Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-04-11
WITHOUT POWE r
Superintendent of Charities Unable
to Effect Reforms.
SUGGESTS A BOARD OF CHARITIES
Comment Upon Pending Legisla-
ton to That End
APPROVAL OF THE BILL

Mr.. Herbert w. Lewis. the superintendent
of charities, is convinced that his Office as
at present organized is Of little Importance
Mr.. Lewis so expresses himself in a report
he submitted to the District Commission
ers Saturday afternoon recommending ia
vorable action on the measure providing
Tor the establishment of board of chari-
ties for the District of Columbia.
Referring to the Office he holds, Mr..
Lewis states it bears evidence of a real de-
sire on the part Of Congress to. remove the
complications in which the appropriations
committee found themselves from year to
year by placing in a position of trust an
officer who should collect and transmit to
Congress through the Commissioners such
information as might be required, and who.
bringing to bear experience and study of
all conditions, should be an impartial Off
ciai adviser whose policy could be safely
followed.
Mr.. Lewis explains that he is given no
executive authority, and that it seems to
nave been taken for granted that the power
TO estimate, investigate and report would
be sufficient to effect such combination
or coordination Of charitable agencies as
was evidently required, and that If any in
stitGtton or agencies resisted the efforts OF
the superintendent to this end they should
thereupon find themselves in disadvantage
Gus relations with the Commissioners and
the Congress.
This expectation has, however," says
Mr.. Lewis, never been realized. and at the
end OF seven years after the creation of the
office the charities of the District of CO.
lumbia will be as far from satisfactory
condition as they ever were. unless the
presents the bill under consideration shall
meet with approval.
Unable to Comply With Law.
1.-THE superintendent of charities finds 1t
impossible to do the things which are made
his duty by the law creating the Office.
His supervision of the accounts of institu-
lions is merely formal since he has no au-
thority over expenditures either as to
prices paid for supplies or the selection of
proper objects Of public benefaction. His
plans for the collection Of complete infor-
nation come to naught, because of a few
who decline to report or whose unbusiness-
like methods make it impossible for them
to furnish the information required. One
institution denies the right of the superin-
tendent to inquire as to the amount and
sources of its income, and another refuses
to place in his possession Information from
success of it's work. These conditions
might possibly yield to persuasion and pa
thence, but there is nothing to prevent their
being set up again at any time.
The first superintendent of charities, af
ter two years experience in the office, rec
commended that it be abolished and board
established in it's place. There is nothing
in subsequent experience to discredit the
wisdom of that recommendation.
The Senate committee on the District of
Columbia declared. in the spring of 1886.
that the work of caring for dependent
children in the District Of Columbia is in
in a state bordering on chaos and we'll
ordered and effective system is necessary,
rot only for the benefit of the children,
Eut also for the benefit of the taxpayers
of the District of Columbia, as well as the
po, The cOrreSnpndinp
for the District of Columbia. of the nationa!
conference of charities, quoted this state
n,ent in his report for 1897, and remarked
that it might as well have been said of
every other department of charitable eff
fort in the District. We have been inves-
tigated by experts. both resident and nom
resident, and the report without exception,
is to the effect that while the federal cap
ital should furnish model system to be
copied by the states, 1t has, i'll fact, never
reached the condition Of economy and eff
cheney attained by many of the states.
Various plans and recommendations for
the reorganization of the charities of the
District have been proposed during the last
four years by the superintendent of chart
ties and others, only to be deferred while
waiting for the action Of one after another
of the various commissions appointed for
the purpose of investigating the whole SUBJ
ject. Now, the joint select committee of
both houses of Congress, after investiga-
lions continued through nearly two years
has made a report declaring that the first
step toward the efficient reorganization of
the District charities is the appointment Of
a board of charities 1t will be impossible
for any one who will study the questions
involved in the District Of Columbia, as
this commission has studied them, to differ
wholly from its conclusions.
Meets the Requirements.
1.-THE bill under consideration seems to
have been prepared from a modification of
the Ohio law with important clements from
recent statutes. and the provisions of the
rev constitution Of the state Of New York.
The Ohio board has been especially vaIu-
able in that state, and the provisions en-
larging the powers of the New York board
are working admirably. The bill bears un-
mistakable evidence of extensive knowl-
edge OF the work and organization of the
various state boards Of charities. 1t pro-
v4des for all that is essential to the sue
cess OF such board. and Is not incum-
bered with useless or experimental pro-
visions.
been created In nineteen different states
They have been abolished in two states one
OF which re-established its board after
three years Of Inactivity. having found it
to be an essential part Of the charitable
machinery OF the state. They have almost
invariably exercised the powers and per
formed the duties which are proposed for
such board in the District Of Columbia
progressive, humane, economical and scien-
tific in the administration of charities and
charitable institutions, and the states I'm
which they have worked longest now stand
as conspicuous examples Of good manage
ment in all that pertains to such work as
has come under their supervision"
Calling attention to the good accom-
plished by the organization Of boards of
charities in many of the states, Mr. Lewis
continues his report as follows:
These good works are but few instances.
which might be multiplied indefinitely. of
the results accomplished by these boards
Nor has their influence been confined to
the states where they exist The national
conference of charities and Correction
with its wide-reaching influence, has beer,
established and maintained by the ioint
action of state boards Of charities. There
Is scarcely a state in the Union which
has not been Influenced to a greater mr.
less degree by boards of charities in the
treatment and cIre Of the insane. the care
of dependent children. the treatment of
young criminals. the business methods Of
public institutions. or the architecture of
its public buildings
Eighteen Boards I'm Existence.
Eighteen such boards are now in extst-
ence. II is not reasonable to presume tho,
I1