642 



NEW YORK (STATE.) 



children of both sexes, and the latter to the 

 care of feeble-minded girls and young women, 

 heretofore provided for in poor-houses and alrns- 

 houses. The New York City Almshouse has a 

 department for idiotic and feeble-minded of both 

 sexes, with an average of about 290 inmates, but 

 there is no other local provision, except in poor- 

 houses, for these classes in the State. 



The institutions for the blind are two, in 

 New York city and Batavia. Those for the 

 deaf and dumb are : New York Institution for 

 the Deaf and Dumb, New York city ; Institution 

 for the Improved Instruction of the Deaf and 

 Dumb, New York city ; Central New York In- 

 stitution for Deaf -Mutes, Rome ; Le Conteulx 

 St. Mary's Deaf and Dumb Asylum, Buffalo ; 

 St. Joseph's Institution for the Improved In- 

 struction of Deaf-Mutes, Fordham; Western 

 New York Institution for Deaf -Mutes, Roches- 

 ter ; Northern New York Institution for Deaf- 

 Mutes, Malone. 



The New York State Reformatory is at Elmi- 

 ra ; the Refuge for Women at Hudson. 



The juvenile reformatories are: New York 

 House of Refuge, Randall's Island ; State In- 

 dustrial School, Rochester; New York Juve- 

 nile Asylum, New York ; New York Catholic 

 Protectory, West Farms ; Buffalo Catholic Pro- 

 tectory, Limestone Hill. 



There are 203 orphan asylums and homes for 

 the friendless reporting to the State Board of 

 Charities. There are 41 dispensaries, chiefly in 

 the cities. The number of incorporated hospi- 

 tals in the State under the control of benevo- 

 lent organizations is 60, of which 10 are for 

 specific diseases, and 50 are general. 



State Prisons. The superintendent, in his re- 

 port for the year ending Sept. 30, 1886, re- 

 marks : " The transactions of the State prisons 

 during the last year are without precedent. 

 The embarrassments which perplexed the su- 

 perintendent and the warden of one of the 

 prisons in the preceding year, arising from 

 their inability to put a large body of prisoners 

 at work, have been continued during the whole 

 year. This situation is tha result of the non- 

 action of the Legislature to meet by effective 

 legislation the grave exigency which it was 

 fully informed during its session existed in the 

 State Prisons, and for which there was then, as 

 there is now, no practical and adequate remedy 

 except in new legislation. One feature in the 

 affairs of these institutions is the marked in- 

 crease in the total number of prisoners. The 

 population of the three prisons was 3,155 on 

 Sept. 30, 1886. This is an increase of 194, or 

 a fraction above 6 per cent. And this fact 

 should be noted, that the number of prisoners 

 in the three prisons is now the largest since the 

 present superintendent has been in office. The 

 present population exceeds the minimum dur- 

 ing that period, which was reported in 1883 

 by 327, or over 11 per cent." 



The number of convicts, September 30, at 

 Auburn was at 1,084 ; at Clinton, 539 ; at Sing 

 Sing, 1,532. 



An increase in numbers so great as this 

 ought to become manifest in two ways in the 

 report of the prisons : one is an increase in the 

 expenditure on account of maintenance and 

 support; the other is in the earnings of the 

 prisoners. The superintendent believes that 

 the officers in charge of the several State Pris- 

 ons are fairly entitled to the credit of faithful 

 stewards. The sum spent by them for the care 

 and maintenance of the institutions during the 

 fiscal year rose above that of the previous one 

 only $888.72, and the previous year was the 

 most favorable one in this respect in ten years. 

 The gain on this side of State-Prison business 

 is unchecked and is satisfactory, for the very 

 small increase in the expenditures last year is 

 much more than offset by the increase in the 

 prison population; so that, on a per capita 

 computation, the last year is unsurpassed in 

 economy. The prison expenses during ten 

 years are shown in the following table, to wit : 



During the past six years the prisons have 

 paid their way; and "but for the disorganiza- 

 tion of prison industries and the persistent 

 neglect of the Legislature to deal with the 

 question in an intelligent and effective way," 

 says the superintendent, " much more satisfac- 

 tory financial results would have been reached 

 in the past two years, with even better moral 

 and reformatory effects than have been accom- 

 plished." 



For the past fiscal year the earnings and ex- 

 penditures for the care and maintenance of 

 the several State Prisons are as follow : 



AUBURN. 



Miscellaneous and contract earnings $12,478 21 



Boot and shoe State-account industry, surplus.. 81,629 18 



Total earnings $44,102 89 



Expenditures for care and maintenance 124,598 73 



Deficiency $80,491 84 



CLINTON. 



Miscellaneous and contract earnings 

 Clothing State-account industry, surplus. . 



Total earnings , 



Expenditures for care and maintenance 



Surplus , 



SING SING. 



Miscellaneous and contract earnings 



Expenditures for care and maintenance 



$3,800 10 



88,287 47 



$9,044 99 



. $242,041 56 

 . 166,975 34 



Surplus $75,066 22 



Surplus earnings for the year 



Surplus earnings for 1884-'85 



Increase in surplus earnings. . . 



$3.619 87 

 3,441 44 



$17848 



