The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-07-30
Oates Orders 25 Negro Women Ren1ODed to JdilS
 Of Adjoining Counties
Result of Overcrowded Condition HerePrson Inspector Would Not Oppose Skyscraper Jail if Determined Upon By Board of Revenue-More Citizens
 Express Themselves in Favor of Plan

only on the county officials. but upon the persons who are unfortunate enough to be caught in the meshes of the law. The idea of transferring pris- oners from one section of the city to another may seem feasible to the lay man, but 1 want to state. and my state ment is based on some years of prac- tical experience with this department Of the county. that it is impracticable and unsound. With the many cases on the criminal docket and the hundreds that yearly pass the portals of the county jail, the ends of justice would be de- layed and hampered by the separation of the courthouse and jail.
 "often prisoners on trial will call for witness who may himself be confined. Sometimes 1t is necessary to confine a witness while a case is pending. There are delays enough as Il is by the difficulty to get witnesses promptly on the stand, and 1t can readily be seen how much more delay would be caused if the jail was In some other section of the city. I am much in favor of tearing down the present Jail as any one. but I hope the board of revenue will in its final decision decide to re tain the present site and to erect such building that will meet the require ments of the county for some years to come"
 Would Be Great Mistake Judge w. P. McCrossn: There could be no greater mistake to my mind than the separation of the county jail from the courthouse. I am fully aware of the un- sightliness of the present jail buildings, and favor their removal But in making their decision the board of revenue should have in mind the greatest good to the county as a whole and do that which will best serve the people. The solution of the situation is in my opinion. the erection of a 1o-story building with the sail on top. This would remove the unsightliness and give some degree of comfort in the way of light and sunshine to the ,intortu-
 mates who happen to be confined In jail
 while awaiting trial"
 Hard on Prisoners
 J. T. Roach: You might as well argue
 that man and his wife should live sep arate and apart to suggest that the county jail and county courthouse should be separated. The county authorities will
 make great mistake if they undertake
 to build a jail away from the court house and the ones who will feel it the
 most will be the prisoners themselves. As is known, not one of the 200 or 300 persons who are confined in the county jail have been convicted, other than those whose | cases are in the supreme court. They are
 
 the into the humiliation of being hauled then to the humiliation of being hauled ] to the courthouse would be inf1icting cruel and unnecessary humiliation on them. | The new jail should be erected on the present site and of sufficient dimensions
 to meet the future demands of the 1 county.
 Opposed to Abandoning Site 1 James K. Hawl1ins ''I am much op- cod 10 hat .tx, authorities should abandon it's present site
 and build 8 county jail at some other sec l ton of the city. Such a plan would in my opinion, be detrimental to the hest | interests of the county. I have always l favored the removing of the so-called | carbuncle' by replacing it with a modern and up-to-date structure of sufficient 1 height and to accommodate all the orimi- | nal departments of the county | was | connected for number of years with | this branch of the courthouse and my | opinions are based on my own observance and experience. I am of the opinion that | to separate the courthouse and jail would retard the administration of justice by | the delays that the transferring of pris- | oners would necessarily bring about; that | it would mean an additional expense, and | that it would prove impractical and un- | satisfactory to every one concerned in- cluding the prisoners"
 Jemison Will Acquiesce 1 Robert Jemison, Jr., who has been ac- | lively opposed to the erection of jail on the present site, said yesterday that 1t | apparently had been determined to erect | jail on that site. He said that if the | building was 10 or 12 stories high there would possibly be few objections. but that | if the building was less than the regula- | tion skyscraper he believed there would be serious objections raised to it. q am first of all for the progress of | this community said MT Jemison, land l would do anything to get the carbuncle so called removed from Twenty-first street However, if the board insists upon building 12-story building there for a jail I presume the property owners will have to acquiesce. Personally, I do
 not think such a scheme is the best solu- tion of the problem, for we all know that Birmingham is bound to grow and if there were contemplated skyscrapers on the other lots near the jail there cer- tainly would be considerable hesitation before anyone would erect an office build | ing overlooking a jai''