Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1878-11-16
WHAT SHALL BE DONE WITH OUR
ORIMINALS7

code As will reduce the costs Of crime.
Our state p~cnitentiary i, in many re-
spccts one OF the most unsatisfactory
elements in our social system There
are no less than three serious evils con-
nected with its present arrangement.
The first IS its expense. We had there.
on last Saturday. 1916 male prisoners
and ~ females. including, for conven-
lence of argument. the POO men who
are at the M.utserrat Goa, mines. While
1924 Of these convictS are reported a
being 'at work, it seems that they can
not carr enough to make the prison a
self-suppnrriug institution; and it *
Likely that there viii be 4 deficiency ct
tOrty-tiyct OF fifty thousand dollars II be
made good 10y the legislature In m
article which we printed, April 6sh, ISIS.
We showed from Official data aud relil
be estimates, that crime costs the state
OF Missouri aboUt five huudrei and
fifty thousand dollars per aunum, and
AAAAL AHC CN I'tis~C ! constantly 'lNi Ni"aNE
Indeed, SO rapid Is this Increase that ii
Threatens to absorb the entire revrnue
OF the state. The Iast general assembly
appropriated 500, 900 for the payment
Of such costs as are incidental to trials,
70 the maintenance OF prisoners III coun-
" isi.s. and the transportation UI Grim
mas from one county 10 smother and to
the peuitent!ary-tle appropriation 10
cover two Years. The most casual OBJ
server vii. see that these items only
provide for = part Of the actual costs OF
crime and still, .aFge Is the sum above
mentioned IS, it will not suffice for the
purposes tor which It is intended. The
honest, hsrdworking people OF the state
money for the protection OF society from
the criminal classes. and 4 large sum
beside tor maintaining in the peniten-
tiary a~b!e-bodied men and women. who
are unable. under existing circumstsn-
ces, to support themselves. The burden
IS g serious one. and. as far as practical
ole. should be reduced.
In addition 10 the expense is the social
disturbance threatened by bringing con-
vict into competition with honest labor.
The boots and shoes. the saddle-trees,
the brooms and the chairs manufactured
in the peniteutiary are exposed for sac
BY the side OF those made BY honest toll {;
and worse than these comes the cOmpe-
tItiOn OF convicts in coal mines. Honest
work is thrown out OF the market by
the undertaking OF pen]itentiary con
tractors. who refuse to pay enough tor
convict labor TO maze tho prison self
sustaining. We do not intend TO be IN
dersto0d as saying that il Is advisable To
keep c~onvicts within the walls idle. rather
than bring them into competition with
outside labor nOr that II Is feasible At
nee to do away entirely with the con
tract plan OF working ~cOuvicts. but we
shall, before We conclude this article.
endeavOr - suggest H part!a. remedy
for the evils here pointed out. The COM
petition of Cenvicts in cDI. mines bears
harder upon It's opposing honest labor
than Ices that OF tue .ibor on the inside
OF the walls Tor the following reasons
The labor III the prison IS necessarily
manufacturing Its products in the
shape OF shoes. saddle trees. &c. enter
into the genera, OF trade, and
fad the way into a.! parts ofour coGn-
try, thereby competing with honest Work
over a large territory. and being only
felt by each artisan IN q slight degree,
whereas the placing u a number OF con-
victs in coal mines anutli!ates that IN
Custry IL the CgnrguOU, country, aE4
not only throws the miners ont o: en-
p.oyment. but ruins the value Of a.
Goa. lands whose nutura! market : tn..
same Us the one sought by the convict
mined coal. This = = serious evil, and
should De the first reme,!i-d BY return
ing to the prison those conyicts who are
now permitted TO work in coal miues al
a distance from is walls, contrary 10
the spirit OF the laws and the character
Of their sentences.
A third serious objection to the pres
ent criminal law as il regards the pcni-
Tertiary. is that Il brings together into
intimate association the less criminal
and the more hardened wretches ni the
state. thereby rendering the prison II
tlrst-c.ass college for the graduation OF
desperate and expert criminals, instead
OF being the reformatorv institution
which il should be,
The remedy which We propose for
most Of these evils Is a simple one. 1t
involves, however. a radical change in
our criminal laws. Let none but those
convicted of the higher grades OF crime
be sent to the penitentiary-say those
guilty of murders, rapes. and aggravat-
cd cases Of burglary, robbery or forgery;
and let the ordinary thieves. and those
guilty OF minor f~elonies, as well as mis-
demeanors, be kept in the counties which
have the trouble and expense OF their
conviction, and let their labor be utilized
upon the public roads OF the counties.
In order to decrease the costs of con-
~viction, for such crimes as are punish
able BY sentence to hard labor in the
counties, let resident Judges OF some OF
the courts OF record be given criminal
jurisdiction. and let cases be tried by in
formation instead OF indictment, and a..
con%t!nuances be done away with, as far
as practicable. by a system OF adjourn,
ments of cases where Justice demands
delay. In this way speedy trials would
be secured. and the common spectacle
Of q jail tuIl Of men idly awaiting tria!
for months would be Il thing OF the past.
The labor Of men thus employed BIZ
the counties would not come into com
petition with honest labor. The OBJ
lection that ii would cost too much Ia
guard them does not seem to US 4 strong
one. Where more than 4 half dozen
were at the command OF n county the
objection would not be urged where a
less number, the county courts By hay
inr soma 1iSNrptipp in Tho nIa.ror o,ul,I