The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1915-12-16
HONOR MEN ONLY EMPLOYED
katherine B. Williams Declares That
the Employment of Prison Labor is
Not Bringing This Labor Into Com
petition With Other Labor.


visibility of the employment of convict
labor in the building of Rock county
highways was given members of the
county board of supervisors by Mrs
Katherine r. Williams Of Milwaukee
a member of the state board Of control
Board Has Investigated
6 For the past three years." said
Mrs. Williams, "the state board of
control has been investigating the pro
position of convict labor on highways
and in state work of other nature. We
have considered every phase in all the
states which do this.
"The first work attempted by Wis
consin was the building of three miles
of highway between the city of Wau
pun and Chester. This was done under
the supervision of the commissioner OF
highways and in its report the state
highway commission says that this
three miles off road is the very best
which has been made to date in the
state. We have also made the streets
in the city Of Waupun.
"Our camps have the necessary ma
chinery, competent man is in charge
and we have all the essentials for good
roa6 making. We have demonstrated
that we caA do this right thing,
Mrs. Williams made plea for the
county board to investigate the work
and it's nature as done under the con-
vict labor plan. eve take the con-
tract" she said, "and furnish every
thing machinery, etc. Our rate,
too, is low-$1.50 per day per man,
We arrange our work to cooperate with
the state highway commissioners and
also with the county commissioners.
Refutes Objections.
Relative to the objections which have
been more or less prevalent throughout
the state in regard to "jailbirds, as
they have been termed editorially and
in strong, outspoken terms by those
prejudiced against the innovation, do
ing road work, Mrs. Williams said:
People Of some communities object to
convicts doing the work. We have
found from our experience, however,
that these men have never made un-
lawful demonstrations, nor have they
offered to leave the camp or modest
anyone. In all the time the board Of
cor y1ol has been using convicts in such
work there have been only three men
recalled.
"We are careful to send the right
men out and only those who have un-
dergone previous tests of faithfulness
will be permitted to do this work. At
the present time we have a gang at
Tomahawk Lake erecting the state tu-
berculosis camp; another gang of thir-
ty-fve men is at work at Kansasville,
near Corliss, in Racine county. In Fond
du Lac county there is another party
engaged in road building.
Honor Men Employed.
"They do not attempt to escape.
ms men up at Tomahawk Lake are in
The woods, yet none have left. We do
ind trouble sometimes and when that
trouble comes it is always outsiders
who are to blame. Occasions have
arisen where these outsiders have pass
ed liquor to the convicts, many of whom
are really not criminals but victims
Of circumstances and drink has proved
tEeir downfall to the extent that a
prison term is necessary for their per-
sonal benefit and rvform.
GA person ordinarily walking or
driving along a road being built by con
victs would never know them to be
such, Why9 Well, because we dress
them in khaki rather than stripes. We
taboo the prison suit altogether They
aie kept in camps and are under men
who can be trusted as guards.
"The money that these men earn,
providing they have families, is turned
over to those dependent upon them.
On the other hand, if the prisoner has
no family the money accumulates until
The prisoner is released. He is given
The sum he has earned and is permitted
to go out into the world to live down
his disgrace, and has something on
which to start life anew.
No Labor Competition.
Answ ring the objection that convict
labor was "scab" labor, Mrs Williams
related that the state board had no de-
sire to compete with labor organizations
in any county. If labor was so much
in the excess that men of the county
were willing to work for lower wages,
The state board had nothing to say 1t
oehooved the county board to act as
they saw fit.
The general idea and principal of the
board of control in permitting men, sen
fenced to prison, to go out in camps to