Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1876-05-10
THE INSANE.
THE PRESENT STATE MANAGEMENT cRrrI-
CIsED. ff


CIsED. f1
| The annual report Of the board o
public charities, which has been no
Gently issued from the press, fhrnishc
the following information in regard !,
the treatment Of the curable and in
durable insane:
| Under present system Of care, re
gard is to be had to certain principles
of management which will DO rocog
nized by all to be correct. No efior
or advantages, which the progress o.
science and philanthropy afford for thu
care and treatment Of those who arr
durable, can bc disregarded, withou,
mourning the censure of being careless
to most sacred duty.
There is another class, usually term
cd incurable, found in private and pub
lie hospitals, in county almshouses, and
TO some extent, in the care of friends
at their homes, for whom treatment
in essential particulars is entirely dii
ferent. For these cases, which are
generally tranquil, harmless, capeble
Of self care and some service in house
and out door work, it is claimed that
q reasonable amount of personal com
fort is all that is necessary.
1t is asserted that il a State hospital
is to be made receptacle for the lat
ter class, it virtually defeats that pro
vision in the law, which requires q
preference to be given to recent cases
and that the most effectual way tc
stop the increase of insanity is to give
every facility for the prompt treatment
Of those cases which apply for admis-
sion soon after being attacked.
The principle here assumed does not
admit Of controversy. This board has
from the commencement of its over
sight of the neglected condition of this
class, as seen in county almshouses,
uniformly advocated it, and will con.
tinuc TO do 80 as long as sufficient hos.
pital accommodations remain unpro-
vidcd. Whilst every one will be per.
iectly willing to subscribe to the cor.
rectncss Of the views thus briefly
glanced at, it may be well to inquire
to what extent the practice which rcgu-
lates the admission Of applicants into
State insane asylums has been made
to conform to them.
Whilst the State bounty, undoubted,
ly, is designed for the INDECENT insane,
with preference to bc given to recent
over chronic cases, either from acci.
dent or necessity it is practically ig.
norcd, which warrants the conclusion
that ii present hospital accommoda-
tions are reserved for one class only
they would be comparatively vacant,
An examination Of the records OF those
institutions will show these statements
to be correct.
II is shown that about one halt of all
the cases, when admitted into the hos
pitals, are chronic Upon q reference
to these records ii is also found that
at least three-fourths Of the present
population Of these institutions are Of
the chronic class, and kept there from
year to year. II is not to be supposed
that the condition of all is such as TO
admit of their being discharged. Once
there, their continuance in most in.
stances becomes a necessity, which
goes to establish the fact that il is
proper and necessary with certain OK.
ceptions) to provide for all. Look for
moment at this startling fact: The
present number Of inmates In three
State hospitals, viz Dixmont, Harris
burg and Danville, is about 1900. In
reports made to this Office, ITO arc
stated to be durable and 900 incurable
which is fully So per cent. of the whole
number.
To many who have given little at
tention to the subject this statement
cannot fail to occasion surprise. When
considered In connection with the i'm.
portant question as TO the kind of hos.
pital arrangement which may be
deemed suitable and sufficient for the
class by whom our State institutions
arc 80 largely occupied, the inquiry,
doubtless, will arise whether buildings
less palatial, Of palmer and less costly
style, but containing all the necessary
comforts and conveniences, would not
be entirely consistent with what may
reasonably be expected of tho State
and be calculated to correct the tend
cncy to extravagant expenditure in
the construction Of buildings which is
now 80 prevalent. att. %
This is an important question and
involves several considerations having
mutual relations to each other. If tho
State bounty is used so largely for the
chronic and incurable class, who hap.
pen to occupy the present accommo-
dations, upon what principle of moral
equity or right will you exclude others
who have been less fortunate and whose
claims to the benefit of special advant.
ages are equally strong2 What then
is the duty Of the State2 TO which
wo reply, this board has spoken out
right on this subject repeatedly since
its organization, from its first report
until the present time, and has recon.
mended that the State take charge Of
all the insane of the Commonwealth
that are not provided for in private
hospitals. We have shown this Is the
interest of the Commonwealth as well
as Of the afflicted class in whose behalf
we have spoken. wo believe that all