Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1878-12-21
WORKING ROADS WITH CRIMINALS.

C!tles- toWus anu CctlllicS hh the S"H'S
time were fully $500. 900. Crime seems
TO he increasing, and in spite OF the tact
that the last legislature placed petit
| larceny i. twenty dollars instead OF al
ten. rs it had previously been. the pen-
itentiary seems to be more and more
crowded. No apology is needed. there
tore. tor frequent recurrence to the sub
lcct. The incident expense involves about
oue-third OF the entire state revenue.
aud is growing at such all alarming
rate as to threaten its tota. absorption.
and is deservin. of serious attention
from publicists and legislators. 10
remedy the above mentioned and other
evils the Iute!ligencer some months ago
proposed the following plsu;
Let none but those convicted of the higher
grades OF crime he sent 10 tnr peuIteutiary-ssy
those guilty OF murders. rAprs aud aggravated
cases 1T burglary, robbery or forgery; AMI let
OF .!naTy thieves. Srd those guilty u: minor
f-lonIss, A. we'll As ml,iemeanUr-, lie Kept III
the c"untte. which have The trouble and expense
OF their Convection, aud let their labor be
IA rpOl NC pAt!!S ItAtSs III pIiei 'S-
crease the costs Of conviction for such crimes -
are punished by sentence 10 hard lsbu, in the
counties. let Resilient judges Of some OF tue
courts OF record De gwen criminal jurisdiction.
anu let cases be tried by Information Instead Of
Indictment. and let coutinuances Do done ava.
with, sS far a. practicable. lay Il system OF sd-
l~OUrnmeuts OF cases where Justice demands
delay"
While we are not so welded to this
system that We will not welcome any
other that will solve the problem, we
think that much can be said in its favor
1t will keep minor felons from contact
with and contamination by moro hard
ened wretches; it will secure prompt
coEvIctious-the best preventive OF
crIme-at little cost it Will provide 8
dreaded punishment 10 the vsgrant
Classes, hard work II will convert In-
dO.ent Offenders against the law into
workers tor the common welfare It
VII save al immense item Of costs tor
transportation ci prisoners 10 the peni-
tentiary it wi. 50 essen the number
in the penitentisTy that they can be all
probably employed and it will. by
placing before the eyes OF THE criminai!v
inclined a daily evidence OF punishment,
sct as powerful deterrent.
The work Of mon thus employed will
not: come into competition with honest
labor, because road work 10 now a tax,
and n very uuwi.lingly borne-sspe-
cis.lg as the proper time to work roads
IS during the springaud summer months,
when farmers are 50 busy with their
crops ths; it is very announcement tor
them to neglect their regular business.
fhe criminal force might not work a.!
the roads. but it would 60 I great Way
in that direction. much ID the relief Of
farmers. We sincerely believe that had
Missouri adopted the system wears aso
she would today have first class macad-
snlized and We! graded earth roads, and
that e mud blockade. such rs We had
last winter, would have been impossible.
II IS urged IL our Jefferson City con-
temporary. the Tribune, that II would
Increase the cost OF crime instead OF
diminishing il. and only transfer 10 tie
cOuat!es 3 burden now borue By the
state. No one wi. deny that Il would
largely reduce the costs OF conviction.
As il is nova v~!0,ster of law has = pre-.
| iitnIrar- trial hatnrs q 4 ~. t-afA the
expense of this tria. should be all the
! cost Of his conviction-h goes 10 the
county jsil. where he lives sumptuously
| for weeks and months unit! the crimina!
Cour; meets a grand jury then investi-
gates his case the same witnesses are
again il attendance. finally he appears
before q Judge, and after three trails
ne 10 sent to the penitentisry for g year
| or two, where the shortness o! his sen
tence makes him an undesirable hand to
contractors, as by the time they could
teach him q trade he would be privileged
10 leave. ana he becomes an ejcphnnt
81 the hands ofMe state. Under the
present code oug county jai!s are full OF
miserable ~rasca.s, better of there than
If they were At liberty, being fed BY the
counties. and IDLE. Not long since we
we're passing u county Jail aitera hard
day work. Being greeted by a roar OF
laughter We looked up to see q num-
Of Individuals within the bars. around y
table playing cards. as happy rs lords
in the enjoyment ui as great 4 pleasure
as their natures were capable oi-and
This is the punishment ot the law. The
Palmyra Spectator. recently, in a few
lines reached the point. Il said The
negro boy. Oliver Williams. convicted
and sentenced bv Esquire Fletcher for
burglary and robbery in this city. and
imprisoned some fifteen or twenty days,
was discharged from the county iail,las'
week, and want TO 60 back to the nice
warm fire and GOOD v~ictuals Mr. Nc
Leod supplied him with whilst he was
there" Certainly, and when he tells
his friends what a nice time he had
they Il steal something, too, that they
may Join him. Our good friend,
Major Edwards, fears that our proposed
system would result IN rendering JUS
.ice a farce and punishment tor crime the
reriest mockery under the sun" We
commend him to the above pictures and
hundreds OF others which may be drawn
to prove thai. 'iustice is now u farce,
and punishment for crime the veriest
mockery under the sun" The cut
throats and bandits in the penitent!ary.
to-day. are better housed, better Ted and
have easier work, under shelter. than
thousands OF honest t~oilers, and the
truth is that but in exceptional cases
whsre disgrace causes pain, they are
very little punished. But Ito return to
our muttous." Tie cost Of maintaining
y road gang in each county gould be
largely met by the present amount spent
to keep idle men In jail. 1t is not sup
posed that they would be ted at the rate
OF forty cents per day as they now are
an amount which not one man in :
,n;-ol i,, e., pr,p11ri,t n,D afford