Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1876-10-20
From the Springfield Republican.
Insane ASYLUM Reform.

Insane Asylum Reform.
The Burlington FREE Press thinks il L.
necessary for the Republican to show that /
be Massachusetts asylums "do not cure |
ialf as MANY as formerly" in order to make
point in regard to the Brattleboro asylum
We thought we had made point when we
vowed that Dr. Earle, at Northampton, did
1t expect to cure 5 per cent, when the
c.uge against the Brattleboro asylum Is
TIT 1t only cures per cent. In regard to
tn matter Of the former and present cura-
billy Of lunatics in public asylums. there Is
gret danger of being led astray by the simple
tact that formerly the superintendent oil
asyl ms were greatly deceived as to the real
NUN er of their own cures, and that they
weut,n deceiying the public Tor some years
after hey had discovered their own mistake
Tor iei- of the adverse consequences OF On
apparHrly diminishing proportion oil Guns;
tOrmely, the Massachusetts asylums, anu
we dou not also Dr. Rockwell, reported as
separate cures the same person at eaen OF
several osmissals from the asylum, perhals
more tina once or twice in the sane year
This Is DC matter Of conjecture but OF re
cord IN tbs State, and hence she decrease IN
the nunbe- Of cures appears 70 be mueh
| greater than it really Is, now that the ao-
count kept accurately.
In re;ard to the general management 81 the
BrattletHo asylum, we may add that olheiAI
visitors from Massachusetts have recently
found tn Institution in high state oil ei-
hciency nd discipline. and accord great
praise to Dr.. Draper for his administration
We believe that some OF DR.. Atwater
conclusion are Of value not against the
Brttleborl asylam ID parti;nlar, but against
all ssylums " here lunatlcs are copyrighted
and confined in large numbers. we nave
presented, this week, an interesting report
on the Willard asylum IN New York, where
about !, 100 insane people IRE scattered about
ever Z farm of four or five hundred acres
/ Without doubt. Vermont could greatly Ia
prove the condition OF her insane by proyld-
ing item with retreats where they could be
atIendd in eyer numbers and employed, so
far as tiey were able. in the open air or at
light mehanical industries. IL might not
be any AeaIer. for Ianpers, than II Is to
board themet Brattleboro, but 1t seems 10 US
to stand 10 rason that The chances OF cure lur
an insane poison are rot increased by comm
ing him in a ward with other insane, without
mployment for the most part and elso without
association wuh sane people. Especially
must this be uue Of rural community
though We d0lbi not it holds good 10 a
great degree 10 Massachusetts. where we
have looli-hl, gone On multiplying congre-
gational asylms.
We do not therefore, deprecate dissGts
faction with h, Brattleboro asylum, though
we would di-eu it against the system OF
which il Is representative rather than
against the pdsonnel of lis administration
We should HE to see the State OF Yer
mont take tie lead IL reform IN the treat
ment Of lupadcs, either by establishing al
ASYLUM on Tho Willard plan, or even by Z
still more -atral departure III the drecii1;
OF the -ystm pursued at Ghcel, IN Belgium
where & whole community Is set apart t,
the keepirg q lunatics, the patients Twin!
in the ianllis OF the inhabitants and par
ticiratinc in The Industries OF the district
all under governmental supervision. o
course. urCyii0n should be made FOR In
constant srysillance Of al insane Of th
class liable 70 violent outbursts, and Tor III
regularity Of diet, medication and employ
ment. mu.e u les, Of all, but We helie'
these ends can he accomplished with muc
les ass0cfii0u Of insane win insane. uuc
les personal restraint and enforced IDLE
ness. and on the whole. with greater -u'
cess. al n greater cost. certainly. than MOI
charac,erfe- the best congregational asl
lum-
The COMPARISON with the Norihampto
asvlum l. respect TO the percentage
cures is hardly d fair one. for the rcasa
that the Northampton asylum j. large
filed viii incur4b.es, transferred TO 1t iroi
the other asylums Of the State A. g. o.
mi-concepion noted by the hspasI-G
arising firm deceptive registration 40 io
. mc- wears we believe there is % room &.
it as regards the Bra,tieh1ro asylum. W
understand the system OF registration thci
10 he the same a. formerly L Iaiiei
has Two admissions. and j. twice discharge
.cured r O. vear. both The admissions az
discharge appear now. as they always hav
10 tue register Aud the ratio % cur
o. admissions remains the same as % 10 hs
been q single admission and single eur
The remarkable decrease Of care az Bratt.
boro. ID W are correctly informed, can be c
= planned in no such way. And what say &
Rplf aeon 10 the astounding increase OF q
proportion Of deaths az Bratileporo u
R.gu 4-cr is very silent on that point.
IL Will turn 10 Dr Earle's report, IL Wi. *
that the percentages o. deaths az the NoEt
hampton institution 30 tie first seven zee
Of it- history was Gs9 per coo and durH
the last seven wears has been = - per cen
while ~ Brattlch0ro. the rate OF mortallt
i beginning az l. YER e~nr w '-- 49, =
cade. hs- increased % -V-iV Ie- cent !
the last decade In other words, while Z
death raie O., Northampton has diminish
B third. it has increased twice and haA
Brattloboro Non.e explanation Of this G
irsordinary difference is called for The
has been DO epidemic az Bratte5oro. WI
is the death rate So largo much larc
than Of old, and SO much lafger than
other wol-ordered insane hospitals 7
! rest of the Replt lcon s article j. an ind0r-