Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1878-12-07
CRIMINAL COSTS.

Under the above caption we find the
following article III the editorial COL
umns OF the St. Louis Republican, OF
Dec. Sd:
The Lexington Inteliigrnccr of last week re-
turns TO the subject OF the cost of criminal pros
ecurIons in the state. aud gives some hx"reS anu
estimates which. though incomplete ana mis-
leading, show how serious u matter AIS oeoo'h-
ing 10 the taxpayers. lis figures, taken from
Official reports. make the cost of criminal u'"i-
and transportation for the years 1859 An" is'o'
S&li 94; apprehension OF criminals, Ss."si en-
forcemen; and execution of civil law. S2.Oli;
arresting f~uSitiv-s from Justice. S2,So3; dto'"
and current expenses Of the per itentlary, Sis
AZ; salaries OF officers and employees OF thr
p-nIt.ntiary. 81 $50; library and machinery Tor
thrt peui,entisry. s2.77si total sos saI. The
similar expenses for the year ISL were sZso'-
To-; for 1879. ssss Ga; for 1858. s$i2. iu+; Tor
1874. s2l6. ISL; for 1875. S3as ~; Tor 1876. SOL
1876; ana tor 1877. s4A. 517-."tsI for nine years
81 a54. 446. Blu, there is an error in stating Int
expenses for 1877 At s++ 81; tnai sum /, Tor the
two wears. Isl! amt ISIS, so that the total OF
s.. 954 44o represents the cost of dealing with
criminals for Ten years. instead OF nine, aVersS-
ing $50 al, instead OF 1925. 21I, annually.
Again: the Intellisencer includes in the asgre-
gate OF criminal costs the expenses oil the penn
Tertiary, but omits the earnings Of that instI-
tuition, which ought 10 DO deducted from It's eh-
peuses. We were told two Years ago that th'
penltentiary had become selt-supporitng. IL IL
be SO still. the cost OF the Institution anu the IN
come from II balance one another, anu shou'u
both be omitted from the account.
But there are other expenses attending our
treatment of criminals that are not included III
this exhibit-thc salaries of prosecuting ste"r-
news, salaries of judges of criminal courts ""e
maintenance of IaIls and jail prisoners Inc COST
OF srAni-juries aad other expenses that iau on
the counties, cities and towns Instead OF inc
state. II these were included in the statement
che Intelligencsr estimates that the total annual
cost would be $3.50. GO. This. We think. Is 100
large; but even if II be placed 1t sD0. eh u year
It Is nearly one-thi rd the revenue income oil Tue
st.te-s fact which is of sufficient Importance
To excite serious reflection
The Republican has rendered US III
valuable aid in bringing before the pe"-
pie of the state the important subject oil
the cost OF crime by its reproduction OF
our figures on the subject. for which 1t
has the thanks OF the lutelligeucer We
make no claim to intaliibiiity. but we
think it is the Republican which Is mis-
taken in the four different points ON
which it alleges that we err. e.; L.
That our figures on criminal costs are
incomplete and misleading. ,. That
We were. in error in stating the expenses
paid bv the state In 1877. at S45+.521,
and that this sun represents the expen-
ses tor 1877 and 1873. 5. That we
wrongfully include expenses OF the pen
itentiary. 4. That our estimates OF the
costs of crime to the state are too large.
There was an gorgeous mistake made
in our article. through inadvertence anu
the haste OF its preparation. regarding
the comparison OF the cost OF CRIME TO
the state revenue (almost an unpardona-
bic misststement) but this the Republi-
can does not n0tiCs. and it does not e.
feet our estimates OF the cost OF crime
! On this head the figures OF the In
telligencer are neither incomplete nor
misleading. They represent the exact
Grect annual amounts paid by the state
tor the enforcement OF her criminal
laws, and are only incomplete in that
thew do not show indirect costs, such a>
part Of the sum necessary to MAINTAIN
the state judiciary. legislative invest!ga'
| tions. &c. This we stated in our article,
making the point, as clearly as We
could, that the expenses OF crime were
much larger than would be indicated by
what was paid by the state. ?. The Re
publican errs il stating that any part o
the expenses OF 1878 were included II
the sum we mentioned as having beer
paid out bv the state for crime in 1917
The amount paid for criminal purpose;
in 1877 was S454, 521 2G. Warrants az
gregating Sl6G.67a IS have been issue'
in payment of costs Of trials and thu
transportation of convicts to The penn
Tertiary during the year 1873. The sp
preparation for this purpose became e1
hsusted about Nov. LIST, and the def
cheney will probably exceed 100000
by January lst. 1879. 8. No part OF tn
earnings of congicts Is eve paid int
the state treasury. These are disburse'
BY the warden. They do not appear il
the figures we have given. The peni
Tertiary was not self-sustaluing prio
to two years ago, MOI has it been since
but it is nearer that condition now tina
it has evef been 4. We Deliev'
our estimate of the entire cost OF crime
in the state when placed at $3.50. 600 t.
be rather below hat above the tru
amount. This. however. is Il mere mat
ter of opinion. but we do not see th
logic of comparing it. as the Republ
, can does. with the revenue of the state
as only that part which is paid by tn
state affects such revenue. We hop
that the Republican will give this ma
ter the attention that it deserves, as
has better means thsn the inte!ligencel
not only to gather but to disseminat
I Information. When it criticIses III
2 however. we trust that hereafter it wi
. d 0 so more justly.
A dispatch dated Columbia, Sout
Carolina, December |, contains thiss a