( 32 )
the average cost of feeding each native patient in the Madras Asylum should be given
in the body of the report; it is presumed that there will be no difficulty in elimina-
ting the particulars relating to the rationing of Europeans and Eurasians from those
referring to the native population. A comparison is instituted below between the cost
per head of diet and the death-rate in the Madras asylums and those in other Presi-
dencies, and it will be observed that elsewhere economy has been secured without any
ill-effect upon the health of the patients:—
Province.
Bengal
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
Panjáb Delhi
..
..
..
..
..
..
Lahore
..
..
..
..
..
Madras .. .. .. .. .. ..
Bombay
..
..
..
..
..
..
Expenditure
upon diet
per head of
daily
average
strength.
RS.
35
36
41
61
65
A.
13
13
9
15
3
P.
0
0
0
0
0
Death-rate per
cent. of daily
average
strength.
6.94
7.52
11.53
18.38
11.0
The Surgeon-General has recently been directed, however, to inquire into the
causes of the apparently excessive expenditure in the Madras asylums, and it is there-
fore unnecessary to refer further to the subject. The substitution of the departmental
for the contract system of supply which has been ordered in G.O., 22nd May 1891,
No. 402, Public, will also doubtless result in a saving under the head of diet. The
figures given for 1889 in paragraph 12 of the report seem to be incorrect; they are taken
direct from Statement IX-A, accompanying the report for 1889, but the rates per head
have not in all cases been calculated in the same way in that statement as in the
statement submitted with the present report, and they cannot therefore be properly
compared; for example, to ascertain the outlay per head on contingencies in 1889,
the totals of columns 13, 14, 15 and 30 of Statement IX were taken, but for 1890
the cost has been worked out on the totals of columns 12, 14, 17, 25 and 26 of the same
statement.
In future, the value of the garden-produce which is included in column 2 of
Statement IX should be clearly stated either in a foot-note or in the body of the report.
7. Statement XI shows that the net profits made by the manufacturing depart-
ment rose to a total of Rs. 3,302-6-6 as compared with Rs. 758-2-2 in 1889, but it is
impossible to say how much of this advance represents a real increase in the value of
the outturn, inasmuch as it is certainly due in part to the valuation of the articles
produced at market-rates instead of cost-prices of raw material. The proportion of
lunatics employed upon manufactures to the mean population was 8.3 per cent. in
Calicut, 53.0 per cent. in Madras, and 84.6 per cent in Waltair. The reason for the
almost complete neglect of manufactures in Calicut is not apparent, and should be
explained. The figures given below compare the condition of the manufacturing
department in certain of the larger provinces during 1890.
Province.
Bengal
..
..
..
..
..
Panjáb
..
..
..
..
..
Madras .. .. .. .. ..
Bombay
..
..
..
..
..
Percentage
employed to
daily average
strength.
77.7
67.6
45.8
43.0
Average
earnings
per head of
those
employed.
RS.
4
10
11
13
A.
4
8
10
3
P.
0
0
0
0
Value of
plant and
machinery in
store at the
end of the
year.
RS.
50,430
464
474
286
A.
0
0
0
0
P.
0
0
0
0
On the whole these results are not unfavourable, and it would appear that the seemingly
marked inferiority of the asylums in this Presidency to those elsewhere in the matter
of manufactures, which was commented upon when reviewing the report for 1889, was
mainly apparent only and due to a difference of account: it is understood that a
uniform method of calculating the value of the articles produced has been adopted
in Statement XI accompanying the reports for 1890 in the case of all the provinces
above mentioned. The figures appearing under the head " Mean population" in