Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1897-02-09

vide for the aid, support and main
tenance of the following officials of
Jefferson county, to-wit: the sheriff
and his deputies, the clerk of the
criminal court and his deputies, the
solicitor and his assistants and the
judge of the inferior criminal court
of Birmingham. which is hereby es-
tablished; to define it's powers and to
provide for the prompt distribution
of the fund hereby created among
said officers above named"
Section l should begin as follows: "Sec.
1. Be it enacted by the general assembly
of Alabama, That there is hereby estab-
lished in the city of Birmingham an in
ferior court of criminal Jurisdiction.
branch and subdivision of the criminal
court of Jefferson county, to be known
as the Mutual Aid and Relief Court of
Birmingham, for the better support and
maintenance of the officers and officials
named in the caption Of this bill"
Section should embody this clause:
Section 7. The sheriff of said county of
Jefferson shall have entire supervision
and control Of the government, city, coun-
ty and state. Any person arrested for
a violation of the city or state laws shall
be confined in the county jail, for which
the said sheriff shall first be paid his Jail
fees and board for the prisoner with
money out of the fund hereby estab-
lished and not otherwise appropriated by
the officers named in the title of this bill. =
Sections 16 and II should read as fol-
lows: .a...-4.. s.sl
''Sec. 16. That all sums of money arising
from fines, fees and costs and arising
from proceeds of hard labor and the re-
spective treasures of Jefferson county
and the city of Birmingham shall form
and constitute a separate and special
fund to be kept separate and apart from
any other fund or moneys of said city and
county, and all fees for witnesses, and
the clerk of the criminal court and his
deputies, the sheriff and his deputies and
the salaries of the solicitor and assist
ants and the judge of said court shall be
lien and charge upon and shall be taxed
against said special fund so established
and shall be paid out of said special fund
pro rata on the first Monday of each
month on demand" With these amend
ments, am satisfied that the people Of
Birmingham and Jefferson county would
like to see our able representative push
his bill to a successful finish.
JUDGE N. B. FEAGIN ON THE RE-
FORMATORY.
Our law makers will have placed Ala
bama among the progressive states of the
union in passing the law providing for
reformatory for youthful criminals at
Mount Vernon, Ala. The valuable build
ings ceded to the state by the United
States government will not only be saved
from destruction and decay, but utilized
in the best way possible for the good of
the state. 1t is a revolving and unciviliZ-
ed practice to sentence young boys, for
probably their first criminal act. to con-
finement with hardened criminals. They
are turned loose upon society after serv-
ing their. term of punishment with more
criminal inclinations than when first con-
victed. Yet, appalling as this truth Is,
the state continues this practice to de-
grade her citizenship instead of elevating
it, which should be the object and result
of legal punishment
1t is a well-known fact that many states
have reformatorieS for old as well as
young criminals, and that the result has
been beneficial both to the individual and
the state.
The states of New York, Michigan and
others have reformatori whose work
shops have become so famous for
thorough instruction in useful trades that
boys who are not criminals go TO them
for training. And in this way the young
criminals in these states are reduced from
a life of degradation which Is incident to
Alabama's mode Of punishment.
The most plausible objection to the es-
tablishment of a reformatory for young
criminals at Mount Vernon is that it Will
be an expense to the state. This is not
necessarily SO. as there are many kinds
of employment at which these youths
can be put that will more than pay the
same time a useful trade be learned.
Among other things they can be worked
ten months in the year in raising vege-
tables such as potatoes, tomatoes, beans,
corn and peas, and In canning the same
Il is said that a canning outfit. costing
5000 will give employment to forty per-
sons, indoors. while equally as great a
number will be. required for outdoor
work, supplying the same factory in gath
ering such products. That an acre of
and that win grow half bale of cotton
worth SIS, will grow 200 bushel tomatoes
worth % cents per hushel, or 100 bushei
beans worth 50 cents per bushel, or 70
bushei green peas worth so cents per
bushel, and leave the land less impover-
ished than would the cultivation OF cotton
on same. 1t has been chemically demon
strated that corn grown in the south
contains more nItritive elements, such as
protein than corn grown In the north.
The latter serves more as fuel in the form
of heat and energy, as is shown by the
distiilers who claim 1t will make more
whisky to the bushel than southern corn.
The delicate flavor of southern corn and
its food .-alue In nutriments will give Il
market value when canned as green
corn over It's northern competitor. X
is claimed that the state OF Maine now
FURNISHES the best canned green corn ON
the market, yet the chemical analysis of
the corn grown in the 's6rth shows a de-