perism, insanity, and others of like character, and also presents the results of the examinations made by the Board of the institutions receiving State aid, and of the inspections made by the members personally of the jails, poor houses, etc., in the different counties, and also statistics of the most valuable character. The earnest, patient and unselfish labors of the commissioners deserve the warmest thanks. The second report contains the results of the examination made by the commissioners of the estimates of the trustees and managers of the State institutions. At my request the commissioners undertook to investigate the whole subject of appropriations to the State institutions, and I ask especial attention to the report that presents their conclusions.

THE PENITENTIARY.

I have the honor to submit to the General Assembly the report of the Penitentiary Commissioners, for the year ending December 1, 1870, and will also furnish all the sub-reports submitted to me with their report, for the year ending December 1, 1869, the report for that year being mislaid.

The management of the penitentiary concerns every interest in the State, for whether it is considered as an agency for the reformation, or for the detention and punishment, of criminals, or as a large and burdensome public establishment, it must attract the attention of the people and claim the thoughtful consideration of the General Assembly. Two leading systems for the management of the penitentiary have their advocates, and divide public opinion-the "lease system," which was followed in the earlier history of the State, and that of the "State control," which was first adopted in the State, under the authority of the act of June 28th, 1867. The final results of the lease system, and the situation of the penitentiary when it closed, were forcibly described by my predecessor in his last message to the General Assembly. He says, "the State, for the first time, occupied its own penitentiary on the first day of July, 1867. Up to that time $1,075,000 had been expended in its erection. The commissioners found, on their arrival there to take charge of it for and in the name of the State, the walls, wings containing nine hundred cells, warden's house, some shops and other property inside, amounting to $54,525 53. A thousand and fifty-eight convicts were to be promptly provided for, fed, clothed and put to work."

The commisssioners appointed by the Governor under the authority of the act of June 28th, 1867, made their first report on the first day of December, 1868, from which it appears that the number of convicts then confined in the penitentiary was 1162, and that the entire expense of its management from the first day of July, 1867, to the first day of December, 1868, was $463,569 60; that the property of the State then in their possession, including the amount of $52,977 39, outstanding accounts, was of the value of $479,175 17, and that the current debts. of the institution amounted to the sum of $80,070 89. In June, 1869, I visited the penitentiary, and met the commissioners and warden, and learned that it was believed by them that the debts of the insti

tution were under-estimated in the report of December 1, 1868, or that they had rapidly increased between the date of that report and the first day of May, 1869, when Mr. George W. Perkins, then warden, assumed the management of the institutior. In July, 1869, I again visited the penitentiary, accompanied by Hon. O. H. Miner, late auditor, and Samuel T. Major, Esq., of Carlinville, an experienced accountant, and after receiving the report of the result of a partial examination of the books and papers of the institution, made by them, I formed the opinion that the property included in the inventory of December 1, 1868, had depreciated in value, that the amount of the debts due on that day was greatly under-stated, and from my own observation I concluded that the commissioners differed so widely upon important points in the management of the institution, that its administration was deficient in that degree of unity and energy that was essential to success.

It is due, however, to the commissioners, that it should be stated that their differences were those of honest men, zealous for the success of their management, and the evil was incurable, because they were responsible to no authority to which they could directly appeal. This disagreement between the commissioners produced an injurious effect upon the discipline of the penitentiary. It diminished the sense of responsibility in the employees, and affected the productiveness of the labor of the convicts, and will, I think, account to a great extent for the failure of the present management to achieve success. I did not investigate the grounds of the difference between the commissioners, being without authority to adjust them. I deemed it judicious to leave the responsibility with those to whom it was confided by law.

Upon an examination of the report of the commissioners it will be seen that the whole number of convicts in the penitentiary on the first day of December, 1870, was 1339, an increase in two years of 177, and it may be expected that the number will, within the next six months, be increased to upwards of fourteen hundred. The reports of the commissioners of the penitentiary, and of the warden and other officers, will afford all the information needed as to its financial condition; and as the whole subject will undergo the strictest investigation by the General Assembly, they are transmitted herewith for that purpose. Certain facts, however, in respect to the penitentiary, cannot be overlooked by the General Assembly, and legislation must be adopted to meet them.

The General Assembly, at its last session, appropriated for the purpose of maintaining and carrying on the penitentiary, defraying the expenses of feeding, clothing, etc., $300,000, and on the 28th day of July, 1870, Messrs. Reid and Washburn, commissioners, addressed me a communication, in which they informed me that the appropriation of 1869 was nearly exhausted-only $10,000 remaining in the treasury-and that it would require the sum of $60,000, in addition, in order to properly maintain the institution until another regular session of the Legislature. This communication presented to me the alternatives of attempting to convene the General Assembly, the members of which were elected in 1868, permitting the necessary wants of the penitentiary to remain unsupplied and risking the consequences,

or of raising an amount of money that would meet the actual wants of the prison and continue it in operation until the regular session of the General Assembly. I chose the latter course, deeming it preferable to incurring the expense of a session of the General Assembly, or to fail to make proper provision for the necessary expenses of the institution. I, therefore, on the second day of August, 1870, deposited to my own credit with the bank of J. Bunn, Springfield, Ill., the sum of $39,023 78-the proceeds of a draft drawn in my favor by the Treasurer of the United States in part payment of the claims of the Statesubject to the order of the Penitentiary Commissioners, their drafts to be submitted to me for my approval. They have drawn, of this sum, thirty-nine thousand dollars, as appears by the report of their treasurer, which, added to the sum appropriated, makes $339,000. With respect to the application of the money of the State, received from the United States, to the maintenance of the penitentiary, it must be said that it was done without authority of law, and whether the act deserves the approval or reprehension of the General Assembly, depends upon its judgment of the force of the reasons that influenced my action.

The appropriation of the public money without authority of law is, of itself, of such consequence, and is so dangerous as a precedent, that I have thought it proper to submit the matter to the General Assembly, and if the exigency justified the act, I should be indemnified by a law to be passed for that purpose. If the act was, in the judgment of the representatives of the people, under all the circumstances, without sufficient justification, it is proper that it be condemned and repudiated. I present this view of the subject to the General Assembly, for the reason that the people have adopted a constitution which every department of the government is bound to enforce, and none of its pro visions are more salutary than that which prohibits the application of the public money without authority of law; yet exigencies may arise when executive officers are required to take responsibilities and trust to the approval of that department in which the law-making power resides, and if that approval is withheld, the officer must accept the responsibilities of his acts, which, in a case free from criminal intent, would be to restore the money illegally employed to the treasury of the State.

The natural question will present itself to the General Assembly, what is the present condition of the penitentiary, and what policy shall be adopted to secure its future usefulness? The institution contains 1339 convicts. The Commissioners report property on hand valued at $506,356 69; debts due the institution $155,289 59; and admit an indebtedness of $332,832 13, which must be paid, as the honor and the interests of the State alike demand it; and if the present system of State control is to be continued, there ought to be an appropriation of at least $150,000 in addition, to remain in the treasury to meet the possible contingencies of two years' management. The lease system, which will be urged, will not, if adopted, relieve the State of the payment of the debts of the institution, and will also involve the sacrifice. of a large portion of the property of the State now in use or held at the penitentiary. It also rejects considerations of humanity and all

reasonable hope of the reform of the convicts, and overlooks the fact that experience has shown that lessees will find methods, whatever may be the changes and embarrassments of business, to secure profit to themselves and throw their losses upon the State.

There is no doubt that the penitentiary may, under the system of State control, be made self-sustaining-that is, be made to pay the expense of feeding, clothing and guarding the prisoners; the salaries of the officers created by law, should be settled at the treasury, as are the salaries of all the other officers of the government, and the expenses of returning discharged convicts to their homes, and of citizens' clothing furnished discharged convicts, that are not properly chargeable to the penitentiary, should be otherwise provided for. To give success to the management, it is necessary, in my judgment

1. To make some single officer of the State responsible for its management, and confer upon him all needful powers of control. The responsibility of Commissioners elected for six years, is too remote, and when differences arise between them, they have no common superior ;

2. To disconnect the prison management from partisan politics, that the responsible officers may appeal to the confidence and demand the support of all the people of the State;

3. To authorize the payment of such salaries to the warden, deputy warden, and necessary clerks, as will secure the services of the most capable men.

The Commissioners cannot be expected to devote their whole time to the management of the business affairs of the penitentiary; these must be entrusted to the warden. Commissioners are necessary to overlook the discipline of the prison; to inspect and regulate all the details of its management as a prison, as auditors of the accounts of the officers and employees; but as a financial business establishment it can be managed well only by a business man of the largest capacity and experience, who is responsible ultimately to an officer who will accept nothing short of success.

It must not be concluded, from what I have said, that the management of the penitentiary deserves the severe criticisms to which it has been from the very outset subjected. The penitentiary was suddenly thrown upon the care of the State by the able business men who were the lessees of the institution, for no other reason than that they could not longer carry it on without severe loss to themselves, even when the salaries of Commissioners, money paid and clothing furnished discharged convicts, and the value of all permanent improvements, were reimbursed them from the treasury. It ought to be remembered that the Commissioners, when they assumed its management, were without experience, and, like almost every other person in the State, under-estimated the magnitude of its business interests; that the reputation of work done in the penitentiary, with some exceptions, was so low that it was difficult to dispose of it freely without a large sacrifice; that like every other extensive business interest, that of the penitentiary has felt the steady and constant depression of values of all kinds, that has often compelled the sale of manufactured products at less than the cost of the raw material of which they were made; and that

the financial management has been fiercely assailed, to the great injury of its credit, and subjecting it often to serious embarrassment. 1 am satisfied that investigation will show, notwithstanding the errors that I have so freely commented upon, that the management for months past has steadily improved; that the discipline now deserves the highest praise; and that the integrity of the Commissioners and warden is above all reasonable suspicion.

THE REFORM SCHOOL.

By an act of the General Assembly, approved March 5th, 1867, provision was made for an institution to be known as the "State Reform School," under the management of five trustees, to be appointed by the Governor. The trustees appointed entered upon the discharge of their duties, and afterwards selected an appropriate site for their contemplated building near Pontiac, in the county of Livingston, and have proceeded to make arrangements for the reception of the classes of persons for whose detention and reformation the institution was designed.

The necessity for a prison for juvenile offenders is severely felt, and great hopes have been entertained that the institution at Pontiac would not only be a proper place for the confinement of many young persons who are now detained in the State Penitentiary, but also for many who are, under existing laws, confined in the jails; and it was also claimed by many that it might be made a reform school, like institutions of that name in Ohio and others of the States. I have never had the greatest confidence in the scheme of uniting a mere reformatory with a prison for juvenile criminals, and am now of opinion that if that has been at any time contemplated by the trustees of the Reform School at Pontiac, it will necessarily be abandoned at no distant day. The report of the trustees will be laid before the General Assembly, and attention is respectfully asked to their recommendations.

THE NEW STATE HOUSE.

The report of the Commissioners of the new State House shows that satisfactory progress is being made in the work. The detailed statement of all the transactions of the Board, presented with the report, shows that they have discharged their duty with fidelity.

Suggesting the necessities growing out of the difficulty of providing for the comfortable accommodation of the largely increased number of me:nbers of the General Assembly under the new constitution, the commissioners recommend that the sum of $800,000 be appropriated for the years 1871 and 1872, and with that sum they believe that the new State House can be made ready for the use of the Twenty-eighth General Assembly. Before the present session expires, the General Assembly will be satisfied of the necessity of an early completion of the new State House, but it will also discover that the appropriations demanded will swell to an amount that will severely tax the patience of the people. The only means for raising money permitted by the constitution, is taxation, and appropriations for the new State House, whatever may be the necessities for its early use,