The San Francisco call., 1898-07-21

SACRAMENTO, July ZU.-At meet ing of the State Lunacy Commission to-day the state of affairs at the Az news Asylum, as described in The Call. was taken up officially by Secretary of State L. H. Brown, who offered the following resolutions:
 Resolved, That, pursuant to the power vested in this commission by law, an investigation of the affairs of the State Hospital at Agnews be had, and that the Attorney-General be requested, under section 12 of the act creating the commission, to con- duct said investigation.
 pr. Mathews opposed the resolution, on the ground that the Attorney Gen. eral had no more business with the af- fair than had the commissioners pres ent. He maintained that it was re- sponsibility which neither MT. Brown nor anybody else should shfrk. Affairs were some time ago represented to be equally as scandalous at the Napa Asylum, and yet MT. Brown had intro duced no resolution calling for an in- vestigation.
 Didn't I try to get at the facts at that timer" demanded Secretary Brown. You know why we couldn't we were not permitted to get at the facts.
 'I want now to get at the bottom of the facts concerning pr. Sponogle, continued Secretary Brown, and if in order to do that we have to investigate every asylum Tn the State l am per fectly willing to do so."
 He said he wanted the truth of the scandal and would not accept the whitewashing reports of local boards
 A motion was made by pr. F. M. Hatch, calling for meeting of the commission in San Francisco on Satur day next, at which Browns resolution was to be considered. Secretary of State Brown opposed this motion on the ground that the State capitol was in Sacramento and he did not believe in running all over the State after peo pie whom 1t was proposed to investl- gate. They could come to the capitol as easily as the capitol could go hunt ing after them. He said that he would oppose any resolution including Napa and other State aSylums as subjects for investigation. because no charges had been filed respecting them. He believ- ed Napa was as bad as any of them; but" he added, turning to Dr. Ma thews, you know what the power was which prevented our getting at the truth. l will not mention it here. know that certain powers wanted to
 
 board ignored the charegs. They have even violated the civil service rules there. I think 1t is rotten now"
 Well, then. why didn't you do some thing?" asked Dr. Mathews. Did you ever bring in a resolution?"
 "No. You know why. For three months we tried to get a report
 At this juncture vote was taken on the motion calling for the meeting in San Francisco. All save Secretary Brown voted for it. He said he would not be there.
 in his opinion, MT. Brown meant when he said You know, doctor, why we were not permitted to get at the facts" the doctor replied:
 NO one can with any degree of cer- tainty tell what another man means by any expression not entirely clear, but it is my opinion that Secretary of State Brown had Attorney-General Fitzger- aid in his mind when he made that re- mark"
 Secretary Brown, having been asked the same question. replied: Tn the first place, there has always been a very serious difference existing be- tween our State board and the local boards of these institutions. There has been a constant conflict and but two members of our board have been ready to conduct these investigations when our dIIenllOn IldS D6eH CdllSQ to the abuses and scandals which have con- stantly been reported.
 What l meant when I addressed myself to pr. Mathews was that we were refused certain proofs which were in the hands of the local board at Napa for several months. The local board had reports from certain detec- tives 1t employed. which showed that about forty of the employees had been guilty of gross misconduct, in many instances involving them in absolute theft. Before our board was permitted to see these reports, a majority of the guilty ones had been discharged. Had these obstacles been removed we could have made thorough investi- gation and reported accordingly. As it was, the local board applied whole some supply of whitewash and covered up the abuses by discharging few of the guilty ones.
 'In my opinion the Investigation at Agnews will result in a similar action, if left to the local board. The au- thority of our State board has been questioned, and until the entire board stands together and sustains itself as a body there will be no use or advan- tage coming from the statute which created the State Lunacy Commission"
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