Omaha daily bee., 1895-03-18

the highest bidder and, further. that the
lessee shall pay all penitentiary expenses. in
Guiding the salary Of officers and other
help. heating the buildings and boarding and
clothing the convicts. and that the net ex-
pense to the state shall not exceed so cents
per capita per day
Under this provision Mr.. Buckstaf can
only take his chances with any other bidder
who may desire to bid for the contract; but
Il is claimed by some that this section has
been repealed under the indefinite provision
Of house roll No. 607 which declares that
call acts and parts Of acts in conflict are
hereby repealed"
REGIME OF MISRULE.
The history of the Nebraska penitentiary
Is a story of a reign of fraud, corruption,
misrule and extravaganza, covering quarter
of a century. The institution has been the
source of more knavery, more manipulation,
more fraud, than any other one institution
under state control. Twenty-Five years ago
on the 4th of the present month the Ne
braska legislature approved an act providing
for the erection of a penitentary. Under
this law fifty sections OF penitentiary lands
belonging to the state were ordered sold ana
the proceeds devoted to the construction oil
the necessary buildings
The total number Of acres thus appropri-
ated was 32.044. The first public sale re-
suited in the disposal of Sill acres, the
amount received therefor being Sil,O44. AT
subsequent sales all but ,9l6 acres were dis
tiary lands were sold at a ridiculously low
figure, some as low as SO per acre, and none
higher than ST.
With S133 194 In their hands the three
prison inspectors set about to construct
penitentary. On April 20, 1870, they awarded
a contract to Perkins & Hallowell for the
erection of temporary penitentIary, the
stipulated price being 1851. The building
or what is left Of 1t. still stands, and is now
used for a barn. A view of its exterior di-
gt, Nptn NM
gaze in open-mouthed admiration at the in
genuity of a contractor who was able to spend
moro than $4,000 on a structure of such
modest pretensions
On June 13 the prison inspectors let to
w. II. B. Stout the contract for the erection
of the permanent penitentiary building.
Stout was awarded 1907 $50 for the building,
In their annual report the inspectors ad-
nit with charming naivette, that, although
the law authorized them to expend the pro-
ceeds from the sale of the fifty sections of
land only they deemed it to the best interests
of the state to erect a building suitable TO
the needs of the state for long time TO
come. They therefore asked for more funds
Subsequent incidents in the history of the
penitentary prove beyond controversy that
the additional funds were supplied.
COST OF STATE CONTROL.
Inasmuch as the several bills providing
for state control will throw the cost OF main
tanning the penitentiary upon the state, some
figures showing what the cost was 10 the
state under the old system Will De OF ih'eTes'
at this time.
For six years, from 1870 to 1876. inclusive
the state paid all the expenses OF maintaining
and guarding the convicts in the state Deni-
tentiary. Under the reign OF extravaganza
and useless expenditure of public funds the
old system necessarily expensive. Fol
1S71-72 the appropriations were as follows:
WardenS salary 3'ot 3'Vl
Deputys salary .................'..'...''. i'oW ~
physician ............ ..''''.'.''-.'.'' i'cS 'coS
Guard service Observation-Disclosures. 6oV
Fuel OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. zVoy
deficiency Liza
Total ........................,... S25oZ!
During the two years for which the above
amount was appropriated there was an aver
age Of thrty-eight convicts in the institu
ton, making the per capita cost $l.sS pei
day.
For the biennium of 1874 the appropria
tions were as follows:
warden's salary ........."...............$ 800
Deputy's salary dSV
Physician @'co
Chaplain .............................. 10
Guards ............................. 4,Uu
Fuel and lights; .;............--..-.."."... s.d2
Board and clothing -........-.....--...... 1S,0o
Furniture library, etc.................. Z'5e
In these two years the average number o
conyicts maintained and guarded was fifty
making the per capita cost $l.5S per day.
In the last biennium 1876, the expendi
lures were very largely increased, the ap
propriations being as follows:
Wardens salary .......................".$ 300
Deputys salary ...............'........".. go
Physician lSv
Maintenance, care and custody ........ 5000
Total ........................... $57 90
Under this liberal appropriation with tn
opportunity Ii offered for unbridled expend
ture, the state paid S2.07 per convict pc
day there being an average OF seventy-hv
convicts in the institution during the perioc
An inquistive public might have in
auired why the state did not board its con
yicts at the Capital hotel. 1t would hav
made clear saving of cents per day o
each convict. and the convicts would hav
had better fare.
1t is not to be inferred for a moment ths
1t would cost the state anything like $2.07
day to maintain and guard the convict
should the present system be discarded
There Is no reason why the conyicts cannt
be maintained as cheaply as the male II
mates of the asylums for the insane. Foo
and clothing would cost no more, the e'
pense of fuel and lights could hardly
greater. and salaries could easily be fxe
upon am equal basis with those in otht
state institutions. The figures are on
quoted to illustrate the liberal!ty with whic
Nebraska solons used to dispense the sta
funds
AN ODIOUS COMPARISON.
Few people know what the state penitel
tiary has cost. representative of I'll
Bee today asked several members Of II
legislature who had recently visited the psi
itentary as to their idea Of the cost of tn
structure as compared with the state capt.
building. Their average estimate was tn
the capitol had cost about three and on
half times much the peniteptiar
Their guesses did not. Of course include Il
cost of walks. drives, etc, or internal In
provements, such as heating plants. cookil
and laundry apparatus, ETC.. but merely {
naked buildings
careful compilation of the figures repr
senting the cost of these two structure
made from the appropriation ledgers in 4
auditors Office. shows that but few peoI
are capable of making an tntelligent COZ
parlson.
The state capitol cost S7i6370.
The penitentiary cost $685.. 800.
Clark Escaped from Lincoln Onciais.
LINCOLN. March 17,-lSpecial Telegram
John Clark. a notorious thief, who stole
80. large number of sets of harness and sever
bugges In Omaha the first of
month, was arrested tonight by Detective NJ
lone and Sergeant Denny. Clark came alo
with the officers quietly enough until tn