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IV.—That indulgences granted as rewards for work, be charged to the
manufacture accounts.
V.—That all general charges for repairs and construction, painting and
general maintenance, and improvement of asylum buildings be
eliminated from the contingent accounts and shown under a
separate heading as " Repairs and Maintenance," a statement
of any work done by the Public Works Department being ob-
tained from that Department and included under this head.
Work done on manufacturing account to be separately entered
in that account.
VI.—That a new column be added to Statement XI, showing the
real profit of the asylums as indicated in Table IV (supra).
This is required to allow of a comparison of the industrial results of the
asylums inter se. The present column should be retained, as correctly indi-
cating the results to Government.
VII.—That all asylums should adopt the same system of supply.
Great variations have been shown to exist, with the result of making the
figures hopelessly confused. The system which commends itself to the Com-
mittee is that of purchasing raw materials, whether for diet, clothing, lighting,
or other purposes, working them up for use by asylum labour, and issuing
them without charge and without the intervention of any intermediary. Profits
will nominally fall; but the expenditure will fall also, and the system being
uniform, comparison between asylums will be possible.
VIII.—That a statement showing the ruling prices of the chief articles
of diet should invariably accompany each report.
IX.—Also an analysis of the contingent expenditure.
The Committee have already expressed their opinion that uniformity of
diet and clothing scales is not desirable. The conditions under which the
different asylums work are so various that any general uniformity in cost
can hardly be expected so long as these conditions remain; but the above
suggestions will at least allow of an approximately correct comparison, under
fairly similar conditions, as regards many important items of expenditure.
Bhowanipore Asylum.—This asylum primarily intended for Europeans and
Eurasians, admits also races similar to them in birth or habits, such as Americans,
Jews, and Armenians. It was originally a private asylum, built about 1817 on no
definite plan, and added to from time to time. Government paid the proprietress
so much for the maintenance of each patient, and Rs. 200 a month as Superintend-
ent, and finally bought the good will and made the institution a Government
Asylum at the beginning of 1856 for Rs. 1,16,061. It was then calculated to
accommodate 42 male and 20 female patients, but as many as 81 have been in the
wards at a time. Dr. Cantor, the first Superintendent, introduced many
improvements with a view to remove the prison-like character of the place.
The garden was carefully attended to, the boundary walls covered and
concealed by luxuriant creepers, so as to remove every thing likely to remind
the patients of restraint. Want of space and of the means of separating noisy
and refractory patients are however complained of in the report for 1856-57,
and various improvements suggested. The rules laid down for the management
of the asylum were exceedingly liberal. The patients were divided into two
classes according to the station and rank of life they had previously occupied. If
their friends could pay, first class patients were charged Rs. 100, and 2nd class
Rs. 30 per mensen. If they were unable to pay they were kept at Government
expense. Those in the 1st class were to receive a change of bedding and
linen daily, those of the 2nd every second day. " A separate liberally sup-
plied table was kept for patients belonging to the 1st class," those of the 2nd
were dieted on a scale based on the diets for Military hospitals. No diet scales
were laid down, "the kind and quantity of all ordinary and extra articles of
diet and indulgences" being left to the discretion of the Superintendent.
It was ordered that the articles of diet should be "of the best quality procur-
able and of a description equal if not superior to that which each individual
patient may have been accustomed to under ordinary circumstances in health,"
and that all the articles should be inspected and approved daily by the Super-
intendent. No articles which might tend to the recreation or occupation of the
patients were to be withheld. A library, three periodicals, musical instruments,