THE STERILIZATION BILL
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—In answer to Mr. F. M. Avis's letter in your issue for August 22nd, I would like to say that I very much regret the error in my calculations as to the cost of segregation as the sole means of dealing with the problem of mental deficiency.
As Mr. Avis points out, to take as basis the figure of £8,000,000 odd, which represents the total expenditure on the upkeep of County and Borough Mental Hospitals and on the maintenance of the patients in them, is quite erroneous. Nevertheless, although through this error my figures were " exaggerated," I would like to point out that colony accom- modation, which is considered the most desirable form of segregation, " can be provided at £800 a bed," as is stated in the Board of Control Report for 1980. Therefore the initial cost of providing colony accommodation for one hundred thousand defectives is £30,000,000, whilst , the subsequent annual upkeep of these beds is something over £6,500,000 for, as mentioned by Mr. Avis, the average cost of maintaining a mentally deficient patient in an institution works out at about £65 a year, but this does not include the cost of repairs, &c., to the actual buildings.
If it be thought ridiculous to talk of providing such accom- modation for one hundred thousand persons, I would mention that the Mental Deficiency Committee of 1929 found that the " total colony accommodation required for all mentally deficient persons under a system of unified control " was 116,810.
There is not sufficient room in a letter of this sort to go into the question of community care adequately, but it is no exaggeration to say that this is a policy that is doubtful under the best of conditions. However, from the point of view of racial danger, no objection could be raised to persons remaining under community care whilst they are too young to procreate, nor is there any reason why adults should not be at liberty so long as they are, sterilized (guardian- ship or supervision cannot possibly guarantee that these persons shall not procreate). By carefully inter-weaving a system of sterilization with that of segregation, the " flowing lake " conception of institutional accommodation can be
safely acted upon ; many adults need not be confined unneces- sarily, more children could be provided with institutional accommodation, which is especially desirable since children stand most in need of it and benefit most by it, and con- siderably less accommodation would be required.
The spread of mental deficiency can never be controlled until mental defectives are prevented from procreating, and this cannot be accomplished solely by means of segregation.
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