der the direction of the board, but the educational policy is not subject to its control.

Problems of Public Charity.-There are other difficult problems of State charity aside from the question of building an efficient organization to administer relief. But if such an administration could be established, to sift out and hold the best of the newer ideas and methods, to inspire the management of local institutions, to guide public opinion, to distribute the public funds economically among the deserving institutions of the commonwealth and to enforce a reasonable standard of service in each, the remaining tasks of State charity would be of minor importance. Among these are to be mentioned the care of such of the people as are rendered destitute by sudden and great economic changes like the invention of labor-saving machinery, which throw large numbers out of employment; or of natural catastrophes like the San Francisco earthquake and the floods in the Ohio valley; and the special care of fatherless children in their own homes, etc., etc. All of these special cases except the last may readily be cared for by means of relief already in existence, but on the care of orphan children the opinion of many sociological experts is undergoing a change. The so-called pension plan is now being attempted, to avoid the necessity of placing fatherless children in homes and other large institutions. It is granted only to mothers who have children under the age of 14 years. The amount ranges from $9.00 to $15.00 monthly for one child. In Pennsylvania it reaches $26.00 for three children, and $5.00 monthly for each additional child. The purpose of these acts is to preserve the family care of the children and to keep the home as a unit instead of distributing its members around among various charitable institutions. It has been estimated by sociologists that the State would aid fatherless children far better by using its funds to preserve the family, than by placing each child in a home or asylum where it would lack the parental care. Such laws have been passed in New Jersey, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oregon, Washington, Utah, S. Dakota, Idaho and Pennsylvania. In many of the States the administration of the Act takes place through a central State Board; in others through local boards appointed in each county.

REFERENCES-HEALTH AND THE STATE

The Annual Report of the State Board of Health.

W. H. ALLEN: Civics and Health.

D. H. BERGEY: The Principles of Hygiene.

The Public Health Movement, The Annals of the Academy, March, 1911.

H. N. OGDEN: Rural Hygiene.

A. C. ABBOTT: The Essentials of Successful Public Health Administration, Journal Am. Med. Assn., Vol. XLVI, 1906.

A. T. CABOLT: The State and its Part in the Tuberculosis Movement.

C. HARRINGTON: State Rights and National Health, Journal Am. Med. Assn., Vol. L, 1908.

QUESTIONS

1. Explain how the germ theory of disease has increased the work of the State government and give some examples.

2. How has it affected the division of power between the central and local authorities?

3. Explain the usual organization and general powers of the central health authority.

4. What is the form of central authority in your State?

5. Which do you consider the most important health problems in State government to-day?

6. Why is central supervision and regulation of local water supplies necessary?

7. Outline the Massachusetts system of supply protection.

8. How do the States regulate fraud in food production?

9. Explain the practical value of the work of an active department of weights and measures.

IO.

What does the department do in your State?

II. Outline the usual provisions of a pure food law and the organization which administers it.

12. Explain fully the practical obstacles encountered in the execution of these laws.

13. What can the State do to prevent and cure tuberculosis? amples.

Ex

14. Contrast the educational and the executive types of a central State board of health and give illustrations.

15. A legislative committee is reorganizing the State health office in your commonwealth. Outline the plan of organization which you would favor and your reasons.

16. In a large city it is proposed that the standard of health shall be immediately raised by an active campaign in the city schools. At a public meeting called to consider the question it is proposed that free eyeglasses, free lunches, free medical and surgical treatment, free dental care, and other free facilities be furnished by the city government to the school children in the school building. Explain fully whether you would favor this proposal or not, with reasons and examples. If opposed, what policy would you advocate and why?

17. What are your impressions as to the wisdom of government compulsion in all matters of health?

18. As to the possibility of relying wholly upon the voluntary action of the individual, after attempts have been made to educate him on health questions?

19. Give your impressions as to the desirability of a national board of health, with reasons.

20. Outline and discuss the proposal for State and local health administration advanced by Dr. Allen.

21.

How much of this plan already exists in your State?

22. Secure the views of a physician as to the wisdom and feasibility of the Allen plan.

23. Explain the general system followed by your State in controlling the medical and allied professions.

REFERENCES CHARITIES AND CORRECTION

EDWARD T. DEVINE: The Principles of Relief.

AMOS G. WARNER: American Charities, Revised Edition.

Annual Report of National Conference of Charities.

Annual Report of the State Board; see especially the Boards of Control of Iowa

and Wisconsin.

The Survey Magazine, Weekly, New York City.

QUESTIONS

1. Explain how the present methods and purposes of charity differ from those of former times.

2.

How and why has the treatment of criminals and insane changed? 3. Do the changes above noted call for greater or less State work, and why? 4. Prepare a report showing the organization and powers of your own State Board of Charities.

5. Contrast the New York and Iowa central authorities. New York and New Jersey authorities.

Contrast the

6. Resolved that the "Central Board of Control" is the best plan of State administration for Public Charities. Defend either side.

7. What should be the work of the central State authority?

8. Resolved that all charitable institutions which appeal to the public for contributions should be under State supervision. Defend either side.

9. Resolved that the present legislative methods of appropriating State funds to charities should be abandoned. Defend either side.

10. Prepare a report showing what the State legislature should do as to funds for public charities.

II. Resolved that the State should make no appropriations whatever to charities under private control, or sectarian management. Defend either side. 12. Explain the Mother's Pension system.

13. Secure from some experienced social worker a practical opinion on the pension system.

14. Cite from the report of your State Board, its view of the distribution of State funds to privately managed charities.

CHAPTER XXII

THE STATE-Continued

HIGHWAYS AND FINANCES

Highways.-Roads are the very blood-vessels of the bodypolitic. Poor roads mean poor circulation, which in turn means stagnation. Of all the means that promote the growth of a national spirit, few are so helpful as the active circulation of persons, ideas and merchandise between different sections of the country. The old notion that the roads of a locality were exclusively a matter of local concern, that it was for the people of each village or township to decide whether their highways should be roads or trails and ruts, is akin to the former idea that health and education were purely local matters. The idea of a State interest in and State control of roads comes after the population has grown to some density; this point has been reached earlier in the Atlantic States, notably in Connecticut, New Jersey, and Massachusetts, than elsewhere. Others are fast adopting the Eastern plan.

Certain main arteries are now generally conceded to be properly subject to exclusive State control, the more willingly conceded because the State thereby assumes the cost of construction and repairs. These form the so-called "State roads."

recently a new movement has sprung up to relieve the local government of part of the burden of road expense. The idea of a subsidy from the State treasury, which was so successful in strengthening the local school system has been adopted here also. The Commonwealth contributes a certain fixed part of the cost of building new roads, the township or county raising the remainder by taxation or loans. In New Jersey a compromise has also been arranged between the State, the township and the abutting property holders, each paying a fixed proportion. The amounts paid by the central treasury vary in different Commonwealths, from one-third in New Jersey to three-fourths in Connecticut. This subsidy grant is an open recognition of the economic and social interest which the people of the State as a whole have in the maintenance of free communication between all its parts. The acceptance of the subsidy is left to the option of the local governments but it has been the experience of all the States that the townships have accepted the provisions of the law with such eagerness as to exhaust the State appropriation and to require the establishment of a "waiting list." The keystone of the new system is a State Superintendent of Highways or a Board of Highway Commissioners. This officer or

board investigates the road materials and possibilities of each region, prepares road-plans, employs engineers and superintends the allotment of the subsidy to the townships. The office is a means, in fact, the means of keeping road-building and maintenance up to date.

As in the schools, so in road administration, only those localities whose highway plans conform to the standard fixed by the State commissioner, may receive assistance. This requirement uniformly means the construction of a macadam or other durable high-class road. The amounts appropriated by the States for this purpose have heretofore been small. In New Jersey 1,827 miles have been completed with State aid. The State subsidy, which is one-third of the total cost, was $3,650,000. Every county in the Commonwealth has availed itself of the State aid law. In Connecticut alone nearly 1,000 miles of roadway have been built at a total cost of $6,500,000 while 200 miles more are under construction.

It is a popular error to suppose that a good road once built costs little to repair. They not only cost far more to construct but also as much or more to maintain than the ordinary mud road; their true economy to the taxpayer arises entirely from their greater usefulness and speed. They are always open for heavy traffic. The lower cost of transport for farm products or, differently expressed, the greater productivity of the farm, must be reckoned in computing the cost and value of modern roads. Thus far only Pennsylvania has provided for a State subsidy for maintenance, one-tenth of the entire amount appropriated for roads being reserved for this purpose. The other States provide that the townships and counties shall keep all subsidized roads in repair. The best plan to enforce suitable maintenance by the localities is probably that described under the Connecticut plan.

Öther States are following those already named in the adoption of a central control and subsidy plan and the system offers a valuable, practical means of hastening the new development of our agricultural regions. The objections urged against it are the increased burden of local taxation, the general preference of the farmers for the old system of "working out" road taxes which is interfered with by the new method, and the greater cost to the State treasury.

No serious administrative difficulty has thus far arisen. The States are gradually increasing the powers of the State Commissioner and are authorizing him to purchase expensive machinery, to be let out to the towns. An apparent combination to maintain high prices, between the contractors furnishing gravel, crushed stone and other road materials, may also force the State to construct its own stone-crushing outfits and other plants necessary for the supply of road materials. The cost of road-making has risen 20%-30% since the States began their present policy. A first-class macadam road, 16 feet wide and 7 inches deep sometimes costs as high as