St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1873-07-18

recommend the passage by the next
Legislature of some law with severe
penalties attached. that these abuses
NAV be corrected
The committee advise a radical
change in the laws regulating the adj
mission of patients, as under the pres
ent statute the medical examiner is ap-
pointed by the Court of Chancery of
Windham county, whose certificate of
the insanity of a patient is taken as
conclusive proof. While the superin-
tendent OF the asylum was himself the
examiner, CDR. Rockwell. senior.} one
Joseph \. Stockton was confined in the
Asylum. Afterwards Stockton was
brought before Judge Picrpoint on
writ of hobeds corpus, and at that hear
ing
William Rockwell. Jr.. on behalf of
the asylum, produced what puIported
to h" the original certificate of DIR.
Rockwell. Sen, certifying to Stockton's
insanity. which paper WAS dated. as of
the date of Stockton's admission as Il
patient and claimed through counsel,
that the certificate under the statute of
lS55 was a bar to further proceedings.
Judge Pierpoint So held and recOmmit-
ted Stockton without any examination
as to his sanity OF insanity. Stockton.
being citizen of another state. applied
to the lnitcd States Courts for relief.
which was afforded him and he was
discharged. DIR. William Rockwell. Jr..
III his testimony before the committee.
admitted that he dated the certificate
back that it was Il copy; that the
original was not in his possession and
that i'll fact he never. to his knowledge.
had seen the original. and that this pa
per on which Stockton was recommittcd
was made after he (Stockton) had cS-
capped from the asylum. We deem the
foregoing fact sufficient commentary
on the statute of lS55."
The committee say they are satisfied
that persons have been admitted to
the asylum who were not insane"
They found the food good in quality
and abundant in quantity. But they
are satisfied that the modern improve
ments which are in use at Concord and
Northampton have not been adopted in
Vermont. and recommend earnestly the
erection of Il State Asylum. to he ''un-
der the watchful eye of the good people
of the state.
notwithstanding this on the whole
quite unfavorable report of the com
mittee. they close with the following
statement which must in a measure
counteract all that goes before it: 'lour
committee find that the death rate
among the patients ut this institution
has been less for ten years past than at
at any other institution of the kind III
New England. except the New llamp-
shire one at Concord, and but small
per cent. above that"
In brief review of this report in the
Brattleboro PhenjJ. which may, we sup
pose. he understood to speak III a meas
IRE for the asylum, it says:
| From what is said in regard to pun
ishments, it would appear that the
committee had accorded some weight
to testimony which was not wholly re
liable. That bathing as q punishment
is. or ever has been, administered to
patients, or that punishment i'll any
form is an established feature of this
institution, will hardly he credited ON
the strength of the testimony adduced.
In referring to the Stockton case. and
the opportunity for fraud and chican-
cry of which the committee speaks.
the same paper as above says:
In connection with this talk about
fraud. it may he well to recollect that
neither DIR. Rockwell nor the truS cc-
of the asylum were i'll any degree to he
pecuniarilv benefited thereby. The
trustees derive no compensation for
their services whatever, and the super
intendent receives stipulated salary.
and a small one ut that. As IA matter
of fact. the pay received from the 3OO
Vermont patients in the asylum fol
; some years past, has fallen short of the
actual cost of their maintenance, and
the loss has been made up from the
larger compensation received for pa
tients from other states. Yet in the
conscientious discharge of their trust
the officers have never refused to re-
ceive patients from Vermont. while
hudreds of applications from people
outside the state have been refused be-
cause of insufficient accommodations.
We presume the committee did theil
duty cOnscientiously, and although some
of the facts adduced are affected by the
explanations referred to above, the
ventilation of this matter will result in
good to the unfortunate patients whose
misfortune makes their detention in
, insane asylums necessary or desirable.