The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1906-01-05
GOV. VARDAMAN'S MESSAGE

the public service demands a change In
the penitentiary management; and | am
also convinced that II the recommended
tions made by me two years ago had
been adopted II would have r~edourdee
to the ~pecuniary interest of the State
and Of the moral and physical well-be-
ing OF the conyicts. While the state
has realized a very considerable reve-
nue. from the work of the conyiCts, 1t
has also contributed a very large reve-
nue-the products of the ~conViCts' ton
to swell the fortunes of favored pri-
vate individuals. 1t is an asy matter
TO make money planting cotton in the
fazoo-Mtssissippi delta, when o W
the labor, pay no taxes or interest, ana
the products sell for a good price.
The business methods of the Board of
control are illustrated by one or two
acts, which l shall Iention. In Sep
TENDER, 1903, the Board of Control had
under its management about 2 1000
acres of land belonging to the State.
county, there We're about 5000 acres
open or cleared, with 5000 acres to be
cleared. This cleared land originally,
like the unclcared land, was heavily
timbered with the finest oak, ash and
gum timber, the greater portion of
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 conyicts, instead of
WI III NAANiAl III hN iAilN VI ' AA
dividuals. There were 1900 acres of
cleared land on the Belmont place; 500
or 500 acres cleared on the
Rankin farm, with 700 or 500 acres
more of splendid land on that farm to
be cleared, and 1900 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
he p1pArp1 m~nppNamantG tn he 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 a plantation be-
longing to this nephew. for which the
Board of Control paid IS per acre,
twelve months in advance. We find
the Board of Control, at the same time,
contracting with two other distin-
guished gentlemen, prominent In poll
tics, for their delta plantations to be
worked on shares. The Board of Com
troll made money after giving half of
the products of the Convics' toll to these
private individuals thus contracted
with, but 1t was money coined out of
the blood and tears of the unfortunate
convicts. 1t vas money made in a way
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
aim and end of the penitentiary, the
leasing of the lands of private individ-
uals was a mistake. If the State can
make money working a private indi-
vidual,s land and giving that private
individual half of the products of. the
conviCts' toll, | cannot understand why
it cannot make more money working
its own land and keeping the entire
products of the cOnYiCts' toll, If all
the %cOnviCts had been concentrated and
worked upon the States lam 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 n live stock.
In December, 1904, the present Board
of Control made some very commend
able reforms, as far as 1t went. All
plantations belonging to private per-
sons were discarded save only the one
belonging to State Senator II. j. 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 TO the perpetual
ton of that special privilege. | 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 I was disappointed,
At the December meeting, 1905, the
board undertook to enter into another
contract with State Senator II. j. Nc
Laurin, which was so lagrantly a vio-
lation of the law that / felt 1t to be my
duty to appeal to the courts to pre-
~ "a N1A to-. 20 ALz 80
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 contTadic-
ton, that for many years the peniten-
tiary has been the one fostering sore
upon the body politic-poisoned by the
virus of private personal cupidity-the
most corrupt and c"orrupting 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-
ton. If you question that statement,
read the history of the penitentiary of
Mississippi. make no charge Of per
sonal dishonesty. They may have been
the victim of a nefarious system or pol
Icy of long standing.
The penitentiary property has greatly
enhanced in value. Including lands,
live stock. farming implements, etc, to-
. p" " NAi' - ~ NV N'AA ' tNAft =
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 of
intelligence, integrity and business ca
pacity. The p~enitentiary farms should
the model farms of the State. They
should be used to demonstrate Upon a
large scale the advantages to the farm
ers of experiments made at the Agricul-
I II Tql md Mechanical Cp11gpn on n small
scale. Scientific agriculture, tile drain
ing. fertilization of soil, growth OF
plants should be the lessons taught
upon the States plantations. Intelli-
gent direction, with the absolute con-
troll Of the labor, would make hat easy
of accomplishment. n at the same
time peCuniarilv 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 q 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 I'M
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 world-saving plan he
would spend all the money in Christen-
dom and mortgage the future. Where
the supply of money is limited It Is
well for those charged with the dis
of the States revenues to be
that the money appropriated
school purposes shall be invested
so as to bring the largest educational
returns. I believe a dollar invested in
the development of the mind of the
child and the cultivation of the