Cleveland daily leader. [volume] ([Cleveland, Ohio]) 1865-1873, 1866-01-26
LETTER FROM COLUMBUS.
The Case Of Dr. wr.he,.

H3 CeLUMBUs, Jan. "a, 1866.
g A large pOlt on of the morning session
!: Of the Senate to-day, and a small part Of
& the afternoon session, was spent in dis
y eusslon of the. resolution directing the
Auditor Of State to pay draft in faveF
I Of DIR. W. w. Wythes, late superintsn.
dent Of the No. L. Asylum, for salary
! during the nine months he filed that Of
fee. -.t -
The facts of the ease, as appears by a
very candid statement of it made by Mr..
Williamson, are, that DR.. Wythes, citi-
zen of Pennsylvania, while officiating AZ.
Surgeon in the army in Tennessee, was
appointed as Superintendent of thes
Asylum by the trustees of the Institution.
On receiving notice of his appointments
ne resigned the Office of Surgeon, repaired
to his residence in Pennsylvania, and,
settled his affairs. thera with all possible
expedition, and went to Newburgh and
entered upon the duties of his Office. About,
the time of assuming the office, he was
advised that in the opinion of some legal
men, he was ineligible to the Office. bV
reason OF the clause of the constitution
winch says that legal voters only Tor citi-r
kens OF the State are eligible to office in
the State. Thereupon DR.. w. sought Ierai
advice upon the subject, and found dis
agreement among legal men. as to whether
appointments of that class constituted Of
ices within the meaning of the constitu-
ton on that point. Eminent LAWYERS AZ
cleveland and elsewhere, gave the opinion
tnat ne was eligible; and as he had re-
ceiyed and accepted the appointment in
good talth, and at considerable sacrifice
mad settled up and abandoned his brsi-
ness to perform the duties TO which
ne was appointed, be entered into and oc-
cupied the office for the period of nine
months. But the Auditor Of State. ON ad..rr
vice Of the Attorney General, refused to
issue draft for the payment of his salary.
on the ground Of his ineligibility. az
the end OF nine months, he resigned the
ONCE, IN consequence of the doubts and
dtncultlcs connected with the subject. In
the mesn time, the Steward of The
Asylum had advanced him $500 on bis :
salary, out of the fund for current expen-
ses, as is customary, it was stated in that
institution, IN anticipation Of the regular
payments from the fund for salaries. The
Attorney-General had also procured q writ
OF quo Warranto to prevent the payment
OF the salary, for the reasons stated aao1
Under these circumstances, DR.. Gris-5s
soIarIon rHsErucrIug ztuuf70r 70 T5saS
draft for the amountc of the nine months %
salary, with view to refunding the ez-5I
pense fund the amount drawn from il A
above, and paying the balance 10 DE- w
in satisfaction of his claim. This resolu-
tion was opposed, principally by Mr.. r
DeInOcratic Senator from Hol-
mes, and Mr. Tibbots, Union Senator from
Summit. The resolution was referred to
the Judiciary Committee, with view of
ehciting their opinion of the constitutional
question, as well as Of the resolution on
is merits. The committee reported in
favor Of the passage Of the resolution, -
having examined it on its merits alone,
SIS stated by the chairman Of the commit
tee. That left the Constitutional question
an open one and produced the long dis
cussion already referred to. - r--t
ThereSeemedt to be but littleopposition to
the payment Of the claim in some way; h
but it was alleged on the part of the op-y.
position, that its payment in the proposed
was clearly uneonstitutional while, on
the other side, it was urged that the
money was on hand, in an appropriation
duly made for the payment OF the salaries
Of the superintendent and other officers.
and there could therefore be nothing un-
in it, Much was also said
BY Mr.. Willett, and other Senators, about
he bad management and bad oder of thu
institution, which was computed by Others.
The debate closed with the following re-
marks of DIR. Griswold: l'7 ti1-
3 Mr.. Griswold of Lorain, stated that he q
would not occupy the time of the Senate m
in urging the passage of the resolution.
He could not doubt that Senators would
vote for the resolution, as an act of simple
ustice. But he desired to repel the
charges of the Senator from Williams ls,
hat the institution has been so conducted
hat it has lost the confidence of fhe pub --r
ic. The remarks Of Senators made in
his chamber go before the public, and
hey ought carefully to abstain from re-
marks calculated to destroy the confidence
IF the public in cur Benevolent Institu-
ions, which are the pride and glory Of
he state. He had been connected with
he Northern Ohio Lunatic Asylum as
rustee for the period Of ten years, had
visited it many times each year, and Is
amiiiar with its management, and he
lad no hesitation in saying that there has
,een no time in which the patients have
lot been well and klndly cared for, and
he record will show thatthe number Of
will compare fayOrably with
my kindred institution in the State
hat the number of deaths in proportion So
o the number Of inmates has not been
,reater in that institution, than in any
Ither and that eheerfulness, cleanliness
md good order have prevailed among the
PATIENTS to as great degree as is. COM
non among the unfortunate inmates Of
ur Insane Asylums.
The resolution then passed, yeas 20,
lays la party vote Of the Senators
resent, except that Mr. Martin of Stark,
nd Mr.. Tibbads of Summit, voted with
he Democratic Senators against it. The
Constitutional question as to the eligibili-
y of DR.. Wythes, is not considered as
laving been settled, or in any wise affect
d, by the vote on the resolution. It is
the Auditor Of State had signi-
led his entire willingness to pay the
lain, on the passage Of the resolution in
18th Houses.
a .t