Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1909-07-30
D. Johnson The following are the
specific charges, to-wit:
THE coMPI.AINT

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Hon. II S. Joseph. Chairman of the.
Governors Investigating Committee
Sir--4We, the undersi gned citizens T.
Utah, at the request of your commits
sion, and under the statement on the
part OF your committee that you would
not hear evidence against H IL.
Thomas. superintendent of the state
industrial school, unless such charges
We're reduced to writing, and specific
ally specifying the grounds on which.
THE comnlainants are asked TO take
Thomas. superintendent of the school,
with @incompetency, and as being unit
to hold. such a position, on the follow
ing grounds:
That In his dealings with the in
mates of4the' institution he has at svari-
Gus times been cruel and has treated
athe inmates in a cruel and inhuman#
manner, by confinement in ii solitary
cell, byiunnecessarilp and without suf-
ficien reason combining the male in
mates in wha t is known as 1.-THE cell:'
and the condition Of the buildings In
which the food is kept has at various
times been unsanitary and not prop
erly cared for:
he has, in his dealings with
girls, confined in the institution. been
guilty Of propounding unnecessary and
indecent questions, and that the ques-
E lions lpropounded required, If they had
been complied with by the Inmates,
acts which no gentleman would have
REQUIRED 4 OF such inmates;
We further charge that Mr.. Thomas
by temperament, which has been album
dainty demonstrated by his manage
inent, is an unfit person to have charge
of such an institution, and that his
management of the institution has not
I at all tended to the betterment and
elevation Of those entrustedEto his care,
and that for the institution to continue
under such management is u reflection
on the whole state of Utah.
(SignetD by THE COMMITTEE"
From the transcript it will be shown,
however. that the investigation took a
much wider scope than that specifically
embodied in the charges preferred. ii
was desired to give the widest latitude
. to the Investigation to enable your
committee to become fully cognizants
of conditions as they arc and as they
should be- s
#. PUNISHMENT TOO SEVERE.
4 The committee is agreed in reporting
that from time to time, during the SUI
.perintendency of Mr.. Thomas, punish
ment melted out to urruly inmates has
been severe and extreme. Tho infrac-
ton of tho rules and the nature OF Of
fenses committed may have occasioned
and Justified severe treatment at times
As adduced by the testimony and other
In the specific charge of
excessive, cruelty. in the episode of
July, 1903, the punishment Of the boys
for their unlnentionable crime against
nature was sanctioned by the superilt-
itendent and his superior officers. III
connection with this particular offense,
IT must be stated that the superinten-
dent should not be held wholly respon-
sble for that overt act, as the bows
We're at the time of it's preparation in
direct charge of the assistant superirl-
itendent, Mr., tKneass. At no time. how
ever, no matter what the nature of
the offense might be, should the limits
of himaneness be transcribed In adj
punishment. While the
punishinentint this case was extreme, II
Vas neither iwanton nor inten tionally
cruel, but in administering corporal
not only is the highest de.
gree of judgment and fairness needed
to suit the occasion, Where reforms
tory, conduct Is the result sought, but it
must be. and 1t can be, administered
effectively only by ono skilled in the
knowledge OF human nature and tho
different types of human temperaments
lndtscrfminatc use Of corporal puish.
anent Is criminal. All corrective meas.
nres must be firm. yet sympathetic.
The Responsible position of the head 4
of an institution such as the state in.
dustrlal school. requires the very best
skill attainable. 1t requires man
who is an expert; an educator of the
highest order. and when work so DIFF
ficult in it's accomplishment is under
taken by anyone, however sincere and
conscientious he may be, who has not Z
had special training or adequate pre-
paration for the task failure is almost
sure to follow.
MUST BE FIT PERSON.
Tho work of reforming the lives of "a
the class of children who are sent to
Industrial schools is so intricate and SO
delicate that the effort of the empiric
is sure to be inadequate. The work Of
reformation is as difficult as tits i'm
portant, therefore we cannot emphasize
the fact too strongly that any person
such work must be emin-
emily fitted for it by nature and by
training.
Supt. Thomas has been honest and
conscientious in the discharge OF his
duties as he has seen them, and
through his efforts much work OF a
Very. commendablc nature has been ac-
complished. We believe he has done all