The total sum raised by taxes during these three periods was £12,677.300, £15.087.258, £19, respectively, the sums actually given in relief rising from £7,747,947 to 18,316,411 and £9,240.724. The costs of administration have properly increased. and it is to be noted that more persons are assisted in institutions, fewer outside, while the total number has slightly increased.
This means that those assisted probably receive better care than formerly.
England has also witnessed a great develop ment of private charity, of which little mention can he made here. The Friendly Societies (q.v.), the Charity Organization Society, the Salvation Army, and Dr. Barnardo's great work for chil dren deserve mention. Attempts to prevent pauperism have been made in cities by the de struction of slums, the building of tenements, and the opening of parks and playgrounds. Public attention has been directed to the question of old-age pensions (qty.). The postal savings banks (q.v.) have been successful.
Scotland and Ireland have public relief pat terned after that of England. In Scotland no relief is allowed to able-bodied adults. The re lief is given by inspectors appointed by the parochial hoards, which are under the .oversight of the board of supervision.
Public relief of the destitute in the United States is based on the Elizabethan law of 1601. The public duty to give relief is recognized. How this relief shall be administered is a mat ter for each State to determine. There is little uniformity. At first the almshouse. or poor house, was the only institution for the pauper. This was maintained by the town in New Eng land, the county elsewhere. Many of the larger cities had and still have their own institutions. Here have been intermingled the worthy poor, the sick, insane, feeble-minded. children. mothers with illegitimate children. The nineteenth cen tury witnessed the gradual development of hos pitals for the insane, which can now provide for about 75 per cent of the insane who are public charges; of institutions for children in such num bers that there is no longer any excuse for the presence of children in almshouses; of hospitals for the sick; of schools for the deaf and dumb and blind; of schools for the feeble-minded: and, in the last decade, of special institutions for the epileptic. Reforms have usually been initiated
by private organizations and then been adopted by the State, which has sometimes subsidized pri vate institutions. There is a growing tendency, however, for the State to own and manage all institutions which shelter public charges. Out door relief is administered by township trustees under the County Board of Supervisors (in New England the town is the unit) in rural districts. The large cities usually are independent of the county. Chicago is a notable exception. -Many cities grant outdoor relief, but some, such as Philadelphia and New York, do not. Mendicancy and vagrancy are forbidden by laws and ordi nances, but these are not always enforced. Little attention has been paid to settlement until recent ly. Now Caine States are beginning to make in quiries and to send home those who are not prop erly dependent on them. In most States there is a public body. known usually as the State Board of Charities, which oversees the working of the charitable institutions of the State. Its mem bers, with the exception of the secretary, who devotes his entire time to the work. are usually unpaid. Recently a few States have established a Board of Control, a smaller body of paid agents, to supervise institutions., and sometimes to pur chase their supplies. Destitute aliens are a State charge. Immigration of persons likely to become public charges is forbidden by Federal laws.
The United States has witnessed a great devel opment of private beneficence. Most of the churches have funds for the relief of poor mem bers, and there are large charitable institutions under denominational management. The growth since 1870 of the Charity Organization Society has helped to bring order out of the chaos in private relief. One of the chief aims of this society is to coordinate various agencies and to prevent a duplication of effort. Since 1874 the National Conference of Charities and Correc tion, composed of philanthropists and workers in charitable and correctional institutions. has hell annual meetings for the study of pauperism and allied topics, and its publications are valuable. See CHARITIES AND CORRECTION, NATIONAL CON FERENCE OF.