Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1885-10-07

Of hazardous risks 10 escape. The yearn-
Ing for freedom cannot be cmdlcated
from the human breast. The irksome
restraints Of convict life are hardly pre-
ierable 70 death. As long rs there is The
/ ialntcst hope Of success, where there is
the least relaxation Of watchfulness,
desperate chances viii be taken by dcs-
peratc men in attempting TO escape, only
10 be thwartcd by desperate action by
the guards The employment Of couvicis
outside OF the peultcntlmics is a con
slant invitation TO attempt TO escape
only 10 be prevented by wholesale
slaughter, as at the convict camp near
Alto. Large bodies OF men policed by
handful OF guards in o Sparscly settled
neiahborhood, cannot resist the tcmpta-
ton TO dash for liberty They know the
guards viii shoot and that some Of them
selves will be killed, but each hopes 1t
win not be him and takes the risk Many
are killed and many get of in the coniu-
sion. The state is put to the expense OF
hunting them down and recapturing them,
and some, probably, are never re-
taken. No outbreak OF the kind
would have been Thought of inside
the pcnitentiary, for the chances OF
It's successful execution are so remote as
to discourage the attempt. For proof OF
this we have but to refer to the pcniten
tiary report for ss4, where it is shown
that, ontof 27S escapes, only three were
from the prison walls OF the remaining
go, l85 were from railroad camps, 100
from farms, and 30 from forces working |
outside the walls.
Furthermore, the report declares that
"the greatest mortality has been on the
railroad forces, in proportion to the .
number OF men employed" /
This * sufficient exposition
of the kind OF treatment received (
at the convict camps, where human en- /
durance is often overtaskcd by brutal .
contractors, intent only in getting rs
much laoor for as little expense as posi- .
Bile.
The penitcntiary officials are not to be
blamed for this wrctchcd condition of
lifairs, but the laws which do not allow
The state to furnish adequate accommo
lation for the convicts The two pcn-
entlarics afford room for only 1900 per-
sons, and the prison population is in eX-
'css of $500. What is to be done with
he 1900 who cannot find room inside the h
yallsI Shall now pcnitentiarics be
,ullt; That has been proposed, but the
,cople are avcrsc to the large eXpcndi-
Wc of money that must be appropriated
or such buildings aud furniture Justly
nay the pcntentiary superintendent COM
,lnin that "although the public, or
Grge proportion of it, is clamorous for
he confinement of conyicts within the
walls, yet at the same time the demand
$ made that they be self-supporting.
rhi, can only be done by the immediate
expenditure OF large sums of MONEY, or
" Slow and gradual process which
would not be satisfactory with eshe inn
,atient public"
Whatever may be the views of men as
o the policy or impolicy of working con
lets outside the prison walls, they can
nd no defense for the killing and Grip
ling of score or two of prisoners, and
ZEN will continue to be killed and Grip
led as long as they are exposed to tcmpta-
ions to escape while outside the peniten-
arles, and the guards are charged with
riders to shoot them when they take adj ,
antagc of their opportunities. The
My way to stop this inhuman practice is
. provide quarters for the confinement
f our prison population and keep them
here.