The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1899-07-29
Talk of Going Back to Ball and
Chain Days.
Shall City Prisoners Be Put to
Work on Streets?
OBSOLETE ORDINANCE.
Has Not Been In Use For Many
Years.
Mayor Drew Talks of the At
tendant Humiliation.

It has been suggested that the city
prisoners ought to be put to work at
cleaning the streets in addition to the
regular street force. The street force
does the best it possibly can under the
circumstances, but it is not large
enough to cope with all the agencies
that bring dirt on to the pavements,
although it is kept as large as the city's
finances will warrant
In speaking of the authority of the
city to put prisoners at work on the
streets City Attorney Bird said:
Topeka has an ordinance which pro-
vides for such action, and 1 think it
ought to be put in force. I know of
other cities which do that and it is a
great aid in keeping the streets in good
condition.
Our ordinance on the subject is num-
Der 81, and it was passed away back in
1870, but it has not been in force for
many years. 1t provides that when
ever any person shall be fined in police
court and shall not pay the fine and
costs, he shall be compelled to work on
the streets or public works of the city,
or in any public or private place where
employment can be found for such per-
son.
Il do not think any attempt has been
made by the city authorities to put this
+ ordinance in force since 1884 when
Bradford Miller was mayor. There were
a lot of colOred women in Jail then who
would not pay their fines, and it was
proposed to put them to work on the
streets. It raised a great cutlery, and
the matter was dropped and has never
been taken up since.
1.-THE operation of that ordinance
would not only lie a good thing for the
streets, but it will have a wholesome
influence in keeping tramps and buns
away from the city. If they knew that
coming to Topeka meant that they
would be arrested for Vagrancy, and
that they would have to work on the
a "a n
more careful to give Topeka. wide
berth than they are at present.
There are other things which would
add greatly in keeping the streets in
good condition. We have an ordinance
which says that all wagons used for
hauling dirt, sand, brick and other
things of the like, shall have tight box
es but the ordinance is not in force.
Sand and dirt is hauled in any old kind
of wagon, and it is drilled along the
pavements and must either be swept up
by the street force or it blows down the
avenue in clouds of dust.
Most large cities place small Ii
cense on all such vehicles and the pro-
ceedS are used to keep the streets clean.
Topeka has no license on hacks, or on
express wagons, or garbage wagons, or
the delivery wagons of express compan-
| les, or any of the other conyeyances
which usually scatter dirt and debris
along the streets. Most large cities
| place a license fee on all of these, and
| the proceeds create a fund which is
used to clean up the litter which the
wagons make. Topeka might possibly
| have cleaner streets by adopting SIM
! liar method
/ Mayor Drew does not entirely favor
the idea of putting prisoners on the
/ street.
1--WE have so few whom we could
keep at work. he said, that I doubt
if it would pay. 1t would take one man
to guard two or three, and under the
| present system we keep them breaking
| rock. It seems to me it would be a diff
hcult matter to manage.
''Then do not believe that all pris-
/ oners should be subjected to such an
| humiliation. 1t is all right to put some
| of them on the streets, but there are
| others whom I don't believe should be
( treated that way. 1t might be a good
| idea to give Migrants a chance to get
away in that manner. The principal OBJ
! ject with that class of people is to keep
| them out of town, and the police force
| is succeeding pretty well at it now.
1--WE may have to do something of the
! sort, though, if people insist on raking
| the cuttings from their lawns on to the
paVemen / went around with the
street commissioner last night and saw
several places where the entire crop of
| grass had been raked on to the pave
ment and there were other places where
| the cutters were filled up with part
! of the cuttings. All that must be
cleaned away in some way. We have
an ordinance against doing that sort of
thing, but the police force has its hands
/ so full of other things that they can not
watch people who cut grass Also