Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio) 1856-1865, 1859-01-13

| the same rate, would require an annual ad-
ditional expenditure of 1897, ,722, making
an aggregate annual outlay Of $466, 1872;
and that these estimates are exclusive of
interest, about $50, 900, on the capital,
about 100000, invested in the existing
Asylums, and of the yearly cost Of per-
manent Improvements, which was last year
about 81 5000; and of the capital yet TO
be invested in new sites and structures, and
of the interest upon that. III.
No one desires more earnestly than l
that the General Assembly may fully dis
charge the obligations assumed in the Con-
stitution by the whole people, to the chill
dren of SORROW The duty of fulfilling
them is clear, and the benefits of its per-
formance evident. The social condition of
no people can be what it should be, while
class Of guiltless and helpless victims Of
physical or mental disorder remains unre-
lieved. Nor is the duty Of relief less i'm
peratively dictated by considerations of
economy, than by considerations of phi
lanthropy. The dependent infirin must be
sustained by society in some form. The
only choice is between modes. And how
much better that mode which raises so
many of them from depth of helplessness
and wretchedness, and makes them self.
supporting and even useful members Of the
community, than that other mode which
which wastes resources in ftful and made
quate relief, drops its wretched objects in
their sorest need, and inf1icts upon society
the moral and social evils NECESSARILY result
ing from the presence of such class neg
lected in its midst. -auresr =. tsI
The statements have submitted are de-
signed to set clearly before you the nature
and magnitude of the evil, for which you
are called upon to provide remedy. They
will, perhaps, convince you of the necessi-
ty of restoring the policy adopted at the
opening, and pursued for twelve years in
the administration of the Asyums, Of re-
quiring that the cost of maintenance in
them be betrayed by the parents or guar
dians of the inmates, in cases where the
circumstances of the parties fully justify it.
They will, l think, also satisfy you of the
expediency of encouragement, by law, to
the establishment of private Infrmaries
and Asylums, in which there is reason to
believe many will be maintained by their
own means or by Relatives, and friends,
and that others needing help from the
State, can, in many cases, be provided for
at much less than the present cost. They
will also, it may be hoped, recommend to
all entrusted with the administration of
these Institutions, the duties of encomy in
expenditure and vigilance in oversight. 30.
Many individuals of the classes partial
ly provided for in the Stale Asylums, are
inmates of the County Infrnaries. This
facts imparts additional force to the gener
al considerations which suggest further leg
islation for the regulation of these 1ns:itu
tions. 1 regret that the Commissioner ap-
pointed under the act of your predecessors
to examine the reports required by it, and
prepare bill for the better endowment,
regulation and management of Infrmaries,
has as yet been unable to fulfil the duty
imposed by his appointment. | trust,
however, that the preparation Of proper
bill, and the necessary legislative action
upon it will not be long delayed. -. 81
Another important element, entering in
to every adequate estimate of social condi-
ton, is that of Pauperism. In Ohio the
pauper class is less numerous than in many
other States; but is yet large enough to re-
quire thoughtful consideration. The num-
Der of poor we'll or i'll provided for, either
temporarily or lpermantly, in Infirmaries,
Houses of Refuge, or other Institutions, is
estimated at $500; and the number of
the same class receiving out door relief, at
$4,000, making the total number of poor
supported wholly or partially by the public
during the year, 14,soO. Estimating the
population of the State to be 100000,
the proportion of paupcrs is one in 1872
The proportion of the same class in Eng
land is one in p; in New York, accord
ing to the census of 1850, it was one in
so, in Massachusetts one in IS. For the
prevention of its increase in Ohio, we must
rely on the aid of Education, upon the in
fuence of Religion, and upon equal laws,
securing to labor its Just share Of produc-
tion. There is no reason to expect, how
ever that the poor will ever cease out Of
the land. Hereafter, as heretofore, It will
be the duty of States and individuals to
open wide the hand 10 the needy. Let
us hope that our own State. so honorably
distinguished for her Institutions of Be-
nevolence, will never fail in the just per
formauce of it. T'ii .- CD 'et
To ascertain the entire number of the
dependent classes, it will be proper TO add
to to the number of the Insane and other
wise naturally in6rm, 6,O4o, and to the
number of paupers, l4,S00, the average
number daily in confinement under charge
or sentence for crime, estimated at ll,400;
making the whole number Of persons TO be
maintained wholly or in part from public
revenues or by private aid, S2,240. '5
This aggregate includes all the Insane,
the Idiotic, the Deaf and Dumb, the Blind,
the indoor and outdoor paupers, and the
imprisoned. The whole mass may become
at any time what much the larger portion
is all times, q charge upon the State
1t is what may be justly called the infirm
element Of society. Its proportion to the
whole constitutes an important indication
of the moral and industrial condition of a
State. That proportion Of Ohio is as one
to IS; in Massachusetts one to Al; in New
York as one 10 20.
Under the general name Of Crime, as an
element of social condition, may be compre
hended all action, associated or indiyidu-
al, which, violating moral obligation, in
| flicts injury on persons or society. What