The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-10-31
DISCUSSES REPORT OF CONVICT BOARD Judge Feagin Talks of the
 Present Fee System CONDEMNS IT AS AN EVIL Police Court of Birmingham Is the Only One of Its Kind in Ala
 bama Where Fee System
 Is Not Practiced.
CONDEMNS IT AS AN EVIL

Judge N. B. Feagin of the police court of Birmingham yesterday discussed at length the recent report of J. M. carmi- chael president of the state convict board and especially that part of it which condemns the fee system which is practlced in nearly every county in the state.
 The portion of the report which Judge Feagin referred to is as follows;
 County Convict System.
 This system is a continual grief to every humane man having knowledge of the evils attending 1t. am informed that it is not known In but few states, Alabama among them, and l am of opin- ion that it should not be known any where. Everything pertaining to 1t ought, in my opinion, to be wiped out of exist ence by an act of the legislature. This can only be brought about by public sentiment which will influence members of the legislature and induce the repeal of all laws having any reference to the present system as 1t now exists.
 That this system is largely kept up by a desire for fees Is to my mind too pat ent to admit of discussion. Hundreds and hundreds of persons are taken before the inferior courts of the country, tried and sentenced to hard labor for the county who would never be arrested but for the matter of fees involved. This Is condi- tion inexcusable, not to say shameful.
 "The state inspectors of the penitentiary system have already sufficient to do, and are not courting an additional amount of labor by that which follows, but are sim ply speaking a few words in behalf of common humanity.
 "The state as a soverign owes 1t to the law-ablding citizens in one way or an other to restrain evildoers, and when necessary to punish them. This burden 1t should always be willing to assume and | ready and able to carry. If all persons convicted of crime were placed In the penitentiary, so to speak, they could be | much better cared for, and their lives and well-being more successfully preserved | That this would impose an additional bur | den which ought to be carried by the state in the interest of proper treatment of poor, defenseless creatures, many of whom never ought to be arrested and tried at all. Large numbers of these people are arrested and carried before the courts and convicted and sent to the coa mines and lumber camps who are unable to do, successfully, any kind of work They there drag out miserable existenc' and die Some one is responsible for theii | death.
 Judge Feagn's Methods. Suppose our judges, generally, follow ing the example of Hon. N. B. Feagin ol the police court of Birmingham should adopt the method of releasing prisoners brought before them, and putting them IT the charge of some one with the under standing and condition that if they be | haved we'll they should not be brough' | before the court again, yet holding the | sentence against them, how many nun | dreds of poor unfortunates would thus escape death In some coal mine or lum- | Der camp.
 "Whenever the legislature convenes again trust the importance of these sug- gestions, or others along the same line, much more wisely put, will be impressed upon the minds of the members in such 1 a way that they will shoulder the respon- sibility of looking after the interest or | these unfortunate people.
 Great Evil.
 Judge Feagin said:
 ''The fee system is a great evil, and Mr' Carmichael is eminently correct in every | thing that he says about it's evils. It leads to many useless arrests, for the more arrests and convictions, the more money Is made by the officers. | Tt is a fact that the police court or | Birmingham is the only court of it's kind | fin the state where the fee system Is not practiced, and where probation can be successfully carried on. Every officer of l this court receives salary and the num- | Der of arrests and convictions do not in- terest any of them financially. | Because the failure to get fees does not effect any one. the court can practice | the probation system of which MT. Car michael speaks. In a court where there is a fee system, the officials would ob' ject to the probation plan as it would deprive them of the fees connected witt a conviction.
 Untold misery and suffering are caused by the fee system, and the number oi needless arrests and convictions is as- founding. According to the best and most advanced thought more men are ruined by prison term than by the temptations which lead to them, and probation sys- tems are being tried the world over to remedy this evil. The legislature would indeed do well to consider the recommen- dation in this report"