HOMES FOR INEBRIATES.

Evening Post, Volume LXVIII, Issue 62, 10 September 1904, Page 15

HOMES FOR INEBRIATES.

HOW THEY SHOULD BE MANAGED SOMETHING ABOUT WAITATI. An interesting paper on the subject of flonies for- Inebriates wus. laid before Fur-liament-yetfterduy. In a. report to tho Minister for Public Works on tbe subjctt, dated as recently as 24th August, Dr. Macgregor remarks »~" The public mind in this colony js filled with the idea that a cure for inebriety can be effected without any effort on the part of tho nebriat«, that thoro exist certain specific Irugs, boomed by interested syndicates, which produce miraculous results, nndjt is impossible to disabuse the public mind of this delusion. No statistic? exist upon which any such generalisation can be baaed, and we «» a Department, with tho means at our disposal, have made i most thoroughgoing effort under one of the most able men in the colony, to carry out a rational system of treatment for this disease." Ho goes on to condemn the medical profession for sending to the Homo cases they might have known to ( be incurable, and no adds that no map, in the state of public opinion in thi» country, could dare to exercise tho discipline required to compel tbe co-operation of these people iv tneir own cure. Experience haa already demonstrated that persons who are compelled by pressure, of relatives, or the actiop of the police, to co to such a place afe all but hopeless from the start ; and that, whenever success has been attained in England or America, it has khnost always bren confined to the cases of person's who wire anxious to co-operate in the treatment of their own disease. Drunkenness is & disease of volition, and can onty be cured by tho exercise of the subject's will. To aid and foster this — to mnke the exercise of tho volition a possibility — the best meanH at our disposal is to onforco abitinenco; to put the undent under healthy conditions ; to mitke him lead a quiet, regular life ; to provide him with wholesome food; and i to dp our .utmost to secure' rogulac employment in * the open air, always stopping short of bodily exhaustion and fatigue Those indications have been fulfilled, or, to put it better, this treatment haa been carried out at tho Orokonui (Wairnti) Home. But the treatment is practically worthless without th« co-operation of tho pationts, *nd that co-opeiation is not to be expected from the majority of the cases which havo come under our care." Dr. Macgregor speaks in high terms of Dr. Qault, tho Medical Superintendent, jind of Wiiss Thompson, the matron, who is "too good for the place." Dr. Gault himself lms also something to say about tho Institution. Many improvemenU are, he says, still necessary on the farm, but tho chief hindrance to these being carried out is the unwillingness of the inmates to seriously engage in work. Then ho goe« on to rotor to tho condition of things in the Home oa far as the inmates are concerned as follows :—": — " The Institution has been conducted on the sumo lines ns heretofore — 1.c., in conformity with the present regulations. With all our effort*, care, and attention, however, a number of fche male patients havo continued to manifest diasatiflfaction and discontent. Until juite lately wo had abput. six of these malcontents, and, to say tho least, they pave given very serious troublo, ■ furnishing cause for deep regret that we had oot the power to deal adequately with >hem, as punishment" of a severe nature they certainly deserved. We have still "ihree of these men in the Home. ' They Absolutely refuse to work; go beyond the prescribed bounds whon they find an ipportunity ; do their utmost to*inflnence unfavourably newcomers to the Institution ; aro insulting to tho attendants ; tnd have from time to time written misleading and discouraging reports regarding the Institution to the newspapers ; and unfortunately journalists seem to act under tho delusion that inebriates fipeak and write tho truth. With regard to the large majority of tho inmates, apart front thoso ahoye referred to, they conduct themselves well, and take a certain amount of exercise in the way of. doing a little work. Means for recreation euch as billiards, cards, cricket, boating, ohooting, otc., have been provided. The inebriate generally, however, seems to take but little interest hi amusements or recreation whwh entail exertion — billiards and cards being those chiefly indulged in." In another part of his report he says : — " Regarding our inebriate pationts generally, all complain of and resent being detained for such periods as six and twelve months. They do not scorn to have yet learnt, nor nas the public generally, that beside other, ana even the lest available moans, it takes in the majority of cases a long period to reform tbe drunkard from his vice. Many even of tho bent class of our patients, beside* complaining of the length of their period of detention, deprecate having to have recourse to a Stipendiary Magistrate in coining to the Institution, and bitterly -event being sent under police escort. In vinw of the foregoing, it becomes a question whether any one should be compelled by force to enter an inebriato inititution, a» they strongly resent it, naHiiafly also resenting their treatment in ih«* .institution, nnd are probably less /ikely to benefit from it. As to tho •luiracter of the inebriate generally, at Dis best he can hardly be described othtrwiise than as a person averse to any kind o\ continuous work ; at his worst, in his degeneracy, he becomes untruthful, jeccit/nl, slanderous, and untrustworthy in the extreme. No one unconnected with this Institution can well conceive the ntnount of annoyance and worry tho officials have- had to endure. I am pleased to s.iy, however, that the stßff indiridjallr and collectively have worked well nnd' fnithfully under adverse conditions, nnci in the face of extreme difficulties." k Th? number of patients in the Institution lit the commencement of the year >wn*' Nineteen males and, seven females; totul Wenty-six. Admitted during the vonr : Twenty-four males, eight females, total 32. Discharged durhjK the year: Twenty-eight males, eight females, total thirty-six. Leaving in the liustituhon at t|, P U April, 1904 : Fifteen males, seven frrpjiles total twenty-two mmntes. 'h* approximate avernge cost for jnninlciHMioe of each patient per week ts uhout £2 8s 6d.