woman to keep house
at the Penitent!ary. we decidedly object.
To wan enly deprive that interesting estab.
lishment OF nine!een-twentieths OF its ;e-
male in mates is positively an outrage. bu,
TO send them five or six hundred miles
away 80 pick cotton" is entirely UNJUST.
fable. 10 VIVA: are we CON jug if such
things shall pass Unroticed: -
In the prison proper. as we have sai,
there ars Il. cells for males. each seven
feet in lie rgth by four and half wide. and
eigh: fee: high--oomy. well ventilated. and
very plea SAINT places tor convicis to winter
in. BIZ: here our congratulations must
cease. % che i43 criminals borne on the
register. -" are employed q: distance
from the prison. which :hey rarely enter,
and the remainder. ;i5 nlec. lounge aos1t
the yard. with
NO Gre 70 !oye, II. 20 eaye..."
AID 81! their sweetness. i: they have any. IS
wasted On the desert air.
Section 1850. Revised Statutes. provides
= ,oe e
thor;zeL 20 furnish such books a. they may
consider useful 70 the convicts, not 20 ex.
coed annually the suE Of 500. chargeable
TO the current expenses Of the institution"
bu: this !audable plan has never been car.
ried into effect. and the naked fact remains
tina: TIE convict. have nothing TO read
Whatever :eadin. matter they happen to
have is furnished by their friends, or by
some fooiisl: phianthropic individuals who
yet believe that sonvie.s have souls to be
saved. There are no. six Bibles in that
building, and books OF all sorts are at a
high premium. There is legend that dur.
ing :he late rebellion . library existed
there. bu: j: Is stated. mougnfully. that it
was destroyed during the war. Hence. no
steps have ever get been taken to replace it,
The means OF instruction 20 the wretehed
inmates arc--nargh:. Who cares for con.
vict: We have no Hene violent Mrs Fry nor
! Howard among Us. who will devote . life.
time to the improvement Of the social.
physica! and mora! condition of the out.
lasts Of society. J: seems 20 be the preva.
ent opinion among our Legislators that. in
rider TO vepress crime. i: IS necessary 70
invest its penalty with all the horrors OF the
middle ages, but such belief is q selusion.
Let a swift and sure retri button follow the
commission OF crime. Right: But when
We imprisen malefactors We should take the
greatest pains % sffec. their reformation,
and We ough: especially to avoidany meas
Tres tending TO their decentralization. Such
,eins the proposition. how do We carry out
he induction: We deprive the convicts of
he best means o: spending their leisure and
onesomc hours. BY dep,iyins them of !
,ooi even the best of books. We |
end them beyond che walls OF tho prison.
md hire theis out like SO many cattle. 10 4!
he highest bidder. We place them in the !
are OF men who are perfectly irresponsible. |
inless they should murder some Of their !
harg-. Their religious duties are utterly !
Neglected. and their moral trsinin: is |
otally disregarde9.
In the Penten.iary PEI" re. al. the work /.
topped. Those ICONS tina. used 20 be I
worked all day and all night, are now |
lien: AZ the comb. The ll5 bundles OF !
NEW. and muscle. that brought wealth to
he lessees are now rioting in idleness and
he machinery /. yusting in its frames.
II is pretty difficult 20 find out who axe
be iessees. or. indeed. whether or not there
re any: bn: the only .lucidation of the
roblem tina: we ceuld discover was the
blowing card. copied from q notice pasted
aside the prison walls: |:
BAyo. RcUGE, La. Oetoje. 81, 1873.
o all Whom is May Concern:
The lease of the Louisiana State l'eniteii. !
AIRY, together with all the contents there ;
/, excepting the property belonging to !
Iessrs. BogeI, Garig & Co., was transferred
,ic) by the undersigned by a regular bill
t sale, passed before p. Charles Cuveler.
otary, on the tenth day of this month, to the
Iome Manufacturing Company, Duncan F.
enner, president: and they will be obeyed
. lessees by al! officers of this institution.
S. J.. JAMES.
The boa,ti OF control is composed of five
.timabls gentlemen, OF whom that ancient,
ithful public servant, Hon. 8. Wrot-
swski. is president Their published rules
I'd regulations are excellent, whether in
eins coucheG IN faultless grammatical
nguage or in the soundness Of the views
erei4 expressed. but
Among the duties 81 The shapfains j.
at in article thirty. which reads:
They shall distribute the books des-