'Guild: State Supervision of Charities 39 



these, seven^^ provide in the law that certain officials shall 

 constitute the board. These are termed ex officio boards 

 and, as has been said before, are not held to be of great 

 value. The members are usually the governor, attorney-gen- 

 eral, secretary of State, or State treasurer, and these officials 

 have too many other important duties to perform to give 

 careful or continuous attention to the State's charity prob- 

 lem. States with such boards are not among the most pro- 

 gressive in State supervision of charities. 



Several States provide for women members on the board. 

 Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Missouri stipulate that two 

 members shall be women. Wisconsin and Delaware provide 

 for one woman member. The Oklahoma Commissioner of 

 Charities and Corrections is a woman. California, Indiana, 

 and Colorado specify that women may be members. Other 

 States with minor boards, particularly those with county 

 boards of charities or county* boards of visitors, specify that 

 women shall be members of such minor boards. Wisconsin 

 is the only State with an administrative board which has such 

 a provision. 



California, Massachusetts, and New York have special 

 qualifications for their lunacy commissions.. The New York 

 law is particularly definite, providing that the president of 

 the board shall be a reputable physician of at least ten years' 

 standing, and that another member shall be a reputable coun- 

 sellor-at-law of at least ten years' standing." 



Some States have a political provision virtually requiring 

 minority representation. This provision is usually so worded 

 that "not more than two shall be of the same political party". 

 California, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, and Ohio are 

 among these". Some States require that all counties or sec- 

 tions of the State shall be represented. Among these are 

 Rhode Island, New York, and Kansas. 



California and Wisconsin provide that the members of 

 their boards of control ''shall give their whole time to the 

 work".'^* The provision is in these words in Wisconsin. In 

 California the members shall not engage in any other work 



Arizona, Florida, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, Vermont, and Wyoming. 

 Indiana is the best example of this. 



77 New York Consolidated Laws, 1909, Vol. ii, p. 2441. 



78 Wisconsin Statutes, 1913, Ch. 29, §§ 561a-572a, p. 329. 



