Page:California Inter Pocula.djvu/430



There are  different  systems  of  prison  management in the  United  States. In all  state-prisons  the  con- tract system prevails,  with  some  half  dozen  exceptions  ; some are  under  state  management,  and  some  mixed. Several states  show  earnings  amounting  to  more  than expenses. In North  Carolina  the  average  cost  of maintahiing  prisoners  per  capita  in  1875  was  about  $90, while in  Oregon  it  was  over  $300,  and  in  Nevada nearly $400.

In the  average  number  of  prisoners  San  Quentin with 900  or  thereabouts,  stands  sixth. Sing Sing,  in New  York  with  1300  being  first,  Auburn,  New  York, and Joliet,  Illinois,  with  a  few  less,  being  second  and third. Nevada can  scarcely  boast  of  lOO,  while  the average of  Oregon  is  but  little  more.

The prison  managers  of  1877  complain  that  Chi- nese cheap labor  is  ruining  the  penitentiary ! The law permits  convicts  to  be  hired  out  at  the  rate  of fifty  cents  a  day. At twenty-five  cents  a  day  con- tractors could employ  them,  but  not  at  more  than this, as  otherwise  Chhiese  labor  is  preferable. There is a  state  prison  at  Folsom. More facilities  are  re- quired either at  San  Quentin,  Folsom,  or  elsewhere.

The prison  tract  at  San  Quentin  comprises  130 acres. The situation  is  extremely  favorable ;  the soil first  recommended  it,  being  good  clay  for  bricks. The prison  itself  covers  a  square  of  six  acres,  enclosed by a  wall  now  twenty-five  feet  high. Outside are  a number  of  buildings  for  offices,  stables,  and  outhouses, with a  few  garden  patches. The warden's  villa  lies on an  elevation  near  by. Inside the  wall  are  three  cell buildings of  several  stories,  parallel  to  one  another, and twenty  feet  apart. Two are  of  brick  124  by  23 feet, and  erected  in  1864  at  a  cost  of  $60,000  each. There was  $200,000  appropriated  by  the  legislature of 1876  for  new  buildings,  and  a  four-story  brick structure 50  by  400  feet  was  the  result.

With the  exception  of  the  lower  story  of  the  store building,  which  is  divided  into  seven  large  rooms,