File No. 763.72114/3063
The Secretary of War ( Baker) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 24.]
Subject: Employment of Prisoners of War in the United States.
1. No plans have heretofore been made by the War Department for the regular employment of prisoners of war and of interned aliens.
The beneficial effect of such employment upon the health and well-being of these prisoners, as well as the public benefit to be derived from this employment, are considerations that indicate the desirability of the adoption of definite plans in this regard.
2. The present plans of the Department contemplate: [Page 184]
- (a)
- That the prisoners held at the various War Prison Barracks in the United States may, when sufficient in number to warrant such employment, be employed on road work in the State in which these barracks are located and in the States adjacent thereto.
- (b)
- That this road work shall be undertaken on roads having, as far as practicable, a national as well as a local value, and on roads and trails lying within and adjacent to the forestry reserves, Indian reservations and the national forests.
- (c)
- That the War Department shall continue the responsibility of guarding, rationing, quartering, clothing, transporting, and disciplining these prisoners and of providing them with medical attention.
- (d)
- That the State employing the prisoners shall furnish the equipment, tools, and materials required for the road construction work, shall be charged with the plans and specifications for the work and with its superintendence, under such regulations as may be established by the Secretary of War.
- (e)
- That the State employing the prisoners shall pay to the War Department a fixed per diem wage to be agreed upon by the War Department and the State, and that these funds, after deducting the cost of the maintenance of the prisoners concerned, shall be held by the prison authorities to their individual credit.
This plan was, after a conference on September 12 of the representatives of the interests involved, agreed upon by the Forest Service, the Office of Public Roads, the United States Geological Survey, and by representatives of Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky.
This plan of utilizing these prisoners chiefly for road work is based upon recommendations, submitted at my request, by the National Committee on Prisons and Prison Labor after conference with representatives of the Forest Service, the Office of Public Roads, and the United States Geological Survey.
3. It is contemplated also, in exceptional cases, when the circumstances warrant the employment of these prisoners to prevent the loss of crops ready for harvesting, or for other similar purposes, to permit these prisoners, with their consent, to work for private persons or corporations for limited periods under essentially the same rules and regulations as are indicated in the preceding paragraph as to be applied in the case of work for the public service.
4. In connection with the preparation of regulations, it is requested that I be advised as to whether or not the plans above outlined meet with your general approval.
In this connection, your attention is invited to the fact that precedents exist, in the principal nations engaged in the present war, for the proposed procedure.