New Britain herald., 1916-12-15

ing drying. It is entirely unreason- able to expect men to keep their clothing in proper condition under such circumstances, and many of them do not do it. Under these circum-
 stances it is impossible to exclude vermin.
 "The bedding is much of it in an unwholesome condition, which is az
 gravated by the dampness and poor ventilation of the cells, and by the
 presence of the cell buckets.
 ''The food is passed by the women to the men through a Pryamus and Thisbe hole in the wall which, of necessity, offers constant temptation to clandestine communication.
 There is absolutely no provision for recreation, except an opportunity for limited exercise in the prison trial, and 60 to 90 minutes in the yard on Sundays. Card playing is tolerated in the ward unless accom- panied by gambling. Light are ex- tinguished at 7 D. m., so that the pris oners cannot read at night.
 ITO one who is familiar with the history of prison labor the New Ha- ven county prison labor contract Ct it involves the essential features of the convict lease system which for merly prevailed in most of the south ern states but has been generally abandoned in response to the con- demnation of an overwhelming public sentiment. I refer to. those provisions of the contract made by the county commissioners with the Metropolitan Chair company, whereby the county delivers the prisoners to the contract ors at the shop door, and I quote from the report of the Committee of the Civic Federation:
 The company agrees to furnish proper persons, to be approved by the county commissioners, to take charge of the prisoners while in the shop, and to maintain discipline in the shop in accordance with certain rules which in substance provide as fol- lows:
 The company, in the discretion of the county commissioners, is to be allowed to assign prisoners to the different branches of work in the shop. The prisoners are to be re- spectful attentive, industrious and obedient and are to work to the ex- tent of their ability and for failure of any prisoner so to act or so work the county or it's overseers may have power to place the prisoner in sol1- tary confinement for a period not eX- ceeding six days, unless permission is obtained for continuing such pun ishment longer, such punishment to be reported to the sheriff or desired jailer, and any question concerning the injustice or impropriety of the punishment to be decided by the county commissioner
 "The audience to judge for them selves as to the feasibility of getting to county commissioners together in time to correct or prevent an unjust Or cruel punishment.
 "In the present case the evil is mitigated by the fact that the jailer has firmly refused to allow the con- tractors to administer punishment and the contractors have yielded the point, but the fact remains that you, the people of the county of New Ha- ven, are today parties to this infam- ous document, written by your agents, elected by your franct ise.
 But the prison labor contract, vii cious as it Is, in principle is, after all the best thing in the jail for the l prisoners, because it gives them clean, healthful employment, at a good in- dustry.
 Not counting the two chief off, cers the state prison has thirty-thre guards, one for every fifteen prison CTS; the reformatory had eleven guards, one for every six prisoners.
 ''The New Haven county jail has seven guards and matrons, one for