Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1867-09-02
REFORM OF THE PaUPsR SYSTEM.
gepor, OF Committee ON frfze


BIZ him for the best essay on our county
oa,,sr .rs,em. with suggestions for its re-
form. have made the following report, when
they .ubunit to the Board Of Supervisors a.
its preseut session. The committee have
been engaged several weeks making up their
reoert from the several essays. None OF
then. combined ali the suggestions tina, the
committee deemed advisable to submit in
their report, they theref,re awaited them
selves cf the suggestions found in the sew
eral essays, and made distribution Of the
fiey dollars accordingly.
Mr. Watkins is certainly deserving OF the
tnsnks OF the en:ire county for his hbtral
action in starting this much needed reform |
7, now remains for ths Board Of Supervis>
ors to decide upon some plan and at once
act upcn IT, The suggestions are worthy oil
careful consideration, and will be found to
comprehend the situation.
70 Ms Honorable Bodrd Of Spperrlsors q
Scoa C0uaty:
The undersigned beg leave % make the
! following representations.
Nr. Charles ) Watkins offered IA rrize oil
| $50 for an essay, respecting reform 81 our
pauper system, which, by the urdersigped
! would be deemed most practicable ~ It's
suggestions, and be recommended t" our
| cltlz.ns and the Board of supervisors for
4 aa ption." OF the five ESSAYS prese ated ior
| our examination, we could not recommend
\ one as entirely expressing our views uNah !
| the subject but We found in each valuable
| suggestions, by which we arrived At the ioi-
! loving concusions, which We respectfully
! submit to the favorable consideration OF the
| Honorable Board OF Supervisors.
Mr Watkins offered the prize for the pur'
| pose of setting the ball Of reform IN me-
| lion" /. will not be deemed presumptuous,
| wc hope, if we, in furtberance OF said pur-
| pose, make the following suggestions.
! Ii is desired that the recommendations
| be circumscribed by the existing laws OF the
! state" though suggestions OF changes, to
be asked for OF the Legislature" may be
made Following this plan, we have con
| fined our recommendations within the iltn-
its Of our present laws, with only one ex-
ception OF change, which. we think, VIII
easily he obtained from our Legislature.
|. We recommend that by the Board Of
Supervisors, only one Director be annually
appointed, who shall, under the control and
supervision of the Supervisors, and with
the assistance of the Trustees, have the
management OF all dependent on The county
| for charity
Section l4l3 of the Revision of 1860
! should be so amended, as To authorize tie
Board of Supervisors to allow To said Di-
rector a salary not exceeding $1,000. Said
Director may employ Clerk, who must,
however be removable by the Board OF 81
| pervisors al any time, and is To be paid by
the Director. Said clerk may keep the
records and accounts and do the writing and
correspondence under the supervision OF
the Director, who is responsible for the acts
| of said clerk
The business Of the support oi the poor
will be fairly conducted, if all needed sup
port, and nothing more. be furnished. For
That purpose u careful inv, ,stigation is re-
quired whenever an application Tor re.lef Is
made The Director, his clerk, or one OF
the Trustees should visit the home OF the
applicant, 10 sec III what style he or siae
lives should enquire from the landlord ani
neigbbors Of the applicant. whatever can bc
nscertsned about the habits, manner ant
means Of living ot the same. \ recnrd
should be made and kept. containing all The
iniornasioA Mus acquitted about the person
seceking relief. An inquiry also should he
made, wh-t cr said person has rel4t YES who
are legally bound and able II support the
applicant and legal steps should he takcr
against such persons, as illegally refuse the
support oi their kindred. 4 careful inyes
tigalion as to the legal settlement of the
person applying for relief should also bc
made, and sections 1879 and 1888 oi the Re
vision should be enforced. Some liberal dis
cTttion, however, might be exercised us -
such foreigners who are Industrious aud
able bottled, falling temporarily into want,
owing 10 sickness or other misfortune j.
would not he advisable 10 send hsck into
the old country, and a. considerable costs To
the county, such foreign Immigrants IS VIII
probably soor become usefui.ciliZ rs
By such careful Investigation in every
case Of r, liet, 10 avoid giving support which
, is not neeGed, aud 10 throw TIE burden OF
msinteinencc upon those p@rs us ant coun-
: ties - whom il legally belongs, we think
: the expenses for the support of the poor
] could be greatly reduced.
The difficulty, however, 10 lini and ap-
point ran who has the ability and ear
, nest desire TO carry out the business Gt lie
support ot the poor with strict euoromy.
rigid impartialify, and al the same ijuie
7 with due ellumauiJy,-leavinr nobody suiic5
ing WHO really merits support. II such
nan he tound, wc think an annual expense
no, exceeding 5 200 TO compensate for such
valuable labor would save 70 the county
many thousands of dolls-s The Director
|
poor, investigate their condition, am keep
records aud accounts of every one who IS
supported. In tine, he should devote his
| entire time tn the care uf the pOcr ana
| tiIeir ecanomlcal support. tae dollar and
q halt t9r each day cmpl Hyed in the duties
| of his appoint ncnt, as provilci hv section
l4li oi The revision, ia IN our opinion rot
I sufficient compensation for such services
r In order not nnnect sssrily 10 increase the
- saiarcs. ". think ono instead Of three Di
II ct@Ts should be appointed And as there
: is good deal os writing TO be done, an able
c.rfk, employed for such business, would
demand = salary Of frtm $50 10 s,5 per
nolth, lcavii 9 u sma,! or nominal compen-
2 safian ier the Director
The Director should give q bond for the
faithful performance OF his iuties; should,
wi,a The assistance Of clerk, keen records
: ~ Al his investigatlons, and keep accurate
, books oi account with every pauper, 10 en-
able thr county To- recover all expenses,
which can lie legally recovered from other
d persons and counties for relief granted
, H. Experience has sufficiently demons,ra
tea that the farming business ia pot rrofta
bic for the county. We, therefore, adylse
: the selling Of Tie farm. with the exception
- OF about forty acres and the buildings there.
4 on. which should be LETT as poor house.
Ill. Ii is patent to all Observing citizens,
tina, the present plan for administering char
It ity to our sick poor is needlessly expensive
I. and, further. the humane principle is made
qua'ely subserved. To remedy this defcien
cy by diminishing our taxes and furnishing
e, an acceptable plan for taking care of the
70 sick, we recommend the building OF suit.
able hospital, to cost between i've and ten
thousand dollars, and not to exceed the last
named amount. a hospital that can be
l.. erected for such an expenditure will accom-
, modatc not less than forty patients And
should the Board of Supervisors deem il
: expedient, other patients than those VII,
are dependent on charity can be admitted
Q by paying for such medical or surgical treat
ment as the nature of their cases NAV de-
mapd A number of our mos. prominen,
i physicians and surgeons have pledged their
gratuitous services, and with suitably or
n ganized medical Board, our sick can receive
he best care possible. The amount 10 b
+. Received tor the sale Of the poor house farm
= will he quite enough tor the erection o. :
!" hospital, a transaction which we s,ronel,
e rec cNmmend to the Board of Supervisors.
> ~. The buildings on the farm, after tn.
!. sick have been removed to the contemp,a
ell ted hospital, would furnish ample aceommo
Il dations for the remaining poor We recon-
~ mend that the person applyinr for relief n,