Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1891-07-31
GOOD ROADS BADLY NEEDED.
And Here Is an Illinois Scheme for
Bringing Them About.

Bringing Them About.
A correspondent of the Chicago Herald,
writing from Aurora Ills, says; Two
evils both remediable, from which the
state of Illinois suffers will do much to
retard the naturally rapid growth in
wealth and population of this state.
These two evils are lack of good roads
and lack of proper legislation Oh the CON
vct labor question. The deplorable re-
suits of convict contract labor in every
state where it has been tried have often
been elucidated in the press, and so have
the iniquities incidental to that system.
1t was largely in consequence of this
able ventilation of these bad results by
the press of this state that our legislature
at last abolished all convict labor by con-
tract However, this action of out law
makers has by no means had the rad
ical effect that was at first anticipated,
and for two reasons First, because
nothing was put in place of the system
abolished, so that while there is an over
abundance of convicts no employment
remunerative to the state has been pro-
vided for them; and next, because no
law exists to prevent the importation of
convict made goods into the confines of
Illinois from other states where the con-
tract system has not been done away
with. The consequence has been that
practically nothing has been accom-
plished by the abolition of contract
labor in Illinois. The proper thing to
do, therefore, is for Illinois, having done
away on her part with contract convict
labor, to ask congress that her citizens
be protected from the convict labor of
other states.
OF late it has been advocated in va
rious parts of the state to meet two re-
quirements of the case, viz, giving the
state good roads and our convicts steady
employment Of a kind beneficial to the
interests of the state as whole and yet
not conflicting with the rights and in
terests of private individuals or whole
branches Of trade or industry, by put
ting the convicts of our penitentiaries to
work at building and mending roads all
over Illinois. This plan, so far as can be
learned, meets with general approval on
! the part of all good citizens, but more
especially among the rural inhabitants,
because they are the ones who, as class,
would derive the largest benefit from
realization of it. The whole plan seems
to be eminently feasible and easily car
ried out To make it work right some
such system might be devised as the one
now being put to practical test in Ohio
In that state the ticket of leave plan is
now being tried Men who are not con-
victed of any desperate crime might be,
after serving short probationary term
in the penitentiary itself, put on the
roads of the state, constructing new
ones and mending old ones. After
time at this work all those who behaved
themselves and did not shirk their task
would be released on the ticket of leave
plan, having served out altogether, per-
haps, one-third or one-half of the entire
term to which originally they had been
sentenced. In connection with that the
making of tile and vitrified brick of
which materials there would be needed
an immense quantity right along, once
good roads came to be built in this way
all over this prairie state, could be sys-
teinatized and made exclusively a state
prison industry-such as the making of
shoes and wagons was in part in former
years.
There are, it is understood, an average
of about 1900 male convicts in our state
prisons able to do this work. If of that
number there are perhaps, 800 not in
for any grave crimes, but for petty ones,
these could be utilized steadily for the
building and mendIng of roads Or, if
the number should be but | 200 or even
1000, that would still give force Of men
large enough to accomplish great deal,
if properly directed and supervised. For
these convicts, even if not desperate
characters, would still need overseers all
the time, partly to instruct and guide
them, partly to guard against new Of
lenses or excuses on their side. The re-
naming force of convicts could remain
at the penitentiary just as they do at
present. only they would be put to the
manufacturing of the tile and culverts
and vitrifed brick required by the thou
sands every day in road making, For
the gravel and stone now SO largely used
in the central part of this state for roads
are death ON horses, besides they never
make good, permanent roadbeds, such
as our farmers and dairymen and rural
merchants require. A good idea would
be to dig alongside the road proper a
ditch road, so to speak, into which the
snow and rain would run during wet
weather, leaving the vitrifed brick road
dry and fit for travel while during dry
weather the ditch road itself could be
used by teams passing along that way,
soft road being excellent to travel
over during dry weather.
These details of the plan, adding the
proviso that the manufacture of road
building material, brick, vitrifed brick,
tile, etc., must be regulated and safe.
guarded by law, so as to avoid the sell
, ing of this material to other parties ex,
J cept the ones entitled to it, seem simple
enough. There Is, however, in all this a
! moral question involved as well. The
, fact that convict labor was allowed foi
years and years to compete with honest
labor outside the prison walls will still