The herald., 1897-07-09
FOR ECONOMY
State Lunacy Commission
to Reduce Salaries
HEADS LIKELY TO FALL
A SCHEDULE INDICATING A
SAVING OF $4,000
Retrenchment Has Been the Watch
word Since the Commission
Was Organized

commission in lunacy, has decided upon
course of economy. He will begin on
his especial charges-the state asylums
for the insane. Letters to the various
members of the boards Of managers
have been written and the recipients are
now engaged in arranging a schedule.
The salaries and bills of expenses of all
employees and of the asylum
are to be cut. The approxi-
mated schedule now in the possession
Of the governor makes it clear that a
saving of $50,000 a, Year, wil be effected.
Over 1000 persons. employees of the in
stitutions, will be concerned.
Since the passage of the bill creating
the commission, which was passed in
March, and since the formation of the
commission, economy has been the
watchword. John F. Carrere, formerly
a Los Angeles newspaper man, is Sec
retary of the commission, and so far
as the approving Of bills is concerned,
has unlimited power. 1t has frequently
| happened since his induction in office
that many estimates have been disal-
| lowed and superintendents have often
been compelled to severely economizy
one week in order to pay the disallowed
bills of another, Early in. April this was
brought to the attention of the gover-
nor, who, to the surprise of everybody,
approved of the official acts of his ap-
pointee, and thereafter took an active
interest in the disbursements-so much
| so, indeed, that he called the attention of
| the various members of the board to it.
and the action of the secretary was
again informally approved.
| At an early session of the board it
was found that the affairs of the insane
asylums under the old regime had be-
come very much entangled. There was
no system by which the operations We're
carried on, and each institution was a
law unto itself. 1t was found that Sec
retary of one asylum was in receipt of
salary largely in excess of what any
of the secretaries Of the, other asylums
were receiving. 1t 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 being
done, but it was the unanimous opinion
that gross n egligence in many instances
obtained. Mr.. Ruddick, a trustee of
Ukiah, finally suggested that general
reduction of salaries be had at once;
that the salaries of all persons holding
similar positions be made alike, and
finally, that the cost of maintenance in
all Instances be reduced to a minimum.
| Secretary Carrere was thereupon in
structed to draft letter and to make up
| a nf o. ba 1a ,,;o 4
ent awarded and to forward the same
to the trustees and superintendents of
the various asylums. There are five of
these. DR.. s. M. Gardner is the superin-
| tendent at Napa, DR.. Asa Clark at
Stockton, DR.. F. O. Sponogle at Agnews,
and DR.. E. w. King at Mendocino. There
is another called Highland in Southern
California.
| Immediately upon his return to Sac
ramento Secretary Carrere drafted the
letter and made up the schedules. These
he sent to each member of the different
boards of managers in the state, and of
these Isaac Upham of Payot & Upham,
who is member of the board of mana
gers at Agnews; DR.. M Gardner of Men
docino and A. w. Foster president of the
San Francisco and North Pacific rail-
way all resident of San Francisco. re-
ceived one each. DR.. M. Gardner who
is also chief surgeon of the Southern Pa
cific company, was the only one of the
three who could be seen last night He
did not feel at liberty to discuss it so
publicly as he may later, but during an
interview with the San Francisco Call
said:
was under the impression that vigor-
Gus efforts were being made to prevent
any publicity until after the changes
were made. However, it is not a new
thing by any means. We have been
discussing this for some time, and there
has been considerable agitation in con-
nection with it, The action was largely
due to the entangled condition in which
We found the affairs of the different
asylums. Heretofore each has been an
individual and subject to a different set
of rules, and in many instances drawing
all sorts of salaries. This 1 do not know
Of my own personal knowledge, but it
was brought out in the several dis
cussions we had on the subject. AS to
the number of people affected by the
proposed cut, am not now able to say.
1 know that they have whole host of
people at Highlands, but at Mendocino
I know of at least fifty who will feel
the effects of the change.
II do not know that there will be many
discharges, but there have been rumors
I do not think we will be able to dis
pense with anyone at Mendocino. So far
as my personal opinion is concerned,
believe that as a business proposition
the cut should be made, but as to the
effect of it on the political outlook can
not say. Of course, I do not believe in
reducing the salary of a good man.
Brains are too scarce; but do believe
that there should be a complete equal
| ization on the most economical basis,
and shall do all l can to furtheri it,
DR.. Gardner refused to tell what his
recommendations with regard to Mendo-
cino would be-, saying that he preferred
to make his report first to the secretary
He thought that to reveal his intentions
out of the regular method would be
breach of official etiquette.
How Queen Victoria Proposed
1t may not be generally known that