Litchfield enquirer., 1875-03-25
"The Enquirer and the Sheriff"

ooE AIsG arIlcle on Jal Reform ana we have searched our county papers carefully for any defence the friends of the Sheriff might see fit to publish. None has yet appeared unless letter or two attacking the Enquirer or the County Commission CTS can be called defence. Above all no attempt has been yet made to explain the figures we have given the public. A specimen of the kind of excuse the Sher- iff's friends offer for his conduct appeared in last weeks New Milford Ray. headed,
 "The Enquirer and the Sheriff." and signed Justice" It complains bitterly of our "coarse personal attacks on Sheriff Baldwin" and of the 'svile and improper motives" that induced those attacks. |" Now the articles referred to are all to be found reprinted in this paper and our readers can judge for themselves whether we have exceeded the bounds of proprie- ty in our criticism of the sheriff's official conduct. Nothing ''personal'' in the true sense of the term can be found in them. It has so happened that the editor of the Enquirer has been for dozen years coun- ty treasurer, and has, therefore, been per sonally cognizant of the loss that treasury has sustained by the course adopted by the present sheriff. That is our''vile and improper motive" for writing about Jail
 Reform.
 Justice" ayers that, Sheriff Baldwin
 has managed the Jail in strict conformity to law, and has received no emoluments or compensation except such as he is clear ly entitled to by law" What section of our statute entities the sheriff to put into his own pocket the proceeds of prisoners labor? The money he receives from the state more than pays the cost of boarding the prisoners, and the salary and board of keeper and his wife. We give below the sections which regulate the working of prisoners, and confidently submit that they contemplate no appropriation by the jailer to his own use of the proceeds of prisoners labor:
 SEC To- The County Commissioners may require all convcts to work according to their ability permit oth CT prisoners, they desire it, to be provided with terials for work and employment whose net earnings shall be paid to these acquitted require the jaer superintend the conduct and labor of the prescribe rules for the management of such jail and and the government and employment of prisoners and appoint not exceeding three inspectors and fix their who shall prescribe, and at least once month, examine into its management, and examine into and audit the accounts of the jailer when the Commissioners shall direct and may make regulations subject to be annulled by them
 SEC. H. The jaiers, under the rules of the County Commissioners and Inspectors shall procure suitable food clothing and medical aid for prisoners commit ted on criminal process. and such implements and materials as Shall be ordered, which shall be paid for out of the earnings of the prisoners if sufficient and if not by the county and act the agent of ill making purchases and sales and taking receipts for or an account of such jail and his accounts shall be open at all times to the inspection of such Commis soners and inspectors and be kept in such manner they shall prescribe.
 Why this particularly about accounts, and how can the jailer act as "agent of the county in these matters, if he is to receive the proceeds of prisoners labor as a perquisite of his office?
 Justice" opens his letter with the as- sertion that some remarks of Representa- tive A. N. Baldwin of New Milford at the county meeting were made the pretext of our articles. He says subsequently,, ''Whyi we find tEe very Representatives that ln- stituted this crusade against the Sherifrs office pushing through, with the assist ance of the venerable Reform Member from Harwinton, Salary Grab on 6 small scale. taking some $4O0 or $500 out of the treasury of the county" We have expressed our opinion that therepresenta- lives had no right to take pay for their services, although they seem entitled to actual expenses. Still the action of such men as Representatives Baldwin and Cat in in voting themselves moderate pay strikes us as very small "Grab" compar- ,d with the course of the sheriff in pock- 'ting his thousand dollars, annually, from 'he proceeds of prisoners labor.
 Justice" makes one promise that we hope may be fulfilled, and that speedily, ''We cah show and propose to do so that the Sherifrs office is one of the poorest paid of any of like responsibility in the State, and that the Enquirer's estimates are unfair and false.' We have nothing to do with the Sheriffs pay in his regular business. If he gets too little for serving writs, he must not try to make it up out of the jail
 Justice" closes with an onslaught on the County Commissioners. We shall de- cline to travel out of the record in that or any other direction. The question before the people at this coming election is that of jail management, not that of commis- liquor licenses. If the County Commissioners are justly responsible to any extent for the mismanagement of the jail, it is for too readily yielding to the constant dictation of the sheriff: Still, under the existing law they cannot we'll reform this evil without his cooperation. They could, indeed, reduce the price of board; but that would be unfair to the county, since it would thus receive only perhaps $1.5 50, for board of each prisoner per week, while every other county was get ting 8. Were they to sue the sheriff for the proceeds of the prisoners labor. they would find it difficult to furnish the re- quisite proof, because he has kept no such accounts of receipts from that source as the law requires. Were they to fix a salary for the jailer and attempt to run the jail entirely at county expense, they would not have the selection of the agent on whose honesty, energy and economy the result would depend, but he would be an appointee of the sheriff, the very person chiefly interested in having the experiment prove failure. Still. defec: tive as our law is, we believe the latter course to be the true one, and that with proper care and frmness it might be made successful.
 The biggest ''nigger" story yet comes