The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-09

Now. not setting away from the line was arguing. will come back to 1t. The putting of this clause at the end of Section 16 as an amendment may be criticised by some of my friends. When | 1t was first offered by me, I offered it as an independent ordinance. Members of the Committee were of opinion that If 1t came in at all, that it should come in as a part of this section. If l it Is not made part of this section it may well come in as an independent section. but there Is no impropciety in adding 1t to Section IS as 1t Is for the protection of the cftazens of the State, which is really the object of the sec- ton.
 am aware from personal observa- ton of how white man has been crushed to earth and made q mere an- imai of. by being flogged, flogged like . dog. and there is not one man of you here who would have endured the ago. ny of having one who was kin to you, l or connected with you, noggsd in such a manner who was guilty of ,tothing but a common misdemeanor. A man convicted of the crime of selling a lottery ticket. We all object 10 lottery. but the selling of lottery tickets is not
 
 it is made so by law. That Tan was a man of excellent family. A man of excellent rearing, but a man of no force and he was put in a convict camp and nogged and that man ceased to be man except in semblance. Now 1t is that sort of thing which seems to be charity to prevent, and which I seek to have prevented by this section of the Constitution. You may fu fr 1ncr ;E you choose. but does it do gentlemen to flog white men. Apply it TO your self. and take it to yourself. ana is there one of you who would do any, thing but take the life of the man that put the lash upon him. if such a mis- fortune should ever fall to your lot. ask you to protect these people, as you | would protect yourself, or your son or l brther and that is all. I do not care to make any lengthy speech upon this subject and will submit the matter
 to this Convention and it's conscience. MT. Cunningham-I yield to no man in his desire to be both philanthropic | and humane, and upon the question
 that is under discussion, I think my public record shows that I am in the line of humanity. If the gentleman from Mobile had introduced an amend ment prohibiting any person convicted of criminal offense in this State, from being leased or hired to any con-
 tractor I would have cheerfully voted for 1t and perhaps, would have asked for additional time over and above the ten minutes to present the argument as to why 1t should be done. The mat
 ter under discussion, however, is & | mere question of discipline. speak not from theory. from newspaper hear say or from any abstract principles of philosophy or science, but as an ob- server of the matter of discipline ;n the management of convicts in the State Of Alabama, and I want to say, and I say it deliberately, that the lash is the most humane. and at the same time the least degrading method os main taining discipline that the present au- thorities can possibly devise Sr allow,
 MT. Jones (Montgomesy)-How about bread and water. will inquire of the gentleman?
 MT. Cunningham-The gentleman cf- fering the amendment offers no substi-
 ute for the lash and the gentleman from Montgomery asks how about bread and water.
 MT. White-Will the gentleman from Jefferson allow question?
 MT. Cunningham-As soon as I an swer the question of the gentleman from Montgomery.
 The President-We nave fallen into a rather informal way of carrying on the discussion. l believe the usual rule Is when gentlemen desire to interrogate the speaker, that they address the chair. Does the gentleman consent to be interrupted?
 MT. Cunningham-I will answer the gentleman in a moment, as soon as I answer tile question of the gentleman from Montgomery.
 According to my personal observa- tion of the various methods that have been tried, bread and water, with or without dark cell. and anyone at all familiar with the laws of physiology knows that the continued use of bread and water is not merely a punishment but results in a change of the bodily conditions of the man in such a way as to invite disease. In the first place, if continued for a sufficient length of time it will produce scurvy, and even if stopped short of that time, it in- vites especially the invasion of con- tagious diseases, and more especially tuberculosis. Indeed. any condition that Is thrown around the convict that takes away from him the very best Eourishment and the very best possi- ble hygenic surroundings, invites the invasion of that particular disease. Not only that, but the records of your pen- itentiary will show that notwithstand- ing the precaution taken in regard to these matters, that from forty to sixty per cent of the mortality of your con- vict population is due to tuberculosis. few years ago the dark cell was adopted for the purpose of trying to control certain very unmanageable con- victs. That was found to be unavail- ing and intellectual Carrying out the instructions of State officials, their arms were suspended in this position above their heads, and I deliberately, on my own authority, after a short time. had them removed, for the req son that 1t would undoubtedly have re- suited in death. My experience has shown that particular order of punish ment, the suspension of the hands above the head is not only intellectual, but it is the reverse, and, in reality, it renders the convict still harder to manage, and, as a rule. more or less damages his physical condition.
 Now. agree with the gentleman from Mobile that to delegates upon this floor, without being convicted. a fog ging would probably mean death, but they recognize the fact that convicts are there in obedience to the law, and that there are certain rules of disci- l pline which they must observe. They | recognize the fact that if this discipline | is violated that there must be some method or some means of punishment. |