Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-12-14
THE coLonEn INSANE.

r THE COLORED INSANE.
The annual report OF DIR. w. +. Drewry
! superintendent OF the Central State Hos
pital tcoIored insane asylum at Peters
burg, shows that about 1.072 patients ar,
cared for there at cost OF 20 cents pei
day. There is farm attached to the in
stitution, and such patients as are able
10 work are required TO do so. for their
own good, as well as to help produce sup
plies for the hospital.
We Judge from the Doctors statement
that admission TO the institution is often
sought for persons who are not really in
sane, and who should be a charge upon
the counties and cities. and not upon the
state. The average number of applica-
lions during the past fiscal year was
twenty-seven per month. a total Of 1926.
OF these, twenty were denied admission
because the commitment papers con-
tanned no information indicating insanity.
| Ten were returned to their homes as not
insane; five were in such hopeless con-
dition that they died within the first days
| residence in the hospital: twelve were so
| inflicted with the inflrmities of age that
they lived only few days after admis-
sion, and ffty-two of the applicants died.
or were released as cured" before they
could be conveyed 10 the hospital. At the
end Of the year there were no applica-
tions on file at the hospital And 80 DR..
Drewry very properly thinks it worthy
~ oIt
insane in the State are well cared for In
state hospital, supported entirely by
public funds"
Dr. Drewry says the statistics OF in
sanity are of such an incomplete and I'M
reliable character that one has to be |
very cautious in drawing conclusions |
therefrom. But during the decade the |
white insane in the State institutions have |
increased 5Sl. or at the rate of nearly 80 |
per cent, and the negro AIS. or at the
rate Of nearly SO per cent. The increase
OF the entire hospital population was,
therefore. 999. or more than 81 per cent!
The general population of the State in
creased from 1880 to 1890 at the rate Of
only about 10 per cent.
Here. says the report, are some inter-
esting figures regarding the reported in
crease of insanity among the negroes
since the war: December H. 1869, when
s-Grove Hospital, near Richmond,
was converted into an asylum for the COL
bred insane, only seventy patients were
reported. On June Z, 1870, the Central
Lunatic Asylum was incorporated as
State institution, but on February l. 1870
he State had assumed charge of II, and ! !
he number Of insane inmates at that {
late was only 123. On March II, 1885, the
hospital was opened here with S73 pa
tents. Thus, there are now six times as
many insane negroes accounted for as
here were in 1870 ,
DR.. Drewry says that there is a remedy :
or the abuse of the hospitals of a.,
he State, which were built and are /,
at great public expense for
he exclusive benefit of the insane and
or the protection of society,"" and he
dds: ,
That remedy is to be found in the re- {
'ision OF the present laws regulating the :
Commitment OF the insane 1t is to be ,
loped. both for the sake of the truly in
ane and in the interest of the public B
that the next Legislature will
axe up and terminate the work on this c
inc begun by the last Legislature. The =
rinciple upon which all persons thought
o be insane should be committed should
e based on competent medical testimony, c
rejected or fortified by proper legal
afeguards.
In the beginning of the year we had a r
alance brought forward of s1S553.70
'uring the year we received from the
uditor and all other sources, S77,6SiO4.
'otal S96237.I4. We expended SOC, 900. 80 on v
ccount of current expenses for main
snance, etc; SIS, 65l.66 was consumed in | n
improvements and repairs. The per
lpta cost for support, ETC., of each
atient for the year was, therefore, 500. Sc.
'e have left in bank TO our credit and II
ash on hand, s206.S. Il
The report then details the improve n
ents that have been made at the hos 81
tai, and represents that additional ap- a
ropriations for general purposes should
; voted for the present year.
Yes; more money is needed for this ~
'ylum and for all the others in this y
ate, and right there the Legislature %
IS a grave financial problem to solve. "
might do it by taxing each county and
Ly for its per capita share Of the ex-
,nses of each hospital, but we doubt "
it has nerved itself up to that point o
It.
We all agree that 1.-The insane" should ~
ave the best OF treatment in good
ylums, but it is conceded that there
e many in the asylums who might as
ell be cared for in the poor-houses,
ID thus make room for other patients TT
hose cases would yield to medical treat
ent. But as the matter now stands,
z Legislature is called upon to make c.
rger and larger appropriations every W;
ar for the care of the insane, while ty
is trying to see If all other govern co
entail expenses may not be cut down. pa
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-, an
The civil-service system will probably Sc
given hard blow in the Senate this Sc