Montana labor news., 1932-11-24
SUITS ARE
HINTED in

VI NcW loIh lily anu puDiioiiVu III
part in his recent book, Georgia
Niger.
With the letter is a long memo
randum detailing the Spivak allega-
tions, for consideration by the three
members of the commissioning. l..
Rainey, chairman; G. A. Johns, and
Vivian L. Stanley. The commission
is asked to say whether it upholds
the practices outlined; whether it is
prepared to defend them in public;
whether Commissioner Stanley's re-
ported statement that Georgia does
not feel that the state owes anything
to the convict" is the commissions
official attitude.
Signers of the communication are:
DIR. Broadus Mitchell, member of
Johns Hopkins university faculty,
Baltimore; DR.. Ebert Russell, dean
of Duke university, Durham N. c.;
Robert S. Keebler, attorney, Mem
phis; DR.. James H. billiard, Char
.lottesville, Va, president of the
Jeanes-Slater Fund for Aid to Negro
Schools; DR.. George E. Kirchwey,
former warden of Sing Sing prison;
Prof. Edwin M. Borchard, Yale uni
versity law school; James Weldon
johnson and William Pickens of the
National Association for the Ad-
vancement of Colored People; Oswald
Garrison Willard, editor of The Ma
ton; DR.. Harry F. Ward, chairman
of the American Civil Liberties
Union and Arthur Garfield Hays, it's
general counsel.
Charges set forth in the letter
follow:
1. Suspension of convicts by wrists
and ankles in stocks in Early county;
stocks used in Monroe and Madison
counties; ~convicts put in barrel" in
Banks county, this punishment evil
IDENTIFY being similar to that inflicted
on Arthur Maillefert in the recent
Florida case.
2. Convicts Restricted of move
ment" in Clarke, Lowndes, Seminole,
and Decatur counties. In Seminole
county, Spivak photographed a boy
restricted of movement" A pick
handle was thrust between the bound
hands and feet of the victim, which
left him in a position of excruciating
pain. Another photograph of a boy
in a similar position, apparently I'M
conscious, wa taken in Decatur
county.
8. Stretching" in Early county.
Here, the letter declares, "Spivak
photographed Warden j. D. Williams
lacing a handcuffed convict to a
concrete post. A rope was tied to
the links in the handouts. This rope
al then cast about another post
and the convict was stretched until
the rope was taut and his arms were
almost pulled from their sockets.
With the convict in this position the
rope was tied around the second post
and the victim left stretched in the
SUM-"
A. Convict photographed in Deca-
tur county wearing spikes riveted
around his ankles. These weights
cause "shackle poison" from infection,
and prevent the convict from getting
any real rest; whenever he tries to
turn in sleep the spikes force him
to wake and raise his legs to turn
over.
5. Convict photographed in Mus
cogee county with an iron collar
around his neck, and shackled to
his bunk with a chain.
Six unexplained deaths are cited.
George johnson, 81, died in Clarke
county of tuberculosis, according to
the memorandum; evidently no at
tempt was made to move him to a
hospital until too late. Robert Lee
Battle, 16, died in Madison county
chain gang; unknown cause" said
.coroner's verdict. George Neal, life
termer in Chatham county, died in
great pain after writing the commits
sion that the authorities laughed
when he asked for medicine. Charlie
higgins, %, died four days after
admission to Pulaski county camp.
John W. Kendall was shot to death
on Turner county prison farm, FAC
c~identally by ]. ]. Conner" John
Smith was KILLED Sept 6, 1929" at
Stateboro.
nroduction for nrofit Pato;p +ba+