Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-01-17
E. Evening Yesterday l4l ~
SATURDAY, JANUARY Il, 1920,
An Unfortunate Controversy.

II IS very unfortunate for the interests
or the people of New Castle county
although it is hoped il viii prove no inter-
ference with the proper administration
of affairs at the county workhousc-that
tbe situation in respect OF workhouse
conditions. as revealed by the lnvestlga-
tIon into the surprising escape ot Lemuei
Price. a condemned murderer, has dc
generated into an acrimonious controversy.
Presentations have been made on both
AIDES and the trustees Of the workhouSc,
IS : only natural. have replied 70 the
,,rrairpment of them and their admins
tration bv the grand jury. under the dlrec-
ton Of Attorney-Gcneral Reinhardt, and
made a presentation over their signatures,
for thc,r Justification. They resent the
charge OF responsibility made against
them BY the grand jury report, and place
the responsibility for tho con cmned
nurdcrcr's escape and for other rFcg'I-
larltieS aud breaches of discipline that
we're charged. upon the warden q the
institution. whose resignation they nave
asked for And Il frank Ball. secretary
of tho trustees who vas singled out foT
special criticism and attack IN the grand
Iury's report, has made > separate re-
ioinder On his own account. Trpndlating
the charges made against him, showing
,be actions from which they enanatcd n
N entirely different light. and accusing
lttorncv-General Reinhardt 81 personal
malice in having the charges preferred
brouch the medium of the grand Jury
n an entirely ex parte manner And
lere the whole situation stands fer the
srescnt
That the outcome to this date IS most
unfortunate VIII not bcdenicd and It Is
question how much Of il Is blameable
upon the general secrecy that has at
tended the Investigations thus far For
good and sufficient reasons. the regular
proceedings OF q grand jury are held he
hind closed doors. shrouded from pub
licltv. This Is because the ordinary
work Of grand jury Is q an ex parte
character. to hear one side only. with
view 10 determining whether there Is
sufficient ground IN the allegations against
alleged violators Of the law 10 warrant he
finding Of an indictment under whlcn the
accused may be sent to trial. Secrecy
and seclusion, therefore, work no injury
N such proceeding But when it came
to the investigation Of d public institution
of such an important character IS the
county workhousc, III the conduct Of
which all the people have deep concern
i seems that a sense Of proprlety and iair
dealing TO all involved therein should have
Inclined TO 3 public procedure, where
both sides could have been represented,
and the people fully and accurately IN
formed as TO all that transpired- The
trustees of the workhouse, IN their Investl-
CATION. also adopted the policy Of closed
doors and secret sessions, 50 that the pub
lie was enlightened about their contentious
only by the formal reply prepared by
them and sent 70 the court
II will be admitted by those who read
All the published testimony IN this un-
usual situation, hat the workhouse
trustees have nsde showing that ma
ter.alw modIfes lie torce ei thar Pr
ragnmcnt by tie grand jury That MIR
Bal. secretary o5 tIe board mas made an
effective exposition oI t3te charges pre-
ferred against hlnl individually BY the
grand jury report and placed an entirely
different phase and constitution upon
certain actions hv hlm which vcre char
acteri2ed Is improper and unprofes,ional
20 here We have q situation of charge and
denia-, accusation and explanation with /
out any probability of : determination !.
at tins time save BY individual judgment I
by the public Aud that hardly IS de- ]
sir;ble aud not 1t All conclusive
But the stern fact remains that Lcmuel /
Price brutal murderer d Policeman
Zehles escaped from the vorEshouse
few days before the time Set for his eAccu- 4
ton. il . surprisingly easy manner Also, 4
that the examination by tho grand jury,
ex parte though it vas. revealed condi- /
tons in the management; aud discipline /
of the workhouse that should not have
been allowed 70 int~udc much css To /
prevail For this serious dcrelctlon the
trustees. the responsible managers nf the
institution. cannot evade their just re-
sponsibl'ty, even by holding the warden
responsible They viii be considered |
cuIpable, ~ we'll as he
Il might be well # further uvestga- |
tion could be had that would bc
fair, thorough il its researches, and above /
All eise, conducted openly by stn impartial |
commission selected Dy THE Judges oi
our own courts Eut i j difficult 10 |
coneeivs. ~ ths situation now stands. |