The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1919-02-19
LANDLORD TRIAL BEGINS
Prisoners Aid Official Springs Sur
prise by Praising Accused-Says
He Saw no Brutality.

G. w. Price, religious secretary of
the Prisoners Aid Society, whose
| testimony in the investigation of the
conduct of Warden Landlord, of the
| Maryland House of Correction, which
is now being conducted by the State
| Board of Prison Control, had been
expected as strong blow for the
prosecution, proved to be good wit
ness for the defense yesterday. Philip
| B. Perlman, assistant attorney gen.
| eral represented the board at the
hearing, Harry B. Wolff appeared on
behalf of Warden Landlord, and Ray
mond S. Williams. representing the
| Prisoners Aid Society, assumed, as
| it were, the role of prosecuting at
torney.
Mr.. Price, according to his testr-
| mony, is not in sympathy with the
views of majority of the members
of the organization which he repre-
sents in his work among the inmates
of the institution under fire. He
testified that the conditions were far
better under the Landlord admins
tration than under the former re-
CINE; that the warden was trying to,
give the prisoners more freedom and
more outside work; that the insti-
tuition is kept equally as well as the
City Jail, and that the reason it did
not look clean at times was due to.
the ancient character of the building.
In reply to direct question, he
stated that he had never seen Lark
ford brutal to prisoners nor had he
received complaints from tie prison
ers that they had been treated I'M
fairly.
For a moment it looked like the
case might develop something SEN
sational when Attorney Raymond s.
Williams, counsel for the Prisoners
Aid Society, asked the witness if
Landlord had ever threatened to
shoot him. Mr. Price laugLingly adj
mitted that some eight years ago he
had been told by the warden that he
would be filled full of buck shot, but
stated that had he been in the war
den's place he would probably have
said the same thing. He explained
that Landlord had been misinformed
in regard 10 his responsibility for
the removal of prisoner from the
cut and had spoken with some
heat.
Before the taking of testimony
was begun at the afternoon session,
a discussion developed that threaten
ed to bring the hearing to an abrupt |
end The attorney for the aid soci-
ETY. had declared that he would in
troduce testim ony tending to show |
that the sanitary and medical condi- !
lions at the House of Correction left
much to be desired. Chairman |
Crane announced that if it was the |
intention of the society to introduce |
evidence that tad once before been |
threshed out before the board at a |
hearing last September the board |
would not entertain such q proposal. (
This assertion brought President |
Carey, of the Aid Society, TO his feet |
requesting that the letter of Cover
nor Harrington on this subject be
Ge+sFae1.,- In II tt,,ais-4etteFJi
had expressed the opinion that it |
probably would be to the best inter-
ests of the House of Correction to |
have a full inve stigation of the af- |
fair of that institution in order to |
dispose at once and for all time the |
assertions that are made with re-
spect to it. Mr.. Carey based the de- |
mands of the Prisoners Aid for an |
open hearing upon this portion OF
the Governors letter.
Just as Attorney Williams was
heatedly asking that the board state |
"fiatly' whether or not it proposed |
to let him introduce his testimony,
Governor Harrington, who had not |
been present during this colloquy, |
entered. and Chairman Crane called |
upon him to interpret his letter.
The Governor, after a lengthy re-
view of the history Of the case, de-
clared himself in favor of a full in
vestigation. 1t was SO ordered.
Frank Novak, at the morning ses-
sion, testified that Warden Landlord |
treated his prisoners like dogs"