Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1881-08-29
TIE IMPLICATIONS OF THE REPORT
OF THE STATE PRISONS.


task with exemplary thoroughness. They
have in their report presented series OF
findings which together constitute a
strong indictment against the whole penal
administration. But their labors w II have
been to no purpose unless the Executive
acts upon the conclusions submitted to
him. The Constitution provides (Article
Y. Section u that "The Governor shall
have the power to remove either of the
Directors for misconduct, incompetency,
81 or neglect of duty, after an opportunity
''to be heard upon written charges. In
the present case there are written charges
before the Governor, in theform of thereport
of the Investigating Commission and these
charges unquestionably arraign the whole
Board of State Prison Directors for miscon-
duct, incompetency, and neglect of duty.
Such list of charges, in fact, has seldom
been preferred against any body of public
functionaries in this State, and what is
more to the purpose, every charge is
brought home by the accompanying evil
dence. The fact that in one or more in
stances particular Directors have been
specially derelict cannot obscure the larger
fact that the whole Board has been con-
spicuously faithless to its trust, and that
it has as a body incurred the penalties
which the Constitution has provided for
such neglect of duty.
In the first place it has been made mani
fest that the Board not only ignored, but
fatty disobeyed the Constitution, in taking
from the Wardens the appointment of
nearly all the subordinate officers. In the
second place the Board disobeyed the plain
spirit of the Constitution in appointing as
Wardens men who possessed no special
training or fitness for those offices. In do
ing this they betrayed their trpst most
fagrantly, for it was this act which rem
dered the introduction of reform to the
prisons impossible, and which re-established
the spoils system in the whole penal adj
ministratlon. There was nothing in the
Constitution to prevent the appointment of
educated penologists to those offices. The
public demanded that this should be done.
1t was required by every principle of econ
omy, of humanity, and of enlightenment.
There was no possible excuse for failing to
do it. Yet the Bolrd deliberately per-
verted the Constitution to the base uses of
partisan politics, and SO secured the
continuance of the vicious state of things
which it found in existence. This was
both misconduct and neglect of duty, and
was of itself sufficient to necessitate the re-
moval of the whole Board.
Again, the Board has plainly committed
illegalities in regard to mileage. One Di-
rector, Everson, has been shown to have
drawn mileage under circumstances which
rendered the act positively dishonest; but
it must be remembered that this dishonest
charge was audited and approved by the
rest of the Board, and that the other mem
bers themselves have made mileage charges
on a most unjustifable basis. Not content
with obtaining the equivalent of large
salary in mileage, this Board procured the
passage of an unconstitutional law giving
them an actual salary. The Attorney
General had informed them of its uncon-
stitutionality, and therefore ignorance can.
not be pleaded by them. 1t can in fact
only be characterized as defiant disregard
of the organic law, and shameless act of
rapacity. These charges are all proved by
the Commissioners, yet they do not con-
clude the long Iss OF laches committed by
the Board. The conduct of the latter in
the purchase of the brick lands, in the
purchase OF the jute machinery, in the
failure to keep record of their transactions,
constitutes proof positive that they have
been guilty OF incompetency, misconduct
and neglect of duty.
Nothing worse, from a business stand
point, than their purchase of the machin-
cry, has ever been heard Of. In this case
they blindly ordered machinery to be
made in England, to the amount of
500 600, and undertook to pay the full
contract price for it before it was deliv-
cred, and without making any provision
for possible defects in it or failures on the
part OF the manufacturers, or reserving to
the State any power to reject it if it
was faulty, or to make the contractor
remedy defects. They do not know to
this day what they are getting for the
States money. They have no guarantees of
any kind for the satisfactory fulfIlment of
the contract. They have put the State at
the mercy OF foreign firm completely.
If this does not prove their incompetency
and neglect of duty we do not know what
those terms mean.
The Commissioners have not gone be-
yond their functions. They have said to
the Governor ave have not presumed
81 to offer any suggestion or recommends
90 ton as to Executive action upon matters
herein presented. 1t belongs to
"you to determine whether any of the
"delinquencies of administration or sub
versions OF the organic law complained OF
constitute breach of the high trust re-
''posed by you in the members of the
" Board of Directors" This is true. 1t
remains for the Governor to apply the
damning conclusions which the Commits
sioners have reached, and this is a duty
which he will have to realize the urgency
OF. The Commissioners have done no
embarrassing. They have shown that
the Board OF Directors have failed at al
most every point. They have made out
case against that Board the strength
and mprehensiveness of which can
scarcely be exaggerated. We assert de-
liberately that it is impossible for any
ordinarily intelligent person to read their
report without becoming convinced that
the removal of the entire Board OF
Prison Directors is imperatively demanded,
both by the letter and spirit of the Con-
stitution, and by the proofs of their law
lessness, -perversity, and incaPacity.
/ Tue Commissioners have done their duty
D +,ttl.,,4 f.os ~ Fa,-.r II ie IN ba hone6