Show I Keynote K o of the a System in it for me was the substance of the sheriffs sheriff's reply r be put to work on the to when asked if county prisoners were public highways office I an That sounds strange coming from a ma man holding 1 and com corn in In salary that pays several thousands of dollars a year missions missions when stops to consider the present But it isn't isn t so strange one situation sounding the keynote of of- the the The sheriff was merely i. i i tem And to be Get all you ou pan can an And the tune of the system seems while the getting is good and give the people in return as as little as possible Men ien who would pay payout out large sums for the services of an efficiency e expert to stop waste in their private business will calmly could be let Jet the taxpayers' taxpayers business be drained dry by leaks that remedied by a little attention These men do not think of pf the taxpayers taxpayers' rs' rs money when t they e run the public business THE TELEGRAM has been anxious to see the county pris prisoners prisoners prisoners pris- pris used in improving roads The law says plainly that they shall be worked on public highways This is what the sheriff said I 1 haven't given much time to the working of county pris- pris prisoners prisoners on the county roads One thing is certain it would entail considerably more work for me And there ther would be no money in it for me Compare This is With Police Chiefs Chief's Views Chief of Police P lice Grant has studied the problem of prison labor on public highways He carries out his conclusions by using city prisoners on road work This is what he says about the present discussion Thore There Is no doubt lu iu my mind but that prison and convict co labor pays and pays wonderful dividends and I wish especially to take this induce opportunity in indorsing THE TELEGRAMS TELEGRAM'S vigorous to the county officials to put their prisoners to work There is no reason that they should lie around idle and THE TIm TELEGRAM is correct in Its view It is my opinion that employment of tho the inmates of various city and county jails is going to solve tho present unemployed labor problem Statistics show that the army of vagrants has been decreased dO lOper per cent in this city in one years year's experimenting with hard work for city prisoners I it indisputable fact that Chief of Police Grant declares as an the system of making prisoners earn their board and lodging is isalone isalone I alone responsible for the decrease in the number of worthless men coming here I Mr Merchant Heres Here's Where You Come In The business man pays heavy rent for his building he pays a tax for the privilege of 01 doing business he pays light bills insurance insurance insurance ance bills and many other kinds of bills He lIe pays many men and women to help him handle his affairs And J yet et he has to figure closely all the time to come out ahead He must gi give e his own time practically all of it He H must lie awake at nights thinking of some way to stop the leaks and eliminate w wasteful practices He lIe shortens his life through the care and worry necessary to tomake tomake tomake make his books balance on the right light side at the end of the year But while he is doing this the men he helps elect to public office and whose salaries he helps to pay allow all kinds of leaks and petty graft to flourish Mr 11 Business Man Ian eventually having to foot the bill While Mr r. r Business Man is denyi denying i g himself the luxury of a vacation he is is' contributing to the support of a lot of worthless beings whose only idea of paradise is a chance to loaf eat three times a day and have plenty of cigarettes Then when the cry is raised for improvement of good g roads to improve the trade of Mr 11 Business Man Ian he has to dig down again for a public highway fund If the prisoners whom he had been keeping in idleness had been put to work ork on county roads he would not have to dig up again He would o feel somewhat repaid for the money he had spent at the prison if the tithe system doesn't Theres There's going to be a a- rude awakening soon change its t tune ne The people are are not fools They know sometimes when they have h had d enough of a bald bad thing If the present administration has any hopes of public indorsement it would do well to get down to business and look after the peoples people's interests a bit Wastefulness u ness a a Habit There The county co nt seems to have gotten into a rut Wastefulness has become a habit The county commissioners were allowing the sheriff to rake in big fees on the prison feeding contract until this paper exposed the sha shameful system It should not have been necessary for a newspaper to point paint I out this public wrong The men who are drawing nice salaries I from the taxpayers should sh ld watch such things and prevent them I But here is a law providing for the working of prisoners on on I public highways and they are not being worked I The roads need them and they need the exercise and mid open air I A man cant can't come out of prison benefited if he is allowed to lie around in in idleness developing the germ of laziness until his whole system is poisoned and ruined We believe it is time Lime for th the commission to show signs of life The county roads are the places for county prisoners and the sooner they are put to work the better will win the public think of the I officials responsible |