The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-04-06
GEORGIA WANTS ID WORK CONNECTS Fight On for Sake of Unfortu-
 nate COnviCtS SIMILAR CONDITIONS HERE Rome Citizen Argues That Education Gan Take Care of Itself and Com
 mon Decency Requires
 the Change.
 
SIMILAR CONDITIONS HERE

The situation in Jefferson. county, in- cluding the convict problem. is exactly duplicated in Georgia, and the greaC movement is rampant in that state. w IT. Cannon, writing from Rome Ga. has advanced many new arguments of interest in Birmingham.a
 Editor Constitution: Those who are interested in good roads and have in vestigated the present convict lease system, read the seditorial in the Sun days Constitution, under the above caption with much interest and in- dorse every word of it.
 It is high time this important quec- tion was being agitated, for already articles are appearing in the country press showing how great the "loss' will be to the "sch ool fund" if this lease system is abolished. It is not difficult to trace these able pleas for the "edu- ca ton of our poor children" to the, fine Italian hand of those who are get ting the usufruet out of the system.
 Many men are on this subject like those who complacently advocate high licenses, and fondly imagine they have satisfactorily settled the liquor question by establishing it. They look only for revenue
 So it is with this convict lease ques- ton. Humanity. decency and all thought of the welfare of these poor unfortunate convictsgis sunk under the one idea of revenue" for the school fund"
 And the articles now being published figure out the enormous loss" that will result to the state from the destruction of the lease system.
 Would any intelligent man say thae indipinlIC14f h highways would be either a loss to the state or to the taxpayers of the state ?
 We have spent thousands of milliops on railways, hundreds of millions nc rivers and harbors. Our transportation lines of this kind are far in advance ot all the nations of the earth. but far behind every other civilized govern ment in the construction of our pubic roads.s
 These public roads are the innumerable feeders of all the other transportation lines. Practically all the freight de- signed for shipment must first pass oyer these roads to the shipping points
 If we spend thousands of millions on the main transportation lines as profit able investment, would it be a waste of money to spend few millions on the feeders" that furnish all the traffic for these great trunk lines when built?
 These able writers seem to forget that the taxpayers of this state are also the fathers of the states children, and while they propose to take care of the children, because it is an obligation they voluntarily assumed" yet they are greatly interested in the building of good roads. They believe 1t will greatly in- crease the taxable value of property and add much to the yearly revenues of the state. In this way it will not only bene- fit the fathers, but enable them to provide greater comforts for the children and greater advantages in education.
 Put the convicts on the roads," MT. Editor Make it an issue in every county, and there are few fathers in this state that would not willingly give up the pittance coming to his child and put t on the roads rather than have it lashed out of the backs of these poor unfortun- ates, many of them probably innocent of the charges upon which they were con- victed
 Now the extension of the Western and Atlantic railroad is being strenuousiy advocated by some of our statesmen, and it Is proposed to put all the convicts on that work.
 This may or may not be a good thing for the state, but evidently the school fund" will suffer as much as if the con victs were put on the public roads.
 It is understood that if the Western anu Atlantic eXten'ion scheme is adopted the work would be let out to contractors, and the convicts hired to them at so much per head. This would be practically the ola system under @ new name, and the higher the price per head paid the more the convicts would have to suffer to make return of good dividends to the bosses.
 When it is recollected that only about 10 per cent of the freights in this state come through the ports and the S5 per cent all rail by Chattanooga, and when it is understood how difficult it would be to make satisfactory arrangement with :'competing lines for freight rates, we are persuaded that the state and the tax payers are in more danger of losing on the construction of this extension of the Western and Atlantic than they would be if the convicts were used ot construct our public roads,
 The conviction is also gaining ground that it would have been to the advan- tage of the state to have put a long lease on the state road several years ago, when at that time it would have yielded an income of $6o,0OO to 's7O.ooo per month
 We fear that opportunity has now passed.
 The plea for the education of the Door children and the crocodile tears shed over their condition by the lessees and their able attorneys, is losing force with those who suspect the ngger in the wood pile.
 The fathers who pay the taxes will look after the children's education, but they want the conyicts on the roads, not only hacause they see the importance of the roads to them and their posterity, but they feel that this lease system IS a disgrace to the state and great inJus- tice to the poor convicts who are driven to death to make big dividends for their owners. .,
 Of course we understand that the counties through which the extens,on IS to he located twill give the right of way" and probably grade the road within their borders with the misde- meanor convicts.
 Rome, Ga., April ?, 1908.