New Britain herald., 1925-01-07

Pescht fuW the nthte hospitals are
 obliged to discharge such an indi- vidual at the termination of his sen-
 tence and to send him out into so-
 ciety. frequently no better off E,on-
 tally than when he wax con.mlttsd.
 The criminal insane. slthough not
 deserving of punishmeni. should be
 segregated from the community un-
 til such time as competent apthcr-
 ities on mental hygiene arc wiliing
 to assure the state that tkesc un-
 fortunates are har;n!esg and may
 safely be returned to complete lib-
 erty. In view Of the extremely satisfuc.
 tory results which have been achieved by our State Tuberculosis
 Commission. a small body of paid
 commissioners operating under far
 sighted statutes, recommend for
 your consideration the establishment
 of a similar commission for mental
 disease. If there were placed under
 It's Jurisdiction all state institutions
 for mental detectives 1t would be
 greatly to the advantage of the state.
 This is said in no spirit of criticism
 of these institutions as they now
 exist, but rather in the belief that
 since 1t is generally accepted that
 the state board of education does
 well to have charge of all state nor-
 nal schools, trade schools and the
 other education interests conducted
 by the state. and since our five state
 tuberculosis sanatoria have been
 conducted successfully under this plan, there appears to be no reason
 why the state hospitals for the in-
 sane and Predetermined would not
 profit by a similar plan. Just as
 wide latitude in the conduct of the local institutions Is accorded to the superintendents of the various tuber- culosis sanatoria, so similar latitude could be accorded, under such a commission. to the superintendents of our state hospitals. At the same time. in justice to the trustees and superintendents of the various in- stitutions it must be said that they have been conscientious and self sacrificing in their devotion to duty and that the commission whose es- tablishment is herein recommended is only suggested because 1t is be- lieved to be in the interest of sound public policy.
 Medical Legislation.
 A series of events in connection with the licensing of medical prac- titfoners has brought vividly to the fore the need for revision of the Medical Practice Act of the state to the end that the health of our citi- zens may be protected in so far as this can be done through legislative action. We have learned to our shame that Connecticut has been re- garded as one of the easiest states in the union for an ill-educated, ig- norant medical practitioner to se- cure a license. By this license we officially encourage our citizens to support him financially in the ex- pectation of his having a certain amount of scientific knowledge which could be brought to the re- lief of their bodily infirmities. There appears to be no reason why any one should be given a state license to practice his theory of the healing arts unless he can give ade- quate assurance of his knowledge of those fundamental sciences on which all theory must rest. No matter how widely nor how differ entity one may interpret the facts. no matter how far apart may be the theories in regard to the alleviation of suffering. no one should be per- mitted to receive the license of the state to practice as physician un- less he gives evidence of thorough knowledge of such subjects as anat- omy. and physiology, embryology and chemistry, and other similar sciences, which do not teach the ories but fundamental facts. There is nothing which is of greater im- portance in the lawmaking duties which lie before you than a thor ough consideration of this problem.
 Board of Education of the Blind
 Four years ago the general as- sembly authorized the board of edu- cation of the blind 10 enlarge the scope of its work. which up to that time had not been able to reach more than eight per cent of the blind people of the state. The board was then authorized to undertake teach ing with regard to the prevention of blindness, the placing of qualified blind workers in industry, the sale of products made in the homes, etc. It is important that we should en- able this board to undertake what seems to be a reasonable and help ful program for all the blind people of the state.
 Bducaton ---4..4-..
 The past five years have seen a rapid increase in, educational ex- In Connecticut this in- crease has been about one hundred and thirty-fve per cent. One cause of increased expenditures is found in certain expansions or extensions of the educational program, including adult education, physical education, and the. employment of school directors of physical edu- cation, and school nurses. To large extent however it has been simply \ the natural result of a greatly en- larged enrolment, especially in high schools, where tke average attend ance has increased forty-siX per cent during the period and where school costs are always proporuonately greater. This increase in the aver age attendance of pupils in both ele- mentary and high schools is mat ter for congratulation.
 Those who contend that the state should go further than it does in directing the educational policy of our cities and towns would do well to remember that while the statc grants for school purposes amount to about one million and half dol lars annually the annual expenditur' An,nNnta |,