The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-03-31
Leasing of Conqicts Comes to
 An End on April 1
TWO THOUSAND IN GANGS
After April Over 4ooo Convicts Will Be Put To Work on the Public Roads Throughout the State
 of Georgia.

Atlanta, March -(special.)- Georgia's entire convict system will undergo radical and far-reaching change on Thursday, April l.
 The lease system comes to an end at midnight tomorrow night and while the new law permits & temporary lease of any convicts not taken bv the counties for public road work if became apparent long ago that no con 'ihuance of the lease system would be necessary even for a short period.
 out or l46 Georgia counties 1O5 have decided to take the number of con vets allotted to them on a population basis for the purpose of working their public roads.
 Wardens and deputy wardens iron, these lVo counties are now on their way to the lease camps whose exis- tenee has ended, armed with orders Tor the number of convjcts a1lo++aa their counties, and by Friday almos+ every county in the list will have be- gun work on its public roads with inc new gangs
 VII LII us dispose Of near ly zoo0 convicts. The remainder. about 4Vo In number. consisting of inyalids ana women, will be kept on the state farm in Baldwin county.
 In addition to these felony eonviots 'here are approximately 2OOO misde- ineanor convicts who will also be kent al work on the public roads.
 Of pOursa o,al,
 cohVlcts from the state will employ its own misdemeanors at like Iahor Ihose counties having misdemeanor convlcts which do not work them must oispose or them to other counties that oo' through the prison commission. for ehe 1uture leasing of misdemeanor con. victs is made unlawful.
 AS result by April ? about 40oO convlcts will be at work on the public roads of Georgia, a force that Is cal culated to make the dirt fly.
 The states action has stimulated 4s,a good roads movement as nothing else could have done. Heretofore onl,, about 50 counties have been building substantial roads. Many others have been doing desultory work in grading ana packing their dirt roads. but scarcely more than 30 have paved roads Of any consequence.
 Now road paving will be the rule and It is confidently expected that lew years will see a network of we'll paved roads extending north and south and east and west across the state.
 Taking advantage of the opportun ities offered under the new law. many counties adjacent one to another have agreed upon systematic road work which will result in the building of continuous roadways and these will eventually be linked up so that it will be possible to find in Georgia paved roads extending for a distance of 200 and even 300 miles.
 All of the convicts, both whites and ne- groes, will be put upon public road work for the present. It was the purpose of the prison commission not to put the white convcts upon the roads. and this would not have been done had it not been TOT dinerences between Governor Smith and the commission with regard to the purchase of a state prison farm. These olfferences, 1t appears, cannot be recon ciled, so it Is quite likely that the white conVicts Will remain on the roads until next fall by which time farm will have been secured. It is now believed that the commission will wait and recommend the purchase of the Wimberly farm in Twiges county, which Governor Smith disan proved, to Governor Brown If he an proves it the white convicts will then be taken from the roads and put to devel oping the farm
 The machinery incident to the transfer of about 1500 convicts, 800 of whom are already In possession of counties under the oio law, has been made as perfect as possible, still everybody connected with the work will be on the alert for trouble
 There are TOO life prisoners in the peni tehtlary ana many of them are desperate Vy uo1iIl hoe portunity to regain their liberty Ii ia to be expected there will be numerous at tenlpts at escape, and in some instances they may be successful To guard agalnst thls 1t has been required that each county shall temporarily employ one of the states convict guards in the transpor tation and housing of the prisoners. These men have had experience in dealing with convicts and would know just what to expect.
 Notwlthstanding all this 1t will be a mir acle if the transfer is made without an es- cape or mutiny.
 The negro convicts were all apportioned to the counties on basis of DO oulation ana tnis apportionment gave each of the counties applying just about it's legal nro rata. Only the white convicts who will go on the road for just a few months were treated as overs. These will be di. vided up between Fulton, Richmond and DeKalb counties, and 1t is said these counties would take more if they could get them.
 The fact IS, the road-building fever has taken strong hold upon the larger, more progressive counties of the state. and tbav want all the labor they can get. DeKaib county for instance, which on a popula- ton basis was entitled to only 25' asked for 175 additional convicts, but as if turned out there were not enough to fll the bill DeKalb, however. gets 25 of the wnite convlcts Tor a few months, which will give 1t, for the present worlrin,r force of 50 in addition to it's misdemeanor gang. Every county in the state using com victs will have to make a detailed month