The San Francisco call., 1897-07-07
1t Is Claimed That a Private
Schedule Indicates a Saving
of $4,000,
RUMORED THAT SOME HEADS WILL FALL
Since the Formation of TIE Commits.
sion Retrenchment Has Been
the WatchWord.

Governor Budd has decided that ir
economy there is wealth. AS the head o
the California state Commission in Lun
acy he will therefore proceed to econ
om;ze He Will begin on his especa
charges-the Stale asylums for the insane
He Will do this at once. Already the fla
has gone forth, the letters to the variou:
mem bers of the various boards of man
ayers have been written and the recIp
tents are now engaged in arranging
sched ule. In other words, the salarie:
and bills of expenses of ali employees and
OF the asylums are to be cut. The approx
imeted schedule now in the possession o.
the Governor makes it clear that a saving
OF $50,O 900 per year will be effected. Over
1000 persons, employees of the institutions
Will be concerned.
This, however, is by no means new
idea. Since the passage of the bill Great.
ing the commission, which was passed in
March, and since the formation oI
the commission, which was done soon
thereafter, economy has been the watch
word. John f. Carrere is secretary of the
commission, and so far as the approving
OF bills is concerned, has unlimited power.
1t has frequently happened since his In
ductIon III office that many estimates
have been dlsallowed and superintend-
ents have often been compelled 10
severely economic one week IN or
der to pay the disaliowed bills OF
another. Early in April this was
brought to the attention OF the Governor,
who, to the surprise OF every body, ap-
proved of the official acts of his Re epubli-
can appointee, and thereafter he took an
active interest in the disbursements. So
much so indeed that he called the atten-
ton of the various mem bers of the board
to it, and the action of the secretary was
again informally approved.
Under the terms OF the act approved il
March the commission was TO be abso-
luteIy non partisan and was to be known
as the State Commission in Lunacy. The
oppointing power was lntrusled 10 the
Governor. He appointed r. W. Brown.
who is Secretary of State; w. +. Fltzger.
aid, who is Attorney General; t.. P. Mat
thews, who is secretary of the State Board
of Health, and DR.. F. E. Hatch TO the
positions, and John f. Carrere, South
ern California newspa per man, to the posi-
tion of secretyry. The law further pro-
vided that meeting should be held quar-
terly, and last Wednesday the first of
these were held. Before this the question
of economy had been much discussed,
and after the reading of the report OF
Major Carrere, in which he itemized the
transactions, the session was given over
to formal discussion of the subject. 1t
was helu behind closed doors.
At this session it was found that the al
fairs of The insane asylums under the old
regime had become very much entangled.
There was no system by which the opera
tions were carried on, and each institution
was a law unto itself. 1t was found that
a secretary of one asylum was in receipt
of a salary largely in excess of what any
of the secretaries OF the other asylums
were receiving. It was also found that
the accounts were loosely kept, and that
large amounts of provisions were unac-
counted for. 1t was not suspected that
anything criminal had been or was beiny
done, but 1t was the unanimous opinion
that gross negligence IN many instances
obtained. Mr.. Ruddick, trustee OF
Ukiah, finally suggested that a general
reduction of salaries be had at once; that
the salaries of ali persons holding similar
positions be made alike, and finally, that
The cost of maintenance in all instances
be reduced to minimum.
Secretary Carrere was thereupon in
structed TO draft letter, and to make up
q schedule of the salaries as at present
awarded and to forward the same to the
trustees and superintendents of the yari.
GUS asylums. There are five OF these. DR.
S. Nj. Gardner is the supe perintendent al
Napa, DR.. Asa Clark at Stockton, DIR. f,
q. SpOnogle at Agnews, and DR.. E. w
King at Mendocino. There IS another
called Highlands, in Southern California
Immediately upon his return 10 Sacra-
mento Secretary Carrere drafted the letter
and made mp the schedules. These be
sent to each member OF the different
boards of managers in the State, and O.
these Isaac Upham of Payot & Upham
who is mem ber OF the board of man
ayers at Agnews, DR.. M. Gardner OF Men
docino, and A. w. Foster, president O.
the San Francisco and North Pacific Rait-
way, all resident Of San Francisco. re.
ceived one each. DR.. NJ. Gardn ner, who il
also chief surgeon of the Southern Pacific
Company, was the only one of the three
who could be seen last night. He did moi
feel at liberty to discuss 1t 80 publicly as
he may later, but during an interview
said:
II was under the impression that vipor-
Gus efforts were being made to prevent
any publicity until alter the changes were
made. However, it is not new thing py
any means. We have been discussine g
this for some time, and there has been
considerable agitation in connection with
1t. The action was largely due to the en-
tangled CONDITION In Wnlcn we found the
affairs of the different asylums. Hereto
fore each has been an individual and sub
ject to different set of rules, and in many
instances drawing all sorts of salaries.
This do not know of my own personal
knowledge, but it was brought out in the
several discussions we had on the subject
AS to the number of people affected by
the proposed cut l am not now able tc
say. / know that they have whole hos
of people at Highlands, but at Mendocinc
l know of at least fifty who will feel the
effects of the change.
81 do not know that there will be many
discharges, but there have been rumors
/ do not think we will be able 10 dispense
with any one at Mendocino. 90 far as my
personal opinion is concerned l believe
that as business proposition the cut
should be made, but as 10 the effect OF il
on the political outlook l cannot say. o.
course / do not believe in reducing the
salary of a good man. Brains are toe
scarce; but do believe that there should
be complete equalization on the most