Salt Lake Tribune | 1916-12-24 | Page 19 | Prisoners Should Work on Highways

PRISONERS SHOULD Road Building Should Be Included in Prison Labor La-bor System. "Road building should be included in a comprehensive system of prison industries," in-dustries," stated John J. Manning,. to a representative of the national committee com-mittee on prisons. Mr. Manning was outlining the scheme for the reorganization reorgan-ization of the prison industries of New York state fathered by the State federation fed-eration of Labor. "The State Federation," he pointed out; has always taken a progressive attitude toward prison industries. To labor men is dile the plank in the state constitution of 1894 which prohibits the unfair competition of convict-made goods and provides for these goods a market in the state institutions and departments. de-partments. "Samuel Gompers and a representative representa-tive of labor men visited Sing Sing prison in 1 9 1 i5 , J he continued, to encourage en-courage the development of a better system of industries in that institution. This year the federation is presenting to the people of the state a comprehensive comprehen-sive scheme for the reorganization of the industries of all the penal institutions. institu-tions. Our plan includes the establishment establish-ment of a board of standardisation and classification to standardize and classify clas-sify the commodities which the different differ-ent state institutions cousume for a period pe-riod of not less than ten years. "If this were done,' Mr. Manning asserted, 1 ' the prison industries could be put on a sound working basis. The prison authorities would then be assured as-sured of their market and warranted in preparing a stock of goods for immediate im-mediate delivery, which would prevent the present manipulation of the law by the different state departments in regard re-gard to the purchase of prison-made goods. v- "The industries in which the state engages should be as diversified as possible. pos-sible. This would afford opportunity for industrial training to every prisoner and would prevent the overproduction of mechanics in any one line, so that on discharge the men could readily be assimilated in the trades in which 'they have become proficient while in prison. ' ' The svstem of prison industries should include farms for those who aim to become farmers and for the old and those incapacitated for industrial work. There should also be developed a comprehensive com-prehensive system for building roads along the lines found practical and profitable prof-itable in other states." The inclusion of road building in this scheme is encouraging to those who believe be-lieve that, when rightly organized, it can afford opportunity to many convicts con-victs and returns in butter roads and better men to the state. The national committee on prisons is strongly of this opinion and also indorses the whole scheme outlined by Mr. Manning. The action of the New York Federation Federa-tion of Lahor should have far-renchiug results, both in giving impetus to the movement to work out in New York state a model system of prison industries indus-tries and in encouraging the federation of labor in other states to co-operate in putting the prison industries of their states on a basis of efficiency and fair play to the prisoner and the "free working" work-ing" man.