Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1913-02-12
CONVICT LABOR.


:, o,v;, engineering at the University OF
Maine. in letter to the Bangor CONNER
-, advocates the employment Of convict
,.,,or on highway work. He says:
awhy not use the prisoners of the State
..;son and various county iaiis for the
ao,struction and maintenance OF our
roadss This procedure has been adopted
40 sfteen states of the Union, all OF which
have reported favorably upon the employ
,,ept OF convicts upon roads. The scheme
ia not a new one by any means, so that, in
case this state should use its prisoners for
this purpose, we would not be embarking
upon some radical or unwise movement.
.srhe proper employment of prisoners
has been and for some time to come will
he a question of debate and a matter OF
,rotound study. The days of exploiting
the labor of criminals to heartless corpo-
ration are now on the wane. Contract
labor has been abolished in most OF the
states. The labor unions throughout the
land have been and are fighting the
nlaced on the open market. Their plea is
that direct competition OF convict goods
and union productions is unfair and I'M
inst: they claim that free labor cannot
compete with convict labor; they assert
that this competition lowers the free labor
scale of wages. And their contentious
are not entirely without force and truth.
SIN 1887, in this State, the legislature
ordered hearing upon this question be-
cause of the complaint of some carriage
and harness makers. Definite proof can
be given in any state that convict-made
goods can be easily sold on the market far
below the cost OF free labor articles.
Moreover, only few such sales will de-
moralize the market price for some time.
The reason for this condition is that con-
vict labor is cheap, ranging from sixty
five cents to three cents per day, when
leased to contractor or manufacturing
firm. When the state itself makes the
goods, the cost OF production is equally
low.
"a brief review OF the workings OF the
Maine State prison and the conditions of
the county jails will prove interesting.
All figures and data here presented appear
in the Maine State prison reports for 1908,
1903, 1910 and 1911. The information there
given is not entirely complete or very
definitely described, yet conclusions can
be drawn.
"rhe average number of State convicts
for the above tour years was POS; their
average annual individual profit above
.tx..nt a. 500
annual individual subsistence and cloth
ing was si0.is of which the daily subsist-
ence per convict was less than ten cents.
There are four departments at the prison
carriage, broom, harness and furniture
to which the following average annual
sales apply, s23,400, $50, 100, SO 100 and
S2,i0o respectively-a total OF over 81, 900
annually. Some Of the energy required for
this work could be well utilized in other
directions, as, for instance, in building
and improving roads.
"From the same report the following
data is taken regarding the fifteen county
iails of the State (all figures shown are
annual averages for four years.:
Number of prisoners committed, $3.50.
Number of prisoners sentenced for one
month or less, 2656.
Number Of prisoners sentenced for two
months or less. but more than one, 749.
Number of prisoners sentenced for three
months or less, but more than two, 2s7.
Number of prisoners sentenced for six
months or less, but more than three. l52.
Number OF prisoners sentenced for nine
months or less, but more than one, %.
Number OF prisoners sentenced for one
year or less. but more than nine months, 80.
Number of prisoners sentenced for two
years or less. but more than one, IL.
This makes a total OF 3,795 sentences
from fifteen days to two years in duration.
The cost OF board per week per prisoner is
about s2.07. or the above 3,795 sentences,
hve counties, Androscoggin, Cumberland,
kennebec, Penobscot and York, lease about
80 prisoners annually to firms engaged in
making brooms, paper boxes, fitting wood,
cutting heel stock, buttons and shoe
shanks, and making chairs. The number
reported as kept busy about the Jail to
care for grounds, saw wood or break stone,
Is but twenty five, on the average, which
number is probably small. No data is
available to show the average daily num-
Der IN the county jails, but 500 or 600 would
De scarcely too high an estimate. Nothing
known as to the amount paid for the
prisoners leased, but one may feel quite
positive in saying that it is more likely to
ne under rather than over so cents per day.
why not, then,I use some OF these prisoners,
at least during the clement seasons OF the
year, upon our roads?
EVERY report of the council committee
on prisons for the past forty years advised /.
repeatedly the establishment of work
SHOPS and wood yards at the county jails.
II is noticed that, whenever jail begins
70 make its inmates work saving wood
OF breaking stone for their food and lodg-
ing, there lis a most marked falling off
Vi commitments. Labor is absolutely