Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1885-11-07
THE PENITENTIARY.

WA w eoN"
branch %penitentiary located in-or near
Lexington.
We cannot think SO.
1t we had thought the %penitentiary
would be a good thing for the town we
should not have waited until this time
to make an effort for its establishment
here, but would long since have advo'
Gated and worked for it.
1t is alleged % that bringing thu
penitentiary here would cause the sale
of one or two hundred acres Of land,
which would be a benefit (2) that the
cost of the construction would be ex-
pended here and that the money woule
be spent among our merchants ant
mechanics; and(3) that the manufac
lures in the prison would be OF bene'
fit to the town.
Let US ee.
~ 1t is true that a sale Of land woul'
be made. If the seller remained her
and put his OR her money into actlv'
business of some kind this might d.
good; but suppose, instead, that he o
she should take it out of the county to
investment; where would be the goot
to the community? Or suppose he o.
she should be a nonresident; in wha
would it profit us? The contingenc!
here is too remote for calculation.
(2) 1t is the policy of the state t.
construct the necessary buildings will
convict labor-to quarry the stone
make the brick, do the hauling, tn
masonry and the carpenter work, ant
even the artistic decoration that Nigh
be thought comfortable and pleasant,a
has been done at jefferson City. No
a dollars worth of labor would b.
given to square men that the convict
could do; and it is demonstrated tina
they can do almost anything that is t.
be done, from laying brick and ston'
to frescoing; from making boots and
shoes to keeping books. Our mer'
chants would not make anything on
of the institution; for such things as
did not manufacture for itself would b.
bought at wholesale in the larger mar
kets. Even the few guards and officer
that would be necessary would be ap
pointed from other places.
(S) Instead of being of benefit to
town a penitentiary is an evil; all a
evil ; and like the upas tree casts
baleful shadow on all things near it.
paralyzes honest labor. 1t makes tn
bricks and builds the houses. 1t drive
away those honest mechanics who re
side in a town, and it prevents other
from coming. How long would it b
with sixty cent labor at our door, befor
the manufactures which we now hav
would be inside instead Of outsid
the walls? Before the work would b
done by cropped scoundrels instead o
by virtuous and honest men3 HOY
many manufactures with square labo
has Jefferson City? Is it nc
better for us to have the honest mechar
ic, with his family and vine and Il
tree, than the offscouring and the sour
of creation? Our farmers would nc
reap any profit from the institution
for as soon as fully established 1t woui
raise it's own produce.
But above all and beyond all, a pen
itentiary in Lafayette county would be
stab and a menace to its coal interests
What would coal lands in Lafayetl
county be worth, when threatened b
the competition of thousand or ffteel
hundred convicts at sixty cents a day
They might not dig all the coal, it
true, but they would set the price fe
those who did. or course the intentio
, would not at once be expires;
f ed of putting the %convicts IN II
coal mines; but let a striE
come. How easy to incite some act
t violence to bring the strikers into di:
repute, in order to justify the use
= convicts in the coal mines. We ha
all that fight, and it was a bitter one,
4 1879. Why make it necessary that
i. shall be fought over again? In such 6
event it would be years before LAM
would be worth a dollar more becau
of coal; and we should lose the decen
Woodworking, respectable miners, wi
:, , support our merchants, our mechani
aud our professional mentor what
For a nuisance and a curse.
o Then our schools! Who, livir
o abroad, would want to send his son
daughter to an academy or seminar
where convicts walk the streets
squads under surveillance, and sing
as TRUSTEES? Some may say the CO
e victs would not harm them. May
not but men who were working f
other schools would use it as a sea-
n crow, and effectually. Is there an
v thing refining or e~levating in the CO
temptation of criminals and crime
How many academies and seminar
has Jefferson City?
Costs for crime are heavy enou,
Q now. They would be much heavi
with a penitentiary. 1t is true the la
provides that when a convict is d
II charged he shall leave the county
;e which the p%enitentiary is located, b
d very many of them disobey this la
:. Cole and adjoining counties are ov'
run by these miscreants who pro
:, around awaiting the release of CO..
=. rades, and who in the meantime Pill
>. der property and commit even wo
crimes. The women in the vicinity
under constant alarm regarding the
's Who wants that state of affairs
OF Lafayette county Beside, the Grin
committed within the prison become
charge upon the county Ill which it
located.
,er No man should declare himself
a favor of an attempt to secure the pc
of Tertiary for Lexington until he
he carefully viewed all sides of the gu
ton, and when he does this COO
without prejudice, we feel satisfied
ng will conclude that i. would at least
The a doubtful experiment. We bell
ce, that it would be a positive drawb
OF and an evil to the town, from whicl
would be difficult for it to o