A = — ^ A = s^^ ^. — ^ = JZ m ^^ 3 M = o ^ 2 ^ > 5 1 CC m 8 = > 1 ^ ^ 8 iA>^' j-.n uuo r ri o. I u.-ory\)rn t "^SiQA REPORT OF THE INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION ON PRISON LABOR I'KKPAKED IN CONFORMITY WITH ACT OF CONGRESS APPROVED JUNE 18, 1898. VOLUIVIE Til OF THE COMMISSION'S REPORTS, WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1900. 101 A3 MEMBERS OF THE INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. James H. Boies Penrose. Stephen R. Mallory. John W. Daniel. John J. Gardner. William Lorimer. L. F. Livingston. John C. Bell. Theobald Otjen. Lee Mantle. William E. Kyle, Chairman. Andrew L. Harris. Ellison A. Smyth. John M. Farquhar. Eugene D. Conger. Thomas W. Phillips. Charles J. Harris. M. D. Ratchford. John L. Kennedy. Albert Clarke. Sackett, Secretary. United States Industrial Commission, Washington, D. C. , A^jril 25, 1900. Sir: In pursuance of the act of Congress approved June 18, 1S!>8, I have the honor to transmit to jou the Report of the Industrial Commission on Prison Labor. Respectfully, James H. Kyle, Chaimnan. The Speaker of the House of Representatives. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS. Page. Review and recommendations 5 Prefatory note 17 Chapter I. The prison labor problem discussed 19 II. Employment of iirisoners for the advantage of the State and private individuals 24 III. Employment of prisoners for public benefit exclusively 44 IV. Financial results of the various systems of employing prison labor 60 V, Concerning the employment of prisoners in jails 74 VI. Employment of prisoners during the years 1898 and 1899 78 VII. Suggestions for changes in systems of employment 121 Appendix — Digest of prison labor laws in the States (and Territories ?) 141 4 INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. REPORT OI^ PRISON LABOR. To the Senate and House of Representatives^ Fifty -sixth Congress: The Industrial Commission established by act of Congress of June 18, 1898, have the honor to submit this report of the results of our inves- tigations into the employment of the inmates of the penal, reformatory, and eleemosynary institutions of the different States and Territories, and the competition of sucli labor with free labor. The sections of the law creating the commission under which we have acted in the preparation of this report are as follows : "Sec. 2. That it shall be the duty of this commission to investigate questions pertaining to immigration, to labor, to agriculture, and man- ufacturing, and to business, and to report to Congress and to suggest such legislation as it may deem best on these subjects. "Sec. 3. That it shall furnish such information and suggest such laws as may be made a basis for uniform legislation by the various States of the Union, in order to harmonize conflicting interests and to be equitable to the laborer, the employer, the producer, and the con- sumer." The investigation of the employment of the prison ])opulation has extended into all of tbe States and Territories. The systems under which prisoners are employed and the conditions of such emijloyment prevailing in each State are presented with recommendations for such changes as are considered necessaiy to improve the conditions and lessen the comi)etition with free labor. The opinions and recommendations of the various committees, com- missions, bureaus, and specialists who have investigated and reported on the subject of prison labor have been consulted and tlieir conclusions in regard to the desirable and undesirable features of the different sys- tems of employment are presented. From these sources the commission draws certain conclusions. In addition, testimony taken before this commission, and which will mainly appear in a forthcoming volume on .Manufactures and (jreneral Business, sustains the suggestions for legislation herein made. 5 b UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. It is apparent that the industrial phase of the convict-labor problem can be regulated to the satisfaction of all sections of the country only by uniform legislation on the part of the States. The question is one of national interest, though partly beyond national jurisdiction. In any report on prison labor it is of the first importance to outline a plan that will, if embodied in the law, enable the prison authorities so to administer the affairs of the institutions that the grievances now existing and complained of may be removed, and a system established which will make the prisons punitive and reformatory, and as nearly self-sustaining as may be without materially infringing u^wn the riglits of free labor or invested capital. Various schemes have been tried by the States, working independ- ently, to lessen the competition of convict labor with free labor and industry, such as the prohibition of the employment of convicts; pro- hibition of the sale of convict-made goods; marking of convict-tnade goods; substitution of industries not carried on in the State; jirohibit- ing the sale of convict-made goods outside the State where manufac- tured; fixing the price for which convict-made goods may be sold in the market; reduction of hours of labor in prison; the exportation of convict- made goods; diversification of industries carried on in j)risons; payment of wages to convicts; prohibition of any contract for convict labor at lower rates per day than the average ]>aid for outside labor of the same kind; employment of convicts upon public improvements that ai-e desirable, but of such a character that they would not have been undertaken with the use of free labor. These devices have been adopted without regard to conditions pre- vailing in other States, or in the hope of relieving acute conditions, rather than providing a i)ermanent remedy for an evil that has always been a feature of our Government, and that has developed and exi)anded with the increase in population and wealth of the country. That the competition with free labor exists and has been and can be made severe by the use of methods now in vogue is clearly shown by the evidence presented herewith. This is sufficient reason for a change in those methods and the adoption, so far as practicable, of a uniform system whereby the employment of convicts in one State can not act detrimentally on the industrial interests of that or any other State. In describing the various systems of employing convicts the com- mission has presented the principal advantages and disadvantages of each. It remains to be determined which of these systems tends best to the reformation of the prisoner and the reduction of the competi- tion of his labor with free labor. Every interest of society and consideration of discipline, economy, reformation, and health demands that prisoners should be kept employed at productive work. Manufacturers, wage-earners, and all who have given the subject any consideration are practically unanimous in this conclusion. PRISON LABOR. 7 As all labor competes with other labor, and the labor that an iudi- vidual may do for himself, or that the State may do for its own use, is in a sense in competition with other labor, the competition of convict labor with free labor can not be entirely eradicated. The only remedy is to be found in the reduction of that competition to the minimum, and this can be accomplished best by a scheme which considers and pro- vides for, first, the punishment and reformation of the criminal ; second, the diminution of competition with free labor; and third, the main- tenance of the convicts. The weight of the evidence appears to be that the system which most nearly accomplishes the first and second of these conditions, and incidentally the third, is the one that should be adopted. The objectionable features of convict labor are not to be found in the fact that prisoners are employed, but to the methods of their employ- ment and the fact that the products of their labor are sold in the open market. In response to the general demand for reformative laws, the general tendency of prison legislation has been in the direction of reducing the quantity of goods manufactured for sale, and the assumption by the State of the comi)lete control and management of the prison population. This is shown by the following facts, obtained from recent reports of the Department of Labor : Considering the penitentiaries and prisons of the country, it appears that the total value of the work done and goods produced l)y the con- victs was $24,271,078.39 in 1885 and $1!>,042,472.33 in 1895, a decrease of 21.5 per cent, while the number of convicts increased from 41,877 in 1885 to 54,244 in 1895. In 1885 there were 12 States in which the lease and 15 in which the public-account systems of employment were in use, while in 1895 there were but 7 States in which the lease system was used and 27 in which the public-account system was in use. The lease system is one of the methods of employment in which the State has no control over the quantity or disposition of the i)roducts, and but slight control over the discipline and care of the prisoner, while under the public-account system the State has full cimtrol of botli. The lease, contract, and piece-price systems of employing convicts are the three methods under which the products of their labor are utilized for the i)ecuniary benefit of both private individuals and the State. As now conducted the three systems have many features in common. The contract and i)ie<'e-price systems are used generally where the convicts are to be worked at or immediately adjoining the prison, and the State has control, to some extent at least, by direct supervision over the discipline, hours of work, and the character and quantity of product. The lease system is used, as a rule, where the convicts are eniployed away from the prison proper or in detached buildings styled prisons, but unopular disapproval; that it is a bar to any progressive, scientific treatment of the criminal classes; that it imposes a special burden, which should be borne by the whole people, upon a comparatively few industries, and those who subsist by them. If a broad view is taken of the convict-la])or (Question the system that will com- mend itself is that which first most effectually protects society, both in its moral and material interests, regardless of any pecuniary profits which may accrue from it; then it is believed the contract system can not be considered. The material interests of society are not subserved by the contract system. This was emphasized by report made as early as 1867 by a commission formed under the laws of New York to investigate the prisons and reformatories of the United States and Canada. This report refers to the fact that the rates paid by contractors for convict labor range from 30 to 4.5 cents per day, and that the con- tractors obtain the labor of ;5 convicts where they would get that of 1 citizen, and yet each convict performed, on tlu; average, thn^e-fourths as much Avork as a citi- zen laborer. Putting these elements together, the case stands thus: The labor of 13 convicts will cost no more per day than that of 4 citizens; yet the convicts will do 9 days work. whilt> the citizen will do but 4. Thus every dollar paid for con- vict labor will produce as much as $2.2.j exijeudcd on citizen labor. The commis- sion c-oncludes as follows: " Is it jiossible that the State can be other than a loser by a system which sells the labor of its convicts at 150 per ci'nt less than the same lal)or can be obtained elsewhere? Upon the whole, it is our settled conviction that the contract system of con\act labor, added to the system of political appointments, which necessarily involves a low grade of official (jualification and constant changes in the prison staff, renders migi-atory, to a great extent, the whole theory of our penitentiary system. Inspection may correct isolated abuses; phil:nitliio])hy may relieve iso- lated cases of distress; and religion may effect Isolated iiioihI cures; but genuine, I'adical, comprehensive, systematic improvement is impossible." 32 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. The contract system, as practiced at the time of the above report, had many of the features peculiar to the lease system, and the constant tendency of legislation and the improvements in prison methods have been toward removing those fea- tures and improving the system, but the perfect has never been attained , and the tendency appears to be to pass by and beyond the system to something better. This is evinced by the character of the reports and legislation in New York State. Follovdng the report above referred to, and in January, 1871, the State commis- sioner on prison labor of New York, after hearing a great deal of testimony, con eluded that the following propositions were believed to be fairly deducible from, and fully sustained, by the evidence: " I. The contract system of prison labor is bad and should be abolished. "II. The industries of a prison, as well as its discipline, ought, ordinarily, to be managed by its head. "III. The successful management of the industries of a prison requires experi- ence and business tact; qualities that can be acquired only by long practical familiarity with such management. "IV. It would not be wise to commit the industries of a prison to the manage- ment of its head so long as he is not only liable, but sure to be displaced on every transfer of power from one political party to another. " V. Considering the extent of the industries carried on in our State prisons, and the frequent changes of officers therein, the result of which is that inexperi- enced persons are for the most part at their head, it would be unwise and unsafe to change the system of labor while the system of government remains what it is at present. "VI. In order to a safe and successful change of the labor system from con- tracts to State management, it will be an essential condition precedent that politi- cal control be eliminated from the government of our State prisons, and that their administration be placed and kept in the hands of honest and capable men. "VII. The only process by which our State prisons can be removed from the arena of politics — whereby alone a safe basis can be secured for a change in the labor system — is an amendment of the constitution; and to the attainment of that end the strenuous efforts of all good citizens should be directed. "VIII. While the products of prison labor are not sufficient to sensibly affect the general markets of the country, there is no doubt that in particular localities these products do come into injurious competition with those of outside labor ; and whenever such competition occurs it is the result of the undue pursuit of one or but a few branches of labor in prisons to the exclusion of all others, a result which points to the multiplication and eiiualization of trades in institutions of this class. " IX. The opposition of the workingmen of the State is to the contract system alone and not all to industrial labor in prisons ; and not only do they not oppose such labor, but they desire that criminals should be reformed as the result of their imprisonment; and they believe that this can be effected only through industrial labor in combination with other suitable agencies and as the result of the acquisition, as far as that may be possible, of trades during their incarcera- tion." In January, 1884, Charles F. Peck, commissioner of lab(«- of New York, in his first annual report to the legislature, submitted the following conclusions in regard to the unfavorable aspects of the contract system: " In submitting to your honorable body the recommendations as to the future policy of prison management which seem best adapted to the moral training of the convicts and attended with least injury to existing interests, it is proper that the evils to be avoided and which attach to existing systems should be briefly stated. " The contract system as at present administered has been found imperfect tor the following reasons: "First. The object of the law is reform for the convicts. The object of the contractor is to make money from his labor wdthout regard to his reform. " Second. It is destructive of prison discipline necessarily, from the fact that the prisoners are for ten hours a day under the control of the contractor and his agents, who are in no wise responsible for their reformation. •• Third. It renders impossible a diversity of employment suited to the different capacities of the prisoners and the conditions necessary to their moral training. " Fourth. It is the intention of the law and to the best interests of society that PRISON LABOR. 33 the terms of the best conducted prisoners be shortened. It is to the interest of the contractor to keep them longer in prison. '_' Fifth. It makes impossible any proper classification and separation of the prisoners, but places in daily contact the comparatively innocent with the most hardened and depraved. " Sixth. The profits of the labor of the convict belong to the State, the laws of which he has transgressed. The contract system gives those profits to parties not representing the State or interested or responsible, except for monetary con- siderations, which are a constant menace to the discipline of the prison and the reformation of the convict. "Seventh. Manufacturers engaged in similar indiistries and employing free labor claim to be injuriously affected in their business by the operations of the contract system. "Eighth. The mechanical and laboring interests are opposed to the contract system on the ground that it tends to loss of employment and reduction of wages." In other reports of the State commission of prisons of New York the policy of the State in contracting or farming out the labor of the convicts is spoken of as highly injurious to free labor in that the products of such labor are sold in the open market at a price so low that, while the contractors were thereby enabled to reap large profits, those who were engaged in the manufacture of similar articles by free labor, were unable to compete and pay the wages necessary to a decent subsistence, and that under the contract system the labor of convicts was farmed out for such small prices that the State, in effect, got nothing; while the contractors were enabled to imdersell other manufacturers, and thus decrease the wages of free labor, and in some instances destroy industries that were valuable for the general welfare. " Comparatively few of the concerns engaged in any industry are in a position to compete for the contract for prison labor and. therefore, it is sold out at extremely low rates. For example, at Aviburn Prison, the contract for the labor in making women's calico and gingham dresses and wrappers was at the rate of 50 cents per dozen, 30 cents per dozen for waists and skirts, and at like rates for the labor in manufacturing many other articles. At the State Reformatory at Elmira are contracts for the making of heavy overcoats at 40 cents each, and umbrellas at 4 cents each. At Sing Sing are contracts for making shoes at 6A and 7 cents per pair, and at the Albany Penitentiary shirts were made on contract for 30 cents per dozen. Like low rates for labor prevail at the other prisons and peniten- tiaries. How much this cheap labor may tend to cause the abuses produced by the so-called "sweat shops " in the great cities, where manufacturers seek to com- pete with the maniifacture of prison contractors suggests itself. At Backwells Island the labor was largely farmed out or contracted out to various firms and companies whose product was thus brought in competition in the market with the product of other manufacturers using free labor only. In order to meet the com- petition the latter were forced to cut down their prices below cost, or largely reduce the wages of their employees, or, as in some instances, discontinue that branch of industry. The average earnings, per diem, of convicts so contracted out was from 13 to 35 cents per day; but as the State furnishes and keeps in repair the buildings where this farmed-out labor was done, and in most of the industries owned and kept in repair the machinery used in connection -with the labor, the real earnings to the State above expenses are much less." By a provision of the constitution of the State, and, by laws that went into effect January 1. 1897, the contract system of employing convicts was abolished in New York, and the State commission of prisons in commenting on the fact in the annual report for 1898, states as follows: " The old system of contracting out the labor of convicts to the highest bidder, which was a species of slavery, passed away when the prison labor provision of the constitution and of the law went into effect January 1, 1897, and is already being looked upon as a relic of barbarism that the State did well in superseding by a moi-e enlightened and practical system. But few manufacturers were sit- iiated so as to compete in the bidding. Those with large plants, iiermanent loca- tions, and many employees could not do so. The contracts therefore, were taken by those who were less firmly located and more adapted to speculative ventures, for a mere pittance which gave the State very little income after paying the addi- tional expense caused, and the repairs of the buildings and machinery it furnished. 2.J0A — VOL III 3 34 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. The presence of contractors and foremen, not officers, was not helpful to discipline. The contractors were able to make the price of articles manufactured so low as to cripple the business of the manufacturers producing similar goods by free labor, or to lessen the wages of their employees. When we consider the fact that under the contract system shoes were being made in the prisons for 6 and 7 cents a pair, laundered shirts for 30 cents a dozen, trousers for 75 cents per dozen pairs, ulster overcoats for 40 cents each, and umbrellas for 4 cents, while large manufactures of brass and of iron and of furniture were also carried on at similar insignifi- cant prices, the result no longer seems strange. It is no wonder that the industries of free labor languished, and the manufacturers and laborers were joining in annual appeals to the legislature to relieve them from a ruinous and unfair com- petition, by forbidding the manufacture of various classes of goods in the prisons. The State was not getting a fair value for the labor of the prisoners it was com- pelled to support, and the manufacturers and their employees were suffering by the unfair competition of the labor sold out to the contractors, who made the profit without fear of strikes or the chance of loss. "Another abuse which developed under the contract system as it was prac- ticed in New York was the passage of laws permitting penitentiaries to contract with other counties than those in which they were located for the care of those convicted of misdemeanors in such counties, and permitting the magistrates to sentence to such penitentiaries, instead of to the jails of their own counties. The penitentiaries were paid at the rate of $2 or more a week for each prisoner, and also had the labor of the con-\acts they received. The actual cost of the board was about half the amoimt received, so that a good profit resulted from the enter- prise. This was the first step in turning the penitentiaries into boarding houses. Later, laws were procured in the interests of the penitentiaries, permitting courts of the State to sentence for terms of five years, or less, to the penitentiaries those convicted of felonies. The State thus transferred to the penitentiaries the labor of the felons sentenced for five years or less, and it had to pay to the penitentia- ries $2.10 for the board of each, though there was ample room for all felons in the State prisons which the State was maintaining, and where it could keep prisoners at about half the price paid. But an even greater objection was, that such a law broke down the separation between misdemeanants and felons, putting those guilty of the greater crimes in association with those who, were, perhaps, more unfortunate than criminal. "Finally, laws were enacted in the interests of the penitentiaries, pernaitting them to contract for the care and custody of convicts of other States, without regard to the length of sentence. At the end of their term this class of convicts was discharged at the penitentiary door, and the State of New York, and its peni- tentiary towns in particular, made a dumping ground for criminals of other States and Territories." In 1895, the State commission of prisons found about 900 convicts from other States, some under sentence for life or long terms of forty years or more, in asso- ciation with misdemeanants, in the penitentiaries. While the contract system, as it is now conducted, is radically different from that under which convicts were employed in 1887, still the follomng quotation from the reports of legislative committees in Ohio and Pennsylvania, made dur- ing that year, indicate the adverse feeling that prevailed in those States against the system at that time. The committee in Ohio, after taking the testimony of many witnesses and duly considering the questions submitted to it, arrived at the following conclusions: " The contract system interferes in an undue manner with the honest industry of the State. It has been the cause of crippling the business of many of our man- ufacturers; ithas been the cause of driving many of them out of business; it has been the cause of a large percentage of the reductions which have taken place in the wages of our mechanics; it has been the cause of pauperizing a large portion of our laborers and increasing crime in a corresponding degi-ee; it has been no benefit to the State; as a reformatory agency it has been a complete, total, and miserable failure; it has hardened more criminals than any other cause; it has made total wrecks, morally, of thousands and thousands who would have been reclaimed from the paths of vice and crime under a proper system of prison man- agement, but who now have resigned their fate to a life of hopeless degradation; it has not a single commendable feature; its tendency is pernicious in the extreme. In short, it is an insurmountable barrier in the way of the reformation of the unfortunates who are compelled to live and labor under its evil influences; it PRISON LABOR. 35 enables a class of men to get rich out of the crimes committed by others; it leaves upon the fair escutcheon of the State a relic of the very worse form of hiiman slavery; it is a bone of ceaseless contention between the State and its mechanical and industrial interests; it its abhorred by all and respected by none except those, perhaps, who make profit and gain out of it. It should be tolerated no longer, but abolished at once." The committee in Pennsylvania reported in substance, as follows: " On a full examination, a very large field for careful investigation, taking the principle involved in the first and second questions, which raises the inquiry as to the influence exerted or the effects produced by the labor of convicts in prisons, contracted for or sold to the best bidder, and the product of such labor brought into competition in the market with the product of industi-ies of indi- vidual vohmtary labor, ' or the interests of free labor,' and ' the manufacturing interests of the Commonwealth.' Your committee is of opinion that the princi- ple is injurious to the ' interests of free labor.' ' ' The contractor of prison labor has many advantages which it is not always easy to estimate in money when the matter of profits is considered. Among them are to be estimated, no rent for buildings, no insurance, no cost for storage, and the want of all competition in the price paid for convict labor, either by the day or other fixed period, and the compulsion under which the convict toils, the time saved by his location near his work, and the supervision of the convict in performing his taskwork. It is true much depends on the trade carried on and the agi-eement made between the institution and the contractor. There is no do bt that very large profits are made by contractors, or some of them, and it is equally true that very large losses are made by the State in many cases." The contract system is now practiced in the State of Michigan in conjunction with the State-account system, and is spoken favorably by the prison authorities who contend that as good results, in every respect, are secured by its use as by any other system. Nevertheless in 1884 when the agitation of the question of the employment of convicts was severe, the commissioner of labor of the State, in a report upon penal institiitions, stated that the contract system should be abolished, because — " First. The contractor has no interest in the iirisoner, except in his ability to produce. The prisoner is the ward of the State. His employment is a means, not an end, and no contractor with arbitrary rules as to time, etc.. should come between the prisoner and the State. The incentive to labor should be shortened terms, care for dependents, and payment of a stipend when discharged. " These men are required to work an average of 10 hours per day for the year, 8i hours in midwinter, and 11.^ hours in midsummer, and they work diligently. They have not the relief incident to outdoor labor — no rainy dsiys — all their time is employed, except nights and Sundays. Is it not idle to expect reformatory or educational influences to be exerted, except those incident to industry, or to opei-ate upon men who work 10 hours per day? The inmates are tired, the keepers have been with the men all day, and the warden or superintendent has been engi-ossed with the management of the financial and commercial trans- actions of the prison. " Second. The sale of the product should be regulated by the State. "Third. If there is any profit in his employment it should not go to the con- tractor. If the contract system is retained the State should own the plant and machinery as well as the shops, and thus open a \Nader field for competition." The subject of contracting convict labor is treated in the first anniial report of the bureau of labor of Kansas, in which the objectionable competitive feature of the system is spoken of as follows : "With the rapid multiplication of machinery, a much less degrep of skill is required in many branches of industry, and the skilled mechanic, who may have spent years in the mastery of the details of his calling, suddenly finds himself at a disadvantage, even when confronted with the competition of free labor; but when to this is added a mass of labor, fed, housed and clothed by the State and hired en masse for a mere pittance, to compete Avith him for the means of liveli- hood, it makes his lot hard indeed. He feels it is an act of injustice on the part of the State; and he finally comes to regard the farming out of couvict labor as a blow aimed directly at the class he represents." The direct and severe competition with free labor and industry that is possible 36 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. by the concentration of a large nvimber of convicts on any one industry under the contract system, is conclusively shown by the testimony presented in the fourth biennial report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics of Illinois. While the laws and rules regulating the employment of convicts under the contract system, as now carried on, may have been modified since this report was prepared, still the testi- mony is so conclusive and direct on this point that it is here given in full. " One of the oldest, largest, and most prosperous shops in the Joliet Penitentiary is devoted to the manufacture of cooperage, chiefly for the packing of meats and lard, and chiefly for the Chicago market. The firm engaged in this business has had contracts for convicts at Joliet for many years, and now employs there in all 204 men. In addition to this establishment the same firm has contracts and cooper shops in the northern penitentiary of Indiana at Michigan City, where they employ 169 men. The product of these two shops flows for the most part to the Chicago market, though some portion of it reaches the neighboring cities — Milwaukee, Indianapolis, St. Louis, and even Kansas City. " Through the courtesy of this firm this bureau is placed in possession of a statement of the amount of their business in Chicago for a term of 11 years — 1875-1885, both inclusive. This shows the number of each of four kinds of jjack- ages manufactured and sold in Chicago for each year, as follows: Years. Pork. Lard. Lard. Beef. Total. 1875 Barrels. 107,320 116,236 119,213 127,046 213,595 297,367 301,0.34 304, 138 316.7.51 363,255 379,313 Tierces. 90,227 89,552 86,881 107,416 188.320 257, .567 259, tj48 294,088 312,099 293, 655 342,159 Keas. 8,V53 6,956 .5,976 9,246 7, 120 12, .560 6,144 3,310 5.:i87 3,917 2,311 Tierces. 1,167 1,393 1,249 1,.592 1,909 2,706 8,944 10,319 16,311 19,160 31,479 207,466 214, 137 213,319 245 300 1876 1877 - 1878 1879 _ 1880 . 1881 1883 410, 944 .570, 2(K) 575,770 611.7,55 1883 . . . 650 548 1884 _. - 1885 679,987 745,261 Total 3,645,267 2,321,613 71,679 86,129 5,124,687 " This shows a total of 5.124,(587 packages sold in Chicago in 11 years and 745,261 sold last year. "In order to arrive at some facts upon which to institute a comparison an inquiry has also been made as to the status, past and present, of the manufacture of cooperage by j)rivate parties in Chicago. A canvass has accordingly been made among the principal shops, and so far as possible exact figures for a corre- sponding number of years have been procured from the books of the various firms visited. The records of 26 establishments variously engaged in the manu- facture of both so-called ' tight ' and ' slack ' work were thus obtained. Of these, however, 15 only are and have been for a series of years engaged in the manufac- ture of provision cooperage of the specific kinds turned out by the prison shops. and upon their statements the following summaries are made : " First, a tabulation of their annual output for a series of years gives the fol- lowing results: Year. Pork barrels. Lard tierces. Lard kegs. Beef tierces. Total. 1875 31 , 0(K) 36,870 39,200 32,530 49,010 42,741 36,160 32,650 a5,900 26, 750 34,600 86.045 86 891 95,600 98,900 133, 130 121, 780 121,253 133,005 122,400 120,7*5 122,502 3, 6(K) 2,600 2,600 800 700 700 700 600 fi(X) 400 400 819 1,700 6, .324 5, .591 5,400 4,900 4,600 4,000 J20, 464 128.0til 143, 7;.'4 1876 1877 1878. 137,821 1879 188,340 1880 170, 131 1881 162, 713 1882 170, 2.55 1883 158,900 1884 .... 147,885 1885 157,562 Total 397,411 1,242,301 12,700 33,334 1,685,746 PRISON LABOR. 37 " Here are 1,685,746 packages given as the aggregate product of fifteen cooper shops in Chicago for a period of 11 years; and 157,563 as the total product for 1885. " The census returns for 1880 show that the total number of cooi^er shops in Chicago at that date was 65, and that the number of coopers employed in them was 686. In the spring of 1885, however, an enumeration was made by the Coopers' Assembly of Chicago, which developed the fact that 16 establishments had closed out their business since 1880, and that they had given employment to 235 men. This would leave as the present force 451 men engaged in 49 shops, provided the discharged men did not obtain work in the surviving shops. A more recent canvass by this bureau, however, has developed a total of 56 shops of every kind, employing from two men itpward, and an average of twelve employees to each, which would give 673 as the total of working coopers in the busy season, which is from November to April. "Accepting then 56 shops and 673 men as a fair approximation to the present totals in this industry, the question is what proportion of them are engaged in mak- ing the four specific packages used in the meat-packing trade. Of the 26 returns received, 15. or 60 per cent., are so engaged; while an estimate by our canvasser is that not more than 40 per cent, are so engaged. Assuming that 60 per cent is the proper proportion, we arrive at the conclusion that 34 shops employing 403 men are the surviving competitors in Chicago of the prison shops. Of these we have the records of 15, employing 182 men. and producing last year 157,562 pro- vision packages. This would make the entire product of 34 private cooperage establishments in Chicago, employing 403 men on provision work, 354,517 pack- ages. Upon this basis the following comparative table is presented of the rela- tive product of prison and i»rivate shops, showing the columns in juxtaposition in order to bring out the contrast between them: Number of packages. Year.s. Made iu prisou shops. Made in 15 private shops. Estimated total prod- uct of all private shops in Chicago. 1875..: 2f)7, 400 214, 137 213,319 245,300 410,944 570,200 575, 770 611,755 650,548 679,987 745,261 120,464 128,061 14.3,724 137, 821 188.240 170, Ul 162, 713 170,255 158,900 147,885 157,562 271,044 288, 137 321! 37*^ 1876 1877 1878 310 097 1879 423 .540 1880 382 773 1881 360 054 1882 ;i83 074 188:1 : 357 526 1884 3;i2 792 1886 354,515 Total... 5,124,687 1,685,746 3 792 930 " Last year's product of the prison shops was 745,361 packages, while that of all private shops, upon a liberal and legitimate basis of computation, was 354.515. In other words, out of a total sale and consumption of 1.0'jy,776 packages in Chi- cago, 67.8 per cent was manufactured in prisons. "Another marked feature of this table is the gi-eat and continued gi-owth of the prison industry throughout the period under consideration. This is not more noticeable, however, than the entire absence of any material increase for the same series of years in the development of the industry outside the prison walls. In brief, the contractors' business has increased in volume 360 per cent during the 11 years, while the increase in i)rivate establislnnents was only 31 per cent in the same time. Tlie pj-esent output shows a regular progressive growth from year to year for the whole period; but the private shops feebly fluctuate iu volume of product throughout the term, and at the end are practically no stronger than at the beginning. "The manufacture of cooperage, stimulated as it has been by the enoraious mejit-packing trade in Chicago, should have itself increased four or five fold during the last decade, and would have done so beyond a doubt if such op])ortu- nities for free development had been open as were enjoyed by other branches of mainifacttire. Instead of that it is now a feebler industry relatively than it was 38 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. 11 years ago, and instead of enjoying the liealthy and pi"osper( ms growtli for which a notable opportunity was presented, it has barely maintained its exist- ence by a constant and une(inal struggle. "But the proprietor has not been the only nor the greater sufferer in this struggle. Under the natural and inevitable operation of the contract system, prices have continually declined, and the citizen, in his fruitless effort to compete with the contractor, has visited every reduction in price upon the journeyman cooper in the form of a reduction in wages. The consequence has been, as is fre- quently stated, that Chicago coopers have often been able to earn more upon the streets at any kind of unskilled labor than at the trade they have spent years to acquire. '' Some facts in regard to the average annual earnings of coopers for the term of years under consideration have been procured from the books of employers who have been continually in business for 11 or more years. From nine of these we have been able to obtain an average of the yearly payments made to their opera- tives for each of 11 years, and the results of the inquiry as towages are presented in the following tabulation of averages: Years. Average annual earnings of provision coopers in Chicago for eleven consecutive years, in nine establishments. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 1875 - $634.00 634. 00 593. 00 573. m 573.00 535.00 519.00 515. 00 513. 00 488.00 469.00 $7(:ki. 00 700. 00 675.00 675. 00 675. 00 640.00 490. 00 490. 00 460.00 400.00 400.00 $643. (X) 634.00 607.00 604.00 579. (» 573. 00 573. 00 .564. 00 546. 00 473. (M) 468.00 $640. 00 63.5.00 600.00 590.00 590. 00 575. 0(J 575. 00 575.00 .575. 00 .540. 00 500.00 $635. (X) 600. 00 600. 00 540.00 500.00 5(«.0O ,500.00 4,50. 00 450. 00 430. 00 395. 00 $690. 00 689. 00 680.00 670. 00 680.00 600.00 .560. 00 550. 00 400. 00 400. 00 400.00 $650. 00 634.00 ,598. m ,598. 00 603. 00 ,573. 00 .573. 00 573.00 ,546. TO 481. TO 467. TO $634. TO 591. TO ,540. TO 5TO.TO 483. TO 475. TO 475. TO 463. TO 450. TO 4TO.TO 4TO.TO $511. TO 1876 501. TO 1877 1878 5TO.TO 450. TO 1879 1880 450. TO 450. TO 1881 441. TO 1883 . 411. TO 1883.. _ 1884 -. 410. TO 4TO.TO 1885 390. TO Decline __ 35% 43% 27% 23% 37% 43% 28% 37% 24% " These 9 establishments are selected from the whole number reporting wages because the data in these instances are full for the 11 years in each case, making a complete serial table for the term. The returns from other shops are more or less fragmentary, although the downward tendency is equally marked in every case. ' ' The decline is seen to be painfully imif orm from year to year in every estab- ment, the percentage of reduction varying in different shops fi'om 22 to 43 per cent. Another, arrangement of the figures will give the annvial average for the same shops, by years, and the general average for the term: Establishments. Annual average of earnings in nine e.stablishmentsfor each of eleven years. 1875. 1876. 1877. 1878. 1879. 1880. 1881. 1883. 1883. 1884. 1885. 1 $624 7TO 643 640 625 690 650 634 511 $634 7TO 634 625 6TO 689 634 591 501 $.593 675 607 0(X) 6TO 680 ,598 ,540 5TO $573 675 604 .590 540 670 598 6TO 450 $573 675 .579 .590 5TO 680 603 483 4,50 $535 640 .573 575 5TO 6TO .573 475 4;50 $519 490 573 ,575 5TO ,560 573 475 441 $515 490 5tH ,575 4,50 ,5,50 573 463 411 $513 460 ,546 575 450 4TO ,546 4,50 410 $488 4TO 473 .540 430 4TO 481 400 400 $469 2 4TO 3 468 4 5TO 5 395 6 4TO 7 -. 467 8.. 4TO 9. 390 Average . . 613 611 599 577 570 545 523 510 481 445 432 " This shows that a general reduction has taken place in the earnings of coopers in the provision cooperage shops of Chicago from $613 per annum in 187.5 to $432 per annum in 188,5, or an average decline of 30 per cent. Some part of this may certainly be due to other causes than the competition arising from the prison shops, but the uniform belief among those interested is that the greater part of it is directly chargeable to that influence. As confirmatory of their statements we PRISON LABOR. 39 cite from the pay rolls of three shops in which Ijeer barrels alone are made the average earnings paid that class of coopers for a number of years past: Years. Average annual earn- ing.s of beer-barrel coopers in 3 shops for a series of years. 1. $682 675 670 662 647 a50 650 620 624 622 2. 3. 1876 1877 1878 1879 §660 651 645 640 640 626 626 5.2 1880 1881 - - 1883 . $675 1883 - 650 1884 - 625 1885.. . 623 Percentage of decline 8.9 7.7 "Here the decline is not greater than might be expected from general caiises, ranging from 5 to 9 per .cent. "Presented in averages by years the earnings of this class of coopers, not affected by convict labor, appears as follows : Establishments. Earnings of beer-1)arrel makers iu Chicago for a series of years. * 1876. 1877. 1878. 1879. 1880. 1881. 1882. 1883. 1884. 1885. 1 $682 $675 $670 $662 660 $647 651 $650 645 $650 640 675 $620 640 650 $624 626 625 $622 2 626 3 623 Averaere 682 675 670 661 649 647 655 636 625 623 " Thus at the present date the earnings of coopers not injured by prison compe- tition is fovmd to be §623 per annum, while the earnings of those who are is only §432, though 10 years ago they were substantially the same. But another line of inquiry has brought out some facts as to the earnings of provision coopers in other cities where the influence of the prison manufacturers is not felt, or only felt in small degree. Among the latter places are Milwaukee, Indianapolis, St. Louis, and Kansas City, and of the former Louisville, Denver, and Eastern cities are examples. From each has been obtained the ruling price paid for making pork barrels, and an average week's work is considered 30 barrels: thus the table presents the prices jjaid and the possible earnings at different points: Price per piece paid Average for mak- weekly Locality. ing pork earnings Ijarrel'^ or of lard coopers. tierces. Chicago .. -- - $0.25 $7. .50 Milwaukee - .30 .30 .30 9.00 St. Louis 9.00 Kansas City.. - 9.00 Indianapolis - .33i .35 .35 .40 .40 .40 10. (Kl Louisvi le 10. .50 Denver . - 10. .->o Buffalo 12.00 Roch to be recognized in the employment of convict labor shall be that such a system be chosen, as shall first tend to promote in the greatest nieasiire the discipline, punishment, and reformation of the convict, the public-account system commends itself more strongly than any we have thus far considered. Under it the State has complete control of the convicts, unawed by obligations or demands of contractor, agent, or instructor. A legislative committee of New York, in May, 1886, after a careful consideration of all the interests and the resiionsibilities involved, recommended the adoption of the public-account system in the following terms: 46 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. ' ' The choice is made in the discharge of a conscientious duty and after a careful weighing of the subject in detail. This duty was not sought, hut rather imposed. It was not accepted without a fair conception of the delicacies and difBculties surrounding it, and its discharge has been in the desire fairly to siibserve the highest interests involved. There were, as stated at the outset, but two systems left from which, of necessity, choice must be made for the employment of convict labor in the State. The commission believes that the correct tendency and logic of the times trend in the direction of ' jn-ison-labor reform,' and so believing, it had but one intelligent duty to perform, and that duty was to adopt the only sys- tem which opened the way to reforms both needed and demanded." It is conceded by many who advocated the public-account system, because of its reformatory and disciplinary features, without regard to the financial results, that the best results can be reached by abolishing the use of machinery. This has been done in the Eastern Penitentiary of Pennsylvania, if not elsewhere, and it is proved conclusively that goods made in this way find a market at fair prices. In discussing this feature of the public-account system, it is stated in the Second Annual Report of the Department of Labor that with such a plan in vogue throughout the United States, or in the majority of the States, there could be no complaint as to the effect of convict labor upon the rates of wages or upon the sales of goods, either in price or in quantity. "By the adoption of the hand-labor plan the State would be relieved from the necessity of securing manufacturers of skill and exiierience as wardens. Any man fit to be warden of a i^rison — and this in itself requires men of the highest qualities— can manage a prison and conduct its industries, if they be carried on under the hand system without the aid of power machinery. The disadvantages which must be placed over against these great advantages that have been enumer- ated, are, under the broadest consideration, trivial and of no great accoimt. The objection to this plan, which has been proposed by many investigators, and v^^hich is now under consideration, involves the abandonment of the idea that prisons must pay. It contemplates the adoption of the principle of securing the maximum reformatory results without regard to the income to the treasury. All other systems contemplate maximum results to the treasury, with as much regard for reformatory results as is possible without interfering with receipts. This objection is the weightiest against the hand-labor idea, because it is recognized by all men that a healthy convict, having offended society and piit it to great expense to repair the damages he has done, or to convict and punish him, or to exclude him from society that he may commit no more depredation, should be compelled to earn his support as the ward of the State, although he did not earn his support while not a ward of the State. This objection in regard to expense is one which the American public will probably meet in the heroic manner in which it meets all such problems, that is, in the spirit to do the best for the whole body politic without regard to expense; nor should this objection have much weight, when the facts are considered." Farming operations under the public-account system have met with good success in many of the States, especially in the South. It eliminates the serious objection to close confinement; reduces competition to a minimum and gives the State full control of the convict. "The most extensive farming operations by convicts in this country are to be found in North Carolina. It appears by the report of the board of directors that 14,600 acres of land were under the control of the penitentiary, by lease or otherwise, in 1896. The area cultivated in all crops that year was estimated to be 11,300 acres. Nearly 900 convicts were employed on this land. The bulk of the products consisted of cotton and corn. The farming operations ■W'ere so profitable that in 1896 the penitentiary paid all its exjienses. This was the first time, however, in its history of more than a quarter of a century that it was possible to report the full support of the penitentiary from its own resources." The state of affairs in North Carolina indicates that, even under especially favorable conditions, agi'icultural employment can not be relied upon to furnish full occupation for convicts; it is available for only part of the year. While, therefore, it may be made exceedingly usefiil in connection with other forms of work, it can never become wholly a substitute for mechanical or other industrial employment. PRISON LABOR. 47 OBJECTIONS. The public-account system embodies in a large measure the true theory of penal administration and while it is possible by competent and judicial management so to control the labor of convicts under it, as to lead to good results financially for the State, as well as reformatory, disciplinary and educational for the pris- oner, the history of the system does not show that these results have uniformly attended its adoption, nor does it appear that its use has removed the objection- able features of competition with free labor. The reason why the system has failed to meet with all the success presaged by its advocates, have been stated as follows: The difficulty of securing men efficient as wardens, and at the same time efficient as practical manufacturers and business managers; with the increase in the size of the institution and diversification of the industries this difficulty increases. The impossibility of combining under it the capital, machinery, mechanical skill , business skill, and ability necessary to the successful opera- tion of such an enterprise. The impracticability of finding a ready market for the manufactured products. The objections to the system as it had been conducted in New York were sum- marized by the commissioner of labor of that State in 1884 as follows: " The public-account system, as it has been administered in this State, has been found imperfect in the following particulars: " First. It was extremely costly. "Second. It was made a political machine to furnish places for small poli- ticians, rather than an institution to reform the criminals. "Third. The convicts were employed at labor not adapted to remunerative results, or to any possibility of discipline. " Fourth. The officers did not attend to their duties-. " Fifth. The large outlay of the funds of the State gave opportunity, in the gen- eral disorder and mismanagement, for wholesale extravagance and peculation. "Sixth. The councils of the administration were divided, and consequently there was no unity of purpose or well-defined responsibility. "Seventh. The administration was altered periodically, and the officers held position on account of their skill in politics, not prison management. "Eighth. The control of the prisoners was put in the hands of jealous and scheming incompetents. " In the report for 1898 of the proceedings of the board of control of prisons of Michigan, where both the public-account and contract system are in vogue, it is stated that — ' ' The only reason why more convicts are not worked on the State account is that the State gets more profit and better results on the whole when the prisoners work on contract. The cour.se taken is wholly based on business reasons, and that course pursued that is in each prison foimd best for the State. It is believed, however, that all the boards and wardens are of the opinion that conditions may change so that the State-account system may do better than it has done." "Under this system the same influences that govern business circles outside of the prisons, and tend to prosperity or adversity, obtain in prisons, and influence trade favorably or unfavorably."' The success of the public-account system is dependent not only on the ordinary contingencies that control indiTstrial and mercantile transactions, but is subject to th(> following which are peculiar to itself: At times the products are a drug on the market, but the convicts must be kept employed, thereby increasing the stock of goods to be disposod of; the sale of the goods is retarded, not only by the indis- position of dealers to have transactions in goods made by convict labor, but by legislation that requires the goods to be branded, or sold outside the limits of the State where manufactured, or not sold at a lower rate than the regular market price; but a smab percentage of the ponvicts have had any practical experience 48 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. in uiechanical piirsiiits, and of this small i)ercentage but a few can be classed as skilled mechanics; the necessity for a diversification of industries with no skilled help in any of the branches; the indisposition of the convicts to put forward their best efforts; wardens are seldom good managers of convicts and also good mana- gers of manufacturing enterprises; the wages of a prison warden are but a small temptation to a man who has the ability to meet with success in the business world; public officials become careless of those details which are essential to business success; the temptation to defraud, especially if the tenure of office depends iipon the success of political parties. As a large percentage of the business men during their business careers are obliged to go into bankruptcy, or to make assignments for the benefit of creditors, the opponents of the public-account system claim that men employed for the State under salaiies coiild meet with no better success, especially when in addi- tion to the ordinary difficulties attending a business career they have in addition to combat with those which are peculiar to the system. The failures and admitted risks of the public-account system cause prison managers to shrink from the great responsibility of establishing it in a prison where large numbers are confined. Beyond a doubt it can be made effective, when but 50 to 300 are employed, but when thousands are to be employed the case is far more difficult. The public-account system had been in actual practice in Illinois for some years when, in 1873, a legislative committee was appointed to investigate the peniten- tiary. The report of this committee disclosed a net loss to the State dtiring four years and five months of management of $314,212. " The caiises which had led to this result are stated categorically as six: "1. Inexperienced and incompetent management. " 2. Want of harmony in the management. •• 3. Depreciation of property and of manufactured articles, ex^jerienced alike by all persons engaged in manufacturing during the same period. •' 4. Want of stability in the plans of management and changes in officers and subordinates. "5. Loose and careless manner during the first two years of purchasing and recei\'ing goods. " 6. The payment of large amounts as interest, made necessary by lack of capi- tal and credit. " The committee, therefore, submitted a report to the effect that they were of opinion that the feeding, clothing and guarding of the convicts, without any return for their labor, can be secured for less cost to the State than has resulted from the manufacturing experiment; and that it would be a measure of economy for the State to feed, clothe and giiard the convicts by direct appropriation, and leave the labor wholly iinemployed, as compared with the results of the experi- ment in engaging in manufacturing. Perhaps the chief disadvantages arising under this system are the difficiilty of disposing of the products, the impracticability of furnishing constant employ- ment to the convicts, and the competition with free labor and industry. In regard to the difficulty of disposing of the products of convict labor the com- missioner of prisons of New York in his first annual report states : " The objection generally of the people to such a direct competition of convict labor has made it so difficult to sell the goods known to be the product of prison labor that the goods could not be sold iii the market at the same price as the product of other manufacturers; and in order to make sales the price was neces- sarily reduced, thus producing the same unfair competition and reducing the price of all goods of that class, and causing the same result in the market as the contract system. Further, the difficulty of selling prison-made goods has caused large expense in the sales department. * * * Therefore it would seem to be evident from these results that it is not practicable for the State to maux^factlU'e on its own account for sale in the open market." PRISON LABOR. 49 Under the contract system the contractor has very strong reasons for getting good prices. The prison officer has not the same personal motive, however faith- ful he may be. The superintendent of the Ohio Reform School has stated : " That with the same number of boys the State realized §25,000 more per year from the piece-price plan than from the State account plan. The reason of the gain was the better facilities which the contractors had for getting higher prices for their products. It is important to free manufacturers and to free laborers that prison products shall not sell for low prices in the market in competition with those of other factories. In that form competition might be seriously felt in a dull market by compelling the shading of prices."' It has been shown by numerous investigations that under the public-account system there is a greater competition with the j)roducts of free labor, so far as the price of the goods is concerned, than under any other. In the second annual report of the Department of Labor for the year 1886 it is stated: " That the competition under the public-account system has been the expe- rience of the past, and this is a reasonable claim, for the officers of the prison manufacturing goods on the State or public account are not obliged to secure a profit on the goodo sold, because the State can not fail, and as nothing is paid for labor, the cost of production being almost entirely for material, goods can be sold for small percentage above the cost of material, and yet no great disaster arise to the institution. It is often siiggested that this difficulty can be met by providing by law that goods manufactured in a prison conducted on the public-account system shall not be sold in the market for a less price than the market rates for the same kind and quality of goods. This is all very well for a law; but the law can not compel a purchaser to take the goods, and the inevitable result would be, if such goods did not meet a ready sale at market rates for the products of free labor, they would be sold nominally at such rates, subject to discount for cash, for prison officials woiild not care to pile up goods in the prison warehouses." While a diversification of industry is essential to the proper employment of convicts, the constant tendency under the public -account system is to a central- ization of all the labor on one or a few lines of product. It is only by such prac- tice that success is possible. Few great manufacturers undertake several lines of production. This tendency leads to an overproduction of a given product and the resulting iinderselling, and the necessity of curtailing the number employed, or the time of employment. The public-account system was in actual practice in Wisconsin, but finally abandoned, and the contract system substituted. After this action the bureau of labor and industrial statistics of the State submitted a report on the condition of convict labor, in which the following statement in ojiposition to the public- account system appears: " I wish also to call the attention of those favoring what is called the State- accoiint system to the strong comi)laints made by several boot and shoe manu- facturers against the competition of the reform school at Waukeslia. There the State owns everything, uses inferior machinery, employs nothing but Ijoy labor, and sells whenever and wherever it can. Our State prison was formerly run on that plan, but the resulting evils so stirred up manufacturers that the present contract system was devised to take its i)lace. We now see. even by this superfi- cial glance, that our legislature will have many things to consider in dealing with the (jiiestion of prison labor; and professional agitators, reformers, and manufacturers who demand the abolishment of the contract system fall far short of their full duty and of statesmanlike conduct when they neglect and refuse to lend their aid toward devising some suitable plan to take the place of that which they propose to destroy." The charge is frequently made and sustained that the selling price of the con- vict-Tuade goods controls the mark(>t and the system is open to objection on the gi-ound that the State should neither directly nor indirectly enter into competition with the laborer or manufacturer for the i)urpose of raising revenue to pay the expenses of restraining and confining the criminal classes, and thereby protect- ing society from danger and contamination, any more than it shoiald engage in competitive business for the purpose of providing revenue to defray the other exiienses of the State goverament. 250 A— VOL TTT^ 4 50 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. B. — EMPLOYMENT OF CONVICTS ON PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND WAYS. This system of employment is advocated on the theory that it completely removes any real or supposed competition in prices; the State receives the full benefit of the labor in the shape of permanent improvements; it requires no skill on the part of the workmen and therefore no time is consumed in instruction, and shoi't- termed prisoners can be worked with advantage; the work is healthful and important, and can be of such a character that it would not otherwise be accomplished. The system is in very general use, especially in the Southern States, as a means of occupation when other resources fail. In a report giving the resiilts of an investigation of the methods of employing convicts, contained in the report for 1895-96 of the Bureau of Industrial Statistics of Nebraska, this system is referred to as follows: " It would be the part of wisdom to direct, so far as possible, the prison labor of the State to such public improvements as are needed and are in no other way provided for. Especially should it be used to improve, so far as possible, the peni- tentiary building and grounds, so that all accessories to the comfort and moral elevation of the prisoners would be attained. Such public improvements in con- nection with the city as are necessary to the general welfare of the public and of the State and can not well be afforded under the present financial condition might and should be made by the prison labor, so far as practicable." The method is warmly advocated bv manufacturers and workmen. Of 225 expressed opinions obtained by the Bureau of Labor of Illinois from labor organi- zations, 104 demanded this form of outdoor unskilled manual labor for convicts. The First Annual Report of the Commission of Prisons of New York contains the statement that ' ' the boards of county supervisors appear to be in favor of working short-termed convicts on the public roads." The Third Annual Rejiort states that ' ' it can be stated without fear of contradiction that in no other way or manner can the convicts be employed with so little effect on outside labor as in work on the highways, and in no direction can greater improvement be made than in the working of the highways. Where conditions are favorable for such work it has proved very satisfactory." The Fourth Annual Report (1898) states that ' ' it has been fully demonstrated by experience that convicts can be employed on highways and other public works. " In the vicinity of Sing Sing and Dannemora and Auburn convicts from the State prisons have been engaged in building and improving highways, often several miles from the prison. It is conducive to the health of the convicts and does not come in conflict with free labor. " The men from the prisons chosen for this labor are of those whose terms have not much longer to run. There is an inducement to them to remain subordinate and not to attempt to escape, which would be an offense that would lengthen their terms by depriving them of rights to commutation already earned by good prison records. No more keepers are required for them in laboring outside the prison walls than when they are employed in prison , and no chaining of convicts is necessary. " The large number of those sentenced to the county jails upon convictions for misdemeanors can also be employed on the roads of each county. "As previously stated, this large number is now kept in idleness, with the excep- tion of those in perhaps a dozen counties. The shortness of their terms makes attempts to escape improbable, as such escapes are usually unsuccessful and only result in an additional term for the new offense, a danger which would deter the attempt. " In St. Lawrence County jail convicts have been so employed v^ath success several miles from the jail under the .supervision of the commissioner of highways of the town of Canton, in which the jail is located." There appears to be a maturing judgment among the officers who deal with con- vict lal)or directly in many of the States tliat construction work in the prisons could be thoroughly well done by convicts with marked economy, and consequent advantage to the State. PRISON LABOR. 61 Under this system the convicts may be employed either in the direct construC' tion of the building or road, or in the preparation of the materials to be consumed in snch construction. These two ways of working under the system have been brought to a high stage of perfection in California and North Carolina. The gen- eral superintendent of prisons of Massachusetts investigated the methods of employment in both of these States, and submitted a report in 1898. In substance he states as follows: ■' In North Carolina it is said that the problem of providing piiblic highways has given the people more concern than any other subject, and that the question of convict labor is second only to that of the road. The legislature of that State attempted a solution of both problems by adopting what is known as the ' Meck- lenburg law.' authorizing the general employment of convicts m road making, or the alternative system of building and keeping in repair the public roads. It was passed to take the place of the old method, under which each able-bodied man was required to give a portion of his time each year in repairing the public highways. The citizen has now the option of giving his labor or of paying money instead of it. "Roads have been built in North Carolina as cheap as $800 a mile, and the most expensive of them cost only §1 .800. This, however, is no criterion for other States where it is not possible to guard, shelter, clothe, and feed convicts for 21 cents per day, which is about the average cost in that State." One of the latest and most comprehensive laws on the subject of employing couAdcts in road work was enacted a few years ago in California. Its provisions may be summarized as follows: • ' The State board of prison directors have control of the rock or stone crushing plant established at Folsom. "The plant must be operated by convict labor and by the application of the mechanical and water power belonging to the prison. The only free labor author- ized in connection with it is such as the board may deem necessary for superin- tending and guarding the convicts. " In selling the product, preference must be given to orders received from the bureau of highways. " The selling price shall be the cost of production, with 10 per cent added, pro- vided that no rock shall be sold for less than 30 cents per ton." The following quotations from a letter from the warden of the Folsom prison give reliable information concerning the operation of the law: " We have a rock-crushing ijlant at this prison: it has been in operation about 18 months. * * » The original act of the legislature, passed 2 years ago, con- templated that we should deliver this rock for road purposes at cost. The idea was to secure good roads at the minimum price, and also to give employment to the convicts. The last legislature amended the law, and fixed the minimum price at 30 cents per ton, loaded on the cars at the prison. This leaves a profit of about 10 cents per ton. Our plant is a large one. operated by water power from our power house. We employ 300 convicts, and turn out about 500 tons of macadam daily. It is the best appointed plant of the kind in the country, and has had the effect of cheapening the building of roads very materially. At Sacramento and Stockton, our nearest distributing points, macadam formerly cost $1.70 per ton; under the present arrangement we deliver the macadam at Sacramento at 55 cents and at Stockton at 70 cents per ton: this is a clear saving to these munici- palities of §1 per ton. We find this class of work better for convict labor, as it requires no great amount of skill, and is healthful outdoor work. "While this does not make much money for the prison proper, it saves a large amount to the taxpayers, and it encoiirages the building of good roads in every direction: this is a direct benefit to the State, as a saving to the taxpayers is a benefit and profit to the State." In the second annual report of the State commission of prisons in New York, the question of the employment of convict labor in building and improving high- ways is considered at some length, and the commission exiiresses the opinion that in this way the prisoners can be made of the greatest service to the State and of lasting benefit to the farming community. The methods of working convicts on the public roads in North Carolina is described in a recent publication by the Agricultural Department, as follows: "In all cases these convicts are carefully described and photogi'aphed. They are offered certain inducements in the way of reward or shortening of term if 52 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. they remain at their posts and faithfully discharge their duties. And -wdth this they are employed on the public road very much as hired labor would be, under the control of a superintendent or foreman, but without any guard, and they are allowed to remain at their homes from Saturday night to Monday morning. This novel exijeriment has now been in operation for a year, and not a convict has attempted to escape or declined to labor faithfully, and the result has been a decided improvement in public roads. "An examination of the record of all the counties that ai-e iTsing convict labor on the public roads shows that but few convicts have escaped; that the health of the convicts has been much better when at work on the road than when formerly imprisoned in the jail; that their labor has proved much more efficient than that which can be hired in the country at ordinary prices of from 50 to 75 cents per day; and that, as these figures show, it not only costs less to use the convicts on the piiblic roads than it does to employ hired labor, but that, further- more, it costs less to maintain these convicts when at work on public roads than when confined in the county jail." The employment of convicts in the erection of public buildings has met with gratifying results in many instances; they have also been successfully employed in digging canals, reservoirs, and other public works. In the Second Annual Report of the Department of Labor this method of em- ploying convicts is treated at considerable length, the conclusion being that — '■In transferring prison labor to public works, the State would not compete vsdth the price of artisans' or laborers' w^ork, but with the work itself. The brick and stone masons, the carjienters and painters, the hod carriers and tenders, would not find the price of their labor affected to any material extent, but would find the market for that labor occupied to the extent of the works in process of con- struction. •' It has been suggested that the State might engage in some work that would not be performed unless by convicts, such as macadamizing the roads of the whole State. This would necessitate one of two things — either the preparation of stone at the prisons, involving the transportation to the prison from the source of supply and from the prison to the place for iTse, or the mobilization of the con- victs at the points not only of supply, biit of consumption, involving a heavy expense for guard duty and temporary confinement. " This proposition is made upon the ground that the Government should not make the question of expense or profit one of any importance, but should seek only to keep convicts at work as the best policy, and yet itself receive some last- ing benefit from the necessity it is under of feeding and clothing them. The chances of escape under this system, of coiirse, multiply greatly; and the demor- alizing effects iipon communities from witnessing large bodies of criminals at work openly are objections which the moral instincts of commimities clearly rec- ognize. The chain gang is a necessity under this plan. " In most States this plan could not be adopted, because the network of roads already built would necessitate the employment of convicts in repairs; therefore, with rare exceptions, there is no feasibility in the plan. " Wherever convicts have been employed on public works, and this has been largely the case in England, in building docks and breakwaters and works of kin- dred nature, the expense has been very much greater than it would have been through the employment of free labor. In one instance in this country, where a State is now building a prison by the labor of convicts, the prison will cost the State many times what would have been the expense had it been built by free labor. This is, perhaps, of no particular consequence, as the convicts must be sup- ported in some way. At best the plan offers a mere palliative, shifting the bur- den from skilled to unskilled labor, and would result in aggravating eventually all the evils which grow out of the employment of convicts; although, if the Fed- eral Government controlled the convicts of the whole country, great works could be projected and carried on by convict labor, but not economically." The popiilarity of this method of employment, to a greater extent than any other system of employing convicts, is controlled by climatic conditions, the character of the prisoners, and the sentiment of the community. The general superintendent of prisons of Massachusetts, in a report submitted in 1898, states that " the public sentiment of Massachusetts woiild not permit the assembling of convicts \ipon any thoroughfare in this Commonwealth. The expense of properly guarding them in thickly settled communities would be quite out of i)roportion to any advantage to be derived from their employment in that way. Furthermore, PRISON LABOR. 53 there would be the same objection on the score of competition \Wth free labor if ijrisoners were engaged in actual roadmaking as if they were kept fully employed at mechanical work in the prisons. The building of State roads has become an established industry with free labor, and the putting of convicts at that work now would excite a great deal of opposition. It is, however, believed that they might, withoiit reasonable gi-ound for complaint, be engaged in jjrepar- ing the materials for the construction of such roads."' The chief of the bureau of statistics of labor of Massachusetts, in a report sub- mitted to the legislature in 1879, states that — " The advocates of this proposition do not, of course, recognize the reformation of the convicts as a matter of any imiwrtance, but see that the physical, mental, and even moral welfare of prisoners demands labor of some kind other than the penal labor of the crank, the treadmill, or shot drill. As to the expense account, they say, Avith reason, the cost of our Massachusetts prisons is nearly $800,000 per annum, and all their earnings do not amount to $200,000. They insist upon some system that shall pay this deficit without taxation and without undue com- petition, and, if this can not be accomplished, tax the balance, but stop the competition. "In some Southern States convicts are kept at work upon farms, railroads, in mines and quarries, by the lessees; but none, or few. of the prison officials are in favor of this. It does, however, pay the State: for all the State has to do with the matter is to sentence the criminals and receipt for the price of the lease. •' In the present condition of things there seems to be no great obstacle in the way of utilizing prison labor upon goods required for State use. tents for militia, uniforms, jirison wants, etc. ■• By this means, if practicable, all market competition is removed to the extent of the utilization of convicts upon public works." In January, 1884, the bureau of labor statistics of New York made its first annual report to the legislature. This report was written by Charles F. Peck, Commissioner of Labor, and dealt entirely with convict labor. The conclusion he reached regarding the employment of convicts on public ways and works was as follows: "Attached to the plan of employing convicts at public works is. also, not only the competition with unskilled labor exclusively, but the manifest evils of famil- iarizing the eyes of susceptible youth with the representatives of crime. "It seems a necessary conclusion, therefore, that the convicts should be employed at various industries conducted within the prison walls iintil at least they had merited a large share of freedom at outdoor labor by continued good behavior. " To the objection that skilled labor should not bear the competition exclusively, it must be considered that unskilled labor has to bear a large proi)ortion in any event, as prison duties and such outdoor labor as may be found part of the system would come under that department. " In distributing the labor of the convicts among the varioiis indii.stries there is ample room for selection in the forms of labor at present carried on in the prisons of the United States." It is evident that in the Northern States it is impracticable to depend Tijjon this system as a regular method of emplojing convicts. This is emphasized in a report submitted by the bureau of labor and industrial statistics of Wisconsin in Sep- tember. 1886, where it is stated that — " Those who favor breaking stone and road making can not have carefully con- sidered our climate, our methods of making roads, the enormous cost of guarding, feeding, sheltering, and working ])risoners here and there throughout our wide domain, and the iitter lack of discipline that must of neces.sity follow such a system, which would simply be a great chain gang competing against the un.skilled labor of the State. " To my mind this is the most cniel and indefen.sible of all State competition. The skilled artisan can. by reason of his larger earnings, greater power of pro- duction, and greater self-supporting ability, stand a reduction in wages or a cdiange in circumstances that forces him into a new trade; but when the man who is unable, by reason of his inferior education and less brilliant natural 54 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. endowments, to do anything bnt rtide labor is deprived of that labor, or his scanty earnings are decimated, he indeed must suffer; he has no avenue of escape; and a certain amount of food, warmth, and clothing is as necessary to the rude laborer as to the skilled artisan or the nabob." The paramount objections to this plan of working convicts are summarized in the Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Labor of Illinois as two : First — "The making of roads, the breaking of stone, or any form of unskilled labor, would not remove competition, but merely shift it from one class to another — from the mechanic to the day laborer, who works harder for less money than anybody. It would be manifestly inconsistent to unload upon the weaker indiis- trial element burdens which are insupportable to the stronger. ' • In the matter of public works it is already a grievance, against which national legislation has recently been sought and obtained, that prison-cut stone is permit- ted to enter into public buildings. If convicts were required to lay it as well as cut it, while there could be no competition in the price, either of material or labor, there would be a decided infring'^ment upon the free laborer's opportunity to work. " But a more serious objection, if possible, to propositions of this kind, is that they involve the pernicious practice of removing prisoners from prison walls and herding them in cami>s and stockades about the country, thus neutralizing all efforts at discipline or reformation, and demoralizing the communities in which they are located." THE EMPLOYMENT OF PRISONERS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GOODS FOR CONSUMPTION IN GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS. Under this system there must be classed not only the manuf actiire of furniture and all supplies necessary for the care and maintenance of buildings, but cloth- ing, food, and all supplies essential for the support of the inmates. If necessary to keep the prisoners employed the ijroduction of such supplies should not he lim- ited to meeting the necessities of the State penal, reformatory, and eleemosynary institutions, but should be extended to all institutions under the control of the State or any of its political subdivisions. This method of employing prisoners has been in use, to some extent, since the necessity of furnishing occupation to convicts has been recognized, and is now practiced in all of the States and Territories. With but few exceptions, however, it has not been systematized, and the work of the j)risoners has been confined to the care of the building in which they are detained, or to the manufacture of supplies and the production of food for its immediate inmates. Recently the advantages to be derived from extending the system have been realized, and in New York State it has been perfected to the extent that the convicts are employed either in doing the work of the institution in which they are confined or in the manufacture of products for the use of that institution, or for the use of the State or its institutions, or for the use of the political divisions of the State or their insti- tutions, and no i^roducts of convict labor are sold in the open market. In the debate that occurred in the legislature of the State attending the adoj)- tion of a law providing for this system of employment it was stated that — " Clothing is needed for the inmates of the prison, reformatories, and hospitals, for the insane of the State, and the jails of the different counties. That which is needed in the State, county, and municipal institutions should be produced by convict labor. We are about to build new prisons, and why should not the work be largely done by convicts. '• We have purchased large farms of land for the use of oiir State hospital for the insane, upon which we raise large quantities of food consumed annually by the thousands of inmates of those institutions, and we employ large num- bers of men and women to perform labor upon such farms and pay them large sums of money for their services. There should be a farm near each State prison or reformatory, owned and managed by the State, upon which employment could be given to the prisoners in the production t)f a large portion of their necessary food." PRISON LABOR. 55 The reports from the institutions in the different States show that the inmates are almost invariably engaged, to some extent, in farming operations, and such work is constantly referred to as the most desirable for the prisoners. By extend- ing and systematizing farm work it would form a material part of a general system of production for State use. The products would be utilized in all of the institu- tions, and prisoners from all of them that were best adapted to such work could be assigned to the farm. In the first annual report of the commission of prisons of New York, the advan- tages of the system are referred to as follows: ■• The products of convict labor at Blackwells Island are used entirely by the public institutions of the city. This effects a great saving to the city of New York, which receives the full benefit and value of the labor of its convicts, instead of contracting out their labor at low prices, and then buying the supplies in the market or hiring free labor at much higher prices. The superintendent stated that he has and will have no difficulty in keeping all the convicts of New York County employed in labor for the city and its i^ublic institutions. It is necessary to have a central management, so as to meet the necessity for a diversification of indus- tries to meet the demands of the numerous institutions. It is practicable and economical for county poor superintendents, and other county officials, to procure their supplies in this way, for, by so doing, they aid in reducing the tax rates. When they buy of the prisons they i)ay no more than they do elsewhere , and they are helping to support the prisoners, which they must do any way. No more is used than under the contract system, biit it is so regulated that it is not sold out at a low price in competition with free labor, and the taxpayers get the full benefit of it. " The theory of the system meets with the general approval of all who have made a study of the problem of convict labor, and almost iiniformly with the approval of those who are in charge of the various penal institutions in the different States. Granting the necessity of keeping convicts employed on productive work, and also the necessity of removing the products of their labor from the open market, their employment in such a manner that the products of their industry shall be consumed by the State is the only remaining alternative. Btit their empluyment for the benefit of the institutions in which they are confined, and of its inmates, will not, as a rule, furnish sufficient occupation. The difficulties attending the formulation and practical working of a system in each State whereby the supplies for all public institutions of every character shall be furnished from a central office, and that office have control of and designate the character and quantity of the supplies to be produced at each penal and reformatory institution, coupled with the fear, and in some cases knowledge, that after such a system had been perfected enough work could not be supplied to keep the convicts fully employed, has deterred legislatures from adopting the system. The fourth biennial report of the bureau of labor statistics of Illinois presents the following conclusion in regard to this i)luise of the subject: " The employment of convicts in the manufacture of supplies for State institu- tions: This excellent suggestion meets with uniform ai)proval. but onh* partially covers the case. This again deprives the outer world of the sale of whatever goods the institutions may procure from penitentiaries, but can not affect market prices for those goods, and con.sequently is harmless in the matter of competition. But the whole amount of such sui)plies is very small compared with the producing capacities of the prisons of the State. The average annual cost of all the clothing, boots and shoes, bedding, and dry goods used by all the charitable institutions of the State, for ten years prior to 1885, was $42,878: and for furniture, the average annual expenditure for the same period was §13.263. The cost of all the clothing, boots and shoes, and bedding for the penitentiary at Joliet in 1884 was $15,957, and at Chester, §5,836, or, in round niimbers, $78,000 per anniim covers the total cost to the State of the class of supplies it is pro^josed to manufacture in prisons." The Department of Labor in its second annual report (1886) came to practically the same conclusion as the Illinois Inireau. as is shown by the follo\\'ing (piotation: "If our State governments supported largo bodies of troops and the Federal Gov- ernment had a large standing army the plan might have some force in it, although 56 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. in some European countries, where the consnmption of snoods of the coarser grades, such as shoes and army clothing, camp ei^ulpage, harnesses, etc., is very large, the plan has not been made to work very successfully, on account of the objections of army officers to the manufacture in prisons of the goods they require for the equipment of their forces, the objections arising, not only on account of the quality and make of the goods, but on account of the impracticability of massing a force in any way so as to supply goods upon emergencies. The experi- ence of these countries, however, is worth but little in the United States, for the same conditions do not exist. If each State should supply all its wants, so far as the kinds of goods that are usually made in prisons are concerned, the result would be the employment of but a very small traction of the convicts of the State. In Illi- nois this amount of employment could have been iitilized last year to the extent of less than $50,000, and this is a fair specimen of the demands of other States. It is urged, however, that the United States Government requires sxipplies sufficient to warrant the constant, or nearly constant, employment of the convicts of the different States under contracts which might be made by the heads of depart- ments requiring the goods. An examination of these wants shows that the entire expendittires of all the executive departments of the United States Government for furniture, clothing, mail-bags, harnesses, wagons, infantry, cavalry, and ai'tillery equipments, clothing for the Indian service, etc., and for such other things as are now made in the different prisons of the various States, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1886. amounted to a sum a little less than $4,000,000, while the total prodiact of the prisons of the country amounted for that year substantially to $29,000,000. This answers the suggestion comjjletely. If it could be adopted, however, competition in the wages of labor and in the price of goods would be avoided, although the individual concerns now manufacturing the goods iised by the Government would lose that much trade, which would also result in the loss of so much labor." The Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industrial Statistics of Wiscon- sin, in his biennial report, submitted in September, 1886, commented unfavorably on this system of employing convicts, stating that — ' 'Another class believes our penal population should be employed in manufac- turing the clothing, hosiery, caps, boots, and shoes required by the inmates of our various institutions. For obvious reasons our delinquent and insane, attending no soirees, weddings, funerals, or operas, use but a small amount of clothing, and that of the very plainest character, to make which would not keep 50 persons busy during the year, while we actually have about 2,200 in our asylums, the institute for the deaf and dumb, and the reform school ; and they can not be deprived of employment without serious results. Probably those who favor this plan do not understand how the work done l)y convicts and delinquents in Wisconsin is already varied." Notwithstanding the fact that working convicts in this manner may not furnish stifficient work for their constant employment, the trend of the best thought on the subject appears to lead to the conclusion that it is the proper method of employment, and also that if the system is properly developed in all of its details, that not only sufficient employment will be found, but employment that will in the end result in greater benefit to the State than can be reached under any other system. The abrogation of power machinery and the adoption of hand methods is com- mented on favorably by the directors of penal institutions and others, especially where the intention is the reformation of the criminal rather than the raising of revenue for the State. The adoption of hand methods in the manufacture of sup- plies for State use would tend to an increase of the amount of labor necessary to produce a given amount of product and be of lasting benefit to the convict. Its adoption is advocated in the third annual report of the commission of prisons of New York, which states that " the commission is of the opinion that nearly all manufactured supplies heretofore i^urchased by the State institutions in the open market can be produced to advantage by the convict labor in the prison ; and that when the use of all power-saving machinery shall have been discontinued the manufacture of these supplies will furnish a reasonable amoimt of productive labor for the convicts in the prisons." PRISON LABOR. 57 The warden of the Eastern Penitentiary of Pennsylvania, in commenting on the system of hand work in vogue in that institution, states that — " Handmade articles, shaped and fashioned with hand tools without the aid of power machinery, is the most intelligent method of employing prisoners for their future benefit, besides giving them that physical exertion necessary to their con- dition of health. "We teach trades, not as a punishment, but as an incentive to reform, and to give the idea to the prisoner that an honest life is best secured by industry. Industrial mechanical training, ^vithout the aid of any artificial power other than the physical force of the individual, educates both the mental and physical facul- ties, keeping the mind constantly active in guiding the hand that fashions the article being produced. When the worker has a share of the prodiiction of his head and hands he feels an independence and a self-sustaining power within him- self that enables him to contemplate his future without fear of being dependent on charity." Another objection to the system is that it is impracticable to produce all, or the larger part of the supplies required for the different institutions, because of the great diversity of industries that it would necessitate. But convicts in the different States are now engaged under the contract, piece-price, or public- account systems in manufacturing practically all of the different varieties of supplies required in public institutions. If their labor can be utilized in this manner for the benefit of private individuals it is useless to assert that it can not be so utilized for the benefit of the State. In order to perfect such a system, it is essential that the industries in all of the prisons and reformatories in each State shoiild be under the direction of a central office. The necessity for such an office is referred to in the second and third annual reports of the commission of prisons of New York, as follows. '•The manufacture of supplies in prisons would be greatly facilitated by the division of State institutions and departments into groups or classes, and the establishment of standard, uniform qualities, kinds, and patterns of siipplies for each group. The convicts in the State prisons are now as fully employed during the working hours as under the old contract system. The State will be the gainer, as it will receive the full value of the labor of the convicts and whatever profit there is, instead of siibstantially losing the value of that labor." In the fourth annual report of the same commission it is stated that — " Prior to 1894 there was but little connection between the many penal institu- tions in the State, and there was no single body or department having even an advis(n-y power as to all of them. The three State pi'isons of Sing Sing. Auburn, and Clinton were purely penal institutions for the confinement of those con- victed of felonies, under 'the control of the superintendent of State prisons. The State reformatory, started in IsSfi as an experiment in refonn methods with those under 80 years of age under first convictions for felony, and which had proved so successful that it was the most populous institution, was under a board of managers, as were each of the two houses of refuge for women, at Hud.son and Albion. The penitentiaries, which hadgrowTi from county jails into great penal institutions, were not State institutions, but were under the manage- ment of the board of supervisors or commissioners of correction and charities in 6 cotanties in which were situated the G largest cities of the State, to wit: Erie, at Bxiflalo: Monroe, at Rochester: Onondaga, at Syracuse: Albany, at Albany; New York, at Blackwell's Island, and Kings, at Brooklyn. " That these several institutions, differing in their systems of treatment of pris- oners, or in the class of prisoners consigned to them, should be under different management was undoubtedly proper, considering the original purposes of each class of institiitions. The houses. of refuge for the reformation of women should undoubtedly be under a management different from that of purely penal institu- tions, for their purpose was. by education and training, to reclaim the fallen. The State reformatory at Elmira was intended for the reclaiming of the younger lawbreakers, who could not be properly classed as hardened or incorrigible criminals. Its system of compulsory eilucation in schools of letters and of trades, accompanied by training in morals and habits that would tend to make good citi- 58 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. zens of the tintrained youths, naturally required different manaj45, 152. 76 1,610,499.64 197,218.-34 311,966.-38 848,132.38 ,$2,69.5,2-37.26 1,-574,751.79 841, 180. 65 97,888.40 2,608,213.45 $3,240,390.02 3, 185, 2-51. 4;^ 1,038,398.99 409, 8-54. 78 3,456,345.83 $1,688,317.-54 2,462,929.57 840,002.82 83,831.05 3,03.5,033.64 $1,343,808.35 4.34,849.19 91,07-5.04 33,871.55 1,089,831.10 $3,0-31,135.89 3,897,778.76 931,077.86 116,703.60 3,114,854.74 Grand total. 3,512,969.50 7,817,37L55 11,330,341.05 7,100,104.63 3,991,435.23 10,091,539.85 " The amounts shown in the above statement as derived from the labor of con- victs under the contract, piece-price, and lease systems are the sums paid by the contractors and the lessees. In the public-account system the amounts paid for raw materials are deducted from the amounts received from sales and the remainders considered as representing the income from labor of convicts. This process will not, of course, in all cases give proper results, since goods might be kept in stock beyond the close of a year awaiting a better market or advantage might be taken of low rates for raw material to lay in more than a year's supply, but it was the only process available, and it is believed that even if it fails to express the exact truth for some individual institutions, the general results for all working under the public-account system are correct. ' ' All institutions running under each of the systems purely have been sum- marized separately, then a line given to all institutions where various systems exist, as ' mixed system,' and by this division it is found that under the contract system, involving all penal institutions in the United States carrying on its indus- tries under that system, the income from labor constitutes 6.5 per cent of the run- ning expenses, and .56 per cent of the total expenses of the same institutions. Under the public-account system, the income from labor constitutes 82 per cent of the running expenses, and 18 per cent of the total expenses of the institutions conducted under that system. Under the piece-price system, labor pays 23 per cent of the running expenses, and 21 per cent of the total expenses. Under the lease sy.stem, labor constitutes 372 per cent of the running expenses, and 267 per cent of the total expenses; while in those institutions in which two or more sys- tems prevail, labor comprehends 42 per cent of the running expenses and 27 per cent of the total expenses. In this calculation the term ' total expenses ' means all 60 PRISON LABOR. 61 expenses for repairs, construction, etc., beyond purely current running expenses. Under the lease system, the total receipts of the State leasing its prisoners are profits, there being no running expenses beyond the payment of a few salaries. In all the institutions of the country the total labor income is 49 per cent of the running expenses and 85 per cent of the total expenses of all the institutions. Eliminating the facts relating to the lease system, the income from labor is 46 per cent of the running expenses and 82 per cent of the total expenses. " The total running expenses of the different institutions, as shown bj the table, for the year are §7,100,104.62. The total I'unning expenses of the lease system are shown to be but $88,831. It shoiild be remembered that this latter sum repre- sents the expense to the States in which the lease system is carried on. It does not, of course, include the expense of maintaining the prisoners themselves, since they are maintained by the lessee. The sum of the total running expenses of all prisons, then, should be increased, in order to get at the total expense of maintain- ing the prisoners of the country in those institutions where convict labor is util- ized. It was imjiossible, however, to obtain from lessees the expense of main- taining the prisoners leased to them; but from the best possible estimates, based upon positive facts and upon averages relating to the maintenance of in-isons under other systems, it is concluded that the total expenses of maintaining the 9,104 leased convicts are about $1,345,000. The aggregate running expenses of all prisons in all systems should be increased by this sum, giving a total of 18,445,104.62, or, in round numbers, $8,500,000. The total institution expenses, as shown by the table. §10.091,539.85. shoiild be increased to the same extent; so that the total of all expenses of the prisons would be §11.486,589.85." The per capita cost per annum and per diem of maintaining convicts under the public-account, piece-price, and contract systems in institutions of severe penalties during the year 1886 is showTi in the following comparative statement. The average yearly cost under the public-account system is shown to have been §232.45; under the piece-price, §180.18, and under the contract, §126.47. System. Number of convicts. Running expenses. Per capita. Yearly. Daily. Public-account 3,075 1,893 15,347 S714, 790. 93 :M(I.9(M;.74 1,940,873.-56 $3.32. 45 180. 18 136.47 SO. KV .494 .;i46 Piece-price _ Contract ... . Total and average . _ 20,314 2,996,571.23 147.51 .404 The above statements may be accepted as showing, with reasonable accuracy, the general financial results of convict labor as conducted under the different systems during the year 1886. Since 1886 no extended investigation has been made of the industrial operations of penal institutions of the entire country with the view of securing comparative data as to the financial results. Realizing the necessity of more recent information on this important phase of the subject, the commission has secured data from institutions in some of the representative States, which are presented in the following statements. These statements are compiled from the report, or data, furnished by the different insti- tutions. These reports were not prepared on uniform lines, but were intended to present particular facts that were desired in each instance. The statements for one State should not be used for the iiurpose oi exact comparison with those for any other State, nor can they, uniformly, be accepted as accurate presentations of the facts they purport to show. With this caution the commis.sion pi-esents the following information relative to the financial results of the convict labor at the institutions named: ALABAMA. The majority of the convicts arc employed under the lease and imblic-account system. The financial transaction of the entire system for the two years ending August 31, 1898, are summarized as follows: 62 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. EARNINGS AND CREDITS. Cash on hand, etc. , September 1 , 1896 $52, 924. Hire of convicts 277,081. Proceeds of cotton mill 28, 778. Forfeitures for escapes 2, 800. Sale of brick 8,807. Rent of land 322. Interest 3,237. 38 24 85 00 82 00 97 Sundries 4, 178. 22 Total 378,120.48 Net profit - 189,000.84 DISBURSEMENTS AND DEBITS. Salaries $51,797.54 Traveling expenses 2, 363. 14 Transportation 5,257.73 Express 193.41 Freight 2, 775. 11 Drayage 157. 08 Telegrams 292.26 Sundry expense 4, 336. 40 House ware and furniture. _ 1, 027. 13 Printing and stationery 1, 107. 37 Hospital 3, 767. 73 Clothing and shoes ... - 15, 371 . 82 Provisions 25,840.86 Feed 541 . 59 Fuel and lights 2. 770. 28 Bedding 45.00 Implements and tools . 1 , 930. 55 Improvement $7, 431 . 68 Live stock Seed Arms and ammunition. Postage Tobacco Escaiies and rewards. 2,268.00 609. 59 310.05 508. 15 19.62 602. 07 Cost bills 52,457.14 Real estate Cotton. Rent... Religious literature 319. 20 404. 87 30.00 294.89 89. 28 Reform school . . Fertilizer 4, 209. 30 To balance 189, 000. 84 378, 120. 48 The financial showing for the State cotton mill, which is operated under the public-account system, is given as follows: Disbursements and debits. Alabama cotton-mill plant $78, 347. 77 Machinery . $32. 81 Material 212.43 Repairs 809.82 Salaries 5, 845. 90 Fuel 2,672.33 Oil 386.16 Sundry expense _ 1 , 919. 20 Cotton 30,294.05 Freight 814.46 42, 987. 16 121,334.93 Net profit to balance 9, 817. 16 Earnings and credits. Alabama cotton-mill plant $78. 347. 77 Proceeds sale of cloth, cash — treasury $27, 701. 76 Proceeds of the mill on hand unsold 25, 102. 56 .52,804.32 $131,152.09 Net profits for 12 months $131,152.09 9,817.16 ARKANSAS. Convicts are employed under the lease or contract system, also in working farms on the share-crop plan and in raising products for sale and manufacturing under the public-account system. ' The mill has been opei'ated about 12 months since it began operations, January 1, 1897, and shows a profit of §9,817. Itj, not including any allowani;e for labor. PRISON LABOR. 63 The financial statement for the penitentiary for the years 1897 and 1898 is sum- marized as follows: RECEIPTS. State treasury . penitentiary fund . $236, 000 . 00 Hire of convicts 16, 873. 15 Inside indiistries, gate j-eceipts, sales, etc 48, 135. 29 Sale of farm products .- 161,961.47 Total 462,969.91 DISBURSEMENTS. Clothing and bedding $19, 278. 33 Freight, express, etc - - 20, 843. 28 Hospital account - - - 2, 371 . 48 Salaries account... 60,626.30 Discharged convict account 1, 838. 00 Walls and commissary account 80, 328. 18 Subsistence account 56, 262. 40 Transportation account 6. 591. 51 Reward account • - - - ^' 2^§- ^^ Miscellaneous expenses 6, 795. 66 Paid State treasurer 246, 692. 79 Refunded on share croppers 10, 303. 98 Total. 462,969.91 The report of the institution states that during the past 5 years there has been no appropriation of money for the maintenance of the penitentiary; also that on Janu- ary 1,1897, there was in the State treasury, belonging to the penitentiary, $35,211.44, and in addition thereto 400 bales of cotton unsold. There is now in the State treasury, belonging to the penitentiary fund, $46,310.66, and in addition there are at the walls, at the various camps, and in the fields yet to gather, conservatively estimated, 1,500 bales of cotton belonging to the penitentiary. Estimating this cotton and the seed from the same at $25 per bale, when sold, it will increase our cash balance $37,500, and the total to $85,810.66. In this estimate I have not taken into account such of the live stock and agricultural products as will be used by the penitentiary. In addition to the general expense of running the penitentiary, and the amount paid for the increased number of mtiles, wagons, and agricultural implements, we have paid in excess of the $12,500 appropriated by the legislature in 1897 for the establishment of the State electric-lighting plant about $5,000 out of the penitentiary fund, and there has also been established an excelsior plant in the walls at a cost of about $3,000. These statements clearly show that the penitentiary has been more than self- sustaining during the past two years. COLORADO. In response to a request for data covering the financial operations of the peniten- tiary, the warden furnished the following statement, imder date of June 24, 1899: "It will be impossible for me to give you any such financial statement as you ask for, as in this State we have never had the contract system. Our work liere is most on the farm . besides which we cut considerable stone and burn lime (our prison being sitxaated on stone and lime (juarries) and make brick. As to giving actual cash received from the convicts" labor, it would be impossible, as, while the products of our farm go toward the maintenance of the prison, they are not taken into account as a cash rec(^ipt. Tlie cash received from our other products; lime, stone, and brick, depends upon tlie general business situation of the State, more especially as to our lime sales. For instance, in 1887-88 our cash receipts were a little over $80,000, or, say. $40,000 per year; but they have steadily decreased since that time, until during the years 1897-98 our receipts from these sources amounted to less than $10,000 per year. 64 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. The support of this institution, over and above the earnings of the prisoners, cost the State about $90,000 per year ; and, with the object of reducing this expense, and making the prison self-supporting, or at least partially so, I have been endeav- oring to induce eastern contractors to establish a manufacturing entei-prise within our walls, but the contract has not yet been closed." CONNECTICUT. With the exception of farm work the convicts are employed almost entirely under the contract system, and the follo^\^ng tables taken from the report of the State prison, show the financial operations of the institution during the years 1896, 1897, and 1898. EXPENSES. Accounts Pir.st-grade provisions - Second and third grade provisions Chapel. Prisoners' tobacco Amusement Night school - - Live stock _. Clothing and bedding _ Prison furniture Officers' quarters _ Blacksmitlis' and tinners' tools and supplies . Fuel, light, and water . _ Electric plant Furnishing warden's house Salaries Uniforms -. _ Expenses __ Permanent improvements and repairs Prison supplies Insurance _ Advertising Transportation of convicts Medicine Gas plant _ _ Warden's provisions West-end appropriation Insane-ward appropriation.. Engines and boilers Office furniture Storehouse and kitchen Farm account Total. Year ending Sept. 30— 1896. $11,646. 632. 423. 12. &5. 3,804. 200. 256. 296. 7,597. 332. 27,304. 34. 4. 179. 3,422. 1,932. 48. 28. 1,086. 5, 512. 19,950. 141. 7,649. 96, 560. 14 1897. $1, 378. 59 12,382.47 370. 51 40y.79 4.15 27.15 538. 21 5,365.11 300.28 316. 84 154. 94 8, 605. 99 1,974.37 191.07 31,158.70 217.65 3,991.15 6,406.37 1, 973. 21 155.00 21.65 15.00 1,347.33 50.00 5,774.13 13,090.57 25,425.67 1,470.00 123,115.80 1898. $2,373.13 13,568.71 378. 35 515. 46 80.86 1, 092. 02 181.97 47.47 70.98 7,805.75 113. 61 470. 37 36,309.93 4,360.69 3, 045. 49 3,754.38 235. (K) 58.53 32.30 1,387.15 8,393.65 875. 67 10,859.38 345.00 1,334.86 96,479.61 RECEIPTS. Furnishing directors' room S250.45 24,84.5.00 37.08 209.04 31.00 1,500.00 118. 75 1,145.86 42,967.84 1,230.29 12 35 Buildings and land. . $33,713.21 476. 74 309.04 53.00 1,427.54 141.32 1,041.37 40, 157. 15 615.25 28.34 562.00 100.00 1,000.00 45,877.91 196 94 Library _ Rent 188 30 Fines 53 65 Motive power 612 50 Sales 169 53 United States Government. 1,338.18 43,755.77 Convict labor Farm .... Live stock. 160.31 Engines and boilers Gas plant Electric plant . Night school - 11.40 Uniforms 114. 56 Printing 36.47 Balance State of Connecticut 18,036.28 49,780.49 3, 961. 83 Total 96.560.14 123, 115. 80 96, 479. 61 ILLINOIS. Convicts are employed largely under the public-account system. The warden of the penitentiary at Joliet states that during the year 1898 there was a total loss on the btisiness of the different industries of ,$69,298.48, and that to this should be added $50,198.94, the cost of the maintenance of prisoners, making a total of $119,497.37. PRISON LABOR. 65 The following statement covers the operations of the penitentiary foi- the year ending- September 30. 18'J8 : Partition statement of cash received and expended at Illinois State penitentiary during the year ending September 30, 189S. Items. Receipts. Expenses. Broom department Chair department Harness department Cooper department Cigar department Expense department . . . Piece-price department . Stone department - State shops Convict money Visitors' fund _ Bills receivable Library fund Appropriations Salaries . $251. 83 36,847.62 149, 3.06. U 20,018.70 71.00 3, m). 93 110, 419. 34 740.03 933.55 4. 882. 03 1,961.10 132.17 149,200.00 Board of United States prisoners _._ 3,910.16 Parole and discharge Purchase of material, etc i On hand September 3(3, 1897 23,463.64 On hand September 30, 1898 Total I 504,788.23 S716.09 7, .572. 48 2,114.26 834. 87 4. 520. 96 2,201.83 3, 498. 95 4,419.87 434.42 76' 348.36 8,994.90 358,337.98 34,793.26 5(U. 788. 23 INDIANA. Convicts are employed almost entirely under the contract and piece-price sys- tems. The receipts from the labor and the cost of maintenance at the different institutions for each year from 1893 to 1898, iuclu.sive, is shown in the following statement which was furnished by the secretary of the board of State charities: Institution. Year. Convict labor. Cost of mainte- nance. Indiana State Prison North became Indiana State Prison Apr. 1893 §110,0.36.27 899. 998. 00 1, 1897. 1894 104,879.43 l(HI,O0O.(Xt 1895 102,296.10 10O.(KK).0O 1896 91,685.63 100.00(100 1897 67,96.5.09 105, 162. 85 1898 37,892.73 104, 467. 49 Indiana State Prison South became Indiana Reformatory Apr. 1893 &3.359.11 69.100.00 1. 1897. 1894 50,86(159 75,(HK).(Kt 1895 42,4:J1.42 91.8(57.07 1896 45,743.93 85. 000. 00 1897 40, 468. 80 91,889.42 1898 50,976.01 104, ;^)4. 43 Indiana Woman's Prison .-. 1893 2.309.51 3:3. 093. 69 1894 1,848.64 45, (MK). 00 1895 9;«. 69 45,031.44 IOWA. Convicts in the penitentiary at Fort Madison were employed under the contract system, and the foll()\%'ing statement, furnished by the warden, sliows the financip.l results f>f the industries for the two years ending Jvine 30. 1899: Support from June 30, 1897, to June 30, 1898 $42, 161 . 83 Salarv of officers, etc 35,847.37 $78,009.20 Received from convict labor 35, 934. 21 Deficiency 42,074.99 Support from June 30, 1898, to June 30, 1899 §42, 199. 42 Salaries of officers, etc 39.294.29 81,493.71 Received from convict labor 40. 704. 07 Deficiency .. 40, 789.64 L*.~)Oa — Yoi, IT -.") 66 UNITED STATES INDUSTKIAL COMMISSION. KANSAS. Most of the convicts at the penitentiary are engaged in mining coal to be sold on public account or consumed in State institutions. A number were engaged in farming and in work on the public roads. The warden states that diiring the year ending June 30, 1897, the gross earnings of the institution were $138,300.87, while the total expenditures were $150,131.33, and during the year ending June 30, 1898, the gross earnings were $164,345.05, while the total expenditures were $148,972.36. KENTUCKY. There are two penitentiaries in the State, and the major portion of the convicts at both are worked under the lease or contract system, or in the manufacture of chairs, which are sold to a contractor at a stipulated price. The report of the board of prison commissioners states that — " It was soon demonstrated that iinder the contracts as we found them the State was failing to realize enough revenue to defray the expenses of the penitentiary by thousands of dollars per annum, as the following report of the warden, who had charge during that time, will shov/. For the year ending November 30, 1896, he says it cost him $109,075.05 to run the penitentiary, and that he had an income from all sources amounting to $63,450.73, which left a deficit for that year of $45,634.23. In testifying before a legislative committee, that warden said that he had failed to charge himself with the amount of stock on hand when he took charge, which amounted to $50,163.39; this amount added to his expense \vill show that the penitentiary was running at an absolute loss of $113,614.33 for that year. " For the year ending November 30, 1897, the warden reports a deficit of only $16,412.01, but from his own report he had no basis from which to figure, as there was no inventory taken . He estimates that he had at the commencement of that year $48,393.19, and at the expiration of the year $82,857.68. But if it is as he reports, that he fell behind $16,412.01, that, added to the $113,614.22 (the 1896 operation) , will make a total for 2 years of $130,026.23. The Eddyville Peniten- tiary (known as the branch penitentiary) expended during those 3 years $100,000, in round numbers, more than their income, which made the t vo penitentiaries cost the State $230,026.33. The present year the Frankfort Penitentiary expended $30,783 more than the income, while the Eddyville Penitentiary expended $35,987.35 more than income, which makes a deficit of $66,770.35 for the year 1898, and which makes a grand total of $296,796.58 as a deficit in the operation of the two peniten- tiaries for the past 3 years." MARYLAND. With the exception of the comparatively few convicts engaged in the manu- facture of supplies for the institution , all of the prisoners at the penitentiary have been worked under the contract system for a number of years. The following statement shows the financial result of the industrial operation for the yeai'S 1888 to 1898, inclusive: Year. Average number of prison- ers. Cost per capita. Receipts. Expenses. Surplus paid into the State treasury. Amount earned by convicts on overwork account for them- selves. 1888 567i 665x\ 687,', 6361 .562i a57i $117.31 116.61 114.45 121.02 119.08 116. 17 $71,177.15 76,87.5.62 79, 887. 85 80, 093. 57 81,360.71 8;^, 099. 11 82,87-3.29 88,3(>1.69 94,965.93 108, 082. 26 114,877.72 $71,410.28 77, 595. 21 77,896.21 77,071.22 77,663.84 76,345.90 71,. 528. 05 73, 145. 05 77,241.48 80,210.42 85,697.01 $7,838.43 9, 346. 34 1889 1890 $1,991.64 3,032.35 3,696.87 8. 753. 21 11.;J4.5.00 1.5,216.04 17, 724. 45 27,871.84 29,180.71 13 434 47 1891 13, 226. 96 1892 11,689 79 1893 13, 820. 89 1894 650A i 109.97* 11,4.51 47 1895 691 r 7401 823^ 856i 105. 77| 104.27? 97.38t 100.08? 14. 862. 26 1896 15, 378. 56 1897 23, 722. 83 1898 23, 697. 10 Grand total of surplus earnings for the past nine years paid into the State treasury. . §118, 803. 11 Grand total of earnings on overwork account for t ae past eleven years by the convicts for themselves 157,469.10 PRISON LABOR 67 MICHIGAN. Convicts are employed under either the contract or pnblic-account systems, as appears most advantageous. The receipts from convict labor and the expenses of maintenance are presented as follows: Receipts. Expenses for mainte- nance. For biennial period ending June 30, 1892: From contractors 8171,179.70 14,401.03 Total 185,580.73 $185, 215. 78 For the biennial period ending June 30, 1894: 137,810.19 ;30,.541.89 From convict labor on public account Total - 168,352.08 176,463.97 For biennial period ending June 30, 1896: From contractors 130,800.24 25,198.44 Total - 155, 998. 68 180, 637. ,53 For biennial period ending June 30, 1898: From contractors -- 144,624.48 18,-510.41 From laboi' on nublic account Total 163,134.89 175, 762. 43 MINNESOTA. The convicts at the State prison are worked under the piece-price and public- account systems, and also in manufacturing supplies for the use of the public institutions. The following summary, taken from the report of the board of managers and warden, shows the financial results of the industrial operations during the biennial period ending July 31, 1898: Report of earnings and expenses of the Minnesota State prison fur the biennial period ending July 31, 1S08. CLASSIFIED EXPENSES. 1. Attendance. $80,864.89 3. Food 45,669.83 3. Clothing and bedding. 8,781.72 4. Laundry supplies 1, 220. 79 5. Fuel 16,591.22 0. Light 940.56 7. Medical supplies 1, 849. 07 8. Freight and transportation 4, 748. 08 9. Postage and telegraphing 1 , 686. 48 10. Books, stationery, and printing 2,270.85 1 1 . Amusements and instruction . _ 912. 39 12. Household supplies 1 , 965. 87 13. Furniture and upholstering 192. 32 14. Building, repairs, etc 1,790.95 15. Tools and machinery ... 2,804.94 16. Farm garden, stock, and grounds 1, 072. 15 17. Insurance 318. 89 18. Burial expenses 114.70 19. Expenses not classified 12, 984. 82 20. Industrial training expenses 14, 345. 57 To net gain $201,121. 43, 647, 08 40 $244,768.48 68 UNITED STATES INDUiSTKIAL COMMISSION. EARNINGS. From convict labor for August, September, and October, 1896, 18,451i days, at 50 cents $9,235.75 Piece-price system: Manufacture of 203.471 pairs of lined shoes, at 12.553 cents $25, 541. 49 Manufacture of 403,984 pairs unlined shoes, at 7.556 cents 30, 526. 47 Manufacture of 39,286 pairs of welt shoes, at 15.058 cents 5, 915. 91 Manufacture of 21,088 pairs of boots, at 14.666 cents 3,099.63 65, 076. 50 From special convict labor - 327. 55 From one-half salary of night watchman 600. 00 From United States for board of United States prisoners 10,971.01 From punishment forfeitures 342. 50 From sale of high-school apparatus 3, 844. 21 From sale of meal tickets. 193. 25 From sale of old machinery 751.00 From visitors' fees 1 , 813. 75 From Minnesota Thresher Manufacturing Co. , balance account 474.62 From convict labor in twine shop 17, 619. 25 From miscellaneous 639. 41 37, 576. 55 From profit on twine business for the year ending July 31,1897 45,282.66 From profit on twine business for the year ending Julv 31,1898 87,607.02 NEW HAMPSHIRE. $244, 768. 48 Convicts at the State prison are worked under the contract system, and the following statement taken from the report of the institution for the years 1897 and 1898 show the financial results of the industrial operations: EARNINGS. Labor of convicts Visitors' fees Rent Board of United States prisoners Gain on inventory Total 1897. 21,308.11 1898. §19,613.90 $18,261.40 271.65 350.00 336.00 336.00 907.42 641.36 179. 14 19,588.76 EXPENSES. Deputy warden's salary a. Physician Overseers Clothing Discharged convicts Furniture Subsistence (net) Water, fuel, and light Hospital supplies Repairs Incidentals (net) Loss on inventory Total expenses for year Excess of earnings over expenses . $1,339.83 500.00 10,417.30 950.19 232.00 166.99 3,161.30 1,749.14 156.00 31.17 496.82 19,200.74 2,107.37 21,308.11 $1,200.00 5(X). 00 10,7n.5£ 730.09 184.00 188.65 2,776.71 2,015.48 154.10 61.29 330.42 46.22 18,898.48 690.28 19,588.76 a Includes $139.83 for services as acting warden in year 1896. PRISON LABOR. 69 NEW JERSEY. The piece-pi-ice system is in vogiie at the State prison, and all the convicts, except those engaged in caring for the buildings and manufacturing supplies for the inmates, are employed under it. The financial balance sheet of the institu- tion for the year 1898 is given as follows: Maintenance ' $89, 990. 69 Furniture and repairs 9, 797. 74 $99,788.43 Bv amount of revenue paid to State treasurer 86, 769. 34 Cashonhand 2,310.41 89. 079. 75 Net cost of maintenance and repairs 10, 708. 68 Net cost per capita per annum 8. 87 Net cost per capita per diem . 0243 NEW YORK. The State commission of prisons has furnished the following statement con- cerning the financial operations of the three State prisons: " The following table gives the expenditures and earnings and deficiencies in the three State prisons of this State during each of the years succeeding 1889 until the adoption of the j^resent system: Year. Expendi- tures. Earnings. Deficiency. 1890 - §434,267.47 464,374.80 484, 9;J6. 19 504,164.34 46.5, 269. a5 467,209.65 474,915.52 $275,251.83 262, 729. 57 344.437.29 26,897.37 99.197.99 1.35, 180. 92 121,522.24 $1.59,015.64 1891 - - --- 201,645.23 1592 . 140.498.90 1893 477,266.97 1894 - 366.071.99 1895 - 332.028.73 1896 - a53,393.28 "During 1898, under the present system, the total cost of maintenance of the same prisons was $508,791.16, and their total earnings were $130,748.69. leaving a deficiency of $378,042.47. '• The same prisons from 1881 to 1886. inclusive, under a system which provided that contracts for convict labor might be entered into by the warden of these prisons, at any kind of work or trade that might be approved by the superintend- ent, and allowing the unrestricted manufacture and sale of prison-made goods, showed a surplus of earnings over expenditures each year in amounts varying from $5,000 to $10,000. " While it is not expected under the present system the prisons -wnll be self- supporting, it is expected that it will give better results when both the prisons and the people have become more familiar with its workings than it did in 1898. which was the first full year under the new law. " During the year 1898, in addition to the earnings named above, the iirisoners did a large amount of work for the State in the construction of new buildings, the improvement of old buildings, and upon highways in the A-icinity of the prison, of which no account is made in the above statement." The following statement furnished by the superintendent of the Albany County Penitentiary gives the financial results of the industrial operations at that insti- tution: " Since I assumed charge of this penitentiary, in 1895. all work done by con- victs, aside from prison duties and work on the prison farm, has been done on the piece-price plan. The contractors furni.sh all the materials, tools, machinery, etc.. the penitentiary furnisiiing only the labor of the convicts and the buildings in which they were employed. 70 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION "Working on the above plan the results for the several years have been as follows: EARNINGS. Laundry department Brush departme nt Shirt department Chair-seating department Board of prisoners Miscellaneous Total. 1895. $13, 420. 62 9, 077. 41 17, 4.52. 6a 2, 849. 85 42, 800. 53 96, 588. 51 1,619.51 141,008.55 1890. $15, 022. 18 9,997.71 16,435.55 2,568.59 44, 024. 03 96,721.90 1,698.83 142, 444. 76 1897. $11,956.63 9,624.84 1,068.85 480.43 23, 130. 75 92, 874. 15 2,370.58 118,375.48 1898. $3,053.72 10,261.46 1.5,31.5. 18 67.047.:i8 1,073.12 81,435.68 EXPENSES. Provisions Expense Clothing and bedding Furniture Improvements and repairs. Transportation Salaries Insurance Total Net profit - Net loss - - - Daily average number of prisoners Daily average cost of maintenance per capita . $47, 997. 18 12,661.89 6,716.23 2,9.50.20 5,909.49 1,738.07 33,368.36 567.60 111,909.02 $46,187.01 13, 469. 95 2.381.88 1,055.11 2, 479. 47 1,&56.49 aj,oa5.3i 544.72 29,029.53 971 $0,304 971 $0,295 $41,178.20 14,693.67 2,627.84 591. &5 1,120.92 1,761.58 35,756.34 520.61 $37,950.94 7, 395. 91 2,040.16 912. 88 3, 486. 61 1,278.06 34, 270. 42 431.05 102,859.94 I 98,250.81 87,766.03 39,584.82 20,124.67 900 $0,299 6,330.35 6.59 $0. 3674 During different years there were Albany County prisoners confined without cost to the county. The number of such prisoners for each year and the amount of board that the penitentiary would have received if board had been paid at the rate paid by other counties was as follows: 1895. 1896. 1897. 1898. Number of Albany County prisoners _ 343 $14,000.00 420 $14,010.10 315 $12,940.31 277 Estimated amount of board $9, 602. 36 " From the foregoing it will be seen that when we were permitted to work up our full capacity under the piece-price plan, this prison was not only self-support- ing, but a source of revenue to Albany County. In November, 1897, I turned over to the county treasurer, from the surplus earned since I assumed charge of the institution in July, 1895. the sum of $75,000. "The passage of recent legislation prohibiting the reception of Federal pris- oners and the employment of convicts on the piece-price plan has brought about an entirely different state of affairs, and until the matter of prison labor is more thoroughly investigated and understood by the people, and especially by work- ingmen, to whose mistaken ideas and misdirected zeal the present state of affairs is due, the prisons of this State will be a large item of expense to the taxpayers." PRISON LABOR. 71 $236, 848. 80 NORTH CAROLINA. About nine-tenths of the convicts at the State penitentiary produce products for the maintenance of the institution and also for market. Some manufacture brick, and others work on public roads or under contract system. The following balance sheet is taken from the report of the institution for the year 1898: Balance sheet of the penitentiary for the year 189S. DEBITS. 1898. Jan. 1. Balance due State treasurer $15, 827. 45 Bills audited for expenses for the year 1898, paid ' $107, 713. 21 Bills audited for expenses for the vear 1898, unpaid 62, 670. 39 170,383.60 Value of products consumed during the year 50,137.75 CREDITS. Collections from sale of farm and other products, and from wages of con\-ict labor §97, 907. 91 Value of farm products, excluding sales 169, 705. 40 Value of bricks on hand and for sale 1 , 835. 72 Book accounts 12,150.87 Cash in bank and drawer 1,202.25 Total debits Balance This balance of §46,453.35 consists of farm products on hand for support and sale 31, 264. 51 Brick on hand 1,835.72 Book accounts due bv United States Govern- ment 1 §3,602.50 Book accounts due by R. and C. F. R. Rail- road 2.089.76 Book accounts due bv personal accounts 6, 458. 61 12,150.87 Cash in bank and drawer 1,202.25 46, 453. 35 §282,802.15 236, 348. 80 46. 453. 35 OHIO. Convicts at the State penitentiary who are not required by the State to care for the institution and manufacture supplies for the same are employed under the piece-price and contract systems. The following statement, showing the earn- ings and expenditures for each year from 1891 to 1898, inclusive, has been fur- nished by the warden: Ohio penitentiary, earnings and expenditures. 1891. 1892. 189:?. 1S94- 1895. 189t). 1897. 1898. Year. Earnings. $241,178.84 2f.()..'J17. 17 29.->.4.51.49 2«)1 . 7t>8. .")tj 228, 7;i«). 1:3 2:«).947.21 272,068.26 319,072.93 Expendi- tures. §230.021.32 2;i7, 440. ■)» 2t)4.:i71..>! 270.905. r,i 284. 197. .-);> 288. 807. 80 30t>.(»0.22 347,443.91 Gain. $11. 1.57. .52 2. .H7ti. .59 31.079.96 Loss. $9,137.05 .5.5.461.22 ,57. 8ti0. .59 34.. 581. 96 28,370.98 ' Of tlK's»> j;107.713.2' hills audited. S28.929..57 was for debts contracted by John R. Smith, former superintendent, and audited iu the eurrent year. 72 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. PENNSYLVANIA. The warden of the Western Penitentiary at Allegheny, in response to a request for information concerning the financial operations of the institution, furnished the following statement under date of July 13, 1898: "In reply to your letter asking for full information concerning the financial results of the different methods under which the prisoners of this institution had been employed, I desire to state that this prison has fully tested the various methods of labor used in prisons, known as contract, piece-price, and State-account systems. It ceased to operate under the contract system by direction of a State law, enacted in 1883, but the financial results therefrom were nearly enough to pay the cost of support of the prisoners. The piece-price system has been used in the making of brooms; its financial results are about three-fifths of the earnings by contract. A further limitation has been made by a recent law removing all power machinery, except hand and foot power, in the manufacture of goods made for sale. Under the State-account method this prison has established several industries, giving its inmates useful and instructive foiins of labor, but they are not so largely remunerative in money earnings as the contract system. " The State has not found fault with this annual deficit, and one of its governors said in a public report some years ago, ' in neither of the penitentiaries of this State has there ever been an attempt yet made to administer them on the vulgar, wicked, unworthy consideration of making them self-sustaining. In neither of them has it been forgotten that even the convict is a human being, and that his body and soul are not so the jjroperty of the State that both may be crushed out in the effort to reimburse the State the cost of his scanty food, and at the end of his term what is then left of him be dismissed an enemy of human society.' '•Asa result of the limitations of industries conducted in this prison only 35 per cent of the inmates are at present engaged in the manufacture of goods for sale, and the amount earned falls far short of the expense of maintenance. In Penn- sylvania all deficiencies in earnings by labor is charged to the counties sending prisoners to the institution, at so much per diem, as the amount maybe from year to year. "If the Industrial Commission will look over the question in all its lines it will be seen that several of the Southern States have large manufacturing establish- ments within the walls of their prisons, and annually earn the entire exjsense of support, salaries, and repairs." The total expenses and earnings of the institution during the years 1897 and 1898 are shown in the following statement : The total expenses and earnings were as follows : 1897. 1898. Dr. Provisions and supplies Clothing and shoes _ : Beds and bedding Fuel and light _ General expenses Extraordinary repairs . _ Electric-light plant account. Working capital, addition to _ .__ Reserved on account of stock on hand in manufacturing departments. . . Cr. Mat department Hosiery department Broom department Shoe department Sale of rags, iron, and other old material . United States, for keeping prisoners Profit and loss account Amount charged to counties. $46, 4a5. 36 8,008.56 1,413.49 20, 672. .5.5 31,467.65 2,256.88 .5,351.25 36,217.43 151,852.17 31,086.51 22,011.78 11,794.60 1,636.00 422. 67 5,351.25 2.20 72,30.5.01 79,547.16 151,852.17 $42, 879. 96 9, 229. ,58 1.. 518. 95 20,972.19 31,606.12 5,249.13 12,618.78 4.55.5.75 3,732.38 133,352.84 12, 0.50. ,30 12,994.62 5, 797. 66 1,48.3.11 203.96 4,655.75 37,08,5.40 96,277.44 133, 362. 84 PRISON LABOR. 73 VERMONT. Convicts at the State prison are worked under the contract system, and the fol- lowing recapitulation shows the income and expenses for the biennial period end- ing June 30, 1898: RECAPITULATION. INCOME. Fees from visitors $256. 00 Convict labor 53, 932. 68 $54, 188. 68 EXPENSES CONSOLIDATED. Miscellaneous expense account, balance §5, 866. 33 Fuel and lights, balance 5,768.20 Clothing, balance 1 , 194. 42 Subsistence, balance . 6, 984. 51 Board, balance . 5,065.13 Improvements and repairs, balance 3, 164. 96 Boilers and engines, balance. _ 6, 235. 02 Officers' salaries, balance 15,987. 17 $50,265.74 Income, over and above expenses 3, 922. 94 CHAPTER V. JAILS. With but few exceptions there is no acknowledged system for the employment of prisoners in jails. In many States where the laws provide that such prisoners shall be employed the provisions are either ignored or no uniform system has been developed. The information received by the commission from practically all of the States indicates that the conditions prevailing in most of them are, in many respects, similar to those existing in the State of Indiana, as depicted by the following quo- tation from the Ninth Report of the Board of State charities for the year 1898: " The Indiana jail system is not a thing to be commended. The jails vary greatly in accommodations and adaptability, depending, doubtless, upon the intel- ligence and information of those under whose direction they were erected and the conditions existing at the time. Some modern ones are well constructed. From these they range to unwholesome cells in the basements of buildings, and struc- tures erected with the sole idea of putting an unfortunate out of sight and keep- ing him there. Jail administration has not been thought of by many officials. They have not heard that there is such a thing. There are no rules as to the con- duct of prisoners. These are expected to do what is done toward cleaning the jail and are permitted to have the run of the institution. It is impossible to esti- mate the extra amount of expense entailed through the maladministration of our jails. The horrors of the system and the more frightful realization of the con- ditions, as it appeals to those who visit these institutions, merit the condemnation of all." Considering the above statement in connection with the following, taken from an Illinois report made in 1872, it is evident that an improvement in the jail sys- tems has been long realized: " Our deliberate judgment is that the practical value of jails, whether as means of prevention or of cure of crime, compared with their great cost, is very trifling. We find upon inquiry that others have arrived at the same conclusion before ns. In fact, this opinion is shared by nearly all who have given this subject any atten- tion. Probably no other equal expenditure of money is equally unprofitable." The conditions existing in the jails of other States is indicated by the following quotations from a few of the many reports on the subject. Report on prisons and reformatories of the United States and Canada submitted to the legislature of the State of New York in 1867 : "It is clear that our common jails are not now, and never can be, hoiises of correction in the proper sense — ^^iaces for the reformation of criminals. The fact that they are mere places of detention to the majority of their inmates, the cir- cumstance that the sentences of those confined in them for punishment are and are likely ever to be too short to admit of the application of reformatory proc- esses, the constant flux in their population, the difficulty of organizing and enforcing a system of labor, without which there can be no reformation, and, above all, the want of a proper staff of officers." The third annual report of the State commission of prisons of New York of 1897 states : " Of all the public institutions in America the county jails are the most unsat- isfactory. Of the 60 counties in this State, 49 do not employ their jail convicts in anv f orm of labor." 74 PRISON LABOR. 75 The fourth annual report of the State commission of prisons of New York of 1898 contains the following information relative to the jails of the State : " The county jails were found to be in a bad condition and badly managed, and many of them were old and poorly ventilated and drained. While they were occasionally clean, to receive the visits of boards of supervisors or grand juries, as a general rule they lacked ordinary cleanliness. Many were heated by stoves and lighted by kerosene lamps, which added to the general unhealthy con- dition. But few had bathrooms in connection with them, and the refuse usually went into near cesspools instead of into sewers. With their constant shifting, transient population, they endangered the public health. There was no uniform plan for their erection, each county having a jail after a pattern of its own, based upon the consideration of cheapness. There was no classification or separation of the classes of prisoners. Though the law prohibited the keeping of those in pi-ison on civil process, or detained merely as witnesses with those convicted or committed on criminal charges, they were generally found in rooms or corridors together. The separation of women from men, as required by law, was very unsatisfactory. Tiiose convicted and those awaiting trial or examination were usually found together. Young men and boys arrested for minor offenses, more as a result of heedlessness or want of training than by reason of criminal inten- tions, were in association ^vith old offenders and hardened criminals, listening to their adventures and instructions. The jails were not only dangerous to public health, but they were schools where crime was taught and made to increase. ' ' By repeated inspections and recommendations to the boards and oflBcers having to do with the management of the jails, a better condition was broiight about. At meetings with the boards and officers, attention was called to the law, and also to the benefit to be gained by the proper management. The jails have been cleaned, stoves and lamps generally removed and replaced by steam heat and electric lights, which have proved more economical. Necessary improvements for sanitation and ventilation have been made in many instances, and sewer con- nections have replaced the ancient rotting cesspols. Employment has been fur- nished in some counties and shorter sentences to the jail, with labor, has been found to be better and more economical, and the population of the penitentiaries has thereby materially decreased beyond the natural decrease resulting from the laws preventing there being recruited from outside the State, and by a mingling of felons with misdemeanants. " Before the creation of the commission, when there were no State officials whose jurisdiction extended to all jails, each was managed according to the views of the jailer in charge, subject only to the occasional visits of grand juries or committees of supervisors, which were formal and short. The jails were managed more as houses of detention than as penal institutions. The keepers were changed every three years on the election of a new sheriff, and no one seemed to be informed as to the laws regulating them and the confinement of prisoners, and there was no one with any authority that could call attention to any defects in plans or management.' The most of them were built when the country was new and more sparsely settled, and they were in every way unsatisfactory in respect to size, sanitation, or adaptability to their purpose. All classes of prisoners, tramps, young offenders, hardened criminals, convicted and unconvicted, were herded together, and they were the primary schools where crime was learned. The commission called the attention of the boards of supervisors and other officers to the defects and the law requiring separation of prisoners, and by its reports and personal interviews urged improvements. The officials have shown a disposition to improve the conditions and to act on the suggestions for better management, and the people generally have shown an interest in the matter. The inspections and recommendations have resulted in much good, although thefre(iuent changes in officials ret^uire the same work to be often repeated. " Tlie lack of cleanliness about jails and inmates of jails, jwor sanitation, drainage, and ventilation, are dangerous to the public, as thereby contagious diseases may be engendered or the germs held to infect others. Yet often the recommendations of the commission in those respects have been received as if they were proposals for luxuries. Baths and general cleanliness are among the necessities of life rather than being mere luxuries. " For more than 50 years the law has commanded that convicts in county jails be employed at some kind of work for 6 days in the week, but in about 60 counties the law has been overlooked or forgotten. Instead of labor, the convicts are left in idleness to smoke, play cards, exchange experience, or plot for future depreda- tions. Such imprisonment is not punishment, but a rest or vacation. It has no terror after the first conviction, but is often an attraction, resulting in repetitions 76 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. of the offenses until later on the man is sent to the penitentiary, which proves an intermediate school between the primary of the jail and the State prisons. Young offenders, more unfortunate and heedless than criminal, listen to the adventures of old criminals and receive lessons in crime. " If the misdemeanants sentenced to the jails were required to labor there would be more of punishment about the confinement. A sentence of 10 or 30 days with labor would be a jninishment to be avoided. When it is found that a sentence to the jail means work instead of play, there would be fewer convictions and less occasion to repeat them. Those convicted of intoxication (more of a weakness than a result of a vicious or criminal mind or disposition) should be sent to work on county farms, where they would be removed from temptation, and could be useful, rather than to be confined with those actually vicious. '' By complying with the law of so long standing, requiring convicts in jails to be employed at labor, the officials may save money for the taxpayers in their counties, lessen the number of convictions, give occupation instead of idleness to the prisoners, and make the jails less discreditable to the localities. Labor, rather than the luxury of idleness, is another necessity for proper penal administration. With such labor, even if it brought no direct profit, there would be realized a profit by way of better roads and a decrease of convicts and of criminal acts." Twelfth annual report of the general superintendent of prisons of Massachu- setts, concerning prison labor, 1898: ••There are 2'3 county prisons in the State. The laws relating to the labor of prisoners now apply to all the State and county prisons. The prisoners in the various jails are employed, as shown by the following quotations and synopsis, in various industries: • Pumping water with a hand engine into a tank at the top of the court-house.' 'Making shoe heels.' "Some of the prisoners now work at making flexible soles, and others are employed in manufacturing leather board." ' Cultivating land. ' ' Cane seating of chairs. ' ' Manufacture of umbrellas. ' ' Mak- ing of brushes and the manufacture of mats on hand machines.' * Preparing con- crete for use on the public buildings.' 'Sorting cotton waists.' ' Making cheap overalls.' These industries are usually conducted under the public-account system." Sixteenth annual report of the bureau of labor of Michigan, 1898: '• Of 83 counties in the State 66 reisorted 416 prisoners confined in their jails on the 1st of May, 1898. Twenty per cent of the county jails were empty on that date, and those naving prisoners averaged about 6 each, the greatest niimber (34) being in Wayne County jail. Eight jails contained but 1 prisoner each. Of the 76 chartered cities in the State, 45 are county seats. Most of the cities use the county jails. Of the 298 incorporated villages in the State, 84 reported 314 pris- oners confined in their village jails on the 1st day of May, 1898. There were no prisoners confined in 214 of the village jails on that date." Report on the prison system of Michigan, 1899: "A system to be effective must be good in its various parts, and the action of these must tend in the same direction. To nse a homely illustration, an animal perfect in all other respects may be ineffective because of some defect in one foot. It is somewhat so with systems. In this respect Michigan stands among the first of the States. Still it has defects. " First, there coiild be greater unification. The jails, the reformatories, and the prisons might be brought into greater harmony, so that the policy pursued in each should cooperate to achieve the same end. This would require that all the prisons, and the jails as well, should be brought under some common supervision. This is done in some countries. "I recognize the great difficulty that would be encountered in any attempt to bring any such modification about here. The laudable jealousy of our people in guarding their personal and local rights is such that the residence in the road dis- tricts insist on controlling the road making in their localities as though they alone were interested in them, and even when they must see that a supervision of road making by an expert engineer having a wide field would result in cheaper and better roads. "A little reflection will convince everyone how totally unfit the county jail is for the treatment of offenders after conviction. The keepers change often, and very few have any knowledge of the way to treat offenders in order to prevent their repeating crimes. Nor have the jails any equipment for this treatment. They haA'e no work to do. And we know that the sending of disorderlies to jail has little tendency to lessen disorder, and none to reform the offenders. PRISON LABOR. 77 " The jail, then, should be used to detain accused persons before trial only and not as a place of punishment after conviction. Provision should exist in the jails for keeping those awaiting trial in separate cells. Criminality is increased by placing young offenders in jail with hardened criminals. Where incarceration after conviction is necessary' it should be in some place where the convict can be treated for a cure, some reformatory or house of correction with work to do. " It is evident that while the industrial systems in vogue in the prisons, peni- tentiaries, and other State penal and reformatory institutions should be harmon- ized, any legislation on the subject would be superficial if it did not consider and dispose "of the objectionable features of the system, or lack of system, for the employment of the prisoners in the city and county jails. "Any legislation on this phase of the convict-labor problem must necessarily be of a radical character. The commission is of the opinion that the only true remedy is to be found in abolishing the county and city jails and establishing a district jail system. " The vast majority of the jails are, as now conducted, a useless expense. The small number of prisoners confined in the majority of them does not justify the expenditure necessary to their proper construction and maintenance or the estab- lishment of any system of employment and reformation. Their insignificance when considered separately does not arouse public attention and the consequent demands for reformation. The officials are under no general supervision and are not directly responsible to a central office. "The district jail system would remove many of these objections and lead gradually to the constriiction of institutions havdng many of the features of State prisons and penitentiaries. Their industrial operations would be under the super- vision of the same official that controlled the State institutions and the labor of the inmates systematized and utilized in many ways that are impossible under the present conditions." CHAPTER VI. EMPLOYMENT OF PRISONERS DURING 1898 AND 1899. The laws in each of the States and Territories provide for a number of different methods under which the prisoners and inmates of the various penal and reform- atory institutions may be employed. It is essential to a thorough understanding of the present conditions of prison labor to know which of these methods are in actual use, and whether in the distribution of the prison population one system is xH'eferred to another. The commission has consulted the reports for practically all of the institutions of this character, and has also sent circular letters to the officials of each request- ing information in regard to the present methods under which the prisoners are employed. The information secured in this manner has enabled the preparation of the following table, which shows the methods under which prisoners were employed in each State during the years 1 898 and 1899, and of the statements which follow for each State and Territory, giving in detail the industries in whii-h the Xirisoners were engaged, the general system under which they were employed and the restilts of such emiiloyment: 78 PRISON LABOR. 79 05 O g^ so o d CO 2 g o ft CM O o (3 O c o ci o 3 p. © o a o o a S-so ■w-e 73 1 ^ f^ as O 52 * t . >.% .-oo cSoS-".rtO 0) ® 0) o o as . _^m cS a o ® . S Stg'g-te'^ S-S m CO S * 3 oS S o '^■^'■^ r— I ^ OJ 01 a pi o 2 '-^13 fe c ^ o o-S OOP Mo Oj OJ « o o O cc *^.a^ ® ce 2fl •is I ce 3 .20 ! 0-8.2 cog «3 ;'rt " "§•-•^2 ^■, " o - „ .- o*i a a a-" 11 . -^ 5 o 2 a 'o to c» ^-.^ t"-^ cS ti m cj.^.a S a d S Scj-^i^^^ 2j3 2 2 a 2 .2'3)d oB>a ^K.*-*jat3aa3/3B'S-S^ ^^bt;aaa>» 80 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. ALABAMA. The major portion of the convicts, ab e-bodied males, are worked under the lease system in coal mines, the State receiving from $7 to $14 per month per convict. The males pronounced physically unable to work in the mines, together with the women, are employed on the State farms, producing articles for con sumption at the penitentiaries, and in the State cotton mill, iinder the State account system. Some of them are also worked under the contract and lease system in sawmills or on farms and in other pursuits. Arrangements^ are made with numerous companies and individuals located in different parts of the State for the employment of the convicts under leases and contracts, and according to the report of the board of inspectors of convicts for the 2 years ending August 31, 1898, the gross earnings from the hire and labor of convicts was $325,196.10, and the expenses (not including the cost bills) was $136,662.50, showing a net profit of $188,533.60. " The State cotton mill isa 3,300-spindlemill, and cost $78,347.77. Of thisamouut $67,532.77 was paid out of the State treasury, and the State furnished brick to the value of $4,375 and convict labor to the value of $6,440, making altogether $78,347.77. The entire cost of the mill was paid for during the 2 years ending August 31. 1898, except $9,801.74. which was paid in the former biennial period. The mill began operation about January 1, 1897, and has been operated about 12 months since in manufacturing the crops of 1896 and 1897 produced on the State farms. The entire expense incurred in the operation of the mill, charging the mill with the cotton at the market price, has been $42,987.16. The proceeds from the sale of cloth of the crop of 1896 was $27,701.76, and the product of the mill on hand of the crop of 1897, valued at $25,102.56, makes the output of the mill $52,804.56. Deduct the disbursements. $42,987.16, and it leaves $9,817.16 as a net profit. The labor used in the mill are women and boys that have always been an exi^ense to the State, and when not at work in the miil are worked on the farm. The mill contains floor space for 5,000 spindles, and if increased to that number the fixed charges would not be greater than now and without any additional expense for power. The convict cotton stripes for the clothing of the convicts is made in the mill, which is a great saving to the State, and with the addition of a few box looms the wool stripes could also be made. "The State farms have been well cultivated and the crops, consisting of cotton, corn, oats, pease, potatoes, sugar cane, and vegetables, have been fairly good, considering the season last and this year. There are good herds of cattle at each of the farms; also a great many hogs, which will greatly reduce the amount of meat which would otherwise have to be bought. Several hundred acres of land have been cleared, ditched, and brought into cultivation on the State farm on tlie Tallapoosa River. Several thousand dollars have been expended in improvements and repairs on the State farm during the two years ending August 31, 1898. "With all the economy that has been practiced it has been impossible to make the State farm self-sustaining. The reason for this is that the State has to guaid and maintain the old, broken down, and disabled convicts of the entire system, and this class greatly exceeds in number those who are able to work. Under the existing conditions, the low price of farm products, the State could not expect to do more than make the farm self-sustaining if every convict were able to work, and certainly can not do it when more than half of them are unable to work. It should be stated here that a great number of convicts are received into the penitentiary in bad physical condition, due to the terrible condition of the jails and overcrowding, and are thrown upon the State to maintain during their imprisonment, not only to maintain them, but to pay the cost of their conviction. A jail inspector is needed, with authority to enforce sanitary regulations in keeping with our civilization." ARIZONA. The convicts at the Territorial penitentiary are not engaged in any employment calculated to reimburse the Territory for their keep, and other than the regular work incident to the care of the institution and the manufacture of their own supplies they have no system of employment. PRISON LABOR. 81 The shoes and clothing worn by the prisoners are made there. There are ample facilities for doing this work, and more could be accomplished in that direction if there was a demand for the prodiact. According to the biennial report of the Territorial prison the prisoners were worked by the Arizona Improvement Company, under the contract system. " The Territory was to receive compensation therefor at the rate of 70 cents per day per man employed. Work for the company commenced October 23, 1897, with 12 men, and, with gi-eater or less numbers, has been continued to this time, there being at present 2 men so employed. The men were employed at various tasks, including digging ditches, working on the company farm, driving teams, firing boiler at pump station, cutting wood, etc. " The total amount of work performed for the company to date is 10,602 days, which, at 70 cents per day, amounts to $7,421.40. of which no part has been paid. "Convicts working on the canal — that is, working for the State of Arizona Improvement Company — and also those working in the wood camps for the Terri- tory, were given a verbal promise of an allowance of extra credit over and above the regular credits allowed by law, of one day for each three days of actual labor performed. This promise of extra good time was made by Governor McCord. Faith in this promise has been kept for work so done, but such extra time allow- ances were discontinued when the change in the management was made. The report also states that — " The proper employment of prisoners is one of the prime factors in the good management of an institution. Unfortunately the opportunities in this direction are extremely limited. Outside of the necessary duties within the prison walls and the manufacture of adobes for sale, the hill upon which the prison is built affords the only means of employment. This hill is evidently the remains of a glacial moraine, which at some time or other covered the country hereabouts, and is made up of blue clay and granite bowlders. The blue clay when screened makes excellent sidewalks, and, as such, is used by citizens of Yuma, to whom it is occa- sionally sold at the rate of 3 wagonloads for a dollar. The clay is also largely used for repairs and improvements about the prison.'" ARKANSAS. Some of the convicts at the State penitentiary are employed on farms, culti- vating corn, cotton, and food products for the use of the institution or to be sold on the State account system; others are hired or leased to contractors, but ai'e under the management and control of the penitentiary officials. In June, 1899, there were 300 working under this system on the railroad, 50 manufacturing chairs, and 50 manufacturing brick. The following quotations are made from the biennial report of the State peni- tentiary for the years 1897 and 1898: " I have never made and gathered a crop under so many difficulties as the crop of 1898. The first overflow compelled me to replant 800 acres; the second over- flow, 5,400 acres, requiring extra time and labor, and making the jjlanting and working of the crops later than it otherwise would have been. These facts, together with the unprecedented low prices for the last two years, have been some of the obstacles we have had to contend with. "Our total revenues for the years 1897-98 from sale of farm products, sale of wood in the city, and the hire of convicts is $226,969.61. " OAving to the fact that the general assembly have never appropriated one dollar for the maintenance of the penitentiary for the 5 years 1 have been connected with it, we have been compelled to make share crops, giving the landlord halt of all the crops grown. The amount paid to them during this period exceeds $250,000. I have, in former reports, recommended the purchase of a large tract of laud for a State farm, and have no reason for changing my views on this subject. * * * " Since my last report we have erected a plant inside the walls for the manu- facture of excelsior, and now have same running in good order, and have worked over 100 carloads of cottonwood into excelsior since we started the plant. ""We have established at Palarm, 18 miles west of this city, a camp, where I work all the white convicts under the age of 21 years, also the women, separating the boys from the older criminals. There are now 43 boys and 10 men at this camp. If deemed advisable a teacher could be employed at this camp, and a por- 250a— VOL III 6 82 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. tion of the convicts' time devoted to school hours, as the building is sufficiently large for all such purposes. We now have confined in the penitentiary 43 white, 154 black, and 1 Indian, who were under 21 years of. age at the time of incarceration. * * * " The penitentiary has been more than self-sustaining during the past 2 years. " This much has been accomplished under the present system of hiring, leasing, renting, and share cropping, which I consider very bad, both from a financial standpoint and from the standpoint of humanity. " Under present conditicms the increased freights and transportation necessi- tated to reach and maintain the various camps largely diminish M'hatever profits might accrue, and the amounts paid for rent, considering the fact that we are abundantly able to buy a large body of good land, are an actual waste. "The actual cost of operating and maintaining the penitentiary is about $100,000 per year, and more than 15 per cent of this amount is expended in the ' two items of freight and transportation, and about 30 per cent in salaries alone. It is a conservative estimate that out of these three items, and many others, $20,000 could be saved to the State each year by consolidation, and the general conditions and health of the State's prisoners could be much improved. More- over, the isolation of the camps from each other and from the penitentiary walls, renders their proper supervision an impossibility and the general management dGi'GctivG. " To obviate these, and many other diflaculties which, under present conditions, operate against the interests of the State, and to procure the numerous advan- tages apparent in the consideration of a State farm, and the consolidation of the convicts under one supervision and control, I most heartily endorse the recom- mendations of both my predecessors and the superintendent of the penitentiary in their respective reports urging that the State purchase and operate its own convict farm. "That the penitentiary is abundantly able to purchase, equip, and maintain such a farm is no longer a question. "From a State farm a part of the able-bodied convicts could be employed on such public work and at such times as the penitentiary board might determine. And such manufacturing enterprises as the class of convict labor would justify, might also be erected on a State farm." In some of the counties the prisoners in jails are worked on the public roads, in others they are leased to contractors, who work them on farms, while in a number of the counties the prisoners in such institutions have no employment whatever. CALIFORNIA. The convicts at the State penitentiaries are employed in the manufacture of jute grain bags and macadam under modified forms of the public-account system. They are also employed in various departments of the institutions manufacturing clothing, etc. , and in raising garden products for the consumption of the inmates. The following quotations from the reports for the years 1895 and 1896, of the prison wardens at the two State prisons, show the character of the industrial operations conducted at each. From the report fOr the prison at Folsom: " We began crushing rock for sale about the middle of June, and have continued steadily since. The crusher has now been in operation 2 months and a half, and has demonstrated that, under provisions of the law requiring the prison to fur- nish the labor free, and the power free, we can turn out the very best road metal, on the cars at the prison, for a minimum cost of 25 cents per ton. There is in sight enough first-class macadam rock to last several years. For the month of August we quarried and crushed over 8,000 tons, an average of over 320 tons daily. The crusher was not operated more than three hours and a half daily to produce this amount. For the ensuing season, when the quarry is properly opened, we can certainly produce from 500 to 700 tons daily. " By arrangement with the Southern Pacific Railroad Company the cost of transportation was fixed at a very low irate. Taking the two main points of dis- tribution, Sacramento and Stockton, for example, the freight rate is 25 cents per ton to the former and 45 cents per ton to the latter. This enables us to deliver crushed road metal at Stockton for 75 cents per ton, and at Sacramento for 50 PRISON LABOR. 83 cents per ton. As the former price for similar road metal, althou,t?h not nearly so good, was $1.90 per ton, delivered in each of these two cities, it will be readily- seen that an immense saving in the cost of improving streets and building roads is effected by the operation of this plant. A large saving to the taxpayers for the construction of streets and roads, having the effect of lowering taxes, is itself compensation for the expense of the plant. " The power furnished for this plant is delivered from our air compressor at the State power house. That is inadequate for the pui-jDOse, and has been used tem- porarily because the appropriation made by the last legislature was not sufficient to purchase a compressor of proper size and power. The legislature should pro- vide an additional appropriation for a 350-horsepower air compressor. • ' For the last 9 years the many improvements at the Folsom prison have kept constantly employed all the convicts confined therein. The question of what we shall do to keep them employed in the future must now be met and a proper decision rendered. It is certain that public feeling in California will not permit the employment of convict labor in competition with free labor; therefore, some scheme of employment other than a competitive one must be de\'ised. The convicts must be kept at work. Every consideration of discipline, economy, reformation, and health demands this. I can not contemplate keeping a large body of convicts in idleness without feeling that it is a crime against society, if not against humanity. Yet, it is no less the duty of the State to give proper atten- tion to the demands of thousands of honest citizens who have never committed crime and only demand the opportunity to labor for their daily bread. " It has been suggested that the convicts at the Folsom prison might be employed in manufacturing ax'ticles for the use of the various State institutions. In theory this sounds well, but in practical operation it will be found that the demand is so small that as a means of giving employment to any considerable number of con- victs it will prove a failure as well as abortive in lessening expense. There are only 8,000 inmates of State institutions, of which 2,000 are confined in the State prisons. The only articles that could be manufactured are shoes, blankets, cloth- ing, hats, brooms, willow ware, and tinware. I have obtained statistics of all public institutions in this State as to the amounts required yearly of these various articles and have made careful estimates of the labor required to supply them. " The two prisons manufacture their own shoes. This would leave about 1,200 dozens to be manufactured for other institutions. Unless we tanned our own leather, so as to be independent of buying leather in the open market, we could not turn out shoes for a less price than is now being paid for them. The large factories employing improved machinery almost eliminate the factor of labor from the cost of boots and shoes. To produce these articles cheaply they must be manufactured in large quantities, the plant run regularly, and every item of ex|3ense carefully guarded. Otherwise, the free labor of the prisons would not successfully compete against the improved machinery on the outside. And, again, 40 con\'icts, with aid of a sewing machine or two, could manufacture by hand all the shoes required by all the State institutions. ''About l,500i)airs of blankets are iiur chased annually, at an average cost of $3.2.") each. The same criticism as to the cost of shoe manafactiire would apply to a small woolen mill. To produce blankets cheaply the mill must l)e run on a large s(;ale, and every advantage taken of the market to purchase the raw mate- rial. The output must be regular, and. in fact, strict business principles must be adhered to in every department of the plant. It might be said that the woolen mill could also produce cloth for clothing: but this, too, is extremely doubtful. No woolen mill in California has paid expenses for soiiie 3^ears past. We are now buying prison cassimere at G2^ cents, w^hich 5 years ago we paid §1.20 for, and otlier cloth in proportion. This could not be turned out at the prison for that price Tinder any circumstances. The same may be said of other grades of cloth, such as would be used in ordinary suits. A plant of that kind would be in the same condition as the San Quentin jute mill— running at a constant loss, on account of tlie limited output and the unskilled labor employed in the mill. A saving to the asylums and other institutions could be made by buying the cloth in the open market and making it up into suits, either at the asylums or at the prisons. No expensive plant is required for this, and a few men could make all the suits necessary for the inmates of our charitable and penal institutions. "What is true of a woolen mill is true of hats, caps. etc. The amount to be maniifactured would not justify the purchase of the machinery; that is, as an element of x>rofit to the prisons. I do not believe they could be produced as cheaply as they are now piirchased in the market. •• Willow ware, but little is used; and of tiuwar'^. the largest element of cost is in the raw material and not in the labor emplov'jd in putting it together. 84 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. " As all these institutions are now supplied with furniture, the demand for that for some years to come will be small. " Again, the most serioiis objection to convict labor is not directed against the output of such labor so much as against the fact that the employment of convicts at the varioiis trades has the effect of discharging annually several hundred con- \'icts from prisons who are skilled operators, and thereby come in competition with free laborers who have not had the opportunity of being educated in their various trades at the expense of the State. • ' It will be seen from the above that the question of utilizing the labor of con- victs must be met by the adoption of a broader and more comprehensive policy than has heretofore prevailed. The problem presses for a solution, and neither conditions nor the public temper can be ignored in the settlement. " The labor unions of San Francisco have within the past year adopted reso- lutions favoring the quarrying of stone by convict labor and placing it upon the market undressed at a low figure. This will have the effect of giving employ- ment to a large number of laborers in preparing it for building purposes. While it will be injurious to some of the quarry owners, it would be beneficial to a large number of stonecutters, stone masons, laborers, and others employed in building, and at the same time afford an economical and durable building material for the cities of our State. The rock-crushing plant will give employment to about 250 convicts. "In concluding this subject, I would recommend, first, consolidation of the two prisons into one management; a reduction of the operating expenses to the lowest possible cost; the purchase of additional lands adjacent to Folsom Prison; enlarging the farm; raising more stock; producing a larger supply of vegetables, fruit, pork, bacon, and even beef; and the employment of a large number of prisoners in quarrying stone, placing it upon the market undressed at a price that ^^dll permit of its general use as a building material. " This seems to be, at least for some years to come, a practical solution of the convict-labor problem. It will take 4 years' labor of all the convicts now at Folsom, with 200 or 300 more added, to prepare all the necessary buildings and improvements for the accommodation of the convicts now at the two prisons, and I feel satisfied that a sufficient saving over the present management can be made to fully repay the expense of consolidation within a period of 4 years." From the report for the prison at San Quentin: "As you will perceive, we sustained a considerable loss on the jute goods sold during the past year. There are a number of causes which combined to make the loss unavoidable. In the first place, the Wilson tariff bill, which went into effect two years ago, placed grain bags made in foreign countries on the free list, and while this had the effect of reducing the price of such bags imported in 1895 it does not appear to have had the same effect upon the price at which the raw material could then be obtained. Jute purchased in 1894, out of which were manufactured the bags we made up to the end of the year ending June 30, 1895, commanded a higher average price than it had for several years previous, and since then we have purchased jute at much lower prices. "One of the most serious di'awbacks we have to contend against in making ready sales of our bags is the law passed by the legislature in 1893, coimnonly known as the Ostrom Act. "While this law evidently was intended for their benefit, yet a great many farmers most strenuously object to it, and in particular to section 3, wliich requires an affidavit to be filed with each order. In many instances it is a great inconvenience for a farmer to make a special trij) of perhaps 20 or 30 miles in order to find a notary before whom to make such affidavit; and while many of them consider the bags made at the prison as superior, and would use them in preference to any others, they will not order them, but purchase Calcutta bags, sometimes at a higher figure, rather than make the affidavit. ' ' The general depression of biisiness and low prices for wheat which have pre- vailed during the past two years also had a most pronounced effect against the operation of the law. "Farmers, as a rule, have not made any profit on their crops during that period, and consequently had no ready money when the time came for them to provide themselves with bags for this season; therefore they were obliged to look to the merchants, banks, and warehousemen for money if they desired to use and pur- chase the prison bags; but as most of the merchants in the interior handle Cal- cutta bags for San Francisco firms, the farmers were, most naturally, easily induced to use the Calcutta product. Owing to this scarcity of ready money, many farmers who really prefer our bags were thus prevented from ordering and using them. PRISON LABOR. 85 " The low price fixed by your honorable board, and to which yon adhered all through the season, has, however, had a most decided tendency to prevent San Francisco dealers from raising the price of imported bags. This they were undoubtedly prepared to do, as the imports for this season were just about suffi- cient to supply the demand, and there is no doubt that a higher price would have been asked if the prison authorities had shown the slightest disposition to start such an advance. Keeping down the price as we did prevented the dealers from forming combinations with a view to advance the market, and in order to get rid of their stock importers were obliged to sell their bags at such low prices that they realized but a very small, if any, profit. " Thus our loss this year has been really, and in fact has been, a gain and bene- fit to the farming community of the State, as had we fixed a higher price the market for Calcutta bags would also have been advanced, and all the farmers would have been obliged to pay a higher price for their bags, no matter what kind they used. " The law as it stands will always place us at a disadvantage in disposing of the total output of the jute mill, for the reason, principally, that all the farmers who would use our bags are not in a position, financially, to place their orders direct with us, but are dependent upon middlemen to procure bags for them; and while the law was intended to benefit and protect the fanners, its operation practically has an opposite effect. " At the beginning of the current year a change was made in the management of the jiite mills, and the present superintendent, appointed upon the recommen- dation of your honorable board, made a number of improvements and changes in the arrangement and working of various machines, which are claimed by him will have the effect of increasing the output and reducing the cost of manu- facture. "It has been suggested and advised that it would be profitable to engage in the manufacture of other lines of jute goods besides grain bags; however, it appears that if we did so we should come in competition with the free labor of this State, and in particular with that employed by the California Cotton Mills, at Oakland, which factory makes a specialty of supplying this coast Avith ore, bean, and other similar bags. The only bags other than those used for grain, of which large quantities are used, and which are not manufactured elsewhere in this State, are sugar bags, and we have succeeded during the last few months in securing sev- eral contracts for the manufacture of these at a figure which will leave us some profit. The manufacture of these bags, together \vath the anticipated increased output and reduced cost of production, will doubtless lead to better results and a more profitable showing at the end of the ensuing fiscal year than we liave been able to attain during the year just past." There is no system for the employment of prisoners in the county jails. Pris- oners in the city jails are worked on the public streets and roads. COLORADO. In their biennial report covering the 2 years ending November 80, 1896, the com- missioners of the State penitentiary state as follows: " The prisoners are employed in burning lime, making building brick, quarry- ing lime and sandstone, dressing building stone, gardening on ground leased by the State for prison purposes, and in the general work of the prison, including the making of their own clothing. " If the board of commissioners had the power to use the prison labor within the walls so that all the prisoners could be worked in shops it would greatly reduce the expenses of the institution and increase the earnings, be a benefit to the prisoners, in that they would be released with a good trade, and it would help in the way of discipline and in a great many measures of reform that are now impossible when prisoners are worked outside, where the vicious and bad are necessarily mixed with those with whom they should not be. and intercourse among them can not be entirely stopped. It seems to us that any article or com- modity manufactured outside the walls comes as much in competition with out- side labor as that done in.side the walls. Our idea of the matter is that we shoiild do as much for the prisoner while here as possible to make a better man of him and fit him, if possible, when he leaves the place, to earn his own living, so that there will be less likelihood of his returning to a life of crime by teaching him a trade. At the same time we feel that while here he should, as much as possible, 86 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. be required to earn as much as he can to pay for his keeping. We feel that these ends can better be accomplished by manufacturing within the walls on State account. * * * '•During the months of December, 1895, January, February, March, April, and November, 1896, we have had 75 prisoners employed in the construction of a State canal. " The main difficulty arises from a lack of employment for prisoners. How to employ our x^rison popiilation is one of the vexed problems of the day. How shall prisoners be employed so the product of their labor will not be brought into com- petition with free labor? Convicts during confinement need constant employ- ment to save them from destruction and degradation. Must prisoners be confined in idleness, driving them to insanity — driving many to such infractions of the riiles as make punishment necessary? This is a matter that should receive care- ful consideration. As the sale of lime is greatly decreasing and the revenue from the quarries is growing less every day, it is apparent that some other means of production must be provided. In view of these facts I would recommend that steps be taken toward providing the prisoners with some suitable employment inside the walls of the prison which will not be in direct competition with free labor — employment which will be most beneficial to the prisoner, at the same time least detrimental to free labor, and, if possible, remunerative to the State. I would recommend, after a careful survey of the premises, that the manufacturing of boots and shoes be undertaken, as there would be less objection to this industry than to any other. '• First. In this industry the convict labor would not necessarily be competitive, as there is very little free labor employed in this industry in the Western country. " Second. It would be profitable to the people of Colorado in pro: hieing a much cheaper, yet as good if not better, article than that which is secured from Eastern prisons, for a large percentage of the boots and shoes used in this State is made by convict labor in Eastern prisons; and why keep our own convicts in enforced idleness? " Tliird. It would be a step in the direction of placing this institution upon a self-sixpporting basis, thereby relieving the people of a great biirden, as every dollar eai-ned by them in prison saves that much to an overburdened and over- taxed public. " For these reasons and those already cited in regard to the preservation of the prisoners, morally, mentally, and physically, some steps oiight to be taken in this direction. It has been my experience in this institution, where prisoners have come to me and almost begged for employment, to relieve them from the solitude of their cells. This perplexing question should be met in the coming legislature, and I recommend that the legislature make an appropriation for the erection of proper buildings and the purchase of the necessary tools and implements to carry on this industry." The following information relative to the employment of the convicts of the State during 1899 has been furnished by Mr. Clarence P. Hoyt, warden of the State penitentiary: ' ' The last biennial report of this institution gives very meager information along the lines of employment of prisoners at this institution. Since compiling this repoi't considerable has been accomplished in the way of furnishing employment to the 585 prisoners by making necessary repairs and improvements to the State property, so that at this date we have an average of 530 prisoners daily employed. The balance of oiir population are not at the present time engaged in any occupa- tion, on account of being incapacitated by sickness or other satisfactory reasons. • • We have an average of 50 men working daily on the gardens and ranches, rais- ing crops, which, while they make very little retuni in cash to the institution, make a material reduction in the cost of maintenance. "We have 62 men working in the stone quarries and stone sheds, preparing dressed and undressed stone for biiilding purposes, for which we find a ready market. " Our blacksmith and wagon shop is occupied by 13 mechanics, doing work in this line for the institution. "We are doing a very satisfactory business quarrying limestone and burning the same for the market. This branch employs an average of 75 men, and we find a ready market throughout the State for the product of their labor. " We are employing about 20 men daily in building a State road, which is to reach from the city of Pueblo, on the eastern slope, to Grand Junction, on the western slope, near Utah line. PRISON LABOR. 87 ' ' Our carpenter and paint shop finds constant employment for an average of 20 men. their labor being confined entirely to building and repairing for the institution. "■ Our tailor and shoe shop and tobacco factory engage the constant attention of about 2o men in maniifacturing clothing, shoes, and tobacco for the inmates. ' ' Thirty hands are employed in our washhouse ; 3 in the soap factory ; 22 in our boiler and dynamo room. Fifty-five hands are employed in the dining rooms, kitchens, and bakery; and the balance of the 530 who find daily employment are engaged in various occupations in and about the premises. " It is the aim of the present management to secure the establishment within our walls of such manufacturing enterprises as will in the least degree come in competition with free labor. Organized labor within our State has pursued the foolish policy of protesting against the employment of convict labor in any enter- prise which would in the least degree come in competition with their profession, while they have no hesitancy in going into the markets and purchasing these products of manufactories conducted within the confines of Eastern penitentiaries. The present laws in this State on the subject of convict labor are very liberal, and we will, no doubt, within a short time close an agreement whereby a more remunerative system of employment ^vill be obtained for our convicts that will meet with little, if any, objections from labor unions." They have no workhouse or manufactories of any kind in the county jails in this State. The biennial report of the commissioners and warden of the State reforma- tory for the years ending November 30, 1898, contains the following statement in regard to the employment of the inmates in that institution. " The financial statement of this institution always shows a large balance against it. This is because the labor of its inmates is not valuable. Of course they work. They are employed in making improvements and beautifying the groiinds. They cut and haul all the wood the institution uses for fuel. " The wood is becoming scarce. We have now to go 12 to 14 miles for it, and it will soon be impossible to give them work in that line, as has been done in the past. ' • In the summer season they are employed on the farm ; besides the reformatory farm proper of 400 acres we have the farm of 160 acres joining on the south, which, with the sanction of your Honorable Board, I leased during the past year for a term of five years. " Our principal ci-op is hay ; however, we raise potatoes, onions, beets, and some wheat. Also peas, potatoes, and artichokes. The altitude is so great that the season is very short. Frost and hail have been a great drawback to our farming interests. " The inmates take care of the stock, milk the cows, do the baking and cooking, make their own clothes and shoes, etc. In fact, they do all the work. While this work is not strictly remunerative to the State, it explains how we are able to provide tiie wholesome food we do at so small a cost per diem. " Since taking charge of the institution I have kept them employed in .some way. beli(>ving that it is better for them. They are in school or at work ; we have no idle prisoners here. " The ambition of every warden should be to make the institution as nearly self-supporting as ]iossible. Our reports show that we have fallen far short of so doing. Yet we have labored in that direction, and with a remarkable degree of success, considering the conditions under which we have worked," CONNECTICUT. Tlie directors of the State prison, in their report for the year 1898, state as follows: " The average number of prisoners during the year was 505. 6, and the average daily per capita cost of maintenance was .SO. 3803. Three hundred and thirty-two of tlie convicts were employed under contract, and of this number 240 were engaged in 1b(> manufacture of boots and shoes at tlie rate of 50 cents per day per prisoner, and 92 iji the manufacture of shirts at the rate of 5 cents per dozen. •'Owing to the exceeding poor year for raising farm i)roducts, especially pota- toes, this industry shows a net loss for the year of §1.224.80, the amount nearly equaling the gain made the previous year. It was intended to add to the acreage under cultivation, but owing to the inability of hiring 10 or 12 acres together, or in proximity to the land ulreudy leased, the matter fell througli. As will be seen 88 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. by the following figures, showing the profits made by the fanning industry for the previous years, it is clearly demonstrated that a farm can be carried on profitably by the institution; also that a farm furnishes a kind and quantity of food to the inmates at a nominal cost that could not be afforded if purchased, adding greatly to the variety of the food furnished, and thereby materially aiding in the reten- tion of healtla while under confinement. Added to this is the fact that it gives remunerative employment to the tramp class committed here, which could not be found here otherwise; and it also furnishes a place for labor in the open air for those who, by long confinenxent or disease, are running down in health, thereby better enabling them to earn a livelihood upon their discharge. " In view of the above facts, and others that might be cited, I would urgently recommend that farming lands be purchased of sufficient acreage to raise all the farm products required for the use of the institution." In response to a request for further information, the warden states that: "Under each system that the convicts are worked the State retains full super- vision over them while at work, and no authority over their discipline is vested in the contractors. The products of the penal industries command practically the standard market price, and the competitive effect of the prison labor upon the free labor of the State is scarcely appreciable. Not over one State prison convict to every 2,500 inhabitants of the State is productively employed." In the large jails the inmates are engaged in the manufacture of chairs under the contract system, also in farming, gardening, etc., for the benefit of the inmates. The inmates of the State Reformatory are engaged in caning chairs, under con- tract or piece-price system, also in carpentering, printing, shoemaking, laundry work, farming, and baking. DELAWARE. Prisoners in this State are confined without employment in the county jails, except in Newcastle County, where a penitentiary is being erected. When this penitentiary is completed the prisoners in that county will be employed as in the penitentiaries of other States. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. Prisoners at the workhouse are employed in grading streets and roads of the District, and cleaning grounds; also making roadways in the Rock Creek park. Inmates of the refonn school are engaged in farm work, raising supplies for the inmates, and also in manufacturing under the piiblic-account system. FLORIDA. The State convicts are all worked under the lease system in the phosphate mines or in the manufacture of naval stores. A special committee was appointed by the legislature to investigate the con- dition of the convicts and convict camps, and submitted a report. May 19, 1899. This committee reported that the laws and rules for the government of the con- victs were being violated in naany particulars. The commissioner of agriculture for the State, who has general charge of the convicts, states that he is opposed to the lease system, but that it seems to be the best that can be done in Florida at this time. The county convicts are worked under lease of the county commissioners of each county, or are given no emijloyment whatever. GEORGIA. The methods for employing convicts have been changed materially during the past two years. The State convicts are controlled by a commission. The labor is hired to various parties for a term of 5 years, in companies of not less than 50 nor more than 500, engaged in the follo^ving pursuits: Iron and coal mining; saw- milling; turpentining; building railroads, and farming; the State employing all PRISON LABOR. 89 officers and guards, and retaining absolute control. In addition to the above employ naent, the State owns a farm on which is located the central penitentiary. All females, juveniles, aged, and infirm convicts are placed on this farm and employed at such labor as they are able to perform, time and opportunity being given them to improve their moral and religious status. The following quotations from the first annual report of the prison commission for the year ending October 1, 1898, indicate the present methods and the contem- plated operations: "As required by the act of the general assembly, the commission advertised, in 3 daily papers and 10 weeklies, to hire the labor of those convicts not required to be placed upon the farm, to the highest bidders, estimating this class at 1.800, thereby allowing a liberal margin, so that no complication could arise from hav- ing contracted to deliver a larger number than might be available. •' The bids accepted averaged in price $99.13 per capita i^er annum, aggregating $178,450 per annum for the labor of 1,800 convicts. " Bids for labor on turpentine faiTiis were rejected for the following reasons: A much larger cost to the State in guarding convicts so engaged; a larger risk of escapes; and difficulty in keeping the clothing of the convicts and the buildings clean. " When it is remembered that for several years past there has been an effort to deprecate the value of convict labor, and serious doubts were expressed as to the ability of the State to hire this labor on satisfactory terms, this result is very gratifying. " Under the lease contracts which have been in operation nearly 20 years, and which will terminate on April 1, 1899. the State received a gross revenue for the hire of all the convicts of only $25,000 per annum, and as for a number of years the average prison population has exceeded 2,500, the cost of this labor to the lessees has been less than §10 per capita per annum, exclusive of maintenance. "At the same time that the commission advertised for the hire of convict labor it also run, as provided for by the statutes, an advertisement for the purchase of not less than 2 nor more than 5.000 acres of land. To this advertisement the com- mission received more than 100 offers, at prices ranging from $2 to §15 per acre. " Considering all of this matter and weighing carefully each argument for and against the sites offered, the commission finally selected and purchased a tract of land in Baldwin County containing 3,334; acres, at and for the sum of $20,500, or a cost of $6.14 per acre. " Owing to the constant changes in the prison population it is impossible to determine, except in the case of the women and boys, accurately, now, just how many convicts must be provided for at the farm. " It is problematical whether 200 convicts can be profitably employed on a farm of the size which has been bought, for necessarily there must be a large propor- tion of this land which can not and ought not to be put under immediate culti- vation. "In looking into this matter of providing employment the commission has carefully considered many plans, and can only give a general idea of what will probably be done; and in this connection considering carefully the advisability of engaging a part of these convicts in manufacturing clothing for all the State convicts, misdemeanor convicts, and such garments as are boiight or contracted for by the Georgia State Sanitarium and at other public institutions. Contracts can be made with the present contractors whose duty it is to supply the convicts with these garments, and if the general assembly will support this proposition by legislation which will be hereafter suggested, the misdemeanor con\icts and inmates of the jjublic institutions can also be supplied. "There can be no income from the State farm until a crop has been made and harvested, unless from the industries heretofore mentioned; therefore provision must be made for the maintenance of all convicts on the farm for at least one year. " But the future of the system will depend upon the encouragement and assist- ance given the commission by the legislature. If the penitentiary is to be used as a source of revenue to the State, a means entirely foreign to the most advanced idea of prison management and unheard of in the most prosperous States, and the commission is to be dependent, year after year, ui)on limited appropriations, in order that the revenue from this source may be as large as possible, the system will be a failure, and at the end of 5 years the State will be again confronted with the problem. But if the income from tliis source is i;sed in building up a system that will reflect the intelligence and humanity of the State, and be an ornament instead of a disgrace to civilization, every particle of income from this sovirce necessary to build it up should be devoted to the work. 90 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. " The commission respectfully suggests that a law be passed by the general assembly requiring all county and municipal corporations, and authorities in control of State institutions, i)rices and quality being eqital, to purchase from the State prison such articles as can be supplied by it, for the public use, in prefer- ence to any other bidder or competitor. This is the present law in the State of New York, and has been found there, after various experiments to be practical and wise. It furnishes employment for the convicts at remunerative profits, and under it the prisoners of that State are rapidly becoming self-supporting. Under such a law in Georgia, the clothing of all felony and misdemeanor convicts, and inmates of other institutions, could be furnished by the prison, and a number of the convicts be engaged in profitable work. Other industries of a similar nature, manufacturing articles for public use only, and such as are not made now in this State, might be ultimately established vipon a paying basis." The first year of the active operation of the new convict law ended on Api-il 1 , 1900. The report for the year shows that the new system has brought into the treasury $200,389.18, not including a profit of $5,000 on the prison farm at Milledgeville. Of this amount $120,000 was appropriated to meet the expenses of the department; and, as not all of this appropriation was needed, there will be left to the State, at the lowest figure, a profit of $85,000 for the year as a result of its experiment. IDAHO. Convicts at the State prison are employed in quarrying stone to be used in building a new cell house; in making excavations to secure a supply of water for the prison; in working the prison farm to raise supplies for the use of the insti- tution, and also as cooks, waiters, tailors, laundrymen, etc., in the prison. The warden in his annual report for the year ending November 30, 1898, states tliat — " The stone quarries opened up during the preceding years have been worked and more fiilly developed during the past year. All the rock used in the buildings erected during this period have been easily and cheaply secured. The quarries, of which there are three, will furnish all the rock required for many years in prison building. "From 15 to 20 convicts have been employed in cutting stone during the spring and summer. They have been under the direction of a prisoner who learned his trade at the prison, and who is competent to direct all the work required cutting lintels, arches, door and window sills, brackets, and all the ashlar used in the building." In calling attention to the limited water supply for irrigating purposes, he says: " By using prison labor, we could in one year build a ditch from the river to the upper portion of the prison reservation, thiis giving a system that would afford a complete water supply that would irrigate 40 acres more of our ))e.st land that can not at present be irrigated, affording an opportunity of raising hay for the stock and increasing the supply of winter vegetables.'' The prisoners in the county jails may be worked on the i)ublic roads, but there is no plan for their systematic employment. ILLINOIS. The convicts at the State penitentiaries are worked under the State account system. A number of the prisoners are also employed on the farms, aboiit the institutions, and in manufacturing the necessary supplies for the same, also in repairing and making additions to the buildings. It appears from the report of the penitentiary at Joliet that during the year 1897 the convicts were engaged in manufacturing oak chairs, cooperage, brooms, cigars, and knit goods, and cutting stone on the State account system. The results of the operations for the year are summarized as follows: Loss on the business of the different industries. --- $69, 298. 43 Cost of maintenance of prisoners while employed 50, 198. 94 Total loss 119,497.37 PRISON LABOR. 91 The commissioners of the penitentiary, in their report for 1898, state that — "In the very nature of things, and also as a matter of history during the last administration, industries operated as these were, with the output fixed by the necessity of keeping the prisoners employed at all times, and the markets for the products variable, the State would often accumiilate an over plus, whicli it had to sell at some price, because it was not and had not been capitalized to carry indefinitely such a stock as would soon develop. It was, therefore, forced to demoralize the market by selling below it, and, in many instances, at less than cost and at a loss to the State. The pernicious use of such a practice injured free labtjr first, for when the cost of raw material is reached by the outside manufac- turer he must reduce the price of labor, and when that too is absorbed by this unfair competition of the State the outside shop must quit. It is needless to observe that the greater the number of these competitive industries the more widespread the demoralization to outside labor. " To render this institution self-supporting, while a very natural and possibly in some I'espects a laudable ambition on the part of its officers, is by no means the supreme test of administrative success; nor, on the other hand, should they be excused from wasting the energy of the prisoners by embarking in hazardous entei-prises which experience teaches have nearly always resulted not only in entire loss of labor expended, but also in hundreds of thousands of dollars to the people. " The penitentiary occupies stich an independent position under the law that there is no occasion for its taking any risk whatever for a single industry wdthin its walls. The law requires the prisoner to be kept at hard labor, therefore his energy is the only thing to dispose of, and the management is not authorized in risking the people's money in exijerimental factories. Let the oiTtsider furnish the material which the energy of the i^risoner will work wp into goods and wares. He can and does control enough capital not only to buy in the lowest market and take advantage of every discount, but he escapes the embargo laid on State products by boycotts and prejudice. He can also store his goods until the market will receive them, rather than force the market and the free labor down by the ruinous necessity of selling below, as the State had to do. We do not believe that it should be the policy of the State to enter into competition w4th its citizens, but the law requires the prisoners to be kept at hard labor, and we think it should be the policy of the management, in fairness to outside labor, to outside industries, and the taxpayer, to get the highest possible price for the woi'k of the prisoner; to use every reasonable endeavor to supply his necessities, to keep him in health, to treat him in such a manner that if reformation is possible it may be accomplished, and to apply the same careful business methods to State affairs which private interests outside would demand; then let the people pay whatever deficit — and there will be one — for this institution is niitnow, and probably never will be, self- sustaining. It would seem that this theory is not at variance with the constitu- tion and allows the burden to rest equally on each interest affected. It is fair to the outside labor (which would have to meet the competition of the labor of the prisoner were he free), fair to outside factories by preventing ruinous competition and disturbed markets, and fair to the taxpayer, whose burden is lessened by whatever earnings the institution can show." The pi-incipal industries conducted in the penitentiary at Chester are the manu- facture of hollow ware, knit goods, and brick, also stonework and (piarrjang. Prisoners in the houses of correction and county jails are worked imder the State account system in the manufacture of bricks, brooms, and other articles, anti also in breaking rock for mactadam and in the general work incident to the institutions. INDIANA. The biennial report of the Indiana State ])riso7i for the two years ending Octo ber IJI, 1SK8, contains the following information concerning the industrial opera- tions of the institnti(m. Convicts are worked under c(mtracts, as follows: Two hundred men at 40 cents per day, 50 men at 43 cents per day, and 130 men at 82^ cents per day. These convicts were engaged in the manufacture of boots and shoes, chairs, woolen goods, and cooperat^e. The warden makes the following recommendations: "I believe that the plan of leasing a sufficient amount of land adjacent to the l^rison farm, and working on this land from 200 to 300 of our prison popiilation composed of the older and short-teiuu men, would be one of the best methods of 92 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. solving in part the question of labor in this institution. This land can be leased for a number years at a price not to exceed §1.75 per acre, iipon which could l)e raised potatoes, cabbage, tomatoes, and other vegetables in sufficient quantities to more than meet the needs of this institution. The surplus could be shipped to other State institutions not having the advantage of a farm. After the plowing of this land is done, it could be worked entirely by hand, not being necessary to purchase any improved machinery for its successful cultivation. " It must be borne in mind that this institution is now the prison of the State, to which are committed the life prisoners, prisoners with long tenns of sentence. and prisoners of such character that it woiild not be safe or practical to work out- side of the walls. For this class of men (not exceeding 50 per cent of our popula- tion) I believe a system by which we can work them on the piece-price plan would be the most acceptable and practicable. " In making contracts on the piece-price plan I would recommend that certain articles of merchandise be manufactured, such as boots and shoes, clothing, school desks and chairs, wooden ware, and brooms; and that not more than 100 men be worked in the manufactiare of any one class of goods. " In the enactment of such a law I would recommend that there be incorpo- rated a section whereby the contractors who manufacture the articles mentioned should be compelled to furnish our State institutions and political divisions of the State, and such State institutions, or political divisions, be compelled to pur- chase such articles of said contractors at a price to be determined by a board appointed by the governor to fix prices at which said contractors shall be jiaid for the manufactured articles, the price to be such that the manufactured goods sold to said institutions would not undersell similar goods made by free labor, permitting said contractors to disjiose of the balance of the goods manufactured in the market. " Under the present law 400 of the convicts in the State prison may be employed under contract until 1904. If the population exceeds 800, 50 per cent of those in excess of that niimber may be likewise employed. The State has leased a tract of land near the prison, upon which to employ, through the summer season, any- surplus of labor there may be remaining after supplying the above number and providing for the regular work of the prison. If at any time the whole number of inmates is not employed, authority has been given to utilize them in the man- ufacture of goods on State account. We have also a woman's prison, in which the women are largely employed about the institution, but do some little outside work, such as quilting and laundering. " !No work is provided in this State for those serving ,i ail sentence, save in some counties there is a stone pile or wood pile upon which a part of their time is expended. ' ' The ref oi-matory has all of its labor contracted for about 8 years to come. The reform school for boys expends all of its labor upon its farm and school industries. The reform school for girls, in addition to caring for the institution, does some laundry work for outside parties." According to the biennial report of the Indiana Reformatory for the years 1897 and 1898, the prisoners in the institution are required to earn their own living. A man on entering the institution is given his first outfit and first meal; after that he must earn, by good work, sufficient to keep himself while there and have a certain amount to his credit before he can be paroled. For each days perfect performance of duty, men in the iipper grade receive a credit of 55 cents per day; in the middle grade 50 cents per day; in the lower gi-ade 45 cents per day. An additional credit is earned for all work done in excess of the fixed task, and a deduction is made for all unnecessary shortage. From these earnings a man is required to pay for what he receives in the way of board and clothing. After 18 months' trial of this system and carefiilly comparing it with other sys- tems, the officials of the institution are convinced that it is a strong element in the successful management of the reformatory. The prisoners in this institution are worked under a modified form of the contract system, but at the expiration of the present contract, in about 5 years, trade schools are to be established. The board of State charities, in their ninth annual report, 1898, make the follow- ing statement: ' ' The most serious problem which has confronted the management of the State prisons has been the question of providing labor for the convicts. The new laws PRISON LABOR. 93 against contracting prison labor made no provision for its employment. During the past year there have been 380 men under contract. In addition to that, every means that the warden could devise to keep the men in employment have been used, yet there have been some who have been unoccupied. At this season of the year, and through the months immediately succeeding this, there is but little opportunity to furnish employment for many of those that are not on contract. The spirit of the prison must be reformatory if it is successful. There is nothing that counts toward reformation in idle convicts locked in their cells their entire time devoted to thinking of self and to the cultivation of evil habits. The strain of these conditions is great, and the influence is not toward making better men." IOWA. The following quotation is taken from the biennial report of the warden of the penitentiary at Fort Madison for the year ending June 30, 1897: "We have employed on an average 100 convicts at the work of improvement going on here since May, 1896. These men will have work, by the time it is finished, about 350 days, or an aggregate of 35,000 days, which, computed at 50 cents per day (the price of contract labor), wovild have earned $17,500. And when we take into consideration that 20 or 25 of these men have been constantly employed cutting stone, which labor, if done by citizen stone cutters, woiild have cost $3 or $3.50 per day per man, an average of 7,000 days, and 10 men have been employed at laying stone, for which we have paid citizen masons employed on the work $2.50 and $3 per day who did no better work than the convicts, you can form some estimate of the saving to the State from the use of convicts. "I have at all times, in the making of these improvements, utilized convict labor to the fullest extent possible. In the construction of the 140 new cells all the labor was done by convicts, under the supervision of a foreman from the fac- tory, which was the only outside labor employed. In masonry work there has been a citizen foreman, and part of the time 5 or 6 citizen masons, as we found only 2 or 3 stone masons among the convicts. From this time until finishing there will be none but convicts employed, except the foreman. "I find by comparison that the earnings of the men on contract amounted to $74,947.22, a decrease of $11,320.57, as compared with the previous biennial report. One reason for this decrease is on account of the shoe contract going out March 1, 1894, and also by modifications of the contract now in force between the State and the Iowa Farnnng Tool Company and the Fort Madison Chair Company, whereby the Farming Tool Company reduced the number of men working on their contract from 155 full pay men to 132, and half-pay men, or lumpers, from 11 to 9, a reduction of 25 in the aggregate and a reduction in price per day of the 132 men remaining from 50 cents per day to 45 cents per day. There was also a modification of the chair company's contract to run from June 1, 1896, to June 1, 1898, whereby the price of labor was reduced from 50 to 40 cents per day on the full number of men employed, the number of men was reduced from 130 to 120. These reductions were made upon a showing by the contracting firms of business depression and the fact of manufacturing articles piling up on their hands, the chair company making a sworn statement showing conditions corresponding with their claims, and the tool company also making showing to siibstantiate their claims. Notwithstanding these drawbacks, and with an increase of 65 men in average number of men confined, I have been able to keep up the general support fund and turn over during this biennial period $11,000 as surplus earnings to the State treasurer and have now on hand to the credit of that fund $7,265.51, besides contractors' notes to the amount of $9,826.90 and $3,000 due from contractors unsettled." Convicts in the penitentiary at Anamosa are employed in quarrying stone to be used in constnicting the prison, and engaged in the industries connected there- with, such as tailors, making prison clothing and discharge suits, shoemakers, and other like industries, all for the support of the prisoners, and in the care of the institution. The warden of the Anamosa penitentiary, in his report for the year ending June 30, 1897, says : " The question of conWct labor, however difficult of solution, is imperative in its supreme importance. To remove the State labor out of the reach of interested competitors it would have to be removed out of this world. Every act performed 94 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. by a prisoner could be done by free labor; and if all the prisoners of the State were prohibited from doing what some men could do, and would like to do, then a sentence to ' hard labor in the penitentiary ' would be ridiculous in the super lative degree. It does not require a very astute mind to discover that the State is sandwiched between two stubborn difficulties. It can not perform a single act without coming into conflict with what is termed ' free labor.' It can not remain idle, for it is under sentence ' to hard labor in the penitentiary.' And to attempt to escape the dilemma by farming out the State labor at a mere fraction of its real value only aggravates the seriousness of the situation. A glance at the results of this method can not fail to satisfy any clear-headed man that the policy is a dismal failure. It fails to bring the State any just recompense, save that of ridi- cule. It fails to offer any incentive to the convicts. The paltry siim paid for their services is an insult to their frayed manhood. It fails ingloriously to reach any harmonious results in the world. The reason is plainly told by the complaints of those who are operating plants within penitentiary walls. They complain of boycott and systematic opposition from manufacturing firms that are paying higher wages for the same class of service performed. The result could not be otherwise. Where is the solution of this vexed question? Not in idleness, for this has been weighed in the balance and found wanting. Not in ruinously low prices for prison labor; that only aggravates the difficulty. It is a dismal fail- ure. Let the State demand and receive for its labor the same wages that are paid for the same class of labor in the outside world, and the difficulty disappears." Prisoners in the county jails are for the most part unemployed, except iipon minor duties about the prison, as there is no provision in the statutes for a guard to work the convicts. The cities of Cedar Rapids, Sioux City, Davenport, and Independence furnish a guard and work the prisoners on the streets. The inmates of the industrial school are employed in the domestic duties inci- dental to the institiition ; also in making and mending their clothing and in studying. KANSAS. The inmates of the State penitentiary on June 30, 1899, were employed as fol- lows: Under the contract system, in the manufacture of furniture, 76; in the manufacture of boots and shoes, 41; runners for these shops, 7. Those employed by the State were distributed as follows: Two hundred and sixty-one in mining coal for use in the penitentiary and other State institutions; 30 in (piarrying stone for use in the penitentiary buildings and for building the State road; 15 on build- ings being erected by the State; 60 in the kitchen, bakery, and dining room of penitentiary; 45 in the engineering department for light and power at the peni- tentiary; 18 in breaking stone for road use and cutting stone for building; 53 in laundry and State tailor shop; 36 in caring for cell houses; 51 in prison yard and general miscellaneous work (this includes many cripijles and invalids); 14 on State farm raising products for the use of the penitentiary; 13 in and around penitentiary stables; 14 carpenters, tinkers, and blacksmiths in State shop; 15 cooks, nurses, etc., in hospital and insane ward; 9 insane prisoners; 97 clerks, runners, roustabouts, etc.; 25 at brickyard making brick for use of State insti- tutions; 39 on State road. In the large cities jail prisoners are employed generally in street work. The smaller cities and county jails, as a rule, furnish no employment for jjrisoners. The State reformatory and the State reform school furnish mostly farm worlt for prisoners. From the eleventh biennial report for the State penitentiary, for the years 1897 and 1898, it appears that — " During the year ending June 30, 1897, there were employed at the coal mine, working on the State-account system and in mining coal for the use of State institutions, an average of 292i convicts per day working 309 days, and during the year ending June 30, 1898, there were an average of 313.08 convicts iier day working 310 days. The convicts were also engaged in farming and in gardening and macadamizing public roads." PRISON LABOR. 95 The employment of the prisoners is commented upon as follows: " Toward the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1897, and during the early part of the fiscal year just closed, it seemed impossible to provide labor for the prisoners, but with the experience with one siimmerwe have found a way to fully employ this labor, so that- during the last 7 months of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1898, we sold the hitherto unprecedentedly small amount of 30,515 bushels of market coal. In this connection, I feel it inciimbent upon me to say that the dis- position of this labor is a question xipon which your honorable body should make explicit report, and recomnaeud to the governor, and through him to the legislature of the State. I hold the employment of this labor by any party or parties for private gain to be wholly wi'ong. There is no reason why the labor of the wards of the State should result in profit to a single individual, nor is there any reason why this labor can not be directed into channels that will result in profit to the State at large, nor at the same time be detrimental in the way of comj)etition to a single free worker, organized or unorganized, in the State. To sum up, this labor should be used in preparing the material for the erection of public buildings, in manufacturing for the various educational and charitable institiitions such articles as can be readily made here but can not be made in the charitable and educational institutions." The second biennial report of the Kansas State Industrial Reformatory, 1898, states that — " The inmates are engaged in cooking, washing and laundering, tailoring and shoemaking, blacksmithing and carpentering, stonecutting and masonry, all of which are fairly successful, besides farming and stock raising. I would suggest a recommendation by the board to the legislature for improved machinery in all these departments of labor, that our graduates may be on equal footing in their trades when paroled. "So far our shoe department is confined to hand work, and, while answering institution needs, does not fit a tradesman for first-class competition. Our laundry supplies are of ancient pattern also, and our kitchen furniture and methods very meager. I also ask that the board consider a recommendation as to putting the inmates of this institution on some footing of earnings, as the penitentiary pittance at least." KENTUCKY. Convicts are worked iinder the lease or contract systems and also under the puldic-account system. The board of prison commissioners, in their annual report for the year 1898, state: ' ' When we took charge of the penitentiaries we found that at the Frankfort penitentiary 400 convicts were leased at 35 cents per man for each working day, and 050 convicts were being worked by the State in the manufacture of chairs, the output of which was sold to a contractor at a stipulated price per dozen chairs. • • Since the present board has been in existence they have succeeded in con- summating a contract for the leasing of the labor of 650 convicts at the Frankfort penitentiary at 40 cents per day per man, which, in addition to -100 previously leased at 35 cents per day, will relieve the State of any expense on account of the penitentiary. There are now on hand from 100 to 150' idle convicts, for the labor of which they are now advertising for bids. '•At the Eddyville penitentiary there are about 500 convicts, 225 of which are now leased at 35 cents per day, and they are considering bids for leasing of the remainder of able-bodied men. It wall be a difficult matter to place this peni- tentiary on a self-sustaining basis at the i^revailing prices of convict labor, for the reason that nearly all the expen.se of running a large penitentiary, viz, sal- aries for warden, deputy warden, pliysician, chaplain and guards, light, fuel, etc., have to be i)aid, Init all able-bodied convicts are leased. •• Labor is recjuired of every convict in tlie penitentiaries whose physical con- dition will ])ermit. This is not done solely for the purpose of increasing the rev- enues of the State. It is universally conceded by every officer in charge of a penal institution in the civilized world, and by all who are in a position to speak from the light of experience and close observation, that employment is ab.so- lutely essential as a preventive of discontent and restlessness among criminals, or, for that matter, any other class of individuals, as well as being tlie most potent reformatory factor. 96 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. " As the avowed object of our penitentiary system is to reform as well as punish the violator of the law, it will be the aim of the management to, if possible, return the convict to society a better man, qualified to earn his living in a legiti- mate and honest manner, stimulated in courage and moral purpose, and with a self-respect and self-reliance he never knew before, created by a consciousness of his equality with his fellows in the battle for existence." The warden in his annual report for 1898 makes the following recommendation : "As you are, of course, aware, I took charge of the prison as warden on the 1st day of last Atigust. I found the shoe and broom factories running with profit to the State; they being controlled by the Mason and Foard Company, with convict labor leased from the State. I found the chair factory, which is the chief indus- try of the penitentiary, running on what is known as " State's account" unsatis- factory and unprofitable. I would, therefore, respectfully recommend and urge that the contemplated change to leased labor be made as soon as possible, as the only means by which the prison can be put upon a self-supporting basis." A State reformatory is now being erected. Prisoners in county jails have, as a rule, no employment other than that inci- dent to keeping the buildings and surroundings clean. LOUISIANA. The convicts at the State penitentiary are employed entirely under the "lease system." The warden, in his annual report for the year 1898, states that — " The average death rate for the twelve years preceding the appointment of a State warden is lOi per cent; since the appointment of a warden the death rate has been a little over 6 per cent, and this would have been still more reduced had it not been for the use of the convicts during the extreme high water in the spring of 1897. They were moved about in boats and barges to meet the exigencies of the occasion and were deprived, to some extent, of the care and comforts of camp life. While our death rate appears large in comparison to other prisons, it must be borne in mind that the work done by our prisoners is almost exclusively levee building, which is situated in the malarial districts of the State, and is acknowl- edged to be unhealthy work. " While, as a principle, I do not favor the lease system, I do not think that the State, under like conditions, could take better care of the prisoners than do the present lessees. " I have made monthly visits to the different camps, and while a few cases of brutality were reported to me, in every case it was the act of some subordinate, and the parties so offending are not now in the employment of the lessee. " It has been my duty, on several occasions, to make suggestions as to clothing, sanitation, etc., and in every instance my suggestions have been promptly car- ried out." Prisoners in the parish jails, as a rule, have no employment, except in New Orleans, where they are employed in cleaning the streets, public market, and parks. MAINE. Convicts at the State prison are employed under the public-account system in the manufacture of carriages, harness, furniture, and brooms. The inspectors of the prison in their report for 1898 state that they are fre- quently asked why the prison is not nearer self-sustaining, and they give the following reasons: " First. About 30 per cent of the prisoners are received each year on sentences as a rule of from 1 to 3 years each; by provisions of the revised statutes they are allowed 7 days off from every month for promptly obeying prison rules; this leaves the actual time served for a 3-years' sentence 2 years 5 months 8 days; for a 2-years' term, 1 year 7 months 15 days; and for a 1-year sentence, 9 months 23 days. They come with no trade or knowledge of the industries prosecuted at this place, and before their labor is of any value to the State they are discharged. Their labor is therefore of very little actual value to the State. " Second. Every prisoner on entering is furnished a new prison suit; on leaving a new citizen suit. The expense of travel from the place of sentence for prisoner and officer in charge is borne by the State, and the State pays in cash to each PRISON LABOR. 97 prisoner not less than $5 or more than $10 to pay travel home. The last two items alone cost the State for the year just closed $1,502.40. " Third. The unusual expense necessary to prison discipline, not known to sim- ilar industries outside of pnson walls." The warden in his report for the same year states that a large per cent of the convicts, on account of bodily infirmities, are utterly worthless in any mechani- cal work, and in order to keep that class of convicts out of idleness he leased a few acres of land near the prison and put them at work, and the result of their labor for the year is as follows: Ten thousand five hundred ears of sweet corn, 300 bushels of potatoes, 200 bushels of turnips, 4,000 heads of cabbage, 5,070 cucumbers, 85 bushels of shelled com, 50 bushels dried beans, 60 bushels string beans, and 18 tons of hay. He recommends that the legislature authorize the purchase of land enough for the use of the prison, thereby saving the amount paid out for rent. A number of the county jails are provided with workshops where the prisoners are engaged in making heels and inner soles for boots and shoes, which are sold to shoe manufacturers. The heels are made from scraps of leather purchased from shoe manufacturers as waste leather. The leather is cut into convenient pieces by use of dies, which makes considerable work. The convicts also make what is called " pan cake,'" which is made of piece of leather too small to cut, but is pasted together in sheets about a foot square, pressed, and cut with a machine into the shape of a boot heel. The jails in a few of the counties are leased with the labor of the convicts. In speaking of their visit to the York County jail, which is leased in this manner, the inspectors state: ' ' The fourth quarter inspection recently made was very unsatisfactory. It was Saturday afternoon when prisoners are excused from the workshop. There were 119 all roaming the corridors at pleasure; no discipline whatever; the corridors, cells, and bedding in a very filthy state." The inmates of the State reform school are employed at farm labor, dairj-ing, tailoring, and much of the time in building, making roads, grading grounds, etc., for the institution. Some are also employed in cane-seating chairs on the piece- price plan. The farm is regarded as an important factor in the reformation of the inmates. Their time is divided between manual labor and school work. MARYLAND. According to the annual report of the directors and warden of the State peniten- tiary for the year 1898, the convicts were constantly employed under the contract system and in other ways, and performed their duties in a way most satisfactory, the nonproductive prisoners being only 8| per cent of the entire number. There were 775 prisoners employed under contracts; of this number 79 were engaged in the manufacture of furniture and plumbers" marble; 163 in the manu- facture of hollow ware and foundry woi'k; 494 men and 39 women in the manu- facture of boots and shoes. In addition to these 71 were engaged in manufactui'- ing supplies for the institution and in necessary work connected ^\^th the same. In 1897 the net earnings amounted to $27,871.84, a gain of $10,508.41 over 1896. In 1898 the net earnings amounted to the sum of $29,180.71. The per capita cost for the support of the prisoners for the year was $100. 08f, against $97.38f for the previous year. Inmates at the house of refuge at Baltimore are engaged in the general work incident to the care of the insti tution and in manufacturing supplies for the same A number of them, averaging about 70, are employed under the contract system. There is no regular system for the employment of prisoners in the coiinty jails, and as a result most of them are kept in idleness. 250a — VOL III 7 98 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. MASSACHUSETTS. The employment of convicts in the State prison, reformatories, jails, and houses of correction is now restricted, by the law of 1897, to the pu])lic-account system, except upon the industries of cane seating and making umbrellas, which may be conducted under the piece-price system. When prisoners are employed on public account, the principal officer of the prison purchases the raw material, makes it into commodities, and sells them in the market, the same as an outside manufacturer; when employed on piece-price system the materials are furnished to the prison by an outside manufacturer, who pays for the labor of the prisoners by the piece, instead of by the day, as under the contract system prior to 1887. In all cases the tools and machinery are sup- plied by the prison. Sometimes the instructors are also paid by the prison, and sometimes by the manufacturer; but, however they are paid, they must in all cases be appointed by the principal officer, with the approval of the general superintendent of prisons. It is provided in the laws relating to the labor of prisoners that all of the industries, both in the State and county institutions, shall be under the supervi- sion of the general superintendent of prisons, and the following information is taken from his report for 1898: ' ' The different kinds of work carried on at the State prison during the year are described in the following paragraphs: "A small number of prisoners are employed in making paper boxes, part of which are used in the State prison and part in the Massachusetts reformatory. The work is all done by hand and furnishes useful occupation. ' • Thirty-five prisoners are employed at brush making. The goods produced consist of dustbrushes, windowbrushes, etc. These are sold, by the superintendent of that industry, under the direction of the warden. "Another industry carried on by hand is harness making, in which some of the prisoners acquire a good degree of skill. Harness of various kinds and qualities is ijrodiiced, and as the work is well done, the product commands good prices. "An agreement was made in 1898 for a term of 5 years for the employment of prisoners in the State prison in making clothing on the piece-price system. The principal articles of manufacture at first consisted of colored shirts, but toward the close of the term other articles were substituted. Upon the expiration of the agreement the business was discontinued. " Prior to the 1st day of January about 300 i)risoners were employed in making boots and shoes, but on that date the number was reduced to 200. The goods made here, consisting of men's and boys' shoes, are sold by an agent, under the direction of the warden. "Various styles and grades of trunks and suit cases are made. This is a small industry and furnishes very little occupation. It can not be enlarged, as the stat- utes restrict the work to a few prisoners. "Early in the year an experiment was made in a small way with chair work for the prisoners confined in the solitary prison. It was found, however, after a short trial that the income from the labor of these prisoners would not pay even the small salary of an instructor, and no permanent arrangement was entered upon. " In addition to the industries carried on for purposes of revenue as well as occupation, some hand work has been done in the State prison in the way of sup- plying articles for the institution. • ' At the reformatory prison for women the inmates are engaged in making cur- tains and other small articles by the piece; also in manufacturing shirts and laun- dry work, [n addition to the mechanical industries some of the inmates are given work in connection with the farm, on the land as well as in the dairy, and looking after the poultry. ' ' At the State reformatory cane seating is done on the piece-price system by a small number of inmates. This work is used mainly to furnish occupation for the prisoners in the third grade. " A small number of prisoners are engaged in printing. Some cash income is derived from this business, but the greatest benefit received from it is the useful instruction it affords. PRISON LABOR. 99 " Before the new law took effect more than 300 prisoners were engaged in mak- ing shoes. On January 1, however, tlie number was reduced; and since that time not more than 175 have been in the shoe vshop at once. Owing to the change from piece price to public account, there was a great interruption to this bu.siness, and at one time only 7 prisoners were at work. A good quantity of men's and boys' shoes are made. They are sold in the open market by an agent appointed by the superintendent. " The making of chairs has been carried on at the reformatory for a number of years; and it was therefore considered advisable to continue this industry, at least until other work could be provided. Wood chairs of various kinds are made and sold under the direction of the superintendent. '■ In addition to the work already described, there has been started at the reformatory the largest industry yet established under the statute of 1898, for the employment of prisoners in making goods for the use of public institiitions. " Other useful occupations for the inmates are provided by the trade schools, which laave been maintained through the year in the same manner as heretofore. A great deal of work has also been done in clearing and grading land recently acquired by the institution, and some crops have been cultivated. " At the State farm there was on the average 160 convicts employed in cane- seating chairs, and the net earnings amounted to $23.43 for each prisoner emx)loyed. Aside from the cane seating, the principal occupation is the cultiva- tion of a large tract of land. ' ' By chapter 413 of the acts of 1897, which became operative on the 1st of Janu- ary, 1898, all piecework, except cane-seating chairs and making umbrellas, is forbidden in the prison. In compliance with the terms of that act, notice was given late in 1897, in all but two cases, that the piece-price agreements would be terminated on the 1st of January following. The two exceptions were the manu- facture of clothing at the State prison under an agreement made in 1893. for a term of 5 years, and containing no provision for its termination or notice, and the manufacture of shoes at the Lawrence House of Correction on a similar agree- ment. These agreements have now expired, and at the date of this report the only piece-price work done at any of the prisons is upon the two industries exempted by the statute of 1897. " The establishment of the different kinds of work needed to produce goods for the use of institutions by labor of prisoners has progressed as rapidly as circum- stances will allow. It has been necessarj' to exercise great care in the selection of the places where articles are to be made, as it is essential to the success of the experiment that they shall be entirely acceptable to the officers required under the law to purchase them. It is the purpose of the general siiperintendent to make this new work serve as far as possible the interests of the prisons producing the goods, and it is equally his purpose to regard the interests of the institutions buy- ing them. Experiments requiring the expenditure of money are not practicable to any extent, because under a statute of last year the prison industries must be maintained by their own receipts. It will therefore be understood that this work can not be undertaken without careful scrutiny of the prison population for the purpose of determining whether it will furnish the required skill or adaptability. •' Soon after the passage of the law a shop was opened at the State prison for the manufacture of shoes by hand labor for institution use. These shoes are not as nicely finished as those iiroduced by machinery, but they are well made and have been generally satisfactory to the officers using them. It is the intention to imt into them as good material as is used in shoes selling for the same price else- where, and it is hoped that the hand labor may add to their durability, and thus enhance their values to the institutions. •' The State prison has alst) sup])lied some brushes to other places. For the con- venience of the officers, the general superintendent has de.signated the State prison to furnish one kind of brushes and the East Cambridge house of correction another kind. "The largest industry yet established under the statute of 1898 is the cloth making at the Massachiisetts reformatory. Woolen cloth, in all respects good enough for institution use, is now produced there, and considera])le quantities of it have already been sold. As far as known it has been satisfactory. All the weaving is done (Hi hand looms, and many other processes are performed without the aid of machinery. "A shop for the manufacture of clothing was established at the Massachusetts reformatory. So many orders have been received for clothing that another .shop will be started at tlie State prison. All the clothing in both places will be made of cloth produced at the reformatory. "As soon as the most advantageous place to establi.sh a general shop can be selected a number of small articles will l)e made for the use of institutions. As already noticed, the industries must be self-supporting, and it is necessary to 100 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION, proceed with great caution in order to avoid a financial loss. The expense of superintendence and instruction miist bear so large a proportion of the cost of goods that only an insignificant return will ever be likely to come from the labor of prisoners employed in this way. "It is pi'oposedto manufacture hosiery for the use of institutions as soon as the needed capital has been accumulated in any prison having a population capable of performing this work, which will be done by hand power. "A few blankets have already been made at the Massachusetts reformatory, and it is proposed to put this industry on such a basis that all the institutions can be supplied with blankets produced on hand looms. "In September a conference was held with all the principal officers of the public institutions of the State and counties, and samples of the goods in general use were exhibited for the purpose of inspection and comparison. From the testimony at the conference and the samples submitted, information has been gained as to what has been mainly purchased by the officers and what is most likely to be acceptable to them. " The first list of articles published in accordance with the law was issued by the general superintendent in September, and it included boots, shoes, and slippers, brooms, brushes, cabinetwork, clothing, furniture, harness, mats, and rugs, shirts, tinware, and woolen cloth. All the articles named in this list are now made in the prisons, as far as possible, by hand power. The list of articles and materials will be enlarged from time to time as the industries are extended. " There has never been anything in the statute to prevent one institution from buying goods of another; and, in fact, the law of 1887 seems yet to require that prison-made goods shall be so used. Nevertheless, in the entire 11 years of the operations under that law no appreciable amount of work has been obtained in this way. That such employment can be provided by proper direction is shown by the fact that in the first month under the new law, when only a few industries were established, several thousand dollars' worth of goods were sold to the nstitutions." The prisoners in the county jails and houses of correction, except where there are only a few or where they are temporarily retained awaiting trial, are as a rule engaged in some mechanical or manufacturing industry under the piece-price or public-account systems. MICHIGAN, A sufficient number of the convicts are employed doing the work of the prisons. Those not required for this purpose work at productive labor of various kinds, such as making agricultural implements, furniture, clothing, etc. Some of these industries are carried on upon State account; others are carried on by contractors who hire the convicts of the State. The contract system and the State-account system exists in all the prisons, and in all of them the prisoners are employed on State accoimt or in working for contractors, as found best for the State. In the State prison at Jackson 300 convicts are employed in making and laun- dering shirts; 175 in making agricultural tools; 25 in woodwork for wagons; 30 in monumental granite work; 40 in making brooms, and 20 in making boxes and packing cases. In the house of correction at Marquette 100 convicts are employed in the manu- facture of cigars under the piece-price system, the contractors furnish the mate- rials, and the cigars are made at a stated price per 1,000; 40 convicts are employed in the manufacture of overalls, jumpers, jean pants, and duck coats under a con- tract for a fixed price per day per convict, and 60 convicts are employed on the prison farm, in engine room and kitchen and at other work on State account. The State-account system predominates in the employment of convicts at the house of correction at Detroit. In the house of correction at Ionia 244 convicts are employed under contract in making and laundering shirts, and 60 in knitting cotton socks, while 148 are employed in miscellaneous prison work. The prisoners in the county jails are kept in idleness, except in a few instances they are employed in cleaning the premises or possibly in breaking stone in the jail yard. PRISON LABOR. 101 The inmates of the State reformatories are employed under the same systems that are in use at the prisons. In the institutions for juvenile offenders the inmates are taught industries, and are emiiloyed, to some extent, in producing articles for use in the institutions, and sometimes for sale. The industrial school at Lansing has a farm of 260 acres, on which the boys are taught farming, and raise the vegetables required for the institution. In the car- penter shop 75 are taught woodwork, and do all needed repairing. In the tailor- ing and shoe departments all the clothes and shoes required are made and repaired. There is also a printing shop and other departments in which trades are taught. The board of control of the prisons of the State, in their annual report for 1898, give the following information concerning the j^rison systems: "Formerly the law required all convicts to be let to contractors if possible, and provided that those only be employed on State account who could not be let to contractors. This is changed now. Prisoners can be and are worked on contracts or on State account, as may appear the 'most beneficial to the State.' They are not let to contractors if, in any case, they may be employed on State account to better advantage. No prejudice exists in the prison boards in favor of one system of work as against the other. Indeed all the prisons carry on industries on State account, as well as on contracts, and all will increase State account work over the contract system whenever this mode will be more beneficial to the State than the contract system. "As to the convict, he is treated the same, and has the same opportunities when he works on contract as when he works on State account. He remains in charge of the same prison officers in the one case as in the other. He is never in this State put under the control of contractors. "In the Michigan State Prison the cost of maintenance above earnings was only $10,229.87 a year for the two years ending June 30. 1898. For the calendar year 1897 the deficiency was only $998.69. During the two years $20,000 only' were drawn from the State treasury for maintenance of the State prison at Jackson, and for the calendar year 1897 only $4,000, of which all but $998.69 remained unexpended January 1, 1898."' Before closing this report I feel that I should say a word regarding labor. This question has been the subject of much discussion during late years, and seems to be far from settlement. Since 1888, when I gave utterance to my views on this most important and necessary division of i^rison government, in my annual report for the year, I have had no reason to change them in any particular; and therefore at this time I will quote you what I then said: "In selecting and planting prison industries, find out and adopt the intellectual and the mechanical — the finer and the coarser mechanical work. Select the diffi- cult and the remunerative, anything that will interest, awaken, and enlarge the mind and the skill of the man. and in which he will see a fair remuneration for free, honest work. The prisoner should never be employed on what is not salable or remunerative. Employ the jirisoner upon the moral, the esthetic and the ele- vating. Give him instruction in the purer and best paying arts; when practicable lead him into the most abstruse and absorbing pursuits of science and also assign him work in the hardest drudgeries of maniial toil. But as success in prison management is desired, never employ a man in labor that is not intellectual, or is not a paying industry. That which is to be sought in these things as employed in prisons is the union of pxTblic and individual interest, variety of labor, versa- tility of thought, and the better ai)plication of taste and of skill, and an improved l)ubiic spirit constantly arising, and an intelligent trend of social life maintained in the prisoners, a life which shall lead to a disdain of meanness and wrong. Let these means and others be employed until a generous and dignified public spirit shall arise and be cherished and maintained. This jn'ocedure may be slow and costly, but it is the only antidote for crime." MINNESOTA. The convicts at the State penitentiary are employed under the State account and piece-price systems. The manufacture of rope and cordage, and of high school .scientific apparatus, is carried on under the State account system, and about hail" of the prisoners are engaged under the piece-price system in the manufac- ture of boots and skoes. 102 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. The board of managers and warden of the State prison, in their Inennial report for the year ending July 31, 1898, give the following information concerning the industrial operations of the institution : "There have been several important changes made in the industrial manage- ment of the institution during the past two years, the most im])ortant of which is the introduction of the 'piece-price system 'as provided bylaw (chapter 154, general laws of 1895), the introduction of a new industry on State account for the manufacturing of high school scientific apparatus, and the enlargement of the twine factory." ' ' Under the ' piece-price system ' we entered into a contract with the Union Shoe and Leather Company to furnish all materials for the manufacture of boots and shoes ; to keep steadily employed for a period of 8 years not less than 200 prison- ers, and to take the finished product at so much per piece, the work done to be classified according to its quality and nature. Under this system the manage- ment is enabled to exercise better control over the prisoners. It affords a larger discretion in assigning prisoners to work best adajited for them, and to make such changes, from time to time, from one kind of work to another as the best interests of health and temperament may dictate. From every point of view we find the ' ])iece-price system ' an improvement over the old system of contract labor. We also find that it has yielded equal, if not better, results to the State financially."' ' ' The manufacture of high-school scientific apparatus was commenced under State account nearly two years ago, and is gradually growing, under very satis- factory conditions, This has proved a very interesting and important industry, in that it provides skilled mechanical labor of a high order for our prisoners, yet does not compete or interfere in any way with any industry of like character in the State. It has also proved a great benefit to the schools of the State finan- cially, as we have been able to manufacture and sell them the apparatiis at an average cost of at least one-third less than they have been obliged to pay to East- ern manufactixrers. At the same time it has been a success for the State finan- cially, and has yielded good, substantial returns from the start. We are much in favor of a gradual extension of this industry. "We regret to say that the twine factory did not give the protection to the con- sumers this season that it should and naturally would have given under more favorable conditions, or the protection that the management fully intended v^'oiild be provided tinder the plans which have been in force for the sale of the prison twine diiring the past five years. ' ' Early in the life of the twine plant it was found imjiossible to dispose of the product direct to the farmers. The first year, with a product of only 300,000 pounds, over one-half was carried over. Conditions were but little better the second year, though the management made every possible effort to get the farmers to buy direct from the prison. At this period it became plainly apparent to the management that if the twine plant was to live, maintain a healthy growth, and fulfill the hopes and expectations of its creators, as well as to fulfill tlio spirit of the law creating it, some arrangement would have to be made whereby the sale of each year's product could be made certain. Sound business judgment dictated it, and this purpose was accomplished by getting the country dealers and farmers' clubs to handle such portion of the output each year as could not be sold to the consumers. Under this arrangement it was disposed of in carload lots at one-half cent a pound less as an inducement to dealers and farmers' clubs to handle it. The prison twine was soon conceded to be equal to the best in quality and was popular, biit the farmer who is accustomed to buy from a dealer in his own town preferred to get it when he wanted it and with no trouble to himself, and generally on 60 or 90 days' time, rather than send his order and cash direct to the prison, and yet the fact that he could always send his order direct and get the twine at a price only one-half cent higher than the dealer or farmers' club paid for the same twine in carload lots was a complete and effectual check again^-t overcharge on their part. Up to the present year the plan has worked well and gave general satisfaction to the farmers. In fact, this method of handling it created such a lively competition that in the majority of cases the farmers got the prison twine on time from their local dealers fully as cheaply as they could get it by sending their orders with cash direct to the prison. Our ovitput this season was about 5,000,000 pounds. The requirement of the whole State was about 17,000,000 pounds, and 800,000 pounds were reserved for direct orders from the farmers — a much larger reserve than usual, and more than we have ever been able to sell direct any preceding season. "All of our industries have become so productive of good financial results that we are pleased to be able to show that the institution has became much more than PRISON LABOR. 103 self-sustaining dnring the past two years. Our earnings during the past two years have been $244,768.48, and our total expenditures §201.121.08, leaving a net gain of $43,647.40. The flancial showing of the institution is very gratifying to the management, and from the best information we have been able to gather we believe that there is not another institution of this character in the United States making so favorable a showing financially." No work is provided for the inmates of the county jails. The inmates of the State reformatory are employed in different industries, as shown by the following quotations from the biennial report of the board of managers for the two years ending July 31, 189.5: "Our population has been employed in the different trades aboiit as follows: "Quarrying and dressing granite, 40; the various building trades, 30; black- smithing, 8; cooks, waiters, butchers, and domestics, 16; engineers, firemen, plumb- ers, steam fitters, and tinners, 10; greenhouse, gardens, farm, stock, and teamsters, 40; tailoring, etc., 5; bakery, 2; laundry, 2; shoemaking, 3; printing office and book- binding, 1 ; creamery, etc. . 1 ; clerks in office, store, and library, 8. "Except what we have been able to sell, the product of our granite industry is now incorporated in oiir new buildings. "Our next largest industry is farming and gardening. During the past 2 years the last of our 700-acre farm has been grubbed and broken, the old land has been well dressed, and all is now in a good state of cultivation. " We this year raised 3,500 bushels of corn, 1,800 of oats, and have 350 tons of good hay. We have milked an average of 50 cows — more than supplying the institution with milk and butter. We are raising 60 calves, besides those used for veal, and have now 175 head of cattle. "We have raised ample fresh pork, and have hams, bacon, and lard for the coming year. We have in store fresh vegetables of every kind for the year, and much in roots for stock, and also have a large quantity of preserved fruit, vege- tables, and pickles. "lam still of the same opinion expressed in my report 2 years ago, viz: 'As most of our inmates come to xis without trades, and are here on an average of only about a year, and nearly all do farm work while on parole, I question whether we can do a l)etter thing for them, or for the State, than to utilize our 700-acre farm to train many of them in farm, garden, small fruit, stock, dairy, chicken raising, and other similar work. If, by making it as attractive as pos- sible, we can interest a few of these boys in such work, so as to cultivate a liking for country life, will it not pay?' "One-half the number, and probably more in value, of our inmate labor is constantly employed in making permanent improvements for the State, which are proportionally as much assets to the State as the new capitol at St. Paul. " I feel that the education of our inmates, to vigorous, useful, cooperative labor, resulting in stately buildings, in a well-improved, attractive farm and stock, affording the necessaries and many of the comforts of life, in the making of clothing and everything for protecting the body, and with all the employ- ments and economies of family and community life in daily operation before their eyes, and in which eacli one of them is a useful worker, is a practical education never to be forgotten by them." MISSISSIPPI. Convicts at the penitentiary are worked under the lease or contract system, and are engaged principally in agricultural pursuits. The following quotations from the biennial report of the board of i-ontrol of the State penitentiary for the years 1896 and 1897 show fie methods under which the convicts arc employed: "Inasmuch as it is now demonstrated that the State can, -VAnthout any danger of financial loss, employ its convicts in agi'icultural labor upon lands owned by the State, the board respectfully submits and earnestly recommends for considera- tion the proi)osition that the State should not delay any longer the purchase of suflBcient lands upon which the entire prison population may be jjlaced perma- nently at farm and agricultural labor. " The lands thus i)urchased should be grouped togeth<>r, if not all in one tract, and sufficiently near to be difectly controlled by one central headquarters, and of quick and easy access to each other. A more perfect administration of the police 104 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. of the prison would thus be secured, as -well as the economical management of the labor of the convicts and the general operations of the penitentiary. "The system of contracting with landowners, for planting operations on the shai'e plan or any other basis, is unsatisfactory, biat could not be avoided by the board under the conditions of the penitentiary. " The State owns 3 farms and has worked 10 other farms, three of which they rent for so much money per acre, and the other 7 they work on what is known as the ' share system,' the landlord furnishing the land, teams, etc., and the State furnishing the hands, and dividing the crop equally. "The chief aim of the penitentiary authorities, and those who have the man- agement of convicts in hand, shoiild be, first, to xise every effort to cause the death rate to be as small as possible; second, to have as few escapes as possible; and third, to make as good financial showing as possible after the first two objects have been accomplished. " The contract method involves the annual breaking up and moving of convicts from place to place, thus involving the State in great and unnecessary expense. Besides, it is not compatible with a uniform and systematic prison discipline, nor those sanitary regulations that can only be put in operation in a permanent establishment. It is impossible for the State to provide the convicts and officers with the kind of buildings and structures that a State should provide for one of its institutions. '' These considerations, in the estimation of the board, are not only impor- tant, but are controlling, in the adoption of a permanent basis for the State prison, and we earnestly recommend that the board of control be authorized by legislation to sell such lands as they have by experience found to be unprofitable, and use the money so realized, together with the funds in the hands of the treasurer to the credit of the penitentiary, and to assume such obligation as may be necessary to purchase good, productive woodland, and clear same for use by the State." MISSOURI. The prisoners at the State penitentiary, with the exception of those employed in the incidental work of the institution, or in manufacturing supplies for the same, are worked within the prison walls, under the contract system, and are engaged in the manufacture of saddlery, brooms, boots and shoes, clothing, and other industries. The warden, in his biennial report for the years 1897 and 1898, states: "That at the beginning of his administration there were 1,100 male convicts working under contract, and that during the two years the number was increased to a daily average of 1,362; also that there are 60 females in the penitentiary, and 25 are working under contract, and with more room the entire number could be contracted." The male prisoners in the coimty jails in some of the counties, and at the work- house in St. Louis are worked on the public roads, also at quarrying stone and in doing necessary work on the premises. The female prisoners at the workhouse at St. LoTiis sew, scrub, w^ash, and do general housework of the institution. The inmates of the house of refuge in St. Louis manufacture the clothes, shoes, and other supplies used by the institution. MONTANA. During the year 1898 the convicts at the State prison were employed as brick masons, stone masons, carpenters, and in other occupations in erecting the peni- tentiary buildings, doing all the work of building, except the superintending, in a satisfactory manner. During 1899 they had no emploj'ment beyond cleaning the buildings and other work incidental to the work of the institution. , The inmates of the State reform school are employed in the various duties inci- dent to the management of the farm, and caring for the buildings and grounds, and the domestic labor of the school. During the spring and summer a majority of the boys are kept employed planting, hoeing, and cai'ing for the crops, also PRISON LABOR. 10") handling and caring for the live stock. The laundry furnishes practical work for some of the older boys, and quite a force of boys is kept busy in the boys' building; and in the kitchen the boys learn the practical part of baking and pre- paring food. The girls are employed in the kitchen in the girls' building, in the sewing- room, and in the general diities of the hall and dormitorj', and in caring for the building generally. The prisoners in the county jails are, as a rule, not employed. In the city jails they are sometimes employed on the streets under the " chain-gang system." NEBRASKA. According to the report of the State penitentiary for the year ending December 1, 1898, the prisoners were engaged in the manufacture of cooperage and brooms under the contract system, also in work incident to the care of the institution and in the manufacture of supplies and the cultivation of farm products for the use of the same. The cooperage contractors employ 110 prisoners, paying the State 35 cents per man per day for the labor and $175 per month for steam power. The broom (^"^i- tractors employ 95 prisoners, and pay from 37^ cents to 45 cents per day per ii .n for labor. The shoe shop has recently been established by the State, where 7 prisoners are employed, manufacturing shoes for this and other State institutions. The warden recommends that a law be enacted authorizing the sale of all peni- tentiary lands located in different counties throughout the State, and, from the money realized from such sale, land for f ai'ming purposes to be purchased as close as practicable to the penitentiary. The State has paid $424.50 in the last year for the lease of 190 acres of land near the penitentiary, which amount could be saved if the State would purchase land as stated. He also recommends that $534.45 rent, collected from penitentiary land located in different parts of the State, be placed to the maintenance, penitentiary, special labor fund. The inmates of the State industrial school for juvenile offenders are employed in various industries and educational pursuits. Farming and gardening are important industries conducted at the institution, and the superintendent recom- mends the acquisition of more land and the extension of farming pursuits. NEVADA. The warden of the State prison reports that there are only about 60 convicts, on the average, confined there during the year, and that their time is occupied in cooking, washing, and ironing, tailoring, and the miscellaneous duties incident to the institution. NEW HAMPSHIRE. The convicts at the State prison are worked uiider the contract system, a fixed sum being paid per day per convict, and the State having general control of the convicts. With one or two exceptions no work is done by the prisoners in the county jails, there being no system for their regular employment. The inmates of the State industrial school are employed on the farm connected with the institution, also in the general work incident to the care of the buildings and manufacturing the necessary supplies; also, under the contract or piece-price system in the manufacture of ho.siery. The State furnishes the building, power, heat, and light, and the contractor employes the inmates when they are not other- wise engaged. 106 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. NEW JERSEY. The convicts at the penitentiary are employed under the piece-price system. The State furnishes the labor, power, and room, and the contractor furnishes the tools, furniture, and materials. The contracts are made for 4-year periods and at fixed prices per piece, dozen, gross, or yard, as the case may be, of the articles manufactured. A number of the prisoners were also employed in making up articles of clothing for both male and female prisoners, and in making the bedding used throughout the iDrison. The official report of the industrial operations of the prison for the year 1898, states — " That the average number of prisoners employed during the year upon contract work was 5794, and the number employed in the necessary work of the prison was 251 , making a total average of 8'S7^ employed during the year. The coniinited value of the services of those engaged in ordinary labor is 45 cents per day, and of the skilled labor employed at mechanical work 75 cents per day. " The anticipated increased number of prisoners, whose employment was profit- Cj^Je, and the increased value to be derived from their labor ,was fully realized, as Tli-;^ average number of men employed was 579, while the average number employed cAring the preceding year was 426, an increase of 153 men, Avhile the increase in revenue from the labor of prisoners employed was $19,104.85." The prisoners in some of the county penitentiaries, jails, and workhouses, are employed in quarries and in making macadam for county roads, also under the piece-price system and in the work incident to the care of the buildings, while in others no work is supplied for them. The inmates of the State industrial school for girls and of the State reform school are employed in various mechanical industries of a reformatory and educa- tional character, also in making supplies for the institution, and at the reform school in manufacttiring brushes under the State-account system. NEW MEXICO. The convicts at the Territorial penitentiary are employed in the construction of the capitol buildings, enlarging the penitentiary, in the manufacture of brick and lime, and also in farming on a small scale. All these industries are under the direct control of the penitentiary officials. The superintendent in his report for 1898 states as follows: "Although the work on the extension was commenced in May, 1897, but little progress in the erection could be made, as the rebuilding of the Territorial capitol and the making of brick for the same required sometimes more men than the actual working strength of the prison was able to supply. But in the face of these obstacles, 2,341 cubic yards of excavations have been made, and the dirt carted away; 440 yards of concrete spread; 1,941 perches of solid stone founda- tion placed, and upon this foundation 2,150 linear feet of rough ashlar wall, rest- ing on 250 linear feet of nicely cut water table, has thus far been erected. ' ' The steady increase in the number of convicts makes it an imperative neces- sity to complete the new cell house. This can be accomplished under favorable conditions within 6 months. " There are now some notable instances of native criminals at this prison who have always followed an idle life that have developed here into skilled and industrious workmen; no longer shirking labor, but eager to execute and proud to display their work. Two years ago our convicts commenced to learn the dress- ing of stone in the prison yard, and to-day we have a dozen convicts who may justly be ranked as first-class workmen. A few good carpenters, quite a nuinber of expert bricklayers, some plasterers and blacksmiths, tailors, and even skilled photographers have been employed. " It is necessary to place the Territorial penitentiary on as near a self-support- ing basis as possible. The wisdom of this is plain to everyone. It is also equally true that industries should be taken up which will not interfere with the usual employment of the industrious, honest, and worthy wage earners of the land. PRISON LA150R. 107 " This matter has been carefully investigated, and it is believed that the follow- ing machinery will supply the best means of carrying out the object above stated: "A brick press of sufficient capacity to furnish employment to a consideral)le number of men. This machine is needed more especially for the reason that the present one has been in constant use for 5 years and is practically worn-out. The manufacture of brick has been a source of much revenue to the Territory. Aside from the number sold, over 6,000,000 have been furni.shed different Territorial institutions, representing a saving to the taxpayers of about S30.000. By putting in this new machine the capacity of the penitentiary brickyard will be materially increased, and the earnings of the institution added to in a proi)ortionate degree. "Second. Machinery to manufacture terra-cotta lumber, which includes the manufacture of sewer pipe. This industry is unknown in New Mexico, and a ready market will be foimd for the product as far south as Mexico." The prisoners in jails are, as a rule, not employed. NEW YORK. The penitentiaries in this State are county institutions, and are intended for the detention of short-termed convicts committed thereto for minor offenses. There are 6 in the State. Counties not having penitentiaries of their own send this class of convicts, by contract, to the penitentiary of some other county. The convicts in some of these penitentiaries are now (June, 1899) employed in the manufacture of products for use in coimty institutions; but in some of these penitentiaries the new law has not yet gone into active operation, owing to the fact that at the time it was enacted the i^enitentiaries had existing contracts under a former system, which have not yet expired, and which the courts have held they are bound to fulfill notwithstanding the enactment of this law. It is the intention of the law in this State that all convicts sentenced for terms exceeding one year shall be sent to State institutions known as " State prisons " or "State reformatories." The convicts in this State are employed either in doing the work of the institution in which they are confined or in the manufacture of products for the use of that institution, or for the use of the State or its institu- tions, or for the use of the political divisions of the State or their institutions. No product of the prisons is sold in the public markets. The goods made in the prisons are furnished to the State and the political divisions thereof and to the State institutions at a piice determined by the board of classification, consisting of the comptroller, the State commissioner of prisons, the superintendent of prisons, and the commissioner of lunacy, and is intended to be as near the iisual market price for such labor and supijlies as possible. The industries in which the convicts shall be employed are determined by the State commission of prisons. The following quotations from the report of the State commission of prisons for the year 1898 show the present condition and the future prospects of the industries in the prisons and penitentiaries: " The industries in the State prisons have been very successful during the fiscal year ending October 1, 1898. The object of the law (to give employment to the convicts, as required by the constitution) has been accomplished, and it lias been done in such a way as to remove the unfair competition of the old system, which liad forced an abandonment of some industries. There is a revival of the brass industry and the manufacture of iron hoppers for use in sanitary closets, and of other industries that had been nearly driven out by the competition of those speculat- ing contractors for prison labor, wlio were often not taxpayers, and were able to make a market i)rice of such goods so low as to drive out the mainifacture by free labor. There are no more complaints of the ' sweat shops,' which constituted a great social evil, growing out of the effort to compete with the manufacture, through contracts for prison labor, in the production of women's calico and ging- ham wra])pers and gowns at 50 cents per dozen, waists at 30 cents per dozen, men's trousers at 75 cents per dozen i)airs, and fine laundered shirts at 30 cents per dozen. Yet. as stated, the convicts are more fully employed than before, and the State is receiving the full value of their labor. " The labor of about one-third of the convicts in each prison is re(iuired in manufacturing supplies for the prison, laundry work and repairing, and as clerks, 108 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. engineers, waiters, cooks, firemen, care of cellars and corridors, etc.. abont the institution. " The sales of manufactured goods have been very large, and demonstrate the fact that the convicts, not only in the State prisons, but in the penitentiaries and other institutions, will be kept fully employed in the production of goods for use by the officials and institvitions of the State and its political divisions. " It is now practicable to figure out the amount received for labor of convicts in the State prisons tinder the new system. This makes a good showing, and indicates that with the natural increase of production and the regularity that will come from experience and management the convicts will earn enough to pay the cost of their maintenance. " The estimates for 1898 and 1899 have come to the commission more promptly and for larger amounts than for 1897. The satisfactory quality of the goods, the promptness with which requisitions are filled or certificates furnished to permit purchases in the open mai'ket because of inability of the prisons to i^romptly fill the orders, the general relief from the importunity of the salesmen, and the economy to the institutions in getting the goods without paying commissions or wages of agents are elements that make the new system more attractive than was expected. •' The i>enitentiaries are all situated in or near large cities, and are in populous counties where are many public works and institutions to be supplied. The field is ample for the employment of the convicts in those penitentiaries, now that the number to be emjjloyed is so greatly reduced. " In each of the penitentiaries the clothing for the inmates is made from the cloth purchased of the State institutions, and they make their own boots. They can therefore well extend those industries to the maniif acture of clothing and boots and shoes for the county poor and for the various institutions in each county. " The ' tramp" class, which is generally useless for any other purpose, can be employed in breaking stone for use in road and street building. Convicts can be employed in the manufacture of wheelbarrows, street brooms, picks, shovels, trucks, and other tools used in road building and other public works. They can make mattresses and many other supplies for hospitals and asylums. In Kings County a large number have been employed outside the walls in excavating, grad- ing, setting curb, and the like; also in ditching and grading the almshouse farm; rebuilding, painting, and otherwise improving and repairing county buildings and hospitals, thus returning in substantial improvements more than was received under the former employment by contractors, which caused such unjust compe- tition with manufacturers by free labor. " For the most part the convicts in jails in this State are not employed. Pris- oners are not sentenced to jails in this State usually, except for very short terms. In a few counties the prisoners in the jails are enaployed to some extent in work on highways. In the reformatories in this State at the present time the con- victs are employed in doing the ordinary work of the institution in which they are confined, and in the manufacture of the prodiicts to be used in that institution; and during all the rest of their time they are employed in industrial training and instruction. In these reformatories no products are manufactured for the State or any other institution or for sale in the market." The advance summary of the reports of the superintendent of State prisons and the State commission of prisons for the year ending September 30, 1899, shows that there has been a decrease in the sales of goods manufactured in the three State in-isons, which is explained to be due to the competition of the State insane asylums and other institutions. The total sales were $494,720 in 1898 and $394, .lOl in 1899. The net earnings of these prisons from labor in 1899 are given at $54,000. Meantime there had been some increase in the sales of goods manufactured in the various local penitentiaries and the reformatories. The commission of prisons concludes as follows: "All things considered, the present industrial system of employing convicts has made satisfactory progress, and is furnishing a reasonable amount of employ- ment to the convicts, and a remuneration to the State as gi-eat, if not greater, than the system superseded by the new constitution, and that in a little more time, when the output of prison-made goods has been more accurately adjusted to the demand and the difficulties incident to the establishment of new industries and the purchase of prison-made goods by public officials have been overcome, the earnings of the convicts will be largely increased and the system will be even more successful than at the present time."' PRISON LABOR. 109 These reports show a slight decrease in the number of prisoners in the State prisons, and a considerable decrease in the number in the penitentiaries. The number of prisoners becoming insane in the State prisons was 54: in 1897. 52 in 1898, and 45 in 1899. The question is raised by the reports whether any or all of these reductions are due in any degree to the change in the system of convict labor. NORTH CAROLINA. The able-bodied convicts at the State penitentiary at Raleigh are employed about as follows: Nine-tenths on State farms, producing corn, wheat, rye, cotton, pea- nuts, vegetables, etc., for the maintenance of the institution and for market: one-tenth in the manufacture of brick on State account; one-twentieth in the machine and repair shop; one-twentieth in the mattress factory. State convicts are also worked under lease or contract by railroad companies. The board of directors and the general manager of the penitentiary report that farming operations during 1898 were more extended tliaii ever before. " Two new farms have been added, namely: The Tillery, on the Roanoke, and the rice farms on the Cape Fear River. The former is operated on the cropper system, the penitentiary furnishing supervisor, overseers, guards, and convicts to make the crop, and getting one-half of the products. " There have been cultivated 265 acres in rice, which is now being thrashed, and the yield is estimated to be 10,000 bushels. On 5,300 acres we have produced 3.283 bales of cotton, the largest amount ever before produced on the State fai-ms; but at an average of 4^ cents, it is not encouraging to one who would hope to make this great business self-sustaining. On about 4,350 acres there have been made 73.700 bushels of corn, which will be twice as much as wall be needed for support. About 500 acres were planted in peanuts, and the j-ield has been about 9,000 bushels, a poor yield, the season being bad for them. Eight hundred and five acres were sown in wheat and produced 7.320 bushels, 5.394^- bushels of which are stored at the Weldon Mills, Weldon, N. C. , to be ground into flour. Fourteen hundred and eighty acres were sown in oats, and produced 24.075 bushels, and many more woiild have been saved but for the extremely wet season in harvest. There have been cultivated in all crops over 12,800 acres, being llf acres for every man and woman convict, old and young, sick and well, in the penitentiary, and 16 acres to every man and woman, old and young, sick and well, who were on these fanns to labor, and about 39^ acres for every horse and mule. "lam satisfied that at the present prices of farm products, with its too exten- sive farming operations, its aggregated enormous rents, its exceedingly large guano bills, its great expense to keep up the supply of team and tools, together with the diminution in convicts, with just as many ofl&cers. overseers and guards to pay as it would be if there were several hundred more convicts, the peniten- tiary can not be self-sustaining. " It therefore ought to be brought down to a narrow scope, and possibly it were better if one or two of the best farms were purchased by the State and farmed all together in provision crops. " The operation of the machine shop has been confined entirely to repaiiing. "Finding it very necessary to send the women to the farms to help gather the crops, the laundry was operated for only ten months. During this period it was run at its full capacity. What machinery is now in the laundry is about worn out, and I feel confident, with new and improved machinery, that the female prisoners ■oill l)e of more pecuniar}- benefit here than elsewhere. " We have made in the shop this winter 2,073 pairs of shoes, in addition to doing the general repair work of the prison. " We have made and burned 9 kilns of brick of 225,000 each, and have now on hand, hard and saluKm: Hard, 7.800; salmon. 237.544. "The shirt factory since last March has been operated, employing on an aver- age 70 prisoners. In the past 60 days there has been a laundry established in con- nection with the shirt factory. emplo>ang 25 prisoners. Federal prisoners are almost exchisively used for this work. "We cultivated 35 acres in a garden, which gave the officers and prisoners abundant supply of all kinds of vegetables and added much to the health and comfort of all. After being supplied witli summer vegetables, we now have on hand a sufficient supply of turnips and potatoes to last during the winter." Prisoners in jails, and in fact all convicts other than those sent to the State prison, are worked on the public roads. 110 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. NORTH DAKOTA. According to the biennial report of the trustees and warden of the State peni- tentiary for the period ending Jnne 30, 1898, the convicts were engaged princii)ally in agricultural pursuits, a portion of the product being sold and the rest being consumed in the institution. The convicts are also engaged in the manufacture of brick under the State account system. The warden states that, "The above-named industries are the only ones that can be carried on, as the law now stands, out of which a revenue can be obtained, as there is a large part of the year in which little or nothing can be done in either, and as the work about the institution and grounds, including the capitol and execiitive mansion, affords employment for less than one-quarter of the inmates, it is readily to be seen that the proposition of furnishing employment for all the inmates all the time, as required by law, is a difficult one if not an absolute impos- sibility." OHIO. The convicts at the State penitentiary that are not required by the State to care for the institution and manufacture supplies for the same are employed under the piece-price and contract systems. Under the piece-price system the State receives for the product of the labor of the prisoners a price agreed upon between the board of managers of the penitentiary and the firms or individuals doing business at the institution. The prisoners remain in the complete control of the State, while the contractor pays for the product of their labor, and it is claimed that this does away with the criticism of the old contract system, viz, that the convict's daily task imposed by the contractor was greater than it should be. Now, the State, through its penitentiary officials, prescribes the task, care being always taken so that impossibilities are never required of the prisoners. All contracts made since 1884 have been under this system. The contractor pays only for the finished and accepted product. The losses during process of manufacture, when such occur, do not burden the contractor. During the year ending October 81, 1898, the revenue from the work of the con- victs under the piece-price system was $114,379.84, and under the contract system $80,944.71. The work performed by the convict is such as will enable him to secure when discharged jn-ofitable employment at labor similar to that performed by him while in prison, where he was not hindered or prevented from being self-supporting on discharge by teaching him trades at hand work while the outside used machinery. The prisoners in the county jails have no employment. At the workhouse in Cincinnati there are about 340 male prisoners, and about 200 of them are employed under the contract system. Of the 65 female prisoners 10 are employed under contract. The prisoners not working under contract are employed as far as pos- sible in the general work of cleaning the buildings and in manufacturing supplies for the institution. The Cincinnati house of refuge is rather a home and a school for the training of iinfortunate children. "A large proportion of the children who come under its care are committed as homeless, and all are sent there more to escape the vicious influences of others than in consequence of their own evil doing. The whole course of the discipline, therefore, is paternal and not punitive. There is a constant pressure upon the child encouraging him to habits of industry. Each inmate is required to attend the school and to devote a definite portion of the day to the learning of some useful trade." PRISON LABOR. Ill OKLAHOMA. The Territorial convicts are kept in the Kansas Penitentiary by contract, the rate heretofore having been 25 cents per day. In April of this year, however, the Kansas authorities stated that, owing to a lack of employment even for their own prisoners, they conld no longer keep the Oklahoma prisoners for less than 50 cents per day. A contract was finally made with the Kansas authorities to retain the Oklahoma prisoners for 35 cents per day, the contract to run for 1 year, and until terminated by 60 days' written notice by either party. During the present year the Territory has expended for the transportation and care of its convicts $18,320.13, an increase of $1,715.83 over the preceding year. The prisoners in the c(ninty jails have no employment, and in some cases siJend their time reading and playing games. OREGON. An act of the legislature of 1895 authorized the employment of the convicts at the State penitentiary under the contract system, and the majority of them were so emi)loyed during 1898 and 1899 in the manufacture of stoves; others were engaged in manufacturing supplies for the institution, and also in the manufacture of brick for the use of public buildings, and on the farm and gardens of the prison as well as other work incident to the care of the penitentiary and other buildings. The superintendent of the penitentiary in his report for the two years ending December 31, 1898, states that — " The expenses incurred two years ago in ditching, tilling, and grubbing the lands belonging to the prison have resulted in the stoppage of land renting", and the returns from these new fields of farm and garden products are far beyond the amounts required for prison consumption. " No brick has been made on the prison yard since 1895. The State ought to make some provision by which brick would be made at the prison yard the coming season. There is on hand now about 5,000 brick, and the demands of the various institutions can not be met with this number. ' • The public highways run through the penitentiary land for three-qiiarters of a mile. To improve this section of the road was considered a part of the duty of the prison management. To bring the roadbed vip to the required grade 3,780 yards of dirt were hauled, and 1,160 loads of gravel completed the job. No better piece of dirt and gravel road can be found in the State. The cost in labor was 213 days ^\'^th team and 1,023 days work of men." There is no system of employment for prisoners in jails. PENNSYLVANIA. In the Eastern Penitentiary, at Philadelphia, the work of the convicts is per- formed entirely within the cells. In the Western Penitentiary, at Allegheny, the convicts are worked in workshops. By an act of the assembly approved June 13, 1883, the contract system in the prisons and reformatory institutions of the State was abolished, and it was directed that convicts be employed for and in behalf of the State. The number of convicts that may be employed in dif- ferent industries is also limited. The effect of these laws on the industries of the two institutions named above is shown by the following quotations from the annual reports covering the years 1897 and 1898. The report for the Eastern Penitentiary calls attention to the growing tendency there and elsewhere to abolish or restrict labor in penal institutions, and states — " That there can be no justification for such legislation. It answers no good piirpose. It is idle to suggest that it protects outside labor. The output from all the prisons in the State, if run to the utmost, would be small and could not dis- turb the labor market to any appreciable extent. It is merely sentiment, and can not stand fair iuvestigaticm for a moment. A father would not be com- 112 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL (SOMMISSION. mended, who had four sons, one of whom was bad, if he should forbid the bad one to do any work because he was bad, and should require the other three to support the bad one in idleness. " The act of assembly of the 18th of June, 1897, specifies that not more than 5 per cent of the whole number of inmates shall be employed in the manufacture of brooms, brushes, or hollowware, or 10 per cent in the manufacture of any other kind of goods, wares, articles, or things that are manufactured elsewhere in the State. Why 10 per cent? If the above is good legislation, it would be better to abolish labor altogether. Ninety per cent of 1 ,267 jiersons in the Eastern Peni- tentiary forbidden to work for years. There never could be placed on a statute book more monstrous legislation than this. It is a disgrace to the intelligence of the nineteenth century. Every iirisoner should be compelled to work — to work hard 8 or 10 hours every day. It would produce greater reformation in the char- acter of the prisoners than all other means combined. The act produces a strange contradiction. Every prisoner sent to the Eastern Penitentiary is condemned by the law to solitary confinement at hard labor, and yet this act forbids putting 90 per cent of those thus sentenced to any labor whatever. "It is frequently contended that imprisonment causes mental disorder. The wonder is that all prisoners incarcerated for years and forbidden to do any work, living in absolute idleness, do not go raving crazy. In the name of humanity this act and all such should be abolished and the fullest employment given to prisoners. " It was on October 22, 1829, that the first prisoner was received into the peni- tentiary, and from that time to the present, a period of 70 years, 20,016 have been received, convicted of crimes of every character. Each one of that great num- ber was subjected to individual treatment, and I confidently believe was bettered both in health and morals by the treatment received. ' ' Many efforts have been made during the last decade to improve the condition of prisoners in what are known as congregate prisons in this country by offering inducement to good conduct, such as good-time law, that is, deducting time off the penalty pronounced by the court; the ticket-of -leave mark system, here called indeterminate sentences, and parole, formerly known in Great Britain as the Irish system. The parole scheme is now very generally advocated by those favor- ing congregate prisons or reformatory institutions. Large beneficial results are claimed for it. It is even stated that 80 per cent of the prisoners paroled are reclaimed from crime life. "All such estimates are and must be untrustworthy. They are mere guesses. They are not backed by any authentic statistics of the subsequent life of dis- charged convicts. It is true that some of the reformatories who parole the better portion of their convicts do, during the time of such paroles, keep some oversight of them. It is also true that many of the paroled prisoners fail to live iip to the conditions of the parole, and many of them disappear altogether. All reports from sources professing to give any definite proportions of convict reformations are guesses, dependent on the temperament of the guesser, and can not be relied upon for scientific or statistical purposes. " From a long continued and intimate association with criminals as prisoners, I have a strong conviction that the best results are obtained from separate con- finement. This view is sustained by the penologists of the whole world outside of the United States. I have for many years endeavored to follow the subseqiient life of j)i-isoners, and however successful I have been, I must refrain from stating actual numbers or percentages, as my observations and information are frag- mentary and can not be reduced to figures or percentages capable of proof. It is doubtful whether the adoption of any legal plan for obtaining information might not, on the whole, do more harm than good, for the reason that it is obviously to the interest both of the convicts and the community that those discharged, who really desire to pursue an honest life, should quickly and imperceptibly be merged into the general l)ody of society. '•The labor act of the last legislature, as interpreted by Attorney-General McCormick, only permits one industry for the manufacture of goods for the open market to be carried on and only 10 per cent of the population of the penitentiary to be employed at that. "Ten per cent of the inmates are employed on hosiery, the remaining 90 per cent are in idleness, except such as can be employed in repairs about the place and making clothes, shoes, blankets, and other articles used by the prisoners." The report of the Western Penitentiary states that owing to " The embarrassed conditions (if labor in the prison, resulting from the restrictions placed upon its methods by the law passed by the last session of the legislature, the law, with its radical changes, particularly w^ith reference to its limitations as to the number PRISON LABOR. 113 of prisoners to be employed upon various industries, lias thrown out of work and into enforced idleness one-half of our prison population, a condition which you will agree with us is to be gi-eatly deplored. " The law referred to is an act of the general assembly, approved the 18th day of June, 1897, directing that all work shall be performed by hand or foot power, and limiting the number of prisoners to be employed upon productive industries in the prisons of the State. The immediate result of this law was, as we iiave stated, that exactly one-half of the number of our men hitherto employed here in manufacturing goods for sale are now idle, and must largely remain so until remedial legislation is enacted. " This idleness became so irksome and injurious to those who were taken from the shops that measures were promptly taken to give relief, so far as possible, by creating nominal positions, and work of an extensive character was undertaken in improvements upon buildings and grounds, giving employment to some during all the summer months. An electric-light plant has been constructed largely by prison labor. Work of excellent character was performed in wiring the build- ings and erecting a power house, employing many young and able-bodied men upon valuable labor now nearly completed. We wish more labor could be fur- nished as likely as this to be helpful on release from prison. " We were instructed by eminent counsel that the provisions of the bill referred to permit the employment of 5 per cent of the prison population in making brooms, 10 per cent in making hosiery, and 20 per cent in the manufactiire of cocoa mats and matting, with power to add other industries, upon which 10 per cent of the prisoners may be employed. Acting upon this legal interpretation of the bill, the necessary changes were made in the shops. Subsequently we learned that the attorney-general of the State had given an opinion to the industrial reformatory, in which he held the ground that if 5 per cent of the whole number of inmates were employed on anyone of the industries named in the act with that limitation, ' it would seem to be impossible to employ any others in the manufac- ture of other kinds of goods.' Similar language is used if work of 10 or 20 per cent limit be selected, concluding as follows: • Difficult as it may be to under- stand the reason for the legislative enactment, * * * the employment of the inmates would therefore be 5, 10, or 20 per cent of the whole number, as the case might be.' " Other institutions ceased at once all productive labor. Work was continued here throughout the year, but only on industries previously established, as we feared to hazard investments in new plants until further legislation made the meaning clear. We are ad\dsed by those who framed the bill and took part in the debate that the interpretation given to it by this prison conforms to the inten- tion of its framers. ' ' We desire to note that by the limitation to the use of hand-power tools and machinery, one or two details in finishing mats and knitting tops for hosiery, upon which not exceeding 4 persons are emijloyed, had to be jjerformed in shops outside, entailing a direct loss of $4,275.70 to the prison. "We liave, as briefly as possible, called your attention to the scope and results of the i^resent law, and we have confidence that our legislators will make the effort to apply such remedies as are necessary to i-elieve the present difficult situa- tion. You can readily see that the enforced idleness of such a large number of prisoners is a most serious matter. It is not merely irksome, but pernicious in its results to the prisoners. Steady employment, whether in a prison or upon the outside, is a power of incalculable value in the maintenance of order and in the promotion of good habits. Idleness fosters discontent, lawlessness, and disorder. It is particularly so in prison life, and idleness inevitably results in the demoraliza- tion of the prisoner, often ending in his physical, mental, and moral ruin. "Since the opening of this prison, some seventy-three years ago, its manage- ment, in their reports from time to time, have emphasized the necessity of useful and interesting labor, and its ameliorating influences upon the prisoner, and also its effective aid in helping to reduce the burden of support devolving upon the taxpayers of the counties from whence the prisoners are sent. It is deeply to be regretted that in the assaults made ui)on prison labor the estimate of its competi- tion with outside labor has been so greatly exaggerated as to create an unwar- ranted prejudice in the minds of many against any form of productive labor in prisons. "Statements of this character were the immediate cause of the passage oil tlie present law, and there may be danger of further retrograde movements by legis- lative enactment if legislators, who are legally intrusted Nvith the care and pro- tection of the prisoner as a ward of the State, are not 'on guard." 250a— VOL III 8 114 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. '• The subject of convict labor has been a very perplexing and annoying one to legislators, and we do not wonder that they are anxious to have some satisfactory plan adopted having the merit of permanence. We understand that the Pennsyl- vania legislative commission, appointed to investigate this question, are prepared to present their report at the present session of the legislature, and will doubtless accompany the same with the draft of a bill in harmony with their suggestions. We sincerely trust that thear conclusions may receive the serious consideration they deserve, and that such a plan may be evolved as will furnish steady and use- ful emplojTiient for prison inmates. Anything less than this we are convinced will be only temporary." The wardens of some of the county prisons report as follows: Berks County prison, at Reading: Only 10 per cent of the convicts are employed. The 90 per cent are idle, except the few who are employed in the general work incident to the institution. Delaware County prison, at Media: Two convicts are employed in weaving car- pet, 2 knitting stockings, 3 toeing stockings, 2 caning chairs, and the balance sew- ing carpet balls. Montgomery County prison, at Norristown: Ten i)er cent are employed in weav- ing carpet or knitting stockings and caning chairs. Chester County prison, at West Chester: The convicts are employed in scrub- bing and baking; the women in making clothes. They also weave cloths, sheet- ing, and drilling, cane chairs, weave carpets, sew and cut rags. The superintendent of the Allegheny workhouse states that the institution being a corporation, did business like any other manufacturing establishment and employed the inmates, and as many thereof in manufacturing as the trade -pev- mitted or required. "Recent legislation abolishing machinery in prisons made the manufacture of cooperage with unskilled labor impossible, and hampered the manufacture of brooms and brushes. A further restriction, that only 5 per cent of the inmates could be employed allows work for only 80 men out of a total of 600 on brooms and the same niimber on brushes. The balance have to be idle, except such for which remunerative work can be found around the prison. "The above restrictions are practically an abolishment of all remunerative employment, as no business can be carried on satisfactorily that can not accomo- date its consumers when in need of goods. " It may so happen that the business season is brisk, requiring more goods, while the number of prisoners falls off, reducing the number to be employed and reduc- ing the output." The inmates of the House of Correction, Employment, and Reformation, at Holraesburg, Philadelphia, are employed in quarrying stone from a quarry owned by the city, and on the farm connected with the institution, as well as on the roads and highways in the near neighborhood. Inmates of the reform school at Morganza are employed in producing articles required for use in the institution, and are taught bricklaying, blacksmithing. painting, carpentering, typewriting, mechanical drawing, etc. RHODE ISLAND. The convicts at the State prison are employed under the contract system, at rates ranging from 40 cents to 50 cents per day per convict, in the manufacture of boots and shoes. The convicts at the Providence County jail are employed in the same way, at 20 cents per day per convict. A contract was made in 1892 for the employment of 150 convicts in making boots and shoes, for 3 years. In 1895 this contract was renewed, and again, December 1, 1898, it was renewed, each time for the same period and under the same conditions. During the past year the contractor employed an average daily number of 220. Another contractor employs 12 men upon wive goods, as he has done since 1878. The short-tei-med convicts have been employed, as in past years, in farming, PRISON LABOR. 115 gardenings and quarrying and breaking stone. It is estimated that over 2.000 tons of stone have been broken by them of suitable size for macadamizing roads. The superintendent of the workhouse and house of correction states that — "The routine of labor has been followed as usual during the year, the skilled inmates doing the repairs of the institution to a large extent, and the women mak- ing and mending clothes, washing, ironing, etc. The men work largely out of doors, farming, breaking stone, clearing the land, and building roads. • ' As no large work of construction was going on the past year requiring the labor of the prisoners, it was possible to give more attention to the farming, and the result was that the crops were larger than usual." SOUTH CAROLINA. At the State penitentiary in May, 1899, there were 246 convicts hired out under leases to farmers, at $6.50 per month per convict, the State furnishing clothes, shoes, medicine, and medical attention, also transportation. One hundred and fifty-seven were worked on 3 State farms, raising jjroducts for consumption and for sale; 263 on State account in a hosiery mill inside the prison walls, and 120 in the prison yard and hospital, discharging the duties incident to the care of the institution. Prisoners in the county jails are usually worked under the chain-gang system on the i)ublic highways, but in a number of counties they are given no employment. SOUTH DAKOTA. The warden of the State penitentiary states that there is no definite system for working the convicts, and that he finds it difficult to keep them employed, except during the summer, when they are worked in the stone quarry and on the farm; also that there is no definite system for the employment of prisoners in jails. The board of charities and correction of the State, in its report for the years 1897 and 1898, states: "The penitentiary farm and garden is an important factor in the support of that institution when managed, as is now the case, by intelligent and practical methods, and it is the intention and policy of the board to add to the farm domain and increase the opportunities for farm labor as the wisest and best means for furnishing useful and healthful employment to the prisoners, an emploj-ment not only demanded for their physical well-being, but conducive to their moral improvement and tending toward the formation of industrious habits in a class of persons whose misfortunes and crimes in many instances have been due to temptations which beset them because of a lack of useful employment, and possibly because they were ignorant of all useful avocations. "The penitentiary is located in the immediate vicinity of immense rock deposits, and its chief industry is the qtiarrying and cutting of stone for the use of the State in erecting its public buildings. A large number of convicts are constantly employed in this industry, and thus far there has been a demand for all that could be furnished, a large proportion of the output for the past 3 or 4 years having been used in constructing the magnificent walls surrounding the penitentiary, which was brought to completion during the past shimmer, and is said to be the finest and most substantial work of the character in the United States. "The stone used in the construction of the girls" dormitory at the reform school, and also in what is known as the boiler house, were furnished by the State through the agency of the con\acts at the penitentiary, where the stone was quarried and prejjared for use." The superintendent of the reform or industrial school states that — "The (iuestion of furnishing em])loyment for the imuates during the year is a •luestion that is difficult to solve with the means at his command. During the sju-ing, summer, and early fall months he is able to find work for all hands — but wlien the work on the farm and in the garden is a thing of the past, he has several conditions as well as theories confronting him. He is not in favor of placing the industrial school in the position of desiring to be a competition of outside free labor, but the enforced idleness of the inmates drives him to the conclusion that it is not the part ol theorists to frown upon any and every attempt to provide mechanical industries for those who are being cared for by the State." 116 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. TENNESSEE. The State maintains all its convicts, and works over one-third of them in the State mines and on the State farm. Several hundred are worked on the piece- price system in foundry, hosiery, and other industries. The remainder are hired by the day to work in small factories inside of the prison walls. From the report of prison commissioners and j)rison officials for the year ending December 31, 1898, it appears that the convicts at the main prison were employed as follows: ' ' Two hundred and twenty -five in the manufacture of hosiery, 15 manufacturing paper boxes, 110 foundry labor, 80 chair and carriage manufacture, 80 saddlery and harness, 160 shoe manufacture, 80 brick manufacture, 50 on the farm and gar- den, 25 cooking and washing, etc., 25 mending and making shoes, clothes, and prison supplies. ' ' The prodiict in no one line is of sufficient importance to seriously compete with any industry employing free labor. In none of the lines in which the pro- duction is the heaviest is there similar manufactures in this State to a large extent. The most extensive output from the prison is shoes and ladies' and children's hosiery. These articles are not those of extensive manufacture in this State. " The product of manufacturing establishments in the penitentiary is not only produced largelj- from material obtained from Tennessee and surrounding States, but three-fourths or more of the output is sold without the State, the hosiery in the North, the hollow- ware and castings, the saddles, harness, etc., in the South- ern States, and the shoes and rattan chairs, baby carriages, and brick are sold in Tennessee and adjoining Southern States. The goods produced by the manufac- turers operating with convict labor are not of the usual low grade, tinderquality produced in prisons, but are high class of their kind, etjual to the product of simi- lar manufactories operated witli free labor, and are all sold at full market rates. Most all manufacturers have striven for qiaality rather than quantity, so as to sell their goods at full market prices of their worth and merit. They have found no necessity to cut prices because their goods are produced with convict labor. " The crystallization of public opinion in favor of a change in the State's peni- tentiary system found its response in an act known as "the penitentiary act," passed by the forty -ninth general assembly, providing for the abolition of the lease system and the erection of a new main prison, and the purchase of a farm in connection therewith, and the purchase of coal lands and the opening of a coal mine thereon, thus providing for the care and maintenance of the convicts. " The operations of the mine have been carried on with but little interruption. The total number of days idle during the year, excluding Sundays and national holidays, was 11^, eight of which were attributable to shortage of railroad cars. This result, in view of the past records, is particularly gratifying and saliently emphasizes the splendid physical condition of the plant as well as the watchful- ness of all employees. The result of the continuous operation of the mine is an increase in tonnage of 47,339 tons over the previous year. The total net tonnage for the year was 271,681. " The excellent physical condition of the men, as indicated in the decrease in the average number of men sick and idle, is a potent argument of their humane and proper treatment. The good moral, financial, and physical con- dition of this branch of the system, if we mistake not the temperament of the enlightened people of this great Commonwealth, who through their representa- tives have expended nearly three-quarters of a million of dollars for the express purpose of improving the moral and financial condition of the penitentiary sys- tem, should be a source of some satisfaction, at least to the lovers of the State. ' ' The State has expended on this branch of the penitentiary system a total of $189,688.24 more than it has received, and has to off set this expenditure a property that is worth at a low estimate, based on its earning capacity, $500,000, leaving an approximate profit to the State of $310,311.76, less the amount of interest charges." In most of the more populous counties the prisoners in the county jails are employed in building roads or in working on the county farm. In the other counties no employment is furnished for prisoners of this class. PRISON LA.BOK. 117 TEXAS. The convicts at the State penitentiary are eruployed almost entirely in agricul- tural pursuits and on railroads, either under the contract or piiblic account sys- tem, they are also engaged in working farms on the share-crop plan, and in manufacturing for sale on public account and for use of the institutions. The following quotations from the report of the superintendent for the 2 years ending October 31, 1898. indicate the character and result of the work of the con\"icts: •' It is an absolute requisite to bodily health and welfare that all men, physi- cally able, should be employed. Work is necessary to the body and mind alike, in order to maintain mental equilibrium. The inmates of the penitentiaries, wherever physical condition will permit, are kept employed, this being the best remedy for disease, both of body and of mind, work having a great tendency to improve the moral standard of the man, besides helping him to preserve his self- respect, which is an important factor in influencing his behavior and conduct. " The capabilities of the convict are considered in assigning him to any duty, and strict obedience and compliance with all orders are in all cases insisted upon. •'First-class convicts working under contract on cotton and sugar farms are paid for at the rate of $19.50 per month, and on cotton farms alone at the rate of |l8 per month. The second-class hands on cotton farms are paid for at the rate of S16.50 per month. "In considering the above figures, the fact should be taken into account that the State supplies furniture, bedding, clothing, medical attention, pro-snsions, transportation, etc. •' Tobacco for prison consumption has been raised at the Wynne farm for the last 6 years. This has been so successful that last year a tobacco farm of the same class was instituted at Woodlawn. near Rusk Prison. The tobacco from Woodlawn is shipped to Huntsville, being manufactured at this point, and the amount of tobacco produced on these farms forms a large proportion of the total quantity consvimed in the penitentiary system. Habana or cigar tobacco is also cultivated for sale. •'The State farm at Harlem consists of 2,788 acres of fertile land, of whi?h there are about 2,200 in a high state of cultivation. This tarm has proved a financial success, as demonstrated by the financial receipts, besides sho-^ing the wisdom of the policy of employment of all short-termed convicts on State account. •'The class of labor used on this farm are second-class convicts, who are not suitable for contract forces where first-class labor is required. The average number of convicts on this farm for the two years just ended was ITI. "It will be noticed in the various inventories of prisons and farms, that we are raising a large number of hogs, which reduce expense to a considerable extent in reference to meat supply, etc. ••My policy, from the beginning of my connection with this dei)artment. has been to manufacture and raise on farms ever\"thing possible that is necessary for the maintenance of convicts. '• The net receipts from the railroads working convicts under contracts for the last two years are $84,486.59, as against $81,013 shown in my last report. The net earnings for the last two years per capita per month being $9.47. as against $7.12 for the two years ending October 31, 189G. ' • The plan of hiring out short-term c-onvicts was adopted many years ago , and has been kept up, not fr(mi choice, biit for the reason that the two xienitentiaries (Huntsville and Rusk) do not afford room for the employment of more than one- half of our prison population. Consequently, this system, of necessity, was adopted, and has been continued, rather than support this large number of men in idleness." UTAH. According to the report of the State board of corrections for the year 1898, the convicts at the State pri.sou were engaged in making repairs and additions to the buildings and in caring for the same, also in agricultural pursuits, and in manu- facturing articles for consumption at the institution, or for sale on State account. The follo^ving quotations from the report of the warden indicate the character of the industrial enterprises conducted at the prison: • In accordance with your instructions, and with the consent of the city coun- cil, a reservoir has been built of concrete, with a capacity of about 80,000 gallons. 118 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. The total cost of the water system was $7,676.84 for material: all work done hy prisoners. " The new addition authorized by the board has been completed, giving us a room for manufacturing which will accommodate 75 men. The cost of this new addition was $1,105.58; work done by convicts. Fifteen knitting machines, 1 finishing machine, 2 ribbon machines, 1 spooler, and 1 wire mattress machine have been placed in the factory at cost of $1,165.41. '• I have had to make haste slowly in manufacturing for the following reasons: (1) The prisoners must learn to rim the machines. (2) We must make goods that this market demands; then we must not interfere with home industry. ' ' I have manufactured and sold during the past year cotton socks to the value of $1 ,714.81 ; hair cinchas, $559.82; clothing and shoes for the State insane asylum, $1,701.54. " I would advise increasing the number of knitting machines iintil the prison can furnish all the cotton socks this market demands, and which are now shipped here from the East. The canvas hammocks which were in all the cells, and which were expensive and uncomfortable, have been replaced with iron frame spring- cots at a cost of $244.55 for material. The 180 cots cost only for material, all work being done in prison shops. "The farm has produced during the past two years 389 biishels of oats, 600 bushels of parsnips, 4,150 bushels of jiotatoes, 115 bushels of ttirnips, 1.875 bushels of carrots, 550 bushels of beets, 45 bushels of onions, 425 tons of hay, and quanti- ties of melons, squash, tomatoes, j^eas, beans, lettuce, and strawberries. Much more could be raised on the farm if we possessed an adequate irrigating water supply. " During the past two years, with the work on reservoir, pipe line, new build- ing, workshop, and farm, every prisoner capable of working has been employed. Now, with this extra work finished, and not having work for all the prisoners in the mamifacturing department, I have placed the men not otherwise employed at breaking rock. This work can only be done in moderate weather, as we have no sheds for the protection of the men."' VERMONT. The convicts in the State prison are worked under the contract system in the manufacture of shoes. The contract is made for 5 years, and the State receives 72 cents jier day for each able-bodied convict. The convicts work froua simrise to sunset. The directors, in commenting on the work of the prison during 1897-98, state that — " The income of the prison has been $3,922.94 over and above all expenses of the institution during the biennial period preceding the date of this repoit. The total receipts for convict labor were $53,932.68. "By reason of the favorable contract for the prison labor — 72 cents per pay per man — and the large daily average of prisoners employed by the contractors (all the able-bodied men except the few reserved by the State for other work), the insti- tution has been self-sustaining, notwithstanding many demands for extraordinary expenditures." The prisoners at the house of correction are largely employed under the State- account system in cutting and polishing marble; the product is sold in the ojM-n market. The directors in their report for 1897-98 give the following information in regard to the work of the prisoners: " In a large number of States and Territories no attempt is made to provide shop or indoor labor in the prisons for those sentenced to short terms of confinement. Especially is this true at the South, the Southern States working their short-time Ijrisoners to a large extent outside the prison walls. We have worked quite a number of prisoners at the house of correction outside of the shop in connection with repairs, and also to cultivate the land, which labor has produced for the State as good, if not better, results than would have been attained liad all found employ- ment in the regular way. The earnings of the prisoners in the shops have been increased from an average of 46 cents a day, as per our last report, to 53 cents a day for the last biennial period. The favorable showing made is a credit to the manager. The board of directors, who are conducting the work on State account, find this to be a better result for the State than has previously been shown. If it PRISON LABOR. 119 were not for so many sliort-turni commitments a still better showing could be made." The inmates of the State reform school are engaged principally in seating chairs. No employment is given to prisoners in county jails VIRGINIA. The convicts at the State Penitentiary are employed under the contract system within the prison walls. Up to October 20, 1897, a nimiber of them were worked by a company engaged in the manufacture of tobacco and the remainder l)y a company engaged in the manufacture of boots and shoes. A number of them are also employed on the State farm, engaged in various agi'icultural pursuits, raising vegetables and supplies for the use of the institution. The superintendent in his annual report for 1898 states that — " The net profits at the penitentiary and at the farm were $57,127.28 — a gain of $2,942.99 over the jirevious year. There were 1.275 prisoners A\'ithin the walls of the prison. Of these, 1 ,01 1 men and 65 women are employed by the shoe company. One hundred and seventy-five are necessary for prison detail. ' ' The tasks of those employed on the contract are not excessive, which is evinced by the fact that $20,231.86 have been earned by the prisoners by overwork. The State farm continues to serve a good purpose, for which the legislature intended it. It has been a great aid to the penitentiary the past year in receiving and caring for many of those broken diiwn from confinement, and from the ravages of an epidemic of measles last spring. It has not only supported an average of 324 men, but shows a net gain to the State of $2,057.27." WASHINGTON. Ordinarily about 255 of the convicts of the State penitentiary are employed in a jute mill, manufacturing grain bags, burlap, and other jute fabrics. During the summer and fall about 50 are employed in the manufacture of brick. These industries are condiicted under the public-account system. The remainder Tnent on public works and ways. Sale and competition. — The statutes of Arizona contain no provisions regulating the sale of convict-made goods or diminishing competition between convict and free labor. ARKANSAS. CONTPACT SYSTEM.— Digest of 1894, sees. 5499 (as amended by act No. 20, extra session of 1897), 5500, 5502, 5504, and 5506, authorize the employment of State convicts under the contract system, either inside or outside the prison walls, the State to retain the control, management, and discipline of the convicts, and "to direct how, at any and all times and under all circumstances, its convicts shall be lodged, fed, clothed, guarded, worked, and treated; " but no contract shall be let for any such convict labor if equally remunerative emplojrment can be furnished by the State, so as to work the convicts on State account. Lease system.— Sees. 910 (as amended by act No. 16, of 1895), 913-931 provide that contracts shall be made for the maintenance, safe-keeping, and working of prisoners in county jails, the contractor t keep, feed, and clothe the prisoners. Sec. 888 authorizes the leasing of houses of correction, and the farms attached thereto, and the labor of the inmates, for terms not exceeding two years, the lessees to pay all expenses of mainte- nance and care of the institutions and the inmates thereof. Public-account system.— Sees. 5499 (as amended by act No. 20, extra session of 1897), 5500, 5502, 5504, and 5506 authorize the employment of State convicts under the public account system, either entirely or conjointly with the contract system, it being provided that no contract shall be let for the labor of such convicts if equally remunerative employment can be furnished them under the public- account system. Sees. 883, 885, and 886 provide that inmates of houses of correction may be employed in cultivating the farms and gardens connected therewith, or in mechanical pursuits, and the products of their labor shall be applied to paying the expenses of the institution, and the surplus arising from the sale of such products shall be paid into the county treasury. State-use system. — Sees. 5501, 5502, and 5506 authorize the carrying on of manufacturing and other industries, either inside or outside the prison walls, with State convict labor, the products of such labor to be used in State institutions. Public- WORKS- AND-WAYS system. —Acts No. 33 and 38, extra session of 1897, authorize the employ- ment of State convicts in repairing roads leading to the various convict camps, and in constructing State railroad and telegraph lines. Digest of 1894, sec. 5543, provides that penitentiary convicts may be worked on public improve- ments, buildings, and grounds in the city of Little Rock. Sees. 896, 911, and 932 provide that convicts in county jails may be worked on the public bridges, highways, levees, and other county improvements. Hours of labor. — Sec. 906 provides that persons hiring county convicts shall not work them for a longer time during any day than other laborers doing the same kind of work are accustomed to labor Kinds of labor. — Manufacturing, farming, coal mining, stone quarrying and cutting, clearing and fencing timber land, building railroad and telegraph lines, and upon public works and ways. Sale and competition. — The .statutes of Arkansas contain no provision regulating the sale of convict-made goods. Digest of 1894, sees. 5500 and 5559, prohibit the lease system as to State convicts, or the hiring of female convicts as domestic servants. CALIFORNIA. Public-account system. — Acts of 1888, chap. 264, authorizes the employment of State convicts in manufacturing or other work, and the sale of such manufactured articles as are not required for use by the State. State-use system. — Acts of 1889, chap. 264, authorizes the employment of State convicts "in the manufacture of any article or articles for the State." Public- works-and-ways system. — Acts of 1897, chap. 8, authorizes the employment of State con- victs in the construction and repair of public roads. Acts of 1891, chap. 216, authorizes the employment of prisoners in county jails "upon the public grounds, roads, streets, alleys, highways, public buildings, or in such other places as may be deemed advisable for the benefit of the county." Hours of labor. — Acts of 1889, chap. 264, provides that an able bodied State convict shall be required to perform "as many hours of faithful labor in each and every day during his term of imprisonment as shall be prescribed by the rules and regulations of the prison." Kind op labor. — Manufacture of jute goods, of road metal or crushed stone, and of articles for State use, and employment upon public works and ways. Sale and competition. — Acts of 1889, chap. 264, Acts of 1893, chap. 42, Acts of 1895, chap. 208, and Acts of 1897. chap. 97, limit the commodities to be manufactured by State convicts for sale to jute fabrics and crushed rock. The selling price of crushed rock is to be 10 per cent above the cost of its production, but such rock shall not be sold for less than thirty cents per ton. The selling price of SUMMARY OF CONVICT-LABOR LAWS. 143 jute bags shall not be more than one cent per bag in excess of the net cost of production, exclusive of prison labor ; not more than 5,000 grain bags shall be sold during any one year to any one person or firm, except upon the unanimous approval of the board of prison directors — except that after June 15 of each year larger quantities may be sold to actual consumers, upon consent of a majority of the board of prison directors ; and orders of farmers for grain bags shall take precedence over all others. Constitution, art. 10, sec. 6, prohibits the working of convicts under the contract or lease systems. COLORADO. Contract system.— Mill's Annotated Statutes of 1891, sees. 3425, 3435, and 3436, and Acts of 1897, chap. 5, provide that penitentiary convicts are to be worked to the hest advantage of the people of the State; that their labor may be hired out to be worked under the superintendence of the warden, and, if outside the prison walls, under the custody of a gruard or overseer of the penitentiary; but no labor shall be performed by the convicts off the grounds belonging to the penitentiary except such as may be incident to the business and management thereof. Lease system. — Sees. 1446 and 1447 authorize the working of county convicts in quarries or mines, and when so working they shall be in the legal care and custody of the person by whom they shall be employed, subject to such regulations as the jail keepers may prescribe. Public-account system.— Sec. 3425, idem, and Acts of 1897, chap. 5, authorize the erection of work- shops at the State penitentiary, and the emplojTuent of able-bodied convicts at such labor as may be of the most advantage to the penitentiary and the people of the State. Annotated Statutes, sec. 4163, authorizes the employment of convicts in the State reformatory in manufacturing and mechanical industries, the products of their labor to be sold or disposed of for the benefit of the State. Public-works-and-ways system. — Sec. 1446 authorizes the employment of prisoners in county jails on any of the public streets, highways, or other works in the county where confined, or in adjoining counties. Sec. 2433 and 3425 authorize the employment of State convicts in constructing ditches, canals, reservoirs, and feeders for irrigation and domestic purposes, and in making improvements in the penitentiary buildings. Hours of labor — Sec. 1445, 4174, and 4435 provide that convicts sentenced to hard labor shall be " kept constantly employed during every day except Sunday;" that inmates of the State reformatory shall be worked on an average of not exceeding 10 hours per day, Sundays excepted; and that per- sons convicted of violating municipal ordinances shall be employed not exceeding 10 hours each work day. Kinds of labor. — Manufacturing and mecanical industries; employment in quarries and mines, in the construction of irrigating ditches, canals, and reservoirs, and on public works and ways. Sale and competition. — The statutes contain no provision regulating the sale of convict-made goods. Mill's Annotated Statutes of 1891, sec. 3448 and 3449 prohibit the bringing into the State to perform labor of any persons convicted of crimes or misdemeanors, except ex-convicts; or the bringing in of material for use in the repairing or erection of any public building labor in preparing which has been performed by convicts. Sec. 4163 provides that convicts in the State reformatory shall, as far as practicable, be engaged in the manufacture of articles not manufactured elsewhere in the State. Acts of 1897, chap. 5, provides that able-bodied convicts in the State penitentiary shall be employed in work which may least con- flict with the free labor of the State. COKNECTICUT. General Statutes of 1888, sees. 3341 and 3343, make general provision for the emploj-ment of inmates of the State prison " at such labor as the directors shall order ; " and for the employment of a limited number outside the prison walls, within a limited distance, under the superintendence of the warden. Sec. 3365 provides that county convicts may be required " to work according to their ability." Contract system.— Sec. 3355 prescribes regulations under which 50 or more State con\'icts may be employed " by contract or otherwise at any trade or occupation." Public-account system. — Sees. 3394 and 3396 direct that inmates of workhouses be employed "at such labor as they shall be able to perform," be furnished with materials for their work, and be directed by authorized officials in the kind, manner, and place of their employment. Acts of 1895, chap. 317, provides that inmates of the reformatory shall be employed in such manner as to provide as far as po.ssible for their support, their reformation, and the formation of the ability and disposition to support themselves and their families. Hours of labor.— The statutes contain no provision regulating the hours of convict labor. Kinds of labok. — No specific provision is made as to the kinds of labor at which convicts may be employed, but it is provided generally that they may be employed at "such labor as the directors shall order;" that they shall work "according to their ability," or at " such labor as they shall be able to perform," or " at any trade or occupation." Sale and competition.— The statutes contain no provision regulating iliu .sale of convict-made goods. 144 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. General Statutes of 1888, see. 3355, provide that when it is proposed to employ 50 or more convicts at any trade or occupation the directors of the State prison shall advertise the fact in newspapers throughout the State for four weeks before so employing them; shall inquire into the effect of the proposed employment upon the interests of the State and upon free labor; shall give hearing to all who wish to be heard in the matter; and if it shall appear from such inquiry that the proposed employment will not be for the best interests of the State, or will seriously injure the citizens of any State engaged in the proposed trade or occupation, it shall be prohibited. Acts of 1895, chap. 153, provides that " no pei"son confined in any penitentiary, or other place for confinement of offenders, under control of the State, shall be employed in or about the manufacture or preparation of any drugs, medicines, food or food materials, cigars or tobacco, or any preparation thereof, pipes, chewing gum, or any other article or thing used for eating, drinking, chewing, or smoking, or for any other use within or through the mouth of any human being." DELAWARE. Lease system.— Acts of 1881, chap. 550, sec. 7 (Revised Code of 1393, chap. 54), authorizes the hir- ing out of convicts " upon the most favorable terms for their county," in case contracts can not be made for their custody and maintenance in other States. Public-account system.— Revised Code of 1893, chaps. 54 and 133, provides that inmates of county jails designated as workhouses, and of workhouses, shall be provided with tools and materials for their use and work ; and that prisoners under conviction of felony, or under sentence exceeding three months for misdemeanor, may be compelled to work, the proceeds or profits of their labor to belong to the county. State-use system.— Acts of 1891, chap, 278, and acts of 1893, chap. 670 (Revised Code of 1893, chap. 54), authorize the employment of convicts in New Castle County in quarrying stone suitable for being broken into macadam, and in the conversion of stone into macadam for use in improving the public roads in the county. Public- WORKS- AND- WAYS system.— Acts of 1881, chap. .5-50, sec. 7 (Revised Code of 1893, chap. 54), authorizes the employment of convicts "upon the roads or any public works," in case contracts can not be made for their custody and maintenance in other States. HoUKS OF LABOR. — Revised Code of 1893, chap. 54, provides that 8 hours shall constitute a day's work at hard labor, to be performed between 8 o'clock a. m. and 5 o'clock p. m., for convicts in the jail or workhouse in New Castle County. Kinds of labor. — Quarrying and breaking stone into macadam, and employment upon public works and ways. Sale and competition. — The statutes contain no provision regulating the sale of convict-made goods or diminishing competition between convict and free labor. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. Public-account system. — Webb's Digest, p. 24, authorizes the sale of manufactured articles and agricultural products produced by the inmates of the Washington Asylum and Workhouse, and the purchase of raw materials, tools, implements, and machinery for the purpose of carrying into effect the principle that employment must be provided for all inmates of the institution named capable of any .species of labor. Compiled Statutes of the District of Columbia, chap. 33, sec. 6, provides that prisoners in the jail may be employed at such labor as may be prescribed by the proper authorities, the proceeds thereof to be applied in defraying the expenses of their trial and conviction. Acts of 1884-85, chap. 145 (U. S. S., vol. 23, p. 314), authorizes the production of commodities for sale by the inmates of the Reform- 'chool, by providing that the revenue derived from the labor of the inmates and the products of the farm shall be paid into the United States Treasury. Hours of labor. — The statutes contain no provision regulating the hours of convict labor. Kinds of labor.— Manufacturing and farming. Sale and competition. — The statutes contain no provision regulating the sale of convict-made goods or diminishing competition between convict and free labor. FLORIDA. Revised Statutes of 1892, sees. 2940 and 3057, make general provision for the employment of State and county convicts, it being provided that State convicts sentenced to hard labor "shall be con- stantly employed for the benefit of the State," and that county convicts sentenced to hard labor "may be employed at such manual labor as the county commissioners may direct." Lease system. — Sees. 3065 et seq. provide for the making of contracts witli any person for the labor, maintenance, custody, and discipline of State convicts, for a term of years not exceeding 4. In case no application is received for the hire of the prisoners, the State may pay " to any person or persons such sums of money for taking such prisoners on such conditions as may be deemed advantageous to the interests of the State." SUMMARY OF CONVICT-LABOR LAWS. 145 Sec. 3032, idem., and acts of 1895, chap. 4323, authorize the hiring out or otherwise contracting Tor the labor of county convicts, upon such terms and conditions as may be deemed advisable. PuBLic-woRKS-AND-WAYS SYSTEM.— Revised Statutes of 1892, sec. 3032, authorizes the employment of county convicts " at labor upon the streets of incorporated cities or towns, or upon the roads, bridges, and public works in the several counties where they are so imprisoned." Hours of labor. — Sees. 3057 and 3065 provide that State convicts shall labor not less than 8 nor more than 10 hours per day, and when under contract shall work between sunrise and sunset, and not be required to labor on Sunday. Sec. 3033 provides that county convicts shall not be required to work more than 10 hours per day. Kinds of labor. — Employment upon public works and ways. The kinds of labor at which leased convicts may be employed are not specified. Sale and competition. — The statutes contain no provision for the regulation of the sale of convict- made goods or for diminishing competition between convict and free labor. GEORGIA. Lease system. — Acts of 1897, No. 340, sec. 10, authorizes the leasing of any number of State convicts to counties or to municipal corporations for not less than S36 per convict per year, to be utilized upon their public roads or works. Sees. 11 and 13 authorize the leasing to private companies or persons, for terms not longer than 5 years, of all State convicts not employed by the State or leased to counties or municipalities; the hirer to furnish transportation, maintenance, medicine, clothing, and all other necessaries, and build- ings; the convicts must be leased to the bidder or bidders offering the highest price per annum per capita; the hirer has the right to sublet the labor of the convicts leased by him. Public-account system. — Sees. 1, 6, and 8 create a prison commission, which is given full control of State convicts and general supervision of misdemeanor convicts, and is authorized to establish a State convict farm, and to provide for the employment of convicts thereon by the purchase of machinery, utensils, live stock, and other necessary equipments; and authorize the sale, to the best advantage, of surplus products of the penitentiary. State-use system. — Sec. 8 authorizes the use of surplus products of the penitentiary by State insti- tutions. Penal Code of 1895, sees. 1144 and 1145, authorize the employment of county convicts in quarrying or .gathering rock or gravel or other material for u.se in the improvement of county or municipal roads or streets. PuBLic-woKKS-AND-w ays-system.— Acts of 1897, No. 340, secs. 9, 10, and 13, authorize the employ- ment of convicts leased under prior laws, the control of whom has been resumed by the State, in erecting buildings, stockades, and appurtenances on the convict farm, or in such other labor as may be deemed profitable, and the hiring by counties or municipal corporations of State convicts, to be employed upon their public roads or works. Penal Code of 1895, secs. 1039, 1137-1139, and 1143, provide for the working of misdemeanor convicts on public works or roads, and for the hiring of county convicts from other counties to be so worked. Hours of labor. — Acts of 1897, No. 340, sec. 6, provides that the hours of labor of State convicts shall be regulated by the prison commission. Kinds of labor. — Quarrying and gathering rock and gravel for use on roads and streets; employ- ment on the State convict farm and on public works and ways. The kinds of labor at which leased convicts may be employed are not specified. Sale and competition. — The statutes contain no provision regulating the sale of convict-made goods. Acts of 1897, No. 340, see. 11, provide that leased convicts shall be employed, as far as they can con- sistently with the best interests of the State, so " that the products of their labor shall come least in competition with that of free labor." Penal Code of 1895, sec. 1039, stipulates that county authorities are not authorized to employ misde- meanor convicts "in such mechanical pursuits as will bring the products of their labor into competi- tion with the products of free labor." IDAHO. Lease system.— Act approved Mar. 6, 1893 (acts of 1893, p. 155), authorizes the State prison commis- sioners to contract with responsible persons for the care, maintenance, and employment of all State convicts, such cmplojTnent to be within the prison limits. Public- account system. — The same act authorizes the State prison commissioners to provide for the employment of State convicts within the confines [of the penitentiary "by direct expenditures." Public-works-and-ways system.— Constitution, art. 13, sec. 3, authorizes the employment of Stsite convicts "on public works under the direct control of the State," and act of Feb. 3, 1891, sec. 7 (acts of 1891, p. 22), authorizes the employment of such convicts upon the buildings and grounds of the penitentiary in making improvements and repairs. Act approved March 9, 1895 (acts of 1895, p. 100), provides that male prisoners over 18 years of age in county jails shall be required to labor in and about the county jail and court-house for the " better- ment, improvement, cleanliness, or maintenance" of said buildings or their grounds. 250a— VOL III 10 146 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. Hours of labor. — This act also provides that county convicts upon public works shall be employed not to exceed 8 hours per day, Sundays and holidays excepted, Kinds of labor. — Employment npnn public works. The kinds of labor at which convicts may be employed under the lease and public accounts system arc not specified. Sale and competition. — The statutes contain no provision regulating the sale of convict-made goods. Act of March 6, 1893 (acts of 1893, p. 155), provides that no contract shall be made permitting the use of convict labor in any industry that will " conflict with any existing manufacturing industries in the State." ILLINOIS. Public-account system.— Annotated Statutes of 1896, chap. 108, sec. 19, authorizes the employment of penitentiary convicts in manufacturing, under the direction of the warden; the articles manu- factured to be sold for the benefit of the State. Chap. C7, sec. 13, indirectly authorizes the remunerative employmo«it of inmates of houses of cor- rection by making provision for the expenses of maintaining such institutions "over and above all receipts for the labor of the persons confined therein." State-use system. — Chap. 108, sec. 61, authorizes the employment of penitentiary convicts in quarrying stone for the use of the State. Public-works-and-ways system. — Chap. 108, sees. 27 and 54, authorizes the use of the labor of State convicts upon the penitentiary buildings and grounds or other public works, so far as the labor can be advantageously performed at the penitentiary. Hours of labor. — Chap. 108, sec. 13, provides that the hours of labor of State convicts shall be determined by the penitentiary commissioners. Kinds of labor.— Manufacturing, employment upon public works and in quarrying stone. Sale and competition. — The statutes contain no provision regulating the sale of convict-made goods. The fourth amendment to the Constitution, adopted November 2, 1886, prohibits the letting, by con^ tract, of the labor of any convict confined in a penitentiary or reformatory institution in the State to any person. INDIANA. Public-account sy.stem. — Acts of 1897, chap. 187, sec. 1, requires that inmates of State penal and reformatory institutions be placed at employment for account of the State, and directs the establish- ment of the public-account system. State-use system. — Acts of 1897,chap. 187, provides for the employment of inmates of State penal and reformatory institutions at such trades and vocations as the convicts are adapted to, and as will supply said institutions, as nearly as possible, with all necessary articles of prison consumption; sur- plus products are to be sold to other State institutions needing the same. Annotated Statutes of 1894, sec. 8221, provides that materials for building and repairs of the State prison shall be manufactured in the penitentiary. Sec. 8235 authorizes the emploj-ment of convicts in the State prison in Clark County in chopping wood or timber for the use of the prison, in making brick, or in other labor on State land near the prison, and in the cultivation of any fields or grounds that may be leased for the purpose of raising vegetable products for the use of the prison. Sec. 8250 provides that convicts in the southern State prison may be employed in manufacturing arms, implements, goods, and munitions of war needed in defense of the State, or for the use of State troops. Public-works-and-ways system.— Sees. 1935 and 4194 provide that male inmates of county, town, and city jails may be put at hard labor on public wharves, streets, alleys, or other thoroughfares, or upon public roads or highways, or any other work or improvement within the county for the public good or benefit. Sec. 8334 provides that inmates of workhouses shall be kept at liard labor, as far as may be con- sistent with their age, .sex, and ability, in such manner as may be deemed most advantageous, in or about the workhouse or upon any public wharf, street, alley, highway, thoroughfare, or other work or public improvement within the county, or at such work or in such manner as may be deemed best. Hours of labor.— Acts of 1897, chap. 187, provides that the hours of labor in State prisons and reformatories shall not exceed 8 hours per day, "subject to temporary changes under necessity or to fit special cases." Annotated Statutes of 1894, sec. 3502, provides that persons committed to city workhouses or county jails for certain offenses shall be required to labor not less than 6 nor more than 10 hours per day. Kinds of labor.— Manufacturing, including the })roduction of material for repairing and building State prisons,arms, implements, goods, and munitions of war, and brick; chopping wood and timber; farming, and employment upon public works and ways. Sale and competition.— Acts of 1895, chap. 162, prohibits the sale or exposing for sale of convict- made goods manufactured in other States by any person, without first obtaining a license to sell such SUMMARY OF CONVICT-LABOR LAWS. 147 goods, for which S500 per year must be paid; the dealer is required to make a detailed annual report of his transactions in such goods; all such goods before being exposed for sale shall be branded or marked with the words "convict-made" followed by the year and the name of the institution in which made, in plain English lettering, of the style known as great primer roman capitals, upon the outside of, and the most conspicuous part of, the finished article, and its box, crate, or covering. Acmade goods or tending to reduce competition between convict and free labor. OREGON. Hill's Annotated Laws, sec. 3861, provides that penitentiary convicts may be employed " in accord- ance with rules which may be prescribed from time to time by the governor." Contract system. — Act of February 23, 1895 (Acts of 1895, p. 40), authorizes the making of contracts with any person, firm, or corporation for the labor of penitentiary convicts at a compensation of not less than 35 cents per day per convict, for any period or periods of time not exceeding 10 years, the labor to be performed within the penitentiary or the inclosures thereof, under the general charge and custody of the prison officials. State-use system. — Hill's Annotated Laws, p. 1817, sec. 4, authorizes the use of materials produced by the labor of penitentiary convicts in the construction and establishment of the State reform school. PUBLic-woRKS-AND-WAYS SY'.STEM. — Act of February 23, 1895, sec. 20 (Acts of 1895, p. 54), authorizes the employment of convicts, as far as practicable, in the improvement and construction of roads on and adjoining State lands. Hill's Annotated Laws, p. 1817, sec. 4, authorizes the use of the labor of penitentiary convicts in the construction of the reform school. Act of February 17, 1899 (Acts of 1899, p. 84), provides for employing such convicts as can be safely used for that purpose on roads in the vicinity of the State prison and the adjoining public buildings. Acts of 1893, p. 131, sec. 32, provides that convicts failing to pay fines for violations of municipal ordinances may be required to labor one day for every 82 of such fines, upon the streets or other pub- lic works of the municipality. Hours of labor. — ■■Vet of February 23, 1895 (Acts of 1895, p. 40). provides that penitentiary convicts employed under the contract .system shall not be " compelled to labor for a longer time than 10 hours per day." KiNiis OF LABOR. — Manufacturing (by implication), and upon public works and ways. Sale ani> competition.— The statutes contain no provisions regulating the sale of convict-made goods or diminishing competition between convict and free labor. 160 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. PENNSYLVANIA. Lease system.— Digest of 1894, p. 996, sec. 16, appears to authorize the lease system as to inmates of houses of correction by providing that they may be detailed to do work outside ths grounds of the institution, "for such other person [than any of the departments or institutions of the city] as may be approved by the board of managers." Public-account system.— P. 1661, sees. 13, 17, direct that inmates of penal and reformatory institu- tions be employed for and in behalf of the State, the institutions, or the counties, and prescribe regu- lations governing the sale of their products to the general public. P. 1077, sec. 4, authorizes the furnishing of suitable articles and materials for the employment of able-bodied inmates of county jails, workhouses, and houses of correction, atlabor and manufacturing, the products of their labor to be disposed of as the county commissioners may direct. P. 1080, sec. 20, directs that articles manufactured by convict labor in the Philadelphia county prison "shall be sold." Public- WORKS- AND-w AYS-SYSTEM.— Acts of 1895, act No. 264, provides that persons sentenced to sim- ple imprisonment in county jails may be required to labor "about the county buildings and upon the grounds and property of the county." Digest of 1894, p. 1486, sec. 552, and p. 1547, sec. 35, authorize the working at hard labor of persons convicted of violations of city ordinances, upon the streets or el.sewhere for the benefit of the city. P. 996, sec. 16, provides that inmates of the house of correction may be detailed to work "outside the grounds of the institution for any of the departments or institutions of the city." State-use system. — The same law provides that inmates of the house of correction may be employed in manufacturing " such articles as may be needed for the prison, almshouse, or other pub- lic institution of the State or city." Hours of labor.— The hours of convict labor are not regulated by statute. Kinds of labor. — Manufacturing, including the making of brushes, brooms, hollow ware, mats and matting; quarrying stone, farming, and on public works and ways. Sale and competition.— Digest of 1894, p. 1661, sees. 17-20, require that all products of convict labor, except goods shipped to points outside the State, must be branded immediately upon completion, and before removal from the place where made, or before being taken into and exposed for sale in anyplace, at wholesale or retail, in plain English lettering, with the words "convict-made," fol- lowed by the year and the name of the establishment in which made; the brand is to be placed upon each article where the nature of the case will permit, otherwise upon the box or other receptacle or covering in which it is contained; such branding may be done by casting, burning, pressing, or such other process that it may not be defaced, and in all cases the branding must be upon the most con- spicuous place upon the article or its covering; such brand must not be removed except as the goods are sold at retail to " customers for individual use ; " and the box, receptacle, or covering containing such brand shall be open to the inspection or view of each customer. Acts of 1897, No. 141, prescribes that in any State prison, penitentiary, or reformatory not more than 5 per cent of the whole number of inmates shall be employed in the manufacture of brooms, brushes, or hollow ware, nor more than 10 per cent in the manufacture of any other kind of goods that are manufactured elsewhere in the State, except mats and matting, in the manufacture of which 20 per cent of the whole number of such inmates may be employed. Similar restrictions are prescribed as to the employment of inmates of county prisons, workhouses, and reformatories. It is also provided that "no machines operated by steam, electricity, hydraulic force, compressed air, or other power, except machines operated by hand or foot power, shall be used in any of said institutions in the manufacture of any goods, wares, articles, or things that are manufactured else- where in the State. Digest of 1894, sec. 14, p. 1006, and sees. 13, 15, p. 1G61, abolish and prohibit the contract system in all penal and reformatory institutions. RHODE ISLAND. Contract system.— General Laws of 1896, chap. 285, sec. 39, and chap. 289, sec. 14, authorize the employment of prisoners in jail or in the State prison for the benefit of the State "in such manner, under such contract, and subject to such rules, regulations, and discipline" as the board of State charities and corrections may make. Chap. 291, sec. 10, authorizes the State board of charities and corrections to make such contracts as they may deem proper respecting the labor of inmates of the penal and reformatory institutions of the State. Public-account system.— The same section authorizes the State board of charities and corrections, in their discretion, to sell the products of the State farm and of other penal and reformatory institu- tions under their charge. Hours of labor.— The hours of convict labor are not regulated by statute. Kinds of labor.— Manufacturing (by implication) and farming. Sale and competition.— The statutes contain no provision regulating the sale of convict-made goods or tending to reduce competition between convict and free labor. SUMMARY OF COXVICT-LABOK LAWS. 161 SOUTH CAROLINA. Contract or pikce-pkice system.— Revised !«tatntes of 1893, part 3, sec. 574, authorizes the author- ities of the State penitentiary " to make contracts for the performance of specific work, such work to be done entirely under the direction and control of the officers of the penitentiary." Lease system. — Sees. 565-567, idem, act 314 of 1893, and act 528 of 1894 provide that convicts in the State penitentiary, except those sentenced for certain heinous crimes, may be leased or hired out to the highest responsible bidder, such convicts to be boarded, clothed, and safely kept by the lessee. As far as practicable the convicts .shall be hired to work on farms in healthy localities. Public-account system. — Revised Statutes of 1893, part 5, sec. 531, authorizes the purchase of mates rials necessary for employing the prisoners in the State penitentiary, and the sale of such articles pro- duced therein "as are proper to be sold." Public works and ways system. — Constitution, Art. XII, sec. 6, act 524 of 1898, act 113 of 189G. and Revised Statutes of 1893, part 5, sec. 544, authorize the working of con\'lcts upon the public works and ways of the State and of the counties and municipalities therein. Act 7 of 1899 permits any county to contract with another county for liiringout or exchanging con- vict labor to be employed on public works. Hours of labor.— Revised Statutes of 1893, part 5, sec. 566, provides that penitentiary convicts leased or hired out "shall r^ot be required to labor more than 10 hours a day, or on Sundays or holi- days." Kinds ok labor.— Manufacturing (by implication), farming, and employment on public work- and ways. Sale and competition. — The sale of convict-made goods is not regulated by statute. Revised Statutes of 1893, part 5, sec. 578, prohibits the "hiring or leasing of convicts in phosphate mining. " SOUTH DAKOTA. Contract system. — Compiled Laws of 1887, sees. 7714-7720, authorize the contracting of the labor of penitentiary convicts, together with shop room, machinery, and power, after due advertisement, for periods not exceeding 5 years at any one time, subject to cancellation after 6 months' notice to the contractor: the convicts are to be worked under the general supervision and government of the prison authorities. Public-account system.— Acts of 1893, chap. 131, provides for the purchasing, erection, and main- tenance of the necessary machinery and appliances for the manufacture, in the State penitentiary, of binding twine from hemp or flax fiber, and for the sale thereof. Compiled Laws of 1887, sec. 7705, authorizes the employment of penitentiary convicts in quarrying stone. Sec. 7813 provides that inmates of county jails shall be provided with suitable tools and materials to work with within the jail confines in the discretion of the sheriff. State-use sy'stem. — Acts of 1890, chap. 11, authorizes the purchase of the necessary machinery and appliances to enable the State convicts to work in developing stone quarries belonging to the State, the stone to be used in erecting a wall around the penitentiary and in other improvements. Compiled Laws of 1887, sec. 7705, authorizes the employment of penitentiary convicts in " cultivat- ing the prison farm or in doing any work necessary to be done in the prosecution of the regular busi- ness of the institution." Public works and ways system. — Sees. 7813-7815 authorize the employment of inmates of county jails and of violators of city ordinances "in work on i)ublic streets or highways or other-vvise," for counties or municipalities. Acts of 1890, chap. 11, provides that penitentiary convicts may be employed in erecting the pri.son wall or in making other improvements on the penitentiary. Hours of labor. — Compiled Laws of 1887, sec. 7696, provides that convicts sentenced to hard labor in the penitentiary " shall be constantly employed" for the benefit of the State. Kinds of labor.— Manufacturing, including the manufacture of binding twine, stone <|uarrying, farming, and employment on public works and ways. Sale and co.mpetition. — Acts of 1893, chap. 131, requires that the price of binding twine manu- factured in the State penitentiary " shall be fixed at the actual cost of production; but no twine shall lie put upon the market at a greater price than it can be purchased for of other manufacturers, and no twine shall be sold outside of the State .so long as there is a market for the same within South Dakota." Fiber grown in the State must be preferred in manufacturing such twine. TENNESSEE. Contract system.— Acts of 1897, chap. 39, authorizes the making of contracts for the labor of peni- tentiary convicts not otherwi.sc employed, with any persons desiring to carry on a manufacturing or other business within the penitentiary walls; contracts are to be made ."O as to yield the greatest possible revenue to the State, and the convicts employed are to be at all times under the care and supervision of the prison authorities. 250A— VOL III 11 162 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. Acts of 1S97, chap. 125, sec. 31, provides for the employment, under contract, of "able-bodied, shorter-time convicts," at branch prisons, outside the penitentiary walls. Lease system. — Acts of 189.'), extra session, chap. 7, .sec. 19, and Acts of 1897, chap. 125, sec. SI, authorize tlie leasing, for the best intere.sts of the state, of such penitentiary convicts as are not otlierwise employed; and the continuance of an existing lease under which such convicts are worked in certain ore mines. Acts of 1891, chap. 123, sec. 19, provides that any county convict, held for nonpayment of fines and costs, may, with hi.s consent, be "bailed out," and be under the care, custody, and direction of the bailee until the amount due by him shall have been paid by the bailee in monthly installments. Public-account .system. — Acts of 1897, chap. 125, sees. 11 and 12, authorize the employment of penitentiary convicts at farming, coal mining, and coke making, and the sale of products of their labor while .so employed. State-use system. — .Sec. 30 provides that all coal and coke needed for use by State institutions shall be furnished by the board of prison commissioners; and that such institutions shall be required to u.se only coal and coke furnished by State mines and i>roduced by the labor of penitentiary con- victs. Public works and ways system. — Sec. 31 authorizes the temporary employment of " more able- bodied, .shorter-time convicts" in the penitentiary, in building public roads and pikes, under contracts with county or municipal authorities. Acts of 1891, chap. 123, sec. 5, provides that inmates of county workhouses, or county jails declared workhouses, shall be worked, when yjracticable, on the county roads in preference to all other kinds of labor. Hours of labor. — Code of 1884, sec. C366, provides that the work of penitentiary convicts "shall be at an average of 10 hours per day, Sundays excepted, through the entire year," and that the number of hours to be worked in the different .seasons of the year shall be regulated by the prison authorities. Kinds of labor.— Manufacturing, coal mining, coke making, clearing land, farming, and employ- ment on public works and ways. Sale and competition.— Acts of 1897, chap. 125, sees. 29, 30, direct that contracts be made, if practicable, for the .sale of the output of the State coal mines for a period not to exceed 6 years" at such price per bushel or ton as ■will give the State of Tennessee a fair price for the labor of its con- victs and a just compensation for its coke or coal," and tliat coke or coal furnished to State institutions shall be at the same cost to them as if bought in the general market. Sec. 28 prohibits the hiring of any female jienitentiary convict "to any person on the outside as cook, washerwoman, or for any other purpose." Sec. 31 provides that " the more able-bodied, shorter-term convicts " in the penitentiary, temporarily employed under contract in building public roads or pikes, clearing ground, or in farming opera- tions, .shall be so employed "where competing the least with free or skilled labor." Acts of 1897, chap. 39, sees. 1, 4, 8, direct that not more than 99 penitentiary convicts shall be employed under contract with any one Arm, or in any one business, within the walls of the peniten- tiary; that no contract shall be made extending beyond March 1, 1903; and that contracts .shall be so made "that competition with free labor shall be the least possible, and that the manufacturing industries established within the penitentiary shall be as diversified as practicable or possible for the best interests of the State, at the same time having due regard for the interests of free labor." TEXAS. Contract system.— Revised Statutes of 1895, arts. 3G54, 3655, 3709, authorize the establishment of the contract system in the State penitentiaries, the convicts employed thereunder to remain under the control, discipline, and management of the prison authorities. Lease system.— Arts. 3744, 3745, 3746 authorize the hiring out of county convicts either by private contract or at public auction, or by general contract for any specified time, at some fixed rate per day, week, or month, the hirer to give bond for the humane treatment and proper care and support of convicts in his employ. Public-account system.— Arts. 3654, 3655, 3701, 3709 authorize the establishment of manufacturing industries in State penitentiaries— particularly those of cotton goods and cotton and jute bagging— and the carrying on (,f farming operations, and provide for the sale of the products of the convicts' labor; and it is required that "all convicts shall be placed within the prison walls or on State farms, and worked on State account as soon and speedily as possible." Arts. 3727, 3730 authorize the utilizing of the labor of county convicts on farms or in county work- houses. Public works and ways system.— Constitution, art. 16, sec. 24, requires that legislative provision be made for utilizing convict labor in laying out and working public roads and in building bridges. Revised Statutes of 1895, arts. 3733, 3744, provide that county convicts shall be put to labor upon the public roads, bridges, or other public works of the county when their labor can not be utilized in the county workhouse or on the county farm. The employment of female convicts on public works and ways is, in effect, prohibited by art. 3736, which provides that females ".shall in no case be required to do manual labor, except in the workhouse or when hired out." SUMMARY OF CONVICT-LABOR LAWS. 163 Hours of labor. — Art. 3716 provides that penitentiary convicts sentenced to hant labor "shall be kept at work under sueli rules and regulations as may be adopted; but no labor shall be required of any convict on Sunday except such as is absolutely necessary, and no greater amount of labor shall be required of any convict than a due regard for his physical health and strength may render proper. " Art. 3733 requires that county convicts "shall be required to labor not less than H nor more tlian 10 hours each day, Sundays excepted." Art. 3746 requires that persons to whom county convicts are hired shall bind themselves not to work the convicts "at unreasonable hours, or for a longer time during any one day than other laborers doing the same kind of labor are accustomed tn work." Kinds of labor. — Manufacturing, including the production i>i cotton goods and cotton and jute bagging, farming, and on public works and ways. Sale and competition. ^The statutes contain no provisions regulating the sale of convict-made goods or for the diminishing of competition between convict and free labor. UTAH. Public-account system. — Acts of 1S96, chap. 81, sees. 9, 3:!, provide for the carrying on, in the State prison, of manufacturing and mechanical industries, and for the sale of the products of the convicts' labor for the benefit of the State. State-use system. — Sees. 29, 32, 33 provide that State-prison convicts are to be employed in manu- facturing and mechanical industries, and on the prison farm, and in producing " all articles for the various State institutions, as far as practicable." Public works and avays system. — Constitution, Art. XVI, sec. 3, requires the enactment of laws prohibiting the labor of con\-icts outside of prison grounds, except on public works under the direct control of the State. Acts of 1896, chap. 81, .sec. 29, authorizes the employment of State-prison convicts in the erection or repair of the buildings or walls of the prison. Acts of 1896, chap. 131, sec. 30, authorizes the employment of prisoners subject U> hard labor, in county jails, upon the public grounds, roads, streets, alleys, highways, or public buildings for the county. Compiled Laws of 1889, sec. 17.^9, as amended by Acts of 1896, chap. 59, provide that violators of city ordinances "shall be required to work for the corporation at such labor as his strength will permit," presumably upon public works and ways. Hours of labor. — Acts of 1896, chap. 81, sec. 37, requires that State-prison convicts shall, as far as practicable, be kept constantly employed at hard labor at an average of not less than 8 hours a day. Sundays and holidays excepted. Compiled Laws of 1889, sec. 1759, as amended by Acts of 1896, chap. 59, provides that violators of city ordinances may be required to work for the corporation "not exceeding 10 hours for each working day." Kinds op labor. — Manufacturing, farming, and employment on public works and ways. Sale and competition. — The sale of convict-made goods is not regulated by statute. Acts of 1896, chap. 181, sec. 32, requires that at least once in 6 months the prison board shall meet to determine what lines of productive industries shall be pursued in the State prison, and " shall select diversified lines of industry with reference to interfering as little as possible with the same lines of industry carried on by citizens of this State." Con.stitution, Art. XVI, sec. 3, and Acts of 189(!, chap. 181, sec. 32, prohibit the making of <-oiitracts for the labor of con\'icts. VERMONT. Contract system. — Statutes of 1894,. sec. 5188, provides that the directors of the State pri.son and the house of corri'ction may contract, for not exceeding 5 years to any one person, the labor of all or part of the ccmvictsin said institutions, on such terms as they shall judge best for the State; but .such con- tracts shall not interfere with the management and discipline of the convicts. Public-account system. — The same section provides that the directors of the State prison and house of correction may " purchase material required for employing the prisoners and sell articles belonging to either institution proper to be sold." Hours of labor. — The hours of convict labor are not regulated by statute. Kinds of labor. — Manufacturing (by implication). Sale and competition. — The statutes contain no provisions regulating tlu' sale oi convict-made goods, or tending to diminish competition between convict and free labor. VIRGINIA. Contract system. — Code of 1887, sec. -1130, authorizes the employment of i)eiiitenliary convicts in "executing work under contract with individuals or companies." Lease system. — .-Vets of 1893-1, as amended by chap. 795, sees. -1136— 1138, authorize the lousing ot penitentiary convicts, not otherwise employed, to railroad companies, to be fed, clothed, guarded, and sheltered bv the lessees. 164 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. Public-account system.— C(iTuent: contracts must not be made for periods exceeding 5 years at any one time, and the convicts art- to remain under the supervision of the pri.son authorities. Before making such contracts, sealed proposals therefor are to be invited by public advertisement. Public-account system. — Sec. 5C7d provides for the establishment of "the business of manu- facturing" in the State pri.son, and the sale or disposition of the goods, wares, and merchandise produced '• to the best interest of the State." Sees. 4726, 4727, authorize the employment of prisoners in the county jails at such labor as shall be appropriate to their sex and physical condition, which may be required to be i)erfoniied at any suit- able place within the county, under the direction of county authorities, the ''avails of their labor" to be paid into the county trea.sury. Acts of 189.5, chap. 290. provides for the employment of inmates of county workhouses at hard manual labor, and the sale of the products of such labor for the benefit of the county. Acts of 1S97, chap. 340, sec. 8, provides that pris(mers at the State reformatory may bt- employed at agricultural or mechanical labor, as a means for their support. State-use system. — Annotated Statutes of 1889, sec. 008, provides that all public institutions main- tained in whole or in part by the State shall obtain all goods necessarily required by them from the State prison or other institution manufacturing the same; and the officers of said prison or other Institution shall cause to be made and delivered all such articles or goods, so required, as can be made or furnished by them. Sec. 4927 provides that State-prison convicts may be employed outside the prison walls in cultivat- ing the prison farm, or in quarrying or getting stone therefrom, or in doing any work necessary in the prosecution of the regular business of the institution. Public- works-and- ways system. — Acts of 1895, chap. '2.50, provides that persons convicted in any court in the State, including convictions for violations of city or \illage ordinances, for vagrancy, and other specified offenses, may be required to work upcni highways or other public improvements, in case other work is not provided for them. Annotated Statutes of 1889, sec. 1547d-10, provides that tramps sentenced to hard labor in county jails may be required to work "upon highways or other public improvements." in case other work is not provided for them by county authorities. Hours of L.^BOK. — Sec 4918 requires that State-jirison convicts sentenced lc> lianl labor shall be "constantly employed." Acts of 1895, chap. 290, and Acts of 1897, chap. 318, provide that inmates of county jails and workhouses shall be kept at labor not to exceed 10 hours per day, Sundays excepted. Acts of 1891, chap. '200, provides that no person confined in any penal insiiiuiioii "shall be com- pelled to perform any factory work on any legal holiday." Kinds of labor. — Manufacturing, including the manufacture of chairs, general furniture, boots, shoes, buggies, carriages, wagons, sleighs, and cutters; farming; stone iiuarrying: and employment upon public works and ways. Sale and competition. — Annotated Statutes of 1889, sec. 567d-3, requires that, in selling commod- ities produced by the labor of State-prison c(mvicts, they shall be dispo.-^ed of " to the best interests of the State and at the best prices obtainable." Acts of 1897. chap. 1.55, requires that all goods, wares, and merchandise made by convict labor in any institution outside of Wisconsin and imported into the State shall, before being exposed for sale, be branded, labeled. or marked with the words "convict made," etc.; the details of the law being sub- stantially tlie same as those of the laws of other States relating to the marking of convict-made goods. WYOMING. Contract system. —.\cts of 1890-91 , chap. ;57, sec. 5, authorizes the providing for the care, maintenance, and employment of inmates of penal or reformatory institutions by contract. Public-account system.— Revised Statutes of 1897, sec. 3375, authorizes the employment by ihe Territory (State") of inmates of penal and reformatory institutions "upon its ovni account." Acts of 1890-91. chap. 37, sec. 5, authorizes the employment of inmates of penal or reformatory institutions by "direct expenditure." Public-works-and-ways system.— The same law i)rovides that inmates of penal and reformatory institutions may be employed to complete or repair the place or the surroundings of the place where thev are confined. 166 UNITED STATES INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION. Revised Statutes of 1887, sees. 3371, 3374, provide tliat prisoners in county jails may be compelled to work in nny way that the county commissioners may direct for the benefit of the county, and that convicts in the jail or prison of any county, city, town, village, or municipality may be employed or put to work upon any public work of improvement, or upon highways, streets, alleys, parks, or public places. Hours of labor.— Revised Statutes of 1887, sec. 3372, provides that prisoners in county jails shall be required to labor "diiring the working hours of every week day." Kinds of l.^bor. — Manufacturing (by implication), and employment on public works and ways. Sale and competition. — The statutes contain no provision regulating the .sale of convict-made goods. Acts of 1890-91, chap. 37, sec. .5, prohibits the working of convicts in any coal mine, or at any occupa- tion in which the products of their labor may be in competition with that of any citizen of the State. Revised Statutes of 1887, sec. 3375, provides that the employment of inmates of penal and reforma- tory institutions shall be so conducted as to offer no competition to free labor, and that such employ- ment on Territorial (State) account shall not be enforced or required any further than shall be necessary for the physical and moral well-being of the convicts. THE UNITED STATES. State-i'SE system.— Acts of 1894-95, chap. 189 (28 U. S. S., p. 957), provides that convicts in the United States penitentiary at Fort Leavenworth, Kans.. shall be employed exclusively in the manu- facture and production of articles and supplies for the penitentiary, and for the Government: the convicts are not to be worked outside of the Fort Leavenworth Military Reservation. Acts of 1890-91, chap. 529 (26 U. S. S., p. 839), authorizes the construction of three United States prisons, and provides that convicts therein shall be employed exclusively in tht manufacture of supplies for the Government, within the prison inclosures. Hours of labor. — The hours of convict labor are not regulated by statute. Kinds of labor.— Manufacturing. Sale and competition.— Acts of 1897-98, chap. 11, sec. 31 (30 U. S. S., p. 211), prohibitsthe importation into the United States of any goods, wares, or merchandise manufactured wholly or in part by con- vict labor in any foreign country. Acts of 1890-91, chap. 529 (26 U. S. S., p. 839), requires that convicts in the United States prisons to be erected under said act are to be employed in manufacturing such goods for the Government "as can be manufactured without the use of machinery." ' Acts of 1886-87, chap. 213 (24 U. S. S.,p. 411), forbids the hiring or contracting out of the labor of the United States convicts confined in any State prison, jail, penitentiary, house of correction, or other place of incarceration. o I MOV . b 1978 university otCalHornia FACIUTY SOUTHERN REGIONAL UBR^^^^ ^,,,.,,^ 405 Hilgard Avenue, Los Ang ^^^ ^^^^^^ GAYLORD PRINTED IN USA uc SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FAaLljY AA 000 325 081 8 U]