The Daily Alaska empire., 1929-11-26
EXPERIMENT TO BE TRIED WITH
 PRISON LABOR
Will Assign Voluntee CT Workers to Roads from
 Local Federal Jail

The Federal governments plan lof assigning voluntary prison labor to work on roads is being tried out here, the experiment beginning this J morning when eight men from the local Federal jail went to work on the old Perseverance Mine road. Jim York, formerly guard at the jail was assigned as Deputy Marshal in charge of the crew and work, it was announced by United States Marshal Albert White.
 The experiment is in line with and part of the general policy of the Federal authorities throughout the country, it was made known by Gov. George A. Parks. It was suggested to him by Attorney Gen. eral William Mitchell.
 No Labor Competition
 The Governor made it plain that no labor from this source would be performed in road maintenance or on any project for which funds were available, and also, that all such labor would be purely volun- tary. Work will be done only on projects for which no funds are now available and will not be in the immediate future.
 For the present, work will be limited to the Perseverance Road, from where the cutoff leads to the Alaska Juneau boarding house to Perseverance. This is a foot trail since it's abandonment several years ago. It has been dropped from the list of approved projects and no funds can be allotted to 1t. If 1 the experiment works out satisfac- torily, the plan will be extended tz other parts of this Division and probably to other parts of the Ter ritory
 Inducement to Prisoners
 At the suggestion of M ars h a White, who has taken an active in- terest in the matter since it was first started by the Department of Justice, prisoners working on the roads will be allowed $4 per day while those who merely serve out their fines will be credited with the regular $2 per day.
 This plan was presented to the Attorney General by the Marshal and referred by the former to the Superintendent of Prisons, who re- piled as follows:
 T think your plan of allowing $4 a day instead of $2 a day on fines to those prisoners who are assigned to roadwork is very good one, and it might be well to try it out if this can be legally done I note your statement that you have talk ed to the prisoners about this plan and they are willing to give it a trial
 T desire to take this opportun- ity to express my appreciation of the fine spirit of cooperation which you have shown in this matter. It is great satisfaction to know that nearly 4,000 miles away there is some one keenly interested in the success of the plans for prison re- forms"
 Marshal White ila5 notified his deputies at other points of the plan and suggested to them that they talk it over with the Commis- sioners. A. w. Fox, Commissioner here, it was said, has expressed willingness to embrace the $4 per day clause in sentences in the fu- ture, and it is suggested that other Commissioners do likewise.
 The United States Attorneys of- flee has approved of the plan as being legal
 The prison labor program is na- tionwide in scope. It was adopted by the Department of Justice as a means Of coping With the unrest that is so widely prevalent among the prison populations. Many States have adopted similar programs and others are considering the matter very seriously.
 Enforced idleness has been the source of a great deal Of unruly conduct, outbreaks against prison discipline and mischief that has spread in both State and Federal prisons in recent months, in the opinion of experts. By providing some outlet for the physical energy of men confined in the prisons, it is expected that much of this spirit will die out.