CONVICT LABOK FOR ROAD WORK. 25 
with resulting inefficiency and failure. Among the considerations 
entering into the determination of the most effective size of camp 
are the character of the work, the size of squad that can be safely 
handled by a guard or foreman, the number of camp men necessary 
to prepare food and keep the camp in order, and the nature and con- 
venience of the camp buildings and equipment. A camp whose only 
operation is grading should not be so large as one which is designed 
to carry along the grading of a road, quarrying and crushing stone, 
and surfacing all at the same time; but whatever the work, the size 
of the camp should be properly proportioned to it, and if the working 
force be too great or too small inefficiency is sure to follow. Also, 
it is evident that if one guard or foreman can safely control 10 con- 
victs, a working force composed of any number of men not a multiple 
of 10 is to a certain extent an uneconomical force, since in that case 
one guard would have a squad of less than 10. Not less than two 
men are required to cook and care for even the smallest camp, and 
no more than two are required for 20 men. Furthermore, the over- 
head charges for superintendence, engineering, and bookkeeping are 
but little if any larger for 40 or 50 men than for 20, and the per 
capita cost of these items decreases as the population increases. The 
maximum limit is reached with the largest population for which 
the superintendent can assume responsibility successfully. Between 
the minimum and maximum limits the most effective population, in 
any case must be determined by trial and observation; but it is 
likely that under average conditions this will be found to be about 40 
or 50 men. In many of the smaller southern counties the number of 
convicts on hand at one time is not more than 20 who must be em- 
ployed either inefficiently on the roads, or at some less desirable 
occupation, or else maintained in idleness. Under the present laws 
in many of the States this condition must be endured, but it might 
be remedied by the enactment of laws placing county convicts under 
State control and employment. 
Finally, the employment of short-term men invariably results in 
ineffective work. Since to harden and instruct the recruit requires, 
in the qualified judgment of superintendents and foremen, from 30 
to 60 days, it is obvious that road work employing misdemeanants 
of terms averaging less than six months must bear a heavy burden of 
lost time and ineffective labor. 
The foregoing are the principal factors which determine the rela- 
tive efficiency of convict and free labor. They form a body of con- 
flicting and opposing tendencies the individual weight of which can 
not be appraised except by study and trial in the particular case at 
hand. In this statement lies the reason for the continuance of ineffi- 
ciency in all convict work. For, though the tendencies outlined in 
this chapter have been well known, the means of studying the com- 
