Evening star., 1933-08-06
Repeal to Cut Prison Production
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

American prisoners produce an enor-
nous amount Of manufactured goods
each year. They have practically a
monopoly Of the production OF automo-
bile license tags, for example, having
made 36,000,000 last year. In view Of
the fact that there are only about
25, ,000, 900 automobiles in operation, this
number Of tags fills more than half
Of the demand. With the advent of
repeal of the eighteenth amendment
the number Of inmates Of Federal and
State prisons will be materially lessened.
It is not yet certain how many persons
now in prison on convictions OF liquor
law violations will be granted amnesty,
but 1t Is certain that. the number Of
new prisoners from this type Of crime
will drop abruptly.
A survey of the prison labor situa-
ton, Just completed by the Department
of Labor, shows that last year there
were 82,276 Federal and State pris-
oners employed on productive work. The
value of the output of these workers
was in excess of $75,000,000.
For many years campaign has been
carried on, chiefly by labor unions, to
reduce the amount of work done by
Federal and State prison inmates.
These organized workers have objected
to the competition furnished by this
type Of labor and their objections have
been remarkably successful For ex-
ample, in 1885 as many as rs per cent
Of all these prisoners were employed
BY 1895 this had been reduced to 70
per cent, by 1928 to 81 per cent. and
last year only So per cent Of inmates
were employed In the making Of goods
entering the channels Of commerce
nf y1rtc
84,761 in 1923 to 158.947 last year, due
in large part to the Volstead act and
State enforcement laws. These are the
inmates OF the IL Federal, ia State
and 2 county prisons covered in the
survey. Other county and municipal
Jail prisoners are not included, but they
do not figure much in prison labor cal
culations, as most are in for short
terms and not engaged in the manu-
facture of trade goods.
Several Labor Systems in Use.
While there has been SO notable an in
crease in the number of prisoners in the
last decade, the policy Of restricting
prison labor has prevented the output
from rising in proportion. 1t seems
reasonable to assume that, after repeal
and the subsequent decline in the
total number of prisoners, there will be
definite falling of in the total out
turn. This will throw back onto the
free community the task of producing
the goods now made in jail.
The manufactures turned out by mod
ern prisons are numerous, ranging from
agricultural implements to printed books,
so there is scarcely an industry which
does not have some competition from
prison made goods. With the competi-
ton 50 keen In the free field, both from
the labor angle and from the point of
view Of the manufacturers who resent
low price competition, it is to be ex-
pected that there will be an increasing
tendency to reduce this type OF prison
activity.
There is possibility that the new
industrial codes. so far as hours of la
Dor are concerned, may be applied to
prison labor. This would, presumably,
lower the number of hours, as at pres
ent some of the inmates work A hours
a week and some as much as so hours.
There are several systems of labor
One of the Oldest Is the contract sys-
tenn. An outside contractor agrees to
pay a gi7en amount per man per day fo-
output. The contractor furnishes ma
terials and sometimes furnishes all ma