The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-09-29
PRISON LABOR BULLETIN.
Report of General Secretary to Ma tiOnaI Committee on Prison
 Labor.

tiOnal Committee on Prison
 Labor.
 (Reprinted from the Weekly Bulletin
 ef the Clothing Trades.)
 May IS report was made to the general committee of the national committee on prison labor, outlining the work of the committee and call ing attention to the progress made up to that time. The progress of the work since that date has been most satisfactory. The study of the con- ditions existing in the different States has been pushed with vigor. The general secretary has made tours of inspection into New England, the South and the Middle West, full re- ports of the same being filed in the office. These investigations have interested the executives of many of the States and a cordial working basis has been secured.
 The Governors Conference,
 Thomas R. Slicer, the chairman of the executive committee, has through nYs personal friendship with Hon. William George Jordan. secretary of the Governors Conference, vitally in- terested that gentleman in the poss1- bilities of constructive work of na- tional moment being done by the committee and spent morning study ing in detail the work of the com mittee and in going over the cOrrc- spondence between the committee and the Governors of the different States. Having satisfied himself regarding the merits of the cause and the vital in- terest shown by the Governors he de- termineed to lay before the commit tee on arrangeme ents for the Cover nors' Conference at Spring Lake the bility of having prison labor one of the topics for discussion. This committee consisting of Governor Will son of New Jersey, Governor Mann of Rhode Island, unanimously decided upon the inclusion of this topic and assigned Saturday,, Sept. 16, to be given up to the discussion of prob- lems of prison labor. Two Cover norS have been asked to prepare pa pers upon this topic, and others have been designated for the discussion.
 In preparation for the Governors Conference several pamphlets are be- ing compiled; one on the party plat lCrmS will point out the political sig nificance of the topic; one on the present laws will point out the legal status of the subject; while one on resolutions will show the desire of | the public that the Governors Con-, ference take action to remedy the
 
 prison labor legislation in the Legis- | lature of 1911, written by the gen eral secretary for the publication of | the American Association of Labor | Legislation, entitled, Labor Legisla- l tion in 1911," will be on hand for use have a message for the Governors. The proceedings of the, Governors Conference it is planned to edit so as to be available for all interested in the subject, and it is hoped that as a | result of the conference a co-Opera- | ton can be secured between the Gov ernors which will insure the adapta- | tion of reforms instituted by one Gov | ernor into the constructive program of 1 others.
 | Campaign of Education.
 l The general campaign of education has been carried on by means of pub lie addresses by theygeneral secretary Charities and Corrections (Boston, June) the National Good Roads As | sociation Birmingham, Mayl, the American Association, Workers for the Blind (Overbrook, Pa., June) ,and the Labor Temple, (New York, June). The addresses have been printed in the daily press and weekly journals. some even finding their way into the German-Ame merican Press. As bu reau of information the office of. the I IS DGluS uSSu IlOI0 anu more, queries of every kind are being lodged with the committee regarding methods and plans, while visitors to the city, interested in the subject, | have been consulting our files and un- published reports. The material | increased by the inspections made by the general secretary and by the ad- dition of a mass of historical mater ial which was secured through the kindness of Professor John R. Com mons from the historical library of the University of Wisconsin.
 Recommendations for Reform
 investigations have formed the ba- sis of recomm for reform in a number of centers. The commits | tee has worked in hearty cooperation with Governor Dix's commission in | New York State, where the investi- l gation has caused the resignation of | the Superintendent of Prisons and a number of minor officers in his de- partment. The committees cooper ation with the officers of the State Controller of New York will result in the publication of complete report of the status of the prison industries, a thing never before done in the fif- teeen years under the present system This report will show the present sta tus of the industries, will point out the standard of efficiency which is Q0SIIdDlc lO duu Iudh0 ClSdI l that under the present system in vo- l que in New York state (Whereby the products of the prisons are sold to the State and sub b-divisions of the State and institutions thereof), the prison population cannot, even with greatly increased efficiency, come anywhere near supplying the market which the laws of the State have pro- vided for their goods. The publi- cation of this report will insure the establishment of the New York system of prison industries on a basis which will make them a model for the other States. The Onondaga enitentiary, where an unconstitution- al contract was exposed by the com mittee, has been visited and recom- mendations filed whereby the stone quarry connected with the institution can be so developed as to supply suf- l ficient work all the year round for | the convicts. Recomme endations also
 have been made for the humanizing of the convict camps of Georgia; to ! Governor O'Neal of Alabama, for the mitigating of some of the evils exist ing in the State and county penal sys- tenn, for the substitution of industrie es with educational value in place of the
 binder-twine industry at Waupun Wis.,. at the request of the Beard of Control of Ohio, which was estab- lished by the act of this Legislature and takes control of the penal instt-
 tutions August IS, a recomm endation