5

H.—9

place to a sober satisfaction. Tenders for the long-looked-for gasworks are now being called for, and before another year I hope to see this great improvement in full operation. There is reason to believe also that a suitable wooden house will be built for the doctor, and that all the other desiderata will be attended to. lam sure that great advantages will follow from the improvement in classification effected by placing the working patients in the auxiliary building; and, once we get the farm as well as the building and grounds into something like order, I hope that the cost of maintenance will diminish in consequence of the increasing production of the farm. Sunnyside Asylum. —The central block of this asylum is now in course of rapid erection, and soon therefore the chief difficulties that hampered so severely the management will be at an end. These difficulties were so great that I found it impossible to allocate the blame for the present unsatisfactory state of affairs fairly between the results of deficient accommodation on the one hand and the officers of the asylum on the other. A very great improvement has been already effected by the inclusion of a previously useless space in the female refractory day-room, and the throwing out of a large bow-window where formerly there was only a blank wall. The unsightly main entrance and the fence along the Lincoln Eoad, that have so often been complained of, are soon to be rebuilt, and, when the old buildings in front are removed, it will be possible to make the grounds and approaches something more like what they ought to be. Wellington Asylum. —ln April the new farm asylum at Porirua will be ready for occupation, and the great crowding of this asylum will be relieved. The cultivation of the 130 acres belonging to the farm will not merely be an invaluable aid in the treatment of convalescent patients, and a means of maintaining the health of chronic cases, but will also produce a great variety of suplies for asylum use. When the additional rooms for inebriates are provided there will be accommodation at the farm for 40 working patients. The overcrowding on the female side must be met by additions at the back of the female wing, for which a sum is put down on the estimates. The repairs so urgently needed in the refractory wards and. dormitories must also be provided for. Considerable improvements have been made under Dr. Levinge's superintendence in various parts of the old buildings, and, except for the repairs and. additions which are still required, the condition of the whole is very satisfactory. Awckland Asylum. —This asylum, which has hitherto been the opprobrium of the department, is now undergoing such a process of reconstruction and extension as will, I trust, allay the public indignation which its condition provoked. On the female side an entirely new block, to accommodate one hundred patients, is being built on the site of the old refractory division. The kitchen block is being enlarged so as to give ample space for separate male and female diiiing-halls. The kitchen itself is to be fitted up in the completest manner, and abundant provision has been made for stores, pantries, scullery, and servants' rooms. A new boiler-house is being erected to supply steam for the kitchen and laundry. The old drying-closet has been removed, having been proved to be perfectly useless ; and in order to insure that, if possible, at any rate, one of our asylum drying-closets shall answer its purpose, Bradford and Co., of London, have been ordered to construct one of thenpatent closets to suit our wants. In addition to the two large blocks now being built, a sum of £4,500 was appropriated for a new male wing. It has, however, been found impossible to proceed simultaneously with new buildings both on the male and female side, so that this cannot be taken in hand till the other contract is well advanced. In the meantime the pressure on the male side will be relieved by occupying the large hall of the auxiliary asylum as a dormitory for twenty-five male patients, just as the large hall of the main asylum has already been converted into a dormitory during the erection of the female wing. The common bath-room for the female side, which is included in the present contract, will be a great boon in simplifying the complicated system, of bathing, which has hitherto been unavoidable. A great deal less labour will be required, and the results will be much more satisfactory. Nelson and Hokitika Asylums. —With regard to these two smaller asylums I am able to judge of their normal state without making allowances for extraneous difficulties, and it gives me great pleasure to testify that both are well managed. At Nelson the farm so long coveted has been purchased at a reasonable price, and it will be a great gain to the institution. It is with great regret that I find that no increase of Mr. White's salary can be made this year; next year I hope circumstances will be more favourable. Ashburn Hall. —My reports on Ashburn Hall Private Asylum will show how highly I think of that institution and its management. Management op Asylums. In all our large asylums (except Wellington) the Superintendents have had to contend with such difficulties during the past year, caused by new works either in process of erection or left incomplete, that I have found it very difficult to judge fairly of their management. In the Auckland Asylum these difficulties culminated, on Dr. James Young's resignation, in an organized conspiracy against Dr. Cremonini, his successor.* Dr. Cremonini was chosen in this emergency because of his long experience and high testimonials as head of a large asylum in England. Owing to the almost insuperable difficulties of the position from defective buildings and overcrowding, and the impending aggravation of the evil by extensive building operations, Dr. Cremonini found it necessary to make stringent regulations with a view to minimizing the inevitable dangers he had to face during the building operations. The leading members and certain others of the staff, who, in consequence of the previous rapid changes of Superintendents, began to think themselves masters of the situation, resented these necessary restrictions, and determined to unseat the new doctor before he had fully grasped the reins. The following is the note which I made on the situation at the time :—

* A subsequent visit this year lias satisfied me that Dr. Cremonini's .energy and devotion to duty in a position of such extreme difficulty merit the fullest acknowledgment, and that his efforts to secure discipline among the attendants must be encouraged to the utmost.