Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-05-23
Lays It to Politics.
The Scandal in the Chicago In.
sane Asylum.
TESTIMONY OF A LUNAOY EXPERT.

The Witness Gives the 'Spoils System" q
Rough observation-disclosures Pulls" of
More Value In Securing Places Than Fit
ness-Brutality and Rascality the Re
sult--A Brief but Shocking Summary of
the Abuses Charged.
CHICAGO, May IS Some time ago The
Times had a reporter feign insanity and get
adjudged insane and sent to the county in
sane asylum. When there he saw brutality
that made each hair upon his head stand
erect like the quilts upon the fretful porcu-
pine, and his story when told in the columns
OF the paper led to a grand jury investiga-
ton and later to an inquiry before Judge
Prendergast, which is going on now. The
facts brought out are enough to damn the
management of the institution and the cause
OF such management had an airing in the
testimony of DR.. S. V. Clevenger, a speci-
alist in insanity cases. when he took the
stand yesterday. He read a printed state
ment.
Too Much Spoils System.
The doctor first told of the old style of
treating insane patients, contrasted with the
new style much to the disadvantage of the
former, and then proceeded to tell of the re-
| lation of politics to the county asylum man
agement Said he: "The frequent changes
made in these positions and the selection of
| inexperienced persons produce great con-
fusion and invariable retrogression. Where
the tenure of Office is uncertain there is little
incentive to honest work. and great tempta-
ton exists for intriguing on the part of out
siders to dispossess those in office, not from
any medical, scientific, or philanthropic ami
mn hn ,on.a hmm i,,cr
Who can work with the calmness and peace
of mind necessary to carry on complex pro-
fessional duties over a volcano which, at any
| moment, may explode the results of years of
study and the fortune one may have ex-
pended in in fitting ones self for a particular
fieldg"
Women Physicians Needed.
"The absolute necessity for having lady
physicians to attend female wards is now so
well known that it scarcely needs be men
toned but this fact was established with the
greatest difficulty and against political oppo-
sition; and asylums for females should be
separated completely from those for males
In the Cook county asylum male attendants
were usually appointed by the commissioners
for their fighting abilities at the polls in fraud
ulently carrying elections, and seemed to want
to keep in practice at the expense of the in
oohc- AhcJ oiOci opchi1 VIC
tendent, and when threatened with dismissal
reminded the Official that he had not suffi
Gent political influence. The majority Of
the attendants being of this low character,
the efforts of those who were well disposed
were discouraged.
They Had Political Pulls"
81 saw enough while medical superinten-
dent there, your honor, to convince me that
for the thirty years previous to my being
there the greatest brutality was practiced by
the attendants. Coming down to my time,
l will say that the attendants were always
lighting and pickering among themselves,
and that there was no discipline at all The
most disreputable attendants were always
kept in their places, while the best behaved
ones were discharged The rough attendants
had political pulls with the county commits
sioners andfrequentiy even defied me, saying
that could do nothing, as their friends, the
commissioners, would see that discharged
no one
Some of the Abuses Resulting.
"Brawls, drunkenness, oaths slamming of
doors, incessant alarms, matchmaking,
buster, pistol shooting, intrigues, immoral
ity, stealing, neglect of duty on part of sub
ordinates, exerted a very depressing inlu-
ence upon the decent officials there and
caused them to waste much of their energies
In keeping out of rows. There are stealages
in the clothing in various ways, and even the
rags and bones were sold for the benefit of
the one who had CONT oil of such offal The
county board financial reports were falsified
and confused in a variety of ways; often the
expression general expenses" would cover
$1,000 or more Of unaccounted-for bills
What Is the Matter?
what do You think is the matter with the
Jefferson insane asylum management" asked
Mr.. Walker.
at is part and parcel of the spoils system
of America" said the doctor, his voice trem-
bling; that is the whole secret of it. would
rob the county board of its power over the
YUM management and place it under the
authority of the state. There ought, also, to
be no more than 500 patients in one building.
Disgusting Details
"Dr. Edmund Andrews, of Chicago, who
was demonstration Of anatomy at Rush Med
ical college, says that the corpses procured
from the asylum were so covered with YER
min and filth as to necessitate scorcbing be-
fore students could dissect them There has
been repeated testimony that lice abounded
in the wards, and DR.. Roller an assistant
physician, found maggots in the wounds of
neglected patients in 1884 Rats would mu-
tilate the bodies of those who had died unat-
tended during the night"