The semi-weekly messenger., 1898-08-30

ne SHOWS up the RadicaI.POpuIfst
Management Of the Peniteutiary.
raleigh News and Observer

~ lue eUlIOT. i saw yesterday In
| your paper of recent date, certain let
/ ters by Chairman Dockery and ex-Su-
| perintendent Smith, in regard to peni-
| tent1ary affairs, containing many gross
misstatements and many petty quib-
bles, and doubtless designed by them
as some sort OF palliation to an out
| ragged public sentiment for their NAL
| administration of important state
| business. When their management
| of the penitentiary has been condemn
| ed for incompetency and worse by ev-
cry man fairly we'll acquainted with
| public affairs, of all parties, from the
chief executive down to the townships,
and when driven into a corner and re-
! fusing information that every citizen
is entitled TO, they have been smoked
| out by the fire of general indignation,
| they have now in the eighth month
| of 1898. offered these feeble diatribes
as information to the people as to the
| business of the penitentiary for the
| year 1897 If the business has been
| conducted according to law, why do
| they not make report as required by
| the statute, and give the information
desired? Mr. Dockery says: "Theor
CllSOiis, IIC 40" 1CdOllCS lhC 1CpOAe
of the superintendent Of the states
prison shall be made on the 1st day
| of January" l affirm that it can be
| done, and practically always has been
| done heretofore. And if a. few days
| delay were necessary, how does he ac-
| count for a delay of eight months
and then respond only upon the de-
mand of the chief executive forced by
| the public clamor?
| Both of these officials affirm in this
| sOcalled report that Superintendent
| Smith took charge Of the penitentiary
| April 1, 1897. The records show that
| he qualified on the 5th of March, 1897,
| and he notified me the same day,
| whereupOn | at once turned over the
| whole business, and after that never
| contradicted for cent, never collected
a cent, never paid out cent. The
| statement therefore that l was respon-
| sible for any business of the penl-
| tentiary, outgoing or incoming, after
| the 5th day of March is without foun-
| dation.
1t is stated in Mr.. Dockery's letter
| Cor reporD that ''Mr. Smith found all
| the farms in a very backward state
| of preparation; and indeed upon some
| of them very little at all had been done
| toward making the new crop" Mr..
| DOckery does not seem to recOllect
| that in the first month of the fusion
| administration, between the goth and
| 9th of March, a committee of his
| board, Messrs. Clark Perkins and
| Cotton, together with the superinten-
| dent, visited all the penitentiary farms,
| for the purpose Of inspecting and re-
| ceiving the property. | heard all the
members of the committee especially
| Mr.. Clark, as also the superintendent
| express astonishment and delight at
| the advanced and careful preparation
| of the lands, Mr.. Clark asserting that
| he believed that there was no farm in
| the state in such good condition as
| that before him. This misstatement
| is so palpable that it vitiates all other
| statements made. The truth is there
were not less than 1000 acres of these
| lands beautifully and thoroughly pre-
| pared by the goth of March. If moth
| ing had been done, which | say again
| is absolutely false, why did the incOm-
| ing administration employ my super
visors to remain and make the crop?
And if nothing had been done till the
1st of April, how was such large
| crop made that year?
AS to supplies on hand, the fusion
| lists seem to have expected that the
| democrats should have provided at
| least g. years ration Of -four, meat,
| cts, for their benefit. We usually
| bought such things of this kind as
were needed every month, and we ex-
| pected them to do likewise or as they
| t. ;- Cd, hot
| was no corn to reach corn again, be-
| cause as every one knows the July
| floods of 1896 destroyed the whole corn
crop except about 10000 barrels.
| Much ado is made by these officials
| because they found amongst nearly
| 400 mules and horses a very few sick,
| disabled or worn out animals. we
found it necessary every year to dis
| pose of inefficient stock, and to replace
| them with others fit for the service.
| We found the penitentiary in 1898 with
210 mules and horses. We added just
about that number Of young and Wig
| orOus animals during our term, and
the average of the whole was very high
to any one capable of Judging and who
is not determined to misrepresent.
If Mr.. Smith sold S31 bales of cotton
for s2O,O6127, as he reports, then ne
| received only about cents per pound
for it. Hundreds of bales were solo
in February at an average OF 6s cents
in Norfolk, equivalent to 6s at home
markets, and the price was to cent
higher in April than in February. Ii
is not to be forgotten by these guar
dians of the states interests, that a
large part of the fertilizer, several
hundred, tons weer bought from par
ties who bought much Of the cotton;
and for these, several dollars more per
ton were paid than the stuff was oner-
ed at by other responsible parties
Certainly this could not prove less
than the baIdest incompetency. Ac-
cording to the code of ethics OF the
late Ben Butler, man might prefer &c
be called knave rather than fool.