best standards, so the effect on the child is injurious. Children are in many instances still marched to school in squads, and returned in similar manner, while some institutions dress their children in uniforms and maintain a sort of military discipline. Besides, in many places, even the wisdom of sending them to the public schools has not yet been recognized. The Hebrew orphanages were the first to use the public schools, and the tendency now is strongly in the direction of complete freedom of children in going to and coming from school. Some forms of instruction, however, are very appropriate in institutions. Among these are kindergarten instruction and manual training. Many orphanages have added these branches to their curriculum. Institutions within city limits can with difficulty provide outings and excursions to refresh the children after constant contact with the prosaic surroundings of the institution.

The foundling asylum has been a special target for the critics, and with good reason, for the mortality rate in these institutions is frequently enormous. Many of the children, it is true, are received in a precarious condition, and suffer from malnutrition, premature birth, physical defects, or inanition, while illegitimacy is usually a factor. Despite these obstacles, the proper care of the babies can substantially reduce the death rate. Usually these asylums accept too many children and overcrowd the various wards. Frequently the inmates are not properly fed and seldom do they receive sufficient individual attention. The plan of boarding out babies with wet nurses under the supervision of the asylum promises to attain better results. The large foundling asylum providing institutional care has proven a failure, and must be supplanted either by the small institution where improved care can be given or by a system of care in private homes.

13. The Day Nursery.

The day nursery is intended for children who live in their own homes, but whose mothers must work during the day and who cannot be left at home alone. The family may be practically self-supporting, but unless relief of this sort is provided, the poverty line will soon be reached. Theoretically the day

nursery is a makeshift

an instrument which makes it possible for mothers to work in the gainful occupations and neglect their home duties. Their earnings should not be necessary, and the ideal constructive work deals with the problems which if solved would make day nurseries unnecessary. As a method of relief, however, they have a legitimate place.

Day nurseries were first developed in France under private auspices. The movement grew, and to-day the nurseries of that country are under the medical supervision and general inspection of the state. England also has a large number, London alone having about 75. Many of these, however, are poorly kept, are housed in ill-smelling buildings, are overcrowded, are provided with poor food, and are attended by an incompetent staff who are themselves ignorant of the laws of hygiene.

In some English cities day industrial schools serve as a substitute for day nurseries, and the children attend the schools from 8 A.M.to 6 P.M. They are given educational training, some recreation, and three meals a day, but the parents are required to pay one shilling per week toward the support of each child. The government supplements this support with a subsidy not exceeding the amount given by parents. Many widows, in particular, find these schools a great convenience, for the children can be cared for throughout the entire day, the mothers then being free to work.

In the United States day nurseries have been established in all large cities and industrial centers, and in 1909 over 400 nurseries had been established throughout the country. They are generally connected with settlements, churches, or charitable societies, and do not ordinarily operate as separate institutions. In a model nursery children are examined by physicians, receive physical care and exercise, are given kindergarten instruction, have ample opportunity for amusement as well as for sleep, and are provided with two meals a day. Some charge, usually five cents per day, is required from the mother.

American nurseries often suffer from overcrowding, being frequently located in very unsatisfactory buildings or rooms.

There is also much danger from contagion, as medical inspection is not always required. The adaptation of food furnishes another problem, since the food must be clean and wholesome, yet not so different from that provided in the homes as to cause indigestion. Cleanliness should be enforced, not only for the sake of the child, but for the parents as well.

The American Association of Day Nurseries is doing much toward standardizing and raising the ideals of nurseries. Nurseries must not abet the evil they are trying to relieve, although there is danger of producing precisely this effect. The establishment of a nursery frequently tempts women who would otherwise stay at home to make use of the nursery and enter some gainful occupation. Unless precautions are taken and a careful selection made, the real purpose is not served. However, nurseries should improve the physical condition of children, develop higher ideals in the homes, and give needed relief to working mothers.

14. Needs and Reforms.

Coöperation among child-saving agencies and their simplification are among the greatest needs of the day. Undoubtedly the number of such agencies should also be reduced, as many of them are small and ill-equipped and their work is quite inferior to present standards. By combination and coöperation, greater efficiency will be obtained. Denominational friction prevents the needed reduction of agencies at present, but even here greater coöperation is possible. A large non-sectarian institution is sufficient for a single state unless the presence of a large city complicates the problem. Some auxiliary aid can then be furnished by a very limited number of sectarian agencies, although concentration of the work in the hands of a single administration would be more desirable. A children's bureau acting as a clearing house of cases marks the farthest step in advance.

Efficient management is one of the most important needs in child-saving agencies and thorough organization is required so that children can be promptly and efficiently handled. The child ready to be placed out should not suffer from delays.

There should be ample knowledge of the whereabouts of desirable homes. More trained officials are needed to carry on the work, since too often the social perspective of the agent, or even of the secretary himself, is too narrow to make possible the best results. Hence children are poorly placed or undergo a demoralizing routine from which recovery is extremely difficult. The smaller societies especially need more trained officials. The larger ones, recognizing the need of efficient workers, have begun to train their own staff by requiring attendance at appropriate lectures in schools of social work, or by organizing for themselves courses on child problems.

CHAPTER IV

PUBLIC CHILD-SAVING AGENCIES

PRIVATE philanthropy has been unable to meet all the needs and problems of dependent children; consequently public methods of child care have gradually taken form, and as each state may develop its own plan several systems have been established. Among these are: the State School System, State Placing-out System, County Home Plan, and Public Subsidies to Private Charities. Recently several states have endeavored to supplement their methods of child-saving by laws providing pensions for worthy mothers. One of the special fields of private charity consists of those groups that allow considerable elasticity in treatment. Public agencies must confine themselves largely to cases of children definitely in need of care and training, but which do not involve constructive aid to the family. 1. The State School System.

The most common method of public care is the state school system. It has been adopted in whole or in part by eleven states Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Rhode Island, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Montana, Texas, Colorado, and Nevada. In some of these states the system was adopted directly, but in a number the function of the homes for soldiers' and sailors' orphans has been expanded to include the duties of a state school. In Iowa, for example, children may be sent as county wards to the school and are partially supported by state funds, but these children are distinguished from those for whom the institution was originally built. Strange as it may seem, some "orphans" of the soldiers of the Civil War are still sent to these homes!

The first state to adopt the system was Michigan, in 1874. At that time at least 600 children were scattered about in the