9 



ment which cannot be controlled and overcome. It has 

 found voice in the legislation of the Commonwealth, and 

 each year the lawful employment of convicts is restricted 

 within narrower limits. 



An excellent example of the tendency of this legislation 

 is furnished us in a neighboring county. Within the 

 house of correction at Cambridge, the manufacture of 

 brushes by the convicts had grown to be a profitable busi- 

 ness, and the returns from this manufacture largely de- 

 creased the prison expenses of the County of Middlesex. 

 But a statute passed last winter restricted the number of 

 prisoners to be employed in this industry to fifty, and the 

 result is said to have been that the industry is practically 

 destroyed, and the expense of the prison must be met 

 hereafter in some other way. 



The employment of prisoners on some kind of labor is a 

 humane necessity for their moral and physical well being, 

 and it may well be that in the near future, in order to find 

 adequate employment for its convicts, the state will be com- 

 pelled to undertake public \vork of a kind which will not 

 come in competition with free labor. In wliat direction 

 shall we look for such employment. Is there any public 

 work, which would not be undertaken at all if free labor 

 had to be employed, which would furnish occupation for the 

 convict, and be of benefit to tlie state. 



The roads of New England are considered to be among 

 the worst in the world, and probably will continue to be so 

 unless a vast system of reconstruction is begun, and in time, 

 completed. Their maintenance is a source of expense, and 

 their condition imposes an indirect tax upon the owner 

 of every horse and vehicle. I commend to your thoughtful 

 consideration whether it would be wise to employ those con- 

 victs who are imprisoned for short terms and for minor 



