The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1870-01-01


in force, or who may need new enactment
for their protection and Trades interest, T
furnish me with the name and nature Q
such oppressive laws, and the necessity AM
character of the laws required, in order tha
we may cooperate with each other under
standingly, in placing such measures befor
the next Legislature Of the State as shal
benefit all classes Of workingmen ant
women. JOHN w. BROWNING.
To this I received many kind suggestions
GOV. HoFFMAN's AID SOLICITED.
On the 30th Of November / addressed
letter to the Governor, requesting him t
incorporate in bis annual message the fol
lowing recommendations First-Tha
Trades Unions should be legalised, and ex
cepted from the operation Of the conspiracy
act. Second-That provisisn should be
enacted for the enforcement Of the eight
hour law on all work done by or for the
State. Third-That there should be an
effective apprentice law and last, that a
committee should be appointed by the As
sembly to inquire into the most practical
way of abolishing contract labor in the &C.
veral prisons, with view Of remedying the
evil by the State assuming the charge and
direction of the same. To this letter | re-
ceived
THEf0LLoWING REPLY:
STATS OR New YoRK, ExscUrIvE CHAmKMI
ALBAHY, Dec. l. 1858. (
DEAR SIR: L have received your letter oi
30th Of November, and am very glad 70
have your suggestions upon the subject
which you have at heart, and to which
have game much thought The duty OF
government is to deal out exact justice to
all citizens; laws which favor one class at
the expense of another, ought certainly be
repealed, and such laws as are necessary for
justice to all, should be enacted. 1t would
not be proper for me to say in advance what
the recommendations of my message shall
be. In this I think you will agree with me.
| trust, however, that you will find in my
recommendations proof that l have given to
your suggestions and the claims Of those you
represent the consideration due to their i'm
pOrtance, and that they will be satisfactory
to your own mind.
l have not all the intelligent, practical
knowledge Of the subject which you have /;
but you enable me to see very clearly that
there are defects in existing laws Of which
you justly complain, and | thank you for
the assistance which you have given me by
your comprehensive letter.
Very truly yours,
JOHN T. HOFFMAN.
JOHN w. BRowNING, Esq, Chairman
The most important and absorbing ques-
ton with me is
THE ABoLIsHMENT OF THE CONTRACT sYs-
TEN IN PRISONS.
1t may OF properly belong to my depart
ment, but am anxious to see the custom of
hiring and employing the convicts in the in
terest of contractors done away with, and if
by any stretch of power l can have a hand
in the fight, which is inevitable while con-
tractors find it SO profitable, want the pri-
vilcge. I have given this question some
attention, and find that the average number
Of convicts in the PRISONS Of this State, from
1916 to 1856, to be as follows Sing
Sing, 200; Auburn, $50 Clinton, 796.
For the same period the prison excess Of ex-
penditure above the earnings of convicts in
Sing-Sing is 1892. .9O4 Auburn, $294,-
239; Clinton, $727 ,955 making a total
of 50 ,215 ,O98, or over 500, 900 annually.
Thus it will be seen that contract labor not
only conflicts with honest industry outside
the prisons and prevents anything like a
fair competition in the market, but it bur-
dens us as citizens, with taxes to support
prisoners who might be made to sustain
themselves, and indirectly support the con-
tractors.
/ have talked with many upon the merits
of the system, and, with few exceptions,
it is condemned /; but the question then
arises,
HOW SHALL WE REMEDY THE EVIL
It will not be to abolish labor in the pri-
sons the convicts must be employed.
Again, if the article manufactured must
be of a different kind, ard if the
State must take the charge Of manufac-
turing those articles, and sell them in such
manner as not to conflict with the same class
Of labor outside, the whole system becomes
revolutionized, and before that can be done
we must try to find out the most practical
way it can be accomplished. Some con-
tend that the convicts should be employed
on such wares and articles as we are obliged
principally to import such as chains. |
favor such change. There are others who,
it would appear, would be satisfied if the
prison wares were put on the market at cur.
rent rates ard not cent less. Now what
we must do is to examine all the facts
gather all the information and evidence DOS
sible of the present management Of our
prisons, and how they may be managed un-
der the direction Of the State. Then we
can arrive at definite conclusion, and de-
eide what is best for the greatest number;
and for this purpose, instead Of presenting
bill for the abolishment Of the contract sys-
TEN, shall prepare resolution providing
for the appointment Of a committee Of the
Assembly to take evidence and statements
Of prison managers and contractors in rela-
ton to convict labor in the prisons, with
power to send for persons and papers. This,
| believe, would open the ball, and pave
our way for a grand victory. 1t would
break the ice, and by our aid we could en-
able the committee to adduce such facts and
proofs as would need no further argument
for the speedy abolishment Of the custom.
We could then question the managers as to
the cost of sustaining the prisons, and we
could learn from the contractors the amount
Of. profit they realize from such management.
I have also given some attention to the en-
ployment Of boys in the House Of Refuge.
HOW THE SYSTEM WORKS ON RANDALL's $
ISLAND.
Last Monday visited Randalls Island,
in company with Mr.. Campbell, Of the
Crispins. We were fsvorably impressed
with the food, quarters and general appear
ance of things, but we have the same OBJ
lection to find with the labor performed in
n IA