Wheeling majority. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1907-192?, 1912-07-11
door to graft and the exploitation for

door to graft and the exploitation for
private gain.
Happily the day is fast passing
when a man can boast Of having a
good thing in a prison contract and for
get to mention the poor thing that
is left, the prisoner working. on the
contract
I'VE are looking forward to the time
when there will not be a single con
tract and when the business acuteness
of the contractor will not be in the
ratio of his skill as a slave driver.
''Prison management must be in the
hands of carefully trained men. The
tprison is not. a cesspool in which the
state can dump it's refuse politicians.
The prisoner is in penal serivtude.
His time, his effort, his light, warmth
and place all have been bought by the
contractor.
The claim of organized labor has
| long been established and except in
certain selfish centres is clearly re-
cQgnized. The free man should not
be penalized or undersold by convict
labor.
"Tne state use system has been sue.
cessfully adopted in a number of
states and new spirit is presenting
itself amongst the governors Of the
states favoring the Honor System
"The awakening conscience Of the
people on this subject will find its re
Election in the selection this autumn
of the governors of many states"
The contract system was further
condemned by Benjamin N. Kaye, at
torney for the Fancy Leather Goods
Manufacturers Association, who said
in part:
"The fancy leather goods industry
is undergoing a steady process of an
Inhalation by reason of competition
with convict labor.
/
manufacture of fancy leather goods
has existed for only about two years.
Already four going concerns have been.
driven out of business, and the work
ing people thrown out Of positions
''The prosperity of the prison con-
tractor invariably entails ruin and
grinding poverty to hundreds Of manu-
facturers and thousands of employees.
In presenting the attitude Of the
Trade unions toward prison labor, J.
I P. Frey, editor of the International
Moulders Journal, stated that:
prison labor under the contract con
vict labor system has been the means
of lowering the wage rate for thou
sands of wage earners and in some
instances it's competition has practi-
cally driven an industry from the
field.
'In the Iron NJ ulders trade stove
hollowware5 has been practically
driven out of the foundries in the
United States through the competition
of similar wares made by contract
convict labor for the moulders could
not exist on thew ages for which they
would have ito work to compete with
the convict whose labor is sold to the
contractor for as low as $3.50 per day
TT is because of this competition
and for humanitarian reasons that
trade unions have been opposed to the
contract system.
Briefly reviewed, the trade union
attitude towards prison labor is that
its first object should be the prison
er's reformation and under no circum-
stances should any element Of private
profit enter into consideration. The
labor performed by the prisoner should
be of useful nature and for this labor
the. convict should be paid for the
benefit of those dependent upon him
and for his own assistance upon re-
gaining freedom and finally Ase prin-
cipal object of the state should be
to protest itself from the vicious and
unfortunate and to give them an
adequate opportunity for reformation
and not to derive profit from their
labor"