The Washington herald., 1908-08-09

vfcts and 1s2 jail men. making a total OF
4z5 Prisoners are at work n Washing
ton. Russell. Lee. PittsyIvania. Bedford.
Amherst. Augusta, Orange. Fauquier
Chesterfield. and Dinwtddie counties
Road improvement IS also being carried
on under state supervision IN Henrico.
Price Edward, and Gresnesville counties,
and viii be begun shortly IN Russell. Al
bemarle. Smyth. and CUlpeper- Capt
Wilson continued
7 an frequently asked whether our
system Of convict labor on public roads
is giving satisfactory results To this I
reply In the main. yes
Has some Disadvantage.
That convict labor has its disadvan-
taEes no one can deny A man IS not likely
10 do as good work when il Is compulsory
and without remuneration as he would
If he were being PAID for il and had a
chance Of advancement II should also
be remembered that criminals who. as
a rule, lead lazy and dissipa1ed lives are
not the equal physically Of regular labor
ers. and have 10 go through more or
less proIonEed period OF building I'D and
seasoning before they are capable OF do
ing a. good days work
Another disadvantage where the work
IS light Is the impossibility Of scattering
the force out along the work on account
Of the number Of men that would be re-
qUire6 20 properly guard IL As an offset
20 these objections can be mentioned the
great advantage q the regularity OF labor
under complete control and the fact that
the Jail prisoners. at least. are put to
T he -la4r
for their maintenance. which has here
-ofore been simply an expense Another
strong argument tc be advanced is that
. a man viii emerge from 6 term OF service
or the road force much better equipped
10 make struggle for good citizenship
than he would after confinement in our
prisons. OF even pe1itertia-y."
Thinks state should Aid.
Representative Lasst-er. one Of the pa
irons Of the original State convict road
law, followed with an able argument for
governmental aid for State highways.
He said in closing
There are 1ooo0 miles # main Travelled
and particularly important highways
which might be turned over 70 the State.
aided by the national government. The
state funds for the scianticdc building
z
I derived from the taxation Of every citizen
and from every subject Of taxation, for
reasons I shall not have time TO discuss.
Even though the counties should be IN
willing 10 be deprived Of any Of their
! local funds. though relieved Of one-ffth
Of their roads. the time is at hand when
the State can safely and wisely appro-
pirate sums which. together with the
/ labor of the convicts. viii more than
equal the vast county levies which UP TO
this time have heen vTproda- tive Of sub
stantiaI permanent results.
As a result Of the action OF the last
from the general State funds more than
$4,000 in money and its equivalent
Roads Almost IutOIerabIe.
The time viii soon arrive when the
people Of Virginia viii no longer tolerate
the present unscientifc and ineQuitable
contract. which gives a private corpora
tion the use Of so large a part OF the
convict labor Of the State When this time
arrives in addition 10 the States money
contribution. there ought 70 be available
annually on the part Of the state S5G9.O00
Of labor precisely adapted 70 this work
Upon the basis Of this estimate. the
State OF Virginia may soon expect to
control directly s.. .010 900 per aununn fo-
the use Of the public highways. believe
the national government VIII BY that time
be ready to act A Federal appropria-
ton which would equal the State funds
Of Virginia and the other States should
be the aim and object Of our representa-
tives, and Of all our agricultural and
municipal organizations When We recall
the enormous appropriations for military
purposes. OF even for rivers and harbors.
the sum I have indicated Is by no means
inequltable- It's annual addition 10 the
Virginia State funds would build all the
absolutely necessary main highways in
the State within twenty years What such
an achievement means 10 our people jus
tiles any effort that we can put forth
70 hasten rs accomplishment