The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, July 12, 1902, Page 3

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SATURDAY, JULY 12, 1902. PRESS OF CALIFORNIA INDIGTS GOVERNOR HENRY T, GAGE FOR MISCONDUCT A5 A PUBLIC SERV Newspapers Condemn Executive for Convertin g the Feeble- Minded Home Into a Political Gamp. GAGE'S course converting the Home for the Care and Training of Feeble-Minded Children into a camp for the shelter of push politicians has pro- storm of resentment throug! country. In a sense the Gov deplorable management of af- Glen Ellen a reflection fair California, but i eople of this common irs at casts of Geclined to infortunate chil- dren to become the victims of po al spoils specting the k the pres 1 1t low t r Gov TNOrS, T nts of our resisted ne manipulators t titution into a po however, in his self in the ex- common in urned over t push. A r tcome, ] e is seeking s a justly ind th. Dr. Lawlor, weak and t e m n politic the ou he T lte h wh instrum X k to § I John I order to con- vert a place of refuge for spofls e press of the St I bie for the it of the Feeb Jir is shown in the fol Upon Humanity. G % st realize the truth of t s: “Whatscever a m e all he aiso reap.” I ter another of 3 s e been shown up as C . 3 @ £ his knew what kix P eppointed dge at this late day. oped lity and he secured a re- from’ wrong, and the orders they were The charges against bave been summa- last year the home has tendency of Dr. Wiillam me Health Officer of an at &, these who a: testimony concer: f the home, Dr. Law- e institution methods f place even in the pris- s first experience in hom the law says are themselves. He is ac- children up in & dungeon to remain there for days | to subsist meanwhile upon bread charged with lacing heipless children ifito an invention known as e,” an improvement as a means over the straitjacket, and ty floor of a darkened room, to re- ee days without care or he is said to have inaugurated & nosphere of fear in the government of the ch n, thereby lessening the possibility of their i vement or recovery ——— e POSTUM CEREAL. MESMERIZED. A Poisonous Drug Still Freely Used. y peo; My that coffee is a necessity of life and the i that the drug has on the sys- it hard to loosen its grip even irious effects. ‘I had used it seemed one of the A few months ago my 1 been slowly failing, be- d T knew that un- m some source I would wreck. I was weak sch sick headaches, no tited of life. My hus- 1th. He was mu with indigestion that t only a few mouthfus 0 writes: red ar . coffee was slowly ¥ opped it and used hot wat omewhat better, but it b ctory. Finailly, we saw Pe Cof advertised and boug ackage. 1 lowed directions for m ing it 10 boll twer ing point red it to the sting drink I me to-the br ich v table and we have ed five ince. 1 gain, 4 and n as ny w tion pas eat anything.” . Battie Creel stum Co. n | are brought up to believe | | ANT AND HE MUST ANSWER IN THE GOURT OF THE PEOPLE ————— astonished and acked up with the pitiful ex- try to know. He has pald one more debt Yo the political machine that made him what Be is, end he Is a good sample of political machine-made goods when he threw & competent, trustworthy man out of - Glen Ellen and put in Lawlor, whose San Fran- ofd- as Coroner should have been a s appointment it there had been no e jle are made sick at heart when read of starved and beaten prisoners, but how must they feel when they read of such as Lawlor inflicted on poor, helpless renominated? Well, not this year. are several weeks vet before the con- , and during that time it is likely there | w more disclosures of rottenness. Gage | has now only a corporal's guard as a follow- ing, and it is composed almost entirely of ma- chine men, but even this following will de- sert him should there be any more of the rot- tenness of his administration exposed.- Bernardino Sun. P Gage Cannot Escape Responsibility. | Governor Gage telephoned the Examiner yes- e ihe oovernor e | terday that he 414 mot know anvtaing about ¥iume, | the charges made agalnst Dr. Lawlor. super- intendent of the Home for Feeble-minded Chil- dren; that he had not read of themjin the newspapers, and would not condemn Df. Law- lor unheard, but that ifgon investigation the charges turfied out to be truc, he would dis- cbarge Dr. Lawlor at once. 1t Gage told the truth when he said he had not read or heard of the charges, be is probably the oniy public man in Califor- o couid say it with truth. It is duty of a public man to read the newspajc even if they do say mean thngs about him. But that is not the point. Nelther is it the point that the Governor will discharge Lawlor if the charges are established. The Governor cannot escape the responsibility for Lawlor's administration merely by the plea of ignorance or the pretext of repudiation. The Governor of course did not know that Dr. Lawlor would Erutally mistreat the helpless inmates of th- Home for Feeble-minded Children, but he dil know that Dr, Lawlor had no knowiedge how to treat them and no personal characteristics that indicated a readiness to acquire it. The Governor did not know that in substituting Dr. 1 for Dr. Osborne he was substituting punishment in the black hole for intelligent kindness in the treatment of mental defectives, but he digknow that he was turning out a de- voted expPrt, who knew his business, and put- ting in a politician who did not know his busi- ness. Knowing these things, he must take the responsibility for their 'natural, conse- quences, even those he was too dull ‘to f see. When a public institution, especially one devoted to the care of the helpless, is tak-n out of the hands of experts and turned over to politicians, some such result as this always happens. To court such a result is a crime in itself, even if good luck should prevent its consummation. Governor Gage was not only guilty of this crime, but he resorted to thc meanest of political intrigue to accomplish it | He cannot escape responsibility now mercly by pleading that he did not expect what every- | body else foresaw and predicted at the time. | _This brutal annexation of the Home for the | Feeble-minded to a political machine was the most openly discreditable act of the Gage ad | ministration. It was condemned at the time | by nearly every nmewspaper in the State, and the Examiner and San Francisco Post, two of | those that kept quiet then, now acknowledge | that they regarded the appointment as a mis- | take. It was worse than a mistake; it was a | crime. And it is not merely on account of | the cvents as now developed that it is a crime. It was a crime already in virtue of the facts known at the time the appointment was made. resno Republican e Revolting Political Management. ¥rom the Home for the Feeble-minded at | Glen Ellen comes a report of conditions which :wuuld have exclited indignation if recited ot an institution of the kind conducted by semi- | | civilized savages, but being of & more gentle | people tales of tortures inflicted upon | helpless children, pitiable in thelr affiiction, have caused a feeling of horror to sweep over the State. The condition of the inmates of the institu- tion must be realized before the full signifi- cance of the action of the politicians unde- | servealy entrusted with the management of the institution can be appreciated. These | ehildren are not Insane, they are in even worse | condition—they are practically without mind. | An antmal can be taught to do tricks, it eats { is bungry without assistance, it Knows its master, it distinguishes between the | pleasurable and the painful, touching upon that borderland of intelligence where right and wrong is recognized. The unhappy inmates at | Glen Ellen, however, cannot, in many in- stances, be taught to do the most simple acts. ¢ them would starve were they not when hungry, for hunger has no signifi- for them. They are capaple of suffer- but unable to avold that which is requiring the constant care of an at- pa ul, eless to infiict pain upon such un- a means of correction, for while r they cannot be made to understaid ction between a wrong act and the -unishment. But one method has been found suittul of even partial results by those who bave been successiul in their management of these children—kindness. This method was adopted by Dr. Osborne, who, until recently, had charge of the institution. The results it the | - s > that he obtained were remarkable. Under his intelligent management the inmates of the home showed remarkable improvement. The undeserved elevation of Johnnie Mac- kenzie to the directorate of the home was the signal for the removal of Dr. Osborne and the paving of the way for the turning of the in. stitution over to a nest of politicians useful to Mackenzie and his kind. The coming of this new management resulted in the tearing down -in a day that which the patient labor of Dr. Osborne and his intelligent assistants had taken years to bulld up. Rule through gentleness and kindness was done away with and brute force substituted Gnge’s?flc&:al—rolitics The Glen Ellen Home for Feeble-minded Children is the center of a big scandal. | Storfes of revolting cruelties practiced upon the unfortunate inmates are being published and a storm of indignation has been raised. A short time ago Governor Gage appointed his friend, John D. Mackenzie, the San Jose ma- chine politiclan, to a place on the board of trustees of the home, and Mackenzie at once began “reorganizing’” by ousting Dr. Osborne, who had been in charge of the Institution for many years and against whom no word of cumplaint had ever been heard, and appaini- ing in his stead Dr. Lawlor, who seems to have been more concerned with politics of the “‘practical” kind than with the duties of his profession. Lawlor is accused of many in- humanities and according to a published in- terview he makes scant denial, claiming that I(hEy were a necessary discipline. If shutting { imbecile children In dark rooms and confin- mg them there for days on a diet of bread and water, strapping children in a tight fit- ting garment known as a_ ‘“camisole’ and roping to a ring in'the floor of a dark room, flogging them unmercifully—if this be Dr. Responsibility fo r Crimes Against Humanity Perpetrated at ~ Glen Ellen Charged to Gage. ! & 3 Lawlor's {dea of proper discipline for feeble- minded children, it would be interesting to know his conception of an adequate discipline for those confined in our eriminal institutions. All this crime against humanity is the d‘rect result of permitting polities to dominate the management of State institutions.—Tulare Register. VD T o Result of Political Deal. 1t is notorious that Dr. Lawlor was placed in charge of the Home for the Feeble-minded as the result of a political deal. For fifteen years Dr. A. E, Osbarne was supsrintendent of the home. He had given the best years of his life to the study of methods of treating imbeciles and his administration was remark- ably successful. A few months ago Governor Gage appoint- ed the noted San Joge politizian, John D. Mac- kenzle, as a tiurtee of the lome, and a ma- Jority of the board wer then partisans of th: Governor. Dr. Osborne, who had held offi under soveral administrations, was remove and Dr. Lawlor, who scems to be a peripatetic place-hunter, was put in, o It s a shame that such an_institution the Home for Feeble-minded should be made @ football of politicians. The fate of the In- mates of the home is sad enough at best, and to sacrifice their welfare to the greed of con- sclenceless office-seekers ought to stir the blood of_every decent citizen. . 1If it can be proved that torture or even the disctpilnary methods properly used in, peniten- tiaries have been emploved at Glen Ellen there should be no delay in metaphorically chopping oft Dr. Lawlor's head. It would cer- tainly cause no regret if he were literally kicked out of the institution. Kindness and patience to an almost infinite degree must be Used in the treatment of those who have only glimmering sparks of intellect if they are to Become anything more than semblances of hu- manity.—Stockton Mail. Kern Farmers Against Gage. Hon. L. H. Valentine, United States Attor- ney, of Los Angeleés, was in the city on private legal business yesterday. While here Mr. Val- entiné discussed the political situation and, fike nine éut of ten good Republicans in the State, belleves that Henry T. Gage can never secure a renomination. While entirely disin- terested in the State fight, and a friend of 2 politician not to be able to read the ‘hand- writing on the wall.” It is his opinion that Gage will be ungble to carry a solid delegation from Los Angeles, to say nothing of having a united Southern California contingent. Mr. Valentine made a trip recently to Bak- ersfield, Fresno and other points in the San Joaquin Valley, and while there had an oppor- tunity to talk with many of the farmers and others posted on the situation. Hs says Kern County, outside of a little coterfe of machine politicians in the town of Bakersfleld, is abso- lutely against Gage._ They look for the nom- ination of Senator S C. Smith for Congress from the Eighth District, and realize that to go behind Gage would lose that fight to a certainty, consequently it will be an anti- Gage delegation that goes from Kern. The Fresno County delegation, which is be- ing claimed for Gage, will be asainst him. Some of the push in Fresno city, who are vitally interested in jobs, are howling for Gage, but they will amount to nothing on a rollcall of votes. Mr. Valentine's reports coincide exactly with _all reliable news that comes from the San Jcaquin Valley. With Preston leading in San Francisco, Flint in Santa Clara, Pardee in Alameda, Los Angeles and the southern countles against Gage but for no particular man, the San Joaquin Valley against him, and ' the north hopelessly divided, where is Gag» going to get his “starter?” More than ever The Sun believes Gage is too wise a politician to ever allow his name to ®c before the conventfon.—San Bernardino | Sun. e g Politically Damns Gage. Several months ago the Sentinel denounced Governor Gage for the dismissal of Dr. Os- borne, who for fitteen years had charge of the State's unfortunate wards at ‘the Home for the Feeble-mindéd at Glen Ellen. We never met Dr. Osborne, and our high opinion of him ‘was based upon the téstimony of the late Rev. Dr. Bentley of Oakland, who was presiding elder of the M. E. church. Our criticism called forth a letter from John T. Harrinston of Colusa, who as Gage's damnable political outrage In making a political machine out of an institution which in heaven's name should have been kept free from the polluting influence of Gage's protege, Boss Mackenzie of San Jcse, who was made a trustee for that purpose. Mr. Harrington's letter hinted at dark ang mysterious charges that might have been pre- ferred agamst Dr. Osborne, but he failed to mention a_single reason why he was dis- missed. He was succeeded by Dr. Lawlor, and now comes stories of straitjackets, prison cells, bread and water diet and re- formatory methods for the poor unfortunates at Glen Ellen. The evidences come from re- liable persofawho were dismissed by Dr. Law- lor because they would not carry out his in- human methods and preferred to follow the rule of kindness which was rightly enforced by Dr. Osborne. As we stated in that article three months ago, this should forever politically damn Henry T. ‘Gage, and\if the dark hints of wrong: doing against Dr. Osborne are true, it is strange that nothing of them has ever ap- peared in the Santa Rosa Republican, which we have watched closely for some reference to the matter. On_the other hand, if the charges against Dr. Lawlor are true, that pape: and others and the Grand Jury of Sonoma County should lose no time in finding the truth and punish- | ing the guilty. Human nature revolts at the thought of punishing by prison methods the pocr weaklings at Glen Ellen, and if Dr. Law- Jor Is guilty o is his sponsor, Governor Gage. morally guilty and the punishment should be | adequate for the offense Bluff Sentinel. —_— Hardly Seems Credible. If the truth of the reports that come from the Home for the Feeble-minded can be sub- stantiated, and ' the superintendent—Lawlor— is said to have admitted their correctness, there is no punishment that can be too severe to visit on those who are responsible. Mere dis- missal from a position of trust will not satisfy the public, and if there is any law to reach the culprits it should be invoked. According to an interview published in the Examiner, Dr. Lawlor, according to his owa confession, should have lived and had his being when the prison pens of England flourished a century ago. It hardly seems credible that in this day of enlightenment and civilization any man could be found who would visit on those afflicted mentally harsh treatment. The severest punishment, it seems, has been visit- €d upon these unfortunates for the smallest in- fraction of the rules of the institution, and in many instances they have been placed in soli- tary confinement, the harshest corrective measure devised, and fed upon bread and water. Those who have been made to suffer are’ not children In the ordinary sense, but are such as have been deprived of the mental taculties that render other children amenable to the rules of discipline. Some of them are in mental darkness, all are more or less af- fected. This is a matter which is up to Gov- ernor Gage and in the interest of humanity he should, and doubtless will, see to it tha: swift punishment is metéd out to the offenderr. —Bakersfield Californian. R T e Libel Bluff Fails. It begins to look as if the opposition has made the renomination of Governor Gage im- possible. He has not been helped a bit by his libel bluff at The Call, but it is his affiliation with the bosses that has caused his overthrow. Meachine politics have become distasteful to the majority of voters in both parties, not alone in the large citles, but in the interior as well. It ‘would not be at all surprising if both the Re- publicans and Democrats took the head of their ticket from San Francisco, and if it shall be the Mayor against the City Attorney bossism will have met defeat. The same thing may be expected In the several counties of the State in the selection of local candidates. The average man, when taken up and put into office with little to do and a handsome salary forgets that he was elected to serve the people during their pleasure and that the office is thelrs to bestow on another at the expiration of any term. The Mountain Echo, in Calaveras County, sounds a timely warning to certain chronic officeholders over there, and there are those in near-by coun- ties who might with profit to themselves take warning before Butte Mountain falls on them. Primary elections cannot be manipulated now as in the past.—Jackson Herald, diwe oo s Gage Directly Responsible. The Bee, for Governor Gage's sake, would much rather be in a position to say that it not the Governor himself who is directly re- sponsible for every cruel lash, every inhuman use of darkness, threat and camisole which these mental unfortunates have suffered. How much better if the friends of Gage rather than commending the ordering of an in- Vestigation which was inevitable under public charges and proofs. could say: “The Governor. in this as in all other matters, has shown him- committed.—Red trustee was a party to | —_ position for no political or personal ends, but solely for the interests of the State and in de- fense of humanity. Knowing well the trust- worthiness and competency of Dr. Osborme, Who for years had charge of the State’s feeble- | minded wards, and remarking the love they | bore him and the control he exercised over them, his discipline and his training, Governor Gage declineq to turn such a man out to maks place for a political henchman, concerning whom there has been more or less of public | scandal in previous positions held by him.” The pity of it! That those who assume to | believe in Governor Gage must acknowledgs | that, even n this. he followed his unchanging policy of using, as ward politics and the politi- cians dictated, for the securing of his own re- nomination, the patronage of every commission and offlclal within his power to name. Not even the helplessness of the poor feeble-minded children could appeal to him as azainst the making of a few votes. For it would be un- fair to the Governor's intelligence to assumne that he discharged his responsible duty in thig matter without any inquiry into the necessities of the children, the faithful services of or th record and capabflities of Dr. Lawlor.—Sac- ramento Bee. ———— Regretted by Upright Citizens. | The course of Governor Gage In bringing ‘uc!lfln against the San Francisco Call In a rlace 80 remote from all official records as | San Pedro 1s not surprising, since It accords {only too well with former acts: but it is+a | course to be regretted by all upright citizens | who cherish and" respect the homor of their | state. | | Whatever may have been the animus of The | Call's charges, whether personal, political or | In the interests of good government, matters not a whit. It was the Governor of this great State agalnst whom the accusations wers brought: and the Governor. not the individual, should e hastened to disprove them. Now, throughout his term, Henry T. as Gage lives down fo the ego and not up to the Governor. “The State? | the State.” We can understand that a private citizen, knowing himself wrongfully accused and confi- dent of vindlcation, might put his accusers to as much trouMle and expense as possible; but such pettiness ill becomes one who is vested with the dignity and honor of a State. Small wonder that Democrats are unani- mous for Gage and chuckle at the fatuous van- | ity of the man who still continues, by his acts to_write his volitieal obituary. We believe. and we think so do the ma- | sority of people. that the charges of The Cali will be disproved; that somewhere and some- how there has been a mistake. What we decry in Henry T. Gage is that he forgets his of- ficial position, the respect and courtesy due | his fellow citizens. and thinks of a very small “‘two-by-four" man and comes away dewn to San Pedro to wash off the mud that was thrown in San Francisco.—Monrovia Messenger. Rl e R, Should Fear No Court. In his wrath Gage swore out warrants be- fore an obscure Justice of the Peace of San Pedro for the arrest of Spreckels and Leake ©of the San Francisco Call, and will force them to come down there and stand trial for their Like the French King, he says 1 (Dan Burns consenting), I am offenses. This trfal means an immense expense to Angeles County and looks like a hug farce. Governor Gage could have had the trial at Sacramento or some other place nearer home than San Pedro. He could have had it in San Francisco, where the evidence would be easier obtained than it is now at San Pedre. His action is regarded by many as governed by svite and malice. It is supposed that he took the case to San Pedro because he was raised there and would find the sympathy of the public with him altogether in that place. But his policy is bad. When he is right he should fear no court in the State. The Gov- ernor has made a bad break and he will prob- ably dlscover & when it is too late. The first bad break was the beginning of the libel suits. The last was in foreing the defendants to come to San Pedro for trial.—Santa Ana Builetin. — Small Mean Spirit. The action of Henry T. Gage In commencing sult for damages against the proprietor and the manager of the San Francisco Cail in a little seaport town in Southern California shows a small, mean spirit in which he proposes to put the State and Mr. Spreckels and Mr. Leake to all the trouble possible. Had Mr. Gage a spark of manhood he would have entered sult at Sac- ramento, San Quentin or some place where the records could be had at small expense fo tie State. The people would then have been with him: now many of those who were his friends | before have gome back on him and denounce | him as being afrald to meet the issue square- ly.—Paso Robles Leader. St PR AL Seeks Delay and Trouble. ~ Governor Gage wants to put John D. Spreck- | els ana Sam Leake to all the trouble and ox- pense possible by having his libel suit at San Pedro, and it will, as a matter of course, dyag the case at a_slower gait there than at Saa Francisco or Sacramento, where the evidence would be more accessible. Mr. Streckels: evi- dently wants to hurry the case through befors the State convention in his efforts to brinx it into a San Francisco court, as well as to save what seems unnecessary expense and if- convenience. That is about the condition of things as it apvears to the ordinary observer. —Santa Ana Herald Gage’s Spirit of Revenge. The making of enemies Is bad; the sacrifice of public faith is worse. Governor Gage's ac- tions are resvonsible for both. Recently ha was charged by the San Franeisco Call with misappropriation of prison proverty. In a spirit of personal revenge he brought an action for libel, but instead of taking it to the courts of San Francisco or Sacramento, he has taken it clear down to San Pedro. If the law is such that a case can be thus taksn from whers it belongs, thus greatly adding to the expense and inconveniece of the public, there is need for a little revision.—Lod! Sentinel. A Disagreeable Leer. The Los Angeles Herald of yesterday had a most unkind cartoon of Governor Gay It depicted him with one eye in mourning, and with a most disagreeable leer on his face. Worse than that, the Governor's manly per- son was made to appear principally paunch. The Governor has prosecuted one paper for depicting him, as he avers under oath, with the face of a “criminal.”” It remains to be seen what he will do to the Herald for make ing him look like one of his own “heelers™ after a fight.—San Diego Union. An' Unfortunate Governor. 1t we ever had or had now any personal feel ing against Henry T. Gage we would want him nominated for Governor, for he would, if nomi~ nated, be most emphatically condemned at the polls, As one who still has kindly feeling for Mr. Gage, the man, we trust he will be spared the condemnation at the polls which is sure to follow his renomination. Of all the Govern- ors California has ever had, Henry T. Gage s entitled to the least respect of good citizens. —Pomona Times. PR a0 Gage’s Policy of Delay. Governor Gage still refuses to have his lfbel suit against The Call tried in San Francisco or its viciity and seems determined in his struggle to take the case 500 miles away from | the evidence in regard to it. It is a matter of astonishment to the public that one professedly so anxious for immediate vindication, as the Governor claims to be, should persist in a policy which must delay that vindication in- definitely.—Vallejo Times, Not Broad-Gauged. By no means does the News stand for Gov- ernor Gage's renomination. As we sald some | weeks ago, he is not broad-gauged enough and truckles too much to political bosses and the mest corrupt element of the party. He has proven himself anything but a friend to the rancher. upon whose prosperity depends large- Iy the living of us all.—North Ontnrh_l!‘m Scipio Craig’s Prophecy. ‘We said last October that Gage's name would Dot be presented before the convention, and it looks more like a propbecy now them the— Governor Gage, Mr. Valentine is too shrewd | gelf a competent and hongst official, usisg hig| Redlands Citograph,