The Newtown bee., 1878-10-17

e
 [ tlns, clothes and shelters the convict, There are eye al wrong things heres tp the first place, the task Is cruelty e1cea- slye, two dozen ladies bats pr one dozen mems hats day Mnuld loo sufficient quantity for any uHs man 10 do every working day Go the year, We are told that humanity suggests the proprlaty nf keeping the convict employed, pne8 it also sugge < Inc propriBly of working him beyond his natural powers 0f andur- aHee. thnt contractor may grow sui- denly wealthy or The State make profit un tho labuF of ila convlGlsi
 Tho manufacture and sale nf fur hate gives employment in tho United htates lu
 about twelve thousand persons, Tho mel employed iR the business average al pres- unt about tisht dollars week tle ynil round tho women less than three, There hus already besu much sufeling among lhuu but buuyed by the hopes nf return Ing prosperity they have batllod manfully with their trials. But this trouble ot prl.on labor they see increasing ln lls proportions 50 rapidly that il threatens not only Io s~ailU" upa lurge share of tnelr work. but also to reduce the remain, 1 tier so low in priro that iL will uO longer insure them tle means of support, They also see another danScr hero; the husi- ness of fur hating h one which Ia carried ! on largely lu some localities devoted nl- mo,L exclusively to thut branch Of man
 ufactua, as Daubury, Bethel and South | Nowalk, Conn, aud Orange, N,J. There
 being little or nothing else for them 10 do, the children of the fur hutters learn the business of their fathers,
 It Is well-nstubllshed fact that few
 men fall suddenly from conditions of Nlr-
 tue and integrity, so low In the scale of
 vice as to morlt Incarceration in our State l Prisons. The progress Is gradual, and
 the criminal before entering those strong 1 holds Is generally thoroughly impreg-
 mated with evil. and the associations there
 are not calculated tD purify him. Ii Is d
 matter of wonder, then, fl the fur hattor looks anXIously forward to the time whon
 these felOns are tO be let loose furnished
 with sufficient Knowledge OI the husi-
 ness to work their way into their shops, | to associate freely, daily and hourly,
 with their children, to poison their minds | and warp them tO their own CroOkciness. | What Mlhrr would fail tO feel thus if such danger threatened his son 7
 We think thai from the above q faint
 idea can be drawn by readers of this pa- l per as to the motive which actuates hon. ! est workmen in making an appeal against | the employment of cOnyicts in the nanu-
 facture ofarticles by which labor is taken
 from their hands, A careful consideration of the system 4s adopted by the prison authorities in N. |. will demonstrate it's | injustice for it is evident that any man working at his lawful trade as Il halter | could not compete with these State Pris- 1 on wOrkmen, nor could manufacture sell his goods as cheap as the comtrac- tors of prison labors. A few years ago 0. Benedict X Co.,, of Bethel, did a large | business in the manufacture of ladies | hats, hut owing to the convict labor sys- i tenn this firm had to discontinue the making of these hats This is case right at home, and what the effect has 1 been ill New York, upon the honest labor | ing man in that State has been the same here. aIen have been cut off from earning living, and themselves and
 families reduced to want or driven into other employments.
 i It is said that if the work done in the several Slate prisons was placed upon the 1 market and sold prices governing the trade, that there would be less objection, and honest labor would not be entirely stopped. The great act of injustice is the permitting of a contractor to hire the services of these convicts at prices which
 enables them to underscll all other man. ufacturcrs, and reap immense profits. If in the making of hats, or any other arti-
 cle of merchandise, it should be the duty
 of every voter to require of each Repre-
 sentative who enters the next Legisla- 1 ture to place himself on record ill this matter, so that thereafter the contract system of convict labor will be q dead
 letter. This State could adopt plan by which all articles made in prison would | pay handsome revenue. It is not right to use these convicts to the injury of hon
 est working men. and we trust that all citizens will interest themselves and see 1 to 1t that honest labor is protected, and the State rid of the system which enables unprincipled sharks te destroy through legislation the legitimate business of em- ployer and employees.