Morning journal and courier., 1885-01-29
Thursday, January %, 1855.
THE Plan FoR A NEW PRISON.

| The conclusions to which the special com
mission on the State prison have come de
serve careful attention, for the matter with
which they had to deal is one of great i'm.
portance.
| 1t is the general impression that the situa-
ton of the prison is unhealthy, but the COM
mission ''could not regard Wethersfeld as
specially unhealthy, nor could they point to
any other location in the State with the same
| facilities of communication that would be
likely to be an improvement in sanitary
| point of view. For they regard the epidemic
of malaria at Wethersfeld as temporary, and
see no reason to believe that with properly
i constructed buildings and premises well
| drained the present location would not full
| fill all reasonable sanitary conditions
Having decided that Wethersfeld was a
| good enough place for the State prison, the
commission turned their attention to what
could be done to improve the present prison
building, which is, beyond question, sadly in
need of Improvement. They quickly came
to the conclusion that the best way to i'm
prove it was to build new one. The COM
mission which made report in 1878 de-
scribed the premises in a disgraceful and
unwholesome condition 1t recommended
that the State should not waste any money
on the place Except such absolutely
necessary to secure the prisoners in safety,
and that it should wait until it saw its way
to building new prison such as wise econ
omy demanded. But the State, not certain
~ in the spirit of true economy, has gone on
for twelve years spending money upon this
nouldy and tumble down group of buildings
at the average rate of about 81, 900 year.
The plan for new prison presented by
the present commission is wise one. be-
cause it takes into account the future needs
of the State in this respect as well as the
present. According to the best information
the commission could obtain, the estimated
cost of a good State prison complete is about
one thousand dollars per cell. This would
make the cost for four hundred cells $780,
000 The new prison at Cranston, Rhode
Island, which is built of granite and is
model of convenience, was built to accom-
modate two hundred and fifty prisoners,
counting one in cell. 1t cost $3.50, ,0OO
The estimate of the plan the commission
present is for four hundred cells at cost of
s311 200, not including the walls of the
prison yard, and not including the furnish
ing of the cells with beds and whatever is
needed. It is probable that the total cost for
the prison complete would reach the neigh
borhood of $3.50, 900; or about $3.50, 900 more |
than the estimated cost of the proposed ad- |
dition and rebuilding. If the new prison is |
built the State would not be called upon for |
repairs. If the old is patched up and |
added to, repairs would be constantly need |
ed. The repairs on the old prison for the |
last twelve years have cost what would be |
equivalent to the interest on nearly $780, |
600. In designing the plan the strictest |
has been kept in view consistent |
with solidity and permanency. Nothing has |
been added for ornament or show. The |
foundations of stone, the main structure |
of brick. The style is simple to severity. l
This is the situation. The State unques-
tionably needs, and badly needs, new
prison. Now is probably as good time to
build it as we shall ever have. The materi-
ais are cheap and labor is cheap. The State
would undoubtedly save money by building
a prison now instead of waiting four or five
vsarS