146 EMIL MUNSTERBERG 



new legislation is regularly published in the proceedings of the 

 National Conference of Charities and Correction. The reports 

 of the state boards are almost always prepared with great care, 

 and furnish, especially on the statistical side, instructive views. 

 The most recent report from New York (1900) declares that the 

 continual change of officers in the poorhouses is very harmful to 

 public welfare, and that reform of the civil service applied to this 

 department would be an important advance. This report is re- 

 markable both for extent and contents, although the reading of 

 it is attended with difficulty. In not fewer than three thick vol- 

 umes, and in nearly 3,000 printed pages, the entire system of 

 the charities of New York is presented. The second half of the 

 first part contains a great array of statistics, the second volume 

 a complete directory of all the charitable institutions in New 

 York, with exact statement of the purpose, the seat of admin- 

 istration, the officers, receipts and expenses, etc. In the same 

 volume they have printed the legal regulations of the state 

 board and poor laws. The year 1899 was unusually fruitful in 

 laws on these subjects; not fewer than one hundred bills affect- 

 ing poor relief directly or indirectly, were passed by the legis- 

 lature ; and the report remarks that some of these biUs, in the 

 judgment of the board, will be found unconstitutional. The 

 administrative activity of the board is extended to all the pub- 

 lic and to many private institutions, some of great importance. 

 The evidences of careful supervision appear everywhere; a 

 special report being rendered for each institution. Of state 

 institutions subject to supervision, twelve were named, with a 

 total population of 6,885 inmates and an expenditure of $1,180,- 

 000; most of these being devoted to the care of defectives 

 (blind, deaf mutes, feeble-minded, etc.). Of private institu- 

 tions which receive state aid, ten are mentioned, with 3,228 

 inmates and an expenditure of $790,000, of which $660,000 

 came from public funds. Here the institutions for deaf mutes 

 are conspicuous. 



An event of very deep import must be mentioned which 

 illustrates the danger which seriously threatens one of the most 

 vital functions of the state board — the oversight of private 

 charities. It has importance for the other American states 

 and is of interest far beyond the American borders. The law 



