Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1899-02-22
.SOLONS TO GREEN BAY
Three Sleeping Cars Full of EN-
Visit New Refofmatory.
BURNETT. ON LEGISLATURE.

Won tN0W
BURNETT" on LEGISLATURE.
Amazing Number of Bills TO Tax Corpora
Il 'ns But Fewer Bills of All Kinds
sets-Contract Prison Labor Must Go -
Prayers for the Lobby" Uncle Hold Z"
Taylor at Mckiniey's Cabinet Table.
Madison, Wis, Feb, 2l.--Many mem
5ers of the legislature Will celebrate
morrow Washing tons Birthday-by
Inspecting the constructions at the new
reformatory in Green Bay as far as
advanced. They leave Madison to-
night in three sleeping cars as the
guests of the Green Bay Business Mems
association. Superintend mt Heg of the
retornatory Will GO ali he can to make
II pleasant for them and no doubt the
minds ur the visitors viii be recon
elled TO any needed appropriations to
complete the work. 1t is grand ct
tort To save bad boys and first Offend
Frs, now sent to Waupun.
MI. HeS, by the way, is a brother
in-iaw of Professor Adams. the his
torian of Yale, who is now the guest OF
the Historical society in Madison
Henry Legler, secretary OF the board
Of education In Milwaukee, and himself
"a historian, is related to the Wis Tor in
the same way.
No More New Kills.
Thus this week will be badly broken
East Friday
the introduction of new business and
there was a flood of bills introduced
The total however, is not equal to that
OF 1897. Hereafter it requires unani-
nous consent 10 introduce a bill; and
practically it is impossible to get a
| measure started, unless ii be some city
| charter change. forced by unexpected
circumstances, or other bills concerning
which there is no dispute. On Friday
there were no less than eighty-three
bils introduced in the senate alone, and
| many more than that in the assembly
| Many of these bills are historic--cIaims
that nave been put in year after year
without receiving a passage Many
! are fool blls-the idea OF eccentric
| people. dreamers who think enactment
would correct the ills of the world. Not
| a few are injustices-sly, tricky eff
| forts to effect a raise in salary, an
| undermining Of authority. or the build
| ing of bridge or the cheapened price
| of a piece of Iand-things that never
should be granted, but which some over
| reaching fellow conceives can be done
| on the quiet in Madison-it's safer
| from home. Some are the bills of
| demagogues.
| The feature of the bills this year Is
| the large number of corporation-taxing
! measures.
Now for Some Good Talking.
The rest of the session will be de-
| voted to consideration of bills on the
| floor. and there will be some good
| talking The senate has a score of de-
| baters, and in the house conspicuous
| are Hall. McGrath, Wheeler, True.
| Harvey, Mcdonald. Overlook, Buffing-
| ton and Fogo of the old guard; and
Rusk, Orion, Vandercook, Sarau,
| Keene, Mosher. Sturtevant, Bryant,
| Catlin, Dodge and others of the new
| men.
Every year there are some bills to
make fun tighten a bit of serious rou-
| tine. Senator Withee has in a measure
| to tax newspapers, and the bill to abol-
| iSh the corset has been sent from the
| committee on health to the committee
ON public improvements Usually these
bills die unhonored and unsung after
they have served their mission of play
fulness. but sometimes, like the bill
to suppress the high hat at theater and
church, they are passed, and sent to
the governor and even become laws
Waupun Prisons Shortcomings.
Speaking of the trip to Green Bay.
there is a feeling that Waupun prison
is not what it should be: in fact,
general feeling that Wisconsin is way
behind the times in carrying for the
vicious and hayward. Even the Wau-
kesha school for boys, headed by no
BILE man. Professor Merica, is an in
terrogation point. Boys of all kinds
are herded together there, some of them
uncongenial step children, whose room
is more desired at home than their
company. An effort is made at Wau-
kesha to keep the comparatively inno-
cent apart from the undoubtedly har-
dened rogues there but it can't be
wholly done.
AS for Waupun no one pretends that
any attempt at reformation is made
The prison is old and unsanitary. The
cells are small-40 inches wide, and
some of them occupied by two prison
ers. 1t is over-crowded.
The commission to investigate the
prison labor system thinks that the
New York system should be adopted
Mr.. David c. Green says:
Under the present arrangement
(making shoes), the labor is let out
under contract to NJ. D. Wells & Co
of Chicago, at 50 cents per day, 300
men requiring to be employed. The
state must furnish heat. power. light,
buildings, etc. so that the net revenue
to the state is comparatively small.
The profit now goes to the contractor
whereas it should go to the state"
This Chicago firm has made a pot OF
money out of this unhappy contract.
In addition there are 100 citizens" at
work, men and boys of Waupun. and
the commission says this is contrary
to good prison discipline as the prison.
ers are constantly posted as to what is
going on outside the walls, and then
it is not well to have young men and
boys in touch with hardened criminals.
Prisoners should be kept apart from
the free world. This is part OF the
punishment"
The proposed plan provides labor for
the convicts on work for the state,
semi-state and municipal institutions,
and whatever profit there may be goes
to the state and indirectly to the tax
payers. Convicts will thus make
clothes, shoes, furniture, etc, to be used
by the 5000 insane, feeble minded, blind,
deaf, etc.-the charges of the state
The commission is composed of Mr..
Green, Mr.. Burlington of Eau Claire,
and John L. Sturtevant of Waupaca.
They studied the reports of forty states,
visited many prisons and went to the
Indianapolis prison congress. AS
against Waupuns 40-inch cell, they
found an average elsewhere of feet
and over IN the famous new Philadel-
CHA prison. The report rather looks
toward a new prison in one Of the
northern counties. where the convicts
could cat down trees, clear the growths
and get out the stone and put up the
buildings. incidentally they could grow
crops and build roads. But big re-
forms Of this sort come slowly.
Takes Prayes in Shorthand.
II. c. Schultze, the journal clerk of
the senate is the business manager
of the Eau Claire Republican and
Leader though Chippewa Falls is his
NATIVE heath. He is also a stenogra-
pheT and when the chaplain opens the
senate with prayer in the morning. Mr..
Schultze combines practice with devo
lion nv letting doup tho fuyapa tim in