Prefatory Note 



The problem of efficient administration of State charitable, 

 penal, and insane institutions, and of effective supervision 

 of State, local, and private institutions, has long been a serious 

 one in the United States. It is only in recent years, hov^ever, 

 v^ith the rise of the efficiency and economy movement and its 

 agitation for the reorganization of State systems, that the 

 attention of students of government and of the average citi- 

 zen has been directed to the present confusion existing in this 

 particular field and to the need of a better understanding of 

 the systems by which the various States attempt to meet the 

 problem. 



The occasion for this study grew out of the situation in 

 Khode Island in 1913. In 1912 a Board of Control and Supply 

 with fiscal powers was superimposed upon a Board of State 

 Charities and Corrections which was exercising general ad- 

 ministrative control over most of the State institutions. From 

 the outset the system was unsatisfactory, and in 1913-14 the 

 Rhode Island Legislative Reference Bureau began an investi- 

 gation of the systems in other States, of which this study is 

 the result. In 1915 the study was revised, with material 

 changes, particularly in the treatment of the "dual system" 

 and the conclusions, and was submitted as a thesis for the 

 master's degree at Indiana University, under the supervision 

 of Associate Professor Frank G. Bates. 



Owing to the discussion in Indiana, during the past year, 

 of the desirability of consolidating the separate boards over 

 the various State institutions by the creation of a single 

 central board of control, which would mean the creation of 

 a ''dual system" similar to that found in Illinois, it has been 

 thought that this thesis might be of timely interest. The 

 study has been, in consequence, again revised to include 

 changes in statutes and results of investigations in 1915. 



I wish to acknowledge my indebtedness, in particular, to 

 Professor John C. Dunning of Brown University, Mr. Herbert 

 O. Brigham, Rhode Island State Librarian, and Miss Grace 



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