The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1872-07-06 00:00:00

meelvlrste.,
more than twelve
frequency of the

sent to an induatrial Inebriate reformatory by
order for a term of not less than three nor me
-
months, the time to be governed by the

offence:
n That when acts cd violence or other offences are super-'
added to the drunkenness the ordinary punistunent awarded
by law to those offences should be carried out. and It the
offender comes under the definition of an habitual drunkard.
a committal to a reformatory may form part of the sentence,
or it may he lat to the iitscrettou of the magistrate to mend
. .

him at once to an inebriate reformatory.
That it is In evidence as well from those who have eon-
rincted sad ere still conducting reformatories for inebriates
In Great Britain es by thee who are managers of shriller in-
stitutions in America, that 'sanatoria,' or inebriate reform,
t.” ice, are producing consilleraole good in effecting amend-
ment and cures in those who have been treated in them.

" The average numher of cures is stated to be from 33 to
40 per i!ent, if he admissions. this per cmtaue being based
iipon sulrioquent iuquiry, from which the curia appear to
i.e as C,tillphitti atil i.eO motent tta ilt Ithy otlOif turill if tlis-
CaL.e, mental or pkisiell. Ti,, everar:e time tomopitot hr
dfrethig these cline is stated at twin 1.2 to Id weeks to
A inerica. For the English institution. Um period has „been
longer.
•• That the proportion of cores is not lamer is attributed
by all the witnesses tie lick of power to induce or to compel
the patient to submit to treatment for • longer period, anti
that power Is asked for hy every one who has had, or still has,
charge of these institutions. Without such a power it ap-
pears Mit [ht. rt 51114 be 'mimeo-et, disappointing, and
inadequate to the efforts made.

" Rll, NNIENDATIONS.
" The recommendations of the committee are !
" 1. Definition.—That sanatoria or rclormatories far those
who, ' notwithstanding the plainest considerations of health,
interest, and duty, are given over to habits of inteniperance,
so as to render them unable to control themselves, arid inca-
pable of 'managing their own affairs, or such as to render
them to any way dangerous to themselves or others,' should
be provided.
" 2. These should be divided into Classes A and B.
" A. F. 4' those who are able out of their own resource& or
out of those of their relations, to pay for the cost of their
residence therein. These, whether promoted by private
enterprise or by associations, can be profitably and sucrose-
f ally conducted.
"II For those who are unable to contribute or only par-
tially. These must be established by State or local autho-
rities, and at first at their cosi. though there is good reason
• to believe that they can be made wholly or partially self-
supporting.
1 "The admission to these Institutions should be either
voluntary or by committal. In either case the persons en-
tering should not be allowed to leave, except under condi-
tions to be laid down, and the power to prevent their leaving
should he by law conferred on the manager. Th.sugh practi-
cally this power would be seldom put in force, it will be
useless to establish these institutions without It.
" The patients under Clam A should be admitted either by
their own act, or, on the application of their friends or
relatives, tinder proper legal restrictions, or by the decision of
a local court of inquiry, established under proper sole-guards,
before which, on the application of a near relative or guar-
dian. or a parish or other local authority, or other authori,od
persons, proof shall be given that the party cited is unable
to control himself, and incapable of managing his affairs, or
that his habits are such as to render him dangerous to him-
self or others that this arisen from the alone of alcoholic
drinks or sedatives ; and he is therefore to be deemed an
habitual drunkard.
" If that proof be deemed sufficient by the court of inquiry
it shall make an order for commitment to an inebriate in-
stitution for such a term as It shall think proper, not exceed-
ing 12 months, and shall also have power, with or without
such commitment, to make an order for the appointment of
a guardian or trustee of the cited party, person, and estate.
the party cited shall have the right to be present. both In
person and by counsel, and all the evidence shall be taken
on oath. The property of the party shall be liable fur main-
tenance ; the trustee or guardian shall lie liable as in com-
mittees of the person and tstates of lunatics, Act 25 and 26
Vic., c. 66.
•

" Persons convicted as habitual drunken% according to
the definition laid down in the loth paragraph of this Report,
whose means are inadequate, may be sent by magistrates
by commitment to the B clan of reformatories.
"The period of detention should be fixed ty the court of
Inquiry, or by the magistrates, but may be curtailed upon
sufficient proof being given that a cure of the patient has
taken place. No manager of a reformatory, or guardian, or
trustee or committee, shall be liable to action for damages
for acting under the orders of the court of inquiry or of the
magistrates.
"these reformatories, whether of Chas A or B, should be
inspected from time to time by a committee appointed by
magistrates at quarter sessions, of not less than five per.
sons, of whom one at least should be a medical man, and the
inspection of these institutions, whether of a private or
public character, should be of a very stringent nature.
"Reformatories on the Industrial system should be eats.
bushed either as separate institutions or as part of a prison,
but distinct from the ordinary penal portion thereof, or as
plet of a union workhouse, to which persons committed as
habitual drunkards should be sent.
"The proceeds of their labour should be applied to the
',gement of the entire cost of maintenenee while in the re-
formatory ; if any excess remain, It should be applied to
the maintenance of the wife and family, or if they be in re-
ceipt of parochial relief, then to reimburse the union fund.
or if there be no wife or fondly or parochial charge, then to
to the uses of the individual on leaving the reformatory.
"Your clinmittee, after considering the whole question sa
to the list mode of dealing with drunkards, including not
only the management of inebriate asylums, but also the con-
trol and prevention of the habit of drunkenness, have ar-
rived at the following additional conclusions and recommen.
datione
- -

------- •
•• That the fine for drunkenness for the first or second
offence (when it is most desirable to prevent the formation
of the habit) should not exceed 40w, or, in default thereof.
imprisonment for a period not exceeding 3u days (being for
the same term as that imposed in the United States) ; the
precise amount of hot', fine and imprisonment being left to
the discretion of the sitting magistrate ; and that, after the
third conviction within 12 months, the magistrate should
have the power of insisting upon sureties, not exceeding 410,
as under the statute of James I.
•• That there he a ready mode of estreating sureties at
petty sessions, 1111/1 that courts of petty sessions be courts of
record, at least for cases of drunkenness or offences against
the licensing laws.
• The committee have good groundi for recommending
the application of the same provisions concerning habitual
drunkards to the sellers of liquor, under the lialatual Cri-
minals Act, and they recommend that the provisious con-
tained In the 10th clause of that Act with reference to
thieves or reputed thieves shall in future be applied to
dabltual drunkards.
•• This will be facilitated by the keeping of a Drunkards'
Register, and the preparation of a police notice, to be ob-
tained at the police stations, and served on the liquor seller
by the relatives of the drunkari, or by order of the magis-
trate, will facilitate this.
That watchful inspection over the purity of the article
sold is required
' that, in order accurately to test the Increase or decrease
I drunkenness, on which legislation must greatly depend,
a nniformity of dealing with and recording every ease of
drunkenness that conies into the hands of the police should
be Adopted.
"to pursuing the Investigation of this subject of national
importance, your committee desire to acknowledge the
valuable aid afforded by their chairman.
" After withdrawing his bill of last Session for dealing with
the Habitual Drunkards, and after moving at a later period
for the appointment of a Select Committee, he personally
undertook Iluring the recess a special voyage to the unit.,4
States for the purpose of inquiring practically into the con-
duct of inebriate asylums there and of acquainting himself
with their beneficial effects. lie has volunteered his evidence
to the committee, giving the result of his examinatiou and ex-
perience.
. .

"From his evidence it appears that he visited eight In-
stitutions of this character in the United States, leaving only
fnie unvisited at St Francisco he &leo visited one in Canada.
All of these are regulated by charter, or by some Act of in-
corporation, and are managed by committees They com-
prise all that exist as wholly public or as partly private in-
ebriate asylums on the American continent, and all except
two received contributions and support from the State.
Nevertheless, they originated either with societies or hidl-
viduals actuated by philanthropic motives, and are partly
maintained by them."