Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-06-05
The Charge for Insane Patients.

1t is evident the House committee on
appropriations has gone ahead in the
matter of the Districts alleged debt to
the government for the care of patients
at the hospital for the insane without
that careful consideration which is de-
manded by the ma gnitude of the amount
reported as owing to the United States. 1t
appears that the Commissioners were not
called into consultation in this matter,
but that it was regarded as sufficiently
adjudicated upon the mere statement of
the superintendent of the institution that
he had concluded that the District had
been running from thirty TO forty thousand
dollars behind in its account annually for
some years past. No explanation is given
of the method by which the precise
amount charged against the District has
been computed and the item stands as
rough and ready reckoning of indebted
ness. The Commissioners very naturally
are taken by surprise and the public is
justified in asking whether it is urgently
necessary for the sake of the federal
treasury to proceed thus precipitately in
writing charge of three-quarters of
million dollars against the local tax rev.
enues, when the Districts finances are
already under a serious strain to meet
the annual charges.
Many considerations enter into this
matter of the care of so-called local pa
tents at the Government Hospital for
the Insane. AS Dr. White has explained i'm
his statements before the House COM
mittee, there are intricate legal compli-
cations regarding estates which require
delicate adjustment and render difficult
a clear-cut accounting of municipal finan-
cial responsibility. Furthermore, a large
number of the indigents who are sent
to st. Elizabeths from this jurisdiction
are, strictly speaking, not local, but are
virtually government wards. inasmuch as
they have come here from other parts of
the country for the purpose of pressing
claims against the United States or seek
ing redress of real or imagined grev-
anceS. They are taken into custody by
the District police, and for court pur-
poses, are treated as residents of Wash
ington, but they are in truth citizens at
large. and should be reckoned as federal
charges Were this not the capital they
would not be here and it is hardly fair
to the District taxpayers to expect them
to support these unfortunates who have
lost their minds perhaps as a result of
brooding over the action of federal au-
thorities
Fair play to the District dictates that
this item be sent back to committee for
more thorough investigation and a
more careful balancing of equities. Sure
~ the House will not rush ii through in
the face of the Commissioners disclaimer
of knowledge that it was being considered
and in the absence of any trustworthy
actuarial research to permit a dependable
computation of the Districts indebtedness.
if in truth any amount is owing to the
United States on this account The Dis
| trict is not disposed to dodge any lust
obligation, and if ii is in fact in debt
| for the care of its own insane on a fair
\ reckoning Of liabilities il is entirely will
| ing to pay, but II certainly objects to
| being suddenly. without notice and prac-
| tically without inquiry. assessed for
| three-quarters of million dollars on an
account that carries no conclusive mark
| of scrutiny and panstaking adjustment.