The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1909-09-04
Working Jail Prisoners.

in jails instead of sending thems to
the house of correction. continued
to receive widespread attention. One
of the best suggestions we have not
iced in that connection is made by
The Newport Express and Standard
as follows:
IF the prisoners of the state are a
tremendous expense to 1t, and are
primarily the cause of the present
deficit, why does not the law regulate
the matter so they can be worked
upon the highway instead of resting
| idle in the jails? While the deficit
might not be lessened in this way
/ the roads would be improved and
tlis would be beneficial to the state.
Conyicts do work upon our highways
in many of the states and good roads
are the result"
Our lawmakers contemplated the
working OF prisoners confined in
jails, and the carrying out of this
idea void be in accordance with
the spirit of the law as well as with
good business principles. The tax
! payers of Vermont do not enjoy pay
ing thousands of dollars in order that
prisoners may be kept confined in
idleness, and the sooner this situa-
ton is remedied the better will it
10 Mic
ers.-Burlington Free Press.
The law is plain enough, but not,
perhaps, sufficiently peremptory. 1t
reads as follows:
Sec. 6l04. The male prisoner impris
oned in county Jail for being found
intoxicated. for a breach of the
peace, or for being a tramp, may be
required TO perform not more than
ten hours of manual labor within or
jail each day of such Imprisonment,
except on Sundays or on legal holt
days.
This is further reinforced by
provision for a prison board, consist
ing of tne assistant judges, the sher
if and county highway supervisor
who may require and compel said
prisoners to work on the public high
ways within the county" The ma
chinery is ample enough; the fault
lies with the apathy. inaction of plain
laziness of the county officials.
Rutland county is differently stu
ated as compared vita other coun-
ties. as the house of correction is
| designated as the county Jail, and
the various expenses are divided be-
tween the county and the state, but.
elsewhere in the state, only one
county has made the slightest pro-
gross toward employing these short
term prisoners. The others lie
simply back on the may of tae law
and do nothing.
A factor in the situation may be
the fact that the sheriffs have to
feed the prisoners When confined
about the jail, doing nothing but play
ing cards and smoking, the prison
er's appetite is not great; If sent out
on the highway or doing manual la
Dor OF any kind, ais appetite immedi-
ately improves and he stands ready
to eat his jailer out of house and
| home
Is it possible that sordid matter
of two potatoes in place of three
causes the sheriffs of the various
counties in Vermont to refuse to
carry out the manifest intent of the
people and the plain design of the
law?
Vermont does not want chain
gang on her Highways, and the spec
tacle of hundreds of lazy, able-bodied
men loafing around her county jails
while ler highways are suffering for
attention, not only in one county but
I'M every county. is calculated to drive
the average taxpayer to frenzy.
What an absurd situation: Yer
mont borrowing money to make up
a deficiency in the department of
iustice-to feed a lot of idle loafers,
let us say-while the state is suffer
ing for money to spend on her roads;
the state treasurer paying highway
labor bills all over the state and also
securing every financial resources to
keep a lot of Jail prisoners in vicious
idleness.
There never was more fla
grant piece of shiftlessness and the
county officials are alone to blame
for it, always excepting Frank Tracy
of Washington county, who has done
wonders in this direction.
These sheriffs and county judges
pay no attention to the demands of