The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1915-10-29
WORKING coNv1gTs ON
ROADS PROVES SUCCESS
Test in Williamson County is Graft
flying to Board of Control.

/ practical to use State convicts in
building public roads has been DEM
onstarted in test made in William
!, lson County, according to members of
! the State Board of Control and Of
ficials of the county. The county
has built miles of good roads, the
health of the convicts has been i'm
proved and to say the least the
State has not lost any money. AS a
result of this test the Board Of Con-
troll has announced they are ready
to make contracts for next year with
any county desiring to use St1te con-
victs on their county roads, and al
ready officials of number of coun-
ties are negotiating for the use of
convicts.
Fifty-five unshackled State con-
yicts, all negroes and sent up for
various offenses, have been at work
on the roads of Williamson County
for the past three months. Twenty
four of these have been made trus-
ties, and only one man has been
shackled and that for short time.
This has been accomplished thru the
honor system, with only five guards,
and but three men have escaped. The
prisoners are apparently all well sat-
isfied with the nature of the work,
to your correspondent who visited
the camp to-day. The health of the
convicts and the general sanitary
conditions of the camp are good, and
farmers living in the vicinity stated
there had never been the least OBJ
jectionable feature to the camp.
For many years the question of
working the State convicts on the
public roads has been discussed. The
last session of the Legislature passed
a bill giving the Tennessee Board of
Control, which has charge of all
State and penal eleemosynary insti-
tutions, full authority to contract
with any county for the use of con-
victs on the public roads. This was
passed in May, and while the board |
notified the officials of each county
of the law, it was so late in the road
building season that only one coun-
ty, Williamson, ayailed itself of the i
opportunity.
The bill was drawn by Hon. w.
M. Nixon, of Chattanooga, former
of the State penitentiary
commission, and recently elected
warden of the Brushy mountain
prison. The BILL before it was pre-
'ented to the Legislature, was gone
over by the Board of Control and
by Governor Rye, and was intro
luced and championed by Senator
T. j. Murray now Secretary of the {
State Department of Highways.
The law provides that with the
approval of the Governor and the s
State engineer, the Board of Control
nay contract with any county in the l.
State for the use of State convicts l.
n building public roads. The State
guards, feeds and takes care of the =
prisoners while the county must fur
fish the county engineer or superin-
endent and all tools, but the men
york directly under the foreman
by the State, and no one
lse is permitted to correct the pris- /,
ners, but all complaints must be v
lade to this foreman. The county :,
avs the State 81 day for each pris-
ner for the days worked :,
This afternoon Chairman j. S.
enton, w. w. Baird and w. T. Muir -
ny of the Board of Control, and J. ~
Murray, Secretary of the Depart y
lent of Highways, made a careful o.
lspection of the camp and the work -
eing done in Williamson County -
hey were met at the camp by !,
lmber of citizens of the county,
ho expressed thorough satisfaction
ith the work being done, and the -
unity officials have already made r.,
'plication to the board for the use c.
convicts next year. Under the a.
W they can be used on the public
ads only between April l and De- -
mber 1. A number of the prison -,
5 yesterday stated that they hated ~
see December come, for they were e.
much better satisfied on the road -
'rk than in the prison walls. 49,,
SOLUTION OF PROBLEM. Is
II am afraid to tell the men they in
IL have to leave the road" said PAL
pit. James Battle, foreman in sta
arge of the camp, for fear they ed
Il try to run away. In all my ex 4
'ience in working convicts, l have red
Ter seen men do better work than bus
'se men are doing. / am fully solo
WINGED it is solution of both the rup
d-building question and the ques- HUI
n of more humane treatment of con
tie convicts. 1 am glad we do not fen
re to use shackles. Their health age