Prison Lab our Abroad

[In the past year, the writer has visited prisons in seven countries in Europe, in Canada and in five States of the American Union.]

THE International Prison Congress has just closed at Prague. During the present month the Assembly of the League of Nations will be asked to consider co- operation "in the development of prisons in accordance with -modern economic, social, and health standards." Thus a century and a half after John Howard made his seven journeys to- the prisons- and lazarettos of Europe "conjecturing that something useful to my purpose might be collected -abroad," the- value of • comparative study and consultation about prison conditions and the right treatment of delinquency is being recognized

as-a matter of international concern. '

Of the many vexed problems which bonfrant prison authorities none presents greater difficulties than the question of prison labour, and there is no aspect of prison administration where greater differences exist between the practice of one country and another. When the lawbreaker is deprived of his liberty the right use of his time obviously becomes a social responsibility ; upon the provision or lack of vocational training will largely depend the success or failure of prison treatment to assist his rehabilitation ; and the disposal of the product of his labour may raise serious economic pro- blems.

The complexity of this problem is clearly illus- trated in the United States of America. In the prisoni of some American States, the prisoners' labour is hired out to those contractors who offer the highest -price for it. The successful contractor sends

into the prison his own material, machinery, and overseers, and, except for disciplinary purposes, takes complete charge during working hours of the prisoners allocated to him. The Indiana State Penitentiary at Michigan City is spoken of as an institution where this contract system is operated with most success. From a total prison population of 2,100 men, 675 are employed in a shirt factory and 190 in a wicker chair factory. Men are paid for their work according to output and may earn as much as fifty-four cents a day. Money acquired in this way may be spent upon small purchases, sent home to dependents or retained for use on discharge. The workshops in the prison are efficient from an industrial point of view, the work not uncongenial, and the up-to-date equipment and increased activity com- pared with an English prison workshop would seem at first sight to commend the system. Nevertheless, the objections to it are patent. The products of the indus- tries are sold in the open market in competition with goods produced under Trade Union conditions ; there is ample scope for " sweating " and an ever-present danger of corruption. Moreover, although prisoners may learn the habit of industry under such a system they usually gain little vocational training ; shirt- making in the outside world is confined to women.

The State Prison of Minnesota at Stillwater has attempted to improve this system, by eliminating the contractor and controlling the industries from within. Of the 1,200 men in the prison, 500 are employed making binder twine, and a further 800 making agricultural machinery. The prison is worked at a profit and has several million dollars in reserve. Prisoners are paid up to $1.25 a day in wages, and in the year ending June, 1928, $150,000 was distributed in wages; and $80,000 in State aid to families.

Such a system eliminates some of the evils inherent in the contract labour system, but the product of the men's labour is still- sold in competition with goods made outside. Thus the binder twine industry at Stillwater Penitentiary has captured the market over a large area of the United States. Vocational training is also sacri- ficed to industrial- efficiency. A few years ago a new cell-block was erected in this prison. There is no better training to fit a man for discharge than bricklaying and carpentry. Yet it is said that the work was undertaken by an outside contractor since the prisoners could not be spared from making binder twine.

In certain American States, principally in the East, powerful opposition from employers and trade unionists has successfully prevented the establishment of prison industries, the products of which can be sold in competition with free labour. In most of these States, however, no adequate alternative has been substituted, and in con- sequence a high proportion of their prisoners are con- fined under conditions of almost complete idleness. In the Eastern Penitentiary in Philadelphia, a prison con- taining 1,400 men, many have no work whatever and most of the remainder are chiefly employed in the domestic work of- the prison, which only occupies them up to 1 p.m., and the rest of the day is spent in idleness either in the cells or in the prison yards. Prisoners are even allowed to develop industries of their own—mostly of the " arts and crafts " variety—and to employ other prisoners, paying them wages through the prison authorities.

The problem of prison labour in the U.S.A. was brought to a head in 1929 by the passage through Congress of the Hawes Cooper Bill, to come into force in 1984, which prohibits the transport of prison-made goods from one State to another without mutual agreement. The Trade Unions and employers are largely responsible

for this measure, which has been passed against the fierce opposition of many prison governors who find the contract labour system conducive to an easy running of the prison machine, and even in a few cases, it is alleged, not unprofitable to themselves. The contract labour system will no doubt die hard, but it is doomed. The immediate problem is that of the alternative to be substituted. It would be serious indeed if the prisons now producing goods for the open market were to revert to conditions of demoralizing idleness such as already obtain in many of the Eastern States. Fortunately other influences are at work. Various steps are being taken to develop prison industries for the manufacture of articles for State use, and the prison authorities in some States, notably in New Jersey, are also attempting to foster co-operation between the Trade Unions and the Chambers of Commerce in promoting vocational training for prisoners. Although the latter schemes are as yet only in an experimental stage, difficulties between what may appear to be opposing interests have been largely overcome by consultation and co-operation, and already one or two. Trade Unions have sent instructors into the prisons to train an agreed number of men in certain trades, the period of training being counted as apprenticeship time in qualify- ing for a Union card.

In Canada all the prison industries appear to be for State use but are more up to date than those of thiS country. The Guelph Adult Reformatory in Ontario possesses a large farm of nearly 1,000 acres including an abattoir, and dairy produce, fresh meat, and bacon are supplied to other State institutions in the district. There is also a large fruit canning shed, an excellent blanket weaving factory, and a number of other up-to-date in- dustries.

In many European countries the nature of the labour provided in prison is to no small extent conditioned by the system of separate confinement to which many • prisoners are subject. A large proportion of the adult prisoners in most of the countries in North-West Europe work alone in their cells. This does not mean, however, that they are required to sew mailbags or canvas pouches, which is the usual cell task in an English prison. The cells, which are frequently much larger than an English prison cell, are often equipped with elaborate machinery, and many prisoners do highly skilled work. Carpentry and woodwork is a common industry, especially in Norway and Sweden, and many cells contain electrically driven lathes and similar machines. Much tailoring work is also done in cells which are equipped with sewing machines. A certain amount of printing is done and some prisoners in Holland and Czecho-Slovakia make envelopes.

The prisoners who work in association are usually engaged in well equipped modern workshops. In Den- mark the convict prison of Horsens in Jutland has a large weaving shop where some sixty to eighty men are employed making towels for the State railways. In this workshop a number of men convicted of murder and other serious crimes are working, but there are only three instructors on duty and no officers. This prison also contains two shops employing forty men making wicker baskets for agricultural use, and other shops where the men are engaged in printing, tailoring, and carpentry.

Most of the prison industries in these countries of N.W. Europe are for State use, but some goods are produced for open sale. In Denmark some of the prisoners in the Convict Prison of Vridsloselille near Copenhagen make wooden toys which can hardly be for State purposes. In Oslo after consultation with the Trade Unions a shop has been opened for the sale of prison articles of agreed patterns. In the Convict Prison of Sonnenburg in Prussia a number of prisoners have been engaged until recently in making mats by contract labour. From more than one European country prison-made goods are exported to other countries, a fact which indicates the need of some international con- vention in regard to prison labour.

In most of these prisons there is an atmosphere of industry which one seldom encounters in an English prison. One of the principal reasons is not far to seek, for in nearly all these countries, unlike England, prisoners are paid wages, usually in relation to work done. The increased activity which results is conducive to good discipline and inculcates a spirit of industry which is an aid to character building. Furthermore a part of each man's earnings—usually one half—is set aside for him on his release and this money, sometimes amounting to a not inconsiderable sum, is of very real assistance in helping the ex-prisoner to rehabilitate himself at a time when only too often the loss of friends and ready employment makes the task of regaining a place in