REPORT, &c. STATE OF NEW-YORK, } Albany, January 11, 1833. The Secretary of State, in obedience to the statute for "the relief and support of indigent persons," presents to the Legislature "an abstract of the returns and reports" received from the superintendents of the poor of the several counties. These abstracts are given in the tables marked A, B, and C. It will be seen by reference to Abstract A, that 34,094 paupers have been relieved or supported in 51 counties, during the year ending at the date of the reports. Of this number 32,146 were county paupers, and 1,627 town paupers; and 189 were not classified in the reports. The aggregate expense for the relief and support of this number of paupers has been $267,767.80. Abstract B, shows that there has been paid for the transportation of paupers, $4,861.11; to superintendents of the poor for their services, $10,044.47; to town overseers of the poor, $9,637.70; to justices, $2,321.71; to keepers and officers of the poor-houses, $19,563.46; to physicians, for attendance and medicine, $8,413.58; that the value of the labor of the paupers amounted to $32,849.74; the amount saved in consequence of the labor of the paupers amounted to $28,320.26; and that the average expense of supporting each pauper at the poor-houses, after deducting the earnings, is $32.41 per year, or 62 cents per week. Abstract C, shows that the poor-houses have 5,663 acres of land attached to them, and that the aggregate cost of all the poorhouse establishments in the State, is $824,010.46; that 9,625 paupers have been received into the poor-houses during the year; that there were born in the poor-houses during the same time, 253; died during the year, 1,782; bound out, 653; discharged, 5,786; absconded, 869; number of females in poor-houses, Dec. 1, 1832, 2,322; males, 2,761-total of both sexes, 5,080; of those relieved during the year, 3,406 were foreigners; 579 lunatics; 192 idiots; and 37 mutes. The paper marked D, shows the number of children in the poor-houses under 16 years of age, to be 1,751, of which number 1,288 have been instructed for an average period of 9 months during the year, either in the poor-houses or at the district schools. Poor-houses have been erected in 48 counties. The distinction between town and county poor has been abolished in 35 counties, to wit: Allegany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chautauque, Clinton, Columbia, Delaware, Dutchess, Erie, Essex, Franklin, Genesee, Greene, Herkimer, Kings, Livingston, Madison, Montgomery, New-York, Niagara, Oneida, Ontario, Orange, Orleans, Otsego, Putnam, Saratoga, Seneca, Sullivan, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Westchester and Yates, Cattaraugus has abolished the distinction, but has not erected a poor-house, The following counties have erected poor-houses, but have not abolished the distinction between town and county poor, to wit: Chenango, Cortland, Jefferson, Lewis, Monroe, Onondaga, Oswego, Richmond, Schenectady, Schoharie, St. Lawrence, Tioga, Tompkins and Ulster, The following counties have not erected poor-houses, or abolished the distinction between town and county poor, to wit: Queens, Rensselaer, Rockland, Steuben and Suffolk. In Rensselaer, a house of industry had been erected by several of the towns of that county, before the present system was adopted; and the superintendents of the county hire the support of the paupers in their charge at this house of industry, and pay $1.50 per week for the support of each pauper, in addition to all the labor which may be performed by the paupers. An act was passed at the last session of the Legislature, directing the Secretary of State to cause to be published all the laws connected with the support and management of the poor, and to supply one copy to all of the officers who are directly connected with the support and management of the poor. The same act provided that the Secretary of State should prepare an exposition of the six first titles of chap. 20, accompanied with suitable forms, and cause them to be published as an appendix to the poor laws. This publication makes a pamphlet of 136 pages octavo, of which the laws occupy 59 pages, and the forms and exposition 77 pages. Eight thousand copies were printed, at an expense of $1,083.66. The Secretary of State, in order to ascertain the practical operation and effect of the poor-house system, addressed a circular, dated May 10, 1832, to the superintendents of the poor of the several counties; a copy of which is annexed, and marked F. From 37 counties full and satisfactory answers were received, accompanied in most cases with copies of the by-laws and regulations established by the county superintendents, for the government and good order of the poor-houses. The information thus obtained, enabled the Secretary of State to compare the practice under the same law in the different counties, and to prepare the forms and exposition in such manner as to produce uniformity in the system throughout the State. The pamphlets containing the poor laws and forms, were sent to the clerks of the several counties in the month of October last, in the boxes containing the Journals and Documents of the last session of the Legislature; but could not have reached the hands of the supervisors in time to enable them to make the annual reports required of them, in those counties where all the poor are not a county charge. The neglect on the part of the supervisors subjects each delinquent to a penalty of one hundred dollars, and it is made the duty of the Secretary of State to give notice to the district attorney, who is required to prosecute for such penalty. Hereafter, the supervisors and other officers, being in possession of the poor laws and the forms for carrying them into effect, will undoubtedly comply with their requirements; and if they do not, there will no longer remain a palliation for the delinquency, or any reason for relaxing the exactions of the law. In perfecting the poor-house system, and in obtaining accurate returns in relation to its results, the friendly co-operation of all the officers connected with the management of the poor is extremely desirable; and in accomplishing this object it would be unwise, if not unjust, to inflict severe penalties in cases where there is no consciousness of a neglect of duty. It is not probable that one in ten of the delin quent supervisors are aware that they are required to make an annual report of the condition of the poor accounts of the town to the clerk of the board of supervisors within fifteen days after auditing the town accounts, under a penalty of one hundred dollars. If they had the law, and the forms for complying with it, they would of course do their duty and not expose themselves to such a penalty. The Secretary of State is fully warranted in making this assertion, from his experience in obtaining the annual reports from the officers of common schools; those officers in the towns and districts are furnished with the law, and with forms and instructions for carrying it into effect and making the reports; and out of 811 towns and wards there is not a single delinquency in the annual reports of the last year. And this state of organization has been produced, not by the infliction of penalties, but by pointing out their duty to the officers, and reminding them of their delinquency whenever they were remiss. And for the last seven years the power given to the superintendent of common schools to withhold the public money from a town, when its commissioners neglected their annual report, has not been exercised in a single instance. The Secretary of State respectfully suggests, that all delinquencies in making the annual reports for the last year, should be passed over, as not having been wilful or designed. The paper marked E, contains the remarks of the superintendents of the poor, accompanying their annual reports. The table marked G, is made up principally from information obtained from the superintendents, in reply to the circular of the 10th of May; and it shows the number of superintendents appointed in each county; the daily compensation allowed to them by the supervisors; and the total paid for their services for a year; and also the annual allowance to the poor-house physician. The payments to physicians, as given in the last column of abstract B, include generally as well the sums paid for medicine and attendance out of the poor-house as in it. It will be seen, by table G, that in a majority of the counties only three superintendents are appointed; and they are generally allowed from $1.50 to $2 per day-in Rensselaer $3.75, and in Montgomery and Schoharie only $1.25. The average allowance to superintendents, in the 31 counties from which returns were received, is $1.931 per day. |