DUKE UNiVL. 
 
 Letters to the Secretary of State on the Subject of 
 Pauperism. 
 
 [First publiahed in the Columbia Republican, in the fall of 1853.] 
 
 (No. 1.) 
 
 7b tht Hon. Elias W. Leavenworth, Secretary of State elects of 
 the State of JVew York. 
 
 A great ehauge has occurred in the political affairs of the 
 State, which, from its magnitude, might well cause amazement, 
 had it not been frequently paralleled in previous portions of its 
 history. 
 
 This, sir, is a great State, rich in natural resources, and abound- 
 ing in every element of prosperity and wealth. Its inhabitants 
 feel this instinctively, and they desire that their rulers and higher 
 officers should so direct their affairs as to develope this latent 
 affluence in the highest degree. Again and again have they been 
 seduced by high sounding professions of zeal for the public wel- 
 fare to elevate different political parties to power, in the hope 
 that they would seriously devote themselves to preparing and 
 perfecting measures which should increase the guarantees of in- 
 dividual freedom, and swell the measure of public prosperity. 
 You know, sir, how often they have been disappointed in these 
 anticipations. You, who understand the history of our State so 
 well, are aware how few have been the measures, comprehensive 
 in their scope, noble in their aim, and beneficial in their results, 
 which have been devised by our statesmen. Their time and 
 their talents have too frequently been devoted to the perpetua- 
 tion of their own power, to increasing their own emoluments, and 
 to the distribution of the public patronage to their own friends 
 and political adherents. 
 
 Is it wonderful that the people, thus betrayed and insulted^ 
 
 should oscillate frequently in political affairs? Is it not natural 
 [Senate, No. 72.] 5 
 
66 [Senate 
 
 that they should be indignant when their interests are neglected, 
 and their wishes are contemptuously opposed by their public ser- 
 vants ? The present State government assumed the management 
 of affairs with the loudest professions of integrity, and of zeal for 
 the public service, but no single pledge has been redeemed, no 
 single promise has been fulfilled. The management of our ca- 
 nals was never so expensive, and never so inefficient. Our State 
 Prisons have deteriorated in discipline, security and revenue. 
 The finances of the State are seriously dilapidated, and, in a 
 word, all the functions of government are badly performed. 
 
 The people, knowing these things, have decreed that our party 
 should have another trial. You have been borne into power by 
 a mighty wave of public indignation, swelled up by the selfish- 
 ness, the incompetency, and the profligacy of our adversaries. 
 If you dedicate all your admitted powers and energies with 
 singleness — if you resolutely exclude those miserable harpies who 
 infest the perlieus of the capital and the public offices, in hopes 
 of plunder from your councils — " if ail the ends you aim at 
 are your country's" — you may rest assured of along lease of power, 
 and a long career of honorable effort If on the contrary, you 
 confine yourself to mere party aims, forgetful of the lofty objects 
 of public importance which solicit your attention, your public 
 career will be a short one. The refluent wave, which will bear 
 you back to the depths ot obscurity will be far mightier than that 
 which elevated you to power. 
 
 I trust and believe, sir, that your own good heart will dictate 
 to you, more powerfully than even the exigencies of party neces- 
 sity, or the demands of personal ambition, to aim at the inaugu- 
 ration of a new era in politics, and give us a glimpse of that " good 
 time" which we have been told so long is " coming That our 
 code of procedure will be completed with wisdom and judgment, 
 and its crudities and anomalies thoroughly purged away : That 
 our canals will be finished speedily and economically as they 
 w^ould be if they were controlled by sagacious and experienced 
 individuals for their own benefit : That our system of criminal 
 law will be revised and made to conform more nearly to the re- 
 quirements of enlightened political science : That energetic mea- 
 
No. 72.] 
 
 67 
 
 sures will be adopted for the accumulation and diffusion of agri- 
 cultural knowledge : That our State prisons will be purged of all 
 under keepers, guards and other officials, whose characters are 
 more debased than those of the prisoners over whom they are 
 placed : That pauperism in all its relations be thoroughly inves- 
 tigated : That such of our existing laws as are found to be useless 
 or injurious will be altered or repealed, and that such new pro- 
 visions as may be required will be promptly inserted in the sta- 
 tute book. 
 
 This is a sweeping programme, sir, but the state of things 
 amongst us, and, if I am not egregiously mistaken, the will of the 
 people J imperiously require that these reforms should be accomp- 
 lished. 
 
 I am aware that you cannot accomplish them alone, the Consti- 
 tution confers no legislative power on you. But you can do much 
 if you cannot do all. As a member of the Canal Board you can 
 do much to stem the tide of corruption which infests that depart- 
 ment; as an ex- officio Regent of the University, you may effect 
 great things for the increase and diffusion of agricultural know- 
 ledge, and as charged by existing laws to report annually on 
 crime and pauperism, you will be enabled to present these 
 questions to the Legislature in a manner which will readily ensure 
 the assent of that body. i 
 
 Truly yours, FRANKLIN. 
 
 ( No. 2. ) 
 
 To Elias W. Leavejsworth, Secretary of State electj of the State 
 of JSCew-York: 
 
 In my last letter I called your attention to several reforms 
 which I believe to be imperatively demanded by the people of 
 this State. It is not my intention in this series of letters to dis- 
 cuss all these questions, although at some future time I may feel 
 called upon to do so. At present I shall limit myself to an ex- 
 amination of the subject of pauperis?a and the suggestions of such 
 amendments and alterations as I think ought to be made in our 
 .existing laws for the care and support of the poor. 
 
68 
 
 [Senat*: 
 
 It is a broad and comprehensive subject, sir! It is not to be 
 mastered in a moment, or disposed of in a day. If you would 
 fathom its breadth and depth, you must wade through masses of 
 facts and statistics which would cause a mere fancy statesman to 
 stand aghast. You must look with your own eyes on the masses 
 of the poor in our larger cities— you must behold the filth, the 
 disease, the nakedness, the squalor, the mental and moral cor- 
 ruption aggregated there. You must learn for yourself, the size 
 of the army of children who are growing up amongst us with the 
 seeds of disease in their bodies, and the still fouler leprosy of guilt 
 festering deeply in their souls. I know these sights are appalling; 
 that it is no holiday task to survey them, yet I hope you will not 
 shrink from the undertaking, because it will enable you to use 
 your oflicial station far more effectually for the amelioration of 
 these evils than if the source of your knowledge was only heresay. 
 You will recollect the saying of the man to the woman of Sama- 
 ria : " Now we believe, not because of thy saying, for we have 
 heard him ourselves.^^ These Samaritans were like other human 
 beings, and knowledge acquired through the medium of their own 
 senses was far more operative on their actions than that which 
 they obtained through the testimony of others. 
 
 If however, you are unable from the want of time or opportu- 
 nity to enter upon an original and personal investigation of this 
 great question, let me entreat you to give a careful and heedful 
 attention to the facts and suggestions which it is my purpose to 
 lay before you. There may be little enough of talent in these 
 letters, but I assure you that I have not been niggardly of time in 
 acquiring the information that I shall lay before you, and I think 
 I may say, you may safely rely upon the accuracy of every state- 
 ment I may make. 
 
 Perhaps you will ask me why I do not seek some other channel 
 through which this reform may be accomplished. I will answer 
 this question before I enter directly on the subject of pauperism. 
 The only other ways that occur to me are, 1st, to enter the Legis- 
 lature myself, or 2d, to interest the members of the Legislature by 
 personal solicitation, or 3d, to awake public attention through 
 public meetings called for the purpose, or 4th, by frequent publi- 
 
No. 72.] 
 
 69 
 
 lications in newspapers published in different sections of the 
 State. 
 
 I am cfuite too humble an individual ever to be thought of for 
 a seat in the Legislature, and this settles the first mode of proce- 
 dure. For the second you well know that members of the Legis- 
 lature are divisible into two classes: Those who are incompetent 
 to understand these questions, and those who are competent. No 
 one knows better than yourself that the first of these classes is 
 greatly in the majority in these latter days. The class of compe- 
 tent legislators may in their turn be subdivided into two, viz: 
 Those who will trouble themselves with no questions which will 
 not enure to their own personal advantage, or redound to their 
 own personal glory. I could expect no help from this class 3 
 nothing they could do in this way would help tliem to a reelection 
 or elevate them to a higher office, or put money in their purses. 
 The other class consists of workers who are already overburdened 
 with labor. You were of this class when you were in the Assem- 
 bly. You will recollect what a long string of acts for the county 
 of Onondaga and the city of Syracuse, and the inhabitants thereof 
 you procured the passage of, and in order to procure votes for 
 those bills you were obliged to do the legislative work of those mem- 
 bers who were no more able to do it for themselves than the desks 
 they dozed over. You would hardly have thanked me if I had 
 urged you to undertake the management of a bill which would 
 require the undivided attention of several able members to insure 
 its. passage. 
 
 It would require a popular orator of name and fame, to draw 
 together numerous audiences, before whom these statements could 
 be made with a hope to interest them to activity in the work of 
 Poor Law Reform. But I am eo popular orator nor could I se- 
 cure the services of such, hence T should only fail if I attempted this 
 mode of procedure. It I were to abuse the whig party roundly, 
 and rake up all their sins of omission and commission, I should 
 expect my letters would receive the most extensive publicity thro' 
 the democratic press. Or if I performed a similar kind office for 
 the democrats no doubt the whig press would not prevent my 
 charges from being sustained^ but as I only recite — 
 
 The fibort and simple aunal? of the Poor, " 
 
70 
 
 [Senate 
 
 I do not suppose either whigs or democrats will trouble them- 
 selves with what I write. I liave therefore no resource but to ap- 
 peal to you. 
 
 FRANKLIN. 
 
 ( No. 3. ) 
 
 To Elias W. Leavenworth, Secretary of State elect, of the State 
 of JYew- York ; 
 
 You may ask me why I do not address these letters privately 
 through the post-office, rather than through the medium of the 
 press. My answer is that I have tried this method before, and 
 found it quite useless. One of your predecessors acknowledged 
 the receipt of my letters, and politely expressed his intention to 
 examine the whole matter with care, after which he would devise 
 a remedy for the evils complained of. This was the last of it ; he 
 probably never thought of the matter again, after writing the let- 
 ter of acknowledgment. Some of his friends wanted places as 
 lock-tenders or collectors on the canals, or they desired to secure 
 some fat contract. Negotiations for these would pay in the solid 
 currency of votes, both in conventions and at the polls ; labors 
 for the poor would only leave as a reward the consciousness of 
 doing good. How could he be expected to work for such poor 
 pay] 
 
 Another predecessor received my letters, but did not conde- 
 scend to notice them in any way. This was better, because he 
 broke no promise ; but it convinced me that I must take another 
 method if I would secure the co operation of those in power. I 
 have chosen this method, therefore, that the people may be aware 
 that the great evils of pauperism have been brought distinctly to 
 your notice. I really believe, sir, that you will esteem it a plea- 
 sure, as well as a duty, to exert all the influence of your official t 
 station in favor of poor law reform; but if I am unfortunately 
 mistaken in this, I wish to deprive you of the excuse for negli- 
 gence or indifference, that your attention has never been called to 
 the subject, and that you were not aware how bad our condition 
 really was. 
 
No. 72.] 71 
 
 If you prove, as I trust you will, efficient in remedying the evils 
 of our poor laws, I am not without hopes that the publication of 
 these letters will, in some degree, assist your laudable endeavors, 
 by awakening and informing the public mind j so that you may 
 find public opinion in your favor when you shall be pleased to 
 bring the subject to the attention of the Legislature. 
 
 These, sir, are my reasons for addressing you through the press, 
 and having now written all that I designed to say by way of pre- 
 face, I proceed at once to the main subject of these letters: 
 
 First — Pauperism is rabidly increasing in the State of JS'^ew- 
 Vork ! 
 
 You will scarcely believe that this proposition is true, if you 
 travel on any of our great thoroughfares — the Central, the Erie, 
 or the Northern railroads, lake Erie, Ontario, or Champlain, and, 
 above all, on the Hudson river — your eyes are greeted and glad- 
 dened with evidences of wealth, " which far outshine the wealth 
 of Ormus or of Lud." Splendid mansions are rising in every direc- 
 tion, the grounds are richly embellished, villages are formed on 
 the corn-fields of yesterday, and the village of yesterday is the 
 city of to-day. You see no paupers — all are genteelly diessed^ 
 our shipping has doubled, and the stream of California gold flows 
 in upon us with a tide that knows no ebb. Looking complacently 
 at all these signs of almost fabulous prosperity, you will not believe 
 that the plague-spot of pauperism is within us, eating into our 
 very vitals, and spreading, day by day, with fearful rapidity. Yet 
 nothing is more true. You will very soon be inducted into the 
 Secretary's Office in the State Hall. Seated in the comfortable 
 arm chair provided for your accommodation, you may reach, with- 
 out risins: from it, the records which will demonstrate the truth of 
 the assertion, beyond reach of all controversy or cavil. These 
 records show that, in the year 1831, the total number of persons 
 relieved and supported at the public cost in the State of New- 
 York, was 15,564 ; in the year 1841, the number was 61,203 ; in 
 1851, the number was 125,473; and, in 1852, it amounted to 
 151,399. 
 
j Senate 
 
 These facts speak for themselves, and speak loudly, too ; but 
 you will not understand their full significance without contem- 
 plating them from different points of view, and in relation with 
 different objects. Niagara is one and indivisible — it never chan- 
 ges ; yet he who looks at it solely from Goat Island, carries away 
 with him a widely different idea of its appearance from him who 
 has seen It only from Table Rock. Let us try to avoid all one- 
 sided views, and endeavor to comprehend these startling facts in 
 their totality. The numerical increase of paupers during the ten 
 years between 1831 and 1841, was 463639; or, in other words, 
 pauperism had increased 293 per cent., or in still other words, 
 there were nearly four paupers in 1841 where there was only one 
 in 1831. The numerical increase ot paupers from 1841 to 1851, 
 was 64,270, or 105 per cent. There were two paupers in 1851 
 where there was only one in 1841. If we compare the number of 
 persons relieved and supported in 1851, directly with those re- 
 lieved and supported in 1831, we shall see that during that period 
 of twenty years, the numerical increase was 109,909. The in- 
 crease per cent was 706 ; or, rather, more thaa eight paupers in 
 1851 for one in 1831. 
 
 The population of the State in 1831 was l,918,6085|in 1841, it 
 was 2,428,921 ; in 1851, it was 3,097,394. The numerical in- 
 crease of the population for the ten years between 1831 and 1841 
 was 510,313. The increase per cent was 26 ; or there were 1-26 
 persons in 1841, for 1 in 1831. The numerical increase of the 
 population for the ten years between 1841 and 1851 was 668,473. 
 The increase per cent 27 ; or there were 1-27 persons in 1851, for 
 1 in 1841. 
 
 If we compare the population of 1851 directly with the popu- 
 lation of 1831, we find during that period of twenty years the nu- 
 merical increase is 1,178,786. The increase per cent is 61 5 or, 
 there were 1-61 persons in 1851 for 1 in 1831. 
 
 1 leave you to consider these astounding revelations of the offi- 
 cial records during the ensuing week, and remain 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 FRANKLIN. 
 
No. 72.J 
 
 ( No. 4. ) 
 
 To the Hon. Elias W. Leaven woktu, Secretary of State^ elect of the 
 State of Mew- York: 
 
 I showed you in my last letter, that while the population of the 
 State increased only 61 per cent during the twenty years between 
 1831 and 1851 , pauperism increased 706 per cent during the same 
 period. This gives us a pretty clear idea of the rapidity with 
 which pauperism is spreading amongst us, yet as our notions can- 
 not be too precise or comprehensive, let us give the kaleidoscope 
 another turn, and see if the same glass beads will not give us 
 another image. Since the population of the State in 1831 was 
 1,918,608, and the number of persons relieved or supported 
 during that year was 15,564, it follows that for every pauper in 
 that year there were 123 non-paupers; or we may say that the 
 burthen of supporting each pauper in the State was divided 
 among 123 individuals. In 1841 the burthen was so far increased 
 that there were only 39 persons to support each pauper, and in 
 1851 every 24 persons in the State were compelled to support one 
 pauper. 
 
 I think, sir, we have gained something by this turn of the 
 kaleidoscope. It seems to me that you, and I, and the public 
 in general, will get a more vivid idea of the insidious activity of 
 this social malady from this point of view than irom any other- 
 Keep the fact carefully in your memory, sir, that in 1831 there 
 was one pauper to every one hundred and twenty- three inhabitants, 
 while in 1«51 there was one pauper to every twenty four inhabi- 
 tants. Have you considered, that if pauperism increases as rapid- 
 ly during the next twenty years as it has during the last twenty, 
 there will be in 1871 one to evevyfive inhabitants'? If you have 
 not, let me intreat you by all that is christian, all that is patriotic, 
 and all that is philanthropic in you, to ponder it thoroughly now. 
 Apply the most approved principles of political arithmetic to the 
 solution of the problem, and tell us, if such should be the condi- 
 tion of things in 1871, what effect will it have on the condition of 
 the country 1 If one person in every five is a pauper, will uni- 
 versal suffrage be safe ! Will not the concentration of wealth 
 
74 ^ [Senate 
 
 which such a condition of things will produce lead naturally and 
 necessarily to the establishment of an order of JS^Ulityl If an 
 order of Nobility is established will they rest long without an 
 Emperor or a King ? If I read the Roman history rightly, the 
 spirit of liberty declined as pauperism increased. Wealth, there, 
 was more unequally divided ; the rich became richer, and the 
 poor poorer. The poor Roman was too happy to enrol himself 
 among the retinue of the wealtJiy patrician, for then bread would 
 be given him, and his water would be sure. But then, the main- 
 tenance of the Republic became impossible, and the establishment 
 of the Empire was an inevitable necessity. You, sir are a states- 
 man, and can better answer these questions than I can ; yet it 
 does seem to my poor understanding, that if like causes produce 
 like effects, something like the sequence of events which occurred 
 in Rome, will follow here. 
 
 While your hand is in will you be kind enough to solve a few 
 more problems growing out of the same subject. What will be 
 the efl'ect of this increase of pauperism on our common schools ? 
 W' hen wealth is confined to the very topmost branches of the na- 
 tional tree, while the roots and the trunk are steeped in poverty, 
 and the inferior branches are contented with the most meagre 
 gleanings of the vintage, will the wealthy contribute to the sup- 
 port of schools for the poor? Will they not deem them more fit- 
 ting tools without education than with it ? How will our churches 
 be affected ? Will not many a graceful spire which now rises 
 lieavenward crumble into decay ? What influence will it exer- 
 -cise on internal improvements ? Can a nation of lazaroni con- 
 struct railroads and dig canals ? What will become of our com- 
 merce ? Do paupers build ships or fill them 1 Let Spain and 
 Portugal and Naples answer. 
 
 You will perceive, sir, that I have only calleti your attention 
 to such aspects of the question as a mere statesman would take. 
 I am not afraid, however, that you will forget there is a christian, 
 and a philanthropic side, which are of equal, if not superior inter- 
 est. The individual pain and suffering and privation caused by 
 poverty cannot be forgotten by any one possessed of the ordinary 
 feelings of humanity ; nor can the most painful tendency of ex- 
 
No- 72.] 75 
 
 treme poverty to alienate the affections from God and fasten them 
 on merely sensual enjoyment, be overlooked by those who have 
 learned the value of the soul, and delight in the extension of the 
 Redeemer's Kingdom. 
 
 • Although I am, I trust, in some degree sensible of the deep im- 
 portance of these topics, yet I do not wish to dwell upon them. 
 At present, I only seek to procure such reforms as it is in the 
 power of statesmen to secure, and I know how intolerant they are, 
 of any appeals to the feelings or the passions. It is only through 
 the practical and tho tangible that they can be moved, acd know- 
 ing this I shall seek for no other instruments. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 FRANKLIN. 
 
 (No. 5.) 
 
 To EnAs W. Leavenworth, Secretary of State electy of the State 
 of JVew- York : 
 
 I have already drawn from official sources an aggregate of pau- 
 perism, which has probably awakened equally your astonishment 
 and sympathy, but you are far from having the whole case before 
 you. The number of persons relieved and supported in this State 
 by private societies and individuals, are not numbered by tens, 
 nor hundreds, but by thousands. 
 
 Almost all the different religious denomications contribute more 
 or less to the' support of their own members. With the Society 
 of Friends this is a fundamental principle — none of their members 
 are permitted to accept a charity from the public. Then there 
 are the inmates of the numerous orphan asylums, the beneficiaries 
 of the fi'ee masons, and other fraternal associations, and lastly 
 those who are under the care of societies, which, under the various 
 names of Dorcas, Relief, Assistance, &c., societies, dispense assist- 
 ance to a very large number of persons in all our large, and in 
 many of our smaller cities and villages. 
 
 It is impossible to estimate with any approximation to accuracy 
 the number of persons relieved or supported through these agen- 
 
76 
 
 [Senate 
 
 cieSj but if you desire to avail yourself of all the light attainable 
 on the subject, there can be no doubt Mr. R. M. Haitleyj of New- 
 York, will gladly furnish you with all the reports of the New- 
 York Association for improving the condition of the poor," of 
 which he is secretary, and those of the " New-York Female As- 
 sistance Society," to which he has ready access. 
 
 When you have studied their reports, together with those of the 
 societies which are required by law to jfile their reports in the 
 office of the Secretary of State, you will probably be prepared to 
 admit, that the persons relieved or supported by private charity 
 are very nearly equal to those supported at the expense of the 
 Dublic. 
 
 It not unfrequently happens that the same persons receive 
 partial relief Irom public officers, and the agents of private as- 
 sociations; after making due allowance for such contingencies, it 
 will be safe to assume that one person out of every sixteen in the 
 State of New-York, requires and receives assistance from public 
 or private bounty. 
 
 You may now suppose that you have got to the bottom of the 
 matter, that at length you have taken the gauge and mensuration 
 of all the poverty in the State. Be patient, my dear sir, you must 
 grope deeper before you come to the bottom of the mystery ot 
 poverty. All that we have done heretofore has been to ascertain 
 the number of those who receive assistance; we have yet to enquire 
 how many there are who need assistance, but never receive it. 
 
 I cannot state th number of this class, but I know from per- 
 sonal investigations, that it is very large. They may be said to 
 exist, rath(ir than live; they procure money enough by picking up 
 rags, bones, or old iron in the streets, or still worse, by petty pilfering, 
 to keep their breath in their bodies, but are utter strangers to any 
 of the decencies or comforts of life. In the city of Liverpool there 
 are over 40,000 persons living in cellars. We have no statistics, 
 that I am aware of, for the city of New- York, but there is no doubt 
 that the number of persons residing in cellars is much greater than 
 in Liverpool. I cannot give you a better idea of the miserable 
 condition of the residents of these places, than by transcribing 
 
No. 72.] 
 
 77 
 
 the following description from Dr. Griscom's «^ Lecture on the 
 sanitary condition of the poor." He says, after describing the 
 residences of the poor above ground, " But the most offensive of 
 all places for residence, are the cellars. It is almost impossible? 
 when contemplating the circumstances and condition of the poor 
 beings who inhabit these places, to maintain the proper degree of 
 calmness, requisite for a thorough inspection, and the exercise of 
 a sound judgment respecting them. You must descend to them; 
 you must feel the blast of foul air as it meets your face on opening 
 the door; you must grope in the dark, or hesitate until your eye 
 becomes accustomed to the gloomy place, to enable you to find 
 your way through the entry, over a broken floor, the boards of 
 which are protected from your tread by a half inch of hard dirt; 
 you must inhale the suffocating vapor of the sitting and sleeping 
 rooms; and in the dark damp recess, endeavor to find the inmates 
 by the sound of their voices, or chance to see their figures moving 
 between you and the flickering blaze of a shaving burning on the 
 hearth, or the misty light of a window coated with dust and fes- 
 tooned with cobwebs. Or if in search of an invalid, take care 
 that you do not fall ful? length upon the bed with her, by stumb- 
 ling against the bundle of rags and straw, by that name, lying on 
 N the floor under a window, if window there is; all this and much 
 more, beyond the reach of my pen, must be felt and seen, ere you 
 can appreciate in its full force the mournful and disgusting condition 
 in which many of our fellow citizens pass their lives." I have 
 abundant materials on hand to illustrate the condition of the un- 
 assisted poor, but I will forbear, and will close this letter with 
 asking you if I have not fully proved the assertion, that "pauper- 
 ism is rapidly and dangerously increasing in the State of New- 
 York." Yours truly, 
 
 FRANKLIN. 
 
 ( IS'o. 6. ) 
 
 To the Hon. Eli as W. Leavenworth, Secretary of State: 
 
 11. The Expenses of Pauperism have greatly increased. 
 
 This second proposition would seem naturally to follow from 
 the first that we have been endeavoring to establish, viz: that 
 
78 
 
 [Senate 
 
 pauperism itself has greatly increased. Those who are willing 
 to admit the first, will need little proof to admit the second. 
 Nevertheless, it will make our way clear, and help us to arrive at 
 some conclusions, to enter into some of the details of that in- 
 creased expenditure. The total cost incurred by the tax payers 
 of this State, during the year 1831, for the support or relief of 
 paupers, was $245,433.21; for the year 1841 it was $538,709.44; 
 and for the year 1851 it was $857,866.91; for the year 1852 it 
 was $991,866.28. 
 
 I have stated in my third letter that the population of the State 
 in 1831 w^as 1,918,608. In 1841 it was 2,428,921, and in 1851 it 
 was 3,097,394. You will excuse me, sir, for this repetition, but 
 you will please remember that these letters are intended for the 
 public as well as for yourself, and that many will desire to know 
 something of the objects on which their taxes are expended, who 
 have not your facilities for consulting the statistics of the State. 
 
 , From these statements it appears that the increased annual ex- 
 pense at the end of the ten years which* expired in 1841, was 
 $293,276.23, or 119 per cent. The increase at the close of the 
 next period of ten years ending in 1851, was $319,157.47, or 59 
 per cent. If we compare the direct dilference in the cost of 
 pauperism in 1831 and 1851, we find that it is J612,373.70, or 
 249 per cent, while, as we have seen in the third letter, the popu- 
 lation had only increased 61 per cent. 
 
 I think, sir, this result is one which we should not have ex- 
 pected from any a pWcwi reasoning; the country was far richer in 
 1851 than it was in 1831. The cost of the main articles of do- 
 mestic consumption was less; the demand for labor was more 
 various and more abundant, and it was better paid. Judging 
 from these facts, we might suppose that pauperism would diminish 
 rather than increase, and that the burdens of the tax payer would 
 grow lighter rather than heavier; but the inexorable logic of 
 facts completely overthrows such an inference, when we find that 
 while in 1831 pauperism levied a tax of 12 cents and 7 mills on 
 each person in the State, in 1851 it swelled to 27 cents and 7 mills 
 on each person. 
 
No. 72.] 
 
 70 
 
 la view of these facts, it becomes unspeakably important to in- 
 quire how this great amount of pauperism, and its resulting taxa- 
 tion, may be dimiaishecl or totally abolished. In order to an.-wer 
 this inquiry satisfactorily we must ascertain, 1st. The causes of 
 this remarkable increase of pauperism, and 2d. The abuses of the 
 administration of the funds raised for the relief and support of 
 the poor. 
 
 1. The causes of this remarkable increase of pauperism. 
 
 First — Strange as it may appear, one of the most prolific causes 
 of this increase is the extraordinary increase of knowledge, and 
 its application to the ordinary objects and purposes of life. New 
 discoveries are daily made in the mechanical and the chemical 
 arts, which supercede mere brute force — mere muscular and un- 
 intelligent exertion. Steam, wind and water, have almost in- 
 finitely augmented the sources of physical power, and have driven 
 those laborers who have nothing but the strength ot their bodies 
 to sell, almost out of the market. Allow me to call your atten- 
 tion to one or two illustrations of this remark. It is within the 
 memory of those now living, when there was no such thing as a 
 steam engine known. A large proportion of the work now per- 
 formed by steam engines was then performed by men. It would 
 take 40,000 men to draw up as many coals through the shaft of a 
 mine, as a single engine of the size of that on board of the steam- 
 boat Isaac Newton. Now, if a single steam engine will dispense 
 with so many men, what must be the number of those who have 
 lust a market for their labor by the combined action of all the 
 engines now in operation. 
 
 It is not very long since all the grain raised in this State was 
 threshed out with flails. It requires no intellect whatever to per- 
 form this labor; any one, not a perfect idiot, can stand and pound 
 upon the floor of a barn. This employment was usually relied 
 on by laborers for their winter's employment. Now there is 
 scarcely a farmer to be found who threshes with a flail. Thresh- 
 ing machines are everywhere used, and have completely cut off 
 this source of winter employment. I will not extend these illus- 
 trations; but I hope, sir, that you will not stop v;here I do.. 
 
^0 [Senate 
 
 Spend some time in thinking of the various ways in which mere 
 unintelligent labor has been superseded within the circle of your 
 own experience by new discoveries in the arts, and you will see 
 how much significance there is in this view of the case. 
 
 I do not assert, nor do I believe that the actual amount of labor, 
 or rather employment, is diminished by labor saving machines. 
 Such machines must be constructed and attended by intelligent 
 men; the labor they require is that of the brain, rather than of 
 the muscles. Unfortunately, there is a very large class who have 
 no intelligence, and who are incapable of doing anything where 
 knowledge or ingenuity is required. It is this class who are cut 
 off from labor by the new inventions in the arts. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 FRANKLIN. 
 
 (No. 7.) 
 
 To the Hon. Elias W. Leavenworth, Secretary of State electj of 
 the State of JS^ew York : 
 
 Second— The next cause for the increase of pauperism amongst 
 us to which I wish to advert is the increase of our foreign popu- 
 lation. The increase of the burthen which is cast upon the tax- 
 payers is really most extraordinary, if not alarming, as will ap- 
 pear from the following table taken from the records of the de- 
 partment of State of the State of New York : 
 
 1846, , 
 
 Whole No. relieved 
 or supported. 
 
 74,800 
 
 98,423 
 
 Of these were 
 Foreign era. 
 
 8,015 
 8,678 
 
 Per cent of 
 Foreigners. 
 
 10.7 
 8.8 
 
 
 
 25,752 
 
 22.4 
 
 
 125,473 
 
 38,507 
 
 30.7 
 
 
 ......... 151,399 
 
 37,694 
 
 24.9 
 
 I have reason to believe that in the return from the superin- 
 tendents of the county poor the number of foreign paupers is 
 very much underrated. Many of those who are naturalized are 
 returned as natives, and the children of foreigners are also in 
 many cases set down as natives. According to the United States 
 
No. 72.] 
 
 81 
 
 census for 1850, foreigne)^ constituted 26. 6 per cent of all the 
 paupers in the country. 
 
 7hird — The increase of intemperance is linother source of pau- 
 perism. The returns from the different poor houses in this State 
 in relation to this subject are perfectly frightful. In 18 IG intem- 
 perance conveyed 6,685 persons to the poor house. In 1847, 
 '8,566 persons. In 1849, 15,712 persons. The increase of pau- 
 perism consequent on intemperance between 1846 and 1847 was 
 27 percent., and from 1846 to 1849 it was 134 per cent. ! In the 
 year 1851, 13,189 cases of pauperism were caused by intemper- 
 ance, and in 1852, 18.350 arose from the vsame source. These 
 facts you will recollect apply exclusively to our own State. 
 
 That you may be assured that the very remarkable relation in- 
 dicated above between pauperism and intemperance is not acci- 
 dental or confined to the State of New- York, I give you facts 
 from other States which confirm this relation in the most ample 
 manner, I have before me a report by a committee of the Le- 
 gislature of Connecticut made in 1852 on the condition of pau- 
 perism in that State. Answers to their interrogatories more or 
 less complete were received from 133 towns — from 15 towns no 
 reports were received. In these towns 3,680 persons were par- 
 tially or wholly supported during the preceding year. In 130 
 towns- 972 persons, receiving partial or entire support, were re- 
 duced to poverty through intemperance. The committee say : 
 This number is not intended to include any part of that class 
 who may have been reduced to their unfortunate condition 
 through the cause of intemperance, either directly or indirectly, 
 hut only such as are theoiselves habitually intemperate."—- 
 The New-York reports show that the proportion between the 
 number of persons reduced to pauperism in consequence of the 
 intemperance of their husbands, fathers, or other care-takers, is 
 as 2 of the former to 1 of tlie latter. If the sume ratio obtains 
 in Connecticut 1,458 or 39 per cent, of the whole num' er owed 
 their poverty directly or indirectly to intemperance. 
 
 From the poor-law returns of the State of Massachusetts for 
 1850 we learn that the number of persons relieved or supported 
 was 25,981, of which number 14,074 or 5C per cent, became pau- 
 
 [Senate, Nq. 72.] 6 
 
89 
 
 [Senate 
 
 pers through inteiriperance. In 1852, out of 37,624 relieved or 
 supported, 16,853 or 61 per cent, were reduced to poverty in 
 consequence of intemperance, 
 
 I regret thiit I am unable to lay before you any further reliable 
 statistics calculated to cast light upon this very interesting sub- 
 ject of investigation, but there can scarcely be a doubt on your 
 mind that intemperance Is really one of the most fertile causes 
 of pauperism in existence. I have visited a great many alms 
 houses in various States of the Union, and have made very minute 
 and careful inquiries in relation to intemperance, and from all 
 that I have seen and heard its influence is decidedly underrated 
 in the olScial returns, especially in our own State. The causes 
 of pauperism are not given in from one-half to one-third of the 
 cases, and those W'here the causes are given they are not the 
 result of careful examination on the part of the keeper, but 
 merely the record of the pauper's own story. These statements, 
 therefore, so far as tliey go only show how many of the paupers 
 acknowledged themselves to have become so through intemper- 
 ance. Those who are accustomed to visit our poor-houses know 
 that many who become inmates through the grossest intemper- 
 ance will stoutly deny that they were drunkards, 
 
 Fourth—The next cause of the increase of pauperism is the in- 
 creasing prevalence of licentiousness. I am provided with ample 
 details and proofs of this assertion, but they would be better 
 adapted to a private than a public letter. I embrace this among 
 the enumeration here, because I believe that legislation may do 
 much for the suppression of vice, and I cannot consistently with 
 my sense of duty, conceal from the public eye any of the causes 
 of pauperism which it is in the power of public servants to di- 
 minish or totally suppress. I trust, sir, you will not deem it im- 
 proper for me to state that within the last four weeks I have been 
 solicited to purchase books by itinerant venders who frequent 
 our steamboats and railroad cars. When J have refused to pur- 
 chase the seller has, in five different instances, turned up the 
 corner of a leaf and exhibited an obscene picture as an induce- 
 ment to buy, with an assurance that there w^as " ntore of the 
 same sort in the volume.'' Judging from the frequency with 
 
No. 72.] 
 
 93 
 
 which theso wretched volames liavo been offered to me I should 
 Inlei" that they were freqiieiitly sold, and exercised, of course, a 
 most pernicious ialluenco on the immunity. 
 
 Fifth — Gambling is a very common source of poverty, espe- 
 cially lottery gambling. The laws are certainly very stringent 
 against it, but they are quite inefficient. Dealers certainly do not 
 advertise them, nor openly exhibit their signs, nevertheless im- 
 mense numbers are sold, and chiefly to the laboring poor. I could 
 tell you many a heart-rending story of families reduced to beg- 
 gary and disgrace through the pernicious habit of lottery gam- 
 kling, 
 
 Sixth—The condition of the poor in our large cities inevitably 
 tends to in<}rease pauperism. 
 
 The children of the poor in our large cities are born and reared 
 in filthy cellars, crowded and ill-ventilated apartments — fed on 
 ill-cooked and indigestible food.— the sexes mingled indiscrimi- 
 nately, without access to any sources of instruction or amuse- 
 ment. They grow up with every physiological and moral cause 
 in vigorous operation which is calculated to repress the desire and 
 ability to procure a decent living. You can scarcely conceive, 
 sir, living as you do in your elegant mansion at Syracuse, sur- 
 rounded by every comfort and every luxury which art can con- 
 trive and wealth can purchase — I say, sir, you can hardly con- 
 ceive of the miserable condition in which these poor creatures 
 live. There is hardly a pig-sty in the county of Onondaga that 
 is not preferable as a habitation to those inhabited by thousands 
 of poor persons in the cities of this State. I have no wish to lay 
 bare the revolting scenes of misery and degradation that I have 
 witnessed in my visits to these dwellings, yet you will perhaps 
 allow me to give one case as a sample which at this moment oc- 
 curs to me. It was at the Old Brewery, so celebrated in the an- 
 nals of the Five Points in the city of New-York, a place which^ 
 thanks to the Christian and self-denying labors of the Rev. L. M. 
 Pease, has been purged of its pollution, but which at the time I 
 speak of was a most terrible libel upon the Christianity and civi- 
 lization of the city of New- York. I think there were dghty-six 
 families crowded into that old rookery. It might stand as a live- 
 
84 
 
 ly symbol of tlio abomi nation of desolation. All the rooms with- 
 out exception were as dirty as filth could make them; in all the 
 stench was intolerable, and all were alive with vermin. In one 
 of thfj apartments there were four families, each occupying a 
 separate corner, and each having a right to a certain defined space 
 of neutral ground around the fire-place. In one corner lay a 
 woman in the last stages of fever ; she was entirely naked. She 
 was provided with neither bed nor straw, but lay on carpenter's 
 shavings. Her husband could neither provide any of the arti- 
 cles which were required for either decency or comfort, but be- 
 fore I left he had contrived to get some gin for her, the real blue 
 ruin," and poured it down her throat. In another corner was a 
 family where there were half a dozen children. One of them 
 came in with a bag slung over his shoulder, which he at once 
 emptied on the floor, (which, by the way, was covered with at 
 least half an inch of dirt.) The bag contained bones with a lit- 
 tle meat adhering to them, yet the children seized upon them as 
 though they were the most delicious morsels, and gnawed them 
 as ravenously as though they had been a pack of wolves. I asked 
 one of these hopeful children if he knew there was a God? He 
 scratched his head with a very doubtful expression, but at length 
 he replied that he did. I then asked him what he knew about 
 God. All his hesitation of manner had vanished now, and he 
 answered with great promptness, "Well, he damns folks, sir!" 
 It was evident that all he knew of Deity was from thosfe who pro- 
 faned his name. 
 
 It is almost impossible, sir, for a child brought up in this way 
 to rise in the world, or become anything else but a pauper. They 
 are almost invariably tainted with scrofula which unfits them for 
 labor, and their brutal ignorance equally unfits them for other 
 avocations. Nor do they care much for any other position. All 
 sentiments of ambition are eiTectuaily crushed within them, and 
 they are contented to live as they were born, and die as they 
 have lived, without hope or expectation of improvement. Every 
 one of these children grows up to be fathers of another generation 
 of paupers, and in this way pauperism rapidly increases by natural 
 propagation. Were there no other causes, this alone would cause 
 
No. 72.] 85 
 
 pauperism to increase faster than the population. I do not giye 
 these details to awalien ernoLions oi pity — this in no part of my 
 plan. I only wish to detail plain sober facls with which I think 
 yourself and the people should be familiar. I should not have 
 drawn the veil from the scenos of wretchedness, did I not think 
 it was necessary to reveal them in order that you might perceive 
 the necessity of tiiose plans of remedial legislation wiiich it is my 
 intention to propose in subsequent letters. 
 
 Yours, truly, 
 ( No. 8. ) 
 
 To the Hon. Elias W. Leavenv/orth, Secretary cf State elect 
 of the State of JYew-York: 
 
 Seventh, — Another cause of the increase of pauperism arises 
 from the neglect of the proper oihcers to give a suitable education 
 to tiie children born and brought up in our poor-houses. 
 
 The number of children under 16 years in the poor-houses of 
 the State was, in 
 
 
 
 
 
 No. inotructed 
 
 Time of 
 
 
 Mule?!. 
 
 Fer/ia>lc3. 
 
 
 (iariiig the year. 
 
 iastrncticB. 
 
 
 ... 1,120 
 
 1,755 
 
 2,875 
 
 2,639 
 
 8 months, 
 
 1850,..,.. 
 
 . ... 1,275 
 
 1,960 
 
 3,235 
 
 2,635 
 
 7J do 
 
 1851, ... 
 
 , 1,152 
 
 1,976 
 
 3,128 
 
 2,819 
 
 Sh do 
 
 1852,.... 
 
 1,155 
 
 1,992 
 
 3,147 
 
 3,147 
 
 8 do 
 
 The returns look fair enough on their face,'With respect to in- 
 struction; it would seem tiiat the children in these establish- 
 ments erjoy better educational privileges than the children of 
 farmers in most of the rural districts of the State. 
 
 I have ascertained, however, from pei-sonal investigation, that 
 there is no reality in all this, as yon may also ascertain, if you 
 will trike the trouble to examine for yourself. I really don't 
 know what meaning the county superintendents of the poor attach 
 to the word i?(^aca^207i; I know they sometAcnes use words in a 
 sense not warranted by any Dictionary that ever I consulted. But 
 if they mean anything which elevates the mind — anything which 
 
86' 
 
 [Senate 
 
 ministers to the moral feelings or the intellectual powers — any- 
 thing which will help to get a living, or to discharge intelligently 
 the duties incident to citizenship — there is no such thing given to 
 the youth in our county houses. I have visited many of th.e 
 poor-houses myself, and have obtained authentic information by 
 correspondence, from many others, and from all this I think I am 
 warranted in saying that out of the 3,000 children slieltered in 
 them, only a very small fraction, a mere drop in the bucket, ob- 
 tain an education that will be of the slightest use to them in 
 getting a living, or in making useful members of society. In 
 many cases the teacher is a pauper, generally an old drunkard, 
 whose temper is soured and whose intellect is debased, and who 
 spends the school hours in tormenting, rather than in teaching 
 his pupils. In many of these schools there is no book except the 
 Testament to be found, no slates, pens or paper. In some coun- 
 ties not a dollar has been expended in text books or stationery 
 since the county system has been adopted. Under such circum- 
 stances the n\me of school is a mere farce. 
 
 There are between five and six hundred children bound out 
 -every year from the poor-houses under the authority of the super- 
 iiiitendents of the poor. 
 
 There is always a stipulation in the indentures for a certain 
 amount of education fur each child, or, raore properly, that the 
 child should have a certain number of months', schooling during 
 each year of its apprenticeship. It is of course impossible for a 
 private person like myself to acquire accurate information in re- 
 lation to the fidelity with which this stipulation is fulfilled. 
 What I could do I have done. I have made personal inquiries of 
 the superintendents of many counties, and have sought informa- 
 tion extensively by correspondence. I do not recollect more than 
 two or three who had ever made a single inquiry on the subject, 
 or who knew whether the children so bound out ^re sent to 
 
 No. bound out. 
 
 In the year 1848, 
 
 306 
 601 
 
 818 
 972 
 873 
 
 do 1849, 
 
 do 1850, 
 
 do 1851, 
 
 do 1852, 
 
No. 72.] m 
 
 school or not, and in these few cases there was no pretence that 
 the inquiries had been systematic or thorough. I have tound 
 many children bound out by the superintendents who never re- 
 ceived one liour's education during tlieir apprenticeship, and 
 who, at the age of twenty- one, were cast loose on the w^orld no 
 better than the heathen. How can children brought up in this 
 way be expected to become anythhig else than criminals or pau- 
 pers, and the fathers and mothers of criminals and paupers'? 
 They have no ambition to acquire property, and if they had, they 
 have no means to acquire it. They cannot enter into trade, 
 because in order to do this with any success they must be able to 
 read, write and cypher, and this they cannot do. We have shown 
 before that the mere laborer, who has nothing but bodily strength 
 to sell in the market, cannot save anything from his wages, his 
 pay is too small, and his employment too precarious to permit it, 
 and every year adds to this precariousness. A single seed of 
 Canada thistle planted in a field will bear a full sized plant, which, 
 in its turn will bear seeds from which new plants will spring, and 
 thus a field, once fertile, will become filled with these noxious 
 plants. Just so with the 3,000 children in our poor-houses, and 
 with the 600 who are annually bound out. Each one of these is 
 a seed of pauperism, which will bear plants that will again bear 
 seed, and in time will overrun the State with a burden of pauper- 
 ism and crime, which it will be utterly unable to bear. This is a 
 cause of the increase of pauperism, which is plain and taDgible, 
 and which can be understood by every one; I therefore commend 
 it to your most serious consideration. 
 
 (No. 9. ) 
 
 To the Hon. Elias W. Leavenworth, Secretary of State elect of 
 the State of Jfew- York ; 
 
 Eighth. — The increasing prevalence of insanity is a fruitful 
 cause of the increase of pauperism. The number of pauper luna- 
 tics in this State for the last five years, is given in the following 
 table : 
 
 LuEatios. Idiota. 
 
 1848, 698 319 
 
 1849, 1,036 297 
 
 V 1850, 1,121 297 
 
 1851,.., 1,103 230 
 
 1852, 1,522 461 
 
aft 
 
 [Senate 
 
 I do not know that it is"p<issible for the increase of insanity to: 
 be checked by legislation, but its power to increase pauperism 
 may be very greatly diminished. You know, sir, that insanity is 
 one of ihe most curable of diseases, if submitted to treatment in 
 its eai'licL^t stages; but the most incurable, if neglected for any 
 considerable time after its commencement. The result of a most 
 ample experience on this subject you will fLixd detailed in Dr. 
 Earle's History and Statistics of Bioomingdale Asylum, and the 
 volumes of the Journal of Insanity. Many of the insane paupers 
 in our poor houses have been there for years, and will probably 
 remain there for life. Had they been sent to an asylum at the 
 first outbreak of the disorder, they mlglxt in a great majority of 
 cases have been cared in a few months, and, instead of swelling 
 the catalogue of our paupers, they would now be earning their 
 own living. From the report of Thomas R. Hazard, alluded to* 
 in a former letter, 1 take the following statement : " By the sta- 
 tistics contained in this report, it may be seen that the average 
 time that ten of the insane paupers now at their asylum (poor 
 house) have been maintained by the town of Newport, is more 
 than 25 years — thus showing that the town has been put to a 
 charge for the sapport ot ten persons only, of probably not less 
 than $12,000.00. Now, there can be but little doubt that a large 
 proportion of these cases would have early recovered, had the 
 subject of them be sent to a good curative hospital, in the very 
 earliest slages of their malady." This statement brings to my 
 mind a case of an insane pauper, that I saw in the Newport poor 
 house above metitioned, in the summer of 1851. He was cast in 
 a gigantic mould, and his strength corresi)onded v/ith his stature. 
 Coarse in his feelings, and his appetites his great glory, — the 
 highest aim of his existence was to whip every one with whom he 
 came in contact, and he generally did whip them. Being natur- 
 ally quarrelsome and ill-natured, he was a nuisance in the town 
 where he lived — a perfect pest of society. At length this Goliah 
 met with a David who overcame him. He insulted a little wry 
 fellow, who resented the insult, and was not at all cast down or 
 intimidated by the appearance of his burly antagonist. They 
 fought, and Goliah was thoroughly beaten, — threshed within an 
 inch of his life, and compelled to slink away like a dog detected 
 
No. 73.] 89 
 
 in sheep stealing, I do not know whether it was in consequence 
 of mortiflciition at his defeat by so iiisignificant an opponent, or of 
 blows on the head received during (he combat, but he immedia-- 
 tely became insane and was removed to the poor Louse. 
 
 I have visited some of the lunatic asylums of our country, again 
 and again, and supposed I was pretty familiar with every phase 
 of insanity, but, when I sav; this man, I felt that I knew nothing 
 about the matter. Such continuous hyena like fury as I saw in 
 him, I did not suppose could. possibly exist in anything wearing 
 the lineaments of a man. It was more safe to enter the den of a 
 lion or a tiger, than to enter his den; his screams were constant 
 and frightful, and the blows which he struck against the side of 
 his apartment were tremendous; sometimes he would inflict blows 
 on his own forehead for half an hour together, so violent you 
 wondered that the skull was not cracked; in fact there w^as a 
 tough callous raised on his forehead nearly an inch thick, io con- 
 sequence of them. The authorities were humane men, and rather 
 than keep him chained, they built a cag$ of timbers some thirty 
 feet by twenty, in which he might safely take ai!, and exercise, 
 and sunshine. Yet everything human seemed entirely extin- 
 guished within Ivim; nothing but tlie brute remained. Well, sir, 
 when the Eutler asylum was organized in Rhode Island, this ap- 
 parently hopeless case was sent there, I believe through the inter- 
 vention of Miss Dix, and, astonishing to relate., after a residence 
 there of about a year, he was cured ! The order, the quiet, the- 
 humane feelings which permeate the whole atmosphere of the 
 place, had worked a wondrous change in his whole nature. When 
 he returned to society he was a vastly better man, and now earns 
 a comfortable living, and is a respectable member of society. If 
 there was hope for him, there is hope for all. Our laws are good 
 enough upon this point. They contain ample provision for trying 
 the benefit of a good asylum for every recent case of insanity 
 among the poor, but the difficulty is, the superintendents of the 
 poor do not avail themselves of its provisions. At least $100,000 
 are annually expended in this State for the support of the insane 
 poor. I am confident $60,000 might be annually saved to the tax 
 payers, if the county superintendents would act in accordance 
 with the spirit of ihe law. In looking over what I have written^ 
 
90 
 
 [Senate 
 
 I find, to US8 the lawyer's phrase, my proof does not exactly sus- 
 tain ray declaration. Let me, therefore, avail myself of the pro- 
 visions of the New Code and amend it, ?o that both may corres- 
 pond, and state as the 8th cause of the increase of pauperism, the 
 neglect of the county superintendents to avail themselves of the 
 curative means provided by law for the insane poor, and by such 
 neglect they increase the number of paupers. If you can procure 
 any improvement in this matter, you will enrol yourself in the 
 rank of a great public benefactor. 
 
 Yours, &c., FIlANKLm. 
 
 (ISo. 10.) 
 
 To the Hon, Elias W. Leavknworth, Secretary of State of tJie 
 
 State of Mew York: 
 
 Kinth — Indiscriminate private alms-giving is a frightful source 
 of the increase of pauperism. ' 
 
 I have already called your attention to the report of the New- 
 York Society for improving the condition of the poor. You will 
 lind in these most full and ample details on this subject, and how- 
 ever much this proposition may be opposed to your preconceived 
 ideas, I think you will acknowledge that these reports fully de- 
 monstrate that indiscriminate alms-giving increases pauperism. 
 There is a class of meu and women, too, to whom the exercise of 
 any faculty requiring a llrm will and a decided purpose is per- 
 fectly intolerable; they will do anything, and sulfer anything, 
 rather than form a plan of action, and adhere* perseveringly to 
 it. It is a large class, much larger than most people are aware oj'. 
 They are " waiters on Providence," to borrow a phrase from 
 €romwellian times. They are always waiting for something to 
 turn up, as w^e are told by Mr. Dickens. Such people will work 
 rather than starve, hut give them the least encouragement — let 
 them get the least glimpse of a chance of access to the fountains 
 of charity, and they bid farewell to labor at once and forever. 
 You and I, sir, would greatly prefer to shoulder our pick-axes 
 and w^ork on a railroad, till our sinews cracked, than stand all 
 day in the streets of a city exposed to all weathers, and mutely 
 
No. 72 ] 
 
 91 
 
 beg with outstretclied hand as some do, or with a canting whice, 
 as do others. But this chiss of men really do enjoy it. They 
 are contented lo live on the industry of others all their days, and 
 to bequeath the trade of beggary to their chikh^en after them. 
 It is very common for them to spend the pleasant season of sum 
 mer in the streets of our large cities, where they can procure 
 enough by begging diu'ing the day to procure the means of feast- 
 ing and revelry for the night. When winter comes they quietly 
 transfer themselves to the county liouse, there to remain until 
 the first fine days of spring allure them to their wonted haunts. 
 This system of private alms-giving tends to fc)stcr pauperism. 
 By weakening the principle of frugality, the encouragement of 
 early and thoughtless marriages; the bringing up of cliildren 
 with examples of indolence and inactivity continually before their 
 eyes, and habituating them to hypocrisy, lying and carelessness, 
 weakening the natural dependence and affection of parent, chil- 
 dren and other relatives. A child brought up in this way really 
 cannot get a living- -they cannot even try; they would no more 
 think of making the effort than they would think of climbing 
 upwards to the moon. This is no exaggerated language ; it is 
 the sober statement of simple truth. We may form some idea of 
 the advantage to be derived from the abolition of private alms- 
 giving by what resulted in England from the enactment of the 
 new poor law in 1834. Under the old system out-door relief was 
 extended to the able-bodied paupers by the parish officers. By 
 the new law all relief was refused to the able-bodied except with- 
 in the walls of the work-house. The evils of partial relief by 
 parish officers are not as great as those arising from private 
 bounty, because these oflicers enjoy facilities for detecting impos- 
 ture which private persons cannot pretend to. Mr. Porter's 
 Progress of the Nation," vol. 2, p. 369, says, this law "has had 
 the effect, for the extent of which it is difficult fully to account, 
 in converting the idle to habits of industry." A letter written by 
 Mr. Woolly to Mr. Gueson, one of the assistant Poor Law Com- 
 missioners, says, in speaking of this abolition of out-door relief 
 to the able-bodied, " I wanted to talk to you on the almost magi- 
 cal effect I find produced by the new poor-laws in the South." 
 * * « « xii^j change has been made, and the efiect is more 
 
9» [Senate 
 
 than anj one could have hoped.". * * * "J have seen the 
 eflect OD the poor-rates, the cliaracter of the population, the ira-. 
 provement oi* (lie land— such a change! 1 have talked with all 
 sorts of* persons, of all sorts of opinions on other subjects, and 
 have heard but one opinion on this — that the measure has saved 
 the country. Let every man see the straight- forward walk, the 
 upright look of the laborer, as contrasted with what was before 
 seen at every step in those counties. The sturdy and idle nui- 
 sance has already become the useful and industrious member of 
 society. No man who has not looked well into human nature, 
 and the practical working of the wietehed system of pauperism, 
 can form an idea how ditferent is sixpence earned by honest in- 
 dustry and sixpence wrung from the pay-table of a parish officer. 
 I am fully convinced that the measure has doubled the value of 
 property in many parts of the kingdom. Th's is important ; but 
 pounds, shillings and pence will not measure the value of the 
 change in character wiiicli is already visible, and which I am 
 w^ell convinced will develope itself more and more.^' 
 
 Such are the results of English experience, and I have no doubt 
 if means could be found to arrest begging and private alms-giving, 
 greater benefits than even these would follow in this country. 
 There is no doubt that it can be done if the popular will is 
 brought strongly to bear upon it. Count Ramford elected it per- 
 fectly in Bavaria, with great pecuniary saving to the public, and 
 great amelioration of the condition of the poor, and what he could 
 eHect io that country, is surely not beyond our j»ower, if we 
 steadily apply our energies to effect it. 
 
 (No. 11. ) 
 
 Tenth — Pauperism is increased by the change which has taken 
 place in the habits and feelings of the poor. 
 
 By this, I mean that the poor are less independent than they 
 were twenty years ago. They are more inclined to calculate sys- 
 tematically on relief from the public chest. In 183 J th<:rewasa 
 
Wo. 72.] 
 
 93 
 
 strong repugnance ou the part of the poor to go to the County 
 house, or to accept public relief in any form. It was astonishing 
 to see what suffering they would undergo, rather than become a 
 public charge, and it was no less astonishing to witness the extent 
 to which they carried the science of frugality. They struggled 
 hard and perseveringly to acquire a little, and that little they con- 
 trived should supply them with a great many necessaries. They 
 knew how to mend, and darn, and turn their clothes, and when 
 all this had been done to its utmost extent, they contrived to alter 
 them so that they would answer for their children ; when these in 
 their turn had worn them, until all the resources of patching, 
 mending, and turning, were exhausted, they would cut them into 
 carpet rags and sell them, and thus make thera contribute to the 
 purchase of a new suit, In the spring they would dig,dandelions 
 and gather water cresses, in the summer gather berries, in thef^iU 
 nuts, and in winter they would knit stockings, make toy brooms, 
 or do anything whatever to earn a six-pence. Every cat was 
 made to catch a rat, and every kitten a mouse.^' Things have 
 greatly changed now. I do not mean that this feeling of indepen- 
 dence has utterly deserted every poor person — Heaven forbid that 
 I should be guilty of such indiscriminate slander. I know there 
 are those who would never cast themselves on the public bounty 
 until every personal resource was utterly exhausted. But it is of 
 the poor in the aggregate that I speak— of the class— and of the 
 class, the remarks are but too true. They are more w^asteful now, 
 they have less forecast, less sense of shame in living on the pub- 
 lic. If they have plenty to-day, they will live riotously, forgetful 
 that they have no assurance of a supply for the morrow ; and, 
 when that morrow's sun rises upon them without provision for its 
 necessities, they feel no contrition that what was wasted yester- 
 day would have been ample for the supply of to-day.. They have 
 no shame in going out to beg — they will whine and grovel before 
 those from whom tliey expect relief, and if they are unsuccessful, 
 will feign sickness, that they may have an order from the poor- 
 master. 
 
 The lack of proper independence of feeling is strikingly exem- 
 plified in the conversations of the poor in our County Houses. It 
 
94 [Senate 
 
 is uot uncommon to hear ihem discussing the merits of the Poor 
 Houses in different rarts of tlie State, just as fashionable travel- 
 lers discuss the merits of the Ocean House at Newport, or the 
 United States at Saratoga. At this house, there are poor accommo- 
 dations—nothing is to be got but mush and potatoes — they would 
 never recommend a friend to stop at such a place. At another, 
 they maka you work, and this cannot be endured. At another, 
 the fare is pretty good, but then, they give you no tobacco. Such 
 a place is first rate ; the pork is fat, the beef is tender, and then 
 you get plenty of cabbage and onions, and have nothing to do. I 
 once heard a pauper praising one of our County Houses in the 
 most enthusiastic terms ; it had all the above enumerated advan- 
 tages, and more to boot ; it was in the vicinity of a tavern and a 
 blacksmith's shops; the paupers could get mon^y enough at these 
 places, by holding horses, and such cdd jobs, to keep them half 
 drunk the whole time. This came nearer to a heaven upon earth 
 than anything he had ever heard of; and he informed me, when 
 spring came, and traveling was pleasant, he meant to go back and 
 end his days there. All this was told me in the most business-like 
 manner imaginable, and without the slightest consciousness on his 
 part that there was anything odd or improper in what he was saying. 
 They look upon County Houses as places of rest and repose, in- 
 tended to shield them from effort and labor, and they can see no 
 reason why they should not avail themselves of their comforts with- 
 out scruple, as oftfen and as for long as it suits their convenience. 
 This is not so much a cause of pauperism as it is a result of other 
 causes. The great increase of foreign pauperism has had much 
 to do with it, they have leavened our native poor with their own 
 shiftless and dependent feelings. Private alms-giving, and the 
 careless granting of permits to the County House by the poor mas- 
 ter, has had a bad influence, by holding out a temptation to lean 
 on the public rather than on themselves. Formerly, the poor 
 masters were obliged to get an order from a justice, before they 
 could send a pauper to the County House, and the repeal of that 
 law, which now allows the poor masters to send people of their 
 own aCjCord to the County House, has done much to increase the 
 evil. I now bring the enumeration of the causes which have in- 
 creased, and are still increasing pauperism amongst us, to a close. 
 
No. 72.] M 
 
 There are yet others, perhaps more deeply radicated in human 
 nature than any that I have mentionedj but their discussion would 
 lead us into metaphysical speoulations, \vhichl dtsire, if possible, 
 to avoid. I\jy object has been to state nothing that is not suscep- 
 tible of proof, and to draw no inferences but such as minds un- 
 trained to the subtleties of reasoning may understand. If I am 
 successful in my aim, I trust tlie public mind will be so operated 
 on that you will find allies on every hand to aid you in the elfort 
 for reform, which I trust you will feel it your duty to put forth. 
 
 Yours, &C.5 
 
 FliANKLm. 
 
 ( No, 12. ) 
 
 To the Hon. Elias W, Leavenworth, Secretary of Slate of the 
 State cf J^ew- York: 
 
 II. We are now prepared to enter into the second branch of 
 our inquiry, viz : What abuses exist in the adminidraiion of our 
 Poor Laws ? We shall then eater upon the consideration of the 
 remedies to be applied. 
 
 First. It seems to me that the very great discrepancies in the 
 cost of supporting the poor in different counties, indicates a very 
 great mismanagement in some of them. Just compare the ave- 
 rage weekly co$t of supporting each pauper in the following par- 
 allel columns and note the contrast. The cost stated is an ave- 
 rage of six years : 
 
 County of Average weekly Coanty of Average i^eckly 
 
 eoet per head. cost per head. 
 
 Putnam, 27 cts. 3 m. Lewis, 60 cts. 6 m. 
 
 Orange,..,,;... 40 " 9" Herkimer, 70 " 3" 
 
 Columbia, 49 " 6 Dutchess, 66 " 4" 
 
 Albany, 61 " 2 « Rensselaer, 82 " 8 " 
 
 Tompkins....... 40 7 Cortland, 59 " 6" 
 
 Washington, 50 " 5 " Saratoga, 66 " 1 " 
 
 It is difficult to account for this wide difference in the expenses 
 of supporting paupers in these counties, except that the superin- 
 tendents are either incompetent or dishonest. Putnam county is 
 
§6 [Senate 
 
 near Kevr-York^ tlie roads are rough and steep, and there is every 
 natural reason vfhy living there should cost as much or ujorethan 
 it does in Lewis county, which is farther from market, more fer- 
 tile in soil, and where everything conspires to make living cheap, 
 yet it costs 42 cents 3 mills more per week to support a pauper 
 in the former than in the latter. Just so it is with Orange and 
 Herkimer. Why should a pauper cost 29 cents 4 mills more per 
 week in the one than in the other. Dutchess and Columbia are 
 adjoining counties and the expenses of living are as nearly alike 
 in both as possible, yet it costs sixteen cents 4 mills more to sup- 
 port a Dutchess county pauper than it does a Columbia county 
 pauper. 
 
 I have visited the poor houses in both Albany and Rensselaer 
 counties, and I am sure that the paupers live quite as comfortably 
 in Albany as they do in Rensselaer^ while Albany takes better 
 care of the sick and has more of tliem than Rensselaer, but the 
 latter pays 20 cents and 8 mills per head more than the former. 
 I have visited many of the poor houses in the State making minute 
 inquiries in regard to the management of them, and have carefully 
 sought tor information about others which I have not visited by 
 correspondence and by interviews with members of the Legisla- 
 ture. I cannot doubt that the main cause of the mal-ad ministra- 
 tion of the poor fund, is the unfitness of the men selected to ad- 
 minister them. You understand party tactics as well as most 
 men. You understand how nominating conventions are got to- 
 gether and how they are managed, and knowing this, you will not 
 be surprised that unfit men are selected for county superintend- 
 ents of the poor. Sometimes there are two or three candidates 
 for sheriff or member of Assembly. Unfortunately only one can 
 receive the nomination, but if the defeated candidates go away 
 with sore heads, they may defeat the election. They have influ- 
 ence, are good electioneerers, and have power to damage the party 
 serioasly if they are so disposed. To prevent this they are nom- 
 inated for something else, and more likely than otherwise, this 
 something else, will be superintendent of the poor. This office 
 is not sought for by men who wish to exercisa its powers and du- 
 ties for the welfare of tlie unfortunate objects committed to their 
 care, or for the advantage of the tax-payers ; these are the very 
 
No. 72.] 
 
 97 
 
 last things they think of. Their object is to make money — this 
 is the sum and substance of the matter. Nor is the question of 
 the special fitness of the candidates taken into consideration by 
 nominating conventions. The sole question there, is, how many 
 votes will he control? and how will his nomination affect other 
 portions of the ticket? Now since this is notoriously the case, 
 how can any one expect that fit men will be chosen. If you or 
 any other gentlemen have occasion to employ a clerk in your own 
 private business, you do not enquire into his capacity for hunting 
 muskrats, or making chowder, or into any qualification he may 
 possess for matters which have no relation whatever to the busi- 
 ness you design to employ him in. You seek to know if he writes 
 a legible hand — if he is expert in accounts-— if he is honest, and 
 if he is v/ell fitted in all respects for his occupation. After you 
 have fully ascertained all thiSj you may reasonably expect that 
 your man will suit you. But you would not expect to have a 
 good clerk if you took no pains to test his capabilities beforehand. 
 It is exactly so with superintendents of the poor. We do not 
 select men oa account of their qualifications ; in fact they are 
 often selected for their disqualifications, and therefore there can 
 be no surprise, if they turn out to be disqualified. 
 
 In general one of the superintendents is a country merchant and 
 two are farmers. The purchasing of the supplies is generally di- 
 vided among them thus : The merchant supplies the fi^h and gro- 
 ceries and clothing; one of the farmers supplies the meat, and the 
 other the miscellaneous articles. The merchant furnishes his 
 portion from his own store, at the highest retail prices, charging 
 for the very wrapper and twine in which the goods are enveloped. 
 The more he supplies the greater will be his profit. Since a pro- 
 digal use of the supplies enhanced his profits, he cannot be ex- 
 pected to labor very zealously to restrain waste and extravagance 
 on the part of the keeper. 
 
 The farmer who supplies the meat, purchases a lot of cattle fat 
 and lean together and has them, charged to himself at so much per 
 head. He takes two bills. The fat cattle are placed in one bill, 
 and the lean ones in the other. The one is made out in his pri- 
 vate name, the other of the thin ones, in his official name. Sup- 
 
 ( Senate, No. 72.] 7 
 
98 [Senatl 
 
 pose a lot of cattle of 40 head is worth from $10 to $20 each ; to 
 the seller it makes no difference whether they are sold at so much 
 each head within these limits, or whether the price is averaged at 
 $15 per head. The sum received by him is the same in either 
 case ; he gets $800, no more nor less. But it makes a great dif- 
 ference to the county, for it pays $400 for cattle that are only 
 worth $200, and the superintendent pays only $400 for cattle that 
 are worth $600, making $200 profit out of the county by the 
 transaction. I have been informed of this mode of dealing in so 
 many counties that I am led to believe the practice is a very com- 
 mon one. The superintendent charged with the purchase of the 
 supplies, manages in the same way, and "feathers his nest" by the 
 same method. Hence, though their vouchers are perfectly reg- 
 ular, the county pays much more for each article than it is really 
 worth. The whole thing is reduced to a regular system in most 
 of the counties of the State, and there is no one officially charged 
 with the investigation of their management except a committee of 
 the board of supervisors, who are not accountants by profession^ 
 and usually are incapable of detecting the errors in artfully con- 
 trived accounts, and therefore they escape detection. Undoubt- 
 edly there are many honorable exceptions to the rule. Among 
 our superintendents, some of them are I know as high-minded and 
 honorable men as the State affords, but they are the exceptions. 
 I do not pretend to enumerate all the modes by which the county 
 is defrauded, but what I have already stated will suffice to con- 
 vince you that a radical reform is imperatively demanded. 
 
 FRANKLIN. 
 
 (No. 13.) 
 
 To the Hon. Elias W. Leavenworth, Secretary of State of the 
 State of JVew-York: 
 Second — The architectural design and mechanical structure of 
 poor houses is very bad ; I scarcely think I should be guilty of 
 exaggeration if I say it is as bad as it can be. 
 
 Every one knows the difference in the expense of supporting 
 even a small family in a convenient and well arranpjed house, and 
 one that is inconvenient; twice as many steps must be taken to 
 do the same work; much time is lost in looking for things mis- 
 
No. 72.] 
 
 99 
 
 laid, as they are sure to be when no uniform place is provided 
 for them ; an ill contrived house is an obstacle to order, system 
 and comfort. If this be so in a small family, how greatly must 
 the rates of trouble and expense be increased when the family 
 consists of hundreds. 
 
 I have not seen all the poor houses in the State, but I have seen 
 many of them, and I can most truly declare that I have nevei 
 seen a well contrived building among them all. The almshouse 
 in the city of New-York is the only one that has anything like plan 
 or design about it, and that is planned very badly; the water closets 
 alone, I have been informed on good authority, cost $40,000^ 
 and they are perfect nuisances after all; better ones could have 
 been built for §400. This building was erected by the common 
 council and the old commissioners of the almshouse. Things are 
 managed better under the Ten Governors. You will probablj 
 make an official visit to BlackwelFs Island this summer. When 
 there, let me beg you to compare the almshouse and the workhouse 
 erected by the Ten Governors, and note the superior conveniences 
 of the latter establishment. You will find that all possible wants 
 of the inmates have been foreseen and provided for; a place is 
 arranged for everything; the rooms between which there will be 
 the most intercourse are placed contigmous to each other; all the- 
 rooms may be easily and conveniently inspected by the of&cerSj 
 and those requiring the most careful oversight are the most con^ 
 yeniently overlooked. This superior arrangement, you will easily 
 see, will be productive of great economy in supporting the estab« 
 lishment. After visiting the New- York Workhouse you will d€> 
 well to go through the Rensselaer county Poor-house, and yoii 
 will then understand better than I can tell you how much is lost 
 to the tax-payers of the State in consequence of the malconstroe* 
 tion of the poor-houses. , 
 
 There are other things to be thought of in building a house be- 
 sides mere convenience. Durability, warming and ventilating 
 are questions which very much alfect the economy of the institu- 
 tion. There is much of sham building to be seen in the State, but 
 in none is there so much unmitigated sham as in the countj 
 houses. It would appear that the sole object of the contriveis 
 was to get anything in the shape of a building, at the least pos^— 
 
100 
 
 [Senate 
 
 ble cost, without knowing or caring whetlier it was fit for the 
 purpose intended or not. These miserable shells take twice as 
 much fuel to warm them as they would if they were thoroughly 
 builtj and every year they require appropriations for repairs, 
 which form a large percentage on the original cost ; they are 
 thus very expensive, and never answer the purpose. Very few 
 of the poor-houses are furnished with scientific and economical 
 apparatus for warming. Usually the old stoves are retained, 
 which consume enormous quantities of fuel, roasting those in 
 their immediate neighborhood, while those at a little distance are 
 freezing. Much fuel is wanted, and nobody is comfortable. In 
 the year 1851 an improved mode of heating and ventilating by 
 steam was introduced into the Philadelphia almshouse; there 
 was a saving of 30 per cent in fuel the first year ; 30 per cent on 
 the fuel consumed in the poor-house of this State would amount 
 to no inconsiderable sum, and would be a great relief to tax-pay- 
 ers. As for ventilation, the thing is not thought of, as you will 
 be assured most feelingly if you visit them. The dormitories 
 early in the morning are dreadfully nauseous; I have often been 
 surprised when I have smelled them, that they are not visited by 
 the most malignant forms of pestilence. I have spoken of the 
 saving of fuel by the new plan of heating in the Philadelphia 
 almshouse ; I ought to add that ventilation of the most perfect 
 kind is effected by the apparatus as well as heating. The air is 
 now as sweet at midnight in the dormitories and hospitals as it is 
 at mid-day. 
 
 If you will support the poor with economy, convenient and 
 well planned buildings must be erected. They must be strong 
 and durable, and the most scientific plans for warming and ven- 
 tilating must be introduced. But it must be understood by boards 
 of supervisors that these things will cost money ; nothing should 
 be spent in decoration, but they should not hesitate to appropri- 
 ate a sum which shall be amvle to secure these objects, and a very 
 different class of men from those who generally fill t'ne ojSice of 
 county superintendents of the poor must be elected or the appro- 
 priation will be pretty sure to be wasted. 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 FRANKLIN. 
 
No. 72.] 
 
 101 
 
 (No. 14.) 
 
 To the Hon. Eli as W. Leavenworth, Secretary of State of the 
 
 State of Kew'York: 
 
 Third — Great loss arises from our ignorance of the true laws of 
 diet, and the most economical methods of preparing and cooking 
 food. 
 
 These letters have already been extended to a much greater 
 length than I expected when I began to write them, and I am 
 greatly oppressed with a fear that you will grow weary of the de- 
 tails embraced in them, and refuse to bestow on them any further 
 attention, but I must beg you to have patience yet a little 
 longer. The interests of vast numbers of paupers and tax payers 
 are involved in the questions discussed^ and I feel so fully satis- 
 fied that the measures of reform which I shall have the honor to 
 propose for your consideration will be productive of great benefit 
 to both these classes, that I am exceedingly anxious to put you in 
 full possession of ail the evils which that plan is calculated to 
 remedy. 
 
 Unless vou have paid more attention to questions connected 
 with food and diet than most men. you will be surprised at the 
 subject of this letter. You will no doubt think that the cheapest 
 mode of feeding the poor and the best modes of cooking their 
 food is as well settled as the laws of gravitation. This is far from 
 being the case. On the contrary, the whole subject lies in as 
 deep, though I trust not in as hopeless, obscurity as the discovery 
 of the longitude or the quadrature of the circle. I have con- 
 sulted every authority I have had accei^s to — written, printed and 
 verbal—- but I have never yet met with any decisive experiment 
 on the relative nutritive values of beef, pork and mutton, in any 
 book or manuscript whatever. Supposing such questions could 
 not have been overlooked at the army and navy departments, I 
 made personal application to the gentlemen presiding over them, 
 but was told that they knew of no experiments whatever; and, 
 in fact, until I made the inquiry, they had never given a single 
 thought to the subject. The question to be settled is simply this : 
 Suppose 100 lbs. of pork will keep a certain number of men a 
 given length of time in good health and in full strength. Will 
 
102 
 
 [Senate 
 
 100 lbs. of beef or 100 lbs. of mutton keep the same^number of 
 men for the same length of time in equal health and strength? 
 If there are differences, it is of great importance to ascertain the 
 •exact numerical expression of such difference, as it is only in this 
 way that we can make our purchases in the most economical 
 manner. For example, if we ascertain that 120 lbs. of beef and 
 140 lbs. of mutton are required to keep the game number of men 
 for the same length of time as 100 lbs. of pork, we have a clear 
 rule to guide our purchases. They will be equally cheap if the 
 price of pork is $10, beef $8.33, and mutton $7.13, per 100 lbs. 
 If either of these kinds of meat rises or falls abos^e or below the 
 price named, the price of the others remaining stationery, it is 
 cheaper or dearer than the others in proportion to the amount of 
 the rise and fall. Thus, if pork falls to $8 there is a saving of $2 
 per 100 lbs. in purchasing this meat in preference to the others. 
 There is the widest possible disagreement among men who have 
 liad the best practical opportunities for forming a judgment on 
 this question. I have conversed with more than an hundred 
 wardens of prisons and keepers of alms-houses, and I have scarcely 
 found two who agreed in their opinions. Some think there is no 
 difference between them; others think pork is by far the most 
 mutritive; others give the preference to beef; and others again to 
 mutton. I have been told by some that 100 lbs. of pork would 
 go as far as 150 lbs. of beef; while others have been quite as sure 
 that 100 lbs. of beef are equivalent to 120 lbs. of pork; and 
 others declare that 100 lbs. of beef are equivalent to 200 lbs. of 
 mutton. Then again, sir, we do not know whether paupers may 
 not be kept as well on a diet wholly vegetable. There are many 
 pauper establishments in Europe where no animal food whatever 
 is allowed. In Ireland there are not a dozen poor-houses where 
 meat is given from one year's end to the other. If this would 
 answer in our climate, the expenses of the poor-houses might be 
 •diminished 50 per cent at once. We cannot tell whether meat is 
 :most nutritive boiled, or roasted, or hashed, or made into soup. I 
 ' will give you the result of an experiment made to ascertain the 
 ^relative value of boiled and roasted potatoes, which will cast 
 r more light on the importance of these inquiries than anything I 
 • oouid say. 
 
No. 72.] 103 
 
 The inspector of prisons in Scotland caused 40 men to be se- 
 lected, as nearly equal to each other in size, health and strength, 
 as possible. They were divided into two classes, 20 men in each. 
 The dinner of one class consisted of 3 lbs. oi! roasted potatoes, and 
 the dinner of the other consisted of 3 lbs. of boiled potatoes. The 
 diet was the same in all other respects in both cases. At the end 
 of the experiment, after two months' trial, it was found that all 
 the prisoners on the boiled potato diet were in good health, and 
 had gained on an average 4 lbs. each. One prisoner, only, had 
 lost weight, amounting to 5 lbs 2 oz.; the greatest gain was 9 lbs. 
 4 oz. On the roasted potato diet the men were in good health, 
 but there had been an average loss of 1^ lbs. weight. The great- 
 est loss was 10 lbs. You perceive, sir, how important these ques- 
 tions are to the tax payers of the State. There are about 10,000 
 paupers in our poor-houses, nearly 2,000 prisoners in the State 
 prisons, and over 1 ,000 persons in our penitentiaries, making an 
 aggregate of 13,000 persons who are fed at the expense of the 
 State. Hence, if, in consequence of increased knowledge of the 
 relative value of different kinds of food, and the most economical 
 method of cooking, we could save a shilling a week, the annual 
 saving would be over $85,000. It is, I think, clearly the duty of 
 the State to institute experiments in our poor-houses and prisons. 
 By so doing, it would not only effect a saving for itself, but its 
 conclusions would be a great assistance to the poorer classes, and 
 enable them to save a great deal by knowing what is really 
 cheapest. 
 
 (No. 15. ) 
 
 To the Hon. Elias W. Leavenworth, Secretary of State of the 
 State of JVew- York: 
 
 Fourth. — No systematic action is had for making the labor of 
 paupers profitable. This difficulty is felt throughout the United 
 States, as will be seen by the following statement. Most of the 
 figures I have taken from the books of the several institutions, 
 and the remainder from authentic public documents. They refer 
 to the year 1851. 
 
10 i [Senate 
 
 Arerage annual 
 earniDge cf pau- 
 
 Alms Hoaae. pers, 1850. 
 
 Philadelphia, $171 
 
 Boston, 4 73 
 
 Suffolk county. Mass, J 145 
 
 Essex county, " • . . . » 4 53 
 
 Middlesex, ^< , , , 3 70 
 
 Wooster, ' « 6 20 
 
 Hampshire, " 3 20 
 
 Hampden, <• 2 90 
 
 Franklin, « 7 90 
 
 Berkshire, " 88 
 
 Norfolk, « 5 09 
 
 Bristol, « 4 35 
 
 Plymouth, « 4 46 
 
 Baltimore city, Maryland,. . , , • 10 18 
 
 Providence, Rhode Island, 16 37 
 
 Average of all the alms houses in New-York State,, . 3 15 
 
 You perceive that the average annual earnings of each pauper 
 in all the poor houses in the State of New-York was only $3.15, 
 while the average annual earnings of each pauper in the Provi- 
 dence alms house was $16.37. If our paupers had been as judi- 
 ciously managed as were the Providence paupers, one hundred 
 and eighteen thousand nine hundred and eighty dollars would 
 have been saved to the tax payers of the State. At the time 
 whe» Ais account of the average earnings of the Providence paupers 
 pers was taken, there was 136 in the house, of these 14 were insane 
 4 were too old for labor, 20 were sick and infirm, and 41 w^ere chil- 
 dren, making a total of 84 non -workers, and 52 workers, or 61 per 
 ct. of the first and 39 per ct. of the second. In 1852, 132,399 per- 
 sons were relieved and supporti?d in this State. The returns only 
 enable us to judge of the working abilities of 12659 93; of these 
 599 were idiots, 238 were insane, 311 w^ere blind; 1,888 were 
 lame, 15,535 were sick, 636 were decrepid, 2,699 too old to work 
 13,203 children, 45,463 whose condition is not given. If we sup- 
 pose half of these whose condition is not given are able to work, 
 we have 67,353 who are able to work, and 59,640 who are unable 
 to work, or 53 per cent able to work and 47 per cent unable to 
 
No. 72.] 
 
 105 
 
 work. You see, therefore, that while we have 14 per cent more 
 able bodied workers than thej have in Providence, their average 
 earnings are very nearly five times greater than ours ! These 
 facts tell their own story. In Providence the rule is that every 
 one able to work must work. If they have no profitable employ- 
 ment for them they set them at something which is not profitable, 
 at all events they must be kept employed. During my last visit 
 I saw a party of men carrying wood from one corner of the yard 
 to another and piling it there, when it was all removed it was 
 brought back again and piled in the old place; a rigid adherence 
 to this rule relieves Providence of all lazy drones, such as infest 
 our poor houses to a great degree. They are the last ones to 
 honor Providence with their presence, or if they do go there for a 
 few days, they speedily bid it an atfectionate adieu. Yet there is 
 no poor house in the United States where the paupers are as 
 luxuriously fed and as comfortably clothed as at Providence, with 
 the exception of Newport, in the same State, and Philadelphia. 
 
 The poor law commissioners have established it as an inflexible 
 rule throughout England, Wales and Ireland, that no relief what- 
 ever shall be given to any able bodied pauper without they per- 
 form a given task of work. The benefit of this rule both to the 
 pauper and the rate payer is established in these reports by the 
 strongest facts and arguments; J will not make quotations, but I 
 hope you will not fail to study these reports with care, I believe 
 you will find them all in the room over the law library in the 
 capitol at Albany, but if any are missing I shall be happy to sup- 
 ply you with them from my own library on your application to 
 »k. the editor of this paper. 
 
 The reason of our ill success in making pauper labor remune- 
 rative is plain enough, we have never tried to make it profitable. 
 Some men have a special faculty for making men labor profitably, 
 others have no such faculty, if we would have a reform in this 
 respect, we must begin by selecting men to manage the poor 
 houses who have this special faculty; he should receive a suffi- 
 cient remuneration for his services, and feel secure that every 
 change in politics should not dispossess him from his position. 
 Then he could devote himself to the task with vigor and with 
 
106 
 
 [Senate 
 
 hope, and we should soon see a change which would gladden the 
 heart of the tax payer and the philanthropist. I have great con- 
 fidence that our alms houses would then become very nearly self- 
 supporting institutions. As the result of careful inquiry, I am of 
 opinion that horticultural and agricultural labor are better adapt- 
 ed for children than any other. For winter employment some 
 trades easily learned may be followed. For children; knitting 
 socks and mittens for the younger, and the making of children's 
 shoes for the older, are employments as well adapted to their ca- 
 pacities, and are as profitable as any that I have found. The 
 boys at the Reform School, Boston, learn to make these shoes rea- 
 dily in a fortnight, and they readily turn off ten pairs in a day. 
 Seating cane chairs, making umbrella structures, covering trunks 
 are also well adapted for children. For adults I recommend mat 
 making from the husks of corn, straw hat making, spinning, knit- 
 ting, stone breaking for McAdamised roads, and pounding bones 
 for manure. Some of them discover an astonishing aptitude for 
 cutting and carving; these might be profitably employed in mak- 
 ing from bones, islet prickers, tooth picks, and similar articles, 
 while others might cut childrens' toys out of wood, make pill 
 boxes, match boxes, horse and fish nets, and other similar articles. 
 In short sir, there is no want of profitable employment, nothing 
 is wanted but the yight kind of men to set them about it, and to 
 keep them, at it. Truly yours, 
 
 FRANKLIN. 
 
 (No. 16.) 
 
 To the Hon. Elias W. Leavenworth, Secretary of State of the 
 State of Mew York. 
 
 Fifth — The children in the schools of our alms houses are very 
 ill-instructed.- 
 
 I have already sppken of this matter while considering 
 the causes of the increase of pauperism, which I have already 
 proved to exist, but I cannot pass over it without an allusion 
 while discussing the abuses which exist in the management of 
 our county poor houses. I beg to refer you to the statements 
 
No. 72.] 107 
 
 made in my ninth letter, and that you will re-peruse them care- 
 fully. When you have done so I think you will not accuse me 
 of speaking at randon when I pronounce our system, or rather 
 no system of pauper education a disgrace to the State, and a still 
 greater disgrace to those who are entrusted with its management. 
 This subject has a double claim to your attention. It comes with- 
 in your care as Superintendent of Common Schools as well as Se- 
 cretary of State, and I shall therefore feel greatly disappointed if 
 you do not adopt early and vigorous measures for its improve- 
 ment. 
 
 Sixth— The hospital department of our poor houses is, in gene- 
 ral, shamefully managed. 
 
 The general plan is for the superintendents to contract with 
 some country doctor to attend the poor house for a small compen- 
 sation, and one of his students generally does the work, in which 
 e tries divers experiments, no doubt highly conducive to his own 
 progress in science, but of more questionable advantage to the 
 health and comfort of the patients. The amount paid for medi- 
 cine and medical attendance last year was $13,275.20, being an 
 average of $255 for each county, and includes not only the ex- 
 pense of the poor house hospital, but the medical attendance and 
 medicine for the out-door poor. After this statement of niggard- 
 liness in dealing with physicians, you will be the less surprised 
 when I assure you that 30 per cent. — nearly one-third of the in- 
 mates of our poor-houses — die annually. The exact statement for 
 the year 1852 is as follows :— Average number in all the poor- 
 houses of this State during the year, 11,603. The number of 
 deaths was 2,967, or nearly 26 per cent. As a point of compari- 
 son with other institutions, let me assure you that the mortality 
 of all the hospitals in the city of Paris is only 10 per cent on an 
 average of 10 years. And the percentage, be it carefully remem- 
 bered, is founded wholly on sick persons coming into them, 
 while the percentage on our alms houses abov^e given is founded 
 on the sick and well together. If the calculation was based on 
 the same principles as in the Paris hospitals the average would be 
 at least 40 per cent. In other wordi the chances of mortality 
 are four times greater in our poor-houses than in the Paris hospi- 
 
108 
 
 I Senate 
 
 tals. This, Mr. Secretary, is a burning shame and a withering 
 disgrace. It would confer immortal glory on you if you should 
 succeed in wiping it out. There are scarcely any of the poor 
 houses provided with surgical instruments, or even the most com- 
 mon hospital apparatus, such as injection syringes, bed pans, sto- 
 mach pumps, &c. In some cases the physician lives three or four 
 miles from the poor-house, and in case of severe wounds the pa- 
 tient might die before the doctor got there and had collected the 
 necessary instruments and apparatus. 
 
 Seventh — There is no classification in our poor-houses. 
 
 The poor of all classes and colors, all ages and habits, partake 
 of a common fare, a common table, and a common dormitory. 
 The poor widow who has occupied a respectable position in so- 
 ciety, and who has been accustomed to the decencies and ameni- 
 ties of polished, intelligent and christian society, but in conse- 
 quence of pecuniary misfortunes in her declining years, is com- 
 pelled to resort to the poor house, finds herself seated at the table 
 with a negro wench on one side of her and a filthy prostitute on 
 the other. She sleeps in the same room with the degraded and 
 the outcast, and is compelled the whole day to associate on equal 
 terras, and to listen to the obscene and disgusting languarge of 
 creatures who are utterly revolting to her feelings. Such a wo- 
 man undergoes a daily martyrdom. To call such relief a public 
 charity is a misnomer and a satire. It would be more charitable 
 (were It not contrary to the divine law) to shut them in a close 
 room in which several pans of charcoal were burning. The fare 
 and the accommodations which prove so revolting to this class is 
 a perfect luxury to another. Many of the inmates never lived 
 so well in their lives, and never enjoyed half the conveniences 
 and luxuries that are afforded them in the poor houses of New- 
 York. Paupers ought to be elassiiied, and the several classes 
 kept strictly separate. No tax-payer would object to the comfor- 
 table support of the unfortunate a ad virtuous poor, while all 
 would protest against offering inducements to the lazy, idle and 
 vicious to throng our poor houses by giving them comforts supe- 
 rior to what they have ever enjoyed before. 
 
No. 72.] 
 
 109 
 
 Eighth — I have already alluded to the insane poor. I have 
 only to add that tlie treatment of this class in some of our poor 
 houses is well calculated to call forth all the indignant eloquence 
 of Miss Dix. I cannot extend these letters by describiog scenes 
 of horror among the insane in our county poor houses, that I my- 
 self have witnessed. But I may remark that it is not more than 
 six years since in the poor house of Columbia county, the insane 
 slept in a cellar where the green mould covered the walls. Their 
 beds were rougli boxes of filthy straw, and they were not allowed 
 bed-clothing lest they should tear it. Things are better now, but 
 in all our poor-houses, the besom of reform finds wide scope for 
 its actiun. 
 
 (No. 17.) 
 
 To the Hon. Elias W. Leavenworth, Secretary of State of the 
 State of Jfew- York : 
 
 My letters have swelled to such an unexpected length that I 
 
 dare not trespass on your patience and the patience of my readers 
 
 with any farther detailed statements of the abuses existing in the * 
 
 administration of our poor laws. I therefore waive any further 
 
 exposition of these abuses, and proceed to explain the course that 
 
 I deem most proper to adopt, in order to provide a remedy for 
 
 them. 
 
 Before doing so, however, I deem it advisable to call your at- 
 tention to a few general principles which are proper to be con- 
 sidered, and which will cast much light upon our pathway. 
 
 I have somewhere seen a classification of paupers in the follow- 
 ing terms : " The Godly poor, the devilish poor, and the poor 
 devils." I do not admire its irreverence and its flippancy; but 
 it must nevertheless be confessed, that it gives a more graphic 
 idea of the actual classes existing among the poor in fewer words 
 than any form of expression I have ever met with. It does not 
 include all who receive relief from the public purse, but it does 
 the great mass. It is the general rule, but like all other general 
 rules, it pre-supposes exceptions. 
 
 There is but one feeling in the community in relation to the 
 Godly poor. Professing christians look on them as a legacy of 
 
110 
 
 [Senate 
 
 their crucified and risen Lord, and rejoice to testify their sense of 
 gratitude and love to him for the inestimable benefits which he 
 has conferred upon them by his sulfering and death, by contribut- 
 ing of their substance to the necessities of those who are their 
 fellow heirs of the same faith, and fellow partakers in the same 
 precious promises. Nor is this feeling confined to professing 
 christians alone. Those who are most careless of the claims of 
 religion, and those who are even most hostile to the christian 
 faith, concur in their willingness and even desire, that this class 
 should be comfortably provided for, that their temporal necessities 
 should be liberally supplied, and that their feelings should be 
 spared every unnecessary wound. Their uncomplaining meek- 
 ness, their reverend demeanor, and their deep and affectionate 
 gratitude for kindness rendered to them, overcome the most sel- 
 fish hearts with pnty, and dispose the most mercenary to contri- 
 bute to the alleviation of their sufferings. Were there no other 
 classes among the poor of the land, there would be no necessity 
 for governmental interference, or for any provisions for compul- 
 sory relief. The christian and philanthropic feelings of the com- 
 munity would lead to an abundant supply of all their wants. 
 
 The " devilish poor" form a most unlovable class. A portion of 
 them are most disgusting hypocrites 3 they have words of godli- 
 ness on their lips, but malice and all evil in their heart. They 
 lie, cheat, and swindle at every opportunity. They are lazy, in- 
 temperate, and vicious. There is no strong anxiety on the part 
 of the community to pamper the appetites of the " devilish poor," 
 nor no anxious solicitude about the softness of their beds, or the 
 fineness of their linen. It must be confessed that such anxiety 
 and solicitude, if it existed, were misplaced. Such as these de- 
 serve no sympathy or extra care; if it were extended to them, it 
 would offer a premium to idleness, and discourage those who are 
 industriously supporting their families by dint of slightly recom- 
 pensed toil. But we must be just, even to the " devilish poor." 
 They are generally the offspring of idle and dissolute parents — 
 they were never trained to habits of order, industry, or thrift — 
 they never saw the interior of a church or school — never listened 
 to the voice of kindness or affection — nor never witnessed self- 
 denial or struggling against temptation in any of their associates. 
 
No. 72.] 
 
 Ill 
 
 How can they be expected to be better than tliey are when we 
 remember the disastrous influences to which they have been ex- 
 posed from infancy 1 
 
 The "poor devils" are not generally disliked; they are good 
 natured, careless, and amusing. They lish and shoot; are always 
 on hand on all occasions when a crowd assembles; they are 
 knowing men at horse-races, are the most delighted spectators at 
 general trainings, are the most noisy of patriots at elections, are 
 far more faithful in their attendance at bar-rooms than at church, 
 are far more familiar with cards and dominoes than with their 
 bibles. When they go to the poor house, few begrudge them 
 * their support; most tax-payers feel a sort of pleasure and com- 
 placency that such a place is provided for them where they may 
 whistle and sing, and tinally sink into their graves without suf- 
 fering the pangs of hunger and want. Yet this class, in general, 
 deserves less pity than the " devilish poor." They have mostly 
 been better educated, and entered upon life better fitted to grap- 
 ple with its " infinite toil and endeavor." They have never de- 
 liberately dedicated themselves to idleness. Their choice be- 
 tween industry and shiftlessuess has been more deliberate. I 
 have noticed these three classes for the purpose of calling your 
 attention to an attribute common to them all. It is a want of 
 something, which the masses speak of as " having no faculty." 
 Many of them are willing to work, but have not brains enough to 
 make their work remunerative. Like Mr. Macawber, they are 
 always waiting for " something to " tm-n up." They have no 
 forethought, hence what they have to sell is sold in the cheapest 
 market and what they buy is always purchased in the dearest. 
 Yours truly, FRANKLIN. 
 
 ( No. 18. ) 
 
 To the Hon, Eli^^s W. Leavenworth, Secretary of State of the State 
 
 of J^eW'York: 
 
 III. I now proceed to speak of some of the measures, which in 
 my opinion would tend to diminish the evils complained of. 
 
 First. — We have seen that the most of the evils complained of 
 have arisen either (a) from a want of proper powers conferred on 
 
112 
 
 [Senate 
 
 poor law officers, (6) from mal-admiuistration of those powers, (c) 
 from ignorance of the true principles on which their powers should 
 be exercised, and which ignorance arises, not from negligence on 
 their part, but from neglect of the State to investigate and ascer- 
 tain the facts necessary to be known, (d) from the want of an 
 intelligent central supervision, (c) from the want of a uniform and 
 reliable system of accounts, (/) by frequent changes of officers, 
 by which the whole body of poor law officers are continually 
 learning their busin^ess, and as soon as it is learned, they are dis- 
 charged and others taken as apprentices. What we want then is, 
 to frame a body of poor law, whicli shall obviate these and all 
 other difficulties, and introduce such other positive improvements 
 as shall provide for the comfortable maintenance of the virtuous 
 and unfortunate poor — for the employment of the idle, and lazy, 
 and shiftless poor — for the rapid and efficient cure of the sick and 
 disabled poor— for the education and industrious training of poor 
 children, and for aiding and encouraging industry among the poor, 
 who are not as yet the subjects of public charity. In other words, 
 we wish the Government to imitate the dealings of Divine Provi- 
 dence, and act as its agent in relation to the poor of the land. — 
 To accomplish this purpose a uniform, coherent, and intelligible 
 system must be devised. It must be a whole — complete in all its 
 parts—each member working in entire harmony with all the 
 others, to produce a definite and foreseen result. No patching of 
 our present poor laws will answer this purpose. You must per- 
 ceive we must begin at the beginning, and with a comprehensive 
 and intelligent grasp of all the details of the question, enact a 
 complete code which shall accomplish the desired result. For 
 this purpose my first recommendation is, that the Legislature shall 
 appoint a commission of three persons, whose duty it diall be to 
 visit all the poor houses in the State, carefully examine the con- 
 dition of each, the number and condition of the paupers, the food 
 and diet given them, the condition of the insane, the education of 
 the children, the mode of keeping accounts, and in short all the 
 details of their management. They shall also investigate, as far 
 as they may be able, the causes of pauperism, and the best mode of 
 repressing it. They should also be required to visit and examine 
 some of the best institutions for the relief of the poor in the large 
 
No. 72.] 
 
 113 
 
 cities of the northern States, and make a diligent examination of 
 the poor laws of all the States. In addition to this they should 
 procure from the consuls of the United States, through the Secre- 
 tary of the U. S., such information in relation to the poor laws of 
 the places where they reside, and the, operation of such laws in 
 diminishing pauperism, as it may be in their power to furnish. 
 After procuring this information they should then proceed to 
 prepare a code of poor laws for this State, which should be best 
 adapted in their judgment to accomplish the end in view. If the 
 expense of three commissioners should be objected to, I should be 
 perfectly willing to confine it to one, provided that one was John 
 C Spencer. I know of no other single man in the State who I 
 consider fully competent to perform the task in a manner per- 
 fectly satisfactory. 
 
 Second — In case such a commission is appointed, I would re- 
 commend for their consideration the election of a central poor 
 board, to be composed of a State Superintendent of the poor, to be 
 elected by the county superintendents of the poor — this officer in 
 conjunction with the Secretary of State and the State Engineer to 
 form the poor law board. All rules and regulations adopted by 
 the county superintendents for the government of the county poor 
 houses, should be submitted to them for examination and ap- 
 proval. This board should devise a uniform system of keeping 
 the accounts of poor houses, and have power to change them from 
 time to time. They should also prescribe the form of the annual 
 reports of the county superintendents. No county should here- 
 after build a county house, or make any repairs beyond 
 
 dollaf s, without obtaining the approval of the central board of the 
 plan for such building or repairs. The board should acquaint 
 themselves with the best plans for building such houses, and 
 should be required to furnish plans on application of the county 
 superintendents. 
 
 (No. 19.) 
 
 To Elias W. Leavenworth, Secretary of State elect, of the State 
 of Jfew- York : 
 
 This Central Board, the organization of which I recommended 
 in my last letter, should provide for a regular and thorough sys- 
 [Senate, No. 72.] 8 
 
114 
 
 [Senate 
 
 tern of experiments, to ascertain the best and most economical 
 methods of feeding the poor ; this will include the relative and 
 absolute values of different articles of diet, with respect to econo- 
 my and healthful ness. The State Superintendent of the Poor 
 should visit every poor house annually, and audit the accounts of 
 the keeper and county superintendent. From this latter provi- 
 sion I anticipate the most marked and valuable results. 
 
 Third. — Six persons should be elected as county superintend- 
 ents ot (he poor. The office of poor master should be abolished, 
 and their duties devolved on the supervisors. The county su- 
 perintendent should be invested with all the authority that the 
 poor masters now possess. We have seen that many of the abuses 
 now existing have their origin in the bad selection of men to fill 
 the station of county superintendents, and that this mal-selection 
 IS caused almost inevitably by the manner of their selection. 
 Unless this is changed, we cannot hope for improvement. I have 
 already discussed the evils of party sele<;tion for this office, in my 
 13th letter, and shall add no more in this connection, other than 
 to ask you to refresh your recollection by a re-perusal of that let- 
 ter. I propose that, in the first instance, each elector shall ballot 
 for three persons to fill the office of county superintendents of 
 the Poor, and that the six persons having the greatest number of 
 votes shall be declared elected ; these six persons to divide them- 
 selves into three classts, by lot, immediately after election; the 
 first class to hold office for two years, the second for four, and the 
 third for six. Thereafter, at the end of every second year, two 
 persons to be chosen as above (only each elector will vote for one 
 person, and the two having the greatest number of votes, to be 
 elected, and to hold their office for six years.) Tnis plan is not 
 inconsistent with existing analogies. The Governors of the Alms 
 House in the city of New- York are now so elected, and the In- 
 spectors of elections are also chosen in the same way. The alms- 
 house department in New- York has worked admirably under this 
 system ; a great saving in expense has accrued to the city, the 
 prisoners and paupers are vastly better managed, discipline is 
 maintained efficiently and without severity, and all the desirable 
 objects of the establishment are now nearly accomplished. The 
 constant changes in the heads of departments which formerly 
 
No. 72.] 115 
 
 took place at every fluctuation of politics, prevented any interest 
 being taken by the respective wardens, superintendents, and 
 keepers, in the good management of their departments. It was 
 the prevalent idea that as soon as they qualiJBied themselves for 
 their offices, and got their affairs in good order, some one would 
 step in and reap all the advantages of their labors. They therefore 
 took no pains about the matter, enjoyed their salaries and perqui- 
 sites, (which were the most precious morsels in the whole affair,) 
 and left the public interests committed to their care to take care of 
 themselves, or go without care. There is nothing of this kind 
 now ; parties may fluctuate as they will, but no efficient and faith- 
 ful officer is turned out of his place on account of his politics. 
 Hence, under the intelligent supervision of the Ten Governors, 
 each man labors to perfect the details of his department, in full 
 confidence that he will receive full credit for all the improvements 
 he may introduce, and all the efficiency he may manifest. They 
 now have a motive to discharge their duties faithfully, and this 
 motive is in general strong enough to secure their fidelity. 
 
 Another part of the New -York system is well worthy to be in- 
 corporated into the proposed general code. The Ten Governors 
 only appoint the superintendents and clerks of the departments. 
 The superintendents appoint all subordinate officers, and thus are 
 enabled to secure their prompt obedience and faithful co-opera- 
 tion. If anything goes wrong, the Governors look for redress 
 solely to the superintendent, who is responsible for everything to 
 them, as the inferior officers are responsible to him. This plan 
 works exceedingly well in practice, and I would not hesitate for 
 a moment to incorporate a provision into the proposed law, that 
 every keeper of a county poor house should have the selection of all 
 inferior employees required for the management of the institution. 
 If commissioners are appointed by the State for a revision of the poor 
 laws, I would strongly recommend to them a very minute study of 
 the system pursued in the New- York Alms House department. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 FRANKLIN. 
 
116 
 
 I Sei^ate 
 
 (No. 20.) 
 
 To the Hon. Eli as W. Leavenworth, Secretary of State of the 
 State of JVew- Yoi'k: 
 
 I must not forget to mention that my testimony to the excel- 
 lence of the Ten Governors system refers to what it has been 
 rather than to what it now is. There is nothing even now very 
 reprehensible, but still there are evidences of deterioration from 
 its unequalled excellence which I would wish to guard against in 
 a general system for the State. They expend between $600,000 
 and 1700,000 annually, and the aggregate amount of salaries paid 
 to persons in their employment is between $60,000 and $70,000. 
 This expenditure and patronage is attractive to many men who have 
 not the proper qualifications for office, and hence they seek to obtain 
 nominations from their respective parties, rather for the reputation 
 it gives and the influence it confers than from an honest desire to 
 labor for the advancement of the benevolent objects confided to 
 the board. Experience shows that the class of men best adapted 
 for these offices are men of W'ealth, who have retired from busi- 
 ness. Their wealth places them above all desire to make money 
 out of the office, either directly or indirectly. They have ac- 
 quired in business a competent knowledge of human nature, they 
 understand accounts, and are not easily mystified by false or er- 
 roneous entries, and have reached an age when the violence of 
 passion is stilled, and the reason and judgment are still in the 
 meridian of their vigor. It is believed that there are enough of 
 such men in every county of the State who would take a pride 
 and a pleasure in discharging the duties of the office without any 
 other remuneration than the payment of their actual travelling 
 expenses. The amount paid to superintendents for their services 
 in 1852 was $40,583. It is believed that $4,000 would pay all 
 the necessary travelling expenses; there would therefore be saved 
 about $36,000 annually. 
 
 In order to secure the services of first rate men, I would nar- 
 row the constituency by providing that no one should vote for 
 superintendents who did not pay $1 or 2 to the supervisors of the 
 town for the benefit of the poor— the supervisors to keep an ac- 
 curate list of such payments and furnish copies thereof to the in- 
 
No. 72.] 117 
 
 spectors of election. No one would contribute in this way who 
 did not feel a real interest in the poor, and by so doing would 
 furnish a substantial guarantee that he would carefully select 
 those who were best fitted- for the station. You will probably 
 think, sir, that this proposition is shockingly un-democratic Per- 
 haps it is, but it will certainly prove very efficacious. Should it 
 prove so, I, for one, shall be very willing to excuse its anti-demo- 
 cratic tendencies. I would confer on these superintendents all 
 the powers of the present superintendents except as herein 
 otherwise provided, and also all the powers of the present poor- 
 masters. They should meet once a month at the poor-house, as a 
 board, and one of them should visit it for the purpose of inspec- 
 tion twice in each week. At such visits he should see every 
 pauper and every room, and write a summary account of his 
 visit in a book to be kept for the purpose, noting every infraction 
 of the rules, and any other impropriety which he may notice, and 
 also all such orders as he may give for their correction, and sign 
 such entry with his name and the date of his visit. This plan 
 will secure thorough inspection, and what is almost equally im- 
 portant, it will preserve the evidence of it. 
 
 Fourth — A workhouse should be established in almost every 
 county in the State. There may be some counties where this 
 would be unnecessary, but the necessity in each county could be 
 judged of by the codltiers during their visit to such county. The 
 workhouse may be connected with the almshouse; if desirable it 
 may be under the same roof, or it may be a separate establish- 
 ment, located in a different town. Generally the poor-house 
 should be located near the geographical centre of travel in the 
 county, but a workhouse should evidently be located where the 
 greatest amount of profitable employment can be obtained. 
 Where these two conditions are united in any location there the 
 two establishments may be united in one, and managed by the 
 same oHicers. All sick, aged, decrepid persons, and all idio-s 
 and lunatics, should be lodged in the almshouse proper. All 
 other persons requiring aid should be sent to the workhouse, and 
 compelled to labor ^t some profitable employment, if such could 
 be procured ; but whether profitable or unprofitable, they should 
 be compelled to labor to the utmost of their ability. 
 
118 
 
 [Senate 
 
 ( No. 21. ) 
 
 The plan of making labor systematically compulsory on all 
 paupers not of the class excepted in my last letter, may strike 
 many humane persons as novo], and what is worse, as cruel. If 
 I know my own heart I would revolt as quickly from any thing 
 like unkludness and inhumanity towards the poorer classes as 
 any living being, but I am persuaded from a most careful exam- 
 ination of the operation of this principle at home and abroad, and 
 from a knowledge of the habits and dispositions of the poor, that 
 this measure is imperatively called for by the highest sanctions 
 of humanity. It is a medicine, and like all other medicines it is 
 nauseous to the taste but in the highest degree salutary in its ope- 
 ration. This principle, in connexion with some others which I 
 shall soon have the honor of laying before you, is in my opinion 
 the only means of averting the terribly rapid rates of increase of 
 pauperism which I have demonstrated to exist in my 3d, 4th and 
 5th letters. In connection with this subject, I must beg you to 
 re-peruse the 8th, 11th and 12th letters of this series. I am sen- 
 sible that I have not done full justice to these subjects, a large 
 stock of facts and observations in relation to them are yet un- 
 touched, because I desired to keep these letters within reasonable 
 limits, but I think from what has already been said, that from 
 the suggestions which will naturally arise in your mind in re- 
 flecting on it, you will be convinced that a measure of this kind, 
 in connection with some improvement in our existing laws in re- 
 lation to vagrancy and mendicity, are absoluttly called for by the 
 exigency of the times. 
 
 Fifth. It should be compulsory on the superintendents to send 
 all paupers to the State Lunatic Asylum for two years if not sooner 
 cured, as soon as they manifest unequivocal indications of insanity. 
 This would be consistent with sound principles of economy. Hun- 
 dreds v^f insane paupers are now taken care of at the public ex- 
 pense during their whole lives, who might have now been earn- 
 ing their own living and adding to the wealth of the community, 
 if they had enjoyed an opportunity cf being cured while their 
 disease was ciu'able. It appears from authentic statistics that 40 
 
No. 72.] 
 
 119 
 
 per cent of all the patients received into the asylums are dis- 
 charged cured. But of recent cases about 70 per cent are dis- 
 charged cured. This large premium on early admissions demon- 
 strates the economy and the necessity of the proposed law. It not 
 unfrequently happens among the ignorant and especially among 
 the Irish poor, that the removal of their insane friends to an asy- 
 lum is strenuously resisted. In such cases if the superintendents 
 are unable to accomplish the removal by persuasion they should 
 be empowered to remove them forcibly, unless the parties enter 
 into a bond with sufficient sureties to indemnify the county 
 against all cost or charge on account of the insane person. For 
 further details on this subject I refer you to my 10th letter. 
 
 Sixth. The superintendents of the county poor should be charged 
 with the oversight and assistance of the out-door poor, which may 
 be afforded in various ways. They should be made a corporation 
 for the purposes of this act and be authorised to sue and be sued, 
 in the name of their chairman. They should be authorised and 
 required to establish pauper savings banks in every county in 
 which sums as small as twenty-five cents should be received on 
 deposit, and interest allowed as soon as the deposite amounted to 
 one dollar, say 2 per cent on $1,00 ; 3 per cent on all sums be- 
 tween $1 ,00 and 3,00; 4 per cent on sums between $3,00 and $5,00 ; 
 and 5 per cent on all sums over $5,00. This increased scale of in- 
 terest in proportion to the amount of the deposite will be a pow- 
 erful stimulus to efforts for accumulation. When a poor person 
 has once accumulated five dollars and he knows that sum is con- 
 stantly increasing without effort on his part a great object has 
 been effected. You can have no idea how much the existence of 
 pauperism depends on want of forecast^ unless you have mingled 
 much among the poor, seen their habits, and listened to their ha- 
 bitual conversation. They literally "take no thought for the 
 morrow." If they have enough to support them a week, they will 
 recklessly spend it all on the pleasures of to-day without caring 
 or thinking where the provision for to-morrow is to come from, 
 and those who live in luxury during summer when their earnings 
 are ample, suffer all the privations of penury during the winter, 
 when they might have lived comfortably during the entire year 
 
120 
 
 I Senate 
 
 if they had exercised the j^lightest prudence or economy. They 
 think there is a sort of mora] impossibility, for them to get ahead 
 in the workl, and that there is a sort of fatality that keeps them 
 poor, they therefore are determined to get all the good they can 
 out of their earnings while they have them, without troubling 
 themselves about the future. I believe sir that the establishment 
 of saving banks as proposed, will do more to break up this feel- 
 ing, than any other measure that can be adopted. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 FRANKLIN. 
 
 (No. 22.) 
 
 To the Han. Eli as W. Leavenworth, Secretary of State of the 
 State of JSTeW' York. 
 
 Seventh — With a view to the assistance and encouragement of 
 the poor, and to cultivate a disposition to economise and to pro- 
 vide for the future, the superintendents should be required to 
 purchase large quantities of fuel and salt meat at such times as 
 they are at minimum prices, and dispose of those articles at prime 
 cost during the winter. This measure should be conducted with 
 great prudence lest the regular trader should be injuriously in- 
 terfered with, or the poor should themselves attempt to make a 
 profit, but I am confident rules can be framed which will avoid 
 all abuses if the right men are chosen for superintendents. 
 
 Eighth — I have already remarked that a certain class of the 
 poor are very willing to work if they could obtain it, but they 
 have no faculty for procuring it ; they seem to be utterly incapa- 
 ble of setting themselves to work. There would be little diffi- 
 culty in making eflectual provisions for this want of the poor, if 
 the town clerks of each town were required to keep a register in 
 which the name of every person wanting work should be enrolled, 
 and the kind of work he or she was able to do. This book sh >uld 
 be at all times open for the inspection of persons wanting to em- 
 ploy hands. Every Monday morning a transcript of such regis- 
 ter should be forwarded to the office of the county clerk, who 
 should be required to enter them all in a book to be provided by 
 
No. 72. 1 
 
 121 
 
 him for the purpose. Thus, any employer, by going to the 
 county clerk's office, could see at a glance the residence and qua- 
 lifications of every laborer in the county. At a small expense 
 a very great benefit would be conferred on both the employers 
 and the laborers. This system of registry to be under the inspec- 
 tion and direction of the county superintendent of the poor. 
 
 J{inth — There are many voluntary organizations in each county 
 for the benefit of the poor — there are Dorcas societies, soup so- 
 cieties, orphan societies, &c. It should be the duty of superin- 
 tendents to put themselves in communication with these associa- 
 tions, and by advice, assistance and co-operation, endeavor to in- 
 crease the sphere of their usefulness. It is believed that much 
 good might be thus effected by procuring more unity of effort on 
 the part of those citizens who esteem it their pleasure and their 
 duty to minister to the wants of the poor. The superintendents 
 from their central position would be better informed of the points 
 where labor and assistance was most needed, and would there- 
 fore be enabled to direct every kind of talent which might bo 
 voluntarily offered to the sphere of its most useful employment. 
 
 TeTz^^— Efficient rules should be adopted to guard against 
 abuses in the apprenticeship of pauper children. Full enquiries 
 should be made as to the character of the proposed master, and 
 the answer shoald be made a matter of record. The parents or 
 friends of the apprentice should be cited to attend, and their ob- 
 jections, if any, should be recorded and carefully weighed. The 
 master should not be allowed to remove the apprentice from the 
 town where he was originally bound without the consent in writ- 
 ing of the superintendents. The indentures should fully declare 
 the duties of the master and provide for a proper amount of 
 schooling and the provision of the necessary school books. A 
 list of pauper apprentices in each town should be furnished on 
 on the 1st day of October in each year to the town superinten- 
 tendent of common schools of such town, by the superintendents 
 of the poor. It should be the duty of the town superintendents 
 annually to make a special report to the State superintendent of 
 common schools, as to the manner in which the stipulations with 
 regard to education in the indentures have been complied 
 
122 
 
 [Senate 
 
 with. This plan would, I think, effectually obviate the difficul- 
 ties stated in my ninth letter, and would greatly tend to elevate 
 the character of the State and the condition of the poor. 
 
 Eleventh — The schools in our county houses should be made 
 district schools. No teacher should be emplo3^ed who has not re- 
 ceived a full certificate from the town superintendent, and such 
 schools should be allowed to participate in the public money, so 
 far, at least, as to receive its distributive share of library money. 
 The superintendents should be required to furnish them with sui- 
 table seats, desks, books, stationery and apparatus. If these 
 provisions are carried out in good faith a burning disgrace will 
 be removed from the character of our State, and I am confident 
 it will dry up a very considerable tributary to the broad stream 
 of pauperism. 
 
 ( No. 23. ) 
 
 Twelfth — The superintendents should be required to classify 
 the poor according to their previous standing in life, their moral 
 character and personal habits, so that the virtuous, respectable, 
 and unfortunate poor should not be brought into revolting con- 
 tact with the degraded and vicious outcasts of society. This class 
 should be better fed and more comfortably accommodated than 
 the other. 
 
 Thirteenth — In Maryland the superintendents are required to 
 open ail account with each pauper, debiting them with food and 
 clothing, and crediting them with the value of their services ; 
 until the account is made to balance, the superintendent may 
 forcibly detain them in the poor house. It would be well to con- 
 sider whether such a provision would not be useful here. I am 
 not prepared to recommend it unequivocally, but I think the idea 
 worthy of full consideration. 
 
 Fvurteenth—ThQ custody of the prisoners in the county jail 
 should be taken from the sheriff and transferred, together with 
 the appointment of the jailor and the police of the jail, to the 
 county superintendents of the poor. I wiil not now trouble you 
 
No. 72.] 123 
 
 with the reasons for this change, because the statement of them 
 would swell these letters too much. I am prepared, however, to 
 state them at length, if you or the codifiers should desire them. 
 
 Fifteenth — The superintendents should be the board of health 
 for the county, and as such they should be required to watch 
 over the public health, to remove nuisances, to prevent the spread 
 of contagious diseases and to pi-ovide a general and gratuitous 
 plan for universal vaccination. 
 
 Finally — You will observe that the proposed plan embraces 
 provisions : 
 
 For an efficient central inspection of the allairs of the poor. 
 
 For an improvement in the science of pauper management. 
 
 For securing a higher class of officers in the counties. 
 
 For elevating the character and assisting the out-door poor. 
 
 For the education of pauper children. 
 
 For uniting legal and voluntary aid to poor persons. 
 
 For an improved mode of apprenticeship. 
 
 For making the poor industrious, and diminishing the expenses 
 of their support in work-housec. 
 
 For making more comfortable provisions for the virtuous and 
 unfortunate, and a better discipline for the idle and vicious. 
 
 Such as it is, all the provisions of the plan are now before you. 
 If I have succeeded in convincing you that real evils exist which 
 may be cured by legislative interference, I sincerely hope you 
 will use your great and acknowledged influence with the Legisla- 
 lature to induce them to appoint a commission to effect a thorough 
 revision of the poor laws. Should such a commission be ap- 
 pointed, it will afford me great pleasure to supply them with 
 many details which have been omitted in these letters for the 
 sake of brevity. 
 
 I am prepared, should the commissioners desire it, to give them 
 a plan for the organization of work-house?, embracing the persons 
 
124 
 
 [Senate 
 
 to be received into it, the time they should be kept in it, the em- 
 ployment to be pul-sued, the rules for its discipline, the plan for 
 its erection, and all other necessary details tor its management, 
 and also the facts and observations on which the plan is founded. 
 
 My work is now finished, and cordially commending the views 
 which are presented in it to your serious and candid considera- 
 tion, I remain truly yours, 
 
 FRANKLIN. 
 
 SiippkmeRiary Letter (o the Secretary of State. 
 
 To Hon. Eli AS W. Leavenworth, Secretary of State of the State 
 o/* J^ew- York: 
 
 I cannot doubt that you have read the account of the horrid 
 scenes that have recently occurred at the BujB[*alo Poor House. 
 Within twenty-tour hours, fifteen insane and seven sane persons 
 in that establishment, passed out of time into eternity. They 
 were not slaughtered by the knife, by the axe, or the revolver, 
 but they were not the less really nor the less wickedly slaughter- 
 ed, by famine, by tilth, and by cruel neglect. Have you not felt 
 a sense of shame, of sorrow, of unutterable loathing, that such 
 things should occur amid the boasted civilization of the nineteenth 
 century, here in the very midst of us, in the western metropolis 
 of the Empire State ] Have you not remembered the declaration 
 of our Lord: "The poor ye have always with you V Have 
 you experienced no dread of a visible manifestation of His wrath, 
 who hath said, "He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his 
 Maker ; '* and " For the oppression of the poor and the sighing of 
 the needy, now Vv^ill I arise, saith the Lord.'' 
 
 With me, you have desired to strike off the shackles of the 
 slave; like me, you have mourned over those detestable cruelties 
 incident to slavery, which have recently been made patent to the 
 whole world, through the agency of " Uncle Tom," and have ar- 
 gued that such cruelty cou](ronly exist in an atmosphere of slav- 
 ery. We have tried to show the evil of slavery by its reflex in- 
 fluence, in debasing the moral feelings of the masters. Are you 
 not fearful that when this afiair reaches the South the slavehold- 
 
No. 72.] 
 
 125 
 
 ers will give us back a taste of our own argument, and tell us 
 that there is a wider scope for the exercise of their philanthropy 
 at the north, than there i& for ours among the slaves of the south. 
 
 You cannot say, sir, you were not forewarned of the sad state of 
 our poor houses. It is true that in my letters last winter I did 
 not seek to excite your indignation against the administrators, 
 nor your sympathies for the sufferings of the poor ; but you will 
 find, on reference to the sixteenth letter, that the existence of 
 such abuses is clearly indicated, and I now add that I had the Buf- 
 falo poor house in my mind while writing it, and there are many 
 others in the State that stand equally in need of reform. Had 
 you presented the facts contained in my letters of last winter to 
 the Legislature, under your official sanction, (there are none 
 which you might not easily verify,) and recommended a visitation 
 of our poor houses by commissioners authorised to send for per- 
 sons and papers, there cannot be a shadow of doubt that it would 
 have received the sanction of that body. Such a visitation would 
 have prevented the horrid atrocities that have been enacted at 
 Buffalo, and at other places which have not yet been brought to 
 light. You would have been the honored instrument of saving 
 much human life, and much disgrace to our State, aud procured 
 a fund of valuable information, on which the ensuing Legislature 
 might act, for the suppression of these and still greater evils for 
 the future. Depend upon it, sir, something must be done soon to 
 cure the multifold evils of our poor laws. Were the people in- 
 formed of half the wastefulness, the brutality, and the neglect, 
 which flows from them, they would rise en masse and insist on 
 their abrogation, I did hope, sir, that you would have taken the 
 lead in this great work ; and although, from past neglect, these 
 hopes are diminished, I can still hardly bring myself to believe 
 that you will finally quit oflice without one effort to confer honor 
 on yourself, and advantage on the State, by ameliorating what 
 Samuel Young once said were emphatically the " Poor Laws of 
 our statute book. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 FRANKLIN. 
 
ft 
 
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