The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-01-21

State owes them a duty which is the more
obligatory because it has assumed control
OF them. 1t has no right to impose upon
them unnecessarily demoralizing conci-
tions as enforced idleness would be. Per-
haps no stronger statement was ever made
on this subject than that made few days
ago by Representative Harley. who was
warden Of the State prison several years.
1t was instructive and worthy of study by
prison managers and reformers. He said:
The Legislature of 1895. in answer TO the
demands OF organized labor. abolished the
CONVICT labor system, and Tor TWO years
after L went to the prison as warden We
mad condition of affairs that almost drove
me wild and that drove the prisoners
frantic. Prior to 1895 all the convicts nad
been employed contracts. The bill OF
1880 forbade the renewal OF any OF these
contracts and | had 500 idle men on my
bahds. Necessarily the prisoners were
Kept in their cells almost twenty-four hours
OF every day, and have had men call me
10 their cell doors, and with tears stream
ing down their faces beg me to take them
out and put them at any kind OF work, just
so they were given some sort or employ
ment Wen. / had to do something. and as
l had small appropriation for some new
pulldlngs | put good many of the men at
work tearing down one of the old buildings:
we arranged the work with the idea OF
We had the building torn down brick by
brick and timber by timber Then We had
every brick cleaned and piled in the far-
tnest corner or the yard. Then we had the
men set at work at taking the old nails out
OF every piece of timber, and when that
was done we had about four barrels of the
nails; we put the men to Strengthening
them. When they were all Strengthened
we threw them away, for they were worth
less.
Then we started to build the new build
ing, and put two or three hundred men at
work carrying brick. one at a time, in
stead of by the hodfu, from the piles in
the remote corner of the yard to the brick
masons. All the work was done on this
scale, but in the course of time ii was fin-
ished and the men were idle again. 1 was
In desperate straits and L even put some
of the men at work with wornout files pol
fishing the grated doors that had grown
dingy and rusty, and they worked at that
until the bars shone like polished silver.
This is very strong testimony as to the
wholesome influence of labor. There is
something pathetic in the idea of convicts
begging with tears in their eyes to be given
! something to do, and the former warden's
| testimony to the devices adopted to give
shows that conviction for crime does not
exempt men from the universal law that
| idleness is brutalizing.
The bills above referred to assume, and
rightly. as the Journal believes. that with
the information now at hand no better sys-
tenn than the one now in force in this State
can be devised. and therefore they propose
to extend it for five years and await the
result of further experience. The most de-
| sirable system of employing convicts is
one which provides. primarily. for the
punishment and reformation of the pris-
oner and the least competition for free
labor, and, secondarily for the revenue of
the State. No plan has yet been suggested
that meets this ideal condition, but the
poorest of all plans would be better than
| idleness In the present state of informa-
| ton on the subject it is believed the Leg
islature cannot do better than continue the
| present system few years longer.