The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1891-05-27

| nation as superintendent of the Luna.
tic Asylum Respectfully,
Is. r. Tlllman. Governor.
Tie foil owing is Dr. Gritlin's reply:
OFFICE SOUTH CAROLINA LUNATIC
ASYLUM, +
COLUMBIA. S. c., May Goth, 1891. }
TO His EXcellencv, B. r. Tillman, Gov
ernor:
SIR: l have the honor to acknowl-
edge the receipt of your letter of the
18th inst, in which you ask me to ten
der my resignation Of the office Of Su-
perintendent of the South Carolina LII
natic Asylum.
This came to me while was engaged
in preparation of my reply to your com:
munication of the 9th inst, which had
been duly received It contained no in
timation Of any public exigency requlr-
ing any especial haste, while the urgent
and extraordinary demands upon me
at the asylum during the Centennial
week made it impossible for me to give
to this matter due and adequate con-
Sideration.
With this explanation trust your
Exce!lency will acquit me of any I'M
putation of discourtesy to you or OF
any indifference to the statements pre-
sented in your letter of the 9th inst. A
reply in detail to all the statement will
be only q reiteration OF what has already
been presented to you and to the pub
lie, but there is one assertion to which
l deem it my duty to call special attell-
ton. In section of your letter it is
stated that "all of the employees at the
asylum had been appointed either by
yourself or by the Regents without COL
or of law"
Now, your Excellency must surely
know that section 1855 Of the General
Statutes enacts that The Regents OF
the Lunatic Asylum shall form body
corporate in deed and IN law, for all the
purposes OF the said institution, with
all the powers incident to corporations,
and that they are hereby authorized
and empowered to make and establish
all rules, regulations and bylaws for
! the government of the institution.
The bylaws now in force, Of which you
have a copy, distinctly gives to the su..
perintendent the right TO appoint and
to discharge, with the consent of the
Regents, all employees and subordinate
officers, with the single exception OF
treasurer If it be true that under
strict construction of the Constitution
all the officers and employees of the
lunatic asylum should he selected and
appointed and subject to removal by
the Governor, at his own will and
pleasure, it only furnishes another rea-
son why the fundamental law under
which we have been forced to live by q
convention alien to the people should
be reformed; for it is out Of the ques-
tlon that this institution can be sue
cessfully conducted by agencies over
which the Board of Regents and the
uperintendent have no control.
In your communication OF the 9Th
inst, there is only one other point that
l deem it necessary to consider. The
charges against me seem to be reduced
to two Specifications. First, the infre-
quency of my visits to certain wards,
and second, my permitting one of the
male patients to have key which gave
access to the female department. In
reply to the first / can only repeat what
has been already published, that re-
ceive early every morning written re-
ports from seven watches which snow
the condition of every ward at each
hour Of the night; that the matrons
and supervisors make daily written and
verbal reports of their respective de-
partments; that my assistant physician
after the morning inspection gives me
written and verbal reports of the con-
dition of the patients; that am ID
daily consultation with them in regard
to the treatment of the patients, visit
ing those that need special attention;
and that the bylaws wisely leave to the
discretion of the superintendent the
frequency or times of his visits OF in
Spectlon.
In referring to the second charge you
state that "the man Milne, whom you
characterized as Il crank" and who DR..
Corbett says is morally insane, by
which understand that he has a de-
praved nature which would not heSl-
tate to crafty any passion or appetite
this man was permitted for months
to have key which would open the
doors to any of the female wards" In
reply to this beg to repeat my denial
that Milne was permitted to have the
key, or that he is morally insane IN the
meaning of having no sense of right
and wrong, or of yielding to the blind
impulse of brutal passion. On the con-
trary, during his confinement here, his
department towards women has been
uniformly proper, respectful and defer
entail. 1t has been proven that in
point of fact be was never on the wards
except when employed in painting, and
then always in the presence Of the at
tendant or of another painter hired to
assist. It is also we'll known that the
exterior doors are secured by inside
bollS which no key can operate. l feel
confident that a calm and impartial
consideration would show that there
were really no opportunities" which
would cause "the mind to revolt or the
imagination to sicken" AS this charge
is mainly supported by DR.. Corbett's
Characterization of MilneI beg to call
your Excellency's attention to the &C
companying letter to show how far you
misunderstood or misconStrued his
meaning.
Inyour letter requesting my reslgna-
ton it is stated that you are forced to
conclude that you do not wish such a
trial" The only trial offered me is
one by the Governor. The bylaws OF
the Institution give the Regents the
right to elect the Superintendent to
hold his office at the pleasure OF the
Board. The Constitution gives the
Governor the power to appoint the Su-
perintendent with the advice and con-
sent of the Senate | hold that these
are the only two courts competent to
try me- BY the first have been exon
Grated after thorough examination of
the testimony; trial by the Senate has
not been offered.
After mature consideration Of the
whole matter feel constrained to de-
cline to tender my resignation while
there are charges against ME.
l trust your Excellency will pardon
!