55th Congress, ) 1st Session. ( SENATE. ( Document ) No. 185. JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE THE CHARITIES AND Wfflfflff MITTONS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA July 21, 1R97.-Presented by Mr. Faulkner, from the Joint Select Committee to Investigate the Charities and Reformatory Institutions in the District of Columbia, and ordered to be printed. PART I-HEARINGS; STATEMENTS; REPORTS FROM CITIES; SUGGESTIONS FOR A BOARD OF CHARITIES. COMPILED BY CHARLES MOORE, CLERK OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE. WASHINGTON: GOVERN MENT PRINTING OFFICE. 189 7. JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE THE CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. James McMillan, Chairman, Charles J. Faulkner, Thomas S. Martin, From the Senate. Mahlon Pitney, Secretary, Stephen A. Northway, Alexander M. Dockery, From the Route of Representatives. Charles Moore, Clerk. J. H. Fishback, Stenographer. II mTRODUCTION. The District of Columbia appropriation act, approved June 11, 1896, contained the following provision: "And it is hereby declared to be the policy of the Government of the United States to make no appropriation of money or property for the purpose of founding, maintaining, or aiding by payment for serv- ices, expenses, or otherwise, any church or religious denomination, or any institution or society which is under sectarian or ecclesiastical control; and it is hereby enacted that, from and after the thirtieth day of June, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven, no money appropriated for chari- table purposes in the District of Columbia shall be paid to any church or religious denomination, or to any institution or society which is under sectarian or ecclesiastical control. " That a joint select committee is hereby authorized, to consist of three Senators to be appointed by the presiding officer of the Senate, and three Members of the House of Representatives to be appointed by the Speaker of the House, which select committee shall make inves- tigation of the charities and reformatory institutions of the District of Columbia, and especially of those for which appropriations are made by this act, as respects their relations to the government of the District of Columbia and to the United States, whether by special charter or otherwise, their efficiency, their management and resources, whether by appropriations, investments, or otherwise, and also what portion, if any, of appropriations heretofore made to them have been used for the purpose of maintaining or aiding by payment for services, expenses, or otherwise any church or religious denomination or any institution or society which is under sectarian or ecclesiastical control; whether such charitable or reformatory institutions are effective and economical in their organization, methods, and expenditure to provide for the poor and destitute in the District of Columbia; whether it is practicable for the Commissioners or other authority in the District to make contracts or to otherwise provide for such care of the poor and destitute with any of said institutions, and if so, which of them and to what extent, within the limitations of the policy hereinbefore declared; and if not, the probable expense of providing and maintaining public institutions for such purpose. "Said committee shall make report as soon as practicable after the beginning of the next session of the present Congress, including in such report any changes by them deemed advisable as respects the methods of dealing with the charities and the reformatory institutions of said District. "Said committee is authorized to sit during the recess, and the nec- essary expenses of the committee, including clerical and stenographic work, shall be paid out of the contingent funds of the Senate and House of Representatives, jointly, on the certificate of the chairman of the committee." III IV INTRODUCTION. The joint select committee provided for as above did not organize until February 21, 1897, too late to make a report to the Fifty-fourth Congress. The District appropriation act approved March 3, 1897, repeats the declaration of policy stated in the first paragraph quoted above, and provides further: "That the joint select committee, authorized by the act making appropriations for the expenses of the government of the District of Columbia for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-seven, to make inquiry aud report concerning the charities and reformatory institutions of the District of Columbia, are hereby continued during the Fifty-fifth Congress, with all the powers and duties imposed upon them by said act. And any vacancies which may occur in the membership of said committee by expiration of service or otherwise of any Senator shall be filled by appointment by the presid- ing officer of the Senate, and any vacancies which may occur by reason of the expiration of service of any House members of said committee shall be filled by appointment to be made by the Speaker of the pres- ent House of Representatives from Members elect to the House of Representatives of the Fifty-fifth Congress; and any valiancies which may occur by reason of death or resignation of any House member shall be filled by appointment to be made by the Speaker of the House of Representatives for the time being; and said committee shall have authority to sit during the recess, and shall make report as soon as practicable after the beginning of the first session of the Fifty-fifth Congress: Provided, That the clerk designated by the committee may be paid for clerical services such compensation as may be fixed by the committee in addition to any salary he may be receiving." Part I of the report of the joint select committee, submitted at this time, includes the hearings held by the joint select committee, the finan- cial statements of the various institutions, the reports from the mayors of cities as to appropriations for charitable aud reformatory purposes, aud suggestions as to a board of charities. TABLE OF CONTENTS. Page. I. Membership of Joint Select Committee to investigate the Charities and Reformatory Institutions in the District of Columbia II II. Introduction Ill III. Schedule of Hearings 3 IV. Hearings - 6 V. Statements of Charitable and Reformatory Institutions 329 VI. Reports of Cities -113 VII. Suggestions for a Board of Charities 447 VIII. Index 461 8. Doc. 185 1 1 SCHEDULE FOR HEARINGS BEFORE THE JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE ON CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. FIRST HEARING. The general subject of the Charities of the District of Columbia. To be heard: The Commissioners of the District of Columbia; the relief com- mittee of 1896-97; the Associated Charities; the charities committee of the board of trade; the superintendent of charities; the officers of the Civic Center. TOPICS. 1. The method of distributing the annual appropriation of $13,000 for the relief of the poor. 2. The extent and character of the relief work supported by subscription. 3. The need and method of investigating the applications for relief. 4. The proper organization of the charities of the District of Columbia. 5. Should relief be confined to bona fide citizens of the District of Columbia? SECOND HEARING. Subject: Reformatory Institutions. To be heard: The officers of the Reform School for Boys; the officers of the Reform School for Girls. TOPICS. 1. The work of the Reform School for Boys and needs of the institution. 2. Management of the school and extent of the supervision exercised by the Department of Justice. 3. Should the control be transferred to the District authorities? 4. The work of the Reform School for Girls. 5. Does the school provide for all necessary cases? 6. Conditions of the most economical management. 7. What becomes of boys and girls discharged from these schools? THIRD HEARING. Subject: The Insane; The Deaf and Dumb; The Feeble-minded. To be heard: Dr. Godding, of St. Elizabeth's; Dr. Gallaudet, of Kendall Green; Mr. Lewis, of the Board of Children's Guardians. TOPICS. 1. The provisions for the care of the District insane and the method of commitment. 2. The deaf and dumb of the District at Kendall Green. 3. The feeble-minded; in what institutions placed; comparative cost at various institutions; increase or decrease in the number of cases. 4. The need of an institution for inebriates. FOURTH HEARING. Subject: Dependent Children. To be heard: Officers of the Board of Children's Guardians; officers of the Humane Society; judges of District courts. TOPICS. 1. What children are, properly speaking, dependent; and what are the duties of the District toward such as are dependent? 2. Has the District a duty toward children not officially declared dependent? 3. Methods of taking up dependent children; the limits of guardianship. 4. The proper training for dependent children. 5. The disposal of dependent children; in homes; in boarding places. 6. The need of visitation in the case of children placed out. 3 4 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. FIFTH HEARING. Subject: Dependent Children ; Institutional Training. To be heard: Officers of the Board of Children's Guardians; officers of the Indus- trial Home School; officers of the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children; officers of the Humane Society. TOPICS. 1. The facilities offered by aided District institutions to care for dependent children. 2. What coordination of existing institutions and agencies is possible and desirable (a) for taking up children, (&) for training children, (c) for placing out and visiting children. 3. Changes in existing institutions necessary to adapt them for the care of all dependent children, properly so called. 4. Industrial training for dependent children. 5. The possibility of securing homes. SIXTH HEARING. Subject: Dependent Children; Foundlings. To be heard: Officers of the Children's Hospital; officers of the Washington Hos- pital for Foundlings; officers of St. Ann's Infant Asylum; officers of the Board of Children's Guardians. TOPICS. 1. The work of the foundling institutions in the District of Columbia. 2. Extent to which public aid may properly be granted. 3. Mortality. 4. Placing out and adoption of children. 5. Visitation of children. 6. Private foundling asylums. SEVENTH HEARING. Subject: Dependent Children; Charity. To be heard: Officers of the German Orphan Asylum; officers of the Church Orphanage of St. John's Parish; officers of St. Rose Industrial School; officers of St. Joseph's Male Orphan Asylum; officers of the Newsboy's and Children's Aid Society. TOPICS. 1. May public funds properly be used to support sectarian or private institutions? 2. Where grants of public money are made, ought not the District to have the right to place dependent children in the institution so aided? 3. What would be the effect of carrying out the declared policy of Congress to make no appropriations of money to sectarian institutions? 4. Does the policy of taking children from and returning them to parents stimulate dependency ? 5. What becomes of children discharged from the sectarian and private institu- tions? 6. What is the length of time children are maintained at public expense, and is the expense per child unduly large? EIGHTH HEARING. Subject: Hospitals for Special Classes. To be heard: Officers of the Emergency Hospital; officers of Columbia Hospital; officers of the Home for Incurables; officers of the Eastern Dispensary. TOPICS. 1. Hospital work done by the hospitals. 2. Comparative cost of maintenance in Washington and other cities. 3. Income from patients. 4. Do persons come to Washington to secure free treatment at District expense? 5. The training of nurses as a part of hospital work. 6. Connection between hospitals and colleges of medicine. CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 5 NINTH HEARING. Subject: General Hospitals. To be heard: Officers of the Homeopathic Hospital; officers of Garfield Hospital; officers of Freedman's Hospital; officers of Providence Hospital. TOPICS. 1. Is there duplication in the work of the District hospitals? 2. Why should not the District share the expense of Garfield Hospital? 3. Should the work of the hospitals be supervised by District authorities? 4. Should the control of Freedmen's Hospital remain with the Secretary of the Interior? 5. Contagious diseases in hospitals. 6. Training schools for nurses. 7. The salaries of the hospital staff. TENTH HE ARING. Subject: Charitable Work for Young Women. To be heard: Officers of the Woman's Christian Association; officers of Young Woman's Christian Home; officers of the Association of Works of Mercy; officers of the Hope and Help Mission; officers of the House of the Good Shepherd. TOPICS. 1. Temporary homes for young women seeking employment. 2. The need of several institutions. 3. The work of the House of the Good Shepherd and similar institutions. 4. How far should this work be maintained by the public? ELEVENTH HEARING. Subject: Men Out of Work. To be heard: Officers of the Municipal Lodging House; officers of the Central Union Mission ; officers of the Temporary Home for ex-Union Soldiers and Sailors. TOPICS. 1. Growth of the work as shown by the growth of the Municipal Lodging House. 2. How far is the municipality to go in furnishing work for the unemployed? 3. Do the lodging houses encourage tramps? 4. Should the work in the District be extended? FIB ST HEARING. THE GENERAL SUBJECT OF CHARITIES IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. April 7,1897-2 o'clock p. m. Present: lion. James McMillan, chairman, Hon. Thomas S. Martin, Hon. Mahlon Pitney, Hon. S. A. Northway. Mr. McMillan. The matter to be discussed this afternoon is the general subject of the charities of the District of Columbia. The first to be heard, according to our schedule, are the Commissioners of the District of Columbia. We have received from them a written report to be filed here. If anyone desires to see it he can do so. It covers the ground we want. The report of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia referred to is as follows: THE FUND FOR THE RELIEF OF THE POOR. Office Commissioners of the District of Columbia, Washington, April 7, 1897. Dear Sir: The Commissioners of the District of Columbia have the honor to acknowledge receipt of a letter from Mr. Charles Moore, clerk of your committee, inviting them, or their representative, to appear before your committee at 2 o'clock to day, or to make a written state- ment with regard to the method of distributing the annual appropria- tion of $13,000 for the relief of the poor. The Commissioners have thought that a written statement might be more concise and satisfactory than an oral statement, and therefore submit the following: The allotment of this fund made for the relief of the poor for the current fiscal year is as follows: For physicians to the poor $7, 200 For medicines and printing prescriptions for physicians to the poor 3, 700 For the Women's Dispensary . 500 For the Aged Women's Home 300 For coffins for the indigent dead 300 For emergency relief of cases investigated through the police department on order of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, on recommenda- tion of the superintendent of charities to be distributed in provisions, fuel, or clothing, by the police 1,000 13,000 7 8 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. The item of $7,200 for physicians to the poor is the same amount which lias been named for the same purpose for many years. Formerly 14 physicians were employed, at the rate of $40 per month. It having been ascertained that this number of physicians could not adequately cover the territory of the District, instead of 35 physicians at $40 per month, 20 physicians were employed at $30 per month. That has been the number employed for the past three years. They are paid only for the time actually employed. If absent, from sickness or otherwise,pay is deducted for the time lost. According to the estimate of the health officer, made in his annual report for the year 1896, page 11, the average cost for patients for medical attendance has been 46 cents, but if the number of visits and office consultations be taken into consideration, the average amount received by each physician per visit or office con- sultation has been but 25 cents. The duties of these physicians are outlined in instructions issued to them by the health officer, a copy of which is hereto appended. The item of $3,700 for medicines and printing prescriptions for phy- sicians to the poor is the same amount which has been allotted for this purpose annually at least as far back as 1874. Eighteen druggists to the poor are appointed, who are paid by the District for goods actually furnished, in accordance with an agreement signed by the druggists (a copy of which is hereto attached), from which it will be seen that the average cost of the prescriptions tilled by the druggists is between 15 and 20 cents. The allotment to the Women's Dispensary of $500 is to an institu- tion located at Four-and-a-half street and Maryland avenue, SW. The building is owned by the trustees of the Minor Institute, an association of public-spirited citizens who receive a fund for the education and care of colored youth. As will be seen by the report of the secretary of that institution, contained on pages 293 and 294 of the Report on Chari- table and Reformatory Institutions of the District of Columbia for the year 1896, no salaries are paid to anyone in that institution except the sum of $10 per month to an apothecary. Having no regular appropri- ation for its benefit, the Commissioners deemed it proper to devote the $500 to its laudable purposes from the fund for the relief of the poor. Dr. Joseph Taber Johnson is president of the board of directors. The Aged Women's Home is situated at 1255 Thirty-second street, NW. Airs. B. Kennon is president, and Miss N. A. Riley is secretary and treasurer. Thirteen aged poor women are taken care of in this home, as appears from the report of the superintendent of charities for 1895, page 311. The only certain income had for this institution is $144 per annum from invested moneys, making, with the public funds received, a total of $444, and their annual expenditure is about $600. The item of $300 for coffins for the indigent dead is an allotment which merely pays for the material from which the coffins are made, the labor being all furnished by inmates of the Washington Asylum. The coffins are furnished only to persons whose families or relatives are wholly without means to provide for their burial. The last item explains itself. During the inclement seasons of the year cases of great destitution and of immediate urgency are relieved upon reports made as to their condition by members of the police force. The money is used wholly for the purchase of provisions, fuel, and clothing, and the Commissioners have regarded these expenditures as having been carefully and satisfactorily made. It may be proper to advise your committee that there is another fund disbursed by the superintendent of police for the same purpose, namely, the interest on CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 9 the amount, $26,000, received March 18, 1889, from the executive com- mittee of the inaugural ceremonies of March 4, 1889. This principal is invested at 6 per cent per annum and yields annually $1,560. The Commissioners have within the past few days also received from the committee having in charge the late inaugural ceremonies the sum of $7,000, which will be invested in the same way for the same purpose. If any further or other information is desired by your committee, the Commissioners will take pleasure in furnishing the same upon request. Very respectfully, John W. Ross, President Board of Commissioners, District of Columbia. Hon. James McMillan, Chairman Joint Select Committee to Investigate Charities and Reformatory Institutions in the District of Columbia. PHYSICIANS TO THE POOR. Health Department, District of Columbia, Washington, , 189-. Sir: You have been appointed to the responsible position of physician to the poor, of which you have been duly notified. You will be expected and required, therefore, to attend promptly and faithfully at the call of the sick poor in your district, to vaccinate free such of the poor as may need vaccination, to investigate cases of death occurring without the attendance of a physician, or cases where it is impossible to obtain a physician's certificate, and to perform such other duties as may be assigned to you. You will keep a full record of your work and make weekly returns to this office each Monday, in person, upon blanks provided for that purpose. A sick pauper entitled to your attention should be a resident of the District of Columbia, permanently or temporarily without the means of support, and in such bodily condition by reason of disease as to require medical treatment. Cases able to visit dispensaries for treatment should be referred to one of those institutions. When in doubt as to the worthiness of the patient you should exercise your own best judgment, always leaning to the side of humanity, and considering the income of such patient in reference to the uses to which it must be applied. Cases requir- ing your care and not provided with suitable accommodations should be reported at once to this office. Especial attention should be paid to the prompt and accurate diagnosis of con- tagious diseases and to their proper isolation and treatment. When the diagnosis in such cases is doubtful you should apply at once to this department for aid in determining the nature of the disease. All sore throats suspected of being diph- theritic should be investigated bacteriologically and the serum treatment adopted in all cases of true diphtheria. This department will make the necessary bacteri- ological examinations and furnish assistance in the use of antitoxine when desired. Cases of death investigated by you, pursuant to your instructions above, if sudden or due to other than natural causes, or if the cause of death can not be determined, should be referred without delay to the coroner; otherwise they should be certified to, indicating that the death did not occur in your practice. The following prescriptions are believed to be adequate to the requirements of the service, in the quantities designated, but larger quantities may be ordered when necessary, specifying in such cases on the prescription the need for such special prescription and having in view at all times the economical conduct of the work. Tablet triturates will be furnished to those desiring them to be used supplementary to the regular prescriptions. Tinctures (standard), 2 ounces. Mixtures, including sirups, 2 ounces. Decoctions and infusions, one-half pint. Pills, 6. Suppositories, 3. Powders, 10. Ointments, one-half ounce. Blisters, 2 by 4 inches. Antidiphtheritic serum and vaccine virus can be obtained at the health office. Obstetric cases should receive your prompt attention, especially when you are called in cases of emergency to render necessary aid to a midwife in attendance: other cases may be referred to this department, which will make such arrangements as may be possible with one of the out-of-door lying-in dispensaries now operating in this city. 10 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Your district will be known as the sanitary division, and will comprise all that portion of the District of Columbia bounded. Health Department, District of Columbia, Washington, D. C., 189-. The undersigned hereby agrees to furnish at prices not to exceed fifteen (15) cents for each and every prescription, medicines of best quality, including cinchona and its alkaloids, properly prepared and put up, upon prescriptions of the physicians to the poor for the sanitary division, agreeably to the following provisions: Tinctures ^standard), one prescription not to call for larger quantities than two ounces. Mixtures, including syrups, not to call for larger quantities than two ounces. Decoctions and infusions, not in larger quantities than one-half pint. Pills, not more than six. Powders, not more than ten. Ointments, not more than one-half ounce. Suppositories, not more than three. Blisters, not larger than 2 by 4 inches. Provided, that in cases where special prescriptions are ordered when their con- stituents are expensive, or the quantities greater than those designated above, the price allowed tvill be proportionate to the standard price. I also agree to furnish the health officer on the first day of each week a statement of my account upon blanks provided for that purpose, to be certified by him to the Commissioners of the District of Columbia for payment. THE ASSOCIATED CHARITIES. Mr, McMillan. The next to be heard is the representative of the Associated Charities. Is anyone here to represent them1? Mr. George S. Wilson. Yes, sir; I am secretary of the Associated Charities. A report has been filed here by the Associated Charities, and I might say that in general our views are expressed in that report. Whether the committee desires me to elaborate or dwell at length upon it 1 do not know. Mr. McMillan. Mr. Wilson, you are at the head of the Associated Charities, are you not? Mr. Wilson. No, sir; I am the executive head; I am the secretary. The board of directors are the managers in authority. Mr. McMillan. What is the practical character of your work? Mr. Wilson. The character of work is an effort to bring about coop- eration among the charities of the community, both publicand private. In order to do that we hold that in every case of application for relief of any kind, whether to an institution or out door relief, the circum- stances should be thoroughly examined to ascertain what kind of relief is required, if any, and then to find the proper source of such relief and have it properly applied. If a central bureau of this kind is main- tained we believe that the duplication of charities can be prevented to a large extent. No matter how efficient each organization may be in its own work, duplication is apt to occur. This, you might say, is almost the universal experience of all associated charities or societies for organizing charities, variously denominated, which have been formed in large cities and been in operation for ten, fifteen, and some twenty years. Our society operates along the same lines as the majority of these societies. We are interested in the whole field; we look at the whole field. In and of ourselves we are nothing. Any case, no matter what it is, may be referred to us and properly referred to us. and it becomes our duty to find the means of relief and have it applied. So that we look at the field in the very broadest possible way and from the broadest possible standpoint, because there is no organization or institution which we may not, and do frequently, apply to in the course of our work. CHARITIES and reformatory institutions. 11 j\Er. McMillan. It is not the practice of your association to furnish money? Mr. Wilson. No, sir. Mr. McMillan. You furnish persons with positions or help them to ositions? Mr. Wilson. Yes, sir. Mr. McMillan. And you have no means furnished you for general relief purposes? Mr. Wilson. No, sir. In general we procure relief through the incorporated agencies already in existence. Mr. McMillan. Through all the other charities? Mr. Wilson. Yes, sir; we try to help the other agencies to do the work better and more economically. Our expenses we estimate at about $7,500 a year. Mr. McMillan. Is that all raised from private sources? Mr. Wilson. Yes, sir. Mr. McMillan. With no assistance from the Government? Mr. Wilson. Yes, sir; and we do not ask any. We believe we can do the work better. We think we have the confidence of the community in which we work. Mr. McMillan. You do not propose to exercise any oversight over these different charities. You simply work in harmony with them? Mr. Wilson. Yes, sir; the board of trade has recommended in their report that that oversight should properly belong to a board of charities with a wider field of work than we have-a board which would corre- spond to State boards of charities and in some cases to municipal boards. During the last ten or fifteen years many of such boards have been formed in New York and Massachusetts and other States-a large number of them-and those States which have not these boards are gradually forming them. We believe that the charities of the District should properly belong to such a board as that, composed of members nominated by some public authority and to serve without compensation. These boards, so far as I know, have worked very satisfactorily and in every case have effected some improvement in the charities of the com- munity in which they exist, because they are composed of men who have the confidence of the community, men willing to give their time to the work because they are interested in it, and their recommendations have great weight with the legislatures or municipal authorities. I know in Ohio, where I worked for some years, the recommenda- tions of the State board have the greatest weight with the State legis- lature, and through that board many reforms have been established. We believe that the recommendations of the board of trade that the charities of the District could be better managed by such a board are correct. Such a board would properly have the consideration of all the minor details which the Congress of the United States is now troubled with from year to year. I just called the attention of some of the gen- tlemen this morning to the report of the superintendent of charities for thepastyear. As you will see by reference to pages 5 and 6, the Congress of the United States, the appropriating authority, is urged to grant a special appropriation because some buildings here havebeen damaged by storm. I could pick out three private corporations in this list receiving- public funds controlled by private authorities which ask for a deficiency appropriation because a storm injured their buildings to the extent of $25. Large private corporations come to the Congress of the United States and trouble you gentlemen; and the time of Congress is taken up year after year with small or comparatively small items of District 12 CHARITIES and reformatory institutions. charities, and we think until there is a board to pass upon those mat- ters it will be very difficult for Congress to avoid this trouble, which it has had from year to year. I do not know whether there is any ques- tioa any member of the committee would like to ask me in relation to our own work. It would be impossible to go into the matter in detail. Mr. Northway. Take an individual case. Mr. Wilson. First we examine the circumstances of a case when an application is made for relief, and then determine which should be the proper and natural source for the relief. For instance, cases have come to me of Odd Fellows. Of course the order helps bona fide members of their lodges. We go to the lodge quietly about the case, and they say they are glad we brought it to their attention. The person might belong to a strong church, and you know it is very generally claimed that the well-to do churches care for their own poor. I ask them to care for the case. There is a large residuum that does not belong to any of these organizations, and this field has been occupied in Wash- ington by the general relief committee. Mr. McMillan. You go around until you get some organization to take care of that individual? I\Ir. Wilson. Yes, sir. Mr. McMillan. You have no power to contract for the care of that individual so as to bind anyone? Mr. Wilson. No, sir; we do not use or take public money. j\Ir. Martin. In your duties you have investigated all the charities of the District of Columbia? Mr. Wilson. No, sir. Mr. McMillan. No; they have nothing to do with that. They simply investigate individual cases. For instance, if a person comes to your house desiring help, and if you are not satisfied with the explanation he makes, you are at liberty to send a letter to this association saying that you would like to have an examination made of the person's con- dition or of his family, and this secretary will obtain and give you that information. He will say to you that the person or family is worthy of helj) or that he is not worthy of it, and if the Associated Charities say he is worthy you will very likely help him or the family. I have found it so in many cases. Nir. Wilson. There is no red tape. We have what is called a "Golden Book Fund." People come to us to contribute, and say, per- haps, "Here is a hundred dollars; you can use it for special cases where you can not get other money." There are cases reported to me, emer- gency cases, and the money in this fund is used for these cases of imme- diate necessity. If you had experience, you would find that there are very few people indeed who pass in an hour or two from a condition of comfort to one of destitution. There is one thing we like to insist upon, and that is that people who are to be relieved should be bona fide residents of the District of Columbia. 31 r. McMillan. Mr. Martin, do you desire to ask any questions? Mr. Martin. No, sir; I think not. Mr. McMillan. Dr. Van Reypen, do you desire to add anything to what the secretary has said? Dr. Van Reypen. No, sir; I believe not. The secretary has advanced the views of the board much better than I can, and 1 entirely concur in his statements. Weare a nonpartisan organization; we have noth- ing whatever to do with church, creed, or condition. We simply want to ascertain whether or not the person to be relieved is worthy of relief. charities and reformatory institutions. 13 That is the object-to eliminate frauds. We know that there are per- sons applying for relief who are not worthy of it, and the elimination of those cases is one of the objects of the Associated Charities. THE CHARITIES COMMITTEE OF THE BOARD OF TRADE. Mr. McMillan. The next to be heard is the charities committee of the board of trade. Is there anyone present in connection with the board of trade? Mr. B. T. Janney. Up to within about five years no special effort was made to organize the charities of the District of Columbia. Since that time very little progress has been made in that direction. The superintendent of charities, while doing the best he could, seems abso- lutely to have failed in that effort; and the board of trade have taken up the matter and discussed it at length, and have advised their com- mittee to urge upon Congress the creation of a board of charities, believing that a committee or board of the citizens of Washington could better dispense the charities or organize them than one single man. The board of trade has discussed the matter from time to time for two or three years. I do not know just what to say to you gentlemen fur- ther than that, but that has been their effort and recommendation. Mr. McMillan. Something like a State board ? Mr. Janney. Yes, sir; there are eighteen States that, up to within two or three years, have had superintendents of charities. They have abolished superintendents and put boards in their places, and we have no instance where they have changed back to superintendents. Mr. McMillan. What charities would they take in? Mr. Janney. Everything in the District. Mr. McMillan. Hospitals? Mr. Janney. Not a controlling but an investigatory authority. The board should be clothed with authority to investigate and make recom- mendations for appropriations and assistance when called upon for that purpose. Mr. McMillan. They would decide, then, how much money each one should have? Mr. Janney. Yes, sir; when estimates were to be sent in they would be referred to this board. Mr. McMillan. And this board would then report to Congress, through the Commissioners, that these institutions were entitled, in their judgment, to assistance? Mr. Janney. Yes, sir. Mr. McMillan. Or whether they were not? Mr. Janney. Yes, sir. Mr. Northway. Do you deal with charities practically at all? Mr. Janney. No, sir; not as a board of trade. Mr. Northway. In what way do you differ from the Associated Charities in the line of investigation? Mr. Janney. We do not do any investigating at all. This question is simply taken up by the board of trade as a matter of public interest. Mr. Northway. And you have a plan or suggestion for a board of charities for the District of Columbia? Mr. Janney. Yes, sir. Mr. Northway. Have you that on paper, so that we can get your ideas briefly? Mr. Janney. No, sir. We have talked the matter over, and it is our opinion that a board of nine members would be about proper, with a well-paid secretary, who should be an expert. 14 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Mr. Northway. How chosen? Mr. Janney. By the Commissioners of the District. Mr. Northway. Appointed by the District Commissioners? Mr. Janney. Yes, sir. Mr. McMillan. Mr. Macfarland, do you desire to present anything? Mr. H. B. F. Macfarland. The question of charities in the District of Columbia is a very peculiar one, because there are Federal charities and there are charities supported by private subscription-purely pri- vate institutions-and we ot the committee on charities of the board of trade, having a purely advisory function, having no control of the charity work, have been investigating what would be the ideal system if we could get it here. Two years ago we recommended to the board of trade, and the board of trade adopted, resolutions declaring that it was the sense of the board that Congress should abolish the office of superintendent of charities and create a board of charities, which should have supervisory control over all charity work in the District of Colum- bia. Of course, that work divides itself into several classes. There is first of all what is called the relief work-the outdoor relief work. The opinion of the committee of the board of trade, and it is the general opinion, is that outdoor relief should be left to the Associated Chari- ties. They would probably be aided by the board of charities. Our idea was that the members of that board should be the very best men and women, if that was desired, in the District of Columbia, having the confidence of the community and of Congress; and the thought was that they would be able, by their advice and recommendations, to aid every charitable work, but the Associated Charities has demonstrated its entire competence to manage the outdoor relief work of Washington. On that point I should like to say that our opinion would be that the appropriation of $13,000 for the relief of the poor, made by Congress, should be distributed under the direction of the Associated Charities, as it has been at times in the past. As to the second question, the extent and character of the relief work, that is a question for them; and the third, the need and method of investigating the applications for relief, has already been answered by the Associated Charities. In regard to the fifth topic, I think the relief should be confined to bona fide citi- zens of the District of Columbia. Now as to organizations. This board, as we conceive, would be per- forming the duties which are really the duties of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, but which, under stress of time and work, they can not properly attend to. This work would devolve upon this board of charities, and having to give comparatively little attention to the active outdoor relief work, inasmuch as that would be under the Asso- ciated Charities, its special function would be to deal with the institu- tions. They may be divided into two classes-institutions that have child-caring work, and all the rest, the rest being largely hospitals. As to child-caring work under the direction or supervision of the board of charities, the Board of Children's Guardians, which was cre- ated for that purpose, should, in my judgment, have general supervi- sion, and no child should be made a charge on the charity appropriations made by Congress until it had been made a ward, either permanent or temporary, of the Board of Gardians, and subject to a proper court. As to the other institutions, the purposes of the board of charities would oe supervision of their work and to bring them into harmony as far as possible-to literally organize the charities of the District of Columbia. They are now disorganized; that is, independent. Institu- tions have grown up independently of each other. Certain people get CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 15 together and think there is a need for a certain institution, and they organize it, without consulting, perhaps, the institutions of similar char- acter already established and in operation; and if these people have sufficient acquaintance and influence they get it established, and per- haps by and by they come to Congress and get appropriations if they have sufficient personal and political influence. We think that the board of charities ought to determine, as Mr. Janney has said, what estimates for appropriations shall be submitted, and we hope that this board would have the confidence of Congress, so that Congress would accept its recommendations and not make appropriations except through its recommendation. That, I think, outlines our plan in a rough way. Mr. McMillan. How would this board be appointed according to your plan"? Mr. Macfarland. By the Commissioners of the District of Columbia. Mr. McMillan. But without pay? Mr. Macfarland. Yes, sir; without pay, but having a paid secre- tary who would be an expert. Mr. Pitney. Could you get them to serve without pay? Mr. Macfarland. Yes, sir; there would be no difficulty about that. Mr. McMillan. We have no trouble in Detroit in getting all the members we want; and we get the best men. Mr. Pitney. Let me ask you a question about the present Associated Charities. That is a purely voluntary association, is it not? Mr. Macfarland. Yes, sir. Mr. Pitney. It has no legal status except as an association of indi- viduals mutually desirous of forwarding the work of charity? Mr. Macfarland. No, sir. Mr. Pitney. Does your scheme propose that they shall have official supervision of the charity work? Mr. Macfarland. They shall do just what they are doing now. I think the board of charities would recommend that this money appro- priated for relief of the poor should be expended under the direction of the Associated Charities. Mr. Pitney. Would it not be well to give them some legal status? Mr. Macfarland. I do not think so. The general relief committee, simply by request of the Commissioners of the District, and without any legal status whatever, collects and disburses large sums of money. Some years ago, when my wife was chairman, or chairwoman, of the committee, it raised $30,000 and expended it. Mr. Pitney. But that was for a temporary emergency? Mr. Macfarland. Yes, sir. Oneof the things which wouldbeaccom- plished by the proposed plan would be that all emergencies would be planned for in advance, and the work done much better than at present. Mr. Pitney. One thing I forgot. You would have to make the pow- ers of the board of charities very general and trust to the discretion of the members of it to interpret and exercise them rightly and prop- erly, because it would not be an official body, and yet it would have some semiofficial standing, so to speak. Mr. Macfarland. My own hope would be, and I think it is the hope of the committee on charities of the board of trade, that by vir- tue of its excellence, of the value of its public work, it would receive and have the confidence and cooperation of all the people interested in charitable work of every kind, and their advice would be taken. Mr. Pitney. It would be an arm or branch of the local government, would it not-a sort of commission? Mr. Macfarland. Yes, sir. 16 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Mr. Pitney. Appointed by and under supervision of the Commis- sioners of the District? Mr. Macfarland. Yes, sir; and simply do what the Commissioners would perform if they had the necessary time to spare. Mr. Pitney. The Commissioners disburse this appropriation of $13,000? Mr. Macfarland. Yes, sir. I think $1,000 of it is disbursed through the police deparment in cases of emergency or distress. Mr. Pitney. Now, I believe you are somewhat familiar with the Board of Children's Guardians and their operations. What have you to say of the sufficiency of the powers of that Board-whether they are sufficient to make the Board as you think it ought to be? Mr. Macfarland. As to that 1 would not undertake to say, for there are details with which I am not acquainted. 1 am certain that they have recommended changes in the law, but I can not say what they are. No doubt the Board will speak for themselves. Mr. Pitney. An important recommendation which they have made is that they be furnished with a building in which to take care of the children who are their wards. Mr. Macfarland. Yes, sir. Mr. Pitney. That was part of the original scheme, but was stricken out by Congress. Mr. Macfarland. Yes, sir. In Minnesota and other States where similar boards have been successfully tried they have what is practi- cally a receiving home-a temporary place of keeping children until they are prepared to go out into homes. The theory of the Board of Guardians is that children should only be kept in institutions sufficiently long to prepare them to go into homes. They must have family care rather than institutional care; that is, they should be brought up by families rather than by institutions. Mr. McMillan. That is the plan in Michigan, but here this is done by the Board of Guardians through different institutions. Mr. Pitney. No, sir; I understand that the plan here is that the street urchin or waif should be put into some institution under sys- tematic care long enough to rub the dirt and street associations off of him and out of him, and until he is prepared to go into a home and take the home influences. They have no building here of their own, and so use the buildings which are the property of public institutions here. Mr. Macfarland. Yes, sir; I am a trustee of the Newsboys' Aid Society, and we get a number of the wards of the Board of Children's Guardians and keep them for a longer or shorter time-keep them until they are sent to homes; but it would be a very desirable thing for the Board of Children's Guardians to have their own institution, in which they could prepare children for future homes. Mr. Northway. If your scheme is carried out, are you prepared to express an opinion whether it would promote the work of charity and at a less cost per head ? Mr. Macfarland. Yes, sir; our hope is by coordinating all the charities it will increase their efficiency and lessen the cost. Mr. Northway. You have a plan in regard to distributing this appropriation of $13,000. Do you say that that has not been satisfac- torily done heretofore? Mr. Macfarland. Of course that is a mere matter of opinion. No system of almsgiving is efficient without such investigation and re- ports as are made by the Associated Charities, and without the further CHA.RITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 17 work of the Associated Charities of making friendly visits to encour- age self help. My personal opinion is that any appropriation made by Congress for what is called relief work would be more efficiently dis- bursed by the Associated Charities. Mr. Wilson calls my attention to the fact that $7,2UO were given to the physicians to the poor. Mr. Northway. Of the $13,000? Mr. Macfarland. Yes, sir; under the last apportionment. It was not always so. Mr. Wilson. It covers the physicians, and very little else. One thou- sand dollars went for emergency relief direct. This money-the $13,000- is appropriated for charities. It ought not to be appropriated in that way. It creates a false impression that there is a fund which is for direct relief. Mr. Northway. There is only $1,000 of it spent for direct relief? Mr. Wilson. Yes,sir; according to this last report. Seven thousand two hundred dollars is given to the physicians to the poor. Mr. Pitney. Congress makes an appropriation of $13,000, and out of it, as I understand, the Commissioners have been spending, or pay- ing to physicians for attending the poor, $7,200, and only $1,000 in the way of direct relief. Does any part of that $13,000 go to institutions? Mr. Wilson. Yes, sir; for the Women's Dispensary, $500; for the Aged Women's Home, $300; for coffins for the indigent dead, $300. The appropriation, however, in the past has been used again and again largely for direct relief. It ought to be used at times in part for insti- tutions. Mr. Pitney. As a kind of contingent fund, applied wherever it is most needed? Mr. Wilson. Yes, sir. Mr. McMillan. Some cities have a poor fund, a poor master, and a poor commission, having in charge the taking care of the regular poor people who make it a business to be poor and who have made it a busi- ness to be poor for many years. They are cared for all the winter by this poor master and a large sum of money is distributed in Detroit in that way, as much as $20,000 or $25,000. How much, Mr. Moore; is it more than that? Mr. Moore. Yes, sir; more than that. Mr. McMillan. The commission can only expend such amount of money as is in their control. When that is done, then the citizens con- tribute in times of great distress or extreme cases wffien there is great suffering, and raise money and put it into the hands of this commis- sion. The poor people of the District of Columbia who are regularly in need have no way of getting money except through private charities? Mr. Wilson. No, sir. Mr. McMillan. Like the central relief committee? Mr. Wilson. Yes, sir. Mr. Northway. Tell me how the poor people are cared for if the most of this appropriation is given to physicians. Mr. Pitney. I suppose, being relieved by physicians and medicines, it is thought that they will be able to take care of themselves in other respects. Mr. Macfarland. I should like to have the privilege of submitting a better statement. Mr. McMillan. We would like to have you submit a written state- ment. Mr. Pitney. I would like to ask you a question, Mr. Macfarland. I think you said that the charities are now disorganized. Nobody 8. Doc. 185 2 18 charities and reformatory institutions. seems to know how the work is being performed or how it has been car- ried on? Mr. Northway. His plan provides for a board of charities. Mr. Pitney. More particularly as to the present. Mr. Macfarland. Dr. Warner, who was appointed during the Administration of President Harrison, made a very thorough investiga- tion at that time. He made some mistakes, but he got at information which had not been published, at least in that form, before. He was satisfied that the superintendent of charities could not do the work which Congress had set him to do. Among other things in Dr. Warner's recommendations was a specific recommendation for a board of charities. It was he who first suggested the creation of a board of charities, and we have simply taken his recommendation and are now seeking to apply it, and our thought was that if such a board was created it would bring the boards and managers of all the institutions into more harmonious relations than we ever had before. Mr. Pitney. Do you think they could prevent the duplication of work? Mr. Macfarland. Yes, sir. Mr. Pitney. You know that the charters of each of these institutions prescribes what work shall be done. Mr. Macfarland. Yes, sir; that is primarily true as to all institu- tions receiving Government aid. Our opinion is that the character of this board of charities in dealing with subsidized institutions would induce the managers of private institutions to take advice, and their recommendations to Congress in their annual reports would have such weight as to improve things. Mr. McMillan. They would all work in harmony with this board, you think? Mr. Macfarland. That is our hope. That has been the experience of the State boards of charities, which have twenty-five years of experi- ence behind them. The State board of Massachusetts was created in 18GG or 18G7. Since then sixteen or seventeen other States have fol- lowed their example, and there is a long line of achievements to their credit. You know that it was through these boards that the inter- national conferences of charities and corrections were created. These conferences or meetings are held once a year and largely attended. Great reformers and philanthropists meet together to get the benefit of the experimental work throughout the country. They had a meet- ing last year in Grand Rapids, and it was the most profitable ever held. It publishes each year a report, and that is really our literature upon that subject. It seeks to promote self-help among the poor rather than reliance upon others, and this child caring work, which has for its ulti- mate object the placing of children in homes, has been doubled under the influence of these international conferences of charities and cor- rections, international because Ganada takes part with the United States. Mr. McMillan. Senator Martin, would you like to ask any questions? Mr. Martin. Mr. Macfarland, have you any knowledge on the subject of the payment of this $7,200 to the physicians to the poor? Mr. Macfarland. No, sir. Mr. Martin. You have no knowledge upon that subject? Mr. Macfarland. No, sir; but I think Mr. Wilson would know about that. Mr. Wilson. In my opinion it is a wise appropriation; we need physi- cians to the poor, but 1 think they should be appropriated for specifically. charities and reformatory institutions. 19 I do not think the money should be appropriated and called "for relief of the poor," because it is a misnomer. I believe we need physicians to the poor, and if there are other items in this schedule that are proper, they should be provided for specifically, and if money is appropriated for the "relief of the poor" it should be so used; but it is my belief that such appropriations should not be made in Washington. Mr. Macfarland. Just on that point I ought to have said that pub- lic appropriations for outdoor relief have been abolished in many cities. I believe in Brooklyn, when Seth Low became mayor, he succeeded in wiping out that appropriation on the ground that it increased depend- ency. I should like to submit a written statement if I may have that privilege. Mr McMillan. We will be glad to have it. Mr. Macfarland. I am also the chairman of the charities committee of the Civic Center. We indorse the views of the Board of Trade. Miss Hosmer is here and will be able to describe the work of the Civic Center. Mr. Janney. As to whether or not the Associated Charities has any legal status, it is an incorporated body. Mr. McMillan. The Associated Charities'? Mr. Janney. Yes, sir; I would say that it has no money of its own and dispenses no relief from its own funds, and receives no money at all except for its own administrative expenses. THE CIVIC CENTER. Mr. McMillan. Miss Hosmer, we will hear you now. Miss K. P. Hosmer. The Civic Center is an organization similar to the Civic Federation of Chicago, of which Secretary Gage was formerly president. It is an organization which invites all citizens who believe in having the city in all its departments on the very highest and best plane, to consider the conditions of the city; to learn what has been done elsewhere, and to endeavor to meet those conditions in the best way; to see that what is good here is continued and to get what is good from outside. In this way every department of the city is covered. I might say that the Civic Center attempts to oversee as citizens just as the Commissioners do as officials, and endeavors to find out what is best to be done. We therefore are very much interested in the organi- zations in the field of charities. W7e believe that Washington, from being in respect to charities more or less in a chaotic condition, can be a model, and ought to be a model, for the whole country; because it has not very many obstacles to overcome. I might say that all the various cities which are on the line of progress in such matters look to Washington and wish it to be the model. I was saying that we have very few obstacles to overcome. One of the things that other cities have had to overcome was the question of out- door relief, which results in increased pauperism and is very harmful. It is much the same as giving out all kinds of medicines, of all descrip- tions, and having the different persons who come after medicine given any kind that happens to be on hand. Now, the field of charities, we think, should be considered by a public board of charities, the same as the committee on charities of the board of trade recommends; this board should consider the whole field and be responsible officially in respect to charities as the Commissioners of the District are responsible in respect to the duties imposed upon them. That field is divided clearly into two parts, the question of private relief, and relief through public institutions. The Associated Charities 20 charities and reformatory institutions. is an unofficial body. We do not believe that it should be paid from the public funds, because it then becomes an official body. It is respon- sible to the citizens of the whole District to see that every case, worthy or unworthy, is investigated. It should be responsible in respect to every application made for relief in the District of Columbia, to see that they get the proper kind of relief. It may be work, fuel, or cloth- ing; it may be treatment of one kind or another. In that way it makes use of all the different institutions for charities in the District as well as private charities, the same as the physician makes use of all kinds of medicines for his different patients. It is therefore a purely admin- istrative society, just as the physician is paid so much for diagnosing all cases. In former times, you may know, the physician did not dare ask pay for advice, but was paid for the medicine; but now that has been spe- cialized and the patient gets his drugs from the drug store. The Asso- ciated Charities is responsible for seeing that each case gets the relief needed, whether it is indoor or outdoor. It may be that one member of a family needs to go to an asylum and another needs work. It finds that it lacks a number of medicines, as it were, or institutions, in other words. We have no inebriate asylum. We have difficulty in providing for imbecile cases. To give a practical example, one of the agents of a society said to me the other day that an application was received from a certain family. All of the children were imbeciles, and the agent said it would cost to take care of them about $1,200 a year. The agent of the Board of Children's Guardians said that that was the treatment for that family, but that with the money he had he could not take them, saying that for the same amount of money many more cases of the same kind could be treated. The work of the Associated Charities is very apt to be misun- derstood. If there are any questions that could be asked, either in general or in detail, I would be glad to answer them. Mr. McMillan. We want you to tell us about the work of the Civic Center. Mr. Pitney. That is a citizens' association interested in the general work of improvement of the city's conditions? Miss Hosmer. Yes, sir. Mr. Northway. Does it cover the same field as the Board of Trade? Miss Hosmer. It is similar to the organization of the Board of Trade, except that the Board of Trade is organized for the special pur- pose of forwarding the business interests of the city. The Civic Center has for its object to promote the welfare and interests of the city. It is merely a body to get information as to the conditions of the city and to find out what are the best remedies to apply to those conditions, to ascertain what has been done elsewhere and then to report to the proper authorities. Mr. Pitney. To make suggestions? Miss Hosmer. Yes, sir. Mr. McMillan. I believe you have taken up this question of houses in alleys? Miss Hosmer. Yes, sir. Mr. McMillan. And have made some investigation into that? Miss Hosmer. Yes, sir. Mr. McMillan. I understand there has been some effort made by the Civic Center to raise money to put up some buildings better fitted for these poor people. Miss Hosmer. Yes, sir. 21 charities and reformatory institutions. Mr. Northway. You have no fund? Miss Hosmer. No, sir. In this matter of slums, the Civic Center thought we had slums here and that nothing was being done about them. We made a preliminary investigation ourselves and had a com- mittee appointed to make an investigation. We also employed a person for two months. Upon this report we made important recommendations. Mr. Northway. To whom? Miss Hosmer. To the Civic Center and to the public generally- that the alleys should be cut through from street to street, making minor streets, and in that way to do away with blind alleys, which really make small communities of the lowest classes, isolating them from the outside. To put the recommendations of the Civic Center concisely in the matter of charities, we think the field should be cov- ered; that there should be an official body to consider the whole ques- tion. The supervision of the whole field should be in the hands of a board of charities, both relief by institutions and outside of institu- tions. The Associated Charities should be responsible for every appli- cation of persons needing relief in whatever form and to see that it is taken care of. The Associated Charities is responsible to see that every case in the District of Columbia is provided for and taken care of. Now, some cases may not be taken care of by institutions. If so, such a case it sees is provided for in some way. As to institutions, it finds many times that there is not the proper institution in which cases of certain kinds can be cared for, yet they are not able to say to any- body officially, or to the Commissioners officially, that there is this or that institution lacking, but the proposed board of public charities would have that under their control. Mr. McMillan. That is to say, that if it was proposed that there be an inebriate asylum, then this board of charities would investigate that matter and report to Congress whether such an institution was required, and if so, that so much money was needed to establish and conduct it? Miss Hosmer. Yes, sir. Mr. Pitney. You spoke about holding the board of public charities responsible. How could they be held responsible except by public sentiment? How would you hold them responsible if they failed to come up to your views? Miss Hosmer. If people fail to come up to what they should, that is their own fault. They should have as their duty the consideration of the whole question of charities-to find out and to know whether there is a proper institution for the relief of a given case on the one hand, and whether there is a proper body which can investigate every case. Mr. Pitney. To have a board composed of a sufficient number of citizens who would be in touch with the sentiment of the people, as well as to know from observation of the needs of the field? Miss Hosmer. Yes, sir; and an expert or secretary would have the guidance of it. Mr. Northway. The Civic Center, then, recommends a board of charities having supervision of the whole question of all the charities? Miss Hosmer. Yes, sir. Mr. Northway. And the Associated Charities to say how the work shall be done? Miss Hosmer. No, sir; the Associated Charities has no determining power at all. The board of charities would have that power. It would fix upon certain things to be done, and it should have the duty of making investigations in respect to the whole question and as to how much money should be expended upon them. 22 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Mr. Pitney. And have the power to determine whether they would use the Associated Charities or any other instrument to carry out their duties under the law? Miss Hosmer. Yes, sir. Mr. McMillan. They would have a general supervision? Miss Hosmer. Yes, sir; to supervise the whole field. Mr. Pitney. Your idea, Miss Hosmer, is to delegate to the board of charities, or, rather, throw upon them the responsibility of organization? Miss Hosmer. Yes, sir; if they are not already organized, and to determine those that are necessary to be organized. They should be delegated to perform certain work that the Commissioners of the Dis- trict have not the time to perform, and all the money that is given to charities by the public should be expended under their recommendation. They should have that power. Their powers would be supervisory. They would not be responsible for investigating every case, but the Associated Charities is the body that would attend to that, and see that relief was obtained. Mr. Pitney. This board of charities is to give more eyes and ears to the Commissioners of the District, and more hands-that is to say, more facilities for performing executive and administrative functions? Miss Hosmer. Yes, sir. If it will not be taking up too much time of the committee, I would like to read an extract from this paper, which shows what is done in one case that comes to the Associated Charities. It is rather interesting. Mr. Pitney. We will be very glad to have you read it. Miss Hosmer read the extract which follows: TYPICAL MARRIED VAGABONDS. Gamma madeliis first application to the Charity Organization Society seven years ago, at a time when it was even more difficult than now to find volunteer visitors who were intelligent and faithful enough to make a careful study of the needs of families placed under their charge, or courageous enough to carry out any thorough plan of treatment in these families. The man was a German cobbler who had mar- ried an American domestic, and, at that time, there were three children, one of them an imbecile with destructive tendencies, The man said he was discouraged, that he got work with difficulty and had no materials with which to do it. Materials were furnished and members of the society found work for him, but, this form of assistance not being very much to his mind, they soon lost sight of him, and it was not till several years later that the society again encountered the family in a different part of the city, and a friendly visitor was secured to study their condition and try to improve it. The visitor reported that the man was "discouraged," the house filthy beyond description, and that the life of the fourth child, then 9 months old, was endangered by the imbecile boy, who was violent at times. Aid was given, and the man's own theory being that he could do better in another neighborhood, the family was moved and otherwise aided by money secured from benevolent individuals. It soon became apparent that the man lacked energy. He was given to pious phrases, and was a good talker, but all efforts to inculcate industry or cleanliness were met by both man and wife with the excuse that the imbecile boy interfered with all their efforts. At the family's own solicitation, the society tried to find a home for this boy; after months of negotiations he was placed in the School for Feeble-Minded at Owings Mills. This burden removed, the visitor redoubled her efforts to make the home a decent one for the remaining children, but without success. The beds were not made until they were to be slept in, the dishes not washed until they must be used again, and soiled clothing was allowed to stand in soak a week at a time in hot weather until a heavy scum gathered over the top and the air was poisoned by the stench. The remaining children were unkempt and untrained, and the woman quite indifferent about their condition. The imbecile bad improved at Owings Mills, but owing to a half-expressed wish of the mother's to see the boy, Gamma brought him home and refused to take him back again. The man's good intentions always seemed to evap- orate in fine phrases. He was reported by the neighbors to be drinking, though not heavily, and one morning the visitor received a letter from him saying that she must take care of his family-he could stand it no longer and had left them. CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 23 One thing greatly handicapped the visitor at this time and later; the squalor of this family strongly appealed to chance charitable visitors, who helped them liberally because they looked miserable-helped them without knowledge and without plan. It used to be said that every American thinks he can make an after-dinner speech, and it might be added that every American, or nearly every American, thinks he can administer his own charities judiciously. When we are mistaken in our speech- making ability, we ourselves are the sufferers, but the saddest thing about our char- itable blunders is that not we but the poor people are the sufferers. The friendly visitor to the Gammas was a woman of unusual intelligence and devotion. Her failure may be traced to two causes: To the fact that she wras not called in earlier, and to the willingness of many good church people to help quite indiscriminately for the asking. They went and looked at the home, saw that it was indeed wretched, and called this "an investigation." "Yes, I've helped the Gammas," they used to say, "I've investigated their condition myself." The way in which Gamma was in the habit of talking about the Bible as his best friend made a great impression on them. The man's desertion of his family was a mere ruse. He was soon back again and ready to profit by the help they had obtained. Moving from place to place to avoid rent they were at last ejected, and the man, wife, and children, including the imbe- cile, found refuge in the stable of a kind-hearted man who took pity on them. The owner was alarmed, however, when he found the family making no effort to find other quarters, and fearing the imbecile might set fire to the place at any time he applied to the Charity Organization Society to know what could be done. We offered the woman and children shelter at the electric sewing machine rooms until the boy could be sent back to Owings Mills and the other children committed to the Henry Watson Children's Aid Society, and advised that the man saw wood at the Friendly Inn until he could get work. The man refused to go. but the woman and children came to the electric rooms and with the cooperation of the Society for the Protection of Children the imbecile was returned to Owings Mills. At this juncture, unfortunately, the daily papers interfered with our plans for the children by publishing a sensational account of Gamma as a most industrious shoe- maker, who had always supported his family until the hard times of the last year had thrown him out of work. Money was sent to the papers for the family. Gamma, who had consented to have two of the children placed in good country homes by the Henry Watson Aid Society, changed his mind, and the old story of indiscriminate charity and indiscriminate filth and neglect began all over again. The gentleman who had given them shelter thought they ought to have another trial. They had had six years' trial already, but this last one was of short dura- tion. In four months their champion returned to say that the Charity Organization Society7 was right and he was wrong, that he had found Gamma drunken, lazy, and insolent, and that children raised under his influence must become paupers and criminals. Again the family were ejected, and this time, before public sympathy could interfere, the two older children were committed to the Henry Watson Aid Society, and only the baby left with Mrs. Gamma. Our advice to Mrs. Gamma was to return to her mother, who offered her a home. But the advice was not taken. Established in another part of Baltimore, Gamma renewed his attack on the clergy, and told one minister that he was a hardened criminal who had served a term in the penitentiary, but after hearing one of his sermons he desired earnestly to reform. The latest news about the Gammas is a bit of information in which the charitable public will have to take an interest, however reluctantly, before very long-there is a new baby. One reason that I desired to read this was to show the necessity for the Associated Charities. It should have the duty of investigating and seeing that relief is applied, and the board of charities should see that the whole field is covered. I fear I have taken up too much time. Mr. McMillan. Is the superintendent of charities here? Mr. Pitney. The superintendent has sent through me an apology in writing and a physician's certificate. Mr. McMillan. Does anyone appear for the relief committee? CENTRAL RELIEF COMMITTEE. Mr. Wilson. Col. H. F. Blount, the chairman of the committee on dis- tribution, was present here this afternoon, but he was obliged to leave. He has asked me, as secretary of the central relief committee, to 24 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. present report upon the work of distribution for the past winter. Tn accordance with the resolution passed by the central relief committee at its organization, the central relief committee used the Associated Charities as the means of investigating and reporting on cases of need, and have granted relief only to families recommended by the agents of that society. We are pleased to state that we have found this arrange- ment very satisfactory. It has prevented, almost entirely,the duplica- tion of relief, and at the same time has enabled us to relieve the really needy. We found that the vast majority of the applicants for relief were already known to the agents of the Associated Charities and those cases could be quickly passed upon, while those families that were not already known were promptly visited and the circumstances exam- ined by the agents of the society. Through this personal knowledge not only was fraud and imposition prevented, but the lady visitors were able to find and relieve those families who frequently are unwilling to make public their condition. Frequently those who are loudest and most persistent in their demands for relief suffer less than the quiet self-respecting families who shrink from making their wants known at a crowded relief agency. Through the agency of the lady visitors we were able to reach these families quietly in their homes and relieve their necessities. We have not opened any central distribution agency, but have required applicants to go to the district office in the section of the city in which they reside. This arrangement we have found most satisfactory. It has prevented congestion and confusion, always found at a large central distribution agency, where people from all parts of the city come to clamor for relief. Besides, it has enabled the agents to deal much more intelligently with the applicants, because each applicant was required to make his application at the district office in the section of the city in which he resided, and the agent in charge being constantly in touch with the people in her division, knew their circumstances and was better able to deal with the cases in hand than could any person who had not formerly known anything of these people and their history. The work has been done very quietly, but it has been done effectively. Up to date relief has been granted to something over 2,000 separate families. We believe that few cases, indeed, of real suffering have been unrelieved, and, so far as we can learn, but little complaint has been made as to the manner in which the work has been done. Not only has the work been effectively, but it has been most econom- ically conducted. We have never refused to aid a family where it was deemed necessary or wise to grant relief, and yet with a fund of a little over $8,000 we have been enabled to do the work of the winter and have left a considerable balance which can be used for cases of emer- gency that arise during the summer months. We feel confident that the work of your committee will commend itself to the public who have supplied the means to enable us to carry it on, so that if in the future you should find it necessary to appeal to the pub- lic for support it would be most generously given. We do not believe in public outdoor relief work, and we think Mr. Pitney. You do not believe in indiscriminate outdoor relief work ? Mr. Wilson. No, sir. We think if it is a public body that has that work to do the money will be misused. In other cities they have large general relief societies; we have none here. We have church societies, but there are many who do not belong to churches needing relief, and CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 25 who do not belong to any beneficial societies. There should be such a society to deal with these cases, to give relief to those who have no other source of relief. The board of charities would see the necessity for it and would recommend it. We see the necessity for it and see it each year. The papers have to call for contributions. There is great demoralization sometimes. For instance, one person comes from an alley for relief. If it is given the whole alley will come, saying that such a person got it and we should have it too. Therefore this outdoor relief work should be done very quietly. Mr. McMillan. Mr. Wilson, have you anything further to say for the general relief committee of 1896 and 1897? Mr. Wilson. Colonel Blount is the chairman of the committee on distribution. The report submitted by him was considered by the full committee on March 12 last. It is stated that with a fund of a little over $8,000 we were able to do the work of the winter, and there was a little left over to do the work of the summer. Mr. McMillan. How did they get this money? Mr. Wilson. By private contribution; a little over $8,000. Mr. Northway. No public fund whatsoever? Mr. Wilson. No, sir; I do not say that I speak for the relief com- mittee. They have not been able to get together. I am here as secre- tary of the committee; still I would not undertake to speak for the committee. However, my experience is that the necessary funds for the public out door relief can be provided as they have been this winter. Two or three years ago Congress made an appropriation of $10,000 to relieve suffering, and there are many people who think that it did more than $10,000 worth of harm. The applicants for relief did not come and ask charity. They would say "We want a living and here is the money to give us a living." In the North and Northwest, in Wisconsin and Ohio both, where 1 have worked, there is a movement to curtail the amount for this character of work. There is a movement toward abolishing it in large cities. It has been done in Philadelphia. There are special reasons why it should not be in vogue here. We have here 80,000 colored people or more. During ordinary times we have almost two applicants from colored people to one white applicant. Let an emergency come when there is a little excitement, the number of white applicants will not materially increase; that is, the white people do not come in a rush, but, on the other hand, the number of applicants from among the colored people will increase enormously; we have had them increase twentyfold. Now, we have these people here; they live here at all times, summer and winter, from hand to mouth. If you establish a public out door relief fund they come around in the winter and say " I am out of work; I have nothing to do; I want relief, and there is money here to give it." You say you will investigate. You know these people are within forty eight hours of starvation most of the time. You go to the house and see absolute destitution. The money is there for relief purposes and it has to be granted. By having such a fund you take all the backbone out of these people. Mr. Northway. Suppose you do not have any money; they starve then ? Mr. Wilson. No, sir; they work then. These people can not come to you then and say this money has been appropriated by Congress for relief, and that they are entitled to it; that is, they can not claim it as a right. Nir. Pitney. No; they could not claim it as a right. Mr. Wilson. The very worst cases are these people who have an idea that we get money from Congress. Yet if you supply it, we can 26 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. not say no. These people receive it naturally, and expect it. It is not so in regard to white people. The great majority of them would rather struggle to get along. The colored people are childlike, and if we had a public outdoor relief fund their condition would be doubly dis- tressing, we think. Besides, there has never been any difficulty to raise money when needed. Washington institutions, more largely than those of any other city in this country, I think, are supported to a great extent by public money. Mr. McMillan. Have you a statement showing to what extent they are supported in that way? Mr. Wilson. No, sir. Mr. McMillan. You might make up a statement of that kind. Mr. Wilson. These institutions being supported in this way to such an extent, it leaves the burden a comparatively light one. If you have the confidence of the people you can raise the money, and, above all things, you can raise money for outdoor relief. You know how the papers write up a sensational story. We do not blame the newspapers; they help us; but in ninety nine cases out of one hundred the person who allows himself to be written about is undeserving. These people may be hungry, and what are you going to do about it? If you start to feed them they will do less for themselves. I have seen little children not bigger than that [indicating] come in to ask for relief, and have heard them say: "Well, Mr. So and-so got it, and I don't see why mamma can't get it, too." Is that not bad training-teaching them to be paupers? Mr. Pitney. Does not the same motives operate to a certain extent to increase the demand upon all the institutions; that is to say, the facility with which they can get it and the fact that there are public funds given to the institutions? Does that not increase the demands upon the institutions by people who do not need relief? Mr. Wilson. Yes, sir; but not to so large an extent, because institu- tions are not the kind of places they seek as a rule; that is, they do not want to seek the almshouse, but they might seek the hospitals. Mr. Pitney. What do you know about the operation of the Emer- gency Hospital ? Mr. Wilson. I know of it in a general way, especially of its outdoor work, but they tell me that during the past year they have been com- pelled to do a kind of permanent work, and it is therefore not quite so well able to do the real work for which it was created. They have asked us to look up some of the applicants who ask for free treatment, and they have sent us many of these cases to investigate for the reason that they believe they are not entitled to it, Mr. Pitney. How long have you been doing that? Mr. Wilson. For three months. I have not the figures for these three months made up, but not more than 5 per cent of the cases referred to us for investigation have proved fraudulent. We are not anxious to investigate these people, but it is necessary. The superin- tendent said to me the other day that since the fact was stated that applicants for free treatment would be referred to the Associated Chari- ties large numbers will not come. Mr. Pitney. Because they think your association has an acquaintance with or knowledge of professional frauds? Mr. Wilson. Yes, sir; it does not always require much investigation to ascertain that a case is not one deserving of free treatment. We find the cooperation with them very harmonious indeed. Mr. McMillan. One case has come under my observation, in which applications have been made to my family for help during the last three CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 27 or four years. I think I finally sent a note to Mr. Wilson, and he had the matter investigated. Just about Christmas time the woman, in her appeal to me, described the miseries of home without a Christmas. To my surprise she wanted to get dolls to send down to Florida, and she was in one of the Departments. Mr. Wilson. One day a gentleman living up in the northwest came to me and asked me if it would be possible for me to find out anything about a Brooklyn man from whom he had received appeals for money and who said he used to be employed with him. I said I would write to the Brooklyn authorities. We cooperate in this way. This gentle- man said that in the last eight months he had sent this man $20.50. In a confidential bulletin forwarded to me from Brooklyn, in response to my inquiries, I found that this fellow was in it under several aliases. I do not want your committee to get the idea that the object of the Associated Charities is detecting fraud. It is our endeavor to make a thorough investigation into the circumstances, and then we determine what we are going to do. We ascertain the circumstances, or, in other words, we diagnose the case before we undertake to treat it. Our inter- est extends to the whole field, and it becomes our duty to find out the circumstances surrounding a case and, if relief is needed, to apply the proper remedy. There seems to be some misunderstanding as to the work of the pro- posed board of charities; that is, whether the creation of such a board would take the place of the Associated Charities. It would not, for it would have no time, even if it had any desire, to go into the details of that work any more than the Commissioners themselves. The board would have the work of seeing that each institution was doing the work for which it was created, whether it reached its aims, just as State boards do in relation to State institutions, and of ascertaining whether a new institution was needed and of making recommendations. It would also be its duty to see that there was cooperation between the institutions. If it is the pleasure of the committee I will submit a statement with reference to public charities. Mr. McMillan. We will be glad to have it. Mr. Pitney. Do you know anything of the project of starting a hospital in Georgetown? Mr. Wilson. Only in the most general way. 1 believe there is such a project on foot under a sisterhood of the Episcopal Church, and the idea is that it shall be a private institution in its beginning. I do not know that they ask at present for public funds. I wish to bring out in the figures which I will present in my statement that nearly all of the institutions that receive public funds began as private institutionsand then came to Congress. ' Mr. McMillan. Suppose the Government should decide not to help these institutions; what would be the result? Would they go along just the same? Mr. Wilson. I think those that are necessary would. Mr. McMillan. And probably more economically? Mr. Wilson. Yes, sir. Belief can be much abused. I shall cite statements where institutions actually say "We receive people of all nationality, creed, and color," a very good object, and then turn to the taxpayers and say, "You pay for it.' Mr. Northway. Your idea is that public funds are thrown away? Mr. Wilson. That is according to the way they are used. Mr. McMillan. Is it not true that Washington is situated in respect to its institutions very differently from any other city? 28 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Mr. Wilson. Yes, sir. Mr. McMillan. Suppose you were to take these hospitals away from the care of the Government? Mr. Wilson. I would make the hospitals Government hospitals. The health officer brought out in a report the other day the case of a little boy, who was carted around from one institution to another, and not one of them would let him in. Mr. Northway. All hospitals you would have under control of law? Mr. Wilson. If citizens desire to organize and support a hospital, all right, but do not mix your public and private institutions. If you are going to give public money, let it be given to those that are not purely private institutions. Some of those receiving public money now are purely private corporations-close corporations. I was talking with an official of one of our large hospitals, a member of the board of directors. New members who wish to get in can do so by paying $10. I told him they were a close corporation. He said they were practi- cally so. I said, "You elect your own successors." He said, "Yes, sir." I then said, "You meet when you want to." He answered, "Yes." Then I said, "You are a close corporation;" to which he replied to all intents and purposes that they were. Mr. Pitney. You have given us the fact, but you have not given any names. We are sitting here as a public commission to get information for the public benefit, and I think we ought to get the name. Mr. Wilson. I will give you the name: The Central Dispensary and Emergency Hospital is a close corporation. Mr. McMillan, deceiving support from the Government? Mr. Wilson. Another thing I wish to call attention to is the report of the superintendent of the Metropolitan police. In it you will find this statement: That 333 of the cases sent to hospitals during the last fiscal year were persons who had come from Virginia and Mary- land alone, and which cases are by the sanitary officer's records classed as "afflicted with incurable diseases." These people have come into the District and were sent to District hospitals. In all, 333, which is more than one for every working day in the year. Mr. Northway. And the expense paid for by the Federal Govern- ment? Mr. Wilson. Partially so and partially not. Some of these institu- tions are supported by the Government-some receiving appropriations in the sundry civil bill, and some in the District appropriation bill. Mr. Pitney. If these appropriations are to be continued do you think the amount appropriated should be divided equally between the Federal Government and the District? Mr. Wilson. I do not know as to that. I would say that if this board is organized there ought to be some central body having author- ity-it should have supervision over all these institutions. 1 do not care to argue as to whether half ought to come out of the Federal Treasury and half out of the District treasury. As a general principle, public money should be devoted to public institutions managed by public officers. Nir. Pitney. Do you think the money ought to be given in part from the District treasury? Mr. Wilson. Yes, sir; I do not know whether it should be 50 per cent each or not; but the same percentage should be maintained throughout. Mr. Pitney. Do you know anything about the work of the Humane Society in its childcaring work? CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 29 Mr. Wilson. A little. I have come in contact with its agents from time to time, bnt have no intimate connection with its work in detail. Mr. Pitney. Not sufficient information to make a statement upon? Mr. Wilson. I would be willing to make a statement to be considered in connection with childcaring work in general. Mr. Pitney. Do you find that the work of the Humane Society duplicates that of the Board of Children's Guardians? Mr. Wilson. The cases that have come to our knowledge of children we have always referred to the Board of Children's Guardians, because that is a body entirely capable of taking charge of the work. I think that in a document submitted by Chairman McMillan last year this subject is taken up quite fully, and contains some correspondence with the Board of Children's Guardians and the Humane Society. I think it was stated in that document that there is not now reason for the two societies. Mr. Pitney. Does the fact that a child shall be put through a process of law before he can receive care through the Board of Children's Guardians prevent children or the parents of children from applying? Mr. Wilson. No, sir; the bringing up of a child is one of the most serious problems to deal with, and 1 think the public guardianship should go with public support If the child is a ward of the State, the State ought to have the right to say that it shall be brought up in a proper way. Mr. Northway. Are they able to take care of all the cases as they come ? Mr. Wilson. So far as their appropriations enable them to do so. Mr. Pitney. Is there any system here as to adults? Mr. Wilson. No, sir; and that is one of the most important recom- mendations that ought to be made. There is no law which determines who is a dependent, and there is no law determining the time of resi- dence. We have made a rule of a year's residence. Mr. Pitney. That is to say, there is no court or jurisdiction clothed with the power of saying who is sufficiently settled in the district to be entitled to public relief? Mr. Wilson. No, sir; there is not. Mr. Pitney. Suppose that should be supplied, is there any necessity for an adjudication by a judicial tribunal as to a person's title to relief? Mr. Wilson. I think if a law was enacted providing that a certain period of residence in the District entitled a person to relief, that the board of charities could properly pass upon cases coming under this law. Boards of directors of county infirmaries have the power to pass upon the degree of dependence, and I do not think it would be neces- sary to take it into court. Mr. Pitney. We have a law in New Jersey which provides for an adjudication as to whether a child shall or shall not be made a public ward. Mr. Wilson. The adult is seeking support and perfectly willing to receive it. On the other hand, it is frequently necessary to invoke the power of the court to get control of the child. Mr. Pitney. The infant is helpless. Mr. Wilson. Yes, sir. In many States they have a law providing that if the parents surrender a child to the directors of the county home, duly surrender and sign the papers in the presence of a notary, it shall not be necessary to have a trial. I would like to call attention to the fact that some of these institu- tions in their reports for the last three years show several thousand 30 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. dollars of expenditures in excess of receipts. There is no deficit carried over to the next year; and on this statement they base an argument for increased appropriations. Mr. Pitney. Does that appear in a report to Congress'? Mr. Wilson. Yes, sir; in the report of the superintendent of charities. Mr. Pitney. Please refer to the printed pages. Mr. Wilson. Page 191 and page 228. Here on page 228 of the report for 1895 it states that "our expenditures each year far exceed our receipts." You will find that running through three or four years. There may be some explanation of it. Mr. McMillan. That is a little curious. Mr. Wilson. To my mind the fundamental thing that causes this sort of condition is the appropriation of public money for private organi- zations, which encourages these institutions to admit persons freely to their "homes" in order to show that they have large numbers, and thus secure increased appropriations. There is no public authority now to pass upon such admissions. If we had a public organization, managed by public officers, it would be their aim to decrease rather than increase the number of public dependents. I only say that these reports are peculiar on their face. Air. McMillan. Well, if there is nothing further, this hearing will be closed. Thereupon (at 4 o'clock p. in.) the committee adjourned. SECOND HEAPING. REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. April 8, 1897-2 o'clock p. m. Present: lion. 0. J. Faulkner, presiding; Hon. Thomas S. Martin, Hon. Mahlon Pitney, and Hon. S. A. Northway. Senator Faulkner. Gentlemen, the meeting will please co ne to order. The first topic before the committee has reference to reforma- tory institutions. To be heard: The officers of the Reform School for Boys and the officers of the Reform School for Girls. We will take up the subject in the order the topics are suggested in the printed schedule. I suppose it is understood by the gentlemen who are to appear before the committee that we want as brief a statement as they feel they can give and do justice to the subject. Who is present representing the Reform School for Boys? THE REFORM SCHOOL FOR BOYS. Mr. Cecil Clay. I am president of the board of trustees of the Reform School for Boys. A majority of the board are here; the super- intendent of the school, and the secretary and treasurer. I presume what the committee wants, Mr. Chairman, is a reply to each of the enumerated topics as given in this printed schedule? Senator Faulkner. Yes, sir. Mr. Clay. Before I proceed, I would say that I have prepared what may be of service to the committee, a brief memorandum of replies to these several topics, which can be amplified by any questions that the committee would like to put. Do you desire an oral statement as to each topic? Senator Faulkner. If your written statement embraces your answer it will not be necessary. Mr. Clay. I can put this memorandum of replies in after I have read it. If anyone desires to ask any questions I will be glad to answer them. The first topic is in relation to the work of the Reform School and needs of the institution. The simple, broad answer to what is the work of the Reform School is the reformation of its inmates. If any- thing is desired as to the scope of that reformation of inmates it can be given. Boys who are sent there are boys who have primarily com- mitted some misdemeanor or minor offense which brings them within the scope of the courts of the District of Columbia or United States courts outside, and who are too young to be put in the penitentiary, and so are nut in the Reform School. 31 32 charities and reformatory institutions. Senator Faulkner. So you take boys from courts in other States? Mr. Clay. From United States courts. The average number of inmates is 219, of whom 69 per cent were committed by the courts of the District of Columbia, 17 per cent by the courts of the United States, and 14 per cent by the president of the board. These figures are based upon the statistics for the last five years. The school is in no sense a charitable institution, because it simply deals with boys who have com- mitted offenses or who are so incorrigible and so outside of the control of the parents that they can not be dealt with longer by them, and the aid of the State is invoked. The Reform School gets no charitable aid from any private sources, it being supported by appropriations of Congress. Senator Faulkner. You mean to say that where boys are incorrigi- ble in the States they can be sent to this Reform School? Mr. Clay. Oh, no; only incorrigible boys in the District of Columbia. They can be committed by United States courts for a misdemeanor or minor offense. The second part of the first topic is, What are the needs of the insti- tution? In this memorandum I have made a brief reply to that inquiry, under three heads: "(a) As to maintenance and running expenses the present appropriations are sufficient," except with one small exception. The law provides that the minor officials of the school, watchmen and the like, shall be appointed by the board of trustees (who are, of course, the best judges as to the needs of the institution), at salaries fixed by the board, subject to the approval of the Attorney-General. Yet for several years past the Appropriations Committee has failed to appro- priate, by $300 or $400, a sufficient amount of money to pay all the salaries. Three or four years ago they provided for these watchmen, but did not appropriate sufficient money to pay them, and so the sala- ries had to be brought down to nineteen dollars and some cents instead of $22.50 per month. But aside from that the appropriations are sufficient. The next answer to that topic is, "(b) As to buildings and improve- ments." The board has for some years recommended an appropriation for an assembly hall or chapel structure. There is no urgent need of this, but it should be provided for as soon as financial conditions war- rant it. We have to take now the largest of our school rooms for this purpose, and that is not large enough. Every Sunday afternoon we have a religious service there. Many parents and friends of the boys come, and we have the room very full. Then, of course, holding the religious services in that sort of a room does not teach the boys the proper respect for the services, and they do not have the same effect that they would have if they were held in a room specially designed for the purpose. These are the material needs of the school. Then we come to the next answer under this topic of needs of the institution, which is, " (c) As to additional legislation." The board has for years been of the opinion that the discharge from the school should be a limited, not an absolute, one; that Congress should be asked to provide by legislation for such control by the board of trustees of the boys after discharge as will enable it to reclaim and return to the school any boy who, by his bad conduct, shows himself amenable to recommitment. This control is given to institutions of like character in many of the States, and is found to work very satisfactorily. As long ago as the first session of the Fiftieth Congress, in 1888, Congress was asked to legislate in this direction, and a bill was favorably reported in the House at that session, but not passed. This recommendation of CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 33 the board has been brought to the attention of Congress by the Attor- ney-General in his annual report for several years. Now, when we dis- charge a boy we have no control over him. We may institute inquiries as to how he is getting along, make inquiries through those interested in the boy, or otherwise, but if we find him going to the bad we can not do anything. In Pennsylvania the reformatory keeps a record of boys discharged, as to their conduct, and if, in a certain period, one is going wrong, it can bring him back to the school and take charge of him. For several years back the Attorneys-General have thought-Mr. Harmon did-that that sort of legislation would be a very good thing to have. The next topic is, "Management of the school and extent of the supervision exercised by the Department of Justice." That shows two topics-management of the school and supervision exercised by the Department of Justice. The answer to that is: The earlier acts under which the lieform School was organized placed it under the control of the Secretary of the Interior, who was directed to set apart a location for it on what was then known as the Government farm. This site proving unhealthy, in the year 1872 Congress made an appropriation for the purchase of the present site and the erection of necessary buildings; the title to the land then bought and the 116 acres subse- quently purchased, in all 366 acres, was vested in the United States. The United States owns the lands in fee simple. In the same year Congress also enacted that "all and singular the powers conferred and duties enjoined by existing laws upon the Secretary of the Interior, relating to the imprisonment or discharge of convicted offenders against the laws of the United States, or to the Reform School and jail in the District of Columbia, be, and the same are hereby, transferred to the Department of Justice." The subsequent act of May 3,1876, amending the various acts relating to the school, shows more in detail the authority of the Attorney-Gen- eral over the affairs of the school. The trustees are appointed by the President upon his recommendation; officials appointed by the board of trustees have their appointment and compensation made subject to his approval; the bond which the superintendent is required to give before entering upon the duties of his office must also be approved by him; and it is to the Attorney-General that the trustees make their annual report, accompanied by that of the superintendent, treasurer, and other subordinate officers. Attorneys-General since this act took effect have personally visited the institution at proper times and been personally cognizant of its workings. It may further be said in this connection that the chief clerk of the Department of Justice has since 1887 served as one of the board of trustees, having been placed on that board upon the recommendation of the Attorney-General, primarily that the Department of Justice might keep informed of everything in con- nection with the school, and he is now the president of that board. I do not know whether the committee wants to ask anything supple- mentary to this as to the control exercised by the Department of Justice. Representative Pitney. How often, as a matter of fact, does the Attorney-General get an opportunity to visit the institution? Mr. Clay. Well, Mr. Harmon went out there once only in the two years that he was Attorney-General; I think only once. Representative Northway. Does that cover the only supervision of the Department of Justice-those visits? Mr. Clay. Oh, no. The law gives to the President the appointment of the board of trustees upon the recommendation of the Attorney - S. Doc, 185 3 34 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. General. This board acts under the direction of the Attorney-General. He nominates the members of the board and the President appoints them. The moment this board in the exercise of its authority appoints anyone it has to report that to the Attorney-General and have him approve the salary, etc. Representative Northway. What supervision do the trustees have over the school? Mr. Clay. They are the people who do the work of managing the school. They are out there from time to time and hold meetings regu- larly ou the second Monday in each month. The trustees receive no compensation whatever. Representative Pitney. Where are these meetings of the board of trustees held? Mr. Clay. At the school except in exceptional cases, such as a spe- cial meeting (as we held yesterday in regard to this matter) which was held in the city, because it would have consumed too much time to go out to the school, but the regular meetings, which occur monthly, are held at the school. The visiting committee of the board may go out there a dozen times in a month, and all the boys are examined by this committee upon having earned their honors by attention to studies in their school and good behavior, and who have arrived at a point where it is feasible for the superintendent to recommend their discharge. The names of such boys are put in the monthly report and furnished to the visiting committee, which personally examines these boys. Senator Faulkner. How many members of the board are there? Mr. Clay. Seven. Senator Faulkner. And how many members on the visiting com- mittee? Air. Clay. Two. Two of the trustees are selected to serve for each month in the year, and rotate alphabetically, one member dropping out each month and another substituted. Then there are standing com- mittees that are always at work; a building committee; a finance committee, which scrutinizes accounts; and an executive committee, which of course takes charge of matters of administration; and the school is constantly under the supervision of the trustees. Representative Pitney. Are they all residents of Washington, Col- onel Clay? Mr. Clay. Yes, sir. Representative Northway. Are all the boys sentenced to the Reform School from the District? Mr. Clay. No, sir; 17 per cent of them come from outside the District. Representative Northway. From other States? Air. Clay. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. Seventeen percent come by commitment by United States courts from outside. You do not know now what juris- dictions they come from? Air. Clay. No, sir. Representative Pitney. How great a distance do they come? Air. Clay. Some come from as far as Georgia and Tennessee, where there are no institutions of this kind closer at hand or cheaper to which they can be sent. We have one boy there from Utah. He was sent on a definite sentence for fifteen years, which ought not to have been done. Representative Pitney. Under what authority of law does the presi- dent of the board commit boys to the school? Air. Clay. Under the act of 1876, amending the previous laws as to the school. CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 35 Representative Pitney. We can find the act. Mr. Clay. It was the act of May 3, 1876, section 8. That section provides: And the president of the board of trustees may also commit to the Reform School such boys as are mentioned in the foregoing third and fourth clauses, upon applica- tion or complaint in writing of a parent, or guardian, or relative having charge of such boy, and upon such testimony in regard to the facts stated as shall be satisfac- tory to him; and for taking testimony in such cases, he is hereby empowered to administer oaths. Representative Pitney. He is given judicial functions for carrying on an inquiry as to the propriety of committing certain boys? Mr. Clay. Yes, sir; a parent comes and wants to know about putting a boy in the Reform School. I inquire why it is desired to put him there. The answer may be that he is stealing or that it is feared that he will soon be in the clutches of the police. If only one parent comes I ask where the other is living and for the name and address, stating that 1 will communicate with them further. Then I communicate with the police department and get a report from the precinct where the people live as to the boy's conduct. They may say, as they did in the last case that came to my notice, that the boy was known to the police and had been several times accused of theft and only kept from going- before the court because on account of friendship for the boy's father it was not desired that he be prosecuted. So, in this way, by applying to the president of the board, a boy can be placed in the school without the publicity of a proceeding in court. Representative Northway. The institution is reformatory and in no sense charitable? Mr. Clay. In no sense charitable. Representative Northway. It exists according to terms of law? Mr. Clay. The property belongs to the United States, the trustees holding the property in trust. Representative Northway. All purchases and expenditures are made in accordance with law, are they? Mr. Clay. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. What is the earliest age at which boys are committed? Mr. Clay. At about 10 years of age; but the law says any boy under 16 years. Representative Pitney. Are they held until they arrive at majority, or for a definite or indefinite time? Mr. Clay. That depends upon the boy's behavior. They are com- mitted until they are 21, unless sooner reformed. Sometimes they are sent there with definite sentences. Representative Northway. But the sentences are generally indefi- nite? Mr. Clay. Yes, sir; some come there from United States courts with definite sentences. Representative Northway. Is anything known of the boys after they go away from the school? Mr. Clay. There is no provision of law about that; but I will come to that later on. Representative Pitney. How long on the average are the boys there? Mr. Clay. Boys not sent there from United States courts with deter- minate sentences would be there not less than twenty months. They can not get out in less time than that. If a boy went in there-a bright, intelligent boy-and behaved himself well, was attentive to his studies, 36 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. and got no demerits at all, he would earn his honors in about twenty months; but his discharge depends upon whether the superintendent shall consider him fully reformed, even if he has earned his honors, because there are bright boys who conform to the letter of the law, paying attention to their studies, and the sharper the little rascals are the less liable they are to get demerits; so while a boy may get no demerits, yet in heart he may not be reformed. That is where the con- tact with the teachers and close supervision of the matron come into play. They get to know the traits of character and idiosyncrasies of these boys and learn all about them. You ask the matron about this or that particular boy. She will say, " This little fellow is a fine boy," and "That one is a little rascal." Representative Pitney. Can you give any idea of the percentage of reforms'? Mr. Clay. That will come a little later. Although we have no authority, we learn through friends or acquaintances, or by inquiry, what becomes of some of these boys and what they are doing. I had the superintendent-he had a very short time to do it in-make up a statement about that. He does not give their names, but refers to them by number. In his list there are 61 boys, whose whereabouts are per- fectly well known to us, and we know how they are getting along since they left the school. One is foreman of our box shop out at the school, one is a minister of the gospel, several are in the Navy, and one or two are members of the metropolitan police force of Washington; one is at college, and so on down the list. There are others who have not been reported in this list. I met a boy on the cars a few days ago. He said, "You don't remember me, do you?" I said, "Yes; I remember you; you were out at the Reform School." He told me where he was employed; that he received so much a month. I asked him if his parents were living. He said, "No," and I asked how he took care of himself. He said, "I have $103 in the savings bank." I told him he was better off than many people who were making much more than he was. The third question to be replied to is, Should the control be trans- ferred to the District authorities? The reply is: The Attorney-General being charged by law with matters relating to the imprisonment or discharge of convicted offenders against the laws of the United States as well as with matters relating to the Reform School and jail in the District of Columbia, it does not appear that any part of his duties in respect to these matters should betaken from him and put in other hands. For some years after its incorporation no appropriation was made for support of the inmates of the Reform School, the District of Columbia paying a certain sum per week for such of its boys as were committed to the school. Shortly after the adoption of the present system of government for the District of Columbia, and agreeably to the plan of placing upon the District of Columbia the obligation of sharing with the General Government in the payment of certain expenses, appro- priation was made for the support of inmates of the Reform School, one- half to be paid by the District of Columbia. Appropriations have been so made annually since. This legislation simply provided a dif- ferent method for paying for the support of such boys as should be sent to the school from the District of Columbia. Before that time the District of Columbia paid board for them. By the act of June 4, 1880, it was provided that "one of the Com- missioners of the 1 Hstrict of Columbia, to be selected by the Board of CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 37 Commissioners, shall be a trustee, with all the powers, privileges, and duties of other trustees" of the school. This was done ostensibly for the purpose of having the District see what was being done with the money. Nowr that the District is paying half of the support of the inmates of the school, instead of paying board for those from the District, it should have a representative on the board of trustees. By the act of March 3, 1881, it was provided that the officers of the Reform School should, at the end of each fiscal year, make a report to the Commissioners giving certain information as to property, employees, their employment, results, etc. This connection of the Commissioners with the school, their representation upon the board of trustees-one of their number for several years serving as president of the board- and the supervision exercised by them through the accounting officer of the District over the accounts of the school has so far worked well and amply protected the interests of the District in the school. As long as the District was paying half of the expense it was thought that it should have a report showing what was done at the school, although it was not the same report made to the Attorney-General. Since this new method of paying the expenses was established it has been the tendency to simplify as far as possible the administration of all these things. The Department of Justice should have control from its head over all those matters relating to United States prisoners. All these boys are in a sense United States prisoners. Representative Pitney. Let us think of that. Whether these boys are prisoners by law or not, it seems that it will be claimed that the Reform School in point of fact is a part of the charitable work of the District of Columbia. The other charitable organizations, whatever they may be, public or private, ought to be able to avail themselves of the advantages of that school for a certain class of charitable subjects or objects. The school, when it turns out these boys, whether it has power of control over them after release or not, might fail to accom- plish all the good that was possible, unless there are other persons charged with the duty of taking an interest in these boys after release, and of seeing not only that they have not gone wrong but of prevent- ing them from doing so. It may be claimed that the ground you cover in your work is a necessary part of the territory of the general admin- istration of charities here. Now, it has been suggested that the general charitable work might be given in charge of a board of charities, which should take actively the interest that the Commissioners of the Dis- trict now take theoretically in the work; and if that is done, if such a board should be created, would it not be advisable for that board to have representation in the Reform School and take a live interest in the work, and see that the right sort of boys are taken care of after they are sent there and after they leave? Senator Faulkner. As to these other institutions making use of the Reform School, you could not put boys in what you call a reformatory without a judicial decision or the consent of parents. Representative Pitney. If there is proof of the need of the child for the guardianship of the law, he is put in the control of the Board of Children's Guardians. Senator Faulkner. But without the cdnsent of parents you have no right to put a boy in a reformatory without the machinery of the law. Representative Pitney. What I want to know, Mr. Clay, is what your views are upon the subject of the relation of the work of the reformatory to the general charitable work of the District. Whether 38 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. they are not essentially related one to the other; whether-the work of the Reform School is not a part of the charitable work of the District, and whether they ought not to be brought into relation in the reorgani- zation of the District charities'? Mr. Clay. It might be provided bylaw that boys under the care and control of any of these charitable organizations could be committed to the Reform School. The Reform School is rather in the nature of a penal than a charitable institution, because there is an essence of pun- ishment to a certain extent. The sentence or commitment of boys is not for the purpose of providing for those whose parents can not do it, for probably all of them could be supported by their parents. They are sent there because of their conduct. Representative Pitney. But when you get down to first principles, if it is simply for purposes of punishment or for isolating inmates from the rest of society, it could be done just as well by putting them in jail. It is because it is supposed they may be reformed that boys are sent to the Reform School, and in so far as they are there for that purpose it is a charitable purpose and not a penal purpose. Mr. Clay. I would say that it would be necessary for this board, or conglomeration, of charities, under whatever head it might be, to be authorized by law, by certain process, whatever might be thought best, to commit boys to that school. Representative Northway. This board of charities, it could hardly be said, ought to have auy part in the business management of the school. Mr. Clay. No, sir; I do not think it should. Representative Northway. So far as the business control of the institution is concerned, it is similar to other institutions of like kind elsewhere, is it? Mr. Clay. Yes, sir. We have the "family" system, just as in Massa- chusetts. There is a difference, perhaps, as to the size of "families." We divide the boys up into families of not to exceed 50 or 60 and put them in separate buildings, but their meals are all eaten in the same room. To return to the paper: Any change in the direction of adding to the present authority of the Commissioners over the school would seem to be in antagonism to the tendency of recent legislation, which has increased the Attorney- General's control over the administration of the officers of the United States courts, and over all matters relating to United States prisons, prisoners, and convicts. Quite recently the appropriation for the support of the jail in the District of Columbia, one-half the expense of which, as in the case of the Reform School, is paid by the Dis- trict of Columbia, was by express enactment directed to be hereafter expended under the direction of the Attorney-General, and not by the Commissioners of the District of Columbia. Half of the expenses of the jail are paid by the District, but the Commissioners themselves do not want to have any discretion as to the payment of the expenses of that jail, and the appropriations are made to be disbursed by the Attorney-General, who has sole control. Representative Pitney. So much for the legal and financial part of it; but how about the humanity of the subject; how about practical results? Who is going to take an active interest in a boy when he leaves the school? Mr. Clay. Who does now if we don't? There is living down in Louisiana a Mr. Falls, who was president of the board of trustees before me. 1 suppose that man did not make less than three visits a CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 39 week to that school. The time he spent in working for the Reform School was sufficient, if he had given it to his profession, to have made him rich, but he actually broke himself down working in the interest of that school. Representative Pitney. I am talking about when the boys go out. You propose to provide for the machinery to get him back if he goes wrong, but there should be some way to prevent him from going wrong, if possible. Now, the relation of your work to the general charitable work of the District comes in right there. It seems to me that there ought to be some force at work to prevent these boys from going wrong. What I want to get is harmony between your institution and the others. Mr. Clay. I do not understand or think that there is any lack of harmony. Senator Martin. Suppose there was a board of charities here look- ing after the charities of the District generally, with power to appoint these trustees, do you think that supervision would be effective? Mr. Clay. I do not see exactly where anything is to be gained by having the trustees appointed by another board rather than by the President on the recommendation of the Attorney-General. Senator Martin. You say Mr. Harmon went to the school only once in two years? Mr. Clay. Yes, sir. Senator Martin. Do you not think the board of charities would go there more frequently than that ? Mr. Clay. That is the work of the trustees of the school. Senator Martin. Which would be the most efficient way to accom- plish the best results-the present one or supervision by a board of charities, or a board of commissioners to look after the charities of the District? Mr. Clay. I do not see that anything would be gained by putting the school under another board. It would merely result in multiplying supervising officers without gaining anything in execution. Senator Martin. Looking upon this school as a department of prisons rather than of charity, I would like to hear your views upon the pres- ent authority of the president of the board of trustees to commit to the institution boys who have not been convicted of a crime. Do you Miink that is a safe and proper power ? Mr. Clay. That is a matter that would be subject to considerable discussion. Senator Faulkner. Tie does not do it now without the consent of the boy's parents. Mr. Clay. He has to guard against attempts of parents who want to relieve themselves of expense by putting their boys in the school. The only way he can do this is by getting evidence from neighbors as to the boy's conduct or through the police department, and such evidence as can be gotten in any other way, to see if the case is a proper one. As to this matter of the authority of the president of the board to commit boys, I have no interest in that oneway or the other; it throws a great amount of work upon me and requires the exercise of much care. The people who swear or make affidavit before the president of the board know they are making an oath, but a majority of them do not know they would not be amenable to action for perjury. The thing that has to be guarded against is the attempt of parents to defraud the Govern- ment in this way. Senator Faulkner. What is your experience as to that? 40 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Mr. Clay. The experience is that we do not get many boys out there in that way, because we exercise too much care. Senator Faulkner. Is there any effort to get boys in there by guardians in that way? Mr. Clay. Not since I have been there. There was one case that was exploited in the courts here sometime ago of a boy who was put there ou request of his guardian, but that is rather a long story to discuss now. Senator Martin. You think it is a criminal institution rather than a charitable one? Mr. Clay. Yes, sir: just such as there are in many States. At the Elmira Reformatory they take persons up to 30 or 35 years. Representative Pitney. Have you stated the capacity of the school? Mr. Clay. It is about 250; we have now 225. Representative Pitney. How many different buildings? Mr. Clay. We have four family buildings. One is the original building, the large main building; then there are three other family buildings. In each of those buildings there is a dormitory, rooms for officials in charge of the building, for two teachers, watchmen and matron, and also a schoolroom, fitted up with desks, blackboards, etc.- a regular schoolroom. Half of the family is under one teacher in the schoolroom while the other half is at work in the shops or on the farm; they alternate in that way. Senator Martin. You do not admit them over 16 years of age? Mr. Clay. No, sir. Representative Pitney. What is the proportion of white and col- ored at the school ? Mr. Clay. I can not tell you at the moment. Perhaps the superin- tendent can. Mr. Shallenberger, what is the proportion of colored and white? Mr. Shallenberger. A little over one-half are colored; probably 120 as against 95. Representative Pitney. What sort of instruction do the boys get? Do they get industrial training? Mr. Clay. Yes, sir; we have Senator Faulkner. He says that half are at work on the farm and in the shops, while the other half are at school. Mr. Clay. We have a paper-box industry there which employs 70 boys, which turns into the United States Treasury from $2,500 to $3,000 every year. We have a shoe shop, a tailor shop, and carpenter shop; and we have a system of manual training which we are now introduc- ing, the Sloyd system-that is, we are extending that system. We have boys employed in the bakery, and in the greenhouses under a florist, and under the engineer, who, with the aid of the boys, keeps the plumbing in order. Then there are boys employed in the laundry and in the stables and on the farm; also in the dining room. Representative Northway. What restraint is exercised over them during the day? Mr. Clay. Simply moral restraint. There are no walls around the place, but the boys are never out of the sight of their teachers. It is very curious to see how few attempt to get away or leave the school. We had 110 boys committed to the school last year, aud of these we lost but 4 by walking off. Representative Northway. It is a matter of curious study at such institutions in our various States to see how few do try to escape. CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 41 Representative Pitney. It is the way with jails, that many try to break in. Mr. Clay. It takes more to reform a boy than giving him instruction in studies and in manual training, because, as I said, the sharpest little rascal may be the best behaved and be entitled technically to discharge in the shortest time. There is a provision in the law which says that no boy shall be discharged by the trustees until the superintendent recommends it, and under that we do not retain him if the superintend- ent says he is fully reformed. Representative Northway. But you discharge them on reaching the age of 21 ? Mr. Clay. Oh, yes. Speaking about the element of reformation, our endeavor is to keep the grounds around the school in thorough and beautiful condition, and to keep the buildings clean and painted; this is done by the work of the boys. You can go into any of the dormi- tories and wipe up the floor with your handkerchief and you will have it as clean as that paper. You can see the effect of the surroundings upon a boy in a very little time after he is there. Personal cleanliness will lead to moral cleanliness. They are never out of the sight of the watchmen all night long; no part of the dormitory is out of the sight of the watchman. Each of the boys has a separate iron bedstead. In general, the school is kept in such a way that many of these young scamps know that they are in a better place than they would be at home, and therefore do not want to run away. If there were walls, they would be constantly planning escape, because if a boy sees a wall to keep him in he will surely want to get over it. Instead of that, they know they have a good place to be. We work practically all of them in the summer time on the farm, and while we are doing this, we also keep the buildings in order. We try to make the place support itself. All the offal that comes from the dining room goes to the piggery. We have our own piggery and smoke-house, and make our own bacon; we raise our own farm products, and dispose of some, the receipts from which go to the Treasury, as you will see from our report for the year. I did not read the last part of the reply to the question of placing the school under District authority. I will finish it now: Ignite recently the appropriations for the support of the jail in the District of Columbia-one-half the expense of which, as in the case of the Reform School, is paid by the District of Columbia-was by express enactment directed to be hereafter expended under the direction of the Attorney-General, and not by the Commissioners of the District of Columbia. To preserve the unity of purpose indicated by this legis- lation, the same provision should be enacted in regard to the appro- priation for the Reform School, the desirability and propriety of which has been heretofore advocated by the Commissioners themselves. When the payment of half the expenses of the jail was first put on the District of Columbia, the appropriation was made to be disbursed by the District Commissioners, but at the very next session this was put under the Attorney-General. Only last year Commissioner Ross told me that he proposed to have that very clause inserted in the appropriation for the Reform School, as he thought it should be dis- bursed by the Attorney-General. If the vouchers for the expenditures of that school are examined, as are those of the jail, in the Department of Justice, under the new system we have, they would get a thorough examination, and that is what the board would very much like to have. The only fault the board has to find with the people of the District, 42 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. and with certain Members of Congress who have heretofore been appointed as consulting trustees, one by the Senate and one by the House of Representatives, is that they do not come out there and see what is done and how the school is carried on, and we would be very much gratified if this committee would come out and look at the school. Representative Northway. Tlow far is it out to the school? Mr. Clay. About 3 miles northeast of the city, at the District line. Now as to topics 5,6, and 7. I supposed that No. 5 probably referred only to the Reform School for Girls. Senator Faulkner. That refers to the Reform School for Girls more particularly. Mr. Clay. The seventh topic is, "What becomes of boys and girls discharged from these schools?" We have put in answers to topics 5 and 6 also, so that you can refer to them if you care to. I will file this memorandum of replies and also this list of 61 boys, showing their whereabouts and occupations since leaving the school. The statement and list referred to are as follows: MEMORANDUM OF REPLIES TO QUESTIONS OF THE JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE ON CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA BY THE REFORM SCHOOL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. Question 1. What is the work of the Reform School? Answer. The reformation of its inmates. The average number of these is 219, of whom 69 per cent are committed by the courts of the District of Columbia, 17 per cent by the courts of the United States, and 14 per cent by the president of the board. Question 1. What are the needs of the institution? Answer. (a) As to maintenance and running expenses the present appropriations are sufficient. (6) As to buildings and improvements: The board has for some years recommended an appropriation for an assembly hall or chapel structure. There is no urgent need of this, but it should be provided for as soon as financial conditions warrant it. (c) As to additional legislation: The board has for years been of the opinion that the discharge from the school should be a limited, not an absolute, one; that Congress should be asked to provide by legislation for such control by the board of trustees of the boys after discharge as will enable it to reclaim and return to the school any boy who, by his bad conduct, shows himself amenable to recommitment. This control is given to institutions of like character in many of the States, and is found to work very satisfactorily. As long ago as the first session of the Fiftieth Congress, in 1888, Congress was asked to legislate in this direction, and a bill was favorably reported in the House at that session, but not passed. This recommendation of the board has been brought to the attention of Congress by the Attorney-General in his annual report for several years. Question 2. What is "the management of the school and extent of supervision exercised by the Department of Justice?" Answer. The earlier acts under which the Reform School was organ- ized placed it under the control of the Secretary of the Interior, who was directed to set apart a location for it on what was then known as the Government farm. This site proving unhealthy, in the year 1872 Congress made an appropriation for the purchase of the present site CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 43 and the erection of necessary buildings, the title to the land then bought and the 116 acres subsequently purchased, in all 366 acres, was vested in the United States. In the same year Congress also enacted that " all and singular the powers conferred and duties enjoined by existing laws upon the Secre- tary of the Interior, relating to the imprisonment or discharge of con- victed offenders against the laws of the United States, or to the Reform School and jail in the District of Columbia, be, and the same are hereby, transferred to the Department of Justice." The subsequent act of May 3,1876, amending the various acts relat- ing to the school shows more in detail the authority of the Attorney- General over the affairs of the school. The trustees are appointed by the President upon his recommendation; officials appointed by the board of trustees have their appointment and compensation made sub- ject to his approval; the bond which the superintendent is required to give before entering upon the duties of his office must also be approved by him; and it is to the Attorney General that the trustees make their annual report, accompanied by that of the superintendent, treasurer, and other subordinate officers. Attorneys General since this act took effect have personally visited the institution at proper times and been personally cognizant of its workings. It may further be said in this connection that the chief clerk of the Department of Justice has since 1887 served as one of the board of trustees, and that he is now the president of that board. Question 3. Should the control be transferred to the District authorities? Answer. The Attorney General being charged by law with matters relating to the imprisonment or discharge of convicted offenders against the laws of the United States, as well as with matters relating to the Reform School and jail in the District of Columbia, it does not appear that any part of his duties in respect to these matters should be taken from him and put in other hands. For some years after its incorporation no appropriation was made for support of the inmates of the Reform School-the District of Colum- bia paying a certain sum per week for such of its boys as were com mitted to the school. Shortly after the adoption of the present system of government for the District of Columbia and agreeably to the plan of placing upon the District of Columbia the obligation of sharing with the General Government in the payment of certain expenses, appropriation was made for the support of inmates of the Reform School, one-half to be paid by the District of Columbia. Appropriations have been so made annually since. This legislation simply provided a dif- ferent method for paying for the support of such boys as should be sent to the school from the District of Columbia. Before that time the District of Columbia paid board for them. By the act of June 4, 1880, it was provided that "one of the Com- missioners of the District of Columbia, to be selected by the Board of Commissioners, shall be a trustee, with all the powers, privileges, and duties of other trustees" of the school. And by the act of March 3, 1881, it was provided that the officers of the Reform School should at the end of each fiscal year make a report to the Commissioners giving certain information as to property, employees, their employment, results, etc. This connection of the Commissioners with the school, their rep- resentation upon the board of trustees-one of their number for several years serving as president of the board-and the supervision exercised by them through the accounting officer of the District over the accounts 44 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. of the school has so far worked well and amply protected the interests of the District in the school. Any change in the direction of adding to the present authority of the Commissioners over the school would seem to be in antagonism to the tendency of recent legislation, which has increased the Attorney- General's control over the administration of the offices of the United States courts and over all matters relating to United States prisons, prisoners, and convicts. Quite recently the appropriations for the sup- port of the jail in the District of Columbia, one-half the expense of which, as in the case of the Reform School, is paid by the District of Columbia, was by express enactment directed to be hereafter expended under the direction of the Attorney-General and not by the Commissioners of the District of Columbia. To reserve the unity of purpose indicated by this legislation, the same provision should be enacted in regard to the appropriation for the Reform School, the desirability and propriety of which has been heretofore advocated by the Commissioners themselves. Question 5. Does the school provide for all necessary cases? Answer. On several occasions in the history of the school, before the erection of its latest buildings, it was necessary to request the courts to suspend commitments because of the lack of accommodations. No such suspension has been asked since the completion of the last family building. Question 6. Conditions of the most economical management. Answer. The cost per head of subsistence, housing, clothing, and gen- erally caring for the boys in the school is below the cost in similar institutions elsewhere in this country. Question 7. What becomes of boys discharged from the school? Answer. Up to the 31st of March, 1897, there had been received in the school 2,230 boys, of whom 225 remain. Owing to the absence of the desired legislation, as has already been stated, an accurate record of the career of boys subsequent to their discharge can not be shown, but in a general way the results achieved by a large proportion have been in every way satisfactory to the board and indicated the usefulness and helpfulness of the school. A few typical cases are submitted-these without names, but their identity is complete-and all are well known to those in the present management of the school. Partial record of discharged hoys. Reform School, D. C., April 1, 1S97. Num- ber. Color. Employment. Address. 1162 Colored Coachman Washington, D. C. 1170 White Blacksmith Do. 1182 do In business Baltimore, Md. 1183 do do XV ashingtou, I). C. 1209 Colored Barber Do. 1246 White Minister of gospel Bookkeeper. Baltimore and Potomac. Kailroad Telegraph operator, Baltimore and Potomac Kailroad.. Nevada. 1465 do Washington, D. C. 1466 do Do. 1468 Colored Doing well, high school Do. 1718 White do Do. 935 Colored do Oxford, Ala. 169 White do Washington, D. C. 280 .... do In business Do. 1055 Colored Driver, XV ashington Brick Co In business, Center Market Do. 813 White Do. 1355 do Doing well Do. 1866 do do Terre Haute, Ind. CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 45 Partial record of discharged boys-Continued. Num- ber. Color. Employment. Address. 509 White Metropolitan police Washington, D. C. 1716 do Carpenter Do. 218 do Foreman box shop, Beform School Do. 1206 do Doing well Do. 2022 do Baker Do. 2001 Colored Doing well Do. 1739 White ...... United States Naw.... 1310 do Tinner Do. 1004 do In business do do Do. 1992 Colored Coachman Washington, D. C. 1968 do United States Navy 1961 White United Stales marine Do. 1517 do Doing well Do. 1560 do ... On Baltimore and Ohio Bailroad Do. 1536 do With his fat her Do. 1523 do United States Navy, petty officer 1514 do Fire Department, District of Columbia Do. 1057 .. .do ... In business Do. 1277 .. .do Doing well 1284 Colored Barber Do. 1303 White Baker Do. 1877 Colored Porter in store Do. 1958 White ..... Bookkeeper .' Do. 1120 Colored..... Coachman Do. 1125 do United States Army 1252 do Driver for a business firm Do. 1224 White Metropolitan police Do. 1140 do In business Philadelphia, Pa. 1214 Colored. Butler 1493 White At college 1491 Colored Doing well Do. 1870 White do Do. 1888 do Beal estate............................................. Do. 1902 Colored Doing well Do. 1914 White United States marine. Do. 1922 do United States Navy Do. 1318 do Clerk in a bank Do. 748 do Manager of opera company 415 do Farmer in Maryland-owns farm 1477 do In business 807 do ... Telegraph 1932 do In business, tailoring 1704 do Doing well - Senator Faulkner. Is there anything else, Colonel, that you want the committee to hear? Mr. Clay. I think not. Representative Northway. You think you have covered everything, do you? Mr. Clay. Yes, sir. Senator Faulkner. Does the board of trustees agree to this state- ment in regard to the school which you have filed? Mr. Clay. Yes, sir; that embodies the board's ideas. It was sub- mitted to the board at a meeting held yesterday. It is also the idea of the Department of Justice; that is, in regard to control of the school. I would like to say just this on the point about how often the Attor- ney-General visits the school. It seems to me that that has very little bearing upon the question of taking it out of the control of the Depart- ment of Justice. You might just as well ask how often he goes to the Fort Leavenworth Penitentiary. It is the Department of Justice that has this control, not the Attorney-General individually; it is through the Department of Justice, and any of you gentlemen who are acquainted with the provisions about prisoners and prison accounts will see that you can not have very much better control or management of those interests than they get now under the Department of Justice, 46 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Senator Faulkner. I think it was an admirable idea of putting the chief clerk on the board. Mr. Clay. Thank you. Senator Faulkner. You have the Department in full touch. THE REFORM SCHOOL FOR GIRLS. Senator Faulkner. Who is present representing the lieform School for Girls? Mr. William C. Endicott, Jr. I am president of the board of trus- tees of the Reform School lor Girls, and I have prepared a statement covering the operations of the school and its needs. 1 only learned of this hearing late yesterday afternoon, and therefore have not had an opportunity to submit the statement to the board of trustees. The state- ment contains practically what has been recommended in the annual reports of the board for the past three years; that is, since the school was first opened. One thing 1 wish to call attention to is that the appropriations for the Reform School for Girls have always been made in the District appro- priation bill, under the head of charities. Both Attorney-G eneral Olney and Attorney-General Harmon have recommended that it be placed under the head of reformatories and prisons, as is done in the case of the Reform School for Boys. The officers that are appointed by the board of trustees are confirmed by the Commissioners of the District. That is practically the only difference between the institutions. 1 have always thought that the institution was in no sense a charitable one. Having it under the head of charities has from time to time led to more or less complication. 1 think what is most desirable for the welfare of the school is that the powers be concentrated as much as possible in one place. For the first two years the Commissioners of the District disbursed the funds. We tried very hard to get them to agree to the appointment of a treas- urer of the school, but they put it off from time to time, and that led to difficulty, because we never knew how the accounts stood. Finally, last year-it was in the autumn of 1895-we did appoint a treasurer, and subsequently the appointment was confirmed by the Commissioners. Since then the funds have been disbursed through the treasurer. Representative Northway. Upon whose order? He disburses the funds, but upon whose order ? Mr. Endicott. Of the finance committee. Representative Northway. Of the board of trustees? Mr. Endicott. Yes, sir. The members of the board of trustees are appointed in exactly the same way as the board of trustees of the Reform School for Boys. The superintendent of the school makes requisition for supplies for the ensuing month, and these requisitions are submitted to the trustees at their monthly meetings, which are held on the last Friday of every month. They authorize the president to approve these requisitions, and if approved the superintendent takes them to who- ever the supplies are to be purchased from. Then all the bills for expenditures are audited by the finance committee. Senator Faulkner. Are commitments to this school the same as to the boy's school? Mr. Endicott. Yes, sir. Senator Faulkner. The same authorities? Mr. Endicott. Yes, sir. On July 9,1888, Congress passed an act to incorporate the Reform School for Girls of the District of Columbia, and CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 47 by said act nine trustees aud their successors were created a body cor- porate, to be known as the board of trustees of the Girls' lieform School of die District of Columbia. On July 14,1892, Congress, in the District of Columbia appropriation bill, appropriated $35,000 for the erection aud completion according to plans and specifications to be prepared by the inspector of buildings and approved by the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, of a suitable building or buildings to be used as a Reform School for Girls, to be expended under the direction of said Commissioners. It was also stipulated that said building should be erected on laud belonging to the Government, to be selected by the Attorney-General, the Secretary of War, and the Engineer Commis- sioner of the District of Columbia. The land selected upon which to erect the Girls' Reform School is at the corner of the Conduit and Loughborough roads, and was an old farm of about 19 acres. The building was built in accordance with the act of Congress, and on or about November 1,1893, was handed over by the Commissioners of the District to the board of trustees of the Reform School of the District of Columbia. The title to the real and personal property of this institu- tion is vested in the board of trustees, and at the dissolution of the said corporation, or if it should cease for the space of six months to maintain a reform school for girls, all the property, real and personal, of said corporation would vest in the United States. The trustees are appointed by the President of the United States upon the recommendation of the Attorney-General, each for the term of three years, but in such manner that the terms of not more than three of them shall expire within any one or the same year. The said board of trustees has authority to appoint such officers, agents, teachers, and other employees as may be necessary, and to fix the rate of com- pensation of tbe same, subject to the approval of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia. The president of the board of trustees each year makes an annual report to the Attorney-General, to be accompanied by the annual report of the superintendent and treasurer. Since the founding of the institution the Girls' Reform School of the District of Columbia has been placed under the head of charities and corrections in the District of Columbia appropriation bills, while the Boys' Reform School has been placed under the head of reformatories and prisons. This has led to trouble. Attorney-General Olney and Attorney-General Harmon have both recommended that in the District appropriation bill the Girls' Reform School be placed under the head of reformatories and prisons, as the school is not in any sense a chari- table institution. It has further been urged that it is for the interest of the school that the appointments made by the board of trustees should be confirmed or approved by the Attorney-General, and not by the District Commissioners as at present. This would avoid delay and would place the Girls' Reform School in the same relation to the Department of Justice as the Boys' Reform School. The present method of confirmation of officers gives rise to unnecessary trouble and inconvenience. Number of girls committed to the school since its opening, G2; num- ber of girls released, 38. The following classes of girls are committed to the school: The judges of the criminal and police courts of the District of Columbia have power to commit to the school (1) any girl under 18 years of age who may be liable to punishment by imprisonment under any existing law of the District of Columbia; (2) any girl under the age of 18, with the 48 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. consent of her parent or guardian, against whom any charge of commit- ting any crime or misdemeanor shall have been made the punishment of which on conviction would be confinement in jail or prison; (3) any girl under 18 who is destitute of a suitable home and adequate means of obtaining an honest living and who is in danger of being brought up or is brought up to lead an idle and vicious life; (4) any girl under 18 who is incorrigible or habitually disregards the commands of her father or mother or guardian, who leads a vagrant life, or resorts to immoral places or practices, or neglects or refuses to perform labor suitable to her years and condition, or to attend school. The president of the board of trustees may commit such girls as are mentioned in the foregoing third and fourth classes upon application or complaint in writing of a parent or guardian or relative having charge of such girl, and upon such testi- mony in regard to the facts stated as shall be satisfactory to him. Fifty-one girls have been committed by the police court; nine girls by the president of the board of trustees; two girls by the supreme court of the District of Columbia. When the president of the board commits girls to the institution, it has been the custom to take a sworn statement from the parent or guardian, or relative having charge of such child, and then to place said papers in the hands of the police, who investi- gate the matter and report to the trustees whether the statements made by the applicant are true. Girls, unless sooner discharged, are committed to the institution until 21 years of age. It is earnestly desired that Congress should appropriate $50,000, in order that ninety or more rooms could be added to the school. At present the institution is built to accommodate twenty-seven girls only. The building is ill adapted to its uses in every respect. When it was handed over to us by the Commissioners of the District there were no gratings upon the windows, no fire escapes upon the building, the system of plumbing and heating was as bad as it could be-so much so that for the year ending June 30, 1897, Congress appropriated for erec- tion of fire escapes $500; for changing from Smead heating system to steam heating and changing the plumbing, $2,200; there were no proper locks upon the doors of the building. In fact the trustees have been compelled from time to time to spend a great deal of money in making the institution one from which it is impossible to escape. At present there are four women officers in the institution and four men connected with the place. It is absolutely impossible to separate good from bad girls. Innocent children who have never committed crime are thrown with criminals. The building is constructed in such a way that the girls can not be separated. If Congress will appropriate $50,000, the same force of officers, with possibly two additional teachers, could run the entire institution. Though the number of girls is small at present, it is impossible to leave them alone, and some one of the women con- nected with the institution have to be on hand at all times. At present I can not say that the institution is run economically, owing to the small number of inmates, but if the school can be increased, the cost per capita would be reduced, so that it would be no more expensive to sup- port girls in this institution than in other reformatory institutions in this country. The school has the reputation of being a colored girls' reform school, but is for the reception of both white and colored girls. There is no way of separating white and colored girls, and thus only colored girls have been committed to our care. I am informed by the judges of the police court that there is great need for an increase in the capac- ity of this school, and that arrangements should be made so that white 49 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. as well as colored girls could be received. At present, many white girls who, provided the institution was large enough, would be sent to the Reform School are sent to the jail or the workhouse, where they associate at once with criminals, and where the chance for reformation becomes less and less, probably, each day they are there. The House of the Good Shepherd in Washington and the House of Mercy have for some time been active in their efforts to reform white girls, and each year receive a large number of these girls who otherwise would be sent to the jail or workhouse. Until the Girls' Reform School was established no effort was made in the District of Columbia to reform colored girls, as these institutions above referred to have no means for accommodating them. If this appropriation should be made by Con- gress, as requested, I would suggest that the plans for such an addition to the school, when carefully prepared by an architect under the direc- tion of the board of trustees of the school, be submitted to the Attorney- General of the United States and the Engineer Commissioner of the District for their approval. The plans of the present building, as pre- pared by the inspector of buildings and approved by the Commissioners of the District of Columbia (though the trustees took infinite pains to find out the best system followed in the country for such an institution, submitted such plans to the Commissioners and urged their adoption), have been proved to be as bad as possible. On October 28, 1896, a treasurer was appointed by the trustees, which appointment was approved by the Commissioners of the District of Columbia on December 18, 1896, on condition that no liability for salary be incurred until an appropriation is made therefor by Congress. The salary was fixed by the trustees at $600, as this appeared to be a fair compensation, particularly in view of the fact that the treasurer is obliged to give a bond with two or more sureties, to be approved by the First Comptroller of the Treasury, in the sum of $20,000, conditioned that she shall faithfully account for all money received by her as treas- urer. Thi s bond is the same as the treasurer of the Reform School gives, as the same law in this respect applies to both schools. On June 8, 1896, in the general deficiency bill, an appropriation was made to pay the treasurer a salary of $50 per month, from January 1 to June 30, 1896. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 1897, Congress has failed to make an appropriation, and numerous efforts have been made to obtain an appropriation of $50 per month in the deficiency bill to pay the treasurer, which thus far have not been successful. For the year end- ing June 30, 1898, Congress has appropriated $300 only to pay the treasurer. In view of the law establishing the office of treasurer, it seems to be unjust that the salary of the treasurer should have been reduced one- half. Up to the time the treasurer was appointed by the school, the funds of the institution were disbursed by the Commissioners of the District. The reason why a treasurer was not appointed, in the first place, was owing to opposition on the part of the Commissioners of the District and the commissioner of charities, and it is quite evident that during the three years preceding the appointment of the treasurer the funds were disbursed by the Commissioners of the District without any authority of law. The trustees were powerless to do anything in regard to this, as the appointment could not be made without the approval of the Commissioners. The delay in approving the appointment of a treas- urer would seem to show how desirable it is that the law, as requested above, should be altered so that the appointments are approved by the Attorney-General. S. Doc. 185 4 50 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Representative Northway. Are the girls permitted to go out of doors, to roam at will? Mr. Endicott. No, sir; except under the eye of some one. Senator Martin. Has the president of your institution the power to commit girls without some legal process'? Mr. Endicott. No, sir; he has not that power, but there is commit- ment after a careful examination of all the facts in any particular case. For instance, before I commit a child I see his or her parents or guard- ians, and I take their sworn statement. I inform myself as best I can of the merits of the case, and put the papers in the hands of the police to make a reportabout it. So far as I know, since I have been presi- dent of the school, or since the opening of the school in November, 1893- 1 have committed nine girls-there has never been any difficulty about commitment. The girls committed certainly were girls who ought prop- erly to have been committed. Representative Northway. Are most of the commitments for crimes ? Mr. Endicott. Yes; most of the inmates are incorrigibles. I might better give information on that point by referring the committee to this report, which gives the statistics as to commitments and the causes for which the girls have been placed in the school. (Mr. Endicott submit- ted here the annual report of the Reform School for Girls for the year 1896.) Representative Northway. Read us some of the cases. Mr. Endicott. Well, I find here, for instance, in the list of offenses since the opening of the school, 27 for incorrigibility, 1 for malicious mischief, 1 for assault, 13 for vagrancy, 1 for horse stealing, 19 for lar- ceny. I think that the saddest thing about the institution is that girls are placed here who have committed crimes and who come often from very bad places in Washington. These criminals so committed are thrown in contact with little girls who may be wild but who have never committed a crime. Representative Northway. Have you no power of separation, no way of preventing this contact of the fairly good with the criminal classes'? Mr. Endicott. No, sir; it would take some time to explain that. The building was originally erected, in accordance with a law of Con- gress, under the supervision of the inspector of buildings of the District of Columbia, and it was turned over to Representative Northway. My question was directed only as to whether you had the power of classifying and separating the various grades of criminal, or rather, as 1 said, to separate the fairly good from the very bad. Mr. Endicott. I was just coming to that. The building was handed over to the trustees by the Commissioners. The trustees had investi- gated the matter of buildings and had inquired into it very carefully. They obtained plans which they considered the best for the purpose in hand, and they urged upon the Commissioners that these plans be adopted. Instead of this the inspector erected a building that is per- fectly useless for the particular purpose to which it is put. When it was handed over to us, it had no gratings on the windows; no locks on the doors that were of any use; the locks were the sort we have in private houses. In fact, the building was put up in such a way that it is impossible to separate the good from the bad girls. Representative Pitney. What is the maximum capacity of the school ? Mr. Endicott. Twenty-seven girls. Representative Pitney. Is it full ail the time? Mr. Endicott. Yes, sir. 51 charities and reformatory institutions. Representative Pitney. How much ground have you? Mr. Endicott. About 19 acres. Representative Pitney. Surrounded by a wall? Mr. Endicott. No, sir; there is a lot in which the girls are allowed to play, and they work in the fields, as they have done more or less before coming to the school; and besides, someone connected with the institution is always watching them. There are four men on the place- overseer, engineer, night watchman, and laborer. Senator Faulkner. Have you been able to make any progress with these girls-any moral progress? Mr. Endicott. Yes; I think we have been doing something toward their reformation. Since the school has been opened, 62 girls have been admitted and 38 have been released. Of the 38 some have been returned to the school-I don't know the number; but a great many of them have turned out well. I think some of the ladies have kept track of them and can give you more definite information on this point. Senator Martin. Do you need a capacity beyond that which you now have? Mr. Endicott. Yes, sir; what we have been urging is that Congress shall give us $50,000 to increase the room and efficiency of the school. If Congress will do that, we can build a building in such a way as to be able to separate the criminals from the other girls; and then we could admit white girls. All there now are colored, although it was designed as a reformatory for both white and colored. Representative Northway. They regard it as hard punishment to be there, do they not? Mr. Endicott. Yes, sir; with the exception, perhaps, of those who like the institution. Representative Pitney. What do you teach them? Mr. Endicott. Well, they are taught to do cooking, washing, iron- ing, and all that kind of thing. I might say that in the work and in every other way we do separate the bad from the good as far as possible. Representative Northway. What becomes of the white girls? You say the institution was intended for both white and colored? Mr. Endicott. Yes; the white girls go to jail or to the workhouse. A great many are received in the House of the Good Shepherd in Georgetown, and a great many in the House of Mercy. Representative Northway. How are they treated in jail? Mr. Endicott. Just as other prisoners are, you know. Representative Northway. Incorrigibles, merely incorrigibles; girls who are not guilty of any criminal act are not sent to jail, are they? Mr. Endicott. I think, up to the time the school was established, that as fast as even the little girls were brought before the courts they were sent to jail, and they are sent there now sometimes, I am informed. Representative Northway. White girls, too? Mr. Endicott. Yes, sir. Representative Northway. Well, that is barbarous. Mr. Endicott. That might be remedied; and it could be, as I said, because the school is an institution for both white and colored, if the school were increased. We have already gone to great expense, but if the accommodations were increased so that we could receive 90 or even 100 girls, or 125 or 130, we would have to add but very few extra officers; probably two teachers would be all the additional help required to run it. Some extra force is necessary, because you see these girls are per- fectly crazy to escape; they like to get away; you have to watch them all the time. 52 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Representative Pitney. You have heard to-day something about the system and management of the Boys' Reform School? Mr. Endicott. Yes. Representative Pitney. It does not appear that it is necessary to keep the boys under this constant restraint you speak of at the girls' school. Mr. Endicott. Perhaps not. I do not know how it would be if we had to deal with white girls, but it is impossible to adopt any other means with colored girls. Senator Martin. Are they low in intellect generally? Mr. Endicott. Yes, but I think they are very quick to learn. Senator Faulkner. But that is only to a certain extent? Mr. Endicott. Yes. Senator Faulkner. What are they taught? Mr. Endicott. They teach them to read, to write, geography, and the elementary things that are taught in school. Besides, they are taught to cook. They divide the school into different sections, which work at different times. Thus for a certain time a number of the girls would be in the kitchen, others in the laundry, and others at various other kinds of work. Representative Pitney. You teach them sewing? Mr. Endicott. Of course; and from what I have heard about girls who are put to housework they are considered to be well trained. Representative Pitney. But a good many of them were originally vicious ? Mr. Endicott. Yes, a great many of them; for when the school was first opened there was very little to prevent them from escaping, and every year we have had to guard more and more against it; to provide more precautionary measures. It is still necessary, for only the other day two girls got over a fence that was about 10 feet high, with five rows of barbed wire at the top. Senator Faulkner. That beats the boys' school. Representative Pitney. Yes; it does. Mr. Endicott. What I meant was to show the constant desire for escape. I don't think the school will accomplish the intended results until enlarged as I have stated. But as it is, I regard it as a good insti- tution. Representative Northway. What is the cost per capita? Mr. Endicott. About $300. This appears to be very high, and I presume it is, because I do not think that the average cost is more than $125 at other institutions. Of course, it will be understood that under the same conditions the cost per capita could be tremendously reduced. If the accommodations could be enlarged, we could accommodate prob- ably four or five times more than at present and at the little extra cost I have said. Besides we have been obliged to spend a great deal of money in making repairs. Representative Northway. About how much? Mr. Endicott. About $25,000. I might mention that in case of fire there had been no fire escapes, and our system was a very slow one. The other day I recommended a plan by which the doors could be opened, all of them at once. We could not do that, however, because when the doors are opened they lap over about 3 inches. That is the kind of a thing they built. I would suggest, therefore, that if Congress does give the increase we ask for, the board should have the authority to build on plans approved by the Attorney-General and the Engineer Commissioner of the District. CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 53 Representative Northway. In case of fire someone has to run to open each door? Mr. Endicott. Yes, sir. I think that if our suggestions are carried out we would have a building to suit all purposes. The trustees are interested in it, and they are taking pains to inform themselves. Representative Pitney. I wish to get now at your system of organ- ization and discipline. In the first place, you are the president of the board ? Mr. Endicott. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. And you have a superintendent? Mr. Endicott. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. What are his duties? Is it a man or a woman ? Mr. Endicott. The superintendent is a woman, sir. Representative Pitney. And her duties are Mr. Endicott. She has control of the whole thing. All the officers are under her. There are two teachers, one of them a school-teacher and the other a sewing teacher. Then there is the matron, who has charge of all the cooking; and the superintendent also works in the laundry, which makes her labors rather hard. Representative Pitney. Now, there has been some comment, whether in the newspapers or not I don't remember-some criticism-I don't know what, relating to the great number of changes at the institution. Can you make any statement about it? Mr. Endicott. We have had a great deal of difficulty with regard to the officers of the school. I think that since the school was opened we have had five superintendents. Three resigned, one died, one went away, and one was made to resign, I think, toward the end of last August; and since then there has been a lady at the head of the institution who was a trained nurse and whom we got through Dr. W. W. Johnson here. I think she is doing the work very satisfactorily to the trustees. Representative Pitney. What has been the cause of these very many changes? Mr. Endicott. Well, incompetency, principally. Reiiresentative Pitney. On the part of the superintendents? Mr. Endicott. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. Does that include the matron? Mr. Endicott. No, sir. Representative Pitney. What have been the other changes, then? Mr. Endicott. I think we have only had two matrons, although we have had several teachers. I don't remember the exact number. Probably Miss Loring, one of the trustees, who is here, can give the information. Miss Loring. We have had three teachers. One was promoted to the superintendency. The first trial of one was not satisfactory, and she left; and we had one teacher who resigned on account of trouble in her family. One was removed on account of friction. Then the former teacher, who left on account of illness, returned to us. She was very satisfactory before she left, in fact, and she is so now, as the superintendent tells me. Representative Pitney (to Mr. Endicott). What salaries do you pay? Mr. Endicott. To the superintendent, $1,000; to the matron, $600, and to the teachers, $180. Representative Pitney. And their board in each case? Mr. Endicott. Yes, sir. I should have mentioned also the over- seer's salary. He gets $720; the engineer, $480; the night watchman, $365; the laborer, $300, and the treasurer, $600. 54 CHARITIES ANT) REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Representative Pitney. Is that the case, the treasurer's, in which we incorporated an appropriation for the first time? Mr. Endicott. Yes, sir; the treasurer was appointed with the under- standing that the District should have no liability in regard to the salary until an appropriation therefor was made by Congress. The trustees, under the law, had authority to fix the compensation, and did fix it at $600. The work is very laborious, although the sum to be disbursed last year was only $10,500. Under the law, however, the treasurer is obliged to give a bond of $20,000, which is to be approved by the First Comptroller. So she had to give this bond of $20,000, and Congress for the last fiscal year made an appropriation of $50 a month to pay her. No; she did not enter upon her duties until the 1st of January, 1895, and Congress made the appropriation to pay her from the 1st of January to the 1st of June. I don't think they have made an appropriation since then. Representative Pitney. The deficiency bill will show all that. Mr. Endicott. My impression is that it failed to get through, so that the treasurer is at present serving without compensation, and for the year ending June, 1898, you have appropriated only $300. I think this is a hardship, because if Mrs. Dean had not a friend to go on her bond she would have been obliged to go to a trust company, and the premium would have amounted probably to $300, the sum appropriated for her. Representative Pitney. You think, then, that this salary ought to be larger ? Mr. Endicott. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. What is the sanitary condition of the school ? Mr. Endicott. 1 think it is very good now. When the school was first built, they had a system that was very bad, as they had to keep three furnaces running on account of it. Representative Pitney. To keep the place dry? Mr. Endicott. It was what they call a system of dry closets, and it was considered unhealthy. Last year we got au appropriation of $2,200, and have made the place as sanitary as we could with that amount, and the very best proof of that is that there has been no sickness to amount to anything. Representative Pitney. Is there a system of sewers there? Mr. Endicott. Yes; our sewer, I believe, connects with the sewer on the Conduit road. Representative Pitney. What relation does the work of your school hold to the general charitable work of the District? Do you cooperate? Mr. Endicott. No, sir; not unless we have to. There has been a great deal of friction, I understand, with the commissioner of chari- ties in relation to this school. Representative Pitney. You mean the superintendent of charities? Mr. Endicott. Yes, sir. In the early days of the school there was a great deal of trouble, owing to the fact that the accounts were passed through the hands of the Commissioners. In fact, we never knew where we stood. Tradesmen were conplaining because their bills were not paid, and other payments were not met for four and sometimes live months. Now things run much more smoothly. What I would like to see done would be that the trustees-there are nine of them, and they take a good deal of interest in the school-visit it more frequently. They visit it now once a week, I think, except, of course, during the summer months, when a good many of them are away. I think that the officers ought to be confirmed by the Attorney-General. I am in the charities and reformatory institutions. 55 Attorney-General's office myself. All the business is done there, and Ithink the more concentration the better. Representative Pitney. Is there any cooperation between the Board of Children's Guardians and your school? Mr. Endicott. Yes; we have several times released our girls to them, and we have taktfn girls whom the agent of the Board of Children's Guardians has recommended. Representative Northway. But you have no supervision over it or the board over you1? Mr. Endicott. No, sir. Representative Northway. The cooperation, then, is entirely vol- untary. Mr. Endicott. Yes, sir; whenever it is asked. Only to day I wrote to the Board of Children's Guardians, for instance, and said that a girl ought to be released; that there was a good home for her in Philadel- phia. We have no fund for transportation, but we would Representative Northway. Did you say that the Board of Children's Guardians have nothing to do with placing girls in your school? Mr. Endicott. I don't think they have, directly. They have sent people to recommend that girls be committed. Representative Northway. That you might be instrumental in hav- ing the court pass upon such cases4? Mr. Endicott. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. Did you hear my inquiry addressed to Colonel Clay with regard to the relation that ought to exist, or might exist, between the boys' school and the general charity work of the District'? What is your opinion as to the relation between that charity work and your school ? Air. Endicott. It seems to me that in a case like this, a government by trustees, the more the control is concentrated and confined to one subject the more forcible it is. I think the only difficulty we have had was from the clash with outside people, who thought they had the authority to act, and which they had not. Our trustees are perfectly capable of looking after this institution, and the less they have to do with other people the better. After all, the control of the Attorney- General is merely nominal. The annual report is made to him, and he makes recommendations as to both of the reform schools. Representative Northway. He occupies the same relation, then, to the schools as the governors of States do to reformatories'? Mr. Endicott. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. Is there any one else whom it would be desirable to hear? Miss Harriet B. Loring. I do not care to say much, but I don't think that justice has been done to the girls. They are well trained, and they do everything they are taught extremely well. They are industrious. They work a great deal in the garden, but there are a half a dozen who are the ringleaders of the school, and who are troublesome. These are the ones who wish to escape. A great many of the others, I should say, are excellent in their conduct. They have improved very much, and, as I said, are well trained. I know this, because several of the girls who have gone away and come back have been recommended for good conduct. They report and say they are coming on finely. I have asked the girls if they found difficulty in getting places, and they invariably have said, "Oh, no; because we are so well trained." Representative Northway. You would say, then, that most of these are tractable girls ? 56 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Miss Lobing. Yes, sir; considering what colored people are in these days. We all know that a good deal of what was good in the race has gone, and that they are now in a transition state. The mothers of several of these girls have come to me and said, " Yon can't do anything with such children as these;" but we have done a great deal with them according to our means. Representative Northway. Do they have any conception, any great conception, of right and wrong1? Miss Loring. Nes; they have-many of them. 1 think a great deal of the trouble has come from the officers themselves; butthat is the story of all reformatories. The officers are there for their own interest, and that interest is often outside of the institution. It is a lonely place out there, and they complain of it. Of course, as I say, they always want to be coming to town, and you know that has a tendency to make the girls restless; but for all that a good deal can be said of them that is good. They are clean; they learn to keep themselves clean. The girls have two hot baths a week. They take pride in making themselves attractive. They would prefer to have any punishment rather than to be put out of their cells, which they have made to suit themselves. It is by tenderness, good food, regularity of habit, and kindness that we are reforming them. The police court, however, has sent us some cases who would not hesitate to use a red-hot iron to hurt the others. Representative Northway. But as a general rule they will not sub- mit to teaching? Miss, Loring. Oh, no; not all the time. There was one of the girls the other day who bit the watchman. In another case, there was a poor child who screamed when she was brought, and exclaimed "Why was I ever sent here?" 1 think the police court understands, and Judge Miller does not wish to send out women of 19 to this school, because a colored girl of 19 is more experienced than a white woman of perhaps 25 or 26. I think it is all wrong to send these old girls out there. Mr. Chapin Brown. I would like to emphasize the fact that this girls' school is a reformatory. Schools in the North may be considered as charities and may be so conducted, but I think so far as the South is concerned, where we have this colored element to deal with, the in- stitution ought decidedly to be a reformatory. That is my experience. We have discussed this a great deal, and we have reached the con- clusion which I have only thus briefly intimated. We started in, for instance, by not allowing any corporal punishment; but we found, with this element to deal with, that it required severe punishment, and that it was just as necessary as it is sometimes in prisons. Representative Northway. In the State of Ohio they thought that they could get along without it. Mr. Endicott. I would like to say here that Judge Miller and Judge Kimball, who are judges in the District police courts, that Judge Miller said the other day that he would be very glad to appear before the committee at any time and show the necessity of increasing the accomo- dations at this school. This necessity is certainly very apparent, and the system, so far as a reform school for girls is concerned, is quite a poor one for this District. Representative Northway. The school ought to be commensurate with the needs of the District, or entirely abolished. Miss Loring. One or the other. Representative Pitney. Do you wish to say something to the com- mittee, Miss Rawlins? charities and reformatory institutions. 57 Mr. Endicott. I would like, if Miss Rawlins is to make any state- ment, that the trustees should be present. Representative Pitney (to Miss Rawlins). You may have heard something of what has been said as to the organization of the school, the control of the chief officers over the employees, and of the employees over the girls, the inmates of the school; and I understand you wish to make some statement on these matters. How long were you con- nected with the school? Miss Rawlins. Seven months. The first of last July, I was requested to resign, and this was a few days after the appropriation was passed by the House. I was asked to resign by letter. Representative Pitney. In what capacity were you there? Miss Rawlins. As teacher. Before that I had supervision of the laundry, and had charge of the girls. Representative Pitney. Where did you get your experience and where did you come from? Miss Rawlins. I went to the institution indorsed by Doctor Lincoln and Mr. Stilson Hutchins. I had done teaching myself in the South. My father was killed in the civil war. Representative Pitney. How long have you been in Washington? Miss Rawlins. For the past twenty-five years. Representative Pitney. Had you any previous experience before going to this girls' school? Miss Rawlins. Not in reformatory work. I went out there to teach the girls, and help to reform them if I could. I understood exactly what the work was to be, for I was raised in the Southern States. I knew the characteristics of negro girls and felt that I was qualified, mentally and morally, to teach them and lead them to a better life. I went out there for that purpose, and I did not think that any charge could be brought against me for inefficiency in the schoolroom work. Representative Pitney. What were you discharged for? Miss Rawlins. Lack of harmony. Representative Pitney. Between whom? Miss Rawlins. I suppose it was the officers out there. Mr. Endicott. Wasn't it between you and the superintendent? Miss Rawlins. It might have been. Representative Pitney. Were you under the control of the superin- tendent? Miss Rawlins. Yes. Representative Pitney. And you understood that at the time? Miss Kawlins. Yes. Mr. Endicott. Was there anything said to you about insubordina- tion ? Miss Rawlins. Yes; in one instance, I believe. Mr. Endicott. Perhaps you might give all the reasons relating to the request for your resignation. Miss Rawlins. I know that there was no charge of inefficiency in the school, or waste in the laundry, and there was no charge of disre- spectful language, except in one instance. Representative Pitney. No matter about those details for the moment. They wrote you a letter asking you to resign? Miss Rawlins. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. And they specified a lack of harmony? Miss Rawlins. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. Perhaps they did not want to say things specifically. What success did you have in controlling and instructing the girls? 58 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Miss Rawlins. If I have to speak for myself, most excellent success. I think I was as popular as any other officer, and more than some, and I think all the trustees will admit that they never had a better teacher. Representative Pitney. Now, you may make a brief statement of what the lack of harmony consisted. Miss Rawlins. Well, the superintendent gave us a young woman by the name of Miss Rooney, who came there invested with unlimited power-a dangerous thing in the hands of older people. To her the printed rules that were given to the other officers to guide them were practically dead letters, because she did as she thought best. She altered, amended, and suspended them, so that when we went to bed we didn't know what rules we would have the next day. Representative Pitney. Give specific instances of a practical differ- ence between yourself and the superintendent. Miss Rawlins. Well, it was the lack of cooperation as to myself and the other officers. It was next to impossible for me to have her assist in keeping the girls under control. Then again, her punishments were excessive. The girls became very turbulent, and to me it was always preferable to make them submit pleasantly than by any punishment. On Saturday nights she made a rule that the girls could remain out of their rooms one hour later as a reward for good conduct. Yet on some Saturday nights there weren't over six of them out. The rest were being punished. Then the other girls were learning crimes that they Representative Pitney. What do yon mean by that? Miss Rawlins. I mean that they permitted the criminals to mingle with the younger and better girls. Mr. Endicott. Now, was it possible to have separated these girls? I think you should take that into consideration. Miss Rawlins. No; I don't think so, but I think the younger girls should be sent to the orphan asylum. Representative Pitney. You did not then work on the lines of the superintendent ? Miss Rawlins. I presume you could put it in that way. But as to the superintendent, instead of being at prayers in the morning that lady would be just leaving her room, and it would not have bothered me or the other teacher to hold these prayers. Consequently the children were left to themselves, as they should not have been; but there is other evidence of the way in which she acted. I used all the tact I could but Representative Northway. Did the same difficulty exist between the other teachers and the superintendent as between you and her? Miss Rawlins. Yes, sir; in a measure. Representative Northway. Were the others asked to resign? Miss Rawlins. No, sir; I was the only one. They were more depend- ent, and fell into the same line of action with the superintendent. Representative Pitney. Irrespective of any objection, except a per- sonal one, I would like you to say in what general respects the work could be improved? Miss Rawlins. 1 think an improvement ought to be made in the habit of keeping the girls so long. And, then as to the younger girls, they ought to be put out into a colored orphan asylum; the good girls to be sent to their parents, as one was sent the other day. 1 think it was wrong to take in a child of 10 years of age on a charge of incorri- gibility, and yet I found her to be an excellent child, obedient, respectful, and no fault to find with her. And yet there she was; there with girls CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 59 of 20 and 21 who were hardened criminals. Again, they have kept girls there for three years; from the time the place was built. Now, you can not judge of the reformation of one of these girls in the same old sur- roundings. They ought to be taken out, given their liberty, and give them a chance to show what they really are away from the institution. They are bound to behave themselves, of course, in confinement. Representative Pitney. How many years do you think it would be proper for these girls to be kept in the Reform School, on an average. Miss Rawlins. I don't know; but I know that girls are there who should have long since gone. Representative Pitney. Your idea is to keep them there only long enough to give them a chance? Miss Rawlins. Yes, sir. I think that homes should be found for them, and then they would not be discontented and disobedient. By keeping them always in the same condition they get discouraged and bad. And then as to their being taught. It is not being done prop- erly. I notice that the Senate has made an appropriation for a cook. Why, there are girls there 19 years of age who should be out cooking for families. Representative Pitney. Does not the matron teach that? Is she the superintendent of cooking also? Miss Rawlins. No; she was employed as a matron, but she does superintend the cooking of the food. My idea is that these girls must be taught as servants. There is no reason why a half a dozen of the girls who are there now should not be taken into the kitchen and taught to cook. But out at that institution they say the easiest way is the best way, and I think that is really their method. I believe one of the trus- tees has said that. Representative Pitney. Have you any other suggestions? Miss Rawlins. Well, I think that the board should consist of one- half women. Representative Pitney. And that I suppose would produce more harmony? Miss Rawlins. I don't know. Last year there were but three women on the board. Representative Pitney. We, of course, know that the work out thei e must be very difficult, but it has been suggested by the officials that they have not been given the adequate means to do the work, and I presume you agree about the state of the building and the difficulties of the management. Now, let us get such suggestions as you may have to make so as to show how these difficulties may be met, how a better system could be employed, and anything that may occur to you. Miss Rawlins. Do you mean as to the separation of the girls, and the bringing of white girls there? Representative Pitney. No; I mean, can you in general terms sug- gest a better system by which the girls can now be better trained and reformed? Miss Rawlins. I have said that I thought that the younger girls should be sent to a colored orphan asylum. They are not fit subjects for reformatories. Again, I have said that the girls should not be kept there too long a time; that they should be put out into service, and they should keep only there the incorrigibles. By this means they would have half of the cells vacant. Again, white girls should be sent out to this institution, and not sent to the jail. It was built for both black and white. 60 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Representative Pitney. To divide the white and colored girls, it would be necessary to have more buildings, would it not? Miss Rawlins. Not at all. You could remove the older girls, and those longest there from that institution, and thus keep some of the rooms vacant. Representative Pitney. Have you any further suggestions? Miss Rawlins. I think 1 have stated all that occurs to me now. Mr. Endicott. The girl referred to as only 10 years of age I inves- tigated very carefully. 1 found that she was a very notorious character, aud had been known to the police for a year or more. THIRD HEARING. THE INSANE; THE DEAF AND DUMB; THE FEEBLE-MINDED. April 8, 1897-4 o'clock p. m. Present: Hon. C. J. Faulkner, presiding; Hon. Thomas S. Martin, Hon. Mahlon Pitney, and Hon. S. A. North way. Senator Faulkner. Gentlemen, the subject of this hearing is "The Insane; The Deaf and Dumb; The Feeble-Minded." Those to be heard are Dr. Godding, of St. Elizabeth's; Dr. Gallaudet, of Kendall Green; Mr. Lewis, of the Board of Children's Guardians. The topics are (1) the provisions for the care of the District insane and the method of commitment; (2) the deaf and dumb of the District at Kendall Green; (3) the feeble-minded-in what institutions placed, comparative cost at various institutions, increase or decrease in the number of cases; (4) the need of an institution for inebriates. The Clerk. Statements as to the insane and the deaf and dumb have been submitted in writing, as follows: THE INSANE. Government Hospital for the Insane, Washington, D. C., April 8, 1897. Sir: At the request of your committee, I would respectfully submit the following statement in writing: The indigent insane of the District of Columbia, including the tran- sient class, are admitted to this hospital upon the order of the Com- missioners of the District under the provisions of the organic act of Congress creating the hospital. (See U. S. Bev. Stat., secs. 4844- 4850.) At the close of rhe last fiscal year the total number of persons so committed remaining in the hospital June 30, 1890, was 794, of whom 106 were of the transient class. The sum of $104,049 appropri- ated in the District bill for the support of her insane for that year has been paid to the hospital authorities for their support in monthly checks from the Commissioners of the District, on vouchers submitted. This is the extent of the connection of the District authorities with the hospital. The Government Hospital is under the control of the Secre- tary of the Interior, the hospital superintendent being appointed by him, and the Board of Visitors by the President of the United States. The interests of the District of Columbia are protected by the provi- sion of the law which limits membership of the Board of Visitors to citizens of the District. No distinction is made in the case of the insane from the District over other classes that are provided for by law in that institution. The provision is humane and liberal, recognizing 61 62 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. that the indigence dependent on the misfortune of insanity is entitled to something more than a mere almshouse care. The law of commitment of insane persons from the District, including the determination of their insanity, is cumbersome and antiquated, and, in the judgment of the District authorities, as well as those of the hos- pital, might be revised to advantage. 1 would respectfully request that your committee designate a convenient time when William A. Maury, esq., late Assistant Attorney-General, who is a member of the board of visitors of the hospital, and familiar with the whole subject, may appear before you. 1 venture to call the attention of your committee to the large propor- tion of patients of the transient class remaining in the hospital June 30,1896, viz, 106 out of 794 District patients, together with my remarks on the same in the report of 1896, page 19, a copy of which report is herewith inclosed. There is no doubt that the neighboring States of Maryland and Vir- ginia profit by the humane provision of the United States law that is intended to give a temporary shelter to insane persons who have wan- dered away from their homes, by securing thereby permanent care for many of their defective class at the expense of the District of Columbia and the United States. If your committee intend to seriously consider a proper provision for the inebriates in the District of Columbia, I want to record myself as unqualifiedly in favor of such provision for a social blight that passes beyond habit, and a vice that, punishment failing to benefit, becomes disease. I do not wish to extend this paper with its discussion, but will gladly submit my views on this subject at any future time, if they would in any way aid you in your deliberations. Very respectiully, W. W. Godding, Superintendent. Hon. James McMillan, Chairman Joint Committee to Investigate Charities and Reformatory Institutions in the District of Columbia. [From the report of the Government Hospital for the Insane, 1896.] Of all classes provided for, the one for which the law evidently intended the pro- vision should be merely temporary seems likely to be the most permanent, viz, the tramp insane found within the limits of the District of Columbia. United States Revised Statutes, section 4850, says, "It being hereby designed to give the superintendent thereof authority to take charge of such insane persons until the governor (District authorities) can discover who his friends are, or whence he came, with a view to the return of such person to such friends, or to the place of his resi- dence." Of the 794 from the District of Columbia remaining June 30, 1896, 106, or about one-seventh of the whole, were of this clast. The seat of Government attracts Presidential aspirants, crank inventors, persons with a grievance, the great army of the unemployed, wild-eyed fanatics, and dusty tramps, and it is only to be expected that quite a number of these will each year find rest under the shadows of St. Elizabeth; but why should it become their permanent home? Only 20 of the nonresident remaining at the close of the last fiscal year had been received within the year; 23 had been in the hospital more than ten years, and the remainder for varying terms of less than thirteen months to over nine years. Any view of their case that implies a return to their friends or the place of their residence is still a distant one. Often no friends nor residence can be found, and, if the insanity is active, the District authorities have no choice but to let them remain. But, after making due allowance for this, it can hardly be doubted that there is a considerable number of assisted emigrants from neighboring States, where the hospital has almost too good a reputation, and in far too many cases correspondence with near relatives of the unfortunate man in the State of his residence shows no yearning on their part for his return. These would plainly seem to be cases where the District authorities should actively interfere, and thus, in the language of the statute, "relieve the District of the expense and charge of such indigent insane nonresident." CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 63 THE DEAF AND DUMB, Columbia Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, Kendall Green, Washington, D. C., April 8, 1897. Dear Sir: As requested by Mr. Moore, I have the honor to present certain statements in reference to the admission and support in this institution of deaf and dumb persons from the District of Columbia, and their discharge from the institution. Section 4864 of the Revised Statutes will show how such persons are admitted. The cost of their support and education is estimated for from year to year and covered by an appropriation in the District appropriation bill. The appropria- tion last year for this object was $10,500, and the number of pupils provided for was 31, making a per capita cost of $338.70. An appropria- tion of the same amount has been made for the next fiscal year, and it is expected that this will be sufficient to meet the expense of our bene- ficiaries from the District. Pupils received from the District are retained so long as they give evidence of mental improvement, when they are dis- charged by the action of the authorities of the institution. None are retained beyond the period of our collegiate course of study. May I be permitted to add that this institution is not considered to be one of the "charities" of the District of Columbia, but is regarded as a purely educational institution, not being classed with the "chari- ties" in the appropriation bill. Very respectfully, yours, E. M. Gallaudet, President. Hon. James McMillan, Chairman Joint Select Committee, etc. THE FEEBLE-MINDED. Senator Faulkner. Mr. Lewis, we will hear from you in regard to the feebleminded children of the District. Mr. Lewis. In the consideration of the care of the feeble-minded in the District of Columbia, one is met at the outset by a total absence of statutory provision which can be considered as doing more than permit such care in the broadest and most general terms. The Fifty-fourth Congress, when considering the sundry civil bill, and upon the particular item of an appropriation for the deaf and dumb, approved and passed Senate amendment No. 120, as follows: Current expenses Columbia Institution for Deaf and Dumb, for support of the insti- tution: Provided, That when any indigent applicant for admission to the institution belonging to the District of Columbia and being of teachable age is found, upon examination by the president of the institution, to be of feeble mind, and hence incapable of receiving instruction among children of sound mind, the Secretary of the Interior may cause such person to be instructed in some institution for the edu- cation of feeble minded children in Pennsylvania or some other State, at a cost not greater for each pupil than is or may be for the time being paid by such State for similar instruction, and the sum necessary therefor is appropriated out of the sum above provided for current expenses of the institution. Under this authority certain feeble-minded children were taken in charge from time to time by the Secretary of the Interior, upon recom- mendation of the president of the Columbia Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, and provided for at the great training school at Elwyn, Pa., at a maximum rate of $250 per annum. The Fifty second Congress, considering the District appropriation bill, and upon the particular item of an appropriation for the support of 64 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. the work ot the Board of Children's Guardians, approved a proviso as follows: Provided, That the authority for placing feeble-minded children of the District of Columbia, heretofore given to the Secretary of the Interior, is hereby transferred to the Board of Children's Guardians. (See Public Document No. 115, p. 17.) It would seem, therefore, from the language of these provisions, that the duty and responsibility of certifying to the propriety of taking up any feeble minded child as a public dependent still rests where it was placed by the act of the Forty-fourth Congress, and that the Board of Children's Guardians was simply substituted for the Department of the Interior in permission to place such children in appropriate institutions, and pay for their maintenance. The president of the Columbia Institu- tion for the Deaf and Dumb, however, contends that it was the inten- tion of the committee of the Fifty-second Congress, which secured the transfer of the authority to place such children from the Secretary of the Interior to this board, to relieve him of every duty and responsi- bility in the matter, and he has, therefore, continued to act as investi- gator of such cases only because the authority conferred upon the board seemed to be defective in this regard. Upon the creation of the Board of Children's Guardians it was found that there were 23 feeble minded persons at the Pennsylvania Training School, at Elwyn, Pa., for whom the Department of the Interior had been paying a maximum rate of $250 per annum; 19 were maintained at the maximum rate, 1 at $150, and 3 at $100. This number was added to from time to time as cases of urgent necessity arose. At the beginning of the fiscal year 1896 an urgent appeal for a reduc- tion of the rate met with refusal. It was found impossible to arrange with any other institution within reasonable distance for the care of all such dependents from the District. An offer of $200 per child per annum was declined, for the reason that it was found upon investigation by a committee of the board that the institution would have been overcrowded by the transfer of all, and for the further reason that the institution making the offer declined to receive any colored children, several of whom were on hand. On January 1,1896, an arrangement was effected by which the maximum rate at Elwyn was reduced to $225. In the meantime an additional arrangement had been made with a small private institution at Falls Church, Va., for the care of a few children at rates to be agreed upon in each case. The following table exhibits just what has been done in this branch of work by the Board of Children's Guardians: ELWYN AND FALLS CHURCH. 1894. 1895. 1896. Nine months of 1897 On hand from last year Placed during the year Total 23 3 25 1 24 3 27 7 26 21 at $250 4 at $100 1 at $150 26 21 at $250 4 at $100 1 at $150 1 1 27 21 at $250* 4 at $100 1 at $150 34 28 at $225 3 at $250 3 at $100 2 Rates paid Transferred to Government Hospital for the Insane. Died Returned to parents 1 Eloped 1 25 $5, 264. 25 Remaining 24 $5, 098. 50 27 $5, 567. 25 31 $4,645.87 Expense lor the year *At $250 rate reduced to $225 January 1, 1896, with three exceptions. 65 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. An arrangement has just been effected by the terras of which the maximum rate paid for the support of feeble-minded children will not in any case exceed $225 per annum. Appended hereto will be found a proposed bill, to which your atten- tion is invited, and it is suggested that unless some other and more comprehensive measure is originated and made effective some such arrangement as that proposed should be enacted into law. The causes, the preventives, and the cares of idiocy, if studied with that end in view, would help to answer the question as to whether it is expedient for the State to educate and foster the imbecile at public charge or whether it be better that he should be vicariously cherished at all, as well as the related question as to how great is the value to the community at large of his protection from suffering and his possi- ble rescue from total mental darkness. Such a course is recommended for three principal reasons: First, the welfare of the subject; second, the relief of the afflicted home; third, the benefits accruing to soci- ety. The first two fall withiu the field of the philanthropist; the last that of the legislator. Does society receive an adequate return for its generosity expended upon an abnormal, unwholesome, imperfect class- one, from the standpoint of race improvement, wholly and totally unfit! 1 answer that it is not a question of present benefit, but of the defense of our posterity agaiust the rising tide of idiocy, which we already feel to be a very appreciable burden. Endemic and accidental causes of idiocy are rare, as compared with hereditary and parental causes. As an instance of the public cost of non attention to the idiocy at large in a community, I refer to a history, hitherto unwritten: In 1878 Robert R. Cross assigned to the Washington City Protestant Orphan Asylum his two girls, aged 7 and 9 years. In 1880 they were declared feeble-minded and sent to the Pennsylvania Training School by direction of the Secretary of the Interior. Last September one of them was transferred to the Government Hospital for the Insane. Tracing back their history, I am informed that their father was the illegitimate child of a feeble-minded girl, begotten and born in an alms- house. He was a man of herculean strength, a great lighter, and gave the police of this city much trouble. He was a drunkard, in old age a pauper, and died two years ago in the Almshouse Hospital. Besides the two girls referred to, he had one son, who has married and has children. Three years ago this son was charged with drunkenness and nonsupport and his two children were taken from him and placed under the protection of public authority. Considering the expense of police supervision of Robert R. Cross and his son, John Cross, the expense of trials, convictions, and imprisonment for numerous offenses, the damage done by assaults and brawls, the money spent in giving temporary relief to families during imprisonment of the men, the money wasted in drunkenness and licentiousness, the entailment of pauperism upon the children of John, and the physical degeneracy resulting from specific disease of both father and son, the liability of the reappearance of idiocy or insanity in the progeny of John, and his continued ability to bring forth after his kind, and last and least the direct expense of the lifelong sequestration of the two girls, it would seem that we have borne rather a heavy burden for the neglect of the almshouse girl of sixty years ago. Any plan which this commission may devise for the purpose of making plain and definite the duties and powers of someone regarding feeble- minded children will be timely. Finally, I urge that in whatever hands you leave the management of S. Doc. 185 5 66 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. this branch of the charitable work of the District of Columbia you pro- vide a separate and distinct appropriation for its maintenance. 1 know of no possible reason for keeping it confused and involved with the ap- propriation of the Board of Children's Guardians, given for the care of children simply dependent for tlie time being, and with respect to whom it is expected they will speedily become self-supporting citizens. PKOPOSED BILL. That the Board of Children's Guardians of the District of Columbia is hereby au- thorized to receive applications on behalf of children under sixteen years of age, alleged to be of feeble miud, and who have resided within the District of Columbia for not less than one year immediately preceding the filing of such application, and to cause such children, accompanied by their parents or guardians, to be brought before the Board for examination touching their mental condition; and whenever, upon such examination, it shall be shown to the satisfaction of the Board that any such child is of unsound mind, or is an epileptic, or is idiotic or imbecile, and, there- fore, incapable of receiving instruction among children of sound mind, the said Board may cause such child to be placed in an institution conducted for the special care and training of such children, at such rate of payment as may be found necessary, not exceeding two hundred and twenty-five dollars per annum. That whenever it shall be made known to the Board of Children's Guardians that the parents or guardian of any feeble-minded child, who is for the time being sup- ported at public expense, or on behalf of whom an application for public support is under consideration, is able to contribute toward the support of such child, the Board shall require such parent or guardian to show, under oath, the extent of his or her income or property, and ability to contribute toward the support of such child, and the Board may thereupon order and require the payment to the Board, monthly or quarterly in advance, of any sum less than the full amount paid for the support of such child by said Board. FOURTH AND FIFTH HEARINGS. DEPENDENT CHILDREN. April 9,1897-2 o'clock p. m. Present: Hon. James McMillan, chairman; Hon. C. J. Faulkner, Hon. Mahlon Pitney, Hon. S. A. Northway. Senator McMillan. The order for to-day is as follows: FOURTH HEARING. Subject: Dependent Children. To be heard: Officers of the Board of Children's Guardians; officers of the Humane Society; judges of District courts. 1. What children are, properly speaking, dependent; and what are the duties of the District toward such as are dependent? 2. Has the District a duty toward children not officially declared dependent? 3. Methods of taking up dependent children; the limits of guardian- ship. 4. The proper training for dependent children. 5. The disposal of dependent children; in homes; in boarding places. 6. The need of visitation in the case of children placed out. TOPICS. FIFTH HEARING. Subject: Dependent Children; Institutional Training. To be heard: Officers of the Board of Children's Guardians; officers of the Industrial Home School; officers of the National Association for the Belief of Destitute Colored Women and Children; officers of the Humane Society. TOPICS. 1. The facilities offered by aided District institutions to care for dependent children. 2. What coordination of existing institutions and agencies is possible and desirable (a) for taking up children, (&) for training children, (c) for placing out and visiting children. 3. Changes in existing institutions necessary to adapt them for the care of all dependent children, properly so called. 4. Industrial training for dependent children. 5. The possibility of securing homes. 67 68 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. THE BOARD OF CHILDREN'S GUARDIANS. Senator McMillan. Are the officers of the Board of Children's Guardians here? Air. William Redin Woodward. I am president of the Board of Children's Guardians. Representative Pitney. You are president? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir; we understood that the committee desired a paper in writing on this subject. Such a statement has been prepared and submitted to an informal meeting of the board of trustees so that their views could be as nearly unanimous as possible and indicate the ideas of the entire board. There are certain matters in the paper that some of the members dissent from. The paper was prepared hastily, and I will comment simply on matters that are objected to by certain members as I proceed: " What children are, properly speaking, dependent; and what are the duties of the District of Columbia toward such as are dependent? " The proper definition of dependency in children is, we believe, yet to be written. The test to be applied, and which must be met as a con- dition precedent to support and protection, as charitable cost, varies at different institutions according to the mental peculiarities of founders; so that, in this matter, we are compelled to consider what ought to be, rather than what is. "The following classes of children should be subject to the protection of public authority, and should be supported at public cost, whenever no parent or relative can be compelled to adequately support them and they are not offered charitable care and support by private or religious organizations, approved by the Government: "(a) Children under 16 years of age who are found exposed to such immoral and contaminating influences as make it probable that they will become morally depraved. It should not be necessary that the condition of depravity be already set up. If it is imminent, the child is entitled to authoritative removal to healthful moral surroundings. "(&) Children whose personal habits, language, and manner of life render them unfit for association with their kind under ordinary cir- cumstances. A corrupt boy or girl has often been known to contami- nate a whole neighborhood or school. The career of all such should be cut short by their instant confinement in an appropriate institution. "(c) Children of habitual but unnecessary paupers or workers of the charitable resources of a community. The pauper instinct, in addition to being transmissible from parents to children, is powerfully reenforced by example, precept, and necessity, when children are allowed to remain in the environment which such parents create. " (d) Children subjected to willful abuse by drunken parents, or those whose brutality can not be restrained. "(e) All children abandoned by their parents, all children found beg- ging on the street or from door to door, and all children who, for any reason, are deprived of the common necessities of life." Senator Faulkner. Do I understand that that is what you advise? Mr. Woodward. No, sir; that is the general practice now under the act incorporating the Board of Children's Guardians. In a little briefer space the act provides just such classes of children. Reference to the act will show that it was intended to comprehend those classes. The next question is, "Has the District of Columbia a duty toward children not officially declared dependent?" We answer: "Undoubtedly it has. The only way in which cases involving the CHARITIES and reformatory institutions. 69 welfare of children can be successfully and adequately dealt with will be found to be by means of the maintenance of some agency to which reports and complaints regarding such matters can be made, and which will have for its specific duty the enforcement of the laws for the protec- tion of children. "The duty of making such provision that all cases of abuse, abandon- ment, moral danger, and hurtful poverty shall be speedily brought to light, and the children affected thereby promptly relieved, is by no means the least of the duties of the District of Columbia. "There should also be provision made for the temporary care of children while the necessary legal steps toward commitment are being taken, for instances will often be found wherein the rescue of the child can not safely be delayed for a single hour." We have no place for temporary detention of children. We have to use the agencies that are already in existence, such as orphan asylums, homes, etc., but the board has no jilace under its control where we can put a child under investigation. Representative Northway. How do you get these children? Air. Woodward. Through the police court. Representative Northway. They commit them to your charge? Mr. Woodward. We are their legal guardians. Under the act the police court has power of temporary commitment, and we are empow- ered to detain children a week pending investigation. Senator McMillan. You do that, of course? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. You put them in private institutions? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir; we have to do that, because there is no suitable public institution. "We know of no reason why all children who come within the scope of the work which the Government can properly do should not be officially declared to be under the protection of public authority. "(3) Methods of taking up dependent children; limits of guardian- ship. "There is only one process through which children may properly become permanent public beneficiaries, i. e., through a commitment had in a properly organized court of justice. The attempts at fraud on the part of persons who wish to push off their children during the years of their helplessness are so insidious and such persons become so expert at invoking sympathy where none is due that only by the proc- ess and among the surroundings of judicial examination can the truth be ascertained. Again, if the doors of public support open only in obedience to orders of the courts, they will remain closed to the hun- dreds of children whose parents have been affected in imagination by an imposing edifice, erected as a home for dependent children, and who would appeal for admission thereto if it could be done practically in secret, but who will struggle on to the end of life, bearing burdens which they alone should bear, rather than appear in court in an attempt to secure a share in the benefits provided for the children of the unfortu- nate, the incompetent, and the depraved. " We urge the legal and binding commitment as the only proper proc- ess for the reception of children into public care and support, for the additional reason that only by such means can their parents and rela- tives be prevented from interfering with them to their damage. The relations of a child-caring body with the parents of its wards are the most annoying and the most unsatisfactory to the interests of the chil- dren under care, of the whole round of its varied experience. Some- body must have authority to, in the first place, take children away from 70 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. unfit parents, and in the second place, keep such parents away from the children, if good work is to be done." We find that a large proportion of cases, upon examination, are cases of people who are measurably able to support their children, but who under the law are not obliged to support them. For instance, the District of Columbia is a favorite resort for people who want to get rid of their children, who bring them here and desert them, and then go back to their homes in the States, and we have to support them; and we often find upon investigation that the parents are nonresidents of the District or are able to support their children. Senator Faulkner. Can you state the percentage of children of nonresident parents that you take care of? Mr. Woodward. We are not compelled to take care of any. Senator Faulkner. I mean that you control, but that are placed in these different institutions? Mr. Woodward. We do not knowingly place them in institutions where their parents are nonresidents. Senator McMillan. What do you do with them? Mr. Woodward. We return them to the parents for them to take care of. However, in many cases, where the child is absolutely deserted, we take care of the child. Upon investigation, we sometimes find that a mother has recently come here with the secret purpose of leaving her child in the District and then returning home, and we do not take the child. If we find the mother we provide her with transportation home, if she will go with the child. Senator Faulkner. Is there any percentage, or considerable per- centage, of children whose parents live outside of the District that you have been compelled to provide for by reason of desertion? Mr. Woodward. I can not tell you the exact percentage, but there is seldom a meeting of the board that we do not have some such case, of a child left at a railroad station or left with some person, and the parent never returns. Representative Pitney. Little children? Mr. Woodward. Babies. Senator Faulkner. How do you know that these parents of children left at railroad stations are nonresidents? Mr. Woodward. In many cases they have previously applied to us. Senator Faulkner. This preliminary investigation of your board has a tendency to weed out undeserving cases? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. I understood you to read something in that paper in reply to question No. 2, as to whether the District has a duty toward children not officially declared dependent, to the effect that relief ought not to be confined to those who have been adjudicated upon by the court. Do you undertake any part of that work? Mr. Woodward. We can not, for lack of means. Representative Pitney. Do you ever avail yourself of the work of the Associated Charities in making investigation and giving relief to cases brought to your attention? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir; and the Humane Society and other kin- dred organizations. Representative Pitney. You keep in touch with them? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir; as I understand the second question, it asks if there should not be some agency established or used, the Board of Children's Guardians or other society, by which investigation should 71 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. be made of children that are not reported to us. There are many more who ought to be attended to that are not reached. I was reading from the paper the reply to question 3-methods of taking up dependent children and the limits of guardianship. We say- "We urge the legal and binding commitment as the only proper process for the reception of children into public care and support, for the addi- tional reason that only by such means can their parents and relatives be prevented from interfering with them to their damage. The rela- tions of a child-caring body with the parents of its wards are the most annoying and the most unsatisfactory to the interests of the children under care, of whole round of its varied experience. Somebody must have authority to, in the first place, take children away from unfit par- ents, and, in the second place, keep such parents away from the chil- dren, if good work is to be done. "The objection to this as an exclusive process of reception is that it is antiparental; that it excludes the children of worthy widows who look with horror upon a judicial commitment placed between them and their children, and that, being practically irrevocable, it prevents the restoration to parents of children who might with safety, and therefore should be, so restored. We reply that, in theory, it is no doubt antiparental, but that in practice it need be no more so than is found necessary. A child-caring association is invariably made up of the most humane and kindly disposed persons in the community. No matter how much authority they may have, they can not be accused beforehand of maintaining absolute and permanent separation of parents from children, unjustly and without regard to the interests of the children, whose welfare they have undertaken to promote. There is nothing to prevent a properly organized child-caring associa- tion from restoring children to parents, for such an organization can do anything for and with a child, committed to its care, which may seem reasonable and .just. In case of such a restoration, if the parent should again lapse into the condition which made it necessary to take the child in the first place, the legal guardianship, never surrendered, will be found a most valuable element in the summary correction of the mistake made in the tentative restoration; while the supervision maintained over all placed-out wards will serve as a frequent reminder to the parent to maintain a home of a high order of excellence, thus preventing many relapses otherwise certain to occur. " In actual experience we have never known a single case wherein children have been allowed to suffer through fear of the effect of the authoritative commitment. We have found that parents actually and necessarily in distress can always be prevailed upon to trust the child- caring society to deal with them reasonably and justly, or that some other appropriate resource was available. "Extraordinary care should be exercised in the examination of cases presented for commitment; in order, first, that the rights of parents be not lightly set aside; and, second, that the public be not burdened with the support of children not necessarily dependent. Once acquired, guardianship should only be revoked for improper administration. It should continue during the minority of the child." Senator Faulkner. Well, does not the law provide all that? Mr. Woodward. It does not provide for restoration of a child to parents. It provides for our absolute guardianship. Senator Faulkner. What is the judgment of the court-that it be committed to you until the child is 21 years of age? 72 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir. Senator Faulkner. Then have you power as a board to return that child to his parents or guardian, if you think proper, at any time sub- sequent to the child reaching the age of 21 years? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir; but not releasing our guardianship. We may apprentice a child to a third person. Representative Northway. When a child is committed to your care, you have no public institution in which you can place it as a matter of right or law ? Mr. Woodward. No, sir. Representative Northway. You have to go to a private institution and make a contract? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir; or place them in homes. Representative Northway. Homes provided by law? Mr. Woodward. No, sir; homes which we secure. Senator McMillan. That is the primary object? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir. Representative Northway. Those placed outside of private homes; you have to make contracts for them? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir; at so much per week or month. Senator McMillan. That is only a temporary matter, however, to prepare them for the private home? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir; but in many cases it is necessary to place them in the institutions permanently. For instance, some children are unfitted for moral reasons to be put in private homes and we have to place them in some institution. We had a case yesterday that had to go to the Reform School for Girls. Representative Pitney. Do you commit any to the Reform School? Mr. Woodward. We have done it where boys are incorrigible. Representative Northway. In placing them out, the children are scattered around in different institutions? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir; many of the institutions have them. Representative Pitney. How about the Industrial Home School? Mr. Woodward. There are quite a number of cases there. I think I have a statement showing that. Representative Pitney. Can you tell about how many? Mr. Woodward. I think about ten at the Industrial Home School. The theory of the Board is to provide every child with a home. That is the theory, and we desire to keep them at these institutions only until they can be found homes. Representative Northway. Does your statement cover the cost per capita for keeping children at these institutions? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. I notice in your returns to this committee you report that you paid the Industrial Home School $1,447.15. How many children will that provide for? Mr. Woodward. lam unable to state that. It would depend entirely upon the time they were there and the number of them. The cost at the Industrial Home School is $10.25 per month. Representative Pitney. You have no right, as a matter of law, to place them in that school at the present time without the consent of the authorities of the school, have you? Mr. Woodward. No, sir; not as I understand it; but we have no difficulty in placing them. Senator McMillan. You mean that they are never refused? .Mr. Woodward. No, sir; they are not refused unlessthe school is full. 73 charities and reformatory institutions. Representative Pitney. Do yon think it would facilitate the Board's work to have an institution of its own? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir; where the Government pays part of the support of the children. Representative Pitney. You have not had any trouble so far about placing the children? Mr. Woodward. No, sir; at least none since I have been a member of the Board. Representative Northway. If you place them in these different institutions, do you have any control of them after that? Mr. Woodward. That varies; some institutions are more easily approached than others. Representative Pitney. As a matter of law, you are constituted the legal guardian of the children? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir; and we can recover a child by writ of habeas corpus. Representative Pitney. You can put a child in the charge of anyone you please to put it, subject to your right to recall it? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. And you exercise that right by putting these children in some of these public or institutional homes as well as in private homes? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. Do any of these institutions make it a con- dition precedent that you shall surrender some of your rights? Mr. Woodward. We would not do it. Representative Northway. If a child is placed in one of these insti- tutions, while it is there it is subject to the control of that institution, is it not, and you have no control over it? Mr. Woodward. Of course not; if we commit it to that institution we have to abide by their rules, just as we would have to abide in that respect by the rules of a private home, if the child were placed there. I had finished reading the reply to question 3. The paper next takes up questions 4 and 5: "The proper training of dependent children, and the disposal of dependent children. " The trouble with children who become despondent is, that they have never had or have lost the right sort of home and family life. The thing to do with them would seem to be to supply, just as soon as pos- sible, that which has been missed or taken away. When a man is thirsty, we give him drink; when he is hungry, we give him food. In like manner, when a child is homeless we provide him a home. " Therefore, since somebody's home is the proper destination of every child, that training which will soonest tit a child for reception into that haven of comfort and protection is the proper training. Home life fits a child for home life, and that alone, unless he has been injured by want of proper home surroundings; in which case he has become abnormal. "Institution life, up to a certain point, corrects abnormality and refits a child for home life. Beyond that point it fits him for institution life and that alone, which is a misfortune. For infants and very young children the principal value of an institution is as a receiving and dis- tributing point, such children being best provided for in selected family homes as boarders while waiting the completion of arrangements for their final reception by adoption or indenture." I will state that that clause of this paper is objected to by Mr. Miller, 74 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. one of the members of the Board, who differs from the majority of the Board. Representative Northway. Please read that again, so that we may clearly understand. Mr. Woodward reread the paragraph last quoted. Mr. Woodward. That gives you the theory of administration of the Board of Children's Guardians. Representative Pitney. Who is the member of the Board that objects to that paragraph? Mr. Woodward. Mr. William J. Miller. He holds that the rule is not as general as we have stated it; that institutional life does not tit a child only for institutional life, but that a child who remains in an institution during minority may yet become a good citizen. Representative Pitney. That is a fundamental difference of opinion? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. You object to bringing children up by ma- chinery ? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir; that is it. Representative Pitney. You object to bringing them up by artificial rules? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. That is the experience in all States where it has been tried, is it not? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir; that is my understanding. Senator Faulkner. What is your arrangement when you put chil- dren in homes. Do you pay for them? Mr. Woodward. We do if it is necessary. We try-and it is our policy-to secure them homes where people will take them as their own children and see to their schooling, etc. Senator Faulkner. That is what you aim to do? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir; that is our intention. Representative Pitney. You have to undertake the care of a good many children with a moderate amount of money? Mr. Woodward. As far as our appropriation goesfor the maintenance of children we have no complaint to make, but so far as the appropria- tion for investigation of children after they are placed out is concerned, we are totally unable to do the work. We could place out all the chil- dren that are committed to us and all that will be, place them in homes that are probably free homes, if we had sufficient administrative force and means to investigate these cases as the law requires us to do. The law puts upon us the duty of visiting these homes in other States, and we can not do it. This subject is taken up farther on in this paper. In the latter part of this fiscal year we are unable to place these children out in homes, because we have not the means to visit them. Representative Pitney. Can you give us the number of children that you have taken into your charge since the board was created or founded? Mr. Woodward. I think Mr. Lewis can give you that information. Mr. Herbert W. Lewis. The number received the first year, 1893-94, was 203; the second year, 110; the third year, 93, and the first three- quarters of the present fiscal year indicate that the number received will be about 80. Representative Pitney. Does that indicate, in your judgment, less need of the work of your board, or not? Mr. Lewis. In 1893, when the Board of Children's Guardians was created and began its work, the subsidized institutions of the District had had their income cut by 40 per cent, and they could receive only a 75 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. limited number of children; in fact, some of them found it necessary to discharge those they had, as they could not maintain them on their reduced appropriations. Then, for the next year, the amount given direct to the institutions was increased; the next year again increased, until now the amount given direct to the institutions is about as large as it ever was; I believe wholly as large as it ever was. So fast as pro- vision has been made in the institutions in which children can be received without legal adjudication of their cases, just so rapidly the commitments to the Board of Children's Guardians have fallen off, except in cases of children who could not be dealt with otherwise than by the exercise of Government authority. Formerly many children came to the Board of Children's Guardians who were simply dependent. Now not so many of this class are received. Mr. Woodward proceeded with the reading of his paper: "Older children usually have acquired bad habits which need cor- rection, or they are dull or slovenly, or indolent, or insubordinate, or are of such doubtful character and disposition that they require watch- ing and study before it can be determined what can and should be done for them. To meet the needs of these, the modern institution is admir- ably adapted. Its proper work is to eradicate the effects of bad envi- ronment, to awaken the intellect, to teach habits of order, cleanliness, and obedience, to lay the foundation for a common-school education, and in general to impart a knowledge of and create a desire for a higher and better physical, intellectual, and moral life than any known to the children for whose benefit it has been created. That the better managed institutions accomplish this by no means slight undertaking is beyond doubt. "All mention of manual and industrial training is purposely omitted here, for the reason that it is set apart for special consideration at another time. "Finally, as to the disposal of dependent children, it is desirable that there should be available such variety of correctional, fostering, and uplifting influences as will make it possible for the Government, acting through an official commission, to do with each individual child that which his disposition, history, and capabilities indicate as most likely to bring forth the best results. "Having assumed charge of children in obedience to orders of the court having authority to commit, the child-caring commission should, through an expert superintendent, at once decide what is to be the situation of such children for the immediate future-whether to be paroled and sent home, to be watched over by wise and skillful agents, sent into a reformatory, placed in an institution created for the purpose of receiving such children pending further study of their habits and characteristics, placed at once in foster homes, boarded out, or left in the custody of one or the other parent, such parent being placed, with- out expense to the State, in a position to control and provide for his or her child. The court of jurisdiction should also be authorized to order the collection of a contribution toward maintenance from parents able but unwilling to provide for their offspring, and to enforce such orders by attachment issued against the property, wages, and person of such parent, the children remaining under the protection of public authority. By the operation of such a system, children found in temporary distress will be promptly removed to appropriate institutions or placed in selected boarding homes until their parents have so far improved their condition that the children can safely be restored to them. Consideration of comparative advantages will not, however, control the reception or 76 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. retention of children. The question to be decided will never be one arising out of comparison between the wealth of the institution or the comfort of the boarding home and the bare surroundings and meager support of the parental home, but whether it is morally and physically safe that those directly under consideration should continue to reside with their parents. "There should be no hard and fast rules laid down for the govern- ment of cases wherein municipal or statutory laws have been disre- garded by children. Such children should be committed to the care of experts whose life's work and profession it is to decide what should be done in each case dealt with. Some should be at once released on parole, returning to their former homes; some deported to distant fam- ily homes and carefully and judiciously guided into better ways, and some should go at once to reformatory institutions, there to learn, under more or less hard conditions, those lessons of industry, personal honor, and self-control which alone will enable them to use wisely the larger liberty to which they will, by and by, be restored." One point there that needs to be made manifest is that we have no law in the District of Columbia compelling a parent to support a child. An act was introduced, but it has never come to a finality. We can therefore simply use the threat of commitment-that the child will have to be provided for or committed. There is no law to compel par- ents to provide for their children, either legitimate or illegitimate children. Senator McMillan. Have we not passed an act of that kind through the Senate? Mr. Woodward. No, sir; I think not. It has just been introduced. Senator McMillan. I thought we had that up before. Mr. Moore. It passed the Senate, but failed in the House. Senator McMillan. I was under the impression that we passed a bill of that kind through the Senate. Mr. Moore. It was Senate bill 2426, Fifty-fourth Congress, first session. Mr. Woodward. There is a Maryland law which provides for sum- moning a father of an illegitimate child before a justice court and com- pelling him to give bond for the care of it. I think the. very first step should be to see that an act of this character, compelling a parent to support his child, is passed, because I believe that the expense to the state would fall off from one-third to one-half if we had that law. Senator McMillan. That is very important. Representative Pitney. Yes, sir; it is very important and should not be overlooked. Representative Nortiiway. Many of our States have statutes com- pelling parents to provide for children. Have you investigated that? Mr. Woodward. The board has done so, and I think they have found such laws to be efficient. I think this act which is before Congress was introduced at the instance of our board. We have nothing here to show how efficient it would be in the District. Representative Northway. We have one in the State of Ohio, and I know personally of two or three cases where it could not be enforced. Representative Pitney. We have a law on our statute book in New Jersey and it is enforced. It prevents the abandonment of children. Representative Northway. What is everybody's business is no- body's business, and they are seldom enforced. Mr. Woodward. Mr. Lewis informs me that under the statute of Ohio the proper body in Cincinnati collects $1,000 a month. CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 77 Representative Northway. But not in the rural counties. That is Cincinnati. Mr. Woodward. What can be done in Cincinnati can be done here. That is what we should aim at. I will proceed with the reading of the paper: "The State child-caring commission should select from among its wards, whether in the institution used as a receiving and distributing center, boarded out, or residing in their own homes on probation, such children as show special aptitude in receiving industrial or literary education, and place within their reach appropriate educational ad- vantages. It should select, for indenture to farmers, tradesmen, and others, those who will tind in the homes of such persons the measure of their several capacities for usefulness. It should deliver to the reform- atory those who exhibit liability to become decidedly refractory and hand down for special training or lifelong sequestration those whose pro- gressive degeneracy or incapacity renders them unfit for association with their kind under normal conditions." The sixth topic is the need for visitation of placed-out children. We answer: " Of all the wrongs committedin the name of charity there is not another so indefensible as the placing out of dependent little children and then leaving them without recourse to those charged with the responsibility of securing their welfare. Compared with this the whole process of the reception, detention, and discipline of children's institutions is of little importance. Children are easily affected by their surroundings. In an institution they quickly respond to elevating influences and rapidly become fit for transfer to such family homes as may reasonably be approved. Removed from the institution and placed in indifferent homes they as rapidly fall back into the condition from which they had been lifted up, and all done for and with them is worse than lost. There is not now in existence and never will be a set of officers who can read human nature at first sight with such certainty as to be able to approve or reject wisely the application coming to them for children to be taken by families. Such applications demand the most painstaking investi- gation. This sort of inquiry can be most successfully made in the locality in which the applicant resides, and this calls for the services of a trav- eling agent. It is amazing what good recommendations can be secured by unfit families. Letters from the postmaster, principal merchant of the town, or pastor of the church are of but little value if written at the solicitation of the applicant. Even with the greatest care, a child will now and then get into improper hands, misfits will occur, and the neces- sity for changes will constantly arise. To depend upon correspondence for information as to all that affects the welfare of a placed-out child is to fail. Persons ought not to be expected to report their own short- comings; the fact is, they never do. Children's letters are usually dic- tated or supervised, or at least written with the expectation that the contents of them will be made known, therefore they never contain complaints, except where no cause for complaint exists. We have found that where children and foster parents are unsuited to each other it is as often the fault of the family as of the child. " It is desirable that the progress and conduct of public wards should be reported and recorded from year to year during minority. Only through visitation by a careful and well-instiucted agent can such information be collected. "It is desirable that the moral hold of the legal guardian should be maintained upon all placed-out children. Its influence in keeping them 78 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. steady and reliable is incalculable. It can be maintained in no other way as effectually as by periodical visitation." Senator McMillan. I low many children on an average do you have out in these homes-to-day, for instance? Mr. Lewis. In family homes, 262. Senator McMillan. Those are children who ought to be visited once a year ? Mr. Woodward. The act requires it. Senator McMillan. Is that often enough? Mr. Woodward. It ought to be twice a year. Senator McMillan. How much would that cost-visiting them twice a year ? Mr. Woodward. Two thousand five hundred dollars more than we get at present. Representative Pitney. Let us hear, Mr. Lewis, what territory is covered by the places where these children are. Have you the number of children in the different States? Mr. Lewis. I can give it approximately. Children residing in free and paid homes outside of the District are distributed as follows: Maryland, 50; Virginia, 73; Pennsylvania, 11; New Jersey, 5; New York, 4; Delaware, 2; Alabama, 1, and Massachusetts, 1; in all, includ- ing rhe District of Columbia, where we have 115, there are 262. Senator McMillan. They are all right around here. Mr. Woodward. That is a matter that I want to call your attention to. It is not good policy to place these children in free homes in the locality from which they have been taken. They should be sent to rural homes, where they will be absent from the surroundings they have been used to, and not attempt to return. If we can place them in Pennsylvania, New York, or Delaware they grow up among new sur- roundings, and many of them absolutely forget their former conditions. Senator McMillan. Could you send them to the far West? Mr. Woodward. We could if we had a resident agent, say in Minne- sota or Ohio. Representative Pitney. The territorial distribution is not what it would be if they had their way. They can not properly visit them if they place them out. Mr. Woodward. I understand other boards have these agents. Senator Faulkner. That would increase your expense for visiting? Mr. Woodward. Of course we would have to pay the expenses of these agents. Senator Faulkner. You would pay them their expenses per diem while engaged in the work of visitation ? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir; he would be paid for the services he per- formed. Representative Pitney. Then you would have to rely upon written reports ? Mr. Woodward. He would be our agent in that territory. The idea is that we should appoint Mr. Smith, who lived in Wisconsin, whom we knew, as our agent, and pay him his expenses per diem for the time he spent in visiting children in that State. Representative Pitney. Would it work well to have to rely on writ- ten reports? Mr. Woodward. I think it would be better to have our own agent. Senator Faulkner. As I understand it, your whole reason for that visitation is to see whether or not the recommendations as io the charities and reformatory institutions. 79 character of the family and mode of living are correct, and to see whether the child is being properly treated. Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir. Senator Faulkner. I do not see why a man in Wisconsin could not do that as well as a man from the District. Senator McMillan. 1 think he could do it better, because he could slip out at any time. Mr. Woodward. If we had a resident agent in Madison, Wis., to take charge of the visiting in the States of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Min- nesota, he could cover that territory. It would be folly to place chil- dren out there in homes and not be able to see them, and that is what it would result in unless we had a resident agent. Senator Faulkner. Are the laws in those States adequate to cover your guardianship? Mr. Woodward. They recognize the guardianship in other States. We have a test case in Indiana, where the court returned a child under writ of habeas corpus to the State of Ohio. It is a recognized principle of law that the guardianship extends beyond the State. Senator Faulkner. That is, where the guardianship is expressly specified in the indenture. Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir. Mr. Woodward continued the reading of the paper: "As placed-out children become 14, 15, 16 years of age they usually begin to have serious thoughts about themselves and their positions in the family and the community. A large majority of them, if they have been properly dealt with, are deeply grateful for their improved condi- tion, and they look upon the visiting and supervising agent as respon- sible for that improvement. He is the personal representative of their impersonal benefactor; they know of his kindness and they trust his wisdom; and he therefore powerfully influences their conduct. " Hundreds of persons whose homes are thrown open to dependent children and who receive them with the very best intentions, have not the experience and special skill for dealing with them properly. They do not know how to begin, and therefore soon find that they are the servants, while the child owns the home. Again, persons who have led the quiet, orderly life of the rural districts are frequently appalled at the precocious insubordination of a child suddenly released from the machine-like routine and drill of an institution. A supervising agent who spends his whole time in the study and adjustment of such rela- tions and who has an intimate acquaintance with the children, both generally and individually, becomes after a little able to apply the proper remedy at once, and then to turn the judgment and common sense of the foster parent to the task of preserving the adjustment, when without his assistance the whole arrangement would have been broken up, to the mutual disadvantage of both child and home. "Wherever the placing out of children has been accompanied by adequate and skillful supervision of such children, the plan has achieved notable success. Wherever it has been attempted without such afterwork, it has been found to be liable to gross abuse, and no one can speak with definiteness of its effect. There are reasons for believing that it has sometimes proved a most lamentable failure." Representative Pitney. How does visiting once a year result; is one visit a year of much service? Mr. Woodward. Of course it is not as good as once every six months or once every quarter. 80 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Representative Pitney. The difficulty which you are trying to meet is, that it very necessarily happens in many cases that the families with which you place children do not know how to keep them in control? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir; if they have had children of their own, they may find the one placed very different. Representative Northway. Do you not meet with the difficulty in making these visits that there is fear on the part of the family that you are going to discover something? Do you not find sometimes jealousies existing on the part of the family or fear that the child may be taken away? Does that not lead to difficulty? Mr. Lewis. Very rarely. I can now call to-mind but one or two instances of that kind in my experience. Generally the supervising agent is received most cordially, and I count among my most dear and lifelong friends those I have met in those relations. Representative Northway. Take a family where the child has been abused; don't they try to cover it up and hide that from the visitor? Mr. Lewis. Of course they will if they can. Senator McMillan. You can get information from neighbors? Mr. Lewis. Yes, sir; and sit down and talk to the child as a confi- dential friend, who has been intimate with him before the child was placed. Before they are sent out to these homes they are given instructions to tell the agent everything that has occurred to them, and there is no difficulty in getting at the child's ideas. Representative Pitney. Can you rely on the child's statements? Mr. Lewis. Of course you have to take the child's statement with some judgment, and if you are still suspicious after talking with him, you can go out among the neighbors and make inquiries or of the school teacher. Representative Northway. I know in Ohio and New York I have known personally of difficulties encountered in that way. Mr. Woodward. If the parent is unjust or cruel to the. child, no doubt they will try to hide it from public authorities. The conclusions of the Board are: "We suppose that the topics arranged for consideration at this time were intended to provoke discussion of a complete plan for the public care of dependent children. It may be profitable, therefore, to point out what would be the most apparent effects of following the plan herein outlined. They would be, we believe, as follows: "The line between the duty of the church and the private association and the duty of the Government would be sharply drawn and not crossed. Parental rights would be adequately guarded and parental neglect promptly dealt with. All temptation to relinquish to public care children who should be kept at home would be removed. The bur- den of support of children at public expense would not unduly increase, for many would be prevented from becoming dependent, parents of others would be compelled to contribute to their support, and rapid placing out would prevent the crowding of the institutions. At the same time, it would not be necessary that any child should remain sub- ject to abuse, moral contamination, or hurtful poverty for a single day after his condition became known. "Intelligent selection of children for transfer to trade schools and institutions of learning would provide opportunities for those who could make best use of them. The tolerably good and the tolerably bad would find appropriate conditions in family homes and reforma- tories, and the melancholy residuum would also find its appropriate level and cease to bring forth after its kind." CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 81 I think that is all the board has to present now as a board. The statement in fall follows: Statement of the Board of Children's Guardians. (1) What children are, properly speaking, dependent, and what are the duties of the District of Columbia toward such as are dependent? The proper definition of dependency in children is, we believe, yet to be written. The test to be applied, and which must be met as a condition-precedent to support and protection at charitable cost, varies at different institutions according to the mental peculiarities of founders; so that in this matter we are compelled to con- sider what ought to be rather than what is. The following classes of children should be subject to the protection of public authority and should be supported at public cost, whenever no parent or relative can be compelled to adequately support them and they are not offered charitable cane and support by private or religious organizations, approved by the Government. (a) Children under 16 years of age who are found exposed to such immoral and contaminating influences as make it probable that they will become morally depraved. It should not be necessary that the condition of depravity be already set up. If it is imminent, the child is entitled to authoritative removal to healthful moral surroundings. (6) Children whose personal habits, language, and manner of life render them unfit for association with their kind under ordinary circumstances. A corrupt boy or girl has often been known to contaminate a whole neighborhood or school. The career of all such should be cut short by their instant confinement in an appropriate institution. (c) Children of habitual but unnecessary paupers, or workers of the charitable resources of a community. The pauper instinct, in addition to being transmissi- ble from parents to children, is powerfully reenforced by example, precept, and necessity, when children are allowed to remain in the environment which such parents create. (d) Children subjected to willful abuse by drunken parents, or those whose bru- tality can not be restrained. (e) All children abandoned by their parents, all children found begging on the street or from door to door, and all children who for any reason are deprived of the common necessities of life. (2) Has the District of Columbia a duty toward children not officially declared dependent? We answer, undoubtedly it has. The only way in which cases involving the wel- fare of children can be successfully and adequately dealt with will be found to be by means of the maintenance of some agency to which reports and complaints regarding such matters can be made, and which will have for its specific duty the enforcement of the laws for the protection of children. The duty of making such provision that all cases of abuse, abandonment, moral danger, and hurtful poverty shall be speedily brought to light, and the children affected thereby promptly relieved, is by no means the least of the duties of the District of Columbia. There should also be provision made for the temporary care of children while the necessary legal steps toward commitment are being taken, for instances will often be found wherein the rescue of the child can not safely be delayed for a single hour. We know of no reason why all children who come within the scope of the work which the Government can properly do, should not be officially declared to be under the protection of public authority. (3) Methods of taking up dependent children; limits of guardianship. There is only one process through which children may properly become permanent public beneficiaries-i. e., through a commitment had in a properly organized court of justice. The attempts at fraud on the part of persons who wish to push oft' their children during the years of their helplessness are so insidious and such persons become so expert at invoking sympathy where none is due that only by the process and among the surroundings of judicial examination can the truth be ascertained. Again, if the doors of public support open only in obedience to orders of the courts, they will remain closed to the hundreds of children whose parents have been affected in imagination by an imposing edifice erected as a home for dependent children, and who would appeal for admission thereto if it could be done practically in secret, but who will struggle on to the end of life, bearing burdens which they alone should bear, rather than appear in court in an attempt to secure a share in the benefits pro- vided for the children of the unfortunate, the incompetent, and the depraved. We urge the legal and binding commitment as the only proper process for the reception of children into public care and support, for the additional reason that only by such means can their parents and relatives be prevented from interfering with S. Doc. 185 6 . 82 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. them to their damage. The relations of a child-caring body with the parents of its wards are the most annoying and the most unsatisfactory to the interests of the children under care of the whole round of its varied experience. Somebody must have authority to, in the first place, take children away from unfit parents, and in the second place, keep such parents away from the children, if good work is to be done. The objection to this as an exclusive process of reception is that it is antiparental; that it excludes the children of worthy widows, who look with horror upon a judicial commitment placed between them and their children, and that, being practically irrevocable, it prevents the restoration to parents of children who might with safety, and therefore should be, so restored. We reply that, in theory, it is no doubt anti- parental, but that in practice it need be no more so than is found necessary. A child- caring association is invariably made up of the most humane and kindly disposed persons in the community. No matter how much authority they may have, they can not be accused beforehand of maintaining absolute and permanent separation of parents from children unjustly and without regard to the interests of the children whose welfare they have undertaken to promote. There is nothing to prevent a properly organized child-caring association from restoring children to parents, for such an organization can do anything for and with a child committed to its care which may seem reasonable and just. In case of such a restoration, if the parent should again lapse into the condition which made it necessary to take the child in the first place, the legal guardianship, never surrendered, will be found a most valu- able element in the summary correction of the mistake made in the tentative resto- ration, while the supervision maintained over all placed-out wards will serve as a frequent reminder to the parent to maintain a home of a high order of excellence, thus preventing many relapses otherwise certain to occur. In actual experience we have never known a single case wherein children have been allowed to suffer through fear of the effect of the authoritative commitment. We have found that parents actually and necessarily in distress can always be pre- vailed upon to trust the child-caring society to deal with them reasonably and justly, or that some other appropriate resource was available. Extraordinary care should be exercised in the examination of cases presented for commitment; in order, first, that the rights of parents be not lightly set aside, and second, that the public be not burdened with the support of children not necessarily dependent. Once acquired, guardianship should only be revoked for improper admin- istration. It should continue during the minority of the child. (4, 5) The proper training of dependent children and the disposal of dependent children. The trouble with children who become dependent is that they have never had or have lost the right sort of home and family life. The thing to do with them would seem to be to supply, just as soon as possible, that which has been missed or taken away. When a man is thirsty, we give him drink; when he is hungry, we give him food. In like manner when a child is homeless, we provide him a home. Therefore, since somebody's home is the proper destination of every child, that training which will soonest fit a child for reception into that haven of comfort and protection is theproper training. Home life fits a child for home life, and that alone, unless he has been injured by want of proper home surroundings, in which case he has become abnormal. Institution life, up to a certain point, corrects abnormality and refits a child for home life. Beyond that point it fits him for institution life, and that alone, which is a misfortune. For infants and very young children the principal value of an insti- tution is as a receiving and distributing point, such children being best provided for in selected family homes as boarders while waiting the completion of arrangements for their final reception by adoption or indenture. Older children usually have acquired bad habits which need correction, or they are dull, or slovenly, or indolent, or insubordinate, or are of such doubtful character and disposition that they require watching and study before it can be determined what can and should be done for them. To meet the needs of these, the modern institution is admirably adapted. Its proper work is to eradicate the effects of bad environment, to awaken the intellect, to teach habits of order, cleanliness, and obe- dience, to lay the foundation for a common-school education, and in general to impart a knowledge of and create a desire for a higher and better physical, intellectual, and moral life than any known to the children for whose benefit it has been created. That the better managed institutions accomplish this by no means slight undertak- ing is beyond doubt. All mention of manual and industrial training is purposely omitted here, for the reason that it is set apart for special consideration at another time. Finally, as to the disposal of dependent children. It is desirable that there should be available such variety of correctional, fostering, and uplifting influences as will make it possible for the Government, acting through an official commission, to do CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 83 with each Individual child that which his disposition, history, and capabilities indi- cate as most likely to bring forth the best results. Having assumed charge of children in obedience to orders of the court having authority to commit, the child-caring commission should, through an expert super- intendent, at once decide what is to be the situation of such children for the imme- diate future; whether to be paroled and sent home to be watched over by wise and skillful agents, sent into a reformatory, placed in an institution created for the purpose of receiving such children pending farther study of their habits and charac- teristics, placed at once in foster homes, boarded out or left in the custody of one or the other parent, such parent being placed, without expense to the State, in a posi- tion to control and provide for his or her child. The court of jurisdiction should also be authorized to order the collection of a contribution toward maintenance from parents able but unwilling to provide for their offspring, and to enforce such orders by attachment issued against the property, wages, and person of such parent, the children remaining under the protection of public authority. By the operation of such a system, children found in temporary distress will be promptly removed to appropriate institutions or placed in selected boarding homes until their parents have so far improved their condition that the children can safely be restored to them. Consideration of comparative advantages will not, however, control the reception or retention of children. The question to be decided will never be one arising out of comparison between the wealth of the institution or the comfort of the boarding home and the bare surroundings and meager support of the parental home, but whether it is morally and physically safe that those directly under con- sideration should continue to reside with their parents. There should be no hard and fast rules laid down for the government of cases wherein municipal or statutory laws have been disregarded by children. Such child- ren should be committed to the care of experts whose life's work and profession it is to decide what should be done in each case dealt with. Some should be at once released on parole, returning to their former homes; some deported to distant family homes, and carefully and judiciously guided into better ways, and some should go at once to reformatory institutions,thereto learn, under more or less hard conditions, those lessons of industry, personal honor, and self-control which alone will enable them to use wisely the larger liberty to which they will by and by be restored. The State child-caring commission should select from among its wards, whether in the institution used as a receiving and distributing center, boarded out, or residing in their own homes on probation, such children as show especial aptitude in receiving industrial or literary education, andplace within theirreach appropriate educational advantages. It should select for indenture to farmers, tradesmen, and others those who will find in the homes of such persons the measure of their several capacities for usefulness. It should deliver to the reformatory those who exhibit liability to become decidedly refractory, and hand down for special training or life long seques- tration those whose progressive degeneracy or incapacity renders them unfit for association with their kind under normal conditions. (6) The need for visitation of placed-out children. Of all the wrongs committed in the name of charity there is not another so inde- fensible as the placing outof dependent little childrenand then leaving them without recourse to those charged with the responsibility of securing their welfare. Compared with this the whole process of the reception, detention, and discipline of children in- stitutions is of little importance. Children are easily affected by their surroundings. In an institution they quickly respond to elevating influences and rapidly become fit for transfer to such family homes as may reasonably be approved. Removed from the institution and placed in indifferent homes they as rapidly fall back into the condition from which they had been lifted up and all done for and with them is worse than lost. There is not now in existence and never will be a set of officers who can read human nature at first sight with such certainty as to be able to approve or reject wisely the applications coming to them for children to betaken by families. Such applications demand the most painstaking investigation. This sort of inquiry can be most suc- cessfully made in the locality in which the applicant resides, and this calls for the services of a traveling agent, It is amazing what good recommendations can be secured by unfit families. Letters from the postmaster, principal merchant of the town, or pastor of the church are of but little value if written at the solicitation of the applicant. Even with the greatest care a child will now and then get into improper hands, misfits will occur, and the necessity for changes will constantly arise. To depend upon correspondence for information as to all that affects the welfare of a placed-out child is to fail. Persons ought not to be expected to report their own shortcomings; the fact is that they never do. Children's letters are usually dictated or supervised, or at least written with the expectation that the contents of them will be made known. Therefore they never contain complaints except where no cause for complaint exists. We have found that where children and foster parents are unsuited to each other it is as often the fault of the family as of the child. 84 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. It is desirable that the progress and conduct of public wards should be reported and recorded from year to year during minority. Only through visitation by a care- ful and well-instructed agent can such information be collected. It is desirable that the moral hold of the legal guardian should be maintained upon all placed-out children. Its influence in keeping them steady and reliable is incalculable. It can be maintained in no other way as effectually as by periodical visitation. As placed-out children become 14, 15, 16 years of age they usually begin to have serious thoughts about themselves and their position in the family and the commun- ity. A large majority of them, if they have been properly dealt with, are deeply grateful for their improved condition, and they look upon the visiting and super- vising agent as responsible for that improvement, lie is the personal representative of their impersonal benefactor; they know of his kindness and they trust his wis- dom; and he, therefore, powerfully influences their conduct. Hundreds of persons whose homes are thrown open to dependent children, and who receive them with the very best intentions, have not the experience and special skill for dealing with them properly. They do not know how to begin, and there- fore soon find that they are the servants, while the child owns the home. Again, persons who have led the quiet, orderly life of the rural districts are frequently appalled at the precocious insubordination of a child suddenly released from the machine-like routine and drill of an institution. A supervising agent who spends his whole time in the study and adjustment of such relations, and who has an inti- mate acquaintance with the children, both generally and individually, becomes, after a little, able to apply the proper remedy at once, and then to turn the judg- ment and common sense of the foster parent to the task of preserving the adjustment; when without his assistance the whole arrangement would have been broken up, to the mutual disadvantage of both child and home. Wherever the placing out of children has been accompanied by adequate and skill- ful supervision of such children, the plan has achieved notable success. Wherever it has been attempted without such afterwork, it has been found to be liable to gross abuse, and no one can speak with definiteness of its effect. There are reasons for believing that it has sometimes proved a most lamentable failure. CONCLUSION. We suppose that the topics arranged for consideration at this time were intended to provoke discussion of a complete plan for the public care of dependent children. It may be profitable, therefore, to point out what would be the most apparent effects of following the plan herein outlined. They would be, we believe, as follows: The line between the duty of the church and the private association and the duty of the Government would be sharply drawn and not crossed. Parental rights would be adequately guarded and parental neglect promptly dealt with. All temptation to relinquish to public care children who should be kept at home would be removed. The burden of support of children at public expense would not unduly increase, for many would be prevented from becoming dependent, parents of others would be compelled to contribute to their support, and rapid placing out would prevent the crowding of the institutions. At the same time it would not be necessary that any child should remain subject to abuse, moral contamination, or hurtful poverty for a single day after his condition became known. Intelligent selection of children for transfer to trade schools and institutions of learning would provide opportunities for those who could make best use of them. The tolerably good and the tolerably bad would find appropriate conditions in family homes and reformatories, and the melancholy residuum would also find its appro- priate level and cease to bring forth after its kind. Representative Northway. Suppose the law should interfere with your right to make contracts with these different institutions, what could you do with the children1? Mr. Woodward. Well-1 simply give my opinion, because we have never considered any such contingency-I should rent property or have a home of our own. Senator Faulkner. Have you a right to rent property now under the appropriation? Mr. Woodward. I do not know whether we have or not. We would have to do it on our own responsibility in such a contingency. Senator Faulkner. Which policy would you pursue? CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 85 Mr. Woodward. I should say that a small home of our own would be the most desirable thing to have. Representative Pitney. A receiving and distributing home*? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. You would not make that an industrial home; you would rely upon other industrial homes to place them in, would you not1? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir; we use at present for that purpose the Newsboys' Home. We use that almost exclusively, Mr. Lewis, do we not? Mr. Lewis. Not exclusively, but to a large extent. Senator Faulkner. What do you put these children in these homes for at all; you have a place ? Mr. Woodward. No, sir; we have none of our own. Representative Northway. The District has been maintaining two of these homes here, has it not? Mr. Woodward. No, sir. Senator McMillan. You would have to use these other homes? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir. Senator Faulkner. Or you would have to have a large institution of your own in order to keep them? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. And at the same time use other institutions to some extent? Mr. Woodward. We have but a few children who are kept longer than a few weeks or months. Representative Pitney. Is that long enough? Mr. Woodward. Not long enough for investigation of children and their preparation for going into a home. Representative Pitney. Would you uot prefer to keep them, if you had a proper place to raise the children in? Mr. Woodward. We think that can be done by institutions already existing. Representative Pitney. What are the relations between your Board and the Home for Destitute Colored Women and Children? Do you have any relations with them? Mr. Woodward. 1 believe we have had; I am not very conversant with that. Representative Pitney. How about that, Mr. Lewis? Nir. Lewis. We have a working arrangement with that institution by which we send certain children there to be cared for at the expense of the Board of Children's Guardians. Representative Pitney. To what extent do you avail yourself of that arrangement? Mr. Lewis. Less extensively than formerly, for two reasons. In the first place, the little institution which is down in the city recives both white and colored children, and it is very convenient for us. Representative Pitney. What institution do you mean? Mr. Lewis. The George Maulsby Home. The principal reason why we do not send more to the Colored Orphan Asylum is that they will not take children over 10 years of age. They decline to receive them over that age; and many of the colored children that we have to deal with are below 3 years of age, the minimum, and over 10 years of age, the maximum; so that we are to that extent excluded from using that institution. 86 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Representative Pitney. Do you mean to say that their charter puts that limitation upon you? Mr. Lewis. I do not know about the charter; that is the regulation they enforce in regard to us. Representative Northway. Do you avail yourself of the Industrial Home School to any extent? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir; to some extent. We have 10 there, 1 think. Mr. Lewis. The number is smaller than formerly. Senator McMillan. Do they charge you a reasonable rate for taking care of children? Air. Woodward. Yes, sir; I understand so. Representative Pitney. Do you think you could do it any cheaper yourselves if you had a home of your own? Air. Woodward. Well, we have not tried that experiment. Representative Northway. Could you avail yourselves of the Indus- trial Home School to a greater extent than you do?- Air. Lewis. Not profitably; the rate paid is a little higher than at the other home, and it is more inconvenient. It takes more time and more car fare; we have to go back and forth very frequently. The rate at the Industrial Home School is 25 cents higher on each child per month; $10.25 at the Industrial Home School and $10 at the Maulsby Home. Senator AIcAIillan. The Industrial Home School is an institution owned by the Government, is it not? Air. Woodward. Controlled by the Government. Senator McMillan. I suppose we could regulate that, could we not, and say they could not charge you any more than at the other home? Mr. Woodward. I presume you could. Senator Faulkner. That is a pretty high rate-$120 a year. Senator McAIillan. I do not see why you could not tell these gen- tlemen to take them for $8 a month. Senator Faulkner. I know of an institution in this city where it costs but $94 a year for each inmate. Representative Northway. Is that difference in the cost at those two homes because of bidding to get business? Air. Lewis. It did not come about in that way. When the arrange- ment was made with the Industrial Home School, it was upon the basis of cost of maintaining children at the Industrial Home School in former years. It had been $130 a year, and that was the rate agreed upon when the first arrangement was made. The Maulsby Home was not then in existence in its present form; it was then the Newsboys' and Children's Aid Society. We first had an arrangement with it providing for a rate of $8 per mouth, and we were to furnish the clothing. We afterwards raised the rate; they furnished everything. Representative Northway. Your written report gives the names of all the institutions? Air. Lewis. Yes, sir. Senator Faulkner. Does it give the cost at the different institutions? Mr. Lewis. I think it does. Representative Pitney. Let me ask you a question, Mr. Lewis. What stipulation do you make with regard to religious training when you place children out? Air. Lewis. We do not attempt to make any stipulation. In the approval of applications for children, other things being equal or nearly charities and reformatory institutions. 87 equal, we always place the child with persons of the same religions faith as the child's parents. We try to maintain that distinction, and do so as far as we can. If we have an application from a family who are communicants in the Catholic Church, and there does not seem to be any child on hand who has been baptised in that faith and there is one that has not, if the home can be approved on high moral grounds, we do not allow the religious consideration to stand in the way, and we place the child. Representative Pitney. And vice versa? Mr. Lewis. Yes, sir. Senator Faulkner. I would like you to read the figures in the last column of this table showing the rate charged per year for caring for children at the different institutions. Representative Pitney. For what year? Senator Faulkner. 1896. Mr. Lewis. Newsboys' and Children's A id Society, $ 131.27; National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children, $91.45; Industrial Home School, $123.06; House of the Good Shepherd, $94.82; German Orphan Asylum, $95.77; Association for Works of Mercy, $96.57; Hope and Help Mission, $96.32; and Young Woman's Christian Home, $94.46. Senator Faulkner. Is that a fair comparison ? In other words, do all of those institutions not only board but educate and clothe the children? Mr. Lewis. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. They range from $96 to $131? Mr. Lewis. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. Are they all supposed to be based upon the actual cost to the institution? Mr. Lewis. 1 can not say as to that. The rate at the House of the Good Shepherd is $8. The rate at all of these institutions, excepting the Industrial Home School and the Maulsby Home, is $8 per month. Representative Pitney. Eight dollars per month? Mr. Lewis. Yes, sir. The board never knew whether it was based on the actual expense or not. It is almost impossible to tell the actual cost per capita. Representative Pitney. Some of those institutions have a force of matrons, attendants, etc., who are not paid, have they not? Senator McMillan. Yes; I think they have. Mr. Woodward. Mr. Lewis will make a statement showing the difference in price or cost to the board for children in institutions and children placed out in homes. His statement will give us an average of $113 a child in institutions as against an average of $20 a child when placed out if we had the means to place them in homes and investigate them. Mr. Lewis. In regard to the history of the administrative funds of the Board of Children's Guardians: The first appropriation bill provid- ing for the support of this work was approved early in 1893 and made an appropriation of $24,200, $5,000 of which was for administrative purposes and was immediately available. With this amount the work of preliminary organization was accomplished, furniture purchased, office rooms secured, records originated and putin use, and the current work of the fiscal year 1894 completed. The board began the year with but one employee and with no children on hand. It was, there fore, for the first half of the year free of the duty imposed by law of 88 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. visiting and supervising placed-out children. Six hundred and fifty- one dollars and thirteen cents was returned to the Treasury as an unexpended balance of the $5,000 appropriated. The next appropriation act cut down the amount given for adminis- trative purposes to $4,000 and forced the board into a violation of the agreement made with its principal agent by limiting his salary to $1,500 per annum. The second fiscal year was begun with 126 children in family homes, and therefore subject to supervision, 90 of whom were not on expense for maintenance, and with three employees in the service of the board. The placing out of children continued during the year, and an effort was made to comply with the requirements of the statute requiring the supervision of the placed-out children and the recording of all that transpired affecting them. The $4,000 was not sufficient, but was made to serve. For the fiscal year 1896, $4,000 was again appropriated. The year's work was begun with 201 children in homes, subject to supervision. During the year it became apparent that it would be impossible to properly look after the placed-out children unless more money was spent upon that sort of work; in fact, the effects of looseness of super- vision became painfully apparent. The requirements of the affairs of the board in Washington were such that nearly all the time of the prin- cipal agent was absorbed at the home office, and the supervision of the children would have been difficult even had there been on hand money with which to pay traveling expenses. The year closed with 262 chil- dren in homes. Many of them had been 12 years old and upward when placed out, and had been very difficult to settle. Many of them had been denied admission to any institution in the District of Columbia, and had therefore been sent out without any preliminary training whatever. Some of them were leaving their homes and drifting about the country. Special cases required much time and attention. The amount of fixed charges to be paid from administrative funds had been reduced, and the closest economy practiced at every point. Administrative charges are not such as can wait for a deficiency appro- priation, and the year therefore closed with much important work undone. The number of children in homes had largely increased; the number doing well in their homes had remained stationary; the number doing fairly had doubled, while the number not visited, and about whom little was known, was three times as great as ever before. The board had urged the Congress to increase the amount, but its urgency availed nothing. For the fiscal year 1897 the same amount ($4,000) was again given. There being no possibility of doing the work properly with that amount, the finding of free homes for children was proceeded with much more slowly after the beginning of the present fiscal year, and since January 1 has been wholly abandoned. Since it seems to those in authority better to cripple the work of dis- tribution, the children are now accumulating in the asylums. Last year the cost per child for those kept in asylums was an average of $113.15, while the cost of the entire administrative work of the board, including all salaries, all office and sundry expenses, all travel and transportation was an average of $16.99 per child for those in family homes subject to supervision. Leaving out of the question all con- siderations other than this financial one, it resolves itself into the inquiry as to whether it is cheaper and better to keep the children in the institutions at $113 per child per year or support an official board which will place them out and supervise them at $20 per child per year. 89 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. The following tables show the relative cost of the two plans: 1894. 1895. 1896. 1897. Total. On hand from last year 85 103 109 New commitments 203 110 93 80 486 Total number dealt with 203 195 196 189 Deaths and discharges 28 39 27 23 117 Net increase of number in free homes... 90 53 60 30 233 Total deducted 118 92 87 53 350 Remaining on expense 85 103 109 136 Expense of maintenance $7. 941.00 $12,600.00 $13,967.00 $15, 000. 00 $49, 508. 00 Per capita of maintenance $124.10 $118.66 $113.15 $113.00 Actual results of plan pursued. Results of the commitment of the same number of children had then been provided for solely in institutions. 1894. 1895. 1896. 1897. 1898. On hand from last year 175 246 312 New commitments 203 110 93 80 486 Total number dealt with 203 285 339 392 Less deaths and discharges 28 39 27 23 117 Remaining on expense 175 246 312 369 Expense of maintenance $21, 717.50 $29. 190.36 $35, 302. 80 $41, 697. 90 $128, 807. 66 Per capita of maintenance $124.10 $118. 66 $113.15 $113.00 Estimates and appropriations for administrative purposes. 1894. 1895. 1896. 1897. 1898. Hoard'a pstimatos . ..... $6, 500. 00 4. 000. 00 $5, 340. 00 4, 000. 00 $4, 790. 00 4, 000. 00 $6,130.00 4, 000. 00 Appropriated $5, 000. 00 If to the $49,508 actual expense for maintenance for four years be added the total expense for the entire administration of the affairs of the board for those years ($15,933.72) and the sum ($65,441.72) sub- tracted from the amount ($128,807.66) which would have been required for maintenance had no children been provided with free homes, the remainder ($63,365.94) may fairly be claimed as the saving resulting from the home rinding work done in three and one-half years by the Board of Children's Guardians. These are the financial advantages of this method of providing for dependent children, and while they are important, and while all laws should tend to economy and not extravagance, it is upon its sociolog- ical side where we rind its most pronounced and incontrovertible benefits. Bepresentative Pitney. The figures given in the tables in this state- ment of Mr. Lewis show what you pay for children in institutions and in private homes? Mr. Woodward. Yes,sir; with estimated traveling expenses,assum- ing that we had months to visit them all if they were placed out. Senator McMillan. How much are you allowed for visitation per annum ? 90 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Mr. Woodward. Four thousand dollars for administration expenses. Senator McMillan. That includes what? Mr. Woodward. That includes salary of the agent, clerk, type- writer, stationery, rent, and incidental expenses. The Chairman. And traveling expenses? Mr. Woodward. Yes. sir; it must include that. Senator McMillan. The $4,000 includes all you have for doing the work of administration, including the expense of visiting these children, which you are obliged to do under the law? Mr. Woodavard. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. And you say that is not enough? Mr. Woodward. No, sir; it is not enough, if we are to put these children out in private homes, which, as you can see, works a great saving. Senator McMillan. I tried to have it increased once. You ought to have for the expense of visiting these children a certain sum, entirely different from your other expenses. Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir. If we had $2,000 added to our adminis- tration fund, it is estimated that we would be able to return about $4,000 of the maintenance fund. Senator McMillan. You need your administration fund increased? That fund includes your running expenses, such as clerk hire. Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir. We are obliged to have, and ought to have, a clerk in the office all the time; we have to have a typewriter and somebody to see to the records. We ought to have a man who can investigate cases in the District and in the police court. Senator Faulkner. All your expenses would amount to about $3,400 outside of traveling expenses. Mr. Woodavard. Yes, sir; our present expenses are about $3,500. Senator Faulkner. Then you Avant added to that about $2,000 for visitation? M . Woodavard. Yes, sir. Representative ITtney. By making the appropriation $0,000, that would give you a little more for clerk hire and Avhat you need for visitation. Mr. Woodavard. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. It is my idea that we should add to this fund about $2,000. Representative Pitney. Mr. Woodward, let me ask you a question. It has been suggested, and it is being urged upon Congress, that there ought to be a board of charities, to have general supervision of all charitable work in the District. If that plan, or anything similar, were adopted, what suggestions can you make looking to bringing your work into the control of such a board and into harmonious relations with all the other charitable work of the District so far as publicly supported? Mr. Woodavard. 1 do not know that I can answer that question. I do not think there would be any difficulties so far as our board is con- cerned of arranging our work to meet any such provision. I think a majority of our members are in favor of such a scheme, and believe that if some comprehensive scheme were adopted by Congress it would result beneficially to us as well as to other charities. Representative Pitney. Would it be proper to have certain board of charities members, ex officio members, of your board or provide that your board should be represented? Mr. Woodavard. I think that would be an acceptable plan. Representative Pitney. So that you could keep in touch with the details of the work in general? CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 91 Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir. Now, I would like to state that during this last quarter of the fiscal year we have withdrawn entirely from placing children out in free homes. We have a deficiency, and can therefore do no more visiting until the new fiscal year. The children must be placed in institutions and kept there; until there is money available to visit them they can not be placed out. Instead of the Dis- trict paying $20 a child, they are paying in many cases $113. Some- body is losing that much money, to say nothing of the interest of the children. Senator McMillan. They are simply kept there instead of putting them in private homes? Air. Woodward. Yes, sir. We have a tabulated statement here showing the amounts appropri- ated to the different institutions for the past fifteen years, which I will file. The statement follows: Years. Indus- trial Home School. National Colored Home. St. Ann's Infant Asylum. St. John's Church Orphan- age- Washing- ton Hos- pital for Found- lings. Colored Found- lings' Home. Associa- tion for Works of Mercy. House of The Good Shepherd. 1883 $5,000 10, 000 12, 500 12, 000 10,000 10, 000 10, 000 10, 500 13, 590 11,500 13, 000 7, 680 9, 900 9, 900 9,900 $6, 500 7, 000 9, 000 6,500 6, 590 7, 000 9, 000 9,000 10, 000 10, 000 10, 000 7, 680 9, 900 9, 900 9, 900 $5, 000 5, 000 5, 000 5, 000 5, 000 6, 000 6, 000 6, 000 6, 500 7, 079 6, 500 3, 840 5, 400 5,400 5, 400 3884... $1,500 1,500 1,500 1, 500 1,500 1,500 1,500 1,500 2, 500 2, 000 1, 181 1,800 1,800 1, 800 3 885... 1886... $100 1887... 3888 $7, 000 7, 000 6, 000 7, 000 6, 000 6,000 6, 000 6, 000 6, 000 6, 000 1889 $1, 000 1,000 2, 000 2, 000 3,000 1,500 2, 500 2, 000 3, 000 2, 000 1, 181 1.800 1,800 1,800 1890 1891 $3, 000 3,097 3, 000 1,773 2,700 2, 700 1892 1893 1894 1895... 1896 1897... Fifteen years. 154, 380 127,970 83,119 23,080 63, 000 9, 000 18, 381 16, 270 Years. St. Kose's Indus- tria J School. German Orphan Asylum. St. Jo- seph's Male Orphan Asylum. St. Vin- cent's Female Orphan Asylum. Home for Friend- less Colored Girls. Young Women's Christian Home. News- boys' and Chil- dren's Aid Society. Total. 1883 $16, 500 23, 500 28, 000 25, 000 23, 090 31, 500 36, (100 36, 500 45, 500 48.076 54, 750 34. 800 44, 600 45, 600 3884... 3885... 3886 3887 1888 3889 .. 3890 .. 1893 .. 1892 $2, 500 5, 000 2, 953 4,500 4,500 3893... $2, 000 1,181 1,800 1,800 $2, 000 1,181 1,800 1,800 $250 150 1894 1895... $1, 000 1,000 1896 . $1, 000 1897 Fifteen years. 19,453 6, 781 6,781 400 2, 000 1,000 531, 615 Public appropriations for maintenance of private institutions for children. The Industrial Home School became a public institution in 1897. Six of the institutions whose subsidies are listed above are adminis- tered by religious orders whose members wear a distinctive garb, namely: St. Ann's Infant Asylum, St. John's Church Orphanage, Asso- ciation for Works of Mercy, House of The Good Shepherd, St. Kose's Industrial School, and St. Joseph's Male Orphan Asylum. 92 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. The investment of public funds in the real estate of the above insti- tutions is <1179,000. Notwithstanding this investment, and the appro- priations for maintenance as shown above, there is no public official and no court of justice which has authority to admit or discharge a single child. Mr. Woodward. Mr. B. Pickman Mann, secretary of the Board of Children's Guardians, is here to make a statement in answer to the questions mentioned in the topics. Mr. Mann. Gentlemen, I will reply to the questions in their order. First. Those children should be considered dependent who have no natural guardians or legally constituted guardians, even though pos- sessed of adequate means of livelihood; tor without guardians they are without protection. The duties of the District toward such children include the obligation to provide them with legal guardians. If they be possessed, by inheritance or otherwise, with means of livelihood, such means should be used for their support and education ; but if they be not so possessed, the duty of the District is to provide them with adequate support, care, and training, so that they may become health- ful, moral, and useful citizens; for upon the character of its future citizens depends the welfare of the people. Asa mere matter of econ- omy in a pecuniary sense, it is better to bear the cost of the proper rearing of citizens than to incur the burdens of maintaining protect- ive, reformatory, and punitive institutions for such as by neglect may become paupers, misdemeanants, or confirmed criminals in advanced life. Second. The government (the District) owes a duty to all children, as to its other -citizens, that they be protected from abuse even by their natural or legal guardians. Where the relation between children and their care takers is not that of legal guardianship much stricter care should be exercised by the government, and much less liberty allowed to the exercise of discretion on the part of the care takers than in case of the relation between children and their legal or natural guardians. Therefore supervision should be exercised by the government over children not officially declared dependent, whether in homes or institu- tions, aud for practical reasons, drawn from experience, such supervision should be exercised particularly over children placed in institutions. No institution should be allowed to claim exemption from governmental supervision, whether it be partially or not at all aided by public funds or endowed with legal power under public charters or be entirely vol notary in its character. Third. The duty of the Government toward dependent children being established, the Government itself should determine what children are to be classed as objects of its care in the various aspects in which that care is to be given. No children should be regarded as dependent with- out careful and authoritative determination of the question of their status, which determination is impracticable in its most adequate sense without recourse to judicial inquiry and decision. The courts alone have j)ower to elicit that full information which is requisite to a proper determination of the status of the citizen. In all cases, therefore, in which the dependency of the children is in question, the question should be determined by the courts. Guardianship, if adjudged proper to be conferred, should be made full and effective, and to last during the minor- ity or legal incompetency of the ward; otherwise, upon the termination of such guardianship, the child will find itself unprotected and without legal rights. Fourth. Children differ so greatly in natural qualities as well as in CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 93 the effects of their environment upon them that no uniform rule, based upon age, education, nor moral condition, can be laid down for their training. This should be determined in every individual case by the character and abilities of the child. It should, therefore, be left to a competent tribunal for decision. Fifth. As in regard to the previous question, so in regard to this-the needs of the individual should be considered, rather than the execution of any stated rule. Sixth. Institutions having to a large extent an established character and a uniformity, within each, of methods and discipline need super- vision mainly along general lines; but the homes of the peoj)le are so various that constant and vigilant special supervision should be exer- cised over children placed in them. Mrs. H. F. B. Macfabland. As to the administrative fund of the Board of Children's Guardians, I think it should be put in the control of the board to use as is best in their judgment. I do not think that the salary of the agent should be limited by the law; the board should have some leeway. The chairman spoke of putting the children in the institutions, as I understood him. They probably could be, bnt that is not the only point. If we had an institution of our own, it would be very much better. We could work along those lines which we believe to be wisest. I do not think we want just a little temporary clearing- house. I think the Board of Children's Guardians ought to have an institution something after the fashion of the Michigan State school, perhaps not so comprehensive, but somewhat along those lines. Then in regard to the Western agency, I wish you would ask Mr. Lewis to tell you what he knows of the New York Juvenile Asylum in its work in placing children in the West and maintaining a Western agency. That is what we ought to have developed on proper lines. I think it would be a great advantage to have such an agency. Representative Pitney. We shall be very glad to hear Mr. Lewis on that or any other topic which the board desires to present. Senator McMillan. In this connection, how does the number of children here compare, for instance, with the number in Michigan or Maryland? What comparison can be made? I understand that we have in the District an unusually large number of children to be taken care of. Mr. Lewis. The proportion of dependent children to population in the District of Columbia is 1 child to less than 400 of population. In the State of Minnesota, in the State of Michigan, and one other State, Rhode Island I believe it is, where the matter has been under State control, and placing out has been practiced for a series of years, the proportion is 1 child to 10,000 of population. Senator McMillan. That is just what I thought. Mr. Lewis. In other words, to make the comparison correct between the District of Columbia and the State of Minnesota, the District is contributing to the support of upward of 600 children at the present time. It is appropriating upward of $60,000 for the maintenance of those children. The State of Minnesota is contributing to the support of about 200 children, and is appropriating about $45,000 a year for the maintenance of the whole work. That is to say, whereas the popula- tion of the State of Minnesota is five times as great as the population of the District of Columbia, the number of children dependent upon the State for support and protection is one third. Senator McMillan. I think that is a very important point. 94 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Representative Pitney. It is. It comes close to the practical question. (Senator Faulkner. Can you give us a practical comparison-a com- parison of a city against a city? What you have given is the compari- son of a city against a whole State. Take city against city. Take New York, for example, or Boston, or Baltimore. That is the way to arrive at a fair comparison. Senator McMillan. Take Detroit, which is about the same size, or Milwaukee, or Cleveland. Have you any statistics as to those cities ? Mr. Lewis. I can now recall only the statistics for the State of Massachusetts in comparison with some other State, which perhaps would be a fairer comparison than the one I spoke of. Take the State of Massachusetts incomparison with the State of New York, each having a great seaport with its mouth open to the world, and each handling this matter under practically the same conditions, but on radically different plans. In the State of Massachusetts the ratio of child dependents to general population is 1 to 1,100 and some- thing, and in the State of New York it is 1 to 370. Representative Pitney. You know they have a very much greater Hood of immigration into New York. I think that must account largely, or to some extent, at least, for that variance. The character of the population in New York is very different. Senator Faulkner. Can you make any comparison between Wash- ington and any other city, not a State? Mr. Lewis. 1 can not. Senator Faulkner. That would be the only fair comparison. Mr. Lewis. It is almost impossible to get statistics as to cities. Senator McMillan. Because the States do the work? Mr. Lewis. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. We are contributing to the support of 600 children in the District of Columbia on the ground of dependency, or some other grounds. Is there any method by which we can find out how many children are really dependent, and are really and properly the subject of public charge? Mr. Lewis. No, sir; there is not. Representative Pitney. Is there anybody who can tell what is the extent of the charitable work which should strictly and properly be done here ? Mr. Lewis. No one can tell, so far as I know. Representative Pitney. You can not do it without putting into opera- tion some weeding-out process, and finding out how it works? Mr. Lewis. That is the only way I know of. 1 was asked to speak of the Western agency, maintained by the New York Juvenile Asylum. The home of the agency is at Englewood, Ill. The New York Juvenile Asylum forty years ago established the West- ern agency and began sending children to the State of Illinois to be there placed out. It has maintained the agency ever since, and the number of children sent West has averaged about one hundred a year. The work has never excited any special opposition in the State of Illi- nois, for the reason, in the first place, that it has been very carefully done, and, in the second place, there has always been a resident agent there on the ground who attended to it and to whom all complaints and transfers and returns were referred. For instance, if a child became unruly and undesirable in the home in which it had been placed, it was only necessary to'refer the matter to Mr. Wright, the resident agent, who took charge of the child and CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 95 took it to the receiving station at Englewood, where it was taken care of. The child was not allowed to be driven into the poorhouse or one of the reformatory institutions of the State of Illinois. It is regarded by persons throughout the country who are informed as to matters of this kind as an extraordinarily successful experiment. The expenses of the Western agency, which now has on its rolls and under its guardianship about 4,000 children, is less than $5,000 a year. That sum takes care of 4,000 children under guardianship of the asylum in Illinois, and it takes care of all returns and transfers, and furnishes new homes for the 100 children sent West every year. Representative Pitney. Do they not pay anything for maintenance in the homes? Mr. Lewis. No; they are all free homes. Senator McMillan. How do you find out about the homes? Mr. Lewis. In this case I went myself to the place and stayed there forty-eight hours with the superintendent. I talked the matter over with him, and I also visited the institution in New York. Senator McMillan. I mean ordinarily, when you want homes for children, how do you ascertain the facts as to them? Representative Pitney. Senator, do you mean private homes? Senator McMillan. Yes; private homes. Mr. Lewis. Every institution that makesit known widely that it has children who can be secured will be practically overwhelmed with appli- cations for them. That has been the history of every one of which I have had any knowledge. It has been the history of the Board of Children's Guardians. In the summer of 1893 when the Board of Children's Guardians begun its work in the city of Washington, notices were placed for four weeks on Saturday of each week in four papers, two in Washington, one in Baltimore, and one church paper. That is all the advertising the board has ever done. There never has been a week since that day that it has not had on hand from 70 to 150 applications for children. Representative Northway. You investigate the family, I suppose, so as to know whether it is a proper place for the child? Mr. Lewis. Yes, sir. I wish to make one other suggestion in regard to the increase of the appropriation for the administrative expenses of the board. There is a very small deficit in the administrative fund-less than $50. There is a surplus of $2,400 in the fund for the care of children. If it could be done, and if it seemed a wise thing to do, simply to remove the bar to the transfer from one of those funds to another, nothing additional need be appropriated. There is money enough. The only difficulty is that it is not properly distributed. For instance, if the board had authority to use all of its appropriations for such purposes as might be necessary, it would go through the year with a small surplus. Representative Northway. Now the appropriation is made for a specific object, and you are not permitted to use it for any other purpose? Mr. Lewis. That is true. With the present arrangement we return about $3,000 to the Treasury. The work required to be done will not be done for the reason that there is not enough money appropriated for the specific purpose. Mr. John F. Cook. At first it was $6,000. Mr. Lewis. It was $5,000. That was sufficient, and $600 was returned to the Treasury. But that was the initial year. Representative Northway. The amount usually returned to the 96 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Treasury had better be expended in traveling expenses, in investigating homes, etc. Mr. Lewis. Yes, sir; by far. Mr. Woodward. The committee understands how this money is expended; that we have to provide vouchers, and all that. Senator McMillan. Oh, yes. On the schedule of hearings I find "Officers of the National Association for the Relief of Destitute Col- ored Women and Children." Is there anyone representing that associa- tion who desires to be heard? Mr. Cook. Dr. Purvis was here, but had to leave. I am one of the trustees of that institution. The officers and managers are ladies, some of whom are here. Senator McMillan. You have made a report? Mr. Cook. Yes, sir; we have made a report. Senator McMillan. Do you wish to add anything to that report? Mr. Cook. I do not know of anything that we need add, except as to the questions submitted in your printed statement as to the capacity, etc., of the institution. Senator McMillan. That information your report gives. Mr. Cook. Possibly it may. I have not seen tlie report lately. I have some data with me, but if it is covered by the report it is not necessary for me to take up your time. 1 am willing to answer any questions which members of the committee may desire to ask. I will state, in respect to one matter which has been suggested by what was said by Mr. Woodward as to the number of children taken from the Board of Children's Guardians, that at the present time we have only five, and that the rule of taking children at 10 years of age and keeping them until 12 has been a standing regulation of the insti- tution for some time. It was not action taken to forestall Senator McMillan. That is your regular law on the subject? Mr. Cook. It is a regulation of the home. We have about 100 chil- dren at present and 10 old women. The home is said to be able to accommodate about 100 or 110 children annually. Representative Northway. What is the name of your association? Mr. Cook. The National Home for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children. We have had some older children sent by the Board of Children's Guardians, and they have proved rather detri- mental to the home, containing such a number of younger children, and therefore in a measure we have had to insist upon that rule-not in antagonism to the Board of Children's Guardians, but more as a protection to the children we have there. Representative Northway. You apply the same rule to children from the Board of Children's Guardians that you do in any other instance? Mr. Cook. Yes, sir. Representat:ve Pitney. Do you place out children? Mr. Cook. Yes, sir. Mr. Mann. I understood Mr. Lewis to say that the Board of Chil- dren's Guardians had been notified that the Colored Home would not receive children over 10 years of age. Mr. Cook says the limit there now is 12 years. Mr. Cook. It is so short a time between 10 and 12 years that there may be an error on my part, but that is our rule of action. Senator McMillan. What do you do with these children? Mr. Cook. We seek homes for them and place them in as good homes as we can possibly get. STATEMENT OF JOHN F. COOK. CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 97 Representative Pitney. How many children are in your institution on the average? Mr. Cook. On the average about 100. Representative Pitney. About how long does each child remain there on the average ? Mr. Cook. They come early and we send them away about those ages as quick as we can get homes for them. With the exception of two cripples, who are somewhat permanently with us, all have gone at about 12 to 14 years of age-12. But at those ages as quick as we can get homes for them, above 10 years, we send them to the homes. Representative Pitney. If a child comes to you at 6 years of age you keep it four years? Mr. Cook. We keep it until it is 10 years of age. We do not send it away before unless there is some specially good home waiting. We give it training up to that time. Senator McMillan. Are the homes in this neighborhood? Mr. Cook. They are principally in Pennsylvania and New Jersey- we have none, I think, either east or west of that-and a number around here. Senator McMillan. Do you keep track of the children after they leave your home ? Mr. Cook. As far as we are able. We have no regular visitation, but the matron now and then goes to visit them, or some delegated member of the body does. I am informed by one of the lady mana- gers, Mrs. Baxter, that we have a lady visitor now especially provided. Mrs. Hatch. That is not quite a correct statement. The board of admission and dismission are all made a board to visit the children in the District, and beyond that we have secured the services of a colored minister, devoted to good work, who will be employed, so far as our means admit, in visiting the children. There are some children in Mas- sachusetts. Mr. Cook has perhaps forgotten that. Mr. Cook. Yes. Mrs. Hatch. It was originally the intention, and, in fact, the law, that children should not be put out in the District because of the indig- nity to which they would be subjected-the days of slavery being so lately passed. It was thought best never to put them in the District, but of late years, hoping that that prejudice had somewhat abated, the rule has not been so strictly observed, though it is still considered desirable to send them farther away, if possible. They are all put out, I think, at 12 years. In the list here there is but one over 12 now there, except the two cripples of whom Mr. Cook spoke. Representative Pitney. Mr. Lewis, what do you do with the little children? Do you board them out in homes in some way? I refer to children 3, 4, 5, 6 years of age. Mr. Lewis. There is no absolutely fixed age at which a child can go to this place or the other. If a child is delicate and seems imperatively to need lots of outdoor exercise and freedom if he has been injured by the miserable crowding in poor places, from which many of them come, we send him away to the country and pay board for him in the country home. If it is an infant, we find some woman who will take it and take care of it for pay right here in the District of Columbia, where we can go to see it every month or every week if necessary, and where the physician employed by the board can reach it. But ordinarily chil- dren from 6 years of age upward go into institutions, to be maintained until a free home is provided. It would be an exception if a child over 8. Doc. 185 7 98 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 6 years of age should be placed in a boarding home; that is, in a pri- vate family at board. Representative Pitney. I should like to ask how many children from the Colored Home there are who will necessarily be subject to the visitation of the colored minister whom you have employed for the purpose? Mr. Cook. We sent out eighteen by our report submitted to you during the last year. Representative Pitney. How many are already out? Mr. Cook. I can not give you the figures. Representative Pitney. What territory will this minister's work cover ? Mr. Cook. I daresay Virginia and Maryland, in the main, where the larger number of children are placed. Representative Pitney. Have you not records to show how many children you have out? Mr. Cook. The records may show, but I am not sufficiently familiar with them to state. Mrs. Hatch. I am very sorry the secretary was not able to come, because of a severe cold, for she could have answered some of these questions. Mr. Cook. I should like to say that the per capita cost is less than 20 cents-15 to 20 cents is the cost per capita all through for the main- tenance of these children. Representative Northway. The per capita cost for how long? Mr. Cook. Fifteen to 20 cents a day. Representative Northway. Your school is maintained entirely by contributions? Mr. Cook. No; by the Government in the main, with some gifts. Representative Northway. By taxation? Mr. Cook. By taxation. Senator McMillan. Can you furnish us a statement in addition to your oral remarks, probably from your secretary, giving the informa- tion asked for during the course of your examination, showing where the children are, how many are in the different States, and how often they are visited. We should like to have that information. Your sec- retary can probably supply it in writing, and then we will have it with the papers in the case. Mr. Mann. A question was asked in regard to the percentage of children taken charge of by the Board of Children's Guardians who ought not to be supported at public expense, and 1 should like to say in regard to that point that Mr. Lewis has reported to us every appli- cation made and what disposition is made of it, so that if the commit- tee wishes to have an exact statement of how many applications are made and how many are complied with it can be put in writing. Representative Pitney. I think it would be well to furnish that, Mr. Mann. I do not suppose anybody can answer the impriry I made a while ago. It was as to how many of the dependent or so-called dependent children to whose support the Government is now contributing ought to be and how many ought not to be a charge upon the Government. Mr. Mann. I suppose by inquiry it could be ascertained where those children were received and under what conditions they were received, so that it would be possible to determine to some extent how many of them really belong to the District. It has been testified to in former years before committees of somewhat the character of this that many children were received from outside of the District who were known not to be dependent upon the District. It might be possible to distinguish 99 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. between those who have some presumptive claim on the District and those who have none. Representative Pitney. Irrespective of the question of residence, are there not a great many children taken into the several institutions who might just as well be supported by their own parents? Mr. Mann. I should not like to speak for any institution, but at the time the Board of Children's Guardians was established, and the appro- priations to the other institutions diminished, many children who were at that time in institutions were returned to their families, and it is to be presumed that the families were able to support them. It has often been asserted that persons put their children into public institutions to be taken care of and supported while the children are unable to furnish any pecuniary aid to the family, and when they reach the age at which they may be made useful to the family, they are taken out and subjected to all the surroundings which are met with in the poor families. But such statistics had better come from the institutions themselves and not from others. Unless judicial inquiry were made as to the condition under which the children were received and their claims upon the District, I sup- pose it would be impossible to answer the question which Mr. Pitney has put as to how many are supported more or less at public expense who are not entitled to such support. Representative Pitney. What are the conditions for the admission of children to your home? Mr. Cook. I call your attention to the by-laws. They are children who are destitute, as will be seen: That said society may receive into a house or building, to be provided by it, any destitute child or children at the request of the parents or guardian, or next friend, or the mother, if the father be dead or has abandoned his family, or does not provide for their support, or is an habitual drunkard; such parents, guardian, or next friend, or mother making a written surrender of such child or children. Representative Pitney. That is the letter of the law. Now, what is the practice of the institution? Mr. Cook. That is the practice, to my knowledge. I think an inves- tigation would show that the children there are fully within the requirements of this section. Representative Pitney. They are children who may be properly a public charge? Mr. Cook. Yes, sir. I will say to the committee, without any dispo- sition in the way of an appeal to them, that in this community of 250,000 people the colored people number, we will say, about one-third, about 33 per cent, and this is the only institution of the kind of the many insti- tutions, asylums, etc., for the benefit of orphans that receives colored children to any extent. I believe the Little Sisters of the Poor, and 1 think St. Ann's Infant Asylum take a few. Now, since then there has grown up the Maulsby Home, referred to by Mr. Lewis. I think that institution may receive such children. Of its history and creation I know nothing. Representative Pitney. How many old ladies are in your home at present? Mr. Cook. About ten, at present. That is up to the limit of the accommodations. The building is not very large. They have four schoolrooms, four dormitories, and a workshop now. I think that is set forth in the report, and it is needless for me to repeat it. Representative Pitney. Are you also a member of the Board of Children's Guardians? Mr. Cook. I am. 100 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Representative Pitney. That board takes charge of colored children as well as white children? Mr. Cook. It does. Representative Pitney. What are the results of its work as to colored children? Mr. Cook. As a matter of course the board are much embarrassed in the placing of colored children. I think Mr. Lewis will sustain my statement in that respect, but they do all they possibly can in that direction, and do it bravely and well. Representative Pitney. What have you to say as to that system of work so far as concerns its results with regard to colored children ? Mr. Cook. It is on trial, and I believe it is working pretty well. The Chaikman. Mr. Lewis, what is the proportion of white to black children that you take care of? Mr. Lewis. For the first two years of the existence of the board the proportion was about two colored to one white. Since that time it has undergone a very decided change, which I have intended to explain in the hearing which is to follow this one, but I will do so now if it is thought better. Representative Pitney. You may as well go ahead with the expla- nation. Mr. Lewis. That was true for the reason that there is no institution in the District open to colored children over 10 years of age, or colored children of any age if they are especially difficult to manage, except the Reform School. The Board of Children's Guardians, when it was created, was a tremendous relief to the courts of the District, and they began to commit colored children to the board very freely. The board immediately found itself in very deep water with them. It had no ade- quate outlet for them. They were entirely unfit for immediate transfer to family homes. They had never known any home life. Many of them had known neither father nor mother. They were fresh from conditions so horrible that they must be seen before they can be believed to exist; and to place those children immediately in family homes was simply to impose upon people entitled to better treatment. But that was the only thing that could be done, and it was done, and the result in many instances has been the only result that could be expected from such conditions-that is, failure. Then, added to that has been the increasing difficulty of the super- vision of the placed-out children. While the board had $5,000 for administrative expenses for the initial year, and it was sufficient, it had only $1,000 for the second year, which year was entered with 90 chil- dren in free homes, and while the $4,000 was not sufficient it was made to serve. The next year the difficulty increased very much, because while the work had greatly increased the appropriation remained the same. The children began tn leave their homes and to drift about the country. They became insubordinate and were returned to the board or they disappeared. It must be obvious to any person who follows the details of the matter at all what an embarrassing position the board were placed in when a colored child 10 years of age was committed to their care. We could sit down in the office and study what we would do with him. No institution was open to him; no provision made for him. If we put him in a new suit of clothes he would look at us with a quizzical grin, and if given an opportunity he would decamp before the trick which he supposed was to follow, for a pure act of philanthropy or charity was beyond his conception. He could not conceive of such a thing. The only idea he had was that you wanted to get something CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 101 out of him for nothing. He never entertained the idea that anybody would desire to help him, to lift him up. Representative Pitney. And a charitable act made him suspicious? Mr. Lewis. Yes, sir; and he got away as quickly as he could. Last year, coming back to the year from now, the board objected to the reception of colored children from the courts-whenever we could do so reasonably or decently. We have stated the situation to Judge Miller and Judge Kimball in the police court. We have been sum- moned over there time and time again. The court would say "What can you do with this boy or girl?" We have been compelled to say, "There is no institution in the District open to him or her, and the court will take into consideration that fact in deciding whether or not he or she is to be committed to the guardianship of the board." Under those circumstances the matter has gone back partly to where it was before the board was created. These little fellows and girls go to the Reform School or to jail or to the workhouse. That is the reason why the proportion of white to colored children now is very much greater than it was during the first few years. Representative Pitney. The arms of charity are open wider to white than to black children. Mr. Lewis. Very much wider. Senator McMillan. On the schedule next come the officers of the Humane Society. Is there anyone present representing that society. THE HUMANE SOCIETY. Mr. Pratt. I represent the society as president. I am here to answer any questions. Mr. Wilson, the officer of the society appointed by the District Commissioners, who attends to the work, and whom we have asked to appear here to-day, is present. Perhaps I may be per- mitted to read a short synopsis of the law under which we act. Shall I read it? Senator McMillan. Yes. Mr. Pratt. The law for the protection of children (act of February 13,1885) provides that any person who shall torture, cruelly beat, abuse, or willfully maltreat any child under the age of 18; or any person having the custody or possession of a child under the age of 14, who shall expose or aid and abet in exposing in any highway, street, field, house, or other place, with intent to abandon it; or any person having in his custody or control a child under the age of 14, who shall employ or exhibit it, or in any way dispose of it with a view of its being employed as an acrobat, gymnast, contortionist, circus rider, or rope walker, or in any exhibition of like dangerous character, or as a beggar, mendi- cant, street singer, or street musician, shall be liable, upon conviction, to a fine of not more than $250 or imprisonment not exceeding two years, or both. It also provides for bringing before the police court any child sub- jected to cruel treatment, willful abuse, or neglect, or any child under 16 found in a house of ill-fame, and for its commitment to an orphan asylum or other public charitable institution, with the consent of the authorities of such institution. I will say, that until the Board of Children's Guardians was organ- ized this was the only society which had authority under the law to take charge of children and protect them. Representative Pitney. When was your society organized? 102 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Mr. Pi?ATT. In February, 1885, under an act of Congress. Representative Pitney. Did it commence the child-caring work immediately after its incorporation ? Mr. Pratt. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. How many children has it cared for annu- ally during the past twelve years'? Mr. Pratt. Last year 268 was the number that our agent reported. Of course a great many cases were disposed of by amicable adjustment. Representative Pitney. What is the system of work of the Humane Society? Mr. Pratt. Officer Wilson will explain it. He can do it better than I can. We receive nothing from the Government. We are supported entirely by donations, by memberships, and by the fines collected in the police court; that is, in the case of animals. Mr. Wilson is the officer who attends to this work, and he will answer any questions. Senator McMillan. You are connected with the police force? Mr. Wilson. Yes, sir. I am a police officer, detailed as agent of the society. Applications are made to me by the parent or guardian of dependent children to obtain admission for their children to the differ- ent homes. I investigate the cases and make application to the home for admission. Representative Pitney. How long have you been engaged in that work ? Mr. Wilson. Iwas detailed in 1890. My predecessor, Officer O'Neil, was detailed soon after the passage of the law, in 1885. 1 think he was detailed in 1886. Representative Pitney. Can you give us a statement of just what relation the work of your society bears to the other charitable work, and especially child-caring work in the District of Columbia? Mr. Wilson. The class of children with whom we have to deal are usually those of parents who have formerly been in better circum- stances and have become reduced, possibly through getting dismissed or not being able to find employment, or something of that sort; and very often the father has deserted the children, or the father is dead. Some of them are complete orphans. Representative Pitney. What authority do you have over a child when you get it? Does the law confer authority? Mr. Wilson. No, sir. Representative Pitney. What do you do with a child? Mr. Wilson. We merely act as an agent for getting it admission into a home. Representative Pitney. What home? Mr. Wilson. Any home. Representative Pitney. Into an institution? Mr. Wilson. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. Do you place children out in private homes? Mr. Wilson. No, sir. Representative Pitney. Not at all? Mr. Wilson. In some cases we do, but it is seldom. Representative Pitney. You began your work in 1890. Give us the number of children whom you have cared for each year. Mr. Wilson. On an average I have placed about 150 in homes. From that time up to the present I have averaged about 150. Representative Pitney. In what homes have you placed them? Mr. Wilson. In all the charitable institutions-the Washington City Orphan Asylum, the Industrial School, St. John's Orphanage, the German Orphan Asylum, St. Vincent's, St. Joseph's, and St. Anu's. CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 103 Representative Pitney. Have you a table showing the number of children taken charge of each year by your society and the institutions in which they have been put? Mr. Wilson. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. I wish you would furnish that to us in such form that it can be printed in the report of the hearing. 1 should like to see it if you have it in your annual report here. Mr. Wilson. Every year from the date we took charge? This [indi- cating] is the first year. They are all marked there [exhibiting book]. M. Pratt. 1 wish to state that Officer Wilson, at the monthly meet- ings of the executive committee, makes a report on printed blanks which we furnish him of every child he has visited and that he has put into any home. Mr. Wilson. Every case is investigated. Mr. Pratt. Every case is investigated. Representative Pitney. What I should like to have Mr. Wilson do is to reduce the several tables into one. Mr. Wilson. Consolidate them? Representative Pitney. Yes; into one table. You can first put them separately, year after year, and then put in a summary, showing how many children in the aggregate have been taken up by your society, and what disposition has been made of them. And now, while you are here, 1 should like to hear from you a statement as to how you are guided in your action as to the institution in which you put a child, etc. How do you know where to put it; what rules do you follow? Mr. Wilson. Most of the applicants prefer some particular home. Representative Pitney. Most of the applicants prefer it? Mr. Wilson. Yes, sir; the parents or the guardians prefer some par- ticular home. A great many of them prefer the Industrial School, a good many the Washington City Orphan Asylum, and so on. Representative Pitney. What do you do with a child who has no parent or guardian, and who is not old enough to have any discretion about the matter. Mr. Wilson. I choose the home myself. I make application to some particular home. I have to make application for the admission of a child at the regular Board meeting. Representative Pitney. What are the expenses of your work? Mr. Wilson. There is no expense attached to it. I am paid by the Metropolitan police department $90 a month. Representative Pitney. 1 understand; but I inquire as to the expenses of caring for the children. Does that put you under no expense ? Mr. Wilson. There is no expense. We put them in homes and char- itable institutions. Senator McMillan. The children come to you through the courts? Mr. Wilson. No, sir. Senator McMillan. Through the police? Mr. Wilson. No, sir. Senator McMillan. How do they come to you? Representative Pitney. He is a police officer detailed to the work of the Humane Society. Mr. Wilson. The law for the protection of children provides that a Metropolitan police officer shall be detailed as agent. Senator McMillan. Yes; I understand. You are a sort of inspector to find out cases of children who need the care of charitable institutions? Mr. Wilson. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. You place them in charitable institutions? 104 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Mr. Wilson. Yes, sir. A great many applications come to me through the police department from the officers on the beats where the children live. Representative Pitney. What regulations are you guided by in eliminating those children who ought not to be made the subject of public charge ? Mr. Wilson. I carefully investigate the cases before I make appli- cation for their admission. Of course the children have to be destitute. Probably they have been deserted by their father, or he is a drunken or worthless man and does not contribute anything to their support. Representative Pitney. I wish you would give any suggestions yon may have in your mind upon the possibility or advisability of consoli- dating your work with that of the Board of Children's Guardians. Why is it necessary to have these two systems of work going on in the same territory ? Mr. Wilson. There are here a great many cases of children who are in destitute circumstances in which the parent or guardian or relative, whoever has charge, would not think of having them committed to the Board of Children's Guardians at all. They would not think of relin- quishing the children. They think that at some future time they can resume charge of them. Representative Pitney. They are not willing to surrender their parental or other control? Mr. Wilson. No, sir. Representative Pitney. So far as applications come to you from parents, they come to you in preference to the Board of Children's Guardians, because of that feeling on the part of the parents? Mr. Wilson. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. What other reason is there, if any, why the work your society is doing might not be done by some such organiza- tion as the Board of Children's Guardians? Mr. Wilson. I know of no other reason, but I think that is a suffi- cient reason. Representative Northway. Could the Board of Children's Guardians be enlarged to cover your work? Representative Pitney. Enlarged as to its powers? Mr. Wilson. I do not think so. I do not think the law governing the Board of Children's Guardians would enable them to do that, at least as to this class of children with whom 1 have dealings. The fact is the parents would not have them taken into court and committed to the Board of Children's Guardians. Representative Northway. Where can you draw the boundary line between the two? Mr. Wilson. A great many of the parents have seen better days, and are in circumstances, and probably within a year or two they can take charge of their children again. Senator McMillan. Have you a statement showing exactly what has been done with these children every year? Mr. Wilson. I have not. Senator McMillan. Do you not make a report monthly and annually to the Humane Society? Is not that in writing? Is it not printed? Mr. Wilson. Yes, sir; showing how many have been placed in the different institutions. Senator McMillan. That is what I mean. You have such a statement? CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 105 Mr. Wilson. I think it is all here. I can have these reports consol- idated if yon wish. Senator McMillan. I wish you would make a brief statement show- ing how many children you have cared for-take last year, for instance- and where they have been placed. Mr. Wilson. I made a report last year, I think, to the subcommittee on charities of the Senate District Committee. .Representative Pitney. In the first place, what authority of law do you have for taking hold of these children? Mr. Wilson. We have not any. We merely consider it an act of humanity to attend to that sort of work. Representative Pitney. Do you do it in all cases with the consent of the parent or the guardian of the child ? Mr. Wilson. In all cases. Representative Pitney. You simply have their authority? Mr. Wilson. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. What authority do you have for committing the child to an institution or to any other control? Mr. Wilson. We have not any authority. We merely place them tli ere. Representative Pitney. For how long? Mr. Wilson. Until the parents can take care of them again. Representative Pitney. Do you not have any written agreement with the institution? Mr. Wilson. The institution usually has an agreement that the par- ent or guardian signs, but when the parent or guardian can prove satisfactorily to the board that they are so situated that they can take proper care of the child, they usually get him or her. Representative Pitney. To what board? Mr. Wilson. To the board of managers or the board of trustees of the institution. Representative Pitney. But at any rate, when you put a child into one of these institutions it is your understanding, whether it is the legal effect or not, that it is to stay there until the institution is willing to surrender it? Mr. Wilson. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. Suppose the institution is not willing to do that, how long does the child remain? Mr. Wilson. They are usually willing. I know of very few cases where they find out that the parent or guardian can take care of the children that they have refused to return them. Probably there are some few cases, but just now 1 do not remember any that have come within my knowledge. Senator McMillan. Do the institutions take care of the children without any charge? Mr. Wilson. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. And keep them without any charge or expense? Mr. Wilson. Yes. Of course the greater number of the homes receive regular appropriations from the Government. Senator McMillan. They take them on that account, of course? Mr. Wilson. Yes. sir. Representative Northway. Is the Humane Society a creature of law, or an association of benevolent people to do good ? Mr. Wilson. It was created by law. Representative Northway. Its duties are defined by law? 106 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Mr. Pratt. It was created under an act of Congress. Senator McMillan. Do you look after animals, too? Mr. Wilson. No, sir; I am detailed for children. Senator McMillan. There is an officer who looks after that branch of the work? Mr. Wilson. Yes, sir. He is not a police officer, but a special officer. Representative Pitney. The president of your association read an extract from the law. I did not hear it distinctly. I wish to know what are the legal limits of the work of the society? Mr. Pratt. Here is the act. Representative Pitney. What section is it? Mr. Wilson. Section 3. Representative Pitney. Section 3 of the original act? Mr. Pratt. In reference to children. Representative Pitney. 1 wish to know what section of law it is that gives you authority over children. Is it this synopsis of the law relating to cruelty to children? Mr Pratt. Yes, sir. We can give you the full law. Representative Pitney. The act that gives to the Humane Society authority over children is an act for the protection of children in the District of Columbia, and for other purposes, approved February 13, 1885, as I understand. Mr. Pratt. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. And that act provides, according to the synopsis which you have furnished us, that "the law for the protection of children (act of February 13, 1885) provides that any person who shall torture, cruelly beat, abuse, or willfully maltreat any child under the age of 18, or any person having the custody and possession of a child under the age of 14, who shall ex}>ose or aid and abet in expos- ing in any highway, street, field, house, or other place, with intent to abandon it; or any person having in his custody or control a child under the age of 14, who shall employ or exhibit it, or in any way dis- pose of it with a view of its being employed as an acrobat, gymnast, contortionist, circus rider, or ropewalker, or in any exhibition of like dangerous character, or as a beggar, mendicant, street singer, or street musician, shall be liable, upon conviction, to a tine of not more than $250 or imprisonment not exceeding two years, or both. It also pro- vides for bringing before the police court any child subjected to cruel treatment, willful abuse, or neglect, or any child under 16 found in a house of ill-fame, and for its commitment to an orphan asylum or other public charitable institution, with the consent of the authorities of such institution." This law gives the Humane Society two different branches of work; first, the prevention of cruelty to children; second, the commitment under adjudication of the police court, to an orphan asylum or other public charitable institution. I do not understand what authority of law you have for this general sort of work which you seem to be carrying on, of picking up children who are proper subjects for commitment to charitable institutions and putting them there. Mr. Wilson. I do not know that there is any law for it, but we have always thought it was a good work to be engaged in. Representative Northway. You have enlarged the statute. Representative Pitney. Here there seems to be a police officer detailed for a special work, possibly with the best of motives, but it is a loose way of doing business. charities and reformatory institutions. 107 Senator McMillan. If this man can take charge of 150 children, whose parents can not, and put them into institutions, it seems to me that for one man he is doing good work. Representative Pitney. Whether he is doing it lawfully or not? Senator McMillan. Yes. Mr. Wilson. We were the only such agency until the Board of Children's Guardians act was passed. Representative Pitney. The objection on the part of parents and others to the operation of the law constituting the Board of Children's Guardians is that it puts an indignity upon the parents and puts the child permanently beyond their control; but the law that gives the Humane Society jurisdiction of those children has practically the same provision. They must be committed through the police court. Senator McMillan. It is like the subject of charity. No doubt the Associated Charities people in their investigations find lots of persons who have been well off in their day and generation, and have lost their money. We will say that a man has lost his situation. He can not get anything to do. The family are in great distress. They will not go to the poor masters; they will not go to an institution; but quietly they will receive help. Now, so it is with the people who have children, just as Mr. Wilson has stated. They are proud; they do not want to have it known through the courts that they are in that condition, but they are willing that the child shall be cared for temporarily. I have known many cases of that kind, where children were cared for for six months or a year, and then the parents took them back. Representative Pitney. It may be right in some cases, and wrong in others; but the question is as to the authority of law to employ a police officer at public expense to do that work. They cite this law, and it does not cover it. Senator McMillan. It covers part of it. Mr. Wilson. I have asked several of the judges of the police court and they say they have no power to commit to charitable institutions. There is no law for it. Representative Northway. You have been putting them in such institutions. Mr. Wilson. I have been placing them there. Representative Northway. They are still there. Mr. Wilson. A good many of them are. Representative Northway. Have they taken any of them out? Mr. Wilson. Some of them remain only a few months until they are taken out. Representative Northway. Who takes them out? Mr. Wilson. The parents usually, or the guardians. The parent will get employment. Representative Northway. If a child is taken from its parent because of cruelty, is the parent permitted to go and get the child again ? Nir. Wilson. No; the children to whom I refer are placed in the institutions because of destitution. Representative Pitney. Do you place children in institutions outside of the District of Columbia? Mr. Wilson. I have taken a few children to Baltimore. Representative Pitney. How many? Mr. Wilson. I have taken children to St. Mary's Industrial Institute in Baltimore. I can not say how many. Representative Northway. Under what law? 108 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Representative Pitney. Does the report show how many have been so placed ? Mr. Wilson. Yes, sir; but I do no know the year. I have not taken any for the last year or two years. Senator McMillan. The report which I ask you to make will show exactly what has been done with those children. Representative Pitney. That is what I ask for also. Mr. Wilson. Suppose I furnish the monthly reports from the date of my detail up to the present time; would not that do just as well as the consolidated report? Senator McMillan. That will do. Representative Pitney. You had better put in the summary. Mr. Wilson. Our annual reports will show that. Representative Pitney. I suppose we can make the calculation. Mr. Pratt. We can prepare such a table as you wish. Representative Pitney. If you please. [To Mr. Wilson.] Yrou make reports to the Humane Society? Mr. Wilson. Yes, sir; monthly and annually. Representative Pitney. Who constitute the Humane Society? Mr. Wilson. Mr. Pratt is and has been president for quite a num- ber of years. I do not know all the members. There are quite a number of them. Mr. Pratt. I will say that the late Judge MacArthur was instru- mental in having this act passed. There was, at the time, no law in the District to protect children, and this was the first society that was empowered to act for children, and Mr. Wilson acted until the Board of Children's Guardians was appointed. Mr. Wilson. All cases of cruelty and neglect under the law. Representative Pitney. But those cases you turn over to the Board of Children's Guardians? Mr. Wilson. Yes; since that Board has been established. Itenables us to reach children whom we could not reach before. For instance, children kept in vicious or immoral association or surroundings, or children known by their language or life to be vicious. Representative Northway. Do you take children and dispose of them without consulting the officers of the Humane Society ? Mr. Wilson. The parents come and make application to me. Representative Northway. And you dispose of the children with- out consulting the society at all? Mr. Wilson. Yes, sir. It would take too long to call a meeting of the Board in each case. Mr. Pratt. I will state that we have never had a complaint from any- one as to Mr. Wilson's acts. He certainly helps a great many poor people. Mr. Wilson. 1 try to use considerable judgment in those cases. Mr. Pratt. We have every confidence in Mr. Wilson's judgment and ability to place the children where it is best. Senator McMillan. You have a board? Mr. Pratt. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. Do you meet once a month? Mr. Pratt. Yes, sir. The first Monday in every month Mr. Wilson makes a detailed report of each child, where he has placed it, what is the child's name, etc. You have the blank there. Senator McMillan. Is this board to which you refer composed wholly of gentlemen, or is it a mixed body? Mr. Pratt. There are a great many ladies on it. 109 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Senator McMillan. You raise your money by subscription? Mr. Pratt. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. And by memberships? Mr. Pratt. Yes, sir. We get no assistance whatever from the Gov- ernment. We receive bequests. We received a little bequest of $5,000 from a clerk in the Treasury Department, who was a bachelor. He had no family, and had been a member of our board for years. We also received a bequest of land valued at $3,000. Senator McMillan. I think that is all, Mr. Wilson. Statement of Mr. Wilbon. Washington Humane Society, Cruelty to Children, April 10, 1897 Senator McMillan, Chairman Committee on Charities, District of Columbia Sir: I respectfully submit the following report of the number and disposition of cases investigated for the year ending December 31, 1896: Number of cases investigated 268 Number of persons prosecuted 9 Number of persons fined 3 Number of persons execution of sentence suspended and personal bonds taken 2 Number of cases dismissed . 4 Amicably adjusted 259 Total 268 S. Wilson, Agent. White. Colored. Total white. Total colored. Total. Male. Female. Male. Female. Number of abandoned infants sent to St. Ann's Infant Asylum Number of abandoned infants sent to other homes pro- 1 1 1 1 2 vided Number of children picked up on the streets by the police and placed in charge of Board of Guardians Number of children taken from parent or guardian and 1 1 2 1 1 1 3 2 3 committed to Board of Children's Guardians by order of police court Number of children taken from parent or guardian and 5 8 13 13 committed to other homes by order of police court Total 1 1 9 9 2 18 20 Number of children placed in homes by society's agent.. Number of children committed- 130 To Church Orphanage To House of the Good Shepherd To House of Mercy To children's hospitals To Industrial Home School To Benjamin Walter Memorial Home To National Colored Home To Reform School To St. Ann's Infant Asylum To Newsboys' Home To St. Vincent's Orphan Asylum To St. Rose's Industrial School To Brum Home To St. Mary's Industrial School. Baltimore, Md To Washington City Orphan Asylum To German Orphan Asylum To Washington Hospital for Foundlings To Young Woman's Christian Home To other homes To Hope and Help Mission To Colored Infant Asylum 9 3 27 3 6 5 5 7 2 '? 1 2 6 5 1 1 1 13 3 1 i i 3 1 2 19 1 1 5 33 3 6 10 6 1 18 5 1 1 4 1 1 3 1 19 1 1 6 33 3 4 7 11 9 1 I 18 1 1 Total 72 47 8 3 119 11 130 110 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. BOARD OF CHILDREN'S GUARDIANS AND THE HUMANE SOCIETY. Mr. Lewis. I think a question was asked of Mr. Mann in regard to the number of applications. Information was asked in regard to the number of applications on behalf of children to be taken in charge by the Board of Children's Guardians. Mr. Mann says such a statement will be furnished. It is exhibited in full on page 21 of the annual report. Representative Pitney. The last annual report? Mr. Lewis. Yes, sir. The number of applications was 371, of which 71 received approval upon tentative examination. The rest were all refused. Representative Pitney. There is one other question. Look at the schedule of the hearings: 2. What coordination of existing institutions and agencies is possible and desira- ble (a) for taking up children, (b) for training children, (c) for placing out and visiting children. Are you prepared to answer the question in regard to the relation between the Humane Society and the Board of Children's Guardians? Mr. Lewis. Yes, sir; I think so. "(a) For taking up children." In my judgment there should exist in every well-regulated city one official agency to which should be referred all reports and complaints of the condition of children alleged to be in any such situation as to make them proper subjects for public protec- tion and support. This agency should make a tentative investigation of the case, so as to ascertain whether it probably falls within the intent of the law governing the public support of children. If in the judg- ment of the agent it is properly such a case or might be such a case, it should be his duty to present the case before the court designated for that purpose for an authoritative examination. The court should sum- mon before it the child and parents, if either are living, and should make a thorough investigation, under oath, of the facts relating to the neces- sity of the child, and the judgment should rest with the court as to whether the circumstances were such as made it absolutely necessary for the protection and safety of the child that it should be placed under public support and public guardianship. In my judgment the necessity for public support carries with it the right of public guardianship. Senator McMillan. Is not that done now ? Mr. Lewis. Possibly in cases brought before the court, but the diffi- culty is that more than half are not brought before the court. Senator McMillan. Would you have an agency outside of the Board of Children's Guardians to do that business? Representative Pitney. He says he would have one agency, but that all cases should be brought before the court. How would you deal with the prejudice, if it may be called a prejudice, on the part of par- ents against going into court. The feeling has been referred to by Mr. Wilson, of the Humane Society. Mr. Lewis. I have never known a case where children were allowed to suffer by reason of that feeling. People come to the office of the Board of Children's Guardians continually to inquire about the process for the commitment of children, and they are told what is necessary in order that the children may be placed in institutions. When they are informed that the road into the institutions through the Board of Children's Guardians is by a court, it is impossible to make any explanation to them which is satisfactory. They object to that absolutely. They say tfcI charities and reformatory institutions. 111 would work my fingers to the bone before I would allow my children to go into court." We reply, " That is precisely what you should do. We can not do anything for you in any other way." In my judgment there ought to be no other way. The schemes resorted to by people who wish to push off their children on the public during the years of their helplessness are amazing, and I do not believe it is possible to ascertain definitely and reliably the facts upon which a judgment of that kind should be based, except under the conditions of a judicial inquiry. At least that is the only safe way to do it. Representative Pitney. Would it obviate that prejudice to any extent if instead of having a police court constituted as a tribunal you had a tribunal established which would be free from the prejudice that exists against police courts ? Mr. Lewis. That should be done. Representative Northway. A court not connected with criminals'? Nir. Lewis. That should be done. In New York there is a provision of law by which it is obligatory upon courts to hear all cases involving the welfare of children brought in by the Gerry Society. It is unlawful to place any child under 1(5 years of age in any police station or van, to be conveyed to court or from court, in which criminals are conveyed. That should be done here. Representative Pitney. I wish you would refer us to those laws. Mr. Lewis. It has been a matter of painful regret that we have had to go into police court with these cases. There are a spirit and air about the police courts to which children ought not to be subjected. Representative Pitney. 1 wish you would refer us at your con- venience to the laws in other States, if you know of any, creating special tribunals for this purpose. Mr. Wilson. I do not see why the cases of children put into insti- tutions temporarily on account of destitution should not come as prop- erly to us as other cases of destitution. Indeed, a good many do. Our agents are all the time placing them temporarily in homes. In my judgment they should be put in private homes, and not be supported by taxation. Representative Pitney. You mean the Associated Charities when you say "us?" Mr. Wilson. Yes, sir; and our agents are doing that every day, especially during sickness. Representative Pitney. You are speaking of providing for children who would not become permanent public dependents? Mr. Wilson. Yes, sir; as to whom there would be no necessity for public guardianship, but simply temporary relief. Representative Pitney. A child whose parents are temporarily unable to provide for it? Mr. Wilson. Yres. sir. That is a common form of charitable relief. Representative Pitney. You know the problems which have been before us in regard to child-caring work, as they have been developed by the hearing. Suppose you give us in writing your views upon the topics covered by the fifth hearing, and especially topic No. 2. Senator McMillan. That seems to cover it. Representative Pitney. Topics Nos. 1, 2, and 3, under the fifth hearing. Mr. Wilson. I will include that in the general statement 1 was requested to hand in. Mr. Mann. 1 desire to supplement my remarks. 112 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. The several institutions should state, each for itself, what are their facilities to care for dependent children. The Board of Children's Guardians is provided with adequate legal authority to extend to dependent children every kind of care-physical, mental, and moral-which they need. Were it provided with the funds required for the extension of this care in all needed directions, it might alone care for all the dependent children of the District. Existing District institutions do not provide all the facilities needed for the care of dependent children, so that the extension of adequate care to these children requires now recourse to institutions beyond the limits of the District, and adequate provision for all the needs of these children would demand an unreasonably large expenditure, which might be avoided were changes which seem practicable introduced into some of the existing District institutions. So far as the exercise of public authority is concerned, and the assumption of public duties toward the children is involved, it appears desirable that there should be but one tribunal to determine the ques- tion of what children should be taken up under public care, and that the judicial tribunal. All interested parties, whether private or official, should have the right to bring cases before this tribunal. The several institutions existing or to be established for the training of children should be so specialized that each shall have its special work to do, and shall have that work assigned to it. If special work be found needed for which no provision has been made, the appropriate institution for doing this work should be established, or some existing institution should be induced to so modify its scope as to cover this need. Duplication of agencies should be avoided. Whether the duty or the right of placing out children be vested in one ordy or in several institutions or agencies, the corresponding duty of adequate visitation of the children placed out should be inevitably imposed. If such placing out and visitation are to be at public expense, it should be, for the sake of economy and efficiency, performed by a single agency. If to be exercised by several agencies, it should be either under common control or common supervision. What changes are necessary in existing District institutions to adapt them to the care of all dependent children,properly so called, are alluded to above. It would appear inappropriate for any one institution to rec- ommend special changes in any other. The facilities offered by existing institutions being known, and the needs not yet provided for being set forth, inducements to change in existing institutions for the supply of the needed facilities can be made in the form of provisos to appropriation bills, or in the form of direct legislation for the government of official agencies. The principal need at present appears to be for an institution, not a reformatory, suitable for the detention and training of insubordinate children awaiting transfer to homes or awaiting final disposition in reformatories or elsewhere. Neither of the District institutions is will- ing or able to take charge of such children, who either have to be sent to jail or set at large when taken into custody. The jail is no proper place for them. It seems too obvious to require comment that all children,"dependent" or other, should require such training as to fit them to become useful to themselves and to the community. This, in its broadest sense, is " indus- trial training." Experience in all countries and ages has shown that it is possible to secure homes for children generally, but this can not be done without CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 113 effort, nor well done without system. As the securing of such homes relieves the public purse from all the burden of maintaining the chil- dren, it is a matter of economy in money that adequate efforts be made possible and required to be put forth to this end. The experience of the Board of Children's Guardians during the present year, when the lack of means to secure homes for the children, its wards, has resulted in the considerable increase of the number of its wards on expense for maintenance, proves how short'sighted is the economy which curtails the expense for administration of the work of Mie board. Mr. Pratt. I wish to state that the Board of Children's Guardians and our society work in no conflict whatever. There is perfect har- ■aony between them. 4t 4 o'clock and 20 minutes p. m. the committee adjourned. 8. Doc. 185 8 SIXTH IIEAHING. DEPENDENT CHILDREN; FOUNDLINGS. April 19, 1897-2 o'clock p. m. Present: Hon. James McMillan, chairman; Hon. Charles J. Faulk- ner, Hon. S. A. Northway. Subject: Dependent children; foundlings. To be heard: Officers of the Children's Hospital; officers of the Washington Hospital for Foundlings; officers of St. Ann's Infant Asy- lum; officers of the Board of Children's Guardians. SIXTH HEARING. TOPICS. 1. The work of the foundling institutions in the District of Columbia. 2. Extent to which public aid may properly be granted. 3. Mortality. 4. Placing out and adoption of children. 5. Visitation of children. 6. Private foundling asylums. Senator McMillan. Gentlemen, the committee is now prepared to hear the officers of the Children's Hospital. Who represents that hospital ? THE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL. Mr. M.W. Galt. Mr. Chairman, we represent the Children's Hospital. Dr. Lovejoy is chairman of the executive committee, and, with your permission, he will submit our views. Senator McMillan. What is your relation to the Children's Hospital, Dr. Lovejoy. Dr. J. W. H. Lovejoy. I am one of the directors and chairman of the executive committee. In the programme published in the Evening Star we find that we are expected to be heard to day upon the subject of "Dependent children; foundlings." If our understanding of this subject is correct, it is one in which we have no special interest in this connection, and we are not prepared to discuss it. It seems from this that the Children's Hospital is regarded as an asylum. It is not in any respect an asylum, but a hospital for the treatment of sick children under 12 years of age. When they cease to be sick they can no longer remain in the institution under 115 116 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. the pro visions of the charter; consequently, when a patient is admitted, a parent or guardian or friend must be responsible for its removal when cured or when it is decided that no further benefit can be derived from its medical treatment. On application by parents or guardians any child of the lawful age and likely to be benefited by medical treatment is received, cases of infectious diseases alone being by special law excepted. It has been proposed that the Government should take possession of all the hospitals and that certain officials of the Government, as the health officer and his assistants, or a board appointed for the purpose, should have the power of directing what patients shall be admitted into them. Such an arrangement we most emphatically protest against as decidedly injudicious and impracticable. In our hospital, as in all of the others, as far as we are acquainted with them, there are the members of the attending medical staffs, all physicians of repute and ability, who are, by their continued daily application and experience in their private practice, as well as hospital duties, much better fitted to judge as to the proper cases to be admitted into the hospital than any health officer constantly occupied with his official duties cau be. Besides this, these staffs are composed not only of general practitioners, but of the vari- ous specialists in medicine. We think that by the proposed change the hospitals would be more likely to be filled with improper cases than by the present method. When application is made for admission of a child the resident phy- sician receives it, subject to the approval of the attending physician, under whose care it is to be placed on his arrival at the hospital. As for the Children's Hospital, it is a corporation, owning a large square of ground, upon which its buildings are erected. This property is estimated to be worth $185,000, exclusive of furniture, medical and surgical appliances, etc. In addition to this there is invested property of the value of about $75,000, a legacy from the late Dr. James C. Hall, who, from its organization until his death, was a director of the hos- pital. The income of this legacy and the amounts raised every year by the exertion of the board of lady visitors, and by contributions, with the $10,000 usually appropriated by the Government, afford the sole means of supporting the institution, much of which is precarious and of late has been insufficient. Surely the Government would hardly desire to control this large property and delegate to others than the incorporators the management of it, merely upon the plea that it had been for a few years donating $10,000 toward its support. It can not be supposed that a board of directors and a board of lady visitors could be found to work so assiduously and enthusiastically without salaries for the Government, and under control, as when free and untrammeled. Peo- ple who work for the Government expect, very properly, to be paid. The resident physician and the pharmaceutist, who each receive only $10 a month, and the superintendent, who receives $1,000 a year, and who devote their entire time to their hospital duties, are the only employees receiving salaries, except the nurses, engineer, and servants. The services of directors and physicians are entirely gratuitous. This hospital has been always purely free. None but patients whose friends are unable to pay have been admitted. In fact, no fees have ever been established with a view of receiving paying patients. No distinction is made as to color in the reception or treatment or accom- modation of patients, and the reports have always shown a large pre- ponderance of colored over whites. The hospital is in no sense under sectarian control. 117 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. With regard to the important subject of maintenance of patients in the hospital, the following extract from the annual report of the presi- dent of the board of directors for the year 1891 may be of interest: It is the common impression that the expense for maintaining a hospital for adults is much greater than one for children, when in point of fact, in several important particulars, the reverse is true, and in nearly all the others the cost is substantially the same. From a comparison of our reports with several of the hospitals in other cities, and among them one for women and infants, another for general service, and another largely for men and women, I find that the percentage of expense for food, compared with the total cost of maintenance, varies but little, being about one-third, whether for children or for general service. The nursing and care, always a large item of expense, is greatest with children. The reason is obvious. Beyond the actual nursing, which averaged the same whether child or adult, the helplessness of the child patient not being relieved upon convalescence, as with the adult, makes the required attention twofold, and such service must be paid for at the same rate in each case. Besides, in free hospitals men and women are required, when able, to assist in light work, saving quite largely in expenditure for such service. In the child's hospital this factor can never be counted. In the laundry department for sick children provision must be made for from one-third to one-half more labor than for the same number of adults. The following statement from the treasurer of our hospital shows the per-capita expense during the past year: Fer Per annum. diem. For subsistence $82. 67 147. 56 $0.226 .404 For professional and domestic services For medicines 14.96 .041 For clothing 23.50 .064 Total 268.69 .735 The cost per capita for 66 inmates in the hospital during the year 1896 was- The rate of mortality for the past ten years has been as follows: 1895. 1896. Number treated 418 431 Daily average 66.63 64. 67 Died 28 30 Percentage of deaths 6. 69 6. 96 In 1896, as seen, the deaths from all sources were 30; of these 18 were from tuber- cular disease, making the percentage of deaths from all sources 6.90, but excluding tuberculosis, only 2.78, showing a remarkable preponderance of cases of this dis- eased condition. Dr. Lovejoy. When we asked permission to come before this com- mittee it was with the purpose of discussing and of repudiating certain things that have been said before this committee and that have been published in the papers with regard to our rule, a rule enforced by all hospitals, as to the reception of contagious diseases. But on receiving your programme covering this hearing, indicating what was expected Irom us, we struck out the portion of our statement upon this subject. We are, however, ready to answer questions or to make another report and send it in to the committee with regard to that matter at any time. We have regarded this matter as entirely misunderstood by the public and I think, possibly, by the committee, and for that reason that mat- ter I think ought to be ventilated by the committee. As the accusation in this respect has appeared in the newspapers and Las been repeated 118 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. before this committee I think it is hardly more than fair that we should have an opportunity to repudiate it. Senator McMillan. Where is this hospital located? Dr. Lovejoy. On W street, between Twelfth and Thirteenth streets, and occupies a whole square. Senator McMillan. You have the whole square? Dr. Lovejoy. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. How many children can you accommodate? Dr. Lovejoy. A year or two ago, on account of the scarcity of funds, the board of directors limited the number to 80, but it was afterwards increased to 92. Senator McMillan. But you have accommodations for more than that, have you? Dr. Lovejoy. We might accommodate a few more at present. Senator McMillan. You say a report has been circulated that you do not receive children suffering from contagious diseases? Dr. Lovejoy. Yes, sir; we do not receive children that are suffering from those diseases, and on account of one or two children having been refused-children brought there affected with diphtheria-we have been, as well as other hospitals, considerably blamed. Senator McMillan. You have no isolated wards in the hospital where you could place these children? Dr. Lovejoy. We have a ward of that kind, but it is one that is intended for our use when children who are in the hospital and happen to be taken with contagious diseases after they are brought there. It consists of two small rooms, accommodating five children-five beds- and it is the fact that we have this which has probably given the idea that the Children's Hospital is the one which should receive these cases of contagious diseases. The last one that was sent there was sent from another charitable institution here and was put in our hospital, in the working room of the dispensary, without any of the authorities knowing anything about it. The child was left there from a police ambulance; and after some trouble and some hours' exertion to find some place for it to be taken-we felt obliged to take it-we gave it for the night a comfortable place, a comfortable cot in a very excellent, dry, pleasant room, thoroughly warm and pleasant. We had a trained nurse attend to it during the entire night, and our superintendent of nurses herself remained with it almost the entire night. The following morning the isolated ward was got ready for it and the child was placed in that ward and kept there until the health department considered it proper to let it out. Now, sir, we have come in for considerable blame for that particular case. I do not see where the blame lies. We did refuse to receive it because it had come from another charitable institution, which ought to have by all means-every charitable institution should have-provision of a few beds for these cases which happen to be taken with a disease of a con- tagious nature while in the institution. In speaking of that 1 might go a little further and say why we have that rule. It is a rule, I think, that is universal with hospitals. I have a memorandum here of some hospitals in different parts of the country in which that rule exists, and it is a rule in all of them, so far as 1 know. Senator McMillan. I understand, then, that when these cases of diphtheria or scarlet fever develop after children have been brought to the hospital that you take care of them? Dr. Lovejoy. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. But if a child should be brought to you suffer- ing from scarlet fever or diphtheria that you would refuse it admission? charities and reformatory institutions. 119 Dr. Lovejoy. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. On the ground that you would endanger the lives of the other children? Dr. Lovejoy. Yes, sir; we consider that by no principle of honor or dictates of conscience can we admit into the hospital, containing, as it does, 70, 80, or possibly 90 children, an infectious case from the out- side that might spread the disease. For instance, a child was brought to the hospital suffering from what they called croup, and at the time it was almost expiring from suffocation, owing to the filling of the larynx with membrane. They had it carried into the hospital and the surgeon was telephoned for. When he arrived a more careful exami- nation was made and it was found that the child had diphtheria. He operated upon the patient and saved it. Of course such a case under our rule, or under no rule, could not be turned out into the city or into the streets; we had to keep it. We put it into the isolated ward, but in spite of all the precaution we used five other children contracted the disease and two died, but this child got well and three of the five who contracted the disease. Senator McMillan. I think the committee understands that your rule is the same as in all the hospitals. Dr. Lovejoy. They understand that it is a just rule, do they not? Senator McMillan. Yes, sir. What would be the objection to your building an isolated hospital for children on your grounds? Dr. Lovejoy. There are several reasons why that could not be done; one of the reasons is that the hospital is too near inhabited houses and it is too near a public school. Some years ago a society of young ladies, called the Daisy Chain, raised a very considerable sum of money which they proposed to give to our hospital for the purpose of erecting on its grounds a hospital for the reception of contagious diseases, but the board of directors decidedly refused to accept it, because they knew that putting such a hospital on our grounds would raise a loud com- plaint among the people around, particularly on account of the large public school immediately opposite. Senator McMillan. We understand that. Let me ask you how you are organized? Dr. Lovejoy. The body is incorporated by 100 incorporators, and these incorporators, under the law, elect 20 directors. Those directors are the governing body of the hospital, and they appoint all the subor- dinate officers, all the committees, superintendents, and officers. Senator McMillan. Do you make any reports to the Commissioners of the District? Dr. Lovejoy. There is a report handed in four times a year to the superintendent of charities. Senator McMillan. To the superintendent of charities ? Dr. Lovejoy. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. Has any one officially any supervision over your institution? Dr. Lovejoy. No, sir; not further than the supervision exercised by the superintendent of charities. Representative Northway. You have said, I believe, that you decidedly object to the Government taking charge- of the hospitals. In what sense do you make use of the word "government?" Dr. Lovejoy. The Government of the United States, or of the Dis- trict of Columbia. Representative Northway. Either one? Dr. Lovejoy. Yes, sir. 120 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Representative Northway. You have spoken about $10,000 being1 appropriated by the United States for the benefit of the Children's Hospital. That has been an annual appropriation'? Dr. Lovejoy. Yes, sir. Representative Northway. Who has had charge of the expenditure of that fund? Dr. Lovejoy. The board of directors. Representative Northway. Do you make any returns or account of that money to the Government? Dr. Lovejoy. Every bill with regard to that goes to the Auditor of the Treasury. Representative Northway. Has the Government of the United States anything to say as to the application of the funds it appropri- ates; that is, as to how it shall be applied or for whose benefit? Dr. Lovejoy. No, sir; it is applied according to the judgment of the board of directors. Representative Northway. Why should the Government give any- thing? Dr. Lovejoy. For the reason that it is not the business of the citi- zens individually to take care of the sick poor of the District. Now, there are a great many of the patients who are natives of the different States. We have there represented the natives of almost all of the States, but not in large number, of course. The large majority are natives of the District of Columbia, and we think that the General Government, as well as private individuals, ladies and gentlemen engaged in the work of the hospitals, should bear a portion of the expense of taking care of these children. Representative Northway. Is your hospital a charitable institution ? Dr. Lovejoy. Yes, sir; there has never been any fee charged for the admission of any patient. Representative Northway. If the Government should give part, why not pay the whole expense. Dr. Lovejoy. If the Government chooses to take charge of it, it is hardly probable that the ladies and gentlemen working for it would be as enthusiastic in that work as they would otherwise be. I am pretty sure that every individual employed under the Government, no matter who he is, expects to be paid for his time and services. Representative Northway. Now, this $10,000 is taken from the Treasury of the United States, and how is it disbursed? Dr. Lovejoy. It-is in the care of the Treasurer of the United States. The bills are gone over regularly every month by the executive commit- tee of the hospital and sent to the Treasurer, who sends them to the Auditor of the Treasury. Representative Northway. What bills do you allude to? Dr. Lovejoy. The bills for the money expended out of the appro- priation. Representative Northway. Those expenditures are made entirely at the direction of the board of directors, are they? Dr. Lovejoy. Yes, sir. Representative Northway. And the Government has nothing to say about the matter? Dr. Lovejoy. No, sir. Representative Northway. Then it is a mere gratuity on the part of the Government? Dr. Lovejoy. Yes, sir. charities and reformatory institutions. 121 Representative Northway. The Government does not give the money to take care of this or that particular child? Dr. Lovejoy. No, sir; it does not. Representative Northway. And the hospital renders account to the Government when it uses up the $10,000 which it receives? Dr. Lovejoy. Yes, sir. Representative Northway. And then it goes on to its own private funds? Dr. Lovejoy. Yes, sir; and pays a great deal more than the Gov- ernment does; far more. Representative Northway. Far more? Dr. Lovejoy. Yes, sir; far more. Representative Northway. But the Government has no contract with the institution? Dr. Lovejoy. No, sir. Repiesentative Northway. It is simply a gratuitous appropriation which the Government makes? Dr. Lovejoy. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. Your report would show that the Government pays toward the support of your hospital $10,000 and that you get from private sources about $1,000. Dr. Lovejoy. The expenses of the hospital are over $20,000. Those sums represent only the actual expenses, but you must consider the value of the property and Senator McMillan. It is owned by this corporation, is it not? Dr. Lovejoy. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. Well, is there any debt on it? Dr. Lovejoy. Yes, sir; about $20,000. Senator McMillan. There is a mortgage, then? Dr. Lovejoy. Yes, sir; for money borrowed to make an addition to the hospital. Senator McMillan. What do you do with these children after they are well ? Dr. Lovejoy. Some are returned to their families. We have very little trouble in getting rid of them. Some of the charitable institu- tions take them after they are cured. We have always some one to be responsible for taking the child when it is well. The Children's Hospi- tal, you understand, is not an asylum at all; it is only for the care of sick children. Senator McMillan. You take care of them when they are sick, but get rid of them when they get well? Dr. Lovejoy. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. Do you keep any charge of them after they are given out? Dr. Lovejoy. No, sir. Senator McMillan. What institutionstake them off of your hands? Dr. Lovejoy. Some of the orphan asylums. The great mass of these children have homes of their own. Senator McMillan. But the parents are not able to take care of them properly when the children become sick and they are sent to your hospital ? Dr. Lovejoy. Yes, sir. Representative Northway. Do you know of any other institution in the city where the same work is being performed as at yours? Dr. Lovejoy. No, sir; I do not know of any other. 122 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Representative Northway. There is no duplication of this work that you are performing that you know of? Dr. Lovejoy. No, sir; there is not. Mr. Galt. Children from other institutions in the city are sent to the Children's Hospital when they are sick. Dr. Lovejoy. We have children sent there from the orphan asylums. Senator McMillan. I understood you to say that your hospital does not accept children as patients whose parents are able to take care of them. Dr. Lovejoy. It does not, sir. We have never accepted any when we knew the parents were able to take care of them. Senator McMillan. Why should you not make them pay if they are able to do so ? Dr. Lovejoy. We have that right under the charter, but we have never done so. The hospital is generally full without taking any pay- ing patients. We think we are performing a better charity in taking those not able to pay than we would be in taking those who are able to do so. Representative Northway. The city affords you no public support? Dr. Lovejoy. There is nothing further than the $10,000 appropria- tion. Representative Northway. You mean the appropriation by the Government? Dr. Lovejoy. Yes, sir. Mr. Galt. The city pays half of that. Dr. Lovejoy. A good deal of money is raised by the board of lady visitors as proceeds from fairs, balls, etc.-a large amount. Representative Northway. Have you any visitation by boards, out- side of your board of directors? Dr. Lovejoy. Anybody can go there. Representative Northway. I mean have you any systematized visitation? Dr. Lovejoy. No, sir. Representative Northway. How as to the superintendent of chari- ties ? Dr. Lovejoy. He goes to the hospital occasionally, from time to time. Representative Northway. But he goes there simply on his own motion, does he? Dr. Lovejoy. Yes, sir. If he sees anything out of order, of course he can re]tort it. Representative Northway. But he has no control over the institu- tion ? Dr. Lovejoy. No, sir; the full control of the hospital is in the board of directors. Senator McMillan. The lady visitors that you spoke of; I suppose they visit the hospital and make an examination? Dr. Lovejoy. Yes, sir; some of them are there every day. They meet there every month; they have their meetings in the hospital, and they are most assiduous in examining the hospital every week, and some of them, as I said, are there every day. Representative Northway. Do you do anything in the way of hunt- ing up these children, or do you just take them as they come to you? Dr. Lovejoy. 1 do not know that there is any hunting up done. They come and make application for admission of the children. Senator McMillan. Is there anything that you desire to ask, Sena- tor Faulkner? CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 123 Senator Faulkner. No; I think not. Senator McMillan. I think we have all the information that we desire from you, Doctor, with regard to this institution. Now we will hear from the officers of the Washington Hospital for Foundlings. Dr. Lovejoy. Shall we leave a statement in regard to the matter of contagious diseases? Senator McMillan. No, sir; we think we have all the information we want. Who represents the Washington Hospital for Foundlings? THE WASHINGTON HOSPITAL FOR FOUNDLINGS. Mr. W. F. Mattingly. I' am treasurer and one of the board of directors. This foundling1 hospital has been in active operation for the past ten years, having begun operations in 1887. It is located on Fifteenth street northwest, between R and S streets, and owns one-half of the square, comprising upward of 38,000 square feet of ground. It acquired that ground through the will of Joshua Pierce, who left it for the purpose of establishing a foundling hospital. Under the will, a charter being necessary to be obtained by the institution approved by his trustees, Congress chartered this institution. On its face Mr. Pierce's will provides in express terms that the institution shall be non- sectarian. The charter was approved by his trustees and they conveyed the property to the corporation. A long number of years elapsed before they were able to obtain enough money to put up a building. Finally they did obtain it, and the building was designed by Dr. Bil- lings for the express purpose of a hospital. It was at that time, upon the completion of the building, that we began operations. Since that time it has had 538 inmates. It has adopted 108 children, and it now has, 1 think, about 34 inmates, but has accommodations for about 37. Senator McMillan. What do you mean by "adopted?" Mr. Mattingly. The children are adopted by various persons. Senator McMillan. That is, you have found them homes? Mr. Mattingly. Yes, sir. We have power under our charter to dis- pose of these children, and I want to say right here that the great good that this hospital has accomplished has been in the adoption of these children. I do not think, in the ten years of the existence of the hos- pital, possibly with the exception of one child, that any of the children have attained over 6 years of age without being adopted, and the vast majority of them are adopted at about 2 or 3 years of age. Senator McMillan. Do you take white or colored children? Mr. Mattingly. Only white. We have not sufficient accommo- dations. Senator Faulkner. I understood you to say that you had received, in the ten years of your operations, 500 or more foundlings? Mr. Mattingly. Yes, sir. Senator Faulkner. And that you adopted 108? Mr. Mattingly. Yes, sir. Senator Faulkner. What became of the balance of them? Mr. Mattingly. The mortality amounts to about 70 per cent. The history or statistics of all foundling hospitals will show you that that is a low rate. It ranges in many of them up to 90 per cent. They are brought there often a short time after birth or a few days old, many of them diseased, and it is a pretty difficult matter to keep life in them. 1 was saying that the great good done by the hospital was the adop- tion of these children. I am one of the adoption committee. This 124 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. adoption committee consists of three members of the board of direct- ors. When persons come to the hospital and apply for a child to adopt they can go up and select the child they want. Then this com- mittee makes inquiry about the people who want the child, and if they are found to be proper persons to have the care of the child and are satisfactory, the child is indentured ; under the act of Congress this power is granted. In the ten years of the hospital's existence there have been only two cases where we have found that children were not being properly treated, and in those cases the children were recovered; but the vast majority of them are adopted in excellent homes, some of them in the homes of people of wealth in different sections of the country; they are not only adopted here; we have them as far away as Kansas and in the Southwest. Senator McMillan. You have nothing to do witir the mothers of these children; they do not come to the hospital? Mr. Mattingly. Now and then a mother comes, but as a general thing the children are left there either by the police or by somebody that immediately leaves. It is seldom practicable to find out about the parentage of children, and it is ordinarily impossible iodo so. The policy of the Foundling Hospital is to take charge of them without inquiry as to parentage. I see that the second topic for this hearing, as given in the schedule, is as to the extent to which public aid may properly be granted. I sup- pose all that is necessary in that respect is for me to remind you gen- tlemen that the history of the civilized world demonstrates that every civilized nation in existence supports foundling hospitals by appropria- tion of State moneys, and of course the foundation of this policy is that it is to the interest of the State to save life and to prevent infanticide. Senator McMillan. Is it not true that infanticide has increased in the last ten years in the city of Washington? Mr. Mattingly. I really do not know. I think a mother would prefer to turn over her child to a foundling hospital, where she knew it would be taken care of, rather than strangle it. Senator McMillan. How much money, Mr. Mattingly, do you receive from the Government? Mr. Mattingly. Six thousand dollars a year. Senator McMillan. And how much does it cost to run the hospital annually? Mr. Mattingly. It costs over $7,000. Senator McMillan. Over $7,000? Mr. Mattingly. Yes, sir; we get the balance by private contribu- tion ; the bulk is from the Government. We have no private funds, except voluntary contributions. Senator McMillan. Your institution is not sectarian in any sense, is it? Mr. Mattingly. No, sir. Senator McMillan. Does the Government have any control over it in any way? Mr. Mattingly. We make a report to the Secretary of the Interior and we are required to report quarterly to the superintendent of chari- ties. Our accounts are kept by the Treasurer of the United States and audited by the Auditor of the Treasury, and when any disallowance is made, I pay it out of my own pocket rather than contest it. Senator McMillan. Why should there be any disallowances? Mr. Mattingly. They struck out an item for gas once because the matron had not certified that gas was used in the hospital. CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 125 Senator McMillan. I believe you have spoken in respect to the question of mortality1? Mr. Mattingly. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. And as to the visitation of children? Mr. Mattingly. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. I think that will answer for your hospital, unless some of the other gentlemen desire to ask you something. Senator Faulkner. Yrou have no representation of the Government on your board, have you? Mr. Mattingly. No, sir. Representative Northway. Is there any law of Congress which provides for your accounting for this money, or is it simply an order for the money ? Mr. Mattingly. It is just this: Congress made an appropriation- I forget what the amount was at first-say it was $6,000. I was treas- urer and went up to the Treasury Department, and I thought the Treasurer would turn it over to me and that the institution would.dis- burse it; but I was told "No;" that under the law I was a disbursing officer, and would have to give a bond of $5,000; and this I had to do. They put $1,500 to my credit as treasurer quarterly. When I drew a check I put the object for which it was drawn on it, and they pay these checks. My accounts are audited, as I stated before, by the Auditor of the Treasury. Under the construction of the law by the Depart- ment it was held that I was a disbursing officer, and that my accounts had to pass through the Treasury. Senator Faulkner. Under each appropriation? Mr. Mattingly. Yes, sir. Senator Faulkner. Is there any other institution in the city doing the same work that you are doing? Mr. Mattingly. 1 think St. Ann's Asylum takes in foundlings. Senator McMillan. I think that is all the information we want from your institution, Mr. Mattingly. 'Mr. Mattingly. There is just one thing more. I understand that some criticism was to be made of this foundling hospital here by the Board of Children's Guardians. If anybody has any criticism to make I would like to hear it, so that I can answer it. Senator McMillan. There is nothing that I know of. We are seek- ing for information and are desirous of receiving information in regard to all of these institutions, especially those that receive support from the Government. Representative Northway. Others can criticise, but the committee is not responsible for it. Mr. William Redin Woodward. We have no criticism to make; we have a report to make. We have a comparison of statistics as furnished by our reports and the reports of these other institutions. If those statistics criticise, they will have to do so; but we have no per- sonal criticism to make. Senator Faulkner. What has been the practical result of your work as to age? Mr. Woodward. What do you mean? Senator Faulkner. What has been the practical result as to the very young children committed to you? Mr. Woodward. Of children under 2 years of age, which comprises those covered by our comparison, our death rate has been but 20 per cent, and five-sixths of these are colored children. 126 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. ST. ANN'S INFANT ASYLUM. Senator McMillan. Now, we will hear whoever is present on behalf of St. Ann's Infant Asylum. Dr. Loring, I believe, is here representing that institution. Dr. F. B. Loring. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. What is your relation, Doctor, to this institu- tion ? Dr. Loring. I am on the consulting board, and am oculist and examining surgeon. Senator McMillan. The first topic is the work of the institution. We would like to hear something about the character of the work done. Dr. Loring. The work has already been very thoroughly gone over by my predecessor, Mr. Mattingly. St. Ann's Infant Asylum is a found- ling asylum which is open to the reception of children up to the age of 6 years, and particularly to foundlings left upon the streets or abandoned in such ways. I think it is the only institution of its character-that is, that takes children of the character which it does-1 am not sure about the Board of Children's Guardians, but it has been the only one up to recent years, up to the establishment of the Board of Children's Guardians, that received colored children. Foundlings that are left in baskets on the doorsteps or elsewhere, or found by the police, are brought to St. Ann's Infant Asylum and are received. Senator McMillan. Is this asylum under sectarian control? Dr. Loring. It is under the control of Sisters of Charity, but is abso- lutely nonsectarian in its management beyond the sisters taking care of the children as nurses. Most of the staff are Protestants. Of course these children are too young to think about matters of religion. They are taken and brought up, and after they reach 6 years of age they are put into an institution. A large majority of the boys are sent out to farms in the country, and the girls are taught trades. There is another feature that is a commendable one, and that is the help it gives to the Humane Society of the District of Columbia. If a mechanic becomes involved in debt and can no longer support his children, the children are taken and kept until the father-or, it may be mother-is again able to support them. Senator Faulkner. To what age do you take children under those circumstances? Dr. Loring. Six years of age. After that they go to some other institution, to one that is connected with the same order of sisterhoods. Senator McMillan. Where does the money come from to support it? Dr. Loring. It comes very largely from Congress, and some from private contributions. The asylum has no regular means of support except from Congress, and from charitable people about the District. Senator McMillan. How many children can you care for? Dr. Loring. I would like to ask Dr. Bovee about that. It is my impression that it is about 315. Dr. Bovee. I don't know the exact capacity of the institution. Dr. Loring. The daily average is about 130. They built an addition two or three years ago, and the number has increased. Sister Agnes is here within call, and could answer those questions better than I could myself. Senator McMillan. What is the proportion of colored and white children ? Dr. Loring. There is about the same number of each. CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 127 Senator McMillan. About alike? Dr. Loring. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. You make no distinction as to whether they are colored or white? Dr. Loring. No, sir. I would like to state that the death rate, or mortality, is large, as Mr. Mattingly has stated, with respect to the other institution, and it is large at St. Ann's for another reason that does not affect the other institution as much as it does St. Ann's, and that is that the colored children brought there by the police are brought there in baskets. They come from a much lowvr class than the chil- dren of white people do, and from a class of society that knows little of cleanliness. They are thrust into the world hurriedly, without any care, and when they arrive at St. Ann's Infant Asylum they are often in a very desperate and distressing condition. But 1 can speak in the highest terms of the health of the children that survive. Of course, there is a large percentage that die on account of want of proper treat- ment before they arrive at the institution, and the rate is much higher among colored children than white. Representative Northway. Your institution, in a sense, is doing the same work as the Washington Hospital for Foundlings? Dr. Loring. Yes, sir; except that we take colored as well as white children. Representative Northway. What is the cost? How does it com- pare with the other foundling hospital? Dr. Loring. To be frank, those are questions that I am not able to answer. Sister Agnes, the matron, could give you the exact figures, but how it would compare with kindred institutions L could not tell. Representative Northway. Can you tell what proportion is paid by Congress? Dr. Loring. Can you answer that question, Dr. Bovee? Dr. Bovee. I do not know about other institutions, but here the annual expense is about $13,000, and the appropriation of Congress is $5,400. Representative Northway. Is this institution incorporated? Dr. Loring. It is incorporated, is it not, Dr. Bovee? Dr. Bovee. It is incorporated by act of Congress and approved by President, Lincoln. Sister Agnes asked me to appear here, but inas- much as Dr. Loring has covered the case so well, it will not be necessary for me to add much. The location of the asylum you are no doubt all familiar with. It is at the corner of K street and Washington Circle. Its real-estate holdings to-day are valued at $100,000, on which there is no incumbrance. That money was collected entirely from private sources; that is, to secure the site and erect the building. The United States Government has not contributed one cent toward the erection of the building or the purchase of the ground. It was incorporated in 1862 by special act of Congress, which was signed by President Lincoln. The Clerk. February 11, 1863, according to the report of the asylum. Dr. Bovee. That is correct. For some years it was supported by contributions from private sources, without any assistance from the United States Government. In 1877 it received its first appropriation, and from that year up to the present time it has been receiving appro- priations by Congress. From 1877 to 1887 the appropriation made for its support annually was $5,000, after which it received $6,000 until 1891, when it was $6,500. In 1892 it received $7,079; in 1893, $6,500; in 1894 it was cut down to $3,840; in 1895 it received $5,400, and an 128 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. equal amount has been appropriated annually since that time. The annual expenses are as high as $12,000 to $15,000. The Clerk. As given here, the total cost of maintenance iu 1896 was $10,989.86. Dr. Bovee. You probably have the figures better than I have. We claim that the asylum is essentially a nonsectarian institution, for the reason that neither the religion or race of the parents are inquired into. A child brought there by the police or left on the doorstep is received. Senator Faulkner. How is the board of directors constituted? Dr. Bovee. The asylum is under the charge of the Sisters of Charity. Senator Faulkner. You have a corporation1? You have a board of directors, have you not? Dr. Loring. There is a medical board. Dr. Bovee. It is an incorporated body under the title of the St. Ann's Infant Asylum. Senator Faulkner. There must be a board of directors. I under- stood Dr. Loring to say that most of the board were Protestants. Dr. Bovee. Not the board of directors, but the medical staff. Representative Northway. Who has control to select these physi- cians? Dr. Bovee. The medical board by vote fills vacancies as they occur. Senator McMillan. Who appoints the medical board? Dr. Bovee. I do not know who did originally, but now the medical board fills the vacancies. Three members of the medical board were of the original staff. Representative Northway. Then I suppose the asylum is under the absolute control of the Sisters of Charity? Mr. Weller. Yes, sir; those who offer their services for the love of God and who receive no compensation. I would ask your committee to consider this fact, that if this institution did not exist the care of these children would be a very serious burden on the people. Representative Northway. Is there any endowment? Dr. Bovee. None whatever. They depend upon pound parties, such as they are having to-day, and festivals, etc., the proceeds of which go to the institution. The appropriations of Congress would not be suffi- cient to maintain it, and they are absolutely dependent upon such things. Sister Agnes asked me to extend to you an invitation to make a personal inspection of the asylum, and they will be glad to see you. The asylum is maintained in the very cleanest way, and just as clean and neat as houses in the best of families are. It would carry convic- tion with it if you would make a personal inspection of it. If you would like to ask Sister Agnes anything she is here and will be glad to answer any questions. Senator Faulkner. I think the ground has been pretty well gone over already and that will not be necessary. . Dr. Bovee. There is this feature about the question of the Govern- ment doing this work itself, and that is, the necessary buildings would have to be erected and the ground purchased, and the interest on the amount that would have to be invested would be considerably above the amount you now contribute for the maintenance of this asylum. Dr. Loring. I would like to add only a word. Before I became con- nected in a professional sense with St. Ann's I became somewhat acquainted with the work of the police in regard to foundlings, and my attention was called to the absolute cleanliness of St. Ann's and the mathematical precision with which the work there was carried on, and it is conducted iu a thoroughly business like manner. I have never heard CHARITIES and reformatory institutions. 129 a murmur of complaint from any of the sisters over a fretful child. They are always kind and pleasant; and, I may say, it is the most healthy set of children 1 have ever seen in a hospital of the kind. Representative Northway. You say there is $100,000 worth of real estate. How is that vested? Dr. Loring. I am not familiar with those things. Mr. Moore. As shown in Return A of that institution, "in an incor- porated body under the tide of St. Ann's Infant Asylum." Senator Faulkner. In the name of the institution? Senator McMillan. We will take up the next question. I think that will be all we need from this institution. Dr. Bovee. There is one point that I wish to speak of, and that is as to the mortality. I would say that the mortality in all foundling asylums, no matter where they are, is very high on account of the rea- sons which have been mentioned. Children are brought in in all kinds of conditions-many in a distressing condition-and many of them die within twenty-four hours after reaching the asylum. They may be picked up, as they often are, on a rainy night by a policeman and brought there, and they may not live three hours. I asked the sister to make me a list concerning mortality covering two years-1895 and 1896. For instance, during the year 1896 the mortality was 62. Senator McMillan. Sixty-two per cent? Dr. Bovee. No, sir; 62. The average daily number of children is 130. 1 do not know just the total number treated. I take it for granted that it would be something like 200 cases. They are coming in all the time, and being sent out at the age of 6 to St. .Joseph's and St. Vin- cent's Orphan Asylums, male and female. The average daily number has been about 130; so I take it for granted that it is about 62 out of 200, but the statistics are not complete on account of not having the total number treated. In 1895 the mortality was 74. Of this number 30 died at the age of 1 month and under; one child at the age of 14 months and one at the age of 17 months. The remaining number at an average age of from 2 to 9 months. In 1896 the figures are about the same-mortality, 62; of this number 23 that died were 1 month of age or under, and 34 from 2 to O'months. They usually die in the first few months, or in the summer time, from diseases peculiar to the weather. Another thing, you know in these institutions you can not give a child any food so strengthening and healthy as a mother's breast milk; it is pretty hard to get a valuable substitute for breast milk, and in these institutions they have to be fed with artificial food, though they do get wet nurses and put children out in the heated term with wet nurses, and to that is particularly attributed the small mortality they have. Then as to visiting children. That is limited, of course, to visiting children who have been placed out with nurses, and they are visited two or three times a week. If they are not doing well they are taken away from the woman who has charge of them. They have, so far as they can, the physicians of the hospital staff go out to see the children when they become sick. At the age of 6 the children are sent to St. Joseph's and St. Vincent's Orphan Asylums, down at Tenth and G streets, where they are trained in different directions until they get to be about 15 years of age; and here is the best thing. They send them out into the country-get them homes in the country. I think if we had less people coming from the country to the cities we would have fewer people in the cities to take care of. The farmers are hunt- ing to find someone to work for them; so they are sent out into the country and secured homes there. If a girl shows any aptitude for S. Doc. 185 9 130 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. needlework she is sent to St. Rose Industrial School, which is at the corner of Twenty-first and G streets, to be trained in that kind of work. Other girls are also found homes or go out working by the day. 1 do not know whether you would be interested in knowing about the variety of diseases from which the children in the St. Ann's Asy- lum die. Senator McMillan. No, sir; we do not care forthat. Dr. Bovee. I thought you would not be. I think that is all, then, that I have to say. I will leave these few papers containing state- ments prepared by Sister Agnes with you, so that they can be filed. The statements referred to are as follows: ST. ANN'S INFANT ASYLUM, WASHINGTON, D. C. St. Ann's Infant Asylum receives from Government $5,400 toward its support. The asylum has no other income only charity. It never refuses to admit a worthy object of charity, and there is no question of religion when the case is deserving. It receives all children at any hour of the day or night from the police, many of whom are colored. These children are generally in a very neglectful condition. We have for years received children also from the Humane Society. The children in the asy- lum are mostly orphans and half orphans. We also keep children for a time of worthy parents who are out of employment and have no means. These are generally the cases sent us by the Humane Society. The mortality of the infants may seem large, but a moment's reflection on the con- dition these infants are in when they are brought to the asylum will convince one instantly that the number of deaths is not so great. We seldom ever lose a child over 2 years of age. Our children, we can say, are among the healthiest in the city. During the year 1896 we had daily an average of 130 children. Number of deaths in St. Ann's during the years 1895 and 1896. Month. 1895. 1896. Month. 1895. 1895. January 5 4 August 9 7 February 4 3 September G 3 March 6 6 October 5 2 April 5 3 November 6 6 Mav 8 8 December 5 5 ................................. J nue 7 7 July................................. 8 8 Tntal a 74 6 62 a Of this number, 30 died at the age of 1 month and under, 1 child at the age of 14 months, and 1 at the age of 17 months; the remaining number average from 2 to 9 months. b Of this number, 23 were 1 month and under; 34 from 2 to 9 months; two 1 year, teething; one 1| years, consumption; two 2 years, complication of diseases. Pay roll of employees of St. Ann's Infant Asylum of the District of Columbia for the month of April, 1897. We, the undersigned, acknowledge to have received from Sister Elizabeth Reliban, president, the amounts hereunto set opposite our names, respectively, in full payment of our services for the time specified. Name. Occupation. Term of service. No. of days. Price per month. Amount. Signer's name. Com- mence- ment. Expira- tion. Nancy Rielly Rachael Mahoney.. Wet nurse.... do Apr. 1 ... do Apr. 30 .. .do .... 30 30 $8.00 8.00 $8. 00 8.00 8.00 Nancy (her mark) Rielly. Rachael (her mark) Mahoney. Isabelle (ier mark) Carroll. Sallie (her mark) Witby. Mary (her mark) Rielly. Isabelle Carroll do ...do .... .. .do 30 8.00 Sallie Witby do do do 30 8.00 8. 00 Mary Rielly do ...do .... ...do .... 30 15. 00 15.00 131 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Pay roll of employees of St. Ann's Infant Asylum, etc.-Continued. Name. Occupation. Term of service. No. of days. Price per month. Amount. Signer's name. Com- mence- ment. Expira- tion. Margaret Owens... Eliza Canton ... Wet nurse.... do Apr. 1 ... do Apr. 30 . . do .... 30 30 $8. 00 8. 00 8.00 8. 00 8.00 $8.00 8. 00 8.00 8. 00 8.00 8. 00 8.00 8. 00 10. 00 8.00 7.00 8 00 Margaret^hermark) Owens. Eliza (her mark) Canton. Eliza (her mark) To- lar. Cora (her mark) Dean. Florence (her mark) Kennedy. Carrie (her mark) Vanderpool. Lucy (her mark) Payne. Louisa (her mark) Bower. Mattie (her mark) Gaffeny. Maggie (her mark) Winters. Elizabeth Brown. Maggie Donahue. Emma Eldridge. Ellen Tolar do .... do .. do 30 30 Cora Dean do .do do .. Florence Kennedy. do ... do ... . ..do ... 30 Carrie Vanderpool. do do .. do 30 8.00 8. 00 8.00 Lucy Payne .... do do ... do ... 30 Louisa Bower. do do do . 30 Mattie Gaffeny do do ... do . 30 10. 00 Maggie Winters do ....do ... ....do 30 8.00 7.00 8. 00 7. 00 Elizabeth Brown .. Maggie Donahue .. Nurse do ... do .. 30 do ........ do .. do 30 Emma. Eldridge.... Lizzie Beatzcl General work. do ... do ... 30 7. 00 do ....do ... do ... 30 6. 00 6. 00 Ida Sorrell do do ... do ... 30 7. 00 7.00 Ida Sorrell. Lucy (her mark) Smith. Winnie (her mark) Mullen. Minnie (her mark) McCullen. Angela (her mark) Benson. Maria (her mark) Downs. Bridget (her mark) Fitzgerald. Ella (her mark) Georgia. Joseph (his mark) McLoughlin. James (his mark) McCormick. Lucy Smith Cook do ... .do ... 30 10. 00 10.00 Winnie Mullen .... Minnie McCullen.. Assistant cook do ... .do ... do ... ....do ... do ... 30 30 7. 00 7. 00 7. 00 7.00 Angela Benson .... Maria Downs General work. do do 30 5.00 5.00 do do do 30 5.00 5. 00 Bridget Fitzgerald. Ella Georgia Laundress do ....do ... 30 10.00 10.00 Wet nurse.... do ... do ... 30 8. 00 8.00 Joseph McLoughlin Janies McCormick. Engineer, etc . do ... do ... 30 15.00 15. 00 Laborer .do ... do 30 12.00 12. 00 233.00 I certify that the services charged in the above roll were actually performed, and that the compensations paid were just and reasonable. Sister Elizabeth Relihan, President. THE BOARD OF CHILDREN'S GUARDIANS. Senator McMillan. We will next hear the officers of the Board of Children's Guardians. Mr. William Redin Woodward. I have a paper which I would submit. It was prepared by Mr. Lewis, our agent and executive offi- cer. It has been considered by the Board and unanimously adopted by them. Mr. Woodward proceeded with the reading of the paper referred to. Representative Northway (interrupting). Does your paper deal entirely with the internal workings of the institution"? Mr. Woodward. No, sir. Representative Northway. Do you deal with the business part of your affairs in the paper? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir; further along. Senator McMillan. I do not think we care anything about the rules; it is not necessary to read that. You can just file it. 132 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Mr. Woodward. We have attached to this paper three tables of mortality, compiled from the statistics in the report of the superin- tendent of charities so far as figures have been reported to him, for the years 1889, 1892, 1891, 1895, and 1896. Senator McMillan. Where are the figures taken from? Mr. Woodward. From the reports of the superintendent of charities. Senator McMillan. I do not suppose it is necessary for us to have that read now. Mr. Woodward. It is simply a comparison. Senator McMillan. Leave the tables with the report. Mr. Woodward. We also wish to show by these the difference in mortality of those in institutions and those in homes. Notwithstanding the fact that five-sixths of our children under 2 years of age are colored, our death rate is only 20 per cent. The Board of Children's Guardians has done the work of an institu- tion for foundlings since its organization. The practice of the Board in dealing with such children was modified at the end of the first pe- riod of six months by the formal adoption of boarding out as a means of caring for them. This process consists of the selection of a family home for the infant immediately upon its reception, a bargain being made with the head of the family by which the child is to receive such attention as its necessities demand, to be fed according to directions given from the office of the Board, to be suitably and sufficiently clothed at all times, and is not to be dosed with medicines of any sort, except in obedience to the orders of the physician employed by the Board. Upon the first appearance of sickness report is to be made to the office of the Board by telephone or special messenger, when a physician is at once sent to take charge of the case. The following rules, established for the guidance of the agent of the Board in selecting boarding homes for infants and for the government of nurses, have been strictly followed: HOME CONDITIONS. (1) The home must be on a fairly good street or in the country. No infants will be placed in homes in the alleys or courts of the city. (2) The homes must be clean, well kept, well ventilated, and so situated that sun- shine will come into the rooms part of the day. (3) There must be ample room for the number of persons living in the house, and the presence of boarders and small children, other than those placed by this agency, will be considered objectionable. (4) The income of the care taker, including the legitimate profit on the amount paid by this Board for the care of its children, must be sufficient for reasonable sup- port for herself and all dependent upon her. One-half of the amount paid will be considered as payment to the care taker for her trouble and labor, and the other half is to provide food and clothing for the child. (5) All that part of "South Washington" lying east of Four-and-a-half street and south of E street southwest, and all of "West Washington" lying south of Bridge street are considered objectionable, and hereafter infants will only be placed in those localities in special cases and for special reasons. (6) The following classes of persons are invited to apply for infants to be kept at the expense of this Board, and will be given preference in the order named: First. Cleanly, healthy, and respectable women, both white and colored, who are in condi- tion to wet nurse an infant; second, those who have experience, but who are now without small children of their own, and are so situated that they can secure a steady supply of fresh pure milk from cows kept for private use. RULES FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF NURSES. All persons applying for infants to board are expected to understand and agree to obey the following rules: (1) It is understood that the amount paid by this Board is to provide the child with 133 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. everything necessary to its health and comfort, except the services of a physician and the necessary medicines in case of sickness. Nurses must see to it that the children are properly fed, well clothed, clean, and comfortable at all times. If chil- dren are found not sufficiently clothed or poorly fed, the necessary food and clothing will be furnished by the agent of the board, and the cost thereof will be deducted from the amount due the nurse at the next monthly pay day. (2) All persons taking children as boarders must submit to inspection of the chil- dren, of the food prepared for them, of their clothing, and of the sanitary conditions of their home by the agent or members of the board, as often as the board deems such examination necessary. They must report in writing regarding the children whenever requested to do so by the agent of the board. They must also give full and correct answers at all times to such questions as it may become necessary to ask regarding their family, their income, the occupations followed, and all other matters affecting the welfare of the children placed with them. The board reserves the right to remove a child from the custody of any nurse without previous notice whenever such action becomes necessary for the safety and welfare of the child. (3) Nurses must understand that when children are placed with them their first duties are to those children, and nothing must be allowed to interfere with the per- formance of those duties. They must take the place of mothers to the children as far as possible. They must be patient, good tempered, and faithful, and willing to sac- rifice their own comfort for the welfare of the children. (4) In case of sickness report must be made at once to this office, when a physician will be sent to attend the child. Nurses are not expected to attempt to treat sick children, except under the direction of a physician. In case of accident or sudden sickness at night or on Sunday, when the office of the Board is not open, the physician designated to attend children in any given locality may be called without waiting to report at the office of the Board; but in all cases reports must be made on the morning of the first business day following. (5) The use of paregoric, Dover's powders, or soothing sirup, or of toddy, beer, or other alcoholic drinks is forbidden under any circumstances, unless prescribed by a physician. (6) Next to that provided by nature, good cows' milk is the best food for an infant. Nurses are hereby directed to procure, whenever possible, a supply of fresh milk from reliable parties keeping cows for private use. Whenever such arrangements can not be made persons taking charge of children must furnish such prepared food as may be directed by the Board, under the advice of the physician in charge. (7) Children under 1 year of age must be given nothing but the milk or food prepared for them. Those over 1 year old may have a small quantity of bread with their milk in the morning or during the early part of the day. Those from 18 months to 2 years old may be given, in addition, boiled rice, breakfast food, strained oat meal, or chicken broth as they become able to digest such food; but every child must have milk or a reliable substitute, and plenty of it, until the end of the second year. Potatoes, starch, beans, bananas, tomatoes, sour fruits, and candies must be kept away from children under 2 years of age. To disregard this rule is to put the child's life in danger. (8) Nurses will not be allowed to use nursing bottles with long glass and rubber tubes. The plain, short, dark rubber nipple, with any ordinary bottle, is decidedly the best and the only arrangement allowed. Infants must not be given the bottle and put down and left. Every nurse is expected to take the child upon her lap to be fed and to give the meal and take the bottle away within twenty minutes. Bot- tles must be scalded after each meal is given before being refilled for the next, and nipples must be kept in a bowl of fresh water when not in use. (9) All water used in the preparation of food for infants during hot weather must be boiled. A small quantity should be boiled each morning and put aside to cool in a covered vessel. The directions for the preparation of milk and barley water for children of various ages, which are furnished by the board, must be carefully followed. (10) Upon the first appearance of serious bowel trouble the case must be reported at this office, or to the physician designated, at once. Doors and windows should be opened on the shady side of the house and the child should be given fresh air. A fan must be used, if necessary, to keep the child cool. Give no food and nothing to drink. If vomiting or purging sets in give five to ten drops of limewater in a tea- spoonful of cold water every ten minutes until the doctor comes. Give no more and nothing else. (11) Every nurse must study these rules until she understands them perfectly. Any doubt or uncertainty as to what is meant must be reported to the agent of the board, who will construe and explain them. The rate paid for such service is $10 per month for one child and $18 per month for two. Usually where more than one child is placed with a nurse one is selected which is two or three years of age while the 134 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. other is much younger. Colored children are placed with colored nurses and white children with white nurses. In operation this plan has been very successful, as will be seen by a comparison of its results with those attained under the plan of keeping the infants in an institution. Three things are essential to its success: First, facilities for the exam- ination of a large number of homes and the selection of those wherein conditions are entirely favorable; second, first-rate medical attendance employed by and responsible to the boarding-out agency; third, con- stant vigilance on the part of wise and deeply interested inspectors, who visit the nurses frequently, encouraging and instructing them and providing for the transfer of the children from the homes of any who neglect their duty in the slightest particular. It has been found easy to get the infants placed in charge of the Board into the hands of competent and careful nurses. They find the approval of the Board of value to them, and are anxious to so discharge their duty as to merit approval and secure continuous employment. They are made to feel that it will injuriously affect their record and employ- ment to allow a child to die, and they are always very anxious that the physician and agent of the Board shall be able to give a good account of them. EXTENT TO WHICH PUBLIC AID SHOULD BE GRANTED. There does not seem to be any valid reason why the reception of " foundlings" at the expense of the whole body of the people should not be surrounded by safeguards in all respects similar to those necessary in case of older children. On the contrary, the conditions which cause the presence of the classes of children so designated seem to call for additional precautions lest they be encouraged and increased. Nearly all "foundlings" are children of unmarried mothers. These mothers are always away from their homes and friends and desire to conceal the existence of their children. They find it easiest to seclude them- selves in the large cities and they avail themselves of the free lying-in wards of all hospitals which are not protected against them. Upon their discharge from the hospital they wish to return to their homes, and the foundling asylum offers convenient means for the abandon- ment of the children. An applicant for the admission of a babe will be asked a few conventional questions, which may be answered or not without in any way endangering the success of the application. No identification of the person presenting the child is required. No infor- mation need be furnished which will make it possible to discover either parent, will reveal their residence, or show it to be necessary that the child be provided for at public charge. The fact that a person wants to give up a babe seems to be accepted as sufficient reason for taking it. This makes it unnecessary for any person within reach of Washing- ton to appeal to or seek tlie enforcement of wholesome laws for the punishment of offenses against morality. It relieves the fathers of illegitimate children of all trouble and responsibility at a minimum of cost. They do not have to face the public censure due them in their own homes. Social prestige and eclat are not affected, and the right- eous anger of fathers and brothers of the mother is turned aside. The mothers return home and soon again regain their usual health and spirits. Many of them repeat the experience. Larceny is an offense against public order. The quickest, surest, and most common means for its detection is through knowledge of the means and place of the CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 135 disposal of the stolen goods. Detectives are trained and paid for its suppression at public expense. Bastardy is an offense against the community. The quickest, surest, and most common means of its con- cealment is the foundling asylum. It seems anomalous that police and detective officers should be paid at public cost to suppress and punish larceny, and the foundling asylum at the same time be supported at public cost to take from the other offense the penalty afforded by nature. It will be urged that the free reception of " foundlings " prevents infanticide; that unless relieved of them many mothers would kill their children. The sufficient reply is that the law provides a penalty for infanticide, and should be enforced. A burglar will usually kill if about to be caught in the act, but that will hardly be urged as a reason for providing an easy means for his escape. It will be urged that the mothers of this class of children are entitled to sympathy; that the very distress of their condition when they arrive in the city makes it imperative that they be provided with shelter and the common comforts of life; that to insist upon their providing for their own children would be both brutal and foolish; that to send them out into the world with a child in their arms would be to heap upon them lifelong disgrace, and a burden which they can not be expected to bear. The sufficient reply is that they should never have come to the city in the first place, and would not but for the knowledge of provision made for their reception, and for relieving them of their infants when born; that such as do come should be at once returned to their homes; that if they are unable to provide for their offspring, their remedy is against the father of the child and not against the District of Colum- bia. The only disgrace worth considering comes as a result of dis- graceful conduct; and there is vastly more hope for a person who frankly acknowledges a wrong, honestly repents of it, and makes the best of the hard conditions resulting therefrom, than for one who avoids the respon- sibility and assumes a position which must be supported, if at all, by a lifelong succession of falsehoods. The following letter shows the mental condition and the ideas of the mothers of nearly all "foundlings" in this city. It was written by a girl 21 years of age, who had, at the time of the writing, come to this city from her home in West Virginia for the purpose of concealing her condition and getting rid of her second illegitimate child. It was writ- ten for another woman, who is from 25 to 35 years of age, who was here for the same purpose from Virginia. So far as known she had not been here before: Washington, D. C., March 12, 1S97. Mr. Lewis. Dear Sir: I understand that you will take children whose parents are not able to take care of them. I have a baby that is 2 weeks old to-morrow. I find it impos- sible for me to keep it, as I want to go back home and can not go if I take the child. I would be very glad if you would come and see the child as soon as you can, for I would like to get rid of it as soon as possible on account of becoming attached to the child. Yours, in haste, . The child referred to in the letter was born on the 27th of February, and was admitted to the Washington Hospital for Foundlings on the 13th of March. The mother has returned to her home in Virginia. The second child of the girl who wrote the letter for her companion is said to have been born on the 14th of February and admitted to the 136 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Washington Hospital for Foundlings on February 26. This girl has also returned to her home in West Virginia. It is no part of the business of the Government to attempt to shield any person from the natural consequences of wrongdoing; and in the matter of dealing with the parents of illegitimate children the forces of organized society should strike with and not against the great forces of nature. MORTALITY. There are sufficient reasons why the death rate among infants sepa- rated from their mothers must always be excessively large. Without attempting to discuss such reasons at length, it seems proper to say that in the light of information gathered from the general mortality sta- tistics of the District of Columbia it would be expected that the death rate among the colored children would be greater than among the white. The report of the health department for 1896 gives the percentages of deaths of children under 5 years of age as follows: White. Colored. Percentage of total mortality of children under 5 years of age Aiiiiual death rate by color 46.42 5. 74 53.58 13. 86 By extensive comparison of statistics from many cities, both Ameri- can and foreign, it has been found that practically 33 per cent of the population of any city consists of children under 5 years of age. By the application of this rule there will be found to be about 93,000 such children in the District of Columbia. Of these 62,000 are white and 31,000 are colored. Among the 62,000 whites there occurred, during 1896, 972 deaths, and among the 31,000 colored there occurred 1,122 deaths. Tl»e associations whose special rates of mortality are computed wholly for white children, or largely for children from 2 to 5 years of age would, therefore, be expected to show much lower rates. The Board of Children's Guardians has considered as in the infant class only those children under 2 years of age; and of such children cared for by the board five-sixths have been colored. At St. Ann's Asylum children are admitted up to 5 years of age and are kept until they reach the age of 7 years. At the Washington Hos- pital for Foundlings the maximum age is 3 years. The average death rate of children 2 years old and under is 3.33, and of children 2 to 5 years of age it is 0.31. Mot tality among infants, supported in whole or in part at public expense, in the District of Columbia. Colored Found- lings' Home. Washing- ton Hos- pital for Found- lings. St. Ann's Infant Asylum. Board of Children's Guard- ians. For the year 1891: AV hole number cared for 90 126 183 95 Daily average number cared for 16 30 Number of deaths 41 46 66 Percentage of deaths to whole number cared for 45.5 36. 5 36 7 Percentage of deaths to daily average number 256. 25 153. 33 69.47 For the year 1892: Whole number cared for 64 105 212 Daily average number cared for 15.77 26.44 104. 65 Number of deaths........................................ 37 66 78 Percentage of deaths to whole number cared for 57.81 62.84 36. 79 Percentage of deaths to daily average number 234.62 261.39 74.53 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 137 Mortality among infants, supported in whole or in part at public expense, etc. Colored Found- lings' Home. Washing- ton Hos- pital for Found- lings. St. Ann's Infant Asylum. Board of Children's Guard- ians. For the year 1894: Whole number cared for 82 41 Daily average number cared for 37 135 21 Number of deaths 45 77 9 Percentage of deaths to whole number eared for 54. 87 21 95 Percentage of deaths to daily average number 121. 62 57. 77 42.86 For the year 1895: Whole number cared for . 74 52 Daily average number cared for 34 130 39 Deaths 23 82 13 Percentage of deaths to whole number cared for 31. 07 25 Percentage of deaths to daily average number 67. 64 63.08 33.33 For the year'1896: Whole number cared for 108 52 Daily average number cared for 32 128 39 Number of deaths 70 72 14 Percentage of deaths to whole number cared for 69.4 26. 73 Percentage of deaths to daily average number 218. 75 56.25 35.9 Cont'd. Senator McMillan. How many do you care for or take charge of in the course of a year, or take the average1? Mr. Woodward. The daily average is about 42 or 43 of those under 2 years of age who are put in homes with nurses. Senator McMillan. Here in the District? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir; we have one nurse for one child in that way. Senator McMillan. What do you do with them afterwards? Mr. Woodward. When they are old enough to be removed from the care of the nurses we try to secure homes for them under indenture. We want the child when taken from its nursing mother to be trans- ferred to its foster mother. Senator McMillan. Do I understand correctly that the Board of Children's Guardians do not approve of foundling asylums? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. And that you would do away with them? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir. Mr. Simon Wolf. Unfortunately I could not be present at the meet- ing of the Board of Children's Guardians on Saturday. Had 1 been I would not have voted against foundling asylums, for I look upon such asylums as one of the most humane institutions of modern civilization. Senator McMillan. I had always thought so. Mr. Wolf. I protest against that action, because my experience throughout the world, gained from official as well as private observa- tion, is that institutions of this character are not only humane, but they are in the spirit and line of Christianity and humanity, and when you have them you decrease infanticide, which would result from con- ditions that have existed since the beginning of time. That is my opinion, and I want to state it. Mr. Woodward. If 20 per cent under our method is a smaller per cent than can be shown as a result of other ways of keeping them it would seem to be better. Mr. Wolf. That is true, perhaps, when they are taken up to 2 years of age, but when children are found on the doorstep or in the streets, as they are in this city and in every other large community, the percentage does not hold good, for the high rate of mortality is caused by the conditions that have been explained by abler men than myself from a scientific and medical standpoint, that they are found in 138 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. a condition of collapse, and whatever is saved of humanity is a real good to humanity, and for saving these lives they have the gratitude and thanks of all friends of humanity. When the Board of Children's Guardians get these children they are not in those conditions. Mr. Woodward. I beg your pardon. I understand that these chil- dren that are brought to us by the police, or by any one else, are just in the same condition as those taken to foundling asylums. Senator McMillan. What do you do with such a child-a child that is abandoned? Mr. Woodward. As I have stated, they are placed with a nurse. The Government should provide a place where it could be taken care of; some temporary place where it could be cared for, such as we asked for the other day. Senator McMillan. You would have a sort of asylum? Mr. Woodward. A sort of clearing house for these children is what we need. It is our contention and policy that every child has a right to a home, and if the child's natural mother will not or can not give it the atten- tion it ought to have the State should provide a foster mother for it; and the reason why our statistics show a lower rate of mortality is because our method provides one person to give attention to and care for one child. Senator McMillan. Do you think these unnatural mothers should be sought out and punished for giving birth to these children? Mr. Woodward. We are here simply pleading for the children, and not for the mothers. What is the best means of dealing with the moth- ers is another branch of science altogether, but I think that if questions were asked and inquiries made by these foundling asylums as to the parentage it would decrease the number of foundlings very materially. The letter 1 quoted from the paper and addressed to Mr. Lewis, our agent, was written by a girl who, if she entered this room to-day, no one would suspect of anything wrong. She came to this city from West Vir- ginia for the purpose of concealing her condition and to get rid of her second illegitimate child when born, and, if I am not mistaken, the fathers of both these children were colored men. Representative Northway. The existence of these foundling asy- lums you think opens the way? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir. Representative Northway. Does the Board of Children's Guardians come in contact with the Washington Hospital for Foundlings? Mr. Woodward. No, sir; I can not say we do. Representative Northway. Or with St. Ann's? Mr. Woodward. No, sir. Representative Northway. Then there are three institutions here to which they can be committed. Mr. Woodward. They can not be committed to the Board of Chil- dren's Guardians without a day in court. Representative N orthway. But there are three institutions covering the same ground. Mr. Woodward. One is a State institution and the other two are private. Representative Northway. What does it cost your Board in your way of caring for these children? Mr. Woodward. We have not divided off the children of 2 years of age and under from the other children; $10 a month for a single child in a home or $18 where two children are placed in a home, but we do not put two children under 2 years of age in one home. 139 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Representative Northway. Your idea is that if there is a foundling asylum here it would be better to inquire as to the parentage and let it be known instead of covering it up. Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir. Mr. Wolf. There is no doubt about that. Mr. Woodward. A suitable law should be enacted to provide for support of the child by the parent; I do not care who they are. We have cases where people have come here and abandoned their children. Women are sent here and their shame hidden, and then they go back to where they came from and repeat the offense. Mr. Wolf. I understand that Senator McMillan's bill will cover that. Representative Northway. Does the Board of Children's Guardians inquire into the parentage of a child? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir; we do all we can. The police court will not commit a child to the Board until an investigation is made by us or the police department. Representative Northway. Then the practice of the Board of Chil- dren's Guardians in that respect is exactly opposite to that of foundling asylums? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir. Mr. M. M. Parker. Do you find homes for these children outside of Washington? Mr. Woodward. Not for infants under 2 years of age. Mr. Parker. Well, do you visit those outside of Washington-those over 2 years of age placed out? Mr. Woodward. That is just what we are pleading with this com- mittee for-to give us the means to visit outside of the District of Columbia. To give you an illustration, we have a boy in the State of Georgia, possibly Alabama, and we are unable to visit him. There is some conflict between the neighbors as to the treatment the child is receiving from the people he is placed with. We have one of the teachers in the Tuscogee Seminary visit these homes and see the chil- dren and make a report to us. When we have an agent or the means to do this visiting with, for which we have applied to this committee, we shall be able to do that ourselves. Mr. A. T. Britton. You have no regular visitation, then? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir; we have, but have not the means to extend it. We can visit within a reasonable distance from Washing- ton, but not farther than Philadelphia or New Jersey. Representative Northway. That is because simply of lack of means and not lack of power? Mr. Woodward. Yes, sir; because of lack of means. In the Dis- trict of Columbia they are visited once a month. Senator McMillan. Have you any other questions, Colonel North- way? Representative Northway. No, sir; I think not. Mr. Woodward, Mr. Mann, the secretary of the Board, has a paper he wishes to submit to the committee. Representative Northway. What grounds does it cover? Mr. B. Pickman Mann. It is a statement of what sort of informa- tion ought to be obtained from these institutions to enable the commit- tee and the public to get competent knowledge of their workings. Senator McMillan. You can just file the paper and we can have it published. Representative Northway. It is an argument showing why certain things should be done? 140 charities and reformatory institutions. Mr. Mann. It is a statement, in the first place, of what should be done, and then 1 have some remarks here as to what statistics ought to show and do show. I think if I read the paper, which is short, it might give occasion for some questions. Senator McMillan. We do not want to duplicate these other reports. We have now two or three reports from the Board of Guardians, and I do not think it is necessary to read it. Mr. Mann. It is not a duplication of what is contained in the other reports. Senator McMillan. You can file it. Mr. Mann. I think there are some points which have not been brought out here. Senator McMillan. If you have anything to say that is definite we will hear you. Mr. Mann. I will refer to some of the points I have here. First, as to the headings which should go into tables which are given to differ- ent institutions to report on. I have studied the reports of the super- intendent of charities, and I have kept track of everything in the newspapers with regard to this matter for sixteen years in the District of Columbia, and I can not get the information that I want as to these institutions. Representative Northway. What institutions? Mr. Mann. Just now I allude to foundling asylums. Representative Northway. What information is it that you can not get? Mr. Mann. I do not mean to say that I have asked the institutions, but I have tried to find it in official reports. Representative Northway. What is it that you want and cannot get? Mr. Mann. At what age the children are received. The annual report should state the age and number received, dividing the ages into short periods, as 1 week or under, 1 week to 1 month, 1 month to 3 months, 3 months to 6 months, 6 months to 1 year, 1 year to 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, and 5 years. They should further state the physical condition of the children at the time of reception, as moribund, inva- lid, healthy, and robust, and their condition at subsequent periods, as at intervals of six months; also to what race the children belong and what methods of treatment were adopted. So far as the Government has authority, it should demand the fullest and clearest statements in regard to all the features of the work, so arranged upon a uniform sys- tem that comparisons between different institutions and methods of treatment can be made. Especial emphasis should be laid upon the rendition of any statistics which go to show failures or defects in any system or evils which need to be remedied. The tendency of annual reports generally is to represent the work reported upon in its most favorable light. Representative Northway. You understand that this committee is dealing with the business of these institutions, and not with the work- ings. We could hardly deal with that in our hearings here. We may differ as to how the patients should be cared for, how they should be treated, whether by allopathic or homeopathic physicians. Mr. Mann. I wanted to point out some of the topics upon which the committee should obtain information. I think as a matter of funda- mental policy that when the Government has provided an agency for doing this work it should foster that agency under its control and not leave these matters to private management without control. 141 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. The annual reports of the foundling institutions mostly give meager statistics in regard to the work. They should state for each year the number and age of children received, and the number at each age, dividing the ages into short periods, as 1 week or under, 1 week to 1 month,! month to 3 months,3 months to 6 months, 6 months to 1 year, 1 year to 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, and 5 years. They should further state the physical condition of the children at the time of reception, as moribund, invalid, healthy, and robust, and their condition at sub- sequent periods, as at intervals of six months. If racial character- istics be deemed influential upon the life and health of the child, the racial distinctions should be stated. If different methods of treatment be adopted, they should be described and their effects should be noted. So far as the Government has authority it should demand the fullest and clearest statements in regard to all the features of the work, so arranged upon a uniform system that comparisons between different institutions and methods of treatment can be made. Where the institutions are under governmental direc- tion forms of statement can be prescribed, and where subsidies are granted to independent institutions the grants should be made condi- tional upon the rendering of like statistical statements, not only of future work but also of that of the past. Especial emphasis should be laid upon the rendition of any statistics which go to show failures or defects in any system or evils which need to be remedied. The tend- ency of annual reports generally is to represent the work reported upon in its most favorable light. The reports rendered should be combined into comparative tables under competent direction, and if lacume be discovered, further demands for information should be made, so that no oversight or efforts at cou- cealment should be allowed to detract from the completeness and sig- nificance of the tables. I believe the comparison of reports will show that the death rate of infants in foundling asylums, where the children are kept for any con- siderable time in bulk and without such constant individual care as is given by mothers to their babies, is far greater than the death rate of infants placed immediately upon reception in condition to receive such motherly care, and consequently that if there be means at hand (as there are in the District of Columbia at this time) for placing children in such conditions as to save their lives to any measurable extent, it is the duty of the Government not only not to aid in the support of insti- tutions or methods tending to a less degree of preservation of life, but also, within its powers, to suppress and forbid the maintenance of such institutions or methods. Statistics compiled by the Board of Children's Guardians show that the death rate of infants placed in the care of the foundling asylums in this District is far greater than that of the infants placed in the care of the Board of Children's Guardians. They show further that the cost per capita of the care of these children in the Washington Hospital for Foundlingsis twice or more than twice the cost of the care of children of like age by the Board of Children's Guardians, at the same time that they show the death rate to be much larger. (I omit reference to the cost in the other foundling asylum because I have not the proper data upon which to base a comparison.) This reference is not intended in the least to imply that these asylums are not conducted with the greatest efficiency and in the most excellent manner pertinent to their class. I believe, also, that the maintenance of asylums or the pursuit of 142 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. methods which afford an opportunity for unmarried mothers to avoid the exposure of their violation of the rules of society has a corrupting influence upon society, the interests of which are of greater importance than the interests of the individuals whose reputations might be saved by the avoidance of exposure. Such avoidance of exposure is sought especially by and on behalf of those members of society who occupy the more prominent social posi- tions, the very ones who by intelligence and opportunities are the most bounden to observe and to improve the standards of morality, and are the most to blamefor their transgressions. 1 believe, therefore, it should be a part of the work of all agencies maintained by society to bring to a strict account the transgressors of the social laws, and that the found- ling institutions should be compelled within the limits of their powers and the governmental authority to ascertain and record the facts relat- ing to the parentage of foundling children, and to impose upon the parents their natural and lawful obligations toward the children. The work of the foundling institutions involves dealing also with mar- ried mothers, or those who have not transgressed social laws, but who seek to avoid the responsibilities which are theirs by nature, and which, within the limits of their powers, they should not be permitted to avoid. The statement sometimes made in behalf of these institutions that they receive all children who are brought to them without asking questions or without insisting upon full and true answers, is a confes- sion that such institutions are the aiders and abetters in the violation of social and economic laws established for the maintenance and better- ment of the body social and politic. As to the extent to which public aid may properly be granted, I hold it to be a fundamentally correct proposition that governmental agencies should be provided for the performance of governmental duties, and that where they are provided they should be independent of private control. For a considerable term of years no governmental agency was pro- vided for the care of foundling children in this District, and one and another private agency performed all the service for this purpose that was performed. The Government has now provided a governmental agency for this service, and in so far as this agency may be found to work efficiently, public aid should be granted to it alone. In no other way can this aid be applied strictly and without private interference to the purposes for which it was intended. Government aid should be withheld especially from all those agencies which directly or indirectly tend to foster or preserve modes of violation of the very social and economic laws upon which the Government is founded. If there be a question in the minds of individuals as to the fact whether the mainte- nance of private foundling institutions does or does not tend to injure the community, the burden and responsibility of acting in that direc- tion which may be the injurious one should be imposed upon those persons who maintain that it is not such, and should not be assumed by the community. The statistics in regard to mortality are so well and fully discussed in the answers of the Board of Children's Guardians that 1 need say nothing of them here. As the methods of placing out children which have been followed by the Board of Children's Guardians are approved in theory by all per- sons, so far as I know, and have been shown by experience to be the most successful, they should be supported by adequate provision of charities and reformatory institutions. 143 personnel and means to maintain their efficiency and to afford opportu- nity for still greater betterment. All that has been said and may be said in regard to the visitation of the homes in which children are placed applies with force to the visita- tion of the homes of infants. The needs of such homes are different from those of the homes of older children in many particulars, but are as great, and as adequate means for the supervision of these homes should be granted as for the selection of the homes in the first instance. So much has been said above in regard to private foundling asylums that they need not be considered fully here. The laws of some States provide carefully for the supervision of such asylums by governmental agencies, recognizing peculiar dangers in leaving them to conduct their affairs freely in their own ways. The obligations of society to its most helpless members are peculiarly great and binding, and its interests are most closely involved in the welfare and proper training of its future citizens. Whatever natural right may be recognized on the part of parents to endeavor to impress upon their children and to perpetuate through them their own peculiar or partisan views in matters of faith or politi- cal opinion, the Government has no right to bias the minds of its wards in favor of or against any partisan views upon matters in which all mem- bers of society are not in accord, and, so far as it can avoid doing so, should not place them in any situation where they shall be indoctri- nated with the peculiar views of any sect of religion or political party. The child has the right to be so educated that when he arrives at maturity he shall be free to choose his own forms of religion and opin- ion, without the influence of prejudice or forestatement of his judgment. Mr. A. T. Britton. Were you ever in one of these hospitals? Mr. Mann. I have never visited them myself, and I have nothing to say myself against the management of them; but it has been acknowl- eged by those representing both of these hospitals that the death rate in them is very high. Dr. Sowers tells me that it is smaller in the Dis- trict of Columbia, in general, than in any other part of the country, and if that is so, it shows that the District carries on its hospitals in a better way than any other place. Mr. Britton. We extend to you a very cordial invitation to come and see them, to visit them. Mr. Mann. I have based my remarks upon the facts given to me, which show that the system of having foundling asylums is a system which results in a large death rate. Mr. Britton. Do you know what the death rate in the District has been, on the average, of children under 12 months of age? Mr. Mann. No, sir. The comparison I have made was of children taken by the Board of Children's Guardians and by the hospitals. I think they show that the Board of Children's Guardians has saved about three lives where the hospitals have saved one. Senator McMillan. That is a pretty broad statement to make. Mr. Mann. The percentage is about 25 per cent of deaths of children taken by the Board of Children's Guardians and about 75 per cent of those in hospitals. Representative Northway. Do I understand you to say that the Board of Children's Guardians has saved about three times as many as the hospitals ? Mr. Mann. Yes, sir. Representative Northway. That is a broad statement. Mr. Mann. Well, taking 100 children committed to the Board of 144 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Children's Guardians and 100 taken by the Washington Hospital for Foundlings, at the end of the year the Board would have 75 alive and the hospital 25 alive. Representative Northway. Is it not a fact that they take largely children under 24 hours old, while you take them 1 year old or more? Senator McMillan. That makes a great difference. Mr. Mann. I wish you would have the information furnished so that we can make a comparison. I do not wish to make any unfounded statements. Without that information we are unable to ascertain the ages of the children comprised in their statistics. There is no infor- mation at hand to show. Mr. Woodward. The question has been raised here as to the physi- cal condition of children who come to the Board of Children's Guard- ians. Mr. Lewis has the practical dealing with these children who come into our hands. He sees them first, and I wish he would make a statement as to their actual condition. Dr. Bovee. I was very much surprised at these statistics given by Mr. Mann relative to mortality in the institutions and outside. There is no difference of opinion about the mortality in treating in hospitals and out of them favoring the system of the institution. You can take any disease that has ever been known and you will see that statistics will show that hospital treatment is superior. You can take child-bed. fever and the mortality of lying-in asylums is not one quarter what it is in private practice, where patients are in different localities. Now, the Board of Children's Guardians say they have no place of detention for temporary care of these children, and notwithstanding that and the advantage the institution has they claim to have this great increase of life saving work. I simply have to say that when the Board of Child- ren's Guardians gets a little older they will find that their mortality will not be so fortunate as they claim it has been in the past. It is impossible to take care of these children in private houses, where they are taken simply to get that little $10 a month. In the institution they make this child-caring work a business and the institution has a reputation to maintain, and they are therefore going to do everything in their power to achieve the best results. In the institution there is a medical staff that makes it a business of studying these things, and it seems to me that there can be no doubt of its being a more efficient system. Dr. Sowers. In the early part of the history of this hospital we made a trial of this plan which seems to have been adopted by the Board of Children's Guardians. Senator McMillan. What hospital? Dr. Sowers. The Washington Hospital for Foundlings. We did the very best that was possible with that method, but it failed and we abandoned it. We afterward tried a system of wet nursing these children outside. That method also failed for want of competent care. Ten dollars a month is what they want and not the child. We tried wet nursing in the hospital and the want of care was such that we had to abandon that, so that after trying all these methods we have come down to the present plan, which we believe to be successful. When children come there well they do not die. Mr. Lewis. There seems to be an understanding that a different class of children comes to the Board of Children's Guardians; that their condition when received is not as bad as the condition of those received at the foundling asylums. Five-sixths of those that come to us are colored, and as we have tried to show you, ordinarily the CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 145 death rate among them is much greater than among white children. There is no difference in the physical condition in which they are found from those that are received by the foundling asylums, and they are not different in the age at which they are received. Senator McMillan. How young? Mr. Lewis. They may be 1, 2, or 5 hours or days old. They have been brought to us when not 24 hours old. Senator McMillan. What proportion ? Mr. Lewis. Not a very large proportion at that age, but many of them under 1 month. In the figures which we have submitted on behalf of the Board of Children's Guardians are included only children 2 years of age or under, while St. Ann's include them up to 7 years of age, and the Washington Hospital for Foundlings up to 3 years. 1 think Dr. Bovee, who just spoke, is certainly in the face of the figures. It is not a controversy which I would invite, but these are public state- ments and are entitled to be heard. In 1896 the Washington Hospital for Foundlings had 42 children on hand at the beginning of the year; it received 66 during the year, making 108 in that hospital during the year, and of these they lost by death 70. Its daily average cared for was 32, making the percentage of deaths to the daily average cared for 218.75; or, in other words, that hospital buried its whole population more than twice during the year. Take St. Ann's; the daily average number cared for was 130, and they lost during the year 72 by death, a percentage of deaths to daily average cared foi of 56.25, the difference in the rate at the two asylums being accounted for by the fact that the children remain longer at St. Ann's than they do at the Washington Hospital for Foundlings. The number dealt with by the Board of Children's Guardians during the same year was 52; the number of deaths 14; a percentage of deaths to number cared for of 35.9, as against 218.75 per cent at the Washington Hospital for Foundlings, and 56.25 per cent at St. Ann's. Bepresentative Northway. Can you give us the ages of children under 2 years that come to the Board of Children's Guardians? Mr. Lewis. In the report of the Board for 1896 the ages of these children under 2 years are given; each individual case is spread upon our records so that it may be seen what the condition was when received and the progress of each child. Up to June 36, 1896, when the last annual report of the Board was made, and which is the end of the period to which all figures heretofore submitted apply, the Board had received 88 children under 2 years of age. Of these, 44 were 3 months of age and under; as follows: Less than 1 month, 28; between 1 and 2 months, 11; between 2 and 3 months, 5. The average age of all those received at 2 years and under was 8 months. The average age of the children received during the year 1896 was 5 months; 8 were under 1 month, and but 2 were over 1 year. In the case of 10, the prognosis from a careful examination of the chil- dren at the time of reception, was "death." In 5 it was "doubtful," and in 12 it was "hopeful." Every case has been individually dealt with in the reports of the Board for 1895 and 1896. (See annual reports of the Board for 1895, p. 15, and 1896, pp 24 and 25.) Marked copies of these reports are here- with handed you. Bepresentative Northway. Unless you have the average age of children taken into these other hospitals you can not make a fair comparison ? S. Doc. 185 10 146 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Mr. Lewis. Our statement is based on the number cared for. There are no figures published to enable anyone to make the comparison you suggest. Mr. Mann. The point I wanted to bring out was that this committee has authority to obtain from these hospitals a statement of the ages at which each child is received. Bepresentative Northway. You say that the hospitals can give the ages? Mr. Mann. I say you have the authority to get that information if they have the records, and I suggest that this committee secure that information, for, without it, such a comparison can not be made. Mr. Lewis. There is only one thing more that I want to say, and that is in regard to the Colored Foundling's Home. When the Board of Children's Guardians was established this Colored Foundling's Home went out of existence, and since then the children have come to us. In 1891 the number of deaths in the Colored Home was -, with a daily average cared for of-, and in 1894, when the Board had taken charge of these children, the percentage of deaths was -. Bepresentative Northway. When you were here the other day you spoke something, or one of the members of your Board, in regard to establishing a sort of temporary place of detention or clearing house for children, where they could be kept until disposed of into families. If you had such a home, say, that their stay in your institution would be a week, would not the mortality be the same? Mr. Lewis. No, sir; not at all. I do not wish to be understood as reflecting upon the management of the foundling asylums of the Dis- trict. I have been in these institutions at different times, and I do not think there are any better ones anywhere. Bepresentative Northway. Then on what do you base your claim of better results in the care of children by your Board? Mr. Lewis. On the plan of providing individual care for the children. Bepresentative Northway. But is one nurse worth any more in her own home than in a hospital. Mr. Lewis. Not at all; but she does not have six or a dozen children to care for in the home as in the hospital. There seems to be some- thing in the bringing together of large numbers of infants in one room or in one building which is fatal. It is world-wide experience. And I want to say in opposition to what has been stated that it is not the fact that the foundling asylum has the approval of the enlightened Governments of the world. It is not so. In England they are being abandoned, and in France they are almost entirely abandoned. In the State of Massachusetts they are not tolerated. Mr. Weller. Since when were they abandoned in France? Mr. Lewis. I can not tell you since when, but it is so reported in works dealing with this subject. Mr. Weller. That is not the fact. Mr. Lewis. The plan of providing individual care for every child is apian that is universally successful as compared with the other system. It is true that the rate of mortality of children separated from their mothers must be large, but it does not seem that 70 children out of 108, ranging from birth to three years of age, must die in one year. If so, it would certainly seem that it was time we were delving into our experience and searching out something different. This plan, I believe, of providing home care and home food for infants is one that will bring forth much better results. Bepresentative Northway. Can you tell us where this home care is provided ? CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 147 Mr. Lewis. It is provided in Philadelphia. It is not exclusively pro- vided there. The Pennsylvania Aid Society has been taking care of children in this way since 1890. It has been adopted as the exclusive plan by the Massachusetts State board of lunacy and charity. Kepresentative Northway. Have you any reports showing results of that plan elsewhere? Mr. Lewis. Yes, sir. Board of Children's Guardians, District of Columbia, Washington, D. C., April 21, 1897. Hon. James McMillan, Chairman, Joint Select Committee on Charities and Reformatory Institutions of the District of Columbia, United States Senate. Dear Sir: In view of certain statements made before your committee on the 19th instant by Drs. Bovee, Loring, and Sowers, and other gentlemen, to the effect that the mortality in the foundling asylums of this city is not greater than is neces- sarily experienced elsewhere, and in support of the contrary statement that the high rate of mortality is the result of the attempt to deal with foundlings in an institu- tion, and that it may be greatly reduced by adopting different methods, I have the honor of calling your attention to the inclosed table, compiled from official reports since the close of the hearing referred to. It was also stated by Dr. Bovee that the loss of life in the foundling asylum is not greater than among similar classes of children treated in the homes of their parents. In the report of the health department of the District of Columbia for 1896, on pages 125 and 131, are published tables from which are taken the figures used in my table herewith submitted, showing the total and proportional mortality of children under 5 years of age in the District. A comparison of the general mortality among such children, as computed by the statistician of the health department, with that computed from the admitted facts relating to the foundling asylums will show how greatly Dr. Bovee is mistaken in the statement above referred to. Of course, the age of the children is not the only consideration affecting their liability to die imme- diately upon their reception by a child-caring association. The fact of separation from their mothers and the neglect and abuse to which they have been subjected may easily account for the difference between the 1.08 per cent of death among children cared for in the homes of their parents and the 16 to 27 per cent among those cared for in the homes of hired nurses; but how to account for the difference between this 16 to 27 per cent and the 64.81 per cent in the asylum is quite another matter. Yours, respectfully, Herbert W. Lewis, Agent, Board of Children's Guardians. Infant mortality, 1896. Maxi- mum age. Whole number treated. Num- ber of deaths. Per- centage of deaths. How cared for. In the District of Columbia at large:a White - Years. 62, 000 31, 000 972 1.08) In the homes of their parents. Colored 5 1,122 3. 61/ Under the Massachusetts State Board of Lunacy and Charity, 1893.6 Under State Children's Council, South Australia, c Under the Board of Children's Guardians of the District of Columbia, d St. Anu's Infant Asylum d 3 3 2 7 '768 96 52 (e) 154 15 14 72 20.05 15. 62 26. 92 Boarded out with hired nurses. Medical attendance furnished. Do. Do. Kept in asylum. Do. Washington Hospital for Found- lings, d 3 108 70 64.81 a Report of the Health Department of the District of Columbia, 1896. b Report of the State Hoard of Lunacy and Charity of Massachusetts, 1893. c Report of State Children's Council, South Australia, 1896. dReport of the Superintendent of Charities on Charitable and Reformatory Institutions of the Dis trict of Columbia, 1896. e No report. 148 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Mr. Weller. Do you know the average age of children that die in these institutions'? Mr. Lewis. 1 do not. Mr. Weller. A majority of the deaths are among those under 6 months. It seems to me the only way intelligent conclusions can be arrived at is by having the figures. It seems to me, Mr. Chairman, you ought to get a report from the police department as to the statis- tics of infanticide prior to the founding of these hospitals and the num- ber of children found and at what age. The police department can furnish those statistics. As to the abolishment of foundling hospitals in France, I know that that is not the fact. They are in use there, and they are increasing the system. One thing more. I want to repel with indignation any inti- mation that the inmates of St. Ann's are the offspring of vice. That is not so. The Sisters in charge are perfectly cognizant of the parent- age of one-half of the children. Many of them are the children of widows who are not able to take care of their children or are the chil- dren of parents in destitution. They are not the offspring of vice. You would see by a personal visit to the asylum (and Sister Agnes wished me to extend to the committee a cordial invitation to come there and inspect it) how many of these statements lack foundation. Representative Northway. Suppose a girl comes therewith a baby, an illegitimate child, do they cover that up? Mr. Weller. They have the books there and the information. Representative Northway. Do they put that on the books or do they omit it? Mr. Weller. Nothing is omitted ; nothing is concealed. A child may be brought there by the police or left on the doorstep or in the vestibule, and, of course, we know nothing about the parentage. Mr. Lewis. Who identifies the person who brings a child or substan- tiates the statement ? The fact is I can take my own child there to-mor- row morning and ask to have it received and it will be taken. Mr. Weller. What would you do in the way of trying to discover the truth? Mr. Lewis. There are certain means of compelling persons to tell the truth. An effort, at least, should be made to have them tell it. Representative Northway. Take the case of a child brought there by a policeman? Mr. Weller. We take it of course. The policeman probably knows nothing about it; but we would get all the information he has. Representative Northway. Is there no special inquiry? Mr. Weller. We get all the information we can. Senator McMillan. A statement has been made here about keeping children for one week in a temporary home under the control of the Board of Children's Guardians by Mr. Lewis who has been interested in this work. Is it likely that even an expert nurse would be of more value in such a place than the professional physician at the established institutions? Mr. Lewis. I think more confidence ought to be placed in the expert nurse than in a physician, in a majority of physicians, who are often specialists and may know nothing of this particular kind of treatment. A physician would, however, be employed by the Board. The idea was simply that this temporary home should be a kind of a clearing house from which the children might be sent to other institutions. We would take the child into such a place, put it under the care of some motherly woman, as a nurse, who would treat it as her own, and 149 charities and reformatory institutions. who would take a personal interest in the life of the child. I think it would be possible to arrange it that it, the child, could be placed in charge of such a woman within three hours. The policemen often bring us children in a condition to need just such immediate care but who often die before the following morning. Q. Yon mean you could get a wet nurse when wanted in such cases?- A. Yes, sir. Q. Not surely for four or five hundred children. You couldn't find nurses for all of them?-A. Yes, sir; I think they could be found. Q. Well, in some places it is hard enough to get even one healthy woman as such a nurse. Ordinarily there is more demand for women, for competent women, than for children. The statement you make is extraordinary. Mr. Woodward. There is evidently a misunderstanding. He is speaking of nurses in general. The chairman is speaking of wet nurses. Mr. Lewis. Of course there is some difficulty in getting wet nurses. I admit that a sufficient number could not be had if they were wanted immediately in large numbers. It is true that there are about four or five hundred children, but they are not all brought in at such an age as to require that kind of attention. Q. At one time?-A. Yes, sir; they are constantly being sent away or otherwise disposed of, and, as has been stated, a great many die. (Mr. Moore, clerk of the committee, read to the chairman the figures showing the number of infants received at the foundling hospitals.) "The highest number admitted in one year was 69." Mr. McMillan. How many for St. Ann's. The Clerk. This report does not show that. Mr. Weller. 1 think it is about 130. Q. For a year?-A. Yes, sir; the average, I think, is aboutl30 a year. Mr. Woodward. The Board of Children's Guardians would like to file this paper offering some suggestions as to the care of children. The Chairman. Let it be filed with the other papers. If there is nothing further, the hearing will close for the afternoon. Mr. Woodward. I ask leave to make a further statement relative to the subject of the last hearing, as to institutional training of children, and which was asked for by the committee. Senator McMillan. The statement will be received. Mr. Woodward. There is but one point in the whole system of insti- tutional care of children in this District of Columbia at which the ground is not covered. There are no adequate facilities offered for the care of colored children from 10 to 15 years of age, nor at any age, if they are hard to manage, without sending them to the Reform School, and in the case of girls this resource is of but little use, the school being always full. The one institution in the District conducted especially for the care of colored children not subjects for a reformatory is not prepared to receive from the Board of Children's Guardians any chil- dren over 10 years of age, and reserves the right to exclude others, upon giving ten days' notice, if, upon trial, they are found undesirable inmates. There is a small institution, which receives both white and colored children, to which such children can be sent, but its capacity is limited, and it does not desire the colored inmates even at the liberal rates of payment offered by the Board. The result is that such children have been pushed out into family homes when they were in nowise fitted for that change in their condition and surroundings. They come from the 150 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. streets, having no idea of obedience to any authority, having never had a home, many of them knowing nothing of either father or mother, and with a wholly wrong impression about the effort being made to assist them. Their experience has taught them that all anyone wants of them is to get something from them in service and give nothing in return. The idea of an unselfish act or one of pure philanthropy is quite incon- ceivable to them. They look at one with shrewd eyes and a quizzical grin when a (dean suit of clothes is offered, and once inside the clothes they frequently decamp before the other side of the bargain appears. It is surprising how many of this sort of children have done well when sent out at once to family homes; still it remains true that the failures of the work of the Board of Children's Guardians in its attempts to domesticate the dependent children of the District of Columbia in the homes of the people of contiguous Stateshave almost without exception occurred with this sort of children. They are the sort of children for which the institutions are supposed to exist, and whose necessities are greatest. They need the restraint, discipline, and moral change which can best be enforced at an institu- tion. The reason given for their exclusion from the National Colored Home is that they introduce an element of disorder and corrupt other children younger and less thoroughly familiar with evil ways than themselves; that they abscond, taking others with them; that the institution is not prepared to deal with them properly, and that its resources being insufficient to meet the entire needs of the city and District it is justified in turning to the less expensive and troublesome undertaking of providing for children from 3 to 10 years of age at the time of reception. Since the Board of Children's Guardians has no institution under its own control, but is dependent upon the private institutions through agreements made with them for care of its wards, it will easily be seen in what an absurd position the Board is placed whenever a 10 year- old colored child is committed. The question arises, What shall be done with him1? To send him out at once in response to an application for such a child is to impose, most unwarrantably, upon persons entitled to better treatment. Nothing has ever been done for him which could be expected to fit him for safe reception into a household, no matter what his position therein was to be, and very often the result is just what must reasonably be expected from such conditions. The child makes himself intolerable to the family and is returned. Then he is placed again and again until exhausted in patience, and having no sufficient means for continuing our efforts, we have to complain of our own ward as incorrigible and secure his commitment to the Reform School or acknowledge defeat and turn him loose upon the community, soon to be found in the police court and workhouse. WHAT COORDINATION OF EXISTING INSTITUTIONS AND AGENCIES IS POSSIBLE AND DESIRABLE (a) FOR TAKING UP CHILDREN, (&) FOR TRAINING CHILDREN, AND (c) FOR PLACING OUT AND VISITING CHILDREN? (a) In taking up children I do not think any coordination of agencies is desirable. I believe there should be in use one public agency, whose duty it should be to receive all complaints and reports regarding chil- dren to be taken in charge at public expense; that this agency should make a tentative examination and ascertain in each case whether the child in question probably falls within the intent of the laws providing CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 151 for the public care of children, and that in every case authority to receive such children should be given by some one of the courts of the District upon its being shown to the satisfacton of the court, by testi- mony and from examination into all the facts in the case, that such reception is necessary for the safety and welfare of the child in each individual case. The private institutions, operating at private expense, might receive any children whose condition appealed to their sympathies, without interference from the public authorities. (b) For the training of white childr en there is no lack of institutions or harmonious action. There is no difficulty in securing admission to an appropriate institution for all white children needing institutional train- ing. There is rather a disposition to compete for custody of children who come under the control of the Board of Children's Guardians. Recently the Board has received offers from church institutions for the care of eight of its wards, without expense to the Board and subject to its orders, and has accepted the offers for such care of six children. For the colored children, additional provision should be made. (c) For placing out and visiting children it will be found desirable to concentrate whatever is done in this regard under one control, with the possible exception that the children to be placed out from the reform schools might be kept under separate management, as urged by officers of the Reform School for Boys, if it should appear that the number is sufficiently large to demand the services of a separate placing and supervising agent. The Board of Children's Guardians has received a small number from the Reform School for Girls, and has placed them out. Since cooperation with the reform schools in this manner is provided for by existing law, the Board has accepted such work as part of its duty, and will be equally ready to leave it off when other provision is made. It has been found heretofore that the church institutions do not desire to cooperate with the Board of Children's Guardians in this mat- ter, and since they are all chartered corporations there does not seem to be any basis for urging them to do so, except the rather doubtful one that since the Government has contributed to the support of their children it is entitled to a share in the control of them during minority. CHANGES IN EXISTING INSTITUTIONS NECESSARY TO ADAPT THEM FOR THE CARE OF ALL DEPENDENT CHILDREN, PROPERLY SO CALLED. We have already said that the capacity of the institutions main- tained for white children in the District of Columbia is ample, and that no trouble has been experienced in securing institutional care of such children whenever it has been required. This inquiry, however, seems to be directed to the discovery of the possibilities for improvement as much as to revealing of present conditions; and since the Board of Children's Guardians has been invited to submit an expression of opin- ion upon this question, it consents to do so, not in the spirit of antago- nism of any existing institution but as that friendly criticism which it is hoped may be of some service. The Board has occupied a peculiar position in the District during its existence, and has had somewhat extensive opportunities for the liberal study of the whole situation, and the convictions which it here puts forth are the results of its own experience and observation. It has already been insisted upon that the only proper manner of 152 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. reception of children as public dependents is through authority to be given by a court designated for the purpose of the examination of such cases. In addition to the reasons already urged for the adoption of such a course, and as bearing upon the general consideration of bene- ficial changes possible of introduction, we invite your attention to the fact that the unauthoritative character of commitments to the institu- tions, through committees of boards of managers at the request of parents or friends or others, leaves open the liability of the removal of the children through whim or caprice of parents, and their return to vicious surroundings and their exposure to physical suffering. Cases in which children have been taken from the institutions only to be used for the purpose of exciting the sympathy of the average citizen and enabling the parent to secure relief through the exhibition of the suf- fering of the children have been by no means rare. As an illustration in point, we refer to a case reported to the Board on the 7th of March, 1895, in which a man with a little girl of 5 years and a boy of 8 had been taken from a miserable shanty, where they were suffering for the necessities of life, and given shelter in the homes of interested persons on Ninth street. The facts in the case having been ascertained, it was proposed to take the children before the court for commitment within a day or two there- after. Such action was, however, postponed until the 19th of March, in order that the father might make provision for the children, if able to do so. It was found, however, that he was quite satisfied with the arrangement, which admitted him to the kitchen of the house in which one of the children had been temporarily provided for whenever he wished to be fed and to a warm basement room as a lodging place, and that he was not likely to secure employment while it continued. The children were, therefore, presented in court, committed, and duly pro- vided for by the Board. It was found that the little girl had been taken from St. Ann's Asylum and the boy from St. Joseph's Asylum by the father, in both instances against the protest of the sisters in charge, who knew of his unfitness but had no authority to resist his demands. Such illustrations might by continued until they would include discharges-from every institution in the District, except the German Orphan Asylum. The reports of the Industrial Home School have frequently called attention to this difficulty as experienced there, and has heretofore attempted to sec ire legislation for its correction. Such mention will be found in the reports as follows: For 1889, on page 5; for 1890, page 6; 1891, page 11; 1892, page 8. Upon the only occasion of the publication of compiled reports upon this subject the discharges to parents from the institutions of the Dis- trict were found to be about 60 per cent of all departures. (Report Superintendent of Charities, 1892, p. 33.) The following correspondence has been in the hands of the board for some time waiting a proper opportunity for its presentation. In the copies here presented the names have been omitted, but can, of course, be furnished if desired. Marietta, Onio, August S3, 1895. Herbert W. Lewis, 472 Louisiana avenue. Dear Sir: I wish to presume upon our slight acquaintance, while attending the National Conference of Charities and Correction, to write to you in regard to a little boy, formerly an inmate of an institution in your city called the Washington City Orphan Asylum. Carroll Brown is his name. On March 7, 1893, he was indentured to Rowena Goddard, of Bartlette, this county, a maiden lady, who has for many years been a CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 153 school teacher in the county and is well to do. She is away from home, conse- quently, most of her time. The boy was 8 years of age at the date she took him. A few months ago a trustee of the township in which she lives came to my office with a little boy. In Ohio the township trustees have the power of certifying destitute children to our Children's Home, and I being a trustee of ouf home he came to me. I examined the papers and found them all regular. The boy was examined by our home physician, and so the trustees of the home signed the admission papers. One of them, however (there are four of us), knew more about the facts in the case than the rest of us, as he was a relative of Miss Goddard, and he protested against the boy being admitted. He was, however, sent to the institution pending further investi- gation as to the eligibility of the boy. So matters drifted along until recently a man by the name of John Simmons, of Wheeling, W. Va., came to our home for a boy. We had none that would suit, except Carroll Brown. Simmons came well recom- mended. He is a dealer in fruit, etc., and has a stand in the Wheeling market. He is blind, and lives with his sister. According to his statement he is in prosperous circumstances. We disclaimed any title to Carroll Brown, and referred him to Miss Goddard and arranged a meeting. To-day they were both here, and Carroll was turned over to Simmons by Miss Goddard. Now, I want to call your attention to the way this young life has been tossed about, apparently without any care, except to get rid of it. I of course do not know what Carroll Brown's antecedents are, but it stands to reason that a boy of 8 years is not vicious. (1) This institution sends him to a person without visiting the foster home to ascertain the conditions; and probably there could not have been a place where the conditions were less favorable for a bo.y to do well than Miss Goddard's home. (2) The institution never made a single inquiry as to how this boy was getting along, and refused, when applied to by Dr. , to take him back. I claim that is simply cruelty. What has this little fellow ever done that he should be thus abandoned? So far as I can learn he was inclined to be too familiar with the little girls. Just when he needed the kind advice and strong arm to guide him he is left alone, his foster mother (?) off teaching school, and condemned and abandoned by both the foster mother and the institution from which he came, and foisted off onto an insti- tution in which he could not by any possibility have a place, because, under the terms of Miss Goddard's contract, he could never become dependent, and therefore could never become eligible to our home. But we were kinder hearted than to refuse him a temporary shelter. It has only been within a day or two that Miss Goddard would send us the papers, etc., in the case, so we could reach the Washington asylum. I inclose copies of all these papers, so you can understand the situation better. I promised Mr. Simmons to-day I would endeavor to obtain a contract direct from the Washington institu- tion for the boy, so he could be sure of his position in the matter. He has taken the boy on three months' trial. We f-mnd the boy tractable, and no worse than the others; or, in other words, he is just as well disposed as any other boy of his age. I don't know whether you have anything to do with the "Washington City Orphan Asylum" or not, but your position as agent of the Board of Children's Guardians led me to believe you had something to say in such a case arising in your city. Yours, respectfully, S. J. Hathaway. August 16, 1895. L. W. Ellenwood, Marietta, Ohio. Dear Sir: Your letter received and contents noted. I send you the contract and Doctor 's letter, and if you can make Carroll Brown over to Mr. Simmons I will do so gladly. If I do I want it in a way that he can never come back on me, for I would not be worried with him another two years for anything. If you think I can, send him word that I will meet him next Friday, August 23, one week from to day, and drop me a card to the same effect. I have never called Carroll a villain, as the Doctor has. Yours, respectfully, Rowena Goddard, Bartlett, Ohio. T will meet him at your office if you will be there, and if you can not be there set a day when you can. I want it legal, and to release me, although I shall feel in duty bound to keep track of him somewhat. R. G. Washington, D. C., Jpril 4, 1895. Dear Cousin: Your letter came to hand on the 2d, and a good time to see the Board, as they met that day and only meet once a month. I was present at the meet- ing and stated the case to them in the strongest language possible, but failed to get 154 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. the desired permission, as the child is not in the District of Columbia. It would be establishing a precedent which might not be desirable in the future. They all expressed the greatest sympathy for you, and said that you would be justified in getting rid of him at once. One lady who is from Ohio said that he could be placed in a reform school in the State, but did not know where it is located. You can find out in Marietta and send him to the county home first, and then it will be easy to send him from there to the reform school, which is the only place for him outside of the penitentiary. You must get rid of him, and that at once. The ladies of the Board say that the papers signed in the case give you full authority to act in the matter as you may think best. You say you could send him to the home. I think that is the proper thing to do first, and then he is off your hands and then the rest can be easily managed. The ladies told me to say to you that they will be glad to have you write to their secretary and let them know how you succeed in the matter. I would not advise you to write to Mrs. Wright, as she has no authority to act in such matters, and her duties go no further than the care and management of the home. I hope you can send him to the home at once, so that you can rest in peace, for you are not having much now and will not while lie is there. I will cheerfully do all in my power to aid yon. I hope you will not hesitate to let me know when I can be of any service in the case. Indenture. The Washington City Orphan Asylum hereby indents unto Miss Rowena Goddard, of Bartlett, Ohio, as an apprentice in the art and business of- , an orphan named Carroll Brown, aged eight years, now in said asylum, and she covenants with said asylum to provide said orphan with suitable food, clothing, lodging, and med- ical attendance, in health and in sickness, and to instruct him adequately in said art and business, and in reading, writing, and arithmetic. And that this apprenticeship shall terminate when said orphan reaches the age of twenty-one years, and he shall then receive a good suit of clothes and fifty dollars. Witness our hands and seals this 7th day of March, 1893. Rowena Goddard, [seal.] Mary F. Waite. Jane L. S. Harrison. We suggest, therefore, as the first and most generally desirable change in present methods of administration that the admission and discharge of children to be supported at the expense of the whole body of the people, through taxes collected from them, should be under pub- lic control; and we assign as the first and most important reason for this suggestion that permanent guardianship of the children and per- manent responsibility on the part of someone are essential to the wel- fare of the children, and that there is now no such guardianship or responsibility. It has been urged that there are many instances in which children are in need of temporary shelter only, and in which public guardianship is not needed. It has also been urged that the public contribution toward the support of dependent children in the District is not unduly large, private charity contributing as much or more than the Government. We believe that all temporary relief of the poor, except in extraordinary emergencies and in cases of great public calamity, falls most properly into the field of private charity, and that permanent guardianship in connection with permanent public support and protection is best given through the exercise of public authority; and we, therefore, suggest that it will be well to so provide that all temporary relief be given through those institutions which have sufficient sources of private income, and that they be relieved of the maintenance of all children who should become public wards. The Board has pointed out in its two last annual reports, and also briefly herein, its embarrassments in securing proper training for colored children, 10 years of age and upward, and below that age if they are specially troublesome. The matter was also extensively referred to before you on the 9th instant, and the necessity for a better arrange- ment than now exists is probably sufficiently apparent. CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 155 In considering what remedy should be applied but one feasible plan presents itself. If this committee wishes to provide the best system and appliances yet developed, and put into service for the rescue, train- ing, and disposal of dependent children, it may well consider the pro- priety of the creation, as part of such a plan, of a thoroughly modern, child-caring institution, to be located on some main lineof railroad and within 50 miles of Washington on a farm of not less than 200 acres of land lying near some wholesome country town, such as Manassas, Va., or Gaithersburg, Md. Such an institution, consisting of an adminis- trative building, surrounded by cottages occupied by children, would provide for both white and colored, and might be enlarged only as rapidly as found necessary in order to meet the growing demands upon its facilities. The plan of dividing up the children into families of 20 to 30, each occupying its own cottage, would provide the opportunity for the proper classification of children and overcome the objection to the reception of unruly children now urged by the National Colored Home. It would also set up the conditions in which the officers and man- agers would come into closest and most frequent contact with the chil- dren and measurably avoid the monotony and dreariness which makes life so burdensome in the institutions on the congregate plan. Without going further into details of organization at present, or attempting to enumerate all the advantages afforded by such an institution, it may be stated as a fact, based upon experience elsewhere, that it would provide for the necessary institutional care of the dependent children of the District of Columbia for all time to come. The Industrial Home School would develop into a trade school for the definite and profitable instruction of such children as should be found capable of making profitable use of its advantages. The National Colored Home could greatly increase its care of aged and needy women, for which work there is here most crying necessity, and could continue to give care and training to children whose necessities do not demand public guardian- ship. Whether it should continue to be supported at public cost might well be determined from consideration of the excellence of its work as hereafter to be presented to the Congress, and the special claims of a race not yet recovered from the effects of slavery, practically Without resources for the private support of necessary institutions for the pro- tection of its own dependents, and for whose benefit wealthy citizens of the I)istrict of Columbia have neither left large bequests nor contributed any considerable sums. The colored children are now here in force. There is no prospect that they will cease to arrive. Alarming numbers of them are practi- cally homeless. Speaking broadly of those homeless children, it will not be far from the truth to say that their fathers are unknown. Their mothers are performing the exacting duties pertaining to domestic service, and carrying to their alley homes, each night, such articles of food as are given them or will not be missed from the kitchens of their employers. The children are usually locked in the home while the mother goes out to work. In time they learn the use of the windows as means of egress and ingress, and they substitute the street for the house. Later they repair in squads to the ash dumps for cinders, and these becoming exhausted, they attack coal yards and carts. Presently, they learn of the possible association of an old tin can and a beer keg set on the curb, not quite empty. They learn the name and address of the man around the corner who keeps late hours and who buys suspi- cious-looking property and never asks your name. Crowded out of the public schools and destitute of clothing sufficient to make it possible 156 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. for them to appear in company, they sun themselves against a brick wall, gamble, smoke, plan minor crimes, and idle away their days, swiftly qualifying for that inevitable game with the police in which the artful dodger for a time succeeds, but is very apt to eventually land in the penitentiary. If the children of to-day are to be made fit for the performance of civic duties hereafter, we can not begin with them any too soon. Just in proportion to our neglect of them now will be the smart of them hereafter. INDUSTRIAL TRAINING FOR DEPENDENT CHILDREN. There is a vast difference between industrial training, which is indefi- nite and pertains to general bodily development, and real trade instruc- tion. When the Congress sees fit to establish a trade school which shall give boys and girls a really useful knowledge of some one of a variety of handicraft which may be followed as a life occupation, it will have done one of the most helpful things conceivable. Until that is done, the dependent children who are provided for in institutions should learn just as rapidly as possible to "do things"-things which they will be called upon to do all their lives-and should learn that duties should be performed regularly, promptly, efficiently, not only for a week or a month, but, if necessary, for a year or two years. This sort of industrial training can scarcely be pushed too rapidly; neither is there likely to be too much of it. THE POSSIBILITY OF SECURING HOMES. There is no limit to this possibility. Every child-caring association which makes it widely known that it has children to place out receives more applications for children than it has children to send out. Many of these, however, have to be rejected, and the best results are obtained by creating a demand in the best localities and working for the success of the undertaking, just as a business man would do in promoting any other enterprise. The highest success can only be attained when it has not been necessary to place out the children before they were prepared by proper discipline and training, and when opportunity has been afforded for intimate acquaintance with both child and home, and the application of experienced judgment to the bringing together of such as are adapted to each other. FUND FOR RELIEF OF THE POOR. Col. John Tracy, superintendent of charities, submits the follow- ing: At the opening of the committee's hearings one of the suggestions was that the appropriation of $13,000 for the relief of the poor should be turned over to the Associated Charities. The letter of the Commissioners of the District relative to this fund so clearly shows the impracticability of this suggestion that it is un- necessary to allude to the fact that the u charity organization " plan, on which the Associated Charities is now conducted, does not contem- plate as a principal purpose the giving of relief by the association itself, but the gathering of information for distributing agencies and the prevention of imposture. It is true that the Associated Charities was made the distributing agency of the central relief committee last winter, but that was an exception to the general rule of the association CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 157 and of similar societies. Their purpose is to act in each city as a "clearing house" for benevolent collecting and distributing agencies, and through cooperation of such societies and their confidence in the central organization insure the success of the system. The charity organization itself collects and disburses only for its own operating expenses. The handling of this Congressional appropriation is clearly not within the proper field of the Associated Charities. In addition to the statement by the Commissioners it is well to further note the following facts in relation to the fund for the relief of the poor. Reaching a maximum of $20,000 in the appropriation for the year 1879, it was $15,000 annually from 1880 to 1889, with the exception of the year 1881, when it was $10,060. In 1890,1891, and 1892 it was $16,000. In 1893 it was reduced from $16,000 to $14,000, and for 1897 and 1898 was fixed at $13,000. Since 1891 distribution of this fund has been made upon recommendation of the superintendent of charities, but the general nature of the distribution has not been changed, except by steady reduction in the number of institutional beneficiaries. In 1892 the Eastern, Homeopathic, Woman's, and Cen- tral dispensaries; the Woman's Union Christian Association; Home for Incurables; the Aged Woman's Home; the Mission School for Cookery, and the Associated Charities to the extent of $500, were also provided for by this fund. The list is now reduced to two establishments, the Woman's Dispen- sary and Aged Woman's Home, in steady pursuit of the policy that appropriations, generally and as far as practicable, should be simple, direct, and specific. The transfer of these two allowances to the regu- lar appropriation schedule was recommended in the estimates for the current fiscal year (Report Superintendent of Charities, 1896, pp. 7 and 8), and had that recommendation prevailed there would not now be any institutional items for insertion in the poor relief fund list. The Homeopathic Dispensary discontinued public service during the fiscal year 1895, and a proportionate part of the allotment was trans- ferred to the police relief fund, described in the final paragraph of the Commissioners' letter, which had during preceding years received allot- ments from the relief appropriation, and which is finally distributed by a United States bonded disbursing officer, the chief clerk of the police department. Last winter the police fund furnished the only relief money available during the period of greatest distress preceding the active work of the central relief committee. The Woman's Union Christian Association allotment was discon- tinued on recommendation of my predecessor, as were those of the Mission School for Cookery and the Associated Charities. The Central Dispensary has developed into the extensive Emergency Hospital. The allowance for the Home for Incurables in 1892 was a special one of only $50, to meet some minor exigency. The Hope and Help Mission and the Children's Aid Society were subsequently added to the allotment list. The Eastern Dispensary, the Children's Aid Society, and the Hope and Help Mission were trans- ferred two years ago to the regular schedule of specific appropriations, on recommendation of the superintendent of charities, and the fund itself reduced by $1,000. (Report Superintendent of Charities, 1895, pp. 26 and 27.) Out of $13,000 appropriated, $10,900 goes for the medical charity of caring for the indigent sick at their homes. No work could be more purely charitable nor more conducive to the welfare of a great city than 158 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. such a service well and economically administered, as is the case in Washington. It is as necessary as hospital service and much cheaper. Like other official disbursements on District account, the expense of this work, for salaries and medicines, are paid by the District auditor under all the safeguards of official scrutiny and checks. The transfer of such a service to the unofficial charge of a voluntary association, without any disbursing officer or system of governmental accountability, is clearly not advisable. Similar considerations obtain as to the allowance for coflins for the indigent dead, a manifestly public municipal charity. The Woman's Dispensary has been in operation for thirteen years. During the last fiscal year it attended to 1,373 medical and surgical cases and compounded 4,257 prescriptions, given to patients in 2,971 visits. It deals exclusively with cases of women and children, and sup- plies the wants of a large territory, which fact and the nature of the service relieve it from liability to criticism for redundant dispensary work, as noted in report of the superintendent of charities, 1896, pages 14 and 16. The Aged Woman's Home in Georgetown is an ancient local charity in which good use is made of the small portion of the fund allotted to it. This donation is a measure of permanent relief to the permanently help- less, extended in cooperation with neighborhood benevolence. The public cost of maintenance per capita is only $23 per year. It seems, then, that the fund for relief of the poor should not be diverted from its main work of household relief to the indigent sick, and that the entire appropriation should be distributed and accounted for by officials bonded for the safe keeping and proper employment of public moneys. There is no close similarity between the care and expenditure of this appropriation and the distribution by an unofficial body of a fund made up of voluntary contributions. Details of the allotment and distribution of the fund for relief of the poor and the reasons therefor are always to be found in published reports of the offices of charity, health, police, and audit-printed sepa- rately and bound together with the report of the District Commission- ers. Information based on quarterly, monthly, and special reports can also always be obtained from the superintendent of charities. The Associated Charities being represented on the central relief com- mittee, which is a permanent body, having itself systematized its work of inquiry and report and having intimate relations with the charities committee of the board of trade and with the civic center (the same persons being, in fact, leading members of all three organizations) is now in a position to do much good in its sphere of voluntary and unof- ficial charity work, especially by securing the confidence and coopera- tion of other local charitable collecting and distributing societies. In regard to the police relief fund it is to be remembered that, as stated in the Commissioners'letter, there is also an income from interest on the inauguration surplus fund, and that many persons prefer to send contributions for charitable distribution to the police, while the pro- ceeds of charitable entertainments are frequently disposed of in like manner. During the present fiscal year disbursements of this sort aggregated $5,934.18, as is shown by the following statement from the superintendent of police: Col. John Tracey, Superintendent of Charities, Washington, D. C. Sir: In reply to your note of this date I have to report that the expenditures made under the supervision of this department for the 159 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. relief of the poor from July 22, 1896, up to and including yesterday, were as follows: Inaugural interest fund $1, 214. 80 Relief of the poor appropriation - 1, 000. 00 Mrs. T. C. Noyes concert 1, 583. 80 Citizens' contribution to police department 2,135. 58 Total 5, 934.18 Balance on hand from citizens' contributions 506. 85 Persons. Relief was afforded from the centennial interest fund to the extent of 556 orders for provisions and fuel, thereby rendering immediate assistance to. 2, 830 The number of orders on the relief appropriation was 520 for provisions^ thereby rendering assistance to 2, 600 The number of orders under the Noyes concert fund was 1,065, equivalent to assistance to 5, 320 Orders were issued for provisions and fuel from the fund contributed to the department to the number of 945, equivalent to assistance to 3, 725 Total number of persons assisted 14, 475 Very respectfully, Wm. G. Moore, Major and Superintendent Metropolitan Police, District of Columbia. Consideration of these statistics will dissipate any impression that undue preponderance is given to medical relief in the distribution of the relief appropriation. It seems to be assumed by some that public relief money is given out without inquiry, and almost indiscriminately. On the contrary, inves- tigation always precedes donation. It is naturally quickly made through police facilities and familiarity with localities in which the needed reside, and is very effective in acute emergencies. As to the small allotment of the poor fund, the practice is by reference, in every case, to the police from the superintendent of charities and report through police headquarters from the precinct, giving the details of the case and of the aid required. If the application be found worthy, a requisition or recommendation is forwarded for aid to a specified value in clothing, fuel, or provisions. Complaints of imposture upon hospitals and other institutions are quickly investigated in like manner, and frauds prevented or detected. It appears that official, as well as unofficial, " emergencies are prepared for in advance" in the relief methods of the District. Allusions lately made to emergency relief movements in recent prior years are, in many respects, erroneous. In the winter of 1895-96 no considerable emergency effort was necessary. (See report of Superin- tendent of Charities, 1896, p. 17.) For the winterof 1894-95, see report 1895, pp. 60-71; and for the winter of 1893-94, report 1894, pp. 32-33. In a paper submitted by the superintendent of charities at the Twenty- second National Conference of Charities and Corrections, held at New Haven, in May, 1895, the relief work of the two preceding winters, before the Associated Charities had adopted its new system on the com- ing of the present agent to Washington, was summarized as follows: "ALMSGIVING AND RELIEF THROUGH WORK. 11 Washington's peculiar situation as a center of a large region with a considerable agricultural population lacking in winter employments, and its own numerous colored residents of scanty means, to a great 160 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. extent dependent upon laboring work, create need for special effort to mitigate distress during the inclement season of hard times. Volun- tary charitable associations are many and various in their methods and objects of relief. For ordinary seasons these regular organizations suffice. But the great distress of the winters of 1893 and 1894 called for unusual exertion that resulted in the formation of a central relief com- mittee, whose efforts were continued by reappointment by the District Commissioners during last winter. In the first collection of money and supplies of all kinds were made to the aggregate of about $50,000, and, so far as regards the operation of the central committee, the entire work of collection and distribution was conducted with only an outlay of $750, or 1J per cent. "During last winter substantially the same work was carried on with a yet further decreased expenditure for general central committee service, the percentage rate being reduced to 1 per cent. Such econ- omy was facilitated not only by the full and free use of the police force in Washington, an admirable distributing agency, systematic in method and prompt in accounting, and also by much valuable service of unofficial associations, but above all by the generosity of business men in giving free transportation and food supplies. The market men and bakers, for example, contributed meat, bread, vegetables, etc., for about 150,000 meals. The money used was entirely by voluntary contribution, with the exception of $10,000 voted by Congress in February. "Belief through work is constantly provided in Washington for the transient element, officially by the Municipal Lodging House and unofficially by the Central Union Mission; while for females employ- ment is furnished by several associations, including such meritorious organizations as the Legion of Loyal Women, guided by the devoted Clara Barton. The central relief committee, with the concurrence of the District authorities, expended $5,009 for cleaning the streets after the great snow storm. The result was fairly satisfactory, the chief difficulty being to confine this labor relief to deserving residents, as distinguished from the crowds who flocked into town for employment and free meals from the surrounding country. "A subcommittee of the central body is still at work, in conjunction with similar committees of the board of trade and other unofficial organizations, in making a test of the Detroit potato-planting plan, as part of an inquiry into the advisability of a permanent and unified relief organization for the District. Washington is ready and enter- prising in experimenting with new suggestions that find favor else- where, while it is realized that the peculiar local conditions of the Federal city as a political and social, rather than a manufacturing or commercial metropolis, together with other characteristics hereinbefore noted, often render advisable variations in the application of such projects." (Report Superintendent of Charities, 1895, p. 10.) COMPLAINTS CONCERNING INSTITUTIONS. At the hearing under consideration some criticisms were made on insti- tutions in connection with use of public funds, of which passing notice may be taken pending fuller examination of the subject in its regular order. One of these assertions is that allowing public appropriations "encourages institutions to admit persons freely to their 'homes' in order to show that they have a large number and thus secure increased appropriations." This allegation is made particularly with reference to institutions for dependent children which receive per capita allow- ances ranging from $17 to $50 per year, and which institutions are CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 161 constantly full. In fact, there is no motive for seeking to make such a showing. The appropriations for these establishments are less than they were six years ago and only one request has at any time been made by any of them for allowance beyond a restoration of former rates. No increase has been recommended for three years for such charities by the Commissioners of the District in making up their esti- mates, in conjunction with the superintendent of charities, pursuant to the act of August 6, 1890. On the last page of the hearing is a specific statement that on pages 192 and 228 of my report for 1895 there are statements of expenditures in excess of receipts as reason for increased appropriation, while no deficit is shown. The first reference is to St. Ann's Infant Asylum, which shows "amount of expenses in excess of receipts, $5,969.27." The second is the St. Rose Industrial School, which shows a difference of $3,307.94 between expenditures and receipts for a year. In other words, the institutions, respectively, ran behind to the amounts stated in the business of the year reported upon. Reference to the report of 1896, page 147, shows an acknowledgment by the Infant Asylum of receipts from legacies amounting to $4,398.71, and a diminution of the annual deficit to $729.77. The statement is followed by the explanation: "The amount of money received from legacies during the past year has been unusually large." The report of St. Rose Industrial School for 1896 (p. 256) shows a deficit for the year reported upon of $3,845.46, apparently increasing by so much the indebtedness of the institution. The depressed condi- tion of industries, and especially of the production of fine work in dressmaking, etc., as done in this industrial school, is assigned as the reason for falling behind of the school in business prosperity. The reports as printed comply with the law, which requires an exhibit of receipts and expenditures in each year, but does not call for statements of outstanding private debts or expenditures, or how past difficulties have been tided over. Criticism is made upon the statement of storm damages in the Report of the Superintendent of Charities for 1896, and especially of the fact that so small a sum as $25 was included in the tabulation for the con- sideration of Congress. But the aggregate of $ 19,485 was not a trifling matter, and in submitting the question whether a deficiency appropria- tion should be made for it, it was essential to give all of the items as returned by the different establishments damaged, in response to a general circular of the superintendent of charities. The suggestion, however, was that the appropriation be made in gross, to be disbursed by the Commissioners, or so much thereof as necessary, in payment for reconstruction and repairs. If small items and administrative precau- tion regarding such expenditures were neglected, extravagance would soon run riot. As no appropriation was made nor any finally urged for insertion in the deficiency bill the criticism is not a practical one. The largest items were for strictly public institutions, such as $3,000 for the Washington Asylum, and by extreme economy and makeshifts, it was found possible to avoid pressing the deficiency application. Allusion was made to the case of a boy "carted around from one institution to another and not one of them would let him in," as show- ing the desirability of making all hospitals of the District Government hospitals. It is true that the instance furnished an apt argument in favor of more complete arrangements for the care of patients suffering from minor infectious diseases, a task to which the District authorities, S. Doc. 185 11 162 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. the Commissioners, as well as the health office and superintendent of charities have earnestly devoted themselves for several years. The facts in the matter are that a boy, Moses Garnet, was actually, although not technically, admitted to the Children's Hospital on January 22; was placed over night in a comfortable basement room, diphtheria being sus- pected but not having developed, and the safety of 65 children in the hospital being at stake; was transferred the next day in the isolated ward and left the hospital on March 24 cured. The matter was promptly reported to the health department and also to the superin- tendent of charities, and steps were immediately taken to see that the patient did not suffer from neglect, against which the hospital had already provided. At the hospitals to which the boy was previously taken admission failed only because, in one case, the isolated ward was occupied by patients with another infectious disorder, and in the other instance reasonable regard for surgical patients prevented admission, there being no isolating facilities. The incident has no bearing what- ever upon the question of Government ownership of hospitals. Of the hospitals of the District receiving Government support or aid the hospital of the Washington Asylum is a strictly District institution, located on public ground and managed as a part of the general institu- tion-workhouse, almshouse, and hospital-by a medical staff under the direction of the intendent of the asylum, without the intermediation of any institutional board. This asylum, the largest in the District, unites the features of charitable and reformatory service and illustrates their kinship. Columbia Hospital for Women is on public ground and maintained by public earnings, except as to collections from pay patients. Its board of directors includes one of the District Commissioners and members of each House of Congress. The Freedmen's Hospital is on land of the Howard University, leased by the District for its occupancy. It is practically under the manage- ment of a surgeon In chief, who is appointed by the Secretary of the Interior; and the Department of the Interior exercises jurisdiction over it, except as to expenditures and supplies. Its supplies, medical as well as others, are obtained on requisition upon the Commissioners of the District drawn against the appropriation in the District bill, and all its support, like that of the Washington Asylum Hospital, of the Industrial Home School, and of the Municipal Lodging House, is fur- nished in that way, the institution having no disbursing officer or mon- eyed transactions. The Children's Hospital is managed by a corporate board. The cor- poration owns the valuable property occupied, and private and public resources go about equally toward its support. Of similar organization and financial status is the National Homeo- pathic Hospital. Providence and Garfield hospitals are outside the District system with respect to financial and other management, but are an important part of it in service done for District patients. For the Emergency Hospital a proposition was made to the Senate Committee on Appropriations two years ago by Mr. B. H. Warner, the president of the institution, that the establishment be turned entirely over to the District in consideration of an appropriation of $20,060 to extinguish a bonded debt. The idea of "closeness" in the past man- agement of this institution as affecting the public is strikingly nega- tived by the events of last year, when medical control was seriously CHARi affected by the votes of contrU fresh contributors on the day of eiecu .. tention, which was thought to be unseemly, that bteps were taken u0 change the mode of election by action at a meeting since your hearing on the 7th instant. One great difficulty in the way of converting all the hospitals of Washington into strictly "Government hospitals" is the large expendi- ture such a transaction would involve, requiring the appropriation of a sum of money Congress would not at this time be at all likely to grant. The relative proportion of public service rendered by these hospitals, respectively, is indicated by the following list of patients sent on public account for the District by the sanitary officer at police headquarters during the fiscal year ending last June: Providence Hospital 933 Freedmen's Hospital 918 Washington Asylum Hospital 436 Garfield Hospital 320 Emergency Hospital 152 Columbia Hospital 98 National Homeopathic Hospital 98 Children's Hospital 66 With regard to the statement that 333 patients from Maryland and Virginia were sent last year to Washington hospitals, it may be observed that the number sent is not a suprisingly large one out of a total of 3,890 cases disposed of. (Rep. Met. Police, 1896, p. 41.) Washington is a city with large suburbs not furnished with hospital facilities, and it is natural that persons needing treatment should come from adjoining regions of neighboring States, as is the case with all large cities having hospital facilities. Humanity calls for a certain degree of liberality in this regard, especially in view of the fact that the public expenses of two of the hospitals are purely a Federal charge, and those of the others half at the cost of the United States. Never- theless, much precaution should be taken to prevent abuse in this respect and confine District work as closely as practicable to District patients. CONSTRUCTION AND REORGANIZATION. One difficulty in carrying out plans involving extensive construction and general reorganization is the heavy expenditure that would be immediately required. The appropriation act for the current fiscal year carries $30,000 for construction at the Industrial Home School, which has been made a strictly official institution after successive earnest recommendations by the superintendent of charities, through theCom- missionevs, to Congress. It also includes other smaller items aside from maintenance, such as $4,500 for completing the steam-heating plant of the Washington Asylum Hospital, an establishment which, by the steady use of small construction appropriations, has been trans- formed during the past four years into a well-equipped modern hospital. For isolating wards at hospitals $30,000 has been allowed. Con- gressional economy during hard times-not any lack of confidence in the recommending authorities-has prevented appropriations for other improvements repeatedly included in the estimates. The appropriation of $50,000 to enlarge the Girls' Reform School of the District of Colum- bia has been twice very earnestly asked, on the ground, among others, of the excessive extravagance of conducting so small an establishment as the present one with a necessary staff adequate to a much larger r ions. astern Dispensary for the pur- ocrupicd and the addition of hospital ic_ .*»uea uas ucvii twice favorably reported upon by the District author- ities, a i f I would in vol ve an outlay of at least $ 15,000. The establishment of an inebriate asylum, a bill for the foundation of which narrowly missed passage at two sessions of Congress, would call for an equal addition to the budget, and not less than $25,000 is very much needed to build and equip a proper municipal lodging house, as recommended in two successive years. The Emergency Hospital badly needs an extension for laundry and stable. These improvements, the necessity for which is fully set forth in the explanation of estimates in reports of the superintendent of charities, 1805 and 1896, would call for an outlay of about $175,000, of which $60,000 has been appropriated. To this it seems to be proposed to add $50,000 for a new child-caring establishment, and as much more as may be needed to accommodate, in strictly official institutions, persons other- wise public charges now cared for at minimum public cost by unofficial corporations. There are at present 900 such persons, old and young. Just how many could be cared for without Government compensation it is difficult to determine; but it is certain that the present resources of these refugees would not enable them to do as much public service as is now rendered. Even leaving out of mind the suggestion that the Government should own all the hospitals, a leading practical question is whether Congress, at the joint charge of the United States Treasury and the District, is, or would in the near future, be willing to appro- priate a very large sum, at least as large as the present charities budget, to provide new accommodations for those who must be cared for, and abandon public investments made prior to the present decade in aid of construction and improvement of local nonofficial or semiofficial institutions. The institutions and agencies under the subhead "For charities" are all those named in the District appropriation bill which report to the superintendent of charities, excepting the Washington Asylum and the Reform School for Boys, the accounts, etc., of which are examined by the superintendent of charities under the order of July 15, 1891, pur- suant to the general system of inspection, accounting, and supervision established by the laws and regulations cited in the Report of the Superintendent of Charities for 1896, pages 8-11. The present superintendent of charities first estimated "For char- ities" in 1893 for the fiscal year ending June, 1895. The amount asked for was $57,352 less than the estimate filed the next preceding year. The diminution was effected by the omission of construction items which Congress had failed to adopt and certainly would not enact at a time of great distress. For 1894 the estimate was $259,367 and the appropriation $217,653. For 1895 the figures stand: Estimates, $202,015 ; and appropriation, $209,556; the excess of appropriation over estimates being for matters recommended by the Commissioners and superintendent pending consideration of the bill. For 1896 estimates footed $245,870 and appropriations $216,250, the difference being chiefly in the omission of construction items. Esti- mates for 1897 were fixed at $298,735 and appropriations at $224,925, the difference being again caused by the disinclination of Congress to allow large construction items, such as that for the Girls' Reform School, or to anticipate in such matters the action of this joint committee, then provided for. As to maintenance items, the variances between CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 165 estimates and appropriations have been trifling, and the entire history of these appropriations during the Fifty-third and Fifty-fourth Congresses demonstrates the confidence of the Committees on Appropriations of both branches of Congress, and of those bodies generally in the esti- mating authorities-the Commissioners of the District and the super- intendent of charities. It is not to be seriously questioned that during the periods referred to much improvement has been made in the charitable service of the District both as to the operations of institutions and agencies and to the method, accuracy, and promptness of accounting for public funds. For more than two years the superintendent of charities has been in effect precluded from making any propositions for a general reorgan- ization. In the first instance, this occurred by reason of the proceed- ings of the subcommittee of the Senate, which did not desire the pub- lication of any matter submitted to it pending its final report. Certain letters from the superintendent of charities written to Hon. James McMillan, chairman of that committee, were, however, printed as part of Report No. 741 of the first session of the Fifty-fourth Congress, which accompanied Senate bill 1782. A copy of this document is herewith transmitted and reference is particularly made to pages 41-55 and 14 and 15, and especially the marked passages thereof, as appropriate to the subjects now before you for consideration. The next controlling incident which continued the practical inhibi- tion referred to was the formation of this joint committee at the second session of the Fifty-first Congress, and so the whole matter now comes before you with the experience of six years of the superintendency of charities as part of the administrative system of public benevolence and reformation for your determining consideration. It is submitted that radical change should be made only when it is clear that new methods would be better than the present ones for the joint interest of the District and of the United States. The present system of government of the District of Columbia is not one of many executive boards-but of a single board controlling all departments, each, as a rule, having an individual head. The differ- ent branches of the District service are, however, assigned specially to one of the three Commissioners, public works being naturally the par- ticular charge of the Engineer Commissioner, while the other depart- ments are divided between the other two, so that when the board of three reaches a conclusion it has the advantage of the special informa- tion of one of its own members as to the details of the matter in hand. In this division of duties the oversight of charities and reformatories has fallen during recent years to the president of the Board. The superintendent of charities, with ample powers of inspection and report, and duties of estimating and recommending under the law of August 9, 1890, and subsequent ftcts, reports as to all District matters within his line to the president of the Commissioners, and when action is taken it is taken by the Board of Commissioners regarding charities in like manner as regarding health, police, fire, buildings, streets, sewers, accountings, and other subjects of local administration. The question arises, under this system is there any greater occasion for a board <5f charities than there is for a board of health, a police or fire commission, a board of finance or of audit, or a board of public works. In view of the equipment of the District of Columbia for volunteer charities, and the checking of evils in them, provided for by private contributions, it is a question deserving consideration whether there 166 •;i. lE^IES and reformatory institutions. be necessity for constituting a board of charities as an exception to the general rule in the government of the District and as an interposition between the appropriating authority and the final disbursers of the appropriations. As matters now stand, the District has already a board of charities composed of three commissioners, and the superintendent of charities as expert adjunct. So far as has been outlined, the proposed change would substitute for the superintendent nine citizens, serving without pay, but with a paid secretary, an executive officer with practically the duties of the superintendent, and, necessarily, some staff of subordi- nates. Can advantage for such a plan be fairly claimed on the score of economy? The office of the superintendent of charities now costs for all outlays $3,990 a year, which covers all supplies and expenses. It has been proposed that members of the suggested board be allowed their expenses while on duty and that there be an allowance for expenses of the secretary, etc. If so, it may be doubted whether any economy could be effected by the new arrangement. The precedent of various State boards is cited in this connection, apparently without much consideration, as to how far it is applicable. The problem at Washington is peculiar, owing to the mixed responsi- bility of the National and local governments and other special causes. The administration of the District is in this, as in other matters, more nearly akin to that of a city than to that of a State, and State boards do not, as a rule, supplant local official authority in the field of charities and correction. Originally, and to a large extent now, these boards act in an advisory capacity. They have accomplished much good as volun- tary unofficial or semiofficial organizations in promoting systematic charity and discovering and thereby insuring correction of abuses. It is not to be said, however, that the State boards have reached such a degree of unity in their operations or of excellence either that they can be blindly copied as well as settled and reliable models. Much stress has been laid upon the State board of Massachusetts as a pioneer and exemplar of this system. I have at hand the Eighteenth Annual Report of the State Board of Lunacy and Charity of Massachusettes, issued in January, 1897, the latest publication of the board. On page ix, in the middle of the page and the only matter thereon, there appears the following statement: In consideration of the forthcoming report of the commission appointed by the last legislature to investigate the charitable and reformatory interests and institutions of the Commonwealth, the board refrains from making any recommendations for legislative action. It seems that not even in Massachusetts is the governmental science of charitable and reformatory administration so well defined as to be beyond the need of investigation with a view to improvement. It is not, however, my desire to discuss the question of reorganization farther than to make, in response to statements made to you, a fair report of the present condition and management of charitable and reformatory service, in order that what is good in the present system may be conserved and detrimental and inconsiderate alteration avoided. Alwaysbelievingin the most complete andcordial cooperation between private and public charitable and reformatory agencies that it is prac- tical to obtain, as to my convictions and recommendations in this regard I beg to refer to my annual reports, especially pages 6-9, report of 1893; pages 9 and 10 and 33-37, report of 1891. CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 167 BOARD OF CHARITIES. Office Superintendent of Charities, Washington, D. C., April 29, 1897. Sir: I herewith transmit as part of my statement to the committee, with the hope of its insertion in the minutes, a letter to Hon. John W. Ross, written by Mr. James W. Somerville, a member of the board of trade at the time of a hearing of a committee of that body before the District Commissioners. Mr. Somerville assents to this use of his letter, and, I do not doubt, will probably respond to any summons or inquiry from your committee. It would be superfluous to refer to his prominence as a representative citizen. Very respectfully, yours, John Tracey, Superintendent of Charities, District of Columbia. Hon. James McMillan, Chairman Joint Select Committee, Charities and Reformatories, District of Columbia. LETTER FROM MR. JAMES W. SOMERVILLE. Washington, D. C., January 16,1897. Hon. John W. Ross, President Board of Commissioners, District of Columbia: Dear Sir : I regret very much that I could not take part in the dis- cussion of the question of the abolishment of the office of superinten- dent of charities which took place in the board room Wednesday morn- ing as I had given the subject considerable thought, the result of which was that I felt it to be my duty to oppose any effort at the present time having this object in view. 1 take it for granted that it is not a personal matter, that is, opposition to the present incumbent or to the office itself, but a feeling that the present plan is not just what is needed and does not fully measure up to the demands or ideas of the gentle- men composing the committee that appeared before you. On the 26th of April, 1895, the committee on charities of the board of trade through its chairman, Mr. F. L. Moore, reported to a public meeting the following resolution, which was adopted: Resolved, That Congress be asked to abolish the office of superintendent of chari- ties for the District of Columbia, and to create a board of charities, who shall serve without pay, and who shall have the general supervision of all the public charitable work of the District of Columbia in and out of institutions receiving aid from the revenues of the District of Columbia (excepting to the Federal Government), and the direction of permanent and emergency outdoor relief of the destitute. I dislike to discredit or belittle any action of the board of trade because I am a member of this influential organization, but I certainly do think its action should be taken into serious consideration in deter- mining a question so important as this, for the reason that very few of its members ever gave the question any thought and undoubtedly would have approved the report no matter what it might have recom- 168 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. mended. All are willing to give liberally for charitable purposes, but how few do we find have given this subject itself any thought. It is not singular that, although the report was approved and the committee instructed to prosecute this matter before the appropriate committee of Congress (Commissioners not mentioned), this same com- mittee, seven months afterwards, November 11, 1895, in their annual report said, "the committee deeming it expedient to press it at the present time," and they might have added, not until the time of the present Commissioners have nearly expired, for they have let twenty- one months pass away before concluding that the time has arrived when they considered it expedient "to press it," and, in my judgment, an inopportune time for giving it the thought its importance demands. The board of trade is certainly not responsible for the present activity of the committee. No action has been taken by the board of directors. The awakening is the result of a change in the chairman- ship of the committee, and reasons therefor are well known. 1 will, as briefly as possible, reply to the proposition of the com- mittee. The proposed board of charities "was to be composed of nine members." "This board was to have a secretary, who should be an expert upon the subject of charities and corrections, and who should be competent to advise the board upon vexed questions." This is far more cumbersome and costly than the present system of action by the District Commissioners, assisted by an expert superin- tendent who does all that could be done by the expert of the proposed new board. The proposition to have a board of charities with authority to employ a high-salaried expert to receive and disburse money appropriated by The proposition to have a board of charities with authority to employ a high-salaried expert to receive and disburse money appropriated by Congress independent of the Commissioners of the District of Colum- bia is a novel one, and not likely to be permitted by Congress. The committee certainly does not wish or intend that the Commis- sioners shall have any say in the matter, for that would make two boards of charity instead of one, and the result would be to scatter authority and confuse or do away with any responsibility in the matter. In fact, they say that the expert or secretary would occupy virtually the same position as the present superintendent of charities did, except that he would be merely a ministerial agent of the board and not have any power except those which came through the board. There is no more need of an official board of charities than for a board of health or board of police. These were deemed unnecessary and use- less many years ago, and why now undertake to adopt such a plan in connection with charities ? We do not want to go backward, but forward. The single headed departmental system in municipal govern- ment is favored by the best authorities, and it is deemed the only satis- factory system up to the present time. This plan is not only approved and in operation in municipalities, but in the United States Government departments and in large business concerns. We know that to be a fact, and its adoption by business firms or corporations convinces me that it is the only correct system. The committee by a little effort in this direction will find this to be true, and must come to the same con- clusion as the writer. A case in point is the great success of Colonel Waring as commissioner of street cleaning in New York. I would suggest a careful reading of the act of August 6,1890, estab- lishing the office of superintendent of charities and defining his duties. In a strictly official si use, as I understand it, the 1 >istrict Commissioners and the superintendent of charities have to do only with the direction of the expenditure of money appropriated by Congress. CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 169 Unofficial benevolence and prevention of imposture upon the con- tributors to charitable funds are within the held of citizens' associa- tions, such as the Associated Charities, the Hebrew Charities, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, and Church Association. To confound this voluntary work with the management of Congressional appropria- tion as is contemplated would be a grave error, detrimental to public administration and to private charity. The subject of charitable reorganization is a broad one, involving many other questions than that of superintendent or board. It should be dealt with as whole; comprehensively, not piecemeal. It will require considerable thought, and it seems to me much time, to evolve the perfect plan, one satisfactory to all concerned-Congress, taxpayers, and citizens generally. Meanwhile matters are going on well; progress is being made all around. Citizens' relief work, as well as strictly official management of institutions and appropriations, are no doubt receiving close attention and new methods are being put to the test of experiment. There is no exigency requiring hasty and revolutionary action, and I might add the adoption of any hastily devised plan. It is far better that charitable and correctional subjects should be settled permanently and satisfactorily, once for all, than that there should be a failure initiated in disregard of the peculiar position of Washington as a Federal city, which renders conditions of relief and reformation here different than in any other American municipality or State. It is absolutely necessary to take all these things into consideration. Financially, Washingtonians would prefer an old-time resident for a local officer. I am heartily in favor of this in every instance. It appears, however, that we have no one in Washington, who is a citizen of Washington, whom we would say was an expert upon the subject of charities and correction. And it must be true, for a charitable organi- zation in this city found it necessary to send to a distant State for a secretary. If this organization found it necessary to bring in a "foreigner," why should they object to the present incumbent, a Union veteran who served in the Army, defended Washington, and who, besides being here officially about four years, spent much time here since the war. I understand that some of those who are, or will be, applicants, or seek his place under another name, are "foreigners" of more recent importation. 1 do not approve of the appointment of any "foreigner" or outsider to local office, neither do I approve of the ousting of one who has demonstrated his ability to perform the duties of the office, and the appointment of another "foreigner," of whose ability we have no knowledge, to his office under another name. Let some plan be worked out that will receive the indorsement of those familiar with the whole subject, keeping in mind the partnership existing between the General Government and the taxpayers of Wash- ington, and when that is done it will be proper to ask for the approval of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia and of Congress. We have no right to approve the scheme of any individual or organiza- tion. Let all have their say. In closing, permit me to call attention to the tendency to condemn the work of the central relief committee and the Metropolitan police on the part of certain individuals. Personal knowledge justifies me in saying the relief afforded by the committee and the police was more prompt and much more economical than that of any other organization. Very respectfully, JAS. W. Someuville. 170 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. LETTER FROM MR. J. ORMOND WILSON. Washington, D. 0., January 21, 1897. Hon. John W. Ross, President Board of Commissioners, District of Columbia. Dear Sir: Referring to our recent conversation relating to the administration of the public charities of the District of Columbia, I have to submit the following suggestions with the view of consolidating the administration of these charities and thus securing more efficiency and economy: (1) Establish one board of charities for the District of Columbia, consisting of about fifteen members, to be appointed by the Commis- sioners and divided into classes with a fixed term of office; said board to take the place of all the several existing boards now in charge of the Industrial Home School, Girls' Reform School, Board of Children's Guardians, etc. This board, for practical working purposes, when organized would divide itself into several subboards or committees of, say, three members each, and to one of these committees would assign the special charge of each one of the different charitable institutions of the District, subject to the direction and approval of the whole board. (2) Clothe this board with all the powers and charge it with all the duties necessary for the proper administration of all these charitable institutions, and provide that its action shall be subject to the approval of the Commissioners. (3) Provide for a superintendent of charities, to be appointed by the Commissioners without any restriction as to the locality from which he is to be taken. Also provide for such clerical and other assistance in his office as may be required to take the place of all the executive offi- cers now connected with the administration of the charities, and to efficiently discharge all the duties of the same. The superintendent should be the executive officer of the board of charities, and the police officer now detailed for service with the Humane Society, or a similar officer, should be detailed for the service of the board. I regret that I have not been able to submit this to you earlier, and that I have not more time to give to the study of the details of such a plan as I have outlined above. Very respectfully, J. Ormond Wilson. SEVENTH HEARING. DEPENDENT CHILDREN-CHARITY. April 20, 1897-2 o'clock p. m. Present: Hon. James McMillan, chairman; Hon. C. J. Faulkner, Hon. Mahlon Pitney, Hon. S. A. North way. SEVENTH HEARING. Subject: Dependent Children; Charity. To be heard: Officers of the German Orphan Asylum; officers of the Church Orphanage of St. John's Parish; officers of St. Kose Industrial School; officers of St. Joseph's Male Orphan Asylum; officers of the Newsboy's and Children's Aid Society; officers of the National Associa- tion for the Belief of Destitute Colored Women and Children. TOPICS. 1. May public funds properly be used to support sectarian or private institutions'? 2. Where grants of public money are made, ought not the District to have the right to place dependent children in the institution so aided? 3. What would be the effect of carrying out the declared policy of Congress to make no appropriations of money to sectarian institutions? 4. Does the policy of taking children from and returning them to parents stimulate dependency? 5. What becomes of children discharged from the sectarian and pri- vate institutions? 6. What is the length of time children are maintained at public expense, and is the expense per child unduly large? THE GERMAN ORPHAN ASYLUM. Senator McMillan. The first to be heard to-day are the officers of the German Orphan Asylum. Are any of the officers present? Mr. Simon Wolf. Yes, sir. I am chairman of the ways and means committee. Mr. Jose, the president, is also here. Senator McMillan. We will be glad to hear you now. Mr. Wolf. I may briefly state, Mr. Chairman, that the German Orphan Asylum Association of the District of Columbia is a nonsec- tarian institution. It has 32 acres of ground and buildings necessary to the taking care of a large number of children. Some of the chari- table, public-spirited citizens of the District of German ancestry, 171 172 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Germ an-Americans, years ago purchased that ground; the Government cooperated in that purchase, giving one-half of the purchase price, $10,000, to aid in founding that asylum, making it a condition that the $10,000 should be paid only after the title had been found perfect, and the selection of the attorney was made by the Government, with which conditions we complied. I make this preliminary statement because subsequent thereto you will see that another appropriation was made necessary. Senator McMillan. Who holds the title to the property now1? Mr. Wolf. The German Orphan Asylum, incorporated by act of Congress. Senator McMillan. But the Government has no interest? Mr. Wolf. No, sir. Senator McMillan. They gave the money outright? Mr. Wolf. Yes, sir. The building was erected, the corporation formed, and a constitution adopted in conformity with the charter, and a board of directors elected. There are two ladies' associations con- nected with the asylum-one in aid of purchasing clothing and the other in purchasing provisions and seeing to the household affairs of the home. There are individual memberships on the part of citizens, irrespective of faith or nationality, who pay a fee of $5 if they so desire. The household affairs are managed exclusively by the ladies, who aid in the work of the home, seeing to the care of the children, and aid in every way materially. The different German societies of the city, singing and turner societies, butchers' associations, and such German associations as exist in the District of Columbia are permitted to send a representative as a director, provided they pay an annual stipend of $25. A number of these societies so do; not all of them. After the purchase of the ground and after the original building was erected, it was found that the title was defective. The attorney who had examined the matter had overlooked a very important fact, in consequence of which we were mulcted into the payment of quite an amount of money. The Government having made the selection of the attorney, it paid half of this amount. We then, later on, erected the present new brick structure, which is quite handsome and which accommodates a very large number of children. Senator McMillan. Where is that situated? Mr. Wolf. On these grounds on Good Hope Hill, across by Anacos- tia. We asked Congress then to aid us in erecting this new building, and we received an additional $10,000 appropriation. Since that time, annually, Congress in its wisdom has chosen to appropriate in aid of the aims and objects of this association $1,800 for the purpose of caring for the orphans. Senator McMillan. Per annum? Mr. Wolf. Yes, sir; per annum. We have from time to time received from the Humane Society, from the police court, and from other Government institutions recognized as such children who have been sent to the German Orphan Asylum. They have always been accepted and cared for. We have on an average from 12 to 15, and at times 18, children so sent to us, children, of course, that we would not have needed to care for had it not been for the fact that we received this stipend of $1,800, on account of which we have felt it incumbent upon us to receive such children when the officials of the District of Columbia choose to make the German Orphan Asylum one of its receiv- ing depots. We receive them and care for them. The management is entirely nonsectarian. The best proof of that is that I have been CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 173 connected with it for years-I am not a Christian in faith-I have been chairman of the ways and means committee and have appeared before the committee of Congress in aid of the institution. Sectarian ideas do not prevail in that institution to any extent whatsoever. We care for the children in every way, and they are trained in all the necessary arts that are conducive to the comfort and prosperity on the part of the children as well as the general community. The farm, which contains 32 acres, you can easily imagine does considerable toward teaching ideas of agriculture. After the children are either permitted to go home, or, in the case of absolute orphans, are placed outside, we care for them. We have a committee for that specific purpose to see to their advancement in life. And in this connection I would call the attention of this committee to something that we consider very important to be supplied. Twice in the history of our institution chil- dren placed there by parents or guardians were stolen away without our consent, and there is no law in the District of Columbia to punish such an offense. We saw the district attorney, but he said there was no law to cover that. I believe there is a bill now pending in your honorable body (the Senate), introduced by the chairman of this com- mittee, to which an amendment which would protect our institution in this respect could properly be made. Senator McMillan. You had better write me a letter in relation to the matter. Mr. Wolf. I will do so. Here are copies of our annual reports, one for each member of the committee, and are identical with those which we have made for years. From them you can see what we have done. The following letter was subsequently received: Washington, D. C., April 20, 1807. Hon. James McMillan, Chairman Joint Select Committee to Investigate Charities, etc., Washington, D. C. Sir: In addition to what I said to-day at the hearing, I wish to add that I deem it of the highest importance that the institutions of this city caring for children should be protected by law whenever children placed in their custody and under their con- trol are taken away by anyone unlawfully. Within the last few years, and indeed recently, the German Orphan Asylum has suffered an invasion on the part of relatives who forcibly stole from the control of the asylum children placed under their care. We understand from the district attorney that there is no law, at present, applicable to such cases. The German Orphan Asylum wishes it distinctly understood that they have no conflict whatsoever with the Board of Children's Guardians; that their relations have been most pleasant and cordial; that if Congressional aid should be withdrawn from the German Orphan Asylum, we feel confident that the Board of Children's Guardians would place a number of children under its control within the asylum, and whatever we might lose by a direct appropriation would be made up by the Board of Children's Guardians, for such children as might be placed therein, as the manner in which affairs are conducted at the asylum has received the warmest commendation on the part of the members of the Board of Children's Guardians. Very respectfully, yours, S. Wolf. Senator McMillan. At what ages does your institution take children ? Mr. Wolf. We take them from 3 years on. Senator McMillan. From 3 upward? Mr. Wolf. Yes, sir; but we have made exceptions and have taken them below that age. Senator McMillan. How long do you keep them? Mr. Wolf. Until they are confirmed. Quite a number of them are retained in the home and paid wages, if we can find them useful. Senator McMillan. Do you find homes for these children? Mr. Wolf. Yes, sir; we try in every way to find them homes. 174 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Senator McMillan. Where do you find them-in the immediate neighborhood? Mr. Wolf. In the District. Senator McMillan. You do not send them away from the District? Mr. Wolf. No, sir. There has always been a demand for the inmates of the asylum by the people here. Some of the very best men and women come to us and ask that when we are ready to discharge any of the children to let them have them, having investigated the institution, knowing it is a good one, and are satisfied with the training that the children have received. Senator McMillan. Do you allow colored children? Mr. Wolf. No, sir. Senator McMillan. You take white children only? Mr. Wolf. Yes, sir, only white children; but we take children of all faiths and nationalities. We have never had occasion to deal with this question as to colored children; we have never, a single time, been asked to take them. Senator McMillan. You have a board of trustees, have you? Mr. Wolf. We have a board of directors. Senator McMillan. How are they elected? Mr. Wolf. They are elected annually by the members of the asso- ciation. We meet annually and elect the board. Senator McMillan. How do you get this sum of money that is appropriated by Congress? Is it just sent to you; sent to your treasurer ? Mr. Wolf. No, sir; it is paid to us in the same way as was stated here yesterday by the representatives of other institutions. The treasurer has to give bond and furnish vouchers for every dollar expended, otherwise his accounts are not audited. Senator McMillan. Does anybody have official supervision over your institution ? Mr. Wolf. The Superintendent of Charities. He visits the asylum and has constant supervision. Senator McMillan. What is the average number of inmates? Mr. Wolf. From about 40 to 45; there are now 47 there. Here is a copy of the new constitution and a copy of the old one, which I will file. Senator McMillan. Just leave them with the clerk. Mr. Wolf. If there are any questions the committee care to ask, I will be glad to answer them. Senator McMillan. I would like to ask your views on the third topic, "What would be the effect of carrying out the declared policy of Congress to make no appropriations of money to sectarian institutions?" Mr. Wolf. It would not affect us in the least, as we are not a sec- tarian institution. Senator McMillan. You do not consider yourselves under that head, then? Mr. Wolf. No, sir. Representative Northway. What is the legal name of your society? Mr. Wolf. The General German Orphan Asylum of the District of Columbia. Representative Northway. I find here the name of the "German Protestant Orphan Asylum." Mr. Wolf. That was eliminated from the charter when it was passed by Congress. It started as a Protestant asylum and subsequently the charter was changed under a reorganization. Representative Northway. The real estate was conveyed to you by the name of the "German Protestant Orphan Asylum." charities and reformatory institutions. 175 Mr. Wolf. No, sir; that was subsequently changed. Representative Northway. It was ? Mr. Wolf. Yes, sir. Representative Northway. At what ages do you take children? Did you say ? Mr. Wolf. We take them from 3 years on. Representative Northway. Up to 18 or 20? Mr. Wolf. No, sir; from 3 to 11. Representative Northway. And how long do you keep them? Mr. Wolf. Until they are confirmed, and until we find them homes. Representative Northway. What do you mean when you say "confirmed"? Mr. Wolf. These children that have been born of Christian parents, of any nationality, or sect to which they belong, have the privilege, if they so desire, of being confirmed according to the rites of the faith of their parents or guardian. Representative Northway. When they are confirmed, do you turn them out? Air. Wolf. No, sir; we do not. We try to find them homes or to secure employment for them. Representative Northway. The money necessary to run your asy- lum, over and above the $1,800 appropriated by Congress, you raise by voluntary subscription? Mr. Wolf. Entirely so. Representative Northway. What is the cost of your institution yearly ? Mr. Wolf. The average cost of maintaining an orphan is $133 a year. Representative Northway. One hundred and thirty-three dollars each ? Mr. Wolf. Yes, sir. Representative Northway. Now, that institution would be carried on just as it is now if no Government aid was extended, would it not? Mr. Wolf. Unquestionably. We would simply decline, as a matter of protection, to receive any children that were sent by any public official. Representative Northway. But you would take care of orphan children in the District just the same as at present? Mr. Wolf. We would take care of such as in our judgment ought to be cared for. Representative Northway. You are the sole judges of that now, it seems to me. Mr. Wolf. We have never declined to take any. Mr. Wilson of the Humane Society may send us two, three, or five children, and they are invariably taken unless physically unfit. Representative Northway. They come within your rules. Mr. Wolf. But we would not have taken them under the circum- stances, perhaps, had we not considered ourselves indebted to the Government-that is, under obligation to compensate them for the yearly stipend we receive. Representative Northway. Why would you exclude them ? Mr. Wolf. Simply because we would not have the room. We have time and again been compelled to decline to receive children because we had not the room. Representative Northway. Do you make selection of those you will take, and decline to take others? Mr. Wolf. We would take all. Representative Northway. Up to the limit. 176 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Mr. Wolf. Yes, sir. Understand distinctly that after all, while it is an asylum which was founded by German-American citizens and that their preference is in that direction, if it can be possibly managed, we have never excluded any child when we had the room; we have never excluded any unfortunate orphan child if it could be avoided. Representative Northway. How is this money which is appropriated by Congress used? Mr. Wolf. It goes into the general fund. We use the money as other institutions do that receive Government aid. Senator McMillan. What proportion of children that you have are sent to you by the police department? What proportion of the whole? Mr. Wolf. About one-quarter. Senator McMillan. About one quarter? Mr. Wolf. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. And it costs you six or seven thousand dollars a year to run the institution? Mr. Wolf. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. One-quarter would be just about the $1,800? Mr. Wolf. Yes, sir; and it would cost us a great deal more than that were it not for the liberality and kindness of the people of the market. Our collector goes regularly every day to the market and receives meat, cakes, bread, and other things gratuitously from friends of the institu- tion; otherwise it would cost us a great deal more. Besides these contributions, quite a number of things necessary for the institution are raised on the farm. Representative Northway. Have you considered this first topic: How far may public funds be properly used for private institutions? Are you prepared to answer that question? Mr. Wolf. 1 am not perfectly prepared. Representative Northway. Should the public care for all, or what proportion should it care for? Mr. Wolf. I will frankly state as an individual-I am not now speaking in a representative capacity, because that question has not been brought to the attention of our board-that no public funds should be used for sectarian institutions. Representative Northway. For private institutions? Mr. Wolf. For private institutions, where the Government has the benefit-where the people are benefited-the general public. The Government is benefited by aiding in the betterment of its people. The Government is the people. Representative Northway. Then the Government should have charge of the entire thing and furnish the money, should it not? Mr. Wolf. I certainly should have no objection. I think where the Government gives the money to carry on an institution it should have a voice in its management. Representative Northway. What is your idea of what the Govern- ment ought to do? Mr. Wolf. My ideas have been radical. I believe that institutions that are solely private, where they ask nothing at the hands of the Government, the Government should have nothing to do with them; but where the Government furnishes support, 1 think it should have some voice in the management. Representative Northway. Now, let me ask you another question. Here, we will say, are a number of charitably disposed men and women; they build up an institution to care for orphans. Should they seek or receive Government aid in the least ? charities and reformatory institutions. 177 Mr. Wolf. I most decidedly think they should seek it. Representative Northway. They should seek the whole of it, should they not? Mr. Wolf. Not necessarily; I do not think so. It is my opinion that if the Government should take charge of all charitable matters and institutions they would suffer to a very large degree. Representative Northway. But to the extent that the Government does take charge of institutions-that is, so far as it extends aid-it blots out real charity? Mr. Wolf. To a certain degree it unquestionably does. Representative Northway. And the more you depend upon the Gov- ernment the further you are away from real charitable work? Mr. Wolf. If that is a general proposition Representative Northway. I do not put it as a proposition. I ask the question. Mr. Wolf. If I am to answer as a representative of the German Orphan Asylum, I should say that it does not hold good as far as that institution is concerned. Representative Northway. But is it not generally true that as the Government steps in and assumes that burden that benevolent enter- prise is held back? Mr. Wolf. Yes, sir; to a certain degree it may. Senator McMillan. What are your relations to the Board of Chil- dren's Guardians, Mr. Wolf? Mr. Wolf. I am a member of that Board. Senator McMillan. I mean what are the relations of the German Orphan Asylum to the Board of Children's Guardians? Mr. Wolf. They are most pleasant. We have had a few of its chil- dren sent to us by the Board of Children's Guardians to be kept under contract, as other institutions in the city have. Senator McMillan. Well, I think that is all we want to know now as to the German Orphan Asylum. Mr. Wolf. Do you wish to ask any questions of the president, Mr. Jose, who is here? Senator McMillan. No, sir; I think not. You seem to understand its workings pretty well. Mr. Wolf. 1 try to do so. CHURCH ORPHANAGE OF ST. JOHN S PARISH. Senator McMillan. The next to be heard are the officers of the Church Orphanage of St. John's Parish. Is there anyone here that wants to make a statement in regard to that institution? Mr. Frank W. Hackett. I am secretary and one of the members of the board of trustees of the Church Orphanage of St. John's Parish. I presume that the committee wish any remarks that I may make to be confined to the first three questions contained in the printed schedule. I suppose the committee is thoroughly well informed of the character and extent of the charity that has been carried on now for fifteen or sixteen years at that orphanage. I would simply say that we take care of from 75 to 100 children, orphans and half orphans, taken off the streets, as long as we have room we take them in. The only fault we have to find-the only difficulty-is keeping the good woman in charge of the orphanage within the limit. The first question is, "May public funds properly be used to support 8. Doc. 185 12 178 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. sectarian or private institutions?'' In reply, I would say that if the question is asked in the abstract I would say no, not to support private or sectarian institutions; but it may properly be done to help support them in carrying out a public purpose and to meet public needs. The question is very unfair applied to institutions like ours. The true question should be, How far may public funds be used to support pri- vate or sectarian institutions which are engaged in performing a public work, such as caring for children, like the Church Orphanage? We are a private institution; there is no visitation on the part of the District officials unless they choose to come. Of course, they are wel- come. The Superintendent of Charities comes there from time to time, and we make a quarterly report to him, but there is no active manage- ment on the part of the District authorities or the United States authorities. As to our being a sectarian institution, I think that question was never brought before our Board, and we are now at a loss as to how to answer whether we are or not. Dr. Gunnell here says we are not a sectarian institution. On the other hand, I think we come dangerously near that definition, because our officers are all connected with the church. The bishop of this diocese is president ex officio; the rector of St. John's Church is warden ex officio, and the board of trustees is made up of members of that parish. The active management of the institution is intrusted to the board of trustees, who are mere laymen. I may say that no questions of a religious character in respect to the work of the Orphanage have ever presented themselves to us. Senator McMillan. The Board is made up of laymen of your church? Mr. Hackett. Yes, sir. We find from experience that some organ- ized body has to be back of a charity of this kind to give it vitality and to keep it in motion. I have never heard of any question of religion being considered in connection with admission into the institution. There is no attempt on our part to proselyte, and we are in no way antagonistic to any religious body. Our aim is solely to bring these children up in a proper way, and to make respectable citizens of them. So I should answer the first question, yes, public funds can be properly used to support sectarian or private institutions, where such support is used for the purpose of taking care of children who otherwise would be a public burden. We have from the beginning considered ourselves a quasi-public institution; that is, we are engaged here in the work of reclaiming children from vice and making of them respectable men and women, thus performing a public work. These boys and girls are often taken from a vicious neighborhood, and it is our endeavor to bring them up in the right way, and send them out into life fitted mentally and morally to become good and useful citizens, which is enough to justify our claim that we are doing a public work; for there are many such instances and abundant evidence of the value of this work. Our claim is simply this, that as long as there is no public institution that is sufficient in its aims and operations to provide for these children, and so long as there is a demand upon us to take care of them, we should do it, and in that respect we are assuming a public burden. We began some years ago to build up an endowment fund for the Orphanage, and from nothing we have arrived at $22,600. It is our hope so to increase this fund that we can say to the Government, "We thank you for what you have done to help us; we can now take care of ourselves." But it would be cruel, in our present condition, to with- draw the Government aid and throw upon us the whole burden of tak- ing care of these orphans, and we do not think that it should be done. 179 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. The second question is, " Where grants of public money are made, ought not the District to have the right to place dependent children in the institution so aided ?" I can conceive of but one way of answer- ing that question; it has but one answer. Of course, the District should have the right to place dependent children in these aided insti- tutions, and it does place them in ours. It does not as an organization, but it is the people of the District who are benefited-possibly some of the orphans come from Maryland and Virginia, but very few. The police bring many children there. The third question is, " What would be the effect of carrying out the declared policy of Congress to make no appropriations of money to sectarian institutions?" That question involves precisely what the first one does. If Congress means by this that any institution cared for or taken care of by a church shall not in any case receive an appropriation from the Government, then I would say that the effect of such a policy would be to cripple our institution. We would have to do the best we could for a year or two if this Government support were taken away; but we would be compelled to cut our work down 50 per cent. In proof of that I want to refer to our annual report. As you can see, we are supported almost entirely by private sub- scription. Certain ladies and gentlemen, most of them members or attendants at St. John's Church-a few not connected with thatchurch- give us money from year to year for the support of this institution. Last year the income from private contributions from March, 1896, to March, 1897, amounted to $929. During the year before we received from that source $1,327.15; showing a large decrease, readily to be accounted for by the great depression in business. This is a time when we especially feel the severity of the pecuniary condition of those people who are friends of the Orphanage. As you can see by the figures I have stated, we receive now only about two-thirds of what we should receive. So as to other gifts. We depend upon gifts of articles of clothing and food and those articles which good people quietly bestow upon us, and without which the institution could not be carried on. We can not of course tell exactly how much these gifts amount to, but the very existence of these rivulets of contribution brings our per capita expense down to below that of any institution in the city. It is inter- esting to know that from the beginning we have uniformly shown a per capita expense lower than that of any other institution in the Dis- trict. The Superintendent of Charities states that fact officially in his report, and he has done so for years. I have no doubt that these other institutions are admirably managed and efficiently carried on, but we receive so many gifts of this character that we are able to accomplish this most gratifying result. Now, the effect of taking away from us the appropriation which we are receiving tor maintenance would be disas- trous. We do not get now as much as we formerly did. We received at one time upward of $2,000, but for the last few years the appropria- tion has been $1,800, which is much less money than we raise ourselves. To cut us off suddenly from this money would be to curtail our work to such an extent that we would hardly know what to do. If the committee will reflect, it will see that generally the great expense of charitable institutions is due to the payment of salaries. There is not a single salary paid at our institution. Good men and women give us their time and services for nothing. If Sister Sarah, who is in charge of the Orphanage, were not here, I would like to say something about what she has done toward establishing and carrying on that institution, from her private fortune and otherwise, but I know she would not let 180 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. me do it. It is largely the result of her devotion to and love for children. It is not an institution where children are regarded as motherless, but all find a mother in Sister Sarah. I do not say this to sound her praises orthose of our institution; but it is a fact that the District and the United States governments are getting all this work done in the kind- est and most efficient manner without paying a dollar for salaries. The $1,800 which the Government gives us is spent most judiciously for maintenance, and every cent of it has to be accounted for at the Treasury Department. There is certainly no extravagance. We have a home in the country, given by a friend of the Orphanage, where the children are sent during the summer months, and as a result for several years we have not had a single death. The orphans are taken away from places where their surroundings would inevitably lead them to grow up to belong to the criminal class, and it requires very little argument to show that many boys are prevented from being crimi- nals, which in itself more than repaj s the amount given by the Govern- ment or by private individuals. I listened to the question put to Mr. Wolf as to the effect of the Government aid, as to whether or not it would have a tendency to dry up the streams of private charity. I would respectfully answer that question by saying that, so far as our institution is concerned (and that is the extent of my experience), it is not true. There is not a sin- gle individual in St. John's Parish, in the city of Washington or in New York, who helps our institution, whose gifts would be curtailed on account of our receiving aid from the Government. On the contrary, I think that the giving of that aid by the Government keeps us in motion, and stimulates private individuals to keep up their subscrip- tions. If this aid should be withdrawn, I have no doubt we would have to put our hands a little deeper in our pockets and do better in contributing, but we would have to cut down our work materially. There is always a demand upon us to take children, as Sister Sarah can tell you. Hardly a day passes that such is not the case. We have our limit and sometimes exceed it. In my judgment experience demon- strates that the money given is well expended; that you are getting the benefit of private individuals giving their time and labor. The Government gets the benefit of that and only gives an amount that is fair, considering the public burden assumed by individuals who are not responsible for seeing that the work is done, it being really a pub- lic duty. There are people who give time, money, and labor to this work, and it is no small labor. These institutions do not run them- selves. They require sagacity, foresight, and thought, and these things are all done charitably. The Government is getting the benefit of it. For my part I would certainly rue the day when it is attempted to shut up these institutions and have the Government carry on the work. Senator McMillan. Where is your Orphanage? Mr. Hackett. On F street, at the corner of Twentieth street. Senator McMillan. How much land have you? Mr. Hackett. We began there with a small holding, but have gradually increased it until we have a pretty considerable lot on two streets, F and Twentieth streets. Senator McMillan. Have you a large building? Mr. Hackett. Fully as large as it ought to be. Senator McMillan. How many children can you care for? Mr. Hackett. Eighty or ninety. Senator McMillan. Are these buildings owned by the institution? Mr. Hackett. They are owned by us, but if we should ever give up 181 charities and reformatory institutions. this work the United States would get back all the money they have ever given us. Senator McMillan. The money was originally given, was it, to be spent in purchasing the building? Mr. Hackett. In enlarging the building. There was a proviso that if the Orphanage should ever be suspended the property should repay to the United States the amount appropriated. Representative Pitney. The Government has a lien on the building, in other words? Mr. Hackett. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. Mr. Hackett, I believe you spoke of con- tributions in considerable amount being made to the institution which do not appear upon your statements. Didi understand you correctly? Mr. Hackett. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. Do you think that is a proper way for an institution to do which depends wholly or in part upon public contri- butions-that is, upon aid from the Government; is it a proper thing to receive money and not account for it in your statements as to how much it was and where it came from? Mr. Hackett. I did not mean money; the money is accounted for. 1 was speaking of gifts of articles of clothing and food. The donors' names are appended in our annual report. Money, too, is sometimes given that nobody wants anything said about. Representative Pitney. 1 might understand why a donor might not want his or her name mentioned, but the amount should be shown. Mr. Hackett. The amount of money is mentioned. Representative Pitney. Is no money received except what is shown in the report? Mr. Hackett. Sister Sarah has a way of carrying on that Orphan- age. There are times when money is needed; she gets it somewhere in some way. Representative Pitney. But, Mr. Hackett, the Senate and the House, which have charge of matters of appropriation, can only judge as to whether such and such an institution is needy by knowing how much money is received, and how much ought to be or is expended; and the only guide we have to go by is the published statements of these insti- tutions. Mr. Hackett. You get that in the reports. Sister Sarah has friends who will help her. She will sacrifice her own fortune, if necessary. I must tell you that this charity is largely sustained by the energy and devotion of Sister Sarah. If a hundred dollars is needed, she. gets it; 1 do not know where. But practically all the money we receive appears in our reports. We get no considerable amount outside of that; the reports give you most of it. Representative Pitney. There are times when you get in straits when money is contributed by Sister Sarah out of her private fortune, or the money is secured by her somewhere? Mr. Hackett. Yes, sir. Sometimes a child is very much in need, and someone is interested in that child and helps take care of it, just as a parent would do. I want to make this further remark in regard to the first question: When I came to Washington to practice law, now twenty years ago, it was a custom to send convicted criminals to the Albany Penitentiary. After that had been kept up for a good many years the contract ran out, and these convicts are now sent to the prison at Trenton, N. J., the State represented by Mr. Pitney. These convicts are now taken 182 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. care of at Trenton under contract. The Government annually expends a large sum of money to pay for the keeping of these convicts in New Jersey, as they did in New York. Now, suppose the question were put to me, "Has the Government the right to appropriate money to support a State institution?" If it were put to me in that abstract way I should say no; but the Government has the right to pay the State of New Jersey for keeping convicts for which the United States is responsible. And in the same way the Government is responsible to pay some of the cost for taking care of the poor. Representative Pitney. Perhaps this is not the proper place for me to debate the question, but one objection made to the present system is that we are not paying specific sums for specific services; we are pay- ing lump sums for general purposes and over the expenditure of which the Government has no control. The two cases which you cite are not at all analogous. In the case of paying for care of convicts in New Jersey, the Government can know that it is getting service for what is paid. In the case of these institutions there is no such check upon them. Mr. Hackett. Yes, sir; you give a lump sum, but you should be content with results shown here year by year. I wish you would come to the institution. All who come are satisfied that the children are taken care of in the best possible way. Representative Pitney. Is there any systematic public supervision or visitation ? Mr. Hackett. The Superintendent of Charities has a keen eye to what is going on there. Representative Pitney. How often does the Superintendent of Chari- ties come here. Mr. Hackett. I am only secretary; I can not say. I wish you would hear Sister Sarah. We make a quarterly report to him and he comes there several times a year. We report to him quarterly everything that goes on in the house. Representative Pitney. The Superintendent of Charities is not here, and I do not want to go into that in his absence. Mr. Hackett. We only wish that outsiders would come, because there is nothing to conceal, and, besides, the more that come the more there are that are interested. Representative Pitney. One of the questions, as you have already no doubt perceived, is how far the public ought to pay for the maintenance of this work, and that can not be found out by desultory visits of Con- gressmen to these institutions. Unless there is some systematic, regular visitation by somebody charged with that duty, those charged with the administration of public affairs can not get reliable figures upon which to act. Mr. Hackett. I presume the principal question is, Is this system as it exists a good one, or do we need another? And it is impossible for me to answer that question within definite limits. We can not say how much benefit the church orphanage is conferring; it is not susceptible of definite ascertainment; but you can see if you go there that we are rescuing children from certain crime and viciousness, and making respectable men and women of them. Still, in my humble judgment, 1 think you will never find out what percentage or proportion of public good is done by one of these institutions. Representative Pitney. That is where the question comes in. It is not my argument; I am not attempting to indorse it; but those charged with the administration of public affairs and the committees of the two Houses of Congress ought to know about these institutions. 183 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Mr. Hackett. No man has ever reached the age of 50 who does not find that many theories that were entertained earlier in life were not sound. On paper or on theory you can get up a fine institution; but we have had twenty years' experience with this institution, and I gladly testify that it is doing a good work, and that the money paid by Con- gress to aid us is abundantly returned to the people of the United States by the good that is done. Senator McMillan. What is done with these children? Mr. Hackett. Sister Sarah will answer that specifically. She puts the boys out in the country and finds places for the girls. Representative Northway. Ilas Congress always contributed to the institution since it was founded1? Mr. Hackett. No, sir. The institution was founded in 1870, but it dwindled so that it had only a feeble existence, and in 1881 it was reor- ganized under the able and energetic administration of the Rev. Dr. Leonard, who is now bishop of Ohio. At that time we secured an appropriation from Congress to help us to start, and Congress gave us a larger sum than now. We have had an appropriation for maintenance ever since. Representative Pitney. You have said in substance that you thought the Government had as much right to vote money to this institution to care for these children as it has to care for criminals in New Jersey. Mr. Hackett. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. There is this difference. In voting money to this institution that you are secretary to we do not provide any sum certain for caring for a child and we have nothing to do with the money after it is given. Mr. Hackett. You have something to do with it through the Treasury. Representative Pitney. While, on the other hand, in the incarcera- tion of our criminals in the New Jersey prison, we make a contract for that purpose. Mr. Hackett. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. Now, you would hardly expect Congress to vote money to aid the charitable people of New Jersey in caring for New Jersey people. Mr. Hackett. I would expect the New Jersey legislature to do it. Representative Pitney. You would not expect Congress to do it, would you ? Mr. Hackett. No, sir. Representative Northway. Take any of the Territories-Arizona, for instance; we are not appropriating any money for these purposes out there. Mr. Hackett. I do not know how long you have lived here, but I know that a very large proportion of the burdens that fall on the people here are brought here from other States. They come here and stay for a few years, lose their positions and become destitute, and in that way the burdens on the people here are increased. We are a different city from other cities in the other parts of the country. Congress is acting as a municipal council for the people here, though the District pays half the expenses. I am one of the taxpayers. I have never heard a taxpayer complain of the charitable appropriation system in vogue here. Representative Northway. Do the orphans of the District of Columbia stand in any different relationship to the Government than the orphans of Arizona Territory do? Mr. Hackett. If Congress is our municipal council, I should say that they do stand in a different relationship. 184 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Representative Northway. Arizona can not run until we organize it and appoint officers. If we should contribute money for private pur- poses in the District of Columbia, why should we not also contribute it for the same purposes in that Territory ? Mr. Hackett. I do not concede that you are appropriating money for private purposes. This is public work. Representative Northway. Then your idea is that the Government should care for the whole of them ? Mr. Hackett. No, sir; because there are many kind people who will help take care of them. Representative Pitney. What Colonel Northway means is that if we ought to contribute $2,000 to your institution, we ought to appropriate enough to support it wholly. Mr. Hackett. I can not see the force of that argument. Representative Northway. If it runs up to $2,000, why should it not run up to $7,000? Mr. Hackett. Simply because private individuals are taking care of some of them. I am paying for some of them myself. We ask the Government to take care of the rest. Representative Northway. You would have the dividing line placed just where your efforts end? Mr. Hackett. You are getting now into a sphere of administration. I am not competent to answer that question. Representative Pitney. I said that the argument was not mine. I did not originate it and do not mean to say that it has any force. Can you tell me how long, upon the average, the children who are the wards of the Orphanage remain there? What is the average term? Mr. Hackett. Sister Sarah will answer that. Sister Sarah. Girls stay with us a little longer or shorter, as we can provide them with homes or places of employment. We do not limit their stay as we do that of the boys. We try to provide for boys at about the average age of 12. We do not like to take them under 4, but we sometimes feel compelled to do it. Representative Pitney. Out of 100 children that are admitted into the institution, what would be the average age? Sister Sarah. Do you mean that are admitted, or those already there? Representative Pitney. Out of 100 admissions, taken as they come, what would be their average age? Sister Sarah. Six or seven. Representative Pitney. And the boys remain there until they are 12 ? Sister Sarah. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. And then taken out if you can find a place for them? Sister Sarah. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. But some of them remain there after 12? Sister Sarah. None at all. Representative Pitney. How as to girls? Sister Sarah. Our age limit is a little beyond that in the case of girls; we have no fixed age or rule as to the age at which they shall be dismissed. We provide for them outside as we can. We have a large house, and it is one of our economical ways of managing that if these girls would like to stay with us we give them work to do in the house, and our domestic services are performed without cost. Representative Pitney. What is the average age of dismissal of girls ? CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 185 Sister Sarah. We say 18, but then that is not a strict rule by any means. Representative Pitney. Have you no statistics by which you could tell, taking 100 cases at random from your experience, what the average age would be of girls dismissed1? Sister Sarah. I should say, without looking at memoranda, perhaps 14 years. Representative Pitney. As to girls'? Sister Sarah. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. And if the average age of admission is 7, the boys stay about five years and the girls about seven years? Sister Sarah. Yes, sir; that is about the average. Representative Pitney. From what part of the country do your inmates come? Sister Sarah. From the District of Columbia, so far as I know. Representative Pitney. Do not considerable numbers come from Virginia and Maryland? Sister Sarah. I do not know of any; we do not profess to take them 'rom out of the District. Still, we may be imposed upon. Representative Pitney. What system have you, if any, of making investigation of people to ascertain whether or not they are bona fide residents? Sister Sarah. We make investigation to find out whether they are residents or not. Representative Pitney. Well, if you had less money to do your work with, would you not be more careful about looking into the residence of applicants? Sister Sarah. We could not draw any other lines. Of course, if we did not have so much money we could not take care of so many. Representative Pitney. What 1 am trying to arrive at, is a solution of this problem. There seems to be a general impression, supported by considerable evidence, that people flock into Washington to take advantage of the charitable institutions here; that Washington is con- sidered as a haven of blessed charity, and they come in here in consider- able numbers, and are thus foisted upon the charity of the District, private and Government charity, and we would like to know, if there is any way of getting at it, just how much the Government charity could be curtailed by doing only the work that is properly the work of the District. Sister Sarah. Just before I came down here we had an application of a woman who had come here with two children. She said she could get work immediately if she could find someone to take care of her children, otherwise she will have to go to the poorhouse. She is in need, and it is not right to turn her away. Senator McMillan. You do not stop to ask whether such a person lives in Virginia, Maryland, or elsewhere? Sister Sarah. Yes, sir, we do. Senator McMillan. If she was in want, you would not care whether she lived in Maryland? Sister Sarah. I do not know whether I should bother about that. She is just as poor, whether from Virginia, Maryland, or the District. Representative Pitney. If that is a private charity Sister Sarah. It is not a private charity. Representative Pitney. 1 mean, if it is a charity supported by the benevolence of private individuals, that would be proper; but where the Government aids an institution it becomes a matter of public concern 186 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. as to whom your charity is bestowed. The public representatives owe a duty to the people they represent to see that only those subjects that are properly public charges are paid for and taken care of. The District pays part of the money, and its people are also interested in knowing that the money is properly expended in taking care of only such as are properly its charges. Sister Sarah. I think we see that, and I do not think we have any from out of the District. Senator McMillan. I understood you to say, Mr. Hackett, that the cost of running this institution is very moderate as compared with what it would be under other circumstances; that you pay no salaries; that services are all given gratuitously. Suppose the Government should undertake this work of taking care of these 95 children, how much would it cost? Mr. Hackett. I am unable to answer that, but you would have the buildings to buy; there would be the interest on the money invested. Representative Pitney. We are paying now the interest on the cap- ital of your building. Mr. Hackett. That is a very fair retort. Congress gave us $6,000 to start with. Senator McMillan. Is it not cheaper for you to have the work done by these institutions, such as yours-cheaper for you to take care of these children than the Government to do it? Mr. Hackett. Yes, sir; I certainly think so. Senator McMillan. And is it not better to have outside people interested in this charity? Mr. Hackett. Yes, sir. It is one of those instances where private devotion and interest is the cheapest as well as the best way of accom- plishing results. I know very little about public charities, perhaps, but what I have read on the subject would confirm me in the opinion that it would not be a good thing for the Government to do the work. Representative Pitney. What have you to say about the proposed system of having a public board made up of charitable persons who would serve because they were charitable and because of their interest in charitable work, and therefore without selfish motives, and who shall make and will make it their duty to see that private sympathy is aroused in respect to the taking care of children in families instead of grouped together? Mr. Hackett. 1 think some such board might be a good thing. I know nothing about its results, whether it is a good system or not. We are not antagonistic to the Board of Children's Guardians or any of these institutions. We think they are animated by good motives. You should find out whether the results attained pay for the amount expended. We think they do. Dr. Francis M. Gunnell (U. S. N.). Sister Sarah could answer these last three questions. Sister Sarah came to Washington and took a house herself and began to take care of children without asking. Then, many friends, seeing her work, came forward and put money in her hands. Afterwards Dr. Leonard became much interested in the work that was going on and instituted it in its present form, and since that time we have been carrying it on, beginning with 20 children and trying to limit Sister Sarah to 70 children. She'says the expense of takingcare of a child does notexceed $100 a year, but we cannot arrive at exactly how much it is, because so much is given. All money received is accounted for, but these items of shoes, clothing, and such things are not accounted for. The only difficulty the board of trustees have CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 187 had in later years has been in preventing Sister Sarah from taking too many into the house. We limited her by vote to 70, and she has over 90. I am sure she will have 100 if any sick children are brought there. She will put them in her own bed if there is no other place to putthem. Representative Pitney. Let us look a little ahead and see what is going to happen when she is taken away. Dr. Gunnell. That question has been very often asked, but we have always postponed answering it. She brings up the girls to take care of the younger children. She pays no one, employs no one tor pay. When these girls go away she gives them money as a mark of her affection and interest in them. Nobody in the house makes any endeavor to exercise any control over her. The result of the cutting off of this Government aid, she says, would be that instead of caring for 100 children she could take care of but 50. She can take care of 50 with private contributions. If the matron were paid and servants were paid, the cost would be much more. Representative Pitney. I was wondering how far the work of your institution is dependent upon the life of one person. Dr. Gunnell. Just as the work of the institutions represented by these Sisters of Charity here is dependent upon their work. Sister Sarah calls attention to the fact that many of these chikft-en that she is instructing are taken away from the overcrowded public schools. The ladies go in there and lend their services in instructing them free of charge. ST. ROSE INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL. Senator McMillan. That is quite an item. We will now hear the officers of the St. Kose Industrial School. Sister Mariana. We receive orphan girls from St. Vincent's Orphan Asylum at the age of 14. We take them into our institution until they are 21, after which time they have gone through all the different parts of housekeeping and understand all the different branches of dress- making and sewing. We teach them cutting and fitting. There are girls from our institution who are receiving from $10 to $25 a week as dressmakers. Senator McMillan. How many girls have you now? Sister Mariana. We have 67. Our average is from 67 to 75. We fit them for employment. When they go away we give them sufficient to keep them for a while, and if employed in the District we support the girl for a month; that is, we give her one month's wages in advance. We get them situations in Baltimore, Philadelphia, or wher- ever we can find them places. Some of our girls are in business for themselves. We find that we get these girls at the age when they need most a mother's care. A girl at 15 or 16, we believe, is not at all capable of taking care of herself. Most of the children in our school are the orphans transferred from St. Vincent's Orphan Asylum, this city, where they received instructions and were cared for until 14 years of age. We also receive such children as are committed to our care by the District of Columbia, who remain with us from the time they are 14 years of age until they reach the age of 21 years or are provided with suitable homes. St. Kose's Industrial School was established in 1872, and since that time has been conducted by the Sisters of Charity. During the year six Sisters of Charity, with myself as superior, were on duty in charge of the Industrial School, and our service* to the orphans in the school were 188 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. given without any charge whatever upon the appropriation granted by Congress toward the support of the institution. The children are instructed in domestic economy, plain sewing, and in the responsible duties of practical housekeeping, fancy sewing and dressmaking in all its different branches. A reasonable time each day is devoted to studies, and as a rule our children are remarkably bright. A well-filled library of good reading matter is also at their disposal. The character of the work done at St. Rose's is well known to the people of Washington. Our Sisters give their best efforts to the orphans placed under their charge, in order to make them honored, industrious, skillful, and useful in the various avocations of life. All the work con- nected with this large institution-cleaning, sewing, washing, repairing, etc.-is done by the Sisters of Charity and the inmates, and we only employ the following help, viz: One driver, at $12 per month $144 One engineer, at $25 per month 300 Two dressmakers, at $25 each per month 600 One hired woman, at $8 per month 96 Watchman, at $1 per month 12 Total amount expended for labor 1,152 Average number of inmates during the year in the institution 64 Number of inmates on last day of fiscal year 60 Admitted during the year 15 Left institution 19 Situation found for 7 Returned to friends . 11 Transferred to other institutions 1 No deaths. I have no suggestions to offer in respect to future administrative improvement in legislation. The record of St. Rose's during the many years of its successful operation speaks for itself. The following state- ment shows receipts during the year: From public funds $4, 500. 00 From work of inmates 3,157. 50 From other sources 527.50 Total receipts 8,185. 00 Our expenses each year far exceed our receipts. Relow is presented a recapitulation of our expenses during the year, and in this statement we make a very reasonable estimate of the cost of clothing, shoes, board, washing, and care of our inmates, viz: For labor, as herein stated $1,152. 00 For fuel 189. 50 For gas K 80. 00 1, 421.63 Board, washing, and room furnished one female servant, at $10 per month. 120. 00 Board, washing, and room furnished two male servants, at $10 per month. 240. 00 Board for two dressmakers, at $10 per month 240. 00 Feed and care of horse, repairs of stable, harness, and wagon, etc 400. 00 Machine and gas engine 779. 23 Repairs upon buildings, painting and papering same, plumbing, furniture, repairs and cleaning the same, and other incidental expenses for care and maintenance of institution 1, 000. 00 Board, clothing, shoes, washing, mending, etc., for 64 inmates (lowest aver- age number), estimated at $10 per month 7, 680. 00 Medicine during year 150.00 Total 12,030.86 Receipts 8,185.00 Difference 3, 845.86 charities and reformatory institutions. 189 We therefore most earnestly request that the appropriation for the next fiscal year be continued, in order to help us in our efforts, under great difficulties, to obtain means absolutely necessary for the mainte- nance of St. Rose's Industrial School, and for the proper support and care of the orphan children in the institution. Senator McMillan. You receive from the Government how much money? Sister Mariana. Four thousand five hundred dollars. Senator McMillan. You have received that for some time, have you? Sister Mariana. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. It costs about $12,000 per year to run your insti- tution? Sister Mariana. I think about $7,000. A part of what we receive we get from the work of the inmates. The Sisters and children work together at dressmaking for ladies of the District, and in that way they are of considerable assistance. Senator McMillan. This report that 1 hold in my hand says that $12,000 is the total expense. Sister Mariana. It maybe. I did not look at that before coming. Senator McMillan. Is not a part of that $12,000 contributed or made up from the proceeds of the industrial work? Sister Mariana. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. What is the average age of the girls in your institution? Sister Mariana. The girls average from 14 to 22 years. We take girls from 14 to 17 years of age from the orphan asylum principally. Representative Pitney. Some of your girls have a parent living. Dave any of them both parents living? Sister Mariana. No, sir. They are at least half orphaned. Representative Pitney. Principally from which institution do yon take children? Sister Mariana. From St. Anu's principally. They put their chil- dren out at the age of 14. Representative Pitney. Do you provide for all the children that come from St. Vincent's? Sister Mariana. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. How many ever come from that institution? Sister Mariana. Sixty-five to seventy-five. Representative Pitney. What is the total number of inmates? Sister Mariana. Sixty seven. Representative Pitney. Not 67 each year from St. Vincent's? Sister Mariana. No, sir; we keep them from 14 until they are 21 years of age. Representative Pitney. How many do you receive each year from St. Vincent's? Sister Mariana. Well, we get them in bands of from 7 to 8. Next week we expect 7 from St. Vincent's. Senator McMillan. They take the places of those going out? Sister Mariana. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. Are all Catholics? Sister Mariana. No, sir; we have at present two who are non- Catholics. We have as many as three or four non-Catholics sometimes. Representative Pitney. Do you give them religious instruction? Sister Mariana. We have morning and evening prayers, and they are required to go to church. We have also a great many who are not capable of learning dressmaking. We let them go into the kitchen and 190 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. learn to be domestics. Also a great many go out as maids to ladies in the city. Senator McMillan. Are they all white children? Sister Mariana. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. Are there questions anyone would like to ask? Sister Mariana. Dr. Hieberg, the resident physician, could answer for the care they receive. Senator McMillan. There is no superintendence by the District? Sister Mariana. No, sir. We make a report to the Superintendent of Charities, who visits us occasionally. Senator McMillan. How do you get money? Sister Mariana. The same as other institutions. Senator McMillan. Vour treasurer gets it? Sister Mariana. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. What does the Superintendent of Charities do as to the workings of the institution? What difference would it make if he did not come? Sister Mariana. No difference. Representative Pitney. Has anything been done by the Superin- tendent of Charities since the office was created with regard to organizing your work? Sister Mariana. No, sir; so far as I know. He visits the institu- tions occasionally and goes through the departments. Representative Pitney. I am trying to get at the functions of the Superintendent of Charities. I know what the law says he shall do, but 1 want to know what he does. Sister Mariana. Simply goes through the building. He makes visits several times during the year. St. Rose's Industrial School, Washington, D. C., April 29, 1897. Honorable Gentlemen: As you request, I send number and names of the young girls, with occupation of each, who have left our home during the year. You will see all are well provided for. Ethel Patrick, the one sent to the House of the Good Shepherd, was first at the House of Mercy, then transferred to the Church Orphanage, where they found they could not manage her. She was brought to us by Mr. Wilson, of the Humane Society. After keeping her some time we found she was a subject for the House of the Good Shepherd, so by the advice of Mr. Wilson we placed her there. We have visited her several times and find she is doing better. Emma Webster, whose mind was weak and not a subject for our house, by order of physician was transferred to Mount Hope Retreat, where she will always have a good home. In regard to the other young girls who are working at their trades, all are doing well and are everything we could desire them to be. Any other information we can give we will be most happy to do so. Very respectfully, Sister Clara, Superior. Joint Select Committee to Investigate Charities and Reformatory Institutions in the District of Columbia. Rosie Mulhern left January 12, 1896, dressmaking in Baltimore. Grace Sinclair left March 12, 1896, house girl, this city. Mabel Merrill left March 18,1896, dressmaking, this city. Mary Colliere left March 29, 1896, dressmaking, this city. Agnes Cavanaugh left March 31, 1896, returned to her mother. Julia Singteller left April 6, 1896, dressmaking, this city. Marie Sweeney left April 17, 1896, dressmaking, this city. Helen J. O'Driscoll was taken by relatives June 15, 1896, who placed her in a school South. Mary Moran left June 19, 1896, returned to her mother. Katie Fallon transferred June 21, 1896, to her aunt, who we found capable of taking care of her. Teresa Zerega left July 8, 1896, taken by an uncle; is now in Elizabeth, N. J. CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS 191 Margaret Lysight left August 24, 1896, dressmaking, this city. Ethel Patrick left August 28, 1896, transferred to the House of Good Shepherd, Georgetown. Mary O'Keefe left September 3, 1896, dressmaking, this city. Pauline Collins left September 4, 1896, dressmaking in New York. Emma Webster left September 10,1896, transferred to Mount Hope Retreat, Balti more, Md. Bessie Lynch left September 10, 1896, dressmaking in Boston. Cecelia Braun left January 19, 1897, transferred to relatives; is now in school at Annapolis, Md. Katie Stearns, who was here but one week, returned to her mother March 24,1897 Jessie Hodges left April 1, 1897, dressmaking, this city. ST. JOSEPH'S MALE ORPHAN ASYLUM. Senator McMillan. The officers of St. Joseph's Male Orphan Asy- lum-is anyone here to represent them? Father John Gloyd. Yes, sir; I represent them. I represent St. Joseph's Male Orphan Asylum in the capacity of president and treas- urer. I had better state, perhaps, for your information, that we have four institutions dependent upon each other. We have St. Ann's Infant Asylum, St. Vincent's Orphan Asylum, St. Joseph's Male Orphan Asylum, and St. Rose's Industrial School, all connected. At St. Ann's Infant Asylum we take infants. From there, after they are 6 years of age, the little girls are sent to St. Vincent's Orphan Asylum and the little boys to St. Joseph's Male Orphan Asylum. At St. Vincent's they remain until 14 years of age, and are then sent to St. Rose's Industrial School, where they remain until they are 21. They learn trades, if capable of learning trades, and work in the kitchen, where there is any housekeeping. The little boys are sent to St. Joseph's Asylum-the institution now in question-where they remain until they are from 12 to 14 years of age. So far we have been very successful in getting homes for them. Often in advance they are spoken for. They are well cared for while in the asylum, and gentlemen are anxious to have these boys who come from there. Senator McMillan. Are the homes obtained for these boys gener- ally in the city? Father Gloyd. Yes, sir; so far as I know. One institution is dependent upon the other-St. Rose's upon St. Vincent's. The boys remain until they are 12 to 14, the age depending upon their bright- ness. The sister in charge says she has no trouble in finding places for them in the District. With your permission I will read a brief statement in regard to the business affairs of the institution: This asylum was incorporated by act of Congress in February, 1855, forty-one years ago, and the total amount of money received from the Government during this entire time is about $7,200, or on an average of a trifle over $175 a year. The number of boys cared for by the institution has been on an average of 127 boys a year, making the average amount for each child less than $1.38 a year. Would you like to have the receipts and expenditures now? Senator McMillan. We might as well have that now. Father Gloyd : Receipts and expenditures from January 1, 1896, to January 1, 1897. Cash received from donation party, bequests, subscriptions, and private charity $4, 571. 50 Cash received from Government appropriation 1,800. 00 Total receipts for year 6, 371. 50 Total expenses for year 6,175.59 Cash balance 195.91 192 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. For the past four years the appropriation obtained from Congress has enabled the Sister in charge to abandon the daily begging in the market for contributions of meat and vegetables for each day's use, as was the custom before the appropriation was obtained. We render to the Commissioners of the District an itemized account every three months of all expenditures for which money is given by Congress. These accounts are subject to a close examination by the Commissioners of the District, the Super- intendent of Charities, and also by the Treasury officers. We handle none of the appropriation money. The itemized bills, after being verified, are paid by the Treasury. Senator McMillan. How many children are there in the institution? Father Gloyd. There were 133 boys cared for last year. Senator McMillan. What is the average number'? Father Gloyd. About 100. On January 1 there were 133. I think they would average from 90 to 100. Representative Pitney. Which institution is this? Father Gloyd. St. Joseph's Male Orphan Asylum, on H street, between Ninth and Tenth. Representative Pitney. I did not get the age at which they take children there. Father Gloyd. From 6 to 8 years of age. Representative Pitney. Where do these children come from? Father Gloyd. Generally speaking, from St. Vincent's or St. Ann's, at about 6 to 7. Representative Pitney. Take them from St. Ann's, do they? Father Gloyd. Yes, sir; they are taken from St. Ann's Infant Asylum. We also get them very numerously from the streets. That is, the police send a great many; and then from Foundlings' Hospital and Columbia Hospital many are sent. Legitimate children, I suppose, although no questions are asked. They are cared for until they are 6 to 7 years of age, and then go to St. Joseph's or St. Vincent's Asylum. That is the plan adopted so far. Senator McMillan. Are there any questions? Representative Northway. You have mentioned other institutions. How many are there? Father Gloyd. Four. First, there is St. Ann's Infant Asylum. From there the girls are sent to St. Vincent's Orphan Asylum, on Tenth street, near G, and the boys to St. Joseph's Male Asylum, on II, between Ninth and Tenth. From St. Vincent's the girls go to St. Rose's Industrial School, at the age of 14. None are permitted to remain at St. Vincent's after they are 14 years of age. Representative Northway. These are all institutions of the church* The Catholic religion is taught at them? Father Gloyd. We ask no questions as to religion. Representative Northway. They are required to attend church? Father Gloyd. For the sake of order, I suppose, more than anything else. The majority of them are Catholics. Representative Northway. You require them to attend the Catholic schools ? Father Gloyd. Yes, sir; for the sake of order. Representative Northway. Can you name the Government appro priation for each one of these institutions? Is it $1,800 for each one? Father Gloyd. It is $1,800 for St. Joseph's, but we have received nothing from the Government for St. Vincent's. I think the Sisters answered for St. Rose's that it was $4,500. The amount of appropri- ation for St. Ann's Infant Asylum I do not know, as I have no charge of that institution, CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 193 Senator McMillan. The officers of St. Ann's Infant Asylum have as yet made no report, so we have not it. Father Gloyd. The appropriation for St. Joseph's Male Orphan Asy- lum is $1,800. NEWSBOYS' AND CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY. Senator McMillan. The next to be heard are the officers of the Newsboys' and Children's Aid Society. Is there anyone to represent them here? Dr. T. S. CniLDS. I do, Mr. Chairman. I understood that the presi- dent of the board of trustees of the society, Dr. Mackaye Smith, was to have been here to day, but he is not, and I shall have to make a state- ment in the best way I can. I happen to be the vice-president of the board of trustees. The superintendent of the society, Miss Wilson, is also present, and will answer any questions that may be asked her. The Newsboys' and Children's Aid Society was organized in this city in January, 1885, and was incorporated in 1886. It has had, therefore, an existence of some twelve years. It began in a very quiet way among a few earnest men, some of them prominent men, including Chief Justice Waite and J ustice Miller, of the Supreme Court, and others. The society began its operations in a part of the room occupied by the Humane Society. It went on from that point by a gradual growth until the pres- ent time, nearly all of the time being supported entirely by private charity. Its object is twofold: First, to provide for the newsboys of the city. The society has grown from this humble beginning until it now has property on the corner of Third and C streets NW. worth $30,000- a very excellent building-and a site of land about 60 by 125 feet. On the rear of the land has been erected a very excellent gymnasium for the use of the newsboys, over which is a hall for their instruction. In the three stories are some eighteen rooms, where, as not infrequently happens, if a newsboy has no home or is thrown out of his home tem- porarily, he can go for lodging for the night. The newsboys that are reached nightly, because they come principally at night, are, I suppose, from 125 to 150. They gather there and receive instruction for a part of the evening, and then are taken to the gymnasium, where they are also instructed by a competent teacher of gymnastics. They have in that room also a reading room to which they can go at any time of the day or evening. They have also bathrooms, where they have all the accommodations for cleanliness, bathing, etc. I mention these facts principally because they enter into the govern- ment of the home, and yet you can hardly reckon them in connection with the home of which I shall speak presently. The rooms in this gymnasium, the hall, the sleeping rooms, etc., are kept in the most per- fect order and are cleaned daily. If these children come in in the con- dition in which they do often come in, they are very carefully washed and provided for in that way, making a very considerable expense in carrying on that part of the work. Then there is, in addition to this home proper, a home called the George Maulsby Memorial Home, because it was purchased by Mrs. Maulsby and dedicated to her husband. The land was given and the entire building put up within the limit of her legacy of $30,000, and there is no debt on the property. The number cared for in the home include those that are sent by the police, gathered up out of the alleys of the city and from the dry-goods boxes, etc., and also those sent by 8, Doc. 185 13 194 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. the Board of Children's Guardians since the organization of that society. There is another class comes frequently to the home and are cared for under the direction of the superintendent. This class, taken in this way, remains as long as the matron chooses to keep them. Since the recent appropriation of Congress, the number in the home has, I think, nearly doubled. We have been able to accomplish Senator McMillan. What is the appropriation? Dr. Childs. One thousand dollars. We have had that amount for two years. Our average numbers before that were, I think, not more than 20 or 25. Our number to-day is 60. I suppose the average for the past year has perhaps been 50. The society is absolutely nonsec- tarian. No child comes to us ever to be turned away if a needy child. It is taken in in recognition, first,of the necessities of the child. Then, of course, inquiries are made, and if it is proven that the child has no means of support it is put where it should be. The average age of these children is, I suppose, about 12 years. They are taken at 7 or 8. One is as young as 3 years. They are taken under peculiar circum- stances. Where they are under our entire control it is desired to keep them for several years until they can be thoroughly prepared for the positions to which we wish to send them. They are placed in posi- tions in the city, in the District, and in the country, and they are looked after. Taken as they are often from the very lowest dregs of society, the change that takes place in those under our control is simply marvelous. The other class is sent by the Board of Children's Guardians, and they are not under our control. They simply remain, sometimes for a few weeks and sometimes for a few months. Much better work could be done if they could remain longer. The change that takes place among those that remain long enough is marvelous. The expenses of the institution are in the neighborhood of $5,000. I have not had time, as 1 expected the president himself would be here, to get the exact details, but the expense is in the neighborhood of $5,000. They have not quite reached that amount yet, but I think if the numbers continue to increase they will soon go beyond that. During the twelve years that we have been receiving these children- boys and girls, white and black, Boman Catholic and Protestant, the question never being asked as to race or condition-we have had, I suppose, an average of one hundred per year in our care-more than one hundred distinct children. In those twelve years, with not less than twelve or fourteen hundred children, there has been but one death, which I attribute, especially in the last few years, to the remarkable care given them by the superintendent of the home. Our belief is that while children should be simply fed they should be well fed. We have also a school there, an excellent school, where the children attend daily in ordinary school sessions. If I might suggest one single point, it is that if any of this committee would visit the home it would be a most satisfactory answer to any questions they might wish to ask. The limits of our home are about reached. A f amily of sixty, with the necessary servants and housekeepers, has shown that it would be exceedingly desirable if we could have an additional house for the colored children. There are reasons which could be stated why it would be very greatly to the benefit of the institution and the children if they could be separated. If the time should ever come, if the object commends itself to this committee and to Congress, in view of the fact that we have this admirable property which has never cost the public CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 195 anything, if they could see their way clear to appropriate enough for an additional building Senator McMillan. This home is a temporary home? Dr. Childs. That is not the object. The object is to keep them until we can find suitable homes for them, or until we can get places for them in families, stores, shops, etc. Very often they return to their homes, where they came from. Quite a number have been there this year who earn wages in those occupations which have been found for them, and who desired to remain there where they had been brought up. They pay a portion of their wages, which gives them a sense of independence, and it contributes very much to the expenses of the institution. It is admirable also in its effect on the boys. The girls do largely the work, at least they are all trained in housework, and the boys assist in that also. We have not yet what we hope to have in time. Senator McMillan. You take girls there also? Dr. Childs. Yes, sir; in separate parts of the building. Senator McMillan. Why is it called "Newsboys' Home," then? Dr. Childs. It was originally intended simply to reach the newsboys and bootblacks. It was founded for the newsboys. Then we have had a very large number of waifs who had been taken to the police court. They were not criminals, and to send them to the workhouse would have been a mistake. We have from time to time taken in those. Our charter is very elastic and our work is done without friction. I think we will have both boys and girls, and that the combination will work together well so long as we have our present superintendent. Senator McMillan. How much money does it take to run your institution, and where do you get the money? Dr. Childs. Within three or four years it has been run entirely by private contributions. Then the Commissioners of the District of Columbia gave us $500 for a year or two. Now, besides the $1,000 given us by Congress, the Board of Children's Guardians pays us $8 per month for the care of each child they send us, and there also comes a small allowance for clothing. The committee can have no idea of the condition in which these children come to us. They are washed daily. They have to be washed very effectually in order to make them in a presentable condition. Representative Northway. The name of your institution is mislead- ing, then. You take in such boys as the Board of Children's Guard- ians send you? Dr. Childs. The name does not really convey the true idea of the institution now. It was originally only intended for newsboys and bootblacks. Then later the scope was widened and it became known as the Newsboys' and Children's Aid Society. Representative Northway. You take in such children as you make arrangements for with the Board of Children's Guardians? Dr. Guilds. Yes, sir. As to supervision, the Superintendent of Charities comes to visit us something like once a month and makes a careful investigation, while the secretary of the Newsboys' and Chil- dren's Aid Society is in there almost constantly. Representative Northway. You take boys and girls? Dr. Childs. Yes, sir. Representative Northway. White and black? Dr. Childs. Yes, sir. What we want is another building where the whites and the blacks can be separate. Representative Northway. Is there a great deal of friction? Miss Wilson. The colored children have not had the same oppor- 196 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. tunities as the white children, and are not prepared to be together as yet. Representative Northway. It is not owing to friction as to color? Miss Wilson. No, sir; no friction at all. It is simply a disparity as to morals and learning, etc. Dr. Childs. These colored children taken out of the slums of the city seem to have no moral sense. Representative Northway. Are they not capable of distinguishing between right and wrong? Dr. Childs. If a white boy does wrong he knows it, but the colored boy does not seem to know it. It is the aim of the superintendent to cultivate the moral sense of these children. If she were not here, as was said with regard to the representative of St. Joseph's Male Orphan Asylum, I could say a great deal more concerning her and her work. Senator McMillan. If there are no other questions, I think that is sufficient. NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR RELIEF OF DESTITUTE COLORED WOMEN AND CHILDREN. Washington, D. C., April 21,1897. Hon. James McMillan, Chairman Joint Committee on Charities. Sir : That your committee may have a clear understanding of the work of this institution we have decided to file with you the following letter: The National Association for the Relief of Destitute Colored Women and Children was established thirty years ago. We have had under our care upward of 2,000 children; these children are from the poorest class of the colored race. The making of useful citizens of them has been our aim, and we think we have met with a fair degree of success. The conclusions we have reached and the opinions we advance are the result of years of experience. We admit children to the home provided by our association at the age of 3 years; we keep them until they are 12 years old. They are taught practically as well as theoretically. The little ones have the advantage of kindergarten training. The help of this kind of instruction morally and intellectually is too well established to admit of dispute or discussion. From this they are car- ried into the primary and grammar grades. In addition to this, they are taught sewing, knitting, gardening, housework of all kinds, and latterly, as far as circumstances would permit, we have had carpenter- ing, and hope to do more of such work. They also have Sunday-school training. After they have reached the age of 12 years, being able to read and write well (this is their protection), they are indentured to families, generally in the North, East, and West. We have preferred these sections of the country to any other, because we want the chil- dren to grow up under the best influences, where they will feel that they are men and women. To send them to the outlying districts or adjoining States, where there is dense colored population, is not for the best interests of the orphan. We have worked disinterestedly, and gladly would we welcome any scheme that would improve the condition of this class of children. But when we recall that all the avenues leading to industrial pur- suits are closed against the colored people, no matter how well reared 197 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. or trained or educated, when we reflect that all the stores, counting- houses, trades unions, great corporations, and institutions too numer- ous to mention are closed to them, we fail to comprehend what could be offered in way of an improvement that would change this condition of things. It has been stated that the children under our care, after they have reached the age of 12 years, are "turned adrift." This is not true. It is not only false, but mischievous, undervaluing a good work which has gone on for many years, winning the highest praise from citizens, phi- lanthropists, and Congressional committees, who have taken pains to inform themselves about it. At the age of 12 years, homes are found for the children in families, where they remain until they are 18 years old. The persons taking them are bound as strongly as possible by a most excellent indenture paper, which they sign in the presence of competent witnesses. They are required to frequently report the welfare of the child, and the child itself encouraged to write as often as it may choose. As a rule, the children have done well in the homes to which they have been sent. We employ a visiting agent for children within easy reach. For those at a distance we have often called to our aid officers of the different cities or towns or of the Humane Societies. In this connec- tion we desire to say that the scheme of the Children's Guardians of this city, which is similar to those in other cities, may be feasible and reasonable in so far as it is brought to bear upon white waifs. Families may be found who will take charge of white children, but there are few colored families prepared to take children. Most of those who possess the social requirements have families, and the rest should not be trusted with their own children. All agents agree that they tind the greatest difficulty in placing these children in families where there would be the proper moral environment. It has been suggested that our institution should be made a house of detention to which incorrigible children may be admitted. Nothing could be more unwise. We have no bolts or bars. No child remains in our home unless he or she wishes to; otherwise it could with no propriety be called a home. The children who come to us are young, and in the main free from vice. To associate them with the older class, who have been under the worst influences, means demoral- ization-the planting of the seeds of vice in innocent children, which could not be eradicated in years. We have tried it during the past two or three years and each trial has been disastrous. We will conclude by saying that we feel conscious that we are doing the very best work possible, and that a slight appropriation to enlarge our industrial work is all that is at present essential to entire success. Martha S. Pomeroy, President. A. M. Purvis, Secretary. EIGHTH HEARING. HOSPITALS FOR SPECIAL CLASSES. April 20, 1897-2 o'clock p. m. Present: Hon. James McMillan, chairman; Hon. Thomas S. Martin, Hon. Mahlon Pitney, Hon. S. A. Northway. EIGHTH HEARING. Subject: Hospitals for Special Classes. To be heard: Officers of the Emergency Hospital; officers of Columbia Hospital; officers of the Home for Incurables; officers of the Eastern Dispensary. TOPICS. 1. Hospital work done by the hospitals. 2. Comparative cost of maintenance in Washington and other cities. 3. Income from patients. 4. Do persons come to Washington to secure free treatment at Dis- trict expense? 5. The training of nurses as a part of hospital work. 6. Connection between hospitals and colleges of medicine. Senator McMillan. I see some of the officers of the Emergency Hospital present. We will be glad to hear from them now if they are ready. CENTRAL DISPENSARY AND EMERGENCY HOSPITAL. Mr. W. J. Boardman. Mr. Chairman, Dr. Burnett, president of the attending staff, and myself are here to represent the Central Dispensary and Emergency Hospital in response to the notice that has been sent out. I see that the first matter to which our attention is called and in regard to which information is asked is as to the work done by this hospital. I presume the committee is very familiar with the kind of work done there. I think I may say, without entering into details, that from my connection with other eleemosynary institutions and from such general information as I have, though not possessing actual statistical information of the work done by similar institutions, that there is not another one with as limited means that affords the amount of relief that this one does. In that connection I desire to call attention to a single paragraph in the annual report of the Central Dispensary and Emergency Hospital for 1896, reference to which will give some idea as to the amount of work that was done there during that year. The report covers the last half of 1895 and the first half of 1896. 199 200 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. During this period 10,433 new cases were treated in the dispensary services, and these patients made 28,459 visits to the dispensary. There were 2,828 new cases treated in the emergency department, with 1,925 redressings. The prescriptions compounded were 46,975. There were 49 deaths and 28 autopsies. There were 421 ambulance calls. The total number of operations was 1,443. The number received into the wards of the hospital for treatment and care was 189. These last are people who are received into the wards of the hospital (which are quite limited in their number) in consequence of their not being able to be removed immediately after operation, but they are retained there only so long as necessary for their well-being. The report also says: "The constant increase in the attendance on our dispensary service makes still more imperative that addition to our space to which we have so often called the attention of the board. We are crowded on every hand, and the proper work of the clinical services is seriously ham- pered." In this connection I desire to call your attention to an article that appeared in the Washington Post, from which I will only read two paragraphs, as it is somewhat lengthy, but I will leave the article with the committee. It gives a very graphic account of what is done at this hospital in a single night. The article appeared in the Wash- ington Post of April 4, 1897, and I presume it was written by some reporter of that paper. He says: After passing a night with the surgeons at the Emergency Hospital one becomes greatly impressed with the value of such an institution in a city like Washington. It is surprising to note the applications to the hospital and the character of some of the demands. A Post reporter recently remained with the surgeons during the busiest part of an unusually busy night. It was long after midnight before the rush was over, and up to that hour the resident physician and his two assistants were occupied with the work of alleviating the troubles of distressed humanity, and in one case it was necessary to ask assistance of some of the corps that is subject to call. Having described, in their progress, the different cases that were treated, the reporter says, in the last paragraph: While all this was going on, taxing almost every moment of the doctors' time, the patients in the wards upstairs were demanding attention and the doctors were obliged to run back and forth. The corps of white-robed nurses flitted about, pre- paring bandages and doing all sorts of things that make their services indispensable. Alter the rush was over all the doctors, except the one whose turn it was to stay on duty all night, retired, and the busy night was over. The article in full follows: After passing a night with the surgeons at the Emergency Hospital one becomes greatly impressed with the value of such an institution in a city like Washington. It is surprising to note the applications to the hospital and the character of some of the demands. A Post reporter recently remained with the surgeons during the busiest part of an unusually busy night. It was long after midnight before the rush was over, and up to that hour the resident physician and his two assistants were occupied with the work of alleviating the troubles of distressed humanity, and in one case it was necessary to ask assistance of some of the corps that is subject to call. The first to arrive was a messenger boy, who had fallen from his bicycle while attempting to round a corner at too high a rate of speed. He was brought in by some of his companions, who thought he had been seriously injured, but an exami- nation showed that he had only been skinned up a little. An application of court- plaster disposed of his case, and he was soon riding his wheel again. The assur- ance of the doctor that he was not hurt served as an instant cure. Following him came a colored servant girl suffering with the toothache. The forceps were applied, and brought forth, besides a big tooth, a yell that caused everyone within hearing of the hospital to wonder what was going on within. STITCHING UP A SCALP. As she was passing out of the door a police patrol wagon drove up and the sound of the gong was an indication that another case had arrived. In a moment two CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 201 bluecoats carried in a residcut of South Washington who had come out second best in a fight. His head was covered with blood and his clothes were likewise stained with gore. His groans were hardly suggestive of the near approach of death, but no time was lost in examining the cause of his agony. "Oh, doctor, I'm killed," he moaned, but the doctor disputed the assertion, and in an instant he was placed upon the operating table in the emergency room. A gash fully three inches long was disclosed on the side of the head, but the surgeons had to explore and ascertain if the skull had been injured. After removing a patch of hair in the immediate vicinity of the laceration, the wound was carefully and thorougly cleansed. An examination of the skull was made, but there were no signs of injury deeper than the scalp, and preparations were at once made to close the wound and apply bandages. When the needle was produced, the patient, who had noted the process, began to plead with the doctor to be careful and not to hurt him. He was assured that the operation would not be painful, and before he was cognizant of the fact the necessary stitches, or sutures, as the doctors call them, were applied and a bandage placed around the sufferer's head. He was then robed in a nightgown and sent to a ward upstairs, to remain until able to go out. The operating room was no sooner vacated than a vigorous ringing of the tele- phonebell was heard, and a request came in to send the ambulance with all possible speed to a given number, with the information that a man had just been run overby a street car. HIS CASE SERIOUS. In this connection it might be stated that it is a slow process, according to the present arrangement, to get the ambulance out and into service. It is kept in the stable at the First precinct police station. A telephone message is sent to that station to direct the ambulance driver to bring the ambulance to the hospital. The surgeon on duty for the night accompanies the van, taking a case of instru- ments with him, and pretty soon the wagon rolls up to the hospital door with the victim of the street-car accident. His condition was soon seen to be precarious, and a call was sent for the visiting physician, who is called for consultation and to direct what shall be done. The patient was placed upon the operating table, and it was found that both legs were broken. All the surgical skill of the combined staff was brought into use. The bones were carefully placed together, and all was done that was possible. Then the patient was placed in the care of nurses, who, with the staff doctors, closely watched his condition at all hours of the day and night, giv- ing him all the aid known to the medical science. While the operation was going on upstairs the police brought in another case. They found a woman whom they suspected of having taken poison. A surgeon was called from upstairs, and he at once questioned the woman. In most cases they readily admit that they have taken a drug of some kind, and give its name. This greatly facilitates the doctor's work, as he then knows what antidote to administer. While the doctor is preparing to remove the effects of the poison a tale of woe is generally poured into his ears by the victim of suicidal mania, and she relates to him some love affair that made life no longer endurable. When the stomach pump is brought into requisition the former lover, who is held responsible for the rash act, is forgotten, and the woman is sorry that she attempted to end her life. The stomach pump is a great cure for suicidal mania. It has the effect of putting a new phase upon life for despondent persons; but whether it is the memory of the treatment or not is a question that can only be answered by those who have been rescued from death by the use of the pump. In cases of opium poison- ing it is necessary to keep the patient awake, and when the drug has taken a strong hold artificial respiration must be induced, which requires a vigorous movement of the patient's arms. The nurses are of great assistance to the surgeons in such cases. Although the sights to be seen in the emergency room are not pleasing, there are some ludicrous sights as well as sad ones. On the night of the reporter's visit a col- ored man was brought in by a patrol wagon and was carefully carried to the room, where the surgeons were informed that he had a broken leg. He was handled most tenderly. When the doctors proceeded to examine his supposed broken leg he flinched before they laid a finger upon the flesh. He even howled as if suffering the greatest pain, and when a hand was laid upon the spot where he said the bone was fractured his cries were deafening. The doctors failed to find any sign of fracture, and ques- tioned hiip as to the accident he had met with. He said he fell down and struck his leg on the curbstone. There was not even a bruise, and the doctors began to suspect that the patient was an impostor, when another of the doctors walked in and recog- nized the man as one who had played a trick upon him not long before. As soon as the patient recognized the doctor who had just arrived he hopped off the table with THE STOMACH PUMP EFFECTIVE. 202 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. the remark, "I can't fool that doctor," and with that he darted out of the door and out upon the street. Some people of the more ignorant class have a great dread of the "doctor shop," as they call the Emergency, and when they are informed that a stitch is necessary to be placed in a wound they break for the door and leave with all possible speed. No amount of persuasion on the part of the doctors will induce them to remain. The sight of the instruments near the table frightens them away. There is a great differ- ence in patients. Some submit bravely to the operation, while others give vent to their sufferings. Another patient brought in during the reporter's visit was a middle-aged man whose skull had been fractured. He was prepared for the operating room, where it was necessary to trephine the skull to save his life. He was unconscious and could give no history of his case, and as the police had not yet learned of the manner in which he had received the wound, it could only be surmised that he had been struck with a rock. Just as the Post's representative was about to leave the doorbell rang and a wagon was seen standing outside. Two men at the door said they had a man who had been shot in a saloon in Jackson City, but were careful to say it was "purely an accident." The sufferer was brought in, and like the others who had been there before him, thought his time had come and that death was staring him in the face. He placed his hand on his hip, where he said the bullet struck him. A sufficient portion of his clothing was removed, when the doctors found that the bullet had passed through the flesh without doing any special damage. The wound was cleansed and dressed, when the victim of the shooting affray across the river was as good as ever, only he would be a little sore for a few days. It was a great relief to him to be informed that he was not going to die. Just how he came to be shot was not learned from him, as he carefully avoided saying what caused the pistol to go off or in whose hands it was held. While all this was going on, taxing almost every moment of the doctors' time, the patients in the wards upstairs were demanding attention, and the doctors were obliged to run back and forth. The corps of white-robed nurses flitted about, preparing bandages and doing all sorts of things that luake their services indispensable. Aller the rush was over all the doctors, except the one whose turn it was to stay on duty all night, retired, and the busy night was over. I might say in this connection that, owing to the modern methods of rapid transit, many more accidents occur nowadays than formerly. No doubt the members of the committee have observed from the news- papers that hardly a day passes that some person is not taken to this hospital who has received an injury from a street car or bicycle. Representative Northway. What classes of patients do you take? Mr. Boardman. All classes. Every person who is injured in the city, and including some who are in jured on the other side of the river. Owing to the character of the p< pidation of that locality-1 refer to Jackson City, at the other end of Long Bridge-they have frequent disturbances, and persons injured there are brought over to the Emer- gency Hospital for treatment. 1 wish to read from an article which I also found in the Post a day or two since, written by Mr. Edwin Dudley, with whom I am not acquainted, who says: I have recently been treated for thirty-two days in that hospital (Emergency) for a compound comminuted fracture of the right leg, resulting in amputation. I was all that time in the open ward and had the best possible opportunity to obsorve the manner in which the hospital is managed and in which the patients are treated. And further along he says: During my stay at the hospital I never knew of any patient who had any serious injury being turned away, and all who were admitted were given the most unremit- ting care by physicians and nurses, and this without discrimination as to class or condition or color. The police of the city seem to send to this institution all cases which they find suffering from severe accidental injuries, and all are received, exam- ined, and if treatment is needed it is given with skill and care that could.hardly be surpassed. The physicians are at the service of the suffering at all hours of the day and night. With surgeons like Drs. Carr, Van Rensselaer, and Snyder there can be no question SHOOTING WAS ACCIDENTAL. 203 charities and reformatory institutions. of the most skillful treatment. The nurses are all educated women, who have been thoroughly trained to their work, and they care for the patients in the most patient and painstaking manner. The surprising thing to me about these nurses is the fact that their sympathies are as much alive as if they were nursing their first case. There is none of the hardened feeling manifested that one might expect from persons dealing with suffering patients constantly. I am not able to give the statistics, but I believe that investigation will show that the Emergency Hospital and Dispensary is rendering service of far greater value than the money it expends. Then the gentleman calls attention to another matter, to which I will very briefly allude, as it strikes me as a very important matter-one of the most important that we wish to bring to the attention of the committee: I understand that the physicians and nurses serve either without pay or for mere nominal amounts. Instead of attack, I think the Emergency Hospital worthy of all possible support from the Government and from all people who sympathize with suffering humanity. The hospital ought to be provided with a stable near by, as its ambulance is now kept at a distance, which sometimes causes delay when the patient should receive immedi- ate treatment. There should also be added another building for a laundry and ster- ilizing room so that the room now used for these purposes may become available for patients. I found in reading over a report rendered two or three years ago, which contains a brief history of the institution, this paragraph, which shows what the condition of things was before the Emergency Hospi- tal was established: From the beginning there has been a hearty cooperation and the utmost harmony existing between this institution and the police department. Before the Emergency Hospital was established many, perhaps a majority, of the minor accidents (or those supposed to be trivial) were taken to the police stations and the police surgeon sent for, or, in case he could not be found, a doctor cf some kind was called in. Much unnecessary suffering was caused by this and the consequences of neglect (often unavoidable) were sometimes disastrous. None were so well aware of this as the police officers themselves, and to-day in each member of the force you will find a stanch friend of the Emergency Hospital. Representative Northway. Will you please give the page from which you are reading? Mr. Boardman. I am now reading from "An historical sketch of the institution, and report for the year 1894," page 13. Perhaps that discloses sufficiently as to what the condition of things was before the hospital was established. The next point to which attention is called is the comparative cost of maintenance in Washington and other cities. I have spoken of that generally, having no statistics in regard to it. I am justified, I think, in the statement that there is no similar institution in this land with the limited means it possesses that is doing the amount of work dis- closed by our report. There is no charge made for medicines or for operations performed. Occasionally, now and then, when some well to- do person meets with an accident by being run over by a street car or otherwise and is brought there, and treated, he will make a contribu- tion to the hospital through a feeling of gratitude. Representative Northway. Is there any charge for board? Mr. Boardman. No, sir. Senator McMillan. It is entirely free? Mr. Boardman. Yes, sir. The next question is, Do people come to Washington to secure treatment at public expense? Not at all. During the time of the inauguration, or during the months of January, February, and March, there were fifteen inmates of the wards who were not residents of Washington, but that grew out of 204 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. the assemblage of a large number of people here to attend the inaugura- tion. The next topic is, The training of nurses as a part of hospital work. We have six nurses. One of the six we pay $30 a month; another we pay $25 a month, and the other four are hired for three months at a time and are paid $5 each a month. They are taught by the regular nurses, and have the opportunity of acquiring knowledge of the profession which they propose to pursue during that time. We only pay them $5 a month. In regard to the last topic, Connection between hospitals and colleges of medicine, I think there are students of two of the medical colleges represented. I do not know whether there are others or not. Dr. Swan M. Burnett. There are practically three colleges repre- sented. Mr. Boardman. The students of the medical colleges are permitted to attend the clinics. Senator McMillan. Any particular colleges? Mr. Boardman. Dr. Burnett says all of the medical colleges. Dr. Burnett. There is nothing to exclude any of them. Senator McMillan. How is the Emergency Hospital organized; under a law of the District? Mr. Boardman. Yes, sir; under a law of the District. It is incor- porated. ' Senator McMillan. It is incorporated? Mr. Boardman. Yes, sir. The charter is printed in the back of the report of the hospital for 1896. Senator McMillan. Do you own the building? Mr. Boardman. Yes, sir; but I regret to say there is a mortgage upon the building of $20,000. Senator McMillan. Do you own the land? Mr. Boardman. Yes, sir. We are paying $1,200 a year on that mortgage. I want especially to call attention to the very great impor- tance of having more room in the institution; that is needed very much. The article which I last read of Mr. Dudley makes allusion to the necessity of having a stable near by the hospital where the ambulance can be kept. In order to get the ambulance nearer we have had to hire stable privileges of a liveryman for which we are paying $180 a year. We need additional room for operating. There has been such a tre- mendous increase in the demands upon us, owing largely, as I stated, to the increase of these different methods of rapid transit, from which serious accidents are constantly resulting, that we are very much cramped for room, and that would require the purchase of the property this side of the present building on which to build. Senator McMillan. Then you have no extra land? Mr. Boardman. No, sir. I will say in regard to the adjoining property to which I refer we labor under this difficulty, that the people who own the land appreciate the difficulty and ask us more than it is worth; other- wise we would have purchased it. If the committee see any way under the power of eminent domain of condemning that property, we could get it at half the price they ask for it. Senator McMillan. How much money has been spent in the buildings and land for this hospital? Mr. Boardman. The building cost $40,000, and the land, of course, not so much. Dr. Burnett. It is in the report. Senator McMillan. Where was this money obtained? Mr. Boardman. We had about $25,000 of our own and the other was CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 205 appropriated by Congress. No; Congress did not appropriate that; we put a mortgage on the building for the rest of it. Dr. Burnett. Allow me to interrupt Mr. Boardman. We bought a piece of property on Twelfth street and issued bonds, which were taken up by the board of directors. Congress afterwards made an appropria- tion to relieve us of our debt. Then we sold the Twelfth street property for $25,000, which, with $30,000 appropriated by Congress, enabled us to get the property we now have, and then we went into debt to get the building. Senator McMillan. How much money do you receive annually from the Government1? Mr. Boardman. We are now receiving $15,000. Senator McMillan. Is that sufficient? Mr. Boardman. No, sir, it is not sufficient; the citizens make up about $3,000 in addition to that. Citizens have just purchased a new ambulance for the hospital, and with this additional amount subscribed by them we are still hardly able to do the work that is demanded of the hospital. Senator McMillan. What control, if any, has the Government over this institution? Mr. Boardman. Yes, sir; in the first place there are two city officials who are members of the board of directors. Dr. Burnett. The health officer and the sanitary officer are, ex officio, members of the board. Senator McMillan. Members ex officio? Mr. Boardman. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. Do you make reports regularly to anyone? Dr. Burnett. Yes, sir; there is a report made quarterly to the Com- missioner of Charities. Senator McMillan. What system have you in regard to accounting for money? Mr.* Boardman. Each month the staff appoints one of their number to take charge of purchasing. He audits the bills; then they go into the treasurer's hands, who makes an examination and also audits them. Then they come to me, and I go over them, but of course I am unable to make an examination of all the bills, depending upon the examina- tion made by Mr. Wight, treasurer of our institution, and the member of the staff who has charge of the purchasing. I audit the bills also. Senator McMillan. Statements have been made that your corpora- tion is a close corporation; that the Government supports it, but has no control over the board of directors. That is the case, is it? Mr. Boardman. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. You have your own board and your own inside management? Mr. Boardman. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. And the only control is through the ex-officio members of the board, who are city officials? Mr. Boardman. Yes, sir. If the committee should desire to make any suggestions in regard to that-for instance, as to putting members of the House or Senate on the board of directors-they would be glad to comply with any such suggestion. That matter has been considered by the board. Senator McMillan. Is not the Central Dispensary able to take care of the entire dispensary work of the District? Mr. Boardman. 1 would refer that to Dr. Burnett. I called atten- tion in my report to the inexpediency of undertaking to supply every 206 charities and reformatory institutions. hospital and institution with skilled surgeons and instruments when probably if one institution was thoroughly equipped in that direction we believe it could, so far as accidents are concerned, meet all such emergencies. I say in my report I desire here to call attention to a very important suggestion made last winter by a member of the Congressional Committee on Appropriations, when that commit- tee had under consideration the making of the annual appropriation for the benefit of this institution. 1 refer to the wisdom of supplying one institution with all the surgical skill, appliances, and rooms for the proper treatment of emergency cases. In a city of the population of Washington, one institution so equipped would be able to attend to that class of cases. Were it possible to supply each of several hospitals with an experienced and skilled surgeon, it could hardly be expected that either Congress or the general public would be willing to do the unnecessary thing of providing all of them with the expensive appliances required for success in surgical operations. The policy of supplying one of these institutions with such appliances, if more could not be so supplied, would, I am sure, appeal with peculiar force to those who were so unfortunate as to meet with serious accidents. The Central Dispensary and Emergency Hospital possess two of these necessary requirements, to wit, surgical skill and modern surgical appliances. As I have already stated, considering the increased demands made upon us, we are very much in need of additional room. Senator McMillan. Dol understand that all the surgeons employed there give their time and services free? Mr. Boardman. Yes, sir; with the single exception of the house physician. Senator McMillan. He stays there? Mr. Boardman. Yes, sir; he is there night and day. The first and second assistants receive no pay. The house physician must receive pay. He goes out with the ambulance to attend to the cases. The first or second assistant must be there to act upon any notice. Senator McMillan. Do you have any salaried officers, paid for look- ing after the work there? Mr. Boardman. Only the nurses and the apothecary, who gives out the medicines and makes up prescriptions. They are all, 1 believe. Dr. Burnett. Yes, sir; the superintendent, who is a nurse, and the apothecary. Senator McMillan. But no medical men receive pay, outside of the house physician? Dr. Burnett. No, sir. Senator McMillan. Mr. Boardman, does the Superintendent of Charities exercise any control over your hospital or visit it? Mr. Boardman. I do not know how that is. Dr. Burnett. Mr. Tracey, Superintendent of Charities, comes to the hospital quite frequently. We make a report to him quarterly. Senator McMillan. Does he make any suggestions as to the man- agement? Dr. Burnett. We have asked him to make them. Senator McMillan. Does the health officer take any part in the meetings of the board? Dr. Burnett. He comes to every meeting. Senator McMillan. Does he make suggestions? Dr. Burnett. Yes, sir; he does so quite frequently. Senator McMillan. Do you desire to ask any questions, Colonel North way ? Representative Northway. Mr. Boardman, what is the capacity of your hospital? CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 207 Mr. Boardman. Well, we do not take patients to retain them in the hospital any longer than is necessary to their well-being. We take persons who have met with accidents; when they can be removed, they are taken away, either home or to the hospital. Representative Northway. How many of that kind can you care for at one time? Dr. Burnett. We can care for about twenty. We have now sixteen patients in the hospital, but it is our purpose always to rid ourselves of them as rapidly as it can be properly done. It is not a hospital for chronic cases; it is only for acute cases. Mr. Boardman. They are sent off to other hospitals when they are able to be removed. Representative Northway. I do not care to ask any further ques- tions. Senator McMillan. That is all, Mr. Boardman. You may leave those pamphlets to which you have referred or from which you have lead. Dr. Burnett, do you wish to add anything? Dr. Burnett. Mr. Boardman has gone so thoroughly over the whole ground that there is little remaining for me to say, except to try to add force to his statements. I have been connected with the Central Dis- pensary and Emergency Hospital since 1878. I have seen it when it was almost nothing, and have seen it grow to its present dimensions. 1 have been connected with every other hospital in the city, excepting Columbia Hospital, and I do not hesitate to say that there is no hospi- tal here that is conducted upon better business principles and that does more work for the money than the Emergency Hospital. Its work is peculiar. It has a large outdoor service, which does not receive the attention it should. That is what is called the dispensary service. People who come there are supplied with medicines and pi escribed for by some of the best medical men in the city, and many people are saved from long and frequent illnesses. The work done in our emergency depart- ment is very likely to overshadow the work done in the dispensary- that is, where people come and are prescribed for and furnished with medicine. Ten thousand of them come every year and are prescribed for and cared for. If they are so ill that they are unable to get back to their homes, on account of acute disease, they are taken in and cared for for a few days until they are able to go. Representative Northway. There are no charges made for that? Dr. Burnett. No, sir. That was done at one time, but we deemed it fair that in view of the appropriation made by Congress, that no charge should be made, and that we had no right to charge; that if a man was able to pay he could go to some other hospital. If he can not pay, it makes no difference what the ailment is, we take him in. Everything in the District is dumped down on us. We can not take chronic cases; our capacity is overtaxed all the time. I sent out a patient to-day who ought to have stayed longer, but we had not the room. So we have got to be cutting short all the time, and of course the consequence is that our work in that particular is not as satisfac- tory as we would like it to be. I am ready now to answer any ques- tion that you care to ask, Mr. Chairman. Senator McMillan. We think we have gone into that matter quite fully, and that will answer for your hospital. If the ladies who are present representing the Home for Incurables are ready, we will hear them now. Mrs. Hopkins, you represent that institution, do you not? 208 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. HOME FOR INCURABLES. Mrs. Arcdibald Hopkins. I am president and Mrs. Boardman is vice-president of the Home for Incurables. Senator McMillan. And you have made up some memoranda respecting the work you do? Mrs. Hopkins. The Washington Home for Incurables was incorpo- rated on the 6th of March, 1889. The Home was originally located at Mount Pleasant, where it had property. We outgrew that, and have now been in our new Home about five years. We have now 44 patients, of which number only 15 pay anything, and they pay a total of $203 for this particular month. Mrs. Boardman, who has been in charge of the Home all winter, during which time I was too ill to give it atten- tion, says that the amount varies, and that it is not practicable to tell from month to month how the pay patients will run. On account of the financial depression now, we do not get so much from this source. The people who subscribe or pay for them are largely poor people them- selves. We have nothing really to depend upon but what we raise ourselves, and, as you see, in a total of 44 patients to-day only 15 are paying anything. That leaves about 30 who are entirely dependent upon us, who would otherwise be a charge upon the District. The Home is entirely paid for by private subscription, with the exception of a mortgage for $5,000. Its total cost was $08,783.38, divided as fol- lows: The lot cost $12,047; the building, $42,919.11; furniture, $5,000; sewerage, filter, etc., $5,000; architect, $2,000; elevator, $1,186; gas fixtures, $500, and extras of different kinds, $131.27. Senator McMillan. All paid for by private subscription? Mrs. Hopkins. Yes, sir. Miss Kibbey gave the cost of the lot and $28,000; the gas fixtures were given by Mr. Galt, and we had an anonymous contribution of $10,000. Mrs. E. S. Bell and I raised the money for the elevator, and we raised, begged, and borrowed the difference. Senator McMillan. How many can you accommodate, Mrs.Hopkins? Mrs. Hopkins. Fifty. Mrs. Boardman. We have accommodations for six cancer patients. For this we have a guarantee from some young ladies of an income of $300, but that does not begin to pay the expenses attached. Mrs. Hopkins. We had a lot at Mount Pleasant, 100 feet by 50 feet, which we sold this week. It was given to us by Mrs. G. V. Fox, at a cost of $1,000, and we sold it for $2,000. The total indebtedness is $5,000, a mortgage held by the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company; but the sale of our Mount Pleasant property brought us $4,000 clear in notes of $2,000 at 6 per cent, three and six years. So practically we have only a debt of $1,000, and it is really not at 6 per cent. We reduced the mortgage held by the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company so as to leave it at 5 per cent. We are getting 6 per cent on the notes given for the original Mount Pleasant property, so really we are paying but 4 per cent on $1,000. Practically that is the only debt. We pay our bills the first day of each month. Senator McMillan. How much money do you receive from the Government? Mrs. Hopkins. Since the 1st of last July $2,000-that is, for the year, payable quarterly. We applied for $3,000, but it was cut down to $2,000. We have just figured up our running expenses to the 1st of April. Up to that date they amounted to $9,262, which, divided by 44, the number of patients, gives a very low average-about $17.50 per CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 209 month for the patients. If employees are added, the cost is about $12.25 per capita for everyone in the house. Mrs. Boardman. We have 44 patients and 19 employees, and every one of those employees are paid. Mrs. Hopkins. Of course these patients require the services of trained nurses. We get them at very reasonable wages; we get them from the Garfield Hospital Training School. Mrs. Boardman. So you can appreciate that it is an institution which must be expensive of necessity, on account of the severe illness of these people, requiring, as they do, much care. Mrs. Hopkins. We have to pay a superintendent also. Mrs. Boardman. The pay roll amounts to $284 per month. Our working force consists of a resident physician, 6 trained nurses, matron or head nurse, and 10 servants, a total of 63 persons to be fed at a cost of 41 cents a day each. Representative Northway. Where do these patients come from, Mrs. Hopkins? Mrs. Hopkins. From all over the country-that is, as you know, they drift in here from all over the country. The regulations of the Home provide that none but residents shall be admitted, and most of them are residents. Representative Northway. Do you seek patients? Mrs. Boardman. There is no seeking of patients. The fact is, we have a long waiting list. Representative Northway. Do you take them without regard to their pecuniary condition? Mrs. Hopkins. Yes, sir; without any regard to that. That has nothing to do with admissions. Among our pay patients is a daughter of a judge at Bangor, Me. Representative Northway. How did she come here? Mrs. Boardman. She is a terrible invalid. She had a sister down in Texas who is a doctor. She was there with her sister, but she could not stand the climate, and she came here. She went about from one boarding house to another; finally she came to us. Representative Pitney. When you have a vacancy do you take the first applicant on the waiting list? Mrs. Hopkins. Yes, sir; generally. But if the first person on the list has a home and the next one has no alternative but the almshouse, we would pass over the first and take the second applicant in such a case. We took a dying boy from the Garfield Hospital. They said they could not keep him any longer, and that he would have to be sent to the almshouse-a boy about 19 years old. We took him contrary to this rule and tried to make him comfortable for the fifteen or twenty days he lived. We had to overlook the rule in that case. When admis- sion to the Home is asked for the papers are issued. When the appli- cation is received it is filed, and then the patient is examined by our three doctors. If pronounced by them incurable the name is put upon our waiting list. Then, upon a vacancy occurring, the person at the head of the list is notified. Representative Pitney. Have you any figures showing the average length of time that patients are kept? Mrs. Hopkins. No, sir; but I can furnish that. Several of the women have been there ever since the Home was opened. For eight or nine months the Central Baptist Church paid $5 a month for another one. One woman pays $25 a month. Another is a most terrible case of cancer. She is connected with the best people of the S. Doc. 185 14 210 CHARU IES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. District and is paid for by a French shopkeeper, who does this on account of her love for the family. The next is the daughter of this judge at Bangor, Me. She pays $5 a month. The next is a woman whose mind is affected, and besides has physical disabilities. She pays $30 a month. By some settlement of her estate we receive that amount monthly. The next one is the widow of a once prominent artist. Her daughters are not able to support her and a Masonic lodge pays $15. Another is a doctor, 30 years of age. His family are in narrow eircum stances and not able to keep him in the house. He pays $15. The next is a woman. Twenty dollars is paid for her by Roman Catholics. The next one is a man. Twenty dollars is paid for him by one of these provi- dent societies-I believe it was the Knights of Pythias. The next is an Irish girl, who pays $5. Paid by her sister, who is in service. Mrs. Boardman. Then there is Dr. Bradford, who came within the last ten days. The family promised to pay for him. Mrs. Hopkins. We buried this month an old Frenchman who was interpreter to Admiral Freemantle in the Crimean war, and was a tutor at Harvard. He was dependent upon us and we had him three years. He came there with nothing, absolutely nothing. When he died, Dr. Ford Thompson paid the expense of burial. Then there was Major Hennesy, who was educated at Dublin University and at Paris. He fought all through the late war and was judge advocate. General Hawley was most devoted to him. He finally got a clerkship in the Navy Department. Then he had cancer and went from bad to worse, and when we admitted him he had not even 25 cents to take him in a cab to the hospital. The Loyal Legion buried him the other day. I have gone over this in order to show you the class of people we have. Senator McMillan. How do you raise the money? It must cost you six or seven thousand dollars a year. Mrs. Hopkins. We average ^770 a month-close on to $9,000 a year it costs for maintenance. We raise it in any way we can; we never stop begging. Senator McMillan. It is all done by the ladies working for it? Mrs. Hopkins. Yes, sir. Two years ago Airs. Hearst loaned us her picture gallery, or opened it for our benefit, from which we realized $1,276.86. Then we tried the chain-letter scheme. From that we have realized almost $2,000. The burden of carrying that was borne by Mrs. McGuire, who paid for the reissuing of all the broken links. Mrs. N. S. Lincoln's woman's issue of the Times netted us $1,000. The Home received a legacy of $4,000 from Michael McKeon, an old soldier, who was an inmate of the Soldiers' Home. Representative Pitney. The returns of your institution to this Com- mission show an endowment fund of $6,700.06, from which there was an income in 1896 of $312.10; income from private gifts, $7,503.24; income from Congressional appropriations, six months, $1,000; income from all other sources, $1,524.34; and the total income was $10,339.68. Mrs. Hopkins. For the year ending April 16,1896, it was $15,734.81. Mrs. Boardman. We thought the old soldier's legacy would amount to $6,000, but find that it is only $4,000. Mrs. Hopkins. Mrs. Edward Wolcott left us a legacy of $40,000, but the income is only to be applied to establish a ward for crippled chil- dren. We have eight such children, which is all we can accommodate. Therefore we can not secure the entire income from this legacy. Senator McMillan. What becomes of the residue? Mrs. Hopkins. It is put aside for a building fund. We want to be able to take care of more children, but we can not accommodate more under the circumstances. 211 CHARITIES and reformatory institutions. Senator McMillan. Your institution is not connected with any reli- gious denomination, is it? Mrs. Hopkins. No, sir; I think one-filth of the patients are Roman Catholics. The Presbyterian Church has been very nice to us. They have one or two patients, and they generally give us something on Thanksgiving Day. One-fifth are Catholics, one-fifth Presbyterians, one-fifth Episcopalians, and the rest I do not know about. Any clergy- man is free to come there at almost any hour and hold services and give comfort and instruction to the patients. But we have no regular religious services of any kind in the home. It was thought best not to do it. We make no discrimination as to class, and take men, women, and children, however afflicted, except that we do not take contagious diseases or insanity cases. Senator McMillan. How do you keep yourself from being imposed upon by people who are able to pay or by people who are nonresidents? Mrs. Hopkins. That is, of course, a very difficult matter and one in respect to which the president and the executive committee have to use discretion and care. We have a case of a woman who did come from across the river. She is like an animal-makes no articulate sound. She has been many years in bed, and in a bed occupied by girls 8 or 10 years old. It was terrible to think that any household of which she formed a part contained children. A man came and applied for admis- sion for her. I asked him every question I could possibly think of, but I could not get anything satisfactory out of him, and there was no family connection so far as I could make out. He said he was already helping to support other members of the family, but we told him we could not take her. Afterwards they raised some money and brought her up here to a hospital. The hospital would not keep her, and when we had a vacancy she came to us, but we found out that she was the man's aunt. Mrs. Boardman. Our application blank says an applicant must be vouched for by two respectable persons; they are very fully inves- tigated. Representative Pitney. Was this woman of whom you were speak- ing mentally deficient? Mrs. Hopkins. She is hopelessly paralyzed. I think she knows peo- ple, but it is a most terrible case. There was also a child that came up from Alexandria. We had a vacancy, and under the terms of the Wol- cott bequest we could not refuse to take it. There are many people who come here and after a year's residence they become destitute. They may be suffering from some disease-incurable disease. If they can not pay at the hospitals, they are turned out and go to the alms- house or come to us. Mrs. Boardman says we have a boy who is a descendant of President Jefferson. The child is paralyzed. Representative Pitney. What is his name? Mrs. Boardman. Alexander Kennedy. Representative Pitney. How do you know he is connected with President Jefferson ? Mrs. Boardman. I do not know that he is, but some of the members of the board say he is; he is said to be a great-great-nephew. Senator Martin. 1 think it is most certainly a mistake. It is not possible that it can be true. Mrs. Boardman. I will inquire how such a report became current. I supposed these persons spoke with authority or knowledge of the facts. Senator Martin. I know his relatives; they live in my county, and I am sure there is a mistake. Senator McMillan. Do people come here to secure free treatment? 212 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Mrs. Hopkins. We have applications from all over the country; we have them from Chicago and from all sections, but we refer them to other places of the kind. There is one in Philadelphia, three in New York, and a new one at Richmond; there is nothing of this kind south of here except the one at Richmond, which can only care for five cases, as they have not the money to care for more than that. When we receive these applications from people in other sections we refer them to some of these institutions in other cities. The ones that I have referred to are the only ones that have come to us from outside of the District. When an application comes to us-that is, after the applica- tion blank has been filled up and filed with us-the examining doctors make an investigation, and then the visiting committee looks into the matter most carefully, and every precaution is used to see that we are not imposed upon. Representative Pitney. What other institution, if any, is there in the District which cares for incurables'? Mrs. Hopkins. Ours is the only one in which they can be taken if they do not pay. Representative Pitney. And the almshouse. Mrs. Hopkins. Yes, sir; we have had one or two that came from the almshouse, and, strangely enough, we had one who preferred to go back there; he did not like the company at the Home. The hospitals take incurable cases and keep them as long as they can pay. We have had cases come to us from Garfield Hospital and from the Providence Hospital. Representative Pitney. Do you make it a practice of taking patients from the almshouse? Mrs. Hopkins. We have had two, I think Representative Pitney. You do not know how many they have there? Mrs. Hopkins. No, sir; one of the two cases that came to us from the almshouse was in a most shocking condition, and one of them, as 1 said, preferred to go back, and we let him go, of course. We had a case which 1 thought perhaps some of you gentlemen might have heard about. She was a woman in whom Senator Vest was inter- ested. She became an invalid, and besides was mentally troublesome. She came to us finally, but becoming insubordinate ami troublesome, during my illness last year Mrs. Boardman thought it wisest and best to discharge her. Unfortunately, a week after her discharge she was taken acutely ill, and went to Garfield Hospital, where she died. Mrs. Boardman thought there might be some criticism in respect to the mat- ter; but we had to have some discipline, and this woman was almost unmanageable. Mrs. Boardman. She was perfectly able to walk when she went away. But we heard of many unkind things that were said because of our action in sending her away. She was as well as she had been in a year. We could not keep her and enforce any discipline in regard to her; besides, she would terrorize the other patients, who often could not sleep on account of her. Mrs. Hopkins. It was a very difficult case and the only one where we have had to take the action we did. We had a man who was practically insane, but we struggled through with him until he died. Fortunately for us, he was paralyzed and helpless. Our aim is to take everyone who comes within our rules. We are more than willing to have people come and investigate the home. The Commissioner of Charities has been there once or twice, and he thought it was the CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 213 best-managed institution of its kind that had ever come under his observation, though he had some suggestions to make. I suppose there are mistakes, but I do not think any of you have any idea of how diffi- cult it is to run this home and care for these people, and to do it with the smallest possible amount. I think the average is $12.25 apiece a month, including everybody-patients and employees. We pay our matron and the resident physician; that we have been compelled to do lately. Mrs. Boardman. Twenty-five dollars a month. Mrs. Hopkins. I worked it out last year, and that amount covered everything. It is an average of about $8.10 a month, or less than 40 cents a head. That includes management, light, doctors, surgical appli- ances, and everything. Bepresentative Pitney. And clothing? Mrs. Hopkins. Clothing when necessary. Of course we always try to see that each patient is clothed. This year we had four or five funerals, costing probably about $30 apiece. That amount would be necessary to have them respectable. All that class of items enter into the expense. I do not think it is possible to do the work for less. Mrs. Boardman. We have just got in an improved light in the cor- ridor, the gift of Mrs. Mackey-Smith, who is a member of the board. Mrs. Hopkins. Two-thirds of the patients never leave their beds, day or night, which makes a great expense for attendance, etc., and then there are the surgical appliances, besides the water bags, etc., that have to be kept warm all the time. Mrs. Boardman. The expense for fuel is very great. Mrs. Hopkins. In winter we have to run the elevator by hand, because we have not money enough to do it otherwise. There is a sort of impression in Congress, I think, that we are a kind of gilt edged charity, because a few fashionable ladies are interested in our work. Senator McMillan. You have got along pretty well so far1? Mrs. Hopkins. We have, but it has been with a very great deal of difficulty. Bepresentative Pitney. The objection to the appropriation has not been, as I understand, that it is not a good institution. The argument has been that this work should be done either wholly by private or wholly by public institutions; that the public work can be done in the public institutions and the private work in private institutions. This appropriation is one that I had the honor to recommend in Congress, and 1 do not take back that recommendation at all; but I remember that those who favored the appropriation were met with the point that it was an institution to which moneys from private sources were con- tributed; that private contributors ought to have the credit of the work, and that it would not be materially benefited by the receipt of the amount proposed to be contributed from the public Treasury. Bepresentative Northway. Congress has no control over this money that is thus donated by it, and the Government can not make contracts for patients. It simply gives you the money, and the question is asked, If Congress does that for one institution, why not for all such institu- tions'? Bepresentative Pitney. You see, Mrs. Hopkins, it is a question ot where the line is to be drawn. Mrs. Hopkins. I would not ask for this appropriation if I had not broken down completely in the struggle to raise the money. I found myself a short time ago with a balance of only $30 on hand, knowing 214 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. that within the next thirty days I would have to raise several hundred dollars more. Mrs. Boardman. These people belong to the District and they are poor. I do not believe the District could do the work any more economically than we do it for the District in that institution. If we did not support those people at the minimum of cost, then of course it would be dilferent. If we can make them comfortable at a rate as low as anyone else can do it, the money would surely be well appropriated. It would be dreadful to feel that every month we should have to make such effort as we have been lately obliged to make. Representative Pitney. Yet that is the system on which all the great missions of the world are conducted. They go beyond their means in order to stimulate the spirit of charity among the people of the churches. Mrs. Hopkins. But is it honest to take patients when we have not the money to pay for their board! Is it honest to tradespeople to run up bills when we have not money with which to pay them! Mr. Northway. We are met with the question in Congress-I do not say whether it is or is not a wise one-where shall be the dividing line? Mrs. Hopkins. Wherever the relatives or friends of patients have been in the habit of keeping them or paying for their board we have always taken the ground that they must contribute the same amount to us. Senator McMillan. That is right. Mrs. Hopkins. For instance, in the case of a patient that was brought to us a little while ago by her sister, I asked the question, " What does your sister cost you now?" and she said " $25 a month." Then 1 said, "Pay us that amount." Representative Pitney. What do you do if they do not agree to those terms! Mrs. Hopkins. We do not take the patient. Representative Pitney. And in case you take the patient, on their agreement to pay, and then they do not pay after all, what do you do? Mrs. Hopkins. That is the real difficulty. It is, of course, better for the patient and for the general public that they should pay. Representative Pitney. You do find a practical difficulty, however, in that way, I suppose! Mrs. Hopkins. We do. Last year we had a man who was a patient whose relatives had been paying for him and paid us for him a certain amount a month. The relative lost his place, and we took less after- wards, on the ground that the party could not pay more. Mrs. Boardman. There was one case of a lady as to whom we tried to secure a guaranty, knowing that the patient ought to remain. I do not think that payment has ever lapsed. Representative Pitney. I suppose it would not be possible for them to give a bond in all cases? Mrs. Hopkins. In many of those cases the money is furnished through small subscriptions by each of a number of friends. The largest contributions for many of these women is only a dollar. They are paid for many times by clerks in the Departments, who give a quarter of a dollar or fifty cents each. Representative Pitney. How do you buy your supplies? Mrs. Hopkins. We found that we could not get along any better or any more economically by paying for each item as we bought it, so, partly on that account, and partly because we did not always have the ready money, we established the system of buying in quantities at CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 215 the end of the month. The bills, when made out, are examined by the executive committee. Representative Pitney. What is the District supply system? Airs. Hopkins. 1 think the Commissioners receive bids. 1 found that 1 could not manage that. 1 had bids last year for the coal- arranging to buy it in August and paying for it and having it put in. That is more economical than buying it in smaller quantities. We also made a contract with the electric light people of Georgetown. They asked me how much our gas bills had been, and 1 told them it was $590 a year. They said they would make a contract with us for light so that it would never exceed that amount, and that it would be less if the amount of light consumed were less. We contracted to put that light in, as it was safer than gas for patients of that character. Senator McMillan. If there are no other questions which any mem- ber of the committee desires to ask, we will proceed to hear the repre- sentatives of the Columbia Hospital, if they are present. COLUMBIA HOSPITAL. Dr. Sternberg. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the committee: The president of the board of directors of the Columbia Hospital, Mr. Wilson, was not able to come here to day. The board of directors had a meeting last evening and appointed a committee of two, Mr. Francis S. Smith, who has been a director of the hospital for a long time, and myself, and we are here to answer the questions which have been asked and which may further be asked by your committee. The Columbia Hospital, as I suppose you know, is a Government institution. The land and buildings belong to the Government, and the directors are appointed by the District Commissioners-that is, those who are not appointed by the Senate. There is one Senator (at present Senator Faulkner, of West Virginia) and two members of the House (at present Mr. Coflin and Mr. Livingston). The other mem- bers are appointed by the District Commissioners, and one of the Commissioners is himself a member of the board. The hospital is supported by the annual appropriation from the Gov- ernment of $20,000 and by a much smaller sum collected from pay patients-there being a certain number of rooms where persons are accommodated who are able to pay for their treatment. The amount received from the pay patients is about $3,000, or a little over, a year. Representative Pitney. It was $3,040 last year. Dr. Sternberg. Yes; $3,940. 1 suppose you are familiar with the kind of work done by this hos- pital. It is a hospital peculiarly for women. Many come there for surgical treatment. Many pay patients require the best of skill on the part of surgeons. It is an expensive hospital, because the cases oper- erated on require very close and careful attention. There is at the hospital a lying-in department. The average number of babies at the hospital during the year was 9.89. The average num- ber of patients was 46.54. Senator Martin. That is the average for what time? Dr. Sternberg. It is the daily average. Representative Pitney. For how many days after birth is a child kept there? Dr. Sternberg. The figures I have given mean that there were 9 babies present every day in the year; that is the daily number present Representative Pitney. Do you mean that there were 9 births every day? 216 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Dr. Sternberg. No. Representative Pitney. How many births were there in the hospital during the year. Miss Underhill. There were 277 babies born there during the year. Dr. Sternberg. Miss Underhill is the superintendent of the hos- pital. Miss Underhill. That is a little under the number of the year before. There were over 300 babies born there the year before. Dr. Sternberg. The second question of the committee is with refer- ence to the comparative cost of maintenance of hospitals in Washington and other States. I am not prepared to speak about other States. I have not had the opportunity to look that matter up. The cost per day at the Columbia Hospital, taking the total amount of the Government appropriation and the total amount received from pay patients, and dividing that by the number of inmates of the hospital, is $1,163 per day. That includes various items, such as medical and surgical appliances, books, station- ery, furniture, housekeeping supplies, insurance, and incidentals. All those items come into that general total. I have made another estimate as to the cost for subsistence alone. I make it 44 cents, taking the items of subsistence alone. Senator Martin. That is, 44 cents per patient per day for subsist- ence? Dr. Sternberg. Yes. Your third question relates to the income from patients. I have already said that that sum amounted $3,940 for the last year-the amount received from pay patients. Your next question is, Do persons come to Washington to secure free treatment at District expense? The patients are admitted there, I think, without any very special investigation as to whether they are real residents of the District or not. Is not that so, Mr. Smith? Mr. Francis S. Smith. Yes. Most of those who are not, however, are women who live in the adjoining regions-in Maryland and Vir- ginia-who require surgical treatment that it is impossible to get otherwise than at a city hospital. Dr. Sternberg. Among those admitted we had 506 who were resi- dents of the District of Columbia, 30 who were residents of Maryland, and 135 who were residents of Virginia. Then there were some from other States, such as one from Alabama, one from New Hampshire, and two from Michigan, and so on. Representative Northway. That is, residents of those States at the time they were admitted to the hospital? Dr. Sternberg. Those are the States of which they are recorded to be citizens, which I suppose is intended to indicate that they belong to those States. They are people who required surgical treatment, and they could not get it in the vicinity here-either in Maryland or Vir- ginia. When they apply they are taken to a ward and they are treated without reference to the fact that they are not citizens of the District. Your next question is as to "The training of nurses as a part of hospital work." We have a training school for nurses. Miss Underhill is in charge of it, as well as being superintendent of the hospital. There are fifteen nurses there undergoing training, constantly employed in the hospital, getting the practical instruction-doing the work of the hospital and having lectures from the medical staff and special instruction from the superintendent. It has in that respect proved to be a very useful CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 217 institution indeed. While they are learning to be trained nurses they are doing the work of the hospital. Your last question relates to the connection between the hospitals and the colleges of medicine. There is no such connection between this institution and the colleges. The medical staff are selected by the directors because of their special ability for doing the kind of work required there, and the hospital is not a place where instruction is given to medical students. Occasionally medical students may be admitted by one of the physicians by special invitation, but there is no connec- tion with any college and no considerable number of medical students that attend it. We made quite a full report in reply to the printed list of questions sent in by your committee, which you have on file, and I do not know that there is anything more that I wish to say unless you have some special questions that you wish to ask me. Representative Northway. Are there any salaried officers about the hospital f Dr. Sternberg. Yes; the treasurer. Representative Northway. Is he a Government official or not? Dr. Sternberg. Yes; he is employed in the Geological Survey as disbursing officer. Representative Northway. Does he get a salary there? Dr. Sternberg. He does. Representative Northway. Do you know what salary? Dr. Sternberg. I do not know. Representative Northway. What salary is he getting as treasurer of the hospital? Dr. Sternberg. Six hundred dollars a year. Representative Northway. What are his duties? Dr. Sternberg. His duties are to keep all the accounts, and, under the direction of the executive committee, he keeps the books. Does he do any of the purchasing himself, Mr. Smith? Mr. Smith. No; he makes out all the vouchers, and makes the settle- ment with the disbursing officer of the Treasury. Representative Northway. Is his salary fixed by law or by the board of directors? Dr. Sternberg. That I do not know. I understand he gives a bond of $ 10,0(10. He is required to make out his accounts to the Treasury Department. Representative Northway. You have spoken of the pay patients furnishing a considerable amount of money. How long has that been so? Dr. Sternberg. I believe that has been so for a considerable period of time. Representative Northway. How much is the amount usually re- ceived ? Dr. Sternberg. For the past year over $3,000. Mr. Smith. It sometimes reaches $5,000. Dr. Sternberg. But it has fallen off?* *In response to inquiry regarding the pay-patient fund of Columbia Hospital, the treasurer states that the following amounts were received during the period from 1890 to 1896, viz : Fiscal year ending June 30- 1890 $4,881.00 1891 2, 574. 00 1892 4,444. 00 1893 5, 238.. 00 1894 3, 395. 00 1895 2,089.00 1896 3, 936. 20 218 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Mr. Smith. Yes; it has fallen off during the dull times. Representative Northway. Can this amount be increased? Dr. Sternberg. I presume not, because we have vacant rooms. J do not know how we could increase it. It has been suggested in the board that as this is a Government institution and is on Government land and is supported by the Government appropriations, perhaps if the Government would make a suitable appropriation to run it, it would be better to let the Government run it and do away with the pay patients altogether. Representative Northway. Are those pay patients furnished with a physician free, or can they hire their own physician? Dr. Sternberg. They can hire their own physician, but as I under- stand it they are treated by the physicians of the hospital free of charge. Is not that so, Dr. Stone ? Dr. Stone. Yes, sir. Dr. Sternberg. They are admitted to what are called the pay patients' ward, and when they are by themselves they pay so much per week for their accommodations, but they get their surgical treatment free. Representative Northway. You have said that the average per day of expense was about §1.16. Dr. Sternberg. Yes. Representative Northway. ITow does that compare with the expense of hospitals in other cities? Dr. Sternberg. I could not say that. I have not had the opportu- nity to make any investigation. Dr. Stone, perhaps, has some informa- tion on that subject. Dr. Stone. You wish to know the comparative cost of the Columbian Hospital with other hospitals in this city, and then with hospitals in other cities, such as Philadelphia, etc.-is that the idea? Representative Northway. Yes. Dr. Stone. I have not that information with me. Mr. Smith. Some years ago there was quite an extensive investiga- tion made on that subject in comparison with hospitals in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston, New York, and Chicago, and at that time the cost of maintenance in the Columbian Hospital was less than in almost any other. I could not give you the exact figures now, but this was within the last three or four years. Representative Northway. Is not the average cost of §1.16 an extravagant cost? Dr. Stone. The Surgeon General mentioned at the outset that this is necessarily an expensive hospital from the fact that a considerable portion of those who are in the surgical department are those who are desperately sick. They are what are called capital operations. Representative Northway. Right there let me ask, do the surgical operations cost anything or are they free? Dr. Stone. The surgical operations are free, but when a woman comes out from one of those operations she comes out between life and death, and requires two nurses-the constant attendance of a nurse in the daytime and the constant attendance of a nurse at night, whereas in the average general hospital two nurseswill ordinarily care for 15 or 20 patients. Representative Northway. What do you pay for nurses? Dr. Stone. Nine dollars a month. For two years they are there. The first year they are in other portions of the hospital not requiring so great skill, and are working up to the last year, when they can attend these surgical operations and surgical patients. 219 CHARITIES and reformatory institutions. Representative Northway. That is the work requiring greatest skill? Dr. Sternberg. Yes. 1 want to make clear to the committee some- thing that I was not entirely sure about before. Dr. Stone informs me that the surgeons are allowed to charge pay-patients a small fee for the surgical operations. Representative Northway. That is, the surgeons at the hospital? Dr. Sternberg. Not the house surgeons, but those outside who come there. Representative Northway. Not the surgeons connected with the hospital? Dr. Sternberg. No. There is no payment to them. Dr. Stone. The staff of the hospital are allowed to make a charge to pay-patients. Representative Northway. That is the rule in hospitals generally, 1 believe? Dr. Stone. Yes. Representative Northway. Now, there being no pay for the opera- tion, no charge for medical attention after the operation, nurses cost only $9 per month, 1 wish you would explain how the cost of these opera- tions becomes so heavy? Dr. Sternberg. From the fact that these surgical cases require a great deal in the way of dressings, a great deal of material is used up in that way; also material such as chloroform and so on; then there is the constant attention of two nurses, as described-all this makes it very expensive indeed. Dr. Stone. We all know that the Woman's Hospital in New York is the parent hospital of this sort of work. Our hospital is modeled very largely on that, in every respect. We take the same class of cases that they do. One year, when our report was made out, about three or four- years ago, they received $60,000 a year income, while we received only $20,000. We had the same number of patients that they had. You can at once see that our expense was relatively less. The cost of main- tenance of our patients was one dollar and something per head, and the cost of the Woman's Hospital patients was a great (leal more. Representative Northway. When patients die at the hospital, how are they buried? Dr. Stone. 1 have been only comparing the two classes of expenses. Our hospital is one-half less, I think, than the Women's Hospital, doing the same work; but in answer to your last question I would say that patients on going out are usually sent to their friends. If they die there they are taken charge of by their friends. It is very rarely the case that they are taken anywhere but to their friends. Representative Northway. The entire expense of the hospital is borne by the Government, is it? Dr. Sternberg. With the exception of this amount mentioned. Representative Northway. Do you find a balance left over? Dr. Sternberg. We find the amount insufficient. I have made a plea before the committee of the House, but it seems an unfortunate time. We need money for renovating the hospital. We need money for a new laboratory apparatus and money for hospital furniture. As 1 said before the committee of the House, I really feel ashamed of this Government institution. 1 have been a director a little over a year. All the Government hospitals I know about have substantial apparatus and furniture. This hospital looks as if it were an almshouse. 1 am sure that if the members of Congress saw the hospital they would want it to be so equipped as to be a credit to the Government. 220 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Representative Northway. You say that the patients come from the various States'? Dr. Sternberg. Yes. Representative Northway. Have you ever examined to see whether this hospital applies to residents of the States or only residents of the District of Columbia? Dr. Sternberg. I have not looked into that. Mr. Smith may be able to say something with regard to that. [To Mr. Francis S. Smith:] Can you tell the committee whether there is anything in the law on that subject? Mr. Smith. The object of the hospital, as stated in the charter, is to provide for the people of the District of Columbia. There are no pro- hibitory clauses in it. A very considerable number of those cases are what you would call emergency cases. They are cases of women who are desperately sick, with desperate tumors or something of that kind, and are brought there for treatment. They could not very well be turned away. Representative Northway. Patients are received from the other States without reference to whether they are pay patients or not, and are cared for at the expense of the hospital? Mr. Smith. They either come as emergency cases or they come in pursuance of some correspondence. They do not come without refer- ence to where they come from. Representative Northway. You do not have patients come here from Pennsylvania, for example, and dumped down at the door of the hospital without knowing where they are coming from? Mr. Smith. No; but when informed by a respectable physician in Fairfax County, Va., for example, that a woman has an ovarian tumor that will shortly terminate her life unless she receives the benefit of proper treatment at a hospital such as ours, she is admitted. Dr. Stone. That is invariably left to the superintendent or one of the physicians who is called upon to make the operation. They are supposed to know something of the case. Representative Northway. Do you know whether the physicians ever suggest that in Philadelphia and other cities there are hospitals where such cases are treated? Mr. Smith. We do not have cases from there. They come from the vicinity of Washington. Dr. Stone. We hardly carry it so far as that. Representative Northway. 1 do not know just how a citizen of Pennsylvania can properly come in here to a hospital for the patients of the District of Columbia. Representative Pitney. I was out for a moment when you were speaking of the treasurer. You spoke of the treasurer being paid, did you not? Dr. Sternberg. Yes; he gets $600 a year from the pay-patient fund. Representative Northway. And he is a Government officer? Dr. Sternberg. He is a Government employee. He has a fund appropriated by Congress, $20,000, for which he accounts, but the pay-patient fund is not accounted for by him except to the board of directors, as 1 understand it. Representative Pitney. Then properly his salary is chargeable against the appropriation from the Government? Dr. Sternberg. It is paid from this special fund. Representative Pitney. If this treasurer were not paid $600 a year you would have that much more money to work with, or else Congress would not have to appropriate so much? CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 221 Dr. Sternberg. Yes; but when you have to keep a eorrect system of accounts and keep them according to the requirements of the Treas- ury Department, you can hardly expect to get that work done without compensation. This gentlemen has to give a bond. Representative Pitney. Is he a public officer ? Dr. Sternberg. He is a clerk in the Geological Survey. Representative Pitney. And gets a salary for that position, I sup- pose? Dr. Sternberg. Yes. Before the present incumbent had this work to do an officer of the Army of high rank was treasurer of the hospi- tal. It has been the custom of many years-I can not say how long- to give that salary to the treasurer. Representative Pitney. I was wondering whether you could not get along without that expense, by having the accounts kept at the District oilices, or something of that kind? Dr. Sternberg. I do not see how we could very well get that sort of work done as volunteer work. The directors all give their services gratuitously, and the executive committee have a good deal of work to do. There are very frequent visits necessary, and they oversee repairs, etc. It requires a great deal of attention; but when it comes to keep- ing the accounts I do not suppose any of them would be willing to do that. Representative Pitney. Does your medical or surgical staff receive any pay? Dr. Sternberg. No, no pay whatever is given to the medical or surgical staff. Representative Pitney. You have no resident physicians? Dr. Sternberg. Yes, we have three resident physicians. The resi- dent physician did receive $30 a month up to a year ago, but we thought that the advantages to him and the experience he got would be com- pensation to him, and we now pay no salary to any of the house staff. Senator Martin. Does anyone else desire to say anything about the hospital ? Mr. Smith. I should like to say a few words. I have been connected with the hospital almost ever since its organization. If you care to know its history, I would say that it was organized early in the war as an emergency institution for the benefit of the widows of soldiers who were here and who were without other means of treatment for obstetri- cal cases. It was organized mainly for a private institution-the char- ter was given for that purpose. Afterwards the work was considered important enough to continue it. Later on the Government agreed to assume the responsibility of it by paying for the ground and the erec- tion of the building and for its maintenance, except so far as supple- mented by the pay-patient fund. A question has been asked with respect to the pay of the treasurer. Hospitals have very considerable experience on that subject. They have had some irregularities, as they almost always will have where a person has to account under the strict rules of the Treasury without knowing the rules. The Surgeon-General has mentioned that the treasurer before the present treasurer was a high officer of the Army, and received the same salary that the present treasurer does. The work of the treasurer is performed outside of his office hours- the hours devoted to his work in the Geological Survey. The question never has been raised as to the rightfulness of this payment, but the experience of the directors has been that it is a good thing to have a STATEMENT OF MR. FRANCIS S. SMITH. 222 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. gentleman who is able to discharge these duties and pay him something for it. We have not been able to get this service done without pay. The question was asked whether a larger amount of pay-patient fund could be obtained. I should answer that in the affirmative. One dif- ficulty in respect to the very best class of pay patients has been the insufficiency of accommodations. 1 can say in respect to the administration of the financial affairs of the hospital that they are in the hands of prominent and experienced busi- ness men of Washington, who give a large amount of time to the work, and who direct the economy of the hospital in respect to every detail of the expenses of the institution to a degree that I do not believe is practiced in any Government institution in the country. Nc*ae that I know of or have ever heard of. The furniture in the hospital, for want of funds to renovate it, has become in very bad condition, and is still in very bad condition. The hospital itself is badly out of repair, and, during the last year, out of an appropriation that Congress made for that purpose, it has been very considerably renovated, but nothing whatever has been able to be spared for the furniture. Ten or fifteen years ago Congress made appropriations for the cur- rent expenses every year of $25,000 or more, when we had a number of pay patients very considerably less than we have now, and the direct- ors were, I may say, persons representing the whole United States, such as Senators, Representatives, and our Commissioners. The whole thing is in the hands of official persons, who have been urging from year to year a larger appropriation for the current expenses. It is not possible with the utmost economy to get through without being behind- hand at every point. But we still make a living and get along. According to the information we have, our hospital does more very skillful surgery than perhaps any other institution in the country of its size. Senator Martin. Is anyone else present connected with the hos- pital1? Dr. Sternberg. Miss Underhill, the superintendent of the training- school for nurses, is here. I do not know whether you have any ques- tions that you wish to ask her about that part of the work or not. Miss Underhill. If there are any questions the committee wish to ask me about the training school for nurses I shall be happy to give them every information with regard to it. Mr. Pitney. You may make a brief statement with reference to it, so that we may have the information on our minutes. Miss Underhill. The training school for nurses is not confined to our hospital but is also connected with the Children's Hospital; that gives the nurses the benefit of training at both institutions. The school was organized in 1891, and we have graduated, I think, four classes. The remuneration of the nurses has been mentioned. 1 would make one statement in regard to that. That is, that the nurses at Columbian Hospital labor under a very great disadvantage on account of the way in which the building is planned. Any of you who know about the hospital know, I believe, that it was not intended originally for a hos- pital. I understand that it was formerly the seat of one of the lega- tions, and the consequence is that the house itself is planned altogether differently from other hospitals. That is, instead of having a large STATEMENT OF MISS UNDERHILL. CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 223 ward where the work is on a level, there is a ward upstairs and a ward downstairs, and the wards are cut up into small rooms, so that it makes the work particularly hard for the nurses. If the place were differently planned we could with the same number of nurses, perhaps, take care of more patients. As it is, it is spread over considerable ground. Of the fifteen nurses there are two that are always detailed on special duty. In the case of capital operations the patients are kept in separate rooms, irrespective of whether they are pay patients or free patients, colored or white. For forty-eight hours or longer after an operation the patients require two nurses; that is, a day nurse and a night nurse. They are for a certain length of time in very great danger. That course is not, I think, pursued in all hospitals of this kind. In some hospitals patients of this character are moved right back into the ward from which they are first taken, unless they have paid for a room. We do not do that. With us that class of patients are all kept in separate rooms until they are entirely out of danger. Representative Pitney. You speak now of the very serious opera- tions only? Miss Underhill. Yes. Last quarter I think we had 45 or 48 of those capital operations. 1 wish to say one thing in regard to the expense. I think very few persons except those intimately connected with the hospital, or those who have knowledge of such operations, have any idea of the number of persons who have to be utilized in one operation. We use about 9 persons in one operation. That is a great deal of labor. There is, for instance, the doctor and his two or three assistants, and the nurses, and the men who have to convey the patient to and from the room, and who do other work in connection with the operation. We have graduated now about 30 nurses. Representative Pitney. In the four classes? Miss Underhill. Yes. Of course, the number in the graduating class does not always pass the examination, although there have been only one or two instances in which they have not passed. Sometimes in a class of ten, perhaps more than that, before the time for graduation comes some have dropped out for one reason or another. There is so much really to be told about the nurses and about the training school that I must coniine myself to answering such questions about them as you may wish to put to me. Representative Pitney. State briefly what your system is. Miss Underhill. The nurses stay there for two years. They come first for a month or longer on probation. We take nurses only as vacancies occur. In busy times we do not have a large number and in dull times a less number. We have a certain number of nurses, and in a stress of work we have to manage by keeping some of the nurses on duty longer, or something of that kind. The nurses that I engage stay at the Columbia Hospital eighteen months and at the Children's Hospital six months. Those engaged at the Children's Hospital stay there for eighteen months and at our place for six months. The exchange is arranged in that way in order that the nurses may receive an all-round training. It gives them training- in the work of both hospitals, both classes of work being indispensable to their training. Without such instruction they could not undertake to do nursing. No one can take care of a sick child-no one will under- stand it-except those who have been accustomed to being with them, and no one recognizes the fact that the person is accustomed to children 224 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. as quickly as the child itself. The other class of patients are the obstet- rical patients. Columbia is the only lying in hospital of the District. I think there is only one other hospital in the city that takes any obstet- rical cases at all, and I think their facilities are very limited for that. So that you see the training is particularly valuable at our institution. In this way we are able to furnish trained nurses to people-nurses trained in these two very important branches. Representative Pitney. Do you pay salaries or wages to the nurses while they are learning? Miss Underhill. They receive $9 a month, which is simply con- sidered and spoken of as an allowance for their books and their uniforms; they are not like those who come to us as on salary. They come for the sake of the education-they wish to enter the profession. Mr. Smith. The lectures given to the nurses are given from the joint staff of both hospitals? Miss Underhill. The doctors of both hospitals form the faculty, of which one of the members of the board of the Children's Hospital is dean. These doctors lecture to the nurses from October to May. Besides that, they have their weekly classes, which are conducted by the super- intendent of the Children's Hospital and by myself. We make out a schedule at the beginning of the year, so that our classes are exactly alike. We are teaching the same things on the same night, so that when the nurses go on duty they are not getting the same instruction twice over. They take up the lesson where it was left off. Mr. Smith. You have had applications from the nurses trained in hospitals outside the city-Johns Hopkins, for example-to be admitted to Columbian Hospital in order to supplement their course? Miss Underhill. Yes; we have had nurses from Johns Hopkins come to us for the sake of the obstetrical character of our training. I have had many applications of that character from all parts of the country. Dr. Sternberg. With the permission of the committee, I would like to ask Miss Underhill one question. 1 should like to inquire of Miss Underhill what would be the proper salary for one of those nurses at the time of graduation, if you were to pay one. We pay $9 a month. What do they command outside? Miss Underhill. When the nurses go out to private families, they get, as a rule, $3 a day, but many of the nurses have done a large amount of charity work during the past year and in fact ever since the registry has been in existence. It has been so ever since we have had graduates. They are frequently called upon by doctors to come to places where the people would be greatly benefited by such assistance, but who are not willing to pay for it, and they have gone to those places just as cheerfully and as willingly as if they were paid. Representative Pitney. The people desiring to employ trained nurses can get them through the physicians of the District? Miss Underhill. Yes. We keep a list of nurses at the hospital-of those at the Children's Hospital and at the Columbia, and the directors are very willing that we should use the telephone for the purpose of communication in such cases. Physicians or families who want to have nurses can telephone to me, giving me the address, and I send a nurse directly to them. Most of the hospitals are connected by telephone, and if anyone wants a nurse, as is frequently the case, the nurse is wanted at once. If one nurse happens to be out, we telephone somewhere else and get another. If people were to go to one address for a nurse and CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 225 found the nurse not in, and should thru go to another and found her not in, a great deal of time would be consumed, which would be to the detriment of the patient. We can always get nurses by telephone, and if a doctor wants a particular nurse, we can always tell him by tele- phone whether that nurse is in or not in. Representative Pitney. It is a sort of clearing house for nurses ? Miss Underhill. Yes; it has been very satisfactory indeed. The only difficulty is that the registry is not as well known as we would like it to be. It is comparatively new. It has been in existence only about three years, but in the last eight months we have had about 80 calls which we have supplied. Representative Pitney Where do you get the patients who come to your lying-in asylum; are they all local applicants'? Miss Underhill. A great many of them are; 1 think a majority of them are. Representative Pitney. Are there any pay patients there, or are they all poor patients? Miss Underhill. We have just three low-priced rooms. We have fewer pay patients among the obstetrical patients than among the other surgical patients. Representative Pitney. How do they gain admittance to the lying- in hospital? Miss Underhill. Sometimes they simply come up there, and at the time we take them right in without any inquiry whatever. Others come to the dispensary. Some are sent in by doctors who know of the conditions and know that they are poor people and can not afford to pay a physician, but we get a great many emergency cases-that is, women in labor, who come in and perhaps in a very short time, some- times in a very few minutes, are brought to labor. Representative Pitney. You know nothing about the management of the institution so as to inform us how much that obstetrical branch of the work costs, and the caring for the child, in proportion to the whole cost of the work? Miss Underhill. Of course, that is not so very expensive. I am not prepared to say, however, exactly how expensive it is. We use a great quantity of dressings. The lying in patients have their dressings changed probably six times in the first twenty-four hours, and twelve times after that for forty eight hours. These changes depend on the necessity for the changes, and, with a considerable number of patients, that amounts to a great deal. On the surgical side of the house we frequently have patients who have their dressings changed three or four times a day, and on that side dressings are very much more expen- sive than on the other. The surgical supplies are very much increased, of course, by the ether, which is a very expensive article, and so with chloroform. Those are very expensive items. Representative Pitney. Has anything been said as to the system of admittance to this hospital, and what requirement is enforced as to residence, etc. ? Senator Martin. Something has been said about that. Dr. Sternberg. That was brought out, I think, pretty fully when I was making my statement. Miss Underhill. I would like to leave these circulars with thecom- mittee, in case any one of them should like to look over them. They are the circulars that give the course of instruction for the nurses. Representative Pitney. You may leave them. S. Doc. 185 15 226 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. TRAINING SCHOOL FOR NURSES. A school of nursing, giving two years' practical and theoretical instruction, has been established at the Columbia and Children's hospitals. Applicants are received at any time during the year when there is a vacancy. Those wishing to obtain this course of instruction must make formal application to the superintendent of Columbia Hospital, upon whose approval they will bo received for one month on probation. The most acceptable age for applicants is from twenty-three to thirty-three years. They should send, with answers to the paper of questions, a letter from a clergyman, testifying to their good moral char- acter, and from a physician, stating that they are in sound health. The superintendent has full power to decide as to the applicants' litness for the work and the propriety of retaining or dismissing them at the end of the month of trial. The right is reserved to dismiss a pupil at any time for sufficient cause. During the month of probation, as during the two years' instruction, pupils receive board and laundry work at the expense of the school. Those who prove satisfactory will be accepted as pupil nurses. They will reside in the institution and receive their training in the wards of the hospitals, and will be expected to perform any duty assigned them by the superintendent. An allowance of $9 a month is made for the uniform and text-books and is in nowise intended as salary, it being considered that the education given is a full equivalent for the service. They are required, after the month of probation, when on duty, to wear the uniform prescribed by the school. The day nurses are on duty from 8 a. m. to 8 p. m., with a half hour for dinner, and additional time for exercise or rest when it does not interfere with the hospital duties. They are also generally given an afternoon during the week and half of Sunday. A vacation of two weeks is allowed each year. It is not proposed to place nurses on night duty until they have been in the school three months. In sickness all pupils will be cared for gratuitously. All time lost must be made up at the end of the term. The instruction includes: 1. Care of wards and private rooms, with the principles of ventilating and warm- ing the same. 2. Bed making, changing bed and body linen while patient is in bed, baths, man- agement of helpless patients, prevention and treatment of bed sores. 3. Application and dressing of blisters, preparation and application of fomentations, poultices, and cups; administration of enemata, and the use of the catheter. 4. Observation of temperature, pulse, respiration, secretions, and excretions. 5. Administration of medicines, stimulants and nutriment, and the keeping of suitable records. 6. Disinfection and prevention of disease. 7. Care of patients before, during, and after operation. 8. Care of burns, wounds, and ulcers; control of hemorrhage and artificial respira- tion. 9. Bandage making and bandaging; padding splints; preparation of aseptic and antiseptic dressing; care, names, anil uses of instruments. 10. The care of obstetrical patients. 11. The preparation of food for the sick. The instruction will be given by the superintendent and head nurses. Lectures, recitations, and demonstrations will take place from time to time, and examinations at stated periods. When the full term of two years is ended, the nurses will be at liberty to choose their own field of labor, either in hospitals, private families, or in district nursing among the poor. Upon completing the course, after satisfactorily passing the final examination, they will receive the diploma of the school. STATEMENT OF MR. J. A. FRANK, SANITARY OFFICER. Representative Pitney. What is your official position? Mr. Frank. I am the sanitary officer of the police department. Representative Pitney. What are your duties? Mr. Frank. They vary. The first, and what I consider the most important, duty is the inquiring into and sending indigent persons to the various hospitals; secondly, preparing papers, under proper affi- davits, etc., for the attorney of the District of Columbia in respect to 227 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. sending persons to the Government Hospital for the Insane; and third, furnishing transportation to worthy persons on proper representation from responsible officers. Representative Pitney. Transportation to where? IMr. Frank. Transportation ont of the District of Columbia to their homes or as near thereto as possible. There is an appropriation made in the District of Columbia appropriation bill every year by Congress for that purpose-for the purpose of taking indigent persons out of the District. Representative Pitney. You mean to rid the District of the persons who are not to be chargeable to it? Mr. Frank. Well, that is so; but there are some very worthy persons here who come for various reasons to the District of Columbia, either seeking offices or having private work and losing their employment, and who remain here in the hope of getting work. I will say that Senators and Representatives sometimes send their constituents to me. That is an outline of my work generally. Representative Pitney. The first branch of it is what we would like to hear about somewhat in detail. You have charge of the work, or of seeing to it, that indigent persons get to hospital here, do you ? Mr. Frank. Yes, I will say first that there are 20 physicians to the poor appointed by the health officer of the District of Columbia. They have certain districts throughout the entire city and District of Columbia. There are 20 such districts for physicians to the poor, and on a certificate prepared for that purpose from any physician, no matter whether a physician to the poor or not, and sent to the sanitary office, a person is sent to any hospital he might suggest, provided there is room in the hospital, and if he is a proper patient for that hospital. Y person is more apt to recover in a hospital adapted to his case than he would otherwise, but sometimes a man likes one hospital better than another. Unless he has a preference, we send him to the hospital nearest to his home. • Then, frequently, cases of accident occur on the street, to which my attention is called perhaps by telephone. I have an ambulance. If the accident occurs on Capitol Hill, 1 send the patient to the Providence Hospital, generally, and if at the other end of town, to the other hos- pitals, one or the other of them up there. Old people or people sick, halt, or blind come to me, may be three or four or five of them in a day, without a physician's certificate, but any man could tell that they were sick by a casual glance at them. This is sometimes the c >se becaus ' of want of proper nourishment, or from exposure in a severe v inter, ai d frequently from age. I hardly demand of them a physician's certificate; it is not necessary. Any man can see for himself that they are sick. Their appearance and their clothing go to indicate that they are not able to look out for themselves financially or physically. I send them to a hospital. Some of them go to the Washington Asylum Hospital in connection with the Almshouse. They have a visiting physician and a house physician and two or three or more students-1 do not know just how many students they have. Representative Pitney. You have furnished us with the first of your set of blanks; are there any others? Mr. Frank. Here (handing a paper to Mr. Pitney) is a form that I thought would explain better than anything I could say, especially as I am talking to lawyers-the mode by which we send indigent persons to the insane asylum. One of those is for nonresidents-some known as cranks, sometimes a ''Senatorial" or "Presidential" crank, who 228 charities and reformatory institutions. imagines that he lias been elected to office and comes here to take the office and is arrested by the police for eccentricity or what not. He is perhaps sent to a hospital for the insane or somewhere else to be cared for for a time until we can come to understand his case. Section 4846 of the Revised Statutes provides, 1 think, for cases of that kind. In the case of minor children or married women, they are covered by section 4850 of the Revised Statutes-I am speaking of the class of indigent persons with whom 1 have to deal. Section 4854 provides for pay patients, but those that I have to do with are indigent patients. In other cases the law provides that 13 jurors may be impaneled-a law which the District of Columbia inherited from the State of Mary- land years ago. They are sent up on the examination of two physicians and some laymen. The physicians examine them carefully. Frequently the jurors also inquire into the matter themselves. Then the lay wit- nesses testify whether or not the party has any property. If he has, they tell what it is, and what it is worth, or for how much it rents by the year, and whether the party is married or single, and if married the name of the wife or husband, and if they have any property the name or names of the agents of the property. All this is to show whether they are really indigent, and also whether they have any per- sons depending upon them for a living or support. Representative Pitney. Let us understand first about insane patients. They come to one or the other of the hospitals or to the almshouse under three different modes of practice. Is that so? Mr. Frank. No, sir. Representative Pitney. Such patients come under the certificate of a physician, do they not? Mr. Frank. 1 do not have anything to do with the pay patients. Representative Pitney. I am speaking now about insane patients. Mr. Frank. They are taken to the insane hospital under the pro- visions of section 4850 of the Revised Statutes, as I said before. So far as relates to indigent patients, the act (Revised Statutes, section 4844) states that they shall be admitted, and, so far as relates to pay patients, the act says that they may be admitted. So that it is discretionary with the superintendent of the, asylum. Of course he would not ignore a permit given from a physician. Representative Pitney. What class of patients is it that comes to the asylum after an examination by a jury of thirteen? Mr. Frank. The indigent class. Representative Pitney. Are they all required to go through that form? Mr. Frank. Yes; unless there is some unwillingness. Representative Pitney. How can they show unwillingness in case they are insane? Mr. Frank. I mean the unwillingness of their relatives. Representative Pitney. Is there any practical difficulty in the administration of the law relative to the commitment of insane patients-any practical difficulty in the operation of the law which requires the commitment before a jury of 13? Mr. Frank. No, sir; unless so far as delay may be possible. I do not know of any two cases that are exactly alike. Every case has its own peculiarities. The inquiry whether they belong here or not, or whether they have any property, etc., sometimes involves delay. I have had people try to deceive me frequently as to the question of their property. That is the reason why we have those lay witnesses- people who are intimately acquainted with them. They are sworn of course. CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 229 Representative Pitney. The object of the inquiry is to ascertain whether they have property, and to subject that property to legal guardianship for the benefit of the person so found insane. Mr. Frank. Yes. Representative Pitney. It is the old-fashioned procedure of the inquiry into lunacy? Mr. Frank. That is it exactly. Representative Pitney. If a person is adjuged a lunatic the person and property of the lunatic are cared for? Mr. Frank. Yes; and the person appointed to that duty has to render an account to the auditor of the court. Representative Pitney. The guardian has to do so? Mr. Frank. Yes. Rejiresentative Pitney. And in case the person is found to have no property then he is a charge upon the public if found insane? Mr. Frank. Yes. Representative Pitney. But as to married women and children, if they are found insane, they are customarily sent without this investi- gation 1 Mr. Frank. Without this inquisition, yes. Many times that is done out of respect for the unfortunate women and at the anxious solicita- tion of the husband or friends of the family. If there is any opposi- tion, it is not done at all. If there is any opposition, they are sent on the inquisition of the marshal's jury. Representative Northway. Do you deal alone with insane people? Mr. Frank. No, sir. Representative Pitney. That is only one branch of your work ? Mr. Frank. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. Have you any difficulty in obtaining entry at the hospitals for the patients whom you send? Mr. Frank. Yes; but the only reason they give is that they are full-that the beds are all occupied. Representative Pitney. What do you do then? Mr. Frank. I send them to some other hospital. I have never known a time when the hospitals were all full. Representative Pitney. Have you ever known of a case in which they reported that they were full, although really not full, as a matter of fact? Mr. Frank. No, sir. Representative Pitney. You would have no knowledge of that, would you? Mr. Frank. It was never done to my knowledge. However, the hospitals are so far apart that I could not examine into that question. Representative Pitney. Have you had anything to do with putting patients into beds paid for by the public funds in Garfield or Providence hospitals? Mr. Frank. On account of the appropriations which these hospitals receive, the District of Columbia considers that the patients which the police department send there are entitled to those beds as long as there is a vacancy. That is the ground that we work on. The hospital peo- ple never refuse us so long as they have a vacancy. Representative Pitney. Do you keep a number of patients there always? Mr. Frank. I do not know that we keep any specific number. Representative Pitney. How many patients do you understand you are entitled to keep at the Providence and Garfield hospitals? Mr. Frank. I do not know that there is any limit to it. 230 charities and reformatory institutions. Representative Pitney. How many do you keep, in point of fact? Mr. Frank. I could not tell you until I look at my books how many I sent there throughout any year. Representative Pitney. That is rather important. You had better give us a written statement on that point. Let me ask you whether the Associated Charities rely on you at all? Mr. Frank. In what way? Representative Pitney. Whether they rely on you for aid in their efforts to eliminate the cases that are not needy. Mr. Frank. I could not say that they do. But I have had some num- bers of requests from the Associated Charities to help send people out of town. It was found that they lived elsewhere, and that it was better that they should go to their homes rather than live on charity here. Representative Pitney. Have you here a copy of your printed report for last year? Mr. Frank. Yes [producing the report]. This [indicating] is the report of the chief of police, and this [indicating] is mine. Representative Pitney. Does this show how many patients you put into the hospitals here last year? Mr. Frank. Yes; in each particular hospital. The tabulated state- ment shows. Representative Pitney. That is found on page 38 of the report of the chief of police? Mr. Frank. Yes. Representative Pitney. Does this report show how many nonresi- dents of the District of Columbia were placed in hospitals of the District at public expense last year? Mr. Frank. Yes. Representative Pitney. How many were there? Mr. Frank (after looking at the book). These figures given here show the sum total of all that have been removed to the various hos- pitals, to the almshouse, etc. Representative Pitney. That is to say, 3,890 was the total number of sick and destitute persons that you cared for either by placing them in hospitals or furnishing transportation? Mr. Frank. No, sir; that does not include transportation at all. Representative Pitney. Very well; those were all placed in hos- pitals, were they? Mr. Frank. Yes. Representative Pitney. The report shows that out of all the num- ber only some 3,094 were residents of the District of Columbia and that nearly 800 were nonresidents? Mr. Frank. Yes. Representative Pitney. I would like to have you explain that. Mr. Frank. Some of them were here and met accidents, and some were here from Virginia and Maryland for the purpose of going to a hospital. Representative Pitney. I would like to have you suggest some prac- tical method of getting rid of that trouble, having these people come in here for the very purpose of getting the advantage of the public charity of the District. Mr. Frank. I do not know of any method that I could suggest, because they come here just as was explained to you by the people from the Columbia Hospital. They come here because they are sick. They CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 231 are objects of pity-objects of charity; without a penny in their pockets; frequently can not get out of the depot at which they arrive. There are many cases in which the people have to be taken out of the train when it arrives at the station. So also persons are brought here by the steamboats and have to be taken off the steamboat wharves. What would you do with them? There is nothing to be done with them but to treat them. It would be inhuman to turn them away. They are strangers and they have no money; they are sick and helpless. Representative Pitney. In many cases you furnish them with trans- portation to take them away? Mr. Frank. Frequently when they get well enough to go back home, I have had people come to me and my conscience would not allow me to turn them away. Representative Pitney. By this table it appears that more than one out of five of those sick and destitute persons whom you sent to the hospitals last year were nonresidents of the District of Columbia? Mr. Frank. Yes; whatever the table shows. Representative Pitney. Now it seem s to me that there ought to be some way to guard against that. In other words, there were 796 out of 3,890. Mr. Frank. Yes. Representative Pitney. That is more than one out of every five. Mr. Frank. I am free to say that 1 do not know what to do with them. As I say, they are here and they are sick. Take those from distant States, as from Pennsylvania or New York. Many of them are here seeking office, and many of them are on public business. Many of them come to me with those certificates of which I have furnished the committee with a copy. Representative Pitney. Of those 796 to whom I have referred as shown by the report-they are in addition to the 916 that you have transported away? Mr. Frank. Yes. But not entirely so, because part of that 916 are some few of them sick-very few, though. Representative Pitney. In other words, there is a small percentage of nonresident destitute persons who come here and are sick, but not so sick that you could not transport them away. Mr. Frank. Yes. Representative Pitney. And whenever you can do so you transport them away? Mr. Frank. Whenever I can, I do so. Representative Northway. You say you sent some to Providence Hospital. How are they cared for there? Mr. Frank. In the free ward. Representative Northway. At Government expense? Mr. Frank. Yes; that is provided for, as I understand it, out of the sundry civil bill. Representative Northway. Are they obliged to take them or do you make a contract with them? Mr. Frank. We make no contract at all. They take them when they are sent there. They are charged to the District of Columbia, how- ever. They decline to take a patient from us without a permit. They do that, I suppose, in order that they may be able to show the facts iu their report. The District does not pay them anything for it, I suppose. I do not know whether they do or not. Representative Pitney. Have you anything to do with placing 232 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. patients in the Providence Hospital under the permit of the Surgeon- General ? Mr. Frank. The permit is directed to the Surgeon-General. Bepresentative Pitney. Tn contemplation of law there ought to be something signed by the Surgeon-General. Mr. Frank. It is made out to the Surgeon-General. Bepresentative Pitney. It is a notification by you to the Surgeon- General that this is a proper case? Mr. Frank. Yes. Bepresentative Pitney. The supposition on the part of the hospital authorities is that the Surgeon-General will accept it? Mr. Frank. I suppose so. That is the custom. Bepresentative Northway. The Surgeon-General never sees it or knows of it, however? Mr. Frank. I suppose not. Bepresentative Pitney. Do you ever seek notification from the Sur- geon General as to how many patients he is entitled to let you send there? Mr. Frank. No. Bepresentative Pitney. Does your report show how many you keep there? Mr. Frank. It shows how many I send there, but I suppose it does not show how many they keep. Bepresentative Northway. We appropriate for 100, do we not? Bepresentative Pitney. For 95. The point is, Mr. Frank, that the sundry civil bill appropriation provides $19,000 to enable the Surgeon- General to make a contract with the Providence Hospital for the con- stant maintenance of 95 destitute persons.' If you had sent 90 persons there one day you could send 5 the next day, and they could be kept there until discharged. Mr. Frank. We never have 90 persons there at one time. Bepresentative Pitney. How many do you have? Mr. Frank. That I do not know. They do not tell us when thepatients are discharged. 1 sent 2 there to day and I already had 5 there, but I do not know when they discharge those people. Bepresentative Pitnev. And you do not know whether there is any person in the District of Columbia who keeps an account of those items ? Mr. Frank. I do not know of any. Bepresentative Pitney. How is it with the Garfield Hospital? Mr. Frank. It would take two or three men to keep the account of those things. Bepresentative Pitney. I should think it would require only one page of a book to keep account of the notifications of the patients. Mr. Frank. They are going and coming all the time. Bepresentative Pitney. Where does your report show how many patients you put into Providence and Garfield hospitals? Bepresentative Northway. Is there any way, if we should investi- gate the matter, to ascertain whether we are keeping 95 patients at the Providence Hospital or not? Mr. Frank. The only way that I know of is for the hospital people to tell you. Bepresentative Northway. Can you tell anything about it? Mr. Frank. No. sir. Bepresentative Northway. Do you know whether the hospital can tell anything about it or not? charities and reformatory institutions 233 Mr. Prank. No, sir; I have no way to tell about that. Representative Northway. Do you not keep books to show how many persons you send to the hospital? Mr. Frank. Yes, sir; I can tell you how many I send to the different hospitals, but I can not tell you how long they stay there. Representative Northway. Do you know whether you send enough to the hospitals to make up 95? Mr. Frank. I can tell you how many I sent to each hospital, and whether they are residents of the District or not. Representative Northway. Suppose you wanted to know whether the Government was paying for 95 patients all the time. Is there any way in which you could determine that? Mr. Frank. Only by asking the hospital authorities. Representative Pitney. Can you give us a guess to day as to how many you put into the different hospitals? Mr. Frank. Seven or eight hundred to Providence,300 to Freedmen's, and from 400 to 500 to Garfield Hospital. Representative Northway. Does Providence Hospital solicit you to send patients there? Mr. Frank. No, sir; on the contrary, they would rather 1 would not send patients there. THE EASTERN DISPENSARY. Mr. Smith. I am the vice-president of the Eastern Dispensary. Mr. C. C. Lancaster, the president, was to be here and to be heard, and I am not prepared so well to talk about it as he is. 1 have not heard from him specially, but understood he was to be here. Representative Pitney. Perhaps the president would be glad to submit a statement in writing. Mr. Smith. Or perhaps he could be heard to-morrow. Representative Northway. But there is a good deal already set down for to morrow. Representative Pitney. I thought there was no hearing set down for to-morrow. Mr. Northway. Yes; there is one for to-morrow and there are two for next week. Mr. Smith. Undoubtedly Mr. Lancaster has been detained by some accident, or he would be here. Senator Mar tin. Do you think he can be here to morrow at 2 o'clock ? Mr. Smith. Yes; I feel sure he can be. He has been devoted to this institution ever since it was organized in 1889. Senator Martin. Then 1 think we will let this matter go over until later. April 22, 1897-2 o'clock p. in. Present: Hon. Thomas S. Martin, presiding; Hon. Mahlon Pitney, Hon. S. A. Northway. Senator Martin. I understand the president of the board of direct- ors of the Eastern Dispensary is here. Mr. C. C. Lancaster. Yes, sir. 234 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Senator Martin. Your institution could not be heard yesterday, and we will be glad to hear you now. Mr. Lancaster. I am president of the board of directors of the Eastern Dispensary. The board consists at present of thirty-two mem- bers, ten of them physicians and the balance are lay members. We were organized in April, 1888. Our building is on Delaware avenue, in sight of the Capitol. We take all of the eastern part of the city, south, southeast, and northeast sections. The object of the organization of the Eastern Dispensary was to meet a demand for such an institu- tion in this section of Washington. There is only one other dispensary in the city, called the Central, which is down in the central part of the city, and we thought it was necessary to have one in this section to meet the wants of the poor and indigent who were not able to get down to the Central Dispensary on Fifteenth street. We have been getting from the District Commissioners $500 a year, prior to the last fiscal year, and we have also raised by private contributions about six or seven hundred dollars more. Our funds have ranged from about $1,000 to $1,200 yearly. We have a board of lady managers, composed of sixty ladies, who assist us in looking after this institution and in raising funds and in paying our rent; they pay the rent. During last year we treated 3,072 patients who came to the institu- tion, from whom we had in all 5,G86 visits. We compounded and gave away 6,980 prescriptions. Now, taking that as an average (our expendi- tures amounted to $1,092), we have treated these poor people at the rate of 33 cents apiece. Of course we claim that if we had more funds we could do better work, but we have limited our work to the amount of money we had. From the beginning of this institution we have estab- lished this policy, which we think of the utmost importance to the public and to those who are contributing-not only Congress, but the people of the District-and that is of taking every precaution to guard against fraud being perpetrated upon us. We endeavor to treat only those who are subjects of charity and no one else. In other words, we have no aim to make a record of a large number of patients treated or prescriptions given to patients. We treat only those who can not pay for treatment, and we work on no other basis. Our board will resign to-morrow if we are not satisfied that we are working for charity and that alone, so that when we go before the public to ask for contributions or come to Con- gress for appropriations we can state without reserve that we are doing a work of charity. We are not treating people who are getting $40 a month or $10 a month and their board, and they can not come to us and get medical treatment and medicines free when they are able to pay a physician. That is our policy. Kepresentative Northway. How do you know that the people who come are not able to pay a physician? Mr. Lancaster. 1 will satisfy you on that in a moment. We were somewhat in advance of the Medical Association of the District in action in this respect, and our conclusion, as to treating only those not able to pay, has recently been followed in recommendations adopted by that association. It has been commended by the commissioner of charities. The policy we have adopted is shown in my annual report for 1896. In that report I say: The board of directors have established the policy that great precaution should be exercised in admitting patients, with a view that none should be treated except CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 235 those who are worthy subjects of charity. If the patient is not known to the member of the attending staff to whose chair he has been assigned, a caref ul inves- tigation of the patient's condition is then made, and if from his answers and per- sonal appearance he is in need of charitable assistance, he is treated and medicine given freely. If, however, the investigation is unsatisfactory, the patient is required to furnish evidence of his inability to employ a regular physician either from reliable citizens or the police. In order to prevent imposition the benefit of the doubt is always given the institution. Now, there is the policy we have adopted. We say that the institu- tion should be given the benefit of the doubt, if there is any. If we are not satisfied that the patient is a worthy object of charity we refuse to give treatment; the burden is upon the patient to satisfy us on that point. 1 say further in the annual report- The object and scope of an institution of this character, as understood by the managers, is to alleviate distress and poverty among suffering humanity, and not to deprive the medical profession of the fruits of their legitimate work by aiding or encouraging people to impose on the generosity of a benevolent public. Now, that is the foundation of the subsequent action taken by the Medical Association of the District of Columbia. 1 say in this report that there has been an imposition on the public in this free treatment of patients by dispensaries and by the physicians to the poor. People have come to us who were able to pay a physician for treatment, peo- ple getting $10, $15, $40, or more a month. It may be that the person is not sick more than once in six months or in a year or in a lifetime, but when they do they run to the dispensary. We say these people ought to pay a physician and not ask us to give them treatment and medicines free. So we are very careful, and all our work is based on that line. The Medical Association took up that question, and they have recommended to the dispensaries and hospitals this line of policy for the protection of the public and the protection of the physicians. These recommendations were adopted by the Medical Association Feb- ruary 16, 1897. The first recommendation of that association is- That every institution for medical charity shall require from every applicant for relief in a hospital or dispensary a written certificate, to be obtained as hereinafter provided. Representative Northway. It will perhaps economize time if you will tell us what is the point you want to bring out, and you can file that paper. Mr. Lancaster. I am just reading extracts from it. The first recom- mendation continues: Emergency cases are to be excepted from the operation of this rule. The second recommendation is: That such certificate be obtained from physicians to the poor, the Board of Asso- ciated Charities, and any registered physician. That, I think, Mr. Northway, answers your suggestion. We are endeavoring to follow that line; it is a little more strict than our rule is. They say here that we shall not treat any person without a written certificate-that is the recommendation-and "that such certificate be obtained from physicians to the poor, the Board of Associated Chari- ties, or any registered physician." While that is drawing the line pretty strictly, we of course try to carry that out. 236 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Representative Northway. You deal out medicines upon your own examination made there at the Dispensary? Mr. Lancaster. Yes, sir. Representative Northway. Now, prior to dealing out the medicine you make an examination or investigation as to the financial condition of the patient or applicant? Mr. Lancaster. Yes, sir. Representative Northway. And satisfy yourselves that the patient is a charity patient, pure and simple, and then you give the medicine? Mr. Lancaster. Yes, sir; and treat the patient. Representative Northway. Do you treat them at home, or do you only treat those that come to your institution? Mr. Lancaster. Only those that come to the institution. We are simply devoting ourselves at the present time to dispensary work, but we have made a recommendation to Congress, which recommendation has been approved by the Commissioners of the District and by the commissioner of charities, that this section of the city should be pro- vided with an emergency hospital, and we are endeavoring to establish that branch in our institution, as this section very much needs it. For instance, if a man is injured out here by the jail or down by the Balti- more and Ohio Depot, or elsewhere in this part of the city, he has to be taken down to the Emergency Hospital, which is on Fifteenth street, and the man might die before he reaches there. After careful consid- eration by our medical board and by the lay members we have come to the conclusion that it is very important that we should have an emer- gency branch established in connection with our work. We have rec- ommended to Congress the establishment of that branch and have asked Congress to purchase the building which we occupy and which we have leased for two years with the right of purchase at $10,000, and we have asked for $5,000 to fit up the emergency branch and $2,500 for maintenance. That has been approved by the Commissioners of the District and by the commissioner of charities. Representative Northway. Have you investigated the question of how far it is safe and prudent to take a patient to a hospital. Mr. Lancaster. Yes, sir; our medical board has gone into this mat- ter very thoroughly and has made a report. Very frequently persons are injured off in some portion of the city remote from the Emergency Hospital, and it is of the utmost importance to life that these persons be attended to as promptly as possible, and to take them in a wagon over fifteen or twenty squares might jeopardize life. Representative Northway. How is it in other cities? Mr. Lancaster. I am advised that in other cities they have emer- gency hospitals convenient in different sections of the city where injured persons can be taken care of and do not have to be dragged around all over town. It would be a saving and also a protection of life. That is the object of emergency hospitals-saving of life. Representative Northway. Have you any statement in writing? Mr. Lancaster. Yes, sir; we have. Representative Northway. Any written statement to submit to day, I mean. Mr. Lancaster. No, sir; but we have made our report in reply to your inquiries. I will file this copy of our annual report with you. 1 desire to call attention to two special branches of our dispensary. One is the treatment of the eye, in charge of a skilled oculist. We look at it in this way: A patient comes to our dispensary whose eyes are in a CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 237 bad condition. He is treated without charge by an expert-by a man who stands high in his profession in the District-and is cured. Representative Northway. Does he perforin operations'? Mr. Lancaster. Yes, sir; all treatments connected with the eye. If a man's eyes are seriously affected, and he is cured, the public is saved from the burden of taking care of him, as might be the case in the event that he became blind. If we save 12 out of 20 we think we are doing a pretty good work in that line alone. In addition to that we have established a branch of electro therapeutics for the treatment of nervous diseases that can not be successfully treated by ordinary means of medical treatment. This is the only dispensary south of New York which has such a branch. Dr. Francis B. Bishop, who is an expert in that particular branch, has charge of it, and Dr. Clarence Dufour is in charge of the branch for the treatment of the eye. The branch of electro therapeutics is an important one. It is a new feature in medical science, and it has worked admirably. A great many cases have been successfully treated and cured by means of this electric sys- tem-cases that have defied the skill of the ordinary physician. I would like to present to you Dr. Bishop, who can briefly explain that feature of our work, which is very important and valuable, but he had to go on account of an engagement. Representative Northway. We only want to ascertain the practical workings, and not the inside working, particularly. Mr. Lancaster. In our annual report we have referred to the value of this branch of electro therapeutics. Your committee will no doubt look at that. I want to say that so far as our institution is concerned it is strictly nonsectarian. Representative Northway. I believe you said that the amount of Federal aid you received last year was $500. Mr. Lancaster. We received $500 from the Commissioners of the District last year. For 1897 we got them to appropriate $1,000 directly to us; prior to that we got only $500. Representative Northway. And your expenses were how much? Mr. Lancaster. $1,092.22. Senator Martin. Unless there are other questions to be asked that will be all, Mr. Lancaster. The committee then proceeded to the consideration of the subject of "General hospitals." ADDITIONAL STATEMENT OF MR. FRANK. Senator Faulkner. I wish to ask a question of Mr. Frank. Did you state yesterday, Mr. Frank, anything in reference to how you certified patients to the hospitals? Mr. Frank. Yes, sir; I acted upon the certificates of the physicians to the poor, or of any reputable physician. I submitted the certificate yesterday to Mr. Pitney. Senator Faulkner. I do not want to go over ground that has been gone over before, and hence I asked you that question. Mr. Frank. Mr. Pitney asked me yesterday to get for him as nearly as I could the data (which has been brought out by the Surgeon-General to-day) as to the patients we had at one time at the Providence Hospital. I have not been able to get that, but I have here the figures showing the number of patients that we have had quarterly at the different hospitals. 238 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Mr. Frank submitted the statement, which is as follows: Hospitals and institutions to which sent. First quarter. Second quarter. Third quarter. Fourth quarter. Total. Freedman's Hospital 233 256 208 221 918 Washington Asylum Hospital 106 123 109 98 436 Providence Hospital 278 234 224 197 933 Garfield Hospital 107 92 62 59 320 Columbia Hospital 32 23 30 13 98 Homeopathic. Hospital 25 32 20 21 98 Children's Hospital 23 19 13 11 66 Sibley Hospital 9 9 2 3 23 Emergency Hospital 50 25 39 38 152 Government Hospital for the Insane 55 46 44 53 198 Almshouse 46 69 59 36 210 Workhouse - 1 1 Washington City Orphan Asylum 2 2 4 Colored Orphan Asylum 8 2 3 13 German Orphan Asylum 2 2 4 Heform School 1 1 1 3 Little Sisters ot the Poor 1 1 St. Ann s Infant Asylum 1 2 3 Home for Incurables 1 1 1 3 Soldiers' Home 3 2 5 I nited States marshal s otlice. 2 2 Hope and Help Mission 2 2 House of the Good Shepherd 1 1 I nil list rial Home School 3 3 M ashington Asylum for Foundlings 21 2 2 '1 o depots from hospitals or homes 19 20 15 75 To their homes 91 58 63 55 267 Insane to the stations 1 1 1 1 4 Prisoners to the stations 3 2 3 6 Intoxicated to the stations 6 8 Destitute to the stations 5 8 7 20 Sick and destitute to the stations 8 8 Police court 3 3 Total 1,102 1,024 926 838 3, 890 Admissions to hospitals. Mr. Northway. You have no means of knowing whether Provi- dence Hospital is supporting, day after day, as many as 95 patients. Mr. Frank. No, sir. Dr. Purvis. The superintendent of charities never visited the Freed- men's Hospital but once. If the superintendent of charities would just refer these applicants to the various ward physicians there would be no difficulty. They could hunt these cases up in a very short time. Senator Faulkner. Did you say yesterday, Mr. Frank, what was the basis on which you issued these certificates? In other words, if a man or woman or child came to you sick, did you impure whether that person was a person coming from the District of Columbia or from the State of West Virginia, or any other State? Mr. Frank. Always, sir. Senator Faulkner. And did you certify so upon the written certifi- cate ? Mr. Frank. Yes, sir; the certificate shows the number of years that the persons have been residents of the District of Columbia, and if not residents of the District the physician to the poor is supposed to put in the statement that they are nonresidents. As a rule they do not see nonresidents; it is usually residents that they see. Senator Faulkner. In your judgment the large majority of those you certified to the Freedmen's Hospital are really citizens of the District? Mr. Frank. Yes. Out of those that came or were sent there during the last fiscal year only something like 8(H) were nonresidents, but every State and Territory and even foreign countries were represented. In CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 239 other words, we sent about 3,800 patients to the various hospitals, and of that number there were about 800 that were nonresidents of the District of Columbia. A large portion of those came from Virginia and Maryland and counties adjoining Washington. I should like to say in reply to Dr. Williams, with relation to the chil- dren born at the Freedmen's Hospital, that very few women are sent to the sanitary office who are nonresidents of Ilie District of Columbia. Sometimes they come here from outside in that condition and have to be cared for, but the majority of cases that 1 have sent to the Freedmen's Hospital and other institutions are cases of residents of the District. Senator Faulkner. Did you ever know of any of the adjoining coun- ties here sending these people to the city of Washington for the purpose of having them cared for here? Mr. Frank. Oh, yes. Senator Faulkner. What did you do with those cases? Mr. Frank. They were in such a deplorable condition that there was nothing that could be done but to take care of them. Frequently we had to give them tickets to go back home. Senator Faulkner. What evidence did you have as to the county being instrumental in sending those people here? .Mr. Frank. Leonid not say that the county authorities had anything to do with such a thing. A physician attending a patient in some of those outlying districts near here would write a note "to whom it may concern," and the first person that such an unfortunate individual would come up against would, perhaps, be a policeman, to whom the note would be shown, and the first person whom the policeman would hunt up would be myself. Senator Faulkner. Would you send such people back? Mr. Frank. Sometimes, but in the majority of cases it would be inhuman to send them back. If we did that we would justly merit the criticism of the people. Sometimes when they do not appear to be very sick 1 tell them 1 can not send them to the hospital. NINTH HEARING. GENERAL HOSPITALS. April 22, 1897-2 o'clock p. m. Present: Hon. Janies McMillan, lion. Thomas S. Martin, Hon. Mah- lon Pitney, Hon. S. A. Northway. Subject: General Hospitals. To be heard: Officers of the Homeopathic Hospital; officers of Gar- field Hospital; officers of Freedmen's Hospital; officers of Providence Hospital. NINTH HEARING. topics. 1. Is there duplication in the work of the District hospitals'? 2. Why should not the District share the expense of Garfield Iios pital and of Providence Hospital? 3. Should the work of the hospitals be supervised by District authorities? 4. Should the control of Freedmen's Hospital remain with the Sec retary of the Interior? 5. Contagious diseases in hospitals. 6. Training schools for nurses. 7. The salaries of the hospital staff. Senator Martin (presiding). We will now take up the subject ol General Hospitals. Who is here representing them? Gen. George M. Sternberg, Surgeon-General U. S. A. A numbei of the hospitals are represented, and I would like to suggest that these ladies who are present be heard first. 1 was present yesterday repre seating the Columbia Hospital. There were some ladies liere and we were ahead of them on the list, but out of respect to them they wen heard first. Now, we have some ladies here to-day from the Providence Hospital, and I would like to ask that they be heard first. Mr. . I would like to raise the question that the committee shoidd follow the order in which the hospitals are given in this printec schedule of hearings. Representative Northway. If there is objection, I think we hac better follow the order given in the schedule. Mr. . I do not raise the objection. I am willing that these ladies be heard first, if it is so desired. Senator Martin. I think we had better follow the order that has been laid down, with the exception that we will hear these ladies first S. Doc. 185 16 241 242 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. PROVIDENCE HOSPITAL. Surgeon-General Sternberg. I was asked to represent the Provi- dence Hospital. The ladies here are the Sisters in charge of that hospital. Senator Martin. We will hear them now; we will be glad to hear anything they have to say, if they are ready. Surgeon-General Sternberg. I represent the hospital. Senator Martin. I thought that you asked that they be heard now for their convenience. Surgeon-General Sternberg. Of course they would have to sit here until the end of the hearing unless the Providence Hospital is taken first. I will first make a statement, and will not take up a great deal of time. I have not had sent me a copy of the printed schedule which contains the topics or questions. Senator Martin. The clerk will hand you one. Surgeon General Sternberg. The first question is, " Is there dupli- cation in the work of the District hospitals'?" I am compelled to answer these questions in an off-hand way, not having seen this sched- ule until now. There is a degree of duplication. 1 represented here yesterday the Columbia Hospital, where surgical operations are per- formed only upon women. At the Providence Hospital operations are performed upon both men and women. Emergency cases are constantly treated at Providence Hospital, just as at the Emergency Hospital. Naturally, persons injured in this part of the city are taken to Provi- dence Hospital in the police ambulance. As I understand, they are never sent away, but are always taken in and cared for. So it is really an emergency hospital for this portion of the city. The second question has reference to Garfield Hospital only. The third question is, "Should the work of the hospitals be supervised by District authorities?" That is a question which would apply, so far as the Columbia Hospital is concerned. It is supervised by the District Commissioners. One of the Commissioners is a member of the board, and there is a Senator and also two Members of Congress on the board. The Providence Hospital is managed by Sister Beatrice. It was started by her many years ago, but the expenditures are made under the Surgeon-General of the Army. I am also on the medical board. The only official supervision is the supervision exercised by the Surgeon-General of the Army, who is made responsible for the proper use of the money appropriated by Congress. Representative Pitney. Mr. Frank, the sanitary officer, was here yes- terday and gave us some account of his system of turning patients over to Garfield and Providence hospitals. He said he would be able to give us an account of the number of such cases turned into these hospitals by him, and it is done, as I understand, by an order sent by him and addressed to you as Surgeon-General of the Army. He was asked, but he could not tell us, in regard to the number of patients maintained in Garfield and Providence hospitals at public expense. Surgeon-General Sternberg. The Providence Hospital is under con- tract to constantly treat 95 cases; otherwise they could not get the money. They give me a list monthly, showing the names of the patients and the date of their admission and discharge; and if they have treated during the month 95 charity patients, they are entitled to the full pro- portion of one-twelfth of the annual appropriation of $10,000. But they usually have more than that. They had an average last year of from 243 charities and reformatory institutions. 112 to 115 charity patients, and have always more than the number called lor under the terms of the appropriation bill. Representative Pitney. That is the average daily number of charity patients'? Surgeon-General Sternberg. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. How long are the charity patients there, upon the average? Surgeon-General Sternberg. That varies, of course; some only a short time and others a long time. How long do they remain, Sister Beatrice? Sister Beatrice. Untiltheyrecover. Sometimes two or three days; sometimes months. Surgeon-General Sternberg. Until they recover. The list that is sent to me monthly gives the names of the patients, nativity, occupation, disease from which they suffer, the date of admission, and date of dis- charge. Here on this list [exhibiting] is one admitted on the 1st of the month and discharged on the 6th; one admitted on the 1st and dis- charged on the 1st. That was contusion of the face, treated and sent away the same day. Other cases, such as chronic cases, are kept some- times for long periods. Representative Pitney. Have you a written contract with this hospital? Surgeon-General Sternberg. Yes, sir. Under the appropriation bill a written contract with the Surgeon-General is required. Representative Pitney. Is that made year after year, or is it con- tinuous? Surgeon-General Sternberg. It is renewed each year. Representative Norjhway. Has the Government anything to say in regard to what patients shall be placed in the hospital, or do they simply take these patients as they come until they reach 95? Surgeon-General Sternberg. All of these patients are admitted on the order of the Surgeon General or admitted by the Sister when they present themselves at the hospital. Representative Northway. You say there are more than 95 cared for? Surgeon-General Sternberg. They have an average of from 112 to 115 all the time, not including pay patients. Representative Northway. The Government pays for 95? Surgeon-General Sternberg. Yes, sir. Representative Northway. But the Government has no choice as to what particular patients shall be treated? Surgeon-General Sternberg. A considerable number of those pa- tients make direct application at my office and are admitted on my order. They are all admitted on my order. I have nothing to do with pay patients, but the charity patients are all admitted on my order. Representative Pitney. Here is a return made up apparently to the date of April 20, which seems to give the names of those admitted and other details respecting those admitted as charity patients to Provi- dence Hospital between April 1 and April 20, inclusive. It shows 26 admitted within that period, of whom 13, or just half, had been dis- charged previous to the 20th. Now, have you any formal returns made to you showing the number who are in the hospital at the charge of the Government at a given time? This return which you have given me does not show that. Surgeon-General Sternberg. That does not show that, but there is an annual report made which shows the total number received and all those details. 244 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Representative Pitney. Just point out, please, in the last annual report, where we can find that information, if it is there, showing the average daily number of patients. Surgeon-General Sternberg. For instance, here on page 9 of the report, you will find the number of patients in the hospital on Novem- ber 1, 1895, as follows: Whites, 94 males and 54 females; colored, 5 males and 13 females; total, 166. That was the number of patients remaining in the hospital on that day. Representative Pitney. Including both pay and charity patients? Surgeon-General Sternberg. Including all, without doubt. But the monthly report to me has to show the number present. Representative Northway. There must be some account kept daily. Surgeon-General Sternberg. Yes, sir. This is only an account of those admitted and discharged on those particular days, but does not show how many are left over. If you were taking a full report you would commence with the number remaining. Perhaps on the last day of the month there may be 100 remaining. Representative Northway. How can you find out that there are more than 40 patients that the Government should pay for? Surgeon-General Sternberg. I have accepted those reports. I have not gone personally to verify them. Representative Pitney. Is the usual monthly report made on this form ? Surgeon-General Sternberg. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. That is from the 1st of the month up to the present time; that is, up to the 20th-two days ago? Surgeon-General Sternberg. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. And you do have a report made up each month on this form? Surgeon-General Sternberg. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. That report will show, if made up on this form, all the admissions to the hospital and the date of discharge, but will not show the date of discharge of holdovers from the previous month. Surgeon-General Sternberg. That is all entered, I think. Sister Beatrice. Yes, sir. There were 116 remaining at the end of the last month. Surgeon-General Sternberg. Does each one show the number remaining on the last day of the month? Sister Beatrice. Yes, sir; andon the last day we send you a report saying that there were so many remaining from the previous month; received during the month so many, and discharged during the month so many. Surgeon General Sternberg. I have not attempted to verify the figures by inspection, but the reports show a greater number of charity patients than the contract calls for. Representative Pitney. Have you a copy of the contract with the hospital? Surgeon General Sternberg. No, sir. All of those things have been called for by the Appropriation Committees. Representative Pitney. 1 interrupted you when you were making a statement in response to the second question, I think. Suppose you proceed now and take up the other points and follow them out in your own way. Surgeon-General Sternberg. I had passed from the second ques tion and had come to the third, as to whether the work of the hospitals charities and reformatory institutions. 245 should be supervised by District authorities. I told you how, under the law, it was supervised. Representative Northway. But we would like to have your opinion. Surgeon-General Sternberg. I must say, from my observation of the manner in which that hospital is managed Representative Northway. What hospital? Surgeon-General Sternberg. Providence Hospital. I have been there frequently and have made a most thorough inspection; have gone all over it from one end to the other, and from my knowledge of the manner in which the hospital is managed and of the condition it is always in, I really think it is the best managed hospital that I know of. I always find everything in perfect order. Representative Northway. But the question is broader than Provi- dence Hospital. The question is, "Should the work of the hospitals be supervised by District authorities?" Surgeon-General Sternberg. They should be supervised by some authority, either by District authority or by some other authority dele- gated by Congress, by all means. 1 think there should be some super- vision of hospitals; and the only question in regard to Providence Hospital is as to whether the present supervision is satisfactory. I think that all hospitals that are aided by the Government should be supervised by some Government official. Representative Pitney. Tell us something about your connection with Garfield Hospital. Surgeon-General Sternberg. There is no contract with Garfield Hospital. Representative Pitney. Have you any supervision of that hospital? Surgeon-General Sternberg. I have nothing to do with the work of Garfield Hospital, except that the vouchers are sent through the Secretary of War to me. They are sent to the Secretary of War, and he sends them to me to verify the fact as to whether the prices charged for medicines and supplies are reasonable and just. I have to approve the vouchers, and then they are sent to the Treasury Department. Representative Pitney. Have you any knowledge of what chari- table work of a public character is done by Garfield Hospital? Surgeon-General Sternberg. I have never visited the hospital. Representative Pitney. I notice that they get under the sundry civil bill an appropriation equal to that made for the Providence Hos- pital, $19,000 per annum, but the act provides in the case of Provi- dence Hospital that the money shall be used for the treatment of 95 patients who are destitute, under a contract to be made with the Provi- dence Hospital by the Surgeon-General of the Army. Surgeon-General Sternberg. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. In the case of the Garfield Memorial Hos- pital the money is appropriated for maintenance, to enable it to provide treatment for people unable to pay therefor. Surgeon-General Sternberg. There is no stipulation as to the number of patients. There is no contract. The oidy stipulation, as I understand it, is that the vouchers shall go through the Secretary of War. Representative Pitney. Do you know what system is pursued by the Garfield Hospital in regard to having proper cases sent there, and no improper ones, to be treated at the expense of the Government? Surgeon-General Sternberg. No, sir; 1 do not. Representative Pitney. What do you do personally in the direction of seeing to it that the 95 patients, at least, who are provided for in Provi- 246 charities and reformatory institutions. dence Hospital under your contract are persons who deserve and are entitled to public charity? Surgeon-General Sternberg. A large number of them apply at my office, quite a large number, and the question is decided there, but it is left largely to the sisters in charge to decide whether they are charity patients, and shall be placed in the wards as charity patients. I think the sister has the decision of that. Sister Beatrice. Very many are sent to us by the sanitary officer. He sends poor people to us in the ambulance daily without permits. Then we take this little certificate and send it to the Surgeon-General who issues the permit. Representative Pitney. Do you charge against the number required only those that come from the sanitary officer and the Surgeon-General ? Sister Beatrice. We take patients sometimes at the door, who are not sent there in that way; we can not turn them away. Representative Pitney. I want to know-because in the bigness of your hearts you may enlarge the work beyond what it ought to be at public expense. Sister Beatrice. We always have more than the contract requires; more than that number always. We may have sick people come there and we can not turn them away, even when we already have the num- ber required. We do not expect anything extra for them, and we do not get it. Representative Pitney. What measures do you take to see that they are deserving? Sister Beatrice. They come there as poor patients. They come in the ambulance, and you can see that they are destitute. Representative Pitney. But you have no system of ascertaining whether the poor patients, as you call them, are in reality so poor that the public ought to support them. Sister Beatrice. We try to find out. They are sent by the sanitary officer, and you can see that they are destitute. Representative Pitney. You take some that are not sent by the sanitary officer. Sister Beatrice. Not often. Those we take in at the door are miserable in health. Representative Pitney. But they may not be poor. Sister Beatrice. We suppose they are; we may be deceived. Representative Northway. Can you, under the law, make contracts with any other hospital ? Surgeon-General Sternberg. No, sir; this appropriation is for this hospital alone. Representative Northway. And you have no discretion? Surgeon-General Sternberg. No, sir. Representative Northway. Suppose Congress should give you authority to make contracts with other hospitals? Surgeon-General Sternberg. I will say in the first place that it amounts to 54 cents a day for patients cared for under this contract. That is all the Government is paying, and 1 do not believe there is another hospital in the District that can care for them at that cost. Representative Northway. Have you ever inquired to see? Surgeon-General Sternberg. Yes, sir; 1 have been informed and made inquiries, and I believe it would be impracticable to run another hospital in the District at any such figure. Representative Northway. Are any of these hospitals under the control of a religious sect? 247 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Surgeon-General Sternberg. I can speak for the two with which I am connected. The Columbia Hospital is not. The Providence Hos- pital is under the control of Sister Beatrice; but she tells me that there are no ecclesiastical superiors, and that the question of religion is never considered in connection with patients brought there. Representative Northway. But is the institution, so far as the religious forms are concerned, if there are any, under the control of any church? Surgeon-General Sternberg. They have their chapel and those who desire to go to the services can do so. It is not required. Representative Northway. What is the form of service? Surgeon-General Sternberg. Catholic. Representative Northway. But there is no requirement as to attending? Sister Beatrice. No, sir; if they want to go they can; if not, they are not required to do so. There is no question of religion. Surgeon-General Sternberg. The next question relates to Freed- men's Hospital. The fifth topic is, "Contagious diseases in hospitals." Do you desire to hear from me on that? Representative Pitney. Here is something that I want to lay before you at the proper time. I hold in my hand a communication from Dr. J. R. Wellington, secretary, inclosing certain recommendations adopted by the Medical Association of the District of Columbia, Feb- ruary 1G, 1897, relative to abuses in the system of management of hos- pitals and dispensaries in the District. I wish you would look it over and then make any comments you think fit. If you are not prepared to do so at the present moment, do so at your leisure. Theletter of Dr. J. R. Wellington and recommendations of the Medical Association of the District of Columbia, follow: Washington, D. C., April 7,1897. Hon. James McMillan, United States Senate, City. Sir: I am instructed by the Medical Association of the District of Columbia to send to you, as a member of the Joint Committee to make Investigation of the Charities and Reformatory Institutions of the District of Columbia, the inclosed copy of resolutions adopted by this association relative to the hospital and dispensary abuses in this District. Very respectfully, J. R. Wellington, M. D., Secretary. Recommendations adopted by the Medical Association of the District of Columbia, February 16, 1897. I. That every institution for medical charity shall require from every applicant for relief in a hospital or dispensary, a written certificate, to be obtained as herein- after provided. Emergency cases are to be excepted from the operation of this rule. II. That such certificate be obtained from physicians to the poor, the Board of As- sociated Charities, and any registered physician. III. That cases of sick and injured persons found upon the streets, in the stations, or elsewhere, who require immediate treatment, shall be carried to the Emergency Hospital, or the nearest hospital having an emergency service, or to their homes, if so directed by the patient or his friends. IV. That emergency patients shall not be detained longer in such institutions than the necessity of the case imperatively demands, but shall be discharged from the service and sent to their homes or to some public hospital as the patient may elect. 248 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. V. That members of this association shall be entitled to the privilege of attending private patients occupying private rooms in any of the public hospitals of this city. VI. That in future the members of the medical staff of hospitals when attending medical or surgical cases in private pay rooms shall insist upon proper payment for their services except in the case of such patients who are clearly unable to pay for same. VII. That whenever the medical staff or a majority thereof of a hospital or dis- pensary resigns, and, when after due hearing, this association finds that the resigna- tions were for just and sufficient cause, it shall be forbidden for any member of this association to accept a position on the staff of said hospital or dispensary. VIII. That whenever one or more members of the medical staff of a hospital or dispensary are dismissed, and when after due investigation this association finds that such dismissal was without just and sufficient cause, it shall be forbidden for any member of this association to fill the vacancy created thereby. IX. That complaints made under Rules VII and VIII shall be made in writing to the standing committee, which after due consideration shall report its findings to the association. W. P. Carr, M. D., President. J. R. Wellington, M. D., Secretary. Surgeon-General Sternberg read the first and second recommenda- tions of the medical association, as follows: I. That every institution for medical charity shall require from every applicant for relief in a hospital or dispensary a written certificate, to be obtained as hereinafter provided. Emergency cases are to be excepted from the operation of this rule. II. That such certificate be obtained from physicians to the poor, the Board of Associated Charities, and any registered physician. I see no objection to that at all as long as emergency cases are not included. The sisters do not want to turn away emergency cases that are brought to their door. Beyond that I see no objection. In the case of the Providence Hospital, that would be adopting a new method- taking it out of the hands of the Surgeon-General-but it might lead to a more careful investigation as to patients as to their needs. Representative Pitney. But you are a registered physician. Surgeon-General Sternberg. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. And you would come within the proviso of the second recommendation. Surgeon-General Sternberg. Yes, sir; only as I understand the meaning of that, it is that the person giving such a certificate should have personal knowledge of the case, and it would be impracticable for me to comply with that in all cases. The third recommendation is- III. That cases of sick aud injured persons found upon the streets, in the stations, or elsewhere, who require immediate treatment shall be carried to the Emergency Hospital, or the nearest hospital having an emergency service, or to their homes, if so directed by the patient or his friends. I think no one could object to that. The next recommendation is- IV. That emergency patients shall not be detained longer in such institutions than the necessity of the case imperatively demands, but shall be discharged from the serv- ice and sent to their homes or to some public hospital, as the patient may elect. I do not see any objection to that. V. That members of this association shall be entitled to the privilege of attending private patients occupying private rooms in any of the public hospitals of this city. That is extremely objectionable. For instance, a number of our sur- gical staff at Columbia Hospital have been inquiring to ascertain what is done in that respect in other cities, and they have received a number of letters from hospitals in other places showing that what is proposed in this last recommendation is not permitted anywhere. That would lead to trouble and confusion. Representative Pitney. Could we have those letters ? CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 249 Surgeon-General Sternberg. Dr. Stone had those letters yesterday. Representative Pitney. I understand that question was under con- sideration by the Senate committee, with a view to possible legislation. Surgeon-General Sternberg. I think it would be. desirable to have the letters before this committee. Dr. Bovee. The investigation of that subject is not completed, and therefore the returns are incomplete. The hospitals that we have heard from do not permit the proposed practice, and when we have heard from all of them, it is hardly probable that there will be any change. Representative Pitney. You think that pay patients in public hos- pitals should accept the services of the hospital staff. Surgeon-General Sternberg. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. How about private hospitals that receive support from the Government? Surgeon General Sternberg. Well, patients that go to any hospital having a regular medical and surgical staff' should be under the con- trol of that staff. The idea of having an outside doctor come in when there is a case to be operated on and use the operating room of the hospital and all the facilities of the hospital is not right, and, besides, it would perhaps result in spoiling our statistics. We select men that we believe to be competent to do the work required. If that rule is put in force of allowing what is proposed, it may often happen that some enterprising doctor would want to operate in a case which more judicious men would think was not a proper case for operation. He could come in and take the patient to the operating room and perform the operation, and 1 do not think we would get as good statistics, and it would not be just to the hospitals. Representative Pitney. Do you know upon what arguments the proposition is supported? Surgeon-General Sternberg. I suppose it is supported by certain men who, having no private hospital of their own, would be glad to have the facilities for operating on cases and the opportunity of gaining some experience and reputation, particularly the younger men in the profession. I should judge that is it. Representative Pitney. These recommendations come to us from the association of the medical fraternity here; I do not know what the membership is, but suppose it is respectable and representative. Surgeon-General Sternberg. I am giving my personal views on the subject. It is my opinion that it would lead to trouble. It is not the practice in other cities; it may be in some, but we have not heard of any yet. The following are the replies received in answer to inquiries sent to various hospitals: Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, April 16, 1897. Our rules do not allow anyone outside the regularly appointed staff to attend any of the patients of the hospital, either paying or free. Our report is now in the hands of the printer. Will be pleased to send you a copy later. Woman's Hospital, Corner Forty-ninth Street and Fourth Avenue, New York, April 18. 1897. In this hospital no outside physician is allowed to attend any patient. The attend- ing surgeon to whose service the patient is assigned has full charge of her case, and no one but the attending surgeons and their assistants are permitted to perforin operation. 250 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. [Hospital: East Seventy-seventh street, Park and Lexington avenues. Dispensary: 137 Second avenue.] German Hospital and Dispensary, New York, April 15, 1897. In answer to your favor of April 13, beg to say that only physicians who are regu- larly appointed by the board of directors are allowed to attend private patients or to perform operations. Bureau of Charities, Insane and Hospital Departments, Thirty-fourth and Pine Streets, Philadelphia, April 15, 1897. The Philadelphia Hospital is supported solely by the city of Philadelphia. Private or pay patients are not received. It (the Philadelphia Hospital) is the hospital department of the Philadelphia Almshouse. The visiting and resident staff are the only physicians who prescribe or perform operations. The Presbyterian Hospital, Seventieth Street and Madison Avenue, New York, April 15, 1897. Yours regarding the relation of outside physicians to patients in this hospital received. First. We do not allow any outside physician to attend any patients in this hospital. All patients must receive the service of the attending staff of the hospital. Second. No operations of any kind are performed except by the attending staff. The Roosevelt Hospital, Fifty-ninth Street and Ninth Avenue, New York, April 15, 1897. Replying to your inquiry of 13th instant, I have to say that ''outside physi- cians "-that is, those not connected with the staff of this hospital-are notpermitted to attend private patients in the "pay rooms" of the institution. If accepted here it is expected that it will be for the purpose of receiving such professional attention as the hospital affords. For further information upon this subject see section 5 and section 8, article 3, pages 12 and 13 of the by-laws and rules, a copy of which will be forwarded to you with this mail. Hospital of the Protestant Episcopal Church, Front Street and Lehigh Avenue, Philadelphia, April 15, 1897. Your communication of April 13. 1897, received. In reply, patients in pay rooms in this hospital can only be treated by our sur- geons and physicians. No physician or surgeon outside of our regular staff can be called in consultation, let alone do a capital operation. Onr hospital is supported by private contributions and collections taken in the Episcopal churches. New York Hospital, West Fifteenth Street, New York, April 16, 1897. Acknowledging receipt of yonr favor of 13th instant. I beg to return negative replies to both your questions. No one is allowed to practice in this hospital except the regularly elected members of the attending staff. Philadelphia, April 16, 1S97. The Jefferson Hospital, with which I am connected, limits its work to the mem- bers of the staff. No others can operate in the institution. It receives State aid. St. Joseph's Hospital does not receive any aid from the State nor from the city except an allowance for the ambulance. It admits physicians to operate upon their private patients where they secure private rooms. Any legal practitioner, whether CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 251 regular or homeopathic, has permission to put his patients there and operate upon them. In my own private hospital, of course, the work is coniined to my own patients. Bellevue Hospital, Foot East Twenty-sixth Street, New York, April 15, 1891. Replying to your letter of 13tli instant, would say that this institution is for the poor of the city and county of New York. Physicians not connected with the medical board of this institution are not per- mitted to have private cases here, and no physician is permitted to operate on a patient of this institution unless he is connected with the said board. Representative Pitney. You think it would demoralize the work of the hospitals? Surgeon-General Sternberg. Yes, sir. Any private physician could go into the hospital and use the nurses and operating room and facili- ties, and the board of directors would have no control. They now have control over this. If they do not think they are proper men they can displace them. If this were adopted I think the staff might resign; I think they would. I am talking more particularly about Columbia Hospital, though the same thing would apply to Providence Hospital. I am sure it would lead to no end of trouble. Representative Pitney. You might have put a man upon your medi- cal staff whom the board of directors would think it advisable to dis- miss, and he might work up a feeling against the staff by treating patients in the hospital. Surgeon-General Sternberg. I think that is about all I have to say on that point. The next recommendation is: VI. That in future the members of the medical staff of hospitals, when attending medical or surgical cases in private pay rooms, shall insist upon proper payment for their services, except in the case of such patients who are clearly unable to pay for same. Well, I think that is right. I do not think it is right that patients in private pay rooms who are able to pay should get services for noth- ing, or that the medical staff of a hospital should give them gratui- tous service when somebody outside might give them treatment and get a reasonable fee. That recommendation I approve of. The next is- VII. That whenever the medical staff, or a majority thereof, of a hospital or dis- pensary resigns, and when, after due hearing, this association finds that the resigna- tions were for just and sufficient cause, it shall be forbidden for any member of this association to accept a position on the staff of said hospital or dispensary. Representative Pitney. That is a proposed boycott, is it not? Surgeon General Sternberg. It looks like that, and if I had been present at the meeting of the association I should have voted against it. But I understand the reason for that. Representative Pitney. Explain it, if you please. Surgeon-General Sternberg. It has occurred in other cities, and possibly in this, that the lay members of the hospital board are in the majority. Then the medical staff may take a certain position which is a proper one from a professional standpoint and which would be con- sidered proper by members of the profession everywhere, and they are not sustained by the lay members of the board of directors, and the medical staff may feel compelled to resign. This means to say Representative Pitney. That their places shall not be filled. Surgeon-General Sternberg. It means to say that there may be enterprising members of the profession who would be willing, under the circumstances, to go there and take these places made vacant by 252 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. resignation of the staff, and that the association does not think they ought to do it. This recommendation is to cover cases of forced resig- nation, where lay members of the board have made it impossible for the medical staff to remain. Representative Pitney. In the government of any given hospital, whether the lay members of the board or the medical members should predominate ought to be a matter to be settled by the authorities of the hospital. This proposition seems to make a minority rule. That ought to be regulated by the hospital itself by putting the medical part of the board in the majority. Surgeon-General Sternberg. It often happens that the board is almost altogether made up of lay members, and their ideas are often so diametrically opposed to the medical staff and the profession gener- ally that the medical staff are compelled to resign, and there are always men willing to take advantage of such circumstances and accept appointments to the vacancies so created. This recommendation is to prevent that. I think if I had been present at the meeting of the asso- ciation I should have advised against the passage of any such resolu- tion; but I judge the action taken was based on the grounds I have stated. VIII. That whenever one or more members of the medical staff of a hospital or dispensary are dismissed, and when after due investigation this association finds that such dismissal was without just and sufficient cause, it shall be forbidden for any member of this association to fill the vacancy created thereby. They propose to investigate cases of dismissal of members of medical staffs to ascertain whether there was sufficient cause or not. I think what I said on the other point about covers that; it is about on the same line. One covers forced resignations and the other covers dismissals. IX. That complaints made under Rules VII and VIII shall be made in writing to the standing committee, which, after due consideration, shall report its findings to the association. That simply provides a way of carrying out what they propose in Rules VII and VIII. Representative Pitney. That is all, is it? Surgeon-General Sternberg. Yes, sir. Representative Pitney. What is the opinion of the medical profes- sion in general about this system of dispensing medicines free-free- dispensary work in general? Surgeon-General Sternberg. The opinion is-and it is a growing opinion which is finding utterance in our leading medical journals-that it is becoming an abuse that ought to be restricted; that many people who are able to pay for medical treatment avail themselves of free dis- pensary service and the hospitals, and that it is an abuse which should be restricted in some way. Representative Pitney. How could it be restricted in the District, for instance? What practical suggestions can you make? Surgeon General Sternberg. By careful investigation as to the patients. There is a suggestion made in those recommendations which would perhaps cover the case. Representative Pitney. The suggestions embodied in the first four paragraphs seem to cover that. Surgeon-General Sternberg. It is an evil and a growing evil, and one that calls for some remedy. Representative Pitney. Those paragraphs do not suggest what the certificate should contain. You suggest that there should be a written 253 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. certificate either from the Government physicians to the poor or the Board of Associated Charities, or a board of physicians'? Surgeon-General Sternberg. I should say that the certificate ought to specify that the person giving it had personal knowledge of the case; otherwise it does not amount to anything. My order for com- mitment to the hospital is really nothing more than a formality. It is only a formal thing, and the question as to whether the patient is a charity patient has to be decided at the hospital by the Sisters. Representative Pitney. But the trouble is that the Sisters are char- itable. They are not looking out for the interest of the public Treas- ury, or for the interests of reputable physicians in the profession, but for the need of the people who come to them--just as I stated to the Sister when she was making a statement a few minutes ago. Surgeon-General Sternberg. If you had a commissioner of chari- ties to make regular inspections of these hospitals, and compel him by law to go once a month to each hospital and impure into all these cases, perhaps that would put an end to the difficulty. It should be practica- ble to find what patients are properly there. It is now a pretty difficult matter, because they present themselves, as the Sister says, sick, or having had a recent accident, and it is very hard for the Sisters to turn them away from their doors. If that were done there would be an item in the newspapers the next day inveighing against the hospitals for not admitting these people first and investigating afterwards. Representative Pitney. The reputable physicians feel that they do a large amount of service gratuitously in all the hospitals, and they are willing to do that for the benefit of the experience they get; but they think that the people who are not entitled to free service ought to pay ? Surgeon General Sternberg. Yes; and I quite agree with them in that view. Representative Pitney. Any system that would give effect to that would help the public treasury and would help the physicians also to some extent. Surgeon-General Sternberg. Yes. Among the questions here I find one relating to contagious diseases. At Providence Hospital they take care of such patients. They have a special ward provided for that purpose. When that caiPbe done under proper munagement there is no objection to it. Those cases can be taken care of. Representative Pitney. All contagious diseases? Surgeon-General Sternberg. I should not be disposed to recom- mend that smallpox cases be admitted to a general hospital, although if they had a ward a little remote from the rest of the hospital it might be done. 1 have seen it done in army hospitals, and with proper pre- cautions even smallpox patients could be taken care of without special danger to the other cases; but I would not recommend that smallpox cases should be admitted. But diphtheria cases could be, and the minor contagious diseases generally. The Sisters have this contagious- disease ward, and they volunteer to take care of such cases. They were called upon by the Commissioners of the District to know if they would take care of such cases, and they said they would. 1 will read the letters from the Commissioners to Sister Beatrice on the subject. The letters are as follows: Office Commissioners of the District of Columbia, Washington, D. C., March 20, 1895. To Sister Beatrice, In charge of Providence Hospital: You are doubtless aware that the 300-feet limit which Congress inserted in the last District appropriation bill as to the erection of a contagious hospital not only 254 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. renders unavailable the site which they have purchased for that purpose, buteffectu ally prevents the erection of such a hospital elsewhere. In view of the pressing necessity for immediate provision in some way for hospital accommodations for persons suffering from contagious diseases other than smallpox, and in consideration of the large amount of public aid extended to your institution by Congress, the Commissioners appeal to you in the interest of humanity to make provision out of the appropriation for the next fiscal year for an isolated ward where such contagious diseases may be treated. Very respectfully, William Tindall, Secretary. Office Commissioners of the District of Columbia, Washington, March 21, 1895. Sister Beatrice : Dear Madam: The Commissioners have received your response to their suggestion of yesterday that a ward in Providence Hospital be adapted and used for the care of persons ill with contagious diseases other than smallpox, in which you advise them that you will at once have a ward fitted up for such cases. Your prompt and humane decision in the matter is heartily appreciated by the Commissioners and will meet with like recognition from the public, who are already familiar with your practical sympathy in ministering to the relief of those in need of hospital care and attention. It will give the Commissioners pleasure to avail themselves at an early day of your invitation to make a visit to the hospital. Very truly, Geo. Truesdell, Acting President Board of Commissioners, District of Columbia. Representative Pitney. How is the needed provision made, practi- cally1? Surgeon-General Sternberg. By setting aside a ward. How many patients can you accommodate, Sister Beatrice? Sister Beatrice. We can accommodate 8. Surgeon-General Sternberg. Was that ward constructed for the purpose of accommodating such cases, or was it a building that you already had ? Sister Beatrice. We already had it. Representative Pitney. How far is it from the other part of the hospital? Is it more than 50 feet from the building? Sister Beatrice. It is more than that. Representative Pitney. But it is less than 300? Sister Beatrice. Yes; it is less than that. Surgeon-General Sternberg. If it were 2, 0 feet away I should feel perfectly safe. Representative Pitney. You have a hospital for smallpox in the District already? Surgeon-General Sternberg. Yes. Representative Pitney. Smallpox, when it occurs at all, occurs in a considerable number of cases at a time. Is that hospital suitable for that purpose? Surgeon-General Sternberg. I never visited that. Representative Pitney. It is on the almshouse grounds, is it not? Dr. Bovee. Yes; and with all the latest improvements for taking care of that kind of work. There has never been a patient in the hospital. Representative Pitney. It is brand new? Dr. Bovee. Yes. Representative Pitney. There has never been an epidemic of small- pox since it has been erected? Dr Bovee. No. Representative Pitney (to Dr. Sternberg). You are aware of the pro- vision for a hospital for contagious diseases? CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 255 Surgeon General Sternberg. Yes. Representative Pitney. We are meeting with a practical difficulty regarding it; we can not get a plot anywhere within immediate reach of the populous part of the city and observe the limit of 300 feet. At least we can not do it if we have more than one building on a plot. We have been met with the suggestion that it is desirous not to have a separate establishment for the ordinary contagious cases, because it would necessitate the keeping of a separate staff, which would be idle most of the time, and that it would be better to have an isolated ward in connection with the regular hospitals. I should like to have your opinion on that subject. Surgeon-General Sternberg. I consider those reasons very compe- tent, and 1 consider that the 300-foot limit is unreasonable-that if a ward is properly constructed 100 feet away from the main hospital it is sufficiently isolated for all purposes. All cases that we have to encounter here except smallpox cases could be treated there with per- fect safety to the rest of the inmates. Representative Pitney. Some medical men place the distance at as low as 40 feet. Surgeon General Sternberg. Well, in making it 100 feet, while I think that even that is an unreasonable exaction, it would be certainly safe. Representative Pitney. You think that that could not be criticised reasonably ? Surgeon General Sternberg. 1 do not think that any medical man could criticise that. Representative Pitney. What about the other suggestion that it would be better to have the contagious ward in connection with the other hospitals'? Surgeon-General Sternberg. That is a good suggestion; I would quite approve of that. Representative Pitney. Let me call your attention to the provisions of the act. Mr. Moore (clerk of the committee). The act is not here at the moment, but I can give the substance of it. An appropriation of $30,000 was made for two isolating buildings, to be constructed in the discretion of the Commissioners of the District of Columbia and on the grounds of and to be operated in connection with existing hospitals in the District of Columbia-$15,000 each. Surgeon-General Sternberg. I should think that that $15,000 would build an excellent structure, and would answer every purpose. We only pay a little more than that for a complete 24-bed hospital of brick, with the administration and all. 1 should think that that would do very well. Representative Pitney. Have you had any experience with epidemics of diphtheria and scarlet fever in the District here1? Surgeon General Sternberg. Not in the District. I have had in my personal experience, however. Representative Pitney. What I would like to know is about how many cases would be sent to such a hospital in case of an epidemic. Surgeon-General Sternberg. If you have simply the wards built it would not require a special administration building in connection with it; $15,000 would build you a ward that would take care of 50 patients easily enough. I should think that such a provision would do very well. 256 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Representative Pitney. It would be a reasonable precaution, at any rate. Surgeon-General Sternberg. Yes; it would be a reasonable precau- tion. Representative Pitney. Have you anything to say as to the second topic covered by this hearing-that is, why should not the District share in the expense of the Garfield Hospital? And the same may be asked with regard to Providence Hospital. Surgeon-General Sternberg. As I say, 1 have not had any special experience with the Garfield Hospital. Representative Pitney. Then as to the Providence. The point is this: The appropriation for the work of those two hospitals is now carried by the sundry civil bill, making the whole cost to be borne by the people of the United States without the District doing any thing- special. If the appropriation were put in the appropriation bill for the District of Columbia, the District would aid in defraying the expenses. Surgeon-General Sternberg. 1 may say that I know of no reason why the District should not do so. Representative Pitney. The work is of the same general character as to the sources from which the patients come as that of the other charitable institutions of the District? Surgeon-General Sternberg. Yes. So long as the money is pro- vided, 1 see no reason why the District should not share in the expense. Representative Pitney. Have you covered all the points now? Surgeon-General Sternberg. The training school for nurses 1 spoke of in connection with the Columbian Hospital yesterday. As to the question of salaries of the hospital staff, there are no sal- aries paid at the Providence Hospital, 1 believe. Sister Beatrice. The resident physician gets $300 a year from the funds of the hospital. That is all. Surgeon-General Sternberg. There are no other payments. There is a training school for nurses at Providence Hospital, and a very well managed one. Representative Pitney. How long has that been there? Sister Beatrice. Three years. Surgeon-General Sternberg. How many nurses have you? Sister Beatrice. We have ten. Surgeon General Sternberg. They receive lectures from the medical staff, and they are under instructions from the sisters. I went there once myself, I know, and gave them lectures. They have constant instruction. The Garfield Memorial Hospital, Washington, D. C., April 20, 1897. Hon. James McMillan, Chairman Joint Select Committee to Investigate Charities, etc. Dear Sir: We have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the invitation of the Joint Select Committee to Investigate Charities and Reformatory Institutions in the District of Columbia courteously extended to the board of directors of the Garfield Memorial Hospital to attend the hearing to be held ou Thursday, April 22, and in response submit the following statement: Soon after the assassination of President Garfield there was much discussion as to the most suitable manner to mark the abhorrence of the American people for this uncivilized crime and to perpetuate with enduring honor the memory of the elected head of the nation. CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 257 Among the various suggestions made it was thought best to estab- lish a national general hospital in the District of Columbia, and in the graphic language of the late James G. Blaine, which has been prac- tically and rigidly lived up to, "Be open to those needing its aid and ministrations, without regard to class, caste, creed, or color; to be a sufferer in need of help will be the only passport required to enter its door and secure its aid." Subscriptions were asked for over the signature of the late Gen. W. T. Sherman, the first chairman of the executive committee, and nearly every city, town, and hamlet throughout the Union generously contributed its quota, while in response to an appeal made by the Department of State, which read, "It is thought that the proposed memorial can not but commend itself to the attention not only of Amer- icans temporarily abroad, but of all persons, of whatever nationality, who abhor assassination and wish to show their respect for the cause of law and order," there were remitted large sums. The Post-Office Department wrote to postmasters that "no more suitable means of perpetuating the virtues and nobility of character of the deceased could be devised than by the erection in this city of an institution intended as a benefaction foi* human suffering, and open, on certain conditions, for the relief of every citizen of our vast country;" all of which encour- aged the board of directors, even amidst the drawbacks usually attend- ing the establishment of new organizations requiring large outlays of money, to make purchase of a beautiful plot of elevated land overlook- ing a large part of the city of Washington, situated on the corner of Grant and Sherman avenues, at the head of Tenth street west, con- taining between 6 and 7 acres, and which is now estimated to be worth $250,000. Upon these grounds there are six brick buildings which cost about $150,000 to construct, now furnished completely throughout, and with a full complement of medical supplies and surgical apparatus, together with horses and ambulance which are always ready for instant service at the call of the citizens residing in the District of Columbia, and the constituted authorities of the United States Government. The National Garfield Memorial Hospital was incorporated May 18, 1882, and established on May30,1884, since which time, and until Decem- ber 31, 1890, the total number of patients treated in the hospital has been 7,364, together with 4,366 patients cared for in the dispensary attached to the hospital. From our annual report for 1896 it will be seen, in Dr. W. W. Johnston's report, on page 24, that the dispensary service is self- supporting. The superintendent, who is the chief resident physician, receives a salary of $1,000 per annum; thematron, who is the superintendent of the Training School for Nurses, receives a salary of $1,000 per annum; the engineer and other domestic employees receive the usual compensation for such services, but the medical staff receive no compensation what- ever, and the corps of nurses receive only their maintenance. Attached to the hospital is a training school for nurses which has graduated 25 pupils since its establishment in 1891. The school has achieved a.justly national reputation because of the excellent teaching it receives from the superintendent of the school and the lectures which are given by the members of the medical staff, supplemented by care- fully supervised practice in the hospitals of the District. As far as known, all the graduates are in active practice, and some have become superintendents and chief nurses in other hospitals. The demand for trained nurses in private practice keeps pace with S. Doc. 185 17 258 charities and reformatory institutions. and even goes beyond the improved methods employed by the medical practitioners and surgeons of the period, for without the supplemental aid of the skilled nurse the doctor's efforts are frequently unavailing, hence the growing necessities of the people, many of whom draw upon Washington for this much-needed supply. In many respects the city of Washington occupies an unique position. It is the political, scientific, and social center of the Union, and to it flow the residents of every part of the country who naturally take a patriotic pride in the national capital. Many of these visitors are of limited means, and when pressed by the vicissitudes of fortune some- times find themselves stranded by sudden illness without the where- withal to secure the ordinary comforts of a sick chamber, suitable diet, efficient nursing, and adequate medical attendance. These necessities can only be supplied by a general hospital, and the National Garfield Memorial Hospital throws its doors wide open to all proper applicants without regard to their geographical residence or religion, and its physicians and nurses stand ever ready to lend a helping hand and give their best services to the sufferers, however poor they may be, and what- ever ravages disease has made upon their even still poorer and afflicted bodies. Inasmuch as the board has already filed with the committee its last annual report, 1896, which is quite full of detailed information relating to the hospital, and has filled up and returned the schedules furnished by the committee, it is not deemed necessary to occupy the valuable time of the committee further. If, however, the committee should desire any additional information touching the administration of the affairs of the hospital, the board will be pleased to furnish the same, and will promptly do so upon notice to that effect. Very respectfully, John M. Harlan, Reginald Fendall, A. S. Solomons, J. Ormond Wilson, Committee. HOMEOPATHIC HOSPITAL. STATEMENT OF MR. CHARLES LYMAN Representative Pitney. You are president of the board of trustees of the Homeopathic Hospital in this city? Mr. Lyman. Yes. That institution has been in existence for about fifteen years. It was incorporated under the general incorporation law of the District of Columbia in June, 1881. Representative Pitney. Does it receive any public money? Mr. Lyman. Yes. I will cover that a little later on. First, I want to state very briefly about.the hospital itself, its organ- ization, and its methods of management and work. The certificate of incorporation sets out in the first paragraph that the object of the society shall be to establish and maintain a homeo- pathic hospital in the city of Washington in which the medical staff shall be composed of homeopathic physicians only, but into which any physician may take his private patients on complying with the regula- tions which shall be established by the board of trustees; in which proper care and treatment may be given to lying-in women who may wish to be under homeopathic treatment and to which persons tem- porarily residing in the city may be brought in case of sickness; to 259 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. which accident cases (persons suddenly struck down by accident in the streets) may be carried for temporary treatment; in which classes may be instructed and instruction given to students of medicine, and in connection with which there may be a dispensary for the treatment of the poor. That is the substance of the statement of the purposes of the hos- pital. The hospital was in rented quarters for some time, and it was two or three years before it was firmly established. The present building was purchased partly with funds provided by the Government, to which lias been added, for additional construction and repairs, funds received from other sources. The appropriation made by the Government in the first instance for the purchase of the property (the building being on the land and erected for another purpose, but still adapted for hospital uses) was $20,000. Subsequently additional appropriations amounting to $9,500 were made, so that the whole appropriation made by Congress for the plant-the original building and for subsequent improvements-was $29,500. The amount contributed by other per- sons, received from other sources, for the same purpose, for purchase and construction and for repairs subsequently made, was $20,390.19, making the total cost $49,390.19. The Government has made appropriations from year to year for maintenance which have amounted altogether to $02,000 up to and including the year 1890. The appropriations made for this purpose by Congress up to and including the year 1891 amounted to $23,000. I have lumped them up to the year 1891. For the year 1892 there was an appropriation of $7,000, and the same for the year 1893. For 1894 the appropriation was $8,000; for 1895 the appropriation was $8,500, and for 1896 a like appropriation of $8,500 was made, making a total for maintainance of $62,000, and a total for purchase and construction and maintenance provided by the public of $91,500. Funds have been raised from other sources, and the principal of those sources I will state here. Money raised by the Ladies' Aid Association in connection with the hospital, moneys received from pay patients, moneys earned by the nurses outside of the hospital, and moneys received from other miscel- laneous sources have altogether amounted, since the organization of the hospital, to $93,636.71. Representative Pitney. What did all that amount to up to the year 1896? Mr. Lyman. This is up to the end of the year 1896. Representative Pitney. You have had no receipts from private sources since that time? Mr. Lyman. No. Those statistics end with December, 1896. Representative Pitney. The public appropriation terminated on the 30th of June, 1896? Mr. Lyman. Yes. There has been an appropriation for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1898. Representative Pitney. There has been? Mr. Lyman. Yes; the same amount as in previous years. Representative Pitney. In the appropriation bill for the District of Columbia? Mr. Lyman. Yes. Representative Pitney. Was it dropped out in the year 1897? Mr. Lyman. No, sir; part of that has been expended. These figures 260 charities and reformatory institutions. I have given you include the appropriation for 1897. As matter of convenience these others are given for the calendar year. Representative Pitney. I understood you to say that of late your hospital was not aided? Mr. Lyman. No, sir; I did not state that. You misunderstood me. I stated that it has been aided continuously for a number of years. The total has been, as I state. $62,000. Representative Pitney. About one-half of your income comes from the public fund? Mr. Lyman. Yes. Representative Northway. That is in the form of a lump sum given to you without contract or anything? Mr. Lyman. There is no contract. Representative Northway. The Government simply hands you over so much money ? Mr. Lyman. So much money for maintenance. Representative Northway. For the maintenance of the hospital? Mr. Lyman. I have the language of the appropriation. 1 have gone a little ahead of the order in which I intended to present the subject of the hospital-going to the question of support sooner than L intended. I desire, first, to state something of the organization of the hospital. You, of course, want to know something about the managemeht-how the hospital is organized and how it is managed. The hospital is managed by a board of trustees, and the question which was discussed here by Surgeon-General Sternberg is avoided in the Homeopathic Hospital by the board of directors or trustees being wholly lay. There are no physicians on the board. This board is divided into three classes, and the tennis three years, one class going- out each year. The directors are elected by a vote of the members of the association, and any person contributing $2 a year toward the sup port of the hospital is a member of the association for this purpose and may vote at the annual election for trustees, so that there is a pretty broad constituency, if people choose to avail themselves of it for the purpose of controlling the management of the hospital. Representative Pitney. How many members have you ? Mr. Lyman. The number is not very large, contributing in this way, who claim the privilege of that; but a very considerable number, includ- ing the members of the Ladies' Aid Association. The number would go into the hundreds. This board of managers, as 1 said, is elected in this way, and the term of service of each member of the board is three years. The board organizes by the appointment of a president, two vice presidents, a secretary, and treasurer. There are officers, also, of the association separate from the board of managers. The presi- dent of the board of managers is not necessarily the president of the hospital association-and is not, in fact, the present president of the asso ciation and corporation. He is a Member of the House of Representa- tives, Mr. John Dalzell, and has been so for the last three or four years. The vice-president is a citizen of the District of Columbia, a business man. The secretary of the corporation was the late Mr. Lewis Clephane, a gentleman who died recently, a prominent business man of W ashington. The medical staff is composed of leading physicians in the school of medicine which the hospital represents. It is composed of eleven phy- sicians, representing the different branches of professional work which is done in the hospital-general diseases, diseases of the eye and ear, surgical work, and other medical work which is done in first-class hos- pitals. We do not turn away from the hospital any kind of professional charities and reformatory institutions. 261 work. This medical staff' is also divided into three classes. The term of service for each class is three years. A certain number go out each year, their term expiring, and their successors are elected. The business management of the hospital is entirely in the hands of the board of trustees composed wholly of laymen. The professional work of the hospital is of course entirely in charge of the medical staff, and a resident physician and his assistant. We find no difficulty in get- ting along harmoniously, as a rule. We have had some little " breezes" in the past, but nothing to seriously aifect the hospital, and as present organized the hospital is doing a harmonious and we believe a thor- oughly satisfactory work. So far as concerns the relations between the District of Columbia and the hospital and the General Government, perhaps it is sufficient to say that our relations with the General Government are mostly in con- nection with the appropriations made for maintenance. Congress makes appropriations for maintenance, and those are disbursed under direction of the board of trustees. The reports of the expenditures of the Government fund are made quarterly to the accounting officers of the Treasury Department and the accounts are regularly audited, being first sent to the District authorities. The vouchers and accounts are sent to the District authorities and are transmitted by them to the accounting officers of the Treasury. Representative Pitney. All your vouchers for all your expenditures? Air. Lyman. All the vouchers that are paid out of the Government appropriation, not all of the vouchers. Moneys that are raised in other ways, moneys that are received from pay patients or contributed by individuals, or moneys coming into the hands of the hospital from other persons or sources are not included in the account sent to the Treasury Department. Representative Pitney. 1 do not see how you make a separation. Suppose you get $8,500 of an appropriation from the Government? Mr. Lyman. We confine the expenditure of that appropriation to items of maintenance properly. We could not expend any part of that appropriation for construction, for instance, or for repairs, and we are able to make the separation in that way. Representative Pitney. Does not $8,500 pay the whole cost of main- tenance? Air. Lyman. No, sir; I am sorry to say that it does not, and that sometimes we get behind a little. We are behind now in our expenses. Representative Pitney. 1 am only anxious to get at the system of accounting. Do you pick out $8,500 worth of vouchers to show that you have expended that much money in maintenance? Air. Lyman. We spend the whole appropriation in maintenance. We do not cover any of that into the Treasury at the end of the year. The moneys are advanced to us once a quarter, one quarter of the appro- priation being advanced at the beginning of the quarter. That money is expended during the quarter, and sometimes a balance is left over to the credit of the next quarter, and out of that sum expenses are paid which are properly the expenses of maintenance. We make, of course, a distinction between the current expenses of maintenance, such as will pay the necessary employees, and to purchase food supplies and surgical and medical supplies. All those things go to the maintenance of the house. Those expenses are paid out of the Gov- ernment appropriation as far as that appropriation will go. Whatever is left over, not provided for1 by that appropriation, is paid out of the other resources of the hospital, as far as those resources will go. We closed our year with a deficit. We were not able, with the 262 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Government appropriation and with the other funds that eame into the possession of the management, to pay all of the bills. A quarterly report is made to the superintendent of charities. That shows the receipts and disbursements of the quarter, a statement of the medical work done in the hospital during the quarter, showing the number of patients received, the number discharged, the number treated, the number who died, and the general character of the work, as well as the number of patients treated in the dispensary. In other words, it is a fair showing, made in a general way, of the work of the hospital once a quarter, as made to the authorities of the District, and at the end of the fiscal year we make a complete report, also to the District authorities, of the whole work of the hospital for the year. That report includes what the quarterly report has included, but more in detail. The expenses are set out more in detail and the receipts more in detail. We also at that time make an estimate of the probable amount required for the next year, and make any general suggestions that we think proper for the benefit of the hospital and which we think the District authorities ought to know. Unless some member of the committee has some question to ask on these points, this will probably suffice for this part of the subject. Taking up, how, the topics that are assigned for discussion: First, is there duplication in the work of the District hospitals'? I do not know as to the general work of the hospitals. I do not think the Homeopathic Hospital duplicates any work of any kind. Of course you understand that there is more than one hospital for treatment by the other school. This is the only homeopathic hospital in Washington, therefore it does not come in conflict with any other hospital in the city. It does its own work in its own way, and we are always glad to show the result. Your next question is, "Why should not the District share in the expense of the Garfield Hospital and the Providence Hospital?" 1 know of no reason why the District should not, unless it may be that the Garfield Hospital, by its organization and general purpose, treats a large number of foreign patients, that is, patients who are.not properly residents of the District of Columbia. That would be the only matter that would occur to me as a reason for favoring the present practice of making the appropriation in the way in which it is. at present made. Bepresentative Northway. Your homeopathic hospital treats only patients from the District? Mr. Lyman. We try to exclude all other patients as far as possible in our charity work. Bepresentative Northway. Do you succeed? Mr. Lyman. No; we do not succeed altogether. It is our aim, how- ever, to confine our charity work to residents of the District, and we take such suitable means as we can to prevent a departure from that rule. Bepresentative Northway. About what proportion of those persons treated are nonresidents of the District ? Mr. Lyman. I do not suppose that over 5 per cent would be non- residents. I do not make that statement with assurance, but my idea is that not over 5 per cent of the patients treated at the hospital as charity patients would be nonresidents. The Chairman. You do not make that distinction as to pay patients? Mr. Lyman. No. Bepresentative Northway. You take all classes and all colors, black and white? CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 263 Mr. Lyman. Yes. We make no distinction in regard to color or sex or age. The Chairman. Or religion? Mr. Lyman. Or religion. Representative Northway. Do you. mean that yon take in infants? Mr. Lyman. Yes. Representative Northway. Of color ? Mr. Lyman. Yes. Representative Northway. How young? The reason I ask is that a doctor told me to-day that he was caring for a colored infant whom he could not get into a hospital. The mother was obliged to work. Mr. Lyman. We have a colored ward where we take children, and all cases that are proper for hospital treatment we admit. The Chairman. That child may not be sick. Representative Northway. Yes; the child is sick. The doctor said to me that the child was sick, and the mother could not take care of it herself. He could not find any hospital to take the child in, unless it was 18 months old. He did not say as to all hospitals. Representative Pitney. Did he say as to the Freedmen's Hospital? Representative Northway. Yes. Dr. Williams (of the Freedmen's Hospital). I told that gentleman, when he applied to the Freedmen's Hospital, to bring the child there and we would take care of it. Mr. Lyman. We exclude one class of patients; that is, incurables. We have no facilities for taking care of incurables. We do get into the hospital a certain few of that class, especially those suffering from lung troubles. They are not retained in the hospital any longer than is necessary, when it is determined that there is no permanent cure for them. There is an institution for incurables in the District. To what extent it provides for this class of unfortunates I do not know, but it is our policy not to treat this class of patients. Representative Pitney. You take no contagious-disease cases, I sup- pose ? Mr. Lyman. We take no contagious diseases, properly so called. We take a good many typhoid cases that are not strictly contagious, but possibly may be termed infectious. We have no difficulty in treating typhoid cases. Representative Northway. Do you take diphtheria patients? Mr. Lyman. No, sir. Our hospital is so constructed that it would be unsafe to take contagious-disease patients into the building. If I could make a diagram you could see that it would not be wise to receive cases of contagious disease into the hospital, and we have no separate building in which they could be treated. The Chairman. If you had a separate building on your lot 1 sup- pose you could care for them? Mr. Lyman. We could care for them if we had a separate building The hospital is on one end of the lot and it extends back possibly 200 feet altogether. We could not place a building on the lot more than probably 100 feet from the present structure, and not more than 25 feet from the laundry, and it would not do, possibly, for the building to be so near as that to the laundry. 1 took up the question as to contagious diseases before taking up your fourth question, which is " Should the control of Freedmen's Hospital remain with the Secretary of the Interior?" I have no opinion to offer on that subject, except on general principles, namely, that in my belief the relation of hospitals to the Government, 264 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. both of the District and the nation, should be the same where the con- ditions are the same. As to the training school for nurses, which forms No. 6 of your ques- tions, the training school in the Homeopathic Hospital has been in operation about four years. Our full complement of nurses is 15. The Chairman. How many patients form your average! Mr. Lyman. Our average number of patients is probably rising 30. We would not need that number of nurses to do the work of the house if they were all in the house, but in the second year of the training (until this year the training-school course has been two years) the nurses are subject to calls for service outside the hospital-calls that are made by members of the medical staff and our physicians, and some- times three or four of them are out of the house in this service, which is a considerable source of income to the hospital. In 1891, which was the first year that we could have the benefit of this revenue, the nurses earned and turned in to the hospital $1,434.15. In the year 1895 they turned in $1,582.09, and in the year 189G they turned in $1,374.52. The Chairman. They board in the hospital, do they-you board them ? Mr. Lyman. When they are engaged on outside service they board with the families by whom they are employed. The Chairman. But when not so employed they board in the hospital ? Mr. Lyman. Yes. The Chairman. And the expense of keeping them would come out of that fund? Mr. Lyman. Certainly. In the three years they have earned for the hospital $4,390.70. We pay the nurses during the first year $7 a month, but $2 of that is retained until the end of their course, and is then paid to them in a lump sum. During the second year we retain $3. The retained money, $2 for the first year and $3 for the second year, is paid to them when they are graduated. On the 1st of January the term of the training- school was raised to three years, and those who will be trained in the hospital hereafter will have the benefit of a three years' course. We think that is wise. The tendency all over the country is to make a professional class of trained nurses. Our hospital was possibly the first (although I am not sure about that) which adopted the three years' course in Washington, but a very large number of hospitals elsewhere in the country have a three years' course for trained nurses. Representative Pitney. Does not that system of sending out nurses interfere with the work of the hospital to some extent? Mr. Lyman. No, sir; we do not permit a nurse to leave if she is needed at the hospital. The house must bh cared for first. The charge for that service is $15 a week, which is paid to the hospital. Some- times nurses are assigned for special cases in the house. If a patient is very sick and needs the constant attention of the nurse she has to be withdrawn from other service and assigned to the particular patient. That patient is charged $10 a week for that service. Those are pay patients. But this service is rendered with just as much assiduity to free patients as it is to pay patieuts. They get the same attention and treatment from the nurses as if they were paying just the same as pay patients. In other words, the hospital, so far as this professional work is concerned, makes no distinction between free patients and pay patients. Your next and last question is as to the salaries of the hospital staff. Unon that point 1 wish to say that we pay the hospital staff no salaries CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 265 whatever. Their service is rendered gratuitously to the hospital. The only medical officers who are paid at all are the house physician, who gives his whole time to the work and resides in the house. He is paid $300 a year. It is proposed, however, after the term of the present resident physician expires, to obtain this service without cost to the hospital. We believe that it can be done, and that there are young men just going into the profession-and this is the class that we seek for those places-who will be glad to render this service for the instruc- tion and experience they receive. We have an assistant resident physician who is a graduate, taken in the first year after his graduation, lie is taken in the first year with the intention that he shall become the resident physician in the second year, so that the resident is in the house two years. We believe that we can obtain suitable young men, thoroughly qualified, who are willing to devote two years to this work without compensation, except their board ami lodging, for the experience they get in the house. We have in connection with the hospital a dispensary in which a large number of patients are treated. During the last year there were 7,890 patients treated at the dispensary. The number of such patients is gradually increasing from year to year, notwithstanding our utmost efforts to limit the number. I will say here that we use every means within our power to exclude from the dispensary persons who ought not to have dispensary treat- ment-persons who are able to take care of themselves and persons who are not residents of the District and are not proper subjects of dispensary treatment. We have not facilities at the hospital to make a thorough investigation of this class of persons. 1 wish to make a suggestion in connection with that matter, as you called for suggestions as to what means can be adopted to ascertain who are suitable dispensary patients and who are not. I have given the matter some attention. It has been a subject of serious consideration by our authorities, and our conclusion is that if the office of the superintendent of charities of the District were properly organized and properly officered it ought to do that work. The matter should be so arranged that whenever there was an application made at the dispensary-if a man or woman came there for treatment-there should be treatment on the first application, if, in the judgment of the attending physician, immediate treatment was needed. Then the patient should be sent with a card to the superintendent of charities for an investiga- tion. If that investigation was favorable there should be a report, and the treatment should be continued as long as may be necessary. If the investigation should not prove to be favorable, of course the treat- ment would not be continued. As the charity system is now organized, it seems to us, who have given it some attention, that the most suitable means for investigating this class of persons is the Associated Charities. They are prepared to go into the matter and give it better attention than the superintend- ent of charities, and they are willing to do that work to such extent as their means will permit. Ordinarily, hospitals are not so organized that they can do this work of investigation. The Chairman. I do not believe it is customary. I believe that in all States, and at all dispensaries, patients get treatment if they apply for it. Mr. Lyman. We have often felt that we have been imposed upon, but we have no person at the hospital who could go into the duty of investigation. It would take the whole time of one person to make 266 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. investigations of those people who apply for free treatment in the dis- pensaries. Wo make this investigation in regard to free patients seek- ing admission to the hospital for hospital treatment, so as to satisfy ourselves that the person applying is, first, needy, and secondly, is a suitable hospital patient. The Chairman. Suppose a person should be taken to your hospital in a condition of illness, does he or she ever go through any examina- tion, or do you treat applicants first and examine them afterwards? Mr. Lyman. We take them in: we diagnose the case, and generally the patient is treated and retained long enough in the hospital to ascertain whether it is a proper hospital case, and whether it is a case that this hospital ought to take care of. The Ch airman. Is there any "red tape" about the matter; do people have to apply to anybody in particular to get admission, or do they just go to the hospital and walk right in? Mr. Lyman. They go to the hospital and walk in. Of course the resident physician acts on his judgment in the matter. He is acting under general regulations and restrictions as to those matters, and he uses his judgment. Ordinarily, patients are admitted on the statement of some member of the medical staff, or of some reputable physician who'knows about the case, and, as a rule, when application is made for the admission of a patient by other persons, the resident physician goes to the place where the patient is to be found, and makes a personal examination of the patient before he is received at the hospital. We also take accident cases, and have treated a great many, and are to day treating that class of cases. 1 should now be glad to answer any questions that the committee desire to ask. The Chairman. I believe there is no other information that we want. Mr. Lyman. We have here with us to-day another member of our medical staff, that is Dr. Corey. If you would care to ask him any questions he would be glad to answer them. The Chairman. I think you have covered the case very fully. The next matter is that of the Garfield Hospital, and we have a statement on file as to that. We shall now be glad to hear some one from the Freedmen's Hospital. FREEDMEN'S HOSPITAL. STATEMENT OF DR. DANIEL H. WILLIAMS. The Chairman. What is your position! Dr. Williams. I am surgeon in chief of Freedmen's Hospital. I will state briefly that the Freedmen's Hospital was instituted by Gen. O. O. Howard, superintendent of the Freedmen's Bureau, acting under governmental authority, and is supported solely by Government appropriation. At the time that this hospital was instituted it was instituted for an asylum for the poor, sick, colored refugees who flocked into the city of Washington at that time in order that they might be cared for with food, shelter, medicine, etc. This hospital has grown from that beginning to its present condition. It is a fairly well equipped and appointed hospital, with facilities for the proper care of the sick and will compare favorably with othex hospitals. It averages about 2,500 patients per year. The Chairman. How many patients do you average for each day. CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 267 Dr. Williams. About 175 to 200. The Chairman. All colored ? Dr. Williams. No, sir; about one-third are white. The Chairman. Do you take patients of all ages? Dr. Williams. With the exception of very young children. We have no provision for caring for very young children, although in emer- gencies we take them. We take anybody in case of an emergency. We do not ask any questions. If a man is in need and we have the room we take him. The Chairman. Do you have any pay patients? Dr. Williams. No, sir. The Chairman. Your patients are all charity patients? Dr. Williams. Yes. The Chairman. How are those patients delivered to the hospital? Dr. Williams. Through the sanitary officers and through the Inte- rior Department, and through special letters from "physicians to the poor," as they term them, I think, in this city, and through reputable physicians. They must be vouched for in some way when they enter the Freedmen's Hopital. Yonr first question is, "Is there duplication of work of the District hospitals?" This hospital sustains peculiar relations in regard to duplications of work, with the various hospitals of the city. It scarcely admits of question that the highest possible development of scientific work by hospitals is along the line of specialties. For instance, one hospital will devote itself to medical diseases, another to surgery, another to obstetrics, another to gynaecology, and so forth. Under such apian each hospital, in limiting the scope of its operations, could widen the field of its investigations and multiply its facilities, thus extending the whole force of its staff to the perfecting of a given line of professional work. But this is not true of the general hospital work of the District of Columbia, and in the nature of things can not be true of the Freed- men's Hospital. In our hospital, as elsewhere, we undertake to do whatever comes within the range of general hospital work. With reference to the second question, "Why should not the District share the expense of Garfield Hospital," and the same as to the Provi- dence Hospital? I know of no reason why it should not. They are excellently managed institutions as far as my observation goes, and I have visited each of them. They are up to date, and are doing their full share of general hospital work. I have nothing but the kindest words for the management of the Providence and the Garfield hospitals. As to the question, "Should the work of the hospitals be supervised by the District authorities," I would say that it is my opinion that the best results could always be attained by lodging the general super- visory powers over such institutions in the hands of some one author- ized to regularly investigate the workings of such institutions. I feel somewhat like the gentleman who has just preceded me, and believe that it is a very wise and proper thing to have some person properly authorized to inspect these hospitals at regular times, not only for the good of the institutions, but for the good of those who are appro priated for. This is a necessity where institutions are supported either wholly or partly by Government funds. There is always a tendency in hospital management to absolute dictatorship on the part of the recognized head. This principle, odious as it is, is nowhere more asserted than in hospitals. Therefore, in my opinion, to lodge super- visory power in the city or District government would be eminently 268 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. wise, except, however, in the case of the Freedmen's Hospital. That ought to remain, as now, under the control of the Secretary of the Interior. That brings me to the next question, which is, ''Should the control of the Freedmen's Hospital remain with the Secretary of Interior?" This institution, Mr. Chairman, is unique in its character, as related to other similar institutions of this city. It is supported wholly by the Government. Its employees are appointed through the opera- tions of the general civil service laws. Its policy is shaped by the direction of the sentiment of the General Government toward those for whom it was designed. It is therefore not a local, but a national, insti- tution, and as such should have supervision by national authority. The Secretary of the Interior is the recognized head of home institutions of our General Government, controls the property, shapes the policies, makes the appointments, and determines the expenses-all in the inter- est of the General Government. If the District furnished the funds for the support of this hospital as a District institution, then I think it should be in the control of the District authorities. If, however, this money is appropriated by the General Government for the support of the Freedmen's Hospital, then it should be, as I think, in charge of the Government authorities. Senator Faulkner. Do you take patients other than those from the District? Dr. Williams. Oh, yes; we take a great many patients from outside the District. They come to us from almost all sources and all quarters. We are subject to the control of the Interior Department, as well as partly to that of the District Commissioners. Whenever Mr. Frank, the gentleman in charge of the sanitary office, issues an order on us to receive a patient, we receive the patient on that order. The Interior Department issues an order in the same way, and a patient is received; and, as I said a moment ago, these patients are received on the certifi- cate of the physicians of the poor. They may come from outside the District. We ask them that question, and the reply is part of our records; but so far as I have ever understood the matter we have no right to refuse anyone who is certified to us to be in need of help. Our class of patients is the very poor class of people. Senator Faulkner. Does your record show the percentage of non- residents that are treated there? Dr. Williams. It does. I looked that matter up very closely, and 1 found that it was pretty nearly 50 per cent; but I think there is an error in that, for this reason-that when a patient enters the hospital we ask his residence, and he states it to be Virginia, North Carolina, or South Carolina, or whatever other State he names, and he usually understands by that that we desire to know where he was born. I think that very many mistakes are made in that way. Senator Faulkner. How does the Secretary of the Interior get any knowledge of the condition of those people if they live in those States? Dr. Williams. 1 do not know; but 1 am obliged to accept a per- emptory order from the Secretary of the Interior to receive a patient. I have nothing to do but to receive the patient. I am under the control of the Secretary of the Interior. Senator Faulkner. You do not know of any system by which he is enabled to ascertain, do you? Dr. Williams. No, sir. Senator Faulkner. Do you know of any instances in which he has sent you patients who resided outside the District? CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 269 Dr. Williams. I can not recall any at present. I suppose such cases do occur quite frequently, but I do not know of any now. I could not tell of any without consulting the record. Representative Northway. You are superintendent of the Freed- men's Hospital? Dr. Williams. Yes, sir. Representative Northway. Do you take any patients on your own examination? Dr. Williams. Well, once in a while, from the dispensary we take any patient on examination of the gentleman in charge of that depart- ment. Representative Northway. Is there some person who sends a cer- tificate to you? Dr. Williams. Yes; a certificate authorizing us to accept the patient. Representative Northway. Every patient who conies? Dr. Williams. Yes; 95 per cent of them. Representative Northway. And the others; how about them? Dr. Williams. They come from the dispensary, or the physicians to the poor. Representative Northway. Who is the party that sends a patient to you? Dr. Williams. Mr. Frank, who was here before the committee, is one; the Interior Department is another. Representative Northway. And no inquiry is made as to residence, or as to where they come from ? Dr. Williams. Mr. Frank, no doubt, looks into the matter. We do so when they enter the hospital. Representative Northway. Evidently, according to your statement, there is a big mistake, if you get 50 per cent of nonresidents in there. Dr. Williams. I account for that to a great extent by the fact that people give their birthplace. Representative Northway. Ilas there not been sufficient experience on the part of the authorities there to enable them to get at the resi- dence and not the birthplace? Dr. Williams. Well, a man comes into the hospital with pneumonia or some other acute disease, and we can not very well get at all the particulars of his history. Representative Northway. The hospital is organized to care for the poor of the District, is it not? Dr. Williams. I do not know about that, sir. It was organized to care for the poor that come to the District from any place in the United States, and it did care for them for years. It was not a hospital origi- nally; it was a camp. They did not ask these poor refugees-slaves- where they came from; they came from all around the country. Representative Northway. The hospital is under the care of the Government? Dr. Williams. Yes. Senator Faulkner. Will you tell the name of the gentleman who sends the certificates from the Interior Department to you? Dr. Williams. I think it is Major Cooper, of the miscellaneous department, that has been sending the certificates. That has been goingon for twenty-five years-I suppose longer-ever since the hospital was organized. Representative Northway. How long have you been connected with the hospital? Dr. Williams. I was appointed in the spring of 1894, 270 charities and reformatory institutions. Senator Faulkner. You can proceed, now, with your statement. Dr. Williams. As I have said, the policy of the hospital should be shaped by the direction of the sentiment of the General Government toward those for whom the institution was designed. It is therefore not a local but a national institution. The Secretary of the Interior is the recognized head of home institutions with us. The General Gov- ernment pays the expenses and the General Government ought to control the hospital. If the expenses were borne-by the District government, I should be in favor of having the hospital under District authority entirely. There is no more reason for turning over the management of the Freedmen's Hospital to the District government than for giving the District the control of the Smithsonian Institution or of the National Museum. To shift the control of the Freedmen's Hospital from the Interior Department to the District government would be fraught with conse- quences dangerous to the well-being of the institution. Such a step would immediately make the institution the object of interminable local and political scramble for its management. Politics, I think, should not have anything to do with the management of such an insti- tution, or of any hospital. It should be put beyond the control of politics. Senator Faulkner. Does it affect the control of those other hospitals ? Dr. Williams. Well, I do not think it does. I do not know much about the other hospitals, however. Senator Faulkner. I agree with you on the principle of the thing, and if it does, we ought to make some change. Dr. Williams. I could not say anything with reference to the other hospitals, but I know that there is a scramble in the Freedmen's Hos- pital ever since I came there. The Chairman. A scramble for the good, fat places? Dr. Williams. Yes. Senator Faulkner. That has been with the Secretary of the Interior? Dr. Williams. Yes. Senator Faulkner. Then there is politics in it now? Dr. Williams. Instances are not wanting to verify the truth of the prediction that it would, every four years, be an object of political scramble. Attempts have several times been made to secure control of the Freedmen's Hospital, and clearly for the purpose of committing its management into the hands of a local corporation-a corporation that furnished no funds, and was organized merely for the purpose of constituting certain persons the fiscal agents of the Government to handle Government appropriations for this hospital. Happily this scheme has so far failed. I refer particularly to a so called board of incorporation which I should be very glad if you shall see fit to shed more light upon in this investigation. Senator Faulknfr. By that you mean that some persons are trying or deAiring to form it into a corporation, so as to become trustees, etc.? Dr. Williams. That is the way the articles read. Senator Faulkner. That is the objection you have to its being in the District government in any form; but suppose it were placed now under the control of the District Commissioners instead of the Sec- retary of the Interior, do you think there would be more politics in it then than there is now, or more scramble? Dr. Williams. Well, I am not in a position to give you an opinion on that point. In my hospital experience I have always felt that 271 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. anything that looked like having hospitals affected by politics was very injurious to the hospital. Representative Northway. When was this hospital organized ? Dr. Williams. In 1867, I think it was, to provide for those colored refugees who were coming into the city. It was first under the War Department, and I think the officers then were officers of the War Department. Subsequently it was transferred to the Interior Depart- ment. Senator Faulkner. It never started as a hospital, but as a sort of camp to take care of those people as they came into town. Representative Northway. Yes; and it has been growing ever since. Senator Faulkner. Yes. Dr. Williams. As to your next question, regarding training schools for nurses, I would most emphatically give my testimony in behalf of the splendid results that have come to the hospital service through the institution of training schools for nurses. Senator Faulkner. Speaking of the expense, are you certain that the District does not pay one-half the expense for the support of the hospital? Dr. Purvis. The District does pay one-half. The Chairman. Are you the superintendent of the hospital? Dr. Purvis. I used to be the surgeon in chief of the Freedmen's Hospital. The Chairman. I understand that the Freedmen's Hospital is under the control of the Interior Department, but that the money is paid in the regular way by the District. Dr. Williams. Myfundsare alldisbursed by the District government. The Chairman. And yet the Interior Department appoints the officers ? Dr. Williams. It has the exclusive control. The Chairman. I can not see why, under those circumstances, the Freedmen's Hospital should not be under the control of the Commis- sioners of the District of Columbia, do you? Dr. Williams. There would be great danger, Mr. Chairman, I think, in placing the Freedmen's Hospital under the control of the Commis- sioners, from the fact that it is now regarded as a national institution. 11 is the only institution in the United States where a colored man 01 colored woman can get any medical training, with the exception of one hospital in Chicago, and there is one very small one in Baltimore. As an educational institution, and as an institution for the benefit of the colored people, as an institution to give them lines of employment and of pro- fessional training which they could not possibly obtain in any other way, I feel that it should be kept a national institution if only for that one purpose-to have that at least as one of its main purposes. Senator Faulkner. You mean for the educational feature? Dr. Williams. Yes; as a training school for nurses. I believe, also, that, as there are so few institutions where colored people can get any direct benefit, they should be allowed to come from every part of the United States to this institution for training or treatment. They are poor, and have not the money to pay good doctors and surgeons for efficient medical and surgical treatment or training. It is a hardship on poor people, who are dying for want of competent medical and sur- gical skill, to compel them to pay the fees that would be necessary to enable them to get service that would be equivalent to hospital service cf this character, if got from physicians outside. 272 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Senator Faulkner. That is true; but would that feature be affected by a change of control? The Government now pays one-half and the District one half. If it were placed under the control of the District, how would that change the method of running it? Dr. Williams. It would change the method in this way: It might be held that it was a District institution, and that that would perhaps exclude the benefits of the institution from persons residing outside the District. Senator Faulkner. That is not the case with any others. They all testify here that they take in outsiders-because the Government pays one-half of the expense. Dr. Williams. Well, it could undoubtedly be so arranged, but 1 have always felt that it should be more national than any other hos pital or institution of that character in the country. Senator Faulkner. 1 think you are right, that there ought to be a place for the training of nurses. You train physicians, too, do you not? The Chairman. You give physicians access to the clinics, do you not ? Dr. Williams. Yes. When I took charge of the hospital 1 organized a school for nurses, and we had a system of internes, as at all other good hospitals in the United States. Following the lines on which all other institutions are organized, I proceeded to organize this hospital on modern hospital lines, without one cent of increase of appropria tion. I instituted a training school, and I am now able to pay a small sum to those nurses. I pay them $7 a month, as other hospitals do; and out of that same appropriation, without increase, 1 am able to maintain an ambulance for service in the city of Washington. I feel that it would be doing the greatest service to the colored people of the country to conduct this hospital as a general hospital for their race. In doing this I feel that it would be doing the greatest good to the greatest number. I have now as internes four colored men and one white man. They are admitted from the different medical colleges of the United States. Hereafter they will be admitted by civil service. 1 asked last year of Congress to make the law so that it would allow me to run the hos- pital on modern lines, and not as it was twenty or thirty years ago when there used to be a surgeon in chief, an assistant surgeon, and two or three more assistants who drew large salaries for hospital duty. In the organization of modern hospitals it is not necessary. It is a posi- tive nuisance to have two or three men about a hospital drawing large salaries and doing nothing. 1 consequently, at the suggestion of the Secretary of the Interior, did away with that system and organized this institution on new lines and started this training school for nurses. Under the former system, one of those assistants of whom I speak, drew $1,200 a year and the other $1,800 a year. Instead of that, we have now a training school for nurses, and as well four or five young men, graduates of medical colleges in good standing, as internes in that institution. Instead of paying two men $3,000 a year as was for- merly done, that sum is taken to run this training school and paying these young men a very small pittance, seven to eight, or nine, or ten dollars a month. As the gentleman who preceded me here said, they are about to institute this service in the Homeopathic Hospital. I insti- tuted that class of service in the Freedmen's Hospital when I came to it and it has worked with perfect satisfaction, as I knew it would. 1 had had experience with that system before. It is on the same line as the Johns Hopkins, the Koosevelt, and other first-class hospitals, are run. charities and reformatory institutions. 273 The Chairman. Your idea is that if the management were changed it would in some way take away from its national character? Dr. Williams. Yes; I think so, decidedly. The Chairman. And that the Commissioners would naturally want to keep it for patients from the District alone? Dr. Williams. Yes, sir. The Chairman. And that that would keep away many people who want to use the hospital for the purposes that you name? Dr. Williams. Yes. The Chairman. And in the meantime the District paying one-half gets a proper return by your taking one-half the patients from the Dis- trict ? Dr. Williams. Yes, sir. It is certainly a serious thing to rob these colored people who can not pay the large fees exacted by surgeons. To exclude them from the Freedmen's Hospital would be doing them a great injustice. With regard to the training school for nurses, I assert that it is a positive blessing in more ways than one to the colored women of this country. It opens up a class of service of a most valuable character to a class of women who are shut out from every other avenue of employ- ment on account of a cruel prejudice existing in this country. I will now take up the question of contagious diseases in hospitals. With the indorsement of this committee and the cooperation of the District Commissioners, I am sure that this matter of making provision for contagious diseases in the District could have been and can be now disposed of in thirty days to the satisfaction of all. The amount of money appropriated, which I learn is $30,000, seems to me an abun- dance to provide a building to take care of all the cases that occur in the District of Columbia for the next fiscal year. I speak from an experience of four years with the Illinois Board of Health and eight years as attending physician to the Protestant Orphan Asylum at Chicago, the largest institution of its kind in the West. In this experience we had to deal with thousands of cases of the mild forms of contagion which you wish to provide for here. In the State of Illinois we had no difficulty whatever in dealing with these minor contagious diseases. Two or three men with authority, and with sufficient money, could erect a building or rent one sufficient to provide for all these minor contagious diseases that we have here. Senator Faulkner. You would have no trouble in erecting a build- ing right on the grounds of the present hospital, would you? Dr. Williams. The ground is rented, but 1 do not think there would be any trouble in making arrangements with the trustees of the How- ard University. Senator Faulkner. 1 mean so far as concerns the safety of the other patients of the hospital. Dr. Williams. No; I am sure it would be perfectly safe. That has been examined into from time to time. It would be perfectly safe to erect a building inside of 75 feet or so. The Illinois Board of Health held for five years that 50 feet was sufficient to prevent this form of infection, which results from contact and not from anything that is in the air. We made provision for 15,000 cases in Illinois in two years, and.50 feet was our limit. « Senator Faulkner. You never found any bad effects from that? Dr. Williams. No, sir; we never had any bad effects. In fact, in the Protestant Orphan Asylum at one time we had 50 cases of scarlet fever and 250 cases of measles without the children of the neighborhood, S. Doc. 185 18 274 charities and reformatory institutions. at a distance of only 50 feet around us, contracting those diseases. We turned our whole place into a hospital. 1 have noticed the same absence of harmful effects in such cases time and again. All that is necessary is reasonable care to keep the diseases within perfect control. Your last item is a question as to salaries of hospital staff's. I shall speak merely of the Freedmen's Hospital, because that hospital differs in character from all other institutions in Washington. That institution should have at its head a man of recognized execu- tive ability. He must keep in advance of the science of medicine and surgery. His salary is the only salary which need be provided for. It is practically a needless expenditure of money, public or private, to pay large salaries for two or three assistants who may be outside profes- sionals, and who, in the nature of things, can not give their personal attention to any considerable proportion of the professional work of an ordinary hospital. This money could be far better spent in providing for the keep of half a dozen or more internes, who, as graduates of medical schools, practically give their services in return for the experi- ence they get from the hospital. Provision should, however, be made for a small amount of spending money for each one, and some arrange- ment should be made for the nurses' training school. These two classes would be all that was needed in a hospital. There ought to be in every hospital a staff of visiting local physi- cians and surgeons, who would give their services to the hospital. Such a staff, embracing the best skill in the profession, is now con- nected with the Freedmen's Hospital. Senator Faulkner. What is the number of your staff ? Dr. Williams. There are five young men in the hospital-six with myself. The outside staff numbers from fifteen to eighteen, I think, at present. The Chairman. Your idea is that the superintendent should be a physician ? Dr. Williams. Yes; by all means. The Chairman. That is not the case in a great many hospitals. Dr. Williams. No. I was severely criticised here last winter for recommending that the office of surgeon in chief be abolished. I recom- mended that a superintendent be made or appointed for the Freedmen's Hospital. I never could understand why the Freedmen's Hospital should be conducted any different from any other hospital. I feel that a hospi- tal ought to have a superintendent, who should live at the hospital. The Chairman. There is no doubt of that. Dr. Williams. And the $3,000 that he receives is adequate compen- sation for a man who expects to live in the institution. The Chairman. Is there any place there in which he can live? Dr. Williams. Well, I have lived there for two or three years very comfortably. The Chairman. Who are the salaried officers there now? Dr. Williams. There are very few salaried officers now. The first assistant gets a very moderate salary. I have the pay rolls here, which I will leave with the committee. The superintendent of the nurses gets a salary. She organized and conducts the training school. She was recommended here from®the Johns Hopkins Hospital. The Chairman. Her duties are entirely with the training school for nurses ? Dr. Williams. Yes. The Chairman. Then you have a matron, of course? charities and reformatory institutions. 275 Dr. Williams. Yes; we have a matron who looks after the duties common to a hospital matron. I wish to say in conclusion that the Secretary of the Interior approved and adopted my recommendation so as to enable me to reorganize the system under which this hospital has been running, and to introduce methods the benefits of which are no longer questioned, 1 believe, by anyone who has the real interest of the institution at heart. I desire especially to ask the committee to examine into my methods ami to examine into the hospital work that has been done, and from such an examination you can judge somewhat of the possibilities of the future. Representative Northway. There is no large amount of lying-in work done in this hospital, is there? Dr. Williams. Yes, sir; there is. Representative Northway. The women come from all the surround- ing country, do they ? Dr. Williams. Yes, sir. Representative Northway. They are mostly unmarried? Dr. Williams. Well, to a large extent, yes. I would not say "mostly," but a great many of them are. Representative Northway. And at the end of two weeks their term of occupation there ends? Dr. Williams. Yes. Representative Northway. They take their child and walk out into the streets of the District of Columbia? Dr. Williams. Yes. Representative Northway. To be cared for in the District here ? Dr. Williams. Well, most of them either go away from the city or have homes or someone to provide for them in some way. Representative Northway. But largely they fall into the hands of the charitable people here and have to be cared for, do they not, they and their children? Dr. Williams. I do not think so, sir; Mr. Frank can tell you better about that than 1 can. Senator Faulkner. Do you keep any trace of them after they leave you? Dr. Williams. No; we compel them to take their children with them, because he have no means of providing for them. We think it a humane thing to do. We believe that the mother will take better care of the child than anybody else. Senator Faulkner. If the mother has no home and no relatives here in the District, what is she going to do with the child? Dr. Williams. Well, the hospital has no means of providing for such cases. If I undertook to take care of all those cases I would not have room for any others. Senator Faulkner. But the point is as to the effect upon the Dis- trict of that system. Representative Northway. That is just the point-the increasing care on the District. That is a very important point. There is a great deal more of that caring for nonresidents than should be allowed in the District of Columbia. Dr. Williams. But if we refuse to take care of those cases when they come to us we would be severely criticised for it. Senator Faulkner. I would suggest that the chairman write to the Secretary of the Interior and ask him on what basis he provides for 276 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. the entry of these people into the hospitals, and whether his records provide for keeping an account of the States from which they come at the time the certificates are granted, so that he may have actual knowledge as to whether they are citizens of the District or of some State. Representative Northway. There must be some person in the Department who has charge of the particulars. The Chairman. That information will be obtained if possible. Dr. Purvis. I should like to be heard by the committee for a few moments. STATEMENT OF DR. CHARLES B. PURVIS The Chairman. Are you connected with the Freedmen's Hospital? Dr. Purvis. No, sir. The Chairman. At one time you were surgeon in chief of that hospital ? Dr. Purvis. Yes, sir. The Chairman. How long since was that? 1 )r. Purvis. Three years ago. Political influence put me out. I quite agree with Dr. Williams that it should not be a political institution. Senator Faulkner. He said it would be political if put under the control of the Commissioners of the District. Dr. Purvis. Well, I do not know. I think he has profited by its being political. With reference to the question of changing the control from the Department of the Interior to some other authority, we should like to be heard, as we are involved it that question. The doctor is somewhat in error with reference to the question of the origin of the hospital. It was not started'by General Howard at all, but was started some years before General Howard became connected with it. With regard to the payment of the expenses, the sundry civil appro- priation bill of 1889 required that the District Commissioners for the first time should pay one-half the running expenses of the hospital. The Commissioners demurred to that, and they had some little corre- spondence with the First Comptroller of the Treasury on the subject. As to the change of control, in 1890 when the appropriation bill for the District of Columbia passed the House of Representatives, although 1 was before that committee several days, they said nothing to me about it. It provided that the future management and control of the institu- tion be taken from the Department of the Interior and placed under the Commissioners. Now, if you will allow me to put a remark here in parenthesis, I will say that in 1873, when the Freedmen's Bureau was abolished, the hos- pital naturally went to the War Department, where the Bureau was. At the instance of the medical faculty of Howard University-General Garfield being then chairman of the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives-we succeeded in transferring this hos- pital from the War Department to the Department of the Interior, for the express purpose of keeping it in close touch with the medical department of Howard University, which is upon the same ground, and which ground and buildings belong to the Howard University. Now, Mr. Chairman, to go back again. In 1885, I think it was, a committee was appointed by the Senate, consisting of Senator Butler, of South Carolina, and Senator Aldrich, to investigate the various hospitals of this city. They came to the Freedmen's Hospital and CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 277 went with me over the records. I had to admit that 95 per cent of the patients admitted there were from the District of Columbia. The Freedmen's Bureau had had hospitals in all parts of the country, but they gradually broke up except this one, which became a local institu- tion. The present site was occupied in 1866. When the District appropriation bill passed the House of Repre- sentatives, as I have said, in 1890, it provided for the absolute transfer of the hospital from the Interior Department to the Commissioners of the District of Columbia. I became somewhat alarmed, not for the hospital, mark you, but for the educational institution to which I have devoted my life. I felt that sooner or later this school-the medical department of the Howard University-would be seriously crippled. 1 knew, as it was at the time under the control of Secretary Lamar, that there would be a great strife by the local physicians here to get control of that hospital. Now, to have anyone introduced there as a superintendent or sur- geon in chief not in touch or in sympathy with the work that we were doing-and yet our school in the same building-meant nothing but conflict, and it meant that our school would be embarrassed. 1 there- fore asked the Senate committee, represented by Senator Allison, to give the matter consideration. First, I called the attention of the trus- tees of Howard University to it, and by unanimous vote I, with some other members of the trustees, was appointed a committee to secure proper legislation. Then we called the attention of the proper Senate committee to the fact. They also had a conference with the District Commissioners, two of whom were Mr. Douglass and Mr. Ross. After meeting with the District Committee, it was suggested that we incorporate under the general act of incorporation, thus placing this hospital upon a footing identical with that of every other hospital and asylum in this city supported, in whole or in part, by the General Government. I understood, too-1 may be mistaken-that in the case of the Colum- bia Hospital, which is controlled by a board of trustees or a board of incorporators, the ground and buildings belong actually to the Gov- ernment, and still the Government permitted the institution to be con- trolled by a board of incorporators and trustees. We simply asked that we should enjoy the same rights and the same privileges. An act was drawn up and submitted to the Senate committee ami by that commit- tee it was referred to the District Commissioners. After a good deal of discussion, the matter was brought to the attention of Secretary Noble, who wrote a letter saying that he had no time to give to the supervision of this institution. Suflice it to say that the Commissioners met with us again at the rooms of the Senate committee. The House bill was amended with the express purpose of giving these incorporators the management of the institution, and the Commissioners of the District of Columbia the supervision of the expenditures. We did not object to that. We approved of that. We proposed that the District Com- missioners should supervise all expenditures. And, right in this con- nection, permit me to say that they should supervise the expenditures in every charitable institution supported in whole or in part by the gov- ernment of this District. I have had a good deal of experience in these matters. Now, I want to digress a little. The Secretary of the Interior knows nothing under the sun about the Freedmen's Hospital. No Secretary ever did. The Secretaries of the Interior have never visited the insti- tution, directly or indirectly. 1 have felt the need of having some 278 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. supervision over it, and by each Secretary except the last I had a board of visitors appointed. They would come a few times, and would make a report to the Secretary of the Interior, or to the District Commis- sioners, or others; but as they had no power over the institution, they in the course of a year or so abandoned their work. Now, as to the work of the hospital. The Secretary of the Interior sends patients there. He does not know a thing about the place. The patients are admitted-or while I was there, were admitted-by the hospital upon the recommendation, largely, of the gentleman behind me here-Mr. Frank-and of the Secretary of the Interior. But the Secretaries have known nothing about it, and the present Secretary knows nothing about it. Senator Faulkner. And he can not know. Dr. Purvis. He can not know. There is no denying that. It is a fact. Now, this board of incorporation wanted this institution under their management or control, for this reason: Every hospital and asylum shuts its doors against the students of the medical department of the Howard University. Every medical society and institution shuts its doors against them. We make no distinction in this school. We admit men and women, black and white; all colors are taken; and we did not propose then and we do not propose now, if we can help it, to lose control of this hospital; and that is the consideration that with us is paramount. Senator Faulkner. You have it incorporated now. Dr. Purvis. You mean the hospital? Senator Faulkner. Yes. Dr. Purvis. Under the general act, sir; Mr. Wilson will tell you that it was the intention to give us that power but the wording was unfor- tunate. Mr. Hoke Smith, the former Secretary of the Interior, wrote a letter to the Commissioners stating that he had no control under the law over that institution. There was a decision, then, that the appoint- ment was with Mr. Smith. This is no personal matter at all. This is an educational matter. 1 agree with Dr. Williams in what he says of the importance of the institution to the colored people, but I do not agree with him in the matter of managing it. As to the question of the staff that he has, it is an imitation of other hospitals. There is no reason under the sun why there should be a staff to an institution while it is peculiarly a Government institution. There is no reason why the Government should not pay those officers there just the same as it pays those at the insane asylum. Under the board of incorporation the staff' will be selected as the staff is selected by the Garfield Hospital, the Providence Hospital, and other hospitals. Senator Faulkner. If you are incorporated and have a board of incorporation, why is it that you have not the control of the appointments? Dr. Purvis. For this reason: It was decided by the Attorney-General that because the word "incorporators" was not included in the Senate amendment it was not the intention, or at least that Congress had not expressed the intention, to give them the appointing power, and there- fore the appointing power remained as before. Senator Faulkner. It remained where the former law had placed it? Dr. Purvis. Yes; but the Freedmen's Hospital does not exist by any law. It was established by the Secretary of War. It has drifted along. That was the first time that it had a legal existence. Dr. Williams says that he made some improvements. I do not care to enter into any discussion of that matter. Our methods are different from his. I will tell you why. We take young colored men into our 279 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. senior class and drill them in the hospital, and when they graduate they are prepared to go forth and practice medicine. We did not propose to take young men without an hour's experience and make them attend the hospital. If there is anybody on God's earth that should be expe- rienced it is a physician or person who has to attend upon poor, unfor- tunate sick people. Very often good service is better than medicine. We believe in the training school for nurses. We have trained nurses in the hospital since 1876. We were compelled to do that by Secre- tary Schurz, although the present method of training nurses is far bet- ter than we had then. Ours was only a year old. We did not have any superintendent of nurses because the law gave us no money for the purpose of paying such a person. Therefore we drilled them per- sonally in the hospital. All that we ask of this committee is this: That you accord to us the same rights and the same privileges that you accord to every other hospital and every other asylum in the city. The National Associa- tion for Destitute Colored Women and Children is supported entirely by Congress, and yet it has a board of control. The same is true of other institutions. The Chairman. Are you one of the incorporators1? Dr. Purvis. No, sir; I am not one of the incorporators. The Chairman. Are you one of the board? Dr. Purvis. 1 am one of the board. I was the active man in this matter, of course. That was because I was appointed as one of a com- mittee to do that. I am on the committee now. The Chairman. What have you to do, as one of the board, with the hospital now? Dr. Purvis. Nothing. The hospital is absolutely out from under the control of the incorporators. We want to get it there. We do not want the money. We say that all other institutions have their treas- urers, and the money can be paid over to the treasurer of this insti- tution. Senator Faulkner. We have to run some risks, you know. Dr. Purvis. I know, but you can send for Commissioner Ross, and you can refer to the appropriation bill, and you will find that every- thing 1 tell you is true. The incorporators consist of the professors of this medical school, in part, and the others are trustees of the Howard University. The Chairman. And you are not allowed to have anything to do with the hospital ? Dr. Purvis. Only by sufferance-only as some of our professors may go there and show their students around. We have no authority. As to the superintendent, I do not care what you call a man, whether you call him surgeon in chief or superintendent. I think the sugges- tion a very good one to have a house such as they have at the deaf and dumb asylum or at the insane asylum, where a man of character and responsibility may have his family, and where he may live; but there is no such place in the hospital. There is no place where a super- intendent, or a man of reputation and experience, could live and bring up his family. He will have to live near by. That is the best he can do. For a quarter of a century the surgeon in chief has not slept on the place. The university rents this building to the Government, so that it forms a part of the revenues of the university. I got through Congress here a bill for 82,500 to erect a contagious- disease building. The present surgeon in chief has used that for other purposes. 1 make no criticism of that, but I did treat there cases of 280 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. scarlet fever and diphtheria. The buildings are not modern. I tried for years to get Congress to give us new buildings. There was an item in an appropriation bill once, placed there by the gentleman, I believe, who has just passed away (Mr. Holman), prohibiting any private build- ings from being erected on Government ground at private expense. I ought to say, Mr. Chairman, that I am prepared to answer any question that you may wish to propound. STATEMENT OF REV. DR. RANKIN The Chairman. You are the president of the Howard University? Dr. Rankin. Yes; 1 have been a resident of Washington for a good many years. For fifteen years I was a pastor of the Congregational Church, and have been eight years president of the Howard Univer- sity. During all my life here I have had relations with that univer- sity-have been one of the trustees and of the executive committee from 1869 up to this present time. I speak of this because 1 know the intimate relations between Howard University and the hospital. When the late Secretary of the Interior, Mr. Hoke Smith, proposed to make a change in the superintendency of the hospital, 1 received a telegram from the dean of the medical department to the effect that my medical department was in danger, and asking whether I would not come here and see about it. The proposition of the Secretary was to make a change. I called the trustees together and we went in a body to see Mr. Smith, and told him our fears. He said, "I am going to appoint a man on professional grounds entirely." We told him we did not wish him to appoint a man because he was a Democrat-excuse me for using the word-I should not, perhaps, do it. He assured us that he would appoint a man there who would never be removed for political reasons. 1 think he kept his promise. I was very anxious for my medical department. I have been very observant of the changes in the medical department and I heartily approve of them. Three or four years ago, as I understand it, and as I believe to-day, through the instrumentality of the surgeon then in charge, who expected to lose his place (1 am a minister and talk right out), this idea of incorporation was originated. I was one of the incorporators because 1 felt kindly to him, as I do now. We met once or twice. He was still to be the surgeon in chief. So far as I know, no meeting was called for three years. I do not know by what authority he is here to-day to represent these incorporators. As I understand it, no meet- ing has been called. Now, without any unkind feeling toward him, so far as I understand it, the effort on his part was to retain his place, and this was the method that he adopted. There may be differences of opinion as to whether Mr. Smith did as he said. I believe he did. I believe he put a choice man there and a first-class surgeon, and I believe that every change he has made has been justified by the facts. I do not know that 1 have anything further to say. I wish you would ask me any questions which suggest themselves to you. Representative Northway. As an incorporator what have you to do with the hospital ? Dr. Rankin. 1 have nothing whatever to do with it. I think myself that the act of incorporation is-not a fiction, but something that has never got into operation at all. No meeting has been called. It was an effort of the friends of Dr. Purvis, and I was one of them, to be put in such relations as that we should control it in his interest. Representative Northway. But you have no control of it at all? CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 281 Dr. Rankin. No; I am not advocating it at all; but that was my position at the time. Representative Northway. Do you act in harmony with the corpo- rators ? Dr. Rankin. I do not think they act. Representative Northway. 1 was inquiring for your act. Do you act? Dr. Rankin. If I were invited to be present-I do not know that any meeting has been held. Representative Northway. Is there a division of sentiment in the minds of the incorporators or trustees? Dr. Rankin. As incorporators we have nothing to do. The Chairman. Nothing has ever been placed before you to act upon? Dr. Rankin. As incorporators, no. Representative Northway. Is there anything to differ about, then? Dr. Rankin. No. Representative Northway. Then, is there any difference? Dr. Rankin. 1 do not know that I understand your question. Senator Faulkner. I should like, Doctor, to have your opinion on this point: Do you not think it would be well to allow the friends of the Howard University, on whose grounds the buildings are erected and who are interested in connection with their school, to have an incorporation or organization to control this hospital, as the other hos- pitals are controlled, and then, of course, so far as the disbursement of the funds goes and the supervision of the hospital as a hospital, to have that part under the control of the District Commissioners? Dr. Rankin. Mr. Senator, rhe proposal was that perhaps two-thirds of the trustees of the Howard University, of which I was one, and two medical professors should be those corporators. If anybody in power should create a corporation I can see that it might be perhaps a bene- fit, but that we who rent our property to the Government should be asked to rent our property to ourselves, a majority of us being in the incorporation, seems to me very inconsistent, and that was the reason why I fell away from the plan. The Government gives us say $4,000 for the use of our property. If the incorporators had that duty to per- form we should be certainly renting to ourselves. It did not seem to me to be just the proper arrangement. Senator Faulkner. But we would make just such an appropriation as we make now-so much money for the hospital-and then you gentle- men would have the management of the hospital in connection with the university, under the supervision of the District Commissioners, like other hospitals. In other words, do you not think it important to have that hospital in close touch with the Howard University? Dr. Rankin. 1 certainly do, but I do not think that it should be con- trolled by the trustees of the university. The Chairman. How would it do to have a board nominated by the District Commissioners ? Dr. Rankin. 1 think that would do. Dr. Purvis had been there some fifteen or twenty years. The change was a very trying one to him, very legitimately so. It was trying to me at first. 1 could see how it would be difficult for anyone coming in there to get along with- out some friction. That is to say, I recognized that Dr. Williams has had uphill work there-for a part of the time. But that the university should have any official control of the hospital does not seem to me to be wise. Mr. Hoke Smith said to me. "The day that you convince me that the man I put there is running that hospital contrary to the inter- ests of the medical department of the university 1 remove him." I 282 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. think that that is the spirit in which Mr. Smith made the appointment. He made the appointment because he thought that this new man whom he knew as at the head of a hospital in Chicago was up to date, was in tlie foreground with regard to surgical methods and methods of management of hospitals. I think the appointment has more than justified itself. Of course I do not say that with regard to this thing or that thing it might not better have been different. Representative Northway. How many trustees are there for the university? Dr. Rankin. Twenty-two or twenty-three. Representative Northway. You are in harmony with all ? Dr. Rankin. Yes. With regard to this hospital we have no arrange- ment at all. 1 suppose some of our brethren would feel perhaps in sym- pathy with this matter of incorporation, but it has never been before our board. We have never thought it a matter proper to come before our board. Representative Northway. This is the idea, is it not, doctor, that since you became incorporated and acted with them-became a trus- tee-you made up your mind that you ought not to have done it, and that there ought not to be an incorporation, and you withdrew your- self from it? Dr. Rankin. That is entirely right. They offered me the presidency of that corporation and I declined it, because the more I reflected on it the more embarrassing I thought it would be. As fo what the Senator from West Virginia (Senator Faulkner) says, I do not feel that the hos- pital should be the center of conflict as to appointments. Senator Faulkner. Is there an arrangement between the hospital and the medical department of the university that the students of the university shall have the benefit of the hospital-to go there and see the surgical operations and things of that sort ? Dr. Rankin. I suppose that is their privilege under this medical staff. It is understood that there shall be no collision between the two. Senator Faulkner. But I would like to know whether they have that privilege ? Dr. Rankin. I shall have to ask Dr. Williams to answer that ques- tion. ADDITIONAL STATEMENT OF DR. WILLIAMS Dr. Williams. Yes; they have every privilege and facility that the hospital can give them. Senator Faulkner. And that is known to the gentlemen who con- trol the university ? Dr. Williams. Yes; they are the teachers in the medical depart- ment, with few exceptions. They are the teachers themselves, and they give instruction in the hospital. With one or two exceptions they com- prise the entire staff of the medical department of the university. Senator Faulkner. Do they take advantage of the facilities, and do they take the students there? Dr. Williams. Yes, sir; they do so every day, and they have more facilities than they can possibly use. Senator Faulkner. I want to ask you another question while you are up. Have you any politics ? Dr. Williams. No; not any more than any other American. 1 have my own ideas about things. Senator Faulkner. Do you take any part in politics ? Dr. Williams. 1 have never been a pronounced politician. CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 283 Senator Faulkner. How did you get here? Dr. Williams. How did I get to Washington? Senator Faulkner. It has been intimated here that the change which resulted in your coming here was a political change, and I want to know whether you know how you got here. Dr. Williams. I was connected with a hospital at Chicago-the Provi- dent Hospital-and on the board of trustees of that hospital was that good man, Judge Gresham. 1 was intimately associated with Judge Gresham for as much as three or four years. Mrs. Gresham also was interested in the Provident Hospital. After Judge Gresham came to Washington he returned to Chicago on a visit, and he said to me that he thought Washington would be a better place for me, that there was a great work here that he thought I could do, and he asked me about the probability or possibility of my giving up my work in Chicago and coming here. That was six or eight months before I thought of doing so. 1 told him at once that I could not think of giving up my practice and opportunities at Chicago, and the matter went over. This was right after the World's Fair. Afterwards, he came back again, right after Christmas, and I was at his house one evening, and I there agreed with him that I would come to Washington, and shortly afterwards I had a letter from the Secretary of the Interior asking me to come here. I had never been to Washington. I had never asked for the Freedmen's Hospital. I came here on that basis. Senator Faulkner. Then it was through Secretary Gresham that you came ? Dr. Williams. Yes. Senator Faulkner. Secretary Gresham was associated with you in the Provident Hospital at Chicago ? \ Dr. Williams. Yes. That is how I came here. STATEMENT OF MR. JOHN R. LYNCH. Mr. Lynch. As one of the trustees of Howard University I would like to make one remark. Dr. Rankin. I would say to the committee that five of our members on the board of the university are colored men, of whom Mr. Lynch is one. Mr. Lynch. I merely want to state, as a trustee of the university, that I, with numbers of others, favor any suggestion or any plan the effect and purport of which will be to take this hospital out of politics. Dr. Rankin. That is good. Mr. Lynch. It is now in politics; that is how Dr. Williams got it- because it is political. So far as Dr. Williams is concerned, he and I are personal friends and I have no objection to him whatever, but the hospital is now in politics. Senator Faulkner. Is Dr. Williams a Democrat? Mr. Lynch. He was appointed for that reason, in my opinion. Senator Faulkner. Wei', is he a Democrat? Mr. Lynch. I do not know that. Senator Faulkner. Then if you do not know that he is one, how do you know that he was appointed for that purpose? Mr. Lynch. That is to be judged by those who made the appoint- ment. I am not to be a judge of his politics. The Chairman. Is it not possible th t Mr. Gresham, knowing Dr. Williams to be a good man, might have taken an interest in him? 284 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Senator Faulkner. Mr. Gresham was not a Democrat until just before he came here. The Chairman. Was he a Democrat ? Senator Faulkner. Oh. yes. Mr. Lynch. The fact is that there has been a good deal of doubt during the last four years as to what constitutes Democracy. Senator Faulkner. I have not known of any doubt. Do you know of this young man [indicating Dr. Williams] ever having voted the Democratic ticket 1 Mr. Lynch. 1 only know what I was told. Senator Faulkner. Who told you ? Mr. Lynch. Judge Gresham. Senator Faulkner. What did he tell you? Mr. Lynch. I was trying to prevent a change from being made. As Dr. Purvis's personal friend I did not want him turned out, and forthat reason I approached Judge Gresham myself, because I knew him inti- mately and well; knew him as a soldier and knew him as a man. 1 went to Judge Gresham myself, and Judge Gresham told me in his office in the State Department that he did not know Dr. Purvis, had no interest in him; did not recommend that a change be made, butthat the Secre- tary of the Interior informed him that he was going to make a change; that this Dr. Purvis had made a political speech which the Secretary of the Interior did not like, and that he understood Dr. Purvis to be a par- tisan; and Judge Gresham then said that "in view of the fact that the change is going to be made, I took the liberty of recommending to Mr. Smith the appointment of Dr. Williams, because he is not only competent and qualified"-all of which may be true-"but because he is in harmony with the Administration, having followed me"-to use his language-"in voting for Cleveland.'* That is what Judge Gresham told me. Now, whether that constitutes Democracy, you must be the judge. Senator Faulkner. He had been a Republican and followed Gresham ? Mr. Lynch. That may be Democracy. However, that is a digression. But I have to say now that as long as the institution remains as it is, it is liable at every change of the Administration to have the head of the institution a subject of political contention. When a Republican Administration comes in, if it finds the office held by a man who was appointed by a Democrat because he was a Democrat and a Repub- lican wants it, he will get it, and when a Democratic Administration comes in and finds a Republican that was appointed because he was a Republican, he must be turned out and a Democrat put in-very nat- urally so. Hence, I say that for the good of the institution, for the good of the educational part of the institution, for the good we wish it to do, for the good of the colored people, whether Dr. Williamsis to go or Dr. Purvis is to go, let the change be made, not for politics- let the change be made on the ground of the competency of the man. Let the appointments be filled as they are filled in the other charitable institutions; whether the men be white or black, Democrats or Repub- licans, I care not for that. But the way it is now, it is a continual source of political strife and contention, and it is bound to be to the detriment of the institution. As one of the trustees of Howard Uni- versity, 1 say that we ought to remove that temptation in some way. Whether you put the hospital under a board of incorporators or into the hands of the District Commissioners, whom I believe to be fair and who wish to do right, do something by which the appointing power CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 285 will not feel it incumbent on him to make a change every time there is a change of Administration. It occurs to me as a trustee of the How- ard University that there is no more reason in having the head of the hospital under the control of one of the Departments of the Government than the Howard University. Dr. Hankin. That is what I have stated. I should like to be appointed by the President if 1 were not to hold at the pleasure of some one. Mr. Lynch. Then why should not the president of the board of trustees be appointed by the President? Dr. Hankin. Personally I should like it, and if he should find a bet- ter man than myself I should be willing that he should put that man to succeed me. Mr. Lynch. But the incoming man always thinks he is a better man. When I was removed from the office I held the incoming man thought he was better than I was. I hope something will be done, so that this political strife will be put a stop to. ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS OF DR. PURVIS AND DR. RANKIN. Dr. Purvis. I can not go away from this room and allow you Sena- tors to remain under the mistaken views arising from the statement made to you by President Pankin. I am sorry he made the statement, both on his own account and on mine. I did not get up the act of incorporation for the purpose of perpetuat- ing my own power. Had 1 not got that up I should have been surgeon- in-chief of the institution to-day, because the Commissioners were my friends, and are so to-day. We made this effort to change to incorporators live years prior to that. I have filed with Senator Gallinger a letter from Assistant Sec- retary Chandler, of the Interior Department, bearing on that point. When I went before the committee I was still the surgeon in chief. When Congress met, the winter after I was removed, Mr. Henderson said to me, "I see your board of incorporators have not the power that Congress intended to give them. Is that so?" I replied, "That is so, sir." To this he said, "Then I shall offer an amendment." When the amendment was offered it was ruled out of order as being general legislation on an appropriation bill. But the transfer of the hospital to the Interior Department was not objected to. The board of incorporators met. My action in that matter before the committee was discussed. Our president lost his temper, criticised me severely, and said he was not going to jeopard the appropriation for Howard University on account of this act of incorporation. He told Mr. Smith so. The matter was submitted to the incorporators and they reappointed a committee consisting of Professors Graham, Hood, Grimke, and myself to go on and secure this legislation. We have not secured it, and that is the reason why the board of incorpo- rators has not been called together since. When the board of trustees originally met the suggestion was made, " Suppose you place this under a board of trustees ?" And the proposi- tion was submitted, " If you do that, we shall be renting from ourselves. Let us have a distinct organization." Those are the facts. As to improvements, 1 have no objection to them. While I was in office the president never visited the institution. Dr. Hankin. I did so, again and again. If I misunderstood the 286 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. brother, I am sorry. Will he say "yes" or "no" as to whether he reelected that list of incorporators ? Dr. Purvis. Yes, I will; the list of incorporators was selected from the trustees of Howard University. Dr. Rankin. By whom? Dr. Purvis. I suggested them to you and others. The trustees are not willing to serve as trustees. Of course I selected the professors of Howard University as the trustees. I wish to say here that George- town College has just established a hospital, so that the college can control the hospital, and that is being done all over the United States. Dr. Rankin. This is a kind of confessional, Mr. Chairman. Dr. Purvis. Why did you serve then, sir ? Why did you not make objection then ? Dr. Rankin. If I may answer your question, I will say that I served particularly because I wanted to protect Howard University, of which I was president. Now, Brother Lynch will excuse me for talking frankly here. This brother, who is so adverse to having things going into politics, waited on me and spent the evening with me, and told me that this thing was going to hurt Howard University. I said with regard to the past officer, "I think it would not be wise to reappoint him or to appoint incorpo- rators, but unless I am sent for by the com mittee, I shall not go before the committee." At this time this brother said, " I have Hoke Smith's own affirmation that he removed Dr. Purvis because he was a politician, and that he put this other man there because he was a politician. I am a politician, and I am going to have the change made on political grounds." That is what he said. Mr. Lynch. Now, Doctor, let me interrupt you. The Chairman. Now, gentlemen, our time is up. We have nothing to do with your misunderstandings. We want to get at the facts, and I think we have reached the facts. We know what your views are, Dr. Rankin, and we have the statement of Dr. Williams and the statement of Dr. Purvis. Those are sufficient. The committee adjourned. Washington, April 83, 1897. Hon. James McMillan, Chairman of Committee Investigating Charities of the District of Columbia. 1 )ear Sir : In view of some things that were said before your com- mittee yesterday, I desire, as vice-president of the board of incorpo- rators of the Freedmen's Hospital and trustee of Howard University, to say that Dr. Purvis was selected by the committee of incorporators to appear before you because he was more familiar with all the facts bearing.on the subject than anyone else; and second, that the act of incorporation was not secured for the purpose of perpetuating anyone in office, but merely to protect the medical department of Howard University. On this point I can hardly see how there could have been a misapprehension, since the matter was fully discussed before the board of trustees. Besides, the movement was started under Presi- dent Harrison's Administration, when there was no reason to suppose that the surgeon in chief would be removed. All of the colored trustees of the university are in favor of the change to incorporators, and, so far as 1 know, it meets the approval of all the white trustees also. 1 am, yours, respectfully, Francis J. Grimke. CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 287 Washington, 1). C., May 12, 1897. Hon. James McMillan, United States Senate. My Dear Sir: Concisely I state my reasons for favoring the plac- ing of the Freedmen's Hospital under a board of incorporators. For twenty years I have been the editor and proprietor of the leading- colored paper of this city and have kept in touch with all our local educational and charitable institutions, especially those intended for the colored people. My observation is, those that are controlled by a board of disinterested persons and entirely free from political considera- tions prosper the best. L have witnessed the growth of the Garfield, Children's, Providence, and Emergency hospitals, all of which is due to the energy and charitable spirit of the enterprising men and women of the community. Why should the Freedmen's Hospital be an excep- tion1? For a number of years it was not considered as belonging to the office of political spoils. Of recent years, with the change of each Administration, the usefulness of the institution has been impaired by the agitation created by the ambitious though inexperienced young men from various parts of the country seeking to be surgeon in chief. The hospital is local in character. Fully 90 per cent of the patients are from the poor of this community. Owing to the unjust and unrea- sonable race prejudice existing here, our young men find themselves limited to it in their effort to obtain a practical medical education. At present they are not enjoying the advantages given in former years, but this can and will be remedied if a board of our best colored and white citizens is placed in control. No institution of its character should be subjected to the will of one man, no matter how able he may be. His acts should be supervised by a board of managers, such as we have over the National Association for Destitute Colored Women and Children. The abuses we hear of too often could not and would not exist. Further, I want to see our men in command of such organizations, not only over hospitals and asylums, but over our colleges as well. To accord to the Freedmen's Hospital the rights that are enjoyed by the other hospitals of this city is simply conceding justice. Its future usefulness depends upon this being done. In all the large cities in the Union hospitals have their board of management control. I trust, sir, you will give a chance and allow us to build up this insti- tution in a way that will reflect credit upon us and the community. Very truly, yours, Wm. Calvin Chase, Editor and Proprietor of the Bee. CORRESPONDENCE. Washington, D. C., May 3, 1897. Hon. James McMillan, Chairman Joint Committee on Charities, United States Senate. My Dear Sir: Permit me to explain the object the medical faculty of Howard University had in establishing their nurses'training school in 1893. J. offer this explanation because there seems to be a general misunderstanding. Prior to 1893 there was a nurses' training school known as the Wash- ington Training School for Nurses. It was under the control of a board 288 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. of incorporators. The scholars of this school were trained in the sev- eral hospitals of this city. At the Freedmen's Hospital I trained a large number of them. They represented all classes; they were edu- cated persons and rendered excellent service. In 1893 this school closed. The several hospitals then established training schools of their own. The medical faculty of Howard Uni- versity established the one at the Freedmen's Hospital. They had three classes of students; First, the regular nurses at the hospital who, though lacking in school advantages, were skilled by years of experience. They were taken into the school with a view of instructing them in modern methods. The second class was composed of well educated young women and men, wdiite and colored, who wanted to become professional nurses and receive degrees. The third class was admitted as a missionary movement. The great majority of the nurses of this city were uneducated women, and yet they were employed in our best families by our leading physi- cians. They were good, practical nurses, but were ignorant of the new methods of the day. As it was impossible to give them a literary train- ing, we thought it would be a grand movement to give them practical training. We were governed not only by a desire to conserve the interests of these nurses, but of the public. We never contemplated giving them diplomas-merely certificates of attendance. To show you the paramount importance of our movement, I have to state that there were nearly 5,(MH) births in the District (luring the past year, and in over 50 per cent of the confinement cases physicians were not employed. The patients were attended by midwives or " gran- nies''-not trained nurses. These grannies waited upon 40 per cent of the whites and 60 per cent of the colored. I think these statements will impress you at once of the necessity for just such a school for all classes and all races. If political considerations had not crept in and in the brief exercise of authority the personnel of our institution changed, the harmony of the past and this school we started so favorably would not have been destroyed. Very respectfully, Charles B Purvis, Professor of Obstetrics and Diseases of Women. TENTH HEARING. CHARITABLE WORK FOR YOUNG WOMEN. May 4, 1897-2 o'clock p. m. Present: Hon. James McMillan, chairman, Hon. Charles J. Faulkner, Hon. S. A. Northway. TENTH HEARING. Subject: Charitable Work for Young Women. To be heard: Officers of the Woman's Christian Association; officers of Young Woman's Christian Home; officers of the Association of Works of Mercy; officers of the Hope and Help Mission; officers of the House of the Good Shepherd. TOPICS. 1. Temporary homes for young women seeking employment. 2. The need of several institutions. 3. The work of the House of the Good Shepherd and similar institu- tions. 4. How far should this work be maintained by the public ? 5. Is there duplication in this work"? Senator McMillan. The first on our schedule to-day to be heard are the officers of the Woman's Christian Association. Is anyone present to represent that association? WOMAN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION. Mrs. W. L. Clift. I am secretary, and Mrs. D. A. Freeman, who is also here, is treasurer. Senator McMillan. Have you a statement made out in regard to your institution? Do you make .annual reports? Mrs. Clift. Yes, sir; to the commissioner of charities. Senator McMillan. I suppose we have your report? Mrs. Freeman. Yes, sir; we sent a copy to each member of your committee. Senator McMillan. Is there anything you want to say that is not given in this report? Mrs. Freeman. I have made out a statement of the finances of the institution. I will leave it with you if you desire. Senator McMillan. You can file it and we will look it over. S. Doc. 185 19 289 290 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. The statement referred to is as follows: STATEMENT OF THE TREASURER OF THE WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION. The funds in charge of the Women's Christian Association are of two kinds or classes, which we have been accustomed to designate as "public funds" and "private funds." The public fund consists entirely of the amount appropriated by Congress from year to year upon the recommendation of the District Commissioners and the superintendent of charities. For about ten years past the appropriation has been $4,000 per annum. The treasurer disburses this amount under the direction of the Board of Managers of the Women's Christian Association, and, according to the regulations of the Treasury Department, giving bond therefor in the amount required by the Treasury officials, $5,000. The private fund consists of the following-described property, first: Two $500 bonds of the American Security and Trust Company, bearing interest at 5 per cent per annum. These were bought with money bequeathed to the association by Mrs. Mary Ingle Campbell, it being intended by her that the interest thereof should equal the amount of her annual donation, $50. Second, a building fund of $3,000, not carried in the account of current expenses, as it is not intended to be drawn upon except by vote of the board of managers and only when the ordi- nary funds of the institution are insufficient for its support. Third, all the remainder of the private fund amounting, January 1, 1897, to $361.88. During the year ending December 31, 1897, there was received from boarders $2, 616. 08 From all other private sources, not including amount on hand 531. 76 On March 31, 1897, the number of inmates was 57, divided as follows: Number paying for board at rates varying from $1 to $3.50 per week 25 Number of life inmates . 6 Number working for board 10 Number of employees 6 Number of free 10 Total 57 Respectfully submitted. Mrs. Delia A. Freeman, Treasurer. Senator McMillan. Is there anything else you would like to state that is not in the report? Mrs. Freeman. With reference to duplication, I can make a state- ment in regard to that. We were the first of this kind of charity in the District of Columbia. We shall have to refer to memoranda for dates if you care for them. We were organized October 30, 1869, and incorporated in 1870. The other institutions have begun their work since. We think we have some branches of the work that are not cared for in any other institutions. We have been mixed up in the minds of many people with the Young Woman's Christian Association, but we do a little different work from that done by them. They only take young women while we have all ages. We take them at any age. We have young women and old women. Mrs. Clift. We have a statement in writing which will show the classes of women benefited by our association. CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 291 Senator McMillan. Yon have it in writing? Mrs. Clift. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. Is it brief? Mrs. Clift. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. You might read that, and then we can ask any questions we want to afterwards. Mrs. Clift. Mrs. Freeman has stated when the association was formed. The Women's Christian Association was formed twenty-six years ago. The objects of tlie association are to afford relief and aid to the destitute, work for those seeking employment, homes for the homeless, sympathy for the friendless, to reform and restore the fallen, and bestow such Christian benevolence upon the needy as our means will allow. Our chief service to the community is the maintenance of the Home, 1719 Thirteenth street. Three hundred and eighty-five women were in the Home last year. The largest number of inmates at any one time was 63; the smallest number, 48. Fifty-four were natives of foreign countries; the others were from all parts of the United States Mrs. Freeman (interrupting). Their birthplaces are in foreign coun- tries, but having lived in this country most of their lives,they are really citizens, except that they are not naturalized. Senator McMillan. Are they people who live in the District, or do they come here? Mrs. Freeman. Sometimes the one and sometimes the other. Mrs. Clift (continuing). We benefit several classes of women. Six old women, by the payment of $100 each, are received for life, provided they are not less than 60 years old; women who need a temporary home after being in a hospital or while seeking employment; also women who come here after a pension or hoping to get a position in the Government service and are often without money; these we sometimes assist toreturn to their friends. Others are workingwomen who earn less than enough for a living. The Home gives them a comfortable life when they would otherwise suffer from insufficient provision for their wants. Another special branch of our work is the restoration of fallen women to vir- tuous lives. Usually from eight to ten women who have committed offenses against chastity are sheltered in the Home and given employ- ment there until they can regain the esteem of the community. In most instances our knowledge of the after lives of these women prove that their reformation has been effective. We do not receive persons of this class after a second offense. All who have any income, however small, or are able to earn anything whatever, are called upon to pay sums varying from $4 to $15 per month. Many others who are des- titute of means or friends and can not work are wholly supported in our Home for such brief time as circumstances require. In choosing whom to assist, no question is ever asked as to the religious belief or church connection of an applicant. Catholics as well as Protes- tants are received and aided. The association and its work are entirely nonsectarian. Our workers are of many religious denominations. Last year there were 5,692 free lodgings, and 16,874 free meals given to needy women. A large number were seeking employment; 84 were sent into various positions, some as children's nurses, others as waitresses, housekeepers, and cooks. The growth of the work is indicated by the fact that in 1870 the total number cared for was 44; in 1896 it was 385. During the twenty-six years more than 6,000 persons have been sheltered. 292 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Senator Faulkner. That is a very clear statement. Senator McMillan. Yes; that is very clear. Do you charge any- thing for rooms'? Mrs. Clift. For rooms and board, yes, sir; to those who are able to pay. Senator McMillan. How much? Mrs. Clift. From $4 to $15 per month. Fifteen is the highest. Senator McMillan. If they can not pay do you take them in? Mrs. Clift. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. Do you belong to any church organization- your association? Mrs. Clift. No, sir. Senator McMillan. Have you a charter? Mrs. Freeman. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. How did you get your means to put up the building? Do you own the building? Mrs. Clift. Mrs. Freeman knows about the cost of the building. Mrs. Freeman. So far as the ground is concerned, the first money toward that was given by the legislative assembly of the District of Columbia. After that Congress appropriated $25,000 toward the build- ing. This was in 1874. Senator McMillan. So that the money has come altogether from the Government? Mrs. Ireeman. Yes, sir; building and part of the money for the ground. Senator McMillan. How do you run your institution; do you receive Government support? Mrs. Freeman. Yes, sir; we have had $4,000 annually for about twelve years. For a few years previous to that, $5,000 annually. Senator McMillan. How do you get the rest of the money to cover your expenses? Mrs. Freeman. Some of it comes from boarders; a little from Thanks- giving collections from different churches, those that are willing to con- tribute; annual dues of $1 each from annual members; sustaining members give $5 per year; some ladies give $5 and some give $10; then there are honorary members, $100; and life members, $25; then there are those old ladies who, by the payment of $100 on admission, are received for life; when one dies another comes in. Those are from the District. There are some other small donations. That covers prac- tically all the sources of income. Senator McMillan. The balance is how much besides that from the Government? Mrs. Freeman. About $3,000 or $4,000. Senator McMillan. About the same amount? Mrs. Freeman. Yes, sir; about the same. With regard to our reli- gious affinities, is there anything that you would like to ask in regard to that? Senator Faulkner. Have you a board of directors? Mrs. Freeman. We have a board of managers. Senator Faulkner. Is your board of managers composed of different denominations? Mrs. Freeman. Yes, sir; different denominations. They are, of course, Christian people; otherwise they would not be so apt to be interested in philanthropic work. Senator Faulkner. But no question is asked of applicants as to religious belief? CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 293 Mrs. Freeman. No, sir; unless it is to find out if they belong to a church which has a home of its own, and then, in that case, we suggest to them that they first apply to their own church home, as our accom- modations are not sufficient for all who apply. Mr. Faulkner. But if they could not get into that home, then you would take them1? Mrs. Freeman. Yes, sir. Mrs. Clift. We never turn anyone away. We always take them in overnight. Senator McMillan. How many can you accommodate in your home? Mrs. Freeman. About sixty. Senator Faulkner. This board money that you receive, is that received from girls who are working out and live at the home? Mrs. Freeman. Some are working for small wages and have no other place of shelter, and they are charged a small sum for their board. Sometimes churches pay small amounts per week for someone they wish to take care of. Senator Faulkner. You have someone always on hand, I suppose, who has authority to admit-to control admissions? Mrs. Freeman. The matron has been with us a very long time and is interested in the work. She has temporary authority. The reception committee lives about two squares from the home, and anyone seeking permanent admission must go to her, but overnight the matron has authority. Senator McMillan. What salaries do you pay; how many employees, and what is the cost of looking after that institution? Mrs. Clift. Our treasurer is paid a small sum-$10 a month. She served eleven years without any salary, and it has only been within the last year that she has received the small sum of $10 a month. The rest of the officers give their services. Mrs. Harlan is our president. She is not able to give much time to the work, but we have very efficient vice-presidents. Senator McMillan. I see that $1,690 is given as the amount paid for wages. Mrs. Clift. Well, that of course includes our matron-superintendent and matron. She receives $50 a month; and then there are the employees of the home. Mrs. Freeman. Cook, hall girls, laundress, and janitor. Some of them get very small wages. Mrs. Clift. That also includes nurses. Mrs. Freeman. The amount paid to nurses last year was more than usual. Representative Northway. Between what ages do you receive women into your home? Mrs. Clift. At all ages except that we do not take children. Those women who were trying to reform have their babies there for awhile. Representative Northway. Do you make any inquiry when they come there as to residence? Mrs. Clift. Yes, sir. Representative Northway. Are they all residents of the District of Columbia? Mrs. Clift. They are often from the country. More than half of them are from the country. Representative Northway. They come here for relief, I suppose? Mrs. Freeman. No; 1 do not think they come for relief. I rather think they are stranded. 294 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Representative Northway. What proportion of your inmates are of that elass of people? Mrs. Clift. Only a small proportion of them. The average number of those women with babies, in what is called the nursery of the home, is from 10 to 12. Representative Northway. I was referring to the nonresidents. What proportion of your inmates are those who have no actual resi- dence here ? Senator Faulkner. What proportion of the 385. Mrs. Freeman. It is hard to tell. Representative Northway. Can you give us any idea? Mrs. Freeman. Not over one-half. Representative Northway. One-half, you think? Mrs. Freeman. There have been from California, 3; Colorado, 1; Connecticut, 3; Delaware, 3; District of Columbia, 50; Florida, 1; Georgia, 10; Illinois, 1; Kentucky, 2; Maine, 4; Maryland, 34; Massa- chusetts, 31; Missouri, 2; New Hampshire, 3; New Jersey, 5; New York, 26; North Carolina, 3; Ohio, 7; Pennsylvania, 35; Rhode Island, 1; Texas, 2; Vermont, 2; Virginia, 101; Wisconsin, 1. From other nationalities, Canada, 1; Denmark, 1; England, 5; France, 1; Germany, 12; India, 1; Ireland, 25; Mexico, 5; Nova Scotia, 1; Sweden, 1; Switzerland, 1, making a total of 406 women and children cared for during the year 1896. This, I think, represents birthplace, not actual residence. Representative Northway. Fifty expresses the number of residents of the District? Mrs. Freeman. Yes, sir. Representative Northway. And all the others are nonresidents? Mrs. Freeman. Yes, sir. Representative Northway. That would leave something over three hundred? Senator Faulkner. It would leave 335. Mrs. Clift. I was surprised to see that Massachusetts had 31. Representative Northway. How do you get money from the Gov- ernment, that which is appropriated by Congress. What becomes of it? Mrs. Freeman. It is recommended by the commissioner of charities to the District Commissioners that we have such a sum. It has been $4,000 for the last ten years. Representative Northway. Do you keep any track of the public moneys or do they go into the common fund ? Mrs. Freeman. It is kept entirely separate. I have separate accounts for public and private funds. Representative Northway. And when you receive the money you pay expenses from it as long as the public appropriation lasts? Mrs. Freeman. We know that it will only pay half of the expenses. We pay from it such matters as are most convenient-such as our fuel bill and table expenses. Senator McMillan. If you were so disposed, you would take the money and pay the entire running expenses as long as the money appropriated by Congress should last, and then resort to the other funds ? Mrs. Freeman. Yes, sir; we could do that. Our disbursements are closely watched, as is right, by the Government officers, and we have to furnish duplicate vouchers. Representative Northway. Is there duplication of this work? Are there other institutions doing the same work? 295 charities and reformatory institutions. Mrs. Freeman. In regard to the annex, or what is called the nursery, we are taking women with babies. There are no other institutions where both the mother and child can be received. You might like to know whether they are reformed-what percentage of them. Senator McMillan. Yes; we should like to know about that. Mrs. Freeman. Perhaps as many as 70 per cent that we hear from have become useful members of society. Perhaps 20 per cent further we have not heard any wrong about, and the other 10 per cent we have not heard from at all. Representative Northway. It is not a lying-in asylum? Mrs. Freeman. No, sir; and this is only for cases of first offense. Representative Northway. We have thought of this subject; how far these charities should be provided for by public appropriations, and how far by private contributions; that is, what part, if any, should be paid for out of the public funds, and what part, if any, should be paid for through the private charities and by benevolent people. Now, what would happen if the Government made no appropriation for your home? Mrs. Freeman. If the Government did not help us we should have to divide our work in two, and soon the strictly charity work of the association would have to stop; that is, as soon as our building fund should have been applied to current expenses and exhausted. After that the beneficiaries would have to pay board sufficient to enable the institution to meet the annual deficit that would ensue. Representative Northway. Do you know how much you could raise from benevolent sources provided Congress gave nothing? Mrs. Freeman. I suppose we could have a fair or two, but we do not believe in that. Senator McMillan. But you do raise now about 50 per cent? Mrs. Freeman. Yes, sir. Senator Faulkner. I see by your returns that the total cost of maintenance is $8,004.04 and the appropriation is $4,000, which would leave about 50 per cent to be raised from private sources. Mrs. Freeman. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. I understood you to say that there are a great many poor women coming here to Washington to look after pension claims-women with small means-who often go to your home. Do you charge them a moderate amount? Mrs. Freeman. Yes, sir; a very moderate amount. Senator McMillan. And you take them in without any charge if they can not pay? Mrs. Freeman. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. And you keep them until they get their pension matter fixed up? Mrs. Freeman. Yes, sir; we keep them a reasonable time. Mrs. Clift. Sometimes we have to furnish them money for their transportation home. Representative Northway. Do yon furnish them money? Mrs. Clift. In part, if it is necessary. We send them back to their friends. Senator Faulkner. You seek first for their friends and get money to send them back? Mrs. Clift. Yes, sir; we do that first. Senator Faulkner. You try to get money to send them back ? Mrs. Freeman. Yes, sir; Mr. Frank, the sanitary officer, sometimes unites with us to get transportation for them. 296 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Senator McMillan. Suppose this institution of yours was closed, what would happen to these people? Mrs. Clift. Many of them are forlorn creatures who come to us from hospitals, and we keep them until they are strong enough to go into service. Senator Faulkner. I believe they will only keep them in hospitals two weeks. Mrs. Clift. Yes, sir; of that class. Senator McMillan. And then you take them and try to get them employment? Mrs. Clift. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. And you succeed? Mrs. Clift. Yes, sir; last year we got employment for a large num- ber. That is the best part of our work. Senator Faulkner. There is no other institution which cares for old women, is there? Mrs. Freeman. No, sir. Senator McMillan. In some cities they have foundling asylums where they take in mothers and children. Mrs. Clift. There is a foundling hospital here, but they do not take in mothers. Senator McMillan. If there are no other questions, that will be all. The next to be heard are the officers of the Young Women's Chris- tian Home. Is there anybody here representing that institution? YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN HOME. Mrs. W. B. Gurley. I am president of the Young Women's Chris- tian Home and Mrs. W. W. Herron is treasurer. Senator McMillan. Do you make an annual report? Mrs. Herron. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. Have we that report? Mrs. Herron. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. Do you receive aid from the Government? Mrs. Herron. We receive $1,000. Senator McMillan. How long have you been in operation? Mrs. Herron. Since 1887. Senator McMillan. Have you had that amount every year? Mrs. Herron. We have had an appropriation about four years. Senator McMillan. One thousand dollars a year? Mrs. Herron. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. How much money do you spend? Mrs. Herron. Our expenses last year were $4,423.90. Senator McMillan. Where do you get the balance? Mrs. Herron. Some by our own exertions outside, and some from inmates inside; and, also, we have entertainments of different kinds. Then we have sustaining memberships, annual memberships, life mem- berships, and honorary memberships. The home is for young women, and it supplements the work that has just been described. We take young women only. Senator McMillan. Do you own the home? Mrs. Herron. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. Do you own the land? Mrs. Herron. It was the gift of Miss Bessie Kibby. charities and reformatory institutions. 297 Senator McMillan. The land and the house? Mrs. Herron. Yes, sir; the land and the house, Mrs. Gurley. But we had to improve it. Senator McMillan. Are you incorporated? Mrs. Herron. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. Do you make a report to the commissioner of charities? Mrs. Herron. Yes, sir. Senator Faulkner. Between what ages do you admit young women ? Mrs. Herron. Our age limit is 35 years. Senator McMillan. And how young do you take them? Mrs. Herron. As young as 16. Senator McMillan. From 16 to 35? Mrs. Herron. Yes, sir. Mrs. Gurley. But we take anybody for a night or so. Mrs. Herron. We turn no one away for a night. Mrs. Gurley. We have them come to us older than that, and we try to get them into another institution. Senator McMillan. How many can you accommodate? Mrs. Herron. As many as thirty-five or forty; but forty is pretty crowded. We have had as many as thirty-five. Senator McMillan. How do these young women obtain admittance? Mrs. Herron. They come and apply or they are sent to us. If they are not fit subjects for our Home, we find them places in some other institution. Senator Faulkner. Tell us what kind of work it is that you do? Mrs. Gurley. If the girls are unemployed we try to find employ- ment for them. Then we take a class that are employed as typewriters or in the stores, sewing girls, and girls that are working for very small salaries. Some have nothing at all, and we do not receive anything from them until they are able to pay. Mrs. Herron. A servant, cook, or chambermaid finds her shelter in her service place, while a sewing girl or one who works at typewriting or in the stores is frequently without a home, and we furnish that. Some of them are destitute. Where they are earning only small amounts we keep them for a dollar, a dollar and a half, or two dollars a week. Representative Northway. A week? Mrs. Herron. Yes, sir; just as they are able to pay. Senator Faulkner. When you have gotten them places which enable them to earn sufficient to support them, I suppose you discharge them then ? Mrs. Herron. If they can find shelter in their working place. If they are working in a store they may have no shelter place, and we keep them for a small amount, a dollar, or a dollar and a half, or two dollars a week. Senator Faulkner. Do you do that when they are making sufficient to support themselves? Do you not discharge them from the Home when they are making enough to do that? Mrs. Herron. Yes, sir; they are not fit subjects for our home then, so we take in someone who is destitute. Representative Northway. If you take in young women between 16 and 35 and seek to procure for them homes, keeping them while you are hunting homes for them, you are doing precisely the same work done by the Woman's Christian Association, are you not? Mrs. Herron. Yes, sir; except that our work is specific; it is for young women only. 298 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Senator Faulkner. The Woman's Christian Home has no limit as to age? Mrs. Herron. No, sir. Senator McMillan. You do not take in sick people? Mrs. Herron. No, sir. Senator McMillan. It is only for young women who are stranded and who have no homes or support? Mrs. Herron. Yes, sir. We have many come from the hospitals who are too weak and wretched to go to work, and we keep them until they are strong enough to go into service. Mrs. Gurley. We try to get them something to do. Representative Northway. Your institution is incorporated? Mrs. Gurley. Yes, sir. Representative Northway. What is the number of incorporators? Mrs. Gurley. The incorporators number eight, I think. Representative Northway. Suppose one dies? Mrs. Gurley. We have a board of trustees, composed of 30 members. Representative Northway. How are they chosen? Mrs. Gurley. By ballot. Representative Northway. Who votes? Who has a right to vote? Mrs. Gurley. The trustees. Our own board votes them in and out. Representative Northway. Suppose one of the trustees resigns. How is the vacancy filled; by the trustees? Mrs. Gurley. Yes, sir; by those that remain. Senator McMillan. The ownership of this property is vested in the trustees, is it ? Mrs. Gurley. Yes, sir. It is worth about $30,000. Senator Faulkner. You have contributing members outside? Mrs. Gurley. Yes, sir; but since the hard times that list has been very much curtailed. We have a sustaining membership which pays $5 a year, an annual membership of $1, and life memberships of $100, $50, or $25, but they are rare. Representative Northway. How can a person become a member without contributing? Is it possible to become a trustee without con- tributing? Mrs. Gurley. The penalty for being a trustee is $5 a year. Representative Northway. It costs that much? Mrs. Gurley". Yes, sir. Senator Faulkner. You make them pay for their office ? Mrs. Gurley. Yes, sir. I never worked so hard for myself or for my family as I have worked for that institution. There are so many char- ities here that it makes it hard to get anything. Senator Faulkner. Are there any sectarian features about this work ? Mrs. Gurley. No, sir; we have had people of all religions on the board and in the membership. Senator Faulkner. Do you ask any questions as to religion ? Mrs. Gurley. No, sir; sometimes we know it, but it is not essential to know it. We take it for granted that anybody who is willing to work enthusiastically for charity will naturally be a member of a church; but we have them belonging and not belonging. Mrs. Herron. We had a number of Catholics in the home until a home was started by the Catholics. Since then we have not had so many. Senator McMillan. I think that will be all, ladies. charities and reformatory institutions. 299 ASSOCIATION OF WORKS OF MERCY. Senator McMillan. The next to be heard are the officers of the Association of Works of Mercy. If they are present, we would like to hear from them. Sister Dorothea. The Association of Works of Mercy is represented by Sister Mary and Sister Dorothea. Senator McMillan. Where is your institution located? Sister Dorothea. 2408 K street NW. Senator McMillan. To what church does it belong? Sister Dorothea. It belongs to the Episcopal Church. Senator McMillan. To any one in particular? Sister Dorothea. No, sir; to the diocese of Washington. Senator McMillan. It belongs to the diocese? Sister Dorothea. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. Do you own the property? Sister Dorothea. Yes, sir; it is owned by the board of trustees. Senator McMillan. The title to the lands and buildings is in the board of trustees? Sister Dorothea. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. How was the money raised to pay for the building? Sister Dorothea. Some of the money was given by the Government and some was raised by private subscription. I do not know the pro- portions. Senator McMillan. Do you receive a certain amount from the Government now? Sister Dorothea. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. What is the amount? Sister Dorothea. Eighteen hundred dollars. Senator McMillan. How much does it cost to run the institution? Sister Dorothea. About $3,000 a year. Senator McMillan. And the balance over and above the amount appropriated by Congress you raise by private subscription? Sister Dorothea. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. How many persons do you take care of in your home? Sister Dorothea. We can accommodate twenty-six. We have now twenty-two. Senator McMillan. At what ages do you receive them? Sister Dorothea. We do not take them over 30 years of age. Senator McMillan. And how young? Sister Dorothea. We have had them as young as 12 or 14, but very seldom. The average age is from 14 to 20. Senator McMillan. Are they all from the District of Columbia, or do they come from anywhere? Sister Dorothea. From anywhere; some from the District, but wherever they may come from, they must come of their own free will; we make a point of that. Senator McMillan. Are they sometimes sent to you? Sister Dorothea. They sometimes come through the influence of others, but, as I said, they must come of their own free will. The idea is to make it a home rather than to make them feel that they are com- pelled to remain. Of course, they may change their minds after they get there, and there is no legal means by which we can keep them. 300 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Senator McMillan. How long do you keep them? Sister Dorothea. No one is received for less than a year. That is the rule, and if a girl is under 21 we try to keep her until she is 21. Frequently they remain there longer than a year. Senator McMillan. What becomes of them after they leave you? Sister Dorothea. We try to find places for them; sometimes we do. Often they return to their homes. But we will keep them; we do not turn them away. Senator McMillan. What do you do with them when you keep them? Sister Dorothea. We do fine hand sewing and also laundry work. But we make a specialty of fine hand sewing; and in learning to do this they are raised with a better class of employers. Then they do all the household work. Senator Faulkner. What entitles anyone under your rules and reg- ulations to enter your home? Sister Dorothea. She must be a fallen woman and willing to come. Senator Faulkner. She must be willing to come? Sister Dorothea. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. Do you make any report at all to the Govern- ment? Sister Dorothea. Yes, sir; we make our quarterly report to the commissioner of charities; and then we make out a report of money received from the Government; and we report on the vouchers which are provided for that purpose. Senator Faulkner. And that is settled at the Treasury Depart- ment? Sister Dorothea. Yes, sir. Representative Northway. Do you accept as proof of the fallen condition of a woman her own statement? Sister Dorothea. Yes, sir. It is not likely she would make that statement if she was not a fallen woman. Representative Northway. Have you ever had impostors ? Sister Dorothea. Only one who came as a detective. However, that did not hurt us at all; but I was taken in on that occasion. Representative Northway. Your object is to eventually furnish homes for these women? Sister Dorothea. Yes, sir. Representative Northway. And in that respect you are performing the same kind of work that the two institutions which have preceded you are performing? Sister Dorothea. We only take fallen women. Representative Northway. But to the extent I stated there is duplication, is there not? Sister Dorothea. I suppose that may be so, but each institution has its own way of doing its special work. We are what is called one of the long homes. We do not take them for less than a year. Representative Northway. Are all of the members of your board of directors or incorporators members of the Episcopal Church ? Sister Dorothea. Yes, sir. Representative Northway. And it is that doctrine that is taught in the home? Sister Dorothea. Yes, sir; but of course that question is not raised in regard to admission. Senator Faulkner. In what manner is it taught there in the insti- tution-the doctrine of the Episcopal Church? 301 charities and reformatory institutions. Sister Dorothea. They attend the chapel service; and we have our classes with them on Sunday; besides, they are taught individually. Senator Faulkner. Then so far as the teaching is concerned it is sectarian, but so far as admission is concerned it is nonsectariau. Sister Dorothea. Yes, sir; but we could hardly have them under our charge and not give them teaching. Senator McMillan. Have you gentlemen any further questions to ask? Senator Faulkner. I have nothing further. Senator. McMillan. Then that will be all, ladies. We will next hear the officers of the Hope and Help Mission. HOPE AND HELP MISSION. Mrs. Kate Barrett and Mrs. S. D. La Fetra appeared to represent the Hope and Help Mission. Senator McMillan. I see by the returns you have made to the committee that your institution is located on Third street northwest. Mrs. Barrett. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. And that you were organized in 1888? Mrs. Barrett. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. Your date of incorporation seems to be 1895? Mrs. La Fetra. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. You are actually incorporated? Mrs. La Fetra. Yes, sir; we are incorporated under an act of April 23, 1884. Senator McMillan. Your returns to the committee say: Extent of lands occupied, one large five-story building. Value of lands occupied, $18,000. Do you own the land or building? Mrs. Barrett. No, sir; we own nothing. Senator McMillan. You rent the property? Mrs. Barrett. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan (continuing): Amount of Congressional appropriations for lands, none. Amount of buildings and other improvements, none. Amount of private gifts of lands or money expended for lands, none. Amount of private gifts of buildings or money expended for buildings and other improvements, none, but about to make purchase. You are about to make purchase? Mrs. Barrett. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan (continuing): Amount of endowment, none. You do not seem to have anything. Mrs. Barrett. No, sir. Senator McMillan. You occupy a large building? Mrs. Barrett. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. How many can you take care of? Mrs. Barrett. Thirty girls at a time. Senator Faulkner. Let us find out what their work is. We want some idea as to the actual work you are doing. Mrs. Barrett. Our work is entirely for fallen girls. We make no distinction of any kind. All we ask is that the woman wants to lead a better life and leave a life of sin. We do not require anything in respect to age, nationality, or color. Our door is an open door. 302 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Senator Faulkner. When you get these girls there, what do you do with them? Mrs. Barrett. That depends on what they are best suited for. It is our endeavor to try to make our work an individual work; that is, we study each individual case and give it the training it needs; and we have found in most cases that under careful management and study of these girls' characters and habits, we can almost always hit upon the cause that led to their fall in the beginning, and then we try to fortify them in that direction. Senator Faulkner. And when you have fortified them you try to put them in homes? Mrs. Barrett. Yes, sir. Just two years ago the Hope and Help Mission was organized by Mrs. La Fetra. At first it was a local work, but we came to enlarge it, and it is now one of the number of homes established and supported through the generosity of Mr. Crittenton, of New York, and it is now known as the National Florence Crittenton Hope and Help Mission. There is one of these homes in nearly all of the States. There is one in your State, Senator Faulkner, at Wheeling, and in most of the States. Our system is to try to get these girls away from the scene of their downfall. When we get a Washington girl and get her trained, we try to send her off to another home or find her employment in some other city where people do not know about her, and where she will have the guiding care of competent women. Of course they are easily discouraged. Many of them have been deceived at the age of 16 or 17. They need somebody to encourage them. You put a woman like that out into a city alone and she would very likely fall again; it is necessary to keep them surrounded by good influences, and that is accomplished by this organization. Senator McMillan. You have these homes in 40 different States, I understand. Mrs. Barrett. In 44 States. Senator McMillan. Do these homes in other cities receive aid from the State? Mrs. Barrett. Yes, sir. Our home in Atlanta receives $200 a month from the city. Besides this the city gave us 10 acres of ground. Alto- gether our property there is worth $20,000. The mayor of the city said in his report that there was no institution from which the city derived so much good and benefit as from this home. It has been receiving aid for five years. The home in San Francisco gets $5,000 a year from the city. The city of Norfolk gives $600 to the home there, and the home at Wheeling gets something from the city. Senator Faulkner. I know the home there receives something, but I do not know how much. Mrs. Barrett. We generally ask the cities to give us what it would cost to keep these girls if they were sent to jail. Senator Faulkner. What is your method of discipline in regard to the girls when first received-in controlling them? Mrs. Barrett. Nothing but love. We have no locks or bars or pun- ishments; it is entirely love. Senator Faulkner. If they want to run away they can do so? Mrs. Barrett. Yes, sir; the doors are open. But I have never known of but two girls that have run away from our institutions in all the years I have known about them. They will wait until they are built up and fortified and see what they can accomplish. Representative Northway. It seems that you are dealing with the same class of girls as the Girls' Reform School. Mrs. La Fetra. I think the girls in the Reform School are younger, charities and reformatory institutions. 303 Representative Northway. But the character of the girls is about the same? Mrs. La Fetba. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. I understand that if these girls could not come to you it is likely they would eventually go to jail? Mrs. Barrett. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. And that would be their ruination, of course? Mrs. Barrett. Yes, sir. We have our missionaries that go to the police court. Senator Faulkner. Can you give us any idea of the percentages of permanent reformations? Mrs. Barre tt. Of course it differs in the different homes, but I can give you some idea of that. Last Sunday we had our fourteenth anni- versary in New York City. Of those present at least one-fourth were girls who had been in the home at one time or another. We have had over 7,000 girls in the home there in the fourteen years of its existence. I think there was $52,000 taken up at that meeting, and much of it was subscribed by our saved girls. Senator Faulkner. At your institution here in Washington, what is the percentage of reformations? Mrs. Barrett. Not so large as elsewhere, because the girls are not so young here. Perhaps 45 to 60 per cent. If you look at a home where the girls come to the institution when young the percentage of reformations runs up to 80 or 90 per cent. It depends entirely on the age when a girl reaches a home. Senator Faulkner. Is your institution here incorporated? Mrs. Barrett. Yes. Senator Faulkner. How many persons constitute your board of managers? Mrs. Barrett. Six gentlemen and five ladies-eleven in all. Senator Faulkner. If you get no support from the Government, what means have you for obtaining funds? Mrs. Barrett. We get $1,000 from the Government yearly. Senator Faulkner. Toward the support of the institution you get a thousand dollars? Mrs. Barrett. Yes. Senator Faulkner. Is there anything of a sectarian character in the institution? Mrs. Barrett. Nothing whatever. Senator Faulkner. Either in management or teaching or anything? Mrs. Barrett. In nothing. Our work is usually managed by ladies and gentlemen, selected, as far as possible, to represent all Christian bodies. We have had the hearty cooperation of some of the Catholics, even, and in Pittsburg, particularly, we have had beautiful assistance from them. Many of the best contributors, privately, have been Catholics, and one of the best friends and contributors we have here in Washington is a Jew. The Chairman. How much money does it cost to run the institution? Mrs. Barrett. Last year it cost between $3,500 and $4,000. The Chairman. One thousand dollars of which you get from the Government? Mrs. Barrett. Yes. Senator Faulkner. The remainder you get from private donations? Mrs. Barrett. Yes; the rest has been donated by public meetings and churches, as a rule, and individual subscriptions. Senator Faulkner. How do you reach the girls? Mrs. Barrett. Many of them come to the door of the institution. 304 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. The girls in the houses of sin all over the country know that our doors' are open. In dealing with these women we believe in mercy. We do not believe that any good is done by driving them from pillar to post. They know that. There is not a house of sin in Washington that wrould not be open to a person carrying our cards. We distribute our cards among them, saying that any girl wishing a home and wishing to give up a life of sin may come to us. We get many from the police courts in cases where the houses are raided. Girls are often sent to us by the courts. A girl came to us last year who had come here from Australia, brought over by a rich man and turned adrift here, and who was about to become a mother. The Chairman. Mr. Crittenton is at the head of this institution? Mrs. Barrett. Yes. The Chairman. And it bears the name of Crittenton? Mrs. Barrett. Yes. The Chairman. I understand that affiliated institutions exist in the different cities of the country? Mrs. Barrett. Yes. The Chairman. Does Mr. Crittenton give time and money to those institutions? Mrs. Barrett. Yes. Mr. Crittenton is a man of remarkable history. He came to New York a poor boy, and at 115 Fulton street, in that city, built up the largest drug business in the world. He became a very rich man-a millionaire. He lost his little daughter, Florence. He became converted, and the first thing he did was to go down to the slums, where he met a girl from a house of sin, whom he told to sin m> more. She answered that she had nowhere to go to. He exclaimed, "Nowhere in New York for a fallen woman to go to!" At that time there was no place in New York City to which such a woman could go. He went immediately and bought a piece of property in Bleecker street, paid $40,000 for it, and opened a home there for that class of women, and from that day to this the door of that house has never been closed. It costs about $10,000 or $12,000 a year to run that institution. He has an income of about $60,000 a year, all of which is given to this reform. He had had no partners in business-the business belonging to him entirely. He took his clerks in as partners, left the business entirely in their hands ten years ago, and started out to work among these poor girls and to enlighten people as to what could be done in that very important line of reform and benevolence. 1 always like to say that it is not a fanatic or a sentimental woman who is doing this great work, but a man who had sense enough to make a fortune and then had sense enough to give it away. The Chairman. To give it away while he lived? Mrs. Barrett. Yes; many men have sense enough to make a fortune, but not sense enough to give it away. Senator Faulkner. Of those who come into your institution here, what proportion are residents of the District of Columbia? Mrs. Barrett. You might ask that question as to any city in the world and you would probably be answered "None," because no woman goes into a life of sin in a town in which she was reared. Senator Faulkner. I do not mean what percentage of them were born here, butthe percentage that were living here at the time of actu- ally entering the institution? Mrs. Barrett. We send many girls away from Washington who were residents here, so it would be difficult for me to tell you how many of those who are here now belong here. 305 charities and reformatory institutions. The Chairman. So that if you take girls from other places you keep sending other girls away, and one balances the other? Mrs. Barrett. Yes; we believe that that is one thing that makes our plan a success-that interchange of homes. Our work is very economical, because it is all a work of love. We have have only one paid employee in our whole home, a house of live stories. We pay our matron, who gives to the work her entire time. Our cook is a most competent woman. She has a child of 5 years old, and gave up her position to come to cook for us a year, because she was homesick to have her child with her-gave up a position where she was getting $10 a month-in order to accomplish that. Mrs. La Fetra. We should be very happy if the Senators would come to our home and look it through. We would be glad to show our work. The Chairman. It is a very excellent work, I am sure. Senator Faulkner. Very excellent, indeed. Mrs. Barrett. The home is open all day. The Chairman. Mr. Crittenton sends you some money every year? Mrs. Barrett. Yes; he sends us the amount of the deficit every year. Mrs. La Fetra. He makes up the deficit whatever it may be. The Chairman. It is an interesting point that other cities and States take part in the work. Mrs. Barrett. Yes; Knoxville, Tenn., gives eight dollars a month for every girl we have in the home. Denver, Colo., pays the rent. Mrs. La Fetra. We pay $900 a year rent. The Government gives us $1,000, and we use $900 of it to pay our rent. Of course we feel a responsibility with regard to raising the money, because every cent of Mr. Crittenton's money goes into the work. If we are lazy here in Washington and do not do our work, it is just cheating some poor girl out of a home somewhere else. Senator Faulkner. The Government virtually does no more than pay the rent of the building1? Mrs. Barrett. Yes. Senator Faulkner. Could you give an idea of the percentage of girls sent to you by the police court every year? Mrs. Barrett. I could by looking over the book. Senator Faulkner. Could you state generally that if you were paid $8 a month for each girl sent to you from the police court, the sum would make more than $1,000 a year? Mrs. Barrett. I should not like to make a statementon the subject, because I do not know. I know that it cost the Government only $16 a year to care for every girl that we cared for last year in our home. The Chairman. Your expenses are almost nothing? Mrs. Barrett. They are very light, but still the girls have to be cared for. The Chairman. How many girls did you have last year? Mrs. Barrett. We had 397. That is, that number was received and aided. Some girls we need to aid only a few days. When they are competent we find homes for them. We have received some girls who have been victims of mock marriages. Those girls do not need to be kept in an institution. What they need is a home where they can care for themselves. Then other girls we have to keep a couple of years; others, again, we keep five, six, or eight months. Mrs. La Fetra. Some of them are in poor health, and can not do much work, but they do the work of the home. The Chairman. I think that is all. You might, if you choose, send S. Doc. 185 20 306 charities and reformatory institutions. us a statement showing how many of those girls came to you from the police court. Mrs. Barrett. In regard to girls sent from police courts, it must be borne in mind that where there is a reform school, as there is in this city, our institutions do not get so many girls from police courts, but in most cities we get most of the police-court cases. Here the Reform School gets such cases, generally. Mr. Moore asked me how it was that we had had no trouble with the girls-with the incorrigibles. I think it comes largely from our method of treating them. There is a girl that I had sewing at my house who had been kept two years at a public institution-not one of our homes-and she was as bad when she left it as when she went in. She went back to a house of sin two days after she came out. That girl afterwards came to our institution and has thoroughly and entirely reformed. She is now married and living a respectable life in this city. I had her sewing at my own house with my daughter. We do not have trouble with incorrigibles, because our work is a work of love. We tell these girls that we believe they are more sinned against than sinning. We try to understand their cases, and they know that we are prompted by nothing but love. We do not have to call in police- men at our houses. That is, 1 think, because these girls know that our work is a work of love. THE HOUSE OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD. STATEMENT OF REV. JAMES F. MACKIN. The Chairman. Your institution is located at the corner of Thirty- sixth and T streets? Rev. Mr. Mackin. Yes; the institution occupies an entire square of ground in Georgetown, between Thirty-sixth and Thirty-seventh streets and T and U streets. The Chairman. You can accommodate about how many persons? Rev. Mr. Mackin. Between 100 and 120. The Chairman. Your average is about how many? Rev. Mr. Mackin. We had last year about 90. We have at present 84. The Chairman. What is the character of your work? Rev. Mr. Mackin. Entirely for the reclamation of unfortunate girls and the preservation of those who are liable to go astray. It is con- ducted by a community of sisters who devote their lives to that work and who have the benefit of the experience of their predecessors for one hundred and fifty or two hundred years-women who are cloistered nuns and give their lives altogether to that work. We do not think that enthusiasts, or those who devote themselves to the work without training, can do it properly. This society was founded about two hun- dred years ago. The sisters receive no salary. They spend their whole time with the girls, earning their living by sewing, mostly. In this city they work for factories. These sisters take girls of any age who have gone astray who are sent to them by guardians or by the police authorities or who come voluntarily. There is also a class for preservation. This class consists of chil- dren, not who have gone astray, but who have lost their parents or whom the police can not control, and who are too rough to be taken into orphan asylums; or children whose parents, one or both, are living, and who are not allowed to be taken into ordinary orphan asylums. CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 307 That class is called the class for preservation. The girls receive school- ing for a portion of the day-training in arithmetic and reading. That is generally the younger class. There is a board of trustees of which I am chairman. One of those trustees has been Rev. Air. Bartlett, the Presbyterian clergyman; another, Judge Miller, of the police court. There are twelve trustees altogether, including ladies and gentlemen. Senator Faulkner. It is an incorporated institution and has a board of trustees'? Rev. Air. AIackin. Yes. It is conducted by the Sisters of the House of the Good Shepherd-an order instituted for that purpose entirely. According to our experience, no society in or out of the church, can do the work as successfully as they do it. If the children are brought there by their parents the parents have a right to call for them. If sent there by the court they are subject to the order of the Court. The society was founded in France some two hundred years ago and is a copy of similar institutions elsewhere, in different countries. Senator Faulkner. What is the annual appropriation by Congress for the institution ? Rev Air. AIackin. It was $2,700 last year. Senator Faulkner. About how much did it cost to run it last year? Rev. Air. AIackin. About $7,000. The children earned, in making shirts and other garments, $2,770. Mrs. Vance. They did contract work at 50 cents a dozen for shirts. A large part of the income comes in that way. Rev. Air. AIackin. In good times they can make nearly their sup- port, but during the past few years times have been very bad and they have not been able to get work at any price. Senator Faulkner. So that the difference between the $7,000 which it costs to keep the institution and the $2,700 appropriated for it by Congress is made up by their own work? Rev. Air. AIackin. Yes. Sometimes we get up a festival to help it along. The Chairman. I understand that this institution is managed by a board of trustees? Rev. Mr. AIackin. Yes. The Chairman. How many of those trustees are there? Rev. Air. Mackin. There are twelve. The Chairman. Are they all gentlemen? Rev. Air. AIackin. No; live of them are ladies. The Chairman. Do they consist of representatives of one church altogether? Rev. Air. AIackin. No; they are of different churches. As I have stated, Rev. Dr. Bartlett was one of the trustees; Judge Aliller another. The difficulty is in getting gentlemen who will come and attend to the work. We do not confine ourselves to any special denomination. If they will come there and work, we are glad to have them. The Chairman. As to those who are taken there to be cared for, do you ask if they belong to any particular church? Rev. Mr. AIackin. No; any girl that has gone astray is received there. We go there and give them instructions regularly. So far as religious teaching is concerned, of course the Catholic doctrine is the only doctrine that I could teach, but if they call for any other clergy- men, they can have them. The Chairman. You have a regular service there? Rev. Air. AIackin. Every morning; yes. 308 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. The Chairman. You do not force the inmates to be Catholics? Rev. Mr. Mackin. Oh, no. The Chairman. How long do you keep them? Rev. Mr. Mackin. If brought by their parents, their parents claim them as soon as they desire. If sent by the court, we place them in private families as soon as it is safe to do so. Of course it is a partic- ular matter to put such girls into private families. Many families do not want them. If they can get work they are always welcome to do so. Representative Northway. How are the trustees chosen? Rev. Mr. Mackin. By a vote of those who have a right to elect them. Representative Northway. What persons have a right to be present at the election? Rev. Mr. Mackin. There are twelve of them. Senator Faulkner. The trustees are a perpetuating body? Mrs. Vance. Yes; they elect themselves. Representative Northway. The girls make shirts, it has been said, at 50 cents a dozen ? Mrs. Vance. Yes. Representative Northway. What is the ordinary price? Mrs. Vance. From 50 cents to a dollar. Representative Northway. What do sewing women outside get? Rev. Mr. Mackin. They get very little, but they get more than that. Representative Northway. Ought you to help break down wages in that way? Rev. Mr. Mackin. Well, they have to work for that or else starve. Representative Northway. But that leaves others to starve. Rev. Mr. Mackin. That is about what they get in Baltimore. Senator Faulkner. I think that is about what is paid for shirts. Rev. Mr. Mackin. The finer qualities bring more. Mrs. Vance. They do the finest embroideries also, but the principal source of income is making shirts. The Chairman. It is an interesting statement that this is a place where the inmates can get work, and where the courts can send young persons who are really not criminals, where they can get work and training. Representative Northway. You seek to get homes for those girls? Rev. Mr. Mackin. Yes, as soon as they are ready. Representative Northway. You take them how young? Rev. Mr. Mackin. They are generally girls of 14 or 15. Sometimes a girl of 10 or 12, who is absolutely unmanageable, is brought thereby her parents and she comes among the preservation class. Representative Northway. You make no inquiry as to legal resi- dence ? Rev. Mr. Mackin. In most cases the residence is marked down. Mrs. Vance. A great many are sent by the police to this institution. The Chairman. Mrs. Vance, we would like to have a statement from you. Mrs. Vance. A good deal of my statement will perhaps be a repeti- tion of what Father Mackin has said, but 1 will be brief. The House of the Good Shepherd was opened in Washington on the 16th of August, 1883, by a delegation of Sisters of the Good Shepherd from Baltimore, on Ninth street, in the dwelling house of the late Admiral Smith, donated for the purpose by his daughter, Miss Anna E. Smith, since deceased. CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 309 The special object of the institution is the reformation of fallen and abandoned females, who, wishing to reform, apply for admission, or who are placed there by competent and lawful authority. There is a depart- ment annexed for the preservation of young girls and children who, from dangerous surroundings or without proper parental care, are in danger of being led to ruin. Want of room prevented the sisters from opening this much-needed " preservation class," which must always be distinct from the reforma- tory, and until their removal to the new building now occupied in West Washington they were obliged to confine their work to receiving and sheltering the poor unfortunate girls and women whom the world scorns so mercilessly. AH are admitted and are free to remain in the institu- tion as long as they wish, or, if minors, until returned to parents or guardians. Some who enter voluntarily stay but a short time, while the greater number remain one year, and some two, three, or more years. The principal income is derived from all kinds of needlework, from plain shopwork to the finest sewing and embroidering that can be done by hand. On their entrance very few of the inmates know anything about sewing, and until they are taught are unable to contribute toward their support. Besides sewing, the children of the "preservation class" are taught for a part of each day reading, spelling, writing, and arithmetic. Every endeavor is made to train the inmates of both departments to habits of order and industry, that they may become good, useful, and virtuous women. The total number of persons admitted into the reformatory since its establishment, August 16, 1883, is 353. Of those there have been returned to relatives or guardians 151. There have been provided with a home 53. Those who left voluntarily were 80. The number sent to hospital were 9. There escaped from the reformatory 4. There were sent to the insane asylum 3. There were dismissed from the reforma- tory 3. There have died in the reformatory 4. The number at present in the reformatory is 46. Of this number, 12 are the children of fathers who served in the Army. Of the entire number who have gone out from this department, 28 are respectably married and doing well. We oidy know, or have been told, of 15 who are not doing well. All the others, as far as we know, are leading good respectable lives either at home with parents or employed as servants in private families, or in other situations. The total number admitted in the department known as the "pres- ervation class" since its opening in January, 1892, is 111. Of those there have been returned to parents or guardians, 69. There have been provided with homes, 8; sent to hospital, 1; died, 1. The number at present in the preservation class is 32. Senator Faulkner. You are one of the trustees, are you not? Mrs. Vance. Yes; I am one of the trustees. Miss Alice Riggs is one of the original incorporators. The Chairman. Would you like to say anything, Miss Riggs? Miss Riggs. No, except that when Miss Anna Smith came to open the house she asked me to become one of the incorporators, which I did, and I got my brother to act as one also. Mrs. Vance. Miss Riggs has done a great deal of very good work for the institution. The House of the Good Shepherd is the institution originating this class of work. Rev. Mr. Mackin. It is the pioneer in this work. 310 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Mrs. Vance. Yes. The Sisters of the Good Shepherd are the origi- nators of the idea. Senator Faulkner. Those who voluntarily come to the institution have a right to leave it whenever they want to do so? Rev. Air. Mackin. Yes. Airs. Vance. But when the city authorities place them there it is different. Senator Faulkner. Of course, in that case the judges determine when they shall leave? Airs. Vance. Yes. Senator Faulkner. You know of only 15 that are not doing well? Airs. Vance. Yes; and we do not really know that they are not, only from what we have heard. They may be doing well now. HOME FOR FRIENDLESS COLORED WOMEN. The Chairman. We have some information with regard to your home, but we would like to have you make a statement about it. Mrs. Caroline Taylor. I received a letter asking me to send you a statement about it, which I did. Mrs. I. H. Sykes. Our letters and statements are here on file. The Chairman. I understand you take homeless girls from the earliest age up to 14 years old. Mrs. Sykes. Yes. The Chairman. And you train and educate them1? Mrs. Sykes. Yes. The Chairman. What would you call the earliest age? Mrs. Sykes. We have had infants, but that is not usual. Senator Faulkner. What is the object of the institution? Mrs. Sykes. To take children from the gutters-from starvation. It is the only institution started by colored effort, taking the children that are deserted or the children of sin wherever found-children who feed at the garbage barrels and live in the gutters. Lately some white ladies have interested themselves in the work. Mrs. Cleveland sent them food; Mrs. Morrison and Mrs. Leiter (who donated the rent one month) and some other ladies of influence have appreciated fhe effort of those women, who are all poor. Their effort is to work for their own kind and save them. They are all very poor. They have twice had a donation from Congress, in the lastpartof Mr. Harrison's Administration. Airs. Taylor. We have had $250 and $150 the next year. Mrs. Sykes. The rent I am paying is from money that I have raised by entertainments given entirely by negro talent. Airs. Cleveland was kindly present at the entertainment a year ago. The Home is tum- bling down. Like Mohammed's coffin, it is in the air, and the time is now coming when we must leave even that place. Mrs. Taylor. We own a lot, and could have a building on it if we only had the money to put one up. Airs. Sykes. Aliss Alary T. Stoddard, of New Haven, Conn., donated a lot, which is quite a good one, adjoining the Howard University. Representative Northway. How many inmates have you? Mrs. Taylor. We have now 26. Representative Northway. Is there any other institution in this District doing the work you do? Airs. Taylor. Not one that I know of. There is a National Colored Home that takes small children, but our object was to take these chil- dren from an idle street life and prepare them to be useful. CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 311 Representative Northway. It is out of that class of children that the worst criminals come. Mrs. Taylor. Yes, that is true. At one time the National Home was so full that there was no place to put these children, and the super- intendent of the poor brought us eight, and we had to take care of these eight children; and so from that time till now we have kept on. Representative Northway. Is your home an incorporated institu- tion ? Mrs. Taylor. Yes. Senator Faulkner. How do you get the children1? Mrs. Taylor. They are brought to us by both white and colored people. Mrs. Sykes. They are not committed to the place by the police court. Mrs. Taylor. No. Last week a lady brought us a little girl, saying that her mother was very poor and did the best she could, but that she had a sick child and her husband had died. She had other children, and she brought the little girl to us to keep her from running about the streets. People bring us children just in that way. Then there are mothers who have children, but have no place in which to leave them while they themselves go out to work. Those mothers bring their children to us. Senator Faulkner. How do you get hold of children who have no parents'? Mrs. Taylor. We hear of them. Besides the children, we have six old women who have no homes. Mrs. Sykes. Two of these women are supported by a contribution from a church. Mr. Mackay-Smith pays $2 a month for one of them, who is a helpless invalid. There are two of them who give their serv- ices as matron and assistant for their living, and the other two are entirely dependent on the home, having no means of support, whatever. The home is nonsectarian; we have Catholics there, among others. And St. John's Church sends us a little money. Senator Faulkner. How is it that you have not been getting more money1? Mrs. Sykes. We commenced work while Mr. Harrison was in office. Then there came a change of Administration. I went to different peo- ple to interest them in the work. Mr. Ross told me I could use his name. Major Moore has been exceedingly kind, and has almost fur- nished us with coal to keep these poor children warm. I have been a whole year raising $225, even with advertising Mrs. Cleveland's attend- ance at the concert. Mrs. Taylor. Our expenses are $65 to $70 a month, but we do not always get the money in time. Mrs. Sykes. Last winter, when these children were starving, Mrs. William II. Morrison, the wife of the Interstate Commerce Commis- sioner, had the proprietors of Willard's Hotel put up a great basket of food. Mrs. Taylor. I do not like to say that they were starving. Mrs. Sykes. We must tell the truth. They were starving at that time. Now, I am fighting Messrs. Dulaney, Fleming, and Lee for the building. I will not have those poor children put out. The Chairman. Why did you not get a better place? Mrs. Sykes. Well, Mr. Chairman, this is a colored institution, and there were no means. You have heard the statements made here on behalf of other institutions in the city, dealing almost altogether with white people. Now, I am a white woman, but I wish to say here that I regard this institution as one of the most needed and beneficent 312 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. institutions in the city. It had its origin in a simple, pathetic incident. A colored woman, going to her place of service early in the morning, saw two little children eating out of a garbage barrel. She made inquiry and found that their custom was to sleep in another barrel. There was not an institution in town that was authorized to give these poor children food or shelter. That incident started this institution. It resulted in hiring a room first, and getting a poor old colored woman to look after the children. Senator Faulkner. I believe iu taking care of the poor old "mam- mies" too. Mrs. Sykes. Yes; we have some of them. These children, as young as 8 or 9, are taught to wash and iron. After being trained they are hired out as domestics. We are not teaching them French or music. They are needed in the servant class. Senator Faulkner. How long do you keep them? Mrs. Taylor. We try to keep them two years, so as to give them some training. We greatly need a building with improved conditions to get the best results. Mrs. Sykes. Such an institution is greatly needed. Colored infants are not taken at St. Ann's Orphan Asylum. They refused to take a negro child, and Major Moore sent an officer and compelled them to take it in. Mrs. Taylor. What we want is a building. Mr. Koss said we could use his name. Mrs. Sykes. We are not asking for very much. Senator Faulkner. In order to be practical about this matter, it would be well for you to get some gentlemen who are interested in your work to find out what would be the cost of a building to be put upon that lot-not any extravagant building, but one that would be suitable and sufficient. Mrs. Taylor. 1 have done that, and they said that at the lowest it would cost $5,009. The Chairman. How many would such a building accommodate? Mrs. Taylor. We need to accommodate many more than we now have. We have many applications that we can not do anything with. Senator Faulkner. Get some competent person to make a practical estimate, and bring it or send it to this commission. Mrs. Taylor. I will do so. Senator Faulkner. Can you not get some gentlemen interested in this matter to have someone design a building capable of accommo- dating, say, 45 or 50 children, and then write a letter to this commission, stating the fact that you have this lot and desire to erect a building at such a cost that would accommodate 45 or 50 children? If you do so, I think this commission will try to help you a little. The Chairman. Why would not a proper way be to have the Com- missioners of the District say what it would cost? Mrs. Sykes. That would be an excellent idea. Senator Faulkner. That would be a very good idea. We want something tangible to base our recommendation on. Mrs. Taylor. I will see Mr. Ross about it. Senator Faulkner. Tell him not to make his figures too high. The Chairman. You have a board of trustees? Mrs. Taylor. Yes; we have eleven women, but of course we could have men at any time. The Chairman. Are they white or colored? Mrs. Taylor. They are nearly all colored. 313 CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. Mrs. Sykes. I am the only white woman among the trustees, and I came into it through Mrs. Cleveland's request. She kindly sent for me and said she could not be publicly known in a matter of that char- acter and wished me to do something to assist those poor people. Mrs. Morrison is not in good health. Mrs. Taylor. We keep the building as nice as possible, but it is hard work. Mrs. Sykes. The building is now 25 or 30 feet in the air, and the agents will not even put up a step ladder there to enable one to reach the house. The coal has to be hauled up with baskets. The building is located on Erie street, Meridian Hill, between Seventeenth and Eighteenth streets. The Chairman. Are you in arrears for rent now? Mrs. Sykes. The current rent is being paid, but we owe $175. If we should leave the place the agents could do nothing with the house; they could not rent it to anybody, and the lots are in such a position that they can not come into the market for twenty-five years. The interest on the investment is certainly covered by the rent paid on the house. Even if the owner gets only $125 a year, that surely pays interest and taxes. Representative Northway. The building is not good for anything? Mrs. Sykes. No; it is not even good for kindling wood. The committee adjourned. ELEVENTH HEAIHNG. MEN OUT OF WORK. May 4, 1897-2 o'clock p. m. Present: Hon. James McMillan, chairman ; Hon. C. J. Faulkner, Hon. S. A. Northway. ELEVENTH HEARING. Subject: Men Out of Work. To be heard: Officers of the Municipal Lodging House; officers of the Central Union Mission; officers of the Temporary Home for ex-Union Soldiers and Sailors. TOPICS. 1. Growth of the work as shown by the growth of the Municipal Lodging House. 2. How far is the municipality to go in furnishing work for the unem- ployed? 3. Do the lodging houses encourage tramps? 4. Should the work in the District be extended? Senator McMillan. We will first hear the officers of the Municipal Lodging House. Who is here to represent them? Capt. L. B. Cutler. lam superintendent of the Municipal Lodging House. Senator McMillan. Is this a new institution? Air. Cutler. No, sir; it was incorporated as the Night Lodging House Association in 1878, but it was reorganized in 1892 as the Mu nicipal Lodging House. Senator McMillan. It used to be called the Night Lodging House? Mr. Cutler. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. That was before it was reorganized? Mr. Cutler. Yes, sir; it was organized in 1870 as the Night Lodg- ing House Association, and afterwards, in 1892, was turned over to the District Commissioners. Senator McMillan. How did you obtain your buildings and ground- with your own money, or did the Government pay for them? Mr. Cutler. As I understand, the old organization still owns the property. Senator McMillan. The old organization still owns it? Mr. Cutler. Yes, sir; that is my understanding of it. 315 316 charities and reformatory institutions. Senator McMillan. I see yon give the value of the buildings and improvements as $7,666. Mr. Cutler. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. How much aid does the Government give you? Mr. Cutler. Four thousand dollars. Senator McMillan. Four thousand dollars? Mr. Cutler. Yes, sir. Senator McMillan. Now, will you describe the character of the work that you are doing. Mr. Cutler. This house is kept open for the purpose of taking care of people who get stranded, irrespective of color or condition-men who are out of employment. We find that about two-thirds of those who come to the house are regular tramps, traveling around from one lodging house to another, and living in the winter in these houses by sawing wood or doing other work that they have to perform. In some places they can remain-for instance, as in Baltimore-they can remain and work as long as they choose; in other places they can remain but three days. In my place we take them not to exceed three days in a quarter. While there they have to perform certain manual labor, such as sawing and splitting wood and the other work of the house. For a night's lodging, which constitutes asupper and breakfast and bath, they saw one-eighth of a cord of wood; that is for each night's lodging. Senator McMillan. You require them to saw that much? Mr. Cutler. Yes, sir; if they are able. We do not make cripples or sick people work. We keep them free. Those are my instructions from the District Commissioners. Senator McMillan. IIow many do you feed there per day? Mr. Cutler. This year, on account of the warmth of the season, there has been a decrease over last year of 81; last year we had 5,652 people. Bepresentative Northway. Do you mean 81 per day? Mr. Cutler. No, sir. I meant we had a net decrease of 81 over last year. Senator McMillan. All men? Mr. Cutler. Yes, sir. We don't take anybody else. We don't take intoxicated men under any circumstances, for the reason that they create trouble and soil the beds, and besides they are not in a condition to work. Senator McMillan. How many beds have you? Mr. Cutler. We have lodging for 72 people. I have kept as many as 91 in stormy weather, where it has been so bad that we could not turn them away, by letting them sleep on the floor. But we can accom- modate 72 very nicely. Senator McMillan. What is the average number of persons you take care of there? Mr. Cutler. It varies. In winter it will run from 40 to 50 or 60. Last week we only had an average of 11 a day. Senator McMillan. Do you allow these people to return? Suppose they work two days and go away, can they come back to the lodging- house if they get stranded ? Mr. Cutler. We only give them lodging three days in a quarter. Senator McMillan. Where do they go to when they leave here- Baltimore? Mr. Cutler. They travel from one place to another. Mr. Chairman, about one-third of these men are good men. Owing to the condition of CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 317 the country during the last few years there are many men traveling around from one place to another who have been thrown out of employ- ment and who are seeking work. They start out fora place to get work and when they get there they become stranded and have to get back the best way they can. That class are good men; but about two thirds are men who don't work and will not work except when they are com- pelled to do so by starvation. Senator McMillan. Do you furnish them any money to get them out of town? Mr. Cutler. No, sir; but very often Captain Frank, the sanitary officer, has sent people out of the city-cases of that kind of deserving men-many of them are sent to their homes by him. A great many of these people come here from down the bay-men who have been in the oyster dredging business and who have been kicked out by the oyster people so as to avoid paying them. Some of these men come here and are in a very destitute condition-lame, sore, and sick. It is a disgrace that these oyster men are allowed to treat them in this way. In my opinion, Congress ought to do something to prosecute these people for their treatment of these men. We see cases of this kind every day. They come to the lodging house, crippled, foot sore, sometimes in win- ter with their feet frozen, driven out by the oyster men or thrown into the river and compelled to get here the best way they can. Captain Frank often gets this class of men to their homes. Senator McMillan. Where do these men come from? Mr. Cutler. From the North and South, but mostly from the North. Senator McMillan. They are not residents of the District? Mr. Cutler. No, sir; we do not keep District people here at the Municipal Lodging House. There have been cases where we have taken care of them overnight, but we don't hold out any inducements to them; we only care for those who come here from different parts of the country. Senator McMillan. Who sends these people to you? Mr. Cutler. The house is very well advertised through the country. Senator McMillan. They all know where to go? Mr. Cutler. Yes, sir; there is some sort of a line of information all over the country. They know just where to go in Baltimore, New York, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, and in all cities where they have lodging houses. These people travel the rounds from one house to another, and they understand the road perfectly well. Senator McMillan. You think, then, that it is a necessity to have a place for such people? Mr. Cutler. Yes, sir; we could not do without it. Senator McMillan. Do other cities find the same necessity? Mr. Culter. Yes, sir; in Baltimore they do differently. In our wood business-when I went there I found the wood was sawed and the District had to pay for it, but 1 entered into contracts with indi- viduals to pay 50, 65, and 75 cents a cord for the wood; they to deliver it and take it away at their own expense. That money is turned over to the collector of taxes. We receive no money-that is, no revenue. We received last year-we turned over $224.42 from wood earnings. Heretofore there was nothing of that kind ever done, although they sawed the wood. That is the only work we do aside from the care of the house, and that is done by those who are able to work. Bepresentative Northway. You have no revenue except that received from the Government? 318 charities and reformatory institutions. Mr. Cutler. No, sir; except these small earnings from the wood. Representative Northway. This institution was organized by Congress? Air. Cutler. By and under control of the District Commissioners July 14, 1892, and incorporated under an act of Congress of May 5, 1870. Representative Northway. And the Congressional act provides for the officers? Mr. Cutler. Yes, sir. Representative Northway. You care for these people as tramps simply as a temporary matter? Mr. Cutler. Yes, sir. Representative Northway. What range of food do you give them- for breakfast, for instance? Mr. Cutler. If they come in the afternoon, say at 2 o'clock, they are put to work. At 5 o'clock we give them a supper which comprises a stew composed of nice beef (which we get from Mr. Keane), onions, rice, or barley, mixed as a stew. We give them a large dish of that, a bowl of coffee which would be about 2 pints. Of course that is sweet- ened for them. Then we give them bread which is baked by Air. Behrens, one of the best bakers here, about 5 ounces. This constitutes the supper. And they get the same thing in the morning for breakfast. We have two meals a day. Representative Northway. Two meals. Mr. Cutler. Yes, sir. That is put up hot and nice, and you would be surprised to know how palatable it is. Senator McMillan. What do you have at noon? Air. Cutler. We only have two meals a day-supper at 5 o'clock in the afternoon and breakfast at 7 o'clock in the morning. When the men get breakfast they can go wherever they please and return at 2 o'clock, when they are put to work. A great many return and a few do not. Senator AIcAIillan. What kind of a building have you for this purpose? Air. Cutler. We have an old three story building situated on Twelfth street. The trouble is our building is too small. The rooms that these people sleep in are generally filled up. For instance, 6(1 or 70 per night pretty well tills the house up. Some of our rooms have 16 beds in them; some 8, and some 9. In the halls we have 2. Owing to not having room enough, I have placed over the beds something similar to an upper berth in a car. One man sleeps over another. The beds have a good mattress, two good sheets, a blanket, and a good pillow. The beds are changed twice a week and kept clean. When some men go to bed after taking a good bath the change in their looks is so great we hardly recognize them in the morning. Representative Northway. Is there ever any spirit of insubordina- tion manifested there? Air. Cutler. Very little. I am appointed by the District Commis- sioners a special officer, which prevents anything of the kind. They know I am an officer; and, besides, the lodging house is next door to the police station. Of course that is a protection and we have very little trouble. Our rules are all over the house, and when a man comes there he is given instructions as to the rules and he knows what he has to comply with. His attention is called to the rules when he is registered. Senator AIcAIillan. What do you do with the clothes-clean them? CHARITIES AND REFORMATORY INSTITUTIONS. 319 Mr. Cutler. Yes, sir: they are hung in a disinfecting room at night. We use a disinfectant composed of sulphur and ammonia, to which we set fire at 10 p. m. and it burns until 5 o'clock in the morn- ing, so that if there are any germs or disease of any kind it destroys it. Every man who comes in there is numbered; he goes to his bed numbered. IT he soils his bed we know who does it. In the morning he gets his clothes, which have been disinfected, and when he is dressed he looks like a new man. He is compelled to wash; we allow no man to go to bed without a bath, and we don't allow any man to bathe in second water. Senator McMillan. Have you any suggestions to make as to improvements in the method of carrying on this work? Mr. Cutler. We ought to have a larger building; we ought to have a building in which we could accommodate about 150 people, so that the sanitary condition of the house would be better in sleeping and more comfortable. Then we could, for instance, in a large house save the expense of our laundry work. It costs $25, $30, and $35 a month. This could be saved by having it done by our own employees. The appropriation is very small for our place. I have a clerk acting as a watchman, a cook, and a foreman of the yard. I pay the foreman $10 a month; my clerk, who acts also as watchman, receives $30, and my man who works upstairs receives no compensation. Sometimes we can keep him a month, sometimes a week. Heought to have $10 a month. The foreman ought to have $15, and the clerk, acting as watchman, should receive not less than $40 a month; then we could keep good help all the year round. Otherwise we are changing all round, and it makes it very embarrassing for me at times where we have so many people. Although we have District street cleaners here we could keep a good many men away from here, it seems to me, if we could take these people and put them on the streets and alleys and make them sweep up the streets and alleys and keep them clean. I think it would keep many of them away from here, as it would advertise them. Representative Northway. Where is the next lodging house like yours? Mr. Cutler. Baltimore. Representative Northway. Have you ever taken any pains to learn how many of these people come from that lodging house and who from yours there? Mr. Cutler. Yes, sir; that is going on every day. Representative Northway. Do not many of