The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-08-15
RATION SHEETS NJ. LONGER REQUIRED. BY NE w MEASURE
County Officials Would Be Given Chance To Pocket
 Feed Funds
(Continmed from Page one)

perNlSlOn Of the IeeulnB Ol pIlSOHSiS . by the state prison inspection de- partment was passed in 1920. Under it's provisions a ration sheet was pre- pared and sheriffs have been re- ouired to keep this ration sheet daily. showing the total amount of each article fed to the prisoners each day and the total cost of the article. This ration sheet would be abolished and the sheriffs would provide the food without making an accounting. The board of revenue of each county would exercise a general supervision such as was exercised under the old law.
 The system of feeding prisoners. which will be established again fl the bill becomes law, has been con inspection department since 1906. The reports of the prison inspectors appealed for a change in the system until the law was amended in 1920. pr,.oners Half starved.
 Dr. Shirley Bragg, president Of the 9 state board of convict inspectors, 2 which had supervision of the county iail prior to the creation Of the prison inspection department in l9oo made report 10 GOV. w. U. 'eihS' in which he saad:
 "To see a man strong and healthy go into a jail in Alabama ana III a few months come out physlcal anu mental wreck with death staring him in the face Is not an overdrawn nicture and one seen more often than she general public would believe. The state appropriabes 30 cents a day for the feeding of prisoners ana yet we receive prisoners from these same # iails who are on the verge or col Ianse for the want of nourishment. e4 Surely there must be some way or reaching those in authority.
 In 1909 pr. c. F. Bush. state pris- m inspector and head of the depart ment which was created arter Dr. Rraeg submitted his report in lS06, made the following report to GOV. D. B. Comer
 "The state of Alabama.appropriates from 80 to 40 cents per day Ca slid ing scale) for feeding prisoners; IL is plain that the intent or the law is that each prisoner is to get that amount of food per day, but very different condition exists. m the ma ma jority of jails the prisoners .are given two meals per day-in a few Jalis tbree-and it Is plain that they are Y fed as cheaply as possible in order that the sheriffs may have a wide margin of profit on the feed bills. l have had several sheriffs to admit 10 m. that, without the profit from the feed bill they would not have the office as IL was one of their great est cources of revenue. Of course, this should be remedied and we are In yeStigatinR Wllh d IctuSoy HI 'iS". Fares Poor As Rule.
 .It is a difficult matter for the inspector to ascertain just what Is given prisoners for food and what isJ spent for food. Jailers are ap- pJinted by the sheriffs and are, there fore close friends, hence 1t Is dir- ficult to get from them all the m X formation desired. The prisoners the majority of whom are low class ol negroes, are irresponsible and can not be relied upon in all cases to tell the truth, making 1t also difficult to U Ascertain the manner of treatment n they receive and the character of their food I have made 1t a point on several occasions to visit Jadis at eating time and in the majority of cases l have found that the food is far from appetizing, piece of meat and a hunk of plain bread be- ing the principal articles of Ndiet; meas are also popular on the prison menu. I have exerted myself and am still exerting myself to prove prison fare"
 pr. William H. Oats. state prison inspector, made the following re-.ort to Gov. Charles Henderson in 1913:
 .sThe law regulating the fees of the .4 sheriffs for feeding prisoners in the jails in Alabama can be characterized by one word only-damnable!
 "The law provides that the sheriffs shall be paid fee for feeding the prisoners. They are not paid money for having fed the prisoners. They are not advanced money with which to feed them, but are paid a fee for the performance of an act. This law is on Page 355. General Acts of Ala bama 1911.
 "Following Is the scale of fees for feeding prisoners.
 From to 10 prisoners, 50 cents per day each; more than 10 and not exceeding 20, 50 cents per day each: s more than 20 and not exceeding forty, 40 cents per day each; more than 40l 80 cents per day each.
 Fraft Is LegalizeG.
 This law relating to the feeding of prisoners, which he legislature un- doubtedly intended to result in the prisoners being amply fed, has re- suited in some eases in starvation. It has legalized graft. It has made the x fee for feeding the most lucrative 2 perquisite in the sheriff's office. A number of sheriffs have told me that but for the feed bill the office of sheriff would not be worth anything to them.
 wise by this department to close jails because of certain existing condi- tions. sheriffs have invoked the aid of probate judges to come to Mont and -intercede that the jail be not closed so that the sheriff would not be deprived of his feed bill.
 "Qne sheriff has admitted that he made over s25.O00 net profit on his feed bill alone in one year.
 Most of the sheriffs feed what they please to the prisoners; ex- -. pend as little as possible and put the remainder in their pockets.
 1.-TWO meals day are served in all of the county jails of the state save II, viz:
 Baldwin, Chiffon, Cleburne. Gull man, DeKalb, Jackson, Jefferson Lawrence Marion. Marshall and Mo- bile.
 Tn one county the sheriff puts half of the feed bill in his pocket. then gives the other half to a man to feed the prisoners and make as much profit out of it as he can." e Andrews Condems System.
 In his reports submitted to Cover nor Kilby in 1922, two years after the present sheriffs feeding law became effective, pr. Glenn Andrews, state prison inspector. made the following statement regarding the feeding of prisoners:
 After entering upon a discharge [ of the duties of this office In the fall of 1918, study of conditions clearly indicated that the feeding of prison- err in many of the jails was far from satisfactory and, to express it mild 1y open to severe criticism Quoting extracts from reports of his prede- cessors.)
 ssUnder the former statute the amount allowed for feeding prison
 $ lg|llQ[l|AP Ph0''