THE ASYLUM ENQUIRY.

Evening Post, Volume XXI, Issue 87, 14 April 1881, Page 2

THE ASYLUM ENQUIRY.

TRENCHANT REPORT BY THE COMMISSION. WHITELAW DECLARED UNFIT FOR THE POSITION. THE CHARGE OF ENTERING THE FEMALE WARDS. THE INSPECTOR CENSURED. THE MEDICAL CONDUCT OP THE ASYLUM. RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMISSIONERS.

The report of the Royal Commission appointed to inquire into the charges made against the management of the Mount View Lunatic Asylum was sent in to the Government to-day by the Commissioners, Messrs. E. Shaw, R.M., J. Woodward, J.P., and W. Waring Taylor, J.P. Following is a summary of this important document, the publication of which has been awaited with much interest : — The Commissioners after referring gene''ally to the nature and extent of their investigation, proceed to deal seriatim with the charges preferred by Mr. J. H. Shaw. They remark on the difficulty of estimating the value of evidence taken under such peouliar circumstances, but state that making due allowance for delusion on the part of insane patients, they have not thought it right to accept their evidence unless corroborated by some independent testimony, as it would not be just to convict attendants on the unsupported evidence of patients who were insane at the time the events occurred, although this excludes some narratives of actual wrongs done. Of the seven charges, six are against the Superintendent, Mr. Whitelaw, and the seventh against attendants. The Commissioners coneider that the charge against Mr. Whitel aw, that he was a man of " violent and tyrannical disposition " is established by the evidence of M'lNToeH. Carroll. De Norvillh, and other witnesses. They comment on the treatment of M'lntosh, who was dragged from his bed at 10 o'clock on a midwinter's night, stripped, taken across an exposed yard, and then confined in a cold shower bath for ten minutes, White law himself handling the tap. They remark that the whole of this record given in the evidence, however startling and improbable, is in all salient points confirmed and verified by independent testimony Regarding the expression "tyrannical," the Commissioners remark that if tho word, as applied to Whitelaw, means overbearing in demeanour, and hasty ard irasoible in temper, unfitting him for the position he held, they are compelled to say plainly that the evidence amply substantiates it. It is impossible to come to any other conclusion than that Whitelaw, from his constitutional infirmity of temper, i* wholly unsuited to have charge of persons bereft of reason, whose defects tax the temper of those having control of them, and demand the most gentle care and forbearance. Numerous acts of cruelty have been charged against various attendants, but the Commissioners are not satisfied beyond doubt in any one case. Still the tenor of the evidence and other reasons lead them to the general conclusion that the male attendants are in the habit of using unnecessary force and roughness. Tho case of Fearon is quoted as an instance, and the Commissioners cay Buch an entry as that made by Whitelaw in reference to that instance ought to be impossible. A system which tolerates a blowirom a warder on tho face of a demented patient, even if given in self-defence, is neither humane nor Christian treatment of irresponsible boiuga. There is no question that Wh ii claw, sometimes with, and sometimes without Dr. France, visited the female wards without any female attendant or matron. There is no suspicion of any immoral purpose, or of anything but a mistaken sense of duty, but the practice) is strongly condemned. The Commissioners find that Whitelaw did obtrude himself on a conversation between a patient and friend, but not to overawe the former, merely as an act of supposed duty. It is admitted that a paying patient was improperly put to unfamiliar and unsuitable manual work, as a scullion. The seventh charge is not affirmatively proved, although supported by much inferential evidence. This disposes of Mr. J. H. Shaw's memorial, but there mo many other charges demanding notice. The perfunctory and unsatisfactory way in which the officers have discharged their duties is severely animadverted on. It is pointed out that the responsibility is so cut up and divided that any official can actually throw all the onus on the Colonial Secretary. I his has been gravely advanced during the present enquiry. Tho law does not give tho Inspector any power, except to release patients on probation, and the case is quoted of Albert Hall, who was confined for seven months in " a strait-jacket, euphemistically described as a ' camisole,' " ultimately stumbling and breaking his collar-bone through inability to use his hands to Baye himself. Yet it was proved that this patient was quiet and intelligent, addicted to reading books, &c. Since this Commission was appointed, tho nse of strait-jackets has material y diminished, with very beneficial results. Dr. Skae f Vited it was no part of his duty to remonstrate against the ill-treatmoi.G of Hall and of another patient named Ryan, but that when he did on three occasions remonstrate, his remonstrance was wholly disregarded. Tet he did not enter any minute on the matter in the book or report the affair, and here Dr. Skae clearly omitted to perform his duty. A single line addressed by him to the Colonial Secretary last August would have saved the patient Hall from seven months of unjustifiable tortnre. They add that, with various modifications, the same remark applies to Dr. Skae's neglect in regard to a number of other patients. They observe that, under present arrangements, lunatic men are brought into contact with the worst and most intractable female patients, the male attendants also having unrestricted access to them. This irregularity and indecency •lso was not reported by Dr Skae. The Commissioners are wholly unable to understand Dr. Skae's grounds for recommending White law's appointment, as he was totally inexperienced in the duties of the post, and Dr. JSkae, in his report, laid particular stress on the necessity of special technical training. Suspicion is thus cast on the recommendation of Whitelaw by Dr. Skab, as no effort seems to have been made to obtain aperson possessing the essential qualifications. Dr. France, the Medical Attendant, is not charged with lacking professional capacity or industry, but the Commissioners regret to say they can discern no trace of any attempt to cure the mental disorders of the patients. He appears only to have made diagnoses of their physical ailments, and prescribed tor them. Modern srdence r- cognises that mental disease is cnrable, but here it is left to come itself it it c»n The VVellinarton Asylum is a mere place of custody and nothing more. The Commissioners report that Ali-s Bkigdon. who had been acting an matron, obtained her appointment as attendant on a foolish talse pretence of relationship to Whitelaw, but that she has performed her duties satisfactorily and that the female attendants generally display commendable kindness and good feeling. They remark that Miss Brigden did commit pecuniary irregnlarities under the influence of Whitklaw, but derived no benefit from them. In Whitelaw's case, the Commissioners can find no palliation for his unfilial conduct, and they refuse to accept his explanation. They also find that he altered the medical journal of the As\lnm since the enquiry commenced, and thns impaired the valuo of the records. They find no pro -t that a patients' book haß been kept at all, »s required by the Act. The medical attendant ought to enter daily in the book his pre-criptious and treatment. The building urgently needs improvement, especially in the matter of heating the cells in winter. The '"back" yard ought to bo demolished forthwith. It is difficult, the Commissioners say, to imagine a worse fate for any human being than to be confined in this part of the Asylum, yet comparatively sane persons have been incarcerated there and subjected to all the degraded and miserable surroundings. No rules have yet beenframed under tho Act, although it has been 13 years in force. The Commissioners strongly advise that the functions of Superintendent and Medical Officf r should be combined in one person. They remark that the official visitors' powers being the same as those o> the Inspectors involves risk of conflict. They consider that a new Aot is imperatively needed, and draw attention to the anomaly that an escaped lunatic can be recaptured, and again confined without the intervention of judicial authority In conclusion, they lament the painful duty they hare had to discharge, and they feel bound to remark on the cleanliness and good order of trie front wards, whose condition is all that conld bo desired. But for those patients suffering from acute mania, the Asylum with its '"back" ward, is a prison furnished with appliances for punishment The Commissioners remark that a total misconception as to the object of this institution runs through the entire system , and they censure the system as well as the men. The Commissioners highly compliment Mr. J. H. fcHAW, the complainant, on his action in the promotion of the enquiry, and on his conduct of his part in the same.