Sacramento daily record-union., 1883-09-15

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slow process of filling vacancies once in two
years and beyond the influences and exigen.
cies OF ordinary political otfice-holders, and
may in time degenerate into q close personal
corporation.
The investigation was begun, and will be
concluded, upon the following principles:
l. Persons confded with important official
powers and trusts are expected and should be
required to devote reasonable amount OF
their time, labor, care and attention to the
performance of the duties voluntarily under
taken, without regard to the amount of the
compensation they receive.
z. That perfect fidelity in the discharge of
the duties and trusts should be exacted and
required, and any departure from any Of the
foregoing requirements should be followed by
dismissal
3. The Directors must be responsible for
any neglect or misconduct on the part of the
Warden, clerks and other employees, whether
they had notice or knowledge of such neglect
or misconduct. if in the nature of things the
neglect or misconduct should have been
known to them.
1t would not be proper to remove the Di-
rectors, or any of them, upon any of ths fol.
lowing grounds, or for the reason hereinafter
stated For political or personal reasons an
innocent mistake of fact or error in judg-
ment; matter frivolous in its nature or
tcCuniChl crfOE UT uepbfLuT6 rom bne pre-
scribed method, when in good faith per.
formed.
That unreasonable labor, attention and
care are not required. The same character
Of service should be required of an fficial
that careful business man would require in
his private business under similar eircum-
| stances. No more and no less.
1t is not easy to lay down q general rule
upon this subject but it ia believed that the
foregoing propositions contain true principles,
and, if adhered to, neither the officials nor
the people will have any cause of complaint
at strict adherence to and enforcement of
them.
| At or near the end of the taking of the
testimony, counsel of both parties entered
into an agreement to submit the case upon
the testimony, without regard to the specific
allegations in the plesdings In other words,
variances between the pleadings and proofs
were to be disregsrded. The agreement was
made in the following words:
By Mr.. Sears "There is good deal of
proof that we have introduced here that does
not precisely conform to our answer to some
of these specifications here. Now, if tine
Court will take the proof and be governed by
that instead of the answer, it will save Us the
| trouble of amending some of the answers"
| By Mr.. Flournoy 81 am willing that the
Court shall act upon the evidence, without
reference to the pleadings st all-without
reference necessarily to the pleadiugs"
| In considering the case l have examined
| the record with view of sscertainine the
true situation and condition of State Prison
matters. find that some of the specifcl-
| tions are of SO unimportant character that
| finding upon them would not authorize a
removal of the Directors. The other speciG-
cations are not proved, and still others are
| fully explained-that is, the facts upon which
| they were based. There are other speci6cs-
tions of serious nature which have been
| fully proved.
Applying the principles hereinbefore on.
nouuced to the case under consideration, it
| remains for me to determine whether or not
the testimony shows such a state of facts
that to remove the Directors would subssrve
the best interests of the State. In regard to
that entertain no doubt of my duty. 1t
has been my desire and disposition from the
beginning to view each act complained of
with moderation and charity, not losing sight
of the difficulties encountered in the inaugu-
| ration and organization of new system for
the management of State Prison affairs. The
testimony in this examination shows q state
of facts, series of acts and omissions, that
| the greatest charity cannot excuse or moder-
alton pslliste.
The following propositions are fully sus.
| tanned by the testimony taken in this ex-
animation
l. The Directors authorized and allowed
the Warden. j. P. Ames, to draw from the
State treasury $67, ,018 ID to pay deficiency
occurring for the last four months of the fis-
| cal year ending the 30th day of June, 1880,
and to retain in his hands about So, 933 SO
for the term of twenty.eight months; and
| only returned the same to the State treasury
| after this examination had been commenced,
The retention of this money was upon the
pretext that there we're other claims existing
and unsettled. 1t was not shown that there
had ever been any effort made, either to set
tie the supposed claims or determine their
legal validity, until few days before this
proceeding was commenced.
2. There are innumerable instances shown
| by the testimony where the Directors were
neglectful of their duty. They seemed TO
| shrink from responsibility when the law re-
| quired them to act. The Warden's aDiH
| seemed to be the supreme law and his
caprices the measure of legal authority
There Is but one instance in which the Di-
| recters are shown to have asserted their
authority, and that was when informed that
the Warden had, in violation of the Constitu.
ton, employed about thirty Cinnamon, not
| prisoners, to run the jute machinery. Itwas
shown that the Directors st once held hasty
meeting, and directed the discharge of these
Cinnamon, who had been in the illegal en-
| ploy of the State for from twenty-eight to
thirty days.
In every other instance they seem to have
been passive. Although they were shown to
have held the regular monthly meeting. they
never discovered anything to condemn or cor.
rect. The scandal that brought iuto exist
| ence what is generally known as the mills
| Commission" during the late administra.
tiou, notified the Directors, for the first time,
of the existence of those scandals. Still they
took no action to prevent or to make impos-
sible recurrence Of the same or similar
| Irregularities.
| 8. 1t was the usual custom for the Warden,
at the end of the month, to cause to be pre-
pared q payroll showing q list of the en-
ployes, with the amount of salary that each
| was entitled to receive the same was for
warded to the State Controller, and war
rant returned for the full amount, when
nearly ell the employees hadsalready, during
the month, received portion of their pay by
purchases at the commissary department..
| The excess of money drawn upon the faith
of the same being required to pay the men,
was used for other purposes than the pay
ment of the employees.
| 4. The proof shows that the salaries Of the
| Warden, Ames, and Clerk Ellis, were in
cluded and drawn in the general warrant for
salary Of all the employees that Ames had
| no transaction with the State beyond his sal
ary. except of about 5000 or $500, and the
clerk, Ellis, no transaction beyond his salary
Yet the proofs show that Ames drew outside
and beyond his salary So, 200 IL, and Ellis
drew $500. These amounts are not, by the
testimony, explained or accounted for.
g. The Warden allowed the employees st
the prison to build yacht, and, in doing SO,
use portion Of the States lumber and prison
labor took or kept no account of the amount
of lumber kept no account Of the time Of
the prisoners labor never collected any.
thing for either; and, when exposure was
made by the Investigation Of the Mills
Commission, answered that the State had
used spar belonging to the projectors Of the
yacht worth as much or more than the lum-
Der taken in building the yacht. The Di.
rectors being informed of the facts through
said investigation, failed to call the parties to
account, or otherwise rebuke this most illegal
and unwarrsntable appropriation Of the prop
erty of the State to private use by the
States employees.
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