The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1908-05-22
~ 81 PRIsoN eUAROs.

rFN NJ EAA~@AN
when GOV. Patterson was a candi-
late two years ago he attacked every
department Of the State government
and was especially savage in his de-
uunciation OF the penitentiary man
aqemsnt. But when he became Gov
ernor and set about TO strengthen MS
machine in all its parts he commenced
to multiply Offices at the prison and 10
increase salaries by the wholesale
with the result that the monthly pay
roll Of the main prison alone is almost
81 900 greater now than It was year
AGO. When these facts we're called to
! the attention Of the erstwhile reform
er he retorted by charging that Sena-
tor Carmack had criticised the in
crease in the pay OF the guards OF 80
per month. The Governor knew That
this charge was untrue, but he made
| II IN divert attention from other and
less deserving increases in salaries
and for the purpose of arousing pre1d-
dice.
Now as to the facts: Under the
law the salaries of the guards are
fixed by law; the salaries OF every
other nrison official. with half dozen
executions, are fixed by the Governor
and Board of Prison Commits
sioners. The Governor had no
more to do with the increase
in the salaries of the prison
guards than Satan had with the or
ganization of the Christian EndeavoT
Society. When the prison system
was reorganized in 1897 the guards
salaries were fixed at $40 per month
and remained at that figure until 1907,
when they were increased by az
amendment to the general appropria-
ton bill to $45.
When the appropriation bill was
pending in the House and wholesale
increases were being made IN the
salaries Of clerks and officials from
the secretary and stenographer of the
Governor on UP, a newspaper reporter,
seeing the injustice of an act. which
would allow clerks in the capltol
who worked from four to eight hours
per day in the cool of an electric fan
and who go to base ball games when-
ever their fancy may dictate, increases
of from ten to forty per cent, while
the prison guards were forced 10
stand in all sorts of weather at $40 a
month. called the attention of Rep
resentative Chas. H. Corn. of Frank
lin county,-a big hearted man with
an unusual fund of good common
sense.-to the matter. Mr.. Corn re-
sponded at once to the suggestion and
stated that he would offer an amend
ment to increase the salaries to $40
if the reporter would draft 1t. rms
was done and the original amendment
in the handwriting of that reporter Is
on file TODAY in the archives of the
State. This is how the penitent1ary
guards salaries were increased. Gov.
Patterson had nothing on earth to DO
with it, The guards themselves and
the prison officials did not know OF
the increase until some time after 1t
was made.
On the other hand, Gov. Patterson
personally appealed to members OF
the Legislature to raise the salary of
his private secretary from $1,000 to
$4,000 per annum, which latter figure
represents the salary of the Adjutant
General and Railroad Commissioners
and Is within $500 of the salary paid
Circuit Judges, who must spend nun
dreds of dollars every year for trans
portation and board bills. The Gov
arnor personally appealed to members
TO buy him a mansion and increase
his salary $4,000 year contrary to
the constitution and yet not once did
he orally or in written message urge
that the pay of the prison guards be
increased.
These are the plain, unvarnished
facts. To Representative Charles H.
Corn of Franklin County, who was not
and is not now a supporter OF Gov.
Patterson, and who opposed nearly
all the increases in salaries, belongs
credit for increasing the salaries OF
the prison guards. The Governors
attempt to claim credit for this leg
islation is on par with his effort to
fabricate for himself a record as
temperance reformer.
The Governors Nashville organ says
-. A. oondidofoc will on into three