The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1902-04-20
The Problem of Convict Labor

|
Notwithstanding all the facts, the ex-
perienee and the observation which go to
prove that civilization has made wonder
| full advances In almost every direction
| during the last hundred years or more.
the assertion Is constantly made that 1t
Is an appearance Of progress and not real
progress that attracts public attention;
and however much popular education
may be stimulated and supported by pub
lie funds, and universities may constantly
increase, and material prosperity may at
tend our affairs and music and art be
nearer the common people than ever,
nevertheless the pessimist rather insists
that real moral conditions have not
changed for the better, that crime In
creases, that marriages decrease rela-
| lively, that vice in great cities is more
| strongly intrenched than ever, and that
in spite of all the wonderful prosperity
ana other elements which ought to make
for progress progress is only apparent
and not real. These assertions can be
answered in nearly every particular and
in various convincing ways to any one
who is able to see beyond the present ex-
listing evil.
The purpose of this paper Is to answer
the charge that progress is apparent and
not real by citing one phase only of So
cial science-the condition Of prison labor
as an index OF real moral progress. A
little more than hundred years ago
prisoners were either kept in idleness, to
the destruction of their moral and ply
steal being, or else were employed in what
Is known as penal labor. Penal labor had
no purpose except as 1t resulted in a sup
posed discipline of the prisoner. He was
Kept at work turning a crank, or In. a
treadmill, or throwing shot-bags, or do
ing something else that had no utility
whatever as an incentive. 1t was not
productive of labor in any sense. 1t was
grinding, tedious, demoralizing 1t may
have had some advantage over idleness
In the way of physical exercise, but the
mental and moral consequences were
SUCH as 10 quite overcome physical bene-
fits. Philanthropists, philosophers, and
penologists began to see that mere moral
labor was not better than idleness, and
some OF these men long ago foreshadow-
ed many Of the elements of modern meth
eds.
A prison was built In Client in IT'S by
Vlscount Villain XIV, Burgomaster OIL
that town. The construction of this pris-
the form and structure of all prisons in
our own time. DIR. F. H. Wines attri-
outes Villain the credit of being the faith
er OF modern penitentiary science At his
prison there were rules of government
ana the organization of the labor of the
prisoners. The management understood
the use OF prisoners in productive labor
as one of the prime agents for reforma-
tlon. The protector appreciated the i'm
portance of choosing various Industries
In which to employ penitents, but he it,-
sisted that only those snouid be utilized
under which there would be the least
possible competition with outside labor.
Among the industries there were carding
spinning, weaving, shoemaking, tailoring,
carpentry, and the manufacture of wool
and cotton cards. There were still kept
up in this prison some of the old forms
or penal labor which were supposed then
to have some disciplinary effect
The great reformers, Howard and Bac-
caria, who did their grand work in the
latter partof the eighteenth century, were
alive not only to the usefulness but to the
necessity of employing prisoners In pro-
ductive labor and Of engaging in the edu-
cation of convicts. These men were sure
that purely penal labor nae no rerorma- |
tory elements in It. but that practical, |
productive labor would undoubtedly Sc |
cure some refractory results.
All through the nineteenth century |
these questions received more or less at |
tention, but during the last quarter of it |
immense changes were brought about not
only In methods relating to the manag-
ment of prisons but in the employment of
prisoners. Economic reasons induced
labor reformers everywhere to make an
attack upon the methods of employing
convicts. When it was thoroughly under
stood that penal labor was bad in every
respect, the state everywhere undertook
to conduct prisons on what may be called
a treasury basis-that is, the utilization
or prison labor in such way as to make
that labor pay the expenses of the prison
and perhaps bring some profit to the pub
Tic treasury. These results were sought
through what was known as the contract
system, under which the labor Of prison.
ers was let out to the highest bidder. and
then the manager entered the prison and
utilized the labor of the prisoners paw
ing low prices for the work and thus
having supposed advantage in the sale
of his goods This brought the attention
of labor reformers to prison labor. but
the greatest result which has come from
their attack has been in calling attention
to the real condition of prisoners as well
as to the methods under which their
labor was employed.
While prison labor affected wages and
prices under contract system to some ex-