The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-01-09
BY W. c. INCLUSION.

BY w. C. INCLUSION.
MOST of the penitentiaries, work
IVA houses, reforInatories, prison
farms, etc, in the U. S. manufac-
ture for the open market various
products that compete with social
led free labor Outstanding exam
pies are the San Quentin jut pro-
ducts, cotton seed and farm pro-
ducts from the Texas prison farms,
coal from Kansas, Alabama and
other penitentiary mines, furniture
from Michigan and Maryland,
clothing and textile from most
ern penal institutions and con-
struction and leather from many
others.
The most vicious form of prison
labor in the U. S. is Contract La
Dor" which, despite published sta
tistics, to the contrary, continues
to thrive in many cities and states,
and particularly in the smaller
penal institutions such as city and
state reformatories and warehouses.
FORTUNES ACQUIRED
THROUGH PRISON LABOR
This system of contract prison
labor has built huge industries and
fortunes, the largest perhaps being
the w. T. Eldridge holdings in
Sugarland, Texas, accumulated di-
rectly from cheap contract prison
labor. The Eldridge holdings in
clude large mills, faTms, town.
sites, and formerly the San Antonio
Uvalde and Gulf Railway The rail-
road was recently sold for huge
sum to the Missouri Pacific sys-
tenn.
The E1dridge holdings are in the
heart of the Texas prison farm
belt. Official contract prison la
Dor has been abolished in Texas,
but it is significant to note that
the Eldridge interests still employ
thousands of paroled convictS at
d starvation wage. These suppos-
eddy paroled workers are still living
convict life with the prison
guards replaced by slave-driving
foremen and overseers. The slight
est infraoSion Of the conpany's
rules is adjudged a violation of
parole and the worker is returned
to prison. This explains the large
number Of paroles and pardons
issued while Ma" Ferguson was
Governor of Texas. We can look
for many more of these parole
slaves in the near future, as MA"
Ferguson has been elected governor
once more.
The contract labor system in the
Baltimore, Md, city Jail is typical
of the viciously corrupt penal sys-
tenn in this country. Inside the
walls of the city Jail is a privately
owned factory known to the pub
lie and advertised as 1.-THE Catch
Brush and Wire Goods Company.
The address of this factory is 801
Buren, st. This is also the address
of the Baltimore city jail.
This factory employs several
hundred workers. With the excep-
ton Of the company officials,
stenographer, bookkeeper, shipping
clerk and five shop foremen, they
are all prisoners, serving from two
to twelve months on miSdemeanor
charges.
nESPTTE the general slump in
~ the world industry this factory
does q capacity business. AS
philanthropic gesture the prisoner
workers are given merchandise
check for fifty cents weekly. Late
in october, this year, over half
of them we're cut to Is cents a
week.
Specially skilled workers are put
on piece work. BY Shaving at top
speed nine hours a day they are
able to make between five and
eight dollars month. This money,
however, must be spent in the
company store, where prices fol-
low the regular company store
scale, about double the outside
prices.
The Catch Brush and Wire Goods
Company manufactures every type
of wire products from potato mash
ers to elaborate display stands,
trash burners and giant rubbish
containers. They manufacture a
complete line OF paint brushes and
over two dozen varities of fly swat
tiers. These range from the humble
wire swstter TO the elaborate, mo-
dernistic cellophane swatter. Their
trade covers range create: than
any competing company, and their
most famous products (rat and
mouse traps are exported to all
parts of the world.
Products are manufactured to
company specifications and bear the
copyright names OF the companies
ordering from the Catch Brush and
Wire Goods COMPANY. This Ia