Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1875-04-07
THE COUNTY JAIL.

| THE COUNTY JAIL.
In another column We publish COM
munication from the Board of Super.
visors, in relation to an article pub
lished in our daily paper of March ed
and the Weekly Of the 24th, in regard
| 10 the condition OF our county jail.
All that in any way related to the
County Supervisors was contained in
tho following paragraph. viz:
"Thc whole of the matter is, that the
i4il il in q filthy, unhealthy and unsafe
condition, which should be remedied
by the Board OF Supervisors as soon q,
possible"
We in no way intended to reflect on
the Board of Supervisors for The con.
dition Of the jail, as 1t is utterly Inn
possible for them to prevent the over
crowding OF the Jail with persons, and
1t is we'll knu wn that 1t is utterly i'm.
practicable to attempt enlarging the
Jail In lis present location.
Al The September -lS74-session OF
the Board Of Supervisors they sub.
nit,ed to the voters of Wapollo coun-
,y q proposition to purchase grounds
on which, at - carly day as would be
practical, to erect county buildings
commemorate to the wants OF the
county. That proposition was duly
submitted TO the voters Of Wapello
county at the October election and de.
feated by a majority Of 1852 votes, the
vote standing 4i6 for the proposition
to 1893 againa, the purchase Of
grounds. The wisdom of the Board
in submitting this proposition TO the
people, cannot be denied by any phi
!anthropic or thinking man. There was
then, and is now, an absolute necessity
for more commodious Court House
and jail. At the time they were built,
twenty years ago, they only sutIiced to
meet the wants Of the county business
for q few years, End to-day our popu-
lation has eatirely outgrown their ca
pacity for the county business. Then
we had eleven or twelve thousand in.
ha bitants-now we have at least
twenty. five thousand and our wealth
as . county, since that time, has in.
creased seven fold. When this prop.
position was published the COURIER
said:
We think the Board of Supervisors
did good thing In submitting to vote
the question of purchasing grounds In
the city for public buildings. The lot
on which the Court House and Jail
at present stand 10 too small already,
the buildings are not large enough to
accommodate the public business, and
the time is speedy coming when new
and more commodious buildings will
be necessary. We think II wise, there-
fore, to secure . site while It can be
purchased at . reasonable price. We,
OF course, would not advise the cree
ton of any buildings until our county
IL ont of debt, but BY all means secure
good place to put them while there
| is an opportunity Of doing so at fair
price.-Daily Sept. 14th lS74.
We adhere to that opinion now, and
we hold tho voters Of Wapello county,
without respect to party, creed, "color
or previous condition of servitude,"
who voted against the measure pro-
posed by the Board, as responsible,
and wo must think they did not COM
prehend the necessities of the case.
We very well understand the position
occupied by the Board of Supervisors
how the law binds their hands, and in
no way hold them responsible for the
miserable condition of our Jail. II
our article of March ed was q start
ling one, 1t was also just one-it was
just what we intended it to bo-we
wanted TO rouse the people from
their state Of lethargy, ana to show
them that they had been apenny-wise
and pound-foolish' in voting against
the proposition to purchase moro suit
able grounds on which, ct some future
day, we could erect county buildings
that would not disgrace us, % free
and intelligent people. humanity and
common decency demand that We ct
least should have . better and more
commodious jail, and we hope that the
Board VIII. at thoNext election, again
submit proposition 70 puavl,.es
grounds /; that the matter may be thor
oughly eanvassed, In order that the
people may see and feel the necessity
of such step, and act accordingly.
The Board Of Supervisors nor the
Sheriff are in any way responsible for
the meagre and disgraceful accommo-
dations Of our jail. The law com.
pletely ties their hands 90 that they
can literally do nothing to remedy the
crying evil, and If the matter IL again
put before the people we hope they
will act upon it with the spirit that
should characterize all enlightened
communities, and mot from that con-
tracted view that merely counts dol
lars and cents, and not the well being
Of our community.
At the request of the Board, we
publish the law relating to the care
and the government Of the county jail.
We omit some of the sections cited by
them, a. they areirrelevant to the sub.
iect under discussion, and pertain only
to the care of the prisoners and the
police regulations Of the Jail.
We are also glad that the Board has
brought this matter before the public,
and hope that the question will be az
itated In such . manner, and to such
purpose, that the Board may be In.
vested with power by the people to
fully and effectually remedy tho evils
complained OF.
| They call 'em Opening" days, be-
cause they open both the mouths and
pocket-books of pater families.