The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1874-01-15
CONVICT LABOR.


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CONVICT LABOR
Il Under existing laws, the labor o
eonvicts in the Ohio Penitentiary i:
not, for the most part, employed di'
, reetly by the State, but it is let oct tC
the highest bidders therefor. The
ejntraetOrs pay for such labor, on an
average, about ninety cents per day PEI
capita, and the prisoners are clothed
aud led at the expense of the State.
otate. 1t necessarily happens that
manufacturers who obtain labor at 80
low rate, go into market with great
advantage over all competitors less
fortunate in this regard. They are
enabled, 1t is believed at q profit, to
undersell the market price. The re-
? suit must inevitably be, that all kinds
OF business similar to those carried on
In she Penitentiary are embarrassed,
while the prison contractors make
, inordinate gains. 1t may be urged
that the hiring Of this convict labor Is
open to competition. Nominally, il
is 50 practically, il remains for many
years IN the same hands, and It is not
fully paid 1 am of opinion, after some
, investigation, that il would be more
: prof1tapie for the State to utilize and
control the labor of all the prisoners
than adhere to the contract system.
AT all events, the prison could be SO
conducted as to interfere less with the
legitimate pursuits of business men
who pay the ordinary wages for work.
The state, looking to the interests Oi
all its citizens, coald have no induce
ment to sell its manufactures below
the market price, for its plain duty is
10 encourage business everywhere,
and to embarrass it as little ss passi-
be.
. hope the General Assembly will
, Investigate this subject, and do what
is deemed best for the good of the
whole State.
/ renew the recommendation
made last year with regard to enlarg-
ing and improving the cells of con-
victs in the Penitentiary. As at pres
ent constructed. they are not fit to be
occupied, and are not in keeping with
the humane spirit OF the age. The
cost of making the necessary changes
would not be great, as most of the
work could be done by the prisoners
themselves. A decent regard for the
health and reasonable comfort of these
unfortunate criminals requires early
attention and action on the part OF
the Legislature.
CRIMINAL LAW.
Another years experience in the
matter of hearing and deciding appli-
cations for pardon has confirmed me
in the opinion that the law should be
so modified as to leave less discretion
with the courts in passing sentence
! for criminal offenses. 1t often hap
pens that two prisoners work side by
side in the Penitentary, both sent
there for precisely the same crime, one
for one year and the other for ten. In
such case, it is impossible to convince
the convict incarcerated for the longer
time that he has been fairly dealt
with. And so long as he ia stung with
sense of this injustice, he is not like
| ly to reform. There Is nothing ap-
preaching uniformity in the length of
of sentences pronounced by different
! judges for similar offenses.
1 earnestly recommend that the
criminal law be so changed as to Sc
cure mo- exact justice; so amended
as to leave results affecting the lives
and liberties of men less dependent
upon the Judgment, the temeera-
ment or the caprice of those who ad-
minister the law.
STATE ORDNANCE.
1t may not be universally known
that under an act of Congress, approv-
ed April 23d, 1903, two hundred thous-
and dollars is annually appropriated
for the purpose of armin0 and equip
ping the militia of the United States,
this sum being divided among the
States and Territories, according to
their representation in Congress. The
yearly quota of Ohio under this rule is
Sl1 500. But during the late war large
sums of money were charged against
some of the States for arms and other
ordnance stores issued to said States
by the War Department. By refer
ence to the report of the Adjutant
General, which will be laid before you,
it will be seen that Ohio stood charg-
ed on the 1st of December, 1888, with
S1S4, az, % in excess of her quota. The
amount at this time appearing to DC
ed siittse Hdedacting 18th the 1885, S5soliss e ABOUT
S127 900. AS the arms and other or
dnance stores now in possession of the
State are inconsiderable in quantity,
and of little value, it is undoubtedly
true that westand charged with stores
issued to troops and used during the
war, and which have been accounted
for to the U. s. Government by COM
manding officers in the field. 1t may
be that errors occurred in keeping the
accounts, but certain it is that Ohio
ought not to be charged with this
large amount of money. Indeed,
General A. C. Dyer, Chief OF Old
nance, says:
"L2rge sums of money were charg-
ed against some of the States for arms,
etc., furnished by this department
during the war, and other States,
equally populous, had no charges
made against them during the same
period; and it seems to me highly
probable that errors occurred in keep
ing the accounts with the States,
which do great injustice to some of
them; but which this Bureau has no
authority to correct. The principal,
if not ali of the issues which were
made to the States during the war,
were made to them for the mainten-
nance of the Government and the pre-
sevation of the Union, and should
have been charged as arms and other
stores issued to volunteers, to the U nj
ted States, and not to the States"
II the app aren't Indebtedness here
referred to is not cancelled, as the Adj
jutant General says, IL will be eleven
years before any arms can be received
by this State.
1t would be we'll to authorizs some
agent or State officer to investigate
and secure q correction of the mis-
takes heretofore made. Or IL Con-
gressional action is necessary, as the
Chief of Ordnance seems to think,
then the General Assembly should in
struct our Senators and request our
Representatives in Congress to secure
If possible, the required legislation.
WAR CLAIMS AGAINST THE UNITED
STATES.
The following statement will show
the history and condition of war
claims presented by the State of Ohio
against the General Government:
Amount ofclains presented prior
to November l5, lS7 .....S3. 300 ~
Amount presented during the last
fiscal Y( oot-lO 81
Total ...-.....s3 ,IS3 81
Reimbursed prior to
Nov. Is, ls72-.-.......--.S2,s25,2 SIS "a 9i
Amount collected dur
ing last fiscal year 94,l7f 50 -.
Amount outstanding. ............... s3lii75l "a
OF the amount of claims now out.
standing, probably not more than nj
| ty thousand dollars will be collected
unless payment shall be authorized by
act of Congress, though it is believed
that large part Of what is claimed,
If not all, IS justly due, and ought to
be paid.
Our war claims have been collected
at cost of little more than one-half
OF one per cent, and the work has
been faithfully and efficiently done.
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