CONVICT LABOR FOR ROAD WORK. 65 
patrolmen on the maintenance of State or county roads. They should 
wear no regular uniform and should receive the full compensation of 
free laborers, but, during the period of their parole, they should be 
required to report monthly to a designated officer with regard to 
their satisfactory observance of the conditions of parole. 
Provision for promotion or demotion of all convicts through the 
various grades, as the reward of merit or the punishment of misbe- 
havior, will go a long way toward the mitigation of the cruelty of 
punishments, as the severest forms will be approached only by 
gradual descent, except in cases of violent assault, mutinies, and riots. 
CAMP LOCATION. 
As a* rule, it was found that the officers in charge of the camps 
investigated were possessed of a general knowledge of the cardinal 
principles of camp location, and had applied their knowledge fairly 
effectively in, the selection of their sites. 
Accessibility to the road work was in general their first considera- 
tion, and usually their policy was to select the site near the center of 
the section of road to be improved. The average distance which it 
was considered practicable to cover from one location was 3 miles. 
For more exact determination of the site the proximity of a supply 
of good water was considered as the controlling factor, though in the 
majority of cases it had not been thought necessary to make any 
special investigation of the character of the water they were using. 
Whenever practicable, the site was selected near naturally flowing 
sources of water, such as springs, mountain streams, and lakes, or 
when opportunity offered use was made of city water supplies and 
the wells of farms or residences close at hand. The digging of wells 
was avoided, where possible, on account of the expense involved, but 
when the impracticability of other sources made that expedient nec- 
essary there was an evident tendency to make a shallow well suffice. 
The camp sites were usually high enough to secure dry soil and fair 
natural drainage, and several of the camps inspected in the Western 
States were splendidly located on the high banks of rivers or on 
knolls protected from the wind by trees. Other camps, both in the 
East and West, were established near the foot of hills and were ex- 
posed to flooding in rainy weather. It was not always possible to 
avoid locations of this character, and when the camps were allowed 
to remain only during the dry summer months little difficulty was 
experienced. As a rule, the camps in the Eastern States were aban- 
doned during the severe winter months, while those in the South and 
far West were maintained throughout the year. Locations for win- 
ter quarters generally were chosen with considerable care, and every- 
thing that reasonably could be expected was done for the health and 
