Salt Lake Telegram | 1923-04-11 | Page 7 | Feeding the Prisoners

cv 0 c. c I II I Feeding the Prisoners Prisoners' I THE people are getting tired of the Squabble J 1 i between Sheriff Harries and the he members pf the Salt lake ake county commission over the feeding fe ding of county prisoners The difficulty Should b be adjusted once and for all in the theof i ir r t rest of official harmony and governmental lency Until Sheriff Harries assumed ed of- of nc c the sheriff always always' fed the prisoners ful ful- ful- ful ing a G. duty imposed by law and andre receiving tes es s from tim county for each prisoner fed tt cx t exception Oll was vas during the lat latter r part I the term of Sheriff Andrew Smith Jr 1 the county commission decided the fiT h was not riot in the best interests of f conomy P the he pr CO conducted du ed by the Ity Sty t The Te objection to the fee system m of feed- feed I 1 the prisoners has been that the profit ton to toe 19 n js e sheriff i far in excess of the salary paid m II by the people The law providing for system n pf of course was established long longI I f re the prison pison population made the feed feed- 11 contract a financial attraction In the Smaller counties the profits of th the sheriff fort for t this wor work are negligible if if ind indeed ed th they y corn com com j the labor In Salt Lake county how i how ev er it has been established that the feeding contract is worth s several veral thousand d dollars ll is ts a 3 J year r Sheriff Harries no doubt like the the emoluments of office enjoyed by his pr predecessors predecessors de- de especially when It is in harmony with the laws of the state And yet it is plainly apparent that the legislature ir in passing this faw ft never intended that the public should p pay y all aft excessive profit for the feeding of prisoners c county lunty activities should be conducted as fr as possible It would seem like J and extravagance to pay s several veral thou- thou dollars more for t this is activity th than n actu- actu laity goes into food Perhaps the sheriff should test his rs' rs claim Q 0 Q these fees in court for it is certain that wrangling over the problem will not I the difficulty Under the he law hw he may entitled to these the fees although it is eer aln itt i that the payment nt of the fees is not in he ne interest of the public who pa pays pars s the theU taxes f f the law requires requires' the public to make U this it sho should ld be changed at the earliest moment It is generally estimated hat hit the feeding of If the prisoners under the he CU system m nets the sheriff a year the the sheriff elected for four years this this pil mean a loss t to th taxpayers of 24 24 p. p Pew Few Few taxpayers ever receive a bonus i l this proportion and so it would seem too ich 1 to expect then to pay The public j ests rests are with the system now in vogue this is illegal the law is not in tn harmony the needs of the county r