The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-12-05
Letters to The Editor.
THE NEW CONVICT SYSTEM.
Alabama's Step in Advance Means a
 Grs"f Deal. Editor The Advertiser: 'taTI1sTliS

| GF@"f Deal,
 Editor The Advertiser: 'aEl1vliS ! -Jn which a nation
 U. s.o..e ...s .ro,..,,. can always be de- l cided by its metnon ol dealing with its | criminal classes. The scale goes upward | from the mines of Siberia to the model | prisons of Great Britain, the ohe country | m which, by wise government the per | cent of criminality Is steadily diminish | ing. Alabama has stood very tow in this | scale; but stern necessity has been her | excuse. After the war wandering freed men. suddenly released from all restraint and deprived of all care. committed so many petty and large depredations upon 1 property that the jails were soon full to .overiiowing. The State had no money with which to feed and clothe this num- erous and ever increasing horde of de- | pendents. It was hard that strong men able and willing to work. should suffer and pine with hunger and be rendered unfit for earning their living when re- | leased. So the State wisely and necessa- | rily accepted the offers of various con- | tractors to feed and clothe these men and | pay to the State a part of the cost of | their arrest and conviction. The convicts were worked in sawmills, coal mines and or plantations.
 | Of course the experiment was at first l crude and many mistakes occurred. These | have been gradually corrected in great | measure. The contractors have shown a commendable desire to aid the State in
  | wayward children. During the adminis- | tration of the much-lamented Governor l Seay law was passed requiring a night school to be provided wherever 100 con- victs were congregated. This was to be | in charge of a missionary-teacher whose | business included a daily visit to the hospital. Here he gave instruction to such of the convalescents as could proht | by the recreation: read aloud to others;
 held prayers with all; wrote letters for | those who desired to communicate with 1 their friends and could not write them | selves. He was also to bold an hour 5 | school in the morning for the men on the
 night shift if they desired this and to con l duct a Sunday School The missionary | teachers received for their arduous ser | vices forty dollars per month and cot
 tage. When the next contracts were made after the passage of this law, the | contractors generously offered to pay the | salaries and expenses of the prison mis-
 sionaries. and they have ever since care | fully fulfilled this promise. Most of he | mission teachers have been really conse- l crated Christian men and women-work- | ing with all their hearts to give back to
 the State a useful citizen in place of a l dangerous criminal. However. human na- | ture is weak, and some have no doubt served for revenue only.
 1 The State will now take entire charge 1 Of this necessary work. and 1t will be more | systematic and effective than heretofore. l The convicts will be classified according
 
 | en up a partridge nest before the game | law permits will no longer be sent to the l same place with the professional burglar The honest countryman who, in mo ment of passion. has struck too hard a blow will not be classed with the l vilest scum of the city Every
 man who has not enough information
 to make him a good citizen will be in-
 structed in the clements of knowledge; l he will learn to read his Eibie; to cipher
 enough to manage with prudence his small | business affairs; to write business letters; | to understand something of the history | and government. of the great country of | which God has made him citizen For | those who have not this amount of knowl- l edge the night-school will be made com pulsory at Elmira. Above all every | religious knowledge and be taught to
 work with his hands. Most crime is the
 result of irregular and disorderly action | of the brain 1 heard Colonel Dawson, | who had more experience with criminals than any other man in the South. say | that during years of observation he had | never seen a convict whose mental de- | velopment was altogether sound and
 normal. Now it is well known that the | employment of the hand in some regular l labor steadies and soothes the brain and | tends to make its action regular and normal Dr. Bryce once told me that | with his women patients in the insane | hospital he used sewing, spinning and l carding, as means of cure and found 1 them among the finest remedial agents | known to him. Some time ago l asked l Mir Rhodes. prison warden of many l years experience at Pratt mines, a practi- | cal business man How many of these l five hunderd men have had any manual
 training?' He replied perhaps about one l percent" and then added. No, not so
 much: there is one man here who pro | fesses to be a house painter and doubt
 whether he is telling the truth. Have you any shoe-makers or Cobblers? 1 Never had a shoemaker" Any tailOrs ?'
 Never had a tailor" Any printers?' | Never had a printer" Any carpen-
 ters?" Not a man in the prison can saw
 to straight line. We have to train men ] after they come to us to do any manuel | work that is necessary.
 l Now here is conclusive proof that
 manual training is as great preventive | of criminality as vaccination of small | pox. The danger to the State from crime | is much greater than from smallpox, | and just as stringent measures should be | employed for its prevention. This Was l not possible so long as the State intrusted.
 the punshmnt and training of her way | ward children to others. All honor to | Governor Jelks that he has taken this | great step in advance and changed our l criminal system from it's medieval char 1 aCter to one more worthy of the enlEht- l eued civilization of the nineteenth Cen- turv After the war when the question | How shall we resume specie paym"nt?N l was diScussd with intense interest all l over the Union. Horace Greeley was
 asked tn give his views on the subject. His essay was very short but to the point l The hrst way to resume specie payment | is fo resume. Governor Jeiks has shown the same good sense as the I'm 1 mortal Horace. He has dcided that the best way for the State to resume the 1 care of it's convicts is to resume it. All | honor to him for removing this dark blot | from tle fair fame of our beloved Stat, | Like Alexander the Great. he has cut l ,,.itb ,r., hlnv uf his executive sword the | Gordiap knot which others have been
 s, .ong and unsuccessfully struggling to