The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1877-07-05
The whipping Post.

| never thought, writes a correspond
ent, that | should be an advocate of
the lash IS punishment of. any kind,
out visiting Alexandria to-day, and
making little examination into the
result of ten months tnal, / am now
free to say that the whip will prevent
great deal of the petty, as we'll rs OF
the large stealing that is so prevalent
IN all the large cities now. Happening
to come across a copy of the message
of the mayor of Alexandria, DIR. ]. B.
Johnson, which was sent to the CITY
council last week, / was struck with
the following sentences:
II take pleasure in saying that not
single instance, of any consequence.
of violation of law has gone unre
ported and unpunlshed. The police
department has not single prisoner
on the chain-gang, and but one pris-
oner In Jail for the action of the court. ,
There have been but four cases of
larceny sent to the court during the
l'"''oe o0uTr Fet'@'A--And- fifty cases of pet
the corporation, thereby saving, uy-
-''nh disposition, to the city treasury.
sum not less ,Laa S90OO thns ir,lioa,
ing the good results oil prUnips sad
impartial enforcement OF the laws, re-
gardless of the prejudice of any one;
md as the disturbers of the peace ana
the violators OF the law bear but a
small proportion to the rest Of the COM
muuity who keep the peace aud respect
he law, it has always appeared to m,
TO bc misguided sentiment for those
Nho desire the maintenance OF the OF
finances that have for their object the
reservation Of life aud property, to
evincc misplaced sympathy for tho vio-
lators of the law when they are pun
ished, and to make common cause with
them in reproach of those who justly
md impartially enforce the laws.n
The italics in the above are mine.
The idea of disposing OF cases of this
kind without any expense struck me as
very novel, and soon called upon his
Honor and asked him for the secret.
found the mayor TO be an excellent
gentleman and very communicative,
proud of his position, his success and
his city. lie has given the affairs of
his Office much study and thought, and
has reduced it down to almost a science.
lie informed me that when he looked
into the matter lac found the jail full
of people (more than fve-sixths Of
whom were colored) who were serving
out sentences for various offenses. He
thought it would be better for all con-
cerned il those fellows were required
! 10 do some kind OF work. he then
wrote what are now known as the
"chain-gang laws" and had them
adopted by the municipal law-makirg
power, and put the prisoners at work
cleaning the streets, cutters, etc.-all
of them being chained together. al
soon found out, T" said the mayor, "that
this would not work, because, first,
it would not pay, and, second,
it deprived the families OF the ser
wees of these men. 1t worked IN
jury in other ways. No city wants
to make or save money out of the pro-
ceeds of crime, and our endeavor should
be to prevent crime. We found that
imprisonment would only temporarily
10 this; and, besides this, it costs forty
cents per day to keep prisoners IN Jail.
Then there is an expense for medical
attendance, clothing, etc, which ma
terially adds TO the cost. Then, whiia
men are in Jail their families are de
prived of their labor and support. AT
ter looking very thoroughly into the
matter, and in accordance with the
laws OF this corporation, | ordered
that all persons found guilty Of steal
ing of any kind should be given nine
and thirty stripes on the bare back for
the first offense. 1t 10 success in
every way, and is economical. l usu-
ally order that but twenty of the stripes
be laid on, and tell the party to come
back in ten days for the other nine.
teen. OF course he never returns for
what We owe him. This clears the
city of class that we can get along
without, and it is the most effectual
way of doing 1t that l know Of. Dur.
ing the ten months ending May 1, we
had but fifty cases OF stealing to dis
pose of, while in previous years we had
a great many more"