The San Francisco call., 1896-05-12
Labor Commissioner Fitzgerald
Receives Important lnfor.
nation.
PRISON VS.. FREE woRKMEN.
Thousands of Men Hired to Con factors
Who Flood the Country With
Cheap Goods.

The effort of the Manufacturers and
Producers Association and State Labor
Commissioner E. l.. Fitzgerald to devise
ways and means of ending the unfair COM
petition of Eastern prisons with local
manufacturers is likely to be productive
| of good results. The same fight is going
on in the East between free and convict
| laborers, and the united movement of the
manufacturers all over the United States
will probably bear fruit in Congress.
There is now before that body what is
known as the Southwick convict labor
bill, which prohibits the sale in one State
of the goods made by convicts in another
| State. New Jersey has instructed its rep
resentatiyes in Congress- to fight for the
bill and resolutions of a similar order
were recently sent 20 the Pacific Coast
delegation from the Manufacturers Asso-
| citation. Several other States whose
| manufacturers are being injured by this
unfair competition have taken the same
| stand.
That California has long been dump
| ing ground for goods made by convicts in
| Eastern prisons has been known, but
the alarming extent of this trade was not
understood until Warden Hale of the San
Quentin prison went to the wardens' con-
vention last year, where the subject was
| fully discussed.
The great disadvantage lies in the fact
that the convict-made goods are sent to
this State in such a manner that they
cannot be distinguished from free-labor
| articles, and no department of manufac-
| ture escapes. Efforts have been made to
have some distinguishing mark or brand
put on convict goods, and few months
ago Commissioner Fitzgerald sent TO the
| National Manufacturers Convention In
Chicago a resolution which contained the
following:
WHEREAS, The said eonvict-made goods are
sold in open compel tition with free-made goods
without brand or other distinguishing mark of
| Identification, therefore be it
| Resolved. That the Legislature of every State
be and is hereby respectfully requested to enact
| the necessary measures to compel the proper
| branding OF such prison-made articles, and
that each political party be respectfully
| requested to pledge its legislative candidates
| to support this said measure.
He did not stop there, but with view
| OF learning the extent to which Eastern
convict made goods enter into competition
with free labor, and what proportion of
the same is sent to California, he sent let
ters of inquiry to Labor Commissioners in
the East and Eastern State prison off,
| Gals.
The answers are beginning to arrive and
they show the situation Ilore alarming
and menacing to local manufacturers than
was before supposed. In number of the
States gangs OF convicts are let out to
manufacturers of all kinds of goods on
contracts. The articles they make are put
in with the free labor goods, and under
| the name of the firms brand are sent all
over the country, not a small quantity
! finding its way to this State.
Labor Commissioner l.. G.. Powers OF
| Minnesota states that in that State there
are four penal institutions where CONNER
cial articles are made. In the Saltwater
prison binding twine and boots and shoes
are made under the contract system.
| About $l25, 200 worth of twine is made
annually and sold principally in the two
Dakotas. The output of boots and shoes
| from the same prison amounts to about
SIZE, 900, and some two hundred convicts
are employed in this work. This footwear
product of contract-conyict labor, it is said,
| is sold through the contractors, the Union
Shoe and Leather Company of st. Paul.
Mr.. Powers says that this same firm has
similar contract or two with the penal in
s.itutions of Indiana. The output from
the latter State is handled through
Chicago. The writer says that there is no
way OF identifying these goods by mark or
label.
Another important letter received by
Commissioner Fitzgerald was from Com
missioner w. Z. O'Bleness of Des Moines,
Iowa. He says that manufacturing is done
| in the Fort Madison penitentiary. Mr..
o. Bleness writes:
The State of Iowa has q contract with three
manufacturing institutions who pay the State
AZ cents per day per man, they furnishing the
raw material, the State furnishing the tools TO
perform the labor with and the men. The
laws of the State do not require these manu-
featuring institutions to make any returns as
| to the amount of goods manufactured or TO the
place or persons sold.
| The institutions having these men under
contract are Huiskamp Bros, manufacturers
of Shoes Keokuk, Iowa; the Iowa Farming
Tool Com pany of Fort Madison, Iowa, and the
Fort Madison Chain Company OF Fort Madi-
They have no means of identifcation-are
not branded in any way. They are simply
taken to their different factories and sold with
| other goods manufactured outside of the
| prison and we have no means OF knowing
| when we buy their product whether 1t is
manufactured in the prison or In the factories
| outside of the prison.
Mr.. O'Bleness says that the labor Or
CARNATIONS have fought the convict con-
tract system, but have only succeeded in
preventing it from growing.
According to the answer from Labor
| Com missioner Charles I'll. Morse of Michi-
gan the Legislature and Governor of that
State believe in making its peniten-
| tiaries self-supporting even If compe titlon
| between free and convict labor is neces-
sary. There are fonr penitentiaries in that
State where manufacturing is carried on.
Mr.. Morse says:
AS to the names of the parties to
| BILE to give them One person manufactures
| certain lines OF furniture and believe has
| more than 1000 purchasers, and they have not
| even the names of one-tenth of them.
] Our prison made goods are not branded or
marked in any way whatever.
James l.. Pace, warden of the State
prison of Missouri, writes to the Califor-
| MIA Commissioner under the date OF May
| as follows:
We have only one, ,penitentiary in this State,
| and have nearly 2300 conviets confined
| therein. About one-third of them are worked
| by contractors at SO much per man per day in
| different lines of manufacture. We have no
| supervision over those who are worked by con-
| tractors only TO furnish guards and maintain
| them. Hence am unable to give you any in
| formation as TO the amount of their products,
or the value of the same, or TO whom sold or
| as TO whether or not any Of their products are
| sold in the State of California.
In the State of Nebraska most of the
products of convicts' labor are harness,
saddles and cooperage. but whether any of
these are sent to this State Labor Com
missioner J. II. Powers is unable to state
| af