Evening star., 1946-04-05
Jail Conditions
Laid 10 Welfare
Board by Gill
Declares Committee
Of Loymen Cont
Run Penal System
By julio Edwords

dangerous Qelay ana QemOrallZa-
ton at the District Jail stems di-
rectly from the Board of Public
Welfare and shows "you can't run
a penal system with a committee OF
laymen any more than you could
run the Police Department that
way" according to Howard B. Gill
suspended penal superintendent.
MI. Gill described his inability to
get members of the Welfare Board
to act on matters at the Jail calling
for their attention throughout his
II months as penal superintendent
when he appeared late yesterday be-
fore an inquiry board T hearing
charges filed against him by the
Welfare Board.
His charges came as the Welfare
Subcommittee of the House District
Committee prepared to consider a
bill to take administration of all
public welfare work from the in
dependent welfare board and place
it in department under the District
commissioners.
"Shakedown" Charged.
Pounding the table, Mr.. Gill
wound up his direct testimony be-
fore the inquiry board by charging
that two convicted murderers never
would have escaped from the Dis
trict Jail Wednesday had the super
visory force been on the job.
Claude o. Botkin, resident super
intendent at the Jail, learned in the
early part of November that a guard
was shaking down" the girl friends
OF prisoners but never reported it.
Mr.. Gill said. The guard was dis
missed after the escape of five men
from the Jail November "a.
Had known about it, certainly
would have fired that guard before
anything happened" Mr.. Gill said
This was Just an example of the
trend, of the constant delay, of the
failure to recognize the Importance
Of significant details, of the prac-
tice OF sitting on top of an explosive
situation and not taking any
action"
The Welfare Boards Institutions
Committee was given authority over
the penal system in January, 1945
but for more than three months
refused to meet with its penal super
ntendent, he reported.
Says MemOs Ignored.
Mr.. Gill said that each month he
prepared an agenda of administra-
tive matters requiring the commit
tees attention, and each month the
committee ignored it. Finally. the
committee called him to a special
meeting in April only to inform him
that when the committee wanted
to bear from him it would call hhn
and 1t did not desire him to prepare
any agendas, Mr.. Gill CHARGED
answering charge that he criti-
cized members Of the Institutions
COMMITTEES before the jail force or
Oecsmberf S, Mr.. Gill said it was
necessary to explain to the guard
force that he was not getting CO.
operation from the Welfare board
TO make 1t clear why did not get
certain things done. These guards
were struggling against terrible
Odds" '-e
Recalling what he told the guards
Mr.. Gill again repeated that the
welfare Board has failed TO nro-
vide adequate personnel or to sun
port MS efforts to correct dangerous
structural defects at the Jail.
Explains Reprimand.
Il may very we'll have said the In
stltutlon's Committee doesn't know
thing about running penal in
stltutions,' he remarked. 1T doesn't
And I know definitely that I said
the exact same thing to A. j. Dris-
coll chairman of the Institutions
Committee"
Explaining why he reprimanded
the guard force, Mr.. Gill said it was
by that time Clearly evident the
guards did not know how to con-
duct maximum security institu-
tlon: He said that a search of the
jan ne ordered prior to the Novem-
Der "a Jail break was so inefficient
tnat ne found "a truckload of weap-
ons' $500 in cash, saw blades and
a handmade dagger when he con-
quoted his own shakedown Decem.
Der 2.
Denying that he ever cursed any,
oooy, Mr.. Gill observed he might
nave used the words "hell" and
damn" I'VE weren't running a
sunday school. We were trying to
run a Jail under serious handicans y