Forbes Report on Norfolk Praises Gill's Administration As the Only Creditable Page in Prison History of State

The following article is the last of the Crimson's series on the Norfolk situation.

"I will begin by saying that I regard the Norfolk prison as an admirable prospect. It is the one creditable page in the history of prison administration in Massachusetts, and should not be allowed to fail by reason either or critical comment on the part of interested or uninformed people, or, in order to meet the conveniences of the situation, by making unwise use of its facilities and by unwise use I mean mixing unfit men with the trustworthy men who are found there, in a way that would bring about disorders and apparent failure of the system."

This was the substance of the report on Norfolk submitted January 24 by W. Cameron Forbes, former Governor of the Philippines, and recently Ambassador to Japan. The report was requested by Governor Ely in deference to a popular demand for an investigation of Norfolk by an impartial authority, at the time when Auditor Hurley's investigation was daily front page news, and public opinion had been aroused by the sensational character of his disclosures. In appointing Mr. Forbes, Governor Ely repeated the injunction against premature publicity which he had made to Auditor Hurley, and which had been violated. Accordingly the Forbes report was not made public until it had been completed.

Mr. Forbes' chief recommendations were (1) the towers on the outer wall should be raised, and more modern weapons installed, to be provided with more ammunition than at present, (2) barbed wire fences to keep inmates from a zone 60 feet from the wall and from work being done by outside labor, (3) wages for inmate labor, and (4) ultimate transfer of the entire state prison plant to Norfolk, with five types of prisons for different cases. In commenting upon the report, Superintendent Gill agreed with each of these suggestions, and added that the Commissioner of Correction should be empowered to supervise transfers from one prison unit to the others. The conclusion of Mr. Forbes' report noted that "it was the unanimous opinion of the council of inmates with whom I consulted that they all preferred Norfolk on the ground that they are treated like human beings there and it is this aspect of the institution that I cannot too strongly recommend."

With the publication of this report the real issues at Norfolk had been presented to the Governor. On his return from Bermuda February 9, Mr. Ely indicated that he would defer action on the Norfolk situation until he had examined Mr. Hurley's report and considered Mr. Gill's comments on it. "Norfolk is a great institution," he added, "but this ambitious experiment in the rehabilitation of felons must not be menaced by the possibility of failure because of the loss of a large section of public support in a subordinate state official." He questioned whether Mr. Gill, the originator and leader in the Norfolk Plan, "would be available, after what has happened."

The first indication of strong public backing of Superintendent Gill was seen in a circular letter sent to 1000 ministers by Rev. George Lyman Paine, secretary of the Greater Boston Federation of Churches, urging them to support Gill's administration.