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| Roswell Flower. |
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| Zebulon R. Brockway. |
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| Elmira Reformatory. |
Cortland Evening Standard, Tuesday,
December 11, 1894.
CHARGES
DISMISSED.
BROCKWAY AND ELMIRA MANAGERS ARE
EXONERATED.
Governor
Flower Takes Action on the Charges After Considering the Reports of the
Commissioners—Finds the Allegations Not Sustained—Extensive Review of the
Testimony and Findings of the Commissioners.
ALBANY.
Dec. 11.—Governor Flower has dismissed the charges against the board of
managers of the Elmira reformatory.
The
governor says that he has studied with great care both the majority and
minority reports, and concludes that corporal punishment has not been administrated
in such a way as to cause anybody any permanent injury. He concludes that the
managers are in no way to be blamed for the punishment inflicted. There should be
a medical superintendent who should look after prisoners put under punishment and
see that it is not overdone. If Brockway erred he did so by not knowing how far
a belligerent prisoner could endure physical punishment.
Judge
Learned's report contends that there is absolutely no need for such violent punishment
as was given.
The
reports upon which Governor Flower's decision in the Elmira case is based were
filed on Saturday and are very voluminous indeed, that of the majority making
20,000 and that of the minority member making 16,000 words.
All
three members agree that Governor Flower could not remove the superintendent. The
charges were made originally against Superintendent Brockway and after
prosecution and conviction by the state board of charities the governor was requested
to remove Brockway. He refused on the ground that it was not in his power and
then to satisfy public sentiment he appointed the commission that presents the
report.
GOVERNOR
FLOWER'S OPINION.
On
March 19 last the state board of charities transmitted to the legislature the
report of an examination into the conduct of the New York state reformatory in
Elmira in which the general superintendent, Z. R. Brockway, was pronounced
guilty of "cruel, brutal, excessive, degrading and unusual punishment of inmates,"
in addition to other offenses, and in which the board recommended certain
legislation which would check or prevent a repetition of such evils as were found to exist in the management
of the institution.
No action
was taken by the legislature upon these recommendations. The report of the state board of charities was thereafter made the basis of charges filed with me by
George Cary Eggleston, J. D. White and R. A. Farrelly of the New York World against the managers of the
reformatory, accusing them of "misconduct, incompetency and neglect of
duty" in continuing said Brockway in the office of superintendent and
praying for the removal of the managers and the appointment of others in their
stead, in order that the cruelties and inhumanities hitherto practiced in said
reformatory may not be continued and that a wise and humane person may be
appointed to the office of general superintendent in lieu of said Z. R. Brockway.
The
governor has no power to remove or appoint a superintendent of the reformatory.
That power is lodged with the board of managers and it can be exercised only
for cause and no removal can take place except upon written charges and after
the superintendent shall have an opportunity of being heard in his defense. No
charges in this case have been made by the managers against their
superintendent. They believe him a humane officer and deny the allegations
against him of cruelty and inhumanity. It is largely because of this attitude toward
the superintendent that charges against the managers have been filed with me.
While
I have no power to remove the superintendent I have power to remove the
managers, after giving them an opportunity to be heard, upon written charges.
This is the proceeding now before me.
It
naturally involves primarily the charges against Superintendent Brockway. If he
is guilty of inflicting the inhuman, degrading and cruel punishments attributed
to him, the managers are certainly negligent in permitting such practices to
continue. If the charges of cruelty against the superintendent are not founded
in fact, then to that extent the managers are relieved of the charges of misconduct,
incompetence or neglect filed against them.
Within
eight days after the service of the charges upon them the managers entered a general
denial and thereupon a commission was appointed to take testimony and report to
me the material facts found. I have studied with great care both the report of
Dr. Flint and Mr. Deyo and that of Judge Learned, and my conclusions are
deducted from both reports and from the testimony taken upon the hearings.
It is
a source of much gratification that the testimony shows, according to both
reports of findings, that there was no truth in the harrowing statements
published in newspapers alleged to have been inflicted by the general superintendent
or his subordinates on inmates of the reformatory. Upon this point all three
commissioners find substantially the same facts and exonerate the managers and
the superintendent.
The
governor discusses at length the legality of corporal punishment in the Elmira reformatory and concludes:
It
seems to me that the managers cannot justly be regarded as culpable in holding
that use of corporal punishment was not forbidden by law in the reformatory and
in my opinion they were justified in their assumption of its legality.
I pass
now to a consideration of the manner in which corporal punishment wan
administered in the Elmira reformatory and whether it was unnecessarily severe
or brutal. The punishment consisted almost entirely of spanking administered by
the general superintendent in person with a strap 22 inches long, three inches wide
and three-sixteenths of an inch thick, moistened in water so as to make it soft
and pliable. Messrs. Flint and Deyo say that the blows were invariably applied
on the buttocks. Judge Learned says the testimony on the whole shows
that that was the place struck.
Nevertheless,
the blows were uncalled for and I concur with the commissioners in regarding them
as improper and unjustifiable.
Mr.
Brockway also did wrong in my judgment in flogging the convict Facey for refusing
to give evidence concerning an offense in which it was believed at the time he
was himself implicated.
In the
case of Wallace, however, who was punished for a long period for refusing to
give the superintendent information about his parentage and who by reason of
his persistence in this refusal was afterward transferred to Auburn prison, I do not think either the superintendent
or the managers are at fault.
There
is one other conspicuous case of flogging which deserves consideration. It is
that of Moses Aaron, who was flogged several times and punished in seclusion
and "rest cure" cells, although it appeared afterward that he was
insane, and during a part of the period of his punishment he was under the
observance of the physician as to his sanity.
The facts in the Aaron case seem to be that the physician did not know
that Aaron was punished while he was under medical observation, and the general
superintendent did not know that Aaron was in fact insane or even that he was
under observation to determine his mental condition at the time the superintendent
administered the punishment.
It was
established also that the board of managers had no knowledge of the unfortunate
circumstances with the case, indeed, that no one seemed aware of the facts
until the full details were brought out by this investigation.
While
the board of managers and the superintendent, therefore, are to be acquitted of
any wilfull neglect or misconduct in this instance, there was clearly a blunder
which should have been avoided by a greater harmony of action between the
superintendent and physician.
I now take up the frequency of corporal
punishment in the reformatory. Upon this subject we have a careful record for
recent years. We have complete figures from 1890 to Sept. 26, 1893, since which
date corporal punishment has not been inflicted.
During
this period 70 1/2 per cent of all the convicts in the reformatory were
never spanked. The 29 1/2 per cent who were spanked numbered 1,150 and received
2,589 spankings, aggregating 19,597 blows.
Eight
per cent of the entire convict population during that period was spanked more than
twice and less than 5 per cent more than three times.
Judge
Learned figures out from the statistics that there are about 2 1-6 punishments
every week day and that the daily average is a little less than 1/2 of 1 per
cent.
It
does not seem to me that, assuming the propriety of corporal punishment as a
means of discipline, this number in itself is excessive or shows abuse of
authority.
All
the commissioners agree that the evidence exonerates Mr. Brockway from any cruelty
which inflicted serious or permanent injuries upon convicts.
I
concur in the findings of the commissioners that the medical organization of
the reformatory is inadequate and that there should be a resident physician;
that each convict should be examined at the time of admission and before he
receives corporal punishment, the physician being present at such point; that
daily visits be made by the physician to each convict confined in
"seclusion" or "rest cure" cells, and that better medical
records be kept.
The
findings relative to other methods of punishment, including the so-called
"seclusion" and "rest cure" cells, do not show confinement
except for conduct in lawful violation of the just requirements of the
institution, nor does it appear that such confinement has continued beyond the
time when the prisoner has given satisfactory evidence of his willingness to
submit to the rules and regulations of the reformatory. Discipline must be
observed and convicts cannot be humored.
So
much newspaper comment has been made with reference to the use of a hot iron to
get desperate convicts out of a cell that I quote what Commissioner Flint and
Deyo have to say upon this matter:
"In
no instance does it appear that a prisoner has been burned by the use of the
hot iron.
"Such
instrument has not been used for several years."
Commissioner
Learned gives substantially the same account.
Commissioners
Flint and Deyo report that in no case does it appear that convicts were ever struck
or kicked by an officer in the bathroom except as he was struck by the general
superintendent (as herein found) unless for the purpose of subduing a
refractory convict, in which case only so much force was used as was reasonable
and proper to accomplish that purpose. In no case does it appear that a convict
was ever struck or kicked by an officer outside the bathroom with the
knowledge, consent or approval of the general superintendent, except in such
manner and for such purposes.
There
is no evidence that the power to grant paroles has been abused.
With
reference to the cancellation of paroles, however, the commissioners find the
method now employed by the managers (or a majority of them), signing warrants
to arrest in blank and empowering the general superintendent to declare the
conditions of parole violated and to issue the warrants, to be of doubtful legality
and at least contrary to the spirit of the statute.
I have
given painstaking study to the consideration of the charges against the
managers and my conclusion is that the evidence does not justify their removal
from office. While in some respects the managers deserve criticism, as do their subordinates,
they are not guilty of permitting gross abuses in the infliction of punishment
or in the management of the institution.
The
conduct of the institution should not he measured solely by isolated and
occasional instances of questionable acts on the part of the managers, their
superintendent or his subordinates, but by the general behavior of these officers
and by the results of the institution. The managers are honorable men, devoted
to the interests of the institution and jealous of its fair name. They receive
no compensation for their services and consequently cannot be expected to give
up all their time to its interests. A large part of the details of management
must necessarily be entrusted to their superintendent and other subordinates.
The
managers are, of course, responsible if abuses exist, but in spite of the
vehemence of the attacks upon the institution it has not been successfully
shown that grave abuses do exist or have existed under the present management.
I
cannot help calling attention to the anomaly of trying the managers vicariously
for the superintendent. Had the legislature given me the power which I asked to
remove superintendents of reformatories, this circumlocution would have been avoided,
but since it refused the investigation has had to take this roundabout course.
The
charges in the main are not proven and are therefore dismissed.
ROSWELL
P. FLOWER.
Arrah-Na
Pogue To-night.
Reappointed
by the Governor.
ALBANY, N. Y., Dec. 11.—Governor Flower has
reappointed James B. Rathbone of Elmira and Benjamin L. Swartwood of Cayuta to
the board of managers of the New York State reformatory at Elmira.
Armenian
Developments.
TIFLIS, Russian Transcaucasia, Dec. 11.—The Mischas, an Armenian newspaper,
publishes a dispatch stating that the British consul at Van, Turkish Armenia,
has notified the British foreign office of the massacre of 6,000 Armenians and
has asked Great Britain to intervene.
The dispatch further states that the
representatives of six powers have handed the porte a note in the Armenian
language.
The German ambassador has presented a
separate note to the porte.
Cortland's
Persuasive Superintendent.
Superintendent C. V. Coon by invitation went
to Tully last Saturday night and addressed a meeting of the citizens upon the
benefits to be derived from a union free school and the establishment of an
academic department. This subject had been under consideration there for some
time and considerable opposition had been raised against it. Superintendent Coon
was sent for as a man well qualified to tell them all about the facts in the
case. At the conclusion of the address and the discussion which followed a vote
was taken which resulted 67 to 11 in favor of the immediate incorporation of a
free school system for Tully.
PAGE
TWO—EDITORIALS.
One
Hazer Punished.
A half dozen upper-classmen in a Wyoming,
Pa. seminary had rare sport with a freshman named Brainham, Friday night. They
took him from his bed and, clad only in his night shirt, out to the town pump,
where they doused him thoroughly. The weather was not warm nor the water
either. But for all that Brainham was hot. He made a break for liberty, and
getting loose tore the disguise from one of his captors. The six ran. The
freshman went back to his room and kept quiet, Saturday morning in the dining
hall Brainham told the man he had recognized, Louis Rockwell, to defend
himself, and right then and there he let out his "right" and
"left," knocked Rockwell down, broke his nose, cut his check open
with a blow, and withal thrashed him within an inch of his life.
Rockwell was half back on the seminary team.
Brainham was a smaller and lighter man, but had taken lessons in boxing instead
of football play. Rockwell refuses to
tell who his companions were. He thinks his punishment ought to
suffice for the six. He expresses great admiration for Brainham, but while
admiring him says he must fight him again else the upper classmen will laugh him
out of school. Brainham, who is lionized in the school for his pluck and
victory, says he doesn't want any more trouble and should think Rockwell had
had enough. The Utica Herald thinks
that if the latter is wise—and he may be by the time his nose mends—he will not
meet Brainham at fisticuffs, but induce him to join an opposition football
team. Meanwhile, it is to be noticed that the curriculums [sic] of our institutions
of learning are broadening.
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| Cortland Opera House. |
The Howard Stock company began a week's
engagement at the Opera House last night. The play was "Silver Ledge."
There was a very large house and every one seemed well pleased. The company is
a good one and acted well the parts in the play presented. Particular mention
should be made of the playing of John A. Preston as Billy Bixby; of M. H.
Harriman as James Clarkson, of J. J. Winter as Jack Martin, and of Miss
Rachelle Renard as Ethel Elwood.
Between the third and fourth acts some
pleasing specialties were introduced. Victor
DeLacy sung a fine baritone solo and was several times encored and Master Joe
Williams, twelve years old, the boy soprano, delighted all with his clear
tones. The orchestra of six pieces was very good.
The play to-night will be an Irish comedy
"Arrah-Na-Pogue," in which the special star of the company, Mr. E. P.
Sullivan will appear. Five specialties will be introduced to-night. Tickets are
now on sale at the store of D. F. Wallace & Co.
BREVITIES.
—Rev. Thomas K. Beecher of Elmira will
deliver a lecture at Normal hall on Thursday evening, Dec. 20, upon the subject
"Money at Interest."
—Over ninety per cent of the pupils of the
Cortland public schools who went up to Homer lately to try the regents'
examinations passed the examinations.
—Mr. Edward L. Rooks died at 10 o'clock last
night at his home, 19 Charles-st., after several months of suffering. The
funeral will be held on Thursday at 2 P. M.
—A car will run from Homer to Cortland to-morrow
evening after the last session of the quarterly county convention of the W. C.
T. U., which begins to-morrow morning in the Methodist church of that place.
—There are forty cases of diphtheria in the
Ninth and Tenth wards in Syracuse. Three children attending one of the schools
have died and it seems likely that all the schools in those wards will be closed
for the present.
—The Central New York Carriage Builders'
association meets in Syracuse to-night. Hon. L. J. Fitzgerald and Mr. W. D.
Tisdale went up this morning to attend it, and Mr. H. M. Whitney expects to go
up on the 4:20 train.
—A large number of Odd Fellows expect to go
to Marathon to-morrow night to attend a special gathering at the lodge there.
The freight and accommodation train will be held at Marathon until 10:25 P. M.
to bring back all those who desire to return on it. It will reach Cortland at
about 11 o'clock.
Seeking
for Good Quarters.
Mr. A. D. Kingsbury, the keeper-elect of the
Cortland county almshouse, has received a letter from a friend in Homer who has
a beautiful home there, but who is very much of a wag. The writer says he wants
to put in an early application for a choice suite of rooms at the almshouse. He
wants them to be heated by steam, lighted by gas and to have a private bathroom
attached. He is also quite particular about the furnishings. He shall very likely
want to bring his valet with him. Keeper Kingsbury is thinking over this matter
to see what he can do for him. He might submit pictures of the various suites
to him.
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