The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-01-06
.HorsING THE PRIsoNERs.


It is not at all surprising that the ques-
ton OF the housing of the prisoners
awofting trial In this county after the
work of denlolishing the present county
Jail has begun should. have assumed its
present serious and embarrassing appear
ance. The jail project has been handled
from the outset in such a manner as to
make it clear that the consequences, i'm
mediate or remote, of entering on the
project of new jail gave the projectors
of that undertaking very little considera-
ton.
1t affords but little consolation now to
suggest that this feature of the matter
should have been considered and pro-
vided for from the outset It was not;
and it will not be now, so far as appear
ances indicate, save from the standpoint
Of personal and private interest. 's"
The project to carry all prisoners off
to Saltwater or Minneapolis is quite an
entertaining one. Its operation would
under existing law prove quite profitable.
to the incoming administration of the
sheriff's office, 1t is accordingly not as
unwelcome a suggestion to those who
have been so active in bringing the new
Jail scheme to a head before the close
of the present year as it might prove to
be to the taxpayers of the county.
The other scheme to put the prison
ers up in the top of the court house was
not quite SO ambitious from the stand
point Of the public expenditure which
would be involved; but it was and is suf-
ficiently remarkable to emphasize still
further the delightful spirit of emula-
ton in which this entire Jail scheme has
been carried out
The attitude of the judges of the dis
trict court toward both projects will give
much satisfaction to those who have no
interest in the matter beside that which
all good citizens should possess in every
public enterprise, since it shows that
there is at least one public influence to
act as a deterrent in putting the Jail
scheme through in its original COM
pleteness.
There are only two other ways left out
of the difficulty. One of these is to lease
private property and fix it up for the
purpose of a Jail. The other is to send
the prisoners to the workhouse- until the
new jail is completed. Since there are
so many Of the departments of city and
county government which are paying rent
to private citizens, it may not seem so
much of a matter after all to add the
comparatively small amount that will be
needed to the existing burdens of the
taxpayers Private interest is never with
out it's share of influence in such mat
ters; and there are no doubt not few
considerations which will urge themselves
on our county officials in favor of hiring
private premises for the accommodation
of the prisoners
If, however, it should occur to those in
terested other than as taxpayers to con-
slider the plan of sending the prisoners
to the county worlhouse, it may be
found that supt. Fitzgerald, whose
pretensionsa as reformer would
never stand the test of comparison with
those of the, statesmen who have had
this Jail business in tow, may be able
to facilitate that disposition of the mat
ter. If he is able, all experience of him
as an official shows that his willingness
need not be called in question. 80.
Of course the Clio be has no thought
of suggesting to the jail. reformers the.