State Control of Charities and Corrections 5 



public charitable and correctional institutions of the common- 

 wealth"; but its supervisory power was subsequently limited by 

 the transfer, in 1875, of the oversight of the institutions for the 

 instruction of the deaf, dumb, and blind to the Board of Educa- 

 tion, and by the further transfer, in 1879, c>f the oversight of the 

 correctional institutions of the state to the Board of Commis- 

 sioners of Prisons. On the other hand, the executive authority 

 of the new board was considerably increased by the acts of 1865, 

 1866, 1869, 1870, and 1877, charging the board with the execu- 

 tion of the laws relating to the unsettled poor in the several cities 

 and towns of the commonwealth and to the children of the state. 



The authority conferred upon the Board of State Charities by 

 the legislation of 1869 and 1870 with reference to the minor wards 

 of the state was substantially as follows : 



Whenever a complaint was made against a boy or girl under 

 the age of seventeen years, the court or magistrate in the case 

 was required to notify the board in writing, so that one of its 

 agents might have opportunity to investigate the case, attend the 

 trial, and protect the interest of, or otherwise provide for the 

 child. On the agent's request, the court or magistrate might au- 

 thorize the board to take and indenture or place in charge of any 

 person, or in the State Primary School, such child, till he or she 

 attained the age of twenty-one years, or for any less time. No 

 child could be indentured, adopted, or taken in charge of any 

 person from a state institution until notice thereof had been given 

 the board, and its report in writing, made after investigation into 

 the propriety thereof, had been filed with such institution ; and 

 all the applications for the release or discharge of any children 

 so indentured or placed in charge of persons were to be given to 

 the board for its report in like manner. As often as once a year 

 all children so maintained, indentured, or placed were to be vis- 

 ited, and such other investigation made in regard to them as the 

 board might prescribe. 



The legislature of 1879 abolished the Board of State Charities, 

 and established the State Board of Health, Lunacy, and Charity, 

 thus conferring upon the new board, in addition to the powers 

 of its predecessor, all the power and authority previously pos- 



361 



