A WORLD OF MADNESS

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 10715, 7 October 1912, Page 7

A WORLD OF MADNESS

1)R FORBES WI SSI A) W' S GRIM \ PiU) P.HECY. THE LNCJUASE J-N LUNACV. j To the statement by Dr Mott, it j t!n> Eugenics Congress, that the in- j crease in lunacy is mere apparent , than real, Dr Forbes V» in.-!<:w, i.i an interview wich a representative of the Fall Mall Gaze to gnw ■;>! absohuo denial. "I base my views," he a:\ul } "on practical, experience and knowledge obtained during the last forty-five years in my investigations in various - parts of the world. Wherever I have investigated tiie subject I have found that the increase is most real. Lunacy progresses uninterruptedly, jind the only goal to be reached is a' world of madness in the not very distant future. "Dr Motts bases his figures and conclusions mainly on the study of the pauper class of London. Although there is more crime, lunacy, and drink in London than in any other city in the whole universe, I should be the last to take tho statistics of insanity from London in order to base an opinion on the matter, or let it lead one to believe, in face of the true facts of the case, that the increase of lunacy is an apparent and not a real one. ONE LUNATIC IN EVERY 275. "In 1859 there was one lunatic in every SUO of the population. To-day there is one in every 275. Tn France 00 years ago there was one insane person in every 750 of the population To-day there is one in every 300. In Switzerland, whe.ro T made an official investigation last year, "I also '. found a vnry alarming increase. I "The increase last year in England was the highest for a decade. It was 2604, as opposed to the average increase for the last ten years of 2521. The question is one of vital importa nee, not only to the present generaI tion, but to generations still unborn. "From tho point of view of com-' parison, the increase of population has nothing to do with the increase of insanity. In England the cities taken in order in which insanity is most prevalent, are London. Bath, I Bristol arid Brighton. Tn" Bournemouth there is less insanity than in any other town. Why I do not know, except that Bournemouth is an exceptionally healthy place. "Among the uncivilised races of the world insanity is generally an unknown quantity. Where, on the other hand, competition is great, where gigantic mental efforts have to he made to keep up with the course of events, and where temptation is thrown in the way of mankind, its increase is very real." THIS INCREASE OK DRINK. "Why is it increasing!-" T)r Forbes Winslow was asked. "The chief statistical cause," he renlied. "is the increase of drink. Twenty-five per cent of all the lunacy in the world is caused by drink, and more than twenty-five per cent in London." "Rut 1 thought wo had become ft more sober nation," it was remarked. "That is a popular delusion; nothing could he more fallacious.- Every day T am brought face to face with the appalling fact. We are- drinking very much more. "Other causes of insanity are heredity and injudicious marriages. Those who have been insane once shotild not be allowed to marry. "Further, to check this mental degeneration there should be immediate legislation for the compulsory confinement of habitual, drunkards : and half-way houses should be established where those suffering from acute, but curable, insanity could be placed insfoad of being incarcerated in lunatic asylums." Dr Forbes Winslow has a hook now in the press on '"The (fnsa.nitv of Passion and Crime," with chapters, among others, on the tragedy of passion, of irresponsibility, of mental obscurity, of heredity, and of criminal abnormality*,, illustrated with a remarkable series of photographs, including one of a man who suffered from the hallucination that he was | i seuirrel.