Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1898-01-05
STATE PRISON NEXT.
The Board OF Control Called Upon
to Examine Another
institution.

Madison, Wis, Dec. 31.-[Special.1-
Another state institution is to be investi-
gated and there is every reason to believe
IN advance of the investigation that, as
IN the Landt case, the charges will
fall fat. It is the state prison
at Waupun which is to go through
the ordeal this time, and the warden rs
called upon to answer charges which are
so violent as to tax cfedu6ty and defeat
their own purposes. AS first presented
they were SO strong that upon reflection
to wipe oslt the worst OF them and so to
trial On those which did not appear so
outrageous on their face.
The investigation Is to be commenced
on Monday morning by the state board
OF control and it is to be behind closed
doors, There seems SO little probability
that there is any ground for the charges
that the board has decided, in justice to
Mr.. Roberts, to look into the matter on
the quiet, instead of giving the charges
wide publicity by a public trial 1t is not
expected that the investigation will take
very long and there IS every reason to
believe that Mr.. Roberts will come out of
it with flying colors, as Mr. Landt did
when he was assailed by his enemies.
Mrs. Waterman is the moving spirit
In this case. Beyond the fact that she is
a lecturer the board knows nothing about
her and nobody here seems to know who
she is. In some way she conceived The
idea that frightful state of things pre-
vailed in the prison, which she at once
set out to improve. She employed H c.
Ellsworth, formerly district attorney OF
Barron county, as her attorney, and to-
gether they worked up what they consid-
cred q serious case against Mr.. Roberts
They managed to get a number of letters
to and from the prisoners and these let
tiers are said to be the basis of the
charges, as presented to the board
When Mr.. Ellsworth had formulated
lis charges he came with them to Madi-
and they were presented to the
BARD. They were of a highly sensa-
rional character, accusing the warden of
lnhuman treatment and of other things
of q scandalous nature. Mr. Ellsworth
asked for an immediate investigation but
the board refused to do more than to
make thorough investigation behind
closed doors, believing that there was not
allowing Mr.. Roberts name to be
smirched as it would be by public trial
Mr.. Ellsworth asked and was granted
permission to visit the prison for the pur-
pose of getting testimony from the pris-
oners. lie was given authority to talk
TO them to the fullest extent, so that
If there was anything wrong he could fer
ret 1T out. After spending nearly a week
in the prison he said that he could not
prove the most serious charges he made
and would withdraw them. He left prac-
tically nothing but the charge of inhuman
treatment, and that is the charge which
the board will investigate next week
j. j. Roberts, the warden of the prison,
whose management is to be investigated,
has stood high in the social. business and
political world for many years. Previous
to his appointment to the position By Gov
Upham he was a merchant in Waupun
and was one of the most prominent men in
the city. He was reappointed to the
place he holds by Gov. Scofield and his
management of the institution has given
great satisfaction to the board. Nothing
has ever come up which reflected upon
his official conduct and it is believed that
the charges now brought against him are
a result of the craze for investigate
which has resulted from the outcome of
the Waukesha investigation.