Evening star., 1932-01-13
POLLARD REQUESTS
PRISONERS CAMPS
Message to Assembly Urges
Establishment by Cities
and Counties.
BY LESTER N. INSKEEP,
staff Correspondent of The Star.

BY LESTER N. INSKEEP,
Staff Correspondent of The Star.
RICHMOND, Va, January 13.-Es-
tablishment of city and county prison
camps, the passage of an act that will
halt the holding out of tax tickets by
county treasurers, and an increase in
the number of bank examiners to pre-
vent the unnecessary failure of the
financial establishments coming under
State control were among the recon-
mendations made today by Gov. John
Garland Pollard in his message at the
opening ~ the General Assembly.
Because Of the length of the mes
sage, Gov.i Pollard decided to deliver
only rsG of it today and the re-
mainder n morrow Regulation Of buses
and TRUCKS and the county government
situation will be made the subject of
special messages to be delivered at a
later date. The report of the commits
sion that was appointed to make a
study of the bus and truck situation
has not as yet been completed.
The part of the message that was de-
livered today dealt with the States
financial condition, the budget, which
was submitted to the Assembly this
morning; the suspension Of officers
local bonds and other matters.
Camp Plans Sensational.
Many consider the proposed estab-
liShment of convict camps to permit the
employment of Jail prisoners on roads,
streets and other public works the most
sensational of all of the Governors
recommendations. At the present time
only the State operates convict camps.
The recommendation is based upon
both the economic situation and the
rapidity with which the jails in all OF
the cities and counties in the State are
being filled, many being greatly over
crowded.
In referring to the crowded condition
of the jails, Gov. Pollard declared that
Jail commitments have increased from
26,506 in 1923 to 53,758 for the year
ending June 80, 1881. For the same pc
riod commitments to the penitentlary
increased from 684 to 1,540.
Unless some new plan is adopted as
an outlet for both the jail and pen1-
tentiary population, he declared, large
expenditures must be made by the coun-
ties and cities in enlarging and i'm
proving the jails, and by the State in
increasing the cell capacity in the
penitentiary.
The plan as worked out by the State
Prison Board, in collaboration with the
State department of public welfare and
State department of highways, is that
the capital outlay cost of the estab-
lishment Of the division Of camps be
borne equally by the State and counties
out of gas tax revenues, the total cost
~ &hn n nYPpaH
The plan also provides that the aver
age per diem Jail allowance Of IS cents
for the care Of prisoners in county and
city jails be allowed the camps for
those prisoners transferred from the
jails Of the State, the remainder OF
the cost of operating the camps (esti-
mated at 10 cents per day for each
prisoner) to be borne by the county in
which a camp may be established.
Bill Is introduced.
A bill putting the recommendation
into effect was introduced. 1t was an
nounced that an experimental camp
has been in successful operation In
Washington County for the past IL
months.
When the new county treasurers went
into Office on January l, Gov. Pollard
Guilty in persuading the bonding COM
panies to bond them, both because OF
what he described the "deplorable prac-
tice" Of holding out tax tickets, and be-
cause under the present law the surety
on the bond is responsible for money
lost by the failure of banks in which
the treasurer may have deposited pub
lie funds.
Under the terms of the surety bonds,
he declared, the surety company can
cancel its bonds at any time in its dis
cretion and the auditor of public ac-
counts has been informed that the
companies will be unwilling to continue
the bonds unless the General Assembly
passes acts relieving them Of respon-
sibility for bank failures and putting a
stop to the practice Of treasurers report
ing as collected taxes that have not ac-
tually been paid. The latter is done
largely, he said, to save constituents
the penalty imposed for failure to pay
on time.
Stating that the Supreme Court of
Appeals has declared as unconstitu-
tional the act authorizing the Governor
to suspend defaulting local officers
handling public monies, Gov. Pollard
asks the amendment of the act to cor
rect the defects. In one case, he de-
clared, county treasurer he had
suspended was permitted to remain in
Office until the end of his term after
he had been declared by the auditor
of public accounts and private auditors
employed by the county to be in de-
fault to the extent of about 100000.
The financial condition of the State
Gov. Pollard declared to be sound, de-
spite the Nationwide depression. The
only way to maintain this condition, he
said, Is by the most rigid economy in
the expenditure of public funds.
Surplus DwindIes.
He called attention to the fact that
the surplus of $4,721 400 which existed
on March 1, 1880, when the last Cen
eral Assembly was in session, had dwin-
died to S1,3S2,135 at the end of the last
fiscal year and declared that there
would be only an approximate sum of
$5,78O to be carried over from this bi-
ennium to the next. OF the large sur
plus, $3,742,381 was Internationally ap-
propriated by the last Assembly in cap
ital outlays, the balance being ab-
sorbed by the falling off Of revenues.
The public debt Of the State amounts
to s22,983,078, he said, Of which
amount sl7,558.078 is an inheritance
of a century ago and $5,428,000 repre-
sentS the amount yet unpaid on account
of advances made by cities and counties
on State roads built few years ago
under the Robinson act. To Offset the
debt, the State owns stock in the Rich
mond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Rail
road that Is yielding an income equal to
per cent on $3,500,000 and has a bal
Of in