Kansas City daily journal., 1897-02-08
Idle Conyicts.
From the Philadelphia Press.

From the Philadelphia Press.
Mr. Eugene Smith, of New York q high
authority upon everything relating to the
management and discipline of prisons
writes to the New York Evening Post in
reference to the Prison Labor Problem"
The section of the rev state constitution
touching convict labor which went into
effect January 1, 1897, forbids in the pris-
oIs any industry in which the labor Of
the convicts shall be farmed out or con-
tacted, and also forbids any industry the
product of which shall be sold or given
away. The prisoners may, however, be set
at public work-that is, work for the state
the product of their labor may be dis
posed of TO the state or to any county or
town. or any public institution
The result of these prohibitions is al
ready seen to be just what any intelligent
student of the subject knew it would be
disastrous in the extreme. Not more than
10 o. 20 per cent Ghe superintendent of the
state prisons estimates that not more than
fifty persons) of the prisoners can by any
possibility find employment within the linn
its that are permitted. 1t follows that at
least so per cent of the convicts will re-
main wholly unemployed. This enforced
idleness promotes insanity, increases the
death rate, aggravates insubordination and
rebellion. In the first two Weeks of the
new year two convicts at Sing Sing at
tempted suicide. This IS but the beginning.
This idleness sets at naught all hope of
reform. The convict's unoccupied mind
will be given over to corrupting thoughts
and criminal plans, and he will graduate
an adept in wickedness, a dangerous foe to
society. Compared with it's malign influ-
ence on the character of the prisoner, the
fact that this feature of the constitution
will cost the state at least million and
Il half dollars a year extra is of small
consequence.
Since the prisoners cannot make any
thing for gift or sale, and since every
consideration of wisdom and humanity de-
mands that they be employed, there is
nothing to be done but to open in the
prisons trade schools, in which the con-
V;cts shall be employed, not with any
reference to remunerative labor, but SIM
ply with view of giving to each of them
schooling in some calling by which they
can earn honest livings after being dis
charged. Two great requisites to a dis
charged convict leading an honest life are,
first, that he desire to do so, and. sec
ond, that he have the means of support
ing himself in doing so. The trainers of
the constitution felt obliged to insert these
provisions lest otherwise the influence of
the trades unions should defeat the entire
constitution. 1t only remains until the con-
stitution can be amended in this particu-
lar to make the best of the situation and
trade schools seem to offer the only re-
source.
The authorities of Sing Sing prison have
employed teachers in free hand drawing
and wood carving and are giving instruc-
tion to the prisoners in these branches.
The effect has been to lessen the spirit
of insubordination and to elevate the NOR
al and physical tone OF the inmates. And
as nothing is made that can be sold or
given away, the letter of the constitution
is not violated, and the objections of the
labor unions are avoided. OF course, not
all persons can develop an aptitude for
this work, and the number who. after be-
ing discharged. can find employment in
this line is quite limited; but the plan af-
fords at least partial relief, and may sug-
gest larger andsnore comprehensive meth