CHAPTER 16.

General Administration --- Exempted County System.

The commission would again recur to the urgent necessity of the transfer of the insane of New York and Kings counties to the State. If this can not be done, then the institutions for the insane now under the control of the respective boards of commissioners of charities and correction in the counties of New York and Kings should be separated from the other charitable and correctional institutions and placed under boards of commissioners whose jurisdiction should be exclusively limited to the insane.

42

CHAPTER 17.

New York County Asylums.

During the past fiscal year, at the request of the mayor of the city of New York, a general investigation into the management of the New York city asylums for the insane was made. It began on May 31, 1894, and continued with occasional intermissions until the early part of November. The investigation was intended to be a searching one, and embraced substantially every feature of the management of the department for the insane, including the duties of commissioners, the medical service, the nursing, the treatment of the patients, the bedding, clothing, food supplies, etc., also the erection of buildings, character of work on same and the manner of letting contracts, etc. A large number of witnesses were sworn and the fullest opportunity was afforded to all who desired to be heard. The board of commissioners of charities and correction was represented by counsel during the entire session. So far as the commission was concerned, the investigation was not necessary for its information as to the condition and management of the New York city asylums, it being already familiar with these from its official visitations and inspections. The investigation, however, served to emphasize and put in tangible form conclusions to which the commission had long since come in respect to the defects as well as the needs of this department, and it trusts that little time will be lost by the incoming Legislature in accomplishing a signal act of humanity as well as justice by enacting the transfer of these institutions and their helpless inmates to the control of the State.

The report which the commission submitted to the mayor, upon the investigation, and the conclusions reached by it, is as follows:

SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COMMISSION IN LUNACY. 331

General Administration - New York County Asylums.

[Form 229.]

STATE OF NEW YORK STATE COMMISSION IN LUNACY.

CARLOS F. MACDONALD, president; GOODWIN BROWN, HENRY A. REEVES, Commissioners.

ALBANY, December 26, 1894.

Hon. THOMAS F. GILROY, Mayor of the City of New York:

SIR. - The State Commission in Lunacy would respectfully present to your honor its report of the inquiry into the conduct and management of the New York City Asylums for the Insane, which it undertook in accordance with the following correspondence:

CITY OF NEW York,

OFFICE OF THE MAYOR, May 14, 1894.

CARLOS F. MACDONALD, M. D., President State Commission in Lunacy, 334 Fifth Avenue, City:

DEAR SIR. I deem it my duty to call your attention to the serious charges made by publication in the New York Herald of May 13, 1894, against the administration of the institutions for the insane under the charge of the Commissioners of Charities and Correction of this city. Under section 10, chapter 283 of the Laws of 1889, State of New York, the power of examining into the truth or falsity of such charges rests with the State Commission in Lunacy. I have to request that such an examination be had at the earliest convenience of the commission. Inclosed please find a copy of the publication referred to.

Yours very truly,

THOS. F. GILROY, Mayor.

334 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK, May 15, 1894.

Hon. THOMAS F. GILROY, Mayor of the City of New York:

DEAR SIR.-I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of May 14, addressed to me as president of the State Commission in Lunacy, calling attention to "the serious charges made by publication in the New York Herald of May 13, 1894, against the administration of the institutions for the insane under the charge of the Commissioners of Charities and Correction of this city," a copy of which publication you inclosed, and requesting the State Commission in Lunacy to

General Administration New York County Asylums.

examine into the truth or falsity of such charges at its earliest convenience.

Replying thereto, I would say I have communicated the contents of your letter to my associate commissioners and have arranged for a special meeting of the commission with a view to proceeding with an examination into the management of the New York City Asylums for the Insane at the earliest practicable day.

Incidentally, I would say that the Commission in Lunacy made an official inspection of the male department of the Ward's Island Asylum in April last, but deferred examination of the female department, for the reason that it was in a temporary state of disorder and confusion incident to the recent removal thereto of a large number of patients from Blackwell's Island.

Very respectfully yours,

CARLOS F. MACDONALD, President State Commission in Lunacy.

It ought to be said in partial explanation of the delay which has supervened between the completion of the public hearings and the presentation of this report, that the testimony is so voluminous and covers so wide a field of inquiry, embracing over 5,700 pages, that to reduce it to typewritten manuscript became a labor of weeks, while to digest and consider its weight and scope, and its bearing on the several points inquired into, was not immediately possible, in connection with other obligations which press upon the commission.

The charges contained in the copy of the New York Herald referred to in your letter of May 14, 1894, were substantially the following: 1. That the Commissioners of Charities and Correction were negligent of their duties and responsibilities, and had in certain respects ignored the laws of the State by failure to comply with the same; also that they had diverted moneys appropriated for the erection and repair of asylum buildings to other purposes, and had failed to enforce the fulfillment of contracts.

2. That the medical officers were incompetent, inefficient and neglectful.

3. That the nurses or attendants were incompetent, neglectful, brutal to patients and insufficient in number.

4. That the food supplies were insufficient in quantity, quality and variety, and that the same were not properly cooked and served.

5. That the clothing, bedding and furniture supplied to patients were insufficient in quantity and of inferior quality.

General Administration

New York County Asylums.

6. That there was a lack of necessary alcoholic stimulants for the treat

ment of patients.

7. That the facilities for bathing were inadequate, and that the bathing was improperly done.

8. That the supply of medical and surgical instruments and appliances were totally inadequate.

9. That the disease known as scurvy was prevalent in the asylums, as a result of insufficiency of diet.

10. That the death of a patient had been caused by overdosing with powerful drugs.

11. That patients suffering from infectious diseases were not properly isolated, and that as a result of this at least one patient had died.

12. That women patients had been required to perform excessive and unsuitable manual labor, for which they were incapacitated or not. adapted.

13. That a large number of women patients had been subject to great hardship and discomfort by their removal from Blackwell's Island to buildings on Ward's Island which were not suitable for occupancy.

14. That there was laxity in the commitment of patients, and that persons who were not insane were illegally committed to and detained in the asylum; also that patients were wrongfully detained therein after they had recovered.

15. That there was a lack of suitable facilities for the diversion, amusement and occupation of patients.

16. That all of the asylum buildings were dangerously overcrowded; that many of them were in a state of dilapidation and decay; also that the plumbing, steam heating and means of ventilation were seriously defective; also that there had been great and unnecessary delay in the completion of new buildings, and in the renovation and repair of certain other buildings which were urgently needed for the use of the patients.

While the charges preferred by the Herald were not specifically formulated as above, they embraced substantially all of the specifications mentioned, and also alleged general mismanagement, incompetency and neglect in the care and treatment of the dependent insane of the city of Nework.

The commission, under the provisions of section 10, chapter 283, of the Laws of 1889, as amended by chapter 273 of the Laws of 1890, proceeded at as early a date as practicable to examine into the charges, as above indicated.