cities and towns, the State institutions not being included. Miss A. A. Chevailier, R C. Flower, Note By The Secretary.— By a vote of the Conference a portion of the report was ordered not to be printed in the Proceedings. REPORT FROM OHIO. BY MR. NEFF. The Board of State Charities of Ohio have the honor to report that the public institutions of thp state of Ohio are in excellent condition, better, they believe, than at any former time. They are, without exception, efficiently and economically managed. The superintendents and officers are faithful and devoted to their work, vieing with each other in the introduction and use of the most approved methods. There is more concert of action than ever before, more friendliness and courtesy between the different institutions, more interchange of ideas and improvements, more devotion to the welfare of the unfortunate, more rigid supervision of attendants, and greater success in the management. In the Insane Asylums, especially, great progress has been made in the voluntary employment of patients in landscape and kitchen gardening and in other suitable occupations, greatly to their comfort and happiness, and with good results as to improvement and recovery. The great diminution of mechanical and medicinal restraint, the increased number of open wards, whose occupants are free to go and come at pleasure; the great improvement in food, ventilation, arrangement and care of closets and drainage; the increased water supply, the improved heating of the different institutions, the comfortable and safe warming of the strong rooms (the invention of one of our superintendents), characterize especially the last year as one of great and decided progress. These improvements are, to a great extent, the result of the devotion of the local Boards of Trustees to their work. Never before, in the history of Ohio, have the Boards been as efficient and useful. They are composed of men of high character and reputation, carefully selected by Governor Foster for their qualifications; politics have been ignored; local prejudices have been greatly restrained; and a free interchange of ideas, and visits between the superintendents, stewards and trustees of the different institutions has resulted in mutual benefit and improvement. The General Assembly of the state of Ohio has, in the most praiseworthy manner, undertaken heartily the work of reform. Several bills of great importance were passed last winter and are now in process of execution. One directed the appointment by the Courts of Common Pleas of Boards of County Visitors in every county in the state, composed of three ladies and two men, who should serve gratuitously, visit all the institutions in each county, and report in writing each year to the court appointing them, and send a copy of their report to the Board of State Charities. Another law provides for the children in the Children's Homes, making it the duty of the Trustees to endeavor to obtain suitable homes for them, keeping a register of the whole transaction, subject to inspection under suitable regulations. Another law provides for the erection of District Children's Homes, when there is not a sufficient number in a county to justify the erection of a suitable building; and all the desired legislation has been provided to take all the children out of the Infirmaries and Poor Houses. Another law provides for the employment of minor criminals throughout the state in the work houses of Cincinnati and Cleveland, and provides for the erection of another when needed in the central portion of the state. Another provides for the separation of juvenile delinquents from adult prisoners. But the most important law on these subjects passed by the last General Assembly, was one providing for the erection of a new Insane Asylum to accommodate one thousand patients at a cost of five hundred thousand dollars, and appointing a commission consisting of the Governor, Secretary of State, Auditor of State, Attorney General, and General Brinkerhoff of the Board of State Charities, to locate the institution and adopt the plans for its erection. It is to be erected upon the plan suggested by the Board of State Charities, on the detached building or cottage system, with every improvement which careful visitation of other asylums has suggested. The penal institutions of the state of Ohio merit especial notice from the fact that the Ohio Penitentiary at Columbus, conducted upon the contract system, is not only self-supporting, but will this year bring in a revenue to the state of about fifty thousand dollars; and the Work House at Cleveland, where the contract system has been discarded, is also self-supporting, and is a model of good management. The Cincinnati Work House has improved greatly, and is making good progress towards self-support. The following summary, prepared by our Secretary, Rev. Dr. A. G. Byers, will exhibit at a glance the statistics, of the different institutions, with the per capita cost of maintenance. A system of book-keeping is now in general use which enables the officers of the various institutions to compare notes with each other, and has already proved of great benefit to the state. Dr. Luther, of Pennsylvania: In this report giving the per capita cost of the different classes of institutions, I would like to know whether in the per capita cost of inmates of Alms Houses the two items of outdoor relief and the cost of maintenance inside of the institution is included? Mr. Neff: The outdoor relief is a separate matter from the other and is given in a separate item. Mr. Vaux, of Pennsylvania: I would like to hear to what extent politics governs the appointment of a Warden— whether the party in power makes it a requisite that the person should be of the same party? Dr. Walk: This does not enter into the question. The Conference then took a recess till afternoon. • THIRD SESSION. Tuesday Afternoon, Sept. 25. Dr. Hoyt: There has been no material change in the number of trustees or managers of the charitable institutions of New York since the formation of the Stato Board. Our State charitable institutions are generally controlled by boards of five, seven or nine managers, appointed by the Governor and Senate, and classified as to their terms of office. There is no instance on record where any member of these Boards, or the superintendent of any of our State charitable institutions, has been, removed on account of politics. In this way we retain the services of officers of ripe experience in their various departments, and the state receives the benefit of their experience. Mr. Cooley: I would like to inquire of the gentleman who has just spoken in regard to a few features of the work. I understand you had three forms of supporting your charitable institutions. One is entirely by the state; one entirely by societies, churches, etc., and one is mixed, partly by the state and partly by churches. Dr. Hoyt: Prior to the last amendment of the constitution, the Legislature had authority to aid charitable institutions under benevolent organizations, and it did make annual pro rata appropriations to these institutions. This is prohibited under the present constitution, but the counties and cities have authority to appropriate to orphan asylums, hospitals and like institutions. The expenses of the Houses of Refuge, the* Institutions for the Deaf and Dumb, the Blind or the Feeble-Minded are met entirely by the state. For the insane the state provides the buildings and the medical |
