Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1946-04-07
Coffee Denies Blame
For Jai! Break Rests
On House Committee

Appropriations Subcommittee for
the District last night refused to
shoulder any of the blame for the
Medley Mcfarland jailbreak.
Both Mr.. Coffee and Commits
sloner John Russell Young were
blamed earlier yesterday by A..
Harding Paul, vice chairman of the
Board of Public Welfare, for the
escape of the two convicted
murderers.
Mr.. Young was not available for
comment, but Mr.. Coffee said there
was no basis whatsoever" for Mr.
Pauls attack on the Approximations
Subcommittee.
Got All Funds Asked.
To Mr.. Pauls accusation that
Congress had taken a very MIG
gardly attitude" toward requests for
more personnel and structural i'm
proVements at the District Jail-an
attitude directly attributable" to
Mr.. Coffee, the subcommittee chair
man replied:
we gave the Jail all the funds
that were requested in the BUDGET
as submitted last January by the
commissioners and the Budget Bu-
feau. Whatever other requests there
may have been were not before lis
But aside from this, if we had
gwen the jail twice as much money
as mas been appropriated. it still
would not have been any answer to
questions of policy, methods of op-
eFatlon and individual performance.
amounts of money appropriated GER
talnly nave no relation to OPERA
llohS under which police guards fra
ternlzed with convicted Slayers who
were being held in death cells.
Doesn't Guarantee Honesty.
IN other words, the amount of
appropriations, whether large or
smau, does not guarantee honesty
IN administration and operation :"
Mr. Paul accused Commissioner
Young of assigning inefficient DO
lcemen to the Jail and said Rep
resentative Coffee was interested
only in public relations in his home
State of Washington and repeat-
eoIy mas shown he is antagonistic
toward provision of adequate public
welfare
Mr.. Coffee and Mr. Paul also were
81 0odS over stripping the Welfare
Board OF administrative powers and
giving the Commissioners authority
over the penal system. Mr.. Paul
commended legislation now pending
TO achieve this end would divest the
pubic OF any voice in it's own Gov
eminent and give undue power to
men beholden only to a "niggardlv
CongIess" and the White House.
Mft Coffee, an advocate of giving
the commissioners more resnonsi.
hllity over District Government on
eratlons, said the philosophy of op-
Grating Jail was not COMPATIBLE
Wisa that which should .motivate
welfare services.
Need Sense of Generosity.
Public welfare operations call
1or a sense of generosity, of
Warm-hearted attitude toward poor
and other unfortunate people" the
legislator declared. The opera
ton of penal institutions calls for
a spirit which is antipathetic to
the other
When both such types of Gov
eminent service are under the con-
troll of the same board, it is not
offlcult to see how hard it would
be Tor those in charge to reorient
their attitudes as they rush from
the administration of one phase of
work to the other"
Mr.. Coffee insisted that the Jail
breaks and other administrative
problems arising from them were
matters Of the functioning of the
city government rather than CUES
tons of appropriat
Mr.. Paul brought the White
House into his overall response to
charges that the "intolerable con-
ditions' at the Jail were the fault
OF the Welfare Board.
Blames White House.
He charged that a public hearing
granted Howard B. Gill, suspended
penal superintendent, has prevented
hiring new penal superintendent
and that the "unorthodox decision"
to appoint an inquiry board in the
Gill case was dictated from the
White House.
Mr.. Paul reported that both Com
missioner Young and Commissioner
Guy Mason told him "we must get
rid Of Gill; just after the November
"a jallbreak. Two members of the
board, Mr.. Paul added, have posi-
tive information that the attitude
of the Commissioners changed when
word came from the White House
that Mr.. Gill should receive a public
hearing before an independent
board.