Evening star., 1934-12-16
End of the Chain Gang
BY FREDERIC ]. HASKIN.

A New Deal for prison labor, which
will mean the end Of the chain gang
II carried into effect as planned, has
been recommended to President Roose-
| yelt by a special committee created
| by executive order last October. From
the days Of the use Of forced labor
| In the erection Of the Pyramids and
before, down through the ages, prison
labor has been q major human prob
lem. Where once it meant slave labor,
usually following the taking Of mill
tary captives, the problem has devel-
oped into a modern penological one
with a close association in relation
to modern industry.
The Presidents Committee, consist
| ing Of Joseph N. Ulman, chairman;
Frank Tannenbaum and w. Jett
Lauck, has just presented its report.
i 1t calls for the use Of certain Of the
emergency organizations set up by
the Federal Government to bring
about thorough reform OF the prison
labor situation while at the same time
providing a source of steady supply
for the Federal Emergency Relief Ad-
ministration, funds being allocated
from the Public Works Administra-
ton to make the plan workable.
Briefly, the scheme would call for
the granting of $50,000,000 Of P. w.
A. funds which, with an equal amount
appropriated by the States, would con-
stitute a pool Of Sl00,000,000, which
i would be administered in such man
ner as to remove prison labor from
the realms of competition with prod
ucts Of free labor and Of local politics.
The plan would bring to an end the
prison competition in production with
outside industry, and by this means
would increase the amount of en-
ployment In outside industry. This,
in turn, would have the effect of tax
ing some thousands Of workers of re-
lief rolls. The many-sided plan has
the effect Of attacking several prob
lens simultaneously, but the commit
tee and those who have learned of it
regard It's chief value as lying In
permanent solution Of the prison labor
impasse.
only those who have studied the
matter realize what q problem prison
labor constitutes. To begin with, all
criminologists agree that it is impor-
tant to give prisoners something to do.
The most inhumane form Of punish
ment, in the opinion OF some STU
dents, is enforced confinement with
absolutely nothing to do. When such
a course is followed, there is little
IL any chance of correction, and In
modern penal systems correction as
much as punishment is the object Of
imprisonment.
Criminals are Hired Out.
This necessity for employment has
raised two grave difficulties. On the
one hand it has resulted in abuses,
chief of which is the chain gang. BY
this time most Americans are famil-
lar with the chain gangs of the South,
where treatment at times is alleged
to reach appalling depths of cruelty.
Some counties work chain gang
prisoners only on road building and
similar public works but others fol-
low the contract system. They hire
gangs of laborers to lumber camps and
to contractors who have been found
In some cases to treat their prisoners
about like cattle-worse if anything.
Another part Of the contract sys-
TEN has to do with indoor work
such as overall making, work shirt
making, broom making, and so on,
work done usually on machines and
under the supervision of foremen who
grow to regard their prison workers
more or less as animals. A prison
warden, sheriff, or some other will
have the authority to sell the output
to a dealer. The workers are paid
a pittance. but there is large margin
Of profit for the contractor. The
prison ofdcials have been found in
certain investigations to be not above