The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1893-12-14
VIRGISIA's INSANE AsYLUms.
Dangerous Experiments with the Insane
Asylums.

TAI Tor the white insane, and she Is tho
oniy one OF them which has eyer nro-
Nioeu asylum accommodations for the OK
elusive benefit OF the negro race. Her
p'ilcy, 70 which no objection has ever
Deen made until now. has been TO make
generous provision for the care and pro-
| tectOn Of her unfortunate children Al
the cheerfully borne expense OF her tax
payers.
But II is now proposed TO reverse this
! policy by protecting the Taxpayer al the
| grievOus cost Of the helpless insane For
| this is the real meaning Of the PROPOSE
| ti0n made by the special commits sioner ap-
pointed 20 investigate the management
OF the insane asylums Of the State They
recommend that all the harmless and in
| durable inmates Of the various institutions
shall be cOngregated in a State work
house.
In deciding the question OF the wisdom
Of such a step. an ounce of experience
is worth many pounds Of theory We
propose therefore TO submit the proposed
plan 10 the test Of the experience Of the
past. which we belive to be Just as abuDd-
anty sufficient to decide it's merits as
an actual trial Of the experiment can
ever be.
Now the whole scheme is obviously
based upon an assumption which is known
10 be wholly false by every one who has
ever come for any length Of time into
personal daily contact with the inmates
Of an asylum The advocates OF the
plan Of segregating the harmless and in
curably insane evidently assume that such
persons are wholly Indifferent to their
surroundings. and wodld as soon be in
an asylum for incurables" as anywhere
else But all experience goes TO show
that this Will prove a fatal and most
md toll 10
tendent. officer and attendant Of any asy-
lum Will testify that most of its inmates
| have a shrinking horror of being removed
| 10 what, In asylum paTlance. is called a
worse ward" Even those Of them whom
a casual visitor would suppose to be hard
| ly. II at all conscious that they were in
| an asylum. know perfectly wei what
such a removal means. None are quicker
than they 10 see that il means less hope
Of final recovery. All who are familiar
with asylum patients know how much
they dread such removal Their fear
Of II often leads them to make conscious
efforts TO put restraint upon their
morbid feelings and TO be as quiet as
rational as well behaved. as they pos
sbly can. II is thus most eTectual
help to their final recovery. Its good
effect is seen even among those who have
been long considered incurable For. eve1
ton left in life-fhe ambition TO be kept
In as good" a ward as possible.
II Is safe, then. TO say that. the news
Of the adoption OF the proposed plan
would I'M every asylum i'm the State, with
Il profounder sorrow than IL has ever
known before familiar as they are. with
suffering and distress. For It would be
for most of the patients breaking up
OF local and personal attachments. which
are. afr@tuo in The fpga ia A Ina tho 90 ma
II would be the ruthless crushing OF their
little remnant OF hope and aspiration
which, because IL is their all i'm life. is
dearer perhaps. 10 them, than greater
ambitions are TO others. II would be
the coming at last Of the doom from
which they have 80 long shI-unk-the
doom Of confinement for life IN a worse
place than the worst ward in any asylum
a place from which the law, by its very
wording would Danish all hope of release
The lawmaker who thinks for one mo-
ment that they would not scan that
wording and know its full meaning. knows |
nothing OF the very class Of people for |
whom he undertakes 10 legislate.
or course, recoveries may take place |
In the wOrkhOuse. But everything about !
such an institution would tend to make |
them less frequent than they are in the |
asylums as now conducted. The number |
and the expense of the attendants i'm the |
latter are urged AS reasons for the pro-
posed change. But this Objection betrays |
"a deplorable misunderstanding of the real /
needs of "A home for the insane. The |
present asylums would be far more sue
cessful in effecting cures il they could |
afford to emIsoy many more attendants
than they do. FOR the duties of an at
tendant are not merely those of a guard
or jailer lie should try I'm every way
TO divert the minds Of his patients from
their morbid trains Of thought. he should
watch for any sign OF returning reason,
and should have the tact and the
patience to nurse the Pickering light Of
intellect that il may not go out in hope
less darkness. There have been Instances
in which a sllilful nurse. paid out of pri-
Vate funds, has taken special charge Of
patient who seemed 10 be bereft Of all
reason, and by unwearied attention, and
efforts to get him out of himself has
succeeded at last in restoring him 10
perfect sanity.
But of course, this sort Of special care
Is Impossible where as in an asylum, an
attendant has 10 look after perhaps
twenty patients. He has too many other
calls upon him to devote himself very
long at time 10 any particular inmate.
Then how much worse will IL bo IN
wOrkhOusc with perhaps fifty inmates
TO each attendant? The former must in
evitably be left TO do the very thing
which 10 is the aim of a well-conducted |
asylum TO prevent their doing namely. |
brooding over their troubles, and compar-
INK notes with each other about them.
The attendant VIII hardly be able TO do
more than the farm hand does when. three
times day. ne throws a basket of corn
TO pen full Of swine.
But It may be said that, as the plan is
10 make the inmates work TO help TO
pay for their support, they Will have less
time than they have now for brooding
over their morbid fancies. But eTperi-
ence must be the test applied here also.
IL shows that the mental and bodily
condition OF the incursbly insane varies
very often. At times they are able and
willing To work. But they often suffer
SO much from purely mental distress
hat IL would be sheer cruelty to put them
10 work, merely because they were physi-
ally able TO do IT, In the asylums the
question of their fitness 10 perform Ia |
'or is left entirely TO a physician, and
wen he cannot decide it rightly without
laily contact with them, and constant |
Watching OF their symptoms. But this
yill be evidently impossible where. as is
,ropofed. a thousand or more patients
viii be under the care Of a single ply |
ician The inevitable result will be that
he ignorant guard will put many a poor
insane suffering man TO work, and COM
ell him 10 do 1t, at a time when II would
e nothing less than barbarous cruelty. /
a word the proposed institution viii I
2 no better than the English work
Is " 80 graphically described by Dickens, {
which the attendants Will be the Noah {
laypoles. and the frlendless neglected {
1 ,