Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1883-02-08
Needs Amending.


The bill recently introduced in the
assembly to amend certain sections
of the revised statutes and Of the laws
of 1881 and 1882 in relation to county
asylums is, if passed, and its full scope
can be gathered from the published
synopsis of its provisions, likely to work
an acceptable change in the handling
of these institutions. Its tending is to-
ward condensation and simplification
Of the present laws relating to county
asylums; laws, which as they stand at
present, not five men in the state, in
GLIDING their makers, thoroughly under
stand, and not one of the five can ex-
plain so that they can be clearly com
pretended by the average citizen.
The main features of the new bill, as
outlined by the reports made thus far,
are q change of control by placing all
county asylums under the charge of the
County Board of Supervisors where
they properly belong, and making the
appointment of a superintendent who
shall be a physician of repute man
datory.
The evident intent of this last pro-
vision is to insure the care and attention
which this class of patients demand.
BY making the appointment Of a sup
erintendent obligatory the dangers of
the farming u system are removed,
with all its capabilities of abuse
and inhumanity. Dangers which were
acknowledged by the committee intrust-
ed with the letting Of the contract for
the poor and insane in this county when
they exercised their discretionary power
in reletting the same to Mr.. Showalter,
who had proved himself a proper man
for the care of these unfortunates.
The only objections that can be rails
ed to this provision of the bill, as at
present understood, is that portion
which makes the selection of a phvsi-
clan obligatory. In many counties, as
in Grant, the asylum is Immediately
connected with the poor farm. The
proceeds of this farm rightly handled
are such that parties have been able to
contract for keeping the poor at q very
low rate by being allowed the use of
the farm. and have succeeded in laying
by snug sums out of the profits accru-
ing. If these profits are so great under
the contract system, there seems no
reason why the same surplus should
not BE realized under a superintendent
who vas IN equally good manager of
the farm.
Now a good physician is not a good
farmer any more than "a good farmer
is a good physician, The two do not
mix. Therefore the provision that the
superintendent should of necessity be a
physician is one in itself decidedly OBJ
jectionable. Obviously the proper per-
son for a superintendent Is one who
while thoroughly acquainted with the
needs of the position is a practical farm
er, who can get as much out of the land
as possible to assist in paying the run
ming expenses of the institution.
Nor does this in any way operate
against the proper care of the poor un-
~fortunates confined there, Medical at
tendance can easily be secured at a rea-
sonable compensensation. The asylums
being designed for chronic and not acute
eases, a daily visit. at the outside,
would be amply sufficient to give the
patients all the medical attendance nee
essary, and the cost of this would be
lessthan to place physician at the head
of the asylum and then be forced to hire
y practical farmer at n large salary to
run the farm.
Reducedto its simplest factors, there
fore the question to be considered BY
the legislature in the passage of this
bill would seem to be; Is it best to make
mandatory the selection of u physician
as superintendent, forcing the employ
ment of a practical farmer to work the
farm, or leave the selection for superin-
tcndent free, and provide for such med
zeal attendance as needed? Placed in
this light undoubtedly a large major
ity of the counties. which have county
asylums, would decide in favor of the
latter.