TROUBLES OF THE TEXAS PRISON SYSTEM
By Tom Finty, Jr.
[This is the second and concluding article by Mr. Finty. The first article appeared in the December, 1913, Delinquent. Mr. Finty’s two articles are an especially interesting statement.]
In the foregoing I have attempted to outline the situation of the Texas prison system, to show how a burden of loss and debt has followed marked financial prosperity, and to indicate why the public is puzzled over the situation. I shall now endeavor to outline the causes of this condition, my statement being based not merely upon the conclusions of the investigating committee of 1913, but also largely upon the testimony taken by the committee, which testimony I heard and reported. This statement necessarily will include something of a review of provisions of the prison reform act of 1910, of criticisms of the same, and of the revisions which the Legislature recently tried to make.
When the prison reform act of 1910 took effect on January 20, 1911, and Governor Colquitt appointed his prison commissioners, the system was clear of debt except as to a small sum in current bills for supplies just received and on hand. There was also outstanding $100,000 of bonds secured by a direct lien on the Texas State Railroad. These bonds are still outstanding, and they are not taken into account in any of the statements hereinafter made.
The prison population when the new law took effect was 3,578. Of this number 1,046 were hired out; 831 were working on share farms (a modification of the hiring-out system), and 1,701 were employed upon State account, 586 of these within or near the walls, and 1,115 upon the State farms.
The acreage cultivated on the State farms was 18,097; on share farms 25,363, and on contract farms 18,680; total 62,140.
The prison population on September 30, 1913, was 3,926, all of which force is employed on State account, 733 of the prisoners being in or near Rusk and Huntsville prisons and 2,965 on State plantations. These plantations now include certain rented lands, adjoining the lands owned by the State. The prison population is classified as follows: White 1,244, blacks 1,919, mulattoes 335, Mexicans 405 and Indians 3. The number includes 92 females, 7 of them white, and 85 black.
The acreage cultivated by the 2,965 prisoners on State farms in 1913 was 36,993, as compared with 62,140 acres cultivated by 2,807 persons at the time the new law took effect.
The reports of the prison commissioners and of chartered accountants show that in the two years next following the date the act of 1910 took effect the prison system’s losses from operation were $722,773.41; that debts aggregating $1,528,458.04 accrued, and that $310,000 appropriated from the public treasury had been expended.
Marked difference of opinion as to the cause of this fiscal situation exists. Obviously, the debt is due in part to the operating losses, and both the debt and the losses were in part caused by lack of operating capital.
A part of the debt represents outlay for improvements and equipment necessary to provide housing and employment for the convicts withdrawn from the hiring-out system. A part of it, as already suggested, represents lack of operating capital.
When a large proportion of the convict population was hired out, the men who hired the convicts furnished the land, mules, implements and houses. When the State withdrew the convicts from hire, it had to provide all of these things.
When the convicts were hired out, their wages were paid to the State monthly, regardless of the profits or losses of the contractors. This income furnished an operating capital for the prison system as a whole. It was a substantial income: the State received $31 a month for each first-class convict, making a large profit after it had paid for food and clothing and for guarding. When the convicts were withdrawn from hire, this steady and dependable income stopped. Expenditures continued steadily throughout the year; the bulk of the receipts came at the end of the crop year, and, of course, the income was as uncertain as is the weather and the crops.
Thus, much of the indebtedness is explained. However, the wisdom of the commissioners in abolishing the contract system almost three years before they were required by law to do so has been questioned. It has been asserted that if they had permitted the contracts to continue during the three years, receiving the income therefrom, they would have been prepared to enter upon a complete State account system with much better chance for it to succeed. It should be noted, however, for what it may be worth, that some of the contractors said they did not want to keep the convicts under the conditions as to hours of labor, etc. imposed by the act of 1910.
In considering losses from operation of the prison system, it is readily seen that expenses were increased by requirements of the new law. The investigating committee says that $379,791.73 was thus added to the expense account during the first two years. These requirements were:
1. That 10 cents a day should be paid to each convict who had earned a diminution of sentence by good behavior. The commissioners advocated a repeal or modification of this provision. It is almost generally admitted that the provision in its present form is not only too sweeping, but also that it fails of its purpose. It has had little, if any, effect in the way of encouraging good conduct. Evidently, however, this negative result is due not so much to the fact that the per diem was paid as it is to the fact that the per diem has not been paid. After the system became involved in debt, and the $310,000 appropriation above mentioned was exhausted, no further payment of per diem was made, except as convicts were discharged.
2. That convicts should be paid for overtime. The comment upon the per diem item applies to this all the way through. Most of the overtime has gone to cooks, waiters and flunkers. Suspension of per diem and overtime payments has caused much dissatisfaction among the convicts.
3. That certain new offices should be created, teachers be provided, and that the salaries of guards should be increased.
4. That better provision should be made for female convicts.
5. That all new convicts should be brought to Huntsville prison before being assigned to other parts of the system. The commissioners recommended the repeal of this provision, because, they said, medical examination could be made at the farms as well as at Huntsville. They never seemed to understand the purposes of the requirement, which was, briefly, to assign the convicts to proper industries, to prevent sending to outside work men who were likely to attempt escape or to foment mutiny, and to secure to all prisoners some training in prison discipline. This purpose being misunderstood, prisoners are sent to the farms on the next train leaving after their arrival at Huntsville prison.
6. That discharged convicts should be furnished a railroad ticket to any point in the State, instead, as formerly, to the place where convicted. The commissioners recommended the repeal of this provision.
7. That the State should bear the expense of sending the corpses of convicts to their kinspeople upon request. Repeal of this also was recommended.
There were two other matters upon which the commissioners were not in agreement. The first was the requirement of the law that convicts should not be worked more than ten hours a day, this limit to include the time spent going to and from work. The second was the abolition of whipping. This latter was not required by the law, but was enforced by executive order.
Commissioners Tittle and Brahan attributed the losses from operation largely to the fact that the convict population upon the whole was not performing a reasonable amount of labor, as was indicated by the falling off in acreage cultivated. This condition they ascribed largely to the statutory limitation upon the hours of labor, and, further, to the fact that the most effective means of punishment (whipping) had been interdicted by executive order. The farm managers and sergeants, and, in fact, very nearly every officer of the system, supported them in these views.
Chairman Cabell denied the truth of their deductions as to the abolition of whipping, and he asserted that in his opinion these other officers exaggerated the influence of the limitation upon the hours of labor.
Certain of the new officers of the system who testified before the investigating committee said that most of the officers and guards, having been trained under the old order, were not in sympathy with the new law nor with its purposes. This suggestion was reinforced by the testimony of such officers, as is indicated in the foregoing.
The circumstances attending the abolition of whipping ought also to be considered. The prison act of 1910 did not prohibit whipping. It limited it and provided safeguards against abuses. Many of the officers of the system were not in sympathy with such limitations. In the early summer of 1912, Chairman Cabell moved that the use of the “bat” should be discontinued and prohibited. His motion was defeated by the votes of Commissioners Tittle and Brahan. Thereupon, Governor Colquitt ordered the commission to adopt Chairman Cabell’s motion. It did so, unanimously.
It was generally known throughout the system that practically every officer thereof believed it impossible to control convicts or to make them work unless the threat of whipping hung over them. Yet the first news of the change in punishment methods went out through the press during a political campaign. In many parts of the prison system, so the investigation disclosed, the convicts got their first information of the change from new prisoners. The effect was bad. Convicts reasoned that the authority of officers directly in charge was negligible; that these officers had said they could not control convicts or make them work without the “bat,” and, therefore, since the bat has been taken away, they could safely decline to work.
The reluctance of these prison officers to shape their course to the new requirements, I believe, was based upon sincere conviction. The influence of their attitude upon results can only be conjectured. In this connection it ought to be stated that these officers asserted that whipping was less inhuman than the substitutes provided. These substitutes were chaining-up and dark-celling. The former consists of fettering the convict’s wrists at the end of chains suspended from above at such height as to cause him to stand erect, but flat-footed, with his arms extended as high as they will go. There have been some complaints that convicts have been chained so high as to require them to stand tip-toe. The possibilities in the use of the dark-cell were illustrated in the Harlem farm tragedy.
A part of the prison system’s losses from operation were admittedly due to the following named causes:
1. Heavy damage to cane crop of 1911 by freeze.
2. Damage to cane and other crops in 1912 by drouth.
3. Burning of certain shops in Rusk and Huntsville prisons, the losses aggregating $286,931. Neither the indebtedness nor operating account were affected to the full amount of this loss, for only about $60,000 was expended in replacements. But both indebtedness and operating loss were further swelled, to an unmeasured extent, by reason of the interruption and disorganization of industries; for a time there was no work for many of the convicts to do.
There was also evidence in the investigation to show that the plan of organization was imperfect. For one thing, the commissioners were serving under the statute, with their terms limited to two years, and they were therefore subject to removal in the event of change in the office of governor. Also, under this law, they were serving in the dual capacity of directors and executive officials. The system, therefore, had three heads of co-equal authority. Much of the testimony indicated that this system did not work well. The men who wrote the prison bill in 1910 did not originally intend to provide such a system, but at the last moment they changed their bill in response to an eloquent plea in behalf of the “commission form of government.”
When the present Legislature met in special session in July, 1913, prohibition was still an active issue. Moreover, there were rumors that Governor Colquitt and former Governor Campbell would contest for a seat in the United States Senate in 1916, or earlier should an opportunity arise. Notwithstanding these difficulties or diversions, the Legislature, upon the whole, seemed sincerely desirous of providing a solution of the prison system problem. There was, however, no leadership upon the subject which any considerable number of the members seemed willing to follow. Indeed, the leaders were not in agreement. Most of the members confessed their ignorance of the subject, but in this situation many of them offered remedies of their own devising. Pride of authority flourished. It had become quite the style to advocate “humanitarianism;” accordingly many impracticable propositions were advanced. Most of these were rejected; some found their way into the bill finally passed.
This bill provided that the members of the prison commission should hold office for six years, their terms lapping; that they should be paid $1,200 a year each, and should not be required to give all of their time to the service. In other words they were to act as a board of directors. They were authorized to appoint a general manager, and were not limited to the State to find one. This general manager was to receive not more than $6,000 a year, and to have full authority to employ and remove all other officers and employees of the system. The bill also modified most of the provisions of the act of 1910 which had been criticized; the limitation upon the hours of labor was slightly modified, and the per diem requirement was repealed. The provision of the law authorizing whipping within limitations and with certain safeguards was permitted to stand.
These features were in line with the recommendations of Governor Colquitt, but he vetoed the bill because of other provisions. One of the objectionable features, this in lieu of the per diem requirement, was an elaborate scheme for profit-sharing as between the State and the prisoners. Many members of the Legislature and many citizens as well, thought it ludicrous to embark upon a system of profit-sharing at a time when there were no profits to be shared, and to bind the State to stand all losses while sharing the profits of prosperous years. My personal opinion is that the scheme, in the circumstances and in its detail, was chimerical.
Subsequent to the adjournment of the special session, as I have heretofore stated, a new prison commission was appointed, this time for six years’ terms under the constitution. W. O. Murray, a successful merchant of Floresville, is the chairman. He served fourteen years in both branches of the Legislature, devoting himself, as chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, to the fiscal affairs of the State, and he resigned from the Senate to become the chief officer of the prison system. The second new member is C. J. Bass of Terrell, also a successful merchant. The third new member appointed is W. O. Stamps, a well-to-do farmer and saw mill man of Upshur county. Mr. Stamps served two terms in the Texas Legislature and was a member of the special committee which investigated the prison system in 1909. He is not exercising the functions of the office to which he was appointed, for the reason that Commissioner Tittle claims title to the place, and has been sustained in this contention by a district judge. The prison organization therefore will remain incomplete until the court of last resort has passed upon the case.
The new board is assisted by an appropriation of $1,350,860.27 to pay debts, half of it not to become available until September 1, 1914. It will not clear up all of the indebtedness. The total amount appropriated to the prison system since the act of 1910 became effective is $2,210,860.27.
The indebtedness has increased since January 1, 1913, if payments made out of appropriations from the State treasury are not considered, but a fair statement of present indebtedness or of losses from operation in 1913 cannot be made until the farm products of 1913 have been sold. Cane is harvested during the early winter.
It is known, however, at this time that the crops of 1913 have not turned out well and that the results of the year’s operations will show on the wrong side of the ledger. Nevertheless, it is inevitable that a large sum must be expended to plant and cultivate a new crop in 1914, the returns from which will not be received until late in the year.
The losses have been increased through damage to the plantations through the recent floods of the Brazos River. It is estimated that such damage will amount to $500,000. The indebtedness, however, has been reduced in effect through a recent opinion of the Attorney General, holding that the law authorizing per diem payments to convicts is unconstitutional. The Prison System owed the convicts quite a large sum of money upon account of per diem, and this indebtedness has in effect been wiped off the books through the Attorney General’s opinion.
In this situation, it is believed that Governor Colquitt will again convene the Legislature in special session in January to further deal with the problem.
In my opinion, the chief needs of the prison system are a plan of organization of the sort which the Legislature sought to provide in its recent act; abandonment of the big plantation scheme, and adequate operating capital. Many penologists coming to Texas from other states have praised the big plantation scheme; the idea of working prisoners in the open air and under “God’s sunshine,” rather than in shops, appeals to them. A more intimate knowledge of the plantation system might convince these persons that its alleged excellences are largely moonshine. It should be remembered, for one thing, that most men in Texas, whether in shops, stores or offices, get more open air and God’s sunshine than do persons engaged in similar pursuits in more northerly latitudes. I believed that the big plantation system was bad even when it was financially profitable, or seemingly so. It has now ceased even to be profitable. Heretofore, few people agreed with my criticism of this system. There have been converts; yet, I am frank to say that not a very great number of persons are in agreement with me. Many now are opposed to operating the plantations now owned by the State, but most of these would have the State buy other large farms in a different section, abandoning the growing of sugar-cane.
Practically all of the able-bodied convicts of the prison system have been put to work on the plantations regardless of their former occupations and regardless of their inclination to flee or to foment trouble. The four big plantations are situated in the valley of the lower Brazos River, in a wooded country which invites escapes. Consequently, it is necessary to have a veritable army of officers and guards. The pay-roll is enormous, although individual compensation is small. Because the compensation is small there is a constant shift in the guard personnel. As a rule most of the guards are unfit for the service. This assertion is supported by the testimony of a number of the officers of the system. Yet the convicts are directly and wholly in the charge of these guards the greater part of the time, sometimes being miles away from headquarters and officers.
The plantations are in a rainy country; the heaviest work of the year, cane harvesting, is done at a season when the weather generally is inclement. It is true that free labor encounters the same conditions, but it is practicable for free labor to go to shelter, while impracticable to move large forces of convicts expeditiously. Moreover, free labor, as its name implies, is free to lay off when it so desires; prisoners, as the word implies, cannot do this.
The Rusk and Huntsville prisons have cells in which usually one, and not more than two convicts, are kept. But only 16 per cent. of the total number of convicts are in these prisons. All others are on the plantations. The act of 1910 called for fireproof cell buildings on the plantations, but it did not provide funds wherewith to build them. Moreover, the prison commissioners, like their predecessors in office, deemed it impracticable and unnecessary to provide such buildings. Accordingly the new buildings which they have erected are of the old type, plus some improvements. These farm prison buildings are good of their kind, but the kind is bad.
They are wooden dormitory buildings. In each dormitory a large number of convicts are housed, sometimes more than 100. They commingle and converse freely within certain hours. Among the convicts in every camp there are agitators, “congressmen” their fellows call them. The conditions are such as to permit, if not indeed, to invite, immoral practices, conspiracy and mutiny.
The efforts to employ practically all the able-bodied convicts on the farms, to cultivate a large acreage, and to meet the varying demands for labor—this latter necessitating frequent transfer of convicts from plantation to plantation, and from shops to the farms—has practically defeated efforts at classification of prisoners as was required by the act of 1910.
I do not see much hope for the Texas prison system unless provision shall be made for a business like organization; unless there shall be substituted for the plantation system a line of industries which will admit of the convicts being under the actual control of competent and suitable officers instead of incompetent and poorly paid guards, nor unless adequate operating capital shall be provided.
In view, however, of the experiences here detailed, I am fearful that before such reforms shall be enacted the people will grow weary of footing the bills and will permit a restoration of the contract or lease system, possibly in disguise. The present situation is not unlike that of 1870 when the lease system was adopted.