Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1895-02-07


pride, may receive little additions
tribute9
ID tho next place: Two hospitals are
be preferred to one, because q spirit Q
rivalry and emulation will incvitabl.
spring up between them which will tent
to improve beth, and the trustees will b.
better able to enforce economies and re
form abuses, Indeed, believe that will
the economy which will result from thi
rivalry, and tho reduced cost OF supple
at Bangor, board can there be Furnished
80 cents per week cheaper for all persons
committed by towns, so that the town.
will have to pay only SO per week Instead
of 81. so.
| In the last place: We should have q
new hospital at Bangor in Justice to the
people of the eastern section OF the State.
No section has had more lunatics and II
has been heavy tax upon their friends
to transport them SO far for commitment
to hospital. and to visit them after their
commitment. For 60 years the people OF
that section have borne this unequal bur-
den, and now that new hospital is re-
quired, it is simply Just and right that II
should be placed where they can reach IL
at decreased expense. Such has been
the expense to the poor relations of many
Of these unfortunates In reaching them mt
Augusta that they have been practically
shut off from them, and the mildly in
sane have thus been deprived of an i'm
portant aid to their recovcry-frcqucnt
visits from their friends
MIR. Speaker: Six years ago, when the
State provided for the purchase Of land at
Bangor, it was thought to be the most
suitable and eligible site for new hospi-
tai; otherwise it would not have been
purchased, and now that the demand for
additional buildings for the insane has
become so urgent that they must forth
with be built somewhere, to my mind II
is the simplest possible business PROPOSE
ton that they should be built on the land
then purchased and since held for the
purpose: and appeal to you gentlemen
Of this House to stand by the proposition
and not be diverted from the purpose by
any eleventh hour projects for palatial
pig pens or unwarranted buildings for
the chronic and incurable insane at Au-
gusta. (Applause.)
Mr. Whelden OF Portland said: IL has
been said by the eloquent gentleman from
Dexter that this question Is one of local
ity. Wcadmit It, The committee which
had this matter under discussion has
made two reports The majority favors
Bangor, the minority fayors Augusta
The majority report favors Bangor, first,
because not more than 500 OF the acute
ana incurablc insane should be grouped In
one hospital, under one management
Second, because such contlagration as
occurred in 1850 may occur again. Third.
because the State has already purchased
ground there. the site having been
selected and paid for by an appropriation
of previous Legislature. Fourth, be-
cause Bangor is a large railroad center
and conveniently accommodates the east
crn portion Of the State.
1t is admitted that a previous Legisla-
ture did purchase land in Bangor. !
have heard il remarked. however, that
that purchase was made under peculiar
circumstances. / will not say that IL
was. We have land, 1t Is true, Mt Bangor;
so do we also have land here at Augusta,
about $40 acres, believe. Is there any
thing about that Bangor site that Is
better or more prcttily located than our
site here at Augusta: In short, is there
anything in or about that Bangor land
which of itself is more conducive to health
and happiness to the insane than is the
site at Augusta l say there is not.
Now about fire We should build at
Bangor, they say, because such IA coniia-
grafton as occurred in 1850 may occur
again. Why, that argument ought to have
been made to the people of Chicago after
the great fire; perhaps it might have in
duced them to take up their abode on the
Western praries.
But the question of fire is not one of To-
cality primarily. 1t is a question of care
and precaution. and l submit whether it
is sensible to claim thai the officers and
agents of our insane asylum, if it is 10
Gated in Bangor, would be more vigilant
and careful than our officers here ut Au-
gusta.
Another reason why they say we should
build at Bangor is because Bangor is a
large railroad center and conveniently
the eastern portion of the
State. There is no doubt about that. If |
the State of Maine is going into the /
accommodating business. then let us ac- |
them by building a hospital |
at Bangor. Let us not only build hos
pital at Bangor but build one in every |
city in the State. But the State Is not |
in that kind of business. The State
knows no particular set of people. no
particular section. The State is for the
whole State and for the interest of the
whole.
Another reason why they say we should
build at Bangor is because not more than
800 of the acute and incurable insane
should be grouped in one hospital under
,ne management. Let us admit that for
moment and then SEQ what follows.
According to Senate document No i, we
nave GIG chronic, incurable patients, 325
males and 29l females. The total daily
.verage in that hospital during last year
vas $50. Six hundred and eighty minus
ZIG leaves 81, the number of acute, cura-
de insane. How long will it be accord
ng to this before the 500 limit is reached.
t surely will not be within 10 or 12 years.
t surely will not be within our genera
ion.
have examined the United States re-
'ort of 1890 and find that during that year I
california had under one management, ;
500; Indiana, 1926; New York, the En- !
ire State, had in one place, under ;
ne management, 1862; in another,
719; in another, 1917, and