Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-09-08

Inc Governor DelnR eutuOIihoo ~
law to deposit among the various banks
Of the Commonwealth the collected
revenues Of the State, to be checked
out when necessary, and being re-
quired by law to take . good and sol
vent bond from the bank for the deposit;
and Is one of the banks chosen as
depository had entirely suspended and
failed, the House Of Delegates appointed
q committee Of eleven of its best menu
bcrs to investigate the affairs OF the
Planters and Mechanics Bank Of Pc
tersburg, and they discovered and re-
ported that the Governor had deposited
in this bank sl75, 000-not taking any
bond until after 100000 had been
deposited--and that although the bank
had Q capital stock Of only sll9,550,
the enormous sum of Gill, $40 had been
allowed by the Readjustcr directors to be
drawn out by overdrafts. in addition to
very large sums previously overdrawn
by favorites of the bank, utterly worth
less and without any security. The
committee reported the names Of the
parties, and also that the persons who
were thus permitted to overdraw their
accounts and to receive enormous loans
from the bank were all Readjuster CO.
alitionists except one, and he is bro
Their of Readjaster cashier.
How can the people trust such q
party with their hard-earned taxes?
ASYLUM MIsMANAGMENT COR
RECTED.
The Board Of Directors of the new
Central (colored) Lunatic Asylum, all of
whom are Malone men, had their mis-
management examined into by COM
mite Of the Senate, and the grossest
incompetency and probable corruption
were exposed. After letting out the
buildings to . contractor who was the
lowest bidder, and who twice executed
bonds by the directors deemed salts
factory, they rescinded their contract
with him and let the work to two
others at an advance on his bid Of
s6,269. He therefore brought suit in
the Circuit Court of Richmond against
the Board for damages, and recovered
a judgment against it Of $6, 1880, with
interest and costs. So this wise honest,
and economical Board Of Readjuster Di-
rectors have, in this matter, cost this
fund theextra sum paid over to higher
bidder of 5000, and then to the pre-
vious lower bidder and contractor for
damages for resembling their contract
with him s6,l59.50, making q loss Of
sl2,42S.50 out of the money appro-
priated to the unfortunates Of the col
ored race, Of whom they claim to be
the especial friends. This is not all,
for the report shows that while this
fund was in their hands the Board Of
Directors took care to take out salaries
for themselves, in one case amounting
to s896.38, besides allowing Attorney
General Blair $3.50 for defending and
losing the suit brought against them by
the disappointed contractor. So. in.
GLIDING the amount of their salaries
~, 938.S3), the fee Of the Attorney-Gen-
ersl and the losses in their contracts,
it aggregates the total sum of sl5,-
616.83, which is thus utterly spent and
lost before they have received a single
colored lunatic from the jails in which
they say we have confined them.
EASTERN LUNATIC ASYLUM.
A joint committee of seven was ap-
pointed to investigate the conduct of
the Eastern Lunatic Asylum, three of
whom are Malone men, and sign and
thus ratify the report, which shows
that the Board only appointed members
of the Readjuster party as officers and
male attendants that faithful and eff
cient officers, who had been in for many
years, were dismissed because they were
Democrats or Straightout Republicans,
while others who had been heretofore
employed and known to be Readjusters
were retained that it was generally
understood that none but members Of
that party could sell any supplies to the
institution, as the public utteraIces Of the
officials had been such as to give notice
that the public patronage Of the asylum
would be welded for the benefit of the
party in power; that the teams and
conveyances Of the asylum were used
for the purpose Of conveying persons to
and from political meetings and other
purposes; that the superintendent and
many of his employees were active par
tisans; that he was county superinten-
dent Of his party; and that his utter
ances in private and his public speeches
have been such as to inname the COM
munity against him and the managers
of the institution. This outward con-
duct was all that the committee could
investigate. They could not look be-
hind the curtain, and therefore the peo-
pie will never know what was the actual
treatment and condition Of the patients.
Eugene Sue, in his Wandering
jew" and Charles Reade, in his "Hard
Cash." have depicted the horrors suf-
fered by unfortunates confined in lunatic
asylums, exposed to neglect, harshness,
and cruelty by those who have absolute
authority over them. Their remon-
strances are regarded as insane COM
plants; they can see nobody but their
jailers, and cannot write to their friends
save through letters inspected by them.
With such persons as these over them,
what torments they may endure we
cannot tell. 1t may be that the fcti-
tious narratives of Sue and Reade far
fall short of q dreadful reality. Can
the fathers and mothers, the husbands
and wives, and the brothers and sisters
of the State trust their unfortunate dear
ones to the asylums provided for by
the taxes Of the people under the con-
troll of such party as this?
AGAINsTPARTIsAN OFFICE-HOLDERS
One of the best measures passed by
the last Legislature was the act to pro-
hibit judges, the Superintendent of Pub
lie Instruction, county school super
intendents, ofiicersi in charge Of asylums.
or any State institution of learning, ac-
lively to engage in politics, by making
political speeches and inducing persons
to vote for or against particular persons
or party. In the earlier and purer days
of the republic no such provision was
necessary. The standard of official