The Savannah morning news., 1902-07-28
DISGRACE TO GEORGIA
Is THE WAY REV. DIR. JORDAN RE-
CARDS CONVICT SYSTEM.
SHOULD NOT LEASE CONVICTS.
STATE SHOULD EMPLOY THEM Up
ON ITS PUBLIC WORKS.

Was His Last Until His Vacation
Expires-''BIessed Are the MercifuI,
for They Shall Obtain Mercy" Was
the Text of His DiscOurse-Com-
mended the Convict Methods of
Chatham County, but Said Some
Plain Things About the state Sys-
tenn.
Rev. DR.. j. D. Jordan preached last
night on the convict question. His
text was: BLESSED Are the Merciful.
for They Shall Obtain Mercy" Matt.
81.
The grace of mercy" said Dr. Jor-
dan, lis one of the noblest of all
graces. We. who need and crave so
much mercy extended to us, should be
careful to extend the same to others,
for in this as in other things, we reap
what We SOW The merciful shall OBJ
tain mercy Mercy here means com
passion for the guilty, pity for the
suffering, and help to the needy.
while mercy is a grace especially
becoming a Christian, God has taught
it to his people in all ages. l have
of the states in the country treat their
prisoners, and Georgia is one of them.
When a man is sentenced TO life i'm
prisonment it does not mean that he
is sentenced to a life of torture. He
is imprisoned because it is
not safe for the public that
he be free. His service should not
be made a burden nor torture, neces-
sdrily. 1t is inhuman to make it so.
We should show our prisoners and con-
victs that we are not only human, but
that we are Christian. A prison should
be used so far as possible as a house
of correction and door of hope, and
not as place of inhuman torture.
Il have always been opposed to a
states leasing her convicts. The first
pastor of this church was the cause { f
your state penitentiary being started.
The present pastor, if he could, would
be the cause of breaking up our pres
ant leasing of convicts.
Il am opposed to it first, because it
puts convict labor in competition with
free labor. 1t makes it harder for the
laboring men, who have their fami-
lies to support and taxes to pay. It
tends to make the rich. who lease
them, richer, and the burdens of the,
poor laboring classes heavier. 1t robs
the bone and sinew of our citizenship
of fairness in competition.
Il am opposed to leasing conVicts
because it tempts men to be inhuman
and brutal. A man pays so much to the
state for so many conyicts for a Ger
tain period. The amount of his profit
depends on how poorly he feeds, how
scantily he clothes and how hard he
works his cOnVictS. 1t tempts men TO
make blood money of the meanest sort,
extracting it from the hearts and veins
of his imprisoned fellows. 1t robs aud
degrades the helpless who need lift
ing up Tt means to be mean and
brutal often to poor fellow without
chance to defend himself. Few men
can Withstand the temptation to make
all they can out of their convicts.
What shall we do with our con-
Victs? At least, let them be kept and
managed by salaried men whose in
comes are neither augmented nor di-
minished by the conduct or work of
the convicts, so the managers will
be saved a temptation to do
great wrong and the cOnvicts will not
suffer unnecessary hardships.
Let the state use her convicts to
make improvements for the public that
would not otherwise be made. Chat
ham county is on the right plan. This
county has had no more profitable ser
vice than that of her conVicts. The
healthfulness of the county has been
wonderfully improved, and the public
roads made highways of pleasure. This
kind of work might be done all over
the state. If a city council can saw
what streets ought to be opened and
improved for the public good, ought
not the state officials to be able to
speak for the states good? Good roads
are a blessing to the public, and no
hsaft ~ do ~ 1nf1
Victs While much unclaimed land
might be made valuable to the state
by their service.
AT any rate the state can i'll afford
to be disgraced as she now is by the
present system.
Our Lord was merciful to the peni-
tent prisoner and said to him, To-day
shalt thou be with me in paradise
Paul declares that the chief of sin
ners may be saved. Many convicts
to-day in stripes are really better men
than many who display themselves in
society and walk up and down church
aisles. l mean no reflection on the
church. From the days of Judas till
now the goats and wolves have been
among the sheep. Man is merciful
to his beast. The man who is not
merciful to his fellows is a brute. :"
The sermon was DIR. Jordan's last
before leaving for his summer vaca-
ton. He announced that the spring
and summer are his busiest time be-
cause of conventions, college COM
mencements, and protracted meetings.
tie said he was much worn out, and
needed a rest, and congratulated his
congregation on it's having such ca
pabe a supply during his absence.
During the last two months the pas
tor has received forty-six members
into the church and during his pasto-
rate of five years and three months,
he be- ,-onOi.rl,l mann hlar.s