The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1891-05-26

nation AS superintendent Of the Luna.
| tic Asylum. Respectfully.
IS. II. TEiman. Governor.
| The foil owing is DIR. Griffin's reply:
OFFICE SoUTH CAROLINA LUNATIo)
ASYLUM,
COLUMBIA, s. g., May goth, 1891.
10 His Excellency, B. r.. Tillman, Gov
| ernor.
| SIR: Ihave 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 Vhe office of Su-
Iperlntendent 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. contained no in
timation of any public exigency requir-
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
i Excellency 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 reiteration OF what has already
been presented to you and to the pub
lie, but there is one assertion to which
deem 1t my duty to call special atteil-
tion. In section OF your letter 1t 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 1856 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 copy, distinctly gives to the SUI
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 a
strict construction of the Constitution
all the officers and, employees of the
lunatic asylum should be 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 a
convention alien to the people should
be reformed; for 1t is out Of the ques-
tion that this institution can be sue
cessfully conducted by agencies over
which the Board of Regents and the
superintendent have no control.
In your communication Of the 9th
inst, there is only one other point that
l deem 1T 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
ce1ye early every morning written re-
ports from seven watches which show
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 in
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
spection.
In referring to the second charge you
state that "the man Milne, whom you
characterized as a .crank," and who DR..
Corbett says 'is morally insane by
which understand that he has a de-
PRAYED nature which would not hesi-
tate to crafty any passion or appetite
this man was permitted for months
to have a 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
entlal. 1t has beeIr proven that in
point or fact he 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. 1t is also we'll known that the
exterior doors are secured by inside
Dolls which no key can operate. l feel
confident that q calm and impartial
cOnSlueratlon 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 DIR. CorbetG's
characterization Of Milne beg to call
your Excellency's attention to the ac-
companying letter to show how far you
misunderstood or misconstrued his
meaning.
In your letter requesting my resigna-
tion 1T is stated that you are "forced to
conclude that you do not wish such
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. I 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; q 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.
trust your Excellency will pardon