The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-11-30
CHARITY AND THE STATE.

courts; anu, o0OOnd, 0HiO"s,A
supervising agencies.
Advance in Legislation.
There has been a steady advance
in legislation for the protection OF
the rights and interests of the de
pendent and unfortunate members
of the community, by means OF poor
laws, guardianship laws, compulsory
education laws, child labor laws, laws
governing the care and treatment ofin-
fants, the treatment and care of the in
sane and predetermined and other de
fectives, the education of the deaf and
blind, etc. Some of these laws place
their subjects under the supervision
and watchcare of the Probate Courts;
others commit them to the care of
the proper officials, under suitable
restrictions and penalties. Thee
are usually ready to intervene when
necessary for the protection OF these
classes of unfortunates.
In nearly all of the more important
States. in addition to this ordinary
and usual provision for the protection
of the dependent and defective class
es, special agencies have been estab-
lished known as State Boards of
Charities, Lunacy Commissions, etc.
Such agencies exist in the States OF
California, Colorado, Connecticut, IL
linois, Indiana, Kansas, Massachu-
sets, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana,
Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York,
North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania,
Rhode Island, South Dakota, Wiscon-
sin and Wyoming.
In most of the States named the
State Board of Charities hold strictly
advisory relations to the institutions,
having no executive power to pre-
scribe forms of registration and re-
ports. In the States of Rhode Island,
Kansas, Wisconsin, South Dakota and
Nebraska the State Board acts as
board of trustees for the administra-
ton of the State charitable and cor
regional institutions and societies,
as well as those maintained from the
public treasury.
The supervision exercised by the
State Boards o. Charities is of great
value, provided it is kept .ree from
political manipulation and perfume
tory ofieiaiism. That the work is
valuable is indicated by the fact that
no State has abandoned the plan after
having undertaken it except the States
of Oregon, North Carolina and Ohio;
but in both North Carolina and ONO
the organization was restored after
an interim.
Work of state Boards.
The State Boards of Charities,
either by their members or officers,
visit asylums, hospitals, prisons, child
ren's homes, schools for the deaf and
blind, jails, almshouses, and other
similar institutions, at irregular inter
walls, without notice; inspect them
thoroughly, and make recommends
tons for their improvement. An i'm
portant function of such boards is to
secure publicity in regard to the OPP
Grafton of public Institutions. 1t is
found by experience that abuses can
generally be corrected by publicity;
while at the same time the fact that
institutions are to be visited, and the
reports of those visits to be published,
has strong tendency to prevent the
growth of abuses.
The most efficient and successful
public institutions are found in those
States where efficient State Boards
exist. One of the most important
functions of such Board is to pro-
tect the public institutions from be-
coming an object of political manip-
ulation. In several States of the I'm
ion the public institutions have been
greatly damaged from this source.
Whenever the tenure of any officer in
a public institution is madeto depend
upon his activity in forwarding the
interests of some political candidate,
the interests of the unfortunate in
mates suffer accordingly. In some of
the public institutions of the United
States in has been customary to make
clean sweep of every officer and
employe, with each change in the po-
litical complexion of the State. In no
department of the public service is
civil service reform so essential as
this, upon which depend the comfort
and happiness, and often the chances
of recovery of the most helpless and
unfortunate members of the COM
munity.
It is impossible to predict how far
the present tendency toward the del
egation to the State of the duty of