The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1888-02-28
THE " PEN

1t required d SoSU VIA my Je~AS ~
coax Congress into appropriat0g a
miserable pittance Of $4,000 foe the
construction of a peTftentiary FOR this
Territory. After she appropriation, it
REQUIRED year or tive more to get the
money. The builS!ag provided forts
now approaching completion. 1t is
fairly creditablo Structure, and III it
government has certainly gotten the
worth OF its None. But now that the
building is sbout ready for occupancy,
it is found to be,oE3v about half aslarGe
as it should be, containing sccommoda-
1iors for not qn0-e than haaf the people
sent to that institution for longer or
brieter periods.
The other deg, as wa5 published at
the time, the a.1e Grand Jury visited
the Penitentia7y, and the result of its
yisi, was a 1eSter,to the Secretary of the
Interior, urg:og more buildings and
some necessary Improvements. The
Marshal has Siso written to the Depart
ment on the subject, aed Congress will
he asked te step in as humanitarian,
and provide certain relief. We hope
that nothing less than $3.50 $50 will be
asked for, and no less should be appro-
priated. As matter of Sact, the
cell building nearing completion
should be duplicated, and then no
more room than is demanded would be
given. Fur thermore, provisio should be
made gor the accommodation and
safety OF the warden and the guard.
The keepers dwelling is tie rlckety,
tun,ble-6own mud structure which was
erected thirty years ago, when tie
prison -eometimes held two or three
convicts and sometimes YES empty.
The guards quarters are Of the crudest
and n ost primitive cbaracter, and are
no better than the considerable farmer
would a3roVide for his live stock, and
will not COM pare in the matter Of cOEa-
fort with the,keRnel of the admirer Of
bloodei dogs. The miserable dens Into
which the Wardsn is forosd to herd his
family of conVidts, Numbering over two
hundred now1and all the time increas-
ing, have been so often described in
print, with their vernic ana stencies
which. cannot he avoided, that the or
binary reader has long since grown
tired of beiDgtSld about them. Bad as
men may be they are entitled to some
consideration en- the pert OF society,
and Il government assumes to take
charge of eonyicts and accused persons
it should ct A2east be Humane IN its
treatment o. them. And what are
we to,say of that mud wal inclosingthe
acre or such q matter within (which
the prisoners are herde6f If it had not
been for the vigilant guaZds pacing to
and fro on its top, the 'eonvicts'#o0Id
long since heRe leveled the wall with
toothpicks, and splinteFs, and removed
the unsafe and NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. 1t
so happens that this community Like
every other one, develops an occasional
female convict, and onCelin while the
courts are forced to commit women TO
the penitentiary. Witheat bein
human and downright brutal tie
warden Of the Utah penitentiary. can
not literally comply with a commit
ment requiring him TO keep woman
in the penitentiary. The institution is
absolutely without place within the
walls where wo2en can be kept, and
females mast be held in the warden's
residence or N quarters unfit for
human occupancy.
Plainly, the pepitentiary is anything
but what il should be in any respect
that may be mentioned. The only i'm
provemeRt or relief must come from
Congress-, and a sense of humanity
should induce that body to act
promptly. The HERALD trusts that
such a representation of facts will be
made as will cause Congress to make
tie appropriations required for con-
tinuing the improvements inaugurated
last year. It is not asking too much
to request that the government will
cease to be barbarous.
-