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

GllnlluaES InAE lDuuGHCC OHaG tiiC OllSOL-
nd ors. though never intended to make money
ly, cut of their offices, have gradually con-
ed trived to increase their emoluments, first
Is by charging excessive mileage, and second
by procuring the passage of law giving
them regular salaries; that the jute manu-
featuring enterprise, upon which so much
money has already been expended, threat
ems to be a stupendous failure that in
purchasing the machinery the Directors
acted with lack of precaution nothing
less than amazing; that the purchase of
he brick land was surrounded by circum-
s. ianees so peculiar that, though the Com
m issioners decline to characterize the trans
act ion positively, it is evident that they
hay e s@apicions concerning it !; that while
Wa. den Ames seems to have done as well
as he knew how since he went into Office
no 81, ,men5 of real reform has thus far en-
tered int the prison management; that the
trustv spssem is bad, and the Communication
system delusion, or worse that, gener-
aIlv sne king, the State Prisons have been
and are .eaducted as though no such sci-
enca as eslelogy had ever been heard of,
in fact.
All the re conclusions are argued and
demonstrat ed at length in the report,
which nece, szarily constitutes very COM
nrebansive q. nd formidable list of charges
| AGAINST the State penal administration.
| whoever re.d hhe document will perceive
that the inaue aee of politics has been the
most miscbiev, u6 hitherto. It was that
influence which caused the plain purpose
of the new ca, eGtution to be set aside;
which caused The appointment of
men for Wardf MS who knew nothing
about penal ,6lzinistration which
caused the Direct III to bargain with the
Wardens for the oaaF7oi Oh nearly all the
subordinate appoint meAts; winch caused
fifty-eight guards t, } @e senV packing lor
no other reason than tASa0 change Oh par
ties had taken Mace ! the State Govern
ment which has inte, fered at every turn
to thwart and battle all atSehlpts at the IN
trodpction Of = better ystem; which has
oven untitled tbe Const, 'tEt5on, and in its
teeth continued the old methods; and
which is mainly RESPONSE oie Tor the TACT
stated by the Commission, max bhefe never
has been prison system in OAi'orhla' anu
| that our State Prisons are lii We more lhan
places of detention.
! 1t is evident that among t ne Sanerous
recommendations made by the commission
there ara some which can he scted upon
without any legislation, while there are
Others which will require statutol &3Ihor-
ization. But it appears to us 'h&' tne
most important teaching of this r 'pot' Is
the hopelessness of all partial and uaSS'
eft ofor+s ~ reform T. show uthat
the whole scheme of penal administr a'lon
requires reorganization. It lis madeclear VS.
we need trained penologists to admins lei
the government OF the prisons, and that u
der them an industrial reformatory schem 8,
should be carried out on thoroughly sys-
tematic basis. The reform of our criminals
it is forcibly represented, is quite as much
an economic as an ethical desideratum. By /
merely combining them as at present, we
not only prevent them from reforming, but
return them to society worse than they
originally were. 1t is a matter largely OF
dollars and cents If we wish to have a q
cheap prison system we must employ de- !
terrent and reformatory as well as punt
tive agencies. We must try to prevent the
young from adopting evil courses, and we
must try to cure those who have taken to /
such courses If we do not, as experience
proves, we shall have steadily augment
ing criminal class, and we shall be obliged ..
to build more and larger prisons continu-
ally.
The present bad condition of our prisons
is in the main due to politics, but it is
also apparent that the existing Board
made very little effort to improve the
situation, and that in many respects they
have proved to be no better than the sys-
TEN which produced them. Under the
conditions which have obtained in the
past, however it would be useless to look
for good results. They have been excluded
by the nature of the influences which
were dominant. This report at least clears
away whatever fog may have obscured the
subject, and shows the public precisely
how their penal administration has been
carried on. Whatever defects the report
may possess, it certainly has the signal
merit of unfinching candor. Ii IL does
not seek to sacrifice accused persons in
Difference to preconceived prejudices, it
stops at nothing in detailing the facts which
tell most strongly against the administra-
ton The work Of the Commissioners
was in many respects ungracious and dis
agreeable, but they have done it in spirit
: of faithfulness TO the trust reposed in
! them, and however distasteful some of
their conclusions may be in certain quar-
; tiers, the truth of the findings is not likely
to be seriously questioned. We hope that
. the public will read the report in spite of
5 its formidable length, for it is only by I
5 informing themselves upon these import.
| ant subjects that they can realize
D the urgency of the need for radical reform
e in our prison administration which the |
Commissioners demonstrate soconclns1Vely. |
THE FUTURE OF TIE CURRENCY.
5 The paper read by Mr.. George s. Coe
.. before the Bankers Convention on =" The
t Future of Our Currency, appears to have
: been sound enough in its analysis Of the
e defects of the greenbaok system of paper
= currency. Mr.. Coe is of opinion that it is
l equally impossible to return to the old
Steta banking svsteu and tn maintain the