Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 9.djvu/22

 8 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

cago, but, this proving inadequate, 440 acres of land were pur- chased, and an administration building three stories high, two other three-story buildings for dormitory purposes, a chapel, workshop and other buildings (barn, etc.) were erected. Since the destruction of the buildings in 1899, the administration building, a workshop (used at present as a dormitory), and a powerhouse have been erected, at a cost of $80,000, and in the near future two large dormitories, school buildings, a gymna- sium, etc., will be erected. When these buildings are completed, the school can accommodate 800 or 900 boys (there are less than 200 in it at present), and it will be one of the best-equipped and best-located institutions of the kind in the state, It is built on the congregate plan, the Brothers in charge considering this better adapted to their purpose and cheaper than the cottage plan.

Since the opening of the school in 1883, 5,284 boys have been received, and 4,960 of these have been placed in homes or returned to their relatives. It is claimed that few of these boys return to the school after they are discharged, and that the great majority do well.

Cook county contributes annually $12,000 for the support of 100 boys, but it frequently commits a larger number to this school, and all over and above the one hundred are maintained gratuitously. The per-capita cost is given as $75 per annum in the report for 1898. The reasons for this low cost of mainten- ance are found in the fact that the Brothers do all the teaching gratis, of course and most of the food is obtained from the farm at a much lower cost than it could be purchased for, and the boys' fare and clothes are very plain and simple. They are taught the common branches of an English education, and the arts of husbandry and a few trades tailoring, printing, car- pentry, shoemaking, etc. Of course, religious instruction is given in accordance with the doctrine of the Roman Catholic church.

V. ALLENDALE FARM.

Various states New York, Maryland, and others have "junior republics," in which the self -development of the child is emphasized, and Illinois is not behind in this matter.