The Labor enquirer., 1885-03-21
Extracts from Report of the
: Ohio Commissioners of
Labor Bureau.
Manufacturers Competing With
Convict Labor Driven into
Bankruptcy. tca.
New York Employing shoemakers Find
No Profit in Business Because
Of Convict Competition. h=E

4
1.-The labor of convicts confined in jails
mas, Ior many yeHrs, Dccn- rsorvtr5ry--
posed by the laboring classes. Little OIL
no attention was paid to this opposition
by officials, as it was claimed by the
contractors for this convict labor that
the amount of such labor was too small
to injuriously affect free labor. When
however, commission of the Ohio leg
islature after an investigation of the
subject, reported that manufacturers
were unanimous in their opposition to
the contract system, and $50 decided
and unequivocal is this opposition that
political parties must speak out against
this syste m if they desire the SUPP ort Of
this very influential portion of our peo-
ple," politicians took the hint, and since
then legislatures and Bureaus of Labor
Statistics have been investigating the
matter. Massachusetts,, Connecticut,
New Jersey, MARYLAND, New York. Illi-
nois and more recently Michigan, have
either by legislative commissions or
labor bureaus or both inquired into the
subject 1t is scarcely necessary to give
extracts from more than one of these re-
ports and the following from the Ohio
commission being more condensed will
best serve as sample of the whole:
1--WE do not wonder at the feeling of
opposition manifested toward the con-
tract system by our manufacturers when
it is the cause of crippling their business,
throwing many of their workmen out of
employment. and greatly reducing the
wages of those remaining. The evidence
shows chat outside manufacturers have
been driven into bankruptcy, some COM
PEELED to make assignments, while others
are enabled to keep their shops running
only by paying wages, little, if any, bet
ter than those paid the state contractors
for prison labor. ..
Again, wo find tLat raaa,1,Ifa otrirarsi
have, in many instances, been driven to
the discharge of their workmen, and
closing their shops outside and taking
contracts in penitentiaries and work
houses, because they were unable to
compete with contract convict labor.
The testimony shows conClu-
slvely that the contract system is directly
responsible for large percentage of the
reduction in wages. \ 1t not
only tends to pauperlze honest labor,
but is responsible for the over-crowded
conditions of our penal institutions. n
Furthermore it is not the manu-
facturer that makes the largest quantity
that makes prices, but in times of de-
preston the manufacturer that manu-
factures cheapest practically controls the
market and fixes prices"
Prison managers oppose the system
because contra ;tors interfere with prison
discipline and render the reformation
of criminals impossible. Employees of
contractors frequently are instructed to
find fault with convicts, and do all in
their power to prevent their terms being
shortened by the good times" laws.
The several commissions moreover
assert that contractors have used their
infuepce with courts to have criminals
sentenced for the longest time provided
| by law, whereas the best interest of So
ciety demands short sentences for first
offerses.
The contractor for prison labor is at no
expense for rent, taxes nor insurance, as
the states, most of them by the terms Of
the contract are liable for damages by
fire. The average wages paid Is one
fourth that of free labor. In the boot
and shoe business 1000 (seyen thousand)
convicts are employed at an average Of
40 cents per day. In New, York 12,000,.
900 pairs of shoes are made annually by
prison labor at 40 cents per day. In the
report of the New York Bureau of Labor
Statistics for 1884, which by the way is
the most masterly exposition of the con.
tract convict labor system yet made, we
find the following in letter from q
shoe manufacturer to that bureau. 1--WE
find general agreement among legiti
mate shoe manufacturers that, by reason
of these prison made goods prices are
borne down 80 low that there is little OF
no profit, and is bringing forth the re,
suits seen in the failures of boot and
shoe manufactures, not only but the
failures of men engaged in collateral
trades"
The following table gives the number
of convicts employed in the industries
specified in the United States. The table
is a summary of the statistics obtained
by Massachusetts Bureau of Labor, in
1880 and is reliable: 49,
Males Females Tota.
Agricultural implements 602 ..-...... 6G
Boots and shoes.....-......... $3.50 81 sos
| carpets S-.................!......-.. l63 Il 1E
Carriages and wagons. ,25l 1,3
Cigars and tobacco......... $40 ........ 5lC
Clothing. 53Z 73O 40
| Furniture ..................... 2,763 III 2,SS4
| Iron goods...-.................. 3 ~ 81 $50
Farmers and laborers-... l0, ,467 l40 l0,6G
Leather and leather
goods -......................,.-. 7S6 76l
stone ,6O9 u 16S
Wooden goodS--.......!..... 10 ........ IN
1 Prison nduties-............... 3,50T 1,423 4,93t
| miscellaneous ............... 953 269' 3,2i