No. 8. LEGISLATURE, 1859. ANNUAL REPORT of the Inspectors of the State Prison, for the fiscal year ending Nov. 80, 1858. To the Secretary of State of the State of Michigan: Pursuant to the statute, the undersigned, Inspectors of the State Prison, make the following report of the receipts, expenditures, business and proceedings of the State Prison, for the year ending November 30, 1858. The reports of the officers of the Prison to the Board of Inspectors, here to appended, furnish a detailed account of the financial, and other transactions of the Prison, during the past fiscal year, and its present condition. By reference to the abstract of monthly reports, it will be seen that the expenditures of the Prison during the year have been the sum of,.... .$56,227 01 And that the total receipts have been as follows: For convict labor,..... From United States,. From visitors,.... ... ... .$32,659 26 623 83 828 50 It appears by the report of the Agent, that there is now due from contractors on account of convict labor the sum of...... Add amount received during the year for convict labor,..... $11,013 32 32,659 26 $43,672 58 $9,562 78 Deduct amount due from contractors December 1st, 1857.... Less amount then stated to be due from Walter Fish, since settled, as hereinafter stated,.. 830 00 8,732 78 Amount charged for convict labor during the year, There have also been 11,422 days labor performed by convicts for the Building Commissioner, and 3,716 days labor for the Agent, in building and repairing, making a total of 15,138 days labor, mostly performed during the long days of summer, and by convicts who have been for several years mostly employed in the building department. This labor has been worth to the State at least 75 cents per diem, on the average,.. $34,939 80 11,353 50 Total earnings of convicts upon contracts, and total amount charged for convict labor during And the estimate of the earnings of convicts in the building department for the year 1857, was the sum of... 9,600 00 36,452 24 Increase of earnings of convicts 1858 over 1857, $9,841 06 The expense of the Prison for the past year may be To which add the following items: Outstanding indebtedness shown by the Agent's Of which was expended for building and repairs, Total expenses other than for buildings and repairs,. .... 4,695 77 $49,665 89 The Agent's report shows the average number of convicts at the Prison during the year, to have been 443.6. Dividing expenses as above, by this number, and we have the sum of $111 96 as the average expense of each convict during the year. For the purpose of giving a comparative view of the transactions and expenditures of the Prison as compared with former years, the Inspectors have prepared the following tables: TABLE 1. STATEMENT showing the number of convicts in the Michigan State Prison at the beginning of the undermentioned fiscal years, the number received, and the average number in Prison during the year: The above table shows that the increase of the number of convicts in the Prison has been very rapid, the average number having more than doubled within four years, and being more than three times as great as seven years ago. It also shows the imperative necessity of a constant increase of prison accommodations and work-shops, and explains the increase of expenditures during the past and former years. TABLE II. STATEMENT showing the aggregate amount of disbursements for rations and provisions during each of the undermentioned fiscal years, the average expenses for provisions of each convict during each year, and during each week of the year:* The fiscal year of 1846 ended Oct. 31st; the fiscal year for 1854 is for 13 months, ending Nov. 30th. All the subsequent years are for 12 months, ending Nov. 30th. |