Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1912-03-25


fences. The Spokane police judge said,
in endorsing the PLAN
Il could so through the city jail
now and pick cut many men / have
sentenced for vagrancy and drunken
ness who could be placed on the farm
upon their honor There they could
ria themseh es of the .alcohol and the
drugs. which are destroying their
bodies and minds and at the same
time earn money for themselves and
/ defendants l am also in favor of the
: authorities of Spokane county secur-
T ing a tract near the proposed city
! farm to operate a similar institution
! for retaining unfortunates."
Only the other day Seattle women
| took advantage of equal suffrage to
upset the traffic. in that city, that is
converting men into criminals by de-
| feqting the mayor and city govern
| ment who were working (as are GER
| tain city governments in this State)
Tor the makers and sellers of intoxi-
| eants. Now, in Seattle. if it is not
| overthrown by the recall which the
| friends of the rum trust are invoking,
the administration will stop some of
! the manufacture of ,criminals and.
| crime and ihus save the cost of penal
farms.
H. II. Windsor. in Popular Mechan-
les Magazine writes:
The question. What to do with Con-
victs?" has been discussed until it is
frayed at the edges. Prison-made
goods are opposed by labor organiza-
lions in the North, ana the convict
contract system III the South degen-
Grated to a degree. which made the
worst feature of slavery seem desira-
he in contrast. On the other hand. |
confinement without any occupation
is little more than refined cruelty, as
evidenced by the pitiful eagerness
with which men in many institutions
beg for the privilege of scrubbing a
floor and other similar work. The lat
est national report. which is for the
year 1910 shows there were nearly /
one-half Il million commitments. To /.
be exact, 1876 persons were that |
year put behind the bars for periods !
ranging from one day to life. In /
few instances penitentiary prisoners
perform some farm work, and this |
makes the institution partly self-sup- |
porting; but on the whole, the law
abiding pay a large price for the pun
ishment, by confinement, of the guilty |
Not only the public, but in many cases |
the convicts unfortunate family share
in the punishment by being deprived
of the income-dishonest though it
may have been-of the bread winner.
Perhaps some day some plilanthropist
will discover a practical method by
which the convict with a family can
lie permitted or compelled to earn
something during incarceration which
Will be paid monthly to his dependent
wife and children.
The State of Georgia has instituted
a plan for the employment of convict
labor that is a long step in advance.
and which may well be considered and
adopted in every other state. The .
scheme has no substantial objections
or difficulties, and meets with general
approval Even the eonvicts express
themselves as well treated and well
fed" The proper county officials may
secure from the state penitentiary a
certain number of convicts, for term
OF weeks or months. These men are
rut at work building county roads the
county paying the cost of their food.
The prisoners sleep in portable jails on
wheels but during waking hours are
usually unfetted, though constantly
under surveillance. Two guards
armed with rifles are allotted to each
gang of twelve prisoners. Desperate
criminals are not used and as a rule
the men much prefer the outdoor life
with it's work and certain amount of
freedom to the monotonous confine-
ment and doing nothing. l am in
formed that escapes, or attempts to
escape are infrequent. as capture is
very certain and results in certain
extension of the penal term within |
prison walls.
In this way excellent roads are rap
idly being constructed at an expense
which is trifing There is demand for |
all of the available convict labor to be
had. The effect on the men them
selves is beneficial. The regular out
door work, with wholesome food, keeps
them in healthy condition; their time
is occupied; and as they look upon the /
inevitable feeling of satisfaction at
having accomplished something worth
while. The occupation begets a GER
tain self-respect.
In addition to the securing of good
roads at a minimum cost, there is
psychological effect upon the con-
victs Which alone commends the plan
Few things in life are surrounded by
greater difficulties than the re-enlist- |
ment in self-supporting labor of the !
man who energies from our peniten- !
tiaries at the close of even a two or
three-Year term. He is entirely out of
step-physically and mentally-with
| honest toll. The change from con-
ffnement to freedom is really much
| harder than his advent to a cell 1t is
| believed that the employment at man
| ual labor in road building will bridge
| the gulf between the prison discharge
| and the mans resumption of honest
work as nothing else will do. When
| bis term ends, he is not thrust out
| into the world with pale face and