Report on lunatic asylums / by Fredc. Norton Manning.
- Manning, Frederick Norton, 1839-1903.
- Date:
- 1868
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Report on lunatic asylums / by Fredc. Norton Manning. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.
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![All these inatitutions were founded either iu the last century, or in times prior to that —in some cases by public subscription, in others by the munificence of one individual; and are now possessed of property to a greater or less amount. This property in most cases consists of the asylum buildiug and estate ; in some of the Royal Asylums of Scotland these are still encumbered with debt, but in others, there is a good annual income. The government is in the hands of trustees, governors, or directors ; some being »o ex officio, according to the charter obtained by the corporation at its foundation, some because elected to the office, and the remainder by payment of a qualifying subscription to the funds of the institution. These governors or trustees manage the affairs of the institution by a committee of their number who form a board of control, appoint all officers, and apply the income to the purposes designed by the founder or laid down in the charter of the institution. In the majority of instances, accommodation is aftbrded in these institutions for the insane of the great middle class, whom their malady has reduced to circumstances of comparative poverty, which prevent their paying largely for their support. These are admitted either at reduced rates of board, or absolutely without payment, and are maintained in the institution either for certain fixed periods during which the malady is considered curable, as at Bethlehem, St. Luke's, and the Philadelphia Hospital, or till cure or death arrive, as in the lloyal Asylums in Scotland and others. In some of these institutions, accommodation is provided for the rich, who pay more or less handsomely for their maintenance, (the sur])lu8 of such payments accruing to the asylum funds) ; and for paupers, who are paid for by the parishes to which they belong. The entire pauper insane of the county of Northam])ton are thus accommodated in the Northampton Lunatic Hospital, and the insane of the Borough of ork in the lunatic hospital of that place. The county and borough asylums in England, the district asylums in Scotland, jind the county asylums in America, are greatly alike in constitution and government • the basis on which all are estabHshed is the parish system, by which the poor and insane are supported by the more well-to-do of their fellow-parishioners. These asylums have been erected either by funds drawn at once from the county rates, or by borrowed money which IS repaid by nistalments from these rates. The government is iu the hands of the Justices ot the Peace of the county, who, by an executive committee or board of control appoint all officers, and arrange for the admission and discharge of patients ; and the i)ay- ments for their support, by the diff-erent unions and parishes. The power of the Magistrates is accurately defined by the legislature, and the constitution of the asylum fully laid down ni the same manner. The departmental asylums of France, and the provincial asy urns ot Belgium, Holland, and some of the German States, differ from the county asylums of England m some minor respects only ; the chief of which is that the Central Government interferes more actively in their management. All financial and general control IS, however m the hamh. of the prefect or chief officer of the department or province. The State asylums ot the United States and some of the German States as Baden and Brunswick, &c are more distinctly Government institutions; they are erected and kept in repair by the &;tate, and are in all respects Government propertv • the officer, .re appomted by the State Executi^s e, or by a Board of Control nominated 'by it butZ maintenance of the patients is made to fall to some extent on the parishes and townshim s7a?.! fbeing collected by the \}oJn^^t itZ In providing for the indisent insane, private enterprise has, in most oountri,.. entered mto competition with the Local or General Government; but it^f n Zrian i that the system of proprietary houses has been most largely devdoped Nelr L S and m other parts of the county are large asylums, own?d and adZttered by nri« e tt'; tloug '° ''f P'- P'^'' thrpaHshes'ti wh^h bytheB^troS:/Z^^^^^^^^ n> many respects satisfactory refuges for the hmni; anj iu more IIT one .nS.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21292450_0029.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
