The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1902-10-15
THE STATE FARMS.
Convicts are not Allowed to Fat Their
Heads Off.
News and Courier.

s Wee Nee, Lee County, g. C.tSept,
oo-How many farmers or others in
s M .hs State have ever visited or even
]! loov n that there is : great and mos,
y Interesting and instr Tuctive object les
& an ~ for them in the State farms. At
. ls,st this is the case as regards the
4 ,vo adjoining farms, situated partly
n Sumter and partly in Kershaw
y conpty, r. and although it is understood
4 and SO instructed, that visiting farm.
q e,s or any others, who may desire to
;0snect these institutions are to be
q entertained and courteously treated,
] Get there are comparatively very few
d reople who have availnd themselves
s # the valuable lessons TO be learned,
4 OF p.ofted by any attention to the
i methods and systems and experience
y # these methods Of self-supporting
q and paying farms.
i These splendid farms are situated
d IN the extreme northwest Of Sumter
q and southwest corner Of Kershaw
q COMMITTEES and comprehended 2,40O
8 acres of as fine arabic upland and fer
4 tile river bottom land as may be found
4 in the State, besides woodland and
4 uucleared swamp.
The farms are under separate and
distinct auperintendence, the manager
4 Of the "DeSaussure farm" being Mr..
] ". R. Gardner, of Kershaw County,
4 who has proven himself to be q thor
/ ough going farmer. ''The Reed farm"
4 has Mr.. Jesse q. Morris as manager.
] Mr. Norris has had large experience
1 in experimenting some Of the lordly
plantations of Marlboro County and
the practical knowledge gained by
] that experience stands him in good
| stead in his present position. Indeed
4 both these managers evince executive
! ability and judgmsn: above the
/ average, as the writer can testify after
/ recent visit and ride over the
/ grounds Of these industrial State en-
terprises.
A portion Of the southern line of
I these State plantations bounds upon
/ the lands of Mr.. Arthur K. Sanders,
who happens to be also the chairman
Of the board of Penitentiary directors,
and it becomes eminently due and
proper to say, en- passant, that he
takes an abiding and intelligent inter-
est in the study and close observation
Of criminology-or rather criminal an
thropology-and is perhaps the most
active and hard-working member of
the board; having made, and still
makes, many visits to other parts of
the nation, to observe from the view
point Of the different States and Ter
rtories their methods Of handling that
class of people whom society is forced
to shackle or to keep behind bolts and
bars as punitive measures or perma-
nent protection to the law-abidiEg por-
ton Of humanity.
Under the aes;ie oe his presence and
with the pleasant advantage Of his
cceroneship your correspondent
visit was made. The acreage is equal
y divided, each farm containing
twelve hundred acres Of arabic land,
noiety of each being river swamp bot
tom. An average of seventy convicts
Is assigned to each, consisting Of
aole'bodied, skilled and unskilled Ia
ooFers; therefore each convict is sup
posed to verk sixteen acres; prepar-
Ing, planting, cultivating. harvesting
aid storing; besides the very many
and ofttimes onerous, necessary and
contingent labors incident to COM
bined upland and river bottom planta-
ton; such, for instance, as throwing
up prodigious levees along the river
bank, building check dams, and cause
ways, digging canals and bitches and
Various other work amounting, in the
aggregate, to marvellous achievements
In the course Of the year, which, puts
10 blush the thriftlessness Of thou
sands OF farms throughout TIE South;
ior these results are not obtained by
Undue severity, cruelty, on even un-
reasonable exactions, but rather by
!odlcious and systematic methods oe
handling the labor, strict, though
nerciful, discipline, but, above all,
pertlnacious steadfastness during work
aours, all comprised in the word regu-
larlty. There is no such revised COM
mandment as "five days shalt thou
labor and do all thy work." as on
most other farms; no camp meeting,
nor picnic. nor base ball, nor loafng;
steady toll is the fate Of those SEN
tencad IN ttho.J l.. =. - y ~