The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, February 07, 1919, Page FOUR, Image 4
ESTABLISHED 1844
The Press and. Banner
ABBEVILLE, S. C.
Wm. P. GREENE, Editor.
The Press and Banner Co.
Published Every Tuesday and Friday
Telephone No. 10.
Entered as second-class mail mat-1
ter at post office in Abbeville, S. C.
Terms of Subscription:
One year ! $2.00
v Six months 1.00
Three months .50
Payable invariably in advance.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1919.
THE CHAIN GANG.
It seems that people over the state
are about to wake up to the fact
that our old friend, the Chain Gang,
is about to bankrupt all the counties
, in the state, and a determined effort
is being made at this session of the!
legislature to get rid of it. An article
in the Columbia State, which is
printed elsewhere in this issue, states
that thoughtful people everywhere,
who have given the matter any consideration
whatever, agree that the
* " 1 "-f /IQTvfQITIO
overneaa expenses vi
guards, food, clothing and other necessary
things, makes the convict labor
on the road the most expensive
labor to be had.
' t ^ 4
It is estimated in some counties
that it costs as much as twenty-five
hundred dpllars to work a convict
for twelve months. In Richland
County, where there are large squads
and not so many guards, the expense
per year is stated to be about seven
hundred and fifty dollars per con*
Vict. We undertook to show the
people of this county some two years
ago that although the convicts could
not do any work for half the time
on account of the weather, the cost
per convict in this county was about
a thousand dollars per year. Our
figures were disputed, but they have
not been disproved. '
Besides this, the State Board of
Charities and Corrections has found
that these convicts cannot be properly
housed and cared for by the counties,
even when all that is possible is
done. In a great many counties the
health and care of these convict* havf
received next to no attention by the
authorities. Those who read of the
four convicts who died in Richland
County a few days ago were brought i
face to face with the fact that it is
almost impossible to properly cure
tor thesd unfortunates .when sickness
overtakes them. ;
It is proposed in a bill introduced
into the legislature to remov* these
conditions and hardships by putting
these convicts under the jurisdiction
of the penitentiary authorities, who
would be authorized to turn them
over to the Highway Commission, by
whom they would 'be employed in
building permanent roads in the
state. Under this arrangement the
convicts would be kept in large
squads,- and it is believed the expense
of guarding them will be much
less.
?/ Jt is contended t,oo that the state
authorities by having them all together
in this way, and by keeping
them in one locality longer, would
be the better able to house them
when not at work, and would be able
to give them better zredical attention
M as *? l??k a'ter their
care better. In order
&at the counties may not lose by the
Undertaking, ft (9 proposed to give
fteh county a certain numbers of
days' work during the year, the number
of days' work being in propor
tion to the number of convicts Bent
from the particular county.
' Th? plan suggested offers some
advantages over the pfesdnt plan.
But the members &? tH? legislature
gHoiiid WftS hdid 8i the evil which extol
fend cure it at one dose. It is J
the way of legislative bodies to try
to core evils by making changes in
laws which have been found imprac*
tical, instead of abolishing such laws
and getting something better.
It is stated by the Columbia State,
that the object of the criminal law,
? and of the punishment^, provided for
an offense, is to deter t^B" criminal
from committing the; Qflfeuie again,
and to safeguard society by impris.
it goes, but this is not the whole
ng him to "buy now and pay later,'
jven if cotton does go down. Bu1
whether the number of these vehicle!
will so increase as to enable the stat<
;o collect the debt out of them re
nains to be seen. Should the auto
nobile owners not pay the debt ant
interest the burden would be cast 01
John Jones, or Mr. R. W. Smith, o;
some other honest man, too poor
however, to own a "Nancy."
Perhaps to prevent an occurrenci
idea of the law-maker; at least, it i
should not be. <
We owe a duty to society, it is i
true, to imprison the lawbreaker, in i
order that he may not' commit the i
offense again. But for most crimes i
the convicted person is imprisoned ]
for only a few years. Society is not, j
therefore, protected by his imprison- ,
ment except during this time, unless j
perhaps the recollection of its hard- ]
ships deters the criminal from committing
the same, or some other: (
criminal offense, which in fact it sel-j.
dom does. ,
The better view is that we should
get the benefit of whatever good^
comes from the punishment and imprisonment,
but that we owe to the
criminal as well as to society the
duty of undertaking to give the
criminal some training that will fit'
him for earning a livelihood when j
i he is again at liberty, remembering j
always that idleness breeds all man-j
ner of crimes.
We presume that it will n6t be^
J seriously contended that there is op-(
portunity, or a disposition, to give,
to these convicts in chain gangs any
training which is of any good to them,
whatever. Certainly they learn noj,
wV*iT** ttrAi*1rmtr
j usexui Ubtupauvu mills J
public roads. That is not a business ,
which they would care to follow (
when the term of service is over. It:
would be far better for the state to (
have a farm where these convicts'
might be taught something about[,
agriculture than to have them on the, (
public roads. When their terms of (
service were ended they might then
seek homes on the farms Miich need!
I 1
labor so much just now. Or they
might be taught to be shoe-makers,
carpenters, brick-layers, or any number
of other things where the train-j
ing obtained would fit them to make
II
\n honest living when the, term of '
service is over, and which to this ex-11
| 4
tent would remove the temptation to,
commit crime. "We owe something '
: at I. i__ ; <
to wiese men uiuugu nicy uc uum-j
nals.
The chain gang is a crime within
itself against civilization.
THE BOND ISSUE.
There is one objection to the
twenty-five million dollar bond issue
from which we must dissent. A great
many people say that they are in ^
favor of the proposed bonds, but
they object to that provision which
yvpuld require the automobile owners
in th? itate to pay these bonds.
We believe that this provision in
the proposed law is just, and that if
the bonds are issued the automobile
owners should be tihe paymasters, fori
the fe&son that all the agitation'
concerning these roads U fey the ftil
torftobile ownerfe> And the roads are!
for the use of the automobile owners,
and the money saved iji the use of
these roads if any, will be saved almost
entirely by the automobile own- .
;
In fact, the roads, if built of con- ^
crete, will'not be servicable for the r
use of teams, or animals drawing g
vehicles.. The roads will be so hard ?]
that animals may not use them con- ,
stantly without being permanently t
injured in a short time, and the .dan-, j
gers from falling on such. Toadg.-acQ B
such that no prudent person- would c
desire-to drive a team'upon them.
Nothing will be saved to the tax-. <
payer who does not own an automo- a
bile or truck, and little will be saved a
to the county by the construction of j
these roads, other roads being necessary
for those persons who use the j
old-fashioned way of hauling with t
mules and horses. ^
For these reasons, and because the t
building of the roads would help to i
build up the automobile business and; I
furnish new talking points for those! r
who sell automobiles and motor driv-jr
en trucks, we believe that, should |c
the bonds be issued, those to be chief ^ t
ly benefited should pay the fiddler. ^ j
What We are ifldst
about is the ability bf tha state i
to collect the mondy iat Interest and <
principal ottl bi these automobile^
owners. Th4 fetate assumes the debt <
for th? bMlefit of a few people. Con- \
eidering the high license taxes hec- ;
SSSary to pay this interest fthd prih- i
cipal, we doubt whether ail thfc )
people who are now riding in 1
mobiles will continue to do sb. Some
people may purchase who do rfbt now
own . one of these vehicre'9, &nd merchants
ih thfe Ikrg'e towns and cities
will have their huge triicks upon the
l^ 'setfmg gdo^ io^th^ farmer, tell
of this Kind, Mr. nnett ana sumc u
the other men of great 'financia
worth would be willing to sign i
bond of indemnity to save us harm
less.
NEWSPAPERS MERGE.
The Evening Index and The Green
wood Journal announced in their is
sues of Wednesday that the two pa
pers had been consolidated, and here
after a paper to be known as Th
Index-Journal would be issued by th
Index Printing Company.
Mr. H. L. Watson is to be the edi
tor of the new p^per and Mr. Joel S
Bailey is the business manager. Mi
Gi W. Gardner, Jr., is to be adver
tising manager and Mr. E. P. Wide
man, city editor. Dr. G. W. Gard
ner, who has so ably edited\ Th
Greenwood Journal, ana wno nns
ventured to give Greenwood a liv
daily paper, retires from, active ser
dee in the newspaper field. His fail
ing health and his well earned hon
ors have entitled him to a rest fo
sometime.
The merger of these two paper
frill be welcomed by the friends o
all parties. Though Greenwood is i
live town, it was not believed b;
those in a position to know that i
cvould support two afternoon dailiefc
Both papers have deserved well o
the public, and no one was willinj
to see either suffer for proper sup
port. The readers and advertiser
jf the two papers will be .greatl:
profited by the merger. One pape
will carry the message of the adver
iisers to all the readers of both pa
?ers, while the former readers of thi
;wo papers will have the combine*
jfforts of all hands to get all the new
ind give it to the public. There wil
je no duplication.
i ?
Mr. H. L. Watson is one of thi
jest posted young men in this sec
;ion. His paper will be a force fo
;he right and for advancement alonj
ill proper lines. His worth to thi
japer and to the city where it ia pub
ished ,we trust, will be duly appreci
ited. Mr. Joel S. Bailey along witl
Mr. Watson has made a great sue:ess
out of The Index and The Evenng
Index in a financial W&7.
iifevef !?dk backward!
LET THE STATE HAVE THE
CONVICTS.
The chaingangs are not.profitable
o the counties. The gangs are sc
mall that the expense of guarding
hem and the other overhead charges
nake the labor cost considerably
rreater than free labor would be
rhis conclusion has been reached
wherever business men have taker
he trouble to examine the subject
k year or two ago the Abbeville Press
tod. Banner published a carefully
onsidered review of . the question
ind since then the State Board ol
Charities and Corrections and othei
tgencies have looked into it and
igreement in general that money u
ost by the county gang system.
The bill pending in the Genera)
Assembly provides that counties shall
>e compensated in labor units foi
whatever contribution of labor theji
night make to State chaingangs, thai
s, to convict labor employed on the
righways under the control and diection
of State authority. No argunent
of weight from the economi:al
or money saving standpoint maj
>e brought against the change prowed.
The counties have nothing
i6 gain and much to lose by it. .
The convicts shotild be Tilted un
ler State authority though tha
ivera the more fc&ftfensive, the objec
){ punishment ior crime being to de
;er its fcflftrtnission and protect th(
E>ublift\. That it will be easier to es
tafelfsh and maintain the practice o
humane treatment towards convict
when they shall be concentrated un
der the direction and in the custod
of the State than it js while they, jar
distributed in the contrpl of 45 cour
ties in manifest and scarcely v call
for discussion. The solenuj.duty. q
the State ..is to extend to the cor
victs whatever treatment is best vir
' dicated by investigation and experi- bett<
t ence and we have no right as a peo- T1
j pie to lag behind in the adoption of cour
? the most approved policies. Every- nate
- where State control as compared with is to
- county control is recognized as the of d
1 ;
r
^ Copyright ltll by Tk'
K. J. BafsokUTotweio Co., I\*
I
e.-_
p!
i
r
9 ^
] It pays to ]
y
e': 's , ..
Parker an
i?
in .
er.
he dollar argument in favor of
ity chaingangs has been elimid.
.'To retain the county gangs
> spend money for the privilege
oing less than the duty to con
n geare
that just la
every man game enoug
tidy red tin and a jimnr
Get it straight that vi
pipe or cigarette makin's
in P. A. That's becau
fou can't any more make
gue or parch your throat tl
ik when he's off the watei
oy our exclusive paieiueu
fou just lay back like a reg
cards and wonder why ii
tion in the P. A# smokepas
emember back!
Bay Prince Albert everywhere tobi
tidy red tins, handsome pound and
?that eleoer, practical pound cryt
moiatener top that keep* the toba
iZ,
J. Reynolds Tobacco C<
HnBHEnan
i
buy good
r
t \
Figure it ariyi
*
find it pays to b\
We want to sell
at the lowest p<
By Good Clol
i cloth, good mat
, Add to these
-v
isfaction, and y
buying your Cl<
\ Si
$15.00
OVEI
SI 2 JO
V
id Reese,
victs which the conscience of good
citizens tells them ought to be done~
Surely it will not be contended that
any people ought to do, a wrong C
thing and waste money in the doing.'
of it.?The State.
i
LtfUgnnii^
111 i
Im
III ill I
... -ttMbji. i
5o? smokes, Prince Albert 1
d to a joyhandout standard B
vishes smokehappiness on I
h to make a bee line for a I
-?j 1 .
/ pipe?oia or new i
hat you've hankered for in
i smokes you'll find aplenty
seP. A. has the quality!
5 Prince Albert bite your
lan you can make a horse
rt Bite and parch are cut
process I
ular fellow and puff to beat
i samhill you didn't nail a
ture longer than vou care
) V
< , !
icco U told. Toppy red bags,
half pound tin hamidort?and
tal glass humidor with sponge
c co in each perfect condition,
%
o., Winston-Salem, N. C
\ \ ' A'f
( ' i j
clothes?
i ><
I
I
< i "
way you like, you will
ly GOOD CLOTHES
[ you Good Clothes
38sible figure.
thes we mean reliable
:e and the right style,
our guarantee of satir;ft
. ,'ic J fir 2
ou can't go wrong in i ^
>thes here.
\
UITS
1 to $40.00
/
1C0ATS
1 to $30.00
Clothiers j
...... - 'v. . , 1 ?
* i ''. v ; .* 0
IBHSHHUnDHHUDHB