The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-12-21
GIVES REASONS FOR
 CONNECTS ON ROADS.
President John Craft Writes of Many Advantages of
 the System
!e Editor of The Age-Herald

To the Editor of The Age-Herald: see in yours of recent date that you
 are taking up the proposition of working
 the convicts on the public roads, also
 notice the county of Jefferson, through its county commissioners have been looking
 into the mitigation of the convicts. I haxe given the subject considerable
 study for a number of years, and the convict, when properly handled under
 business methods, is the cheapest and
 best road labor that can be had for the
 reason he Is under control; his hours
 and habits are regular. and he will per form more labor than the ordinary free laborer that Is employed on roads. Sec
 ond, it is the most humane way to work
 the convicts as a whole; they are out in the open air, receive wholesome food
 and with regular rest they make ideal
 road hands.
 By having good rules such as they have in Georgia Georgia works about 5000 con yicts on her roads), good guards and su- pervisors that show by their example hu-
 mane treatment, keeping away profanity and whisky drinking as they do in Geor- 1 gia having their surroundings fygienie,
 the 20oO eonvicts as estimated by MT. Cor
 man, under such supervision could build | for the state at least l5oo to 2OO0 miles of permanent gravel and maeadam roads a year, including the construction out of | concrete the approaches to culverts and I bridges.
 | At low cash estimate the roads. | bridges and eulverts which the conviots would construct may be placed at S50oO per mile, which would give the state from
 s1.50o0O0 to $2,5OO,OO0 worth of permanent
 roads, bridges and culverts a year. l believe these laborers under proper economic business management could be | cared for and clothed on an average of 50 cents per day. That is about what they are doing in Georgia. Under this treat ment when their terms expire more than | S5 per cent of the conyiets are restored
 and are no longer a charge upon society. With the expenditure of about $375,00O to S4500O0 the utilization Of the convicts would add to the wealth of the state $2,
 00O,000 per year. The indirect value to the people of the state from such an enter prise could not be estimated in dollars and cents, and in the course of 10 or 10 years Alabama would have a system of state highways constructed by convict
 labor that would serve 10 per cent of the population, at the same time the people would get their roads constructed along economic business methods.
 Ill 1896 l attended a good road meet ins in your city, and advocated the work ing of conyicts on the roads and tried
 to have a law enacted, and was chairman
 of committee that went to the legisla-
 ture, but the majority of the committee voted my proposition down. At that time the interest in Birmingham and else where in the state that wanted to benefit by convict labor brought influence to bear
 against the project which defeated it. When l saw 1 could not get the convict
 labor l asked that the earnings of the of the labor, which was a compromise | that l had to accept.
 | l hope your great paper and the balance
 of the press of the state will continue this
 great agitation until the lawmakers oi
 Alabama will enact the proper legisla tior l to work all convicts on the roads, whether they be state or county. l am glad to say through the agitation of the Alabama Goo6 Roads association the people are
 at last being awakened, and realize that 1t is to their best interest to put the con- victs on the public roads.
 Thanking your great paper for the n- terest it has manifested from time to time, and the assistance 1t is giving the
 Alabama Good Roads association in carry ing on it's campaign of education, 1 am. very truly, JOHN CRAFT,
 President Alabama Good Roads Asso- ciation.
 Birmingham, December 19, 1912.