The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-07-25
PEOPLES FORUM
Virginia's Non-support Law

10 the tulIOT or 1He AZ AB6-f1eIdlO
 I received the following letter from Hon. Charles J. Harkrader, which refers to an article of mine which was published in the Cen tury Magazine on the subject of ~Prisons and Prison Labor I think Judge Harkrader's letter would be of interest to your read CTS. Yours very truly,
 ADOLPH LEWISOHN.
 New York, July 21, 1923.
 Mir. Adolph Lewisohn,
 Dear Sir: I have just read
 your article In current number
 of Century on prison reform
 methods. I want to congratu-
 late you on what Is the best
 contribution to this subject that
 has ever come to my personal
 attention. As you point out, I
 think one of the worst evils
 grows out of the appointment
 of worn-out politicians as war
 dens and superintendents Take
 Tennessee for example-the
 wardens and every guard is
 changed, or practically so, with
 each new administration and ap-
 pointment is solely upon politi-
 cal considerations. I believe
 Virginia Is ahead of Tennessee
 but still has far to go.
 You mention the imprison-
 ment of men for non-support.
 Virginia has a new law under
 which the state pays the wife
 or dependent family for the la
 bor of every person convicted
 for non-support. In this court
 we have several deserted and
 neglected wives who draw from
 S1 to s1.75 per day from the la bor of the husbands. Just today
 I paid a wife something over
 $50 for her husbands labor as a
 member of the convict road
 force, having been sent there
 by this court for six months for nonsupport. She commented
 God bless the state!" The de-
 terrent effect of this new law Is
 far-reaching. Heretofore trif-
 ling scamps who would not
 support their families knew that
 the courts could and would not
 send them to prison except as a
 last resort, but under the opera tion of the new law they know if they don't support their fami- lies that the courts will send them to the roads and the state will pay the family, which Is on basis of S1 for the wife and
 25 cents per diem for each child up to three children, so the max mum is S1.75 per day. I enjoyed reading your article and my comment Is that if more men of your influence and intellect would turn their attention to this subject they would contrib ute immeasurably to the bene- fit of society in an economic and in a moral way.
 CHARLES J. HARKRADER, Police Justice and Judge of Juve-
 nile and Domestic Relations
 court, Bristol Virginia.
 July 13, 1923.
 To the Editor of The Age-Herald:
 AS l understand your position on the lease question: You do not object to convicts working in mines, or any avocation of no hazard, provided the con- vict' is treated humanely in the fullest sense of the word, but your objection is to a system that al- lows a convict to work for cor poration that makes a profit on the labor of the convict. You have shown conclusively by the evidence that the brutality com mitted against convicts has in every instance been committed by the employees of the state and not by the lessors, or mine owners 
 1 wish to ask a few questions: If we take the convicts out of the mines, as now employed, and let the state lease and operate mine of its own, should the coal pro- duced by these convicts be put on the market at cost of production, or should the state make a profit, and what should be done with the profit? If the state enlarges it's plants at Kilby prison, and the convicts should be there in the manufac- ture of goods, should these goods be sold at cost of production to prevent the state from making a profit from the labor of these con- victs? Is it wrong for the state to require an ablebodied convict to produce more revenue than is necessary for his own upkeep? Under our present system the only convicts that are self-supporting are those ablebodied men who are worked In the mines. Is that not true? P. M. CARLISLE.
 Birmingham, Ala, July 23, 1923.
 The present system of handling Alabama contemplates the sale of such products at profit. The quadrennial report of the convict department for 1919-1922 shows a net revenue earned by the con- victs for the four years of $3,671,- 21O.40, representing revenues from leasing, prison farms and dairies, prison mills and other prison activities. It is presumed that coal product would be han dled on the same basis. If con- victs are placed on state highways the profit would be represented in whatever economies in construc- ton costs such labor would en- tail. The profit goes into the gen. eral fund, and into retirement of costs of prison construction. Of the total net revenue for the four years, about half a million a year, or two million, from onvict leas- lng.-Ed Age-Herald.