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Indiana University Studies 



mit monthly estimates and the fiscal supervisor revises these, 

 always referring important matters to the whole board. The 

 board appoints the heads of the institutions and fixes their 

 salaries. It also establishes a graded scale of wages for the 

 minor officials, who hold office under the civil service plan. 

 In addition to its strictly administrative functions, the board 

 is also given power to inspect and investigate outdoor poor 

 relief, almshouses, children's home-finding societies, orphan- 

 ages, lying-in hospitals, and any place where persons are de- 

 tained for treatment of nervous diseases; it also inspects 

 county jails, city prisons, workhouses, etc.; and one of its 

 duties is to collect statistical information concerning the in- 

 mates of all these institutions. It must visit each State insti- 

 tution at least quarterly. Each member receives a salary of 

 $6,000 per year. 



The Charities Commission consists of five members, who 

 receive no compensation. Its chief duty is to investigate the 

 whole system of public charitable institutions of the State, 

 examine into the management and condition thereof, espe- 

 cially of State hospitals and local jails and almshouses. In 

 this it is quite similar to the Indiana board, having no manda- 

 tory powers. The Charities Commission may inquire, in its 

 discretion, into the equipment, management, and policies of 

 all institutions and organizations coming under the super- 

 vision, administration, or inspection of the Board of Admin- 

 istration. It maintains a special Bureau of Criminal Sta- 

 tistics. 



From this it is seen that the Board of Administration han- 

 dles the business details of the State institutions and super- 

 vises certain other organizations, while the function of the 

 Charities Commission is purely supervisory. The business of 

 the former is primarily with institutions and organizations; 

 the latter studies the whole charity problem in its broad as- 

 pects. The former has the responsibility for the manage- 

 ment of each institution, and its methods, both along fiscal 

 lines and in the care of inmates ; the latter is in these matters 

 only a checking agency, but without powers which would 

 bring the two boards into conflict. It would seem at first 

 sight that the Charities Commission was simply a system of 

 espionage upon the acts of the administrative board, but such 



