The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1877-01-11

be sent to the State institutions. In the
course of time other State prisons will be
] required, since it is generally agreed that
there is limit in size and numbers beyond
which pententiary ought not to 60. 1t
is not advisable, nor is it necessary, at the
present time to incur that expense l,
therefore, recommend that authority be
given to the inspectors Of the Eastern Peni-
tentiary, and funds be appropriated, to en-
! large the accommodations of that institu-
ton to 7S0 cells L also recommend that
lhe law authorizing the courts to send to
the penitentiary persons sentenced to i'm
prisonment at labor, by separate and soli-
tary confinement, for any period not less
than one year, be modified, so as to permit
/ those only to be sent there who are SEN
fenced to not less than two years imprison-
ment as above. The increased capacity
would at once give relief, and operation of
the proposed amendment, within the year,
remove the pressure from the institution.
| Such a course would also tend to induce
the counties to erect proper and substan-
tial prisons. Many counties now have such
prisons, and a glance at the reports of the
| inspectors will show that fewer criminals
4 are sent from these counties to penitentiaries
| than from others. The counties whose
jails are reported irst-class by the Board
of Pu bile Charities, are Armstrong, Clarion,
Clearfeld, Lehigh and Potter. In Berks,
Blair, Bradford, Butler, Cambria, Cameron,
Carbon, Centre, Chester, Clinton, Craw-
ford, Cumberland, Dauphin, Delaware,
Fayette, Juniata, Lancaster, Luzerne, Ly-
i comidg, NJ Kean, Mercer, Miffiin, Mont
gomery, Northampton, Perry Philadelphia,
Schuylkill, Susquehanna, Warren, Wayne,
Washington and York, the same authority
report the jails good and substantial, al
though some are small A few counties,
Greene, Monroe and Northumberland, are
now building new ones. Any legislation
tending to hasten the action Of the balance
will be to the benefit of the counties and
the State The reformation of persons con-
victed of crimes of venial character will
be sooner attained in community where
they are known, and when they are spared
the deeper disgrace Of penitentiary i'm
prisonment and separated from the hardened
and desperate characters who will be turned
over to the care of the State. Whatever
acton.is taken, should be taken at once. The
trouble is constantly increasing and measures
should be devised Immediately to relieve
the penitentiaries from the pressure Of an
over population, which impairs their eff
cheney and endangers the security and safety
of their inmates.
| BOARD OF PUBLIC CHARITIES.
The annual report OF the Board of Pub
! = 'hor h,f al,
valuable statistical and other information
in regard to the condition of the various
charitable, reformatory and penal institu-
tions of the State Much has been accom-
plished during the past year in the correc-
tion of abuses still lingering in some Of the
county institutions, by the assistance rem
dered by wise counsel and judicious en-
couragement to those who are endeavoring
| to improve the condition of the unfortunates
| intrusted to their care, and by careful
and discriminating oversight of the manner
in which the funds of the State and appro-
priated to public charities, and expended
| by them. \ marked improvement is OBJ
servable in the general attention paid by
the local arrangements Of almost all grades
of institutions coming under the jurisdic.
ton Of the Board of Public Charities, to
strict economy and care over the various
classes of inmates more in accordance with
! the advanced views Of our modern civiliza-
ton. The benefits of an intelligent, ex-
perienced and disinterestcd supervision,
such as is afforded by the Board of Public
Charities, which were very imperfectly un-
dcrstOod at first, have come to be more
and more appreciated by the local manage
ments Of public institutions, and it is mat
ter Of sincere congratulation that growing
spirit ofconfdence and cooperation is clear
ly pcrceptible as the work of the Board ex-
tends itself The cost Of managing such a
State agency, triiling as it is, becomes Who'll
ly insignificant when compared with the
large saving of public appropriation, and
the constant improvement Of the States
care Of the defective and criminal classes
within It's borders
The operations in the Fish Department
during the year have generally kept abreast
Of the movement in other States. The
Commissioners have employed the means
given them, in distributing and cultivating
new tribes Of fishes, and in purchasing, on
reasonable terms, another extensive hatch
ing establishment west Of the Allegheny
mountains The State is now in possession
of two establishments Of the kind. The
iishways continue to admit shad in large
numbers, but they cannot as yet be said to
have reinstated the fisheries above the dam.
As there is no physical impediment to the
fish passing through them, the failure is as
cribed to the natural timidity of the shad
the predatory fishing of the rivermen and
the deposit of detrimental substances in the
river The neglect of the local authorities
to enforce the appropriate legislation, or,
possibly, some inherent defects in the laws,
seriously embarrass the effort of the Com
mission to stock the waters of the State
with food fish, The results in other States