~s~~n^iT 
 
 a S>tubj> of Cook Count? 
 
 1914
 
 A dtuhg nf (^ook dnirntg 
 
 1914
 
 C 77s 
 
 LOP 7 ^*<»«if»r 
 
 This study is dedicated to the voters of Cook County 
 with the hope that it may answer some of the nmnerous 
 questions asked during the past two years concerning the 
 organization of the County, and promote an intelligence 
 among citizens concerning County problems that will 
 prove a corrective and incentive to County officials in the 
 performance of their duties, and that will demand pro- 
 gressive administration. 
 
 A. A. McCORMICK, 
 President County Board — 1912-14. 
 
 o 
 
 cc 

 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 I. Dedication. 
 
 II. Introduction. 
 
 III. Government of the County. 
 
 IV. Taxation. 
 
 V. Executive Departments of Cook County. 
 
 1. The County Treasurer. 
 
 2. The Sheriff. 
 
 3. The Coroner. 
 
 4. The County Clerk. 
 
 5. The Recorder. 
 
 6. Department of Public Service. 
 
 7. The Comptroller. 
 
 8. Highways Commissioner. 
 
 VI. Charity Service in Cook County. 
 
 1. The County Agent. 
 
 2. Institutional Care. 
 
 a. Oak Forest Institutions. 
 
 b. County Hospital. 
 
 c. County Psychopathic Hospital. 
 
 3. Social Service. 
 
 a. Social Service Investigators. 
 
 b. Support Department of County Court. 
 
 c. Bureau of Public Welfare. 
 
 VII. Courts of Cook County, 
 
 1. Circuit Court. 
 
 2. Probate Court. 
 
 3. County Court! 
 
 4. Clerks of Court. 
 
 5. Adult Probation Department. 
 
 6. Juvenile Court. 
 
 7. Juvenile Detention Home. 
 
 VIII. Schools of Cook County. 
 IX. Civil Service. 
 
 X. The County Budget. 
 XI. A County Program. 
 Bibliography.
 
 A Study of Cook County 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 A statement of the problem of County Government is 
 valuable at this time to give exact information of the organi- 
 zation of the County to the newly enfranchised women, to 
 help focus attention aroused by spectacular events of the 
 past two years on the real questions at issue, to arouse re- 
 sponse to*^ the pitiful human appeals of those dependents 
 whose lives are in the County's keeping, and for whom' 
 many citizens crave the benefits of the higher standards of 
 intelligent skilled care of today. 
 
 It is true that the County shows backwardness in re- 
 form, that the recent movement that claims cities as the 
 ''hope of democracv," has left in the forgotten background 
 the County unit of government, that the so-called machine 
 politician is found in evidence in County offices and County 
 business; but it is also true that a large element in the 
 County problem is the understanding of the voters. To 
 many citizens the County exists as a mere boundary line, 
 and this attitude has resulted in indifference to its complex 
 functions and a lack of general interest that has brought 
 forth weak, inefficient, and, at times, dishonest government. 
 To contribute to the understanding of County government, 
 and to arouse the intelligent interest of the voters is the pur- 
 pose of this work. 
 
 Though women's part in the County problem is small 
 legally, the Act of Julv 1, 1913, conferring upon them the 
 power to vote for but few of the County officers, their 
 natural interest and general experience make them pe- 
 culiarlv valuable citizens in the County field. 
 
 It is hoped that this pamphlet mav provide a basis for 
 a fundamental intelligent imderstanding of the County 
 prol)lems, and that between its lines may be read an appeal 
 for citizens to arouse themselves to a solution of the com- 
 plexities of County organization and to a higher standard 
 of care for the County charges — these ''least among us."
 
 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 
 
 The Government of Cook County 
 
 The counties in Illinois are divided into three classes: 
 (1) Those having township organization; (2) those having 
 no township organization, and (3) Cook County, whose gov- 
 ernment, while like neither of the other kinds of counties, 
 shares certain features with both. 
 
 Counties Having Township Organization 
 
 Those counties which have township organization are 
 governed by the to^\Ti officers so far as the interests of the 
 separate towns are concerned, and these town officers acting 
 together constitute a County Board to whom are entrusted 
 the matters which are of concern to the entire county. The 
 town officers are: (1) the Supervisor, who receives and pays 
 out all money on township accounts, who is ex-officio super- 
 visor of the poor and a member of the County Board. The 
 Town Supervisor serves for one year and makes an annual 
 financial report to the County Board. 
 
 (2) An Assistant Supervisor is elected for a term of 
 one year in towns that have at least 4,000 inhabitants, and 
 for every 2,500 inhabitants an additional Supervisor is 
 elected. The duty of these Assistant Supervisors is to serve 
 on the County Board. 
 
 (3) The Town Clerk, who is the secretary of the 
 town, keeps its records and the custody of its papers, and 
 annually notifies the County Clerk of the amount required 
 to be raised by taxation for the county purposes. He serves 
 for two years and is elected in the even numbered years. 
 
 (4) The Assessor determines the value of property 
 which is subject to taxation in the town, serves for two 
 years, and is elected at the same thne as the Town Clerk. 
 
 (5) The Collector, or the County Clerk, collects taxes 
 due for })roperty in the county. His term is likewise two 
 years and his election is also at the same time as that of the 
 Town Clerk. There is also a Town Board of Health, com- 
 posed of the Supervisor, the Assessor and the Town Clerk
 
 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 7 
 
 in each town. This board may appoint medical men as 
 health officers, provide free vaccination, and require reports 
 upon dangerous communicable diseases. 
 
 (6) In addition to these officers, there is a Board of 
 Highway Commissioners, consisting of three members, one 
 elected each yeaT for a term of three years. The Town 
 Clerk acts as clerk to the board, and the Town Supervisor 
 is ex-officio treasurer. 
 
 Counties Not Under Township Organization 
 
 Counties not under township organization are governed 
 by a Board of County Commissioners. This board consists 
 usually of three Conmiissioners, elected one each year at 
 the November election by the County at large, for a term 
 of three j^ears. This board has general charge of the affairs 
 of the county, cares for county property, supervises the ad- 
 ministration of county institutions and levies taxes and may 
 create a Board of Health. Each Commissioner receives a 
 salary fixed by statute, dependent upon the x^opulation of 
 the county. 
 
 Cook County 
 
 The government of Cook County partakes of the char- 
 acter of the government of both the other kinds of counties. 
 Its governing body is the Board of Commissioners of Cook 
 County, consisting of ten members chosen from Chicago by 
 the legal voters of Chicago, and five members chosen from 
 outside of Chicago b}^ these who live outside of the cori)oratG 
 limits of the city. So far as the 30 towns outside of Chicago 
 are concerned, the Board has the powers and duties of Boards 
 in Counties having township organization. For the seven 
 towns within Chicago, it has the powers of Boards in Coun- 
 ties not having township organization. The 30 to^\Tis out- 
 side of the corporate limits of Chicago are governed as towns 
 in other Counties having township organization, except that 
 the Town Supervisors are not members of the County 
 Board. The seven to^^ms which lie wholly in Chicago have 
 no separate corporate government. In their cases, the 
 County Treasurer is ex-officio Supervisor and ex-officio Col- 
 lector, and the County Clerk is ex-officio Town Clerk and 
 Assessor. All powers that would regularly belong to the
 
 8 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 
 
 township government are given to tiie Board of Commis- 
 sioners of Cook County. 
 
 The Board of Commissioners of Cook County is in 
 many respects unlike the County Board of other counties. 
 The president, for example, is not elected by the Commis- 
 sioners from among their own number, but is elected by the 
 legal voters at the time of the regular election, when each 
 voter must indicate separately which candidate he wishes to 
 be president. The residence required for the Commissioner 
 of Cook Count}^ has been held to be only one year, whereas 
 for the County Commissioner in other counties it is five 
 years. The term of office of Cook County Commissioner is 
 four years. The Board meets regularly on the first Monday 
 of December, January, February, March, June and Sep- 
 tember, but adjourned meetings are usually held on Monday 
 of each week, except during July and August, when they are 
 held every second Monday. 
 
 The president may vote as commissioner and he may 
 have a casting vote as president. He can not vote in both 
 capacities on the same question. He has veto power over 
 any resolution appropriating money or involving the 
 county's finances; but this veto can be overruled by a vote 
 of four-fifths of the Commissioners. He appoints each year 
 one member to the Civil Service Commission, which consists 
 of three members, and conducts examinations for the selec- 
 tion of employes for such offices as are under the county 
 civil service law. He likewise appoints the heads of certain 
 institutions in the county who are not under the civil service, 
 as, for example, the County Agent, the Superintendent of 
 the Oak Forest institutions, the Warden of Cook County 
 Hospital, and the Superintendent of Public Service. 
 
 The county is a governmental unit, to which is en- 
 trusted the care of the aged and sick poor, of prisoners who 
 are awaiting trial, or who are convicted of offenses less 
 serious than felony. The county may therefore establish 
 an ahnshouse, a county hospital, a tuberculosis sanitarium, 
 a county jail, and a workhouse. It must provide a court 
 house, with offices and supplies for a county Circuit Court, 
 as well as for the county officers. It must also take meas- 
 ures to protect the health, maintain reasonably good roads, 
 and enforce state laws for the prevention of cruelty to ani- 
 mals. The County Board may therefore buy and sell real
 
 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 9 
 
 estate, make the contracts necessary for the performance of 
 these duties, and levy taxes for county i^urposes. 
 
 Some idea of the responsibility of the Board of Com- 
 missioners of Cook County can be obtained if one reviews 
 the mere statement of the revenues which are distributed 
 under its provision. In the report of the Committee of- 
 Finance for 1914, the estimated revenues of the county are 
 stated to be as follows : First, taxes, $5,532,318.20 ; fees paid 
 in, $2,069,000; miscellaneous receipts, $20,000, making a 
 total estimated revenue from ordinary sources, $7,621, 
 318.20. In addition to these receipts there were certain spe- 
 cial resources available for corporate purposes to which at- 
 tention might be called. Among the a]3propriations, how- 
 ever, certain items seem of special interest. For example, 
 for the County Hospital building fund, in connection with 
 which many scandalous rumors have been afloat, there was 
 an appropriation of $209,958. For the Psychopathic Hos- 
 pital, erected in a record-breaking time at an extraordinarily 
 low price per bed, an appropriation of $320,813 ; for a new 
 t)uilding and a cemetery at Oak Forest, an appropriation 
 of $854,000. The total appropriation for salaries and wages 
 is in round numbers $3,497,000 ; for office supplies and ex- 
 penses, $76,000; for general supplies, $704,000; for light, 
 heat and power, $153,800; for the Industrial School fund, 
 $180,000; for the Hospital Nursing fund, $197,000; for the 
 Parents' Pension fund, $100,000. There are 3,542 employes 
 carried on the County pay roll with a salary amounting in the 
 aggregate to $3,497,109. The mere recital of these enormous 
 sums of money expended and this great army of employees 
 engaged under the direction of the fifteen County Commis- 
 sioners gives some idea of the responsibility and powers 
 entrusted to them, and of the seriousness of the problem 
 confronting the voter at the time of their selection.
 
 10 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 
 
 Taxation in Cook County 
 
 ''In order that the government may have the income 
 with which to carry on its functions, taxes are levied and 
 collected. The amount of taxes that anyone must pay de- 
 pends upon the value of his property. Estimating the value 
 of the property in the community for this purpose is called 
 'assessing' it. This work is done chiefly through the county 
 organization. ' ' In Cook County, as in other counties of 125,- 
 000 or more inhabitants, a Board of Assessors is elected for 
 this purpose. ' ' The Board consists of five persons, not more 
 than four of whom can be from the same city, elected at the 
 November elections, two every six years from 1900, e.g., 
 1912 and 1918 ; two every six years from 1902, e.g., 1914 and 
 1920, and one every six years from 1898, e.g., 1916."^ 
 
 Assessors are required, by the Revenue Law of 1898, to 
 take a special oath of office, and to give bond to diligently, 
 faithfully, and impartially perform the duties enjoined by 
 law. 
 
 The duties of Assessors are to value and assess for 
 taxation real and personal property, of which lists are pre- 
 pared by the County Clerk. "The Assessor is required every 
 fourth year to view and value each tract or lot of land, and 
 in the intervening years to list and assess real propert}^ not 
 on the assessment list, to add the value of improvements and 
 make deductions for any impairment of value. The revenue 
 law provides that personal property shall be listed by the 
 owners. Assessors are also required to call at the office or 
 residence of each person required to list property and secure 
 a sworn statement of his taxable property ; and whenever he 
 fails to obtain such a statement it is his duty to assess the 
 value of such property."^ 
 
 The decision of the Assessors is not final but "is subject 
 to correction and review by a Board of Review, consisting 
 of three members, elected for a term of six years. They 
 assess property not assessed by the Board of Assessors, and 
 
 ^Alice Greenacre, Handbook for the Women Voters of Illinois, edited by S. P. Brenckin- 
 ridge, pp. 64-65. 
 
 ^Report of the Joint Legislative Committee, 47th General Assembly, p. 147.
 
 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 11 
 
 hear complaints against the actions of the Board of Asses- 
 sors."^ 
 
 For support of the offices of Assessors- and Board of 
 Review," $271,420 was appropriated in 1914, of which the 
 great bulk — $267,920 — went for salaries, and the rest, $3,500, 
 for office expenses. Each of the five Assessors has a salary 
 of $5,000. The staff of the Assessors includes a building 
 evaluation expert, 21 real estate experts, besides draughts- 
 men, clerks, stenographers, etc., totaling 96 employes, in- 
 cluding 29 township assessors who are elected, as well as 
 a number of extra day men preparing real estate and per- 
 sonal propertj^ assessments. The total salary appropriation 
 for 1914 for the Assessors and their staff is $181,160. The 
 total salary appropriation in the office of the Board of Re- 
 view is $86,760. This office force includes 26 regular workers, 
 largely clerks, besides a number of ''extras." The salary 
 of each of the three members of the Board of Review is 
 $7,000. 
 
 The aggregate valuation of property for the county as 
 set by these two boards "may be altered by the State Board 
 of Equalization, which also assesses the property of rail- 
 roads and the capital stock of certain classes of Illinois cor- 
 porations." "After equalization by the State Board of 
 Equalization, the assessment rolls are turned over to the 
 County Clerk. To the County Clerk also are certified the 
 State tax rate, the County tax rate, the Sanitar}^ District 
 rate, the city corporate, city bond and tuberculosis sani- 
 tarium rates, the school building and educational rates, the 
 South, AYest and Lincoln Park rates, those for several smal- 
 ler park districts, and the rates for the various to^^^lS and 
 villages and school districts outside of Chicago," making a 
 total amount levied through the Clerk's hands of some $40,- 
 000,000. "It is the duty of the County Clerk to apply the 
 appropriate rate to each piece of property on the assessment 
 rolls and extend the resultant total as a single charge. In 
 doing so, however, he is restrained by"^ the complicated pro- 
 visions of the Juul law. 
 
 ' ' Under the Juul law, if the aggregate of the tax levies 
 will require a total rate, in any taxing district, above the 
 maxmium allowed, the Count}^ Clerk must reduce the rate 
 
 1. Bramhall, F. D., Cook County and Chicago, Report of Joint Legislative Committee, 
 p. 182. 
 
 2. Women may vote for members of board of review and board of assessors.
 
 12 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 
 
 proportionately. Before 1909, when the taxable value was 
 one-fifth of the ' full value, ' the ordinary maximum rate was 
 5 per cent. In 1909 the legal basis was changed to one- 
 third ; and the ordinary maximum tax rate was reduced to 
 3 per cent. But certain taxes are not scaled down below 
 fixed limits; and the final result is often a rate above the 
 ordinary maximum. 
 
 ' ' The law regulating tax levies and the maximum rates 
 is so complex that it sometimes happens that taxes are 
 levied and extended on the collector's books which do not 
 comply with all the requirements. Such taxes may later 
 be held invalid and their collection restrained on behalf of 
 railroad corporations, or other large taxpayers, while the 
 great majority of small taxpayers pay the amounts ex- 
 tended on the collector's books. In other cases the arbi- 
 trary standards of the statute give some local authorities 
 more funds than they can use while other authorities .... 
 have less than is necessary for the performance of their 
 duties. 
 
 "To meet these difficulties several suggestions have 
 been made: that .... a competent attorney be em- 
 ployed to see that the tax levies are made as provided by 
 law, or that the State's Attorney be required to certify in 
 writing as to the validity of tax levies before the taxes are 
 extended ; that taxes should be levied on an order from the 
 County Judge, on application from the taxing authorities 
 and after hearing objections; or that there should be a 
 County Board of Taxation to pass on the total levy. 
 
 "There is certainly need for more co-ordination and a 
 greater concentration of responsibility in making tax levies ; 
 and there should be some authority with discretionary power 
 to adjust the apportionment of taxes between the several 
 spending authorities, in place of the intricate and mechani- 
 cal provisions of the Juul law."^ 
 
 ^Report of Joiat Legislative Committee, pp. 151-152.
 
 THE V>T 
 
 COOK 
 
 
 
 ELECTION 
 COMM1S5IONER5 O) 
 
 _ Elective OfficioU 
 
 I I Ins-tituVions or Appointive Officials 
 
 a. President Included 
 
 b. Elected bi^ their respective Townshipa 
 
 CHART OF 01 
 
 OF THE "=' 
 
 COOK COU 
 
 SHOWING LINES Q 
 SALARY RATES FON
 
 COUNTY INFIRMARY A,r,D 
 TUBERCULOSIS HOSPITAL 
 AT OAK FORE ST 
 
 [NIZATION 
 
 I* WENT 
 
 ILLINOIS 
 
 Ithority and 
 |:tive officials 
 
 Prepared By 
 
 CHICAGO 8UREAU OF PUBLIC EFFICIENCY 
 
 1313
 
 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 13 
 
 The Executive Departments of 
 Cook County 
 
 The executive departments of the county government 
 comprise the five offices of Sheriff, Coroner, County Clerk, 
 Recorder, and County Treasurer. These are all elective 
 officials serving a four-years' term. The Sheriff and the 
 Treasurer are not eligible for re-election. Each of the five 
 appoints the employes working under him. Their salaries 
 are fixed by the County Board. The final responsibility for 
 the amount of help in these offices lies with the Judges of 
 the Circuit Court, who are required by the Constitution to 
 fix the number of deputies and assistants. Obviously, the 
 Judges have no way of ascertaining the necessary number 
 without investigation. Funds should be appropriated for 
 such investigations to enable the Judges to perform intelli- 
 gently this function, so important to the efficiency and 
 economy of the executive offices. 
 
 The total number of about one thousand employes in these 
 five departments costs the County in salaries annually more 
 than one and a half million dollars. 
 
 The County Treasurer 
 
 Perhaps the most important of the executive officers is 
 the County Treasurer, inasmuch as he handles each vear 
 from $60,000,000 to $70,000,000 of public money. The County 
 Treasurer serves ex-officio as County Collector, and also as 
 Town Collector and Town Supervisor of the seven towns 
 lying wholly within the City of Chicago. 
 
 As Treasurer, his duties involve primarily the receipt, 
 custod}^, and disbursement of the revenues and funds of 
 Cook County, as well as certain other funds of which the 
 Legislature has designated him ^s custodian. He collects, 
 also, the inheritance taxes of the state. As County Collector 
 his duties are chiefly those of a collector of delinquent taxes 
 and special assessments, which he subsequently turns over 
 to the proper authorities of the State, County, City, Sanitary
 
 14 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 
 
 District, Park Boards and. other taxing bodies/ As Town 
 Collector, the Treasurer's duties are simply those of a col- 
 lector of current general taxes levied on both real and per- 
 sonal property. As Town Collector he begins to receive 
 such taxes as soon as the collector's warrants are turned 
 over to him by the County Clerk — usually early in January 
 — and continues his collection until March 10, when as 
 ''County Collector" he goes through the formality of set- 
 tling his accounts with himself as ' ' Town Collector, ' ' and as 
 "Town Collector" turns over the books to himself as 
 ' ' County Collector. ' ' The taxes which he collects as ' ' Town 
 Collector" he subsequently turns over to the State, County, 
 City, Sanitary District, Park Boards and other taxing 
 bodies.- As "Town Supervisor" the Treasurer is custodian 
 of certain moneys raised by the towns of Lake View and 
 North Chicago for the acquisition and maintenance of small 
 parks under the jurisdiction of the Lincoln Park Board." 
 
 To perform these duties the Treasurer in 1914 has em- 
 ployed 104 regular men besides 50 to 250 "extras," at a 
 salary expense (including his own) of $352,235.83. $19,000 
 for office expenses brings his total expense budget up to 
 $371,235.83. His own salary is fixed b}^ the legislature at 
 $4,000. He retains an additional sum amounting to $10,500 
 a year in commissions as Town Collector. He retains a 
 further additional sum of fees for the collection of in- 
 heritance taxes. This amounted to $20,617.64 in 1911, and 
 is steadily increasing. 
 
 While for several years past the Treasurer has turned 
 into the public treasury large sums of money on account of 
 interest earned on public funds in his custody, there is evi- 
 dence that much larger amounts would have accrued to the 
 benefit of the public if the funds had been properly ad- 
 ministered and all of the interest earned accounted for. 
 
 The control of the Treasurer over the disposal of funds 
 while in his custody is absolute. He may keep them in his 
 own vaults or bank them at interest as he pleases. He is 
 also absolutely liable for them until their disbursement. 
 Two sets of account books are kept by the Treasurer — 
 "public" records and "private" records. Although the 
 Treasurer is required by law to submit his accounts at least 
 
 1. "Office of the County Treasurer of Cook County." Nov., 1913. Report of the 
 Chicago Bureau of Public Efficiency, p. 22. 
 
 2. Same, p. 23. 
 
 3. Same, p. 24.
 
 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 15 
 
 twice a year to the County Board, the so-called "private" 
 records of money, kept by public employes at public ex- 
 pense, he has not allowed to be examined by citizen, tax- 
 payer or County Board. Thus there has been absolutely no 
 real check or audit upon his accounts except such as may 
 have been conducted by himself or his private bondsman. 
 Despite the law the Treasurer has held large sums collected 
 for the different taxing bodies long after they were due. 
 He has withheld from the public records the receipt of sums 
 amounting to as much as $23,000,000 for as long as six 
 months at a time, thus making it impossible to determine the 
 precise amount of interest he has or might have obtained. 
 After a thorough investigation of the ' ' public records, ' ' for 
 the year 1911, the Bureau of Public Efficiency computed the 
 interest which the public moneys held by the Treasurer dur- 
 ing this year should have earned to be not less than $281,- 
 526.18, or $130,968.79 more than the amount actually turned 
 over to the County by the Treasurer. 
 
 The Treasurer tendered to the County Board in 1913 only 
 $171,396.48. This amount was accepted and efforts made on 
 the part of the minority members to get an accounting, but 
 without success. 
 
 The defects in the administration of funds in the Treas- 
 urer's office are so great as to be remediable only by legisla- 
 tive changes. The Bureau of Public Efficiency recommends 
 the following enactments : 
 
 1. "To make it mandatory upon the Treasurer to de- 
 posit such funds in banks to be designated by the County 
 Board ; such deposits to be made upon conditions similar to 
 those which now obtain with respect to the deposit of the 
 funds of the City of Chicago. 
 
 2. "To relieve the Treasurer of all responsibility for 
 such funds when he has deposited the same in such banks 
 and Avhile in the custod}^ of the banks, and to permit the 
 withdrawal of the funds from the banks upon the order of 
 the Treasurer only when accompanied by a warrant or order 
 signed by some officer to be designated for such purpose. 
 
 3. "To authorize the County Board to contract for the 
 pa3nnent of interest on such bank deposits and to prohibit 
 the County Treasurer, or any other public official, from re- 
 taining any of the interest accruing on sucli deposits, or any
 
 16 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 
 
 profit, prerequisite, or emolument on account thereof. 
 
 4. "To provide for the keeping of proper accounts in 
 connection with the administration of such funds and the 
 interest thereon ; for the examination and audit of such ac- 
 counts by a disinterested officer or agency ; and for an ade- 
 quate degree of publicity concerning the manner in which 
 such funds are handled and all the records and accounts 
 thereof kept. 
 
 5. "To make suitable provisions concerning the nature 
 and amount of the bonds to be furnished by the Treasurer." 
 
 6. ' ' To provide definite and adequate compensation for 
 the Treasurer." 
 
 The Sheriff 
 
 The office of Sheriff was formerly almost as rich a po- 
 litical plum as that of the Treasurer, and worth from $75,- 
 000 to $100,000 a year. Since the contracting for the feed- 
 ing of prisoners has been taken out of the Sheriff's hands, 
 however, and the fees of the office have been paid into the 
 Count}^ Treasury, the Sheriff has received a salary of $9,960 
 a year. 
 
 The Sheriff: is the "arm of the judge," or "court mes- 
 senger," carrying out the orders of the judge. He sells 
 property for de])t, takes a prisoner to jail, or hangs him, if 
 the judge so orders. He serves and executes warrants, sum- 
 monses and other writs. He is custodian of the County 
 Building, Criminal Court House and County Jail. He is 
 resi3onsi1)le for the care and safe-keeping of the prisoners 
 in the jail. To perform these duties the Sheriff employs 
 500 persons at a salary expense to the county of more than 
 $572,000. 
 
 Of these 500 employes 204 are firemen, electricians, 
 engineers, watclmien, elevator operators, janitors, etc., in the 
 County Building. Fifty-seven more with similar occupa- 
 tions work in the Criminal Court Building, and eighty-one 
 more, including jailers, cooks, matrons, and physicians, in 
 the County Jail. 
 
 Of the 153 employes in the Sheriff's general office for 
 which the Board made appropriations in 1914, 111 are bail- 
 iffs, including two chief bailiffs, and twenty-six are deputy 
 sheriffs. The deputy sheriffs are chiefly employed in the 
 service of writs. For an estimated six-hour day of such
 
 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 11 
 
 employment each deputy sheriff receives a salary of $1,890. 
 Of this each pays $120 a year to a "return" clerk, who pre- 
 pares the endorsement of the official "return" of the Sheriff 
 on all writs. The bailiffs are almost evenly divided between 
 the Criminal Court Building- and the office of the chief bailiff" 
 in the County Building. They perform two classes of 
 duties : first, work at the courts' handling prisoners and keep- 
 ing order; second, the serving of jury summonses (which 
 might be done quite as effectively by mail) and certain 
 classes of writs such as habeas corpus, attaclmients for con- 
 tempt, subpoenas, etc. Bailiffs are paid $125 a month, as- 
 sistant chief bailiffs, $137.50. 
 
 Besides the bailiffs and deputy sheriffs working out of 
 the Sheriff's office, there are in this office twelve clerks, a 
 cashier, and an assistant sheriff at $3,000 a year. The prin- 
 cipal officer is a chief deputy at $4,000 a year, who is directly 
 in charge of administration of the general office, personally 
 conducts all Sheriff' 's sales of real estate, handles the so- 
 called ' ' trust funds, ' ' with their records and documents, and 
 also the bank accounts. Besides $582,703.10 appropriated 
 in 1914 for salaries in the Sheriff's budget, $1,350 were ap- 
 propriated for office expenses, $25,000 for dieting prisoners 
 in jail, and $90,900 for general supplies, also light, heat, 
 power, repair, furniture and other expenses for the County 
 Building, Criminal Court Building and Countv Jail, mak- 
 ing a total of $699,953. 
 
 The Coroner 
 
 The offices of Sheriff and Coroner are the oldest in the 
 entire county, dating l^ack to the English "Shire Reeve" 
 and "Crowner," the king's personal representatives in the 
 shire or county. The Coroner is the only man who can 
 arrest the Sheriff, and he acts as Sheriff if the latter is at 
 any time unable to serve. The chief duty of the Coroner, 
 however, is the investigation, either in person or by deputy, 
 of all deaths which appear to have been accidental, violent, 
 caused by undue means, or where there is no physician's 
 certificate stating cause of death. Inquests are held and 
 witnesses examined before a jury of six. 
 
 The Coroner receives a salary of $9,000 a year. The 
 chief deputy coroner, whose salary is $3,300, has charge of 
 the office and gives assignments daily to ten deputy coro-
 
 18 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 
 
 ners working out of this office at a salary of $2,000 each. 
 The duties of these ten deputy coroners are to hold inquests 
 and to receive personal property found on the bodies of the 
 deceased. 
 
 There are also four physicians and deputies. One re- 
 ceives $2,500 a year and three receive $2,100 each. 
 
 Besides the deputies and physicians enumerated, the 
 Coroner's staff of thirty-one persons includes a chemist, 
 statistician, morgue-keeper, private secretary, clerks, 
 typists, four court reporters, and other assistants, making ' 
 up a total salary budget of $64,329.15, including the salary 
 of the Coroner. One thousand dollars appropriated for 
 office expenses and $3,000 for "incidental" expenses brings 
 the Coroner's expense account for 1914 up to $68,329.15. 
 
 The County Clerk 
 
 The County Clerk holds ex officio two offices, namel3^ 
 Clerk of the County Board, and County Comptroller. He 
 is also Clerk of the County Court. 
 
 As Clerk of the County Court, he receives and files docu- 
 ments of the County Court and issues j^rocesses, keeps 
 registers, dockets and indexes; receives and disburses fees 
 of the court and other funds chiefly in non-support cases ; 
 makes minutes of court proceedings ; makes certified copies 
 of records and documents on file at the office. The County 
 Clerk issues marriage licenses and keeps a record of births, 
 deaths and marriages. In his office the taxes of the different 
 taxing bodies of the County are extended on the collector's 
 warrants. He is the responsible accounting officer of the 
 county government. 
 
 The County Clerk receives $9,000 a year. He employs 
 108 regular workers and is authorized to employ '^extras" at 
 a total salary in 1914 of $293,120. An additional $12,000 
 for office expenses brings the total 1914 appropriation for 
 this three offices up to $314,120. 
 
 The Recorder 
 
 The prime function of the Recorder, as indicated by 
 his title, is the recording of deeds and other instruments. 
 In addition the Recorder manages an abstract department, 
 and a department for the registration of land titles and
 
 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 19 
 
 transfers under the Torrens Act. In order to simplify the 
 dissemination of information regarding- real estate trans- 
 fers, the recording of mortgages, bills of sales, etc., the Re- 
 corder also maintains a press bureau or "publicity depart- 
 ment. ' ' 
 
 For the operation of the four departments $322,530 
 were appropriated in 1914, of which $312,530 covered the 
 Recorder 's own salary of $9,000 and the salaries of his em- 
 ployes, numbering about two hundred and seventy-five. 
 
 Department of Public Service 
 
 The dei^artment of Public Service is the business office 
 of Cook County, purchasing all supplies required for the 
 various county buildings and institutions and all the offices 
 in the Court House and Criminal Court Building. The pur- 
 chases approximate $100,000 per month and cover prac- 
 tically all classes of commodities. 
 
 The department has charge also of the maintenance of 
 all buildings owned by Cook County and supervises all con- 
 tracts for new buildings. The Superintendent of Public 
 Service acts as the owner's representative, sees that the con- 
 tracts are properly executed and, with the County Architect, 
 is responsible for strict compliance with specifications as to 
 materials furnished. 
 
 To maintain the county's buildings in proper condition, 
 to make renewals and replacements, to construct minor 
 buildings and make alterations requires a force of from 
 seventy-five to one hundred and ten mechanics, such as 
 plumbers, steamfitters, electricians, painters, etc. This 
 branch of the department has also executed some larger con- 
 tracts, such as painting Cook County Hospital, the Oak 
 Forest Infirmary, etc., which effected a saving to the county 
 of approximately $19,000 over the lowest proposals sub- 
 mitted by contractors for this work. 
 
 Comptroller of Cook County 
 
 The Comptroller is the Auditor of Cook County and 
 pays, on the authorization of the County Board, all bills 
 and salaries. He is independent of the Board, acting as 
 the representative of the County Clerk, an elective officer. 
 A Deputy Comptroller is also Clerk of the Board of County
 
 20 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 
 
 Commissioners and keeper of all records and files of that 
 Board. The annual report of the County Comptroller, 
 issued in February, 1914, gave an extensive and intelligent 
 analysis of County expenditures. Estimates from the vari- 
 ous departments are annually received in this office and a 
 preliminary draft of the "Budget" prepared. 
 
 Highways Department 
 
 The Superintendent of Highways, who is in charge of 
 the Highways Department of Cook County, is appointed 
 by the County Board for a term of six years. 
 
 His appointment is made under the provisions of the 
 Roads and Bridges Act, revised in 1913, which requires that 
 the County Board shall submit to the State Highways Com- 
 mission the names of from three to five residents of the 
 County, whom the State Commission shall examine as to 
 fitness for the office and certify the results to the County 
 Board, which shall then appoint one of the number Superin- 
 tendent of Highwaj^s. 
 
 The duties of the Superintendent of Highways are as 
 follows : Under the general direction and with the approval 
 of the State Highway Commission^To prepare plans, speci- 
 fications and estimates for all bridges to be built by the Com- 
 mission and to supervise the construction and maintenance 
 of any road or bridge where the entire expense is met by the 
 County ; to visit and inspect highways and bridges at least 
 once a year, and supervise the repair and maintenance of all 
 State Aid roads within his County. 
 
 The Highways Commissioner is also required to keep a 
 record of all contracts and purchases of material, machinery 
 or apparatus used in road construction in excess of two 
 hundred dollars ($200). 
 
 For the construction of roads to be built at the joint 
 expense of the State and County, the State of Illinois has 
 appropriated $138,000.00, and an equal amount has been ap- 
 propriated by Cook County. Contracts have been let aggre- 
 gating $188,000.00, and during 1914 the construction of 14 
 miles of concrete roads, 18 feet wide, was begun. Construc- 
 tion of roads for the remaining $88,000.00 will start in the 
 Spring of 1915. Plans and specifications have been pre- 
 pared for twelve bridges, to be constructed at an aggregate 
 cost of $25,000.00, of which the County pays half and the
 
 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 21 
 
 various townships the other half. For the repair and main- 
 tenance of County roads, other than those built by State 
 Aid, three sets of road machinery have been purchased by 
 the County, and are operated jointly by the County and 
 townships, all the material for repair being furnished by 
 the townships.
 
 22 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 
 
 The Charity Service 
 
 The County Agent 
 
 The most important officer connected with the care of 
 dependents by the Coimty is the County Agent. He is the 
 representative of the County to whom all applications for 
 County Aid must be made. In this work he is governed by 
 the provisions of the so-called ''Pauper Law" which re- 
 quires recipients of aid to have been residents of the State 
 and County for at least one year, and which provides, within 
 certain degrees of kinship, that when possible relatives shall 
 support relatives.^ 
 
 The County Agent also co-operates with the federal au- 
 thorities, giving them the names of persons liable to be de- 
 ported under the United States Immigration Law, which 
 provides that immigrants who have become public charges 
 within three years after admission from causes existing 
 before admission, and immigrants who were admitted al- 
 though they, as a matter of fact, might have been discovered 
 to be liable to become public charges, may be returned to 
 their former home. 
 
 The County Agent's representatives must therefore 
 make sufficient inquiry to determine whether the applicant 
 should be helped by Cook County, or should be returned to 
 another county, or is ineligible for aid because of relatives 
 able to contribute to his support. In 1913, 168 cases were 
 investigated of non-residents who were thought properly 
 to be charges upon other counties, resulting in 85 persons 
 being actually returned to the county from which they emi- 
 grated. 83 applications were made by the authorities of 
 other counties to return residents to Cook County, of which 
 50 were accepted and 33 rejected. The transportation of 
 applicants from Cook County to the county of their resi- 
 dence, and from other counties to Cook County in 1913, cost 
 $1,117.14, and the sum of $2,000.00 was appropriated for 
 this purpose for 1914. 
 
 When it has been determined after investigation that the 
 applicant is deserving, the County Agent must either him- 
 self, or through his assistants, determine whether help shall 
 
 1. These legal obligations rest on children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents, 
 brothers and sisters. Illinois Revised Statutes, Chapter 107.
 
 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 
 
 23 
 
 be given in the home of the applicant (Outdoor Relief) or 
 in one of the County Institutions (Indoor Relief), or ad- 
 mission secured into an institution appropriate to the appli- 
 cant's needs. If the application is accepted and outdoor 
 relief decided upon, aid of various kinds is given. 
 
 1. Medical Aid: Certain kinds of illness are treated 
 and certain forms of medical care are given in the home. 
 For this purpose, a staff of 16 County Physicians is main- 
 tained, and an appropriation of $15,000.00 was made for 
 1914 to cover medical service connected with the County 
 Agent's office, at the rate of $1.00 per visit. In 1913, 18,005 
 persons were given treatment in their homes. 1,389 cases 
 were given preliminary treatment and then sent to the 
 County Hospital for further attention. Eye glasses, arti- 
 ficial limbs, braces, and other needed appliances are also 
 given, and mention may be made at this time of the burial 
 of those who die destitute, who are interred in the County 
 burial ground. 182 burials were provided in 1913 through 
 the office of the County Agent. 
 
 2. Food and other material aid: The 1913 report of 
 the County Agent shows that 10,063 family groups, (9,487 
 civilian and 576 families of old soldiers), 42,002 persons in 
 all, were given material relief in their homes. The heads 
 of 4,246 of these families were Avidows or deserted women, 
 with a total of. 10,835 children to care for. 2,585 of these 
 families received aid for only one month. 4,007 families 
 were aided from one to two months while only 643 families 
 had to be aided throughout the entire 12 months. 
 
 The food is distributed in portions known as "Rations," 
 which are graded to suit the size of the family. The follow- 
 ing description of rations allowed in 1913 is interesting: 
 
 No. 1 Eation 
 
 No. 2 Eation 
 
 No. 3 Eation 
 
 One Person 
 
 2 or 3 Persons 
 
 4 or 5 Persons 
 
 1 lb. Soap 
 
 1 lb. Soap 
 
 2 lbs. Soap 
 
 2 lbs. Beans 
 
 5 lbs. Beans 
 
 5 lbs. Beans 
 
 2 lbs. Eice 
 
 4 lbs. Eice 
 
 6 lbs. Eice 
 
 2^ lbs. Eolled Oats 
 
 2i lbs. Eolled Oats 
 
 5 lbs. Eolled Oats 
 
 i lb. Coffee 
 
 1 lb. Coffee 
 
 2 lbs. Coffee 
 
 i lb. Tea 
 
 i lb. Tea. 
 
 1 lb. Tea 
 
 i Sack ^ Flour 
 
 1 Sack J Spring Flour 
 
 2 Sacks k Flour 
 
 2i lbs. Corn Meal 
 
 2i lbs. Corn Meal 
 
 5 lbs. Corn Meal 
 
 2 lbs. Sugar 
 
 3 lbs. Sugar 
 
 5 lbs. Sugar 
 
 2i lbs. Syrup 
 
 3 lbs. Lard 
 
 3 lbs. Lard 
 
 
 2i lbs. Syrup 
 
 2i lbs. Syrup 
 
 Cost per Eation, 
 
 
 
 91 cts. 
 
 Cost per Eation, 
 
 Cost per Eation 
 
 
 $1.77 
 
 $2.81
 
 24 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 
 
 No. 4 Eation 
 
 No. 5 Eation 
 
 6 or 7 Persons 
 
 8 or more Persons 
 
 2 lbs. Soap 
 
 2 lbs. Soap 
 
 5 lbs. Beans 
 
 5 lbs. Beans 
 
 6 lbs. Eice 
 
 6 lbs. Eice 
 
 5 lbs. Eolloed Oats 
 
 5 lbs. Eolled Oats 
 
 2 lbs. Coffee 
 
 2 lbs. Coffee 
 
 1 lb. Tea 
 
 1 lb. Tea 
 
 2 Sacks i Flour 
 
 3 Sacks i Flour 
 
 1 Sack t\j Flour 
 
 5 lbs. Corn Meal 
 
 5 lbs. Corn Meal 
 
 8 lbs. Sugar 
 
 7 lbs. Sugar 
 
 3 lbs. Lard 
 
 3 lbs. Lard 
 
 2§ lbs. Syrup 
 
 2^ lbs. Syrup 
 
 
 Cost Per Eation, $3.39 
 Cost per Eation, $3.13 
 
 During 1913, in addition to food, 15,603 pairs of shoes,* 
 16,733 tons of coal, 59,576 quarts of milk and 172,210 pounds 
 of ice, were distributed. 
 
 The staff of the County Agent for 1914 included a first 
 assistant and seven second assistant county agents, a 
 deporting agent and from 15 to 45 relief investigators, 
 as the demands ujDon the office fluctuated. The appropria- 
 tion for salaries of this office for 1914, including besides the 
 staff mentioned above the necessary clerical, storeroom and 
 janitor service, was $107,861.85. 
 
 For the purpose of convenience to the poor, as well as 
 economy and efficiency of service, the County Agent has 
 districted the city, and maintains a branch in each of the 
 eight districts whose boundaries are indicated on the map on 
 the opposite page. Outdoor relief in towns lying outside 
 of the city limits is administered by the town supervisors. 
 $23,075 were appropriated for 1914 for relief to be granted 
 in the respective towns, including payment at the rate of 
 $1.00 a day to the supervisors while acting as overseers of 
 the poor, 
 
 * Given school childreu on receipt of a note from tlie principal after investigation.
 
 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 
 
 25 
 
 MAP SHOWING 
 
 OUTDOOR RELIEF 
 
 DISTRICTS
 
 26 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 
 
 Indoor Relief 
 
 Institutional Care 
 
 In case relief and treatment in the home are not appro- 
 priate forms of service, the County Agent admits the appli- 
 cant to the County Hospital, the County Psychopathic Hos- 
 pital, the Oak Forest Infirmary, or the County institution 
 for tubercular patients (located also at Oak Forest) as the 
 case may demand, or supervises the examination which is 
 the basis for admission to the state institutions for the blind 
 and deaf (at Jacksonville), the feeble-minded (at Lincoln), 
 and the insane (at Kankakee, Elgin, Dunning, Peoria and 
 Watertown). In 1913 there were 2,306 such examinations 
 resulting in 1,756 commitments to state insane hospitals, 30 
 admissions to Illinois Asylum for Feeble-minded Children 
 and 2 admissions to the school for the deaf. 
 
 Not only is careful investigation very necessary in all 
 those cases where money and provisions are received from 
 the public, but great care is needed in admitting applicants 
 for aid to the public institutions, as is evidenced by the result 
 of recent investigations made by the County Agent. After a 
 period of lax administration it Avas possible to reduce the 
 daily population in the County Hospital by four or five hun- 
 dred by eliminating patients who were political beneficiaries 
 in no way entitled to the service. A large nmuber of inmates 
 at Oak Forest were found who were able to earn their own 
 living or had relatives legally responsible and financially 
 able to care for them. Each institution will be subsequently 
 described in a separate paragraph.
 
 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 
 
 27
 
 28 A STUDY OP COOK COUNTY 
 
 OAK FOREST INSTITUTIONS 
 
 The Infirmary 
 
 The care of the aged aud infirm poor has been since 
 the beginning of the 17th century recognized as a proper 
 charge upon the public. Those who because of chronic 
 feebleness of body, weak mentality or old age, are unable to 
 care for themselves and who have no able-bodied relatives 
 on whom the dut}" can be rightly laid have been maintained 
 at the cost of the parish in England, the town, in states or- 
 ganized after the township method, or by the county. The 
 method used is sometimes payment to private individuals 
 for assuming the responsibility, boarding them in private 
 homes or caring for them in institutions. Since the cost 
 of their care is borne by the tax-payers, many of whom have 
 very limited resources, great care should be taken to insure 
 the exclusion of all who are not really dependent. It is also 
 important that those who are dependent are cared for as 
 economically as is possible and maintain that measure of 
 comfort, decency and well-being which the state should re- 
 quire for all its charges. 
 
 The institution in which Cook County cares for its in- 
 firm and aged has been given the name Oak Forest Infirmary 
 in the hope that it may lose some of the horror attached in 
 the minds of the decent poor to "Poor House," ''Alms- 
 house," or simply "House." It has been located for the 
 past three years on the beautiful county farm of 340 acres 
 at Oak Forest, which is twenty miles southwest of Chicago 
 on the Rock Island railroad. 
 
 The two institutions at Oak Forest are the Infirmary, 
 where the feeble, aged, chronically sick, and a few imbecile 
 or physically handicapped children* are cared for, and the 
 
 Boys Girls 
 
 ♦Population, December, 1911 38 18 
 
 Admitted. 1912 51 36 
 
 Discharged 51 26 
 
 Died 6 5 
 
 Population, December, 1912 31 23 
 
 Tubercular : 
 
 Admitted 37 28 
 
 Discharged 20 14 
 
 Died 3 5 
 
 Population, December, 1912 14 9
 
 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 
 
 29
 
 30 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 
 
 Tuberculosis Hospital. In 1913, the county spent approxi- 
 mately $350,000 for the support of the two institutions and 
 cared for 4,000 persons, the number present at any one time 
 varying between 1,600 in the summer and 2,100 in the winter 
 months. The corresponding appropriation for 1914 is $400,- 
 085. 
 
 Naturally a large proportion of the inmates are aged, 
 50 per cent in 1913 being over 60 and 70 per cent over 50 
 years of age, which is old age among the poor, who have 
 gone to work very young and whose lives of hardship bring 
 them to an early old age. Five hundred were irresponsible, 
 feeble-minded, imbecile or even idiotic. The patients in the 
 Infirmary come, of course, from every kind of family and 
 represent every kind of experience. Thirty-one nationali- 
 ties beside American were represented among them in 1912, 
 and occupations as varied as brick layers, carpenters, en- 
 gineers, shoemakers, teamsters, cabinet makers, architects, 
 and actors were found in their midst. The great number of 
 men are, however, unskilled laborers and of the women, 
 housekeepers. Many have lived in earlier days in the 
 country or in smaller towns and have done outdoor tasks. 
 All have Avorked, although some have spent years in more 
 or less dissipated ways. There are aged and infirm men 
 whose women-folk are dead and feeble old women whose 
 men-folk have died or deserted long ago. There are a few 
 couples passing their last years together there. 
 
 The staff of employes to care for so large and so feeble 
 a jDopulation is necessarily large, comprising, besides the 
 general and assistant superintendent, five senior and ten 
 junior physicians, a chief and four assistant engineers, three 
 housekeepers, a head cook, a director and two assistant di- 
 rectors of nurses, 62 nurses, and approximately 50 assistants 
 in the various departments connected with the infirmary. 
 From consideration both of economy and of kindness, those 
 who can work should be given the opportunity to do so. This 
 means a very considerable amount of supervision ; it also re- 
 quires the exercise of great ingenuity. They must not be 
 overworked, and their tasks should be so assigned as to give 
 them variety and interest and incidentally reduce the cost 
 of their care. They have in the past been occupied at tasks 
 adapted to their strength, such as making brooms, whisk 
 brooms, mattresses, pillows, overalls and jumpers, besides
 
 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 
 
 31
 
 32 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 
 
 many other articles. Diirino; 1914 the superintendent has, 
 with great benefit to their health and with profit to the in- 
 stitution, undertaken to give them light work about the 
 grounds. One venture has resulted in a phenominally suc- 
 cessful chicken farm which supplies chickens and eggs to 
 the tuberculosis patients, and another in the direction of 
 gardening has added variety to the diet and given wholesome 
 occupation to old persons who have been used to doing things 
 with their hands on the land. The question of developing 
 or at least keeping alive such skill as they possess, of pos- 
 sibly finding a market for some of their products, and possi- 
 bly of paying for certain kinds of tasks are problems to be 
 worked at as the service of this appealing group of depend- 
 ents groAvs more intelligent and skillful. 
 
 It may be said now that these pathetic charges on the 
 bounty of the state are assured of clean and adequate lodg- 
 ing accommodations, of wholesome food, of comfortable 
 clothing, of light and air, and the sight of beautiful stretches 
 of country, of the reasonable chance to exercise their feeble 
 powers. When one recalls the circumstances from which 
 many of these patients have come, as the following cases 
 illustrate, a reasonable hope of further raising the standard 
 of care does not seem groundless. 
 
 The following selected biograj^hies of patients at Oak 
 Forest show the complexity of the human problem involved 
 in the public care of dependents : 
 
 A. C. S. — Born October 2, 1846, at Havant, Hampshire, England, and was 
 the son of a Lieutenant General. Educated at Eton, Eoyal Military College, 
 Sandhurst, and Oxford University. Entered the army in June, 1864. Left the 
 service after seven years, under the terms of the "Act Allowing Oflficers to 
 Dispose of their Commissions." Studied law, became a barrister in the Middle 
 Temple, London, and was called to the bar in 1874. In 1870 was engaged as 
 military correspondent for the London Times by the late Editor-in-Chief, Dr. 
 Delane! Subsequently coming to Canada in 1872,*^ he landed at Quebec and went 
 to Montreal, where he engaged in the provision export trade between Montreal 
 and Liverpool 
 
 Then he became a member of the journalistic profession in New York City, 
 being connected with the New Y'ork Herald more or less for several years. On 
 the publication of the Century he joined the editorial staff of the Standard 
 English Dictionary, which was published by Funk & Wagnals, publishers, of 
 La Fayette Place. Came to Chicago early in 1883 and did considerable news- 
 paper work; first with the Chicago Times, then with the Chicago Tribune. Was 
 engaged as editor of the Milwaukee Sentinel until late in 1883, when in June, 
 1900, he joined the staff of the Chicago American — then a morning paper — as 
 night editor. 
 
 In June, 1908, he met with the accident which has led to his unfortunate 
 present condition. In boarding a Wentworth avenue car at the corner of 
 Jackson Boulevard and Clark Street, the conductor started the car suddenly ■ 
 when he was in the act of entering the car, throwing him violently to the 
 ground, and he was taken in the ambulance to the Cook County Hospital. On
 
 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 33 
 
 the subsequent day, June 17th, he fell asleep in the afternoon, and awakening 
 suddenly he found himself with his left side paralyzed, since which time he 
 has been an inmate, first of Dunning and now of Oak Forest. 
 
 H. T., seventeen years of age and a cripple, was sent to Oak Forest from 
 the County Hospital, where she had been suffering from erysipelas. At four 
 years of age she was found wandering on the street with her mother. Her 
 father was dead and the mother was found to be insane. H. was placed in the 
 Chicago Industrial School, where she remained until an aunt took her to live 
 with her. When H. was taken ill, her aunt did not wish to care for her longer, 
 and caused her to be sent to Oak Forest. She is a bright child, but there are 
 no associates besides elderly women. An effort is being made to place this child 
 where she can become self-supporting. 
 
 A. was born in New York City, April 21, 1889. After her mother's death 
 in 1889, A. and her brother, W., were taken to an orphan asylum by their father. 
 After staying there but a few months, W. went to stay with some relatives in 
 New York, and A., with ten other children, was brought to Chicago. She states 
 they were taken to a children's home where she remained until she was sent to 
 a family in Iowa. She lived there two years. When this family moved to 
 Oklahoma, A. was brought back to Chicago. Upon returning to Chicago, she 
 claims she stayed at the Salvation Army Home near Lincoln Park. While here, 
 she was assaulted by a man and the case was tried before the Grand Jury. Her 
 brother came to Chicago and took her to Iowa. In 1909 she married B. C. They 
 lived together four years and a child was born soon after their marriage. On 
 account of very unpleasant relations with her mother-in-law, A. left her hus- 
 band, and the child was sent to the children's home in Des Moines. A. was 
 taken sick and sent to the Poor Farm in Iowa. She states that a Mexican, X. 
 K., took her out of the home and they were married September 7, 1913, but 
 he forced her to live an immoral life and she left him, coming to Chicago. A. 
 went to the Count" Doctor, and he, thinking her pregnant, sent her to the 
 County Hospital in Chicago, and from there she was sent to Oak Forest. 
 
 B. D., born in Indiana in 1860, was a simple-hearted American girl, who 
 came to Chicago in 1874, and did general housew'ork. In 1910 she married 
 E. W., and spent her savings on physicians' services for him. He developed 
 insanity and died in 1912, just as plans were under way to remove him to the 
 State Hospital for the Insane. Since his death, she has been ill and is at present 
 confined to her bed with small hope of her recovery. She seems an old woman 
 with her life lived out at the age of fifty-four. 
 
 The Tuberculosis Hospital 
 
 This hos])ital is located on the County Farm at Oak 
 Forest, but entirely detached from the Infirmary, both i)hy- 
 sically and in management, except that the superintendent 
 of Oak Forest is superintendent of both institutions. 
 
 The main buildino- of the hospital contains administra- 
 tive offices, pliysicians' offices, wards for the advanced |)a- 
 tients and private rooms for the dying patients. The build- 
 ing is provided with sun parlors and porches and is entirely 
 modern. 
 
 Adjacent to this main building is the general dining hall 
 located on a rise of ground extending north and south with 
 an east vie^v over miles of farm lands, hills and woods. The 
 first floor of this building is devoted to the kitchens, store 
 rooms, refrigerators ; the second floor to the refectory. The 
 building is equally attractive av ithout and within, the entire
 
 34 
 
 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY
 
 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 35 
 
 construction being- economical, but in good taste as to lines, 
 selection of colors for decoration and utilization of every 
 detail. 
 
 South of the dining hall, flanked by cherry trees and 
 maples, are six open air cottages which accommodate 20 
 adult patients each. These cottages are of attractive design 
 with the long apex extending east and west. The sleeping 
 quarters are in two wings, the north side having a window 
 for each patient, and the entire south side open to the air 
 but protected by canvas curtains. In the center of each 
 cottage is an enclosed room with a cheery fire place, library 
 table, and books and games for entertainment. Back of 
 this central room are the toilet, bath and locker rooms. 
 These rooms are heated and provide in the coldest weather 
 for comfort while dressing and undressing and during rec- 
 reation periods. There are two cottages of similar con- 
 struction at the foot of the hill devoted to the exclusive use 
 of the children, thereby separating the children from the 
 adult population. An open-air school is located nearby. 
 
 There are still in use about 80 tents which will gradually 
 be abandoned as they become unusable, the open-air cottage 
 having proven better adapted to the treatment of Tubercu- 
 losis. 
 
 The chief aim of the Oak Forest Tuberculosis Hospital 
 is to ' ' cure the patient and return him to normal life. ' ' The 
 entire life of the men, women and children is therefore or- 
 dered with this in view. A hospital regime is maintained. 
 The patients ' diet, rest, recreation and work hours are regu- 
 lated according to his physical strength. Every effort is 
 put forth to induce the patients to become partners with the 
 hospital in this effort to cure them. Visits to the city which 
 result in fatigue hostile to their recovery are therefore dis- 
 couraged. 
 
 A system of careful examination has been inaugurated ; 
 a record of each patient is kept, showing the physical find- 
 ings, the results of the laboratory tests of sputum, blood and 
 urine, statement of his social state, history of his disease, 
 his response to treatment, and other significant facts. 
 
 The staff for the Tuberculosis Hospital includes : a busi- 
 ness manager, one director and one assistant director of 
 nurses, three senior and six junior physicians, and a teacher 
 for the children who are able to attend the open air school.
 
 36 
 
 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY
 
 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 37 
 
 Many hopeful cases have been discharged from the 
 Tuberculosis Hospital at Oak Forest. 
 
 A patient tells the following : 
 
 "When I reached the railroad track in front of the hos- 
 pital, I did not know which way to go. I thou^i'ht I could 
 live only a few weeks, probably two or three. The future 
 was hopeless. It did not make any difference, for this was 
 the end. A little later, I thought I might live six weeks. 
 Then when I was in the fresh-air ward, I extended the time 
 to three months, and see me now. I am ready to go out 
 an arrested case." 
 
 Another : 
 
 "You made me take the cure against my will; my life 
 was saved the morning I was pulled out from Ijehind the 
 radiator and put out in a chair. See me now. I have a job ; 
 I am going to make my wa}^, but I am coming back to let 
 you know how I am getting along. ' ' 
 
 Summer Outings 
 
 Attention has been called to the fact that the daily 
 population of the Oak Forest Infirmary is much larger in 
 the Winter than in the Summer. It is possible for many 
 aged or infirm persons either to care for themselves in the 
 Summertime, or to find support with relatives when fuel 
 is not needed and lighter food will prove adequate than in 
 the Winter. The unoccupied space at the Oak Forest In- 
 firmary has been utilized during the Summers of 1913 and 
 1914 to give Summer outings to women with children who 
 are usually in receipt of outdoor relief from the office of the 
 County Agent. For 1914, an appropriation of $2,500 was 
 made for salaries of those in charge of this outing camp and 
 for incidental expenses. The general cost of maintenance is 
 borne from the regular institution funds. During the night 
 these women and children sleep in those portions of the in- 
 firmary which would otherwise be vacant at that time of 
 year. They eat in the general dining room at a time when 
 the patients are not being served, and portions of the 
 grounds not frequented by inmates of the institution are 
 likewise set apart for their play and recreation. For their 
 care, their guidance in recreation and amusement, and for 
 their instruction, persons are employed who are trained in 
 the direction of supervising the play of older and of little
 
 38 
 
 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY
 
 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 39 
 
 children and of counseling the women. As has been said, 
 this opportunity for outing is limited to those families who 
 are the recipients of the outdoor relief from the County 
 Agent. Should the experiment finally justify itself, un- 
 doubtedly further provision of a more suitable and ai^pro- 
 priate kind will be made. 
 
 County Hospital 
 
 The County Hospital is the second largest hospital in 
 the world. It is a general hospital, including departments 
 of surger}^, medicine, obstetrics, gynecology, nervous and 
 mental diseases, children's diseases, tuberculosis, diseases of 
 the eye, ear, nose and throat, skin and venereal diseases, 
 contagious diseases, orthopedic surgery, pathology and path- 
 ological chemistry. 
 
 27,887 persons, having an acute illness, (an average 
 daily j)opulation of from 1,300 to 1,700 men, w^omen and 
 children) were admitted to the County Hospital as patients 
 during 1913 and 21,281 out-patients with minor injuries not 
 serious enough to require hospital care were given attention 
 in the dressing room. The total cost of running the hospital 
 for 1913 was $1-59,059.37, which averages $1.31 per capita 
 per day. Many improvements in the old structure have been 
 effected. The laundr}^ of the hospital, formerly inadequate, 
 unclean and insanitary, was enlarged a year ago and con- 
 ditions were much improved. Necessary fire doors, fire drills 
 and additional fire guards have been provided, lessening- 
 danger from fire. 
 
 The chief executive officers of the hospital are a warden, 
 two assistant wardens and a superintendent of nurses. 
 There is also a consulting staff of 22 ph3^sicians and an at- 
 tending staff of 78 physicians ; 60 internes ; and nearly 300 
 nurses supplied on yearly contract by the Illinois Training 
 School, a volunteer body of public spirited women, who for 
 thirty-four years have supervised the training of nurses and 
 supplied skilled service to the sick and poor of Cook County. 
 
 The present medical staff, secured through Civil Service 
 examinations, is said to be superior to that of any private 
 hospital in Chicago. The efBciency of the medical work has 
 been greatly increased by newly prescribed hours and stand- 
 ards of service ; by a system of measuring and recording the 
 service rendered by each chief physician and his assistants ;
 
 40 
 
 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY
 
 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 41 
 
 and by holding each chief responsible for the work of his 
 entire dejDartment. 
 
 The efficacy of treatment and rapidity ^Yith which a 
 cure may be effected, depends in part on the mental condi- 
 tion of the patient. If a father is disturbed because the ill- 
 ness or injury from which he suffers deprives his wife and 
 children of their usual support, or a mother fears the neglect 
 and suffering of her little children due to her absence, or a 
 young man knows his mother is in want, or an old person 
 frets from the lack of some accustomed presence, if the 
 stranger who understands no English is both frightened and 
 confused by the strange conditions which no one explains, 
 as well as oppressed by an overwhelming loneliness, the most 
 skilled i^hysician will fail and the most ef&cacious medicine 
 prove of no service. Furthermore, an effectual cure may 
 prove very transitory if a patient goes back into the very 
 conditions which gave rise to the earlier illness. In large 
 numbers of cases, to render service given at such cost in the 
 hospital of permanent value, other forms of aid must be 
 available for the patient on leaving. Sometimes it means 
 finding temporary emplo;sanent of a lighter kind, making 
 provision for the young mother so that she can care decently 
 for the baby born in the hospital, finding the way to aid and 
 sustain the girl whose wretchedness has led' to an attempt at 
 suicide. The recognition of the wastefulness of leaving un- 
 done these services without which the others seem so much 
 less effectual is being more and more recognized. The Illi- 
 nois Training School has therefore maintained a Social 
 Service Department, through which such assistance as has 
 been described is offered to the patients in the hospital and 
 to those leaving. Special provision for this department is 
 included in the contract between the Count.y and the Train- 
 ing School. 
 
 County Psychopathic Hospital 
 
 The new Psychopathic Hospital associated with, but 
 detached from County Hospital, was completed in June, 
 1914, and supplanted the Detention Hospital. 
 
 It is a brick building of pleasing appearance with am^Dle 
 porch space, adequate in the numl)er of beds, and so planned 
 as to permit of unlimited expansion. It is fireproof through- 
 out with the necessary window bars hidden in the glass, so
 
 42 
 
 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY
 
 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 43 
 
 that it presents the appearance of an ordinary hospital. This 
 hospital was built in record-breaking time, ground being 
 broken in September, 1913, and patients admitted in June, 
 1914. It was built at a cost of $2,160 per bed, which con- 
 sidering the large number of private rooms and the expen- 
 sive apparatus for hydro-therapeutic treatment, is a remark- 
 ably low rate per bed. 
 
 The hospital is designed for the temporary care of the 
 mentally ill of Cook County who are held under observation 
 jDending the trial which the State Insane Law unfortunately 
 makes necessary before commitment. Its erection gives op- 
 portunity, never before given in the county, for the scien- 
 tific treatment of persons suffering from mental disorders. 
 The hospital is equipped with all the apparatus which can 
 mJtigate the condition of these unfortunate patients. One 
 commendable feature is that the hydro-therapy apparatus, 
 consisting of baths, sprays, douches and showers, w^hich not 
 infrequently in even first-class hospitals is placed in the 
 basement to the detriment of patients, is installed on the 
 fifth floor, so that pleasant surroundings, light, air and sun- 
 shine make their contribution to the treatment. Another 
 feature which adds greatly to the patients' comfort is the 
 installation on every floor of tubs for the prolonged baths 
 given "disturl3ed patients." With these baths accessible 
 to every Avard, the problem of controlling violent cases is 
 practically solved. Violent patients remain quiet for hours 
 under their soothing influence, and the baths thus take the 
 place to some extent of sedatives and restraints. 
 
 2,477 patients were cared for during 1913, 787 of whom 
 were from 10 to 30 years of age and 1,230 from 30 to 50 
 years of age. There is an out-patient department located 
 in the hospital for dispensary work with these mental cases, 
 and there, is also a social service department for the pre- 
 commitment or dismissed cases. 
 
 Social Service Investigators in Cases of Alleged Insanity 
 
 The determination of a person's sanity is reached after 
 a trial before the County Court. Tlie Court's decision is 
 based upon the conduct of the individual and the social and 
 economic circumstances of the case. These facts are es- 
 sential to a proper decision and often are the deciding factor 
 for prescribing forms of treatment which may be secured
 
 44 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 
 
 tlirougli co-operating agencies. The mental disturbance may 
 be incipient and yield to the brief period of rest under ob- 
 servation in the Psychopathic Hospital, or may be caused 
 by some conditions of poverty, domestic mal-adjustment, 
 wrong conditions of employment or other circumstances 
 which can possibly be so altered as to remove all necessity 
 of commitment of the individual to a Hospital for the In- 
 sane. If such is the result of the inquiry, it means economy 
 for the taxpayers of the county, and it also means the pre- 
 vention of incalculable misery on the part of the patient 
 and humiliation and suffering on the part of his relatives. 
 The County Court, therefore, avails itself of investigators, 
 trained nurses and social workers who can obtain and pre- 
 sent to the court these essential facts. For the social in- 
 vestigators thus connected with the County Court in 1914 
 $11,000 was appropriated. 
 
 Support Department of County Court 
 
 The obligation placed by the pauper act on relatives 
 to support their kin is enforced by the State's Attorney by 
 action brought in the County Court. Before bringing ac- 
 tion, the State 's Attorney must convince himself that the 
 relatives are really able to render the support or at least 
 to make a contribution. Frequently appeal to the county 
 is made only after all resources have been exhausted, and 
 the relatives of the destitute, while not destitute, may be 
 very near the poverty line. And as it would be wasteful to 
 require contributions from one to the support of another 
 which would render the contributor likely to become de- 
 pendent, the court has been authorized to use investigators 
 to secure the data necessary for really intelligent decisions. 
 Frequently it is possible to secure the payments without 
 court action, and often the payments are made under order 
 of the court to the Clerk of the Court and distributed through 
 the State's Attorney's office. 
 
 In 1913, there were 922 suits commenced and tried, in- 
 volving 3,827 persons, and $91,286.00 was collected by the 
 Clerk ot the County Court and paid over to the beneficiaries.
 
 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 45 
 
 V 
 
 Bureau of Public Welfare 
 
 The purpose of all the expenditure of money, strength 
 and skill in the charity service is that the misery of the com- 
 munity may be lessened, the health of the public safe- 
 guarded, the earning capacity of the able-bodied conserved. 
 if the spirit of the law is olDserved, it means the gradual 
 development of a charity service able to render the aid 
 offered in such a constructive and intelligent manner as to 
 make it really effectual and, so far as possible, preventive 
 of needless poverty, sickness and wretchedness. Even with 
 the service as it has developed, the foot ball often of political 
 parties, the plaything for political ends, there is in the or- 
 dinary performance of duty an enormous amount of simple, 
 humble, unrecognized devotion and kindness. The attend- 
 ants at the Infirmary, the nurses in the hospital, the other 
 members of staff, give not only the service for which they 
 are paid, often most inadequately, but genuine human sym- 
 pathy.' But their duties often become a routine matter, and 
 when hundreds are cared for it is difficult to remember al- 
 ways that each has his own problem of misery and need. 
 Often the patient is reluctant to confide in the attendant or 
 nurse with whom he comes in frequent contact. The neces- 
 sity of devising ways of discovery when these special serv- 
 ices should be offered has, therefore, been apparent to many 
 who are concerned with the more efficient administration 
 of the County Charity Service. 
 
 Moreover, the same necessity which has arisen in the 
 County Hospital and in the County Court for supplementing 
 the ordinary machinery of the institution by the creation 
 of a Social Service Department has been recognized in con- 
 nection with Oak Forest, the Jail and various institutions 
 for children. Therefore, in 1914 the Bureau of Public Wel- 
 fare was created to render such services as these in connec- 
 tion with the institutions named. 
 
 There is a Director of the Bureau, two Welfare Work- 
 ers in service at Oak Forest, two at the County Jail, and 
 two in connection with the institutions to which children 
 are committed by the Juvenile Court. In the first six 
 months after the organization of the Bureau, 711 cases were 
 handled of which 808 were at Oak Forest, 288 at the jail 
 and 168 in connection with the children's institutions. 
 
 The circumstances of 180 patients at Oak Forest have
 
 46 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 
 
 been inquired into minutely, resulting in 24 per cent of 
 these patients being returned to normal life or removed to 
 hospitals for treatment of their ailments or placed in special 
 institutions more suited to their needs. Thus Oak Forest 
 has been relieved of their care, the patients have been given 
 the chance of normal living and recovery, and, merely as 
 a byproduct. Cook County has been saved an annual ex- 
 penditure of $6,336. At the suggestion of the Bureau, the 
 County Board has appointed a psychologist to examine into 
 the mental condition of all patients who appear to be in- 
 advisably held in the Infirmary. A statement has been pre- 
 pared of the condition of 78 blind inmates of the Infirmary, 
 and submitted to a leading oculist, who wdll make examina- 
 tions in all cases where the patient desires it. 
 
 Not only the circumstances incident to crimes com- 
 mitted by 238 boys have been reviewed by the two workers 
 assigned to the jail, but an inquiry has been made into the 
 boys' home surroundings, work record and previous court 
 records, if any, to determine what kind of boys they are. 
 These findings are submitted to the judge at the time of the 
 boy's trial, and furnish a basis for his decision, and often 
 prevent injustice. The work has resulted in many boys 
 profiting by an early hearing of their cases, a mitigation of 
 sentence, a commitment to Pontiac rather than the House 
 of Correction, return to parents in other states, or trial on 
 probation. 
 
 The parents and relatives of 165 children who are sup- 
 ported by the county in orphanages have been searched out, 
 and a re-examination of the circumstances of these families 
 instituted. As a result some children are living now in 
 normal homes, and others who were formerly dependent 
 upon the county have been given a greater sense of inde- 
 pendence, their board now being paid out of their rightful 
 heritages. Eighteen per cent of these children have been 
 removed from County support, and other cases are now 
 being investigated, with a probable total annual saving to 
 the county of $6,610. This, however, is a result and not the 
 purpose of the work. The Bureau is doing much to hu- 
 manize the charity service. 
 
 For the members of the investigating staff and the 
 necessary clerical aid there was appropriated (for 9 months) 
 for 1914, the sum of $8,325.
 
 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 47 
 
 Courts of Cook County 
 
 Tlie judicial system of Illinois is elaborately regulated 
 both by the Constitution (Sections III and IV) and by 
 statute (Illinois Revised Statutes, Chapter 37). Cook 
 County has a County Court the same as other counties, but 
 instead of a Circuit Court, it has three courts, i.e., the Cir- 
 cuit, the Superior and the Criminal Court. In counties hav- 
 ing a poi^ulation of over 50,000 the constitution allows the 
 establishment of a separate Probate Court, and the legisla- 
 ture has provided for the creation of a Probate Court in 
 Cook County. 
 
 The County Court hears cases for the collection of 
 taxes, and is given a number of special functions by statute, 
 such as passing upon questions of alleged insanity, and the 
 judge of the court has important duties in connection with 
 the election machinery. 
 
 The Circuit and Superior Courts have concurrent juris- 
 diction; that is, the majority of cases which can be brought 
 in one could be brought as well in the other. Each has the 
 same work as a Circuit Court in another county with the 
 exception of the criminal work. Their judges must have 
 the same qualifications as the Circuit Court judges in other 
 counties ; that is, they must be citizens of the United States, 
 25 years of age, who are residents of the county and have 
 lived in the state five years. 
 
 The Criminal Court, whose work is indicated by its 
 name, is held by judges of the Circuit and Superior Courts 
 assigned for the criminal work. The judges of the Circuit 
 Court annually select one of their number to serve as judge 
 of the Juvenile Court. 
 
 The Probate Court has charge and control of the estates 
 or property of deceased and insane persons and of minors. 
 
 The County Judge is elected on the Tuesday after the 
 first Monday in November every four years, beginning 1882, 
 e.g., 1914 and 1918. The term begins on the first Monday 
 in December after the election. There are now fourteen 
 judges of the Circuit Court elected at the same time as the 
 other Circuit Court judges, that is, the first Monday of June
 
 48 A STUDY OP COOK COUNTY 
 
 every six years beginning 1883, e.g., 1915 and 1921. An act 
 of the General Assembly passed in 1911 governs future 
 elections of judges of tlie Superior Court. There ^Yill be one 
 judge elected on the first Monday in June every six years, 
 beginning 1915 ; six on the first Monday in June every six 
 .years, beginning 1916; four on the Tuesday after the first 
 Monday in November every six years, beginning 1911 ; one 
 on the first Tuesday in April every six years, beginning 1913. 
 Each of these twelve judges takes office on the first Monday 
 in the December after his election. The other six judges 
 are elected on the Tuesday after the first Monday in Novem- 
 ber every six years, beginning 1911, and take office as soon 
 after election as they can qualify. The judge of the Probate 
 Court is elected on the first Monda}^ in November every 
 four years, beginning 1882, e.g., 1914 and 1918. The term 
 of office begins on the first Monday in December next after 
 election. 
 
 The Judge of the County Court receives from the 
 County a salary fixed by law at $10,000. Judges of all the 
 Circuit Courts in Illinois receive their salary from the State 
 Treasury, but the constitution provides that an additional 
 compensation may be allowed the judges of Cook County 
 Circuit and Superior Courts by law, to be paid from the 
 treasury of Cook County. The judge of the Probate Court 
 receives from the County a salarv fixed bv Statute at 
 $10,000. 
 
 Judges of the County and Probate Courts are elected at 
 the same time as the County Clerk and members of the Gen- 
 eral Assembh^ in the elections between the elections of Gov- 
 ernor. Because of the time of the election, the choice of the 
 Probate Judge, of the County Judge and of the County 
 Clerk, is apt to be unduly influenced by party politics. 
 
 The Clerks of the Courts 
 
 The administrative functions of each court are dis- 
 charged through its Clerk. He receives and files all docu- 
 ments or papers in any suit or proceeding, makes and pre- 
 serves complete records of the proceedings, determines the 
 costs and makes up and certifies copies and transcripts of 
 such records. He also issues processes of the court, approves 
 bonds, administers oaths, draws jurors and certifies the 
 names drawn to the Sheriff, issues juror's certificates, col-
 
 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 49 
 
 lects fees and keeps and pays out moneys deposited with 
 him. 
 
 The Clerks of the Circuit, Superior, Criminal and Pro- 
 bate Courts are elected for a four ^^ears' term. Each re- 
 ceives $9,000 a year, the salary having been raised from 
 $5,000 in 1909. In 1914 the four ofQces had 183 employes, 
 the majority being clerks of different sorts, typists, stenog- 
 raphers and record writers. Of these, 52 Avere in the office 
 of the Clerk of the Circuit Court, 41 in that of the Clerk of 
 the Superior Court, 35 in that of the Clerk of the Criminal 
 Court and 55 in that of the Clerk of the Probate Court. The 
 total salary appropriation for the four offices for 1914 was 
 $300,243.30 and the appropriation for expenses brought the 
 total budget up to $311,243.30. 
 
 The Adult Probation Department 
 
 The establishment of the Adult Probation Department 
 grew out of the following circumstances : The administra- 
 tion of justice had i:)roven so unsatisfactory in a certain type 
 of criminal cases that in 1911 the judges of the Criminal and 
 Municipal Courts were authorized by the Adult Probation 
 Law,^ to use the modern method of probation in the case of 
 first offenders convicted of certain specified offenses, where 
 treatment after this method seemed in accord with the in- 
 terests of society and where reformation seemed reasonabl.y 
 certain. 
 
 The offenses specified by the act are (1) violation of 
 municipal ordinances where the offense is likewise a viola- 
 tion of a statute; (2) obtaining, under false pretenses, 
 money not greater in amount than $200; (3) attempting to 
 commit or committing burglary in a place other than a busi- 
 ness house or habitation ; (4) committing larceny, embezzle- 
 ment or malicious mischief where the amount involved is 
 not greater than $200; (5) all misdemeanors not otherwise 
 limited in the act. Persons convicted for the first time of 
 any of these offenses are released on probation, some for 
 six months, some for a year. 
 
 The department consists of a chief probation officer, 
 whose salary is $3,000 a year, and 20 probation officers. 
 These officers are appointed by the judges of the Circuit 
 
 1. Illinois Revised Statutes, chapter 38, p. 500a-q.
 
 50 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 
 
 Court and of the Municipal Court, sitting jointly, and act 
 under rules formulated by a committee appointed by these 
 judges. The probation officers must be at least 25 years 
 of age and trained in skillful investigation. It is the duty 
 of the officers (1) to assist the judge in deciding whether 
 or not he will take this action by making the necessary in- 
 vestigation and reporting to the judge in writing (a) the 
 habits and previous conduct of the accused ; (b) the number 
 and age of his dependents, and, (c) all other facts which 
 will enable the judge to arrive at a wise decision in the case : 
 (2) to watch over the persons committed to their supervis- 
 ion and guardianship, requiring monthly reports of them, 
 not allowing them to leave the state without court permis- 
 sion, co-operating with all the agencies in the community 
 for their protection and upbuilding, and doing all in their 
 power to restore them to the community as law-abiding 
 persons. 
 
 During the year ending September 1st, 1913, 352 per- 
 sons were admitted to probation by the judges of the Crimi- 
 nal Court, and 2,522 by the judges of the Municipal Court, 
 688 of the latter number being admitted to probation by the 
 judge of the Court of Domestic delations. 
 
 The cost of maintaining the department is shared by 
 the Countv and the City of Chicago. The amount appro- 
 priated by the County for 1914 was $15,080 of which $14,380 
 was for salaries. 
 
 The Juvenile Court 
 
 The Juvenile Court should be considered from two 
 points of view. In so far as it handles delinquent children, 
 it is a branch of the Circuit Court, which decides only ques- 
 tions involving the interests of young persons. In these 
 cases the judge, elected as a Circuit Court judge and assigned 
 annually to service in the Juvenile Court by the group of 
 which he is a member, exercises a strictly judicial function 
 under the provisions of the Juvenile Court Law.^ While he 
 treats the offenders who are brought before him rather as 
 offending children than as youthful criminals, there is a 
 clear connection between the function he exercises and the 
 functions exercised by Criminal Court judges and Circuit 
 
 'Illinois Revised Statutes, Chapter 23, p. 169.
 
 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 51 
 
 Court judges in other jurisdictions. In so far as lie handles 
 the cases of those children designated by the law as "de- 
 pendent and neglected, ' ' his function is not so simple. When 
 the parents are sober and decent, but too poor to care prop- 
 erly for their children, the problem is purely one of se- 
 curing aid, either in their own homes (Funds to Parents) 
 or in institutions, as seems best. AVlieu neglect is found, as 
 in cases where there is degradation, drunkenness or im- 
 morality, the decision is again a judicial function, and the 
 children are removed from the custody of the parents and 
 committed to institutions as a measure of discipline and 
 precaution. 
 
 During the year 1913, 4,695 children came before the 
 Court. Of this number 1,955 were delinquent (1,363 boys 
 and 592 girls), 2,111 were dependent (1,089 boys and 1,022 
 girls) and 629 w^ere children of families aided under the 
 Funds to Parents Act. Their cases were disposed of as 
 follows : 685 delinquent children (468 boys and 217 girls) 
 and 1,200 dependent children (690 boys and 510 girls) were 
 committed to institutions;^ 979 delinq.uent children (689 
 boys and 290 girls) and 1,307 dependent children (615 boys 
 and 692 girls) were placed on probation, under the Juvenile 
 Court law or under the Funds to Parents Act ; 299 were dis- 
 missed; 172 were placed in farm or city homes; 27 were 
 referred to the County Agent; 20 were assigned to miscel- 
 laneous Orders ; and 6 were bound over to the Grand Jury. 
 The table on page 54 shows the distribution of the children 
 among the institutions to which the Juvenile Court commits 
 delinquent and dependent children. 
 
 In addition to dependent and delinquent children, those 
 found to be habitual truants or incorrigible in school are 
 brought before the Juvenile Court to be committed to the 
 Chicago Parental School. This work is done as an aid to 
 the educational authorities, and need not be described here. 
 
 Because the judge performs duties both purely judicial 
 and of an administrative character, he needs a large staff 
 of assistants of varied capacity. For 1914, the County main- 
 tained a staff of 79 probation officers, and the City assigned 
 35 police probation officers to service in the court. The Chief 
 
 1 To such of these as are organized under the Industrial School Act or under the 
 Manual Training School Act the county paj's $15 a month for each girl's case and $10 a 
 month for each boy. The appropriation for these payments for 1914 was $180,000. The 
 others receive no compensation, but must have been approved by the Secretary of the 
 State Board of Administration.
 
 52 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 
 
 Probation officer received a salary of $300 a month, and Ms 
 assistants salaries ranging from $90 to $150 a month. The 
 total salary appropriation by the County for the Probation 
 Service of the Juvenile Court for 1914 Avas $129,280. 
 
 Funds to Parents 
 
 A new form of relief is that granted by the Juvenile 
 Court under the so-called "Funds to Parents" law and ad- 
 ministered jointly by the Court and the County Agent. 
 
 These ''funds" are granted by the Juvenile Court after 
 full investigation by the Funds to Parents' Department of 
 the Court and by the County Agent, to indigent mothers, 
 with children under fourteen j^ears of age, whose husbands 
 are dead or totalh^ incapacitated for work. The recipients 
 must be citizens of the United States and have resided in 
 the County for at least three years. The mother must, how- 
 ever, in the judgment of the court be a fit person to make 
 a home for the children, and the home must reach a minimum 
 standard of efficiency. The amount of the pension, which 
 in no case exceeds $50.00 a month, is based on the estimate 
 of a dietitian who considers the age and health of each mem- 
 ber of the family. A trained visitor from the department 
 guides the mother in her care of the children and the eco- 
 nomical expenditure of the allowance. 
 
 In 1913 six hundred and eighty mothers received pen- 
 sions in support of 2,281 children, amounting to $132,002.69. 
 The appropriation for 1914 for this purpose was $100,000. 
 
 Juvenile Detention Home 
 
 An important institution supported jointly by Cook 
 County and the City of Chicago is the Juvenile Detention 
 Home, where children are kept temporarily awaiting action 
 by the court. In 1913 the number cared for was 3,403, of 
 whom 2,008 were delinquent boys, 694 delinquent girls, 393 
 dependent beys and 308 dependent girls. For the delin- 
 quent children the Home serves in place of the old-time 
 police station or jail where, prior to 1889, children charged 
 with committing any offense against the law were confined 
 with hardened crmiinals. For the dependent children com- 
 ing from homes of misery and degradation, it serves as a
 
 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 53 
 
 refuge until permanent provision can be made for their 
 care. 
 
 The work of the Home is very difficult and very im- 
 portant. The children when brought in are usually ne- 
 glected and dirty, and must be thoroughly cleansed. They 
 are examined at once and given medical and dental care as 
 required. Although they are there for periods varying from 
 part of a day to several weeks, and their ages vary from 
 less than a year to seventeen years, they must be kept oc- 
 cupied and so far as possible, instructed. Therefore, a 
 separate school is maintained by the Board of Education, 
 supplied with a kindergartner and four teachers. 
 
 During 1914 the children were cared for physically by 
 a physician, five trained nurses and a dentist. A psycho- 
 pathic laboratory is maintained under the direction of a 
 skilled psychologist, where tests are made of sub-normal 
 children and the results transmitted to the Judge of the 
 Juvenile Court. A superintendent, 24 attending nurses, two 
 matrons and other necessary employes are also on duty. 
 
 The County approj^riated in 1914 a total of $42,615 for 
 salaries.
 
 54 
 
 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 
 
 INSTITUTIONS TO WHICH THE JUVENILE COURT COMMITS 
 DELINQUENT CHILDREN 
 
 No. committed 
 in 1913 
 
 St. Charles School for Boys St. Charles, Illinois 183 
 
 John Worthy School for Boys Twenty-sixth street and California 
 
 ' avenue, Chicago 261 
 
 State Training School for Girls Geneva, Illinois 46 
 
 Eefuge for Girls 5024 Indiana avenue, Chicago 54 
 
 House of the Good Shepherd Grace and Clark streets, Chicago. . . .112 
 
 INSTITUTIONS TO WHICH THE JUVENILE COURT COMMITS 
 DEPENDENT CHILDREN 
 
 Industrial Schools for Girls 
 
 Park Eidge School for Girls Park Eidge, 111 Protestant .... 50 
 
 [llinois Technical School for 
 
 Colored Girls 4900 Prairie Ave., Chicago. . . Catholic 54 
 
 Catharine Kasper Indust'l Sch. . .2001 Devon Ave., Chicago. . . . Catholic 80 
 
 i_/isle Industrial School Lisle, 111 Catholic 28 
 
 Chicago Industrial School Des Plaines, 111 Catholic 113 
 
 Amanda Smith Industrial Sch... North Harvey, 111 Protestant .... 16 
 
 St. Hedwig's Industrial School. .Niles Center, 111 Catholic 81 
 
 Bohemian Industrial School 4061 No. 40th Ave., Chicago. . .Free Thinker. . 3 
 
 Manual Training Schools for Boys 
 
 St. Mary's Training School Feehanville, 111 Catholic 182 
 
 Polish Manual Training School. .Niles Center, 111 Catholic 106 
 
 Kettler Manual Training School. 2001 Devon Ave., Chicago. .. .Catholic 117 
 
 Glenwood Manual Training Sch. . Glenwood, 111 Protestant .. . .104 
 
 Lisle Manual Training School. . .Lisle, 111 Catholic 46 
 
 Bohemian Manual Training Sch. .5061 No. 40th Ave., Chicago.. .Free Thinker.. 4 
 
 Louise Manual Training School.. 6130 Ada St., Chicago Protestant .... 18 
 
 Cook County Kinderheim Hirsch and Eockwell Sts Protestant .... 38 
 
 Certified Institutions Caring for Dependent Children 
 
 Central Baptist Orphanage Maywood, 111 Protestant 
 
 Chicago Foundlings' Home 15 S. Wood St., Chicago Protestant 
 
 Chicago Ind. Home for Children. .1132 Washington Blvd., Chic. . Protestant 
 
 Chicago Orphan Asylum 5120 S. Park Ave., Chicago. . .Protestant 
 
 Evangelical Luther Kinderfreund Society of Illinois Protestant 
 
 Frances Juvenile Home 3929 Indiana Ave., Chicago. . .Non-Sectarian 
 
 [11. Children's Home & Aid Soc. .209 S. State St., Chicago Non-Sectarian 
 
 Jewish Home Finding Society of 
 
 Chicago 720 W. 12th St.; Chicago Jewish 
 
 Norwegian Luth. Child. Home. . .Edison Park, 111 Protestant .. . 
 
 St. Vincent's Infant Asylum. .. .721 La Salle Ave., Chicago. . .Catholic 
 
 2 
 4 
 
 59 
 
 7 
 
 61 
 
 Not in State Agent's List as Certified 
 
 St. Mary 's Home for Children Episcopalian. . . 
 
 Chicago Home for Boys Non-Sectarian. 
 
 Jewish Home for the Friendless Jewish 
 
 Chicago Home for the Friendless Non-Sectarian . 
 
 St. Joseph 's Catholic Home for Children Catholic 
 
 14
 
 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 55 
 
 Schools of Cook County 
 
 Cook County outside of the city of Chicago contains 
 one hundred and seventy-five school districts, one hundred 
 and one of which are typical one-room, one-teacher rural 
 schools; twenty-eight have two teachers each: nine have 
 three, and five districts have four teachers in their employ. 
 The remaining thirty-two districts employ a number var,y- 
 ing from five up to one hundred and seventeen each. The 
 ''Oak Park" district employs the greatest number of 
 teachers. Besides these, there are fourteen township high 
 schools and two other high school districts, making a total 
 of one hundred and ninety-one different school districts, 
 each governed by a separate board, one-third of whose mem- 
 bership is elected annually by the direct vote of the qualified 
 electors. Districts having a population of less than one- 
 thousand inhabitants are governed by boards of directors 
 consisting of three members, while those having a popula- 
 tion of more than one thousand elect boards of education 
 consisting of a president and six members. Provision is 
 made by statute for the enlarging of these boards as the 
 population increases. The revenue of each district is de- 
 rived from a direct tax levied upon the assessed valuation 
 of the property in the district and a small amount received 
 as each district's proportionate share of the state school 
 fund. 
 
 The school funds of the various districts in each con- 
 gressional to^vnship are in the possession and care of the 
 township school treasurer, who is elected biennially by the 
 school trustees. The title of all school property is held in 
 the name of the trustees. 
 
 The qualified male A^oters of Cook County elect quadren- 
 nially a county superintendent of schools who enters upon 
 the discharge of his duties on the first Monday of December 
 after his election. Before taking office he must execute a 
 bond to be approved by the County Board or the Judge of 
 the County Court. 
 
 During the past four years the folloAving progressive 
 ideas in rural education have been inaugurated: 
 
 Teachers' minimum salary schedule.
 
 56 A STUDY OP COOK COUNTY 
 
 Preparatoiy training for teachers required before the 
 issuing of certificates. 
 
 Uniform course of study and text-books. 
 
 Annual country life festivals and school ''County 
 Fairs." 
 
 Achievement clubs for boys and girls. 
 
 Country Life Leaders (Community Secretaries) and 
 All the Year 'Round Field Schools in charge of wander- 
 lehrers. 
 
 Cook County is the first community in America to em- 
 ploy community secretaries and wanderlehrers. The eyes 
 of the educational world are focused on the outcome.
 
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 58 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 
 
 The Civil Service Commission 
 
 The Civil Service Commission is the expert emplo}^- 
 ment agency of the County. The Commissioners, three in 
 numher, are appointed by the President of the County 
 Board to serve on the Conunission for three years/ the Law 
 providing that not more than two members shall at the time 
 of appointment be members of the same political party. 
 The President may, in his discretion, remove any Commis- 
 sioner for incompetence, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in 
 office, stating his reasons in writing to the Board of County 
 Commissioners. 
 
 The 1914 Apropriation Bill provided for 1,142 posi- 
 tions under Civil Service jurisdiction, which were classified 
 by the Commission into 169 different grades of service. 
 These positions came within the general scope of the eleven 
 classes indicated in the chart on page 57, covering positions 
 as various as Druggist, Business Manager, Roentgenologist 
 and Public Welfare Worker. The 1,142 persons in the 
 classified Civil Service are employed largely in the charity 
 branch, the so-called fee offices being exempt under the 
 present Civil Service Law, which was enacted in 1895. The 
 enactment of a comprehensive Civil Service act, covering 
 in a unified service all County employes, would make for 
 economy, efficienc}^ and stability of service. 
 
 The Nineteenth Annual Report of the Commission 
 shows that during 1913 one hundred and eighty (180) ex- 
 aminations were held for 5,909 applicants, and that 137 
 citizen experts in various lines gave their services to assist 
 the Commission in selecting from this large number of ap- 
 plicants those persons best qualified to serve the County. 
 The Commission has inaugurated a practical test for many 
 examinations, and uses this test, or an oral interview, to 
 supplement the written papers on duties and jDast experi- 
 ence in trying out the merit of the applicants. 
 
 1. Illinois Revised Statutes. Chap. 34, par. 10, p. 633.
 
 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 
 
 59
 
 60 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 
 
 Budget Making 
 
 The Budget of Cook County is made under the provi- 
 sions of the Cook County Act, requiring the Board of Com- 
 missioners to appropriate within the first quarter of each 
 fiscal year the money necessary for all expenses of the 
 County for the ensuing year. This includes funds for the 
 publication of the assessment of real or personal property, 
 provision for principal and interest of County indebtedness, 
 the ordinary current salaries of County officials and em- 
 ployes, the maintenance of County property and institu- 
 tions, including courts, juries, dieting occupants of the jails, 
 prisons, hospitals and industrial schools, and the cost of elec- 
 tions required by law. There is further provision in the Act 
 that after the adoption of such appropriation bill within the 
 three months the Board of Commissioners ''shall have no 
 power to add in any way to the County Expenditures, ex- 
 cepting in case of some unforeseen casualtv, such as fire or 
 flood." . 
 
 The necessity for an improved method of budget mak- 
 ing was recognized in 1910 by the President of the Board of 
 County Commissioners, who asked for recommendations 
 from ithe Bureau of Public Efficiency. The method sug- 
 gested by them was adopted and has greatly facilitated the 
 handling of the County's business. 
 
 The 1914 Appropriation Bill was made with little refer- 
 ence to the standards for salaries established for the various 
 grades by the Civil Service Commission or the heads of de- 
 partments, which resulted in disorganization and injustice to 
 various classes of employes. For example, the housemaids 
 and seamstresses at the County Hospital had a very real 
 grievance when the janitresses' pay was raised to $55.00 per 
 month and the housemaids left at $45.00 and the seam- 
 stresses at $50.00. 
 
 The appropriating body should be in full co-operation 
 with the heads of departments and the Civil Service Com- 
 mission in establishing standards of pay, increase to be given 
 according to length and efficiency of service. Until this is 
 done, it will be difficult to get competent people to leave the 
 opportunities of the business world for the uncertainties of 
 the County service.
 
 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 61 
 
 A County Program 
 
 1. Complete the new County Hospital and build 
 branch hospitals in South Chicago, the stockj^ards district 
 and the northwest side. 
 
 2. Provide a convalescent's home where patients leav- 
 ing the County Hospital could be cared for until they are 
 able to work. 
 
 3. Utilize the human Avaste at the county institutions 
 by finding employment for cripples and persons otherwise 
 physically deficient and making them self-supporting and 
 self-respecting. A dairy farm, chicken ranch or vegetable 
 garden at Oak Forest would tend to place the "down-and- 
 out" on his feet. 
 
 4. Establish an outing camp and make outings for the 
 tenement poor a permanent branch of the County's service. 
 
 5. Abolish the inhuman and criminal conditions at the 
 jail by erecting a new building with decent provisions for 
 prisoners awaiting trial and suitable grounds for exercise 
 and the conservation of health. 
 
 6. Build a new Juvenile Home, with accommodations 
 for the Juvenile Court, in a location removed from the pres- 
 ent densely populated center Avith its evil influences and un- 
 Avholesome surroundings. 
 
 7. Place the County's finances on a permanent basis 
 of economy and efficiency by keeping expenses Avithin in- 
 come ; extending modern business methods to every county 
 department and requiring the departments to limit their 
 expenditures to their appropriations. 
 
 8. Extend the Avork of the Poor Relief department to 
 reach the causes of distress and remove them as far as pos- 
 sible by obtaining emplo3^ment for able-bodied dependents ; 
 assisting the City Authorities in improving housing condi- 
 tions of the helpless poor, and enlisting the assistance of the 
 Public Welfare Department and other agencies in placing 
 the unfortunate on their feet.
 
 62 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 
 
 9. Purchase and develop a correction farm for the 
 County's prisoners, where they may be trained in useful 
 trades and occupations, employed on the farm or in work- 
 shops under healthful conditions and made physically fit 
 for emplo^anent. 
 
 10. Make every public road in Cook County a sub- 
 stantially improved and permanent highway.
 
 A STUDY OF COOK COUNTY 63 
 
 Bibliography 
 
 Actual Government in Illinois, Mary L. Cliilcls, Centurv 
 
 Co., 1914. 
 Handbook for the Women Voters of Illinois, Alice Green- 
 acre, edited by S. P. Breckinridge, 1913. 
 Report of the Joint Legislative Committee of the 47th Gen- 
 eral Assembly, Vol. 2, 1913. 
 Cook Covmty Comptroller's Report for fiscal year ended No- 
 vember 30, 1913, and Annual Appropriation Bill, 
 1914. 
 Nineteenth Annual Report of the Cook County Civil Service 
 
 Commission. 
 Charity Service Reports, Cook Count}^, 1913. 
 Reports of the Chicago Bureau of Public Efficiency: 
 
 Plea for Publicity in the Office of the County Treas- 
 urer, October 9, 1911. 
 Office of the County Treasurer, November, 1913. 
 The Judges and the County Fee Offices, December, 1911. 
 The Office of Sheriff of Cook Count}^, November, 1912 ; 
 
 December, 1911. 
 The Office of Coroner of Cook County, December, 1911. 
 The Office of Clerk of the County Court, November, 
 
 1912. 
 The Office of Recorder of Cook Countv, September, 
 
 1911. 
 The Budget of Cook County, January, 1911. 
 Illinois Revised Statutes of 1909: 
 
 Provisions Applicable to the Board of Commissioners 
 
 of Cook County. Chapter 34, page 630. 
 Paupers. Chapter 23, page 300. 
 
 The Courts. Chapter 37, page 659 ; Chap. 107, p. 1658. 
 Juvenile Laws. Chapter 23, page 300. 
 Training School for Boys. Chapter 122, page 2048. 
 Industrial School for Girls. Chapter 122, page 2045. 
 Countv Superintendent of Schools. Chap. 122, p. 1991. 
 Constitution of 1870 : Article VI, Courts ; Article VIII, 
 Education; Article X, Counties.
 
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