RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
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fulfils an intermediate function between the private relief of individuals and associations, and the civic relief, being voluntary like the former and organized like the latter. The Church fosters the motive of voluntary charity and has regard in the distribution for the religious-moral welfare of the beneficiaries, especially of the young. The State acts in regard to its own safety, is impartial to all, and thus has the advantage of strict and just discrimination, systematic administration, and enforced contribution. The legitimate sphere of the charity of the Church is in the congregation, which is concurrent with that of the municipality and the State. See Charity. (G. UhlhornI-.)
V. Poor-Relief in the United States : Two general methods of poor-relief exist in the United States; outdoor relief, and indoor (or institutional) relief. Each of these classes is subdivided into private and public relief. Public relief is relief given wholly or in part from public funds (state, couni. Early ty, or municipal). Private relief is Practise, relief given from funds administered by private organizations or societies receiving their funds from voluntary contributions, endowments, and the like. The basis of public poor-relief in the United States is the almshouse or poorhouse, the terms being synonymous. In early American life, inmates of poorhouses were let out to the lowest bidder, a system obviously unjust to the pauper. Poorhouses in the early nineteenth century were, so to speak, a human refuse heap for the dependent and defective classes. Abuses were frequent and the conditions of subsistence and existence of the inmates were anything but satisfactory. In the early middle period of the nineteenth century, special institutions began to be established for special classes of dependents and defectives. To-day in many parts of the country children under two years of age, the insane, the epileptic, and the more markedly feeble-minded have been removed from the poorhouse and placed in special institutions, generally under the State authorities. The residue of the poorhouse is composed largely of the aged and infirm. Most poorhouses shelter temporarily the tramp and vagrant classes, thereby perpetuating the existence of vagabonds, who are able-bodied but live in idleness. In many modern poorhouses the cottage system of construction and classification is in vogue. In New England and in the Middle Atlantic States the poorhouses are generally under township management; in other parts of the country they are under county management. However, in over one-half of the counties in the United States there are no poorhouses. Instead, paupers are maintained by so-called public relief or " boarding-out " under the supervision of overseers or similar officials, comparable to the English " relieving officer." The boarding-out system has its advocates on the ground of economy. While efforts are made with increasing frequency to control tendencies to pauperism and special aid through poorrelief, it must still be said that much of the public outdoor relief given to American dependents is misdirected or palliative, in that the relief results, at the best, in the perpetuation or reduction of pau- X.— 31
perism in the individual case, but does not prevent the pauperism of others.
American poor-laws are based largely on English poor-laws. Settlement with the subsequent right to poor-relief is obtained through residence, the time necessary to acquire settlement differing in the various States from several months to several years. Much of the difficulty in wisely administering poor-relief in the United States arises from the temporary character of the appointments to office of the overseers of the poor, and their consequent lack of training in the best principles of charitable relief; partly also from the migratory nature of many of the families and individuals in receipt of poor-relief. Vagrancy laws are lax and indifferently enforced. The " passing-on system " of relieving the community of a considerable part of the burden of poor-relief is so frequent as to be a subject of much serious discussion among progressive charity workers.
The United States is rich in certain forms of benevolent institutions. The special census report of benevolent institutions in 1905 shows 4,207 institutions of all kinds, 2,166 of which were known to have been in existence in 1890, 2,004 2. Modern having been founded between 1890 Conditions and 1903 inclusive. Of these there and were 1,075 orphanages and children's
Methods, homes, 1,493 hospitals, 753 permanent homes for adults and children, 449 temporary homes for adults and children, 166 nurseries, 156 dispensaries, 61 schools and homes for the deaf, 39 schools and homes for the blind, 15 schools and homes for the deaf and blind. The total population Dec. 31, 1904, was 284,362; inmates admitted during 1904, exclusive of dispensaries and nurseries, 204,372. Cost of maintenance, 1903, $55,577,633, of which the annual subsidy from public funds was $6,089,226. This enumeration omits all almshouses, public and private hospitals for the insane, and schools for the feeble-minded, as well as institutional activities of an occasional character. Special census reports on the abovenamed institutions show the following:
Admitted Dec. 31, during 1903. 1904.
Insane in hospitals 150,151 49,622
Feeble-minded in institutions . . 14,347 2,599 Paupers in almshouses 81,764 81,412
246,262 133,633 Total for 1904 379,895
An article in The Metropolitan Magazine for Oct., 1909, estimates as follows New York State's charitable expenditures for 1907:
Institutions reporting to the State Board of
Charity . - • ■ $23,898,013
Institutions and organizations not reporting to
board 17'°°^n
Hospitals for insane, etc 5'9 '„5
Churches 3'?°°'^
Individuals 15,179,770
$65,004,783
The same article estimates that $260,019,132, or over a quarter of a billion, annually is expended for charity in the United States.
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