The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1891-08-06
THE CONVICT LEASE SYSTEM.

THE CONVICT LEASE SYSTEM.
Tho svstam of hiring out state cOnvicts to cor,
norations and private individuals IS llli Vi
viciousness and should be abolsheu. inei1 ~ az
several reasons for this. In the ilTst PCL, ny
usually take the places upon pe,pii vb" are nsed
TO earning bread for themselves anu tlieli
lies by laborng in such places ny reason ca coy
contractors hire conyicts Is lhat NY tbny 30
them cheaper in proportion 70 inc NojH tiVS Wv
than free laborers can be hired for ms is an
Injustice on its face If there Is proitI w W
made from their labor, instead OF leStlhg IL pLoEt
onnressive to the honest labor OF the state IL
should he made to inure to the benett OF every
honest citizen, by making conVlcts seli-support-
ing, and thus abOlishing the appropriations
made for the penitentiaries, II not making them
actually profitable to the state so that the gen
eral tax may be lowered. In the second place,
the history of the lease system is history OF
cruelty and brutality upon the part OF the re
lessees and of great suffering upon the part ol
the convicts -Waco Day.
The STATESMAN is no apologist for
the convict lease system. 1t has many
Objectionable features. 1t would be
much better to employ all c0nVlcts at
intramural labor under the direct
superintendency of the state than to
lease them to outsiders and work
them under a shotgun guard. Still it
is well for us to bear in mind that it
requires vast amount Of money to
build prisons and establish manu-
featuring industries. 1t requires
great deal of money TO purchase and
equip farms, and when that is done
the shotgun guard is Indispensable.
The taxpayer as well as the convict
is entitled to little consideration.
When man makes war upon society
and that society, after suffering from
his depreciation, is compelled to incur
the expense of experimenting and try
ing him, is but simple justice that
he should be made to earn what he
eats and wears. 1t is his fault, not the
fault of society, that he is convict.
Society is under no obligations to
furnish him with a comfortable cell
and parade ground, a well equip
ped workshop and a chaplain.
Society may, from philanthropie or
polite motives, have him comfortably
housed and fed, taught q trade and
otherwise attempt his reformation,
but is under no obligation to do so.
There was the law: On one side Of it
honor and freedom; on the other dis
honor and a felon's stripes. The state
has moral and legal right to put her
convicts in palace and regale them
with stuffed truffles and old Falernian
wine if she sees fit; she has also a
moral and legal right to put these
public enemies under shot gun guaro
and sell their labor to the highest bid
der. 1t is just as well not to make
convict life too tempting; just as wei
for the lawless element to understand
that crime may mean a pretty hard
life without much poetry or pie.
1t is difficult to see how convicts are
to be employed, especially at in
tramural labor, without coming more
or less into competition with honest
workmen. Will some Of these wise
acres inform us how it can be done?
Shall we establish manufactures in
our prisons? Then we force private
employers Of skilled workmen to cut
down their force. Shall wo employ
them on state farms? Are not the
American farmers already complain
ing of over-production entailing beg
carly prices?
Really it amounts to this: The con-
victs must be made to earn their own
living or free labor must earn it for
them. At whatever productive occu-
patton they are put, inside or outside
the walls, free labor finds that much
less to do in that particular line of
production.