Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1946-03-01
Nonresident
Insane Cost
d. {. 100000
Estimate Made at
Testimony on Funds
For St. EIizubeth's
By Don S. Worren


patients at st. Elizabeth's Hospital
not properly" chargeable to the
District was before the District
Subcommittee of the House Ap-
preparations Committee today as it
continued study of the 1947 munic-
ipal budget.
The estimate came to light during
the examination in executive session
yesterday of T. Gillespie Walsh,
veteran chairman of the Mental
Health Commission, whose agency
passes on commitments to the
Federal hospital for insane.
During the testimony supporting
the relatively small sum budeeted
Tor the commission, the cost of Dis
trict patients at st. Elizabeth's was
brought up. For next year this
would be more than $3,700,000 an
increase Of more than $500, 900 over
this year.
Mr.. Walsh estimated that about
20 per cent of so-called District
cases more properly belong to other
Jurisdictions.
More CrackpOts" Here.
Earlier, Chairman Coffee had re-
marked in connection with a dis
cussion of crime records here that
Washington, because it is the Ma
tlonal Capital, has higher average
number of "crackpots and neurotics"
who come here to tell Congress and
Federal officials "how to solve the
problems of the world"
One municipal official explained
it this way:
If a not-quite-sane person leaves
his home in some State and spends
few months in another place and
then a few months in another and
another city and eventually arrives
in the Capital and gets way of the
beam here, after being here maybe
few months or maybe a year-it
is hard to tell sometimes-who is
financially responsible? The chances
are he will go on the Districts BILL"
Because of this and because of the
difficulty of untangling the threads
OF responsibility. some members of
Congress have argued this is one
reason why the Federal payment
to the District should be consider
ably increased.
Rutland to Testify.
Health Officer George C. Rutland
and other officials of the depart
ment and its agencies, who had
been on call yesterday, were to
testify today in support Of the pro-
posed outlay of nearly 100000 in
the year beginning June 80.
Engineer agencies were to be
taken next, with Public Welfare's
$751; 900 budget reserved for scru-
tiny Monday.
Budget requests were steadily
growing-and raising new demands
for more revenues. Shortly after
city officials came up yesterday with
a request for employment of 125
extra policemen, costing more than
100000, they added an emergency"
request for reviving so positions in
the Fire Department, which. like
authorized police positions, had been
left vacant the last year or two be-
cause of the wartime shortage of
labor. The extra fremen would add
about $125,oO0 to the 1947 costs.
Ask New Precinct.
District officials also supported
budget requests to establish a new
police station in Benning, to lessen
the area of TIE 18th precinct, prof.
ect long considered, and asked funds
to purchase two 26-foot steel-hull
craft as patrol boats for the harbor
police precinct. The cost of these
was estimated at $4,000 in all. In
addition, efforts are being made to
replace the old f1reboat.
Chairman Coffee brought out that
the District, like all other clothing
buyers, AZ having great trouble"
buying uniforms for police and fire.
men.
Giving another slant on District
efforts to keep its head above rising
costs, Mr.. Coffee said submitted data
showed the police firemen's retiring
and relief fund was only 20 per cent
self-supporting.
During testimony by Judge Fay
Bentley of Juvenile Court, she was
told there were complaints she had
been too lenient" She replied, Mr..
Coffee said, she was glad to hear
that because she had heard COM
plants that her judicial performance
showed she was "a hard-hearted
Hannah"
Cites Broken Homes.
Miss Bentley blamed broken
homes, crowded housing, particularly
In areas where ample recreational
facilities are lacking, for most Of
juvenile delinquency, but along with
these she listed the wartime patriotic
urge of young girls to give COM
to the boy in uniform.
In reporting her testimony, Chair
man Coffee said there had been no
increase in juvenile de-
linquency here although the prob
lem still was considered acute"
Chief Judge George P. Barse of
Court appealed to the
subcommittee for approval of
oudgeted requests to hire eight court |
reporters to serve the 10 judges of
The court so they could have tran
scripts of testimony before arriving
at decisions. He said he had to
write out in longhand as much as
Is pages of notes in one case before |