Arizona republican., 1913-02-23
PRISON
 INVESTIGATION
Work of Committee to Look Into Affairs at Pen Subject of Much Com ment; Hughes ant S Prison Farm

plete plan for the conduct of the in- NeSdgation. Some of the senators
 and representatives have expressed
 themselves as, being perfectly will
 ing that the investigation should go
 into every phase of the management
 of the penitentiary that several meet
 ings if necessary of the committee
 should be held, in order to set out the definite rules for the hearing
 and that the witnesses should not
 nave been called for the first meet
 ing of the committee on Monday. Whether or not the hearing will
 be continued indefinitely in Phoe-
 nix or will be transferred to Flor ence where most of the witnesses
 are is also d question that is being
 debated in the minds of a great
 number of the members of the leg islature and a number of the folks
 outside of official circles The mem
 bers of the committee themselves
 however are not talking about what
 they are going to do, and seem to
 be worrying less about the matter than the others. and have expressed
 themselves that the needs of the
 case will be made patent from time to time, and that the time to cross the bridge will be when the bridge is immediately before them
 The first hearing is expected to
 take place in the house on Monday morning. The first witnesses will be the mayor and council of Flor ence and two of the persons who cir
 culated the petitions that were sign a1 there will be in attendance also the superintendent of the prison. War Gen R. B. Sims. the parole clerk. J. J. Sandens and the captain of the yard. It is doubtful if the first session will suffice to get the testi- mOny of these witnesses. It is also ! thought by some that it may he ne Cessary = hold some of the hearings while the actual sessions of the leg islature are in progress in order to | save expense 10 the state
 It is admitted that half day ses- sions if a thorough investigation is to be held will prolong the work U a great degree.
 There were several other things in connection with the hearing that | came out yesterday around the hotel ] corridors. matters that are likely to 1 be delivered in the shape of evidence | before the committee before the hear 1 ing is over, if the management uf | the prison comes into the investiga- tion which it is admitted will happen | It is alleged that the offic:ais at | the prison have become d self con- i stituted court of last resort in trying 1 | and that letters are sent out to the 1 counties from which the men come l from the prison asking for eXten- uating circumstances in conncctiSn with the crime. in order tD arrive at the worthiness or other"ise of 1 the convict
 1 some have gone so far as to say 1 that these letters call the attention
 of the receiver to the famiiy the convict has left behind suffering be- i cause of his punishment, and the 1 request has been made it is allcgeCi, ! that if possible some facts o: the 1 prisoner be transmitted to the prison | because of the family. The great l trouble however with all the state ments are that they exist in the | form of rumOrs and that so far no | concrete proof has been presented | in support of the charges. It is l however stated in connection with 1 the rumors by some who are sup | posed to know. that these things will l be substantiated at the hearing. A great deal of interest has been l occasioned by the announcement that | in the course of day or two Sena- 1 tor Hughes of Pima will introduce
 bill in the senate providing that | the state turn over to the use of the prison a section of school land for farm purposes, with the idea of put
 ting the men on the farm as a bet
 ter method than at present in use. ! It is contended that if this bill is
 made effective, and it carries with it
 an appropriation covering the ex-
 pense of the necessary equipment,
 the prison can be made self sup i porting and the inmates of the pri- 1 son can get the advantages of out side work, as well as an oppOrtuni- ty of contributing to the support of 1 the family, if the convict has one,
 left outside the walls.
 It is provided that the produce of 1 the prison farm shall be sold in i the open market, at least that DOT
 ton of it that is not used in the ! prison and the proceeds of the sale goes not into the prison fund, but into the general fund of the state.
 It was freely admitted yesterday
 both by the friends and the oppo-
 nents of the administration that | Governor Hunt did the manly thing
 when he sent his special message
 to the legislature asking that the in
 vestigation be made as thorough as | possible. He has set much store by
 his prison policy, and the general
 results of it have been such as to provoke much favorable comment not
 only from those who have visited | the prison but who have travelled 1 over the roads of the state that have been built by prison labor. There ] have been many favorable articles in
 the magazines of the country on the | results that have been achieved, as | well as on the conditions that now surround the prisoners at Florence.
 into hn nl net