A STARTLING REPORT.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1560, 17 May 1887, Page 2

A STARTLING REPORT.

News just to hand from Sydney gives fuller particulars of the scandal which our cablegrams had referred to aa having arisen m connection with the Benevolent Asylums of New South Wales :— During Mr Dibbs and Sir Patrick Jennings' administration, about eight months ago, a Royal Commission was appointed to enquire into the condition of the Govern* ment benevolent asylums m New South Wales. In the Legislative Assembly, on May 10, Mr Dibbs rose with a copy of tho report of the Commission m his hand, and fairly electrified the House with quotations from the evidence and the statements he made concerning the management of. the Various institutions, and the treatment of the inmates. He said the present Government was not responsible for the state of things diaolosed, but he asked them to take immediate steps to effect a change prior to the appointment of the Board. Abundant evidence was produced to show that, at the Newington Asylum, 250 old people, from 40 to 100 yeare of age, were left shivering without clothing or the necessaries of life, and ■ were furnished with food insufficient to sustain life. He at once changed the diet with the result that the death rate was reduced from 11 to 8 per month. One could not read the report without feeling that the lives of the unfortunate people had been sacrificed, and public money wasted. Quoting from the report, and giving his own experience, Mr Dibbs said ;he mea's were served irregularly, the food for the cancer patients was served on tin dishes, and without knives and forks. They ato out of their hands and off their beds. There was no table and only one broken chair m a room where 14 persons were congregated. Dead bodies were left among the 1 living for thirty-six hours after death resulting from a loathsome disease, Cries of " Shams "). For several weeks the b3d linen was not changed. The warders were cruel and heartless, and peraons who could neither read nor write were placed m charge of the inmates, aod m one instance fatal results- nearly resulted. It would have bean a meroy for the inmates to be dead rather than to have received the treatment they had to submit 10. Both poultry and* pigs were reared from the refused food, but the only result wbb one chicken for inmatos, for which the Government had to pay 2s 6d. Evidence waa adduced to show that the unfortunate Inmates had been served by neglect, and that medical comfortß never reaohed them. The medical officer had neglected the duty, and the evidence showed ha used language to patents whfch no gentleman would, ui:der any clrcunutances. In one case, when the patient asked for admission, the decior told him to go "into the yard to die, and be damned," and tho man died, Neither could the matrons and warders he absolved from the charge of neglect The treatment of the inmates bad been of Buch a character that it WOUlft have bpen degrading to inhuman savages. Meat was given and the Bonp from it, which was unfit for consumption. Con* sumptive patienls were fed on dry bread and tea without milk, though there were cows on the premises. One particular caae was that of a man who wag suffering from paralysis, who for an offeDoe whioh could not be helped, was dragged out of his bed by the hair of his head, and Bluioed with cold water and a mop with human filth on it stuck m his mouth. /Cries of •'Shame.") This man was kicked and beaten literally to death, and the bruised andoblaokened body parried to the grave without an inqueat, whfch was the reason an exposure of the treatment he received was not previously mado. Another man, now blind, who has served at Rorkes Drift aud elsewhere m the Imperial service, and waa personally honored by the Queen, waa removed upstairs, where he was practically kept a prisoner, with thfl view of preventing him from giving evideno?, and unsuccessful attempts were made to stop other evidence. An hon member : The Colonial Secretary Rbould prosecute criminally, (Hear, hear.) Mr. Dibbs agreed that the term "murderers " could be applied to tho warders. All the statements were supported by reliable evidence, and he thought he was justified In bringing the matter forward, and asking that the wholn system, whioh concerned 1600 people, should be changed. Sir H. Parkes took exception to cor-reotn-sa of the statements, and added he had no hesitation m saying that the aots referred to were exceptions to the rula of kindness and cleanliness. Sir Henry Parkes said that not a penny of the aocount from, the Commission, which had held a protracted enquiry for the sake of the fees, would be paid, a statement whioh was warmly approved. In thn diaonaslon which followed, several raftmbera blamed the late Government for not takiDg aofcion, and one (a medical man) said that when . he sent hospital patents to the asylums they pleaded to be taken back so that they might die m peace, Mr Dibbs m reply reiterated the charges against the dcotor, the matrons, and the warders, and called for their immediate suspension, leaving the question of abso* lute guilt to be determined by additional investigation?. Sic H. Parkes : I will not do It. Mr Dibbs : Then I'll return to the charge night after night till the cloturt stops me. The Commission refers to the Asylums at Newington, George street, Parramatti, and Macquarie street, Parramatta, and the complaints against these institutions which are about equally sericus, and fairly comprehended m Mr Dibba' statement, The Commission reoommends that the management of asylums shou'd be pkcad under a Board, that the dietary scales should be recast, that the chronic sick shoald be placed m a central sick asylum and that several important changes should be made m the Internal arrangements.