tion. Congress has given us nominally a district government, with a governor, a United States district judge, a United States district attorney, a United States marshal, and four United States commissioners as the governing power, and extended over the country the laws of Oregon. While we have nominally all the paraphernalia of government, yet, practically, the government is powerless to enforce law or govern the country. The seat of the government at Sitka is on a small island, and the government officials have no method of conveyance for travelling around the Territory. The public sentiment is such that no jury can be had to enforce the liquor laws or punish immorality among the people. Any law that is contrary to the customs or inclinations of the lower class of white men, who are among the first to float to the frontier section, cannot be and is not enforced, largely from the fact that these same men are usually found on the juries. With this aboriginal condition of society and thin veneering of government, we have no public institutions for reforming children or caring for criminals or providing for the unfortunates, the blind, the deaf, the weak-minded, the dumb, and the insane; and so far they have no constituency that take any interest in such things. A very little is being done at the mission stations by the missionaries, perhaps to the full extent of their ability. The improved methods that are being developed and worked out by the National Conference of Charities will be a great help to us in the future, when we secure a larger number of the better class of American citizens, through whose influence a public sentiment may be created that shall demand the establishment of methods for taking charge of the unfortunate classes. While we cannot report anything as being done, yet we very gladly express our deep interest in what is being done elsewhere, as it will prove a help for us when we get ready to act.

ARIZONA.

BY J. B. HAMBLIN, M.D., SUPERINTENDENT

THE INSANE.

ARIZONA ASYLUM FOR

The number of inmates in the Arizona asylum for the insane June 30, 1895, was: males, 101; females, 26; total, 127. The fair capacity of the institution without overcrowding, for inmates only, not including officers or employees, is 200.

The insane asylum was established by act of the legislature of 1885. The board of directors consists of three persons.

The Territorial prison was established in 1875. A Territorial reform school was established in 1895, but no buildings have yet been erected. The legislature of 1895 enacted a parole law to apply to the convicts in the Territorial prison.

The legislature of 1895 established a Territorial board of control, to consist of the governor, the auditor, and a secretary, to be appointed by the governor. This board will have control of the Territorial prison, reform school, and the insane asylum.

The legislature of 1895 made provision for boarding deaf and dumb children in other States, and an appropriation of $3,000 was made for this purpose.

ARKANSAS.

BY SUPERINTENDENTS OF STATE INSTITUTIONS.

The State of Arkansas maintains a school for the blind, an institution for deaf-mutes, a lunatic asylum, a Confederate State soldiers' home, and a State penitentiary, all of which, except the soldiers' home, are located at Little Rock, the capital of the State. This arrangement has some great advantages, as it permits the close supervision of the State officials, and renders the institutions readily accessible to the people of the State.

Dr. J. J. Robertson, superintendent of the State Lunatic Asylum, reports that his institution was established in 1882. It has a normal capacity of 620. The number of inmates Dec. 31, 1894, was: males, 222; females, 262; total, 484. This was a reduction of 86 from the previous year. He reports the expense per patient as only $78.93 per year. It may be hoped that no State in the Union shows a lower rate of expenditure.

The Deaf-mute Institute has a capacity of 250 inmates. The number Dec. 31, 1894, was 191. The expense per inmate was about $200. Four new trades have been added in the school for the deaf. The legislature of 1895 appropriated nearly $100,000 for this institution, which promises a good thing for the future.

The Confederate Soldiers' Home at "Sweet Home" has a capacity of 50 inmates. The number on hand June 30, 1895, was 32. The School for the Blind has a capacity of 250 inmates.

The

number on hand Dec. 31, 1893, was 130. The colored pupils are kept in a rented building.

The State penitentiary has a capacity of 500 inmates. There were on hand June 30, 1895, 905 inmates, of whom 277 were whites, 624 blacks, and 4 Indians. Of these convicts 181 were "in walls "

and 724 "at camps."

CALIFORNIA.

BY MRS. SARAH B. COOPER, CORRESPONDING SECRETARY.

The State of California is moving forward in the administration of its charitable and corrective institutions, and a steady advance is being made in regard to modes and methods. Being so far removed from the great centres, we do not catch the first impetus toward any well-adjusted reform. Our great fault has been an excess of charity in the way of giving. For example, San Francisco, with a population scarcely numbering 300,000, expended last year no less than $1,380,510. An amendment to the Penal Code makes vagrancy punishable by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding six months; and the term "vagrancy" includes a very wide range, as interpreted by the Code. This is a wise piece of legislation, and will tend to reduce the excessive distribution of charity in our large cities.

The legislation, during the last two years, in regard to charities, paupers, vagrants, and minors, has all tended in the right direction, - toward self-help and self-support. By the political Code the State has the right to establish custody and restraint of paupers for the purposes of their maintenance.

Another fine stroke of legislation is the new section making it a misdemeanor to furnish tobacco to minors under the age of sixteen years, punishable by a fine not exceeding $100. Furnishing minors under the age of eighteen years with intoxicating drink is made a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than $100 or by imprisonment in the county jail for a period of not less than a hundred days.

Still another wise provision has been enacted, making it a misdemeanor for a guardian or master to require a child to labor more than eight hours a day, except in vinicultural or horticultural pursuits or in domestic or household occupations. No minor under

eighteen shall be employed in any manufacturing, mercantile, or me chanical establishment, in any case, for more than sixty hours per week. No child under ten shall be employed in such establishments. There are three State asylums for the insane, with 3,400 patients. There are two other State asylums not yet completed, one at Ukiah and the other at San Bernardino. The number of patients cared for in the three asylums during the past two years was 60,141, Expended for maintenance and salaries, $1,071,583. California has two State prisons, with 1.004 prisoners, Average cost per capita per day, $0.413.

The Preston School of Industry at lone has for its object the re form of young criminals, and to quality them for honorable employ

ment.

The State Reform School at Whittier is also educational and reformatory, and the boys and girls are taught industrial pursuits. There are 299 inmates.

The California Home for the Care and Training of Feeble-minded Children at Gelston has 237 inmates, who are supported at a cost of $0.557 per diem per inmate, a large proportion free of charge.

The California Institution for the Deaf, Dumb, and Blind is a model institution. There are 203 pupils. Besides the regular courses, instruction is given in carpentering, printing, and typewriting

There is an Industrial Home of Mechanical Trades for the Adult Blind. Its aim is to enable the blind to prepare for self-support. There are 85 inmates, including both sexes. The chief industry is broom-making. The inmates are paid wages, and a good workman can earn about $200 a year.

The Women's Relief Corps assist such Union veterans as need help and protection, and extend needful aid to their widows and orphans. There are 3,000 members in the department of California. Over 1,000 persons have been aided.

Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic extend needful aid to honorably discharged soldiers and marines of the Civil War. There is a combined membership of over 10,000.

There are 204 charitable agencies in San Francisco that relieve the needy. This does not include the churches nor private benevolence. This includes 10 hospitals, with 15,712 patients, and o dispensaries, with 15,762 visits. Total amount expended in hospitals,

$226,456.29; in dispensaries, $13,141.78. The Associated Charities of San Francisco have about 80 co-operating societies. They have found limited employment for over 5,000 men in their woodyard. There is properly no official outdoor relief in San Francisco. Much preventive work is done through the free kindergartens of San Francisco. The Golden Gate Association sustains 38 free kindergartens, in which over 20,000 little children have been trained during the past sixteen years. The city is feeling the good results of this work. The children come from districts where criminals are made. There are 7 homes for aged and infirm people in San Francisco, and 19 orphanages and homes for needy children.

All these various institutions are on the upward trend in regard to the methods of administration and the modes of best reaching the highest good of the inmates.

COLORADO.

BY JOHN H. GABRIEL, CORRESPONDING SECRETARY.

Colorado has taken a forward step during the past two years in the work of charities and corrections. Public sentiment has been aroused to the necessity for active agencies in every department of the work. This condition has been brought about by the efforts of the State Board of Charities and Corrections in arranging for a conference, which was largely attended by all classes of workers. A varied programme was carried out, and valuable papers were read. Agitation has been continued through the newspapers, and education advanced along every line.

Penitentiary.- Advance in the management of the penitentiary is shown in the humane treatment of the prisoners, the abolition of corporal punishment, and a classification into three grades, based upon conduct. The warden, whose term of office expired April 3, 1895, heard the complaint of each prisoner who had complaint to make every Sunday morning, and gave a considerate hearing to all requests or complaints made during the week. Each case was considered and treated upon its individual merits. In a very few instances only was cuffing or stringing up permitted, and this only in the very early part of the term. "Hosing" was entirely abolished. The pressure of the hard times has increased the number