The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1888-09-26
PRESS COMMENT.

i'm conformity with advanced thought III the
matter of the employment of the inmates
of the state prison. We do not lose sight
of the fact that much of the published dis
cussiOn of the present middle has been
from financial view of the subject: but
underneath it all the sentiment OF fair
treatment of the convict is dscernable.
The following quotations from the editorial
columns Of some of the leading journals of
the state clearly indicate the humane
views of the gentlemen of the quill"
StPaul Ealy News: 1t seems never to have
occ,red to our beneicient public SITS that the rem
edy was simple enough. Labor is essential wher-
ever the contract system, with US, is intended
to work reform. not revenge. The only injustice
to the workingman is to employ the convict in
competition with him. The injustice to manufac-
turers is to allow certain few to employ the
convicts at rates with which free labor cannot
compete. Why is it necessary to do ether? The
convict's labor if hired out to others should be
paid for at the current rate of wages. II employed
by the state it should be devoted to public works,
road building, ETC., for the state should not engage
in manufacturing or other commercial enterprise.
rate of wages should be paid to the convict. AS
a convict and therefore a ward of the state, the
money he earns should be held in trust for him
or paid to those formerly dependent on him, after
deducting what is nece ssary to reimburse the
state for the cost of his maintenance ANY luxu-
ries allowed the convicts should be paid for by
them with K ra work performed outside of the
regular days labor ard the privilege of purcEas-
In i'm a h
bounds should be the reward of good conduct.
St Paul p. oneer Press: Public sentiment every
where condemns the contract system and it is
pretty nearly obsolete in the more advanced
states of the Union. But public reco 5nition OF
the rights of convicts has grown up step by step
with the recognition of the rights Of lator which
has led to the condemnaton of the contract sys-
tenn 1t is mpos sib Re to relegate convicts to the
barbarous condit ons of solitary confinement, or
body ana 5, u destroying idleness which the sys-
tenn OF confinement at hard labor supers aded.
Those who most desire the abolition of the con-
tract system desire least the abandonment of the
principle of active employment for persons con-
fnei in prisons.
Minneapolis Tribune: The economic aspect OF
the convict labor question is absorbing SO much
attent that are in danger of los ng sight of
the primary objects of prisons. To administer the
pun shment measured out to the criminal by the
law. and in the of tim e-prisOners. to reform
the convict and return him to society as usefu,
member of the same, the ends sought to be at
tanned by enlightened rison discipline and man
agement. Or mes cost money and to punish them
costs money; but these are inevitable eXpendi-
lures. If the convict can be made to support him.
self all the better. But if that cannot be done
without defeating the object of punishment it
will be better for society to pay for his reform
than to let him loose. at the expiration of his
term. ready and Diet ermned to prey upon his
fellow citizens. Decrease of crime is what truly
benefits society at large and labor in particular,
and that convict labor system which most effectu-
ally reforms the criminals not only the best but
also the cheapest in the long
saltwater Democrat: When the b II which ter
minated the old contract system was passed the
men that voted or it thought that they had done
a great thing doubtless and felt satisfied. Proba-
bly, not in twenty of those who voted for it
gave 4 thought to how the four or five hundred
people in that instt ltion were to be kept alive
Perhaps they thought society would be better Of
if they were not to live at all. If that the
ruling motive they ought to have re-revived the
old penal code for ste ,ling. Humanity dictates
different things. We cannot disregard the lives
and health of those who may have disregarded
our social or business regulations, and yet to con-
denim the inmates of prison to confinement
and idleness is booming them to sickness and
death.
saltwater Me ssenger; That the convicts have any
those who are to decide this momentous question
we do not pretend. That they have any right to
decide what they shall do and what they
shall not do during their term of service one
will assert. But that the state will be the gamer