The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-09
and stops the lighting among this class

and stops the nshtins smong this class of men.
 Now there Is question that appeals. presume, to the business men upon this floor. Your convict system, Mr. 1. President, is not what 1t ought to be, nor will 1t be what 1t ought to be % long as the lease system is continued, but so long as the lease system is con- proposition in 1t, and that practical business proposition is this: If you
 adopt a dark cell. or if you adopt bread and water. or some other form of pun ishment. humane in appearance, but actually fnhuhame ir Its application, who Is going to pay for these men while they are undergoing this milk and cider punishment. There can be but one answer to that proposition. 1t must come out of the treasury of your State or out of the treasury of your county. believe, MT. President, that the amendment of the gentleman from
 Mobile. ought not to be adopted. be- lieve it Is an injury to the convicts themselves. I believe it is inhuman. because l know no effectual substitute can be offered that will take the place of an ordinary humane flashing. So far as its mental effect is concerned upon the delicate, refined, cultivated white man, I am willing to admit it might prove somewhat depressing and demor- alizing, but 1t is very rare that we get a man of that character In the peni- tentiary, and when he goes there, Mir. President, bis pride in observing disci- pline controls him, so that it Is the ex- ception when a man of that character has to be punished in any way. This Is all that I have to say upon the amendment. .. .-- MT. White--I want to ask the gen. tleman a question.
 MT. Cunningham--I ask the gentle- mans pardon. I had forgotten. MT. White-I ask the gentleman from Jefferson if it is not a fact that these convicts are beaten because they do
 not comply with the tasks that have been allotted to them in the mines? Mir. Cunningram-There are various things, MT. President, for which whip ping is done in the penitentiary. That is one, but statistics can be obtained upon this subject accurately, by refer ring to the Convict Department In this building. I can state from my per- sonal observation that a majority of the whipping is done for the violation of discipline in regard to conduct, such
 as fighting. gambling, and things of that character.
 MT. Lomax-This Is a matter which.
 if one will observe the argument of the gentleman from Mobile. Is purely one of Legislative detail. It is a matter that can be corrected in the Legisla- ture and do hope the Convention will not burden this bill of rights with leg islative enactments. I move to lay the amendment of the delegate from Mo-
 bile on the table.
 Mr. Pillans--Of course I can make no response. trust 1t will not be laid upon the table
 Mir. Lomax-Qf course, if the gen. tleman desires to have an opportunity to reply, I do not wait to cut off de- bate or move to table. In order to give the gentleman an opportunity to ton on the amendment.
 The President-Does the gentleman withdraw the motion to table?
 MT. Lomax-I will with the leave of the Convention. I do not care to cut off debate.
 MT. Beddow--Mr. President, again heartily agree with this amendment of- fered by the gentleman from Mobile to amend the Bill of Rights, and again am glad to hear the gentleman from Jefferson say if an ordinance had been introduced before this Convention to prevent the hiring of convicts under the lease system that he would heart fly favor such proposition, and I say before this Convention adjourns. we will probably give him an opportunity to assist us along that line.
 The gentleman from Jefferson says that the lash is the most humane man. ner by which discipline can be en- forced In convict camp. If 1t Is the most humane. Mr. President, I know of nothing that to my experience and to my observation can be worse. I say authoritatively that three -fourths of the whipping that is done in convict camps in this State, Is done by reason of the failure of the convict to come up to the high task that is put before him in the performance of his daily work. For 365 days in the year he is expected to work, Sundays, Christmas Day. and the Fourth of July except ed. He works in the mines, where free labor has the opportunity to take a little respite from it's labor In case of sickness, where in case he is worked down. he can go home and stay with his family day or two, but to these poor unfortunate individuals that are being sent to Jefferson County, and worked in its mines, 365 days in the year no such right or opportunity Is givep. They are sent there, they are hired out to a class of people whose profit comes from the hardships of the convict. The less they give him to eat. the more they make. The most days he works in the year, the more 1t Is In their pocket book, and so 1t is that they are punished to the extent that l speak of for the failure to come up to their daily tasks. It may be said that these men cannot be whipped unless the inspectors are present. I Know that that Is not true, because the only time at which the inspector is re- quired to be present when these men are punished, is when they are asking that they be punished by twenty-one lashes upon the bare skin. There is not night that passes in Jefferson County, but what from twenty-fiye to SOO Of these unfortunates are whipped without the presence of anyone except the officers of the company, whose money comes through the labor of those poor unfortunate creatures.
 Mt Cunni1gham-Will the gentle man permit a question?
 MT. Beddow-Yes.
 MT. Cunningham-How many dId you say? O
 MT. Beddow-I say all the way from twenty-five to 300.
 MT. Cunningham-I want to Rmnhat- lcally contradict that as far as inc Pratt Mines are concerned-
 MT. Beddow-But what do you any