Report of the Royal Commission on the care and control of the feeble-minded, Volume VIII.

  • Great Britain. Royal Commission on the Care and Control of the Feeble-minded.
Date:
1908
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Report of the Royal Commission on the care and control of the feeble-minded, Volume VIII. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    AMERICAN INSTITUTIONS FOR THE FEEBLE MINDED- Chapter XLL InstitationB for the Feeble-Minded in America. I arge estates The coloiiists, though all Custodial cases, i.e., idiots or marked imbeciles, ?nstituttons for required to do manual tvork, and many of them do nearly the full tvork thefeeble minded ^ labourer. “ We saw a group of four,” the members of our Commis- —contd. sion write, “ with heavy sledges and hammers breaking rock, and drilling it for Voi. VII., p. 61. blasting with exi:>losive ; they were working steadily and tvithout supervision. Further on tvas another group of five men working in a field. They were bringing in stooks of corn which they were loading upon a cart. Others in the shed were unloading and storing the corn. A further group -was hauling brick in wheelbarrows. At a little distance, there was a row of about a dozen who under the supervision of one man onh', Avere working a field with sharp pick- axes. An imbecile was ploughing Avith a pair of horses, his daily task. All of these men had come from Dr. Fernald’s schools for the feeble-minded, and a large proportion of those Avho Avere busily and hapjiily engaged in useful AV'ork could nex'er be taught to read and Avrite ; some had not human s])eech. The previous training Avas of course essential : idiots and Ioaa' grade imbeciles could not be employed in this Avay without preliminary training.” “All the cottages are built on essentially the same plan—solid brick foundations on cement AAuth rough cast aauiIIs and slate roof. £20 aauis paid to the architect for the original design, after Avhich all the buildings are modelled. The cost of building and furnishing a cottage is £2,000,' although the cost of the group just erected, OAving to rise in the material, Avas £2,400—£40 to £50 a head. The leA^elling, etc., is done by the inmates, as Avell as all carting, trenching, seAvering, painting, and A’arnishing.” “ In each of the cottages, there is a large sitting and dining room for the men. It is a pleasant apartment, with an immense ojAen fireplace, and VAundoAX's along three walls of the room. 4'he inqiression given is that of a large, substantial farmhouse. . . . There are txvo dormitories in each group, holding twenty-five beds each. . . . The attendance in one cottage consists of a man and his xxdfe, four AAmmen, and a laundress. In another group, it consists of a man and his Avife, two male assistants, and three women. In each group there are rooms for the attendants. Belonging to each group is a barn, the care of Avhich falls entirely to the inmates. An immense woodshed, Avhere the entire supply for the colony is kept, furnishes employment foi many of the men, especially in Avinter. There is no doctor in the colony, but the local physician looks after the care of the inmates. There is teleiDhonic communication with Waverley. It is seldom that medical aid is required, as long a period as six months having passed Avithout an illness or mishap occurring.” Voi. VII., p. 62. “The training schools at Waverley and their adjunct, the Templeton Colon}, appear to embody the ideals of Dr. Fernald and the State Commis- sions at Massachusetts as a permanent proA’ision for the training and employ- ment of custodial cases, whether feeble-minded, epileptic, or eA-en of certain types of insanity The ideal, and, of course, to a more limited extent, the practical realisation, made a most favourable impression on the Commissioners. It was a pleasure to see the happiness of the colonists, the humanity of their treatment, and the social utility of their employment in reproductive Axmrk, and Avith prospects of good economical results.” ' The Newark State Custodial Home for Feeble minded Women. Voi. VII., p. 28. p. 26. Voi. VII., p. 31. A’ol. AUI., p. 28. 862. We desire to draw particular attention to the account given by our members of the Newark State Custodial Home for Feeble-minded Women, in some respects the most remarkable of the American institutions. The object of this institution is “ to detain women of a child-bearing age, in order to prevent the propagation of persons of feeble mind with its attendant evils to the com- munity.” There are 600 inmates. “ About half were decidedly imbecile or idiotic, the other half being high grade imbeciles, or young women whose defect was so slight that on casual observation it would not be evident.” “ Twenty- five per cent, were women who had been brought before a magistrate on some charge, and without being convicted by him had been sent to the asylum as a proper place for their detention.” A small percentage had been transferred to Newark from prison and detained there after the expiration of their sentences. This institution is one of the brightest and most comfortable, and, also, one of