Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-08-25
A BURDEN.
ONE OF THE PRACTICES THAT MAKE
OUR STATE TAXES HIGH.

MANY wealthy Patients Kept In Our
State Insane Hospital. without Ex-
pense to Thorn or Their Families, While
che Insane Poor Must BE Maintained
BY tho Countiea-
The increase in the number Of insane
in Illinois, which is much greater inpro-
portion than the increase in population,
presents a serious problem for the con-
sideration Of the tax payers Of the state.
The state institutions for the care of these
unfortunates are all full, while the poor
houses in nearly ever county in the
states contain many more. Every sue
ceeding legislature is asked to appro-
pirate money for increasing the capacity
of the present institutions or for build
ing new ones and thoughtful men are
asking where shall we find the limit to
this expense which is being forced upon
us. It seems from an investigation of
the methods Of the State Board of Chari-
ties and the managers of the insane asy-
lums that they are responsible for the
weight of this public burden.
The state furnishes everything that a
patient requires excepting clothing. II
the patient is a pauper the county from
which he is sentm must clothe him, while il
he or his family have means they must
supply him with clothing and on his adj
mission to an asylum a bond must be
given to. that effect. This divides the
patients into two classes, commonly
called pauper patients and bond
patients. When the quota to which q
county is entitled in any asylum is filled
the authorities will not take a new
patient unless an old one is taken away.
The practice seems to have been, almost
invariably, to discharge pauper patient
who must be taken to the poor house
in the county from which he was sent,
and the result has been the filling up Of
the poor houses by pauper patients while
the state asylums are filed largely with
bonded patients, many OF them wealthy
or with wealthy relations. 1t does not
seem a wise policy for the State to take
charge and maintain at public cost
class of patients whose families are well
able to bear the expense, yet this is be-
ing done right along while the same tax
payers are paying for keeping the pau
per patients at the poor house. If the
asylum managers were to discharge bond
patients instead of paupers when a coun-
tvs quota is over-run, the families of
the bond patients would have to care for
them in private institutions and thus re-
heve the state of this great and growing
expense, and enable it in turn to relieve
the counties from the pressing burden
now upon them in the care of their pau
per insane. The State Board of Chari-
ties which controls these matters is of
course anxious to increase the number
and size of the institutions under its
charge as it thereby increases its own in
fluence, an influence which is boldly as
serted is used freely for political purpos-
es. AT every session of the general as
sembly this board is on hand pleading
for increased appropriations for the
care of the insane, when it lies in it's
power to cut down the bills
which are becoming so large as to be
terrifying. 1t is believed that were the
wealthy patients now in the asylum OF
this state cared for at the expense of
their own estates or that of their fami-
lies that there would be room in the
state institutions for ever pauper patient
now maintained by the county. The
reports of the State Board of Charities
and of the asylums themselves throw
little light on the subject, but when the
party now in power shall be overthrown
the new administration will be able to
correct this abuse, one of the many which
have grown up under the rule of the
Republican party.