CONVICT LABOR 



15&4 



CONVICT LABOR 



to Interfere with the right of either party to en- 

 gage in a particular business. For example, A 

 may sell his grocery store to B and agree in 

 writing never to engage in the grocery business 

 again in the same state. Such a contract is not 

 li-i;:il. for it prevents A from engaging m a leglti 

 mate business which would not Interfere with B's 

 success. But if A contracted to refrain from 

 .-Mi-ting a grocery store in the same town for a 

 period of ten years the agreement would be law- 

 ful. 



(d) To constitute a contract the agreement 

 must provide for a consideration or its equivalent. 

 That Is, if A promises to do something for B for 

 nothing there Is no contract, for B has not bound 

 himself to give anything in return. The law in 

 such a case will not compel A to abide by his 

 promise. As to the adequacy of the consideration, 

 that matter Is left to the judgment of the con- 

 tracting parties. However, where the rights of 

 creditors of either party are involved, gross in- 

 adequacy of consideration may be grounds for 

 contesting the contract. 



Discharge of Contracts. When the obliga- 

 tions of an agreement have been fulfilled the 

 contract is said to be discharged. The ordinary 

 method of discharge is the performance of the 

 things agreed upon to be done. In some cases 

 the words "to perform to the other's satisfac- 

 tion" are inserted, but one should be cautious 

 about signing such an agreement. If one of 

 the contracting parties is unscrupulous he may 

 use such a condition as an excuse for avoiding 

 just payment. As a contract usually calls for 

 the performance of certain acts by both parties, 

 one party cannot demand performance of the 

 other unless he himself has fulfilled his obliga- 

 tions. If a contract is broken and damages are 

 liable to result, the parties may agree upon the 

 sum to which the injured person is entitled as 

 compensation, but if such an agreement cannot 

 be reached there may be an appeal to the 

 courts. 



If one party to a contract wilfully alters the 

 instrument so as to change the effect of the 

 agreement, the other party is relieved from his 

 obligation. Tampering with a paper by a 

 third party, however, called spoliation, has no 

 effect on the original agreement. Contracting 

 parties may by mutual consent agree to ter- 

 minate a contract. Death of a party, except 

 where his contract was for personal services, 

 does not terminate the agreement, as the heirs 

 may be held. A.E.R. 



CON'VICT LA'BOR, the system introduced 

 into prison life by which prisoners are em- 

 ployed in some form of useful work. Such 

 employment of convicts is a development of 

 the nineteenth century, for in former periods 

 idleness in prisons was the rule. In all penal 



institutions work is now considered necessary 

 for the welfare of the prisoners and to help 

 pay the expenses of maintenance; the former 

 reason is the more vital. A distinct effort is 

 now made to furnish the convict with work of 

 a constructive nature, the old scheme of assign- 

 ing menial tasks alone having been done away 

 with. 



There are two methods of convict labor. 

 The first looks to profits from the labor, which 

 is shared by the state with private individuals 

 or firms. This method is subdivided into three 

 divisions, the contract, the lease and piece-price 

 systems. Under the lease system the convicts 

 are leased to a contractor for a fixed price and 

 a definite time. Under the contract system any 

 firm may purchase the labor of a specified num- 

 ber of convicts; it provides that the work 

 shall be done within the prison walls but under 

 direction of the contractor, the latter furnish- 

 ing the raw material and paying a stated 

 amount for the labor. The convict usually 

 receives no income. In the piece-price system 

 the officials oversee the work. 



In many of the states, what is known as the 

 state use system is growing, and has been 

 authorized by the Federal government for the 

 Fort Leavenworth penitentiary. All materials 

 are provided by the state, and state officials 

 supervise the work. The profits are turned 

 over to the public funds. Products are sold in 

 the open market, or, as in New York state, only 

 such articles may be made as will be utilized 

 in other public institutions. This plan, how- 

 ever, does not avoid competition with free 

 labor, and it is sometimes provided that con- 

 victs shall receive a small wage for each day 

 employed. For example, Minnesota pays its 

 convicts from 17 cents to $1.50 per day for the 

 labor they perform, and this costs the state 

 $80,000 per year. The investment appears to 

 be profitable from every point of view, for the 

 penitentiary earns the state yearly profits as 

 high as $275,000. 



. Men studying prison reform questions now 

 advocate manual and technical training, espe- 

 cially for the younger men. Among the latest 

 advances in prison life is the honor system out- 

 side of prison walls, which has been found to 

 work well in the states of Colorado, North 

 Dakota and Oregon. This method is also a 

 feature of discipline in Illinois on the prison 

 farm, where convicts are employed and placed 

 on honor. For treatment of prisoners in peni- 

 tentiaries, see the article PRISON, subhead 

 Prison Reform. A.E.E. 



