Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-01-17
CROSS DECLINES
Con sinme<i from page !

of one prisoner, attempt To escape by
FIVE on six others and the smuggling INTO
the institution of three hack saw blades.
told the board nj that time il such action
,yas taken il would establish a precedent
that any prisoner who had money enough
to employ lawyer could evade punish
ment for any offenses nfainst the rules and
that IL would break down discipline.
I further informed them at that time
that If such q motion was carried they
would have TO get another warden as my
usefulness would be over. The board did ,
not carry the motion, but IT caused such ,
feeling that added 10 several other dis /
agreements I had had with judge Ball, /
particuiarly about the indiscruninate |
,rguinp of rasses to visitors, that told /
Mr.. Hillea at that time Judge Ball was /
after me and supposed he would get me .
in time. Mr. Hilles told me not 20 worry |
about him, and told Mr. Hilles vss no /
nlitter, but would 20 down II ncccgsary |
With colors flying Mr. ffiilrs assured ne
he would stand Behind me. He did mot
have retrnined from making any state
ment before this az | thought majority
| Of the members of the board were At ieaSt
| fair minded enough to allow me to present
| nv aide of the caae ~ them. But It seerls
/ that the board is a one man hoard and
! could not overcome the opposition of that
]
| = going to 90 the limit to remove me 80 he
! will have no opposition IN taking care of
i his clients.
have been acc,ned of Tnalevolencc and
anmoeity IN rny testimony before the
grand Jury. can only refer your horor'B
attention 10 the minutes thereof which
will ,how that did not make any volun-
tary statements rejecting on The board of
| trustees hut what did give was brought
ont by questions asked Of me
am willing 70 admit that discipline
among the official force IS not what 4
formerly was, and would like To find the
business man who IS not facIng the same
conditions Dissatisfied employees never
mako for good discipline, and that i
the condition of affairs / have had 70
contend with for the four years have been
here as warden | nave repeatedly ad-
vscd the board to increase salaries to
compare moro fayorably with other labor
or ~ obtain the sarnc results by giving
the men a bonus The board usually
granted an increase Of FIVE dollars a
month each year When | wax appoint
ed. the minimum salary was $50 . month
with board and one uniform year. ~
waa gradually increased by persistent
work 10 sixty-fve dollars month a.
which Squire II stood when thus AFFAIR
occurred The guards work an aveyage
~ eleven hours day for sir and one-han
days a week and AZ the &S5 rate only
average about 20 cents per hour With
common laborers getting 45 and ~ cents
Der hour you ran readily see the result.
Tho board permitted me t0 employ what
guards could get, bat with the starting
price III sG5, II wss impossible 10 secure
men rho would have been of any lise
Some ~ the present force were offered
other positions n greatly ,ncrea@ed
salaries but stayed here Out of loyalty
to me az they knew could not replaoe
them at s65 month.
Anv laxity In discipline that has occurr-
ed has been caused solely by the dlssatis-
faction Of the guards over their salaries
and that burden rests entirely upon the
board Of trustees Tor their mistaken IDEAS
of economy. Their whole ambition SEEM
ed L, be 70 nav ofT bonds and spend money
on The new farrns instead OF trying % keep
IN an efficient force Out % the 500
a month received by new guard L nc
lived in Wilmington he would nave -
pay 2S cents day carsare.
NEED or MORE GUARDS.
At 4 meeting Of the board on December
%. 1919, reported shortage cf three
guards and was asked by one Of the mem
, bers Of the board if | could not further
reduce the number on account of the re-
> duction in population | told them l could
) not and emphasized the need then oI q
, | GUARD to look after the wing N winch
: Price was confined.
Since my appointment as warden, thf
duties cf nv Office have more than d0u'
bleai from former administrations. Ih'
DEVELOPMENT and new buildings On oul
r new farm, tremendous Increase II cour
work. and the difficulty OF buying sup
plies have only been 3 lew Of the thlng
:. I have had to contend with. | spend q
!, average Of ninety days year from ; 81
3. m. to : D. II. on Court 7 General >es
sions work alone In this work ! have
, handled many hundred prisoners without
ANY ESCAPES and think n a manner saJis
! factory to the court Some cf these mel
= have been notorious criminals and very
desperate men.
: The lctual escape 81 Price has been de-
! scrlbed 80 In.lny times thAt II appears ul'
necessary for me 70 describe 1t, but ! wish
10 cals attention 70 few points.
ESCAPED PRicE.
The guard whose duty II Eas 70 81
N that p,iee was locked ia his cell not only
locked me door without looking % see I
h. uus In. bat reported that ne WAc
= locLe8 IN Had his man done MS duty
" P,ire could not have escaped, and yet
st,ange to say, this guard has not ever
! bqen rep,in3nded BY the boscd OF trus'
te,S and : stll on duty here. The clerk
: Who let Price out had no right TO pa );
o,r a prisoner unless he knew hlm TO b'
4 an rirht These are details that | hav,
d - necessarily leave To the guards Tor =
: simply impossible for me % be 8
rba door 10 identify each man who goes
o,,f On the day Of Price, escape, has
ms, returned from Judge Rice's othce
w,th some releases for the discharge Q
nnsoners aild the daily mail was bus,
3 reading this mail when the clerk let Price
) o,,t | did not 60 20 the door 90 eSamin
. him. Tor had every confidence in tn
5, .lerk who had been employed here %
!, four and hall Years, and who VA
U familiar with the rules and upon whom
would have to depend if | had been tci
n minutes later anyway. 1t was not un
!. usual for man to be going out AZ tia
/ time Is the home farm men snd the FIRE
{, men always 60 out about ) p. N. Q
. shortly after In fact, trusty from tn
> Delcastle Farms came down only q fcy
nights after the escape az almost the sam
time 70 get > bag Of bresd for breakfss
, at the bunkhouse.
9 In the matter OF the locking deyic,
according t. the rules il Is the duty Of th
laC,tsv warden IN make fraC,taIf an