The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1896-01-16
WANTS AN lNVESTiGA ALTON.


One OF the Pcnitcntiary Directors
Charges ENtravaganCc on the Part
OF the superintendent.
| In connection with the report Of tho
Superintendent Of the Pcnitcntiary,
| somewhat Of Il sensation will be Great
ed ny minority report OF Mr. L. Z.
| WlllOughOy, II member Of the board rt
directors, who charges that the in
| Stitution has not been conducted ac-
cordiug to sound business principles,
aud that he has been unaGlc TO get u!
the light he wanted in reference tr
the transactions Of the PenitcntIary.
The ma jority report on the other
| hand cOmmcnds the wise and sue
ccsstul management OF Coione! Neal,
and expresses the belief tuat the Puni-
tuntlary has bright tinuncial iuvur'.
Mr.. Wil!oughby says in mis- report t.
the Governor:
As a member OF the Penitoutiar,
Board OF Directors. | beg leave tr
make the following rcpu"t. concur
with the aJo"tiy rs 10 the condition
! OF the property under Oul charge, but
in SO doing DO not sanction the man
agcment, which am inclined to think,
| from personal observation and the in-
| formation attainable, is not Of that
kind which cOmmends itself to sound
business principles. The want OF
economic ideas and the glaring cx-
travagance is such rs should call Tor
legislative investigation and remedy.
The system OF book keeping and
monthly statement in vogue in the
| institution is not such as throws light
| upon the fiscal transactions Of tho in
stitution, to those who like this Board,
have only u limited time to examine
and investigate. And my experience
in seeking information from the ac-
countants of the Penitcntiary leads me
TO infer that light is the last thing de-
sirablc, not that charge anything dis
honest; only narrate my experience.
| The supply Of the vast amount Of
supplies OF all kinds needed for the
Penitcntiary, its farms and camps, 1T
! seems to me, should be let to cOmpe-
tition and awarded TO the lowest re.
> sponsiblo bidder, and not left rs at
D present in the entire control Of the
Q su superintendent. Tho lax manner o
y examining and passing accounts by the
. board needs Legislative attention, since
necessity Of reform on that line.
The system Of contracts and hiring
= is to my mind in many Instances il
; violation of tho Statute, and there
5 are Irregularities and violations o
law within my own observation which
: are perversivo OF that good order and
management which tho public have q
right to expect OF us.
Respectfully submitted,
II. @. WILLOUGIIBY,
Florence, S. c., January 4th, 1896.
THE MAJORITY REPORT.
The following is the report OF u ma
jority Of the Board Of Directors, who
sustain the management Of Supt. Neal.
! The report Is addressed to tho Cover
nor:
| Dear Sir: We beg respectfully 10
submit the following report rs the
| board of directors Of tho South Carroll
~ nitontiary for fourteen months
| b"pinuiDH the lst OF November, 1894,
and ending the 3lst II December, 1898,
| luv new constitution having changed
iiIc liscal year to January lst, 1896,
making it necessary that our report
cover iUurJc.n months.
| O"lug to the death OF one Nf our
.stu,i incd in' II burs on November 22nd,
1873. Mr.. }. NJ. Spro,t, our Board con,
>is'- nDw % only tour members, r. }.
Cnnninghn"r, j. w. Lyles, 5. =. Car
rls and L. {. Wii,oughby.
The aggregate receipts for the four
teen months wero l47,O6O.60; csti-
mated value Of crops on hand, &I5, 600 90;
amount due from convict hire and
other sources, So, 242 "a making Il
total OF $l65, ,3o5.lI
| Ihu disDurot nicnta were $li4 .92l SS !;
| Liabilities, not lnCiuuing Reid iarm,
Si,6S' 30; making total Of $40, Gl9 II,
ana leaving an estimated balance OF
Sl1.6S32I.
We arc pleased 10 say that the
PRISON Is in irstcias condition in
every respect. The prisoners arc
being well cared for, ana every de.
,ll 4. n Mt s)l Ia
mcnt. We DO not deem it rccv.sal",
to go into details. as you Will find
annexed t" this report full and com
plete statement from each officer in
charge OF the various dcpuYtmcnts
| The DcSaussure farm has been paid
in full. The Board thought it wise to
purchase the "Reid farm" aG joining
the DeSaussu farm, and did so, at
a cost OF SIS, ,450 These two places make
a very desirable farm, aggrcgatlng
| Alp acres, and both places have been
| thoroughly equipped with machinery
wagons, mules, etc. at a cost Of abou,
$500. The bottom lands have been
thoroughly dyked, and we believe
capable of resisting frcshcts. These
farms have been worked this year by
the penitentiary for the first time.
The institution owns seventy-nine head
of mules and horses, sixty-eight OF
which were purchased this year
The only outstanding indebtedness
against the penitentiarv now is the
purchase price af the . Reid farm"
We take great pleasure in saying
that the condition OF the ponitentiary
In general, under the wise and success
ful management OF It's superintendent.
Col. w. A. Neal, is an that could be-
expected, and we desirese express our
high regards for him, bosh as bust
ness msn and superintendent Of the
penitentiary.
In conclusion, allow ns to express
begin the new year with bright Fl.
hancial future, as 1t seems to us ali
necessary improvements, for some