Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-02-10
THE ASYLUM INVESTIGATION.
CONTINUED from Page one).

board of regents and some by the gov
ernor. =
One Of the most strenuous incidents
Of the whole meeting was when Coy.
Blease said to DR.. Griffin: ."Dr. Grit
i'm, DIR. Saunders is a single woman, is
she not?" and DR.. Griffin, with a
sneer, said, She is supposed to be-"
Later, when DR.. Saunders told DR..
Griffin that she considered his remarks
an insult, he hesitated and hemmed
and hawed and finally gurgled out,
"Of course. i didn't mean that"
After this savage attack upon this
woman, and In that meeting there She
had no friends except DR.. Taylor and
myself, when contention was pretty
strong, Mr.. Bivens arose and read a
took out from his pocket resolution
in which he said all The charges
against DIR. Saunders had been con-
.rmed and that he moved that she be
removed from the institution. DR..
Taylor moved that the resolution be
tabled and not carried.
l ,hen made as strong an appeal as
l could to the board for harmony, told
them that If errors were made I ac-
cepted my part and that for the sake
of the institution l hoped that every
thing would be satisfactorily adjusted.
Gov Blease then said to Mr.. Bivens,
You withdraw your resolution
Which Mr.. Bivens did.
Defends Dr.. Saunders.
then made an appeal to the board
before they left the room to pass a
resolution vindicating this woman
whom they had attacked. There was
some discussion Of II. 1 was told that
l must not interfere with the session
of the board Of regents. DR.. Saunders
finally broke down and demanded that
she leave the room and at last / open
ed the door and she went out. And
the board Of regents and Gov. Blase
came out and l said, What am l to
do?" and Gov. Blease said:
by all means keep DR.. Saunders
here. 1t is clear to me that you and
DR.. Thompson can't both stay in this
institution, but you stay, because If
you leave the whole institution will be
in a state of insurrection."
Continuing, DR.. Babcock said:
ION the 9Th of January the board
had their annual meeting and Mr..
Sanders appeared and asked for a vim
dication of his daughter, appealed to
the board to pass resolutions COM
pletely generating her. The board
appointed the 18th of January for a
hearing of the whole matter. Mr.. San
ders appeared at that time with his
attorney and DR.. Cooper appeared,
and Mr.. Sanders submitted to the
board a set of such resolutions as he
thought would be-would exonerate
his daughter DR.. Carothers, so Mr..
Henry told me, said that they had a
set of resolutions to the same purport
Having invited those persons to be
present, the board went into execu
tive session and excluded us all and
asked that the resolutions, which /
believe have been submitted to you,
and they blamed me for the part that
l have taken in befriending this wo-
man."
Senator Young-Doctor, II was
through your intercession with Gov.
Blease that DR.. Saunders was retained?
a. All the way through.
Governor Blease.
Blease's testimony is as made up by
the Columbia State from the official
stenographic record:
Chairman-Goyernor, proceed to
make your statement.
A. Mr.. Chairman, when came into
the office Of governor l came to Co
lumbia with the full intention Of re-
moving DR.. Babcock from the state
hospital for the insane. My reason for
that was because l believed that DR..
Babcock had proven traitor to my
friend, Col. James H. Tillman, in the
trial for his life at Lexington court
house. l stand by my friends and II a
man whom I have got any control
over betrays me. If 1 can hit him / am
going to hit him-politics or no poll
tics, impeachment or no Impeachment.
After / had been here for some little
time, not very long either, was quite
sick when I first came, DR.. Babcock
asked me to take a ride out to the
State Park with him. He and drove
out in a buggy on Sababth morning.
do not know that DR.. Babcoek had
ever heard any expression that I had
made in reference to the Tillman trial.
However, in the conversation that day
he explained to me some matters
which / take to have been confidential
and which I do not propose to repeat,