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 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 An Inquiry by the National Child Labor Committee 
 
 under the Auspices and with the Co-operation of 
 
 The University of Alabama 
 
 Edward N. Clop per 
 Director 
 
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 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 An Inquiry by the National Child Labor Committee 
 
 under the Auspices and with the Co-operation of 
 
 The University of Alabama 
 
 Edivard N. Clapper 
 Director 
 
 • ■> y :> a 9 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 National (B\\\\s Habor (EmnmttlPP 
 
 INCOnrOKATKD 
 
 105 East 22d Street, New York City 
 
 1^3530
 
 CopjTight 1918 
 
 by the 
 
 National Child Labor Committee 
 
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 • « «• • « 
 
 PRESS OF CLARENCE S. NATHAN, INC., NEW YORK.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introduction Edward N. Clopper 5 
 
 Public Health J. H. McCormick 10 
 
 Education James J. Dosfer 63 
 
 Rural School Attendance Eva Joffe 101 
 
 Child Labor Law Administration Florence I. Taylor 125 
 
 Juvenile Courts and Probation Mrs. W. L. Murdoch 147 
 
 Child-Caring Institutions and Home Finding. Zee Bidgood 163 
 
 Recreation Gladys M. Gleason 205 
 
 Law and Administration W. H. Swijt 226 
 
 A summary of recommendations and general discussion.
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 Edward N. Clopper 
 National Child Labor Committee 
 
 The child is the raison d'etre of the family, which is our social 
 unit for its protection and rearing. It is the family's center of 
 interest, and itself the potential founder of a future family. What- 
 ever affects the child affects the family and reacts upon society and 
 the state. Therefore the well-being of the child in all respects is of 
 vital concern to the state. 
 
 The child has many interests and is subject to many influences, 
 some sound and healthful, others sinister, fraught with danger, or 
 positively harmful. All these interests and influences are of the 
 utmost importance to the state, but in our individualistic way we 
 of the United States have looked upon them primarily as matters 
 properly within the control of the family and have deemed it wise 
 to take action for the sake of the children only when the family has 
 been broken up or has failed notoriously in its obligations. We have 
 clung persistently to the theory that the family in its independent 
 struggle to promote its own welfare will solve its own problems 
 to best advantage and at the same time promote the welfare of 
 society. But as society has become more and more complex, we are 
 faced by the cold fact that conditions no longer make it possible 
 for the family to carry on this struggle independently — it is unable 
 to bear up against the pressure of social factors as it once was against 
 individual factors, and we begin vaguely to understand that society 
 itself must take a hand in the control of these greater forces. 
 Intelligent parents will logically and almost instinctively corre- 
 late all their efforts for the benefit of their own children, so far 
 as they are able to put forth such efforts in their own way as sepa- 
 rate undertakings, but it would be, of course, absurd for the state 
 to assume that all children have intelligent parents, financially able 
 to give them proper attention and training, and that therefore no 
 responsibility rests upon its own shoulders. We all agree that chil- 
 dren unfortunate by reason of orphanage, defectiveness, environ- 
 
 5
 
 6 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 ment, poverty, disease, or neglect must have the fostering care that 
 their peculiar circumstances require. But we forget that even chil- 
 dren who are fortunately situated in their home life and normal in 
 body and mind, stand nonetheless in need of thoughtful oversight 
 in order that their continued welfare may be assured. Plans for 
 child care that are aimed only at the correction of abnormal situa- 
 tions and do not provide for the strengthening and development of 
 normal conditions are but nan^ow in scope and limited in effect. We 
 cannot take it for granted that because it has the protection of a 
 family all will go well with the child and that another good citizen 
 is guaranteed. Only now is the state beginning to see dimly that 
 this happy-go-lucky guardianship of its wards is fair neither to them 
 nor to itself, and that it must hold itself to strict accountability for 
 the welfare of all within its jurisdiction. 
 
 The healthful interests of the child embrace all those things 
 that make for worthy manhood or womanhood — the essentials to 
 which everyone is entitled as the basis of strong and intelligent 
 citizenship. They may all be grouped together under the two 
 heads of Health and Education, both considered in their broadest 
 aspects. Health means the segregation of the mentally unfit to 
 ensure a reduction in the birth-rate of abnormal children, the re- 
 quirement of physical fitness of applicants for the marriage license, 
 freedom of mothers from toil before and after confinement, control 
 of infant mortality, insistence upon responsibility for illegitimacy, 
 birth registration, physical recreation, pure food, good housing, 
 medical inspection of children in schools, in institutions, and at 
 work, as well as all other precautionary measures, and suitable 
 organization for the administration and control of these matters by 
 the community. Education means training for definite responsi- 
 bilities in life, a broadening of opportunity, a quickening of the 
 appreciation of one's duty to self and fellows, character-building 
 and discipline, as well as mental recreation and instruction in the 
 fundamentals of learning. 
 
 Opposed to the healthful interests of the child are the harmful 
 influences that retard, dwarf, pervert and sometimes wholly destroy 
 his growth and future usefulness. They are the evils to which the 
 child is exposed — disease of the mind or body, premature or improper 
 labor, bad environment, delinquency, poverty, mistreatment. 
 
 We have on the one hand the constructive forces acting for the
 
 Introduction 7 
 
 preservation of life, the safeguarding of health, and the progress 
 of humanldnd, and on the other hand the destructive forces that 
 bring about want, disease, abuse and crime. These conflicting forces 
 are constantly at work and eternal vigilance is the price of safety. 
 Whatever is done to hold back the forces that destroy, gives the 
 forces that build up a better chance to work their way, but it is of 
 little avail to limit the task to the repair of damage done, for the 
 tearing down is a constant process, and under such a policy the havoc 
 wrought to-day will have its counterpart to-morrow. The efforts 
 put forth merely to cure disease, relieve suffering, or to punish the 
 malefactor, no matter how widespread or how well-organized or how 
 indispensable at the moment, have but slight effect upon the causes 
 of \^Tetchedness and crime — they only patch up what is left after 
 the blast has spent its fury and the pain has been endured. What 
 is of far greater importance is that steps shall be taken to thwart 
 the forces that leave this trail of misery, and thereby prevent a re- 
 currence of such misfortune and distress. 
 
 It is not enough to maintain institutions for the special training 
 of children who have started wrong — the conditions that made the 
 wrong start inevitable must be corrected. The institution can deal 
 with the wayward child but all the people, acting through the state, 
 must deal with the factors that made him wa^^ward. The treat- 
 ment of hook-worm patients will not answer the purpose if the soil 
 is left polluted. 
 
 Such action as Alabama has so far taken for the welfare of her 
 children except in public schooling, has been remedial rather than 
 preventive. Furthermore the method has been local rather than 
 comprehensive, and independent rather than co-operative. The com- 
 plete care of every child has not been insured. What has been done 
 has been in response to isolated impulses and agitations — a certain 
 condition has been brought prominently to the attention of the people 
 at one time, with the result that action has been taken relating to that 
 specific condition, and at another time another condition has been 
 similarly made known and changed. Hence the body of measures 
 built up for the social welfare has been of spasmodic and more or less 
 haphazard growth; one agitation and its measures for improve- 
 ment have borne little or no relation to other agitations and their 
 results. Educational progress has been to a great extent independent 
 of progress in health work; what has been accomplished for the
 
 8 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 child laborer has had no relation to the relief of poverty; efforts 
 for the prevention of juvenile delinquency have been made without 
 regard to what had been or should be done in the other branches 
 of child welfare work; and gaps are left where no tiling whatever 
 has been done. When all these achievements and omissions are 
 viewed in the aggregate they seem a veritable jumble. Some of the 
 administrative agencies created to carry out the purposes of laws, 
 likewise show that in their organization thought was not centered 
 upon logical arrangement of functions — as in the case of child labor 
 law enforcement, which has been entrusted to the inspector of jails and 
 almshouses, who in turn is an appointee of the state board of health. 
 Several of the states of the Union have within the past few years 
 undertaken to bring together in their proper relations all of their 
 measures for the benefit of children, at the same time adjusting 
 their procedure so as to accord with the best thought on the subjects 
 involved. It is here suggested that Alabama do this also. Ohio, 
 Minnesota, New Hampshire and Missouri have been conspicuous 
 in this movement for the codifying, standardizing and co-ordinating 
 of child welfare laws and of the functions of administrative agencies. 
 The chapters in this volume treat of different subjects, describing 
 conditions as they exist to-day in Alabama, and offering definite 
 recommendations for their improvement, but even a hasty glance 
 over their pages will reveal the intimate relation that one subject 
 bears to another — the essential interdependence of all as parts of a 
 whole. Health, education, labor control, recreation, relief, institu- 
 tional care and correction are not isolated fields of work but form 
 one general program. It is to show this interdependence and the 
 necessity of providing legislation and administrative agencies so as 
 to do work hitherto left undone, of eliminating conflicts in laws and 
 in the authorit}^ to enforce them, of harmonizing the various ele- 
 ments of a complete program, and of suggesting ways and means of 
 making this program practicable, that this volume is designed. It 
 is intended to stimulate interest in child welfare and to develop 
 the thesis that a child, in order to enjoy the fullest possible oppor- 
 tunity to gi"ow into complete manhood or womanhood, must have 
 the fullest possible measure of care through the properly co-ordinated 
 functions of the state. It is not enough that these functions be per- 
 formed separately, each independently of the others — their inter- 
 relations must be recognized and this can be most easily done from 

 
 Introduction 9 
 
 the commanding viewpoint of the state itself. It is from this view- 
 point that the following pages have been prepared, and it is hoped that 
 public opinion may be developed and crystallized in the form of ade- 
 quate law^s, comprehensive policy and co-operative practice that 
 will work effectively and harmoniously for the good of the children 
 of the state. The University of Alabama, because of its deep in- 
 terest in such work and its desire to serve the state in promoting 
 the well-being of its boys and girls, has co-operated with the National 
 and the Alabama Child Labor Committees in the study of conditions, 
 preparation of reports, and the fonnulation of this state program, the 
 entire inquiry having been pursued under its auspices. The work 
 was made possible by the generosity of a friend of the children, a 
 resident of Alabama, who has defrayed all the expenses incurred.
 
 PUBLIC HEALTH 
 J. H. McCoRMiCK, M.D. 
 
 School of Medicine, University of Alabama 
 
 INTRODUCTORY 
 
 It is a truism that public health is public wealth. A health 
 survey of Alabama reveals the striking fact that for the most part, 
 especially in rural sections, the people possess no true appraisal of 
 community health as a supreme value. 
 
 It is an axiomatic proposition that in the final analysis the 
 fundamental wealth of a state lies not so much in its natural re- 
 sources or geographic position as in its man power. As a corollary, 
 it is likewise self-evident that the potential wealth of a state increases 
 in proportion as the population approaches the norm; in other 
 words, the real economic basis of the wealth of a state depends upon 
 a proper conservation of its man power. 
 
 The true economic unit should therefore be based upon the in- 
 dividual, rather than upon a realty or cognate entity, since the latter 
 has value only insofar as it is utilizable by the individual or the 
 masses. Economists have already sensed this basic fact, although 
 not alwa^^s clearly on account of a failure to differentiate between 
 cause and effect, erroneously substituting the one for the other, 
 as a premise. This is evidenced more and more by an insistence 
 upon the recognition of "intangible assets" as a source of wealth. 
 These are, after all, the product of the inherent forces of an individual 
 or a corporation, applied directly or indirectly, vitalizing that which 
 otherwise possesses no true value, since it is inert, although con- 
 taining latent possibilities. 
 
 How does this "intangible asset" apply to the health value of the 
 individual or the community? 
 
 Actuaries have clearly demonstrated that each individual ac- 
 cording to his classification has a real monetary value to the common- 
 wealth that may be transposed from an asset to a liability unless 
 properly safeguarded. Courts of law have also recognized this fact in 
 their allowance for death or injury. Life insurance companies place a 
 pecuniary value upon the life expectancy of the individual, based, it is 
 true, upon his physical condition, but far more emphasis is now placed 
 upon the "moral risk," which is in point of fact, an "intangible asset." 
 
 10
 
 Puhlic Health 11 
 
 Corporations are rapidly coming to recognize this "intangible 
 asset" of health for their employes, many of them demonstrating 
 to their owm satisfaction, at least, that they can convert this "in- 
 tangible asset" into a tangible one which pays large dividends. 
 
 The United States Army has recognized this health asset as 
 never before in histor}^ for not only have there been vast strides in 
 sanitation and preventive medicine, to preserve the health of the 
 soldier, but such social adjuncts as the Red Cross, the Y. M. C. A. 
 camp activities, together with a host of other agencies, have been 
 utilized to keep the soldier, whether in camp, cantonment or field, from 
 physical, mental and moral deterioration. To accomplish this, vast 
 sums of money are now being expended which would formerly have 
 been regarded as both lavish and extravagant, because the Federal 
 Government has learned that it pays in actual dollars and cents. 
 
 The records of the War Department show that over 60 per cent 
 of the National Guard from Alabama, detailed on the Mexican border, 
 suffered from hookworm. In consequence of a lowered vitality from 
 this preventable disease, a large number of these Alabama soldiers 
 were stricken with pneumonia, attended by an abnormally high 
 mortality. The same condition prevails in Camp Wheeler, Georgia, 
 where a majority of the Alabama recruits are stationed. 
 
 Per contra, during the Spanish American War, the death rate 
 from typhoid fever was appalling, largely because health values were 
 not stressed then as now by the national government, nor were the 
 causes of the prevalence of the disease as well understood. Eighty- 
 six per cent of all deaths during that war were due to typhoid fever, 
 which attacked practically 20 per cent of the entire army. In marked 
 contrast, as a result of compulsory inoculation against typhoid 
 fever, practically no cases developed among the thousands of troops 
 on the Mexican border during the recent occupation. 
 
 Again, according to the report of the Provost-Marshal General 
 to the Secretary of War, under the selective service act of 1917, of 
 the number of young men from 21 to 30 drawn in the first draft, 
 29.11 per cent were rejected by the local boards as physically dis- 
 qualified. In addition, 5.07 per cent were rejected by the camp 
 surgeons, making a total of 34.18 per cent of rejections. It would 
 seem to be a severe indictment of the country at large for failing to 
 conserve its man power, when over one-third of its draft men in the 
 very prime of life arc found to be physically unfit.
 
 12 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 How does this rule apply to Alabama? While it is true that 
 Alabama shows a slightly better percentage of acceptances than our 
 sister southern states, still the number rejected is too high. Out of 
 47,867 selectmen examined by the local boards 11,498 were rejected 
 for physical defects. In addition a considerable percentage were 
 rejected by the surgeon at Camp Wheeler and elsewhere, the exact 
 figures being at present not available;* a large percentage of these 
 defects were of a minor nature and could have been prevented by 
 proper hygienic living and environment in childhood. 
 
 Disease with its enormous toll of human life and waste of human 
 efficiency and the attendant financial loss is in a large measure pre- 
 ventable. It is estimated that four in every ten cases might be pre- 
 vented by the proper teaching and practice of hygiene. 
 
 The modem tendency in the study of medicine is toward the 
 prevention of disease rather than investigating means of cure be- 
 cause prevention benefits the greater number and pays larger re- 
 turns for the investment. Investigation of the cause and the means 
 of transmittal tend toward a clearer knowledge of disease prevention, 
 thereby establishing a foundation upon which the new public health 
 system is to be built. The state has no duty paramount to that of 
 protecting the health and lives and of aiding in the increase of physical 
 efficiency among its citizens. Public health can be purchased at a 
 reasonable price. The public is slowly but surely realizing this truth 
 and is beginning to demand from the state a greater degree of protec- 
 tion against preventable diseases than formerly. Such protection the 
 state alone can give, since it can do things which the people them- 
 selves cannot or will not do. It is not only good public policy, but it 
 is also in keeping with modern research for the state to engage in 
 the larger field of preventive medicine, since the "biggest business 
 proposition before the people today is the business of public health." 
 
 To ascertain whether Alabama has provided proper means to 
 cope with this "big business" problem, it is nesessary to examine 
 the various agencies it has provided for the care of public health. 
 
 * Since writing the above, in the American Medical Journal, August 17, 
 1918, Fol. 572 appears a chart and table prepared by the office of the Provost- 
 Marshal General, indicating the relative number of registrants inducted and 
 rejected in the various states for the period from February 10 to July 10, 
 1918, in which Alabama shows the highest percentage of rejections of any state 
 in the Union; the number inducted being 11,750, accepted 9,705, rejected 2,054, 
 a percentage of rejection of 17.46. The average for the United States is 5.83 
 per cent, the next highest state being South Carolina with 12.09 per cent, New 
 Jersey showing the lowest with 1.93 per cent rejections.
 
 Public Health 13 
 
 PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM 
 
 The public health sj-stem of Alabama differs fundamentally 
 from that of any other state in the Union. This is the only state 
 in which it is lodged wholly in the hands of the organized medical 
 profession. 
 
 State Board of Health. 
 
 The state code provides that the State Medical Association 
 as constituted under the laws now in force or which may hereafter 
 be in force, constitutes the State Board of Health. 
 
 "That her health boards, state and county, shall consist of medical men 
 exclusively, and has endowed these boards with the important legal function 
 of administering the health laws and regulations of the state, the county, 
 and the incorporated cities and towns." 
 
 "Has confined to the organized profession the right of naming all 
 medical health officials, state, county and city, and by so doing has not only 
 placed the selection of these officials in the hands of those most competent 
 to judge as to their fitness, but has thereby widely divorced her public 
 health system from politics and from commercial influence." 
 
 "Has provided her medical men, not only with the privilege, but with 
 the right of practically applying through their organized bodies, state and 
 county, whatever of sanitary knowledge they may acquire to the prevention 
 of disease and to the protection of the health and lives of the people." 
 (Paragraphs 2, 3, 4, Preface to Medical Laws of Alabama, 1916). 
 
 County Board of Health. 
 
 According to the code of Alabama for 1907, Vol. 1, Chapter 
 22, Act 1, Sec. 700 and 701: 
 
 "The County Medical societies in affihation with the Medical Associa- 
 tion of the State of Alabama, and organized in accordance with the pro- 
 visions of its constitution are boards of health for their respective counties, 
 and for all incorporated cities and towns therein, and shall be under the 
 general supervision and control of the State Board of Health." 
 
 "No local board of health, or executive medical body of any name or 
 kind, for the exercise of public health functions, other than the county board 
 of health, must be established in any county, town or city." 
 
 It thus follows that the county medical society is the health 
 
 unit, and constitutes the board of health for the county. All legal 
 
 reputable and ethical physicians of the county are eligible for mem- 
 
 ■^Jifirship in the society. It is important to bear this in mind, since 
 
 every physician in the county holding membership in the county
 
 14 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 society is a member of the board of health by reason of such mem- 
 bership. The functions of the county society among other things, 
 as set forth in the constitution (Art. II, Sec. 1, Paragraphs 2-5), 
 are to accept and discharge 
 
 "the duties that devolve upon it, as the legal board of health of the county 
 and to encourage the study of all conditions, local or general, that may 
 affect the sanitary welfare of the people of the county, with a view of urging 
 the adoption of such measures and policies as will best promote the im- 
 provement or abatement of such conditions." 
 
 Each county society elects a county health ojfficer and a muni- 
 cipal health officer for every incorporated city or town in the county, 
 and also five censors, the latter of whom act as a committee on public 
 health whose jurisdiction and duties are as follows: (1) To exer- 
 cise advisory and executive functions with regard to health and 
 quarantine. (2) PoHcy of committee may be revised or modified 
 by the county society. (3) Supervision of county and municipal 
 health officers. 
 
 Organization. 
 
 The State Medical Association, which is the State Board of 
 Health, is composed of four classes of persons, viz.: members, 
 delegates, counsellors and correspondents, all of whom may take 
 part in the scientific deliberations of the association. 
 
 The counsellors control the action of the association, since they 
 control the election of the board of censors, ten in number, which 
 when constituted acts in three capacities, to wit: (1) As a State 
 Board of Censors, (2) as a State Board of Medical Examiners, (3) 
 as a State Board of Public Health. 
 
 The board of censors elects from the college of counsellors the 
 State Health Officer, and submits the name of the officer so elected 
 to the association, (State Board of Health) for confirmation. It 
 also has the right upon a two-thirds vote of its members to recom- 
 mend to the association, (State Board of Health) the removal of 
 the State Health Officer from office. It is required, through its 
 executive officer, the State Health Officer, to supervise and direct 
 the administration of the public health and quarantine laws of the 
 state. 
 
 The State Health Officer has the right to call a meeting of the 
 State Committee of Public Health for consultation and advice
 
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 16 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 whenever in his opinion such meeting would promote the pubHc 
 health interest. The State Committee of Public Health in turn 
 may call a meeting of the State Board of Health (the State Medical 
 Association), whenever in its judgment conditions so demand. The 
 State Committee of Public Health and the State Health Officer 
 render to the State Board of Health (the State Medical Association) 
 reports of their official work for such action as said Board may see 
 fit to take thereon. 
 
 Objection has been made to the form of the State Board of Health 
 on the ground that the above provisions virtually make it a self- 
 perpetuating body, and that while it is claimed by its friends to be 
 the most democratic system in the United States, its opponents 
 aver that it is democratic in theory only, while autocratic in practice. 
 
 From a practical public health standpoint, this would be of 
 no interest, except to the medical profession, save for the fact above 
 shown, that the State Medical Association is the State Board of 
 Health, and is invested with all legal power as such, in both state 
 and county. In public health matters, it is therefore necessary 
 clearly to keep the structure of the organization in mind, in order 
 to ascertain its work and influence in the state. 
 
 The State Board of Health under Section 702 of the Code, 
 through its executive officer, the State Health Officer, shall have 
 authority and jurisdiction as follows: 
 
 1. To exercise general control over the enforcement of the laws relating 
 to public health. 
 
 2. To investigate the causes, modes of propagation, and means of 
 prevention, of endemic, epidemic, infectious and contagious diseases; 
 
 3. To investigate the influence of localities and employments on the 
 health of the people. 
 
 4. To inspect all public schools, hospitals, asylums, jails, almshouses, 
 theatres, opera houses, court houses, public halls, prisons, markets, public 
 dairies, public slaughter pens or houses, depots, passenger cars, industrial 
 and manufacturing establishments, and other public places and institutions 
 of like character, and whenever unsanitary conditions in any of these places, 
 institutions or establishments, or conditions prejudicial to health, or likely 
 to become so are found, proper steps shall be taken to have such- conditions 
 corrected or abated. 
 
 1 5. To examine the sources of supply, reservoirs, and avenues of con- 
 
 veyance of drinking water furnished to incorporated cities and towns, and 
 whenever these waters are found polluted, or conditions are discovered 
 likely to bring about their pollution, proper steps shall be taken to improve 
 or correct conditions.
 
 Public Health 17 
 
 6. To prescribe and publish rules for the sanitation of depots and 
 passenger cars on all railroads, including the territory contiguous to said 
 railroads. 
 
 7. To exercise general supervision and control over county boards of 
 health and over county and municipal health officers in the enforcement 
 of the public health laws of the state in their respective counties and muni- 
 cipalities. 
 
 8. To notify the court of coimty commissioners, or board of like 
 character of any county, or the mayor and council of any munici- 
 pality whenever it appears that the health officer of such county 
 or municipality is negligent or inattentive to his official duties, 
 
 1^^ whereupon it shall be the duty of said county or municipal officials 
 to suspend the payment of the salary of their health officer 
 imtil such time as an investigation of the alleged negligence 
 and inattention can be procured in accordance with sub-section 11 of 
 section 703 of this code. At the end of such investigation it shall be the 
 duty of the State Board of Health through its executive officer to inform 
 the court of county commissioners or board of like character, or the mayor 
 and council of any municipality, as the case may be, of the result of the 
 investigation, which result shall be binding on the said court of county 
 commissioners, or boards of like character, or on the mayor and cotmcil 
 of any municipality, as the case may be. 
 
 9. To act as an advisory board to the state in all sanitary and medical 
 matters. 
 
 As each county health board is a miniature of the state health 
 board, so the duties of the former are practically the same as the 
 latter, except limited to the confines of its own county. 
 
 A careful investigation of the objections to the system, both by 
 the medical profession and the laity shows that the complaints may 
 be classed under two general groups: 
 
 1. That the State Board of Health has done comparatively little in 
 proportion to what it should have done for the health conditions of the 
 state. 
 
 2. That it is a "close medical corporation," a "self-perpetuating body," 
 and that the rank and file of the profession have no actual voice in the 
 direction of its affairs. 
 
 To the first objection it is offered in rebuttal that a sufficient 
 amount of money has never been appropriated to accomplish any 
 results in public health work in Alabama. Publicity work, bringing 
 the aims and objects of the Board to the attention of the people has 
 never been possible. The Board of Health has lived for thirty years 
 in splendid isolation, and has been a theoretical organization. It is
 
 18 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 contended that the fundamental principles upon which the organi- 
 zation is built are sound. The machine is a perfect instrument of 
 its kind. Like all good machines it perhaps has defects but no one 
 has ever been able to specify them because it has never been put 
 into operation. It is like a mogul engine placed on a railroad track; 
 its builders have stood around and admired it, and occasionally- 
 rubbed up its brasses, and perhaps rung the bell, but there has never 
 been any coal and water in it with which to produce steam and make 
 the engine go. It would be unwise to undertake to remodel the 
 engine until fuel and water have been put in it, and a competent 
 engineer has tried her out down the track. If there are defects, 
 they could then be found, removed and corrected, but until the 
 machine is tried out, it would be a mistake to undertake this. It 
 must be borne in mind that there is a difference between a public 
 health system and a plan of operation. You may have the best 
 system in the world, but if you have no plan for operating it, it is 
 worthless. Any system with a workable plan, capable men and 
 plenty of money, will succeed. No system without these elements 
 has any value. In the present case the men are at hand, ready for 
 work; comprehensive plans have been prepared; what is needed is 
 the money. 
 
 The second group of objections are: The inability of the State 
 Board of Health to produce results has been ascribed to faulty 
 organization, when the real difficulty was a lack of appropriation. 
 Some have by error criticised the organic structure of the health 
 system, when as a matter of fact, their complaint was in the nature 
 of a personal grievance, which may or may not have possessed merit. 
 Others have mistaken faults of administration for structural defects. 
 Rivalry between city and rural factions has been the cause at times 
 of friction. These objectors have claimed that the shortcomings 
 complained of could be remedied by a change in the system. The 
 four principal plans for change suggested by the critics of the present 
 system, are in order of frequency: 
 
 1. To peiTnit every member of the association to vote and be eligible 
 to hold office, thereby abolishing the representative system of delegates and 
 counsellors. 
 
 2. To take the election of the State Health Officer out of the hands of 
 the medical association and make the office appointive by the Governor. 
 
 3. To make the office elective such as that of the State Superintendent 
 of Education.
 
 Public Health 19 
 
 4. To place the state health department under the direction and control 
 of the United States Public Health Service, following the precedent estab- 
 lished a few years ago when the state quarantine system was transferred to 
 that service. 
 
 In other words, the personal equation which necessarily enters 
 into any system has been behind most of the criticism. Much de- 
 structive criticism has been offered and practically no constructive 
 criticism has been suggested, save the change from a theoretically 
 perfect system which for lack of money has never been fully tried, 
 to one of partisan politics which has in every southern state been 
 attended by disaster to progress in public health. 
 
 The health system of the state is a live issue and no adequate 
 conception of health activities can be obtained without a proper 
 understanding of it since all future activities are predicated upon the 
 retention or modification of the present structure. 
 
 Alabama ranks first in the United States in the number of 
 physicians holding membership in the State Medical Association 
 and is far above the surrounding states, — thus affording a strong 
 argument for the present system. Whatever organic defects the 
 present system may possess, no legislative enactment is needed along 
 that line, since the remedy lies in the hands of the State Medical 
 Association itself through a change in its constitution. Such change 
 need not necessarily alter the form or function of the State Board of 
 Health and therefore would not invalidate any state statute. That 
 the code may with advantage be amended to strengthen certain 
 minor defects which experience has shown to exist, in order to 
 correlate and co-ordinate the Board's activities, is unquestioned. 
 
 A sun.^ey of the activities of the State Department of Health 
 shows that it has been woefully hampered not only by lack of money 
 but until comparatively recently, by a lack of breadth of vision. 
 Strict construction rather than the spirit of the health laws was the 
 measure of the administrative horizon. Social welfare, the basic 
 principle of all public health systems was looked upon as smacking 
 too much of paternalism and as inconsistent with democratic ideals. 
 The result was sometimes a lack of genuine sympathy, co-operation, 
 and co-ordination with private efforts to ameliorate unsatisfactory 
 conditions in many parts of the state. The mechanism of the system 
 was a sort of fetish, and a criticism of its lack of activity, even when 
 justifiable, was regarded as an effort to demolish the system; hence
 
 20 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 most of the energy was expended in defending the form, doing little 
 to remove the cause of complaint. 
 
 It is gratifying to record the fact that-the present administration 
 of the State Board of Health has not only grasped the modem view- 
 point and is striving with every facility afforded by the state to 
 render efficient service, but has been and is on the alert to take ad- 
 vantage of every possible outside agency to push public health 
 matters to the front and to educate the people to the necessity 
 of demanding greater aid from the state. 
 
 THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH 
 
 Having described the machine, what of its fuel, its motive 
 power of men and money as evidenced by the executive force of the 
 State Board of Health, and the appropriation for its maintenance? 
 
 The annual appropriation for the department of public health 
 is $26,200, of which amount $19,700 is expended in salaries for the 
 executive force, the personnel consisting of: 
 
 State Health OflScer 
 
 Stenographer 
 
 Registrar of Vital and Mortuary Statistics 
 
 Chief Clerk 
 
 3 Assiatants 
 
 Bacteriologist and Pathologist 
 
 First Assistant 
 
 Second Assistant 
 
 Stenographer 
 
 Janitor 
 
 Sanitary Engineer and Field Director of Sanitation 
 
 Salaries $19,700 
 
 Compare this sum with the liberality shown by the same legis- 
 lature for disease prevention in animals. 
 
 For prevention of hog cholera (Page 105, Acts 1915) $28,000 
 
 For tick eradication per annum (Page 204, Acts 1915) 25,000 
 
 (This entails a $25,000 appropriation from the counties. 
 Mobile County alone, although not a cattle county, has spent 
 $50,000 for tick eradication, but cannot afford an all-time 
 health officer.) 
 
 For expense of Live Stock Sanitary Board (Political Code, • 
 Section 767, page 458) 5,000 
 
 Total $83,000 
 
 Comparison in this case is odious. 
 
 All for Laboratory
 
 Public Health 21 
 
 The remainder of the appropriation is spent as follows : 
 
 Antitoxin for indigent persons (approximately) $200 
 
 Printing and postage 3,500 
 
 Traveling expenses (approximately) 1,500 
 
 All other expenses 1,300 
 
 Total $26,200 
 
 For the entire activities of the State Board of Health having 
 to care for the health conditions of the more than 2,000,000 inhabi- 
 tants, the munificent sum of $26,200 is given by the state. 
 
 Leaving out the purely clerical part of the force, there remain 
 only six persons to look after the entire technical side of public 
 health, or an equivalent of one person for every 11 counties if each 
 were responsible for covering such an area instead of having to cover 
 the entire state in his particular field. 
 
 It is quite obvious that this pitifully small force is incapable 
 
 not only of effectively caiTying out the manifold duties required of 
 
 the department as previously shown in Section 702, but the further 
 
 requirements entailed in section 733, page 30 which reads: 
 
 The sum of $25,000 is hereby appropriated to the State Board of 
 Health annually. Said sum shall be expended for the following purposes: 
 
 (1) To super\'ise the execution of the health laws of the state; 
 
 (2) To supervise the collection of the vital, mortuary and infectious 
 disease statistics of the state; and to tabulate the same for publication; 
 
 (3) To furnish all such blanks, envelopes, record books, stationary 
 and postage as may be needed for the collection, tabulation and filing of 
 the vital, mortuary and infectious disease statistics of the state; 
 
 (4) To conduct a bacteriological laboratory for furnishing the most 
 modem scientific aids in the diagnosis and treatment of the disease of the 
 people of the state; 
 
 (5) To conduct a Pasteur Institute for the free treatment of all resi- 
 dents of the state who may be bitten by rabid animals and who may apply 
 for treatment ; 
 
 (6) To conduct campaigns for the education of the people of the state 
 as to the causation, propagation and prevention of tuberculosis, hookworm 
 disease, typhoid and malarial fevers, and other preventable diseases; 
 
 (7) To conduct campaigns for the extermination of tuberculosis, 
 hookworm disease, typhoid and malarial fevers, and other preventable 
 diseases, insofar as this may be accomplished; 
 
 (8) To conduct campaigns for the education of the people as to sanitary 
 methods to be employed in securing pure milk and pure drinking water; 
 
 (9) To distribute among the people of the state bulletins, leaflets, 
 etc., giving information in regard to preventable diseases;
 
 22 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 (10) To provide an equipment for a field hospital to be used for 
 isolating and treating cases of infectious and pestilential diseases that 
 may occur in, or be imported into the state; 
 
 (11) To establish one or more depots of supply of diphtheritic anti- 
 toxin in every county of the state, said antitoxin to be furnished free of cost 
 to all persons unable to provide themselves with the remedy, when needed; 
 
 (12) To provide an equipment for disinfecting houses and other places 
 under urgent and special conditions; 
 
 (13) To execute through its board of medical examiners the law regu- 
 lating the practice of medicine in the state; 
 
 (14) To enable the State Board of Health to secure legal advice and 
 -assistence, when needed, in the execution of the health and quarantine 
 
 laws of the state, also to enable the State Board of Medical Examiners to 
 obtain legal advice and assistance, when needed, in executing the law regu- 
 lating the practice of medicine in the state; 
 
 (15) To provide an equipment for illustrating popular lectures on the 
 cause, modes of transmission and prevention of diseases, said lectures to 
 be delivered imder the auspices of the State Board of Health; 
 
 (16) To employ such clerks, agents, and other employes, and to 
 purchase such property, materials and supplies, and to enter into such 
 contracts as may be considered expedient by said board in discharging its 
 duties, or assisting in the discharge of the duties of other boards or officials 
 having duties in connection with any of the health laws of the state. 
 
 Is it any wonder that with such a multitude of duties imposed 
 upon it, dissatisfaction has been expressed at the "inefficiency" 
 of the State Board of Health? Yet almost always, due in a large 
 measure to a lack of exact knowledge of the facts, fault is found 
 with its organic structure rather than with the inadequate force and 
 lack of money at its command. 
 
 Notwithstanding the protean character of the above functions, 
 the state has not provided a single inspector to aid and assist in the 
 gathering of the necessary information from which an intelligent 
 opinion of conditions complained of can be formed, nor to see that 
 the remedy is properly applied after it has been suggested. With 
 two exceptions, Alabama is at the bottom of the list of southern 
 states in reference to state funds available for public health work. 
 
 SUPERVISION AND ENFORCEMENT OF HEALTH LAWS 
 
 The authority of the State Board of Health to enforce laws is 
 practically nil under the present code. It can act in an advisory 
 capacity only, and has no power actually to enforce its mandates, 
 as there are no adequate penalties for failure to obey.
 
 Public Health 23 
 
 The authority of county boards of health is likewise limited 
 except in a few instances where some specific condition has been 
 covered by statute, or by the action of a board of county commis- 
 sioners heeding the advice of the health authorities in such limited 
 sphere as they may have jurisdiction, or in municipalities having 
 special ordinances. 
 
 Practically all that either the state or county health officer can 
 do is to advise and recommend, because in the end, if the local civic 
 authorities do not, or cannot act, the health authorities can only 
 invoke the assistance of the police power of the county or munici- 
 pality. 
 
 In practice, section 718 of the code authorizing the abatement 
 of nuisances is unwieldy, too slow in action and too complicated to 
 obtain quick and effective results. 
 
 This section gives the health officer authority to order the 
 nuisance abated, but in the event of failure to obey this order, the 
 health officer must convene the public health committee, and they 
 must try the case sitting as a court, yet as one without enforcing 
 authority. In case of refusal or failure to abate the nuisance, the 
 civil authorities must be invoked, and they may proceed at the 
 expense of the person responsible, and a trial be held by the county 
 commissioners, for the county or mimicipal court if in any incor- 
 porated city or town. The cost of abatement is taxed upon the 
 property. The county is to advance the amount necessary to abate 
 the nuisance, provided however, that no county shall be required 
 to pay more than S300 in any one year for such abatement of 
 nuisance. 
 
 It is quite obvious that with this cumbersome machinery, little 
 if anything is attempted. It is therefore recommended that the law 
 on abatement of nuisances for sanitary purposes be so amended as to 
 give the State Health Officer similar power to that now enjoyed by 
 the State Prison Inspector to condemn jails and order changes. 
 
 Act 1230 of the political code gives municipalities police juris- 
 diction in sanitary matters for three miles beyond their limits, but 
 even then the matter of condemning a condition as a nuisance is a 
 tedious, complicated process. It is therefore recommended that the 
 regulations be so amended as to give the county medical society 
 power to declare a nuisance to exist, and to abate the same with the 
 right of appeal on the part of the owner to the state board of health,
 
 24 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 the decision of the latter to be final and binding. In the event of the 
 owner or agent failing within a given period to comply with the man- 
 dates of the State Board of Health, the Board should be empowered 
 to have said nuisance abated, the cost to be taxed upon the property, 
 the owner to have a reasonable time given in which to reimburse the 
 Board of Health for said cost. Upon failure so to reimburse, the 
 State Board of Health should be empowered to sell the property at 
 public sale to satisfy such claim. This will simplify the complicated 
 method now on the statute books and produce results. 
 
 Such a radical change may be objected to on the 
 grounds that it not only gives too much power to the State Board 
 of Health, but makes it virtually a court of condemnation. When 
 the organization of the Board is considered, however, it is obvious 
 that it is admirably fitted for such a court of review as well as afford- 
 ing a direct method of obtaining the results without tedious and 
 costly litigation. 
 
 That few prosecutions have taken place for violation of the 
 present sanitary laws is conclusive evidence that either the method 
 of enforcement is inadequate, or else the health officials have been 
 delinquent in their duties, for instances without number can be 
 cited in every locality where insanitary conditions exist, and no abate- 
 ment through prosecution has taken place. 
 
 Municipalities and incorporated cities and towns having local 
 ordinances, are in a better position to remedy insanitary conditions. 
 In addition they can invoke the police jurisdiction for their immediate 
 environs. 
 
 Many of the most insanitary conditions are found on the 
 outskirts of small towns and cities, and it is necessary frequently 
 to call the attention of the health authorities to such conditions, 
 but as a result nothing is done because the town authorities 
 claim that the matter is outside their jurisdiction. The county 
 commissioners usually refuse to take any action claiming that it is 
 the business of the town to look after it. Consequently nothing 
 is done. 
 
 The part-time county health officer either gets tired running 
 from one to the other, or local influence is frequently strong enough 
 to prevent action. The law for the abatement of nuisances should 
 be strengthened and full-time health officers should be employed 
 in order to get permanent results.
 
 Public Health 25 
 
 INFECTIOUS AND CONTAGIOUS DISEASES 
 
 Paragraph 2, section 702 charges the State Board of Health 
 v*nth the investigation of the causes, modes of propagation and 
 means of prevention of endemic, epidemic, infectious and contagious 
 diseases. In 1916 and 1917 there occurred several outbreaks of small- 
 pox, typhoid fever and measles, the last during the spring of 1918 
 being epidemic throughout the state. In every instance where the 
 State Health Department was called upon to assist in locating the 
 infection there was prompt compliance. Most of this was in the 
 nature of consultations with county and municipal health officers 
 as to the course and the best measures to be adopted to prevent 
 the spread of the epidemics or threatened epidemics. Most of the 
 consultations resulted in detailing the sanitary engineer to make an 
 investigation of the local sanitary conditions. 
 
 SANITARY ENGINEERING 
 
 The Code requires the investigation of the influence of localities 
 and emplo}Tnents on health, also examination of source and distribu- 
 tion of the water supply and pollution of same, sewage disposal, etc. 
 
 The work has been so enormously increased that it it a physical 
 impossibility to attend to all the calls made upon the department. 
 The industrial development as a result of war work has caused a 
 congestion of population in many localities heretofore rural in char- 
 acter, and as no adequate provisions for sanitation had been pro- 
 vided, soil and water pollution were inevitable. With the small 
 force of sanitary inspectors, and with but a single sanitary engineer, 
 this phase of the work is badly handicapped. The United States 
 Public Health Service has been generous in its assistance, and the 
 International Health Bureau has likewise aided in many of the 
 problems presented. Were it not for this timely assistance, doubt- 
 less many serious outbreaks of disease would have occurred. As 
 it is, unless immediate relief is granted with proper authority to en- 
 force recommendations, serious trouble is in store. 
 
 It is therefore recommended that several sanitary engineers and 
 inspectors be provided for in the next appropriation by the legisla- 
 ture. There can be no question that the efforts of the Bureau of 
 Sanitary Engineering have prevented a number of serious epidemics 
 in various parts of the state.
 
 26 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 SANITARY INSPECTION 
 Inspection of Public Schools, Hospitals and Other Institutions. 
 
 Paragraph 4 gives the State Board of Health authority to in- 
 spect all schools, hospitals, jails, almshouses, theatres, public halls, 
 prisons, markets, public dairies, public slaughter pens or houses, 
 depots, passenger cars, industrial and manufacturing estabHshments 
 and other public places and industries of like character. 
 
 No actual inspection of such places other than of jails and alms- 
 houses by the State Board of Health has been undertaken, except in 
 one or two instances where epidemics have broken out in schools 
 and inspection was made to discover the source of infection. 
 
 It is recommended that an appropriation be made for one or 
 more additional state sanitary inspectors. Some of the duties of such 
 inspector are: To inspect and report on the sanitary conditions of 
 municipalities, of both urban and rural school houses, and all public 
 institutions, including hotels; inspect passenger trains and railroad 
 stations and to bring about the correction of obvious abuses; in- 
 spect all industrial institutions and work shops to see that the lab- 
 orers are surrounded by proper sanitary conditions; and to check 
 up similar work done by county officials. 
 
 Inspection of Jails and Almshouses. 
 
 The legislature of 1915 transferred the office of State Prison 
 Inspector to the State Board of Health with a proviso that at the 
 expiration of the term of the then incumbent, the State Prison In- 
 spector should be elected by the State Board of Health and hence- 
 forth discharge the duties of his office in connection with and as a 
 part of the work of the State Board of Health. The transfer oc- 
 curred in April 1917. 
 
 It is further provided that he shall inspect or cause to be in- 
 spected at least twice each year every county jail, almshouse and 
 every municipal jail or prison in any incorporated town or city in 
 in the state having 10,000 or more inhabitants, and to aid in the 
 just, humane and economic management of such institutions; to 
 require the erection of sanitary buildings for the inmates; to in- 
 vestigate the management, the conduct and efficiency of the officers 
 or persons charged with their management; to require the build- 
 ings or grounds of such institutions to be kept in sanitary condition
 
 Public Health 27 
 
 and to make a detailed report to the governor after each visit on their 
 condition, on the health of the inmates and condition of the buildings 
 and the grounds; and to see whether the money appropriated for 
 such purposes is properly expended. He shall also furnish a copy of 
 his report to the court of county commissioners, city counsellors or 
 other bodies having control over the prison, jails or almshouses. 
 The law gives him full power to see that his orders are obeyed. 
 
 With such power, this department has revolutionized the sani- 
 tary condition of the 72 jails in the state. In a number of instances, 
 the buildings have been condemned, and the counties required to 
 erect new sanitary jails. All of them, without any exception, have 
 been required to make alterations and repairs in order to put them 
 in sanitary condition, consequently the health of the prisoners has 
 been very much improved. Many abuses have been corrected, es- 
 pecially in the matter of feeding prisoners. It had been the prac- 
 tice of many of the sheriffs to make a large profit out of their feed 
 bills, and in some instances the feeding was so poor that the prison- 
 ers suffered from lack of nourishing food. Not only was the food 
 poor in quality and deficient in amount, but was improperly pre- 
 pared, resulting in considerable sickness among the prisoners. 
 
 Many cases of tuberculosis were found as the result of dark, 
 damp, ill-ventilated cells and under-feeding. The drastic weapon 
 in the hands of the State Prison Inspector brought unwilling officials 
 into line, with the gratifying result that with very few exceptions 
 the city prisons and county jails are now in a reasonably sanitary 
 condition. The sheriffs are now co-operating in enforcing the sani- 
 tary requirements of the department. 
 
 One of the crying disgraces of the state is found in the 59 county 
 almshouses or poor farms, situated throughout the state. No 
 systematic inspection or sanitary regulation of these has been at- 
 tempted. A few have been inspected and some changes made, 
 but the surface of the trouble has not even been scratched. There 
 are approximately 1,200 inmates of these institutions, of whom 
 50 are children ranging in age from infancy up to 16 years. Of these 
 38 are mental or physical defectives. 
 
 Insane Asylums and Convict Camps. 
 
 Act 530, 1915, states that upon the written order of the governor, 
 it shall be the duty of the State Prison Inspector in person or by his
 
 28 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 chief clerk or deputy inspector to inspect the insane asylums of the 
 state by whatsoever name they may be known ; both state and county 
 convict camps of corporations or individuals leasing and working 
 the state or county convicts; the penitentiary, and any and all 
 state institutions of whatsoever kind and nature; and to visit any 
 and all places designated by the governor. That the same powers 
 and authority are conferred upon the State Prison Inspector in ref- 
 erence to such inspections as in respect to jails. 
 
 The general inspections covered by this act practically duplicate 
 paragraph 4, section 702, of the code, relating to the duties and 
 authority of the State Board of Health. It is therefore recommended 
 that this entire act be incorporated in paragraph 4, section 702, 
 thereby avoiding duplication of work and authority. 
 
 It is further recommended that the State Prison Inspection 
 Act be so amended that a clear correlation of the duties and activities 
 of the office be afforded; and that the State Board of Health have 
 administrative authority over said office to avoid duplication of 
 administration and possible clash of authority as well as being in 
 the interest of administrative economy and efficiency. 
 
 Under section 3, act 303, the Inspector is authorized to appoint 
 a chief clerk and two deputy inspectors together with a stenographer ; 
 the salaries to be paid from the state treasury. 
 
 The last legislature placed the enforcement of the child labor 
 law under the jurisdiction of the state prison inspector, thereby 
 adding very materially to the work of the office force. The prison 
 inspector has three deputies, one assigned to the inspection of jails; 
 another to the enforcement of the child labor law in cotton mills 
 and the third to its enforcement in other establishnemts. It is 
 quite obvious that with this small force, very Httle attention can be 
 given to the health problems involved and until this bureau has 
 more inspectors it cannot do much to better the conditions in the 
 almshouses. Needed legislation must be had before proper results 
 can be obtained. 
 
 The system of obtaining vital and mortuary statistics is not 
 altogether satisfactory, the force being too inadequate to do proper 
 "follow up" work, and the system having too many loopholes to 
 insure accuracy. 
 
 An increase from two full-time lay assistants in 1910 to ten in 
 1918 marks the growth of the work of the State Board of Health.
 
 Public Health 29 
 
 In the former year the only lay assistants were the sanitary engineer 
 and the assistant to the Registrar of Vital Statistics. The ad- 
 ditional eight in the eight years were primarily for the purpose of 
 aiding in collecting vital and communicable disease statistics, and 
 for laboratory work. 
 
 VITAL STATISTICS 
 
 The reported death rate in the registration area of the United 
 States Census Bureau for the year 1915 was 14 per 1,000 of popu- 
 lation. The reported death rate for Alabama for 1915 was 10.5 per 
 1,000 of population; for 1916 the death rate was 10.45 and for 1917 
 was 12.65. The rate in 1916 was lower in spite of the fact that more 
 deaths were reported than in the previous year. The reduction is 
 due to the increase in population. During 1916 and 1917 there was 
 an exodus of negroes numbering many thousands, and several 
 thousands of soldiers were sent to training camps in other states. 
 To offset this loss over 50,000 troops were brought from other states : 
 hence this shifting makes some changes in the actual population 
 tending to disturb the accuracy of the statistics. 
 
 The birth rate for the registration area of the United States for 
 the year 1915 was 24.9 per 1,000 of population. The birth rate for 
 Alabama for 1915 was 21.2 per 1,000 of population; the rate for 1916 
 was 23.9 which is the highest birth rate ever recorded for Alabama, 
 and is very little below that of the registration area. 
 
 An intra-state registration area for Alabama has been established 
 consisting of those counties in which the births and deaths reported 
 reach 90 per cent or more of the estimated normals — 15 deaths and 
 25 births per 1,000 of population per annum. Forty-nine of the 67 
 counties were in this area for the births for the year 1916, while 55 
 counties reported a birth rate of more than 20 per 1,000 of population. 
 
 That part-time health officers have been largely responsible 
 for the failure to report births and deaths is not only evidenced 
 by the report of vital statistics for 1915-16 and 1917, but the State 
 Board recognized this laxity of the part-time county health officers, 
 and urged them to be more prompt and zealous in their reports. 
 
 To show further that the method of collecting vital statistics 
 is defective, the following illustrations from the January and Feb- 
 ruary, 1918, vital statistics reports of the State Board of Health are 
 sufficient. It is assumed that the three large cities of the state where
 
 30 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 burial laws are enforced by city ordinances supplementing the state 
 health laws, would have accurate and complete reports, yet in Janu- 
 ary, Jefferson County showed 535 deaths, a rate of 22.4 and only 
 530 births, a rate of 22.2; 
 
 Madison, 101 deaths, a rate of 24.5 and 62 births, a rate of 15.1; 
 
 Mobile, 194 deaths, a rate of 25.2 and 168 births, a rate of 21.4; 
 
 Montgomery, 140 deaths, a rate of 14.9, and 90 births, a rate of 
 12.2; 
 
 Tuscaloosa, 111 deaths, a rate of 25.2, and 82 births, a rate of 
 18.7. 
 
 The excess of deaths over births was not due to any abnormal 
 conditions but shows that the method of collecting mortuary stat- 
 istics in the cities is on a better basis than that of collecting statistics 
 for births. 
 
 It is quite obvious that in the rural districts, the latter are still 
 more difficult to obtain, showing very clearly that many of the part- 
 time county health officers who are now charged with the enforce- 
 ment of this phase of public health work are derelict in their duty, 
 and that while the department has repeatedly called attention to 
 their failure to enforce the law, no prosecutions have taken place. 
 
 The failure to report births is also due in a large measure to 
 midwives; this is especially true as to the non-reporting of cases 
 among the negro population. It is therefore recommended that 
 midwives in Alabama should be examined, and certificates issued 
 to them, imposing a heavy penalty for their failure to report any 
 cases. 
 
 To obtain recognition by the National Census Bureau, it will be 
 necessary for the State Board of Health to change its methods of 
 collecting vital and mortuary statistics. The reports should be sent 
 to the State Registrar. The reports now go to the county, are re- 
 corded, and then sent up to the state. In many of the counties 
 no records are available. The reverse of this policy should obtain. 
 As the justice of the peace is a recognized official and is located in 
 every beat of a county, he could be made the local registrar. 
 
 It is recommended that steps be taken by the next legislature 
 to place Alabama in the federal registration of vital statistics area. 
 The model law provides that each county be divided into small 
 districts, such as beats, and a registrar appointed for each district 
 to whom the doctors and midwives shall report all births and deaths,
 
 Public Health 31 
 
 which are in turn reported direct to the state registrar; the local 
 registrar to be paid by the county a fee for each record made. 
 
 Another requirement of the model law is that the body of any 
 deceased person cannot be buried or removed without a permit 
 issued by the local registrar. This means the reporting of all deaths. 
 It is estimated that the cost of operation of the model law would 
 be on an average of $400 or $500 for each county. 
 
 The Bureau of Vital Statistics has had even more difficulty in 
 obtaining reports on communicable diseases, which physicians are 
 recjuired to report immediately to the health officer in whose juris- 
 diction they occur, and the physicians throughout the state have 
 been admonished by the State Board of Health to be more careful 
 in reporting such diseases, thereby assisting the department in pre- 
 venting their spread. 
 
 BACTERIOLOGICAL LABORATORY 
 
 Of all the departments of the State Board of Health, the state 
 laboratory has been the most efficient, so far as tangible results are 
 concerned. The actual cost of conducting it is about $8,000. No 
 provisions having been made by the 1915 legislature for the rent, 
 light and heating of the laboratory, these items had to be paid out 
 of the fees collected. 
 
 Examinations both general and for rabies have steadily increased 
 from 1908 to 1915, but there was a considerable falling off during 
 1916. The increase in the number of private laboratories in Bir- 
 mingham, Montgomery and Mobile, and the fact that all-time health 
 officers who are not only doing the work for their counties, but doing 
 a considerable amount of private work for the country doctors in their 
 vicinity, have caused a decrease in the number of examinations from 
 these localities. The increase in 1917 was due largely to the intro- 
 duction into the state of new industrial enterprises and cantonments. 
 
 The last legislature authorizing the State Board of Health to 
 inquire into the purity of the water supply of the state has greatly 
 increased that part of the work. The department is not quite clear 
 as to just what authority has been conferred by these acts, as they are 
 somewhat indefinite, and this, coupled with the lack of proper inspec- 
 tion due to an inadequate force, has hampered this phase of the work. 
 
 In 1917 there were 1,552 specimens of sputum examined for 
 tuberculosis and although this was an increase over the previous
 
 32 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 year, yet a comparison of the number of examinations with the 
 evident number of existing cases in the state shows that the laboratory 
 is getting only about one-sixth as many as it should. 
 
 There were 700 deaths reported in 1916 from typhoid, showing 
 at least 7,000 cases, whereas, in only about 20 per cent of the cases 
 was laboratory assistance asked. In 1917 there were 3,700 cases 
 and 989 deaths reported showing in both years a great failure to re- 
 port this reportable disease. The laboratory made 1,502 examina- 
 tions for typhoid in 1916 and 1,553 in 1917. 
 
 In 1916 the laboratory made 654 examinations of feces and 889 
 in 1917. About 40 per cent of these requests for examinations were 
 from local physicians in Montgomery showing that the laboratory 
 is not used as much as it should be in the eradication of hookworm. 
 
 In 1917 there were 646 examinations of blood for malaria with 
 2,375 cases and 530 deaths reported, showing that the services of the 
 laboratory are not sufficiently utilized by the doctors of the state 
 to assist in a diagnosis. 
 
 The laboratory is now making all the Loeffler's Blood Serum 
 used for culturing diphtheria bacilli. In this disease also physicians 
 throughout the state have not utilized the laboratory as much as 
 they should. Especial attention is called to the desirability of 
 ascertaining when a patient ceases to be a menace to others in order 
 that he may be released from isolation and quarantine, since this 
 fact can only be established by cultural methods. The necessity of 
 educating not only the laity but the profession to the necessity for 
 early immunization treatment for all exposed cases is one of the 
 duties which should be undertaken when funds are available for 
 this extensive work. The state suffers a great loss each year on ac- 
 count of absence from school because of diphtheria, more from 
 quarantj-ne than from the actual number of cases. 
 
 In 1917 Wassermann tests for syphilis were made in 573 cases. 
 The presence of two cantonments in the state with thousands of 
 soldiers, and the necessity for safeguarding them from venereal 
 diseases have been emphasized the last two years. The records 
 show that a larger percentage of the civilian than the military popu- 
 lation is infected by these diseases. The United States Public 
 Health Service has established a clinic at Montgomery for the 
 examination and treatment of civilians, especially women, and in 
 Mobile a hospital service has been established in the county jail
 
 Public Health 33 
 
 under the supervision of the Medical Department of the University 
 of Alabama. More than 300 women have been treated in this service 
 at Mobile ; the funds for the 606 being furnished largely by the local 
 Rotary Club. The state laboratory has been unable to make these 
 tests free except for indigents, and although the work is increasing 
 yearly it feels that it is not rendering the service it should. If the 
 next legislature grants an increased appropriation, this service can be 
 materially extended. The recognition that social diseases form a 
 tremendous public health problem is resulting in the education of the 
 laity to the necessity of early diagnosis. 
 
 During 1917, 428 dog heads were received for examination 
 for rabies, more than in any previous year, and 49 per cent were 
 found rabid. The number of persons treated at the laboratory for 
 the prevention of rabies was 269, with one death, entailing the ad- 
 ministration of 6,725 doses of the virus which is furnished free by 
 the United States Public Health Service. The expense to those 
 undergoing treatment during the year for traveling and board dur- 
 ing treatment approximately was S8,070. It is recommended that 
 branches of the Pasteur Institute for the administration of anti- 
 rabic virus be established at Binningham and Mobile to lessen the 
 expense and facilitate the treatment of the patients, and that more 
 stringent laws with heavy penalties be enacted by the next legislature 
 against unmuzzled dogs. 
 
 Not only has the present State Health Officer used every pos- 
 sible opportunity in a campaign of education for public health in an 
 official way, but he has enlisted the help of outside agencies to bring 
 the subject before the people. Foremost among these is the Inter- 
 national Health Board which has agreed in addition to other activi- 
 ties to make an intensive sanitary survey of three counties, provided 
 each county raises the sum of $3,600 to help defray expenses, the 
 International Health Board not only furnishing a like amount, but 
 paying all overhead charges. In such a survey every home, white 
 and negro, rural and urban, in the county or in a certain selected 
 area, is visited by the sanitary corps, each area being about 25 
 square miles and having about 800 inhabitants. Local conditions 
 are noted and the remedy prescribed. 
 
 The International Health Board conducted a soil pollution 
 campaign, generally known as the hookworm campaign, during the 
 years 1910 to 1918, though actual hookworm work, except in DeKalb
 
 34 Child Weljare in Alabama 
 
 and Etowah counties ceased in March 1915. It is fair to assume that 
 the better showing made by Alabama as compared with other 
 southern states in the draft rejections, can be directly traceable to 
 the hookworm campaign, since quite a number of the registrants 
 were treated for hookworm during this period. No provision has 
 been made, however, by either the state or county for the continu- 
 ance of the hookworm work, and much of the good that has been 
 accompHshed, has been offset by subsequent neglect. This is 
 strictly a preventable disease, and while some attention has been 
 paid to it in rural schools, it has been sporadic and not uniform nor 
 continuous. 
 
 STATE BOARD OF MEDICAL EXAMINERS • 
 
 The State Board of Health in its capacity as a board of medical 
 examiners ranks among the highest in the United States. 
 
 During 1917 the total number of applicants examined was 67; 
 the total nimiber granted certificates 45; the total number refused 
 certificates 22; nimiber issued ^ro/orw a certificates 2; percentage 
 of rejections 38.6. Of the unsuccessful applicants represented by 
 colleges, 8 were from the Birmingham Medical College which was a 
 Class B college, and has since ceased to exist. All the other unsuc- 
 cessful applicants were from colleges outside of the state. Only 
 two applicants in the three years, 1915, '16, '17, from the Medical 
 Department of the University of Alabama, located in Mobile, failed 
 to pass, while 50 applicants from the Birmingham Medical College 
 failed in the same period. This is a most eloquent and convincing 
 argument for the high standard of the Medical Department of the 
 State University as compared with the outside Medical Colleges, 
 as well as with a Class B school. 
 
 PUBLIC HEALTH EDUCATION 
 
 While the State Board of Health is supposed to carry on from 
 time to time a campaign of health education throughout the state, 
 no money is furnished to employ competent instructors, and the 
 force at the disposal of the Board is so limited and their duties so 
 varied and onerous, that it is all they can do to investigate the com- 
 plaints coming in from various sections. 
 
 The legislature has never recognized the fact that public health 
 work is largely a matter of popular education ; that money expended 
 in this way brings large returns, and is not a mere "frill." They
 
 Public Health 35 
 
 have seen this so far as the agricultural and animal industry in- 
 terests are concerned, but not with regard to public health. 
 
 An arrangement has been perfected with the Children's Bureau 
 at Washington whereby 1,200 franked envelopes are furnished the 
 State Board of Health each month with literature on prenatal care 
 and the care of the baby. This is mailed to the new mothers of the 
 state reported each month. It is the foundation for more effective 
 educational work by a state child hygiene bureau when authority 
 to establish such a bureau is granted by the legislature. 
 
 Since January, 1918, the social service assistant of the Scottish 
 Rite Masons of Mobile has been working under the direction of the 
 State Health Officer, conducting health campaigns in a number of 
 counties, stressing particularly the necessity of employment by the 
 counties of public health nurses. Now the Scottish Rite Masons of 
 Montgomer}^ are supplying the State Health Officer with funds to 
 pay the traveling expenses in the campaign. 
 
 Not only has this work been highly successful, but the several 
 counties in which it has been carried on have made more or less 
 permanent aiTangements for continuing and enlarging it themselves. 
 One of the special features of this work is the co-operation of the 
 Alabama Federation of Women's Clubs, which in conjunction with 
 this social service assistant has carried on a campaign of education 
 among the women's clubs of the state with a view to furnishing a 
 public health nurse to assist the State Health Officer in his plans. 
 
 COUNTY HEALTH OFFICER 
 
 The law provides for two types of county health officer, those 
 devoting only a portion of their time, who are known as part-time 
 health officers, and those who devote their entire time to the office, 
 and are known as all-time health officers. There are 67 counties, 
 57 having part-time and 10 having all-time health officers. 
 
 The duties of part-time health officers are: (1) to keep and file 
 a register of births and deaths and infectious diseases. This duty is 
 set forth in minute detail, yet with regard to an all-time health 
 officer, it is required only by implication, as he is to make such reports 
 as may berequired on blanks prescribed by the State Board of Health. 
 It has been shown that in the matter of recording vital statistics, 
 the county health officers have been negligent. That they have been
 
 36 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 derelict in other duties as well is equally evident. On account of the 
 unsatisfactory work of many of the part-time health officers, the 
 State Health Officer has endeavored to obtain better results by urging 
 county medical societies to place more competent men in the position. 
 
 (2) To have general supervision over the sanitary interests of the 
 county. Due to lack of real authority to abate nuisances the county 
 health officer can do little more than advise ; consequently little more 
 than that has been attempted, much less accomplished. This is an 
 added reason for the revision of the laws regulating the abatement 
 of nuisances. 
 
 (3) To visit oil cases of contagious diseases. The part-time 
 officers have been reasonably attentive to this part of their duty. 
 During the fall of 1917 and spring of 1918 the entire state was visited 
 by an unusually heavy epidemic of measles, the schools of the state 
 being especially affected. In almost every instance the county health 
 officers were on the alert to prevent its spread; so prevalent was it, 
 however, that it got beyond control in most sections. Although a 
 disease usually but lightly regarded and therefore more or less negli- 
 gible, there were 19,541 cases with 466 deaths reported for 1917 and 
 it is quite evident that many thousands of cases were not reported. 
 An unusual number of adults were affected, due largely to their own 
 carelessness and to the mistaken notion that measles is a harmless 
 child's disease. Another popular error is prevalent, namely, that 
 every child at some time is bound to have it. Some physicians still 
 regard the malady as of no consequence, thereby giving false security 
 to many parents. 
 
 Extra efforts should be made to examine all school children for 
 sequelae, emphasizing more than ever the necessity for an all-time 
 health unit to assist in the "follow up" from a school standpoint in 
 the early detection by the health officer and public health nurse of 
 conditions which tend to produce permanent defects in the child. 
 
 The State Department of Education considers the laws relative 
 to quarantine and isolation for contagious diseases satisfactory 
 from a school standpoint. The health officer of Barbour County 
 does not regard these regulations as satisfactory, and recommends 
 that tuberculosis and hookworm cases be isolated. The health 
 officer of Chambers County does not regard them as satisfactory^, 
 and declares that more stringent laws should be enacted. The 
 health officer of Pickens states that it is hard to formulate a plan,
 
 Public Health 37 
 
 especially for rural schools. The health officer of Washington County 
 states that the regulations are not satisfactory; that nothing can be 
 done under the present system. 
 
 Ths State Superintendent of Education was asked: "Do you 
 recommend compulsory vaccination against smallpox?" His answer 
 was, "Yes, while the danger of spreading in rural sections is not as 
 great as in urban communities, still the only way to protect society 
 against a sudden spread of such diseases as smallpox is rigidly to 
 enforce the vaccination law." 
 
 Much confusion still seems to exist, both on the part of the county 
 medical authorities and local school authorities in the several counties 
 as to quarantine and isolation, the two terms being used synony- 
 mously. It is likewise true that there is considerable lack of unifor- 
 ity in carrying out these regulations. To illustrate: This spring 
 in a certain town of this state, an outbreak of smallpox occurred. 
 Considerable friction arose between the school authorities and the local 
 health authorities because a local physician having a case of smallpox 
 in his family insisted that two of his children who had been success- 
 fully vaccinated, be permitted to attend school. The patrons of 
 the school protested against the presence of these children in the 
 school, while the father insisted there was no danger because they 
 had been successfully vaccinated, and the case was properly "quar- 
 antined." Whether this particular case was isolated or quarantined, 
 the facts do not show, but it is typical of the looseness in which the 
 terms are used in speaking of a case of contagion and applied in 
 practice. If the case had been really isolated in this particular 
 instance, there would have been no danger of contagion, but if the 
 case was only quarantined, there might have been danger of infection. 
 This illustrates very forcibly how the self-interest of a part-time 
 health officer sometimes conflicts with his official duties. 
 
 It is therefore recommended that the State Health Officer and 
 the Superintendent of Education conjointly formulate and issue a 
 series of regulations for the guidance of county health officers and 
 school teachers, naming the several communicable diseases affecting 
 school attendance; defining isolation and quarantine; giving the 
 period of required absence for children suffering from such diseases; 
 governing the return of such pupils to school; and requiring the 
 furnishing of a physician's certificate before returning to school. 
 
 While it is true that most of these points are now embodied in 
 
 145530
 
 38 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 either the health or school regulations, there is no correlation between 
 them, nor are they in any concrete form easily available for the 
 guidance of either the health officer or the school teacher. 
 
 (4) Obtaining vaccine virus for the purpose of vaccinating all 
 indigent persons. This is a corrollary of the preceding clause and has 
 generally been carried out. There again is the conflict between the 
 self-interest of the private practitioner and his official duties as 
 health officer. No class of citizens is more faithful to duty -or self- 
 sacrificing as a rule than the medical profession, but there are so 
 many loopholes for negligence because the part-time health officer's 
 first duty is to himself in endeavoring to make a living; therefore 
 he should not in the best interest of public health be placed in such 
 an equivocal position. 
 
 (5) To visit county jails, convict camps, county almshouses, 
 county court houses and other county buildings for the purpose of in- 
 specting their sanitary conditions. This is a duplication of the work 
 of the State Prison Inspector so far as jails, almshouses and convict 
 camps are concerned. There is no co-ordination between these two 
 inspections. If the sanitary conditions of the county court houses 
 throughout the state is an index of the efficiency of the county health 
 officers, then almost without exception, they are guilty of the grossest 
 negligence. The sanitary conditions of the court houses are almost 
 as bad as the almshouses; that is saying a great deal in a few words. 
 They are both positively a disgrace to the state. 
 
 (6 to 14, inclusive) These deal vuith making reports, attending 
 meetings, and other administrative functions of the county health officer. 
 
 The failure of part-time health officers promptly to make re- 
 ports is notorious. The records of many are in such shape as to be 
 practically worthless for the prupose of obtaining satisfactory or 
 exact information. 
 
 To learn the sentiment of the county health officers of the 
 several counties surveyed as to the present health system, a series 
 of questions was submitted. To the question, "Do you regard the 
 present health system of Alabama as satisfactory, or would you 
 prefer some other system?" most of the replies held the system 
 satisfactory but pointed out the inability to get results because of 
 lack of money. 
 
 To the question, "Do you favor an all-time health unit for your 
 county?" all who replied answered, "Yes." 
 
 The question, "Is there any sentiment for or against such a
 
 Public Health 39 
 
 unit in your county?" brought answers of "No," "Both for and 
 against," "All in favor but no money," while Jefferson and Tusca- 
 loosa Counties reported having adopted it. 
 
 It is therefore quite evident that the one weak spot in the 
 health system of Alabama is the lack of all-time health officers in the 
 several counties. Even the two rich and populous counties contain- 
 ing the large cities of Montgomery and Mobile do not have all-time 
 officers. Except in twelve counties, the county health officer de- 
 votes only such time to the work as he sees fit, as he is usually a very 
 busy practitioner, and since his practice is his first care, he cannot 
 be expected for the pittance he receives to neglect his private work; 
 for no man can serve two masters. Again no health officer engaged 
 in the active practice of his profession can secure the full co-opera- 
 tion of his fellow practitioners; this is especially true in rural sections, 
 where lines are usually more or less sharply drawn. Then, too, such a 
 part-time health officer frequently finds his official duties in conflict 
 with his professional interests, and it is only natural that he should 
 follow the line of least resistance, resulting in important and neces- 
 sary public duties being neglected and unperformed. 
 
 A questionnaire was sent to the county health officers of the 
 following counties, requesting certain data; most of them, however, 
 failed to answer, showing how little interest they take in their office, 
 or that they are too busy with other matters to give proper attention 
 to its exacting duties. Nor is this surprising when the meager 
 salary' paid them is considered; in the typical counties having only 
 part-time health officers, it is money thrown away. 
 
 County Type Salary 
 
 Barbour Part-time $660 
 
 Chambers Part-time 720 
 
 Chilton Part-time no report 
 
 Conecuh Part-time no report 
 
 Escambia Part-time no report 
 
 Etowah Part-time no report 
 
 Hale Part-time no report 
 
 Jeflferson All-time 5,000 
 
 Lauderdale Part-time no report 
 
 Madi.son All-time $3,500 
 
 Mobile Part-time no report 
 
 Montgomery Part-time no report 
 
 Pickens All-time $2,250 
 
 Washington Part-time 289
 
 40 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 Not only is the force at the command of the State Board of 
 Health wholly inadequate but the counties for the most part have 
 been derelict in such matters when they have had a remedy in their 
 own hands, namely, the authority to provide an all-time health 
 officer. 
 
 Subdivision 2, section 706, page 14 of the Medical Laws of 
 Alabama, 1916 reads: 
 
 Whenever the court of county commissioners or board of revenue of 
 any county shall deem it wise to provide a county health officer who shall 
 devote all of his time to the duties of his office, and so declare by order 
 entered on the minutes of such court or board, it shall be the duty of the 
 president of the county board of health, except of such counties as have 
 already employed health officers for all of their time, to issue a call for a 
 meeting of said board, giving the members thereof not less than ten or 
 fifteen days notice of the meeting and further informing them that the 
 object of the meeting is to provide for a county health officer who shall 
 devote his entire time to official work. When the county board of health 
 meets as above provided for, not less than a majority of the members thereof 
 being present, said board shall proceed to remove the incumbent county 
 health officer from office and to declare the office vacant, the officer so 
 removed being eligible for election to the new office. The county board of 
 health shall then proceed to elect a county health officer who shall devote 
 his entire time to the duties of his office. The county board of health shall 
 then instruct the secretary thereof to notify the court of county commis- 
 sioners or board of revenue that a health officer has been elected by the 
 county for a term of three years, giving the name and address of the officer 
 so elected, such officer to devote his entire time in promoting the health of 
 the people of the county. 
 
 This survey shows that one of the chief objections to the system 
 on the part of the laity is that if they make complaint of inattention 
 or negligence on the part of a county health officer, the local board 
 of health either pays no attention to the charges, or if a trial is had, 
 the health officer by reason of local influences, is always sustained. 
 
 Again if there be factional politics in the county medical society, 
 as has been found in some instances, without the right of appeal 
 either on the part of the said official or the losing faction, a factional 
 majority for or against the county health officer can work a hardship. 
 
 In several of the counties it has been found that public health 
 conditions have suffered by reason of local influences without redress 
 through a court of review free from such local influences. It is be- 
 lieved that an amendment to the code providing for such an appeal 
 would very largely, if not entirely, remove this source of complaint,
 
 Public Health 41 
 
 since in a number of counties both the laity and physicians have 
 ceased to be active in health matters, because they have felt, whether 
 justly or not, that they could accomplish nothing, all their efforts hav- 
 ing failed on account of this vicious circle. This applies especially 
 to counties having only part-time health officers. 
 
 The present code provides for an investigation for neglect of 
 duty on the part of a county health ofhcer, but provides no appeal 
 from the county society. The State Board of Health has authority 
 to notify the county commissioners of the negligence of any county 
 health officer whereupon there is a suspension of payment of salary. 
 Provision is made for the investigation of such charges and penalties 
 are prescribed upon conviction for failure or negligence. 
 
 The procedure is laid down in paragraph 11, section 703: 
 
 To investigate the charges and specifications against health oflficers, 
 county or municipal as follows: 
 
 Whenever a member of a county medical society, the executive officer 
 of the State Board of Health, or other persons submit written charges and 
 specifications against the health officer of a county, or health officer of a 
 municipalitj^ therein to such society for investigation and report, and shall 
 instruct the secretary of the society to furnish the health officer against 
 whom charges and specifications are submitted, and the board of censors 
 to which they were referred, certified copies thereof. The board of censors 
 shall then appoint a time and place for investigating the charges and speci- 
 fications and shall notify the health officer concerned, and the party or part- 
 ies making the charges and specifications of the time and place for the hear- 
 ing, and shall further notify said parties that they will be accorded the 
 privilege of being heard in person, or by counsel, or both, and of intro- 
 ducing such witnesses and written testimony as may be germane to the 
 question at issue. 
 
 When the investigation has been completed and the board of censors 
 is ready to report, it shall notify the president of the county medical society 
 of that fact, whereupon the president shall call a meeting of the society, 
 unless the time for a regular meeting is at hand, giving the members not 
 less than five full days notice thereof and explaining to them the object of 
 the meeting. 
 
 When the county medical society meets in accordance with such notice, 
 the board of censors shall submit a complete and circumstantial report of 
 the investigation with which it was charged. After hearing the report and 
 after such discussion thereof as may be deemed proper by the presiding 
 officer, the society may take action in either of the following ways: 
 
 (a) It may entirely exonerate the licalth officer; 
 
 (b) It may censure him ; 
 
 (c) It may impose a forfeiture of salary for such period of time as the 
 society may deem just and proper;
 
 42 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 (d) It may remove the health officer from his position to take effect 
 
 in not less than ten or more than fifteen days, all ballots being taken by 
 
 ayes and noes and recorded in the minutes of the meeting. When the verdict 
 
 rendered is removal from office, it shall be the duty of the county medical 
 
 society to hold another meeting before the time arrives for the health officer 
 
 to retire from office, for the purpose of electing a successor, provided that the 
 
 officer just removed shall not be eligible to succeed himself. 
 
 The code should be strengthened by an amendment requiring 
 
 the State Board of Health to review the proceedings and findings 
 
 of such trial for ratification, amendment or rejection, as the case may 
 
 be, to be final and binding upon the county medical society. This 
 
 would act in the nature of an unbiased court of appeals removed from 
 
 local influences. 
 
 It is further recommended that when a county health officer is 
 removed on the recommendation of the State Board of Health, he 
 be not eligible for employment in a similar capacity in the county 
 from which he was removed. 
 
 An all-time health officer is not desirable unless he has had 
 technical training in public health work. The phrase all-time health 
 officer should be changed to that of a county health unit, which 
 would have a minimum personnel of: (1) all-time health officer, 
 (2) oublic health nurse, (3) a laboratory director, (4) sanitary in- 
 spector, (5) milk and meat inspector. The health officer should 
 be a trained man and should train the other members of his force, 
 except the public health nurse and milk inspector, both of whom 
 should be experts. 
 
 It is therefore recommended that the code be so amended as to 
 make an all-time health unit obligatory in every county instead of 
 leaving it optional as at present with the county commissioners or 
 board of revenue to provide an all-time health officer only. This 
 all-time health unit to consist of an all-time health officer; a public 
 health nurse; a laboratory assistant; and an inspector. The health 
 officer and the public health nurse to be nominated by the board of 
 censors of the county medical society from a list of persons declared 
 by the state board of medical examiners to be qualified ; the election 
 to be ratified by the county medical society, compensation to be 
 based as now upon population, the minimum of population, however, 
 to be lowered and the minimum of salary to be raised, salaries to be 
 preferred claims payable in cash and not in warrants. Otherwise com- 
 petent scientific applicants would not be attracted to such positions.
 
 PuUic Health 43 
 
 It has been urged as one of the faults of the present system that 
 in the selection of an all-time county health officer local factional 
 medical politics are likely to play a part, resulting frequently in the 
 selection of men who are not qualified for the position, thereby 
 defeating the purpose. By requiring applicants to pass an examina- 
 tion demonstrating their competency along public health lines 
 prescribed by the state board of medical examiners as recommended, 
 this very undesirable feature will be eliminated. It is generally 
 recognized that the usual county or small town practitioner and even 
 the average city physician has had no special training in public 
 health work, and unless a competent man is secured, it will not only 
 be a waste of money devoid of results, but in fact a step backward. 
 
 The examination of the board of medical examiners of Alabama 
 has the reputation of being one of the most difficult in the United 
 States to pass, and every doctor in the state is proud of that repu- 
 tation. Why then should the board not be entrusted with the 
 additional duty of examining persons for public health work? When 
 it becomes known that there are openings for competent men at 
 reasonable salaries, the position removed from political factionalism 
 with a reasonable tenure of office, high grade men will apply. 
 
 It has been suggested that in the selection of an all-time county 
 health officer it might be well to include some provision whereby 
 the county commissioners or board of revenue would confirm the 
 selection of such an officer or in some way be consulted, on the 
 theory that it is hardly fair to require a board to finance a propo- 
 sition where it is not consulted as to the personnel, or term, or tenure 
 of the office. It would seem, however, that with the safeguards 
 above noted such a procedure would be really unnecessary. 
 
 In no instance has it been found that a part-time health officer 
 had devoted sufficient time to the duties of his office. In a number 
 of instances they have not even given proper attention to the actual 
 complaints brought to their notice, to say nothing of any real con- 
 structive work in preventive medicine. On the contrary where 
 there are all-time health units a very marked change for the better is 
 noted. This of course is to be expected where the entire time is 
 devoted to the duties of the office and the enforcement of health 
 ordinances made impersonal. 
 
 While the county commissioners of the several counties have for 
 some years possessed the right of appropriating sufficient funds to
 
 44 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 employ an all-time health officer, only five counties up to the present 
 year availed themselves of the privilege in the order estabhshed, viz: 
 Walker; Tuscaloosa; Elmore; Talladega; Jefferson. Of the five, 
 Walker County was the first rural county in the south to adopt an 
 all-time health officer, following an intensive sanitary campaign 
 several years ago in conjunction with the International Health Board. 
 During this year several more counties have been added to the 
 list, viz: Madison, Pickens, Choctaw and Lauderdale; and Colbert 
 has ordered the election of an all-time health officer. 
 
 TUBERCULOSIS 
 
 The 1916 report shows that in the entire state there were 2,898 
 cases of pulmonary tuberculosis reported with 2,526 deaths, or about 
 90 per cent mortality of reported cases. The state death rate for 
 that year from tuberculosis was 10.4 per cent. In 1917 there were 
 3,207 cases and 2,689 deaths reported. From these figures it is clearly 
 evident, first, that the doctors throughout the state have not been 
 reporting all the cases of tuberculosis; second, that very few incipi- 
 ent cases have been reported since all but about 300 in 1916 and 600 
 in 1917 out of about 3,000 cases each year, died. In the several 
 counties also in nearly every instance, the cases reported almost 
 equal the number of deaths reported. 
 
 The difficulty of obtaining accurate statistics of this kind is 
 two-fold: first, in such preventable diseases as tuberculosis, pellagra 
 and hookworm, especially in rural sections, the incipient cases are 
 neither seen nor treated by physicians. As a rule it is only the pro- 
 nounced cases that come under their observation, which of course 
 accounts for a large number of cases not being reported; and second, 
 there being no adequate penalty attached for failure to report cases 
 nor sufficient inspection to detect failure in reporting such cases, the 
 figures are unreliable. The same is true in a less degree of births and 
 deaths. 
 
 The legislature of 1915 authorized the purchase of a tract of 
 land for a state tuberculosis sanitorium. One suitable for the pur- 
 pose was purchased in Cullman County, but no appropriation being 
 available for the erection or maintenance of buildings, the land is 
 lying idle. An effort will be made to induce the incoming legisla- 
 ture to provide sufficient funds at least to make a start.
 
 Public Health 45 
 
 The 1915 legislature passed an act to prevent the spread of tuber- 
 culosis by the creation of a tuberculosis commission, to provide for 
 its organization and work, and to authorize the erection and main- 
 tenance of local hospitals under its supervision; said commission 
 to consist of nine members, of whom the State Health Officer shall 
 be one, ex-officio, four to be physicians. An anti-tuberculosis com- 
 mission has been created, but although the State Health Officer is 
 by law a member of it, he has not been advised of its personnel. 
 It has made no financial report; it has acquired no property; has 
 no real powers. The Anti-Tuberculosis League has done nothing 
 in the way of co-operating with the Anti-Tuberculosis Commission, 
 nor with the State Board of Health. 
 
 As neither the Anti-Tuberculosis Commission nor the board of 
 trustees of the tuberculosis sanitarium has any definite authority 
 and is in fact superfluous, all such work properly being under the 
 State Board of Health, it is recommended that the Anti-Tubercu- 
 losis Commission and the trustees of the tuberculosis sanitarium be 
 abolished; that whatever functions may have been conferred upon 
 them be transferred to the State Board of Health; and that the 
 statutes relating to them be repealed. 
 
 The county boards of revenue are authorized to establish 
 tuberculosis hospitals and to provide for the payment of sites, 
 buildings and maintenance, either separately or in connection with 
 an adjoining county or counties. It further provides that the super- 
 intendent must be a physician, and in counties whose population 
 does not exceed 50,000, the superintendent may also serve as county 
 health officer, provided, however, that if he holds both offices, he 
 shall not engage in the private practice of medicine. Such an ar- 
 rangement is likely to result in conflict of authority as there is no 
 provision giving the State Board of Health active supervision over 
 the conduct of the affairs of such hospitals, and because of his dual 
 capacity as county health officer elected by the county medical 
 society, and hospital superintendent appointed by the Alabama 
 Tuberculosis Commission. 
 
 It is therefore recommended that this law be changed so that 
 such an officer cannot act in a dual capacity, particularly if county 
 health officers be made all-time health officers, as it is practically 
 impossible for a county health officer who attempts to do his duty with 
 frequent absences from home, adequately to supervise any institution.
 
 46 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 PELLAGRA 
 
 The number of cases of pellagra reported in 1917 was 1,604 
 with 1,073 deaths. In three years, the cases of this disease reported 
 have more than doubled in number. Whether the increase was due 
 to better observance of the regulations including this as a report- 
 able disease or to ability to make a diagnosis because of the publicity 
 given to the subject in the last few years, or to an actual spread of 
 the disease, it is difficult to say; probably all three were factors. 
 
 The increase in the number of cases among children is marked 
 although from the very nature of the case there are few records in 
 the state upon which accurate conclusions can be based. General 
 observation shows that in the cotton mill districts pellagra is quite 
 frequent among the children as well as the adults. The rural dis- 
 tricts seem to furnish the greater number of cases, especially in chil- 
 dren. Even if the dietetic cause of the disease is not accepted, it 
 is an undisputed fact that the patients, not too far advanced in the 
 disease, when placed on a balanced ration usually improve to a 
 marked degree in uncomplicated cases. Lack of medical inspection 
 in the schools generally throughout the state is responsible for the 
 failure to discover most of these early cases. Pellagra, tuberculosis 
 and hookworm, three of the most prevalent preventable diseases 
 ^ in children, may be said to depend in a large measure upon a deficient 
 diet, not so much as to quantity, as to its unbalanced character. 
 
 The school girl should be taught the art of cooking because 
 upon her knowledge and skill will depend the proper care of her 
 future household. This is a genuine health problem. 
 
 PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND PUBLIC HEALTH 
 
 The county superintendents of education were asked, "How 
 many pupils in your county were absent during the last scholastic 
 year from whooping cough, diphtheria, smallpox, pellagra, malaria, 
 hookworm, tuberculosis?" Chambers, "quite a number;" Chilton, 
 "no record;" Conecuh, "whooping cough 150, smallpox 175, 
 pellagra 7, malaria 8, hookwoiTn 200, tuberculosis 3;" Escambia, 
 "50 per cent; if measles included, 90 per cent;" Etowah, "several 
 hundred;" Lauderdale, "200;" Montgomery, "several;" Pickens, 
 "no record kept;" Washington, "I cannot answer definitely; there 
 was some smallpox in the county and considerable whooping cough;" 
 Mobile, "no data as to the specific causes of absence due to sickness,
 
 Public Health 47 
 
 but the total days reported for the term are 33,000." No doubt each 
 of the diseases mentioned contributed some days of absence to this 
 nimiber, with probably the largest number for smallpox, measles 
 and whooping cough. 
 
 The State Superintendent of Education was asked whether 
 there was any provision for the detection or prevention or treatment 
 of hookworm in the rural schools; reply: "no, except in isolated 
 cases." "Have you any data, or if no data, any impression as to 
 hooku'-onii or malaria, as a causative contributive factor in illiteracy?" 
 Answer, "no information." It is a significant coincidence, however, 
 that in those districts where hookworm and malaria are prevalent, 
 illiteracy is also widespread. 
 
 It is recommended that pupils be required before being admitted 
 after absence from school, to furnish a certificate upon a blank form 
 prepared jointly by the State Superintendent of Education and the 
 State Health Officer, showing the number of days absent and the 
 cause, and if because of illness, stating the disease and ailment; 
 the mere statement "sickness" not to be accepted. This will give a 
 basis for exact information to determine whether the cause of ab- 
 sence is economic, physical, or delinquency of either parent or pupil. 
 Too great a loss is being sustained by the state to permit either of 
 these conditions to persist when they can be prevented. 
 
 Sanitary Closets. 
 
 The county superintendents were asked, "How many of your 
 rural schools have sanitary closets?" Typical replies were: "About 
 one-fourth;" "ten;" "very few;" "none;" The State Depart- 
 ment of Education has no data on the subject. 
 
 The department states that the boards of education in one or 
 two counties had passed resolutions requiring sanitary closets in 
 rural schools under penalty of closing schools for failure to comply 
 with the order, but no record had been filed with the department. 
 In response to the query: "What do you recommend as to inspec- 
 tion of sanitary conditions in rural school houses with power to 
 clean up condemned schools?" The reply was: "The public school 
 authorities should have authority only to close or condemn schools, 
 except in cases of serious epidemics and where it is necessary to en- 
 force a rigid quarantine. The health authorities should urge the 
 necessity of satisfactory sanitary conditions at all schools."
 
 48 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 Sanitary Drinking Water. 
 
 To the question, how many of your rural schools have sanitary 
 drinking water, the replies were: Chambers, "several;" Chilton, 
 "thirteen;" Conecuh, "ten;" Escambia, "about 10 per cent;" 
 Etowah, "three-fourths;" Lauderdale, "twenty;" Mobile, "five 
 of the larger schools;" Montgomery, "90 per cent;" Pickens, 
 "25 per cent;" Washington, "about 30 or more than half, the water 
 being usually obtained from a well." No replies from the other 
 counties surveyed. The State Superintendent of Education was 
 asked, "What provisions are made for sanitary drinking water in 
 rural schools?" Answer, "Every teacher in the state is instructed 
 as to the manner of supervising the sanitary conditions of the schools. 
 Emphasis is always placed on the sanitary drinking facilities. How- 
 ever, in many cases these suggestions are not followed, through 
 carelessness and often through lack of financial support necessary 
 to secure suitable water supply." 
 
 Such conditions constitute a prolific source of infection from 
 hookworm because of soil pollution due to the lack of sanitary 
 closets; from typhoid fever because of surface drainage into the 
 drinking water; and from flies as germ carriers from fecal exposure. 
 
 The State Superintendent of Education was asked, "Should all 
 pupils in secondary schools be required to take the typhoid vaccina- 
 tion?" and replied: "This is perhaps almost altogether a technical 
 question which should be answered by members of the medical pro- 
 fession. I should say, however, that vaccination for typhoid would 
 be of value, especially in rural sections where close attention to 
 sanitation and hygiene are neglected." 
 
 In view of the insanitary conditions of rural schools and bearing 
 in mind that a large number of cases of typhoid occur in the rural 
 counties, that several of the secondary schools and state schools 
 have had outbreaks, that pupils at this age are rather susceptible 
 to the disease, that they come from all parts of a county to the 
 county high school, and from all parts of the state to the state schools, 
 thus becoming potential factors in its possible spread, and contrast- 
 ing all this with the wonderful results obtained by the United States 
 Army in the prevention of the disease, it is recommended that a 
 law be passed making it obligatory for each pupil to be vaccinated 
 against typhoid before he is admitted to a secondary or state school, 
 and to file a certificate to that effect with the principal of the school.
 
 Public Health 49 
 
 The county superintendents were asked, "Is sanitation or health 
 taught in your schools?" and nearly all answered, "Yes;" Mobile 
 stating, "Physiology and hygiene are taught in all the schools, but 
 sanitation and health are taught orally and only in a limited way." 
 
 The State Superintendent of Education says that all schools 
 of the state are required by law to give instruction in physiology 
 and hygiene; but as to whether it is at present satisfactory, he adds 
 that like all laws of this kind where there is no definite means of 
 supervision, there is a lack of uniformity in the matter of compliance 
 with the same; that while there are many schools where the prin- 
 ciples of hygiene are observed as well as formally presented, there 
 are many others where the formal principles are taken up in con- 
 nection with the study of the text books, but every rule and guide 
 for health is violated; that practical sanitation and hygiene should 
 be compulsory; that there is no provision or authority either in the 
 State Department of Education or Department of Health for the 
 carrying on of school hygiene work or education; that in a course 
 of school hygiene should be presented those principles that pertain 
 to the health of the individual and the community, and only such 
 information as to the functions of the organs and their anatomy 
 as is absolutely necessary in order to understand the practical appli- 
 cation of the laws of health; that rural teachers and pupils should 
 "police" the schoolhouses and grounds as a practical application 
 of the teaching of rural hygiene in and about the schools as a part 
 of the regular school work. 
 
 The county superintendents were asked, "How many teachers 
 have taken a course in rural sanitation?" The answer, "None," 
 came from Chambers, Chilton, and Escambia; "No record," from 
 Etowah, Pickens, and Mobile; Conecuh, "20;" Lauderdale, "2;" 
 Montgomery, "only a few;" Washington, "None that I know, 
 other than such courses as are offered by our nonnal schools and the 
 school at Montevalle." 
 
 Medical Inspection of Schools. 
 
 The county health officer is charged with the duty of examining 
 the pupils of the schools at least once annually for the purpose of 
 ascertaining the presence of adenoids, enlarged tonsils, skin diseases, 
 spinal curvature, hookworm disease, etc., that may interfere with
 
 5(5 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 progress in their studies, and whenever any of these diseases or 
 defects are discovered, he must notify the parent of the child affected. 
 
 The county health officers were asked, "Have you as county 
 health officer made any examinations of public school children for 
 hookworm or tuberculosis?" The answers: Barbotir, "No;" Cham- 
 bers, "Yes for tuberculosis;" Madison, (all-time health officer) 
 "Yes;" Pickens, "Yes, some;" Washington, "No." No replies 
 from the others. 
 
 They were also asked, "Have you in your capacity as county 
 health officer made any regular examinations of public school 
 children, other than for contagious diseases?" The answers: Bar- 
 bour, "No;" Chambers, "No;" Madison, (all-time health officer) 
 "Yes;" Pickens, (all-time health officer) "Yes;" Tuscaloosa, (all- 
 time health officer) "Yes;" Washington, "No." No other replies. 
 
 To the question "Do you regard this as part of your duty as 
 county health officer?" the answers were: Barbour, "No, not with 
 present salary;" Chambers, "No;" Madison, (all-time) "Yes;" 
 Pickens, "Not required, but do it because it is needful for the wel- 
 fare of the child and the county;" Tuscaloosa, (all-time) "Yes;" 
 Washington, "No, unless remuneration granted." 
 
 Birmingham, Montgomery and Mobile have medical inspec- 
 tion in their schools by physicians employed by the schools. In 
 Birmingham it is very elaborate and effective; in Mobile it is effi- 
 cient as far as it goes, but only one physician is employed for the 
 entire county and his small salary does not justify him in devoting 
 his entire time to the work. In Montgomery it is confined to the city 
 schools only, and has not been altogether satisfactory because too 
 little time is given to it, and it also lacks system. 
 
 The county superintendents were also asked whether they had 
 any medical inspection of pupils or teachers in their counties; if 
 so, how often; whether records of results were kept; and what con- 
 stituted the examination. Barbour answered, "No;" Chilton, 
 "No;" Conecuh, "No;" Escambia, "Have no regular inspection 
 of school children, but the board of education is very much interested 
 and this year made a small beginning. Phj^sicians and dentists 
 were persuaded to go free of charge and make investigations of five 
 or six schools. In five schools examined, a very poor record of health 
 was made. In one of about 100 children, 90 per cent were found 
 affected with some form of disease. In another, 95 per cent were
 
 Public Health 51 
 
 affected with some form of hookworm, and in another not a single 
 normal child was found, and I believe the doctors and dentists 
 report that only one perfect specimen was found in the five schools 
 examined, out of a total of about 250 pupils. These it seems to me 
 are sufficient facts to wake us up along this line." (At the request 
 of clubs interested in social service work, the writer examined 12 
 children at random in the public school at Brewton, county seat 
 of this county and a wealthy town, and found 11 of them physically 
 defective, although most of them were children of well-to-do parents.) 
 
 Etowah, Lauderdale, Montgomery, Pickens, and Washington 
 all answered "No."; Mobile, "Yes, in all our rural schools. One 
 thorough inspection in all rural schools per term and in the suburban 
 schools and larger centers, two inspections. Special visits are made 
 upon request of the principal or any infomiation expressing the need 
 for a visit from the medical inspector. Records of examinations are 
 kept by the medical inspectors. The examinations are made with the 
 view of detecting contagious or infectious diseases as well as physical 
 defects and weaknesses of the individual pupil. Among the former 
 are included scabies, pediculosis, measles, smallpox, diphtheria. 
 Among the latter, enlarged tonsils, adenoids, weak eyes. The ex- 
 aminations are made by the medical inspector who receives $100 
 per month during the school term." 
 
 The social ser\dce assistant, heretofore mentioned as loaned 
 to the State Department of Health, assisted by local physicians 
 volunteering for the work, presented conclusive evidence, confirming 
 the results of the examinations of the draft boards that rural school 
 medical inspection was a necessity, and should be made compulsory. 
 
 The State Superintendent of Education says that no county 
 employs a school medical examiner except Mobile, but that those 
 having all-time health officers have a limited service in the field. 
 "In the small counties the all-time health officers may perform the 
 duties of the school medical examiner, and it matters not where he 
 is, he should keep in close touch with the health and sanitary condi- 
 tions of the schools, bringing to the attention of the school authorities 
 the needs in this field and using the schools as community centers 
 to get information to the people on health questions. Publicity in 
 all matters of this kind properly directed will be of great assistance 
 to the health officer. If the courlty is large enough to meet the ex- 
 pense, the health rifficcr should have an assistant who is a public
 
 52 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 health nurse. A combination of this kind will make a very effective 
 handling of a health program for any rural county. No definite 
 plan whereby the school is the center for community health activity 
 has been formally adopted by the Department of Education or the 
 State Board of Health, but both have tentative plans to be inaugu- 
 rated when funds are available." 
 
 The trustees of the Roman Catholic parochial schools of the 
 state are in favor of medical inspection of their schools. They now 
 have it to some extent but it is not systematic, nor altogether sat- 
 isfactory to them nor have they any available records of inspection. 
 They state that it is their purpose to enlarge and perfect the system 
 the coming year. They are in favor of compulsory school inspection 
 but prefer to provide and select their own inspectors, agreeing that 
 the state should prescribe the method and regulations, and that report 
 should be made of such examinations to the proper authorities. 
 
 Birmingham. The medical department of the public schools of 
 Birmingham consists of a medical inspector and a corps of trained 
 nurses. Medical inspection in the public schools is under the control 
 of the board of education and constitutes a part of the educational 
 work. A committee of the American Medical Association in its re- 
 port endorses this plan as the most practical and efficient yet devised. 
 
 In the negro public schools, valuable work has been done in the 
 improvement of housing conditions and general sanitation of homes. 
 A graduate nurse is employed to give instruction in the negro Indus- 
 trial High School in general hygiene, infant nursing and feeding, and 
 nursing in convalescent cases. Last year, two hundred girls of the 
 higher classes were enrolled in this course, and under the direction of 
 their teacher, they got out into the hospitals and into the homes of 
 the people, and in many instances are used by the doctors in cases 
 where trained nurses cannot be obtained. 
 
 A home and school visitor is employed through the aid of the 
 Jeanes' Fund. She visits the schools and the homes of the pupils, 
 encourages school attendance, and in co-operation with the trained 
 nurses employed in the medical department and the nurse-training 
 class of the Industrial High School, has accomplished effective 
 work in the improvement of the conditions of the negro homes. 
 
 The placing of school medical inspectors entirely under the 
 school authorities may be effective in large cities but in rural com- 
 munities it is not always practicable, especially where the law now 
 requires the all-time health officer to make the examinations, and as
 
 Public Health 53 
 
 rural counties cannot afford separate school medical inspection. Many 
 of the insanitary conditions of a community are detected through 
 the absences of children from school, thus showing the intimate 
 correlation between the duties of an all-time health officer and the 
 school. It is therefore recommended that school medical inspection 
 of teachers and pupils be made compulsory for public, private and 
 parochial schools; that such inspection be made by the all-time 
 health officer, except in counties or municipalities where special school 
 medical inspection can be afforded ; and that the State Health Officer 
 and the State Superintendent of Education jointly formulate and 
 issue regulations governing such inspection. 
 
 Special Schools. 
 
 Inquiry as to open-air schools and special schools for the physi- 
 cally or mentally defective, shows the lamentable lack of provision 
 for such children in the state. 
 
 Birmingham has one open-air experimental school and had a 
 special school for backward children that was fairly successful. 
 There is not even a hospital for the care of orthopedic cases. The 
 Scottish Rite Masons of Atlanta have such a hospital, and at this 
 time 11 Alabama children are under treatment there. 
 
 School Luncheons. 
 
 In many city schools warm luncheons are provided at the noon 
 hour to children at a reasonable price, ranging from one cent up. 
 In Birmingham at all of the larger schools, lunches are provided at 
 actual cost, under the direction of a committee of the school im- 
 provement association; in the high schools 2,500 five-cent lunches 
 were served each day last year, and an average of 3,000 five-cent 
 lunches per day in the elementary schools. 
 
 School Furniture. 
 
 In most of the urban and rural schools the furniture is such that 
 the children are in physical discomfort. The State Superintendent 
 says "There is no doubt but that many of the defects of children 
 are accentuated if not produced by unsatisfactory school furniture." 
 
 Health and Employment. 
 
 The State Superintendent of Education was asked whether 
 he would recommend a health certificate as a prerequisite for the
 
 54 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 employment of children and replied, "It seems that it will be emi- 
 nently proper that every child employed away from his home should 
 have a clean bill of health furnished by competent medical authori- 
 ties. The employer should be required to present to the inspector 
 health certificates secured from the public health authorities for 
 all children employed by him." Because of the numerous exceptions 
 in the child labor and compulsory school attendance laws, there 
 are many loopholes for evasion, especially in the ease with which 
 a child or his parents can claim sickness as a cause of absence from 
 school. The State Superintendent of Education thinlcs that "un- 
 doubtedly there should be a better co-ordination of the laws pertain- 
 ing to and governing the relationship of children to society. The 
 compulsory attendance law and the child labor law should be 
 made to harmonize and thus avoid apparent discrepancies that so 
 often exist when these laws are fostered and advocated by different 
 groups of society unacquainted with the ideals and aims of the other. 
 This question touches very clearly the health problem of medical 
 school inspection, school absences due to sickness, and health cer- 
 tificates for employed children, also the laws relating to vaccina- 
 tion and quarantine." 
 
 School Nurse. 
 
 County superintendents of education were asked, "Have you 
 a school nurse, if so what compensation does she receive?" Cham- 
 bers, Chilton, Conecuh, Escambia, Etowah, Lauderdale, Mont- 
 gomery, Pickens and Washington all answer "No." Tuscaloosa 
 has one for the city of Tuscaloosa; Mobile has two for the county, 
 one of whom is a social welfare worker and one for the city schools. 
 No answer from the other counties. The cities of Birmingham, 
 Montgomery and Tuscaloosa also have school nurses. 
 
 To the question, should the qualifications of such school nurse 
 be prescribed by the Department of Health, the Department of 
 Education replies that the Department of Health should pass upon 
 the technical training of such a nurse, but the character of service 
 rendered makes it necessary that the public health nurse be trained 
 in social service. These qualifications should be passed upon by 
 persons whose interests and activities make them capable of evalua- 
 ting the fitness of applicants for social service activities." 
 
 As to what should constitute the duties of a public health school 
 nurse from a school standpoint the State Superintendent replied,
 
 Public Health 55 
 
 "The public health school nurse should visit the schools as often 
 as possible to keep in touch with the absentees from school, ascer- 
 tain any cause and if due to illness, see that proper treatment is pro- 
 vided and sanitary regulations obeyed. This nurse should be a 
 trained dietitian and through the social service activities be able to 
 render assistance to mothers, providing suitable food, not only for 
 those who are ill, but for all members of the family." 
 
 Public Health Nurse. 
 
 The present law, while a general one in theory, is a local one in 
 effect since it is applicable at the present time to Mobile county only. 
 Act 390, Statutes 1915 reads as follows: 
 
 Section 1. That the Court of County Commissioners or any similar 
 court by whatever name, with Hke jurisdiction, of any county, which has a 
 population of more than 75,000 people and less than 82,000 people, accord- 
 ing to the last or any subsequent census, is hereby authorized and em- 
 powered to employ a trained nurse for the purpose of visiting and caring 
 for the citizens of said county, who are afflicted with any infectious or con- 
 tagious disease and to pay such nurse a salary of not more than $100.00 
 out of the general funds of said county. 
 
 Section 2. That any nurse employed under the provisions of section 1 
 of this act shall be under the supervision and control of the county board 
 of health of said county. 
 
 This should be amended by striking out that portion beginning 
 at line 3 which reads: "which has a population of more than 75,000 
 and less than 82,000 people, according to the last or any subsequent 
 census," thus making it applicable to any county in the state, no 
 matter what its population. At present Mobile county is the only 
 county in the state employing such a public health nurse. As a mat- 
 mer of fact, the history of this piece of legislation is, that it was en- 
 acted at the instance of the Mobile section of the Anti-Tuberculosis 
 League, having for its object the emplo^^ment by the county of a 
 visiting tuberculosis nurse. Such a nurse was employed for several 
 years and did reasonably good work in spite of the indifferent sup- 
 port she received from the public in general. A few enthusiastic 
 members of the league by arduous work managed in the face of 
 considerable opposition to obtain some fairly good results. Active 
 work, however, on account of many discouragements, after a time 
 ceased. The nurse resigned, and the position was not filled until 
 November 1917, when at the request of the public school authori- 
 ties, a graduate trained nurse was appointed to look after the de-
 
 56 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 linquent and defective school children in the county. This nurse is a 
 competent one for the particular work she is now doing, but does not 
 claim to be a public health nurse, as that term is usually understood, 
 nor is she doing real public health nurse work in its larger aspects. 
 
 Tuscaloosa and Escambia counties expressed a desire to employ 
 public health nurses but were stopped by the restriction of the law 
 as above noted. In the city of Tuscaloosa a school nurse is employed, 
 receiving $50.00 a month during the school term, and is paid out of 
 the school funds, but a good portion of her work is lost because she 
 is not employed by the year for "follow-up" work. 
 
 The public schools of the city of Mobile employ a nurse as well 
 as a physician, but for the school term only. The Mobile county 
 schools in addition to the public health nurse as previously noted 
 have a social service worker employed by the year, who serves in 
 the dual capacity of truancy officer for the county and social welfare 
 worker, and also handles some medical cases. All of these Mobile 
 workers are doing efficient service. In those instances where there 
 is part-time employment their term should be extended to cover the 
 entire year. In some of the counties, especially Escambia County, 
 the school authorities were favorable to the employment of a school 
 nurse and had the money to engage one, but were unwilling for her to 
 be under the jurisdiction of the county health authorities. They were 
 also of the opinion that under the present law, no school funds could 
 be expended for such a nurse unless she held a teacher's certificate. 
 
 The all-time health officer should have authority to appoint 
 the laboratory assistant and the inspector or inspectors for the 
 reason that better results can be obtained when the executive officer 
 has the power of selecting and dismissing subordinates, since it is 
 self-evident that a proper esprit de corps cannot be obtained where 
 there is divided authority, but this should not apply as to the public 
 health nurse. 
 
 It is recommended: 1. That a public health nurse be included 
 in each health unit in every county. 
 
 2. That she be required to pass an examination prescribed 
 jointly by the State Department of Health and the State Depart- 
 ment of Education, and that nurses be elected by county medical 
 societies only from a list furnished by the State Board of Health in a 
 similar manner as recommended in the case of all-time health officers. 
 
 3. That where counties can not or will not furnish the funds 
 for such nurse, the county boards of education be authorized to
 
 Public Health 57 
 
 employ such nurse and that a special teacher's certificate be granted 
 in order to comply with the law which permits funds to be paid only 
 to those holding teachers' certificates; this will obviate any legal 
 complications. 
 
 4. That the law relative to requirements for teachers' cer- 
 tificates be so amended as to give special certificates to persons per- 
 forming special service in school work, or that the State Superin- 
 tendent of Education be empowered to accept the certificate of a 
 public health nurse from the state board of medical examiners as the 
 equivalent of a first grade teacher's certificate limited to the special 
 field, and that such public health nurse act as supervisor for the 
 teaching and practice of hygiene in the public schools of the county. 
 
 Cotton Mill Nurses. 
 
 About 20 of the cotton mills employ nurses but more than 50 
 do not. It is believed that with the state furnishing public health 
 nurses to guide the way, most of these mills will fall into line. At 
 any rate the State Board of Health will be in a position to detect 
 and remedy many glaring sanitary evils now existing. 
 
 Activities of Corporations. 
 
 Attention has several times been called to the work outside 
 agencies are performing in assisting the public health work of the 
 state. Corporations have begun to recognize that the health of their 
 employees is an asset and that it is to their financial interest to ex- 
 pend large sums of money in preventive medicine for the benefit of 
 their employees. Two of the largest of the corporations will be 
 taken to illustrate what is being done. 
 
 Perhaps the greatest so far as health work is concerned is the 
 Tennessee Coal & Iron Co. with its subsidiary plants in and near 
 Birmingham, and the Chickasaw Shipbuilding Plant at Mobile, in- 
 volving a population of 50,000. 
 
 The state appropriates $26,200 for the work of the State Board 
 of Health while this private corporation expends nearly double that 
 amount each year for the betterment of the health conditions at its 
 several plants. 
 
 In reply to a series of questions, some of the points emphasized 
 by the company are: 
 
 "All children in the company schools are given a physical ex- 
 amination as soon as possible after the opening of the school. This
 
 58 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 is usually done within the first two weeks. Whenever a child is ill 
 or absent from school, he cannot be readmitted without a certificate 
 from the doctor. Physical examination is just as necessary in 
 primary grades as in the higher grades. Primarily, the examination 
 is made to detect cases of communicable diseases among the children, 
 although the utmost importance is attached to the discovery of de- 
 fects of all kinds, the remedying of which will increase the efficiency 
 of the child. 
 
 "Teachers take the initiative in detecting cases in the school 
 which are referred to the nurse or doctor. As to follow-up work, the 
 teachers call and find out why the children have been absent. If a 
 child has been ill or there is illness in the family, it can only be re- 
 admitted to school by a doctor's certificate. 
 
 "The following records are kept for the school and school nurse. 
 We have a baby clinic so that the health of the children is taken care 
 of from infancy up through school age and if then employed by the 
 Tennessee Company, their health is still looked after. The records 
 for the school physicians are kept by the principal of the school and 
 the instructors, and for the baby clinic by the directors. In fact, 
 the doctor, nurse, directors, principals and instructors all work in 
 co-operation regarding the health of the children. 
 
 "Compulsory vaccination against smallpox is not possible under 
 the present state laws, but it is hoped that such a law will be passed 
 in the near future. If smallpox is ever to be definitely stamped out 
 of the state, this is absolutely necessary and such a result can never 
 be obtained in any other way. 
 
 "Existing laws relative to quarantine and isolation are far from 
 satisfactory, being entirely too elastic in most instances. In our 
 own schools we have been usually able to carry out regulations 
 much more rigid than those provided by law." 
 
 This company has expended many thousands of dollars to place 
 their properties in good sanitary condition. To this end they have 
 laid many miles of water-mains and sanitary sewers with the most 
 modem appliances for sewage disposal. They have been to great 
 pains to obtain a pure water supply, and in their engineering depart- 
 ment they have followed very closely the excellent methods of the 
 sanitary department of the Government at Panama. They also 
 have an extensive and modernly equipped laboratory where all 
 bacteriological and chemical tests are employed, not only in making 
 examinations of the water supply, but for all clinical purposes.
 
 Public Health 59 
 
 "All necessary dental work on the school children is performed 
 by salaried dentists emplo^-ed by the company. The dentists held 
 a cHnic at each school every year at which time all of the children's 
 teeth are put in good repair. Every morning we have a tooth brush 
 drill, and each child is obliged to brush his teeth. 
 
 "As to policing the grounds as a means of teaching hygiene, if 
 the children in the schools are taught hygiene, and thoroughly made 
 to understand that it is quite necessary to keep the school grounds 
 clean, and in good condition, it becomes a matter of habit with them 
 to co-operate with the instructors in keeping the grounds in ship 
 shape, and therefore it is not necessary to police the grounds. 
 
 "All new employees of the company undergo a physical exam- 
 ination before they are put out to work. Any man who loses as much 
 as two weeks from work for any cause is physically examined again 
 before he is allowed to return to work. All the employees working in 
 the commissaries, in the meat markets and groceries and at the quick 
 lunch counters, undergo a physical examination every few months. 
 
 "The Tennessee Company has a regular department of health 
 with a large corps of physicians and sanitarians employed by the year 
 to conduct the health work at the various plants, and several large 
 hospitals fully equipped with every modem appliance of medical 
 science to care for the sick and injured. A sanitary survey of their 
 properties is made at regular intervals and modern sanitary con- 
 ditions are the result." 
 
 The American Cast Iron Pipe Company of Bimiingham main- 
 tains a model community. At the plant there is a medical dispensary 
 equipped with an emxcrgency operating room, a dental department, 
 two niurses, white and negro, on duty all day, tw^o physicians and one 
 dentist who devote all of their time to work among the employees, 
 and with a surgeon on call. For this service a charge is made to em- 
 ployees of $1 per month for married men and 50 cents for single men. 
 
 In addition to the work of the medical dispensary, they main- 
 tain a domestic science building in the negro village and have a 
 teacher, who has equipped and lives in a modem home in the com- 
 munity, with furnishings of moderate value within reach of the 
 negro employees — this to teach economy and judgment in the 
 purchasing of household furnishings. This teacher has classes in 
 cooking and housekeeping daily at the domestic science building, 
 and also gives lessons in canning and makes demonstrations during 
 the canning season.
 
 60 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 Also a visiting nurse teaches mothers how to prepare food, 
 especially for sick children, and calls at the homes of practically 
 all employees and families periodically whether there is sickness 
 or not. 
 
 The employees seem, as a rule, to appreciate the interest in them 
 and the service that is being rendered through these various depart- 
 ments. At the beginning the white nurse visited the homes of the 
 white employees and found in some few cases that resentment was 
 shown to visits when there was no sickness; therefore the visiting 
 of the nurse among the white employees has been discontinued. 
 There has never been any resentment shown on the part of the negro 
 employees to the visiting nurse or any of the welfare work; on the 
 other hand, they seem to appreciate what is being done. 
 
 SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS 
 
 1. Increase in the Scope of the Work of the State Board of Health. 
 
 That the legislature increase the appropriation. That several 
 sanitary engineers and inspectors be provided for. That act 530 
 of the 1915 legislature be transferred to and incorporated in paragraph 
 4 of section 702, thereby avoiding duplication of work and of autho- 
 rity; that the state prison inspection act 303, 1915, be so amended 
 that a clear correlation of the duties and activities of the office be 
 afforded; and that the State Board of Health have administrative 
 authority over said office to avoid duplication of administration 
 and possible clash of authority. That branches of the Pasteur In- 
 stitute for the administration of anti-rabic virus be established at 
 Birmingham and Mobile to lessen the expense and facilitate the 
 treatment of patients. That the anti-Tuberculosis Commission and 
 the trustees of the Tuberculosis Sanatorium be abolished and what- 
 ever functions may have been intended to be conferred upon them 
 be transferred to the State Board of Health, and the statutes relative 
 thereto be repealed. That section 10 of act 610 of the medical laws 
 be amended so that the county health officer cannot act in a dual 
 capacity as such officer and physician in charge of the county tuber- 
 culosis hospital. 
 
 2. School Health Regulations. 
 
 That the State Health Officer and State Superintendent of 
 Education jointly formulate and issue a series of regulations for the
 
 Public Health 61 
 
 guidance of county health officers and school teachers, including 
 the following points: naming the several communicable diseases 
 affecting school attendance; defining isolation and quarantine; 
 giving the period of required absence of children suffering from such 
 diseases; governing the return of such pupils to school; requiring 
 the furnishing of a physician's certificate before returning to school. 
 That pupils be required, before being admitted to school after an 
 absence, to furnish a certificate upon a form prepared jointly by the 
 State Health Officer and the State Superintendent of Education, 
 showing the number of days absent and the cause and if due to ill- 
 ness, stating the disease or ailment — the mere statement "illness,' 
 not to be accepted. That a law be passed making it obligatory for 
 each pupil to be inoculated against typhoid fever before he is ad- 
 mitted to a secondary or state school, and to file certificate to that 
 effect with the principal of the school. That school medical in- 
 spection of teachers and pupils be made compulsory for public, 
 private and parochial schools ; that such inspections be made by the 
 all-time health officers except in such counties and municipalities 
 where special school medical inspection in the public schools can be 
 afforded; that the State Health Officer and State Superintendent 
 of Education jointly formulate and issue regulations governing such 
 inspections. 
 
 3. A Full Time Health Unit for Every County. 
 
 That sub-division 2 of section 706 be so amended as to make 
 an all-time health unit obligatory in every county instead of making 
 it optional as at present with the county commissioners or board 
 of revenue to provide only an all-time health officer. That the State 
 Board of Health be required to review the proceedings and findings 
 of trial of county health officer for ratification, amendment or re- 
 jection, as the case may be, as final action which shall be binding 
 upon the county medical society, and that whenever a county 
 health officer is removed from office upon the recommendation of the 
 State Board of Health, he be ineligible for further employment in a 
 similar capacity in the county where he was removed from office. 
 That act 390, statutes of 1915, be amended by striking out that por- 
 tion beginning at line 3 which reads "which has a population of more 
 than 75,000 and less than 82,000 people according to the last or 
 any subsequent census," thus making it applicable to any county 
 in the state regardless of population. That a public health nurse
 
 62 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 be included in each health unit in every county ; that she be required 
 to pass an examination prescribed jointly by the State Health Officer 
 and the State Superintendent of Education, and that nurses be 
 elected by county medical societies only from a list furnished by 
 the State Board of Health in a manner similar to that recommended 
 in the case of all-time health officers; that where counties cannot 
 or will not furnish funds for such nurse the county boards of educa- 
 tion be authorized to employ such nurse and that a special teacher's 
 certificate be granted her in order to comply with the law permitting 
 the payment of funds only to those holding teacher's certificates; 
 and that the law relative to requirements for teacher's certificates 
 be so amended as to give special certificates to persons performing 
 special service in school work, or that the State Superintendent of 
 Education be empowered to accept the certificate of a public health 
 nurse from the state board of medical examiners as the equivalent 
 of a first-grade teacher's certificate limited to the special field and 
 that such public health nurse act as supervisor of the teaching and 
 practice of hygiene in the public schools of the county. 
 
 4. Vital Statistics. 
 
 That steps be taken by the next legislature to place Alabama 
 in the federal registration of vital statistics area under what is known 
 as the model law. 
 
 5. Examination of Midwives. 
 
 That midwives in Alabama be examined and certificates issued 
 to them, and heavy penalties be imposed for failure to report any 
 cases. 
 
 6. Abatement of Nuisances. 
 
 That the regulations for the abatement of nuisances, section 
 718, be so amended as to give the county medical society power to 
 declare a nuisance to exist and to abate the same, with the right of 
 appeal on the part of the owner to the State Board of Health, the 
 decision of the state board to be final and binding. In the event of 
 the owner or agent failing within a given period to comply with the 
 orders of the State Board of Health that the state board be em- 
 powered to have said nuisance abated, the cost to be taxed upon 
 the property, and that the State Board of Health be empowered to 
 sell the property at public sale to satisfy such claim.
 
 EDUCATION 
 James J. Doster* 
 
 Dean of the School of Education, University of Alabama 
 
 THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM 
 
 A study of the educational situation in Alabama shows that the 
 public school system is not well organized. While there are suffi- 
 cient, perhaps too many, schools of the usual types — elementary, 
 secondary, higher and special — they are not well articulated and 
 co-ordinated. The sphere of each institution or each type has not 
 yet been clearly defined and as a result there is much overlapping 
 of work and confusion of aims. The reason for this anomalous con- 
 dition is found in the fact that the public schools and higher insti- 
 tutions have developed in an empirical way. As rapidly as the need 
 for an educational institution of a certain type has become manifest 
 the legislature has established the institution and provided for its 
 control and support with little regard to its relation to other schools 
 already in existence. 
 
 As matters now stand Alabama has in good working order 
 practically all of the parts of a good school system but these parts 
 must be welded into a harmonious whole before the highest results 
 can be secured. To accomplish this a State Board of Education or 
 an Educational Commission with plenary powers will probably be 
 necessary. 
 
 COMPONENT PARTS OF SCHOOL SYSTEM 
 
 University of Alabama. — The University of Alabama, the "cap- 
 stone of the pubHc school system," was established in 1831 and is 
 located at Tuscaloosa. It was the first part of the system to be 
 definitely organized, but on account of a complete lack of organic 
 connection with the common schools its development was delayed 
 for many years. Only recently has it begun to approximate its true 
 function as head of the school system. 
 
 *This paper was prepared with the assistance of Messrs. J. B. Hobdy and 
 J. L. Sibley, state rural school agents. 
 
 63
 
 64 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 The organizations for the administration of the University are 
 classified as the college of arts and sciences, the college of engineer- 
 ing, the school of education, the school of law, the summer school, 
 and the school of medicine which is located at Mobile. The enroll- 
 ment in 1916-17 was as follows: college of arts and sciences 606, 
 college of engineering 110, school of education 266, school of law 
 127, summer school 790, and school of medicine 43, making a grand 
 total, less duplicates, of 1,728 students. 
 
 For the maintenance of all departments, not including the 
 school of medicine at Mobile, the University receives annually from 
 the state $30,000, in addition to the constitutional settlement of the 
 old state debt which amounts to $36,000, and the amount of $26,634 
 which it receives from productive funds. This is probably the 
 smallest appropriation made by any state for the support of its uni- 
 versity. The tremer^dous possibilities of the institution for rendering 
 high service as head' of the school system are sadly Hmited by want 
 of necessary funds, which the legislature should at once provide. 
 
 Alabama Polytechnic Institute. — This institution, first known 
 as the Agricultural and Mechanical College, is located at Auburn 
 and was estabhshed |a; 1872. "The leading object of the Institute, 
 in conformity with me Act of Congress and the Acts of the State 
 Legislature, is to teach the principles and applications of science." 
 
 The organization embraces a college of engineering, mines, 
 and architecture, a college of veterinary medicine and surgery 
 and an academic college. In 1916-17 the enrollment was as follows: 
 academic college 676, engineering and mines 525, agricultural 
 sciences 497, veterinary medicine and surgery 178, summer session 
 548, giving a total, less duplicates, of 1,478. In addition there were 
 enrolled in two weeks summer courses in agriculture 734 farmers, 
 and in the school of practical agriculture (boys' com clubs) 125 boys. 
 
 For maintenance of the departments named above the Insti- 
 tute in 1916-17 received, exclusive of students' fees and certain 
 amounts from other sources, $53,510 from the state, $21,440 from 
 productive funds, and $27,900 from the federal government. Like 
 the University of Alabama, the Institute is inadequately supported 
 and needs more money for expansion. 
 
 Alabama Girls' Technical Institute. — This school was authorized 
 by the legislature in 1893 and is located at Montevallo, which is 
 usually described as "the geographical center of the state." Its
 
 Education 65 
 
 purpose is "to give instruction in the liberal arts and sciences and 
 in the industrial subjects." In addition to the usual academic 
 departments the organization includes departments of "art, drawing, 
 painting and designing; vocal music; instrumental music; book- 
 keeping, stenography, t3^pewriting and telegraphy; domestic art, 
 sewing, millinery and dressmaking; domestic economy, cooking, 
 and chemistry of foods; dairying; physical culture, and manual 
 training." Recently plans were perfected to make the Institute a 
 college of standard grade. 
 
 In 1916-17 there were 1,108 students enrolled in all depart- 
 ments, including the training school which is under the direction 
 of the college. 
 
 Exclusive of students' fees, the Institute receives annually for 
 its support S36,000 from the state and $18,238 from productive 
 funds. 
 
 Class A Normal Schools. — These schools are located at Florence, 
 Troy, Jacksonville and Livingston. The school at Florence, the 
 oldest, was established in 1873. Each school has passed through 
 the fiery furnace of popular criticism and each has had its own 
 peculiar trials. All have literally fought their way to recognition 
 and by merit alone have won for themselves a place in the system. 
 
 Their purpose as recently stated by their common board of 
 trustees is "to prepare teachers for the elementar}^ and rural schools 
 of the State." Under present regulations only those preparing to 
 teach can be enrolled. 
 
 The number of students in 1916-17 was as follows: Florence 
 647, Troy 437, Jacksonville 416, Livingston 340, making a grand 
 total of 1,840 students. 
 
 Each institution receives from the state $20,000 per year for 
 maintenance. 
 
 Class B Normal Schools. — Two in number, these schools were 
 created by the legislature only a few years ago. One is located at 
 Daphne and the other at Moundville. Circumscribed in their 
 activities by lack of funds and other causes they have not yet won 
 the recognition accorded the class A schools. At present their 
 patronage is largely local. 
 
 In 1916-17 the total enrollment including the training school 
 was 125 at Daphne and 174 at Moundville. 
 
 The State contributes $5,000 annually to each school.
 
 66 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 District Agricultural Schools. — There are nine of these schools, 
 one being located in each congressional district except the tenth. 
 The first was established by the legislature at Abbeville in 1888 
 in response to a feeling that the farmer boy should be given an 
 opportunity of securing a practical education along agricultural 
 lines. In spite, however, of the good intentions of the founders, these 
 schools remained for many years agricultural only in name. Even 
 now it can hardly be said that they are fulfilling their original purpose. 
 
 It is generally conceded that the agricultural schools have been 
 the least successful of the state's educational ventures. They are 
 now being converted into schools for teaching vocational agriculture 
 under the terms of the Smith-Hughes Act. 
 
 The aggregate enrollment in the nine schools in 1916-17 was 
 635 students in the high school classes and 224 students in the pre- 
 paratory classes. 
 
 The nine institutions receive from the state an annual appro- 
 priation of S40,500,which is divided equally among them. 
 
 County High Schools. — The passage of the county high school 
 law in 1907 made possible the supplying of the "missing links" in 
 Alabama's educational system. Under the terms of the law high 
 schools have already been established in 57 of the 67 counties. 
 In each county the community in which the school is located generally 
 furnishes the buildings, grounds, and equipment while the state 
 contributes a fixed sum for support. Approximately $1,000,000 has 
 thus far been expended for buildings alone. 
 
 The course of study, which by law must be of "secondary 
 grade," covers four years, and is fairly flexible. The number of teach- 
 ers employed and the variety of courses offered depend in each 
 school upon the extent to which the county and local authorities 
 are able and willing to supplement the state appropriation for 
 support. 
 
 Unfortunately the State High School Commission has been 
 forced by local conditions in some counties to allow the seventh 
 grade to be taught in the county high school building. The neces- 
 sity for this action is to be deplored as it tends to dislocate the 
 county school system as well as to lower the standard of high school 
 work. 
 
 In his annual report for 1917, State Superintendent of Educa- 
 tion Feagin says: "In order to guarantee that the county high
 
 Education 67 
 
 schools shall do their best work they need to be supervised and 
 standardized. This is necessary not only to guarantee a proper 
 interpretation and adoption of the course of study, but at the same 
 time to keep them within the particular sphere of work for which 
 they were created. There are still a number of these schools which 
 place numbers above admission qualifications and admit pupils 
 who should be retained in the elementary grades. So long as the 
 high schools continue such a practice just so long will some teachers 
 of elementar}^ grades continue to send poorly prepared pupils to the 
 high schools. With the elementary schools faithfully completing 
 their ovvm field of work, the high schools limiting themselves defin- 
 itely to theirs, the colleges holding rigidly to theirs, we can have a 
 satisfactory system and in no other way can we have it. This failure 
 to define its sphere and adhere absolutely to it, accounts for the fact 
 that the rather low standard of the county high school curriculum 
 seems to be a necessity at this time." 
 
 Taken as a whole these schools are rendering fine service in the 
 cause of education and are fulfilling to an admirable degree the 
 purpose for which they were created. 
 
 The total enrollment in the 57 schools, exclusive of the seventh 
 grades, was 6,485 during the 1916-17 session. Each school receives 
 annually from the state $3,000. 
 
 City Schools. — Public schools in cities, and in towns of more 
 than 2,000 inhabitants, are graded and the course of study is gen- 
 erally from 10 to 11 years in length. In a majority of the towns 
 and in all the cities a separate building, usually modem in construc- 
 tion and well equipped, has been erected, and is used wholly for 
 high school purposes. 
 
 The city schools derive their revenue from their pro-rata share 
 of the general state appropriation to the various counties, from city 
 appropriations, from local taxation, and in some instances from 
 matriculation and tuition fees. 
 
 Each city school system is a distinct entity within itself and 
 has only an indirect connection with the county and state systems. 
 
 County Schools. — The county school system embraces the rural 
 schools and the schools in towns of 2,000 or fewer inhabitants. The 
 capstone of the system is the county high school, which theoretically 
 at least, is the "finishing" school for the graduate of the elementary 
 and rural schools of the county.
 
 68 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 Money for the support of county schools is derived from the 
 state appropriation, from local taxation, and occasionally from 
 fees and supplements. 
 
 Northeast Alabama Agricultural and Industrial Institute. — The 
 legislature estabhshed this school by special act in 1911. It is 
 located at Lineville, Clay County. According to the terms of the 
 act, instruction must be given in "the elements of agriculture, in- 
 cluding instruction concerning the soil, plant life and the animal 
 life of the farm. The course of study shall also include the teaching 
 of manual training, domestic economy and a system of keeping 
 faiTn accounts and such other kindred subjects as may be prescribed." 
 The institution is co-educational. 
 
 In 1916-17 there were 103 pupils enrolled in the high school 
 department and 211 in the elementary grades. The institution 
 serves as the public school for the town of Lineville and vicinity. 
 
 The state appropriation is S3,000 annually. 
 
 State Normal School for Negroes. — This school was established 
 as the Lincoln Normal University at Marion, Alabama, by the 
 legislature in 1873. It was moved to Montgomery in 1889. The 
 late W. B. Patterson, a white man, was president of the school for 
 40 years. 
 
 The school receives $16,000 from the state. 
 
 Agricultural and Mechanical College for Negroes. — The legis- 
 lature established this school at Normal, near Huntsville, in 1875. 
 It receives the federal land-grant appropriation for agricultural 
 and mechanical education for negroes. This appropriation amounts 
 to $22,500 annually. It receives also $4,000 from the state. 
 
 Tuskegee Institute. — This institution, founded by Booker 
 Washington in 1881, is located at Tuskegee. Its purpose is to give 
 industrial training to young colored people as well as to train teachers 
 for colored schools. It is supported chiefly by private benefaction, 
 though the state appropriates $4,500 for the teacher training de- 
 partment. The institution is quasi-public and the state has repre- 
 sentatives on the board of trustees. 
 
 Other Schools. — As a part of the general public school system, 
 but having only an indirect connection with it, should be included the 
 School for the Deaf and Blind at Talladega, the Alabama Industrial 
 School at East Lake, the Mercy Home and Industrial School at 
 Birmingham, and the Alabama Reform School for Juvenile Negro
 
 Education 69 
 
 Law Breakers at Mt. Meigs. In addition to these are many private 
 and denominational schools, all of which are required by law to sub- 
 mit annual reports to the State Superintendent of Education. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION 
 
 Boards of Trustees. — The University of Alabama, the Alabama 
 Polytechnic Institute, the Alabama Technical Institute, the class 
 A and class B normal schools, the district agricultural schools, the 
 county high schools, the Northeast Alabama Agricultural and In- 
 dustrial Institute, the A. and M. College for Negroes, the Mont- 
 gomery Normal School' for Negroes, Tuskegee Institute, as well 
 as the School for the Deaf and Blind, the Alabama Industrial School 
 for Boys, the Mercy Home and Industrial School for Girls, and the 
 Alabama Reform School for Juvenile Negro Law Breakers, are all 
 administered by separate boards of control whose only connection 
 with each other is through the ex-ojfficio members — the governor, the 
 State Superintendent of Education, and occasionally some other 
 state ofificial. 
 
 This atomistic method of administration has little to commend 
 it. Each of the many governing bodies tends to think only of the 
 needs of the particular institution or institutions under its care. 
 As a result, since the function and purpose of the different institu- 
 tions have never been clearly defined, there is much needless waste 
 and duplication of effort throughout the entire system. 
 
 City Boards of Education. — The public schools in cities and in 
 towns of over 2,000 inhabitants are administered through city 
 boards of education whose members are generally appointed by the 
 governing bodies of the municipaHties. The city board of education 
 elects a superintendent, usually a man well qualified for his work, 
 and holds him responsible for the management and direction of the 
 city schools. He selects his teachers, organizes the course of study, 
 chooses the supervisors, and devises plans to meet the developing 
 educational needs of the city. 
 
 As a general rule the city school systems in Alabama are well 
 administered and compare favorably in efficiency with those in other 
 states. 
 
 County Boards of Education. — Under the terms of the county 
 board of education act of 1915 the county schools, except in towns
 
 70 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 of more than 2,000 inhabitants, are placed under the direction of 
 the county board of education, whose members are elected by the 
 direct vote of the people. The chief benefits derived from this new- 
 method of administration may be summarized as follows: 
 
 1. Effective administration of the schools by a capable board of five 
 
 members elected at large by the county, having large powers 
 and responsible to all the people of the county. 
 
 2. Supervision of all the schools of a county by a professionally 
 
 trained county superintendent of education chosen by and 
 responsible to the county board of education. 
 
 3. Consolidation of small rural schools into graded central schools, 
 
 with the attendant advantage of classified work, better school 
 houses and equipment, better teachers, and social center ac- 
 tivities. 
 
 4. Transportation of pupils where necessary, making it possible for 
 
 children in remote places to attend school without physical 
 discomfort and danger. 
 
 These results however follow only when the county board of 
 education is composed of broad-visioned, liberal minded men and 
 women who have the educational interests of the county at heart. 
 Fortunately the people generally are beginning to realize this fact 
 and in many counties already the personnel of the county board is 
 of high type. 
 
 SUPERVISION 
 
 State Supervision. — The general supervision of the public 
 schools has been entrusted by legislative enactment to the State 
 Superintendent of Education. This official, who may or may not 
 be a teacher, is elected by popular vote for a term of four years and 
 is prevented from succeeding himself by a provision in the State 
 Constitution. A State Board of Examiners consisting of the State 
 Superintendent of Education and two members appointed by him 
 and a teacher training force consisting of a director and four white 
 and two negro assistants are attached to and are a part of the office 
 of the State Superintendent of Education. He is allowed by law an 
 office force consisting of a chief clerk, two bookkeepers, and a sten- 
 ographer. With this small force he is expected to keep in smoothly 
 running condition the educational machinery of the state which 
 extends into 67 counties and involves the expenditure of millions of 
 dollars. In addition to his other duties he is required by law to visit
 
 Education 71 
 
 as often as possible every county in the state, to make educational 
 addresses, and to serve as an ex-ojficio member of many school and 
 college boards of trustees. 
 
 Recognizing the pressing need of additional help in the work 
 of supervision and in waging educational campaigns throughout 
 the state, the University of Alabama and the Alabama Polytechnic 
 Institute have each for the past ten years contributed to the State 
 Department of Education a highly trained man whose sole duty 
 has been to stimulate and encourage the growth of secondary schools. 
 With funds supplied by the General Education Board of New York 
 two rural school agents have also been employed to assist in the 
 work of supervision and general educational propaganda. The 
 tremendous educational awakening now taking place in Alabama 
 is largely due to the effective service rendered by these men under 
 the able leadershop of former State Superintendent William F. 
 Feagin and the incumbent Spright Dowell. 
 
 Should these outside agencies withdraw their help public school 
 interests would undoubtedly suffer grievously. In view of the fact 
 that this aid will probably be withdrawn at some time in the future 
 it is clearly evident that steps should soon be taken by the legis- 
 lature to provide the State Superintendent with an adequate corps 
 of supervisors at public expense. 
 
 Since the State Superintendent of Education can not succeed 
 himself in office and since he is not required by law to be a pro- 
 fessionally trained teacher, or even a teacher, Alabama can never 
 have a consistent public school program until the present method 
 of choosing the superintendent is abolished. Fitness for the office 
 rather than political consideration should determine the choice 
 of a man for the position. And a good man when once chosen should 
 remain in office, not for four years, but during the time he renders 
 efficient service. 
 
 County Supervision. — The supervision of the county schools 
 devolves upon the county superintendent. Under the new law he 
 is elected by the county board of education and is chosen with 
 particular reference to his fitness for the position. No definite limit 
 is placed to his term of office nor to the amount of salary he may 
 receive. The duties of his position are clearly set forth by law and 
 none but a professionally trained teacher can perform them satis- 
 factorily.
 
 72 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 Under present conditions there is nothing to prevent the county- 
 board of education from electing well trained superintendents and 
 then providing them with competent assistants. Already a number 
 of county boards are appreciating to the fullest their responsibili- 
 ties and are electing strong men to supervise the schools of their 
 counties. Time will soon prove the worth of the new method of 
 developing and supervising county schools. To revert to the old 
 plan would be a serious backward step. 
 
 SOURCE OF REVENUE 
 
 For the maintenance of the public school system, exclusive of 
 the colleges, secondary schools and special schools, the following 
 sums of money are appropriated for each scholastic j^ear : 
 
 1. The annual interest at 6 per cent on all sums of money which have 
 
 heretofore been or which may hereafter be received by the state 
 as the proceeds of sales of lands granted or entrusted by the 
 United States to the state, or to the several townships thereof, 
 the valueless sixteenth section fimd, and the school indemnity 
 fund for school purposes. 
 
 2. The annual interest at 4 per cent on that part of the surplus 
 
 revenue of the United States deposited with the state under the 
 Act of Congress approved June 23, 1836. 
 
 3. All annual rents, incomes and profits or interest arising from the 
 
 proceeds of sales of all such land as may hereafter be given by 
 the United States, or by this state, or by individuals, for the 
 support of the public schools of the state. 
 
 4. All such sums as may accrue to the state as escheats, the same 
 
 to be applied to the support of the public schools during the 
 scholastic year next ensuing the receipt in the state treasury. 
 
 5. The net amount of poll tax that may be collected in the state; 
 
 poll tax collected in every county to be retained therein for the 
 support of the public schools thereof. 
 
 6. Licenses which are by law required to be paid into the school 
 
 fund of any county to be promptly paid by the judge of pro- 
 bate or other person collecting the same to the county super- 
 intendent of education, and to be expended for the benefit of 
 the public schools of each county. 
 
 7. A further sum of $350,000 annually for every scholastic year, 
 
 provided however, that there is hereby appropriated the ad- 
 ditional sum of $100,000 annually, if in the judgment of the 
 governor of Alabama the financial condition of the state treasury 
 will permit of such additional appropriation.
 
 Education 73 
 
 The total sum from the above sources, except the poll tax, 
 for the year 1916-17, amounted to $2,232,865.87. The approxi- 
 mate amount of poll tax collected and expended was $150,000. 
 
 The general education fund is alloted to the several counties 
 on a per capita basis, the per capita amount last year being $2.86. 
 This constitutes a public school fund, and is the only fund available 
 unless county or district taxes are voted, or fees, supplements and 
 tuition are collected. 
 
 Boards of aldermen and town councils make appropriations 
 from the general town or city funds to supplement the state funds. 
 In addition, fees are often charged and in many instances supple- 
 ments are raised. The state constitution of 1901 authorized any 
 county to levy a one -mill tax for public education. Many counties 
 availed themselves of this. The only other means of procuring 
 school funds in rural districts prior to the adoption of the local tax 
 amendment of the state constitution was subscriptions, supple- 
 ments, or fees. These objectionable methods are now being elimi- 
 nated through the levying of county and district taxes. 
 
 Although the local tax levy was being collected and expended 
 in 27 counties during the 1916-17 session, fees and supplements 
 amounting to $320,902 were collected and expended on schools out- 
 side of incorporated cities and towns. The amount of funds appro- 
 priated from city and town treasuries and collected in fees and sup- 
 plements from pupils was $694,709. 
 
 Since the ratification of the educational amendment, Novem- 
 ber 7, 1916, more than 50 counties have voted a three-mill school 
 tax, resulting in the addition of approximately $1,500,000 to the 
 public school fund. As counties vote school tax levies the collection 
 of fees and supplements will become unnecessary, and the county 
 school systems will be placed upon a permanent basis. 
 
 The trend of events in the past few years shows that the people 
 of Alabama are rapidly realizing that county and district taxation 
 constitutes the main source of support for their local schools. 
 
 LENGTH OF SCHOOL TERMS 
 
 School terms in the several counties of the state and in many 
 districts of the same county vary in length. The variation is chiefly 
 due to the amount of local funds raised by county and district taxa-
 
 74 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 tion and is influenced in no small degree by the white population 
 of the counties. The counties levying and collecting a county school 
 tax are able to maintain longer terms than those without the revenue 
 derived from such a tax. The districts in a county levying and col- 
 lecting a county tax are enabled still further to lengthen their terms 
 by a district tax. 
 
 In 1916-17 the length of terms in days for rural schools in sev- 
 eral typical counties was as follows: Colbert 98, Franklin 75, Geneva 
 92, Etowah 90, Walker 97. During 1917-18 a local tax of three mills 
 was collected and as a result the length of terms for rural schools in 
 these counties for the present year is: Colbert 140, Franklin 120, 
 Geneva 120, Etowah 140, Walker 140, an increase in these counties 
 ranging from 28 days to 45 days over the preceding year when no 
 local tax funds were available. 
 
 The Black Belt counties of south central Alabama maintain 
 the longest terms of free schools, while the mountain counties of 
 north Alabama and the counties of east and south Alabama have 
 the shortest terms. Proof of this statement is borne out by an in- 
 vestigation of the length of terms in four typical counties of the 
 Black Belt as compared with four typical counties where the white 
 population predominates. During 1916-17 when no school tax 
 was levied the length of terms in days in the typical Black Belt 
 counties was: Perry 136; Montgomery 158; Bullock 152; Lowndes 
 140. At the same time and under the same conditions the length 
 of terms in days in the typical "white" counties was: Colbert 98, 
 Franklin 75; Geneva 75; Randolph 80. 
 
 The length of school terms for the cities and incorporated towns 
 of the state is from 160 to 180 days. The average for such schools, 
 taking the state as a whole, is 176 days. The length of the rural 
 school terms ranges from 80 to 180 days, the average being 138. 
 
 The rapid awakening of the people to the importance of educa- 
 tion and the power recently given to them to raise money for school 
 purposes by county and district taxation are tending to make the 
 school terms of uniform length in all sections of the state. 
 
 SCHOOL GROUNDS 
 
 In Towns and Cities. — School grounds including building sites 
 range in area from space just large enough for a building site to as
 
 Education 75 
 
 much as four acres in some incorporations. Grounds limited to build- 
 ing sites are found in a few instances in each of our cities of the first 
 class. 
 
 The tendency at the present time in all cities and towns is to 
 locate buildings on larger tracts of land, although the doing of this 
 occasionally necessitates the choice of a site away from the center of 
 school population. 
 
 In Rural Districts. — The area of ground for building sites in 
 districts other than those inclosed in incorporated territory is from 
 one to five acres. There are a number of instances in several counties 
 where five or more acres have been deeded to the state for school 
 purposes. 
 
 There is now a decided tendency on the part of county boards 
 of education to accept only tracts which are as a whole suitable for 
 school purposes. 
 
 The rural school house law enacted in 1915, authorizing state 
 aid to school districts for the construction, repair, and equipment 
 of modem buildings, provides that aid shall not be approved for any 
 district unless the building is located or is to be located on at least 
 two acres of ground. The law further provides that buildings of 
 more than two class rooms shall receive aid only on condition that 
 title in fee simple forever to at least five acres of land is made to the 
 state. 
 
 The average area of the school grounds of the state is now 1.5 
 acres. 
 
 The present day movement to relate school work to practical 
 life in an intimate way makes the need for larger tracts of land im- 
 perative. The time will soon come when not five acres, but ten, 
 fifteen or twenty acres will be necessary to satisfy the requirements 
 of the more progressive schools. 
 
 BUILDINGS, EQUIPMENT, AND SANITATION 
 
 In Cities and Towns. — School buildings in the cities and in 
 most of the larger towns of Alabama are creditable structures, 
 modern in construction, and well equipped. Practically all of them 
 were planned by competent architects and show that they were 
 constructed with a view to proper heating, ventilation and lighting. 
 There are of course a few new buildings in incorporated towns
 
 76 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 constructed according to "everybody's plan," but these, however, 
 have proven to be such splendid examples of misconstruction that 
 they are serving the good purpose of creating sentiment for better 
 types. 
 
 In Rural Districts. — Until the recent past every kind of build- 
 ing has served as an Alabama schoolhouse, though some counties 
 have been more careful than others of the physical and heating 
 conditions of their schools. Old cabins, tenant houses, antiquated 
 residences, abandoned store houses, churches, and school houses of 
 the old type can be found in practically every Alabama county. 
 In some counties it is true that many of these substitutes are rapidly 
 giving place to modern structures, yet so many buildings of the old 
 type remain that their presence constitutes a serious health menace. 
 
 Many of the buildings now in use are crowded, poorly lighted, 
 and inadequately ventilated. The improper arrangement of windows 
 in some school buildings often subject the eyes of the children to a 
 strong glare, and the lack of a sufficient number of windows in 
 others reduces the amount of light to an unsafe minimum. The 
 crowded condition of the rooms without proper inlets and outlets 
 for air necessitates the continued breathing of vitiated air, which 
 makes the children sluggish and renders them more susceptible to 
 colds, measles, whooping-cough, and other epidemics. 
 
 In a majority of schools in two-thirds of the counties the sani- 
 tary situation is very unsatisfactory. The interiors of the buildings 
 are not kept clean, this condition probably being due to the fact 
 that the cleaning and sweeping of the building is delegated to the 
 children who, often under the direction of a careless and indifferent 
 teacher, fail to perform their duties regularly and in proper order. 
 
 The outdoor sanitary conveniences in fully one-eighth of the 
 schools in at least forty counties are not provided for either sex. 
 In answering the calls of nature the children and teachers are com- 
 pelled to frequent nearby wooded lands and fields, shielded by trees 
 and underbrush. At least one-fourth of the schools are provided 
 with only one closet, of the open, soil-polluting tj^pe. The remain- 
 ing schools are provided with two closets usually of the open type. 
 
 The school and health authorities of the counties of Mobile, 
 Jefferson, Walker, and one or two others are taking definite steps 
 to install in all schools closets of a sanitary or semi-sanitary type. 
 Fully a half-dozen county boards of education in as many counties
 
 Education 77 
 
 have taken official action on the health conditions in and around 
 the schools under their direction, requiring that all schools receiving 
 public funds shall be provided mth two closets before appropria- 
 tions from the public funds are available. Etowah is one of the 
 counties in which the school board has officially taken such action. 
 
 The rural school water supply is principally the open well of a 
 nearby farm, often located in or near the horse lots; a spring some- 
 where in the vicinity of the school ; or an open and usually neglected 
 well on the school grounds. An adequate and healthful supply of 
 water is a rural school need that deserves the immediate attention 
 of those in authority. 
 
 In 1915 the legislature amended the law granting aid to rural 
 school districts by increasing the amount available to the maximum 
 of $1,000 for any school and by requiring a district to expend $2.00 
 for every $1.00 received from the state fund. Some of the com- 
 mendable features of the new law are: 
 
 1. Plans for new buildings and for the improvement of all old build- 
 
 ings are furnished by the State Department of Education and 
 are drawn by a competent school architect. 
 
 2. All equipment purchased must have the approval of the State 
 
 Department of Education. 
 
 3. Buildings must be provided with necessary cloak and work rooms. 
 
 4. State aid will not be furnished tmless a one or two-room school 
 
 building is located on at least two acres of land and a building 
 of more than two rooms on five or more acres. The title to the 
 land must in every case be vested in the state. 
 
 5. State funds are not released until the building has been completed 
 
 or repairs have been made or equipment installed. The inspec- 
 tor of the work is designated by the State Department of Edu- 
 cation. 
 
 The state aid fund available for each county in 1917-18 was 
 $6,021.61. The following are some of the results obtained from the 
 administration of the law during the past two and one-half years: 
 
 Buildings constructed with one and two rooms 117 
 
 Buildings constructed with three or more rooms 74 
 
 Buildings repaired 271 
 
 Buildings equipped 210 
 
 Eleven per cent of the rural school buildings have been aided 
 by the fund. The average cost of the buildings thus far constructed 
 is $1,761.25.
 
 78 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 Only about half of the counties are in any material degree avail- 
 ing themselves of state aid. This is due in most instances to the 
 fact that school officials are not acquainting the people of the rural 
 districts with the provisions of the law. As all the counties begin 
 to take advantage of the assistance offered, a still greater impetus 
 will be given to the construction of modern school buildings. 
 
 This is a good law, yet it contains possibilities for harm if un- 
 wisely administered. Too great stress laid upon the construction 
 of good one and two-room school buildings will undoubtedly retard 
 the movement for consolidation. State aid as far as possible for 
 the present should be given only to schools of the consolidated type. 
 
 CONSOLIDATION OF SCHOOLS 
 
 The modern public school is a complex organization. Its func- 
 tion is to prepare the child for complete living by training him along 
 many lines not contemplated in the old system of education. The 
 traditional three R's no longer constitute the sole content of the 
 curriculum. Subjects of a practical nature have been added and 
 old subjects worked over until the course of study to-day is a far 
 different thing from what it was a few years ago. Manual training, 
 domestic art, domestic science, practical agriculture, horticulture, 
 animal husbandry, as well as many of the trades and industries, 
 now rank in importance with the older literary subjects and are 
 required by a growing public demand to be taught even in the 
 rural schools. 
 
 In the days of the three R's the one-room building was sufficient 
 for all needs, but the broadening and enriching of the aims of educa- 
 tion have rendered it inadequate to meet public needs. It belongs 
 to the past and must be discarded along with the hand sickle and 
 "scooter" plow of yesteryears. 
 
 A new type of building, of many rooms, well planned, adequately 
 equipped, and suiTounded by ample grounds for outdoor instruc- 
 tional and play purposes must take the place of the one-room struc- 
 tures. Only when this is done will the rural school be. prepared to 
 fulfill its true function. 
 
 That the one-room building is yet predominant in Alabama 
 is shown by the following table which gives the number of the dif- 
 ferent types of buildings in typical counties:
 
 s 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 19 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 15 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 15 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 38 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 12 
 
 1 
 
 12 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 11 
 
 11 
 
 9 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 10 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 30 
 
 17 
 
 3 
 
 30 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 9 
 
 33 
 
 7 
 
 54 
 
 
 
 49 
 
 1 
 
 79 
 
 
 
 70 
 
 
 
 60 
 
 1 
 
 69 
 
 4 
 
 61 
 
 5 
 
 53 
 
 1 
 
 41 
 
 
 
 62 
 
 
 
 72 
 
 .0 
 
 101 
 
 Education 79 
 
 Number of Rural School Buildings 
 
 1 2 3 4 5 or 
 
 County room rooms rooms rooms more rooms Total 
 
 Bullock 13 
 
 Chambers 22 
 
 Colbert 33 
 
 Etowah 61 
 
 Franklin 50 
 
 Geneva 17 
 
 Limestone 35 
 
 Madison 36 
 
 Mobile 25 
 
 Montgomery 26 
 
 Pike 48 
 
 Randolph 23 
 
 Walker 49 
 
 436 227 74 30 38 805 
 
 Percentage 54.1 28.2 9.1 3.7 4.7 
 
 Prior to October 1, 1915, practically nothing had been done in 
 Alabama toward the consolidation of schools and the transportation 
 of pupils except in Mobile County and in Sumter County at Cuba 
 and Geiger. Until the enactment of the new county board law by 
 the legislature in that year there was no legal authority for the 
 consolidation of schools and the transportation of pupils at public 
 expense. 
 
 Since the passage of this law, 162 consolidations of various types 
 have been effected. This result was secured by abandoning 421 
 one and two-room schools; eighty-nine were effected by bringing 
 together two schools; forty-seven by bringing together 3 schools; 
 twenty-three by bringing together 4 schools; and two by bringing 
 together five or more schools. During 1916-17 there were 2,311 
 children transported at public expense. This transportation was 
 done by wagons of various kinds. The ordinary two-horse farm 
 wagon with improvised body was the most common vehicle used, 
 though auto busses, hacks, and manufactured transportation wagons 
 were quite generally employed. 
 
 A majority of these consolidated schools occupy new state-aid 
 buildings located on from two to five acres of ground. The most 
 typical consolidation thus far effected is the one in Chambers County,
 
 80 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 where 4 schools employing 5 teachers were brought together at 
 Five Points, a small rural community. The school is now housed 
 in a splendid S12,000 building, well equipped, and located on a 12- 
 acre plot of ground. At present there are 12 teachers employed. 
 In addition to 7 years of elementary work, it is giving a well graded 
 four-year high school course for 9 months each year. There are 
 four transportation wagons carrying 89 pupils daily to the school. 
 
 In the location and planning of consolidated schools there is 
 need for a high order of constructive thinking. The fact should be 
 kept constantly in mind that a new type of school is being created 
 to meet a new need, to serve a new purpose. Good results will not 
 necessarily follow from bringing together three or four schools and 
 having them occupy the same building. It is possible that such a 
 "union school" will continue the old work in the old way. To make 
 the consolidated school effective a new vision must be caught of the 
 unlimited possibilities of such a school for transforming rural life. 
 
 RURAL HIGH SCHOOL FACILITIES 
 
 High school facilities are decidedly limited in the rural schools 
 of the counties which do not levy and collect a three-mill county 
 school tax. In 40 counties levying and collecting the tax, many 
 schools offering at least two years of high school work have been 
 established. High school courses covering three and four years are 
 being offered in a number of the large consolidated schools such as 
 the Alliance School in Jefferson County and the Five Points School 
 in Chambers County. 
 
 Since the county boards rightly discourage high school work 
 in one-teacher schools and since above 60 per cent of the schools 
 in Alabama belong to the one-teacher class only a comparatively 
 few rural schools offer training above the seventh grade. 
 
 The elementary enrollment in rural school districts during 1916- 
 17 was 280,688. The high school enrollment in the same schools 
 during the same year was 12,701 or 5 and one-half per cent of the 
 entire enrollment. In the city and town elementary schools during 
 that year the enrollment was 46,861, while the high school enroll- 
 ment was 7,977 or 15 per cent of the entire enrollment. It is evident 
 from these figures that the rural child is not receiving the same high 
 school advantages as the child who lives in the city or town.
 
 Edtication 81 
 
 To provide adequate high school facilities for every rural child 
 no additional legislation is required. The wise consolidation of the 
 many one-teacher schools is the solution of the problem, and the 
 authority to effect this consolidation and provide for the transpor- 
 tation of elementary and high school pupils at public expense is al- 
 ready vested in the county boards of education. What is needed 
 now above all else is a widespread awakening of the people to the 
 importance of high school training for the rural as well as the city 
 child. The means for providing this training are already at hand. 
 
 PLAY GROUNDS AND PLAY EQUIPMENT 
 
 In Cities and Towns. — The grounds devoted to play in the cities 
 and incorporated towns are with few exceptions wholly inadequate. 
 This is especially true in most of the schools of the larger cities. It 
 is only recently that the attention of school authorities has been 
 directed to this important matter. 
 
 A number of schools in the cities of the first class are located 
 convenient to city play grounds and parks but such substitutes for 
 school grounds have not proven altogether satisfactory. 
 
 One acre of ground is a liberal estimate of the average area 
 of play grounds in the city and town schools of the state. 
 
 Play equipment in urban schools is as a general rule as meager 
 as the play ground is restricted. Most of these schools are provided 
 with basket-ball courts and baseball diamonds and equipment for 
 playing these games. There are, however, very few instances on 
 record where the equipment was purchased with any funds secured 
 either directly or indirectly from the school. The purchase money 
 was obtained by subscription from the citizens of the town interested 
 in the school children, and through assessments made by the children 
 on themselves. 
 
 A few schools in BiiTningham and Mobile have been supplied 
 with the minimum outdoor play equipment for use of the smaller 
 children. This is true on a small scale in a few of the cities of the 
 second class, as Gadsden, etc. 
 
 In Rural Schools. — Until recently no thought has been given 
 to play grounds for niral schools. As a consequence the areas are 
 very limited and in many cases unsuited for the purpose. One-half 
 an acre is the average space suitable for play purposes in rural schools.
 
 82 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 The surface of the land is so often broken or otherwise unsuited that 
 systematic games can not be played. 
 
 The importance of play in the lives of children is now being 
 recognized by patrons, and in general, play activities of country chil- 
 dren are receiving more consideration as the importance of larger and 
 better selected areas for school sites is impressed upon the citizens of 
 the rural districts under the provisions of the rural schoolhouse law. 
 
 Equipment for play in rural schools is so meager and so in- 
 frequently found that it is really negligible. Such games as basket- 
 ball and baseball are played in the larger types of rural schools and 
 the small amount of equipment usually provided is furnished by the 
 pupils themselves. 
 
 There is no single instance on record in any county in Alabama 
 where the scho6l authorities have provided play equipment or em- 
 ployed supervisors of play to encourage healthful games and sports 
 in the county system. A number of county boards of education do 
 encourage school fairs at which athletic contests are entered into by 
 the pupils of the rural and small town schools. Among the counties 
 holding successful fairs each year are Calhoun, Lee, Covington, 
 Mobile, Etowah, Washington, Chambers and Franklin. 
 
 There is however, a class of schools in which attention is being 
 given to organized supervised play. These schools are supported in 
 whole or in part by large corporations. The most notable are those 
 of the Tennessee Coal and Iron Company in the Birmingham dis- 
 trict, and of the West Point Manufacturing Company on the Chat- 
 tahoochie River in Chambers County. Most of the schools patron- 
 ized by the employees of these companies have adequate play equip- 
 ment and grounds sufficiently large for outdoor games. The Tennes- 
 see .Company employs supervisors to direct play activities. 
 
 SCHOOL BUILDINGS AS SOCIAL CENTERS 
 
 During the past few years rural schools in districts where a gen- 
 eral educational awakening has taken place have rapidly become 
 the center of community activity. This is especially true where new 
 state-aid buildings have been constructed. The fact that a com- 
 munity is sufficiently interested in the welfare of its children to raise 
 the necessary funds for the construction of a modem school building 
 is evidence of an awakened interest in educational affairs.
 
 Education 83 
 
 It would be unfair to say that there are any counties in the State 
 where an awakening is not manifest. Such an awakening is the 
 resultant of the forces which have been active in Alabama in inform- 
 ing the people of the general conditions of the various counties as 
 compared with each other and of the state as compared with other 
 states. 
 
 The local tax amendment campaign waged during the fall of 
 1916, preceded by the illiteracy campaign and a general campaign 
 of edvication looking to the recasting of the school laws did much to 
 bring about the results which are apparent on all sides at this time. 
 Of the fifteen counties visited in the preparation of this report only 
 two were reported as showing little or no community interest as 
 evidenced by public gatherings in the district schoolhouse. Red 
 Cross and Liberty Bond drives have supplemented the work of the 
 educational forces in their various campaigns by bringing the people 
 together in the local school buildings for public exercises and social 
 gatherings. There is now a decided tendency to make the com- 
 munity school the center of all local activities. This is true in the 
 small town schools as well as in the rural schools. Numerous examples 
 worthy of note could be given in many counties of the state. 
 
 All of this augurs well for the future. It shows that the schools 
 themselves are ministering more and more to the needs of rural and 
 urban life and that the people are recognizing this fact by using the 
 school buildings and grounds as a center of their community activi- 
 ties. Better school buildings, with better equipment, better paid 
 and more highly trained teachers, an enriched course of study, and 
 longer terms are the direct results on the educational side from this 
 growing movement. 
 
 COMPULSORY ATTENDANCE 
 
 The compulsory attendance law passed by the legislature in 
 1915 requires every child between the ages of 8 and 15 years in- 
 clusive to attend school for a period of 80 days unless he has completed 
 the work of the seven elementary grades. The county boards of 
 education however are given the right to reduce the period of com- 
 pulsory attendance to 60 days if in their opinion conditions warrant 
 it. The enforcement of the law is placed in the hands of the county 
 boards who are empowered to employ compulsory attendance offi- 
 cers. The salary of these officers is fixed by the county boards of
 
 84 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 education and is paid by the county boards of revenue. Provisions 
 are made for exemption for sufficient cause and no child is required 
 to attend school who lives more than two and one-half miles from a 
 school house unless transportation is provided. 
 
 The passage of the compulsory attendance law has influenced 
 greatly public sentiment in favor of education and as a result in 
 practically every county there has been an increase in attendance 
 ranging from 5 to 15 per cent. In about one-half the counties 
 the law is being enforced, in about one-fourth it is being nominally 
 enforced, and in the remaining one-fourth it is not being enforced at 
 all, the local officials giving the reasons that the schoolhouses are 
 already over-crowded. Only two cases of prosecution and conviction 
 have thus far been reported. In the rural districts as a i*ule the law 
 is meeting with popular approval. In cotton mill towns both school 
 officers and mill superintendents report that the law is being rigidly 
 observed. 
 
 At present the chief difficulty in enforcing the compulsory at- 
 tendance law is due to the small salaries that have been allowed at- 
 tendance officers and active men have not always been employed. 
 In some cases the county boards of revenue have refused to pay any 
 of the expenses whatever. In many respects the past year has been 
 a very unfavorable one for trying out the provisions of the law. The 
 winter was unusually severe and an epidemic of practically every 
 illness to which children are subject has occurred in every county. 
 On this account the average attendance may be lower than the 
 preceding year even though the increase in enrollment has been 
 marked. 
 
 The law is weak in certain places and needs to be strengthened 
 by legislative action as early as possible. Then too there are certain 
 points of conflict between it and the child labor law which should be 
 removed. 
 
 MEDICAL INSPECTION 
 
 In Cities and Towns. — The beginnings of a system of medical 
 inspection of school children are apparent in a number of the cities 
 and towns. Thus far the inspection has usually been made by the 
 city health officer or a physician appointed by the school board, 
 who receives a small stipend for his services. The examinations 
 are principally for throat, ear, nose, and eye troubles and generally
 
 Education 85 
 
 occur once or t^\ace a j^ear. In Birmingham a full time school physi- 
 cian has been employed, as well as a trained nurse, the duty of the 
 latter being to follow up the cases reported by the physician and to 
 see that proper treatment is given. 
 
 Boards of education and school officials generally have failed 
 to grasp the full significance of the movement for better health edu- 
 cation and because of this the appropriations for carrying on this 
 work have with few exceptions been meager and wholly insufficient. 
 
 In Rural Schools. — Previous to 1915 medical inspection in 
 rural schools was practically unknown, save in a few counties where 
 the school children had been examined for hookwonn. By amend- 
 ing section 706 of the Health Code, in 1915 the legislature made 
 possible the emploj^ment by counties of full time health officers 
 whose salaries are paid through the county boards of revenue. 
 Among other duties the health officer is required to visit every 
 school for the purpose of inspecting the sanitary arrangements and 
 source of water supply and of making an examination of all the chil- 
 dren. He is required to report to the parents of the children all 
 cases of adenoids, defective hearing and other defects. His duty 
 however ends here. It remains therefore for the school authorities 
 to say whether the child shall remain in school or whether he shall 
 be excluded until the necessary treatment has been given. Such 
 inspection while inadequate and sometimes poorly done is a move 
 in the right direction. 
 
 Unfortunately the employment of health officers by the various 
 counties is wholly voluntary. To date only ten counties have taken 
 advantage of the law. These are Walker, Madison, Choctaw, 
 Elmore, Jefferson, Lauderdale, Colbert, Pickens, Talladega and 
 Tuscaloosa. Lack of funds as well as a lack of interest is the reason 
 assigned for the failure of the remaining counties to comply with 
 the provisions of the law. 
 
 To guarantee the right sort of medical inspection from the 
 school point of view, a law is needed authorizing county boards of 
 education to employ medical officers for the schools, or to co-operate 
 with county boards of revenue in paying the salaries and traveling 
 expenses of full time county health officers. Authority also should 
 be given for the employment of school nurses to see that school 
 children receive the treatment recommended by the health officers. 
 Legislation looking to this end should be passed as soon as possible.
 
 86 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 SCHOOLS, FOR BACKWARD, DEFECTIVE, AND DELINQUENT 
 
 CHILDREN 
 
 Markedly delinquent children and those who are deaf or blind 
 may be sent to certain special institutions where they are trained 
 at public expense. The state maintains a school for the deaf and 
 blind at Talladega, an industrial school for white boys at East Lake, 
 an industrial school for white girls at Birmingham, and a school 
 for juvenile negro law breakers at Mt. Meigs. The ordinary school 
 authorities have practically nothing whatever to do with committing 
 children to these institutions for special training and the institutions 
 themselves bear only a remote relation to the public school 
 system. 
 
 For children who are backward, who are slightly delinquent, 
 or who suffer from serious or even minor defects of sight and hear- 
 ing, scant provisions have thus far been made. While opportunity 
 is offered in many towns and cities through summer schools and 
 special classes for normal children to make up work lost on account 
 of sickness and other causes, no city or town has yet been able to 
 secure money for the support of schools for the care of feeble minded, 
 defective and other sub-normals who cannot be admitted to state 
 institutions. At present the delinquent boy ordinarily is merely 
 "expelled" from school, which means that further educational 
 opportunities are denied him and that he is left free to contaminate 
 other children at will. And the child who is afflicted with poor eye- 
 sight, bad hearing, or constitutional disorders of body or mind has 
 no opportunity to pursue his studies except in keen competition 
 with his unafflicted fellows, who soon leave him hopelessly behind. 
 Obviously the only thing left for such a child is to become a "re- 
 peater" and ultimately drop out of school, to stay out. 
 
 From failure to provide for the support of special schools it is 
 clear that the people generally have given little thought to the edu- 
 cational needs of those unfortunate children who are far more num- 
 erous than is generally suspected. The public needs to be aroused 
 and probably the best way to do this is through the dissemination 
 of the reports of truancy officers and the reports of medical and 
 psychological examinations of children within school age in the 
 various counties, cities, and towns. Careful studies should be made 
 to ascertain the facts and when these facts are secured they should 
 be made widely known.
 
 Education 87 
 
 KINDERGARTENS 
 
 So far as the public school system is concerned, Mobile is the 
 only city with a system of well regulated kindergartens properly 
 supervised and distributed over the city, and constituting a part of the 
 public school system. A number of corporations in the Birmingham 
 district and in the cotton manufacturing centers maintain kindergar- 
 tens for the children of their employees as an economic measure. 
 For instance, at Lanett the cotton mill corporation there conducts a 
 day nursery in connection with the kindergarten where mothers who 
 work in the mills may leave their small children during the day. 
 
 That there is a demand for kindergartens is evidenced by the 
 fact that in practically all the cities one or more kindergartens are 
 taught as private institutions supported by tuition fees or by phil- 
 anthropic organizations. Even some of the private and denomi- 
 national schools for negroes are maintaining kindergartens for the 
 negro children of the communities in which these schools are located. 
 
 The educational possibilities of the kindergarten are just 
 beginning to be appreciated. It is only a matter of time before this 
 new institution will be made a part of the general school system and 
 supported by public funds. In order to do this, however, the present 
 minimum age limit at which a child may enter the public schools 
 must be materially reduced and special facilities must be afforded 
 for the professional training of kindergarten teachers. 
 
 VOCATIONAL EDUCATION 
 
 The idea that vocational training should form a part of the 
 education of every boy and girl and that such training should be 
 given through the public school is just beginning to take hold in 
 Alabama. Already in many instances the elementary and high school 
 courses of study are being modified to meet the new demands and 
 teachers are learning more and more how to relate school work 
 to the needs of practical life. While there are many handicaps yet 
 to be overcome, the situation on the whole with regard to vocational 
 education is encouraging. 
 
 Although the nine district agricultural schools, in spite of the 
 good intentions of the legislature, have for various reasons proven 
 failures as schools for teaching vocational agriculture, and the re- 
 quirement by law that agriculture be taught in every public school
 
 88 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 has yielded poor results, vocational agriculture and kindred occupa- 
 tions through indirect means now form a vital part of the work of 
 many schools. Boys' com clubs, pig clubs, peanut clubs, calf clubs, 
 etc., together with girls' canning clubs, and poultry clubs, all or- 
 ganized through the agency of the teachers, county superintendents, 
 and representatives of the Extension Bureau of the Alabama Poly- 
 technic Institute, have accomplished indirectly what the schools, 
 even with legislative assistance, could not themselves do. 
 
 The following facts submitted by Professor L. N. Duncan show 
 to what extent these clubs have been active: 
 
 Boys' Clubs. — Boys' agricultural clubs are now organized in 
 every county, with a total enrollment, on May 8, 1918, of 21,358. 
 Below are given the activities in which these boys are engaged with 
 the enrollment in each case: 
 
 Number of community clubs 223 
 
 Number of com club members 2,968 
 
 Number of peanut club members 1,424 
 
 Number of pig club members 6,369 
 
 Number of calf club members 564 
 
 Number of emergency club members engaged in growing small gardens 
 
 and in various other work 9,914 
 
 Girls' Clubs. — The facts below represent what has been ac- 
 complished up to December 31, 1917. At that time only twenty- 
 nine counties had been organized with a woman county agent in 
 charge in each. Emergency women agents have been appointed 
 for the remaining counties but their work was begun too late to be 
 included in this report. 
 
 Canning Clubs. 
 
 Number of community clubs in canning and home gardening 429 
 
 Number of canning club members 4,595 
 
 Number of girls growing winter gardens 864 
 
 Number of girls making demonstration in cooking club products. . . . 1,264 
 
 Number of girls making demonstration in homes 317 
 
 Number of caps and aprons made 2,968 
 
 Number of dresses made 188 
 
 Number of towels and holders made " 191 
 
 Poultry Clubs. 
 
 Number of poultry clubs in 12 counties 34 
 
 Number of poultry club members 619
 
 Education 89 
 
 In this work very decided improvement was made in poultry- 
 houses, method of feeding, and in the character of the stock by 
 adding pure bred stock. In many cases co-operative egg marketing 
 circles were formed and the price and quality of eggs very greatly 
 improved. 
 
 As these club activities all radiate from the schoolhouse as a 
 center and with the teacher as one of the directors, the elementary 
 and high school courses of study as well as the methods of teaching 
 especially in rural sections, are rapidly being adapted to community 
 needs. 
 
 In recent years manual training and home economics have been 
 added to the curriculum of practically all the larger high schools. 
 While these subjects have been taught chiefly from the academic 
 point of view, 3'et they have served a useful purpose in preparing the 
 way for vocational training. 
 
 The Smith-Hughes Act. — To encourage vocational education in 
 the several states Congress recently passed a law known as the 
 Smith-Hughes Act which appropriates to each state an annually 
 increasing sum of money for the teaching of trades and industries, 
 agriculture, and home economics. In order however for a state to 
 secure its share of this money it must match dollar for dollar the 
 amount received from the Federal Government. Alabama's pro 
 rata part for the past year was $34,575.42. This sum will be gradu- 
 ally increased until 1925 when it will be $157,060.70. 
 
 Pending the meeting of the legislature in 1919, the governor 
 last year appointed under the terms of the Act a committee known 
 as the Alabama Board for Vocational Education to organize a system 
 of vocational education in the state as provided by the law. The 
 plan formulated by this board has been accepted by the Federal 
 Board at Washington and already a number of federal aided voca- 
 tional schools are in operation. 
 
 After holding several meetings and considering the vocational 
 needs of the State from every angle the Alabama Board finally 
 designated the following colleges as institutions for the training of 
 vocational teachers: 
 
 (White) 
 
 Teachers of agriculture Alabama Polytechnic Institute. 
 
 Teachers of home economics Alabama Girls' Industrial Institute. 
 
 Teachers of trades and industries University of Alabama.
 
 90 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 (Negro) 
 
 Teachers of agriculture, trades and in- 
 dustries Tuskegee Institute. 
 
 For the training of teachers of agriculture the federal appro- 
 priation for 1917-18 was $4,666.23; for the training of teachers of 
 trades and industries, $3,499.67; for the training of teachers of 
 home economics $3,499.67. Since these appropriations must be 
 duplicated by the state and since the colleges have no funds to ex- 
 pend in this way it is clear that the legislature must make the nec- 
 essary appropriations if the work is to continue. 
 
 The following schools have met the requirements of the state 
 and federal boards and are now receiving federal aid: 
 
 For Teaching Trades and Industries. 
 
 Day School Birmingham High School. 
 
 Part Time Schools Lanette High School. 
 
 Fairfax High School. 
 
 Langdale Sub-High School. 
 Evening Schools Lanette High School. 
 
 Fairfax High School. 
 
 Langdale High School. 
 
 For Teaching Home Economics. 
 
 White None. 
 
 Negro Mobile County Training School, Plateau. 
 
 For Teaching Vocational Agriculture. 
 
 (White) 
 
 Jefferson County High School Boyles. 
 
 Walker County High School Jasper. 
 
 AUiance Rural School Bessemer, R. No. 5. 
 
 Pickens County High School Reform. 
 
 Shelby County High School Columbiana. 
 
 Boldo Rural School Jasper. 
 
 Pleasantfield Rural School. . .' Oakman, R. No. 2. 
 
 (Negro) 
 
 Coosa County Training School Cottage Grove. 
 
 Russell County Training School Scale. 
 
 Conecuh County Training School Evergreen. 
 
 Pickens County Training School Hayneville. 
 
 New Rising Star Rural School Tuskegee.
 
 Education 
 
 91 
 
 In aims and purpose, organization, courses of study, and 
 methods of teaching, the vocational school differs radically from the 
 ordinary type. Vocational students must engage in productive 
 labor during a portion of the day and the subjects studied by them 
 in the class room must be directly related to the industry or occupa- 
 tion for which they are being trained. 
 
 Vocational education has long been needed in Alabama. Its 
 growth therefore should be carefully fostered. 
 
 TEACHERS' SALARIES 
 
 The figures submitted below are the average salaries for rural 
 and urban teachers in eleven representative counties. The grade of 
 certificates held by teachers in the rural schools is indicated at the 
 top of each column. 
 
 
 Rural Teachers 
 
 
 Urban 
 
 
 First and 
 
 Second 
 
 Third 
 
 
 Life Grade 
 
 Grade 
 
 Grade 
 
 
 
 Per Month 
 
 Per Month 
 
 Per Month 
 
 
 Bullock 
 
 $75.00 
 
 $60.00 
 
 $50.00 
 
 $66.50 
 
 Chambers 
 
 60.00 
 
 52.50 
 
 42.50 
 
 70.00 
 
 Colbert 
 
 77.50 
 
 62.50 
 
 50.00 
 
 60.00 
 
 Franklin 
 
 65.00 
 
 52.00 
 
 50.00 
 
 50.00 
 
 Geneva 
 
 67.50 
 
 52.50 
 
 42.50 
 
 50.00 
 
 Limestone 
 
 70.00 
 
 55.00 
 
 40.00 
 
 50.00 
 
 Madison 
 
 72.00 
 
 55.00 
 
 40.00 
 
 60.00 
 
 Montgomery 
 
 75.00 
 
 60.00 
 
 50.00 
 
 72.00 
 
 Pike 
 
 75.00 
 
 60.00 
 
 50.00 
 
 50.00 
 
 Randolph 
 
 60.00 
 
 50.00 
 
 40.00 
 
 45.00 
 
 Walker 
 
 70.00 
 
 55.00 
 
 45.00 
 
 55.00 
 
 Gcn'l average. . 
 
 S67.00 
 
 $54.77 
 
 $44.71 
 
 $59.18 
 
 It should be said however, that 53 counties have voted local taxes under 
 the Act of 1915. In these counties teachers' salaries for 1918-19 will average 
 probably 25 per cent higher. 
 
 As the rural schools are in session on an average of 138 days, 
 the loiral teacher holding a life grade or a first grade certificate 
 receives for his year's work S462.30; while the teacher holding a 
 second grade certificate receives !i?377.91; and the third grade
 
 92 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 teacher gets $308.50. Since the average school term in incorporated 
 cities and towns is 176 days the year's salary for the average urban 
 teacher is S520.78. 
 
 From her salary, pitifully small, the teacher is expected to pay 
 a good sum for board in the best home in the community, to con- 
 tribute liberally to the church and to charity, to buy books and 
 magazines, to dress well, and to spend at least six weeks at a sum- 
 mer school each year. In view of all this it is small wonder that 
 annually many teachers leave the profession never to return. 
 
 TEACHER TRAINING 
 
 For High School Teachers. — To give professional preparation 
 to prospective high school teachers and to teachers already in ser- 
 vice, departments of education have in recent years been established 
 at the University of Alabama, Alabama Polytechnic Institute, 
 Alabama Technical Institute for Girls, and at the denominational 
 colleges at Birmingham, Athens, and Montgomery. Upon gradua- 
 tion students in these institutions who have completed as much 
 as seven hours of prescribed work in Education are granted a first 
 grade certificate by the State Board of Examiners. Under the regu- 
 lations of this board the professor of education in each college must 
 be a specialist in his field and must devote his full time to the teach- 
 ing of education. As it is rapidly becoming the practice to employ 
 only college graduates both in city and in county high schools, the 
 time will soon come when only professionally trained teachers will 
 be found in these schools. The tendency at present on the part of 
 many untrained high school teachers to enroll in summer schools for 
 the purpose of taking courses in education is highly significant and 
 bodes well for the future. 
 
 For Elementary Teachers. — The agencies for training ele- 
 mentary teachers are numerous and some of them well organized. 
 Foremost are the four class A noimal schools whose course of study 
 covers four years and is based on two years of high school work. 
 The length of the normal school term was recently extended to eleven 
 months in order to accommodate an increasingly larger number of 
 teachers who wish to attend each summer. Each institution main- 
 tains an observation and practice school of seven grades and every 
 student before graduation is required to do a certain amount of
 
 Education 93 
 
 practice teaching under competent supervision. The course of 
 study of the two class B normal schools is four years in length and 
 is based on seven years of elementary work. In many ways the class 
 B schools are handicapped in their educational efforts. 
 
 Among the remaining agencies the Summer School for Teachers 
 at the University of Alabama exerts possibly the most powerful in- 
 fluence on the teaching standards of the state. Here are gathered 
 for six weeks each year between 700 and 800 progressive teachers 
 intent upon the pursuit of studies which will broaden their mental 
 vision and increase their power for usefulness in the school room. 
 During the summer school the entire equipment and resources of the 
 University are thrown open to the pubHc school teachers. The 
 summer schools at the Alabama Girls' Technical Institute and the 
 Alabama Polytechnic Institute are well organized and meet the 
 needs of many teachers. 
 
 The county institute, which every teacher is required to attend 
 and which is in session four days in each county annually, is of 
 great value in stimulating educational interest and in unifying school 
 room practice throughout the state. Professionally trained con- 
 ductors have charge of these institutes and teachers of merit have 
 places on the programs. 
 
 In addition to the foregoing there must be mentioned the 
 Alabama Educational Association which meets annually in one of 
 the large cities. The programs are inspirational and the round table 
 discussions of much benefit to the 2,000 or more teachers who usually 
 attend. 
 
 In spite of all efforts that have been put forth it can not be said 
 that any considerable portion of the 8,000 or more elementary teach- 
 ers have been professionally trained. Nor is there any immediate 
 prospect that a large number of them will be. Low salaries, short 
 terms, and general indifference cause many teachers to leave the 
 profession each year and unfortunately their places are taken by 
 raw recruits who in turn leave after a short while. 
 
 CERTIFICATION OF TEACHERS 
 
 Certificates from the State Board of Examiners are required of 
 all who teach in the jmblic schools of Alabama. These certificates 
 are divided into four classes, third grade, second grade, first grade,
 
 94 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 and life grade, and are secured by passing successfully examinations 
 in the following subjects prescribed by law: 
 
 Third Grade. — Orthography, reading, penmanship, grammar, 
 practical arithmetic. United States history, geography, the elemen- 
 tary principles of physiology and hygiene, and agriculture. 
 
 Second Grade. — All the foregoing branches with additional 
 requirements in arithmetic, history of Alabama, English grammar 
 and literature, inteimediate geography, United States history, civics, 
 and class management. 
 
 First Grade. — All of the foregoing branches, and also algebra, 
 geometry, physics, elementary psychology, the school laws of Ala- 
 bama, and advanced English. 
 
 Graduates of state institutions of higher learning are granted 
 first grade certificates. Provision is also made for validating cer- 
 tificates from other states. 
 
 Life Grade. — The applicant must have taught at least five years 
 imder a first grade certificate, and in addition must pass an exami- 
 nation in the history of education. 
 
 The number of white teachers in Alabama who hold certificates 
 
 is as follows: 
 
 Teachers holding third grade certificates 2,075 
 
 Teachers " second " " 3,264 
 
 Teachers " first " " 1,724 
 
 Teachers " life " " 1,182 
 
 Total 8,245 
 
 The law makes no provisions whatever for testing the appli- 
 cants' knowledge of the recently added elementary subjects, music, 
 drawing, painting, manual training, sewing, cooking, etc., nor does 
 it take into account that subjects other than algebra, geometry, 
 physics, and English are taught in the high school. Professional 
 fitness for teaching is practically ignored, except that the State 
 Board of Examiners is in the habit of basing some of the questions 
 upon method. This necessarily involves experience. The possession 
 of even a first grade or a life grade certificate by no means signifies 
 that the holder is prepared to teach in a modem public school. 
 
 Obviously the law is antiquated and should be changed. It has 
 served a useful purpose and has been well administered, but it can 
 no longer satisfy the increasing needs of a developing school system.
 
 Education 95 
 
 The horizontal s^^stem of certification instead of the present 
 vertical system should be adopted. The certificates granted should 
 be based on the applicants' academic, technical, and professional 
 preparation for teaching in the primary grades, in the intermediate 
 and grammar grades, and in the high school grades. Special cer- 
 tificates should be issued for teaching music, drawing, home eco- 
 nomics, manual training, agriculture, and other subjects of like 
 nature. 
 
 RECOMMENDATIONS 
 
 1. The various parts of the entire public school system should 
 be more closely articulated for the purpose of securing greater effi- 
 ciency by eliminating needless waste and duplication of effort. To 
 this end a State Board of Education should be created to take the 
 place of the many independent boards of trustees which now have 
 charge of the various secondary and higher institutions. (The 
 method of control of the University of Alabama and the Alabama 
 Polytechnic Institute is prescribed by the state constitution.) 
 
 2. The method of choosing the State Superintendent of Edu- 
 cation prescribed in the state constitution should be changed as 
 early as practicable. This official should be selected on merit alone 
 by a State Board of Education or some other non-partisan organiza- 
 tion and should be kept in office as long as efficient service is rendered. 
 
 3. The State Superintendent of Education should be provided 
 with a sufficient number of assistants to enable him to keep in close 
 touch with educational conditions in every county in the state. 
 
 4. A better method for financing the three higher institutions 
 of learning, University of Alabama, Alabama Polytechnic Institute, 
 and Alabama Girls' Technical Institute, should be devised as early 
 as possible. The usefulness of these institutions is greatly handi- 
 capped by failure to secure funds appropriated by the legislature in 
 recent years. Immediate relief from some source is imperatively 
 necessary. 
 
 5. The law prescribing the subjects required for teaching cer- 
 tificates should be changed. While the scholarship requirement 
 should not be lost sight of, professional preparation should be stressed. 
 The horizontal plan of certification should be adopted. 
 
 6. The "mild" compulsory education law passed by the leg- 
 islature needs strengthening in a number of places: (1) The points
 
 96 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 of conflict between this law and the child labor law should be elimi- 
 nated. (2) The length of the period of compulsory attendance should 
 be gradually extended. (3) A better method of providing for the 
 salaries of truancy officers should be adopted. (4) The law is too 
 liberal in granting excuses from school attendance. 
 
 7. Provisions should be made by which kindergartens may be 
 supported from public school funds. 
 
 8. Adequate appropriations should be made by the state to 
 secure in full Alabama's part of the federal money for vocational 
 education given under the ternis of the Smith-Hughes Act. 
 
 9. Medical supervision of all children of school age should be 
 provided for by law. 
 
 10. All county health officers and school physicians should be 
 required to investigate carefully conditions relating to lighting, 
 heating, ventilation, sanitation, and the water supply of both urban 
 and niral schools. These officials should be empowered to employ 
 remedial measures wherever necessary. 
 
 11. The nine district agricultural schools should be converted 
 into federal-aided schools for teaching vocational agriculture, and 
 possibly home economics, in accordance with the Smith-Hughes 
 Act. 
 
 12. As far as possible cities and towns, as well as the various 
 counties, should make provisions for teaching backward, defective, 
 and delinquent children, whose condition is not serious enough to 
 warrant sending them to a state institution. As a inile a special 
 type of school in which motor activities predominate are necessary 
 for such children. 
 
 13. All teacher training agencies should be fostered and given 
 support commensurate with the work they are doing. 
 
 14. Negro education should be encouraged as far as possible. 
 County health officers and school physicians should see that the 
 same standards of sanitation and health are observed in negro 
 schools as in white schools. 
 
 NEGRO EDUCATION 
 
 Character of Negro Schools. — Public school facilities for negro 
 children are limited. In rural districts schools are taught in all sorts 
 of buildings, badly constructed and poorly equipped. They lack
 
 Education 97 
 
 the necessary maps, charts, and Hbraries for effective teaching. 
 The average length of school term now is 104 days, an increase of 
 7 days in the last five years. The average salary of the teacher is 
 $152. Five years ago it was S137. The average number of pupils 
 per teacher is 70, the average for the white being 40. 
 
 In-egular attendance is noticeable in negro schools. In most 
 counties the negro schools are in session five months, beginning near 
 the middle of October and closing about the middle of March. The 
 children are kept at home to pick cotton and velvet beans and to 
 gather other crops on the farms of either white land-owners or negro 
 parents, and on this account it is usually late in December before a 
 majority of the children are in the schools. The attendance at this 
 time then runs up to as high as 150 pupils to the teacher in badly 
 crowded rooms. This condition continues for two and one-half or 
 three months until the larger pupils drop out to commence farming 
 operations in the early spring. Some of the children walk as far as 
 four or five miles each way to school, over muddy roads, and in all 
 sorts of weather, and arrive at the school building at any time be- 
 fore twelve o'clock. They commence leaving for home about three 
 o'clock. Many are kept at home for the smallest excuse by their 
 parents. The percentage of attendance in 1917 was 62, which is 
 practically the same as for whites. 
 
 The character and qualifications of the teachers determine 
 almost entirely the nature of the instniction given. As a rule it may 
 be said that the schoolhouses are neatly kept and that a majority 
 of schools teach some form of handwork, either elementary manual 
 training for the boys, or sewing and cooking, where the equipment 
 permits, for the girls. 
 
 There has been practically no effort on the part of school offi- 
 cials to enforce the compulsory education law with the negroes, 
 many feeling that the schools are too badly overcrowded already. 
 As soon as facilities permit the law can be enforced with very little 
 effort as the children are anxious to attend school. There is needed 
 however a quickening of public sentiment among negro parents 
 with reference to regular attendance and punctuality. 
 
 Schools of Macon County. — The negro schools in Macon County 
 are probably the best for negroes in the state. Through stimula- 
 tion of the Extension Department of Tuskegee during the past ten 
 years many new buildings have been erected and provided with
 
 98 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 fairly good equipment. Of the 60 schools in the county 20 
 have two or more class rooms, 8 are furnished with domestic 
 science equipment, 16 conduct school farms, and 5 have teachers' 
 homes. The county board of education is enabled through 
 the Jeanes Fund to employ two negro women as supervising in- 
 dustrial teachers to conduct club work among the girls and their 
 mothers, and one man, a graduate in agriculture, to look after the 
 club work among the boys. The report for the past year shows 
 the following facts relating to the negro boys' clubs: 
 
 Number of pig clubs organized 10 
 
 Number of active members 120 
 
 Number who made final report 84 
 
 Number of pounds of pork killed by members 23,420 
 
 Number of boys planting one or more acres in corn 52 
 
 Number of boys planting one or more acres in peanuts 15 
 
 Number of boys planting one or more acres in velvet beans 17 
 
 School Buildings in Cities and Towns. — In cities of the first 
 class there is, as a rule, one fairly good negro school building and a 
 number of old buildings in a more or less bad state of repair. The 
 schools generally are badly overcrowded and the play grounds are 
 small and lack equipment. In many small towns the conditions 
 are worse than in the rural districts. The towns usually have spent 
 all their money from the sale of bonds on paving, lights, water and 
 sewerage system and for building much needed schoolhouses for 
 white children. Consequently there are no funds available for 
 negro schoolhouses. Such funds as are secured must therefore be 
 raised by private contributions. Often interested white citizens 
 contribute liberally to the erection of a negro schoolhouse. In two 
 instances town councils have borrowed money with which to erect 
 a schoolhouse for negro children. 
 
 In most cities and towns, large and small, the sentiment of the 
 leading city officials and school authorities is in favor of better 
 educational facilities for negro children. The securing of necessary 
 funds is the chief difficulty. 
 
 Kind of Buildings. — More than 80 per cent of the. negro schools 
 in the state are taught in one-room buildings. The number of 
 schools deeded to the state is 138, to the county 17, to local negro 
 trustees 631, the number owned by private individuals, churches or 
 lodges 1,206, and those belonging to the city 50, making a total of
 
 Education 99 
 
 2,042. Practically 90 per cent of the school buildings for negro 
 children are owned by private parties or organizations. 
 
 Nature of Training. — The training given negro children is al- 
 most entirely devoted to work in the first five grades. As the 
 majority of schools have only one teacher, the classes are overcrowded 
 and the conditions for teaching are poor. Three-fourths of the 
 teachers are women and one-fourth are men, 33 per cent of the 
 children attend school in the first grade, 19 per cent in the second, 
 15 per cent in the third, 13 per cent in the fourth, 12 per cent in the 
 fifth, 6 per cent in the sixth, and 2 per cent in the seventh. 
 
 Since the majorit}^ of negro children are being trained in one- 
 teacher schools and are nearly all enrolled in the first five grades, 
 so far as possible, efforts should be made to improve schools of this 
 type. By the time the child has finished the fifth grade he should 
 have completed the primary books in the course of study, acquired 
 habits of thrift and punctuality, received good rudimentary instruc- 
 tion in sanitation and household industry, and become at least a 
 literate person. This task set before the negro teachers of the state 
 is not too great for attainment. 
 
 Attitude of White People to Negro Education. — A hopeful 
 feature at present is the growing sentiment among white people in 
 favor of the education of negro children. An evidence of this is the 
 fact that in 1913 only 544 visits were made by the county superin- 
 tendents to the 1972 or more negro schools in the state, while in 
 1917 the number of visits increased to 1794. The policies adopted 
 by educational foundations and boards with reference to assisting 
 negro education has also had a marked effect on public sentiment. 
 Recognizing that the business of education belongs to the state 
 and not to private agencies, they are following the policy of assist- 
 ing public school authorities in building up a system of public 
 supported and controlled schools for negro children. The Jeanes 
 Fund therefore turns over money to the county boards of education 
 to be used for employing negro women to teach industrial work in 
 negro schools. The Roscnwald Fund will give money only for the 
 erection of a school building that has been deeded to the state and 
 is under the control of the public school authorities. The Slater 
 Fund assists in the establishment of county training schools only 
 where the property belongs to the county or state and is controlled 
 by the county board of education or other school officials. The
 
 100 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 General Education Board helps the State Department of Education 
 to maintain a rural school agent whose work is to develop sentiment 
 in favor of better schools. 
 
 The people generally are beginning to realize that the health, 
 economic, moral and spiritual development of the negro population 
 is necessary for the full prosperity of the state. For this reason 
 white people have been very s}anpathetic and helpful in the estab- 
 lishment of rural schools and county training schools for negro 
 children and have contributed to the erection of practically every 
 negro schoolhouse that has been built during the past five years.
 
 RURAL SCHOOL ATTENDANCE* 
 
 Eva Joffe 
 
 Statistician, National Child Labor Committee 
 
 Alabama, with a population according to the census of 1910 
 of 2,138,093, the per cent of illiterates among those ten years of 
 age and over being 22.9, passed a compulsory school attendance 
 law in 1915, which took effect October 1, 1917. Alm.ost a yearf 
 later the National Child Labor Committee undertook an inves- 
 tigation of rural school attendance, with the kind cooperation 
 of the State Superintendent of Education. The visits to the schools 
 selected were made by three Alabama public school teachers and 
 one agent of the Committee. With the approval of the State 
 Superintendent of Education, these twelve counties were chosen: 
 Lauderdale and Madison in the north; Etowah in the northeast; 
 Chambers in the east; Barbour in the southeast; Escambia, Cone- 
 cuh, and Mobile in the south; Washington in the southwest; Pickens 
 and Hale in the west, and Chilton in the central part. Six of these 
 (Chilton, Conecuh, Escambia, Hale, Pickens and Washington) 
 are purely rural with no cities or tovras of 2,500 inhabitants or 
 over. The other six, though having some urban population, were 
 chosen as typical of the conditions prevailing in rural Alabama. 
 
 The visits to the schools were made during the last week of 
 March and the beginning of April, and as most of the schools close 
 in April, the records copied cover the greater part of the term. 
 The information was obtained for 151 schools for the number of days 
 the schools were in session up to the date of the visits, and' consists 
 of the number of days children 8 to 15 years old inclusive, attended, 
 the number of days they were absent, their ages at the beginning 
 of the term, the grades they were in and whether or not they would 
 be promoted. All this information, save the promotion, was copied 
 from the teachers' record books. The causes of absence and nvimber 
 
 *The data on which this study is based were gathered by Misses Mary 
 Chapman, Eva G. Frasier, Ora Scott and Florence I. Taylor. 
 
 IN early at the end of the following school term. 
 
 101
 
 102 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 of days of absence for each cause were obtained by consulting the 
 teachers. This, of course, can be only approximately accurate 
 because the teachers could give it only from memory or by con- 
 sulting each child (who in turn had to consult his memory). But 
 no such information can be considered absolutely accurate even 
 when a written statement of the cause signed by the parent is 
 required, because the parent being in most cases just as anxious 
 to have the child's record clear as the child is to have it so, may 
 invent some legitimate excuse. On the other hand, a teacher in 
 a rural community is in a position to know the real cause very 
 much better than a city teacher. 
 
 In a previous study made in Oklahoma, the fact was revealed 
 that the children of tenants were more retarded and absent a greater 
 number of days than those of home owners. For this reason, in- 
 formation was again sought as to home teniu"e of the parent or 
 guardian. All children are classified as "owners' children," "tenants' 
 children" and "tenancy not specified" where such information was 
 unobtainable. 
 
 The record of each child's attendance is available only for 
 the time he is registered in a school, and those who move into a 
 district after the opening of school or move out before the end of 
 the term, have only a partial record of attendance in the district. 
 There was no attempt on the part of the investigators to follow 
 up cases of this kind. All such children were classified under the 
 heading of "migrants," and the children living in the district to which 
 the visited schools belonged at the time of school-opening and still 
 living there at the time of the investigators' visit to the school, 
 were classified as "non-migrants." 
 
 The children absent for any reason, were classified as: 
 Farmworkers — those absent for farmwork even though absent 
 
 for other causes also; 
 Houseworkers — those absent for housework even though absent 
 also for other causes (in the few cases where 
 children were absent both for farmwork and 
 housework, they were classified as "farm- 
 workers" if the greater number of days had 
 been devoted to farmwork, and as "house- 
 workers" if housework had been responsible for 
 most of their absence);
 
 Rural School Attendance 
 
 103 
 
 Other classified absentees — all those absent for other specified 
 
 causes exclusive of farmwork or 
 housework; and 
 Non-classified absentees — all those absent for some unspecified 
 
 cause who could not be included 
 under the first two headings. 
 
 TABLE A 
 
 NUMBER OF SCHOOLS VISITED AND ENROLLMENT OF BOYS AND 
 GIRLS, 8-15 YEARS INCLUSIVE, BY COUNTIES 
 
 
 Number of 
 
 
 Counties 
 
 Schools 
 visited 
 
 Boys 
 
 Girls 
 
 Total 
 
 Barbour 
 
 13 
 15 
 14 
 14 
 15 
 
 8 
 13 
 
 9 
 11 
 14 
 13 
 12 
 
 237 
 240 
 273 
 321 
 335 
 162 
 110 
 234 
 352 
 300 
 151 
 160 
 
 204 
 221 
 278 
 261 
 292 
 151 
 155 
 260 
 313 
 259 
 156 
 158 
 
 441 
 
 Chambers 
 
 461 
 
 Chilton 
 
 551 
 
 Conecuh 
 
 582 
 
 Escambia 
 
 627 
 
 Etowah 
 
 313 
 
 Hale 
 
 265 
 
 Lauderdale 
 
 494 
 
 Madison 
 
 665 
 
 Mobile 
 
 55Q 
 
 Pickens 
 
 307 
 
 Washington 
 
 316 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 151 
 
 2,875 
 
 2,706 
 
 5,581 
 
 
 In Table A, we have the number of schools visited in each 
 county and the number of children whose records were obtained. 
 There were 2,875 boys or 51.5 per cent of the total and 2,706 girls 
 or 48.5 per cent of the total. This table is the only one showing 
 figures for counties. As a county is too small a unit to base con- 
 clusions upon, in succeeding tables the figures for all the twelve 
 counties have been combined. 
 
 Table B gives the number of boys and girls classified by 
 absentee groups and home tenure of parents. The owners' children 
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 Rural School Attendance 105 
 
 work was done by 818 (56 per cent) non-migrant owners' boys and 
 by 466 (64 per cent) tenants' boys. Of the 1,382 owners' girls 
 only 277 or 20 per cent were farmworkers but of the 693 tenants' 
 girls 32 per cent worked on the farm. Many of the girls did house- 
 work, and if the figures for house workers are added, we have 40 
 per cent for o^vners' and 48 per cent for tenants' children who did 
 either housework or farmwork. Very few of the boys did any 
 housework and therefore it is hardly worth while to add them to 
 the number of farmworkers. Among the migrants' children only 
 24 per cent were farmworking o\\TLers' boys and 26 per cent farm- 
 working tenants' boys. Among the migrants' girls nearly 10 per 
 cent of both the home owners and the tenants were farmworkers. 
 
 The small percentage of farmworkers among migrants is in all 
 probabilty due to the incomplete information for this class. As 
 no attempt was made to follow up such children, it is impossible 
 to tell whether a child who was present only for a short time in the 
 schools visited had gone to school at all in another district. A 
 child may have done farmwork in the school term before moving 
 into the district and none while enrolled in the school visited, and 
 would therefore not be included among the farmworkers but in some 
 other group. For this reason, in all the following tables the 
 migrants' children are classified only for home tenure of parents. 
 There must of necessity be some duplication in the number of 
 migrants, but as it is likely that the duplications tend to balance 
 one another it does not appreciably change the findings. 
 
 Tables C and D give the total number of days the boys and 
 girls should have attended; the niunber of days they were absent 
 from the schools visited because of having lived in other districts; 
 the total number of days they were present ; and the total loss 
 of time for all causes. The number of days of absence for two 
 migrant boys, one non-migrant boy, and three migrant girls was 
 not obtained for each cause separately. This accounts for the 
 discrepancy in the totals between tables C and D, and table B. 
 
 The absences of migrants are divided into two categories: first, 
 those due to work, illness, etc., in the districts visited; second, the 
 periods in the same school term when the children had lived 
 in other districts. From this we see that all migrant boys 
 were absent from the schools visited 51 per cent of the term 
 because they had lived part of the time elsewhere, in addition to
 
 106 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 the time they missed for various other reasons while enrolled. The 
 absences of tenants' boys due to such late enrollment or early with- 
 drawal extended over 58 per cent of the term. The girls were 
 absent in the same proportion. To what extent duplications of 
 children ocpur among the migrants it is impossible to learn, but 
 even if the per cent of absentees were reduced through the corrected 
 number of children, the reduction would not be considerable. It 
 therefore stands to reason that no conclusion as to the cause of 
 absence can be drawn from such incomplete records. 
 
 In these tables we see that all owners' non-migrant boys were 
 absent 29 per cent of the time they should have attended as com- 
 pared with 39 per cent for the tenants' boys. When the farm- 
 workers are considered, the owners' boys are seen to have been 
 absent 33 per cent and the tenants' boys 40 per cent. Other 
 classified boy absentees who belonged to home-owning families, 
 were absent 21 per cent and the tenants' boys 37 per cent. For 
 girls the same tendency is found; all non -migrant owners' girls 
 were absent 24 per cent of the time they should have attended as 
 compared with 33 per cent for the tenants' girls; farmworking 
 owners' girls 30 per cent, as compared with 36 per cent for farm- 
 working tenants' girls. Among the houseworkers the owners' 
 girls were absent 27 per cent and the tenants' 28 per cent. Other 
 classified girl absentees whose parents owned their homes were 
 absent 19 per cent of the period they shoiild have attended and 
 the tenants' girls 32 per cent. 
 
 In reference to the observance of the compulsory attendance 
 law, the per cent of absence is of httle importance because the law 
 does not demand full attendance. It requires that children between 
 the ages of 8 and 15 years inclusive,* attend at least 80 days in each 
 scholastic year, unless the county board of education or the board 
 of education of an incorporated city or town reduces the term to 
 not fewer than 60 days. Therefore where the term is long, all 
 absences after 80 days are legitimate; but with regard to the 
 waste of the community's money occasioned by failure to make 
 steady use of the school facilities, the per cent of absence becomes 
 quite significant. It is also important to know to what extent 
 the parents fully avail themselves of the opportunity for the educa- 
 tion of their children. 
 
 *Interpreted by the State Superintendent of Education to mean up to the 
 fifteenth year.
 
 Rural School Attendance 
 
 107 
 
 TABLE C 
 
 NUMBER OF DAYS THE BOYS* SHOULD HAVE ATTENDED UP TO DATE 
 OF VISITS TO SCHOOLS; NUMBER OF DAYS PRESENT AND 
 ABSENT, BY ABSENTEE GROUPS AND HOME TENURE OF PARENTS 
 
 
 Number 
 
 of 
 
 Boys 
 
 Number of Days the Children 
 
 
 Should 
 
 have 
 
 attended 
 
 Were 
 absent 
 on ac- 
 count of 
 living in 
 other dis- 
 tricts 
 
 Were 
 present 
 
 Were 
 absent 
 
 Owners' Boys 
 
 Migrants 
 
 145 
 1,461 
 
 17,498 
 175,943 
 
 8,868 
 
 6,841 
 125,784 
 
 1,789 
 
 Non-Migrants 
 
 50,159 
 
 
 
 Farmworkers 
 
 818 
 
 8 
 
 516 
 
 119 
 
 98,861 
 
 908 
 
 61,774 
 
 14,400 
 
 
 66,352 
 
 655 
 
 48,732 
 
 10,045 
 
 32,509 
 
 Houseworkers 
 
 253 
 
 Other classified absentees 
 Non-classified absentees. 
 
 13,042 
 4,355 
 
 Tenants' Boys 
 
 Migrants 
 
 422 
 723 
 
 52,117 
 
 87,077 
 
 30,332 
 
 16,832 
 52,989 
 
 4,953 
 
 Non-Mierants 
 
 34,088 
 
 
 
 Farmworkers 
 
 465 
 10 
 
 197 
 51 
 
 56,678 
 1,187 
 
 23,200 
 6,012 
 
 
 33,744 
 
 790 
 
 14,721 
 
 3,734 
 
 22,934 
 
 Houseworkers 
 
 397 
 
 Other classified absentees 
 Non-classified absentees. 
 
 8,479 
 2,278 
 
 Total t 
 
 Migrants 
 
 593 
 2,253 
 
 72,832 
 271,198 
 
 40,648 
 
 25,076 
 184,331 
 
 7,108 
 
 Non-Mierants 
 
 86,867 
 
 
 
 Farmworkers 
 
 1,315 
 
 19 
 
 734 
 
 185 
 
 159,359 
 2,215 
 
 87,477 
 22,147 
 
 
 102,630 
 
 1,520 
 
 65,160 
 
 15,021 
 
 56,729 
 
 Houseworkers 
 
 695 
 
 Other classified absentees 
 Non-classified absentees. 
 
 22,317 
 7,126 
 
 *The number of days of absence for each cause was not obtained for a few 
 children, which accounts for the difference between the number of children in 
 tables C, D, F and G and that in the other tables. 
 
 tTotals include all for whom home tenure could not be ascertained.
 
 108 
 
 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 TABLE D 
 
 NUMBER OF DAYS THE GIRLS SHOULD HAVE ATTENDED UP TO DATE 
 OF VISITS TO schools; number of DAYS PRESENT AND 
 ABSENT, BY ABSENTEE GROUPS AND HOME TENURE OF PARENTS 
 
 
 
 Number of Days the Children 
 
 
 Number 
 
 of 
 
 Girls 
 
 Should 
 have 
 attend- 
 ed 
 
 "Were ab- 
 sent on 
 account 
 of liv- 
 ing in 
 other 
 districts 
 
 Were 
 present 
 
 Were 
 
 absent 
 
 Owners' Girls 
 
 Migrants 
 
 127 
 
 1,382 
 
 15,219 
 165,916 
 
 7,479 
 
 6,359 
 
 125,582 
 
 1,381 
 
 Non-Migrants 
 
 40,334 
 
 
 
 Farmworkers 
 
 277 
 271 
 689 
 145 
 
 33,561 
 32,414 
 82,261 
 17,680 
 
 
 23,394 
 23,504 
 66,337 
 12,347 
 
 10,167 
 
 Houseworkers 
 
 8,910 
 
 Other classified absentees 
 Non-classified absentees. 
 
 15,924 
 5,333 
 
 Tenants' Girls 
 
 Migrants 
 
 385 
 693 
 
 47,863 
 83,899 
 
 28,194 
 
 15,729 
 56,196 
 
 3,940 
 
 Non-Migrants 
 
 27,703 
 
 
 
 Farmworkers 
 
 219 
 
 115 
 
 296 
 
 63 
 
 27,018 
 14,001 
 35,112 
 
 7,768 
 
 
 17,406 
 
 10,048 
 
 23,971 
 
 4,771 
 
 9,612 
 
 Houseworkers 
 
 3,953 
 
 Other classified absentees 
 Non-classified absentees. 
 
 11,141 
 2,997 
 
 Total* 
 
 Migrants 
 
 533 
 2,118 
 
 65,661 
 254,861 
 
 37,027 
 
 22,962 
 185,311 
 
 5,672 
 
 Non-Migrants 
 
 69,550 
 
 
 
 Farmworkers 
 
 498 
 
 400 
 
 1,006 
 
 214 
 
 60,832 
 
 47,968 
 
 119,965 
 
 26,096 
 
 
 40,988 
 34,746 
 92,061 
 17,516 
 
 19,844 
 
 Houseworkers 
 
 13,222 
 
 Other classified absentees 
 Non-classified absentees. 
 
 27,904 
 8,580 
 
 * Totals include all for whom home tenure could not be ascertained.
 
 Rural School Attendance 
 
 109 
 
 TABLE E 
 
 NUMBER AND PER CENT OF NON-MIGRANT CHILDREN PRESENT FEWER 
 THAN 60 DAYS, 60 TO 79 DAYS, AND 80 DAYS OR OVER 
 
 
 Number of 
 Children Present 
 
 To- 
 tal* 
 
 Per cent 
 
 
 1-59 
 
 Days 
 
 60-79 
 Days 
 
 80 and 
 over 
 
 1-59 
 Days 
 
 60-79 
 
 Days 
 
 80 and 
 over 
 
 Owners' Children 
 
 378 
 
 502 
 
 1,892 
 
 2,772 
 
 13.6 
 
 18.1 
 
 68.3 
 
 Farmworkers 
 
 Houseworkers 
 
 Other Classified Absentees 
 Non-Classified Absentees . 
 
 168 
 37 
 
 113 
 60 
 
 281 
 43 
 
 139 
 39 
 
 626 
 192 
 914 
 160 
 
 1,075 
 272 
 
 1,166 
 259 
 
 15.6 
 
 13.6 
 
 9.7 
 
 23.2 
 
 26.2 
 15.8 
 11.9 
 15.0 
 
 58.2 
 70.6 
 
 78.4 
 61.8 
 
 Tenants' Children 
 
 345 
 
 331 
 
 713 
 
 1,389 
 
 24.8 
 
 23.8 
 
 51.4 
 
 Farmworkers 
 
 Houseworkers 
 
 Other Classified Absentees 
 Non-Classified Absentees . 
 
 178 
 16 
 
 118 
 33 
 
 186 
 27 
 94 
 24 
 
 315 
 82 
 
 261 
 55 
 
 679 
 125 
 473 
 112 
 
 26.2 
 12.8 
 25.0 
 29.5 
 
 27.4 
 21.6 
 19.8 
 21.4 
 
 46.4 
 65.6 
 55.2 
 49.1 
 
 All Children 
 
 750 
 
 847 
 
 2,676 
 
 4,273 
 
 17.6 
 
 19.8 
 
 62.6 
 
 
 
 * These figures do not include the four schools which had been open fewer 
 than 80 days prior to the investigators' visits. 
 
 Table E shows that 17.6 per cent of the children attended 
 fewer than 60 days up to the day of visit, 19.8 per cent attended 
 60 to 79 days, and 62.6 per cent attended 80 days or over. Were 
 all those who attended fewer than 80 days exempted? It is true 
 that the 15-year-olds and all children who have completed the 
 seventh grade are not required to go to school. In our study are 
 included all such children, but the total of these is only 8.1 per cent, 
 and if all of them had attended fewer than 80 days there would still 
 be a large per cent, not accounted for. It is also true that our infor- 
 mation was not obtained at the very end of the term and therefore 
 children who attended 60 to 79 days still had some time to make
 
 110 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 up the period required. But even if they had done so, they would 
 not have complied with the law, as the attendance was not con- 
 tinuous, the law specifying: ". . . the period of compulsory 
 attendance for each school shall commence at the beginning of 
 the school, unless otherwise ordered by the county board of educa- 
 tion or by the board of education of an incorporated city or town." 
 Distance from the school building, physical and mental incapacity, 
 and poverty are legitimate reasons for non-attendance, but even 
 if we grant that many of these absences were legitimate it cannot 
 be safely asserted that all were so, the total per cent being too 
 high. 
 
 Making further comparisons we find that 68.3 per cent of 
 owners' children and only 51.4 per cent of tenants' children at- 
 tended 80 days and over. The farmworkers attended less than 
 the other classified absentees, either owners' or tenants' children. 
 Whether they were obeying the law or not, such prolonged and 
 frequent absence leaves but meager opportunity for education. 
 These absences in many cases are chronic, as the following illus- 
 trations will show. 
 
 In one school (in session for 139 days) four children, 9, 10, 
 12 and 13 years old, were in the first grade and were not to be pro- 
 moted. Each had been absent 70 days for farmwork, three having 
 been absent four days and one for five days in addition owing to 
 illness, which made their attendance 65 and 64 days respectively. 
 The school was to be in session three to four weeks longer, but in 
 all probability they would not attend, farmwork being so lurgent 
 in springtime. 
 
 In another school (in session for 116 days) a 15-year-old child 
 in the fourth grade, who would not be promoted, was present 33 
 days and absent 83 days for farmwork. Another child of 14 years, 
 in the third grade, was to be promoted, but had been away 51 days 
 for farmwork. The school was to close in two or three weeks. 
 
 Again, a child of 14 in the second grade who would not be 
 promoted was absent 85 days for farmwork and present in school 
 only 10 days. Another, 13 years old, in the fourth grade, and 
 not to be promoted, was absent for farmwork 58 days, and present 
 37 days. Two children of 15 were in the fifth grade and would not 
 be promoted, one having been absent 43 days and the other 52 
 days for farmwork.
 
 Rural School Attendance 111 
 
 In another school which had been in session for 77 days, a 
 child of 15 years in the second grade who was not to be promoted 
 came to school only two days and was absent for farmwork the 
 rest of the time. 
 
 In tables F and G the total number of days lost for each cause 
 is given. From these we see that the four leading causes of absence 
 are farmwork, housework, illness and indifference. When we 
 compute the average number of days of absence for each child, 
 for each of these four causes, we find that each farmworking owners' 
 boy missed on the average nearly 40 days out of an average of 
 120 days that he should have attended, 27 on account of farm- 
 work, 6 because of illness, 3 because of indifference and the rest 
 for miscellaneous reasons. Farmworking tenants' boys lost 49 
 days, 34 for farmwork, 6 for illness and 4 for indifference. 
 
 The other classified boy absentees belonging to home-owning 
 families, lost on the average 25 days as compared with 43 for the 
 tenants' boys. This is less than the average number of days lost 
 by farmworkers for all causes, but the loss on account of illness 
 and indifference is very much greater: owners' boys having lost 
 14 days for illness and 7 days because of indifference; tenants' 
 boys 15 days for illness and 17 days because of indifference. Farm- 
 working owners' girls missed 37 days — 21 days for farmwork, 8 
 for illness and 3 on account of indifference. Farmworking tenants' 
 girls lost 44 days — 27 for farmwork, 8 for illness and 3 on account 
 of indifference. Among the houseworkers, the owners' girls lost 
 
 33 days — 16 (about half of the total) for housework, 8 for illness and 
 3 because of indifference. Tenants' girls of the same group lost 
 
 34 days — 18 for housework, 10 for illness and 2 because of indiffer- 
 ence. The other classified girl absentees of home-owning parents, 
 lost on the average 23 days — 14 for illness and 5 because of in- 
 difference. The tenants' girls lost 38 days — 19 for illness and 11 
 on account of indifference.
 
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 114 
 
 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 In tables H and I we have the age and grade distribution of 
 non-migrant owners' and tenants' children; also the per cent of 
 children of each age. Of the 2,843 owners' children 14.3 per cent 
 were 8 years old and there is a gradual falling off for each sub- 
 sequent age except in the case of those 12 years old. Whether 
 there really were more 12-year-old children, whether the rise was 
 due to some error, or whether those children enrolled more regularly 
 than the rest, it is impossible to determine. Besides there is only 
 a small gradual decrease in the per cent of children of successive 
 ages, but when we come to the 14 and 15-year-olds, we find that 
 the decrease is rather marked. The fall is from 11.6 per cent to 
 7 per cent, which is undoubtedly due chiefly to the fact that com- 
 pulsory attendance ceases at the fifteenth year. 
 
 TABLE H 
 
 DISTRIBUTION AMONG SCHOOL GRADES ACCORDING TO AGE, 
 
 owners' CHILDREN 
 
 
 Grade 
 
 To- 
 tal 
 
 Per 
 
 Age 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 Cent. 
 
 8 yrs. . 
 
 184 
 
 139 
 
 60 
 
 17 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 406 
 
 14.3 
 
 9 " .. 
 
 86 
 
 106 
 
 120 
 
 63 
 
 23 
 
 4 
 
 • 
 
 
 
 402 
 
 14.1 
 
 10 " . . 
 
 53 
 
 79 
 
 91 
 
 104 
 
 65 
 
 12 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 395 
 
 13.9 
 
 11 ".. 
 
 19 
 
 33 
 
 67 
 
 108 
 
 85 
 
 34 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 341 
 
 12.0 
 
 12 " . . 
 
 11 
 
 27 
 
 63 
 
 95 
 
 107 
 
 89 
 
 28 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 425 
 
 14.9 
 
 13 " . . 
 
 12 
 
 11 
 
 25 
 
 60 
 
 79 
 
 83 
 
 62 
 
 12 
 
 2 
 
 346 
 
 12.2 
 
 14 " . . 
 
 2 
 
 9 
 
 19 
 
 37 
 
 64 
 
 81 
 
 77 
 
 33 
 
 7 
 
 329 
 
 11.6 
 
 15 " .. 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 8 
 
 17 
 
 32 
 
 55 
 
 65 
 
 16 
 
 11 
 
 199 
 
 7.0 
 
 Total... 
 
 369 
 
 407 
 
 443 
 
 501 
 
 450 
 
 358 
 
 228 
 
 65 
 
 21 
 
 2,843 
 
 100.0 
 
 Grade not stated for one 8-year-old child included in total. 
 
 One 14-year-old child, included among the 7 in ninth grade is in tenth grade. 
 
 Two 15-year-old children, included among the 11 in ninth grade, are in tenth grade.
 
 Rural School Attendance 115 
 
 Under the law the 329 14-year-old owners' children and 153 
 tenants' children are to be allowed to drop out of school as soon as 
 they become 15 years old. Among the owners' children there were 
 23.4 per cent in the seventh grade; nearly two-thirds were below 
 the seventh, of whom 24.6 per cent were in the sixth grade, 19.4 
 per cent in the fifth, 11.3 per cent in the fourth, 5.8 per cent in the 
 third, 2.7 per cent in the second and 0.6 per cent in the first grade. 
 For the tenants' children as usual, the case is even worse; over 
 four-fifths are below the seventh grade, of whom 17 per cent are in 
 the sixth grade, 21.6 per cent in the fifth, 19.6 per cent in the fourth 
 and 7.8 per cent in each of the three lowest grades. 
 
 In the same tables we have the grade distribution. The figures 
 between the heavy lines represent the number of children enrolled 
 in the grades they normally belong in according to their age. Three 
 grades are allotted to each age. Those to the right of the 
 heavy lines are ahead of the normal grades and those to the left 
 are below normal grade or "retarded." This rather generous 
 method of classification was adopted because the compulsory 
 attendance age begins at 8, yet it is quite normal for children to 
 enter school at the age of 6. A child enrolling in the first grade 
 normally at 6 years and advancing regularly from class to class, is 
 in the third grade at 8. In the same way, a normal child beginning 
 at 7 would be in the second grade at the age of 8, and one who enters 
 at the age of 8 must necessarily be only in the first grade and there- 
 fore considered normal, because the law allows him to stay out of 
 school until that age. 
 
 We find that among non -migrant tenants' children there were 
 many more retarded than among owners' children, but as the age 
 distribution is not the same, it was considered fair to compare 
 only the children of the same ages. In the nature of things a group 
 of older children has a higher per cent retarded than a group of 
 younger children, because of their longer attendance at school and 
 consequently greater opportunity to fall behind. The difference 
 in age distribution is even more striking when the farmworkers, 
 with 7.5 per cent 8-year-old and 9.9 per cent 15-year-old children 
 are compared with the "other classified absentees" of whom the 
 per cent of 8-year-old children is 20.8 and of 15-year-old children 
 is only 3.2.
 
 116 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 TABLE I 
 
 distribution among school grades according to age. 
 
 tenants' children 
 
 
 Grade 
 
 To- 
 tal 
 
 Per 
 
 Age 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 9 
 
 Cent. 
 
 8 yrs... 
 
 160 
 
 52 
 
 15 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 • • • ^ 
 
 232 
 
 16.4 
 
 9 " .. 
 
 108 
 
 52 
 
 44 
 
 14 
 
 4 
 
 
 ... 
 
 
 ... 
 
 222 
 
 15.7 
 
 10 " . . 
 
 38 
 
 60 
 
 48 
 
 33 
 
 23 
 
 1 
 
 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 
 203 
 
 14.3 
 
 11 " .. 
 
 28 
 
 37 
 
 37 
 
 43 
 
 23 
 
 9 
 
 2 
 
 
 » • ■ 
 
 179 
 
 12.6 
 
 12 " . . 
 
 22 
 
 31 
 
 43 
 
 40 
 
 32 
 
 18 
 
 5 
 
 
 > . . 
 
 191 
 
 13.5 
 
 13 " . . 
 
 16 
 
 23 
 
 25 
 
 32 
 
 27 
 
 24 
 
 8 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 158 
 
 11.2 
 
 14 " . . 
 
 12 
 
 12 
 
 12 
 
 30 
 
 33 
 
 26 
 
 21 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 153 
 
 10.8 
 
 15 " . . 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 7 
 
 13 
 
 20 
 
 12 
 
 9 
 
 7 
 
 1 
 
 78 
 
 5.5 
 
 Total. . . 
 
 388 
 
 271 
 
 232 
 
 210 
 
 162 
 
 90 
 
 45 
 
 14 
 
 4 
 
 1,417 
 
 100.0 
 
 Grade not stated for one 15-year-old child included in total. 
 Age not stated for one child in third grade included in total. 
 
 Table J which is based on the data of tables H and I, gives 
 the total ntimber of children of each age and the per cent ahead, 
 normal, or retarded 1, 2, 3, and 4 years or more. Among those 
 8 years old 5.4 per cent of owners' children and only 2.2 per cent 
 of tenants' children were ahead. Taking the succeeding years, 
 we find that for each age, with the exception of 13 years where it 
 was the same, the per cent of owners' children ahead of normal 
 grade is higher than that of tenants'. On the other hand, taking 
 the per cent of all owners' children retarded, regardless of the 
 ntmiber of years retarded, we find it is lower for each age than 
 that of tenants'. The per cent of normally enrolled children among 
 those 8 years old is smaller for owners' children because all children 
 of that age are necessarily either normal or ahead, and as there is a
 
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 118 
 
 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 greater per cent of children ahead among owners' children, there 
 must be a smaller per cent normal. In the other ages, 9 to 15 
 years inclusive, we find there was a larger per cent normal among 
 the owners' children than among the tenants' children. 
 
 TABLE K 
 
 TOTAL NUMBER OF MIGRANT TENANTS' CHILDREN AND PER CENT 
 AHEAD, NORMAL AND RETARDED 
 
 
 Num- 
 ber OF 
 Chil- 
 dren 
 
 Per Cent 
 
 Age 
 
 Ahead 
 
 Noniial 
 
 Retarded 
 
 
 1 yr. 
 
 2 yrs. 
 
 3 yrs. 
 
 4 yrs. 
 or more 
 
 8 yrs 
 
 136 
 
 1.5 
 
 98.5 
 
 .... 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 9 " 
 
 131 
 
 .7 
 
 52.7 
 
 46.6 
 
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 10 " 
 
 107 
 
 .9 
 
 41.2 
 
 30.8 
 
 27.1 
 
 
 
 
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 100 
 
 .... 
 
 33.0 
 
 35.0 
 
 17.0 
 
 15.0 
 
 
 12 " 
 
 108 
 
 .9 
 
 27.8 
 
 19.4 
 
 23.2 
 
 19.4 
 
 9.3 
 
 13 " 
 
 89 
 
 .... 
 
 14.6 
 
 18.0 
 
 25.8 
 
 22.5 
 
 19.1 
 
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 89 
 
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 12.3 
 
 18.0 
 
 29.2 
 
 18.0 
 
 22.5 
 
 15 " 
 
 49 
 
 .... 
 
 6.1 
 
 16.3 
 
 22.5 
 
 14.3 
 
 40.8 
 
 Table K gives the same information for migrant tenants' 
 children. No table is given for the 275 migrant owners' children, 
 because when distributed by ages there are fewer than 50 in each, 
 which makes it worthless for percentage comparisons. The migrant 
 tenants' children are even worse off than the non-migrant tenants' 
 children, which leads one to the conclusion that because of the 
 absence from school which it entails, change of residence during a 
 school term contributes substantially to retardation. 
 
 In the earlier tables we considered the large groups of tenants' 
 children, owners' children and children who moved into the dis- 
 tricts visited after the opening of school or moved out before the
 
 
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 Rural School Attendance 121 
 
 investigators' visits. No comparisons were made between the per 
 cent normal and the per cent retarded of the two smaller groups 
 of farmworkers and "other classified absentees" within the groups 
 of tenants' or owners' children. What does a comparison of these 
 groups reveal? Table L gives the per cent normal and retarded 
 of o-wners' children who were farmworkers and "other classified 
 absentees." We find that of the "other classified absentees" 5.6 
 per cent were 8-year-old children who were ahead of their normal 
 grades and that of the farmworkers, the corresponding per cent 
 was 3.7. The same tendency recurs for most of the ages. The 
 per cent retarded regardless of the number of years retarded, is 
 higher for the farmworkers of every age. The nimiber of "other 
 classified absentees" of 15 years is too small for computing per- 
 centages; nearly all farmworkers of that age are retarded. Table 
 M gives the same for tenants' children; exactly the same tendency 
 is noted where figures are large enough to warrant computing per- 
 centages — indeed, they are even more retarded when the figures for 
 each age are compared respectively with those of owners' children. 
 
 Seventy-eight children had not missed any time up to the date 
 the schools were visited. Of these, 65 (22 boys and 43 girls) were 
 owners' children, being 2 per cent of all owners' children; 13 (4 
 boys and 9 girls) were the children of tenants, being 0.5 per cent 
 of all tenants' children. Sixty-two of the total were in normal 
 grades; 3 were ahead of their normal grades; 9 were retarded 
 one year, 3 two years and a 14-year-old boy, three years. These 
 figures are too small to be of any value for comparison, especially 
 when distributed among eight consecutive ages, but on the whole 
 one sees that these daily attendants were less retarded than any 
 of the other groups. 
 
 Table N gives the number and per cent of children who were 
 to be promoted at the end of the term. As already stated the 
 information was obtained near the end of the school term and 
 therefore in all probability few changes were made when the time 
 came for promotion. Only two-thirds of all owners' children and 
 three-fifths of the tenants' were to be promoted. Again the per 
 cent of farmworkers is lower than that of "other classified absentees," 
 for both owners' and tenants' children. For the owners' children, 
 the "daily attendants" {i. e., children who did not miss a day up 
 to the time of the visit), show a higher per cent of promotion than
 
 122 
 
 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 any other group; it is natural that such should be the case, as they 
 were able to cover the work better by attending more regularly. 
 The 13 tenants' children were all to be promoted, but it would 
 be an overstatement to call it 100 per cent because in all probability 
 it is a mere coincidence. The significance of migration is brought 
 out in this table; only 37.7 per cent of the known cases of migrants' 
 children were to be promoted. 
 
 TABLE N 
 
 NUMBER AND PER CENT OF PROMOTIONS AND FAILURES FOR SCHOOL 
 
 YEAR ENDED JUNE 30, 1918. (bASED ON 4,875 
 
 KNOWN cases) 
 
 
 Number 
 
 Total 
 
 Per Cent 
 
 
 Yes 
 
 No 
 
 Pro- 
 moted 
 
 Not Pro- 
 moted 
 
 NON-MlGRANXS 
 
 2,621 
 
 1,415 
 
 4,036 
 
 64.9 
 
 35.1 
 
 
 
 Owner's Children 
 
 1,781 
 
 848 
 
 2,629 
 
 67.7 
 
 32.3 
 
 
 
 Farmworkers 
 
 636 
 
 175 
 
 915 
 
 55 
 
 451 
 101 
 
 287 
 9 
 
 1,087 
 
 276 
 
 1,202 
 
 64 
 
 58.5 
 63.4 
 76.1 
 84.6 
 
 41.5 
 
 Houseworkers 
 
 Other Classified Absentees. 
 Daily Attendants 
 
 36.6 
 23.9 
 13.8 
 
 Tenants' Children 
 
 777 
 
 539 
 
 1,316 
 
 59.0 
 
 41.0 
 
 Farmworkers 
 
 Houseworkers 
 
 Other Classified Absentees . 
 Daily Attendants 
 
 383 
 80 
 
 301 
 13 
 
 302 
 
 45 
 
 192 
 
 685 
 125 
 493 
 13* 
 
 55.9 
 64.0 
 61.1 
 
 44.1 
 36.0 
 38.9 
 
 
 
 Migrants 
 
 316 
 
 523 
 
 839 
 
 37.7 
 
 62.3 
 
 Owners' children 
 
 Tenants' children 
 
 102 
 198 
 
 116 
 
 382 
 
 218 
 580 
 
 46.8 
 34.1 
 
 53.2 
 65.9 
 
 * Nimiber too small for computing percentages. 
 
 What conclusions can be drawn from all these data? We have 
 seen that the children of tenants were absent a greater number of 
 days than the children of home-owners; that children who did
 
 Rural School Attendance 123 
 
 farm work missed more time than the "other classified absentees" 
 and that farm working tenants' children were absent more than 
 farmworking owners' children. It was also found that in the dis- 
 tribution of the pupils among the school grades according to age 
 the children of tenants were more retarded than the children of 
 home owners; that the farmworkers were more retarded than the 
 other classified absentees, and in this respect also the farmworking 
 tenants' children made a worse showing than the farmworking 
 owners' children. It has been observed also that among tenants' 
 children the per cent promoted is lower than among owners' chil- 
 dren and that the per cent for farmworking tenants' boys was lower 
 than for farmworking owners' boys. The children of migrants 
 were more retarded than the children of non-migrants. There 
 were four times as many owners' children as tenants' children who 
 did not miss a day during the school term. The daily attendants 
 were less retarded and more successful in passing to higher grades 
 than any other group of children. 
 
 The law allows children to drop out of school as soon as they 
 become 15 years old, irrespective of the grade they are in, and full 
 advantage of this fact is taken, as the figures show, the number of 
 15-year-old children being much smaller than that of the 14-year 
 or 13-year-olds. Not quite two-thirds of the 14-year-old owners' 
 children and more than four-fifths of the tenants' children of the 
 same age were enrolled in grades below the seventh, so when they 
 leave school their education is but meager. An additional year 
 would enable many to complete their course and for this reason the 
 maximum limit for compulsory attendance should be raised so as 
 to include the fifteenth year. Indeed, the law at present may be 
 construed to require attendance up to the sixteenth birthday. 
 
 In preparing the tables the several classifications were adopted 
 with a view to shutting out other contributing factors, but no claim 
 is made that this has been accomplished and that only farmwork 
 among farmworkers and tenancy and migration of parents among 
 tenants' children were the sole reasons for retardation. And yet 
 it is not assuming too much to say that tenancy and migration 
 of parents, and farmwork of children are leading factors in non- 
 promotion in the communities visited. Discussion as to how to 
 remedy the tenancy and migration problems would hardly be in 
 place in this report. But to try to find out what can be expected,
 
 124 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 in the future, of the enforcement of the compulsory attendance 
 law, and whether the law as it stands now can reduce the per cent 
 of retarded children is of vital importance, and demands immediate 
 attention. 
 
 The law requires only 80 days of attendance for each year. 
 The course of study is prepared for a seven or eight months' school 
 term, but the length of the term varies according to the local interest 
 and support from four to eight months. What must happen under 
 these conditions in a short-term school? Can even the children 
 who attend regularly be expected in four or five months to cover 
 work prescribed for seven or eight months? Under exceptionally 
 favorable circumstances they may do so, but are short term rural 
 schools operating under exceptionally favorable circimistances? 
 Can their teachers, who are in most cases below the average in 
 training and ability be expected to cover the ground in such a short 
 period? The result is that at the end of the term, instead of being 
 promoted, children are assigned to the same grades for the following 
 year and must stay there until the required work has been done. 
 The usual annual change of teachers helps to prolong the time 
 required for getting through the course and it very frequently 
 takes one and one-half or even two years to complete one year's 
 work. This naturally retards a child even when both he and his 
 parents do everything in their power to insure regularity of 
 attendance. 
 
 Now let us see what the four months' compulsory attendance 
 law can accomplish in an eight-months' school. Each child has to 
 begin when school opens; the more regular the child is, the sooner 
 he can leave school, and where the attendance officer is conscien- 
 tious, school may not be missed for the first four months. After 
 the provisions of the law have been complied with, the child who 
 attended merely because he was obliged to do so, drops out and 
 the rest of the children go on with the work. The following year 
 those who were present only the required period in the preceding 
 term naturally have to go back to the same grade and repeat the 
 work. They may never have an opportunity to get ahead. The 
 only remedy for this, and indeed the first step that must be made 
 in any improvement in the conditions outlined above would be to 
 extend the required period for attendance under the compulsory 
 education law so that it will cover the entire school term.
 
 CHILD LABOR LAW ADMINISTRATION 
 Florence I. Taylor 
 
 National Child Labor Committee 
 
 The present child labor law was passed in 1915 but as the 14- 
 year limit did not go into effect until September, 1916, the enforce- 
 ment of it as it now stands dates only from that time. The law is 
 inclusive in its provisions, applying to all occupations except domestic 
 service and agriculture, with no exemptions except business ofhces 
 and mercantile establishments in cities or towns under 25,000 when 
 schools are not in session. It requires work permits of children 
 between 14 and 16, issued by the school superintendents; prohibits 
 work by children under 16 between 6 p. m. and 6 a. m.; has a 10- 
 year limit for dangerous and injurious occupations; and a 12- 
 year limit for boys and an 18-year limit for girls engaged in street 
 trading in the larger cities of the state; and a state official is charged 
 with its enforcement. 
 
 Practically no attention was given in this study to the establish- 
 ments to which the federal child labor law, recently declared invalid, 
 applied, as the object was to obtain information about the state 
 law and state methods of enforcement. This confined the investi- 
 gation mainly to children employed in mercantile establishments, 
 offices, drug stores, laundries, and similar establishments to which 
 the federal law did not apply. 
 
 The Supreme Court decision that the federal law was uncon- 
 stitutional leaves only the state law to regulate mills, canneries 
 and manufacturing establishments. It has the same standards as 
 the federal law except that it has an 11-hour day, 60-hour week, 
 instead of an 8-hour day, 48-hour week for children under 16. The 
 methods of enforcing the law in vSuch establishments, however, 
 will not be materially affected as the State Factory Inspector acted 
 as federal inspector for Alabama and state work permits were 
 accepted by the federal authorities in lieu of federal certificates 
 of age. The same procedure will be followed by the state depart- 
 
 125
 
 126 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 ment in enforcing the state instead of the federal law in mills and 
 factories and the recommendations made in this report, based on 
 a study of the department's work in enforcing the state law as 
 it applies to mercantile establishments, offices, etc., will apply 
 equally to its work in the cotton mills as the enforcement machinery 
 is similar. 
 
 State Inspection Department 
 
 Under the terms of the law, the State Prison Inspector, who is 
 appointed by the State Board of Health, and his assistants, are 
 authorized to inspect the places where minors are employed. For 
 the purpose of administering this law, he is designated as State 
 Factory Inspector and his assistants as deputy factory inspectors. 
 The State Inspector has two deputy inspectors and a chief clerk 
 and this force of four is responsible for the inspection of all the 
 jails, almshouses, and child employing establishments in the state. 
 The department is not even supplied with a stenographer, hence 
 part of the time one of the two deputies has to serve as such. This 
 deputy is assigned to inspection of all the stores, offices, laundries, 
 etc., in the state, and the other covers the cotton mills. The time 
 that the State Inspector and the chief clerk have for inspection is 
 given mainly to the prison and almshouse work although the In- 
 spector is able to make some child labor inspections. 
 
 Work Permit Blanks 
 
 On© of the strong points of the law is the fact that its enforce- 
 ment is centralized in the hands of the State Factory Inspector 
 who is authorized not only to inspect establishments where children 
 are employed but also to prepare the blank forms used in the issu- 
 ance of work permits. The law requires that children between 14 
 and 16 must have work permits (designated as "employment cer- 
 tificates") issued by superintendents of schools before they may be 
 employed. Permits are issued upon receipt of a school record show- 
 ing attendance at school 60 days in the preceding year, and docu- 
 mentary proof of age, or if this can not be obtained, upon a certificate 
 of physical age signed by a public health or public school physician 
 supported by the parent's affidavit. In many states the State De- 
 partment of Education is charged with the duty of preparing and
 
 Child Labor Law Administration 127 
 
 supplying to the issuing officers the blank forms necessary for 
 issuing permits but as in Alabama this Department is not familiar 
 with the technical difficulties involved in the enforcement of a 
 child labor law, it is better that the inspection department have the 
 authority to prepare them. Whenever it is found that they need 
 to be revised, it is a simple matter for the inspection department 
 to do so without having to persuade another department that it is 
 necessary. This system also enables the inspection department 
 to supervise the work of the school superintendents who issue the 
 permits. In the enforcement of a child labor law, the issuance of 
 work permits is just as important as the work of inspection. When 
 blanks are issued by the inspection department their use can be 
 carefully explained to the issuing officers and when inspectors find 
 permits which have been illegally issued they can take the matter 
 up with the issuing officer. 
 
 It was unfortunate that in centralizing the enforcement of the 
 law to this extent, the centralization was not carried further by 
 giving the State Inspector power to revoke permits which had been 
 illegally issued. While there has always been a cordial spirit of 
 co-operation between the inspectors and the issuing officers, and issu- 
 ing officers have gladly revoked any permits that an inspector found 
 to have been issued without proper evidence of age or schooling, 
 nevertheless the State Inspector should be authorized by law to 
 supervise the work of the issuing officers and to revoke permits 
 not properly issued. Unless the department issuing blanks has the 
 power to insure their right use there can not be uniformity of method 
 throughout the state. 
 
 The forms which the child labor law requires are a school record 
 blank to be filled out by the teacher showing that the child attended 
 school for 60 days during the year immediately preceding his appli- 
 cation for a work permit; one for the physician's certificate of age; 
 one for the parent's affidavit of age which must accompany the 
 physician's certificate; an eight weeks' schooling certificate show- 
 ing that a child under 16 years employed in mill or factory has 
 attended school 8 weeks during the year; a school record blank for 
 newsboys showing that the child is a regular school attendant; 
 and the work permit. 
 
 The requirement that a child must have attended school 60 
 days of the year "immediately preceding the date on which the
 
 128 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 certificate is issued" is the cause of considerable confusion. In 
 spite of the fact that it is explained on the back of the school record 
 blank that the year "immediately preceding" does not mean the 
 calendar year or the scholastic year but that if a permit is issued on 
 March 30, the child must have attended school 60 days between 
 then and March 30 of the previous year, issuing officers are fre- 
 quently uncertain as to what is meant by this clause. This may 
 be partly due to the examples used on the back of the blank. The 
 first one is January 1 to January 1, which immediately makes the 
 issuing officer think in terms of the calendar year. The next one is 
 September 1 to September 1, which brings to mind the scholastic 
 year. If other examples had been used, such as December 10 to 
 December 10, or April 21 to April 21, the point might be clearer 
 to the issuing officers. 
 
 The best way to clear up the difficulty, would be more frequent 
 conferences between inspectors and issuing officers. But there are 
 95 issuing officers in the state and only two inspectors. Consequently 
 inspectors do not get around very often and the inspection Depart- 
 ment has to rely largely upon letters and printed matter to explain 
 the law or changes in the requirements to issuing officers. This is 
 very unsatisfactory as few issuing officers take the time to familiar- 
 ize themselves with the law and pay little attention to communi- 
 cations about it which come in circular or printed form through the 
 mail. Moreover, if they do not understand such communications, 
 they rarely write to the State Inspector for infonnation but wait 
 until an inspector reaches their city. If the inspector does not see 
 the issuing officer when in the city, the difficulties are never cleared 
 up. By taking time to see the issuing officers frequently the inspec- 
 tors eventually save themselves work because they will not find 
 on file in factories and other child employing establishments certifi- 
 cates which have been illegally issued by an officer who has mis- 
 understood some of the requirements of the law. 
 
 In addition to the vagueness and inadequacy of the school 
 requirement, it is in conflict with the compulsory education law 
 which requires a child between 8 and 15 years to attend school 80 
 days during the scholastic year. Issuing officers are at a loss to 
 know whether to issue pennits on 60 days' attendance during the 
 previous 12 months as the child labor law requires or whether to 
 require 80 days' attendance during the scholastic year in accordance
 
 Child Labor Law Administration 129 
 
 with the education law. But since a school requirement of 60 days 
 is far from sufficient, the difficulties connected with this provision 
 could be eliminated by raising the educational requirement for a 
 work permit to the completion of the 4th grade, as is recommended 
 later on in this report. 
 
 In the absence of any acceptable documentary proof of age, a 
 certificate of age signed by a public health or public school physician 
 is accepted if accompanied by the affidavit of the parent. Neither 
 the physician's certificate nor the parent's affidavit is acceptable 
 as proof of age without the other. Although on the back of the 
 affidavit blank there is a statement to the effect that the affidavit 
 must be accompanied by the physician's certificate, a similar state- 
 ment does not appear on the latter blank. Hence permits are 
 frequently issued on the physician's certificate alone. The inspec- 
 tion Department has prepared a digest of the requirements of the 
 child labor law for the use of issuing officers which explains this point 
 very carefully yet one of the most intelligent issuing officers told 
 the investigator he thought he might as well discard his affidavit 
 blanks as they were not required any more. He had a copy of the 
 digest but had not read it carefully enough to know that both physi- 
 cian's certificate and parent's affidavit are required. He was per- 
 haps not entirely to blame for this for on the work peiTait blank 
 there is a line stating what kind of evidence may be accepted and 
 this specifies "physician's certificates of age" without stating that 
 the affidavit must accompany it. The lack of understanding of this 
 provision is another argument for closer supervision of the work of the 
 issuing officers by the inspectors. 
 
 If a work permit is issued upon some documentary proof of age 
 which can not be filed with the other blanks at the office of the issu- 
 ing officer there is no record of the evidence of age that was accepted. 
 The family Bible may have been brought, or a life insurance policy 
 or some other evidence which could not be left with the issuing 
 officer. It is impossible under such circumstances for the State In- 
 spector to find out without looking over the permits in the possession 
 of employers whether illegal evidence of age has been accepted. In 
 order to give him some means of checking up the work of the issuing 
 officers it would be advisable to have the work permit issued in 
 duplicate, one copy for the employer, and the other for filing in the 
 office of the State Inspector.
 
 130 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 Work of the Inspectors 
 
 Except for the work of the cotton mill inspector, child labor 
 inspection has been largely confined to the three cities of Birming- 
 ham, Montgomery and Mobile. Some work has also been done in 
 Anniston and Selma. As Birmingham is a city of almost 200,000 
 and Montgomery and Mobile have respectively about 50,000 and 
 60,000 inhabitants, it can readily be imagined what an almost 
 hopeless task confronts the one inspector who has in addition to these 
 cities all the smaller cities in the state. The department has been 
 at a loss from the beginning to know whether to concentrate its 
 small force in an endeavor to make some impression on the large 
 cities or whether to scatter its efforts in the hope of reaching more 
 places. Until recently the former policy was followed but now that 
 the department feels that some impression has been made on these, 
 it has begun to turn its attention to the smaller cities. 
 
 It would be useless to give any large amount of space to num- 
 ber and nature of violations found, for with such an entirely inade- 
 quate force of inspectors violations are to be expected. What it is 
 important to know, is whether that force has been used in a way to 
 get the best possible results. To do efficient work, an inspection 
 department that is short-handed is dependent upon three things: 
 
 (1) permit issuing officers who understand what they are doing; 
 
 (2) co-operation from other organizations; and (3) publicity. 
 
 (1) As was suggested in the discussion of work permit blanks, 
 issuing officers should be seen far more frequently than is now the 
 case. There is doubt in the minds of many issuing officers, for in- 
 stance, whether the child labor law applies outside of school hours 
 and on Saturday. A number are under the impression that a child 
 between 14 and 16 years who works only on Saturday does not need 
 a work permit. In fact, one issuing officer got his own son a job 
 in a grocery store on Saturdays, apparently in complete ignorance 
 of the fact that the law makes no distinction between emplo3rment 
 during and after school hours but prohibits the employment of 
 children under 14 years and requires a work permit for children 
 between 14 and 16 years employed at any time. 
 
 Hardly an issmng officer was interviewed who did not have some 
 question about the application or interpretation of the law. One 
 officer in a small city wished to know whether there was any exemp- 
 tion operative in the summer vacation. The law specifically states
 
 Child Labor Law Administratioti 131 
 
 that children over 12 years of age may be employed in mercantile 
 establishments and offices in towns of 25,000 or fewer inhabitants 
 and although the inspection department has preferred not to call 
 attention to this clause, it serves as an example of what issuing 
 officers are unable to find out for themselves with the text of the law 
 at hand. Almost without exception, issuing officers are interested 
 and wish to do the work correctly, but except in the three large cities, 
 they have rarely received more than one or two visits from an in- 
 spector and are still uncertain of the proper method of issuing 
 permits. 
 
 (2) The difficulty the inspectors work under in trying to run 
 down violations in the short time they can spend in each city is greatly 
 enhanced by the lack of other agencies with which they can co- 
 operate. In many states the inspection department receives valu- 
 able assistance from the school officials who report children found 
 illegally employed by the truancy officers. In Alabama the period 
 of compulsory school attendance lasts for four months only. In 
 Birmingham the largest city in the state, no compulsory attendance 
 officers were appointed to enforce the law last year (the first it was in 
 operation) because there was no room for additional pupils in the 
 existing schools and no money to build any more. A similar situation 
 was found in one or two other cities. An 11 -year old boy was found 
 on the streets in school hours in one city who said he had tried to 
 get into four schools and there was no room for him. In cities where 
 an attempt had been made to enforce the law, it had been impossible 
 to get attendance officers of the right type for the salary that the law 
 provides — S3.00 a day, or $60.00 a month for four months. Some 
 superintendents found that the only way to solve the difficulty was 
 to persuade some salaried official to do the truancy work in addition 
 to his regular work. The chief of police served in one city and in 
 another the superintendent was considering the appointment of the 
 tax collector and sanitary officer as truancy officers. Under such 
 conditions inspectors can get little or no assistance from the at- 
 tendance officers in locating violations. Nor can much help be ex- 
 pected from the probation officers. No probation officers have been 
 appointed outside the large cities and in these they have all they 
 can do in taking care of their own work. It is probable that more 
 information could be obtained from these probation officers than 
 has been in the past if they were advised of the importance of report-
 
 132 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 ing to the inspection department all cases of violation that come to 
 their knowledge. This was suggested by the inspector to the Mobile 
 probation officer who appreciated the importance of close correla- 
 tion in the work of child labor inspectors and probation officers and 
 readily consented to report all violations detected. 
 
 With little co-operation to be had from public institutions 
 like the schools and the juvenile courts, the only other agencies 
 that might be called upon are private organizations such as relief 
 agencies and women's clubs. But, taking the state as a whole, there 
 are no relief agencies. An isolated charity organization society 
 can be found here and there, and a few city welfare workers but 
 there are no agencies well enough equipped and organized to have 
 much information about employed children. The only organization 
 that might be of use is the State Federation of Women's Clubs. In 
 Birmingham a local child labor committee has been formed, the 
 members of which make it their business to keep themselves in- 
 formed about violations in the city. The inspector meets this group, 
 is supplied with a list of places where violations have been found, 
 and in this way loses no time in locating the most flagrant cases. In 
 no other city is there a group to which the inspector can turn for 
 information about conditions but must start in blindly to make a 
 round of all the establishments. If the women's clubs would or- 
 ganize a local committee in every city to co-operate with the in- 
 spector, it is likely that very much more effective work could be 
 done. In some cities visited by the investigator where a child labor 
 inspection had never been made, merchants did not know there 
 was a child labor law on the statute books that applied to them 
 and enquired whether it was a "new law." They were in entire 
 ignorance of the fact that it had been passed three years ago. Under 
 such conditions, the first inspection can be merely educational. If 
 there had been local child labor committees in these cities they could 
 have been made responsible for informing the employers of the 
 existence of the law. Copies of the digest could have been placed 
 in the hands of the employers who could have been held responsible 
 from that time on. The digest was sent by the inspection depart- 
 ment to employers in the large cities and to the cotton mills, but 
 in the places most seldom reached there was no supplementary 
 machinery for informing employers of the existence of the law. 
 Such a local committee could also be useful in providing relief for
 
 Cliild Labor Law Administration 13-3 
 
 needy cases. There is no mothers' pension law in Alabama and in- 
 spectors are frequently discouraged and tempted to ignore some 
 cases of violation because there is no agency to which they can refer 
 children who can not legally be employed but whose families are in 
 need of financial assistance. In Birmingham the local committee 
 handles such cases. If a child applies to the issuing officer for a 
 work permit and can not qualify for one but is actually in need of 
 the money, or the inspector finds a child illegally employed who needs 
 help, the case can be referred to the committee which will pay the 
 family the amount the child could earn until he is able to qualify 
 for a permit. In Mobile County there are two welfare workers who 
 enforce the compulsory school law and who have funds supplied by 
 the Child Welfare Bureau of Mobile to take care of the needy cases. 
 In the city of Mobile there is at present no one to whom such cases 
 can be referred. A mothers' pension law is badly needed, but if this 
 can not be secured, local child labor committees should be organized 
 to supply financial aid. 
 
 (3) The last resource of a small enforcing department is pub- 
 licity, and the best way to give publicity to a law is by prosecuting 
 employers who violate it. Until recently there had been no prose- 
 cutions since the present inspector went into office in the spring of 
 1917. Inspectors went their rounds again and again and while con- 
 ditions improved very materially there were employers who were 
 repeatedly found violating the law, and there were others who had 
 not been made aware of its existence through the publicity which 
 prosecutions give. A few prosecutions in every city are worth sev- 
 eral tours of inspection in acquainting all employers with the law 
 and making them feel that it is a serious matter to violate it. 
 
 It has been the custom of the State Inspector to require the 
 deputy inspectors to return to the main office to report violations. 
 Then if it is decided to prosecute any employers, the deputy re- 
 turns, swears out warrants, and proceeds against them. In this 
 way much valuable time is lost and the prosecution is not nearly 
 as effective as if the deputy inspector had sworn out a warrant as 
 soon as the violation was found and had brought proceedings at 
 once. Cases have been prosecuted recently in Binningham and 
 Montgomery and if this policy is extended to the smaller cities the 
 work of the inspectors will be greatly simplified and they will be 
 able to cover more cities than has been possible in the past. In
 
 134 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 addition to the publicity resulting from prosecutions, the depart- 
 ment could also assist itself in making the law known throughout 
 the state by giving the newspapers occasional information about 
 its activities. The people at large know nothing of the law except 
 that they have a vague idea there is one applying to cotton mills. 
 They have not the least idea that it applies to all work except do- 
 mestic service and agriculture and that there is a department charged 
 with its enforcement. 
 
 None of these methods for securing wider enforcement of the 
 law are adequate substitutes for more inspectors. Without a very 
 much larger force, any work done is carried on under disadvantages 
 that make the prospects for success almost hopeless. 
 
 Conflicts with Compulsory School Law 
 
 The work of the inspectors is still further complicated by the 
 fact that the compulsory education law was di^wn up without any 
 regard to the child labor law and conflicts with it in several respects. 
 The education law requires a child to attend school until he is 15 
 years old but permits exemptions in cases of extreme poverty, and 
 for various other reasons. In Mobile about 17 of these exemption 
 certificates were issued before it was found that children were using 
 them to obtain emplojnnent. Under the child labor law no child 
 under 14 years can work at any time, but the employer naturally 
 thinks that if the child has been excused from school by the school 
 officials he can employ him. The inspector had to remove all these 
 children and supply the school officials with a rubber stamp for 
 marking all exemption certificates with a notice that they could 
 not be used in lieu of work permits. The demand for exemption cer- 
 tificates ceased after that. These exemptions to the compulsory 
 attendance law ought to be abolished, for so long as a child can not 
 go to work under 14 years, there is no object in exempting him 
 from school attendance. 
 
 Confusion is also caused by the discrepancy in the age limits 
 fixed by the education and child labor laws. Under the education 
 law a child must go to school until he is 15 but under the child labor 
 law he can go to work at 14. This difficulty could be cleared up by 
 making 16 years the maximum age limit for compulsory school 
 attendance and by amending the child labor law so as to prohibit 
 a child under 16 years working during school hours. As the law
 
 Child Labor Law Administration 135 
 
 now stands, the employer is informed by the child labor inspector 
 that he must employ no children under 14. The child labor in- 
 spector is followed by the attendance officer who removes all children 
 under 15. Naturally the employer is annoyed and is inclined to 
 think that neither officer knows what the law is. 
 
 A third source of confusion is to be found in the duplicate 
 system of permits called for by the child labor and compulsory 
 education laws. Under the child labor law an employed child be- 
 tween 14 and 16 years must have a work permit issued by the super- 
 intendent of schools. The compulsory education law requires a 
 child between 8 and 15 years who is employed during school hours 
 to have a permit from the board of education. Since no child can 
 be employed under 14, and since one between 14 and 16 must have 
 a permit, there is no need for the other permit called for in the 
 compulsory education law and the clause requiring it should be 
 stricken out. 
 
 Issuing Officers 
 
 Except in Birmingham, work permits are issued by school 
 officials. In Birmingham the secretary of the Boys' Club has been 
 authorized to issue them in the name of the school superintendent 
 to whom he reports once a month. The advantages of having per- 
 mits issued by the Boys' Club are that the Club is centrally located 
 and open all the year. The disadvantages are the changing per- 
 sonnel and the fact that such work does not logically belong to a 
 Boys' Club. Some secretaries of the club are interested in the work 
 and realise the importance of doing it well but others consider that 
 it takes time that should be given to regular club activities and 
 would not object to having the work taken away and put back 
 into the hands of the school superintendent. At the present 
 time, however, there is probably no more satisfactory way of 
 handling the work. A Bureau of Compulsory Attendance and 
 Child Labor which would take the school census, enforce the edu- 
 cation law, and issue the work permits might be a good solution 
 of the difficulty but the city superintendent of schools says that no 
 funds would be available for such a bureau now. 
 
 The question of the accessibility of issuing officers is a very 
 serious one. Cotton mills are usually found outside the city limits 
 and transportation is so poor that it is frequently impossible to ask
 
 136 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 the children to come into the city to secure their permits from the 
 city or county superintendent. Consequently the principals of 
 schools in the vicinity of the mills have been designated as issuing 
 officers and 44 of the 95 issuing officers are in mill schools. Where 
 the work in one district is divided up in this way among several 
 persons, no officer issues enough permits to become really familiar 
 with the work. An officer who issues about one permit in two 
 months for a near-by mill said she had to look up the law on every 
 occasion and was never quite sure whether she was doing it right. 
 The superintendent of schools in that city, while perhaps a mile 
 further from the mill, understands the law and could issue the per- 
 mits without difficulty. He issues them in the summer by requiring 
 the principals to leave with him the school records of all eligible 
 children. Of the 44 mill schools where there are issuing officers, 
 only one is supported entirely by the mill and as this is very much 
 below standard, it is not likely that the principal will be continued 
 as an issuing officer very much longer. But in that same city the 
 superintendent of schools has office hours only one hour a day, 
 four days in the week, on two days of the week in the morning and on 
 two in the afternoon. Children go there time and again for their 
 permits and can not find him. If he is to be the only issuing officer 
 in the city it will be necessary for him to give more time to the 
 work. 
 
 Although the work of issuing permits is hampered by the fact 
 that school officials are not always on hand during the summer 
 vacation, there is no department other than the Department of 
 Education which has as many and as accessible representatives. 
 One superintendent was contemplating the appointment of the city 
 clerk as issuing officer but the duties of a city clerk are numerous, 
 and as he has not the same interest in a child of school age that the 
 school superintendent has, it is probable that he would not issue 
 permits with the same care. If he were interested, such an arrange- 
 ment might solve the difficulty for that particular city. But in 
 general the issuing of permits must remain in the hands of the 
 school superintendents for the reason that there is no one else to 
 handle them, and the summer vacation difficulty will" have to be 
 met by having the issuing officers appoint some one to act for them 
 when they are away. This can be done if the example of the school 
 superintendent who required the school records of all children
 
 Child Labor Law Administration 137 
 
 eligible for work permits to be turned over to him at the beginning of 
 the summer vacation, is followed. It would be advisable, also, to re- 
 duce the number of issuing officers wherever it would be possible 
 for the children to go to one officer. 
 
 Superintendents in small cities that have no cotton mills and have 
 never been inspected, have never issued a single permit. In cities 
 where there are cotton mills they have usually issued permits for 
 cotton mills only. 
 
 Proof of Age 
 
 The common difficulty of all issuing officers is to find adequate 
 proof of age. Birth records are difficult to secure because although 
 the state has a birth registration law, the cards were kept by local 
 officials previous to 1908 and were destroyed. Since then the cards 
 have been filed with the State Registrar of Vital Statistics and have 
 been preserved. Although the law requires that the name of the 
 child be given on the birth record, and space is provided for it in 
 the blank, it is not always filled in and shows merely that a "son" 
 or "daughter" was bom on such and such a date. This is useless 
 for the enforcement of the child labor law for it is impossible to 
 know whether the child who wants to go to work is the child whose 
 birth was recorded in the certificate. Since birth certificates can 
 almost never be obtained, and practically none of the families are 
 foreign bom so that passports or certificates of arrival are not to 
 be had, the only acceptable proof remaining is a Bible record, a life 
 insurance poHcy, or a physician's certificate of physical age sup- 
 ported by the parent's affidavit. A Bible record that has not been 
 tampered with is considered by many issuing officers the most reli- 
 able proof of age but most of the officers find that they have to fall 
 back very frequently on the physician's certificates of physical age. 
 This is not very satisfactory as the standards prescribed in it are 
 low, due to the fact they are the federal standards of height and 
 weight which had to be made low enough to be a fair standard 
 for foreign children of small stature. 
 
 The only satisfactory solution of the proof of age difficulty is 
 an adequate birth registration law properly administered. While 
 the records are being kept in good shape now, the state should be 
 organized in smaller registration districts so that each city, each 
 incorporated town, and each township would have its local registrar.
 
 138 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 The present organization with county health officers acting as reg- 
 istrars, and municipal health officers where there are any, gives the 
 local registrars too large a territory to cover adequately. 
 
 Violations 
 
 Since few establishments to which the federal law applied were 
 visited for the purposes of this study, nothing can be said about the 
 enforcement of the law there. In the three large cities of Birming- 
 ham, Montgomery and Mobile, conditions in local child-employing 
 establishments have been greatly improved by enforcement. Or- 
 dinarily about 2 permits a week are issued in Birmingham but 
 after a visit from the inspector 25 or 30 are issued. In the smaller 
 cities which the inspectors have never visited or have visited only 
 infrequently, children are employed in much the same way as they 
 were before the law went into effect. Where the compulsory school 
 attendance law is enforced they are kept in school 4 months of the 
 year but after school hours and during the other 8 months the 
 employment of children in stores, offices, theatres, hotels, and drug 
 stores is not interfered with. One hotel uses men on the elevators 
 during the day but in the evening three boys go on duty, two of 
 whom are 15 and the other 11, and these boys work until 2 in the 
 morning. Drug stores are also frequent offenders in the matter of 
 night work. Children under 16 work frequently until 10 or 11 
 o'clock although the law forbids the employment of a child under 
 16 years after 7 p. m. The boys usually come on after school and 
 work through the afternoon and evening rush. Another common 
 occupation in which children engage is taking tickets at the "movie" 
 theatres. In one city a boy of 9 and another of 12 were found doing 
 this, although the law forbids the employment of children under 
 16 in theatres. The 9-year-old boy worked until 9 p. m., and the 
 older one until 10.30. They were both going to school and the 
 younger boy said he got up early in the morning to do his lessons, 
 while the 12-year-old did his after he left the theatre at 10.30. The 
 department stores employ children as inside messengers and for 
 delivery work. Delivery service almost invariably means work 
 after 6 p. m. as the stores are open until 6 and want to have goods 
 delivered after that. Most store managers said if they could not 
 use boys under 16 years after 6 o'clock they would have no use 
 for them. Other children are taken on for Saturday only, and work
 
 Child Labor Law Administration 139 
 
 until the store closes Saturday night. A boy of 13 works as a messen- 
 ger in a department store until 9.30 every Saturday night. Children 
 are also used in restaurants until very late. One boy of 15 was 
 employed in the kitchen until 12 o'clock every night and an attend- 
 ance officer reported a boy of school age who was working all night 
 in a restaurant. Fourteen-year-old boys were found working for the 
 messenger companies until 10 at night in most of the small cities, and 
 13 and 14-year-old girls work in 5-and-lO-cent stores until 10 or 11 
 Saturday nights. Some Western Union managers and some 5-and- 
 10-cent store managers had received information about the law from 
 district managers but this knowledge did not seem to be general. 
 
 Such conditions as these were found to exist before the enact- 
 ment of the state law and it was upon such findings that the law 
 was drawn to apply to all occupations. It is hoped, now that the 
 law is fairly well understood in the large cities, that some attention 
 can be given to the smaller cities where the law is still entirely 
 unknown. 
 
 Prosecutions 
 
 Five Montgomery employers were recently prosecuted for 
 violation of the child labor law, four of whom pleaded guilty and 
 paid the minimum fine and costs. The other defendant asked 
 that the case be tried and the judge handed down the opinion that 
 if an employer hires a boy under 16 in the belief that he is over 16 
 he is not guilty. It is of course a very simple matter for an employer 
 to believe a boy is over 16. The boy and various members of his 
 family say that he is, and the court holds that this is evidence of 
 the good intent of the employer and that therefore he is not guilty 
 of violating the law. Under this decision employers all over the 
 state could employ children on the mere statement of some mem- 
 ber of the family that the child is 16. Such evidence of age is not 
 accepted in issuing work permits to children between 14 and 16; 
 documentary proof of age must be produced, or if this is not avail- 
 able, a physician must certify to the child's age. There is no rea- 
 son why an employer should not be required to secure equally reli- 
 able evidence before employing a child who represents himself to 
 be over 16 and if he does not secure it, he should be held guilty. In 
 a similar case in Wisconsin the judge gave it as his opinion that 
 "the employer is charged with the duty of ascertaining, at his peril,
 
 140 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 the age of a minor and of employing persons of lawful age only. 
 False statements of the minor or his parent as to the age of the minor, 
 is no defense for the employer." 
 
 Under the present child labor law if an inspector believes a child 
 to be under 16 he can require the employer to produce satisfactory 
 proof of age that the child is 16. If the employer can not produce 
 such evidence he must dismiss the child. This clause should be 
 amended to give the inspector authority to prosecute an employer 
 if a child in his employ is proved to be under 16. This would force 
 the employer to secure a reliable evidence of age before employing 
 a child if he wished to protect himself from prosecution. Such a 
 clause should be supplemented by one requiring issuing officers to 
 give age certificates to children claiming to be over 16 years of age 
 when employers request them. 
 
 Street Trades 
 
 In addition to the enforcement of the law in all child-employ- 
 ing establishments the department of child labor inspection is also 
 charged with the enforcement of the street trading section pro- 
 hibiting boys under 12 and girls under 18 from selling papers, etc., 
 on the streets in cities of 25,000 or more. The department is supposed 
 to receive assistance from attendance and probation officers in the 
 enforcement of this section, but as already pointed out, attendance 
 officers have never been appointed in some cities and where they have 
 been appointed, work only for four months. The department has 
 done very good work in securing the co-operation of the newspapers 
 themselves and fairly good results have been obtained in this way. 
 But street trading is the most difficult kind of work to regulate and 
 little permanent impression can be made upon it without the assist- 
 ance of local officers. The children are constantly changing, they get 
 their papers from dealers and from each other as well as from the 
 newspaper office, and they have no definite place of employment. 
 The circulation manager of the newspaper is supposed to see that 
 no papers are given to a boy who does not wear a seller's badge 
 obtained from the superintendent of schools but he can not be held 
 responsible for the boys who get their papers from dealers or from 
 other boys. More co-operation might be secured from the teachers, 
 some of whom do not know the law and fail to realize that children 
 can sell papers only outside of school hours. In Montgomery a boy
 
 Child Labor Law Administration 141 
 
 who was selling extras at noon was asked why he was not in school. 
 "When there's an extra out they call up the principal from the 
 newspaper office and she lets us out at noon," was his reply. If the 
 inspector met the teachers occasionally and explained the law to 
 them, better observ^ance might be secured. One provision in the 
 street trades section which renders its enforcement somewhat in- 
 effective is that which gives only the juvenile court power to revoke 
 a boy's badge. The juvenile court calendar is very frequently too 
 crowded to enable the judge to get around to cases of violation of 
 the street trading law. If the school officer who issued the badge 
 or the child labor inspector had the power to revoke it if the 
 child violated the law, enforcement would be speedier and more 
 effective. 
 
 In towns where there are army cantonments, conditions were 
 found to be particularly acute. In Montgomery where the street 
 trading law applies, since it is a city of more than 25,000, the depart- 
 ment had the situation fairly well in hand. But in Anniston and 
 Florence, both towns of fewer than 25,000 inhabitants in normal 
 times, the population has more than doubled since the location there 
 of cantonments or industrial plants and the presence of thousands 
 of outsiders has created a demand for out-of-town papers which never 
 existed before. In Anniston, boys of 8 and 10 get up at 4 in the 
 morning, get their papers at the station and go out to the camp with 
 them. They come back to town between 8 and 9, and many do not 
 go to school but remain on the streets selling during school hours. 
 The inspection department drafted a municipal ordinance to take 
 care of these children and it is to be hoped that the city will act 
 favorably upon it for the state law can not be made to apply without 
 amendment. In Florence the situation is almost as acute, due to 
 the enormous number of men who had been brought to the town to 
 work on the government nitrate plant. As the industrial develop- 
 ment going on there is of permanent character and will greatly in- 
 crease the population of Florence and the neighboring cities of 
 Sheffield and Tuscumbia, it would be advisable either to secure 
 municipal ordinances for these cities or to extend the state law to 
 apply to all cities and towns of 5,000 or more. With the present 
 force of inspectors it would be useless to extend the state law. If 
 the force can not be increased, municipal ordinances would be 
 better.
 
 142 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 War Problems in Other Occupations. 
 
 The employment of children in other occupations has also been 
 greatly increased by the presence of cantonments and large industrial 
 plants. The mercantile and food stores, drug stores, restaurants, 
 and movies can hardly keep pace with the demands made upon them. 
 In addition to the unprecedented demand for service, the industrial 
 plants have created an acute labor situation. They have drained 
 the local labor market of all men and older boys and the merchants 
 have no labor supply but the younger children. One Western Union 
 man complained that he could not keep any boy because the men 
 from the industrial plant came to his office and persuaded him to go 
 to the plant by offering him high wages. The child labor law applies 
 to these occupations, however, and the under-age children could be 
 eliminated in a few inspections. Anniston has received consider- 
 able attention and the situation is vastly improved. On the first 
 inspection, a 13-year-old boy was found who delivered for a market 
 until 2 a. m. Sunday. His employer never heard of the law and 
 "just let the boy work until he got through." With an occasional 
 visit from the inspector and a few prosecutions, it is safe to say that 
 such conditions would never return. 
 
 Hours of Labor 
 
 Before the Supreme Court's decision that the federal child 
 labor law was unconstitutional, it seemed that it would be a simple 
 matter to have the state law amended with regard to the hours of 
 labor. The present 11 -hour day and 60-hour week, was written into 
 the law by the cotton mill interests before the federal law was passed. 
 When the federal law was in force the cotton mills could not employ 
 children under 16 more than 8 hours a day, and therefore would 
 not have opposed a similar standard for other industries. But two 
 days after the Supreme Court decision was rendered the children 
 were put back on the 11 -hour schedule and any attempt to amend 
 this section of the law is likely to meet with bitter opposition. The 
 attempt should be made, however, as it is intolerable to think of a 
 return to the 11 -hour day. As there are no other industries which 
 work children for so many hours, none would be seriously affected 
 by an 8-hour law. Stores, movies, restaurants and the telegraph 
 companies frequently work children until late at night but this is
 
 Child Labor Law Administration 143 
 
 illegal under the night work provision of the law, and since children 
 do not go to work very early in the morning in any of these establish- 
 ments, an 8-hour day would not change the hours schedule very 
 materially. Children who began work at 8 in the morning would 
 leave at 5 instead of 6 at night, but employers should be able to adapt 
 the work to those hours without great inconvenience. 
 
 Educational Requirements 
 
 As was suggested in the section on "Work Permit Blanks," 
 the educational requirement for work permits is far too low. Some 
 states require the completion of the elementary school, others of 
 the 5th, 6th or 7th grade. In Alabama there are 7 grades in the ele- 
 mentary school and the child should have completed at least 4 of 
 these before he is permitted to sever his connection with the school 
 and go to work. If a child leaves from any grade lower than the 
 fourth he has done nothing more than primary work and the road 
 back to illiteracy is very short for the child who has not gone far 
 enough to do a little original thinking. 
 
 Another section in the law requires children between 14 and 16 
 who are employed in mills or manufacturing establishments to at- 
 tend school 8 weeks each year. There is no particular reason why 
 children in mills and factories should be required to attend school 
 when other employed children are not, and this third educational 
 requirement, different again from the requirement for work permits 
 and the compulsory education requirement, is enough to confuse the 
 most intelligent issuing officer. The clause should be stricken out 
 and no attempt made at continuation schooling until it can be ex- 
 tended to all employed children and there are school facilities to 
 take care of them. 
 
 Reports of Issuing Officers 
 
 The law requires the superintendent of schools to report each 
 month to the State Inspector the names of all children to whom per- 
 mits have been granted or denied during the preceding month. 
 These reports constitute the only record the department has of the 
 number of outstanding work permits and although it is impossible 
 now to find out how many there are because the returns are not 
 complete, the department is making a special effort to secure com-
 
 144 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 plete reports every month. When no permits have been issued, the 
 department requests issuing officers to send in the monthly blank 
 with "No Report" written on it so that the department's record will 
 be complete and no time or postage will be wasted in trying to get 
 the reports. The law does not require the officers to make a report 
 if no permits have been issued and as one or two officers have objected 
 on the ground that the law does not require them to do so, it would 
 be well to amend the law specifying that officers must report eveiy 
 month whether any permits were issued or not. 
 
 Vacation Employment 
 
 The present law permits the employment of children 12 and 
 over in business offices and mercantile establishments in towns of 
 25,000 or fewer inhabitants when the public schools are not in session. 
 No work permits are required of these children so that although an 
 age limit of 12 is specified in the law, no proof of age is necessary and 
 a child of any age may represent himself to be 12. Vacation employ- 
 ment, where it is permitted at all, should be as carefully safeguarded 
 as regular employment. It would be advisable therefore, to pro- 
 vide for vacation permits to be issued to children 12 and over in such 
 towns, based on the same requirements as for regular permits ex- 
 cept that they should be good in offices and stores only for the 
 summer months and that children need not have completed the 
 fourth grade to secure them. 
 
 Reorganization of Inspection Depaitment. 
 
 At present the child labor act is the only state labor law and 
 the act providing for the inspection of almshouses and jails is the 
 only one that belongs in the fields of charities and correction. Since 
 there was no labor department and no state charities department 
 when the child labor law was passed, the best solution seemed to be 
 to combine the work of child labor inspection with that of the ex- 
 isting machinery for the inspection of jails and almshouses. But 
 such a combination of duties makes the work of the State Inspector 
 very difficult as each field calls for such entirely different knowledge 
 and interests that no inspector could be well qualified to enforce 
 both laws. If the next legislature passes the proposed workmen's 
 compensation act, the child labor law might well be administered
 
 Child Labor Law Administration 145 
 
 by the same machinery created for its enforcement, organized as a 
 Department of Labor. If a Department of Labor is not organized 
 but instead a State Board of Social Welfare is created, and if the 
 workmen's compensation law is administered by a division of this 
 board, the child labor law should be administered by the same 
 division. If no workmen's compensation law is passed the child 
 labor law should be administered by a division of child welfare in 
 the proposed State Board of Social Welfare. 
 
 Summary of Recommendations 
 
 The more important recommendations may be summarized 
 as follows : 
 
 I. Amendments to child labor law. 
 
 1. Clause prohibiting employment in any occupation of children 
 
 under 16 during school hours to make age limit in child labor 
 law correspond to age limit in compulsory education law. 
 
 2. 8-hour day, 48-hour week, in any occupation under 16 years. 
 
 3. Clause authorizing inspector to investigate evidence of age upon 
 
 which work permit was issued and suspend it if illegal evidence 
 has been accepted. 
 
 4. Clause requiring issuing officers to give children claiming to be 
 
 16 or over age certificates when employers request them. 
 
 5. Omission of clause requiring children between 14 and 16 working 
 
 in mills and factories to attend school 8 weeks each year. 
 
 6. Raising of educational requirement for work permits from 60 
 
 days during previous year to completion of 4th grade. 
 
 7. Clause requiring issuance of vacation permits to children between 
 
 12 and 14 for employment in offices and stores in towns of fewer 
 than 25,000 inhabitants during summer vacation on same 
 requirements as regular permits except educational. 
 
 8. Issuance of permits in duplicate — one for employer, and one for 
 
 state inspector. 
 
 9. Extension of authority to revoke newsboy badges to school super- 
 
 intendents or other issuing officer issuing them and authorizing 
 inspectors to show cause why they should be revoked. 
 
 10. Organization of Department of Labor to administer proposed work- 
 
 men's compensation act and the child labor law, or creation of 
 a State Board of Social Welfare with a division of child welfare 
 which would administer the child labor law. 
 
 11. Two additional inspectors and sufficient clerical help.
 
 146 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 II. Conflicts necessitating amendments to compulsory education 
 
 law. 
 
 1. The maximum compulsory school attendance age limit should be 
 
 raised from 15 to 16 years and the exemptions to the law should 
 be abolished as there are no exemptions to the child labor law 
 permitting the employment of children under 14 during the school 
 year. 
 
 2. Section 9 of the compulsory education law of 1915 requires a child 
 
 between 8 and 15 who is employed during school hours to have 
 a permit from the Board of Education. Under the child labor 
 law no child may be employed at any time until he is 14 and 
 between 14 and 16 must have a work permit issued by the 
 superintendent of schools. The pennit called for in the com- 
 pulsory education law is an unnecessary duplication. 
 
 III. General recommendations. 
 
 1. Closer co-operation with issuing officers. 
 
 2. Organization of local child labor committees. 
 
 3. More prosecutions, giving inspectors power to swear out warrants 
 
 and prosecute without reporting to main office. 
 
 4. Extension of inspection to smaller cities, especially those where 
 
 cantonments or war industries have created abnormal conditions. 
 
 5. Municipal ordinances regulating street selling in towns where 
 
 problem is acute and is not covered by state law. 
 
 6. Co-operation of school teachers and principals in enforcing street 
 
 trades law.
 
 JUVENILE COURTS AND PROBATION 
 
 Mrs. W. L. Murdoch 
 
 Birmingham, Alabama 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 This inquiry was undertaken with a view to learning how well 
 the juvenile court is serving the purpose for which it was created, 
 in what respect it has failed, if at all, and what should be done to 
 make it fully successful. A questionnaire was sent to the juvenile 
 courts of the 67 counties of the state, asking for the number of cases 
 dealt with in the year 1917, whether separate dockets for children's 
 cases were kept, whether separate trials were held, what disposition 
 was made of each case, and what were the chief causes of local 
 delinquency and dependency. The counties of Jefferson, Mobile, 
 Montgomeny% Dallas, Madison, Lee, Pike, Etowah, Walker, Tusca- 
 loosa, Calhoun and Houston were visited and the probate judges 
 who, except in Jefferson and Mobile Counties, serve also as juvenile 
 court judges, were personally interviewed, as well as the probation 
 officers, if any, the sheriffs, chiefs of police, judges of recorder's 
 courts and heads of charitable societies. The available records and 
 dockets of the courts were carefully examined, and detention homes, 
 if any existed, were visited. If it was reported that children were 
 held in jail, this was visited and its condition observed; and the 
 relation between the courts and societies engaged in placing out chil- 
 dren was noted. 
 
 Replies to the questionnaires were received from only 30 
 counties; of these 26 keep separate dockets for children's cases but 
 only 5 have probation officers. Juvenile court work is commonly 
 carried on either without investigation of the homes, surroundings 
 and circumstances of children, or local charitable agencies are relied 
 upon to furnish such information. In most of the counties of the 
 state no probation work is done and no records of dependent and 
 neglected children are kept. Very few relief societies are able to 
 supply statistics of their work. In many small towns the mayor 
 acts as father adviser, as well as judge of the recorder's court to 
 
 147
 
 148 
 
 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 small boys whom he generally reprimands and dismisses when brought 
 before him by the police. No records are made of such proceedings. 
 
 Number of Children Passing 
 Through Courts in 1917 
 
 County White Colored Total 
 
 Baldwin 2 1 3 
 
 Bullock 1 10 11 
 
 Calhoun 63 13 76 
 
 Chilton 10 10 
 
 Colbert 3 5 8 
 
 Conecuh : 3 4 7 
 
 Cullman 3 3 
 
 Dale 1 3 4 
 
 Dallas 13 29 42 
 
 DeKalb 3 1 4 
 
 Escambia 1 1 
 
 Franklin 3 14 
 
 Geneva 3 1 4 
 
 Houston 6 4 10 
 
 Jefiferson 870 524 1,394 
 
 Madison 8 2 10 
 
 Mobile 87 96 183 
 
 Montgomery 168 286 454 
 
 Pike 2 13 
 
 Tuscaloosa 9 4 13 
 
 Washington 1 1 2 
 
 1,260 986 2,246 
 
 Lee reported 54 and Walker 20 white and colored children 74 
 
 2,320 
 
 The courts in Birmingham, Montgomery, Mobile, Selma and 
 Huntsville, the five largest cities, were intensively studied because 
 of the larger problems they face. Only Mobile and Birmingham 
 have detention homes. The others use the jail when detaining a 
 child awaiting trial and until sent to institution after trial, though 
 rarely for more than a few days at a time. Paid probation officers 
 give their entire time to the work in Birmingham, Montgomery 
 and Mobile; in Selma a colored officer, who is paid a very small 
 monthly salary, is assigned to cases of negro children, the advisory 
 board serving as probation officer for white children. In Hunts-
 
 Juvenile Courts and Probation 149 
 
 ville, the judge relies entirelj^ upon the advisory board for such as- 
 sistance, having no probation officer and no detention home. 
 
 The twelve counties visited lie in the mining, industrial, and 
 agricultural sections, including the "Black Belt," and hence the 
 study has comprehended conditions prevailing in these well-marked 
 divisions, while at the same time the territory chosen has afforded 
 the opportunity to observe the operation of the two special juvenile 
 court acts now in force in the state, as well as the state-wide law. 
 
 JUVENILE COURT LAWS 
 
 The state has three juvenile court laws — one is state-wide In 
 application, one relates to Mobile County exclusively, and one to 
 Jefferson County exclusively. 
 
 The state-wide law confers upon the court jurisdiction over 
 children under 16 years, but makes no clear distinction between 
 delinquent and dependent or neglected children. All children 
 under 16 years of age over whom the court has jurisdiction, are 
 declared to be wards of the state. The law reads : 
 
 "Any child under sixteen years of age who violates any law of the 
 State, or who violates any ordinance of any municipality of this State, 
 or who is incorrigible; or who knowingly associates with thieves, or 
 gamblers; or who is growing up in idleness or crime; or knowingly visits 
 or enters a house of ill fame; or who knowingly visits or patronizes any 
 policy shop, bucket shop, pool room, billiard room, bar room, or club 
 room, where liquors are kept or drunk, or served to members; or where 
 any gaming table, or device for gambling is operated, or who loiters 
 about any such places; or who habitually smokes cigarettes; or who 
 wanders about the streets at night without being on any lawful business; 
 or who habitually wanders about any railroad yards, or tracks, or jumps 
 or hooks on to any moving engine or car ; or unlawfully enters any engine 
 or car; or who habitually uses any vile, obscene, profane, or indecent 
 language; or is found in possession of any indecent, lascivious book, 
 picture, print, card or paper; or who is in possession of any pistol, dirk, 
 bowieknife, or metal knuckles; or is guilty of immoral conduct in any 
 public place, or in or about any school house, or who engages in any 
 occupation, calling or exhibition, or is found in any place for permitting 
 which an adult may be punished by law; and generally, any child who so 
 deports himself, or is in such conditions, or surroundings, or is under such 
 improper, or insufficient guardianship, or control, as to endanger the 
 morals, health, or general welfare of such child, sliall be deemed a ward 
 of the State, and entitled to its care and protection; and the State shall 
 exercise its right of guardianship and control over such child in the man- 
 ner hereinafter provided."
 
 150 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 It thus appears that delinquent, dependent and neglected chil- 
 dren are placed under the jurisdiction of these courts. While the 
 question has not been determined or even raised, the wording of 
 the act is probably such as to give jurisdiction over defective chil- 
 dren not receiving proper care or treatment. 
 
 The state-wide law also grants to the court jurisdiction over 
 persons contributing to the delinquency of a child or who are responsi- 
 ble for its dependency or neglect. It embodies the best principles 
 of the juvenile court theory — that is, the chancery court procedure, 
 designed not so much to punish children as to discover, and remove 
 if possible the causes of their delinquency or to come to the aid of 
 dependent or neglected children and to create for all of them con- 
 ditions of life as nearly normal as possible. With regard to dependent 
 or neglected children, the provisions of the law are so broad that these 
 may be taken from their parents even when the neglect is due to 
 religious faith. The court has the right to exercise jurisdiction over 
 seriously sick children whose parents refuse to summon a physician 
 or allow hospital care because of the tenets of their religion. In- 
 deed, the state-wide law gives the juvenile court judge ample lati- 
 tude in all cases of neglect — a feature which makes it superior to 
 the special Mobile law. 
 
 The probate judge of each county is authorized by the state- 
 wide law to act as juvenile judge in the absence of a special juvenile 
 court. Recorder's courts have concurrent jurisdiction with pro- 
 bate courts only in reference to children who violate city ordinances. 
 These courts, as a rule, transfer such children at once to the juvenile 
 or probate court. The law provides that separate dockets shall be 
 kept and separate trials held of all children's cases. The appoint- 
 ment of probation officers, both paid and volunteer, and of advisory 
 boards to serve as assistants to the judge, is also provided for. The 
 advisory boards are entrusted with general supervision over the 
 court's work. 
 
 Failure of fathers to support and care for their children brings 
 them under the jurisdiction of juvenile judges, but the provision 
 of the non-support law by which the county was required to pay 
 fifty cents daily out of the public funds to the wife or" children of a 
 deserting husband or father put to work upon the county road, 
 was declared unconstitutional by the Alabama Supreme Court because 
 of a defect in the title of the act. Still, even without the provision
 
 Juvenile Courts and Probation 151 
 
 for the relief of the family during the period of the deserter's ser- 
 vices on the county roads, the non-support law has been of great 
 serv'ice in the handling of cases of neglected children. 
 
 The state-wide juvenile court law recognizes the theory that 
 the home is the best place for a child unless his parents or guardian 
 be of such character as to be detrimental to his welfare, in which 
 case the judge may place him on probation either in his own home or in 
 a selected family, or may commit him to an institution. Under the 
 state-^vide law, a child awaiting trial may be kept in a jail, if no 
 other place is provided for the purpose and if in the judgment of 
 the court, it is absolutely necessary, but in a room entirely separate 
 and apart from any in which adult prisoners are confined. 
 
 The special Jefferson County juvenile court law confers juris- 
 diction over boys under 16 years and girls under 18 years of age, 
 who are "delinquent, indigent, neglected, or otherwise subject to 
 discipline or in need of care and protection, of the state." The judge 
 of the court must be a lawyer and must devote his entire time to 
 the work of the court. The placing of a child in jail is forbidden, 
 and provision by the county of a shelter or detention home is author- 
 ized. In other respects the law is practically similar to the state- 
 wide act, except as to the appointment of the judge. The judge of 
 the Jefferson County juvenile court is appointed by the governor 
 for a term of six years. 
 
 The special Mobile County Act, creating a special juvenile 
 court, does not require the judge to give all his time to the work. 
 He must be a lawyer and is allowed $50 a month for his services. A 
 Juvenile Court Commission is provided for, and empowered to ap- 
 point the judge and the probation officers. The establishment of 
 a detention home or homes, for the care of children awaiting trial, 
 or living in such homes on probation or otherwise, is authorized 
 and two have been established, one for white boys, one for white 
 girls. Really the Mobile law applies only to delinquent children. 
 There is no provision for the handling of dependent or neglected 
 children, or of persons contributing to the delinquency of a child 
 or causing his neglect. 
 
 Procedure in Juvenile Courts, State-wide or Special. A 
 child is brought before any of the courts upon petition. The arrest 
 of a child in the ordinary way is not forbidden, but in such event 
 he is to be turned over to the juvenile court. When the child is
 
 152 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 brought in, a probation officer, if available, is assigned to the case 
 at once to make a thorough investigation of all the circumstances 
 connected with it. In the absence of any such agent the court 
 relies for its information upon investigations made by voluntary 
 agents, or by the advisory board and upon the testimony at the 
 trial. In most of the counties of the state there are no probation 
 officers and but few children's cases are heard in the course of a year, 
 hence all the details of juvenile court procedure are not followed. 
 A model set of blank forms for use both in guiding officers and in 
 recording facts, has been prepared by the judge of the Jefferson 
 County Court, but in many of the smaller courts, the forms were 
 not used and the procedure was found to consist simply in bringing 
 the child in on petition, entering the case on the docket, and holding 
 an informal hearing. 
 
 CARE OF CHILDREN AWAITING TRIAL 
 
 In all the cities, except Birmingham and Mobile, the jails are 
 used for holding children awaiting trial — usually for only a few days 
 in each case ; but in some places it was found that children had been 
 kept in jail several weeks at a time. In Montgomery, the probate 
 judge is the juvenile judge and where juvenile court cases are heard 
 only once a week, children have several times been held in jail more 
 than two weeks awaiting trial. In Mobile it was found that occa- 
 sionally negro boys, who had been committed by the court to the 
 Mount Meigs Reformatory, were detained as long as two weeks 
 awaiting transfer by the sheriff. In all such cases, they had been 
 kept separate from adult prisoners, and in most instances the jails 
 were clean and fairly well ventilated. The enforced idleness of the 
 children in these jails seems to be the worst feature of the practice. 
 
 In Madison County, arrangements have been made with the 
 Volunteers of America for the care of white children but negroes 
 are, once in a while, kept in the jail which is in a condition far from 
 satisfactory and by no means a proper place for the detention of any 
 child. 
 
 No delinquent white children were handled by" the Dallas 
 County court in 1917 and the dependents were cared for in suitable 
 local homes until committed to institutions or placed in foster 
 homes. Negro children awaiting trial are held in jail.
 
 Juvenile Courts and Probation 153 
 
 Children who are arrested by the police and taken before the 
 mayors of cities are rarely put into jail — indeed, the mayors report 
 that almost without exception such children are transferred at 
 once to the juvenile courts. In Mobile, for instance, the chief of 
 police merely detains them in his office until he can communicate 
 with the superintendent of the detention home or with the proba- 
 tion officer. In Jefferson County, the commissioner of public safety 
 for Birmingham reports that although 171 children were arrested 
 by the police in 1917, no records were made of their cases nor were 
 any of them placed in jail, but all were turned over at once to the 
 juvenile court. 
 
 DETENTION HOMES 
 
 Local advisory boards deplore the lack of detention homes, 
 but examination of the records indicated that if good probation 
 officers were provided, the dependent and neglected children could 
 be boarded in private homes at much less expense than would be 
 incurred for the maintenance of a detention home. Outside of the 
 counties with large cities, delinquents except in very rare cases 
 could be satisfactorily cared for in the home of a good, strong, 
 s\Tnpathetic man. A few unusual cases might have to be held in 
 jail until sent to some institution. This is unfortunate, but for the 
 present, it appears to be the only solution. 
 
 The detention home for white boys in Mobile County is worthy 
 of special comment. The building is by no means ideal for the pur- 
 pose, but the grounds are large and make gardening and other 
 out door work possible. The superintendent is one of the probation 
 officers of the juvenile court. Because of the superintendent's 
 understanding of boys' needs, the home is a constructive force in 
 the community. The boys attend the nearest public school and bring 
 weekly reports from the teachers. They are practically all delin- 
 quents. As a reward for good conduct, they are frequently paroled 
 to their own homes for week-ends. The reader is referred to the 
 chapter on Child-Caring Institutions for a description of the Mobile 
 Boys' Detention School, which is really a home for custodial care. 
 Recently a detention home for white girls was established and 
 placed under the same supervision but with a matron in immediate 
 charge. It is unfortunate that the county makes no similar pro- 
 visions for the care of negro boys or girls, delinquent negro children
 
 154 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 being held in jail unless otherwise disposed of. There is no place 
 for dependent or neglected negro children. 
 
 In Jefferson County a remodeled residence houses both the 
 juvenile court and the detention home. In the latter both white 
 and negro children of both sexes are cared for in separate quarters, 
 the average daily number being twenty. 
 
 As the state has no institution for delinquent negro girls, 
 juvenile courts are at a loss to know what to do with this class of 
 offender, and in the absence of detention homes where they might 
 be held pending more satisfactory arrangements in their behalf, 
 they are commonly placed out in homes, or sent to convict camps. 
 Negro boys are also placed out. Frequently both negro boys and 
 girls are placed out with white persons. 
 
 DISPOSITION OF CHILD 
 
 If a child charged with delinquenc}^ is found to be guilty, the 
 judge may commit him to a state or private institution, or relaese 
 him on probation, or arrange for his placement or board in a family. 
 Indeed, the state-wide and Jefferson County laws are so broad that 
 the judge may choose virtually any course that seems to safeguard 
 the interests of the child to the best advantage. Since the state-wide 
 and Jefferson County laws draw no clear distinction between delin- 
 quents and dependents or neglected children, it follows that in the 
 disposition of such cases the juvenile courts have the same wide 
 discretion. They can send, and in many cases have sent, dependent 
 children to the state reformatories. 
 
 PROBATION 
 
 The state-wide juvenile court law provides that: 
 
 "The courts having jurisdiction of proceedings under this chapter 
 may, either jointly or separately, appoint probation officers, who may be 
 either men or women, who must be of good moral character, inteUigent, 
 of blameless lives, and in sympathy with the aims and purposes of this 
 chapter, who under the order of courts, shall have the oversight and care 
 of such children as may be committed by said courts to their charge or 
 super\asion; and shall file a petition in the said probate court in the case 
 of any child coming under his notice who is in need of the State's care 
 and protection; and shall also bring charges against any person who 
 aids or encourages any child to violate any law, or any order of said
 
 Juvenile Courts and Probation 155 
 
 courts. Said probation officers shall serve during the pleasure of the 
 court, or courts appointing them, and shall be removable by the said 
 court, or courts. When the probate court shall appoint a probation 
 officer, or officers, the commissioner's court, or board of revenue, of said 
 county, must pay such officer or officers a reasonable salary to be fixed 
 by agreement with said judge; and when the recorder's court shall ap- 
 point a probation officer, or officers, the governing body of said city shall 
 pay said officer or officers a reasonable salary to be fixed by agreement 
 with said judge; when such courts shall jointly appoint a probation offi- 
 cer, or officers, the said authorities of said city and county shall jointly 
 pay said officer, or officers, a reasonable salary'', to be fixed by agreement 
 with said court; such probation officers, when so appointed and quali- 
 fied, shall have all the power and authority of peace officers anywhere 
 in the State. The said courts, or either of them, shall also have the right 
 and authority to appoint one or more volunteer probation officers, who 
 when so appointed and qualified, shall have and exercise all the power and 
 authority vested in said probation officers under this section." 
 
 Only five of the cities visited make any provision for probation 
 work and only four have paid officers. The probation officer acts as 
 investigator before the child's trial, and as adviser to the judge at 
 the trial, as well as counsellor, guide and friend of the child at all 
 times. Inasmuch as the court is a social agency, whose object is 
 to make conditions nonnal for children in every way, if possible, 
 complete knowledge and understanding of all the circumstances 
 affecting each case must be gained and as these essentials can be 
 gained only through the probation officer, this officer becomes vital 
 to the success of the court. A juvenile court without a probation 
 officer, is a juvenile court in name only. 
 
 In Jefferson, Montgomery and Mobile Counties, there are 
 full-time probation officers for both white and colored children and 
 Selma has a paid officer for colored children, as heretofore stated. 
 Elsewhere in the state there are only volunteer workers or none at 
 all. Often the judge himself does a large amount of probation work, 
 especially in counties of small population. In Calhoun County, 
 for example, of the 63 cases of white children handled in 1017, 44 
 were on probation under the judge's personal supervision. 
 
 Etowah, one of the large counties where probation work is a 
 constant need, relies for this sei-vice upon a welfare worker for the 
 city of Gadsden, who is not connected with the court. In Madison, 
 Pike and Dallas Counties, the local advisory boards do the probation 
 work.
 
 156 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 The judge for Tuscaloosa County not only acts himself as pro- 
 bation officer for both white and colored children, but also co- 
 operates with men of the community in a "Big Brother" movement 
 to look after boys on probation. This is done in Houston County 
 also. Under such an arrangement, children report to the judge, 
 the Big Brothers assigned to their cases visiting their homes and 
 consulting their school teachers from time to time to see that all 
 goes well. 
 
 COMMITMENT TO INSTITUTIONS 
 
 Nearly every judge visited had committed to institutions most 
 of the deHnquent children brought before him. Both judges and 
 advisory boards commonly regard such disposition of delinquent 
 children as best for their welfare. The distinction between depend- 
 ents and delinquents is not always carefully made in such commit- 
 ments. Complete case histories are not forwarded to the institutions, 
 and dependents are frequently committed to each of the state insti- 
 tutions for delinquent white children. If investigations were made 
 by probation officers, in many instances, relatives could be found 
 able and willing to care for such children. This situation will be 
 improved to a great extent by the Alabama Children's Aid Society 
 and many children classified as delinquents, as well as dependents, 
 will be cared for without being committed to institutions. Where 
 there are probation officers, the proportion of children committed 
 to institutions is much less than where there are none; for parents 
 often bring children to court on slight complaints and ask to have 
 them sent to institutions. Such cases can nearly always be disposed 
 of satisfactorily through the medium of a probation worker. 
 
 Parents also go directly to the institutions themselves, at times, 
 and ask that their children be admitted on the grounds that they 
 are incorrigible and superintendents have received them. There 
 is some doubt as to the authority of the institutions in such cases. 
 In order that there may be no doubt, this should be prohibited by 
 law and only children duly committed by the juvenile courts should 
 be admitted to state institutions for delinquents, dependents or 
 defectives. With preliminary investigation by probation officers, 
 and co-operation with the Children's Aid Society and other proper 
 agencies, this condition will soon be remedied. 
 
 In Jefferson County, out of 1,394 cases handled in 1917, only
 
 Juvenile Courts and Probation 157 
 
 150 were committed to institutions, while 424 were placed on pro- 
 bation. This was made possible by careful investigation. In Madi- 
 son County, where there is no probation officer, 6 of the 10 cases 
 handled in 1917 were committed to institutions. 
 
 PAROLE 
 
 The law provides that the term of commitment to a state in- 
 stitution shall cover the period until the child is 21 years of age. 
 Unless he is released by its governing board, the juvenile court has 
 no right, under the state-wide law to recall or discharge children 
 committed to state institutions. This is proper. The institution 
 alone should have the power to parole or discharge a child com- 
 mitted to its care. The law does not require the superintendent to 
 report to judges the number of children paroled or discharged and 
 this provision should be incorporated. At present none of the state 
 institutions has a parole officer and no real follow-up work is done — 
 the cliild comes back to the institution only upon further complaint 
 and court proceedings, and hence there is no way of determining 
 whether or not the work of either the court or the institution has 
 been satisfactory. To be effective each institution should have at 
 least one parole officer — a man for boys and a woman for girls — for 
 one good officer in touch with children on parole usually prevents 
 the occasion of their return to the institution and thereby saves the 
 state far more than his salary. 
 
 PLACING OUT 
 
 The judges of all the courts visited place children out for 
 adoption or foster case. Charitable societies also arc engaged in 
 placing children or in having them adopted. So far as could be 
 learned no apprenticing of children goes on. The whole business 
 is exceedingly lax. Very few, if any, records are kept. Little inves- 
 tigation is made and there is but little, if any, follow-up work. The 
 child simply goes to a new home, and so far as courts or records 
 are concerned, that, in most cases, is the end of the matter. Pro- 
 vision should be made for keeping complete records, for investi- 
 gating every home into which a child is sent and for follow-up work 
 in every case. The state should know that the child is being prop- 
 erly cared for. These matters should not be left to chance.
 
 158 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 RECORDS AND REPORTS 
 
 The state- wide juvenile court law provides that a separate 
 docket be kept for all children's cases, and this is done in all but 
 three of the counties visited, but the blank fonns for case records 
 (copies of which had been supplied to every juvenile court in the 
 state) are disregarded, the judges in Jefferson, Montgomery, and 
 Mobile Coimties alone using complete sets. In general the same 
 entry form is used for both dependent and delinquent children. 
 In almost no court is the age of the child given. This makes any 
 study of case histories extremely difficult. In the courts which fail 
 to keep a separate docket, it is impossible to learn anything about the 
 number of cases handled. In some courts, as in Etowah County, the 
 only method of obtaining information concerning children handled 
 in 1917 was to get from state institutions a list of those committed 
 from the county — and naturally the results were not satisfactory. 
 
 Very few judges pay much attention to records and where 
 not more than a dozen juvenile cases are dealt with in an entire year, 
 this is not surprising. Records of probation work are not kept in 
 any of the counties except in Jefferson, Montgomery, Mobile, Dallas 
 and Lee. The first three use regular forms for filing and the two 
 others make only informal notes. When the judge acts as probation 
 officer or where the mayor handles the cases, no records of probation 
 work are kept at all. A uniform system of records for case histories 
 and probation work for use by juvenile courts throughout the state 
 is necessary in order to standardize procedure and treatment and to 
 make available the comprehensive information essential to an under- 
 standing of the problems of juvenile delinquency and dependency. 
 
 CAUSES OF JUVENILE DELINQUENCY AND DEPENDENCY 
 
 As only the five juvenile courts that have advisory boards make 
 annual reports, no general data can be obtained upon which to base 
 safe conclusions as to causes, but judging from the material col- 
 lected in this inquiry, it seem-S that the broken home, whether due 
 to death, desertion or divorce, is the chief factor in bringing children 
 to court. Every judge interviewed declared that lack of parental 
 control was responsible for most of his delinquency cases. The loss 
 of the father and bread-winner, by throwing the support of the 
 family upon the mother, produces an abnormal condition in the
 
 Juvenile Courts and Probation 159 
 
 home — the mother goes out to work, leaving the children more or 
 less to their own devices, and deHnquency is not unlikely to follow. 
 If the mother has children too young to leave, dependency usually 
 ensues. Lack of proper recreational opportunities, child labor, and 
 disregard of the compulsory school attendance law are also con- 
 tributing causes of deHnquency. Larceny is the leading offense 
 among boys, both white and negro, predominating especially among 
 working boys. This is especially true of errand boys sent with par- 
 cels or money who thus have opportunities for steaHng thrust 
 upon them and often yield to the temptation. 
 
 The people of Alabama need to be awakened to the situation. 
 Nearly every judge deplores the absence of agencies to assist him in 
 his work and complains of the community's indifference. If an 
 advisory board were appointed in every county to act as a real child 
 welfare agency as the law provides, visiting institutions that receive 
 children, reporting cases of neglect, suffering and misbehavior to 
 the court, and, most important of all, providing for a county pro- 
 bation officer, much of the juvenile delinquency would be prevented. 
 It is quite natural that a judge in a rural coimty of little population 
 should look upon an advisory board and a probation officer as un- 
 necessary but nevertheless the work would be much better done with 
 their help. The probation officer in such a locality could serve also 
 as the school truancy officer and this combination of duties would 
 keep him constantly occupied. Most of the juvenile courts are 
 presided over by probate judges, who are elected for a term of six 
 years and who therefore have the time to develop a policy for child 
 caring. Probate and juvenile judges, without exception, show a 
 keen desire to do the best for every child in their communities, but 
 without the assistance of advisory boards and probation officers 
 their hands are virtually tied and the children do not have that con- 
 sideration which the law is designed to assure them. The law is 
 based upon the idea of the court as a social agency whose judge might 
 be likened to a wise father and the probation officer to a kindly 
 mother who together are working for the best interests of the child; 
 but the judges for the most part do not have probation officers as 
 helpmates and so the system is but half established. Because of 
 lack of understanding of the value and importance of probation 
 work, the county boards of revenue, which are responsible for 
 financing the work of the courts, do not provide for probation offi-
 
 160 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 cers in spite of the fact that the law requires them to do so. If the 
 money value, to say nothing of the social value, of the preventive 
 work done by good probation officers could be shown to these boards, 
 some of them undoubtedly would realize that adequate appropria- 
 tions for such a purpose are fully justified. 
 
 The state-wide juvenile court law contains no reference to 
 feeble-minded children and the state makes no provision for their 
 care. In reply to a questionnaire sent to county superintendents 
 of schools a large number of such children was reported. The figtues 
 for some counties seem excessive, owing to the fact that the mean- 
 ing of the term "feeble-minded" was not clearly defined or understood, 
 but it is significant that every superintendent reported some feeble- 
 minded children in his coiuity. The state undoubtedly has a large 
 number of such children, and an institution for their care and treat- 
 ment is imperative. 
 
 The general prosperity has tended to reduce the number of 
 dependent children and yet there is still a good deal of poverty in 
 the rural districts. The inability of ignorant mothers to spend 
 money wisely even when the bread-winner for the family is earning 
 good wages, forces many at his death into dependency. Mothers 
 with dependent young children should receive such aid as will en- 
 able them to keep their families and properly support and educate 
 their children. 
 
 RECOMMENDATIONS 
 
 1. There should be in every county a combined probation 
 and truancy officer or bureau appointed jointly by the board of 
 revenue and school board upon the recommendation of the judge 
 of the juvenile court and paid for full-time service out of public 
 funds, one-half to come from the public school fimds. Advisory 
 boards should be immediately appointed in every county in conform- 
 ity with the law. 
 
 2. The Jefferson Coimty juvenile court law should be amended 
 so as to make possible an increase in the salary of the judge and pro- 
 vision should be made for more workers attached to the. court. 
 
 3. Because of the large population and large and increasing 
 nimiber of cases requiring attention, Montgomery County should 
 be granted a separate juvenile court with a full-time judge and more 
 probation officers.
 
 Juvenile Courts and Probation 161 
 
 4. The non-support law should be amended so as to restore the 
 pa}Tnent by the county of a certam amount of money per diem to 
 the wife or family of a deserter during the term of his senace at 
 labor for the comity. 
 
 5. Children within the juvenile court age should be com- 
 mitted to state-supported institutions only by the juvenile court; 
 and the power to commit dependent or neglected children to insti- 
 tutions for delinquent children should be taken away. 
 
 6. No child should be allowed to be received by any state- 
 supported institutions tmless duly committed b}^ a court of competent 
 jurisdiction. 
 
 7. There should be estabHshed a system of uniform records 
 for all juvenile courts, not only for the docket but also for case 
 histories and probation work. It is suggested that a manual be 
 prepared for the use of juvenile courts, containing a digest of the 
 laws, a hst of child-caring institutions and agencies in the state, 
 and forms for imiform records. 
 
 8. The act of apprenticeship, having been superseded by the 
 juvenile court law, should be repealed. 
 
 9. In the event of the creation of the proposed State Board of 
 Social Welfare, the chief of its child welfare division should be 
 required to visit personally all the juvenile courts and probate 
 courts acting as juvenile courts for the purpose of advising with 
 the judges and of instructing probation officers in the best methods 
 of handling juvenile cases. The chief of this child welfare division 
 should also formulate rules and regulations within the scope of the 
 law, to systematise the commitment of children to both state and 
 private institutions in all cases where such commitment is deemed 
 necessary. 
 
 10. Juvenile courts should be required to furnish the child 
 welfare division of the proposed State Board of Social Welfare with 
 a statement of the disposition of all cases coming before them. 
 
 11. State institutions receiving children should be under the 
 supervision of the child welfare division of the State Board of Social 
 Welfare, if such board is created. The superintendent should be 
 required to report to the committing court the facts of the discharge, 
 parole, escape or death of the child committed. 
 
 12. An institution for feeble-minded children should be pro- 
 vided at once.
 
 162 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 13. An institution for delinquent negro girls should be pro- 
 vided. 
 
 14. In the event that the legislature of 1919 authorizes a 
 recodification of the laws of the state, a commission, to serve with- 
 out pay, should be authorized and appointed to codify existing laws 
 relating to cliildren and to study, investigate, and recommend 
 to the General Code Commission such new laws and changes in 
 the present laws as may be found to be wise and needful.
 
 CHILD-CARING INSTITUTIONS AND HOME FINDING 
 
 Lee Bidgood 
 
 Professor of Economics, University of Alabama 
 
 PART I.— CHILD-CARING INSTITUTIONS 
 
 There are twenty-five recognized institutions in Alabama 
 caring for 2,200 defective, dependent or delinquent children. There 
 are institutions of all the important types, except that none exists 
 for feeble-minded children. The writer visited every one of them 
 and studied the reports of such as publish any. There are in addition 
 50 children in almshouses, and about a dozen in the insane hospitals. 
 
 Of the 2,200 children, 350 are negroes, substantially all 
 defectives or delinquents. Only one institution for dependent 
 negro children was visited and it had a population of but 
 three. Two other such institutions were reported, and one 
 of them the writer tried to find — he finally learned from a 
 local social worker who had been familiar with it that the institu- 
 tion had a "staff" of nine adults and a population of three children, 
 that it had been several times investigated by the police though 
 without result and that it had moved twice in the past year, the last 
 time to parts unknown. The social workers interviewed, both white 
 and negro, concurred in stating that the absence of demand for 
 negro orphanages is due to the fact that orphaned or neglected 
 negro children are practically always claimed or taken by some 
 relative, friend or neighbor. A few negroes, like the well-known 
 Sam Daly, take strange children, and in such numbers as to ap- 
 proach institutional conditions. 
 
 List of Institutions 
 
 CHILDREN 
 INSTITUTION LOCATION ON HAND, 
 
 191S 
 
 I. For Defective Children 
 
 Alabama School for the Deaf Talladega 187 
 
 Alabama School for the BUnd Talladega 102 
 
 Alabama School for the Negro Deaf 
 
 and Blind Talladega 52 
 
 341 
 
 163
 
 164 
 
 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 INSTITUTION 
 
 LOCATION 
 
 CHILDREN 
 
 ON HAND, 
 
 1918 
 
 IL For Dependent Children. 
 
 A . Municipal. 
 
 City Welfare Home .... 
 
 Birmingham... 
 
 B. Private. 
 
 1. Denominational. 
 
 Alabama Maternity and Infants' 
 
 Home Mobile 42 
 
 Alabama Methodist Orphanage Selma 83 
 
 Atheneum Orphans' Home (Catho- 
 lic) Birmingham.. . . 103 
 
 Church Home for Orphans (Episco- 
 pal) Mobile 43 
 
 Louise Short Baptist Widows' and 
 
 Orphans' Home of Alabama Evergreen 166 
 
 Orphans' Home of the Synod of 
 
 Alabama (Presbyterian) Talladega 72 
 
 St. Mary's Female Orphan Asylum 
 
 (Cathohc) Mobile 85 
 
 St. Mary's Industrial School and 
 
 Orphanage (Catholic) Mobile 92 
 
 Salvation Army Rescue Home Birmingham... . 7 
 
 779 
 
 2. Inter- or un-denominational. 
 
 Colored Old Folks' and Orphans' 
 
 Home Mobile 3 
 
 Mercy Home Birmingham.. . . 83 
 
 Mercy Home Industrial School for 
 
 Girls Birmingham.. . . 31 
 
 Protestant Orphan Asylum Mobile 54 
 
 171 
 
 3. Fraternal 
 
 Alabama Masonic Home Montgomery. . . 128 
 
 Alabama Odd Fellows' Home Cullman 106 
 
 234
 
 Child-Caring Institutions and Home Finding 165 
 
 CHILDREN 
 INSTITUTION LOCATION ON HAND, 
 
 1918 
 
 III. For Delinquent Children. 
 1. State. 
 
 Alabama Boys' Industrial School .... East Lake 375 
 
 Alabama Reform School for Ju\^enile 
 
 Negro Law-Breakers Mt. Meigs 298 
 
 State Training School for Girls Birmingham ... 57 
 
 730 
 
 Municipal. 
 
 Boys' Detention School Mobile 9 
 
 Girls' Detention Home Mobile 3 
 
 Detention Home of the Jefferson 
 
 County Juvenile Court Birmingham ... 5 
 
 Detention Home of the Montgomery 
 
 County Juvenile Court Montgomery.... 00 
 
 747 
 
 TOTAL 2,191 
 
 I. FOR DEFECTIVE CHILDREN. 
 
 Alabama School for the Deaf. 
 
 Alabama School for the Blind. 
 
 Alabama School for the Negro Deaf and Blind. 
 
 These three schools are physically separate, but are all located 
 at Talladega, and have the same principal and board of trustees. 
 They are regarded as adjtincts to the public school system, and take 
 any children whose sight or hearing is so defective as to prevent 
 satisfactory progress in the ordinary schools. The age of attendance 
 is that of the public schools, 7 to 21, but pupils may re- 
 main until 25 to complete the ten years of attendance per- 
 mitted by law. Twelve grades are taught, and the period of 
 residence may be extended four years if necessary to complete them. 
 Most of the children are in the primary grades, and boj'-s usually 
 predominate in numbers. 
 
 The session is nine months in length, and no children are taken 
 who do not have a parent or guardian to be responsible for them dur- 
 ing vacation. During the session of 1917-1918 the attendance in
 
 166 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 the School for the Deaf was 187, in the School for the Blind 102, 
 and in the School for the Negro Deaf and Blind 52. The last-named 
 school can accommodate only the number given, is always full and 
 usually has a waiting list. The other schools can take a few more 
 children. There are always counties which do not send a single 
 pupil. By circularizing the teachers and physicians of the state 
 the schools do their best to reach deaf and blind children, and to 
 arouse the public to the invaluable benefits offered by their training. 
 The per capita appropriation for all three schools is $230 per annum. 
 
 The School for the Deaf occupies several acres in the heart of 
 the town. Its plant consists primarily of four large brick buildings. 
 One is used for administration, dining rooms, kitchen and laundry, 
 and has the girls' dormitory on the upper floors. Another contains 
 the gymnasium and boys' dormitory, a third is the school building, 
 and the fourth houses the shops. The buildings are well con- 
 structed, though one is old, and the school building is a model of its 
 kind. There is a beautiful campus, and a small garden for educa- 
 tional purposes. The shops are excellently equipped. 
 
 The School for the Blind is located in the suburbs. Its plant 
 consists of three brick buildings and a small frame cottage, used as a 
 home for the little children. None of the buildings are very old, 
 but they are poorly built, of patchwork design, and not in the best 
 repair. The dormitory rooms are very unsatisfactory, and the work- 
 rooms are largely lacking in proper equipment. There is an attrac- 
 tive campus. 
 
 The School for the Negro Deaf and Blind is a few miles from the 
 town on a fine tract of twenty acres, mostly wooded. The plant 
 consists of a good brick building, and one or two slight frame struc- 
 tures used as workrooms. Equipment is meager. 
 
 The three institutions pubHsh a joint report quadrennially, in 
 the legislative years. 
 
 II. FOR DEPENDENT CHILDREN. 
 A. Municipal. 
 
 City Welfare Home. Birmingham. 
 
 This is maintained by the city government of Birmingham, 
 and is under the immediate control of its Welfare Department. 
 It is located in the outskirts of the city, and occupies a four-acre
 
 Child-Caring histitutions and Home Finding 167 
 
 enclosure which was formerly a German beer-garden and amuse- 
 ment park. Half the space is covered with a fine oak grove, and the 
 back part is cultivated as a garden. The old pavilion has been 
 partitioned off and provides quarters for homeless men. Four of 
 these wanderers were there when the place was visited. The kitchen 
 and dining room for all residents are also in the pavilion. A frame 
 cottage is used to house the women and children. The cook serves 
 as its matron. The matron of the city welfare department lives in a 
 bungalow on the grounds, but goes to her work in the city during the 
 day. 
 
 The place has become practically a maternity home for unfortu- 
 nate girls. As there are no hospital facilities they are sent to the 
 Hillman Hospital for delivery. There were 61 maternity cases last 
 year. It was stated to be the policy of the home for the mothers to 
 nurse their infants for three months in the summer and one month 
 in winter. Both the babies found on the day of the visit were bottle- 
 fed, however. The women go into the city every day to work at rug 
 weaving in the Industrial Home for Women. The women often 
 have other dependent children who are received into the home. 
 Five were found there on the day of the visit. Sometimes the 
 children received into this environment are 6 or 8 years of age. 
 No report is published. 
 
 B. Private. 
 
 1. Denominational. 
 
 Alabama Maternity and fnfants' Home (Catholic). St. Anthony and 
 Broad Streets, Mobile. 
 
 This is conducted by the Sisters of Charity. The property 
 consists of a large brick building immediately on the street, with 
 an enclosed lawn in the rear. A small frame cottage has been con- 
 structed in the middle of this lawn. 
 
 There were 42 children in the home on June 15. This number 
 approximates the capacity of the institution and the average popu- 
 lation. During the previous year 100 infants in all were cared for. 
 Of these, 9 were adopted into private homes, 7 transferred to 
 other institutions, 5 died and the others remained in the home 
 or were withdrawn by relatives. The babies that arc big enough 
 to walk are kept in the little cottage mentioned. It is almost all
 
 168 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 windows — well designed, but overcrowded. A few of the bigger 
 children stay in the main building. Their rooms have insufficient 
 window space. Children are not usually kept in the home past 
 the age of 4. The home receives a subvention of $50 a month from 
 the city government of Mobile. No report is published. 
 
 Alabama Methodist Orphanage. Selma. 
 
 The plant consists of one large brick building. There are 53 
 acres of land, productive and well cultivated, good dairy herd, and 
 modem dairy bam. The land is tilled mostly by the boys, and 
 yields almost enough vegetables and feed to supply the table and 
 stock. The girls can winter supplies, and have a successful canning 
 club. They also do the washing by hand. There is a shady yard and 
 playground, with some apparatus. 
 
 The capacity and normal population of the orphanage is 90. 
 Eighty-three were present on the day of visit, 53 girls and 30 boys. 
 The application and contract forms and records of this orphanage 
 are drawn and kept with unusual care and system. The old fixed- 
 leaf ledger is adhered to, hov/ever. No report is published. 
 
 Atheneum Orphans' Home (Catholic). East Lake (Birmingham). 
 
 The home is conducted by the Sisters of Charity. It is one 
 of the best of the congregate plants, occupying a single modem 
 brick structure. The building is located on the top of a fairly high 
 hill in a six-acre oak grove. There are ample lawns and a small 
 garden, as well as many tiny individual flower and vegetable gardens 
 tended by the children. In kitchen, lavatory, bath and toilet facili- 
 ties the plant shows marked superiority to most of the large units 
 visited, but in some of the sleeping rooms the usual fault of the big 
 building appears — insufficiency of window space. 
 
 During the past year 131 children were cared for. On June 21, 
 there were 103 present, 60 girls and 43 boys. This is a little less 
 than the normal capacity. Boys are kept in this home usually until 
 the age of 10 and then transferred to St. Mary's in Mobile. No 
 report is published. 
 
 Church Home for Orphans (Episcopal). Spring Hill, Mobile. 
 
 This home is conducted by the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama. 
 It is beautifully located on the slopes of Spring Hill, occupying a
 
 Child-Caring Institutions and Home Finding 169 
 
 tract of ten acres. There are three beautiful cottages, a modem 
 dairy bam and other outbuildings. The home owns a small herd 
 of milch cows, and a few pigs and chickens. There is a considerable 
 garden and some feed is grown for the cows, but the soil is not es- 
 pecially responsive. The stock and gardens are admirably utilized 
 for the enjoyment and education of the children. 
 
 Unfortunately, the home lacks sufficient funds to run at full 
 capacit}^ or completely on the cottage plan. The limit imposed by 
 its income is 50, which is little more than one cottage full. 
 Kitchen and dining rooms are now operated in only one of the cot- 
 tages. There were 43 children on June 13, 11 boys and 32 girls. 
 Only small boys are kept. Admittance is resolutely restricted to 
 the number of children for whom there is money enough to care for 
 properly. The cottages and equipment are models, and the appear- 
 ance and manners of the children proclaim this to be a real home. 
 It is near the summit of institutional development. No report is 
 published. 
 
 Louise Short Baptist Widows' and Orphans' Home of Alabama. 
 Evergreen. 
 
 The home is on an eighty-acre farm just beyond the village. 
 Its plant consists of four brick buildings and a dairy and mule bam. 
 One building is used for administrative purposes and for the larger 
 boys' dormitory, a second contains the congregate kitchen and dining 
 room and the larger girls' donnitory, the third houses the little 
 children, and the fourth is used as an infirmary. Two of the buildings 
 are of rather poor construction and not in good repair. The school 
 building was lost by fire a few years ago, and the institution lacks 
 proper classrooms. 
 
 There were 166 children in the orphanage on the day when it 
 was visited, 87 girls and 79 boys. This approximates the capacity 
 and the usual population. A report may be found in the Annual 
 of the Alabama Baptist State Convention. 
 
 Orphans' Home of the Synod of Alabama (Presbyterian). Talladega. 
 
 The orphanage is located on a tract of a few acres in the suburbs 
 of the town, and has a large and fine farm a mile out in the country. 
 There are three brick buildings, one of which is new and well-designed. 
 There is a good woodworking and machine shop. The institution
 
 170 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 boasts an especially fine and large dairy herd, and has a good dairy 
 bam. There is a silo, built as well as filled by the boys. More than 
 enough wheat was raised last year to supply the needs of the insti- 
 tution for flour. The canning club of 24 girls is active and shows 
 good results. 
 
 There were 72 children on June 23; slightly less than the nor- 
 mal capacity. Forty-one were girls and 31 boys. An annual report 
 is published. 
 
 St. Mary's Female Orphan Asylum (Catholic). 357 Conti St., 
 Mobile. 
 
 This is one of the oldest orphanages in the state, having attained 
 its eightieth year. It is conducted by the Sisters of Charity. Its 
 home during the school year is an old building in the down-town 
 district of the city. When visited, however, the Sisters and children 
 were at the summer home at Battles,' on the east shore of Mobile Bay. 
 This summer home — rather a unique feature among orphanages — 
 is occupied during the three vacation months. It is a large pavilion- 
 like frame structure facing the bay. A private pier and safe and 
 inviting bathing beach are part of the property. A small garden 
 is cultivated in summer, but suffers from lack of a caretaker during 
 the rest of the year. The house is crowded but very airy, and though 
 city water and sewerage are unobtainable the lavatory and sanitary 
 arrangements are good. 
 
 The orphanage cared for 131 girls during 1917. There were 
 85 on June 14, considerably less than the usual number. No report 
 is published. 
 
 St. Mary's Industrial School and Orphanage (Catholic). 3 Lafay- 
 ette Street, Mobile. 
 
 This is for boys and is the companion institution to the one just 
 described. It is conducted by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart. 
 It receives a good many boys from west Florida as well as Alabama. 
 It is located on a six-acre tract in the city, and holds a somewhat 
 larger acreage outside. It has very extensive greenhouses and 
 flower gardens. There are two large buildings, neither of modem 
 design. 
 
 On June 15 there were 92 boys in the orphanage. The total 
 number cared for in 1917 was 155. No report is published.
 
 Child-Caring Institutions and Home Finding 171 
 
 Salvation Army Rescue Home. 33rd St. and Avenue E, Birmingham. 
 
 This is primarily a maternity home for unmarried women. It 
 is a large frame residence in the Avondale section of the city. Thirty- 
 four babies were born in the home during 1917, and fourteen others 
 cared for. Only two died, a remarkable record. There were seven 
 on the day of visit. It is the policy of the home to keep the mother 
 and baby together. This is done primarily for the sake of the mother, 
 as the best means of reclamation. It is equally to the advantage 
 of the child during the first year of its life, unquestionably. There 
 is a resident trained nurse. 
 
 Circumstances occasionally bring older children into the home. 
 For them a bungalow next door is rented. There were three, aged 
 from eighteen months to 3 years, when visited. Children as old 
 as 7 or 8 are sometimes taken, though reluctantly. No report is 
 published. 
 
 2. Inter- or un-denominational. 
 
 Colored Old Folks' and Orphans' Home. Springhill Ave. and Mobile 
 Street, Mobile. 
 
 This is run by and for negroes. It is a small cottage on a six- 
 acre plot in the suburbs. Most of the residents are old people. There 
 were three children when visited. This is about the usual number. 
 
 Mercy Home. 2130 Eleventh St., Birmingham. 
 
 This institution is under the auspices of the Woman's Christian 
 Temperance Union. It occupies a much added-to residence, and 
 backyard cottage. There is a shady lawn and playground, but not 
 much garden space. Despite the patchwork character of the build- 
 ing it is in good repair, and the sleeping rooms have ampler window 
 space than is often found in more pretentious structures. The per 
 capita cost is less than $10 a month; one of the smallest among the 
 private institutions. Yet the children give the impression of being 
 better cared for than the majority of those seen. 
 
 There were 83 children in the home on June 20, about 10 below 
 the normal capacity. Twenty-two of these were boys. As a rule 
 only small boys are kept. Younger children are taken than is usual 
 among orphanages — some as young as 2 years. An annual report 
 is published.
 
 172 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 Mercy Home Industrial School for Girls. Woodlawn (Birmingham). 
 
 This is a private institution whose chief support is an annual 
 appropriation of $5,000 from the state treasury. It is housed 
 in a single well-designed brick building. The grounds and 
 gardens are small, and naturally unpromising, but illustrate 
 admirably the beauty which can arise from taste and industry. 
 There is a model hennery. 
 
 The school receives dependent girls aged from 12 to 16, and 
 teaches them practical household management and work, 
 with enough elementary general education to make that possible. 
 In equipment and plan it bears in mind the type of home to which 
 the girls are likely to go. For example, instead of washing machinery 
 and electric irons, it uses the most modem type of hand tubs and 
 appliances, practical for any farm dwelling. The capacity is 31; 
 it is always full and usually has a waiting list. The per capita cost 
 is about S15 a month, very little or no larger than in some of the 
 big congregate institutions, including perhaps the poorest in the 
 state. A biennial report is published. 
 
 Protestant Orphan Asylum. 859 Dauphin Way, Mobile. 
 
 This is the oldest child-caring institution in the state, having 
 been founded in 1836. The governing board is composed of five 
 women from each of the four leading Protestant denominations of 
 the city. The building was erected in 1845. There is a large play- 
 ground, with ample covered shelter, in the rear. Garden space is 
 limited. The dormitories of course suffer from the old-time dislike 
 of fresh air, but this is being partially remedied by screening some 
 of the ample porches for sleeping purposes. 
 
 When visited there were 54 children in the home. This is about 
 the normal population and capacity. Children are admitted as 
 young as 2 years. Boys remain only until 14. There were 18 of 
 them on June 13. No report is published. 
 
 3. Fraternal. 
 
 Alabama Masonic Home. Montgomery. 
 
 The home consists of five new and handsome fireproof build- 
 ings and one small frame cottage. It is on a farm of 236 acres, near 
 the city. Is a home for the aged as well as for children, and two of
 
 Child-Caring Institutions and Home Finding 173 
 
 the buildings are devoted to the old men and women respectively. 
 The main building contains the administrative offices, dining-room 
 and kitchen, and the children's dormitories. There is a beautiful 
 small hospital, perfectly appointed, and a very good school build- 
 ing, not yet completely equipped. The little frame cottage in the 
 rear is occupied by eight of the biggest boys. 
 
 The children seem unusually healthy and frank. They have 
 few tasks. The large boys attend to the dairy, but do very little 
 farm or garden work. The girls have no canning club. Negro women 
 are hired to do the washing by hand, but the girls iron, with electric 
 irons. There is no attempt at trade education as yet, but it is in 
 contemplation. The onl}^ children taken are those of Masons in 
 good standing, and they may be as young as 3 years. There were 128 
 in the home when visited, 55 boys and 73 girls. A report is published 
 annually. 
 
 Alabama Odd Fellows' Home. Cullman. 
 
 The home is housed in one large concrete building, on a fami 
 near the to^vn. It enjoys the use of another tract three miles away. 
 The building is concrete-floored, almost rude in character, but the 
 atmosphere is home-like. The superintendent and boys have them- 
 selves built bams, storehouses, a piggery and smaller outbuildings 
 solidly of concrete on approved designs. The children do a large 
 part of the farm work — three farm hands are employed — and the 
 farm produces food for the whole home and some to sell. There 
 are good orchards, and an immense amoimt of fruit, vegetables and 
 syrup is canned. The girls have a canning club, and take prizes. 
 Recreation is not neglected. There is a creek near by on which bath 
 houses have been built, and swimming is enjoyed every warm day. 
 
 Only the children of Odd Fellows in good standing are received 
 in the home. They numbered 106 when visited. Tots of 2 years 
 may be taken. A report, of model character, is published annually. 
 
 III. FOR DELINQUENT CHILDREN. 
 
 1. State. 
 
 Alabama Boys' Industrial School. East Lake (Birmingham). 
 
 The ]jlant consists of four large buildings and several smaller 
 ones. There is a residence for the superintendent, good bams, and a
 
 174 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 farm of over a hundred acres. There are woodworking, machine, 
 tailor, shoe, and printing shops, fully equipped. 
 
 Dependent as well as delinquent boys may be placed in the 
 school. The former are usually the smallest boys and fortunately 
 are not very numerous. The legal age of commitment is 7 to 17, 
 but children even below this minimimi are occasionally taken. 
 There is no provision for the segregation of the little boys. 
 At the time the school was visited the superintendent had put some 
 of the smallest ones in tents. There were 375 boys on June 21. 
 
 The boys wear uniforms and have military rather than penal 
 discipline. There is a successful honor organization. The aim of 
 the school is to give each boy an ordinary elementary education 
 and teach him a trade in addition. Trade education is gravely 
 handicapped by the loss of all the shop foremen through shortage 
 of funds. Older boys are in charge of each shop and do remarkably 
 well. There is a good band in charge of a competent instructor. 
 The classrooms are poor and badly overcrowded. The main dor- 
 mitory rooms are far too closely packed. Hospital facilities are 
 adequate in size but not in equipment. The per capita appropria- 
 tion from the state is $12.50 a month. The school impresses a visitor 
 as a wholesome, well-conducted institution, doing good work under 
 serious physical and financial limitations. An annual report is 
 printed on the school press. 
 
 Alabama Reform School for Juvenile Negro Law Breakers. Mt. Meigs, 
 Montgomery. 
 
 This institution for negro boys, operated by a negro staff, is 
 one of the most interesting, and in proportion to its funds, certainly 
 one of the best institutions in the state. It is located on a farm of 
 492 acres about ten miles from the city. Except for three or four 
 small wooden cottages, the entire plant has been constructed of 
 poured concrete by the boys and out of the state appropriation 
 of $7 a month per capita. There are a large dormitory, a tempor- 
 rary assembly room, bams, a pump house and tank, baths and a 
 small swimming pool. The old cottage houses more boys, and offices. 
 Everything is simple, bare, even crade, but clean. The kitchen and 
 dining room are the poorest part of the plant in design and con- 
 struction.
 
 Child-Caring Institutions and Home Finding 175 
 
 There are fine orchards, stock of all kinds, and good implements, 
 including a tractor. There is no shop equipment except bare neces- 
 sities for repairing tools and clothing, and only the boys needed 
 as helpers work in the shop. The boys usually finish the third grade 
 in school by the time of leaving. Every boy learns to be a good farm 
 hand, and most of them should be competent farmers. There are 
 no penal features in evidence. There is a self-government associa- 
 tion, and the idea of preparation for self-support is continually in- 
 culcated. The school raises four-fifths of the food consumed, and 
 cans fruit, vegetables and syrup in great quantities. In this work 
 lies the secret of its success, financial and character-building. On 
 Jime 6 there were 298 boys, nearly all from the three large cities. No 
 report is published. 
 
 State Training School for Girls. Birmingham. 
 
 This is an institution for delinquent girls only. The legal age 
 of commitment is 9 to 18, but the youngest found there was 7. 
 The state appropriation is $12.50 a month per capita. There 
 were 57 girls on June 21. They receive an elementary school educa- 
 tion and are taught household work and management. 
 
 The overcrowded building of this institution at the time visited 
 had become a public scandal, and its removal to ampler quarters 
 was at that time being arranged. Since then the school has been 
 moved from Birmingham to a point fifteen miles in the country. 
 The sleeping rooms though more inconvenient did not seem more 
 crowded in proportion to air space and ventilation than those at the 
 Boys' Industrial School. No report is published. 
 
 2. Municipal. 
 
 Boys' Detention School. Mobile. 
 
 This institution is not primarily intended to hold offenders 
 awaiting trial, though it serves that purpose. It is a supervised home 
 for minor offenders, and boys homeless or in bad homes. Its re- 
 markable success is perhaps most largely due to the personality of 
 the superintendent, but the plan is good. It occupies a former boys* 
 club building, using the gymnasium floor as a dormitory. There is no 
 restraint, and the boys go to the nearest i^ublic school. The teach- 
 ers send in reports of their work weekly, on form cards provided. 
 Fourteen out of sixteen boys made their grade last session. There
 
 176 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 were nine boys in the home when visited, going to summer school. 
 Normally there are about fifteen. Commitments are indeterminate, 
 and the boys are paroled usually at the end of the school term if 
 they have done well. The present building is unsatisfactory and the 
 grounds are too scanty. It is hoped to move to the country. The 
 county allows $7.50 a month per capita for support. The home 
 has one of the best record systems seen. No report is published. 
 
 Girls' Detention Home. Mobile. 
 
 This is a new institution for white girls similar to the one for 
 boys and under the same management. It has just started, and 
 makes use of a private cottage. Only three girls were resident in it 
 when visited. The grave experiment has been undertaken of inter- 
 mingling girls technically delinquent with those merely hard to con- 
 trol, truant, or dependent. 
 
 Detention Home oj the Jefferson County Juvenile Court. 2212 First 
 Ave., Birmingham. 
 This is an old brick residence in indifferent repair located in the 
 down-town district. It contains the offices and court room of the 
 juvenile court. It is used for detention prior to trial and also for 
 short term sentences. There are quarters for both colors and sexes. 
 When visited there were three negro boys, one delinquent white 
 girl and one very small white boy whose mother was ill and who had 
 no home for the time. The negro boys were in a steel cage. Both 
 white and negro boys give great trouble in trying to escape. Total 
 numbers of the children committed on sentence were not conveni- 
 ently available, but the clerk stated that few negro and no white 
 boys had been thus held last year. It is to be hoped that no more 
 will be kept on sentence under present conditions. No report is 
 published. 
 
 Detention Home for the Temporary Care of Wards of the Juvenile 
 Court. Montgomery. 
 
 This institution has just been established. 
 
 Legal Status 
 
 The six state institutions have been established from time to 
 time by legislative action, and changes in their status are made in
 
 Child-Caring Institulions and Home Finding 177 
 
 the same way. (Code of Alabama, Sees. 1933-1953, 1954-1970. 
 General Acts, 1911, pp. 395-403, 418-419, 483, 677-681. General 
 Acts, 1915, passim.) Each has a separate board of trustees. The 
 original personnel was in most cases appointed by the governor 
 and confirmed by the senate, but in most of the boards vacancies 
 are filled by the remaining members. Women and men alike are 
 commonl}^ eligible. There is no central control or supervision, 
 and no state institution can be sued in the state courts. (Consti- 
 tution of Alabama, Sec. 14; and 143 Ala. 579, 138 Ala. 479.) 
 
 The four municipal institutions have been established by local 
 ordinances and special legislation. Three are controlled by the 
 juvenile court organization of Mobile and Jefferson counties. The 
 other is under the Birmingham City Commission. The state ex- 
 ercises no authority over any of them. 
 
 Private institutions were formerly established by special acts 
 of the legislature, but this is forbidden by the present constitution, 
 and incorporation under general legislation substituted. "Strictly 
 benevolent, educational, or religious corporations" are exempted 
 from franchise taxation. All charters are made subject to amend- 
 ment or repeal by general laws. (Constitution of Alabama, Sees. 
 104, 229, 241.) The process of incorporation under the general laws 
 is very- simple and for benevolent societies is accomplished by adopt- 
 ing a resolution to incorporate and filing in the county probate office 
 a certificate stating the corporate name and the names of from three 
 to twenty-four persons selected as trustees. (Code of Alabama, 
 Sees. 3613-3626. General Acts of 1911, p. 145). Private institu- 
 tions are under no governmental supervision or control, either state 
 or local. 
 
 Three of the state institutions arc for defective children, two 
 for delinquents, one for delinquents and dependents. Three of the 
 municipal institutions are primarily for delinquent children but 
 occasionally care for depenednts. One is primarily for adult un- 
 fortunates, but cares incidentally for their dependent children. 
 The private institutions are all exclusively for dependents. 
 
 Finances 
 
 The state institutions receive appropriations from the state 
 treasury made on a per capita basis. The use of this basis is a power- 
 ful incentive to overcrowding, and i^robably is in some degree re-
 
 178 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 sponsible for the congested conditions in two institutions. These 
 amounts vary from $7 a month in the case of the negro reformatory 
 to $230 a year for the highly specialized schools for the deaf and 
 blind. The municipal institutions are supported by the city and 
 county governments controlling them. None of the public insti- 
 tutions, state or local, have any sources of monetary income other 
 than their appropriations. 
 
 The fifteen private institutions fall into three groups according 
 to the sources of their income. First, the two fraternal orphanages 
 are supported by levies upon their respective orders. They receive 
 in addition many gifts from individual lodges and members of their 
 fraternities. 
 
 Second, the nine denominational institutions are supported 
 by the charity of members of their respective faiths. Occasional 
 gifts, trifling in amount, come from the general public. Only one 
 appears to receive governmental aid — the Alabama Maternity and 
 Infants' Home (Catholic), which is given $50 a month by the city 
 of Mobile. 
 
 Third, the inter-denominational and undenominational insti- 
 tutions, of which three are maintained by the charity of the general 
 public. A fourth, the Mercy Home Industrial School, although a 
 private corporation, is almost wholly supported by an annual ap- 
 propriation from the state treasury amounting to $5,000. 
 
 All the Alabama child-caring institutions are run on a modest 
 financial scale. Some have too little money to operate as they 
 should. One of the principal reasons why they are able to get along 
 as well as they do is that they operate farms, dairies and gardens. 
 It is impossible to obtain satisfactory figures showing the per capita 
 cost of operation for comparative purposes in all or a majority of 
 the institutions. This is because their systems of accounting differ, 
 especially with regard to repairs and maintenance, because many 
 of them depend in some degree upon gifts of goods, and because of 
 the difficulty of estimating the value of the produce of farms, gar- 
 dens and dairies. Some reckon very carefully the amount of these 
 things in money but most do not, and methods of estimating prob- 
 ably differ. 
 
 By taking into account only monetary income, neglecting gifts 
 in kind, and garden, field and dairy products, we can arrive at figures 
 showing fairly well the amount of the financial burden imposed
 
 Child-Caring Institutions and Home Finding 179 
 
 upon the people of the state by the presence of each child in the 
 various institutions. In other words, we can show the amount of 
 money spent on each child monthly. Among the institutions for 
 dependent and delinquent children this ranges from $7 for 
 one state school, and S7.50 for one municipal home, to 
 about S15 for three or four of the private orphanages. Even 
 these figures are not entirely comparable because of the varia- 
 tions in accounting practice to which allusion has been made. For 
 this reason it has not been thought advisable to tabulate them or to 
 compute a general average for the state. 
 
 It is especially important to notice, however, that statistics of 
 money expended per child, no matter how accurate, can show only 
 the financial burden upon the community. They cannot tell much 
 about the comparative well-being of the children. This is because 
 the gifts of goods and the milk, vegetables and fruits raised on the 
 place benefit the child as much as cash expenditure. The fact is thst 
 nearly all the boys and girls in Alabama institutions are partly self- 
 supporting by reason of their own work in dairy, farm, garden and 
 cannery. This is so interesting and important from other viewpoints 
 than the financial as to receive separate treatment later. 
 
 Plant and Equipment 
 
 The child-caring institutions of Alabama are as a group better 
 than the buildings in which they are housed. Several of the struc- 
 tures date from half a century or more ago. These oldest buildings 
 are of sounder construction than many of the recent ones, but in 
 most cases do not come up to present-day standards as to light and 
 ventilation. The poorest of all are some not long since erected, 
 but of such poor material and makeshift design that they are literally 
 wearing out. 
 
 It cannot be said that either the state or the private institutions 
 show as a class any marked superiority to the other. There is a 
 marked gradation among the institutions both public and private, 
 from a high degree of excellence to extreme poverty of plant and 
 equipment. Those poorest in material property are large and care 
 for a great proportion of the defective, dependent and delinquent 
 children of the state, but under serious physical limitations. 
 
 The best institutions are small and limited in their direct ser-
 
 I 
 
 180 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 vice, but of great value as setters of standards. Onl}^ one is on the 
 cottage plan, the (Episcopal) Church Home for Orphans, at Spring- 
 hill. But the Mercy Home Industrial School is so small that it does 
 not exceed the proper size of a cottage unit. Whether its future 
 growth will be on the congregate or cottage plan remains to be seen. 
 These two institutions represent substantially the ideal as to con- 
 struction and equipment, as indeed they do in operation. 
 
 Some of the commonest phases of inadequacy in equipment 
 will be specified in the discussion of health and of education. Space 
 for play, and shade trees, are in nearly every case abundant. Pla}'-- 
 ground apparatus, courts, and grounds laid off for games, are very 
 generally lacking. 
 
 Farms and Gardens 
 
 Nearly every child-caring institution in Alabama has a garden 
 large enough to be of consequence. Seven have real farms, four of 
 them quite large. These seven also have dairies, and one or two 
 others keep a few cows. One has large greenhouses. Most of the 
 farms and some of the gardens have appropriate space devoted to 
 fruit trees, and one or two boast extensive orchards. 
 
 Almost all were found to share the prevailing interest in the soil 
 and its fruits and in a few even the small children appeared alive to 
 the part which food-production is playing in the national effort. 
 But the interest in gardening and farming evidently antedates the 
 war, and arises primarily from local needs. It would be difficult 
 indeed, if not impossible, for some of the institutions to feed their 
 children without the use of their own products. The institutions 
 most nearly self-supporting as to foodstuffs are the Odd Fellows' 
 Home and the negro reformatory at Mt. Meigs. They have as a 
 goal the raising of all food consumed by their residents. 
 
 Serious difficulties confront the superintendent of a child-caring 
 institution in his agricultural work. The soil with which he has to 
 deal is not always very good, as institutions are rarely located with 
 primary regard to the fertility of their land. Of all the farms only 
 that of the Presbyterian Orphanage makes the impression of especial 
 natural productiveness. Some have been greatly improved, how- 
 ever. 
 
 Nor is the superintendent usually selected for his ability as a 
 farmer. One or two franklv do not know how to farm. On the whole
 
 Child-Caring rnstitiitions and Home Finding 181 
 
 they do remarkably well. But the superintendent has other duties 
 more important or more pressing, and even if an expert farmer, 
 cannot devote as much time as he would like to the farm. Some 
 depend on a resident farmer. Two of the best farms, those of the 
 Odd Fellows' Home and of the Presbyterian Orphanages are at a 
 distance of one or more miles from the main plant. This is a very 
 ob\dous and great handicap. 
 
 The labor problem is a serious one. Most institutions are too 
 poor to employ much labor and must depend on the boys and girls. 
 Even those that can afford it now find hired labor almost unobtain- 
 able. The children seem to have risen to the occasion with good 
 spirit. Of course the institutions with big boys get along best, but 
 the girls help to garden and sometimes to gather certain crops, and 
 even small boys can in numbers accomplish a great deal. None of the 
 superintendents wish to sacrifice the education of their children in 
 order to raise crops, and none seem to be doing it. At Mt. Meigs, 
 it is true, the bo5^s go to school only half time, but those in authority 
 rightly regard the making of good farmers out of the boys as perhaps 
 the most important part of their education. 
 
 The benefits of the farm and garden work go far beyond the 
 mere providing of foodstuffs. Outdoor work is healthful and prob- 
 ably the best work for growing children to perform. When done in 
 proper surroundings and with proper limitations it is altogether 
 beneficial. Children should not be deprived of play, but all children 
 are better off for having regular duties. A consciousness of contribu- 
 ting to their own self-support is a fiiie thing, especially when it is 
 properly brought to their minds. Farm and garden work is educa- 
 tive. To get the best educational results requires conscious effort 
 and some skill on the part of the staff, but the work is in some degree 
 educative whether it is intended to be or not. 
 
 Most children like farm life and gardens. The isolation and 
 lack of amusement which are the main causes of children's discon- 
 tent on the farm do not trouble the institution children. 
 
 Some of the best results are being attained with small gardens. 
 The fresh vegetables not only help out a narrow income, but furnish 
 a better bill of fare than could be purchased. Many of these gardens 
 are very attractive to look at, and show that both the children and 
 and the superintendents take pride in them. The Mercy Home 
 Industrial School secures educational results that arc ideal for small
 
 182 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 space. Many pure-bred varieties of small fruits and vegetables are 
 grown. Quantities are small, but the culture is intensive, and is 
 practically all done by the superintendent and her girls. 
 
 Canning and preserving almost everywhere supplement garden- 
 ing. All the vegetables and fruits needed for a balanced diet are 
 canned in some of the institutions with larger farms. Some make large 
 quantities of syrup. The matrons and the girls naturally make the 
 canning their principal share in garden activities. There are canning 
 clubs in some orphanages, and in others the girls old enough belong 
 to the club in the public school to which they go. Some of the girls 
 have won prizes and trips or short-course scholarships by their in- 
 dividual work. 
 
 It is perhaps in their gardens and farms that the child-caring 
 institutions of Alabama are as a whole doing best. As a group they 
 are not distinguished for buildings or for equipment, for the pro- 
 fessional training of their staffs, for the excellence of their educational 
 opportunities, or for the adequacy of their income; but their farm- 
 ing and gardening and canning activities should be a source of pride, 
 and help to make up for many deficiencies in the care and training 
 of their children that would otherwise be felt. 
 
 Health 
 
 The health of the children is on the whole better than the 
 measures taken to protect it. This probably may be attributed in 
 largest measure to their outdoor life. 
 
 Ventilation of sleeping rooms is in more than half of the insti- 
 tutions inadequate, for at least a part of the resident population. 
 This is in some degree the result of overcrowding, but still more 
 largely of poor building design. Lavatories and bathing facilities 
 are rarely adequate or inviting. The complaint is general that the 
 boys break up lavatories, and this is given as a reason for not instal- 
 ling more and better ones. But some of the institutions with poor 
 fixtures are careful to keep separate each child's hand basin and 
 towel, and keep their children looking clean. Kitchens are every- 
 where neat and well kept, and in many cases are models of cleanli- 
 ness. Nearly all the buildings visited were screened, but in many 
 cases the wire was in such bad condition as to make the screening 
 worthless. Two or three institutions, otherwise well kept, suffer
 
 Child-Caring Institutions and Home Finding 183 
 
 from a plague of flies. Toilet arrangements are reasonably good 
 every\\'-here. In some places, however, they are inadequate for the 
 number of children. 
 
 Physicians are on call in all the institutions. None has a resi- 
 dent full-time physician. In a majority though not all of the insti- 
 tutions dental work is done for the children when the need becomes 
 apparent. In nearly all toothbrushes are found and their use en- 
 couraged. There is no regular "toothbrush drill" anywhere. 
 
 Preventive work is being done in only two or three institutions, 
 in each case on the initiative not of the institution but of physicians 
 in the town. In one of these the work has so far been confined to a 
 tuberculosis survey. In another the children have been systematically 
 examined by general practitioners, dentists, and ear, eye, nose and 
 throat specialists. A great deal of corrective work has been done and 
 much good is reported. 
 
 Infirmary or hospital facilities are generally poor or lacking. 
 Too often there are no isolation facilities at all. At one institution 
 an epidemic of measles was found in progress, at another, one of 
 mumps. Happily, the infirmary rooms were usually found empty. 
 
 Education 
 
 Educational conditions in the child-caring institutions are in a 
 changing state. This manifests itself most conspicuously in the at- 
 tempts to enlarge trade education, and in the spreading practice of 
 sending children to the public schools. 
 
 Aims and methods of instruction necessarily vary with the type 
 of institution. The three schools for the deaf and blind are in their 
 primary aspects supplements to the general system of public edu- 
 cation. They are included in this survey because they deal with 
 defective children. They offer a general elementary and high school 
 course with a well-developed plan of vocational education in addition. 
 Though handicapped by lack of funds and unable to carry out all 
 that they wish to do for the children, they are far ahead of the 
 majority of public schools. 
 
 The three state institutions for delinquent children naturall>' 
 must conduct their own educational work. They, too, stress voca- 
 tional education, and with excellent results. It is a pity that they 
 should be so handicapped; the school for white boys, with fixed
 
 184 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 income and rising costs, has been obliged to lay off all bat one of its 
 shop instructors and the two others are short of both equipment 
 and teachers, yet they all manage to turn out boys and girls who can 
 do something for a living. The interesting detention homes in Mobile 
 send their children to the public school, with encouraging results. 
 
 The tendency at present is for the orphanages to send their 
 children to the public schools. Five have adopted this plan in its 
 entirety. These are the Episcopal, Mercy Home, Methodist, Pres- 
 byterian and Protestant orphanages. Three others send to the 
 public high schools children of that grade. All the superintendents 
 who have adopted the plan are pleased with it. The reasons which 
 have led to the change are, they state, that the children are taught 
 in better classrooms, with better equipment, are better graded and 
 under a more numerous if not more competent staff of teachers 
 in the public schools than the orphanages could afford. Most im- 
 portant of all, the children derive considerable social benefit from 
 going out to school. They like the change, opportunities to play 
 and the acquaintance with new children. It helps to prevent them 
 from feeling themselves so "different." When they march in column 
 to the school, as in two cases, this latter benefit is lost. At the two 
 fraternal orphanages graded public schools are not near, and only 
 the high school students are sent to town. These orphanages main- 
 tain graded schools of their own. That of the Masonic Home is 
 housed in an excellent modem building and by an interesting ex- 
 change with the school board takes some of the neighborhood 
 children. This arrangement secures some of the social benefits of 
 sending the children to the public school. 
 
 On the other hand, the Baptist Orphanage, though handicapped 
 by the unfortunate loss of its school building by fire, has rejected all 
 suggestions to send its children to the neighboring public schools, 
 except those of high school grade, and conducts its own elementary 
 school despite serious physical drawbacks. The three Catholic 
 institutions maintain their own graded schools. In one case the 
 children were a few years ago sent out to the parochial school, but 
 the system was discontinued. The reasons which the heads of these 
 four institutions give for keeping the children in institutional schools 
 are that it avoids bringing in epidemics, and lessens the clothing 
 bill. The Catholics have the further cogent reason that the Sisters 
 and Brothers of the orders conducting the orphanages are trained
 
 Child-Caring Institutions and Home Finding 185 
 
 teachers and adequate in numbers to do the work so that no additional 
 expense is caused. The Catholic orphanages follow the curriculum 
 of the Catholic parochial schools, the Baptist and fraternal orphanages 
 that of the public schools. The Mercy Home Industrial School is of 
 course not an orphanage but a high-class elementary vocational 
 school for dependent girls. 
 
 Personal Care 
 
 The recognized ideal in the personal care of children is that 
 given in the normal home. By their approximation to it the insti- 
 tutions are judged. 
 
 The factors deciding the quality of care are chiefly the physical 
 plant and equipment already discussed, density of the resident popu- 
 lation or degree of crowding, numerical adequacy of the staff, sym- 
 pathy, tact, training and temperamental fitness for the work. 
 
 Gradations in the ph^^sical equipment have been pointed out. 
 It is not an accident that the best-equipped institutions are the least 
 crowded, and the institutions physically poorest have the densest 
 population in proportion to their means. Those with the highest 
 standards take no more children that they can do justice to. Others 
 can usually find a place for "just one more." 
 
 Staffs are on the whole numerically more adequate than plant 
 and equipment. Nevertheless in some of the private institutions 
 the staffs seem overworked, and in two of the public institutions 
 (Mt. Meigs and East Lake) the deficiency is most marked. 
 
 Except in the schools for the deaf and blind the workers are 
 not as a rule trained, and often not experienced. In some cases bene- 
 fits have apparently come from this, in the defiance of tradition and 
 breaking of institutional routine. Mistakes must often be made on 
 account of it, however. 
 
 The men and women who are caring for children in Alabama 
 institutions are mostly in the work because of love for it, and ex- 
 hibit the personal qualities that make for success in their work. 
 They seem with rare exceptions to be genuinely fond of children, 
 and with a somewhat larger number of exceptions, to know how to 
 get on with them. Two or three of the people encountered seemed 
 temperamentally unfitted to work with children, however much 
 interested they might be. However, the acquaintance was too short 
 to make other than tentative judgments.
 
 186 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 Some institutions show to even the casual visitor an atmosphere 
 of naturalness and love. A high degree of "institutionalization" is 
 fortunately lacking in nearly all. Yet a few have an air of routine, 
 if not restraint, that is obvious to any observer. There is little love 
 in some of them; but in only one case did the children appear to be 
 afraid of any of those in authority. 
 
 The manners of the children are usually frank and correct if not 
 elegant. In some cases they rival those of children in the best homes. 
 The children in the larger and poorer institutions are dressed poorly, 
 but in the absence of a winter visit one could not say inadequately. 
 Rarely, however, do the children show the effects of that personal 
 care, individual help with toilet, conduct, and daily problems, which 
 distinguishes at once the child fortunate enough to receive good 
 parental care. More could be done as to neatness and personal i 
 cleanliness, in some of the large institutions at least, by setting better 
 standards even without the personal touch. 
 
 When a Child Leaves 
 
 Boys and girls leave the child-caring institutions in a number of 
 different ways. They may be transferred to other institutions. 
 Maternity homes put their babies not otherwise provided for in 
 orphanages. Orphanages which do not keep larger boys usually 
 place them in other orphanages. There is a good deal of shifting 
 going on all the time. 
 
 The placing of children in private homes by institutions is a 
 phase of home finding and receives separate treatment in the part of 
 the report devoted to that subject. 
 
 Many boys and girls are taken out by their relatives, who have 
 either come into better circumstances or have developed greater 
 interest in the children as they grow older. Superintendents think 
 that this is often to the disadvantage of the child. If institutions 
 were more careful to secure legal rights over every child entering and 
 would then investigate carefully all applications for withdrawal 
 they could check the evil. 
 
 The children who do not leave in any of these ways in time reach 
 the age when they must go out and make their way in the world. 
 This age is usually 18, but no institution keeps strictly to its rule. 
 Institutions of every class except the maternity and municipal
 
 Child-Caring Institutions and Home Finding 187 
 
 homes help their children who have reached the age of discharge to 
 find jobs, places to live, or working homes. Their policy is not to 
 place the grov^Ti boys and girls in homes as members of the family, 
 but as workers, on a definite wage. The superintendent of the Bap- 
 tist Orphanage has a form of contract between the employer and 
 employe, for one month; he has the boy leaving the orphanage 
 and his employer sign the contract, thus seeing that the boy begins 
 with a fair and definite bargain. The orphanage of course is not a 
 party to the contract. 
 
 Placing of this sort is rather job- and residence-finding than 
 home finding. It is a desirable and necessary adjunct of the insti- 
 tutions' work. No orphanage, school or reformatory should launch 
 an adolescent boy or girl on the world without giving all the advice 
 and help possible. There is little or no later supervision of those who 
 leave, or record of their careers. The institutions depend on the 
 boys and girls themselves to keep in touch with them. This serves in 
 many cases, but it is likely that the very ones who most need guidance 
 drop out of sight. No institution of any class maintains a field agent. 
 
 The lack of a parole officer, in the case of the reformatories, is 
 peculiarly serious. They are given legal custody of every boy and 
 girl committed to them until the age of 21. As they almost in- 
 variably parole them before reaching that age it is evident that the 
 supervision of the paroled children is of the greatest importance to 
 the community. At present there is no one to carry on outside the 
 institution the good work which has been started within it. 
 
 Co-operation 
 
 Good-will exists in abundance among the different child-caring 
 agencies, but co-operative effort is as yet but little developed. 
 
 The superintendent of one of the orphanages has proposed an 
 association of all workers in Alabama child-caring institutions. The 
 plan seems likely to succeed, and the meetings of such an association 
 should be of very great service to the welfare of children in Alabama. 
 To meet the need most fully such an association should afllliatc with 
 all other persons in the state working for children, especially the 
 juvenile court officers and the people who are finding homes for 
 children. 
 
 Mutual relations between the institutions and the neighboring
 
 188 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 communities are even less advanced, but contain promise of useful- 
 ness. The movement, already discussed, which has resulted in the 
 sending of many orphanage children to the public schools has so far 
 done more than anything else to bring together the institutions 
 and the neighbor public. A few institutions occasionally let some of 
 their boys work for neighbors, partly for the purpose of gaining their 
 good will. The practice has obvious dangers, though no bad result 
 is so far apparent. 
 
 Neighbors can do a great deal to help the institution children 
 enjoy a normal community life, and to give them an occasional taste 
 of real home life. An example of excellent work of this kind is that 
 of the Scottish Rite Masons of Mobile. The members take children 
 from two of the orphanages in the city to their homes for week-end 
 visits. The children go in rotation and are not selected by their 
 hosts — it should be obsei^ved that this is an essential condition of 
 success for such a movement. They are treated simply as ordinary 
 visitors, sharing the daily routine and diversions of the family. 
 
 The same lodges have also undertaken through their members 
 in the surrounding country to find homes near the city which will 
 take children for a month in summer. Both of these forms of co-opera- 
 tion are good in themselves, but they have the further advantage of 
 leading naturally to the finding of permanent homes for some of the 
 children. In this aspect we shall have occasion to allude to them 
 later. 
 
 Investigation 
 
 From the larger viewpoint the gaining of knowledge regarding 
 causes of child defectiveness, dependency and delinquency, is one 
 of the most important tasks of any institution caring for children. 
 The state is even more deeply concerned to reduce the number of 
 children in institutions for the future than to see that those now in 
 them are well cared for. Such a reduction can come only from greater 
 knowledge of causes. Here is the greatest possible opportunity for 
 constructive work on the part of those in charge of the institutions. 
 
 It must be confessed that with regard to investigation of funda- 
 mental causes little has yet been accomplished by Alabama insti- 
 tutions. This is the least developed part of their work. The reasons 
 are many and easy to comprehend. First is a deficienc}' of income. 
 The superintendents properly feel that they must feed and clothe
 
 Child-Caring Institutions and Home Finding 189 
 
 and otherwise care for their children first of all. But since more 
 children are always awaiting admittance it never gets any farther. 
 The backwardness of social prevention in the state keeps the insti- 
 tutions from being able to contribute knowledge to the cause of social 
 prevention, thus completing a vicious circle. 
 
 The relative scarcity of help in some of the institutions is merely 
 a partial reflex of the financial limitation. But the lack of training 
 of the superintendents and staffs is another and independent cause 
 of backwardness in social investigation. The state hospitals for the 
 insane are no more liberally supported than are many of the child- 
 caring institutions, but they keep an admirable system of records 
 and are able to trace in large degree the causes of insanity in the state 
 and to furnish data for guiding the fight on that and other forms of 
 social abnormality. The reason for this work is chiefly the superior 
 knowledge and training of the head of the hospitals and their staffs. 
 Some of the heads of child-caring institutions see and lament the 
 deficiency of their investigative work, but some who see it and could 
 perhaps financially afford to do more do not know how. Others 
 unfortunately do not see the need at all. It was obvious that some 
 were greatly puzzled to explain to themselves the reasons for the pres- 
 ent study. After being convinced that it did not arise out of mere 
 curiosity they kept asking questions and looking in a way that indi- 
 cated search for a hidden motive. Their most common guess seemed 
 to be that the visitor really represented people who had funds to 
 give to charity. They simply could not conceive of an interest in 
 child welfare which went beyond the care of such children as were 
 brought to their doors. 
 
 The records of the institutions of all classes as to their children 
 rarely go beyond an entry of from two to four lines in a big book. 
 The name of the child and previous residence, the parents if living, 
 and the names of the judge committing or persons sending the 
 children are about all. In the reformatories the cause of commitment 
 is generally so broad as to mean no more than delinquency. It may 
 fairly be said that no large institution has an adequate record of the 
 social circumstances under which the child lived and which led up 
 to the immediate occasion of his entry. One institution has devised 
 a good set of record forms, the best seen in the state, on the card 
 index plan, and seemed to constitute an exception. But on inquiry 
 it appeared that all the information on the entry card came from the
 
 190 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 children themselves — small negro boys, largely illiterate. More- 
 over, since the wartime shortage of farm help had called the super- 
 intendent and his office to necessary outdoor work the filling of the 
 card records had been largely neglected. 
 
 Lines of Development 
 
 The system of child-caring institutions in Alabama contains 
 few gaps. One of these is indeed so serious as to demand special 
 treatment. It is the absence of any provision for the care of 
 feeble-minded children. The immediate establishment of such an 
 institution is one of the two legislative recommendations made at the 
 close of this part of the report. 
 
 With the exception of some provision for the feeble-minded the 
 system of institutions is fairly complete. One further gap will proba- 
 bly be filled later — the lack of a place for delinquent negro girls. In 
 every urban community at least there are young negro girls who do 
 not work or stay at home, and who constitute a serious moral hazard 
 and source of physical contagion to the youth of the neighborhood. 
 There is at present nothing to do with such girls except to send them 
 to jail or "bind them out" to someone. Neither plan works well. 
 When the desirability of institutional confinement and care of these 
 negro girls is better apprehended a reformatory for them will be 
 established. 
 
 It is to be observed that there are no child-caring institutions 
 in north Alabama. This does not mean that the children of that 
 portion of the state are without provision, of course. It is mainly 
 due to the fact that nearly all the institutions have been located for 
 convenience in or about the three large cities of Birmingham, Mont- 
 gomery and Mobile. Except for the municiapl institutions, all re- 
 ceive children from any part of the state on equal tenns. Any social 
 advantage that a community enjoys from having an orphanage near 
 at hand is counterbalanced by the suggestion it offers to good-for- 
 nothing relatives to put into them children who could and should be 
 kept at home. Any orphanage head can give instances of this. The 
 establishment of new institutions for geographical reasons is fortu- 
 nately as improbable as it is undesirable. 
 
 Ampler financial support is one of the most pressing needs of 
 nearly all the institutions. With the exceptions already noticed,
 
 Child-Caring Institutions and Home Finding 191 
 
 enough institutions have been estabHshed. It is needful that the 
 good people of Alabama give them a larger measure of pecuniary aid. 
 
 With larger funds will come not only better maintenance, but 
 the additional buildings and equipment so much needed by some. 
 It is unnecessary and undesirable that Alabama should ever rival 
 the imposing structures which mark institutional development in 
 some states, but buildings should be adequate, hygienic and sightly. 
 As far as possible new construction should be on the cottage plan. 
 It costs a little more to operate but it is worth it, and nothing would 
 so conduce to the improvement in personal care which is one of the 
 most hoped-for developments of the future. 
 
 Some of the institutions will in time to come move to the coun- 
 try, where more room is afforded for building development, for play 
 grounds, for orchards, gardens and field crops. The few that are 
 now backw^ard in agricultural affairs will undoubtedly copy those 
 more advanced. At the same time there should be a clear recognition 
 of the limitations of institutional fanning. Orphanages, for instance, 
 should all conduct farms, but no one should expect them to be run 
 without the aid of adult hired labor. The education, reasonable play, 
 and strength of the children should not be sacrificed to crop produc- 
 tion. More cows are needed ; few superintendents say that they have 
 enough milk. Opportunity of membership in canning clubs should 
 be open to all institution girls. 
 
 In the field of health the principal progress will be in the adoption 
 of preventive measures. Matrons will not wait for a toothache to 
 send the children to a dentist; there will be periodical examination 
 by a competent dental surgeon of all the children's mouths. It will 
 not be necessary for a child to fail in his grade in order to start an 
 inquiry as to whether he has adenoids; at least once a year all the 
 children will be examined by a speciaHst. This work need not al- 
 together wait on larger funds. When the superintendents and 
 matrons show greater interest in it they will find ready co-operation 
 on the part of the medical profession in all its branches. If funds are 
 not now forthcoming it is in some degree at least because funds for 
 this specific purpose have not been asked for. Medical care is an 
 object which appeals to public benevolence and to governing bodies 
 with a very great force when its need is shown. 
 
 Educational progress will largely be dependent on the general 
 advance of the public schools now that so many institutions send
 
 192 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 their children to them. For those who can adopt this policy and 
 have not done so it would seem to be the best step to take. For those 
 that cannot send out their children the principal tasks are to get more 
 teachers so that each will have fewer grades, to get better classrooms, 
 more sanitary and modem, and to continue the development of trade 
 education. 
 
 Better after-care of children who leave institutions is one of the 
 goals to work for in Alabama. Every institution should have a field 
 agent or secure the assistance of some agency that can provide this 
 service. The need of parole officers for the reformatories is particu- 
 larly urgent. 
 
 The growth of the co-operative idea, among the institutions and 
 between them and the public, can confidently be predicted and will 
 add greatly to the well-being of the children. Greater interchange 
 of ideas among the workers, through the proposed association or 
 some similar one, perhaps in connection with the Alabama Socio- 
 logical Society, would be of immediate value. It is hoped that this 
 study will serve in some degree to that end. The spread of the week- 
 end visit and summer vacation idea for orphans ought to be assured. 
 
 But the most pov/erful single agency for state-wide co-operation 
 would be a state board of social welfare. The need of such a body is 
 so great and so pressing that its creation has been made the second 
 of the two legislative recommendations herein offered. 
 
 Looking at the child-caring institutions of Alabama as a whole 
 we may be glad that two distinct tendencies have appeared among 
 them. One or two have set for themselves high ideals and have come 
 well up to them, taking only so many children as will permit care in 
 accord with their standards. Several crowd to the last degree, and 
 refuse scarcely any applicant; they cannot maintain the high stand- 
 ards of the best institutions, but find a place, and some sort of care, 
 for children that need it. Each of these types renders its peculiar 
 sei^vice. The one shows the people of Alabama what is proper and 
 possible in the care of unfortunate children, the other makes tempo- 
 rary provision for those who would otherwise be still worse oft". The 
 majority of the institutions lie between these two well-marked types. 
 
 The greatest advances in the near future will be rnade by grad- 
 ing up all the institutions to the standard of the best existing ones. 
 When the supporters of the poorer ones are fully shown in the con- 
 crete the need for progress, it will be easier to get the funds necessary
 
 Child-Caring Institutions and Home Finding 193 
 
 to bring it about. Meanwhile, it is the incessant increase in the num- 
 ber of defective, dependent and delinquent children which affords the 
 greatest obstacle to progress by diverting all new funds to the same 
 indifferent care of greater numbers of children. 
 
 The ways of meeting and checking the increase of socially ab- 
 normal children lie largely outside the field of this particular study. 
 The improvement of general education, the bettering of public health, 
 and the creation of a state and local organization for social welfare 
 are three of the chief preventive measures, treated in other chapters 
 of this report. A better enforcement of existing laws is dependent on 
 the creation of the administrative organization mentioned. It can 
 accomplish much by requiring relatives to support children who 
 would otherwise be in institutions. Revision and better adminis- 
 tration of the marriage and divorce laws would contribute to the 
 same end. One of the greatest preventive measures is provision 
 for the feeble-minded, which is herein recommended. In the mean- 
 time the best that can be done for the children who crowd to the 
 doors of the institutions is to make more adequate preliminary in- 
 vestigations, in co-operation with the officers of the law everywhere, 
 and to find homes in private families for as many children as possible. 
 The latter is of such interest as to demand a special account in the 
 second part of this study. 
 
 Legislative Recommendations 
 
 This report is written with active consciousness of the national 
 situation, and of the need of subordinating matters that would other- 
 wise be important to effectiveness in war. The only legislative sug- 
 gestions made are those that make for a practical increase of the 
 strength and solidarity of the nation at home. They are made rather 
 because of the war than in spite of it. They are two: a state insti- 
 tution for the feeble-minded, and a state board of social welfare. Reasons 
 will now be given for the first of these recommendations. 
 
 There is no provision made in Alabama for feeble-minded 
 children, nor any care of feeble-minded adults or check upon the 
 propagation of weak-mindedness. As a consequence feeble-minded 
 children are found in places where they do not belong, where they 
 cannot receive proper care, and where they interfere with the devel- 
 opment of children mentally normal. 
 
 There are 50 children in almshouses in Alabama. Most of
 
 194 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 these are feeble-minded.* That is why they are there — no one else 
 will take them. A law forbidding the residence of children in alms- 
 houses would be undesirable and unenforceable unless a place is pro- 
 vided for the feeble-minded children. Provide such a place and the 
 evil of keeping children in poorhouses will automatically disappear. 
 
 There are a few children in the Bryce Hospital for the insane. 
 The law permits the sending to that institution of only those persons 
 who on account of their mental condition are a danger to the com- 
 munity. It is doubtless stretched sometimes in order to provide 
 for feeble-minded children for whom there is no other place. 
 Obviously an insane hospital is not a fit home for them. This diffi- 
 culty will be remedied at once by the provision of an institution 
 especially for their care. 
 
 A large number of feeble-minded children are now in the child- 
 caring institutions of the state. Few were found without any. In 
 the absence of proper mental testing anywhere it is impossible to 
 offer accurate statistics. Many of the children, however, are of so 
 low a mental grade as to make plain their deficiency to the writer 
 upon his visits. Superintendents and members of the institutional 
 staffs pointed out or mentioned others. At a few institutions those 
 in charge seemed never to have thought of the matter. Others spoke 
 of it as their most difficult problem. The latter probably exaggerated 
 the number of deficient children under their care. Probably many 
 are simply retarded by bad feeding, disease, ill treatment, neglected 
 education and poor home care in general. A conservative reckon- 
 ing is that not fewer than 40 mentally defective children are now 
 in the orphanages of the state. It is worthy of emphasis that this 
 is in spite of the fact that none of them willingly or knowingly ac- 
 cept a feeble-minded child. One superintendent displayed the form 
 of medical certificate required by him with every application, signed 
 in each case by a practising physician and attesting that the child 
 is normal, physically and mentally. Despite this precaution, the 
 superintendent stated that he often suspected mental weakness 
 in new arrivals, had such cases examined by local physicians, and 
 rejected them on confirmation of his suspicions. None the less, he 
 pointed out five feeble-minded children then in the institution, 
 some of them of imbecile gi^ade. 
 
 * Information furnished by the Child Labor Division of the State Health 
 Department.
 
 Child-Caring Institutions and Home Finding 195 
 
 The residence of these feeble-minded children in orphanages is 
 bad for them and unfair to the other children. There is no way to 
 prevent it at present, because there is in the state no place equipped 
 for making and recording scientific tests for weak-mindedness, and 
 no person skilled and habituated to making them. Furthermore, 
 once in an orphanage there is no way to get such a child out. There 
 would be no place for one but the street. For this reason there are 
 three imbecile women past 30 years of age, seen by the writer, 
 who have grown up in Alabama orphanages and still reside in them, 
 among the little children. No superintendent or board has had the 
 heart to throw them out, though the undesirability of their remaining 
 is fully recognized. 
 
 The state schools for the deaf and blind are for children mentally 
 normal, and exclude or send awa}^ those who do not come up to 
 standard — this is proper. The reformatories, however, cannot 
 exclude the subnormal children, and the head of the girls' reformatory 
 estimated the proportion of subnormal girls among those in her charge 
 at two-thirds of the whole. Had they been placed at the proper age 
 in an institution for the feeble-minded they would not have come to 
 grief. Here is the most tangible and practical way of reducing the 
 number of the unfortunate girls that overrun all provision now made 
 for them in the state. 
 
 Mentally deficient children cannot be and should not be placed in 
 private homes. Only a segregated life is practicable for their proper 
 care. They should not even remain in their own homes unless their 
 parents have no nomial children and are wealthy enough to provide 
 specially trained teachers for the unfortunates. It will be amply 
 apparent to the reader of this report that real home care is infinitely 
 to be preferred to institutional care in the case of all physically and 
 mentally normal children. Even the crippled child had better re- 
 main at home except while undergoing corrective surgical treatment. 
 But the mental defective is in a class apart, and must receive special 
 handling. At home he is a discouragement to parents, a blight to 
 the normal children if there are any, and without hope of develop- 
 ment himself. 
 
 A state school for feeble-minded children should at once be 
 established, to which all such children should be transferred from the 
 almshouses and orphanages. It should also invite and encourage 
 parents of feeble-minded children now living at home to send them
 
 196 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 to its skilled care and training. By so doing it can save many from 
 going to reformatories in later years. 
 
 In conjunction with the school for the feeble-minded should he 
 established a home for the custodial care of feeble-minded women. 
 In it all such women should be kept during the entire child- 
 bearing period. Thus can the stream of degeneracy be checked at 
 its source. It is an established and well-known fact that nearly 
 all feeble-mindedness in children can be traced to feeble-minded 
 parentage. Of parents who are both feeble-minded all children are 
 feeble-minded; where only one parent is of weak mind the great 
 majority of the children are feeble-minded. Other defects are 
 closely associated with this one. It is not so necessary to confine the 
 half-witted men ; control of the women is more urgent. For their own 
 protection it is necessary, and for maintaining the strength of the 
 state in peace and war it is still more necessary. 
 
 Girls woiild be transferred from the school to the custodial in- 
 stitution at the proper age. Under trained instructors the feeble- 
 minded are capable of considerable progress in self-help and simple 
 industrial tasks. It seems most desirable that the school and custo- 
 dial home be established on the extensive lands of the Bryce Hospital, 
 and under the supervision of its head. The three institutions would 
 be separate units but in convenient proximity and federated, as it 
 were. This would be the least expensive plan, and presents distinct 
 advantages of its own. 
 
 This plan should provide for expert testing of all children now in 
 the institutions, public and private, and for the furnishing of such tests 
 to parents on request. The proximit}^ of the University of Alabama to 
 the suggested site of the new institution offers important possibilities 
 of co-operation with the department of psychology of the university. 
 The state board of social welfare about to be discussed should 
 assist in carrying out mental testing of children in the state at large. 
 
 The second imperative need disclosed by our study of the child- 
 caring institutions is that of a state board of charities, or as the 
 writer would prefer to name it, a State Board of Social Welfare. 
 This board should have as one of its departments a Division of Child 
 Welfare. It is suggested that the board be of moderate size and 
 unpaid, and it is essential that it employ as executive secretary and 
 as head of the child welfare division trained social workers, who 
 being employees strictly, need not be residents of the state.
 
 Child-Caring Institutions and Home Finding 197 
 
 The board of social welfare, through its child welfare division, 
 would have general supervision and control over all state and muni- 
 cipal child-caring institutions, and the power to visit and require 
 annual reports of all private institutions. All new institutions 
 should be compelled to secure from it a license before beginning to 
 operate. 
 
 It would furnish a clearing house of information for all child 
 welfare workers, and graduall}^ lead to a standardization of the 
 existing institutions. By prescribing the form of report from all 
 institutions and publishing these reports under a single cover it 
 would render immediately available to all parties interested the 
 prime facts regarding institutional conditions in the state. 
 
 PART II.— HOME FINDING 
 
 No matter how high the development of child-caring institu- 
 tions, the child is best off in a home. If he has been so unfortunate 
 as to be deprived of his own, then his chances of happiness and of 
 proper preparation for a normal adult life are next best in a foster 
 home. A good institution may indeed be better than a bad home; 
 but the important fact is that as a place for a child, a good home is 
 better than the best institution. The finding of foster homes for 
 homeless children becomes therefore a matter of concern to the state. 
 
 Mentally defective children should never be placed in homes, 
 physically defective ones but rarely. Delinquents too are not or- 
 dinarily placeable, but small boys form an exception. Dependent 
 children in a majority of cases can and should be placed in homes. 
 For reasons which will later become clear, it is not practicable to 
 give figures as to the number of children for whom homes have been 
 found in Alabama during the past year. The most careful approxi- 
 mation possible is that at least as many dependent children are an- 
 nually placed in homes as in institutions. 
 
 Interest in home finding is just beginning to be largely felt in 
 Alabama, and indications are that the work will in the future not 
 only be done on a greater scale but far better done. Even of the de- 
 pendent children some are for personal or environmental causes not 
 practically placeable. So institutions of all the types will always be 
 needed. But every suitable child should go into a home, and that 
 means many more than are now going.
 
 198 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 Legal Status 
 
 There are three legal phases of home finding in Alabama, 
 namely, apprenticeship, adoption, and placement. Apprenticeship 
 survives by virtue of an old statute which allows probate judges 
 to bind out dependent or delinquent children to masters until they 
 reach the age of 21. It seems to be rarely employed and to possess 
 no particular advantages under present conditions, and might well 
 be legally abolished. (Code of Alabama, sees. 2896-2907.) 
 
 Adoption appears to have been originally designed in the 
 Alabama law as a method of legitimization. It is independent of the 
 custody of the child adopted. Anyone who so desires may legally 
 adopt any child by merely entering the proper papers at the probate 
 office. This gives the child adopted the right to inherit, and, if he 
 chooses, to take the name of the person adopting. It does not re- 
 quire the assent or even the knowledge of the child or his representa- 
 tives, and gives no rights over the child. (Code of Alabama, 
 sec. 5202). In practice, of course, people adopt children who are 
 already in their custody. 
 
 Placing in homes and institutions is now effected by means of the 
 juvenile court laws. There is a general act applying to the state at 
 large and special laws with similar provisions have been enacted 
 for Jefferson (Birmingham) and Mobile counties. These laws give 
 to the juvenile court judges the fullest powers to commit dependent 
 or delinquent children to institutions or to the custody of societies 
 or of private individuals. Commitment is indefinite, the jurisdic- 
 tion of the court lasting until the children reach the age of 21 years. 
 In view of the detailed discussion of the juvenile courts in another 
 chapter of this report it is unnecessary for us here to consider the 
 law in fuller detail. 
 
 Individual Placing 
 
 A great many good people in all parts of Alabama occasionally 
 find homes for children. It is impossible even to estimate their 
 number. They place from one to a dozen children in the course of 
 two or three years, most of them not more than one child in a year. 
 Home finding is for them an incident to other charitable work. 
 
 An example may be afforded by the Salvation Army. Their 
 workers do not undertake the reception of children and the finding
 
 Child-Caring Institutions and Home Finding 199 
 
 of homes for them as a special feature of their labors, but in Mont- 
 gomery and Mobile at least they find homes for two or three children 
 a 5^ear. These are usually illegitimate infants. The policy of the 
 Araiy is to keep such children with their mothers, and it has provided 
 a Rescue Home for them in Binningham. But occasionally a mother 
 dies or for some other reason the local ensign has the baby on his 
 hands, and finds it a foster home. Many other social workers, both 
 public officials and representatives of private agencies, have like 
 occasion to find homes for infants. 
 
 These professional social workers usually place children in 
 their home cities or near by, and with persons whom they know. 
 They sometimes visit the homes after placing, though not regularly 
 or in all cases. They keep no special records. They all report that 
 they have more applications for children, many times over, than they 
 can fill. 
 
 The amateur social workers are harder to keep track of. In 
 many towns some charitable lady habitually finds homes for both 
 babies and older children when brought to her. Most placements 
 would appear to be local, but this is not always the case. These 
 occasional home finders have doubtless relieved much suffering and 
 in the absence of organized home finding have until recently filled a 
 real need. 
 
 Institutional Placing 
 
 The orphanages and maternity homes nearly all find foster homes 
 for a few children, usually of tender age. The initiative ordinarily 
 comes from the prospective foster parents. The superintendent 
 may make a personal investigation of the home if the applicant lives 
 in the same town. If not he depends upon the pastor of the church 
 of his denomination, a member of his board of trustees, or some 
 other friend to report on the fitness of the home. Most superinten- 
 dents realize the deficiencies of this plan; one, however, regarded 
 it as ideal. No institution maintains a field agent. 
 
 When the would-be foster parents are acceptable and have 
 found a child that pleases them the institution transfers the cus- 
 tody of the child to them. Proper l^egal steps are not always taken. 
 Indeed some officials did not seem to have thought about the matter. 
 Others are quite careful, and require that the child remain in his new 
 home a certain period before the legal transfer of authority. Insti-
 
 200 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 tutions expect foster parents to adopt the children they place. The 
 officers quite generally confuse adoption with legal custody. 
 
 When the foster home is nearby the superintendent usually 
 visits it after placement. When it is at a distance he ordinarily 
 assumes that all is well unless the foster parent desires to send back 
 the child. Several orphanage heads said that if anything were wrong 
 they would hear about it from the local pastor. In the case of the 
 Catholic institutions the bishop has final control of placements 
 as of all other matters, and makes a practice of having children 
 brought before him for inspection by their foster parents, when he 
 is on his rounds. Only one institution keeps any record of placements 
 other than a ledger entry. 
 
 Some children are also placed on contract. The Methodist 
 orphanage pursues this policy, and placed twenty-three children 
 during the year ending April 30, 1918. The contract is carefully 
 drawn, stipulates in detail the educational and religious opportuni- 
 ties which must be offered the child, and covenants that he shall be 
 cared for as the person's "own child, and not as a servant." Custody 
 of the child is transferred to the person taking it, and the orphanage 
 reserves the right to resume custody in case of a breach of the con- 
 tract. This orphanage has in its application form a clause yielding 
 it permission to place the child without consulting the applicant. 
 It places far more children than any other orphanage. 
 
 True home finding should not be confused with the procuring 
 of places of residence and situations for children who are of the age 
 of leaving. The latter has already been treated in the part of the 
 report dealing with institutions. 
 
 The institutions find homes for comparatively few children, not 
 more than one or two a year, as a rule. These are usually infants 
 or very small children. The reasons assigned by superintendents 
 for not finding homes for more children are that most children have 
 living relatives who are willing for them to be in institutions but 
 not in foster homes; that larger children are hard to place; that 
 children are better off in institutions; and that no more homes can 
 be found. All agreed in giving the first reason. Undoubtedly more 
 children could be placed if instiJ:utions would be more careful to 
 acquire legal title to every child put in them. The law is entirely 
 adequate in this respect; authorities simply fail to take the proper 
 steps.
 
 Child-Caring Institutions and Home Finding 201 
 
 Institutional authorities seem to view in a friendly manner the 
 co-operation of the Alabama Children's Aid Society when it has been 
 offered them. One orphanage now depends entirely on the society 
 for help in placing children. 
 
 The Alabama Children's Aid Society 
 
 This central child placing agency was chartered November 29, 
 1917, though it had already begun its work on October first of that 
 year. It took over in large degree the work of the defunct Alabama 
 Children's Home Society. Headquarters are in Birmingham, in the 
 Juvenile Court building, and the staff consists of a state superin- 
 tendent, one visitor and a stenographer. Between October 1, 1917, 
 and May 31, 1918, it had placed in family homes 91 children, of whom 
 49 had been adopted. In addition the society had at the latter date 
 one child in a family home at board, and five in their own homes 
 under supervision. Fifty-six other children had been referred to 
 the society for consultation and advice. 
 
 The function of the society is to ser\^e as a statewide home 
 finding agency. Its support comes from the voluntary contributions 
 of its membership, which is distributed over all parts of the state. 
 
 Children are referred to the society through various channels. 
 Upon receiving word of a child in need of its assistance an immediate 
 social investigation is made of the child's environment. This is 
 done by a personal visit, no matter where the child may live. If 
 it is decided that he needs a new home, the society goes before the 
 juvenile or probate court judge of the child's county, and secures 
 the legal custody of the child or has his case continued in court for 
 ninety days while a home is being found. When a satisfactory home 
 is ready the society or the court transfers to it the custody of the 
 child. Later, if adoption is desired and recommended by the society 
 it appears in court with the foster parents and assists in completing 
 the process of adoption. 
 
 Meanwhile the society has been busy with the work of securing a 
 suitable home. Many people from time to time apply to the society 
 for children. All such requests are acknowledged, and an application 
 blank is enclosed, asking detailed information regarding the home, 
 and references. If the application returned is encouraging, the 
 references are written to. In case their replies are favorable a visit
 
 202 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 is made to the home. Four out of five applicants are rejected at 
 some stage of the process. Out of the remainder a waiting list is 
 made up. When a child is to be placed, he is not put into the first 
 acceptable home, but the one most suitable for him is selected from 
 the society's list. 
 
 The many children who are not in good physical condition are 
 put in hospitals or boarded on contract in private homes until they 
 are in health. No other placing on contract is done. 
 
 Perhaps the most important part of the work comes after place- 
 ment. The visitor of the society comes to see the child in his new 
 home as often as seems necessary. Proper advice and help are given, 
 and many failures are averted. In those rare cases, however, where a 
 new foster home is necessary it is provided in time. 
 
 The records of the society are complete, admirably planned 
 and kept on the modem and business-like loose-leaf and card index 
 plan. 
 
 It is the society's desire to co-operate with private parties inter- 
 ested in child welfare, and with officials of private and public chari- 
 table agencies everywhere. The social worker who has a child 
 thrown on his hands may go to it for competent assistance. The 
 society offers its assistance in making investigations of homes and 
 in following up placements to the institutions of the state. Some 
 co-operation has already begun ; The Episcopal orphans' home and 
 the East Lake reformatory in particular are making use of the 
 society's aid. The latter institution hopes to place in this way all 
 its small dependent boys whose presence in the reformatory is so 
 much to be deplored. Small delinquent boys have also been placed, 
 with success. 
 
 Through its carefully-recorded social investigations the society 
 is gathering a store of facts which will be available for use in devising 
 preventive measures. It is the only child-placing agency of im- 
 portance in the state which is doing so. 
 
 Lines of Development 
 
 Home finding in Alabama is now in a transition stage from an 
 unregulated, spontaneous, charitable activity to one organized and 
 co-operative. Putting a child in a strange home is too serious a busi- 
 ness to be lightly undertaken. Greater care must in the future be
 
 Child-Caring Institutions and Home Finding 203 
 
 exercised in investigating prospective homes. No child should ever 
 be put in a home until it has been visited by a trained social worker. 
 This means that persons, organizations and institutions that do not 
 maintain a field agent ought not to place in any but local homes 
 which they themselves have visited. If they wish to place at a 
 distance they should employ a trained visitor or call in an organiza- 
 tion that does employ one. 
 
 Pastors cannot be relied on to report on homes. They lack 
 training, have little time for the work and do not like to offend mem- 
 bers of their church by an unfavorable written report when the 
 whole responsibility is put upon them. A flagrant instance of delin- 
 quency in this respect was brought to the attention of the writer by 
 a deaconess of the minister's church. Pastors can often give valuable 
 assistance, and should invariably be consulted, confidentially, by 
 the investigator. But no child should be entnisted to foster parents 
 except on the responsibility of an experienced professional social 
 worker. 
 
 Personal visiting of foster homes after placement should also 
 be invariable, and should also be made by trained workers, for the 
 same reasons. 
 
 Adequate and complete records should be kept and accessibly 
 filed in the case of every placement. These records include the 
 parentage and history of the child, summary of the investigation 
 made of the foster home, copies or briefs with citations of every legal 
 paper involved in the transfer, and memoranda of visits subsequent 
 to placement. 
 
 Every child should receive a thorough and scientific mental and 
 physical examination before being placed in a home. Finally, home 
 finding must increase in quantity as well as in quality. No place- 
 able child should be left in an institution or committed to one. This 
 should be done for the sake of the children who are not placeable 
 as well as for those who are. In this way can the congestion of the 
 institutions for dependent children be most practicably relieved, and 
 better care attained. All of these things must and will come with 
 the growth of public interest in the welfare of children and the 
 spread of scientific information about it. 
 
 One phase of the future development of home finding is of such 
 pressing importance as to merit separate treatment, and the sug- 
 gestion of legislative action.
 
 204 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 Legislative Recommendation 
 
 The State Board of Social Welfare with its Division of Child 
 Welfare, already suggested in the part of the report dealing with 
 institutions, is equally to be desired from the viewpoint of home 
 finding. It should receive the authority usually given to such 
 boards or to state boards of children's guardians. This includes a 
 general supervision of child placing in the state. Specifically, the 
 board, through its division of child welfare, should require and 
 publish reports on a prescribed form from every individual, organiza- 
 tion or institution in Alabama that finds homes for children. It 
 should co-operate with all such persons and bodies and with local 
 public authorities, furnishing whatever information may be at its 
 command, and bringing the different agencies in touch with one 
 another. It should be the concrete expression of the interest and 
 authority of the state regarding the finding of homes for its un- 
 fortunate children.
 
 RECREATION 
 Gladys M. Gleason 
 
 National Child Labor Committee 
 
 The slow growth of recreation, especially in the rural districts 
 of Alabama, may be largely attributed to a tendency which still 
 persists in many localities to cling to the disciplinary idea of educa- 
 tion. With the idea of discipline predominant it is not difficult to 
 understand why play, especially organized play, has not been a 
 more important factor in the educational system of the state. 
 The lack of municipal funds has also been a serious obstacle in 
 carrying out experiments, and there exists at the present time little 
 tangible evidence of the development of the community spirit. 
 Gradually, however, through the effort of the various educational 
 agencies the doctrine of directed recreation is being spread and in 
 some cases with very gratifying results. It appears here and there 
 in sporadic instances, a municipal playground, a county recreation 
 league, being illustrative of its growth. 
 
 Perhaps the most significant instance of the recognition of the 
 place of recreation in the daily life of both children and adults is the 
 attention which the industrial world is giving to the problem. The 
 big industries of the state are beginning to realize that well cared 
 for and contented employees mean efficiency and in all cases the 
 money spent in improving their living and social conditions has 
 proven an excellent investment. The community centers estab- 
 lished by the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company arc 
 splendid examples of what may be achieved along this line. Ex- 
 cellent schools with splendid equipment for physical training have 
 been established; there are community houses where all sorts of 
 community meetings and entertainments are held, school gardens 
 and facilities for every form of athletics; exhibits of academic and 
 kindergarten work, cooking, sewing and Red Cross work are regu- 
 larly held; and an annual recreation exhibition comprising fonnal 
 field drills, athletic contests and a pageant are held in which each 
 community center participates. Other industrial plants in wirious 
 
 206
 
 206 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 parts of the state have also undertaken this community work, 
 although on not quite such an extended scale ; this effort reaches only 
 the families of emplo^^ees and includes only a small percentage of the 
 population of the state, but it forms a nucleus around which a state- 
 wide recreational system may in time be built. 
 
 The State Department of Education has endeavored to place 
 the subject before the eyes of the people and to awaken in them a 
 sense of responsibility towards the children of the state. A similar 
 attempt has been made by devoting to recreation a part of the 
 program at teachers' institutes which are held annually, every 
 teacher in the state being obliged to attend. In this way the seeds 
 are gradually being scattered even in the most remote of rural com- 
 munities, although it may be a long time before any definite results 
 are obtained. A desire for wholesome recreation must first be 
 created in the people and when this has been done it will be the 
 responsibility of the state not only to foster this desire but to pro- 
 vide the means of its realization through its various social agencies. 
 
 It is the aim of this report to picture as far as possible the 
 present condition in Alabama, uncomplicated by military activities. 
 In some cases this has been difficult as the entire aspect of the recrea- 
 tional problem has been changed by the presence of large military 
 camps. In making the investigation upon which the report is based 
 ten counties (Lauderdale, Madison, Etowah, Clebourne, Talladega, 
 Jefferson, Tuscaloosa, Montgomery, Dallas and Mobile) and eight 
 cities (Anniston, Bessemer, Birmingham, Gadsden, Mobile, Mont- 
 gomery, Selma and Tuscaloosa) as well as several small towns and 
 villages were visited. The subject naturally falls into two divisions, 
 urban and rural, which will be considered separately. 
 
 URBAN RECREATION 
 
 The problem of providing adequate recreational facilities for 
 children has been complicated by the somewhat abnormal conditions 
 which exist at the present time throughout the state. The towns 
 and cities located near the cantonments have been strained to their 
 utmost capacity to provide for the soldier, who has completely 
 absorbed the public interest for the time being, the child being left 
 to shift for himself. In most cases the effort to entertain the soldier 
 has resulted in a higher standard of recreation. The War Camp
 
 Recreation 207 
 
 Community Service in whose hands the problem has been placed, 
 is largely responsible for this improvement. All places of amuse- 
 ment are carefully supervised by the committee, assisted by the 
 military and civil authorities, and no public performance which 
 may be considered questionable is allowed to continue. The U. S. 
 PubHc Health Sendee is responsible for the sanitation of public 
 places of amusement which have been kept scrupulously up to 
 standard. , 
 
 From the standpoint of the child, however, most of the towns 
 have pathetically little to offer. The most common and without 
 doubt the most popular form of amusement for children as well as 
 adults is the motion picture show. In this particular field which 
 offers such vnde and varied opportunities for a special appeal nothing 
 definite for the special benefit of children has ^'■et been accomplished 
 and although several moving picture producers reported an attempt 
 at children's programs, they were unanimous in feeling that such 
 programs were unsuccessful from the popular as well as the finan- 
 cial standpoint. In all cases special children's features, such as the 
 Bluebird, Alice in Wonderland, etc., were reported to have met with 
 Httle or no response on the part of the children, while pictures featur- 
 ing the leading movie actors and actresses may be counted on to 
 pack the house. Only one manager had attempted films of the 
 so-called educational type with any degree of success, films of Dick- 
 ens stories, for example, having been so well received that others of 
 the same character had been booked for the following month. This 
 moving picture theatre was in a university town and, as the manager 
 frankly confessed, did not attract as many children as another 
 theatre down the street which featured a popular comedian. Family 
 group pictures are made practically impossible in all cases because 
 few of the moving picture theatres show more than a news film and 
 one feature picture at each performance. This makes a wise selec- 
 tion of films for the daily program a matter of vital importance. 
 For the purpose of this investigation thirty-seven motion picture 
 theatres in eight cities were visited, nine of which included vaude- 
 ville in the regular program. It is rather difficult to determine in 
 one visit to each theatre what is the general standard of the house, 
 but in very few instances were the pictures found to contain anything 
 objectionable or harmful to cliilch-en. 
 
 There is neither state nor local censorship at present in Alabama.
 
 208 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 An ordinance providing for local censorship was introduced in Mont- 
 gomery some time ago but it was defeated. Moving pictirres in 
 Birmingham have been censored from time to time by volunteer 
 committees but at present this is not being done, in all cases censor- 
 ship being left entirely to the manager. Several of the managers 
 who were interviewed said that it was their custom to watch the 
 first matinee performance for any features which might be considered 
 objectionable. They were quite unanimous, however, in agreeing 
 that the public would not permit the production of questionable 
 pictirres and that it was a matter of good business to see that the 
 standard of their theatres was not lowered. 
 
 The securing of a higher standard of pictures for adults as well 
 as children depends upon public education. A demand for more 
 educational pictures must first be created by means of publicity of 
 the right sort, through newspapers, women's clubs, schools, churches, 
 etc. Parents must be made to realize the danger of giving money 
 indiscriminately to their children for moving picture shows. They 
 should know what sort of pictures their children are seeing, and 
 whether or not they are suitable. The problem which naturally 
 arises at this point is how children may be prevented from seeing 
 improper pictvues. A picture may be quite harmless from the adult 
 point of view but as long as children are permitted to attend the same 
 performance they are likely to be brought into contact with situations 
 to which, at their age, it is unwise to attract their attention. 
 
 At the present time only one city has an ordinance controlling 
 the nature of the performance which shall be given in the moving 
 picture houses. The ordinance of Birmingham is explicit in this 
 respect. Films depicting the vulgar or the obscene, scenes of vio- 
 lence, such as lynchings or suicide, immorality, white slave traffic, 
 etc., are barred. There is also a general provision for prohibiting 
 vulgar or immoral vaudeville performances and there has been little 
 complaint with regard to the character of either films or vaudeville 
 in the city and in fact in the state. "Public opinion will not stand 
 for anything vulgar," seems to be the general opinion of those in- 
 terested in film or theatrical production. Some of the towns have 
 ordinances giving the police power to close public performances 
 of an indecent natixre. These ordinances are rarely enforced. 
 An investigation by the War Camp Community Service of the recrea- 
 tional situation in Mobile has resulted in an attempt to improve
 
 Recreation 209 
 
 conditions in the motion pictiire theatres of that city. Under the 
 direction of a committee of this organization a model moving pictiire 
 ordinance is being drawn. The movement has met with hearty co- 
 operation on the part of the producers as well as the authorities. 
 Several of the managers have submitted their monthly programs 
 to the committee for approval before advertising the pictures. 
 
 There are comparatively few theatres which include vaudeville 
 as a part of the regular program. Four of the cities have vaudeville 
 houses wliich are on the Keith or Loew circuit and which offer a 
 good type of vaudeville performance. Aside from this better type 
 of vaudeville three of these cities were found to contain vaudeville 
 theatres of the burlesque variety. These cater to a cheap class and 
 are often of a vulgar and demoralizing nature. In one case the in- 
 vestigator was told, "That show is no place for a woman." At the 
 time of this investigation none of the regular theatres were open. 
 An occasional stock company, vaudeville performance or a road 
 company of the better class was reported but in most cases these 
 had not met with financial success which perhaps accoimts for their 
 occasional appearance. 
 
 In only two cities were the theatres and places of amusement 
 open on Simdays. At the time the investigation was made an or- 
 dinance making Simday performances possible was under considera- 
 tion in Birmingham. This ordinance, however, failed to pass. Ten 
 theatres were found to open at 9.30 a. m. ; the others open anywhere 
 from 12 to 2.30, closing usually from 10.30 to 11 o'clock. The 
 admission varies from 5 to 20 cents, according to the character 
 of the theatre, 10 to 15 cents being the average price. The price 
 of the cheaper vaudeville shows is usually 15 to 25 cents. Keith's and 
 Loew's theatres, however, are more expensive and for that reason 
 the attendance of children is limited. 
 
 There is no state law prohibiting the attendance of children under 
 16 years of age at night unaccompanied, nor has there been any 
 attempt at local regulation. The attendance of children in most of 
 the motion picture theatres is large, in one case a manager reported 
 50 per cent. Very often parents leave their children at the theatre 
 while they are shopping or otherwise engaged, and frequently they 
 remain as late as 10.30 entirely alone. In one city an unusually large 
 percentage of children present at a morning performance was noticed. 
 One manager was found who made a practice of allowing children
 
 210 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 to come in free after the first evening performance, with the result 
 that at 9.30 there is always a noisy and disorderly crowd of boys 
 hanging aroimd the doors waiting to be let in and causing a great 
 deal of inconvenience to the passersby and to the patrons of the 
 theatre. 
 
 Six of the cities visited have ordinances requiring the inspection 
 and approval of buildings by the city building inspector. In the 
 two other cities the information was not obtained. The ordinances 
 controlling sanitation of public buildings are for the most part 
 comprehensive but so far as could be foimd, there has been no effort 
 to enforce them except in cities near army cantonments where the 
 administration of sanitary affairs is in the hands of the U. S. Public 
 Health Servdce. This does not mean that the theatres are not in 
 good sanitary condition or properly ventilated. In most cases the 
 buildings are in very good condition, clean and well ventilated, 
 some of them having been made very attractive. Only four were 
 found to be dirty or lacking in proper ventilation and none were 
 found unlighted throughout the performance although tliis is rarely 
 required by ordinance. 
 
 Every city and town requires the payment of a license for the 
 operation of a moving pictiire theatre. The amount of the license 
 is usually fixed annually, and differs according to the seating capacity, 
 price of admission, net proceeds of the theatre, inclusion of vaude- 
 ville, etc. In addition to the city license there is a state license of 
 $150 and a county license of approximately $75. This fee is doubled 
 in case of Sunday performances. 
 
 All of the theatres visited have compHed with the Southern Fire 
 Underwriters' regtdations in respect of fire protection. These re- 
 quirements are very complete, comprising construction of the booth, 
 number and width of aisles, number and width of exits, marking of 
 exits, standing in the aisles or at the rear of the theatre, overcrowd- 
 ing of the theatre, use of fire extinguishers, etc. The ordinances 
 of some of the cities are very specific with regard to fire protection, 
 but in all cases a regular system of inspection should be established 
 and the ordinances enforced. Only two violations of the fire regula- 
 tions were found. In one theatre a large number of people were 
 permitted to stand in the rear of the theatre during the performance 
 and in the other the exits at the front on either side of the screen were 
 not marked.
 
 Recreation 211 
 
 Recommendations. 
 
 In order to insure the physical safety of patrons of motion 
 picture theatres systematic inspection by city boards of health would 
 be advisable, and a careful record should be kept of the places in- 
 spected and the sanitary conditions found. Fire ordinances concern- 
 ing motion picture theatres and comprising the regulations of the 
 Fire Underwriters' organization should be adopted in all cities and 
 towns and enforcement insured through inspection by the fire depart- 
 ment. To seciu-e the enforcement of both sanitary and lire regulations 
 the co-operation of the various civic associations should be sought. 
 Public interest should be aroused and the people should be made 
 to feel the necessity of reporting violations of these regulations to the 
 proper authorities whenever they are discovered, and of following 
 up each case until improper conditions are corrected. 
 
 With regard to motion pictui-es it is difficult to determine how 
 the present situation may be improved. When children's programs 
 have been tried and found to meet with little or no response it is 
 difficult to convince the producer that they may be made a financial 
 success. The first step toward more suitable pictures for children will 
 have to be made by stimulating public opinion. To do this the co- 
 operation of schools, churches, Y. M. C. A., women's clubs and other 
 such organizations should be enlisted. Good pictures should be 
 widely advertised through these organizations and the interest of 
 the children diverted to specially selected films. A child's interest 
 may be aroused by a suggestion from his teacher. He will go to see 
 the picture. If he likes it, others will follow, and before long the 
 producer is sure to be gratified by the result of his co-operation with 
 the schools. 
 
 In making the choice of suitable pictures the producer will find 
 the lists published by the National Board of Review extremely help- 
 ful. These are selected with a view to pleasing the ranlc and file of 
 children and have been successful wherever they have been tried. 
 They do not necessarily have to be children's pictures in the generally 
 accepted sense of the term, but may be tales of adventure, stories 
 of the West, popular comedies — any of the various types which the 
 average adult enjoys, so long as they are not overstimulating or 
 unsuitable. 
 
 The passage of a state law preventing the exhibition of pictures 
 containing scenes of questionable character should be considered
 
 212 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 and the enforcement of such a law should be placed in the hands of 
 the police department of each city. There should also be a state law 
 prohibiting the attendance of children mider 16 years of age at night 
 unless accompanied by parent or guardian. 
 
 In the matter of censorship it is again necessary to depend largely 
 upon public opinion. Local or state censorship seems not only imfair 
 to the manager but to the public as well. Local censorship in a small 
 community is practically impossible from the standpoint of the 
 manager because very often the films do not arrive in time to be 
 viewed by the censor before the opening of the performance and in 
 case they should be rejected there is no chance for substitution at 
 such a late hour. Another drawback to local censorship is the ten- 
 dency to force films which have been rejected by the board of one 
 town upon a neighboring town having no censorship. From the 
 standpoint of the public both local and state censorship seem inad- 
 visable. The power of choosing the character of films to be shown 
 would be placed in the hands of a few people and it would be quite 
 natural for each one to be influenced by his individual taste. It 
 would be difficult to secure a sufficiently large group of representa- 
 tive people to form a volimtary board of censorship who would devote 
 enough time to the matter to make their work effective. 
 
 It must be recognized that the moving picture has come to stay 
 and that it is daily growing in popularity. No effective substitute 
 can be found, although through the development of recreational 
 facilities out-door play may in time vie with it in popularity. Until 
 that time comes, however, every effort should be made to secure 
 clean, wholesome pictures, chosen with a view to stimulating normal 
 emotions and ideas, serving the same purposes in the child's educa- 
 tion as wisely directed play, and satisfjdng at the same time his 
 desire for amusement. 
 
 Dance Halls. 
 
 At the present time the commercial dance hall is practically 
 non-existent in Alabama. Public dances are being held nightly at 
 Oxford Lake, an amusement park near Anniston, supervised by 
 military authorities and the War Camp Community Service. Bir- 
 mingham's new municipal amusement park also contains a dance 
 pavilion where dances are held nightly, but with these two exceptions, 
 no licensed dance halls were found in any of the cities covered by this
 
 Recreation 213 
 
 investigation. In several of the cities it was reported that they had 
 existed in the past but in most cases had become so disorderly that 
 they were closed by the cit}^ authorities. In other instances they 
 had not proven a success financially and were abandoned. Among 
 the negroes, however, they are still to be found and those cities 
 which have adopted dance hall ordinances have done so for the pur- 
 pose of protection against the disorder which frequently arises at 
 these places. All of the cities and nearly all of the towns in the state 
 require a license for the operation of public dance halls, but very 
 few have adequate ordinances for their control. While the absence 
 of dance halls at this particular time simplifies the recreational 
 problem it does not necessarily mean that the problem will never 
 arise, and when that time comes, adequate control of the situation 
 through city ordinances will be necessary. A nominal license should 
 be required, and the character of the person or persons running 
 the hall or employed therein should be ascertained and approved. 
 Children under 16 years of age should not be admitted. A 12 
 o'clock closing law should be enacted and no disorderly or disrepu- 
 table persons should be admitted or allowed to remain in the hall. 
 Provision should also be made for revoking the license upon refusal 
 to comply with the ordinances. In addition there should be definite 
 provision for enforcement and supervision preferably not by uni- 
 formed police. 
 
 Each town, however small, has its hall where semi-public dances 
 are held, usually under the auspices of some club or order. In the 
 larger cities there are numbers of these halls and in many cases they 
 are used every night for dances. In one city several were visited 
 and conditions were found to be bad. Children 6 to 8 years old were 
 often permitted to remain until after 11 o'clock, — the crowds were 
 very rough and upon one occasion two arrests were made for vulgar 
 dancing. In one instance the only supervision was by an old police- 
 man who remained at the street entrance during the entire evening. 
 All of these semi-public dances where admission is charged should be 
 subject to careful inspection either by an official appointed for the 
 purpose or by volunteer committees. 
 
 The most desirable method of dealing with this question is 
 through municipal ownership and control. A municipal dance hall, 
 open two nights a week or oftencr if possible and adequately super- 
 vised, affords an opportunity for recreation of a wholesome character
 
 214 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 to take the place of that which will be found elsewhere under less 
 favorable circumstances. 
 
 Miscellaneous. 
 
 1. Pool Rooms and Bowling Alleys. 
 
 In some of the smaller towns the moving pictures and the pool 
 rooms are the only sources of recreation. The city ordinances con- 
 trolling pool rooms are quite comprehensive; minors are ban-ed by 
 state law, entrances must be secured, glass transoms are required, 
 the rooms must be closed between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., they must be 
 visible from the street and they are all subject to police inspection. 
 In one of the larger cities quite an extensive campaign has recently 
 been conducted against the pool rooms with the result that they are 
 now under very rigid surveillance by the police department. Many 
 were closed for violation of the liquor or the gambling law. In no 
 case did the investigator find minors employed or allowed to play. 
 
 2. Skating Rinks. 
 
 In six towns, skating rinks had formerly been open but there 
 were none at the time of the investigation. In only one city was there 
 a rink found running. 
 
 ^t>" 
 
 3. Swimming Pools. 
 
 One city has a municipal swimming pool of four acres. Two 
 cities have pools at amusement parks, one of which is not open. 
 One park contains a lake which is used for swimming. In another 
 city there is an excellent pool run in connection with the children's 
 playground, in another there are one public and two privately owned 
 pools which are occasionally open to the public. Two cities had no 
 public pools. 
 
 4. Amusement Parks. 
 
 In Birmingham there is a municipally owned amusement park 
 which offers the usual attractions to the public — boating, dancing, 
 roller coaster, swimming, merry-go-rounds, candy and refreshment 
 stands, etc. There is in addition a children's playground very well 
 equipped where children are looked after by a matron and two 
 assistants. Four privately owned parks were found — only one of 
 which was running.
 
 Recreation 215 
 
 5. Travelling Shows and Circuses visit the various cities and 
 many of the small towns several times a year. They are usually of 
 the cheap variety and attract only the rougher element. One such 
 show was running in Anniston at the time the investigation was 
 made, and was patronized chiefly by negroes. 
 
 Non-Commercial. 
 
 1. City Parks and Playgrounds. 
 (a) BirmingJmm. 
 
 There are about fourteen parks in Birmingham, nearly every 
 one conveniently located and containing some apparatus for children. 
 Several years ago, trained playground supervisors were placed in 
 several of the larger parks which were completely equipped with ap- 
 paratus, and folk dancing, group games and exercises for physical 
 development formed a part of the program; annual exhibitions 
 given at the State Farm Grounds and representing the combined 
 efforts of the playground supervisors. May festivals, etc., were also 
 established. But all this has been abandoned because of lack of 
 funds. At present the schools are carrying on the abandoned play- 
 ground activities as far as they can and in many instances the parks 
 near the schools are being used for recreational purposes under the 
 supervision of teachers. The school authorities and School Im- 
 provement Association are co-operating with the playground com- 
 mittee as far as possible to keep the playgrounds in use and to stimu- 
 late the desire for wholesome outdoor recreation among the school 
 children. In one of the parks an auditorium has recently been built 
 for community singing. The concerts are usually held on Sunday 
 afternoon. 
 
 Montgomery. 
 
 There is no supervised recreation in this city. There are two 
 municipal parks comprising about 64 acres, one of which has been 
 equipped with swings, see-saws, pavilions, tennis courts, slides and 
 a small zoo. This park is reached by trolley from town and attracts 
 numbers of children, but it is perhaps too far from the more con- 
 gested section of the city to make it convenient for the poorer children. 
 The other park has not yet been developed.
 
 216 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 Mobile. 
 
 At the present time Mobile is the only city where a municipal 
 playground is being conducted. It is splendidly equipped with base- 
 ball diamond, basket and volley ball courts, hockey field, swimming 
 pool where instruction in swimming is given, see-saws, sand pile, 
 slides, bars, rings and the simpler forms of apparatus. There is a 
 trained athletic director in charge during the summer months. 
 
 At present there is a recreational plan under consideration which 
 aims to co-ordinate the school with the municipal playground. 
 Dming the school term the physical work of two elementary schools 
 located near the playground is to be conducted there under the 
 direction of the present athletic director, and at the close of the term 
 the work will continue under the same director. If this plan proves 
 successful it is hoped that other available land near the other schools 
 may be utilized for the same piirpose. There are several other parks 
 in various parts of the city comprising about 35 acres and containing 
 apparatus. Quite recently five acres of land on the bay front were 
 purchased for playground piu-poses but this land has not yet been 
 developed. A community center with a playground has recently 
 been opened in one of the congested districts of the city. The idea 
 has been enthusiastically received but it is still too new to predict 
 what the outcome will be. 
 
 The interest in recreational problems which has been aroused in 
 Mobile is steadily growing and although the work is being conducted 
 without much financial support, a splendid start has been made from 
 which greater things may result. 
 
 Selma has no parks. Some years ago the city water works 
 placed a few pieces of apparatus for children in two vacant lots. 
 They are seldom used and are very much out of repair now. No 
 supervised recreation has ever been provided for the children of this 
 city. 
 
 Tuscaloosa has no parks. A municipal playground was started 
 a few years ago under the auspices of the Woman's Club, but has not 
 been kept up. 
 
 Bessemer has no pubHc parks or playgrounds. A few pieces of 
 apparatus purchased by the city were placed in a vacant lot near 
 the court house a few years ago but the surroundings are very un- 
 attractive and the apparatus badly out of repair. Supervised play 
 has never been attempted.
 
 Recreation 217 
 
 Amiiston has no municipal parks. 
 
 Gadsden has a municipal playgroimd established and supported 
 by the Civic League, containing several pieces of apparatus in good 
 repair. There are in addition two parks comprising about 28 acres, 
 which have never been developed. 
 
 Recommendations. 
 
 The number of children to be seen playing on the streets in most 
 of the cities is a very strong argument in favor of the municipal 
 playground. The mere provision of playground and equipment, 
 however, is not enough, for undirected play is in many cases as 
 harmful as no play at all and for this reason an athletic director 
 should be placed in charge of each playground. Parks with apparatus 
 for children should be more accessible to the crowded portions of the 
 city, and should be provided with sand-piles, swings, see-saws, etc., 
 and wherever possible wading pools, tennis cotirts, etc., for the 
 encouragement of outdoor play. All forms of apparatus should be 
 kept in repair. 
 
 Schools. 
 
 Only one city, Birmingham, was found to have a system of 
 physical education wliich might be considered adequate. Here the 
 physical training department is in the hands of a director and assistant 
 director, who supervise all physical activity in the elementary schools. 
 A program consisting of physical exercises, group games, drills, folk 
 dancing, etc., covering a period of one month, is given each grade 
 teacher. Once a month the teachers meet for instruction in carrying 
 out the program and several times a month the class work is inspected 
 by the director and his assistant. The playground work which is 
 being done in connection with the schools has already been mentioned. 
 The high schools have two athletic directors who supervise the boys' 
 and the girls' athletics. Gymnasium work is required in the school 
 course, and in addition there are the usual team games and inter- 
 scholastic contests. All the elementary schools in the city with a 
 teaching staff of more than ten are fairly well equipped with play- 
 ground apparatus. The playground work which has been conducted 
 during the summer has been replaced this year by war gardening 
 under the supervision of the teachers.
 
 218 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 Social life in the schools of Birmingham is fostered by clubs and 
 entertainments of various types. Plays are given under the auspices 
 of the Dramatic League, an orchestra of between 250 and 300 pieces 
 has been formed in the elementary schools and a Junior Red Cross 
 has been organized. The high school has organized an orchestra as 
 well as a military band, and machines and slides for illustrated lec- 
 tures have also been installed in many of the schools. Gymna- 
 siums were found in only two other city high schools and very little 
 apparatus found in any of the schools. In Montgomery only four 
 of the ten schools have yards large enough to install playground 
 apparatus, and this was found to be the case in several of the other 
 towns. The high school has a large auditorium which is used by 
 the graded schools for entertainments. When visited a rehearsal 
 for the May pageant, given by the first and second grades was 
 being conducted. Other high and elementary schools reported clubs 
 of various sorts and the usual school activities. The State School 
 Improvement Association has been very active in securing better 
 buildings and equipment throughout the state and such recreational 
 activities as already exist may be largely attributed to its efforts. 
 The importance of play as an educational factor has long been recog- 
 nized by the state educational department and through its influence 
 a place for recreation is gradually being established in the public 
 schools of the state. 
 
 Recommendations. 
 
 The adoption of a plan of physical training and recreation for 
 the larger cities similar to that now being used in Birmingham 
 would be advisable, i. e. all branches of physical training should be 
 placed under one supervisor who should have an assistant under 
 whose direction all physical activities in the elementary schools 
 should be placed. A definite program of the work to be accom- 
 plished each month including exercises for physical development, 
 military drill, folk dances, group games, etc., should be given 
 the grade teachers who do the actual teaching. Once a month 
 the teachers should meet to receive instructions from the assis- 
 tant physical director for carrying out the schedule and several 
 times a month the work of the classes should be inspected by the 
 director and assistant director. Physical work in the high schools 
 should be carried on in two departments, one for the boys and one
 
 Recreation 219 
 
 for the girls, each with its own athletic director. Competitive ath- 
 letics should be established in the high schools among both boys 
 and girls and interscholastic contests encouraged. Annual exhi- 
 bition drills and pageants among the elementary classes stimulate 
 interest in recreational work both among the children and in the 
 community. The high schools which have not already provided or 
 equipped g^^nnasiums should do so whenever possible. 
 
 During the summer recreational work should be continued 
 under full or part time direction, and for this purpose the school 
 yards should be more fully equipped with apparatus. In case the 
 school yard does not meet the space requirements the school author- 
 ities might secure the co-operation of the Park Commissioners and 
 recreational activities might be carried on in one of the municipal 
 parks. 
 
 As a social factor the school should be more closely in touch 
 with the community. If a program comprising various forms of 
 wholesome evening entertainment such as lectures, dances, moving 
 pictures, dramatics, concerts, etc. is adopted by each school, the 
 bo3^s and girls will come more and more to depend upon the school 
 to furnish the social intercourse which they require, in place of the 
 less desirable activities, either private or commercial, which the city 
 provides. In arranging the entertainment programs every effort 
 should be made to secure the interest of the adults as well as the 
 young people of the community. In this way the home may be 
 brought into closer relationship with the school — a matter of vital 
 importance to both. For this purpose each school should have its 
 auditorium or should be arranged so that the partitions of certain 
 class rooms may be thrown open to form a room large enough for 
 social gatherings. 
 
 Libraries. 
 
 Seven city libraries were visited in Birmingham, Bessemer, 
 Anniston, Gadsden, Montgomery, Selma and Tuscaloosa. The 
 children's work consists of a children's reading room, story hour and 
 occasional school deposit station. Lack of funds, has, however, 
 made extension practically impossible. At the present time only a 
 very small library fund raised by subscription, with an additional 
 S2.5 per month from the city, is available.
 
 220 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 Settlements. 
 
 Very little work of this sort is being done at present. The 
 Neighborhood House in Birmingham, Wesley House in Ensley and 
 two settlements in Montgomery in connection with the Methodist 
 and Episcopal Churches and one in Mobile also connected with the 
 Methodist Church, are practically the only organizations of this 
 kind. The usual class work, working girls' clubs, recreation evenings, 
 kindergarten and play periods for children are conducted. 
 
 Y. M. C. A. and Y. W. C. A. 
 
 The recreational work of these associations is well organized, 
 but they reach a comparatively limited number of young people. 
 At present both organizations are absorbed in various branches of 
 war activities and the younger boys and girls have been in a measure, 
 crowded out. The present lack of workers has also been a serious 
 handicap. Such activities, however, as the establishment of working 
 girls' clubs and patriotic leagues may be expected to be permanent 
 and will prove an undeniably important socializing factor. 
 
 The Y. M. C. A. is more widely organized and more completely 
 equipped than the Y. W. C. A. There are splendid organizations in 
 Huntsville, Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, Montgomery, Selma and Mobile 
 and several branches in industrial communities as Opelika and 
 Fairfield. 
 
 A branch of the Y. M. C. A. is to be opened in Walker County 
 which will undertake welfare work of all sorts, special consideration 
 being given to community problems of the rural districts. 
 
 Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Camp Fire Girls. 
 
 The Boy Scout movement is quite extensive throughout the 
 state. There are troops in 107 towns and cities and the number 
 enrolled is between 2,500 and 3,000. Ten of the 107 towns have more 
 than 10,000 inhabitants, nineteen over 2,500, and the remainder 
 fewer than 2,500. Several towns reported Girl Scout organizations 
 or Camp Fire Councils but these are few in number and the total 
 membership is small.
 
 Schools. 
 
 Recreation 221 
 
 RURAL RECREATION 
 
 Fifty-six of the 67 counties in the state have county high schools 
 which form a nucleus around which center the recreational activities, 
 such as they are. The athletic departments have been for the most 
 part fairly well developed. Each school has its athletic director, 
 usually a member of the faculty, under whose supervision the work 
 of the various teams is conducted, and from 30 to 40 per cent of them 
 have annual athletic meets and a schedule of interscholastic games. 
 Among the elementary schools there are individual instances of 
 activity. A recreational league composed of the teachers of all the 
 schools has been organized in one county. An annual Play Day has 
 been established by this league for the purpose of bringing the schools 
 of the county into closer relationship and furnishing an opportunity 
 for wholesome recreation for both children and adults. Practically 
 every school in the county is represented at the Play Day exercises 
 held at the county fair grounds. In preparation for the meet, schools 
 individually and in groups hold tryouts and in many communities 
 preliminary contests are held among the adults in order to choose 
 their representatives. Nearly 4,000 people were present at the last 
 Play Day exercises. 
 
 About 76 per cent of the schools have organized corn clubs among 
 the boys and 20 per cent have girls' canning clubs. Debating societies 
 are growing in popularity and inter-county debates have been con- 
 ducted in some of the counties. Boy Scout troops have been fairly 
 widely organized in the small towns. There is room, however, for 
 many more such organizations especially among the girls and they 
 should be encouraged as far as possible by the schools. In most 
 cases the Scout troops in the small towns are affiliated with either 
 the church or the school. 
 
 In none of the communities visited were there any signs of 
 playground apparatus and no effort whatsoever to include physical 
 training of any sort in the school program. In most cases the essen- 
 tial school equipment — buildings, furniture, etc. is extremely in- 
 adequate and hence the lack of apparatus for outdoor play is not 
 surprising. In one small town an attempt had been made to or- 
 ganize a community playground but it had been abandoned because 
 of lack of funds and some difficulty over land. 
 
 There is a law which permits the state and tlic Board of County
 
 222 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 Commissioners to appropriate $10 each to any school which will 
 raise $10 for library books. This will purchase three sets of books 
 at $10 a set and under the terms of law ten or more libraries may be 
 secured in one year by each county. A reading circle for teachers 
 and pupils was organized several years ago, the board of which co- 
 operates with the State Superintendent of Education in selecting 
 suitable libraries for elementary and high schools. At the present 
 time 4,000 of the libraries, comprising about 87,000 volumes, have 
 been installed in the schools throughout the state. 
 
 Recommendations — Rural. 
 
 Schools. 
 
 In the rural community the school is the logical social center 
 and a factor of vital importance in developing the recreational 
 spirit. All the recreational activities should be placed under the 
 supervision of a physical training director for each county, — who 
 may be a director of the county high school or the county school 
 superintendent — and the plan of recreation previously suggested 
 for cities might be used to very good advantage. In some instances 
 it may need to be modified slightly to meet the requirements of the 
 rural community. 
 
 The child's love of out-of-doors should be stimulated by nature 
 study, supplemented by tramps in the country for observation. 
 Boy and Girl Scout troops and Camp Fire Councils should be es- 
 tablished more extensively. Since the establishment of county 
 recreational leagues has proven such an effective means of bringing 
 the adults as well as the children together, it would be well to en- 
 courage the organizing of such leagues in all the counties. Annual 
 Play Day should be estabhshed, athletic meets and other community 
 gatherings should be arranged and every effort should be made by 
 the school authorities to secure adequate play-ground equipment. 
 On the social side there should be concerts, lectures, club meetings, 
 etc. Each school should have canning and corn clubs. Agricultural 
 clubs established by the county farm agent are an extremely im- 
 portant factor socially as well as educationally. 
 
 North Carolina has recently undertaken an interesting experi- 
 ment of extending moving pictures to the rural districts through 
 state aid, a plan which might be adopted in Alabama. The state
 
 Recreation 223 
 
 has appropriated S25,000 to help defray the expenses and each 
 county is expected to raise the balance needed. It has been estimated 
 that a unit consisting of one moving picture outfit, films and the ser- 
 vice of an operator may be obtained for approximately $3,000, the 
 average cost of one performance being $12. Ten towns in a county 
 where the experiment was tried guaranteed a sum not to exceed 
 $225, for services for one year, the money for which was raised by 
 charging a ten-cent admission fee and at each performance the pro- 
 ceeds exceeded the cost of the entertainment. The program for the 
 evening usually consisted of one hour of moving pictures followed 
 by a lecture or discussion of community problems. The obstacles 
 hitherto encountered in the way of cost of equipment, fire-proof 
 booths, licensed operators, etc., have been surmounted in every 
 particular. The moving picture machine and an electric light plant 
 are carried from one community to another in an automobile, and 
 insurance regulations are met through the use of an incandescent 
 lamp. 
 
 The possibilities of this plan from the standpoint of recreation 
 are obvious. It might be advisable for the state to defray the entire 
 expense for the first few months since there are many communities 
 in which the response to the new idea might not be sufficiently 
 enthusiastic at the beginning to make it a financial success. In a 
 short while, however, when people had become accustomed to the 
 entertainments and had learned to look forward to them a small 
 admission fee might be charged, which would enable each com- 
 munity to defray its share of the expenses. 
 
 The importance of school Hbraries cannot be overemphasized. 
 Under the present state library law it is comparatively easy for each 
 school, however small, to secure at least one collection of books and 
 it should be the responsibihty of every teacher in the rural districts 
 to see that this privilege is extended to the children. 
 
 The problem which the rural community has to face is that of 
 counteracting the many influences which are steadily pulling away 
 from rural life. In order to do this it must offer something to its 
 boys and girls which will not only hold their interest but something 
 which will bring them closer to each other and to the community 
 and make possible for them a brighter, happier and more vigorous 
 life — the sort of life which means prosperity for themselves, for the 
 state and for the country.
 
 224 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS. 
 Non-Commercial. 
 
 A. Urban. 
 
 (I) Schools. 
 
 (a) The adoption of a plan of physical training and 
 
 recreation similar to that now being used in 
 Birmingham. 
 
 (b) The encouragement of interscholastic pageants, 
 
 athletic meets, etc. and various forms of out- 
 door play. 
 
 (c) The installation of gymnasiimis and playground 
 
 equipment. 
 
 (d) Continuation of recreational work under trained 
 
 supervisors during the summer months and 
 co-operation with the city park commissioners 
 in the use of municipal parks and playgroimds. 
 
 (e) Wider use of schools as community centers. 
 
 (II) Parks. 
 
 (a) Development of municipal parks. 
 
 (b) Installation of playground apparatus. 
 
 Commercial. 
 
 (I) Dance Halls. 
 
 (a) Adoption of city ordinances controlling public 
 
 dance halls. 
 
 (b) Supervision of semi-public halls by voluntary 
 
 committee or paid officials. 
 
 (c) Establishment of municipal dance halls. 
 
 (II) Motion Pictures. 
 
 (a) Systematic sanitary and fire inspection of motion 
 
 picture theatres. 
 
 (b) Educational campaign through churches, Y. M. 
 
 C. A., schools, women's clubs, etc. for suitable 
 children's pictures. 
 
 (c) The passage of a state law prohibiting exhibi- 
 
 tion of pictures containing scenes of question- 
 able character and attendance of children 
 under sixteen years of age at night unac- 
 companied by parent or guardian.
 
 Recreation 225 
 
 B. Rural. 
 
 (I) Schools. 
 
 (a) Use of schools as community center. 
 
 (b) The establishment of county recreation leagues. 
 
 (c) Supervised play should be made a part of school 
 
 work and plan for city schools should be 
 carried out as far as possible. 
 
 (d) Agricultural clubs, Boy and Girl Scout Troops, 
 
 etc. should be organized. 
 
 (e) Adoption of plan for state aid for motion pictures 
 
 in rural districts.
 
 LAW AND ADMINISTRATION 
 
 W. H. Swift 
 
 National Child Labor Committee 
 
 This chapter is primarily to determine what, if any, changes 
 either in the law or the administrative agencies of Alabama are 
 necessary in order to carry out and put into full operation the recom- 
 mendations made by the other contributors to this volume. 
 
 I. PUBLIC HEALTH 
 
 Recommendation 1. — Increase in the Scope of the Work of the 
 State Board of Health. 
 
 These recommendations relate to an increase in the duties and 
 work of the State Board of Health, which necessarily calls for an 
 increased appropriation of funds. Any increase in its working force 
 will require an increase in the amount of public funds to be applied 
 to public health activities. The legislature must be looked to, then, 
 first, to provide ways of raising the additional money needed, and 
 second to appropriate such sum as is needed. Provisions for sani- 
 tary engineers and inspectors and the establishment of branches of 
 the Pasteur Institute in Birmingham and Mobile, and the appro- 
 priation of the necessary funds as well, could all be covered by 
 amending section 733, code 1907. If sufficient funds were provided, 
 the State Board of Health has authority to carry out the other 
 recommendations without any special legislation, .smce section 733, 
 code 1907, grants to the Board wide powers in this particular field. 
 
 The abolition of the Anti-Tuberculosis Commission could be 
 accomplished by the repeal of Act 610, statutes of 1915. The repeal- 
 ing act could be written so as to transfer all its rights, duties and 
 powers to the State Board of Health. Anti-tuberculosis work is a 
 part of public health work. If this is done care should be taken to 
 insure to every county, or cotmties acting jointly, the right to es- 
 tablish and maintain a tuberculosis hospital. The right of the county 
 health officer to act as tuberculosis physician for such hospital could 
 
 226
 
 Law and Administration 227 
 
 be taken away by amendment to Act 610. County tuberculosis 
 hospitals should be placed under the supervision of the State Board 
 of Health and directly under the county health officer. If the work 
 should demand it, a special tuberculosis hospital physician could be 
 provided. 
 
 2. — School Health Regulations. 
 
 As to the regulations concerning communicable diseases and 
 statement of cause of absence, no legislation is needed in order to 
 make either effective. The State Board of Health, in co-operation 
 with the State Superintendent of Education should prepare the 
 matter to be distributed to county health officers, boards of edu- 
 cation, and teachers. Both recommendations are meant to apply to 
 private as well as public schools, both being for the protection of 
 the public health. This is as it should be. Considerable latitude 
 will, however, have to be allowed in stating causes of illness, unless 
 the teacher is required to state them as of her own knowledge. Physi- 
 cians are not called in every case of absence from school on account 
 of illness, and parents do not always know what their children are 
 suffering from. When a child is absent from school it is the duty 
 of the truancy officer to investigate and to report the cause to the 
 teacher. If this were done in every case there would be better school 
 attendance, less truancy, and more effective co-operation in dealing 
 with health matters. 
 
 Vaccination. An act of the legislature would be necessary in 
 order to compel every pupil entering a secondary or state school 
 to be vaccinated against typhoid. It should be written so as to re- 
 quire every child entering any school or institution, state, public 
 or private, to be vaccinated against both typhoid and small-pox. 
 A public health measure should apply to all alike, and the widsom 
 of vaccination against both diseases has been sufficiently demon- 
 strated. 
 
 School Medical Inspection. Plans for carrying out this import- 
 ant recommendation should be worked out jointly by the State 
 Board of Health and the State Superintendent of Education, every 
 school child to be weighed, measured and examined for defects by 
 the teacher. Those below standard should then be required to sub- 
 mit to examination by the health officer who should recommend the 
 proper treatment. Provision should be made for insuring that the
 
 228 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 child actually gets the proper treatment. Teachers will have to be 
 instructed how to weigh, measure and examine a child; blank 
 report cards should be provided, and when filled out should be filed 
 with the county health officer. Legislation will be necessary in order 
 to put this plan into full operation, but lacking this, much could be 
 done by the joint action of the State Board of Health and the State 
 Superintendent of Education. 
 
 Full-time county health officers are now required by law to ex- 
 amine the pupils of every school at least once a year, and to inspect 
 school premises at least once a year for the purpose of seeing that 
 the drinking water supply is pure and that the surroundings are 
 sanitary — paragraph 5, sub-division III, section 706, code 1907. 
 This applies to all schools public or private. However, there are 
 but few full-time county health officers in the state, and those on 
 part-time are not required to perform such service and have no 
 authority to enforce proper school conditions or to condemn im- 
 proper school plants. The State Board of Health has this authority 
 in reference to public schools. It should be given to all county 
 health officers in reference to all schools. 
 
 3. — A Full-time Health Unit for Every County. 
 
 Dr. McCormick recommends that every county in the state be 
 required to establish and maintain a full-time health unit. This 
 could be accomplished by amendment of sub-division II of section 
 703, code 1907, and of Act 390, statutes of 1915. It is recommended 
 that a public health nurse be attached to every health unit. It is 
 evident, of course, that the county boards of revenue will have to 
 provide funds for the maintenance of these health units. Realizing 
 the difficulties which may arise from this. Dr. McCormick suggests 
 that it be made possible for county boards of education to employ a 
 public health nurse as a supervisor of hygiene teaching in the public 
 schools and to do other public health work. In order for this to be 
 done a special act authorizing the granting of special teacher's 
 certificates will be required. Such a combined public health nurse 
 and teacher of hygiene would, if she should discharge her duties with 
 ability, be by far the most valuable teacher in any county. School 
 nurses and school health officers have been tried and have proved 
 their value. But it would be a mistake to shove actual public 
 health activities off upon school boards. For best results, there
 
 Law and Administration 229 
 
 must be efficient public health forces as well as educational forces, 
 but they should of course work together for the public good. 
 
 Review oj Trial of County or Municipal Health Oficer. The 
 change recommended could be accomplished by adding under (d) 
 of part II, section 704, code 1907, a proviso that in every such case 
 the action of the County Medical Society must be reviewed by the 
 State Board of Health for ratification, modification or rejection 
 and by adding at the end of section 703 a proviso to the effect that a 
 county health officer who has been removed from his position by 
 the action of the County Medical Society ratified by the State Board 
 of Health, may not be eligible for that position again in that county. 
 This raises a most interesting question. The County Board of 
 Health which is the County Medical Society, may elect a county 
 health officer without any approval by the State Board of Health, 
 part 5, section 703, code 1907. Then why give the State Board of 
 Health the right to override the county board in the matter of 
 discharge for cause? A happy solution would lie in a requirement 
 that every election of a health officer by a county board should be 
 approved by the State Board of Health, and the law should be so 
 written. 
 
 4. — Model Vital Statistics Law. 
 
 Any state may cause itself to be placed in the federal registra- 
 tion of vital statistics area by the enactment and enforcement of a 
 proper vital statistics law. A model law which will cover the case 
 fully may be had from the federal Bureau of Vital Statistics; this 
 should be obtained and enacted. Section 706 and subsection (a), 
 section 710, code 1907, and all other existing laws relating to the 
 registration of vital statistics should be repealed by the same act. 
 The fact that a state is not in the federal registration area is a reflec- 
 tion upon its public health activities. The war has taught us that 
 every state should keep an accurate account of its vital facts. 
 
 5. — Examination of Midwives. 
 
 There is, at present, no law requiring midwives to be examined 
 or licensed, or providing for the granting of certificates to midwives 
 after examination. A new law empowering the State Board of 
 Health or county health officer mider the supervision of the State 
 Board to prepare and conduct such examinations and grant ccrtifi-
 
 230 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 cates after satisfactory examination, and forbidding any person to 
 act as a midwife, except in cases of emergency, without a proper 
 certificates should be enacted. Short courses of instruction for mid- 
 wives should be given in every county, and provision should be made 
 for extending the course required for examinations from time to time 
 as the State Board of Health shall see fit. 
 
 Every physician, midwife, nurse or other person attending at 
 the birth of a child should be required by law to apply to the eyes 
 of the child the treatment approved by the State Board of Health 
 to prevent blindness. Midwives should be taught the necessity for 
 this and should be examined on this point before the certificates are 
 granted. The required treatment should be provided free of charge 
 by the State Board of Health to every physician and midwife. 
 
 6. — Abatement of Nuisances. 
 
 This recommendation calls for sweeping amendments to section 
 718, code 1907, so as to place the declaring of the existence of 
 nuisances entirely in the hands of first, the county medical society 
 which is the county board of health and, second, the State Board 
 of Health by way of appeal. Such amendments wotild, of course, 
 take away the right of a citizen to have his cause heard in the courts, 
 but matters affecting the public health must generally be given 
 immediate attention. Courts, like the mills of the gods, grind slow. 
 The law governing the abatement of nuisances should be rewritten 
 so as to strike out the formal hearing before the county medical 
 society. The state, county or municipal health officers should have 
 the power to declare nuisances and to order and compel their abate- 
 ment, but the citizens should have the right to be heard in the courts. 
 The limitation of the amount to be expended by any county or 
 municipality to S300 should be stricken out; emergencies may arise 
 which will demand the quick expenditure of much more than that 
 sum for the protection of the public health. 
 
 n. EDUCATION 
 
 Recommendations 1 and 2. — State Board of Education. 
 
 Alabama has no State Board of Education. As Dr. Doster 
 says, the method of control of two educational institutions, the Uni- 
 versity and the Polytechnic Institute, is fixed b}?- the constitution
 
 Law and Administration 231 
 
 and any change in the manner of control of these would therefore 
 require an amendment. The method of electing the State Superin- 
 tendent and his term of office are likewise prescribed by this instru- 
 ment and any change in these could be made only by amending it. 
 There is no reason why a State Board of Education could not be 
 created by legislative enactment to take over the control of all state 
 educational institutions except the two above named; but no act 
 of the legislature could change or transfer any powers or duties 
 placed by the constitution in the hands of the State Superintendent 
 of Education. Neither could the manner of electing this officer or 
 his term of office be altered by mere legislative act. 
 
 As any substantial changes in respect to these matters would 
 involve amendments to the constitution, it would be unwise to un- 
 dertake to make any changes at this time by act of the legislature. 
 The whole field should be studied with care and with a view to 
 making, first, such amendments to the constitution as are found to 
 be wise and necessary, and thereafter, of enacting such laws as wotild 
 place the whole well-matured plan in operation. 
 
 3. — Additional Assistants for Office of State Superintendent of 
 Education. 
 
 This office is not sufficiently manned. Additional assistants 
 are badly needed. An a'ct of the legislature providing for these and 
 for the expenditure of public school funds for their maintenance is 
 all that is necessary. It would be well to consolidate the State 
 Board of Examiners with the Teacher Training Corps. The state 
 is expending more than $300,000 annually in the erection of rural 
 public school buildings; there should be provided for the office of 
 the State Superintendent of Education two or three supervisors of 
 the expenditure of this fund and of the erection of school buildings. 
 The state is also expending more than $200,000 annually in the sup- 
 port of county high schools and district agricultural schools; there 
 should be in the office of the State Superintendent of Education a 
 supervisor of these schools. 
 
 4. — Funds for University Polytechnic Institute and Girls' Tech- 
 nical Institute. 
 
 The successful conduct of any institution depends to a very 
 great extent upon its ability to get funds when needed. A great
 
 232 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 state should make its vouchers worth face value at the time of 
 issue. Two duties therefore rest with the legislature: first, to 
 provide for the raising of all necessary funds — to get the money; 
 and second, to appropriate out of the money, arrangements for rais- 
 ing which have already been made, such amounts as are found to be 
 necessary for the best operation of the dififerent institutions. 
 
 It must be clear to anyone who has given thought to the matter 
 that one of the very first needs of Alabama is improvement in its 
 financial policy. The state is rich and yet its institutions are handi- 
 capped by a lack of funds. That man who develops and puts into 
 active operation a sound, proper and adequate financial policy will 
 be the state's foremost citizen, the greatest of all her public servants. 
 
 5. — Teachers' Certificates. 
 
 The change in the matter of subjects required for examination 
 for certificates to teach in the public schools as recommended could 
 be brought about by amending Section 1734, Code 1907. Due credit 
 for professional experience should be given in granting certificates to 
 teach in the public schools; the subjects now required for examina- 
 tion should be the minimum. A person who is unable to qualify 
 in these should not be permitted to teach in the public schools. 
 
 This leads at once to a question. Should any one who has not 
 shown his qualifications under the standard set by the state for the 
 public schools be permitted to conduct a school or teach children? 
 The state ought to know who is teaching its future citizens and 
 what is being taught in private as well as in public schools. The 
 educational law should be amended so as to give the State Super- 
 intendent of Education full knowledge and control in this matter. 
 The law now provides that private schools keep records in conformity 
 with the requirements of the compulsory education law — Act 221, 
 statutes of 1915. It should go further and direct that teachers in 
 private schools show that they are able to teach, and that they 
 are teaching the courses required by law to be taught in the public 
 schools. Anti-Americanism has been taught in schools in more 
 than one state in America. 
 
 6. — Compulsory Education. 
 
 All changes necessary in the compulsory education law could be 
 made by amending Act 470 of 1915.
 
 Law and Administration 233 
 
 In order that the compulsory education law may harmonize 
 with the child labor law, this act should be amended so as to raise 
 the maximum compulsory attendance age limit from 15 to 16 years 
 of age. All exemptions, except when the child lives too far from the 
 school, or is mentally or physically unfitted to attend school, or is 
 more than 14 years of age and has completed the seventh grade or 
 its equivalent and has a work permit issued as provided for by the 
 child labor law and is at work, should be stricken out. The child 
 labor law (Act 169, statutes 1915) forbids the employment of any 
 child under 14 years of age at any employment except agriculture 
 and domestic service when schools are in session, and requires a 
 work permit for children between 14 and 16 years of age. 
 
 Every child between the ages of 8 and 16 who is physically and 
 mentally qualified should be required to attend for the full public 
 school tenn unless he lives too far away from school or is more than 
 14 years of age and has completed the seventh grade and is at work 
 under a work permit. No board of education should have authority 
 to reduce the compulsory attendance term. Neither should any 
 teacher or attendance officer have the power to permit temporary 
 absence in extreme cases of emergency or domestic necessity. In 
 extreme cases of emergency there is no time for obtaining permits for 
 absence and children should not be kept out of school because of 
 domestic necessity. Neither should any child be excused from school 
 in cases of extreme poverty because his services are necessary fo 
 the support of himself or his parents or because of the lack of food 
 or clothes — the state should take legal steps at once to meet and 
 care for these cases and thereby prevent the child's being robbed of 
 his birthright. The juvenile courts are always open to consider cases 
 of dependency. A mother's pension act is needed and the absence 
 of private relief societies makes this all the more urgent. 
 
 Section 9 of the compulsory education act should be amended 
 by striking out the words "unless such child is exempt under the 
 provisions of sections 2, 3 or 4 of this act", and substituting in lieu 
 thereof "unless the child is more than 14 years of age and is regu- 
 larly and legally employed under a work permit as required by the 
 law regulating the employment of children." This paragraph should 
 also be amended so as to take away the power of boards of educa- 
 tion to grant special work permits. Work permits should be granted 
 only as provided for in the child labor law.
 
 234 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 It is recommended in the chapter on juvenile courts that pro- 
 vision be made by law for a full-time combination probation and 
 truancy officer or bureau in every county. This seems to be the best 
 solution of both probation and tmancy officer problems and if adopted 
 will result in both better school attendance and less delinquency. 
 
 There may be some question as to the wisdom of using any part 
 of school funds for paying truancy officers. They are paid out of 
 the general county fund. Truancy work is a part, a vital part, of 
 school administration, and for this reason school funds might well 
 be used. 
 
 There should arise no trouble from joint elections of such offi- 
 cers by boards of education and of revenue. A majority of both 
 boards will always be good patriotic citizens. It is no hard matter 
 for good men to agree in matters affecting the education of the chil- 
 dren of the state. Common sense may safely be presumed. 
 
 7. — Public Kindergartens. 
 
 Under the general school law no public school funds can be 
 expended for the support of kindergartens. As Dr. Doster says, 
 the minimum age for admittance to public schools will have to be 
 lowered if kindergartens are to be made a part of the public school 
 system. This would require an amendment to the constitution, 
 the present constitutional school age being from 7 to 21 (Section 
 256, Constitution 1901). Following the change in the constitution, 
 legislation regulating the expenditure of school funds and the grant- 
 ing of certificates to teach in kindergartens would be required. 
 
 8. — Smith-Hughes Fund. 
 
 The federal government tenders to Alabama, as to every other 
 state, a certain amount of money yearly for vocational education 
 under certain definite conditions. It becomes the duty of the legis- 
 lature, which has not met since the Smith-Hughes Act was passed, 
 to provide and appropriate funds according to the requirements 
 and to meet all other conditions to the end that the state may get 
 the fullest benefit from the money tendered. The legislature will 
 hardly fail to do this. It would be a calamity if it should fail. The 
 district agricultural schools being entirely under the power of the 
 legislature can easily be converted into federal-aided schools for 
 teaching vocational agriculture and home economics. No legislation
 
 Law and Administration 235 
 
 is necessary. Indeed, every one of them is now operating under the 
 provisions of the Smith-Hughes Act with regard to the teaching of 
 vocational agriculture, but vocational home economics for girls 
 has not as 3^et been provided. 
 
 9 and 10. — Medical School Inspection. 
 
 See section 1 of this chapter, on Public Health. 
 
 1 1 . — Agricultural Schools. 
 
 See section 8 on the Smith-Hughes Fund. 
 
 12. — Provision for Backward Children. 
 
 There is ample authority under the. present law for the estab- 
 lishment locally of special classes for backward children. The State 
 Superintendent of Education might well prepare special courses for 
 such special classes, but in the end it will be found that the teaching 
 of such children must be left largely to the discretion of the teacher. 
 Certainly in schools with a number of teachers, there should be a 
 special teacher for backward children. 
 
 III. JUVENILE COURTS AND PROBATION 
 
 Recommendation 1. — Combination Probation and Truancy Officer 
 or Bureau. 
 
 Through this recommendation it is sought to cure two defects: 
 first, the lack of proper probation work in connection with juvenile 
 courts; and second, the failure to enforce the compulsory education 
 law. One ofiEicer could handle both probation and tioiancy work 
 with success. This same officer in addition to his other duties should 
 issue all work permits and follow up all children between 14 and IG 
 years of age to see that they are either at work or in school. It will 
 require legislation to authorize the use of public school funds to pay 
 a part of the maintenance of this combination office. Boards of edu- 
 cation and boards of revenue should be required by law to meet 
 jointly at a certain time or at the call of the juvenile judge for the 
 election of such officer, and an act of the legislature to cover this 
 point will be necessary. 
 
 The present juvenile court law contemplates the appointment 
 and existence of boards advisory to the juvenile judge in every
 
 236 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 county, but such boards have been appointed in only 5 counties. 
 Judges certainly ought to meet the requirements of the law which 
 they administer, and advisory boards ought to be of great service 
 to them, especially in counties where there are no probation officers. 
 
 2 and 3. — Juvenile Courts in Jefferson and Mobile Counties. 
 
 Legislation would, of course, be required to carry into effect these 
 recommendations for the further development of these courts. In 
 each case this could be had by amending the act establishing the 
 court. 
 
 4. — Non-support. 
 
 Only that part of the non-support law which requires the 
 county to pay 50 cents a day for the support of the wife or family 
 of a deserting husband during the time of his service for the county 
 was declared unconstitutional. This could be restored by amending 
 the title of the act in conformity with the opinion of the court; 
 but when the amendment is made, the sum should be fixed at $1 
 a day. The very purpose of a non-support law is to provide sup- 
 port for a wife and children. When the state arrests and convicts a 
 man for failure to support and then places him at labor for it or the 
 county, it simply prolongs the period of suffering on the part of the 
 family. Even $1 a day is a very small sum for a man to con- 
 tribute toward the support of his family these days. 
 
 5 and 6. — Commitment of Children to State Institutions. 
 
 It is surprising that children are received at state supported 
 institutions without being committed by any court. This should 
 not be. At the next session of the legislature an act forbidding this 
 practice should be adopted. Children should be committed to in- 
 stitutions supported wholly or in part by the state only by the 
 juvenile court. 
 
 The new act should also forbid the juvenile or any other court 
 to commit dependent or neglected children to any institution for 
 delinquents. Superintendents of state institutions for delinquents 
 should be forbidden by law to receive any child declared by the court 
 to be dependent or neglected. Even at the very best, delinquents 
 will always be classed as semi-criminals. Unfortunates should not
 
 Law and Administration 237 
 
 be shoved into the same institutions with delinquents and there- 
 after classed with them. This rule should also be extended to private 
 institutions, that is, the admittance of delinquents into an institu- 
 tion for dependents or an ordinary orphanage should not be allowed. 
 
 7, 9, 10 and 11. — Duties of Child Welfare Division of Proposed 
 State Board of Social Welfare. 
 
 The authors of the chapters on juvenile courts and institutional 
 care in their studies have both been brought squarely up against 
 the need for a State Board of Social Welfare. This is an entirely 
 new field and will be presented later. For the present let us suppose 
 that it will be established. Under it there should be a child welfare 
 division. 
 
 Along with other duties to be pointed out in the discussion of 
 Dr. Bidgood's recommendations, the child welfare division should 
 be charged with the duties of: 
 
 (a.) Seeing that proper forms and all necessary instructions 
 are provided for every juvenile court, advising with juvenile judges, 
 and instructing probation officers. Juvenile judges and probation 
 officers are social rather than strictly legal agencies and should 
 therefore be kept in close touch with the best thought and practice 
 in their field. 
 
 (b.) Keeping its watchful eye upon every child committed to 
 any institution, public or private. To this end a report of every case 
 handled by the different juvenile courts should be made to this 
 division. The superintendents of the different state institutions 
 should be required to notify the child welfare division of the recep- 
 tion of every child committed, and thereafter should notify not 
 only the committing court but the child welfare division of the dis- 
 charge, parole, escape, or death of the child committed. This should 
 apply to private as well as state institutions. 
 
 8. — Apprenticeship. 
 
 The law authorizing probate judges to bind out children — 
 section 2896-2907, code 1907 — should be repealed. Children should 
 be placed by written contract which should provide for far more 
 than kind treatment, instruction in how to read and write, and the 
 award of two new suits of clothes at the age of 18 or 21. There may
 
 238 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 be doubt in the minds of some juvenile judges as to whether the ju- 
 venile court law really supersedes the apprenticeship law and in order 
 to make this perfectly clear the apprenticeship law should be re- 
 pealed by the next legislature. 
 
 12 and 13. — Institutions for Feeble-minded Children and Delinquent 
 Negro Girls. 
 
 See section IV on Child-caring Institutions. 
 
 14. Mothers' Pensions. 
 
 See section IV on Child-caring Institutions, sub-head 7. 
 
 15. — A Children's Code Commission. 
 
 This needs no discussion. There are many good men and women 
 ready to devote their time and money to the preparation of a chil- 
 dren's code. The mere study of the many questions that arise in 
 considering the codifying, standardizing and co-ordinating of laws 
 for the welfare of children would be highly beneficial. The members 
 of the commission should be appointed by the governor on or before 
 Sept. 1, 1919, but the right to appoint additional members should 
 be left with him. 
 
 There is another matter to which attention should be called — 
 the existence of three juvenile laws. As Mrs. Murdoch points out, 
 the special Mobile act really gives jurisdiction over delinquents only. 
 It follows then that the judge of the Mobile juvenile court does not 
 have jurisdiction over cases of dependent or neglected children. 
 Such cases would, in the strict interpretation of the law, have to be 
 heard by the probate judge. 
 
 No state ought to have three or even two juvenile court laws. 
 There should be but one law, general in its application. There should, 
 however, be special juvenile courts in counties with large cities. 
 This might easily be provided for without interfering in the least 
 with the general application of the state-wide law. Let the juvenile 
 courts in Jefferson and Mobile Counties with their detention homes 
 and any other institutions remain, but let them administer the state 
 juvenile law, which may be amended by incorporating any good 
 features of either local act. The day of local laws of this character 
 is past.
 
 Law and Administration 239 
 
 IV. CHILD-CARING INSTITUTIONS AND HOME FINDING 
 
 In studying the problems arising in both child-caring and child- 
 placing institutions and examining the fields covered by both state 
 and private agencies for children Dr. Bidgood has found a pressing 
 need for an additional state institution for feeble-minded children and 
 a less urgent need for another for delinquent negro girls. It is signifi- 
 cant that Mrs. Murdoch, who investigated the handling of children's 
 cases by the juvenile courts, found the same needs and recommends 
 that two additional institutions be established by the state, one for 
 feeble-minded children and the other for delinquent negro girls. 
 While the latter is not of such immediate importance as the former, 
 it should be established as soon as possible. Most of the girls for 
 whom it is needed are either sexually delinquent or are on the road 
 to become so. In a very short time, if left free to roam about, they 
 become infected with venereal disease, and then in addition they 
 have become a menace to the public health. The war certainly has 
 shown the need for an institution of this character. 
 
 State Institutions for Feeble-minded Children. 
 
 When one reads Dr. Bidgood's report and learns of feeble- 
 minded children in alms-houses, in insane asylums, and in homes 
 where many of them cannot be properly cared for, and when one 
 realizes that a feeble-minded parent means feeble-minded children, 
 he cannot doubt that of the two state institutions just mentioned 
 the need for that for feeble-minded children is the more pressing. 
 These children need and must have institutional care and of a dif- 
 ferent kind from that given in other state institutions for children, 
 in alms-houses, insane asylums or in private orphanages designed 
 primarily for the care of normal boys and girls. They cannot be 
 well cared for in their own homes; much less can they be placed in 
 other private homes. For them it must necessarily be a properly 
 equipped state institution or neglect. A state made up of humane 
 men and women will not, I believe, longer neglect these weaker ones. 
 
 Since all other state institutions are under the control of separate 
 boards, it would be wise to place this one, when established, under 
 the same sort of control. The governor should appoint the mem- 
 bers of the board in such order as to terms of service that the body 
 will be a continuing body and it might be well to require confirmation 
 by the senate. The members of this board, as of all other boards
 
 240 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 controlling state institutions, should serve without any compensa- 
 tion. Their actual expenses incurred in performing their duties 
 should, however, be paid by the state. 
 
 The board should be given full authority to appoint and dis- 
 charge the superintendent and to exercise full control over the insti- 
 tution in all other ways, subject, of course, to the law of the state, 
 and limited in the expenditure of money to the amount appropriated 
 by the legislature. 
 
 Commitment to the institution should be made by the judge of 
 the juvenile court after it has been established, in the manner pro- 
 vided by law, that the child is feeble-minded and after thorough 
 investigation of all the circumstances of his case. Any feeble-minded 
 child between the ages of 5 and 16 years should be admitted, but 
 children over 16, if admitted before reaching that age, should be 
 retained in the institution if it is found to be for their best interests. 
 No parent or guardian should be allowed to place his or her child 
 or ward in this institution, or any other child-caring, or child-placing 
 institution for that matter, except upon the approval of the judge of 
 juvenile court. 
 
 When a parent is able to pay for the care of his child or when 
 the child has property in his own right, payment should be made by 
 the parent or out of the child's property for his care ; but if the parent 
 is unable to pay and the child has no property, the fact should be 
 certified by the judge of the juvenile court after investigation of the 
 home by the probation officer, and then the child should be cared 
 for at the expense of the state. The right of discharge from the in- 
 stitution should lie in the board of control, but no child should be 
 discharged unless he is found to be of sufficient mentality to war- 
 rant his living a normal life. 
 
 Since this will be a new institution a new act of the legislature 
 will be required. The act of appropriating funds and providing for 
 the establishment of the institution should set forth the rules govern- 
 ing admittance to it. It should be specifically stated that no child 
 may be received unless committed by the juvenile court or com- 
 mitted by the parent with the approval of that court. . 
 
 Not only should parents and guardians be encouraged to send 
 feeble-minded children to the institution, but provision should be 
 made by which a feeble-minded child who is not being properly 
 cared for, may be taken from his parent or guardian by order of
 
 Law and Administration 241 
 
 the juvenile court and sent to the institution. In all probability 
 the juvenile court would now have this authority if it should be 
 shown that the child is dependent or is being neglected; but that 
 there may be no doubt, this provision should be specifically enacted 
 into law. 
 
 State Board of Social Welfare. 
 
 No such body as this now exists in the state. Such a board should 
 be authorized by the next legislature and established as quickly 
 as possible thereafter. It should consist of 5 or 7 members ap- 
 pointed by the Governor and confirmed by the senate. Women as 
 well as men should be eligible and it would not be a mistake to pro- 
 vide that there shall always be a certain number of women on the 
 board. The terms of office should be arranged so that the board will 
 be a continuing body. The members should serve without pay; 
 actual expenses should, however, be paid by the state. 
 
 The executive officer of the Board of Social Welfare should be a 
 secretary appointed by the board for such term as it may see fit 
 to use his services. Whether this board and its employes should be 
 charged by law with duties other than those hereafter set forth is 
 not for discussion here, this being a report on matters relating to 
 children only. But as a state agency appointed to supervise the care 
 of children, the board should have the oversight and supervision of: 
 
 1. All maternity homes and lying-in hospitals. 
 
 2. The work of all probation officers. 
 
 3. All orphanages and other institutions and societies, state, 
 county, or private, receiving or caring for or placing children. 
 
 The board should be authorized to prescribe rules and regula- 
 tions for the conduct of maternity homes and lying-in hospitals, 
 to grant an annual license to every such institution, to inspect them 
 from time to time and to cancel the license and to order the closing 
 of the institution after due notice for improper conduct or violation 
 of the rules prescribed. It should be made unlawful for any ma- 
 ternity home or lying-in hospital to receive any woman about to be 
 confined unless it has a license in full force. Rules for the placing 
 of children born in maternity homes should be prescribed by the 
 State Board. 
 
 County probation-truancy officers should be sui^ervised and 
 instructed by the State Board of Social Welfare, and the juvenile
 
 242 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 courts should be required to report to it the disposition of every case 
 handled. Probation-truancy officers should be made the agents 
 of the State Board in their respective counties acting always with 
 the advice of the county advisory board required to be appointed 
 by each juvenile judge. In other words, the advisory board in each 
 county should act as the county board of social welfare. Such powers 
 and duties should be conferred upon it by law as will enable it to 
 co-operate with the state board and to function freely under its super- 
 vision. 
 
 Every institution whether state, county, municipal or private, 
 which receives or cares for children should be required by law to 
 report annually to the State Board of Social Welfare. Authority 
 should also be given the board to require special reports from any 
 of these institutions at any time. Every private child-caring or 
 child-receiving institution should be required to procure an annual 
 license from the State Board of Social Welfare, and should be open 
 to inspection by its agents at all times. The right to order improve- 
 ments in the care of inmates or in the conduct of the institution 
 should be given with the additional power to close any licensed in- 
 stitution, after due notice, for failure to conform to the law or to 
 observe the rules and regulations prescribed by the State Board. 
 It should be made unlawful for any person to solicit or receive funds 
 for any maternity hospital, orphanage, or other private or semi- 
 public child-caring or child-receiving institution which does not have 
 a license in full force or for any such unlicensed institution to receive 
 children into its care. 
 
 Every child-placing agency should be licensed, supervised, 
 and inspected in the same manner as the above named child-caring 
 institutions. The State Board of Social Welfare should prescribe 
 rules and regulations for child-placing societies and require annual 
 reports. It should have the power to cancel any license for cause 
 after notice. It should be made unlawful to solicit funds for any 
 child-placing society not having a license in full force, or for any 
 unlicensed society to engagd in receiving or placing children. 
 
 The duties and powers of the State Board of Social Welfare 
 should in no way conflict with those of the State Board of Health. 
 It is or should be the duty of the health authorities to see that 
 proper health conditions prevail in all maternity hospitals, and in 
 child-caring institutions, just as in all other places — that the premi-
 
 Law and Administration 243 
 
 ses are sanitarj'', the water supply pure and that proper precautions 
 are taken, not only to insure the good health of the inmates but of 
 all the people. The State Board of Health and county health authori- 
 ties act as expert medical advisers; the State Board of Social Wel- 
 fare should act as the over-father of all unfortunate children. The 
 father should be free and have the right to call the medical adviser 
 at an}^ and all times. The two boards should and would act in co- 
 operation for the public good. 
 
 There could hardly arise in the mind of anyone any question 
 as to the wisdom of requiring all these private and semi-public in- 
 stitutions to obtain licenses and to be subject to the supervision and 
 inspection of a duly appointed state agency; but there may arise 
 in the minds of some a question as to the legal right of the state 
 to insist upon a license and to inspect and supervise. The writer is 
 certain that the state does have this right and that an act which 
 creates a board as the agent of the state to license, inspect and super- 
 vise these institutions will be held to be valid. The legislature has 
 the unquestioned right to enact laws for the supervision and control 
 of corporations. Benevolent, educational and religious corporations 
 are not exceptions to the rule in this respect. 
 
 A careful reading of Dr. Bidgood's report forces a consideration 
 of some other matters to which attention should be given: 
 
 1. Deaf Children. There is no law to compel the education of 
 deaf children, and one should be enacted. When the regular school 
 census is taken, deaf and blind children as well as other children 
 so defective as to be unable to attend an ordinary school should be 
 enumerated, and it should be made the duty of the probation- 
 truancy officer to see that such children are properly cared for and 
 educated as required by law. The law that a child who does not have 
 a parent or guardian to care for him must return during vacation 
 to the community from which he was sent, is wrong. Such a child 
 should be kept at the institution. It is clear that the school for the 
 deaf should be enlarged. 
 
 2. Blind Children and Negro Deaf and Blind. What has been 
 said just above in respect to deaf children should be said in respect 
 to blind white children and negro children who are deaf or blind. 
 It is good economy to educate deaf and blind children so that they 
 may be self-supporting and not be burdens upon the state or their 
 own communities.
 
 244 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 The institutions for the bhnd and deaf should be declared 
 to be educational institutions, and placed under the supervision of 
 the State Superintendent of Education. 
 
 3. Courses of Study. As far as possible the school courses in 
 institutions for children, public or private, should conform to that 
 of the public schools. It should be made the duty of the State Super- 
 intendent to see that they do so conform and that the teachers are 
 qualified to teach the courses taught in the public schools. Teachers' 
 certificates should be required just as for teaching in the public schools. 
 
 4. Receiving and Disposition of Children by Institutions. No 
 institutions, public or private, should be allowed to receive any 
 child without the approval of the judge of the juvenile court of the 
 county in which the child resides. If possible, children should be 
 kept in their own homes and the juvenile judge should always 
 know why they are not so kept. In many cases this principle and 
 the necessary investigation will serve to keep the family intact. 
 Frequently admittance into an institution is entirely too easy. 
 
 The permanent custody of a child under 16 years of age should 
 not be transferred without the approval of the judge of the juven- 
 ile court of the county in which the child resides. No institution, 
 whether child-caring or child-placing, should be permitted to send 
 a child under 16 years of age into any private home unless such 
 home is approved by the judge of the juvenile court of the county 
 in which the home is located. Probation-truancy officers should be 
 required to visit such homes. This should apply even to the child's 
 own home when a child is returned to it by an institution. 
 
 The State Board of Social Welfare should have authority to 
 supervise the discharge or placing of children from both public and 
 private institutions. There is always the danger that children being 
 kept too long may become completely "institutionalized" and thereby 
 unfitted for normal life. Sometimes larger children are kept for their 
 services and thereby injured. The child should have a chance to 
 work for himself. Perhaps the best solution of this would lie in a 
 child-placing agent in the child welfare division of the State Board 
 of Social Welfare. There should be no difficulty at all in placing 
 normal children 16 years of age or over in good homes under good 
 contracts for care, education and wages. The different institutions 
 should be required to notify this agent of any such children in their 
 care in order that if possible he may find them proper homes.
 
 Law and Administration 245 
 
 5. Commitment to Child-placing Agencies. Amendment should 
 be made to the juvenile court law so as to make it possible for the 
 court to commit children into the permanent care of child-placing 
 agencies for later placement in homes, such homes to be approved 
 by the probation-truancy officer of the county. The present law 
 is not sufficient. 
 
 6. Epileptic and Crippled Children. Attention should be called 
 to the fact that the state makes no provision for the care of epileptic 
 or crippled children. This is a matter which will demand considera- 
 tion at an early date. The state will have to hold itself responsible 
 for seeing that such children are given proper care. 
 
 7. Mothers' Pensions. In order that the social agencies may 
 be complete, provision will have to be made for giving help to mothers 
 of dependent children in their own homes. It is admitted by all 
 that the good family home is the best place for the normal child. 
 In most cases the best place for the child is with his own mother 
 if she be a proper person, and the juvenile court sits to determine 
 that fact. As a rule the mother will care for children at great sac- 
 rifice; but there comes a time when she must have help if she is to 
 keep the family intact. That help should be given her. The break- 
 ing up of a family home is a social loss. 
 
 Provision should be made by law for the payment of definite 
 sums out of the public funds of the county to mothers of dependent 
 children upon the order of the judge of the juvenile court. Payments 
 should be made to the mother on condition of the proper care and 
 education of her children. Alabama needs a mothers' pension law, 
 and the State Board of Social Welfare should supervise its ad- 
 ministration. 
 
 V. ADMINISTRATION OF CHILD LABOR LAWS 
 
 Group I. — Amendments to Child Labor Law. 
 
 All changes hereafter suggested could be made by amending 
 Act 169, Statutes 1915. 
 
 Recommendation 1. Conformity with Compulsory Education Law. 
 
 A sub-section should be added to Section 1 and worded so as to 
 prohibit the employment of any child under 10 years of age except
 
 246 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 children 14 years of age in occupations not forbidden to children 
 under 16, when such children 14 years of age have completed the 
 seventh grade or its equivalent and have a work permit issued as 
 provided by law. 
 
 2. Work Hours. 
 
 Both the 8-hour day and the 48-hour week for children under 
 16 could be secured by amending section 2. This amendment should 
 be made. No child under 16 years of age should be worked more. 
 The experience of mankind has shown the danger of long hours of 
 labor. 
 
 3. Investigation of Proofs of Age for Work Permits. 
 
 The authorizing of inspectors to investigate proofs of age and 
 other facts and to suspend work permits improperly issued could 
 be granted by the addition of a single sentence at the end of section 15. 
 
 4. Age Certificates for Children over 16. 
 
 This recommendation should be written into the law for the 
 benefit of such employers as may desire to avail themselves of this 
 method of taking precaution that children are not illegally employed. 
 
 5. School Attendance of Working Children. 
 
 Section 8 of the child labor act might well be repealed. The 
 compulsory education act now requires attendance at school to the 
 age of 15 and this should be extended to 16 years with exemption of 
 children 14 or over who are legally at work. Provision should, 
 however, be made as soon as possible for continuation schools for 
 working children. 
 
 6. Educational Requirement for Work Permit. 
 
 The educational requirement for a work permit for a child 14 
 years of age or over should be the completion of the fourth grade 
 or its equivalent. Sub-head (1) of section 10 of the law should be 
 so amended. This, of course, refers to the general work permit, 
 which authorizes the child to stay out of school.
 
 Law and Administration 247 
 
 7. Vacation Work Permits. 
 
 A section or clause should be added to Act 169, Statutes 1915 
 (the child labor law), requiring the issuance of vacation work permits 
 to children between 12 and 14, for employment in offices and stores 
 in towns of fewer than 25,000 inhabitants during summer vacation 
 on same qualifications as for the regular work permit but waiving 
 the educational requirement. Such vacation work permits should 
 be declared valid only for that part of the year when the public 
 school is not in session. They would not of course authorize the 
 employment of a child under 16 3^ears at any occupation at which 
 children under this age are forbidden to be employed. 
 
 8. Work Permits to be Issued in Duplicate. 
 
 This should be provided for in the act. 
 
 9. Badges for Newsboys. 
 
 Section 13 of the child labor act should be amended so that 
 badges for newsbo^^s will be issued by the probation-and-truancy 
 officer or bureau recommended in the chapter on juvenile courts. 
 This officer should have the right to revoke badges for cause. In- 
 spectors should be charged with the duty of showing cause why 
 such badges should be revoked. 
 
 10 and 11. Departmental Agency to Enforce Child Labor Law. 
 
 If a Department of Labor is created, (it will be required at an 
 early date), the enforcement of laws regulating the employment of 
 children as well as all other laws relating to labor should certainly 
 be placed imder it. Until such a department is created the enforce- 
 ment of the child labor law might well be left under the prison in- 
 spector or placed under the proposed State Board of Social Welfare. 
 Wherever it is placed, sufficient inspectors and clerical help should 
 be provided. 
 
 Group II. Amendments to Compulsory Education Law. 
 See section II on Education. 
 
 Group III. — General Recommendations . 
 
 All these relate to details of enforcement, and need not, there- 
 fore, be discussed here.
 
 248 Child Welfare in Alabama 
 
 VI. RECREATION 
 
 An examination of the statutes of Alabama leads one to the 
 conclusion that recreation as a part of the state's social policy has 
 not been given general and serious consideration. In fact, one may 
 safely say that there is no law in Alabama on this subject. The 
 chapter inclines more to the social than to the legal side of the mat- 
 ter and on that side is its own best discussion. 
 
 Schools and Parks. 
 
 The chief difficulty in the way of carrying out Miss Gleason's 
 program is the lack of authority to expend public school money for 
 recreational purposes. There is nothing in the present school law 
 to authorize it. Public school money could not be legally expended 
 for trained supervisors of play, and whatever is done in the very 
 near future will have to be done through municipal and local activi- 
 ties. There should be an act of the legislature making the public 
 school the community center and throwing it open, under proper 
 supervision, for any and all community meetings not of an immoral 
 or illegal nature. Playground equipment could be provided just as 
 desks are provided for school buildings, but there is no authority for 
 the expenditure of public school money for co-operating with park 
 commissions or other recreational agencies. All this will have to 
 depend largely upon the activity of interested persons in the com- 
 munity. In view of the fact that there may be some doubt as to the 
 legal right of school boards to expend public school money or money 
 provided for the erection of school houses for school playground 
 equipment, this authority should be specifically given by an act 
 of the legislature. 
 
 Dance Halls. 
 
 The general law makes no provision for the supervision of public 
 dance halls. The matter rests, therefore, entirely with the muni- 
 cipalities. There should be strict supervision of such places by the 
 municipal authorities. This would come under the police authority 
 and needs no legislation to make it effective, but there should be a 
 general law regulating the admittance of children to public dance 
 halls. There is no such law now.
 
 Law and Adniinistration 249 
 
 No semi-public dance or dance at any municipal dance hall 
 should be permitted without a license and before this is granted the 
 authorities should require adequate assurance of proper supervision. 
 
 Motion Pictures. 
 
 Motion pictures present a problem not easy of solution. There 
 is at present no general law regulating them. The State Board of 
 Health has authority to inspect and enforce sanitary conditions 
 but has no inspectors for the work, which must be left to the muni- 
 cipality if done at all. There should be enacted a law making it 
 unlawful to exhibit any lewd, vulgar or immoral motion picture. 
 It would perhaps be well to accept as good any picture approved 
 by the National Board of Review. There should likewise be en- 
 acted a law forbidding the admittance of children at night unless 
 attended by parents or guardians. 
 
 Rural Schools. 
 
 Under Urban Schools, changes in the general law have already 
 been suggested in reference to the use of public school houses as 
 community centers. This should apply to all public school houses, 
 rural or urban. 
 
 Motion pictures might be secured for rural school houses by 
 the expansion of the act providing for the establishment and main- 
 tenance of libraries in rural schools. Act 345, statutes 1915. The 
 same plan of raising funds for motion pictures should be adopted 
 by amending this act.

 
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