The largest single enterprise in which the individual states in our country engage is the care of the insane. The State of New York has an insane population of 23,000, cared for at an annual expense to the state of $5,000,000, and, although many states have a smaller number in proportion to their inhabitants, others have a still greater. California, for instance, has 6,000 insane—a number larger in proportion to her population than any other state. In passing it may be suggested that it would be an interesting subject of study to ascertain the causes of this heavy proportion of insanity in a comparatively new state.
Everyone must have observed that there is at the present time a distinct renewal of public interest in this function of the state, a decided tendency to question the methods usually employed. Public care of the insane is managed in several different ways. California