Chapter 37
part three chapter six of garcia moreno by augustin berth this libravox recording is in the public domain recording by maria terese works of charity eighteen sixty nine to eighteen seventy five among the many evils which afflicted ecuador pauperism was not the least continued revolutions forced contributions and the low standard of commerce in agriculture had brought about a state of misery among the working classes which resulted in every description of crime and brigandage garcia moreno's first care was to provide for the orphan children he opened two homes in quito one under the sisters of charity and the other under the sisters of providence a generous lady madame virginia plinguadigui gave a magnificent house for the first while the second was maintained by the government very soon other orphanages were opened at guayaquil and coenca and in fact in all the large towns throughout the country then the president established a house of refuge for girls who had been led astray and placed it under the care of the nuns of the good shepherd the next work he undertook was the reform of the prisons which were in a horrible state he found two men who were ready and anxious to second his views one a young and holy priest don abel de coral who devoted himself to the religious and moral training of the prisoners
the other a firm and wise director don francisco arellano who while full of charity and kindness was yet capable of enforcing the observance of the rolls the sanitary arrangements of the prisons were attended to the dietary improved and when necessary new buildings were substituted for the old very soon the whole aspect of the prisons was changed and they became by turns schools and workshops to stimulate the good will of the prisoners garcia moreno shortened their time of detention as a reward for diligence and piety at the end of the year the president went in person with a distinguished company to an examination of the prisoners not only in christian doctrine but in reading writing and arithmetic after having congratulated them on their progress he distributed rewards to the most deserving and in some cases remitted their sentences altogether while the poor fellows cried for joy at this great and unexpected kindness the next thing he did was to hunt up the brigands and banditti who infested some parts of the country to effect this he organized a picked band of military and police under a man on whom he could rely and offered them a large reward if they would capture the head of the brigands who had long been the terror of the province
a few days only had elapsed when this man was captured he appeared before garcia moreno expecting a sentence of immediate death what was his astonishment when garcia moreno received him kindly appealed to his feelings of honour and justice and finally promised him his protection if he would consent to change his life he only exacted that he should spend an hour or two of each day with a holy religious whom he named the brigand who had been driven into bad courses by circumstances known to the president was touched to the heart and entirely reformed then garcia moreno put him at the head of the police with orders to bring him his old companions that i may make honest men of them like yourself he added soon after the whole band surrendered at discretion and thus this terrible evil which had been for years the ruling of the country districts was entirely stopped to judge of the effect of his penitential reforms when the new and beautiful prison called the panopticum was completed which was to replace the unwholesome one in quito there were found scarcely any prisoners to fill it and in eighteen seventy five garcia moreno had the joy of announcing to the chambers that only fifty condemned criminals remained in the jail the reform of the prisons and the founding of orphanages and refuges did not make him neglect the hospitals which were in a lamentable condition especially that of quito dedicated to st john of god
he began by visiting them daily examining the prescriptions teaching the infirmarians how to dress wounds properly and forcing each and all to do their duty by the sick finding that it was impossible to depend on the nurses he persuaded the sisters of charity to take their place and by degrees placed the other hospitals under the same tender care in the leper hospital there were great complaints of the diet garcia moreno arrived one day quite unexpectedly and sat down to dinner with them when finding that their food was both insufficient and badly prepared he instantly ordered the necessary changes to be made a little later he came again in the same unexpected way and found that there was nothing more required nevertheless one man grumbled when garcia moreno said to him my good friend do you know that i am not better served myself although i am president of the republic full of charity and tenderness for the sick he spent almost all his official revenues in ministering to their wants when first elected to the presidency his wife la signora rosa escasubi represented to him that it would be the right thing for him to give a banquet to the ministers and foreign diplomats according to the usual custom he replied that he was too poor that of what he received from his position as president he gave half back to the state which was in debt and difficulties and the other half to works of charity
the lady answered that she would provide the funds and gave him five hundred piastos for the purpose garcia moreno took the money to the hospital provided for several pressing needs of the patients and told the sisters to give them a magnificent dinner with the rest when he came home his generous wife asked him if what she had given him was enough he owned what he had done with it and added laughing i thought a good dinner would do more good to the sick than to the diplomats his charity in fact was ubiquitous and was specially bestowed on those who hid their misery and who were in known better days when the revenue of the state improved and there was a sufficient sum in the treasury for the public service he accepted his proper salary but continued to live in the most simple and humble fashion people imagined that he must be saving money and no one blamed him for they knew him to be absolutely without private fortune after his death however the administrator of his affairs gave a detailed account of his receipts in expediture and it was found that the president had consecrated the whole of his official income to works of charity and especially to the secret assistance of families whose members had been dispersed in chile and peru even the wife of urbina his mortal enemy had received a monthly pension from garcia moreno who would not be touched at a charity so great and yet so humble and hidden chapter six
