Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1868-06-24
DAVENPORT, IOWA. WEDNESDAY, JUNE "a. 1868.
Orphans. mcme.

OrpAams' mone.
Eprroa DsxocRAs Ever true to the
phans cause, you have done vel to bring
forward the article Of the Davenport 0asstts
and call for an explanation Of certain mat
tsrs which, in the light therein sst forth,
stand very prejudicial to ths intssssss ofths
Aeoe.
II hes bssn the policy Of the Trustees =
make no reply to mere pseseeal'ties. but
when 10 comes to figures and accounts, the
financial management Of the Home, and
care Of the children, the citizens Of the
State have right to know the truth or
| falsehood Of grave allegations, such as are
made in said article. against the Trustees
and officers OF the Home. The viiuperative
and yindictivs character Of the Gazette ed
itorial shall speak for itself, except SO far
- may be necessary for . proper vindica-
ton Of the Home from charges made.
The books and accounts are not at hand,
and nv statement must be general subject
| 10 correction and addition BY other men,
bers Of the Board, If need be.
The Trustees met st the Homs near Da-
vsnport, June 10th, and found debt ex-
listing Of over go, 900. The G0sstts assumes
the statement Of an "ofiicer Of the Board Of
Trustee that large part Of this indsbt-
sdnsss has accrued sace the Legislature
vetsd an additional per eap,ta Allowance
| The public cannot uDdsrstand the design
OF this statement without being apprissd Of
the fact that IL 10 expected to bear heavily
against the present Superintendent; this
"sAicsr Of The Board" having bssD. fos
some length Of time. committed to the r.
instating Of the former oecups0t.
The present debt must, therefore, be un-
derstood in ito relation 10 The past. And
besides, Il may bs satisfact,ry to ths friends
Of the cause 70 tracs this question Of the
Home debt. Whom the Trustees met in
April, 1867, they feund debt Of about &7.-
900. This surprised them very much. The
&e33& per month, for each child, had bssn
regularly drawn aad appsopSiassd. The
ssmsining balance Of the old fund, ovef 3d..
900, had been expended. They, however.
found no reason 70 criminats any one, usith-
er did they feel disposed TO, believing that
the insuficisncy Of the amount appropri.
ated for the support Of the ehildssn account.
Cd for the debt. To cancel il they appoint.
Cd Nrs. NsQuestin to solicit I'D; and lib.
sfal contributions were received.
At the next meeting Of the Board, held
at Cedar Falls, In October, 1867, the Dsv-
export Home wss reported BY the sxscu.
tive committee, r the Superintendent free
of debt, or nearly %. The books. ] think,
we're not before the Board. Itis now the
| opinion Of the present Board, particularly
the Treasurer, who hes given il special at-
tention, that such On even balance was
made BY counting the State appropriation,
at that time just received. for the month Of
October. the amount being near 5000.
But this accounting lst the Home unpro-
vidsd for, during said month. By the
same rendering, which shows debt now Of
81 1000 there was debt, thsn, Of near IS, :
900. Or, BY counting. now, . months al
lowance in advance, - was done then, the
present debt would Be reduced over one
half.
According to the report to the Isgisla-
ture. made November 9Th, the debt was
s., ,5es 81. On December Let, the debt
was $1,000. At this time the present 6u-
psrirt ndent tosk charge. Az our late
meeting be made state nent of bills paid
BY him, which had been oontrastsd prsvi-
Gus to December. We found that tl 200
Of the present debt accfuss from improve
msnts made, which 10 p. 5vidsd for in the
special fund for that purpose, and not 5yet
drawn.-The Superintsnd Mt showed that
his expen es were 81 900 / than his re-
ceipts, for the mon th of May, and no re-
ceivsd the &10, per capita for only ieus-
fifths Of the month which wss the FIRST Of
the additional allowance received.
What shall be dsns with the tGaxstts]
statement "that large pert Of this indsbt-
edness. @l0, 900, he's aceufed since the ad-
ditionL per capita allowance p That .
large part oft accrued in four fiiths Of .
month. The object in making the
statement is its only explanation
and that 10, 10 inurs our Sup
srintendent, and inpliedly, recommend
the former one. Tho trustees, old and
new boards, hold them alike in the light
Of the accounts, and their vindi On by
vouchers, believing them honssta 4 cor
rect, and challenge investigation. We es-
timated at our meeting, Il t the debt
would be cancelled this summer, BY the
increased allowance, and the lessened ex.
psnses Of the summer season.
But tho same motive of the above mis-
representation 10 traced in the rather cap
tious manner Of comparing the three homes,
much to the discredit Of the management
Of the Davenport Home |. il happily true
that the Glenwood uoms is free of debt.
The number Of orphans has been small :,
nd the citizens Of that place and vicinity
have lbrally supplied oil the lack Of the
State appropriation. The citizens Of the
North have, to . large sltsnt. done the
same thing for the Cedar Falls Home; aud
their expinses are less, By occupying only
one building, while they have secured
equally good help ~ the Davenport Home,
- much lower salaries. The Davenpsrt
and Scett county people gave most liberal
y; but il was for fitting up the home, and
not for the maintenance Of the children.
The Gosetts puts on an appalling face, and
enquiries concerning the debt +" What does
il mean?" We answer, the books and 90
counts at the Office Of the Homo will show
by items hew this debt has bsen Incurred.
The editor Of the Gasette says: "At .
meeting Of the Board Of Trustees . rssslu-
ton was Offered BY Dr.. Bell, Of this city,
we believe, appointing . eommittss TO sx-
anime the accounts of the Homes from the
commencement TO the present time, bot the
resolution lsas laid On tie ts6le" He then
findulges in the severest structures On such
"kind Of management Of . sacred trust" ;"
lie plainly charges the beard with the
deepest villainy in covering up grss cor
ruption and probable psculaticn in The use
Of the funds Of the Stats. l cannot 80
how, upon the honor Of . gsntlsmsn, hs
can afford to make this, the blacksst charge
imaginable, up an oflcial Board OF tie
State, in the absence Of oil pfeof, ~ II
amounts to an entire misrspressntatiou Of
the aesion Of the Bcosd. A mere psopo-
sition for such sn Investigation was consid.
cred. The iaea was before 10 that this
saas thing proposed had bssn done By
capable and honest msa. Evssv month
since the Heme came into the hands ol
the State % e1eeutive committee hoo e.
anined the accounts, aod made settlement
With The supssiatsadent, and stassasnto Of
saoh settlement is 81 record. That con.
mittss censietsd ef J. A. Parvis, N. H.
Drainard, and +. +. Oofkhill. These gen.
tlsmsn srs veil and hvorably known in the
StaGe. In view Il these Seets, With ooaG.
dsscs 10 These nsn, aud viii . slsas con-
vietinn that the secounts had bssu corfsct-
u rendered, az Of ths ssvsa nsnbess q
the Beard could not - any necessity ~
such iavestigasion. A esrtified eoDy Sf the
niastos q eue sA6eting Will aee skow thaA
such resolution voe oAseed ed mid on