NECESSITY OF DEFINING THE POWERS OF THE
BOARD OF DIRECTORS.

The Board of Directors, in the opinion of your committee, re-
quire the benefit of legislative action, so that, there can be no
difficulty as to their powers. Your committee are inclined to the
opinion, from the fact, that the present law under which the Di-
rectors act, confers no power, by language, and yet may be con-
strued to a dangerous use of it.

THE SYSTEM OF BOOK KEEPING.

The system of book keeping adopted years ago in the insti-
tution, and carried on to the present time, is in the opinion of
this committee, a bad one; and, in this connection we take oc-
casion to say, that no censure is intended to be cast upon the pres-
ent gentlemanly clerk. According to the system, the books
have been faithfully kept; but from their character, a considera-
ble amount of time, and more than could be appropriated, would
have been required to give them and the accounts a thorough ex-
amination. A new system should be inaugurated, so that at a
glance, at any time, the true condition of the institution, could
be found out; by which means, fraud could be better guarded
against.

LAWS THAT GOVERN THE PENITENTIARY.

Your committee are of the opinion, that the entire laws, now
governing the penitentiary, should be remodeled; in other words,
the present laws should be repealed, and one general law enact-
ed, that would reach and protect all the various interests con-
nected with the prison, and mark out plainly, every line of duty.
The attention of the Legislature is most seriously and earnestly
invoked to this subject.

THE SLEEPING APARTMENTS OF THE PRISON.
One other most important and melancholy fact exists, that ap-
peals forcibly to the Legislature for action; the sleeping appart-
ments are wholly insufficient to accommodate the number of in-
mates. There are some four hundred and fifteen, and as our State
is increasing in population, and crime being likely to increase, it is
difficult to determine or calculate the results, if some change is
not made in this particular. It now operates in a two fold way
against the discipline of the prison, subjecting its inmates to
barbarisms that dishonors our high toned civilization, and must
force the prison to a precipice, awful to contemplate.
In the first place, the present dormitory is not in a condition to
accommodate comfortably, more than three hundred men, whilst
there are some four hundred and fifteen inmates. The lower
cells are damp and cold, whilst the upper are suffocating with
fetid air. In mid-winter, the condition of this dormitory at night,
when the inmates are in their cells, is most repulsive and horri-