Evening star., 1901-04-27

of late years, when the number of avail
able convicts proved insufficient for their
needs they enSlgvcd free laborers by dis
tCrtiOn Of the law. For the free man the
stockaders felt themselves responsible to
no one. For the convict they We're respon-
sible to the state; the free man was the
worse treated of the two. When he shirk-
ed. they whipped him; when he tried to es-
cape, they shot him, and when he sue
ceeded in escaping, they hunted him down,
even invoking the aid of the law-such law
as a corrupt magistrate dfspenSed-to Sc
cure his apprehension. Such is the stock
ade system in the latest phase of its de-
yelOpmcnt.
How Ii Originated.
The system appears to have been per
verted ou- growth of two state laws of
many many years standing. The first of
these is an act, recently repealed. providing
for the leasing of COnvicts TO private indi-
viduaIs. The second law. that regulating
contracts for farm labor, is one which
seems. within its proper limits, entirely
Just ard necessary 1t provides that con-
tracts entered into between andlord ana
ldbOrer may not be broken by either rarity,
under penalty of A small fine or thirty days
Imprisonment on the county chain gang.
The stOckade owners row set about using
this law to obtain negro labOrerS, who
should be obliged to work without wages
who would. in fact. be slaves. When these
negroes should once be within the stock
hutS, 10 SIlt average pDStGNtl- tHSS "Oulu
appear to be cOnvicts leased from the state
1t was first necessary for the schemerS to
find a magistrate whom they could use to
further their ends Now. the office Of mag
istrate Is In South Carolina, not much
sought after for the salary is small. and
the old days when men served for honor
and the good of the commonwealth seem
to have passed. Hence, the stoCkade own
erS, being wealthy and therefore influential
men, soon found ma gistrate in office, or
placed one there. who willing. for
consideration. to act as they wished. Then,
In n small way. they began operations.
Spider and Fly.
They did not concern themselves with
the better class Of negroes because these
are valuable. and an imposition upon them
is sure TO be resented, either by their
landlords. the merchant who supplies them
or some one else more or less concerned in
their financial welfare. Instead. the idle
and the disS"lUte were sought out. the COM
paraively worthless. whom no one would
miss, and when one of these, having COM
mtted some petty offense and being halcd
before the said plant M giStratc. felt the
need of a bordsman and a friend. the
stockade owners. or their agents, We're
ready at his elbow, with an Illegal contract
ready to play spider to the negros fly. The
magistrate would parole any negro who
would sign the contract. or would fine the
prisoner Almost invariably the negro would
not have the money To pay the fine. where
upon tll'- St''hrtN' agent "bLiO ltilu II 10
him. CoUGiJinually, upon his signing the
contract. Then the contract would be
transferred to a stockade owner. and the
negro would have escaped from the states
penalty into indefinite slavery. These con-
tracts are carefully worded, and calcu-
lated To impose upon the ignorant This is
the part of the form which enmeshes the
negroes:
Contract and Agreement for Labor
Farm.
Et4Tp Of n of ANIL
son:
This contract and agreement for Labor on
Farm. made and entered into this day be-