The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1929-01-02
Less MENTAL
DISEASE in 1927
Department of Commerce An
nOunces Number of Pa
tients in Hospital

In a preliminary report the De
partment of Commerce makes the
following announcement for the
State of Minnesota concerning re-
suits of the 1927 census Of mental
patients in state hospitals.
The six hospitals in Minnesota
had total of 1890 first admissions
during the year 1927, as compared
with 1909 in 1926, and 1926 in
1922.
These first admissions represent
patients received during the year,
who had not previously been under
treatment in any hospital for men
tai disease. Such newly admitted
patients afford the best available
measure of the number of new cases
of mental disease which are brought
under hospital treatment during a
given year.
The decrease in the number of
first admissions to state hospitals in
Minnesota between 1922 and 1927
represents a still larger decrease
relative to the population of the
State, as shown by the fact that the
first admissions in 1927 numbered
ATT per 100000 population as COM
pared with 522 in 1922.
The extent to which provision has
been made for state treatment of
mental patients is indicated by the
number of patients present in the
state hospitals on a given date. In
Minnesota, the number of mental
patients under treatment in the state
hospitals has increased steadily from
4,737 on January l, 1910 to 7,410 on
January 1, 1928; and the ratio of
such patients per 100000 of general
population increased from 1882 on
January 1, 1910 to 273.S on January
1, 1928.
Of the first admissions in Mime
sofa during the year 1927, ITO were
males and $40 were females; and of
the patients present on January 1,
1928, 4,182 were males and 1928
were females.
The Interstate Commerce COM
has recommended that the
railroads concentrate their attention
and resources on doing away with
dangerous grade crossings instead of
spending further money on installa-
ton of train control devices. In the
years 1923 to 1927 inclusive there
were 11,485 killed and 32,99S injured
in grade crossing accidents. In the
same period there were 1,484 killed
and 1878 injured in rail collisions
and derailments. In other words
there were more than seven times as
many killed and nearly twice as
many injured in crossing accidents
as in accidents on the railroad. Any
given sum of money, it is believed,
will prevent many more accidents if
spent on grade separations than if
spent on railroad safety appliances
= Every package of cigarettes, which
sells for fifteen cents, pays tax of
six cents to the federal government
The interesting part of this state
ment is the fact that few smokers
ever realize the tax is there. For
example, a man who smokes ga pack
a day" is contributing almost $22
annually to the federal government,
in indirect, unfelt and unobjectionableI
taxation. 1t is illustrated again the
efficacy of indirect taxation. In
some states, where an additional tax,
in the form of stamps, has been
placed on cigarettes, the howl raised
have been all out of proportion to
the amount involved. 1t is said that
1O5 billion cigarettes will be made
this year. An astute statistician
figures out that these Tags, placed