The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1878-04-23
Convict Labor.
nY nEY. A. 9. aEoRaE, D. D.

imprisonment for the punishment Of
crime is comparatively a modern institu
ton. The holding Of men in custody was
indeed, prac,ised in the most ancienI
times; bat Il was for examination, or wild
q purpose to scourge, stone, burn, drown,
Danish, mutilate, cast to wild beasts to BE-
destroyed, or subject, in some way, tc
torture or death. Joseph, 10 Egypt, was
put into prison, or placed in ward, or un'
der guard, Till his case could be deter
mined. The Philistines, we are told
bound Samson with letters Of brass" and
made him grind in the prison house
that lie, with mill.stones worked BY hand
This, however, was doubtless more with
an intention to degrade the champion oil
Israel than to derive any profit or adyan'
tage from his toll.
imprisonment in Greece or Rome
meant usually q temporary detention
till the accused could be banished, con
demned 10 the qusrries or mines, mutt.
lated or executed. There were other and
milder p~unrhments inflicted, such as the
loss OF family position and authority, de-
priyation Of citizenship and degradation
from civil freedom to the rank Of slaves
In England, for generations, the idea
Of a prison was, as Sir Edward Coke de-
clares in his Commentaries, that Of q
place Of safe custody, not Of punishment
The prisoLer was considered as n re-
served for the az or gibbet. Thousands
Of accused persons persisted from cold
hunger, sickness, abuse, confinement and
polluted air. Thousands were transport.
ed TO this country, and sold to the settlers
for a period OF from seven to fourteen
YEAR, 10 pay the expense OF their arrest,
subsistence and passage. When the war
Of the Revolution excluded these convicts
from American shores, Great Britain es.
tablished a penal colony in Australia,a and
transported many ship loads Of criminals
10 that country. English eonvicts, NOT
transported, are employed, to a consider.
able extent, in %quarries, 10 dock.yards
and on various public works.
In France, since 1852, transportation
has been resorted TO, especially for polit.
cal offences, and great numbers have been
sent TO Guiana and Algiers.
There are evils connected with this
system Of transportation, but there are
also advantages. Many Of the convicts,
banished to the Uuited Colonies, became
useful and honored citizens, and were the
founders Of some Of our most iiluslrious
families. Valuable communities have
grown up in Australia, largely composed
oftransporied persons and their descend
ants. We have never, 10 the United
States, undertaken the transportation o.
criminal; but ia 1t not worthy OF oui
confederation For what did we pur
chase Alaska, II not for a convict colony
Would it not be well to ordain that GER
tain classes Of criminals, whether con-
yicted under Federal or State law, should
ba transported TO that healtbiul and in
| yiporatiDg climate2 Have We not
surplus population Of daring and desper
ate offenders who can be more success
fully disposed Of in this way than In any
other? Might we not hope that hot, dis
tempered blood would be cooled TO So
briefly and virtue in the land Of the sea
and the walrus? Would not volcanic
passions snbsids in the region Of eternal
irosts? Let Congress and the country
give this subject q candid consideration
la penal colony in Alaska will help te
settle the prison-labor problem at home
and that Is q problem which stares III
squarely in the face.
Civilized communities have learned 1
number Of things in regard to the man
agement OF prisons, as for instance, thaI
men and women must be confined In sep
arate prisons or wards. that juveniles
ought never to be commingled with vet
ersn oHenders, that nc cruel or excessive
punishments should be allowed, that ever!
convict should have a cell by himself fol
his hours OF rest and sleep, that regular
Toll for ut least ten hours Of the DIS!
should be eIacted, that good conduc
should be rewarded by a shortening 9
the period Of imprisonment, and that ed
ucational and religious advantages should
be afforded. In q word, Il must never b
forgotten that the convict is TO be reform
ed as we'll as punished; that be must b
RENTED to society better prepared 4
discharge It's duties and improve its op'
portunities.
But Il conyicts are employed, II mus
be, chiefly 10 mechanical labors, and thel
the articles manufactured may be throw
on the market to the injury Of honest toi
and private capital engaged in the sam
branches Of blsines. II is no marvel, ii
a period Of financial depression, whel
napy business men fail, and many labor.
ere are unemployed or compelled to worl
for inadequate wages, that loud com
plants should be heard In regard to III,
competition Of prison labor with homes
enterprise and industry. But the deman,
that conyicts shall not be allowed 10 lear
trades, and shall be excluded from me
ehanical labors, il q misdirected and i'm
practicable demand. The men must b
employed. In France, prison labor, i
response 10 Just such n demand as tha
which has now arisen in this country, va
abolished In 1913; but Il was restored II
1852, as all Glasses became convinced Q
lis absolute necessity. The products Q
conyictlabor, however, are purchased B,
the Stale Ior It's puollC lusatutlVns' All
seems TO satisfy the artisans, and yet th
advantages Of the plan are rather appai
ent than real.
The evils which manufacturers an,
mechanics suffer because Of the product
OF prisou-labor come chiefly from ih
contract system. II the State sells on
he labor Of the convicls 10 the highes
bidder, but for q much less sum than fre'
honest toll needs for a comfortable sur
port, It makes him the rival OF every me
shanic outside Of prison walls, engage,
In the same pursuits, and Il enables th
contractor to upder.ssll and break dow
every business establishment attemptin
TO produce the came articles with ind
yiduL capital and unmanacled hand
The eoafae aai<m should be abolished, LIE
all parties unite In demanding it, abrt
CATION, and also, that the prison shall,
possible, be made Seli.supporting institu
lions. II the State must feed, cloth
Vnard and govern the inmates Of iLs prii