The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-03-26
ROY STONE ON USE OF CONVICT SYSTEM Former Director Presents Ar- guments On Both Sides SOME SEEK MIDDLE GROUND Few Committees Have Found convicts of Greatest Use In Breaking
 Stone and Preparing
 Road Materials.
SOME SEEK MIDDLE GROUND

cates pro and con will find their argu- ments in the following article by Roy Stone, former department director:
 "There are three sides to the question of working convicts on the highways. or rather two sides with a broad middle ground The negative side is taken by the Prison association of New York and by penologists generally, and Is defended by the New York society in this language:
 T. That such employment of convicts would as seriously interfere with labor outside as any other form of convict labor.
 "'2. That the state convicts could only be employed on state roads, unless there was a violation of the law which pro- hibts the employment of convicts under contract. If the counties employed them they would be obliged to make contract with the state for them.
 "'3. That a very large body of people would be required to prevent escapes, that escapes would frequently occur. and that there would be a constant necessity for shooting convicts in order to prevent their getting away. There would soon be a death rate among the convict population approaching that known to have existed among convicts of the south who are em- ployed on public works.
 "4 In many cases the prejudice against convict labor would require a military force to protect the convicts who were at work.
 '''5. It has been found a hardening and demoralizing process to the convicts themselves to employ them in public places, and it has been found by penol- ogists to be a demoralizing process to the public at large to see this daily spectacle of shame.
 These are but part of the reasons advanced for a protest from the Prison association of New York upon the passage you that this decision is fully in har- mony with that of the most advanced penologists, not only of this country but of the entire world
 Force To Maintain All Roads.
 This is a view of the question natural to men whose minds are fixed on the need of society of the reformation of criminals. Opposed to it is the opinion of many equally good citizens who seek the public good in other ways, and especially in the direction of improved means of communi- cation and who see in the multitude sup ported in idleness in our tails and pris- ons as a reward for crime and employed in prison manufactures to the injury of honest artisans, a labor force sufficient to mend all the roads in the country, if 1t could be so applied and which they be- lieve could be so applied without prejudice to free labor, since it would be employ ment or work not now done at all, and would therefore not compete with any class of workingmen. The advocates of convict road would insist further that the outdoor life and exercise afforded by such employment must benefit the health and morals of the prisoners, that the pub lie and visible punishment of criminals would deter others from the commission of crime, and that the labor so supplied would accomplish a good not attainable by any other means.
 Referring To Charlotte Plan.
 "They point to the practical working of the system in many places; for in- stance, at Cranston, R. l., and at Char lotte, N. c. In the latter place convicts have built many miles Of beautiful roads running out of the city in all directions and given such satisfaction to the people that the special law under which it was done Is now being extended to other coun- ties. In other southern states where the convict lease system, with all it's objec- tonable features, still prevails, it Is clear that a transfer of the prisoners from ir- responsible and often inhuman private employ to the care of states or counties would be a saving kindness to them, while it would wipe out public disgrace and benefit the entire community Some of the apprehensions of the New York Prison association do not appear to have been well founded. The legislature passed the Dill in spite of the protest, and an experiment having been made in the em- ployment of road-making of the convicts at Clinton prison, the results, as report ed by Warden Thayer are entire satis- factory There was nc interference with the convicts by citizens except in two cases where intoxicated men offered them liquor; no apparent demoralizing ef- fects on the prisoners or the public; no shooting of convicts and only three men attempted to escape. The warden, there- fore, in his report on the subject, con- cludes as follows: That limited number of convicts can be worked successfully is now an established fact
 Little Economy Shown.
 "But. on the other hand, when we ex- anime the warden's financial statement, we find but little if any economy in the use of convicts as compared with the em- ployment of free labor for the same work. The cost of guards and for the search for escaped prisoners was equal to 91 cents for each days labor done, which, consd- ering the comparative efficiency of such labor Is very near it's full value, the day $ work being only eight hours.
 Again it may be safely predicted that when road-making becomes great busi- ness in the country, the introduction of labor-saving appliances will do away with a large share of hand labor now requisite in laying stone or gravel road. The ma terial being generally transported by rail- road will then be transferred to wagons, without shoveling, and from the wagons mechanically spread in its place, so that almost nothing will be left for convcts to do on the line of the road.
 '"These considerations strengthen the position of those who hold the middle ground of the question, which is that state prisoners should be employed wholly in the preparation of road materials, and in placas where they. can he p1la a rdad and