The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1890-03-21

The law requiring prisoners to he
employed inlabor upon public works
is the authority and direction OF the
Minister of the Interior rs to the
nature of the labor TO which those
sentenced to Imprisonment at hard
labor shall be put. II might have
been statute for instance requiring
them to be employed within the
prison premises in the manufacture
Of shoes. 1t was particularly ne
cessary to make n statute provision
for taking prisoners outside the
prison premises. The same law,
Section PIG, provides that when
prisoners cannot be well employed
on public work they may he hired
out to private persons. For female
prisoners, the provision, (section
217) is, that they shall be employ
cd in making mats, in sewing, in
washing the prisoners clothes and
in other suitable occupations ms the
Marshal may direct.
The law under which money is
dsbursed, is entitled, An Act maxi
ing speciM appropriations, etc. I'm
der the head "Roads and Bridges"
is "Road from IIilo to Volcano,
$50, 600" This authorizes the ex-
pcnditure upon that work OF that
sum, and no one would claim that
general drafts could be made on the
Treasury for amounts in excess Of
that.
1t cannot. be denied that the al.
lowance OF these bills would he to
apply further sums to thi: work
from the special appropriation for
the "suppoit Of prisoners. 1t is
an obvious remark 20 be made that
the propriety of such draft does
not depend ON the fact Of the dosig-
mated sum of $4,000 having been
exhausted or not. If it should be
correct now to apply money from
the support of prisoners fund, the
road appropriation being exhausted,
it would have been correct to do so
during the whole period. The sum
of the bills here presented is $780,
40. A like SUN for each of the
twenty-four months of the biennial
period would amount to Sl3, 200.GO.
But small or great, or for longer
or shorter time. what should be so
taken would be an addition from the
one fund to the other. IL is plain
that the power 10 do SO would enable
the Minister of the Interior TO prac-
tcally make his own appropriation
for every object in which prison la
Dor may be employed. The eX-
pressed will of the Legislature that
the expenditure should be such
sum for such an object would be
overcome no such item would re-
present q definite amount. 1t would
be the granted amount plus the sup
port of prison labor upon it.
hold, therefore, that the particu-
lar statute prescribing. a sum to be
expended on public work is not
controlled by the statute which gen.
orally designates the mode Of work.
ing prisoners.
The determination of the Auditor.
General that the fund Tor the "sup-
port Of prisoners" was not applica-
BILE to the payment of these bills, in
this view, was not an abuse Of dis
erection and was not beyond his pro-
vince or jurisdiction to be controlled
by the Court.
The provisions of the Act of 1862
may be claimed to particularly JUS
tify the employment Of prisoners
without reference to fund for the
payment of the expenses appurten-
aut. l think this statute applies to
the ordinary annual work on exist
ing roads, and leaves the question
of payment TO be determined by
other statutes. They are roads in
charge of the Road Supervisor. He
is permitted TO make application for
this description of labor. There is
nothing which imports that it is not
to be paid tor out of the funds for
the road making. In the case before
US new road is provided for. IL
is as distinctly separate public
work, as would be the erection Of 4
new public building. The bills pre-
sented are for new set Of jailors
and superintendent required in
working prisoners ON this road. The
reasoning ] have applied to the con-
struction OF Section 2li in my view
equally applies here.
The two other bills are admitted to
BE- for sust-nance Of the prisoners
while employed on the Volcano road.
Standing by themselves, they might
be considered payable out Of the
fund for the support of prisoners,
but in view of the fact brought to
the Auditors knowledge that the
result would he an application of so
much money to the Volcano road, in
lieu of charging the labor at the sta
tute valuation Of fifty cents per day
10 the road appropriation, and maxi
ing no charge for the sustenance,
these bills may be classed with the
others.
In respect to the custom shown by
the pleadings to charge such ex-
penses as these bills represent to