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Show PRISON LABOR. There is a "very just protest goes up from the laboring men of America against the entering into ! competition of prison-made goods with the products prod-ucts of their work. It is recognized that the prisoners pris-oners must have work to do while serving their time, and many schemes have been tried, and many others suggested. At the recent national conference confer-ence of charities and corrections in Richmond, Va., several addresses were delivered on the employment of prison labor, and the consensus of opinion was that, lhe public roads offered the most desirable field of employment. It was pointed out that such work entered very little in competition with free labor, and that the plan had been tried to some extent in various parts of the country, with uniformly uni-formly satisfactory results. The warden of the Virginia state prison, though opposed to the system before he had tried it. became be-came convinced after eighteen months' trial that it was'a good thing for the prisoners as well as the state. Opinions expressed by others present at the conference were that the fresh air and sunshine are good for the prisoners, many of whom are from cities. The outdoor work, it was said, left many of the prisoners in better health at the expiration of their sentence than at the beginning. Furthermore, Further-more, the men like the work, or, rather, prefer the road work to confinement within the prison and work in the shops therein. The laws of Virginia permit the courts to sentence sen-tence men whoso terms of imprisonment do not exceed ex-ceed two years to penal work on the road. Results having been satisfactory, it is now proposed to extend ex-tend the limit to five years. Just what method of guarding the prisoners is used when they have work to do at such a distance as to render a return to the prison at night imperative is not clear, but no difficulty on this score seems insurmountable. The prisoners are said to give the guards very little trouble, and if camps are established, the punishment punish-ment for wrongdoing seems to resolve itself into a kind of vacation holiday. The corrective influence under such circumstances must be regarded as more important than the punishment for offenses. It seems likely that the plan of road building by prisoners will become more widespread. There do' not seem to be many serious objections to the system.. The prisoners are benefited physically, their work does not seriously enter into competition with free labor, and the country needs good roads. For these reasons, a more general adoption of the plan seems likely. |