The San Francisco call., 1907-03-11
SAN QUENTIN STYLED
VICE BREEDING PLACE

SACRAMENTO, March 1O.-The long
expected report of the Assembly COM
mittee on prisons and reformatories
has been filed at last. Conditions at
Whittier and lone are praised, but San
Quentin is denounced as breeding
place of vice. There the committee also
saw evidences of a waste of funds and
heard complaints that the food was not
only poor but prisoners were not get
ting enough to eat. The report says of
San Quentin:
The crime practiced in this institution. in our
opinion, Is blot upon the fair name of Califor-
mia. In the first place, the institution is vastly
overcrowded The boys of tender age, who
should never have the inside of these
gloomy walls, find themselves under the infu-
are dark and gloomy, containing from three to
fifteen or more inmates to cell We find that
they are locked in their apartments at o'clock
I'm the afternoon, with no air except what little
finds its way through the small gratings of the
iron door. The prison directors claim that they
are poweress to change this condition. But,
after going over the situation carefully. we can
not see why the large brick building known as
the old furniture factory cannot be equipped
with cells for the use Of the younger and less
hardened criminals This could be arranged with
but very little cost, and would no doubt save
large number of young men from coming under
the influence of the more hardened type Of
criminals.
and some of the inmates informed us that they
not only had insufficient amount. but that
the food was poor In Quality. This, II true,
ought not to be. At the session of 1905 there
were 1910 900 appropriated for new buildings
Before this new building can be erected Ii is
necessary that a hill should be graded off. Judg-
ing from the work done in the past two years 1t
will be number of years before start can be
made upon the new building, and in the Judg-
ment Of your committee altogether too much
money is being expended In the work of grading
the hill.
We went over the jute bag situation slightly,
and In the opinion Of your committee we be-
lieve that. so far as the directors are
cerned everything is straight and right. The
fault lies In the system of first come, first
served We believe that every one who desires
ting bags should have opportunity Of getting
his pro rata. committee of the guards made
formal request that they be paid more salary,
and while we believe that this should be left
entirely In the hands OF the Board Of Prison
Directors, we recommend that arrangements be-
made that their salaries be raised, especially
those who have families. Mr.. Oliver, the sec
retary of the board, locally in charge, also rec
ommends that small amount be set aside for
revolving fund that the officers and guards
supplies. The State would lose nothing, and the
men who are connected with the institution
would be benefited in marked degree.
Folsom prison presents a different
picture. The report says:
We find that this institution is conducted in
much more satisfactory manner than the one
at San Quentin. Mr.. YELL the Warden, seems
work. The discipline seems to be almost per-
feet
we would suggest one Of two things: either
making Folsom a penitentiary large enough to
accommodate the older and more hardened Grim
inals and converting San Quentin into reform
atory or that the Governor appoint commission
for the purpose OF selecting q suitable location
Cor this character Of an institution