Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1880-02-05
SEARS. PRISON BILL.

the measure to the end. 1t is undoubtedly |
well-intentioned act, but throughout it |
illustrates the appositeness of our ad- !
vice to the Legislature to do nothing hastily
in this connection. Senator Sears has not
brought to the task he has undertaken
Constitution prescribes, of what the situa-
ton requires, or of what he himself seeks
The bill follows the Constitution as far as
providing for the appointment of Di-
rectors, and the appointment, by them,
of Warden and Clerks. Section 5, Civ
ing the Directors the power to remove
the Warden and Clerks for misconduct
incompetency or neglect of duty, may also
be said to follow the Constitution, but it
ought to contain provision similar to
that of Section ], for the preferring Of
written charges in all such cases, and for
the open hearing of them. The object of
such provisions is to prevent the removal
of Wardens or Clerks for political causes,
| which could easily be done under the bill
as it stands, the Directors being made the
sole judges of the cause of removal, and
being under no obligation to give detailed
reasons for their action. 1t is evident that
| legislation should be directed to making
the office of Warden at least as permanent
as the conduct of the officer holding it
warrants, and that partisanship ought to
be shut out as completely as possible. In re-
gard to the appointments of the other officers
of the prisons, Mr.. Sears is confused The
language of the Constitution is plain
enough on this head. 1t says that the
Board shall "appoint the Warden and
"Clerk, and determine the other necessary
officers of the prisons. All
'other officers and employees of the prisons
shall be appointed by the Warden there
"of, and be removed at his pleasure. The
Board therefore can only decide what other
officers there shall be. 1t cannot appoint
one of them. That is left to the Warden.
The Constitution is violated by Paragraph
9 of Section 7, which empowers the
Board to "employ competent artisans and
mechanics for the purpose of teaching
and instructing the convicts in any
I" branch of business which may be carried
son in the prisons" Clearly the Warden
alone is authorized to appoint such persons.
In his desire to prevent corruption in
any form Mr.. Sears has so tied up the Di-
rectors that it is questionable whether they
could perform their duties under this bill |
For example, they are expressly prohibited
from acting as agents for prison affairs, yet
they are required to establish an elaborate
scheme of manufactures at the prisons
Let us suppose that they determine upon
the manufacture of jute, as suggested by
Governor Perkins. 1t would then be nec-
essary to send some one to examine and re-
port upon the whole subject to visit the
jute manufactures at Dundee to ascertain
the cost of machinery to find out the ca
pacity of the market to learn the business,
in short. Naturally one of the Board could
!
perform this work better than al. outsider,
but to do SO would be to act as
agent for the prisoners, and this the Act
forbids. Again, the bill surrounds the
Warden with the most embarrassing red.
tape regulations and restrictions 1t un-
dertakes to instruct him as to his duty in a
gratuitously officious and meddling way.
1t requires him to make two or three an
nual reports to keep daily memoranda
of all complaints made by convicts; to
submit all his rules to the Board, and to
be debarred from making any rules for
more than thirty days; to Keep daily
journal as well as memoranda, on a scale
which, as the Board is required to read it
all at every monthly meeting, would ex-
tend these meetings to week each,
at the most moderate estimate The
Warden is required to make an an
nual report in November. and another
in December for what reason nobody
but Mr.. Sears can imagine. Among the
most fantastic provisions is one requiring
visitors to be admitted to the prison on
payment of % cents thus converting the
misery of human beings into show. An
other most Objectionable provision takes
the power of excluding certain classes of
visitors out of the hands of the Warden,
and thus lessons his authority. That pow
er ought to be altogether in his hands,
since the security of the prison depends
on him, and since he must know best when
it is injudicious to admit anyone Another
curious clause provides that mo person
"shall, without the consent of the War
den, bring into or carry out of the prison
''any letter. OF writing, or information to
cor from any convict" According to this
the Warden would have to examine every
one entering or leaving the prison, and
must make them tell him what they were
going to say to the convicts, or what the
convicts had said to them. Without the
aid of rack or thumbscrews we fear this
would prove difficult mode of obtaining
information.
The language of the bill is frequently
obscure, and the grammar chaotic. For
example, Section reads that "The
warden shall appoint and employ such
guards as the precaution and discipline
"and safe-keeping of the prisoners may
"require, and arm and equip the same. )"
Whether in this clause EARN and equip
the same applies to the prisoners or the
guards, it is not easy to ascertain, but it is
clear that mistake on such point might
be very unfortunate. In short the bill is,
as we said at the outset, very crudely and
hastily drawn, and candid analysis of its
provisions satisfies us that more than half
of them are either wholly super
fuous or calculated to do more harm than
good. Before any legislation is had on
this subject the Board of Prison Di-
rectors ought to be consulted 1t must
! IL t1,%