issued Twice a Month
VOLUME 2
DUNN, N. a, JUNE 15, 1934.
. number li
GLANCING AT PRISON FINANCES UNDER THE NEW REGIME
•- • . ~ ‘ \-'*l • -■ - . : / ... .. • .... *
One of the sore spots in North Carolina financing
for a number of years has been that of the State’s
Prison. The number of. prisoners were multiplying
at an unprecedented raje^pd on every hand was ob
jection to their being employed at this or that task.
Despite the wisdom ofthe superintendent, nothing
could happen 'but an ever-increasing deficit. In
scores of sections in the State one could see free
labor being paid for highway work, every year heap
ing up the indebtedness of the State. Yet thousands
of prisoners must largely idle about. The farms were
the chief source of income and of employment.
The Prison Becoming Self-Supporting.
But the combination of the management of the
highway business and the prison management under
that super executive, E. B. Jeffress, and the conse
quent employment- of the prisoners on a large scale'
in highway work have, seemingly, transformed the
situation. Instead of paying free labor $1.50 a day,
the present wage, the highway commission is work
ing convicts in almost every desired wray in the
ramifications of the immense highway "business. You
find them now, according to Mr. J. B. Roach, execu
tive director of the prison, yvorking. in .the .Highway -
system’s garages, building bridges, as. well as per
forming the most of the ordinary labor in the upkeep
of the highways and roads.
While no money passes, the highway commission
charges itself with 80 cents a day for each prison la
borer. That is a difference of BO cents, compared
with free labor. Whether it means an actual saving
to the highway commission depends altogether upon
the comparative efficiency of the two. And that
point Mr. Roach has made it a point to determine
-JMnee his succession tb C^^e‘i'ilbW^6u^as'^B:s8n'
executive. In the meetings of the district engineers,
Mrs. Roach has asked the pointed question as to
whether the convicts compared favorably in efficiency
witli the ordinary free labor, and the reply lias been
almost unanimously in the affirmative.
The employment of the great mass of prisoners
thus and on the farms has resulted apparently in
the prison's becoming self-supporting.
A Remarkable Achievement.
When one considers that the average prison popu
lation for May, 1934, was 7;723, and that seven hun
dred of them are infirm and an absolute liability
; upon the prison management rather than an asset
and that many of the prisoners are turned over to
the management in need of immediate medical or
surgical attention, it becomes "< more wonderful to
contemplate a report of no deficit.
Cost of Maintenance Being deduced.
The estimated per capita cost of prisoners51 mainten
ance during 1933 is 57.4 cents a day. Despite the
increased cost of all kinds of commodities the per
capita cost per day thus far this year is estimated at
56.58 cents—a reduction of nearly a cent a day.
That is apparently a small saving but when applied
to nearly 8,000 prisoners meahs $75 a day, or more
than $25,000 a year.—And remember this saving over
the first experimental period has been made in the
face of greatly advanced prices.
The supervision and maintenance of nearly eight
thousand prisoners seems a stupendous task, but this
is only a part of the responsibilities of Chairman
Jeffress, for he has the ultimate say-so in all high
way and prison matters.
. The mileage of roads and highways under Mr.
Jeffress’ supervision and upon which these thousands
of prisoners are employed is 57,273, of which im
mense mileage 10,447 miles are-listed as State high
ways and 46,S2G miles as county roads. ■ .
An Executive. Who Is On the) Job.
The immensity of the task of supervision imposed
upon Chairman Jeffress might lead one to infer that
he has only a casual or superficial knowledge of
- what is going on in the different parts of his domain.
But hot so, according to Mr.'Roach, who says that
'the-man's mind Jeffresa,
now tell you the condition of practically every piece
"Of'•road'in North Carolina,” said'Mr.* Roach. Con-:
tinuing, he said “that man forgets nothing; he may
remind you any day of the details of a conversation
he' had with you" six months ago.” *
An Introduction to Mr. Roach-.
The eyes of the State were more upon George Ross
Pou after his retirement from the prison management
and dhtrance upon his campaign for congress than
upon his successor. I myself had forgotten who sue
ceeded him a
ind had to ask my friend Chester Bel!,.-.
the man of figures in this the State’s hugest enter?-;
prise—care of prison and building and maintaining,
roads.
a resident of
Mr. Roach is ai native of Mississippi. He has lieeii.
North Carolina since 1010. He became'
connected in 1931 with the highway department. His'
executive ability must have impressed itself very
strongly upon! Mr. Jeffress and the governor, since he -
was named almost off-hand for the succession to Mr. '
Pou, 'but not at that gentleman’s salary, for Mr. "
Roach is getting only $3,100 a year, as against I be- ’
lieve nearly or quite double that sum for Mr. Pou,
However, Mr Roach does not claim to hawe all the*
duties that belonged to Mr. Pou’s job. Nor does he
mate any undue claim, or any claim at all, to the.
fine showing apparently being made in the" financial *'
management of the prison—-he has been on. the job
too short a time for that. Accordingly, Mr. Pou must.
share with Chairman Jeffress in the credit for what
ever of progress appears as yet in making the prison,
self-sustaining under the new scheme. And con
science knows that he deserves a chance to get credit;
for it, for it,was his to bear the odium of an ever-!
increasing deficit under a regime in which. he was, M
as helpless, or anybody else would have been^ as! a".. '
babe to make the prison pay its own way. Think
of it—several times as many prisoners as in earlier
years, price of farm products reduced to near noth
ing, not allowed to compete with private business iin
any line, hundreds of the maimed, halt,'and infirm^ :
thrust upon him and demanding medical or surgical; s|
care.—Yet some people thought he should make ends
s estimate inelnt!eg~ndt only the
food and clothing of the prisoners, including the an?* -
firm, but medical care, guard costs, etc., etc., ad in-’.
finitum till one reaches the prison and its equipments;
here and yonder. For instance, the State must con-.
tribute the cost of the contemplated new building, as
it has the material costs of the scores of camps
throughout the State. But it-will be a big thing if;
the next report of the prison management shows the’
institution to be a self-sustaining one. '
Our Modem Moses Sets Date For Signal For Canaanward March
It was a considerable period after Moses had led
tiie distressed Israelites across the Red Sea from
Egypt before any plans were outlined for a inarch
ni>on Canaan. A year and a month was spent in the
wilderness of Sin and Mount Sinai before a word
was said about marching forth. The people in their
distress had to be fed with manna; later they were
gorged upon quail. Even water had to be provided
for them upon occasions. The people lost faith and
Made a golden calf to worship—on the order of the
sacred hull worship in Egypt.
The lime came at last to move. The Amalekites
resisted. They were „ovei'ttyi;own,. The record does
not state the exact date of the cowardly refusal of
►Hie people, to march.-to. Canaan land after the report
of the spies. But it was probably just about the pe
riod that has passed since the inauguration of
America's modern Moses.
The parallel is most striking. Roosevelt came upon
the scene at a time when the people were the slaves
°f the worshipers'of the golden calf. Their distress
was such that it required such a bounty of bread as
the world never, before saw showered upon a dis
tressed people. None has vainly cried for bread these
sixteen months, if our Moses or his representatives
were aware of the need* When bread alone palled,
nu‘Hts surpassing in quantity the abundance of quail
wore broadcast over'the land. Codes which may be
likened nnto the directions for living received and
given by Moses have been promulgated to make Ufa
freer and easier. Scarcely a step has as yet been
taken toward the goal of the people’s ultimate de
sires—the land flowing witty milk and honey.
Preparing to March.
Months were spent by Moses in seasoning the peo
ple. in undertaking to built up their faith and to root
0,11 the longing for the flesh pots of Egypt. Another
Period was spent in organizing the people. Then
same the order to march. And that course has been
pursued almost exactly by "President Roosevelt. The
first year and four months Rave been spent in fstor
ing the confidnece of the people, in picturing to them
the possibilities of their resources,—of the New Deal
—and in making life as comfortable as possible in the
economic wilderness in which the leader and the peo
ple *had found themselves. The golden calf wor
shipers had to be disciplined. The Amalekites, few
or many, have been chastised. Organizations have
been effected. And now comes the challenging an
nouncement that at the opening of the next session
of Congress, which affords the first feasible oppor
tunity, the message incorporating the rules for the
march to the promised land will be issued.
The Evils of the Land Will Be Magnified.
Ere that day arrives we may be sure that spies will
have spied out the land and will have all manner of
evil reports to make. Alas, some of them have al
ready bewailed that in that land it. will be 'possible
for a citizen to be directed as to “wbat kind of hat
he must wear.”' Others, worshipers of the golden
calf, will bewail the prospect of a land where the
golden calf is utterly displaced. ‘■Regimentation”
will be decried by the very champions of a regimenta
tion that profited them alone. The evils that they
wot not of, will overtower the evils that all of us
know brought disaster in a time of the greatest
abundance. Even many who were forced to make a
double tale of bricks without straw and fed upon
crusts while serving under the masters’ lashes will
bewail the loss of the flesbpots of Egypt. Like unto
the companions of Columbus they will be expecting
great monsters of the sea to swallow them up—or
even they may conceive that they are asked to march
Into the nothingness of a space where the world
ceases to be.
The Calebs and Jashuag.
The crisis will be at hand with the delivery of that
message. .Whether the Caleb* and Joshua* shall
prevail or; the cowards, will determine ’America's
fate for a generation, perhaps the forty years of the'
wanderings in the wilderness, A failure to back up
the leader will be disastrous.
What the Promised Land Offers. ••
The promised land offers good homes, plenty to.
eat, sufficient leisure to enjoy life. to every Ameri
can citizen. It in assuring these things to the many,. ,
must necessarily deny superfluous riches to the few.
The abundant resources of the land of the new deal
will be devoted to the welfare of the many and shall
not be allowed to be monopolized by dogs in the
manger. Bjut it. will be for the people to decide
whether they will go forward. No-Moses, no Roose
velt, can lead an unwilling peoplerto the land of
promise. The Israelites suffered for their pusil
lanimity; Americans will do likewise if they cow
ardly or selfishly refuse to follow the glowing pillar
of cloud that beckons the way. O, the leader may
make mistakes. But it is evident that he is the
chosen of Providence to lead the people to a haven
of plenty and comfort or at least to the border
thereof, where the people themselves must decide the
issue. The coming winter will see a definite inarch
forward or a disastrous return to the, wilderness.
For whoever supposes the last year to have been
spent in a forward march is mistaken—it has been
merely an interim of preparation, in wrhich all efforts
possible were made to bring cheer,^comfort, and cour
age to the wilderness dwellers. The real event
looms. ” - v
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