Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-01-17
CONVICT LABOR.
4 Scientific sbd Neral Reason Why the
Government should Make Alaska a Penal
fnIony

Government should Make Alaska a Penal
COLONY.
RICHMOND, VA, Jan. II, 1886.
To the Editor of the Dispdtch:
In former letters | endeavored to
give some practical and financial rea-
sons why convicts should be cOlonized
in Alaska, instead Of being located, as
they now are, in the centres of popula-
ton, where their activity in the various
trades has reduced the working classes
to a condition Of servitude not unlike
that, in many respects, that existed
prior to 1865, and located also where
even their presence is a hindrance to
morality.
shall now attempt to give a scIen-
tifc reason why convict labor-thls dis
turbing element, or barnacle as it were,
Of our Civilizations should be exiled to
Alaska, and thus relieve the communi-
ties in which they are located Of their
competing labor and communicating
presence and influence, and at the same
time be made to subserye scientific
end-by possibly producing a climatic
effect on the United States. To Illus
trate my subject it is necessary to re-
peat what | have written in a former
letter, that Alaska is a vast tract of
uninhabited land, facing on the one side
the Beh1ing sea and on the other ex-
tending far into the mystic arctic cir
Gle. 1t has large rivers flowing through
it, and it is thought to have fully one sixth
of the area Of the United States, much
Of it covered with a magnificent conf
ferrous forest" and this latter fact
bring, me to my subjects--that Of for
eStyy and its effect upon climate. Scien-
fists are agreed that the temperature
and rainfall Of the United States have
undergone. and are still undergoing,
rapid and wonderful change, and that
the cause Of this change is due, in a
great measure, to the wasteful and cruel
hand of our people in the destruction Of
our once majestic forests most dire
full destruction, that is proceeding at the
astounding rate Of 2j,O00,000 square
miles annually lextract in a recent Dis
patch-a depletion, also, that is
causing a marked change Of the
topography Of our continent, and is
affecting our climate in a manner that |
cannot explain in popular style in so
short letter as | propose this to be.
Therefore ] rest my unqualified state
ments on the accepted opinion Of
scientists by the public that the deple-
ton of forests affects temperature and
rainfall. So convinced is the public OF
this theory Of the scientists that State
Legislatures and the Congress Of the
United States are legislating on the sub
iect and enacting laws for the preserya-
ton Of forests. Now. why cannot this
climatic effect he remedied by sparing
our home forests, and utilizing in their
stead the forests of this northern ccun-
try, whose only use seems to be to lash
the northern atmosphere into cold
waves and billiards that sweep with
destructive force over the country pc
riodically. Why not transfer the
convict there, and let him develop
these now useless forests of that I'M
known land; by which development a
profitable business might be built, our
climate changed, and the rainfall in
creased throughout the United States,
by putting an end to the depletion Of
our home forests. Outside of this
scientific consideration Of the question
there is also moral view to be taken
of this colonization scheme. BY his
removal hither the cOnyict's moral per-
ceptions would be improved. The ten
denotes Of northern climates is "to
modify and subdue the most stub
born natures" The grand and
awful surroundings, the loneliness
and quiet Of the region, could
but be conducive to reflection,
contemplation, and religious life. The
cold shadows of the North always pro-
mote sweetly pensive and moral natures,
while the burning sunlight Of southern
chimes develop the evil natures of man.
This is strikingly illustrated in the
docile and patient Esquimaux child Of
the North and the fierce and cruel
Comonche Indian of the South, each Of
whose natures are the reflex and pro-
ducts of the climates under which they
have been born and reared. Paradox
cal as my views appear, | think they
have a bearing on the conyict-labor
question. ID.