Fourteenth Annual Report of the Board of State Charities of Massachusetts
154 REVIEWS.
January 1878. It appears that fourteen years ago the Legislative Act establishing this Board enjoined upon its members the following charge : ” They shall investigate and supervise the whole system of the public charitable and correctional institutions of the Commonwealth, and shall recommend such changes and ad- ditional provisions as they may deem necessary for their eco- nomical and efficient administration.” Many changes have since then been made by legislation by which new duties and powers have been imposed. In the last Annual Eeport a re- construction of the Board was recommended to the Legislature, and the governor, when bringing the subject before the Legisla- ture, advised the appointment of a commission. A commission was consequently authorised to inquire into the ” expediency of revising the system of administration of the public charities and reformatory institutions of the Commonwealth, and all the existing statutes in regard to pauperism, crime, and insanity, with a view to secure greater simplicity, economy, and efficiency in said administration.” Some general considerations were pre- sented in the earlier Reports of this Board, which may be summed up as follows :?
” 1. All possible means should be employed to prevent the increase of pauperism, crime, disease, and insanity. ” 2. The most fruitful cause or source of these evils is found in the laws of inheritance. ” 3. Special pains should be taken to diffuse information concerning these evils throughout the community, in order to enlist sympathy and co-operation. “4. That those remedial agencies which exist in society, such as the family, the ordinary social influences, industrial occupations, benevolent organisations, &c., should be employed as much as possible. “5. That, as a general principle, it is better to separate and diffuse the dependent classes than to bring them together in large numbers. ” 6. That provision should be made whereby these classes, whether confined in institutions or living outside, may as far as possible help themselves by work of some kind. ” 7. That public institutions should be established only as a last resort, and should be kept as small as is consistent with a wise economy. ” 8. That these institutions should not be constructed on REVIEWS. 155 an extravagant plan, and should be placed under the best management, which should be held to a strict account.” When the Board commenced its labours numbers of chil- dren were found in the three State almshouses mingling with the vicious and degraded of all classes ; the following methods were therefore adopted. First, to place the majority of children in a school by themselves to be educated for self-support; and secondly, to place them in private families, as soon as they could go out, and as quickly as homes could be found for them. Dis- tinction is made in the almshouse between the vicious or criminal pauper, and the virtuous or unfortunate ; a large class of poor now find support in the localities in which they live, in place of going to the State almshouse.
The laws of life and health have been vigorously investi- gated by the ” State Board of Health,” and it is now an esta- blished fact that a great amount of disease may be prevented by the application of sanitary laws. Fruitful sources of ill-health are found in bad air, imperfect drainage and sewerage, impure water, and hereditary influences and predisposition produce a large amount of disease.
Crime and insanity inevitably develop a great amount of pauperism; and in proportion as these increase, so will pauperism increase, though not of necessity at the same time. Hereditary relation has in all probability a far greater agency in the production of social evils than has been generally imagined. Amongst the most deleterious agents operating upon the human system is alcohol, and it undoubtedly stands foremost as a cause of pauperism and other evils. It poisons the blood and produces a diseased or morbid condition of almost every organ of the body. It affects the brain, impairs the intellect, perverts the moral sentiments and the will, and increases unduly the activity and strength of the worst propen- sities. It prostitutes the higher to the lower nature of man, changing what should be the true aims and objects of life to those of a low animal nature.
Syphilis is a very powerful agent in the production of vice, pauperism, and diseases, and in some respects is more destruc- tive to life and health than even alcohol. In addition to these two last causes, narcotics, over-medication, and stimulation injure the body and weaken the mind.
The statistics on pauperism from New York furnish the following information:?More than 12,000 persons in town, city, and county almshouses of the State were examined; of these 6,566 were foreign born, 422 were born in the almshouse, 3,106 could neither read nor write, 6,133 had been intemperate. Of the 4,147 chronic insane, 44 per cent, had been intempe- 156 REVIEWS. rate; of the whole 12,000, 2,030 were homeless children, 1,750 of whom had pauper fathers or mothers. The average stay of all the paupers in the almshouses was 4*88 years?almost five years’ residence. More than 30 per cent, of the paupers had intemperate parents; few were found paupers by misfortune in business or sudden loss of property. Immoral and sensual habits long indulged, or habits of idleness and shiftlessness, were the prime movers in the production of the pauperism. The New York Eeport concludes with the following state- ments :?
” 1. The examination has made it clear that by far the greater majority of paupers have reached that condition by idleness, improvidence, drunkenness, or some form of vicious indulgence. It is equally clear that these vices and weaknesses are very frequently, if not universally, the result of tendencies which are to a greater or less extent hereditary.
” 2. The element of heredity enters so largely into the pro- blem of pauperism that it should receive special attention. The degraded, the vicious, and the idle, who, at the approach of poverty, illness, or old age, inevitably become paupers, are continually rearing a progeny who, both by hereditary ten- dencies and the associations of early life, are likely to follow in the footsteps of their parents.
“3. It was found that large numbers had been trained and educated for the poorhouse by outdoor relief administered^ by law or private charity.
” 4. Pauperism had been largely increased by defective systems of poorhouse management and want of employment. ” 5. Neglected insanity, neglected injuries, and diseases have greatly tended to increase the list of paupers.” Amongst the results of an investigation into the causes of crime and pauperism among the inmates of the jails and prisons of the State, the history of an extraordinary family is given by the name of “the Jukes,” extending back six genera- tions, where, from one woman, nearly 1,000 persons, by birth, relationship, and association, became criminals or paupers. The facts gathered in New York appear to show that in addition to hereditary influence, ” ignorance, idleness, prostitu- tion, and intemperance are prime factors that enter into the complex product of pauperism and crime.” In regard to sanitary agencies, the kind of soil, the lay of the land, the advantages of good air, the supply of pure water, and the healthiness of the region are primary considerations, and a most important agent for the production of health and prevention of disease is food. The diet must be carefully regulated, the nature of the food and its elementary proportions REVIEWS 157 adapted to the particular wants and ages of the users. The best hours of the day for meals must be considered, and there should be from five to six hours between each meal. The insane are in need of a more nutritious diet and of better quality than those whose nerves are less subjected to ” wear and tear.” Those leading a sedentary life require a diet dif- ferent from that designed for the more actively engaged. The air may be made impure from particles of dust or effluvia, induced by malaria, from decayed vegetable or animal matter, from cesspools, vaults, drains, etc. The most common cause of vitiation of the air is the carbonic acid exhaled from one individual to another. For perfect health each individual should be furnished with 3,000 cubic feet of air each hour. In the supply of water we must consider its abundance and purity. The amount of water necessary for each person in institutions or cities should average daily between 30 and 35 gallons. Wells and springs are often impregnated with poisons either from decaying animal vegetable matter, or from drains, vaults, and sinks. Fevers and dysentery have been thus com- municated. Ponds, streams and lakes are not always free from poison of some kind.
Work begun early in life is one of the most effectual preventives of want and dependence. Laziness begets crime, vice, and poverty. Exercise is of considerable importance, and may be varied ; it may consist in walking or riding. By exercise appetite and digestion are improved, sleep and rest are more re- freshing. All persons feel the better for having something to do. W ork and employment should be applied in all public institutions, since, by these means the condition, habits, and character of the inmates will be improved, and pauperism, insanity, and crime diminished.
We learn that the charitable institutions under the super- vision of the Board of State Charities may be divided into four classes: Lunatic Hospitals, Schools, Prisons, and Almshouses. All the lunatic hospitals have been exceedingly crowded, having in the aggregate about 500 patients more than their normal capacity. On September 30,1876, the whole number of inmates was 1927, and on September 30, 1877,2025, an apparent increase of 1 38 patients.
The most important change has occurred at Worcester Hospital. An act passed the Legislature last spring ” establish- ing an Asylum for the Chronic Insane,” providing that the building at Worcester should be temporarily used for that purpose. This asylum started last October with 325 patients; December 1 it had 375 ; and it now has probably the full complement of 400.
Great improvements have been made in the buildings and on the grounds of the Idiot School, Boston. No class of persons are so helpless and dependent as the feeble-minded and idiotic, and surprising improvement can be made in the character and habits of the individuals by education and early training. During the past year there have been 115 pupils in the school, with an average of 81. These pupils are instructed by teachers peculiarly adapted for teaching such charges, and a workshop is provided, by which trades may be acquired.
The Report before us concludes with an Appendix, setting forth a financial statement including the expenses of the Board, the Secretary’s office, the general agents’ department, etc. There can be no question that the Board of State Charities of Massa- chusetts have been engaged upon a work of the highest interest and importance, the difficulties of which they have grappled with most successfully and admirably.
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