The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1873-07-08

Report OF Legislative Investigating
Committee.

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The Joint Committee to whom was re-
ferred io;nt resolut;on of the Senate and
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mouse Vi Hepreseh'"0'es' Al i."''Vr " W.
conduct ana management OF the vermont
Asylum for the Insane, located at Brattle-
boro in tho couptv of windham. and who
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~ 49,
Senate and House OF Representatives 10 re-
port to your Excellency, on or before the
first dav of .Iulv next. after the adjourn
e 1T, ,,.,o 1Jousos of tbo J,eg;s
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nture, beg leave TO make tne ioiio"i"s ~
mort:
Tho testimony introduced before your
COMMITTEES IN behalf of the people and on
,ho ,,art ~ tho ASYLUM was very voluminous
o., n,,ch en- that its publication would ne
cossitatc the printing OF very considerable
volume. and very much of it would hardly
he nroftable reading 1t has been carefully
examined and candidly considered by us,
and we deem il best to embrace only our
conclusions deduced from that evidence.
II was A matter of surprise to some members
of your committee to learn at the inspec-
tion of their investigation at the ASYLUM
was not the property of the State, but a
priyate CORPORATION; we deem it best, there
fore in order to place the matter under
stapdinply before the people to give brief
history of its origin and statement of the
aid il has from time to time received from
the State. In 1884, Mrs. Anna Marsh, of
Hinesdale. N. H., by will bequcathcd the
sum of ten thousand dollars in trust for the
purposc of founding Hospital for the in
sane, as will be seen from the following OK
tract of her will:
~ give to Samuel Clark, John Holbrook,
Epaphronitus Seymour, John c. IIolbrook,
ali of Brattleboro, in the county of Wind
ham, and their successors, ten thousand
dollars. in trust, for the purpose of erecting
and supporting i'm the county of Windham,
near the Connecticut River, Il Hospital for
the relief of Insane persons, and in case of
the decease of one or more of said Trustees,
the survivors shall. from time to time, fill
all vacancies, and the said Trustees, being
four in number, shall forever hereafter
have the sole superntendence and direction
of said Insane Hospital And it is my will
that said Trustees procure an Act of incor-
.poration as soon as may be after my de-
cease"
In Nov. 1884, the Legislature passed an act
cooperating the "Vermont Asylum for the
Insane" which act, in words, followed very
nearly the language of Mrs. Marshs
will. This act is referred to and made
mart of this report. In 1885, the State, by
the act of their Legislature, gave ten thou
sand dollars to be paid in five annual in
stallments of two thousand dollars each In
1886 the State granted an additional two
Thousand dollars. In 1887 four thousand
dollars. In 1910 two annual installments
of two thousand dollars. In 1913 three
thousand dollars, making in all twenty
three thousand dollars. We do not find
since the giff in 1913 by the State of three
thousand dollars that any considerable dona-
ton has been made to the institution by the
State or bv any corporation or by private
individuals, hence the present property of
the institution has grown from the fund of
thirty-three thousand dollars. received pre-
vious to 1874. In 1862 the centre building
and wings of the institution were burned
They were Immediately rebuilt. and again
occupied in 1864. The expense of rebuild
ing was about forty thousand dollars. The
whole cost of the institution as reported
by the Commissioner for the Insane, in his
Biennial report of 1872. was 1924 $50 90.
including twelye-hundred acres of land
The present value of the property, as es-
timated by Gov. Holbrook. one of the
Trustees, Is $500, 200 90. Your committee
estimate it at very considerable excess
of that amount. The interest OF the State
in this vast property is simply that by the
acts of 1910 and l843, if it ceases to be an
Insane Asylum the State have lien upon
it for the security for the twenty three
thousand dollars heretofore invested. The
property is owned by private corporation,
the Trustees of which are Asa Reyes, N. b.
Willston, Frederick Holbrook and Daniel
Kellogg.
The Trustees, while refusing to recognize
any authority in your committee, yet afforded
them free access to all parts of the build
ings and grounds, and inspection of the
records and other papers of the institution,
and treated us with uniform courtesy. In
the progress of our investigation, besides
visiting the Asylums at NORTHAMPTON, Mass,
and Concord, N H., Gas directed by Joint
resolution of the Legislature,) we visited
the ASYLUM at Brattleboro on three different
occasions, viz. Oct. 18th, 1872; Nov. 10th,
1872; and June oath, 1873 At the time of
our first visit, we found the number of pa
tients at the Asylum to be four hundred
and eighty -fve--a number, as the commit
tee believe, and as the officers of the insti-
tuition admit in their testimony, far too large
for the capacity of the buildings comforta-
bly, to provide in this view, your committee
is sustained by the testimony of Commits
siOner Bullard who fixes three hundred pa
tienrs as the maximum number which (the)
asylum could accommodate. About seven
ty-fve of the patients were, at the time of
our visit, confined in underground apart
ments which were damp, unwholesome, and
entirely unfit for occupation by human be-
ings. The sleeping apartments in this un-
derground portion. were small, illy ventila-
ted, warmed and lighted. The sleeping
apartments of the males being altogether
too small. while some of those in the female
ward were only nine feet in depth by four
in width, and eight in height, opening into
narrow hall and ventilated only by eight
two inch augur holes bored through the
door. About midway of the length of one
of these lower wards, and at the end of
another ward and at the side are sinks which
receive the urine and slops from the wards