The New York herald., 1922-04-08
CALL MENTAL BILL
MENACE TO HOMES
Coler and Others Protest to
Governor Against Measure
for Control Of Detectives.

specia, Dispatch to THE New YcnK HERALD
New York Herald Bureau.
Albany, April Z.
Strong protests against the knight
mental deficiency olii were made to Gov.
Miller to-day by Bird s. Coler. Commis-
sioner Of Public Welfare. ana other New
York city officials. They told the Gov
ernor that under this measure no per-
sons home would be safe from Invasion
from charity organizations spies seek
ing mental detectives and that the
wheels of progress would be turned back
to the time. more than 100 years ago,
when two justices of the peace GOULD
take any man and put him in Ne county
house in chains IL they felt he was not
acting right"
Alexander l. Rorke, a former Assist
ant District Attorney of New York
county, said the dynamite in the bill was
found in the section permitting magis-
trate. without hearing and merely on
information of some person who believes
some other person is a mental defective,
to have the latter arrested on sum-
mons.
Then the magistrate said Mr..
Rorke. ION inspection, merely by looking
at him, may order him committed for a
period of twenty days at Bellevue, to
to the local health officer of the county,
and that 1t shall then be their duty to
make petition to have his sanity in
vestigated. But there Is no provision
as to what the health officer shall do
after the magistrate commits the person
to him. He is left, literally speaking,
with the mental defective hanging on his
hands,"
DENY Abuse Of Power
The proponents of the bill turned out
to be representatives Of the State De-
partment of Charities, the State Hospi-
tai Commission and various charity or
ganizations. They declared that the
power provided in the bill had been
sought for several years, but did not be-
lieve any abuse would be made OF 1t by
magistrates.
Lawson Purdy general secretary or
The Charity Organization Society OF New
York, said he did not consider for a
moment that the section referred to by
Mr. Rorke would be used extensively.
1T is an arm OF the law for rare use
IL exceptional cases." he said
That Is the very thing we are OPP
posing" replied Mr.. Rorke.
Gov. Miller indicated his attitude to-
ward the measure when he asked Col.
Henry c. Henderson, Deputy Attorney
General, who drafted 1T, IL 1t would not
SO let down the bars 'as to seriously en-
danger the ability of the individual" :"
Col. Hend erson said there Is now the
same kind OF a law in reference to in
sanity and smallpox.
"Of course that Is the kind of inter-
ference with liberty that is justified" !"
said the Governor. 1.-THE question ia
whether 1t Is sufficiently safeguarded.
For example. in the smallpox case, you
would not send the person away who
did not have smallpox. That is the
point"
How the Law Might Work.
DR.. James f. Rooney of Albany, presi-
dent OF the New York State Medical
Association, in opposing the bill, said
that about 80 per cent. OF the unskilled
labor of the world is carried on by
mental detectives.
Perhaps we are all more or less off. i"
interrupted the Governor.
Yes" replied Dr. Rooney. "as the
lady in Philadelphia said, 4 think per-
faps all the people are queer except
thee and me, Jane, and perhaps thee is
little queer at times.'"
DR.. Rooney attacked what he termed
ire quasi public charity organizations,
'a'os iS 5hiut stlt Ddu tflouEn unQer the
present law without giving them any
more power. He told OF a boy of is
who was working and receiving SIS a
week being investigated by an associd-
ton In New York city which claimed he
was q mental defective. The association
fad him committed to an institution in
Rome In spite of his father, who wanted
to take him to New Jersey. He said the
bog was self-supporting and was abort
tosreceive a raise in pay to SEQ.
III that boy is still in the institution
I shall act In that case" declared the
Governor.
Commissioner Coler said that yir-
tuaily the whole judiciary OF New York
city opposed the BILL
The proponents included DR.. Charles
IA. Johnson. secretary OF the State Boa I'd
Of Charities; Lawson Purdy. Mrs. MARI
Passant, Floyd Haviland. chairman OF
the state Hospital Commission, and Dr.
Samuel Brown. chairman of the State
Mental Defective Commission.