The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1879-01-18


| tic, offered POSSESSED some Of these Qualities
| The difficulty was in finding one " hi, com
| blnCd them all. The locality at Chester comes
! nearer Ia a compliance with The law lhHnany
! other point which The commissioners exam.
| incd.
| After the location the commissioners pro-
cured satisfactory plans for a wardcn's house
and cell nouNc with capacity 10 hold 100 con
! victs, advertised for bids, and contracts were
| made tor the erection of these buildings. A
| temporary house was built for the accommO-
dation of the officers. A brick building POO
| feet long, II feet wide, and two stories
| nigh, was built for temporary prison, and
WILL later be useful and necessary as "a ma
chine shop On the 2lst Of March, 1878, 200
| prisoners were sent from Joliet, thereby Civ.
| ing much needed relief to the northern pris-
ON. The ccll-hoNsc, with capacity for 400
corvlcE, was completed ON the lst day of
| October last, and since that date courts in the
southern pcnitcnliary district have been
| sending convlCts Ia the Chester PRISON. Its
evident already that the division of the state
by section II OF the Southern Illinois pcni
| tertiary act gives the southern pcnitcntiary
larger district than it can for some time
accommodate and | therefore recommend
! that authority be given to the Governor to
| fix the limits ot the northern and southern
districts, respectively, on the joint recon-
mcndatlon Of the board Of commissioners.
The appropriation OF 100000 for the
Southern Illinois pcnitentary was for the 80.
lection of site, purchase OF land, and the
erection Of buildings. The act also provided
that the commissioners should, as speedily
~ practicable, be ready for the satc-kecpinS
of II large number OF cOnvlCts to be trans
icrred from the northern prison-the object
of the Legislature being 10 relieve the north
crn prison, and to use convict labor for the
construction Of Ne new one. There was no
specific appropriation for the payment of
officers and men to guard the prisoners or
for the clothing and subsistence of the con-
victs, or for cell furniture and necessary tools
to make their labor available The commits
sioncrs have believed that, under these cir
CumstanCes Il reasonable construction of the
statute, taken as IA whole, permits them u
use such portion OF the appropriation IN is
necessary to enable them to equip and carry
on the prison
The reports of the commissioners and war.
den show the progress of the work, present
full financial statements, and give an est
mate OF the amount necessary to complete
the prison according to the design. l ask
Your attention to these reports, and recon-
mend such an appropriation as will secure
completion during the years 1879 and 1880,
and also that you make such other provision
rs will enable the comm lSsioners to take care
OF the prisoners without mourning debt.
On the first day of the month Joliet prison
held 54S convictS, of whom ,523 were men
and % women, and the Chester prison held
34j convicts-34l mer and women.
PARDONs.
The pard0ning power OF the governor in
wolves laborious line of duties, which are
very closely allied to his obligation to take
care that the laws be faithfully executed
Every pardon improperly granted is not on
" in such particular case an omission to
faithfully execute the laws, but it goes some
way to weaken the deterrent influence which
is one of the objects Of the punishment of
crime. To avoid the danger of being mised
by cX-partc statements, | have adopted rule
requiring that notice of the intention to ap-
ply for IA pardon shall be given by three
weeks advertisement in the county in which
the Oiiensc was committed, and that all APP
plications shall first be submitted to the
Judge who presided at the trial. and to the
states attorney who prosecuted, for such
statement or recommendation, if any, as
they may see proper to make Experience
has shown the uses of such advertisement
where the application does not fully or fairly
state the facts and | am satisfied that the
operation of the rule has been to reduce the
number of frivolous applications.
BOARD OF CHARITIES.
The state charitable, educational and penal
institutions of Illinois may be divided into
two classes, those which are and those which
are not subject to the inspection of the board
of state commissioners of public charities
The only institutions exempt from this super
vision are the universities and the peniten
tiarics. OF the ten institutions connected
with the board nine are in actual operation,
viz: the three insane hospitals an institu.
ton for the deaf and dumb, and one for the
blind an asylum for feeble minded children,
the Soldiers Orphans home, the State Re
form school, and the charitable eye and ear
intirmary at Chicago. The thirtieth general
assembly appropriated for the use of these
nine institutions, for all purposes, for two
years, from July /, 1877, the sum of 81 ,3333,-
275, Il portion of which was for their enlarge
mcnt to accommodate greater number of
unforunates. The same institutions ask for
appropriations by the present general assem-
bly, to the amount of a little over 81 400, 900.
The commissioners ofpubllc charities, whose
duty 1t is, under the statute, to revise these
requests, are Of the opinion that an appro-
priation Of about 81 100000, or 100000 for
each of the two years, will be sufficient to
meet the actual necessities OF the case, but
do not regard it rs prudent to go below this
figure, in view of the large increase in the
number of inmates, especially OF insane pa
tents, in our hospitals This board has been
vigorous in the exercise OF its functions, fear
less in the expression OF its opinions, and has
held from its organization, pretty even
middle course between parslmony and cX-
travagancc. therefore commend the report
of the board lin which you will find detailed
estimates and the reasons for them to your
careful attention. | am substantially in &C
cord with the views therein expressed
A gratifying evidence of the prudent man
agement which our state charitable lnstitu-
tions have had is found in the fact that they
have kept within their appropriations, and
that every one carries over balance OF APP
preparation uneXpended. The reports of the
trustees and officers of the several institu-
tions will repay your careful consideration,
which you should hestow to enable you to
make adequate provision for their necessi-
ties.
At this point | take the opportunity of
saying that To the commissioners OF pubic
IL. i,a nt tat