New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1917-10-19
THE REPORT UP.
ON CONDITIONS AT
INSANE ASYLUM
COMMITTEE FINDS NO AC-
TUAL NEED TO INCREASE
CAPACITY; INMATES NOW
NUMBER 323; ARE WELL
FED AND CLOTHED

A request upon Governor w. E
Lindsey from the trustees of tn,
New Mexico Asylum for the Insan,
for $4,000 from the states war fund
to be expended in increasing tn,
capacity if the institution, resulted
in the appointing of committee
to investigate and report. The com
mittee appointed by Governor Lind
sey was composed of Major R c
Reid, Senator ]. S. Clark. of La:
Vegas, Senator r. c. Bryant, of Por.
tales. AS was reported some time
ago in the columns of The State
| Record, the committee declared the
use of the money from the war func
would not be justified. The report
of the committee was not available
for publication at that time for the
reason that Governor Lindsey was
absent from the capital
Inmates Now Number 323
| The committee finds that the in
stitution now has funds sufficient
to continue operations without in
terruption for the remainder of the
fiscal year There are now 1928 in
mates of the institutions the num-
Der having grown from 200 in 1908
Other important matters reported
upon by the committee are as fol-
lows:
"We found there were quite num-
Der of inmates of the asylum that are
not properly there" SAYS the COM
mittee in its report. "That is, there
are probably dozen or fifteen per-
sons without any mental derange-
ment, but who are kept there for the
reason that they have no means of
support or any relatives. They have
been inmates of the institution for
many years. We further found a
number of idiots and imbcciles who
are not entitled TO a place in this
institution, the statute limiting per-
sons sent there to those who are
mentally deranged and who would
be menace to society were they at
large. 1t might be proper to re-
turn the persons of this character
to the counties from whence they
came AS to whether or not this
would be a practical solution the COM
mittee is unable to say.
Cannot Lawfully Use Fund
1n regard to the application Of
the board of directors for the sum Of
$50 coo to be taken from the war
emergency fund, we arc of the OPT
Mon that this canot be legally done,
as the contingency of requiring ad-
ditional facilities in anticipation of
patients to be received as a result
of the European war is too remote
to warrant the granting of the re-
quest We therefore recommend that
it be denied, and it is our further
Judgment that there is no immediate
necessity for additional buildings Of
any character. The history of the
institution seems to be that patients
are sent there in numbers sufficient
to tax the capacity, regardless of
what the capacity is. This refers
to the statement made heretofore,
that there were many patients in
the institution that were not among
those contemplated by the statute,
and unless the capacity of the insti-
tuition is taxed so that only those
persons contemplated may be re-
ceived and maintained, the institu-
ton will be apt to be used in de-
gree as state asylum for indigents.
"We found the asylum neat and
Place Neat, Food Good
clean" the report says, "the rooms
and the patients appar-
entity we'll cared for. We found a
of patients in restraint, but
we are unable to give any opinion
on this that woud be of value, but
it is apparent that if another system
were to be followed, the number of
attendants would have to be mater
tally increased. The institution has
an average of employees of something
like 40, with a monthly payroll a.
to $1,000 The institution
has coal contract for mine run
coal at $3.50 per ton. 1t requires
about 40 cars of coal per annum. A
new kitchen is just completed. which
seems to be perfect in all of its ap-
Dointments. The last buildings com
Dleted-the woman's dormitory-are
with the exception of doors
and window frames. We regret to
report that the remaining buildings
are not fireproof.
d. Patients Well Clothed
"We found that the patients were
reasonably we'll clothed, and that the
food was abundant. of good quality
and we'll cooked. Many of the gar
nents worn by patients and the linen
'or bed and table service are man.
lfactured largely by the patients, and
he major portion of the cooking and
waiting on the table is done by pa
tents. We were unable to get ac-
,urate figures on the costs of various
tens, but an accounting system is
being installed by the present board,
which will enable it to determine at
my time the cost per capita of meals,
attendants, laundry. etc. The institu-
ion maintains farm of 90 acres
If alfalfa, and some IS acres of other
and, Is acres of which is devoted to
he production of vegetables. This
rear the farm has been practically
/ total failure, for the reason that
he institution has no satisfactory |
md permanent water right for its
and, and this being an unusually /
Try year, there wasi no overflow
water, that being all the institution 4
las a right in. The board has under !,
the sinking of a well
n the river bottom, which would be,
n our judgment, capable of produc- i
rfg sufficient water to materially re- I
luce the maintenance expense of the l
lospial and there is a possibility of
developing sufficient water supply
o furnish the institution with water
or domestic purposes and for its
aundry. II this could be done it !,