1914^ CoxviCT Labor ix Road Construction 67 



" honor men." In the West and probably in the Xorth where 

 the negro convict is in the minority, it is possible to assign them 

 at once to the First Class. To some it may seem that guns are 

 necessary to control the negro convict, yet I believe it will be 

 found possible to create in his mind the idea and realization 

 that the serving out of his sentence is simply paying a just debt 

 that he owes to the State, and that the State is really trying 

 to better his condition and give him a chance to make something 

 of himself again; and that this will develop in him a loyalty to 

 the superintendent of the camp and the foreman under whom 

 he works. 



The convict force will be divided into the above classes re- 

 gardless of the work that they are to do. The present paper, 

 however, takes up the question of the use of this labor in the 

 construction of public roads, which means the erection at vari- 

 ous points of convict camps. 



ORGAXIZATIOX OF THE CONVICTS 



The organization of this convict labor for road construction 

 will be of two distinct methods depending upon the classes of 

 convicts used : 



First, would be the convicts that would be worked without 

 guards and without stripes, representing the men of the First 

 Class or " honor men." 



Second, would be those over whom it is necessary to have 

 armed guards while they are working, and would be convicts of 

 the Second and Third classes. 



The men of the Third Class would wear stripes and work 

 under guards with guns, and the worst men of this class might 

 have to be worked in stockades in breaking rock or doing sim- 

 ilar work. Those of Class II would be worked under guards 

 with or without exposed firearms, as the case might be. At 

 night the convicts of Class III would be on chains and under 

 armed guards, while those of Class II would be not on chains 

 but under armed guards. 



