The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1913-08-30

/ oOo" io"uo' 1Hio SeeHlS 10 be the
most popular plan but the average
citizen does not know the cost in hu-
man life and blood by such sys-
TEN. | want it understood that 1
am not opposed entirely to the chain
gangs. For petty offenders and short
term men l think it is all right and
calculated to do a good work, but /
will never think it is right to take a
man sentenced for 10 years or per-
haps longer, shackle him, make him
labor six days to the week, sleep in
tents on the damp ground and Of
ten in wet clothes and, in many
cases, with a cruel boss behind him.
! Under these conditions, and l believe
| they are true in a number of coun-
ties, if a man should survive a To-
year sentence at the end Of it he
would be physical wreck and never
worth anything more to himself or to
| his family Prison statistics will show
! that the average. life Of a convict is
not over 10 years with the best care
and attention that can be given him
AS long as a man has the health and
strength to do the work he may get
along all right, but what becomes Of
him when he gets sick? Are the
chaingangs in position to properly
care for him? l would not think so,
unless my eyes have deceived me, as
L have seen them brought to the pen
itentiary, from the various counties,
detected, broken down and sick, their
backs, in most instances, staniing as
living witnesses to the harsh treat
ment they had received.
Having made this subject a study
and having visited all of the chain
gangs in the State when convicts
were hired by the penitentiary. give
it as my honest judgment that the sys-
tenn as now practiced is vicious, cruel
and inhuman and should be wiped out
Of existence.
with this statement 1 now come
to the main object of this article:
What is to be done, after Novem-
Der l, with the convicts now en-
ployed in the hosiery mill? Here We
have more than 200 men, the most Of
whom have not done any manual or
laborious work in years: they have
been worked indoors and protected
from the winds and the weather; they
have had comfortable beds and good
quarters. Aside from their work, all
the exercise they have had has been
in going and returning to meals and
to work. What would be tie result
if these men are now let to the chain
gangs. just at the beginning of win
ter, confined in tents on the damp
ground and often in wet clothes? 1t
is impossible to tell what the result
would be, but in my judgment there
would not be many survivors to tell
the tale when spring opened next
year.
Does the average citizen in South
Carolina want good roads at such a
terrible cost? l hope not. What then
is to be done with the convicts? Hav-
ing lived adjacent TO the state farms
ever since they were established and
having observed from year to year
the great work they have accom-
plished, l am thoroughly convinced
that farming is the best, healthiest
and most remunerative work at which
convicts can be employed. 1t tur-
nishes light, sunshine, fresh air and
wholesome food and that means q
great deal for the existence Of the
man behind the bars. A great many
object to the State engaging in farm
ing in competition with it's citizens,
but they must remember that there
is no work at which convicts can be
employed that does not bring them
in competition with free labor and
believe that farming removes it as
| far as anything l know of. For a
number of years a bill has been in
troduced at every session of the legis-
!ature to sell the State farms, but il
is usually by a member, who, per-
haps, has never seen the farms and
their practical workings, to say moth
ing of the success they have achieved
III putting money in the State treas
ury.
Instead of selling the present
farms, l believe the best thing that
the legislature could do, at its next
session, would be to authorize the
purchase of at least four farms, 20 be-
located in different sections of the
State, and conduct them as expert
mental stations. Labor enough from
the hosiery mill har ds could be fur.
nished to operate them, aside from
the dangerous characters who can no
| be worked outside of the walls of The