The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1870-01-29
PUBLISHED AND EDITED RY)
HENRY NJ. WHITNEY.

novels how, even in a country so well-Ordered q
England, a man may be shut up by fraud in
mad-hOuse. In this country the thing is sti
more easily done. State legislation upon thi
subject is generally Of the loOsest order. A cer
tIhcate of insanity, signed by two physicians,
| enough to shut up the sanest citizen of New
York, without benefit of ha6eaS corpus, in tn
nearest lunatic asyluul. So great an opportunit
as this does not fail, from time to time, of beini
misused. Whoever has money and an enemy
especially if the latter is rich and eccentric, ma
succeed, if he will it, in incareerating that enem
in mad-house. The feeble-minded rich reid
tive, the irritable father-in-law (as in the reced
case of Capt. Richard Meade Of the United Stas
Navy or any person who has adroit and 1-
ignant enemy, may be torn from home withIt .
benefit of jury, and shut up in prison witBut !
any definite limit to his sentence. So TOsrul /
is fraudulent certificate of insanity.
Such unjust incarcerations have repeatedlylap-
pened in this country; more frequently thu is |
generally known, yet far less frequently thaIthe |
shameful laxity of the law would lead us tex
pect. The need of its reform is pressing.
The Blackwell's Island Lunatic ASYLUM has
not. to my knowledge, been accused of unjrstly
were to credit the assertions of many of its pa,t
tlents, such company Of wickedly abused me,
was never before gathered together Hereis eie
who assures you that he has been incarceatet in
order to ALLEVIATE his property. You listen 'ith
serious attention and begin to think tha his
estates and his grievances may be real when
suddenly ne begins to tell you how he conealed
his doubloOns under the pavement of einity
Church, and how he earned them bv transactions
at the gable end of creation Here is another
man who claims to be the rghtful Emperjr of
Iartary, and shows you certificates from the
Russian Court and the great seal of Prince Ecn-
Lun Another patient prays you to intercele in
his behalf with the Prince of the Poyer of
Darkness; and another introduces himseI to you
rs one OF the original fallen angels who lost their
'eats with Lucifer. The most frequent delusion
N the asylum is that of believing ones self to
De Christ. About seven per cent of the patients
claim this title. Some of them plead tearfully
With you for your influence towards efecting
heir escape; and it is impossible, after all, to
void the suspicion that there may be among
hese lunatics some persons of mental sanity.
hn Ihe nIo@I-e9 Of the demented so frequently
'''quent, and rational that tir--rII; and
- col sometimes, to discriminate the plea of
sound mind from the entreaty of the proven in
,ane. 1t would be an interesting experiment to
introduce we'll men, against their will, into GER
tain lunatic asylums, and see whether, and how
soon, they could argue themselves out Of confne-
ment The chances are that with medical testi-
mony and the presumption of actual commlttal
against them, they would not regain their
liberty.
Nearly 1000 patients treated at this hos
pital last year. Of these 500 were discharged.
The deaths were 40 in number. Only 14l OF
the 600 patients admitted during the year were
born in the United States. 346 came from Ire
and. 80 from Germany, and the rest from many
,ther countries.
The supply of work is insufficient for the pa
ients they restricted to gardening, improv-
ng the roads of the island, and making and |
epairing their garments. The lighting, heating,
md ventilation of the asylum buildings is very
imperfect; and the buildings are sadly crowded.
The unfortunate inmates have an occasional
luxury in the way of music, of which they |
ire very fond. Hooleys Minstres, and other
,umanely-dsposed musicians, give them Occa-
ional concerts. But nothing in this neighbor
nOod-not even the Board of Aldermen-needs |
reformation more than the City Lunatic Asylum.
Another islander left New York for Europe |
Few days ago-AIr. j. j. Jarves, the historian |
and art-critic. His volume Of cart Thoughts" |
Just published, is one of the most eloquent and |
finished contributions to American criticism that |
has yet appeared. CALAMUs.