The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1885-11-19
JAIL EXPENSES.

JAIL EXPENSES.
Counties having jails are beginning
to kick against their use free OF cost by
counties not so provided. WatOnWan
county prisoners a'c sent to MAnkato
and the sheriff of Blue Earth county
gets pay for boarding them. but the
county gets no house rent. The wear
and tear to a stone cell or iron cage is
enormous, and Watonwan should pay
tor a portion of the repairs ri If Wat
onwan county bad a Jail we would like
to have neigllboring counties send in
their prisoners for safe keeping. II The
board bills wOuld bring considerable
money into the county and also make a
good item for our sheriff.-St. James
Journal.
The Journal don't seem to ''catch
on" The item of "honse rent" and
1.-THE wear and tear of a stone cell or
iron cage, although it is something, is
but small fraction of the expense of
running a county Jail. Take the No
bles county Jail for example, which is
not very differently circumstanced
from the Mankato Jail, except that the
Mankato Jail will probably contain Blue
Earth county prisoners larger portion
of the year than our Jail will contain
Mobiles county prisoners. At least six
months in the year, on an average, our
jail will be without a prisoner sent
there from our own county; yet all the
while this county has to pay the run
ming expenses mot "house rent" mind)
of the Jail, such as jailor's wages, fuel,
lights, soap, bedding prisoners
wear out an immense amount of bed
clothes-and great many things that
in the aggregate amount to large
sum. The exact figures the ADVANCE
is unable to give, but Auditor Mills has
promised to embody them in his annual
statement, and then the tax payers can
see how they are burdened in this re-
gard. The small amount allowed by
law for the board of prisoners is only
sufficient tc feed them, and is not a
bonanza by any means. The spending
of it in Worthington does not begin to
compensate our citizens for the extra
taxes they have to pay for the support
OF outside prisoners. All that Mobiles
county asks is that other counties hav-
ing their prisoners kept in our Jail pay
a pro rata share of the expense of run
ming it.
IMPROVING THE MINNESOTA RIVER
The board Of trade of the city of
Mankato have appointed Il committee
to forward measures looking to the
improvement of the Minnesota river,
and making it Il navigable stream. The
committee has thought it. advisable to
call \ convention Of representatives
from the counties bordering on the
Minnesota river, Big Stone Lake, Lake
Traverse. and all that portion Of west
ern and southwestern Minnesota which
would be tributary thereto when 50
improved, ut the city Of Maukato, the
date to be fixed either just preceding
or following the holidays. Before do
ing so, however, and as an assurance
that such course will meet the appro-
val Of the friends Of the cause and to
be assured OF Il general attendance
should such convention be called, the
committee prefer to consult the views
OF those who may take an interest in
the project, and have prepared Il circ,,-
lar l2tter-addressed generally to the
friends Of such improvement-sub
ting the proposition, and inviting an
expression of opinion as to the a,lyis:l-
tility Of the course proposed. Will"
the ADVANCE is in favor of the i'm
provement Of our waterways, it thinks
money spent on the Improvement of
the Minnesota river is so much
money wasted. That river can never
be made d highway of commerce, nei-
ther can it be, if made navigable, of
much value as check to the charges
of railroads that run parallel thereto
that measure of relief must come from
some other source.
|. The fact is, the people of this count y
take but little stock in the enterprise.
The Worthington ADVANCE has
doubts as to the advisability of employ
ing court reporter. Take into ac-
count the fact that it costs 800 per
day to pay the expenses of the court,
and computation Of the time saved
by the court reporter will clearly show
that the court reporter saves the county
a good deal more than his salary
amounts to.-Luverne Herald.
That is true enough. AS the court
reporter gets $40 day, it must result
in shortening the time consumed by the
court ene-tenth in order to be a meas
ure of economy. After court adjourns
the ADVANCE will investigate and
compare the present system with the
one previously prevailing, and publish
the result.
A man very near to Gov. Hubbard
told us the ether day that an extra ses-
sion would be called. The average leg
islator can extract \ great deal of fun
out of thirty days. stay in st. Paul.
Mortified News.
The average legislator should have
more respect for the eternal fitness Of
things than to have fun at the public
expense. If a necessity exists for. an
extra session, let the average legislator
60 there to attend to the business re
quireG of him, and not make fool of
himself by trying to extract fun out of
it.-Shakopee Courier.
Why not elect men to the legislature
who shave more respect for the eternal
fitness Of things"