Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 3.djvu/499

 THE RELIEF AND CARE OF DEPENDENTS 485

New York and New Jersey have similar homes for feeble-minded women. Massachusetts, New York, and Ohio have special state institutions for adult epileptics. The institution in New York is the famous Craig Colony. Virginia has provided a separate department for the epileptic in one of her hospitals for the insane.

The final point to be noticed in the discussion of the alms- house is its supervision. The superintendent must keep a record of all expenditures and of persons received and discharged, and render his accounts as other accounts are rendered quarterly, semiannually, or annually to the- town, county commission- ers, auditor, or court, either directly or through the board vested with the management of the almshouse. The board is supposed to supervise the work of the superintendent. In a few cases, as in West Virginia, Ohio, and Iowa, the number of visits to and inspections they shall make of the almshouse is prescribed. 1

Supervision from " disinterested '* parties is secured in a few states through boards of local visitors. The State Board of Charities of New York and the State Board of Public Charities of Pennsylvania are authorized to appoint a board of three in each county to visit and inspect all the local charitable institu- tions, the almshouse among others. 7 A board of six, composed of three men and three women, is similarly appointed by the State Board of Tennessee ; 3 Ohio and Colorado have authorized similar boards to be appointed by the probate court. 4 In Ohio the boards are composed of five members, three of whom are women, who must visit the various institutions quarterly, and report annually to the clerk of the court and to the State Board of Charities. The boards of Colorado are composed of six members appointed for three years. They likewise report annu- ally to the State Board of Charities and Corrections. In Indi- ana the county commissioners are authorized to appoint boards of three, whose duty it shall be to visit thealmshouses and make an annual report to the commissioners. 5 The two Dakotas have

1 21, chaps. 46; 966, 967; 2167. ^Charities Rrvitw, April, 1897, p. 187. 1 24, p. 464 ; 20, p. 295. 770-7780 1 ; Act of 1891. 6no.