Elmore County Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1910-1915, 1912-05-18
(From the Capitol News)

state Pure fOOO SOlHHllSSloHel
James II. Wallis who has returned
from his recent trip through the
northern section of the state and
who, while in the north, condemned
the Latah county Jail, declared that
there are other jails in the state in
nearly, If not quite, as bad condi-
ton as the Latah county prison.
He declares that it is his intention
to condemn all jails which are not
fit places for the confinement of men
on the theory that in this age of ci-
vilization, it is not necessary that
even prisoners should be confined in
unsanitary prisons He especially
condemns the confinement of witness
sess and persons merely charged
with crimes, but not been convicted,
in such unhealthy surroundings, Mr..
Wallis believes that every county
commissioner and every sheriff in tls
state, as we'll as people generally,
should be advised of the conditions
found in the Latah county Jail which
was coademred. These 81 lditions
are fully explained in the following
statement made by Mr.. Wallis to the
board of county commissioners.
Gentlemen an official inspection Of
your court house and county jail,
made April -, 1917, reveals condi-
tions that are almost incredible to
believe could exist, AID while no
blame can be attached either t. YOUR
honorable body or to the sheriff for
these conditions, yet ttat doa9 not
change the fact that they are deplor-
able and should not and must not
exist, inasmuch as human life is in
volved, OF say nothing of the ire
parable loss of yourv aluable re-
cordc.
| am we'll aware of the difficulties
under which men, occupying your oppo
sition, labor. In the first place you
are restricted by law to a very lin
tied expenditure of money for i'm
provements, and therefore with such
limited help it is out of the question
to attempt any reform looking to the
remedying of the conditions com
planned of.
In the second place it is the ten
dency to criticize any unusual ex
penditure of public moneys and
charge the same to "extravagant
expenditures" thus deterring public
officials from doing what they know
is their sworn duty. Too often
county commissioners act in the
same way with the sheriff, criticiz-
ing and sometimes disallowing his
accounts, when too often they have
been contracted for the better ad.
ministration of his office. Men
occupying positions of great responsi.
bil1ty, however, must not evade these
responsibilities because of fear of
public criticism, nor because they
anticipate the people, by their vote,
may not support them. The CON
sciousness of having done your
duty, as you see it, and doing all in
your to comply with every legal re-
quirement placed upon you, should be
Your great satisfaction in addition to
which the future will justify your
course.
First, an inspection of the Jail
shows the provisions of section 1926
of the revised laws Of Idaho being
openly violated by not containing
a sufficient number of rooms to
allow persons belonging to either
one of the following classes to be
confined separately and distinctly
from persons belonging to either
of the other classes
l. Persons committed on criminal
process and detained for trial
2. Persons already convicted of
crime and held under sentence.
3. Persons detained as witnesses
or held under civil process, or
under an order imposing punishment
for contempt.
4. Males separately from females
Section 8572 of the revised statutes
says: Persons committed on Grim
inal process and detained for trial,
persons convicted and under senten-
ce, and persons committed upon
civil process, must not be kept or
put in the same room, nor shall
male and female prisoners be kept
or put in the same" And yet we