Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1860-03-09
INSANE ASYLUM
Mt. PLEASANT, March 2, 1860.

FnlRND JouRNAL:-Here am comfortably
leatsd,in thu Democratic Mecca" to which
y uxhy aspiring and patriotic politicians Of
he lawful Disclosure" school have, since
he year 1856, made an annual pilgrimage, for
he purpose of obtaining capital with which to
conduct vigorous campaign. They have, as
you well know, gone forth from here. and
charged the Republican party with expanding
the peoples money with reckless profuse-
ness. They have pronounced the Superin-
tendent, Henry Winslow, as an unsafe man,
q money maker, thief, a liar, a scoundrel, &c
And these pilgrims have found innocent
victims to believe their astounding develop
ments. The result has been that almost u
prejudice exists against the hospital
for the insane, and all who have been in any
way connected Herewith. Everything con-
nected with the affairs of this hospital, for the
past three years, has been misrepresented'
and placed before the people in an erroneous
light, by third-rate class Of politicians.
Never was an institution more lied about
never were two men more wickedly mallgned
than Henry Winslow and Col. Saunders, OF
this place. am happy to know that there
are men, high-minded, honorable, with enough
of justice and truth in their characters to
award the need of praise where it is deserved
men who will not stoop to acts of meanness,
misrepresent facts, pervert the truth, impugn
proper motives, merely to advance the inter.
ests of a political party. During the present
session Of the Legislature, the charges made
against the Institution by H. Clay Dean and
Will Tomlinson, and kindred spirits, have
been repeated to such an extent as to call for
a full and rigid examination of the affairs of
this hospitalas ' f-"as"
That Committee, composed Of Judge Hall
and Senator Patterson, Democrats, and
Wright, of Cedar, Bemis, of Buchanan, and
Don Anderson, Republicans, is now in session
in the Brazelton House. From fifteen to
twenty witnesses have been examined, but
the ''mare's nest" has not been found. The
worst thing that has yet appeared is that Col.
Saunders, pursuing his legitimate business Of
banking, has, at different times, discounted
hospital checks at rate of from to 10 per
per cent-never over Is per cent. but never
discounted such checks when there was money
in the hospital treasury. You will recollect
that Dean charged, in the course Of his speech
in the Court House, in your city, that untold
misery had been caused by the Shylock policy
of a Senator and Mt Pleasant banker who
controlled the hospital funds, and other stories
of thrilling interest, all tending to prove the
corruptions of his political opponents. But
the testimony Of every man, thus far, who
has been examined upon this point, has
exonerated Mr.. Saunders from any and all
charges lmpeaching his motives or acts, and
all have testified that, when their labor was
performed, they received checks upon the
Treasurer from Mr.. Winslow; that, when
there was money in the Treasury. these
checks were promptly paid by Mr.. Saunders
in par currency, or gold aohea called for.
If there was no money, then they Gin many
instances) submitted to discount of from 5
to 10 per cent.-and glad to get their money
even at that shave. 1t is the almost unlver-
sally expressed opinion that, had it not been
for the banking house of Mr.. Saunders, the
hospital checks would have been worth moth.
ing. But Mr.. S. was not alone in this sharing
operation, for every man who had money to
spare bought these checks at the prevailing
Mr.. S., many family would have cried in
vain for bread When no other bank would
touch checks, at scarcely any price, he took
them, when he could have loaned the purchase
money at larger rate of interest than the
State was then paying for its loans from his
bank. With the exception of three sore.
heads, who probably have been unable to
borrow of Mr.. Saunders, when their credit
elsewhere was entirely gone, the witnesses
have uniformly borne testimony to the integ-
rity, and uprightness, and fair dealing, of Col.
Saunders. And, in the minds of the Com.
mittee, to man, Col. Alvin Saunders stands
as high, if not higher, than any other man in
the State Of Iowa. -...-.
There have been some facts elected which,
when fully published, will satisfy the people
at large that not cent of the public funds
appropriated to this hospital has been misap-
Piled or Incorporated, but that the entire
work has been carried forward with the most
rigid economy, and with an eye single to the
best interests Of the State. Upon our first
visit here, it was the immediate exclamation
of every member of the Committee, Never
was so much building erected for so little
money" 1t lis truly wonderful. The guilty
of the work is not equalled by any other work
in the State. The only crack about the
building is in step forming the sill to the
rear door. Not an imperfect stone was
received upon the grounds. Every brick
passed thorough examination, and every soft
one was thrown out. The material is of stone
taken out of a quarry near the city, and
resembles in appearance the Joliet marble
Every stone is most perfectly laid, matched
and pointed with cement. There is not
dollars worth of useless or unnecessary work
upon the. building. The whole is plain vet
imposing. The main building is four stories
high above the basement-the wings three
stories high. The entire circumference of the
building, following the foundation wall, is
very nearly half-nile. lawful Disclosure"
says it is seven miles around it or over it!
Now, am nothing extra on a walk, but I
did perform the superhuman (?) task Of going
over the entire building visiting every room,
peering into every nook and corner, from the
cellar to the dome which surmounts the gal,
vanized iron roof in less than two hours, and
was not very tired either. 1t lis true that it IS
q large building--its requirements make it
.such-its form makes it such. Large halls
for nrnmenadinp are renIlired roons Cor