The question of the arrangement of work for the inmates of our penal institutions was the subject of discussion the other day at a meeting in Chicago attended by representatives of manufacturers and organized labor.

The question presents many difficulties. The criminals who are serving their time must not be left idle. They ought to work for their board and lodging, so that the taxpayers will, at any rate, not have to feed them while they are in prison. In addition, prisoners who are family heads ought to contribute some of their earnings in prison toward the maintenance of their families, but this they cannot do unless they are occupied with productive work of one kind or another. In addition, one of the purposes of imprisonment is to improve the prisoner, to teach him how to earn his bread honestly when his term is over. This purpose, too, requires that the 2prisoner be given productive work to do.

On this point, however, the workers raise a protest. They complain that criminals take work away from honest workmen, and thus make it more difficult for the latter to take care of their families.

It is evident that this arrangement is an injustice against the workers as well as against the manufacturers....But the question is not easy to solve....It was resolved to appoint a committee of fifteen men for the further study of the matter. This committee is to consist of five representatives of the workers; five representatives of the manufacturers; and five representatives of the state's penal institutions. A committee constituted in this way will represent all sides of the question, and should be able to present proposals leading to some arrangement which is better and more just than the present arrangement.

In ancient times, prisoners (who were really slaves) were occupied in building roads and fortifications. In other words, they were employed in public works. The competition with free labor was thus reduced to a minimum. Times have changed but the old arrangement referred to was the best; as far as possible it ought to be adhered to now. The United States is practically a land without roads. Even though the states were to employ all their prisoners on road building, it would still take many years before all the needed roads could be built. Penal labor, when employed in such tasks, would then prove a boon to free labor, whereas nowadays the product of the prisoners' work enters the market as "preferred" goods, since it is produced by men receiving lower wages than the free worker can accept, and by machinery bought and kept in repair by the state.