Evening star., 1946-05-15
Smith Calls HEARINGS
On Welfare Board Bill
In Penal Setup Fight

In Penal Setup Fight
Both stopgap and long range
moves to reorganize the Board of
Public Welfare now are headed for
consideration on the House side of
the Capitol, as direct result of
the Jail scandals.
Representative Smith, Democrat,
of Virginia, will open public hear
ings at 10 IN. Monday on the dust
covered bill of the Commissioners
to take over all the powers of the
Welfare Board and convert it into
an advisory agency.
He announced the hearings late
yesterday, as leaders of the House
District Committee went ahead with
their plans to fight for enactment
of the Hebert bill, developed from
the Jail investigation, to remove the
penal institutions from the Welfare
Boards jurisdiction and place them
under a separate Department of
Corrections.
Legal Advice Studied.
Representative Hebert, Democrat,
Of Louisiana said today an in
vestigation of the District Jail con-
Quoted by the Federal Bureau of
Prisons crosses the is and dots
the is of his congressional COM
mittees report recommending
drastic changes in administration
Justice Department attorneys
were checking to see if legal action
can be taken on Violations charged
in the 300-page, two-volume FBI
report. If it can proceed, the Justice
Department will take legal action
before releasing the report, a spokes-
man said.
His statement was the first indica-
ton that specific charges against in
dividuals are contained in the re-
port. No charges will be made
public, however, unless the Justice
Department can back them up, he
said.
I'VE are looking up the law to-
see what we can do" the spokes-
man explained.
FBI Report Given to Smith.
Mr.. Hebert charged Monday on
the House floor that women were
taken to the death block in the jail
Since that was not brought out in
the public hearings conducted by
his committee, some observers be-
lieve it is contained in the FBI re-
port.
Announcing that he had given the
FBI report to Mr.. Smith, Mr.. Hebert
said he could not divulge its con-
tents, but that "if and when it is
made public" it will back up his
committees findings.
Howard B. Gill, former penal
superintendent, has disclosed that
the FBI was given an affidavit
signed by former prisoner which
charges that whisky was sold in the
Jail and that models were brought
in to entertain two inmates while
Ray L. Huff, welfare director, was
acting penal superintendent.
One of the two volumes in the
FBI report is made up of drawings.
The Justice Department refused to
say whether or not these apply to
structural defects at the Jail.
Action Blocked by Smith.
Mr.. Smith had blocked action on
the Hebert bill in the House Mon
day, contending it had not been
given the thorough" study it war
ranted and arguing that reorganiza-
ton of the Welfare Board should be
considered as a whole and not piece
meal.
His announcement Of hearings on
the broader bill, however, did not
change the plans of District Com
mittee Chairman Mcmillan or Rep
resentative Hebert.
mo matter what is the outcome
of hearings on the broader bill, it
will not change my views one iota, -
said Mr.. Hebert. These two ques-
tions are entirely different.
Calls Problem Immediate.
II am definitely in favor of trans
ferring all the powers of the Welfare
Board to the Commissioners, and I
shall vote for that bill if it is re-
ported, but it has nothing to do with
this immediate problem of the ad-
ministration of the penal inStitu-
tions.
Il shall press for House approval
of the Corrections Department bill
ic N
general question that is involved
We want a penologist under the
Commissioners instead of the non-
paid members of the welfare board
to be in charge of the penal insti-
tutions.
When you have specialized all
ment you 90 to specialist, not
a general practitioner. That's the
case we have here. I'll vote for
the specialist any time.
Mcmillan Backs Hebert.
A somewhat similar stand was
taken by Chairman Mcmillan. He
said he wanted to give Mr.. Smith,
who heads the Welfare Subcommit-
tee of the District Committee, a
reasonable amount of time to study
the report of the Hebert Jail In
vestigatsng Subcommittee, but that
he still planned to call the Hebert
bill up for House action soon.
Scheduling of hearings on the Gen.
eral Welfare Board reorganization
bill would not necessarily mean, he
added, there should be any further
delay in action on the Hebert bill
He joined earlier with Mr.. Hebert
In a declaration that Mr.. Smiths