New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1912-06-01
LIGHT ON PENAL SLAVERY
Or. Within Writes OF Shameful
Conditions in Prisons.
CONTRACTORS REAP PROFIT
Expert Investigator Believes
Even State Should Not Exploit
Jail Labor for Gain.


tude. except as a punishment for crime,
whereof the party shall have been duly
convicted. shall exist within the United
states or any place subject to their Jurls-
diction.''
This extract from the Thirteenth Amend
rnent to the Constitution of the United
States serves as a sort of text for the IN
PRODUCTION TO DR.. r. Stage Whitins DOOR,
Penal Servitude," just issued by the Ma
tlonal Committee on Prison Labor. one OF
the photographs used for illustration gives
a suggestion Of the wide loophole lett by
that word except"
Under a tentlike shelter are seated
number of negro convicts, with heaos
shaven and bodies clad in stripes ana
wearing on both ankles heavy irons las
tened by chains 10 ii post. The attltuue Vi
the Committee on Prison Labor Is not tuat
prisoners should not toll but that thelr
labor should not be exploited Tor the gam
Of private contractors or even for the STATE
Tho story is told of one contractor VINO
was n manufacture Of willow baskets III
his effort to compete with conVict-maue
baskets from Austria he undertook 10 nave
his willows stripped in the nearby pehlteh-
tiary. The law restricted the sale Oh prIsoi'
-,odo goods 70 constitutions of the state
and political divisions thereof out '"e
basket manufacturer was a pohtlcaI ooHs
and INTERPRETED political divisions 10 suit
bis own purposes.
II was not long before the town poor
were all occupied at peeling WILLOWS d.
nrices set by the manufacturer, WhoIi ~
Within calls Fred SLAYER" because that 10
not his name What work was not zone W
the town poor was done by contrac' III 'He
nenitentiary. Eventually the who're to"i'
was engaged in this business. and Shaver
was agent for the town.
When the light was turned on the STATE
was found to he paying more Tor the Keep
of tho convicts than SLAYER paid the state
for tbeir continuous work The warden or
the penitentiary made good thing out Oh
il. too. In a big hail. where the shei VI
uet and driving willows drowned worse
odors and which was filled with the MI
crobes both mental and physical which
naturally drift around in an atmosphere
of two hundred and fifty buns. white ana
black. red nosed and sallow, epileptic anu
insane" was found George, "a convict al
though only fourteen years old ana oe.
spite his innocent face and llsping voice.
George had been imprisoned because ne
and another boy stole rs cents from the
top Of milk bottle.
Medieval New York.
Will. the names of persons were
changed in this chapter. Or. Whitin s'a'es
j., footnote that Governor Dix. as re-
suit Of the investigation that prougn'
those conditions to light. removed the
Sheriff (Slaver was Sherih, too from Oh
ice. Such things can happen even In Ne"
York in these modern times. though they
.ead like a passage from history OF the
Middle Ages
In Speaking of his work TO a repreSen'
tative Of The Tribune, DIR. Within said:
Nv book is the outcome of three years
study of conditions in prisons around ths
country. ] have to consider these conol.
lions i'm the light OF the history out OF
which they have grown. The methods used
IN dealing with criminals az dlHerent pc
RODS were the direct result or economic
conditions. and I'm making. general STUD!
Of things penal we have been apt 10 over
look the economic Interpretation.
Here is an example OF what l mean
When England was overrun with vagran'
class and needed 10 rid herself of such
burden the smallest offence was punish,
10 bujld up her colonies, the slightest
crime resulted in deportation. In the Soutf
to-day the attempt 20 secure fnanclal sup
port for the government OF tne s.ate if ,h,
wholesale arrest Of negroes for petty OIL
fences and their slavery in the mines
where their value is the return 10 the sld'e
treasury of 81 day convict
Conditions have not. however. been the
same in various parts of the country. DR.
Within went on TO say;
In the Northern states business interests
have controlled. and here the explolaa1uoIl
has been for the benefit of the individual
manufacturers who have made large pronts
nv this cheap kind of labor. While they
pocketed the profits tho convict ;d ia sdp "ds
Vas principally due to the opposition OF
The labor unions that state use was
adopted in New York in 1894 Ihen the con aTG
worked for the state on things TO be used
This solution of the problem left room
sor noliticaI corruption, but on the Whole
nyoved eminently successful and has re-
Sentiv been adopted by New Jersey, Ohio
Wyoming aud California
For All to Understand.
When asked II his book was going 10 be
,scbn,cal and over the heads OF people
n,ho didn't know anything about prison
,sh,r Dr. Within said he hardly thought so
Then. with an amused smile that did not
suggest techncalities, he recalled some
thing that happened TO him when he was
driving away from a prison he had beer
inspecting
A man had never seen before, but who
assumed all the privileges of friendship
Joined me in the rickety conveyance ina
took me back TO my hotel am an IN
stitution man myself and can tell you
more about tnem than would MI u oook,
he said i've worked in no end of institu
lions i'm FIVE states. and j m a wise one u
Won arc looking for one OF that kind.
Without verifying the conclusion 10 whicf
he had Jumped that i was an instltuti0i
manager, the man followed me into the
hotel and proceeded TO UNFOLD ms pan a.,
and / want it bad" he SAID. II don't wan
To make much myself. and I'll put you II
right My Job Is cook. and L buy IN,
stun. You get the institution to pay 2
cents a day keep, and l can feed 'em FOL
70 cents. A couple of cents apiece is goot
enough for me. and you take the rest.
.an keep EN- fat on 10 cents. ola tina
,qben / was in Rhode Island. but whei
yCU can't get more than IS cents day II
BAD business. You nave 10 starVe EN- u
make a decent profit.
"But / can keep 'em alive on cents-Jes
alive. YOU know. That don't Keep EN- iron
d.. crump. You See I know the big gro
GERS. They fix things with me. Try 1t, ant
II / don't make good you fire me. &c
nv salary and some pickings, jolly tn
.,iivy In the kitchen and whistle for m!
living. and all you have to do Is 70 looi
hue. O. X. the bills and swear it's al
right SO II all right; damned IL the Law
c1n touch 1t. It's on. the level, only TIT
le,el slides your way
ANNOUNCES ADULTERATIoNS
The monthly bulletin of the Massachu
setts State Board of Health publishes liz