Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-10-26
Attorney Generals View of
District Jail Conditions. :
DESULT OF OBSERVATION
Institution. However, Not the Worst
in the Country.
SOME NEEDED REFORMATION
Reconstruction of Cell Blocks, De-
cent System of Sanitation and
Modern Heating Facilities.

1t is a reproach to the national gov
eminent that this Jail. at the capital of
the nation, should have been allowed to
remain what it is
This is the view of Attorney General
Wickersham. expressed to Star reporter
today, relative to conditions in the Dis
trict jail
Mr.. Wickersham denies, however. that
he has asserted that conditions at the
District Jail in Washington are the worst
Of any prison in the country" This Is
how Mr.. Wickersham discussed the SUBJ
ject for The Star today:
I'm 1903 and in every subsequent
year the annual report Of the Attorney
General has called attention Of Congress
to the overcrowded and defective condi-
ton of this jail, and an act was passed
May 26, 1908, providing for the appoint
ment of commission to investigate
and report upon it's condition. The re-
port OF that commission, transmitted to
Congress by President Roosevelt, JAN
Gary II, 1909, forcibly directed the at
tention of Congress to the condition OF
both the District Jail and the work
house.
Reformatory and Wor khouse.
1t resulted in the passage of an act TOT
the establishment of a reformatory and
workhouse on large tracts Of ground, for
the purchase of which Congress made a
considerable appropriation. 1t was in
tended through these institutions to re-
lieye the pressure at the jail and diminish
the number of prisoners confined therein
under sentence. But the legislation al
forded no immediate relief from the ex-
listing conditions in the jail.
s-H - al 1p,ild I'M
forty odd years ago, and is totally WITH
out any modern sanitary arrangements
the antiquated and repulsive bucket sys-
tenn being employed, and the faculties 1or
keeping the prisoners decently clean oe-
ing of the crudest and most elementary
character 1t Is generally so overcrowded
that two and even three prisoners are
confined in one cell.
Jail Remarkably Clean.
1.-THE Attorney General found that. con-
sidering the conditions under which the
warden was obliged to work. the jail was
kept in a remarkably clean condition by
the use of soap and water and formalde-
hyde.
"At the time of the Attorney General s
visit he found that the prisoners were
confined in their cells during the entire
twenty-four hours of the day, with the
exception Of a short period for exercise,
and that they were fed in their cells.
After a study of the physical con
ditions he directed that spaces outslue
the cell blocks be concerted and prepared
as dining rooms. and that the prisoners
be taken from their cells twice day
and fed in these dining rooms. thus CIV
ing them a respite from the irksome con-
finement of cell life, this being heartily
approved by the Jail physician as a
sanitary measure The expense OF max
ing this change was comparatively trivial,
and the available appropriation was SUI
ficient to cover 1t.
"A much larger appropriation is neces.
sarv in order to reconstruct the cell
blocks-which should be done without de-
lay-and to install a decent modern sys-
tenn of sanitation and a modern system
Of heating.
Injustice to Some Prisoners.
when it is considered that large
number of the prisoners in the jail are
merely held there awaiting trial and have
not yet been convicted of any offense.
the injustice of keeping them confined
under such conditions will perhaps ap-
pear more urgent.
It was to these conditions that the
criticism Of the Attorney General was
directed.
"The Jail is not the worst jail in the
country There are many others that
were built at about the same time that
are no better equipped with modern con-
veniences than is the District jail; and
there are many that are not SO well man
aged.
but it is a reproach to the national
government that this Jail. at the capital
Of the nation, should have been allowed
to remain what it is, and that no effec-
tive steps should yet have been taken to
improve it's condition and conform it to
modern standards of construction and
equipment"