The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1906-10-19
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MISS EsnnsA SesrltAS u TasasNA, rta.
secretary o. the F3orsia Humane Assn,
a!atsen,
Almost unbelievable eeaditiess are
said - exist in the ;%arpentiae and totn-
Der camps 81 southern Florida, Miss
Sterling has already Interested After
acy General Moody and the department
u justice officials in The situation and.
moreover. has laid the facts before the
president who has oseoyne deeply inter
sstei in the alleged abuses,
II Miss Sterling 5 representations are
Correct, conditions exist in southern
Florida that parallel son OF the worst
practices Of the days of slavery before
the civil war. White and black slaves
as we'll are held as nothing more than
chattelS. and ~barhariSm, atrocity and
says convict labor authorized by
he state OF Florida is bad enough and
that the conviets are treated like cat
lie by the men who purchase their la
Dor for Il term OF months. But the state
~ Florida authorizes convict labor and
nothing can prevent that. except action
by the state legislature.
Men Under Lash.
Her special interest is In gangs or
men, white and black, who, she alleges,
are carted into the state like mules and
for months, under penalty of the lash
n like inhuman punishments if they
resist or seek to escape.
1t is charged that by far the larger
lumber of the men held in peonage
are white laboring men from the north.
They are induced to go into the lumber
camps, t~urpentine camps and the like
by promises of high wages. Often
these promises are held out by com
panies in which northern men are in
Once in these camps. where
they find conditions far from what they
been represented, and utterly in
tolerable. they are guarded from es-
cape. 1t is charged they are herded
barracks like animals, fed poor.
TODD in scant supply and are locked up
e cells at night.
Some Indictments Already.
Already District Attorney Stripping
TOT the southern Florida district has
SO :ured indictments against a number
OF parties on charges of violating the.
peonage law. The Florida Humane
ASSOCIATION, however, wants a thorough.
Investigation of conditions in southern,
FLORIDA by government special agents.
1t is thought many violations of law
now covered In the existing indictments
can be disclosed. More than this, the
Florida Humane association, which
has sent Miss Sterling here as it's rep
resentative, is anxious that the prose-
of existing indictments be car
ried gu effectively, and to this end
Miss Sterling is seeking to get one of
the ablest officials of the department,
of justice detailed to aid the district
attorney in the trial Of cases.
The federal government has long
had trouble because of slavery and
peonage practices in the south. Short
ly after the civil war, about the time
When the Ku Klux klan was
a strong disposition was manifested in
many parts of the south to return the
negroes to slavery. 1t was quietly done
in many cases.
Stringent Law Unavailina. 4
Abhorrent conditions came to light
as h result of this tendency to return
slavery practices and a stringent
law against peonage was enacted.
From time to time since then there
have been revelations of peonage prac-
tees. About three years ago, peonagel
practices were revealed in several
southern states, notably Alabama,
uCOl III oOulll SdAOllllds L 1CSi-,
dent Roosevelt became interested and
considerable activity on the part of
the federal authorities was manifested.
Governor Jones, Of Alabama, ma
terially assisted the federal authors
ties, particularly in the matter of OBJ
evidence and in the removal
from office of sheriffs and other local
officials who were shown to have con-
nived at peonage. Since then he has
been appointed to the federal district
bench in Alabama by the president. A
Of convictions We're secured
under the federal law al the time of
these revelations, which stirred the en-
tire country by reason of the par
barous practices disclosed.
If reports are true, however, the
of things uncovered in southern
Florida is the worst on record.
May Reach High Up.
1t is asserted, too, tina if a general
investigation is undertaken by govern
ment special agents it will be learned
conditions quite as bad exist in
a number of other southern states.
Sheriffs and various county and state
officials are said to wink at the revolt
ing practices. More than this, 1t is
declared Il thorough investigation will
reach to men interested in southern
development concerns who are We'll up
IN the financial world, many Of them
living in the north.
The poverty Of the south in labor
has done much to stimulate peonage
practices. Just now there is a re-
markable era of development in the
south. and it is almost impossible to
get the labor needed to carry on this
development. Under the circumstances
it is not entirely surprising hat peon-
age practices just now should be par
ticularly aggravated.