The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-02-16
The Employment of COnqicts
 Has Been Found Feasible
BETTER THAN FREE LABOR
Writer Says One Convict Is Worth Almost Two Free Laborers-Great Saving In Keep of Prisoners.
 Road Problem Solved.

l The following letter on the improve ment of roads in North Carolina is of local interest just now:
 "To the Editor of The Age-Herald:
 We have no printed matter at present bearing directly on road-buildins Wa commenced macadam road construction in | Mecklenburg county North Carolina, in the year 1881, in very crude, ignorant manner, and experimented until 1891, be- fore we began to build permanent, mod 1 ern roads. Political differences were our l great trouble in our own ranks, demo- 1 oratic in short, each official thought he 1 knew what to do.
 i "We had too many ignorant road build ersi Ten years gave lis experience and l knowledge, and we began to employ eom- petent men. regardless of price, and to i experiment with all kinds of road ma i ehinery and to study and watch our re- suits.
 About 1891 we organized a second con- vctN force and equipped same with good arrangement, the most experienced we i could get. and put the whole under an engineering basis, and we began. to get 1 down to business. Needless to say we are still experimenting and improving in some way all the while for the general betterment of the cause.
 I've have two convict camps, consist ing of about 75 convicts each, that we | keep on the long extension lines to the extremes of county limits. We begin all our county roads at Charlotte, b in num- Der, and complete them to the county limits We grade, bridge and macadam- 1 ize from 14 to 16 miles each year with | these two grading or convict camps. We have a third force, a convict force, of about 10 convicts, whose mission is to keep in repair the macadam roads under our convict system. We have also a fourth repair force, consisting of free labor working on the same principle. We cannot get conricts enough, hence a re- pair force by free labor.
 ''We have now 1S0 miles of macadam in the county and about 90 miles in the 1 city. Our macadam roads cost us from s250O to s600O pera mile, the general aver age being from SsJ00 to s40oo, including l bridging and masonry. This estimate is on convict labor basis.
 Cost of convicts.
 "Our convicts cost us about 42 cents per capita per day. This includes plenty of | gcod clothing, board, tobacco, medical attention, supervision and buildings Free | laborers on one of our repair forces costs us SIPS per capita per day of 10 hours.
 "One convict is almost worth two free ! in, laf, granting they were on equal cost basis. Get every negro in your state on the chain gang, if you can, and go to build ing roads, and I think you will agree with me that the negro problem will bc nearer solved then than when they are citizens of leisure and liberty.
 "Our jailors' fees are 45 cents per cap ita per day, for boarding prisoners, and we do not get any benefit of his labor at all On the roads we get his labor and maintenance for cost of 42 cents per capita per day, and he is worth s125 per capita per day. In short the county real izes net profit of S5 cents per capita per day by working them on the roads By keeping them in jail they cost 45 cents per day as a clear loss. and we would not have any roads. Or in short, 15o con- vists or prisoners in jail idle would sink the county, at 45 cents. $S7.5O per day, s2625 per month or s3l,500 for a year. Say l50 convicts at the same cost per capita per day, or month, while on the gang would be sSl 300 per annum. Say a net profit of S5 cents per capita for 1So con victs for 12 months would be in round | numbers, on 3O-day basis, s460O0.
 "Your cost to maintain and operate | your convicts will not exceed the cost | given above; if it should it will be lack of proper management. When your people consider the fact from a business stand point that 150 of your worthless negroes | will bring you a revenue of about S46000 per annum, and give you good roads, and ] reverse your proposition. while in jail they cost you about sS2,ocO per annum, and no roads, it does seem to me that they should sit down and listen to reasor. for one hour and think where they are at
 q do not favor class legislation against | the masses at all but l do say of all people on the face of the globe the farm CTS and working class of people are tho ones who should favor good roads move | ments First, because the fellow who has the money and property is the party who pays this road tax, and not the poor devil who hasn't anything Second, be- l cause the farmer or laboring man is a | direct beneficiary from all points of view. The farmers get to furnish teams, material ard feedstuffs for the construction work. | He gets a per diem for himself, and gets road for himself practically at the other fellows cost Still he does not want to put a debt on his children.
 You can say to those wise Isaacs, 80 long as they will follow the intelligence and wealth of the county and state they will not suffer under oppressive debts.
 Embarrassment of Property.
 "Everybody is helped, all land values are increased, rural mail routes are estab- lished. and will reach remote rural dis tricts telephone systems are promoted along the lines of macadam roads, churches and schools flourish, residential improvements are noticeable, and clyill- zation is apparent on every hand. Time consumed in marketing farm products is cut into onc-half, horsepower is de- creased one-half and the capacity of the wagon increased and very desirable con ditions met generally.
 with us farm values are based on macadam proximities. A tenant renting a farm will hardly consider farm that 1 1x.e ,,a+ I;o ,t, r1aapadaYo ,oad You