The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-01-27
Those in Glass Houses Shouldn't
Throw Stones


these cases to the Use of punishment cells ap-
pears to be based on the fact that time is lost
from work and the fear that especially on the
farms when work is heaviest, there would be
tendency on the part of men to consider work
more of>a punishment than confinement in the
punishment cells, even on a restricted diet"
This not only exposes the viciousness Of work
in the prisons, but also shows Just how much the
National Society of Penal Information cares
about the welfare of the prisoners placed In
institutions for correction" rather in institu-
tons for exploitation of the prisoners for private
profit
Jesse F. Steiner in his book "The North Car
DINA Chain Gang" brings out that the yearly
committeeman of prisoners to county swamps
outnunlber those sent to the state prison by
more than ten to one without doubt" he saws
"the motive underlying the establishment and the
continuance of the county chain gang is pi-
marily economic" This can be easily proved by
the fact that nothing is cared about the pris-
oner himself, but about the amount of labor
that he turns out The county arranges with
private contractor for the sale of the labor power
Of the prisoners else the state orders all pris
oners to be used for road work Max Gardner,
Governor of North Carolina. ordered convicts to
work on the roads only little while ago. 1t is
much cheaper than to hire free labor, even at
the miserable low rate laborers are paid in
North Carolina.
A county in Alabama boosted the fact that It
was far cheaper to feed their prisoners than to
care for their mules. 1t cost them SIS cents a
day to feed mule, and only IA IL cents to feed
a convict.
The diet given to the chain gang victims. Is
certainly not fit for a dog. "They fed flour
gravy. salt pork and grits for breakfast. and
soup, beans. and potatoes for dinner, and supper.
food ic cooked 60 that tNe
water boys have to carry soda to give the men
for stomach burn" Fed. Press.
Sleeping quarters are of the worst In many
cases the prisoner even sleeps in his chains.
Often in the camps small tents are pitched. and
from IS to 20 cots are thrown into them. The
beds are often so close together that the pris-
oners have to climb over one another in order
to reach their flop. Roy Brown of North Car
DINA describes one of the common movable
cer~ons zone of the most common types of
''"0v~l-'e prisons still in use in many of the coun-
ties is the wooden or steel structure mounted on
wheels Which is porrlarlv spoFen of as the cage
bocouse of its Resemblance to the cages in which
wild aninels are confined These cages are
generally about 10 feet Ions. from to feet
10Th snd wide Thev ere GeSigned to provide
sleeping room for l9 r1"' (O1e man to a foot)
prison cc'nrs cf'eo do not nosTHss such luv-
,,rfes - toss -o~A is c--o~sod to flies. Dirt
etc The yeneral diacae~i ord t''rerclar arc
forced to VOL s'o~N veeh. and cot together.
No''h~v We'll IS s-"a~~olv silent about t',N
ror7.hc troo +me7t of the southern convicts. II
hos ''c''n~" heard Of the murders of the sl'o"r-
c--n'o.led NEGRO prisoners All he cares about is
the poor Russian convict who is fast leari"~
bow to becor,e better member of the
eocal order He knows nothing of the denyiur
of parole when the prisoner is of special profit
to the warden He orIv vis,'rlizns the growing
successes of tho Soviet Urin-' ind joins hands
with imperialist Fish s"eirst TIC beacon light of
socialist construction. The cantalst hyenas fN"'
the ground beneath them getting hot. and with
desperate wells shouting cries at the
Soviet Union The workers of the world must
prersre for the onslaught. They must fight
tooth and nail to defend the Soviet Union.
HAYES Cooper Bill.
A word here about the Hawes- Cooper Bill
passed in Congress and which will take effect
in 1884. This is bill which diyests prison
made goods of Interstate commerce privileges
and thus allows the individual states to bjcker
and fight over the problem of marketing their
products. The struggle is in reality simply the
co'1netiton of one state prison factory. farm. or
mill against the other. 1t in no way solves the
misery of the prisoners 1t does not shorten
their hours, or increase their wage. 1t does not
relieve them of the contract systems. It is
merely concerned with the marketing of the
prison products which suffer greatly from COM
petition with other prisons.
Workers Dictatorship Only Solution.
The only solution for this prison product prob
lem is in complete change of the existing
order The whole capitalist system is run on the
basis of private profit and this. of course is
n,irrored in the pron systems When society is
changed to one of Specialization, this problem will
naturally disappear When society will be run
for the good of all, as is now taking place in the
Land CT the Soviets then this problem of prison
made goods will vanish The prisons will be
run as in the Soviet Union as institutions where
backward workers. those retaining the heritage
of the past will be trained builders of the
new Gay Where worker prisoners will work and
learn under the best conditions. Not as here
slave in misery so that he can be a source of
exploitation for the private gain OF bloodsucking
grafters