The Butler County press. [volume] (Hamilton, Ohio) 1900-1946, 1913-08-22
COMPETE WITH FREE LABOR.
Prison Made Goods Should Be Ussd by
the State and Not Placed on the o pom
Market-Duty of the Several States.
kttitude of the Unions.


Msrket-Duty of the Several States.
Attitude of the Unions.
Slavery exists today. Thousand OF
persons, black and white confined In
the penal institutions throughout the
country, are legally slaves, sold TO bust
ness interests for exploitation. Such
is the contention OF the national COM
mittee on prison labor, which has been
working for number or years study
ing this problem, and which year
ago announced through DR.. Il. Stagg
Whitin, now chairman OF its execu-
tive committee, that these conditions
were universal and should be eradi-
Gated.
A convict remains the property OF
the state, according to all but three
OF the state constitutions The excep-
tions are Rhode Island, Vermont and
Maryland. The freeing of the slave
by his master under negro slavery
nnds its counterpart in the pardoning
power vested In the governor In the
case OF criminal. He, the master.
can make the convict slave a free man
again at his will.
Few people today realize that this
people confined In our penal institu.
ttons.
The convict factory exists practical
ay throughout all the manufacturing
states. Many of our prisons are
great bastiles, inclosing within their
limits two, three and sometimes
dozen factories. In the management
OF these factories the contest between
ctvtl and private production has been
going on apace. Certain Industries
have been developed In them TO such
efficiency that they have become pace
makers for the free factories outside
their walls.
The surplus products resulting from
efficiency developed In the productive
end OF the penal institution must find
market either In the general compel
tive market or in transfer to some
other supplementary institution or de-
partment connected with the penal in
sdtution. The transfer OF commodities
between institutions and departments
OF coordinate control Is governed by
the same fundamental principle as the
transfer within the prison itself.
The only wonder is that with the
demand OF the public for the adoption
OF sane business methods In our gov
srnment we have come SO slowly and
TO such limited degree to apply prop
ositions which to the business man are
automatic. In twenty three states all
the surplus product reaches the open
market; In sixteen states part OF Ii
does, while In nine none OF 1t does.
The facts have been brought out by
sworn testimony that at the New Ha-
ven Jail the contract under which the
convicts work contains a clause pro-
viding that II the convict does not
work satisfactorily to the man who has
leased him he may be punished. For
the convicts labor and the right to
punish the contractor pays less than 10
cents day and manufactures chairs
sold In the markets of New York city.
What local manufactures can compete
with such producerf
Under the pressure or prison life the
great prison factories OF Maryland
have likewise become pacemakers for
the laborers throughout the country.
Yet who wants to compete with them
who can successfully? With labor
worth from 81 to $3.50 a day. with
shop rents free and often with light
and heat thrown in. the prison con-
tractors have an opportunity to make
q net profit while selling their goods
cheaper than the free manufacturers
can produce them, even though he
pays his employees wages in the sweat
shops which forces degradation and
immoral living
Offset this proposition with the prac
tical business situation which exists In
the so called state use system.
The unions, unfortunately, have been
credited in the public mind with OPP
position TO any labor on the part or
the convict, yet the fact is that the
unions have forced the Issue upon the
pubic hlLenLlOu. 1T Whs tHIouSH tncli
representative, John T. McDonough,
that they forced the New York consti-
tutional convention In 1894 TO accept
the proposition despite the protest of
Joseph a. Choate. 1t was Elihu Root
who cast the deciding vote for the
union program, but there is some
doubt whether the conservatives would
have let the reform go through II
IL had not proved TO be the only way
TO secure the popular and union vote
back OF the adoption OF the new con-
stitution It is the unions that are
making the strong fight throughout
the country and aiding in every way
the national committee on prison labor
10 bring about reforms.
What are you going to do about itf"
remarked the political boss Of New
Haven, Conn. when the investigation
Of the civic federation proved that the
city was selling its convicts for Q
cents day under contract that gave
the power of punishment to the con-
tractor.
What to do about 1t is the problem
OF practical rsformers The principles