Omaha daily bee., 1895-10-06
HOW IT ISD0NE IN GEORGIA
Management Of the State Prisoners on the
Contract System.
IT MAKES A PROFIT FOR THE PEOPLE
Only Three state Officers and No
Prison building to Mnintnin-Rc-
marknbIe Features of the sys-
tenn Now in vogue.

ATLANTA, Ca. Oct. 2, 1s95.-(speclal Cor
respondence .)CConyicts heavily shackled,
working in the sweltering heat and guarded
by armed men, is a startling and novel sight
to a Nebraskan, but common enough here.
1t looks a little like barbarism until you
learn that the men, as a general thing, are
so dead to the finer feelings Of their kind
that to them chains are not an insult and a
degradation. Georgia is trying to solve the
problem of convict labor to her own salts
faction, and while in Nebraska penitentlary
matters are a source of constant irritation in
state politics, a hotbed Of corruption and a
frightful expense, here the criminal becomes
a source of profit instead of being withdrawn
from the ranks of labor and becoming a
burden upon the law abiding class.
Until the war Georgia had the same plan OF
dealing with her criminals that Nebraska has
at present. They were confined within walls
and followed trades, and regularly the legis-
lature was called upon to make appropriations
for their support, amounting yearly to $50, 900
or sac, 600. The labor element was constantly
in a ferment at having to compete with con-
Wet work on certain lines. Then 1t was re-
solved to adopt the system of leasing convict
labor, and that plan is now in operation, but
gives little satisfaction.
At first it was pretty rough and inhuman,
but Governor w. j. Northen brought an in
'ASN oBiAlI lhNo IOuldC Win L,
changing much that was wrong and bringing
the whole system more into harmony with
modern ideas as to the objects Of punishment.
He believed that the first object to be at
tanned was the safety of society, the second
the reform Of the criminal. He was the first
executive to separate the colors and to sepa-
rate the sexes. Up to his time, blacks and
whites worked, slept and ate together In the
same chains and without distinction of sex;
women mingled with their male companions
in crime. The result may be imagined; it
cannot be described. Under Governor Northen
all this was changed and order and decency
were introduced. so. that the color prejudice
Is not awakened and the women work by
themselves.
ONLY THREE SALARIES.
The state is divided into three penitentiary
numbers and the convicts In each are leased
out to labor in mines, quarries, saw mills,
brick yards. lumber camps and farms. The
officers employed by the state are only three
in number-a principal keeper, with a salary
Of 1000 a year, an assistant keeper, salary
$1,000 a year, and a principal physician,
whose salary is $4,000 a year. This is abso-
lutely all the expense OF the system to the
state, $4,000 a year. The attitude of the
state toward the criminal is purely one of
oversight and care, upon the lessee falls all
the expense. The lessee pays for the labor of
each convict 81 per year, and in addition to
this he has to provide clothing, food and
armed guards. The. clothing is the usual
striped suit, to which is added a citizens suit
when the term Of the convict expires and he
is about to enter, society again as a free man.
Tho food is abundant and varied.
according to a d~ictatOry scale prescribed
by the principal physician. The means
taken to prevent escape consist Of men with
rifles, shackles upon both limbs, and a bar
racks for sleeping. purposes, so constructed
that a heavy chain runs its entire length, to
which each convict Is fastened. like cavalry
horses tied to a picket rope. but so as to
afford a chance to shift his position. The
lessee is responsible for the safety of those
he hires, and for every one escaping he pays
5000. No excuse is accepted unless it was
impossible to prevent escape under the re-
quirements Of the tease. In vain the lessee
pleads that the escaped mans conduct was
so admirable that he was made a trusty.
He is told that he had no right to make
TRUSTEES and must pay the fine. Sometimes a
man wishes to retire into the bushes. He
goes without a guard, and that is the last
seen of him. The woods swallow him up and
the lessee pays 5000, because he had no right
to leave the man unguarded. The annual in
come of the state from this source alone
is about $13, 900. At the same time the les
see has no power to punish the convict. That
matter is left to the whipping boss. He is
not permitted to overwork the gang, and
If any plead sickness as an excuse for not
working they are at once examined by the
local physician, and either ordered to work
or to the hospital. as the case may be.
There are now twenty-five camps Of these
%convicts, who number in all about $500,
seventy OF whon are women. vi the women
only two are white. The local physician is
In constant charge ana the principal phy'
slclan Is required 10 visit every camp once
every TWO months. so great is the care taken
10 select healthy places Tor the camps ana
10 auhiiaiScer 10 the SICK tnat tne ueatn rate
- ohiy i'oo lroIn an causes, incluulns oehs
snot - a'.sniptths " eaoape, d mucn iuss 90
ouaon iaue .nnn III etahns aH'onss' 'he
o'e pHmITh 7, - TI,E ST 1r
T, oddttjan 20 ~ hi nonthIv ;rsnont,o, hv
Tho nrincinai nbunto,on ~ 10 maao tba drtyy
~ mo orapd i p 20 vis,t tbo nonnns and -,
mort and eacb iesis,atnre annoints q com
mittee for the same nlrpose, Tn this wav
the state considers that Il is doing its div
To n class which is a faster ,non the hody
polite and at the same time it relieves the
taxpayers of an enormous burden. In this
t,ba iessess V os hive shOnt cox 600 and sc auea
for escanes sI3 600 making in al, in favor Of
the state about $4,000 a year.
The nice distinctions of color amongst the
c%onvicts are novel and amusing: In the
sla.e reports tney are hnown as WHIT piach,
cake N w ee'
IN is gratifying IN know tbat the white
race furnishes on,v ahnut % mar cant ~
the criminal class Tbo most nravaIant
o,;,nas orc huraiann ~ ond uur WIZ
raaarS 70 tba saon1 IN - 80 ,Saro 80