New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-10-06
AGALNsT TIE CHAIN.GANG.

At the annual Convention of National Chart
ties and Corrections which has just been held
in Louisville, there was a striking demOnstra-
ton of Southern sentiment against the system
of leasing out cOnylcts, which las brought so
much disgrace upon some of tho Southern
States. The leader in this movement was
George w. Cable, the we'll known novelist, who
read carefully prepared paper upon the hOr
rors Of the system. This seems to have made n
profound sensation. 1t called out strong OK
Ircss.Ons Of sympathy with Mr.. Cables views
from various persons present. Charles Andcr-
son, formerly Governor OF Ohio, but native
and now a resident of Kentucky, said that Mr..
Gable bad made only one mistake, aud that was
to pass too lightly over the denominations Of the
lessee system. lie declared that the atrocities
of the Black Hole at Calcutta were not to be
compared to those Of the Frankfort penitcn-
tiary. Ex-Governor Blackburn, of Kentucky,
charged that the Southern States had "hired
out men like brute Leasts.' lie pronounced the
system most infamous, tyTanniCal, UNJUST and
barbarous" Other Southern men spoke, say
ing that if the facts were as stated by Mr..
Cable, they stood ready to demand the over
throw of this practice. There was some dissent
CADlCSStN iiNil l'''l' VI Nl'' H't''hi'H'H H''Vj
but it is believed that a strong impetus has been
given to the movement aga nst the cha ngang.
A report will be made on the subject to the
Conference next year by the Committee on
Prisons.
The system is a survival of the baIbarous
methods that were in use before the subject Of
penal reform began to be agitated hundred
years ago, aud it IS time that It ceased to be
blot upon American civilization. The horrors
Of it are such as can hardly he stated in print.
But even if the system were administered with
reasonable care AMI consideration for the well
fare of convicts, it would still be essentially
unjust and inhuman. Whea the State takes
possession OF Il man by force, it becomes re-
sponsibIe for him. 1t has no right to abandon
him to the capTices of brutal contractors, whose
only Object is to beat as much work out of him
as possible, and who care less about him than
they would about a slave, because he cost them
nothing, and they know that If he dies they can
get another convict in his place. This ought
not to be possible in a civilized country. Some
humanitarians criticise even the contract SyS.
tem which obtains ia a majority Of the States, on
the ground that it does not, usually, give the
convict a share OF his earnings, and that it
leaves him sometimes subjecS to being over
driven by the contractors especially If the med
ical officer is in their interest. But under this
system the State does not lose sight Of him, as
under the chain-gang. lie is housed by the
State, and watched and cared for by It's officers,
and if there are sometimes cases OF oppression
and injustice, 1t neel not be hard to correct it.
The poor chain-gang convict, however, has
often wished for death to rescue him from his
brutal masters, and, happily, has often found
it, for the dcath-ritc as some of the Southern
papers have recently shown, is startling. The
people of the North, as a matter Of patriotic
pride, Will hc glad when the SOuth sweeps away
this system of official torture. 1t is an encour-
aging sign that the better sentiment of that Sec
zion seems to be rapidly asserting itself