The Globe. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 1878.

Globe, Volume XX, Issue 1409, 21 August 1878, Page 2

The Globe. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21, 1878.

Parliament being now in session, the present seems an opportune time to direct attention to the present state of the male portion of the Sunnysido Asylum. We are proud—and justly so—of many of the institutions which exist in Canterbury; but we do not hesitate to say tbat the continuance of such a state of things as has existed for some time past at the Asylum is in the highest degree discreditable to the Government. Under the more enlightened and humane course of treatment of cases of insanity which now prevails, the great curative agent is to divest the mind of the patient of any feeling of undue restraint. Mr. Seager'e plan has been to endeavor to surround the unfortunates who are placed under his care with light and pleasant objects; to give to their place of restraint a homelike feeling. And this was attended with the happiest results whorever it has been practicable to be carried into effect. But of late years, to a great extent, this has boon almost impossible. With the growth of the colony, and the large influx of immigrants, has naturally come an increase of patients. But while this has been so, the accommodation for them has not been increased accordingly. The male quarters still remain in the old building, which is not only totally unlit for the purposes to which it is devoted, but so overcrowded as to almost render curative treatment impossible. For want of the necessary accommodation, Mr. Seagor has been unable to carry out to the fullest extent his remedial treatment. The patients have been debarred from takiug that amount of exorcise which is a necessary portion of the system; nor have they been enabled to have sufficient dormitory accommodation, so as to prevent the rooms which are used in the day-time being converted at night into sleeping apartments. It will thus be seen that for want of proper buildings for the male inmates, the curative work of the superintendent must necessarily, not only bo greatly hindered, but a very large amount of anxiety added to his already grave responsibilities. That such overcrowding should be allowod by the Government to continue is perfectly unaccountable; the more so when wo remombor that the urgent necessity for completing the new building—one wing of which is finished aud occupied by the female patients —has been so often brought under the notice of the Government by reports from its own officers. In his annual report on the Lunatic Asylums of the colony, laid before Parliament last year, Dr. Skae says, speaking of Sunnysido : —" The male department is calculated to accommodate about 60 patients and now contains 121. It is in many respects very badly constructed, aud owing to this defect, and to the dreadful degree to which it is now crowded it is almost a inoekory to call it an Asylum at all. Immediately after the supper the t'urnitnre has to be cleared out of the day rooms in order that they may bo converted into dormitories; and in wot weather, when the patients cannot get out to the dismal high-walled airing yards, the Superintendent frequently feels compelled to put numbers of the excitable and dangerous U) fced for fesr of

serious quarrels. Despite the crowded condition of this department, its management is such as to reflect great credit on Mr. Seager and his staff of attendants, but it is obvious that its utility as a place of treatment is greatly impaired by the fact that much of their time is occupied in guarding against accidents and disasters, which it is a matter of astonishment are not of almost daily occurrence." Surely nothing could bo more forcible than the language employed by the Inspector to show the utter unsuitability of the present male department of the Asylum, and the imperative necessity which existed for an immodiate chango being made. But though this was written in 1877, no practical steps have been taken to remedy the evils so graphically described by Dr. Skao. He points out that the male department is only calculated to contain 60 patients, whilst double that number appear to be crowded into it. He goes on to say —" The plans for a portion of the male wing of the Asylum sufficient to accommodate 150 patients are now nearly ready, and it is a matter of urgent necessity that so much of the building should be erected without delay." As we have shown, however, nearly twelve months have elapsed, and nothing has been done to carry out the recommendations made by Dr. Skae. The overcrowding still continues, and, as a matter of course, the chauces of successful treatment are considerably diminished. So far as we can see, there has been no valid reason for the delay which has taken place. The matter has now become serious, and no further delay should be allowed to take place in the commencement of the building of the malo wing, as proposed by Dr. Skae. We trust, therefore, that tho Canterbury members will bring this subject before the Government in such a way as will ensure immediate attention to bo given to it.

The mendacious literary infant of Cathedral Square once more indulged his favourite weakness last night, when the following sentence was issued as part of a leading article: —" A decided advantage is being offered to the whole community, whose interests must be held of far more importance than that of the beer consumers and brewers together, in the reduction by fifty per cent, of the duty upon tea and sugar." It might have been supposed that even this puling child would have had the sense to avoid making an announcement of such a character, which a mere reference to the Treasurer's statement would refute. The duty ou tea in the past has been sixpence in the pound; in the future it is to be fourpence. This the Star calls a reduction of " fifty per cent." We are not anxious to press the poor baby hardly. Possibly it was not a desire to misstate facts, but the want of sufficient brain-power to calculate how much por cent, twopence in sixpence represented, that led to the error. We have already advised the weanling what respect for his profession requires him to do in cases where truth and the directions of proprietors are incompatible. But the present case, if, as we hope, the untruth is simply the result of mathematical inability, will require a different course, and we again hasten to tender counsel to the weak one. Shortly then, we would recommend ovir contemporary, whenever he has such abstruse arithmetical problems in hand as the calculation of how many times two will go .into six, to consult his nursing mother before making any statement on the point. There is probably wisdom enough mike Lyttelton Times to do a sum, even of this magnitude, without exhaustion in the effort. This advice is offered in all sincerity, as there is real reason to fear that if the Star continues uuasssisted to guide the Government much longer, or expound its policy to the public, the effect of this dis. interested and immensely influential support will be to support the Ministry out of office —a consummation which seems to be the last that our contemporary desires.