The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1907-05-17
- il SEES SEES Us Us
aern Mans Views of the
Chain Gang In
COUNTY.

Mr.. Beers Engaged i'm tho Lumber
Business in Orangeburg County
Writes M Interesting Letter to n
Connecticut Newspaper. Ho Thinks
We Have Solved tho Problem for
Dealing With Lazy Negroes.
The Hartford, Conn.,, Courant says
Mr. Geo. A. Beers, formerly of Bris-
tol, Conn.,, but 10Y engaged in the
lumber business in RoWesVille, S. c.,
writes interesting Of what he has
seen in South Carolina with reference
to the manner in which the whites
deal with the idle or vicious negroes.
The chaingang, he thinks, is adapted
to the needs Of that section and is
operated without ~inhicting undue
cruelty or hardship upon the men
sentenced to serve time in it's ranks.
After living in the South for two
month in q community where the
whites do not number oven 200 and
the blacks are at least 1, 100, and after
having had ar average of 40 negroes
employed for that time. Mr.. Beers
puts forth his ideas in regard to the
negro on the changing. The negro
will not work more than he is oblig-
ed to in order to keep body and soul
together and he has no idea Of the
future and no care for it. If he has
a reasonable amount of rice and hon
ey today with a little pork fat to help
it out he is all right and the morrow
may take care of itself.
1t goes without saying that in every
community in the South there are q
large number of idle negroes who
will not work under any considera-
ton and in many cases, most for that
matter, they are young men. The old
time plantation darkey has practical
ly ceased to exist and there are
grown up in his place a modern ne
gro who was taught to believe him
self as good, or a little better than
the whites, and it is from these the
vagrant class is drawn that make ur
the men who work on the chaingang
From vagrancy to the commission
OF small crimes is but o step and il
seems Mr.. Beers says, that the South
has solved a question as to what tc
do withca class that will not work
n is a constant menace to the civil
welfare OF the communities, in a way
that is right for this section. The
North is considering the question
what to do with the FOUNDER" and
the idle moderately vicious persons
In order to escape constant conyic.
ton in the courts with the attendant
expenses.
The judge Of every local court il
South Carolina corresponding to Con
necticut police and justice courts i'm
poses an alternative sentence for the
crimes that come under her jurisdic
ton. He give $40 or 20 days on tho
changing, or a proportionate penal
ty for the offences that come before
him. When negro goes to Jail he
is kept there only long enough to fl
him out with a striped suit and ther
he is turned over to the county com
missioncrs, who place him on q chain
gang and he is sent with his gang tt
some piece of country road and pur
to work.
Practically all the roads in South
Carolina are country roads and, unit
recently, were not much better thar
cartpaths, but during the last few
years many of the roads leading from
n large town to another have beer
put in fine shape. 1t is no great jol
to work roads in South Carolina q.
the land is practically level and al
that is necessary is to run the roaC
machine along the highway anC
scrape the sand into the middle OF
the road and then, with the men or
changing, open the bitches down tc
clay and cover the sand with a coat,
ing Of clay, which hardcns and makes
a good road surface. The gang OBJ
Grating in n part of the State put
into good shape in four days nearly
a mile of road. There were Is of the
men chained together, four TRUSTEES
wearing the stripes, but no chains,
and four white men who acted as
roadmakers and guards.
The county of Orangeburg owns
the equipment, which consists of one
big wall tent. 16 by 20 feet, a small
er tent for cooking, two old stoves,
hunks for the men, eight mules, the
necessary wagons for transportating
baggage from place to place and a
road machine. Altogether the in
vesmtent on the part Of the county
may be $4,000.
Four men are paid wages but even
white men do not earn big pay in
this county and county commission
ers, who by the way are elected by
the people, receive $500 a year ex-
ccpt one of their number who is road
commissioner and who is paid $700.
1t was Sunday when Mr.. Beers Wis
tied the camp and the men were
resting on their hunks, which were
strung along the two sides of the
tent. AS it was a cold day a stove
had been put up in mi end of the
tent. The pipe was run along crotch
ed sticks to the other end and the
interior of the tent was comfortable.
All the men wore chains attached to
each ankle and these chains were at
tached to short ones, which in turn
were attached toa long n and these
held all the men on one side of the
tent together. The chains are never
taken off day or night.
Practically all Of the men were
under 25 years of age and they did
not seem to feel their degradation in
the least. AS a matter Of fact a ne
gro who had been released from the
gang came into Rowcsvillc, his home,
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