Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1912-12-17
'ivlal offense one of these is as fol-

trivial offense one Of these is as fol- lows:
 m Phllll. county, according to- the court records, two negroes joint ly forged nine orders for one quart of VII skey each. For this offense. one of them was convicted and sent to the penltentlary for tAlrty-six years, and he other for eighteen. When the record of the circuit court convicting them was secured, l at once issued paTdons for both of them. They had no one to appear in lheir behalf, and at the time ssued the pardons I was notified by the psnitentiary of flcials that after serving nearly two years the negro sentenced to thirty six years had died.'
 Among other instances he notes the folliwing: Jefferson county ne- gro ser enced to 1,244 days fer pet | larceny; another from same county, 3l9 for petit larceny; another from same county, 1,4S1 days for petit lar- ceny; Cralghead county white man, 200 days for assault and battery: Miller county negro. three years, for stealing feX articles of clothing off a clothes line. These, he says, are but a few typical csses that should be sufficient to move the Legislature to ac.ion.
 The governor says that these con- q tions are the fault of the system. and not of the management Of the penitentiary, which has done all it could to correct the evils. The Peni- tentiary Board has no jurisdiction over the county farms.
 The governor calls attention to the fact that the state convict farm is too small for the employment of all he convicts in the penitentiary, and be- cause of the Imperfect statutes on the subject, not enough coun ies can work convicts on the county roads to take care of the surplus. Under the law he :. ,.enitentiary must be self sustaining, and il is permitted that convicts be hired to contractors, to be worked under guardians of the st2,e, which feeds, clothes, and pro- des medical attention for them. These contractors work the men on the railroads pay the contractors $150 to $2 day for their work, and .he state during the last four years has lost S40,000 in money con- tractors had agreed 10 pay
 The men do not fare well in the railroad camps, and three-fourths Of the cases of sickness and death occur there Ut costs the state more 70 maintain them in railroad camps that it does either on the farm or on the public roads, says the governor "In prof ts the farm yields more revenue On the public highways there is no cost to the state at all, while the communities get the bene- fit of the roads. When on the farm there are seldom any escapes, anu fewer guards are required. On the railroads, notwithstanding the large number of guards, there are many es- icapes. and from this work many oi the worst convicts in the pen ten(lafy have gained their reedom-some- times only temporarily, but too often permanently. If they are recaptureo, it is after the state has offered Ne- ward One half of the convlcts Ill the nenitentiary, with the proper managpment, could be worked on the states farm or on the public rosds w thout guards al all. This is now heinz successfully done ln other ssates with a verse class of criminals than we have. This being true, the exnense can be very much reduced. But to do it, our laws on the subject will have 10 be rebuilt, and special. ists in the study and treatment oi crim nology employed.
 It has been claimed that notnlhs else could be done with the convlcts, hut now the penitentiary is out or deht and the governor 'is convinced that satisfaction to the state ana the necessary protection to the conVlccs can never be had under he operat on of such laws and such system as we have" ..o
 In order to effecuall, check the system. he selected from the hst ol the state convicts the names or olo hesides A who are on county farms' nardoning them so that the total numher may be reduced from about 800 (eight hundred) to abou1 ooo five hundIed). This, says the gov ernor will remove the incentive 1oi the formation Of an opposing lopps to fight any plan that may De pro. nosed for the abolit on of the conVic' iease system. This will leave enough men on the penitentiary to cultivate anJ imrrcve the state farm. The .ardons are all granted on the condl'