The Alaska citizen., 1916-04-17
HE FLAME IS ERWIN,s.

Tluzcn is in rocciit of a rrIulnt" -opy of th" corrc~pondanca which took place between DetagaJs Wick zrsham and .ie Attorney General n relation to 'le matter of keeping -prn the detention hospital at Fair banks The delegate sta'es that while it does not apnear in aIs own randwr.ting that the trouble ab-w Keeping the place open comes from Marshal E7eu. yot that ia Inc fact. The deIc-atc s1vs:
 He was here this winter dur ing the period when l was hay ing so much trouble ahout the matter and gave the Attorney General all of the statements which are attached to the At torney Generals letter of Nc yomber 1st He stayed in the Department of Justice giving them this information and do ing everything he could 10 put the matter in that sort of shape so that the hospital could not be kept open There was no ef- fort on his part to keep it open but on the contrary you will discover by an examination of the statement made and append ed to the Attorney Generals letter I do not know now how long they will keep it open. but call your special attention to my letter of December 27th ad- ,lr tN ~
 10 the citation of law mad" therein and rr
 pounded to him under that law. Nyl judgment is that if Marshal Erwin puts any insane person - in the jail 70 will ha Ii l. ia suit in damages for false i'm prisonment and I think the Al torney Genera would take that view if he were obliged to give an opinion"
 The people f Fairbanks are on tiled to a e.E statement of tn trouble the delegate is having f keep this institution open to them, and while al the corresFtn tndence in the matter is too voluninou for publicati We VII append the or pub ication, We will append the torney genelt which is practically the last word up to date and dea's with all the facts contained in the balance of the correspondence. Washington. D. c, Dec. q, 1915. Hon T. W. Gregory. Attorney
 General, Department of Jus
 ticc Washington, D. C.
 Dear sir:
 Your letter of December 11th, enclosing tho statement slowing the cost of operating the de tentiOn hospital at Fairbanks, thank you for it. I note with satisfa tion the recall of your GrNerrunatlnn te l so this insti tuition expressed in your letter of November 1st but your fur ther statement { at Hou vii keep "an open mind on this question until the end of the first year of it's operation" and "wil. then be guided by the results as shown at that time" is dis Quieting. and induces me to make a few observations in further relation to the matter that would otherwise not bC nee essary.
 The objection to the contin- ued operation of this hospital is based entirely upon the al legged excessive cost of its mainten- ance while no offset is allowed by reason of n.arc humane and better treatment of the unfortunate sick in the hospital than in the jail attic On the matter of cost, the department has had the assistance uf the personal eX- planation of Marshal Erwin. who was in attendance before it in November and the first Dart of December, and l assume that the statement of facts furnished
 came from him.
 l have Q, 4.rir.. Q e'a'.n~"t of the itemized cost of main tenance furnished tO me by the Department with much interest. and if bare bone economy is roo1N d7eiI hla or tho frli~a- tion of petty graft, it occurs to me that much of the amount charged to maintenance could be saved to the public treasury. A glance at the statement, which covers a period of twelve months, shows tot in the months Sep tember, October, November, De cember. January February and May there were no insane per
  and in August but one patient for one day and fraction For these eight months you paid the caretaker $1215, for cleo tric lights $5405 making a total of $1269 05, which might have been saved, and would have been had the building not been occupied by Marshal Erwin as his private residence
 Of course. you disagree with that, and say that because there are "blankets, bedding, knives, forks, dishes. cooking utensils, provisions on hand. and many other things" which could be stolen, and windows which could be broken, caretaker is needed constantly at the hospital while the school building needs no protection from theft as there are no furnishings except desks, h ackb0aras tatl~s "n7 roH that could be stolen" If Mar shal Erwin gave you that inf0r- nation, and I understand ne did, he put one over on you I addi- tion to the desks, blackboards, tables and chalk that could be stolen from the sChOoihouse, thara arc prOba b1v ton windows