Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1916-06-01

In 1910 the state examiners went thru
the affairs of a certain county in the
Hudson river district. New York and re
ported that the county treasurer was
keeping certain fees that belonged TO
the county When they came aound again
in 1911. they found that their 1910 re-
port had not disturbed ANYBODY spffi
Sienily to prevent several Thousand dol
lars more from going the same way.
In one such case In another count, the
supervisors losit lily voted 10 the incrimi-
nafel officer his regH,lr salary Of 5000
'-pIus such sums rs he NAV have legally
taken in the past
Which shows what you can do about
ii if YOU trr'
Anticipated Standards
The work of the county has become
work. In this simple days Of our grand
fathers a man of common horse sense
could run an aImShouse Or a county Jail
or a tax collectors office or build a road
ard easily achieve the primitive stand
ards of those times
Nowadays the proper care Of the I'M
fortunates la AN aismohHSe. for ms ancc.
is 4 highly specialized and technical pro
f~"ssion. Men and women train for srca
duties in special schools and maze il
their life work. Even such trained So
cial workers viii find AZ almshnusc full
Of unsolyed human problems requiring
the most elaborate study. though me
honest village merchant who takes for
n few wears the position Of Supcrintrn-
dent Of the poor would not recognize the
existence Of any problems "a I'll. The
unframed visitor 10 :n a~lmShOHSe sees
a clean and airy building containing i
varied assortment uf unfortunate mn
manity who are being well fed and kind
" treated and he goes MAY with a feel
ing that the county administration is
excellent. The social worker. however,
observes cpiicptics without scientific
care. uulctcctcd cases of feebIemimded-
ness and drug victims who are not he
ing trained out OF their habits. victims
OF tuberculosis without the special Sys-
tenn of treatment viii Ii their eases re
quire. sufferers from chronic diseases.
such ~ heart eases. rheumatism. cancer
and the more sinister ills. crippleS who
could he taught a trade If there ~
ANYBODY available who knew how to
teach them. and aged poor whose rela-
lives nave never been adequately looked
MP. the system for admissions, being 50
lax that practically the county supports
amy one who applies.
All this ~ not the fault Of the super
intendcnt Of the poor; il J. the reason
ahie result of a ranishackic system Of
government. The superintendent j. cleo
tive: that guaraI ccS that he will not be
~ expert. but 4 local and transient am
njcur. lie il forbidden ~ use his com
mon sense ~ the legislature. which. i'm
its complicated poor law, provides
written rules for every contingency with
results nat may often he pathetic or
ludicrouS. Admissions to the almShoiS,
are governed as the easy personal stan
dards of i dozen to ten dozen local OF
ficcrs scattered around the county. the
justices of the peace and the oversccrs
1f the poor. who have authority 10 com
init To tine almShouSc. The money TO op
crate the a~imshorSc properly must be
solicited from the board If supervisors
who if they choose io make offhand
SlaShes in the requested appropriation.
take no responsibility for The results.
Amateur Fen0logy.
Or take The sheriff. OIL <. Did y0i
ever hear Of 4 sheriff who was a pcnoi
agist? - The typical comfy iliI Il 4
horror. i school for crime and %unnatu-
raj sexual vices where mcn who are IN
noccnt or at least not vicious. cannot
possibly remain without hc coming con
taminatcl or calluuS 10 things ~ the hc-
Ginning NJ their Incarceration they find
rrroliing. .At Itica Il recent scandal
brought The sheriff office into the
courts where il was learned that Tie
Jail had seen scenes If open dc~hauchcry
with women prisoners. Off -crS of the
iaii and friends az the latter from out
side
The sheriff N commonly compensated
hy fees. This still survives even in New
York County. where the fees net the
sheriff StO. 600 a year IN addition 10 The
comfortable salary Of $4,000. Efforts
are made from time to time To amend the
law and steer these fees into the tre1-
nrv.. hut there i no assurance that the
,iaH would work. Hudson County. New
~.lerSes. fried that. and. instead of deriv-
ing a nice revenue from the sherih'S Of
ice. the county acquired an annual de
felt. for patronage multiplied and thrift
declined when the traits Of economy