The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1891-08-12


Let ehe investigation go on by al
means, and mas it be thorough.
HORRORS or A NEW Y0RK PRISON
Just ssa'v the Northern newspapers
are making such a vigorous attack
upon the Southern convict system
that there is disposition on the part
OF the Southern press to assume an
atologetic tone.
Let the truth come out. Doubts
less there is great deal Of uuuces-
sary suffering under our system, nut
this is true OF the Northern prison
system. When brutal men are in
control Of convicts, whether North or
South, in 3 big prison or in chain,
gang, they will make their cruelty
cit. Geographical lines hav noth>
ing to do with it. All the world
over the strong Cypress the weak, and
the convict bosses are no more ans
gelic in Maine than they are III Texas.
Only last Sunday the New York
Morning Advertiser devoted six col
umns to the exposure of the horrors
Of Clinton prison, up in the Adiron
dack forest. An Advertiser reporter,
in order to find out the facts, OBJ.
tanned employment IN the prison as
guard he remained there two
months, and saw atrocities that made
BIN sick at heart.
Here is a picture of every. day lite
in a model Northern prison. The
principal keeper, James Moon, is de
scrlbed as Incorporate, profane aud
staggering. Under his ADMINISTERS
ton convicts have been hung by tb.
wrists in shackles from periods of
twelve. twenty our and thirty con,
seeHtlye nd h9efs rr6622aa teadi almost iaK e
in the prison yard driven to work
when scarcely able to @alk worked
ircm daybreak until bedtime; de-
prived of TODD and water for four,
five and six consecutive days; beaten
in the face with fists and over the
head with clubs by keepers while
hanging detenseless in the shackles
confined in dungeons for weeks on a
daily al owance of one ounce OF bread
aud a gill of water; shaekled back
ward to cell doors for long periods i:
placed in positions OF torture daily for
weeks: hung by the wrists with slen>
der cords of waxed thread until their
terrible agonies ended in unconscious
ness, and subjected to such brutahties
that one of the officers remarked /:
Two thirds of the Ioafers are halt
crazy"
A sick convict at Clinton is in a
bad fix. Moons idea is that a man
strong enough to take medicine is
able to work. When a convict shows
signs Of an unbalanced mild, the
keeper strings him up by the wrist,
saying; III the loa'er amt crazy
we'll make him crazy"
The keepers and guards are denseIy
ignorant, and brutality is the rule
| In hurried fashion we have sum,
married. their methods, bat the full
details of all thi, clubbi"g, choking
roasting and freezing would be toe
revolving for the average reader.
When the great stat of New York
permits such blot on her escutcheon
at a time when her retorners anc
philantnropists are thanking the Lord
that they are so much better than
their Southern brethren, it is in order
to inquire what is going on in other
Northern prisons. Clinton is rroba
oily not the only place OF torture IN
the Northern states.
Colonel Cockerill's bright and iear~
less paper has rendered great service
to humanity and civilization in max
ing this exposure We do not be-
lieve that anything comparable to its
fendish cruelty exists in any South
ern convict changing. Our short
comings, however, should be shown
up. We should not be satisfied with
our system simply because it is not as
bad as the New York system. Per
haps we have not had time since WI
emerged from the wreck and ruin o
the war to reach perfection in any
thing, bu, we should keep our face
turled in that direction, and see tina
our administration OF the penal ter
II