Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-01-15
THE LEGISLATURE.
continued From First Page.1


from the ordinary occupations Of life and
had their ordinary private duties OF IKE
to perform, it will not be assumed for q
moment that it would be in their power
to attend to the special and regular
meetings of the commission, and the
meetings of the necessary committees,
and then have, or take, the time neces-
sary to visit in person the 100 children
of the state placed as they are in va
rfous villages and towns Of the six New
England states. -
Any board established by law to dis
charge the duties attendant upon the
performance of any public service in
voQving the details connected with the
care of the dependent poor, the insane,
the minor wards Of the state, the con-
victS of our state prisons the reforma-
tory institutions, and other bodies of
public dependents and offenders, must
necessarily perform the details of Its
administrative and executive labor
through it's agents.
The work of this board under the law
is necessarily performed by its agents.
These agents are carefully chosen and
appointed under the rules of the civil
service, and when tested, should they
fail at any time to fulfil the require
ments of their offices, are promptly dis
charged, to give place to others better
qualified to act in their stead. And in
this respect the work of the board is
conducted as governmental work, and
all other public work, must be done in
this commonwealth or elsewhere.
The report of the commission recon-
mends that state board of insanity be
created. This board is of the opinion
that if the proposed state board of in
sanity were to be invested with much
greater authority and responsibility in
a of ri q md
the insane wards of the state than are
possessed by the present board, and If
all OF it's members should serve without
pay, the main arguments against its
establishment would be removed.
1t is hard to see what advantage
would be gained by the appointment Of
new board, even if composed of medi-
cal experts, which would have no larger
powers than the present one. If the
new board were to have more complete
control, and so were enabled to bring
about, without unnecessary delay, a bet
ter classification of the inmates of the
several institutions for the insane, and
a much needed reduction in the expense
to the state of caring for the pauper
INSANE, the board would be disposed to
advocate its establishment. With re-
gard to the matter of expense, 1t may be
added that while the creation of any
new board must involve additional out
lay, If the proposed board were to be
unsalaried the expense need not at first
be very large but with each new board
or commission created, it is usually
found that the commissioners expand
their work largely beyond what was
originally proposed, and that the modest
expenditures at the beginning soon grow
to be larger than even the most enthu-
siastic advocates of the change could
anticipate.
Any legislation in reference to the
proposed powers and authority Of
board of insanity should only be adopt
ed after very careful consideration and
study of the subject. If there should be
no new legislation in this direction, the
board has the following recommended
tons to offer:
That all pauper insane persons now
in city Or town almshouses, or boarded
in familiestby- the overseers of the poor,
be transferred as rapidly as circum-
stances will permit, to the state institu-
tons for the care of the insane, and to.
the eares custody and control of the
commonwealth; and that the price of
board charged the several cities and
towns for persons SO transferred, be
fixed at $2.25 each per week, the addi-
tional cost Of such patients, not exceed
ing 81 q week, to, be paid from the state
treasury; and that in cases where,
through lack Of room, it is impossible
to make the proposed changes at once,
when the actual cost of those remain
ing under town care exceeds 1925 per
week, the difference be paid temporarily
by the state at the discretion of the
state board; that such transfers be first
made from towns having no almshouses
and from those having the smallest
number of insane cases, the selection to
be made by the state board, which
shall, as fan as possible, place each pa
tent in the state Institution nearest to
his home, or to the town of his settle
ment.
The board agrees with the commission
in recommending that the settlement
laws now in force in the commonwealth
be so amended as to provide:
First, that any man or woman of the
age of 81 years who resides in any place
within thiss state for three consecutive
years, shall thereby gain a settlement
in such place.
Second, that legitimate children shall
follow and have the settlement Of their
parents, or surviving parent, or Of the
parent to whom such children may be
awarded in case of divorce.
Third, that all settlements acquired
by laws,in force prior to May 30, 1866.
shall be defeated and lost.
Fourth, that all persons absent from
the state for ten consecutive years,
shall thereby lose their settlements.