venience? We think it decidedly better that the granting of specific appropriations be limited to a few clearly necessary items, the cost of which is too great to be met from the ordinary expense or general repair fund. Central Insane Hospital. The applications for special appropriations by the central hospital for the insane, at Jacksonville, are as follows: We recommend the reducing of the appropriation for repairs and improvements to five thousand dollars per annum, the amount allowed the other hospitals. The appropriation for improvement of the grounds we approve, also for grading and fencing around the new wings. Of the other appropriations asked, the most indispensable is that for a piggery and corn cribs. The extension of the female wing almost to the present piggery, which has been there many years, renders its removal an unavoidable necessity. But the amount asked appears to us excessively large, and we suggest that it be reduced to two thousand, five hundred dollars. Should the last named sum still appear large, it must be understood that it is intended to build twenty-six styes-thirteen on each side of a central aisle or passage-way, corn cribs for twenty-six hundred bushels of corn, a slaughter house, and a room for cooking feed; and to connect the latter with the present boiler house by laying steam pipes under ground. The last general assembly included in its list of special appropri ations twenty-five hundred dollars for an amusement hall. The act regulating the state institutions provides that "if at any time hereafter the sum appropriated by the general assembly for any specified purpose shall be found insufficient to complete and accomplish the purpose for which said appropriation is made, then no part of said sum so appropriated shall be expended or drawn from the state treasury, nor shall any liability on the part of the state be created on account of said appropriation." Under this act, nothing has been done toward providing the new amusement hall. The additional amount now asked will be necessary to accomplish all that is desired, and we recommend that it be granted. It is proposed to take out all the floors and partitions in the building now occupied by the bakery and ironing room, to take down the rear wall, extend the building twenty-five feet to the rear, put in proper stage fixtures, etc. The improvement is a very desirable one. The building of a new engine house and the purchase of a new engine are also desirable. Should this entire amount be granted, a two-story building will be erected, thirty-two by eighty feet; an engine with automatic cut-off will be placed in it, with sixteen inch cylinder and three and a half foot stroke; the fan tower raised; changes made in the carpenter shop; and some additional machinery purchased, including a mill for grinding feed. Whether it is necessary to do all this at once is a question for the legislature to determine. We recommend the appropriation of the full amount. The other items in the above list, we think, may be postponed for the present. If the soap works will save as much as is claimed for them, we advise that they be built out of the money appropriated for ordinary expenses. Part of the electric apparatus, if important, might be bought from the repair fund. There is an implied request in the report of the trustees for an additional appropriation for sewer. The legislature, at its last session, made two appropriations, one for a sewer upon the hospital grounds, and another in aid of a sewer to be constructed by the city of Jacksonville. The necessity for a sewer, to relieve the city of the bad odors of which complaint has been made for many years, for which the hospital is responsible, is we believe, admitted on all hands. The only difficulty in the way of its construction is the question whether the state or the city shall render itself liable to possible claims for damages on account of conveying the sewage away, and emptying it. In the case of the institution for the deaf and dumb, an appropriation was made, and a sewer built, without creating any liability on the part of the institution, but the risk was taken by an individual. The city declines to assume any risk, and therefore nothing has as yet been accomplished in the direction of the abatement of an acknowledged nuisance. We trust that this subject may receive full and impartial attenti from the proper committees of the legislature. There is also an implied request for an appropriation for the purchase of a piece of land, said to have been bought some years ago by the superintendent, for the benefit of the institution, at the suggestion of the trustees, and with a distinct understanding then and ever since that at some time it should be taken off his hands. This is a subject which should be investigated by a committee of the general assembly. If the facts are as we understand them to be, it would be wise to complete the purchase and save the further payment of interest and taxes. Southern Insane Hospital. The special appropriations asked by the southern insane hospital, at Anna, are as follows: Repairs and improvements, $5,000 per annum.. Total... $10,000 00 3,000 00 3,000 00 $16,000 00 The appropriation for improvement of the grounds might be reduced to one thousand dollars a year, as recommended for the other hospitals. That for repairs is not too large; nor the one for a new kitchen, which is much needed, and could not be built for the amount asked, were it not that the hospital has on hand a quantity of unused brick. Institution for the Deaf and Dumb. The special appropriations asked for by the institution for the education of the deaf and dumb, are as follows: We endorse the applications for general repairs and for pupils' library. The expense of laying a stone floor in the boiler-room, can be met from the repair fund, without any special appropriation. The new boiler is a necessity. The institution has three, which are all constantly in use, and they have to be cleaned in turn on Sundays. This we regard, in every instance, as bad economy. A spare boiler is always needed and always profitable to the owner. The proposed new laundry would be a great improvement, but the old one can be made to answer for the present, and we therefore do not feel that we can recommend the expenditure of the sum asked for this purpose. The appropriation for the present laundry was made as late as We much prefer to see an appropriation for the purchase of the four lots across the street and in front of the institution. These lots are now in the market, and if bought by other parties and used for private residences, the barns and stables would be unpleasantly close to the institution. As to the fire-escapes, we believe that fire-escapes of some sort should be provided, but without more knowledge than we possess, we would not recommend the purchase of any particular description or patent. This brings us to the question of building two new barns and changing one of the old ones into another cottage for male pupils, which again brings us face to face with the old controversy whether this institution shall be perpetually enlarged, or steps taken looking toward the establishment of a second institution for the deaf-mutes of this state. We insist, as we have done before, but to no purpose, that this institution is too large already; that a second institution is desirable and almost a necessity; that every year brings us nearer to the time when the friends of a second institution will carry their measure; and that no action whatever should be taken without a full recognition of its effect in all time to come, not only upon the welfare of the present institution, but of the deaf and dumb children of the state. We said, in 1872, when the trustees asked for one hundred thousand dollars for a new chapel and school house, seventeen thousand dollars for heating apparatus, and twenty-five hundred dollars for a laundry: The principal objections to enlargement are founded upon the rapid increase in the number of dear mute pupils, from year to year. Taking the rate of increase during the past ten years as the basis of calculation, at the expiration of the next ten years there will be five hundred deaf and dumb children at school in Illinois. The maximum number who ever ought to be in one institution, is not over two hundred and fifty or three hundred; and if the existing institution were enlarged to-day, it would either be larger than it should be, for the best interests of the inmates, or it would not be large enough to meet the demand upon it. In ten years, there will be of necessity, two institutions of this class in the state, and both of them will be filled. With this certainty before us, we regard it as exceedingly unwise to make temporary, rather than permanent provision for the wants of the immediate future. Besides, we are thoroughly convinced that enlargement in one department of the institution will necessitate enlargement in all; that all the parts of it will require to be readjusted, and proportioned to each other; that this will involve tearing down and rebuilding, at an expense greater than that of building from the foundation; and that the final result will be unsatisfactory to the authorities in charge and to the people of the state. We still occupy the same position and attitude. Our opinion as to the rate of increase and the probable number at school in 1882 has been abundantly confirmed. The superintendent of the institution. estimates the attendance, in school term, during the next two years, at four hundred and eighty. As to the result in the matter of expense, experience shows the amounts already expended and requested of the present assembly since the policy of enlargement was determined upon, aggregate nearly or quite one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, which would have gone a long way toward building another institution. The "tearing down and rebuilding" predicted has in part taken place, and more will follow in due season. The final result is not however unsatisfactory to the authorities in charge; nor to ourselves, so long as the present superintendent is spared to remain at his post of duty; but that it is unsatisfactory to the people of the state or a portion of them is evident, because at every session a bill for a second institution is introduced in some shape and finds a certain amount of advocacy. Such a bill will certainly be passed sooner or later, in order to bring the institution nearer to those for whose benefit it is designed. The superintendent of the institution, who has always directly or indirectly opposed the establishment of a second institution, and whose trustees still oppose it, says:— I believe that the time has now arrived when another institution for the education of the deaf and dumb in Illinois, though not a necessity, is desirable and advisable, since there are unquestionably enough deaf and dumb children of a school-attending age in the state to constitute two good institutions, if the condition of the state treasury will warrant the greatly increased expenditure involved. The trustees say : While this board would not endeavor to discourage such an enterprise, yet fidelity to their sense of duty compels them to withhold their approval of the recommendation, for two reasons, viz: Should another institution be organized, the present one must of necessity be divided, leaving a large portion of the buildings now erected unoccupied. The financial condition of the country is now so depressed, that the board are clearly of the opinion that the large expenditure necessary for another institution should for a time be deferred. The present institution, with a very small expenditure, can be made to meet all the demands of the deaf and dumb children of the state for a number of years. We agree with the trustees that any very large expenditure for another institution should be deferred; though this is more properly a question for the legislature to determine. But the objection urged by them against the organization of another institution, that in that case the present one must be divided, is an argument which will forever apply, and if it is to govern the action of the people of the state, it will forever prevent its establishment. It will always be true that for the time being it is cheaper to build a small addition to an existing institution than to take steps to create a new one ; and this is the secret cause of the overgrowth of so many institutions, and of all the injurious results which follow. We do not urge the creation of a second institution at this time; we simply oppose the further enlargement of the one which we now have-believing that though not a necessity, it will be so in a very short time; and that it will be very undesirable, when that time arrives, to leave a large portion of the present buildings unoccupied. For these reasons, we trust that no appropriation will be made for new barns and a new cottage. Institution for the Blind. The institution for the education of the blind asks for special appropriations to the amount of $60,923, principally for new buildings. Repairs, $1,000 per annum.. Books and maps for pupils, $300 per annum. Laundry building and new kitchen. Barn.......... Coal house. New wing, to complete original plan.. Furnishing new wing. Additional boiler... New fronts and resetting boilers.. $ 2,000 00 600 00 8,011 00 5,822 00 5,115 00 1,398 00 32,409 00 3,282 00 1,501 00 785 00 $60,923 00 We approve the application for repairs and for books and maps. There is not any immediate and pressing demand for the new wing. The present building accommodates comfortably all who voluntarily apply to be received as pupils. Were the new wing built, it would be necessary to give exhibitions and advertise the institution largely in other ways, in order to fill it. If the wing is not built, the institution has no use for an appropriation to furnish it, nor for the additional boiler. The resetting of the present boilers and putting in new fronts has' we understand, been ordered by the official inspector, and should be attended to at once. The other buildings in the above list we should regard it as good policy to erect. The amounts asked appear to be high; and we should think that they might be reduced. Probably six thousand dollars for the shops, five thousand for the laundry and kitchen, and four thousand for the barn, with twelve hundred for a coal house would do, all that is really necessary in this direction. |