Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1920-01-15

compliant can be made n municipal
court that through the wiltuI ne
eject Of the parents the case is re-
ferred To the State Board and they
are authorized by law to consent to
the adoption
Even II the overseers Of the poor
are not lawyers they must use their
legal sense and often time the infor-
nation which they gather is of val
ne to lawyers If they are brought In
to the case
me matter of settlement for pau-
pers was discussed. A person who
mas settlement in the town other
Arun rnar IN which he is living was
one OF the matters discussed Now
1he law Is that a person must be a
lesidsnl OF a place five wears before
ne can get settlement N that place.
one man thought this was too long n
'nne and another man SAID that he
"'siisu IL was 10 years for some of
lie people who came to town.
An incident along the line of pau-
per settlement was cited. One over
seer told of his town recently bury
ing man who had been gone from
the town for IS years. lie Ind hean
wandering around. not staying five
Sears In one town. long enough To
esFaoiish residence acco, .i.E.y 10 IN.
settlement law. He mad IT. re.atives
or Toiks who could burr him. The
Town stood the expense If going al
Ter the body and of tia funeral It
was sue gesrad by nernhe, how
mhch better II might be, that f u
PERSON was gone from a town for five
years and had not established a res
lnence IN another town that hey for
Iet their right for settlement and
tie matter be turned over to lie
Sf"ts. Ii would be better. az m ever
seer expressed il, that al cuder me
tl''e of the State department nave u
sfEle IN the expense, -ather t.lan the
r.lards of the grandfather IF the town
where the pauper had claime.l resi-
dence
The pauper settlement custom
Was explained by Miss Hall al this
i'oiut. She said that the present sys-
tenn WAS an old English settlement
which was in force before the time
Of Queen Elizabeth That was when
Jnn raupers belonged r. The ,nnd md
Lad no right to go off. The rvies
were made by the land owners in or
der Z. keep the paupers or their
!a:i't. Then there were no te4epil ones
o. ether means Of quick communion
ton. Times have changed of course.
N regard 10 this work rs we'll as all
other This old form survives IN prac-
ticaliy only the New England STATES.
IN New York state settlement may
be made by one years residence
And the same holds true in one town
and another within New York state
The overseer Of the Poor, Past, Pres
ent ana Future
Secretary BaEiey read the address of
President Whiteh6use. VINO was una
voiuaply absent because of sickness
This succinctly reviewed the history II
public poor relief officials. referring 70
The fact that poor relief in England il,
The earlier times WAS considered rs
ecciesiastical affair and later was treat
ed by a long line of parliamentary sta
utes eliminating in the poor law of 1901
definitely establishing a system of par-
ism taxation for the care of the DOOR, n
be administered by the church warde',
and new Class of officials known .as
overseers OF The poor
In View England to-day, anu pa-ricl,-
iariy in Maine. the duties of the over
seer Of the poor are not. or until re-
Gently have not been, much different
than they were in Colonial times But
there Is a tendency throughout the
United States, and that tendency is
developing in Maine as elsewhere. To-
wards Capitalization Of poor relief
Formerly each town cared for ITS
dependent classes in any manner wnic.,
II saw fit. but as means of travel ana
communication between communities
has developed Il has come to ne re2-
ognized that no community any longer
lives To itself alone. Neglect of its
social problems by any community does
injury TO the neighborins community
For this reason the State Board Of
Charities and Corrections was created
and required to obtain information is
To the cost of poor relief and the num-
Der of persons assisted in the various
towns and inquire into their methods
Of care.
'Todav we are az the parting Of the
WHY'S. Under the old order the over
sears were not expected ID be aggres-
sive. They waited for the distress 70
become acute before they did anything.
Now. with children they are expected
to prevent the distress becoming acute. >
They are required by law 70 assist
actively in keeping the family togeth-
er If possible, and. Il not To provide
otherwise for the care of the child be
fore ir-eparabie injury has been done.
Communities are sharing each others
burdens in this respect. The Stare
pays half the cost Tomorrow, preven-
tive methods will be Supplied n the care
Of all poor, adults as well as children.
In each community some public
board or official is destined TO be the
center about which all Of our social wei
fare work revoives. We now
refer to them as boards Of overSeeFs.
boards of mothers aid and boards u
children guardians. Anyway, wlarev-
er the name. the future holds for the