duced. To
do justice, a system of fixed salaries, without fees or
perquisites, should be adopted. The people of Ohio will, without
question, sustain an increase of the salaries of judges and of
other officers who are now inadequately paid; but it can probably
best be done as a part of a system which would prevent the payment
to public officers of enormous sums by means of fees and
perquisites. To remove all ground of complaint, on account of
injustice to present incumbents, the new system should apply only
to those elected after its adoption.

In addition to considerations already presented in favor of a
revision of the rates of taxation which local officers and boards
are authorized to levy, another controlling reason is not to be
omitted. By the recent revaluation of real estate the total basis
of taxation for the State at large will probably be increased
almost forty per cent, and in many of the cities the increase will
be nearly one hundred per cent This renders it imperatively
necessary to revise the present rates, so as to prevent the
collection and expenditure of sums much greater than the public
good demands.

Under prudent and efficient management the earnings of the
penitentiary continue to exceed its expenses, and at the same time
gratifying progress has been made in improving the condition and
treatment of the prisoners. The hateful and degrading uniform of
past years is disappearing; increased means of education, secular
and religious, are afforded, and the officers of the institution
exhibit an earnest desire to employ every instrumentality
authorized by existing laws to restore its inmates to society
improved in habits, capacity, and character.

While much has been done in our State during the last twenty-five
years for the improvement of prison discipline, it is not to be
denied that much more yet remains unaccomplished.

Assuming that the time has not arrived to attempt a radical change
of our prison discipline, the following practical suggestions,
consistent with the present system, are offered for your
consideration: A convict is now allowed a deduction from the period
of his sentence as a reward for good behavior. The power to extend
the period of the sentence as a punishment for bad conduct would
also, under