Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1900-05-17

roau-maKing convict labor seems to be
especially we'll adapted.
When this idea was CAST preached 1t
was met by loud cry of protest Good
people everywhere had long associated
the idea OF conyicts working in the
open with visions Of the ball and chain.
of task masters standing over the men
with whips, and the like. Then, again,
the influence upon a community of the
familiar sight of gangs OF men in
striped clothing was declared to be
brutalizing. And in behalf Of the con.
victs themselves the plea was made that
the pubic degradation in this manner
would tend TO snuff out whatever feeble
fame of self respect might still remain
in their breasts.
Now, let US see what exper fence has
proved in support of the other side.
The work OF road making is healthful.
1t is performed In the open air and
sunlight, amid rural surroundings con-
duciye TO cheerfulness and moral en-.
enlargement. 1t brings all the muscles
into play, cultivates a parinal appetite,
which makes plain food grateful and
assures sound digestion, and leaves
the laborer at the end of a day ready
to enjoy his rest aud sleep. 1t is no
more derogatory TO the copvict's self
respect than work inside of prison.
The public are admitted TO look at him
there; how is he any more injured by
having the same public look at him
while at work on highway?
Is familiarity with tho sight Of con-
victs engaged at hard labor in the open
air demoralizlnRg If SO, low? Prisons
stand in full view OF every one who
chooses TO go by them. The criminal
courts ale open to all corners quite us
much as matter of justice to the ac-
cused as for any other consideration.
We cannot disguise from theconmunity
the fact that law reaking and crime
exist. Is it any more demoralizing to
couple with this fact the reminder
that offences against good order are,
and must be, punisheds And which
IL the more likely to inilame the morbid
imaginations of youth, for instance,
the spectacle of high prison walls con-
cealing gruesome mysteries behind
them, with an occasional glimpse of q
striped suit as ii fits rast barred
window, or the PLAIN spectacle Of con-
victs at hard labor, with no background
of mysterious suggestion! Indeed, the
fact is well known that in those Parts
Of the country where convict road
making is practiced, public curiosity
died out with the first flush of novelty,
and nobody now pauses to give the
gang second glance.
The work of road-making teaches a
convict how to handle pick and a
spade, a scraper, tamping- block, and
a screen-tools which are to be found
everywhere, and with which he can
earn an honest living later in almost
any place where fate happens to throw
him; which is a very different thing
from standing all day in one place and
feeding mechanical heel cutter, or
cutting threads in a screw with a lathe,
or saving lengths Of wood for broom
handles. occupations which are so re.
strioted in scope that only good luck
can ever afford him chance to use his
acquired knowledge after becoming a
free man again.
As to the painful and degrading as.
sociations with working an open all
gang, the bail and chain went its way
long ago, and is now seen almost never
outside of imaginative pictures; the
overseer with his whip belongs in the
same gallery of classic art and fiction.
The keeper with lis gun still exists.
The gun is a Remington ride, perhaps
1t is loaded, and it is the keepers
business to be good shot. But SC
does the sentry with his loaded rife
pace the wall of the peuitentiary. Who
complains Of him there? IL a convict
tries to climb over the wall, he gets {
bullet in his leg; but he knew what
risk he ran before he began his climb.
Does this element of brutality condemn
prisons per So? Probably the prisoner,
| if he were a burglar or footpad, had tt
be brought to terms rather roughly by
the police officer who arrested him ful
that reason shall we abolish the uni
formed police, or take away their arms
There is no reason for tho keeper BY
thu roadside, any more than for til,
sentry on the parade, to use his riff,
| except to preserve the peace or proven
an escape And is the convict working
at wholesome task, amid cheerful sur
roundings, as likely to try conclusion
with his keeper us the convict VIII,
lives, and marches, and tolls, and sleep
in grim, shady, stutfy prison, with
everything about him promotiye o
morbidity and despair?
Finally, what OF the purely economi
| phases of the question? Convict labo
is doubtless more costly, comparing re
suits with results, than free labor. TIL
convict working on the roads practi
cally completes with nobody; most o
the roads would not be built il the
depended on free labor, for few com
muDities feel able to incur the expens
4 OF extensive improvements of that sort
What the prisoner does is simply to pa
| 20 fhA L.
form, the cost of his conviction and r
his board and lodging, and withou
taking one morsel of bread from th
mouth of any law-abiding citizen. Tb
roads, when finished, are godsend t
the public, not only in the comfort q
travel, but in saving wear and tear 0
vehicles, and they have been procure
by the mere utilization of labor whic
might otherwise have been lost alto
gether, or employed ia come more waste
full enterprise.
| According to the report of the Indu:
trial Commission, the State of Ne
York leads the Union in the enlightene
recognition of the moral as well as th
economic value OF highway work b
convicts. California and North Care
lima are also doing well. Roadmakin
does not interfere with conductin
other forms OF labor on State accour
also. There are some months of ever
year when work on the highways is in
practicable in a Northern climate, an
days here and there even In the mil
season when rain prevents. This leavi
considerable aggregate Of time to
devoted to indoor labor, such as NAL
ing clothing and other prison suppl,
"a line in which overpi oduction, 70
lowed by long periods of enforced idl
| ness, is the rllla uhan inflnnr labor