work of constructing said Branch Prison on or before the first day of October, eighteen hundred and seventy-four.

A contract was entered into by the State with one M. Miles, on September first, eighteen hundred and seventy-four, to complete sections one and two of the prison structure. The work then commenced continued until November, eighteen hundred and seventyfive, when, by reason of the bankruptcy of the contractor, it was stopped, leaving the building in the unfinished condition in which it now remains.

Such is a history in brief of a work projected years ago, the urgent need of which was felt even at the date of its organization-a need which has grown in magnitude, in the interval, to such a degree as to more than at any period prior to this emphasize the importance of prompt action on the part of the Legislature in making provision for carrying on the undertaking to completion.

In support of their advocacy of this measure, your committee assert that from actual observation, coupled with information bearing upon the subject, gleaned from other reliable sources, the con-clusions arrived at by them challenge refutation. Some of the considerations influencing their judgment are these:

First-The lands of the Branch Prison are so situated, and the nature and capabilities of the property such, as to insure the success of convict labor; not only enabling them to support themselves, thus: lessening the burden of taxation for their maintenance, but will very soon enable the State to reap a profit from their labor, without bringing them in competition with or diminishing the legitimate gains of our citizens engaged in skilled mechanical pursuits. The granite quarries on the premises are practically inexhaustible. The stone is of the very best quality, and is preferred by intelligent architects to any other. It is durable and retains its color, possessing no mineral quality which, when it is subjected to the action of the weather, causes it to stain, thus marring its beauty. It is, therefore, in demand for architectural and cemetery purposes, and is also preferable to basalt rock for street paving, the demand for it being, up to this time, greater than the supply. Quarrying stone is an occupation both healthful and laborious, and for that reason is peculiarly suited to convicts. The art of cutting it is readily acquired, and when acquired is continuously remunerative. A skilled workman can cut two hundred blocks per day of this stone for paving purposes. The price paid for them is two cents each. Assuming as a safe calculation that a convict cuts one-half as many-say one hundred-and we have for the labor of each convict so employed two dollars per day. Allowing for tools, powder, and other materials used, fifty cents per day, we then have one dollar and fifty cents per day as the net earnings of each prisoner upon this cheapest class of stone work. Thus, if three hundred convicts only be so employed; the State will realize from this industry alone an income of four hundred and fifty dollars per day-a result more valuable than can be obtained by farming out such prisoners to contractors, who force them into competition with free white labor, at fifty cents per day. Second-The convict, under a system of labor which renders him skillful as an operator, is not only made useful to the State while so employed, but his imprisonment is in the nature of an apprenticeship, which prepares him to make an honest support and a useful member of society upon his release. Becoming an expert in the

business of stone cutting while a prisoner, his labor, after his discharge, will be in demand wherever this interest calls for operatives. Our penitentiary system is supposed to be based upon the idea of reformation, in conjunction with that of punishment, and we hold it to be utterly futile to attempt or hope for any satisfactory reformatory results while the present condition of things exists. As now conducted, the old and hardened, and the young and inexperienced, are necessarily forced into a promiscuous companionship daily and nightly by reason of the lack of requisite accommodations. Too many are of necessity crowded into a single cell, not only for the health, but the morals of the occupants. This condition is not in accord with the spirit of an enlightened Christian civilization, and it is not too harsh to denounce it as simply barbarous. It need not be asserted or urged in this presence that a correct prison policy involves the reformation as well as the punishment of the criminal. That proposition is beyond question. It is no less in the interest of society and the State than in that of the prisoner himself. And to. the end that as a result the prisoner's reformation should be, as far as possible, attained during his term of confinement, occupation of a healthful and laborious nature is indispensable. Idleness is the parent of crime." The want of employment in a large proportion of cases made the criminal, and this needful antidote must be applied as a remedial agency in his restoration to honesty and usefulness. If such employment, while it engages body and mind, contributes so materially to this result, much more can be gained if it be of a remunerative nature, thus making the criminal self-supporting.

Third-The insufficiency of the accommodations, therefore, at San Quentin, is a potent argument in favor of the completion of the Branch Prison. The necessity for immediate action on the part of the State seems urgent. The growing numbers of convicts must in some way be provided for. There are now more than fourteen hundred confined within the walls of San Quentin, and there are almost daily accessions to the number. It is but reasonable to calculate that the preponderence, numerically, of those admitted over those discharged will be proportionately as great in the future as during the past few years. It may be greater. The depression of business throughout the State, the general lack of employment among the poorer classes, the want that exists among them, and must continue to exist, until relieved by the operation of natural laws, the growing up in our larger cities of a class of idle and dissolute youth, are conditions which indicate a probable increase of the criminal element of our population, and give emphasis to the demand for ampler provisions to meet the emergency. The lack of resources at San Quentin for providing profitable employment to a large number of prisoners therein confined, is abundantly possessed by the Branch. Prison. The penal servitude at the latter, while it answers the ends of justice in the way of punishment, and is reformatory in its effects, will bring a revenue to the State not only adequate to the convicts' support, but in excess of that amount.

Fourth-Portions of the land adjacent to the Branch Prison are well adapted to the growth of vegetables, with a good supply of water for irrigating purposes, and can be cultivated by prisoners at a great saving to the State. Much of the land is well wooded, insuring all the fuel required for many years; and the ample water