Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1901-07-16
AN INSANITY TRUST.
MOST PECULIAR FORM OF CRIME
AT INDIANAPOLIS.

Persons With Alleged Normal Minds
Have Been Arrested, Examined and
Confined, So That Physicians and
Others Might Profit thereby.
A novel form of criminal offense is I'M
der investigation at indianapolis. 1t is
believed that an insanity trust" exists
there. through the operation of which
lunacy proceedings are brought against
sane persons and are conducted in such
a way as TO deny TO the subject the full
rights given by the law.
The belief is based upon the fact that
20 per cent of the insanity inquests held
in the Hoosier capital are before GER
tain justice of the peace, that the wit
nesses in these cases are nearly always
the same, that the physicians also are
the same, and that these inquests have
cost the county many hundreds of dol
lars, these fees presumably furnishing
the motive for the operations of the per-
sons concerned. Interest in the disclos-
ures has been heightened by the fact that
the proceedings in many cases are taken
in secret, and that many of the persons
who have been committed to the insane
hospital did not know that their sanity
was questioned till. the officer placed
them in custody, and, by authority from
the commission, hustled them off TO the
insane hospital. Some cases, it is true,
were not followed by verdicts of insani-
ty, but, as the county pays the fees
-H1Nh he SnS
proves to be insane or not, the ends OF
the trust were accomplished Just the
same.
The particular case upon which the
Attorney General is acting is that OF
domestic who had been working In
family for several months. Her mistress
never noticed anything peculiar in her
actions The first the girl knew of in
sanity proceedings against her was when
the sheriff called with warrant to take
her to the asylum. She protested that
she was not insane and the sheriff said
he knew nothing about the facts, but
must execute the judgment of the COM
mission. The employer of the girl then
appealed to the Attorney General. All
the facts so far adduced go to show that
the girl was not insane, and the Attorney
General is convinced that Il grlevous
wrong has been done. He declares he
will prosecute the witnesses against the
girl for perjury and will sift the in
sanity trust to the bottom and hold all
implicated in it to a rigid Accountability
for their acts.
Another case in which charges are to
be preferred is that of John Ross, which
presents the salient features of those of
many who have been adjudged insane
without proper compliance with the
law. The Justice did not examine Ross
as the law requires, nor was the subject
given an opportunity to summon wit
nesses in his own behalf or to make
statement for himself. He received an
injury some time ago while at work IN
the packing department of kingans
porkhouse and went to the city dlspen-
sary to get some medicine. The next
thing he knew he was dragged away
from his work to the hospital and inves-
tigation shows that he was adjudged in
sane, and that the witnesses who testl-
fed against him were dispensary internes
who had given him a prescription for
medicine when he called at the dispen'
sary for treatment.
DR.. w. B. Fletcher, an insanity eX-
pert and for many years superintendent
of the Central Hospital for the insane.
in a recent investigation developed the
startling fact that 20 per cent, or one
out of every five persons sent to the asy-
lium during the year was discharged
soon after reaching that institution, the
expert examination there showing that
they were sane. But, Notwithstanding
this, the physicians who testified or act
ed as examiners got Sc in every case,
and the justice and witnesses also got
fees.
Describing the procedure, DR.. Fletcher
says: This is the. way the law is fol
lowed: Let us suppose that a man is an
epileptic. For a short time he has men
tai confusion. He is picked up by the
police and is considered a deranged per-
son because he has had a fit. Some one
of the dispensary physicians or others in
the business files a complaint. In my
records the name Of the matron figures
over and over again as a witness and as
the one filing complaint. The justice
is selected and he in turn selects the ply
sician who sends for him. This is kind
of endless chain concern, IN which all
are assured Of their fees. The fact Is
the statute makes it the duty Of the off
GERS to call as the physician the one who
has been attending upon the alleged luna
tic, but the physician who attends on the
case writes himself down as the attend
ing physician, though he has never seen
the person before, and for this he gets
fee of So"
The record of fees received by physi-
clans, justices and witnesses in insanity
inquests since Jan. l shows that TO one
person was paid $3.50, to another $299,
and to others, $191, $3.50, and various
sums down to $50.