The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-09

MT. fBe0o0W-4t was uoL thy nu&ins9a to prosecute people before grand turies of the county. and I will say that ail of those who were present were not state officiais or other persons. but were employes of the company. and in were not hunting prosecutions of that kina.
 Now, Mir. President and gentlemen of the Convention, these men are often sent up on short sentences. and it Is not an unusual thing for . man having a short science of thirty days to go to the mines for some petty offense, and when he gets there . chunk of slate may fall on him and crush his leg. A ms h may suffer death for a. petty of- fense. and say the best way to meet this condition Is according to the sug- gestion of my friend from Jefferson. Let us inaugurate system here that will not only prevent inhuman punish 1ment to these unfortunate individuals. but let us, while we are assembled, pass an ordinance that will require the State of Alabama within the next three or four years to take every con- vict out of the mines and not allow etary considerations control their treatment of these unfortunate con- victs. I heartily concur in the amend ment proposed by my friend from Mo- bile and hope this Convention will adopt 1t.
 Mr.. Rogers (Sumter>--I think per- heps the gentlemen who are pfctur- ing the evils of the convict system are overdrawing it to some extent The man I left at home in charge of my negroes, is a negro himself. and an ex-convict,. and have talked with him some times upon this question. and asked him about this whipping. He says, "Yes, boss. they do whip them up there and they ought to be whipped" He says they whip them be- cause they will not work. and because they fight and because they steal and there and tries to do his duty he Is treated just like he is everywhere else. They expect him to do his work and no more. Now everybody knows that the great bulk of convicts In this State are negroes. Everybody who knows anything about tho character of . me- gro, knows that there ie no punishment in the world that can take the place of the lash with him. He must be controlled that way He inherited that peculiarity from his ancestors when he came from the shores of Africa, whore they provide that kind of pun ishment, and if we take away the lash from this convict system, we will de- stroy the efficiency of the system. do not know what these humane gen. tIemen want to do with the convicts, in case we cannot control them. There Is certainly nobody who k going to take them that cannot control them, and this bread and water business, and the dark cell puts me in mind of O system of something of that kind down in Mexico. A friend of mine who goes there frequently, says that there Is no pulnishment on earth that is so awful as the kind of punishment they have in Mexico. There they put the convicts in e hole. where the sun can shine on him. instead of whipping him. The law in Mexico does not allow the con- vict to be whipped. but they take these people and dig a hole out where the sun can shine on them, and they let them stay there until they are con- quered. I think 1t is infinitely better to whip these negroes or white men than to have such punishment as tat. And gentlemen. let me tell you, this maudlin sentiment about man that gets into the penitentiary Is all fool ishness. That is all there Is to 1t. A man that goes to the penitentiary ought to be punished if he deserves it, and he wort get the punishment unless he does deserve 1t.
 Mir. Pillans-Suppose he plays cards in what Is denon1inated 0 public ,laee, which may be a very private place un- der the decisions Of GUT court. and he cannot be fined but must go to .the penitentiary. t-
 Mir. Rogers (Sumter)-Yes a man that violates the law ought to go to the penitentiary. play cards nysclf and may be convicted for 1t some time and have to go to the penitentlary. but I will never get up and grunt about It when I an violating the law. You re- epect the laws of this country and you stay out of the convict camp: you break the laws. and you go there and receive the punishment that you would expect to have inflicted uron you.
 MT, Williams-I now move the pre- vious question but will give way to the gentleman from Mobile If he will agree to withdraw 1t.
 Mir. Howell-Before that is done, I want to ask the gentleman from Jeff ferson (Mr Beddow) if I understood him to say they worked 365 days in the year?
 Mir. Beddow-I excepted Sundays, Fourth of July and Thanksgiving.
 Mir. Pillans here arose.
 The Chair will call the attention of the gentleman from Mobile to the rule.
 Mir. Pillans-only speak one time cn a subject?
 The S'resident-Yes, sir.
 MT. O'Neal asked unanimous consent for the gentleman from Mobile to sub- init a few remarks and the cons snt was given.
 Mir. Pillans--I thank the Convention and the gentleman for the opportunity. I have never been a convict nor has any kinsman of mine ever been a ccn- vict. Certainly I have never known a white man of my blood to be whipped. If I had instead of being a member of this Constitutional Convention should be confined in the penitentiary as a murderer For with the blood in my veins and with the spirit that ac- tuates me. I would have had the ire sistible desire to spill the blood of any man who would visit such disgrace upon any of my blood. It Is so with all of us We are all Southerners. And if the poor negro can stand the tlogging better than we can 1t does not make us any the less restive under 1t. Is it possible that we who have gone ke- yond the Russian knout and the Dela- ware whipping post, who are unwilling to use the lash az part of our methods of criminal punishment, I was about to say to the introduction of system of gaily slaves, but I will say to oon- tinue such a system. And have been amazed to see men of as much rf fine-