The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1916-03-14

parole arrives, he possesses at least
one marketable trade-scientific
road building.
The road labor of three hundred
convicts costs the State of Colorado
s77.67 day, including initial equip
ment and overseer's pay and the ag-
gregste cost of the benefited coun-
ties is only $1,000 a day for the cost
OF food. In this manner Colorado is
enabled to put on her roads, 5000
worth of labor a day for the cost of
s149.67 day.
Thomas Lyman forbade oyerseers
to answer at convicts on any provo
cation whatever. He related the
zebra suits to the incorrigibles.
Every newcomer, / shall clothe in
blue, unless he proves himself de-
serving of stripes" was one of his
noted sayings
Judge Frank Carter of Asheville.
was the leader in reforming the
North Carolina camps He had long
known in general way that they
were mad but did not know to what
extent; 50 he investigated the cam5
]: Pasdu, tank county, and we are
told that zach of the cvtu.r G:
Thought Gu; was too horrible to
print. The prisoners were treated
more like wild animals than humans
They were chained to their "bunks'
at nieht to prevent them from rising
for anything whatsoever. They
were whipped with leather straps
and fed on boiled beans twice a day.
The guards would get drunk and
abuse the prisoners. After Judge
Carriers investigation, he said,
Gentlemen, your chain gang in this
county is a little man-made hell"
IT was too bad for the worst negro
criminal and when it could be avoid
ed le9ally, no prisoner should be sent
to that gang until complete reorgani-
zation.
superintendent and guards
picked for their cleanliness and So
briefly were replaced in charge and
the convict quarters were made com
Portable They slept on mattresses
instead of boards, and were fed bet
ter and in return they did better
work and gave the new keepers no
trouble. There were many others
camps in North Carolina Just as bad
where the convicts were dubbed to
death by guards. but after Judge
Carriers circuit of other districts and
the reforming of prisoners, all other
states have become interested in this
duty.
The pcnitentaries of New York are
rapidly improving in regard to bene-
hitting The prisoners. In Auburn pris-
on, the "Self-Governing Welfare
j .eaeue" is of Importance. This oath |
is taken by the prisoners standing |
with uplifted hands in the chapel |
of the New York State Prison at |
Auburn: Il solcmnly promise that I |,
will do all in my power to promote /
in ctory way the true welfare of the |
men confined in Auburn prison; that /
| will cheerfully obey the rules and |
regulations of the duly constituted |
prison authorities and that | will |
endeavor to promote friendly feeling, !
good conduct and fair dealing among /
both officers and men to the end that |
each man, after serving the bricfest !
possible term of Imprisonment may |
go forth with renewed strength and |
courage to face the world again All |
this promise faithfully to endeavor;
so help me, God This oath ex-
plains their work for they certainly |
carry it out well, but much credit is
due Thomas Mott Osborne, chairman
of the Commission on Prison Reform,
for this league was begun by him
He has also done many wonderful
things for Sing Sing Prison
Florida as well as other states of
our Union, is beginning to realize
that the mere shifting of masters,
a shift in the fundamental
attitude toward prisoners, cannot
free her from the traditional and
tinuing treatment of her convicts,
which is slavery.
Some of the convicts have been
employed on the roads and some in
camps, but they have re-
,eived worse treatment from reports
n the turpentine camps. Much of it
S horrible. and not many of us think
about the terrors within the glass
wall of our turpentine bottles Look
1t those hundreds of ebony faces
by heat and disease; those ;
striped bodies wet to the waist with {
'tagnant and diseased water; the
swollen and mishapened feet that
assemblies clubs; the prone black fig !
Ire that writhe under the lash of 9
he whip. See how they dance and |
ing more like puppets than human