The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1879-11-26

NIL were It not for the almost exact agreement
OF their statement at different lime and In
different places when Il was impossible for
them 10 communicate with each other,
GOOD that 'i I regard Il as equal to personal
knowledge that there are reputable citizers
and pardoned cbnvicb who VII, swear 10
having seen him treat men ut work cruelty,
beating them With sticks, guns DC. On tho
other SIDE the evidence is. 30 cumulative and
SO good that, although principally OF o nega-
tive nature. It amounts in the aggregate
nlm rnsas !, ,pesi n'a,, rel TeSd disaren ane G d % p %ay
q theory that he selected bis times ior 1nnlc-
ting such punishment when DO dangerous
persons were thought to be nenr. But u
would be obviously unfair TO draw such en-
statement to that effect made Tome by one OF
the %conyicts. n would say here, by the way,
that have suppressed mention OF O blood
oner, for the reason that he protested to have
been the. only with ess OF what he DID, and
I did not regard his unsupported statement
rs enough TO risk the injuring OF any one by
Is by no means an angel, aud that on occa-
|sions which i~rritated he was violent. but OF
the cold.blooded and d~evilllsh cruelty charged.
against him I can find no reasonably good
proof. While not rs guiltess az he might be,
lido not believe him to be nearly SO guilty as
he is accused OF being. will mention here
that Mr. Twiggs, who has been working l9i
con Sicts On q continuation OF the same road.
on the Georgia side. some distance from the
river, had not q single case OF seriOs sickness
or a death from April p to August % OF this
year. ! have been given several pieces OF
formation intended to prove that
THE OFFICERS OF II PENIrENTIAaY
the cen ~ eS &c. All ii Of t GhlspeiI' have omitted.
for the reason that their neglect or nonneg-
lect Of their duty has, so far asI can see, moth.
ing whatever to do with the management SOf
~ 1855. A. n Iasn- -, IAna L., nfxH~ $40 ~ Al as,n ~
1 have not, do not, and certainly will not,
bring charges against anybody. Figures and
facts, and the unavoidable deductions thsre-
from constitute the entire scope and intehs
ton Of this report.
IN CONCLUSION
I would say thai the convicts NOV OF work
with one voice state that there has been u
vast improvement In their condition during
the last month or more. They have apparent.
~ nothing now to complain or Inc quarters
abundant and nutritious, and their general
treatment humane. The difference IN the
death rate shows that there has been 2 vast
change for the better. There ls one question
which has suggested ITSELF to me throughout,
ahd towhich1 AVE not yet any satisfactory
answer, E-y.
WHERE WERE THE CORONER AND TRIAL
JUSTICES
of Edgefield all this time. and why did they
not take ateps to investigate . few OF tho
sudden and within the meaning Of the 1awl
violent deaths about the road and stockadcs?
II there wasdll treatment would not that
have speedily stopped IL Itcertainly looks
as though they had been exceedingly dcrelict
In their duty.
The parties who obtaiRed
coNvICrs IN LAuRENs.
seem to have erred In the other extreme and
been entirely too lax in their management.
Col. Lipscomb tells me that during q visit OF
inspection ON one occasion he found three
conyIcts on d farm with no guard In sight,
that official having gone Or with another
prisoner 70 be shaved. No prison ers In that
neigbbUrhood were shacklcd, except as q pun.
ishinent, and he had met one OF them walk
Ing along the road, partlysin citizens dress,
having just returned from O visit to his wife.
As q consequence OF aIIthis, the number OF
escapes, worse in its results to the general
community than death, was very large.
Measures have.bcen successfully taken to ar,
rest these abuses, and complaint has ceased.
The same errors, With similar consequences
existed In the management Or the Edgeheld
Railroad. but they also have been arrested.
There have been no complaints OF any sort
from the other points where .eonvicts were
hired. A. b. w.