The evening times., 1896-08-19
CRIME on THE MCREiiSsEE'
Number Of Convicts in Pen
itentiarieS Growing.
LABOR IS NOT VALUABLE
In 1885 Total Wages Paid by Con-
tractors and Lessees to States and
Counties Amounted to Only 49,
5i2,97O-Ratio for Present Year
Believed to BE Less.

Commissioner of Labor Carroll d. Wright
has just issued bulletin, which contains
some Interesting statistics and general in
formation about convict labor in the United
States. The total number of convicts In
penal Institutions in the various States in
1885 was Al ,SS7. In 1S95the humber rose
TO 54,244. or the number imprisoned In
1885 1867 were females.
The number OF females imprisoned In
1895 was 1888, an increase of only Il. In
1885 the number engaged in productive la
Dor was 80. 1853, being 1871 per cent of the
total number of convicts at that time, while
In 1895 the number engaged In productive
labor was 3S,4l5, or 7O.S per cent, OF, the
total number of conyicts.
WhlIe there was thus a decrease in the
proportion OF c0nvicts employed in product
i've labor, 1t will be seen that there was also
q decrease In the proportion Of those en-
gagged in prison duties, for in 1885 the total
so engaged was 1891, or 20 per cent OF
the whole number of conyicts, while in
1885 there were s,sO4 SO engaged, being
1872 per cent of the whole number.
An increase in the proportion OF the Idle
and sick in the ten years is observed. In
-tooo shS huihpCi was S,O3o, Vi O.o pea SCub
OF the whole, while in 1895 the number of
idle and sick was Z 1928, being 13 per cent
OF the whole.
MORE WORK DONE.
An increase in the amount OF work done
in penal institutions during 1895 has oc-
Cured In the following States and Ter
ritories: Alabama, Connecticut, Florida,
Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mis-
souri,, New Hampshire, New Mexico Rhode
Island, South Carolina, Texas, Vermont,
Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. A
decrease occurs in the following named
States and Territories: Arizona. Arkan-
sas. California, Colorado, q eorgia, Illinois,
Indiana Iowa Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana.
Maine, Michigan, Mississippi. Nebraska,
Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North
Carolina. Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South
Dakota. Tennessee and West Virginia.
The total value OF goods produced or
work done in the United States, for the
various States and Territories, in all the
State prisons and penitentiaries, for 1895.
was SIS, ,O42 ,472.33.
This sum represents the value of the goods
after the materials have been manipulated
by the convicts. 1t does not represent the
value which has been added by them but
represents the value of the materials on
which work has been bestowed and the W ork
itself.
Under the publc-account system prison
officials purchase the materials and convert
them, by the labor of convicts. into goods,
which they Sell. Thcsvalue given includes,
therefore, the value of the ma aterlals pur-
chased plus the laboEexpended upon tEern
by the prisoners. Innpurchasing materials
the prison Officials insmany instances pur-
chase the finished products of n.anufactur-
ers outside of prisons. They purchase ev=
erything thati essential for conversion into
certain articles.
So the contractors working under the
contract system take to the prisons tile
materials. whicl, there, by labor OF the
convicts, they convert into finished goods.
The value reported to the departm eDt,
therefore. covers the value Of the mater
ials, whether the finished products of some
other manufacturers or purely raw mater
ialsplus thelabor expended upon them. The
SIS. .042 ,472 SO does not represent the la
Dor OF the convicts themselves.
VALUE OF THE LABOR
In SIS the total wages paid by Contract
ors and lessees to States and counties for
the labor of coDvicts, from which resulted
product of the value Of SIS, ,753 ,9S9, was
only So, ,512 $40, OF 81 Of convict labor
wages to Sc. 10 of finished product of con-
vict labor. There is reason to believe that
the ratio at the present time is less than
that for 1885. At the present time in all
probability the total value OF the labor ex-
pended by the convicts in the State pcni-
tenuaries and prisons Of the country does
not ex ceed So 500 900.