CHARITIES The Official Organ of the Charity Organization Society of the City of New York. VOL. V. CONTENTS. AUGUST 25, 1900. Mr. Homer Folks on Cuban Charities..... I 8 9 PUBLIC CHARITIES CHAPTER IN CHARTER.. CUBAN CHARITIES, AS SEEN BY AN 12 No. 13. whether there still exists any of the extreme suffering and starvation caused by the war. Are reconcentrados still starving in the outskirts of the cities, and are homeless children still wandering at large in the fields? Happily, these questions can be answered, without hesitation, in the 14 negative. Plenty of poverty there still is without doubt; but very little, if any, actual suffering from lack of food, clothing, and shelter. This result may be attributed to four factors: The help given by charities organized by people from the United States, such as the Red Cross orphan asylums and that of the Cuban orphan society; second, and more important, the assistance rendered by Cuban orphan asylums, some of them founded by Catholic orders. years ago, and many of them founded by the Cuban municipal authorities during 1898 and 1899 to meet the special needs created by the war; third, and still more important, the work of the United States army authorities, undertaken promptly and most effectively upon the American occupation, January 1, 1898, in the distribution of rations to prac Mr. Homer Folks, secretary of the New York State Charities Aid Association, recently visited Havana upon the invitation of General Leonard Wood, military governor of Cuba, to advise and assist in the reorganization of its public charities, and remained there several weeks, making a careful study of the institutions and conditions of the island. Mr. Folks has been closely identified with charitable works for many years, and is thoroughly progressive in his ideas. He has kind ly consented to give to the Quarterly some account of the result of his observations. What he has to say about the charities of Cuba will be read with much interest. His communication is as follows: The first question that occurs to a visitor from "the States" is as to tically all the existing charities, and to thousands of needy families, and, later, in providing sanitary and other equipment for many institutions, and contributing liberally to their support; fourth, the improved condition is due, most of all, to the marked generosity and hospitality of the Cuban people. Hundreds of What the management now deserves is our confidence rather than our criticism. DAVID WILLARD. Children's House, 129 Chrystie St. It is announced that Mr. T. E. McGarr, secretary of the New York State Commission in Lunacy, has received the first prize at the Paris Exposition for his exhibit of the progress made in the care of the insane during the past hundred years. ** * Acting-Mayor Guggenheimer, on August 1, appointed Mr. Albert Goetting commissioner of charities for the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Mr. Simis. Mr. Goetting was born in Germany but has lived in this country for nearly fifty years. He served as police justice for two terms in Brooklyn and as municipal court judge on the change of system inaugurated by the greater New York charter. His term in the latter office expired on January 1. It is understood that his appointment was suggested by Bridge Commissioner John L. Shea, of Brooklyn. The Chicago Chronicle, commenting upon a recent decision of Judge Tuley granting a writ of habeas corpus in the case of a girl who had been convicted in the juvenile court of Chicago on the ground that a jury trial had not been given, quotes the following statement from Judge Tuley's decision: I have such a high appreciation of the lasting benefits that must follow the judicious administration of this act that it would be with great reluctance that I would throw anything in the way of its administration. I believe it is effecting more good in this city and county than all that the criminal court could possibly effect, and that it would effect more good in one year than the criminal court can by punishment effect in ten years or even twenty. HENRY ARDEN, JAPANESE ART OBJECTS, NOVELTIES IN SILKS FOR LADIES' USE, SILK CREPES AND GRASS LINENS, PILLOW COVERS, ETC., 38 WEST 22D STREET. Remington Typewriters WYCKOFF, SEAMANS & BENEDICT, 327 BROADWAY, NEW YORK The Official Organ of the Charity Organization Society of the City of New York. CONTENTS. Mr. Homer Folks on Cuban Charities..... I Text of the Illinois Juvenile Court Law.. 3 8 9 PUBLIC CHARITIES CHAPTER IN CHARTER.. CUBAN CHARITIES, AS SEEN BY AN 12 No. 13. whether there still exists any of the extreme suffering and starvation caused by the war. Are reconcentrados still starving in the outskirts of the cities, and are homeless children still wandering at large in the fields? Happily, these questions can be answered, without hesitation, in the 14 negative. Plenty of poverty there still is without doubt; but very little, if any, actual suffering from lack of food, clothing, and shelter. This result may be attributed to four factors: The help given by charities organized by people from the United States, such as the Red Cross orphan asylums and that of the Cuban orphan society; second, and more important, the assistance rendered by Cuban orphan asylums, some of them founded by Catholic orders years ago, and many of them founded by the Cuban municipal authorities during 1898 and 1899 to meet the special needs created by the war; third, and still more important, the work of the United States army authorities, undertaken promptly and most effectively upon the American occupation, January 1, 1898, in the distribution of rations to prac Mr. Homer Folks, secretary of the New York State Charities Aid Association, recently visited Havana upon the invitation of General Leonard Wood, military governor of Cuba, to advise and assist in the reorganization of its public charities, and remained there several weeks, making a careful study of the institutions and conditions of the island. Mr. Folks has been closely identified with charitable works for many years, and is thoroughly progressive in his ideas. He has kind ly consented to give to the Quarterly tically all the existing charities, and some account of the result of his observations. What he has to say about the charities of Cuba will be read with much interest. His communication is as follows: The first question that occurs to a visitor from "the States" is as to to thousands of needy families, and, later, in providing sanitary and other equipment for many institutions, and contributing liberally to their support; fourth, the improved condition is due, most of all, to the marked generosity and hospitality of the Cuban people. Hundreds of as families whose livlihood was sured, though limited, took into their homes one, two, three, or even more orphan children, and still continue to care for them. Relatives assumed, as a matter of course, the support of widows and children as soon as their whereabouts became known. Thousands upon thousands of reconcentrado women and children perished before the days of peace came, but as soon as the island passed under American control and peace was an assured fact, their needs were met, and, on the whole, as effectively and wisely as could be expected. Having reached the conclusion that the emergency needs, growing out of the war, had been met, the next question was as to what permanent provision should be made for the relief of the poor. This, naturally, brought up the question as to what had been done in the days before the war. When Cuba was under normal, or, at least, the usual conditions, what provision had been found to be necessary for the relief of the destitute? Inquiry was, therefore, made as to the Cuban poor law, as to the poorhouse system, the methods of distributing public outdoor relief, as to overseers and superintendents of the poor and commissioners of charities. The writer, accustomed to the Anglo-Saxon poor law, found some difficulty in adjusting his mental operations to what was found to be the fact, that Cuba had never had any of these things, no poorhouses, no outdoor relief, no overseers of the poor. Then there must have been a great deal of suffering, was the natural comment of the American. Not at all, was the reply of the Cuban; we had no suffering before the war. But what happened to orphans, their relations took care of them. And if they had no relatives, their neighbors took them in and cared for them. And what happened to destitute aged persons,their children, relatives, or neighbors cared for them. Further inquiry proved the substantial correctness of these statements. Prior to the recent war, Cuba had a considerable number of local hospitals, for which there was and will be only too much need; one asylum for the insane, which, under Spanish rule, was a hot-bed of iniquity; and a few orphan asylums in the large cities; but no other charities and no need for any others. The poor were cared for, and well cared for, in the most natural and helpful way possible, by their own relatives, or by friends and neighbors. The orphan asylums were in the large cities and were few in number. They were, as a rule, endowed institutions or church institutions. In either case they were usually under the immediate charge of the religious orders of the Catholic church. While as to sanitary conditions and in some other respects they were below the high standard maintained by such institutions in the United States, proof is not wanting of the devotion of the sisters to the wellbeing of their charges. The Beneficencia is the largest and most important children's institution on the island. It has an endowment, now unproductive, of between two and three million dollars. During the war the Spanish authorities took possession of the buildings and used them as a hospital for Spanish soldiers. They made no other provision for the children, but the sisters clung to them, and, in one way and another, managed to secure for them the necessities of life until the arrival of the American forces. The grounds and buildings are now being thoroughly overhauled, sanitary plumbing is being introduced, and many other improvements made under the direction of the authorities. The buildings were at once restored to their proper use, and maintenance was provided for all. It is, undoubtedly, much more difficult to maintain an institution with satisfactory results in such a climate as that of Cuba, than it is in New York. Even with the best of sanitary equipment, the tendencies to which institutions are everywhere subject are emphasized in a moist, hot climate. For this reason, and for others, it is not desirable that the number of orphan asylums should be increased to any considerable extent in excess of the existing provision before the war.1 The American authorities are, therefore, discouraging the establishment of any new institutions, and have taken steps looking toward closing a number of those that were established in 1898 and 1899, to meet the special need growing out of the war. We can teach Cuba something as to sanitation, discipline, and the efficient management of institutions, hospitals, and asylums. Cuba can teach us some valuable lessons as to utilizing the natural resources of the community, the help which relatives, friends, and neighbors will gladly give when other and less worthy provision is not made. The writer was greatly pleased to find conferences of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul organized in several parishes in the city of Havana, and tooks steps looking toward effective co-operation between these conferences and the public authorities in the care of needy families in that city. He had, also, a most pleasant and satisfactory interview with Right Rev. Monsignor Sharretti, Bishop of Havana, to whom he carried valuable letters of introduction from Catholic friends in New York. The new conditions under which the Catholic church iscarrying on its work in Cuba present many difficult problems, but among all these Bishop Sharretti finds time for an active and helpful interest in charities.- The St. Vincent de Paul Society. AN ACT TO REGULATE THE TREATMENT AND CONTROL OF DEPENDENT, NEGLECTED, AND DELINQUENT CHILDREN. THE ILLINOIS LAW. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois represented in the General Assembly: Section I. Definitions-This act shall apply only to children under the age of sixteen years not now or hereafter inmates of a state institution, or any training school for boys or industrial school for girls or some institution incorporated under the laws of this state, except as provided in Sections twelve (12) and eighteen (18). For the purpose of this act the words "dependent child" and "neglected child" shall mean any child who, for any reason, is destitute or homeless or abandoned; or dependent upon the public for support; or has not proper parental care or guardianship; or who habitually Twelve of the sixteen orphan asylums founded by the Red Cross Society in Cuba were closed by the Cuban Department of Charities between May I and June 23 of this year, the children being with few exceptions returned to relatives or placed out in families. These asylums had a total population of about 650 children. |