Abstract: Report of the Commission appointed to enquire into the Management
of Several Public Institutions Receiving Provincial Aid, 1858
In mid-nineteenth century New Brunswick, the government of the day
decided that an investigation into the management of some of the most costly provincial
institutions would be undertaken to "insure greater economy in their management." The
institutions in question were the Provincial Penitentiary,
Provincial Lunatic Asylum, Saint John
Marine Hospital, and the Light Houses of New
Brunswick. It is clear from the introduction to
the Commission's report that this exercise in austerity would not have been unfamiliar to those
who have suffered through the downsizing mania of the late twentieth century. The report
ultimately concludes with the recommendation that, for efficiency's sake, all four institutions be
governed by one central board. Nonetheless, the report, though obvious in its intent and
execution, does provide some substantial historical information about important institutions of
the period.
Of the four bodies mentioned by the report, it is the Provincial
Penitentiary and the Lunatic Asylum that receive
the majority of the Commission's attention. The Commissioners
discussed the historical antecedents to all the institutions under examination, and their
suggestions about ways to save money in running the penitentiary and asylum are most
illuminating. For instance, in an effort to save money for the prison, the Commissioners made
such recommendations that the quality of bread should be decreased (and female prisoners
should bake it) and the amount of food for prisoners should be lessened. Similarly for the
asylum, they decided that too much money was going to clothing patients and that the asylum's
use should be restricted to "bona fide lunatics": "idiots and imbeciles, should not be admitted
unless they are found to be dangerous at large."
h.c.
Commissioners:
David
Wark
Henry Fisher
James MacFarlane
G.E.
Fenety
Joel E. Reading
