Evening star., 1902-02-13
AN ADVERSE REPORT
Transfer of Control Of Gov
ernment Institutions.
OPPOSED BY BOARD
KNOWS OF NO REASON WHY
CHANGE SHOULD BE MADE.
Regarded as Step in the Wrong Di-
rection and Leading to Dis
integration.
OPPOSED BY BOARD

rection and Leading to Dis
integration.
The board of charities today submitted to
| the District Commissioners an important
and interesting report In regard to Senate
| bill 1868. which proposes to transfer the
| control of various government institutions
| from the board to the Secretary Of the In
| terror.
"This is bill." the board says. ito trans
| fer the control of the Government Hospital
| for the Insane, Freedmens Hospital and
| Asylum and the Washington Hospital for
Foundlings to the Interior Department. and
| If enacted into law 1t would, in effect re-
| peal the act creating the board Of char
| tiles. in so far as that act affects the in
| stitutions named. The board is Of the
| opinion that the tendency of such legisla-
! ton is to defeat the very purpose for which
| the board Of charities was created This
| board was created for the purpose of ef-
| fecting efficient reorganization of the
| District charities, while the legislation pro-
| posed in this bill is directly in the line of
| disintegration.
| The Boards Conclusions.
I'm the opinion of this board the
/ COmpdHylNS papers 40 HOl SET lOIlH dIy
adequate reason for the enactment of the
proposed legislation. Referring to each of
| the three institutions named, the board
| submits the following:
| Il. AS to Freedmen's Hospital and Asy-
lum: This institution, supported for many
| years by the federal government has since
| 1898 been supported by District appropria-
| ton in the same manner as other District
| charities. and is to all intents and purposes
i ~ oPf no rl,o ifah1 Ia nf 10
| trict of Columbia. The honorable Secre-
| tary of the Interior states in accompany
| ing letter that out of 2,247 patients admit
| ted during the fiscal year but 500 were
residents Of the District Of Columbia
| These figures have undoubtedly been cop
| led by mistake from the tables in the re-
| port of the hospital giving the nativity of
the patients, not their residence. Accord
| ing to reports submitted to this board by
| the surgeon-in-chief of the hospital, only
| Alb patients treated at Freedmen's during
| the last fiscal year were non-residents OF
| the District OF Columbia, that is, persons
| who had resided in the District less than
| one year.
! Agrees With Department Secretary.
"This board agrees with the honorable
| Secretary of the Interior in his opinion that
the divided control at present existing in
reference to this institution is unsatisfac-
| tory, and tends to Interfere with an efficient
| service: but as the institution Is essentially
| a District charity, and the Congress has
! decreed that 1t shall be supported by Dis
| trict appropriation, this board Is of the
| opinion that it's management should be
| vested in the District authorities, and has
recommended in it's annual report that the
| management of this institution be trans
| ferred to the Commissioners Of the District
of Columbia.
This change would bring the institution
| into harmony with other institutions sup
hxyn ri ,.int tons
gress should deem 1t proper to adopt the
Recommendation of the honorable Secretary
| of the Interior and make Freedmens Hos
pital and asylum national institution, sup
| ported entirely by federal appropriation.
then it would be consistent to place its
| supervision in the hands Of the Secretary OF
| the Interior; but since this institution is. in
| fact District charity, the board sees no
| reason why it should not be maintained and
managed as other parts of the District gov
ernment.
Hospital for the Insane.
"2 In reference to the Government Hos
| pital for the Insane: This Is national in
| stitution, owned and managed by the fed
eral government and the District authort-
| ties have absolutely nothing to do with its
| executive control. The only powers that
| this board now has in reference to the In
| sane asylum are what are generally known
| as the powers of visitation. and surely the
District authorities should have the right
| of visitation and inspection in an institution
where about I, 900 District patients are con-
| District Of Columbia. We believe that our
| relations to this institution as provided by
| the present laws are eminently satisfactory.
Institution for Foundlings.
'3. AS to the Washington Hospital for
Foundings: This is a purely District char
ity; in no sense a national institution, and
the board knows of no reason why 1t should
be exempted from the general law provid-
ing for the supervision Of District chari-
ties The president Of the hospital. In q
letter accompanying this bill, refers to the
action Of this board in reducing the eSti-
mate for appropriation for this institution,
but that is matter for consideration by
the appropriation committees of Congress,
not for special legislation. The board has
! explained its action in this regard In its
annual report and Is prepared to present
to the appropriation committees good and
sufficient reasons for all it's actions in this
respect. and 1t Is for Congress to decide
whether or not our recommendations in this
regard shall be approved. This board has
the general supervision of about thirty sep
arate and distinct charitable organizations
and institutions. In it's efforts to effect a
proper organization OF the charities of the
District of Columbia, 1t Is more than likely
that 1t will find 1t necessary, from time to
time. to make recommendations concerning
one and another institution that may not
DC wholly Satisfactory TO tlo ndlldSeIQeII
Of the institutions in question.
Knows Of No Reason for Change.
IF institutions are to be exempted from
the supervision of the board whenever a
recommendation is made that does not meet
the views of such institutions, the long-con-
tinued effort to introduce system into the
District charities might as well be aban-
doned, and the law creating this board be
repealed The board can conceive of no
reason why this particular institution
should be exempted from that supervision
to which other District charities are SUBJ
jected and which Is essential to any wise
and effective system of public charity.
1.-The board has examined carefully the
provisions of this bill. and can see no rea-
SON for it's passage On the contrary, the
bill Is clearly step in the wrong direction
leads toward disintegration and confusion
rather than organization and system. and
defeats the very object for which this board
was created.
1.-The board. therefore. urgently recon-
mends that the bill be not passed.
Secretary Hitchcock's Views.
The bill which has been introduced In
Congress transferring the control of the