The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-07-20
CITES HIS REASONS r OR OPP | SETON ID ENLARGED JAIL IniquitouS Fee System is What Keeps the Jail Full to
 Overhowing
SHERIFFS AND CLERKS
 HAVE STRONGEST LOBBY
A Shameless System of Imprisonment for Debt Made a Calhoun Man Cripple for Life on Fine
 of One Cent.

Alex T. London has written a vigorous letter to the editor of Tho Age -IIerall calling attention 10 some of Alabama 5 Weaknesses in the matter of handling - nals. His words are wrl.t4l ,,1tn the confidence of man who knows ex- actly what he is talking about and who has the proofs and affidavits to substan- tiate everything he says His letter which will undoubtedly be read with in- terest throughout the whole state is as follows:
 To the Editor of the Age-Herald:
 Thanks to pr. Bragg the real condi- tion of the county jail has been exposed.
 Thanks to the common sense of the voters of this county the proposal to issue $5O0,000 in bonds to build an en larged jail or cost factory was voted down.
 If the public will only realize the real conditions of affairs the remedy is easy and plain If the public jails are to con- tinue to be used as a means of making fees, as they now are, then enlarge them and let the officeholdersi and purchasers of claims against the fine and forfeiture funds continue to fatten on the misfor- tunes of the poor and weak; but If they are simply to be kept as a necessity for the restraint of criminals they are dl- ready large enough.
 So the public may understand the stua- ton l wish to explain and Illustrate. If an unfortunate creature is arresI sd for misdemeanor of the most trivial char acter he is put in jail, as is shown al- most daily by the number of chap shoot CTS which Colonel Higdon's raiders put there. If the poor creatures arrested are unable to give bond as is generally the case they are kept in jail until theh cases are tried. For thls involuntary and enforced entertainment the sheriff re- ceives thirty cents for each day. If they are convicted and unable to pay the costs they are then sent to the peuiten- tiary to work out these costs, including jail fees, at thirty cents day.
 It certainly is not surprising that the jails and penitentiary are filled to ove: : flowing when the cupidity of officials, in large measure, fixes the number of pris- oners we have.
 Now let me illustrate A white man named Stiles was convicted in Calhoun county of the heinous crime of trespass- ing on the tracks of property of the Southern railway. The judge, realizing the enormity of the offense, fined him one cent, but there was a bill of costs oi $19.75 and for this debt he was sent to Flap Top mine IS county convict. Be- ing entirely ignorant of mines, the first morning he went in some mine cars struck him, cut one leg off and broke the other leg, and when his time expires he was sent back to Anniston a cripple for life and a walking manument to the present system, which is a shame and dls- grace to cur state.
 It will be no easy to break the sys5em ur, for tbe officials have trust called the Sheriff's and Clerks association, which maintains a lobby in Montgomery and possess a greater political influence than any body in the state, as practically every sheriff. clerk and judge of pro- bate in the state is a member of it.
 It Is notable fact that the only suc- cessful amendment to the code reported to the house was made by Mir. Tunstall, and If the newspaper reports are correct, it concerned fees.
 The remedy for the jail trouble is not to increase the trouble by enlarging the jail. but by providing by law that inl- prisonment for debt shall in fact be abolished in Alabama; that the costs Of administering the criminal law be made q public charge as it is everywhere else in civilized countries, and it shall be found that the jail is quite large enough for public needs, if it is too small for pri- Vatc gain.
 ALEX T. LONDON.
 Birmingham, Ala, July 19, 1907.