The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1877-01-13

sane, who could BE- cured # proper!
| treated, in the early stages Of insanity
: The cost Of keeping lunstlcs in jail II
|; also far greater than at the hospital. YOU
will sec from the Auditors report thai
the sum of $l5.49O72 was expended dur.
ing the last fiscal year for the support Of
lunatics in jail. Humanity and econo
my both seem to demand that room
should be provided for new cases either
by the erection Of additional buildings at
the hospital, or by removing or making
some other disposition of the hopelessly
insane patients. have therefore in
vited the attention ct the legislature to
this subject, and, at the risk of repeating
matter of former messages, l now recur
to it. My thought is briefly this: That
the primary idea in the establishment OF
! the hospital is the cure of the insane, and
IN the second place the confinement and
| maintenance of lunaties who are so vio-
lent as to make them dangerous. There
are, however, in the institution many
persons permanent insane, but simple
, harmless and Inoffensive. Some OF them,
have been insane tor years, and there is
no prospect of their cure. 1t is rather
an asylum than a hospital The number
o cures eiec ted is very small when
com pared with other hospitals. In say
| ing this l do not mean TO reflect on the
skill of the officers. The difficulty is
tina. when many of the patients reach
the hospital they have passed the stage
when they could have been successfully
treated. The fault Is in the system.
There should in sll instances be .roomfor
new patients. If the hospital be full,
then harmless patients, who can receive
no benefit by remaining longer could be
discharged or otherwise disposed OF, so
as remaining TO afford room for new ap-
| plicsnts. l do not mean, of course, TO
suggest that this unfortunate class be
simply turned out Of doors, and no
further care be taken OF them, but a. it
has cost the State so tar nearly SLOW TO
furnish room for each patient, l do mean
that this class of patients can be as we'll
and much more econimicslly provided
| for in some other way. On the other
hand, Is it is difficult TO define the boun-
Diary between sanity an insanity; patti
| ents somewhat erratic or afflicted with
nervous diseases not rendering them in
sane may be admitted improperly. l,
therefore, invite your attention to TINS
subject, believing that some beneficial
changes may be made in the present law:
The report of the directors, which Will
be laid on your tables, presents the
! condition of the hospital and its e1pen-
ditures They ask for S6O,S4e for cur
rent expenses, 5000 for the transporta-
ton of patients for the present year, and
the samefor the next year. They also
ask for 81 900 to finish the englne-house.
THE DEAF. DUMB AND BLIND ISsT1TU-
70 special legislation is needed for
the Deaf, Dumb aud Blind Institution,
other than the customary appropriations
All necessary buildings have been erect
ed. and nothing more will be needed for
some wears for construction purposes.
The report of the Regents gives the his
tory, condition, wants and expenditures
of the institution for the past two years
The improvement in Its condition Is sui
fcient evidence Of the fidelity and intel
J lirence with which the Regents have
discharged the trast imposed on them,
The number of pupils in attendance last
session was SIS, of whom % were deaf
mutes and 10 blind.
Appropriations of $50, 900 for current
expenses, repairs and furniture, and OF
$4,000 for additional ground, are asked
| for.
THE UNIVERSITY.
The Regents of tho University report
that .the attendance has not been quite
so large as in some former years, but IN
this respect the University has suffered
in common with nearly every other
school of high grade, from the long con-
| ,lnued depression in all financial and
business enterprises. A President has
not vet been chosen; meeting
of the Regents. however, has
been called for the purpose
of making an appointment. You will
ind in their report, which will be laid
before you statements OF the condition.
wants and expenditures OF the institu-
ton. They ask for the present fiscal
year appropriations that amount to
sl7.724, and tor the next year appro.
pristions amounting to $4,000. They
request an additional appropriation OF
$4,000 for each Of these years, for the es-
adjustment OF departments of law, medi-
cine and normal instruction. l cannot
recommend this additional appropriation.
| Ample facilities for instruction in the
learned professions are TO be found in
the country, there is, therefore, no press.
| ing necessity for law and medical de-
| partments. A medical school, TO be sue
cess.ul, must have 3 full corps OF pro-
fessors, and be supplied with aids to in
struction, which cannot De found in q
village, and this is in measure, true OF
a law school. A single chair IN the
department Of medicine, and one in the
department of law, could not furnish the
hind OF instruction that may be obtained
elsewhere, and, therefore, would fail to
procure the attendance OF students. A
portion of the revenues OF the Institution
is derived from the proceeds Of land
! granted BY act OF Congress for the es-
adjustment Of school Of Agriculture
and the useful arts. The tendency here
totore has been to drift away from the
original design. think good faith re.
auires that any changes that may be
made IN its organization, should tend
to make it scientific and polytechnic
school rather than university IN the
proper sense ofthe term. The creation
of departments of law and medicine
would be = still wider departure from the
original plan Of its establishment. Be
sides these considerstions,thep present con-
di,ion OF the Treasury will not permi!
apv experiments of the character recon-
mended by the Board. So tar as the
department of normal instruction is con-
cers ed, il Is sufficient 10 say, that the
State has already established six normal
schools elsewhere, and there Is no neces-
sity for any futher provision OF this kind,
in fac, it has long been sserious question
whe, her the normal schools cannot be re.
duced without detriment 70 the public
service. The university can best meet