Mount Vernon signal. (Mt. Vernon, Ky.) 18??-current, 1915-10-29
USING CONVICTs
ON HIGH WAYS
Many :r!stes Have Abolished
Cor: act System of Work.
il the Prisoners
WORK C0NVICTS ON ROADS
Kentucky Could Possibly Gave From
Twenty to Thirty Per Cent Of the
Money Expended For Road Work or
the Public Highways Says Commits
sioner Terrell.

| Terrell, Commissioner of Roads, when
asked for his views regarding the EN-
ployment OF convicts on the roads of
the state, granted the following inter
view on thls subject:
In recent years the convict labor
problem has been one that has been
| given a great deal of attention, and
prison reforms have brought about a
study Of conditions as they exist, with
view of how they could be bettered.
and as a result, most OF the States
have abolished the contract system OF
working the prisoners and have estab
lished the more modern system of
using the convicts on the public high
ways, and in the prisons for the pur
pose Of preparing materials for the
highways, and on other public works
in the various States Reports from
various Highway Departments over
the United States show conclusively
that convict labor can be used to at
advantage In road building and at
saving of both to the county and State
in the cost of labor for this class o.
work
In the biennial report of Mr.. T. F
lyman, Warden of the State Peniten
Tiary OF Colorado for the year 1912.
is shown that there was built one hui!
dred and fifty-seven miles of roa
through the mountain sections of tina
State, at saving, according to his es
innate, of $223,479.56; that the averag
cost per day per man for the laborer,
engaged in this class of work was 32o
He further states that the convict:
we're able to do the work of not onl.
ordinary laborers, but some wert
'oun1 able to perform the services re
CURED of experienced men in drillin;
blasting, laying masonry, blacksmith
ing, and other skilled labor. Wit.
such labor commanding a salary
from 81 to IS per day, this without
doubt, shows that convict labor ca
be used to advantage on heavy cor
struction work, and in places wher'
more or less permanent camps ca
be maintained.
Virginia also has succeeded in thi
undertaking, as is shown by the re
suits. For the past nine years col
victs have been used on the publ
highways of this State, and Mr.. P. 81
J. Wilson, former State Highway Con
missioner, and now the Assistant d
rector in the United States Office
Public Roads at Washington, d. c.
stated that more than l 800 men wer
used on the public highways of vi
ginia in the year 1913; that from fort.
o seventy five were grouped togethe
n a single camp-separate camps be
ng maintained in each county-an'
hat the cost of clothing and feedin
hem, and general maintenance of tn
men was SIC per day for a period
hree years; that the men were nc
pecially selected, but that the roai
orces were made up of prisoners
ley were presented at the prisons
hat men who were physically weak
r even crippies, were often sent ou
IS part of the road force. He turtle
states that the contractors who COZ
racted for the work had very fire
,uently offered 81 per day for mel
furnished by the State.
Under cur present system in Ken
ueky the State receives the magnifi
'ent sum of 75c per day per man en-
)lOyed under contract, and the Stat
5 required to feed and clothe the pris
Dners and a great many of the pris
,ners are let at a lower figure tina,
hat stated above.
Kentucky could possibly save from
wenty to thirty per cent of the none
expended for road work under tn
state aid plan, if the convicts coul,
r Je used on the public highways, am
n the preparation of the materials
which go into the highways. 1t would
De possible to establish semi-perms
lent camps in the various countie
where limestone is available In larg
Quantities and prepare this materia
or road building, ready to be deliy
: red by rail or motor truck to road
Inder construction, and these camp
,ould be maintained practically tn
ntire season.
, I'm Edmonson County, Kentucky
here exists an unlimitable deposit o
rock asphalt, which is a hard sane
} ;tone-the finest road making mater
al known-containing from seven tt
line per cent of bitumen or asphal
)ase. This material has an overbur
den OF from ten to twenty feet of soil
and or rock, and lies in horizonta
( strata of from six to twenty feet il
thickness. Would it not be a fine
hing to establish here a permanen
sonvict camp, where they could be
, Used in the stripping of this material
luarrying snd pulverizing and loading
' it ready fer shipment to the countie.
of the Co nmonwealth? The actua
, cost of production, Or even a reason
able per cent Of profit could bt
charged by the State for the material
and at the same time very materially
p reduce the cost for use in road con
struction, and insuring to the countie!
for their limestone, macadam, or 9th
; er hard surfaced roads, a splendid
long lifed surfacing material, that II
dustless, noiseless, durable and at the
I same time proof. Other camps
might be established for the purpos,
5 of preparing limestone as stated
= above. and still others for the manu-
/, facture of brick to be used in the SUI
facing of roads, and a very efficien
S organization might be had for tn
; | placing of concrete roads as is nov
being used in Illinois, Georgia, an,
other States where that type of roa
n is being constructed.
THE men become skilled in the pei
i Torrance of their duties, and this
while preparing them for a better e1
: istence when they have completes
I their term, also reduces the possibilit
!, of breaking up the organization b
men quitting. Another important fac
e tor to be considered is the reductio
n Of the cost, the reducing of the cos
: making 1t possible for all the countie
l 4 in the state-not merely the rich cour
a. fiac-hraf pro oil of tbor, 4