Year: 1863

To THE COURIER Very reluctantly ask
for space in your columns, to netiee briefly
the Hospital affairs of this county, and should
not trouble you if others than myself were
not interested in the subject matter.


For some time past, a systematic effort,
persistent in character and implacabls in an
imosity, has been made by designing few,
to misrepresent affairs pertaining to the
County Hospital. for the accomplishment of
selfish and sinister ends. ] have no desire to
notice the petty misrepresentation indul.
ged in by few persons, by which It'll sought
to turn almost every effort made to economise
in the management of the Hospital into a
misdemeanor. As an instance illustrative of
this disposition, the steward very laudably de-
the past summer in chopping,a winters sup.
ply of wood for the use of the Hospital, and
therein made an actual saving to the county
OF S95 and yet even this act was misrepre-
sented and sought to be perverted,


The real object of all this clamor was made
apparent only when demand was made for
. special law to aid them in the accomplish
ment of their designs. Under misapreheu.
sion of facts. and the want of knowledge of
the action of the Board of Supervisors, at their
May term, relative to this matter, several per-
sons were induced to sign petition which
was presented to the Legislature, and used
for the purpose of giving a semblance of
plausibility to the misrepresentation made
by the instigators of this scheme,


With view to place the action of the
Board of Supervisors, and those members Of
the Legislature who opposed Chappels bill,
in its proper light before the public, l will
briefly refer to facts and the record. At the
last May term of the Board, the disposition
of the County Hospital for the ensuing year
came up for determination. They found be-
fore them bids and propositions from several
physicians, and presume from all who de.
sired to compete in the matter, The first bid
which l notice came from Drs. Mclaughlin
and Briceland, and contained two PROPOSE
tions: The first was to take charge of the
County Hospital, for the term of II months.
for the accruing revenue for the year, The
modesty of this offer will be apparent when
l inform you that the revenue for the wear
for hospital purposes exceeded $4,000 aid
woro 1t not too extravagantly high it would
be inadmissable, for the reason that it left
the outstanding Hospital scrip totally unpro.
yided for. Their second proposition was to
take~eharge of the Hospital, for term of II
months, for sum l2I per cent. less than an
estimated cost for the ensuing year, taking
the amount reported as the cost for previous
Quarter as basis for calculation. If the
Quarter closing lst of May (which was on
file previous to the time) be taken as a basis
for calculation, We asc6rtained the amount
of this bid as follows. The amount allowed
as the total cost for Quarter ending lst of
May last is Sll95. 7l-129 per cent less
gives SlO46 25, which wanld give us the
amount of this bid for the year S4lS5. Hyou
take the amount for Quarter closing lst of
February previous, it would make but little
change. To this amount would be added the
salary of visiting physician, say $780, for
the Board would not be justified in letting
out the Hospital for a round sum or per
capita compensation to any physician with
out appointing disinterested physician to
admit and discharge the patients. There
was also bids from DR.. Sewell and from Lr.
hrisoland who offered separately to take
charge of the hospital lpHhom change of the
present system qf management, at 500 per
month. The only remaining proposition,
except tho ons adopted by the Board, was
made by a party not considered responsible.


The final acton of the Board was to retain
myself in charge ofthe Hospital at 500. per
month, and for this determination all the hue
y
Now, what has been the result of the manage
ment of the Hospital for the year. By exam
ination of the record you will find that the
total cost for the year is as follows for Quar-.
ter ending lst of August, Sll39. IS: lst of
November, Sl024. 67; lst of February,
SlO6l: 62; and for Quarter ending lst of
May, which completes the year, SlO07 10. Civ.
ing as the total for tho year Sl232 %. The
May Quarter is not yet passed upon by the
Board, and may be slightly altered but can.
not mere than slightly vary the result.


Thus it appears from the record that the
Board of Supervisors received and intertain.
ed bids and proposals from all responsible
physicians who desired to make them, and af
ter due deliberation and mature consideration
adopted the course which they deemed the
best calculated to carry out the intention of
the law in establishing the Hospital without
favor to any, and the result proves that the
course they adopted was cheaper than the ia.
nous Mclaughlin bid, about which YOU have
heard so much on the streets.


AS my Annual Report made this matter
plain, and as that report was published, how
little and selfish appears the effort which was
made to remove me by a special act of the
Legislature, under the false plea that the
Board of Supervisors had hampered competi
tion, and were selfshly by disregardins the in
terest of the county, in order TO favor indi-
viduals, endeavored to accomplish their OBJ.
iect in the enactment of a law, the effect of
which would be to deprive the Board of Su-
pervisors of all discretion in the premises.
established over them by the Legislature a
complete guardianship on that subject, and
no Qthar, and at the same time open the door
for competition between the most disloyal
person and the most loyal, and so hamper
the Beard that they would be compelled to
accept the bid of such disloyal person, if it
should be the cheapest, in total disregard of
every consideration Capitalization or fitness,
provided they we're graduates-a bill SO odious
and inconsistent that even the Senate, Re-
publican by to 1, aided by our able and ef-
ficient Senator, repqdiated it on a diEact vote,
although it was hotly urged that the passage
of the bill would remove from Office an abnox
ious peace Democrat.


In reference to my politics ] will only
say that when it shall be made test for my
medical requirements hope to be able with
out taking very great credit to MYSELF to sat-
isfy the public that my devotion to the Consti-
tuition and Union, and my desire for the pre-
servation of the same, will more than equal
that of my maligners.


would like to refer more at length to Hos
pital matters, explain why every Board that
has conyened for the last eight years, regard
less of political predictions. have rigidly