poor, while one says with some degree of ambiguity that "their society does what associated charities usually do."

It was discovered that men are the directors or principal officers in twelve of the twenty-eight societies which were organized for the definite purpose of caring for the poor of the community. Twelve have only women on their official boards, while the remaining four have men for treasurers or other positions not directly connected with the management. The twenty remaining societies from which information was obtained regarding their list of officers are in charge of women, but in none of these societies apparently was the general relief of the poor the primary purpose of the organization.

Mr. Edward A. Fay's paper was supplemented by another from Mr. W. S. Eagleson, superintendent of the Associated Charities of Columbus on the Need of a State Committee on Organization of Associated Charities. This committee after discussion was duly appointed under the chairmanship of Mr. Fay. The duty of the committee is described as follows: To create a desire for improved conditions in charitable work; to meet this desire by furnishing literature and information; to advise with existing organizations in various cities and to infuse into them the proper spirit; and to act as a bureau of information upon questions which may perplex those who are new in the work of organized charity.

National Conference of Charities and Correction.-The National Conference of Charities and Correction will hold its twenty-eighth annual session in Washington, D. C., beginning on the evening of Thursday, May 9, and continuing until the evening of Wednesday, May 15. There is every indication that the conference will be an exceptionally interesting one, and that the attendance will be unusually large. An exceptional opportunity is afforded the conference by reason of its meeting at the National Capital.

The conference sermon will be preached by the Rev. George Hodges, D. D., dean of the Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge, Mass. His subject will be "The Progress of Compassion."

A special feature of the conference will be the preaching of a number of sermons in Washington churches on the conference Sunday, by eminent preachers from all parts of the country on "The Application of Religion to the Social Problem," with special reference to the alleviation and care of social evils and their victims. Mr. Amos W. Butler, secretary of the Board of State Charities of Indiana, chairman of the Committee on Destitute and Neglected Children, will present the report of the committee. He will be followed by Professor Charles R. Henderson, D. D., of the University of Chicago, in an address on "The Neglected Child of a Neglected Country." This

committee will also hold three section meetings, at one of which "Boards of Childrens' Guardians" will be discussed by Mr. Alexander Johnson, superintendent of the Indiana School for Feeble-Minded Youth, and by representatives of the boards of guardians of District of Columbia, New Jersey and Indiana.

"Child Saving Work under State Supervision and Child Saving Work without State Supervision," will be discussed by Mr. Joseph P. Byers, secretary of the Board of State Charities of Ohio. The committee will hold a joint session with the committee on Juvenile Reformatories and Industrial Schools, at which the George Junior Republic will be discussed by Mr. Thomas M. Osborne, president of the board of managers of the Republic; Mr. Theodore F. Chapin, superintendent of the Lyman School for Boys, Westboro, Mass.; Mr. Charles H. Bradley, superintendent of the Farm School, Thompson's Island, Boston, and Mrs. Julia E. Work, superintendent of the Work Orphans' Home, Plymouth, Ind.

At the general session of the committee on Juvenile Reformatories and Industrial Schools, Mr. Edwin P. Wentworth, superintendent of the State Reform School of Maine, will submit the report of the committee on the "Origin and Development of the Juvenile Reformatory." He will be followed by Mr. William G. Fairbank, superintendent of Connecticut Industrial School for Girls, in a paper on "Girls' Reformatories and Their Inherent Characteristics."

Besides the joint session with the committee on Destitute and Neglected Children already mentioned, there will be a meeting for women superintendents only, in charge of Mrs. L. U. de Bolt, superintendent of the Missouri Industrial Home for Girls, and Mrs. Elizabeth Clohan, superintendent of the West Virginia Industrial School for Girls. Simultaneously a meeting for men superintendents only, in charge of Mr. Lyman D. Drake, superintendent of the Missouri State Reform School, will be held.

Mr. Franklin H. Nibecker, superintendent of the House of Refuge, Glen Mills, Pa., will present a paper on “Some Inquiries Concerning the Mental Capacity of Juvenile Delinquents." The discussion on this paper will be opened by Mrs. Lucy N. Sickles, superintendent of the Michigan Industrial Home for Girls.

"Alcohol as a Cause for Degeneracy" will be presented by Mrs. Ophelia L. Amigh, superintendent of the Illinois Home for Juvenile Female Offenders. The discussion at this meeting will be opened by Mrs. Elizabeth Clohan.

"Expansion as Applied to Juvenile Reformatories" will be presented by Mr. C. D. Hilles, superintendent of the Boys' Industrial School, Lancaster, Ohio.

A paper will be read by Mr. Ira Otterson, superintendent of the New Jersey Reform School, and will be discussed by the section. Miss Zilpha D. Smith, general secretary of the Associated Charities of Boston, is chairman of the committee on "Needy Families in their Homes." The general session of the committee will be opened by the chairman, Mr. Jeffrey R. Brackett, president of Department of Charities and Correction of Baltimore, who will speak on "Present Opportunities for Training in Charitable Work." He will be followed by Mr. John Graham Brooks, of Cambridge, Mass., in a paper on "Some Problems of the Family.”

This committee will have three section meetings. At one "Cooperation" will be spoken of by Miss Mary E. Richmond, general secretary of the Society for Organizing Charity of Philadelphia. At another, Dr. Lee K. Frankel, superintendent of the United Hebrew Charities of New York, will speak on "Unusual Forms of Relief." The third session will be devoted to "Friendly Visiting." A number of friendly visitors, each representing a different society, will tell of personal experiences in visiting among the poor.

The program of the general session of the committee on the "Insane" will include the report of the committee by George F. Keene, M. D., superintendent of Rhode Island Hospital for Insane, on "Public Policy in Treatment of the Insane during the Nineteenth Century," and there will be papers by A. B. Richardson, M. D., superintendent of the United States Hospital for Insane, Washington, D. C., on "What Should be the Legal Requirements for the Commitment of Insane Persons to Hospitals for the Treatment of their Disease," and by L. Pierce Clark, M. D., of Craig Colony, New York, on "Some Suggestions for Colonies and Psychopathic Hospitals for the Insane." There will probably also be a second meeting of this committee.

At the general session of the committee on Care of Feeble-Minded and Epileptics, W. L. Polglase, M. D., superintendent of the Michigan Home for Feeble-Minded and Epileptics, chairman of the committee, will report on the "Evolution of the Care of the FeebleMinded and Epileptics during the Nineteenth Century." There will be papers by A. C. Rogers, M. D., superintendent of the Minnesota School for Feeble-Minded, on "Legal Restrictions on the Marriage of the Unfit," and by Margaret Bancroft, of the Training School for the Feeble-Minded, Haddonfield, N. J., on "Classification of the Mentally Deficient.

The report of the committee on Treatment of the Criminal will be presented by its chairman, Mr. Charlton T. Lewis, president of the

New York Prison Association. The subject of the report will be "How the State ought to Deal with Crime."

The report of the committee on Legislation Concerning Charities will be presented by Professor W. W. Folwell, of the University of Minnesota. Its subject will be "Consideration of Causes and of the Relative Value of National and State Legislation." The report will be discussed by Frederick H. Wines, LL. D., Mr. Edward T. Devine, general secretary of the New York Charity Organization Society, and Professor Frank A. Fetter, of Cornell University.

Division

Professor Frank A. Fetter, chairman of the committee on of Work between Public and Private Charity," is engaged in a careful study of the laws and practice of different states with regard to the granting of public subsidies to private charities. His report will be submitted at the general session of the committee. He will be followed by one or two other experts on this subject. This committee will also have a section meeting on "The Respective Spheres of Public and Private Charity in Regard to Outdoor Relief."

The Columbian University has offered its buildings to the conference for its use.

The National Association for the Study of Epilepsy, of which William P. Letchworth, LL. D., is president, will hold its annual session in Washington on the afternoons of May 14 and 15.

Immediately after the adjournment of the conference the Association of Officers of American Institutions for Feeble-Minded will hold its annual session in Baltimore.

The Cuban Orphan Society.-The second report of the Cuban Orphan Society, written by the secretary, Miss Laura D. Gill, who is the new dean of Barnard College, presents an interesting account of the work accomplished by that society during the past year. The problem which the society encountered divides itself into three sections: First, the condition of the very poor half-orphans under six years of age; second, the condition of the same class of children between the ages of six and fourteen; third, the preparation of these children for self-support, and an intelligent response to the duties of maturity. For the class of children first mentioned, kindergartens are maintained in three provinces, which provide accommodations for about two hundred children. The state now provides instruction for the second group of children; though school attendance is compulsory, the law cannot be rigorously enforced because many of the parents are too poor to provide even the necessary clothing for their children. But little has yet been done to provide technical training for the third group, though a beginning has been made at Matanzas. A summariza

tion of the work of the society shows that 777 persons are now receiving instruction through its efforts.

Care of the Insane.-The Charities Review calls attention to the uniformity of method and of origin in the revival movements for improved care of the insane in various states. Recently New Hampshire has been awakened to the conception that neglect of the insane is abuse, and that the insane in that commonwealth have been neglected. At the Third Conference of Charities, held in Concord, on March 13, the discussion of this subject engaged nearly its whole time, and became very animated. It was presented by addresses from an expert physician, a theologian, and a lawyer, but all agreed in the main to the chief fact stated above, and its remedy. The economic, the ethical and the medical phases of the question, as it is related to the present non-care of the insane in county almshouses, against enlightened care in state institutions, was well presented. They are, however, sufficiently true and well known to those acquainted with the history of state care in New York. The whole discussion was focused on state care for the insane, and it seems probable that New Hampshire will soon be added to the column of states which act on the principle that "if a thing is worth doing at all, it is worth doing well." It seems probable that the present movement is an outgrowth of the inquiry which followed the burning of forty-five insane in the Strafford county almshouse a few years since.

Michigan, which is one of the banner states in its provision of charitable institutions for indigent defectives, is providing for a new state hospital for the insane.

Vacant Lot Cultivation in Philadelphia.-The fourth annual report of the Philadelphia Vacant Lots Cultivation Association records an interesting change in general policy, and also an interesting development of an allied method of providing employment. The latter is the raising of Belgian hares for their meat and fur. It is ascertained that from a trio of these hares it is possible to have in a year a family of between two and three hundred, each of which will weigh four or five pounds. The animals require little care and no food except the waste from the gardens, and a back yard provides all the space needed. The industry might not be suited to a city of tenement-houses, but where the wage-earner occupies an independent house, it would seem quite as practicable as vacant-lot farming.

The change of policy in the association, to which reference has been made, results from an improvement in industrial conditions since the time when potato-patch gardening was first inaugurated.

The report states that able-bodied men and women can now usually find work. But modern industry has little use for those who are not