Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 11.djvu/786

 770 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

preting it to mean that they could not give above $15 to any one family or person in the course of a quarter, or in some cases a year. The result of this and of the clause mentioned above was a surprising reduction in the amount of aid given. From $320,- 667.53 in 1899, it decreased to $209,956.22 in I9OO. 19 The num- ber of persons reported as sharing in the relief decreased propor- tionately from 64,468 in 1889 to 43,369 in 1900. Another ele- ment entered into the reduction in 1900. It was the last year of the four-year term of the trustees then in office, and many desired to make a record for economy. A reaction came in later years, some few townships going to the other extreme in the giving of relief.

In 1901 a bill, indorsed by the Board of State Charities, was presented to and passed by the General Assembly, codifying the state's poor-laws. 20 The good features of the old laws were retained, and some important changes were made. The clause requiring the trustees to secure the consent of county commis- sioners before giving relief beyond a period of three months was eliminated, and the $15 limit was made to apply only to ordinary relief, exclusive of aid on account of sickness, burials, and sup- plies for school children. This law is in force at the present time, and is regarded as highly satisfactory in all parts of the state.

In a summary of the results achieved under this series of re- form measures, the great reduction in the amount of poor-relief is probably the most striking. When the attention of the Board of State Charities was directed to the subject in 1890, the total relief in that year was found to be $560,232.65, as reported by the county auditors. From 1890 to 1895, both inclusive, the amount paid out by the overseers of the poor averaged more than $550,000 annually. From 1897 to 1900, inclusive, the first four-year term after the original reform laws were passed, the annual. average expenditure for poor-relief was $323,543.58; in the next four-year term, $257,613.16. The highest and the low- est amounts reported for any one year from 1890 to 1905, inclusive, were $630,168.79 in 1895, and $209,956.22 in 1900

10 Annual Report, Board of State Charities, 1900, p. 178. "Acts of 1901, Chapter 147.