Guild: State Supervision of Charities 



19 



the Lunacy Commission are supervisory in character. The 

 Board of Control is peculiar. Its work is purely fiscal, and 

 it is not confined to the charitable institutions. It is really 

 a powerful auditing board which examines the books, not only 

 of the State institutions of whatever nature, but also of all 

 commissions, bureaus, and offices of the State. Its control 

 over the State charitable institutions rests in its power over 

 claims against the State, which power is absolute. The State 

 comptroller may pay no bills unless they are previously en- 

 dorsed by the board. Thus, indirectly, the board exercises a 

 very great influence over the fiscal side of all charitable insti- 

 tutions, for all contracts must be approved by it and bills 

 must be submitted to its scrutiny before being paid. The 

 board has also in practice exerted a positive influence over 

 contracts by soliciting bids from responsible firms and assur- 

 ing them of prompt payment if the contracts are legal and 

 proper. This Board of Control was created primarily to put 

 an end to all possible graft. It is therefore also entrusted 

 with the investment of certain specified funds of the State 

 and in general supervises the financial policy of the State. 

 Quite obviously, this is not primarily a charity board, but it 

 must be classified as constituting a dual system as it is a 

 board with powers of fiscal control over institutions where 

 an existing board is already endowed with supervisory pow- 

 ers. It is to be noted that with all these boards California 

 still has the individual boards of trustees which exercise the 

 usual, administrative powers over each institution, particu- 

 larly that of appointment. 



In New York there is also a peculiar situation.-* There 

 are separate boards for all three groups in the charity field : 

 a State Board of Charities, a State Hospital Commission 

 (over the insane), and a State Commission of Prisons. The 

 Hospital Commission is the only board with full administra- 

 tive functions. It appoints the heads of institutions, formu- 

 lates policies, and controls finances. The Prison Commis- 

 sion is purely advisory, but the State prisons are adminis- 

 tered by the Superintendent of Prisons, an office established 



2* For discussion of the New York situation and of a bill introduced in 1915 to revise 

 the system, see Arguments against the Hinman-Sage Board of Regulation Bill for State 

 Institutions, published by the Committee on Mental Hygiene of the State Charities Aid 

 Association of New York, and Board of Control for State Institutions Opposed, a brief 

 submitted to the New York constitutional convention by the same association. 



