Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1886-06-17

Muscoda ....-....... Jacob Bremen.
Paris .........,....s.-..,....E. Marvel.
Patch Grove. ........ John Lewis, Sri
Platteyille ...,...4.... John Macarthur.
Potosi 49,. ..... ..... John j. Tobin.
Smelser. .....,........... Arthur Doyle.
Waterloo. ..........s+ Archie Brown.
Matterstown ....,. 49,. -. w. A. Wall.
WlngviIle -. David Thompson.
Moodman .,.,Patrck Glynn,
Nyatuslng ...-....-... -. .Arcns Calkins.
Lancaster City T.. NJ. Lowry.
Platteyille City........-.. W. II. Beebe.
BoscoDel City ..t..s..-- Lon. II. Raka.
bloomington Village d. Z. Brown.
Cassvlle Nillagc... :, David Williams.
Hazel Green Village. Thomas Edwards.
Fennimore Village. 80. Gottlieb Wehrle.
A quorum was present. The Chair
made Il statement Of the needs Of the
asylum, the substance of which has been
lately published in this paper. He said
with the addition called for the asylum
could accommodate % more patients
with little more expense for attendants.
The state board have satisfied the COM
mittee on insane that they viii keep
patients in the asylum to the extent of
one hundred, if this Improvement is
made.
Mr. McFall, chairman of the COM
mittee on Insane, said he understood
there was desire on the part of some
of the members TO visit the asylum,
and he thought it better to, defer fur
Their action until the board had ex-
amined the 4sylum for themselves.
Mr.. Elmore, chairman of the State
Board of Charities and Reform, being
called on, said he was glad to meet the
board and get acquainted. From 1858
to 1864 he was chairman of his town in
Waukesha County. In that county
they ran things on an economical scale
Grant County was the only other coun-
ty that compared with Waukesha, aud
Grant was a sort of model to them
He was young then, although no spring
If anything made him angry
it was to have some outsider interfere
In this case he was not here to interfere,
nor because it was his pleasure to do
so, but because it was his duty. In
1875 the state board had asked the leg
islature to provide another asylum,
saying the insane were in poor houses
and jails with disgraceful lack of care.
The legislature said the state couldn t
afford it; it had recently built two
asylums costing 100000 and the
other 100000, and to build another
would bankrupt the state, and they
wouldn't do it. The board then asked
the Legislature to build a hospital for
the chronic insane. The Legislature
asked how much it would cost. The
board said 5000 per head. Some of
the members said they lived in houses
costing less than 5000 and most OF their
did the same The iegis-
lature refused to provide the building.
But without such building, it cost
81 900 head every year 10
keep its insane and that was low
figure, 1t cost New York $1,000 u
head. When he attended the general
conference IN Detroit in 1875 he asked
"What shall we do wit b
our chronic insane ?'' One man re-
piled II am the Oldest superintendent of
an insane hospital in the United States
and | don't know. Five years ago
| thought we cured sos of them now [
know we don't cure 30s The reports
don't show the true state of the case.
For instance, know of One woman
who had been discharged several times
as cured, and when brought back was
reported always as new case.n
Still the Wisconsin legislature held
back, especially the Grant County mem
bers. They were the worst of the lot
to get to vote an appropriation. But
we said, you must do something. Let
the counties build asylums and pay
half the expense and the state the other
half. The legislature said, 1--WE will
do it for if the counties have to pay
half they will be careful of the money!"
The law was passed and Milwaukee
County built very expensive house,
more costly than the state asylum, and
the state had to pay half. Then Dane
County went to do likewise but the
state board refused, on account of the
expense. The county went to the
supreme court for mandamus, to COM
pei the state board to act, but that court
decided that the state board had acted
as far as it could be compelled to.
Their refusal to allow more asylums to
be built on that plan was their action.
Then the present law was passed.
Some of this county board have asked
what guaranty have you that the state
board will continue to furnish occu-
pants for our asylum if we make the
required improvements ? reply. Won
have guaranty in the law that saws no
county shall get anything from the state
for building and providing for the in.
sane, when there is any other sufficient
place to take care of the insane. So no
more counties will build because they
can get nothing from the state for tax
ing care of the insane, and the counties
viii not 60 to the expense for nothing.
So the insane we send to your asylum
will be there until death takes them
away. l cannot conceive any man on
the state hoard so mean as to take
away the insane from county when
the county had built after we had
begged them to do so. If we had had
plenty of room we would not have ac-
cepted the asylums that were in an
imperfect state, but it was the best we
could do. We are not here to bulldoze
this board, as some seem to think. We
are here to do our duty and the best we