
“If any additional proof were necessary to establish the fact that the recent attack upon the Infirmary management was begotten in a partisan spirit, the article in the Tribune of Wednesday would make the evidence conclusive.”
“From the very beginning to this time, it is clear that a ring of tricksters, to which the Tribune has apparently allied itself, had determined to set up a howl for the purpose of creating a sensation, and then, under the excitement, the ring might obtain control of the Infirmary.”

“We desire to state right here, and most emphatically, that the Times has no friends to protect in this matter. The editor of this paper does not know Mr. Gibson, the Superintendent of the Infirmary1, and we never say him, to our knowledge; neither is he of our political belief, as we understand him to be a Republican. The Times believes in righting abuses wherever they may exist. We believed, from the grand jury’s report, that great abuses existed at the Infirmary. We wanted them exposed and corrected. The majority of the Board, to our personal knowledge, felt the same way, and were ready to join hands with any and all good citizens in the work of ferreting out whatever abuses had grown up.”
“When the Tribune says we wanted to make ‘a partisan matter of it,’ it simply falsifies. That is just what we did not want to do, and just what its conduct has shown that it proposed to do.”

“Now what are the facts? When the grand jury made its report charging gross mismanagement, the Board of Directors proposed that an investigation, full, fair, and open, should be had. They had not heard the testimony before the grand jury, and were of course, ignorant of the facts upon which the report was based. They therefore, after consultation, proposed, as the best plan, to appoint three disinterested citizens to visit the Infirmary, inspect the same, examine witnesses, and find out the true state of affairs. It was agreed that each member should appoint one of that committee.”

“Mr. Hehl2, the Republican member of the Board, agreed to this, but, it is presumed, at the advice of his party friends, certainly in accordance with their programme, he declined to take any part in the investigation. Why was this? The two remaining members of the Board, Messrs. Windel3 and Jordan, wishing to get at the bottom facts, each selected a member of such committee, Mr. Spry4 and Mr. Walter, good and respectable citizens, (of opposite politics,) and they selected the third, Captain Smith5. The testimony which this committee heard, and the report they made, we published last week. It showed that things were not as bad as the public were led to supposed.”

“It has become apparent that the little Republican ring, aided by the Tribune editor, has been opposed to an investigation. They tried to impede it at every step; they refused to testify. The Board wanted information. Two of the members published a card in the Triine of last week inviting any and all persons aware of any abuses at the Infirmary, to attend the meeting and make it known. Boss Foster6, Dr. Vaughters7, and others were present, but refused to make any statement, though urged to do so, and the Tribune editor encouraged them in efforts to stifle investigations. We would like to inquire of the Tribune what better way it can suggest to get at the facts, than the one the Board adopted. The matter is not before the Court, and how can an examination be had that has a ‘legal bearing?'”

“It is proper to say that the Infirmary has, until the past few weeks, been under Republican control. Whatever abuses have existed, are the outgrowth of Republican rule, and the Tribune and its ring cannot shirk any responsibility. There has been a Democratic majority on the Board but a very short time – since Mr. Jordan was sworn in. They had not yet had time to make themselves familiar with the management and discover where the weak places were. It was to do this that they proposed the investigation by a citizens’ committee.”
“The facts prove, however, that the Democrats were anxious for the closest inspection and examination, while the Republican ring and the Tribune sought to stifle it. They didn’t want the facts; they only wished to howl. By this means, a scurvy set of politicians hoped to get control of the institution, not for the benefit of the taxpayers or the inmates, but to enable themselves to live and fatten off of the poor fund.”

“The Times wants facts, no matter where they come from, and we invite the Tribune to join with us, and where wrong exists unearth it and insist that it be crushed out.”8
- William Gibson
- Christian Hehl
- Carl “Charles” Windel
- Richard Spry
- William Russell Smith
- Otho Davis Foster, Sr.
- Dr. Thomas G. Vaughters
- The infirmary again: who opposed investigation. (1879, February 8). Portsmouth Times, p. 2.