The Brutal Reality of Convict Leasing in the Washington Territory
A scathing look at the state's profit-driven 'convict lease' system, where human beings were treated as disposable capital and exploited for labor with zero accountability for their survival.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The current treatment of convicts is now being thoroughly investigated through the press and by other means, and it is painfully evident that it is an infamous system that disgraces any state which makes pretensions to a refined civilization. The hardships to which the convicts are subjected by these managers are also incredible. Their lot is said to be harder than that of the slave under the most cruel masters, for the masters had a property interest in their slaves and had visible motives to provide them with enough food to sustain health. In the case of the convicts, however, no such interest exists and the only object of the leasers is to get the greatest possible amount of work out of them for the least possible amount of food. If the poor wretch dies on the leaser’s hands, as he very often does, the body is buried and nobody cares to inquire into the manner of his death.
“The only object of the leasers is to get the greatest possible amount of work out of them for the least possible amount of food.”
This 1887 report predates Washington's statehood and highlights the early, brutal intersection of private profit and the carceral system. It resonates with contemporary debates regarding the use of prison labor in private industries and the ongoing struggle for transparency within correctional facilities.
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