Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1881-01-15
THE PENITENTIARY AGAIN.

THE PENITENTIARY AGAIN.
Elsewhere will be found Gov. Critten-
denis inaugural address. There are in
it many patriotic and correct sentiments
and much valuable advice. There IS
enc paragraph, however. to which, in
spite OF our great desire to give his ad-
ministration a warm support. We must
demur. 1t Is that part Of the address in
| which he advises that convicts shall be
worked outside Of the prison walls.
There was much greater reason for Gsv.
Phelps to fall into this error, IN the be-
ginning Of his administration than there
is now. yet IN four years he learned
enough regarding the subject to refrain,
in his vsledictory message.tron making
any such recommendation. The govern
or says:-"Ths legislature should eon-
slder this question calmly and weigh 1t
carefully. but at the same time it should
not be deferred from dong its duty to
the whole people by the clamor Of q
few" Exactly. In 1878 this subject
was al issue in the canvass. The lsgis-
lature met. and by large majorities in
both houses settled It in favor of the
present policy. There has been no de-
mand since, from the people, that it
shall be disturbed. On the contrary.
there has been very general satisfaction
expressed at the apparent settlement Of
q vexed question. The ''clamsr OF the
few" therefore, must come from ''the
few" whs desire 70 employ coaviets
outside.
Gov. Crittsndsa makes this statement:
There are, in the minds of many.
serious objections to such labor being
used outside OF the p~snitentiary, upon
the ground that 1t brings that species Of
labor in esmpstitisn with free labor"
This is q misapprshension OF the matter.
We have never heard any one whose
opinion was WORTH onsidering plase the
objection on that ground, tor the simple
reason that the convict's labor comes In
to cempetitisa with free labor wherever
he works, whether it be outside or in
side. But the competition 10 NOT Of like
character. That inside Of tho prison
di1uses itself through the many avenues
Of trade. and is ielt hut lightly. while the
competition OF . rowing gang of cor
vlcts, sent to = particular locality cannot
DO eontsndsd against by honest labsr
and, al the locality pays taxes like ether
localities to support the state govern
msnt, 1t is entitled to reimbursement
for its destroyed industry. On the
ground Of morality all the argument ID
against the position taken BY the govern
or. In the prison, men Of different agss
and grades Of crime can be kept apart
They receive religious instruction, ant
literature, and reformation Is possible
With the ether plan they are herdss
like cattle in stockades. all ages m,xet
together, snly chosen because Of physi
cal ability.
We have carefully and laborisusl.
searched the history of prison manage
ment, and We find that whereas n aya
tenn works well enough in one place an
another somewhere else, that nowhere
dees q mixed system succeed. This !
natural. Where there are a number Q
: inside contractors, who have invested
large sums Of money in machinery an
material. they are entitled to receive pr
rata physically able men. When Their
is an outside contraet.it is nearly Away
at such hard labor as to require the mo,
able.bsdied, and the inside contrac
south who have net strongly deprscate
, the penal systems Of Mississippi and Al
ALBANIA, and We hope that ours will nc
degenerate to such a plane.
D There are. Of course, sms idle nae
in the prison just new, because they hav
been engaged in building 4 new shsE
and like all other persons % employed
lkhA~ nA-uS -n-L &. >-A.>--t- ~