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

:. .,s and cattle, cultivated gardens and
ps',.,vated fields We have good
v .Sastrical hall for amuscmcnt and cxcr-
s,sc All this we have at Augusta. We
ssve more than this; we have u trained
=. .arns of physicians, while ut Bangor we
have land only and air.
Tat MS be sensible and reasonable about
his Let us look at this question in the
,;rht Of expense and common sense. What
,,,o,,ld YOU do as business men under sim
la conditions and circumstances 1t
sos,ns to me that there can be hardly a
NAN here. who, if that proposition was
s,,hmtted to him, would say that in the
Interests of the whole State that building
should not be erected at Augusta. What
srswe here for if not to legislatc III the
interests Of the whole State We are not
here to make laws for one locality. Tho
county of Penobseot in the past indeed has
been loyal and 'philanthropic, hut 9Penob-
scot by reason of past acts political or
otherwise is not entitled to any special
recognition at our hands. do not
wish to .be-- misunderstood in this
matter. Far be it from me to resist the
claims of our insane upon our State for
care and projections. They deserve all we
can give them But this is also true of
others. There are other unfortunates to
he cared for--the deaf, the dumb and the
blind, the widow and the orphan, the
soldier and phe sailor, the sick and the
in!irm, all of these are worthy of our con-
sideration and should have our tender
car. and protection. The insane indeed
have our pity, they should indeed have
our sympathy, but let us not be carried
SO far by sympathy and sentiment as to
forget these Other Interests, these other
people, these other charities.
have told YOU that in this case the tax
PAYERS should be consulted. He who
goes forth to earn his daily bread for him
self and family, whether it be on the farm
or in the workshop, is entitled tohe con-
sidered He isfentitled to be heard rs to
how unnecessarily we expend his hard
earned money. At the present time, i
believe we are in appropriations some
$50, 900 ahead of the last Legislature, and
the present outlook of the nation and the
State do not warrant such an appropria-
ton. d. ut
Surely the whole State would like to
see Bangorshave this hospital. We would
like to see erected there 4 hospital, fully
equipped with all conyeniences, but we
say the occasion does not demand it. The
occasion does not call for it. As reason
able, practical men, l ask you to consider
these propositions before you vote on this
measure Names financial policy in the
past has been wise and conservative, and
l say beware, beware how you inaugurate
the change In short, l move you that
the minority report of this committee be
accepted. (Applause)
Mr.. Reynolds of Brooks said he was
personally interested in this matter, per
haps more so than any other man present,
and he wished the unfortunate well cared
for. l have been at times undecided in
regard to this matter but when ! look at
this bill find my duty clear. i find that
the committee appointed to investigate
these hospitals in New England, said that
in every instance where the less number
of patients WERE the better they were
cared for. There can be just as cheap
hospital built at Bangor as at Augusta,
and it is a certain fact that we have got
to have more room. The eastern part of
the State can pay for their officers out of
their own pockets, and 1 say, give us a
hospital in the eastern part of the State.
NAPpiduooj.
Mr.. Gilbert of Greene, said that he
came to the Legislature entirely I'M
tramelIed as to these great questions.
listened with the deepest interest to the
of the case in regard to thi
hospital before the joint committee, and
| have conversed from time to time with
those who had the matter in hand, and |
was somewhat befogged by the fact that
only one side of this question seemed to
be under consideration, and that side was
the Bangor side. When that committee
reported and found that / intelligent
men had signed majority report, and
that nine equally intelligent men had
signed q minority report, 1t
to me that after all there were
two sides to the question. 1t seemed to
me that the first question to be decided
was do we need enlarged accommoda-
tions for our insane? l suppose that is
settled beyond question that we do. The
second proposition was this: Is it proper,
Is it practicable to provide for the insane
on. the property connected with the pres
emit asylum? 1t seemed to me that there
was the key to the whole situation. Ii
decided in the negative the whole situa-
ton is settled If decided in the af1irma-
tive there comes another question, and
that is where can we provide these
needed Accommodations at the least ex-
penses Here is square, business matter
for our consideration. In regard to the
and practicability of erecting
these accommodations here at Augusta, i'll
seems tome that the arguments that have
been put forth against that proposition
are entirely unsound. Does anyone sup
pose that, we cannot meet our humani-
tartan. obligations here at Augusta, as
well as in any other section of the State:
Sanitary conditions were also brought
forward. Does anyone suppose that as
good sanitary accommodations cannot be
secured here as in Bangor? Where will
you find more healthful location than
on yonder hill, across the river? Where
can you find better drainage or purer
waters Here we have a farm OF
600 aeres,s They talk about confiagra-
tions |, There is room enough, so far as
protection from conflagration is con-
cerned, just as full and complete here as
though those buildings were located at
Bangor. SO as to the cost of construc-
tion we4eye been told that bricks costs
49, 25 thousand more IN Augusta than
in Bangor As soon as this Legislature