• 
 
V 
 
 IN THE ASSEMBLY.] 
 
 [SESSION OF 1853. 
 
 REPORT 
 
 OP THE 
 
 STATE PRISON COIMISSIONEES. 
 
 [GEORGE KERR, STATE PRINTER. 
 
 V 
 
 53a. 
 
EPORT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 STATE PRISON COMMISSIONERS. 
 
 Office of Superintendent of Public Buildings. 
 
 To the Honorable Speaker of the House of Representatives of the State 
 of California : — 
 
 The undersigned, appointed Commissioners by Act of the Legislature 
 May 1st, 1852, to select a suitable location for a State Prison and to con- 
 tract for the building of the same, have discharged the duty thus devolving 
 upon them, and beg leave to report : 
 
 That duly impressed with the importance and responsibility of the 
 trust confided to them, they proceeded directly after their appointment to 
 examine and survey the points which were at first recommended to their 
 consideration, as the most appropriate localities for the site of a permanent 
 prison. Their attention was in the outset directed to Goats Island, oppo- 
 site to the City of San Francisco, and if security alone against the escape 
 of convicts was to be considered, this Island would have been entitled to 
 a first choice ; but after diligent investigation, the undersigned could not 
 determine in whom the ownership of this island was vested, and not be- 
 ing authorized to purchase under a doubtful or insecure title, this locality 
 was rejected. 
 
 Angel Island was the next site considered, but no warranty of a title 
 could here be obtained, and without considering its advantages, it was 
 necessarily passed. It was deemed important that the prison should be 
 built on some point contiguous to the Bay of San Francisco, and passing 
 by the two islands before mentioned, the most suitable locality was found 
 at Point St. Q,uentin, near the mission of San Rafael, and distant from 
 San Francisco about twelve miles. No other place on the bay appeared 
 to the undersigned to possess superior or equal advantages. It is within 
 the line of steamboat navigation, and easy and safe of access. It is an 
 elevated, healthy and conspicuous point ; good water is obtained on the 
 
ground, and abundance of wood in the neighborhood. Quarries of stone 
 suitable for building purposes, apparently inexhaustable, are found within 
 the prison limits and immediate vicinity. Clay, well adapted for the 
 manufacture of brick, forms the substratum of the ground selected, and it 
 has been demonstrated by actual practice, that the convicts can be worked 
 to advantage upon the ground now designated as the prison limits. 
 
 Ten thousand dollars, the amount appropriated for the purchase of a 
 site, were paid for thirty acres (20 acres) of land on Point St. Quentin ; 
 but the contract provides for the building of a wharf leading to sixteen 
 feet water in the bay, without charge to the State, and to be free forever 
 to its use. 
 
 The undersigned having thus far, they believe, without impeachment 
 of motive, discharged faithfully their duty to the State, proceeded next 
 to contract for the building of the Prison, and in passing, they must be 
 permitted to refer to the gratuitous and vindictive assaults which have 
 been made upon them personally, and upon their official action by the 
 public press, or by malicious and irresponsible persons availing them- 
 selves of this mode of attack. The malignity of interested Stock Bro- 
 kers ; the harpies who live by crying up and down the State credit, the 
 moths who feed and fatten upon State script : the " Bulls and Bears" who 
 gamble in State securities can.iot be measured by argument, or silenced 
 by facts ; and it would be extra official, and not comport with our self 
 respect to analyze pointless invective that has become stale to the public 
 ear. The undersigned have had a duty fc) perform, a task they were 
 commissioned to accomplish, and they are prepared to show they have 
 been faithful to their trust. 
 
 Pursuant to the law under which the undersigned hold their appoint- 
 ments, they published at large proposals for building a State Prison ; it 
 will not be denied that ample time, ample information and due publicity 
 were given : that competition was invited, and the undersigned have only 
 to say that after an impartial consideration of all the proposals submitted 
 to them ; the contract was awarded to the lowest responsible bidder. 
 And now, sir, the undersigned respectfully submit the contract which 
 they have made, to the candid consideration of the Legislature : if in their 
 official capacity they had bound the State to pay exorbitant prices, or 
 even higher than the current prices of the country, if they had violated 
 any law, or abused the extraordinary powers conferred upon them, they 
 might approach the representatives of the people with diffidence and 
 doubt ; but the contract wears an open face, it is composed of figures and 
 facts ; it is susceptible of measure, it has length, and breadth, and depth 
 convertible into cubic yards ; and what it ought to cost is susceptible of 
 exact calculation. It is by measurement that the work is let, and the 
 accompanying papers will show that measure by measure in comparison, 
 the Prison will be built cheaper than like work is being or has been 
 done in any part of the State ; it may be that the undersigned are at 
 fault in requiring the Prison to be completed within the period of one 
 year, but they see no reason to doubt that the magnitude of the plan will 
 give rise to a structure not more than commensurate with the prospective 
 wants of the State. Older States have larger population, but the number 
 of convicts is increasing in a fearful ratio and will soon outnumber those 
 in many of the States that have prisons of superior dimensions. 
 
Even were it now practicable, the undersigned would not recommend 
 a remodelling of the plan with a view to its contraction, but it is under- 
 stood that the contractors will be content to build within one year only 
 the most essential portions, proceeding afterwards from time to time, or 
 from year to year, according to the public wants, and with a due regard 
 to the means of the State. ^ 
 
 All of which is respectfully submitted. 
 
 JAMES GRAHAM, 
 
 Superintendent Public Buildings. 
 
 GEfc. McDOUGAL, 
 J. MILLER.