The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-07-29
Rank as to Grade.

The federal labor bureau has been at
some pains to discover whether prison
made goods are the equal in quality of
those made by free labor, and with this
purpose in view total of s928 compari-
sons was made between goods made in
prison and similar goods made else
where. In twenty-five Of these tests
the prison goods were pronounced SUI
perior, in l514, or more than half, the
as those made by free labor, in 265
cases slightly inferior and in l24, in
ferior.
The value of convict labor on all the
goods produced in the year covered by
the Investigation, as distinguished from
the value 1so Of the goods themselves. was
convicts been done by free labor, the
total amount of wages would have ap-
proximated that figure. r
:. Prison made boots and shoes enter
ing into direct competition with the
product of factories employing free
labor, are manufactured in 26 peniten-
tiaries in seventeen states. The prison
factories in eleven of the states are
equipped with modern machinery, and
last year their output was 1883, 1854
pairs of shoes and boots, which were
sold in the great iobbing centers Of the
country. @-
Minnesota Jobber Speaks
| A Minnesota iobber is quoted in the
report and he has this to say:
We do not ourselves job. prison made shoes
because we do not believe in the business. 1t
is gross injustice to the shoe business to
| have that sort of condition saltwater, and
we will not be distributing agent for these
unfair Shoes The manufacture of boots and
shoes in the northwest is comparatively new
l,,,i, &t.o
| originally jobbers, like ourselves, and started
| in by making a few shoes of a particular
kind that they thought they were paying too
much for. Gradually they developed into manu-
! twenty-five years old in this state. They have
had to train their own labor-there are no
hereditary families of shoemakers to draw on
| hence the work done, while good and solid,
has not the attractive finish of the older cen
tiers of the industry For this reason, and the
fact that an expert superintendent and expert
foremen were taken into the prison to train
| the convicts., the prison made goods in this
state are just as good work and finish just
as attractive, as any shoes made in this sec.
| ton of the country.
Now as to price. Let RS take standard
| shoe, one that is just as staple as money in
| the northwestern market: Mems oil-grained
Creedmore SHOE six inches high half double
sole, all solid. The wholesale price of this shoe
when made by citizen factories is S1.65; the
| Saltwater prison contractors price is 81 so:
/
sells just as well In the market except &c
dealers who will not, for sentimental reasons
handle prison goods. This holds good of all
| grades of shoes manufactured in this section
For instance. a Goodyear welt shoe that the
citizen factories sell for $3.50, the prison con
tractor sells for $2.15. 1t is useless to go on
with Illustrations. Convicts should not be per-
m1tted to make goods made in this country
There are sufficient articles that we can secure
| only by Import to occupy prisoners.
Binding Irvine Output.
The output~of binding Irvine from all
! prison plants for the prison year is as
follows: Minnesota, 100000 pounds;
| North Dakota, 100000; Kansas, 4,
DOC, 900; Indiana and Missouri, 1000 OOC
each; total, 100000 pounds, which is
estimated e; to be about - per cent OF
the market demand Minnesota is the
pioneer state in the binding Irvine in
dustry.
The question considered in the fed
eral report is one of the most important
with which the country as a whole has
to do. and it is especially important te
organized labor. It might be easily
solved by enforced. idleness in all the
been. tried the increase in insanity anG
| disease and death has been so great az
/ ditions: Men and women cannot live
/ In solitary confinement. Employment
of some kind is imperative, which or
gained labor is now coming to recog
/ nize. In the Ohio state prison, where
enforced idleness was tried, the condi
ton of convicts became pitiable. The
inmates Of the cells begged with tear
dimmed eyes for permission to work, tc
get into the open air, if only for a few
/ minutes, to see their own kind, and
their mental agony finally in many
cases resulted in insanity and death
tuberculosis also developed rapidly as
! the result of the dark cells.
In the southern states the conyicts
are chiefly employed in roadmaking
and it is believed that in time this viii
be a popular line of work for convicts
or Instance, the able bodied men in thu
prisons Of New York, Pennsylvania
Ohio, Indiana. Iowa, Missouri, Wiscon
sin, Minnesota and Illinois would b.
able in a few years to build the fnest
highway in the country between New
York city and Chicago, and from thu
latter city to points west. northwes
and sout Invest, such as Milwaukee,SMad
ison, Minneapolis, Omaha, Kansas Cit,
j and st. Louis. This work could all b,
done without expense to- the severa
Estates. or with expense 50 slight as no