Evening star., 1946-04-08
Federal Control
Of District Jai|s
Urged at Probe
Mason Asks Penal
Department Apart
From Welfare Bourd
(Pictures on Page BIZ

4IlC 11OuoC SuUCOlllllllUVt6 III
vestigating conditions at the Dis
trict Jail raced through it's ques-
tioning of top-fiight witnesses
today with these results:
l, Edgar Morris, chairman of the
Public Welfare Board, now in charge
of prison administration, recon-
mended that the Federal Bureau of
Prisons be given jurisdiction over
the District penal system.
2. Commissioner Guy Mason ad-
vocated creation of a penal depart
ment separate from the Welfare De-
partment. He would make this an
amendment to a bill now before
Congress to strip the Welfare Board
of its penal administration authority
and place such control directly in
the hands of the Commissioners
Commissioner Gordon R. Young sup
ported Mr.. Mason's recommended
ton.
Mason ASsails Civil Service.
3. Mr.. Mason scored the Civil
Service Commission for refusing to
reclassify guard positions at the Jail
as requested by the Commissioners
In 194l. In connection with Jail re-
modelling done in 1941, Mr.. Mason
said the Commissioners never re-
celved an appropriation for the job,
which was done by WPA labor.
4. Commissioner John Russell
Young placed responsibility for the
jail conditions directly on the Public
Welfare Board and supported the
bill giving the Commissioners ad-
mlnlstratlve control of prisons as
the remedial answer.
5. Blame for existing conditions
must be shared with the Welfare
Board by the Civil Service Com
mission, Congress and the Commits
sioners, Mr.. Mason testified.
The hearing opened this morning
before a flve-man board of inquiry
appointed by the House District
Committee for a bottom"
investigation of Jail conditions. The
inquiry was precipitated by the
escape last Wednesday of two con-
victed murderers, Joseph D. Medley
and Earl Mcfarland. The latter
still is at large and is the subject
of Nationwide hunt.
Mr.. Morris blamed the fact that
policemen, instead of regular Jail
officers, were assigned to guard the
two prisoners at the time of their
escape on the November "a break
of five other convicts.
Gill Hearing Was Dragging"
The fact that the hearing for
Howard B. Gill, penal institutions
director suspended after the first
escape, still was dragging along
caused the policemen assigned to
special duty at the Jail to be there
when the second break came, he
said.
The hearing adjourned shortly
after noon until 2 pm
In his opening statement at the
hearing today, Mr. Hebert said that
Congress 'iS as much at fault as
any one else" for failing to set up
some good form of government for
the District.
Continued Confusion Seen.
Mr.. Hebert said that until Con-
gress improved the District gov
ernment I'VE will continue to have
maze of confusion"
Mr.. Hebert said the District Com
mittee. in appointing this investi-
gative subcommittee, intended to fix
responsibility for conditions at the
District Jail which had made it
possible for prisoners "to walk in
and out almost at will
Commissioner Young said that,
while he recognized that a poor
administrative setup and divided
authority had caused difficulties in
administering the Districts penal
institutions, he did not want to shift
responsibility from the executive
branch, including the Commits
sioners, for the jail break last week
"In this break tb: other day,
the president of ne Board o1
Commissioners exp ,ined, Il dont
want to shift : responsibility
from us. 1t was ne worst piece Of
police work I ever saw"
COMMITTEE. members asked thu
COMMISSIONS if he had assigned
the two Metre oolitan policemen wht
were guarding Medley and McFar.
land when they escaped
That is not exactly correct" Mr.
Young replied. What happened
was that after the Jail break O.
last November the Welfare Boare
asked us to assign some city police
men to the jail-they didn't have
enough guards"
"Why didn't they have enough
guards?" asked RepresentatiY,