Os Bnnk ? REPORT OF THE PECIAL COMMITTEE ON OUTDOOR ALM Town of Hartford A.D. 1891 HARTFORD, CONN. Press of The Case, Lockwood & Brainard Company 1891 REPORT The Special Committee ON OUTDOOR ALMS TOWN OF HARTFORD A.D. 1891 HARTFORD, COOT. Press of The Case, Lockwood & Brainard Company 1891 I think that the hest way of doing good to the poor is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. — Benjamin Franklin. The relief offered to cripples, idiots, blind, or deaf and dumb does not tend to increase those evils. The relief that is offered to mere want, as want, tends to increase that evil. — Richard Whately. In poor-relief the best system is the system that works best. — Anonymous. f33 cents against our $2.07, and 43 cents again>t our 90 cents. Five cities in Pennsylvania and Maryland. Middle states, including Philadelphia. Pittsburgh, and Baltimore, average - cents against our $2.07, and 4 cents against our 90 cents. and Seven Western and Southern cities, including Chicago. 3 ::b> Cleveland. Detroit. Milwaukee, and Charleston, averag- cents for all relief against our $2.07, and IT cents against our 90 cents. That is to say. Connecticut was found leading th^ van. and Hartford leading Connecticut. And in each case thy gap so Tvide that no theory of errors could conceivably close it up'. Examine carefully Table I of the Appendix. But possibly a comparison with other communities, ven- erable and conservative like our own. communities acr ss the sea. would present a different showing and vindicate us! German cities. Look, then, at Germany as you find it in our Table EL* Here are seven cities, including Berlin. Dresden, and Stutt- gart, with an aggregate population of 2,017,217. Stuttgart pays 93 cents for all relief as against our $1.96 (the average for 1890), and 11 cents for outdoor relief as against our 74 cents; Dresden 80 cents and 29 cents respectively: Berlin SI. 58 and 54 cents, as against our -SI. 96 and 74 cents. And they are complaining there of carelessness and waste! The average of these Teutonic communities is $1.31 against * The Dresden statistics are compiled from the TericalUingsbericht des JBaO KonigUchen Maupt-und JRt*idenzstadt Dresden, auf das TakrlSBQ. The rest are from Jka ArmauBaat in 77 Deutsche* StadUn. etc.. by Dr. Victor Bohmert : Dresden The compilation has been made with the greatest care and with special anxiety to equalize the terms of the comparison. From this point we take Hanford as she is in 189C REPORT OP THE COMMITTEE. Vll our SI. 96; and 47 cents againt our 74 cents. So we lead them, too, by about 50 per cent. — in pauper population, also, no less than in cost; for here one man in 16.1 is a pauper, while there only one in 25.6 is. And now a still severer test. Take up some of the largest a mixed list, cities of both continents,* throw in a few smaller ones, and set them side by side with Hartford, and see what the re- sult is. Here, in one point, Hartford is compelled with shame to take a second place. Those cities, with their aggregate of 9,539,598 inhabitants, pay $3.35 per capita for all help, and tax themselves, as nearly as we can ascertain, for $3.02 per capita, while we pay only $1.96 and tax our- selves for only $1.89. But our case is not altogether hope- less even here. Paris and London, with their great conges- tion of population and poverty, can do much to humiliate us, but not everthing! In outdoor relief, with which this report is specially concerned, we lead them with our 74 cents per head as against their 71; and whereas they can, in the aggregate, boast of but 5.25 per cent, pauper popula- tion, we have 6.2; so that, while every sixteenth man, woman, or child we meet on the street here is liable to be a recipient of municipal bounty, we must pass 19 there before we find one. But surely we shall find some comfort when we turn to Italy. Italy !f And so it turns out — but only in one matter, that of gross expenditure for help. With respect to this observe, too, — and carry the same observation to the study of other foreign cities, and especially of Paris, — that this item covers large endowments, which correspond, of course, to what we do by private initiative. Here, even, we exceed eight com- munities. But the average of the twenty-four is $3.42 against our $1.96. But when it comes to taxation averages, we outstrip Naples, with her $1.12 per head, by our $1.89; and, for outdoor relief, with our 73 cents we easily distance her with her puny 35 cents! Rome fares a little better. Her $1.62 per capita is behind our $1.89; but her 76 cents for outdoor relief leaves us three cents per head in the rear. Palermo, however, we easily beat. What is her $1.19 com- pared with our $1.89, or her 38 cents in comparison with our 73! And yet Palermo is a city of 205,712 inhabitants — and is in Sicily. See Table II. t Table III. Till REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 17 Countries. Pauper pop- ulation. Cost. But let us not stop at details. The average of the M Italian cities is behind ours. They have been paying in taxes only $1.66 per capita against our |1.8 for all relief: and 71 cents for outdoor aid. as against our 73.* Five years ago we could have beaten them by far more handsome mar- gins, as our first table shows. Unfortunately, the authority we quote makes no complete returns of the pauper popula- tion. But the result in the case of the other European cities above alluded to leads us to conclude that the result would in this also be the same. Is it, therefore, over-hazardous to venture the guess that Hartford would be found leading the world in respect to her largesses to the indigent? Let us see. Turn to table IV. There you will find 17 countries, including France, parte : the German Empire, the Scandinavian peninsula and Great Britain. In pauper population. Hartford's percentage is 6.2; their average is 3.30. In them, every thirtieth man is a pauper; here, every sixteenth. Xor are the Ti- to cost more reassuring. Unfortunately, these are not com- plete. But in the British Isles, with a population of 38,000,000, they spend $1.07 on an avera._ _ lief, while we spend $] We hear much of the destitution in Ireland. Their pauper percentage is. h against our 6.2, and |1.72 is spent per capita on relief by them, where we spend $1. Scotland, with her hard soil and chilly climate, shows but 1.93 per cent, pauper popula- tion, and 93 cents per capita in all relief — just one-half what we pay, and less than one-third our pauper population. So then the situation was beyond doubt. Hartford was leading the old world as well as the new: GROWTH OF PAUPER POPULATI !N"or was this all. Still another occasion for disquietude was discovered in the growth of our pauper population, and of the public expenditures in its support. Table V exhibits some of the facts. And let it be stated here, though the fact is of application everywhere, that we have not con- sciously chosen our cities and countries with the view of establishing a theory. In every case we have obtained such facts as were attainable, and arranged them with conscien- * See Table III., compiled directly from the Asuvmaarm Stall I _ ; Beruficcuza ed Assistcnza FabUica : Rome. V8&i REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. IX tious care, in no instance knowing how they were going to turn out. And the facts have been left precisely as they turned out" to tell their own story. By choosing certain years we could have made Hartford's showing less favor- able absolutely; by choosing certain cities and countries we could have made it far worse relatively. Here, then, what do we find? Dortmund gains 3.76 per cent, in population Dortmund, annually from 1874 to 1885-6; 15 per cent, in pauper popula- tion and 9.89 per cent, in expenditure annually. Hartford gains 2.06 per cent, annually in population, from 1870 to 1890; 5.76 per cent, in pauper population from 1881 to 1890, and 27.79 per cent, in expenditure annually from 1870 to 1890. So Dortmund gains in population one and three- quarters times as fast as we; in pauper population, two and a half times as fast; and we surpass her by nearly three times in increase of expenditure. This is the least favor- able in its showing of all the German cities. In Berlin the Berlin. gain in population for nine years was 4.11 per cent, per year; in pauper population 81.2 per cent.; in expenditure 9.23 per cent.; i. e. in general population, double our rate; in pauper population If times; in expenditure, one third ours. Take Whitechapel Union, in the very worst part of Whitecnapei. London. From 1871 to 1890, the population has fallen off annually three-tenths of one per cent., the pauper popula- tion 3.51 per cent., and the expenditure 1.25 per cent. We have gained during the latter half of the same period, in number of paupers two and three-fourths times as rapidly as in population; they have lost ten times as rapidly. We have gained in expenditure nearly fourteen times as rapidly as in population; they have lost four times as rapidly. Even London itself has lost in pauper population London, fifteen times as fast as she has gained in general population, and has gained in expenditure at just one-tenth the rate of her gain in population. Then look at Brooklyn and Phila- Brooklyn and delphia. The former reduces her outdoor pauper popula- p^ 1 ^ 61 " tion from 35,000 to nothing, between 1872 and 1880. The lat- ter cuts her down to next to nothing * between 1875 and 1880, and reduces her indoor paupers by 42.4 per cent, from 1875 to 1884. We raise our total pauper population from 1881 to 1890 by 51.8 per cent., which is almost exactly the rate also for both our indoor and outdoor gain. Brooklyn Only 184 in 1890, vide Table II. X REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. cuts down her expenses for outdoor aid to 0: Philadelphia reduces her's for all aid by 42.1 per cent. We raise our ex- penses in 20 years '277.9 per cent. And let it be noted that, owing to the lack of printed reports, we are compelled to begin our term for measurement of pauper population at a time when the rate of increase in expenditure, and there- fore it may be presumed in number of paupers, had begun to fall off somewhat in rapidity, f This swiftness of increase in our pauper population, and in the amounts expended in its aid was. then, most real, both absolutely and relatively. And. indeed, it was felt to be the most impressive and alarming of all the symptoms of the case. A comparison with other cities, even in our own country, might mean but little, owing to real or alleged difference in circumstances. But here there was no room for doubt. Twenty years had not destroyed the identity of our town. There had been no striking change in its popula- tion, its industries, the essential character of its people suf- ficient to account for this colossal change in the rate of its poor expenditures. Manufactures had not fallen off. Pub- lic and private enterprises had not been at a stand-still. Institutions and organizations for charity and mutual help had multiplied, and the amounts distributed by them annually in benefaction had multiplied : the cost of the necessaries of life and of rent had been greatly reduced. Even immigration had fallen off or changed in its com- plexion in a direction favorable to economy. And yet here was this great increase, surpassing every other town or place of which we had definite knowledge — surpassing even itself from year to year in default of other serious rival, down to 1889, when a small reduction was seen. Such was the general situation which confronted your committee — disquieting, indeed, but not hopeless. For might it not be that these great expenditures, these unheard of gains, were justified by the actual facts of the case ? And so we said, " Let us look into the facts of the case. It may be that we have been helping only proper persons in a proper way, if so, our prominence herein is but an additional dis- tinction.'" For we are all of one mind when it is question of t The town doctors are found testifying at the beginning of this term that the number of persons applying to them for assistance had increased by 50 per cent, with- in the two previous years. Report of 1881, p. 11. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. XI timely aid to unfortunate and deserving members of our community. The limit of a town's ability to give is in that casevthe sole limit of its duty. Go with your committee, then, as they attempt to tell The facts. you what they found to be the plain facts in the different branches of our Poor Administration. And let us begin where their commission begins, with OUTDOOR ALMS. This includes, according to our methods of classification, which seem to be accurate and scientific, all persons helped without leaving their homes. It falls naturally under four heads, Support, Medical Treatment, Rent, and Interment. I. SUPPORT. We first inquired, "Are the proper persons supported ? " First ques- The question was one of law and of fact, and to be answered tKm - by an appeal to law and to fact. What, then, is the law ? The law, Cap. "All persons who have not estate sufficient for their sup- l^^&k- port and have no relations of sufficient ability who are ob- sion of 1888. liged by law to support them, shall be provided for and sup- ported at the expense of the town where they belong ; and every town shall maintain and support all the poor inhabi- tants belonging to it." The beneficiaries are to be "poor," therefore; "without sufficient estate" ; without "able rela- tives " in the direct line ; and they are to ' ' belong " to the town ; to be " inhabitants " of it. They are to be " poor." There are many degrees of pov- Meaning of erty. The French use two words to cover those who come poor * within the operation of their laws — necessitous (necessi- teux) and indigent {indigent). For the first, temporary help is required ; for the second, help more or less perma- nent. We use but one word — poor. The majority of us live from hand to mouth, and might, perhaps, not unjustly be called poor. But the great majority of those who so live would resent the application to them of the title "poor" in the sense of the statute. And probably not even the most lavish administrator of our poor-laws would contend that every poor person, in any and every sense of the word, is entitled to public support. But we are not left to the ambiguities of our language. As is more fully explained in the Appendix * to our report, * P. 31. Xll REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. Judicial inter- the word has received judicial interpretation. It means pre non. literally without resource : destitute of the necessaries of life and of the means of obtaining them. The man or woman who has work, or can get work sufficient for sup- port, who has income or available means of any kind which can be drawn upon to repel want, has no right to the public bounty. In fact, any other interpretation of the law must inevitably in time produce utter demoralization and disor- ganization in society. For. let it once be understood that the public treasury is open to those who feel poor, or call themselves poor, or are comparatively poor, and the result is easy enough of prediction. The fact?. The 712 different families, then, with those B99 adults and 1,217 children who last year received support in goods, groceries, coal, etc., etc. — were they "poor" in this judi- cial sense of the word ? A question of fact, not of senti- ment, plainly. The answer came through the separate inspection of the cases. Your committee sent a plow through them in three different directions, and in every instance the outcome was substantially the same. There were 320 cards in the sev- eral pigeon-holes of the first selectman's office on the 1st of January, 1891. These represented the current cases of One name in relief for that date. One name in twenty was taken, with- 30 examined - out discrimination, and handed to Mr. Geo. B. Thayer, the superintendent of the Organized Charities Association, and he was charged to examine each case with scrupulous care, and to report to us in detail. He found 6 of the i worthy: -A (24#) cases properly for the almshouse, if helped at all ; 7 (4K) who needed no aid. Three initials. Then the D's, M's, and Mac's were given him. as being among the more common initials. The 20 D's resulted thus: 9 (35#) worthy, S (30#) almshouse cases. 9 (35#) un- worthy. The M's showed 23$ worthy. 15£ proper for alms- house. 62# needed no aid. The Mac's showed life worthy. 26^ for almshouse, 63$ no aid needed. 43 names. Forty-three names from all parts of the alphabet had been already sent the society for investigation. Of these 23$ were reported to us to be worthy. 19# to be cases for the almshouse, 58$ to need no aid. 222 names. There remained 222 names, and these finally were ex- amined. Among them 2o^o were found worthy. M$ cases REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. Xlll for the almshouse, and 51$ needed no aid. Of 353 examined, 89, or 25#, were found to be worthy ; 83, or 24$, were cases for the almshouse, and 181, or 51$, were judged to need no aid. Mr. Thayer's standard should be explained. He thought, standard. and so estimated, that if $6 or $7 per week was being earned by the head of a family where there were not more than two or three small children, the help of the town should not be granted. And when one remembers how many respectable and respected heads of families there are in Hartford who by their utmost efforts can not earn more than that, on the average, year in and year out, and yet have never once dreamed of thinking themselves entitled to town aid, one cannot but call the standard reasonable. He noted 47 cases, with families ranging from 3 to 7, out of which 33 were enjoying an income of from $9 to $12 per week, 5 from 812 to $15, 8 from $15 to $20, and 1 over $20. He stumbled upon two cases to which the title unworthy Two cases, seems to apply with unusual force, and the facts concern- ing which are disputed by no one. One of these has been disposed of in open court. The other is that of a notorious character — a prostitute for many years; more recently living in open adultery ; and a confirmed drunkard. All persons who have had any experience in administering charities are aware of the dangers of imposition. They are far more apt to lament their shortcomings than to boast of their successes. And, therefore, the only significance of Their only sig- nificance these, or any such cases, seems to us to be in the light which they may happen to throw upon the care displayed by our officials in investigating applications at the beginning and in renewung the investigation afterwards. It is proper, then, to note that this person was first helped July 19, 1879 — before the term of office of the present first selectman began — and last, March 14, 1891. The total given by the town is $264.75, of which $246.75 has been paid since 1886, i. e. during the incumbency of the present first selectman. Aid was withdrawn in both cases as soon as the facts be- come known. The same is true concerning many of the cases. Our present report is based upon facts as they were at or near the beginning of this present year. Our first question concerning support is, therefore, to be Answer to first thus answered — 51 per cent, of the beneficiaries of the ( i uestl0n - XIV REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. town were not proper persons to be supported because not poor in the sense of the statutes. * Next question. Were the remaining Jf9 per cent, properly, i. e. legally, supported ? Let us see whether the law meets any of their cases. In Only tempora- Section 3296 of the Statutes we read, "All persons supported outX£ p01t by any town shall be supported in an almshouse or other Sec S 3296 eS ' pl ace > or places provided by such town, but nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent towns from giving temporary aid to any persons in need of partial support." Reason for the The reasonableness of this law is obvious. The support of the poor is at best a burden, however cheerfully it be borne. And whatever regulation makes the burden less heavy to (i) Economy that great multitude of already heavily-burdened citizens ers. axpay "who are by no means rich but are self-respecting and self- helpful, and who are all of them in some way taxpayers, provided that regulation be honest and humane, is to be ap- proved. Now it is plainly far more economical to support a number under one roof than the same number scattered hither and thither. The first cost, of house and furni- ture and salaries of officials, is very heavy, and it does not grow with the (reasonable) increase of inmates, f Again, (2) inspection, persons thus supported are under steady inspection. What the taxpayer gives them goes as he means it to go, and as he has a right to make sure it should go — not for luxu- ries, not for crime, but for the decent necessaries of life. And, (3) Check upon i as t of all, help given thus brings with it its own proper pauperism. limitations. When it is a question between leaving home and friends for a strange building and unknown, possibly disagreeable associates, with the stigma of pauperism openly attached, many a person will recoil who in fact does not require public aid, and who is sure to be better without it. The instinct of self-help, dormant for the moment, will be stimulated to new activity. Relatives perhaps will come to the rescue rather than see the doors of the almshouse close upon those who bear their name. And thereby the *Itis quite possible, and in fact probable, that Mr. Thayer made mistakes, and, in consequence, that this percentage is too high. But he did examine the cases, it seems, bringing to the work average intelligence and applying what appears to be a reasonable standard. That any equally careful examination has been made before for several years there is every reason to doubt. The selectmen have withheld from us the name of their " Examiner," and have only stated that they paid him $30 or $40 for his services last year. + Compare cost at Soldiers' Home with that at almshouses : p. li and Ap. p. 80. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. IV community will be saved a burden, which it ought only to bear in the- last extremity, and the individual also will be benefited. This is recognized by the managers of our Sol- Example of diers' Homes. That colossal charity, which has its efficient Hom?. headquarters in our city,* declines all but absolutely to give aid save under its own roofs. Out of a total of $2,567,477 spent by it in 1890, only $31,515 went for "outdoor relief and incidentals" combined. \ A few years ago some mis- guided friend of the soldier presented a bill in our House of Representatives providing that any disabled soldier might accept a money-equivalent in lieu of board, lodging, and clothing in the Home. The bill would probably have passed the House unanimously, but the directors saw in it eventual waste, universal pension, and the utter demor- alization of their present admirable sytem. They therefore opposed it in committee to such effect that it was finally left without a friend. And such has been the wisdom of our ancestors here, as wisdom of well as the fixed policy of the general law. In 1822, it was tbe aDcieDts - established as a by-law and rule that, "All the poor whom this town is liable by law to support shall be placed in the almshouse, and in case any one who applies for assistance shall refuse to receive his support there when in a situation to be removed to it, such refusal shall be prima facie evi- dence that he is not in want of aid." J And again in 1880, the following was passed in town meeting: "Resolved, That the selectmen be and they are hereby instructed to give more careful attention to the management of the alms- house and outdoor alms." But the plea of economy is raised. "We give a dollar "Economy." or a dollar and a half a week at home, where it would cost $2 or $2.50 at the almshouse." The reply is prompt. The addition of fifty more inmates will not increase the cost proportionately. Moreover, the refusal to help except at the almshouse will serve as a deterrent to applications for help. A large proportion of the fifty now supported at home will refuse support altogether. They will not go to the alms- house in any event. This is the First Selectman's opinion. * Gen. W. B. Franklin is president, and has given us most courteous help. t Report for 1890, p. 12. X The statutory proviso was added concerning temporary aid where economy suggests it. But the rule cannot be crowded out by the exception. See below, p. 16, for the current interpretation of " Temporary." For the above and other votes see Appendix, p. 48. XVI REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. He tell? us that in a majority of cases help would be altogether refused if thus conditioned. And in the cases of persons living alone, or of childless aged couples., there is surely no excessive hardship in presenting this alternative. And such " recisely is said to be the case of all. or the greater part of the S3 above described as being persons who should be helped, if at all. in the almshouse. But it is objected that only temporary help is given, any- how, to these outside cases, and that this is legal as well as :al. This objection has come to us. in perfectly 1 faith, we do not doubt, from the office of the First Selectman. Temporary help is manifestly legal when economy and humanity may be consulted thereby. We should be the last to question this proposition. But as to whether the help now given is commonly temporary, we must be allowed to express a doubt. Is it Temporary A A. L. Shipman. Esq.. under our direction, made a par- tial examination of the outdoor books of the selectmen with a view to the ascertainment of the facts in this question. is. in substance, his summary ; " There wei rsons whose names appear for the first time in ut of a total of 378 names " — 17.5 per cent. That does not look quite like temporary. Xor are the details more convincing. A certain number of pages in the 1890 account, taken at random, and the accounts copied consecutively, give the following : ^™ ! C ° Y:^ e ReTe^ed. Average per year. No. 1 15 $930.20 For •' 2 11 372.65 " 3 18 829. 40 4 9 618.58 " 5 4 ~- 69 ' B 5 173.49 ' 7 14 7*35.50 "8, 17 772 - " 9,.--. 13 1,522 34 "10 2 vo.oo "11 7 537.49 12 14 469.13 -: 3-2 114.96 "14 10 606.67 "1-5 10 916.70 "16 13 ;■: v "'I-, 7 504.63 '"IS, 4 154.00 11 vears, $81 is 5 '• 65 68 15 •' 52.01 4 * ( 124.69 2 " 62.47 14 «' 54.64 17 " 51.30 12 " 122.48 2 41.00 3 76.78 14 " 33.51 2 47 . 60 10 " 66.67 10 " 91.67 13 " 7 07 ~ < ■ 66.69 4 " S8.5C REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. XV11 Of these, No. 1 was a widow. She cost the town $81.15 per year for 11 consecutive years. No. 2 was a widow with one qhild. He was a youth of 24 at the beginning, and numbered some 37 years in 1891. No. 3 is a childless couple separated b} r death three years ago. No. 4, a widow, had one child 13 years old in 187G. In 1891 this child was 28 years old. No. 5 was a widower with four children aged 15, 13, 10, and 7 at the beginning. They were 19, 17, 14, and 11 in 1890. The father died in 188G. No. 6 was a married couple with one 11-months-old child at the beginning. The child was 15 in 1890. No. 7 was a widow with six children. Likely enough she needed help in 1879, when her little ones were 10, 8, 6, 5, 3, and 1. But it seems to have been over- looked here, as in so many cases, we fear, that time was flying, for in 1890 the children were 22, 20, 18, 17, 15, and 13, if indeed they all survived, and yet the help had fallen off only from $75 to $55. No. 8 had four children. They were 16, 7, 6, and 3 at the beginning. And they, too, grew old apace without observation, for the mother had $67 in 1890, when the children were 31, 22, 21, and 18, as against $39.50 fifteen years before. No. 9 was apparently a childless mar- ried pair. For 12 successive years they drew $122.48 per year on the average — which hardly seems temporary and not even economical. The next is a widower. The next, husband and wife with children. They draw $91.50, when the children are 18, 16, and 14, as against $62.49 when they were 12, 10, and 8. The next is a widow with one child, whose age is not given. For 14 successive years $33.51 on the average is paid here. In this and several of the cases, it should in justice be remarked, the amounts vary from year to year more or less, showing that care was not en- tirely lacking. But most of them show, it seems to us, absence of proper regard either to the letter or the spirit of the laws just quoted as to temporary support. The terms range from 2 to 17 years, and average 8|; the annual allow, ances range from $7.07 to $124.69, and average $64.92. Five of the twelve cases were, in our judgment, pretty clearly cases for the almshouse, if to be helped at all. In cer- tainly three others, apart from very exceptional circum- stances, the growth of the children should have led to the curtailment or the withdrawal of help. So at least it appeared to us; and we have called the attention of the selectmen to XVlli REPOET OF THE COMMITIII Recommend- this state of facts, urging the importance of a more literal construction of the law. and a more frequent revision of What Support We have seen the law and its interpretati : n. The com- munity undertakes only to defend the life of its memlx - It bears the additional load thus imposed upon it gladly: but does it much as the locomotive suffers the great weight upon the rim of its driving-wheel — to carry an integral and necessary part of its machinery past its dead point. It is contrary to public policy that any member of the com- munity should be in danger of perishing by want. II similarly contrary to public policy that the industrious and --If -supporting part of the community should be .led to contribute toward this object out of their hard earni _- anything but the merest necessaries of life. So the law has been uniformly interpreted by our Supreme Court.* It The support then a very proper and pertinent question. Ha ~ 1Yeu " ficiaries of the town b< ving other than I of life/ What they have in fact been receivin_ - upon various dealers, chiefly _ provisions for necessary support only "' ) runs the form printed on the blank — to the amount of one dollar, one and a half. — more or less, as the case may be. And the very f«;.rm. it will be observed, con - the principle enunciated by us above, that nothing but the necessaries of life ought be furnished by the town. It is a rule of thr ffi that the articles received on these orders shall be endorsed upon them, with their price : and your committee unde: I ascertain precisely what had been drawn upon a specified number by examining the endorsements thereon. It was Endorsements thought that 600 orders taken at random, representing as examined, fogy would not far from one-twentieth of the whole, would fairly represent the whole. The result is given in full in Table vii of the Appendix together with the opinion : Opinion of Professor R. B. Riggs. Ph.D. . of Trinity College. State chem- rof. ogge. j^ concerning the food value of the articles ordered. + This is. in brief, that "the total drawn for articles of necessary support on the basis of economy, is -$246.35. or 33.6 per cent.. leaving a balance of $486.19, or 66.4 per cent., for art: * See Appendix p. 31. tSee Appendix. ; R3 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. XIX which either do not belong to the necessary supporl cate- gory or are valuable but expensive nutrients." And we feel sure that this scientific verdict will command the assent of every householder. Among the 13*2 separate articles drawn, we found bananas, 132 Separate lima beans, berries, broma. cakes (21 times), candy, cash. artlcles - cash unspecified (22 times), catsup, citron, cocoa, cocoanut, coffee (156 times). (Java and Mocha mixed, 2 times), canned corn (25 times), crackers, one of the very dearest forms of bread (225 times), cranberries, cream, dates, doughnuts, Samples. eggs (185 times, often in winter), Pillsbury flour, pastry- flour, ginger, ginger-snaps, jelly, lemons, canned lobster, molasses, nutmegs (S times), nuts, oranges, orange crisps, green peas, canned peaches, pickles (17 times), pie, pineapple, new potatoes as early as June 14. raisins, canned salmon, sardines, bottles of sauce, canned succotash, syrup, tea (284 times), tobacco. The names of some of the articles were new to your committee. There were several kinds of cakes and sweet crackers, and goodies of that sort, the in- troduction to which came to them through the list of articles furnished to the Hartford poor. The total of absolutely use- less articles is perhaps not very great nor the amount spent upon them formidable. But it should be remembered here Represent that this is but one-twentieth of the whole year's business. y e" ar '° busi- Each different grocer was found to bring his contingent of ness - new articles. And could all the ten or twelve thousand orders have been analyzed the list of mere delicacies or fooleries would have swollen largely. One of our most fashionable grocers* tells us that he has about 1,650 articles invoiced for his trade. Of these one-third are used steadily. The remainder are fancy. That the whole of the 1,550, in- cluding all of the " fancy " things, would be found to have been sampled by our needy fellow-citizens we hardly be- lieve, but that they would come somewhere near it we can not well doubt. Xor in things commonly deemed necessary No proper had a reasonable and proper measure been observed. If any piopor K one of us were to give a person who claimed to be in neces- sitous circumstances, an order for five dollars' worth of groceries to be charged to his own private account, we think *He had remarked the predilection for the luxuries of life sometimes manifested by the supposed needy. People to whom " useful " things have been given at Christ- mas by their benevolent friends often come and ask to exchange them for all sorts of luxuries. XX BHTOO OF THE WJUUTTKK. he would not be pleased if lie ^-Tr to discover that more than IS per cent, of it had gone for sugar. 7 per cent, for tea at perhaps 60 cents per pound. 10 per cent, for butter at > 45 cents. 5 per cent, for coffee, possibly ' " Java and Mocha mixed." 4 per cent, for eggs, with eggs at 34 cents: with only 7 per cent, of meat, and 9 p»er cent, of flour, perhaps " Pills- bury" or "pastry." and the remaining 40 per cent, for a miscellaneous collection of fancy groceries or mere luxi: such as you will find on this list. Was the case improved when, instead of five, you wrote fifteen thousand dollars, and instead of ••private account." you wrote "account of the - -vn of Hartford." and instead of "person claiming to be necessitous" you wrote "poor person in want of the v necessaries of lifer " 7 _ T ,, Did the selectmen know what was being bought on their ^g^™*" orders ? Probably not. They seemed as much surprised as rat the outcome of the analysis, and at once agreed with qs that if orders _iven. the choice of the recipients should be limited to eight or ten of the more obvious ne - ries :»f life, the names of which should be printed in blank upon the back of the order and be filled in. in every c by the gro Bu- .Tethods. >": :: ::- These orders were taken from a book with a stub, but no entry was made upon the stub, and the name of the first No true agna- selectman was printed, not even stamped. It seemed to us that there should be a change in both particulars. This suggestion met the approval of the selectmen. Observing :_ :-i that in many sases :hildren were sent for the ore : :omniended a discontinuance of this as tending to school them in pauperism. TL imendation was also fol- lowed : whether [ ersiste 1 in or not we do not know. Per- _-ience in it might require the opening of the office on tain days at an earlier or later hour than is now found convenient, which might prove to be of public convenien The rule of the office requires that the amount and value of all articles drawn on orders shall be endorsed thereon. A good rale This rule has not been enforced. The greater part of the iizzlt. -ers are not endorse i. This seemed to us dangerous. A n unprincipled dealer may. indeed, give money or liquor upon an order, and endorse sugar or butter, but there is at REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. XXI least chance for legal redress in that case, while none exists when there is no endorsement. The question here occurs most naturally, Have orders been misused ? There has been evidence of late sufficient to convince a court of justice that the proceeds of certain coal orders have been used in payment of debts. In another instance five Orders mis- dollars per month is reported to have been given for rent when the landlord received nothing. We are also informed by persons who are brought in contact personally with many beneficiaries of the town that these speak with per- fect openness of the conversion of town orders into cash, rent, etc., apparently feeling that there is nothing wrong or unusual about it. When warned of the danger of loss of further orders in consequence they have in some instances replied that the First Selectman was aware of their proceed- ings, and did not object. This may well be from misunder- standing, possibly from untruthfulness on their part. More a more seri- serious, because more in the nature of direct evidence, is the me nt. statement from a landlord that a tenant kept her tenement during a summer's absence of two or three months, not long ago, by arranging to have her orders given to a neighbor, who got cash for them and paid this over for rent. Where she passed the summer, whether in the mountains or at the seaside, was not stated ! In this case it was alleged that the First Selectman was knowing to the arrangement. This does not follow of necessity. Under the present system it is quite easy to convert Orders into orders into cash, provided the person on whom they are possibie? W drawn show a sufficiently accommodating disposition. His office is the clearing-house, that is all. That this is done often we do not assert. That it may have been done very often indeed there is nothing in the present system to prevent. On which account, and for other reasons which seemed to recommenda- us convincing, we recommended the entire abolition of the SSfn^ 150 " order system. The hard-working, self-denying taxpayer, orders. and such are the majority, has a right to be sure that his grants of aid for necessaries of life shall not be treated as negotiable paper, the proceeds of which may be converted to any use which selfishness, or luxury, or idleness, or even crime may suggest. And careful inquiry convinces us that Let the town there is nothing impracticable in the town's giving to its f^ies? XX11 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. Union for Home Work does it. poor the articles they require. The head of the Union for Home. Work handles five thousand packages annually, weighing each with care, and of all keeping a careful ac- count. This is done without clerical help, and without sen- sible interruption of her more serious duties. In her case of shelves, 6x2x5, she can stow away 1,859 parcels, filled, marked, and ready for use. Her whole business, which in- cludes the cutting and dealing out of hundreds of yards of cloth, is transacted in a room about 16 x 19, and there is no sign of crowding or inconvenience. We are aware that this would by no means put an end to fraud. But it would narrow its limits. Before leaving this subject it should be stated that there is no evidence of political preference in the choice of the grocers and others on whom orders are given. In fact, with a Board of Selectmen of one party it appears from fhe statement printed elsewhere t that grocers who belong to the other have received rather more than half of the busi- ness. This statement, furnished by the selectmen's office, also covers another matter with which we interested our- selves, but upon which our recommendation that grocery orders be entirely abolished makes it needless that we should insist. We did not understand the selectmen to favor our recom- mendation to abolish the system of grocery orders. We now approach the second branch of outdoor poor relief : II. Poor persons again. CARE OF THE SICK. Section 3297 of the Statutes reads: "Every town shall provide medical treatment by one or more good, competent physicians, for all persons liable to be supported by such town, when such persons are in need thereof." We have followed here the same line of inquiry as in the previous subject. 1. Have the proper persons been aided f " Persons liable to be aided," says the statute. And this seems to relegate us to the law first quoted and its interpre- tation. The town is liable to support poor persons, and by poor persons is meant persons in want of the necessaries of life. None, then, appear to be entitled to medical aid save t Table xx. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. XX111 these. Ill 1881, the two town physicians reported 4,370 visits made and 7459 office calls — a total of 11,827 — representing, as we>have seen (p. x), an increase of 50 per cent, in two years. Under a single doctor, in 1885, there is a consider- able falling off, though the number is still large — 2. 500 Their number, visits and 5,000 office calls — total 7,500. And there is a further slight reduction until 1887. Since then there has been no report until this year, and then only for one-half the town — 833 visits and 786 office calls — a total of 1,019. This shows a still further reduction. The numbers are no longer disquieting, but an inspection of the single list, which with commendable accuracy is given, leads to serious reflections. No. 1. Received three private visits from a physician of her choice. As soon as it was learned that this physician Particular was a town doctor the brother appeared with a ticket from pa the selectmen and the paying visits ceased. The party has $100 in savings bank. No. 2. A widow has one or two daughters and an equal number of sons, all of whom have work and dress well. Received medicine and medical attendance. No. 3. An able-bodied man. Alcoholism. No. 4. Had and paid for medicine and care from another physician: came finally for the town doctor. Has $200 or $300 life insurance. No. 5. Received sixty-two visits. Mother has 8350 life insurance, lately increased to $550: costs thirty-five cents per week. Her husband draws a pension and she has three sons who have work. No. 6. Husband earns $20 to $22 per week; only three in the family. Medical order. No. 7. A man — steady work, skilled mechanic; received three visits, then goes to hospital on town. No. 8. Has a good trade; keeps a woman; has $300 life insurance. No. 9. A child of eleven years: life insured by mother for 8100. And there are sixteen more. Of the twenty-five, eleven have a total of $2,327 life insurance in one single com- Life insur- pany; one has a policy in suspense and thirteen have ance,i been examined and refused. We make particular mention of life insurance in the above cases merely to throw light upon the financial status of these beneficiaries of the town. Xxiv REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. In itself the insurance of their lives was only to be com- mended. But have we a right to require our poorer tax- payers to help pay premiums on others' lives which they would gladly carry on their own if they could afford it ? We shall meet this same question elsewhere. Xow these twenty-five represent about one-quarter of the whole list Twenty-five submitted to our inspection. Twenty-five per cent, would ?o r a en their le P roDaD ly be not far from the actual proportion of persons doctor. now receiving medical aid who are perfectly able to pay for it themselves and ought to be compelled to do so. We fear it has not often occurred to the benevolently disposed that Pauperiza- pauperization can be as effectually disseminated in this as tion - in any other way. Since the town doctors are paid their salary in any event, it seems to have come to be felt that there is a real gain to the town, or at least no loss, in allow- ing them to do as much as they will for anybody who may require their services. Orders have indeed been given, but it has been understood by the physicians that an order once given entitled the bearer to treatment for all time to come. "Once a pauper always a pauper" has been to too great extent the unavowed but real watchword of the system Recommend- both here and elsewhere. We have recommended that Order for each nerea fter, save in cases of exigency, medical visits be made sickness. only on a direct order from the first selectman; that this order be renewed for each separate illness; and that these orders be drawn from a book with a stub, on which latter a Record. record shall be preserved of the whole transaction. With- out this last, facts of great value in determining pauper investigation, settlement will be lost. Further, we think that a careful examination into the financial condition of the family should immediately follow, when it has not preceded, the grant of an order for medical aid; and such aid should at once be withdrawn when it is found not to have been justified by the actual poverty of the party. Provident dis- Before leaving this division of our subject, we wish to commend very earnestly a movement, begun within the past seventeen years, the design of which is to enable fami- lies of moderate means to pass through this trying ordeal of sickness without financial embarassment on the one side and without appealing for public aid on the other. We have before us the "Sixteenth Annual Report of the Man- chester and Salford Provident Dispensaries Branch of the REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. XXV District Provident Society. " This society numbers 23,790 members — artizans and others approved by the Committee. Everv member pays one penny (two cents) per week. All children under fourteen in any family are lumped at two- pence per week. There is also an initiation fee of sixpence for the individual, or one shilling (25 cents) for a family. There are nine dispensaries, and one or more physicians attached to each. Members receive a card, on admission, and by sending this, or carrying it to the dispensary, pre- scriptions, signed by the dispensary doctor, are filled on the nominal payment of one penny. By sending the card to the doctor s office by nine o'clock in the morning, a visit free of charge is made within the day. For urgency visits the doctor may make a charge of one shilling. Female members are attended at confinement for 15 shillings. There is a dentist attached to the dispensary staff. AVhere the medical staff consists of more than one doctor, the member has his choice; but doctors cannot be changed dur- ing an illness. Eight of the nine branches were self-sup- porting last year, and, after paying medical fees and assess- ments for the general administration, there was a surplus of 8532. These facts have come to us through the kindness of Mr. George Rooke, of Manchester, England, one of the Poor-Law guardians and a magistrate of that city, to whom his kinsman, Mr. John Mark, mayor of Manchester, cour- teously referred our letter of inquiry. His letters contain other matters of interest, and we have given them entire in the Appendix.* It will be seen there that the medical charities of the city now restrict the granting of free medi- cal attendance and medicine to out-patients whose weekly earnings are below the following : Single man or woman, . . . S3. 00 Married couple, 4.50 For each child, 37| With changes needed to conform this scale to our values, we should welcome the adoption of some such regulation here. The results attained there might be expected here. In 1875, 42.32 per cent, of the applicants for free medical help were found to be able to take care of themselves, and were referred to the Provident Dispensaries. In 1890, the Pp. 69-72. z": F.i? :?.: 0? izi ::>:•:>: In America percenta^ e was In fact, since corresponding with Mr. Rooke. we have learned with very special satisfaction that we already have here in Hartford a - :-ting of members, and named suggestively the Manchester Unity, which has brought to American soil this excellent home in- stitution of theirs. And it has been followed by a second, and now finally by an association of Americans. Each member pays ents per year to the society's druggist and 01. S to its <3 Medici _ en only on their own do - and a new prescription must be given each time. The fees just named do not entitle the fanr of members to the privileges of their heads 7_- li- E T n Doctors. "Every U wn shall provide one or more good and com- etent physician-. A physician still living and in r - health was once the sole town doctor here on a salsa 075.-*- and he says he was glad of the place. There are now three — two for the city and one for the almshouse. In ad- dition, the city has three chosen by the police commission- are paid fees, the total of which amounted - Last r. The two town phy~ receive - each: the almshouse physician $480. The total for the * and city, which are contennin as, is $1, Philadelphia, which for ten years has abolished all outdoor relief* but this, has twenty-four physicians for her 1,046,964 inhabi- tants — one : i —and they re - -ach per an- num. Paris, with her 2,2 . 45 inhabitants, has 180 do — one 31. They receive on an avera^ - eing paid fees on a fixed scale both as to amount per visit and to number of visits allowed to each pauper. Berlin, with her 1,315,287 inhabitants has 54 doctors — one to - and then- salaries range from - to $450 a year. Whiteehapel, with ri.582 inhabitants in the heart of old London, has three, estei Mass., with her 84, " " inhabitants, has one city physician. His salary is $1,2 He does all the work cov- ered by our six in a city 60 per cent, larger than ours f per cent, less pay. And though he has a large private prac- tice, being the third in direct line of honored members of the same family following this honorable profession, and all : t lent in the same community, he is sai to do his work + Sze i:~; z:: :n:7r. Ir ir. :i~l: :r r-lir- :_r :ar- ::' 1-rr 1>= . L.'.i.-ri ' lirlri :".:. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. XXV11 well. There was talk last year of giving him an assistant ; hut as yet nothing has heen done. It seemed to us, and we Recommends so stated to" the selectmen, that one, or at most two physi- most!"" cians, would he better than the present number. The town could remain districted as it is now, and the almshouse be attended to month about. This was the arrangement in . 1882, and it then gave complete satisfaction. The salary account could thus be reduced considerably and the person- nel would probably not suffer. ^ The present method of appointment seems to us not of Methods of ap- the best. Application in person or by friends is expected, pom men with the result of repelling some of our best men and invit- ing influences which are anything but beneficent. This will be more evident when we reach another part of the subject. We have suggested to the selectmen that they request the Suggestion. Medical Society of Hartford to nominate hereafter to this responsible and honorable post, and the suggestion has been received with considerable favor. Should it be adopt- ed, we venture to express the hope that that Society will not allow anything to stand in the way of the discharge of a duty of such importance to the good name of its profession no less than to the welfare of the community. 3. "Good and Competent" The report which you have a right to demand of us con- a painful sub- cerning our conferences with the selectmen would not be :ject ' complete without the following, relative to the most painful of the duties which we have had to perform. The report reached us that one of the town physicians, recently appointed by the selectmen, was not " good and competent," as the law requires. There seemed no way of evading the responsibility of an enquiry, and it was made. It appeared Dr. J. J. s. to us, on the evidence, that Dr. J. J. S. Doherty had been Doher ^- guilty of dishonorable and dishonest conduct while Regis- trar of Vital Statistics in New Haven in 1885, whereby that city suffered to the extent of $3,000 or more; that he had thereafter been recommended by prominent citizens of Connecticut, including one member of Congress and two ex- governors of the State, to the Interior Department and by it appointed a physician to the Indians; that he had been discharged from this post, as the then commissioner of Indian affairs explicitly averred, not because of his record ttt ■■;.: BEPOBT OF THE OOHMOTCB. ■.::. 1"t-" E; ■'-:."■■■'.-:."■.■.— i"e i::.-"-.'. _ '.:- '.".;-: _r '..:- \ ': — satisfactorily. That he returned to Connecticut, and being ;-""■ ■;"."_"t'. : """."."/-"-:::-"_ 7 :ir fr.r::z.rL : z-\~.-. - . _: -. . presented additional and unreasonable charges for ser- vices which seemed to come within the terms of his contract with the town: finally,, that he was not a skilful pis - tioner. We did not, of course, assume to decide these mat- ters absolutely; but the evidence was clear and explicit enough, we thought, to require us to lay it before the select- men. This we did at a special conference held on the 11th OraraeffimnL of April, at the same time stating that " in our judgment Dr. Doherty is not a fit person to care for the town poor of Hartford.^ and that the evidence was presented and the statement made by us "in the hope and expectation that the Board of Selectmen will obtain his immediate resigna- tion."" What action, if any, has been taken by the Selectmen we are not officially apprised. The evidence in the will be found in the Appendix.* Amffitfflttsr ©as?.. A very different case, but requiring not: 5 it set med to us. was that of another town physician. Dr. J. J. Mor- lissey. Nothing was alleged against Dr. Morrii— skill, or his general respectability, but charges of improper use of his credit at places where medical supplies are sold vs brought to us: and again we seemed to have no alterna- tive but to report the facts as they appeared to i> therefore laid before the selectmen the result of a careful .lamination of bills found in their files, from which it ap- peared that from Octob to Harch but chiefly during the years 188 S. and §. this physician had : -v. :'... «- ' Ln ?,'! -\ t.'l : ~ " :_- ?,'. ::.-:: ■.::.-. t:.> :,: ; *- ances, supplies, and books, upon the account of the town — thereafter using this property, so far as was necessary, for his work as town physician, but treating it and considering it as his own. It appeared that there had been no attempt to conceal the facts. The articles had appeared under their proper names, and each bill had been approved by the requisite three selectmen. Surprise was expressed by the *:'.:::'_.:•■» t : : ~~ "_:. : - '_'. : : : e : in: ?.^: - i. .v i brri r. 7 ri. :-.,.- i :-.".>: at the proportions of the purchases in other directions. But, : : : : _ -. -?"'-': ~ _ - ~ .: - : - t . t : * m . "-"_". . e ~ " jjh - . : 1 t - - ' : : t re *i- : n- REPORT OP THE COMMITTEE. XXIX sibility, admitting that he had authorized Dr. Morrissey to purchase instruments to whatever extent he should find it instruments necessary for a proper and economical discharge of his du- pei ties. We thought and still think that the whole transac- tion was unprecedented ; that the physician should have provided his own appliances as much as a builder his tools ; that in any event the number and amount of them was ex- cessive and unusual, and that the purchase of the books was highly improper, to say the very least. We contented ourselves, however, with submitting the evidence, and only expressed an opinion when the same was formally request. Our opinion ed of us by a unanimous vote of the selectmen. It is as ieques e * follows : Hartford, April 22, A. D. 1891. To the Selectmen of Hartford : Gentlemen, — I ain desired by the Committee on Outdoor Alms to Our opinion, transmit the following : In accordance with your request we desire to say that the opinion of this committee is that the selectmen were improperly compliant in agreeing to Dr. Morrissey's suggestion to purchase instruments, and seriously negli- gent in their failure to note the extreme and unjustifiable extent to which he was using the liberty given him. "We think that Dr. Morrissey's conduct in purchasing books at the ex- pense of the town was wrong and without warrant. And we think that he should be required to pay for all books ordered by him on the town account, and to restore to the town at once the instruments ordered by him on the town account, or their full cost value, save in so far as they may have been worn out in the exclusive service of the town. Yours very truly, Jno. J. McCook, Chairman. While using the word "Selectmen" in the above com- munication, as in etiquette bound to do, it is only proper to add that we have no evidence that any but the first se-The tirst Se- lectman had direct knowledge of, or responsibility for, these sum?s an re- S ~ transactions. sponsibmty. A summary of the bills, together with an abstract of the purchases to which allusion has been made, will be found in the Appendix.* We are not officially informed what ac- tion, if any, has been taken in the premises. These incidents emphasize, we venture to think, the recommendation made above, that some different method should be followed in the election of town physicians. If there be one place above another where the highest guaran- Appendix C, p. 91. XXX REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. ties of character and professional skill should be required, Best doctors surely it is here where the question is of the tender care of needed by the the un f ortunate , and the speedy restoration to physical soundness of those whose chief stock in trade is apt to be their bodily strength. III. Colossal growth. No corres- ponding re- duction else where. RENT. We desire to call particular attention to the rapid growth in the rent account. There is no separate entry for this item until 1882, in the last full year of First Selectman Brown's administration. Before this there had been entries under the head of "Other Expenses," or "Incidental Ex- penses," which we conjecture may have covered this. With 1882, rent appears for the first time formally in the list, with the relatively modest sum of 83,710. In 1800, this has swollen to the enormous proportions of $13,716 — a gain of 268.8 per cent, against a population gain of 16.05, i. e., 16.7 times as rapid growth in the one as in the other. Had there been corresponding retrenchment in other lines of re- lief this might be understood. Had "provisions" fallen off, for example, we might imagine that here was a case of sub- stitution of one necessary supply for another, and allow it to pass. For we do not doubt the legality or the propriety of including shelter among the necessaries of existence. But in the absence of such reduction elsewhere, but rather heavy gains there too, we cannot help believing that an im- mediate return to the older methods in this matter is both practicable and desirable. And we understand the first selectman to be in complete accord with us here. We Recommbnda- recommend that payments for rent should be reduced in all TI0N * cases, and should cease in all save exceptional cases. And the only justifiable exceptions seem to us to be cases where families of young children can be kept together and brought up under good domestic influences by a moderate grant of aid on this account. And we refer again, with renewed emphasis, to the vote* of this town passed in 1880, ordering an immediate reduction in the monthly payments for rent, and a speedy discontinuance of this form of alms, and call attention to the fact that it is since the passage of that vote that the enormous gain above noted has taken place. * Appendix, p. 51, and see Table ix. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. XXXI IV. BURIAL OF THE DEAD. IipIS'.'O. two hundred and twenty-five persons received what is technically called pauper burial — about one in five of the total number of burials in this town. The average for the past ten years is 209.9. The cost of this item in 186.6 per cent. 1874 was $906: in 1890 $2,591 —an increase of 186. 6 per cent. The population meanwhile has increased 34.25 per cent. There are other items in the outdoor expenditures which show a more rapid rate of increase — as rent. But this is sufficiently large to command our attention for a few moments. Orders for burials are given in various amounts according to the age of the deceased. They rarely exceed 813. They have heretofore been given as a matter of Orders easily course to all who die at public institutions, and without serious question or investigation to all others who ask for them, either in person or through their friends, or even through the undertaker, though recently an attempt has been made to restrict the grant to personal applicants. The inevitable result of this would be to lead to numerous need- less applications. The parties themselves would easily yield to the suggestion to lighten their expenses in this manner; and in many instances, doubtless, would be quite unaware that they were becoming thereby, in the eyes of the law, paupers. The amount received was simply a credit upon the bill of the undertaker. Indeed, to the latter and not to the supposed poor person the order was addressed. Several undertakers were consulted and almost without exception they spoke with apparent frankness, and by an exhibition of their books, in more than one instance, confirmed our impressions. We have before us fourteen Fourteen itemized bills of " pauper " funerals. In just one of them f JneraS— did the grant of the town, 813, pay the whole expense. l n tnecost - the other thirteen the coffins alone exceeded the grant by amounts ranging from 84 to 832. Here is an " octagon end, rosewood-finish casket and box''; here is a "raised top, rosewood-finish casket, plate and box"; here is a ''flat-top, rosewood-finish casket, plate and box/' etc., etc. In five there is a charge for embalming. The bills range from 829.50 to 865. The average, counting in the one real pauper funeral, was 845.65. These charges do not include the full number of carriages — probably about twelve on the XXX11 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. Compared with soldier burials. The con- clusion. Hartford's pre-emi- nence. 6 communi- ties. Philadelphia. 24 Italian cities. -nor such expenses as flowers, entertainment. religious services and the like, a portion of which are defrayed usually by friends. If these were added it is probable that the average would be raised to about $90. This is perhaps not extravagant, as funerals go. But it is two and five-sevenths times as much as the State of Connecticut allows for the burial of her soldiers who die without estate, and it is a great deal more than should be spent by persons who are actually " poor " within the terms of the statute. Conversely, the fact that these people are able to spend such amounts in this way ^hows that they are quite outside the provision of the poor law. The proportion above given, one 813 funeral to thirteen others, suggested the probable proportion of genuine cas 3. This was reduced nearly to a mathematical demonstration. however, when it was ascertained that the wholesale estab- lishment which furnishes the trade here with all. or nearly all, their cheap coffins — such as could be used in a genuine town-order funeral — sold last year just forty-five large and twenty-one small ones — total >ixty-six. S<»me of these must have gone to non-pauper customers. But assuming every one of them to have been used for a " town " funeral and we have a residuum of 159 cases — 70.67 per cent. — in which the taxpayer of this community has been called upon to contribute largely to superfluit: Hartford has an eminence in this matter, as in nearly everything, which will appear from an inspection of Table viii. Six communities in Germany. England, and the United States, with a total population of 1,64 ,2 . spend 14,366 upon the burial of their pauper dead, i. e. with 31 times as many inhabitants, their expense is l.T times as large. We are therefore eighteen times as lavish as they. Among these communities is Philadelphia. With her 1,046,964 she spends just $243, against our $2,591. Twenty-four Italian cities with an aggregate of 2,392,744, spend $49,358 — 45 times as many people and 15.4 times as large expenditure. • We are all but three times as lavish as they. Leave out Naples, which by herself spends three-fourths their whole amount, and we excel them by six times. 4 But the thing: is an admitted - The guess of a liveryman. + For pauper funerals in Paris, see letter of M. pubiiqite de Paris. Appendix. ; E. Pevron. Directeur dt REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. XXX111 abuse. Nobody pretends to defend it; and there seems but Remedy. one effectual remedy — do as is done in Manchester and Whitechapef, England, in Worcester and Philadelphia here, let the^'town do everything, or nothing, in the burial of the dead: and absolutely cease all grants in aid. Conversely, let it treat expenditures like the greater part of those just cited as prima facie evidence that the party is not entitled to further aid. if already a beneficiary, or to first aid if not a beneficiary. The effect of such action might work some apparent hardship at first, but when it came to be under- stood that the rule was inflexible, people would adapt them- selves to it by consulting economy in their funeral expendi- tures, or by freeing the town from the burden of their sup- port. How beneficial the latter might be we all know; how desirable the former is can be concluded from the following: An iiiustra- Your committee was represented in the first selectman's tlon * office recently when a woman in neat mourning applied for help. She was a widow with eight children, the youngest 5, the eldest 21 years old. Her husband had just died at the hospital. Inquiry elicited the fact that he had left $100 life insurance. •'What has become of that $100?" the first selectman, as in duty bound, inquired. "Sixty-seven dollars to the undertaker; fourteen dollars and a half for religious services; nine dollars for carriages," was the answer. And that left how much of her little fortune for herself and her eight children? Nine dollars and a half! So she fell back upon the community. Would she have sacrificed her duty toward the living to sentiment for the dead had she known there was no town treasury to fall back upon? We think not. f We have submitted our conclusion, as above expressed, Recommend- to the selectmen, and understand them to approve of it. ation. Y. HOSPITALS. This is technically beyond the field of outdoor alms. But home medical attendance is not ; and the ease and the frequency with which the town poor pass from one to the tit should, perhaps, be added that the first selectman deferred her case; and de- ferred it again and again — three separate times, as the same member of the commit- tee had opportunity to observe, happening to be in the office each time when the woman returned. It was still deferred, at last accounts. XXXiv REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. other and back again will explain our devotion of a few The city bos- minutes to this subject. Since its foundation in I860, the pitaL city hospital has treated 14,796 patients. Of these 2,203 entered before 1872. leaving 12,593 for the nineteen years between 1872 and 1891. Of these 12,593, 6,441 have been town patients — 51.15 per cent. The total paid for the care of these 6,441 patients has been $139,015.93 — an average of $21.58 per case. Since the charge made to the town is - per week, this would mean an average of seven and one- sixth weeks annually for 339 persons. The charge to the town, considering the services rendered, is exceedingly moderate. Each patient costs the hospital $6.21 per week. It has. therefore, made a reduction of more than 50 per cent, to the town — which means that citizens of Hartford have made, through the city hospital alone, a further con- tribution to the burden of caring for our poor of $148,709.54 in the past nineteen years, or - : per year. There is no question here of misappropriation of funds. The money has gone into the alleviation of pain and the restoration of impaired physical powers. But it i> a fair question whether the number of town patients has not been excessive, and whether the expense might not have been lightened to the town. Increase. As to the first : In 1872, there were 152 town patients : in 1890, 508 — a gain of all but 200 per cent. <1 The population, meanwhile, has increased less than 38 per cent. (3;. 55). That is to say, the town patients have increased more than five times as fast a- the population (5.2). Nor is the beginning of this period at a time when the hospital was new and its uses as yet undiscovered. The institution had been in operation twelve years. In the matter of expense the contrast i^ still more strik- ing. In 1872, the town- paid $2, 31 — a gain of 248.5 per cent., as against the population iner< of 37.55 per cent., or nearly seven times as fast (6.62). Has there been seven times as much serious illness in Hartford this past year as there was eighteen years ago ? The death rate + says no. This has increased, apparently, from 18.5 * The figures in ail these eases are from the hospital books. In Table IX. the careful study of which is commended, the figures are from the reports of the first selectman, so far as they cover the ground. + Furnished us by Professor C. A. Lindsley. M.D.. Secretary of the State Board of Health. For this and for hospital statistics see Tables XI and XIX. Dr. Lindslev REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. XXXV per thousand in 1872 to 21.5 in 1S90— i. e. L6.2 per rent., or less than one-fifteenth (15.3) that of the increase of town patients in the hospital. The figures,, then, seem to show conclusions, conclusively a rapidly accelerating disposition to use the hospital at the public charge; and inasmuch as the increase in cost has been 40 per cent, more rapid than the increase in cases — ? to 5 — the other conclusion is inevitable, — that there has been a growing disposition to keep the patients there instead of treating them at home. The probability of the correctness of this conclusion is heightened by the fact that there has been a very large falling off in the cases treated by the town doctors*— 11,827 in 1881 to 3,238f in 1890, i. e. nearly three-quarters (72.62 per cent.), while their number and aggregate salary have considerably increased. Public hospitals are of great utility, and we mark with Dangers. unmitigated satisfaction the growth of our own institution here. They are, however, not exempt from the fate of all sublunary things, and especially of all charities, — capacity for abuse. We have only just begun to see this. It has been seen for some time in other communities. In England in England: it has commanded the attention of Parliament. Before the nient. epar committee of that body it has appeared in evidence that in the outdoor department \ of St. Bartholomew's 150,000 patients were treated annually ; that at the London Gene- ral Hospital patients were so numerous that they were rushed through at the rate of sixty an hour per doctor ; while at Guy's Hospital the time usually given to each patient was two minutes. § Our out department is thus far our own. in its infancy. It is limited to eye, ear, and throat cases, and has not been long in operation. Still, it is largely used, and is sure to grow with greater rapidity than the in department, rapid as has been its increase. Moreover, if one may judge by the dress and general appearance of the patients, a great many of them do not belong to the legally poor. Since the town does not paj r for patients treated in ■explains tbe greater uniformity of the rate for New Haven, by the fact that they were at first more careful in keeping the records there. The slight difference in favor of New Haven for the past ten years may be clue to her inclusion of a larger suburban population than we. This is our suggestion. * See Table IX. t The report from one-half the town is 1,619. % For persons who come to the hospital at specified hours to be treated, but who do not live there. § Report of Manchester and SalforJ Provident Dispensaries for 1890. p. 7. xxxvi eeport :j the ' :::::zize. this way. we have only the concern of citizens in the mat- ter. But. as citizens who have studied with care the wh problem, we raise the question whether the out depart- ion nient should n developed with great caution : and whether, at ~ reg ard to the character of the patients, and erhaps to the fair protection of members of the medical profession also, a fee, how - 11, shou I lired of most of those who present then is - treatment. investigation. And at least the financial condition of the regular frerp re of these clinics should be carefully I into with a view to reducing the fee. or increasing it. or refu>m.L: treat- ment altogether, as the facts may g ggest.' In the January number of the "Journal," one of our -t-known American medical publications, is reprinted. from the Contemporary . . a paper by the eminent SirMorreii specialist. Sir Morrell Mackenzie, on 77 ^i exe ^ anes JSospitals. We reprint its concluding paragraphs in the appendix.* and add a letter which the author kindly wi us in reply to qu< from us. H • - - :he evil and in his characteristic manner attacks it. We have a itly had an opportunity to ascertain the vi of our Dr. waiu- m Laent surge- - 3to1 _■ -. from the surgi- ragl: "' cal standpoint, of rushing all cas - I accident at i the hospital. It is certainly a question whether much fasl and furthe along the lines which we. and the The tendency, civilized world in general, have been followi] _ may not end in pauperizing our people and making pauper- our doc Life insurance. We have evidence that a considerable number of town patients in the hospital have life insurance. Two ins from last year are given. N mpany -i^ned the whole of the claim to the undertaker-. The wi is -aid to have sold hei and from t' indulged in a drunken orgy. No. .. |225. V wi who is of a thrifty turn, liquidates the undertakers bill of - ". and with a portion of the balance pays in advance for six month- risks on her own and her mother's life, which she raises from § %b tc |500. She neglected to refund to the : ; wn what it paid for her husband's hospital treatment, but. * Pa_ A. M. Wainwright. M.D.: 1 :unty and State Medi L 8 ies, Mav and June. A.L> REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. XXXV11 on the other hand, had the unusual grace not to draw a burial order, which it was assumed she would ask for and conceded that she would get.* No. l had a burial order, of course, so that the undertaker was able to pay his lawyer and apply something- to an old account, We might add, though it is four or five years ago. a No. '-k where it was ascertained that a town patient had insurance of $4,000 or $5,000. f Hartford is not alone in this matter of thrift on the part of some of her " poor." We have credible in form a- Thrift eise- tion of a $3,000 or $4,000 policy taken out by a nominal pau- ^ooTpoiicy per in a sister city in Connecticut. The insured do not always know of the existence of these policies, and the beneficiaries under the policies are not always such as are legally bound either to support the as- sured living or to bury them dead. I But some of them are, and from such, we think, the town should collect. To dismiss the subject of our use of the city hospital — rbcommend- we have recommended to the selectmen that they allow ATIONS< patients to enter the institution, save in exigency cases, only on the recommendation of the town physician, and that tickets £ be dispensed with so that all orders shall bet. Xo more from a book with stub. Further, that the town doctors be buTorders. directed to inspect the town patients once a month at leasts, inspection. * Her husband had no legal settlement here. It was thought we might recover from a neighboring town where he was supposed to belong. But his settlement there was repudiated, and Hartford was left in the lurch. Fortunately the amount in this ease was small. + Our informant was iu position to know the facts. In this instance we think he said the towu recovered. + To support the living there is legal obligation backward and forward for two generations in the direct line. But whether the obligation extends to the burial of the dead might prove to be an interesting legal question. * After the first admission, the order for which is taken from a book, it has been customary to give the patient, on his reappearing, a ticket of which no record is kept. In one instance under our own notice a patient was in the hospital without the knowledge of the first selectman or his clerk. A ticket had been given and then the incident forgotten. The particular case was of peculiar interest because the patient was a chronic case which could be cared for just as well at home. The town doctor so thought and discharged him from the hospital. He got a ticket, as described, and returned. On findinu- out about the ticket the first selectman discharged him by telephone. He presented himself thereupon to the town doctor fortified with a letter from two prominent citizens who earnestly asked his reinstatement. The doctor declined and learned on inquiry that the man had $400 or $500 in bank. In this he may have been misinformed. The man had had $1,000 or $1,200 some years before, but it was then protoably gone. He had, however, been a regular visitor at the hospital for several years — probably before his money was exhausted. After this latest rebut! he appeared at the almshouse and spent the winter there. He should have been there long before. Latest : He is back at the hospital ! ~.r;j — n — e recommend a monthly report of the same in writing: — to the end that any who are fit may he promptly dismissed * to their homes or to the almshouse. And that. a fiaMne- after adniissioii, inqoiry be at once instituted to see whether the patient have means for the whole or partial payment of his support : and that measures he taken to secure. wL possible, the reimbursement of the town, for hospital or burial charges, out of any funds available for the pur} TX B -PITJLL FOB THE IXSJkXR. La ng t isane and imbecile per- ils and paying for then - :-~".l ~- - i~.~. '....-:... -. "r - T-.-r :~ .:r>r : . .-.- .--:_ -" .. per cent, in patients, ar. p nt~ '-'- -•■---:- - _ «£. lajr- msHr <8i maLes ami IM fiBmaLi- — REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. XXXI X Total Insanity in Six States. V. S. Census, A.D. 1880. . v-- State. Males. Females. Total. Population. One insane to how many inhabitants. Connecticut, . Massachusetts, . New York, Ohio. .... Pennsylvania, . Rhode Island, . 745 2,25:5 6,189 3,454 2,526 293 978 2.874 7,866 3,832 2,935 391 1,723 5,127 14,055 7,286 5,461 684 622.700 1,783,085 5,082.871 3,198,062 4,282,891 270,531 361.4 347.8 361.6 474.2 791.6 404.3 Total 6 States, . United States, . 15,460 44,391 18,876 47,568 34,336 91,959 15,246,140 50,155,783 444.03 545.41 Hartford in 1890, pauper insane alone, 59 102 161 53,230 332.5 By this it will be seen that Connecticut is slightly sur- passed by Massachusetts, but surpasses the other four indi- vidually by varying percentages, surpasses the average of the six by 22. 9 per cent. , and that of the United States by 51 per cent. : while Hartford, in 1890, in its pauper insane alone, far surpasses the percentage of all insane in both State and country. Again, this strange pre-eminence of State and town ! h How account for it ? Where have our insane all come from ? Have they been unloaded upon this community by other communities less humane ? To some extent this seems to be true. We hear of the police finding them wandering in the streets at night unable to tell whence they came or how they came to be here. They had been dropped from a wagon, apparently, or from a railway train. Such have a special name in our almshouse, — "shucked men." It is hard to believe the truth of statements so disgraceful to our common humanity, and we are glad to know that the repre- sentatives of this town prefer to charge themselves and us with an unmerited burden rather than attempt to pass it on by means as nefarious. The insane, then, are here, without doubt, returned upon the rolls of the various asylums and institutions, appealing to us by their helplessness for protec- tion and succor. But though we may have no humane or avtf ord an<$ Connecti- cut again pre-emi- nent. xl REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. A proposed remedy. Our opinion. honorable way of diminishing their numbers, it is a fair question whether we may not reduce the cost of their main- tenance. The first selectman raises that question more than once in recent reports, and answers it by suggesting that we care for our own insane in connection with the almshouse. This is done in some very well governed and humane poor administrations, notably Philadelphia. Your committee has had this question under long and careful consideration and is, on the whole, adverse to any such experiment. We have consulted some of the most experienced and highly accredited specialists and others, both here and elsewhere, and find them generally adverse to the care of the insane outside of State asylums or other establishments erected for their exclusive use. They dread neglect, abuse, unscientific care, niggardliness in expendi- ture, and political influence in management. While some of their apprehensions seem exaggerated and most of them might not be realized here, there is yet enough of proba- bility in them to deter us from recommending any such experiment at this time. The present cost of supporting our insane in the Connecticut Hospital at Middletown is but a trifle above the per capita cost in our almshouse,* and the trustees have just recommended a further reduction, which is sure to be adopted ; and thereafter our insane at Middletown will cost us less than those at the almshouse. The first selectman thinks, indeed, that many persons who now suffer the town to pay for their relatives would pay for them themselves rather than endure the odium of having them at the almshouse. This may be so ; and certainly it is desirable to use every legitimate means to force people, who have the ability, to support their demented relatives ; but it is our opinion that the gain in this would be more than offset by the expense of the plant and its maintenance. It is worthy of note in this connection that the Department of Charities in Philadelphia, which was supposed to have model accommodations for its insane, has just recom- mended f the transference of all of them to State asylums. The city of Worcester, Mass., justly eminent in most mat- ters relating to poor administration, has a new and complete * At the latter |3.56 per week ; at the former |2 50 plus clothing. The trustees recommend (p. 3, Report of 189D) that $2.50 cover everything hereafter, t Report of 1890, p. 5. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. xli insane-ward attached to its almshouse. But the excellent town physician there favors transference to special institu- tions.* We observe that the custom of that city is to print in the annual report a complete list of all persons entirely supported by the community. We think this should be done Recommend- here, and so recommend. It might have some restraining AT,ON - effect upon persons who are not deterred by self-respect and conscience, but might be kept back by pride and shame, from shifting to the shoulders of others the load which Providence has placed upon their own. and to the bearing of which, unaided, the same Providence has made them equal. VII. ORPHAN ASYLUMS. Such information as we possess concerning these will be found in Table IX. We are informed by the first selectman Two orphan that there are two as}dums for orphans, and only two, with as J iums - which his office is in relations — St. James (Roman Catholic) and the Hartford. To each of these a lump sum seems to have been voted annually, in the nature of a subsidy, until 1885, when the subsidy was extended to a religious society of the town. Thereafter the Hartford Orphan Asylum drops out of the list for two years, during the second of which another religious society appears for a subsidy. The following year, 1888, the Hartford appears again, though no longer under the title of Hospitals, but " Outside Alms," and receives $1,720. The second religious society has at the same time had an addition to its grant, and in 1890 we find two asylums, St. James and the Hartford,, and two religious societies, all under the title of hospitals. There is a specific contract, we find, with the Hartford Asylum at so much per child — 17 children, in all, last year. At the St. James, the town contributes to the support of 43 children. The two religious corporations report 33 and 24 children respect- ively, towards the support of whom they use the town's subsidy. We are convinced that the money is all used and well used for the purposes for which it is contributed. It might, however, be a question wh ether the precedent of * The first selectman's theory finds some confirmation from the insane statistics in that city. With 84,(155 inhabitants the community is required to care for but 121 insane — 84 at the almshouse, 37 elsewhere ; i. c, one to every 699.6. '1 his is not far from normal, though far below the average for Massachusetts. Xlii REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. making grants of public money - ligious s ieties be a ^suggestion, perfectly safe one. And in any event it would seem only just that the money contributed by the town should spent, as we understand it is not all spent, at home, as in this case might be done, by sending all the children I one of the two asylums established here under such excel- lent management. VIII. THE ALMSHOUSE. The law. The law limiting towns to the use of the almshouse for all but temporary aid was quoted above. It will als-:» be re- membered that an examination of the cases now a-si>ted by the town shows that 24 per cent, of them are such - should be aided, if at all. at the almshouse. It tl. seemed necessary to ascertain the condition <:»f the alms- house and its inmates, with a view to determining whether these persons could be properly cared for there, in The ituiiding. need. We find the building to be large, well built, steam- heated, well furnished: the beds provided with woven-wire mattr- . rupulously clean, orderly, well officered, and Officials. on the whole well managed. Its officials are sufficiently numerous, are experienced, energetic, firm in discipline, and yet. so far as we can ascertain, av - roughness and Food. cruelty. The meals are neatly served, and the i is suf- ficient in quantity and of excellent quality. There are insant- and im-iusane and imbecile quartered here. On the - four last vis lit of these were found to be confined in the prison — four behind bars and four free in the One of these cannot be kept clothed: one is violent and moody by turns: one had been temporarily frenzied by fright, and was to be released at once: one has commitl murder and attempted suicide. The four in the ridor are all quiet and harmless. With the sing] above indicated all are probably incurable. From lac": attendants to accompany them none or _ out for exercise, summer or winter. This is a serious draw- back, and it is the chief one iu their situation. Thev were free from filth and their cells from the odor of filth. 5 To meet intimations as to extravagance in our almshouse from one dir and of parsimony from the other, we print the bill of fare in the Appendix . «2 and. for purposes of comparison, that of three other institut: - + February 22. A. D. 1- REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. xliii The other insane are able to work and their condition, albeit not ideal, presents no occasion for shame. The state of the imbeciles seemed more pitiable than theirs. And there was one boy quartered with them, but not properly belonging- to their number, since he is a paralytic, whose blue eyes and gentle, helpless look have haunted us ever since and whose condition is a powerful argument in favor Ineui . ahk , of the long-needed hospital for incurable children, the £ bild ^ e ?~" erection of which is now being earnestly advocated. needed. We found a gang of men from the house, breaking away earth with wedges and carting it to a gulch in the grounds Outdoor which they were filling. Several single and double teams were employed in this way— all of them the property of the town. While the season allowed it these same men and teams had been rendering service of considerable value on the old town property, grading, trenching, etc. We are surprised that no credit is given for this in the annual report. The exhibit for the almshouse might be made to look from 82,500 to 84,000 better in that way — and it would be honest, as well as accurate book-keeping. Fourteen men were found working indoors at basket- indoor work, making. Their superintendent, who contracts for their labor, stated that they worked well and cheerfully. The deliberate dawdler is the exception. Other inmates were employed, according to opportunity, in various tasks about the house. There was, however, an obvious lack of occupa- tion for all hands on stormy clays. The outdoor gang must then remain idle. The basket-industry itself had only been taken up within a short time. We have mentioned the prison. The title '"almshouse" is over the entrance to the edifice, and it is at least question- able whether the establishment is legally anything but anlsitawork- almshouse.* Nevertheless we found prisoners there, com- mitted by the police court. One was a notorious prostitute, in a cell sleeping oft the effects of her latest debauch. There were eighty-one of these cases of committal in 1889, and thirty-four in 1890. Our first feeling was one of indig- nation at the thought of the respectable poor, for so we esteemed the large bulk of the inmates to be. compelled to associate with such ; and an additional building for the *See abstract of town votes bearing on this question, compiled bj- A. L. Shipman, Esq., under our direction. Appendix, p. 40. zl:- - — :-..z : _■ :- - :"::::. --±. workhouse element at once -.'._,.--' would it meed to be ? This que- -- : i :- .-.-: analysis of the make-up of the pauper element, prop •nte&niKEtossv. so-ealledL in the institution. The master : r a roll of the inmates with answers to the usual statistical rxesTi-jiLS :zz-:^iz^ ~.:-.,:~z_ :.___- _._■.- - - - z : '" - - - - " - - - '-' '. - - - ~ ~"'~ - *-">r:r> : ■-. ~ - z : - ; : - -_.:-. asked "Hour many are tempera - 2£ beeneonmHtted to jail, workhouse r or prison ? ~ - to these the master brought in person. " I've brought you the list of those that do not drink." he said. Of the IV> men there were four: of the eighty women there were ~ nine in all out of As for the other question." he --- _- there's no use asking them a I ■-.."-. " :r rc:^?_Ty been in jail or prison some time or othe pared to find laziness. The sixty-three men out of 149 able to earn their Iron g ^pendent on their neighbors for a living, did not greatly startle us. W epared for _ of 14$ wb can neither read nor write did not surp We had presumed we should find the great majc< foreign-bom. So the forty-three men and ni jen — total sixty-two — natures of XL "' ~ - -:_ zz. - — :■:: L * — elsewhere, did not astoni-7 us Bat " nearly all in prison at one time or another' 7 — that did shock us. It was quite But was it true? We carried our roll to the Police E ------- : police who has been on the force for I ~£r : - : _„.:- "-:::'---;:: : :7r i:ri - ^ . ; -: :-r — ;-~ : twenty-one of the women — ! " per cein — s having been often arrested and convicted. This one had been dug out of the ice on a back street, in mid-winte: ago. seemingly dead — had been thawed out after a day and a half of unconscion- ness Was be still ali' 7 one had been in State Prison : the other was a common old cbain-gang, etc etc n two page- - twenty-six :_-;__t- ~~ "_.::_ \\ ~\:^ 7 71 7:". n:: -,_——-"- :e: :^n:zel REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. xlv These were looked up. and twelve of them — 40 per cent. — The remain- found iu one single book* covering only ten months of last er ' year's convictions in the Police Court, and there were two more "b'f doubtful identity. The statement of the master of the almshouse looked very probable, then. It was subjected to a converse treatment. The records of convictions in the police court from March 8, 181)0, to March 8, 1891, were carefully analyzed, and a list made of all who had been convicted twice or often er, of which drunkenness to be one. There were ninety -four of them. List of 94— *The names were read over to Mr. Stillman, for twenty man^srecoi- years clerk of the board of selectmen. He promptly recog- lection, nized forty-nine, and was uncertain about a fiftieth — cer- tain, that is, of 52.1 per cent, of the names, merely from memory. Again, from this list of ninety-four names, another was made, limited to those who had been convicted three times or more, or who had been committed as common drunkards during the year. This list, containing thirty-five names, List of 35. was found to include twenty-seven of Mr. Stillman's alms- house paupers. And, of the remaining eight, all but three were found on examination to be upon the alms-books of the- town ; and of these three two were possibly there. Thirteen of the thirty-five were found by name in the re- cords of convictions for 1882, some of them as often as four times ; others would have been found there but for change of name; since several were remembered by the police, as already remarked, for a score of years back, f So, then, the more aggravated of the police cases were The worst po- found, almost without exception, to be represented, at the a£o jC pau- present moment, in this asylum for the poor ! P ers - Let us see what their record is there. They present Their en- themselves, or are brought, not infrequently ragged, filthy, iance - shoeless, shivering with incipient delirium, at the office of the selectmen, receive a card and are transported to the almshouse. There they are bathed, clad in a new suit, if necessary sent to the Infirmary, carefully nursed out of their delirium, fed when convalescent upon whisky and milk. A few days' work follow — prolonged into weeks, perhaps, if it be mid-winter; only a few of those who can get *Book 38, March 8, A. D. 1890 — Jan. 19, 1891. t See Table Xil. xlvi REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. away staying during the summer. The work, otherwise be- yond their impaired forces, is made bearable, it may be. by occasional administration of stimulants.* Presently — and it is never long delayed — comes the drawing towards the old life : there is nothing to restrain them ; and suddenly Their return, the bird has flown. Almost before his absence has been well noted he is back again. The new suit has been pawned, or reduced to rags and tilth by a two or three days' debauch, and there follows, bath, a second suit, more whisky and milk, a feeble attempt at work, another flight, another de- bauch, a third application for ticket at the Halls of Record. — and so on. in a vicious circle as unending as the patience of the first selectman and the indifference of the Hartford taxpayer. We are dealing in no hyperbole. We are de- scribing well-known and common-place facts in the life of Examples. this institution. Before us is a list of 12 admissions and discharges. Here are two of the records :f No. 2 — a woman. Admitted March 21, 1889 ; discharged March 25, 1880. 1890. April 11. " " April 15, July 12, " " July 16, Aug. 26, 1890 " Aug. 27, Sept. 3, " " Oct. 4, Oct. 10, " ; " Oct. 14. Oct. 16, " ; " Oct. 82, " Xov. 29, ' still there Jan. 1, ISo. 8 — a man. Admitted Dec. 27, 1888 discharged March 4. June 28, 1889 " July 23, - July 31, " " Aug, 3, Aug. 21, " ' ' Aug. 22, 1891. 4. 1889. "-Charged under the title of provisions — a custom which goes back of the present first selectman. t For the whole list see Table X. The following concerning the less transient inmates may not be amiss here. Most of the permanent inmates are believed to have their lives insured. Calls upon some of these from the outside world are not always dictated by motives of pure benevolence. Nor i- the actual motive always hidden from the insured themselves. "I know what you are here for."' an a^ed mother -aid to her drunken son. " you want to find out when I am going to die. so that you can get that insurance.** And the tender son did not deny the charge ! On election days the doors are thrown wide open at an early hour, and all who will depart for the dis- charge of that serious duty of the citizen. We are informed by the authorities that they return in the evening quite uniformly drunk — a double mystery considering their necessary impecuniousness and the fact that saloons are shut on election day ! For the law concerning votes of inmates, see App. p. 38. Those committed as to a workhouse are, of course, restrained from votin°\ REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. xlvii No. S. — Continut d. Admitted Oct. 10, 1889; discharged Dec. 21, 1889. Dec. 26, 1889; " Dec. 27, 1889. Jan. 18, 1890; " Mcb. 18, 1890. Apr. 10, 1890; " Apr. 21, 1890. May 19, 1890; " June 2, 1890. June 5, 1890; " June 29, 1890. Aug-. 20, 1890; " Sept. 8,1890. Sept. 13, 1890; •« Oct. 7, 1890. Oct. 16, 1890; " Nov. 10, 1890. Nov. 19, 1890; still there Jan. 1, 1891. From March 21, 1889, to October 22, 1890 — thirteen months — the woman was admitted seven times and as often she left. She remained in all, 24 days! From December 27, 1888 to Nov. 10, 1890 — twenty-two and one-half months — the man came and went thirteen times. His total residence was 318 days — an average of 24J days. These are perhaps extreme cases, though there are only too many which approximate them. Nor do we allege that these two, or all of the twelve, or all of those who go and come repeatedly, fill literally the whole outline of the picture above given. That many of them do will be seen by comparing Table X with XYII and XVIII, and consulting Table XII. This much however, is certainly true. They belong to a large company of the grossly intemperate who drift in and out of the doors of the institution practically at their own will. At their own will, we say ; for it rarely happens, we think, that tickets are refused, however often demanded. The clothing account of some of the inmates illustrates clothing another part of our description as well as the foregoing. accounts - Here is a transcript of the account of one, whom we will designate as No. 7, at dozen prices. The man is able- bodied. 1888. Dec. 4, 1 Coat, ...... $4.00 Dec. 8, Drawers, .50; undershirt, .50, . . . 1.00 1889. Jan. 21, Drawers, . . . . . . .50 Jan. 27, Undershirt, .50; socks, .08, . . . .58 Feb. 3, Drawers, .50; shirt, .50, . . . 1.00 Mch. 12, Trousers, . . . . . . 2.00 xlviii P.EPORT OF THE COMMI1TEE. 1889. Brought forward, Mch. 23, Socks, ..... Apr. 1, Shoes, 1 14; socks, .08 Apr. 20, Trousers, 2.00: shir: 5 Mar 4, Jacket, .75: ove\ - . . May 6, Shoes. 1.14: socks. .08; . May 18, Drawers, ..... June 8, Undershirt. .... July 8, Trousers. ..... July 18, Coat, ..... July 27, Trousers. 2 socks M undershir: shirt. .50. r 9, Shirt. .50; undershirt, .5 .-_ _ 31, Shirt. .50; dr. 5, .50, . Oct. 11, Shirt, .50; undershirt. .50; dr. is socks, .08, .... Oct. 17, Trousers. 2.00: shirt, .50, Xov. 6, Shirt, .50; undershirt. .50; overalls sock? - . . . . Dec. 3, Trousers. ..... Dec. 19, Shoes. 1.14; so: - - Us, .50, . 1890. Jan. 14. Trousers i socks, .08, Feb. 8, Undershirt. .50: drawers. .50. Feb. 38, Shoes, 1.14: overall; " Mch. 4, Coat, ..... Mch. 14, Drawers 5 3, . Mch. 24. Shirt. .50; undershir* " .50; socks - - 8,1 14. Apr. 10, Boots, 2.00; overalls, .50; shirt, .50; undershirt rawere, .50; socks, .06 trousers, 2 May 15, Coat, ..... May 17. Shirt. .50: undershirt, .50; drawer- socks - May 20, Shoes. 1.14; socks June 4, Braces, .25: undershirt, June 23, Shirt, .50: br . - ,~ June 24, Shirt, .50; undershirts, .50; drawers, .50: over alls. .50; socks r. July 1, Shirt, .50; undershirt, .50; drawer- alls \ socks 8 shoes, 1.14 Aug. 4, Trousr- 2 rest 1.00, Aug. 8, Shirt, .50; undershirt, .50; drawers socks, .08. .... 1.22 S a 3.00 1.00 1.00 4.00 3.00 "- 1.22 . - a 2& REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. xlix Brought forward, . (71.92 Aug. 16, shirt, .50: undershirt, .50; drawers. .50; Sept. 1, Shoes, . . 1.14 Oct. 3b es, 1.14; braces, .25, .... 1.39 Shoes. 1.14: drawers. .50; overall v 5 "2 14 Not. -2S. Co;;- 8 - cap. .45; boots. 2.00; socks - . . . . . 5.53 Dec. 83, Shir - 5 undershirt. .50; drawers - v- - : 58— $85 Li two years and seventeen days 185.28, or $41.36 per year. And this is not the worst case. In the Appendix will be found others with a still higher average. But this is suffi- The summary. eiently appalling — 5 coats; '.'pairs of trousers; 2 vests; 1? undershirts: 17 pairs drawers; 21 pairs socks; : hat: 1 jack veralls; -4 pairs braces; 17 shirts: 10 pairs shoes: -2 pairs ^stowed by our hard-working day-laborers — for that is what it means — by our thrifty mechanics, our 2,4 owners of small homes, from which they hope some day to lift the mortgages* — bestowed by them, we say. in one year, in charity, upon a man as well able to buy his own clothes and earn his own living as most of them. Bettei able: for it happens that this man. for a slight disability rived in the late war. has a pension of $8 per month. Nine : - id- Why is he not in one of our Soldiers 5 Homes? The United States Government places them almost at the door of her worthy veterans! Why were the other eight ex- soldiers, who were with him in our almshouse last year, not there? The answer is in the official record. Two dropped from our State Home at Darien for "absence without leave ": one because his " period of disability expired": one because n ind able-bodied and disqualified.'* One of these four had been discharged from the United States Soldiers" Home at Dayton. Ohio, another from the Eastern Branch at Togus Ale., before going to Darien. A fifth had been admitted to the United States Home at Hampton. Va. There is no record of his discharge. He probably deserted. A sixth has the following record, obtained from official sources: "Admitted to Eastern Branch. Togus. Ale.. Oct. 5. * In this town th^re are 1,2 lists : >,. O0 and under: 1,085 of over £2 Mortgage* held on these to from two-fifths to one-half of their as- - - . value, on the average, in the opinion of competent ju"._ - 4 1 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 1867; transferred to Central Branch, Dayton, Ohio, Jan. 11, 1868; discharged from Central Branch, Dayton, Ohio, date not given; readmitted to Eastern Branch, Togus, Me., Nov. 5, 1869; deserted from Eastern Branch. Togus, Me., Mch. 15, 1871; readmitted to Central Branch, Dayton, Ohio, July 10, 1872; transferred from Central to Eastern Branch. Sept. 24, 1881; dishonorably discharged from Eastern Branch. April 21, 1884, for constant and repeated drunkenness, absence without leave, and for disorderly conduct in the ward, mak- ing himself a nuisance to the well-disposed members of the Home; pensioner at $24 per month, now probably receives $30." This man is not often at the almshouse. He is gen- erally in jail. But he is recognized also as having been at some time a pensioner of the town. The United States and the State Government are patient as well as generous to- wards those who wore the blue. Can the town of Hartford afford to be more generous and patient than they? Net cost per The average net cost of the inmates of the almshouse is 82.56 per week. As already suggested, this might be re- duced perhaps 15 cents per week by more carefully credit- ing work done. The cost is now. however, below that of Worcester,* Mass. (150 inmates). $3.03 per week, and Phila- delphia! (971 inmates). $2.75 per week. The bill of fare} might possibly be modified, but could hardly be much cheap- ened. The bread is bought of a baker and costs 4 cents per pound. If it could be made in the institution, more indoor work would be provided, and there might be a slight econ- omy. In the Philadelphia public institutions^ their bread costs them lfg cents per pound, i. e.. we pay nearly two and a half times as much as they — (2.34). Average cost As would be expected after what lias been said above, of clothing. ,,,,,. r . T . the clothing average is very excessive. It is $19.18 per capita, and this is reduced for the men by the fact that it includes but little more than cost of material in the case of the women, since these make up most of their own gar- ments. Compare with this $19.18, the $4.21^% of the com- bined Philadelphia charitable and correctional institutions: or even the 814.49 of the Soldiers' Homes, where a uniform is always worn, and where dress as well as undress uni- forms are regularly issued. * Letter from Freeman Brown, Clerk Overseers of Poor. t Report, 1890, p. 104. Average number in both cases. % Given in the Appendix, with others for comparison. § Report 1890, p. 37. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. ll The subsistence account is certainly not small consider- Average cost ing the bill of fare. It is $54.18 per capita. In the Phila- enceJ B delphia House of Correction it is $35.15.* At the Soldiers' Home,! the bill of fare of which is given in the Appendix, it is $50.88. The numbers J; provided for there are, however, respectively five and eight times as great as ours. The salary account is perhaps no larger than it should be.§ The cost per head is of course greatly increased by the character of the floating population, already more than once alluded to. These persons are everywhere and in every way a heavy burden to the community. We have said above that there were 94 persons who were convicted twice or oftener in the police court last year, of which once, at least, for drunkenness, and that nearly all of these had been at some time, or are now, in the almshouse. Let us The cost of 94 see if we can ascertain what these 94 are costing us. 1. They represent 232 convictions, i. e., 2.47 per head, l. Conviction by actual count. But each conviction! represents about 3. 9 andarrests - arrests, since many cases are not brought into court and many are acquitted. These 94 persons, therefore, were arrested in all 904.8 times, an average of 9.63 times. 2. How much does each arrest cost ? It is not per- fectly, but it is approximately, accurate to say that it costs the total of the police department expenses divided by the number of cases before it. From the city treasurer we 2. Cost of learn that the police department cost $63,353.80 in 1890. To each arrest this, credit $554.72 for licenses, ft and $491.23, the profits, so to speak, of the police court, J J and we have a balance of $62,307.85, which is the net cost of the department. Divide this by 3,974, the total of arrests during the year,§§ and we have 615.68 for the cost of each arrest. Multiply our aver- age of arrests, 9.63, by this, and we have $151, which is the amount annually paid by the town of Hartford for the police care of these 94 persons. * $36.47 35-100 for men ; $33.82 33-100 for women. t Eastern Branch, Togus, Me. X In Philadelphia, 1,075 ; in Togus, 1,767. § We have expressed our opinion as to having a special physician there. || Table XIV. ft Peddlers, etc. XX $4,209.60 was paid out for it, and it brought in $4,700.83 in fines, etc. ! §§ Tables XIII, XIV. Hi REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 3. Fines and imprison- ment. 4. Extra clothing. With clothe $4.40 per week. 5. The plant. 6. The sala- ries. All this per- manent. 3. But this is only one item in their cost to us. Let us try to compute the rest. They were fined by the court in the aggregate $1,895.38, of which they paid only $103.04, leaving, therefore. $1,792.34 to be '''worked out." This, at fifty cents per day. the fixed commutation price, means 3,585 days in workhouse or jail. But they also had a total of 12,050 days sentence. The two together make 15,635 days for these 04. an average of 161 days, or 23 weeks. During this time they cost the town net about $2.56 per week, or $58.88. Add this to the $151, police expense, and we have a total of $2< 9.88, or $4.04 per week. This, how- ever, assumes that they cost no more than the average. That we know to be far from true. 4". Thus, for clothing,* sixteen, chiefly from their num- ber, all of their kind, drew an average of per year, which is $18.77 above the general average, which they themselves have helped to swell to it> present enormous proportions. The same* facts would appear to a grea r les>er degree in other items, as medicine, nursing, medical attendance, stimulants, etc. But include this alone, and you have their total cost to the community. s4-.4l"> apiece per week. 5. Even this is not all. There is the plant : say - at the almshouse ; $75,< 00 at the jail: A $25, at the police headquarters ; a part of the Halls of Record and the City Hall, not less than | more— in all. at lea-' $255, land and buildings which they and their like force us to own. The interest on this at four per cent, is over $1( . and they have their annual share in it. 6. And then the salaries of the officials who are partly occupied with them. — judges, clerks, constables, sheriffs, selectmen. — and all this running straight back for years, as our Tables XII and XV show ; so that nearly half of the 35 whom we culled out from the 94 because of a higher rate of convictions, are found in 1882 : while the police remem- ber others far beyond that point. And back there they are found, as they will be found nine years hence, as many of them as survive, before the police court once, twice, three, four times : in jail, workhouse, almshouse by turns, back to their old haunts: "drunk." ••vagabond."' "assault," * Table XVTL + Total cost abont $180,000, and the town pays tv.o-rifths of the cost and running expels— REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. liii "breach of peace.*' occasional "theft" opposite their names ; all the time less and less capable of reformation, more and more injurious by example,* more and more sure tobectfme in the end an entire charge to the State. Xow what do we mean by all this — we citizens of the town of Hartford ? These people, these ninety-four, these thirty-five, are costing us not far from five dollars per week, year in year out. and from one decade to another. What Why are we are Ave supporting them at this high rate for ? We get a them°? tmS few days of fair work from some of them, after we have nursed them out of their deliriums and clothed and fed and stimulated them sufficiently. How much does that amount to ? Look at the credit side in our almshouse account and see. Are we protecting society against them ? Yes, during the periods of their detention. But, thereafter, with the regularity of the seasons, they disgust and demoralize, sometimes terrify, society by a debauch, or an orgy, the more energetic and scandalous for the nursing Effect on; we have given them. The common drunkard goes out society - rehabilitated, literally and figuratively. He at once reappears upon the scene, and begins a new career — as a drunkard this time, uncommon in fact, if not " common " in law. The harlot has had herself repaired so that she can hold together for a little while longer. She was, before, her own best warning. We have increased her power of doing harm by making her less obviously dangerous and repulsive. And are we reforming these people themselves ? Ah, if Effect on only we were ! What we are doing is just what never does them ' and never can reform them. Upon a common drunkard, for example, the judge can only inflict a penalty of 120 days detention. Did that ever reform anybody with that disease ? Is it likely to reform these chronic sufferers ? Does it better others ? They laugh at it. One hundred Effect on and twenty days in that comfortable almshouse — steam- heated: wire-woven mattresses; three meals a day; tobacco twice a week ; whisky and milk to pull you out of your last drunken fit, and rations of whisky to encourage you for any specially repulsive task ; a suit of clothes every time you go in, with the reasonable certainty that you can * The indictment against the offender always mentions his "evil example" as part of the legal crime. Hv REPOBT OF THE COMMITTEE. get another as soon as you have destroyed, or pawned this ! Deter them ! Why they come by - every winter and ask to be sent there, or to jail ! T families. And their families,, if they have any ! These people are at home just enough to destroy its peace and eat up its vings ; and not away long enough to enable the thrifty housewife to forget the visitation and recuperate from it. And their seed multiplying all the time and coming into the world predestinated, s t -peak, to a life of poverty and suffering, if not of vice. Contrast the lot of wife and children with that of the cause of their misfortunes. He gratifies his selfish passion and then retires for a while to a place of comfort where the conditions to longevity* are said to be more favorable than anywhere else. They stat- in their narrow quarters and worry and work and are satisfied if they can keep a roof over their heads and bread in their mouths. And contrast with his the lot of the temperate and industrious day laborer who with his best efforts must often fail to secure the physical comfort which comes to the other in his idleness and vice. The sole ques- Your committee is not making a temperance address. tion here. . ° . r . For their present purpose the only question is that ot econ- omy — dollars and cents: what the thing has cost, is cost- ing, must cost. It might be. so far as they are now con- cerned, tea, coffee, water, sugar, bread, anything, and if it seemed to be at the bottom of this heavy charge, which is rolling up a burden of debt year by year, for the patient and often poor taxpayer to carry, we should speak precisely as we do. But it happens to be no one of these. It is drunkenness. Whatever our views when we began, now. as we end the study of this subject, for us the question of alms here in Hartford is largely the question of drink. "We have found it among the families visited by our town phy- sicians, fully one-fourth of whom owe their illness and pov- erty to that cause + ; in the hospitals, where the physicians * We do not vouch for this; but many of the facts and some of the statistics which have come under our notice seem distinctly to favor the theory. In Paris. 62.42 per cent, of the pauper population are over sixty-four years old. and 38.16 are over seventy. In 1886 there are said to have been 57.882 persons over seventy in the city. Of these nearly two-thirds were helped by the Assistance Pablique. See Ren- seignements statistiques snr la population indigents de Paris crapy- t I peri en 1890. Paris. 1890. Nearly lifteen per cent, of our almshouse inmates are seventy or over, 9. Table XVI. t Report of one of the town doctors to us. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. lv expect to find it in the town cases, and are surprised when they fail : in the insane retreats where the greatest of all the assignable causes of the disease is alcoholism ; in the County Home and the Orphan Asylum: among the sqan- derers of town orders: in the workhouse and the almshouse — everywhere, and everywhere the cause. And we meet it with from sixty to 120 days in workhouse or jail ! " What better ? " may be asked. What other States have The remedy, long been doing, we answer. Inflict long terms which can be shortened by good behavior. Pennsylvania and Massa- chusetts do this. The term with them may run on for three years, or even longer. Our old laws* of 1650 were more rational than the present. " If they offend the fourth time they shall be imprisoned until they put in two suffi- cient sureties for their good behavior." And in 1715 t they provided for a house or houses of correction where just such offenders as these might be kept for indefinite terms and put to work, the profit of their labor after paying expenses of their maintenance to go to their families. Something of the kind should be done now. The present system is very bad and should be speedily changed. And this is not our opinion alone. We are glad to say that it is shared by all the men most intimately brought into relation with the ad- ministration of justice in such cases, in this town and city. Among these we mention Judge Henney. the late, and Judge Men who fa- McConville the present judge of the police court, and Mr. TOrit - A. C. Bill, long its clerk: Chief of Police Packard, and Cap- tain of Police Bill : Officers Tinker, Walter Smith and Ly- man Smith. They are all men of long and large experi- ence, and if they err it is at least not from lack of knowl- edge of their subject, nor, we will add, through lack of sin- cere sympathy with the unfortunate beings with whom they have to deal. § Would there be any profit in the change ? Let us see. Possible These 94 cost us now, without reckoning plant or general P ront& - salaries, 84.40 per week. That would be, in two years, •$457. GO apiece. Imagine the term of detention extended to two years. The cost of maintenance, at present rates, would be 8266.24. The work of these men even now is esti- * See Appendix, p. 40. t See Appendix, p. 40. f For practical working of the proposed system see letters from the " Department of Public Safety.'* and the House of Correction, Philadelphia. Appendix, p. 77. lvi REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. mated at fifty cents per day, broken as it is and enfeebled as they often are. Would it be too much to call it seventy- five cents after the first quarter, and one dollar after the third, and a dollar and a quarter for the whole of the second year ? If not. their work, calling the first three months nothing, would be as follows : UP days, at $0.75, I -.00 72 " " 1.00, . . . 72. 313 " " 1. . . . 391.25— $571.25 Subtract $266.24, cost of maintenance, and we have $305.01 in gain as against $457.60 dead loss : a total differ- ence of $762.61 apiece, or $71,685.34. Or. put it another way. We might show a net gain of 12? every two years where we are content to pocket a ne1 ss of $43,014.40. Of the net gain a considerable part might be distributed among the families of these persons and the town be still left no poorer in pocket but richer in the increased happiness and prosperity of a number of women and children, and the absence of the corrupting effect of 94 evil examples. And now. if it be objected "the police ex - will go on just the same." it is to be replied : They will at least not increase, as they otherwise must. And relatively they must with time go backwards. Is it of no significance," in this Philadelphia's connection, that Philadelphia built lew houses last example, year, representing an addition to her p< filiation almost as large as our entire numbers, and did it without adding to her police forcer How was this le ? The mayor* gives us one hint. In 1889 they had ewer arrests to make for drunkenness, and 4,000 fewer for all causes than in 1888. They were lightened of a burden, that is to say. 25 per cent, heavier than that which our whole police department had to carry last year.f And the chief of the department of Charities and Corrections gives us another. "These figures v — House of Correction — "'show a decrease in the population from the corresponding period of last year, of 325, which we account for and attribute to the discretion shown by the court in granting licenses * Message : 1889, p. 6. Municipal Keport. t Our total of arrests in 1890 was 3,264^ v. Table XIV. J "Which fact." lie goes on to say. "must be highly gratifying: to all who take an interest in the high license law." Report of l v - - June 1. If REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. lvii Thus much, then, in answer to the question — Who arc the inmates of the almshouse? In brief, they are for the The inmates, most part ex-criminals, many of whom belong to jail or house of correction, and with whom self-respecting poor persons should not be compelled to associate. Until you remove such from the almshouse you have no right to say to the 70 or 80 persons now assisted at their homes, but who ought, under a strict interpretation of the law T , to be in the almshouse, " go there, or else do without help !" And accordingly we recommend that they be removed. Recommend- The other question which we have proposed to ourselves under each head — " What are the business methods pursued Business in helping them?" — can be quickly dismissed, for it has already been partly answered. The most serious defect in present methods, and it is a very serious one, is this; No proper care is taken to secure and record the history of the persons admitted. Reference to our law will show the im- portance of the clear establishment of the question of legal settlement. We doubt whether this has ever been done in the larger number of cases. In fact, we find, on inquiry, that there are no records of the kind kept. On asking for Defective them at the selectmen's office we were referred to the master records - of the almshouse. On inquiry of him we were referred to the selectmen. The master of the house keeps record of admissions and discharges, but not the other.* So far as we can ascertain, the first selectman is never in position to know precisely who is in the almshouse, without communi- cating with the master, f Persons who present themselves for admission are admitted on a ticket, and of this no record Tickets used, is kept. Since any one of the five selectmen or their clerk, without conference and without a record, may give out the following licenses were in force in this town: Full, 183; special — liquor not to he drunk on the premises, 12 ; beer, 17 ; druggists, 27. Total 239, or one to every 227.2 inhabitants. Two-thirds of these, or more, are east of the w r est side of Main street, where, at a guess, not more than a third of our population live, and whence come the greater part of our assisted cases. The propriety of including at least some of the druggists in the list of retailers will appear from the following : While waiting about half an hour in a drug store east of Main street one evening, a member of the committee saw the clerk put up one prescription and fill 6 bottles — 2 with 15 cents' worth, 1 with 10 cents' worth, 1 with 25 cents' worth of whisky ; 2 with 10 cents' worth each of gin — all without any apparent prescription. Of those w T ho came for the liquor, two were children, tw r o women, and one w r as a man. * Unless it may be in exigency cases. t And they are two miles apart, with no telephone. Mii REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. these tickets, the results which we have related above are easily accounted for. Criminals. Add to this the further fact that persons are frequently and repeatedly sent there who should be in jail, and the total outcome is explained. The first selectman feels this last difficulty and is anxious to have it obviated in some way. First select- He has suggested, and possibly it might be so contrived. gestion Ug that on persons applying for tickets a second or third time, after they have come and gone in the disgraceful way above described, they should receive a ticket which would have the effect of a commitment. The suggestion is certainly worthy of consideration on every account. IX. GENERAL DEDUCTIONS. General de- We have now exhibited the facts relating to the admin- ductions. juration of public relief in this town. And these are our (i) The system deductions from them. 1. The system is defective. We defective. can nQ ^ De ii eve the administrators of our laws to be inferior in mind and conscience to their colleagues in Massachusetts and Pennsyslvania, and New York, and in fact everywhere in America, and nearly everywhere in Europe. And yet we have seen Connecticut cities leading theirs in expendi- ture, without, so far as can be ascertained, surpassing them The Law. in efficiency. The law is cumbersome, and, in some points, obscure.* The system itself is largely one inherited from England,! but without some of the modern improvements of the English, and with some special defects of its own. First Select- The first selectman might do well enough for small commu- nities, and a patriarchal state of society, but for cities as large as this, and for society as at present organized, we believe him to be a foredoomed failure. He is elected for one year ; and yet here is one of the most difficult and deli- cate tasks in the world, to reconcile the claims of economy *See Appendix A, p. 29 — Present law concerning support and relivf of poor and con- cerning legal settlement, etc. For a Sketch of Us development, see p. 34. For Development and present status of Connecticut laws in the matter of idleness, vagrancy, drunkenness, and the like, see Appendix, p. 39. These are not meant to be exhaustive but, according to their title, sketches. tSee Sketch of the Historical Development of the English poor law : Appendix, p. 52. And, for purposes of comparison, a very brief outline of the history of the poor law in France and Germany is given on p. 58, et seq. followed by a description of the present law in Massachusetts, and an illustration of its working, p. 61. men. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. lix and humanity ; to help without demoralizing ; to save mon- ey without neglecting suffering : to spend liberally without squandering. It is a trade — to be learned like any other trade \ and one year is not enough. An examination of Table IX very nearly demonstrates this. The greatest leaps in our rapidly accelerating career of lavishness have been at or near the commencement of terms of office. When men have learned, as they do only by experience, how much of truth there is in the words of a former first selectman quoted by his successor — " ninety per cent, of the cases are frauds'" — then they first begin to be of real use to the genuine poor and to the city. But when they have learned that lesson fully, and begun to act energetically upon it. will they continue to be first selectmen under our present system ? We believe thoroughly in popular gov- ernment. But it has its limitations, and here it seems to reach them. We have no direct evidence of undue politi- cal influence : though, since human nature is human na- ture, we see no way how political influence can fail to be felt. We have, however, abundant evidence of personal influence in the shape of strong pressure, from private in- dividuals to do this or that. This can not be avoided en- tirely under any system, but under the present it has a power which is pretty sure to do great harm. Until the system for the State is changed, we think Hartford ought to seek a special organization of her charitable administra- tion similar to that which prevails in many other cities, in- cluding some in Connecticut. She may not be in position A commission to do this now, and we do not recommend it now. But that of 5. h ^ ri , ties ■n 11 i n i i predicted. it will come eventually we hardly doubt. 2. But the system, such as it is, has not been worked (2) Thesys- with sufficient care and energy. The law, indeed, is com- ^roughly plicated, and makes some unfair discriminations. \ But it worked. is at least logical. It constitutes, it is true, a commune here ; turns us into a great mutual benefit society. But it does not do, what no sensible commune or mutual benefit society could afford to do, offer these advantages of the com- munity life without requiring a certain standard of thrift, and without forbidding the admission of those who are below that standard. In a word, the State of Connecticut is not a fool! t Chiefly against citizens of Connecticut and other parts of the United States, v. Appendix, p. 33. lx REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. Ge>t:rai >IE>DA- The profes- sional pau- GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS. Eeforni the system, then, if you can and will ; but mean- while, and in any event, enforce the law. carefully, intelli- gently, energetically, humanely : just as it is ; as long as it is. Find out and record, in every instance, where people ■•belong" and what their estate is. Remove them to their town, or State, or country, when they have become cha _ able to us, before the expiration of the limit fixed by the law. Stop maintaining people outside of the almshous soon and a^ often as you possibly can. See that what you give in aid i- bestowed upon proper persons in the shape of ssary articles. Take everything int.- your own hands, provisioning, clothing, burying. Examine at first: keep ex- amining frequently thereafter. Make and publish rules concerning all thef crab, so the naturalists tell us. which es into the world with all the organs uf his kind fully developed. Presently he fastens himself upon a fish and begins to draw his life from it. And now by degrees he parts with one organ after another, until finally he has noth- ing left in active use except mouth and stomach and appar- atus for reproduction and for holding on. Such is the pro- fessional pauper. Such, we believe, by all the symptoms, has come to be the state of a considerable percentage of our assisted population. They have lost their own manhood. They have put themselves and their families into a position of humiliating dependence and tutelage: and their example * "re letters from Seth Low. President of Columbia College. ex-Mayor of Brook- lyn, and William Vallanee. Clerk of the Board of Guardians. Whitechapel Union. London. Appendix, pp. 66 - REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. lxi is infectious. They are the product of time and even of heredity. The first selectman has alluded, in one of his reports, to the generation-after-generation * paupers that he ha*s been called upon to provide for. It may therefore take time to root them out. But a beginning ought to be made, and it ought to be made now. Xeglect of the law is chiefly responsible for their existence. Execute the law. and they will surely, if slowly, disappear. Nor will they Execute the die in the operation. Our recommendation is as beneficent law * for them as it i> wholesome for us. The foregoing conclusions have been reached after long and careful study. This committee has not spared itself. Made up of busy men. it has gladly placed its time at the disposal of the town. We have taken nothing for granted. We have obtained our facts from first sources. We have Our methods. no reason to believe that we have always escaped error, but we venture to think that none of our mistakes will prove to be of real importance. Following the terms of our commission we have neither investigated nor attacked the selectmen. We have con- Relation5 , vith f erred with them formally several times, informally very tne selectmen. often. And we bear cheerful witness to the courtesy with which we and our suggestions have been received by them, as we trust they will not fail to bear witness to our own courteous treatment of them. We are glad to say that the business of the office is conducted in a systematic manner in most things. The defects are chiefly due to a failure to adhere rigidly at all times to the system in existence. In some statistical matters, indeed, our selectmen's office has reached a degree of scientific excellence which is not often surpassed in this country. Furthermore, things appear in the annual reports under their proper names. As already stated, a better showing even might occasionally be made with complete truthfulness. There has been no suppression of facts + in any matter of importance, and, so far as we know, no deliberate suppression in anything. And in any -Report of 1885, p. 35. + We have noted but one possible exception. Two paupers, who should have been supported in the almshouse if anywhere, Lave been boarded at the town's charge in the State almshouse at TarirTville for five and a half and one and a half years re_ spectively. and no return made of them, so far as we can discover. They have, how- ever, been paid for by credits upon the account between the town and the State alms- house, and have cost the town less there than ihey would have cost here. Moreover, we understand that they have been now returned to the town aim-house. Ixii REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. strictures that Tve may seem to have made upon the board of selectmen or their chairman, it must be distinctly under- stood that we have been dealing with a system and not with individuals or any individual. We have not the shadow of a doubt concerning the complete integrity of the adminis- trators of this important branch of our public affairs, and have no reason for entertaining any such doubt. XL ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We have been greatly aided in our work by many per- sons, whom we desire publicly to thank. With absolutely no puwer to send for persons and papers, we have never found any insuperable difficulty in the way of securing needed information. ( >f Hartford citizens who have laid us under special obligations we beg to mention His Excel- lency Governor M. G. Bulkeley. who has helped us by his large acquaintance with our civil affair-: Jas. P. Andrews. . and ex-Judge Chas. H. Briscoe, who have freely p] at our disposal their special knowledge in the matter of the present laws concerning legal settlement: Judges Henney and McConville of the Police Court. A. C. Bill. Esq.. Clerk of the same court, and the Hon. C. J. Cole of the Hartford bar. A. L. Shipman. Esq.. has zealously and efficiently acted under our direction in various matters, of which men- tion is made at the proper places. The Chief and Captain of Police have furnished valuable facilities in their office, and. together with Officers Tinker. Walter Smith, and Lyman Smith, have given us the benefit of their long experience. We gladly bear witness to their zeal and to the humanity of their sentiments. Doctors Russell. Stearns of the Hartford Hospital for the Insane. Hastings. Wainwright. and Olm- sted of the Connecticut Hospital for the Insane. Middletown, have placed their special acquirements at our service. The Assessors and the Treasurer ; Doctor Knight, formerly, and Dr. Mc v amara. now town physician, have given valuable information. Professor Riggs of Trinity College has given help, elsewhere acknowledged,, and we are indebted to State Librarian Charles J. Hoadly. and to Mr. F. B. Gay of the Watkinson Library, for many kindnesses. The antiquarian knowledge of the former has facilitated the preparation of some matter found in the Appendix. Gen. W. B. Franklin. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. Ixiii President of the Board of Managers of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers of the United States, has cheerfully aiTswered many questions, and Acting Assistant Inspector Buckingham of his office, has been similarly cour- teous. The officers of the Hartford Hospital and of the Town Almshouse have complied promptly with our many requests for memoranda from their books. Mr. Hotchkiss, Commissioner of Labor, has kindly favored us with advance sheets of his report. The Rev. Professor Graham Taylor has placed at our disposal pamphlets relative to the Organ- ized Charity movement which has so much good in store for the genuine poor of this community, as we trust. Mr. Thaye r*s work has already been noticed. Beyond Hartford, in our own State, we have to thank Mr. W. C. White, Esq.. for his invaluable pamphlet,* and for important information: Prof. C. A. Lindsley. Secretary of the State Board of Health, for many highly appreciated favors: and Judge Stoughton of East Hartford. The select- men of New Haven. Bridgeport, and Xew London have replied promptly to letters of inquiry. It is greatly to be regretted that the statute which re- gec 3312 quires all overseers of the poor. i. e., selectmen (sec. 3299) to send statistics of their office annually to the State Board of Charities is not enforced. It probably will not be so long as there is no penalty attached. It is also to be regretted sec. 1887. that the statute which requires the State Board of Charities to collect information and statistics relating to pauperism, and to publish the same in an annual report, is not enforced. We have been compelled to seek long and painfully, by correspondence with selectmen and otherwise, for facts which should have been obtainable in these documents which the statutes provide for. Outside of Connecticut we have to thank first of all Freeman Brown, Clerk of the Overseers of the Poor in Worcester, Mass. We have wearied the mails in asking him questions, and if the business-like and economical administration of his office were not evidence enough of his fitness for it, his patience towards our mendicant appeals for information would amount to a demonstration. With a salary of 81.500 and clerk hire amounting to S950, * Report to Taxpayers' Association. Xew Haven. 1S86. lxiT REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. he attends to all the concerns of the care of the poor in a city of 84,000 inhabitants to the satisfaction, we judge, of everybody. We are also under obligations to the clerk of the Bureau of Charities and Corrections and of Public- Safety, in Philadelphia, and to President, formerly Mayor, Seth Low for courteous replies to letters. Beyond the United States, Sir Morrell Mackenzie of London, Mr. William Vallance of Whitechapel Union and Mr. George Rooke of Manchester, with John Mark. Esq., the mayor of Manchester, who gave personal attention to our request for information, have earned our gratitude. Sir Morrell Mackenzie's reputation as a surgical specialist is paralleled by that of Mr. Vallance and Mr. Rooke in Poor- Law administration. Their work is studied and imitated very extensively in Great Britain. In France we have to thank the Prefet of the Seine for forwarding our letter, and M. E. Peyron. head of the charitable administration of the city for a valuable letter and most useful documents. In Germany. Prof. David Simonson of Dresden lias kindly secured for us and forwarded the latest reports and docu- ments relating to the Poor-Law administration of Dresden, Saxuny. In Rome, the Rev. Dr Xevin has taken great pains in securing an official account of Poor-Law adminis- tration there. This list is large, but it might more justly be lengthened than reduced. A partial list of books con- sulted is given at the end of the Appendix. It may be of value. XII. It only remains for us to make our formal recommenda- tions. These are — I. as to RENTS. We recommend that no rents be paid except to families who have a legal settlement in this town and in each of which families there is at least one child under the age of fourteen years : that no rent in excess of four dollars per month shall be paid in any case, and that a list of all such payments be included by the selectmen in their annual printed report. REPORT OP THE COMMITTEE. Jxv Resolution. Voted. That from and after the first day of July. 1891, the selectmen shall not pay out any money for or on account of rent to any person except in cases where a per- son having a legal settlement in this town, and having in his family one or more children under the age of fourteen years who also have a legal settlement in this town, is found by the selectmen, upon investigation, to be worthy of such assistance and not to have estate sufficient for his or their support or any relative of sufficient abilhVy who is obliged by law to support him or them. Voted. That the selectmen shall not in any case pay out any money for or on account of rent exceeding $4 per month. II. AS TO ORDERS. We recommend that all orders issued by the selectmen for admission to the almshouse, to any hospital, for medical attendance, or for coal or provisions, shall be taken, when issued, from books provided with stubs, duly numbered to correspond with the orders, upon which stubs shall be entered a record of the transaction with the name of the person by whom the order is authorized to be given out. We also recommend that either before the issue of any order for admission to the almshouse, or within forty-eight hours thereafter, an investigation shall be made by or for the selectmen into the case, and that the case of the person so admitted shall then be disposed of as the law and the facts shall justify, and that a record of such investigation shall be entered upon such stub ; that, except in cases of emergency, no order for admission to any hospital (other than an insane hospital) shall be issued without the written approval of a town physician after personal examination of the case, and that, whenever an order has been issued in an emergency case without such approval, notice shall be at once given to one of the town physicians, who shall per- sonally examine into the case and make a report thereon within three days thereafter, with his approval or dis- approval indorsed thereon. Resolutions. Voted, That the selectmen be, and they are hereby, directed from and after the first day of August, 1801, to Ixvi EEPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. take from books with proper stubs, duly numbered to cor- respond, all orders then and thereafter issued by them for admission to the almshouse, to any hospital, for medical attendance, or for coal or provisions, and to enter upon the stub when any order is issued a record of the transaction with the name of the person by whom the order is author- ized to be given out. Voted, That the selectmen be, and they are hereby, directed, either before issuing any order for admission to the almshouse or within forty-eight hours thereafter, to investigate or cause to be investigated the case of the per- son applying for such order, and to dispose of such case as the law and the facts will justify, and to enter a record of such investigation upon the stub for such order. Voted, That the selectmen be, and they hereby are, directed not to issue, except in cases of emergency, any order for admission to any hospital (other than an insane hospital) to any person without the written approval of a town physician, after a personal examination of the case ; and whenever, in any emergency case, an order shall be issued without such approval, the selectmen are directed to notify one of the town physicians forthwith, and request him to personally examine into the case and make a report to the board within three days thereafter, with his approval or disapproval endorsed thereon. III. AS TO INVESTIGATION. We recommend that in no case shall any assistance be given to any party exceeding in the aggregate one dollar and fifty cents until an investigation of the case shall have been made and a written report, signed by one of the select- men or by another person and approved by one of the selectmen, shall have been filed in the office of the select- men ; and that after help has once been given, assistance shall not be continued for a longer period than two months without another such investigation. Resolution. Voted, That the selectmen be, and they are hereby, directed not to give any assistance to any party exceeding in the aggregate one dollar and fifty cents until an investi- gation of the case shall have been made and a written REPORT OP THE COMMITTEE. lxvii report filed with the clerk of the board, which shall be signed by one of the board, or by a person employed by thfe" board, and the report approved by one of the board ; and that after help has once been given, assistance shall not be continued for a longer period than two months without another such investigation. Voted, That the selectmen are hereby directed not to issue any order to any person for any assistance, except to persons who have not estate sufficient for their support and no relatives of sufficient ability who are obliged by law to support them. IV. AS TO GROCERY ORDERS. We recommend a discontinuance of all grocery orders, and that in proper cases only the selectmen shall issue from a store-room of not more than ten articles such provisions as they may find required by the poor for necessary support. Resolution. Voted, That the selectmen are hereby directed not to give to any person after the 31st day of July, 1891, any order for groceries. Voted, That the selectmen establish a store-room, wherein shall be kept not more than ten articles ; and after July 31, 1891, in proper cases, the selectmen may issue therefrom to worthy persons having a legal settlement in this town, and who have not estate sufficient for their sup- port and no relative of sufficient ability who is legally obliged to support them, a proper amount of said provisions from time to time, but only so long as otherwise proper. V. AS TO MEDICAL ATTENDANCE. We recommend that no general order for medical or sur- gical attendance shall be issued, but only for a then existing sickness or injury; and that the physician shall return said order to the selectmen's office at the end of said sickness, with an endorsement by him thereon, stating the nature of the disease or injury and the number of calls received or visits made therein by him, with the dates. And that in no case shall any order of any kind be issued except to persons who have not estate sufficient for their support and no relative of sufficient ability who is obliged by law to support them. :-.:: :: : . mi ; mqi:::zi ? ~i : It b sdectmen an ■ - " - ■ " " . " - ■ - v f : y ' - - ~ : . : . _ fc to limit ! . - _ tt i - - - - - - - - - £ the nal I I • ! : lLs risits _ _ ■ - [ ?utfioient I ty w] - : _ ft - - " tin _ - lis " \ - l sufB - m isioi : wu Ism : physieiaiis th-r - - . ctmen 1 - - st E - B : ] [ - . " . - " " - ■ : [ _ iz. :eri: — - '_"-: ath - ftei " .- ...-.._ -._- -..-.. ::;_ mi ._ _ : _ - - - „ ~ REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. l.xix Resolution. Voted. That the Board of Selectmen be, and they here- by are. directed annually during the month of November to request in writing the Hartford Medical Society to nomi- nate at least four •"good and competent" physicians for the office of town physician ; and if said nominations are made within thirty days thereafter, the Board of Selectmen shall choose two town physicians from among those so nominat- ed, and these two physicians shall have medical and surgi- cal care of the persons at the almshouse, they shall furnish their own books and instruments, and the salary of each of them shall not exceed $600 per annum. VIII. AS TO THE ALMSHOUSE. We recommend that the status of the present almhouse be definitely declared. Resolution. Voted, That the buildings lately erected upon the town farm constitute and are hereby established as a "poor- house " for the admission of poor persons as authorized by law. We recommend that a committee of seven, of whom the first selectman shall be one, and the superintendent of the almshouse shall be another, be chosen to draft new by-laws for the management of the poor persons in said almshouse, and report to a future meeting. Resolution. Voted, That the first selectman, the superintendent of the almshouse and be and they are hereby appointed a committee to draft new by-laws for the management of the poor persons in the poorhouse, and to report to a future town meeting. IX. AS TO BURIALS. We recommend that no money be paid as a contribution to the burial expenses of any person; that such payments shall be confined strictly to pauper burials, where the select- men take entire charge of the interment and pay the whole lxx 7.1? MR 7 THE COIDDTT?? ?:: enses thereof, which in nc ase shall exceed th- ~f:eezi .". :llar- I Votkd, That on and after the 1st day of July. 18 1. the selectmen shall not pay out any money as a contributi: bub assist Qoefc i the burial expenses of any d per- son, but nothing herein shall prevent the selectmen from giving to any pauper a decent burial in any common ground reserve I for or dedicated to that purpose by any Cemetery A - - nation or Church Society, or by the town, and in all such sases : - electnien shall undertake the whole manage- ment an se of the burial, and in no case shall the en- tire ex] ense exceed fifteen dollars, which may include a disbursement of three dollars for digging and filling the X. AS TO THE PUKISHMKNT 7 KBTAIH - AFTER SE ::": irvi ?~ We recommend that a committee of seven persons, of whom the first selectman shall be one. and the attorney ap- pointed by the selectmen shall be another, be appointed to Eir before the proper legislative committee and ask that the law may be so amended that every son liable to be committed to any workhouse, if he shall be con vie* third time,, may be confined in said workh ; ail for a longer time than 130 days, and until the costs ition and commitment shall be satisfied. XI. We would ; mm end the following general Lotions : Voted, That the selectmen be, and they hereby are ~ed and directed to prepare annually and to include in their printed report a table covering the same subject-mat- ter as Table IX annexed to the report of the special corn- mine- n w on lei nsideration. and which table shall « a period of ten years then next preceding. Voted, That the selectmen be. and they hereby are _; -red and directed to inquire into the financial condition and legal settlement of each applicant to them for a- > ance. either before giving any assistance, or within week thereafter, including in such inquiries an investiga- tion as to moneys, property, annuities, pensions, life insur- ance, and persons legally liable for the support of such applicant, all of which investigation shall be made a matter of record. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. lxxi Voted, That the selectmen be, and they hereby are, directed to include in their annual printed reports to this town, commencing with 1892, a list of all persons who on or after>the first day of October, 1891, have been supported in any institution, with the name of the same, and also a list of all persons who, subsequent to said first day of October, 1891, have received assistance in any way from the town to an aggregate of eight dollars or more, with the amount of such assistance in each case. Voted, That the selectmen be, and they hereby are, in- structed and directed to cause their office to be kept open daily for the transaction of business from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sundays and holidays excepted ; and they are also directed to keep a record of the business transacted at their meetings with the names of those of the board present. Believing as we do, that if the above recommendations are approved and the resolutions passed, and if the select- men shall intelligently and honestly administer the affairs of the town in accordance therewith, their active duties will be largely increased, and that they should be prop- erly compensated therefor, we recommend that from and after the first day of January, 1892, the selectmen, other than the first selectman, shall receive a salary of $400 each. The constitutional amendment prohibits any increase of salary to the present selectmen. We believe that the present salaries are more than suffi- cient, if the administration of the town affairs is to be con- tinued as in the past. Resolution. Voted, That from and after the first day of January, 1892, the salary of each of the selectmen of this town, other than the first selectman, shall be $400. All which is respectfully submitted. Jno. J. McCook, A. E. Burr, Judson H. Root, Charles E. Gross, Wm. B. Clark. Hartford, Conn., June 8, A.D. 1891. TABLE L — HARTFORD COMPARED WITH 38 AMERICAN CITIES. 1 A.D. 1SS5. Gross Expense Population. for Outdoor Relief. Net Evnense Tax pcr Tax P er ca P- ; !■ .11 n«ii > capita for all ita for Out- tor all Keliet. ' D ,• c , . D ,. c Kehef. door Relief. Hartford, 45,000 $40,372.84 38,906.75 26,362.62 12,919.58 23,593.75 12,094.53 15,072.09 3,723.81 4,807.51 6,959.16 i 5,750.77 i 8,398.08 $93,344.73 98,935.64 37,278.04 22,664.30 38,694.68 18,680.24 23,651.64 9,939.20 10,977.35 12,262.63 13,384.39 $2.07 • 1.30 1.03 .81 1.54 .74 1.39 .62 .73 .82 1.11 $0.90 .51 .73 .46 Xew Haven, Bridgeport, Waterbury, 76,000 36,000 28,000 Norwich, Meriden, 25,000 25,000 .94 .48 Xew Britain, 17,000 .89 Xorwalk, ..1 16,000 23 Daubury, Derby, Xew London Stamford, 15.000 15,000 12,000 .. 14,000 .32 .46 .48 .60 Connecticut, } 12 Cities. Total, \ 324,000 $198,961.49 $379,812.84 Av. $1.22 Av. $.61 Boston, AVorcester 390,406 68,383 64,051 37,577 56,863 $95,804.06 16,578.96 17,981.00 5,268.08 2 $547,595.35 40,285.40 66,311.96 25,103.74 53,000.00 $1.40 .59 1.03 .66 .93 . $0.25 .24 Lowell Springfield, ! Fall River .28 .14 Massachusetts, ) 5 Cities. Total, j" 617,280 $135,632.10 $732,296.45 Av . $1.16Av . $.24 Providence, Bangor,. . . . 120,000 18,000 12,500 22,000 14,000 £6,022.70 4,945.00 6,319.52 2 $18,606.51 11,836.03 9,935.59 9,997.26 10,894.75 $0.16 $0.05 .66 .27 Rutland,. .. Pawtucket, .79 .51 ,45 j Concord,. . . 2 .77 Other A 7 . E. 5 Cities. Cities, I Total, j 186,500 $17,287.22 $61,270.14 Av : $.33 Av. $.12 Xew York, Kings County, X.Y., of which Brooklyn constitutes |f, Buffalo, Albany, 1,325,000 $32,051.52 $981,356.20 $0.74 $0.24 700,000 286,760.11 .41 225,000 52,452.85 162,148.92 .72 .23 100,000 17,092.94 53,957.49 .54 ! .17 New York, 4 Cities. Total, 2,350,000 $101,597.31 $1,484,222.72 Av. $.63 Av. $.43 TABLl I. — Continued. ClTT. Gross Expense v F Trw>na - Taa per Tax per cap Population. for Outd «.r fo,-iTii.w capita for all rt« for Out- Relief, for all Relief. ReUef door ReIief . Philadelphia, .... 200,000 90,000 425,000 32,52 ,2.14 88,066.86 3.5.' 46 74 154,400.00 | .44 .39 .36 - 22 .16 Allegheny ft District. KalMmnrp .12 .12 P- .and Ma -ufd, i tal, f .000 jn - | - £ Chicago Cleveland. il .000 000 160,000 1.354 $117,31 37.4 3 5.1 54,8 90,513.42 67.46 36,2 - ! .29 5 .29 ^64 .23 .ukee Toledo, . Charleston 'figures for 1882 . . .' i 3 : ^Norfolk - 3 536.00 $833,030.31 - . Av. $.17 SUMMARY. s Population Gross Eipet,- - _ _ of the •! - r "-" "- '- included. Relief. _ j*| ~ - z - - Z < s for all Relief. Z 5r~ < Connecticut cities. . . 324,000 - - -4 11 $1.22 - .chusetts r. Other Xew Eng cities 632.10 4 .24 186,5 2,350.000 5OT 1 3 .04 :: MS :: i 1.3-54.672 206,. 536. 00 4 .17 ! . ti 45 5 1.16 W0.14 5 .33 New York cit: Penn. and Md item and South ern cities. 1,484.222.72 4 .63 50,188,39 5 .38 31 7 .62 n is $.n ndensed from Henry C. Whites Report of the with one column added. 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"S s * 00 ~ — ■ • • • - z J •UIEf) IO 36 X ; J , 1 " "^ - e "■ • >— - X x ■>«• ^"~ s tr- £~ - '.< ' t ' 5 '_ — -"f < IC - ■e 1 . X -1 — — hie g =: : — r: — W" — - X t~ • • • L~ *3 Q B :: 3 - • — X IO X .; SB X - X = X - 1 - X r= X — SB ~ S x — X X ,- X r X . X C: . x a — B9 y. * x ~- - _ —£""£-£-:£.-£_ QG □Q C5 < •aiB9 X _ — — go •-- — — X :: — X X <3 — o -.: 3 •UIB9 -' — ir T-, c s — d = ■- X Zl- X '.*- X S X 03 X J X ^ X - X c — - C: X X ■ X X x -r ^^ —. _ x — X X X SB t-~ - - - - - ■: - r. X ^ x _- x yr x _• - X t- 5 t- _' t- T^ t- s SB £ 09 • - X i = \~~:\\l - > — T ' - r— Zi. , : ~ Z s ^ TABLE VI.— RECAPITULATION OF TOWN CASES INVESTIGATED. CASES HELPED BY THE TOWN JANUARY 1, 1891. Total. Worthy. Almshouse. Need no Aid. 4 (24 per cent.) 7 (41 per cent.) 8 (30 per cent.) | 9 (35 per cent.) 4 (15 per cent.) | 16 (62 per cent.) Iin20, 17 6 (35 per cent.) D 26 9 (35 per cent.) M., 26 6 (23 per cent.) Mc, 19 j 2 (11 per cent.) ! 5 (26 per cent.) 12 (63 per cent.) Others, 43 10 (23 per cent.) | 8 (19 per cent.) I 25 (58 per cent.) Remaining, ... 222 56 (25 per cent ) j 54 (24 per cent.) 112 (51 per cent.) Total, 353 89 (25 per cent.) 83 (24 per cent.) < 181 (51 per cent.) 47 Cases. - — Wages Earned by Families. Number in Family. Per Week. $9 to $12. $12 to $15. $15 to $20. Over $20. 3 to 7 Total, 47 33 5 8 1 In a few cases the income from rent of rooms is included in the above. .10 "Kill. lis lilt I \ . ,: : .:': : .::..: ;: 11 TABLE VIIL— BURIALS AT PUBLIC EXPENSE. Comparison of Hartford irith Thirty other Cities. Pauper Burials. Ci rv ob Commune. Population. Number. Cost. Aquila degli Abruzzi,. Teramo Catanzaro, Cosenza, Naples Salerno, Bologna Parma Genoa, Brescia Milan Ancoua, Pesaro e Urbino, Xovara, Turin, Rome, Cagliari, Sassari Catania Palermo, Leghorn, Pisa, Padua Venice, 24 Italian Communes, Dortmund, Dresden, Elberfeld, Whitechapel Philadelphia Worcester, Mass.,. 1S.426 .$236 20,309 176 28,594 32 16,686 66 494,314 34,158 31,245 334 123,274 191 45,217 ... 159 179,515 913 60,630 1,650 321,839 3,084 47,729 415 20,909 546 33,077 816 252,832 832 300,467 1,219 38.598 4 36.317 100,417 446 244,991 345 97,615 544 53,957 482 72,174 1,303 132,826 1,907 2,392,744 $49,858 77,500 1,294 259,000 247 932 106,499 138 71,582- 1,208 1,046,964 243 84,655 521 6 Other Cities, 1,646.200 .. 4,336 Hartford, 53,230 224 2,591 HARTFORD. Pauper Burials for Tex Years. Year. Number. Hartford, 1881, 193 1882, 176 1883, 225 1884, 228 1885, 209 1886, 193 For cost, etc., see Table IX. Pauper Burials for Tex Years. Year. Hartford, 1887, " 1888, " 1889, " 1890, Average, Number. 235 183 232 225 209.9 c 11 i> Be; IK, I l„ Konyoo,.. *OOII $078 1,0011 1,880 801! 1,088 II ,, 1,108 1,840 1,004 l,n::., 1,111 8,877 000 8,081 (108 1,608 l.ol 1 788 800 1,070 78 8,808 l 088 8,008 008 8,881 1,140 1,00(1 1,800 ■Mill 080 3,0011 ■ 'l 3,810 017 8,01)1 BOH I'A .,, IX. COS ! OF POO] relief IN Tl ,V,v:'" '""' :;: Si > tooo MM-; 00 |4,407 Hon *9.008 (450 (460 mm i ':n 81,110 4,417 0,581 11,001 000 nun 1.004 31,818 0,000 7,800 i 1,880 .Mill 500 mm 1.854 33,488 0,809 7,840 18,668 500 600 018 I, 1 80,740 0,488 11,101 18,074 000 500 000 1,088 88,470 0.171 18,487 81,808 000 .'.ilii 080 4,804 88, 183 8,460 11,017 80,878 500 600 ,032 0,088 38,803 8,848 10,080 18,877 600 600 008 IS 8,710 j 84,804 7,003 18,008 91,000 500 I 200 ) ';' I.-IIH, 0,700 8,180 0.1130 8,000 1 1 '' 8,411 1 33,080 0,044 11,687 17,031 500 0.301 30,840 8,088 17,647 86, OHO 5Q0 ,"ll 1 " ...■■ 84,800 8,408 10,941 88,004 600 600 ,808 )'' n. ■■ 80,788 8,041 18,090 91,407 500 000 , i !'' i". 44,000 8,804 90,568 20,417 000 roo I".!-., 40,881 ,.,„ 18,080 30,840 '1.1 .nun i:i.:i:,I ■,!.-.., 44,873 0,920 10,801 88, isl 1,780 •1,800 ,800 88,870 7,784 ■'ii.i'S, 87,811 1,051 •1,942 700 IS 13.. I,-. J :i . 80,001 8,888 30,008 38.881 1,301 ■1,870 tClilUnn"- .Imllur i«tt,nufc» II., ttro™S™.°'""'° MEDICAL ATTENDANCE, AND RECORD OF CASUAL LODGERS A.H is, „';.:;: ':;::.: "' - 1. ,:,:,::!, -" L Ivr-L. 80,000 107 40,140 I 21 950 10,687 870 41, HIT 310 355 808 L "40 683 '•1,390 »inn ,5, 404 II :i ,., m 031 052 ,00 l.i'l 178 l 507 .1 :l , 03 r. ;oo ^ 133 "45 708 708 sea 1,100 ..... 9,984 8,040 ., 1 [6,823 362 "45 7T1 101 083 1,810 9,393 928 ■ 181 .: 101 1.18 10 fe801 . ■■.•in ISO "78 984 000 I ■'.,; 1.(110 8,870 ■■.in ; i 9,060 13 81 ' 48,95* 334 371 150 "71 838 017 1,901 1.050 9, II 1113 8,084 8,800 ■ i 'i, 60,030 230 308 ISO 11 860 888 541 1.035 ■J, iv 336 '-',117 8.977 :, 87 ', .; 51,093 287 301 113 "113 a 779 1,000 1,800 '.'.M ,83 164 9,800 n no i 19 i KS.IOO 351 KM it; " ■.in 800 1,009 i •'»:. ",.|| ■■■ .; 191 ' 68,880 25 1 "' 608 180 ■ HI i.ooa 718 800 ■.917 ,.„, ill :.:■: 19 .i ■ .', ,11. 1 , 'I 1,0116 ........ Ilii 1 ;■ 15 TABLE X.— ADMISSIONS AND DISCHARGES >. OF^ TWELVE INMATES OF THE ALMSHOUSE. Total Time Covered Number. Admitted. Discharged. Admis- by sions. Admissions. Number 1 — [Brings Feb. 15, 1889. July 25, 1889. child with her. Has July 30, 1889. Sept, 4, 1889. come intoxicated. Sept. 11, 1889. Nov. 7, 1889. Is able-bodied.] Is Nov. 8, 1889. Nov. 14, 1889. No. 1 of Table xviii. Nov. 23, 1889. May 16, 1890. Jan. 28, 1890. July 29, 1890. Aug. 29, 1890. Nov. 5, 1890. 7 18^ months. No. 2 — [" Remains Mch. 21, 1889. Mch. 25, 1889. only to get over her April 11, 1889. April 15, 1889. drunk. Is able-bod- July 12, 1889. July 16, 1889. ied."] Is No. 2 of Aug. 26, 1890. Aug. 27, 1890. Table xviii. Sept. 3, 1890. Oct. 10, 1890. Oct. 16, 1890. Sept. 4, 1890. Oct. 14, 1890. Oct. 22, 1890. Nov. 29, 1890 8 20 months. No. 3 — [ Common Aug. 9, 1889. Aug. 17, 1889. drunkard. Able- Sept.17,1889— Oct. 29, 1889. bodied ] Is No. 3 (committed). of Table xviii. Nov. 5, 1889 — (committed). Feb. 7, 1890 — (committed). Jan. 16, 1890. April 22, 1890. July 16, 1890. May 3, 1890. 5 8f months. No. 4 — [ Common Jan. 15, 1889. Jan. 31. 1889. drunkard. Able- April 8, 1889. April 10, 1889. bodied] Is No. 4 May 2, 1889. June 10, 1889. of Table xviii. July 20, 1889. Oct. 11, 1889. July 23, 1889. Oct. 15, 1889. Jan. 18, 1890. Mch. 13, 1890. 6 12 months. No. 5 — [Drunk; com- Feb. 11. 1889. April 25, 1889. mitted.] Is No. 6 of May 6. 1889. Aug. 28, 1889. Table xvii. Sept. 5, 1889 Sept. 5, 1889. Sept. 17, 1889. Jan. 2, 1890. Jan. 4, 1890 Feb. 27, 1890. Mch. 1, 1890. April 2. lc$0. April 5, 1890. April 8, 1890. April 12, 1890. May 3, 1890. May 14, 1890. Aug. 11, 1890. Sept. 1, 1890. 10 18| months. 16 • TABLE X.— Continued. Number. Admitted. Total Time Covered Discharged. Admis- bo- stons. Admissions. No. 6 — Convicted more than twice last year. Is No. 13 of Table xvii. No. 7 — Convicted more than twice last year. Is No. 4 of Table xvii. No. 8 — Drunk and committed. Is No. 16 of Table xvii. Feb. 16, 1889. Mch. 7, 1889. Mch. 23,1889 — (committed). May 25, 1889. Aug. 30,1889- (committed). Sept, 14, 1889. Feb. 24, 1890. Mch. 29, 1890. April 16, 1890. June 16, 1890. Aug. 15, 1890 Nov. 8, 1890. April 25, 1889. July 9, 1889. Oct. 1. 1889. Jan. 29. 1890. Feb. 6, 1890. Feb. 8, 1 800 — (committed). -Mch. 4. 1890. Sept. 20, 1890. Oct. 11, 1890. Oct. 21, 1890. Oct. 29, 1890. Dec. 27, 1888. June 28, 1889. Julv 31, 1889. Aug. 21, 1889. Oct' 10, 1889. Dec. 26, 1889. Jan. 18, 1890. April 10, 1890. May 19, 1890. June 5, 1890. Aug. 20, 1890. Sept, 13, 1890. Oct. 16, 1890. Nov. 19. 1890. Mch. 4, 1889. Mch. 19, 1889. April 15, 1889. July 20, 1889. Sept, 2, 1889. Nov. 25. 1889. Mch. 18, 1890. April 1, 1890. April 17, 1890. June 29, 1890. Aug. 18, 1890. Nov. 10, 1890. July 6, 1889. Sept. 27, 1889. Dec. 13, 1889. Feb. 1, 1890. Feb. 7, 1890. Feb. 25, 1890. July 16, 1890. Oct. 6, 1890. Oct. 18. 1890. Oct. 23, 1890. Mch. 4, 1889. July 23, 1889. Aug. 3, 1889. Aug. 22, 1889. Dec. 21, 1889. Dec. 27, 1889. Mch. 18, 1890. April 21, 1890. June 2, 1890. June 29, 1890. Sept. 8, 1890. Oct. 7, 1890. Nov. 10, 1890. 12 22 months. 11 18 months. 14 23f months. 17 TABLE X. — Concluded. Total Time Covered Number. Admitted. Discharged. Admis- by > • sions. Admissions. No. 9 — Convicted Nov. 24, 1888. April 15, 1889. more than twice last April 18, 1889. May 13, 1889. year. Is No. 15 of Table xvii. May 17, 1889. July 6, 1889. Aug. 2, 1889 — Aug. 31, 1889. (committed). Sept. 10, 1889. Nov. 20, 1889. Nov. 23, 1889. Nov. 28, 1889. Dec. 7, 1889. Mch. 24, 1890. May 9, 1890 — June 2, 1890. (committed). June 10, 1890. Aug. 22, 1890. Aug. 22, 1890— Oct. 10, 1890. (committed). 1 Oct. 14, 1890. 11 22f months. No. 10 — Has entered Oct. 15, 1888. Jan. 18, 1889. drunk. Is No. 11 Jan. 26, 1889. Mch. 25, 1889. of Table xvii. April 13, 1889. Nov. 13, 1889. Dec. 5, 1889. Feb. 22, 1890. April 21, 1890. May 17, 1890. June 7, 1890. Sept. 27, 1890. April 29, 1889. Nov. 29, 1889. Feb. 14, 1890. April 14, 1890. May 13, 1890. June 1, 1890. June 29, 1890. Nov. 4, 1890. Nov. 7, 1890. 11 24| months. No. 11 — Drunk and Nov. 24, 1888. Feb. 23, 1889. committed. Is No. Mch. 9, 1889. Mch. 25, 1889. 12 of Table xvii. April 3, 1889. May 15, 1889. May 24, 1889. Sept. 26, 1889. Jan. 11, 1890. Jan. 16, 1890. Feb. 11, 1890. July 5, 1890. April 9, 1889. May 22, 1889. June 4, 18S9. Sept. 27, 1889. Jan. 14, 1890. Jan. 29, 1890. Feb. 28, 1890. July 14, 1890. Nov. 14, 1890. 11 23f months. No. 12 — Drunk and Dec. 19, 1888. Feb. 20, 1889. committed. Is No. Feb. 20, 1889. Mch. 28, 1889. 10 of Table xvii. April 1, 1889. May 4, 1889. June 15, 1889. July 26, 1889. Sept. 5. 1889. Dec. 21, 1889. April 1, 1890. May 16, 1890. April 15, 1889. May 22, 1889. July 1, 1889. Aug. 12, 1889. Nov. 19, 1889. Mch. 20, 1890. April 21, 1890. June 2, 1890. Sept. 25, 1890. | 11 21 months. 18 TABLE XL — DEATH RATES FOR 20 YEARS. Per Thousand of Population. YEAR. Hartford. New Haven. The Sta:e. 1871, 1872, 1873, 1874 12.2 18.5 20.3 15.6 15. 24.1 18.5 18.4 17. 19.7 23.7 24.8 28.3 21. 19.2 19.5 19.7 22.3 21.7 18.2 20.5 20.4 19.7 18. 16.7 17.8 19.1 IS. 7 18.4 17.5 17.9 18.4 17.4 17.8 17.5 20.2 14.2 18. 17.4 17 2 1875, 17 1876, 17 •') 1877, 1878 16. 15 1879 15 1880, 1881, 1882 16.7 17.4 18.7 1883, 1884 1885, 19.1 16.6 17.6 1886 16.2 1887 1888, 19.1 19.3 17. 17.1 1889 1890, 19.6 21.5 17. The average The average death rate fo death rate fo r the first decade r the second deca< Hartford. N< was, 17.9 ie was, 21.6 jw Ha\ 19.5 18.3 en. The State. 16.4 17.4 The death rates here given are computed upon estimated populations, after census years, for the cities of Hartford and New Haven. The death rates for the State are taken from the annual report of the State Board of Health, and, previous to 1884, were computed on the population of the previous census. But for 1884, and the following years, the State population was esti- mated, t. e. the sum of the estimate of towns, as given by the Town Clerks, was taken as the population of the State. C. A. L. 19 TABLE XII, CONVICTIONS IN THE POLICE COURT THIRTY-FIVE CASES OF PERSONS CONVICTED THREE OR MORE TIMES IN 1890, OF WHOM 32 PAUPERS. Selected from a list of 94, from the same near, of persons convicted twice or oftencr ; of trltich drunkenness is one. Offenses. Oi i !. SSES. Convictions. i - 1 z u 2= March S, 18 '0, to March 8,1891. 1 Book 36, 9 Mont lis. s *3 2E -= . . sq aq w 00 3Q If P c D D D 158 2 P c B 82 C 60 6 3 P D D c 158 D c 90 3 1 3 5 3 4 P C B A F 2 1 5 P D D D AB 158 B U 2 6 P DA A C D 183 D 30 2 1 2 4 7 P C D 114 D b 40 •• 3 4 . , 8 P D C H DB 272 2 9 P D ND D 119 RA F 1 3 1 10 P D BD DD BD 232 D 30 1 11 P D C V TV 361 V D V 120 4 2 . . 12 P T T D YD 287 T 30 3 1 . , 13 P C C 144 C c F 150 3 2 1 14 P C D C 155 D c 60 1 15 P C C 93 2 1 16 P D V B D C 237 D c C 180 4 3 3 2 17 P C D V 186 T D D 40 18 P C C D C 428 D C C 210 5 3 8 19 P C V H D 262 H V C 120 3 2 3 20 P C C D 156 D D c 75 2 3 21 P D c V 168 .. •■ 1 99 P D D C 154 V c c D 210 2 1 4 1 23 P D c 158 D BD M 9 1 3 24 P D D D 96 C TDD . , . . 180 5 2 5 25 P? D D 38 . . 4 4 2 3 26 P D D B D F70 D 30 3 1 27 P B D D D 112 C c 120 i 1 1 28 P D D T 108 1 l •■ 29 P D B T 154 B 180 1 2 1 30 P? D D D 126 D b 50 2 1 2 2 31 P , BD B H 180 D V b 120 3 3 2 2 32 P D D V i 80 W F 1 1 1 33 D T B 1 66 D BD 30 1 1 34 P C .... 60 C 60 2 1 A 5 i 35 P C .... .... 60 C 60 2 S r c l + Had an alias ; hence her disappearance back. XB. Costs and fines, when not paid, are included in " Penalty " at 50 cents per day. Explanation of Signs. alms books except three, and two of these were A. Assault and batten'. B. Breach of the peace. C. Common drunkard. D. Drunkard. F. Fined, and fine paid. H. Common prostitute. rs. Xeglect to support family. P. Panper. [All but eight at once recosnized as such by Mr Stillman, Clerk of the Board of Selectmen. These eisht were all found in the doubtful. T. The J ft. V. Vagrant. W. Cruelty to animals X.B. The first column covers a year; the sec- ond only 9 months : the third 104-" months ; the fourth 11 months ; the fifth 9f months ; the sixth 11 months ; the seventh one year. The exact times covered by the different book^ are given in Table V. Book 32 was not thoroughly examined. ' X a© ■** t- © > 5 S ~ = > ~ - - . - - - - — r> 0» =: 1 99 0» OO fc- c- ~ at — ■77 b- C: -• □Q 1 ~ Oi f f ■f — - -■ -■ — c- 00 77 39 bo co" < — x - o> — — — o o M CO < 1 *-*i X r. SB - t- =: — X r* co _. — K - — -^ O x Eft — — C> -r IC ■ _ r , :: t- — c> o? o - ^ -r X — t- — - y OB — oo t co ao t> , rH 09 OC XX - o* r oo* ., R O ao e . x t- x o t- <- :: • t- ' io x — 0* CO . t- | CO - 0* c* co" _ X CO .-0 — X X Oi x — — "> — oo c- -c £ r-. c? co to c - — " 09? OO* e o oo co «3 « o o x o oo as co o? — x ao ot oa o — *~ t-T osf co" - X -0 — CO 0? t* t ~ — d ao • do as X ~ 77 77 — - OS? 08? CO" r — — . g ® • i Z • ~ - ■ ■ - 5 '— c; — ! ■ - Pi Eg ° fr = ■"" _' - - - r :~" "~" """ 7* g 5 g ? |S §s| R < £ z > §o BD Table XIV.— POLICE DEPARTMENT. A rivals hn Month* .#/,■/ Q. C a) -a CO CO o CO __l CO CO GO tH OS Oi £» o CD o> 0O CO tH co -*r CO CO CO Ol 00 J> Tt* 00 r- H co CO ia lO -* CO CO (N OS H o O Eh > fc o O w IE W «j to Si © tea ^ tH . H C o> O a> © > S ; T-i O OBg-i • o — s tH CQ ,_, y-, Eh o oa.S >! CO GO io co C5 & tH 1—1 tH H © . III CO GO o rJH co CO iO CO co CD CO £- i> ^ v "'- — t» co ^H 00 ^ ■<* -# ^M CO co -3 > c JO CO tH CD CO CO CO CD CO S.C'3 EhO 00 GO 00 00 00 oo 00 GO 00 co" GO GO -*" GO 00 io" GO 00 co" QO 00 00 00 1—1 oo" oo oo OS" 00 00 o" OS 00 T— 1 OS oo co" t-i 6 © Q CO GO "* © © > © o > o os" 6 © o 1 00 co" >' O 1 »o QO GO d 1 CO 03 t-s GO a >-s GO GO OO co" a I OS os" d 03 >-s 1 O £ GO GO 00 GO GO GO GO T-t oo 00 OS 00 Eh i—l „ 1— 1 T- 1 1-T 05 co" tH Os" co" GQ io" go" t>' > © ©" >" fcb >. d •-a xi o O © 0) o d o £ £ p Q £ a W2 o • PH o d o ^2 M > H cu ^~< d o en ,r> rf Table XVI.— INMATES OF ALMSHOUSE. Mabch 4th, A. D. 1891 IOII,. 1 DeDmnrk England Germany Ireland u»iy ■•: ! I 5 11,0, S„il/.i 1,1,0 N..I |i,.it,,.o,.l PEBCENTAG] - FE3«L ALES. STATISTICS OF RESIDENCE AND AGE. :aijes only. Uo.I.i .-.,, .i Be „ 5 . ABLE XVII.— CONDENSED CLOTHING ACCOUNTS. HARTFORD ALMS! '■ ■■■■■ ., „ „ ^ s,, „•,,,. li • s " '"-'■ "'""'•" '•■' v ' ''""• 1 '"' rtaili.r 21 20 2 9 17 .88 l!08 2.08 I.OS ^48 .08 i.eo .40 JO .72 3 3 1 $1.35 .00 1 : - $9.75 „ ,,„, , ,„ 211 i!oo $0.50 n I 3 10 3 9 70 3.57 $8 12 10.211 "i'M 2>38 10.20 1 $2,110 1 00 4.00 13 $20.00 0.(11 $1.22 "I ■j 0.01 - 80 so 1 (10 'mlll'S' «Ki'~" ,..,,.., So' \!;!r !;!!!"!■!!' '!»'"' !™ u'l ,™'.' r *"''"" n!!. i- ai'.'i.'- i.'.'."i.'.'-.'i.' A|",i 'rC;'i.', ,, , 1 ',-. 'r;",',, - : '!,' ;"™ Nil..'. .Mil' -l....li.-.l. Jim . ,sv, N„v . ikiii .1 (; 12.(10 No.O-FYb. 11. l«S!l-ll,v :l. 1*111.1 10 20.00 n" Il-\hi! iin!ii!!i ' \!!l In !"«', i'vi. '•■'■ ]-■!!' '-' :','!" No. 10-Ablo- lied. .Inn 1. IS1UI April (1. I»lll.| . 11 «00 Noll Alili-I.i.ili.d. .I.iu 1. l-l'ii Apnl 1.:. Ism 5 in.ilii No IS .M.I. -I....II..I. I,., 1 ' Ism. «.,, ii iv, 1 | ... | („, No l.'.-.luli 1. IB'.ili-Apiil s. Ism.; J 8 o0 Ho. 10- AbUiluidii.il. Jan 18. 1800-Apr. 28. 1801.) . . 12.0.0 i $7.(10 ;;!.!!!! 7 00 3.00 0.00 18.00 3.00 "i'llO 7.00 1200 \ $4.00 1 mi 8.00 o:oo 8.00 2.00 1.00 i!oo ' i.oo 3.00 13 8 17 1 10 8 $3.50 3 00 II 50 4.00 4.00 1 50 .50 8.00 2.50 2^50 6.60 11 17 J 7 12 s'.'.ll ts 2IIO 3 on 1.00 3.50 01, 9 13 8 17 1 140 ikiii 0.511 11 5(1 5.00 4.00 200 .50 2>>0 100 3.00 $73.00 17 '■..!"'"» * .III 25'>|Ioos. [53.40 ,',:, nil 05, III 08 10 00.06 110 so 27 19 r 58 80.80 (8 SO 18.80 i , no 18 lo 1,1,6 III. .',7 $28 .-,n (III III! 10 60 LSI 81 (is 111.611 11 III! u 12 '," m Kills 17011 58 89 18.24 58 $180.00 60 $50.00 127 , $08.00 131 $04.00 204 $10.32 18 ~s III $87,114 91 510 .ill Average per capita— reduced loono year 1 3.9' $7.80 2.73 $8.40 2.30 $2.35 5.0.5 $2.08 II 1(1 $3 08 9.511 $.77 *.» 4 2, $2.14 1.22 ,:„ $3. 43 $117.95 TABLE XVIII.— MATERIAL ALONE. a™... - 4, *.».» .™.,™. w.,„. W„.,,„. ■ , ;::,'. 1 :::.r :,:'.,:;.'. '-'- » '■ '■- '■ « Co.,. - $ .64 .54 «-« « ■ cwo Nome.,. | e»t ■v ,., Co., ,•„„. '" No l-Al.lil.nilii-il. F.-l. 15. I.ss.j S,.|.l III. 1X110. • No i - Al.l. I...I. .Mm .', I-Si, \... si. I.-..UI | Ni. :l M.I, l....l„,l A,,, 2!i. l-so m.„ •.■.,. i.v.ii : 2 .'ill. 3 3 $ .00 .20 .00 .80 'i $'!20 5 $7 50 3 mi .' $0.00 2.00 8.00 ■* *' '-"' 5 * M 4.50 7 ss 76 5 03 1 $ .40 I , 1 1 1.00 1 1.00 2 , 2.00 I $2.00 1 50 .5(1 18 no , $21.10 1 15 17 112 10.78 $60.71 $!» no 1 IIS 10 ," is on 8 $14.1 1.0 $ .288 2.2 $2.20 $44 1 $ .05 11 $10.60 $8.80 8 $10.00 3 $(.0S 10 $750 hi $a. so > $ .40 V IIS $5.00 8 $1.00 Ai-i .■■. ..|.iiu ,..,l,i, ,,l or i,-,ir .25 1.6 $3.20 .0 $ .32 -' $1.50 3 s $ .(76 .2 1 $1.00 1.0 $.80 $ll 40 ADMISSIONS OF TOWN PATIENTS TO THE CITY HOSPITAL, HARTFORD, AND COST OF THEIR TREATMENT. July ima ISM is;, ,„;., 1810 is:; 1878 18,0 , 88 „ ,88. ,-,, ,88. ,88, , 885 ,,„ ,88* ,.,. ..» 12 21 2. S7 28 34 25 m 30 38 85 80 IIS 32 13 Ill 27 13 „ 14 211 20 19 21 93 81 111 30 88 40 28 89 80 31 117 $,102 1,1 slsi III 12 11 28 23 17 10 22 28 80 31 1,2 34 30 21 88 28 III! 17 8 99 2.S 22 211 10 35 88 87 113 25 34 38 43 48 16 20 16 10 90 211 34 31 39 39 11 42 111, 30 80 41 34 34 45 628 08 766.84 IS 10 22 17 21 20 22 93 34 23 82 80 211 42 27 82 24 84 III 11 10 M 21 IS 83 111, 94 SO 40 88 1,4 80 33 so 38 30 41 33 10 13 13 28 21 87 87 33 98 25 30 42 SI 34 85 36 so 42 10 77.S 36 791 71 II 18 16 16 89 29 84 20 47 39 87 23 IIS 98 44 11 27 29 111 14 11 10 90 99 33 115 113 211 III 111 40 III, 29 31 80 20 12 37 o 98 94 20 11 :;., 90 98 29 18 17 10 (II, 23 29 III 31 29 86 701.49 Ts 1 19 K. " . " mi 17 2(1 21 29 2d 21 30 4„ 28 29 31 _!!_ 86 89 ,52 ,7, 187 990 279 8,0 856 3IS 808 B07 30, ,07 873 386 885 422 878 138 108 $9,»70.80 $11. ,20.(111 11.15 SO 1,2115 7 9,980.37 J.383.52 ■88, l 88 ! .88. ,88, ,886 $2,2,19,17 $2,117 5S $2,26.60 $2.0119 5, $3,046.17 $2,1112 18 1.888 7S 2,110.67 2,070.42 3.116.49 2. 000.51 ' 3,478.30 1,920.42 2,189.12 3,270.59 1.617.08 1.775.19 1,788.01 ,135:63 1.859.01 $8,178.01 $7.92386 $1.223. 1 1 $8,563.25 $7,623.10 $9,202 79 issr, ls,T ,88. $8,859.60 [1.011 11 ,ii , " 1 160 19 2,011 75 1,0 1.11 , - '.,,„ 1,826.57 3,404.89 1,66, III 1 ' 27 TABLE XX. — STATEMENT BY THE SELECT- MAN'S OFFICE OF AMOUNTS PAID TO GROCERS. From January 1, 1890, to January 1, 1S91. Number. Ward. Amount Paid. Meat. Liquor. Politics. 1 1 2 2 5 1 7 6 2 4 6 3 4 5 3 5 6 6 3 6 8 4 4 7 2 1 4 1 1 8 5 5 2 7 6 2 2 2 3 7 2 5 $1,145 19 1,123.00 755.50 719.00 681.50 611.50 522.50 346.00 344.00 327.00 298.50 293.50 290.00 282.50 229.00 191.32 184.00 180.50 180.00 157.50 156.00 154.00 151.00 146.50 114.00 94.00 65.00 52.00 51.00 33.00 420.00 421.20 55.00 235.00 98.00 78.00 100.50 87.00 26.00 83.33 42.00 R 2 It 3 4 ""k M t D R 5 R 6 R 7 t D oo a: M D R 10 11 12 13 M M M t t ..... D D R D 14 D 15 t D 16 D 17 t D 18 R 19 + D 20 M R 21 R 22 23 M M t D D 24 R 25 R 26 M M M M D 27 D 28 29 30 ........ t t D D 31 32 M D D 33 R 34 + t D 35 D 36 R 37 M R 38 t t D 39 R 40 R 41 t D 42 43 44 6 103.50 261.00 M D D indicates Democrat; R, Republican. t. The dagger indicates that the same party sells liquor also, however, this business must be formally separated from the other. M indicates that meat is sold. According to the present law, APPENDIX A, PRESENT LAWS CONCERNING SUPPORT AND RELIEF OF POOR, AND CONCERNING LEGAL SETTLEMENT, TOGETHER WITH SOME OF THE MORE IMPORTANT JUDICIAL INTERPRETATIONS OF THE SAME. The selectmen are bound to furnish necessary support or relief to sees. 3295 and all persons needing the same whether they be foreigners or natives, citizens of this state, or of other states, or territories. Their duty is enforced in a civil suit, in the case of all except "inhabitants of the town," by a penalty of $7.00. Any person may sue any one of the sec. 3304. selectmen for the same. For relief or support, given in the case of those who have no legal "settlement" in the town where they come to want, the town may be reimbursed (1) by the town in this state where the assisted persons (i) sec. 3304. belong.* (2) by the state, through the comptroller, if they have no (2) Sec. 3311 settlement in any town — the former for an indefinite period, but on a fixed scale, viz. : $1.50 per week up to 6 years of age ; $2.00 from 6 to 14; $3.00overJ4. Thelatter for the space of six months and no more. At the expiration of six months the town itself becomes responsible. And in any event the state has no responsibility after the person has Sec. 3315. been six months within its borders. The above provisions hold in the case of persons committed to sec. 3313. jail or work-house. On their discharge, the town where they have their settlement is responsible. Jf they have no settlement any- where, the town where they last resided, or from which they were committed is responsible, after the state has discharged its liability. Settlement. In respect to legal settlement, the Connecticut law divides persons into three categories: (1) Persons from foreign countries; (2) In- habitants of other states or territories of the United States ; (3) In- habitants of Connecticut. A settlement can be gained by a member of any of these classes in either of the two following methods : (a) By a vote of the inhabit- For meaning of this word, see page 31. 30 ants of the town.* (b) By the consent of a board consisting of the justices of the peace and the selectmen of the town, convened for the purpose f — subject, however, in the case of inhabitants of other states or territories in the United States, to the condition of one year's resi- dence. (Sec. 3,287.) Apart from these two methods, the three classes above named may secure settlement as follows : I. Foreigners. By naturalization]; and by residing thereafter four years consecutively in the town and not being chargeable to the town during that period. Sec. 3287. J I. Persons from any other state or territory of the United States. By residing in the town one year and being possessed in their own right, in fee, of unencumbered real estate, situated in this state, of the value of $334, and, if the title thereto shall be by deed, such deed shall have been recorded one year. >:. Southington. 16 Conn., 435, does not seem to be against this. Peters t. Litchfield, 34 Conn.. 265, decided in 1S6T. re-affirms with absolute distinctness the position of the court ii. Sherman. Fish v. Perkins, 52 Conn., 204, decided in 1884, is similar to Wdr lingfcrd v. Southington. The question is whether the property is sufficient for necessary sup port. This is a question of fact. tP. 30. 33 zen of another State in the United States at a disadvantage as com- pared with a citizen of a foreign country. A. B. is born in Massachu- setts and removes to Connecticut. On the same day his neighbor, C. D., who is within one month of naturalization, removes also to Con- necticut. Both are industrious, but without property. In four years and one month C. D. (the foreigner) obtains a settlement and can claim support. In one year A. B. (the Massachusetts man) may obtain a settlement — but only on condition that he shall "have been possessed in his own right in fee, of unencumbered real estate, situated in this state of the value of $334, and if the title sec. 3287. thereto shall be by deed, such deed shall have been recorded one year." But by the very terms of the proposition A. B. is poor, so he can never obtain settlement ; while Ins neighbor, the foreign- born citizen, gets it in four years and one month. Of course, either might be voted in. Though here again the Massachusetts man seems to be at a disadvantage, for he must reside a year and be voted in, while no term of residence is fixed in Sec. 3285 for the foreigner, and therefore he can be voted in whenever he ceases to be a foreigner — i. e. in one month. But that is never done now. And if it were to be proposed in the case of A. B. he would almost surely be rejected if he were already, or seemed likely to become, a burden to the town. Practically, it is true, this is of no great conse- quence, since the town is obliged to look after both of them indiffer- ently if they come to need. II. DEVELOPMENT OF THE LAW RELATING TO THE POOR AND TO PAUPER SETTLEMENT IN C NN ZiTlCUT. 1635 1646 1650 First settlements on the Conn- iver at Hartford, TTindsor, and Wethersfield. Constitution adopted: the "General Court" made the Sc :eme Power of the Common* - General Court : _ r Ludlow to compile a body of laws. He makes his compilation. From this we take the following:* :650. • No master of a Familye shall give intertainement or habitation p " IBa- to any younge man to sojoume in his fa: .nee :ere - of the inhabitants of the Towne where hee dwells, under the pe: of 20 s. pr. weeke."' reettiement rdered by this Courte and authority thereof, that the Courte of magistrates shall have power to determine all differences :>ut lawful setling and providing for poore persons, and shall have power to c h Towne- - shall judge to bee m : :»r the maintenance and imployment of such persons and familyes for of the Count: 1662 :.stitution of 1639 _ ted by charter of '_ m U, but old laws declar -ill in force except where they the tenor of our Char 1665 Union of colon:-- Haven and Hartford : and laws of Con- necticut adopted by New Haven. 1671. New revision made. Laws of 1673. New revision printed at Cambria. the only print- p ' ° ing presst in America was. Following . st mention of the Responsibility poor : '• It is ordered by the authority of this Court that every Town within this Colony shall maintaine their own poor.' 1 •He that abides 3 months in a Town without being warned out" 1 >le nthe order of magistrate or selectmen) •• shall be their proper charge." >1 towns. * Fro- the : : ; • is Ek •'. Becords, Tol. I. t In 1655. the Cc '. Haven had ordered her laws " compiled fit to be printed." and had sent them to England for printing. In 1656. fire hundred copies had arriTed. In Connec- ticut, previous to 1 " rd by the Constable who read them from manu- script at town-mee:::. 35 The selectmen are further given power, "with advice of the next Binding out. Magistrate," to "place out neglected children into good families." u Be it enacted by the Governor, Council, and Representatives, in Laws of 1715, General Court Assembled, and by the Authority of the same, that The poor, each Towne within this Colony shall maintain their own Poor. And the Select-men or Overseers of the Poor (where any such are chosen) shall have power to disburse or expend what they shall judge meet from time to time for the relief and supply of any of the Poor belong- ing to their Town so far as Five Pounds will extend ; and if more be needful .... shall, with the advice of the Assistants * or Jus- p OW erof tices of the Peace of that Town, distribute what shall be by them selectmen * judged needful for the relief of the Poor as aforesaid." And if there is no Justice of the Peace in the town the selectmen p age 96. can act alone " for the supplying their Poor, or any of them with Victuals, Cloathing, Fire-wood or any other thing necessary for their support or assistance." The selectmen are further authorized to bind out idle children of persons relieved by the town. The marginal note of another section indicates its provisions, as follows: "Persons abiding three months in a town without being Time limit, 3 warned out, to be provided for in want by the town." If warningj- mo ^ has been given, " the court of assistants may otherwise order the de- fraying of the charge." "Selectmen shall procure such a number of arms and so much Arms f or p oori ammunition as shall be made to appear to the chief commission officers p * 80 ' of each company of the several towns to be needful for the supply of such poor as by law they are to provide for." In case of infectious disease, the Selectmen are to " remove to sepa- sickness, p. 160. rate Houses and provide Nurses, Tendance, or other Assistance or neces- saries fur them, at the charge of the persons, their Parents or Masters," J if able, or otherwise at the charge of the town where they belong. If the sick person be from another town, the county court is to adjust the "accompts of sd charge." And, "if such indigent persons are Inhabitants or belonging to any Town or place within this Colony," then the charges are to be paid out of the treasury of the colony. No person is to be received as an Inhabitant save those of an inhabitants, p. " honest conversation." No "transient person" is to be allowed to reside upon pretense of hiring, etc., without approbation of the select- men. * Much like our Senators, but having magisterial power. t See below, p. 36. % This covers the case of indentured apprentices and of bond-servants. Slavery was not abolished in Connecticut until 1818. 36 Xo person is to entertain or let a house to any stranger without giving good security to the selectmen that the town or plantation ''shall not be burdened." warning to de- No "Transient Person" is to make his abode in any "town or par ,p. . pi an t a tion within this government," under penalty of twenty shillings, for the use of the poor, for each week after warning has been given to depart by order of the selectmen ; any one assistant or justice of the peace to hear and determine the same. In default of estate to pay the fine, the person to be u Whip'd upon the naked Body, not exceed- ing Ten Stripes." increase of time Persons not prosecuted for staving after Warning, may, after one limit, to one . • • n year, p. 250. year, continue without prosecution. Prevention of The selectmen are to examine the affairs and management of all 2i3. ' " 'poor or idle persons, and if they find them '-reduced or likely to be Reduced by Idleness or bad Husbandry unto Want," they may take care of them and their families, " disposing them to service " ; and be virtually the conservators of all their goods and property — but they may not sell their land without the power of the assembly. Responsibility Idiots, insane, aged, poor, and impotent, unable to support them- Laws of moj selves and having no estate, must be supported by relatives in the un er , ,pp. ^-^^ ^ ne ^ ]j RC ]^ t grandparents, forward to grandchildren, if able. If these lack ability the " Selectmen or Overseers of the Poor of the Town or peculiar where such person was Born, or is by Law an Inhabitant, are required to make provision for their relief ... at the charge of the Town or Place where they of right belong" . . . or "if they belong to no Town or Place in this Colony, then at the Cost and Charge of the Colony." They may also sell, by order of the court, such estates as the persons may have for their support; and further may set them to work. Limit of Expen- The selectmen or overseers of the poor may spend not to exceed five pounds for the relief of the poor belonging to their town. If more be needed they may spend more, with the advice of the authority of the town. If there be no civil authority in the town they may use their own discretion. Neglected children may be apprenticed. Per- sons abiding three months without being warned out are to be sup- ported in case of need. Qualifications Honest conversation and acceptance by the majority of the inhabit- ants or by the authority and selectmen of the town are made necessary to admission as an inhabitant of any town. Any person entertaining, hiring, or letting property to any stran- ger or transient person without giving security to the town that it shall not be burdened or charged is to be fined 10 5. per week. diuires, p. 190. for Admis- sion, p. 37 The selectmen may give warning to such strangers or transients Warning, to depart, requesting, if necessary, a warrant therefor from the authority, directed to the constable. And the r - civil authority may order any vagrant, or suspected or transient person to be sent back from constable to constable to the town, Place, or Places from which they came." And if they "shall return" — after such sending back preceded by warning — "they shall be Whipt on the naked Body, not exceeding Ten Stripes, and again Penalty for r« be sent ... as often as there shall be occasion."* The act for the admission of inhabitants is cast much in the form Laws of 1784, • • t n .- p. 102 et seq. and spirit of the present. No person from another State is to gam settlement by mere residence. He may be admitted by a major vote of the inhabitants; or by "the civil authority in and selectmen of" the town; or by reason of his exercising some public office; or of owning real estate in fee of the value of one hundred pounds in the town. Removal may be effected at any time before settlement has been gained. And the obnoxious provision of Charles II is intro- duced — if they are "judged likely to become chargeable" they may be removed. Further, the contemporary English provision concern- ing certificate of settlement for the prevention of removal, is intro- duced, f Former provisions as to warning, and whipping on return, are retained. The three-fold discrimination of our present laws now appears with Law? of 1808, distinctness. (1) Persons not inhabitants of this or some other of the United States are to be admitted to legal settlement only on vote of the inhabitants, or consent of the civil authority and selectmen, or on holding a public office. (2) Inhabitants of other States may gain it in any of the foregoing ways, or by owning real property worth $334. (3) Inhabitants of other towns in this state gain it by vote, consent, office, real estate worth $100, or by six years' continuous self- supporting residence. Persons from other States may be removed any time before they gain a settlement on their being judged by the selectmen likely to become chargeable. Persons from other towns may be removed any time during six years, if they or any member of their family become chargeable. Certificating is dropped, but warn- ing, and whipping for return, retained. The selectmen may spend up to $17 for the poor; or, with the ad- Title cxxx, vice of the authority of the town, " what shall be by them judged needful" — otherwise the former provisions for local support are reproduced. * Compare p. 42. "No bodily Punishment shall be inflicted on any Person that is inhu- man, barbarous, or cruel " ! 1 This is the first revision subsequent to the Revolution, and it is curious to observe how unbroken is the current of English legal tradition and influence. 38 Laws of 1821, Several new provisions relating to the care of the poor come in. The chief are : (1) Paupers shall be liable to be removed for support to such places + as the town or selectmen may direct: (2) notice to other towns, and limited responsibility after notice — SI per week — for paupers belonging to the latter: (3) the selectmen are to forfer p. 371. in a civil suit for neglect of the poor; (4) the state reimburses the town, under certain conditions, for the care of persons not inhabit- ants of the State. Provisions for settlement and removal are sub- stantially as in 1808. Section 7 is our present section 3308. Persons who return to this State after gaining a settlement in another shall resume their former settlement until they have gained a new one. First Poor- The first explicit provision for asylums or poorhousesf appears. lums for poor" The several towns, respectively, or any two or more of them, may establish such houses, and make by-laws for their regulation. Laws of 183 Settlement, removal, and provision for the poor are essentiallv as Whipping abol . iahed. before. But non-payment of taxes ceases to be a cause for removal, and whipping for return, after warning out, is abolished. The re- sponsibility of the State for the care of the poor is further defined and limited. Laws of isto. Every citizen of the United States may obtain settlement by four s. and" 1 Foreign- years' continuous, self supporting residence ; and any person not a citizen may obtain it by five years' such residence. Before this no foreigner could obtain settlement here by residence (Commorancy). Laws oi The preceding was repealed, and it was provided that self support- ing residence in any town four years, from August 20, 1875, shall secure settlement therein. Law8ofi879. So much of the foregoing as related to foreigners was repealed. No settlement . ° ° . . , hvcomniorancvand since then, as previous to 1875. no foreigner can obtain settle- for foreigners. , . _ . _ , _ . .... ment by residence alone. For the effect of naturalization, however, see Present Laws of Settlement, Appendix, p. 32. Inmates of an Almshouse can not g; School-district in which the building is s registration they had when they entered. Laws of 1S88. Inmates of an Almshouse can not gain a voting residence in the *_j169 , Voting." School-district in which the building is situated : i. e., they retain the * These are elsewhere entitled Almshouses — their first explicit mention in oar Statutes. In 1813 the institution makes its first appearance with the name of Asylums for the poor. The English workhouse has long been, what it is now, a combination of almshouse and workhouse. And there were establishments of that composite character in this State at least as early as 1S15. Mr. Hoadly has shown us a copy of the "Rules and By-Laws for the Almshouse and House of Employment'* at Middletown in 1S15. And on the same page is the title, M A By-Law Constituting a part of the Middletown Asylum for the Poor, a Workhouse." Silas Deane, writing from Philadelphia in 1774, describes with great enthusiasm his visit to the " Bettering House'* there. And a private act seems to have been passed by our Legislature at about that time allowing the erection of an institution somewhere in this State under the same name. For Mr. Deane's letter see Conn. Historical Sx'y. CoV'n., Vol. 2, p. 177. III. DEVELOPMENT OF CONNECTICUT LAWS IN THE MATTER OF ILLITERACY, IDLENESS, VAGRANCY, DRUNKEN- NESS, AND THE LIKE. " The selectmen f shall have a vigilant eye over their brethren and Laws of 1650.* ' ° ■* Barbarism in neighbours to see first that none of them shall suffer so much Bar- Families, p. 521. barisme in anye of their family es as not to indeavor to teach by them- selves, or others, theire children and apprentices so much Learning as may enable them perfectly to reade the Inglish tounge." And the selectmen are empowered to take "rude and stubborne children and servants from masters of families negligent of their duty and place them with masters — boys until they are 21, and girls until they are 18." "Everv constable within our jurisdiction shall henceforth have f ull Drunkenness d and vagrancy, power ... to apprehend without warrant such as are overtaken p. 522. with drink, swearing, Sabbath-breaking, slighting of the ordinances, lying, vagrant persons, night-walkers . . . and those to appre- hend and keepe in safe custody till opportunity serves to bring them before one" of the next magistrates J for further examination." "It is ordered . . . that no person, householder or other, idleness, p. 528. shall spend his time idly or vnprofStably under pain of such punish- ment as the Courte shall think need to inflict." " No person licensed, for common interteinement shall suffer any to Excessive bee drunken or drink excessively, viz. : above halfe a pinte of wyne 533-4. 1 B1 for one person at one time, or to continue tipling above the space of halfe an houre, or at vnseasonable times, or after nine of the clock at night." . . . "And every person found, drunken, viz.: so that hee bee thereby bereaved or disabled in the vse of his vnderstand- ing, appearing in his speech or gesture . . . shall forfeit 10 shil- lings ; and for excessive drinking, 3 s. 4 d., and for continuing above half an houre tipling, 2/6, and for tipling at vnreasonable times, or after 9 o'clock at night, five s. for every offence in these perticulars, being lawfully convicted thereof ; and for want of payment, such shall bee imprisoned until they pay, or bee set to the stocks one houre or * Citations are from Hoadly's Colonial Records, Vol. I. + These are variously entitled in the old records and laws, " Able and discreet men" " Tovvne's men " ; " Select persons," and finally " Selectmen.'" % The Next magistrate was the most convenient one. 40 more, in some open place, as the weather will permitt not exceeding 3 honres at one time. . . . And it is also ordered that if any per- son offend in drunkenness, excessive or long drinking, the second time they shall paye double fynes ; And if they fall into the same offence the third time, they shall paye treble fynes ; And if the parties bee not able to paye their fynes, then hee that is found drunke shall bee punished by whipping to the number of 10 strypes, and he that offends by excessive or long drinking, shall bee put into the stocks for 3 houres, when the weather may not hazzard his life or limbs : And if they offend the fourth time they shall bee imprisoned vntill they put in two sufficient sureties for their good behaviour." LO p. ?! 55 f () Suff^age, "If an y person within these Liberties have beene or shall bee fyned or whipped for any scandalous offence, hee shall not bee ad- . mitted after such time to have any voate in Towne or Common wealth, nor to Serve on the Jury untill the Courte shall manifest theire satis- faction. La o7o S °L m5 ' p - In Hartford, or in her default in New Haven, or in hers in New 343. (Same as ' ' 1702.) London, at charge of this Colony, a fit and convenient House or Houses of Correction, "to be used and imployed for the keeping, cor- rection^ C Qf! rectm K anc * setting to work of Rogues, Vagabonds, Common Boggers, fenders. an( j other Lewd. Idle, Dissolute and Disorderly Persons " : The County Court of said County is to direct the Building of the same, and to ap- By whom com-p i n t a fit master. Said Court, or any Court in this Colony, or any 2 Justices of the Peace, Quorum Unus, * or an Assistant and Justice of the Peace to "send and commit unto the Said House, to be kept and governed according to the Rules and Orders thereof all Rogues, Vaga- bonds, Idle, Dissolute Persons, going about in Town or County Begg- ing, or Persons using any Subtil Craft, Jugling, or unlawful games or Playes ; or feigning themselves to have knowledge in Physiognomy, Palmestry ; or pretending they can tell Destinies, Fortunes, or Dis- cover where Lost and Stolen Goods may be found ; Common Pipers, Fidlers, Run- A ways, Stubborn Servants or Children, Common Drunkards, Common Night Walkers, Pilferers, Wanton or Lascivious Persons, either in Speech or Behaviour, Common Railers and Brawlers, such as neglect their Callings, Misspend what they Earn and do not Provide for themselves or the Support of their Families ; Upon due consideration of any of the offences or Disorders aforesaid ; as also insane included. Persons under Distraction and unfit to go at Large whose Friends do Term of confine- not take care for their confinement." These the Master "shall set to Work and Labour" for such times as they shall be ordered to remain *The Quorum Unus \x&s a superior kind of Justice of the Peace, who acted as assessor with the Judge of the County Court. The Law required one Judge and two Justices, and these were indicated at the head of the list as competent to serve in this capacity. 41 and Continue — no time being specified — may punish by "Shackles, Moderate Whipping not exceeding X Strypes at once," or by " abridg- ing them of their food." The Court is to make necessary Rules. Discipline and 11 Suitable Materials, such as are Necessary and Convenient for the keeping of such Persons to work during their Aboad there" to be furnished by the Town, if the person belong to a Town, if not by the Colony. Two-thirds of their earnings only to be devoted to the support of the inmates; the balance to be accounted for by the master. But if they Profit of work are heads of families, then "the whole profit and benefit of their labors, or so much as the said County Court shall direct, shall be for the relief and support of their families. If they be sick, weak, or un- able to work, they are to be relieved by the master, who shall be reim- bursed. Tne "civil authority" may order any vagrant or suspected person warning and to be sent back from constable to constable to the place from whence reraoval »P- 60 * he came, unless said person can produce good certificate of behavior: . . . and if such person shall return and abide in such town after warning to depart, "they shall be severely Whipt, not exceeding Ten Stripes." If persons are reduced or likely to be reduced to want by idleness, Laws of 1750 mismanagement, or bad husbandry, the selectmen may appoint an idleness, etc. overseer. If this do not suffice for their reform, they may obtain a warrant and summon the person before a justice of the peace, and, on his advice, may take them and their families under their care, to "assign, bind, and dispose of in service as they may judge best." The several county courts are directed and required forthwith to p. 267. erect or provide houses of correction for -rogues, vagabonds, com- Houses of cor- mon beggars, and other lewd, idle, dissolute, profane, and disorderly persons, and for setting them to work." And a special tax may be assessed by the courts for the same. Later the preceding is altered so that the courts may not order the p. -272. erection of " work -houses, " as, they are here called, without the consent of the majority of the justices of the peace. Vagrants are classed with "suspected and transient persons." and Vagrants, may be sent back whence they came, and if they return, after formal warning, are to be "whipt on the naked body not exceeding ten stripes, and again be sent as often as there shall be occasion." Prisoners for debt and felons shall not be lodged together in any Debt, p. S3, common jail or prison in one room. Any person found drunken so that he be thereby bereaved and stock?, p. 45. disabled in the use of his reason, etc., to be fined 8 shillings; failing 42 means to pay, to be set in the stocks not less than one, nor more than three, hours. Indian?. Indians convicted of drunkenness are to be fined five shillings, or else to be whipped not exceeding ten stripes. Laws of 1784, Substantially the same as for 1715 and 1750. Laws of 1808. " Warning," and whipping for return are still retained. Laws of 1821. Warning and whipping still retained. Drunkenness is punished by a $2 fine. Common drunkards are included in the following: Title 109, Sec. 7. < i All sturdy beggars, who go from door to door; ... all vagabonds and vagrants; ... all persons who run away and leave their wives and children to be supported by the town; all who misspend what they earn and do not provide for the support of themselves and fami- lies; all common prostitutes and common drunkards may be committed to the House of Correction and sentenced to hard labor for such time as the court shall think proper, not exceeding 40 days." "Two or Sec. 9. more towns may unite in building, occupying, and maintaining a work-house in such manner and on such terms as they shall agree." At the close of title 109 of this revision (1821) there is the fol- lowing note : Revisers' note. " In the revision of 1702 there is a statute constituting the gaols in the several counties houses of correction, and in the revision of 1 750 there is a statute directing each county to erect houses of correction, and containing regulations for the government of them. No houses of correction have been erected by any county. The legislature has from time to time authorized particular towns to erect workhouses, and in 1813 gave the same power to every town. Where they have been erected they have been found to answer an important purpose. Should the regulations of this statute be carried into effect in the several towns, there can be no question but that the discipline of the workhouse would be more effectual to restrain the commission of crimes of an inferior degree than any other punishment that can be devised" — an over-sanguine prediction, at least with such terms of detention as have been assigned for these crimes ! Laws of 1838. Justices of the peace may send to workhouse, or house of correc- tion, wherever by the statute they may send to the jail — as at increased pen- present. The maximum is ninety days. Surplus earnings may still go to the family. " Sturdy beggars " and " common drunkards " may have 40 days' sentence. Laws of 1849. " Sturdy beggars and common drunkards " now may have 60 days. Laws of 1866. The preceding is unchanged. Laws of 1888. The jails of the several counties are county workhouses, and under ion.* eS reV1S control of the county commissioners, as the town workhouses are of the selectmen. 43 Persons liable to be committed to any town workhouse may be Sec. 3410. committed to the county workhouse, or to the common jail, for 60 Jaiie. days, or on second offense for 120 days, and costs satisfied. Reproduces the former language concerning beggars, etc., but Sec. 3400. omits tha word "sturdy," consecrated by use in the English laws from the fourteenth century.* It meant able-bodied; and with it disappears, in our law, tolerance of begging by any person, whether able-bodied or not. The penalty for this class of persons — which includes common drunkards — is 60 days, and for second offense 120. Neglect to support family, unless physical incapacity or other good sec. 3402. cause can be shown, has 60 days. A new term appears — tramps. These are defined to be " tran- sees. 1546-51. rir r Tramps. sient persons" ; persons "who rove about begging" ; all "vagrants living without labor, or visible means of support," who "stroll over the country without lawful occasion." The maximum penalty is one year in State prison. Sheriffs, constables, policemen, special officers, if such be required, may arrest without warrant and prosecute them, and a reward of $5 from the State treasury is paid for every such arrest. Any act of beggary or vagrancy by a person not a resident of this State is prima facie evidence that the person is a tramp. Ex- cepted from the operation of the law are females, the blind, persons under 16, and "beggars roving within the limits of the town in which they reside. This last is suggestive of the old English " Begging license"f of 1531, 1555, and 1563, repealed in 1572. To such extent does history repeat itself ! * Richard II., A. D. 1388 — " Sturdy vagabonds, valiant beggars." t Permitted in parishes which were specially burdened by the care of their poor. v. Asch- rott. Das Englische Armenwesen, p. 58; and Appendix, p. 52. :~~ _.__„._•. _ ._..._.-- . " •- ; i -- I . 1. Hat t&ejr lecnnre ■ : *' ;■."" 'i ::i:: '>:>l~ 7 ir :i:" mi: : ' . -7' 2 _' .' '•!.".- 7 ■ ■ »::» -1 . - : ". *" t : * : - * . . 7 2 2? 2 _ : V2ie : : • :.: ~:e ::i. .r« : . 222 1—77-2 :;:::: - - : " - : - : t 2 " 2 j ' :' 2: " : • - - ~ i .22 - 2 - 2 — " _ ' 22 ■ 2 • "2 22 -r5 "t 7 '- 1 ~ ~ " 7 - L-2 .22 2 ' < 22 - - ~ 22 I 2 _ ~ -• 2 • _ fi2--7 " . - 2_. -t . ■ — I 2_ : j . - ~ _ i ; - - - -_ _-;-■• ..r " " _ v 2 : •-- : < : -J ■MtBWBrymr ocu>c&. tie Tlpiie is nfejject to be nuurfL p r im£siiel t.i 2 22 2.1 2_2.l : \?r- : I ; : - • : - * ■- : ■ ^ - : ?•: -?•-■ : > - - 2 r - . 2. - - v- ■=■ ---.22 "2," 2"'- --2 7 -2- 2 21 t **"7 ' " ! -21 . 22 ~ -r - 2 " 7 7~ I .2 7 22 - 2 " 7 7 - 7 . . 7 L2 _ 2c 2_ 2_ . - - 2 * . "- 2- ' 2 . " . - 2 ' > 2 .2 2. " 2" - - L- ' '- 2" 12. ~ " . "" : 2 - 7 " _ ' 1 2-H- ". 22271 : "It 22 V 22rTr ~ _- .' "_l~r 'keesm. am oyarartaft vriieiraift fn bee fcrefl :-: ironed tts "bj die Girderly iioan : '2- 22! 7122 17 ; " 22. - " 2- 2 - " 2 7 .' 2 2.-' ~_- 2 7 22 " 7 r : t! 7~r p&mttis §w eMwry moasii i® be leecrr^:^.. *t :^t ~ : vufzi-r 22 221 i : : 7 7- : : _:■_ ~ .2 : " 2 - ; 2_ - . 2 - v 1 1 : " : **t_l: - 2 " _ - : : : _ - . -r : : ' _ 7 _ - 22 1 .- _.-.:_:'-' 2 - • - : 7 -.£"__.-: 7 : 7 7 7 2^ .-- 2 : .- ' ' : r caledl i»aia . 3 : emu cy* file cbim and beaiie al jast ti&mi&cigEs c sftallll atoana: 1.2 y* mwutt sfc.e: p - X 2I~ *'27IilL- 2i t2L 7-7 I'TcC 171 r IK." "7.1.7!" 7272 127»r 7 I V22 7 2 ~" 1 "" i ""7 1 j':m tt.'iitiiw""" ' ~ - ■"" Z . . - - - . 45 Nath 1 Cimberly "of New haven" is '-reserved." w.iuneieeo. "The towne by their vote gave Jarred Spencer liberty to dwell 20 Aug. 1660. amongst us an inhabitant w" 1 us at Hartford." " At a publique towne meeteinge at Hartford, complaynt beeing Deer, the 9th, made agenst M r "Casper Verlett for bringinge in a Dutch man named p. 107. Boltus Sz bis wife into y e towne & turneinge y m of in such a manner as the towne is not secured: the towne judgd his cariadg y r in as p r iudicall & offensiue & y r fore order y e selectmen to speake w th M r Verlett & in case he Sathisfie not y e selectmen, then they are togiue him warneinge to attend his bond to say to remove w th in 12 month or pay 100 le or stand to a tryall at y e court."* Care of Sick. " At the same towne meating the towne granted tenn pounds to be January me 7th, payed out of their rate towards M 1 ' Stone's charge of physicke wich he p. 83. hath taken of M r Rosseter" — this at a time when, in the annual inventory of the Town's belongings, the exact whereabouts of the Feb. 23, 1654. 11 towne clocke" and the '-towne chayne " is indicated. The former is at " Goodman Prat's," the latter at " Richerd Butler's," one of the "townesmen." Provision for and Disposal of Poor. "The Towne by their voat apoynted the townsmen in being ", — 2 on Feb. 17, 1664. the " north side;" 2 on the " south side " — " to use their best descretion in providing and disposing of goody Kely and hur child either to put out the child and prouid for hur, or provid for them together as they shall se caus according to ther best descretion." The Town apprentices j- John Arnold to Ann Sanford, her heirs, Dec. 29,1676. executors, or administrators for 15 years. The "Selectmen" act as the Town's representative in this transaction. * This is the first case under the Town Vote of Feb. 14, 1659. It also contains the first men tion of " Selectmen." But at the next annual meeting, Feb. 23, 1662, they chose " Towneemen " as before. t "The Selectmen in obseruance of the order title Poore, page 57, (revision 1673:— that "the Selectmen may place out neglected children into good families") did put John Arnold an apprentice,'" etc. DIGEST OF TOWN VOTES CONCERNING WORKHOUSE AND ALMSHOUSE.* Vol. 3, p. 64 : Dec. 3i. 1811. Committee appointed to consider the expediency of altering the mode of supporting the poor of the town, and also whether it be ex- pedient to establish a temporary almshouse and workhouse, and to re- port to some future meeting of the town. Id. 64 and 65 : 3d"Monday, It- was resolved as the sense of the meeting u that all the town January, 1812. p 0Qr ^ e SU pp 0r t e d at the place or places where the selectmen have or shall have a general contract for the support of the poor, except in some special or extraordinary cases, when the selectmen for the time being shall otherwise direct." " Resolved, That in the opinion of this meeting it is expedient for the town to establish a temporary almshouse and workhouse" V>4ed, That Enoch Perkins, Esq.. together with the selectmen, be a committee in behalf of this town to petition the General Assembly at their next session to grant authority to this town to establish a work- house therein, and to ordain such by-laws as may be judged necessary relative to the persons to be committed to such workhouse, to the manner of their being committed and confined therein, and to the well-ordering and governing such house and keeping the persons con- fined therein to labour.'* Id. 66 : 4th Monday. A committee was appointed to consider the expediency of estab- Nov., 1812. ]j snm g a temporary workhouse and to negotiate with the proprietor of such buildings as may be found convenient for that purpose in regard to the using of such buildings as a workhouse, and to frame a system of regulations for the purpose aforesaid and report make to an ad- journed town meeting. Id. 69 : Lan Monday. Dwelling-house of Ashbel Seymour and appurtenant buildings consti- Dec. 1812. f-uted an d established a workhouse. Various bv-laws : Compiled by A. L. Shipman. Esq. 47 1. Selectmen for time being are made overseers of workhouse according to statute. This statute entitled " an act to enable the town of Hartford to establish a workhouse and to ordain by-laws for the government thereof' was passed in May, 1812, and is printed on page 1521, Vol. I and II of the Private Laws. 2. Provisions of the statute are made applicable as to the time and mode of being confined. 3. As to who shall send inmates to the workhouse. 4. Selectmen to establish regulations, etc. These by-laws to re- main in force until January 1, 1814, unless revived. Id. 71 : " Voted, That those persons who are sent by the selectmen of 4th Monday, » f J Nov., 1813. Hartford to the poorhouse for support shall not leave said house and farm without a written pass signed by a majority of the selectmen, and if they do leave said house and farm without said pass they shall suffer such suitable punishment as said selectmen shall direct to be inflicted." Id. 72 : By-laws of last Monday of December, 1812, is continued in force Dec. 31, 1813. until January 1, 1815. Id. 77: (Former provision having expired by lapse of time.) Committee Nov. 27, 1815. was appointed to take into consideration the subject of building a workhouse and a poorhouse. Id. 78: Committee reappointed. Dec. 29, i8is, Id. 83 : Committee reported and it was voted : Dec. 16, 1816. 1. That town poor be supported in one place by contract except in extreme cases. 2. Selectmen frame proper resolutions. 3. Binding out children. Id. 88 : Committee appointed to prepare a plan for supporting poor of Dec. 29, 1817. town, ascertaining suitable site for erection of building, etc. Id. 102 : Another committee appointed. Nov. 26, 1821. Id. 103 : Committee reported and it was voted : March 21,1822. 1. That it is expedient to adopt proper measures for the procurement of an almshouse ivith suitable apartments and appurtenances for a work- house. 2. Committee appointed to select a suitable site. 48 3. Committee authorized to borrow $5,000 for the purpose. Id. 105 : Nov. 25. 1822. Committee appointed to frame laws and regulations for the manage- ment and government of the almshouse and workhouse lately erected pursuant to a vote of the town, and for the employment and control of those persons that shall be sent to the same, and their report make to an adjourned town meeting. " Id. 105 : Dec. 30. i822.| Committee reported and it was voted : •'That the new brick building erected on the town lands latelv pur- chased, or such part thereof as may be necessary be. and the same hereby is, appropriated to be improved in future by this town as and for a workhoust." Regulations were established : " That the old dwelling-house standing on said town lands, and so much of the new building as shall not be otherwise used, be improved for an aim sic By-laws and rules established, among which: "All the poor whom this town is liable by law to support shall be placed in the almshouse, and in case any one who wpplics for assistance shall refuse to receive his support On i a situation to be removed to it, such refusal shall be prima facie evidence that he is not in Provided, however, that this rule shall not prevent the selectmen from affording aid otherwise in cases where economy, humanity, ornecessitv require it." All the labor pertaining to the institution, so far as may be prac- ticable, shall be done by the poor t or by persons sent to the u and the latter while employed in the almshouse shall conform to its rules, but in case of disobedience shall be punished only by the master of the workhouse according to their original sentence. [X. B. Two masters. (1) workhouse. (2) almshouse.] •None of the poor shall leave the workhouse limits without a ticket from the masters, which shall be returned to him. Nor shall any ticket for leave of absence be given but for special and urgent reasons, and in no case to a person sentenced to the workhouse until his sentence is expired." That the selectmen shall not, after the poor shall have been placed in the almshouse, expend during the current year more than $200 for the relief or support of the poor in this town, except at the alms- house. Id. Ill : Nov. 24. 1S23. Meeting approved of purchase by selectmen of a small piece o^ land for the accommodation of almshouse. 49 Id. 118: Given authority to purchase additional land not exceeding- in value Not., 1886. $2,000. Id. 131: Committee -appointed to present a plan for improving the town 4th Monday, poorhosse. workhouse, and hospital establishment. Id. 135 : Committee enlarged by four more members and instructed to re- Nov. 30. 1829. port at next meeting. Id. 199: Another committee appointed to ascertain and report to a future Dee.,l8S8. meeting a plan and the estimated expense of an almshouse and work- house for the town of Hartford. Id. 209 : Committee reported and exhibited a plan; the subject was post- Dec. 9, 1S39. poned until meeting on the 30th inst. Id. 212 : Subject recommitted to a committee : Dec. 30, 1839. Voted, " That the committee be requested to present to the town a plan for the improvement of the present Town House buildings, and for such additions thereto as may appear to them to be necessary ; also that they report upon the expediency of erecting entirely new buildings either of wood or of brick, and that said plans shall separate the criminals from the poor : also that they report upon the expediency of having a workhouse in a new location, and that a separate estimate of each plan be presented."' Id. 219 : Committee reported and committee appointed to prepare a plan. Dec. 14, i840. Id. 221 : Plan of new almshouse approved. Appointment of committee to Jar. n.isii. erect. Authorized a to make alterations in the details of plan as they deem expedient with the approval of the selectmen. Id. 224 : Committee appointed "to take into consideration the subject of Oct. 24, i84i. providing a suitable hospital for the sick at the almshouse, and also the expediency of providing a workhouse and suitable regulations therefor, and also the propriety of taking down or disposing of the old buildings now used as an almshouse and a workhouse." Id. 228 : Committee last named reported; recommitted for further con- Dec. 15, is4i. sideration. Almshouse committee reported. i I:. .:. *ii -: Committee on hospital and workhouse repor: Voted, '-It be referred to the selectmen to provi ie at then cretion suitable accommodations in the new alms b of the workhouse," and also for the e VoL 4, p. 61. i-: is- Selectmen directed to inquire into the expedien house property and making other provision for the support of those persons who are sent there and to rep: Id. 94: :: :>-:- Report that it would not be expedient. Id. 1S6 : Committee appointed to devise a plan for sale of town farm. Id. I Nor.i3.i8iL 3 ectmen are hereby requested to petition the next Genera sembly for power to take as much land as they may deem proper for purpose of an almshouse, under power of eminent domain. After obtaining such authority, selectmen are authorized to parch take so much land as they may deem proper for an al oro- :ed that such purchase may first be approved by a town meeting .".u'.v -\zz- : The following resolution was then passed, to wit : As the sense of this meeting that criminals should not he kept in the same building with our pot - ition was passed on * m of Mr. W ri :-.::. r :-'.■: J. .15: Voted, That a : be appointed by meeting to select a site for a pes" illding, it not being expe- dient to put the building on the present town farm, and also Id. 217 : - '--'-- Committee of five presented a ma; report. Z .:- ha Johnson presented a vote to pure has in almsh and the necessary and convenient Ian — Peckham's 7arm on" --' Meeting divided and adjourned. Id. 233 : "i-. ':■'. .r r - -ibject, same El was voted that George E William J. Hamersley, John L. Bonce, A. E. Burr, and James 3 Batterson be appointed a com examii a fu- ture meeting upon the expediency of parch _ ; wn farm or : 51 land for the town, and upon the propriety of separating the town poor from its criminals. Id. 235 : Committee presented a majority and minority report; no definite Oct. 2, 1875. action taken. Id. 278 : Selectmen directed to require keeper of townhouse to make a Oct. 15, 1877. monthly detailed statement of all receipts and expenditures by him on account of town house and town farm. Id. 357 : Appointment of committee to examine and investigate charges Jan. 16, 1880. against George Goyt, superintendent, Eli Warner, W. W. Knight, physicians, and inquire into management. Id. 358 : Report favorable to management accepted. Jan. so, l&so. Id. 361 : Committee appointed to co-operate and advise with all town offi Feb. 26, 1880. cers in regard to more systematic classification of accounts. Id. 361 : Selectmen appointed a committee to confer with selectmen of vari- ous towns of Hartford county, as to the expediency of establishing a county almshouse and a county workhouse to be placed under man- agement of a Board of Charities and Correction. First selectmen authorized to contract with George Goyt as super- intendent of the almshouse and workhouse. Id. 380 : Resolved that the selectmen he, and they are hereby, instructed to give Dec - 6, 1880. more careful attention to the management of the almshouse and outdoor alms, to see to it that the town shall not support able-bodied men, and especially to incur no new liabilities for rents ; to pay not more than §3 or $.£ per month in any of the present cases, and to discontinue this form of alms as rapidly as possible. Id. 455. Sum not exceeding $8,000 appropriated for the purpose of erect- 0ct - 27 « 18 ^. ing under the supervision of the selectmen a dormitory, barn, and out- buildings upon the town property upon Vine street. Appropriation of §87,000 for the erecting " upon the site of the Oct. 26, 1 885. new town farm an almshouse and other necessary buildings for the use of the town." Vote validated February 10, 1886 (Special Laws, Vol. X. p. 200), "That the vote passed by the town meeting in the town of Hartford, on the 26th day of October, 1885, appropriating $87,000 for the pur- pose of erecting an almshouse and other buildings for the use of the town be and the same hereby is validated and confirmed without further action of the town or its citizens." TX SKETCH 7 THE III 7 Z 7 7 7 -H POOR LA" —7:7 7717 ILL"'-" 77 : Tne church loo^ e poor until - — ingjh 7 7 r 5 : r -r s : »■*- -_ Thus, in 91 Lgabond- '•--'-• -- -:-".: - ::>T_::;e::::a::«: fri- :: : 7v^.:l1 i to be hang. 5-rrr r egging licenses, in specific: A.D.B3L r issued to the non-abie- bodied. » Pe "' j vni, Tbe monastic houses _ «een suppressed, the State order at jre to - i ck, and alms from the church bo I Tate _ - - subject is not neglected ning reigns, bat Elisabeth ^ractensbc energy. In l; rders that all income - ■> may be put to work on farms or at their trb -o justices of the peac-r _. the old begging Hcenaps are withdrawn. Private aims- - - _ realm of England and Wales be presently with rogues, vaga- _ ■ - ■ ■ daily happeneth in the same realm, horrible murders, ihefts, and ' -\ _ :-jt 7 ---.■ beggai - be branded upon the shoulder, and a fine of twenty i upon '-any person harbouring or giving mc lodging, or other relief to any such — whether marked or not ~! In - . ton of alms had been inwtitnted who were to make lists of the poor and of the contributions for their support, and to 53 bishop was to be called upon to reprimand the hard-hearted ; and in 1563, the justice of the peace was to be invoked to " move and per- suade" those who had been proof to the bishop's admonitions. But now (in 15*72) the justice can act immediately and fix the amount of the weekly contribution of those who have refused to give vol- untarily. In 1575-6, it is ordered that wool, hemp, and iron be kept on hand in order to provide work for beggars. On their refusual to work they are to be severely punished. This year, houses of correc- Houpes of c«> r - e , . ., , . . , rection, A. D tion for the incorrigible are instituted. 1575-G Twenty years later, overseers of the poor follow — to be appointed Overseers of in every parish by justices of the peace. Sir Francis Bacon was a 3, a.d 1597-& member of the committee which reported this act. The report in- eluded other social and economical improvements l which were incor- porated in later acts. Of these latter the most systematic was that of 1601. It omits the former cruel penalties for begging and introduces Taxation tor the taxation for the care of the poor instead of the already described 2, a.'d.'igoi. ' largely voluntary contributions. It imposes upon the overseers the duty of binding out, until they are twenty-four and twenty-one respectively, boys and girls whose " parents shall not be thought able to keep and maintain them." For the able-bodied adult, work is, as formerly, to be provided ; for the non-able-bodied, support at home or in poorhouses. The erection of houses of correction — instituted in 1575-6 — is Houses of uor- rection, 7 Jae. m 1610 ordered in all the parishes. I, 4. a. d. In 1662, under Charles IT, legal settlement appears. The poor Leg'iSettiem'nt had tended to settle in, and overburden the richer parishes. For the A.D a i'662.' 12, remedying of this alleged evil it is provided that when a person enters a parish who seems " likely to become chargeable " and is un- able to give security that the parish shall be made good in case he becomes chargeable to it, the church wardens, or the overseers, may within forty days lodge a complaint ; and any two justices of the peace may thereupon send the person back to the place where he last had a legal settlement. This latter is defined as capable of acquisition by birth ; property in one's own right ; residence, apprenticeship, or service during a period of at least forty days. The possession of a certificate of residence saves the old settlement in case of removal. This is the original of our legal settlement. The act was unfair and worked harm to everybody. Men with families especially clung to their parishes whether they had work there or not, rather than run 1 Erection of hospitals for the poor; to reform breaches of trust touching lands given to charitable uses : concerning laborers, etc. 54 any risk by seeking work elsewhere. The pauper population in- creased with great rapidity and, with it, the poor rates. Litigation be- tween parishes concerning their mutual obligations was rife. Abun- dant judicial decisions and new laws were not long in following, with ever increasing confusion and litigation. Real care for the poor seemed often swallowed up in the anxiety of the local authorities to discharge every possible burden upon other communities — a thing not unknown among us. 8 & 9 win. in. In 1696, ''shall have become chargeable" — our own statutory language — is substituted for "likely to become chargeable" — a great improvement. First Workho'ee In 1697, follows bv special act of Parliament the erection of the 1697. . first workhouse at Bristol. It was to provide work for the able- bodied. Houses for the poor, incapable of work, had already been ordered in 1601. In the apparent success of the plan here, especially in reducing beggary, other places followed. The author 1 of Rob- inson Crusoe complained of what he called the injustice of compelling other labor to compete with pauper labor. Parliament, however, au- thorized parishes, either alone, or in union with others, to erect work- 9 George I, 17, houses ; and declared that no pauper who should refuse to enter such A. D 1723. a house should be entitled to further support — the workhouse test, since called. Under the new law the expenditures for the poor fell, in spite of considerable increase in population, from £819,000 in 1698 to £619,000 in 1750. They had been £188,811 in 1650 ! The peculiar humanitarianism of the French Revolutionary period now comes to the front. The distinction between able-bodied and non-able-bodied begins to be obscured. The idea that the people are, above all, to be kept in a good humor, leads to laxness on the part of Gilberts Act. the overseers. The most important act of the period is Gilbert's Act, 22 Geo. III., 83. . . . ,. , • • , , -, . A. d. 1782. which allows combinations of parishes for common poor-law admin- istration and transfers to guardians of the poor most of the duties of the overseers. The latter only keep the levying and collecting of the rates. Almshouses are provided for the old and sick and for mothers with illegitimate children. Work is to be furnished near their own homes, instead of in the workhouse, for able-bodied paupers. Their earnings go into the local treasury, and the balance needed for their maintenance comes out of the poor funds ! Speenhamiand In 1795 the Berkshire scheme is authorized. It attempted to fix ' a minimum wage, regulated upon the price of wheat and the size of the laborer's family ; and the difference between actual earnings and this was to come from the poor fund. This was taken up eagerly in 1 Daniel Defoe, in a pamphlet Giving Alms, no Charity, etc., 1704. 55 many places. It weakened the sense of responsibility in employers and employed, pulled down wages, and, like the preceding act, placed a premium upon unskilfulness, laziness, and improvidence. It discrimi- nated against other classes of the population, who must reduce their expenditures with a rise in provisions, while the laborer was assured his living, whatever its cost and his character, and however large his family. What was discretionary under Gilbert's act is now made obliga- outdoor Help tory. The able bodied must be helped at home, in '-case of sickness 36 Geo. Ill, 23, or distress." And justices of the peace were permitted to interpret the law and to overrule the overseers. Nineteen years later, any single justice is allowed to give an order for three months' home sup- port and any two for six months. " Kind-hearted justices " were in demand, and the poor budget rises in 1817 to £7,870,801, with a population of eleven millions.* In 1817 a special Parliamentary committee reported that the pre- vailing system threatened to swallow up the property on which the rates were levied. And in 1819 the Select Vestries act is passed. It select Vestries gives from one to six votes, according to tax-list, in parish elections. 58 Geo. in, 12, The parish vestry may choose a committee, or select vestry, for poor management. Distinction between deserving and lazy is insisted upon, and investigation ordered. Help is sometimes to be treated as a loan. Paid assistant overseers are instituted. The Vagrants act of 1824, still in force, made three distinctions: Vagrants act. 1. Idle and Disorderly — Persons who neglected to support their 1824. ' families, open beggars, etc. ; penalty, one month in House of Correc- tion. 2. Rogues and Vagabonds — Persons without visible means of sup- port and those offending a second time under the first class ; penalty, three months. 3. Incorrigible Rogues — Persons who resisted officers and those guilty of second offenses under the second class ; penalty, one year in House of Correction, and, for males, the whipping-post. In 1832J- the famous Royal Commission is appointed "to make a diligent and full inquiry into the practical operations of the law for the relief of the poor." Arrangements are made, by a system of assistant commissioners, to secure accurate information of the working of the existing law and of foreign systems. In 1 834 comes the celebrated report of this commission. Workhouses Report of 1834. are found occupied often by families, in which generation after gene- * $3.58 per capita. Ours was $2.05 per capita in 1885. t Reform was in the air. Slavery was abolished in 1833. Self-government for the cities came in 1835 through the Municipal Corporation act. 56 ration of children had been born* — no classification, no discipline. Support at home, so far as given, consists chiefly in rent and orders. The latter are working largely into the private business of the over- seers : the former has developed a lively trade in tumble-down houses, the owners of which draw a sure income from the public treasury. Most of the expenditures, however, are in the shape of money allow- ances — otherwise called bread, or head money. The ticket system is of frequent use. The poor man received from the parish a ticket directed to some employer guaranteeing to the latter the difference between what the man could earn and the cost of maintaining him and his family. He had to be supported, so the determination who should discharge the duty was sometimes made by lot ! The independent laborer was found to be oppressed by the reduction in wages which the system induced, and depressed in spirits at the sight of the lazy ancl unskilful better cared for physically than he. Free movement in search of better work was hindered by the operation of the laws of settlement and removal. Overseers were often incapable of reading. Small shopkeepers ruled the vestry for their own ends. The educated classes kept aloof. The justices, who might have forced them to serve, preferred to choose from the lists given them by the general vestry or by the retiring overseers. The clerk often dominated and ruled by threats. The approval of the annual statement of expenditures had become a pure formality. The laws were found to be bad. their administration still worse. 4and5Will.iv, On the report of this commission followed the Act of 1834, which 76, A. D. 1834. r has remained essentially unchanged to our day. This appoints three commissioners, chosen by the Crown, who hold office for five years, make general regulations for poor administration in the whole of England and Wales, and are responsible to the home secretary. They Unions may unite parishes into common administrations, called unions, for common administration, order changes in workhouses and regulate outdoor relief. Local management is left to guardians, overseers, and justices. The responsible agent" of the board is the clerk ; the active agent, the relieving officer. The fundamental principle of this law is that ■ ■•' the condition of the pauper ought to be, on the whole, less desirable than that of the independent laborer, and that distribution in money or goods is incon- sistent with this principle." Outdoor Pro- The Outdoor Prohibitory order of 1844 prohibits outdoor relief to ^hibitory or- ,,..,,. , . - , , der. A. d. the able bodied, save in case of sudden ana pressing necessity. * We are informed that representatives of three generations couid lately be found in the almshouse of a rural town in this State— the latest one born there ! 57 The duties of the three commissioners of 1834, greatly enlarged, Poor Law P , i , , ..„.,' , Board or com- are now transferred to a central board, consisting of a president, named miBsionere. 10 by the Crown, and, as ex-qffieio members, the President of the Council, \m. a. d. the Lord Privy Seal, the principal Secretary of State for the Home Department, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. These name a secretary and inspectors. The latter visit almshouses, and may at- tend — without a vote — meetings of the local boards of guardians. In 1852 outdoor relief to able-bodied females is limited to one week and to special objects — what we call strictly temporary ; while to able-bodied males such help is forbidden, unless they are in literal want. Agitation concerning the laws of removal led to fixing the term at Peers act. o . , „ „ /f . , . , and 10 Vict., five years, in 1846 — military or naval service, imprisonment, residence 1S46. in hospital, or time during which public help had been received, not to be included. In 1861 the term of settlement was reduced to three years, and 3 years, residence in any parish in the union sufficed. And so it still remains. Removal by the authorities may be effected during the first year alone. In Scotland, five years' residence secures settlement, and removal may follow at any time during this term. In Ireland, there is no law as to either settlement or removal. Public opinion in England seems to favor the suppression of the removal clause in the law, save in seaports. A Parliamentary report recommended this in 1879. but nothing has come of it. Conferences between representatives of unions, for the improve- c °g fe ^ C 4~" nient of the administration, received statutory sanction in the act of Y}$}- : A - D - 1833. 1883. In 1870 the London Charity organization was set up, designed to be a means of communication between the public and private institu- tions of benevolence,* on one side, and the poor-law authorities on the other. It is a purely voluntary society and has a number of branches in various places. The final change of importance in the central administration came Local govern- ° *- ment board in 1871. The Local Government is an enlargement of the Poor-Law act. 34 and ° 35 Vict., 70, A. Commissioners Board of 1847. Its composition is substantially the D. 1S71. same, but its president has ministerial rank. Its scope appears in the title of its annual publications down to 1875-76 : 1. Relief of the Poor : 2, Sanitary acts ; 3. Public Health. Since 1875-76, their titles are : 1, Administration of the laws relative to the relief of the poor ; 2, Administration of the laves affecting local government and public health ; 3, Local taxation and valuation. * The income and disbursements of these in London alone amounted to from twenty to thirty-five millions of dollars in 1863. The Poor-Law officials apprehended from their frequent lavishness and lack of proper discrimination interference with their own system, and welcomed the new organization. D oS VII. FRANCE. In France, public help has had a history analogous to that of England. At first it was in charge of the church, which covered the land with asylums (hospices), hospitals!// :-nimandeq. Bohmert : Dresden. 1887. % Reichsverfassung: Art. 3. a : Ed. Dr. L. von Ronne. 61 One establishes responsibility according to home or birth, the other according to residence. The difference is not unlike that which exists between Connecticut and Massachusetts. Unfortunately no detailed original statements as to poor-relief and its organization in Switzerland have been accessible to us of later date than L878.J" VIII. WORCESTER, MASS., AND THE MASSACHUSETTS POOR LAW. This city presents the following facts: Population, 1890, 84,655; foreign, estimated from 1885, 24,090. Hartford, 53,230; foreign, not knowm. Cost per capita outdoor relief , $0,116 Hartford, - -$0.74 Cost per capita all relief, - - 0.86 Hartford, - - 1.96 Pauper population, - - 3,551 Hartford, - - 3,323 Insane and imbecile, - - 121 Hartford, - - 186 (now 205) Organization. The board consists of nine members, viz. : the mayor, city marshal, and superintendent of schools, ex officio — the mayor being chair- man of the board — and six persons elected by the city council on joint ballot, two being elected in the month of December of each year, to hold office for three years, from the third Monday in January then next ensuing. No more than one of the six members thus chosen shall be eligible from any one ward of the city, and there are eight wards. Vacancies in the board may be filled by joint ballot of the city council at any time; the member so elected to hold office for only the unexpired term of the member who has ceased to hold office. Members do not receive compensation. The board elects its own clerk, who shall not be one of the members. The clerk is the executive officer of the board and is elected annually. He is city almoner and the agent of the board for all outdoor poor; and these include the vio- lent insane and the feeble-minded charges of the city in State institu- tions. The indoor poor at the almshouse are in charge of the superin- tendent and matron, and over them the clerk has no authority. But he admits paupers to the almshouse and discharges them. The board issue orders to the superintendent through him. There is an insane ward in the almshouse. Homes are found for abandoned children. No specific provision is made for orphans. If a child chances to be entrusted to the board its stay is only temporary. It is sent to the almshouse and a home secured for it as soon as possible. There is an "Orphans' Home" in Worcester supported by private contribution. t Le Pauperismee n Suisse: G. Niederer: Zurich, 1878. Die Schweizerischen Armenerzieh- ungs-Anstalten : Joh. Wellauer unci Johs. Muller: Schaffhausen, 1878. Officers and their Compensation. Members of the board, nine in number, — no compensation. Clerk of the board — one — SI, 500 per annum. He has no other business and devotes his whole time to this work. Assistants of the clerk. Permanently one lady clerk at $1.75 per day: temporarily, from November to May each year, a second lady clerk at §1.75 per day. Total office salaries $2. 3 2 1.63. Hartford — First selectman $2,300. His clerk $1,500. Extra clerk hire (1890) $254.70. Other selectmen $1,000 — Total $5,054.70. Of this two- thirds should probably go to the account of poor adminis- tration, say $3,36'.' - Medical Officers. One physician: compensation $1,200 per annum. Hartford, three physicians, compensation $1,480 — besides which there are three city police surgeons who are paid fees for actual ser- vices. - The law under which the above results have been attained is thus summarized by F. Brown, clerk of the board in Worcester: " By the State pauper laws five years continuous residence without pauper aid and the payment of three poll taxes gives settlement to adult males: five years continuous residence without pauper aid gives settlement to adult females. Children under age follow parents.'" We add:* Adults having estate of inheritance or freehold in the State and living on the same thr - - .-ears obtain settlement, ucum bents of town offices for one year: settled ministers of the gospel: persons who have served an apprenticeship of four years and within one year thereafter set up a trade: - .'.ors in the late war, of one ye — bounty jumpers and deserters excepted. Old legal settlement continues until a n^ - acquired. Tlie overseers of the poor of every town and city must care for all poor and indigent who have legal settlement there: and temporary aid for not longer than four wee- -.me — save in case of sick- - — or for more than $1 per week per person, or $5 per week per family, may be given to persons having no legal settlement there. In all cases of temporary help the overseers must give immediate notice by mail to the State Board of Health, Lunacy, and Charity, which board must examine the case and give direction as to the continuance of such aid, or the removal of the person to the State Almshouse, or to some place out of feheS is the case may be. The State reim- burses the town or city for all its reasonable expenses in such ca- - * Chapters S3 and 54- Massachusetts Laics rifl* 63 Overseers may remove persons having no legal settlement, after two months' notice to the authorities where the persons belong. Overseers miay require any person not a resident of the town or city, who receives food or lodging from them, to perform a reasonable equivalents work in return therefor and may detain him for the same, not later, however, than eleven o'clock in the forenoon of the day succeeding his application. If, being able-bodied, he refuses to work, he is deemed a vagrant and punished accordingly. Inability to maintain wife or children in a lunatic hospital, or other institution of charity, reform, or correction, by order of a court or magistrate, does not constitute the person a pauper. In 1885, and every ten years thereafter, the overseers of the poor are required to answer statistical questions which take up one- half page of the statute book. The laws under which the Hartford results have been attained are given elsewhere. IX. INSANITY. The statistics of Insanity have nowhere been very reliable. In the United States there were 22,428 insane according to the census of 1870, and 91,959 in 1880. The population, by those two censuses, was 38,558,371, and 50,155,783. There had been, therefore, an increase of 410 per cent, in insanity against 30.1 per cent, in popula- tion — which is hardly credible. The greater part of this discrepancy is accounted for, most likely, by increasing completeness of registra- tion. Even in England there is a constant disagreement between the census returns and those of the Commissioners of Lunacy, as appears "by the following table. INSANITY IN ENGLAND. Males. Females. Total. Percentage of Deficiency of Lunacy Commissioners. Year. Census. Lunacy Commis- Census, sioners. Lunacy Commis- sioners. Census. Lunacy Commis- Males, sioners. Females. Total. 1871 1881 32,874 39,780 26,009 32,973 36,145 44,714 30,746 40,140 69,019 84,503 56,755 20.5 73,113 17.1 14.9 10.2 17.7 13.5 According to the report of the commissioners in 1890 there were 84,340 persons of unsound mind in England, January 1, 1889, against 36,732 in 1859. By population there were 1,867 per million in 1859, and 2,907 in 1889 — an increase of 55.7 per cent, in thirty years. 64 ] " the J : ■ " ■ . s i«ii] : - :; - I- _ ■ ' : : - • - _ -\ " _ ■" ' " " .. - _ - - - - -" - -.-- -1 t i- _ *:* - " - - .— 3 •- v ., 7 ;. 7 ; - - - -- . . a tots - ;«opo]al2£Hi 22,7 ' — - propc -- _ -•- ' - — - - - - ■ -■ imuir. : - " _ : . . - " " — ' V^ oeaL - L - - - " - ''---'■ the p states an: r ISfi - s ] - f in 1881 " -:- 187 the : - X. SIR MORRELL MACKENZIE ON THE USE AND ABUSE 3PITALS. T^he bad effects of gratuitous medical relief have been abundantly shown, and it is not denied that they exist, to a very large extent, not only in London, but practically everywhere throughout the country. The time has come when the abuse must be abolished. But how is this to be dor. practitioners, who have had the bread taken out of their mouths by the hospitals, have sometimes said in their haste, that the out-patient department should be reformed altogether outo: ence. This drastic remedy, however, would probably defeat its object. The real remedy for the congestion of the out patient depart- ment is depletion. All cases, in which a genuine claim to the receipt _ \:uitous hospital relief cannot be established, should be eliminated. For this purpose two things are necess : — a definite waterline of poverty, above which charity is not permitted to extend, and an adequate system of inquiry to prevent imposture. The difficul: such a system of inquiry are great. But at Manchester, in the course of a I- a well-organized system of invest _ has rfiuced the proportion of cases in which hospital charity is abused from - 2 _ to about 6 per cent. I approve of the Prussian law. by which all workmen are compelled to insure again- - - knees. The amount of insurance is 1^ per cent, of the wages earned. Of this, one-third is defrayed by the employer, the remaining two-thirds being deducted by him from the workmen's ges before they are paid. My own plan would be that the Poor Law infirmaries, the hospitals and the provident dispensaries should be combined, so as to form one large system of eleemosynary medical _r what on the lines of the French A& _" inder the control of which are all the hospitals and dispensaries in France. I am strongly of opinion that a small charge to out-patients at hos- pitals, carefully graduated according to the patient's means, would, of to much to diminish the evils now existing. In the Pr \ls payment is universal. All sorts and conditions of patients are freely admitted, and patients are divided into three — js ing the rate of payment — Sir Morrell 7 temporary .London October, 18 -A ::: :z. 7_z r; rzz ~7zz v z :? z±?.zj : zz7 Q. I>f> yon happen to know whether the -i: :?«t Z ~; -.1. ; :v -j-- : ;::••: t :;-!■-• ::::.: Z::ii: I have no absolute information on this subject, bat from ob- -- - : - - ,- I :±-r ~iir i - _- 7 • :-- lz v -^ - - •-•.!> "--7 lT-r ^■::.;::i:>:;::ri:::.t : irse* \iir_ - .-7 ±r-r ir. Zi^'jl- : Q. Wonld compulsory life assurance erf workmen be practicable, I _- : The workmen are so thriftless that they would never subiscribe^ vafcmtarily, and no government: would dare to brir g r_r:iilTr : i : It ? : : _ ?: :: 771-;: z. 7 ?zzz z - ~7 " : ~ " ~ Z - :.: -^ i : J "::••? Z.zi'i - Zz:j ~:zy Z M:'~. •: x Z~ • ■ -. si --'■ • " /:■<-' 77 Z~ - — I . - - -i "-: . . ~ :i •. '.- ' :-; "" : : " :~ ' --"-: of January 6th. until now. RepZ 7 — : il: - . ~ — Q. By -out-patient " department precisely what is meant ? Oar "': ".-:_"-::-- .- ~_ : :_ - ; Zii _ : - : ::uZ :' : ; :'.;z: : .7. .-_ 77 ■ z: '.t! i.". i : : l:-; Q. Are ^pauper patients. - when admitted to your general i -;.'.- i : : - - -_- _ ; i_ ; 5 :: :■; r- . ': - - Z- _ -;/,-- :z- -_- 7 ■ . - : ' . - - - tea-etfeouufj p.o.ife.fco^tol.cdkd -Poor I*w H«k :: --. 1 7.1::^:- •:- i::~i".-: :7t: :ir- :•-- --,^1-: • :.r:-.: -"- from a Poor Law Relieving Officer. If a pauper is admitted to a _- -:■■/. :? re: i 1 -;"•. - " -- ::.zi:~ ~ .-.--■ -7;- "":- ;-..ir.=Z .- ; l - :;- 1 ": ;.;•- :': r : ir >:;:-. r- : - - -•■•: --- :- : Z:s ;:•--■?-: Q. La rerommrndin^. a graduated charge, according to the z-i.--.r--i r_r:i-_- - ii 7:" - -- -~ - ' ■ - i> ■ i.:o: ~ ~ :■: iv Li : ::r7r-;.:i: ::-:Z:~:. fir i ii: : L -,.: :■: --_ :-:i':: is ■ ■.„ «.i~-: We give identical accommodation to all pati e nt* ; few feofffitafe admit private patients under any circumstances what- 67 1. So far as I am aware, there have been no well authenticated cases of unrelieved suffering in Brooklyn in consequence of the with. drawal of outdoor relief. 2. There have been no appreciably heavy burdens upon institu- tions, public or private, resulting from this withdrawal. Outdoor relief was abolished, if I remember correctly, in 1879. The year fol- lowing, the numbers cared for in the public buildings was smaller than when outdoor relief existed. An article read by myself in Bos- ton, which was printed in the reports of the Conference of Charities in L880, or thereabouts, deals with the effects of the action with some particularity. Perhaps I ought to say that some people, since then, have pointed out that the large increase of children cared for in pri- vate asylums, at the expense of the State, reflects at least indirectly one consequence of the abolition of outdoor relief. Personally, I think the inference is without foundation. At all events there is no other direction in which any symptoms of disadvantage can be dis- cerned. 3. Brooklyn shows no disposition to go back to the old way. I have never so much as heard it suggested that the city should return to the system of outdoor relief. Respectfully, SETH LOW. FROM MR. WM. VALLANCE, Clerk of the Board of Guardians of White- chapel Union, London. Answers to Questions Concerning the Effect of Reducing Out- door Relief, etc. Q. Under your present system has there been any considerable number of well authenticated cases of unrelieved suffering on the part of deserving poor ? A. I have no recollection of any such case. Indeed, it is to be said that the deserving poor are better looked after than formerly by voluntary workers and agencies. Q. Have any additional or excessive burdens been imposed upon public or private charitable institutions or associations, in consequence of your withdrawal of public outdoor aid ? A. Xo, for the simple reason that the poor who deserve to be saved from the workhouse, as a rule, need so much more than suste- nance which will but enable them to remain in a position of depend- ence. They need sympathy and personal help and advice tending to inspire the individual to achieve self-dependence. Q. Has this withdrawal been entire or only partial ? If the lat- ter, where do you draw the line — (a) as to beneficiaries, (h) as to sup. 68 plies: and what is your system as to the latter? Do you give or- ders, or cash, or the needed articles ? Do beneficiaries call or do you send ? A. We give no out-relief other than to three aged women (rem- nants of the old system), and to the sick under circumstances of sud- den and urgent necessity where they are unable to be removed to the Infirmary — the latter in kind only (not money). The supplies in kind are drawn from the Infirmary. Q. Do you employ physicians and give unlimited recourse to them and to their medicines; or do you limit this, as tending also to pauperization — and, if so. how ? A. We have three district medical officers who attend poor pa- tients upon the order of the relieving officer — not otherwise. An- nexed, marked A, is the certificate subsequently sent to the relieving officer Q. Do you give hospital treatment with tolerably free hand ? If so, at whose cost ? A. Yes, admission to the Infirmary (which is in its arrange- ments a hospital) upon the ground of destitution and sickness. The sick poor are admitted upon the joint order of medical officer and re- lieving officer. See annexed, marked B. Q. Do you detect evils in the direction of pauperization growing out of too free use of hospitals ? If so, what do you do, or propose, as a remedy ? A. With regard to general hospitals outside the poor law, a par- liamentary committee is now sitting upon their administration, and no doubt a valuable report will be the result. Q. Have you observed any evidences of good, such as greater thrift, economy, self-respect, self-helpfulness — the apparent conse- quence of your present policy ': A. The character of the poor has admittedly improved during the progress of our reformed administration, but it is of course diffi- cult to gauge the exact results. Q. Does anybody advocate return to the old system ? A. There is no serious advocacy of a return to the old system in this Union. Q. To what extent is England in general pursuing the course adopted by you ? A. In England and Wales the proportion of indoor to outdoor paupers is as 1 to 3 ; in Whitechapel as 5 to 1. Q. Do you ever pay part only of the burial expenses of the poor — or do you insist upon the whoie or none? A. The whole, or none. 69 FROM GEORGE ROOKE, ESQ. Effect of Reducing Outdoor Relief, Etc. Sale, Nr. Manchester, England, Feb. 20, 1891. Dear Sir: — My esteemed relative, the mayor of this city, has handed me your letter of 2d instant and suggested I should supply the information asked for. This I have pleasure in attempting as far as I am able ; premising that the city proper with which 1 am dealing contains no suburban dwellings, but consists of a population of 190,- 000, almost exclusively of the working class, and many of the poorest of the laborers (with their families). Treating first of Poor Law Ar- rangements, you are perhaps aware that to obtain help from the rates which are collected corcpulsorily from ail classes, the applicant must be entirely destitute — relief in aid of wages obtained being (for obvi- ous reasons) illegal. For these we have a large hospital with twelve hundred beds and a staff of eighty paid nurses. We have schools where 600 children, fatherless or deserted, are boarded, and the work- house where 2,000 aged, disabled, and bodily or mentally unable to work, are provided for. Having these establishments efficient we pro- ceed to deal with "outdoor " cases by dividing the city into six dis- tricts, each under the care of an officer, to whom applications are personally made. On his report we give outdoor relief two shillings per week to each adult, and one shilling per week to each child, pro- vided the cases do not come with the classifications set forth in the printed regulations appended. A large portion of this is given in food, purchased in large quantities and delivered at cost price in lieu of coin. Kindly bear in mind that in our free-trade England the best bread costs only one penny per pound (two cents), sugar two pence, and other articles in ratio. This system has been in force now for fifteen years with the result that now, in the end of a severe winter, we have not more than 700 persons in receipt of "outdoor alms" and a cost total of £65 per week ($325). During the fifteen years we have had no proved case of undue hardship, and no complaints from the " press," the clergy, or the actively benevolent. Our system and regu- lations have been adopted in many other places, and are recommended for adoption by the Government Inspectors. Manchester City is well supplied with hospitals for the poorer inhabitants who are not included in the pauper list. We have general hospitals including accidents, and a number of establishments for special diseases for women and children, and for children only. To restrict the free use of these 'by persons able to pay the ordinary physicians fees, about twenty years since a system of Provident Dis- 70 pensaries was organized and the free use of the Charities for Medical Aid was restricted to those whose income from every source was less than thirty shillings per week for two adults and four children ($7.50); those earning above that amount being required to subscribe to the nearest Provident Dispensary, where for a weekly payment of two cents per week for each adult, and one cent for each child, medi- cal assistance and medicine can be obtained free of further cost. There are now eight or ten of these dispensaries in different parts of the city, each having a staff of doctors from whom the sufferer can select. Some of these have 2,000 to 3,000 subscribing members, and they have a central organization, so that persons removing from one part of the city to another are transferred to the dispensary nearest their dwelling without losing advantage of previous payments. Most, if not all these, are now self-supporting, and fair sums are divided among the medical men who attend the patients at their own homes, and by special arrangements can introduce urgent cases into one of the hospitals best adapted for treatment of the disease. Results satis- factory. The dispensing of charity without doing harm to some of the recipients has been a problem not yet solved in this country, nor, I venture to say, in yours. The remark of one of our experienced government officials is worth quoting: "That system is best which is best worked." A. bad system worked with care, judgment, and energy, is often better in results than the best system administered without forethought, without observation, and without discrimination. If you desire more detailed information as to the Provident Dis- pensaries I can procure it for you. Yours sincerely, George Rooke. Justice of Peace, Poor Law Guardian, Member of Council of the Provi- dent Dispensaries. To Professor, Mr. John J. McCook, Hartford, Conn., U. S. Township of Manchester. REGULATIONS FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF RELIEF. As adopted by tlie Board of Guardians, April 15, 1875, and amended on the 23d December, 1875, and 19th May, 1887. 1. The standing orders which may from time to time be adopted by^the Guardians for regulating the administration of relief shall be strictly ob- served by the Relief Committees; but if, owing to the special circumstances of any particular case, the Relief Committee shall be of opinion that a depart- 71 ure from the standing order applicable thereto is advisable, such case shall be reported by the assistant clerk for the decision of the General Board, and in the meantime the Relief Committee shall make such provisional order in the case as to them shall seem necessarj'. 2. That the following be made and constituted STANDING ORDERS. N I. Outdoor relief shall not be granted or allowed by the Relief Commit- tees (except in case of sickness) to applicants of any of the folllowing classes: (a) Single able-bodied men. (b) Single able-bodied women. (c) Able bodied widows without children, or having only one child to support. (d) Married women (with or without families) whose husbands, having been convicted of crime, are undergoing a term of imprisonment. (e) Married women (with or without families) deserted by their husbands. (/) Married women (with or without families) left destitute through their husbands having joined the militia, and being called up for train- ing. (g) Persons residing with relatives, where the united income of the fam- ily is sufficient for the support of all its members, whether such relatives are liable by law to support the applicant, or not. II. Outdoor relief shall not be granted, except in urgent or special cases, to persons whose destitution has been caused by intemperance or their own improvidence. III. Outdoor relief shall not be granted in any case for a longer period than eight weeks at a time. IV. Outdoor relief shall not be granted to any able-bodied person for a longer period than six weeks at a time. V. Outdoor relief shall not be granted, on account of the sickness of the applicant or any of his family for a longer period than two weeks at a time, unless such sickness shall be certified, in writing, by the district medical offi- cer, as being likely to be of long duration, or to be of a permanent character. VI. Where relief is allowed to a parent through the admission of a child or children into the Swinton Schools or the workhouse, such relief shall not be granted for a longer period than six months at a time ; and if at the expiration of such period a continuance of the relief is required, the relieving officer shall visit and enquire into the circumstances of the parent, and bring the case up for re-consideration by the Relief Committee, in the same manner as if it were a case of outdoor relief. VII. Outdoor relief shall not be granted or allowed by the Relief Commit- tees to widows, who, on the death of their husbands, have received money from a club, insurance society, or other sources, which, in the opinion of the Relief Committee or the Board, has been lavishly spent in mourning or fu- neral expenses, or has otherwise been improperly expended. 72 EEPLY OF GEORGE ROOKE. ESQ.. TO QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE MANCHESTER PRINTED RULES. Moorside Sale. Manchester, England. March 22. 1891. My Dear Sir : — 1 am much pleased if I can be of use to you in the somewhat difficult task you have undertaken. I have asked Mr. Smith, the secretary of the Provident Dispensary Association, to send you their rules and the report just issued, which will give you full in- formation as to this very successful enterprise. You ask the exact reasons for our standing orders, d t e, and /. As to the first, we are convinced that the wives of criminals are frequently aware either of the lines which their husbands are pursuing, or else they are wilfully ignorant, and, therefore, are particeps criminis. Secondly, the criminal is less disposed to commit robbery or embezzlement if he knows his wife and family are liable to suffer for it as well as him- self, and, further, we have reliable information that persons have com- mitted crime for the purpose of obtaining support for themselves and outdoor relief for their families, (e) When men have begotten large families here, they too often desert them and emigrate to America or elsewhere, leaving the wife and children to rely on the British tax- payer and unrestricted outdoor relief. (/) Militia men can. if so "disposed," remit a portion of their pay for the benefit of their fami- lies. But I must ask you to consider all these rules in relation to the first, aud also that we placard them on the walls of the city in the por- tions of it inhabited by the indigent and those so well described by my late dear friend and fellow-member of the Society of Friends, John Bright, as the "residuum.'* In this aspect, you will see what deterrent effect fhey are calculated to produce. When outdoor relief is refused and the workhouse is the only re- source, long experience shows us that in comparatively few cases is it accepted : resources undeveloped before are suddenly discovered, and, rather than " go in." an extra effort enables them to avert it. If they do enter the wards, only the mothers and the infants remain in the workhouse. All children are sent to a training school, five miles dis- tant, so as to be separated from contact with adult paupers Owing to the small number and low character of those who become inmates, we find no justification for outdoor relief, either as more economical or being more likely to secure good training. In England, we make no distinction between workhouse and almshouse under the poor law. Any almshouses that exist with us have been founded by private indi- viduals. No one is. by law, compelled to work after sixty years old. They are then placed in separate cheerful wards and allowed a day out 73 twice a month, and the younger paupers are utilized to attend upon them daily. I inclose copy of our rule as to pauper burials, which has been acted upon for fifteen years with perfect satisfaction. I believe I have now answered your queries, and shall be much obliged for your printed report when issued, as we can all learn, and nonexian say their education is complete. Yours very truly, GEORGE ROOKE. [Translation.] S. P. Q. R. COMMUNE OF ROME. Office Viit: Section 1. Rome, April 5, 1891. Following is such information as I am able to give concerning the charitable institutions of Rome: Up to the 31st of December, 1800, the Commune* of Rome, and, since that date, the Commission of Charities, have had the care of the administration of outdoor help (Soccorsi a domicilio). This help is given in money, bread, meat, and medical attendance. When a poor person cannot be aided at home, and when, by reason of infirmity or illness, he is judged incapable of work, and has no relatives legally bound to support him, he is received into one of the Asylums (Ospizify for the Aged — established for men, in the former Monastery of S. Cosimus over the Tiber; for women in the former Monastery of S. Gregory on the Celian. Outdoor aid is given only after an investigation of the financial state of the family, made by special agents. When the propriety of giving it is ascertained, the district physician is directed to make his visit, and at the same time provisions in bread and meat are sent according to the size and composition of the family. The aged are received into the asylums after investigation, deter- mination, and order according to the method just described. The two asylums in Rome cost in the neighborhood of Lire 150,000 ($30,000) annually. The one for men has 270, for women, 125 inmates. In the hospitals (Ospedali) all are treated free of charge. These institutions have means of their own, which, up to 1870, abundantly *Our Town, very nearly. tThe French Hospice. The latter is often used interchangeably with Hospital. Bat strictly, Hospice is our asylum, or home — sometimes our almshouse. E 74 sufficed for their needs. In consequence, however, of the gradual increase of the population following the establishment of the capital of the kingdom at Rome these means have become insufficient, and the municipal government has been obliged finally to come to their help with subsidies, which have gone on increasing from year to year. In the budget of the commune for 1890 were the following items: Transportation of patients to hospitals, - Lire. 10,000.00 Maintenance of various hospitals, v - Spirito, L. 129 , - .Uicano. L. 35,000 S Maria della Pieta, - - L. 2.304 Of the Child Jesus, - L. 70,000 Total, maintenance of various hospitals, L. 229,544 sidies to various hospi: - -iovanni, £.24.708.5 ilation, L. 70,000.00 - iacomo, L. 95,000.00 Maintenance of 6 beds, on funds con- tributed by the Confraternity of the xii Holy Apostles, - L. 4,050.00 Total of subsidies, - - 193 7", ~ Total of contributions bv the Municipality,- - L. 4 In order to keep abreast of the demands made upon the various hospitals, it is certain that the subsidies will go beyond Lire 600,000 I - ')- In the current year the government, and through it the Commis- sion of Charities, provides that the latter, in pursuance of the laws made for Rome, shall be responsible for all the expenses of public aid heretofore borne by the commune. r the various institutions of private benevolence, maintained by their own funds or by ch i are referred to the prefecture which ha- ron of the same. Your obedient Servant, the Syndic, - r ; O. CAETAXI. * An error in footing, or dee In the items, of /. 395. 75 [Translation.] Paris, Feb. 20, 1891. LETTER OF E. PEYRON. Director of Public Aid, Paris. Sir, — The Prefet of the Seine has forwarded me your letter and requested me to answer it. I have the honor to explain to you briefly, as follows, our system of organization, in reply to the questions which you have asked in behalf of your committee. Public Aid in France is not a legal obligation. It is considered a moral obligation which creates a duty for the one who exercises it, but does not constitute a right for him who receives it. There is one par- tial exception to this — the communes * are obliged to pay one fifth of the cost of caring for destitute children. But even this obligation does not extend to the departments, f Poor administration is local. It neither depends upon the general government nor upon the commune. But it constitutes in each com- mune a special organization. 1. On the one hand there are the Bureaus of Benevolence (Bureaux de Bienfaisance) which help the poor and the sick at their homes. Of these the Mayor of the Com- mune is President and two Municipal Councillors are members ex officio. The rest of the members are nominated by the Prefet of the Department. | 2. Further, there are the hospitals which are administered by special commissions. These institutions receive and care for, to the extent of their means, the sick of the commune, and also non-residents who have been taken ill within its bounds. Only at Paris are these two departments of help, viz. : Outdoor aid and hospitals, united under one administration. This administration has at its head a Director nominated by the general government. The present incumbent is M. Ernest Peyron. The President is assisted by a commission whose functions, how- ever, are merely advisory. The accompanying pamphlets will give you an idea of the organ- ization of our Public Aid in Paris. You will find there, specially under the head of outdoor help, (Secours a domicile), all the details concerning the distribution of this help, together with a list of the officials charged with such distribution and of the classes of persons allowed to share in it. * Our towns very nearly. tOur counties. iThis constitution of the Bureaux de Bienfaisance is the outcome of a long and involved struggle reaching back to the Kevolution. The central point in the conflict has been the amount of influence which the general government should have in these important local con- cerns. Translator. 76 Following are some additional details as to matters concerning which you make particular inquiry. The doctor's visit is obtained merely on leaving a request at the office of the Secretary of the Bureau de Bienfaisance which is found in every mayoralty. It would be refused to any person known to be able to pay. The sick are admitted to the hospitals either at the consultation which takes place every day, at a specified hour, in each hospital, or by the central bureau which is at the H6tel-Dieu* and where any patient may present himself. They are thereupon directed to the various hospitals of the city after the degree and nature of their ail- ment has been determined by the staff. During their stay at the hospital an investigation is made, and if this shows that the patient is in condition to pay he is required to pay for every day passed in the institution according to a fixed tariff. The city votes an annual subsidy to the Public Aid, and this is dis- tributed among the different branches of the administration, and is not devoted exclusively to hospitals. The subsidy for 1891 was 18,084,500 francs (83,616,900) — a sum which represents a little less than half of the total amount of the cost of Public Help in Paris. The estimates of the number of poor aided during the year 1890. and of the expenditures in the different branches of the administration will be found in the Statistical Information concerning the pauper population, of which I send you a copy. The figures given there do not show an abnormal increase of the poor population of Paris. As to free help given without supervision outside of institutions, with respect to which you ask my opinion, I think that there would be a certain danger in making it the basis of a system. I believe, on the contrary, that such help should be reserved for cases altogether ex- ceptional. This administration has at its disposition a special but very limited fund which it uses solely for cases of urgency, in which help is treated as purely extraordinary and is given immediately. Accept, sir. the assurance of my distinguished consideration. [Signed], The Director of the General Administration of Public Help, E. PEYROX. To Professor McCook. P. S. Paupers are not buried at the public expense, but at that of the General Undertaking Company — Compagnie des Pompes fune- bres — which has the monopoly of conducting funerals in Paris, and, * One of the oldest and largest of the Paris hospitals — dating from the 9th century. 77 in consideration thereof, is obliged to provide the city poor with a shroud, a wooden coffin, and transportation to the cemetery for their dead. In order to obtain this gratuity it is necessary to present a cer- tificate of poverty issued by the Mayor or the Police Commissioner of the ward. The two pamphlets leave by this mail. FROM WILLIAM S. STOKLEY, DIRECTOR DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY, PHILADELPHIA. Effect of Reducing the Number of Licenses upon the Number of Arrests. Philadelphia, March 2, 1891. Mr. John J. McCook, Chairman. Dear Sir, — Your letter of February 28th, addressed to the Director relative to the effect of Licenses, etc., was received. The reduction of the number of licensed saloons under the high license system has materially decreased the number of arrests, as will be shown by comparing the reports of former years, and thus de- creased the cost of the maintenance of this department. The detention of common drunkards, etc., for short imprisonments is of great advantage, and works admirably with us. Hoping this will answer in some measure your inquiries, I am very respectfully, HIRAM PORTER, Jr., Secretary, Director Public Safety. What is meant by "short imprisonments" in the above appears from the subjoined. House of Correction and Reformation, Philadelphia, 3, 4, 1891. Prof. Jno. McCook. Sir, — In reply to yours of February 28th, would say, that the commitments to this institution run from three months to two years, at the option of the police magistrates. Our cases are mostly habitual drunkards, vagrants, etc. The ratio of saloons to the population is not fixed, but the granting of license to sell liquor is at the discretion of the three judges of our courts, who sit as a license court. Respectfully, E. A. MERRICK, General Superintendent. XII. FOOD VALUES. OPINIO' OF R. B. BIGGS, Ph.D., Professor of C7iemistry in Trinity College, and - list. Chemical Lab: i Haetford, February 10, 1891. Professor J. J. McCook, f :n Committee on Outdoor Alms. Dear Sir, — Your letter of January 26th, enclosing a list of *• . cles for necessary support " furnished by the Town in the way of "Outdoor Alms." was duly received. You ask the questions: rt What proportion of these articles belonging to the category of Foo : your opinion, fairly entitled to rank as 'nec~ if, in any instai. lee, though not properly styled necessary, yet pos- sess an element of value as food, will you please state what the pc s of these articles is, from the standpoint of econon The list has been examined, and the following is submitted: Food is required for two chief purposes, viz.: to generate heat, and to produce and maintain the various structures of the body. It must, therefore, contain those elements of which the body is composed, and in the proportions in which they there e:. N single article of food meets these demands, hence the need of a mixed diet. Of foods there are two classes — the animal and the vegetable, the one supplementing the other, animal foods containing an excess of nitrogenous compounds and fats, vegetable foods an ex- - : f the carbohydrates (starch, etc.). Bread is in vegetable foods what meat is in animal foods. Each contains nearly all the elements required for nutrition. For meat we may read its various for: meat proper, pork, fish, etc. Bread may be replaced, or better, sup- plemented with economy, by such other vegetable foods a3 potatoes, beans, peas, etc. Economy and health depend on the proper proportioning of these several kinds of food. The list of articles has been analyzed on the basis of ti and with economy in view, with the following results: Necessary and economic articles of food — 79 Animal foods. Vegetable foods Bacon, $1.26 Bread, $28.65 Fish, 7.15 Flour, 71 60 Meat, 26.65 Beans, 7.17 Pork, 29.15 Cabbage, 4 45 Milk, 2.18 Onions, 7.32 Miscellaneous, .87 Potatoes, Bice, 34.28 8.38 Miscellaneous, 9.74 Articles necessary in pre- paring food. Pepper, $1.17 Salt, 1.83 Yeast, .44 Baking Powder, 4.06 $67.26 $171.59 $7.50 Total for "articles of necessary support," on the basis of economy, $246.35. Leaving a balance of $486.19 for articles which either do not belong to the "necessary support" category or are valuable but expensive nutrients. The larger items in this list are the following: Canned stuff, Butter, Coffee, Crackers, Lard, . Molasses, Sugar, . Tea, . Consider this list in detail — 76.41 35.97 24.57 32.46 17.33 11.91 133.43 52.41 $394.31 Canned goods — are not economical. Butter — is expensive, and though a valuable nutrient is not a necessity, the elements which it furnishes being more economically provided by some of the above listed animal foods. Coffee — Nutrient value small ; promotes vital action, but does not support it, hence may be highly injurious in its effects if taken with insufficient food. Crackers — Expensive. Eggs — A most valuable but expensive food. Lard — As used by the poorer classes, and, indeed, by many others, an un- wholesome and expensive article. Its place is better supplied by the fat meats. Molasses — Not a necessity — see sugar. Sugar — A valuable but expensive food. Not a necessity. Foods furnishing starch give all that we have in sugar. Tea — Remarks on coffee apply equally well in the case of tea. The above statements must be taken in the light of the case under consideration. The object is to provide for cases of great want, where the articles furnished ought to provide the greatest amount of useful nourishment at the least cost. Very respectfully, R. B. RIGGS. 80 XIII. BILL OF FARE — HARTFORD ALMSHOUSE - : Monday. Breakfast — Hash, Coffee, Bread. Dinner — Cold Corned Beef , Potatoes, Bread Supper — Tea and Bread. Tuesday. Same as Monday. Wbdhbsday — s on Mon: 2 -I: ^- dipper — as before. Teursday. Same as Mono. Friday. Br, •altfaat— Fish Hash, Bread, Coffee. Dinner — Boiled Fish, Potatoes. Bread, Coffee. - — as before. - turd ay. Same as Monday. day. Breakfast — Hash. Coffee. Bread. Dinner — Fresh boiled Beef Soup. Bread. Coffee. Supper — as before. ge tables from the farm in their season. The bread is the best of bakers" bread. The sick and infirm are served from the Superintendent s table. BILL OF FARE AT CITY ALMSHOUSE. WORCESTER. MASS - day. Break;' nt — Coffee, Sugar, Milk, Bread, and Fried Pork or Ham. Dinner — Baked Beans and Brown Bread. Supper — Tea, Sugar, Milk, Bread, Butter, Doughnuts, Pie or Gingerbread. day. Bn.ikf.ut — Coffer - _ Milk, Bread, and Baked Beans. Din- ner — Soup and Bread, or Fresh Meat and Potatoes. Supper — Indian Hasty Pudding, or Bread and Milk. Tuesday. Btmtyut— Coffee, Sugar, Milk, Bread, and Hashed Meat. Dinner — Boiled Beef with Pork, Vegetables, and Bread. Supper — Choco- late or Tea, with Sugar. Milk, and Bread. Wednesday. Breakfast — Coffee, Sugar, Milk, Bread, and Fried Pork or Ham. Dinner — Fresh or Sa* :atoes, and Bread. Supper — Bean Porridge, or Bread and Butter. Thursday. Breakfast— Cov - - ".Ik. Bread, and Hashed Fish. Dinner — Boiled Beef and Pork, with Potatoes and Biyad. Supper — Choco- late or Tea, with Sugar, Milk, and Bread. Friday. Bteatyui—Cattme, Sugar, Milk, Bread, Hashed Meat, or fiat Dinner — Salt Fish, Potatoes, and Bread. Supper — Chocolate or Te^ Sugar, Milk, Bread, and Butter. Saturday. B-eakfast — Coffee. Sugar. Milk. Bread, and Hashed Rah. Dinner — Soup and Bread. Supper — Bread and Butter. Tea with Sugar and Milk. 81 WHITECHAPEL UNION, LONDON, ENGLAND. Dietary for Abie-Bodied Paupers. — No. 1.) Adults. Break- PAST. D NNER Su n-ER. * Days. 05* SB u 6 Bread. Cooked Meat. Potatoes or Other Vegetables. Pea Soup. fell a ■5 ~3 05 3 72 15 72 •d id s m cd 1 = o O Sunday Monday,. . . . Tuesday, . . . Wednesday,. Thursday, . . Friday, Saturday, . . . (Men, } Women, . . j Men, ( Women,.. j Men ( Women,.. j Men, / Women,. . j Men, ( Women,. . j Men,.... ( Women, . . \ Men, .... 1 Women,.. ozs. 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 pints. n i u i n i H l U l n i n i zs. 4 4 4 4 OS 'S. 5 4 5 4 oz 15 IS is is I 1 pints. H ii H ozs. :■: 16 16 16 16 ozs. .. ■• 24 20 ozs 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 pints. H H ii pints. ii 1 H l ii l ii 1 li 1 Children between 9 and 16 years of age to be allowed the same diet as women. Approved by the Local Government Board, January 21, 1882. Dietary for Aged and Infirm and Imbecile Paupers. — No. 2.) Breakfast. Dinner. Supper. Days. Adults. £ Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, . . . Wednesday, Thursday, . . Friday, Saturday, . . . Men, Women,. Men, Women,. Men, Women,. Men, Women, . Men, Women, . Men, Women,. Men, W T omen,. pints. ozs. ozs. * 2 * 3 i 3 } 3 * 3 \ 2 •P e ozs. pints 24 20 pint. 82 The foods in the foregoing Table are to be prepared in accordance with the forms hereunto annexed. The sick and infants under 2 years of age 10 be dieted under the direction of the medical officer. Signed) John Octhwaite. P '.airman. I consider the allowances in the above Dietary Table to be sufficient. .-.led) Herbert Larder. .V The Local Government Board sanction the above Dietary Table. Signed Edmond H. Wodehouse. Atrit'-mT Secretary, Acting under the authority of the General Order of May 26, 1877 Local Government Board, December 3, 1886 This Dietary came into force December 30, 1888. Forms Jmr the Preparation .- PEA SOUP suet pudding. Baked or Boiled J IRISH STEW. Name and Description of Ineredient. Raw Meat. Bones Una- each Ineredient to a Gallon. Name and Description of Ingredient. [or Austra- lian Meat Split I or Scotch Barley Fresh .tables. - 24 pints. 8 32 6 Flour. Suet, . (luarr each Ingredient to a Pound. lbs. Name and Description of Ingredient. Quantity of each Ingredient - To make 24 ozs. Raw Meat. . . PoUl (peeled), piits. Carrots. ...} Onion ; Turnips. . . etc., be slightly thickened with Barley or Flour. ) EASTERN BRANCH. TOGUB, ME NATIONAL HOME FOR DISABLED VOLUNTEER SOLDIERS * SUBSISTENCE. -e, General Dining HaU. Sunday. Broil-fast — Baked Beans and Pork. Boston Brown Bread, White Bread, Butter. Sirup, Coffee. Dinner — Corned Beef, Potatoes. Turnips. Cab- bage or Parsnips or Green Corn. Pickles. Rice or Bread Pudding. Brei up. Coffee. Supper — Apple or Prune Pie, Bread. Cheese, Crackers. Butter, Sirup Monday. Breakfast — Beef Stew : Sausage or I : But- ! Total cost per week $2 42. all expenses 83 ter, Sirup, Coffee. Dinner — Roast Beef or Fresh Pork, Gravy, Green Peas or Pickled Beets, Cucumbers or Lima Beans, or Boiled Onions, Potatoes, Bread, Sirup, Coffee. Supper — Hominy or Oatmeal Pudding, Crackers, Bread, But- ter, Sirup, Tea. Tuesday. Breakfast — Meat Hash or Cold Corned Beef, Potatoes, Bread, Butter, Sirup, Coffee. Dinner — Corned Beef or Shoulder, Potatoes, Turnips qr, Cabbage or Parsnips or Beet Greens, Rice Pudding, Bread, Sirup, Coffee. Supper — Cinnamon Cake or Gingerbread, Bread, Butter, Sirup, Tea. Wednesday. Breakfast — Baked Beans and Pork, Boston Brown Bread, White Bread, Butter, Sirup, Coffee. Dinner — Mutton Stew or Beef Soup with Vegetables, Crackers, Bread, Sirup, Tea. Supper — Bologna or Pigs' Tongues or Pigs' Feet, or Prunes, Bread, Butter, Sirup, Tea. Thursday. Breakfast — Corned Beef Hash or Sausage or Tripe, Potatoes, Bread, Butter, Sirup, Coffee. Dinner — Boiled Ham or Shoulder, Potatoes, String Beans or Cabbage or Spinach, or Canned Corn, Carrots, Pickles, Bread Pudding, Bread, Sirup, Coffee. Supper — Cold Corned Beef or Peach Sauce, Bread, Butter, Sirup, Tea. Friday. Breakfast — Mackerel or Fish Hash or Salt Codfish, Butter, Sauce, Potatoes, Bread, Butter, Sirup, Coffee. Dinner — Baked Fish, Codfish or Halibut, Potatoes, Fish or Clam Chowder, Crackers, Bread or Rice Pudding, Bread, Sirup, Coffee. Supper — Tomatoes, Apple or Prune Sauce, Crackers, Hominy, Sirup, Tea. Saturday. Breakfast — Corned Beef or Boiled Ham or Beef Fricassee, Po- tatoes, Bread, Butter, Sirup, Coffee. Dinner — Roast Veal or Mutton or Lamb, Dressing, Gravy, Green Peas, Potatoes, Bean or Pea Soup, or Mutton Stew, Crackers, Bread, Sirup, Coffee. Supper — Bologna or Head Cheese or Pigs' Tongues, Bread, Butter, Sirup, Tea. Changes are made in the general dining-hall bill of fare with the seasons. The hospital bill of fare is prescribed by the surgeon. 84 XIY. AUTHORITIES. Amelioration de la condition des classes laborieuses et des dosses jfuvres en Bel- gique: Dauby; Bruxelles, 1885. Annuario Statistico Italiano Rome. 1886. Armemerziehungs Anstaltcn, die Schtceizerisehen: "Wellauer u. Muller. Schaff- hausen, 1878. Arinenyesetzyebiiny Frankvtich* : E. Freiherr v. Reitzenstein. Armenpfeye (landliche) u. Urn; Reform: v. Reitzenstein. Armenpjfeye, Organisation u. Verbindung der amittihm a. mchtamttichen, in Dresden : Bohm e rt . Armenpfeye, derm GesebAchUu. Reformbedmfnis : Guth, Heilbronn, 1885. Armenpfleger z» Dresden, Geschdfts-Anweisungfur: Kunze, Dresden, 1889. Armeniris,,,. Eiiylisc]ie,in seiner Mstoriscken Entwiekek ■••, .• Aschrott; Leipzig, 1886. Armenwesen in 7? dmttschen 8tadten, etc. : Bohmcrt, 3 parts, Dresden, 1886-8. Armenwesen >/. Armenrecht: Lasson ; Berlin, 1887. Assistance CommunaJU en Franct : Ravarin; Paris, 1885. AmsUma puffiqttt etpritet en France, Beffmu et legislation de: Bequet; Paris, 1885. Assistance pubUqut <) Boris, Administration Generate dc: E. Peyron; Paris, 1889. Bureaux de bienfaisance, Code des : Hertogs; Bruxelles, 1887. Charity oryanization, Handbook of : Gurteen; Buffalo, 1882. Church History: Fuller; 2d ed., 1656. 2 vol. fol. Conferena of Charities: Ed. Sanborn, 1877, 1879. Connecticut, Acts and Laws of: 1750, (1769). " Acts and Laws of : 1784. Charter and Laws of: 1702 (1715). Laws of: 1673. Statutes of: 1808(1796). Statutes of: 1813, 1821; 1838; 1849; 1866; 1888. Colonial Records of: Cbarles J. Eoadly, xv vols. Connecticut Reports, Index-JDigestof: Andrews and Briscoe. Connecticut Reports: Decisions of Supreme Court. Defective and I)ip< ndi nt dosses, Census of: United States Census, 1880. Hospices et bureaux d\ bit nfaisance, Commissions administratives des: Puibaraud, Paris, 1881. Pauperism* en Suisst : Niederer; Zurich, 1878. Pauperisme, Hygiem socicUecontre: Coste ; Paris, 1882. Political Economy and Remarks on the Poor-laics: R. "Whately, Archbishop of Dublin. Poor Laics, Minutes of Evidence before House of Lords; 1831. [ History of: Sir George Nicholl, 1854. " Extracts from information by H. M. Commissioners; 2 vol., 1833. " Report of Commissioners: 1835,1836. 85 Poor, State of: Sir F. Eden; 3 vol., 1797. Benseignements staUstigues sur la population indigents de Paris: E. Peyron ; Paris, 1890. Social Science in relation to State Charities: Harrison; Philadelphia, 1877. Statesman's Yearbook: Keltic; London, 1891. Statistica tietta Emigrazione Italia na : 18S7. Statistician, Tin Animal: M'Carty; 188C. Verfassung des deutschen Beichs: von RSnne, 1882. PAPERS AND MUNICIPAL REPORTS. Detroit — House of Correction, 1889, 1890. Dresden — Bericht liber das Armenwesen, 1889. Hausordnung fur die Stadtische Arbeitsanstalt; 1890. Verwaltungsordnimg : von Koppenfels, 1890. East Hartford — Selectmen; 1889. Ha rtfo rd — Reports of First Selectmen, 1874-1890. " Connecticut Hospital for Insane, 1890. Hospital and Old People's Home, 1890. Municipal Register of, 1890. Record of Votes of the Town and of Board of Selectmen in force July, 1880. " Religious Census of, 1890. Neic Haven — Cost of supporting poor compared with other cities: H. C. White, 1886. Town Agents' Report, 1890. We > r London — Municipal Record, 1890. Philadelphia— Message (3d) of Mayor E. H. Fitler, 1890. Worcester, Mass. — Overseers of the Poor, 1889, 1890. County of, 1890. City hospital, 1889, 1890. Charity organization and the Church : Dr. Van Dyke, 1889. Charily, Organization of : papers, etc., Omaha, 1887. Charity Organization Society, N. Y. : Central Council of, 1885, 1886, 1887, 1888, 1889. Charity Organization, Profits and Possibilities of: Hon. A. S. Hewitt; 1885. Charity— Old and New ; H. L. Wayland, D.D., 1886. Elberfeld System: "The Council" ; 1889. Humphreys, A T . A. : in Royal Statistical Society; vol. liii. part 2, 1890. National Home for disabled Volunteer Soldiers — Board of Managers of; 1891. National Home for disabled Volunteer Soldiers — Statutes of the United States affecting; 1884. Out-door Belief '—to N. Y. legislature, 1884. Poor Guardians — Whitechapel Union, 1890. Provident Dispensaries — Manchester and Salford branch, 1890. Volunteer Visitors among the Poor, Work of: R. T. Paine, 1880. Workhouse — Advisability of Establishing, and on Poor relief : New Haven, 1887. Workhouse — Mrs. Lowell, 1887. APPENDIX B. COPY OF EVIDENCE RELATIVE TO DR DOHERTY. FROM HE>~RY C. WHITE. B8 . [Copy.] New Ha vex, Coed.. March 14, 1891. Prof. John J. McCook, H> ft*. ; — I :he following reply to your favor of the 13th, inquiring about J. J. S. Doherty : In March. IS So. I was employed by the New Haven Selectmen imine the affairs of Doherty, then Registrar of Vil My report, which appears of record in the Selectmen's office, showed that by illegal charges, false en: he had succeeded in collecting from the town nearly $3,000 to which he was not entitled, and that he had also collected a large sum from individuals by illegal charges. I recommended that he be criminally prosecuted. - civil action be instituted to recover the $3,000. and that he be re- moved from office. The page of the report containing these recom- mendations was torn off. . . . The town declined to prosecute, but he was afterwards arrested on charges preferred by me, and when the case came up in the :rt Doherty *s demurrer was overruled, and he appealed to the Superior Court, where the State's attorney never brought it to trial. The civil action was brought, but finally settled by the towu. The Selectmen declined to call for Do":. resignation until sometime in May. 1SS5, when I took the affidavit of a person from whom he had collected an illegal fee abont May 15th. and the Selectmen were then driven to ask for the resignation, which Doherty. who had retained one of the best lawyers in town, declined to hen petitioned tt~ Sc le :men to call a town meeting to remove Doherty from office. This brought a proposition from Doherty to resign on October 1 st, and I filed that resignation with the Selectmen about that time. He received no fees from the town after my report was made, nor did the town ever re thing for the illegal fees revioosly collected. Doheny's attorney had 87 an expert go over all the books, but he did not differ from me in any matter of importance. I have never doubted the substantial accuracy of my report, which was based almost entirely on entries and figures prepared by Doherty or his clerk. The comparison of the entries on his own books, with the>figures in his report to the State, showed that he had done about all that was claimed. After he was driven out of office here, he had a position in the In- dian Department, where Herbert Welch pursued him for a long time, and, I think, finally dislodged him. He will always have some kind of an office, probably, and it is probable that he will always be what he was here. That he deliberately made false entries and charged illegal fees when Registrar in New Haven was proved conclusively. I believe Dr. Lindsley has already written you of some of the instances which came under his notice. Yours respectfully, HENRY C. WHITE. FROM PROF. C. A. LINDSLEY, M.D. [Copy.] New Haven, March 15, 1891. Prof John J. McCook : Dear Sir : — Replying to your favor of March 3d, I have to say : In the Summer of 1882 I detected Dr. Doherty, who was then the Registrar of New Haven, in the practice of writing and recording- fictitious certificates of death, presumably for the purpose of increasing his fees. I charged him with it, and he admitted the fact of the ficti- tious certificates, alleging some absurd explanation that it was acci- dental. Some time afterwards the irregularities of his office became so conspicuous and his accounts with the town so suspicious that the Selectmen appointed a committee of investigation (of which Mr. Henry C. White was a member). This committee made thorough work, going through all his records for several years, and reported very impor- tant irregularities and defects, and that, so nearly as they could esti- mate, he had defrauded the town, by overcharging, to the amount of several thousand dollars. He subsequently resigned his office, and no legal steps were taken, so far as I know, to recover from him the amount which had been overpaid. The report of the investigating committee is on file, or on record, at the office of the Selectmen in New Haven. I have no doubt it is accessible to you for inspection, if you wish to see it. Very truly yours, C. A. LINDSLEY. N P. S. At the time Dr. Doherty was the Registrar of New Haven. :he Health Officer, and was thus brought into close official rela- tions with him. Second. One other point I omitted to answer, which 1 do as fol- Dohertv was a politician (in its wors and, as such, obtained the position of u Jail Physician." On one occasion he sent for me to assist him. Upon reaching the jail 1 found that he had been torturing a poor prisoner, trying to force a swollen testicle into the abdominal cavity. He told me he had been trying for an hour to reduce a hernia ! FROM THE TOWN Rl NEW HAVEN CONCERNING DR. DOHERTY. June 9, 1885. A vote was passed asking for his resignation. June 30th. Petition from prominent citizens to the Board of Selectmen wa- ■. asking that he be removed from his office. 3 tember 29th. Dr. Doherty s attorney proposed to the Board of Selectmen to take, in cancellation of his indebtedness to the tow his fees from October 1,18*4 nd that all criminal proceedings be withdrawn. October 1st. A special meeting to act upon the proposal adjourned at action to October 5th. October 5, 1 885. At a special meeting, the following was re- ceived : "I hereby resign my position as Registrar of Births. Mar- riages, and Deaths, of the town of New Haven, the same to take effect on the first Monday of October, 1885, and I hereby agree that the town may apply whatever is due me. or may hereafter become due me, on the claim of the town against me. 9 -ned] J. J. a DOHBBTY." _ ;tion be accepted, to take effect immedia- IV he attachment on his property would not be released until a final settlement. FROM L. H. PEASE. FIRST SELECTMAN. [Copy.] Office t Selkctmsh » the T wa » Enfieu), ipsoxvdlle. Conn., March 17, 1891. John J. McCook, Hartford, Conn.: Dear Sir : — Yours of yesterday is at hand, in which you enquire in reference to J. J. S. Doherty, M.D.. formerly of this town, and put the following question : " Did he pass with you for a good and com- petent physician and a man of integrity ? " I regret that I cannot give you a good report. Respectfully, L. H. PEASE, First Selectman. [Copy.] Department of the Interior, Office of the Secretary, Washington, March 11, 1891. Sir : — I am directed by the Secretary of the Interior to acknowl- edge the receipt of your letter of the 1 Oth instant, requesting certain information regarding Dr. J. J. S. Doherty, formerly a physician in the Indian service, and to inform you that the same has been referred to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Very respectfully, E. M. DAWSON, John J. McCook, Esq., Chief Clerk. Hartford, Conn. [Copy.] Department of the Interior, Office of Indian Affairs, Washington, March 21, 1891. John J. McCook, Hartford, Conn.: Sir: — In reply to your inquiries of the 10th and 18th instants, relative to Dr. J. J. S. Doherty, formerly in the Indian service, I have to say that the records of this office show that Dr. Doherty was ap- pointed physician and clerk at Grande Ronde Agency, Oregon, on recommendation of Hon. Charles L. Mitchell, March 1, 1886, and en- tered on duty April 14, 1886. In relation to the manner in which he left the service, and the cause therefor, I quote the following from a letter written to the Secretary of the Interior on February 28, 1887, by Hon. J. D. C. Atkins, who was then Commissioner of Indian Affairs : "It is stated that Dr. J. J. Doherty, who was appointed by me to be an Agency Physician, was unworthy to hold that position, for the reason that he had been guilty of malfeasance in office as Registrar of Vital Statistics in Connecticut ; that the Association presented a full statement of the facts to this Department, and succeeded, after months of delay, in securing the Doctor's removal ; thus implying, that this Department persisted, in the face of a full knowledge otan employee's SUMMARY DR. MORRISSEY'S ACCOUNT BY YEARS. Instruments, Books, Supplies, Etc. 1.00 4.25 23.50 13.00 $41.75 15.10 21.05 16.50 11.65 Whole I Tnstn $75.1 102.54 246.46 174.86 167.47 Whole | tnstru Whole Instr Whole Inslru- | Whole 17.60 5.70 15.75 $7.75 17.39 8.65 mi! ;r, 42.00 46.25 $403.00 $33.79 75.70 84.73 72.85 80.65 5.15 10.75 11.13 6.15 23.06 29.26 25.30 12.00 '466 42.4!) 67 30 25.04 56.65 $56.' 66.06 I 14.50 95 14 72 34 j 58.25 85.26 I 10.15 $18.50 4.50 $318.80 $82.90 .75 $25.00 13.05 $5.00 27.00 14.64 20.75 5.67 $68. ( si. 3!) $64.!