Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1882-10-13
TIE PROBLEM OF INSANITY.

sign OF tue tlmtS not less remarkable
than discOuragiug Is the enormous increase
of insanity IN this State. In 1861 the cost
to the State of maintaining its beneiiciarlcs
u the State Insane Asylum at Brattlcboro
was only triilc more than five thousand
dollars -SjOGj. In 1866 the cost had
sprung up to sic ,623; and it increased at a
rapid rate every year until it reached $50
345 in 1851, or seven times as much as in
1861 Ian increase of seven hundred per
cent in II score OF Yeas. And for lsS2 the
cost was still more, reaching the com
pardtivcly enormous sum OF s3,, l9S.
This astonishing increase in cost is of
course caused by the increase in the number
of State beneliciarics. The report OF the
trustees Of the asylum in August, 1861, show
ed that the institution contained AT that time
1874 State bencticiaiics In 1850 the number
was over three hundred 305. For the cur
rent year the figures are not at hand, at the
moment of writing, hut nqsmuch as the cost
to the State has increased by nearly eight
thousand dollars it is fair to presume TINT the
been proportonatcly large.
OF course percentage of this pOrtentOus
increase in the number of oar insane may be
accounted for by the facts that many Of these
unfortunate people who II generation ago
were permitted to 20 at large or
to lind Il precar,ous refuge in the aims
| house are now sent to the asylum, and
that II few are supported in the
institution who do not properly belong
| in the State and have no real claim upon it,
But after every allowance is made, such II
growth OF insanity is still evident as to be
well calculated TO excite the anxiety Of
thoughtful people, Aud iii to be borne in
mind that there has been no such increase in
our population as to account on natural pin
cples for this undesirable gain in insane
people For the pas ten years Vermont
has simply held its own, in the matter of
population and the cause of the uutoward
state of affairs commented on must be sought
elsewhere 1t is by no means sporadic
case, confined to Vermont. Insanity is on
|
prepared statistics show that in the decade
1870 so, while the population of the United
States gained % per cent, the increase
in the number of tie insane was 100 per
OF these people in the country, or more than
double the capacity of all the asylums that
an annual expenditure of twelve millions of
dollars is required TO maintain the inmates of
the public insane asylnms; and that the
number of the insane and the proportion of
incurablc cases are constantly increasing.
| The explanation OF this remarkable state of
affairs, generally speaking probably lies III
the increased hardness and bitterness OF the
struggle for life the social and religious fer
mcnt of the times the mama for gambling,
| in its ten thousand forms the rush TO the
great cities and the overtaXing of the ner-
vous system to which AL these things lead
From the choicest of these evils no commu-
nifty, however quiet and remote, is entirely
free: and their results follow just as surely
among the green hills of Vermont MS any
where.
But it is hardly within the province of Il
newspaper to discuss II question which can
be satisfactorily settled only by medical ex.
perts, if at all and we close our considera-
ton of the matter by reference to practical
point connected with 1.-THE recommended
ton in Governor Barstow's message that the
"harmess incurablc insane should be- re-
turned from the asylum 10 their respective
towns, to he cared for by them In this
recommendation we are entirely unable to
concur. An insane person may he harmless
to-day and the most bloodthrsty of maniacs
tomorrow. The thirst for blood may re-
main dormant for years and then suddenly
break out with the rapidltv and fcrocity with
which the tiger leaps upon his prey. That
was n "harmless, incurable" insane man in
that little country village in Caledonia coun-
ty, IA few years ago, who was AS quiet us n
lamb for years, until one fine morning when
he arose and DIFFERENTIATED his entire family
and made complete job of his bloody work
by committing suicide. And our argument
is pointed by host of similar cases in the
past and present history of our Common
wealth. There is no safety for the commu-
nifty while these people roam at large or even
while an amshouse gives them shelter. 1t
was not long ago that an inmate of one of