Prison Labor and the Jute Famine
War-era scarcity triggers a 100 percent price hike for grain sacks manufactured at the state penitentiary.
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.
Manufactured at the penitentiary mill, without cost for labor and only on sufficient margin for upkeep of the plant, grain sacks are worth 19 cents apiece, according to the price fixed by the board of control for June delivery. This is 3 cents cheaper than the prevailing open market and 1 cent below the California prison mill price. It is nearly a 100 percent increase over last year, when Washington prison sacks were sold for 10.5 cents. War scarcity of ships in which to bring jute from India has made it almost impossible to obtain raw material. Raw jute has increased from $16 a bale in 1915 to $50, and there is little certainty of any being obtainable next year, in which case Washington grain will have to be handled in bulk largely and the penitentiary mill shut down indefinitely.
“War scarcity of ships in which to bring jute from India has made it almost impossible to obtain raw material.”
This piece highlights the fragility of global supply chains during wartime, a theme that echoes in contemporary regional concerns about agricultural exports, shipping costs, and the reliance on international trade for basic farming materials.
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