The administration of our public charities is a subject of vital importance to our people, viewed not only from a humanitarian, but from a financial standpoint as well; an imperative duty, from which we cannot shrink if we would, and would not if we could. How to administer them successfully, wisely, and economically, is a problem not easily solved. How to alleviate the sufferings of our unfortunate classes, to support and maintain them in a proper manner without overburdening our people, thereby causing a reaction in public sentiment detrimental to the wards of the state and the nation; how to attain the best practical results in dealing with the evils of pauperism, crime, and insanity, and especially how to lessen the number of their victims, are questions of paramount importance, which should challenge our earnest and serious consideration.

It affords me great pleasure to meet so many distinguished ladies and gentlemen from this and other States engaged in the beneficent work of ameliorating the condition of the unfortunate, of devising the best and most economical means for that purpose; to meet you here in this beautiful city of Chicago, this great commercial and manufacturing metropolis of the West, situated upon the western shore of Lake Michigan, in one of the richest and best States of this Union, in the heart of the best country on the globe; the industry, enterprise, intelligence, and charity of whose citizens are unsurpassed, and whose hospitality has not only become proverbial but wide-spread as the nation itself. It is to such a city and such a people I feel authorized to extend to each and all of and hearty welcome.

you a cordial

Mr. Henry W. Lord of Michigan moved, and it was voted, that Mr. F. B. Sanborn of Massachusetts, Rev. A. G. Byers of Ohio, and Rev. J. L. Milligan of Pennsylvania, act as Secretaries until a permanent organization is effected, and that the President appoint a Committee, consisting of one person from each State represented, to arrange business and nominate permanent officers for the Conference. The following Committee was then appointed: Henry W. Lord, Michigan, Chairman; Dr. Pliny Earle, Massachusetts; W. P. Letchworth, New York; R. D. McGonnigle, Pennsylvania; Dr. J. C. Corbus, Illinois; M. D. Follett, Ohio; C. S. Watkins, Iowa; Thomas T. Taylor, Kansas; John P. Early, Indiana; A. E. Elmore, Wisconsin.

Mr. S. S. Richie of Ohio moved that the Secretaries act as a Committee on credentials of delegates, which was agreed to.

The Secretaries reported as follows on the official boards existing in the United States, and the representation of these boards and other organizations in the Chicago Conference :

There are at present in the United States nine State boards or commissions charged with the general oversight of charitable work in the States where they exist. These boards, named in the order of seniority, are, —

1. The Massachusetts Board of State Charities, established in 1863; consolidated with the State Board of Health in 1879.

2. The New York State Board of Charities, established in 1867.

3. The Ohio Board of State Charities, established in 1867; re-organized in 1876.

4. The Rhode Island Board of State Charities and Corrections, established in 1869.

5. The Pennsylvania Board of Commissioners of Public Charities, established in 1869.

6. The Illinois Board of State Commissioners of Public Charities, established in 1869.

7. The Wisconsin State Board of Charities and Reform, established in 1871.

S. The Michigan State Board of Corrections and Charities, established in 1871.

9. The Kansas State Board of Charities, established in 1875.

A special organization has existed as a State board in New York since 1847, the Commissioners of Emigration. There is also a State Prison Commission in Massachusetts, and in Connecticut.

The present officers and members of the State boards are as follows:

MASSACHUSETTS. (Board of Health, Lunacy, and Charities. Term of Office, Five Years.)

Moses Kimball, Boston, Chairman; Henry I. Bowditch, M.D., Boston; Nathan Allen, M.D., Lowell; Charles F. Donnelly, Boston; Edward Hitchcock, M.D., Amherst; Albert Wood, M.D., Worcester; Robert T. Davis, M.D., Fall River; John C. Hoadley, Lawrence; Ezra Parmenter, M.D., Cambridge. [Dr. C. F. Folsom, Boston, Secretary; Dr. H. B. Wheelwright, Newburyport, Superintendent of Out-door Poor; S. C. Wrightington, Fall River, Superintendent of In-door Poor; F. B. Sanborn, Concord, Inspector of Charities. These four officers are not members of the Board.]

NEW YORK. (Term of Office, Eight Years.)

William P. Letchworth, Buffalo, President; John C. Devereux, Utica, Vice-President; Mrs. C. R. Lowell, No. 120 East Thirtieth Street, New York; Theodore B. Bronson, No. 20 West Twentieth Street, New York; Edward C. Donnelly, Manhattanville, New York; Ripley Ropes, No. 40 Pierrepont Street, Brooklyn; J. H. Van Antwerp, Albany; James Roosevelt, Hyde Park; Samuel F. Miller, Franklin, Delaware County; Edward

W. Foster, Potsdam, St. Lawrence County; Martin B. Anderson, Rochester. Ex-officio members: The Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of State, Comptroller, and Attorney-General. Dr. Charles S. Hoyt, Albany, Secretary; James O. Fanning, Albany, Assistant Secretary.

OHIO. (Term of Office, Three Years.)

R. M. Bishop, Governor, President, ex-officio; John W. Andrews, Columbus; R. Brinkerhoff, Mansfield; Joseph Perkins, Cleveland; Carl Boesel, New Bremen; M. D. Carrington, Toledo; Rev. A. G. Byers, Secretary, Columbus.

RHODE ISLAND. (Term of Office, Six Years.)

George I. Chace, Providence, Chairman; William W. Chapin, Providence, Secretary; James M. Pendleton, Westerly; Thomas Coggshall, Newport; William H. Hopkins, Providence; Job Kenyon, Providence; Lewis B. Smith, Nayatt Point; Alfred B. Chadsey, Wickford; Stephen R. Weeden, Providence.

PENNSYLVANIA. (Term of Office, Five Years.)

Mahlon H. Dickinson, Philadelphia, President; Heister Clymer, Reading; William Bakewell, Pittsburg; A. C. N. Noyes, Westport County; George Bullock, Conshohocken, Montgomery County; Thomas Beaver, Danville, Montour County; James A. Biddle, Philadelphia; Diller Luther, M.D., Reading, Secretary.

ILLINOIS. (Term of Office, Five Years.)

G. S. Robinson, Sycamore, President; J. C. Corbus, Mendota; J. M. Gould, Moline; J. N. McCord, Vandalia; W. A. Grimshaw, Pittsfield; Rev. Fred. H. Wines, Springfield, Secretary.

WISCONSIN. (Term of Office, Five Years.)

Andrew E. Elmore, Fort Howard, President; William W. Reed, M.D., Jefferson, Vice-President; Hiram H. Giles, Madison; J. H. Vivian, M.D., Mineral Point; Charles II. Haskins, Milwaukee; Theodore D. Kanouse, Watertown, Secretary.

MICHIGAN. (Term of Office, Six Years.)

Charles I. Walker, Detroit, Chairman; Charles M. Croswell, Governor, ex-officio member, Adrian; M. S. Crosby, Grand Rapids; Rt. Rev. George D. Gillespie, Grand Rapids; E. H. Van Deusen, M.D., Kalamazoo; Henry W. Lord, Detroit, Secretary.

Edwin Knowles, Sabetha, Chairman; C. E. Faulkner, Salina, Secretary ; A. T. Sharpe, Ottawa, Treasurer; J. L. Wever, M.D., Leavenworth; Gen. T. T. Taylor, Hutchinson.

[The Massachusetts Prison Commission, as re-organized in 1879, consists of five members, who hold office for five years: its Secretary is not a member of the Board. The present members are: Thomas Parsons, Brookline, Chairman; Charles O. Chapin, Springfield; William Roberts, Waltham; Mrs. Mary C. Ware, Boston; Mrs. A. C. Johnson, Boston; William F. Spaulding, Secretary.

A Prison Commission, somewhat similar in power, was established in Connecticut in 1879, but the State Board of Charities there has ceased to act.]

The following delegates were reported as present:

CONNECTICUT.

Gen. F. A. Walker, New Haven, Superintendent of the United-States Census.

MASSACHUSETTS.

William F. Spaulding, Secretary of the Board of Commissioners of Prisons, Boston.

Pliny Earle, M.D., Superintendent of State Lunatic Hospital, Northampton. Elizur Wright, Boston.

NEW YORK.

William P. Letchworth, President of State Board of Charities, Buffalo.
Charles S. Hoyt, M.D., Secretary of State Board of Charities, Albany.
H. B. Wilbur, M.D., Superintendent of New York Asylum for Idiots, Syra-

cuse.

Seth Low, Brooklyn Bureau of Charities, Brooklyn.

Joseph P. Noyes, Susquehanna Valley Home for Indigent Children, Binghamton.

J. W. Skinner, Superintendent of Industrial Schools of Children's Aid Society, New York.

Walter B. Wines, Irvington-on-Hudson.

PENNSYLVANIA.

Diller Luther, M.D., Secretary of the State Board of Public Charities, Reading.

Rev. John L. Milligan, Chaplain Western Penitentiary, Allegheny.

Robert D. McGonnigle, Clerk of Directors of the Poor, Allegheny.

Mrs. McGonnigle.

Charles D. Cadwallader, Society for Organizing Charitable Relief and Suppressing Mendicancy, Philadelphia.

Rudolph Blankenberg (same society), Philadelphia.

OHIO.

Richard M. Bishop, Governor of Ohio, Columbus.

Mrs. Bishop, Columbus.

Miss Anna Bishop, Columbus.

Gen. R. Brinkerhoff, Commissioner of State Charities, Mansfield.

Rev. A. G. Byers, Secretary of Board of State Charities, Columbus.

S. S. Richie, New Paris, Preble County.

W. S. Dickinson, Cincinnati.

Mrs. Dickinson, Cincinnati.

Mrs. George A. Baker, Cleveland, Visitor to Girls' Industrial Home.
M. D. Follett, Marietta.

INDIANA.

John P. Early, official delegate, Indianapolis.

Mrs. N. J. Hicks, Indianapolis.

Mrs. N. G. Roberts, Social Science Association, Indianapolis.
Mrs. H. M. Gougar, Social Science Association, La Fayette.

MICHIGAN.

Rt. Rev. George D. Gillespie, State Board of Charities and Correction, Grand Rapids.

E. H. Van Deusen, M.D., State Board of Charities and Correction, Kala

mazoo.

Henry W. Lord, Secretary of State Board of Charities and Correction, Detroit.

WISCONSIN.

William E. Smith, Governor of Wisconsin, Madison.

Mrs. Smith, Madison.

Andrew E. Elmore, President of State Board of Charities and Reform, Fort Howard.

H. H. Giles, member of State Board of Charities and Reform, Madison. John H. Vivian, M.D., member of State Board of Charities and Reform,

Mineral Point.

W. W. Reed, M.D., member of State Board of Charities and Reform, Jefferson.

Theo. D. Kanouse, Secretary of State Board of Charities and Reform, Watertown.

Rev. W. H. DeMotte, Superintendent of Institution for Deaf and Dumb, Delavan.

Mrs. Sarah F. C. Little, Superintendent of Institution for Blind, Janesville. Rev. A. L. Chapin, D.D., LL.D., President Beloit College, Beloit.

Miss Ella A. Giles, Madison.

Mrs. W. P. Lynde, Industrial School, Milwaukee.

Mrs. John Hiles, Home of the Friendless, Milwaukee.

Mrs. Marion V. Dudley, Lake Mills.

Mrs. John Tapley, Taylor Orphan Asylum, Racine.

M. B. Erskine, Taylor Orphan Asylum, Racine.

Mrs. S. S. Sherman, Protestant Orphans' Association, Milwaukee.

Mrs. Emma Bascom, Madison.

Rev. E. Tasker, Chaplain State Prison, Waupun.

Rev. A. D. Hendrickson, Janesville.

Anson Rogers, Janesville..

William C. Allen, Racine.

Mrs. Allen, Racine.

Dominick Hunt, Superintendent of the Poor, Fort Howard.

O. W. Wight, M.D., Milwaukee.

James H. Foster, Railroad Commissioner, Koro.

IOWA.

C. S. Watkins, official delegate, Davenport.

S. W. Pierce, Superintendent of Iowa Orphans' Home, Davenport.

A. Reynolds, M.D., Superintendent Hospital for the Insane, Independence,

Miss M. A. Cleaves, M.D., Trustee Hospital for the Insane, Mt. Pleasant,