The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-22

iO iHe GufibT or lHe ABc-fteTdlQ.
 In last Sundays issue of your paper. July Is, the board of revenue of Jefferson county had published a statement deny Ing in toto every statement made by G. B. Mccormack In reference to the treat ment of conyicts of Jefferson county now working on the roads
 The board of revenue says that "Dr W. A. Burns was employed when the con victs were placed on the roads. and has attended every call. that the Rev. & R. Emerson has for the last several months prea aehed to the oonvicts at Maxine. and that they have had a number of other local preachers to visit the camps, both white and black, and preach to the pris- | oners," The board says: We not only have bathing facilities at every camp, bu, ] they are required to bathe twice week. ' l want to say that served three months and 26 days at Maxine, Camp No. ,, and during that time pr. W. A. Burns never made a call. I went to the county road February ? last of the present year.
 During my stay on the county road at Maxine, the Rev s. R. Emerson made two calls, preaching to the convicts about 30 minutes each time, his ser . mons consisting wholly of rebuke and condemnation with the exception of few bitter remarks that he made about his sal ary being cut from sGo to $40 a month, The other local preachers" employed by the board of revenue, failed to put in an appearance.
 The bathing facilities provided by the boa rd of revenue eonsi ar of thraa t,,ha d,r
 ing the winter months. which are placed on bathing day" in the cell between the two rows of field" hunks. In each of these tubs d convict trusty pours two buckets of water Twelve men, four to the tub. ''bathe" before the water b changed for the next ia. l never heard of the men being required to bathe twice week. Ii Is optional with them whether they bathe at all or not, and with most of them it Is not.
 There Is not sufficient water in each tub for one person to bathe in, to say nothing of four.
 This same publication contains re- port of two grand juries that have inves tlgated the convict system and given 1t high praise" have never heard of a grand jury taking the trouble to go to Maxine, or any other convict camp in Jefferson county to investigate. Their in- vestigations go no farther than the board of revenue office, 1 am safe to assert. The record says that mot one convict has been killed or seriously injured while working on the roads since the system was started, and that out of a camp of c men thers was not one that lost days work on account of sickness.T In February of the present year a convict. Pat Mccormick of Lewisburg, was struck on the head by 6 falling timber while at work on the bridge across the Little Warrior river at Max
 inc. and hls skull crushed. He was sent to the HillInan hospital for treatment. there stricken with paralysis. lost the sight of his right eye, and rendered an invalid for life. This accident was not made public, but the hospital records should show that I am correct.
 As to the record of mot one convict out of 40 losing a days work on account of sickness may be correct, for he Is in- formed by the warden when he arrives at camp that it never rains on the county road and that mo one gets sick here. :"
 He works rain or shine, sick or we'll and from kin till can't as the saying goes among the convlcts at Maxine.
 The treatment afforded conycts at Max Inc Is inhumane. The food is not the kind that men can work hard on and stand up. It consists of 'cowpeas' each day for din- ner half cooked, and corn bread. Each morning three small biscuits and very small slice of bacon. and the same at night, with syrup added. Under A. II. Thrasher. who was warden when went there. men were whipped unmercifullJ. The board of revenue will not deny this. for the citizens around Maxine made a re- port of the cruel treatment the convicts received at the hands of this man. I am now convict at Flat Top mines, and I want to say in closing that l am not in sympathy with the present convict system of Alabama l am not in favor of working convicts In the mines. but God knows that it Is far far better for them than the county roads if Jefferson county will serve as an example. Here at Flat Top the men are sanitarily housed and when sick given the best of medical att tendance, Dr. F. F. Blair. state physi- clan. being a very kind and considerate man who Ia deeply interested in his work at the hospital at Flat Top. The prison- CTS here are given sufficient quantity of fairly good food. and the facilities for | bathing are excellent.
 If Jefferson county cannot care for % I or 40 men better than they are cared for l at the convict camp at Maxine, what will | become of her wards when she has to pro- l vide for them all?
 l # any doubt Is entertained as to the truth of my statement. an investigation. ] not of the records kept by the board of