THE STATE-USE SYSTEM OF PRISON LABOR IN MASSACHUSETTS.

The article focuses on the state-use system of prison labor in Massachusetts. The field of prison labor literature is characterized by an astonishing dearth of detail concerning policies, practices, and problems. Massachusetts prison labor literature is no exception to this rule, for nothing has been published by its correctional authorities or others which deal extensively with matters of prison labor administration. However, annual reports of the Department of Correction, reports of the Legislature, and the statutes pertaining to prison labor do illumine the path, which prison labor administrators have taken. It is the purpose of this paper, therefore, to explore this path with the aid of available documentary evidence in a search for clues to the forces, which shaped the direction of prison labor history in Massachusetts. The State-use system of prison labor has been gradually developing in the U.S. ever since the time when mechanics began their opposition to the introduction of their trades into prison industry.