Convicts Deposites-Alexander Kane, Fugitives-J. B. Pierce, use of horse, A. M. Barber, expenses, Sheriffs' Expenses-H. Shoudler, 1 convict from Branch county, H. C. Mills, 1 do. Lapeer county, Hospital-C. Cole, milk, 25 2 00 1 00 3 00 21 75 55 90 49 71 11 63 12.15 10 00 161 14 5 25 Berry & Rice, tea, &c., 4 79 Wood, Oil, &c.-Sumner & Bennett, lamp oil, Balance on hand November 30, 3 39 4 57 11 29 1 12 19 64 1 10 81 5 00 123 72 73 35 368 61 $2,168 01 STATE PRISON OFFICE, Jackson, Dec. 18, 1847. State of Michigan, County of Jackson. J. H. Titus, agent, and W. Budington, clerk, of the state prison, at Jackson, being duly sworn, depose and say, that the foregoing statement for November, 1847, is correct and true, according to the best of their knowledge and belief. J. H. TITUS, W. BUDINGTON. Subscribed and sworn before me, Dec. 20, 1847. M. SHOEMAKER, Pres't Board of Inspectors. AGENT'S REPORT. To the Board of Inspectors of the State Prison at Jackson: GENTLEMEN,Herewith I have the honor to submit for your inspection, the usual information relating to the affairs of the State Prison, which at this time will embrace a period of thirteen months, or from October 31, 1846, to November 30, 1847, the fiscal year having been changed by the Revised Statutes, making its termination a month later than heretofore, under the former State Prison laws. The various tables and statements hereto annexed, together with the monthly accounts submitted to you from time to time, through the year, as required by law, will furnish, in an aggregate, as well as in a detailed form, an accurate history of all the transactions of the prison during the period above mentioned, and to which your attention is respectfully invited. I assumed the discharge of the duties of agent on the 20th of March last, since which time the sum of $9128 99 has been receiv ed on account of the prison, and during the same time, there has been expedded the sum of $8760 38, leaving a balance on hand' November 30th, 1847, of $368 61. Also, according to the books of the office, there appears to have been received by my predeces sor, including balance on hand, from October 31, 1846, to March 20th, 1847, the sum of $2915 47, which was expended during the same time, except a balance of $33 81, paid over to me at the time I took charge of the prison, as above stated. There are embraced in the disbursements made by me since March 20th, payments of various accounts and dues, to the amount of about $1400 00, which were then standing against the prison, contracted by my predecessor, and which, doubtless from unavoidable causes, were allowed to run by his term of office, thereby swelling the amount of expenditures for the balance of the year to an extent that might seem excessive, should the circumstance be permitted to pass unexplained. The sum of $2000 00 has been drawn during the year, on the certificates of the Inspectors, from the State Treasury, on account of the general support of the prison, woich, added to the sum of $5418 28, drawn in payment of officers' salaries, make a total of $7418 28 from that source, during the thirteen months, a sum considerably less than for any former year, for those purposes. This result is principally owing to the unusually small amount expended on the building account, as no progress has been made with the prison buildings, except that the rear basement walls of the centre building have qeen finished up, and all the walls securely covered from exposure to the weather,—and they will doubtless have to remain in that condition until some provision is made for the further prosecution or completion of the buildings. I would here remark, that I consider the completion of the centre building, or at least so far as to enclose it, of the utmost importance to the welfare and safety of the prison, and in many respects, it would add very much to the convenience and practicability of enforcing and maintaining an efficient system of order and discipline among the convicts; and for the purpose of obtaining for this subject, such attention from the authorities of the State as it deserves, I here with submit, and commend to your notice, an estimate of the cost of materials, and amount of labor required to put up and enclose the building, and finish such portions of it as may be wanted for immediate use. The estimate is made in liberal and round numbers, due allowances being made for contingencies, and I think the actual cost will fall short,rather than exceed the aggregate therein stated. The steam engine owned by the State, and heretofore used by the contractors, has been sold for $500 00, of which $140 00 has been received. A portion of the balance is payable in lumber, during the present winter, and the remaining balance is in good notes, all due within the ensuing year. The number of convicts in prison on the 30th of November, was 119, which is three less than at the close of the previous year, although at one period during the past year, there were in prison 132, being a greater number than at any one time since the establishment of the institution. The total amount of earnings of the convicts, who have been engaged on contracts, as will appear from one of the tables before referred to, is $9620 27, being the largest amount ever earned on that branch of labor during the same length of time, and on examining the various annual reports, it will be observed that the revenue to the prison, from that source, has been gradually increasing, from year to year, without a corresponding increase in the number of convicts. The past year has been one of ordinary health among the men, and facilities have been possessed by the contractors for employing as many of them as could be conveniently spared from the other departments of the prison. Under your advice and direction, the contracts for prison labor have undergone a material chenge since the last annual report, and thus far, with every appearance of a decided advantage to the State, in the additional number of convicts let, the extension of time, the average increase in prices, and other advantageous conditions. Many privileges before granted to contractors, and which, under certain circumstances, might have subjected the State to considerable inconvenience, have been amicably released, without any detriment to their business or interests. There are now but three contracts in force for the employment of convicts at mechanical labor, in which the highest number let is 180, and the lowest 95, to wit:-J. E. Beebe, at waggon making, from 20 to 35 convicts, at 35 cents per day, for 5 years from May 1, 1847-H. B. Ring, at shoemaking, from 15 to 25 convicts, at 40 cents per day, for 5 years from September 1, 1847-and Pinney, Lamson & Co., at manufacturing farming tools, woolen and cotton goods, hames, saddle and harness trimmings, coopering. &c. &c., from 60 to 120 convicts at 30 cents per day, for 6 years from May 1, 1847. The foregoing contracts are all made payable on the first of each month, and so conditioned, that when a monthly payment remains due and unpaid for the space of 30 days, the agent and inspectors, at their discretion, can forfeit and annul the contracts. In managing the discipline of the prison, I have been enabled to maintain a good degree of order, and subordination to the rules and regulations, without a frequent resort to corporeal punishment, although a few cases have occurred, in which to have dispensed with it, would have hazarded to a great extent, the best interests and regularity of the institution. However much a resort to this means to preserve obedience, may be regretted, I am forced to acknowledge, and in that acknowledgment I do not doubt I have the concurrence of many worthy and benevolent minds, that in the management of such an assemblage of human characters as is generally found among the inmates of our penal institutions, personal chastisement of some kind, is not only indispensable for the preservation of order, by its subject, but that the influence of such an example on others of a refractory tendency, is often salutary and efficient. I am aware that this subject has engaged, and is still engaging the attention of the moralist, and that philanthropists have written page after page, advocating the treatment of all refractory cases by one general law, to wit: the law of kindness; but were they to be removed from their easy chairs, to the management of an institution, whose inmates are natives of every civilized clime, congregated for offences against the laws of one country, and on whom they seem to look as wayward children, the admission would be as readily and willingly made, that the lash, corporeally administered, is at times necessary, as I am to inflict it in cases where no other mode of punishment would ensure obedience. The "law of kindness" should be the governing principle in our intercourse with the world at large, as well as with those unfortunate victims of vice, over whom we may be officially placed, but to abolish all punishments of a corporeal kind, except what might be termed mild, and the more mild the less efficient, would be but another name for proclaiming a general amnesty for all offences, however aggravating and injurious. In concluding my remarks on this subject, I would here observe, that in administering the punishments, great care has been used to impress upon the mind of the disobedient convict, that the exercise of this prerogative is not prompted by malice or personal ill feeling towards him, but that, besides being an unpleasant duty, it is the sure consequence of of fences committed under a full knowledge of the penalty, and that |