The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1917-02-17
USE OF STATE
CONVICTS FOR
ROAD BUILDING
Studies by Office of Public Roads and
Rural Engineering Show Trend from
Prison Shop Employment to Con-
struction of Public Works
And Highways.

A steady decrease since 1885 in the
States employed in miscellaneous work
under lease and contract and a marked
increase in the proportion employed for
| the benefit OF the state highways and
other public work are shown in Stats
tics just published by the office of public
roads and rural engineering of the Unit
ed States department of Agriculture.
ment bulletin Ala, a professional paper,
which reports one of the first exhaus-
ing the administrative, engineering, eco
nomic, disciplinary, and health condi-
tons in convict road camps. Represen-
tatives of the U. S. public health service
cooperate with the specialists OF the de-
partment of agriculture in making the
studies. The systems adopted by the
several states are discussed and recon-
mendations are made for. the achieve
ment of greater efficiency in operation
of the convict camps and conduct of the
road work.
- The systems of convict labor are class
flied in the report as lease, contract, and
piece price systems, under which the la
Dor of the convicts is for the benefit
of private individuals or corporations,
often in the manufacture of commodi-
ties; the public system, under
Oh 4ha ,at IL al
by the state; the stateuse system, UNI
der which goods are manufactured only
for use in state Institutions; and the
public works and ways system, under
which the labor of the eonvicts is de-
voted to public structure and roads. The
latter system has grown in popularity,
it is pointed out, because it makes use
of the convict labor with minimum
of competition with free labor, contrib
utes fairly lasting reformative employ
ment to the convicts, and reduces con-
gestion in penal institutions The most |
use of the system, in the |
opinion of the departments road spe-
cialists, is under state rather than eoun- !
ty administration. Since 1885, the re-
port shows, the percentage of eonvicts |
in large number of representative in
situations working under the public ac-
count, state-use, and public works and /
ways systems, has increased from 80 to /
80 per cent, while the proportion engaged I
in road work alone has increased from
l.3 per cent to nearly 10 per cent.
Convicts should not be indiscrminate-
Iy put to work on roads, it is pointed
out Only those who are physically fit
for the work should be employed. 1t
may be even desirable and practicable
N many instances to reserve assignment
20 the open-air work as a reward for
rood behavior. Physically and by for.
ner mode of life, statistics cited in the
-eport show, about three fourths of the
average male prison population is better
tilted for out door labor than for shop
work. In practice, when all considera-
ions are taken into account, it has been
ound that from % to 50 per cent of
he male inmates of prisons are avail
BILE for road work.
The employment Of state convicts in
cad making, the report shows, first be-
anne general in the south in the early
ineties. Such use of state conyicts has ,
,een made by northern and western ,
tstes, however, mostly during the last ,
en- years. /