The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-01-27
THE CHARITY HOSPITAL.
Its Threatened Close.
How They Do 1t at the State Treasury

., In the hurly-burly of commercial pursuit
and the conflict for personal gain there ar
:, few who have the slightest appreciation O
that great work of charity III our midst
where so many thousands of suffering hu
mainly have had their ailments cared for and
the inroads Of insidious disease checked
We refer to that monument of public bene-
faction, the Charity Hospital of this city.
Thoroughly identified with the rise and
growth Of this metropolis, its name has ex-
tended beyond the confines OF this country,
and Europe to-day testifes to the high char
acter Of this institution.
It would hardly be credited how great a
benetaction to the unfortunates Of this world
this humane place Of kindly offices is. No
other institution offers such strong and I'M
answerable arguments in favor Of its support
as this. Essentially a corporate part Of our
municipal organization, it IS thing Of which
our city can well be proud.
When it becomes known that the Charity
Hospital is threatened with closed doors
within the coming month the public will be
filled with feeling more than one of surprise,
and that such is the case we have to acknowl-
edge with regret"
| We are now IN possession OF facts and
| figures concerning the condition of this hos
pital which reveal the utter ruin of that
noble institution, and the most shameful, and
we fear corrupt mismanagement on the part
of the State authorities
1t appears that the Legislature appropriated
for the running expenses of the hospital So
600 for the year, an amount insufficient to
meet the expenses if paid in legal tender, but
it was issued in State warrants, which were to
be cashed by the State Treasurer from time to |
time as funds came into his hands.
And now comes the real cause of the ap-
preaching close Of the hospital The Board
of Administrators appointed under the law
incorporating the institution, after securing
this appropriation from the Legislature, with
an energy and zeal for which they merit
great credit, at once set about the collection
OF this fund, but were stopped upon the
threshold OF their endeavors by the, to say
the least, curious action on the part of
Treasurer Dubuclet
If we have been correctly informed not one
dollar has been obtained from that official bv [
the Board of Administration for six months
past, and when, few days ago, one of the
State tax-collectors made settlement with
he State Treasurer, and paid over Sl25, 900,
he board asked Mr.. Dubuclet to cash $4,000
If the warrants, and he refused, on the !
,ronnd, as he stated, that he hadn't the /
money"
In the report Of the Board of Administrators. d
ust issued, the Treasurer receives some very 7
eyere blows They say: c
Next, the warrants for the appropriation of L
$4,000. intended to enable Il S to provide for L
he wants OF the hospital on a cash basis for y
he current year, were dealt out to us in such
manner that the greater part Of the oppor-
unlties to convert them into cash on an ad- h
analogous basis were lost to u.s. At the doors =
the Ire lsury, our representatives Jared 1
ven worse; for out of the whole of seventy
We thousand dollars, to be paid in cash, not al
en- thousand could be obtained for this great 81
institution during the whole year. lie
Notwithstanding the untiring efforts of our ID
rlncipal officers, David G. Mccain, ESD.
hartman OF the finance committee, and J. d. n
the treasurer, and notwith- "a
anding their making the restitution of the
ospital known in every quarter Of authority Ga
nd control.
AT the doors of the Treasury in o common ev
elee with the money brokers, this repre- ai
'ntatlve Of five or six hundred suffering
nman beings had no better chanceof recog- 10
ltion than the most unprincipled Spectator LEI
Instead OF getting the money for even this p
ortion of the appropriation, we find crowd
brokers trailing the footsteps of our faith va
| Samaritan, bantering him to sell, offering trl
rty to seventy cents cash tor each dollar in WI
ospltal Warrants, insisting that he had no re.
her show to convert them into. ready money. pa
Is the Treasury Of this State Fagins shop
'om what we have gathered outside the very 7O
csive report quoted above, we feel fully de
lrranted in saying that that department of -
T government is managed in a way more BE
an peculiar Treasurer receives accord ba
: to the Republican from tax-collector we
2G.45l 20 in greenbacks, and presto. it a 90,
nishes. The repeated and persistent de- %.
lnds of Mr.. David McCan, Chairman of
Finance Committee. fails to draw out from L..
! doughty Dubuclet anything for the relief , 7
the six hundred patients whose very lives Bla
dependent upon this public aid.
Certain well known brokers by some mean,
70 obtained an entrance to this bureau, :
ich to the ordinary mind appears more ct,
IN singular. Dubuclet BY his action, not Ho
ly in this matter, but BY his performances 'ne :
sundry other occasions, deserves severe Ger
ldemnation. Time after time warrants Chs
ve remained uncashed for months. when ing
~, bonnanad NOT "a Ia ~ ,,ro,,ar.,- of 49,. aid
: y W Ian
Il 10 "--e-- 'AAN A-oAe' Nie''oi "is'eu por
time and patience around the counter of I
} dignifed magnate for
rs evidence of the zeal used BY the Board VI
Administrators Of the Charity Hospital, Wa
quote from letter from Mr.. H. Bonzano Ian,
Kellogg. 1t corroborates what we have
mated as to the conduct Of Dubuclet