The Advocate and news., 1898-04-06
A Penitentiary
Fake Story.
Chief Clerk Upton Replies to Sense"
less, UntruthfuI Stories Of the
Prison Management.
MISREPRESENTATION BEGINS.

tion may not claim too much Of tn
attention OF the people, the LeavenWort
Times has opened up with lot OF un
truthful stuff about the present admins
tratiOn Of the penitentiary 1t Is hope
that this stuff will serve to divert tn
attention of the people from the ex
treme rascality which Is being shown u
with reference to the letting OF contract
under the Morrill, administration.
That the Times ia doing It's best 4
shown by the following abstract OF tn
charges which 1t makes:
"TWo-thirds of the cOnVlCts are work
ing in the coal mines for the purpose o
mining coal to throw on the market II
competition with the product OF FREE
labor: the officials barter with the con
yicts to secure their release from the
prison for consideration; the cruel anC
frequently inhuman punishment OF con
victs; the inadequate food supply fur
nished; the selling Of supplies purchased
by the State for the benefit OF the con-
victs to the prisoners for exorbitanl
prices"
In order to forestall any charge Of CIV
ing poor measure, the Times throws In
few extra charges. One Is that the con-
victs contributed 5000 to make a fight In
the courts for decision on the subject
of computing good time" and that the
case never was tried and the money
never was used for the purpose. An
other is that the laundry building was
burned, entailing loss Of $4,000, with
out the turning in Of a prompt alarm
A third Is that prisoners were taken
out after night to local entertainment
where they occupied places on the pro-
gram, the entertainment being given to
raise funds for the Populist campaign
fund.
When shown these charges by an Ad-
Vocate and News man, w. I. Upton
chief clerk at the penitentiary, said:
"Those charges are not only false but
they are ridiculous. The penltentiary
was never In better condition than 1t is
now. OF the thousands Of people who
visit the institution, fully two-thirds be-
ing Republicans, many OF whom have
been here In the past, few go away with
out assuring the management that the
penitentiary Is In by far better condition
than they expected or than they ever saw
Il before. AS matter OF fact, there is
fully 30 per cent. less time lost by sick
ness, S5 per cent less by reason Of pun
ishment, aga, ,the. application for visits
to. the RhEslciaA Mes8Qe PEI cent. less
thRss dupdept etbsdM M9FSHF Lynch admin
istratlon. .MltRogrefeFepGe to the use
,of the crib, the charge That the number
has been increased Is untrue, there being
but two in the institution. Men are
never sent to the crib except for serious
offenses. When one prisoner sticks a
knife or other tool into another the only
thing to do is to punish him. The same
is true when convict attacks an officer,
When one cuts his overalls into strips to
use as a rope to escape he must also be
punished. The crib Is the only punish
ment which tells which Is not Of a cruel
character.
The Times talk about the good time"
matter Is silly. Everybody who reads
the newspapers knows that the matter
was taken to the Supreme court by the
best legal talent obtainable and that a
final decision has been secured. The con-
victs got what they paid for, their attor-
ney being John H. Atwood Senator Lu-
Glen Bakers law partner. The Times
printed the report of this decision and OF
the various features Of the case, and
ought, therefore, to tell the truth about
1t.
All this talk about increasing the num-
ber of men in the mine is absolutely un-
true. The number has not been greatly
reduced because the population OF the
prison Is about 150 greater than 1t was
during Lynchs administration. 1t Ii
true. though, that the State is working
every man that 1t is possible to work on
the outside. These men are employed
in the stone quarry. on the roads, on
the farm, at the brick kiln and In every
other possible way. that men may be
worked to advantage. The Warden does
not have a single man In the mine fOI