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Enough was known of the class to render it certain that some of them would prove to be unteachable; on the one hand; from the low degree of their intelligence; and on the other, from complications with other disease or infirmity. So, too, any radical improvement could only be looked for in the case of the young.

For such as these, a home or asylum was needed for various reasons. Their habits, in many cases, could at least be improved. In such a place, they could be better cared for, and with actually less trouble than circumstances in an ordinary family will permit; and certainly better than with the surroundings of a county poorhouse.

Furthermore, many of the pupils who might be educated in an institution for that purpose, if not already, would sooner or later become homeless. The natural tendency of the class is toward the public receptacles for the indigent and paupers. So when the time came, as it must, for such to leave the educational establishment, to make room for others, they, too, would need an asylum; where, by a continuance in habits of industry and obedience, and by the utilizing of their developed powers in some form of useful occupation, and in the care of more helpless ones, some return could he obtained for the time and expense of their prior training.

The Board of State Charities have recognized this need, and, from time to time, have called the attention of the Legislature to the subject, in their annual reports.

The State Association of County Superintendents of the Poor have, likewise, on two occasions, passed resolutions, unanimously, to the same purport.

The most ready method to meet such need might seem, at first thought, to be to enlarge our own institution for the purpose. But there was a reluctance felt, by those most familiar with the subject, to bringing together the two classes, teachable and unteachable, into one and the same establishment. In the first place, on general principles, the two purposes were not entirely compatible. With the one, training and education were the paramount objects; with the other, simply good care and occupation at the most reasonable expense. In the second place, there were special reasons, namely, that the grounds of the present asylum were scarcely large enough, and they were, perhaps, too near a city.

While the general project lingered, a new consideration was developed. That was a fact brought to light in a report of a Committee of the Board of State Charities on the condition of some of the county poor-houses. It was shown that imbecile and idiotic females were frequently found in these institutions, who had been seduced and then given birth to illegitimate children in which case both parent and child became a permanent burden upon the counties.

Not infrequently, the evil had its origin in a carelessness in the administration of the county poor-houses, in the matter of a proper and rigid separation of the sexes. But outside of their limits, in the homes of the indigent, when mental weakness, on the part of any female, prevents a full comprehension of the nature and consequences of such a misstep, there is little protection against the wiles of the seducer. And when the consequences follow, the victim is abandoned to the charge of the county authorities.

To prevent such occurrences in the future was a pressing need. It was, therefore, proposed by the Board of State Charities, after a conference with the trustees, of this asylum, to propose the opening of such a home, as an experimental measure, for two years.

This plan met the favorable consideration of the last Legislature. An appropriation was made, to be expended under the direction of your board. As will doubtless appear in your report, the board had a special meeting and a committee was appointed to carry out the intention of the Legislature. The steps taken in furtherance of the purpose have been set forth in a report made by that committee to the board of trustees.

As a member of that committee, and also from my office of superintendent of this institution, I have had considerable share in the preliminary work of organizing the new establishment, as well as an opportunity of observing its progress from the very start and forming an opinion of the expense attending the accomplishment of the aims of the institution. It is, therefore, not improper for me to mention, briefly, a few of the points that are of interest.

A superintendent and his wife have the general charge of the administration of its affairs. They are responsible for the welfare of the inmates, the good conduct of the various employees, and the purchase, safe keeping and disbursement of the supplies necessary for the use of the asylum. It is safe to say that you have been fortunate in the parties to whom you have committed this trust.

Under the direction of these are various employes, each, as it were, at the head of a department of household occupation. Thus, a seamstress, with the assistance of certain of the inmates, will make all their clothing, besides the making-up of the house-hold linen. The laundress, baker and cook, etc., will exercise a similar head-ship over other inmates whose services are found necessary.