The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-01-08

number and increased in facility.
commend this institution worthy of
your best thought and most liberal
treatment
Salt Plant.
A renewal of the effort made in the
last legislature will be made in this
state reformatory at Hutchinson, and
trust with more favorable result.
Many arguments can be made in favor
OF this project. Vast beds of salt I'M
derlie the state property. 1t can be
mined prof1tably by the inmates of this
institution. and, like the binding-twine
plant at the penitentiary, it can be
made a powerful check upon the greed
nish a most healthful employment, and
would be conduce to sanitary influ-
ences at this institution. The making
of barrels will open up the cooper's
trade to the boys. An overwhelming
majority of these boys, as past expert
ence proves, go out to become good
citizens. This industry will add to this
good result
Girls Industrial School.
recently spent a pleasant and pro-
htable cay at this institution. 1t is
model. I doubt if 1t has its equal in
the United States. 1t looks more like
big boarding school or an elegant
home than prison for incorrigibles.
One little girl expressed what seemed
to be the general sentiment of the in
mates when she said to me: This
The recommendations of the superin-
tendent Mrs. Julia B. Perry, who has
no superior in this line OF work, are
worthy of your official confidence.
Give her all she asks.
J2ils.
The condition of many of the jails
in this state is a disgrace to the coun-
ties In which they are located I have
visited some prisons of this kind in
which it would be an outrage to incar-
cerate a cur. Their condition is sim
ply unbelievable by those who have
not seen them, and yet all kind of al
legged offenders. innocent as well as
guilty, are imprisoned in these foul
places. So bad was one of these in
stitutions that asked the secretary of
the state board Of health in inspect it,
and from his written report I quote a
few sentences, as follows:
81 am at a loss to find words to ex-
press my surprise at the filthy and I'M
sanitary condition in which I found
the jail The odor upon en-
tering attracts ones attention immed-
lately. The iron bars of
the cage itself. and the floor, particu-
larly bac kof the cells. are a mass oe
dirt and filth. Around one
of the bowls in the closet was found
water mixed with dirt, and the bowls
were in such a vile and filthy condt-
ton as to be beyond description
The cells on the first floor were SO
filthy and damp and so out of repair
as to be absolutely uninhabftable.
Further description of the
Jail fails me. except to say that it is
absolutely unsanitary, dirty and filthy
in the extreme"
The law should require that all
county and city jails should be con-
structed with a special view to light, |
air and sanitation; that they should be
kept clean; that the beds should be
furnished with clean linen and COW
ers that can be washed and changed
frequently. The jails, particularly in
OfN Il
so arranged as to permit classification
Of prisoners There should be an adult
department, a juvenile department,
and, of course, a women'S department.
Prisoners serving sentence and prison
ers awaiting trial should be separated.
When possible. prisoners should be
given employment, and some system
of pay for their services adopted.
Work is a great reformer and remun-
Grafton great incentive. Women as
we'll men should have these oppor- |
tunities. At present women have no
opportunity to work out their sent |
form movements, should hasten to i'm
prove its local prisons.
Judicial Salaries.
theoretically the three coordinate |
branches of government in republic |
like ours, the executive, the legislative |
and the judicial, are equal, but in fact |
they are not equal Borrowing a beau |
tiful scriptural idea, 1t may be truth |
fully said that. now, abideth the execu- |
tive the legislative and the judicial |
branches of government these three |
but the greatest of these is the judi |
ciary. 1t is the final citadel of our lib |
critics. 1t is the urn containing the |
holy of holes of government. We |
ought to guard our judges with Jealous |
care; we ought to free them as far as |
possible from the influences of fac |
tional and partizan and all other mar
row and special interests; and to rea-
sonable extent. at least, we should gen.
erously lift them above financial want; |
but the fact is, we remunerate them |
with parsimonious hand. I believe the
salaries of our supreme court judges
and of our district judges alike are
.rfdiculously low. These salaries were |
fixed when the state was new and the |
people were poor, and when the duties |
OF their positions were not so compli- |
Gated and arduous, and when the pub
lie interests involved were not so num-
erous or SO great; but now in the day
OF our prosperity, when all wages are
higher and the necessities of life dear
er, it is a matter of plain, palpable JUS
tfce that our judges should be better
paid This is particularly true of our
supreme court judges and inasmuch |
as there is a constitutional inhibition
against increasing these salaries during
their term of service, and inasmuch as
four of our supreme judges have just
been reelected. and there is fortunate
ly q week of legislative time before
the new term of these judgs begins. I
heartily indorse the suggestion that the
salaries of these judges can be in
creased to a reasonable sum.
Educational Institutions.
The three state educational institu-
lions, the State university, the State
Normal school, and the State Agricul-
tural college,, show a most gratifying
growth and each appeals to the patri-
otto pride of every loyal Kansan. Each
is worthy of your fostering care. The
enrolment is larger than ever before