The Washington times., 1905-10-09
ASYLUM PROPOSED
FOR INSANE POOR
Medico-Legal Society Is Its
Promoter.
ECONOMY AN ADVANTAGE
2
ECONOMY AN ADVANTAGE
1t Is Claimed District Taxnavars
Will Have Lighter Burden
to Beaz.

prominent members of the Medico
Legal Society of the District are pre
pairing to lay before the next Congress.
a project for the establishment of ar
insane asylum for the exclusive com
mitment of the Districts indige.. q,
sane.
AT present. the patients are cared FOL
at St Elizabeth's. the Government Hos
pital for the Insane. They are taken
as contract patients" and incidentally
cost the city 500 per capita per annum
The startling statement is made by
DR.. Charles Emmons. secretary of the
society. that st. Elizabeth's has the
highest death rate, lowest per capita OF
recoveries. and the greatest per capita
cost OF any similar institution in the
country.
DIR. Emmons is one of the members
Of a committee which for some time
has been investigating conditions at the
Congress Heights institution. He is also
q specialist on insanity. having been
connected with q private asylum for a
period of five years.
DR.. Emmons Explains.
In discussing the situation and what
action the society will probably take In
the matter. DIR. Emmons gave out the
following statement:
The institution. created for sailors
and soldiers OF unsound mind over forty
years ago, has grown to such an extent
that 1t now contains over 1000 inmates
1t was originally known as the Govern
ment Hospital for the Insane. but that
Is now a misnomer. because of the fact
that at least SO per cent of the inmates
70 TIL
The District inmates are known as
contract PATIENTS and cost the D1s-
trict 500 per capita per annum. twice as
much as any other institution of the
kind in the country.
The superintendent of the institution
Is now so overcrowded with detail
duties of an executive nature that he is
prevented from giving attention to any
of the inmates This duty is supposed to
be the principal qualification considered
when selecting the head of an institu-
ton OF this character. This fact was
developed at one or the habeas corpus
cases in which IL was shown from his
own testimony that he had not person.
ally attended or superintended any of
the cases which had been brought to
trial.
Economy Involved.
Aside from other points, the ques-
ton Of economy involved is the one
which appeals to the District taxpayer
most While the District taxpayer
has no vote, he is always eager to
know and lend his influence to de-
crease any unnecessary expenditure Of
the public's money.
When IT is known that the poor of
our city are cared for at the almshouse
at an annual per capita expense of
-IolP -
Federal government: and, further, ta.,5.tt
this pays all expense for food. raj
ment. and medical attendance when
sick. it becomes of great interest to
the taxpayer when he is asked to con-
tribute toward the per capita annual
expense of the INDECENT insane at
'one-half of this is borne by the
FEDERAL government, but leaves the
taxpayer yilO head to be borne By
the city. which Is now paying over
100000 annually for the care of its
insane.
The State of Virginia cares for it's
insane at the same rate. s125, as is
now paid for the inmates of the aims
house of this city.
from these facts and figures is, Why
cannot the District officials care for its
lunatics as economically as Virginia?
Why does 1t not build and maintain on
boro. opposite Alexandria. Va, an asy-
lum adjacent to its new almshouse and
provide for its INDECENT insane at q
inquire that would save the taxpayers
not less than $4,000 year.
Other Reasons Given.
THE establishment Of an institution
under the control OF the District would
give the Federal Government ample
room for the next 100 years for all the
cases IL was originally intended to care
for. especially when we note that a bill
was passed by Congress in 1900 au-
thorizing the Secretaries of War and
Navy 10 care for soldiers and sailors
y contract in any State institution In
California 1t is probable that this
fhase OF the matter may be considered
az the coming session OF Congress.
THE recent habeas corpus cases have
developed the fact that there exists a !
condition by reason of the dual charac- |
institution, and accepting on contract
patients from the District of Columbia, |
that suggests the wisdom of certain re-
forms In the manner of commitment |
and discharge from the institution in or |
der that the rights of the many in |
mates may be protected.
1T Is the purpose of the Medlco-Legal |
Society. which has had this matter un- |
der consideration. and which has been |
greatly Influenced by habeas corpus 1
cases already brought to light. to call |
the attention of the committees in Con-
gress TO the necessity of radical changes |