The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1875-08-21
THE IDIOT ASYLUM OUTRAGE.

Ike 1OlV4 hD Nv nA Wv ~~'N~
Our remarks last week in reference to the
location of the state institution Tor leeoIe'
minded children at Lincoln were written be-
fore we had seen any member of the commit
the who had waited on the commissioners at
Springfield to present the proposals anu
claims of Ottawa, and therefore before we
had had any intimation of the inside Workings
by which the extraordinary decision OF the
commissioners was brought about our
committee saw enough ofthese very soon aiter
they got to Springfield to satisfy 'hem 'h"'
the comparative merits of the various to"hs
connecting for the location would have very
little TO do with the ultimate decision, Dul
that the selection would be wholly governed
nv 1oliticdl considerations, bearing on the
prospects of certain. aspirants to guDerhatori'
AT and senatorial honors. In short, the INFER
ence is Unsuitable, ace think, from what lhey
observed. that the institution was localeu oe-
fore tie commission Was dPposnted, anu 'na'
the Recommendations of the seven gentlemen
around the state 1T an expense OF three or
four thousand dollars to the people was
contemplate and disgraceful sham we DO
not say that all or even majority OF 'he
commissioners were parties to or had any
knowledge of the fraud, yet that it was from
the beginning put ap job is as plain ana
selfevldent as any fact can be made from
purely circumstautial evidence.
We are not crying over split milk. lhe
asylum would be of little advantage TO Qua
wa. Had the location been made at frince-
ton, Peoria, Aurora, or any other deccntly
eligible point, not a word OF complaint would
have gone up from this quarter. But that a
town like Lincoln should be chosen, in the
face of the narrowing experience OF this state
from locating other state inspailions IN dis.
regard of certain essential features, is an out
rage so gross ard palpable that it should for
ever damn politically all who had coutroll-
ing hand in it and exclude them from the as
soclation of honorable men.
The wailing cry Of all our state charitable
institutions since the first Of them was erect
ed at jacksonville has been for water! wa.
ter. waterr The insane asylum at Jackson
vile has cost the state quarter OF million
to secure for It an adequate supply of water,
and yet to this day, according to the report
of the State Board OF Charities, the supply is
so wholly inadequate that the sanitary condi-
ton of the institution is most seriously affect
ed by IL. OF the school for idiots at Jackson
Vile we are told in the same report that so
scarce is the supply of water that lat present,
one basin of water has to suffice in the morn
ing for half dozen pupils. The children are
washed with sponge, in order to prevent
extravaganza in its USE Yet at Jacksonville
abundance of water can be procured by dig
ging wells to the depth of forty feet" Eight
such well are dug to supply the insane asy-
lum, and yet five teams were occupied hall
of last summer in hauling water from dis
tant "branch" or slough to keep the in.
mates from perishing of thirst and filth. The
idiot asylum al Lincoln is to be nearly as
large an institution as the insane asylum at
jacksonville IL is to accommodate $50 IN
mates, with officers, attendants, &c; Yet the
source of water supply at Lincoln is even less
reliable than at Jacksonville. Wells must
be dug from forty to sixty feet deep, but the
main reliance is on supply of surface water
gathered in deserted coal shaft water no
resident of Ottawa need be told as unfit for
use as the seepase water of a Mississippi
bottom.
In the location OF two or three of our state
institutions during the last ten years the leg
islature, IN view of the deplorable condition
of the water supply at Jacksonville, made es-
pecial and emphatic provision by law, that
the commission shall in their selection be
sure to secure an abundant supply of water
and have regard to elevation, sewage, and so
on. But IN each case the location was the
result of a bargain" and the legislative di-
rection UNANIMOUSLY disregarded.
Were the honesty of Gov. Beverage to be
relied upon there would need to be no fear
that in this last disgracelul instance the out
rage would meet his approval, which it must
before it can go into effect. But we have
seen enough OF Gov. Beverldge TO place no
great reliance on his integrity in such case.
The conviction is general that the location at
Lincoln was the result of political bargain
in which the Governor himself has vital
interest. The prompt approval of that loca.
ton by the Governor will indicate whether
he is party TO the corrupt bargain or not
The last Illinois Legislature, now that the
exact figures have been ascertained, turns out
to have cost the State S207, 202, while the
preceding Republican Legislature, no longer
In session and composed of the same number
of nemh hers cost the State more than dnnhle