Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1869-05-05

In accordance with House ResOlu-
tion No. 274, by Mr.. Ritezel, which is
as follows, viz:
Z WHEREAS, The Investigation oi
the Board of State Charities, made in
I reference to the condition of county
infirmaTies, reveals the fact that very
imperfect and insufficient provision is
made in nearly every county in the
State for the care, comfort and posi-
Bile restoration to society of that most
unfortunate class of inmates, desig-
mated and regarded generally as ineu-
rably insane therefore,
= HResolVed, That a committee offive
members of this House, whose expe-
rience better qualities them for the
duty, be appointed to make inquiry
and consider the propriety and neees-
sity of providing means for the great
er comfort and more humane treat
ment Of those. persons supposed to be
incurably insane, and that the said
committee be requested to report at
its earliest convenience, by bill or 9TH
erwise, to this House ~
Il, The committee appointed under
said resolution offer the following:
Report Of Select Committee on the Con-
olitiOR and Management OF the ChrO79A
&c Insane Of Ohio.
Your committee, appointed to in
quire into the condition and best mode
of caring for the chronic insane of
this State, beg leave to submit the fol-
lowing as their report:
From the investigation we have
given the subject, we are satisfied that
there are large number of the above
named classi IN the State, whose wants
are very poorly provided for, and
whose condition imperatively de-
mands the consideration of the Gen.
eral Assembly. We are also fully
convinced that some definite plan
should be adopted which will in future
provide for the wants of this large
and constantly increasing, class. We
have no data by which we can deter
mine with certainty the exact num-
Der unprovided for; but according to
the best estimates we are able to make,
there are now many hundreds confin-
ed in the jails and infirmaries of the
different counties, and many hund-
reds more in familiesOr rambling from
plhCC " DldCEs W llO ElfOulNl Dt GOlA-
signed TO some suitable and conve-
nient retreat, where their wants will
be cared for, and the community pro-
tected from their often dangerous
presence. .
According to the census returns on
this subject, the proportion of insane
to the whole population in Ohio is
about in $50 or 740, or an aggregate
of at least 200. In the different jails
andinfirmaries in the State there are
now about $50 insane persons, some of
them in a most deplorable condition,
chained in damp cells and shut up in
filthy, ab0minable cages, where the
last spark of humanity is eXtinguish-
ed, and driveling idiocyfOr furious
madness become hopelessly confirm
ed. The condition of this class, and
that of many who are scattered around
in private families, is a standing dis
grace to the State and a reproach TO
our civilization.
At the present time less than 500 of
the insane under State supervision
are provided for in the three asy-
lums, and when the Athens asylum
is completed the number will be less
AAldh L-OU. Il NCllNlaA ElEN
should be erected with a capacity of
500, it is supposed that the most pres
sing wants of this unfortunate class
would be met for time; but expert
ence proves that the proportion of
lunatics, and especially the incurable
lunatics, is constantly increasing as
communities and States advance in
years.
In the six New England States, for
instance, the census reports showed a
proportion of lunatic to every 440 in
habitants, while the average in the
six newer Western States, Ohio, Indi-
ana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin
and Iowa, the proportion was ! to
every 1853.
When we look over the annual re-
ports of insane asylums in this and
other States, we are struck with the
fact that among the number reported
as discharged, there are always num-
Der marked as upimprOUed. In a
series of years ending in 1868, there
were discharged from the New York
State Lunatic Asylum, at Albany s.
1872 patients. and of these 2,2SS were
reported as itnipproUed, or a propOr-
ton of more than one-fourth. From
the Asylum at indianapolis, out of
2,O9O discharged, sol were reported as
tJaiHprOUed, or nearly in the same
proportion.
The reports from the Central Asy-
lum, at Columbus, show in so wears
2,704 discharges Of patients recovered
and 500 unimproved, or proportion
of 25 per cent. as discharged amin
PrOUed; while the three Asylums un-
der the State control, viz; the North