The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1910-01-26
FIFTEEN YEARS
Of Sc A n DAL
IN ASYLUM
N 0 r M A N SANITARIUM
CAUSED TROUBLE F o r
EVERY ADMINISTRATION

! Recent developments In connection
with the sanitarium for the insane at
Norman, beginning with the charges
of cruelty made Dy Miss Kate Bar
nard, state commissioner OF cha tiles
and corrections, In q special report
to the governor and ending In the
removal OF Or. A. II Clark as SUI
pelintendent Of the institution. indi-
cate that the trail Of scandal and po-
litical intrigue which has been con-
nected with the institution ever since
its establishment resulting in the re-
moval OF one Republican governor
and casting shadows on other .promi.
nent officials. has not yet been fin.
ished.
The sanitar'um first became pub
lie institution under contract made
by Governor w. G.. Renfrow in 1896,
providing for the transfer of the in.
sane patients of Oklahoma territory
who were then at Jacksonville, III,
to the care of the Oklahoma Santa
rum company, just chartered during
the previous month. The sanitarlum
idea had its inception In the exist
ence of a building at Norman which
had been constructed as college,
under the backing Of the M e.
church, South, but had gone to the
wall. The saDitarium company was
organized by the men who had the
college building on their hands and
wanted to get something out of 1t.
The contract was drawn up by G.
A. Galbraith, attorney general under
Renfrow. Two of the directors were
brothers of the attorney general one
of them, Thomas S. Galbraith, then
living In illinois, and thc other Jas.
IT, Galhlaith, at Norman 1t provid-
cd for the payment Of 5000 annually
for each patient for a term of three
years, and stipulated that they should
be housed in q brick or stone build
ing to be located in some suitable
place. Another provision of the con.
tract, however, made 1t necessary to
locate 1t in Cleveland county.
The big expense to the tetrritory
under this system and the immense
profits which were supposed to have
been made by the sanitarium COM
pany were in a measure responsible
for the public building bill passed by
the legislature OF 1901 which located
the insane asylum at Kingfisher and
parceled out the other state institu-
ton among the various cities of the
territory, but was vetoed by Cover
nor Barnes.
The same Legislature in its general
appropriation bill gave the governor
power to make contract for the
keeping of the insane temporarily
until the new asylum should be conf
pleted The governors veto OF the
public building bill of course robbed
this provision OF its intended pur-
pose. but 1t was taken as an excuse
for the making Of a contract with a
new sanitarium company, composed
of prominent Republican politicians.
which was organized to take over the
Norman institution.
Shortly after that time Governor
Barnes went out of Office and Gov
ernor William H. Jenkins. who had
]
governor. Jenkins was on good terms
with the men who were In charge
of the Norman sanitarium, and that
proved his undoing. He was Nc
Kinley protege and when Roosevelt
became president some of the Okla
homa Republicans who had 1t In for
Jenkins anyway informed the Pres
/ ident that Jenkins was a stockholder
4 in the sanitarium company with the
result that the doughty Theodore de
capitated him forthwith.
Jenkins always claimed to be In
Docent OF any wrong doing in the
matter, and insisted that he did moi
know that the stock was in his name
His story was that he had received
letters from friends in the East who
wanted to invest in some Oklahoma
securities which were paying goot
returns and that he had asked OF
ficials OF the sanitarium company t.
let him know whenever any stock o
4 that company was offered for sale
but that the treasurer of the com
pany. instead of notifying him, placed
the first block of stock which cam'
into his hands in Jenkins name.
jenkins friends always insisted
that he ought to have al least beef
| given hearing, but the opposition
claimed that even If Jenkins had no
actually been q holder of stock him
self, he bad used II for political pur
poses and that his removal was just
fed on that ground The specter 0
ihe sanitarlum scandal rose up Il
plague the Republican leaders al
through the Ferguson administrator
and helped TO prevent Fergusofl's re
appointment. Charges were mad
that VIM. Grimes, territorial secre