Holly Springs gazette., 1845-08-23

TatI0ns OF a great State works hop, supports
ed from the public revenue, must inevitably
lower their position and Influence In socie-
ty, while the annual addition made to their
number by the discharged apprentices of a
prison, must sink the respectability OF their
vocations in their own estimation, and liz
that ftheir conneclons; while more un-
just and oppressive still, these very me-
chanics, by taxation and the part they bear
IN furnishing the revenues to support gov
eminent, are compelled to pay for and sus-
tain the monopoly which begga~s their
families, and compels them with the iron
arm ofnecessity to take lover and less in
huentlal station in society.
This must not be. Republican Mississ
ippi should extend her palladium of equali-
ty to all alike; and in her philanthropic
desire TO give the son of crime and lhfamy
trade and knowledge of some profitable
handIcraff. that may ensure them comic r.
table subsistence when they are again
let loose upon community whose laws
they have once outraged-she should never
forget the sons of hardy toll and honest en-
terprlse, bound to her by the ties of honor
and all that constitutes he glory of good
citizenship Should tie manual force OF
the Penitentiary. under enlightened direc-
ton, be turned to the manufacture ofccarse
negro cloths-of bagging and bale rope
the central portion OF the State of Mlsslss'
ipPI would afford most profitable market
Tor all that one hundred convicts could
produce at the very doors of the prison, at
more reasonable price than any other mart
in the State; and if hemp should be required
to enter into any part OF these manufac-
lures, no county, and no section of country
offers more facilities for its growth than
the one adjacent TO the capitol OF the State.
| Make it for the interest Of the Miss issippl
| planter to raise ii as staple, and thousand
of tons will be furnished In two years time.
| The contiguous markets afforded by the
| vicinity of wealthy cotton growing countess
and the facilities of reaching the Mississippi
river would, under all circumstances, be
amply sufficient to give an outlet to any
surplus production of such staple article.
| AS another inducement for this specific
change in the mode of convict labor, the
| knowledge of manufacturing coarse cottons
is easily acquired by a few weeks applica-
ton on the part of the convicts, and would
| involve the institution In little loss of time,
while all encroachment would be avoided
on the rights and occupations of the meri-
| torious and industrious citizen
| Even if hemp be immediately required as
raw material for such manufactured it can be
as easily and as cheaply transported to this
place from Missouri and Illinois. as from
those States s.oKentucky w here most Of that
staple is now wrought; full experiments,
by this change of convict labor, can De in
stiIuted, under the patronage and su-
perinlendence of the State Government
upon the best modes OF manufacturing the
| fab RIGS for plantation pses-whcther, OF
cotton or cotton and hemp mixed, or ol
hemp alone knowledge which mus: be
most valuable to the people OF the State ana
the planting interest especially.
AS brief synopsis of the political ethics
which have irresstbly led your committee
to the foregoing conclusions and recommen
datons. they respectfully beg leave to ad
opt the language of a celebrated writer OF
political economy "the cardinal object o
government is the equal protection of al
citizens. The moment the prisoner is SET 4
work, and the products of his labor sold
some free citizen is unequaiiy and oppres
sively burdened. If this citizen is induced
to forsake his own overstocked calling ant
engage IN some other, the competition il
this new branch will operate iniuriously
to those already engaged in it; this will
continue to be the case though In a gTadu
ally diminishing ratio through all The va
rious pursuits of active industry, until tn
displaced particles of society, so to speak
diffuse themselves evenly over the entir
2 surface.
: Gen. I'll. S. Foote assigns as his reason
tor accompanying ex-governor McNut
and speaking at his appointments, that be
wishes to defend himself and friends from
: the attacks that might be made on them