The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1879-01-15
which arbitration must, evsu.ualIy,

confined myself 10 urging It's necessi-
ty. I shall close simply by summing
lit results. Wherever established, an
Intelligent cooperation between en-
ployers and employed has beon el-
fected and steady employment secur-
ed at those rates Of wages, which the
industrial conditions Of o competitive
market enable capital to pay, and
maintain g steady production.
!. Strikes, riots, outrages. and trades
union murders have become things
of the past. In prosperous times Ia
Dor bas shared in the increased prof
i,s of capital, aud 10 periods Of depTes-
sion each has mutually supported the
other with the minimum Of lcss and
suffering.
PENAL. REFoRYAToRY, AND ELEE
NOS. NARY INSTITUTIONS
The reports Of the Board Of Pub
lie Charities and Of the inspectors
and superintendents, viii present to
you the generally satisfactory con-
dition of the various penal, reforma-
tory, and eleemosynsry Institutions
Of the State. Since the formation OF
the Board, 10 1869, great reforms
have been introduced y the public
institutions coming under iissupervis-
ion, and the wisdom Of its creation
tss been shown by q more eifecriFe
and economical use cf public moneys,
and m arked Improvement in the
care of the defective and criminal
classes. During the year, the Board
met with the loss Of two Of its mem
bers. In 1875, upon the resignation
of Mr.. Harrison, the Honorable G.
Dawson Coleman became member
Of the Beard, aud mp TO the time Of
mis- death, on tie ninth day of Sep
tember, 1873. gave 10 It's work the
valuable assistance Of bis broad and
liberal views, wide experience, and
mature judgment. On the first day
of January, 1879, the Honorable
Francis Wells severed his connection
with the board For over FIVE years,
Mr.. Wells has lsbored in the cause
of public charity, with a zeal and in
telligence which have a partial re-
ward in the satisfaction for great i'm
provements be has assisted to make,
and knowledge Of the confidence
and support which the disinterested
labors of the Board have won from
the people snd their representatives.
The over.erowded condition Ct the
Eastern and Western Penitentiaries
will continue until the completion Of
the new Western snd Middle Peni-
tentiaries The old Institutions have
found some local relief in the meas
ures recommended and adopted last
year The inspectors OF the Western
Penitentiary have taken possession
Of the Reform School property, and
have already removed one hundred
and fifty prisoners TO the new prem
ises. thus relieving the old prison.
and setting the convicts at whole
some aud remaneraiive outdoor
work TIE letter Of the president OF
the Board, herewith transmitted, viii
explain fully the sums needed, eXclu-
sive Of the annual appropriation, to
complete the removal Of the old and
the building Of the new penitentiary,
With capacity Of one thousand cells,
which, in the opinion Of the inspec-
tors, will be sufficient for the prison
population Of the western district,
for many years to come.
The inspectors Of the Eastern Pen
itentisry have completed two new
corridors, increasing the cell capacity
of the prison to six hundred and
eighty, aad before the summer,
eighiy-Eye more cells will be ready
for use. Even this increase will
give them very inadequate accom-
modations for eleven hundred aud
eighty convicts. The report of the
inspectors will be transmitted early
in February, together with tie valu-
able statistical tables, which are pre-
pared With so much care and judg-
ment by the gentlemen OF the board.
The commissioners appointed IN
der the act to provide for the erection
q the Middle Penitentisry have 10
coted the same at Huntingdon, and
are now negotiating for a tract Of
ground Of about twenty acres, sgree-
ably to the provisions Of the act.
As it will be some time before the
convicts Of the middle district, now
confined in the Eastern and Western
Penitentisries, can be removed, / re-
specially renew the recommendation
to modify the Law so that only those
criminals wbo are sentenced to not
less thsn two years Imprisonment,
a. separate and solitary confinement,
may be sent to the peniteptiaries.
The reasons for such change were
given at length in the message Of
1877, and the necessity Of providing
as ample relief as possible to the old
institutions, pending the building Of
the new prisons, will acquire addi-
tionsl force from year to year, ard
even when al the prison extensions
now in progress are completed, such
modification Of the law viii still be
necessary to secure all the benefits Of
the increased capacity Of our peniten-
tiaries.
/ The reports Of the superintendents
Of the various State asylums for the
insane, and Of the commissioners Of
the State hospitals at Warren and
NorristowB, viii accompany the re-
port of the Board of Public Charities.
1 need not remind the Legislature Of
the necessity of early and full sppro-
priations for their support and com
pletion. By q well-timed liberslity,
parts Of the hospital ~ Warren can
be ready for the reception Of patients
towards the close Of 1879. and the
hospital al Norris,own in ike condi-
ton some time next year.
The care Of the criminal insane
was the subject Of q memorial Of .
committed Of the Medical Society Of
Pennsylvania in 1874, and Of the re-
port Of tne commissioners designated
by tbe Legislature ia 1875, both Of
which were referred 20 in the mes
ssges Of the respective years. "In-
sanity bD4 seldom renders is victims
better than before 10 any respect I;
more generally, indeed, il adds dark
er snd more repulsive features 70 the
character. The insane criminals are