Daily Kennebec journal., 1913-11-06

to the standard of the better institu-
tions of the same class To this end
the first act of your State Board pur-
suant to the requirements of the law,
viii be, to furnish the various officers
Of the State institutions printed forms
for the annual reports to be made to
the board. These forms have been
procured and adopted after careful ex-
animation of the forms employed by
the state boards Of other states, ana
with the earnest desire to make them
practicable and to avoid all unnes-
sarily burdensome questions. If upon
examination they sheuld seem to any
Of the officers receiving them to entail
a great deal of labor in order TO an
swer the questions propounded, We beg
YOU to remember that il is only in this
way that the necessary data for pur-
POSES of comparison and detalled
knowledge such as the Legislature and
it's committees require and the good
OF the State demands, can be procur-
ed, and that the forms which we have
examined in use in other states are far
more detailed in character.
IS. BY mere criticisms and sugges-
tons and the force of public opinion
the board is able to give advice on the
one hand and on the other to form n
tribunal in which the people have con-
fidenee and can protect the trustees
and managing officers from unjust
criticism and slander.
IS. 1t may help to avoid scandals
which have arisen in many states.
-. 1t tends to eliminate politics
from the management of state insti-
tutions and to place such management
on a basis which will recognize merit
only as the ground for appointment,
promotion and continuance III office.
IS. II tends To secure equitable
proportions between the different in
stitutions and prevent constant iob-
hyins against each ether. Ii was for
this purpose that the creation OF the
board was sought by the appropriation
committee of the Maine Legislature.
and if your board succeeds i'll meeting
the demands made hpen it in this one
direction only, it will in our belief
Justify it's creation and existence
50 The board provides for unfor-
tunate inmates of institutions high
court of appeal to whom they can
communicate directly their grievances,
fancied or real, and feel sure that they
will receive impartial consideration.
10. 1t should enable the citizens
of Maine TO know through an impair
tial, unbiased and uEprejudieed tribu-
nal how nearly half of the public
moneys of the State are expended
whether with economy or waste, mod
ern or inadequate methods, faithful
service of officials or otherwise, and
also whether the State humanely and
properly renders to its poor, its sick
in body and mind, and its incompe-
tent and criminals such care and as
sistance as the people of Maine are
entitled to demand.
OF course all these advantages can
not be expected To accrue at once
They can only be accomplished grad
uaIIy and when opportunity affords
from time to time. The board and Its
secretary have the whole field of char
liable. correctional and institutional
work of the State to investigate and
its whole body of information con-
corning the same to acquire. analyze
and tabulate. Il mas still much to do
in procuring and absorbing informa-
ton as to The most advanced methods
now being applied in all lines of phil
anthropic work in other states, and
from comparison of the same. The
value and efficiency of your board
should. in short, grow with the pro-
gress of time in proportion To its ac-
QUESTION OF knowledge and experience.
And now in conclusion, permit me
TO say that in the matter of scientific
phllanthropic work tic State of Maine
has not hither to taken the rank To
which it is entitled among its sister
states, not that our State cannot boast
some excellent charitable and corree-
tional institutions which will compare
favorably with those of other common
wealths, not that it does not possess
many experienced skilled and faith
full trustees and officials in charge OF
those institutions. But the difficulty
has been that its charitable and insti-
tutional work in The past has been
haphazzard and not along any dciinite-
ly prescribed lines It's course has
been much like that of the man who
builds himself house without arci1i-
tect or plans. adding story here and
an ell there. and a lay window in an
other place till the structure AS a
| whole becomes rambling and possesses
neither unity nor consistency. What
has been needed has been some central
source Of authority to plan for the
future so thai new institutions will be
erected only in the order in which they
are most needed BY the State; so that
when erected they will be modern and
up to- date. and when managed will be
conducted along the most approved
methods adopted oy students of mod
ern philanthropy, and so that each
step taken instead of being an expert
ment. win be an Intelligent step for
| ward.
III is just this need which it is be-
lieved will be supplied by the state
Board OF Charities and Corrections, SO
that with its aid the future legisla-
| ton of this State 'qiIl be SO moulded
that the appropriations of each year
will carry us just one step further
toward that point where profiting by
| the experiences anl mistakes of othel
states, we shall nave a system OF
lchafitsbie and corret tional institutions