OUR ASYLUMS FOR THE INSANE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11047, 26 February 1898, Page 3

OUR ASYLUMS FOR THE INSANE.

TO THS EDITOR. Sir,—You lately dealt with the question cf lunatic asylum inquests, your lender beirj" based on the letter of "Sanitas" iv the Wei" lington Evening Post. The inevitable effect of his effusion is to cause needless disquietude it seems to me. '

"When our asylum for the insane was ia Dnnedin inquests upon deceased inmates' were without difficulty held in the city. The only circumstance of an unpleasant nature prior to the removal to Seacliff 1 can remsaiber is this : One day the coroner's jury were, as usual, l»d to the rtjom in which the body lay dressed. Thereupon a juryman, in an offensive tone, aeked why the remains were cob go exposed &s to be seen all over at a glauco. With sharp action that startled the juryman, Mr Hume, the then superintendent, with his own hand, bared the body in an iustauti. He was angry, net becauee of the wish to see ths whole body— a wish that would have caused no feeling if it had been expressed with common civility,— but; he was irritated by the juryman* tone and manner, which clearly indicated that he believed himself to be th,f:re to, as a matter of course, delect evidence of cruelty and dark villainy.' 'Xbat is the kind of hateful suspiciousness that asylum.authorities have to put up with. After the asylum was removed to Seacliff, however, the bodies of deceased inmates were sant into Dunedin coffined and ready for burial, ; and at the inqnesfc the lid was taken off to : permit of examination. Then a curious thing ; happened. It was during Dr Neill's superin- • tendency. Of course, there were always asylum i officials present to give evidence, and to do ! anything necessary to help the jury. But, notwithstanding this, the jury, led by one of their number (and oue forceful man always, or usually, leads his fellows), added to their verdict a rider in which they censured the authorities for not forwarding the body fully exposed. Remembering this, and solely to facilitate the inquest, Dr Neill sent the next body, loosely covered. In the previous instance there.was strong dissatisfaction, but this time there was hot indignation, and again there was a rider severely censuring the authorities for not sending the body properly dressed for burial! From that day to~this the inquests have always been held at Seacliff, and after the inquests the bodies are decently enrobed and coffined, and then interred in one or other of the city.cemeteries. But while I give thess incidents, it ia the general tone of " Sanites's " letter that concerns me. I have carefully read " Sanitaa's" letter. While he professedly treats of inquests be censoriously traverses the whole question of asylum management, and in doing bo he shows he is at see as to what he writes about, while he speaks with all the confidence of one who knows. At all eventsj in view of my own experience in connection, with our asylum, extending back through three decades, I cannot conceive of anyone possessing a clear knowledge of aslyum life as it is with ue, especially within later years, writing honestly as he does. The inference that any reader would draw from his ' letter, is that.the case upon which he grounds' his strictures,was & very recent one. I was therefore astonished to learn from the letter of Mr Asacroft, the Wellington coroner, that it occurred years ago. Why, then, ig it ' disentombed now, seeing that with the flow of time so much progress'has been made, and that j the precautionary and protective measures are I such that, continuous and serious ill-treatment | is made absolutely impossible. Seeiog that now there are none of the barbarous restraints that obtained ia the past, that in the large j rooms and enclosed yards and parks all possible ] liberty is given the inmates, and that in their I conduct numbers of them nevertheless now and i then reqoire to be kept within bouude, it goes i without saying that forcible handling is eomc- I times necessary, and seeing also that some of j the hundreds of inmates are exceedingly try- ! ing, and that attendants are not endowed with i inexhaustible patience any more than other ' > people, instances of undue sud . undetected i roughness are just possible. But I contend! that in the nature of things continuous and in- j jurious ill-treatment canuot be without being known, because the whole system .'.makes the quick discovery of cruelty certain. ! -, The facts arc these: In the asylam there are j the chief doctor and assistant doctor, the ! matron and assistant matron, and the charge : attendants and their assistants—in all between 50 and 60 souls.- Then, outside, there are the i inspector-general, the deputy-inspector, and theofficial visitors, male aud female, who severally i and independently visit and examine inmates ! when and how they like, and take notes and i forward their reports for the information of the '■ Minister at the head of the department. Curiously, enough, "Sanitas" says all,this ought to be, showing that he is ignorant of the ; fact that it is. Besides these, there ace gentle-1 men in high and responsible positions who have J a voice, iv aud .keep an eye upon asylum;' affairs, and who j>.jre cognisant of, all that goes,' on in the institution. Further, there are : people resident all over the.co.untry who do.; relative? and friends unfortunately in the 1 position of .inmates, and frequently they are;[ allowed to roam thegrounds with the inmates I they vifiit, and no come into contact with other ; inmates. .- And, still .further, a large proportion { of the inmates, more or less intelligent notwith- { standing their mental .impairment, do duty j wifchoutclose surveillance between the several • buildings,, and between the asylum and the1! railway station and the district, aud out flrie'i Sundays are allowed' freely, to go' about i inside and . outside the grounds '■; without attendance, and they have every j opportunity to disclose to outsiders any- ! thing they know to be amiss. la view of i' all this, is it possible that gross cruelty can ' be perpetrated without it becoming known ? :j Amoug such an army of officials and servants ;. in would be extraordioary indeed if all of;

them — inspectors, doctors, official visitors, and the large stiff of male and female tiuvses, net to speak of others, would wink at cruel wrong done to helpless victims of msaoity. The fact is were wroag done in our asylum there would immediately be in it a hue sad cry, aud the wrong would not be left to be ferreted out by a corouer'g jury.

What " Sanitas " means by " inmate patients," several times repeated, I do not know, bat I would not expect anyone conversant with asylum affairs to use snch a . phrase. But one of his sentences cleariv shows I his lack of knowledge. It is this :"" B<s it j here said, to the credit in no small degree of ; Dr Fooke, that in reply to the inquiries of the j jury he stated that when he found ont that i none of the [deceased] patient's friends ever came near he at ones communicated with them ; and urged this duty upon them, but without > effect." Of course Dr Fooke did that But , wag that kind action of his exceptional ? i Certainly not; it.is the rule—tho common ■thing. In course of the year Dr Xraby King j (medical superintendent of out institution) and Miss Beswick (the. matron), as well as those who preceded them in office, having failed by letter to influence the friends of unfortunates in their charge, hare many times asked me to find out these people and induce them to show j some sympathetic interest;. Dr Fooke's words, j "but without effect," are sadly suggestive of the disgraceful a:pathy of too S many. But—and this is the important [ question—what is the effect upon the | officials and attendants of this unnatural | neglect of relatives and so-called friends? j Just this: it makes them more kindly, atten- ) tive, tender, and sympathetic. Aft this j moment there are, and for long have been, poor j mortals in oar institution sane enough keenly ;to feel the cruel disregard of relatives and ■ acquaintances of by-gone years, ana who realise j that the only friends they have in the world j are those who have charge of them. • . There are other points I would like to touch { upon, but I must forbear, lest my letter run the risk of rejection on the ground of its length. But I murt note one other suggestive sentence, which, with the other, sound* strange as coming from one who affects to have an j intimate acquaintance with asylum life i "Sanitas" says: "Few (or how few) would j earn their daily bread in a madhouse full of people more or less dungeromly mad, &c " | (The et cetera is his.) What that remark has i to do with the question of inquests he beat knpws. Bat, Sir, the fact is that a considerable— I think I'may safely say the largest— I proportion of the inmates are not dangerously mad, but are harmless, and simply incapable of taking care of themselves and of earning their livelihood. Of these. a. large number .do good work. Yet if they were turned out into the world and had to think and aat for themselves and battle with life's difficulties, they would at once break down and have Again to betaken care of. To recur to the remark, " Few (or how few) would earn their daily bread in a madhouse, &c, the facts as regards the large staff are as I have stated. As I have said, j numbers on the staff have been in the service i for years,. and. they, as well as more recent [comers, certainly seem to be happy in their work. I must also say that in, earnest, tender attention the nursing of the weak and suffering and dying-is" not exceeded by that in the hospital. When inmates are prostrated by illness and in weakness (and usually the eufferers are placed in separate, little ropms), by the rules of the establishment for each' patient an attendant is told off daily and nightly to watch, guard, and minister with all the kindly nursing needful in such cases. Were those who in ignorant prejudice think, and speak of, the "horrors of the lunatic asylum" ,to see the worm-hearted, pitying interest j manifested towards the pitiable inmate* » I mighty change would come over the spirit of ! their dream. -If it be true that few persons care ; to " earn their daily bread in a madhouse " it is i because of the fallacious uotions abroad as to the character of the work and the kind of persons required for it, and these fallacious notions are strengthened by such thoughts as "Sanitas" has given expression to. Let me iv closing say, that I write solely for the information of friends of inmates: At my own house, and whersver I may happen to be outside of Dunediu, friendsinquire of me regarding unfortunates in the institution, and scatcely a week passes without letters of inquiry coming ta me. To all I give the a3surauce that the objects of their concern are well and sympathetically cared for in all respects, and that they are not simply held in custody. That being so, it is too bad that those who have the care of, and are doing their very best for, unfortunates in the gcip of " the worst of all the ills that flesh is heir to " should be incessantly looked at with dark suspicion, and be subjected to all sorts; of insinuations and innuendoes; and it is also oiifi.of all reason that the friends of the insane should be kept in a continual state of disquietude while the asylum is being msAe for the incapable onesas much a borne.as in the cireurastances it can be—in fact,-.by 'reason of'its'disciplinary arrangements,■ a better home "by: far than could be ensured them even among their own.— I»m, &c, j. a. ToRBANCe.