Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1892-01-14

condition OF health, education, ETC., etc., Of
the inmates from which those desiring TO
adopt or otherwise assume the charge and care
Of q child or children could choose.
The officers Of the home could be empowered
TO enter into contracts for the benefit Of those
spprentlced by which such advantages as were
thought reasonable could DO guaranteed the
shild, including educational privileges and an
agreed compensation To be paid on his or her
arrival at the age OF majority, and 70 look
carefully into the character, habits and circum-
stances OF all who propose TO adopt or receive
into their custody US apprentices any OF the In
mates Of the homie.
Money spent In this way would, am sure,
be more prcttably invested both for tho
children and the state than In building add
tional accommodations for them at the home.
In what have said OF the institutions par
ticularly referred TO do not wish 10 be under
stood as critlcizing the management thereof so
far as those In charge arc concerned.
Conceding the correctness OF the general
plan upon which all our state institutions are
conducted do not see how their management
could be Improved.
The error, In my Judgment lies In the fact
that She system adopted looks 10 the expan-
sion OF every one of these institutions, To their
continuous enlargement To the rapid increase
Of their population, when the Whole theory OF
their management with tho exception OF our
schools, should lead In the opposite direction,
10 their contraction and the lessenins Of their
inmates TO the limit OF actual necessity, keep
Ing always In mind the fact that the state
10 bound TO seo that every one OF Its unfor-
tunates is aided 10 an extent sufficient to
supply him with the reasonable necessities Of
life on the one hand and on the other that u
81 the imperative duty Of every one, fortunate
or unfortunate, TO do all that Ia able to do 10
supply his own wants, instead OF leaving these
to be cared for through the charity OF others.
Pcnitentiaries.
At the date OF the last report of the warden
at Fort Madison there were confined in the
penitentlary at that place 425 conviets. or
these S05 were employed by contractors who
pay the state for their labor prices ranging
from forty-tive TO fifty cents day caoh.
The state boards, clothes, furnishes work.
shops and supplies guards for the convlcts,
The contractors furnish overseers and require
ten hours work for day the year around.
Many Of the conyicts are sentenced for life
or n long term Of years and become experts In
the branches Of work In which they are en-
ploycd.
The average length OF sentence approx
mates three years.
II has occurred to me that better system
for the welfare OF the convlcts than that now
practiced and one equally as good for the con-
tractor and the state should be adopted.
That these men should be required 10 repay
from the ayails Of their labor the expense Of
their care and maintenance all will concede.
That their earnings beyond this should be-
long TO themselves or their families seems
equally plain.
10 make this surplus as large M possible Is not
only due 10 them 10 individuals but the state
would be benefited In greater degree by the
fact that they would thus be encouraged 10
4 l,,.t af gaalatU when
released and thereby the danger that they
would return TO criminal ways would be
diminished.
learn from the warden that much, II not
all, the work In which these men are employed
on contract could be done by the piece.
Would Il not be well TO provide that future
contracts for the Labor Of these men, as far as
II is practicable to make them So snail DC "
the piece, u sufficient sum from the avalls OF
their labor to fully indemnify the state being
FIRST exacted and the remainder ,scnt 70 the
families Of those who have such and plrced 70
the credit OF those who have not, 10 be turpcd
over 10 them on their discharge from prison.
This system perhaps conld not be applied to
new men. but II II were known I'd Them that
as coon as they beeomc snfnclently expert
they would be put on contracts OF this fbSr-
acter It would, believe, etinulatc their oxer'
lions 10 become good workmen, and encourage
ali oonylcts 10 do more and better work than
they can be induced TO do under the present
system.
This plan OF work cannot with present IA
cilities be adopted at Anamosa, but every
practicable effort should be made 10 educate
the men ut that prison with view 10 making
them masters OF at loaet one trade that can
be taught them In the work that 10 being prose-
cuted there.
The warden OF the prison at TT. Madison
recommends an appropriation OF $l7 $50, 90 for
the building of new shops at that place, and
the warden NJ AnaMosa an appropriation OF
So7 400. 90 for the further prosecution OF work
on the prison at that place.
The time Is not distant when the legislature
will be compelled TO determine what shall be
done with one or the other OF these penitcn-
tiaTies.
That the state will not continue tho expense
Of maintaining both seems 70 me certain.
The number Of our prisoners is not sufficient
TO require such expense, nor IN an agricultural
state like our own is II at all probable II ever
will be. The whole number confined IN the
two penitentiaries is now COS, OF whom thirty
are insane and nine United States prisoners.
1t never exceeded this by more than twenty
seven IL the largest number were doubled
the prisoners could be more chcaply and just
as comfortably maintained In one prison as In
two,
In nov Judgment one of these institutions
Which should be retained Us the penitentinry
OF the state and which devoted 10 another pur-
pose l do not with my present knowledge wish
TO express an opinion.
II seems to me, however, that In maxim G
appropriations for each tho situation should be
kept In mind and the probable abandonmc nj
Of one or the other as penitentlary be duly
considered.
Free Employment Agencies.
Few Of our people are cognizant OF the ex-
pensc TO which laboring men and women are
often subjected in seeking employment through
private intelligence Offices.
II Is not, aIn told, unusual for those secur-
ing work through these agencies TO be required
to enter written agreements by which, In nd
dltion to a fee paid when they become an APP
pllcant for position, they are required 70 pay
TO the agent considerable per cent OF their
earnings for long period OF time.
In nothing Is the state more deeply inter
ested than in the continuous employment OF
its laboring classes.
Any system which would furnish reliable
information 70 both employers and employees
Of the wants OF each In the labor markets oil
tbe state could not fail to prove OF great value
10 both.
The commissioner Of labor statistics recon-
mends the establishment OF free employment
agency In connection with bis Office through
which IL shall be practicable for those seeking
employment and those In search OF employees
TO acquire reliable information without ex-
pensc 70 either.
most heartily concur In this recommends
ton The expense OF this Office In connection
with the buica Of labor gLutistics can be con-
fined within the limits Of an appropriation
sufficient to pay for the necessary stationery
and the salary OF a single clerk.
In my judgment the system should be 80 ex-
tended as TO allow cities Of the first class 70
establish at their own expense and In eheir
own discretion like agencies in connection
with some of the city offices apd give them
tho right 10 demand Of the state office without
expense information upon any matter OF record
In that Office which may prove OF value In con-
Quoting the business Of these local othces.
Tho Columbian Exposition.
The board Of commissioners OF the Column
bian exposition recommend the appropriation
of $3.50, 900 for use in preparing and maintain
ing Iowa's exhibit at the exposition.
This will strike many as large sum TO DC
used for this purpose, but i believe the senti.
ment Is almost universal with the people oil
Iowa that whatever sum is necessary TO put its
resources before the world In as thorough and
pleasing a form as that adopted by the most
enterprising Of the other states should DC
freely appropriated.
To accomplish this 60 tho extent recon-
mended will require substantial abandon
ment at present Of special appropriations foI
the use Of state institutions beyond what u
actually necessary TO prevent waste Oh tne
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