Gill Says Hurley "Hit and Ran" and Proclaims Nawn's Actions "Nothing Less Than Treason"

In a tumultuous session marked by vigorous expressions of opinion from the crowd, by the forcible expulsion of one would-be onlooker, and by bitterness on all sides, the Gill hearing sped through the remaining fifteen of Commissioner Dillon's 36 charges against the Norfolk head's administration, and was brought to a close shortly after 2 P. M. yesterday. Ten days have been granted the defendant for completing the reords, before any decision is reached.

Although he was obviously tired and nervous after the four day's grilling, Mr. Gill was definitely on the aggressive. He charged, "Hurley spent three months on this report. He submitted it to the governor and left town. He hit and ran." He styled the activities of James W. Nawn, treasurer at Norfolk, and assistant to Hurley, as "nothing less than treason." He produced evidence that under the present Norfolk administration, two men hired last week have already been discharged for drunkenness. He cracked down on the Herald by stating, "The papers said there was a riot in December. There was none. The only riots at Norfolk were on Mason St., Boston" (Herald's address).

Again and again he struck out at Hurey, contemptuously, and angrily. In one case he remarked "When Hurley finished his report, he said, 'taking away all the verbiage, the inmates at Norfolk are criminals.' I think we may take that as representative of the Hurley philosophy of penology." He referred to the Hurley charges, on occasion, as "perfectly ridiculous." He pointed out that there had never been any talk or danger of rioting at Norfolk until the appearance of Nawn, a Hurley man.

In his peroration, slow and methodical. Mr. Gill drove home, into the record, if not into the ears of Commissioner Dillon, the basic theories upon which Norfolk is run, and stated that once upon a time Hurley, Ely, and Dillon had all confessed to favor these ideas. Previously he had informed Governor Ely that if he favored the Norfolk plan, he must also favor the administration, since the terms were synonymous.

His testimony was in sharp contrast to that of Deputy Auditor Thomas Buckley, who was on hand to defend Hurley. To Gill's "hit and run" charge, which came almost at the end of his closing argument, Buckley, stocky, red-faced, jumped up and snarled, "Mr. Hurley has been an elected officer of the Common-wealth for the past four years. He never offered charges he could not substantiate. He left town, not because he was a hit and run driver, but because he was ordered away (much laughter) to recover from the strain of three months delving into the frightful conditions of Norfolk, Prison." (Long laughter from the crowd, much clapping and booing.)