The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1884-10-23
The Penitentiary Lease.
To THE CITIzRN:

10 The OITILEN.
My apology for writing this arti-
Gle is the deep interest l feel in the
success of the democratic party in
Giles as well as in the state. There
is one question which has entered
into our state politics and upon
which the two prominent parties in
the state entertain opposite views,
which as think might be handled
more effectively by both our public
speakers and writer's, and that is
the penitentiary lease system. The
repu blican party seeks to make cap
ital out of it by making the
poor man believe that it operates
against his interest, as a Iaborer
and as a mechanic. There are
three leading ideas connected with
this subject,to wit: First,as bus
mess transaction on the part of the
state; secondly, as coming in com
petition with the common labOrer
and mechanic; and thirdly, as re-
tarding the development of the
mineral resources of the state. The
first of these was ably discussed by
Gov. Bate at Pulaski; but the last
two, as the writer thinks, were not
handled as well as they might have
been. Gov. Bate showed, conclu-
sively, that under the. lease system
it brings into the treasury of the
state a net profit annually $101, 900,
" hereas under the old system it
brought the state in debt every
year. The republican party tries to
show that the present system
damages the poor man by bringing
convict labor in competition with
him. Let us look into this matter
and see whether it does or not. We
take the ground that it does not af-
feet laborers at all in Giles county.
The convicts are carried by the
lessees to the coal mines of East
Tennessee and are put to work in
them and of course cannot come in
competition with any man in Giles,
as perhaps there is not one in our
county that wants to do such
work. AS it is in Giles, so it is in
the greater part of the state. How
is it with regard to the mechanic?
Under the old system, all the con-
victs, or nearly so, were put to some
kind of trade and therefore it did
affect the interest of the me
chanic; but under the present
system, there are comparatively
only few who are guilty of helm
Gus crimes that are kept in close
confinement and that are put to
trades, and consequently there Is
but little competition with the me-
chanic from this source, at least it
is very much reduced.
As to the third point, Judge Reid,
in his speech at Pulaski, stated
that it retarded the development
of the mineral resources Of the
state. His argument was that ow-
ing to the fact that Cherry & Co.,
the present lessees, get cheap labor,
they can put coal upon the market
more cheaply than other mines can,
who have to pay from one dollar to
one dollar and twenty five cents
dav for labor. The readiness of coal
miners, especially where they have
railroad facilities, is proof, at least
to tue writer, that Notwithstanding
the high price of labor they have to
pay, still they make money, and If
the Iessees of the penitentiary are
the means of reducing che price OF
coal as Judge Reid stated, (and l
presume that he knows, then some
body is benefited by the reduction
and who is it? The answer is, the
public generally and especially the
poor men in cities and towns and
the blacksmiths in the country who
use stone coal, and there are many
that do. So it seems clear to the
writer that the arguments which
are ostensibly against the present
lease system are in fact, when prop
erly analyzed, in its favor and that
of the poor man. CIvIs.