Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-04-10
THE FOLSOM PRISON.
A SKETCH OF THE REPORT OF THE JOINT
LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE.
Recommendation that the Prison be Com
pleted, and the Necessity for 1t Pointed
out-The Late Board of Directors
and Theoretical Expert.

The report of the Joint State Prison Com
mittee to the Senate and Assembly ON tn,
Folsom Branch Prison question is a lengthy
and elaborate document The conclusion
reached are positive and unequivocal in char
acter, and supported by statements and sta
tistics which amount to demonstrations o
the conclusions upon which the recommends
lions of the committee are based The histor,
of the legislation regarding the prison is give1
in detail. 1t may be assumed that the genera
reader is quite familiar with it, as it ha.
several times been given in the RECORD
UNION in articles on the subject The first
Acts looking toward the construction of Z
Branch Prison were passed in 1888.
THE GROUNDS AT FOLSOM
Were taken possession of by the State il
1868, and have ever since been held by it, tt
wit: Three hundred and fifty acres of land
and an additional tract acquired in 1874 Of
13S acres From 1858 to 1873 the appropria
tons for the State Prison, exclusive of the
branch at Folsom, aggregate So, 242. 900. II
1874 San Quentin had 81 prisoners in Az
cells condition pronounced by report il
that year as most depl0rable. and in violation
of the most ordinary sanitary and hygieniC
laws, and resulting in a mingiing indiscrimi.
nately of hardened offenders and neophytes
in crime. The 444 cells gave 29S feet of cubic
air to each cell, while the 324 cells at Folsom
give $50 feet to each cell.
The Legislature of 1874 appropriated S175,-
Goo for the commencement of the erection of
the Folsom prison. Since 1874 San Quentin
has added cells until it now has 696 cells and
tanks, but this has brought no additional
BREATHING SPACE
Into use for convicts, as the number of the
latter has vastly increased In July, 1879,
there were 1,564 prisoners there, and the
Warden clamored for more cell room, be-
cause of the crowding. "When the Folsom
prison is opened trifing outlay will enable
800 prisoners to be taken from San Quentin, -
said the Warden, "and then ours may rank
as among the highest and best institutions for
the reformation of criminals" The report
then goes on to recite the history of the
letting of the contracts for the erection
of sections of the Folsom prison. 1t is
unnecessary to traverse that ground
now. The history is a matter of record
and not open to any contradictions, beside
which 1T has but recently been carefully
sketched in the RECORD UNION.
a legislative committee of 1856. after a
thorough examination of the question. strong.
ly recommended the condemnation of the
work then begun, recommending that the
whole supervision of the work be turned over
TO the Board of State Prison Directors. with
power to make terms with the contractor.
who had become involved in litigation and
had thrown up his contract. That year the
fire at San Quentin necessitated
THE APPROPRIATION
OF $3.50. 000 for that prison, and nothing was
given Tor the branch, as its fund then had
SS5, 694 70 to its credit.
In 1873 the Legislature again examined
into the prison question, and the necessity
for more room became more apparent than
ever, and Sl20.000 was appropriated, and the
$50, 694 70 (lapsed) restored One of the
chief arguments then, and which has gained
additional force since, for the completion of
the prison was that prisoners could be profit
ably employed in the States splendid granite
quarries. The Directors made contract for
the employment of $50 convict laborers Tor
five years at fifty cents day, so soon as the
prs was ready for its inmates, and bond
was gwen TO bind the bargain. \ new CON
tract was let for Sl6l, 800 to finish the work
in fifteen months from July II, 1873. This
contractor failed also, and the Directors had
to assume and carry on the work, all of
which was recently
FULLY SET FORTH
In the report of the Directors published in
full i'll the RECORD UNIoN. Some changes
were made in the plans in the interest of
economy, and these changes have given rise
to investigation at the present session of the
Legislature, but nothing was developed
which affected the central question, to wit {:
the propriety and wisdom of completing the
prison. The present joint report, indeed,
declares that the Directors were justified in
their opinion that the changes saved the
State at least $40, 000 and produced work sub
stantially as good for the purpose Intended as
that originally designed. The report with
regard to the failure of the contractors, the
charges leading to the recent investigation,
the anlmus OF the same, etc, is very full and
contains many extracts from the testimony
taken, and is in print for examination, but is
too lengthy for repetition here. The COM
mittee conclude on this subject, that the
hardness of the contractor made it the duty
of the Board to act as it did, and that when
it took charge of the work in May, 1879. it
did a lawful and proper thing, and that it is
clear that the contractor could not have gone
on with the work, but was stopped in it, not
by the Board of Directors, but by his cred
itors. In the prosecution of this new duty
placed upon the Board it sought 10 make
economy the rule, and determined to stop the
construction Of cells of dimension peine-harp-
mered stone, and build instead cells with
rubble stone partitions, deeming them as safe
as the Others against escapes. This conclusion
the joint report under review supports.
THE COMMITTEE DECLARES
That no testimony was given to show that
the work is not as good for the purposes in
tended as If it had been continued on the