The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1908-06-16

following language OF the statute pro-
vides: 'Superintendents stewards and
matrons shall reside In, and devote their
entire time to the interests of the instl-
tuition with which they are connected"
So It is a little difficult to understand
how IL Is consistent with full perform
ance of duty on the part of the superin-
tendent, the fact that the patient was
admitted on Wednesday, and the super
intendent not learning II personally until
after his death on Sunday following
But let us go farther as to the duties of
the superintendent as provided by the
statute and the rules adopted by the
trustees for their guidance. Boards of
trustees shall appoint superintendents,
who sh9ll have control of the affairs of
their respective institutions in all de-
partments, and shall be responsible to
the trustees for the efficient manage
nont thereof and for the faithful ser
vice of ell persons employed therein.
His authority is commensurate with
his responsibility: with him of necessity
rests the oversight and direction of all
resident officers and employees in their
respective duties. He shall control and
direct the treatment of the patients In
all the features of medication, and at
tend to such details as may be neces-
sary. He shall daily ascertain the condi-
tion of ALL especially of any critical or
urgent case, etc" Now in view of all
these personal duties and responsibilities
resting upon the superintendent how
san it be said that he is fully eXoner-
ated, solely because he can truthfully
say that he was ignorant of the very
facts that he was presumed and bound
to know The very object of the statute
making the superintendent responsible
for all inefficiency, is to require the
board of trustees to go no farther than
the superintendent to rectify inefiiciency.
He is not only, responsible for what he
does but also for what he omits to do
He cannot excuse himself by saying he
had no personal knowlC ge of a fact
when the law and the rules charged him
with all the knowledge that he or his en-
ployes had or ought to have had. When
his employe eitheTuses violence, or fails
to prevent violence on patient such an
act of the employe is in contemplation of
the law an act of the principal and the
superintendent being responsible for the
faithful service of the employe as well
as his own, he must suffer the
consequences of the act or omission to
act on the part of the employe. An en-
ploye that would permit a patient to
stumble around and continually fall out
of bed, and over screens and into bath
tubs, as they disclose in this case, is just
as inefficient as one who would stand by
and permit patient to jump out of an
open window. The very act of COM
mitting a patient to such an hospital,
raises a presumption that he is not
capable of taking care of himself and
requires constant care and attendance,
The failure of any or all OF these at
tendants to know just how Adams was
injured is sufficient evidence of inefti-
cheney.
1t would seem that the sensible way
for the board or the executive to deter
mine whether or not inefficiency exists,
and whether Adams death was the re-
suit of such inefficiency, would be to
take the medical evidence of the physi-
clan who made the required examination
at the time the patient was committed,
and such other evidence of his condition
at that time, and then compare that
with the result of the autopsy at the
time of removal from the institution,
and if from such evidence it appears
that violence has been committed, then
prima facie case of inefficiency is fully
made out, and it would devolve upon the
superintendent to show how the injury
in fact did occur, and his failure to
know would be inefficiency in itself. The
threat implied in Trustee Eclxey's decla-
ration that they wanted to know who
was responsible for the accident, SO as
to know whom to remove was in itself
warning all who knew the truth not
to confess 1t, as they would simply
bring about their own discharge by con-
Tossing the truth. That is why it is not
intended that the trustees go beyond the
superintendent for report of response
bility The moment ii appears that the
body shows injuries that are unnatural
and which it evidently did not bear
when the patient was admitted, prma
faCie case is made out against the super
intendent, no matter whether he knew it
or not, because the very fact that he
does not know it when by the observ-
he could not have helped to know,
makes his offense the more reprehensi-
BILE. The only way the executive or the
board will ever get anything like the
truth out of an employe in such case, is
by removing or suspending the head Off
Ger who is by law charged with the re-
sponsibility, and then his successor NOT
being willing to trust the same persons
in charge, would in turn put in his own
employees whom he could trust and
when all having any Knowledge of the
affair are severed from the institution,
and are not under restraint, the truth
would leak out.
There is another way of tracing this in
competence and tnefficienCy of attendants
and employees directly to the system in
vogue in this institution, established by
the superintendent and fully acquiesced
in by the trustees The general rules
adopted for the government of employees
has the following clause, 1T is dis
tnctly understood that the state con-
tracts for their whole time, and they are
not to leave the premises nor their as
signed duties, nor to engage in any
other work of their own without the ex-
press permission from the proper auth
critics" The superintendent and the
board of trustees say this rule means
that an employe who accepts position
binds himself to remain on continuous
duty twenty-four hours day, seven
days in a week and 1856 days in a year,
if the authorities see fit to demand it,
and when ever an employe is left off,
hours in day 1t is by reason of the gen
erosity of the state, and not by reason of
any inalienable rights In the employe.
1t is very clear that under such an in
depreciation of this rule it would be i'm
possible to obtain any competent person
to accept such a position and II by
chace competent one should happen to
be employed, he would not submit to
such abjeot involuntary servitude when
ever the rule would be enforced against
him. And in time you would have all
the competent ones weeded out, with
only such as have not brains enough to
know when they are thus imposed on,
and are not better, nor more competent
to take care of the unfortunafeS who are
committed there than the patients them
selves. The writer has a ease In point
with the superintendent and board of
trustees which disclosed this system. A
faithful attendant against whom not
one word of complaint was heard so far
as her competency was concerned, was
required to go on double duty, that is
after being on the regular day duty of
| sixteen hours. She was notified by the
head nurse that she would be required
to continue on duty for tWenty-four
hours more, which she refused to do,
and for that reason alone she was i'm
| mediately discharged To make the pun
| ishment more ignominous, the authori-
| ties have retained her months wages,
which everybody knows are small
| enough, and now claim the right to do
I L .uV.na l.H Il.