CORTLAND HOSPITAL, SUFFRAGE IN THE SOUTH, AND ONE MORE EDITORIAL

 

Cortland Semi-Weekly Standard, Tuesday, May 5, 1903.

PAGE FOUR—EDITORIALS.

The Cortland Hospital.

   A year ago the board of managers of the Cortland hospital stood face to face with the proposition to close the doors of that institution, and the matter was seriously considered. They felt that this must be done unless they could find some way to raise the money necessary to pay running expenses, for they would not consider for a moment the thought of incurring debts without having some definite idea in advance of where the money was coming from to pay them. And it is constantly true that the expenses exceed the income. It could not be otherwise without a large endowment, which this hospital does not have. A vigorous protest was made in many quarters at that time against the thought of closing up. It was believed that a city of this size could not do without a hospital and aid was offered to keep it open. The managers stated that they would need $1,000 above their income to meet expenses, and they set out to raise that sum. All pledges were made contingent upon the raising of the whole amount. The ladies were met courteously and cordially, and the pledges were given cheerfully and willingly, and the sum was raised. The hospital was able to continue in its work.

   During the year some friends in New York, former residents of the county, made the hospital a handsome present, but this was devoted to needed repairs, none of it going to pay running expenses.

   The Hospital association stands today just where it stood a year ago. It must raise a certain sum of money to supplement its other income, or it must close its doors. The city last year demonstrated the fact that it was not willing to have the institution closed and the ladies believe that it will take the same position again.

   It is to be remembered that the city charter permits no money to be raised by taxation for hospital support, and the board of supervisors does not see its way clear to make an appropriation even for the care of county patients, though the supervisors personally and individually are glad to assist. There is no way this money can be raised except by personal pledges and personal payments.

   This year the ladies ask for $1,200. The cost of many items needed in sustaining the institution has advanced, and the extra $200 is required to keep the hospital up to the plane of last year. Besides, the work of the hospital has increased very materially during the past year. There is more work for the nurses to do inside the hospital and less opportunity to let them go out for nursing in the city. When nurses in training go out a certain share of their wages goes to the hospital and with a lessening in the opportunity to send out nurses there is a lessening of the hospital’s income. For this reason also a larger sum is required this year. The ladies are soon to make a canvass of the city to ask for pledges. They hope that they will meet with the same cordial response with which they were greeted last year. It should be remembered that this is not a personal matter with them, but that they are working for a cause and for a purpose. Soliciting is at best a disagreeable task, but under certain conditions it can be made doubly so, while on the other hand, under certain other conditions half its disagreeable features can be eliminated.

   The situation is plain. Every one can see it for himself. Every one can make up his mind in advance just what he can afford to give and the response to the ladies can be prompt, and a long series of explanations can be avoided. Time can be saved both for the solicitors and the ones solicited from. The cause is a worthy one and the excellent manner in which the hospital has been conducted in the past is a sufficient guaranty for its future. It is surely to be hoped that the result may be as satisfactory as it was last year.

 

Jackson W. Giles.

Suffrage in the South.

   The decision of the United States supreme court in the Alabama suffrage case causes widespread surprise. One Jackson W. Giles, in behalf of himself and 5,000 other colored men, attacked the provision of the new constitution of that state which denies him the suffrage privilege. He appealed to the United States circuit court, which denied having jurisdiction. The supreme court sustains that decision. The majority says the wrongs complained of were political, to remedy which by an equity judgment is not proper. Besides, the petitioner seeks recognition under a voting system which he attacks as fraudulent and in violation of the constitution of the United States. In the position in which this leaves him Jackson may well ask: “What can the poor colored man do?” Justice Brown, Brewer and Harlan dissent, the first two on the score that as members of congress were to be chosen at the election pending, the United States courts had jurisdiction. Justice Harlan said the decision left the “question in the air,” which seems a correct statement. The court probably does not want to pass on the direct question of the constitutionality of the negro-disfranchising constitutions of southern states. But surely there must be a way of bringing that question to the test. The fourteenth and fifteenth amendments are parts of the organic law, and the highest court is the reliance of the nation for their interpretation.

 

Andrew Carnegie.

J. P. Morgan.

   ◘ J. Pierpont Morgan and Andrew Carnegie have sailed for Europe on the same vessel. This puts Europe in a painful quandary, whether to hang up her stocking for Mr. Carnegie or lock up everything from the sight of Mr. Morgan.—Buffalo Express.