The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-07-14

l been able to snap up the contracts for
 coal at a price less than the employers ot 1 free labor can mine the same For. We 1 therefore find the convict coal mines cp- | eiatins on full time, at full capacity with
 the convict driven to the task of from 10
 to 12 tons a day, while the mines of the | free labor employers are operating at a loss only two or three days a week
 l It will probably be said that the state 1 cannot afford to lose the income derived 1 from the lease system; that we should at 1 tempt to remedy conditions, thereby re- l taining this much needed revenue. It Is
 not right to say that we cannot afford the financial loss. This has been the curse of the system long enough. It is can cer that should be cut out of Alabama's body polite.
 Recommendation
 The committee recommends that the convicts be removed from the lease sys- tenn, first, by the termination, January 1 1. 1918, of all contracts; second, by making it unlawful thereafter for any prisoner in Alabama to be leased or hired to any person. firm or corporation.
 | The termination of the present system will make it necessary for some other dis position to be made of the convicts. In considering this question we have exam ined carefully conditions in other states.
 In many of them the most satisfactory
 
 the convicts on the public roads. and on
 convict farms, and at other kinds of labor,
 not inherently dangerous. In the state
 of Georgia, where economic conditions are
 similar to those existing in this state, the
 working of the convicts on the roads ex-
 ists. Under the system in operation there
 the convicts are distributed to the coun-
 ties on a population basis. No county is
 forced to take convcts. Each county h
 informed of it's quota of convicts allowed
 and has the opportunity of working them
 on the roads, the county being ufrNer the duty of furnishing housing, maintenance and medical attention, the direction and supervision being under the control of
 the state. We recommend like system
 for Alabama. We realize that this is a great question. It involves such a change
 as Alabama has not experienced in a long while.
 It may be said that the counties may
 not care to work the convicts, that it will
 be too expensive. In the state of Geor-
 gia, where they have twice the number , of conyicts we have, as we'll as twice the
 number of counties, every convict was taken in a few months after the system
 was placed in operation Every county in , George except four three of them be- ing small, mountainous counties, are now , working convicts with results undresmed l of by the most ardent supporters of this
 system.
 We have an example nearer home in our
 great county of Jefferson. Its conyicts are
 being successfully worked upon its roads.
 Every one reports the conditions better.
 A close analysis recently made by asl , experienced and honest accountant shows that the expense in Jefferson county of | building roads with the convicts is ma
 terially less than building them under | contract
 The large benefit to the people of the tI ,f 1. h | great increase in property values, the
 cheapening of transportation, which fol- s lows good roads, to say nothing of the
 humanitarian side of the question, jus [ tiles the change in the present system
 In order to better carry out these rec , concentrations and to better handle this , great question, we further recommend the
 abolition of the state board of convict , inspectors and the creation of a prison
 commission consisting of three men, one .l a business man, one a physician and 5 one expert engineer and road builder, F to be elected for two, tour and six years, , respectively, each member of said com
 mission to have equal responsibility and I equal authority with the other, and to
 have complete authority in reference to all matters affecting the convict depart , ment, and to devote thereto his entire
 time; that the department of prison and ., jail inspector be transferred to the prison  mission be abolished, and that it's au-
 thority and duties be conferred upon the
 prison commission; that the motor ve-
 hce department and the proceeds there- from be transferred to the prison com
 mission to be applied to the upkeep oi
 the convicts. We submit herewith bills embodying these recommendations N The committee condemns certain trans
 actions which have occurred between R
 l.. Johnson, the warden at Wetumpka . rn and Ed DeBardeleben, a citizen of Elnore
 county. These transactions referred tc
 are contracts negotiated by Johnson as a . representative of the state and DeBarde- z leben, under the terms of which several hundred acres of land belonging to the ' latter Were leased to the state for period Of four or five years with the under standing that the state was to clean UT the land for the wood and ditch it under
 the supervision and direction of MT. De- Bardeleben, who had complete control of the working of the convicts The evidence
 showed conclusively that the contract was
 entirely one-sided and to the advantage of MT. DeBardeeben. Shortly following T the execution of the contract DeBarde. leben made deed of gift of eight acres
 of land. of the value of $500, to Johnson's 12 .year-old son.
 We condemn the practice heretofore ob. taining of carrying convicts to the homes Iof the wardens, guards and the members
 of the convict board servants. In this s connection we note the recent executive "a order that all convicts must be returned to the pententiary by the officers of the state who using them, the order an. l. ncuncing that it is improper and mex. e cusable but we find that this order ha; not been obeyed. A striking instance o1 f this practice is shown in the case oi f lJ. M, kyser member of the convict 2 board. Upon being appointed to office ht T took convict to serve him at his home f 100 miles or more from the penitentiary a MT. Kyser states that he based his actior V on the custom.
 n Oui investigation discloses that the worl f of the convicts on the farms has not beer s efficient. Those in charge of this worl n seem to be lacking in experience and goot : results are not being obtained. Some o
 the appointees charged with the duty o . experimenting farm work have beer f taken from other avocations. If exper . enced farmers were placed in charge o l. the convict farms, better results would b, d secured and the maintenance bills here r tofore paid by the state greatly reduced. In instances, contracts have been mad, . with private individuals near the stat, : farm at Speigner to have their farms ant n crops worked out by convict labor fol
 a small stipulated price. when the crops oi the state were in grass and sadly IT
 need of cultivation Such practices can
 not be of benefit to the state.
 We condemn the acts of some of ths
 transfer agents purchasing mileage book,