Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1909-04-10
FILES REPLY WITH LEGISLATURE
TO CHARGES OF HOUSE CON-
MlTTEE.
REPORT TERMED UNFAIR
AND NOT BASED ON FACTS
Board Says Mentally irresponsible
Witnesses Were Examined, and That
No Opportunity Was Given to Re-
flute Them-Perfection Not Claimed
for Hospital System.
Special to Times-Repuhlican


Des Moines, April 10.-Before the
legislature adjourned last night the
state board of control submitted to the
house lengthy reply to the commit
tee which criticized the management
of the state hospitals for insane. The
statement takes up the charges. re-
views the evidence presented before
the committees, charges the committee
with being eminently unfair. both in
its methods of conducting the exam
nation and in its deductions. After
reviewing the facts and the evidence
the board says:
Some Witnesses irresponsible.
The report states that in some in
stances 127 10 lao patients were con-
signed 10 the care Of a single attend
ant during the night. and that it was
impossible for those who were i'll to
receive such care Is their condition
demanded But one case where so
many as l23 were in the care of
single night attendant was shown, and
that attendant stated that they were
we'll cared for. and no neglect OF any
of them by her was shown. while it
was shown that but few of them
needed any care. Not a single case of
lack of care is shown by any credible
witness.
The report says that in the opin-
ion OF the committee there are many
abuses of patients, most of which es-
cape the knowledge of the superin-
tendents and members OF the board of
control. This conclusion could only be
reached by giving TO the statements
Of mentally irresponsible patients and
former patients greater weight than to
the testimony OF intelligent, watchful
ana conscientious officers, constantly
on duty at the hospital. and quick to
detect and punish abuse. Each hospf-
tai is visited every month by some OF
our number, or in our occasional ap-
sence by our secretary. and each visit
! is from three to six times as long as
the longest visit made by the commit
tee at any of the hospitals 1t visited.
At each visit scores of patients speak
to the visiting member and make nu-
merous complaints which are prompt
~ investigated, and many sealed let
tiers which can not he opened at the
hospitals are sent by patients to US.
Hearing Was One Sided.
in view of the theory of the com
1nittee that it was not required TO tax
or listen to any testimony favorable e
the hospital management but wa
charged with the duty Of ascertainins
and reporting all il could learn agains
each management without regard t
the truth OF any charge we have tn
right to presume that of the 200 who
answered its 500 letters of inquiry i
selected as witnesses those who would
testify most strongly against the hos
pitals Fourteen witnesses only wer'
examined for the committee. Six Q
these, so far as shown, had never beel
adiudged insane and eight had bee1
: patients in the hospitals. OF the 81.
one testified in regard TO the abuse b
husband Of the privilege given him {
, visit his wife who was a patient, Blu
not to any abuse on the part of III
institution; one. a physician, testifie
only as to the condition of two patient
who had been in one of the hospital:
bat he had no knowledge Of the hos
pital treatment; two testified TO wha
their TWO sons who had been patient!
r told them, and two who had been at
PENDANTS (nurses) testified as fror
personal knowledge. OF the two attend
ants, one testified in regard to tn
Cherokee state hospital, but her test
lnony was so sensational and so thor
: oughly refuted that it appears the com
.nittee gave it no credenee, as the re
mort does not criticise the institutio
of which the witness testified. The ties
tinony of the other attendant was a
most wholly in favor of the hospitt
management at Mt. Pleasant. Altt
employed on one of the violent ma
wards he had never seen a patiel
abused except that ne had heard NJ
more than three attendants use abus
I've language 10 patients, but he coul
name but one attendant who had use
such language.
From the knowledge thus game
we say with entire confidence that Ii
Objectionable conditions depicted h
the report DO not exist.
In view of the fact that for fl.
4 weeks the state was searched Wit
letters to obtain charges against II
management of the hospitals, viii
the newspapers contained many II
aammatory statements ascribed to II
committee and calculated to elicit con
plants, and in view of the further IA
that the time covered by the con
plants considered by the committ'
was ten years, it is amazing that so fe
complaints of a credible character We
obtained.
The Boards Conclusions.
II I'VE do not claim that the manag
ment of our hospitals is perfect n
that abuse in some form never occur
but we do claim what the credible ev