The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-11-05

various charities in the community to en-
| able 1t TO make recommendations at this
! time for a complete reorganization The
| Board, therefore. found II necessary to
make recommendations for some appro-
| priations. with no better justification than
! the fact that similar items have been car
| RED IN the appropriation bills from year
| 10 year for some time past. The aggregate
| Of such items is not large, and the Board
| deems 1t wise 10 recommend their coatinu-
| anee for another year in order that the in
! situations concerned be not injured by a
| sudden withdrawal Of their appropriations
! without due NOTICE, and that the Board OF
| Charities itself may have an opportunity
| to examine. with due care, the character
| of the various institutions concerned,
The Board does however, at this time,
recommend certain definite changes along
| the lines of general policy which it is con-
WINGED must govern the work of reorgani-
zaticn CT the District Charities. In the
| first place, the Beard is unanimously CT
| the opinion that a sound public policy de-
niands that complete public control should
| in every case reach as far as public
| money; and it is convinced that until this
| policy be made to apply to every part OF
! the charitable system CT the District all
| attempts at a reorganization of such sys-
| tenn must fall very short OF attaining the
| ends for which this board was created.
The Board. therefore, desires il to be
| clearly understood that while ii has rec
! commended a continuance Of certain ap-
| preparations which are at variance with
! this policy, it does so reluctantly and on
/ Iy because 1t has not in the short time at
! its disposal been able TO devise a practi-
I cal plan al once applying this policy TO
! these institutions, and deems it unwise
! 20 recommend any hastily formulated plan
! which might work unnecessary harm to
worthy institutions. 1t has therefore.
U ii
quo, until it can submit q matured plan
that Will be in accordance with its gen
eTal policy, and al the same time show
a due regard for the private charities con-
cerned.
The Board is convinced that the history
of the charities Of the District of Column
bia clearly demonstrates that the policy OF
granting public subsidies to private chaTi-
ties. heretofore pursued, has been unwise.
The almost universal experience has been
that charity has ben oTganized by private
parties, and for time supported from pri-
Yate sources, but soon a small apFTopria-
ton has been asked, and an increase has
been demanded from year 10 year until the
point is reached where the charity is prac-
ticaly dependent upon the public treasury
for support, while at the same time its
management remained entirely in the
hands OF private corporation. This sys-
TEN has resulted in 4 duplication CT chart /
ties doing the same kind Of work, and has
brought about condition of affairs in /
which the District finds itself the largest /
contributor to its charities, and yet without !
the power to determine who shall be ad- |
mitted to their benefits
These abuses are probably best exem- /
plified in the hospitals of the District /
While the District contributes largey to the |
support OF nine different hospitals, exclu- !
sive OF isolatIng hospitals for contagious
diseases II has no ri 70 10, u,
admission OF patient TO any one of these |
except the Washington Asylum Hospital |
and frequently patients who are a proper |
charge on the District funds have been !
turned away from institutions that are al |
most wholly dependent upon the public !
treasury for support. The system now in |
operation has led to an undue duplication
of hospitals
There are in the District of Columbia /
today fourteen general and special hos |
plt2's, and at least eight OF these are
largely dependent upon the public treas
ury Tor support. though only one. namely,
the Washington Asylum Hospital. is |
purely District Institution and under Dis
trlct control; and while the representa-
uves OF these private hospitals which re-
ceiYe large appropriations from the public
treasury aliege that private benevoIence in |
Washington could not maintain these in
situations. it should be borne in mind that
during the past few years at least three
new hospitals, namely, the GEORGETOWN |
University Hospital. the Columbian Uni
yersity Hospital, and the Episcopal Eye,
Ear, and Throat Hospital have been or
ganized, and one, namely, the Sibley
Memorial Hospital has been greatly |
and all this has been done with
out the aid of a single dollar from the
public treasury. The Board therefore |
feels confident that when public support |
is Withdrawn from private hospitals, those
that are needed viii be maintained by pri-
Yate beneyoleace.
The Board also believes that careful in
vestigation should be made of the circum- |
stances of those seeking the benefits of |
public charitable institutions. 1t is con-
yinced that great abuses have existed In
the past because of the lack of such in
veStigatior, and result not only has
the taxpayers money been wasted. but the
beneficiaries of public institutions have
been pauperiZed The Board therefore
purposes to plan for the proper investiga-
ton of all those seeking the benefits OF
public charity, and the recommendations
made in the estimates this year are made
with this object in view.
Coming now to the consideration of
the estimates in detail, the Board desires
to emphasize the fact that the amounts
recommended are the lowest which it
considers consistent with proper carry
ing on of the work, and it is earnestly
down The fact that they are as low as
they can be made consistent with the
best interests of the work is shown by
the fact that the total amount recon-
mended for this department is several
dollars less than the amount
carried in the appropriation bill for the | :
current year
The statement at this point goes into
the details of the estimates asked and
gives the reasons therefor. The amount | /
recommended for the WASHINGTON Asy- !
lum is SO, coo less than that carried in
the appropriation bill for the current |
year, and contains no sums for new {
buildings, though these are badly needed. | !
The estimates for the Reform School and I
the Reform School for Girls, and for '
other institutions for the care of chill
dren, are shown to be necessary for the ! !
proper care of this class Of indfgents
The Board devotes a large part of its |
to the various hospitals of the | |
District which receive aid from Congress.
In part it says:
In the case of the hospitals the Board :
makes practically the same recornmenda- ,
ions that were made by the Commissioners
# the District of Columbia last year-that