The Reason. (Savannah, GA.) 1908-19??, June 27, 1908, Image 1
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No. io. Savannah, Ga., June 27,1908 Vol. i.
SHAME OF OUR PRISON SYSTEM
It is not enough that the State take without
compensation for years the labor of its convicts;
not enough that after a man has been imprisoned
for a long period he be turned out without the means
of support; not enough that he be stripped for the
remainder of life of all citizenship rights and ren
dered unable, because of a past record, to secure and
hold employment. No. while he is a prisoner, while
he is in chains, he must be humiliated, tortured and
treated as if he were no better than a ferocious beast.
Is it not torture, is it not the greatest humilia
tion. to be starved, to b<* whipped, to be made to
labor beyond the capacity of your powers?
When a man tortures and murders a fellow man
he is no greater criminal than the State which
tortures and kills by slow degrees. If he is not
physically dead on coming out of prison, who knows
but that his soul is? The malice that is sown in
his heart remins to the day of his death and he
never ceases to hate the hand that ruined him.
While there is no reforming power in injustice
and cruelty, the people of Georgia plod along con
tentedly practicing it to a. degree that ought to
make the hearts of all honest men and women bleed.
The trouble is that our good people are unaware of
the extent to which it is being carried on and have
not enough concern to inform themselves and arouse
the public conscience to a policy of reform. Then
there is something, in a large class, of the nature of
the barbarian —a something that is fascinated by
suffering and that is never so delighted as at the
infliction of pain. There are also another class in
Georgia who will balk at no means to live on the
labor of others, either by force which enslaves or
by outright robbery. These bolster up our lease
system from year to year and blind the public to
their plain duty in the matter of reforming our
whole convict system.
By E. Lamar Parker
If Georgians generally had seen what 1 have seen
around convict camps and all were to feel the great
and heavy sin of our system, there ought not to be
any peace or rest for them until something 1s done.
In three-fourths of the (-amps the large majority
of the prisoners an* scantily fed on the cheapest and
most mi wholesome food obtainable. They are worked
twelve and fifteen hours a day at labor that many
of them haven't tin* strength to perform. At night,
chained up together, and on bunks as hard as tin*
floor, manv of them are so tired from labor and ex
»
hausted from want of proper food that they pray for
death instead of sleep. A SLEEP THAT KNOWS
NO WAKING.
How sweet such sleep ought to be to many of
them.
The Associated Press says tin* following para
graph will be contained in the report of flu* com
mittee appointed at the last session of the legislature
to investigate the convict system of Georgia:
“The committeemen conducted their investiga
tions in a manner that would disclose the truth,
(‘amps were visited unexpectedly, at times when the
legislators were not expected. Tin* prisoners were
watched at their work and the treatment accorded
thoroughly observed, often without the lessees or
superintendents knowing anything about it. The
scenes were visited unexpectedly at meal times and
the food served the convicts inspected. In many
cases it is said to have been found below the stand
ard fixed by law. poorly cooked and served in la
mentably insufficient quantities. The convicts were
interviewed under the assurance that they would be
protected, and tales of reprehensible cruelty were
poured into the ears of the committeemen. The
statements of the men have been further investigated
as to their truth and will be reported on."
It is well that these reports be made, but the
time has arrived for action. There is not a member
of the General Assembly who does not know, or
ought to know, disgraceful conditions arising from