Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-06-17
BOARD To ADVISE
THAT FARM STAY
At M|LLEDGEV|LLE
Many Improvements viii Be
Recommended Commits
Sioners Leave Thursday.
May Meet in Atlanta il
BY ED III. BRADLEY
JOurnaI Staff CorrespOndentl

journal Staff Correspondent
MILLEDGEVILLE Ca, June IL.
The report of the special investigat-
| ing commission on the state prison
farm will be presented to Governor
Hardwick within ten days or two
weeks, it has been indicated by the
members Of the commission, who last
night completed their probe after
three days Of intensive study Of con-
ditions at the states central penal
institution.
While the five superior court
judges named by Governor Hard
wick to make the investigation have.
Of course, refused to make any Of
fetal announcement of their intens
tions in the matter, they have indiI
Gated informally their impressions
and their probable conclusions.
1t was for time Indicated that
the special commission might rec
ommend the complete abandonment
Of the present state farm and the
erection of new plant on an en-
tirely different site, but it is now
believed, in view of the result OF
the complete investigation and the
commissions inspection of the phys.
ical properties here, that no pro-
posal Of abandonment will be sug-
gested. Members Of the commission:
after inspecting the property thor
oughly, have proposed the opinion
that to abandon the plant, secure o
new, site and build new state
prison farm from the ground up
would be to entail a tremendous Il.
nancial loss to the state. Such a
loss would be much greater than the
expense Of making needed REPAIRS
additions and improvements at the
institution. The investigators have
Indicated that many improvements
should be made without delay is the
unanimous opinion Of the investi-
gators. They are not hesitant lin
expressing this opinion. The need
for better water supply system,
better and more commodious ac-
commodations for the prisoners, Inn
proved sanitation methods and GER
tain changes in the diet for the in
mates have been emphasized by the
members of the commission at in
tervals during the progress of the
=
Commissioners Leave
1t is believed that the commits =
sion's report to/the governor and TO
the legislature will contain recon-
mendation for an appropriation suf-
ficient to install the needed improve
ments Without delay.
The five commissioners left this
morning for their homes. They are:
Judges w. E. H. Searcy. Griffin;
Moses Wright, Rome; r. G. Bell.
Cairo; Henry Hammond, Augusta
and H. A. Mathews, Fort Valley.
The official stenographer, Emmett
Barnes, of Macon, who has kept q
record of all testimony adduced at
the series of hearings, will furnish
transcript to each of the fivb
judges within a few days. The In
vestigators will then assemble, prob
ably in Atlanta, for an executive
session to formulate their report. IL
is planned to get this report to the
governor within few days after the
general assembly convenes.
After a morning spent in hear
ing from prison officials regarding
charges of 'ineff1cency, mistreatment
of prisoners and mismanagement
preferred by former prisoners and
others who had made Investigations
at the state farm, the special COM
mission yesterday afternoon spent
considerable time interviewing pris-
oners whose cases had come to the
attention of the investigates
through various channels of infor-
nation. These interviews were Sc
cret, with none but the investtgar
tors, present. More than a dozen
of the prisoners were questioned
thus in private, and when this phase
of the probe had been completed,
the commission announced that the
prisoners statements were along the
same line as those secured earlier
in the investigation. Some were
commendatory of the prison officials
planning, the commissioners declar-
ed, giving out no names
Following the interviews with
prisoners, the commission heard an
additional statement from DR.. Guy
B. Compton, the prison physician.
He declared that w. r. Lipscomb,
the prisoner who died a few weeks
ago, and whose death has been as
cribed both to diabetes and to the
effects of medicine administered by
another prisoner in the absence of the
prison physician, had been given
a sedative on one OCCASION to allay
pain. Lipscomb was very suscep.
tible to medicine, according to DIR.
Compton, and if this sedative had
been administered again for the
same purpose, would have probably
caused the patient to lose conscious
ness. The commission was appar-
emily much impressed by informa-
ton furnished by Judge. T. q. Pa.
terson, of the state prison &7Huuaies.
sion, as to the cases Of two PTS.
oners, believed to be demented, who
are confined in steel cages in the
"bulI pen," or white male dormitory.
The investigators indicated their sur.
prise that the law had not been
amended so as to permit the remov-
al of these mentally abnormal pris-
oners to the state sanitarium. The
present statute makes no provision
for the handling of insane GRIM
inals at the state prison farm. in
consequence they must be kept in
cells if their mania is violent.
Inspect Tubercular Ward
The investigators spent consider
able time inspecting the tubercular
ward and the women's department,
making a careful examination of both