The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1902-01-26

1 on IN them the greatest fsndo, neI pro ,2
sttsekS u's ~ ls and consequent epiieptic
attentlon has not been give, ~ suulelen'
80 siIal digestion and disorder M ~ .,i,
Eevt , rlsrlts. II can not be denied that ~.
the great nerve opSf1r .trIRhg upon aud through
M, m CAVITY must have a decided Inausuca
| SPou these conyulsye attacks ana aghee
ana y July understood in It's chemicsi
| 20 :. ,P .s siuioslcal aspects, and the innuenre
VI ptohdlne and toxine poisons imam nerys
Sthtefs 3 fully appreciated much Viii ne
uone 10 eiear up this terra incoguifa In al
cure. anu uisease
eWnlie am personally aware thar svorv
euort mas been made from the poverro,. -,
siinari ,1tv 40 ,ue boards OF management and
, upeIiilntehuents or the various asylumS 10
provide the very best care and Treatment
possloie Tor our Insane, a must be confessed
e eGaI mere are stu many difficulties 70 lie
overcome, some cmbarrnssments 10 no maj
ahd some problems to lie solved N me
professional and lay public were fully aware
OF me commendabie work that Is being
zone Dy our institutions and OF the very
earnest and undivided efforts that are con;
stsntly being made for their elevation, their
iuil ana hearty cooperation would not only
De ass9nen, put would become tangible and
a5ppreciaole In fuller equipment Of our
institutions for their benefcent work and
such public work and legislative Influences
as would make reforms In the service i'm.
mediate and complete.
lt is matter Of public concentration
that our legislature has at last provided a
competent committee OF investigation tn
c9reiully study the existing administration
OF our asylums In connection with other
State departments, and 1t is to be hoped
that their painstaking labors will not only
discover all difficulties and errors OF man
agement, but also the essential needs for the
care OF our insane and that such legisla-
tive action will result as TO accomplish all
needed improvements. The increasing de-
mands of our public institutions upon the
resources of taxation should mako them n
matter OF earnest study and consideration
by every taXpaying citizen In the stare.
disease should enlist the full cooperation
aud sympathy of every professional man
within our borders.
1t may not be amiss to call your atten-
tion Ia a contrasting way TO some of the
uses, abuses and limitations Of our hos
pitfalls. The law provides that patients
Shall be sent to these institutions for re
straiDt and treatment This recognizes
first, the pro bono pubicO element or the
protection Of society. Second, the medical
treatment Of the diseased individual with
a view to his restoration. 1t is evident
therefore that our institutions should be
amply equipped for these two objects. Sue
cessful restraint of liberty and proper med
ieal and surgical attention.
While sentimental consideration and hui
manitarian impulses may lead us to re,
verse the order of the above mentioned
uses Of our asylums. still, In a broader
sense, II must be understood that the pro
lection of sane life and the property, health
and happiness OF the public is perhaps a
weightier consideration.
In our institutions every effort Is made
with the means at our command to re
strain humanely, properly, kindly ana ful,
ly for the protection Of the public ana
the Individual Strenuous efforts are al
ways made to avoid all forclbe restraint
and TO those not fully Informed about our
asylums, much surprise is manifested Wheh,
upon Investigation, they md we have no
a eiuyIe ap-pnllpd cell mechanical
means Of restraint of any consequence In
our Texas institutions. Patients are sun
brought to US handcuffed and sometimes
with shackles about their ankels, nut these
are all Immediately discarded and every
effort made to teach our patients that they
are In a hospital for the treatment OF
mental diseases. 1t is quite true that these
efforts are not always fully Appreciated,
and that forcible resistance is frequently
offered hy patients who are bitterly re-
sentful at the deprivation of their liberty;
but 1t is nevertheless true that In spite OF
all the difficulties attending violent
paroxysms of insanity In dangerous ana
strong patients. that our institutions no
10 ger employ mechanical restraint OF any
consequence. .s. 4. a,
but necessary to say that every patient III
an Institution is seen two or more times
every day by competent medical attendahts
and their needs and wants as properly anu
promptly looked after as the aIuuouS sel'-
fee viii permit. "a, ,.,.,,
Among the abuses OF our public instltu
ttons II may be said that they are some
times the result of design and SOMETIMES mes
of ignorance and certainly always a direct
consequence of improper legislation. FIRST
and foremost, the public trial and commit
ment of our insane to our INSTITUTIONS
through an ordinary criminal process ',st u a
grave abuse of our eeemosynary, system;
and a sad commentary upon the enlightened
and humanitarian Impulses OF our people.
IN most Of the States where modern care
and treatment of the insane have been ~
corporated In the statutory law, the puDnG
trial of disordered minds by crlluluaa,
court method has been abolisned as TIL
of barbarisIn, and an inquiry mo Ine
iupocy of patient is now made in pro,
fessional and scientific way, under proper
legal FORMS and the entire process IL ue'
prived of any feature OF criminal aG Si n,,r
lion. Surely It can not De iohs un 'ido uc
Texas laws shall bear lhls lulthei
of mental progress; 49, ,rs+t.
buttons is that their CONSTRUCTION IS pot nsene
able for the proper elasslhS % arc
buiit upon the congregate system tna mt, 10
10 cav open wards In close juxto-poslti,HYn
10 each other with common dinlng n~ MS
and with some nifty or SHY pS n Of the dif
ferent forms OF mental malady thus pe,
comes impossible aud the assoclutiIoh ~
common dining halls of the eonyaisssn ,,,ai
and the incurabie, OF tne ma nrDiehe Of the
- ho
dapgerous and harmless, need only 10 pe
known to be condemned. So =. +ho In
Modern study Of the problems OF tne 70
sane mas practically decided that sepalnlsS
snJ detached buildings OF small chp nI ~
IN the cottage or colony system Snoui ..,,a ~
the order of future construction 10 su %ar
sntee the best results. In TINS way Pr ,SGp IN
cIassjdcatlon, congenial assoclatlon, any, anu 70 70
annr6ach TO home life may De utlii Neu "
the greatest advantage In mehtAl
ton. ,o,t In material
resources for the proper restrain s1tt
treatment of the insane Is = hee a5s ~
and every abridgement Of their hesssd
yistakes Of management ana lnsui nT,,ss
s.rIsiatiye appropriations Is grave
OF the eleemosy mary system. 4.,,,t,or to
III is proper Just here to can ht I, are
.,s fart that our State institutions ~
becominc burdened by demenied an9 rSiafs
80 eases Of dotards, imbeclles ana lulu 9
80, cnr no cared for at home or IN tns
a W. ~ their residence, with petnhpS
sor,a trot,bIe and certainly some eXpehmse.
I9SGrInn , many of them couid W.
,,rnr comfy farms properly conuucfeu'
SStb satisfaetory results and tar Tess -
~, 49, ana tho overcrowded CONDITION "
ppDr ssvlums he thus greatly reheNee' unu
ecnte cases which offer some hope OF cu,%d
bilitv can then he promptly recelFtu nv
,,,.or,sviy cared for, where they are or,
rroninelied to lie In jail and walt I9r lo era
occnnled by harmless patients Nnu
,honatees from a mental standpoint ,da
= IL many OF the States provision IL n1sv
'tbot the management OF the asylnns w., o.,
send back to a county chronic cAse ne