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Show EDITORIAL j New Prison Should Receive Priority THE people of Sugar House will not rest easy until the state prison is moved to the point of the mountain. Last Friday's escape of three prisoners is just a recurrence re-currence of a problem which has existed ever since residential resi-dential growth encircled the prison site. Escapes are bound to happen, but they form a real threat in the welfare wel-fare of the community when desperadoes can run along streets where children are playing, and find their hiding places in fields adjoining homes. No one in another part of the city can realize how easy it would be for innocent bystanders to be shot, or homes to be entered, or automobiles stolen. Housewives in most parts of th Sugar House area had the "jitters (as one of them called it) until all three prisoners were rounded up. Construction at the new prison site is moving forward for-ward but it could probably be speeded up if public opinion demanded an early completion of the buildings necessary to house the prisoners. After all. we have all been talking about a new prison site for years. A decade ago the citizens citi-zens thought that it wouldn't be long before the penitentiary peniten-tiary would be moved. This is time for concerted action on the part of the people, the press and public officials. Poor conditions in the present penal institution which have been revealed recently re-cently can not be corrected until larger quarters are obtained. ob-tained. Inmates cannot possibly be encouraged to reform and remake themselves when they are crowded together like sheep. This current election season which will be followed by the assembling of the state legislature, provides an ideal time for a speed-up program to be instituted at the point of the mountain. For the good of the prisoners, for the peace of mind of the community, we should demand that deadlines be set for the completion of the new prison. It should receive priority in the plans of the officials we elect this fall. |