Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1881-08-27

of departmental work committed TO suhordinat
officers Good administrative ability consists 10 tn
accomplishment of plans through subordinate:
To secure the highest executive efficiency IN IN
official staff Of the prison, something must be lei
10 the discretion of subordnates. THIS oEer-manage
ment on the part of the Warden has led to frt
quent and measurably unnecessary interference
with the details OF duty assigned TO subordinat
officers; but no evidence in support OF the eharg
Of the arbitrary treatment of one class OF officer
more than another was presented.
Fourth-The charge of intemperanee on the par
| of the Warden.
BY the testimony of two witnesses, single in
stance was br ught to attention where the lDfu
ence OF intoxicating drink was manifested by an uu
steadiness OF gait Reyosd the statement OF tbes
witnesses and the single instance referred 10 ther
IS no evidence justifying the conclusion that IN
Nardens habits as to lntemperance were such as /
| in any degree impair his usefulness an officer
The preponderance Of testimony was in favor OF tn
general sobriety Of the Warden. number OF cred
Ible witnesses intimately acquainted and associates
with the Warden testiti.d to his general so9rlet
and yindcated him in our minds against any charg
| of intemperanee.
! Withholding from convicts money allowed
| by law.
sented, An examination on our part iastiiies TN
| conclusion that the money allowed by law to con
victs is paid to them in accordance with the terms
of the law ano the proper exercise of discretion OF
/ the part of the Warden.
! Sixth Withholding from eonvicts money depos
| tied by them with the Warden.
| No testimony was offered in support OF this
charge. Our investigation leads us to believe that
it was not justified by the facts.
! Seyen'h-Failure to account for gate-money.
| As in the two former instances no testimony was
offered in support OF this allegation. From our ex
animation we find hat the gate money is properly
accounted for.
Eighth-F avortism to convict benson.
The testimony establishes an incident wherein the
convict benson violated his parole TO the extent OF
paying visit in the nighttime to the village of San
Rafael, distance Of some four miles I, ON the pris
on. We find tins violation OF his parole and breach
OF prison discipline to be incident of the trus
system which prevails and has prevailed in the pris
ons of this State The whole subject of the trusty
system has received attention in another department
of this report.
Ninth Abuse of Mr. Cummings Moral Instruct
or, and threats Of personal chastisement against
that officer.
The testimony does not sustain the charge Some
personal alteration occurred between Mr. Cum
mings and the Warden, growing out OF SEINE
propositions made by Mr.. Cummings concern
ing the release of prisoners whose time had not
expired. An inharmomous feeling had fer some
time existed between the Warden and the Moral In
structor and the alteration which formed the basis
of this ninth charge seems to have been participated
in equally by the two parties.
Tenth Deceiving convict Hartwell as to the mat
ter of his pardon
No testimony was offered in support OF this
charge. We have no knowledge Of the circum
stances which justified its publication. The convict
HaTtwell was discharged some time since, and, Is
we are informed, is now resident Of Arizona. In
what the alleged deception consisted we not in.
formed.
Eleventh-Keeping convict in a dungeon for
sixteen months.
The facts of this case, as presented before u.s. do
not justify the charge as against Warden AnIes OF
the former administration Of the prison. About
three of the sixteen months mentioned IN this
q,aP lurinV the administration of War.
den Ames An examination OF the facts OF the case
revealed conclusively that the conyicts ncarcera
ton was self imposed. In his own testimony he
admitted this to g the case. He was confined for
threats against the life of an officer, but was re-
peatedly offered his liberty if be would make a
promise not to execute his threat This he declined
to do. His incarceration in the dungeon una
voidable and was not, in the judgment OF your
Commission, severe treatment. The dungeon re-
ferr d to in this is not what its name implies.
Twelfth-Keeping convict in dungeon until
he became a mdniac.
This charge originated with report that q
Chiuaman was placed in the dungeon until he be-
came insane 1t appears that for attempted es-
cape the Chinaman was incarcerated in solitary
confinement as means of punishment. His
keeper suspected the existence Of insanity and
ported to the physician The physician, DR.. Cary,
made an examination OF the case and on the second
day decided the prisoner to be insane. Upon the
report of the physician to the Warden the prisoner
WAS released
Thirteenth Refusal to heed remonstranc OF
the Governor ncerning habits OF intemperance
There Is no evidence before us that there existed
al any time occasion for reno Instances The test
monY of your Excellency concerning this matter
need not be refreshed in your mind.
Mr.. J. j. Owens editor of the San Jose Mercury
with commendable manliness, appeared PERSONAL,
and conducted the case for the prosecution will
skill and ability
Some Irregularities.
Concerning the general management of the prison
;fo,-
alleging the existence of various Irregularities
After due examination, we have failed to
find evidences of the truth Of these aega
tons Many OF these charges were founded
upon unauthentcated rumor, and some of then
bear upon their face evidences OF mere suspicion
Some of the matters presented to us were unintel
ligible and no proper understanding OF the charac
ter OF the charges sought to be made could be had.
Among the matters presented for our cousidera
ton was one relating to the construction of yacht
for the use Of certain officers Of the prison. The
charge presented to the effect that the mate
rial used in the building of the yacht was the prop
erty Of the State, and hal been taken without
proper accounting OF its value also that the labol
employed in the construction of the yacht con
Wet labor and such labor had been used without
compensation to the State.
We find upon examination into the facts of this
case that the material used in the construction OF
the yacht not the property Of the State, except
as TO pine flooring of the value of about 81 80, auC
that the convict labor employed was of incOus:dera
| BILE value, being the labor OF convicts who were
working out their over time. The boat was
the property of F. G. Berry, the Commissary OF the
! prison, and j. V. Ellis, the Clerk. Mr.. Berry
I claimed as an offset to the value of the lumber
| taken the use on the part OF the prison OF some
/ spars Of indefinite value, but claimed by Mr.
Berry OF equivalent value to the lumber used. The
amount involved in this Transaction is not large
and the only criticism which arises upon il is the
| manner in which the exchange of equivalents was
| made No record of this transaction appears on the
books of the prison. Inconsiderable this trans
action appears, it is at variance with correct bust
ness methods.
PURCHASE AND SALE By THE WARDEN.
Evidence was presented Of the manufacture of
wGter-wheel by prison labor. An examination into
this matter proves the statement to be correct. A
water-wheel was manu- actured in the prison
and the material used in its construc
ton belonged to the State. The amount of thi:
material was ascertained to be about 1,S00 feet
/ of pine lumber and 900 feet of surface lumber
This wheel was manufactured for mill located or
| Hall Moon bay, of which Warden Ames is one oil
7 the p-oprietors As offset to the value Of the
lumber and material used in the construction Of
this wheel Warden Ames testified that shortly aftel
! last harvest season forage which came to him IS
part Of the rents and profits Of certain lands owned
/ by himself was placed on storage at San Quentin
that owing to the non-arrival of forage und con
tract for the of the prison, this forage
sumed in the stables by stock belonging to the
STATE Warden Ames testified that no account o.
the lumber or material used in the construction o.
! the wheel had been kept, and charge had beer
made against the state for the forage used belong
| ing to himself Tie circuu stances under which tn,
forage was used, detailed by Warden Ames, WERE
rs follows: The contr ctor under Obligation to sup
DIV forage to the prison hsd made the shipment il
due time, but all vessels upon which the shipmen
had been made becalmed for over tive weeks
In the meantime the supply OF forage in the prison
was exhausted and that belonging to Ames wa
used by those in charge of the stables without hi
knowledge. The irregularity TO be noted in thi
transaction is that no record Of it appears tn,
books OF the prison.
The law plainly prohibits any officer OF the prison
from being or becoming interested in any contrac
for supplies furnished to the prison. It further
declares that all purchases shall be made of bont
fde dealers in the articles purchased. Legally
Warden Ame5 could not have purchased the lum
ber or sold the forage; yet as the uncOsed trans
actions stands, he did both. Considered from tn,
standpoint of the su us involved in this loose pro
ceeding in the exchange of commodities, the trans
action appears almost trivial. but having due regar
for the principle underyin this method OF dscharg
ing public trust the transaction is indefensible
STATE GROCERY sToREs.
The Commissares at both prisons continue tn
practice of selling groceries to residents in tn
vicinity Of the PRISONS as well as to contractors
free men employed in and about the prisons. Tn
proceeds of these sales accounted for to tn
State. The profit arising upon such sales is not b
any means an equivalent for the general irreguarit
of the TRANSACTION. The custom is legacy from a
former Administrations, but the custom has n
status in law, and should be abandoned. The la,
authorizes the purchase OF supplies for the use c
the prisons, but does not authorize the Commisss
ries to sell the supplies thus purchased to prvat
citizens. Toe transactions arising out of thes
sales compcate the accounts OF the Commissarie: