The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-11-23
CONVICTS ON
ROADS

The practice of putting convicts on
their honor, especially prisoners who are
at work constructing repairing high
ways, has been started in several states
and is meeting with much success, ac-
cording to reports received by the
tional committee on prison labor. North
Dakota, Oregon, New Jersey. Michigan,
Ohio, and Colorado are among the
states where the honor system has been
developed to its highest degree.
Under the laws of North Dakota, the
board of control may employ convicts
on the public highways, their expenses to
be paid by the respective counties in
which they work. The law stipulates
that the prisoners perform their duties
under the supervision of skilled laborers,
who act as guards but, so far as possi-
BILE, the law declares, the conVicts are
to be placed on their honor.
Another feature of North Dakota's
prison laws is worded as follows: Each
short time convict worked upon said state
roads shall receive a credit upon his time
of 10 days for each 80 days that he shall
faithfully and diligently work upon said
state roads, and in case of conVicts serv-
ing life sentences, upon such privileges
shall be given them as in the judgment of
the efficient work. or attempts to escape,
he shall forfeit all or as many of said
credits as in the judgment of the warden
shall be proper
OF 275 convicts who We're worked un-
der the honor system in Ohio, only 1S-
less than per cent-attempted to es-
cape, according to the report of Warden
Preston e. Thomas of the Ohio state
penitentiary. While these men were thus
employed, there was no barrier except
their own honor between them and
freedom. OF the IS men who broke faith,
all but seevn were caught and returned
to the prison, so that the percentage of
xxrbo fai1 10 fnll
tences was only 21k. This record says
Warden Thomas, compares favorably
with trusts in the outside world.
Also in Michigan. where all persons con-
victed of drunkenness or vagrancy are
sentenced to work on the roads instead
of to Jail, the practice of trusting pris-
oners has been found successful. Not only
that but, according to w. M. Bryant,
good roads commissioner of Michigan, the
sentencing of conVicts to work on the
highways tends to eliminate much petty
crime.
1t was in Colorado, under Warden
Thomas J. lyman, that the honor system
was first employed among prisoners at
work on the highways, and it is in that
state and Oregon that the system has
been most extensively developed. Gov
ernor West of Oregon, in a statement to
the national committee on prison labor
concerning the honor system among
prisoners at work on the roads, said.
Our road gangs are made up of from
Is to % men, with a free man as fore
man, who lives and works with his crew.
His word is law in camp, and his re-
port as to conduct of the prisoners car
ries great weight with the prison Off
cials. 1t is most essential, therefore, that
great care be exercised in the selection
of these foremen. We have had unex-
pected success in the operation of our
read gangs Some have been maintained
as far as 800 miles from the prison and
nearly all in the hills and mountains,
where every opportunity was given to
escape. At first we lost number of
men, due largely to the novelty of the
plan and unjust newspaper criticism which
made many Of them fear the abandon
ment of the policy and their return to
prison. There has been less newspaper
criticism of late, and the public seeing
the merits of the system, is accepting
1t as a settled policy"