The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-08-16
REPLY TO MIR. ALLEN.
MIR. j. C. Ellington Asks County Super
intendent Allen Some Questions.

gust 18th appears a communication
signed by w. G. Allen and purportlng
| to be a reply to an article III ne
/ Apex News" of August llth, put IN
| fact intended as an attack on hlyseI'
which is wholly unwarranted by facts.
In the communication referred to
above as signed by w. G.. Allen, the
| following language occurs:
| 1.-The questions asked as q pretenSe
| for furnishing false information, 10
mislead the people is exactly in line
with the charge of j. c. Ellington
that it cost Wake county $1,50O to
run the County Home and M little
truck patch, as he called it."
What Mr.. Allen refers to as 1.-THE
| charge was an article written by me
and published in your paper about six
months ago, and he will remember
that he called me up over the phone
and admitted that the cost of about
| $1,000 per month was correct, but that
| he thought l ought to have stated that
the support of the cOnVictS was in
cluded in this amount. My reply to
him was that l so intended and un-
| derstood it and thought everybody in
the county knew this to be true, but
| IL he thought there was any one who
| did not so understand it. | would at
once write a correction or explanation
| that could leave no doubt about the
matter, and his reply was that this
was not necessary. as he was satisfied.
| All of this having occurred about six
months ago | was more than surpriS-
ed to find my name brought into a
| controversy with which l did not have
| the remotest connection. / had no
connection with or knowledge of the
article in "0e Apex News" and in
order that there may be no misunder-
| standing in the future, / wish to i'm
press on Mr. Allen two important
| facts: First, that | + .Vt. write an ar
ticle to which l do not sign my name,
and second, that | never sign my name
TO an article which | do not write AS
every item referred to in The Apex
| News" article was entirely foreign to
anything about which L had written
was as much surprised to see my name
brought into the controversy as Russia
| Seemed to be at the declaration of war
| by Japan. If this unwarrantcd fling is
| intended as a declaration of war, then
| accept the CHALLENGE and demand
| that you show your colors' and we
will clear deck for action" l do not
go around with a chip on my shoulder
| looking for trouble, but as wise pre-
caution, l always go loaded for bear"
and more especially other large game.
AS Mr.. Allen has opened up the sub
| ject himself and seems extremely anXi-
1
now to give a few facts" for his own
and the benefit of the public. These
| will be from a source that he VIII
hardly attempt to dispute, and it will
only remain for him to explain to the
satisfaction of the people.
/ Mecklenburg county has the finest
and best equipped County Home in
! the State, and those good people claim
it is one of the best kept. | have the
| nf N
| the superintendent and published in
| the Charlotte Observer for six months
| from June 1St to July 1St, 1904. This
| includes salary of the superintendent,
cooks and other employees and every
other item of expense for which the
county is responsible, and it amounts
in the aggregate for the six months
to one thousand ninety-three dollars
and sixty-six cents ($l ,093.66), the
| average number of inmates being Sc.
| The total cost for the month of July
| (since reported) was $166.51.
! / have carefully gone over the re-
| ports for Wake county, as certified by
| Mr.. Allen, and find for the same pc
| riod, (January 1st to July LIST, 1000,
| the average number of inmates to be
| rs and aggregate cost to be $3,S67.52,
| making q difference in favor of Neck
| lenburg of $2,773S6.
low with a difference of only nine
| teen in the number of inmates Wake
county cost more than three tim IS
! that of Mecklenburg or in other words
| the nineteen extra inmates in Wake
| cost for six months -$2,773.S6. Now
| this is not all for to this sum should
be added $3.50 salary paid to Mr.. Allen
| for five months, which curiously has
| been omitted from expense account OF
| County Home since January, 1904, SIX
| ty dollars salary being charged for that
| month and nothing since. This looks
a little mysterious, but / will attempt
| to explain it later on.
The County Home of Johnston cost
| the county last year $1O02.04. They
furnish the superintendent house and
| fifty acres of the poorest sand ridge in
| the county and allow him II Lee per
| day for each inmate. He is allowed to
work those who are able on the farm.
| With this allowance from the county
and proceeds of the farm the present
superintendent has supported his fam
| lily and saved up and invested in bonds
and stocks 81, 400 in three years time.
| Now it is needless for any one to argue
| that a County Home can not be kept
properly under these conditions. Facts
| always contradict theories, where the
two conflict. There is not a better
| managed institution of the kind any
| where than in Johnston county. | am
| informed that the County Home In
Nash county, by economical judicial
| management is more than Self-sustain-
| ing. Nowhere does the cost begin to
approximate Wake county. Accord
| ing ito Mr.. Aliens report, the drug
| bill' alone amounted to $219.30 for six
months. l wish it distinctly under
stood that the above figures are taken
| from Mr.. Aliens own report and re-
| late exclusively to the Seventy-flve in
mates of the "Home" and have no
reference to expense of convict
camp" which seems to be big enough
| to take care of itself.
Mr. Aliens blow about twenty-five
years of service and having the en-
dorsement of 1000 grand jurors is en-
tirely superfluous and signifies moth
| ing, as suggested by one of our judges
| a few days ago in speaking of how
| these examinations and reports were
usually made after being sumptuously
dined and "wined" by the superintend-
ent and that great deal more of the
real conditions and management could
| be learned from other sources than
| from the formal reports of grand jur-
| les 1t would be interesting to know
| if a single grand jury ever made an in
vestigation of the cost of running