The Daily clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1866-1888, 1876-03-23
THE ARTICLES OF 1MpEACHMENT

WFssoN. MISS, March Is, 1876.

WFssoN. MISS, March Is, 1876.
EDS. CLARION: The Pententiary should
be leased for a term of years with the PRIV
ilege of working certain class of conVlcts
outside of the wall
The first reason that | shall give is the
lack of cells in which to keep them-thert
being about three times as many conVicts
as there are cells II all the house room on
| the premises was converted into sleeping
apartments, it would prove insufficient Tor
| the purpose.
The second reason is that there are neither
shops to work in, nor tools and machinery
| TO work with, and no material 10 WORK
upon. But if this was not so, the capacity
| of the cooking and eating rooms Is enttreiy
| insufficient for the whole number. Either OF
these reasons would be sufficient TO work
most of them outside excepting those con-
victed of rape, murder and arson) uhIii
provision is made to work them inside
| But if all these wants were provided fof-iI
| the cells, shops and cooking aud eating
rooms We're built. and machinery ana
tools and material supplied, with plen-
ty of money In the Treasury - even
| then it would be unWiSe to put lOuf
| hundred uneducated, unskilled, corn ne!d
hands in the shops at one TIME. lt Would
| take one-tifth of their number OF sklliiui
| mechanics as OVerSeers to conduct their Ia
| bors, and those in for short time could not
learn so as to be useful at a trade, ana
therefore should not be put at one: AT the
expiration of the lease, they should De re-
turned in small number or rather the SHOP
should be filled gradually. The first thing
to be done then is to provide workshops.
tools and material. There are but hve
branches of the manufacturing that can be
carried on with profit with convict LABOR,
namely: blacksmthng, the making OF
wagons, plows and shoes, and the manu-
| featuring of cotton and wooden gooos, ana
bagging made of jute. The blacksmithiug
should be CONNIE Iced first, because most
profitable and takes less skill as Well rs lie IS
money; tie making of plo"s next, because
the material can be got ready In a shorter
time. 1t will take some time TO get wagon
timber and dr., it sufficiently to make goou
work The shoe department is already or
ganiZed on a small scale, out in room large
enough for large operations. 1he cot
tons machinery should be put up last.
The manufacture of bagging should be a SINE
Qut non. The building put up last year for
the cotton factory is in no way adapted to
that business, it is too wide, it makes the
room dark in the middle, it has so many
posts In it that the machinery cannot be
placed properly, and as it should be. But
it will do-the upper story for the wagon and
pillow shop, and The lower story for storage,
and it will be sufficient even when the cot
ton factory is started. and every thing should
be done with reference to the cotton bag
ging factory.
The lessee should be required TO complete
tuO CcllS anu lICredSC Tile nuiuUcT W STA
or seven hundred, to build and put in OPP
Grafton cotton and WOODEN or bagging
mills, with two hundred cotton looms,
and all the preparatory machinery, to which
might be added several other smaller enter
prises, such as the making of rope, Irvine,
sewing, ETC., etc.
The old prOverb, that to make good
scholar you should send the child to school
young, applies with great force in spinning
and weaving. 1t is a very difficult
thing for man with hard and stiff,
coarse fingers, to learn to tie the broken
thread in weaving or piece up an end; it
| requires small, soft and nimble finger to
do either with dispatch, and there are very
few OF that class that ever gets to the PEN
itent larry.
The lessee should be required to furnish
the capital and put all these five branches OF
| manu- tacture in operation with the best and
latest improved machinery, and the State
to pay him at the expiration of the lease at
the then value, not the COST The brick
work, and all other work, aud the material
used in building and improvements should
be estimated by the Supervisors quarterly
and placed to the credit of the lessees, pay
able at the expiration of the lease.
Factory buildings should be situated Wi tn
the sides to the East and West in order to
| receive the earliest rays of light in the
morning and the last light in the evening,
and when surrounded by high walls, sever
al stories high, so that the main work may
be done above the shadow of the walls.
j. III. WEssoN.