The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1868-05-10

YarF Lusrs ysssus E0vs.r oe<E
sons Of our rscsnt New York exchanges
have iheen srestly exercised over ths, l..
tails Il IN sAAir Of great aktosity, according
to them, wherein . boy Of .tsn yesss WAS the
victim, AID the snthoeities ct non Catho.
lie orphan asylum, Of that city, were the
oasndera. ThefG tails being Of IN i'm
modest natnre ,erefare, what is gen.
teeseliy called tional, we may be
permitted 70 doubt whether it was the
atrocity the details that more imperiously
demanIded publication, At any rate, both
aapects Of the case. are attended, to--the
"details in local repmtsy and the atrocity in
the editorial columns The matron; 'doctor,
and servant Of the asylum all come in for .
share of virtuons invective, sufficient to
satisfy any living man that neither Of the
three is-rich. AS for the doctor, the editor
proposes, in sentence wherein the grinding
togsther Of teeth is distinctly heard, to
hand hmm over, body and bones, to q re-
vepging jury of mothers. ..a e.s ,'"'} ar.
We do not intend to come forward a.
counsel for the accused in this case, or a.
apologists for cruelty to helpless children.
What we do intend, is to express our sur
prise at witnessing the expenditure of 80
much wrath on two or three individuals,
where the whole system which gave them
their opportunity is utterly at faults
uncharitable in its principle, corrupt in it's
working, and destructive in it's results
and yet provokes no comment limiting at
disapproval. ,...' jos. c.a
Can It be that intelligent editors attribute
to accident events so frequently recurring
and chronicled in their own journals, that
1t is impossible not to accept them as effects
of q cause inherent in the very constitution
of the systemi Do they really regard as
exceptions instances the very character of
which shows them to be the natural results
of q general rulei
The brutality which characterized the
conduct of these asylum officials was not
the growth of q moment, or the excess of q
sudden passion. It had every mark of q
deliberation and of an energy which would
make it fruitful of other results similar to
the one in question.
About the date of this occurrence, we read,
also, of a poor little child of only seven
years, who committed suicide in another in
stitutiOn of the same State, by cutting his
thoat, in consequence of having been SUBJ
jected to the torture of the shower bath.
Was that the first instance Of theapplication
of this torture to infants in that institutions
just before that event, the papers told us
Of a small child burned to death somewhere
in England, while the woman hired to take |
charge Of it and some eight or nine other
little victims of charity was absent from
her post. Was this simply the fault of the
womanf We are informed that the board
of worthy citizens charged with the control
of the charity" on being notified of this
catastrophe, went into consultation ON the
question as to whether they should employ
matron, or entrust the remaining children
to a sober and watchful cook.
But, after all, it may be said these are
simply. few instances where public chart
ties were not only unfaithfully conducted
by officials, but also badly controlled by
directors, and they may not denote gene
ral condition. OF course, it would be i'm
possible for us, in these columns, to enter
upon detailed discussion of nom Catholic
public charities, SO far as their workings
have come to light. If public repute, how
ever, can be to any extent an indication,
we must conclude that the most gigantic
scheme of national charity known in the
world, the poor-house system of England,
affords the most appalling array of injus-
tice, oppression, misery, and suffering, that
history has recorded. But a week or two
since, we read of woman who had been an
inmate Of one of these dens, and who actu-
ally persisted of starvation, rather than
return. 1t is said that the honest and
sympathetic pen Of Dickens, by its scathing