NEW YORK. 



tions. The Aggregate financial statistics of 



i h. . institutions for the year are as follows : 



VALUATION. 



In real property $29,41.1,309 29 



In personal property a,ft01,aw 60 



Total $88,9 t '6,T62 28 



RECEIPTS. 



Cash balance from lust year $448309 94 



Kw.-ivt-d from State 1,047,969 86 



Received from cities 8,61(),21T 16 



Voluntary donations 798,887 02 



From alt otber sources 2,109,457 74 



Total $7,909,791 22 



EXPENDITURES. 



For building* and Improvements 820.778 6T 



For supervision and maintenance 6,587,976 04 



Total $7,408,758 71 



Leaving balance of .* $501,037 61 



The Board sent an urgent appeal to the Le- 

 gislature for further provision for the chronic 

 insane poor. They say. " The tide of insanity 

 has swollen beyond the proportions of former 

 years, and unexpected numbers of chronic cases 

 are now on our hands, overflowing the supposed 

 liberal provision heretofore made for them." 

 This increase is shown in the report of the Com- 

 missioner of Lunacy for the same period, made 

 during the session to the Legislature. It em- 

 braces the previous year, and is summarily as 

 follows : 



The mortality statistics for the same period 

 are: 



The total number of insane, idiots, and epi- 

 leptics for 1877 was 7,982 ; for 1878, 9,501, 

 being an increase of 1,519, or a fraction over 

 19 per cent. The total mortality for 1877 was 

 685 ; for 1878, 706. 



VOL. xix. 43 A 



An examiner was sent out by the Comptrol- 

 ler to make an investigation of the affairs of 

 the charitable institutions. His report showed 

 the necessity of a responsible supervision over 

 the charities maintained by the State. To ac- 

 complish this object, the Comptroller suggested 

 to the Legislature the adoption of the follow- 

 ing plan as certain to be efficient : 



First. Require all the receipts of the institution to 

 be paid into the State Treasury. Provide appropria- 

 tions sufficiently largo to cover all their expenses, the 

 appropriations to be advanced by the Comptroller upon 

 monthly estimates. 



Second. Require the appropriations asked for an- 

 nually to be estimated for and submitted to the State 

 Board of Charities on October 1st of each year. 

 Make it the duty of said Board to examine said esti- 

 mates, and ccrtilv the amount needed by each institu- 

 tion to the Legislature. No appropriations to be made 

 for any purpose, except they are so certified. 



Third. Make it the duty of the State Board of 

 Charities to require of the institutions an annual re- 

 port classified as to the items of expense and receipt, 

 covering such details as the Board may deem wise. 

 Also, a statement of the quantity and price of the va- 

 rious articles used. 



These three simple requirements are intended 

 to place all the elements of a complete super- 

 vision in the hands of the proper State officers. 



The State Examiner, Mr. E. P. Apgar, recom- 

 mends a uniform method of accounts in all the 

 institutions as likely to lead to its adoption by 

 the cities and counties. " A common meth- 

 od of keeping and verifying public accounts 

 throughout the State would tend to prevent 

 fraud, facilitate its detection, and protect the 

 fiscal agents of the public against unjust accu- 

 sation and suspicion." In his opinion there 

 should be an inventory of all property on hand 

 at the end of each fiscal year. The annual re- 

 port of each institution should contain : First, 

 a statement of receipts and disbursements dur- 

 ing the year, classified under such general 

 heads as salaries and wages, labor, provisions, 

 household stores, clothing, fuel, lights, medical 

 stores, ordinary repairs, miscellaneous. Sec- 

 ond, a statement in detail of the expenditures 

 under each head ; as, for example, under sala- 

 ries, the name of each officer and his salary, the 

 number of attendants of various grades and the 

 pay of each grade, the pay of engineers, watch- 

 men, etc. Under the head of provisions should 

 be stated the quantity and cost of various ar- 

 ticles consumed ; for example, the number of 

 barrels of flour consumed during the year and 

 the total cost, the number of pounds of sugar 

 and total cost, and so on. Such a statement 

 could be compressed into two or three printed 

 pages, and would thus not materially add to 

 the length of the report. Its advantages are 

 many and obvious. Each superintendent would 

 thus have the benefit of the experience, as to 

 quantities and cost, not only of his own insti- 

 tution, but of all the others. 



The expense of the Home of Inebriates at 

 Binghamton has been $10,000 per capita, and 

 in 1878 the cost per capita was $18,087. A 

 comparison of the expense per capita of several 

 of the State institutions with that of similar 



