Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1914-08-19
FINANCIAL WASTE
IN STATE PRISON
Sen. Hennessy BIan1es Lack of
Executive Harmony, Not
the Legislature.
Special to the Evening Star.

1A4A4sSN W AuG Evening STAR.
TRENTON. Aug. 10. - Senator
Charles O'Connor Hennessy, chair
man Of the joint appropriations COM
mlttee, in discussing the financial
difficulties of the State prison. said
today:
4 am informed that there is a dis
position to attribute some of the diff
eulties at the State prison to the fail
ure of the Legislature to make ade-
qdate appropriations for the main
tenance of the prison. This charge is
unWarranted. The Legislature of 1918
appropriated 100000 for the main.e-
nance account, which was somewhat
less than the appropriation the previ-
Gus year because II was assumed that
the prison road camps to be operated
Under an appropriation made to the
State road department would relieve
the prison of considerable number
OF inmates.
The prison inspectors and super
visor joined in asking the appropria-
ton committee of last winter for a
supplemental appropriation to pay
about $4,000 of back bills, which was
allowed. They also asked for $40 900
IN the supplemental bill to take care
OF an estimated maintenance def
cheney up TO the end OF the fiscal year
The committee allowed them $50, 5S3. 81,
or $9,4l6.13 less than they asked. The
committee had in view the fact that a
greater part of the appropriation of
100000 made to Colonel Stevens in the
previous year for the maintenance of
convicts in the road camps remained
unexpended, and that this money
would, no doubt, be used to relieve
the State prison of the maintenance of
many of its charges. This, in fact,
did happen up to July /, and since
that date an actual transfer Of IS, 495
has been made from the fund of Colo
mel Stevens to the State prison ac-
count for maintenance, so that the
sum actually received up to date by
the managers of the State prison for
maintenance Is equal to what they
asked for for the entire year.
I am frank to say that there is an
evident lack of harmony and co-ordi-
mated effort between the various func
tionaries responsible for State prison
management. The State commissioner
of public roads, the Prison Labor
Commission, the prison supervisor,
the prison warden and the prison in
spectors show no earnest and intelli-
gent concert of action in the solution
of the grave problems committed to
their several departments. Upon
whom the blame should rest for mis-
management I do not know, but I
suppose that an investigation will de-
termine that later on. 1t will be a
pity, to use no stronger word, if the
policy of employing prison labor on the
State farm and at the road camps
while incidentally ending the disreput-
able system of contract labor in the
prisons, Is to be discredited at the
outset by the incapacity or indiffer-
ence of those charged with the duty
of putting these important public poll
scies into operation.
1.-THE Legislature, no doubt, has sins
enough to answer for, but In this mat
ter of prison reform, 1 believe it has
done everything it could reasonably
be expected to do, and the blame for
any failure that may have resulted is
not with it."