Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1883-03-22
The Old Story.

The Old Story.
In reply to THE HERALD the Milwau-
kee Sentinel simply reiterates the claim
that the county system of caring for
the insane is fraud. BY the county
system the Sentinel evidently means
where the asylum is under the control
of the county authorities. Yet the
Kidd bill, which the Sentinel so strong-
ly and strangely denounces, expressly
provides for the removal of the control
from the hands of the board of super
visors and its change to the hands of a
board of trustees who shall be residents
of the county.
The Sentinel SAYS the system is abom-
Unable. Granting for the moment that
ii is. Why then does that journal OPP
pose bill which seeks to remedy the
evil
The Sentinel tacitly admits the charge
that it has persistently praised the Mil
waukee county asylum and justifies its
support by saying that the success of
the institution is remarkable; but, adds
the Sentinel, "The Milwaukee institu-
ton is in no sense a county asylum, and
the county authorities have absolutely
nothing to do with it. 1t is success
because of this
Why then does it oppose a bill which
seeks to place the other counties of the
state on footing with Milwaukee
county. If the Milwaukee asylum is
success because the county authorities
have nothing to do with it, as asserted
by our contemporary, what is to hinder
asylums in other counties attaining
the same plane of success? The Kidd
bill simply seeks to place the institu-
tions built and being built in the differ
ent parts of the state for the care of the
chronic insane on the same favored
footing as the Milwaukee institution,
Yet the Sentinel, that approves the one,
denounces the other. 1t will take more
than few words of explanation to re-
concile these apparent contradictions.
The Sentinel says again that several
counties have undertaken the expert
ment of caring for their insane land
until their experience is large enough
to be valuable, there ought to be no
further encouragement to counties to
build asylums," and in order to make
this experience the more valuable, it
wishes to crush out everything that
would assist in obtaining a favorable
result from the alleged experiment.
Still the Sentinel objects to beng call
ed selfish.
If the Sentinel so wishes The HERALD
will admit that the ''poor house"
system of county asylums, as contem-
plated in the law of 1881, bears on its
face the germs of failure. 1t is with
these facts before it that it urges the
passage of the Kidd bill, providing for
board of trustees who shall have en-
tire charge of the asylum and who shall
be responsible for the management of
the institution in the county from
which they are appointed.
In the cases cited by the Sentinel in
support of its position, the poor house
system has plainly been the one under
which the asylums have been operated.
This first throws the management into
the hands of twenty or thirty men.
who are generally entirely unacquaint-
ed with the needs of the institu-
tons over which they exercise au-
thority; second, meeting once a year,
and then only for few days, they have
no time and less inclination to go into
details. Abuses, unless they are glar-
ingly outrageous, are easily covered up,
soothing report is presented by COM
mittee appointed for the purpose, and
the real, practical needs of the institu-
ton are left unknown and unprovided
for.
The bill under discussion does away
with all this. The asylum is taken out
of the hands of the irresponsible many
and put into the hands of the RESPONSE
bic few The power is concentrated
into the hands of board, who, while
having power to act promptly whenever
required, are directly responsible not
only to the county but to the state
board appointed to the supervision of
these institutions, in this case the State
Board of Charities and Reform. This
board of trustees, as provided in the
bill, shall consist of three members, one
to be appointed by the Governor and
two to be elected by the county board.
These trustees shall hold Office for three
years, one going out of office each year.
The bill is simply a combination and
Improvement of the best parts of the
law under which the Milwaukee county
ASYLUM was built and the law of 1881.
1t in fact provides against the evils
which, as alleged by the Sentinel, have
aroused the opposition of that paper.
1t is bill carefully drawn, and meets
the exigencies and requirements of the
present departure squarely, and in a
competent manner. 1t is not claimed
that the bill is infallible, nor is it cure
all for every species of disease to which
the system is subject, but it does meet
the necessities which have presented