New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-12-14
CONVICTS on PUBLIC WORhS
A LEGITIMATE FIELD FOR THEIR
LABOR.

STATE AND MUNICIPAL ENTERPRISES WHERE 1T
COULD BE USED WITH ADVANTAGE TO
THE PEOPLE AND TO THE PRls-
oNERs THEMSELVES.
To the Editor of The Tribune.
Sir: Your issue of the Sd inst. announced the
martial failure of the attempted solution OF the
nrohlern of providing employment for prisoners OF
the State The three great prisons OF the s.a'e
now contain about three thousand one hunui9u
convicts. Are We then to be "ea'eu "i"
January I next, to the edifying spectacle VI
thousands of able bodied supported IN en-
forced idlepess at the expense of the State? Are
our penitentares and prisons 10 become propa-
gandists of every social evil. where the STATE "'
tically undertakes the criminal educatioh Oh Tue
dangerous classes? Such must be the result unless
restorative and regenerave work is suppien III '"'
form of healthfu outdoor employment Evil ana
decay are the inevitable development unless CON
fronted by preservatlve measures In no heiu "a
sociology more than in criminoogy has TINS truth
been demonstrated. namely. that the constructive
and destructive forces at perpetual warfare
and that the balefu inbreedng OF immortality IL
norance and vice is the direct result of idlenesS
The State has abolished the employment OF con-
victs for contract labor. For this let "ou p'
thanked As stated in a paper read by me before
the Medico-Lega Society of this city, some 'lne
aeo On the subject of prison Labor ana PUBIC
Utility" We are delivered from the hucNs'''-
ing and mistaken policy which, in administering
the penalties of broken law, had converted us
prison population into colonies Of chat'eis ana
slaves sold to the highest bidder under pes'i-
lent contract system. which at one ana the same
time outraged the prisoners. enriched mer'e-
narjes at the expense of legitimate industries anu
made the Commonwealth chargeabie win mex
cusable maadminstration Of its gravest RESPONSE
bties Is the good work to cease? Are the
practical lessons of Elmra, where 1t mas peeh
demonstrated that the criminal classes need be
neither pauperzed enslaved In the interests 81
Justice 10 he ignored? Can nothing he done IN
the way of resuscitation for the criminal or Is ne
10 be wholly abandoned as insensibe TO moral, So
cial and educational influences?
While a high percentage of men permanently re-
stored 10 useful citizenship cannot be looked LOT
under existing conditions, the tide OF recommi'-
ments can be checked and the number OF connrmed
criminals apprecably diminished These results
ave already been realized in England ana swi'-
zerland, where analysis OF criminal STATISTICS
exhibits q dminution Of the criminal classes IN a
steadily growing ratio There are In the state OF
New-York about IS 600 criminals. or this NUMBER
% per cent or 1900 are inmates of It's eighty
III, ee penal institutions. The problem or the pres
ent is such an administration OF this element aS
shall result In the least burden TO the community
wtiIeit secures the best ultimate advantage 10 the
criminal 1t Is impossible. in developing this ques-
ton TO ignore the tramp population This mas al
ready become a danger that battles the sociolosst
and IL gslator 1t is a prevailing epidemic gamer
ing yirulence 1t grows; 1t is parasilc ih'ecuon'
depleting the vitality Of social organization Re-
pudiating all industries. it is wholly given over 10
laziness pillage and debauchery. 1t already sup
niles rich recruiting ground for the Nhilist and
Anarchist. "Once a tramp, always tramp u
becoming a proverb. Here Is widely dispersed
army Of 'vagrant men,, which 1t behooves the state
literally to comprehend as we'll as apprehend
NJ, only iusti.e but the public safety. demands
.harp and decisive measures for the suppression OF
this nuisance. Perhaps the tramp has falieh oeio"
the reach Of industrial invgoration ana but very
s,ender line of demarcaton separates him from
sheer brutishness; yet something must be done
with him. and what shall II be? We gather as the
concurrent Judgment OF prison associations that
the wisest employment Tor the criminal classes lies
IN the public service. least hkely 10 depihia'e
legitimate Industries. while 1t would prove most
beneficial to the community ana '''iA Juus'''' W.
accent without reservation
willie casting about in quest Of projects supreme
10 affecting the public wel-beng, we ma sanitary
and hvgienic measures standing at the FOREFRONT
measures I'm which the great Roman cl'hiZatioh
far surpassed ours. Inadequate water supply ana
defective sewerage constitute the fatah'y OF our
o,,y .ronulotior Suppose that the problem shouli
one day prove soluble. and that Lakes Erie ana
Ontario should become the inexhaustible reservoir
SUNNY not for the metropolis only out Tor inc
northern and southern chain OF growing cities that
stretch between the Great Lakes ana udewater!
=, .ha n,,e,eenth century there few impossi-
bilities to science; in the twentieth there VIII De
still fewer
II was my pleasure during the last summer 10
cvc,e over a thousand miles through Normandy.
Franco and Switzerland. on the great national
highways built by the first Napoleon, which VIII
he rendered with admiration when Austerlz and
Jena are forgotten These splendid strategic routes
anfedating the railway, were the product or mill
tary and convict labor. In the sturdy little re-
hubble whose economics might often be advan-
taseousiy followed by her greater sister, prison
labor was employed almost exclusively in their
construction and II still maintains them like our
parkways Thus Is the State reimbursed In part
for its outlay in caring for its evildoers. Why.
now should not roads built and maintained
in the Same manner. rival those of Europe? 1t Is
hoped the League OF American Wheelmen. with
its membership nearly 10000 will unite one
man in demanding the adoption OF such measure
But TO restrict inquiries to projects already
eubtected to rigid scientific research let us take
brief survey OF the water-supply question, now
widely discussed In our leading journals and which
is IN direct line with the purpose Of this letter II
has been pry,jscted for this supply TO the
Hudson River headwaters. with the reservoir IA
ci!ities and lake supplies In the accessible Adiron
6ack REGIONS Starting with an elevation OF 80
feet II Is proposed to deliver. through more thar
100 miles Of conduit. supply which, feeding the
intermediate towns along the Hudson. shall bs
distributed in NewYork and Its neighooring cities
With head OF 30 feet at an estimated outlay
fos The frst 80 o0O0v gallons daily capacity. d
&S0O,0o0 The late Orlando II. Potter. than whom
no moro eminent authority the subject of New
York's water supply lived, has repeatedl,
asaured me Of his Endorsement OF this plan. II u