The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-03-16
DEN'Y TORTURE
 STORY OF KlLBY
Five Convicts, Claiming To Speak For All Prisoners,
 Issue Statement

~ MONTGOMERY, Ala, March 15- Defense of conditions at Kilby prison {x contained in a statement given out by committee of five prisoners of Kilby, acting, it is stated, on behalf of the practically unanimous body of white convicts at the prison.
 This action was in reply to the pulp Gcation of a letter from inmates of 2 Ki1by prison in which it was claimed that the food furnished convicts was unsatisfactory, that boards and chains had been provided so that prisoner could be handcuffed and swung up with his toes barely touching a piece < of timber; that there was not proper racial separation at this prison, and that preference was shown negroes by the warden.
 The reply to these charges was drawn z up by Theo Lacy and J. A. Christy, conyicts, and signed by a committee of prisoners composed of Charles l.. Car man, Homer A. Carmack, E. N. Coch ran, U. E. Dover and Homer Stanley, < Following a meeting of the prisoners Friday night.
 The statement denounced as false and unjust the statement of complaint slWnfCu ndu Dccu puuiiSHcu, IL ucCfurcu that the food at Kilby is wholesome and excellently prepared, that in no other prison known to the convicts is such freedom allowed and that brutal Punishment at Kilby is unknown. Warden Harris was defended in the < Abatement, which in full is as follows:
 Least Undesirable"
 Acting for practically the unani- nous white convict body of Kilby prison, uninfluenced by any official Suggestion and without a particle of coercion, this committee has been chosen by the prisoners to issue this statement in refutation of the unjust and injurious publication referred to. uthoritatively-since there are num- Der of men here who have served time in other prisons-we start with the declarations that Kilby prison is, in many respects, the best conceived, the best conducted, and the least undesir- able penitentiary in America, for from our point of view all institutions of this kind are objectionable to us as indi- viduals.
 Tn no other prison known to us is such freedom permitted. Very largely aside from the fact that we are shut off from the world, we are free men, free
 
 mix and nlingle without let or hindrance as long as we respect the very reason able rules laid down for us, free to re- Eeive the visits of our relatives period ically without restrictions that would invade our privacy in the slightest de- gree; in toto, free to be men, with req Hcnable initiative. This alone is boon above value that words can ex- press.
 Praise Facilities
 We are locked in our cells during our sleeping hours only, with clean bedding for each man, with modern toilets in the cells, running water, steam heat, and in short, facilities that rival the equipment of first-class hotels. In these respects many of the men have vastly superior accommodations to those to which they are accustomed in xhe free world.
 Tt is true that this is mixed eamp-about 400 whites and 300 ne- groes. As far as is humanly possible, however, we white prisoners and the eolored inmates are kept separate there are two main cells, one each for the two raeea In the dining hall in the bathing quarters and elsewhere, the line of race is drawn as distinct, ' " as POSctoic9g aAu II bHCto haNO OceA complaints among us on this score this committee, representing the big major ify of the white men, have never heard murmurings.
 "The food is wholesome, ample and exeellently prepared, in as clean kitchen, as modernly equipped, as will be found in the ma jority of metrOpoli- tan hotels. True there is some monot- Ony in the fare, but as we say among ourselves at times. We can make it in this.' At noon meat is passed in large pans so the men can help them- selves unlimitedly. If there has been tainted meat we do not know of any, and, since we eat at common table, we feel free to contradict this state