On the Present State of Lunacy Legislation in Scotland; a Historical Note of Warning

Extract

The object of the present paper is to bring under the notice of this meeting the present state of Scotch Lunacy Legislation, especially as it affects our Chartered Asylums. For some years back efforts have from time to time been made to introduce various Bills into Parliament, calculated, more or less, to interfere with the present position of these institutions, and during the past Session one of these Bills has passed into law. It was evident to those who took any interest in this measure, that a strong feeling existed in regard to the extent to which Parochial Boards had control over their patients, and it was evident, sooner or later, that more extensive and more comprehensive legislation would ere long be forced on the notice of the public. That we should be prepared for this, it seems very desirable that we should know exactly our position, or how existing institutions are likely to be affected by such legislative efforts. But to understand this thoroughly, it will be necessary to consider the changes which have taken place in the Statutes affecting lunacy in Scotland since these were enacted in 1857, and this I will now do as briefly as possible.