The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-03-07

reason / am here with a minority report. But
this Is not all. Superintendent White knew OF
the Imprisonment OF boys in dungeons. so dark
that they could not see, and often cold, fed on
bread and water only. In this way they have
been punished from one and two days to a
week. Think about boys eight TO fourteen years
old punished in this way until their spirits are
entirely broken down, until the proud spirit
that they had inherited from their
soldier fathers is crushed. Again !
declare unto you with all the force that | have,
that 1t Is shameful. In another case. two bright
| eyed little boys were chained or handcuffed to-
gerher until the flesh was worn off their wrists
handcuffed together in dungeon. handcufTed to-
gether in bed, until life to these fair boys be-
came a burden. And, when You talk to those
boys concerning it, they will break down and
cry. Fresh in my mind will these horrible facts
remain while reason and life last. Can YOU
blame me for being in earnest2 l cannot detail
70 you all the horrors of the institution. DR..
White knew 1t, but failed to stop it. Can we
excuse him! No rules upon the subject of pun
lshment. We cannot. and | now APP
peal TO You to right the wrongs
tnat now exist among the little boys and
girls OF the Soldiers Orphans Home.
III. white, when placed upon the witness stand
before the committee, Said that he had suspected
Tor q year that Goaf was guilty OF improper
conduct toward some of the inmates. We find
that Goar and White were on the best of terms
For months. Why, Mr.. Speaker and gentlemen,
why did White allow this villain foreman with
out an effort to drive him awayf
No statute would have, Kept me quiet. I
would nave kicked him out. l would have pro-
teetef the inmates from this lecherous monster,
and 1 would have been here demanding of this
BODY that L be maintained In my action If DR..
WHITE were a suitable man to have charge of
the. institution he would not have closed his eyes
70 MS suspicious and been the friend he was TO
Goar. am a partisan. OF course l would like
always to- see Republicans govern our benevolent
institutions but | have no disposition to wrong
Dr: White. cannot believe that he is guilty Of
criminal intimacy with the females Of the irstis
tuition. His most bitter enemies there, among
the females say that his character for chastity
and virtue is good" But the evidence d~lsnloses
the facts THAT he lacks all the requisite e~ualiiica-
lions that are necessary in a man to govern. Ha
aliowaa INSTRUMENTATION, quarrels. and all man
ner Of trouble to exist, and has fer more than a
year: He has stood by and looked on like a man
without the nerve to resist, or like a drone that,
did not care, negligent-grossly negligent is the
mIideSt term L can use in defense ofhiS conduct.
L want. especially to call the attention Of this
fiouSe to the, tesnimony of five or six small
boys, which shows thatthe most infamous and
outrageous acts were committed on their persons
and others in the institution, by a. man more
vile than chained demons in he'll, guilty OF tax
ing or little. boys and outragiug their persons
so vile and mean thatI can not find words to
express myself to you on this occasion. Devils
hide their faces in shame at the recital of the
awful crime. Boys Zine to ten years go ON the
stand. their eyes, fill with tears, and their words
burn and scorch the very soul. [ can 20 no,
further, except TO say / refer to the damning
acts Of sodomy, so terrible to speak Of Yet DR..
White failed to investigate these charges. be-
cause, as he feebly excuses himself. 'he did not
believe it, though told by many and responsible
persons, whose word he. had no right to call in
question. know that 1 speak the truth when
L say that | can name a, dozen Democrats,
yes more more than that, on the floor of
this House, that would have. on the
least hint of this state of affairs
existing there, kicked the scoundrel out and into
the penitentiary. l say Democrats. because | am
d Republican. DR.. White failed to do his duty,
and in his so failing, he shows to US that he is
not. TIT to care for the soldiers orphans.
Mr.. Speaker, and gentlemen. | have said all
that j desire to say now. / have talked earnest
ly and have only said what evidence bears me
out in saying. | have spoken earnestly because
| feel that feeble-minded children, the unfortlr
mates whose minds are obscnred by clouds of dis
ease, and who are compelled to grope their way
through this world in darkness, have been
wronged. l feel for the soldiers orphans, be-
cause some of them l personally know. and I
have formed other acquaintanceS among them,
and l know they have been outrageously treated.
We. your committee. recommend that by legis-
latlve enactment you take the government of
the institution from politics, or at least. allow
the Republicans q minority representation on
the board of trustees. All the soldiers were not
Democrats; some Republicans We're in the army.
Some Of them have gone from the scenes
of this life to the great rollcall above. Some of
these little waits are their orphans. some of
them are our children; we would like to help
care for them Will you grant the requests As
ono Of the humblest members on the floor of
this house [ demandi it. / demand it in behalf
of tine Republican ex-soldiers Of Indiana, in be-
half Of the widowed mothers of our honored
dead; l demand it in behalf of the representa-
tfves on this floor, who are in a hopeless minor
ity. l demand it in behalf of our honored dead
-ex-Governor Morton, whose. master hand
helped to bring the institution into existence. /
demand 1t; will you grant itS / believe you will.
every man who has any sympathy, who feels for
those orphans, who loves good order. who has
the good of the children of our fallen heroes at
heart, when he thinks of the fair daughters of our
dead comrades being seduced and ruined under
the very shadow of the institution intended for
their protection; when he reads the testimony of
Nellie Layton, of May Thompson and Nettie
Robinson; when he recalls the sad story
of their wrongs and the ~cruelties
pr~aetieed upon the feeble minded and orphans
with rawhides. straps, In dungeons, fed on
bread and water. When he remembers that
these children are OF noble blood; that these sons
and daughters are the children of those who
marched and counter marched upon the bloody
fields of Anteitam; who with the courage of true
patriotism climbed Lookout Mountains eiddy
height; who saw the noble dead of Gettysburg
go down in that fearful fight; who were at Ft.
Donelson when the immortal Grant came to the
front; who immortalized themselves on Shiloh's
bloody ground; who. amidst shot and shell. defed
death at the battle of the Wilderness; who heard,
amidst the cheers of victory, Vicksburg's can
non roar; who marched grandly to tho sea under
the leadership of Sherman; who swelled at Rich
mond the shouts of victory-when you remem-
Der all this, when you think & Of all those things
will you not rise up in your righteous indigna-
ton and demand a change-some means of pro-
~tectionf The present state of affairs is heart
rending, sickening. pitiable and horrible IN the
extreme. l desire to see these boys and girls,
orphans of my dead comrades, wards Of the
great State of Indiana, who have been picked up
off the streets of our cities cared, for
properly. Shall we do our dutyf
Let the evil be speedily corrected.
Let us not forget them. Let us protect their
honor and their lives. If we fall short of this
we have not done our duty. Let us be men,
large hearted and whole hearted, and unborn
generations will rise up and bless us. | thank
ysu. gentlemen.