The herald., 1896-07-19
Trustee Patterson Makes Reply
to the Charges
CONTROVERSY AND SCANDAL
The Statement Made Because Of Publ.
city and Personal Attacks
Believes That Unjust Punishment Of childre n
at the School Hiss Not Taken Placs
Testimony Open for Inspection
(To the Editor of The Herald.)

| have arisen in connection with the man
agement of the Whittier state school
any personal allusions to my fellow
trustees or to the underlying motives to
the whole trouble. A man naturally OBJ
jects to engaging in a controversy with
woman, although in this case Mrs.
Mitchell appears to merely represent
her husband. who, judging from matters
which have repeatedly come to my
knowledge since his wife was given the
position, appears to be the de facto trus-
tee. 1 only make the present statement
because of the publicity and personal
attacks upon myself which it has pleased
Mrs. Mitchell to make through the col
! umns of number of newspapers in this
state, and which, through misappre-
hension of the facts, have led several
editors to comment unpleasantly upon
me.
To begin with, I desire to call atten-
tion to the fact that ever since Mrs.
MitchelPs appointment, about sixteen
months ago. the majority of the board
has been Democratic, and that until Mr..
Mullen was taken i'll Mrs. Mitchell was
as much at loggerheads with him
|
was a Democrat. 1t is therefore clear
that the question of politics in no wise
enters into this matter, and that the
controversy is purely personal one.
| When Congressman McLachlan was
| advised by Attorney-General Fitzgerald
! that, having been elected to congress,
! he was no longer eligible to hold the po-
! sition of treasurer and legal adviser of
| the school, Mrs. Mitchell proposed that
the vacant place be given to her hus
band, John w. Mitchell, at salary of
! $50 per month. For obvious reasons,
| neither Mr.. Mullen nor myself were will
! ing to vote for Mr.. Mtchells appoint
ment, and from that day dates the an
| tagoniSm of herself and husband TO me.
! Another probable cause for dissatisfac-
ton is Mr.. Mitchell's possible dislike TO
the chamber of commerce, of which l
am the president, and from which his
name was dropped for non payment of
dues, in accordance with the rules of
that institution and in no wise through
any wish or connivance on my part.
The controversy of which the present
scandal is the outsroWth seems to have
broken out more strongly last December.
when it was rumored that Mr. Mitchell
| had announced that he would secure
/ control of the patronage of the institu-
| ton and favored the appointment of Mr..
| Thomas j. Cuddy as superintendent.
| Whether these rumors were correct or
not, | have no means of knowing. l do
know, however, that number of per-
statelle,l, etrs riel tnat they Understood riiat
there were to be changes in the school and
that the MitchellS had announced that
this or that person had to be selected
for the position of superintendent or
was to be appointed as Mr.. Mullen's
successor on the board of trustees by
the governor, whom the Mitchells claim
ed. to represent, so far as Southern cali
fornia matters were concerned. In TACT
Mr. Mitchell told me personally, short
,ly after Mrs. Mitchelrs appointment
that he possessed letter from the gov
ernor authorizing him thus to represent
the executive.
From various sources rumors OF per
sonal attacks on me by the Mitchells
have reached my ears, but l have uni
formly, until the present moment, re
fused to take any public notice of them
Mr.. Mullen and myself both believe thai
| the school should be run on entirely
non partisan basis, and that the qualih
cations of the employees should be tn
sole test of their selection or retention
in office, and that neither religion no
politics should cut any figure in the ap
pointmentS.
With regard to the punishment of chill
dren at the school, do not believe tha
it has ever been brutal or unjust. Th
/ DOfS ana SlTIS MllO dlc Stlll W eiiN -
( form school are naturally not OF IN
mildest type. They are committed 10
burglares robberies and even in som
cases for murder, and among the girls
I in a majority of cases, for immortality
Even when the charge is nothing NOR
{ than "incorrigible" it is very stron'
g presumtive evidence that after ter
t twelve or fifteen years of parental con
5 troll. the parents or guardian have bee
e unable to manage the children, and ina
S they are obliged to send them to an in
e stitution of this character, where IN
. discipline will be more severe and TN
! means for controlling the vicious ten
. dency of a child more adequate. 1t /
n well to remember that, though young
f large percentage of those committed
Y the schools are bold, are from inheri
e tance or otherwise daring or unscrupu
k lous, and that the ordinary means c
controlling them have been unsuccess
g full. A large percentage have spen
y more or less time in JAIL and even tha
- punishment has been found inadequat
n to control their evil propensties.
n Take the case, for instance, of tn
q Webb girl whose punishment was IN
q cause of the late investigation. tie
q father was sea captain; the girl is c
. Spanish and Jewish parentage, born
= Chile and lived mostly in San francisco
O where she was twice committed TO ia
Il on Il charge of vagrancy. She was ao
q ulCleu 70 llle lODdCcO I'D Jlt, uStu CitS al
cites, also intOXicants, profanity and OF
scene language She was employed q
a waitress in a beer saloon with lew
It women when she was arrested and CON
l. mitted to Whittier" 1t must be Yer
% evident from this statement of facts, q
n of which are official that eXtraordinar
Is means of controlling her are necessar,
W That the discipline at the school is M
re unnecessarily severe or unjust is, to m
If mind, conclusively shown by the fat
" that nearly all the boys and girls wi
to have left the school continue to CORE
spOnd with the teachers and superintef
dent. visit the institution whenever the
are in the neighborhood and alWal
+ speak of it in the very kindest wa
y, Anyone who is interested can see hun
N dreds of letters from the boys and cir
ic who have been in the school, and the
j. entertain for it only the kindliest fee
1t ing. Governor Budd, when he visitt
l. the institution personally and private
t. talked to 2 number of the inmates al
a. / believe found that they were unive
r sally satisfied with their treatment. a,
g. | did not complain more than boys in {
or | ordinary boarding school
,e | Personally, | do not, as rule, fav
Iv | corporal punishment, but i recogni
e. that there are times and circumstanc
is | which make it necessary. There ha
ne been instances where the women
oy charge of the girls have been struck
d the face even with clenched fists !
some Of the girls At other times 9th
&. acts of gross insubordination have TAX
r,1acp and 7 haliaya If Is ahSO111ta1V ne