Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1884-02-25

system, VsnUr nfOVtuc W. io0"''t
by the state of control of her pr'so"s
and convlcts. In So doing, howeve',
the state was careful not TO in'er'eie
with some contracts, madein iSS2, ana
those contracts leased the labor VI "
large number of convlcts for peii"u
of 1--WE wears. Nine hundred were hireu
to planters. and they are working TO-
day under that lease, for such u was
The state has supervision "i THESE V.''
victs. IL receives stipulated sum ior
their lnhor-but 10 all intents ana P"i-
noses. they are leased, as they were
under the oldsystem. Again the'e "'e
to-day ten convict trains, distrIOule''
among the different railroad lines "l
the state. They are hired aud w"rKeu
by the railroads about rs they were
under the leases Of Ward Dewy q 20"
and Cunningham 4 Ellis. the only
difference beirg that the railroau com
panies make their payments to the
state, instead OF TO the lesees' me
truth Is that the state, owing tn tue
utter inadequacy of prison oul'ulns'
machinery and other appliances LOT
utilizing convict labor, has not been
able to enter upon any material hloul-
fication of her convict system. III Is
changed in name, but in little else,
and from the present outlook IL VIII pe
several years before we shall nave
in Texas IA real convict system. Inc
most that may be said Is we nave
turned our faces to better methods ana
made start Perhaps within anoth-
er decade we shall have reached the
ideal system. II isquite sure, however,
that we will not reach 1t If society
assumes that IL has solved the prison
problem, and washes its hands
of any further interest in or attention
to the matter. There Is yet, and Will
be, from year to year, great deal TO
do in the way OF bettering the existing
system contract in name, lease as To
actual operations) and making IL what
its name implies. 1t will be unfortu.
nate i, the public mind becomes care
less and seli-satisiied as To this matter.
Tue state authorities, we are glad to
believe, are making earnest and intel
ligent efforts to do their whole duty
in the premises, and we can under
stand aud appreciate, too, the spirit OF
the \ VS. in calling attention To the
changing phases of the convict system
in Texas. The News has done credit
able work in helping To bring about
remedial measures. But the reform
will never be thorough or practical as
long as only n minimum per centhge
fthe convicts are under the direct
control of the state. A thousand pris-
oners working in gangs of fifty to two
hundred on cotton ami sugar planta-
ito $ here and there; II thousand more
distributed along railroads from Tex
arkana to Laredu-is very little better
than the gangs distributed in the coal
ana iron mines of Alabama and Geor-
gia. The difference in the systems, as
TO actual operations is so nearly inn
mat srial that Mr. Cable Is hardly to
be blamed for ignoring technicalities
and placing Texas in the SAME cate
CORY with Alabama and Georgia. Our
system is superior, We grant, to the
methods prlcticed in those states. We
have ut least undertaken to institute
reforms. But we have yet to make
those reforms comprehensive and more
beneficent before we can view our own
system with any degree of cornplacen-
! ,.,.