El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-07-22
Of
STATE PRISONS
GETS RESULTS :.
Reforms Certain Campbell
and His Low Tax
Rate.

| Austin, Tex, July 22.-The in
vestigation of the Texas prison
/ system by the joint committee of rep
resentatives and senators appointed at
the last regular session of the legisIa-
ture will probably bear fruit earlier
than was expected. Ii is stated that
Gov. Campbell is anxious to make the
reforma ton of the mana cement of the
penitentiary affairs of the state one of
the features of his administration. 1t
is expected that considerable time of
the present special session will be de-
voted to the consideration of meas
ures TO bring about the desired changes
not only in the general conduct of the
prison system but in the treatment Of
convicts.
The report of the investigating COM
mittee was placed in tire hands of the
governor a few months ago. He mas
gone through it carefully and is well
informed as to the deplorable condi-
lions as brought TO light by the testi-
mony and personally conducted investi
cations to which the committee de-
voted several weeks of constant work.
Radical changes in the prison man
agement and in the rules governing
!, the working and treatment of the con-
vcts are proposed. An effort will be
made by the legislature to place the
administration of the prisons on a
higher plane. Instead of being used
as a source of financial profit to the
state, it is proposed by the members
of the committee to try and bring about
the reformation of the convicts through
legislation that will tend to uplift them
mentally and spiritually.
Newspaper Man at Head.
Clarence E. Gilmore, member of the
house of representatives and a news
paper editor OF Wills Point, is chair
man of the investigating committee.
He has devoted much time and study
to the penitentiary problem. He. will
take the lead in the movement to bring
about legislation that will remove the
revolving conditions which now sur
round the cOnvicts. The committee in
the course of its Investigations found
that in many Instances the convicts
were inhumanely treated by irrespons-
ible guards in whose keeping they
were placed. The whipping evil was
only one of many bad features which
the committee found in the peniten-
tiary system.
as to the character and extent of re-
forms that should be established that |
ii will be difficult to shape up a meas
ure that will satisfy all who are inter |
ested in the subject. 1t is the general !
sentiment that the convict lease system !
should be abolished. The greatest /
abuses uncovered by the committee in /
its work of investigation were in the |
camps Of contract forces of convicts |
upon the farms and coal mines. mi
some of the camps the penal forces I
were treated more like brutes than |
human beings. The chief object seemed !
to be TO get as much work out of them |
as possible I
What Shall COnviets Do:
One Of the chief problems to be
solved by the legislature in disposing
of the convict question is what en-
ployment shall be given the men who /
now comprise the contract forces. From
q reform standpoint it is urged by some |
members of the Legislature that all con- .
victs should ee kept within the walls
of the prisons where they can be care
fully looked after. The state has sew
eral extensive plantations upon which
sugar cane is the principal crop. All
labor upon these plantations is done
exclusively by convicts. Highly prof
liable returns come to the state from
the farming operations and the aban-
Comment of this plan OF using convicts
would mean a heavy annual financial
loss. 1t is considered improbable that
any legislative reform that may be
adopted for the penitentiary system
will not abolish the use of convict la
Dor upon the states plantations. On
the contrary, the purchase of additional
land upon which more convicts may
be worked is being advocated by many
people who claim TO have the better
ment of the condition of the men in
penal servitude at heart. It is claimed
that outdoor exercise and rational
treatment of the men, both in the field
and in camp, will be of benefit to them. !
The proposition to work the short
term convicts upon the public roads
does not seem to be in much favor
among the legislators. Tt is claimed
that the convicts would fare worse in
that kind of service than they now do
in the contract camps.
CampbeIPs Taxation Policy.
Although all of the ambitions of Gov
Thomas VI. Campbell have not been
gratified, his ambition to be the lowest
tax rate governor that Texas had ever
had has now become a part of the
Of the state and no one can
deny him that coveted title.
But economy in the administration
of the state government is not the
cause. The tax rate has been cut be-
cause the state is digging in the thou
sands of dollars brought into the treas
ury through the fine assessed against
the Waters Pierce Oil company and
other trusts. Really whatever credit
there is to the lower tax rate should go
to the attorney generals Department.
hill =
The rate this year is cents. Last
years rate was cents, representing a
reduction of I y cents from the prevail
ing rate at the time the Waters-Pierce