REVISERS' NOTE. The laws from which the following bill is drafted are in the revised statutes, eighth edition, pages 2145-6, 2152-2200; laws 1889, chapter 283; laws 1890, chapters 40, 126, 132, 243 and 273. By chapter 126, law 1890, all insane persons who are, or become, a public charge, except in the counties of New York, Kings and Monroe, are to be transferred to the state asylums, and there wholly supported by the state. By chapter 132, of the same year, the names of the several state asylums, except the asylum for insane criminals, are changed to state hospitals. The changes wrought by these acts might justly require a full and complete revision of the laws relating to the care and treatment of the insane. Chapter 273 of the laws of 1890, of later date in its passage than either of such acts, purports to be "An act to amend, revise and consolidate certain acts and parts of acts relating to the state Commission in Lunacy, and the care and treatment of the insane, the management of the asylums for their treatment and safe keeping," etc. But in the act itself, the main provisions contained in the acts mentioned, and important provisions in other acts relating to the care and treatment of the insane, are entirely ignored or omitted; and it contains provisions that had been repealed or made obsolete by such acts, and proceeds as if such acts had not been passed, and as if the insane, are still regarded as the wards of the municipal localities where they become insane, and not the wards of the state. Such are the apparent conflicts in the laws of 1890 demanding reconstruction. In the draft of the bill herewith submitted, it has been assumed that the changes contemplated by chapters 126 and 132, are, in fact, the most deliberate expressions of legislative intent, and the laws relating to the care and treatment of the poor and indigent insane are herein revised and consolidated so as to conform the same with such expressions and intent. The present laws substantially contain separate laws for the control and management of each state hospital, evidently inherited from their respective original charters, having many forms of resemblance, but differing mainly in nomenclature and in the number and tenure of the officers constituting their respective directing boards. It has seemed desirable to abbreviate and simplify these laws by reducing them to one, if the same can be done without impairment. It is believed this may be substantially realized in the adoption of, and compliance with, the provisions of article 2 of the revision. Matters of procedure in the courts are transferred to their appropriate places in the codes. That no person, not insane, may be held in custody, as such against his will, ample provision is made for the test of the question of insanity. Most of the laws comprised in the schedule of laws to be repealed by this chapter will be found in the appendix. Temporary provisions of the statutes are generally omitted in the revision and in the repealing schedule. There is generally a reference under the sections of the revision to the page of the eighth edition of the revised statutes, or to the chapters of the session laws where the present statutes will be found which are to be superseded by the revision. There are also cross references following each section of the revision, and preceding the sections of the appendix of laws to be repealed, by means of which a critical comparison of the two can more readily be made. 1694 |