The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-08-17
CONVICT LABOR PROBLEM
HONEST TOILERs SHOULD NOT BE
ROBBED FOR THE SUPPORT
OF CRIMINALS
ADVANTAGE OF TwINE PLANT
Set others to Work Competing with
the Sugar Trust by EquiDDing
Sugar Plant for Their
Employment.

''Those who work should not be COM
PEELED to support those who do not
work" said Assistant State Labor Com
missioner N. P. Olsen. recently. "Such
compulsion is species Of robbery" he
continued This applies with equal force
to the idle class. of the upper crust of
society, and to the convicts in jails and
prisons. 1t is with the latter class that
this article has to do At the present
time there are confined in the two penal
institutions Of Minnesota-the reforma-
tory at ST. Cloud, and the state prison
at StillWater-679 adult conviets, 672 males
and seven females. How to make this
large number of consumers self-support-
ing, they should be, without enroach-
ment On the legitimate field Of free labor,
is now, and always has been, a difficult
problem TO solve. These unfortunates,
or outcasts, or whatever they may be,
have to be fed, housed and clothed, and
II their own labor Is not made to ac-
compl1sh that purpose, the product of
free labor has to be taxed to the re-
Quired extent. That is, the honest toiler
must submit to being robbed Of the food,
clothing and shelter required by the
criminals. On the other hand, If these
their own work, the product of that
work is liable to be thrown into compe-
tition with that of free labor depriving
the latter of just that much work, which
In turn has a depressing effect on wages.
Both plans have been tried. Both have
been found Objectionable. But of two
evils the lesser Is preferable. and as it
is more desirable that the criminal be
made to earn his own bread than that
a la Oh a. fOr
him, the least Objectionable way is to
make the prisoner work more and to
tax the free laborer less.
Various methods of employing the
prisoners have been tried-the contract
system ard the price system have both
had their day. The contract system was
q good thing for the contractors, but
an position the public. The so-called
price piece system has proved to be
nothing but the contract system in an
other guise, hence as Objectionable as
the former. The contract plan was abol-
ished on the statute books in 1885, but
has continued in another guise as a mat
ter of fact in the prisons The reforma-
tore cut stone and cement last year, and
has done so this year; the successors of
the Union Shoe and Leather Manufac-
turers at the state prison utilize today
more than one hundred prisoners on
what Is practically the same as con-
tract work-the aforesaid successors get
ting the bulk OF what there is in it.
"a redeeming feature is the employment
of a large number Of the convicts at
the reformatory in quarrying and cut
ting stone for the buildings comprising
that institution, and the employment at
the state prison of another large num-
Der of convicts in the manufacture of
binding Irvine. In the latter case the
convict labor problem comes as near be-
ing satisfactorily solved as can ever be
expected. In the first place the prison
ers employed in this industry, some 200
or 300 in number, earn their support with
their labor, and in the second place the
product of Their labor does not come into
competition with the free labor Of the
Northwest, but, on the contrary, comes
into competition with the unjust prices
of the twine trust. forcing these prices
down to legitimate basis to the great
benefit of all Northwestern farmers.
I'm view of this fact the question pre-
sents itself whether the remainder Of
the prisoners could not all be similarly
employed at something which would
have throttling effect on some other
trust to whom the people are now forced
to pay daily tribute As in the case Of
the twine business it should be an indus
try In which the free labor of the North
west, or at least Of Minnesota, is not
engaged, but whose product is required
by the people, and the prices Of which
are fixed and controlled by a trust"
what would be your remedy?" Mr..
Olsen was asked.
well, what's the matter with manu-
featuring sugar? How would 1t be If this
state of Minnesota, instead of ramming
cash bonus of from $50 05e to $4,000 down
the throat of the sugar trust via the
Gus Theden route, devoted this money
and some more towards equipping a beet
sugar factory of its own, and employing
a number of its conyiets in eultivafing
and handling the sugar beets, and an
other number In manufacturing the
same into sugar? Surely the idea is
worth considering. The reformatory at
St Cloud has in connection a very ex-
tensive farm-considerably more than a
thousand acres. Why not cultivate 1t
for purpose like this? Rect raising for
the sugar trust will never become remu-
nerative in this state. Beet raising for
a sugar factory owned by the state and
operated by convict labor might prove a
different proposition for our farmers. In
this way convict labor, instead Of COM
peting with free labor, might prove the
means Of stimulating and increasing 1t,
and the result, if successful, would GER
tainly prove a blessing to the people Of
the state by wrenching from their
threats one of the fangs of the trust
octopus which Is at present doing its
hest To stranele them"