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THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER.

(Boston Advertiser, May 7.)

Nothing which has been given to the public since the affairs of the Tewksbury Almshouse became prominent has afforded any thing like the exact, full, and trustworthy information concerning its present condition that is given in the report by Mrs. Clara T. Leonard of her recent inspection of the institution, made to the State Board of Health, Lunacy, and Charity, which is printed this morning. It deals with the real question in issue, the condition of the almshouse at the present time, which alone is pertinent to a consideration of the need of present reforms. What the condition was ten years ago is not to the point; nor is its consideration pertinent, as a reflection on the administration of State affairs, if the abuses were then discovered and rectified and no longer exist. For this reform the State administration will be commended, not condemned, by honest-minded citizens.

Mrs. Leonard is a woman whose character and qualifications, even a common and wanton traducer of reputations like General Butler will decry in vain. Her life has been devoted in generous manner to sympathetic, unpaid service of the poor and the unfortunate. She is familiar with the operation of public institutions for their relief; and General Butler's opinion as to what is right or wrong, necessary or unnecessary, prudent or extravagant, in the actual management of an almshouse, is of no more weight against hers than it would be against Florence Nightingale's touching the care of the sick in a hospital. She is not a politician interested in supporting a party. She has no possible interest in sustaining or concealing any wrong or oppression in management. Her sole conceivable motive is to find out the facts, and to do the best for the unfortunate dependants on the State's charity. Her testimony as to the things she undertakes to speak of is worthy of implicit credence, because it is unprejudiced and intelligent. Her word will stand against that of any number of such witnesses as the governor has introduced to vilify the State.

We ask that her candid and extremely interesting report be read and seriously considered. From it may be learned, better than from any proceedings in the green-room, what improvements are practicable and what are chimerical. In the light of the facts she gives, one thing appears very clearly, namely, that the very worst thing that could happen to the almshouse would be a reduction of appropriations. So far from there being too many persons employed, there are not enough. There is hardly one of the real evils connected with the institution which would have existed if the appropriations had not been so niggardly. Mrs. Leonard's report is the report of a truthful woman who knows the facts; and all who are willing to do justice to a State, an institution, and a man grossly maligned by the governor of the Commonwealth, will read and believe it.

Condition of the State Almshouse at Tewksbury in 1883

At the meeting of the State Board of Health, Lunacy, and Charity, on Saturday, May 5, Mrs. Clara T. Leonard of Springfield, a member of the board, submitted a written report of her observations at the Tewksbury Almshouse on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of last week. The report was decidedly in contrast with some of the testimony put in by the governor before the committee on public charitable institutions, and it is given below in full:

HON. THOMAS TALBOT, Chairman.

Sir, -- By appointment of the board as a special committee "to investigate the care of the sick and insane and other inmates of the State Almshouse at Tewksbury," I have visited that institution. I arrived there on Wednesday, May 2, at 4.30 P.M., and remained there until Friday, May 4, at 12. I spent the entire time while there in a close personal examination of the premises, and in conversation with inmates of both sexes and all classes.

I found no material change in any thing since my visits in April, 1882, and April, 1881; both of which visits were made by me without my associates or previous notice. Now, as then, I found scrupulous neatness everywhere, in the most remote and little visited parts as well as the more prominent. It is always my custom to inspect beds, both those unoccupied and occupied, taking the beds at random, anywhere. I think I examined more than a hundred beds, including those in remote attic dormitories, where boys and men sleep, and the beds of the insane. On the night of my arrival, I took the keys of a matron, and visited a portion of the insane (fifty-two in all) without her, after they had retired. I found them in excellent condition, but with no change since the two preceding visits, when I carefully examined the insane. I found all beds everywhere in the institution satisfactory. I was assured by inmates of several years' standing, that the beds had always been changed clean sheets, etc. whenever a new occupant was received; and all beds were changed once a week regularly, and oftener when necessary. To this point I gave much attention, and made inquiry of various inmates, with the same answer. The bath-tubs were in sufficient number and good order, just as I have previously found them, with water abundant; except that some tubs needed painting inside. Many patients were being bathed while I was there. This process I always find going on in large institutions much of the time, as different persons bathe on different days, to accommodate all. There is no common pool nor tank for bathing in the institution, and has not been for several years. Formerly they were common in large institutions, but have been given up in Massachusetts some years ago.