St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-05-22
A DARK STAIN.

"A DARK STAIN.
The horrible revelations that are
being made in the investigation of the
Cook county asylum case form dark
spot on our nineteenth century civlliZa-
ton; and the probability that this is
only one of many dark stains Of this
character may very well cause US TO
pause and consider whether or not,w
all the rapid developments of the age,
we are really making progress in essen
tial betterments. 1t is singular that,
with all the display of charity work for
which this generation is remarkable,
and with the lavish expenditures OF
money in an apparent effort to make ex-
traordinarily good provision for the I'M
fortunate classes of society, there should
be underneath it all condition OF bar
barity that would have been considered
disgrace even in the worlds darkest
ages. That it should be so is social
anomaly that can only be explained
upon the theory that the eorrupting ln-
fuence of modern politics has bllghted
everything that has fallen under its
baneful touch. All institutions of a
public nature, and that are maintained
at public expense, are seized by the po-
litical bosses, who convert them INTO
party machinery, to be used for polltl-
cal purposes.
1t was in the Cook county asylum
management just as it is in allOf our
public institutions where the politicians
have control. The officials and employees
received their appointments as reward
for partisan services rather than for
their peculiar qualifications. II stories
of mismanagement or malfeasance
reached the ears of the commissioners
they were pooh-poohed. or if any atten-
ton was given to them and an lnvesti-
CATION ordered, it Invariably resulted in
a withdrawing report which conveyed
to the public the impression that every
thing was lovely in the management OF
the institution. Even after the grand
jury of Cook county had found bills OF
Indictment against two Of the employees
of the asylum for numbering patient
whose death had been certified to by the
superintendent as resulting from nat
ural causes, the county commission
ers refused to even suspend the superln-
tendent and other officials, but with an
air of brutal defiance made public their
purpose to uphold them.
How many other cases there are like
this Cook county asylum affair, and how
many there may be right here in our
own state, is a matter of legitimate spec
ulation. On the surface everything APP
pears to be lovely, just as it did in Chi
cago few weeks ago. And yet. as de-
velopments have shown, what was then
an institution that the Chicago people
pointed to with pride, and which they
held up to public view as one of the
most splendid monuments of the city's
charity, was in reality only a whited
sepulcher. 1t was worse than den Of
thieves, because it was the domicile Of
a gang of murderers, who were supported
at public expense and provided with
victims from the unfortunate classes
who were supposed the objects of pub
lie charity.
These remarks are not intended to i'm
ply that there is anything rotten, Or
even wrong, in the management Of any
of our Minnesota institutions. They are
simply intended to direct the attention
OF the public to the ease with which
wrongdoing in the management of pub
lie institutions can be concealed from
public view, and how corrupt state Of
affairs can be CLOSED over and made to
nj md yyyt,n
it is to the interest of the poll
ticians to have it so appear.
1t is question well worth studying,
how to remove the management OF pub
lie Institutions from the control Of par
tisan politics. 1t has been DEM
onstrated that it cannot always
be done by the appointment of
so-called non-partisan boards. Us
ually, directories of this kind are COM
posed of an equal number Of politicians
representing the various political par
ties, and who are almost invariably
chosen because of the distinction they
have gained as political workers in their
respective parties. 1t is not so much a
non-partisan board as non-political
board that we want for the management
of public institution. But so long as
the doctrine prevails that the spoils be-
long to the victors. we confess that it is
a poor show to remove the manage
ment of these institutions beyond the
corrupting influence of politics. The
horrible condition of affairs at the Cook
county asylum has been in existence
for years, and probably never would
have been brought to light but for the
fearless enterprise of Chicago news
paper.