Page:California Inter Pocula.djvu/429

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than ever ;  so  much  so  that  m  1858  government  again declared the  contract  annulled,  and  took  forcible  pos- session of the  premises. The lieutenant-governor  was made ex-officio  warden,  with  a  full  staff,  and  the  keys delivered to  him. The assiijnee  brougfht  suit  for  dam- ages which  was  sustained  by  the  supreme  court. A compromise was  agreed  upon,  but  the  state  failed  to meet  its  obligation. At last,  in  1860,  to  get  rid  of him,  a  bonus  was  paid  the  assignee,  since  which  time, if we  except  several  extensive  escapes,  state-prison management has  steadily  improved.

Prison discipline,  penitentiary  science,  uniting  with the system  of  reformatory  efforts,  are  of  late  begin- ning. The castle  donjons  of  the  feudal  barons  had improved but  little  when  civilization  had  largely  ad- vanced in other  directions. The eighteenth  century had well-nio:h  o:one  before  Howard  made  his  famous expose of  the  wretched  condition  of  prisons  in  England and Wales,  and  the  great  Milll^ank  penitentiary,  mod- eled by Jeremy  Bentham,  had  not  been  built  more than thirty  years  when  the  grounds  at  Quintin  Point were laid  out;  so  that  California,  although  the  young- est of the  great  societies,  is  not  so  far  behind  the  rest of the  world  in  this  regard  as  might  be  imagined.

In almost  all  modern  prisons  industrial  labor  has taken the  place  of  purely  penal  labor,  such  as  the crank, shot-drill,  and  treadmill. All well-managed prisons are  now  self-supporting,  or  more  than  self- supporting Each  prisoner,  immediately  he  is incarcerated,  whether  in  a  state  penitentiary  or a  county  prison,  should  be  put  to  work. Jails should not  be  conducted  upon  the  free-boarding- house principle,  but  convicts  should  be  made  to  earn their living,  or  as  nearly  so  as  possible. There are things useful  that  even  children  can  do ;  and  if  the food of  the  prisoner  depended  somewhat  upon  his earnings, it  might  tend  to  sharpen  his  wits  over  use- ful work.