H.—23a

1873. NEW ZEALAND.

TREATMENT OF LUNATICS IN NAPIER ASYLUM, (CORRESPONDENCE RESPECTING).

Presented to both Souses of the General Assembly by command of Sis Excellency.

No. 1. His Honor J. D. Ormond to the Hon. the Colonial Secretary. Sic,— Wellington, 2nd October, 1873. I have the honor to enclose letters from Mr. Scaly, Inspector of Lunatic Asylum, Napier, and Mr. Miller, Keeper of the Asylum, commenting upon statements made by the Hon. Captain Praser, in the Legislative Council, upon the treatment of lunatics in the Napier Asylum. As these statements have been made public, and appear to be entirely refuted by the information contained in Messrs. Scaly and Miller's letters, I have to request those letters may be laid upon the table of the Houses of Assembly, so that they may appear with the unfounded statements which have been made by Captain Fraser. I have, &c., The Hon. the Colonial Secretary, Wellington. J. D. Ormond, Superintendent.

Enclosure 1. Mr. Miller to the Inspector op Asylums, Napier. Sib — H.M. Gaol, Napier, 18th September, 1873. No doubt you have seen the remarks made by the Hon. Captain Praser, in the Legislative Council. He says three of the men, for want of curative treatment, had become idiotic and incurable. The first of these three is Henry Murt, who came to this Province a lunatic, in the steamer " Star of the South," from Dunedin, in the year 18G5, and was examined by E. W. Alexander, medical officer of the Dunedin Asylum, about three years ago, who stated that he was incurable, from being injured on the head. The second is Thomas Masterton, who became a lunatic in the Province of Canterbury, and was confined in the Asylum there for some years ; he was then sent up to Auckland, where he was taken up arid confined in the Asylum, and in September, 1870, he was sent down here. The third is William Murray, who has been an idiot since his infancy. The fourth is Archibald Gardiner, who came here from Dunedin, about the year 18C3, where he was, as he is still, subject to violent fits of insanity for about three days; when in these fits, it is necessary, to prevent him from injuring himself, to confine him in a cell, and Captain Praser said it was the only way to manage such lunatics, and his being in the cell at that particular time was not a question of cheapness, for he was well attended to. "With regard to the female patients, Alice Allan has been insane for a number of years,and taken care of by her mother, but her mother being unable to manage her any longer, she was admitted to this Asylum on the 25th December, 1871, and several medical men have pronounced her quite incurable. Amy Ayres had just been admitted when Captain Praser visited the Asylum ; when admitted, she was very violent, but she is much better. The thiiid was Mrs. Stafford, who was admitted on the 17th December last. I explained the circumstances connected with this patient to Captain Praser, and it did not appear to leave a sad impression on his mind, for he said they had such cases, and instanced a case of a minister's wife who had been released from the Dunedin Asylum, I am certain he said eight different times, and returned in the same condition as Mrs. Stafford was in. And as for the female attendance, Captain Praser was informed that a female slept in the Asylum at night, and attended the patients through the day ; there has been a female attending and sleeping in the place since the month of March, and at the time Mrs. Stafford wa"s confined I employed a regular nurse to attend, besides the