CONVICT ROAD CAMP, FULTON COUNTY, GEORGIA. 3 
That care and attention given to the diet and the sanitary con- 
ditions will yield abundant fruit in a remarkably low rate of sickness. 
That a businesslike system of records and accounts can be installed 
and operated at small expense, and that its worth will be proved by 
the ease with which leaks and extravagances can be detected and 
eliminated, and by which a high degree of economy can be effected. 
And that the slightly increased cost of maintaining convicts on 
the higher plane indicated by the above suggestions is fully offset 
by the increase in efficiency of the working force, so that the cost of 
work performed is not measurably affected. 
These are the most striking results of the operation of the Fulton 
County camp. The methods by which they were obtained are 
described in the following pages. | 
The camp was established as the result of the studies of convict 
labor for road work conducted in 1914 and 1915 by the Office of Public 
Roads and Rural Engineering and the Public Health Service. These 
studies embraced an investigation of conditions, methods, and prac- 
tices pertaining to the use of convicts in road construction in 21 
States, a wide reading of the available literature, and a digest of the 
opinions of numerous specialists in highway construction, penology, 
and sanitation. A mass of valuable information was accumulated 
covering practically all phases of the problem. This material was 
arranged conveniently and, together with such specific recommenda- 
tions as seemed warranted by the data in hand, was published as 
Bulletin No. 414 of the United States Department of Agriculture, 
entitled ‘‘ Convict Labor for Road Work.” 
It was expected that the operation of the camp would establish by 
actual test and demonstration data of great practical value along 
several lines, among which might be mentioned the housing, feeding, 
and management of the convicts. A special type of portable building 
was designed with a view to determining the practicability and econ- 
omy of this type in comparison with other camp structures. A 
_ balanced ration, under a rigid system of weighing, checking, and cost 
keeping, was installed to ascertain whether this diet and system would 
- effect economy and promote the welfare of the convict. The honor 
system was followed in the discipline of the convicts, all of whom were 
negroes, as this system, although generally recognized to be successful 
in dealing with selected white convicts, rarely had been applied to the 
discipline of negro convicts. It was thought that this problem was 
_ well worth a practical determination both from economic and hu- 
Manitarian standpoints. 
The plan was first suggested early in the summer of 1915 by repre- 
sentatives of the Office of Public Roads and Rural Engineering to 
Mr. W. T. Winn, at that time chairman of the Committee on Public 
Works of the Board of County Commissioners of Fulton County, Ga. 
