The Globe. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1878.

Globe, Volume XX, Issue 1486, 20 November 1878, Page 2

The Globe. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 1878.

It is with very great satisfaction that we notice the step taken at last by the Government in calling for tenders for the erection of the much-needed additions to the Sunnyside Lunatic Asylum. For months past the necessity of affording accommodation for the increased number of male patients has been urged upon the Government, not only in the report of their own officers, but also through the public Press. It has been pointed out, time after time, that the number of patients now under treatment is far in excess of the accommodation at the disposal of the Superintendent. The mess and recreation rooms instead of being used for their special purposes have had perforce to be turned into dormitories. Not only so, but worse than this, the unfortunate patients have been unable, from the overcrowding of the yards, to obtain that amount of air and exercise which is absolutely necessary in the way of remedial treatment. All this has been urged over and over again in the official reports presented to the Government, and the wonder is that such a state of things as depicted by Dr. Skae in his last report should have been allowed to continue under the more enlightened and modern treatment of insanity which obtains here. The greatest amount of freedom consistent with safety is essential and important to the patient. So far as is possible it has been found the wisest course to avoid any semblance of restraint except in very bad cases, and the large per centage of cures effected proves that this is the proper course to pursue. But under the difficulty of having nearly double the number the building can properly accommodate, being crowded into it, the Superintendent is powerless to carry out the system of euro to its fullest extent. Indeed the wonder is that ho has been enabled under such adverse circumstances to do as much as he lias done. And not alono is it true that the number of patients now in the male side of the asylum is far too many, but the buildings thomsolvos are totally unsuited for the purpose. Like everything else, the science of medicine, whether of the body or the mind, is progressive in its development. It requires for its proper carrying out special facilities, and this the present building does not afford. There is, for instance, no provision for classification, and the arrangements are such as to entail very greatly increased work and anxioty on those in charge. Tae bad cases of what aro known as incurable or refractory lunatics, who, if properly treated, might probably regain their reason, are, under present arrangements, unable to be so separated as to give the system of cure a fair trial. That such a state of things should exist in a community such as ours for one day longer than is absolutely necessary, seems to us to be a slur on our humanity. This is the nioro so when wo reflect that the plans tuf accommodation, which if provided, wouvj remove this stigma, have been for mona, 8 prepared and in the hands of the Govu. nment< Nofc ouly j g this the case, but the I nspec t or General in his report has pointedly aU(I cmp ] iat .i o . ally called attention to the for proceeding with thoao now Thereforo the Government haw u 0 excuse. They cannot say that li^ v were not mad» aware of the state ot things which prevails. But while on all sides they have been pressed to do this work; whilst tb plans have lain in tho Ministerial offids, for months they have

allowed this indiscriminate hording and crowding together of the poor creatures whose demand upon the sympathy and succour |of society jis induced by their misfortune, and not by their crime, to go on until the spectacle has become a standing disgrace to tho colony. Now, howevor, though it is late in tho day that they havo put their hand to tho good work, wo trust they will not stay until it is completed, and tho disgrace of having such a state of things as Ave havo alluded is, to entirely wipod away.

Fault has been found, we believe, with the manner in which matters have been dealt with by us in this column. It is said that some passing occurrences have been treated too lightly, not to say contemptuously, and that instead of producing the jocularity we aimed at, we have only succeeded in emitting some of those bad pleasantries that benefit neither the joker or— pace "Times" —the "jokist." Anybody having a particle of humor within him can understand how difficult it is to restrain the comments that present themselves with the utterances we hear, and the instances we see, constantly passing before the disc of the kaleidoscope of life which is open to the sight of every beholder. And any thoughtful observer must be aware that it is not the clumsy, long-winded lectures and the labored perorations of prosy politicians which command the greatest attention or effect the most good. The ephemeral literature of the present day does not admit of the use of the swelled paragraphs and rounded periods that were considered indispensable in the times and productions of Johnson, Steele, Sterne, Swift, Addison, and all that illustrious galaxy of talent which we now look at with wonder and admiration. They, if by any miracle they, could Bee what is said daily in any of the broadsheets that, thank Q-od ! are now scattered over every land where our language is spoken, would possibly be shocked at the levity used and the triviality of the language we employ. Yet it is not in the least doubtful that the most powerful lever used either in a good or evil direction is, when properly handled, that of sarcasm. Malice should, of course, be extruded when dealing with the occurrences of the day affecting our neighbors. JUverybody here knows everybody else, and we would not willingly offend any one, much less insult them. Therefore if at any time we seem to come down pretty heavily on anybody's corns, let that particular sufferer console himself today with the anticipation of what, under a merciful dispensation, may happen to his boßom friend to-morrow.