The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-07-21
PENITENrHARY LABOR.

PENITENrHARY LABOR.
Editor Democrat In your issue of Monday
July Is, 1878, an article headed "Employment
of the Labor Of ConviCts, the following state
ment ts made. the truth OF which, to say the
least OF 1t, Is not very apparent:
More than one embryo association. asgum-
ing to speak for workingmen. has advanced the
idea that convicted criminals should not be al
lowed to labor"
/ have been o worktngman for over forty
years; have belonged to trades unions in
Europe and to similar institutions in America,
and believe speak the truth when say
| have never heard any such assertions as the
above made by workingman.
And the Socialists propose the prohibition
Of the use Of prison labor by private employers
or corporations
This believe to be q solid truth, and as an
individual, indorse every word of the above.
rs 1t not evident to the commonest under
standing that In any given community, having
a given number of persons able to work. GER
tain and fixed amount of food and clothing and
other nbleo's of human desire, which can only
be- procured by labor, will be iuroduct d, and
! fed from the produce of the labor of those who
work and the food Of the workers is inevitably
diminished thereby2
| The IL we keep convicted criminals idle.
| they NUT eat the bread produced by the toll OF
| honest men,"
| /, as q Socialist admit the truth Of this
| paragraph as self-evident. If we do not work
the criminals we must feed them. propose
| to work them, because the judge who has con-
demned them to hard labor has made it the
duty of the State to see the sentence of the
| law put In execution not by contractor, but
| by the State officers and on State works. To
employ these men on any other work than
that of the State is to rob the workingman Of
| the means Of making a livelihood.
ITO Illustrate. 80 in 100 of the convfcts in
Louisiana are totally unfit for any other labor
than that OF common field hand or ditcher.
Experience has demonstrated that with a
complete cotton mill, carding machines, spin
ming jennies and looms furnished free, they
cannot be probably employed in the manufac-
ture Of even the coarser cotton fabrics.
1t Is utterly impossible to make them earn
four walls of a prison. They could only break
rock, and it would cost more to bring the rock
from the distant queries q the North than the
The only mode in which they can be profita-
bly, empioyed-that is; can ,bs made to earn
more than hey eat-ts in either plantation or
railroad work. 1t is the only kind Of labor to
which they are adapted. We have demonstrated
fS N la9 Sf 10 5 er9ad
terest Of oil honest w0rkingmen that the con-
vict should produce as much wealth as posi-
be and that he is most likely to reach the great
est production under the stimulus of the self
interest of the lessees of convict labor"
Is there no land to be recovered by the State
from the swamps2 Is New Orleans perfectly
protected from foundations Is there no pro-
lection levee required around New Orleans on
which these criminals could be set to work
with advantage to the State
Let me, for the sake Of argument, answer
these questions in the negative, and admit that
it is Improbable to work these prisoners
within the walls of the Penitentiary. / hold
that these prisoners must not eat the bread of
idleness, it would be better and far more
profitable that they should than that they
should be worked In competition with honest
labor on our great public works, such as are
carried on by corporations or individual con-
tractors.
"Those who from any cause are idle must
be fed from the produce Of the labor of those
| that work." Is the prison laborer employed
| to feed the idle labOrer and his family? No.
| But let us suppose that the honest laborer is
set to work upon the railroad at 81 Is per day,
| and with this sum he supports five of q FAM
| lily. Thus the honest laborer can afford to
feed five of his own family and one convict,
each having nearly twenty-one cents per day.
Let us reverse this case, and employ the
cOnvlcts at 81 IS per day; twenty-one cents
it costs to feed him, the balance goes into the
pocket of the contractor. Therefore it is
| better that the prisoner should remain idle
and be fed 'by the toll of the honest man"
rs is not then, to the interest of honest men
| that the convicts should produce by their labor
as much aoeaHh as possible. 70 be distributed
among the community which they have injured
| Yes. IF we can make the convict earn his
bread then the family of the laborer will be
| benefited twenty-One cents per day. How Is
this to be done? / see by an act passed by
the General Assembly of the State OF Lou
| isiana at the regular session Of 1878, No. So,
page SO, 10000 acres Of land was donated to a
| corporation, provided they would drain, ditch
| and levee the same. There Is work upon the
property of the State laying waste, which
could be improved and made valuable by the
| convicts.
Much Of our State lands are below the sur
face of the river, sloping from the Gulf to a
height OF twenty feet at high water in the
river. If these lands were laid off into pOld-
ers or colmates, in terrace form, the muddy
waters of the river being let on to the highest
| pOlder, passing from polder to pOlder until it
| reaches the sea, all the mud held in SusDen-
sion in the river water would be deposited
upon these Ian Is, gradually raising the level.
| The land between the city and the lake is SUBJ
During the last ten years S2,000000 has been
| expended, under contract to Obvlate these
caIamities, and we are still liable to have the
lake waters overflow US at any time. These
contractors received for digging and leveeing
| 81 per yard. If this work had been done by
i the criminals of the Penitentiary, it would
| have cost sixty-four cents, under the SUPPOSE
tion that a criminal works eight hours per
day and throws out eight cubic yards per day;
! fifty cents for tools, superintendent and pro-
visions will be ample to pay for convict labor,
only one-sixteenth of what it costs by con
| tract.
Cos per contract. 80 600 600
Cost Der convict labor. ................ 1876, 900
Profit by convict labor 81, 875, 600
THE more food they produce, the more there
will be for every man. woman and child In the
community 10 eat Is not a government Of
| feer who has no interest or motive other than
a very weak sense of duty, the least likely to
cause thu convict to labor the most productive
ly2 On the contrary. Ii the conuiet l. hired to a
| not only Is the revenue of the 8 ate increased
aud the taxes on honest men diminished but
| he lessee. having the powerful motive OF self