Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1881-08-30
wHAr THE PRISON REPORT Has SHOWN.

nothing new that it has merely reiterated
what everybody knew before, namely that
the California prisons are as i'll managed as
possible, Our esteemed contemporaries |
are in error. The report Of the Prison |
Commission has shown much more than
this. Nor is it exactly true that every
body knew beforehand the real condition
of the State Prisons. To say that is to |
arraign the people upon charges of folly, |
apathy, extravaganza and inhumanity.
Butt in truth they have not at all generally |
understood how the prisons were admins
tered. For it has always been the endeavor
of the advocates of the political spoils sys-
tenn to create the impression that the re-
suits of that system are quite as good as
those of any other; and with this end in
view they have undertaken to maintain
that the deliberate perversion Of the con-
stitutional provisions through which the
State Prisons have been given over to po-
litical management, was in the interest OF
the people. When it was urged that the
Wardens ought to be trained officers, the
politicians and their organs at once be-
gan to sheer at the theorists" and
sought 10 excite narrow local prejudice
by pointing out that it would be impossi-
BILE to obtain trained officers without going
outside of the State for them. When the
present Wardens were appointed the or
cans of the spoilsmen FASTENED to express
their satisfaction, and declared their opin-
ion in advance that all necessary reforms
would now be instituted. La short. these
people sought to make it appear that the
spolIs system was as good as any other for
administering the prisons upon, and on
this position they must now take their
stand.
The report of the Commission has
smashed this position to pieces, however.
1t has demonstrated in the clearest manner
that the prisons of California have been
and are altogether maladministered, and
that this maladmiaistration is the direct
consequence of the spoils system. The re-
port shows that that method has broken
down utterly that it Is good for nothing
but to maintain the prisons as simple
places of detention; that no reformatory
influences can be introduced while it
exists; that it is corrupting and democrat
ling to all concerned and that it is at
once the most extravagant and vicious sys-
TEN that could be maintained. Now the
people cannot be said to have known all
this before. What they did know was that
the spoils system had been accused of pro-
ducing these mischievous effects. But they
knew also that the friends of that system
denied the accuracy of these charges, and
no doubt many good people may have
thought that there was exaggsration in the
current statements. The prison report has
cleared up all such doubts by showing that
the spoils system is if possible worse than
it has been Represented, and by making it
perfectly clear that it will have to be
abolished before any reform can be intro
duced to the penal administration.
It has shown moreover that as long as
politics are suffered to control the situa-
alton, mere goodness of disposition on
the part Of the prison officers can effect
nothing. They may be perfectly willing
to do anything in their power to improve
things but in the first place they lack the
knowledge of how to proceed, and in the
next place they are rendered powerless by
the system which obtains. What is
Warden to do who has been compelled to
bargain away his constitutional rights of
appointing subordinates in order to secure
his own appointment! Manifestly he will
be merely the puppet of the Board OF
Directors. And what can be expected from
Board of Directors who have confined
their activities since they have been in
Office to the padding of their mileage
charges and the lobbying of bill to give
themselves an unconstitutional salary? 1t
is evident that there can be no reform under
such conditions, but it is equally evident
/ that if this investigation had not been had
these Directors and these Wardens might
have succeeded for years in bolstering one
another up, and that the public might
have been completely deceived as to the
real state Of the prison.
The report of the Commissioners has
torn away all the DISCUSSES of the spoils
system, and has exposed it to the public
view in its natural ugliness. 1t has
brought the public face to face with the
necessity for reform. 1t has made it
plain that the Executive who appointed
the Commission cannot afford to refrain
from acting upon its findings. 1t has
demonstrated the complete failure Of the
spoils system to produce any good results,
and has shown that the State must begin
again at the very beginning before it can
have a civilized penal administration. As
for the present Directors, it is clear that
they have earned their removal and that
there can be no excuse for not removing
them. They have betrayed their trust,
violated the law, neglected their duty, and
entirely ignored the ethical considerations
which ought to have guided their prison
policy. With the light now thrown upon
the whole question it must be very diff
cult to sink back again into the old
grooves. 1t would not be possible to
ignore considerations of special fitness in
making appointments again. If Wardens
are to be chosen after this, it may be be-
lieved that politicians will not be selected
for these positions. The State Govern
ment in fact has by means OF this investi-
CATION provided itself with chart which,
il it disregards, the people cannot fail to
perceive the fact.
The Commissioners have, however, not
only shown the defects OF our prisons.
They have also shown how to remedy those
defects. They have pointed out what ex-
perience and knowledge have determined
upon as the best methods of prison govern
ment. They have indicated the paths by fol.
lowing which success may be attained here.