Free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1888-1908, 1905-08-19
Board of Centred Issues Orders 10 Pro-
bate Courts.
REMINDED OF THE STATUTES.
Committees Must Provide for Harm
less, IncurabIe Lunatics, as the
State Institutions Are Not of sufff-
cient Capacity to Care for all.

Topeka. Kan, Aug. 15.-The board
of control of Charitable Institutions
has sent to county authorities the fol-
lowing circular:
tOn the day we took charge, July
1, 1905, there were 1892 patients in
the Osawatomie state hospital, and
not single vacant bed, and papers
had been accepted for three more pa
tients. The Topeka state hospital had
1,049 patients, four vacant beds and
had accepted papers for four. Quite
number Of patients were out on pa
role from both of these hospitals, and
were liable to return at any time. The
school for the feeble-minded at Win
field, the only place in the state where
imbeciles and idiots are eligible Gun
less they are dangerous to them
selves or others), had capacity of
S75 and there were 372 in the insti-
tuition, with 81 out on furlough and "a
accepted applications. There was
room for a few epileptics at Parsons.
We also found many of the states pa
tients confined in jaiIs and private
asylums, and the probate judge of the
counties in which the insane are con-
fined in jails are insisting very strong
ly upon their admission. We would
like to admit every person that comes
in under every definition of insanity,
but you can see from the above that
it is utterly impossible. Under Sec
ton G570 only certain ones are eligi-
BILE. The law contemplates that the
counties will provide for all other per-
sons, and also that the counties will
provide for incurable and harmless
patients in order to make room for
the admission of others to the state
hospitals who are unsafe to be at
large and probably are durable.
"The policy of the state of Kansas
is practically the same as Wisconsin
and Nebraska.
This board must do one of two
things at once-either notify the
county authorities to remove all in
sane persons from the state hospitals
who are incurable and harmless to
the respective counties to which they
belong, at the expense of the county.
as is provided by section 1892, Gen
0Tal statutes Oh 1SU1 dEu SSCIlOn
G591, General Statutes of 1901, or have
the officer who brings in a new pa
tient from a county take one of these
other patients back to his county with
him. And it may become necessary
to return the idiots in the state hos
pitfalls to the different counties
1.-THE board does not believe in the
policy that was adopted in this state
by the enactments of the legislature
of 1901. We do not believe in state
hospitals and county insane asylums.
We think that the state should pro-
vide state asylums and do away with
the county insane feature of it. and
allow all patients to be taken imme-
diately to the state hospitals, and if
the patient turns out to be incurable,
then to change him to a state asylum.
The policy of having county asylums
is not scientific and is not econOmi-
CAL 1t is utterly impossible for each
county to have a county insane asy-
lum with q corps of skilled physicians
and trained nurses. AS. the counties
pay all the taxes for the maintenance
of these institutions, and thus pay for