The Rutland weekly globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1876-02-11
AND WEEKLY FRIDAY MoRNINa, FEBRUARY l1 a7s.
wv, and is not common alone to

thC lipuOI law, anu IL 0Ot common hlOnB 10
Vermont.
We have not space, this morning,t to treat
of the remedy any more than by sugges-
tion-the figures for Vermont and for the
jail near Pittsburg furnish the argument.
What is the use, we may inquire, of the
grand jury, every year, going through with
the farce of indictng the Jail 1t has
been done year after year for, no one knows
how long. 1t is impossible to find SEN
sible person that questions the fact that
the jail is and, for long time, has been
insufficient, unsuitable and disgraceful.
But why continually indict it There is
power only in the legislature to order the
construction of new jail If the grand
jury present the Jail as out of repair, then,
under the statute, it is the duty of the
county judges to repair ii at the expense of
the county. But the fault is, not that it is
out of repair, but that it is insufficient and
unsuitable. 1t has been so for years, but
when the Legislature came TO our relief,
the people of Rutland county did not avail
themselves Of the relief so preferred, but, on
the contrary, went to work, and worked
with will until they procured a repeal of
of the law authorizing the building of a
new jail-and yet we find fault with the
jail and some, even, lay the blame at the
door of its builders.
But if we had a new iail-large, commo-
dious, and with all the "modern improve
"ments'-how much better off would we be
in the matter of expense The difficulty
is, again, with the laws. There are now,
we believe, seventeen persons confined in
the Rutland county jail, and the expense
of their excepting" is ffty-nine dollars and
| fifty cents for each week-and this the tax
payers must pay But are the officers to
blame Not at all. The fault is with the
law, which provides no means by which
criminals can "work out" their fines, costs
and expenses of keeping-uness some
benevolent person may take them as
bondmen," keep them in their families
until they earn sufficient to pay their board
and, also, their fines and costs but who
would particularly desire such inmates II
their families
Let the state, then, remedy this matter
by prescribing system of work for the in
mates Of our prisons, and requiring each
| prisoner to work in accordance Herewith
1t may not be advisable, we hardly think il
would be, to provide for the erection o.
suitable jails, or work houses, for such 6
purpose in each county of the state. Five
or six would, perhaps, be all that would
be necessary-one, for instance, located in
Rutland would answer for Rutland and
Bennington counties as, also, for portions
of Addison and Windsor counties, and be
nearly as convenient Of access, and in some
cases more so, as the present four or more
jails. But supposing one was required in
each county, how long would it be before
each would pay for itself in the saving OF
money which would, otherwise, be drawn,
annually, from the treasury to pay fines,
costs, and Jail eXpensesp If Pennsylvania
with thirty days sentences can pay expen-
| ses aud nearly nineteen thousand dollars
more in single year, what might not be
expected in Vermont with practically life
sentences? The figures, by their contrast,
as we have said, suggest the remedy, and
| furnish the argument.