The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1859-01-13
-RAYENNA, THURSDAY, JANUARY 10, 1852

'ut charge to the State. have no hesito-
ION In recommending the legislation con.
emPlOted by this latter suggestion. The in
nrmation necessary to well grounded
hoice betwe n the 9th sr plans is not yeta &C
;essibe. My impreSsiqn is that the fret will
Ir0ve most economical and most beneicieni;
indeed. alter the completion Of the South
Western Asylum and the enactment Of ju-
iicious law for Private Asylums either shall
oe found necessary.
The condition OF the ldiotic, equally with
hat Of the Insanei must engage the atten.
ton Of the fhilanthropist and statesman.-
A few years ago this hapless class seemed
beyond reach of elFeciuol relief. Recently,
however, atte mpts to rescue them from their
apparently hopeless condition, have been
crowned by results which inspire hope and
encourage perseverance. The judicious hu.
manity Of the last General Assembly inau.
gurated systematic plaii fot their instruc
tion and improvement, which has been so far
executed under your auspices, that ultimate
success is no longer doubtful. 1t is not, in.
deed, to be expected that the idiotic can be
elevated to any high degree OF capacity; but.
] very many of them can be qualified to earn
| their own subsistence, and nearly all can be
trained to hubits OF nea,ness and prOprety.
| The whole number OF idiots in the State is
reasonably estimated at about 1000. or
these, 900 are of a proper age to receive in
struction. In the Asylum recently opened
| for their reception, there were. at the Com
mencement oI the present yeus, IS; there
were received during the present year ~
there were discharged 6; there are absent 6;
the number under instruction at the com
mencement ol the present year, was 26; the
average number maintained at the States
expense, 90. J he expense Of the year, ex.
! GLIDING the cost ol permanent improvements
1ad been $3,645 67. The average annual
Expense ot each pupil was $l92 SO. When
the institution is IuI, the annual expense oi
each pupil will be OF course less, aud will
not exceed the average cost otthe uth,r Asy.
lums. The question OF the permanent es-
tHbIishment and location Of the lnstitu'ioY
should be promptly decided. II decided af.
tirmalIVely, provision should be m tde for the
purch'se either Of the property in which it
is temporarily established, or of some other
cite. After careful consideration o. all civ
cuniStauces, think it my duty to recon-
mend the first Ol these alternatives Us most
/. JIdirlou5 and nJHt ecUnUnical.
| Deaf nules constitute another class or
whose cducntiun pubic provision must ne
crrs:ri'y be made: 10 Our State belongs
The honor vi first recognising this principle;
a'd nre'ly thirty years have now el psed
Einle he Asylum was first opened to these
un'Urtnn1tes. The number now in the State
/ Is estimated st 200. o. these, more than
"ne-third nave received Instruction in The
A"ylum, and probably another third are of
sui bile ape Tor ad mission. Or this lakter
: number $50 are in actual enjoyment of its
benz ii's; while 35a are necessarily excluded
( The number 0dmllted during the year was
50, and the sHme Number was discharged -
| The TX penscs vf the Institgtion paid by the
/ S,ute during the last year were So III "a.
i The average cost Of each inmate was SSE4l.
, 'I'hr Importance OF adding TO the instruction
in this sylum, proper training tor sofle in.
dustrial OCCuPatlun, as we'll as tile necessity
ut s ,mu further provision tor those whom its
Limited capacities exclude from admission,
viii doubtless engage your serious consider
! utiUn.
Another class whose situation enlist the
warmest sympathies of every feeling beart,
and invokes irresiStiby the provldent bene.
violence Of the Slute, is the Blind. The to-
tai number OF this class is estimated to be
$40. OF this numb~r about 200 are o prop
! er und legal age for admission tos,he A>y-
, lum. Oi these about 60 have either already
received its benefits, or are though ht by their
friends too young to be sent to it; leaving
lao who should be under instruction. There
were in the Asylum lust year 100; there
were admitted or re-admtted during the yelr
%; the whole number Under it's INSTRUCTION
up 10 its close was l05. The average mum.
Der in daily attendance was "a. The ex-
penseeNex luding $500 for permanent i'm
provements, were $l3,3S7 95, showing an
average outlay for eash inmate OF nearly
$l41.
1t thus appears that the whole number Of
persons rendered inirm and dependent by
detective or diseased organization is 6,O40 !;
that Of these 3,040 ure in conditions requir.
ing provision for them in public or private
institutions; that S47 are actually in the
State Asylums, leaving 2.l93 unprovided
for, except so far as they may iud relief in
County Inirmaries or private families J that
the average number constantly in the Asy-
lums through the list year was 834; the to.
tal cost to the State of their maintenance
during the year was $l25.4l0; that the cost
of each inmate for the year was 1854 that
to provide for those needing, but not now re-
ceiving, the benefits OF the Asylums, at the
same rate, would require an annual addition.
al expenditure OF $337,722, making an Ng-
gregate annual outlay Of $466, 80, and that
these estimates are exclusive Of interest,"
about Ss36 900, on the capital, about $780,
900, invested in the existing Asylums, and
OF the yearly cost Of permanent improve
ments, which was last year about y 1900:
and OF the capital yet to De invested in new
sites and structures, and of the interest upon
that.
No one desires more earnestly than that
the General Assembly may fully discharge
the obligations assumed in the Constitution
by the whole people, to the children OF sor-
row. The duty of fulfilling them is clear,
and the benefits OF it's performance evident.
the social condition OF no people can be
what it should be, while class of guiltless
and helpless victims of physical or mental
disorder remains unrelieved. Nor is the duty
OF relief less imperatively dictated by consi.
derations of philanthropy. The dependent
inirm must be sustained by society in some
form. The only choice is between modes.
And how much better that mode which rais-
es go many OF them from depths OF elPless"
ness aud wretchedness, and makes them self
supporting and even useful members of the
community, than that other mode which
waste resources in titful and inadequate re.
| lief, drops its wretched objects in their sor-
eat mead and inhicta uDon society the mora