The San Francisco call., 1898-03-30
HOW OPIUM GETS. INTO JAIL Story of a Man Who Lived d Many Years at San
 Quentin. Political Guards Traffic in the Drug and Make Big
 Money.
Some Convtcts With Coin Are Able to Purchase Immunity From
 Hard Labor.
Oakland Office San Francisco Call,
 70. Tn -nh

90S Broadway, March 29. So long as the State prisons are DO litical institutions periodical riots an' murders, due to the use of opium. vii continue to shock the public and dis grace the State. A citizen of Oak land. who is now doing well, but wh' was released a few years ago afte serving a long term for crime com mitted in San Francisco, has sent t' The Call the following interesting com munication on the causes of the trou bles at State prisons:
 One of the members of the Board of State Prison Directors has been ap, pointed a committee of one to travel thousands of miles and eXpend many hundred dollars to visit and fnvesu- gate the workings of other penal lnsti- tutiCns. They could have found more than enough to occupy their attention at home had they performed thelr duty as required by their oath of of flee Are the directors ignorant Of cer- tain things that take place within the prison walls? l think not. However that may be, know those institutions are conducted in such loose manner as wardens of Eastern prisons would consider shameful. Professional crtm- inals find conditions there that Sult them very much. Young criminals, boys from the country towns of tender
  offense, are sent to herd with the most vicious and no attempt is made to separate those who have committed their first offense and the most hard- ened.
 Most of the men who enter the walls of San Quentin do not use opium. Yet a few months after they enter they are in all probability confirmed opium fiends, especially the young, who are easy victims to the seductive drug. It is not long after that the drug works upon their worst passions. It is then that the most degraded of men lind their opportunity, and the poor young victim falls so low in the scale of hu- manity as to be summed by all who have the slightest respect for them selves.
 The officers try, or pretend to try, to prevent opium from entering the pris- on walls. But without avail. Why? Because as long as the prison is run on a political basis it will be almost impossible to prevent the entry of opium. Just look at the inducement offered those who smuggle the drug inside. Opium within the walls is al ways worth ten times what 1t is worth outside, and at times when what is called famine" prevails, 1t brings as high as $50 to S175 per pound, and number two O. or second quality, at that
 Many of the guards are sent to the Warden with 8 political recommends ton to which the Warden is forced to pay consideration. His qualifications for the position are not even consid- cred; he is received and appointed to pay a political debt. Now, 1t is through such men that opium Is intro duced into the prison.
 I have known opium to come in by the bucketful. supposed to be eggs. This was during the time that John McComb was Warden. and 1t was a relative that brought 1t in.
 It was under this administration that crime ran rampant, murders were fraGnant was there a conviction for such acts. The prison Is nothing more than large manufactory, the amount of goods turned out being considered above everything else.
 On one occasion the officers of the prison had to appeal to the Governor to pardon a youthful criminal from Oregon for the reason that he was de moralizing those within the walls. He was pardoned. The convict best able to supply the wants of others, such as opium, good bed furniture and a bet ter grade of food will be the one to run things and to create jealousies. The result is deadly combat and until such htings are done away with there will always be trouble, and 1t is against reason to suppose that men can be re- formed and come out and be good members of society as long as such state of affairs exists. It is simply offering the prisoner inducements to become more evil instead of good. Fa- voritism exists to some extent. Those COnVlclS Wlln money ana 1nnuence stand a much better chance of secur- ing release than those without money and friendless. It used to be a com mon thing for convicts with money to purchase immunity from hard labor and obtain good food by paying to be put on the sick list. There is not enough attention paid to prison disci- pline and too much attention paid to the jute mill. If they can force the convicts to turn out bags enough to keep within the yearly appropriation everything else is of minor impor- to the physical and moral welfare of the inmates they will always have re- peaters. A new prison or remodel ing of the old so that men can be kept separate is In order Until this Is done 1t is useless to speak about reforma- ton.