The Grenada sentinel., 1906-01-06
GOV. VARDAMANRS- MESSAGE

:. ber of the Board OF Control, I am-thor-
oughly convinced that the interest or
the public service demands a change i'm
the penitentiary management; and l am
also eonyjnped- that If the recommenda-
4 tions made by nie two years ago had
! been adopted it would have redoundee
to the pecuniary interest of the State
and of the moral and physical wei. be
ing OF; the convicts. While the state
| nue. from the work of the convicts, 1t
i has also contributed n very large reve-
nue.-the products of the convicts' ton
/ Ito swell the fortunes of favored pri-
I vate individuals. 1t is an easy matter
to make money planting cotton in the
Yazoo- Mississippi delta, when you own
@the labor, .pay no taxes or interest, ana
| the products sell for good price.
The business methods OF the Board OF
control are illustrated by one or two
acts, which / shall Mention. In Sep
tember, 3;;t1e Board rof Control had
under it's management about 20,OOO
acres of land belonging to the State.
! On the Parchman place, in Sunflower
! county, there were about 5000 acres
open or cleared, with 5000 acres to be
cleared. This cleared land originally,
/ like the uncleared land was heavily
timbered with the finest oak, ash and
| gum timber, the greater portion or
which was deadened and permitted to
rot on the land. The timber alone was
worth as much as the land originally
| cost the State, If it had been cut and
marketed by the convicts, instead OF
working them on the land of private in
dividuals. There were 1900 acres of
! cleared land on the Belmont place: 500
| or 500 acres cleared on the
| Rankin farm, with 200 or 500 acres
| more of splendid land on that farm to
| be cleared, and 1,500 acres of cleared
| land on the Oakley place, the greater
| portion of the latter being leased to
the people around in the neighborhood
| for one and two dollars per acre.
With all of this land cleared and to
| be cleared, improvements to be made,
| bitches to be dug and houses to be
| built we find the Board of Control con-
| tracing with a State Senator to work
| his delta plantation on shares We find
| the Board of Control contracting with
a member of the Legislature to work
his plantation on shares. We find the
Board of Control contracting with the
nephew of the then president of the
Board of Control for plantation be-
Board of Control paid Sc per acre.
twelve months in advance. We find
the Board of Control. at the same time,
contracting with two other distin-
ties, for their delta plantations to be
| worked on shares. The Board of Con-
troll made money after giving half of
! the products of the convics' toll to these
private individuals thus contracted
| with, but it was money coined out of
the blood and tears of the unfortunate
| which every sense of humanity revolts
at. 1t involved the violation of the
law and the betrayal of a sacred trust.
But, If money-making were the sole
leasing of the lands of private individ
ualS was a mistake. If the State can
| make money working a private indi-
viduars land and giving that private
individual half of the products of the
conVicts' toll, 1 cannot understand why
it cannot make more money working
it's own land and keeping the entire
products of the convicts toll. If all
the cOnVictS had been concentrated and
worked upon the States land in 1903,
and a capable officer had been placed in
charge of the penitentiary, every acre
of the States land susceptible of culti-
walton would now be cleared and capa-
BILE of yielding annually six or eight
thousand bales of cotton and ample
corn and food products to maintain the
conVictS and live stock.
In December, 1904, the present Board
| of Control made some very commend.
able reforms, as far as it went. All
plantations belonging to private per-
sons were discarded save only the one
belonging to State Senator II: ]. Nc
Laurin, whose fertile land" hypnotic
power, political pull and long enjoy
ment of a robust share of the revenues
arising from convict labor seems to
have clothed him with the modern
brand of divine right 70 the perpetua-
tion of that special privilege. 1 hoped.
however, that that was the last effort
the Board of Control would make to
lease the land of private individuals, or
lease the convicts to private individ-
uals, but in that 1 was disappointed.
AT the December meeting, 1905, the
contract with State Senator II. j. Nc
Laurin, which was SO f1agrantly a vio-
lation of the law that felt it to be my
duty to appeal to the courts to pre-
vent the execution of the contract.
The Chancellor held the contract void
and the case was appealed to the Su-
preme Court, where it is now pending.
| say it with profound regret, but
without fear of successful contradic-
tiOn, that for many years the penlten-
tiary has been the one fostering sore
upon the body politic-pOisoned by the
virus of private personal cupidity-the
most corrupt and corrupting influence
in State politics. Votes were controlled
in conventions and nominations made
with the sole end in view of leasing
some political dictator's delta planta-
tiOn. If you question that statement,
read the history of the penitentiary of
Mississippi. make no charge OF per-
sonal dishon esty. They may have been
the victim of nefariouS system or pol
icy of long standing.
The penitentiary property has greatly
enhanced in value. Including lands,
live stock, farming implements. etc, to-
gether with the labor of the convicts, 1t
represents now a capital invested OF
nearly two million dollars. To manage
an enterprise of that magnitude and
at the same time to do justice TO the
convicts calls for the highest order or
intelligence, integrity and business ca
pacity. The penitentiary farms should
be the model farms of the State. They
should be used to demonstrate upon
large scale the advantages to the farm
ers of experiments made at the AgricuI-
tural and Mechanical College on small
scale. Scientific agriculture, tile drain.
ing fertilization of soil, growth or
plants should be the lessons taught
upon the States plantations. Intellf-
gent direction, with the absolute con-
troll of the labor, would make that easy
Of accomplishment. and at the same
time pecuniarily profitable to the state,
and also instructive to the convict,
which lessons would be of use to him In
after life
Public Education.
Public education is a matter OF pro-
found and abiding interest to the peo-
pie of Mississippi and the maintenance
of a system of free public schools. has
become a fundamental tenet in our pO-
litical creed. But people have. fads
about education, as they do about
everything, and are liable to go to un-
profitable extremes. The enthusiast
weaves a most alluring fabric OF gilt
tering theories; in his hands he holds
the panacea for all the social illS-and
to carry out his worldsaving plan he
would spend all the money in Chr1Sten-
dom and mortgage the future. Where
the supply of money is limited 1t is
well for those charged with the dis
bursement of the States revenues TO be
careful that the money appropriated
for school purposes shall be invested
so as to bring the largest educational
returns. 1 believe dollar invested In