Manawatu Herald. SATURDAY, MARCH 17. 1894. "Kept Steadily in View?"

Manawatu Herald, 17 March 1894, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. SATURDAY, MARCH 17. 1894. "Kept Steadily in View? "

Last week two Justices at Bulls had an unfortunate man brought before them charged with having no visible means of support, the apprehending constable stating that the accused had been sleeping out the previous three nights on the public roads. The man did not appear in bis right mind and the Justices were placed in the unfortunate position of having to commit the accused to prison ! This, they did to save his life, no power existing whereby the Justices could send the man direct to an asylum or hospital 1 With every consideration to the man's state the Justices endorsed the warrant to the effect that the case appeared one more for a hospital than prison, and requested the gaoler to watch over him. The man died, the jury failed to charge Ministers with manslaughter but they addad to their verdict, "that a place should be, provided within the gaol or hospital grounds for the reception of such patients as tmV The jury may b»» staunch Liberal-*, very likely they are, residing as they do in Wanganui, and it ia possible, even after the evidence they heard, they may hope their recommendation will be paid some little attention to ; we have seen other Librals buoyed up with similar delusions. For ourselves we believe the only wise course would have been to have brought in a charge of manslaughter against the Minister answerable for this neglect, and then something, it I might have been expected, would have been done to put an end to the to the murder of such unfortunates as this poor mau Wise The gaoler had the man examined by two medical men, and expected to have been able to have sent him to Wellington, but as the " prisoner " had been " sentenced " the Stipendiary Magistrate had no power to Bend him to an asylum, without an order from the Colonial Secretary. During the delay the man settled matters by dying, and of course no one is to blame t The recommendations of expert* have most likely '• been kept steadily in v : ew," Ministers el^eti >n», holidays. &c, had to ba attended t=> first,. The Wanganui gaoler, upon bis oath, said — " The man, being undoubtedly out of his mind, he (witn-'ps) should consider the gaol the very worst place to have sent him to. The gaol, the sight of policemen in uniform, appeared to have sent him into a frantic terror/ This makeß"nice"readirig, doesn't it, in the light that Justices have no other plaoe to send similar cases f It is not as though the Government were unaware of this danger, as Dr Earie deposed that "There was not a proper place provided by the State in the stage between being arrested and sent to the Asylum. There should be some such placa. Had written to the Government repeatedly | pointing out that the gaol was not a i proper place for the detention of. lunatics pending examination, hat with no result." Dr Earle further said that he did not think the hos- j pital authorities wou'd have received a lunatic on the authority of two Justices. So far we have got, just to the stagp where a man dies from nevr^cr, the result of persons in authority , ignoring th«* suggestions of. txp»«H enced experts, and we are led to ask if such a position is to continue ? A proper. place is needed, not only in the case under review but for many future ones,. Ministers have been advised " but with no result," This unfortunate man appears to have been a stranger in a strange land, and therefore could safely be ignored, though that is not our opinion, but

we must all remember the clay may i come when we, or those nearest and dearest to us, may unfoi fcunately have a mind diseased and be for a time beyond our care, and we can now fairly guage the loving care they wjil meet with at the people's Government's hands, which we pray they may all be spared from. The case discloses a most disgraceful neglect of duty and must not be allowed to pass by without resulting in an immediate alteration. | ! |