The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 96, July 1992 - April, 1993 Page: 50
681 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
Moody placed the penal system at the forefront of his legislative pro-
posals, forcing the state's law-making body at least to consider prison
matters. Governors who succeeded Moody during the 1930s prevented
such issues from reaching the center stage of Texas politics, largely due
to their adoption of more liberal clemency practices.52 Behind the
leadership of former board member Lee Simmons, who replaced Mead
as general manager in April 1930, despite the opposition of reformer
Robert Homes Baker, the system reverted to more traditional southern
penology, though it retained the progressives' recreational and educa-
tional innovations. Buoyed by impressive public relations techniques
and an emphasis on new construction, officials concealed brutalities
and prisoner deaths from public view without qualitatively improving
on the achievements of the earlier progressive regime."
Principal combatants in the relocation controversy either abandoned
state politics or discovered other issues: Moody retired from the gover-
nor's office in 1931, abortively seeking to win a United States Senate
seat in 1942; McFarlane entered the United States House of Represen-
tatives where he staunchly supported the New Deal policies of Franklin
2 Governor Ross Sterling (1931-1933) issued over seventeen hundred paroles. Texas State
Board of Prison Commissioners, Annual Report (1931), 28; Ibid (1932), 52. In her second term,
Governor Miriam A. Ferguson (1933-1935) granted over two thousand acts of clemency Ibid
(1933), 64; Ibid (1934), 64. Prison records indicate that James V. Allred (1935-1939) granted
approximately 2,485 acts of clemency including furloughs Ibid (1935), 114; Ibid. (1936), 120,
Ibid. (1937), 126, Ibid. (1938), 138, Ibid. (1939), 126 Reduced escape figures during the 1930s
also likely reflected Increased confidence by prisoners in the possibility of gubernatorial clem-
ency. Escapes were considerably higher during Moody's administration min 1927 there were
595; in 1928 there were 760 Escapes dropped to 302 in 1929 and 187 in 1930. Ibid. (1927), 78,
Ibid. (1928), 94, Ibid (1929), 4-E; Ibid. (1930), 2-D Escapes dropped during the remainder of
the 1930s United States Prison Industries Reorganization Administration, The Pruon Labor
Problem zn Texas A Survey y the Prison Industries Reorganzzation Administratzon (Washington, D.C ,
1937), 70. Numerous commentaries in The Echo stressed the influence of clemency upon pris-
oner behavior and extoled the greater willingness of Moody's successor, Ross Sterling, to use
his clemency powers The Echo (Huntsville), Mar. 1930, Feb., Apr , July, Oct., 1931.
5 Baker to Joseph Wearden, Nov. 14, 1929, Governors' Papers: Moody; Simmons to Baker,
Nov. 19, 1929, ibid Simmons, an ardent believer in corporal punishment, fired popular war-
den E. F Harrell and rehired farm manager B. B Monzingo, whom the board had fired in
1929 for his "bad temper." Simmons, Assignment Huntsville, viii, 114, 178, Texas State Board of
Prison Commissioners, Annual Report (1930), "Official Directory", Baker to B B Monzingo,
Jan. 8, 1929 (quotation), Cohen Papers Official reports by Simmons stressed "progress" toward
operating the system in a "business manner"; Simmons dismissed repeated financial losses by
stressing the "savings" from reduced operating expenses. Texas State Board of Prison Commis-
sioners, Annual Report (1930), 2-A; Ibid (1931), 5, 39-41; Ibid. (1932), 13-15, Ibid (1934),
13-15. Simmons impressed legislators and many members of the media by his emphasis upon
improved physical appearances of prison properties, but reports of brutalities by prison em-
ployees and mysterious prisoner deaths continued to emanate during the Simmons years. Aus-
tin American Statesman, July 7, 1931; Houston Chronicle, Oct. 17, 1930; Texas Legislature, "An
Inspection of the State Prison System of Texas," 1933 (document in TSL, copy In possession of
author), Texas Legislature, House Journal, 42nd Leg., Reg. Sess., 1931, pp. 1031-1033; Mar-
cellus E Foster to Cohen, May 13, 1933, Cohen Papers, B W Burress to Sterling, Mar. 25,
1932, Governors' Papers: Sterling; Foster to Cohen, May 25, 1932, Cohen Papers; Houston
Press, Mar 28, 1932, May 1932 (n.d ), Governors' Papers: Sterling
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 96, July 1992 - April, 1993, periodical, 1993; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101215/m1/76/: accessed June 10, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.