The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1879-06-19
Thu Peniscntrnry.

u ktW
A good deal.of censure is being visit
ed upon the heads Of the Mississippi
Penitentiary Lessees. This arises from
a MISREPRESENTATION Of the laws. Ger
tain newspapers censnre the. effect
wrought by a csuse for which the Mis-
sissippi Legislature, and not the lessees
of the p~enitentiary, arc responsible.
The cause which brings about the effect
is the law Of 1873. page 2l0. That law
permits any convict. unless he is known
to be Of a dangerous character, and the
Superintendent and the Governor lie.
termine the fact, to be worked outside
of the penitentiary walls, upon rail
roads and levees. But 'the lessees
shall erect a substantial and sufficient
prison, house or honses with q stockade
enclosure, under the direction Of the
Superintendent of the penitentiary,".
etc, in order that they may conine
prisoners at night who are worked away
from the peniteEtiary. They are to
keep a night guard, and are not to EN-.
ploy convicts sentenced for ten years or
more, rs mechanics, on other than pnb-
lie works. outside the penitentiary
walls. This is the substance OF the
law of 1878. The law of 1876, page
1875, section three, provided chat all con.
victs sentenced for a longer period than
ten years should be required to work
within the wallis of the ~pcnitsntiary.
The law of 1878. of course We amends
that of 1876 in this regard.
It will be seen that the ~lessees, in
working convicts, sentenced for any
period, out of tine p%enitentiarv violate
no law, as has been supposed. The
law gives them the right to do so pro-
vided they comply with the conditions
above mentioned.
We do not wish 10 be understood as
upholding the present system under
which our convicts are worked. We
believe it q peipicious system and Diet
rimental to the best interests of socie-
ty. and Should be remedIed as soon rs
possible. 1t is wrong to censure the
~ie%sees, however, if they keep within
the bounds of the law prescribed for
their goverance. When the lessees took
charge of the penitentiary, they did so
to make money out of it, and to do this
they will utilize, to the best advantage,
all the labor they have the power to
control, For doing this no one can
blame them.
We hope the convicts may never
again be leased to private individuals,
for if there is profit in them the State
ought 80 have the benefit Of it.
Dead HesSSs mt Convention.
We are glad to see that the Lander
dale Review has spoken ont on this
subject, aud trust other OF our cotemp>
oraries will follow. We l,ave always
condemned tsae practice of issuing GER
tificates of membership to Tom, Dick
and Harry. and think it is time to check
the abuse. In our opinion certificates
should only be issued to Legitimate mem
beers of the Prees observation-disclosures
who have heretofore been received and
those at present actively engaged in
the business. About one>half of the
delegates at Pascagoaia hsd no con
uection with papers and never wrote a
line fo, a paper in their lives, stall they
we're enjoying free rides, free acconntno-
dation, red badges and could vote and
speak as early and often as men who
have devoted their lives to the business.
1t is an imposition on railroads aud the
people who entertain Press Conventions
to take to them ycwr f~rses@s- SISTERS,
cousins and %aunts," and unless this
Wholesale d~eadheading system is abolS
lshed, our cherished Association will
become a thiae of the past.
Below are the remarks of the Revie,~:
In the very piainest words the writer
can express. it he asserts that he will
never attend another Press Convention
if the hospitality Of the people and the
l,berality Of the railroads are to be inn
posed upon by dead-heads and darn
fools claiming TO be representatives OF
papers, and il the Secretary issues them
certificates he can also give ours to one
Of them. Other members can 90 as
they choose.
A Mistake About the Coffin.