Lancaster gazette. [volume] (Lancaster, Mass.) 1828-1830, 1830-02-23

suUJcCt, tOI WHICH, ne balu, no Claim
could be made either of policy or human
|ity. A law Of 1898. gave the power to
two Justices oflhe Peace to commit to a
house of Correction any person whose GO
ing at large might be detrimental to the
peace and safety of the community, there
to be detained, says the statute, +" till he
or she be restored to his right mind, or
otherwise delivered by due course of law"
Another law Of 1916, imposed an obliga-
ton on the Judges Of the Supreme Court,
when grand Jury had refused to indict
or jury of trials to convict an insane per-
son, TO commit him to Jail and keep him
there until his enlargement shall not en-
danger the publick safety, or until some
one should appear to give him release by
becoming responsible for all damages
which he might commit during his insani-
ty. If the human mind had been put to
the task, it could not have devised more
efficient mode Of aggravating the calami-
ties of this class of citizens, or discovered
places of confinement more inauspicious
to their recovery from the. malady. He
would cast no reflection upon the keepers
of our jails when he said they were emf
nently disqualified to hare the supervis-
ion of such persons. Tkey were accus.
toned to deal with men hardened in crime,
who seemed, in setting human and divine
laws at defiance, rather to invoke the
stern severity Of justice, than the forgiy-
ing attributes of mercy. The superin-
tendant of insane persons should not on
ly be humane man, but a man of SCI
ence, physician, and mental philoso-
pher, who would discover the causes of
mental alienation, and restore the powers
of the mind to harmonious action. Our
present system affords no such facilities.
In prison they are shut out from the cheer
ing influences of the external world, cut
off from the kind charities of society, and
deprived of bodily and mental comfort.
Ifthere be any recuperative energies of
mind, their situation such as to destroy
them, and place them without the pale Of
hope. This is not an exaggeration. The
evidences Of its reality are in our posses.
sion. Within this State there are males
and females, some of whom have been
confined for more than twenty years, with
out any ventilation of their cells in sum-
mer, and without coal of fire for their
warmth, and almost without clothing for
their protection from the inclemancies Of
winter, nesting in their own filth, their
eyes glaring with the concentrated pas
sions and agonies Of years. In support of
all his assertions relative to the shameful
condition, in which selfstyled christians
have placed these unfortunate individuals,
he read several extracts from a Report
made to the Legislature in 1917. by spe-
cial committee, Of which the Hon. George
Bliss was Chairman, and also from the
Reports of the Prison Discipline Society.
Since the last session of the Legislature
returns have been made to the Secretary's
office from ia out of $40 towns in the
State. These towns contain less than
one half of the population of the State,
and they shew the appalling number of
29S persons insane or furiously mad
The whole number in this State could
not be less than 500, and the question
now is, whether that number of our fel-
low-beings shall be longer subjected to
the cruel operation of our laws. He would
consider it for moment as a question of
policy, of economy, as if human nature
knew no sympathies, and duty imposed
no obligations. OF the 29S returned,
l6l are in confinement, the aggregate of
whose confinement exceeds a thousand
years. The average expense of keeping
them is $3.50 a week. This expense
such a length of time would amount to
$4,000. 1.-THE $50 in confinement ex-
hibit an aggregate Of more than a thou
sand years. the l56 at liberty might be
safely set down at 500 years. The aver
age expense of these at 81 week would
be $52, 600, which added to the other,
makes $I82, 900. Add this to the sum
of 81 week for what they might have
earned, had they been in health, and we
have loss to society Of 1894 ,OOO-an
estimate predicated on the returns from
only one half Of the population of the
State. Surely the measures proposed
would not only be saving from a vast
amount OF WretcnedneSs, but saving OF
money.
The treatment which this class of peo-
pie had received in past times, was ex.
cusable, since it is discovery of modern
times that insanity comes within the pro-
vince Of medical skill. The condition of
these persons had been neglected in times
distinguished for the. cultivation of SCI
ence and philosophy. because their insani-
~ was considered as special judgement
of Heaven, from which source alone re-
covery could be expected. But the dis
coveries of later times have given the well
come fact, that with appropriate treatment
there may be a greater proportion of re-
coveries than from any other diseases.
This fact was substantiated by the evil
dence given in before the House Of Peers
in 1928. From the returns of 40 Euro.