Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-09-28

What 10 Told of the Convict Lease System
I'm Southern Prisons.


I'm Southern Prisons.
of The Evening Star
New YORK. Sept q. 1892.
The recent developments in the south in ref
erence to the convict lease system and their
effects. particularly in Tennessee and Georgia.
are attracting a good deal Of attention here and
are the subjects Of good deal Of discussion
The convict lease system is maintained, accord
ing to the statements made here, in twelve
states That q system which not only puts con-
Wet labor in competition with working people,
but is in fact q tra,ic In esh and blood should
be permitted IN twelve states of this free coun-
try is somewhat startling statement
The states practicing the convict
lease system are, according the state
ments furnished here. Alabama, Arkansas.
Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana. Missis-
sippi. Nebraska, North Carolina, South Caro-
lima, Tennessee and Washington. All OF these
states, it will be observed, except Washington
and Nebraska, are southern states, and with
the exception of the two Eirginias and Texas
ell southern states have the convict lease sys-
TEN. Whether any point can be made or is
made in political way on this Is uncertain, be-
cause 1t appears that in several OF these states
the system was adopted under republican ad-
mlnistrations. but has been continued under
democratic administrations.
In this connection some statements made by
an investigating committee in Georgia upon the
system in in that state have Just been
brought to the surface here, and are rendered
especially interesting in the light Of the recent
development as to the use OF convict labor in
the mines Of Georgia and Tennessee. That
committee said in its report that the average
number of escapes from the campo of prison.
ers. including those killed in attempting to es-
Sc 20 a,$ - HI
And there a result in the state of Geor-
gia over 500 escaped criminals at large. The
law provides penalty Of 900 for every escape
unless the convict is recaptured in sixty DAYS.
yet not one dollar has been recovered by the
state from its contractors.
The fact that the system puts large number
Of criminals afoat in the community from, the
numerous escapes is not its worst feature. The
same report shows that the mortality is fearful
in these camps. In one camp it is stated that
the mortality is 10 per cent per month, and in
another even more than that. In these camps
men and women are found chained together,
and from twenty to twenty-five children have
been born In captivity in the convict csmux
Some further facts are cited with reference
to the system in use in Tennessee. The testi-
mony Of q guard at the Coal Greek prison in
Tennessee shows that prisoners black and dirty
from their work in the mines were put into
their rooms In the stockades without an oppor-
portunity for cleanliness. Convicts were
whipped, . man standing at the head and
another at the feet. while q third applied the
lash with both hands. Men who failed to per-
form their task of mining from two to four
tons Of coal per day were fastened to planks by
the feet, then bent over . barrel and fastened
by the hands on the other side, stripped and
beaten with strap. Out Of the fifty
convicts worked in the mine from one to eight
were whipped per day in this manner. There
was scarcely a day, according to the testi-
mony Of the witness, James Frazier, In which
one or more were not hogged in this manner
for failure to perform their days task. The
work in the mines was difficult and the air some
times so bad that the men fell insensibls and
had to be hauled out. Their beds he describes
as dirty, black and nasty looking" They slept
in the same clothes they worked in and got
change but once in two weeks. One Of the con-
victs, testifying as to the kind Of food given
peas containing weevils and added: 81 have got
q spoonful Of weevils OF Of one cup OF soup"
In many cases convicts were forced TO work in
water six inches deep for weeks at time get
ting out coal with one-fourth Of the air neces-
sary for . healthy man to live in, forced to
drink water from st.gnsnt pools, when noun
tain springs were just outside Of the stockades,
and the reports Of the prison officials showing
large numbers killed in attempting to escape.
The defense of this system is based wholly
upon it, economy 10 the state. II % argued that
ii would cost large sums Of money to build pen
itentiaries In which 10 confne and work the
prisoners - IL done In the northern states,
while the lease system brings the state a reve-
nue. and relieves II Of the cost Of building and
maintaining prisons. The fact that convict Ia
Dor Il in this way brought into direct competi-
ton with free labor does not seem 10 be taken
into account The contractors. who get thess
laborers for 50 or 10 cents per day, can drive
out Of the market the man who employs free ~
Dor ct o. . day.
This condition Of Affairs briefly alluded 10 In
detail In Tennsssee and Georgia exists In other
southern states. In North Carolina the same
system exists, except that only sble-bodied
convtcts are fsrmed out The death rates
among the convicts Is reported - greater than
the death rate Of New Orleans In The greatest
yellow fever epidemic ever known. In Ala
hama . new warden with his natursl instincts
unbluntsd By familiarity with the Gtuatioa
wrote ct IL: "Ths system y better training
school for criminals than asy Of the dsus q
iniquity In our large citisA Ths syptsn b .
diserscs 70 IL stab snA - rsproaeh Of the
sivilisa&iea cd Christiaa sentiDsat q the age.