Evening star., 1898-11-04
w AR OF CIRCUL AR S
Democrats Of North Carolina Charge Mis-
management.
Demand Thorough Investigation-Re.
publ1cans and POpulists ArraiEn
the Previous Administrations.
Special From a Stafr Correspondent.


RALEIGH, N. c.. November 4-Of the
many matters which have been talked OF
during the fierce political campaign now
closing perhaps the object of the most
unanimous attack by the democratic press,
outside of the white supremacy question,
has been the management of the state peni-
tentiary. The state democratic executive
committee has issued circular stating that
letters were sent to the chairman of the
board of directors of the penitentiary, the
superintendent Of that Institution and 10
the commissioners of agriculture, asking in
respectful manner for certain information
concerning their management.
I've were" the circular says. innocent
enough to suppose that these were public in
stitutions supported by the taxpayers of the
state, and that the persons in charge of
them had no secrets to keep from the pub
lie. We were therefore shocked at the
course pursued by the persons to whom
these courteous. respectful notes were ad-
dressed. No answere has been received to
any but one of these notes. and that one is
from the chairman of the board of directors
Of the penitentiary. His reply has the merit
or being courteous. but it gives no informa-
ton whatever concerning the matters in
quired about.
An Open Letter.
There has been published in the press of
the state, over the name of the superintend-
ent of the penitentiary, what purports to be
an open letter, to which the superintendent
declines in the coarsest and most offensive
manner to give the required information.
So the books are closed to the public so
far as we are informed, and have been since
they passed into the hands of the present
administration, for they have utterly failed
and neglected to give to the public the in
formation which they commanded by
the law to furnish. The appeal from the
fusal of these people to open the books is
to the public, whose servants they are. II
is to be regretted that the governor of the
state. who appointed these men to office,
has not seen fit to interfere and compel
them to open their books and let the public
know what has been going on.
with the governor standing by his Subor-
dinates in concealing their official mis-
conduct, we may have but little hope of
getting at the truth so long as the books
remain in their keeping. 1t may be that
under the continued lash of the newspaper
press enforced by the lash of public opin-
ion, they may be driven into making some
sort of statement before the campaign
is over but we humbly submit that it will
be done, if done at all, under circumstances
which discredit it from beginning to end.
And here, again. history is repeating
itself. The republican administration of
lS6S-G9 flied the air with the stencil of
corruption. Rumors of evil deeds of high
and low degree were floating on every
breeze. The people determined to have the
books opened and to have the matters in
vestigated. They sent democratic legis-
lature to the capitol to this work. The
Shipp fraud commission followed, and in
the volume produced may be read the
dark deeds of many disgraced man.
THE republican party is again in power
and the air is again full of rumors, and
the penitentiary management again emlts
disagreeable odors. The men in charge OF
this institution. with the full knowledge
and approval of the governor, decline to
at,, ir,,fn hI, hich 20
could investigate these rumors or locate
these foul odors. From this arbitrary, un-
precedented. suspicious ruling, we appeal
to the people. The issue is made, Shall
We See the Books""
Counter Statements.
In reply to the above circular the republi-
cans have issued a lengthy statement, in
which they calm to have managed the
state institutions in an economical manner,
and for the first time in twenty years have
made the institution self-sustaining. They
also instance number of cases of brutal
ity to convicts which are said to have oc-
CURED under the democratic regime, and
declare that, IF all the truth and facts
could be told concerning the prison man
agement Of the democratic machine while
it controlled the penitentiary the people
would be shocked and dazed from one end
of this country to the other
The circular further says: From 1915 to
1SNi-twenty years-the democratic machine
controlled this institution. During that
time there was appropriated for it S2,65I,-
900. The earnings of the penitentiary dur
ing that time have amounted to S1,140.G00.
These figures show that there has been a
net outlay of money for the support of the
pententiary during the past twenty years
of S,5l6.OO. an average net exDens" OF
more than $4,000 per year. If these figures
are incorrect, 1t is because the democratic
machine reports for all those years are in
correct. for the figures are taken from these
reports.
"A very strong commendation of the
cleanliness and good management of the
prison is the fact that after an eXamna-
ton of all the southern prisons by United
States government inspectors. it was rec
commended that the Raleigh penitentiary be
made the repository for federal prisoners
from North Carolina. South Carolina. Vir-
ginia, Tennessee. Georgia and Alabama.
No such stamp of approval would have ev-
er been given the prison under the condi-
tions that formerly prevailed
Another evidence Of the vast improve
ment in the management is shown by the
fact that during the last four years of dem
ratio management the death rate was Al
per cent per 900. while under the present
management 1t has been very greatly re-
duced.