Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-05-24
LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE
Continued from page

and John T.. McNabb being present.
James +. Alice, Jr., was UNANIMOUSLY
elected secretary of said commIttee. AT
this meeting it was agreed that TINS IN
yestigation should be conducted along
defined lines and that If we were to get
any accurate information from prisoners,
II WAS deemed advisable that the exami-
nation be held privately, with only one
witness present at time, and only In the
presence of the committee and their
stcnographer. IL was agreed tfat short
Hend not of all testimony taken
~ Charles C. Guyer, court stenographer
If Wilmington, said notes to be reduced
by him TO typcwrltlng.
beginning at ? O'Clock p. m. on the
fternoon of April 26, 1920, your com
j.ittec made a general Inspection and
examination of conditions mt the work
house. including cells, corridors, recreation
grounds, work rooms, dinlngrooms,
kitchens, etc, etc: talked personally
with MANY prisoners in order to secure
leads for the general investigation which
was to follow Ii was the opinion OF your
committee that this atmosphere must be
created before any specific information
could be had Your committee members
mingled freely with the prisoners, were
permitted to talk with them privately
either while at work or during recreational
hours or while they were confined In their
cells. At a final meeting of your COM
mittee on that day 1t was decided that
specific information on the following sub
jccts should be secured if possible.
MATTERS INVESTIGATED.
l. The responsibility for the escape of
Temuel Price, aconvicted murderer, from
the institution on December %, 1919.
,. The genera management OF the
institution under Warden Cross, which
was to include particularly food OF
prisoners, sanitary conditions and alleged
cruelty TO prisoners, etc.
5. The present and past labor contract
system at the institsltion, including not
only clothing contract with Oppenhelm ~
Co, but also the use OF prisoners on roads,
on institution .arms and by private indl-
viduals.
4. The present conduct OF the insttu-
tion under Warden Plummer.
After the final assembling of the MEM
hers YOUR committee recessed TO meet at
the workhouse the following day at 10
clock a. m.
Your committee met pursuant to adj
iournment and during the day examined
u prisoners who, from your committees 5
leads. should have had general informa-
tion in relation to the facts about which
information was desired to be had. Two
hundred and thirteen pages OF testimony
were taken on this day.
The following day, April %, your com
nittce again met at the workhouse and
examined eight prisoners four guards and
the farmer in charge of the Delcastle
Farm. a tract of over 800 acres, owned
and operated bv the institution. Two
hundred and twenty pages Of testimony
were taken on that date. All examinations
were either held in a private room IN the
basement of the institution with only the
witness himself. the members OF the COM
mittee and stenographer present, or prl-
vatclv in a room at the Hotel du Pont, and
no guard or waI den suggested what
prisoners should be called.
Your committee then recessed, awaiting
tho transcribing of testimony until May
2. and on the morning Of that date eX-
amined three trustees Of the institution,
and in the afternoon examined an eX-
convict and a representative Of the clothes
contracting firm which Is manufacturing
e the institution. One hundred and
twen+y-eight pages Of testimony were
takcn on this day
was again examined and a Wilmington
clothes merchant. In the afternoon two
employees Of the, clothes contracting firm
were examined. One hundred and ten
pages Of testimony were taken on this day
Your committee then adjourned until
Nav - in order that testimony might be
transcribed so that the committee mem
bers might have copies of same for the re-
examination Of witnesses on that date.
Pursuant to adjournment, your COM
nittee again met at the New Castle
County Workhouse on the morning of
Nav - and examined another Trustee
and three prisoners o. the institution, re-
examined a representative OF the clothes
contracting firm at the Institution, ex-
amined a guard and Te-examined q guard
and re-examined a prisoner. One hun
dred and fifty one pages of testimony were
taken on this day.
Pursuant TO adjournment your commit
tee again met at the Workhouse at 10
o'clock in the morning of May 13 They
re-examined a representative Of the
clothes manufacturing firm and re-
examined four prisoners. One hundred
and eleven pages of testimony were taken
on this date
This testimony, by questions and an
swers. was all taken down in shorthand by
a court stenographer and has-been trans
scribed and bound and q copy Of same
accompanies this report. The conclusion
reached by your committee, and their
recommendations are as follows:
ESCAPE OF PRICE.
l. The responsibility for the escape Of
Lemuel Price, convicted murderer from
the institution on December %, 1919:
Your committee IS convinced that Prices
escape was made either through gross
negligence on the part of the Warden,
owing TO the general lax methods In
vogue at the institution at the time, for
which he himself was directly responsible,
or through actual collusion of the Warden
or some Of his subordinates. We have
much evidence supporting the former
theory and some evidence supporting the
latter theory. IT is our opinion that
sufficient evidence has been secured to,
at least warrant US ia requesting that the
Attorney Generals Office be given a
copy Of our testimony and be requested
10 90 into the facts more thoroughly. The
details Of the Price coup, the way they are
understood by US from observation and
from the testimony heard, were sub
stantially as follows:
FAMILIAR WITH INSTITUTION.
In the first place it must be remembered
ehat Lemuel Price was very familiar
ii the institution. He had served a
ee year sentence there before and had
Haan discharged from the workhouse
lese than six months before his escape,
which shows that his knowledge not only
* tended over q fairly fcpo r,ariod b,tt