E. H. BONSALL.

Philadelphia, 11th Mo. 19, 1863.

While on this subject, it is deemed advisable to present a statement of the plan for labor and extra work which is in operation at the County Prison at Moyamensing; premising, however, that the penal servitude in the County Prison is generally so much less than that in the Penitentiary, that it is found necessary in many particulars to accommodate the assignment of work to the time of the prisoner sentenced, as few who come into the prisons have regular occupations, and a six months’ sentence does not allow time enough to acquire any trade sufficiently to earn money thereby.

And it may be remarked here, that the civil war which has disturbed our country for more than two years, has cut off one of the most important branches of prison labor, viz., that of cotton weaving, by which hundreds of prisoners could pay all the expense resulting from their incarceration, and often take with them, at the termination of their sentence, more money than they would have saved from their earnings, had they been at large, indulging in the evil habits of occasional excessive drinking, and suffering the consequent misery of that delirium which only the inebriate can know.

Cotton weaving, and the preparation of the yarn for the loom, which was once so important a branch of employment, has, as we have already stated, almost ceased to be carried on in this prison. The sound of the shuttle is now scarcely heard where, a few years ago, the continued rattle, in almost every cell, gave notice of profitable industry. It was the custom of the prison, at the time to which we refer, to assign to prisoners a certain fixed task, and to allow them a fair compensation for over-work, so that a good and industrious weaver generally earned for himself about twelve dollars a month. Of course, he made more for the prison. The return of peace, and the introduction of raw cotton, will, undoubtedly, revive the manufacturing in the prison, and enable many, who now have but small employment, to make their time and their punishment profitable.

The Cordwaining Department has been more active; and in that a different system of labor and compensation prevails.

Here the prisoner is charged two dollars and fifty cents ($2.50) a week for his board, to be deducted from the compensation for work actually performed.

The prices allowed for good work are as follows:

For sewed boots,45 cents per pair.
For pegged boots,30 cents per pair.
For rogans sewed,35 cents per pair.
For rogans pegged,28 cents per pair.

To those who purchase these articles, the price seems low; yet the average clear profit to each prisoner is about ten dollars a month,—a sum which, under ordinary circumstances, he would scarcely exceed, if at full liberty, with some of those habits that attend the man who is the candidate for, or the graduate of, a prison. Some prisoners considerably exceed ten dollars a month: they are usually not only faster but better workmen.