18TH
MAY
1894,
Nos.
1190,
1191,
JUDICIAL.
3
these causes ; when this has been received it will be possible to test the accuracy of
the Surgeon-General's arguments ; at the present juncture a cursory examination of
the various causes mentioned is all that is possible. The increase due to the first
cause must, at all events, have been trifling. As to the second cause, it is curious to
find the Inspector-General of Jails attributing a decrease in the cost of dieting to the
reduced prices of the staple items during 1893, while the Surgeon-General argues that
the prices rose in the year under review ; as a fact the price of rice (the staple article
of food in asylums) was, on the whole, lower in Madras and on the West Coast during
1893 than during the previous year. As to the enhancement of expenditure on fire-
wood, it is observed that in G.O., dated 24th February 1893, No. 410, Judicial, the
reduction of the allowance per patient from 10½ to 81b. a week was ordered, and in
G.O., dated 24th December 1892, No. 894, Public, the Government ordered the intro-
duction of a system of supply which, if properly worked, ought to have resulted in a
considerable saving on this item. The fourth cause assigned by the Surgeon-General
is not understood ; the system of departmental supply having replaced the contract
system, the reference to enhanced contract rates needs explanation. The question of
wastage at Calicut is under consideration separately. The fifth cause may be a valid
one and, assuming that Superintendents exercise a reasonable discretion in ordering
extra diets, the Government would raise no objection to an increase of expenditure
resulting therefrom. The main point to be noticed is that this enhancement of cost
has taken place in spite of the substitution of a cheaper scale of diet under G.O., dated
26th June 1893, No. 1292, Judicial. During the last four years the Government has
persistently dwelt upon the necessity for curtailing expenditure in the Madras Asylum
but without result. That economy is possible has been proved by a comparison of the
dieting charges in other provinces and at Waltair with those in the Madras Asylum
and the only conclusion to be drawn is that no real effort has been made to give effect
to the orders of Government, The exorbitant cost of dieting a paying patient at Calicut
should be further investigated. With regard to the proposal to show hospital necessaries
and miscellaneous items under the head " Medicines," the Surgeon-General should
report the nature of the items falling under these two denominations.
5. The last subject calling for notice is manufactures. The statistics for 1893
and the two preceding years are given below:—
Asylum.
Madras .. ..
Waltair ..
Calicut .. ..
Percentage of average
number employed to daily
average strength.
1891.
63.8
68.4
84.5
1892.
67.2
67.6
72.3
1893.
62.2
53.5
28.9
Profits on manufactures
(i.e., excess of credits
or profits).
1891.
Rs.
4,703
81
661
1892.
Rs.
5,595
89
795
1893.
Rs.
2,231
361
545
Amount of profits per head of average
number employed.
1891.
Rs.
17
2
5
A.
9
4
9
P.
0
0
0
1892.
Rs.
20
3
9
A.
6
1
4
P.
0
0
0
1893.
Rs.
8
16
22
A.
3
7
11
P.
0
0
0
The figures are far from satisfactory, for they indicate a great falling off in
manufactures during 1893. The Surgeon-General has not attempted any explanation ;
he must now give his views on the subject.
6. The Government desires to have detailed information regarding the effect of
the new diet scale ; the Surgeon-General's remarks in paragraph 14 are not supported
by any statistics. He has also omitted to certify (as required by G.O., dated 22nd
February 1886, No. 396, Public) that the service-books of employés have been duly
maintained.
7. On the whole, the administration of the Lunatic Asylums in 1893 does not
appear to have been by any means successful except at Waltair, and one of the first
duties of Surgeon-General Sibthorpe should be to institute thorough enquiries into the
condition of the institutions at Madras and Calicut, especially the former, with a view
to introducing economies, stimulating manufactures and reducing the mortality. It is