'MISERY MANSION'

Evening Star, Issue 25849, 20 July 1946, Page 8

'MISERY MANSION'

DISQUIETING BOOKLET ON MENTAL HOSPITALS ISSUE RAISED IN PARLIAMENT (Special.) WELLINGTON, July 19. The Minister's answer would not' allay the unrest that was prevalent throughout New, Zealand, said Mr C. M. Bowden (Nat., Wellington West,) in the House yesterday when discussing a written reply by the Minister in charge of the Mental Hospitals Department, Mr -Nordmeyer, to- a question asking whether the allegations' contained in ,a booklet, ' Misery Mansion—Grim Tales of New Zealand Asylums,' by Arthur Sainsbury, ivere true. Mr Bowden, who had asked the question, said that too many protests, had reached him, and other members, for the matter to be brushed aside in the way the Minister had done. In his written reply to the question the Minister said: "The publication is so full of factual inaccuracies that it' carries its own refutation. Constructive criticism of any phase of mental hospital administration is always appreciated, particularly when it v comes from an informed, unbiased, and competent observer. Members of Parliament are invited to visit our mental hospitals at any ' time without notice, and to ascertain for themselves the conditions in these institutions." Mr Bowden said that something ! should be done to clear the staffs if, as the Minister contended, the allegations in the book were untrue. There was a reference in the book to "the awful death rate." The book said that 2,000 innocent martys had died since Mr Nordmeyer took charge. There were strong statements in the book about -the official visitors. Surely, said Mr Bowden, those were untrue. There was a reference to a man of 80 years of age being jolted along, and later the author said he saw the man digging sub-soil with a shovel. Was that true? . ..' ■, Mr Bowden said there was reference to a violent battle on the floor in which a warder was victorious. Was that true ? And was it true that.there was only one dentist at Poririia Mental Hospi-. tal for 1,000 patients? . . _ .Mr Bowden also drew attention to other passages in the \ book. .', "If these charges are untrue, let this man be brought to the bar of justice. Let there be a public inquire, and let him 'be shown un as a liar, if he is a liar. The matter cannot be brushed aside by merely saying that these things are ridiculous and one need riot take any notice of them." \ Mr T. H. McCombs (Govt., Lyttelton) described Mr Bowden's remarks as an extraordinary speech. He presumed that Mr Bowden • haid- iiot;-made a point, as members of the Government had done, of seeing what was going on in the mental hospitals. He had been struck by the courtesy and care shown bv +he men+al hosnital attendants to natierits. The patient was coaxed back into a reasonable frame." It should be remembered that there were patient ,- n cental hosri ;i " , s who were verv rl'"ffi<v ,1+ lr * f1 ""' vvi'Hi. r.nd the attendants should not be maligned bv people' misrepresenting the faci's. To put the -matter 1 mildly,- he added that he did not think the task of the mental hospital staffs was made easier bv speeches such as the one made 'by Mr Bowden. '