criminal offence," thus forcing clubs to close their bars or take out
licences.
The charitable institutions of the state are under the management of
local trustees appointed by the governor. They are under the
supervision of the Board of State Commissioners of Public Charities
(five non-salaried members appointed by the governor); in 1908 there
were 18 institutions under its jurisdiction. Of these, seven were
hospitals for the insane--six for specific parts of the state, viz.
northern at Elgin, eastern at Kankakee, central at Jacksonville,
southern at Anna, western at Watertown, and general at South
Bartonville, and one at Chester for insane criminals. The others were
the State Psychopathic Institute at Kankakee (established in 1907 as
part of the insane service) for systematic study of mental and nervous
diseases; one at Lincoln having charge of feeble-minded children; two
institutions for the blind--a school at Jacksonville and an industrial
home at Marshall Boulevard and 19th Street, Chicago; a home for
soldiers and sailors (Quincy), one for soldiers' orphans (Normal), and
one for soldiers' widows (Wilmington); a school for the deaf
(Jacksonville), and an eye and ear infirmary (Chicago). The Board of
Charities also had supervision of the State Training School for
(delinquent) Girls (1893) at Geneva, and of the St Charles School for
(delinquent) Boys (1901) at St Charles.
The trustees of each penal institution are appointed by the governor,
and the commissioners of the two penitentiaries and the managers of
the state reformatory compose a Board of Prison Industries. There were
in 1908 two penitentiaries, one at Joliet and one at Chester, and, in
addition to the two reformatory institutions for young offenders under
the supervision of the Board of Charities, there is a State
Reformatory for boys at Pontiac. The indeterminate sentence and parole
systems are important features of the treatment of criminals. All but
two of the counties have almshouses. In 1908, in some counties, the
care of paupers was still let by contract to the lowest bidder or the
superintendent was paid between $1.00 and $1.80--seldom more than
$1.50--a week for each patient, and he paid a small (or no) rent on
the county farm. Complete state control of the insane and the
introduction of modern hospital and curative treatment in the state
asylums (or hospitals) are gradually taking the place of county care
for the insane and of antiquated custodial treatment in and political
control of the state asylums--changes largely due to the action of
Governor Deneen, who appointed in 1906 a Board of Charities pledged to
reform. By a law of 1905 all employed in such institutions were put on
a civil service basis. In 1907-1908, $1,500,000 was spent in
rehabilitating old buildings and in buying new land and erecting
buildings.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account