Litchfield enquirer., 1875-08-19
A New Jail.

The Winsted Herald of last week has an excellent article on the question of build ing new jail. Commencing with state ment of the disadvantages of the present building, it's inadequate accommodations. and it's unsuitableness as a work-house, the Herald concludes with the following reference to a possible division of the county:
 So far IS we arc able to learn the chief opposition to a new jail comes from the 1 direction of New Milford, which isn't ' satisfied with it's one-third share of the District Court doings-haying lofty aspi- | ratiOns and thirsty hankerings for Coun- | ty Court, also jail of its own and the lit- ! tie odds and ends which go with them. Of course to obtain these there must be 8 new deed for two new counties to be made out of the present county territory. Then there must be ttOO new jails to be taxed for and two new court houses, and we | must have t,Do sets of patriots to serve Justice where one now is all she can stand
 AS well might 0 town meeting under take to decide by it's votes the kind of weather the town would be satisfied with from May till October as to draw satisfac- tory lines for the division of Litchfield County. Our New Milford friends nonai- nate Winsted as one new county seat and pocket the other themselves. We are com- peiled to admit that Winsted is reasona- bly accessible for good portion of the county on account of its excellent railroad accommodations, but we cannot say as much for our sister town of New Milford. Out of the 26 towns in the county not more than six could be regarded as to be benefited by changing the county seat from Litchfield to New Milford, that is, so far as accessibility is concerned. We will be frank in this statement and name the towns: New Milford, Bridgewater, Kent, Cornwall, Sharon and Canaan. If Winsted were the other county seat we believe that IS of the 26 towns would de- | eide by Q majority vote to do their court business at Winsted, and in these IS we mean all except Bridgewater, New Mill ford, Roxbury, Washington, Bethlehem, Woodbury, Kent and Warren. Bethle- hem and Woodbury would be so poorly accommodated that they would possibly get mad and keep out of our courts en- tirely.
 The chief objection raised against the present county seat IS the difficulty Tn reaching it. We'll, it isn't the easiest place ill the world to get at, but we know of no other place in the county which is as central, and, all things being consider ed, as accessible as Litchfeld.
 We hope, therefore, that the opposition to a new jail at Litchficld will at once dis appear.-should there be any in the con- vention, and that we shall soon have measures set on foot which will give the county such a building for it's penitents and impenitents as its we'll being de- mands.
 In it's opening statement of facts the Herald is in error in supposing that pris- oners of both sexes "are thrown together almost like so many cattle in a barnyard. :" The women are confined in the poor debt ors' rooms, and as, just now, Litchfeld county has no poor debtors, the women have separate apartments. The foregoing article hits the precise point of objection to the building of new jail, and. coming as it does from locality interested for 8 division of the county if such division is really desirable, it is entitled to a weight that nothing Litchfeld paper could say would have.