http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1473Encyclopedia of Alabama
Coal Mining
***
"As markets increased, the coal industry relied more heavily on convicts leased from state prisons. In addition to those convicted of crimes, individuals unable to pay fines and court fees were jailed and forced to work off their debts at a standard rate of 30 cents per day. As a result, a two– to four-week sentence could be extended to a maximum of eight months at hard labor in the coal mines, as well as in saw mills and on turpentine farms. Companies paid a fee based on each prisoner's physical condition, with agreements to provide minimal room, board, and clothing. In effect, convicts could be worked as long and as hard as deemed necessary. Death rates were high, and humanitarian efforts for reform failed repeatedly as special interests in industry and state government worked to undermine them. The convict-lease system was expanded in 1876 to include three-fourths of state inmates and numerous county prisoners. Powerful mining interests kept the system in place, even through such disasters as the 1911 Banner Mine explosion, which killed 125 convicts. Convict leasing persisted for a half-century, terminating on June 30, 1928."