Full text of "Social conditions in an American city; a summary of the findings of the Springfield survey"

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RELEASED
HARVARD. COLLEGE LIBRARY

LAMONT LIBRARY

ILLINOIS HISTORICAL SURVEY

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SHALL THE CAPITAL CITY LEAD?

For a hundred years state pride has expressed itself in big round domes and
fluted pillars. Springfield and the Springfield survey raise a new question-
Why not put the imagination and resources of the commonwealth into making
the capital city of each state its standard municipality in health, housing, edu-
cation, charity, corrections, recreation, industrial relations, and governmental
efficiency? The meetings of the legislature, the annual state fairs, encamp-
ments of the militia, civil, trade, and professional conventions, and numerous
visitors to the capital city are so many opportunities for extending such leader-
ship.

r r v f r

i ' r

SE16

A SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS OF THE
SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

SHELBY M. HARRISON

DIRECTOR, DEPARTMENT OF SURVEYS AND EXHIBITS
RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION

NEW YORK

1920

UNIVERSITY

LIBRARY

WM F. FELL CO PRINTERS
PHILADELPHIA

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS
CONDUCTED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE

DEPARTMENT OF SURVEYS AND EXHIBITS
RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION

THE SURVEY COMMITTEE

SENATOR LOGAN HAY, Chairman

A. L. BOWEN, Secretary J. H. HOLBROOK, Treasurer

VICTOR BENDER SENATOR H. S. MAGILL, JR.

MRS. STUART BROWN DUNCAN McDONALD

VINCENT Y. DALLMAN LEWIS H. MINER

COL. HENRY DAVIS GOVERNOR W. A. NORTHCOTT

HENRY DIRKSEN DR. GEO. T. PALMER

REV. G. C. DUNLOP GEORGE PASFIELD, JR.

E. A. HALL FERD. C. SCHWEDTMAN

FRANK P. IDE E. S. SCOTT

MRS. FRANK P. IDE DR. L. C. TAYLOR

ROBERT C. LANPHIER W. A. TOWNSEND
R. E. WOODMANSEE

PREFACE

It has often been remarked that Americans take business and
family life seriously but not so politics and government. If that
is an accurate observation, there is comfort in the signs of a
change going on in the indications of increasing popular interest
in public affairs. One such sign has been the rapid spread of sur-
veys aimed toward the improvement of community conditions,
surveys having the backing of responsible groups of citizens in the
different oommunities. There has been at the same time, and
possibly as part of the same process, an increase in the demand
for printed matter on survey methods and procedure.

Although the number of social surveys has increased by leaps
and bounds, the survey can hardly be said to have gone very far
beyond its experimental stage. Much remains to be learned as
to the best methods to be employed in using it and as to the place
it should take among the many kinds of effort to be called into
play in working for better conditions of living. It is possible from
an office desk to construct answers on the many points about
which we still need instruction, but when done we would still
have only theoretical answers. The discoveries of greater value
will come through what each survey can add to the practical
experience already accumulated.

The Springfield survey was one of these ventures, and brought
in its quota of practical experience. It had the good fortune to be
carried on under very favorable circumstances, particularly with
reference to the co-operation given within and without the city.
There seemed therefore to be special reason for writing out the
record of it as fully as possible.

In addition to the number furnished for circulation in Spring-
field, several thousand copies of each of the nine separate reports
were printed. These have been taken by study groups in social,
civic, and religious organizations, college libraries for reference
use in teaching, and by others interested in standards in work for

vii

community welfare. For the convenience of those who might
find a briefer statement of the survey findings more suited to their
purposes, and particularly now since the supply of the full
pamphlet reports is nearly exhausted, the present summary has
been prepared. It has seemed worth while in doing this to in-
clude a short statement of the purpose, sequence, and methods of
the survey and a description of the Exhibition, which also was a
part of the survey method. These are in addition to references
to methods made throughout the chapters which contain the
findings.

On the other hand it hardly needs to be said that in cutting the
reports to a fifth or a fourth of their original size, it has been im-
possible to include a great deal of detail concerning either facts
found or measures recommended. All the important findings
are presented, but often the minor qualifications applying to the
facts and conclusions, and also the numerous items in procedures
recommended, such, for example, as the fourteen rules laid down
in the report on the correctional system for the conduct of juvenile
probation work, had to be omitted. Readers interested in the
precise details will find it desirable to consult the full reports.

SHELBY M. HARRISON.

vn i

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

SURVEY COMMITTEE v

PREFACE vii

PART ONE
INTRODUCTION

I. General Purpose, Sequence, and Methods of the Survey i

II. General Facts Regarding Springfield 21

PART TWO
THE SPRINGFIELD FACTS SUMMARIZED

III. The Public Schools 35

IV. Care of Mental Defectives, the Insane, and Alcoholics 74

V. Recreation in Springfield 90

VI. Housing in Springfield 113

VII. The Charities of Springfield 124

VIII. Industrial Conditions . . 164

IX. Public Health 211

X. The Correctional System 254

XI. City and County Administration 304

PART THREE
PUTTING THE FACTS TO WORK

XII. The Exhibition of Survey Findings 353

APPENDICES

A. Results of the Survey 399

B. Springfield Survey Blanks 4 22

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Frontispiece ii

Springfield as Manufacturing Center 5

Springfield as Mining Center 7

A View Down One of the Exhibit Aisles 13

The Springfield Flag 15

Lincoln's Springfield Law Office 1 8

Sangamon County Court House 22

Distribution of Population in Springfield 23

Ward Map of the City 24

Springfield as Trade Center 26

Topography of Springfield and Vicinity 29

Abraham Lincoln Homestead in Springfield 30

At a Central Point 31

The Twenty-one Public School Buildings 37

Organization of Public Schools 39

School Room Lighting 44

High Blackboards and Non-adjustable Desks 47

Poor Material and Workmanship in School Buildings 49

Vocational Education 69

Insane Persons in County Jail Annex 82

Inadequate Treatment for Alcoholics 87

Children's Corner in Washington Park 103

The Single-family House a Civic Asset 114

Housing Among the Colored Population 1 18

Wise Economy in Street Making 120

Size and Extent of the Charities Problem 142

The Playhouse at the Exhibition 147

Cells at the Sangamon County Poor Farm 153

The Smoke Nuisance 166

Wages in Five-and-Ten-Cent Stores 182

Pneumonia in Springfield 212

Births in Springfield, 1913 214

Deaths of Infants Under One Year, Springfield, 1908-1913 216

Deaths of Infants Under Two from Diarrhea and Enteritis, Springfield,

1908-1913 218

Cases of Diphtheria Reported to the Health Department, Springfield,

1909-1913 220

Deaths from Tuberculosis, Springfield, 1908-1913 223

Drainage Area of the Sangamon River above Springfield 234

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Comparison of the Number of Wells and Privies Found in 1910 and 1914 . . 237

Private Wells in Springfield, 1914 238

Privies in Springfield, 1914 239

Sanitary Conditions in Springfield Wards 241

Manure Accumulations in Springfield, 1914 245

Smallpox in Springfield 248

Preventable Mortality in Springfield Wards 251

Social Statistics of Springfield Wards 253

Ineffectiveness of Fines 260

Springfield Police Headquarters 264

Inside the " Bull Pen," City Prison, Springfield 266

The County Jail, Springfield 267

Cost of Feeding Prisoners in Springfield 270

Murders and Suicides 273

Indeterminate Sentences 278

Sangamon County Jail Annex, Springfield 285

Juvenile Offenders in the Springfield Press 290

Unbusinesslike Methods in Payment of Claims Against City and County 313

Fire Department Equipment 317

Along a Well-Paved Avenue 327

A Railroad and Street Crossing 329

Ruts in a City Dirt Road 331

Deaths at Grade Crossings, Springfield, 1908-1913 332

Section of Land Value Map in County Clerk's Office in Springfield 337

Section of One of the Land Value Maps Used by City Assessors in New

York City in 1917 340

The Long Ballot 347

The "One Way " Route 355

First Regiment Armory as Exhibition Hall 356

" Information " at the Exhibition 357

How They Rank in Arithmetic 360

Grades of Boys and Girls Thirteen Years Old 361

The School Playground Demonstration 362

A Booth in the Recreation Exhibit 364

Why Not Light Up the Schools and Churches? 366

Family Homes for Family Life 368

Birth Registration 371

The Tenth Baby 373

A Scene from " Two Birthdays " 375

Which will Better Protect the Community? 378

A Problem in Mathematics and Morals 380

City Housekeeping 383

Industrial Springfield in Miniature 385

Seasonal Employment Among the Miners 3^6

The "Last Word" Section 387

xii

PART ONE
INTRODUCTION

GENERAL PURPOSE, SEQUENCE, AND METHODS
OF THE SURVEY

The survey of Springfield had its more immediate beginning in
a group of Springfield citizens who had given thought to social
conditions in their city, had become dissatisfied, and had decided
that the time had arrived to get out of their maze of conflicting
opinions and beliefs and, if possible, on to a basis of certitude in
working for community advance.

There were some citizens, for example, who believed Spring-
field's public schools the equal of any in the state; others believed
they needed to be readjusted to the changed conditions under
which the oncoming generation must live and work. Some
boasted of the city as the "healthiest place in Illinois"; others
believed the number of deaths from preventable causes was too
high, and public health appropriations too meager. Some be-
lieved that local strikes were due to union agitators who merely
wanted to kick up a disturbance; others, that they indicated
something wrong with wages, employment opportunities, and
general working conditions.

Again, there were those who believed law breakers got what
they deserved, but others were of opinion that ill treatment of
offenders provoked crime. Some believed the welfare of the in-
sane to be relatively unimportant as a public matter; others that
there must be a better way than to treat them like criminals. A
few thought that playgrounds, sports, and other recreation ac-
tivities were among the frivolities; but others that they could be
constructive and reconstructive social forces. Some thought the
material relief being given out to persons asking for aid was meet-
ing the situation sufficiently; others that something more thor-
oughly helpful could be done. And so on ; the opinions and be-
liefs were as conflicting and various as they are in every live )

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

growing, American city. This group of interested citizens thought
the best method of making headway was to give them the test
of fact.

INFLUENCE OF A PREVIOUS SURVEY

A number of considerations entered into the decision to apply
scientific method to these and other local problems. Important
among them was the very evident usefulness of a survey of certain
phases of housing and sanitary conditions conducted several years
before by Dr. George Thomas Palmer. In connection with his
duties as health officer of the city, a house-to-house canvass was
made and a large map was prepared representing in different
colors the various conditions found. The map with the other
publicity which accompanied it was the first statement of ascer-
tained fact regarding general sanitary conditions prevailing
throughout the city that had ever been put before the citizens.

The immediate result was a sufficient awakening of public
interest to enable an ordinance to be passed setting certain higher
standards for the regulation of sanitary and housing conditions.
A further result, and one which had a special bearing upon the
later movement for the general survey, was the disturbing of a
certain feeling of complacency about local matters and a raising
of doubts as to whether conditions generally in the community
were all that, in the absence of recent and significant information,
they were assumed to be.

The activities of a survey committee of the Illinois State Con-
ference of Charities and Correction also furthered the growing
feeling that an essential first aid to progress was real knowledge
of the affairs of the town and gave this Springfield group a sense
that more than the improvement of local conditions might hang
on their enterprise.

THE SURVEY COMMITTEE AND GENERAL PLANNING
Following a preliminary study and report of conditions in the
city made by the Department of Surveys and Exhibits of the
Russell Sage Foundation at the request of a few especially in-
terested Springfield citizens, the decision was reached to go
ahead; and a survey committee of twenty-four was organized.

PURPOSE, SEQUENCE, AND METHODS

The chairman was Logan Hay, a state senator and a leading
lawyer of the city, and among the other members were a former
lieutenant-governor of Illinois, a state commissioner, the city
superintendent of schools, other public officials, business men,
labor leaders, clergymen, doctors, women's club leaders, editors,
teachers, and social workers. 1 The secretary of the committee
was A. L. Bowen, head of one of the state departments; the
treasurer, J. H. Holbrook, a prominent business man.

Planning and direction were put into the hands of the Depart-
ment of Surveys and Exhibits of the Russell Sage Foundation;
and, using its preliminary report as a basis, nine main lines of
inquiry were determined upon as follows:

PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

CARE OF MENTAL DEFECTIVES, THE INSANE, AND ALCOHOLICS.

RECREATION.

HOUSING.

CHARITIES.

INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS.

PUBLIC HEALTH.

THE CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM.

CITY AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATION.

Had time and funds permitted, other subjects would have been
added, such as city planning; taxation, in greater detail; the
religious forces of the city, etc. All of these, however, were dealt
with in some degree as parts of the nine main divisions; in the
case of city planning, moreover, there already was a movement
on foot which promised to handle the question reasonably soon.

INVESTIGATING THE FACTS

Building on the experience of previous surveys, four main steps
beyond the organizing of the survey staff and of the local forces in
Springfield were planned: first, investigating the facts of the
local problems; second, the analysis and interpretation of the
facts gathered; third, the formulating of constructive recommen-

1 The full personnel of the general survey committee will be found on page v.

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

dations; and fourth, the educational use of the facts and recom-
mendations.

Fact gathering is the ABC of surveys. This is merely another
way of saying that the survey is an attempt in the field of civic
and social reform to do what the civil engineer does before he
starts to lay out a railroad; what the sanitarian does before he
starts a campaign against malaria; what the scientific physician
does before he treats a case; what the modern financier does be-
fore he develops a mine. It is, in short, an attempt to substitute
tested information for supposition, belief or conjecture.

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

The next step was analysis and interpretation. Once facts are
in hand, what do they mean? Do they show satisfactory condi-
tions or conditions calling for change? If it is found, for example,
that 25 per cent of the elementary school pupils of a city are over
age, that is, two or more years behind the grade in which children
of their ages would ordinarily be found, does it mean that they
are badly taught, or that the city has a defective educational
system? Or should other facts be related to this one before any
conclusion can be drawn with safety? Unfavorable home and
family conditions, ill health, ill adapted courses of study, foreign
birth and recent immigration, or badly enforced school attendance
enter into the backwardness of this over-age group.

Obviously, the facts gathered, if they are to be of real use, must
be organized and basic principles and general truths drawn from
them.

CONSTRUCTIVE RECOMMENDATIONS

Third came the working out of recommendations for improve-
ment. The survey aims at results. It is diagnosis to the end that
prescription may be written. Where conditions are notoriously
bad, results may follow by merely turning the light on them.
But in general the process is not so simple. Conclusions as to
what the facts mean should be accompanied by recommendations
as to first and later steps to be taken.

The survey having gone deeply into the city's problems, the
community will expect and want its best judgment as to their

PURPOSE, SEQUENCE, AND METHODS

solution, but the community will also, and should, reserve the
right to accept or reject the measures suggested, according as the
majority of its people are impressed and convinced of their ne-
cessity and effectiveness.

EDUCATIONAL USE OF SURVEY CONCLUSIONS
Fourth came the work of presenting the facts and recommen-
dations to the public. Above all, the survey is an educational
measure, spreading its information in the untechnical phrases of
everyday speech. It is a means to better democracy by informing
the community upon community matters and thereby providing
a basis for intelligent public opinion.

To this end the various publicity media daily press, graphic
exhibit, illustrated periodical, public address, and entertainment,
as well as printed pamphlet and book report should be utilized ;
and the plans of the survey as they were developed placed much
emphasis upon this part of the project.

SPRINGFIELD AS MANUFACTURING CENTER

The city's manufactures are near the average for places of Springfield's size
and are diverse, ranging from agricultural implements to watches, building
brick to shoes, grist mill products to asphalt paving, and on through a long
list.

The picture shows the plant of the Illinois Watch Factory, the largest Spring-
field factory, which was employing nearly 1,000 workers at the time of the
survey.

CO-OPERATING ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS
To carry forward the investigations in all nine fields effectively,
the Department of Surveys and Exhibits succeeded in enlisting
six other departments of the Russell Sage Foundation and five

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

other national organizations to co-operate with the five Illinois
state organizations, the local social agencies and the thousand
volunteer workers who took part in the nine main divisions of the
field investigations or the exhibit which followed.

The six departments of the Foundation enlisted were:

CHARITY ORGANIZATION DEPARTMENT.
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.
DEPARTMENT OF CHILD-HELPING.
DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL STUDIES.
DEPARTMENT OF RECREATION.
DIVISION OF STATISTICS.

The five other national organizations which co-operated were :

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR ORGANIZING FAMILY SOCIAL WORK
(at that time the American Association of Societies for Organ-
izing Charity).

NATIONAL TUBERCULOSIS ASSOCIATION (at that time the Na-
tional Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis).

NATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR MENTAL HYGIENE.

NATIONAL HOUSING ASSOCIATION.

UNITED STATES PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE.

Five state organizations also co-operated, as follows:

ILLINOIS CONFERENCE OF CHARITIES AND CORRECTION.

ILLINOIS STATE BOARD OF HEALTH.

ILLINOIS STATE DEPARTMENT OF FACTORY INSPECTION.

ILLINOIS STATE FOOD COMMISSION.

ILLINOIS STATE WATER SURVEY.

This large outside co-operation particularly that of the na-
tional organizations was contributed, in part, because of the
representative character of the city, and the consequent belief
that what was done here might prove useful elsewhere. It will be
recalled that in 1910 there were 200 cities of the United States
ranging from 25,000 to 150,000 in population. Springfield, with
roughly 58,000, falls sufficiently within these limits to be fairly
typical of the others. It is located in the heart of a rich agricul-
tural region, is the center of important mining, manufacturing,
and trade enterprises, and is one of 48 state capitals. These basic

PURPOSE, SEQUENCE, AND METHODS

activities increase the ties of common interest between it and
other American communities, whether built on four or three or
two or one of these major enterprises of the Springfield district.
It also shares with other cities many kindred problems relating
to social and living conditions and to questions of public policy
in dealing with them.

SPRINGFIELD AS MINING CENTER

A bed of soft coal averaging over five feet thick and furnishing power for
the factories above, underlies the city and a wide surrounding territory. Nu-
merous mine tipples stand near the city, and 2,500 or more Springfield residents
are employed in the industry.

SURVEY STAFF

Each of the main lines of investigation was carried on under the
direction of one or more persons of extended investigating ex-
perience in the subjects of their particular survey division and of
practical administrative experience in the same fields. Thus the
school survey was directed by Dr. Leonard P. Ayres, and asso-
ciated with him were R. R. Lutz, A. H. Richardson, and Edna
C. Bryner, all of the regular staff of the Department of Education,
Russell Sage Foundation.

Through the courtesy of Surgeon General Rupert Blue of the
United States Public Health Service, it was possible for the Na-

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

tional Committee for Mental Hygiene to secure the services of
Dr. Walter L. Treadway, a commissioned medical officer of the
corps, to make the study of the care of mental defectives, the
insane, and alcoholics. Dr. Treadway brought to his task a per-
sonal familiarity with local conditions, as before entering govern-
ment service he had been a member of the medical staff" of the
Jacksonville State Hospital for the Insane, which receives pa-
tients from Springfield. Dr. Thomas D. Salmon, Director of
Special Studies, National Committee for Mental Hygiene, acted
in an advisory capacity.

The study of recreation conditions and needs was made by Lee
F. Hanmer, Director, and Clarence Arthur Perry, Associate
Director of the Department of Recreation of the Russell Sage
Foundation.

Through the co-operation of the National Housing Association,
the study of housing was made by John Ihlder, the field secretary
of that association.

The charities division of the survey was made under the direc-
tion of Francis H. McLean, General Secretary of the American
Association for Organizing Family Social Work. Assisting him
were Florence L. Lattimore, Associate Director of the Depart-
ment of Child Helping, Russell Sage Foundation, who made the
study of the children's institutions of the city; Caroline Bedford,
assistant to the director of the Charity Organization Department,
Russell Sage Foundation; and Margaret Bergen, Associate Sec-
retary of the American Association of Societies for Organizing
Family Social Work.

The survey of industrial conditions was made by Zenas L.
Potter, of the Department of Surveys and Exhibits, and Louise
C. Odencrantz, of the Department of Industrial Studies, Russell
Sage Foundation, with Mary Van Kleeck, director of the latter
department acting in an advisory capacity throughout.

The public health survey was made under the direction of
Franz Schneider, Jr., sanitarian on the staff of the Department
of Surveys and Exhibits. Assisting him were Dixon Van Blarcom,
field investigator of the National Tuberculosis Association,
who made the study of the tuberculosis situation in Springfield,

PURPOSE, SEQUENCE, AND METHODS

and Annie B. Murray, also of the Department of Surveys and
Exhibits.

The division which surveyed the correctional system of Spring-
field was under the direction of Zenas L. Potter, of the Depart-
ment of Surveys and Exhibits, who had the benefit of the advisory
assistance at important points of Dr. Hastings H. Hart, Director
of the Department of Child-Helping, Russell Sage Foundation.

City and county administration were studied by D. O. Decker,
civic commissioner of the Commerce Club, St. Joseph, Missouri,
and former member of the staff of the New York Bureau of
Municipal Research; and Shelby M. Harrison, Director of the
Department of Surveys and Exhibits, Russell Sage Foundation.

The assistance of Earle Clark of the Division of Statistics,
Russell Sage Foundation, was had by all divisions of the survey,
particularly in preparing the statistical matter included in the
different reports.

As already suggested, something over one hundred Springfield
volunteer workers assisted in the investigations. These were in
addition to the volunteers who worked on the Exhibition.

The general publicity plans, including the exhibition of survey
findings and the circulation of the findings through the newspaper
and periodical press, were prepared and carried out under the
direction of E. G. Routzahn, Associate Director of the Depart-
ment of Surveys and Exhibits. Mary Swain Routzahn, also of
the staff of the Department of Surveys and Exhibits, was the
director in immediate charge of the Exhibition; and Walter
Storey was Director of Design and Construction for the Exhibition.

TIME AND METHOD OF THE INVESTIGATIONS
The first of this group of surveyors reached Springfield in early
March 1914, and the investigating was begun at once. All sec-
tions of the survey were under way by early May, and all the field
investigating was completed by the first part of July. Thus,
except where otherwise specifically stated, the facts presented
apply to conditions found in the spring and summer of 1914.

In very general terms the method of investigation comprised
study of the records, published and unpublished, compiled and
uncompiled, of organizations and institutions in the community

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

and of outside agencies which had data on Springfield ; personal
visits to and observation of Springfield organizations and institu-
tions in operation; the gathering of facts through intensive
studies or tests planned for certain sections of the city, or of the
population; special studies of the activities of a particular agency
or group of agencies and interviews with officers in charge ; first-
hand observation of conditions throughout the city; written in-
quiries and personal interviews with individuals in possession of
experience or information pertaining to the problems in hand ; and
studies of legislation relating to local conditions and procedures.

PUBLICATION OF THE SPRINGFIELD FINDINGS
The preparation of the reports was begun immediately upon
the close of the investigations; the report of the school section,
the first to finish in the field, was completed and made public by
the time the last work of investigating was being done.

The plan followed in publishing the survey findings was to
print the report of each of the nine sections in separate paper
bound volumes, liberally illustrated with maps, diagrams, and
photographs. Before these reports were issued, however, the
findings were fully summarized in the local Springfield press, the
newspapers of the city handling from twelve to thirty-two full
column stories on each. The press material was prepared for both
morning and evening papers by the survey staff and delivered
under release dates. Practically the full text of each report was
thus reproduced and given wide circulation through this very
serviceable co-operation of the daily press. Editorial discussion
of the reports as well as letters to the editors commenting on con-
troversial points centered further attention and thought upon the
information and proposals being brought out.

Throughout Illinois the survey's data were made use of also.
Since many situations in the city required state action before
relief could be secured, advance newspaper summaries were sup-
plied to practically all of the daily papers of the state and to many
of the weeklies. Through the interest and help of the Springfield
correspondents to Illinois papers and the local editors, much that
the survey had to say was thus put before citizens and legislators
in many parts of the commonwealth.

PURPOSE, SEQUENCE, AND METHODS

Then there were the facts brought to light having general ap-
plication and educational value; and the project itself was be-
lieved to have significance as another venture in methods of im-
proving community conditions. Press stories summarizing the
more salient points of each report were therefore sent at different
times to a large number of daily papers, weeklies, magazines,
trade papers, and other periodicals throughout the country. A
large amount of the material sent out was used; and a number of
papers stated also that the articles, when not used in news
columns, were useful to editors and editorial writers.

It is not possible in the space to go into greater detail regarding
what was done to get the survey data widely known and used.
Suffice it to say that in addition to what has already been de-
scribed, material was supplied which was thought to be of interest
to newspapers and periodicals of specialized constituencies, such
as health journals, religious weeklies, educational magazines,
labor papers, and the like; and the full reports were supplied to
special writers and editors who reviewed them in the technical and
popular monthly magazines. The Department of Surveys and
Exhibits also issued several brief pamphlet interpretations of the
survey project and of the material brought out in the investiga-
tions.

Following publication of the advance articles in the Springfield
papers, from 500 to 1,000 copies of the printed reports of each
survey division were supplied to the Springfield committee. De-
tailed suggestions for their local distribution were also put in the
hands of the committee.

An additional edition was printed for distribution by the Rus-
sell Sage Foundation; and these have gone to libraries, college
teachers, students, and others interested in surveys in different
parts of the United States and in a number of foreign countries.

SURVEY EXHIBITION

In the November immediately following the field work the
Exhibition of Survey Findings and Recommendations was held
in the state armory. It was open for ten days and attracted
thousands of visitors, including many from distant parts of the
state.

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

Several reasons prompted the Exhibition. It would afford an
opportunity to present the major findings of the survey in such
simple, graphic, and entertaining ways as to gain the attention of
and be understood by the great body of people of the city par-
ticularly many who are not habitual readers of periodicals or
printed reports. It would create an additional event in the com-
munity which would give news value to the survey's facts and
recommendations; it would turn the survey conclusions into
something that could be seen today and again tomorrow and the
next day, something that would afford a center where, as in a
church or a civic society, people could consider an important sub-
ject together. It would give opportunity for further participation
in the survey project by the people of the city; and finally it
would help citizens to visualize the survey as a whole.

For two months preceding, a special campaign of publicity and
promotion was carried oh which kept the survey before people.
Those familiar with publicity work will recognize the value of such
things as the invitations sent out by a hospitality committee to
mayors throughout the state; exhibit models and devices dis-
played from time to time in public places; unexplained cartoons
posted in the windows at exhibition headquarters; the street rail-
way company's offer to transport school children free to the Ex-
hibition ; prizes offered for the five best grammar school essays on
"What I Saw at the Springfield Survey Exhibition" ; special days
assigned to societies and organizations; a daily department in one
of the newspapers under "The Survey Question Box"; a proc-
lamation by the mayor making the last day of the exhibit Spring-
field Exhibition Day, and urging "all loyal citizens of Springfield
to take this last opportunity to inspect and study the many in-
teresting and instructive things there to be found." 1

CO-OPERATION IN PREPARING EXHIBITS

A large part of the work of preparing exhibits and conducting
the publicity campaign was done through local volunteer commit-
tees including an advisory committee, a general executive com-

1 For a detailed description of the Survey Exhibition and the campaign of
which it was the center, see Chapter XII in Part Three, Putting the Facts to
Work.

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

mittee under the chairmanship of R. C. Lanphier, committees on
automobiles, decoration, drayage, lettering, lighting, photographs,
printed matter, speakers, special days, ushers, and many others.
As the campaign grew, more and more people lent their help until
more than 900 were at work, not only because their committee
leaders were energetic and enthusiastic and the spirit of the cam-
paign contagious, but because the things they had to do were
interesting. They made models and mechanical devices, tried
their hands at art work, wrote special stories for the newspapers,
handled office matter, snapped photographs, and made public
addresses before churches, lodges, labor unions, school clubs, and
other organizations and societies. They helped stage and take
part in the short plays written to bring out some of the important
lessons of the survey. 1

SURVEY COSTS

The survey committee in Springfield raised $6,000 for the sur-
vey, $1,000 of this coming from the board of education, and an-
other large contribution coming from the municipality. Later
the committee added $3,500, subscribed popularly, toward the
cost of the Exhibition. Additional expenditures by the Russell
Sage Foundation and the co-operating national, state, and local
organizations brought the total outlay up to approximately
$25,000.

SURVEY RESULTS

The survey, as the writer has pointed out on numerous other
occasions, shows conditions and needs and furnishes a program of
improvements; but after all, the program must be carried out
very largely by other agencies than that making the investiga-
tion, and they should be credited with much, perhaps with most,
of what may be regarded as results. In 1916, two years after the
survey findings were presented in the Exhibition, I tried to list
developments which pretty clearly had their beginning in survey
recommendations or at any rate, the advances made in the com-
munity since the survey, which had been specifically recommended

1 See Chapter XII in Part Three, Putting the Facts to Work, fora more
detailed description of the work done on the exhibits by volunteers and the
method of organizing this co-operation.

PURPOSE, SEQUENCE, AND METHODS

by the survey, no matter what other agencies had also helped.
The list included over forty major items, and a more recent
checking up has added others. Instead of printing the original
or a revised list, however, it seems better at this time to confine
the discussion to the testimony of citizens of Springfield par-
ticularly since several have expressed themselves publicly on the
subject. Their statements became known to us only after refer-
ence had been made to them in the public prints. They are

THE SPRINGFIELD FLAG

The municipal flag was chosen from some 41 designs submitted in a public
contest held in 1917. It consists of 20 white stars on a blue field, arranged in
a circle to symbolize the 20 states admitted to the union before Illinois. The
large star in the center represents Illinois; the middle of this white star being
a red star to stand for the capital city. The design is by Salem T. Wallace
of Springfield.

reproduced in full in Appendix A, Results of the Survey, begin-
ning on page 399.

In considering developments, it is only fair to say that some of
thje changes would doubtless have come about had there been no
survey; for Springfield, as was pointed out in 1917 by Dr. Palmer,
had been making rapid strides in improving local conditions in
the last eight or ten years before the survey. After making full

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

allowance, however, for the influence of the gradual awakening
of the city to its civic needs which was taking place in the years
before the survey, Dr. Palmer makes this significant statement:

"If the entire expenditure for the Springfield survey had been
charged to schools and charities, the results would have proven
the investment exceedingly profitable." 1

But, aside from specific developments, there is another way of
looking at the question of results. There is the point of view
taken by A. L. Bowen, Secretary of the State Charities Commis-
sion, as it was then called, in an address a year after the survey
exhibition, as follows:

"In any campaign such as the survey has been and still is, we
must always look for two classes of results. We must ferret out
the intangible or abstract results. We must find the tangible or
concrete results. Very often the intangible results of a great pub-
lic welfare movement are by far the most important and far-
reaching. I think this is true in the matter in hand. The in-
tangible results of the Springfield survey are worth more to our
community than those which we can actually see with our eyes or
touch with our hands. I would say a new community conscience,
or perhaps more truthfully, an aroused and stimulated commu-
nity conscience, is the most noteworthy effect of the survey. Our
attitude of a community toward all questions affecting its well-
being has radically changed. We see new meanings in them and
react to them in a different manner. Our sense of duty in many
cases where it formerly would have been dormant now asserts
itself and prompts us to action. There is a new spirit in our
work." 2

Similarly, Vachel Lindsay, a resident of Springfield and an
observer and writer of distinction, ended a magazine article
descriptive of the survey exhibition with this paragraph:

"I at least feel that the picture of this survey exhibit will re-

1 From Some Outcomes of the Springfield Survey, a paper by Dr. George
Thomas Palmer read at the Second Annual Better Community Conference
held in Urbana, Illinois, in April, 1917, reprinted in Appendix A, the paper
beginning on page 411.

* The full text of Mr. Bowen's address will be found in Appendix A, begin-
ning on page 399.

PURPOSE, SEQUENCE, AND METHODS

main in the minds of the citizens as the general concept toward
which they are all going. The spirit of that final dinner, with its
new leaders springing up and its sober resolution, will probably
abide. We have the serious expectation that henceforth Spring-
field's graver rank and file and leading citizens of whatever party
are enlisted for steady lifetime tasks, each in his chosen place."
On a recent visit to Springfield I was told by one citizen that
there was a great deal of feeling abroad that "the only way to get
anything in Springfield now is to go to the people for it. In the
old days there were other ways." If this be an accurate judg-
ment, it means a most significant and democratic stride ahead,
and the survey, by "going to the people," helped at least to the
new conviction.

FOLLOW-UP WORK

The survey as originally planned did not provide machinery for
organized follow-up work. Something along this line was later
done by the survey committee however. The committee organ-
ized itself into sub-committees which were charged with carrying
out the recommendations in each of the main fields covered. In
addition, the Council of Social Agencies, formed as a result of the
charities survey, afforded an opportunity for discussion and con-
ference ; and existing social agencies have modified their activities
in many cases to conform to the recommendations. In this con-
nection much credit is due to Margaret Bergen, the new secretary
at that time of the Associated Charities; H. S. Magill, super-
intendent of the public schools; and Sheriff J. A. Wheeler, Mrs.
Frank P. Ide, and to ministers in a number of the churches.

A still later development was the decision of the survey com-
mittee in December following the field work, to appoint a com-
mittee to consider the form of organization which could best
carry forward the general purposes of the survey. Under the
chairmanship of Frank P. Ide this committee made a report
recommending the organization of a city club to follow up the
survey and to promote other civic enterprises. The entrance
of the United States into the World War, however, made it nec-
essary to lay aside some of these activities. The great bulk of the
follow-up work in the meantime was and is being carried out
2 17

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

through the organizations whose work were touched in the find-
ings and recommendations.

SPRINGFIELD'S CONTRIBUTION TO OTHER CITIES
So much for local developments. There is another side to the
enterprise and that is the contribution which Springfield citizens

may have made out-
side of their city to the
general movement for
better community
conditions. It is a
movement which

might very well have
taken its inspiration
from a memorable
appeal made by a
citizen of this same
Springfield, Sangamon
County, Illinois, some
fifty-odd years before
and since become so
widely known and
quoted as to form the
golden text of our po-
litical Holy Writ. It
ran: "that we here
highly resolve that the
nation shall, under
God, have a new birth
of freedom; and that
the government of the
people, by the people,
LINCOLN'S SPRINGFIELD LAW OFFICE and for the people

From 1837 to 1860 the law office of Abraham c u a ll nr ,t r^rich frnm

T ft' 1 J C*j_ l I jl olid.ll 11UI, L/Clloil 11*_J111

Lincoln, ot Lincoln and btuart, was housed in the r

second floor of this building. the earth. These

words were pro-
nounced when the states were at grips over a national social
question. The appeal was for a rehallowing of government

PURPOSE, SEQUENCE, AND METHODS

to the task of serving the men and women who are the govern-
ment.

Democracy is subject sometimes profitably, sometimes not
to the dominating forces of any period whether political, eccle-
siastical, economic, or other. Its forces ebb and flow with them,
and must be refreshed whenever substantial rights have been
invaded, or, indeed, whenever there are new gains to the common
weal to be won. That is why, is it not, that each oncoming thirty
years or so has its job to do and a farther peg to climb to?

Something that is fundamental in the fabric of our public
affairs has been inweaving in the last dozen years or more
something that also bears the marks of high resolve and carries
the infection of life and youth and renaissance. It is a process
of peaceful civic renewal, through the scrutinizing of conditions
surrounding our daily living, with a view not only to correcting
those that are unwholesome but to quickening any that show
promise.

Back of this scrutinizing and this resolve is the recognition that
times have changed ; that new circumstances to the harm of some
folks have arisen; that simultaneously new forces have been
gathering to cope with just such difficulties; and that these
forces, in the form of new knowledge and experience and more
effective methods, must be made to count at once.

So has come the insistence that changed conditions shall not
leave people with less independence, less opportunity, and less
comfort than before ; rather that more shall be wrung out of life
for them.

The successful working of this leaven of civic renewal depends
upon the correcting power of facts, which must be gathered care-
fully and faithfully as the truth-loving scientist in any field
gathers them plus such a telling of the facts as will make them
common knowledge. American experience is piling up the con-
viction that communities will act upon facts when they have them.

One of the forms of this new type of social exploration and re-
porting has been the community survey. Since 1907 in Pitts-
burgh the survey idea has spread enormously. Distinctive and
vital as its formula is in itself, it is essentially synthetic and has
drawn method and momentum from the collateral movements

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

and agencies, nation, state, city, public and private, which make
ascertained fact the rock bottom on which to base social policies
and proposals.

The Springfield survey, seven years later, began with a group
of Springfield citizens who took to heart the human prosperity of
that capital city, set in the Illinois prairies, where Abraham Lin-
coln lived and voted; practised law and legislated; above all,
made common cause with his neighbors, and discussed with them
the how and wherefore of town affairs, state affairs, national
affairs, until the most deep-seated social problem of his time be-
came the subject of his scrutiny and his resolve.

From this small group the contagion of civic interest spread
until a thousand Springfield citizens became part and parcel of the
survey through personal contributions of time and through par-
ticipation in some of its many activities. And though the domin-
ating motive with them was to make things better at home, they
always had a second hope that the contagion might spread beyond
their own borders and thereby mean a contribution, even if
modest, to the welfare of other cities than their own. So, large or
small, they pray that their endeavor may be of some worth in
advancing orderly, disinterested, thorough scrutiny as a basis for
constructive state and municipal action in the name of the well-
being of the plain folks whose numbers are legion, and for whom
the fellow-townsman and precursor of this Springfield committee
spoke so forcefully two generations ago.

GENERAL FACTS REGARDING SPRINGFIELD

Springfield is built where four currents quick with energy and
possibilities for community building come together manufac-
turing, mining, agriculture, and commerce. Indeed, a fifth, the
business of public service, might be added since the offices of state,
county, and city governments bring in a thousand and more work-
ers and their families.

These main currents together with many lesser interests and
activities by 1910 had brought to the city a population of about
52,000, and to Sangamon County, exclusive of Springfield, about
39,000 a population for both county and city of 91,000. From
1910 to 1914, the year of the survey field work, the city's total
increased to approximately 58,000.

THE POPULATION BY GROUPS

In the composition of its population, Springfield was seen to be
an unusually American city. Of each 100 inhabitants 81 were
native whites and six were Negroes, who in the vast majority of
cases were also American born. The remaining 13 were foreign-
born whites. The native-born white male population of voting
age in the city represented 73 per cent of all males of voting age,
a rather high proportion when it is remembered that the pro-
portion of male adults in the foreign-born population was rela-
tively high. Six per cent of the total number of males of voting
age were Negroes.

Since 1910, however, when the last census figures were com-
piled, women have become voters in Illinois. This has obviously
increased the number of voters, but the inclusion of women in
the figures would probably not greatly change the proportions
between the native-born whites, foreign-born whites, and Ne-
groes of voting age, on the one hand, and the whole number of
persons of voting age on the other.

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

Of course not all the foreign-born males old enough to vote were
necessarily voters. As a matter of fact, only 58 per cent in Spring-
field in 1910 had become naturalized, and only 7 per cent more
had taken out first papers. The proportion of foreign-born males
of voting age who had been naturalized or had taken out first
papers in the same year was about the same for Sangamon County
as a whole as it was for Springfield, but the proportion for the city
and county was much higher than for all Illinois cities of 25,000
or more taken together. The largest foreign-born groups in the

SANGAMON COUNTY COURT HOUSE

A center of civic and historical interest. The building in an earlier day was
used as the state capitol.

With the head offices of state, county, and city governments and their
thousand or so of workers, the business of public service is an important eco-
nomic factor in the community.

city, over 70 per cent of the 7,000 born outside the United States,
were natives of Germany, the British Isles, Russia, and Finland.

About 5 per cent of Springfield's population ten years of age
and over were illiterate, the larger numbers being among the for-
eign-born and the Negroes.

The growth of the city in number of inhabitants for the last
sixty years had been relatively normal, following the same gen-
eral trend as that of the state of Illinois. The number of foreign

GENERAL FACTS REGARDING SPRINGFIELD

born had increased but slightly, while their proportion had under-
gone an uninterrupted decrease. Similarly the number of Negroes
had remained comparatively small and their proportion in the
last twenty years had shown a decline.

SPRINGFIELD

ILLINOIS

THE SPRINGFIELD
SURVEY

DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION IN SPRINGFIELD

According to the United States Census of 1910. Each dot represents 20
persons. The actual distribution is very closely approximated here, as parks,
railroad yards, and blocks not built up for habitation are excluded.

DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION

The population at the time of the survey was rather evenly
distributed, the density being greatest near the center of the city

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

where there were a number of lodging houses and apartments.
The range of variation in the 42 enumeration districts used in the
federal census was from 3.6 to 26.4 persons an acre of gross area,

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

SPRINGFIELD

ILLINOIS

Ql O Id

man

aunnn
on aa

WARD MAP OF THE CITY

For a general description of the ward populations see page 25.

GENERAL FACTS REGARDING SPRINGFIELD

and from 6.4 to 28.9 persons an acre of net or built-up area. In
considering these figures it should be remembered that densities
in the great cities run up into the hundreds.

The different character of the population in different parts of
the city is a matter of considerable social significance. Thus
while Negroes and foreign-born whites did not form a large pro-
portion of Springfield's total population, 19.1 per cent in 1910,
these two components together made up 36 per cent of the popula-
tion in ward one, and 24 per cent of that in ward six. The com-
parable figures for wards four and five were, on the other hand,
ii and 10 per cent respectively. Similarly the percentages of
illiterates in wards one and six were 11.2 and 7.4, as against 1.8
and 1.3 in the fourth and fifth wards.

Such differences in the composition of the population tend to
make the public health, public schools, recreation, and other
problems increasingly difficult in certain districts and demand
special activity on the part of the public authorities and others
in such districts. The first and sixth wards, or the east side, had,
in addition to a large percentage of Negroes and foreign-born
whites, the larger proportions of children of school age; and the
evidence also indicated that the birth rate was higher in these
sections. The eastern and northern parts of the city contained,
in short, the younger, poorer, and more foreign parts of the popu-
lation and most of the Negroes, while the southwestern section
was more purely native white, was older, and its people were
more comfortably situated. Ward seven, embracing the district
in the center of the city and around the court house, was some-
what peculiar, having an excess of males, a markedly lower pro-
portion of infants and children of school age, and rather more
than the average of foreign born and illiterates.

THE PEOPLE BY OCCUPATIONS

That work and work conditions are important factors of human
welfare would be obvious from the mere number of persons di-
rectly affected, if for no other reasons; and in this regard Spring-
field was no exception. The 1910 census gave Springfield a popu-
lation of 42,269 persons ten years of age and over. These repre-
sented 20,759 males and 21,510 females. Of the males, 17,014,

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

or 82 per cent, were employed in gainful occupations; and the
number of women and girls so occupied was 5,201, or 24 per cent
of all females in this age grouping. Taking the numbers in both
sexes, 22,215 persons, i.e., 53 per cent of all individuals ten years
old or older, or 43 per cent of all people in the city were engaged
in work commonly classed as gainful.

The occupation groups giving employment to the largest num-
ber of males were manufacturing and mechanical pursuits, trade,
mining, and transportation. Those giving employment to the
largest number of women and girls were domestic and personal
service, manufacturing and mechanical industries, and profes-

SPRINGFIELD AS
TRADE CENTER
With six railroads and
several interurban elec-
tric lines passing
through the city,
Springfield has become
the collecting and ship-
ping point for farm pro-
duce from a large farm-
ing area, and also for
manufactured and
mine products, as well
as an important inward
distribution point to
the surrounding dis-
tricts.

sional and clerical service. Including persons of both sexes, more
than twice as many were engaged in manufacturing and mechan-
ical pursuits as were employed in any other occupation group.
Since Springfield's manufactures were about the average for
places of its size, the city could hardly be regarded as pre-emi-
nently a manufacturing center. Fourth city in the state in popu-
lation, it ranked eleventh in the number of factory wage-earners
and fourteenth in the value of its products. But when its com-
mercial, mining, and transportation activities were added to its
manufactures, the city took a relatively high place among cities
of its size as a business and industrial center. And as a factory

GENERAL FACTS REGARDING SPRINGFIELD

city Springfield had recently been gaining ground. While the
increase in population from 1900 to 1910 was 51 per cent, the
number of wage-earners in industry from 1899 to 1909 increased
66 per cent, and the value of manufactured products advanced
145 per cent. In 1909 the United States census reported 4,355
persons engaged in manufacturing, and in 1910 the number was
6,821 a few new groups not counted in 1909 having been in-
cluded in 1910.

Springfield's manufactures are diverse, the most important
industries of the city at the time of the survey, judged by the
value of their output and listed in the order of their importance,
being the making of grist mill products, shoes, zinc products,
watches, agricultural implements, and electrical supplies. Judged
by the number of persons given employment, a test more im-
portant for our purposes, the list in the order of the number
employed was: watches, shoes, electrical supplies, agricultural
implements, asphalt paving, and zinc. The Elevator Milling
Company, which topped the list of the Springfield factories in
value of output with an annual product worth $2,250,000, em-
ployed but 40 men, while the Illinois Watch Company, with an
annual output valued at about $1,100,000, employed 940 persons
by far the largest number to be found in any factory in the city.

The surface of Sangamon County in which Springfield is lo-
cated, and of adjoining counties, is covered by a stratum of the
same fertile soil found in other parts of the corn belt. The soil
extends over low hills, well adapted to farming, and the territory
is well populated. The district is underlaid with a bed of soft
coal averaging over five feet in thickness, and village settlements
have sprung up around the mine tipples. With no large centers
nearer than 30 miles, Springfield is the collecting and shipping
point for farm products from a large area, as well as for its own
manufactured and mine products. It is thus the trade center of a
thriving territory, and the third largest occupation group second
among the men alone is composed of those engaged in trade.

A number of coal mines located in or near the city, besides
supplying industries with cheap motive power, furnish employ-
ment to approximately 2,500 male residents. These form about
10 per cent of all Springfield males ten years of age and over, and

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

since, with the exception of managers and supervising officials,
they are all members of labor unions, their numbers and pur-
chasing power have done much to give strength locally to the
organized labor movement.

Persons employed on the steam railroads and electric lines,
with those engaged in meeting local transportation needs, num-
bered over 2,000.

GEOGRAPHICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CITY

The city proper occupies about eight and one-half square miles
on the level prairie about four miles to the south of a meander
in the Sangamon River. Its surface is very flat, the difference in
elevation between the highest and lowest points of land within
the city limits being only about 70 feet, and for about four-fifths
of the city's area the difference is less than 20 feet.

The north-south diameter of Springfield is a little more than
four miles, and its east-west dimension about three miles. The
streets run either north-south or east-west, the few exceptions
being some of those which follow railway or trolley lines. In
width the streets range from 40 to 80 feet and practically all
blocks are bisected by alleys.

Six railroads, exclusive of the Interurban Electric Line, enter
Springfield. Although these roads pierce the city limits at 13
points, only three lines of track actually cut through the city.
The railroads are of social importance in influencing living con-
ditions along their routes and in establishing lines of division
between parts of the community.

Aside from the central part where the stores, offices, and public
buildings are crowded together there are no large sections, except
on the outskirts, wholly devoid of dwelling houses. The railway
lines have their stations and freight houses in separate districts,
and the various factories are surrounded by residential districts.
The multiple dwelling had just begun to appear but tenements
were not yet numerous. Outside of the downtown district most
families enjoy a yard. Few house sites even in this more crowded
section are smaller than 40 by 150 feet and most of them are
larger. It is in general a city of single family homes.

In addition to those who make the city their home and center
of livelihood, many visitors from other cities are entertained in

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

connection with the meetings of the legislature, the annual state
fair, the annual encampment of the state militia, and sessions
of many civic, trade, and other conventions. The number of
visitors to the old Lincoln homestead located in Springfield runs
about 30,000 a year, many of them visitors from other states
and from foreign countries.

Thus Springfield may hardly be regarded as a city of many
extremes; it is rather a city of many averages. Located about
midway between the northern and southern states and near the
center of population of the country, it has shared in the cross-

ABRAHAM LINCOLN HOMESTEAD IN SPRINGFIELD

The Homestead is maintained as it was at the time it was occupied by the
Lincoln family, and is open daily to the public. The number of visitors, many
of them from foreign countries and from other states, approximates 30,000
a year.

currents of political, social, and economic forces of the East and
the West, the North and the South. It is not congested. Its
increase in population has been at a comparatively regular yearly
rate. Like most other American cities it had grown without the
guidance of a city plan and the usual rectangular block prevails.
Commission government was adopted at about the time it was
being adopted in many other places.

GENERAL FACTS REGARDING SPRINGFIELD

Also like other cities its social and civic life had many weak
spots, but set over against them was a liberal allotment of social,
civic, and economic strength. Its four-ply business structure
manufacturing, mining, agricultural, and trade not to mention
its enterprising local leadership and traditions of public spirit,
were to be reckoned among the latter. But economic strength
can hardly be regarded as an end in itself. Springfield's work-
shops, mine pits, farm and trade resources should furnish the

AT A CENTRAL POINT

Located about midway between the northern and southern states and near
the center of population, Springfield has shared in the cross-currents of politi-
cal, social, and economic forces of the East and the West, the North and the
South.

groundwork for a structure of social well-being, the output of
which should mount far above factory output, coal tonnage, farm
products, and trade values. Even without special economic ad-
vantages the community's responsibility for promoting the wel-
fare of its people must be acknowledged, but with these advan-
tages the responsibility is much increased.

PART TWO
THE SPRINGFIELD FACTS SUMMARIZED

Ill

THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 1

If one had been able to take an instantaneous census of the
occupations of all the people in Springfield on a day at the begin-
ning of the survey, he would have found about 10,500 people, or
almost one-fifth of all the people in the city, engaged in attending
school. Of every hundred of these young persons 67 would have
been found in the public schools, 26 in the parochial and private
schools, and seven in the business colleges. To house these pupils
it would have been found that there were 21 public school build-
ings, eight parochial schools, two private schools, and two busi-
ness colleges conducted in business blocks, making a total of
33 buildings. The average attendance of those in the public day
schools was 7,082.

The public schools of the city were being administered under
what was known as Springfield School District No. 186, which
included the city of Springfield and considerable adjacent terri-
tory in addition. Although the district was a state and not a
municipal organization, including as it did more than twice as
much territory as the municipality, more than nine-tenths of
the inhabitants of the district were living within the city's
borders.

In 1854 the state legislature granted the city of Springfield a
common school charter, which vested in the city council the
functions which were exercised at the time of the survey by the
board of education. An amendment to this charter in 1869
created a school board of nine members appointed by the city
council. In 1903 a state law was enacted to apply to cities
having a population of over 35,000 by the Federal Census. This
law fixed the number of members of boards of education at seven
and provided for their election by the legal voters of the school

1 Summary of report on The Public Schools of Springfield, Illinois, by
Leonard P. Ayres, Ph.D.

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

district. The members were to serve for two years, and two or
three members were to be elected each year. It was not until
after the census of 1910 that the provisions of this law were
applied to Springfield, the reorganization being effected in April,
1.911. Under the provisions of this legislation the schools were
being administered.

The new law conferred upon the board of education all the
powers granted by the state law on boards of education in school
districts, trustees of schools in townships, and boards of directors.
It elected its own treasurer, determined the amount of money
needed for educational and building purposes, and certified the
same directly to the county clerk. Almost the only restriction
of its power was that propositions to purchase school sites and
to erect school buildings, as well as the issuance of bonds for
such purposes, must be submitted to a vote of the people of the
school district.

There were 20 schools, including the high school, the Teachers
Training School, 17 graded elementary schools, and one ungraded
one-room school. All of these except the one-room school were
within the boundaries of the city. They were administered by a
superintendent elected by the school board, 18 principals, and
four general supervisors of special subjects drawing, music,
household arts, and health.

Nine employes of the board were attached to the central office
a secretary, assistant secretary, the superintendent's private sec-
retary, treasurer, attorney, architect, who was also superintend-
ent of buildings, bookkeeper, truant officer, and stenographer.
Each building except the one-room school had a custodian or
janitor with additional assistants.

There were 224 teachers, five of special subjects domestic
science, drawing, and music and two of manual training.

THE BOARD OF EDUCATION

The school board was holding regular meetings twice a month,
and these were supplemented by adjourned, called, and special
meetings, so that it was in session for several hours almost every
week. In addition the board was divided into six committees,
and each member belonged to at least three of them. In the

THE TWENTY-ONE PUBLIC SCHOOL BUILDINGS
37

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

aggregate, the board and its several committees transacted a
great amount of detailed administrative business.

Members of the Springfield board of education were unspar-
ingly generous in the time and attention they devoted to the
hundreds of petty details of school administration. But the
truth is that much, if not most of the business transacted, would
much better have been left to its employed administrative officers.
The altruistic interest and personal self-sacrifice of the members
were splendid assets to the city, but their effectiveness could
have been greatly enhanced if the board had devoted itself in
far larger measure to broader questions of policy and delegated
to its officers the details of administration.

The superintendent and the principals of Springfield were paid
on the basis of specialists and they should be given much respon-
sibility. It is a waste of money to purchase high-grade experience
and ability and then not permit that ability and experience to be
used. The principles underlying efficient management of a
system of education are in salient respects similar to those under-
lying the effective organization of a corporation. The directors
of a corporation delegate to managers and superintendents the
responsibility of executive detail, confining their activities to
supplying funds, supervising expenditures, and determining what
additions or reorganizations of the business are to be undertaken.
The same functions may well constitute the bulk of the work of
an efficient board of education.

The suggested change in policy was illustrated by reference to
the organization of the board's committees. There were com-
mittees on teachers, textbooks, course of study and rules, school
houses and furniture, high school, finance and supplies, manual
training, and domestic science. It is almost certain that the
affairs of the board would have been more efficiently administered
by having only three sub-committees one on educational affairs,
one on buildings, and one on finance. This, however, could be
accomplished only through the delegation of responsibility.
Matters pertaining to the construction of school houses, the
selection of textbooks, the formulation of courses of study, the
selection, assignment, transfer, and dismissal of teachers and
janitors require expert knowledge and should be delegated to

ORGANIZATION OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS

BOARD OF tDUCATION

SOPLRINTCNDENT OF SCHOOLS

TREASURER ARCHITECT

BOOKKE.E.PER ATTORNEV

4ECPCTARY TO SUPERINTENDENT

TRUANT OFFICER
STENOGRAPHER

3UPEJWI 30R5

HOUSEHOLD ART* MU3IC

DRAWING HEALTH

SPECIAL, TEACHERS

DOMESTIC SCIENCE MUJIC

DRAWING MANUAL. TRAINING

HIGH SCHOOL

PRINCIPAL*
*>-f TEACHERS

88> PVP L5

DUB 01 S

PRINC PAL
12 TEACHERS

CNOS LAWRENCE

PR NC PALB PRIN

I4-TEACHER5 13 TEACHERS

STUART

:IPAL

13 TEACHER*

4-17 pvpica

4-36 PUP LS

424- PUP LS 47 PUPILS

ILE5

PRINCIPAL
i TEACHERS

RIDGELY BUNN

PRINCIPAL PRINCPALI
11 TEACHERS II TEACHERS

DOUGLAS

PRINC PAL

12 TEACHERS

4-1.? PUP LS

4- 2- PuP LS Of Q PUPIL S

*72 PUPILS

LINCOLN

PRINCIPAL
II TEACHERS

36* PUPILS

FEITSHAN5 PALMER

PRINCIPAL! PRINCIPAL
II TEACHERS TEACHEPS

CONVERSE

PRINCIPAL
9 TEACHERS

3*6 PUP 1.5

339 PUPILS 3J3 PUP LS

HAY

PR NCIPAL
8 TEACHERS

313 PUP L.5

MeCLERNAND EDWARDS

PRINCIPAL PRINCIPAL
8 TEACHERS 8 TEACHERS

^s^ PUP LS 2.73 PUPILS

MATHENY

PRINCIPAL
8 TEACHERS

2 -5ft PUPILS

TRAINING

PRINCIPAL 6TETACHERS

IS PUP L TEACHERS
._ 12? PUP LS

HARVARD RARK PRYOR

PRINC PAL
4- TEACHERS 1 TEACHER

156 PUPILS 24- PUPILS

iffilillliilli

(l||l|l [I | || | 1 II III! II III

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

employed officers of the board who are or should be professional
experts.

The best efforts of the most competent men and women of the
city are needed for the solution of such important school prob-
lems as finance, the selection and purchase of sites, the approval
of plans for new buildings, the final decision as to extensions or
reorganizations of the educational system, the promotion of
needed municipal or state legislation, and the presentation of
the needs and policies of the school system to the people of the
city. These problems can never be adequately met while the
board is spending most of its time considering minor details re-
lating to the purchase of supplies, the equipment of specific
rooms, the cleaning of floors, the making of repairs, and the
thousand-and-one little matters involved in carrying on so great
a business as the Springfield school system.

OFFICES OF THE BOARD

The offices of the board of education were exceptionally satis-
factory, and the office employes were for the most part efficient.
An important economy was possible by dispensing with the ser-
vices of the attorney and the bookkeeper of the board. Both of
these employes appeared to be able and conscientious men, but
the business of the school system was not of a nature to require
the employment of such officers. Few cities, even of the largest
size, employ an attorney as a regular member of the staff; and
the work of the bookkeeper, who was employed during the day
in a bank and did his work for the board in the evening, could
be assigned to the secretary and clerk and a modern system of
bookkeeping installed. The filing and record systems were thor-
oughly and carefully administered, but they were more complex
than was necessary and should be simplified. This held true in
general of the work of the entire office.

PURCHASE OF SUPPLIES

Although Springfield was spending more money per pupil than
most cities, the schools were not furnished with either an unusual
amount or an especially high quality of class room supplies.
The reason was that the purchase of supplies was handled by a

THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

committee of the board through local dealers. A considerable
sum of money could be saved, board members relieved of a large
amount of detailed work, and supplies secured at the lowest
wholesale rate if a bureau of supplies were organized as a divi-
sion of the office organization of the board.

THE ADMINISTRATION OF COMPULSORY EDUCATION
For the enforcement of the compulsory school attendance law,
effective for children from seven to fourteen years of age, the
city employed one officer. Since there was no complete official
record of the children of school age, no one could know how
many were evading the law. The method used for locating
absentees was to ask school children whether they knew of any
who were not in school. The principals of the schools then re-
ported such truancy cases as were brought to light and the
attendance officer investigated each case, leaving, where neces-
sary, a printed admonition from the board. If this was not
sufficient to secure the attendance of the children the case was
reported to the juvenile court, which might or might not issue
a warrant for the arrest of the parent.

Records showed that there was little inclination on the part of
the judge of the juvenile court to co-operate with the attendance
officer; warrants for parents were seldom issued, and when they
were brought to court the judge almost invariably discharged
the case or at most imposed a fine and then suspended sentence.
Thus school attendance in the city was no more than mildly
compulsory.

AGE AND SCHOOL CERTIFICATION

According to state law no child between the ages of fourteen
and sixteen might leave school to go to work without securing
an age and school certificate. These certificates were issued by
the superintendent of schools on the request of the parent and
on receipt of a certificate from the school principal showing that
the child was at least fourteen years of age and could read and
write.

School records indicated that approximately 600 children left
the public and private schools of Springfield each year between

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

the ages of fourteen a"nd sixteen. As only about 200 received
age and school certificates, it is evident that the great majority
of the children were evading the law. This was largely explained
by the fact that if the child left school but worked at home
instead of securing employment, no attempt was made to enforce
the attendance law or to require the child to obtain an age and
school certificate. Probably most of the girls and a considerable
number of the boys w r ho dropped out of school at fourteen or
fifteen years of age did not secure regular employment and so
did not take out age and school certificates.

The fact that school attendance in Springfield was only mildly
compulsory went far toward explaining why Springfield had a
greater proportion of illiteracy in its native white population
than any other city of over 30,000 in Illinois, and why the pro-
portion was increasing instead of decreasing. The entire situa-
tion with respect to enforcement of the attendance law was in
an unsatisfactory condition. This did not seem to be due so
much to lack of energy on the part of the attendance officer as
to a general indifference on the part of the entire community
an indifference which, as already indicated, was a factor in
Springfield's bad showing in the matter of illiteracy.

In order to remedy conditions, at least two competent atten-
dance officers should be employed; this would facilitate reor-
ganizing the administration' of compulsory attendance and the
issuance of age and school certificates. The taking of the school
census needed to be completely reformed so as to show the
names and addresses of the children who ought to be in school;
and the co-operation of the judge of the juvenile court should be
secured. 1

THE SCHOOL PLANT

Springfield has been most generous in providing for the educa-
tion of its children; school sites were found to be ample in size

1 In the period since the survey, improvements have been made in the school
census, as well as at many other points where different divisions of the survey
made recommendations. As pointed out elsewhere, no enumeration of these
changes is here attempted, as this summary aims to present only the findings
and recommendations of the earlier and fuller reports. Some references, how-
ever, to changes which have taken place in Springfield since the survey are
made in a discussion of results which will be found in Appendix A, page 399.

THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

and well located, buildings were of brick and in good repair,
rooms were large, and there was a seat for every child. The
buildings were extraordinarily uniform in plan and construction,
however, and the newest buildings were a quarter of a century
behind the times in design. The reason for this uniformity in
both older and newer types of building was that the board of
education had employed the same architect for the past thirty-
two years. It would be well for Springfield to profit by the
experience of other cities, and instead of putting up more build-
ings according to the plans now in use, secure new plans embody-
ing the most modern practice.

If every foot of space in a school building is not most advan-
tageously utilized, expense piles up with no accompanying in-
crease in accommodations. In the newer buildings in Springfield
space was unwisely lavished on rooms that were too large and too
high, corridors that were too wide, and cloak rooms that were too
large.

In all three dimensions, length, width, and height, the rooms
were larger than is sanctioned by the best practice of modern
school architecture. Each room was planned to accommodate 50
children, although the prevailing size of a class was 36, and the
school authorities did not plan and should not expect to have 50
children in any class. An undue amount of fuel is required to
keep the rooms warm and an unreasonable amount of work to
keep them clean. Light will not carry well across rooms that are
so wide, and children in the rear of them have difficulty in seeing
what is written on the front blackboards. It is also hard for
them to hear and for the teacher to keep their interest. More-
over, the size of the rooms offers constant temptation to increase
the size of classes to a point where efficient work is impossible.

Corridors were even more prodigal of space than class rooms.
There was almost enough corridor space on a floor with six class
rooms to accommodate five additional ones of the standard size
in New York or Boston.

As a result of this wasteful use of space Springfield school
buildings were exceedingly expensive. A comparison with the
better buildings of the same size in other cities showed that
Springfield schools were 50 per cent larger in size for the accom-

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

modation of the same number of children than were correspond-
ing buildings in other places.

In future, class rooms should be smaller and with lower ceil-
ings; coat rooms should be somewhat narrower, and the width
of corridors reduced from 25 feet to about half that width.

LIGHTING

According to the best school architects, in a well-constructed
class room window area should be equal to one-fifth of the floor
area. The problem of adequate lighting is rendered difficult in
Springfield by the prevalent coal smoke in the air which rapidly
deposits a bluish film on the surface of the window glass and

STANDARD

SPRINGFIELD

Average Smallest

SCHOOL ROOM LIGHTING

Window area should equal 25 per cent of floor area as indicated in the first
square. In the Springfield schools the window area averaged 17 per cent and
ran as low as 9 per cent in some rooms.

seriously reduces its transparency. For this reason the stan-
dard provision should be for one-fourth of the floor area.

In none of the class rooms was the window area equal to one-
fourth of the floor area, and in less than one in three of them
was it equal to one-fifth. Two-thirds of the school rooms would
not meet even a low standard requirement, and in some condi-
tions were so serious that the window area was equal to only
one-twelfth of the floor area.

Proper location of windows is just as necessary as adequacy in
size. Every class room should get light from but one side and
this should be from the left of the children. Of every 10 class
rooms in the city, seven had windows at the left and rear, one

THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

had them at the right and rear, while only two had them at the
left only. Indeed there were four class rooms in the city in
which the windows were at the left and front. The result of
this situation was that in the great majority of rooms the teacher
standing at the front of the room looked directly into brightly
lighted windows.

In order to relieve the strain in their eyes, teachers would
draw the shades over the rear windows. This in turn resulted
in cutting off so great an amount of light that the rooms were
seriously underlighted. Moreover, as the shades were difficult to
adjust, they were frequently left drawn on cloudy days, which
resulted in still darker rooms for the children to work in.

A series of careful tests of the illumination in school rooms
with a Sharp-Miller photometer demonstrated by actual measure-
ment that on cloudy days a large proportion of the school rooms
were seriously underlighted. Many in the high school were so
badly lighted that they were unfit to be used without artificial
light.

Throughout almost the entire school system windows were
wrongly located and lighting was inadequate. This condition
was due largely to the design of the school buildings which in
future should be planned with lighting from the left only. Con-
ditions may in some part be remedied by installing a more satis-
factory type of shade than those then in use, and rigidly insist 1
ing that principals and teachers give careful attention to their
adjustment.

The practice with respect to the cleaning of windows varied
greatly. In some buildings windows were washed twice a year
while in others they were washed twice a month, or 20 times a
year. This matter is so important that standard rules for clean-
ing windows should be adopted and officials should insist upon
their observance. If the eyesight of the children is to be properly
safeguarded, a more modern form of building design must be used
in the future.

TEMPERATURE

The maximum temperature allowed in class rooms should be
about 68 degrees. Records showed a temperature range from

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

58 to 86 degrees, with more than half the rooms registering over
70 degrees. Part of the fault may be attributed to the cheap and
unreliable thermometers furnished to the schools. These needed
to be replaced by reliable ones having conspicuous markers at
68 degrees.

Just as the air in the class rooms was as a rule overheated, so
in general it was too dry. Humidity tests showed a range in
Springfield class rooms from 19 to 46 degrees, while the proper
humidity is about 50 per cent, with a range from 40 to 60.

VENTILATION

Most of the schools in Springfield were ventilated by the
gravity system, which in general is unreliable. In some build-
ings it was working well, in others moderately, and working little,
if at all, in the rest. In the high and Edwards schools, systems
of mechanical ventilation with fans had been introduced. If
these systems are properly installed, as was the case in the
Edwards School, they are more satisfactory than gravity systems.
New buildings should be equipped with the best type of mechan-
ical ventilation, and defects in the existing systems should be
repaired.

DRINKING WATER

Bubbling fountains, a distinct advance over the dangerous
and unhygienic common drinking cup, had been introduced
throughout the schools. Unfortunately, however, many of them
had been installed in the toilet rooms. Their installation in the
corridors involves little additional expense and should be insisted
upon in future buildings.

JANITOR WORK

Most of the Springfield school buildings were neat and clean,
free from defacing marks, with yards and basements in good order.
In general the floors of the schools were well cared for, being oiled
once or twice a year and swept daily with a dust-absorbing
compound.

It would be well for the superintendent of buildings to organize
a school for janitors in which they may learn the best and most

THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

efficient methods of carrying on their very important part of the
school work.

FURNITURE AND BLACKBOARDS

Throughout the city non-adjustable seats and desks were in
use. These would be satisfactory if care were always taken to
place some seats and desks of varying sizes in each room. In
each building some rooms should be equipped with the new
movable combined seats and desks.

HIGH BLACKBOARDS AND NON-ADJUSTABLE DESKS

The two boys were sitting in school seats of the same size. The blackboards
were too high for the smaller children. The schools are for the children;
they should be adapted to their use.

All the newer buildings were equipped with slate blackboards
of a good quality. Unfortunately, however, practically all the
boards were installed as though they were to be used by high
school children, even when the rooms have been designed for the
use of primary grades. Blackboards in class rooms and hooks in
coat rooms should be arranged with reference to the size of the
children who are to use them.

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

TOILETS

Throughout the schools the toilet facilities were seriously de-
ficient. Only four schools in the city met the standard require-
ments, that in elementary schools there shall be one seat for
each 15 girls and one seat and one urinal for each 25 boys. In
nearly all the buildings toilet stalls had no doors. This is a
thoroughly bad practice and should be remedied by providing
for each toilet stall a short door placed well above the floor and
set with spring hinges. All toilets in use were of the same size,
whether for primary children or for the high schools. This
should be corrected by supplying two sizes of seats in all new
buildings.

FIRE PROTECTION

Conditions with regard to fire protection in the Springfield
schools made possible the duplication of the Collinwood, Ohio,
fire of March, 1908, in which 173 children and two teachers were
burned to death within sight and in some cases within touch of
their friends and parents. Buildings were of brick with wooden
floors and partitions, neither fireproof nor fire-resisting; they
were not provided with good fire-escapes, and coat rooms opened
directly into corridors. The most seriously important factor in
the situation was the bolted outside doors.

The first step to be taken in remedying this condition was to
replace the bolts on all outside doors with panic bolts by which
doors could be instantly opened from the inside by a slight
pressure on any part of the bar. Fastening an outer door in
any other way should be peremptorily forbidden. The fire drills
need to be reorganized and all running forbidden. In old build-
ings winding stairways should be straightened or replaced by
fireproof stairs.

NEW AUDITORIUM FOR OLD BUILDING

Stimulated by the recently aroused interest in the wider use
of the school plant, there was at the time an active campaign
throughout the city for the addition of an auditorium to each
building not possessing one. The plan of erecting expensive
auditoriums in the yards, connected with school buildings by

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and short-sighted. Since
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POOR MATERIAL AND WORKMANSHIP IN SCHOOL BUILDINGS
The illustrations show patched, cracked, and defective lumber which,
contrary to specifications, was being used as sheathing in the new Lincoln
School under construction at the time of the survey. The lumber was second-
hand, full of nail holes, and included many broken pieces and decayed spots.

QUALITY OF CONSTRUCTION

In quality of material and workmanship there was the widest
variation among buildings of the city. Some represented a thor-
4 49

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

oughly high grade of construction, while in others there was evi-
dence of poor material and deficient workmanship. A case in
point was the new Lincoln School, then under construction, where
the floor sheathing consisted of second-hand, decayed, and broken
lumber.- On such a foundation smooth floors cannot be laid, and
there will be heavy bills for repairs before they have been long
in use. This condition existed because specifications were of a
generation long past, loose in the extreme, and lacking in nearly
all the points of a proper specification. For future buildings new
sets of specifications should be secured and the system of inspec-
tion reorganized so that they will be followed.

THE CHILD IN THE SCHOOL SYSTEM

The Springfield school census of 1912 gave the number of
children of school age as 15,387; that is, persons of from six to
twenty-one years old. In the absence of later data these figures
were taken as the basis for computation in the spring of 1914.
The census did not, however, give the important facts of the
number of children of each age in public schools, the number in
private or parochial schools, and the number not in any school.
For this reason the school census needed to be reformed so as
to tell how many children there are of school age in the city, who
they are, where they live, and where they attend school.

A majority of the children begin school at the age of six, and
so the first grades are largely made up of six-year-old children.
If a child enters at the age of eight or nine, or if he enters earlier
but remains two or three years in the first grade, he is nearly
certain to become a misfit in his class: He needs a different kind
of teaching and a different sort of treatment from the other chil-
dren, and his presence renders the teacher's work harder and its
results poorer. Such a child is termed an over-age child and one
eight or nine years old in the first grade, nine or over in the
second, and so on in the other grades is classified as over-age.

In the elementary schools of Springfield there were 1,469 such
over-age children 24 per cent of the average attendance. Of
these 1,469 over-age children there were 235 more boys than
girls. Only 21 per cent of the girls were in this group as against
27 per cent of the boys. As both boys and girls were entering

THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

at the same ages, this indicated that the boys made slower
progress.

The theory on which the school grades are organized is that
the children shall complete one grade each year, and so finish
the eight elementary grades in eight years. If a pupil has taken
three years to complete two grades or seven years to finish five
grades, we may classify him as making slow progress. On this
basis there were 1,502 pupils in the Springfield schools who had
made slow progress. As in the case of the over-age pupils, this
was 24 per cent of all. The number of slow boys was 266 more
than the number of slow girls. As in the former comparison, we
found that the percentage of boys making slow progress was
greater than that among the girls. For the boys it was 28 while
among the girls only 21.

Although when contrasted with the 29 other cities for which
similar data were available, Springfield made a good showing in
the relatively small proportion of children who were over-age for
their grades or were making slow progress, nevertheless the num-
bers were of such size as to call for special treatment.

Out of these totals there were 1,000 children in the elementary
schools who were both over-age and slow 617 boys and only
383 girls. The proportion of such children varied from 5 per
cent to 27 per cent in the different schools. These children
need individual teaching, and provision for giving it should
be made.

There were 101 cases of extreme retardation, 63 being boys
and only 38 girls. Special classes should be provided for children
who are so seriously retarded that it is evident they cannot profit
by the ordinary instruction in regular classes. In some cases,
when the children are exceptional types, they should not be in
the public schools at all, but in institutions.

WHEN AND WHERE CHILDREN DROP OUT
Careful computations have been made as to the age at which
children drop out of school. In general terms the results show
that practically all of them remain until they are thirteen years
old. By the time they are fourteen, one-fourth of them leave.
Half leave before they are fifteen, two-thirds before they are

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

sixteen, three-fourths before they are seventeen, and nine-tenths
before they are eighteen.

Boys drop out in far larger numbers at the earlier ages of
fourteen, fifteen, and sixteen, leaving a larger percentage of the
girls to remain for several years more of schooling. Study of the
dropping out of boys and girls by grades showed in the Springfield
schools that they began to drop out in the fifth grade where one-
tenth of them left and nine-tenths remained. By the time the
sixth grade was reached a quarter had left. Less than half fin-
ished the eighth grade, one-third entered the high school, and one-
fifth completed the high school. About one child in 35 went to
college. Again, it is noteworthy that with each stage of progress
a larger proportion of girls than boys remained in school.

Comparison between the progress made by boys and girls dis-
closed a seriously important condition. Both were entering the
primary grades in about equal numbers. The girls went forward
more rapidly than the boys; they stayed in school longer and a
greater proportion of them graduated. There were more repeaters
among the boys; a greater proportion were over-age for their
grades; more of them made slow progress; they dropped out at
lower grades and earlier ages; and fewer remained to graduate.
These conditions were not due to any conscious discrimination or
neglect in the school system. They had grown up without the
school authorities being aware of them, and exist in greater or
less degree in a large proportion of our cities, but not in all.
Quite unconsciously the schools of this city, like those of many
other cities, had developed a course of study, a system of exami-
nations and promotions, and methods" of teaching in short, an
entire school system better fitted for the needs and requirements
of girls than of boys.

These conditions can be remedied, and their alteration is one
of the most important tasks which confront the schools. If the
school work is artificial, formal, and abstract, if it is not inter-
esting and vital both boys and girls drop out, but the boy goes
first. The experience of other cities shows that when boys leave
school in large numbers at early ages and in the lower grades it
is not because the opportunities for securing employment are
especially attractive, but because the schools are not offering

THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

them work which holds their interest and impresses them or their
parents as worth while. Other cities also have remedied this
situation and in a later section of this summary the problem
with reference to Springfield will be discussed.

In general the promotion rates were well up, ranging from 85
to 90 per cent. This means that at the end of each term from
85 to 90 among every hundred children were promoted to the
next higher grade. The promotion rate for the entire city at
the end of June, 1913, was 90 per cent, while at the end of
January, 1914, it was 87 per cent. This rate is high but not
too high.

Springfield was fortunate in having few overcrowded classes.
Classes ranged in size from 17 to 53, with an average of 36.
Twenty-three rooms had less than 30 pupils, while 33 had more
than 40. Wherever possible, children needed to be redistributed
so as to have fewer overcrowded classes. Their welfare is vastly
more important than the strict maintenance of school district
boundaries.

THE TEACHING FORCE

The regular teaching force consisted of 238 teachers and prin-
cipals. Of these 199 were in the elementary schools and 39 in
the high school. In age they ranged from nineteen to seventy-one
years, with an average of about thirty years. The teaching force
was relatively stable, length of service in the schools being seven
years. No definite policy existed in the matter of tenure of office,
but in practice a teacher who gave satisfaction was retained
indefinitely.

In the elementary schools teachers began at $450 and in the
sixth year reached $800, the maximum salary for regular teaching
positions. Principals received salaries of from $900 to $1,800.
Salaries of high school teachers ranged from $800 to $1,400.
Salaries were relatively high at the time, Springfield being fourth
from the top in comparison with average salaries of elementary
teachers in 16 cities.

As a body the teachers of Springfield were conscientious, well-
bred, intelligent, and faithful. The only important criticism that
could be brought against them, and educationally it is an im-

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

portant one, was that in training, methods, and ideals they were
far too uniform.

The teaching force was recruited almost exclusively from the
local school system. Of each 10 teachers in the elementary
schools seven were graduates of the Springfield High School and
six of the Teachers Training School. For many years past the
principals of the Training School and the critic teachers had
themselves been graduates of the Springfield Training School.
Moreover, one-third of the teachers of the high school were
graduates of the Springfield High School. Most of the teachers
had supplemented their educational preparation by work taken in
higher institutions of learning during the summer school sessions.

From time to time teachers had been appointed who were not
graduates of the Training School, and some had entered the ser-
vice from other cities. In general, however, the process of ap-
pointment may be characterized as an inbreeding one. Young
women who had passed through the local elementary, high, and
training schools and entered the service of the city were in the
main of thoroughly good ability, but they had been shaped in
the same mold and had emerged exceedingly uniform in methods
and ideals.

THE TEACHERS TRAINING SCHOOL

The local training school had been in existence for thirty-two
years. During this period the ideals of the institution were good
and its work well conducted. But the city needed only about
1 6 new teachers each year, and for their training it could not
maintain a first-class normal school. The weakness of a small
system that trains its own teachers is that since these teachers
have all learned to do the same things in the same way, they
do not profit through contact with one another. They have
little to discuss in a professional way and slight opportunity for
contact with new methods and different ideals, or the interchange
of varied experience. The Springfield schools were suffering from
just these results of the policy of excluding outside ideas and
experience and recruiting from within.

The remedy for this condition was to suspend the training
school and to attract to the service of the city the best teachers

THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

from other localities, near and far. There is probably no other
way in which the efficiency of the system could be more rapidly
increased. The training school building could be utilized at the
same time to exceptional advantage as an intermediate school.

The schools of Springfield in the past had been almost inde-
pendent district schools with but little co-ordination of work.
Something of this tradition having been transmitted to the indi-
vidual teacher, there had grown up a system in which the local
schools and local principals were relatively independent of the
superintendent, and within each school the class room teachers
w r ere more than usually independent of the principal. The
schools lacked expert, constructive supervision. An assistant
superintendent of high professional education and successful
experience should be employed to study the educational problems
of the city, to assist in class room supervision, check up the
quality of the work of the teachers, and especially give them
constructive advice looking toward the betterment of their work.

THE QUALITY OF CLASS ROOM INSTRUCTION
Members of the survey staff made 684 class room visits of
which 273 were for the purpose of observing teaching methods;
the remainder for noting details as to the equipment and condi-
tion of the school plant. In general the best teaching was found
in the primary grades, and it tended to decrease in excellence in
the upper grades.

The strongest feature of the work lay in the friendly and
intimate relationship existing in the great majority of the class
rooms between pupils and teachers. The least commendable
general feature was that throughout the system there was far
too little real teaching and too much hearing of recitations in
which teachers questioned pupils to discover how well they had
mastered the lessons assigned them.

This type of class room work is prevalent in many cities, but
it is not the best sort of teaching and its general level of quality
can be greatly improved. The real object of education is to
teach children to think, and the work of the teacher is to make
pupils think by interesting them in problems and stimulating
them to solve them by thinking them through. This is not

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

accomplished by hearing textbook recitations or asking leading
questions to which the child contributes the expected answer.
An even more serious condition arose from the inadequate pro-
fessional, educational, and cultural preparation of some of the
teachers.

Throughout the elementary schools the discipline was good.
In nearly 700 class room visits no member of the survey witnessed
one serious act of disorder. These conditions were due to the
high level of personality among the teachers, the generally good
home training of the pupils, and to the prevailing aim to secure
order through interest rather than through coercion.

TESTS OF SPELLING, HANDWRITING, AND ARITHMETIC
Standard spelling tests in all grades from the second through
the eighth indicated that in the general, children could spell as
well as children in other city school systems. Measurement of
the quality of handwriting of pupils in the four upper grades
showed that it was in general as good as that of children in the
same grades in other cities. In arithmetic, however, Springfield
children did work in fundamental operations more rapidly but
less accurately than average children in other cities. This was
determined by the Stone tests given in the advanced divisions of
the sixth grade to determine the ability of sixth-grade children
in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. The test
in reasoning was given to determine the ability of the pupils to
reason in connection with problems of practical arithmetic.
These tests indicated that in reasoning their work was less rapid
and less accurate than the average work in other cities.

THE COURSE OF STUDY

The course of study was the product of a number of partial
revisions of a course in use many years before. In some parts
it was rigid and behind the times, while in others, where it had
been reshaped, it was modern and progressive. At the time
another revision was being made with the co-operation of super-
visors, principals, and teachers. It was not enough, however,
that the best experience within the system was being consulted.
The results of the best thinking, the widest experience, and the

THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

most mature judgment of other cities, as crystallized in their
courses of study and the published reports concerning them,
should also be carefully considered with the object of producing
the best possible course of study for Springfield.

The course in use prescribed 15 subjects of which 12 were
assigned for all grades from the first to eighth inclusive. These
were reading, history, language, phonetics, spelling, arithmetic,
penmanship, physiology and hygiene, physical culture, drawing,
singing, and manual training. Literature and nature study were
assigned for the first four grades and geography was taught in
the six upper grades. As a matter of fact, the course was only
partially followed and what the printed course called for was not
actually taught in all the class rooms.

There was no official time allotment for the city, and the
teachers in each school determined for themselves the amount of
time to be devoted in the daily program to each subject. This
resulted in the widest variation in the amount of emphasis placed
on different parts of the curriculum, and these variations were
not the product of careful planning and serious thought but
existed precisely because neither thought nor planning had been
devoted to securing the best allotment of time.

The teachers, principals, and superintendent of the city were
urged to make a careful study of time allotments in the best
systems elsewhere, and then decide how much time they would
devote to each subject in each of the grades in Springfield. This
time allotment should then be used as a standard rather than as
a requirement. Teachers should be permitted to depart from it
whenever they could put forward a good reason for so doing, but
such departures should be based on carefully thought-out reasons
and not on chance or caprice.

TIME WASTED ON USELESS MATERIAL

Tests of the existing course showed that it included much
material that was so artificial and unrelated to the needs of real
life that it should be abandoned and more useful matter sub-
stituted. When children work together in the solving of a prob-
lem or the making of a map their work is social and co-operative.
When they are committing to memory the spelling of such words

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

as "weigelia," "trichinae," and "paradigm," taken from the
seventh-grade lists, they are individual and exclusive; when
making something material or abstract because they need it in
their business, they are active and alert; when listening to reci-
tations concerning the distance in degrees from Portugal to the
Ural Mountains, they are mostly passive and inert. When they
are learning or making something real that has an object behind
and a result to come, they are energetic; when they listen to or
watch or read something unrelated to the work of the world
outside, they are apathetic.

No small part of the responsibility for the subject matter taught
was attributable to the unsatisfactory textbooks used. Yet it is
always difficult to get new textbooks adopted, for while the cost
is but a small part of the total cost of education, it falls directly
on the parents and seems an extraordinary burden. Parents
usually fight the move. Textbooks have been furnished free by
Philadelphia for almost a century and by many cities for almost
half a century. At the time of the survey they were provided
for by compulsory law throughout 12 states and were supplied in
portions of 15 other states. Springfield should adopt the policy
of free textbooks a policy which promotes educational efficiency,
facilitates uniformity, and reduces expense to the community.

FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION

Springfield was spending on its public schools each year about
one-third of a million dollars. Of every dollar received, approxi-
mately 91 cents came from local taxes and the remaining nine
cents from the state. The board of education was empowered
to decide each year how large the tax rate for school support
should be, and had full power in determining the extent of the
levy so long as it did not take for each $100 of assessed valuation
more than $1.50 for educational purposes, or more than $1.50 for
building purposes. It could spend the money so secured as it
saw fit, except that it could not acquire new sites or build new
buildings until it had been authorized by a referendum vote of
the people.

The assessed valuation of property in Springfield at that time
was one-third of the real valuation. This meant that in actual

THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

fact the board of education could take each year from each $100
worth of property $1.00 for the support of the public schools.
Of this $1.00 it might spend 50 cents for educational purposes
and the remaining 50 cents for building purposes.

In point of fact the board was each year taking the full 50
cents for educational purposes and found it scarcely enough to
pay salaries and meet the running expenses of the schools. But
instead of asking for the 50 cents allowed by law, it actually
took only 15 cents for building purposes and the payment of
bonds. As compared with other cities of similar size, Springfield
ranked a little above the average in expenditures for education.

COSTS IN HIGH AND ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS
The annual cost of educating one pupil in the high school is
often more than twice as great as that of educating one pupil in
the elementary school. Elementary education in Springfield,
however, was relatively more expensive than the education given
in the high school, and still the city's expenditure for each high
school pupil was as much as that of the average city of similar
size. The high figures were caused by the small classes and rela-
tively generous salaries in the local schools.

A computation was made for Springfield and the other ten
cities of similar size of the amount spent annually for each child
in average attendance in day schools, for purposes other than
instruction. The results showed that the per capita cost in
Springfield was greater than the average for salaries of principals,
maintenance of buildings, purchase of stationery and supplies,
salaries of supervisors, and the purchase of water and light. In
the salaries of janitors and the purchase of fuel it was less than
the average for the 1 1 cities.

The system of collection and disbursement of funds was effi-
cient in that it provided every reasonable safeguard and secured
an accurate accounting. It was deficient in that there was undue
delay between the collection of tax money and its delivery to the
board of education by the county treasurer. The sums turned
over, moreover, were nearly always considerably less than the
total amount of school taxes that he had on hand. This and the
delay resulted in the board's losing the interest on part of its

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

funds for considerable periods of time. School moneys collected
during the month should be delivered in full to the treasurer of
the board at the end of each month.

Up to within two years ago the school district was practically
free from debt, and the expense of constructing new schools was
met from the building fund. In order to reduce the tax rate for
buildings, however, the board of education decided to borrow the
money to build the new Palmer and Lincoln schools instead of
paying for them out of current taxes. Twenty-year bonds were
issued at 4 per cent interest, with the result that the erection of a
school such as the new Palmer or new Lincoln which cost $75,000
if paid for at once, cost $106,000 when paid for by such bond issue.
Bonding is justifiable when it cannot be avoided, but in Spring-
field the current income from taxes, if rightly administered, was
ample for the purpose. There were indeed reasons why the usual
arguments for paying for public improvements through bond
issues did not hold. It was strongly recommended by the survey
that in the future erection of new buildings, Springfield abandon
the unnecessary practice of issuing bonds; also that the present
ones be amortized without the city becoming more deeply in-
volved, and former tax rate for building purposes be restored.

It was also recommended that when the board should take
this matter under consideration it also should consider submit-
ting to a vote of the people a moderate advance in the tax rate
for educational purposes. At the time the money gathered into
the educational fund was no more than sufficient to meet current
salaries and other expenses. Several of the most needed improve-
ments in the work of the schools contemplated the employment
of additional people, and these changes could not readily be
effected unless the amount of assessed valuation in the city be
increased or the tax rate for the educational fund be made larger.

MEDICAL INSPECTION

Medical inspection was being carried on in the schools by one
nurse, who was employed by the board of education and given
the title of Supervisor of Health. Her work in the schools con-
sisted of inspecting the children in each room for symptoms of
contagious disease, and during the same visit making partial

THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

physical examinations for the detection of removable defects
that might handicap the children either physically or mentally.
She was entirely competent and devoted to her work, but it was
impossible for one person to do thoroughly the amount of work
that she was attempting. Springfield, with nearly 7,000 children
in its public schools, should have the full-time services of at least
two and preferably three nurses, and in addition the half-time
service of a physician.

Probably the most satisfactory way to secure the services of
a competent physician would be to have the board of education
co-operate with the board of health in employing a municipal,
physician. Half of his time could be devoted to his duties as
school physician and half of his salary paid by the board of
education. Such an arrangement would make possible the em-
ployment of a first-class man and materially raise the level of
hygiene and sanitation throughout the city.

Vaccination had been neglected in Springfield, with the result
that three-fourths of the children were not vaccinated and the
proportion was growing year by year. This condition constituted
a danger which could be avoided by making vaccination a pre-
requisite to enrollment in the public schools.

A school dental clinic, then in its third year, was maintained
in connection with the offices of the board of education and was
thoroughly successful. Arrangements were being made with
oculists of the city for an eye clinic similar in principle to the
dental clinic. There was every indication that these efforts will
be successful and prove of great benefit to the children.

GLASSES FOR EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN

There were at least three types of exceptional children for
whom provision should be made. The first type consisted of
children below normal in growth and nutrition for whom open-
air classes were needed. Such classes were in successful operation
in many American cities and have repeatedly demonstrated their
ability to take weak, anemic, and sickly children and convert
them within a comparatively short time into strong, healthy,
and normal children. Many in the local schools were of the type
promptly benefited by open-air classes.

T/HE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

The second sort of exceptional child is the one below par
mentally. Probably not less than 1.5 per cent of the pupils in
the city schools are so backward in their work that they cannot
properly be cared for in regular classes. For these, special un-
graded classes taught by exceptionally well-qualified teachers
should be established. Included in this number of backward
children there was a smaller number of feeble-minded pupils who
should not be in the public schools at all but should be cared
for in state institutions.

The third type of exceptional children for whom special classes
are needed is made up of those having speech defects. These
children seemed to be unusually numerous in Springfield and
probably nurrtbered from 150 to 200. Most were stutterers, more
than three-fourths of whom could be cured by a few months of
special teaching. They do not need to be taught entirely in
separate classes, but should receive special instruction each day
from a well-qualified teacher who has been trained in this work.

THE HIGH SCHOOL

The high school had nearly 900 pupils in average attendance of
whom about 50 came from outside the city. It was growing at
the rate of about 50 pupils a year, and there was indication that
it will continue to grow even more rapidly.

There were six girls in the high school for every five boys, 100
fewer boys in the entire school than girls. The highest class was
composed of less than half as many pupils as the entering class,
showing that the Springfield High School, like most other high
schools, was losing a large proportion of its children during the first
year and another large proportion during the second. Those who
survive the first two years are apt to stay to the end and graduate.

The work of the school was nevertheless planned as though all
the children who entered remained for the entire four-year course.
The procedure was not economical. If most of the work of the
high school is to be devoted to teaching children who remain only
one or two years, it should be planned with that end in view;
and on the other hand if all the work is to be planned as part of
a four-year course, every effort should be made to retain the
children for the four years.

THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

THE HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING

The student body had outgrown the high school building
which was overcrowded so seriously that no further expansion
was possible. Eight rooms in the third story and eight more in
the basement were in use as class rooms, laboratories, or shops.
These rooms were never intended to be occupied by classes, and
every consideration of hygiene and educational policy demanded
that their use be abandoned. Extensive additions needed to be
built at onca, or a new high school constructed, or some reorgani-
zation effected whereby a number of the pupils might be moved
to other buildings.

TEACHING FORCE

The teaching force of the high school consisted of 39 men and
women, including 25 college graduates, seven high school and
six normal school graduates, and one teacher not a graduate of
any school. Nearly one-third were graduates of the Springfield
High School, which was causing the same inbreeding process
that so seriously handicapped the efficiency of the teaching force
in the elementary schools. Salaries ranged from $800 to $1,400
a year with an average of $1,065. These were sufficiently gen-
erous at the time for the city to be able to demand of the faculty
at least a college education, and of most of the teachers specializa-
tion in their subjects.

As might be expected, the teaching methods of this corps of
instructors ranged from excellent to distinctly poor. There was
a great deal of the sort of teaching that consists of assigning home
lessons to be learned from books and questioning the children to
find out how much they have retained of what they studied the
night before. It seemed to members of the survey that in general
the quality of teaching in the high school was on a lower level
than that in the elementary schools, when both were compared
with the work ordinarily observed in other cities.

COURSES OF STUDY

The high school was offering four courses academic or college,
English and scientific, business, and normal. Each was four years
in length, although there was a provision that certain pupils

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

might arrange for the two-year business course. In practice there
was no distinction between the four courses. Four recitations in
four different subjects each day, led in four years to the 16 credits
required for graduation. Seven of these credits were prescribed
and nine were elective. The subjects fell into 10 main groups
English, mathematics, science, history, Latin, manual training,
domestic science, commercial subjects, German, and French.
More than half of all the teaching done in the schools was de-
voted to 13 subjects of English, mathematics, and science.

The emphasis placed on the different subjects had been largely
dictated by the demands of college entrance examinations. Since
only one in 16 of the pupils entering the high school went to
college, these requirements should not be permitted to influence
the work of the school in more than slight degree.

MORE CO-OPERATION NEEDED

The greatest need of the high school was a better spirit of co-
operation within its own ranks. Pupils were being given little
advice and guidance in the matter of electing studies. Teachers
were competing with one another to get pupils to elect their
courses, with the result that they did not co-operate with the
pupils, they did not co-operate with one another, and they did
not co-operate with the principal. Several teachers showed mem-
bers of the survey staff plans for their own departments in the
contemplated additions to the building. In each case each teacher
had drawn plans for his or her own department without in any
way taking into consideration the needs of any other.

There were no adequate records in the principal's office to
show in any unified or convenient way the significant fact about
the institution as a whole or the individual children and their
school records. Program making was of the most elementary
sort, and while most of the work was arranged on the five-day
basis and no attempt at a spiral program had been made, still
the central office had no records whereby it could tell at any
hour of the day in what rooms the different teachers could be
found or what classes they were teaching. Similarly the records
of the individual pupils were kept mostly by the class room
teachers, and there was no way in which the central office could

THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

tell without making a special inquiry, such facts about each child
as age, courses taken, standing in each subject, credits earned to
date, intentions with respect to college, and so forth. The clerk
in the central office attributed this lack of adequate records in
part to reluctance on the part of the individual teachers to fur-
nish information about the children in their rooms when requested
to do so.

Something of this same spirit of lack of co-operation was re-
flected in the way in which the pupils changed from one room to
another at the end of each recitation. These transfers were ac-
companied by considerable disturbance from running, much loud
talking, and a great deal of unnecessary delay.

While it was true that the school needed a new building and
better equipment, more adequate shops and laboratories, a gym-
nasium, and an athletic field, these changes would not of them-
selves have converted the high school into a truly efficient insti-
tution. Before it could become as effective as it ought to be, it
needed to be better administered, students, teachers, and prin-
cipals needed to be imbued with a more thorough spirit of co-
operation, and the quality of class room teaching improved.

THE ORGANIZATION OF INTERMEDIATE SCHOOLS OR JUNIOR

HIGH SCHOOLS

As the members of the survey studied the educational prob-
lems of the city, they became convinced that the interests of
the schools could be most effectively forwarded by the organiza-
tion of intermediate schools or junior high schools. The schools
were organized, as are those of most cities, in eight elementary
grades and four high school grades. Under the proposed reor-
ganization the elementary schools would consist of the first six
grades, three or four intermediate or junior high schools would
be established to care for the seventh, eighth, and ninth grades,
and the three highest grades would be cared for in the senior
high school. Because of this division the proposed plan is some-
times referred to as the six-three-three plan. It was in successful
operation at the time in a considerable number of other cities
and in accord with the most progressive educational thought
and practice.

5 65

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

Under this plan three or four of the school buildings would be
converted into intermediate schools or junior high schools and
would take care of all the seventh, eighth, and ninth grade pupils
in the city. This would immediately relieve the overcrowded
condition in the high school. Each of the new schools would be
in the center of a group of elementary schools, and as the pupils
of the seventh and eighth grades of these other buildings were
transferred to the new school, those pupils at present in the first
six grades of the converted school would be transferred out to
take their places.

Then when the new high school should be erected the old
building would serve admirably for an intermediate or junior
high school. Thus the new plan provided temporary relief for
the overcrowded conditions, and also offered effective use of the
old high school building after the new one was erected.

The new plan was recommended as educationally superior be-
cause it provided a special type of schooling for boys and girls
during the period of adolescence, when they most urgently needed
an educational transition for the intermediate period between
childhood and maturity. Schools so organized were in successful
operation in other countries and in many cities of this country.

Under the intermediate school plan fewer pupils drop out in
the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades. They enter and are well
on the way toward graduation before they reach the completion
of the compulsory attendance period. They are associated with
children of their own ages and their school work is adapted to
their needs and abilities. Under these improved conditions a
far larger proportion of them complete the course and graduate.
Moreover, these schools render less difficult the problem of voca-
tional education. By bringing children together in schools de-
signed and organized for them, there is greater opportunity to
give them insight into the problems and processes of industry
through contact and participation, also to let them experiment
with varied forms of manual as well as mental activity.

Should the schools be reorganized as recommended, some
opposition from teachers, principals, and parents must be ex-
pected. Such opposition is inevitable and is true of every inno-
vation. In this case, however, it would not be either serious or

THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

of long duration. It should disappear as soon as the new schools
are in operation and the pride of each neighborhood in its new
acquisition overcomes the opposition of those who were at first
inconvenienced by the change.

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION

Throughout all the grades from the first to the eighth inclusive
work was being given in manual training and domestic science,
and in the high school these courses were continued on a more
advanced and comprehensive basis. Nevertheless, although
these courses included work in sewing, cooking, carpentry, and
machine shop processes, their main purpose was not direct prepa-
ration for money-earning occupations, and so they were not,
strictly speaking, vocational courses. In recent years interest in
vocational education in Springfield had been rapidly and steadily
growing, and the sentiment in favor of the establishment of such
courses in the public school system had become increasingly in-
sistent. The school survey devoted a considerable portion of its
time and effort to study of conditions in Springfield, with the
object of determining what course the city might most wisely
pursue in respect to the growing demands for vocational education .

As part of the investigation, facts were gathered concerning
all the thirteen-year-old children in the public schools and their
families. Boys and girls of this age were chosen because it was
the last year of compulsory school attendance, after which they
drop out in large numbers to go to work.

In order to discover what sort of occupation young people in
the city actually enter, a study of the occupations of the older
brothers and sisters was made. Similarly, information concerning
the fathers was compiled to discover in what groups of occupa-
tions they were engaged and also what kinds of work the city
needed to have done. In all, there were data concerning 373
thirteen-year-old boys, 358 girls of the same age, 233 older
brothers less than twenty-one years of age who were at work,
183 older sisters of the same age at work, and 655 fathers. These
cases were not selected; they include all the thirteen-year-old
children in the public schools for whom the facts could be secured.

The first data secured showed that boys and girls, upon reach-

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

ing the limit of the compulsory attendance period, were scattered
throughout the grades of the elementary and high schools. Nearly
one-half were in the sixth grade or below, which indicated that in
Springfield, as in many other cities, the problem of securing a
reasonably complete elementary schooling for all the children
must be solved if any successful system of vocational education
is to be instituted.

OCCUPATIONS OF FATHERS, BROTHERS, AND SISTERS
Among the fathers of the children only one in six was born in
this city and only one-half the children were born here. These
facts were significant because it is often urged that the schools
should develop courses in vocational education that will directly
prepare children to enter local industries. If present conditions
continue, however, and the majority of adults do not work in
the same communities in which they receive their schooling, the
problem of vocational education will not be solved by narrow
specialization in local industries. The aim should be rather the
development of that kind of general knowledge, adaptability,
and resourcefulness which will be of greatest practical use in
money-earning occupations.

Analysis of the figures giving the occupations chosen by the
boys and girls and those in which their brothers, sisters, and
fathers were actually engaged, showed that the aspirations of
the young people were for types of life work far in advance of
those to which their brothers, sisters, and fathers had succeeded
in attaining. The same condition maintained with respect to the
kind and amount of education that the boys and girls hoped to
secure as compared with that which young people in Springfield
actually were securing. Fifteen of the boys wished to be civil
engineers, whereas only one father was a civil engineer. Twenty-
six wished to become electricians or electrical engineers, but there
were only two fathers so engaged. Seventy-six of the girls wished
to become teachers, while only five of their older sisters had
entered that profession. Seventy-one had chosen stenography,
but only 14 of their sisters had entered the occupation. Ninety-
one per cent of the boys and girls stated that they intended to
enter high school, but we had reason to believe that probably

THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

less than 45 per cent would do so. Twenty-four per cent intended
to go to college,
but it was prob-
able that not more
than 3 per cent,

CHOOSING A LIFE WOPK

300

thirteen year old boys were asked
what they would like to be

-v*

Engineers farmers

OCCUPATIONS
BY IO Of? MORE BOYS

10 Machinists
Carpenters
CHOSEN

Book-
keepers

Merchants

or one-eighth as
many, would suc-
ceed in getting
there.

If the school
system is to assist
young people to
prepare them-
selves for money-
earning occupa-
tions, it must
carefully consider
the kinds of occu-
pations that these
young peoplewish
to enter. While
steadfastly bear-
ing in mind that
thirteen - year- old
boys and girls are
not generally com-
petent to foresee
the life work they
will eventually
wish to pursue,
we must remem-
ber that these
choices are our
best guides in
determining the
objectives of our

courses, and that the boys are quite likely to choose the sorts of
occupations in which fathers and brothers are actually engaged.

Electricians

engineers

/2 of the boys chose occupations needing
industrial training- training that could be
supplied in the Springfield schools

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION

A panel illustrating the recommendation that the
city establish courses of preparatory industrial train-
ing in its junior and senior high schools. The recom-
mendation included utilizing for educational purposes
the work that is incidental to the maintenance of the
school buildings and equipment.

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

The boys' agreement of choice with father's or brother's was very
close indeed if we group the occupations chosen into broad indus-
trial classifications, and a fair amount of agreement was found
when we made the classifications by individual occupations.
Our next step then was to analyze the specific occupations which
the boys and girls said they wished to enter, and decide what
was the wisest course that the schools could follow in the attempt
to help each boy and girl make the best use of his or her abilities,
aptitudes, and aspirations.

The choices showed that the great majority of young people
desired to prepare themselves for a relatively small number of
occupations. These could be classified with fair accuracy under
three heads depending on whether the training required was pro-
fessional, commercial or industrial in nature. The college pre-
paratory courses of the high school already opened the gates of
opportunity to those who desired to secure a professional educa-
tion, while the business courses offered training for those who
preferred to enter commercial activities. Again, the existing
courses in the high school offered in large measure preparation
for girls in the particular kinds of industrial work which most of
them had chosen. This left as our largest problem that of pro-
viding vocational education for substantially half of the boys.

There were 12 occupations which we had specified as requiring
industrial preparation, and in that group were included some
which hardly belonged there, such as farmers and perhaps bakers.
It was evident that the city could not then undertake to estab-
lish 12 separate kinds of new courses or schools to train boys for
these occupations. The complexity of the undertaking and the
expense which would be entailed rendered it impossible. The
question then was whether or not some general industrial educa-
tion could be devised which would be of real practical value.

It was the opinion of the survey that such a form of education
was both possible and practical, and that it did not consist of a
mere extension of the manual training work being done in the
wood-working shops in the elementary schools and the carpenter
shop and machine shop in the high school. The main defect of
these was that their work was not real. It was made up largely
of problems conceived or invented to fit into a scheme of develop-

THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

ment that existed rather in the mind of the person arranging the
course than in the interests of youth or the requirements of real
life.

MAKING INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION REAL

In former years young people gained their most useful educa-
tion through doing the chores of the home and the farm. Here
they were brought into contact with a wide range of industrial
operations and they developed a most adaptable sort of skill and
knowledge in the handling of materials. Today a more highly
organized and specialized civilization is taking away most of
these chores and with them much that is best in the training
of youth.

But Springfield had chores to do within its public school
system. It had buildings to be altered, painted, and repaired;
systems of heating and ventilating to be installed or changed;
and electric wiring for lights and bells to be put in and kept in
order. The community had chores to do and these chores were
of precisely the sort to make them educationally valuable. They
were diversified and real, dealing with many kinds of materials
and involving the application of the simpler processes of the
machine and building trades. Since the community had chores
to do and had boys and girls who needed to do chores, why not
bring them together, why not abandon the formal teaching of
series of exercises in school shops and substitute instead the doing
of short pieces of real work on the school buildings and grounds
under the direction of skilled journeymen artisans permanently
employed by the department of education to make repairs and
alterations? Indeed this plan was exactly the recommendation
of the survey.

The work done should be the regular work required for the
maintenance and repair of the school plant. Classes should be
small from three to five boys for each mechanic and all at-
tempt to fit the work into any preconceived series of exercises
should be abandoned. As a practical feature of the work each
portion undertaken would carry its own cost accounting sheet,
and financial records of all the work done would constitute a
large part of the work of the commercial courses.

The work proposed would be centered in the intermediate

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

schools and the senior high school. In the intermediate schools
it would be required of all boys, but in the senior high school it
would probably be made elective, at least in the two upper classes.
As it would take the place of manual training, the budget for
salaries and supplies in this subject could be applied to the new
work and the balance be defrayed from the building fund without
any increase of appropriations.

The plan outlined was neither complete nor exclusive, and pos-
sible extensions and variations were numerous. It might be car-
ried on with other forms of vocational education then offered in
the evening schools, and it would in no way interfere with the
establishment of continuation classes for young people already at
work or part-time classes for high school pupils. Some of the
simpler portions of the work of the city's hospitals and children's
institutions might well be undertaken by the older girls. Another
form of activity might well be furnished by the making and erec-
tion of playground apparatus for school playgrounds. Other pos-
sibilities could readily be foreseen, and it is certain that still
more would shortly present themselves after the plan had been
put into operation.

EDUCATIONAL EXTENSION

The school plant of this city represented an investment of
more than $1,000,000. It was in use less than one-eighth of the
time. There was little doubt that the community could profitably
secure more service from these costly buildings and extensive
grounds and for a greater proportion of time than they then did.

By utilizing her school buildings for lectures, club meetings,
entertainments, first-aid classes, and neighborhood and parents'
meetings, Springfield had already made a distinctly creditable
record. There was opportunity, however, for even wider use of
the school plant. The evening school work could be developed
more intensively, vacation schools could be organized, and the
school yards be used as playgrounds. If the city is to secure full
value from her ample school grounds they should be replanned
so as to devote part of their areas to grass and flowers and other
parts to playgrounds and play equipment. In addition there
should be one centrally located athletic field for use by high
school students and for the inter-school games of the entire city.

THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Little was being done in the way of teaching games to the
children or developing athletics for the older boys and girls.
The board of education should employ a director of physical
training, thoroughly versed in school athletics and playground
work. He could give the teachers practical instruction in the
teaching of suitable games, organize a grammar school athletic
league, and have charge of summer playgrounds in school yards
and park places. Furthermore, some arrangement should be
made whereby well-qualified teachers could be assigned to super-
vise after-school play and athletics in the school grounds. For
this work they should receive extra compensation on a part-
time basis.

The existing co-operation between the schools and the public
library needed also to be extended and more branch libraries
organized in the schools. Already Springfield was in line with
some 30 cities which were using their school buildings for election
purposes, having used four of hers for registration and polling
places. In this extended utilization of school plants the educa-
tional and civic gains are even more important than the economic
one, which, however, is also a factor to be considered by the city.

In letting school buildings to outside organizations, three ar-
rangements are increasingly recommending themselves in this
regard as embodying the best policy for a board to pursue.

1. Free use of school accommodations may well be given to
all educational and non-exclusive recreational and social activities
under the auspices of organizations allied with the educational
system.

2. The use of accommodations at cost should be afforded to
private organizations actively promoting community welfare and
individual culture.

3. Privileges should be let at a profit to organizations of a
religious, political or industrial character under regulations which
prevent damage to the property.

Regulations drawn up by the board of education covering the
use of school buildings provided in effect for use under the first
two classes. They might well be extended so as to include the
third, both from the standpoint of the income which would result
from such use and the benefits to the community which would
accrue from the offering of such privileges.

CARE OF MENTAL DEFECTIVES, THE INSANE,
AND ALCOHOLICS 1

An inquiry was made in Springfield into facilities for detecting
mental deficiency in children of school age, and into the methods
employed in dealing with those persons of subnormal mentality
in the schools, courts, and community at large. Although the
relation of mental deficiency to delinquency, dependence, and
immorality is more serious in adult life than in childhood, the
phases of the problems which present themselves during the
school age are more readily manageable, and the school popula-
tion constitutes practically the only group to which we have
access for satisfactory investigation.

In reading this chapter a few general facts should be borne in
mind. Mental deficiency, or feeble-mindedness, is lack of nor-
mal mental capacity due to defective development of the brain.
Though usually the result of conditions existing at birth, it is
also caused by arrest or retardation of mental development
through illness or injury during early childhood.

Feeble-mindedness ranges in degree from an almost entire
absence of intelligence, to that in which the defect appears
only in the most exacting mental activity and which is not in-
compatible with ability to acquire much information. Idiots
the term for the severest types of me'ntal defectives are rare.

Classification of degree of defect depends upon the investi-
gator's point of view. Educators usually prefer one based on a
comparison of the "actual age" of the child with his "mental
age"; that is, a comparison between the actual age of the child
and the age of a "normal" child who has about the same degree
of intelligence. Average mental development of normal children
at different ages has been determined largely by various psycho-

1 Summary of report on Care of Mental Defectives, the Insane, and Alco-
holics in Springfield, Illinois, by Walter L. Treadway, M.D.

MENTAL DEFECTIVES, THE INSANE, AND ALCOHOLICS

logical tests, the most widely used being the Binet-Simon tests.
Classification based on these is as follows: Idiots, those whose
mental age is not over three years; imbeciles, those whose mental
age is from three to seven years; morons, those whose mental
age is from eight to twelve years. Actual age is not considered.
The chief faults of this classification are that it is founded upon
a rather unsatisfactory conception of the normal mental develop-
ment of children, and disregards the very unequal development
in different mental fields of normal persons; its wide use, how-
ever, makes it valuable for purposes of comparison.

In the usual handling of children in school, allowance is made
for the shortcomings of pupils of low mentality; but in later life
the combination of a childish mind with adult years brings the
possessor into conflict with the law and custom, also with the
rules of conduct devised for persons whose minds as well as bodies
are those of adults. Mental defectives are often objects of charity
because of their inability to care for their present and future
needs; they are delinquent because of inability to understand
laws, or from lack of self-control;' sexually immoral because
they cannot repulse the advances of others or maintain com-
munity standards. They are thus often a menace to the peace
and safety of others.

The large number of mental defectives estimated at from 20
in each 1,000 school children to two in 1,000 of the general
population makes proper care of them especially difficult.
Many others not demonstrably defective are also so affected
that their progress through school is unsatisfactory and success
in later life problematical. The lowest estimate of mental defec-
tives in this country is approximately 200,000. According to
the United States Census Bureau on January I, 1910, only 20,000
of these were in institutions especially provided for them. Care-
ful investigation at that time showed in addition that at least
one-third a total of not under 40,000 of all inmates of prisons,
penitentiaries, jails, workhouses, and institutions for juvenile
delinquents were mentally defective.

Since only 26 states have public institutions for mental defec-
tives, the severer types are usually placed in state hospitals for
the insane, but county almshouses in all states contain them also.

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

Added to the number cared for in institutions, suitable or unsuit-
able, probably at least 130,000 are in none, and therefore often
suffer abuse themselves or prey upon others. Their presence in
the community constitutes a problem which requires knowledge
not only of remedial but of preventive measures for its solution.

Inherited mental deficiency by far the most common type
is preventable in only three ways: by physically incapacitating
for reproduction those capable of transmitting the condition;
by segregating them for life in special institutions; or by creating
a conscience in this matter which will not permit a person with
such heredity to marry. The first two methods can be applied
only to mental defectives; the third is, apparently, the only one
which will ever be applicable to normal persons capable of trans-
mitting a mentally defective strain.

Investigation of the methods of dealing with mental deficiency
in Springfield brought about studies of the following specific
problems: (i) the proportion of mental defectives in schools;
(2) what procedure, if any, was in use in schools for detecting
abnormal mental conditions; (3) what special training was given
children incapable of using facilities designed for those of aver-
age mentality; (4) what care was given mental defectives in the
community; (5) what practical plans can be adopted for secur-
ing adequate care for mental defectives in the schools and
communities.

THE PROPORTION OF MENTAL DEFECTIVES IN THE SCHOOL

POPULATION

The average public school attendance in Springfield during
the year of the survey was 7,082 883 in the high school and
6,199 i n elementary schools. In view of the impossibility in the
time available to make the large number of examinations required
to determine the number of mentally defective children in the
public schools, only children in those groups in which nearly all
mental defectives in the schools are to be found were examined
in this investigation. At the time of the inquiry there were just
1,000 children whose progress through the schools had been
slower than normal. This was chosen as the best group for our
study, for, although irregular attendance from many causes may

MENTAL DEFECTIVES, THE INSANE, AND ALCOHOLICS

account for retarded progress, in most schools careful examina-
tion shows that of the children who are over-age and slow in the
first eight grades, about one-eighth are mentally defective.
Ordinary methods of instruction are inadequate for them.

All the pupils who were both over-age and slow in the Train-
ing, McClernand, and lies schools, these three being regarded as
typical schools, were examined. Of those in attendance in March,
1914, 3.8 per cent were mental defectives. The percentage of
mental defectives in the entire school population is, however,
probably less than 3.8 per cent, for the pupils in the high school
were not taken into account in making the calculation. Almost
invariably, the higher the grade the lower is the proportion of
mentally defective pupils, because of elimination of the worst
cases, accumulation in the lower grades of those who early in
life reach their limit in the acquisition of knowledge, and rela-
tively the higher death rate among older members of this group.
The inference is, therefore, that inclusion of the high school
pupils in the calculation would lower the total percentage.

The number of children in the three schools examined for whom
instruction in special classes would have been desirable was about
7 per cent of their entire enrollment, for, in addition to the mental
defectives, others were sufficiently retarded to make their place-
ment in special classes desirable.

The findings of the school nurse who made observations in
the Enos, Hay, and Edwards schools were about the same as
those of the Training, McClernand, and lies schools.

An intensive study of each mentally defective child and his
home surroundings was not possible in this survey. The few
data which were gathered, however, showed the presence of cases
of chronic alcoholism, mental deficiency, convulsions, tuber-
culosis, chorea (St. Vitus' dance), and the like, in the immediate
families of some of these children, and are suggestive of the rela-
tions existing between mental deficiency and social and economic
problems. It was significant, however, that although some of
these conditions in children are serious and not infrequently fore-
runners of insanity, no treatment had been provided.

Examinations made in the Home for the Friendless (main-
tained by private philanthropy for children under ten years)

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

and in the Redemption Home, an institution for women, bore
out the evidence obtained in the public schools.

MEASURES TO DETECT ABNORMAL MENTAL CONDITIONS IN
THE SCHOOLS

Up to the time of the survey, practically nothing had been
done in Springfield to ascertain the prevalence of mental defi-
ciency among the school population and its relation to retarded
progress through the schools. Many Springfield teachers were
familiar with the work for backward children in other cities and
stood ready to welcome the establishment of special classes.

MEASURES FOR THE SPECIAL TRAINING OF CHILDREN WHO
WERE UNABLE TO MAKE USE OF THE FACILITIES DE-
SIGNED FOR THOSE OF AVERAGE MENTALITY
The result of our inquiry into these measures was the same
as in the preceding inquiry ; up to the time of the survey, prac-
tically nothing along this line had been done in the Springfield
schools.

WHAT is BEING DONE FOR THE MENTALLY DEFECTIVE IN
THE COMMUNITY?

As already indicated, the most serious problems of mental
deficiency lie outside the school, for, though defectives interfere
with its work, they themselves are often safer and happier in it
and of less danger to the community than they will be in later
life. Because compulsory attendance was poorly enforced in
Illinois and the school census was unsatisfactory, it was very
probable that children whose mental defects were so marked as
to be recognized by their parents, were never sent to school.
From 10 to 15 were withdrawn by their parents during the last
school year. Nothing whatever was being done for the educa-
tion, supervision, or training of these children who were deprived
of the benefits and restraints of the school system.

A number of these children were among the 150 to 200 coming
into the juvenile court each year charged with delinquency. In
14 cases in 1913, mental deficiency was so noticeable that the
condition was mentioned in the records, but nevertheless not all

MENTAL DEFECTIVES, THE INSANE, AND ALCOHOLICS

these children were sent to the Lincoln State School and Colony.
The fact was that neither the judge nor the probation officer
either possessed the training to enable them to detect mental
deficiency nor did they secure the necessary information upon
which to draw sound conclusions regarding the mental condition
of these children. Moreover, the court seldom had a medical
examination made.

Since but a small proportion of Springfield's mentally defec-
tive children could be accommodated in the institutions specially
provided for them in the state of Illinois, the others were neces-
sarily in their homes or in unsuitable institutions. Only a small
percentage of the total number were confined in institutions of
any sort; and thus it is seen that a large proportion were in-
adequately cared for.

PLANS FOR SECURING ADEQUATE CARE FOR MENTAL
DEFECTIVES IN SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITY

The crying need of Springfield was for special-class instruction,
in order that the regular classes might be relieved of the drag-
ging pupils and that the mental defectives themselves might
have the benefit of environment and instruction best suited to
their particular requirements. The first step in this direction
should be the employment, as supervisor of special classes, of a
competent, well-trained psychologist. Each child who appears
to need special instruction should be examined and classified by
her, and at the same time each should undergo a careful physical
examination for correctible ailments.

In general, the supervisor of special classes should be allowed
to effect an organization in accordance with her own knowledge
of local needs and difficulties. Some educators believe that each
class for subnormals should be regarded as a diagnosis station as
well as a place for special training, though others contend that a
general central class should be established for diagnosis and
classification, and that only after a period of observation in
this class and when a fairly accurate estimate has been made of
their degree of mental defect and capacity for training should
children be admitted to special classes in the schools most con-
venient to their homes.

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

The former plan, with its constant inflow and outflow, prevents
a hopeless attitude on the part of the pupil and gives more
experience to teachers. Ordinarily, half the subnormal-class
pupils return to regular classes after the correction of some
physical defect or faulty mental habit. Those who return are
naturally not the true defectives, for mental deficiency is not
curable and the special class cannot make these defectives nor-
mal; it can only make them happier and more useful.

It is suggested that the first class of this description, contain-
ing not more than 15 pupils, be established at the Training
School, if that school is continued, and that it be used both as
a diagnosis and classification station for children and a special-
training class for teachers. After teachers are properly developed
and trained (and every effort should be made to encourage them
to increase their information and experience), new classes should
be formed and the supervisor then devote herself entirely to
their supervision.

The following out of such a program will mean not only
better instruction for the normal children and the correction of
those with faulty habits of work, but it enables mentally defec-
tive children to be placed in an environment in which they are
not misfits and in which they can be trained to the limits of
their capacity. In some cases they will be trained for happier
and more useful life in the community; in others they will be
fitted for the institutional life which the state must soon provide
for those children who, however long they live, can never take
up the tasks and responsibilities of adult life.

An adequate school census is essential to a solution of the
mental deficiency problem. It is indispensable as a basis for the
enumeration of the mentally defective and to determine the rela-
tion of mental deficiency to truancy and other forms of juvenile
delinquency.

THE COMMUNITY

The place where the greatest need was found for expert work
in the diagnosis of mental deficiency was in the juvenile court.
It was therefore recommended that an examination by a com-
petent psychologist be made of all children brought before the

MENTAL DEFECTIVES, THE INSANE, AND ALCOHOLICS

court. If the employment of a psychologist for this specific work
is impossible, the court might contribute to the salary of such a
person who should supervise the work of the special classes and
examine cases from the juvenile court. When we remember to
what extent conduct depends upon the concepts, the control,
and the intelligence of the individual, it seems incredible that
many thousands of children should pass through the juvenile
courts of American cities every year and receive judgment affect-
ing their entire after life without any serious attempt being
made to determine their mental condition and its bearing upon the
conduct which brought them into conflict with their environment.

The supervisor and all other special-class teachers should
improve every opportunity to inform themselves and others on
every aspect of the problem of mental deficiency by taking part
in local civic and social activities in which the problem of mental
deficiency plays an important part; also by observation instate
institutions and by summer school study in order to secure
adequate care for the mentally defective and stimulate the state
to undertake preventive work.

No other factor can do so much to prevent the feeble-minded
from becoming a burden and danger to others, and also help
them make whatever contribution they can to the common wel-
fare as the establishment of special classes in the public schools.

THE INSANE

It is difficult to measure the efficiency of diagnosis and treat-
ment of mental diseases because of two factors peculiar to this
class of ailments: (i) the law may have to be invoked because
the patient is unaware of his needs and resists treatment; and
(2) the slowly dying belief that mental diseases are essentially
different from all others. The commitment laws of a community,
facilities for care pending commitment and for emergency treat-
ment, institutional provisions for committed cases, for parole, dis-
charge, and after-care must therefore be studied in this connection .

LEGAL PROCEDURE IN COMMITMENT

A study of the Illinois commitment law showed it to be one
of the least useful in the United States and not in accord with
6 81

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

modern ideas regarding the nature of mental diseases and the
needs of the insane. Commitments were being made after in-
quests before juries or commissions survivals of the harsh prac-
tices of an earlier
period and no safe-

THE INSANE ARE SICK "

MANY CAN BE RESTORED TO
MENTAL HEALTH

BUT

Springfield does not
treat them

patients during the
period of examination
of mental condition
or during transfer to
institutions for the in-
sane.

In no of the 113
cases before the San-
gamon County court
from January i, 1913,
to March i, 1914, a
commission sat as a
board of inquest; one
of the 113 was a jury
case, and two were
voluntary commit-
ments. The county
judge softened the
rigors of the Illinois
law as much as pos-
sible by making use of
the commission plan
of inquest and by
conducting hearings
in private instead of
through a jury trial.
He also tried to
arrange the time for
the hearings in such a way as to avoid the necessity of tem-
porary detention of these patients in the county jail. In spite of
his best efforts, however, during 1913, 78 persons were held in

Insane Persons in
County Jail Annex 1913
PERSONS DAYS HELD

7 |

27 2

12 3

6 4

16 5to7

6 Stoll

I 12

3 Over 2O

Many depressed persons having
delusions of unwodhiness confirm
them when detained in jaif

INSANE PERSONS IN COUNTY JAIL ANNEX
A panel showing that 78 persons in 1913 were

held for a total of three hundred and fifty days or

for an average of four and one-half days each.

The jail was a most unsuitable place for the care

of any sick persons.

MENTAL DEFECTIVES, THE INSANE, AND ALCOHOLICS

the county jail annex for a total of three hundred and fifty days,
or an average of four and a half days each. It is possible, at
the discretion of the county physician, to keep a patient a num-
ber of weeks in this distinctly harmful environment. The prac-
tice, whether persons were held either before or after commit-
ment, was most unfortunate, but with the erroneous views held
by most people as to the nature of mental disease it was not
surprising that it was being permitted.

Of course, no one can assert that the confinement of a per-
son with mental disease in a jail is "treatment" in any sense of
the word. The jail annex is a two-story building containing six
cells. It is cold, dirty, and a most unsuitable place for the care
of any sick persons. It is only ignorance on the part of the pub-
lic of the simplest facts about mental disease that makes such a
practice possible. If it were generally known, for instance, that
depressed persons who have delusions of unworthiness and self-
condemnation acquire confirmation of their false ideas by such
a procedure it is likely that a substitute would speedily be found.

TREATMENT OF EARLY CASES OF MENTAL DISEASE AND THOSE
AWAITING COMMITMENT IN GENERAL HOSPITALS

The problem of mental disease should be attacked from the
standpoint of preventive medicine. Patients still in the early
stages should be treated in psychopathic hospitals or psycho-
pathic wards of general hospitals, in order that they may not
be prevented, by the humiliating and disabling legal preliminaries
incident to treatment in hospitals for the insane, from seeking
aid before it is too late.

At the time of the survey the general hospitals of Springfield
not only were failing to make special provision for this class of
sick persons but they withheld treatment if the condition was
known at the time application was made. The Springfield Hos-
pital ftad refused all mental cases, and St. John's Hospital would
take a person suffering from mental disease only if the physician
in charge of the case would employ a special nurse and assume
all responsibility. Alcoholic cases were admitted under excep-
tional conditions. Nevertheless there were not a few patients in
the yearly admissions to each of these hospitals who might

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

have been treated with advantage in a psychopathic ward if one
were provided. St. John's Hospital, with a capacity of 250 beds,
had 3,800 admissions during the previous year and among these
patients were 200 with some form of nervous disease. It was
planned to increase the capacity of this hospital by the addition
of a wing containing eight beds.

It was recommended that a small ward for each sex be set
aside in the new wing of St. John's Hospital, and that no further
use for this purpose be made of the county jail annex. Alcoholics
and patients delirious from any cause could be cared for advan-
tageously here. Recovery from mental disorder depends often
upon a patient's being treated in a proper environment.

INSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS : SANGAMON COUNTY FARM
Almshouses are manifestly unfit places for the insane ; yet, in
1913, there were 19 cases in the Sangamon County Poor Farm,
or 6.4 per cent of all cases of insanity in almshouses in the state,
although the total population of this county is only 1.5 per
cent of that of the whole state. On March I, 1914, the number
was 1 8, and in addition there were five others who were mentally
defective. The insane patients were locked in cells at night, but
during the day they were allowed the liberty of the grounds and
most of them assisted in some of the work.

The facilities for the care of the insane in this county alms-
house were no better or worse than those of the average institu-
tion of this type. This is equal to saying, however, that those
who had the insane patients in their charge were without adequate
personal training, that skilled medical supervision was lacking,
and the physical condition of the almshouse was below reason-
able requirements for the treatment of patients suffering from
such complex disorders. While there are still a number of states
which permit this condition of affairs to continue, in others,
though there is no statutory prohibition, public sentiment will
not tolerate such neglect, and many states have laws distinctly
forbidding the care of the insane in almshouses.

To lessen the number of its insane in the county poor farm,
Springfield should make determined efforts for the admittance
of a fair proportion into the state hospitals. The city should

MENTAL DEFECTIVES, THE INSANE, AND ALCOHOLICS

at the same time strive for the enactment of laws which will
require accommodation in the state hospitals of all the insane of
Illinois, and ultimately for a statute absolutely prohibiting alms-
house care for these patients. The installation of 20 additional
beds in the Jacksonville State Hospital, estimated at the time to
cost not more than $10,000, would give 20 patients the proper
treatment which they have previously lacked, and would permit
the demolishment of the cells being used in the basement of the
Sangamon Almshouse.

THE STATE HOSPITALS

The law requires that the persons who take female patients
to a state hospital must be of the same sex, exceptions being
made only in the case of a husband, brother, father, or son, but
it does not authorize the state hospital to send nurses for cases.
The latter practice is extremely desirable, but in Illinois and in
too many other states the atmosphere of trial and conviction
must be carried to the very doors of the hospital in order that
the ancient and mistaken conception of insanity as crime and
not a disease may be adhered to. There is not the slightest
necessity for a sheriff or a police officer to perform this duty,
and positive harm not infrequently results.

Ordinary common-sense would tell a father not to call upon
the police for aid in taking an unwilling child to a hospital. It
is quite apparent that such a course would be the one best calcu-
lated to make a child resist treatment. But in the case of those
whose judgment and perception are already distorted by mental
disease and whose hope of recovery sometimes depends most of
all upon their co-operation with the doctors and nurses in the
hospital, we make use of just this measure. In several states it
is expressly provided by law that nurses from the hospitals shall
be sent for all cases to be transferred. Among the advantages
of this practice is the fact that such nurses are often able to make
valuable observations regarding the social and economic condi-
tions of patients and their heredity.

State legislation requiring the accompaniment of patients to
the Jacksonville State Hospital by nurses should be secured.

85 '

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

In the absence of such statute the county court or a philanthropic
agency might employ nurses for this purpose.

PAROLE, DISCHARGE, AND AFTER-CARE

Before formal discharge, patients from state hospitals are
ordinarily paroled for three months. If the patient is to be
returned after that a new order of commitment is usually neces-
sary though the judge may issue such an order upon the old ver-
dict if he is satisfied that the patient is still insane. A discharged
patient is given suitable clothing and traveling expenses not ex-
ceeding $20. Upon notice of his discharge, the county judge
must enter an order restoring him to all his rights of citizenship
and remove the conservator of his estate, if one has been
appointed.

Any time before or after discharge or parole, the superintend-
ent of a hospital may send a suitable person to confer with the
family of a patient as to care and occupation most favorable
for his continued improvement. The state provides no funds
for the employment of physicians or nurses for this duty or for
an effective system of after-care that could be based upon this
power given the superintendent.

On March I, 1914, there were 14 patients on parole in Spring-
field. The number of patients who returned to Springfield every
year from the Jacksonville State Hospital was approximately 70.
About 20 of these patients were considered by the hospital
authorities to have recovered; about 40 had not recovered but
had improved sufficiently to enable them to return to their
homes; and the remaining 10 were removed by their relatives
for one cause or another without any improvement having oc-
curred. Most of these patients would be greatly benefited by
some kind of well-directed help in their attempts to regain or
preserve their health and to re-establish themselves in the
community.

Systematic after-care work is urged. Any practical plan for
undertaking after-care work in Springfield would require co-
operation between the physicians of the Jacksonville State Hos-
pital and a committee organized especially for social service in
this field. A few persons willing to interest themselves in this

MENTAL DEFECTIVES, THE INSANE, AND ALCOHOLICS

work could very informally unite in a committee for mental
hygiene and become affiliated with the Illinois Society for Men-
tal Hygiene. 1 Such
a committee should
constitute the rally-
ing point for all those
who are dealing with
one phase or another
of mental diseases
and mental defi-
ciency in the com-
munity. It should
include in its mem-
bership representa-
tives of important
agencies in Spring-
field , also physicians,
clergymen, business
men, teachers, and
others who would
welcome an oppor-
tunity for service in
an important hu-
manitarian field
which thus far has
been practically ne-
glected. It would be
especially desirable
to have the county
judge and the judge
of the juvenile court
upon the committee.
A social service nurse
who has had experi-
ence in an institution

ACUTE ALCOHOLIC DISEASES

866 arrests on account of

ALCOHOLISM
were made in 1913

Alcoholics in County
Jail "Annex -1913

PERSONS DAYS HELD
6 t

10 2

i i 3

I I 4

33 5to7

When Alcoholics are unconscious
the City Physician ts called

40 Alcoholics arrested in 1913

were reported to have
developed DELIRUM TREMENS
and were treated in the ANNEX
BUT THE TREATMENT NEEDED BY
THESE AND MANY OTHERS COULD
NOT BE GIVEN IN A JAIL

INADEQUATE TREATMENT FOR ALCOHOLICS
Panel showing that 88 persons in 1913 were held
in the jail annex for a total of four hundred and
fifty days, or an average of five and one-tenth days
each.

for the insane should be employed at once

1 Those interested in the subjects discussed in this chapter may secure addi-
tional information, pamphlets, etc., by writing to the National Committee for
Mental Hygiene, 50 Union Square, New York City.

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

in order that systematic after-care work could be undertaken
as the first step.

As a rule, no sooner is work of this sort begun than the urgent
need is felt for a clinic to which mental cases may be referred for
diagnosis or advice and to which paroled cases can be brought
for examination. This need has been met in a number of places
by arrangements whereby the nearest state hospital can furnish
a member of the medical staff to hold such a clinic at stated
intervals in a room provided for this purpose by the local gen-
eral hospital or even by a school or a charitable society. In some
states these clinics are held regularly in a number of towns in the
vicinity of the state hospital.

This committee should not limit itself to after-care work, but
should seek to be of practical service in every phase of the social
and civic life of Springfield into which the problems of insanity
and mental deficiency enter. Harsh features of administration
of the commitment laws of Illinois could be nearly eliminated,
and juvenile court and special -class work should be supported
by such a committee.

ALCOHOLICS

The institutional treatment of the alcoholic habit is an under-
taking which a city the size of Springfield could hardly be ex-
pected to assume. There are in this country very few public
institutions for the treatment of inebriety, and most of these,
like hospitals for the insane, are conducted by the state. Illinois
had not yet undertaken to provide state care for alcoholics and
other inebriates. The provision of one or more state farm colonies
for the treatment of inebriety had been proposed, but there was
no evidence that this project was to be taken up in a practical
way by the legislature. The most that a city like Springfield
could do was to provide for efficient treatment of those suffer-
ing from acute alcoholic diseases.

The exact number of arrests in 1913 in which drunkenness
was the direct contributing cause was not known. The records
showed 726 arrests for drunkenness, 126 for drunkenness and dis-
orderly conduct, one each for "drunkenness and fighting" and
"drunkenness and threats," and two in which the charge was

MENTAL DEFECTIVES, THE INSANE, AND ALCOHOLICS

"drunk and demented." In all there were 856 arrests in which
drunkenness was specifically charged. In addition to these there
were 842 arrests for disorderly conduct, 84 for vagrancy, and 73
for begging in many of which cases drunkenness was probably
the direct contributory cause.

Among so large a number of intoxicated persons there are cer-
tain to be many who are in need of immediate treatment. There
was a rule that the city physician must always be called when an
intoxicated person was unconscious when placed in a cell. This
sound practice, complied with in many places, was imperative
because of the many distressing results which followed placing
unconscious persons in cells without very careful medical
examination.

When the arrested person was not unconscious he was treated
according to some general direction left by the city physician.
Cases of delirium tremens and other forms of alcoholic delirium
were sent to the county jail annex. It was reported that 88 per-
sons arrested for alcoholism developed delirium tremens during
1913 and were treated in the annex. They were detained there a
total of four hundred and fifty days, or for an average of about
five days each. Three died. The recovery of the others could
not be attributed very largely to the treatment received, for no
nursing was provided and whether patients were up or in bed
depended upon their own inclination.

The practice of confining persons with delirium tremens or
with grave alcoholic diseases in the annex of the county jail is a
method not in accord with the humanity and civilization of such
a city as Springfield and should be abandoned. There was but
one place in which the public treatment of such diseases could
be carried out successfully and that was in the wards of a gen-
eral hospital. The provision of a psychopathic ward in St.
John's Hospital, as suggested in the part of this report relating
to the insane, would make it possible to care for cases of alcohol-
ism in accordance with the best modern methods. 1

1 These recommendations were made before national prohibition was
adopted.

8 9

V
RECREATION IN SPRINGFIELD 1

THE BASIS OF PUBLIC CONCERN IN RECREATION
Cities which show the greatest development of public recrea-
tional facilities are mainly those in which the excessive delinquency
of children in certain well-defined districts has called public
attention to the external causes of viciousness. In these sections
it had been found that the congestion of population had squeezed
out the spaces and opportunities for a normal play life and steps
were consequently taken to supply the deficiencies. The move-
ment for playgrounds, thus originated, became finally a movement
for all sorts of recreation facilities under public auspices. But in
Springfield, up to the time of the survey, the conditions that ham-
pered play were not conspicuously present and, as a consequence,
its public conscience when these investigations were made had
not been greatly burdened with recreation matters.

Nevertheless, in this city just as in other communities, there was
occurring each year a great and preventable wreckage of human
careers. The more spectacular tragedies drunkenness, suicide,
murder, or rape were reported in the local press because they
reached the courts. But they constituted only a fraction of the
moral disasters which happen practically unnoticed in a year's time
in a city like Springfield.

An immoral episode, growing out of an acquaintanceship begun
at a dance hall, may not immediately plunge a young woman into
public shame, yet it may be just as truly the principal cause of an
irreparable breakdown in her subsequent family life. Boyish
pilfering from a freight car may not result in quick arrest and yet
be in reality the commencement of a career of thievery. The
arrest of a mechanic for drunkenness may result in no violence to

1 Summary of report on Recreation in Springfield, Illinois, by Lee F. Hanmer
and Clarence Arthur Perry.

RECREATION

another's person or property, yet it may mark the end of a useful
career, the beginning of a life of loafing.

THE EFFECT OF ENVIRONMENT

Who is to blame for the moral accidents in a community? Men
and women are free moral agents, are they not? These are ques-
tions that can best be answered by reference to concrete cases.
Drunkenness plays a leading role in most tragedies. A study of
one very common set of circumstances under which intemperate
habits are contracted may be illuminating.

Billiards is an extraordinarily attractive game. Scientific,
unusually free from the factor of chance, it offers the player
unlimited opportunities for the improvement of his ability to judge
spaces, co-ordinate the muscles, and exercise persistence of endea-
vor. Being played indoors, by day or artificial light, the recreation
afforded by billiards and pool is at all times independent of the
weather, and it is an especial boon to the worker during the long
winter evenings when outside sports are not so regularly available.
Furthermore, these are eminently social games, drawing together
persons of similar ages and tastes and allowing all the delights of
jest and witticism to animate the spirits while the play is going on.

In Springfield, just as is the case in most other cities, the oppor-
tunity to play billiards was almost everywhere linked with power-
ful temptations to use alcoholic beverages. Of the 60 holders of
billiard and pool licenses 36 also held licenses enabling them to have
saloons on the same premises. Young men who frequented these
pool rooms could not escape the odors from the bar room, the
contagion of custom, or the compulsion of a hospitality that was
none the less powerful because it took the form of alcoholic
refreshment.

Obviously in the cases of young men who first enter pool and
billiard rooms for the purpose of play and who gradually form
habits of intemperance, there are two factors a sad failure of
will power and the influence of environment.

Springfield was working energetically through home, school,
and church to inform and strengthen the wills of young people.
These traditional instrumentalities which influence individual
character will always be necessary to human development, and

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

society must not only cherish them and keep them keen and
effective but must increase their power in every possible way.
And one such way is presented in a well-balanced scheme of public
recreation.

The properly administered gymnasium, recreation center, and
athletic field develop in youth the ability to meet high standards,
moral and physical. Few fields of action in times of peace afford
such relentless trials of a youth's soul as does the field of sport. It
is here that he gains a self-control, a character bulwark that will
support him in all the stresses of life.

In the case of the billiard room habitue, the pulling power of the
saloon was also a factor in his downfall. So that after society has
done everything possible to strengthen moral stamina only half its
task is done. It still has obligations concerning the surroundings
in which human beings work and play. "Safety First" is the
motto in every up-to-date factory. If corporations have found it
profitable to safeguard their employes in all possible ways, how
much clearer is the obligation resting upon society to safeguard its
members from the more masked and less immediate perils lurking
in the surroundings of otherwise wholesome amusements.

INTEMPERANCE NOT THE ONLY EVIL

The temptation to intemperance is not the only evil in the
surroundings of the average commercially managed billiard room.
Often gambling operations hover in the proximity, and sometimes
the brothel is not far away.

To thousands of Springfield's young people dancing was a per-
fectly normal mode of social life, and the only feasible opportunity
they had for enjoying it was surrounded by moral pitfalls of the
most dangerous and insidious character. Take, for instance, the
local public dance where pass-out checks were given to patrons,
enabling them to visit neighboring saloons during the progress of
the evening's program as often as they desired. The young women
in attendance here might not only dance with partners who had
been drinking, but, since introductions were not customarily re-
quired, the young women at any time might receive invitations
from persons regarding whose irresponsible character and vicious
habits* they were absolutely ignorant.

RECREATION

MUNICIPAL AMUSEMENTS

The only way whereby a municipality can escape blame for
many of the catastrophes which have their beginnings in moral
pitfalls of such dangerous character is to offer adequate oppor-
tunities for the pursuit of proper pleasures in surroundings free
from contaminating influences. Milwaukee, for example, at the
time of the survey had placed 25 of the finest type of pool and
billiard tables in its public school buildings. Social dancing for
young and old was also taking place in over two hundred school
houses scattered throughout the country. Today this number
has greatly increased.

Someone may say, "If billiard playing and social dancing
contribute to the downfall of young people, why afford oppor-
tunities for them in public school houses? Why permit them to
exist at all?"

Those who have given careful thought to these matters, how-
ever, are not at all convinced that they should be banished, even
if it were possible to do so. The feeling is rather that it is wrong
and unfair to the young people to allow so many of the intrin-
sically fine enjoyments of life to be associated with evil. Why
not provide them so abundantly in irreproachable settings that
they will automatically lose all their usefulness to the selfish and
malign agencies now employing them as mere enticements?

A DANGEROUS DEFECT IN CITY LIFE

The corrupt amusement resort, however, is only one of many
environmental sources of evil found in the uncongested city.
Back yards may be ever so ample, the parks easily accessible and
equipped for play, and the woods not far off, and yet the scheme
of life of the city be utterly devoid of one of the main necessities
of a healthy boy's existence.

Records of the juvenile court show how a boy's natural love of
adventure finds expression in wild deeds and dangerous exploits
if undirected and misunderstood. Are attempts to wreck a train,
hold-ups by knickerbocker bandits, petty thieving, and arson
merely examples of juvenile depravity, or are they often blind
imitations of the exploits of heroes in paper-covered thrillers and
motion pictures?

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

Often such deeds display, on the part of the boy, physical cour-
age, initiative, and ability to follow boldly and directly a course of
action. They are the qualities of the huntsman, the trapper, the
explorer, the pioneer, all reinforced and covered by the irrepres-
sible urge to hasten the process of growing up by anticipating the
acts of the grown-ups. A boy without these qualities would be as
backward as a race whose early members had shown no disposi-
tion to rove, to extend their hunting territory, or settle new lands.

A study of the free, everyday acts of boys shows that their
fondness of the incidents of primitive life is not confined to their
addiction to dime novels and Wild West shows. During the
course of this survey some 1,100 boys, ranging mainly from nine
to fifteen years of age, wrote school essays upon "All the Things
I Did Last Week," the week in question being one of vacation.
Boys to the number of 134 reported such activities as these:
made tents, shacks, log huts, or tree houses; camped out all
night; cooked over outdoor fire; made and sailed rafts; played
cowboys and Indians, civil war and "Robinson Crusoe"; imi-
tated the field telephone men and played "Boy Scouts." How
many more wanted to do similar things but were prevented by
home tasks belonging to the house-cleaning period, can only be
conjectured.

How TO MEET IT

Fortunately for the future of American boyhood an organiza-
tion has been formed whose activities afford to an unhoped-for
degree a full, as well as wholesome, outlet for these early instincts.
In the hike, the woodcraft, wig-wagging and wireless telegraphy,
first care of wounded, and the many other ways of matching wits
against nature involved in frontier life, the Boy Scout finds the
kind of expression that his primitive soul craves. The code of
courtesy changes him from a brigand into a knight-errant with-
out loss of zest. While the sanitary campaigns, street duty on
parade, and other civic exercises all combine to prepare him for
responsible, co-operative citizenship, at the same time they satisfy
his impetuous desire to do the kinds of things adults do.

The Camp Fire Girls organization plays a similar role in the
girl's life. Until this institution was developed people had for-

RECREATION

gotten that during the long ages while man roamed the hills in
search of game, woman kept the fire burning in the hut, and her
muscles and nervous system still respond emotionally to those
primeval activities just as his do. They did not appreciate the
necessity of having, in the midst of our changing home life, rites
and ceremonies which would somehow preserve the romance
and satisfaction of woman 's age-long activities, and transplant
them, not too precipitously, to the work of her new and larger
place in the community scheme.

RECREATION AND SELF-REALIZATION

In every community there are individuals who possess latent
abilities of a special order which, through lack of opportunity,
they are prevented from exercising. There are young men with
talents for drawing, for invention, for mimicry, for organization,
who need only the privileges of a studio, a laboratory, a stage
society, or a civic club to achieve distinction for themselves and
their locality. There are girls with undiscovered voices, hidden
social abilities, leanings toward letters, or a special taste for
interior decoration which will be revealed to themselves and to
their friends by the stimulus of a chorus, the management of a re-
ception, a dramatic competition, or the dressing of a stage for
amateur theatricals. Indeed, there are few individuals without
some special qualification whose employment means personal
success, whose denial spells lifelong failure. Since exercising
special abilities is ordinarily play for their possessor, it fre-
quently happens that enabling an adult to play is enabling him
to keep on growing.

The extension of such cultural opportunities to the public in
general constitutes one of the most important phases of the
recreation movement. Modern school buildings and to a lesser
degree, park field houses contain meeting rooms, auditoriums,
stages, pianos, shops, laboratories, drawing rooms, and gymna-
siums, wherein a wide range of cultural activities can be carried on.
School houses can be made available for all the purposes men-
tioned above by employing special staffs to come on after the
academic force has retired for the day. To establish social centers
means to inaugurate a line of municipal action that tends not

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

only to remove the waste of crime but to give that enrichment to
community life which comes only through the complete self-
realization of its individual members.

COMMUNITY ART AND RECREATION

Proof of the close relationship between public recreation and
community art is already remarkably abundant. Through
playground work, folk and esthetic dancing have been given
a permanent place in American life; while the annual play
festival has developed an increasing demand for fantastic, pic-
turesque, and historical representations in parades and outdoor
scenes. In several cities beautiful, immense, epoch-making
pageants have been presented, which grew obviously out of the
advanced forms of play life that have been promoted by the
municipality. In a less conspicuous but more widely extended
way a vast amount of stimulation to musicians, dramatic clubs,
artists, and art groups of all sorts has been given by the opening of
public school buildings after class hours for diverting, cultural,
and social occasions. Any city which wishes to lay the founda-
tions for a broad community art development will achieve the
greatest progress by first establishing a generous, far-reaching
system of public recreation.

THE HOMES

Springfield, when we visited it, was, and still is, a city of homes.
Its population is not only well distributed but the number of
people per acre is comparatively low. People live for the most
part in detached houses with yards and, in some cases, gardens.
This means for the majority, at least, opportunity for home
recreations ranging all the way from children's games, both
indoor and outdoor, to social functions in the home and lawn
parties, tennis, and croquet.

The great need was resources a knowledge of things to do.
Here appeared a serious gap in Springfield 's recreation equip-
ment. The essays previously mentioned, written by 2,275 gram-
mar school children of the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth
grades on "All the Things I Did Last Week" (Easter vacation),
gave striking evidence of the dearth of proper resources for play.

RECREATION

The only activity that engaged the attention of any consider-
able number of boys was baseball (71 per cent). The only ac-
tivities reported by over 20 per cent of the boys were baseball,
motion-picture shows, reading, and kite flying; while the old
standard games that American boys have been brought up on,
such as prisoners' base, leapfrog, blind man's buff, bull in the
ring, hare and hound, and duck on the rock, were reported as
played by less than half of I per cent of the grammar school
boys. Most of these standard games were mentioned by only
one-tenth of I per cent, or about one boy in a thousand.

In the case of the girls, motion-picture shows, jumping the rope,
roller skating, and hide and seek were the four most popular forms
of recreation. The standard games that should bring girls
together in safe, happy, co-operative play, such as I spy, London
bridge, fox and geese, button button, and blind man's buff, were
at the bottom of the list, indicating that they were played by
comparatively few girls.

While the survey was in progress the children were observed
during the play periods on the school grounds. With the excep-
tion of baseball and tag they seemed in most cases to be sadly
lacking in knowledge of what to do. The boys ran about, trip-
ping, pulling, and pommeling one another, and the girls amused
themselves by standing about in small groups or playing an im-
provised tag game which consisted chiefly of chasing one another
and screaming.

A remedy for this would of course be the teaching of games to
children during the play period and of selecting these games in
such a way that they might be used both on the school grounds
and in the home yards. A few of the schools were already doing
this in a limited way, but it needed to be extended to all the
schools, for no child should be long in the public schools without
knowing a good number of the standard playground games.

The responsibility does not, however, rest solely with the schools.
Parents must give careful thought to plans for making their homes
attractive to the children by providing opportunities and facilities
for play and social life. It may not be conducive to comfort and
quiet to have the neighbors' children playing in your back yard
and to have your house used for neighborhood parties of various
7 97

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

sorts; but young people are bound to come together somewhere,
and if the home or the school or the church does not afford this
opportunity the public amusement resorts will certainly have
their patronage.

THE SCHOOLS AS SOCIAL CENTERS

During the months of February, March, and April of 1914, 26
evening entertainments, lectures, or social gatherings were re-
ported to have occurred in the public school houses of Springfield.
Only 1 1 out of its 20 school edifices, however, were used during
this period for these purposes. Spread out among all the buildings
this would make an average rate of about four occasions per
building for the whole school year. Once every nine or ten weeks,
then, the school house here played a part in the recreational life
of its neighborhood.

How did Springfield, in this respect, compare with other cities?
What amount of use for leisure time purposes constituted the
prevailing standard ? The truth is no one can answer these ques-
tions because school officials generally have not yet begun to re-
cord systematically the evening entertainments or meetings held
in the edifices under their charge. In over two hundred Ameri-
can cities, however, outcroppings of the social center idea were
then manifesting themselves in various sorts of evening activities.

At the same time nearly one-tenth of New York City's public
schools were being used as recreation centers six evenings a week
from October to April, while many others were used one or two
nights a week for public lectures, night classes, and various other
purposes. Chicago, nearby, was utilizing 24 schools two nights a
week as social centers, while in others there were evening classes,
political meetings, and miscellaneous activities.

Allen town, Pennsylvania, a city of the same size as Springfield,
had two school centers, open three nights a week through the
winter, which were managed by the local playground association
with some support also from the school board. Duluth, Min-
nesota; Superior, Wisconsin; Youngstown, Ohio; and the New
Jersey cities of Bayonne, Elizabeth, Hoboken, and Passaic
places ranging from 40,000 to 80,000 in population were other
municipalities which had social centers in certain of their schools.

RECREATION

Springfield, not having any schools which were actually known as
live social centers, could not claim a position among these leaders.

A first step feasible in Springfield and recommended by the sur-
vey, was that of opening every school house two nights a week. It
could be achieved simply by following the policy the board of
education had already wisely initiated ; the policy, that is, of en-
couraging the formation of voluntary associations to work in co-
operation with the schools. There could and should be a mothers'
club, or some other form of parent-teacher organization, as well
as a neighborhood improvement association connected with each
of the elementary schools of the city. At the time, only about
a dozen schools had the help of such bodies, and in many of these
the work was done mainly by the principals and teachers. Neigh-
borhood organizations of this kind can easily foster such activi-
ties as popular choruses, basket-ball tournaments, folk dancing
and indoor athletic activities, maintain reading and quiet game
rooms, promote young people's clubs of all sorts dramatic, de-
bating, literary, social, civic and handicrafts and hold motion-
picture shows and social dances.

The administration of social center activities should be directed,
stimulated, and supervised from the superintendent's office,
working directly through the principals, and in certain matters,
through the physical training department. Principals should
regard the development of neighborhood organizations as part of
their duties, but their aim should be to get the neighborhood
increasingly to assume the load in the social center work, their
function being to steer the activities rather than to do the actual
work of carrying them on.

SOCIAL CENTER EQUIPMENT

The survey pointed out that the board of education could do a
great deal to facilitate social center work by making a few inex-
pensive alterations in various rooms and adding the proper equip-
ment. Practically all the schools had basement rooms that were
suitable for games, reading, club meetings, or some other recrea-
tive purpose. Several class rooms in each building could be made
available for evening social purposes by taking out the fixed desks
and seats and installing movable furniture. Every school should

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

be provided with an assembly room as soon as possible. Besides
the regular school purposes such rooms serve for indoor baseball
and basketball, dancing, motion-picture and dramatic perform-
ances, and all sorts of evening occasions. Any city that wants to
do so can provide these accommodations for the use of its citizens.

THE HIGH SCHOOL

On April 6, 1914, at the request of the survey, the students of
the Springfield High School furnished detailed information re-
garding their outside amusements. The total number of cards
filled out by the boys was 398 ; by the girls 459. The results may
be summarized as follows:

1. Practically all the high school students attended the movies.

2. Of the boys, 86 per cent, and of the girls, 84 per cent, at-
tended the theater. The boys who attended averaged about once
a week and the girls went almost as frequently.

3. The majority of the visits to the theater were not made, in
the case of either sex, with any other member of the family.

4. Social dancing was indulged in by 40 per cent of the boys
and 48 per cent of the girls. A large number of the dances they
attended were held in hotels.

5. In 61 per cent of the boys' homes and in 48 per cent of the
girls' homes, parties for young people were seldom held.

Because the high school authorities had discouraged dancing
in the high schools, the young people were holding many of their
parties in hotels. The parents of Springfield may well ask them-
selves whether it is a desirable thing for any large number of
young people to be forming the habit of dancing in places where
open bars were not far distant and where the environment per-
mitted unusual freedom. In view of the general tendency to hold
social affairs outside the home is it not incumbent upon the high
school authorities to formulate and carry out a positive and con-
structive policy regarding the social and recreational life of the
high school students?

SCHOOL YARDS

Few cities have school yards that can compare in area with
those of Springfield. The average size per school, exclusive of

100

RECREATION

Pryor, was 101,519 square feet, or 2.33 acres. The gross area for
the 19 schools was 1,928,868 square feet, or 44.3 acres. The total
free space for these schools, 1,727,146 square feet, or 231 square
feet per pupil for the entire city. The school with the largest
amount of open space was Enos, with 259,470 square feet, or 541
square feet per pupil. The smallest was the Teachers' Training
School, with 23,199 square feet, or 100 square feet per pupil.
This was ample to give space for a great variety of school-yard
games and still allow certain areas to be set aside for flowers,
shrubs, grass, and trees.

The surfacing in most of the school yards was very poor; few
had good sod covering, and the play areas in practically all of
them were muddy in bad weather and dusty in dry times. In
order to utilize the school-yard space adequately, steps needed to
be taken to develop good sods and to resurface certain spaces
that were being used intensively for play.

Provision should be made at each school for the free use of
these grounds by placing a teacher or some competent person in
charge after school hours and on Saturday afternoons throughout
the entire school year. When storms prevent outdoor activities,
the playrooms in the basement could be used. Here were
facilities that would have largely met the recreation needs of the
children of grammar school age, if only a small amount of super-
vision and leadership had been provided. Only nine of the 20
public schools in the city had any playground equipment, and
this in every case was limited. Although with good play leader-
ship it is possible to carry on play activities without extensive
equipment, it is highly desirable that a few good pieces, such as
seesaws, swings, slides, giant strides, volley ball outfits, and goals
for basketball and soccer football be provided. This equipment
should be so constructed that it may be taken down and stored
or locked as it stands when the play leader is not on the grounds.

Athletics in the high school were exceptionally well managed
by an athletic association which had a governing board of faculty
members and students. But the school labored under a great
handicap in having no athletic field or gymnasium. There should
be at least one large school athletic field centrally located where
the high school students could practise and where inter-school

101

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

tournaments and meets of all kinds could be held. Athletics
for grammar school boys were practically unorganized. Spring-
field needs a director of physical training and play who will take
the lead in organizing a grammar school athletic league and give
such help as is needed in the high school athletics.

There were practically no athletics for the girls either in the
high or elementary schools, except that the school board had an
arrangement with the Young Women's Christian Association for
taking groups of high school girls at stated times for gymnastics
and games. Athletic activities properly selected to meet their
needs should be made possible for the girls as well as for the boys.
This should be a part of the task assigned to the director of
physical training.

THE PARKS

Few cities have more beautiful parks than Springfield, and
the park board had still higher standards toward which it was
working. The total area of the nine parks was 446.5 acres, or
one acre of public park for every 131 inhabitants.

Unusually fine field houses, open during the entire year, had
.been provided in Lincoln and Washington parks, which served
not only for the accommodation of picnic parties but for evening
social occasions of various kinds. A new park site had been
secured in the eastern part of the city and was to be developed
as a model playground for children.

In many ways the park board was improving and extending
its facilities. It was looking to the school authorities, however,
to provide play leadership on its equipped play spaces and ath-
letic fields, for this work is regarded primarily as educational.
Here was a splendid opportunity for team work between the
park board and the school board; one providing the space and
equipment, the other promoting the use of the parks by the
public, organizing play leadership, and supervising recreational
activities.

THE STREETS AS PLAY PLACES

With its ample school grounds, park spaces, and home grounds,
Springfield was not facing the necessity of the use of its streets
for recreation. Since, however, the school grounds were closed

102

RECREATION

after school hours and school buildings practically unused for
recreational and social purposes, young people were forced to
resort to the streets and commercial amusement places for their
afternoon and evening recreations.

On a perfectly normal evening, two investigators standing at

CHILDREN'S CORNER IN WASHINGTON PARK

Few American cities had more beautiful parks or more acres of park space
per inhabitant than Springfield, and the park board had still higher standards
toward which it was working.

the corner of Fifth and Monroe streets for a space of thirty
minutes (7:45 to 8:15 o'clock) counted 462 girls and 813 boys,
a total of 1,275 young people passing that point in the few
minutes indicated. No city can afford to have its young people
spending their evenings in this manner. The provision of ade-
quate recreational facilities will not only lessen the dangers of

103

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

the downtown streets but will be a positive aid to culture and
right living.

THE LIBRARY

The Lincoln Library is centrally located, and from the stand-
point of the traditional hours open to the public was apparently
rendering a satisfactory service. It was conducting important
extension work in connection with the schools and with several
industrial plants, and was making a special effort to offer immi-
grants books in their own language. It had a children's room
and special attention was given to their needs, although a trained
story teller would have been a desirable addition to the library
staff.

The fact that no records had been kept of the use of the chil-
dren's department and the meeting rooms in the basement, made
it difficult to analyze the full service rendered. Undoubtedly,
closing the library at nine o'clock mitigated the wider use of its
accommodations. It was recommended that the board of direc-
tors consider the advisability of a later closing hour, especially
on club meeting nights.

THE MUSEUM

Springfield had an unusual resource for recreation education
in the State Museum of Natural History. Although inadequately
housed and further handicapped by insufficient funds, the mu-
seum under its able curator, Dr. A. R. Crook, offered to the
people of Springfield facilities for most enjoyable and profitable
use of free time.

SEMI-PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS

Of all the elements of a city's recreation, that afforded by
private organizations, church societies, clubs, and social groups
offers the least occasion for community concern. The coming
together of individuals for social meetings, entertainments, card
parties, dances, or amateur theatricals should be facilitated as
part of every recreational program.

There is danger, however, that certain members of the com-
munity will abuse the privileges of free social intercourse. In-

104

RECREATION

stances in point were the so-called "athletic shows " and "dances,"
which in reality were prize fights, given mainly for profit and for-
bidden by law in Illinois. While it is to be expected that the
police will prevent such violations of the law, individuals may do
their part by refusing to participate in unwholesome kinds of
entertainment and by providing for the community wholesome
amusements and athletics.

YOUNG MEN'S AND YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION
At the time of the recreation survey the Young Men's Chris-
tian Association was not in a satisfactory condition. Owing to
a series of unfortunate circumstances, the support of the work
had fallen off and public interest was at a low ebb. It is a source
of satisfaction to report that the entire work was later reorgan-
ized, the building made attractive, and a competent staff of
workers employed.

The Young Women's Christian Association was doing excel-
lent community work and deserved substantial support. It was
well housed and maintained an effective program. Camp Fire
Girls had been organized under its auspices, and classes of high
school girls were using the association building for physical train-
ing and games. Mixed social entertainments were frequently
held in the building, and young women were permitted to meet
their escorts in the parlors of the association.

THE CHURCHES

In many communities the churches have done pioneer work in
establishing recreational opportunities for young people. Spring-
field churches, however, have not been especially active in this
branch of social service. Aside from the traditional social and
society meetings the churches were making little effort to pro-
vide for the social and recreational life of boys and girls.

When some of the recreation survey findings with reference to
the conditions surrounding the young people of the city in their
search for evening amusement were brought to the attention of
certain of the leading pastors, steps were at once taken to deal
in a preventive way, at least, with the situation. One result
was the stimulating of a public inquiry into the conduct of one

105

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

of the local amusement places with the result that measures for
its regulation and control were put into operation. Another
outcome was action that led to the removal of the red lights
and the names on the doors in the "red light" district the sec-
tion that had been a conspicuously glaring insult to the decency
of Springfield's citizenship for some time.

For these and other efforts to suppress evil the churches of
the city should be given credit, but regulation and prohibition
will be effective only if accompanied, as already pointed out,
by positive action in providing right facilities for recreation.
The churches of Springfield have a great opportunity to take the
leadership in bringing public opinion to the point where it will
demand that adequate provision be made for properly equipped
and supervised playgrounds, athletic fields, and recreation centers
for the youth of the city.

COMMERCIAL AMUSEMENTS: MOTION PICTURES
In March, 1914, when the recreation survey was made, 10
motion-picture theaters, with a total of 3,232 seats, were in
operation. Since the daily patronage was estimated at about
twice the seating capacity, it will be seen that large numbers of
people were enjoying this form of amusement. The character of
the motion-picture entertainments was of average wholesome-
ness, and general conditions of ventilation, cleanliness, and safety
were fairly satisfactory. It would be well, however, if some legal
provision were made with a view to determining whether or not
the moral and sanitary conditions required before licensing are
afterward maintained. Some co-operation between the city
authorities and the National Board of Censorship (now the
National Board of Review of Motion Pictures) was also
recommended.

THEATERS

There were four theaters in Springfield, known as the Majestic,
Gaiety, Empire, and Chatterton. Two of these were offering
vaudeville performances three times daily; the third, burlesque
nightly, while the fourth offered a varied program, including
drama, comedy, vaudeville, musical comedy, burlesque, wrestling

1 06

RECREATION

matches, and motion pictures. The combined seating capacity
of these theaters was about three thousand. A conservative
estimate would place their combined weekly receipts at about
$4,000 during the regular season. The citizens of Springfield
were thus spending about $6,000 a week upon motion pictures
and theater performances.

In Springfield's least pretentious theater the visitor could pay
either 10 cents or 25 cents for admission. The higher price
admitted him to the gallery where were scores of boxes provided
with tables and chairs. Women of questionable character offered
to drink with visitors and received commissions on the liquors
sold. The performances often exceeded the limits of decency and
propriety. Thus night after night, men were surrounded by the
temptation to excessive drinking and immorality, and thousands
of country youths were being led into such an environment by
an innocent desire to see the "shows" of the city.

While the bulk of the theatrical performances attended by
Springfield citizens were fairly clean and wholesome, and any
attempt at smuttiness or rawness on the stage was generally
hissed by the audience, the theatrical life of the city was not a
thing of which to be proud. A constructive effort like that of
the Women's Club in bringing the Irish Players to Springfield is
a step in the right direction. It might well be followed by
systematic organization of patronage for high-grade dramatic
offerings in accordance with the plan of the National Drama
League. At the same time endeavors should be made to develop
amateur theatricals at school social centers and other educa-
tional institutions, with a view to stimulating among young
people generally such an appreciation of good drama that they
will not be satisfied with performances of low and unrefined
quality.

DANCING

There was, in Springfield, a large amount of uncontrolled and
unsupervised dancing, and much of it carried on under condi-
tions which might easily have been abused. Although there
were only two licensed dance halls when the survey was made,
dancing academies, public balls, hotel and club dances gave

107

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

ample opportunity for this form of recreation. In many cases
dance halls were near saloons, and pass-out checks afforded
ample opportunity for drinking.

The city had no ordinances or police regulations on the subject
of dance halls. It has been a police custom to oblige dance
hall licensees to have a uniformed policeman in attendance so
that very young girls and prostitutes might be kept out, but
this did not apply to balls and parties given in the other halls.

A definite policy concerning public dancing should be formu-
lated and put into effect. This should provide opportunities for
young people to dance under proper conditions. A city ordinance
should also be passed prohibiting the giving of pass-out checks or
the holding of dances in halls connected with a bar (whatever
the probabilities as to effective national prohibition may be),
specifying the ages of those who may be admitted, and other-
wise providing for the maintenance of order and decency at the
public dances.

BILLIARDS, POOL ROOMS, AND SALOONS

According to the records in the city clerk's office, billiard and
pool licenses were issued for 1914 to 60 persons. The total
amount they paid into the city treasury was #1,293.65, and the
number of tables covered by these licenses was 140. According
to the record of the saloon licenses in force during the first half
of 1914, 42 of these pool-room licensees also ran saloons on the
same premises. More than half of the pool rooms were inside
the saloon district, a district in the center of the city six blocks
wide by nine blocks long. Accordingly the young men in the
outskirts of the city who wished to play pool had usually to go
downtown for their evening games where all of the attractions
of Springfield's night life were in full swing. The temptations
which surround the young man who wishes to play billiards or
pool have been described on a previous page. The recommenda-
tion made by the survey was that the public-spirited people of
Springfield might well begin to think of ways and means of plac-
ing this attractive and excellent game in surroundings where it
can be enjoyed without exposure to moral hazards.

There were at the time of the recreational investigation,

1 08

RECREATION

220 licensed saloons in Springfield. Of these in were outside
the saloon district in the center of the city. In 1908 an ordinance
was passed providing that no further licenses outside the saloon
district be given. For the fiscal year, beginning July, 1914, it
was reported that there were 198 saloons in the city, 22 less than
the preceding year. The referendum on the saloon question in
the spring election of 1914 showed two things; first, the tenacity
of the institution, and second, the fact that a large element in the
population was seriously questioning the wisdom of allowing the
saloon to exist. This thinking about the saloon question was
a hopeful sign, but the solution of the problem, it was pointed
out, is not to be found in a merely negative and sudden denial of
the right to sell alcoholic beverages. Constructive as well as
prohibitive plans must be worked out. If the institution is to
be permanently undermined, and what is more important, if the
citizens of Springfield, young and old, are to be given the oppor-
tunity to enjoy a social life that is character-building and that
meets deep-rooted human needs, another institution, which will
perform any useful function that may have been found in the
saloon and at the same time be free from its objectionable
features, must be set up in the community.

ATHLETICS, FESTIVALS, PAGEANTS, AND PUBLIC CELEBRATIONS
With its extensive park spaces and state fair grounds avail-
able for all forms of outdoor athletics, Springfield has an oppor-
tunity to do great things for its youth. No investment would
yield the city greater returns than that of getting every young
man actively interested in some branch of athletics.

There should be a great municipal athletic league, promoted
and guided by public-spirited citizens. An unusual number of
Springfield's industrial establishments had already organized
baseball teams that operated through an informal federation.
This might serve as a nucleus around which to build. Track
and field athletics deserve even greater attention than team
games, however, since they afford greater opportunity for exten-
sive participation. A great municipal athletic field with dressing
rooms, showers, and a large indoor swimming pool is an objective
toward which the city might well work.

109

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

The play festival of the Teachers' Training School in May of
the year of the survey was a good illustration of what might be
done to enrich the play life of the city by festivals and outdoor
celebrations. A pageant in which hundreds of people could
participate, picturing dramatically the history and development
of Springfield, would be a great means of inspiring and quicken-
ing public spirit toward substantial forward movements. Spring-
field might also consider plans for more extensive celebrations of
public holidays.

A RECREATION PROGRAM FOR THE FUTURE
"Work, play, love, and worship" are set down as the chief
essentials in a human being's existence, by Dr. Richard C. Cabot
in his recent book, What Men Live By. That the country at
large is awakening to a realization of this vital importance of
play is evidenced by the fact that since 1907 the American cities
that provided, equipped, and supervised play and recreation
centers had increased, up to the time of the survey, from 40 to
342. Play leaders and supervisors employed in these cities
totaled 6,318, 2,462 men and 3,856 women. Springfield was
not in that list.

A city -wide recreation program ought to take into consideration :

1. Home recreation and its supplementary aids.

2. School playgrounds for recess, after school, and summer use.

3. Athletic fields for school children, both as part of the school
yards and as separate grounds.

4. Playgrounds for small children located in sections that are
from one-third to one-half mile distant from school play-
grounds.

5. School buildings, field houses, and public halls that may be
used as evening recreation and social centers.

6. Parks, with large informally developed areas, as well as
spaces for golf, tennis, baseball, track and field athletics,
children's play, bathing, wading, and skating.

7. Semi-public institutions, such as a Young Men's Christian
Association, church houses, clubs, and the like, that may
serve special groups and on occasion be for public use.

RECREATION

8. Commercial amusements such as amusement parks, dance
halls, skating rinks, bowling alleys, motion-picture shows,
and theaters, that may well serve some of the community's
recreation needs if properly regulated and controlled.

With the local conditions in mind, those described in full in
the report of which this is a summary, the following plan of
procedure was recommended :

1. Equip and use school yards and some park spaces for play.

2. Provide for a centrally located athletic field for the schools.

3. Place the administration of all playground and school ath-
letic activities in charge of the director of physical training
and play.

4. Teach games for playground and home yard use at play
periods on school yards and other public playgrounds.

5. Remodel and equip school buildings for social center uses.

6. Provide for administration of social centers through addi-
tions to the staff of the superintendent of schools.

7. Encourage the co-operation of neighborhood organizations
in the direction and support of the school house centers.

8. Organize school athletic leagues for both boys and girls,
thus insuring proper supervision of such activities and
adaptation of exercises to the needs of the different age
and sex groups.

9. Have a standing city committee on holiday celebrations.

10. Organize a municipal athletic league for the young men of
the city.

11. Provide for the extension of Boy Scouts and Camp Fire
Girls.

12. See that there is proper inspection and control of the com-
mercial amusements of the city.

13. Have a representative city committee on recreation to be
responsible for a progressive and balanced development of
all parts of the city-wide recreation program.

14. Do not attempt to do it all the first year. Make a begin-
ning and work steadily toward the ultimate plan.

It would, to repeat, be impracticable to attempt to put into
effect at once all the recommendations here made. The thought

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

is rather that the recreation program here suggested (and pre-
sented in more detail in the full report), be considered as an ideal
toward which to work. Few cities seemed to the survey members
to have a better prospect of attaining such an ideal than has
Springfield.

112

VI
HOUSING IN SPRINGFIELD 1

The problem of good housing in Springfield, as it presented
itself to the survey, was largely one of maintaining the general
conditions prevailing at the time of our investigations that is,
the keeping of the single family house surrounded by good yards
and lawns; preventing the increase of the multiple dwelling and
the tenement-converted house which were appearing in several
parts of town; and the enactment of an adequate housing code
with the means to enforce it.

Unhampered by natural barriers, such as rivers or hills, or by
traditions of crowding into close quarters inherited from the Old
World, as is the case in some of the eastern cities, single family
houses with ample yards were found to be the rule in Spring-
field an advantage that once thrown away can practically never
be regained. The city is surrounded on every side by the broad
prairies of Illinois, and if it ever becomes overbuilt and insanitary,
the inefficiency and indifference of its own people must bear the
blame. Moreover, Springfield has not only these natural advan-
tages and the experience of other cities from which to develop
an intelligent, up-to-date policy for future building, but its city
charter gave the municipal government fairly wide powers.

THE MULTIPLE DWELLING

Although the single family house was the rule, the modern
tendency for a number of families to congregate in multiple
dwellings apartment houses, flats, or tenements had already led
here and there to the erection of new apartment houses or to the
conversion to this use of houses formerly occupied by one family.

1 Summary of report on Housing in Springfield, Illinois, by John Ihlder.

Because of limited time the study of housing confined itself to two main
phases of the question: general housing tendencies in the city and how far
the community had gone in endeavoring to control housing conditions through
legislation.

8 113

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

While Springfield needed a few such houses for the convenience
of couples without children, and of single men and women who
prefer their own home, however small, to a furnished room or
boarding house, the experience of other cities has shown that,
unless measures are taken to check them, multiple dwellings,
when once introduced into a neighborhood, eventually drive out
the single family house. These dwellings may somewhat reduce
housekeeping expenses and care, but in terms of home life they
offer so much less than even the small cottage, that their unlim-
ited erection should be systematically discouraged by the city
authorities. It is the single family house that forms the basis
of a good home and a wholesome, normal
family life which presupposes children.
The multiple dwelling is not built for chil-
dren. A barracks becomes a mere tempo-
rary shelter ; its tenants live their real life
outside; they can never have the feeling
for these places that people who live in a
cottage have for their homes, and at best
they are only poor substitutes for the in-
dividual family house with its own yard.

These multiple dwellings too may be-
come a menace to public health, as well as
to wholesome family life. For although
the converted house usually has a yard
which is shared by the various tenants, it
often suffers, from a sanitary point of view,
in the remodeling process. In cutting up

rooms there is danger that some will be left with insufficient
light and no ventilation, and that toilet and water facilities will
be put in dark, inside closets and be made semi-public.

Even the new apartment houses frequently have some dark
rooms. This is occasionally due to unskilful planning, occasion-
ally to the desire of an owner to utilize every foot of land. When
permitted, he is likely to build very close or up to his boundary
line, trusting to his neighbor not to do likewise. Experience has
proved the folly of such an assumption, for the depreciation of
his property, caused by the erection of a multiple dwelling, often

114

THE SINGLE - FAMILY
HOUSE A Civic ASSET

It is such houses as
these that form the basis
of good homes and of
wholesome, normal fam-
ily life. Though the
single-family house with
a good-sized lawn was
the rule in Springfield,
the multiple dwelling had
begun to appear.

HOUSING

induces the neighbor to sell his, and then another apartment
house is built, so close to the first as to shut out light and air
from both houses and to increase their fire hazard.

One house was found in Springfield which came so near to
the boundary of the lot that the builder had no space for an out-
side stairway in the rear. On one side was a vacant lot on which
the accommodating owner permitted the tenants to place their
garbage cans. A direct, but none too accurate throw, was the
generally accepted method of emptying garbage, as the untidy
appearance of these cans and the ground around them testified.
On the other side this tenement house was darkened by the
proximity of the next building.

A house visited on North Seventh Street was the worst example
found of fire hazard, having also dark rooms and inadequate
sanitary provisions. The living quarters consisted of two two-
room, and five three-room apartments. While the latter were
so arranged that the two front rooms of each had windows open-
ing on the street, the third room in the rear was, until within
a short time before our investigation, entirely without light or
air, except for what came through the doorways leading into it
from the front rooms or from the main hall. When Dr. George
Thomas Palmer was health officer of the city he required the
cutting in of skylights over the division walls between each rear
room and the hall. No fire-escapes of any kind were provided,
the only way out to the street being a staircase at one end of the
hall, which was nearly a hundred feet in length and only four in
width. The rear section of the building on this same floor was
used as a storeroom, and was filled with furniture still in its
paper wrappings. On the storeroom side of the hallway enough
space had been taken to provide a small closet for each apart-
ment. At the time of our visit one of these closets had a pile of
ashes dumped on the wooden floor, and the others were filled with
a miscellaneous collection of rubbish. In order that nothing
might be lacking to increase the fire risk the ground floor was
occupied by a garage. The only sanitary conveniences afforded
the eight apartments were two water closets and two sinks at
the rear of the two short branch halls, at either end of the long
hall, the darkness of which lent them their only privacy. Such a

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

dwelling should be looked upon as discreditable to any progres-
sive community. The city, moreover, should forbid the con-
struction of any multiple dwelling on streets not having these
dwellings at present.

WATER SUPPLY AND SEWERAGE

Springfield, however, must do more than prevent the extension
of existing evils if it is to retain its reputation as a city of homes.
Every enlightened community now demands that an abundant
supply of pure water shall be available for its citizens, and that
convenient, sanitary water closets shall be inside the houses.
Progress toward this ideal in Springfield was made while Dr.
Palmer was health officer. But investigations of the public health
division of the survey showed that 7,530 surface wells and 7,431
privy vaults still existed in the city. 1 Moreover, these were not
situated merely on the streets having no water main or sewers,
but in many instances families were using well water with the
water main a few feet from their doors.

Water mains and sewers should be extended as fast as buildings
are put up on new streets; and within a reasonable time after
their installation say one year the owners of all buildings on
these streets should be required to connect their houses.

GARBAGE

Springfield should take another step to guard the health of its
people by establishing a system of municipal garbage and refuse
collecting, gauged on the needs of the whole city. Uncollected
garbage is a public nuisance and becomes a factor in the city's
health problem. The prime motive of the private collector is to
make money. Under such a system the very districts of the city
which most- need attention, but are least able to pay for it, are
likely to be neglected. The systematic collection of garbage and
waste of all kinds must be made if a city is to be clean and whole-
some. As pointed out in the government efficiency section of the
survey, collections can best be made by the city authorities. 2 The

1 Schneider, Franz, Jr.: Public Health in Springfield, Illinois, pp. 87-95.
(The Springfield Survey.)

2 Decker, D. O., and Harrison, Shelby M,: City and County Government
in Springfield, Illinois, pp. 86-87. (The Springfield Survey.)

116

HOUSING

present limitation in the tax rate is the chief difficulty preventing
the immediate adoption of such apian in Springfield, but this will
have to be overcome in the near future and more efficient means
employed for caring for the city's refuse.

EVILS IN CERTAIN DISTRICTS

As stated earlier, Springfield dwellings usually are surrounded
by large open spaces. Already, however, there were a number
of instances of land overcrowding. In the downtown district,
naturally, were some of the worst, chiefly on those streets into
which the commercial interests of the city were gradually penetrat-
ing. It is hardly practicable to limit new business blocks to one
story, or to require owners to keep the upper stories of buildings
vacant until they are needed for business purposes. If they are
to be used as apartments, however, they should be so arranged as
to afford the occupants plenty of light and air, toilet and water
facilities for each family, and a safe means of egress in case of fire.
The downtown section of Springfield at the time of the survey,
for instance Washington Street between Seventh and Eighth
streets, did not fulfil these minimum requirements for health and
safety. It consisted of a solid row of buildings of two and three
stories, the first floors of which were being used for shops and in
many cases the upper ones for dwellings. The middle rooms of
these apartments were lighted either by a skylight, as in the case of
those next the roof, or by a shaft extending from the second story
to the roof. Neither afforded good ventilation, as the skylights
were difficult if not impossible to open, and the shafts often
covered. The light coming through them was little better. One
apartment, occupied by three Negroes, had its only water faucet,
the underneath waste pipe of which was untrapped, in the room
of a Negro girl, while two Negro men occupied the dark middle
room, separated from the girl's only by a screen. Not only are
such conditions a menace to health but to morals. It is the duty
of the city to learn whether there are other houses with similar
conditions and then to set standards which will make their con-
tinuation impossible anywhere within its borders.

Housing conditions were especially bad in the Negro district,
where the buildings were more dilapidated and the water supply

117

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

and sanitary provisions inadequate. For these poor accommoda-
tions the landlords were charging exorbitant rents, even more
than they would charge white tenants. The Negro, limited by
custom if not by law to this part of the city, was obliged to pay
these rents, and could not, if he would, live decently.

Contrary to the opinion often expressed that the wretched con-
ditions in the Negro sections of our cities are due to the char-

HOUSING AMONG THE COLORED POPULATION

Many of the houses had ample yards, but cases were numerous where land-
lords had not provided houses meeting even minimum recognized standards.

acter and habits of the Negroes themselves, those who have
made a study of Negro housing maintain that the majority would
like better homes than they can get, and that many Negro homes
are cleaner and better kept than are those of several nationalities
of our more recent immigration. The fact that these bad condi-
tions prevail in other cities is no excuse for Springfield. Disease

118

HOUSING

and immorality in any part of the city affect its whole life, and
Springfield must force the landlords in its Negro district to con-
form to the minimum standards set for the whole city.

Ridgely, a settlement of miners, is an example of one of the
most puzzling phases of housing work how to exercise proper
control over suburban districts that lie just outside city boun-
daries, but which are already a part of the city's problem and
as the district grows will inevitably come under the city's juris-
diction. One of the proposals made is that certain city officials
be given jurisdiction over an area extending some three or four
miles beyond the city limits, in order to prevent the develop-
ment there of bad conditions which must be remedied later
when these areas are annexed.

The miners' rows that are set down by themselves in the open
country such as that near the smelter were in a somewhat
different category from the Ridgely houses. Mine houses, be-
cause they are often regarded as temporary and are compara-
tively isolated, cannot always be subjected to city regulations.
They should none the less be warm and sanitary, and more at-
tractive in appearance than were the existing bare structures.

CITY PLANNING

Springfield has apparently been created by adding one real
estate development to another, without much regard as to what
the result would be. The rectangular street system, which is
easiest for the real estate dealer, has been followed and so planned
as to get the greatest number of building lots possible out of a
given tract of land, the only radials of consequence being formed
by the railroads which cut up every quarter of the city except
the southwest. Moreover, the unrelieved checkerboard system
has not prevented the creation of a number of dead-end streets,
and of numerous jogs in others, some of them important. Many
residential streets also have been laid out uneconomically with
such a broad roadway as to be wasteful of land and to entail
unnecessary expense for upkeep. As streets vary in their func-
tions, so they should vary in width and arrangement.

Definite recommendations as to width and arrangements of
streets, block and lot sizes, the relations of the home to parks

119

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

and playgrounds, as well as to factories and the business district,
and other phases of city planning that directly affect housing
conditions could not be made in so brief a report as this. The
facts are cited here to show the need and urge the importance
of a careful study of the local situation aimed at the adoption
ultimately of a city plan which will insure economic and orderly-
growth of a more socially efficient city.

WISE ECONOMY IN STREET MAKING

This roadway on a street in the residence section of Springfield very wisely
was made narrower than that usually found in the business districts and in
other sections where the traffic was heavy. The room here provided for vehi-
cles is ample, and a saving through a lower original expense for paving and
through smaller later costs for upkeep is effected.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Experience has shown that no city can expect to get or keep
good housing conditions unless it has and enforces a city ordi-
nance or a state law that sets definite minimum standards below
which no dwelling may fall. Springfield needed first of all a
good housing code, 1 for which, fortunately, it already had the
basis. The responsibility for its enforcement falls upon the
health department and the building inspector. The inspector
must examine the plans for all new houses to see that they fulfil

1 A publication which has served as the basis for a number of codes enacted
during the last few years, and which would offer suggestions here is A Model
Housing Law, by Lawrence Veiller. Russell Sage Foundation Publication,
New York.

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HOUSING

the requirements of the law, and must inspect them while in
course of construction to make sure that no changes which were
not authorized by him have been made.

The health department should also keep a record of the num-
ber of one-, two-, and three- or more family houses that are in
the city, and how many of each are built during each year. By
this means Springfield can know what its building tendencies
are and whether or not it is becoming a tenement-house city.

The health department, too, should pass upon the plans at
least so far as light, ventilation, and sanitation are concerned.
It must then see that the buildings are maintained in a sanitary
condition. This means that it must have enough inspectors to
make an original inspection of nearly all the dwellings in the
city at least once a year. At the time, inspections were being
made in Springfield chiefly on complaint. This was neither
adequate nor fair, as it will sometimes happen that a very in-
sanitary building has no complaints made against it while a
much better building, perhaps next door, is frequently com-
plained of. Such procedure not only leads to ill feeling and
charges of favoritism, if not of actual corruption, but it fails to
accomplish the purpose aimed at, to effectively improve the
health conditions of the community. 1

The regular inspections should include not only privy vaults
and wells inspection of which we hope will some day cease
because they no longer exist but of water-closets and water
fixtures, their locations, ventilation, adequacy, cleanliness, and
construction; size, lighting, and arrangement of rooms; sizes,
number, and location of windows; drainage; and in multiple

1 In the public health section of the survey, Mr. Schneider favors concen-
trating the supervision of housing conditions as far as possible under the
building department, since the latter must pass on all buildings when first
erected and is the department most familiar with the various details of the
housing law. The disagreement with Mr. Ihlder's recommendation on this
point has to do only with the exclusiveness of the supervision by the building
department; he would have the health department also share in the responsi-
bility for enforcing housing regulations. In view of the strong considerations
to be taken into account on both sides of the question, it would seem best to
base the decision upon matters of practical expediency in each given case.
In Springfield, at the time of the survey field work, the immediate considera-
tions of expediency appeared to point toward concentration in the building
department.

121

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

dwellings, size, lighting, and arrangement of public halls and the
means of egress in case of fire. All these are necessary if people
are to be assured of dwellings that are safe and wholesome and
that provide adequately for decency and privacy.

The city government was in possession of powers of which it
had not taken full advantage. Some of these were:

Section 61. To prescribe the thickness, strength, and manner
of constructing brick and other buildings and constructing fire-
escapes thereon.

Section 62. To set fire limits.

Section 63. To prevent dangerous construction and condition
of chimneys, fireplaces, etc. ; to regulate and prevent the carrying
on of manufactories dangerous in causing and promoting fires.

Section 75. To declare what shall be a nuisance and to abate
the same; and to impose fines upon parties who may create,
continue, or suffer nuisances to exist.

Section 76. To appoint a board of health and prescribe its
powers and duties.

Section 78. To do all acts, and make all regulations which
may be expedient for the promotion of health or the suppression
of disease.

Section 81. To direct the location and regulate the manage-
ment and construction of packing houses, renderies, tallow chand-
leries, bone factories, soap factories, and tanneries within the
limits of the city or village and within the distance of one mile
without the city or village limits.

Section 82. To direct the location and regulate the use and
construction of breweries, distilleries, livery stables, blacksmith
shops, and foundries within the limits of the city or village.

Section 83. To prohibit any offensive or unwholesome busi-
ness or establishment within, or within one mile of the limits of,
the corporation.

Section 84. To compel the owner of any grocery, cellar, soap
or tallow chandlery, tannery, stable, pigsty, privy, sewer, or
other unwholesome or nauseous house or place to cleanse, abate,
or remove the same, and to regulate the location thereof.

Sections 61, 63, 75, 76, and 78 seemed to give powers neces-
sary for the enactment of a fairly good housing code, pending

122

HOUSING

such time as the legislature may increase them or may enact a
housing law for all the cities of the state. Sections 81, 82, 83,
and 84 gave power sufficient to make a beginning at least on a
protected residence district ordinance such as Toronto and a
number of American cities have enacted, and which should form
part of the housing ordinance.

Such steps as Springfield must take to bring its housing con-
ditions up to a standard of health and safety should be easy of
accomplishment. The citizens particularly interested do not
need to conduct a long campaign to educate public opinion.

The housing ideals of the majority of the people of Springfield
were already far above the requirements of any law, as the homes
of its citizens show. This was a heartening fact and one full of
promise for the future. It remained only for the community to
guard itself against a few who through greed, or ignorance, or
indifference, were ready to sacrifice the general well-being for a
temporary personal profit. To so guard itself definite minimum
housing standards needed to be set.

123

VII
THE CHARITIES OF SPRINGFIELD 1

INSTITUTIONS FOR CHILDREN

Dependent children, unlike delinquents, become subjects of
charity because of difficulties primarily due not to personal handi-
caps, but to unfortunate situations in which their parents have in
some way or other become involved. They are products of ill-
adjusted social and industrial conditions which, unless changed,
will continue to take their toll and reduce families and children
to unfortunate and abnormal dependency.

In 1863, during the Civil War, the first dependent children for
whom Springfield made organized provision came straggling over
from Arkansas, ragged and tired, led by a few women refugees.
To meet their needs the Home for the Friendless sprang into
being, and has continued ever since as the chief child-caring
agency for boys and girls from babyhood up to fourteen years or
more. In 1881 there was organized the Orphanage of the Holy
Child, an Episcopal institution receiving needy girls between the
ages of three and nine and keeping them until they became
eighteen. In 1898 a colored woman started the Lincoln Colored
Home, which at the time of the survey took Negro boys and
girls from two to six years of age and discharged them according
to opportunity. The Springfield Redemption Home, organized
in 1911, took dependent children and erring girls, keeping them
as long as they needed the institution. With the exception of
the delinquents held temporarily in the Detention Home or the
annex of the county jail, and a few scattering placements in foster
homes by the Humane Society and by priests who were sending
children to the Roman Catholic Orphanage at Alton, these four
agencies cared for practically all the dependent children in San-
gamon County.

1 Summary of report on the Charities of Springfield, Illinois, by Francis H.
McLean; assisted by Miss Florence L. Lattimore, who prepared the part
dealing with institutions for children.

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CHARITIES

That child dependency was a live issue in Springfield was shown
by the fact that one out of approximately every 380 inhabitants
was in one or other of these institutions. In 1913, the year before
the survey, there were 318 inmates and an average daily popula-
tion of 140. Those in charge stated that most of these children
came from Springfield itself or from the district immediately
adjacent.

INFORMATION AND RECORD KEEPING

Data which were essential to a full understanding of conditions
surrounding child dependency in Springfield were not only not in
print but for the most part were lacking. Two of these institu-
tions were publishing reports which stated their financial opera-
tions, the movement of population through them, and miscella-
neous items concerning events during the year. The Depart-
ment of Visitation of Children Placed in Family Homes of the
State Board of Administration printed very valuable reports
covering all the child-caring agencies in the state, with standard-
ized tables on finances and on the movement of population classi-
fied by age and sex. It also gave classified comments on the con-
dition and administration of the institution plants, but none of
this material revealed anything concerning the problems of child
dependency or the way these institutions were functioning in
relation to them.

A tabulation of the financial statements of the four institutions
showed that the cost of operating Springfield's institutions for one
year (1913) was nearly $15,000 ($14,721). The average per
capita current expenses for the year ranged from $90 to $110.
The per capita expenses of standard children's institutions else-
where ranged from $150 to $200 and over, indicating that these
Springfield institutions were administered with economy indeed,
with such economy as made the highest standards of work im-
possible.

Some very good forms of record cards had been adopted, but
the requisite information had been only meagerly filled in. The
entries were so fragmentary and unsystematic as to be almost
useless. Not only was this true for children coming directly to
the institutions, but for some of the children placed under the

125

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

permanent guardianship of these agencies by the juvenile court
the institutions had no information at all, although investigations
had been made by the probation officers. Sometimes an institution
received a child without any knowledge of his antecedents; and
without finding out his history or the changes that may have taken
place in his own family during the period while the child was in the
institution, the managers proceeded to place him in a foster home.
Thus the records did not reveal how many of the children
were orphaned, half-orphaned, or had both parents living. It
took a special search through the records for 1913 of the Home
for the Friendless, made at the instance of the survey, to show
that of 173 children cared for, 65, or 38 per cent, had both parents
living; that 47, or 27 per cent, had mothers living; and only 16,
or 9 per cent, were whole orphans. There was, however, no way
of finding out why these children were dependent, what manner
of children they were, how they developed under the care of the
institution, or what became of them after they were discharged.
Obviously, there was needed greater emphasis upon gathering
adequate information on each child's case, recording it, and using
the record in a program of prevention of future child dependency.

FUNCTIONS OF THE INSTITUTIONS

Although the chief function of children's institutions is the
physical care of their wards, other obligations are more or less
bound up with this responsibility. After searching inquiry they
should limit their work strictly to those who cannot be better
cared for in their own homes or in foster homes; provide those
who need the institution with the specific care which the condi-
tion of the individual child calls for; and see that institutional
care is not given beyond the time when the child actually re-
quires it, but that normal life is provided, under supervision, at
the earliest possible moment. Even when children go back to
their own homes it is the duty of the institutions to make sure that
all is well with them and that future dependency is prevented.

ADMISSION AND DISCHARGE

Each institution had rules of its own with regard to admission
and discharge. The Lincoln Colored Home took any colored child

126

CHARITIES

in need, whether dependent, delinquent, or defective, provided
he was old enough to require no special attendance. No board
money was received for these children, but the county paid the
institution a lump sum for services.

While in the home those who were old enough were sent to
the Lincoln School. The superintendent was discharging these
children as soon as possible by returning them to their homes,
by placing them in foster homes in Springfield, or by allowing
them to go to work.

The Orphanage of the Holy Child received only normal de-
pendent girls who were presumably whole orphans. It required
full surrender of them by relatives and kept the girls until they
were eighteen years of age. Children of divorced parents were
never admitted. All children were taken free, and whatever was
paid in by relatives was regarded as a contribution to the work
and not as board money. This was the only one of the four in-
stitutions which did not receive public funds. The children
attended public school.

The Springfield Home for the Friendless gave temporary care
to dependents and sometimes took high-grade defectives from
the court. Relinquishment by the parents was not required,
although if the investigation showed that the parents were unfit
a legal guardianship was secured. Children were often boarded
in this institution by relatives or friends for $1.00 a week or
$5.00 a month, or by the county at 25 cents a day. They were
sent out to the Stuart School while living in the institution, but
it was the policy of the managers to discharge them as soon as
possible by returning them to their own homes or by placing
them out ; and great care was taken to avoid keeping children in
the institution if other arrangements could be made.

The Springfield Redemption Home was taking only rescue
cases and dependent children who would not be received else-
where. They came voluntarily or through the courts. A charge
of $50 was made for each maternity case, and if the girl had not
this amount she was permitted to stay in the institution and
render service as payment. Many girls were discharged through
marriages arranged by the superintendent and placed as domestics
in private families where they went to work with their babies.

127

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

Applicants for the Home for the Friendless were visited by two
managers who gave a verbal report to the executive committee.
The question was then decided by vote. In the three other insti-
tutions the investigation and decision were made by the chief
executive.

For some cases a great deal of vital information was gathered
by the institution authorities, and again one would find a child
received on the face value of a story told at the institution by
the applicant. Obviously this work was very uneven.

Although the rules covering admission and discharge differ in
each institution, the same principles of investigation and treat-
ment apply to them all. Every application for institutional care
of a child necessarily involves important policies not only with
regard to the child in question but also with regard to his entire
family. The institution must see that even those children who
are not found to be eligible and are rejected are provided for by
some other means.

DEPENDENTS IN THE DETENTION HOME

The Springfield Detention Home was established for delinquent
children; nevertheless 42 of the children held there in the period
from June, 1912 to April, 1914, practically the last two years
before the survey was begun, were classed as dependents. Seven
boys and four girls were held more than fifty days each; five
boys were held one hundred days each. This method of housing
dependent and delinquent children in the same institution, pend-
ing disposition by the court, is to be thoroughly condemned
especially when it is impossible, as was the case in the detention
home, to take care of them separately. Under circumstances
then prevailing, the best solution was to make arrangements for
holding them temporarily in the Home for the Friendless. The
rule of this institution, requiring physical examination before
admission, could be met by providing special isolation rooms in
which children might be kept away from the regular group until
they had had this necessary examination. In this way the rule
of the home requiring physical examination before admission
would not be infringed upon, nor the health of children put in
danger. This service would be quite within the regular functions

128

CHARITIES

of the home, and would relieve the unfortunate situation in
which delinquent and dependent children were being held with-
out classification in the same detention place, and the still more
serious practice of detaining poor children in the county jail
annex.

FINDING HOMES FOR CHILDREN

The placing-out method had always been strongly approved in
Springfield, and it would have been used far more than it was if
there had been a specialized local agency to develop it. Although
all the institutions except the Home for the Friendless lacked
facilities for placing-out work, they preferred to place the chil-
dren themselves.

Of great present value and of far greater potential value was
the protection given to placed-out children by the State Depart-
ment of Visitation, which was organized to correct abuses reported
in foster homes. The state agent said that he was sending trained
workers to foster homes reported to the department at least once
a year and sometimes oftener. Copies of the visitors' reports
were being sent to agencies responsible for placement, and if
conditions were not approved by the department the child's re-
moval might be demanded.

Strangely enough, children returned to parents and relatives
did not share the protection given to children who were placed in
foster homes. Over the former the State Department of Visita-
tion had no power. Neither did the institutions usually consider
it their obligation or their right to reinvestigate families even at
the time when discharge was being considered, or to supervise
a child after he had returned to his own home. In discharging
their full responsibilities for establishing children in wholesome
family life, whether in their own homes or in those of foster
parents, Springfield institutions had considerable progress yet to
make.

VALUE OF ORGANIZED EFFORT

Aside from the possibilities and limitations of the institutional

provision for these children, even though the personal service and

individual work had been of much higher standard than it was,

the investigation showed time and again the importance of organ-

9 129

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

ized co-operation on the part of several or many social agencies
in the community. In this connection a number of cases were
studied in some detail. One of them showed a complex situation
in which the institution tossed back into the community a source
of contamination which it would not itself treat. The main
details were as follows :

A certain mother put her one-year-old baby to board in the
institution at $5.00 a month because, so the record ran, she "had
been deserted by the father" and had no one to care for the child.
Although the examining physician at the institution had thought
the child all right, it was found to be diseased and was returned
the day after its admission with the recommendation that it be
sent to a hospital. Nothing more was known of this case at the
institution.

The writer's inquiry revealed the fact that this mother was a
young woman who had married a much older man living in a near-
by town. They did not get on well and the wife took the baby and
left for Springfield, where she hoped to get work. But nobody
wanted a baby around and the young mother put the child in the
institution at the rate of $i .00 a week. The next day she obtained
work in a shoe factory at $5.00 a week. When she reached home
that night she found that the baby had been returned by the
institution because it was distressingly ill with syphilis. She
appealed to the city doctor who prescribed for the baby, but it
could not be received at a hospital. She tried to care for it and
do her work at the same time, but this was impossible. She gave
up her position at the factory and appealed to the Redemption
Home, which finally took her in because the baby was badly
undernourished and the mother could not nurse it and work at the
same time. After an inquiry into the situation, the manager
brought about.a reconciliation between the husband and wife and
according to latest reports all was going well, although the baby
was still in a critical condition.

This case fairly bristles with opportunities for both individual
and community service. The critical situation in the young
woman's home, her need of advice and direction with regard to
her course, the institution's acceptance of the child without defi-
nite information about the needs and possibilities of the family

130

CHARITIES

or a thorough physical examination of the baby, the fact that the
baby was being breast fed at the time of application, that the
mother was obliged to wean it in order to go to work, her accept-
ance of less than a living wage, the fact that there was no place
in Springfield where a syphilitic baby could receive hospital treat-
ment; all of these combated her grit and perseverance in trying
to keep her child.

The case is illustrative of many others, which taken together
indicated that the institutions were offering at best but a partial
and often haphazard treatment for the troubles which led to ap-
plication for their care of children ; they showed opportunities not
yet grasped the more urgent because often exclusively theirs
which could be worked out through organized co-operation and a
definite community program of child welfare.

DEPENDENT CHILDREN OUTSIDE THE INSTITUTIONS
But a child welfare program should not limit itself to those
children who have come to the attention of the institutions.
Equal protection should be extended to others. For instance,
there was conspicuous social leakage in the work of the county
courts in all parts of the state which allowed children to be given
out for adoption without special investigation of the motives or
character of those who give and those who take. An extreme
instance illustrates the point: The county court of Sangamon
County gave for adoption a very young baby to a woman who
belonged to a notoriously immoral family. The woman herself
was in an advanced stage of tuberculosis and under treatment at
the tuberculosis dispensary at the time.

Regulation of maternity homes and accurate registration of
births, both of which are discussed in more detail in the chapter
dealing with public health, are also matters to be included in a
child welfare program.

The obvious conclusion to be drawn in this connection is that
the work of the Springfield institutions, except in the Redemption
Home, though it should have been more was chiefly custodial
until some turn in affairs or some applicant from a would-be
foster home led to a child's discharge.

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

INSTITUTIONS AS EDUCATIONAL FORCES : THE STAFFS
The actual work of bringing these children who are somewhat
below par in health and very much below par in education and
general training up to standard is chiefly in the hands of the
institution workers. Yet none of the chief executives of Spring-
field institutions had had such training as would enable her
to handle to best advantage the difficult tasks encountered.
Neither were the workers adequate in numbers, sufficiently paid,
nor had they a chance to qualify for the social aspects of their
duties. The Lincoln Colored Home had a colored superintendent
who was receiving her living and incidental expenses but no
salary; also a practical cook who was on small wages. At the
Orphanage of the Holy Child the only employe was the super-
intendent, whose salary was nominal. The Springfield Home for
the Friendless, which had the most complex administrative pro-
blem of all, employed a superintendent whose salary was entirely
inadequate for such a position, three "nurses" who were in
reality mere housemaids, a seamstress, mender, cook, laundress,
and a man for general work.

Although the work at the Rescue Home, combining maternity
and nursery care, called for highly trained workers, the staff con-
sisted of the manager, who was the founder, an assistant, matron,
kindergartner, and a non-resident man superintendent, the
husband of the manager. No one of these workers was regularly
salaried. Those living at the home were receiving maintenance
and "pin money."

Regardless of the qualifications of these workers, the highest
standards of child protection and care were quite impossible be-
cause of certain crippling defects in the buildings themselves.
The Orphanage of the Holy Child, a new building, was the only
one of the four institutions in which there was not undue daily
risk of loss of life by fire. The danger in the Lincoln Colored
Home, also new, was due not only to the arrangement of the
stairway but to the fact that the institution was overcrowded.
The Home for the Friendless was relying entirely upon exterior
fire-escapes which, from the second to the first floor, were vertical
ladders with rungs so far apart and the stop so short of the ground

132

CHARITIES

that little children could not safely use them. The fire dangers
at the Redemption Home were due to the overcrowding of the
house to such an extent that an attic, reached by a narrow stair-
way, had been pressed into service as a dormitory.

HEALTH PROTECTION

All the institutions, except the Redemption Home, were insist-
ing that the children be in good health at entrance. Yet health
conditions were by no means what they should have been. Cer-
tificates of examining physicians were in reality mere passports
for a child's entrance and were not regarded as serious records of
his physical condition or needs. Although medical service was
available, children were not re-examined unless they showed
signs of illness. There were no routine examinations, mental or
physical, to find out how the child was developing or to catch de-
fects in the incipient stages, and no records of conditions found.
There is also obvious need of more dental work.

Standards of personal hygiene swung from the excellent equip-
ment and careful training at the Orphanage of the Holy Child,
where each girl had a bed to herself and such other facilities and
supervision as are found in a well-ordered family home, to the
Redemption Home, where adverse conditions of plant and over-
crowding checkmated even the most determined administrative
efforts made to achieve high standards; to the Lincoln Colored
Home, where modern equipment was rendered inadequate and
proper standards were impossible because of its overcrowding
with boys and girls of such wide range in age ; and to the Home
for the Friendless, where defects of plant and administration
combined in creating a generally unsatisfactory situation. Like-
wise in the question of diet and the service of food, which are such
important elements in health, great extremes of standards were
discovered. And all of these matters are important from an
educational as well as a health point of view.

EDUCATIONAL WORK

In no respect had these institutions made educational forces of
themselves. No domestic science, manual arts, or craft work had
been developed. Moreover, although it was clear that many of

133

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

the children were backward, and some probably defective, no re-
liable information on their condition, of a kind that would assist
in deciding upon the special attention needed, was available.

RECREATION NEEDS

Neither outdoor nor indoor recreational facilities were suffi-
ciently developed in these institutions for children. Playrooms
were scantily equipped and dreary; yards were small and gave no
opportunity for directed play. The only exception was the Home
for the Friendless, which had equipped part of its yard with
swings and turning poles and had provided upstairs playrooms
for its girls; but even these provisions left much to be desired
before recreation facilities would measure up to what was needed.

In general, the conclusion was unescapable that the care given
in these institutions was chiefly a matter of material relief rather
than special work in child nurture.

NEXT STEPS IN CHILDREN'S WORK

The essentials in a child welfare program in any community
include:

1 . A properly run juvenile court with efficient probation service.

2. Provision for the temporary care of children awaiting the
action of the court. Such provision may be given either in a
detention home for dependent and neglected children, in one of
the existing orphanages, or preferably by boarding them out with
selected private families under careful supervision of a children's
aid society, as in Boston.

3. A well-organized child-caring society which shall handle:

a. Case studies.

b. Protective work.

c. Temporary aid for children whose parents are in tem-
porary distress.

d. Placing-out work with efficient supervision of children
in private families.

4. A receiving home for the temporary care of children await-
ing placement.

5. Hospital provision for sick children.

6. Special provision for orthopedic cases through connection

134

CHARITIES

with a state orthopedic hospital or with a private institution
with skilled orthopedic service.

7. Provision for the deaf and blind in state schools especially
for this purpose.

8. Provision for training backward children in one or more
public schools.

9. Provision in state institutions for delinquents for whom the
probation system is not suitable.

The state of Illinois had already made provision for the blind,
deaf, feeble-minded, and delinquents, although some of this pro-
vision was inadequate for the numbers of children needing it.
The care of the sick, crippled, dependent, and neglected children
was left entirely to private persons and private organizations,
except when dependents were cared for by the juvenile court.

Some of the juvenile court children were, however, boarded
with the private institutions. If there were a thorough classifica-
tion of the children in these asylums many would be found who
would be designated as preventive cases, medical cases, cases of
mental deficiency, orthopedic cases, and so forth, which the
Springfield institutions for children had not equipped themselves
to treat.

If, following a thorough classification of these children, a redis-
tribution were made on a basis of actual child need, it would
have been discovered that much further development should be
made by the state as an administrative unit. Very properly
there should be state protective work for neglected children,
state placing-out work, and state care in reception homes. But
it will be necessary for some time to come for private agencies to
initiate and to carry on the work of demonstrating and standard-
izing methods in child-care.

A COUNTY CHILD WELFARE ORGANIZATION NEEDED
The county is an exceedingly advantageous administrative
unit, and the present Springfield agencies should take Sangamon
County into their activities and develop themselves on a county-
wide scope. There is great need of vigilance to prevent neglect
of children in rural districts. Springfield of course should be the
headquarters of the county.

135

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

A well-rounded county-wide organization for child welfare
which would stand firmly for comprehensive and sympathetic
case work and for preventive and remedial measures in com-
munity betterment was urgently needed. Such an organization
should be prepared not only to do constructive work in its county
but to make a thorough social, medical, and mental diagnosis of
each application, and it should stand ready to supply treatment
either through provision of its own or by co-operation with the
resources of other existing agencies. It should initiate an up-to-
date placing-out service with a department for mothers with
babies both white and colored and a strong protective depart-
ment prepared to prosecute whenever necessary. The work of
this organization, however, should be closely connected with the
Illinois Children's Home and Aid Society, having headquarters
in Chicago, so that the county might thus co-ordinate its work
with a state program and avail itself of the resources of that
society in this placing-out and supervisory work.

FUTURE SCOPE OF INSTITUTIONS

When the work for children in Sangamon County has been
reorganized and adjusted, it will be discovered that the need for
such an institution as the Springfield Redemption Home has
fundamentally changed. Dependent children who were being
cared for in that institution, without their mothers, would be
placed in family homes for temporary or permanent care as the
case may be; confinement work would be given over to hos-
pitals, and after discharge, mothers with their babies would be
placed out in families by the department for mothers and babies
of the central organization on child welfare. It was not altogether
clear that the Redemption Home could be adapted to the much
needed educational work for young expectant mothers.

There was not, in a discriminating program, any social justi-
fication for an institution like the Orphanage of the Holy Child ;
admirably managed as that institution was. It took the kind
of girls who were suited to normal homes and kept them for long
years of artificial life without being in any sense an educational
institution. It did not give them anything which a family home
could not give, and it could not give them that essential in which

136

CHARITIES

a good family home excels experience in normal human re-
lationships.

The limited institutional activity which may still find a place
in an enlightened program of child welfare, to be of best use,
should be carefully worked out as to plant, equipment, and
administration. The plants of the Orphanage of the Holy Child
and the Lincoln Colored Home were of about the best size. They
would have been much richer in opportunity if they had had
sufficient grounds about them, such as surrounded the unwieldy
congregate plant of the Home for the Friendless.

In developing or planning children's institutions for Springfield,
homelike points should be emphasized, and barracks furniture,
dark playrooms, and insanitary features must go. Each institu-
tion should provide only for those children who may not, for the
time being, be better cared for in a family home. It should be
kept small and be brought up to the highest efficiency in diag-
nostic work with sufficient and well-equipped staffs of workers,
with well-planned sanitary cottages, provision for isolation of in-
coming and sick children, provision for medical and psychological
examinations, and for efficient training of the children. Improve-
ments should be made in the investigation work and record keep-
ing, as well as in the interpretation of data collected so that the
institutions may become not only better educational forces for
such children as, after study, are found to need the care of an
institution, but that they shall make themselves into educational
forces aimed at removing the causes of future child dependency.

Chief executives should be chosen not only for their practical
ability but for their social vision and co-operative spirit, and
they should be given opportunity to experiment with new methods.
Except in cases of children requiring custodial care all their lives,
the institutions should regard themselves as means to an end,
the end being the re-establishment of children in family life. A
very important next-step toward that end is the establishment of
a central organization for child welfare.

CARE OF THE SICK OUTSIDE THEIR HOMES
Among the 1,764 Springfield families which in 1913 were
known to have received some kind of charitable aid outside

137

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

their homes from public or semi-public agencies, there were 1,238
in which sickness was a factor in the reduced condition of the
family. If we add the 1 1 families in which mental deficiency was
a factor, and the 39 in which intemperance played a part both
of which in their treatment are to be regarded in the nature of
diseases :the total reached 1,288. The importance of provision
for these needs is apparent.

THE CITY PHYSICIAN

Except for the dispensary maintained by the Springfield Tuber-
culosis Association there was no free medical dispensary in Spring-
field. In lieu of this there was a city physician appointed by the
county board of supervisors. His district covered the city of
Springfield, and his work included also medical supervision of the
county and city jails. This official, by requirement a practicing
physician, was paid $100 a month. He was required to treat all
sick poor who applied and was obliged to meet from his own
salary the cost of all prescriptions filled.

A more unsatisfactory system could hardly be imagined. The
salary was not alluring as a source of income nor did it permit
the provision of the accessories needed in a well-ordered dis-
pensary. The doctor who was city physician at the time of the
survey had no classified records, no medical histories, nor even
an index of cases. The list of patients treated for about seven
months numbered 358. This meant too great a demand on the
time and strength of one doctor and could result only in a whole-
sale service, with hurried examinations and admission to a hos-
pital when it was obviously necessary.

The city should establish under its health department a free
medical dispensary, which would include certain home visiting,
to take over the general medical service being performed by the
city physician. This dispensary should sooner or later provide
for those suffering from tuberculosis. Under this plan there
could be a more equitable distribution of calls for free service
between members of the medical profession. The natural point
at which to start a movement for this change seemed to be the
Sangamon County Medical Society.

138

CHARITIES

HOSPITAL CARE

Except in the children's ward of the Springfield Hospital there
were no free beds in the city hospitals. Persons were received
into St. John's as county charges upon the authorization of the
city physician, the county paying a weekly rate of $4.00 which
did not cover cost. Patients admitted as county charges became
patients of the city physician regardless of what physicians had
been treating them in their homes. In 1913 the city physician,
without official assistance, was responsible for 557 patients a
burden altogether impossible for one man to carry to the satis-
faction either of himself or those in need of help.

This system, with neither dispensary nor free beds, with too
many and too varied calls for medical service coming to an
official appointed annually by a political board and inadequately
paid, offered no guarantee that sickness in poorer families would
be handled with proper skill, though in these weaker families the
need of the greater skill is especially urgent. Moreover, for a
growing progressive city the system was too inadequate to last
much longer. If instead of the office of the physician who hap-
pened to be city physician, a dispensary organized under the city
department of health, with its regular staff, its established pro-
cedures, its continuous records, and its continuous clinics, were
the point where cases were first considered, the selection of the
right physician for each case could be properly made.

TUBERCULOSIS DISPENSARY AND SANATORIUM
In addition to maintaining one visiting nurse the Springfield
Tuberculosis Association was operating a free dispensary. Dr.
George T. Palmer, who had charge, contributed his time. This
was perhaps too great a service to expect from one person, and
sooner or later the cost of this dispensary service should be as-
sumed by the city or county.

The Tuberculosis Association and the county have also cared
for a number of indigent cases at the Open Air Colony, a private
sanatorium. In addition to the \veekly payment of $4.00 made
by the county, the cost to the association of the 18 patients
helped was $8.40 a week.

139

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

The county board of supervisors should be urged to establish
a new basis of weekly payments, more nearly representing the
cost for care of county patients admitted to St. John's Hospital
and the Open Air Colony. Ultimately, and the time should not
be distant, the city and county should provide hospital facilities
of their own ; but in the meantime an increase to at least $6.00
a week for service in either of .these local hospitals was recom-
mended by the survey.

CARE OF MENTAL DEFECTIVES

There are many degrees of mental deficiency, and only persons
suffering from certain forms may need custodial care. Insanity,
when once determined, generally points to hospital care, and chil-
dren suffering milder forms of mental deficiency require institu-
tional treatment. From January I, 1913, to March i, 1914, 113
persons were committed by the Sangamon County Court to the
Jacksonville State Hospital for the insane.

Unfortunately there was no place in Springfield for the deten-
tion of persons suffering from mental illness; they were held in
the county jail annex until the court could appoint a commission
and hold a hearing. The general hospitals would not admit pa-
tients of this class, and St. John's Hospital took such patients
only when a special nurse could be provided, which eliminated
most indigent cases. The result was that a considerable number
of the insane were kept at the Sangamon County Poor Farm.
An inspector of the Illinois State Charities Commission found 24
insane inmates there in 1914.

Almshouses are entirely unfitted for the treatment of mental
diseases. The remedy lies in reducing the number cared for in
these places as rapidly as possible; in demanding that a fair pro-
portion of the patients of the county be received at the state
hospitals, and that accommodations at the state hospitals be
increased until they provide for all the insane of Illinois now
confined in almshouses.

Neither should the indigent insane be detained in the county
jail annex; they should be cared for in hospital wards pending
transfer to the state hospital.

The situation with regard to the care of persons among the

140

CHARITIES

poor suffering from acute alcoholic diseases was very like that of
the insane; they were sent to the county jail annex. It was
required that the city physician be called when an intoxicated
person who was unconscious was placed in a cell. This com-
mendable practice should be made to apply to others who are in
serious condition; but until the state of Illinois provides for
alcoholics, confinement in the county jail annex should be dis-
continued and arrangements made for treatment in one of the
hospitals.

In addition to these specific measures having to do with the
institutional care of the sick poor, their welfare would be pro-
moted still further by broadening the general preventive health
work of the city and of the Springfield Tuberculosis Association.
Later hospital social service would need to be provided for.

FAMILY DISABILITIES AND TREATMENT

AIMS TODAY IN CHARITY WORK

The chief aim in modern charity work is to eliminate abnor-
mal conditions of family life and promote normal conditions;
also to keep families intact and aid them in ways that will re-
store them as far as possible to complete living, to say nothing
of considerations of personal happiness and comfort. While
direct material aid is often necessary, it is only a means to the
end of family rehabilitation.

This obviously implies the belief that conditions can be changed
and improved. The idea of any class of people being predestined
and hopelessly chained to poverty and misery is repudiated once
and for all. When family life is abnormal there must be some
reason or reasons for it reasons for the most part that are ascer-
tainable and which past experience has proved in some measure
to be removable. Here, for example, is a family in distress be-
cause the chief breadwinner has incipient tuberculosis and has
been forced to give up his work; there are no savings or other
resources, and outside aid is needed. Obviously the key to the
situation lies in the father's restoration to health. As long as
there is hope of restored health there is hope for restored family
normality. Modern charitable effort, in addition to temporary

141

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

THE SPRINGFIELD

SURVEY

SPRINGFIELD

ILLINOIS

SIZE AND EXTENT OF THE CHARITIES PROBLEM

In 1913, 1,764 Springfield families received some kind of charitable service
from public or private organizations. Each spot represents a family. (A few
could not be located because of faulty addresses.)

142

CHARITIES

aid, would be directed toward the father's recovery; it would
thus help the family to the place where it could take care of
itself.

In carrying out this ideal several things are imperative. First,
there must be accurate knowledge of the difficulties in which the
family finds itself. Facts are essential to a diagnosis of the
family's problem and needs. Second, a careful plan of action to
meet the needs must be decided upon and put into operation.
Third, in most if not all instances the meeting of the needs of
these families requires that social agencies work together, placing
facts at each other's disposal and co-operating in a unified plan.
And, fourth, there should be effort not only to remove the family
disabilities already experienced but to take social action to pre-
vent future disabilities; for example, to prevent the unnecessary
deaths that cause widowhood, to prevent unemployment with
its consequent reduction of family income, and so on.

These requisites necessarily involve good record keeping by
social service agencies. Careful study of each case among the
many handled daily, and treatment that will follow a plan once
decided upon, are impossible unless the pertinent facts are put
in form for ready and frequent reference.

FAMILIES KNOWN TO AGENCIES

In 1913, 1,764 families were known to have received some kind
of social service. Not all were absolutely destitute, nor all in
need during the entire year, but the figures mean that over 1,750
families were unable to function properly without assistance.
For only 1,436 families, or 81 per cent of those helped, were the
records complete enough to give some indication of the existence
of the more common disabilities, such as sickness, unemploy-
ment, widowhood, desertion, and so on.

Although modern methods of co-operation in social work would
presuppose that a very large proportion of these families would
be known to at least two organizations in the city, the number
known to only one agency was 1,467, or over 80 per cent of all.
The Associated Charities, the usual center for co-ordinating work
for families, knew only a few more than 200 families out of the
total of 1,764, and some of these families were known only to it.

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

FAMILY DISABILITIES

Records of the organization showed the factors in family con-
ditions which signified subnormal conditions to be widowhood,
tuberculosis, sickness other than tuberculosis, desertion, mental
deficiency, intemperance, unemployment, irregular school at-
tendance, crippled conditions, blindness, and non-support. In
much the largest proportion of families only one disability was
recorded per family, which in view of other local facts and of
experience elsewhere in family work, immediately raised a ques-
tion as to whether attention was being given to all needs of the
families under care.

In the case of 169 families recorded as having two or more dis-
abilities per family, sickness, widowhood, desertion, intemper-
ance, unemployment, and irregular school attendance were seen
to combine as important factors in family dependency.

Having classified the families according to their disabilities, a
study was made of the treatment provided in each of the dif-
ferent disability groups, in the process of which all the records
in each group were carefully read. Cases were found of widows
with dependent children among the most complicated cases to
deal with aided in the most casual way, without investigation
as to whether the family needs were being adequately met, and
without any attempt to assist them in utilizing their own re-
sources. In cases of desertion also difficult to treat no exami-
nations were made to determine the inciting causes or to formu-
late a plan by which reconciliation might be effected or support
compelled.

A reading of the Springfield cases made it quite evident that
there were no data upon which to form an opinion as to the
amount of mental deficiency present in the families under study.
Only first-rate family rehabilitation work of a kind not yet known
in Springfield, with the keeping of first-rate records, would bring
out this handicap and in any appreciable way show its propor-
tionate seriousness in complicating family problems.

Intemperance is not by any means incurable, but its treatment
requires thoughtful effort and resourceful planning. It must be
fought with different weapons for different people. If in a given

144

CHARITIES

case it cannot be lessened, there may come a time when the
breaking up of the family will need to be considered and under-
taken. Very little constructive treatment was found in the matter
of intemperance in Springfield.

With regard to tuberculosis, good co-operation was found to
exist between the Associated Charities and the Tuberculosis
Association, and in some instances efficient team work was being
carried on. In cases of other diseases, however, there were
numerous instances of inadequate attention.

Irregular school attendance, involving as it does problems of
child labor, illness in the homes, family dependency, and other
handicaps signifies subnormal conditions in families. In this
matter there was obviously little co-operation between social
agencies and the schools; and the work of each separately was
below standard.

Non-support, too, was one of the serious unchecked evils in
the social field in Springfield. Few cases reached the court, and
those brought were not pursued to the end. This was probably
due to the fact that there was no organization which was giving
this matter careful attention and affording the wife moral back-
ing for carrying the proceedings through.

DATA ON LIVING COSTS

Records of family rehabilitation work in Springfield did not
give sufficient data for estimating the cost of living except in
a few cases with regard to rent. Questions of budget should be
covered, both with reference to all families given assistance and
with reference to those families in which continued material relief
is necessary. This is true in general because of the vital con-
nection between wages on the one hand and family well-being,
physical and otherwise, on the other; and it is true of families
receiving relief, in particular, because the determination of the
right amount of supplementary relief depends upon an accurate
summing up of income and outgo, and an estimate of what the
family actually requires.

Finally, the study of treatment provided for disabled families
in Springfield, together with facts such as above summarized,
led to the formulation of the following general conclusions:
10 145

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

First, the data on record in the local agencies responsible for
families were very incomplete.

Second, although recognizing that in many cases disabilities
and other facts were probably ascertained but not recorded, it
was evident that investigation of conditions in homes was not
thoroughly and systematically made.

Third, inasmuch as comprehensive and intelligent treatment
depends upon a broad basis of fact, it follows that this kind of
family treatment was not possible with the insufficient investi-
gations and record keeping found in Springfield.

And finally, in consequence, what was accomplished in actual
rehabilitation that is, toward the restoration of families to inde-
pendence and normal living was largely fragmentary.

PRIVATE AGENCIES PROVIDING SOCIAL SERVICE
THE ASSOCIATED CHARITIES

Ordinarily the scope of the Associated Charities is very broad,
and its calls for service are of many kinds. The staff of the
Springfield organization was found to be insufficient to cover the
field. Although a new trained worker had just been secured as
general secretary, the staff needed the addition of an assistant
secretary who, besides helping in case work under the secretary's
oversight, should be responsible for the organization of volunteer
workers and the development of a decisions committee.

The offices of the Associated Charities needed rearrangement
and it was recommended that the clothing station be removed,
preferably by transferring this service to some other organization
in the city. The much-needed improvement in record keeping
made between the field work of the survey and the issuing of the
original report, needed to be extended to cover methods of con-
firming telephone orders on stores, the checking up of deliveries
for orders, and the handling of special funds.

While recognizing many instances of excellent work, the con-
clusion was nevertheless inevitable that the treatment of families
was very largely along lines of temporary material relief rather
than rehabilitation. The society, moreover, had not taken an
important part in movements looking toward the improvement

146

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EC O

H a.

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147

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

of social conditions in the city. An essential feature of the
Associated Charities movement, and a policy to which all well-
organized societies are committed, is that of leadership in develop-
ing preventive and community measures which the day-to-day
family work shows to be necessary for the improvement of social
conditions measures, that is, which are not actively undertaken
and carried on through other agencies.

It was recommended, therefore, that the general secretary
should in the Central Conference of Social Agencies, and after
some progress has been made in the consideration of a decision
upon the Springfield survey recommendations regarding the work
of the different social agencies take up, upon motion of the
board of directors of the Associated Charities, any matters de-
veloped as a result of the case work which point to the need of
undertaking some new social activity or of enlarging any already
undertaken, or of effecting some administrative reform or legisla-
tive measure, or of educating the community. This to the end that
there might be general participation in those most important social
reforms whose need is bound to be revealed in the course of a really
intensive, thoroughgoing family rehabilitation work. This kind of
activity might very well be extended to matters in which executive
direction was needed and was not elsewhere available for carrying
out any of the recommendations of the Springfield survey.

The beginning made toward establishing a workable confi-
dential exchange should be followed up to the end that the
exchange would be developed and utilized.

The organization of a decisions committee which could give
opportunity, in the treatment of family problems, for taking
advantage of the wisdom of the group and for guiding action ac-
cordingly was strongly urged. Moreover, the work of the paid
staff should be further strengthened and extended by a greater
use of volunteer workers.

Finally, the work of the finance committee should be improved
and the campaigns for funds should be better organized.

THE TUBERCULOSIS ASSOCIATION

As already indicated, the co-operation between the Tuber-
culosis Association and the Associated Charities at the time of

148

CHARITIES

the survey was very close ; relations between these agencies had
always been close. Nevertheless, the importance of early referring
of all cases to the Associated Charities for social service where
future destitution seemed at all probable was not always recog-
nized. Such reference was strongly urged. In addition to co-
operation with the Associated Charities there should be syste-
matic inquiry of the confidential exchange about all patients as
soon as they apply. The family records of the association were
extremely good and were well kept.

HUMANE SOCIETY

The Humane Society was organized to deal with cruelty to
and non-support of children, and with cruelty to animals. Our
review of the charity work of the city and the discovery of work
in the Humane Society's field which was not being handled led
to the conviction that the society was not fulfilling a large func-
tion. The work should be radically reorganized to the end ulti-
mately that all activities of the society relating to children sooner
or later be removed to the juvenile court or to a central organiza-
tion for child welfare, according to the needs of the individual
case. The work for the protection of animals should continue to
be handled by the police. It was expected, however, that for the
immediate future the Associated Charities would need to act as
originator of many non-support proceedings which otherwise
would have fallen in the field of the reorganized Humane Society.

WASHINGTON STREET MISSION

The Washington Street Mission was carrying on three kinds of
work: religious services, the maintenance of a lodging house for
homeless men, and the distribution of clothing.

The lodging house for homeless men was the only institution
of its kind in the city. Although the building which housed it
and the church auditorium was not well adapted for lodging pur-
poses, the equipment and management were relatively good. In
1913 a gross total of 6,743 lodgings were given, 1,182 suits were
fumigated, 456 orders for meals were given away, 1,100 other
orders were given out but paid for later. Employment, tem-

149

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

porary or permanent, was found for 379 men, and 10 women in
the neighborhood were also helped to employment.

Realizing the undoubted value of the work, the fact was to be
regretted that a more systematic scheme of treatment and record
keeping regarding the men was not adopted. The problem of the
homeless man will never be solved until some constructive effort
is made to understand individual cases, turn some of the men
back to home ties left behind, or in the absence of home or other
ties, to get them settled.

With regard to the giving of relief the only source of informa-
tion was the record of 12,000 garments received. The giving out
of clothing was considered an adjunct to the religious work of
the Mission. This we believed to be a wrong basis of work, and
we recommended that the distribution of clothing be separated
from the religious work of the Mission.

We recommended further that more detailed record keeping of
the work of the lodging house for homeless men be gradually
developed, also of relief work done, that physical examination
and treatment be extended to all applicants, and that a definite
effort be made to replace men in their ordinary environments.

ST. VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY

The St. Vincent de Paul Society was organized November
20, 1913. A report made early in March, 1914, just before the
survey was begun, indicated that it had 34 active members and
117 benefactors. The total number of families known to the
society at that time was 77, 31 of which were Catholic, 29 Prot-
estant, and 17 without religious affiliations. Relief had been
given in the form of groceries, shoes and bedding, coal and other
special forms. Far more important than the question of relief,
however, was the fact that the society had recognized the neces-
sity not only of adequate planning but of co-operative work, and
had already established cordial relations with the social agencies

of the city.

DAY NURSERY

A study of the day nursery which was started while the sur-
vey was being made was not possible, but such information as
was obtainable at long distance indicated intelligent work.

150

i CHARITIES

EARL GIBSON SUNSHINE SOCIETY

The local activities of the Earl Gibson Sunshine Society con-
sisted of the support of national work for blind babies; the main-
tenance of a trained nurse for emergency work during the state
fair week held in Springfield; special relief to families at the
request of various social agencies of the city; providing flowers
for patients in hospitals; and visiting people at the county poor
farms. These local activities were commendable, but the society
should follow a policy of doing no relief work except through
existing agencies in the city.

SALVATION ARMY

The local branch of the Salvation Army was reorganized just
prior to the survey and had not progressed far enough upon its
new program of activities to warrant their study at that time.

KING'S DAUGHTERS HOME

The King's Daughters Home for the aged is for women over
sixty, without serious mental or physical handicap, who are resi-
dents of Sangamon County. An admission fee of $300 was
charged and anyone admitted must deed over all her property
to the corporation. The house, which was well adapted for the
purpose, was homelike and attractive, as nearly a home as such
an institution can be.

We question seriously, however, the advisability of a home of
this sort charging a fixed fee for admission and requiring the
transfer of all property to the institution. The recommendation
was that the home establish a sliding scale of charges for ad-
mission, setting a minimum if necessary; and also place in trust
all capital sums received from inmates, demanding during the
lives of the inmates only the income of their estates. The capital
would go to the home at the death of the inmate, but in case of
a desire to leave the institution, the trust could be easily dis-
solved and the capital returned.

ST. JOSEPH'S HOME FOR THE AGED

This is a home for aged men and women conducted by the
Sisterhood of the Immaculate Conception and receiving general

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

support through the Catholic diocese. A portion of the support
came from Catholic citizens of Springfield. Only persons sixty
years of age or over were admitted. At the time the home was
visited it contained 23 women and 17 men, of whom 14 were
non-Catholics. There was no fixed charge for admission.

SPRINGFIELD IMPROVEMENT LEAGUE

This league which had been recently formed, aimed to work
for a cleaner and more beautiful Springfield. It was made up of
volunteer workers who served on special or standing committees
which in general covered the fields studied by the Springfield
survey. The league offered an effective channel for enlisting
support in civic and social problems. It had already recognized
the importance of putting social and civic endeavors upon a city-
wide basis and dealing with them as community problems.

PUBLIC AGENCIES PROVIDING SOCIAL SERVICE

SANGAMON COUNTY POOR FARM

The Sangamon County Poor Farm, which comprised 196 acres,
was situated 15 miles from Springfield. The building consisted
of two stories and a basement, with dormitories 22 by 28 feet
containing from 3 to n beds each.

Of the 162 inmates 23 were insane, 3 sane epileptics, I insane
epileptic, 4 consumptives, 2 blind, and 129 paupers not classified.
None was under twenty-five years of age.

As far as certain bare comforts and necessities of life were con-
cerned the inmates were fairly fortunate. It was apparently a
peaceful institution, with no special methods of discipline or hard
exactions.

A number of necessary improvements, however, needed to be
made, and it was recommended that the Associated Charities and
the Women's Club jointly take up the question of immediately
effecting changes which need not be delayed, and that a special
committee of the county board be appointed to consider the
larger building problems involved. Among the changes which
would make life in the county home more normal, cheerful, and
comfortable were the following:

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CHARITIES

1. The most obvious suggestion was the transfer of its insane
patients to state hospitals. This was already being urged by the
local authorities but there was likely to be a residue for some
time. Ultimately there should be a statute absolutely prohibiting
almshous'e care for such patients.

2. With the abolition of the cells for the insane in the base-
ment, a rearrangement of space or provision for new space, such

CELLS AT THE SANGAMON COUNTY POOR FARM

These cells in the basement were used for insane persons. Such inmates
should be placed in the comfortable and cheerful quarters of the state hospitals
for the insane.

as would obviate the use of the basement for living purposes,
should be worked out.

3. As soon as possible a special pavilion for the tuberculous
and with provision for special diet, should be built.

4. Toilet facilities should be provided on the first floor.

5. Occupations should be provided for all except the bedridden.
It could not be too strongly emphasized that an idle life in an
almshouse is a most cruel infliction upon any human being.

6. A graduate nurse should be added to the staff.

153

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

7. There should be provision for a sitting room for women.
The sitting rooms for both men and women should be provided
with benches and chairs, among which should be a good propor-
tion of rocking and easy chairs for the older inmates.

Good strong tables, one or two couches, and a few shelves on
the walls for books and papers, should complete the furniture of
the room. Good pictures, now available at small cost, should be
provided for the walls of the sitting rooms.

8. A monthly entertainment of some sort in all except the
summer months should be arranged by interested groups in
Springfield.*

9. The dining-room tables for all but the lowest grades of in-
mates should be covered with linen, not oilcloth.

Some of these recommendations involve immediate changes;
and we would strongly urge that, if necessary, outdoor relief
(that is, assistance given outside the institution) be reduced in
amount so as to enable the county to meet these first responsi-
bilities satisfactorily.

OVERSEER OF THE POOR FOR CAPITAL TOWNSHIP
Capital Township is conterminous with the city of Springfield ;
and the field of work of the overseer of the poor was thus ren-
dering assistance to those in need within the boundaries of the
city. The office was appointive, and unprotected by civil ser-
vice or by an adequate sense of responsibility on the part of the
county board of supervisors in dealing with dependent families of
the city along modern approved lines. A change of administra-
tion usually meant a change in the office. Under these circum-
stances obviously the office was not likely to be filled by anyone
with experience or sufficient ability in the treatment of families.
Such a state of affairs, unfortunately, was not regarded as crim-
inal malfeasance in office, but the time will come w r hen it will be
so considered. It is as serious an error to assign to this position
any other than a social worker with sufficient technical training
and experience, as it would be to fill the position of city physician
by appointing a man who had not studied medicine. Both deal
with very vital matters connected with the promotion of normal
living.

154

CHARITIES

RELIEF WORK OUTSIDE OF INSTITUTIONS

The service of the overseer of the poor has been almost entirely
the giving of material aid. The expenditures for outdoor relief
in 1913 amounted to $8,245.02, and for other purposes, $5,722.88,
a total of $13,967.90. The amount was not extravagant for a
city the size of Springfield, but the record keeping was so meager
that there was no way of justifying or explaining any of the
expenditures. Neither was it possible to study expenditures made
on behalf of individual families to determine whether the amounts
were adequate or properly adjusted to the family's need. . In
general, the amounts given were small; over 70 per cent of the
cases received less than $25, and roughly, 60 per cent less than
$15. There was a fair amount of co-operation between the over-
seer of the poor and social agencies of the city with regard to
individual cases, but the giving of relief to a definite amount in
order to further and form part of a predetermined plan was not
practiced.

With regard to the transportation of dependents to other
communities, the overseer was permitted to spend something for
those asking for aid. In order to insure that the county or city
was not doing some other community an injustice by shunting
dependent individuals upon it and in no wise helping the person
concerned, the overseer's office should be a signer of the Trans-
portation Agreement of the National Conference of Charities and
Corrections. 1

In summing up the situation and needs in the work of public
poor relief in Capital Township the survey recommended: First,
that action of some kind be taken to secure experienced workers
in the overseer's office. The Conference of Social Agencies
should protest against the current procedure, and in succeeding
elections should urge all parties to make public announcement of
a policy pledging nominees for supervisorships to take this office
out of politics and put in it a trained social worker under some
kind of civil service restriction. Second, the. record keeping with

1 The Transportation Agreement for charitable institutions was drawn up
in 1903. It now (1920) has over 800 signers. Copies may be secured by
addressing the Charity Organization Department, Russell Sage Foundation,
New York City.

155

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

reference to the essential facts of the cases cared for should be
greatly improved. Third, the co-operation of the overseer with
other social agencies should include the treatment of cases accord-
ing to a mutually understood plan. Fourth, the cost of hospital
and sanatorium care of the sick poor should be borne in larger
part by the public at least to the extent of increasing the pay-
ment of $4.00 a week to $6.00 and in all cases involving tuber-
culosis, special attention should be given to seeing that the relief
provided was adequate, following a rehabilitation plan for the
whole family.

JUVENILE COURT

At the time of the survey, 48 families were on the Funds to
Parents List of the juvenile court. These grants to widows ran
quite uniformly around $8.00 and $10 a month, although the
variations in family needs were considerable. Despite the fact
that good records were maintained there was practically no in-
vestigation made of applications in order to estimate what the
minimum family income should be; what amount of work the
mother should be expected to do taking into account her phys-
ical, mental, and nervous condition, and other characteristics,
whether there were any children of working age and what amount
of their wages should go into the family purse; what amount was
promised or should be expected of well-circumstanced relatives.

It was strongly urged that the court endeavor to secure a
second officer who should give special attention to this work;
for it required not only most thorough initial investigations but
constant visitation. If it is worth while arranging for widows'
grants it is worth while to see that they be really effective, for
money relief in itself assures nothing. There should be not only
better investigation of needs but careful planning of treatment,
and if under the terms of the law a widow is not eligible for grant,
she should be referred to the proper private agencies for attention.

SCHOOL ATTENDANCE BUREAU

Since problems of truancy and school attendance are intimately
related to home conditions and are likely to be acute in families
known to social agencies, this matter has been considered here

156

CHARITIES

as well as in the school section of the survey. With the thought
in mind that the school attendance bureau may also serve as a
social agency for dealing with families, the following is a brief
summary of the suggestions offered as to methods of organizing
and administering such a bureau:

Only when a satisfactory excuse cannot be obtained from
parents by the use of inquiries sent through the mail should the
case of absence be referred to the attendance officer.

The superintendent or the board of education should draw up
written instructions as to what should be considered satisfactory
excuses.

Excuse notes or forms on which are entered the parents' ex-
cuses, together with the action of the teachers thereon, should be
filed monthly in the office of the superintendent.

Teachers should record the approximate date when pupils
absent from school are normally due, so that inquiry may be
made if the absence is unduly prolonged.

In cases of the transfer of children, immediate inquiry should
be made by form letter or telephone to learn if actual transfer
has been effected and if the child is duly registered.

It should be made clear to the parochial schools that the ser-
vice of the attendance officer is open to them in following up
unexcused absences, and their co-operation with the officer se-
cured as far as possible.

Each year a comparison of the school rolls with the returns
of the school census should be made, so that no children shall
be lost track of at the beginning of the school term.

Habitual truancy generally indicates a family rather than an
individual disorder. It points to weaknesses lying much further
back, and is least often overcome by simply forcing a child into
school again with a few new clothes, a new pair of shoes, and a
grocery order. There are questions of family adjustment back of
many unexcused absences of children from school which cannot
be worked out by an attendance officer without the co-operation
of the social agencies. This work should be considered a combi-
nation of school attendance and social service.

It was therefore recommended that the attendance officer be
one with experience as a social worker and having a knowledge

157

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

of the field of family rehabilitation. Whatever he does should be
in accordance with plans worked out between himself and the
officers or committees of the Associated Charities.

It was our opinion that the work of the mothers' clubs in the
schools should be done entirely through the Associated Charities.
Some of the members should be secured as volunteers in the
working out of plans for rehabilitation and the raising of funds
for individual families. We believed also that, in connection
with the co-operative work of the attendance officer and the
Associated Charities, many opportunities would be discovered
where members of these clubs could tutor children who had suf-
fered because of irregular attendance, thus rendering a most
effective service to the children themselves and to the schools.

RECOMMENDATIONS REQUIRING UNITED ACTION

It was realized from the beginning of the survey, of course,
that the various suggestions and recommendations growing out
of the facts collected would affect not only individual organiza-
tions, but also groups of organizations; and as the field work of
the survey began to draw to an end it became more and more
apparent that a satisfactory reorganization of the Associated
Charities would need to be worked out, together with some plan
for bringing about much closer co-operation among all the social
agencies. In anticipation, therefore, of such developments, and
with a view to preparing the way for handling local social prob-
lems on a community-wide and more co-operative basis, a meeting
was called by the sub-committee on charities of the general Spring-
field survey committee. To it were invited unofficially a number
of persons vitally interested in the different agencies of the city.

At this meeting a resolution was carried providing for a con-
ference of social agencies to follow the publication of the survey
of charities, also to formulate a policy with reference to co-opera-
tion among the social agencies in Springfield.

With a view to facilitating the work of the Conference of Social
Agencies, the following recommendations were offered with regard
to developments requiring action on the part of more than one
society :

158

CHARITIES

CONFIDENTIAL EXCHANGE

The establishment of a confidential exchange by the Associated
Charities was recommended. This meant that the following
agencies should officially agree to use it and that each should
make a contribution toward its support. These contributions
should range from $50 to $5.00 a year.

Home for the Friendless.

Humane Society (until its work was reorganized as above

recommended) .
Tuberculosis Association.
Washington Street Mission.

City Physician (or his successor, a general dispensary).
St. Vincent de Paul Society.
Lincoln Colored Home.
Day Nursery.
Salvation Army.
Springfield Improvement League.

These were the agencies which were in daily need of a con-
fidential exchange and which, except for one, were private in
character, so that appropriations could be made for the support
of the work. A committee should be formed in the conference
composed of representatives of the organizations which agreed to
support the exchange, and this committee should serve as an
advisory committee to the Associated Charities in connection
with the exchange. The contributions thus made to the exchange
would not pay all the expenses involved.

Only one public agency was here listed, the city physician.
We doubted whether the county board could be induced to make
an appropriation for this purpose; but as long as the office of
city physician was continued it would be worth $50 of the annual
salary to the incumbent to have such an exchange, for he could
regulate his legitimate city work thereby. A dispensary, when
established, would inevitably use the exchange and should make
an appropriation for that purpose.

. The following agencies, public in character, would need it daily
and should also make use of it:

159

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

Juvenile Court.

Overseer of the Poor for Capital Township.

Sangamon County Poor Farm.

School Attendance Bureau.

In addition to the above agencies which should use the ex-
change a great deal, the following private agencies would make
use of it also, though not so constantly:

Orphanage of the Holy Child.
Earl Gibson Sunshine Society.
The Churches.

The churches should co-operate far more closely than most of
them were doing.

CHILD WELFARE SERVICE

It was pointed out that a beginning should be made toward
what would ultimately be a well-rounded county-wide child wel-
fare organization which would stand firmly for comprehensive
and sympathetic case work and for constructive measures for
community betterment. Such an agency should make a thorough
diagnosis of each application, socially, medically, and mentally,
and should be prepared to supply treatment either through its
own resources or through co-operation with other existing agen-
cies. It should initiate an up-to-date placing-out work with
departments for mothers with babies and a strong protective
department ready to prosecute when necessary. It should be
organically connected with the Illinois Children's Home and Aid
Society, and should work in co-operation with the Department
of Visitation of Children Placed in Family Homes of the State
Board of Administration, also with those institutions of the
county which deal with children. This work might start under
the supervision of a child welfare committee appointed from San-
gamon County by the Home for the Friendless.

DISPENSARY SERVICE

The city should establish under its health department a free
medical dispensary and take over the general medical service
being performed by the city physician. The management of

1 60

CHARITIES

such a dispensary should be in the hands of a paid official, but
a large volunteer staff of physicians should be organized. The
responsibility for admission to hospitals on county charge should
also be placed upon the dispensary. As a first move toward
securing this dispensary service the Associated Charities should
appoint a special committee to confer with the health department
and county officials. The committee might later be enlarged to
become a committee of the Conference of Social Agencies; in any
case it should continue in existence until sufficient public backing
has been secured to enable the public officials to act.

MOVEMENTS FOR COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT
The Associated Charities through its general secretary, and
upon motion of its board of directors, should take up in the
Central Conference of Social Agencies or elsewhere any matters
developed as a result of its case work which point to the need
of undertaking some new activity or enlarging some activity
already undertaken, or of effecting some administrative reform
or legislative measure, or of educating the community. An illus-
tration of the need of such activity with reference to preventing
violations of the child labor law was found in our special investi-
gations of a few families, and also in the study of home conditions
in the industrial section of the survey.

Similarly the co-operation of the Springfield Improvement
League would be of great value in making for a more intelligent
public opinion bearing upon current social and civic problems in
the city and county.

The Ministerial Association should also be counted on in this
connection.

COUNTY POOR FARM

The Conference of Social Agencies should ask a joint commit-
tee of the Associated Charities and the Women's Club to take
up the questions, large and small, connected with the county
poor farm, calling upon the conference for whatever other assist-
ance may be needed in order to carry out an effective, and if
necessary, long campaign for improvements. This campaign
should include an endeavor to secure more adequate accommo-
ii 161

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

dations for the insane in state institutions and their removal
from the almshouse. Some changes could and should be made
immediately, but larger difficulties relating to the buildings may
involve a far longer campaign to arouse public opinion.

PUBLIC OUTDOOR RELIEF

The conference was also advised to appoint a committee
wherein should be represented the Associated Charities, the
Tuberculosis Association, and the St. Vincent de Paul Society,
to consult with the overseer of the poor of Capital Township as
to the possibility of his giving especial attention to tuberculosis
relief, the assumption of responsibility in all cases of non-resi-
dents, and other matters of mutual concern already pointed out.
It was also recommended that the committee take up with the
board of supervisors the question of increasing the rate of weekly
hospital pay for the sick of the county. The work of the agencies
indicated was distinctly affected by the policy of the overseer's
office.

MORAL AID FOR ADVANCE STEPS

In addition the conference should lend its moral support, in
public ways, to those agencies the Associated Charities and the
children's institutions, for example upon which must fall the
task of making extensive changes in their work, involving in-
creased expenditure.

SECRETARY OF CONFERENCE

It was recommended that when the reorganization of the
Associated Charities should be effected that the new general
secretary be asked to serve, if mutually agreeable, as secretary
also of the Central Conference of Social Agencies.

FUTURE DEVELOPMENT

The organization of this unofficial conference of social agencies
was suggested so that a center of co-operation might be in
existence to take up the recommendations of the survey, and
work them out with individual boards of directors or with joint
committees and boards.

162

CHARITIES

This advisory task in itself might require one or two years.
It was hoped that long before the expiration of the period the
conference would have succeeded in creating a demand which by
mutual discussion and agreement would bring about the steady,
related, co-ordinated, constructive development of social work in
Springfield.

163

VIII
INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS 1

PURPOSE AND SCOPE

To view industry in Springfield from the angle of social wel-
fare and to examine the needs disclosed was the purpose of this
investigation. Industry exists for people, not people for indus-
try; and obviously industry can never be considered satisfactory
until it serves effectively those who furnish capital and managing
ability, those who furnish labor, and those who form the con-
suming community.

In what, then, in this connection, does social welfare consist?
Few questions give rise to more conflicting views. There are,
however, certain general principles and minimum standards in
industrial matters upon which, as long ago as 1916 when the in-
dustrial survey findings were printed, there was considerable
agreement among those who had given thought to these ques-
tions. As an aid in considering the problems to be dealt with in
Springfield, and with a view to formulating a basis for evaluating
conditions and needs, a statement of these general principles was
found useful.

We are fully aware, however, of the danger that a listing of
minimum requirements of any particular time for Springfield
and Illinois might be taken as a statement of conditions that
would be good enough, and thus be turned into a set of maxi-
mum requirements in other words, the danger that they might
be taken to represent the remote or ultimate rather than the im-
mediate goals ahead. We would therefore make clear that the
several propositions as we conceived them represented minimum
requirements, and only such minimum requirements as appeared
to have the approval of those who had given the matter mature

1 Summary of report, Industrial Conditions in Springfield, Illinois, by
Louise C. Odencrantz and Zenas L. Potter.

INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS

thought, and particularly of those who spoke neither for the em-
ployer nor the employe but for the public. l

First and elementary among these matters, as originally stated,
were working conditions. These should be made as wholesome
and safe as possible. Fire hazard should be minimized, machinery
guarded, sanitary conditions maintained, industrial diseases pre-
vented, and good light and ventilation provided. The main-
tenance of such conditions is a first responsibility of the employer.

Second, until children are sixteen years of age it is essential
that they develop normally and receive training for the work of
life. Any occupation is therefore objectionable which interferes
with such development or training. Under fourteen, children
should not be employed in gainful occupations.

Third, hours of labor should not be so long as to injure health
or to deny workers opportunity for self-improvement, the devel-
opment of home life, and an intelligent interest in public affairs.
Eight hours for a day's work is a standard which is now widely
accepted.

Fourth, every worker should have one day of rest in seven.

Fifth, women and children should not be employed at night.

Sixth, workers who give their full working time to an industry
should receive as a very minimum a wage which will provide the
necessities of life. This means, of course, that men with families
dependent upon them should receive enough for the support not
only of themselves but of their families. Otherwise family life
will be undermined. If the business cannot provide this there is
serious question whether it has a right to exist.

Seventh, either the "necessities of life" should include enough
to allow workers to carry insurance and save something for old
age, or else industry should provide directly for the care of inca-
pacitated workmen and for the dependents of workmen who are

1 For a statement of Social Standards for Industry, adopted as a part of
the report of the Committee on Standards of Living and Labor of the National
Conference of Charities and Corrections and presented to the session of the
Conference held in Cleveland in 1912, see Appendix A, pp. 157-162 of the
original report here summarized.

For a statement of principles adopted by the Federal Council of Churches
of Christ in America in Chicago in 1912, see Appendix B, pp. 162-163 of t ne
same volume. Later statements by the Council and other religious, social,
and civic bodies are now available.

165

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

THE SMOKE NUISANCE

In the schools of Springfield the problem of adequate lighting was rendered
difficult by the prevalent coal smoke in the air which rapidly deposits a bluish
film on the surface of the window glass and seriously reduces its transparency.

This condition was universal throughout not only the school buildings but
also residence and office structures, and added both to the problem of lighting
and of keeping the city clean. In the picture are two of the many smokestacks
responsible for the condition.

1 66

INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS

killed or used up at work, through payment made by the em-
ployer the cost to be distributed over society by some form of
insurance or other method.

Eighth, irregularity of employment should be minimized, and
when workers lose their positions adequate facilities should exist
to help them find new places.

Ninth, the bargaining power in settling the terms of the work
agreement should be as evenly balanced as possible between the
employer and the employe. This would recognize the right of
employers and employes alike to organize or form unions.

If some may doubt the feasibility of requiring industry to meet
these requirements now, few people we believe will question them
as minimum conditions which industrial life must very soon pro-
vide and for which the community, because it is always an inter-
ested party, should strive.

In this report the endeavor was to show how far Springfield
conditions measured up to or fell short of these standards, and,
as far as possible when they failed, to suggest means by which
they might be brought more nearly into keeping with them.

TIME AND METHOD

As stated elsewhere, the facts presented, unless otherwise in-
dicated, describe conditions found in Springfield during the
spring of 1914, the period covered by the field work of the
survey. The time of the field work was limited to four and six
weeks respectively for two investigators; and several additional
weeks were devoted by them to the compilation of data from
existing records. The general method followed was first, to visit
factories and mercantile establishments in order to examine phys-
ical conditions and gather data regarding hours, wages, etc.; and
second, to call on representative workers in their homes for the
purpose of securing from them a full statement of their work
conditions.

Information also was secured from labor organizations and
from the Illinois free employment agency, from state reports con-
taining industrial facts relating to Springfield, and from data
gathered by the Springfield Commercial Association. Although
the investigation had to do primarily with Springfield, special

167

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

attention was paid to the planning and execution on the part of
the state of methods of promoting industrial welfare, since through
this channel public opinion is very potent in influencing indus-
trial conditions.

PHYSICAL SAFETY IN INDUSTRY

Physical safety in industry is an elementary requirement. The
problem of dealing with the industrial hazards to life and health,
moreover, is rendered extremely important and serious because
of the fact that workers, in Springfield as elsewhere, spend such
a large part of their waking hours in the factory, mine, laundry,
store, or other w r ork places.

These industrial hazards are of three kinds: danger from acci-
dent other than fire, from fire, and from disease. For the pur-
pose of discovering, as far as time permitted, the nature and ex-
tent of the hazards in Springfield inspections were made of all
but one of the factories employing 100 or more persons, of several
of the smaller factories, of the two largest laundries, and all of
the larger and a few of the smaller mercantile establishments.
No establishment visited showed marked disregard for the
safety and physical welfare of its workers. Some showed unusual
care. Nevertheless, because of situations difficult to handle,
such as old buildings erected before the development of modern
factory construction, in certain other Springfield work places
large numbers of employes were subjected to well-recognized in-
dustrial hazards, over 200 establishments, for example, being
found to have unguarded machinery, fire hazards, or other dan-
gerous conditions.

WORK ACCIDENTS

Between 1909 and 1913, 36 Springfield individuals were killed
by some kind of industrial accident, the largest number being
among railway employes, mine workers, electrical workers, and
men engaged in the building trades. Since the recording of
causes of deaths was very faulty, and for other reasons, the real
total was probably even greater. Thirty-six persons killed in
industry, however, showed a serious situation one demanding
thoughtful attention.

1 68

INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS

As to non-fatal accidents, the available data again were very
incomplete and did not include those occurring in establishments
subject to the compensation law. Nevertheless 35 such accidents
were reported for the single year 1913 These, particularly with
the six fatal accidents of that year, were sufficient to show that
grave accidents were occurring each year in Springfield and that
these were resulting in more than enough suffering and economic
loss to call for serious endeavors in accident prevention.

According to the Illinois Employers' Liability Commission,
about one-half of the accidents occurring annually in industry
are due to dangerous conditions which may be removed or to
carelessness on the part of workingmen and which educational
work regarding industrial hazards may greatly reduce. Up to
the time of the survey, however, no energetic accident preven-
tion campaign had ever been carried on in Springfield either by
employers' associations, labor organizations, civic bodies, the
public officials, or the great majority of employers, although such
campaigns had yielded excellent results elsewhere. The conse-
quence was many unnecessary injuries and deaths from work
accidents.

ACCIDENT PREVENTION

An important requisite for carrying on campaigns of this kind
is a knowledge of the facts of work accidents : how many, where
and why accidents happen, how they may be avoided. These
data were not available. The provisions of the Illinois statutes
requiring the reporting of work accidents were confused and
oftentimes overlapped, since in some cases similar establishments
were obliged to report to entirely different authorities, because
state officials were not compiling the facts for the same periods
and because the data were not classified by industries or kinds of
work.

It was impossible, therefore, to determine how many accidents
happened in the state in any given year. It was even impossible
to tell how many happened in factories, on railroads, or in bridge
and building construction work. Moreover, only part of the data
were presented by localities, and the reports offered no help in
getting an accurate idea of the number of work accidents which

169

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

occurred in Springfield or in any other city. One of the first moves
for efficient accident prevention work in Springfield and Illinois
clearly should be to replace these confused and overlapping stat-
utes by an act requiring the reporting of all work accidents to one
central authority.

PROTECTIVE LEGISLATION

Protective legislation going into considerable detail, applying
to accident prevention in mines, on steam railroads, to building
and construction work, and to factories, mercantile establish-
ments, mills, and workshops, was found on the Illinois statute
books. In this important railroad and mining state the work of
the mine inspectors and railway safety inspectors who were
charged with enforcing the law, however, was not well organized,
and was not carefully checked up and reported on from time to
time no reports at all being issued to show the kind of work
performed by the mining inspectors.

At the time of the survey the last published report of the chief
factory inspector was two years old. It showed but one inspec-
tion to enforce the bridge and building construction safety law
in Springfield in the two years ending June, 1912, and no inspec-
tions to enforce the act applying to factories, mercantile estab-
lishments, mills, and workshops. Unpublished records, however,
for the year ending May, 1914, indicated much greater activity.

OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE

Illinois for several years before the survey had an occupational
disease law. It was based upon studies made by the Illinois Oc-
cupational Disease Commission. The causes of occupational
diseases enumerated by the commission were: vitiation of air
with irritating or poisonous dusts and fumes; direct contact of
workers with irritating and poisonous substances affecting the
skin and producing eruptions; extremes of heat and cold; ex-
tremes of dryness and humidity; defects in lighting; abnormal
atmospheric pressure; jarring, shaking, and deafening noise;
and overstrain, fatigue, hurtful postures, and over-exercise of
parts of the body. A number of these conditions were found by
the survey in greater or less degree in Springfield. In some cases

170

INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS

they seemed inherent in industrial processes, and in so far as that
was true their bad effects could only be minimized. In other
they were clearly removable.

Shortcomings in lighting, in the provision of exhausts on
emery wheels, and in provision of seats for employes while at
work, especially women, were particularly noted.

In the shoe factory, for example, practically all women workers
except the operators were obliged to stand ten hours a day pasting,
cutting, inspecting, or packing. Women laundry workers almost
without exception stood at their work ten hours a day; and every
such worker interviewed complained of tired and sore feet. The
provision of seats was also inadequate for store employes; and a
few employers provided seats to meet the legal requirement but
would not permit their use. The law as to seats was vague and
did not include all occupations. More definite legal provisions
were needed.

On the other hand, it did not seem wise to try to cover by spe-
cific regulations all the varying and multitudinous conditions
presenting health hazards which did not admit of clear-cut classi-
fications. Instead, we recommended several measures affecting
all of these questions: first, that the numerous independent bodies
dealing with labor conditions be consolidated into a single depart-
ment of labor and mining, with bureaus in charge of special work.
These should include a bureau of inspection responsible for rail-
road, factory, and other inspection service except mining; of
mining; of research and labor statistics; a bureau of workmen's
compensation ; and other bureaus recommended in later parts of
this report. 1 Second, as a part of this reorganization plan, it
should be provided that the reporting of work accidents should be
centered in one authority a bureau of the board which would
make careful compilations, study the information, and then give
wide publicity to methods of averting workshop dangers. And
third, the plan of reorganization should provide for the estab-
lishment of a board or industrial commission in the new labor de-
partment, whose duty would be to confer with employers and
employes in making special rules to fit each case which appears

1 See pp. 201-203 for a fuller statement of the scope, organization, and func-
tions of the proposed state department of labor and mining.

171

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

dangerous or hazardous to life, health, and safety. Wisconsin
had found this a satisfactory procedure, and New York and Penn-
sylvania also adopted it. 1

FIRE HAZARDS AND REGULATION

Some efforts to eliminate possible sources of the start and spread
of fires and to provide adequate fire-fighting facilities were ob-
served in many Springfield factories, but this could not be said
of all. In a number of establishments provision for adequate
egress had not been sufficiently looked after; in one establish-
ment, for example, fully 500 persons, many of them women,
worked on the second and third floors. The building is three
stories high and has several wings which converge on a single
wooden stairway about eight feet wide. Even under ordinary
conditions, when workers passed out, the congestion was so great
that the management let women go first before ringing the closing
bell for men employes. While the factory was protected from
spread of fire by an automatic sprinkler system, the danger of
panic w r as great and it was entirely possible that escape down the
stairway might be cut off. And panic even in cases where the
buildings are low is one of the most deadly factors in fire hazards.
The only fire-escapes on the building were antiquated ladders
without platforms which did not reach nearer than 12 feet from
the ground and which would be almost useless in case of fire. A
modern stair fire-escape at the end of each wing of the building
was clearly needed ; but too much reliance should not be placed
even upon these, for some of the recent factory fires have raised
serious doubts as to the adequacy of protection afforded by out-
side fire-escapes particularly where the fire-escapes must be
near windows. A better plan is to put the fire-escape inside the
building and wall it off completely from the rest of the factory.
In regard to fire, government regulation was again faulty and
inadequate. Two statutes governed the matter. One provided
for fire-escapes of a type to be determined by the local govern-
ment, but in Springfield the type had not been determined. En-

1 Similar industrial commission plans uniting in one authority the adminis-
tration of workmen's compensation, factory inspection, and other labor laws,
were adopted in 1915 in Colorado, Indiana, Montana, and Nevada.

172

INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS

forcement was left to the sheriff and grand jury, neither of whom
inspected factories. The second statute stipulated that " sufficient
and reasonable means of escape" must be provided, but this gen-
eralized requirement allowed too much room for disagreement
over interpretation to permit very effective enforcement. A
Springfield ordinance enacted many years ago also dealt with fire
protection, but because of changes in the official machinery pro-
vided for carrying out the provisions and for other reasons, the
ordinance was not effective.

But even if the laws had fully accomplished their purposes,
they would still have been insufficient in that they did not include
all the provisions that might be reasonably expected among
these being provisions for removing conditions which cause fires
and help their spread, and provisions for fire-fighting facilities. 1

COMPENSATION FOR INDUSTRIAL INJURIES

Illinois, like many other states, had enacted a law within the
last few years to compensate workmen injured while at work.
This law marked a distinct step forward, for it eliminated the
"assumption of risk," "fellow servant," and "contributory neg-
ligence" defenses against the recovery of damages by injured
workmen. But it had three great weaknesses which must be
eliminated before the injured workman will get just treatment.
First, it was optional with employers; and many, especially in
the most hazardous industries, had elected to be exempt. Second,
health hazards in industry may result not only in accidents but
in disease, but the law covers only injuries from accidents. And
third, even where operative, the law as administered did not in
all cases eliminate the drain of lawyers' fees. Not until these
weaknesses have been remedied will Illinois have a law which es-
tablishes the basic compensation principle that industry should
bear the losses from the inevitable hazards which it has introduced.
A new law, or amendment to the present law, much more firmly
establishing the basic principle of compensation should be secured ;

1 Some of the more important legal requirements suggested for enactment
are detailed on page 30 of the full report. The New York law, though falling
short of much that may be desired, was used as a basis for the more important
of these suggested provisions.

173

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

and the administration of the act should be made a function of
the industrial commission of the reorganized labor department.

But safety while at work should not be wholly dependent upon
legislation. The employer, since he has a special responsibility,
should see that dangerous conditions are eliminated as soon as
recognized. The workers individually should feel the importance
of using as much care as possible, and their co-operation through
their unions should be expected. The public should assist through
educational methods and campaigns for safety and industrial
sanitation.

CHILD LABOR

As already seen, safe and sanitary work conditions are of suffi-
cient community concern to make them the subject of legal
enactment. Similarly the public through legal regulation in most
states has recognized its responsibility in preventing child labor.

From conditions found in Springfield, however, it would appear
that neither the child labor law of Illinois nor its enforcement was
satisfactory. There were opportunities for fraud and evasion in
the provisions governing the issuance of certificates to permit
children under sixteen years of age to go to work, while violation
of the provisions limiting the hours of work of children under
sixteen seemed to be the rule rather than the exception.

THE CHILD LABOR LAW

The child labor law of Illinois at the time of the survey had been
on the statute books for over twelve years without alteration.
When enacted it was considered a piece of advanced legislation,
and even then ranked among the best laws in the different states.
There were, however, certain weaknesses needing correction.

Important among these were the provisions for obtaining work
certificates. It was easily possible that under them by a little
sharp practice a child might prove himself fourteen years of age,
though that may not have been the fact. The proverbial state-
ment still holds true that a chain is as strong as its weakest link.
So this proof of age provision was as weak as the least adequate
of the proofs required.

Of the five kinds of proof enumerated three were open to easy

174

INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS

evasion. In the case of the first the record of the last school
census, for example a father desiring to put his daughter to work
could give a false figure to the school census enumerator in order
to prove the child fourteen years of age. The census figures so
obtained become evidence of age which cannot be questioned.
Second, if a parent went before the juvenile court and made affi-
davit that his child was fourteen years old his oath became proof
of age; yet experience has shown that parents who wish to put
their children to work before they are fourteen years of age are
often not unwilling to swear falsely. Third, there was easy oppor-
tunity for evasion in the last requirement that age according
to the school record must be accepted. One hundred and thirty-
five of the 138 children (almost 100 per cent) granted age and
school certificates in Springfield in the year ending April 30, 1914,
presented this kind of proof of age. We accidentally discovered
one instance of a certificate improperly issued under this pro-
vision ; and there was reason to think that this was not an iso-
lated case. New York state in the requirements of the law
covering the issuance of w r orking certificates had proved the prac-
ticability of requiring real age evidence and rejecting the inade-
quate proofs accepted in Illinois. It was recommended that the
Illinois statute be amended by removing its weak links and sub-
stituting the provisions of the New York law. 1

In the amount of schooling required for the issuance of certifi-
cates the Illinois statute was also inadequate. The only requisite
was that a child be able to read and write legibly simple sentences.
The sentences did not even have to be in English. No test of his
knowledge of arithmetic was required . Examination of the grades
attained by Springfield children granted certificates in the year
ending April 30, 1914, showed that of 131 children whose educa-
tional standing was given, only 26 had finished grammar school,
while 64 had not completed the sixth grade. Twenty-eight
children were in the fifth grade when they received certificates.

Finally, there were no requirements as to the child's physical
condition before his working certificate was issued. An anemic
or tubercular boy might require fresh air and sunlight, but that

1 See the original report for an indication of the provisions on the proof of
age in the New York law.

175

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

fact was no bar to his getting a certificate to work in a Spring-
field factory, or for that matter in a Chicago sweat-shop. That
some safeguards should be set up in this regard is not a theo-
retical matter, for by the New York law already referred to,
physical fitness must be determined through thorough examina-
tion by a medical officer of the health department in every case
before an employment certificate is issued.

CHILD LABOR LAW ENFORCEMENT

So much for the provisions of the law. Its enforcement, aside
from the work certificate provisions, was under the control of the
State Factory Inspection Department. The results of our in-
vestigations indicated a very unsatisfactory situation with regard
to enforcement at the time of the survey. In the time available
55 children between fourteen and sixteen years of age who had
been granted working certificates in the past year, and selected
at random, were followed up. These children, it will be remem-
bered, might not legally work over eight hours a day or before 7
a.m. or after 7 p.m., or in any of an enumerated group of pro-
hibited employments. Our endeavor was to determine how far
these conditions were being observed. In addition, information
was also secured from stores and factories and from home visits
made for other purposes.

The results of these inquiries indicated that enforcement of
the child labor law, especially those sections restricting hours of
work, was decidedly lax. Among the 55 children concerned, it
was found that 40, or over 70 per cent, had been illegally em-
ployed; and that there were only 15 of the number that had not
worked illegal hours. Moreover, the majority of the 15 not work-
ing illegal hours were employed in union shops where the eight-
hour day prevailed for all workers.

These violations of the hour law were not merely technical.
Four of the children began work before 7 o'clock in the morning,
while 21 worked in the evenings after 7 o'clock. Thirty-four
worked more than eight hours a day, while 30 exceeded the weekly
limit of forty-eight hours. In the employment of these 40 chil-
dren there was a total of 89 separate violations of different sections
of the law on hours of work.

176

INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS

These violations were not restricted to any one industry or
occupation. Drug stores, however, were among the worst
offenders.

In the group of 55 children there were three boys who were
engaged in occupations absolutely prohibited to children under
sixteen years of age. Two lads of fifteen were found who had
worked as trapper boys until the mines had shut down. One
expressed a desire to return to the work but said his father had
forbidden it because "so many trapper boys get consumption."
A third boy of fifteen worked in a bowling alley where flagrant
violations of the child labor law existed. Several nights in
succession the survey found half a dozen boys not over twelve
years of age, one or two much younger, setting up pins until 10.30
and ii p.m., though under the law no one under sixteen might be
so employed.

Reasons for this lack of enforcement of the law obviously
could not be discovered without a thorough investigation of the
State Factory Inspection Department, which was outside the
scope of this investigation. Such facts as we gathered appeared
to indicate the need among other things of a larger corps of fac-
tory inspectors. Until that could be done, however, the effi-
ciency of the inspecting force could be increased, it was pointed
out, through:

1. Better adjustment of the hours of inspectors' work to the
character of their duties especially with a view to their being
on duty after 7 p.m., the hour beyond which children under
sixteen are not allowed to work.

2. Revision of other methods for discovering violations of the
hours of labor law for children.

3. Adoption of a regular policy of giving full publicity to
successful prosecutions.

Finally, it would promote better child labor law enforcement
and prevent children from using age and school certificates as
licenses to loaf if the truant officer would follow up children
granted certificates to find out where and under what conditions
they secure employment.

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

WAGES AND REGULARITY OF EMPLOYMENT

The incomes of work people are a matter of community con-
cern because they fix to a very great extent the standard of living
of workers' families. Within certain limits they determine the
kinds of houses these families live in, the quality of the food they
eat, the kinds of clothes they wear, the amounts they are able
to put by for a rainy day, and they have a clear bearing upon the
family's present and future problems of self-support and economic
independence. They also set limits to the educational advantages
which many workmen's children may enjoy.

Workmen's earnings, however, must be measured with two
things in mind: not alone wage rates, but also the regularity of
employment not to mention a third consideration, the cost of
living. The family of a man who earns a high hourly rate, for
example, but whose work is irregular, may not be as well off as
that of a man whose wage rate is lower but who has steady em-
ployment the year round.

INCOME OF COAL MINERS

Coal miners represented one of the largest occupation groups
in Springfield, roughly 2,500 residents in the city being so em-
ployed. Wage rates were determined biennially by agreements
between the operators and the unions. The great majority of
workers were paid by the ton of coal mined. Many of the miners
(exclusive of miners' helpers and other mine workers) were able
to make as high as $5.00 a day when there was plenty of work.
But work was very irregular; out of more than 300 possible
working days in the year ending June, 1913 the last year before
this investigation the mines in Sangamon County operated an
average of only 181 days, or only three-fifths of the time. To the
miner and his family this was a very serious matter.

Drivers, timbermen, and others paid by the day were earning
less than miners whose pay was by the ton of coal mined, and
therefore were affected even to a greater extent by the irregu-
larity of the work. All were affected also by the fact that on
many days when the mines operated they ran at less than capa-
city and did not give employment to all the men in their employ.

178

INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS

Some of the workers during slack periods were trying to fill in
the time with other work, but there were difficulties against
accomplishing much in this way, chief among them being that
the free days were scattered irregularly through the year and
that few of the men possessed skill in other occupations. The
great majority found it either impracticable or impossible to
combine much other work with mining. The result was that
wages for a large proportion of the men were below the minimum
needs of an average family of five persons.

The cause of the irregular mine work was found partly in the
nature of the Illinois coal, which if left exposed loses some of its
heat value and therefore production was made to vary with the
varying seasonal demand. Another cause was found in the bi-
ennial agreements which resulted in overproduction in the months
immediately prior to the expiration of old agreements. The
operation of too many mines was also a factor.

For the improvement of conditions in the coal mining industry
several suggestions have been made. Among these were: (i)
extension of opportunities for miners to work in other trades
through the development of efficient free employment agencies;
(2) regularizing of the industry through encouragement of sum-
mer production; (3) governmental control, such as exists in
some foreign countries, which would prevent the opening of new
mines unless there is commercial need for them, and (4) the
appointment of a commission to make a study of unemployment
insurance. All of these seemed to the survey to deserve the
fullest consideration.

MANUFACTURING, MECHANICAL AND OTHER INDUSTRIES
Irregularity of employment was found also in the manufac-
turing and mechanical industries. Out of something over 3,700
employes in 49 establishments for which data were available,
about half had full-time employment in 1913; workdays for the
other half ranged from 130 to 275 for the year. Over 400 em-
ployes were in establishments that operated less than 250 days.
And some of the establishments did not operate on full time on
all the days they were open. Brick making was the most seasonal
of the industries in the manufacturing and mechanical groups.

179

THE SPRIN'GFIELD SURVEY

In a few of these industries attempts were being made to reduce
the irregularity of employment, but these had not got very far.

Wages in these work places varied so much from industry to
industry and from one job to another that exactitude was im-
possible, except that unskilled labor received from $1.75 to $2.00
a day a large proportion not over $1.80. This wage together with
unsteady work kept men always on the borderline of poverty,
with the result that in emergencies, sickness, accident, or unem-
ployment, their families were forced to seek charitable aid. This
amounts in many cases to the subsidizing by the community of
establishments where wages are so low that the public and chari-
tably inclined people have to make up the wage deficits.

In the groups above the unskilled workers the figures, as far
as they permit classification, appeared to show that the great
bulk of the employes received wages ranging from $2.00 to $3.75.
A small proportion received as much as $5.00 and $6.00 a day.
In a few cases where earnings were determined on the basis of
piece work some dissatisfaction was found regarding the methods
used in fixing the rates.

Work in the building trades, construction work, and in street
paving is very much affected by weather conditions and change
of season. One large company, for instance, from March until
November was employing 200 men, chiefly unskilled laborers,
at asphalt paving; but during the three or four months following,
when outdoor work was impossible, only 15 were retained. More-
over, during these winter months the company reduced the rates
of pay. For example, a skilled man who got $25 a week for nine
months was paid only $12 a week for the three winter months.
In choosing the few men who were to be kept on the payroll, men
who were handy with tools had the best chance. In the busy
months, too, the men lose a day's pay whenever it rains hard
enough to prevent work; and there were occasional periods of
idleness between jobs, although the company tried to transfer
men from one job to another with as few gaps as possible.
Even so, their total wage for the year fell considerably below
$500.

Among men in the building trades carpenters, painters, plas-
terers, paperhangers, plumbers, gas and steam fitters, sheet metal

180

INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS

workers, bricklayers, and stone masons who, in 1910, numbered
about 1,100 irregularity of employment to a great extent offset
the high wage rates which these workers had gained through their
unions. Indeed the offset was such as to bring the yearly income
down to a point where many families found it difficult to meet
ordinary household expenses.

Among the 1,000 to 1,200 steam railroad and street railway
employes there was much greater regularity of work. Wages
among the steam railroad men who were organized into unions
ranged from $12 to $30 a week. Wages of the street-car men
who were not organized ran from $11.97 to $16.80 a week. The
seven-day week prevailed for both groups of railway workers.

Laundry work was fairly regular through the year, but wages
were very low, especially for the women workers who averaged
about $6.00 a week. Here the wage rates were so low as to coun-
teract to a considerable extent the advantages accruing through
regular work.

MERCANTILE ESTABLISHMENTS

In mercantile establishments work was also quite regular the
year round but rates were low. The weekly wage for salesgirls
in department stores averaged between $5.00 and $6.00. A
number of check girls and bundle wrappers received only $3.00 to
$4.00.

In three five-and-ten-cent stores the number of salesgirls varied
from 21 in the first store to 30 in the second and 35 in the third.
No check girls or bundle vwappers are employed in the Spring-
field five-and-ten-cent stores, but the wages of salesgirls were very
low. The average wage was from $4.00 to $5.00 a week. One store
started new recruits at $4.00, one at from $3.60 to $4.00, and the
third sometimes started them at $3.50. The maximum rate for
most positions was $5.00, but a few special tasks, like work at the
music counter, which required piano playing, paid more. After
seven years' experience a salesgirl in one of these stores was earning
only $3.00, a rate which some of the store managers inferentially
acknowledged could be maintained only because most of the
girls lived at home and had no board to pay. The wage was
clearly too low under any circumstances.

181

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

STATE EMPLOYMENT OFFICE

Consideration of a number of measures for improving wage
conditions in the mines has already been urged; among them,

greater effectiveness

in the work of public
employment agen-
cies. This applies in
greater or less degree

Ql\7 $3.50 to$4.00 beginning wage to otner occupations

tnt $5.00 maximum except for also.

As far as income
is affected by unem-
ployment, some relief
should be afforded
through the develop-
ment of efficient ma-
chinery for bringing
together the man out
of work and the em-
ployer needing work-
ers. This, of course,
is the function of the

r$3.50 to$4.00 beginning wage
$5.00 maximum except for
5 out of 86 girls

A manager said:

"We choose girls who live at home
because a girl can't pay board on
what she gets and not go wrong
or steal"

The Excuse Given

Clerking in a 5&IO* store is an
apprenticeship for clerking elsewhere"

BUT WHAT DO THEY LEARN?

They don't make out sales checks

^fc

They don't judge or select goods
They don't display articles for sale

WAGES IN FIVE-AXD-TEX-CENT STORES
Panel from Springfield Survey Exhibition.

public employment
offices.

In the eight public
free employment
offices located in the
larger cities of Illi-
nois, the state had
thus made some pro-
vision up to the time
of the survey for help-
ing the man out of work to find employment; but the office
located in Springfield at least had not reached a high state of
efficiency.

The office was. centrally located on the second floor of a busi-
ness building. The staff consisted of a superintendent who was

182

INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS

formerly a mine manager, an assistant superintendent who was
formerly a jail keeper, a woman clerk in charge of the woman's
department, a stenographer, and a janitor. Only the janitor
and stenographer were required to pass civil service tests. The
others were appointed by the governor. Each new state admin-
istration, therefore, meant a new office force, a situation which
almost necessarily interferes with efficient conduct of the work.

The class of labor served was almost entirely the unskilled.,
Of 3,773 positions reported to have been secured for men in the
year ending September 30, 1913, practically half of the applicants,
or 1,912, were recorded as getting jobs as "laborers," 315 as
handy-men, 262 as farmers or farm laborers, while the positions
of the remainder, about one-third of all the applicants, were
divided in the main between those of dish washers, house men,
porters, teamsters, and drivers. Almost no positions were se-
cured in factories or offices and few were secured in the building
trades.

Of the 1,194 positions reported as secured for women, 1,150,
or over 95 per cent, were in domestic and personal service
chiefly as day workers, house workers, or laundresses in private
families, hotels, and restaurants. A few positions were secured
in offices, but none in stores or factories. While no one would
dispute the importance of this kind of assistance to the unskilled,
it was nevertheless clear that there were other important groups
who needed the service also, and this was particularly true in
Springfield, where there were no private employment agencies
operating.

A further examination of the activities of the office revealed
two vital weaknesses in its administration: first, that there was
no follow-up work to see whether applicants referred to positions
actually secured them; second, that in cases where no position
was open for an applicant when he applied, no further effort was
made to secure work for him.

The seriousness of the first condition is illustrated when an
employer asks that a workman be sent him and the free employ-
ment agency sends a man who never shows up. When this
happens once or twice the employer comes to look upon the
employment office as undependable, and ceases to use it when he

183

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

wants help. Indeed, we may go further. The duty of the em-
ployment office is to fill the position no matter how many persons
need to be sent.

The importance of the second shortcoming of the Springfield
agency is illustrated when an artisan applies for work and no
request calling for a man of his trade is already on file. No record
is made of this application for a job and thus he receives no help
even though half an hour after he leaves the office an employer
calls for just such an employe. The absolute necessity of keeping
systematically filed and workable records of all applications for
work, if the office aims at efficiency, and at handling a reasonable
share of the work that ought to come to it, is too obvious to re-
quire argument.

Further evidence that the office was falling short of its oppor-
tunity and responsibility was found in the fact that as soon as
application blanks had been entered in the register prescribed by
law, the blanks were piled not filed in a store room where
they had been accumulating since the office was opened five
years before. If an applicant appeared a second time, a second
blank was made out and he was compelled to answer again the
same list of questions asked on his first appearance, and the
method was the same for later visits. It is evident either that
such an office procedure was not workable or that when used at
all it involved an unnecessary waste of time.

SPRINGFIELD AND MILWAUKEE EMPLOYMENT OFFICES
Comparison of the Springfield public employment office with
the public employment office of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, showed
how the work in Springfield might be made more effective. There
the janitor and stenographer were the only employes appointed
by civil service tests; in Milwaukee all employes were so selected.
In Springfield, except for a small entry way, there was no waiting
room for male applicants; in Milwaukee separate offices were
maintained for men and women and there were two waiting
rooms for male workers, one for unskilled labor and farm hands,
the other for skilled workers. Experience had shown that this
latter provision was necessary if an office is to serve both skilled
and unskilled workers.

184

INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS

In Springfield, as has been said, applications for work were
ordinarily accepted only when applicants could be referred im-
mediately to positions; in Milwaukee effort was made to register
all applicants and to find work for them. In Springfield appli-
cation blanks were filed away in a store room; in Milwaukee
they were placed first in a "waiting" file, and when positions were
secured they were transferred to a permanent file, so placed as to
be conveniently referred to by the clerk who received applica-
tions. In Springfield when an applicant was sent to a position
his record was closed; in Milwaukee he was given an unstamped
post card to be delivered to the employer, who was requested to
post it after indicating whether the applicant was given employ-
ment. If in the course of a few days the card had not been re-
turned, the agency communicated with the employer over the
telephone to discover the result. Only after a position was ac-
tually taken was it counted among those filled. In Springfield
no well-considered plans had been laid to gain the co-operation
of employers and workers; in Milwaukee an advisory committee
of representative employers, employes, and public officials had
helped to gain for the public employment office widespread in-
terest and co-operation. As a result of its methods large employ-
ers of labor were beginning to rely upon the Milwaukee bureau
in selecting their help. On the other hand, of all the factory and
store managers and other employers interviewed in the course of
this investigation, and it was a goodly number, not one took the
Springfield free employment agency seriously or thought that it
was rendering an important service.

Changes recommended in order to improve the service were:

1. The selection of officers by civil service tests to secure more
efficient management and to prevent a complete change of force
with every change in state administration.

2. An advisory committee of representative employers and
workers in order to secure better co-operation between em-
ployers, workers, and the bureau.

3. Rearrangement of office space so as to supply an adequate
waiting room for applicants. Separation of skilled from unskilled
workers would help the bureau to do more effective service for
skilled men.

185

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

4. An adequate record system of applicants for work and for
help.

5. All applications should be registered.

6. The scope of activities should be extended to include skilled
as well as unskilled workers.

7. More adequate funds should be made available for adver-
tising in Springfield and neighboring districts, and to provide
salaries large enough to command first-rate ability for the staff.

The reorganization of the eight independent state employment
offices under a bureau of a new department of labor was further
recommended. But whether or not the recommendation is fol-
lowed in its details, the need for some form of central control over
these public offices was clear. Such control would not only pro-
mote more efficient administrative methods, but would make
possible effective exchange of information between bureaus so
that not only in the city but throughout the state workers could
be sent where needed; and as far as possible, long periods of
unemployment, which so greatly reduce the annual earnings of
so many workers, might be eliminated. The institution of im-
proved methods in the Springfield office should not, however,
wait upon this centralization plan. 1

HOURS OF LABOR

From two points of view hours of labor have bearing upon
social welfare: first, because long hours of work seriously affect
the workers' wellbeing, and consequently are intimately related
to public health ; second, because they affect the extent and possi-
bilities of wage-earners participating in the civic life and activities
of the community.

As to the first, fatigue is the result of the poisoning of the body
by waste substances produced through physical activity. This
has been demonstrated scientifically by running a dog until ex-
hausted and then transfusing some of its blood into a dog that
had not been exercised. The latter immediately showed signs of

1 Other suggestions regarding methods of dealing with unemployment and
inadequate wages among unskilled workers are made in the summing up of
recommendations on industrial conditions beginning on page 194.

1 86

INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS

fatigue. 1 Work produces the poison of fatigue, and, as every one
knows, if work is continued long enough a point of exhaustion
is finally reached the fatigue poison getting the upper hand. Of
course the body attempts at once to rid itself of these toxic
impurities. While work is continued, however, in most occupa-
tions at least, waste products are created faster than they can be
thrown off. For this reason people are unable to work on in-
definitely but are forced to take alternate periods of work with
periods of rest. If good health is to continue, these periods of
rest must be sufficient to permit the body, by functioning nor-
mally, to throw off the fatigue before taking up new work.
Otherwise cumulation of fatigue will gradually exhaust vitality
and undermine health, making the victim unusually subject to
disease and premature old age. It is upon the basis of such facts
as these that the United States Supreme Court has upheld laws
restricting the hours of women and children as the legitimate
use of the police power of the state for the protection of public
health.

As to the effect of hours of work upon citizenship, it is part of
the principle of democracy that people shall have leisure time to
keep themselves informed and to maintain an intelligent interest
in public affairs. The barrier against developing such civic in-
terests set up, for example, by the twelve-hour day and seven-
day week in the steel industry, which still obtain to a considerable
extent, is one of the grounds upon which the industry has been
severely condemned in recent years. With full allowance for all
the mitigating circumstances, the fact nevertheless remains that
such conditions, in addition to other unwholesome effects, destroy
and prevent the best community life.

HOURS IN MANUFACTURING ESTABLISHMENTS

As in the case of wages, comprehensive information regarding

hours of labor was difficult to secure, for the working day varies

not only from industry to industry, but from shop to shop, and

between departments of the same shop. For wage-earners in the

1 For a full discussion of the nature and effects of fatigue see Goldmark,
Josephine: Fatigue and Efficiency. Russell Sage Foundation Publication,
New York, 1912.

I8 7

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

Springfield manufacturing establishments, however, fairly com-
plete information regarding hours of labor was available.

The first fact to be noted was that the great majority of the
workers in all establishments 85 per cent were working nine
hours or more a day. Only 13 per cent worked eight hours or less.
It appears, therefore, that in manufacturing at least, the eight-
hour day toward which the leaders of the labor movement through-
out the country are working was still a good way from being
achieved in Springfield.

On the other hand shorter hours were the rule in union shops.
Among employes in these shops, for example, 54 per cent had an
eight-hour day, while in the unorganized establishments only 7
per cent w r orked eight hours or less. Only 13 per cent of the men
in the union shops, moreover, worked ten hours as compared with
37 per cent in the non-union work places. These figures tend
strongly to support the trade unionists' point that organized
workers are able to gain, and do gain for themselves, advantages
which workers acting individually do not enjoy; and they refute
the claim of many employers who oppose organization of their
workers that they voluntarily grant all of the benefits which
employes might secure through the union.

MINE, BUILDING, RAILWAY, AND OTHER WORKERS
As in manufacturing establishments, the majority of organized
workers in other occupations had gained the eight-hour day.
The strongest labor union group in Springfield undoubtedly was
the miners, who had 10 local unions with a total membership of
about 2,500. The mines of the vicinity were being run on a
strictly closed shop basis, and since 1898, when the unions won
a great victory in this industry, the eight-hour day had prevailed.
Most of the other trades, however, were not 100 per cent or-
ganized; and many workers in the trade were working longer
hours. This was true, for example, of many boiler makers,
machinists, iron moulders, and carpenters.

Employment on the railroad offered an illustration of a combi-
nation of long hours with work requiring strained attention, and
with fatal results waiting as a penalty for relaxed watchfulness.
Practically all of the 1,000 men connected with the various rail-

188

INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS

roads running into Springfield were working a ten-hour day or
night as the case might be. Irregular hours and the unbroken
periods of work for week after week and month after month,
without a regular day of rest, were other arduous features of rail-
way employment. Seven-day labor, moreover, was the rule among
railroad employes.

Conditions on the street railway were similar to those on the
steam railroads, though the nine-hour day was more common
and hours more regular. The conductors and motormen were
working in two shifts, one from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., the other from
3 p.m. until midnight. Employment, moreover, was on a seven-day
week basis, although it was possible for men to get a day off now
and then, with loss of pay.

Other instances of seven-day labor were found scattered
throughout the city. Messenger boys were working seven days,
and the same held true for bootblacks, whose hours were exces-
sively long and who were working under something akin to the
padrone system, the boys being boarded and housed together by
their employers. At one stand the hours of the boys, who ranged
in age from seventeen to twenty-one, were from fourteen and
one-half to sixteen and one-half hours. In addition they worked
two hours on Sundays, making a work week of seven days and over
ninety hours. Seven-day labor, however, was not confined to
male workers but was found also among women and to some ex-
tent among children.

Neither of the telephone companies, moreover, had seen fit to
arrange its schedule so that every employe could receive one day
off each week. Girl operators for both concerns were required
to work at least every other Sunday and so received only one day
off in every fourteen. Restaurant workers were in many in-
stances also subjected to the seven-day week.

Certain tasks under our complex city life need to be performed
for seven days a week, and there seem to be reasons which justify
Sunday work in some instances; but there are few occupations
in which it is not possible for an employer to adjust his force of
workers so that each employe may enjoy at least one day of rest
in seven, whether it be Sunday or some other day.

189

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

HOURS OF WOMEN WORKERS

It was thus clear from our investigations that a much larger
proportion of male than female workers in Springfield were enjoy-
ing an eight-hour day. The carpenters, painters, bricklayers,
and other building trade workers, the miners, printers, cigar
makers, and many other male workers had been able to make
this gain. But their wives and sisters and daughters, whose
physical resistance to the strain of industrial occupations was less
than theirs, and who besides generally have home tasks after their
exhausting day outside, for the most part were working in Spring-
field factories, stores, and laundries from nine to ten hours a day.

One reason for this undoubtedly was the fact that women
workers were almost entirely unorganized. A few of them were
members of a w r eak laundry workers' union and a few profited by
the strength of the men's unions in the printing and cigar-making
trades; but aside from these instances unionism had been very
little utilized for them.

The women had. on the other hand, gained some protection
from long hours of work through legislation, although much less
than has been afforded women workers in many other states.
The law, which set a standard much too low, seemed for the
most part to be observed throughout the city which observance
in view of the ten-hour day legally allowed, employers could
hardly in reason have failed in. More than a majority of the
women workers engaged in manufacturing in Springfield were
employed in three factories: the watch, meter, and shoe facto-
ries. The first two, at the time of this investigation, were operated
on a nine-hour and on a six-day basis, with Saturday afternoons
off the year round and two weeks of vacation without pay.
Women workers in these factories were all provided with com-
fortable seats having backs and were seated at their work. On
the whole, working conditions in these establishments were ex-
cellent and the tasks to which women were assigned did not
require much physical exertion. At the shoe factory a six-day
schedule of ten hours a day (nine on Saturdays) was being followed
and working conditions were less satisfactory. About 400 women
and girls were employed.

190

INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS

Women workers in the laundries, except on Saturdays when
they left in the afternoon as soon as the clothes on hand were
finished, were also required to work the full quota of ten hours a
day allowed by the law. The conditions under which these hours
were worked were often fatiguing. The majority of the women
stood at their work, though experience elsewhere has shown that
some of the tasks performed in Springfield in a standing position
could be done quite satisfactorily sitting.

In the stores of Springfield where women were employed the
ten-hour limit was reached on only one day of the week. A nine-
hour day prevailed on the first five days of the week. No viola-
tion of the women's ten-hour law was found in any Springfield
mercantile establishment but so long a day would itself, in
certain other states, have constituted a violation. One five-and-
ten-cent store was giving all girls who had been employed a year
or more a week's vacation on pay. A department store was also
giving such employes a week's vacation on pay.

Night work was required of a limited number of telephone
operators. A young girl of sixteen, for example, was employed
by one company on the night shift from 9.30 p.m. to 7 the next
morning; but her mother worried so much about her being away
at night that she finally had to give it up. Hours of work did not
exceed nine per day and in some cases they were seven.

Besides the telephone operators who worked at night, a few
women were engaged in night work in restaurants and hotels.
Unlike the law of New York state already held by the courts to
be a proper measure for the protection of the health and morals of
women, the Illinois law permitted women or girls over sixteen years
of age to be employed during any hours of the night.

Thus in the industrial protection being given women Illinois
was far from being .abreast of the times. In failing to place
greater restrictions upon the hours of women workers, it not only
lagged behind the more progressive states but also behind the
other great manufacturing states of Massachusetts, Pennsyl-
vania, and New York.

191

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

ONE HUNDRED WAGE-EARNERS' FAMILIES

The main features of the industrial and work situation in
Springfield physical hazards, factory inspection, workmen's
compensation, child labor, wages and irregularity of work, em-
ployment agencies, hours of work, labor legislation, and related
matters have now been reviewed. In planning the survey it
was felt, however, that the investigations should be carried fur-
therthat as far as possible the effect of industrial conditions,
particularly wages and unemployment, upon family life should
be learned ; for results in that connection are important not alone
from the standpoint of the individual but also of the community.
A study of conditions in 100 wage-earners' families was therefore
made. These families included 573 persons, 272 of whom were
employed in gainful occupations.

There is no claim that the 100 families selected are absolutely
representative of Springfield's working population, for there is
no known method by which 100 entirely representative families
might be selected. The intention, however, was to make them
as nearly representative as possible, and care was used to that end.

PROPORTIONS GAINFULLY EMPLOYED

The first fact which stood out in reviewing the results is the
large proportion of persons over fourteen years of age who were
gainfully employed. Of the males sixteen years of age and over,
96 per cent were in gainful occupations; and of the females of
sixteen years and over, 45 per cent were so employed. Out of a
total of 378 members of these 100 families who were fourteen
years of age or over, 266, or 70 per cent, contributed to the
family income. In more than half the families there were three
or more contributors to the family support. Practically all who
were able were obliged to help in order to secure moderately good
conditions of life.

The proportion of wage-earning children was very large. Of
the 57 between fourteen and sixteen years old, 41, or 72 per cent,
were gainfully employed ; and a number under fourteen brought
in a few dollars now and then.

192

INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS

WAGES AND UNEMPLOYMENT

When employed, 10 out of the 70 fathers whose wage rates
were reported received less than $12 a week; 32 received from
$12 to $20; 28 received $20 or more; and the wages of the others
were not reported or could not be estimated.

Of all the other males employed for whom information was avail-
able, one-third earned less than $7.00 a week, one-half less than
$10. Among the women of sixteen years and over, more than
one-fouith earned less than $6.00, and almost 70 per cent less
than $8.00 a week.

Wage rates, however, are more significant in connection with
regularity of employment. Of all members of these families who
contributed to the family income, two out of every five reported
irregular employment for the previous year and irregular em-
ployment meant the loss of from several weeks to six months.

No accurate count of wages or days employed was kept by the
workers interviewed. A few other tests were applied, however,
as casting light upon the adequacy or inadequacy of earnings.

OTHER TESTS

Of the 57 families supplying information on rent, over half
lived in houses which rented for less than $12 a month. They
were mostly four- or five-room houses without city water, gas,
electricity, or inside toilets. The insanitary surface well was the
water supply. Some of these houses were crowded because of the
necessity of taking in lodgers. Thirteen of the 100 families had
to suffer infringement upon home privacy and the inconvenience
entailed by taking boarders or lodgers, or both. One family of
seven living in three rooms took in lodgers.

Of 56 persons discovered in the investigation who had left
school before sixteen years of age, 25, or nearly half, had left
because their parents had not felt able to continue them in school.
It is true, of course, that many children, boys particularly, drop
out as soon as possible because the school work as at present
conducted is nowhere nearly as interesting to them as the work
of the world; nevertheless the numbers leaving school because
of the family's pressing need of income is large. There was
13 193

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

reason to believe that a considerable number of Springfield chil-
dren running close to 100 per year were dropping out of school
for the latter reason. Most of the occupations they went into
were "blind alley" jobs, which did not offer training or possi-
bilities of advancement.

Over one- fourth of the mothers in the 100 families were earning
money to augment the family income; and in some cases this
meant neglect of children. One woman had done washing for
twenty-six years until all her children were of legal age to work.

Thirty-nine of the families were saving in the form of pay-
ments on a home. A few more had bank savings; and five out
of every six carried insurance, the amounts usually being only
enough to cover burial costs.

It is a significant fact that of these families of Springfield wage-
earners as many as 9 per cent were living so near the margin of
dependency that death, sickness, or unemployment events
which may reasonably be looked for in every worker's family
had obliged them to seek charitable relief.

Finally, conditions found in Springfield showed clearly, as
they have in other investigations elsewhere, the important part
which low wages and unemployment play in the problems of bad
housing, child labor, evasion of the laws as to compulsory educa-
tion, neglected childhood, and the predisposition of families to
physical and often moral breakdowns. No solution of these prob-
lems, therefore, will be effective that does not eliminate the great
economic waste of unemployment and correct the evil of low wages.

INDUSTRIAL BETTERMENT IN SPRINGFIELD

FORCES FOR IMPROVEMENT

While, as we have seen, some industrial conditions in Spring-
field were found to be fairly satisfactory, there were many more
that in important particulars failed to meet the minimum stan-
dards which the general public looks upon as reasonable. These
needed improvement or correction. The immediate and impor-
tant question was, what forces may be counted upon to forward
this industrial betterment.

Three groups of interested parties have a share in determining

194

INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS

industrial conditions: employers, workers, and the public. It
is through these groups -employers acting together in some de-
gree but for the most part singly, employes acting individually
and through labor organizations, and the public acting through
crystallized public opinion and the power of the state that in-
dustrial improvement has been brought about in the past; and
the same groups must be looked to for constructive action in the
future.

Of the three, employers have the largest power and therefore
the largest responsibility in determining industrial conditions.
Except where labor unions force concessions, or where laws laying
down definite requirements are enforced, employers have large
latitude in fixing wage rates, methods of payment, hours of labor,
conditions as to safety and sanitation, and regularity of employ-
ment. They may choose whom they will employ, and in a large
proportion of cases may discharge workers when and for such
causes as they see fit.

Economic forces, however, set substantial limitations to entire
freedom of action by employers particularly through the work-
ing of demand and supply in the labor market and employers,
therefore, are not always free to make the improvements that
they are willing and ready to make. This, on the other hand,
may not be accepted as a wholly valid excuse; for there are
other economic forces, only now being discovered and experi-
mented with, which when taken advantage of work toward free-
ing the employer to make some at least of the improvements
that he favors. These are forces tending toward increased effi-
ciency and reduced costs of production through greater considera-
tion of the human factor in industry. Economies appear to be
possible, for example, through shorter working hours that lower
the accident rate, and that allow time for recuperation from
fatigue; through the elimination of unemployment periods, thus
escaping costs due to changes in the labor force; through in-
creased wages whatever the figure set by competition in the
labor market may be that would enable workers to raise their
standard of living and thus maintain a higher degree of resistance
against sickness; through larger participation of the workers in
management ; and through other measures.

195

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

INDUSTRIAL BETTERMENT BY EMPLOYERS
No employer in Springfield, as far as we were able to learn,
was paying wages above the straight market rate. Neither was
any case discovered in which an employer of his own initiative,
for humanitarian reasons, had reduced the hours of labor of
those in his employ. Even in safeguarding workers from in-
dustrial health hazards only one factory among those visited
showed a definite effort to do more than the law required;
and even in that factory legal requirements were violated in
some particulars. Several employers, however, gave workers
short vacations on pay, among them a telephone company, two
department stores, and a five-and-ten-cent store. In most of
these cases one week was given to employes who had worked a
year or more. Other factories visited either gave no vacations
or else allowed them without pay.

A considerable number of employers provided lunch and rest
rooms for their workers, especially where many women were
employed. These were found at the two laundries visited, at
two of the department stores, in a telephone office, and in one
large factory. Doubtless similar provisions were made at some
.work places not visited. Usually the lunch room was merely a
place where the workers could go to eat luncheons brought from
home; but one telephone company supplied a light luncheon free
and employed a matron to look after the lunch and rest rooms.
At the street railway car barns, where men were often idle wait-
ing assignments, a library, club rooms, and baths were main-
tained. Aside, however, from these limited activities Spring-
field employers had done very little in the way of welfare work.

INDUSTRIAL IMPROVEMENTS THROUGH THE WORKERS
A girl earning $5.00 a week in a Springfield department store
shortly before the survey asked for a wage increase. She was
told that if she wasn't satisfied she could go elsewhere. To the
store her loss was of small consequence. Another girl willing to
work for $5.00 would take her place, and work in the store would
move along as it had before. But to the girl the alternative was
serious. It meant staying at less than a living wage, or possible

196

INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS

temporary unemployment while seeking another place. Work-
ingmen, moreover, with families to support, when placed in
similar situations, hesitate a good deal before giving up em-
ployment, and many stay at a wage below what they think they
deserve rather than venture on the uncertain hope of securing
higher wages elsewhere.

The case of the girl illustrates the general truth that acting
alone employes are practically powerless to win wage concessions,
shorter hours, or better work conditions, for they have no means
of enforcing their demands. Experience has shown that it is
only by acting together that they can force hours down and
wages up, or bring about other improvements. The labor union
movement, therefore, offers an effective means by which employes
may do something worth while toward industrial betterment.

LABOR UNIONS

Although for many years there had been occasional activity
toward organizing the workers, the labor union movement did
not really get under way in Springfield until the QO'S. The
plumbers and the bricklayers and masons were organized in that
year; the bakers, pressmen, and boiler makers in 1892. In June,
1893, representatives of the barbers, cigar makers, plasterers,
printers, painters, mine workers, and hodcarriers met and es-
tablished the Springfield Federation of Labor, securing a charter
from the American Federation of Labor. From that time,
although different locals had occasional setbacks, the growth of
the movement in the city was steady.

At the time of the survey 52 different working groups were
represented in Springfield's central labor body, classified under
six main divisions: mining, manufacturing and mechanical
industries, building and construction, trade, transportation, and
miscellaneous.

There was also affiliated with the central body a women's
trade union league and a federal labor union, the latter being
composed of labor union sympathizers not then engaged in any
trade. Besides the locals which make up the Springfield Federa-
tion of Labor there were also unions not affiliated with the Central
Federation among locomotive engineers, firemen, conductors,

197

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

and switchmen on railroads running into Springfield. Roughly
speaking, at least 80 pet cent of the workers in the organized
trades were members of the union. The most marked exception
to this was the laundry workers' local, which had been able to
gain a foothold in but one establishment. The retail clerks'
union was also rather weak.

It was not possible for us to state the exact percentage of work-
ers in Springfield who were members of unions, for a number of
the unions could not supply the data. From the figures prepared
by some of the unions, however, it appears reasonably correct to
put the proportion of the male wage-earners in the city who were
union members (including the miners of course) at a little under
50 per cent, while of the female wage-earners less than 5 per cent
were union members. Trades requiring a high degree of skill,
and establishments largely patronized by working people, were
generally well organized. Only about 12 per cent of workers in
manufacturing establishments were members of unions.

Judging from the data supplied by over half of the various
local unions, these organizations had been effective in increasing
wages for their members. Most of the unions reported increases
in the five years prior to the survey, the hourly rate for sheet
metal workers, for example, having advanced from 45 cents to
50 cents; for journeymen stone cutters, from 50 to 56^4 cents;
for ice men, from 20 to 25 cents; and on through practically all
the list. There were no important decreases.

Similarly, as to hours, many of the locals reported reductions
in hours per day or per week in the last five years. Sheet metal
workers, for example, with an eight-hour day five years before,
had recently reduced their hours per week from forty-eight to
forty-four. Hours of journeymen stone cutters had been re-
duced in the same way; of ice men, from sixty-six to sixty. In a
number of cases where there had been no reduction in hours, the
eight-hour day had been gained five years before. In the major-
ity of cases the improvements both as to hours and wages had
been brought about without strikes.

Practically all of the unions provided benefits to members or
their families in cases of sickness, accident, death, unemploy-
ment, or old age. Not all provided for all these contingencies,

198

INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS

but practically all provided for some of them. On the other
hand, though the need was evident, there were no important
evidences of effectiveness on the part of the unions in improving
the state inspection service into industrial conditions, or in
securing through other methods better enforcement of the labor
laws particularly those relating to child labor.

Among skilled men workers the unions would undoubtedly con-
tinue to maintain their strength and perhaps increase it; but
among unskilled men and among women workers, labor organ-
ization, though it should be striven for, nevertheless did not look
so hopeful. In the skilled trades, therefore, male workers acting
through their unions, might be counted on to play a part in indus-
trial betterment, but among unskilled men and among women
workers where conditions were farthest from satisfactory em-
ployers and the public must be relied upon chiefly for improve-
ment measures in the very immediate future.

LABOR LEGISLATION

That the public has a stake in industrial questions and should
shoulder its responsibility was recognized in a substantial manner
in Illinois when in 1893 a State Department of Factories and
Workshops was created and laws were enacted prohibiting em-
ployment of children under fourteen years of age, or of women, in
the manufacture of wearing apparel, for more than eight hours a
day and forty-eight a week. Previously, in 1877 and again in
1891 there had been efforts at child labor legislation, but failure
to provide state inspectors to enforce the laws rendered the acts
ineffective. Since 1893, the extension of state control over
industry has been almost continuous. A listing of the more im-
portant enactments showed a fairly rapid extension of the field
of labor laws and a gradual strengthening of requirements but
an extension that is not at all unique for an industrial state.
Other states had legislated in fields not entered in Illinois, as
seen, for example, in their establishment of minimum wage
boards, the prohibition of night work by women, the limitation of
the workday of eight hours for women, the guarantee of one day
of rest in seven to workers, the enactment of compulsory com-
pensation laws, and other measures. That the public will exer-

199

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

cise increasing influence through legislation for improved in-
dustrial conditions appears certain, and should be encouraged,
particularly with reference to the strengthening of the child
labor laws, the reduction of the hours of working women, the
protection of workers from physical hazards, and the establish-
ment of minimum wage machinery.

OTHER PUBLIC ACTIVITIES

The influence of the community is potent in ways other than
through legislation. Important, in this connection, is the ex-
istence of a public opinion that insists upon the fair and full en-
forcement of legislation touching industrial matters ; that demands
intelligent and even-handed treatment of the interests of both
employer and employe before the courts and by court officers;
that, in other disputed issues where no official tribunal has juris-
diction, will guarantee to both sides equal consideration before
claims are decided ; that would make it hard for industries and
commercial enterprises maintaining conditions below a reasonable
standard to do business in the community; and that would work
through other channels as occasion demands.

Some of these may take form in the establishment and mainte-
nance of agencies to furnish pertinent information on the quality
of present law enforcement (through bureaus of government re-
search, committees and commissions on public efficiency, indus-
trial surveys, etc.) ; in the selection of persons for judicial posi-
tions who recognize the importance and complexity of industrial
questions and have gone to some pains to make themselves
intelligent upon them; in the creation of machinery for arbitra-
tion and conciliation of industrial differences; and in the organ-
ization and support of quasi-public institutions, such as consum-
ers' leagues, civic improvement societies, and an independent
press and pulpit, which afford opportunity in the public interest
to thresh out acute industrial situations and to take organized
action. This field of activity offers unlimited possibilities for
public service; but in many regards it was still virgin soil in
Springfield.

At the same time the community must be willing and expect
to bear its share of the legitimate cost of maintaining good in-

200

INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS

dustrial standards. There undoubtedly are many cases in which
employers are already doing all that they can. In such cases,
where the cost of necessary improvements cannot be financed
out of the reasonable proceeds of the business, the public, grant-
ing that the business satisfies a real need in the community,
must be prepared to assume its part of the extra charges, which
in most cases would take the form of increased prices. In other
words, in addition to giving its preference to establishments meet-
ing good standards as to work conditions, the public should be
ready to pay its just share of the costs involved.

Let us look now at the more specific measures for improvement
that needed to be adopted and the particular division or sub-
groupings of these social forces that should give assistance.

REORGANIZATION OF STATE INDUSTRIAL BODIES INTO A DEPART-
MENT OF LABOR AND MINING

The first and one of the most important conclusions regarding
industrial conditions in Springfield was that the state bodies
having to do with industrial conditions should be reorganized into
a single Department of Labor and Mining. While the survey has
dealt primarily with conditions in Springfield and Sangamon
County, it was nevertheless clear that some of the remedies for
local industrial evils must come through action by the state.
Springfield cannot disengage itself from the state in these matters,
and there was reason to believe that industrial conditions in many
other parts of the state were no better than here. Springfield,
moreover, had a special responsibility for assisting toward a
better situation because of its natural position of leadership in
the state and because it was no longer uninformed upon its more
urgent needs.

It has been seen that much confusion prevailed in administering
the labor laws (and in the laws themselves) because of the nu-
merous unco-ordinated state bodies that had to do with industry
and labor. For example, in the reporting of work accidents
similar establishments were required in some cases to report to
entirely different authorities, and the different state authorities
did not compile these Jacts for the same periods. Again there
was considerable difference in the methods and thoroughness in

201

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

the work of the mine inspectors, railway safety inspectors, and
those charged with inspecting factories, mercantile establish-
ments, mills, workshops, and so on.

// was, therefore, recommended that the numerous independent
bodies dealing with labor conditions be consolidated into one state
department, to be called the Department of Labor and Mining,
with bureaus organized to have charge of special work. These should
include a bureau of inspection responsible for railroad, factory, and
other inspection service, except mining; a bureau of child labor; of
employment, including supervision of the public employment agen-
cies; of mining; of research and labor statistics; and any other
bureaus that may later be needed. The plan of reorganization
should provide for the establishment of an Industrial Commission
as an integral part of the new labor department, with the commission,
instead of a single commissioner, acting as the executive head of the
department.

This consolidation and co-ordination of functions was urged as
of primary importance in improving labor conditions all along the
line, insuring safety from accident and disease, reducing child
labor and unemployment, prohibiting the extension of work peri-
ods beyond legal hours, and securing better industrial relations.

INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION

It was seen that safety from fire and other accidents while at
work, and from disease due to work conditions, presented serious
problems in Springfield. In some instances these were due to
lack of law enforcement; in others to inadequate legislation.
Remedies for poor enforcement have already been discussed.
Where inadequate legislation was the cause two courses were
open. In some instances it might be advisable to handle partic-
ular evils through specific legislation; but for the great majority
of the varying, detailed, and multitudinous conditions presenting
physical hazards it was not practicable to trust to specific laws.
It was recommended instead that an act be passed laying down
the general principle, as is done by the Wisconsin law, that all
places of employment must be safe and that every employer must
furnish and use safety devices and safeguards, "and shall do
every other thing reasonably necessary to protect the life, health,

202

INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS

safety, and welfare of employes." It was further recommended
that, as a part of the plan to reorganize the state industrial agen-
cies, an industrial commission or industrial board be created as a
part of the new labor department, and charged with adminis-
tering the law the commission to be composed of three or five
members having equal powers, one of whom should be chairman.
For the assistance of the commission, advisory committees, upon
which both employers and employes are represented, should be
provided for. The commission should also be in executive con-
trol of the reorganized labor department.

The industrial commission should have jurisdiction over places
of employment, and be vested with power to ascertain and pre-
scribe standards of safety, to order safeguards and safety devices,
to fix reasonable standards for the construction, repair, and main-
tenance of places of employment, and to issue orders designed to
protect the life, health, safety, and welfare of employes, and to
act as a board of arbitration, mediation, and conciliation. The
law creating the commission should provide for prompt and full
reporting of all accidents to this single body. Thus, instead of
enacting special laws, the commission should, after an investiga-
tion and a hearing in each case, issue an order covering
the point in question. 1

WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION

Again, the investigations in Springfield showed that while the
workmen's compensation law established greater justice in re-
muneration for work accidents, it failed, in many of the most
hazardous occupations, because of its optional feature, to ac-
complish without litigation prompt and specific compensation
for industrial injuries. A new law, or amendment to the old law,
much more firmly establishing the basic principle of compensa-
tion that industry should bear the costs of injuries due to
hazards which it has introduced should be secured. The law
should thus make compensation compulsory. This would not

1 See Industrial Commission Law, Laws of Wisconsin, 1911, Chapter 485.

For a full description and discussion of the industrial commission idea see
report written by Prof. John R. Commons and signed by a majority of the
members of the United States Commission on Industrial Relations in the
final report of the commission.

203

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

only provide more adequately for injured workers, but would
prove another powerful influence for the prevention of acci-
dents.

The administration of the workmen's compensation act should
be made a function of the industrial commission of the reorgan-
ized labor department.

HEALTH INSURANCE

Conditions affecting health in Springfield industries have been
shown to be of great variety and in many instances to constitute
real dangers. Some of these conditions could be changed through
preventive action either voluntarily taken by employers and
workers, or required by state regulation, or through both means.
Some of the resulting damages might be borne by employers
through a broad interpretation of the compensation laws; but
there would still remain a large amount of occupational sickness
falling as a disproportionately heavy economic and physical bur-
den upon the shoulders of the worker. It should not be his loss,
but should at least be shared, if not entirely borne, by the indus-
try and the public. A means to this end is found in health insur-
ance. It was believed, moreover, as in the case of workmen's
compensation laws, that health insurance legislation would act
as a powerful force for prevention of disease. We recognized,
however, that information on the actuarial questions involved
and upon the proportions in which the various interested parties
should participate in the insurance cost was still very limited as
applied to conditions in the United States. It was recommended,
therefore, that the first step be taken; namely, that a commission
of the legislature be appointed to study and report upon the
matter.

CITY ENFORCEMENT OF FIRE REGULATIONS
In addition to a statute requiring "sufficient and reasonable
means of escape " from work places in case of fire, a second statute
stipulated that all factory buildings over two stories high must
have fire-escapes of a type to be determined by the local govern-
ment. Enforcement, however, was left to the sheriff and grand
jury, neither of whom ever inspected factories. Moreover, the

204

INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS

city government, as far as we could learn, had never determined
what was a safe and acceptable type of fire-escape.

A Springfield ordinance enacted many years before also dealt
with fire protection, but because of changes in the official machin-
ery provided for determining the type of fire-escape to be required ,
the ordinance had not been effective.

The necessary steps should be taken in both cases to see that
a standard type of fire-escape is determined upon, and that the
laws are enforced. The consideration of other measures to pre-
vent fires and to insure safety against them was urged as an
integral part of the work of the fire department. This was espe-
cially important until the state industrial commission, here rec-
ommended, should cover the field.

SAFETY CAMPAIGNS AND CO-OPERATION FOR SAFETY
Safety for the worker while at work is not wholly dependent
upon legislation and state action. It can be promoted by the
employer who, out of a feeling of social responsibility and interest
in his workers, makes it a point to be always in advance of the law,
seeing to it that dangerous conditions are eliminated as soon as
recognized ; it can be promoted by the worker, who out of a due
regard for the welfare of his fellow-workers, himself, and the
interests of his employer, exercises as much care as possible in his
work; by the public, which, recognizing its responsibility to the
workers as well as its own stake in the injury problem lends its
assistance through educational methods and campaigns for safety;
and by all three through an appreciation of the importance of
co-operation. This is not a new kind of activity, for many large
corporations have engaged in it with gratifying results for a num-
ber of years.

With the exception of only one or two employers, however, no
such accident-prevention work had ever been carried on in Spring-
field by any of the three main groups of interested parties. Such
work should enlist the energies not of one or two exceptional em-
ployers, but of all, as well as the employers' organizations; for
employers, because of their large powers, have a special responsi-
bility in determining conditions in their establishments. It is a
fruitful field also for labor unions, by instructing and encouraging

205

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

the workers to use care, and by bringing hazardous conditions to
the notice of responsible persons. Educational work by civic
bodies and citizens' committees, and co-operation of employers,
employes, and such public agencies are also recommended.

ENFORCEMENT OF CHILD LABOR LAW

It has been seen that neither the enforcement of the child labor
law of Illinois nor the law itself was satisfactory. Children under
sixteen years of age were being employed for illegal hours or
in prohibited employments. The remedy for this situation must
come through the State Factory Inspection Department. The
force of inspectors in this department should be increased to make
effective law enforcement possible, and the chief inspector should
then be held strictly responsible for the conduct of the work.
Better adjustment of the hours of inspectors' work to the char-
acter of their duties, the adoption of a policy of giving full pub-
licity to successful prosecutions, and better work by the truant
officer were among the more detailed recommendations.

Under the reorganization plan recommended the enforcement
of the child labor law should be in the hands of a bureau of child
labor in the new department of labor and mining.

CHILD LABOR LEGISLATION

It has been seen also that the provisions of the child labor law
governing age and school certificates were open to easy evasion.
The remedy, of course, lay with the legislature. The law should
be amended, making it more difficult to evade the requirements
regarding proof of age, requiring at least a sixth grade education
or its equivalent before a child under sixteen might leave school
to go to work, and requiring that evidence of normal develop-
ment and sound physical conditions be produced before a work
certificate could be secured.

WAGES AND UNEMPLOYMENT

One important conclusion became clear. Springfield workers,
except in a few trades, were suffering greatly reduced incomes
because of a great deal of seasonal and irregular employment. One
of the most important measures here recommended for reducing

206

INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS

the amount and bad effects of this irregular employment, and one
which has general application to practically all kinds of employ-
ment, was the development of greater efficiency in the work of the
Springfield free employment agency. As a part of the reorganiza-
tion plan, already recommended, by which the various industrial
bodies of the state should be brought together in a department of
labor and mining, it was urged that all state employment offices
be put under a bureau of this new department. In the meantime,
however, a number of improvements in methods in the Springfield
office should be instituted.

In the coal mining industry a certain amount of irregular em-
ployment was artificially stimulated by biennial agreements be-
tween the operators and the union. To do away with as much as
possible of this it was recommended that either negotiations be-
tween the operators and the men be started earlier, or that an
arrangement such as was recently adopted in the anthracite dis-
trict be made, which would provide for the continuance of work
while negotiations are in progress or until it should become clear
that a new agreement could not be reached. There was also a
large amount of seasonal work due to seasonal demand for pro-
ducts, and the operation of too many mines was a factor. To
mitigate the results of this it was recommended that the industry
be regularized through as much summer production as possible.
It was also recommended that careful consideration be given to
the question of government control, which prevents the opening
of new mines until there is commercial need for them.

Among skilled and semi-skilled workers in factories, the build-
ing trades, and on railroads, as we have seen, labor unions had an
effective influence in increasing wages. In fact wage conditions
among all union workers were generally better than among non-
union workers in Springfield, though probably this fact was not
due entirely to union influence. It appeared, however, that the
unions offered one important measure for wage increases among
the better trained and the skilled workers.

The wages of unskilled male workers in Springfield and of many
women workers, especially in laundries, five-and-ten-cent stores,
and restaurants, were very low too low in many cases to permit
the women to maintain themselves properly or to permit men

207

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

to support an average family of five or six in decency. The prob-
lem of increasing the wages of these groups, however, and of re-
ducing the irregularity of their employment is by no means simple.
Up to the present the labor union movement has made but little
progress with them. Union men should face this as one of their
serious problems and see in it both a responsibility and an oppor-
tunity for rendering service to a group less able to help them-
selves than are the great majority of union members.

The wage problem, whether among skilled or unskilled, is not
entirely a local problem; but its solution nevertheless depends in
part upon the action of localities. A number of measures, how-
ever some of them indirect in their influence were recom-
mended to citizens of Springfield as helpful toward improving the
lot of low-paid workers. Among these were: the prohibition of
child labor with the probable consequent increase in the demand
for and the wage of adult labor; and as a corollary of this, the
development of better industrial education for children now of
school age, which shall prepare the coming workers for better
paid and higher types of work; the establishment of better wage
rates for manual labor on public works; and the establishment of
minimum wage standards.

In the case of salesgirls in mercantile places, and other low-
paid women workers, some improvement might be brought about
through organization of the workers a measure which at best
would be difficult but which should be thoroughly tried. A second
measure is the utilization of public opinion expressed either
through constant objection to low wages in specific cases or
through consumers withdrawing patronage from stores paying
low wages. This has been worked out in some communities
through the organization of consumers' leagues. In addition to
these, the establishment of a minimum wage board through which
assurance may be had that wages at least adequate for the self-
support of girls giving the whole of their working time to stores
or other work places was recommended.

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE

As already stated, unemployment was found to be a serious
problem in Springfield. The measures recommended to deal with

208

INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS

it were aimed at as immediate relief as possible. The time when
a system of unemployment insurance, if it should seem desirable,
could be instituted did not appear close enough to offer an early
improvement of conditions. It was recommended, however, that
thorough study of the unemployment situation and unemploy-
ment insurance be taken up through a commission to be created
by the legislature.

SEVEN-DAY LABOR

Among both men and women a number were found working
seven days a week. The courts of New York state had held a law
prohibiting the seven-day work week in factories and mercantile
establishments to be constitutional. A similar law was recom-
mended for Illinois. It was urged especially that the churches
and other religious bodies, which must at least believe that all
persons should have one day of rest in seven, give this proposed
legislation their vigorous support.

HOURS OF WORK OF WOMEN

Many women in Springfield work ten hours a day often stand-
ing and a few women were night workers. Many other states,
including all the great manufacturing states, were giving women
greater protection from long hours of labor than was given by the
state of Illinois. To correct the situation the law allowing women
to work ten hours a day seven days a week should be changed to
make it illegal to employ women at most for more than eight
hours a day or forty-eight hours a week. This would merely be
eliminating the seven-day week and reducing hours on the other
six days to eight.

Moreover, the law should be amended to prohibit night work
by women and girls.

HOURS OF WORK OF MEN

The hours of labor of men in a few Springfield industries were
exceedingly long. A majority of the trade union members, how-
ever, worked only eight hours. It seemed, therefore, that the
union offered one important means probably the most practical
immediate means to better working hours; and workers would
14 209

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

do well to look into the accomplishments of the local labor
organizations.

Since, however, unskilled laborers are difficult to organize and
it was among them that excessive hours were most prevalent, it
seemed likely, if long hours of labor were soon to be eliminated,
that Illinois and other states must secure this result through legis-
lation. There is a growing opinion that there is small reason to
differentiate between men and women in restricting hours; and
that there is ample reason for action by the state to regulate the
hours of men's work. Illinois as a great industrial state had and
still has an opportunity to lead in this advance movement.

In addition, and applying to the hours of both men and women,
action by consumers through public protest and the withdrawal
of patronage where hours of work are harmful, should be taken.
Also a number of the indirect methods already recommended for
dealing with low wages apply in some degree to the reduction of
working hours that are too long.

210

IX
PUBLIC HEALTH 1

The most definite index of the health history of Springfield is
to be found in her death records. In general practice the number
of deaths registered in a city includes all persons dying within
the city limits, whether residents or not. In this survey, however,
the study of death records was restricted to deaths of Springfield
residents, the causes of these deaths, and their distribution
throughout the city. On this basis the questions naturally arise
as to what were the leading causes of death in Springfield and
in what degree they were preventable. The survey's task, in
general terms, also included an examination of the sickness rec-
ords of the city and its sanitary conditions. The aim was to
determine what losses were being suffered and in what way these
losses might be prevented.

The principal cause in Springfield's death list was tuberculosis,
a preventable disease; the second, pneumonia, is to a consider-
able degree preventable. With the third and fourth causes,
heart disease and Bright's disease, the health authorities could do
little of a direct nature, but the fifth, diarrhea and enteritis among
infants under two years, offered great opportunities for life saving.
Other opportunities for prevention were also noted in the records
of typhoid fever, syphilis, the contagious diseases of children, and
a part of the accidents and premature births. Altogether, the
number of preventable deaths constituted at least a fourth, and
quite possibly a third, of all the deaths. Summarizing the record
of the city with respect to the principal preventable causes for
the last six years before the survey, 1908-13, we found 1,405 pre-
ventable deaths 1,218 from diseases and 187 from accidents.
These were conservative totals, as they did not include deaths
from pneumonia among old persons, deaths of infants certified

1 Summary of report on Public Health in Springfield, Illinois, by Franz
Schneider, Jr.

211

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

under such titles as premature birth, marasmus, inanition, and a
number of other causes where modern medicine argues that some

THE SPRINGFIELD

SURVEY

SPRINGFIELD

ILLINOIS

PNEUMONIA IN SPRINGFIELD

Deaths of residents under fifty-five years of age, 1908-1913. Pneumonia is
another one of the important infectious diseases, and study of it by the health
department, especially as related to the deaths it causes among infants, would
probably be well repaid.

saving can be made. A life wastage of this magnitude demands
the businesslike attention of the community.

212

PUBLIC HEALTH

GENERAL FACTS BEARING ON SPRINGFIELD'S HEALTH
As already pointed out, the surface of Springfield, which occu-
pies about eight and one-half square miles on the level prairie, is
very flat. The city lies between two parallel creeks which flow in
a northeasterly direction to the Sangamon River. Spring Creek,
to the northwest, receives about three-fourths of the drainage of
the city; Sugar Creek, to the southeast, carries off the rest. Old
Town Branch, a tributary of Spring Creek, is the city's principal
drain and has been covered over and converted into a sewer.

Of the city's 51,678 people in 1910, 5.73 per cent were Negroes
and 13.4 per cent foreign-born whites. While race and color
were not important factors in Springfield, the clustering of these
elements in certain districts had an important bearing on the
city's health problem. Thus, while Negroes and foreign-born
whites did not form a large proportion of Springfield's total popu-
lation, 19.1 per cent in 1910, these two components together made
up 36 per cent of the population in ward one, and 24 per cent of
that in ward six, as compared with n and 10 per cent in wards
four and five. Wards one and six had also the larger proportion
of children of school age and a higher birth rate. The percentage
of illiterates was 11.2 and 7.4 in wards one and six, as against
1.8 and 1.3 in the fourth and fifth wards. In short, the eastern
and northern parts of the city contained the younger, poorer, and
more foreign components of the population and most of the
Negroes, while the southwestern section was more purely native
white, was older, and its people were more comfortably situated.
Thus the health problem was much more difficult in certain dis-
tricts, demanding special activity on the part of the health
authorities.

INFANT MORTALITY

The best index of the intensity of infant mortality is a ratio,
in a given year, of deaths of infants under one year of age to
births. An efficient registration of births is necessary, however,
for the computation of this rate and this status had not yet been
reached in Springfield. Although the registration of births was a
legal obligation, the acting superintendent of health estimated

213

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

SPRINGFIELD

ILLINOIS

BIRTHS IN SPRINGFIELD, 1913

Round dots represent births registered at city and county offices during the
last year before the survey. Stars represent unregistered births located by
the survey. At least a fifth of the births were unregistered.

214

PUBLIC HEALTH

that the record of 1,373 births for 1912 and 1913 represented
about two-thirds of those actually born.

During the survey a search was made for births not registered,
and a study of these brought out the fact that failure in birth
registration was not a sin of the poor solely. Twenty-five per
cent of the unregistered births were in ward four, and 20 per
cent in ward five, two of the best residential districts. Another
fact of considerable interest was the low birth rate in wards five
and seven, some of the best residence sections and the business
section being in these wards.

Prompt and complete registration of births, already required
by law, is essential to the computation of exact infant death
rates and to the effective administration of preventive measures.
Proper birth registration is also highly important to the child in
later life; it establishes parentage, legitimacy, and age facts
which may be necessary in connection with school attendance,
the securing of working papers, the right to marry or to vote,
or relative to entering one of the government services or in obtain-
ing an inheritance. Steps had already been taken to secure the co-
operation of the public and the medical profession, and it was desir-
able that these efforts should be continued in a vigorous manner.

Such evidence as was available in the face of the incomplete
birth returns pointed to about the ordinary rate of infant mor-
tality for a city the size of Springfield. It must be pointed out,
however, that the ordinary rate was an unsatisfactory one and
that in certain parts of the city the problem was acute. When
the infant death rate for 1913 was figured against the number of
births for which any record could be found (including those for
which no definite address was obtainable) the rate was 114.1
deaths per thousand births; when only those births for which a
definite address could be obtained were used the rate was 129.9
per thousand. As a check on these figures, which were true infant
death rates, the average number of infant deaths a year during
the years 1908-13, i. e., the last six years before the survey, was
compared with the number of infants under one year of age, the
resulting rate being 127.4 deaths per thousand infants. In rela-
tion to Springfield's opportunities for saving life the problem is of
prime importance.

215

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

Thus, out of every 100 infants born in Springfield about 10
died before becoming one year of age. In certain parts of the
city, however, only about five died, while in certain other dis-
tricts as many as 20 did not live to reach their first birthday.

THE

SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

SPRINGFIELD

ILLINOIS

DEATHS OF INFANTS UNDER ONE YEAR. SPRINGFIELD, 1908-1913

The problem centered chiefly in the first and sixth wards in the
eastern section, although there was reason to believe that sub-
stantial improvement could be accomplished in the third, fifth,
and seventh wards. The wards to the east of Tenth Street, which

216

PUBLIC HEALTH

in 1910 included 36.4 per cent of the population, were responsible
for 45.6 per cent of the births located in 1913, and for 61 per cent
of the infant deaths reported in that year. During the six years
1908-13 these wards were responsible for 57.5 per cent of the
mortality. The infant deaths in these districts were due, further-
more, in a relatively high proportion of instances, to the diseases
which modern sanitation has learned to prevent.

The principal causes of deaths of infants under one year of age
were premature birth, the pneumonias, acute infections (includ-
ing whooping cough, syphilis, measles, and the like), diarrhea,
and enteritis. In examining this list with an eye to life saving,
it may be conceded that a considerable proportion of the pre-
mature births were probably unavoidable, being due to consti-
tutional defects. Prenatal educational and nursing work among
mothers should, however, save many. The registration, examina-
tion, and regulation of midwives is also highly important.

In other cities the large group formed by the pneumonias,
diarrhea, and enteritis have yielded to preventive efforts. Deaths
from these causes are commonly the result of ignorance of the
proper care and feeding of infants and the problem is that of
reaching uninformed mothers. As a means to this end the em-
ployment of public health nurses who are qualified to visit homes
and instruct mothers who would not ordinarily receive proper
advice regarding the care of infants was recommended. This
work might be carried on by means of infant welfare stations
under the city health department, where instruction and demon-
strations might be given mothers and at which a doctor should
be in attendance during certain hours.

Moreover, prompt and complete registration of births, already
required by law, should become an accomplished fact. Other
steps, to be discussed later in this report, among them being im-
provement in sanitary conditions in certain parts of the city and
improvement in the city's milk supply, should be taken.

No escape is possible from the conclusion that a steady and
considerable life and health wastage was constantly going on
among the infants of Springfield. If during the six years prior
to the survey the other wards had but equaled the record of ward
two, only 383 infants under one year of age, instead of 727, would

217

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

have died. This would represent the saving of about 57 babies a
year, or a total of 344. In other words, the lives of nearly half
of these victims might have been saved by proper precautions.

THE SPRINGFIELD

SURVEY

SPRINGFIELD

ILLINOIS

3DD
DDDBaBQ

cmnonnn

DODDDDOB

Dannaonnna

DEATHS OF INFANTS UNDER Two FROM DIARRHEA AND ENTERITIS, SPRING-
FIELD, 1908-1913

Note the preponderance in the east part of the city. This is one of the princi-
pal preventable causes of infant mortality.

CONTAGIOUS DISEASES OF CHILDREN

The most important contagious diseases with which children
have to contend, if tuberculosis be excepted, are diphtheria,

218

PUBLIC HEALTH

scarlet fever, whooping cough, and measles. Their importance is
great, both as represented by the amounts of sickness and death
of which they are the immediate cause and by the injurious
effects they have on the kidneys, respiratory organs, and other
parts of the body.

The number of deaths from these diseases in Springfield during
the six years prior to the survey was 159, an annual average of
26. In the last five years 1,441 cases of diphtheria and scarlet
fever alone had been reported. The October 1909 bulletin of the
health department represented the situation truly not only for
then but now, in these words:

While it may be truthfully contended that Springfield has no
more cases of scarlet fever and diphtheria than most of the other
medium-sized cities of the Middle West, it is none the less true
that we have too many such cases.

A study of the distribution throughout the city of diphtheria,
scarlet fever, whooping cough, and measles threw light on their
preventability and the problem of their suppression. As in the
records of infant mortality, wards one and six were high, wards
two and four low, and wards three and five in an intermediary
position. The lowest rates of all were in ward seven. The ratio
of deaths to cases reported by given diseases showed again that
the east side ratios (those sections where Negroes, foreigners, and
the poorer people were found in largest numbers) were excessive,
although those for diphtheria in wards two, three, and four were
higher than should prevail. While the general fatality in Spring-
field from these diseases, 8 per cent in a six-year period, was not
uncommon, judged by the standards of modern hygiene, it was
far too high. With regard to all four diseases under discussion,
the situation showed no improvement in the last six years.

In recent years the best practice for the control of these dis-
eases has undergone considerable change. Whereas great em-
phasis was formerly given to desquamation (peeling) and fumi-
gation at the termination of the case, the importance of these
points is now minimized and the emphasis is shifted to early
recognition of cases, especially mild cases and "carriers" (persons
who harbor the disease organisms but show none of the usual

219

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

symptoms), and to the prompt and efficient disinfection of the
discharges, particularly nasal and mouth, of infected persons.

THE SPRINGFIELD

SURVEY

SPRINGFIELD

ILLINOIS

CASES OF DIPHTHERIA REPORTED TO THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT, SPRING-
FIELD, 1909-1913

Cases of diphtheria were being released from quarantine by the attending
physician. This is bad because there are usually a few physicians who will
release cases too early and so expose other children to infection. Release by
the health department only after negative cultures from the patient's throat
and nose is much to be preferred.

22O

PUBLIC HEALTH

In diphtheria, whooping cough, and scarlet fever much can be
done by prompt isolation of patients with the first appearance of
symptoms, and by searching for persons who have been in con-
tact with such cases. In measles it is more difficult because a
patient is infectious for as long as ten days before the appearance
of symptoms. Health authorities can lessen the fatality of the
disease, however, by calling the attention of parents to the neces-
sity of taking great care of children for a considerable period
after apparent recovery.

Additional health department activities demanded by the
newer ideas include follow-up medical inspection of "contacts,"
better instruction of families as to the details of isolation, espe-
cially as regards the disinfection of discharges, and generous re-
inspection of quarantined cases. The savings incidental to the
newer ideas include relief from the expense and annoyance of
fumigation and, in a considerable proportion of cases, a material
shortening of the period of quarantine.

The procedures employed in Springfield were those dictated by
the older practices common to most American cities of similar
size. These included reports to the health department of infec-
tious and contagious diseases, the placing of a quarantine card at
front and rear door, and the presentation of a state board of
health pamphlet with regard to the care of the disease. Members
of the family were required to stay apart unless there was satis-
factory room isolation. The library and board of education were
notified, and the family directed not to return milk bottles.
Unless a complaint was received, the health department did
nothing more until the attending physician notified the depart-
ment that the case was ready for release. The inspector then
took down the card and fumigated with formaldehyde. The usual
quarantine period for diphtheria was fourteen days, and for
scarlet fever the minimum period of isolation was twenty-one
days, release being made on the word of the physician that
desquamation was complete. In measles and whooping cough
the patient was simply excluded from school, other children in
the household being likewise excluded until they had had the
disease or the patient was isolated.

A number of important suggestions were made, the adoption

221

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

of which would insure greater safety to the city's children. The
chief improvements that should be instituted were:

1. Prompter and fuller reporting of cases. It is suggested that
the health department furnish physicians with sets of postcard
forms for this purpose, and that written confirmation of telephonic
reports be required.

2. More detailed investigation of cases and of the possible
relation between cases, accompanied by examination of persons
who have been in contact with the case to discover mild and in-
cipient cases and carriers. This would naturally require more
complete history cards, the preparation of maps showing the dis-
tribution and spread of diseases, and the like.

3. Closer supervision of cases of diphtheria and scarlet fever,
including a prompt initial visit by a medical inspector or specially
trained nurse employed by the health department to issue de-
tailed instructions as to the maintenance of the patient and the
disinfection of his discharges; reinspection to follow at frequent
intervals to see that instructions are being followed, with release
only after a final inspection by a medical representative of the
health department. In the case of diphtheria, release 6nly after
two successive negative cultures from the throat and nose.

4. The visitation of cases of measles and whooping cough to
instruct the responsible parties as to the management of the
patient and the disinfection of his discharges.

5. Transference of the present emphasis on fumigation at the
termination of the case to bedside disinfection of discharges
during the activity of the disease and general cleaning at its
termination.

THE TUBERCULOSIS SITUATION : EXTENT

During the five-year period 1909-13, 346 whites and 72
Negroes, or a total of 418 resident men, women, and children,
died in Springfield from all forms of tuberculosis. This was an
annual average of more than 83. The tuberculosis death rate
per 100,000 population during this time was 137.3 f r whites
and 470 for Negroes, making the rate for the whole city 156.3.
This includes only residents of the city.

The ratio of white to Negro population in the city was 16.4
to i ; the ratio of white to Negro deaths from tuberculosis was
4.8 to i. The Negro rate had varied from 1.9 times greater
than the rate for whites in 1910 to 4.7 times greater in 1912,
and 5.8 times greater in 1909. For the five-year period it was

222

PUBLIC HEALTH

3.4 times greater. The Negro rate, which is much higher through-
out the country than the rate for whites, is generally explained
by the personal habits and insanitary manner of living of^the

DEATHS FROM TUBERCULOSIS, SPRINGFIELD, 1908-1913

Tuberculosis killed 490 Springfield residents in the six years before the
survey. It is one of the most important of the preventable diseases, but
was receiving little or no attention from the city health department.

Negro. He presents an acute problem which is accentuatedjby
the possibility of his spreading the disease to persons other than
his own race.

223

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

The number of living cases of tuberculosis in a community
may be conservatively estimated at five times the number of
deaths from the disease during the previous year. Using the
average number of Springfield deaths for the last five years (69
whites and 14 Negroes) there were probably at least 345 white
and 70 Negro living cases in the city continuously approxi-
mately 415 in all.

The application of this estimate was warranted by replies from
Springfield physicians who reported the number of cases under
treatment in 1913 as 546, and at the time of the inquiry 228.
These figures did not include cases under the care of physicians
not reporting, those persons who had no physician, and the prob-
ably very considerable number of incipient and moderately ad-
vanced cases who were unaware that they were afflicted. On the
other hand, it is probable that some of the cases reported changed
physicians during the time and were reported more than once.

EXISTING AGENCIES FOR CONTROL OF THE DISEASE

Even a conservative view of the facts indicated wide prevalence
of the disease in Springfield and the pressing necessity for con-
trolling measures. The municipality, nevertheless, practically
was ignoring the problem. Efforts to control the disease con-
sisted of fumigation (at best of doubtful value) only on request,
and distribution of a limited amount of literature. There was
no enforcement of the anti-spitting ordinance.

Fortunately for the city during the past few years, the Spring-
field Tuberculosis Association had been conducting a campaign
against the disease. It was maintaining one visiting nurse (two
in 1912 and a part of 1913) who also did general nursing; was
operating one free dispensary; bearing part of the expense of
treatment of a few patients at the Open Air Colony, and was
conducting a limited educational campaign.

The two general hospitals in Springfield were averse to accept-
ing tuberculous patients although in the past St. John's Hospital
had accepted a number of cases. This is the custom of general
hospitals elsewhere which have no special provision for treating
the disease.

The Open Air Colony, a private sanatorium of 24 beds for in-

224

PUBLIC HEALTH

cipient cases, had cared for a few of the city's needy cases, the
county and the Springfield Tuberculosis Association sharing the
expense. The county almshouse had no adequate provision for
tuberculous inmates, although there was hope of an appropriation
for a special pavilion the completion of which was needed at
once.

At the time there was no public institution where the citizens
of the city of Springfield and the county of Sangamon, afflicted
with tuberculosis, could receive care and treatment. Such an
institution with special provision for children was not only de-
sirable but necessary.

The physicians of the city were showing an increasing disposi-
tion to co-operate in the campaign against tuberculosis, which
was necessary for its success.

SUGGESTIONS FOR AN ADEQUATE CAMPAIGN
The following measures, recommended for eliminating tubercu-
losis in Springfield, have received general approval throughout
the county. Some of them were already partly in force in the
city.

Bearing in mind that prevention of the disease should claim
precedence over cure the first necessity was an adequate campaign
of education. The entire school population should be reached
about once every two years through lectures, preferably by a
nurse and in connection with a small exhibit which might be
secured at a reasonable cost. The board of education might well
adopt the plan followed in an increasing number of cities of
making instruction concerning tuberculosis part of the regular
curriculum.

Meetings of women's clubs, labor, fraternal, social, and other
organizations, and gatherings of all kinds offer opportunities for
short talks. Sunday night stereopticon lectures in the churches
would reach effectively a large number of people. In this con-
nection the special celebration of Tuberculosis Sunday was urged.
There are several good motion-picture reels on tuberculosis and
other health subjects which might be shown in the motion-picture
houses either at special performances or on the regular bill, and
preferably with a lecturer to explain the details of the story.
15 225

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

Most of these reels could be secured through the regular exchanges
at no additional cost to the motion-picture houses.

Local physicians should be invited to assist in giving the
numerous talks necessary to the campaign.

Literature of a substantial and easily read nature should be
distributed at the various lectures given. Pamphlets printed in
large type with numerous illustrations are very effective, while
cheap literature often is a waste of money.

The Red Cross seal campaign offers unlimited opportunities
for the dissemination of information concerning tuberculosis and
the necessary plans for its control.

An adequate educational campaign should include exposure of
alleged "cures" for tuberculosis, of which "Nature's Creation,"
widely exploited in Springfield, might be taken as an example.
It cannot be stated too emphatically that medicine in bottles
will not cure tuberculosis. Fresh air, good food, and plenty of
rest under proper supervision is the only known remedy.

INSTITUTIONAL PROVISION

A campaign to secure a hospital for tuberculous patients and
to be maintained by public funds, undertaken without delay,
was recommended. It is a sound and well-recognized principle
of the tuberculosis campaign that the small sums which are
raised by anti-tuberculosis societies may be spent to the best
advantage in ways which will lead to more permanent and gen-
eral relief of the situation by public authorities.

Such a hospital should accept patients from the entire county
instead of from the city only, and should have 100 beds with
additional provision for children. It was estimated at the time
that the cost would be from $750 to $1,000 a bed for site, build-
ing, and equipment, depending largely on the cost of the site;
the cost of maintenance would run from $1.35 to $1.50 a day for
each patient. These figures would now need to be revised upward.

A hospital of this type is designed to prevent infection as well
as to cure. Besides receiving expert care and treatment the
patient is taught the danger of spreading the disease, also the
precautions necessary to prevent his infecting those with whom
he comes in contact.

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PUBLIC HEALTH

FREE DISPENSARY SERVICE

An important step toward the control of tuberculosis is the dis-
covery of patients before they have advanced too far for probable
recovery, or recovery possible at anything short of great expense.
One of the functions of the dispensary is to meet this need. The
usefulness of the dispensary might be increased, it was pointed
out, by urging people, through the educational campaign and
the visiting nurses, to voluntarily come for examination at the
slightest symptom of the disease and at intervals when no striking
symptoms are present. The physician in charge should receive
compensation for his services. The city might assume this ex-
pense as well as that for additional nurses. Complete medical
and social information concerning all patients who visit the dis-
pensary or who are visited in their homes by the nurses must be
obtained and fully recorded.

ADEQUATE NURSING SERVICE

The visiting nurse must be depended on to visit the afflicted in
the home, follow up discharged institutional patients, and bring
suspected cases to the dispensary for examination.

An increase of the nursing service was undoubtedly necessary
in view of the lack of hospital facilities, and especially should the
suggestion be adopted of broadening the field of the Springfield
Tuberculosis Association's work to include the entire county.
While no definite estimate might be made of the number of nurses
needed, it could be safely stated that at least two assistant nurses
for the city and one for the county outside the city were required
to meet the need at the time.

REPORTING OF CASES AND DISINFECTION OF PREMISES
In order that all patients may receive proper care and that
necessary preventive measures be taken, every living case must
be known to the health authorities. Physicians should report
not only the living cases but the recovery, death, or change of
residence of any patient ; also the treatment he is able or unable
to provide.

The least the municipality could do at the time was to pass

227

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

ordinances requiring the reporting of all cases of tuberculosis to
the health department; requiring the disinfection, and when nec-
essary the thorough cleansing, of all premises after the death or
removal of a patient; and abolishing the common drinking cup
and towel. It should also enforce the anti-spitting ordinance.

OPEN-AIR SCHOOLS

Among the most encouraging features of the campaign against
tuberculosis are the results obtained in open-air schools and
fresh-air classes for tuberculous, predisposed, and physically sub-
normal children. Such schools and classes may be conducted
with or without feeding, but experience has demonstrated that
with feeding, children respond more readily. The board of edu-
cation ordinarily supplies the teachers and paraphernalia for
these schools and classes, and if possible the food, special clothing,
and carfare for children who live at a considerable distance.
These last three items may have to be supplied in Springfield by
some other city department or by the Springfield Tuberculosis
Association .

An examination of children in the Palmer School brought out
the fact that 27 of the 456 children examined were probably
tuberculous; 141 had enlarged tonsils; 91, adenoids; 140, en-
larged cervical glands; 122, enlarged sub-maxillary glands; 139,
apparent anemia; 43, discharging ears; and 63, temperature
elevated above one degree. The study of this one school brought
out the need for discovering physical defects in school children to
be met by thorough medical inspection and the need for fresh-air
classes and open-air schools for the anemic and those predisposed
to or suspected of tuberculosis.

PARTIAL REORGANIZATION OF THE SPRINGFIELD TUBERCULOSIS

ASSOCIATION

Since it appeared that the immediate burden of the campaign
against tuberculosis would probably fall upon the Springfield
Tuberculosis Association, it was recommended that the Associa-
tion broaden its field of activities to include the entire county of
Sangamon. The work might be facilitated by division among
sub-committees somewhat as follows: Finance, hospital, nursing,

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dispensary, open-air schools, education and publicity, research,
one of physicians, and one of Negroes.

WHERE THE RESPONSIBILITY LIES

Tuberculosis is essentially a problem in public health, and as
such the responsibility for its control rests upon public officials.
Hospitals, nurses, dispensaries, and other institutions for its sup-
pression should be supported by public funds. There can be no
permanent evasion of the responsibility, as tuberculosis is a pre-
ventable disease and must be stamped out. The question facing
each community, therefore, is how soon it will take proper meas-
ures to achieve this end. The effective carrying on of this work
by the public points to the necessity for a full-time paid health
officer. Since state appropriations in sufficient amount to meet
the needs of both incipient and advanced cases can hardly be
expected very soon, local hospitals for advanced cases, near cen-
ters of population and within easy reach of patients and their
families, seem to be the most desirable.

Tuberculosis is preventable, and curable especially in its early
stages. These facts cannot be questioned. If true, why does
Springfield permit the disease to persist and destroy so many of
its people? In other words, why is this preventable disease not
prevented? A decided beginning toward this prevention had
been made in the city. There remained the necessity of broaden-
ing and intensifying the work.

TYPHOID FEVER

Typhoid fever is one of the best understood and most prevent-
able of the communicable diseases. It is pre-eminently one of
defective sanitation and its presence is a civic disgrace. Caused
by a specific microbe, which dies rapidly outside the body of its
victim, the disease may be eliminated by simply keeping the dis-
charges of infected persons from entering the mouths of other
persons.

Springfield had suffered severely from typhoid in the past, even
as compared with other American cities. In 1907 the rate of
mortality was 81.7 per 100,000 population, an exceedingly high
rate; and in 1910, taking only deaths of residents, the rate

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THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

reached 40.4. In the six years before the survey, 84 residents
were killed by typhoid and several hundred more had been made
ill. Although the condition had shown a tendency to improve,
the city had no cause to be satisfied with the situation or with
anything short of practical eradication.

The distribution of the disease throughout the city showed the
east side of the city to have fared badly again, a distribution that
corresponds in a general way to the larger numbers of wells and
privies, which assuredly were playing an important part in keep-
ing up the death rate. Since the use of raw river water had been
abandoned there was no evidence to implicate the city water
supply.

Another important way in which the disease is spread is through
personal contact between infected persons and those coming into
their immediate environment. The discharges of a person having
the disease, even before the development of marked symptoms
and during convalescence, are highly infectious. If the impor-
tance and methods of efficiently disinfecting the patient's dis-
charges are not understood, persons may easily become infected,
either directly when handling the patient or disposing of his dis-
charges, or indirectly by handling articles which have become in-
fected; and fingers all too often reach the mouth or touch objects
that enter the mouth.

Because of the general lack of appreciation of the contagious-
ness of typhoid fever, once an initial case occurs in a family or
neighborhood it is common to find secondary cases appearing in
about the incubation period of the disease. Thus, in a manner
less spectacular than that of the epidemic but in a way no less
deadly, the disease will smoulder in a neighborhood.

In Springfield, upon receipt of a case report, an inspector would
visit the patient's home and leave a copy of the state board of
health circular regarding the disease. He attempted to learn
the source of infection and gave some instructions with regard to
minor preventive measures. An attempt was also made to get a
history of the case from the attending physician by telephone,
usually without much success.

Efficient bedside disinfection of discharges is the prime essential
in preventing secondary typhoid, and it is doubtful whether the

230

PUBLIC HEALTH

ordinary inspector, no matter how capable he may be in the
matter of nuisance abatement or enforcement of the sanitary
ordinances, is properly equipped to give instruction in the man-
agement of the patient, as was being attempted in Springfield.
Similarly the history taking and study of the origin and relation
between cases (epidemiology) is a matter for a person of special
training or ability, and could not be expected of persons who had
not made a special study of such matters.

Recommendations which were made for the reduction of the
city's typhoid, aside from the elimination of wells and privies and
total abstinence from the use of unpurified river water, related
chiefly to administrative measures by the health department.
These were much the same as in the case of the contagious dis-
eases of children : a better reporting of cases; prompt visitation of
cases by a medical inspector or specially trained nurse employed
by the health department, with revisitation or removal of cases if
necessary; and more thorough epidemiological work.

THE VENEREAL DISEASES

Springfield's death rate from syphilis in 1913, 23 per 100,000,
was greater than its death rate from typhoid fever. The number
of deaths certified under this title was probably far short of the
actual number, because syphilis is seldom certified as a cause of
death when any other can be substituted. Similarly we did not
know the actual number of cases of syphilis in Springfield because
the disease received no official cognizance.

The only information regarding these diseases that could be
gathered from the local vital statistics related to syphilis. In the
past six years the deaths of 30 residents had been recorded as due
to this disease, besides 19 due to locomotor ataxia and paresis.
While these figures probably did not cover the situation ade-
quately, it is interesting to note that the majority of the deaths
had been among infants and that all wards had a share of the
mortality.

In order to get some further data on the actual amount of
venereal disease, letters were sent to physicians requesting a
statement of the number of cases under treatment during the
previous year and at the time. Forty-nine individuals, about

231

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

three-fourths of those addressed, replied that 346 cases were under
treatment at the time and 1,264 i n I 9 I 3- Since this list did not
include all cases treated by physicians, specialists, nor untreated
cases, there is ample basis for the statement that these were the
commonest communicable diseases in the community.

A large part of the damage from these diseases is manifested
indirectly. Thus syphilis can produce immediate suffering and in-
jury of the most serious character; but it may also run a mild
course or be apparently cured, only to have the victim break
down in middle age with paralysis or softening of the brain. A
very large proportion of the cases of paresis and locomotor ataxia
are caused, according to the best medical opinion, by antecedent
syphilis. Similarly, in gonorrhea the local symptoms at the time
of the attack may be mild and the patient may apparently make
a complete recovery; yet the microbe of the disease can lie dor-
mant in such an individual for years, retaining its power to infect
others who may be wholly innocent of any immorality. It is
claimed that a large proportion of surgical operations among
women are necessitated by gonococcus infections innocently ac-
quired from their husbands. Gonorrhea seldom kills, but it
blinds children and maims women. It is strictly true that the
more we know of the venereal diseases the more we have reason to
fear them.

MEASURES AGAINST THE VENEREAL DISEASES
Syphilis, chancroid, and gonorrhea are each caused by a specific
micro-organism with whose characteristics the bacteriologist is
familiar. Given the same privileges as in typhoid, diphtheria, and
other infections, the health department could undoubtedly re-
duce the prevalence of these diseases to a considerable extent.
The "conspiracy of silence," however the unwillingness to
speak of these diseases is a factor that makes the complete re-
porting of individual cases and the institution of such preventive
procedures impracticable. It even hinders the dissemination of
educational material, and it is a condition which any plan of
campaign must take into account.

Springfield could, nevertheless, undertake several methods of
procedure that are valuable. Through its health department it

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PUBLIC HEALTH

could require the reporting of cases by number instead of name,
the residence by district also to be given. This is the necessary
first step toward acquiring an idea of the prevalence and distri-
bution of infection. It could also, preferably through its health
department, see that indigent cases are promptly treated and
cured, thus eliminating these sources of infection. The city could
also direct that adequate provision be made for the hospital care
of cases of these diseases, and could arrange for free laboratory
diagnoses of samples of blood and discharges, this service to be
offered freely to physicians. Finally the city could, through its
health department, educate the public, instructing how the dis-
eases are contracted, how avoided and cured, and what precau-
tions should be taken by patients to avoid infecting others.

CITY WATER SUPPLY

The Springfield waterworks is situated at a point along the
south bank of the Sangamon River about two miles from the
northern edge of the city and four miles from its center. The
first works was built at this point in 1867, water being pumped
direct from the river to the city through a 15-inch pipe. Although
unpurified river water was dirty and unsatisfactory, it was more
than two decades before it ceased to make up a major part of the
local supply.

In 1913, after various experiments, a system made up of infil-
tration galleries and tubular well units was found satisfactory.
The yield of these six well units was stated to average 1,000,000
gallons a day, a total capacity of 6,000,000 gallons. Compared
with the average daily consumption of 5,500,000 gallons this yield
would seem fairly adequate, but as the maximum rate of demand
reached 8,500,000 gallons in the year ending February 28, 1914,
and as the system had practically no storage reserve against pos-
sible conflagrations, and as the city is constantly growing, it was
evident that the development, and experiments to determine the
limitations of the possible development, needed pushing. The
fact that during the summer of 1914, despite unusual drought,
sufficient ground water was had was encouraging, but it was
urged that the city be liberal in its allowances for further experi-

233

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVE\

ments and development, the need of which was conclusively
shown by the shortage experienced at the very end of 1914.
The important need was that the supply be made entirely inde-

DRAINAGE AREA OF THE SANGAMON RIVER ABOVE SPRINGFIELD
A relief map showing why Springfield should not pump its water from the
river. The lighter portion shows the area drained by the Sangamon River
above the city works. This area in 1910 was inhabited by 191,000 people, of
whom 1 10,000 resided in places of over 1,000 population. The river at Spring-
field was seriously polluted by the sewage of Decatur and parts of Springfield's
own sewage, and water from it in an unpurified condition was unsafe. Map
prepared and contributed to the Survey Exhibition by the State Historical
Museum.

pendent of the river. The tubular well system should be devel-
oped to a point where the possible need of river water would be
precluded, and the river intake should be eliminated because of

234

PUBLIC HEALTH

possibility of leakage in the gate valve or of its being left partially
open.

For the ordinary demands of consumers the pumping equip-
ment, installed in 1913, was entirely adequate. But the force
mains to the city then in use should be supplemented by one or
more new mains to preclude the possibility of interruptions in the
service on account of breaks in the existing mains, also to prevent
excessive velocities in them such as give rise to objectionable
turbidity.

The most important part of the distribution problem was to
see that this water was available to all persons living in built-up
parts of the city. At the time of the survey 30 per cent of the
population in ward one, and 20 per cent of the population in ward
six, had no mains in the streets, a serious situation in view of the
dangers attending the use of wells and privies. New distribution
mains were needed in the eastern part of the city if pure water
was to be made available for all the citizens of Springfield. The
city was to be congratulated on the improvements which had
been made in the source of the supply and the equipment at the
pumping station, but there was real need for further development.

SEWERAGE AND SEWAGE DISPOSAL

The sewerage of Springfield is of the "combined" type; that
is, one set of sewers cares for both house sewage and storm water.
The deficiencies in distribution were similar to those in the case of
the city water system, but the sewerage situation over the entire
city was somewhat worse. Fully 17.5 per cent of the city's popu-
lation could not connect with sewers, as against 12.3 in the case
of water mains. The presence of these very considerable un-
sewered areas was of prime sanitary importance. Lack of sewers
compels the privy system, which in turn greatly increases the
opportunities for fly infection.

Springfield was discharging her sewage in a more or less hap-
hazard manner at some twelve points either within or a short
distance outside her boundaries. According to inspections made
by the State Water Survey, serious pollution, attended with
nuisance objectionable to householders, was occurring at certain
points in the streams receiving the sewage. There was also the

235

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

added danger that must attend the discharge through populated
districts of untreated sewage which may at any time contain in-
fectious matter.

The city needed to look forward to the erection of sewage treat-
ment works, both for her own safety and self-respect and because
of the possibility of compulsion by the state authorities. In this
event it would be a distinct advantage if the sewage could be
treated at a single point and if separate sewers were provided for
the collection of storm water and house sewage. The city should
undertake a thorough survey of its sewerage equipment, and
should utilize the results in formulating a plan for the rapid ex-
tension of the system to serve all built-up districts. Such a pro-
gram should of course be attended by a policy of privy condem-
nation and city water main extension.

WELLS AND PRIVIES

In 1910 Dr. George Thomas Palmer, then superintendent of
health, made a sanitary survey to determine the number and loca-
tion of all private wells, privies, cesspools, and premises otherwise
insanitary in Springfield. He reported as follows:

1. There are 7,000 shallow wells in the city and the pollution of
these is insured by 6,000 privy vaults.

2. There are 9,000 homes in the city, 6,000 of which are not
connected with city sewers or water mains for sanitary purposes.
The sewer and water systems of Springfield have cost the tax-
payers approximately $4,000,000. This means that the public
expenditure of $4,000,000 for sanitary purposes is utilized by but
one-third of the population and the benefits which should be
derived by the community are lost.

Extensive publicity was given to his findings and an ordinance
was passed requiring all persons building, or rebuilding, to make
proper sewer and water connections if within 100 feet of a sewer
and a water main, and requiring all wells and vaults to be aban-
doned within thirty days of such connection. Owners of wells
and privies not affected by this ordinance were at the same time
strongly advised to abandon these appurtenances and connect
with the city water and sewer facilities wherever possible.

Four years having elapsed it was thought desirable to bring the

236

PUBLIC HEALTH

figures up to date. During the summer of 1914, with the co-
operation of Dr. B. B. Griffith, at that time superintendent of
health, a re-survey of the well and privy situation was made. It
was discouraging and discreditable to the city to find the situa-
tion no better than in 1910. In fact the number of wells and
privies had increased, as compared with the actual count of 1910,

Wells Privies

COMPARISON OF THE NUMBERS OF WELLS AND PRIVIES FOUND IN 1910 AND 1914
According to the enumeration districts used by the United States Census of

1910. Black areas indicate increases in the period; white areas decreases;

and shaded areas no change in number.

Part of the increase is more apparent than real, as the survey of 1910 omitted

certain sections near the city limits.

The actual change in the period, both because it was small and because some

of it was in the wrong direction was discreditable to the city particularly

since the situation and its implications had been set before the community

clearly in 1910.

the actual increases being probably due to the erection of new
buildings where sewers and city water were not available, 400
cases of building and rebuilding having occurred during 1910-13.
The largest numbers of wells and privies were found in the
sixth, first, third, and fourth wards. Over 50 per cent of the total,
and approximately half of those that were absolutely unnecessary,
were in the two wards east of Tenth Street, which in 1910 con-

237

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

tained 36 per cent of the population. Wards four and five, to the
southwest, and ward seven, in the central business section, had
relatively the fewest wells and privies in proportion to their popu-

PRIVATE WELLS IN SPRINGFIELD, 1914

Each black square represents a private well. 7,530 wells were found, of
which 78 per cent were at places where the city water was already in the street.

Enumeration by inspectors of the city health department; map prepared by
the Department of Surveys and Exhibits.

lation. The southeast ward (six) had five times as many wells
and privies per 1,000 population as the central ward (seven), the
former having a well and a privy for each five persons. In other

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PUBLIC HEALTH

words, this ward, with its 11,500 odd inhabitants, was depending
almost entirely on wells and privies, a situation which put this

SPRINGFIELD
THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

' :." ..I.-. 3DZ r
!'

: . _ ~

-i- IE F r'

PRIVIES IN SPRINGFIELD, 1914

Each black square represents a privy. 7,431 privies were found, of which
74 per cent were at places where sewers were already in the street, and 63 per
cent at places where both sewers and city water were available.

Enumeration by inspectors of the city health departments; map prepared
by the Department of Surveys and Exhibits.

section of the capital city of Illinois in a class with those small
villages of the state which still depend upon the insanitary make-
shifts of pioneer days.

239

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

Privies in cities are objectionable because they pollute the
ground water and allow flies and animals free access to human
excreta. Many more persons are capable of discharging infectious
matter in privies than is generally realized. Thus, in typhoid the
danger is not limited to persons with a well-developed attack or
to those coming down with the disease ; some persons continue to
harbor the germs and to discharge them in their urine and feces
for years after recovery, while others become infected and dis-
charge the germs without showing any symptoms of the disease
whatever. Altogether in a city of Springfield's size and with
roughly 7,500 privies, there is ample opportunity for some of the
privies to contain infectious material from time to time ; there is
sure to be a supply of flies on hand at some of these times; and
there is sure to be a supply of persons available for infection.
Thus in the long run typhoid and other intestinal diseases are
bound to arise from the privies. That such had actually been the
case was indicated by the distribution in the past of typhoid and
diarrheal diseases throughout the city. The liability for well
pollution is very much the same.

Some wells, owing to the nature of the soil they penetrate and
their location with respect to privies, will probably never be
polluted. In rural districts, where the soil is of favorable quality
and where it is merely a matter of protecting one's well from
one's own privy, the situation can be controlled ; but in the con-
gested city, privies belonging to one's neighbors may be close at
hand, the distances between the wells and the privies not suffi-
cient, and the pollution of the ground water too heavy for the
material to be cared for in the natural way. Wells in a city should
always be regarded with suspicion, and always discarded when a
pure supply of city water is at hand. Analyses of Springfield's
wells gave ample reason for suspecting the polluted character of
a considerable number of them.

A study of the availability of sewers and city water showed that
78 per cent of the wells could be eliminated without any addition
to the existing water mains, while 74 per cent of the privies could
be replaced without the construction of any new sewers. Nearly
two-thirds of the privies were at places where both sewers and
city water were available.

240

PUBLIC HEALTH

It is certainly folly for the city to spend millions on water and
sewers and then neglect three-fourths of the sanitary advantages.

Wells

Privies

No City Water

No Sewers

SANITARY CONDITIONS IN SPRINGFIELD WARDS

The darker shadings in the smaller maps indicate higher proportions of
wells and privies per 100,000 population. The black areas in the larger maps
indicate built up districts without sewers and without city water. Compare
with illustrations on pages 251 and 253.

The presence of privies and wells, with the incidental communi-
cable diseases, is a matter that affects more than merely the owners
16 241

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

of these makeshifts. They are little short of a menace to all.
Springfield should set about the elimination of both wells and
privies, and should adopt a rational program working to accom-
plish this purpose. Until she makes marked progress on such a
program she cannot hope to free herself of typhoid and diarrheal
diseases.

MILK SUPPLY

Springfield was being supplied with milk by some 100 pro-
ducers owning about 1,055 cows furnishing about 2,355 gallons a
day. Approximately a fourth of the farmers, producing a third of
the city's supply, peddled their own milk; slightly more than
half of them, producing a little less than half of the supply, sold
to one large dairy company, this milk being pasteurized; the
remainder disposed of their milk to stores and middlemen.

In the inspection of dairy farms made by the survey a modified
government score card was used, but to make the test as fair as
possible to small farmers who had but little equipment, only such
essential points as cleanliness in all particulars, freedom from
contaminating influences, cooling, methods of storage, and trans-
portation were tabulated. Even with this modification, results
were anything but favorable.

The average scores on all farms were 49 per cent on equipment
and 44 per cent on methods. The average final score was 46 per
cent, certainly a discreditable figure. Only three of the farms,
less than 3 per cent of the total, earned the classification of
"good," while 90 per cent of them scored "bad" or worse.

Information as to Springfield's milk production and dairy
scores, classified according to the amount of milk produced and
the manner of disposal, showed that the small farmer was one of
the serious problems met with in seeking a sanitary milk supply.
The man with three or four cows, kept largely for supplying milk
for the family and because of the need of manure for fertilizer,
usually made very small profits from his milk sales, could afford
very little in the way of equipment, and often would quit the
business rather than clean up. At the same time it should be said
that the public should be prepared to pay a fair price for clean
milk, and that experience in many places indicated that 10 cents

242

PUBLIC HEALTH

a quart at that time was not an excessive figure. A still higher
figure would probably be necessary now.

Dairies selling direct to the consumer made the best scores,
those selling to middlemen were poorer and smaller, and the
worst showing of all was made by those selling to the large milk
company, to bakeries, confectioners, and the like.

In choosing a milk supply, however, cleanliness at the farm is
not the sole criterion, as efficient pasteurization is highly desirable.
Experience has abundantly shown that despite great efforts to
secure cleanliness supplies may become infected, as by unrec-
ognized carriers of communicable disease. Clean milk is certainly
to be desired and striven for, but proper pasteurization is the
final essential for safety.

The result of the milk survey indicated clearly that the milk
situation was bad. It indicated emphatically that the city
health department should be given a full-time milk inspector,
competent to score dairies and examine milk. The activities of
such an inspector should include the supervision of transportation
and handling of milk, also the making of tests of its temperature
and bacterial content in transit and storage. The inspector
should be furnished with means of rapid travel from dairy to
dairy and should be paid a salary commensurate with the ability
required. The usefulness of such an inspector is indicated by the
fact that reinspection of a number of farms several months after
the original inspection, showed that considerable improvement
had been made.

Granted an inspection system and a set of dairy rules, the other
prime requisite was adequate publicity for the results of in-
spections. The health department should publish each month,
or as often as practicable, a list of the inspections and analyses
made, giving the particulars as to the name of the producer or
dealer and whatever explanatory comment would seem necessary.
Then every consumer would be able to know just what kind of
place his milk came from and just how it compares with other
milk on sale. At the same time we may reiterate that the public
should be prepared to do its part by paying a fair price for a
more sanitary product.

243

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

FOOD SUPPLY

The sanitary handling of ordinary food products was a matter
that had received more attention in Springfield than the sanitary
production and handling of milk. The city had, for one thing,
employed a meat inspector, while representatives of the state food
commission had from time to time given more or less attention to
conditions in the markets, groceries, bakeries, and the like. Dur-
ing the spring of 1914 one of the state inspectors devoted con-
siderable time to Springfield, visiting some 134 places where food
was handled or sold, and placed the results of his inspections at
the disposal of the survey.

The general condition of the places visited was good. At the
same time many dirty places existed in Springfield, and orders for
improvement were issued in a very considerable proportion of the
places visited. The most serious conditions disclosed by an ex-
amination of the state inspector's records were those relating to
the toilet and washing facilities in the food-handling places. In a
considerable proportion of instances the ordinary privy was in
use, while many of the flush toilets found were either not enclosed
or lacked outside ventilation. In view of the abundance of flies
usually in the neighborhood of food-handling places and the
opportunities the common privy gives to pick up infectious mate-
rial, it is not only reasonable but important to require such places
to make use of city water and sewer services wherever the latter
are available.

The city meat inspector devoted about two-thirds of his time to
the supervision of seven slaughter houses on the outskirts of the
city and of a certain amount of killing in the outlying country,
and the rest to the supervision of some 75 meat markets. Since
limitations of time and place made it impossible for him to be
present at all killing operations, this very impossibility pointed
out the advantage of a central city slaughter house which would
greatly economize the inspector's time, allow for a more efficient
inspection, and result in much cleaner slaughtering conditions.

There was clearly need of another food inspector to keep closer
watch of the various food shops, restaurants, candy and ice cream
parlors, and factories. Such an inspector could co-operate with

244

PUBLIC HEALTH

the milk inspector in his supervision of the handling of milk within
the city and could relieve the meat inspector of much of the meat
market and restaurant inspection that he was obliged to make.

THE SPRINGFIELD

SURVEY

SPRINGFIELD

ILLINOIS

MANURE ACCUMULATIONS IN SPRINGFIELD, 1914

Each black square represents a manure accumulation found by the city inspec-
tors 420 in all.

OTHER SANITARY CONDITIONS

A matter of first-rate health importance is the handling and
disposal of manure, because this material is the chief breeding
place of flies. In the house-to-house canvass inspectors noted 420

245

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

open accumulations of manure, most of them in the northeast
part of the city. The city should require tight containers for
manure, stable floors and regular collection and disposal.

Although the importance of garbage as a breeding place for
flies and as a source of vague deleterious effects on health has been
the subject of great exaggeration, it must be acknowledged that
the city should stand for decency; and it is indecent to tolerate
alleys or yards littered with garbage, or haphazard systems of
collection and disposal. Springfield at the time of the survey was
in the somewhat anomalous position of maintaining a garbage
incinerator but no collection system. Anyone might bring his
material to the city incinerator and there dispose of it free of
charge, but to do so was not compulsory.

The result was poor collection and disposal of garbage and con-
siderable complaint over conditions throughout the city. The
city was in fact without a system and action to this end was
needed. It should be remembered, however, that the problems
of collection and disposal of garbage are engineering matters, and
before embarking upon a new plan, competent engineers should
be consulted.

The staff of the city health department consisted of a part-time
health officer, a secretary-clerk, a meat inspector, three sanitary
inspectors, and the matron of the contagious disease hospital.
The department's physical equipment consisted of an office with
a small laboratory in the city hall and the contagious disease
hospi'tal situated beyond Oak Ridge cemetery. The routine work
of the department was represented largely by the activities of the
three sanitary inspectors, and consisted principally in placarding
and fumigating reported cases of contagious diseases and in abat-
ing nuisances.

DEFECTS IN THE EXISTING ORGANIZATION
The most serious defect in the organization of the health de-
partment that was not an out-and-out deficiency was the part-
time employment of the health officer. The part-time system is a
relic of days when health department work was regarded merely

246

PUBLIC HEALTH

as an emergency provision in the event of epidemics, on which
occasions the health officer could be called on for a heavy con-
tribution of time. At other times he would presumably have
nothing to do. Since those days we have come to know that a
great health and life wastage is going on even in the absence of
epidemics, and that the health department can and must prevent
this steady wastage. We have also come to realize that health
departments should prevent epidemics and not merely curb them
after they are well established. These modern ideas of the health
department's usefulness and functions call for a continuous, ever-
watchful campaign against disease and for the full-time health
officer.

One of the most important recommendations for the improve-
ment of the health department was the employment of a full-time
health officer, appointed for a definite term of years, removable
only for cause and given free rein over his department.

Two great opportunities for life saving campaigns against in-
fant mortality and tuberculosis were being quite neglected by
the city health service, while the work to control communicable
diseases was open to radical improvement. A recommendation
hardly second to that of the employment of a full-time health
officer was the employment of public health nurses to carry on
work against tuberculosis and infant mortality. To reinforce the
work of the nurses a free tuberculosis clinic, such as was being
maintained by the Anti-Tuberculosis Association, and a free baby
consultation station to which sick infants might be brought, were
necessary.

There was need for an epidemiologist to study the progress of
communicable diseases and to check up on measures to be taken
for their control. Such a person might also act as medical in-
spector in contagious diseases, and with the public health nurses
supervise isolation against typhoid and the contagious diseases of
children. A milk inspector was greatly needed, and only some-
what less urgently a food inspector. The probability of the ulti-
mate need of a laboratory man for the examination of milk and
water and for the laboratory diagnoses of communicable diseases
was indicated for the not-distant future.

Another line of work pointed out for the department to develop

247

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

was that of health education and publicity. For its most effective
labors it is essential that the public have a sympathetic under-
standing of what the health department is trying to do, and that

THE SPRINGFIELD

SURVEY

SPRINGFIELD

ILLINOIS

SMALLPOX IN SPRINGFIELD

Cases reported to the health department in 1909-1913. Smallpox is one of
the most contagious of diseases and is extremely hard to control by ordinary
methods of isolation. Vaccination is by far the most effective barrier to the
disease.

the public receive advice on the best ways to avoid infection and
on other subjects of public health importance. To this end many
departments find it advantageous to distribute a bulletin under-

248

PUBLIC HEALTH

standable to all not merely a compilation of unintelligible and
insignificant statistics. The co-operation of the newspapers
should be secured, lectures and exhibits arranged, and moving
pictures utilized. Some such efforts had been made in the past
by the Springfield health department, but they should be con-
tinued and greatly extended.

The importance of an adequate annual report should also be
emphasized, the form preferably to follow in general one of the
excellent standard forms prepared by certain public health asso-
ciations. In this connection a word of praise may be given to
some of the department's past reports, which were certainly
creditable as compared with the department's resources and
deserved to be published with greater regularity and in fuller
form.

The record keeping of the department was rather better than
the average found in cities of similar size. Minor improvements
could be made in the manner of keeping and filing some of the
records, but the most radical suggestions related to new and fuller
records, as in the case histories of communicable diseases.

The registration of vital statistics was another important
branch of the work in which improvement should be made, al-
though in this case the responsibility rested more particularly with
Springfield's physicians. There should be greater insistence on
more accurate certification of death, and greater realization on the
part of physicians of the importance of this.

The contagious disease hospital was meeting fairly well its pre-
sent purpose -that of a boarding house for persons with con-
tagious diseases. It took infectious patients out of homes where
proper isolation could not be maintained or where patients could
not have decent care. Its isolated location, however, was a dis-
advantage, both as it affected the transportation of patients and
the securing of medical service. Renovation of considerable of the
equipment was needed, and measures needed to be taken to add to
the attractiveness of the place. If funds are available, a new
contagious disease hospital, centrally located, should be provided.
Such a building, properly maintained, is no danger to its imme-
diate neighborhood.

With regard to communicable diseases there should be a shift-

249

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

ing of emphasis from quarantine of the premises and fumigation
to early recognition of all cases and efficient bedside disinfection
of the patient's discharges. There should be greater strictness in
the matter of release from quarantine, in diphtheria by the culture
method only, and in scarlet fever only after inspection of the
patient by a medical representative of the health department.
Work against venereal disease, such as has been instituted by
progressive health departments in other cities, should likewise be
organized.

One other point regarding the organization of health work in
Springfield may be noted the possibility for advantageous co-
operation between the city and county. The county was carrying
practically no public health work, which was a serious disad-
vantage to county residents outside of Springfield and to residents
of the city itself. The county residents needed protection on their
own account, and many of them were living just over the city
limits so that infection among them was a danger to residents of
the city proper. This last point was recognized by the city in
setting up its jurisdiction, as far as quarantining contagious dis-
eases is concerned, for a distance of a half mile beyond its borders.
Under similar conditions a number of American communities
have established joint city and county health departments. Such
departments are financed by both city and county and exercise
equal jurisdiction and supervision over both the city and the rest
of the county. The arrangement is desirable because it secures
for the county the nucleus for a strong service and for the city a
stronger department because of the additional funds available.
The result is better health in both county and city. Springfield
and Sangamon County are of a size to make such an arrangement
economically desirable. The formation of a joint department
would very probably be advantageous to the community and such
a step is recommended.

Springfield was spending 98 cents per person on police pro-
tection and $1.72 per person on fire protection, but only 16 cents
per person on the much needed health protection. Most authori-
ties at the time were recommending the expenditure of from 50
cents to $1.00 per inhabitant as the proper figure for adequate
work by a well-rounded health department. In order to permit

250

PUBLIC HEALTH

the adoption and proper administration of the measures recom-
mended here, the city must increase its altogether too inadequate
and scanty appropriation of the health department.

Diarrhea and enteritis
under 2 years

Diphtheria

Contagious Diseases
of Children

Typhoid Fever Pneumonia under 55 yrs.

Tuberculosis

PREVENTABLE MORTALITY IN SPRINGFIELD WARDS

The darker shadings indicate higher death rates. The rates on which the
rankings are based are per 100,000 population, except in the case of diphtheria
and the contagious diseases of children in which cases they are per 100,000
children of school age. The figures are for residents only. Compare with
illustrations on pages 241 and 253.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

Thus it is seen that Springfield had a well-defined and clearly
localized public health problem. A serious life and health wast-
age was constantly going on. During the last six years 1,218

251

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

residents died from the more common communicable diseases and
several thousand more were made ill. At least a fourth of the
deaths from all causes may be laid to these preventable diseases.

The greatest single agent in this devastation was tuberculosis,
responsible for 490 deaths during the previous six years and for
II per cent of all the deaths in 1913, the year studied in detail.
The diseases of infants formed another great contributing group ;
727 infants under one year of age died during the six years, deaths
of such infants amounting to 18 per cent of all deaths in 1913.
Nearly half of these infant deaths were from the ordinary pre-
ventable causes, such as diarrhea and enteritis, pneumonia, and
acute infections. Other important contributory factors in the
preventable mortality and morbidity of the city were the con-
tagious diseases of children, typhoid fever, and the venereal
diseases.

The toll exacted was much heavier in certain sections of the
city than in others. Thus the tuberculosis death rate in the
wards east of Tenth Street was over twice that in the two south-
west wards. Corresponding differences were found in the death
rates for typhoid fever, the contagious diseases of children, and
infant mortality. The east wards, which had these high death
rates, were the ones that contain the greater proportions of
Negroes, foreign-born whites, and illiterates. They also had the
highest birth rates and the highest proportions of children and
people of working age, and they were the districts which had
called for the largest amounts of poor relief. The plain fact is
that people were dying in parts of the city because they were
ignorant; because they were poor; because they were surrounded
by inferior sanitary conditions; and because the city did not give
them a proper health department service.

What was needed at once to meet Springfield's public health
problem was fairly obvious. The city should do away with wells
and privies; should perfect its water supply and sewerage, making
the mains of both systems available to all ; it should also see to it
that the benefits of such improvements are denied no one simply
because he is too poor to afford them. Then the city should set
to work, through its health department, to overcome popular
ignorance with regard to sanitary matters. Finally, it should pro-

252

PUBLIC HEALTH

vide its health department with proper equipment in the way of
staff and funds, so that the department may adequately cope with
the various administrative phases of the needed preventive work.
The health department expenditure needed at least to be trebled
or quadrupled. Even then it would be moderate as compared
with health department expenditures in more progressive cities,
and small as compared with what Springfield was spending on

Foreign Whites

Negroes

Birth Rate

SOCIAL STATISTICS OF SPRINGFIELD WARDS

The darker shadings indicate higher proportions of Negroes and foreign-
born whites, and higher birth rates. The east wards evidently have the higher
ratios. Compare with illustrations on pages 241 and 251.

other departments of the public service. The health department
need was urgent.

That public health is purchasable has almost become a public
maxim. Springfield had a splendid opportunity to buy to save
200 or more lives a year and to prevent much additional sickness.
Realizing that the safety, and welfare of its citizens are involved
to this extent, there ought to be no question of the willingness and
determination of the city to find the funds needed and to buy
wisely.

253

THE CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM 1

Out of Springfield's population of about 52,000 in 1910, as
already indicated, 13.4 per cent were foreign born and 5.7 per
cent colored. The police records, did not show arrests by national-
ity, but they did separate colored people from whites. The
former in 1913 contributed 10.2 per cent of arrests, or nearly
twice as large a proportion as they formed of the city's population.

Situated halfway between Chicago and St. Louis, Springfield is
a convenient stopping-off place for tramps, "yeggs," and other
semi-criminal classes who swell the jail population as lodgers and
prisoners. The annual state fair also offers opportunity for pick-
pockets, swindlers, and professional beggars who usually crowd
the jails until the fair is over.

The city at the time of the survey had some conspicuous fea-
tures of a wide-open town a segregated district marked with
glaring red lights; gambling carried on under cover and not vigor-
ously suppressed; 220 saloons, 2 one to every 263 persons. Sun-
day closing was not enforced.

Between two and three thousand of its male workers were
employed in seasonal occupations, with periods of enforced idle-
ness which undoubtedly were a factor in the crime problem of
the city. Public recreation, an effective preventive of crime, as
seen in the chapter on Recreation, was undeveloped, and there
was little adequate control of commercial amusement.

THE PROBLEM STATED

Springfield's correctional system is a part of the state system,
organized and regulated by state law. Therefore the list of cor-
rectional institutions included state and county as well as muni-

1 Summary of report on The Correctional System of Springfield, Illinois,
by Zenas L. Potter.

2 This count was made in April, 1914.

254

THE CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM

cipal agencies. For the apprehension of law breakers the com-
munity had the police department and the sheriff's force; for
temporary detention pending trial, the city prison, county jail
and the detention home, the last being for children; for prosecut-
ing cases before the courts, the city attorney and state's attorney;
for trial and sentence of those arrested, the justices of the peace,
city magistrate, county and circuit courts, and the juvenile court
for children ; for detention on sentence, the city prison and county
jail; for probationary supervision, the juvenile probation officer,
for children only.

How were these correctional agencies and their methods pro-
tecting Springfield from law breakers? Punishment and reforma-
tion are only a means to an end. The real test of correctional
work is the protection of the community. To apply this to the
activities of the above-mentioned agencies and to suggest reme-
dies for the weaknesses discovered was the purpose of this division
of the survey.

As to the size of the delinquency problem a few figures are indica-
tive. In 1913 there were 4,909 arrests with some specific offense
charged. Of this total, 3,312 were arrests by the police depart-
ment made within the city limits, while 1 ,597 were arrests by the
sheriff's force largely outside the city. In addition to these the
police took 521 and the sheriff 284 persons into custody upon
suspicion, but later released them without entering specific
charges. During the same period there were 1,271 convictions in
criminal actions, of which 1,119 were in the justice of the peace
and city magistrate's courts, and 152 in the county and circuit
courts. Of the 66 children arrested, 39 were found delinquent by
the juvenile court.

A considerable proportion of the arrests by the police and the
sheriff in 1913, 1,447 out of 4,909 almost 30 per cent were of
"repeaters." The number of persons involved in these arrests
and thus taken into custody two or more times was 548. Three
hundred and sixty-six were arrested twice, 98 three times, 45 four
times, 25 five times, 5 six times, 3 seven, I eight, I nine, 2 ten,
i twelve, and I as many as sixteen times.

These figures include out-of-town persons as well as residents of
the city. Many non-residents arrested were professional beggars,

255

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

hoboes, and yeggs who travel from city to city. Because of their
transient habits they are less likely than local persons to be of the
repeater type. A truer idea of the part played by chronic offend-
ers in the crime problem of the community is obtained if arrests
of residents only are considered. Since sheriff's records do not give
residences, police arrests were here considered.

Arrests of residents of the city by the Springfield police depart-
ment in 1913 totaled 2,414. Of these, 934, or 39 per cent, were of
persons arrested more than once during this single year. Those
arrested two or more times numbered 353, and formed 19 per cent
of all Springfield residents taken into custody. Two hundred and
twenty-four were arrested twice, 81 three times, 28 four times,
ii five times, 2 six times, 3 seven, i eight, i ten, i twelve, and I
thirteen times.

Since these figures covered a single year only, and undoubtedly
a number of persons arrested in 1913 were old offenders, condi-
tions are probably understated. Even so, the fact that at least
39 per cent of Springfield arrests in a normal year were contrib-
uted by repeaters raised serious questions as to the effectiveness
of correctional methods in use. Apparently, among the persons
who knew better than anyone else what to expect from Spring-
field's police, courts, and jails, these methods had been weak in
deterrent and reformative effect. The treatment received had
neither frightened repeaters from the commission of further
offenses nor instilled in them a desire to be law abiding.

THE HANDLING OF ADULT OFFENDERS

DISPOSITION OF CASES OF ARREST

In order to know, as a starting point, how many cases came to
trial, how many resulted in convictions, and how many led to
payment of penalties, the 3,312 arrests on specific charges made
by the police department in 1913 were studied. Of these only 34
per cent, or two out of every five, resulted in conviction by the
justices of the peace and the city magistrate. In 32 per cent of
the cases there was no prosecution, while 21 per cent were dis-
missed ; thus, a total of at least 53 per cent of all police arrests
on charges resulted in no penalty being imposed.

256

THE CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM

In addition, however, to the 1,744 arrests which make up this
53 per cent and in which payment of a penalty was thus escaped,
192 of the arrests which resulted in convictions also did not lead to
payment of a penalty. In all there were, therefore, not counting
the 206 cases bound over for the grand jury, 1,936 cases, or 58 per
cent of the year's total of 3,312 police arrests on specific charges,
which resulted in no penalty.

To test the effectiveness of the correctional methods in pro-
tecting the community at a vital point against those already
known to be dangerous attention was given first to the treat-
ment of the adults proved guilty. There were 1,119 such persons
192 guilty who escaped punishment and 927 others.

The large facts which stand out in this test were: First, that
the favorite method of these courts in disposing of those found
guilty was to impose a fine, 791 out of the 1,119, or 71 per cent,
having been disposed of in that way, and that by far the most
common assessment was $3.00; second, that the next most usual
method was to impose a jail sentence, 171 being thus dealt with;
and third, that in many cases an attempt was made to rid the
community of offenders by giving them a fixed number of hours
to leave town.

The tabulation of these facts, however, did not in all cases tell
how sentences were finally executed. For instance, of the 171 re-
ceiving jail sentences seven escaped going to jail one by appeal
and six because the court suspended execution of their sentences.
In five of the six cases sentence was suspended pending good
behavior. In the sixth case the offender was given hours to leave
town. Moreover, of 732 persons who were fined and whose
method of payment is known, but 475 paid their penalties and only
337 paid them fully in cash. Seventy-five had not the money to
pay and were forced to spend a day in jail for each dollar of their
fine. Sixty-three others were not able to raise the full amount of
their fines and spent some time in jail. One hundred and forty-
nine had their sentences suspended "pending good behavior."
Thus the actual disposition of the cases of those fined did not en-
tirely correspond with the statement of formal sentences imposed.

Summing up the penalties actually paid by the 1,119 persons
proved guilty before the justices of the peace and city magistrate,
17 257

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

we found that 337 paid fines in cash, 239 spent terms in jail, 63
paid fines part in cash and part by terms in jail, 219 were given
hours to leave town, and 154 received suspended sentences. One
hundred and seven others paid or escaped penalties in other ways.

COUNTY AND CIRCUIT COURT SENTENCES

In order to get a more complete picture of the disposition of
offenders, the study of sentences imposed by the justices of the
peace and city magistrates must be supplemented by those given in
the circuit and county courts. The total persons involved were 152.
The most frequent penalty in these courts was a combination
of fine and jail sentence. Fifty offenders received such sentences,
ranging from a fine of $3.00 and one hour in jail to $150 and six
months in jail. Twenty offenders received fines only, which
ranged from $5.00 to $750. Nineteen were sent to jail for from
one day to four months. Twenty-three were sent to the state
penitentiary, the shortest term being one year, the longest for life.
Nineteen of these 23 received indeterminate sentences subject to
the decision of the state board of parole. Eight younger offenders
went to the state reformatory, also with indeterminate sentences.
Thirty-two persons were placed on probation, nine of whom were
men convicted of non-support and one of whom was a man con-
victed in a bastardy case. Probation in these ten cases was
granted on condition that payments be made for the support of
wives or children or both.

FINES AND COMMUNITY PROTECTION

Fines were by far the most usual method of disposing of Spring-
field offenders. Of the 1,119 sentences imposed on persons com-
ing before justices of the peace and the city magistrate, 71 per
cent, as we have seen, were fines, and of these fines 60 per cent
were $3.00 or less.

There are three ways in which the treatment to which offenders
are subjected may serve to protect the community: First, by
deterring people through fear from breaking the law; second, by
regenerating through upbuilding treatment those w r ho break the
law; third, by permanent removal of confirmed criminals from
society. Fines, of course, do not accomplish the last named pur-

258

pose. The extent to which they protect the community will be
measured, therefore, by their effect, first, as a deterring influence
from law breaking, and second, as a means of reformation. We
shall discuss their use from these points of view.

FINES AS A DETERRENT FROM LAW BREAKING

The facts regarding the rearrest and reconviction of persons
fined in Springfield in 1913 indicate that fines were not effective
in deterring people from crime. The records showed that they
had not protected the community against repeated offenses by
the large group of persons of the repeater type. Twenty-three per
cent of all fines levied during the year were assessed against per-
sons who were again arrested before the year ended, while 13 per
cent were assessed against persons who were not only rearrested
but were again convicted. These figures, moreover, understate
the failure of fines to prevent law breaking, for many persons
fined during the latter months of the year were not likely to be
rearrested or again convicted before the year closed.

Detailed examination of the use of fines revealed some of the
reasons for their failure as an effective deterrent. Most of the
fines assessed were for small amounts, $3.00 or less. Except to the
unskilled laborer such fines were not a serious penalty, even
though costs of 60 cents or $1.35 were added. To the man earning
$5.00 a day they meant little or nothing. The pettiness of the
majority of the fines assessed failed to give the offender any
serious impression of the necessity to obey the law.

Moreover, a number of fines were levied for offenses in the
commission of which the offender made more than the amount of
the fine. Estimating that the average earnings of a woman in a
house of ill-fame were $25 a week, it is unlikely that she would
give up such a life through fear of having occasionally to pay a
small fine. During the year four persons were fined for keeping
disorderly houses; one $3.00, one $10, one $25, and one $100.
One man was fined $3.00 for running a gambling house.

A second group of offenses were due to the liquor or some other
clinging habit. Probably half the arrests in Springfield were
made either for drunkenness or some other offense in the com-
mission of which drunkenness was the immediate contributory

259

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

FINES

6596 of all sentences in 1913
in Springfield were fines

Some fines may deter some people
from committing some offences

But
PETTY FINES WILL NOT STOP

cause. The 869 arrests in 1913 in which drunkenness was specific-
ally charged formed 26 per cent of all police arrests on definite

charges. The in-
effectiveness of fines
in these cases is
demonstrated by
the fact that in
1913, of the 93 fines
assessed for drunk-
enness or drunken-
ness and disorderly
conduct, 36, or
nearly 40 per cent,
were levied against
persons who during
the year were ar-
rested two or more
times for intoxica-
tion or other of-
fenses in the com-
mission of which
drunkenness was
probably a factor.

In the same class
with crimes due to
the liquor habit are
those wherein habit-
forming drugs are a
factor. It was not
even illegal under
the Illinois law to
sell opium, mor-
phine, heroin, or laudanum, some of the drugs used most com-
monly by drug victims who often resort to trickery, forgery, or
larceny to get their supply. To fine a person who has stolen to
get money to buy morphine is useless. 1

1 It has been estimated by authorities that fully one-third of the inmates
in the New York City correctional institutions are drug users.

260

Gamblers from
> gambling

Drunkards from
drinking

Vagrants from
begging

Immoral women
from soliciting

FINES DO NOT

REMOVE UNDERLYING CAUSES

FINES DO NOT
PREVENT "REPEATERS"

374

fines
of

13.00

paid

1913

INEFFECTIVENESS OF FINES
Panel from Survey Exhibition.

THE CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM

Gambling possibly may also be classed with offenses stimu-
lated by some kind of habit ; in fact gambling itself appears with
many people to be a habit with a psychological hold on its vic-
tims. In the cases of 38 men who in Springfield in 1913 were
fined $3.00 each for gambling, it seems hardly probable that the
fear of repetition of such penalty would be sufficient to lead them
to give up the practice, or that others learning that three-dollar
fines were being assessed would be led to do likewise.

Besides the law breakers under the grip of some habit, there are
others with confirmed tendencies toward delinquency on whom
petty fines have but little deterrent effect. These, for instance,
include persons so much below normal mentally as to be classed as
mental defectives. Dr. Goddard estimates that from 25 to 30 per
cent of persons in prisons are mentally defective. 1 There are, too,
besides the mental defectives, probably a few bold crooks more
than likely the product of misdirected "gang" spirit when they
were boys who regard a life of crime as a game to which the
possibility of being caught and made to suffer only adds zest.
Fines in these cases and in those previously cited are not likely
to prevent further law breaking.

FINES AS A REFORMATORY INFLUENCE

Much that has been said about the relatively small influence of
fines in deterring from crime applies equally to fines as an up-
building influence. They cannot change the offender's desires,
his abilities, his habits, or his point of view toward life. The
truth is that fines were never intended to reform offenders but to
act as a deterrent from law breaking, a matter in which, as we
have seen, they are likewise often ineffective.

FINES FROM THE STANDPOINT OF JUSTICE

As a means, moreover, of providing just punishment as between
offenders, the fining system is also open to attack. Where petty
fines are much used, as in Springfield, the general tendency is to
assess them in large or small amounts in proportion to the serious-
ness of the offense and not after taking into account also the

1 Goddard, Henry H., M.D.: Feeble-mindedness: Its Causes and Conse-
quences. New York, Macmillan, 1914.

26l

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

ability of the offender to pay. To a man of some means a fine
of $3.00 or even $25 is slight punishment, but upon the laborer
earning $1.75 a day it falls heavily. The offense may be the same
and yet in the payment the poor man may suffer the rich man's
penalty many times over. One hundred and thirty-eight persons
in Springfield in 1913 went to jail because they were not able to
pay their fines, in whole or in part. Many of the largest fines were
assessed against vagrants who had no money at all. In such cases
fines result in nothing less than sending people to jail for being
poor.

WHERE FINES ARE USEFUL

Yet fines, in spite of their weakness as a general means for deal-
ing with offenders, are not without their uses in preventing the
repetition of minor and technical offenses in which non-compli-
ance with the law is largely a matter of failure to take pains, as
for instance, violating the dog ordinance, obstructing the street,
speeding, violating the school law or the traffic ordinances. They
may in such cases serve to call attention to the law in a forceful
way, especially if the amounts are adjusted to the means of the
offenders. In no case in 1913 was a person fined twice for such
offenses, which suggests that the fine was all that was necessary to
secure observance of the law.

Fines may also serve a useful purpose when they are large, if
execution is suspended during good behavior. But it should also
be pointed out that in connection with suspended sentences they
are not, with a certain class of offenders, superior to the more
dreaded jail sentence.

HOURS TO LEAVE TOWN

Two hundred and nineteen offenders in Springfield, most of
whom were beggars, vagrants, intoxicated and disorderly persons,
in 1913 were given a certain number of hours in which to leave
town. This method of protecting the community from undesir-
able characters is very common throughout the country. The
net result is that a large class of men become the prey of police
departments, being shunted from one city to another and back
again, finally ending as members of the army of hoboes or as pro-
fessional criminals.

262

THE CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM

In the long run no city gains in this process, which serves only
to confirm pauperism and delinquency. At the same time no one
city can put a stop to the practice. The remedy must come
through national co-operation of police departments. Until some
solution of the problem is brought about, Springfield, in self-
defense, will probably continue this abominable practice. But
there is no excuse for Springfield courts ridding the community of
its own resident and proper local charges by giving them hours
to leave town as they did in several instances in 1913.

SUSPENDED SENTENCES AND PROBATION

A third means used in Springfield in disposing of offenders was
suspension of sentence "pending good behavior." The justices of
the peace and city magistrate in 1913 suspended execution,', under
this condition on five jail sentences and 149 fines. Since these
offenders were sent back to their old environments with no form
of supervision, it is not surprising that 23 out of the 154 suspended
sentences had to be revoked within the year, while in a number of
other instances those whose sentences were suspended were again
convicted on new charges.

A suspended sentence cannot be effective without such control
over released offenders as will help in overcoming law-breaking
tendencies. The state law authorized the use of probation for first
offenders in all courts, subject to certain restrictions, and provided
for the appointment by the circuit court of a probation officer.
The circuit court, however, had not chosen to make such an
appointment; so that all those placed on probation by the cir-
cuit court and all so placed by the county court, save those proved
guilty of non-support, had been put under the charge of voluntary
officers, in a number of cases of relatives. Though this was an
improvement over the suspended sentence, it did not take the
place of a well-organized probation department.

JAIL SENTENCES

Persons arrested by the police in Springfield were being held
temporarily, and those unable to pay fines for violation of city
ordinances, on sentence in the city prison. Persons arrested by
the sheriff and those held for the grand jury were, confined tem-

263

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

porarily, and those receiving jail sentences or fines for violation of
state laws which they were unable to pay, on sentence in the
county jail.

THE CITY PRISON

On December 12, 1912, the Springfield city prison was in-
spected by the Illinois State Board of Charities, and the report,
published in the Institution Quarterly, describes the jail as follows:

The Springfield city prison is a disgrace to any community.
The main section for men, located on the first floor, is dark and ill

SPRINGFIELD POLICE HEADQUARTERS
City jail at the rear of the building and the city magistrate's office upstairs.

ventilated. The room has only a few windows on one side, and
they are covered with iron sheets perforated by small openings.
The cage has only three small cells which are ventilated by bar
fronts and backs. Each cell has two bunks, provided with old
mattresses and comforts. As there are always more than six

264

THE CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM

daily prisoners, many men sleep on the floors or on top of the
cage.

Toilet and bath facilities are placed in the corridor.

Women are placed on the second floor in a department which
is fireproof. The only approach, however, is a stairway of wood.
Cots with mattresses and blankets furnish the rooms. There is
one iron cell, ventilated by means of bar openings, which is
rarely used.

A section on the second floor is used for male prisoners whom
it is desirable to segregate. Minors are placed in this department.

Juveniles are sent to the annex to the county jail. Minors held
at the city jail are segregated from older offenders.

Tramps, "drunks," etc., are herded together in the dark section
on the first floor. The city should provide work for men held in
jail.

The officials deserve praise for the cleanliness of the place and
for observation of the law providing segregation for minors.

Since that time a few improvements in sanitation had been
made, but on the whole the above was a fair description of the
city jail as we found it.

The dishes in which prisoners received their food, which was
fairly satisfactory, were of tin. Drinking water was supplied by a
common drinking cup. No hospital ward was provided either for
men or for women. Dangerously ill prisoners were removed to
St. John's Hospital, four having been taken there in 1913. Others
were treated at the jail by the over-busy city physician, who kept
no record of his cases.

Male prisoners over seventeen years of age and females over
eighteen, both those held pending trial and those serving sentence,
were kept in the city prison. The terms of confinement in 1913
ranged from a few hours to two hundred and eight days, the latter
being rare. The average confinement pending trial was usually
not more than a day; the most common term of sentence was
about two weeks.

The law provided for the appointment of a matron, but this
statute had not been observed and women prisoners were in
charge of men keepers. There were also provisions regarding
classification of prisoners which applied both to city and county
jails. In the Springfield city prison, however, female prisoners
regardless of age, color, offense, or guilt were confined together;

265

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

good women and girls with confirmed prostitutes ; those held on
suspicion with those proved guilty.

To provide proper classification for male prisoners the jail au-
thorities made some use of the extra ward for men, but it was clear
that in many instances even two wards did not permit complete
observance of the law. It was not uncommon, therefore, to find
thrown together in the "bull pen" those held on suspicion or for

INSIDE THE "BULL PEN," CITY PRISON, SPRINGFIELD

The cage furnished the only bunks for sometimes as high as 50 prisoners.
The jail exists to protect the community from law breaking; but unless pris-
oners' treatment is upbuilding instead of degrading, those taken into custody
are likely to go out merely to break the law again, as many did in Springfield
in 1913.

trial, the guilty, first offenders and old rounders, those guilty of
technical or of serious charges, clever crooks and drunks, drug
victims, highwaymen, murderers, and lodgers.

The situation was aggravated, moreover, in the Springfield city
prison, by the fact that save for a few trusties the prisoners spent
the days in idleness, lying about their cells, playing cards, telling
vile stories, swapping criminal adventures, and passing the time
as best they could.

266

THE CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM

THE COUNTY JAIL

The county jail comprised a main building and an annex. The
main building was divided into two parts, the first serving as the
sheriff's residence, the rear as the jail which was divided into a

THE COUNTY JAIL, SPRINGFIELD

Jail in the center; sheriff's residence at the right. Conditions in the jail
and the treatment received by prisoners many of them held for weeks and
months in complete idleness were in no sense reformative.

ward for women and a ward for men. The annex was used for the
confinement of insane persons, alcoholics, and children.

The days of detention of prisoners in the county jail ranged in
1913 from one to two hundred and seventy-three days. While the

267

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

largest numbers were held only two days most of these being
suspects and destitute lodgers many served extended terms, 417
having been imprisoned for thirty days or more, 147 for sixty
days or more, 77 for ninety days or more, 15 for one hundred and
twenty days or more, a number as long as six months, and two
for over two hundred days each.

MEN'S WARD

In the men's ward there was unusually good general light and
ventilation but cell ventilation was not adequate. The words
"dark and ill-ventilated stone cells" used in 1911 by the State
Charities Commission still held true. The ward was divided into
two sections, one for white and one for colored prisoners. The
ward for white prisoners was always overflowing, and many whites
were kept with the Negro prisoners, transfer to the Negro section
being used sometimes as a disciplinary measure.

Each section of the ward had a bath tub, two sinks with hot and
cold water and soap, and a toilet. No towels were furnished and
the tin drinking cups were used in common. After nine o'clock at
night all men who had cells were locked in them, and buckets
were used for toilet purposes. Aside from the lack of provision
for the regular washing of bedding, the ward was in a compara-
tively good state of cleanliness. It was nearly always over-
crowded, however, and many men were forced to sleep on the
floor without coverings.

WOMEN'S WARD

The women's ward was situated on the second floor in a part of
the building not fireproof, entrance to which was gained by a
flight of wooden stairs. The ward was immediately over the
kitchen and, since the windows were barred, in case of sudden
fire it would be difficult, to say the least, to rescue women pris-
oners.

The ward consisted of one large room with windows on two
sides. Heavy bars running from floor to ceiling separated off a
good-sized cage which was formally the women's ward, but at the
time of our visits women prisoners had the freedom of the whole
room. Within the cage were four beds with clean bedding. At

268

THE CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM

one end were a flush toilet and a clean bath tub. The sheriff's
wife was employed as matron, but the keys to the women's ward
were kept by the male jailer who thus had free access.

In the same room with the women, in a cage with three sides
solid and a front of bars, was an extra ward for men who were
United States prisoners or who for some reason needed to be
separated from other offenders. In this cage were a bed with
mattress and blankets, a porcelain bath tub, and a flush toilet.
The cage faced away from the women's compartment, but as
women prisoners had access to the whole room there was no ade-
quate segregation of female prisoners and men held there.

No regular hospital ward was provided for either men or wo-
men, though sick prisoners were frequently sent to the annex to
be kept with the children, or when seriously ill were transferred
to some hospital. They were attended, as in the city prison, by
the city physician, who, as stated before, was already over-
burdened.

FEEDING OF COUNTY PRISONERS

The ordinary menu of county prisoners consisted of cereals,
coffee, soup, boiled meats, beans, potatoes, and bread. The
sheriff received 30 cents a day for each prisoner fed, which made
it clearly to his advantage to provide food as cheaply as possible.
To the credit of the incumbent at the time of this investigation,
it should be stated that the food furnished was not bad. The
system, however, of paying the sheriff a salary and then paying
him for feeding county prisoners, is unquestionably wasteful to
the taxpayers, and as it was working out, most unjust to the
prisoners. In the city prison, where the feeding of prisoners
was not delegated at so much per diem, the total cost to the city
was $917.64, or 9.68 cents per man a day, if one counts days as
the county authorities do. If the sheriff did as well in reducing
costs, and there was every reason to think that he could, he must
have cleared some $6,611 out of the $9,761.30 which he received
for feeding prisoners in the year ending November 30, 191 3. l

1 As the earlier detailed report of the correctional system went to press, the
Springfield newspapers announced that the new sheriff, John A. Wheeler, had
publicly declared that he would not accept any profit for feeding the prisoners
in jail. He estimated that the amount turned back into the county treasury
would be about $7,600 a year.

269

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

CLASSIFICATION OF COUNTY PRISONERS

Classification requirements of the state law were even less ob-
served than in the city prison. Offenders in all degrees of de-
_^^^^_^_^^^^^_ l ^^^^^^^__^__ gradation were herded

together. As in the
city jail, there was no
work for any but a

FEEDING PRISONERS

The County pays the Sheriff

for being Sheriff
Then it pays him handsomely
f or feeding the prisoners

What County Pays for
feeding prisoners

C- (J .0

O 9 ft O

What City pays for
feeding prisoners
a ' 9

Per Man Per Day

few trusties, and the
majority of the pris-
oners passed the days,
weeks, and months in
complete idleness.

JAIL SENTENCES AS A

DETERRENT
A study of the rec-
ords of 1913 showed
that the jail sentence
was seriously ineffec-
tive as a deterrent.
Forty-five per cent of
the jail sentences im-
posed were of persons
arrested two or more
times during the year.
Nine persons were
sentenced to jail twice,
i three times, and I
four times, so that in
all, 63 persons were
involved in the 77 jail
sentences of repeaters.

These included many of the worst "rounders" in the city and con-
tributed a total of 199 arrests during the year, 63 of which were
made of offenders who had once suffered jail sentence. In 32 in-
stances those who served sentences were again convicted before
the year was up. When one considers that 30 per cent of these

270

meals may mean a day"
or> u t '

on County jail hotel bill
i
or

O x

If it costs the Sheriff as
much per man per day as it costs
the City the Sheriff cleared over
$6,500.00 last year

THIS SUM SHOULD BE
SAVED TO TAXPAYERS

COST OF FEEDING PRISONERS IN SPRINGFIELD
Panel from Springfield Survey Exhibition.

THE CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM

sentences of repeaters were imposed during the last three months
of the year, so that arrest and conviction were not likely to recur
within the period studied, the ineffectiveness of such sentences
in preventing law breaking by offenders of this type is further
emphasized.

WHY THE JAILS FAIL 'AS DETERRENTS

There are in general two classes of offenders: those not con-
firmed in delinquency who still retain some self-respect and stand-
ing in the community, and those whose reputations and self-
respect are so impaired that a jail term will harm neither. To
those in the first group the jail sentence has some effect as a
deterrent; they fear the discomforts and associations of jail,
and they fear for their reputations.

Persons of the other type, however, with nothing to lose, make
up the bulk of the jail population. Such individuals, as records
of repeating show, find a jail sentence quite bearable because it
offers them a bed, regular meals, warmth in winter, and the
companions they prefer without the necessity of working. The
truth is that the only kind of jail which can have any real deter-
rent effect on this class of offenders is one which provides good
hard work.

WERE THE SPRINGFIELD JAILS REFORMATIVE?

Conditions in the jails of Springfield not only were weakening
and corrupting prisoners but they were sending them out more
likely than before to be a danger to the community.

No physical examination was made, and unless prisoners were
acutely sick their physical needs received no attention. Prisoners
had no opportunity for exercise, and their already weakened
bodies became still weaker. Drunkards and victims of drug
habits were given no help in breaking their habit nor any kind of
a "cure."

Nothing was done for the mental training of prisoners, and
except occasional efforts at religious influence by outsiders, noth-
ing was done on the moral side. In fact each term of enforced
idleness made it less likely that the prisoner would become a self-
supporting, law-abiding citizen upon release.

271

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

First offenders received exactly the same treatment as long-
time offenders. Workingmen were serving time in enforced idle-
ness, while their muscles were growing flabby and their energy
was being sapped. Men and women free from venereal disease
were using toilets, bathtubs, and drinking cups in common with
others when the city physician estimated that 50 per cent of the
prisoners in both jails were infected with syphilis. Good girls and
women were thrown in with prostitutes. Young men who had
"pulled off" their first exploit were thrown into daily contact
with embezzlers, forgers, highway robbers, and murderers.

Such conditions and treatment are not reformative. But even
if the jails were of an entirely different sort and were designed
primarily for the regeneration of offenders, it is doubtful if a great
deal could be accomplished in the short periods for which most
prisoners were being confined. No one was sentenced for more
than six months, and 61 per cent received sentences of thirty days
or less. If the community is to receive protection through the
regeneration of law breakers, prisoners must not only be subjected
to upbuilding treatment but must receive it for a sufficient period
to make it reasonably effective. Therefore not only a new jail
system was needed but a new plan and a new purpose in sen-
tencing offenders.

Further, when prisoners left the jail they went back to their old
haunts, under the same conditions that caused arrest, without
help or guidance. In any plan for the development of a more
effective correctional system, some provision must be made for
parole supervision of released prisoners.

CONCLUSIONS REGARDING PRESENT METHODS
The conclusion is unavoidable that Springfield's correctional
methods were in large measure ineffective in protecting the com-
munity. The more important facts leading to the conclusion are
briefly:

Fines, the most used method, were employed in many instances
where in the very nature of the case they could not act as effective
deterrents. Nor were they effective as reformative agents.
Giving offenders a limited number of hours to leave town pro-

272

THE CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM

duced no results when other cities were also following the same
vicious practice.

Suspended sentences "pending good behavior," when used as
here without probationary supervision, were not particularly pro-
ductive of the desired results.

THE SPRINGFIELD

SURVEY

SPRINGFIELD

ILLINOIS

MURDERS AND SUICIDES, SPRINGFIELD, 1908-1913
A total of approximately 100 deaths.

Conditions in city and county jails were such that prisoners
were less likely to become law abiding citizens upon release than
they were when they entered.

18 273

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

Free board without work was not deterring prisoners of the re-
peater type. The short terms, moreover, made impossible any
adequate reformatory treatment, even had the jails been able to
give it. Failure to aid released prisoners was a distinct com-
munity neglect.

Springfield was relying upon only one means in trying to protect
itself. It was holding to the traditional belief in the deterrent
effect of punishment this to the utter neglect of efforts to fit
law breakers to lead normal lives. The call was clear for bringing
all means of protecting the community into play and for develop-
ing a correctional system which would furnish for each offender
treatment that not only might deter him from future law breaking
but develop in him law-abiding habits and a distaste for crime.

A NEW JAIL SYSTEM OUTLINED

For reconstruction of the jail system two alternatives deserved
consideration :

1. The state might be persuaded to undertake the care of mis-
demeanants in state institutions conveniently located near the
larger cities.

2. The city and county might take advantage of the Illinois
house of corrections act and unite in the establishment of an insti-
tution for the care of city and county prisoners.

STATE CARE OF MISDEMEANANTS

Authorities on criminology are pretty well united in believing
that the ultimate solution of the problem of handling misdemean-
ants is to provide state institutions for their care, just as is done
for felons. As compared with county jails most state peniten-
tiaries and reformatories are of a superior type. Moreover, local
care in comparison is grossly extravagant. If the state of Illinois
can be persuaded to undertake the care of misdemeanants in state
institutions, that would, we believe, be the best solution of the
jail problem. Instead of the 102 county jails caring for mis-
demeanants a quarter that many state district jails for the deten-
tion of persons pending trial, none of them larger than the average
county jail, and perhaps three or possibly four state institutions
for misdemeanants confined on sentence, would better serve the

274

THE CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM

needs. There should be a woman's reformatory, and two or three
farm institutions for male offenders, one to be located near
Chicago and the other one or two to be located so as to serve
adequately the central and southern parts of the state.

If, however, the state declines to undertake the care of mis-
demeanants, Springfield and Sangamon County should unite in
an endeavor to provide for prisoners locally in a more adequate
manner.

A SPRINGFIELD HOUSE OF CORRECTION

A state law enacted as long ago as 1870 provides for the estab-
lishment of houses of correction by municipalities. Another
statute authorizes cities to purchase not to exceed 40 acres out-
side of the city limits for the purpose of establishing houses of
correction. These statutes together form an excellent basis for
the development of a correctional institution of the right kind.
Plans for the development of a house of correction were laid by
the Springfield City Commission in 1913, but the project was
never completed. In order that prevailing jail conditions should
continue no longer than absolutely necessary we would recom-
mend new legislation and action for the completion of these plans.
Whether, however, the jail situation is to be met locally or by the
state there are certain standards representative of the best and
most recent thought which should govern the development and
management of institutions for misdemeanants and other petty
offenders. The more important details follow:

CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTIONAL STANDARDS

1. The institution should be located in the country where farm
work will be available for prisoners.

2. The superintendent should be a man of good business ability
who has also an understanding of prisoners' needs. A salary ade-
quate to attract a thoroughly capable man should be offered, for
a poorly qualified superintendent will prove a great extravagance
in the long run.

3. Besides the superintendent there should be in control of the
institution a matron, if women are to be detained, an agriculturist,
and guards, the last named being selected for their ability to take
charge of blacksmith, tailor, shoe, carpenter, or other shops and to
teach the prisoners trades.

275

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

4. There should be also a special institution physician, paid and
required to give adequate time to the work, and a trained nurse in
charge of the hospital ward. In large institutions a corps of
physicians who are specialists and more than one nurse are nec-
essary.

5. Buildings should he durable and fireproof and should pro-
vide a separate room for each prisoner with plenty of light and
air, and warmth in winter. The women's ward, if women are to
be held, and that for men, should be entirely separate. There
should also be four divisions of each ward to permit separation of
prisoners whom it is not desirable to confine together.

6. The building for the housing of prisoners should furnish,
besides sleeping quarters, a dining room suitable also as an
assembly room a kitchen, modern laundry, hospital ward, and
a bathroom (with shower baths only). In addition to this main
building and those for farm purposes, quarters for shop work to
aid in the upkeep of the institution and to give prisoners employ-
ment during the winter months should also be provided.

7. Buildings should be constructed as far as possible by the
prisoners. The feasibility of this has been repeatedly demon-
strated. It will save the taxpayers money and furnish wholesome
work for the men.

8. When prisoners are received they should be given a bath
and supplied with institution clothes of plain, durable material
,(not striped). Their own clothes should be taken from them to
be sterilized, patched, and pressed so that when released, prisoners
may be presentable candidates for work.

9. As soon after arrival as possible prisoners should receive a
thorough physical examination, and definite treatment should be
prescribed when needed. If the institution physician himself is
not fitted to handle unusual cases, consulting physicians should
be called in. Too much emphasis cannot be placed upon physical
treatment, for a sound body is the first essential to regenera-
tion.

10. Special attention should be given to administering the
cure to victims of the liquor or drug habits. Every precaution
should be taken to make sure that while in the institution prison-
ers do not receive supplies of either drugs or liquor unless on the
physician's prescription.

11. Provisions should be made for religious and other educa-
tional instruction. In local institutions the former may generally
be had without expense if churches of different denominations are
invited to supply regular religious instruction to prisoners of their

276

THE CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM

faith, while the latter may well be furnished by the board of edu-
cation as a part of the regular evening school work.

12. Food for prisoners should be wholesome and adequate.
Needless to say, the exact expense of feeding and no more should
be paid for by the government. The New York State Prison
Commission is wisely recommending the use of crockery dishes
in all jails and penal institutions because of their effect in stimu-
lating the self-respect of prisoners.

13. Work for prisoners should include fruit growing, truck gar-
dening, stock raising, dairying, and other kinds of farm work;
brick making, quarrying, possibly canning, besides other work
necessary in the upkeep and management of the institution.
Women prisoners, if kept there, may be employed in farm work
and in making clothing. The problem of finding work for men in
the winter may be met in part by reserving improvements in
buildings and equipment for winter months, and in part by quarry
work which may be carried on in cold weather. The construction
and improvement of the institution will provide excellent work
for several years.

14. As far as possible men should be assigned to perform the
kinds of work for which their physical and mental capacities best
fit them. A man desiring to be a carpenter should, if qualified for
the work, be put in the carpenter shop. Those with anemia or
weak lungs should be sent out of doors.

15. No contract labor scheme should be entered into, and as far
as possible competition with outside labor should be avoided.

1 6. The products of the institution should as far as possible
supply not only the institution's needs but those of other city,
county, or state departments.

17. There is considerable opinion favoring the payment of regu-
lar wages to prisoners after deducting the cost of their keep. It
is claimed that this not only leads to greater productiveness on
their part but tends to increase self-respect, which is perhaps the
community's greatest protection from law breaking. It also pre-
vents prisoners' families from suffering while they are confined,
or supplies prisoners themselves with small funds to tide over the
precarious days without work immediately following release.

1 8. A careful cost-accounting system should be developed for
each department of the institution. All goods disposed of to
other departments of the city, county, or state governments,
should be credited to the institution at market prices, and an
annual report should be published showing both financial results
and results obtained in fitting prisoners for normal life.

277

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

TEMPORARY DETENTION

The establishment of state care or of a farm institution will
not, of course, provide for persons who need to be held tempora-
rily, pending trial, awaiting transportation to the institution in

which they are to serve
their sentences, or
awaiting the action of
the grand jury. For
this purpose the main-
tenance of two jails
would be a needless
extravagance, and if
possible some method
should be worked out
by which the county
jail, which was supe-
rior in physical equip-
Sment to the city jail,
ILLINOIS PENITENTIARIES fj could be used,

prisoners are confined on '
indeterminate sentences

The penitentiary authorities

decide when prisoners

are fit for freedom

INDETERMINATE
SENTENCES

When is a prisoner
fit to be set free?

Thejudge at the trial
can weigh the single deed
but he carit weigh the whole man

If indeterminate sentences
are good for serious offences
they're even better
for minor ones

INDETERMINATE SEN-
TENCE

However upbuild-
ing a jail may be, its
success in regenerat-
ing offenders will be
hampered unless pris-
oners are sentenced
for sufficient periods
to permit effective
treatment. For this
reason, as has already
been indicated, jail

sentences in Springfield were too short. At the time, however,
nothing could be gained by subjecting offenders for longer periods,
but under a new jail system sentences would need to be lengthened
before any effective work of regeneration could be carried on.

278

INDETERMINATE SENTENCES
Panel from Springfield Survey Exhibition.

THE CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM

For the protection of the community, no sentences are better
than those indeterminate in length, which permit the holding
of prisoners until there is some likelihood of their making good
when given their freedom. With some exceptions persons guilty
of felonies were committed to the Illinois penitentiaries for inde-
terminate periods, and if such sentences were desirable for them,
how much more so for those guilty of less serious offenses and
among whom the possibility of reform was consequently greater.
With the development of better jail facilities there is therefore
every reason for applying the indeterminate sentence to mis-
demeanants.

The existing indeterminate sentence laws set a maximum term
beyond which a prisoner might not be held, and a minimum to
be completed before he might be paroled. Restrictions on inde-
terminate sentences applied to misdemeanants, however, should
differ from those which applied to felons. It would probably
be wise to give the board with paroling power authority to re-
lease a prisoner on parole at any time after commitment when,
in its judgment, he or she gives satisfactory evidence of a purpose
and ability to live at liberty without violating the law. It would
also be wise to have a graduated maximum term dependent upon
the number of times the prisoner has been convicted.

PAROLE SUPERVISION

Even with upbuilding jails and indeterminate sentences, work
for the regeneration of the prisoner will often break down if
prisoners are sent from the jail with no help or supervision.
Quite often the offender has lost his job and needs to find employ-
ment ; often he needs a new environment and different associates
or friendly encouragement in his effort to make good. If correc-
tional work is really to put offenders on their feet, help and direc-
tion to released prisoners must be given and a parole depart-
ment with capable, paid parole officers should be established.

The failure of the state law to provide for the paroling of mis-
demeanants, when such methods were almost universally ad-
mitted to be successful and were already being used in dealing
with those guilty of felonies, was but another example of the
neglect to which those guilty of minor offenses have been subject.

279

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

ADULT PROBATION NEEDS

Thus far we have dealt with the treatment of law breakers
requiring institutional treatment. A majority of offenders, as
has been shown, were fined instead of being sent to jail. We have
recommended, however, the abandonment of the general use of
fines. What, then, should take its place? The answer is pro-
bation of a sort that will mean another chance under the
guidance of an officer whose business is to do all in his power to
help offenders keep the law.

But there were no paid probation officers for adults in Spring-
field, and those persons placed on probation by the county and
circuit courts were placed under the care of volunteer officers,
often relatives or friends. While volunteers are undoubtedly
of great service, the best results are obtained through trained
officers or when volunteers work under the direction of paid
probation officers.

Under the provisions of the Illinois law it was possible to
appoint one probation officer. If probation should largely re-
place petty fines, Springfield would need not less than three pro-
bation officers to serve the county and circuit courts, the city
magistrate, and the justices of the peace. The present statute
provided also that the chief officer should receive $1,200 a year,
and other officers $800. These amounts were even then too low
considering the qualifications needed. There was need, there-
fore, for amendments which should not only permit the employ-
ment of a larger number of officers but allow the payment of more
adequate salaries.

The statute restricted the use of probation and permitted it
only when the offense fell within certain specified groups. In
order to obtain the most beneficial results it would seem wiser
if courts were given entire discretion in the use of probation, for
experience has shown that they are inclined to be conservative
and are very unlikely to abuse such power.

REORGANIZATION OF MINOR COURTS AND REVISION OF

SENTENCES

Under the minor court system of Springfield the city magis-
trate and five justices of the peace had concurrent jurisdiction in

o8n

THE CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM

all criminal actions punishable by a fine of $200 or less. An
offender would first come before one justice, then before another,
each dealing with him in his own way, regardless of the plan of the
others. In a number of cases in 1913, offenders were fined large
amounts by one justice and given suspended sentences pending
good behavior, only to receive fines much smaller than the
suspended ones when brought before another justice on new
charges. It is obvious, under these circumstances, that no
effective constructive program could be put into operation.

Unfortunately the salaries and honors attached to lower court
judgeships are generally small and the qualifications do not even
include legal training. Since the lower courts for the great ma-
jority of citizens who cannot afford the excessive costs of appeals
are, in fact, courts of last resort, it is highly important that the
standards there prevailing should be more nearly equal to those
of the higher courts than they were.

The justice of the peace system is a relic of a more or less
pioneer period of small communities which in Springfield had
ceased to exist. The law permitted cities to establish city courts,
but these had concurrent jurisdiction with circuit courts and did
not replace justice of the peace and city magistrate's courts.
Neither did they solve the minor court problem. The Municipal
Court Act of Chicago offered the best suggestion for new legisla-
tion to meet the situation. This act provided for the abolition
of city magistrates and justices of the peace in Chicago, and gave
the municipal court jurisdiction in all criminal cases in which
punishment was by fine, or imprisonment otherwise than in the
penitentiary, and in all other criminal cases which the laws in
force from time to time might permit to be prosecuted in other
ways than on indictment by a grand jury.

A municipal court of this type for Springfield would offer
definite advantages over the prevailing system, as follows:

1. It would permit the outlining and carrying out of a careful
plan for the treatment of each offender.

2. It would tend to attract to the bench men of a superior
type.

3. It would command more respect from the public and from
law breakers than the present system. This is especially impor-

281

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

tant if the correctional activities are to aim at the regeneration of
offenders.

4. It would abolish the current pernicious system by which the
city magistrate and justices received their remuneration from the
fees they were able to collect.

The fact is worth noting that under the fee system the justice
ordinarily receives nothing if the person is set free. There is a
temptation to find people guilty whenever possible. Moreover,
entries in the police docket for 1913 show that justices sometimes
went so far as to collect fees for cases dismissed, for cases bound
over to the grand jury, and for others in which no charges had
been proved.

COURT SENTENCES

Under these proposed changes in correctional methods court
sentences will need to be altered to suit the new conditions. It
will be more important to provide treatment that will transform
the offender into a law observer than to find suitable punishment.
Fines will be restricted to minor offenses which do not indicate
well-grounded delinquent tendencies. Cases which are not
serious and are likely to respond to probation will be put under the
care of the probation officer. If the case is more serious and the
offender needs special treatment he will be sent to an institution
where every influence is wholesome and where physically, at the
very least, he may prepare himself to take up a normal life. His
term, moreover, will be largely dependent upon the changes
brought about. When he goes out he will be a presentable candi-
date for a job and will have the advice and help of a parole officer
in re-establishing himself, with the necessity, if he fails to do so,
of returning to the institution. As a means for community pro-
tection from law breakers the superiority of this proposed treat-
ment over that then operating must be evident.

SPECIAL LEGISLATIVE INQUIRY RECOMMENDED
Conditions which were found defective in the correctional
system of Springfield were not unique but were fairly repre-
sentative of the situation throughout the state. In fact many of
the most fundamental weaknesses of prevailing methods were

282

THE CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM

traceable more to state than local regulations and could be elimin-
ated only through state action . We were convinced , therefore, that
in spite of improvements in correctional methods which might and
should be brought about through the activities of Springfield
people, still greater results could be secured if inquiry into Illinois
correctional methods could be conducted on a state-wide scale.

The survey therefore recommended that the people of Spring-
field seek the support of those interested in correctional reform
in Chicago and other parts of the state, in an endeavor to have the
legislature establish a commission to investigate methods used in
the handling of petty offenders throughout the state. Such an
investigation would enable the citizens of Illinois to establish
substantial improvements in their correctional system and thus
to go far in eliminating those weaknesses handed down from past
generations and which are the common inheritance of all the
states.

THE HANDLING OF JUVENILE DELINQUENTS

COMPLAINTS AGAINST CHILDREN

The attitude of the state toward children who break the law
is entirely different from its attitude toward adult offenders. De-
linquent children are not dealt with under the criminal law, but
are, to quote the juvenile court act, "considered as wards of this
state subject to the care, guardianship, and control of the court."
The endeavor is not to punish, but to protect them from growing
up to lives of crime, and the important consideration is not so
much whether a specific act of delinquency has been committed,
as whether, by assuming guardianship over a child, the court
may save it from further delinquency.

Springfield had recognized the possibility of constructive work
with juvenile offenders to the extent of designating a special
policeman known as the humane officer, establishing a juvenile
court and detention home, and employing a juvenile probation
officer. But for one cause or another the benefits reasonably to
be hoped for from these provisions had not been fully realized.
Radical changes were not needed, however, so much as strength-
ening the work already established.

283

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

As compared with the number of adult offenders, juvenile
offenders were few, only 71 children having been brought before
the Sangamon County juvenile court in the fifteen months before
the survey. Most complaints against children in Springfield
were made by citizens not to the court directly but to the police
department. They were then investigated by the humane
officer, who made arrests when he thought cases warranted it.
Arrested children were then taken to police headquarters in some
instances in the patrol wagon. Here their names were formally
entered upon the police docket along with those of adult offenders,
and they were lodged in the annex of the county jail. As far as
the police department was concerned, children were treated as if
they were adult offenders, and no appreciation of the state's
attitude toward such children was apparent.

Cases in which complaints were made by the humane officer
were, in 1913, greater in number than cases coming before the
juvenile court through any other channel. We believe, however,
that the practice of having so many complaints pass through the
hands of the police before reaching the juvenile court was an error
in procedure. Except in cases in which there is danger that
children may run away, the police department should refer cases
to the juvenile court without making arrest, and thus permit the
probation officer to investigate whether court action is necessary.
When immediate arrest is necessary the police should take chil-
dren to the detention home for confinement.

DETENTION OF CHILDREN

Delinquent children, like adults, often need to be held tem-
porarily pending hearing of their cases or waiting transportation
to state schools. Although the city provided a detention home
for children, the real detention home of Springfield was the
annex of the county jail. Here, in 1913, 203 children were held,
most of them delinquents, while only 42 children were kept in the
detention home.

THE COUNTY JAIL ANNEX

The annex of the county jail was bare, cold, and unattractive,
with barred windows and doors, a typical "jail." In the six

284

THE CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM

rooms that it contained there were five beds, and many times,
boys, if not girls, were forced to sleep on the floor ; on a certain
night 1 8 persons were known to have been confined in the build-
ing. There were no toilets in the rooms and when persons were
locked in them, buckets served the purpose. The rooms were

SANGAMON COUNTY JAIL ANNEX, SPRINGFIELD

In this building were held children, insane persons, and those with delirium
tremens. On crowded days it was impossible to provide adequate segregation.
Since the county was paying out money for a detention home, supposedly for
the detention of delinquent children, there was no excuse for keeping delin-
quent children here under the disgraceful conditions which existed.

Seventy-eight insane persons and 88 suffering with acute alcoholism were
held here in 1913 some as long as twenty days. Neither the insane nor alco-
holics should be detained in such a place; instead, they should receive hospital
care until the state provides sufficiently for their treatment.

separated only by bars, and persons confined in one room could
readily see into the others.

On crowded days, even though the authorities were careful in
their efforts, it would be impossible to provide adequate segrega-

285

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

tion. As it was, boys and girls the investigation showed that
some were as young as nine years were confined with insane
persons, those with delirium tremens (generally the last stage of
degradation), and occasionally a sick prisoner suffering from some
other trouble. The presence among these children of the insane
and alcoholics was not a chance happening but the rule. No
amusement was provided for the children who were being held
for periods of several days, a few as long as a week, ten days, or a
fortnight, and one boy for thirty-seven days. The matron of the
jail and annex was on duty during the day, but at night, when a
woman was most needed, a male keeper was in charge.

Such conditions, which offend common decency, were inex-
cusable. Perhaps the least inexcusable thing was that children
were being confined in such quarters, when the county was
paying for a detention home for those boys under seventeen and
girls under eighteen years of age who came under the jurisdiction
of the juvenile court.

THE DETENTION HOME

The detention home was a seven-room residence in a good state
of repair, but not suitable for a city the size of Springfield. An
experienced woman superintendent, with an assistant, seemed
to be making the best of the building facilities and providing as
good care of the children as the circumstances permitted. The
place was clean and homelike, the children neat and apparently
happy.

The facilities, however, did not permit proper classification of
the children. Although the usual sex classification was observed,
it had been impossible to classify by age groups or to separate
dependent and delinquent children. It was also difficult, if not
impossible, to hold children who might try to run away.

The detention home could not provide treatment of an educa-
tional or reformative character which institutions holding de-
linquent children for more than temporary periods are expected
to provide. The court continued, however, to use it for purposes
of more than temporary detention; five out of eight delinquent
boys were detained two months or more, two being held more than
a year, one as long as nineteen months, while quite a number of

286

THE CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM

dependent children were held more than a month, and nine more
than two months.

Under the arrangement at the time the superintendent of the
home and her assistant received $50 a month each, also whatever
they could save out of the regular appropriation of $75 a month
for maintenance, which did not vary whether there were one or a
dozen children to be kept. This allowance of a stipulated sum
for monthly expenses and for which the superintendent did not
give account, was thoroughly vicious, and while we do not believe
it led to abuse by the superintendent then in charge, it offered a
constant temptation to economize at the expense of the children.
Such an arrangement sooner or later is almost certain to lead to
abuse of a serious nature.

Briefly, the detention home, while well administered by the
superintendent, was not serving its purpose and was not fitted
to do so; and conditions in the jail annex where most delinquent
children were held, as we have seen were unspeakably bad. The
county was thus maintaining two inadequate institutions, when
one, organized and administered on right lines, could serve the
same purpose a great deal better and at probably no greater
expense.

The abandonment of the practice of holding children in the
annex of the county jail and the provision of an adequate deten-
tion home were recommended. For the acquirement and man-
agement of such a home, suggestions were offered as follows:

1. The home should be planned and managed as a place for
temporary detention, not for institutional care.

2. It is desirable not to have delinquent and dependent chil-
dren housed in the same institution, and if arrangements can be
made by which the Home for the Friendless will hold dependent
children temporarily, pending their disposition by the court, the
detention home should be planned for delinquent children only.
Otherwise it should be planned for delinquents and dependents.

3. The home should provide for the holding of all delinquent
boys up to seventeen years and delinquent girls up to eighteen
years of age.

4. Building a new detention home rather than remodeling
some present structure is recommended. The money is avail-
able, the voters having given consent to a one per cent tax levy
for the purpose, and a more satisfactory home will thus be ob-

287

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

tained. It also will be economy for the county to own the home
rather than to rent, for this is to be a permanent county insti-
tution.

5. The home should be located, if possible, within six or eight
blocks of police headquarters and the sheriff's office, so that it
will be conveniently accessible.

6. Plans for the building should provide a section for boys and
one for girls entirely apart from each other. A separate sleeping
room, which need not be large, should be provided for each child.
There should also be in each section a dining room, a living room,
and a bathroom with shower baths only. Quarters will also need
to be supplied for those in charge of the home, and it will be ad-
vantageous if provisions for juvenile court hearings can be made.

7. If the home is maintained for delinquents only, it should be
planned to accommodate not less than 10 boys and five girls.
The number will usually run much below this figure, but pro-
vision should be made to meet emergencies and future needs.

8. As far as possible the institution should have the appearance
of a home rather than a jail, and should therefore be attractively
and comfortably furnished. It will be necessary, to prevent
escapes, to cover the windows with heavy wire screening firmly
fastened on. Bars should not be used. Adequate locks should
be provided on all doors, also hinges of a kind which cannot be
removed. All these features should, however, be as unobtrusive
as possible.

9. Children who have passed the age of adolescence should be
kept apart from other children, save when one of those in charge
of the institution is present.

10. A yard at the rear, extensive enough to permit play,
should be enclosed with a high board fence, with in-turned barb
wiring at the top to prevent ready scaling, so that in good weather
children may enjoy outdoor exercise.

11. There should be in charge of the institution not only a
house mother to look after the girls, but a house father to look
after the boys. In fact the latter is absolutely necessary to care
for older delinquent boys. The present policy of having trained
persons in charge of the home deserves to be continued.

12. The superintendent of the home should be required to keep
a record showing the name, sex, age, and address of each child
detained, the cause of detention, the day and hour received, the
person received from, and the person discharged to. A record
now kept by the probation officer gives most of this information,
but it should be kept by the manager of the home as required by
law. When the present record book is used up, a card catalog
should replace it.

288

THE CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM

13. Accurate financial records should be kept, as required by
law, and the exact expense of the home should be borne by the
county.

THE SANGAMON COUNTY JUVENILE COURT

From January I, 1913, to April I, 1914, the docket of the
Sangamon County juvenile court showed that 71 children had
been brought before the court charged with delinquency. Con-
ditions found and recommendations made with regard to the
juvenile court may be briefly summarized as follows:

Court dockets showed marked carelessness in the records of
children's cases. That the court see that the names and dis-
position of all cases of children coming before it are entered fully
upon the court docket was recommended.

The judge reserved Saturday mornings only for juvenile
hearings. This necessitated holding some of the children for
several days in the county jail annex or the detention home,
awaiting the convenience of the court. We recommend that
an hour each on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays be set
apart regularly for the hearing of juvenile cases.

Most of the hearings, held in the judge's chambers, were in-
formal and private, as they should be. In four instances, how-
ever, attorneys were present and in one of these there was a trial
by jury, a most undesirable procedure. We recommend that the
court do all in its power to discourage the employment of attor-
neys and trial by jury in juvenile cases.

An unfortunate condition in Springfield was the newspaper
publicity given to children's cases. Among their companions
this often makes delinquent boys heroes, while on the other hand,
it injures their good name, and often injures their chance of
getting employment. Since accounts of childish exploits and
misfortunes have no news value, newspapers in many cities have
agreed to omit such items. We recommend that the court in
person request the owners and editors of newspapers to refrain
from publishing items regarding the delinquency of children.

The state legislature had empowered the court to appoint pro-
bation officers to investigate and furnish such information and
assistance as the judge might require, but the probation officer
19 289

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

had never been requested to make a single investigation of this
kind. Most decisions of the court had been without adequate

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JUVENILE OFFENDERS IN THE SPRINGFIELD PRESS
Publicity of this kind hinders efforts of court and probation officer to save
children from lives of crime. In some cities newspaper editors have agreed not
to publish articles on child delinquency.

knowledge regarding the children's homes, their school records,
health, use of leisure time, employment, or other matters which

290

THE CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM

throw light upon the causes of wrong-doing; or regarding the
constructive forces which might be brought to bear, such as
interested friends or relatives, churches, or boys' clubs. A de-
tailed study made of several cases where lack of information led
to mistaken or inadequate treatment, illustrated the impossi-
bility of meeting or understanding children's needs without more
facts than the court was getting.

To correct this situation, before any case is disposed of, a
report should be required from the probation officer showing as
fully as possible the cause of the child's delinquency and the
constructive forces which might be brought into play; and fur-
ther, the court should examine the facts presented in such report
with great care and decide the disposition of each child on the
basis of the kind of treatment that will tend most strongly to
prevent the child from committing further acts of delinquency.

In some cases boys were transferred to the jurisdiction of the
circuit court for indictment by the grand jury. Since the ju-
venile court had authority to commit boys to state industrial
schools and reformatories or to place them upon probation, there
was no need or excuse for bringing them into contact with the
criminal machinery of adults. The court should refuse to allow
any child coming under its jurisdiction to be proceeded against
according to ordinary criminal procedure.

There were instances recorded where it seemed that juvenile
offenders were placed under the guardianship of persons con-
cerning whose character and ability the court had little informa-
tion. We would recommend that when delinquent children are
placed in private homes rather than in institutions, the court
insure by having careful investigation made that the homes
selected are entirely above question.

In neglecting to utilize the possibilities of conditional proba-
tion, such, for example, as the restoration of property destroyed,
the court had apparently overlooked an important means for
helping delinquent children. Our recommendation was that use
be made of conditional probation where it seemed desirable,
and that the probation officer be required to see that the condi-
tions imposed were fully complied with. Further, if probation
to parents is resorted to at all, it should be used only when homes

291

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

have been proved satisfactory and when children's delinquent
acts have been casual mishaps, not likely to be repeated.

There is a growing belief among juvenile court authorities
that more satisfactory results will be obtained if cases of de-
linquent girls are heard by women. Whenever the court deems
a woman probation officer fitted by character and experience to
perform the function, it was recommended that she be assigned
to act as referee in cases of delinquent girls.

JUVENILE PROBATION WORK

Juvenile probation work, as has been seen, is intimately con-
nected with the work of the juvenile court and directly under
court supervision. A detailed study of it in Springfield indicated
that in many ways conditions were far from satisfactory. This
was due to four main causes:

1. The work had not been properly organized or administered,
the court not requiring the degree of efficiency which should be
demanded. To remedy the weakness of organization the court
should adopt and enforce rules laying down the duties of the
probation officer in detail. A set of such rules is presented in
Appendix C of the full report here summarized. 1

2. There were four successive officers in 1913, which thoroughly
disorganized the work.

3. The officer at the time was, when appointed, without pre-
vious training to fit her for the position and had never been
adequately instructed in the duties of the office.

To remedy the difficulties in the way of efficient service and
to prevent their recurrence, it was recommended that the county
board of supervisors raise the salary of the first probation officer
to $100 a month to attract persons of experience a figure which
would now need to be still further increased. In order to secure
probation officers who are at least fairly well fitted for the posi-
tion and familiar with the duties, a competitive examination
should be given, open to residents and non-residents. The
judge should pledge himself to appoint one of the three persons
standing highest in the ratings.

1 Potter, Zenas L. : The Correctional System of Springfield, Illinois. (The
Springfield Survey.)

292

THE CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM

4. The tasks falling to the lot of the officer were greater than
could be performed, even by a trained person, with the degree
of thoroughness which the work required.

The probation officer was being asked to perform the following
tasks: (a) probation work with delinquent and neglected chil-
dren; (b) investigation of petitions filed under the Widows'
Pension Law; (c) record keeping for these two kinds of work;
(d) keeping of detention home records; (e) answering telephone
for the court and for the court stenographer.

The first duty was imposed by law and could not be escaped.
The second was placed by law upon "some officer of the court,"
the probation officer being the most logical person to perform it.
The third was a necessary accompaniment to the adequate per-
formance of the first two. But it was possible to shift the last
two, one to the superintendent of the detention home where it
properly belonged, the other to the court stenographer or bailiff.
Such action should be ordered by the court. But even if a little
time could thus be saved, the duties of the probation officer in
supervising the children, investigating probation and widows'
pension cases, and keeping adequate records made more work
than one person could perform satisfactorily.

There was only one way to change the condition and that was
by the employment of a second probation officer. The county
board of supervisors, upon the recommendation of the judge,
was empowered by law to provide for the appointment of a
second probation officer. The survey strongly recommended
that this power be used, that the salary of the second officer be
fixed at a figure which would secure the proper qualifications,
and that he or she be assigned to handle, under the supervision
of the other paid officer, that part of the work which deals with
widows' pensions. Without the adoption of this suggestion there
was no way in which the probation work for children, with all
its possibilities for crime prevention, might efficiently be car-
ried on.

LEGISLATIVE AND ADMINISTRATIVE NEEDS
The Illinois Juvenile Court Act, as amended by the legisla-
ture of 1907, was one of the best in the country. It provided for

293

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

civil, not criminal, procedure. It granted the court jurisdiction
over all delinquent, dependent, and neglected boys under seven-
teen years of age and girls under eighteen years. It constituted
the judge of the county court also judge of the juvenile court,
except in Cook County in which Chicago is situated, so that
children of smaller places were protected from contact with
ordinary criminal procedure. It authorized the court to appoint
one or more paid probation officers.

In certain respects, however, the law could be improved.
Tentative drafts of amendments that would do this and increase
the effectiveness of the court will be found in the original of the
report here summarized.

These amendments provide for the release of children who
need not be detailed during court hearing; prevent children from
coming into contact with adult offenders by providing proper
places of detention ; place definitely upon the court the duty of
making rules for the proper organization of its work; provide
the court with adequate funds for forms and blanks necessary
for its efficient conduct; and assure the publication of an annual
report so as to bring the largest public interest to bear upon the
important task of caring for delinquent and dependent children.

Other amendments suggested define in detail the duties and
powers of probation officers ; provide a means by which cases of
delinquent girls may be heard and decided by a woman; also
provide means by which the court may discover the physical
needs of children; and when parents cannot or will not provide
adequate treatment, a way by which such treatment may be
secured.

THE POLICE DEPARTMENT

SIZE OF THE FORCE

The Springfield police department in April, 1914, was made
up of 52 persons, all men. There were 34 patrolmen, 8 detec-
tives, 3 patrol wagon drivers, 3 alarm operators, 3 sergeants, and
the chief. As compared with police forces of cities of approxi-
mately the same size, Springfield's force was below the average
in numbers; in fact it was a quarter smaller than the average

294

THE CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM

force for the 16 American cities having from 53,000 to 63,000
inhabitants.

DEPARTMENT CONTROL

Control of the police department was nominally vested in the
commissioner of public health and safety, who appointed the"
chief. Other members of the force were selected through exami-
nations by the city civil service commission, which, except in
cases of promotion, certified a single name for each appointment.
Those so appointed might be removed by the chief within six
months without review. After six months, tenure of office was
secure unless a member was removed by the civil service com-
mission. That commission, therefore, through its power to con-
trol selections and removals, determined to a greater extent than
the chief or commissioner of public health and safety the make-
up of the department, and in this way to a considerable extent
controlled its policy.

The commission, however, is appointed by the mayor, so that
control of police affairs in large measure is divided between the
mayor and the commissioner of public health and safety. In
another particular, also, responsibility was divided. While law
enforcement in saloons and other licensed places was in the
hands of the commissioner of public health and safety, the mayor
issued licenses and had the power to revoke them, which was one
of the penalties attaching to violations of the law by saloon
keepers. The result was that responsibility for law enforcement
might easily be obscured.

Direct control of the Springfield police department, where
definite accountability of one official is more needed than in any
other municipal department, should be returned to the mayor,
where it formerly rested. By such action only, under the city
charter, could responsibility in police affairs be definitely fixed.

SELECTION OF THE FORCE

The most important factor in securing efficiency in the police
department is the appointment of competent candidates. To
attract men capable not only of seizing law breakers and taking
them to jail but also able to help in a program of crime preven-

295

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

tion, men who cannot easily be led into alliance with law-break-
ing elements but who can gain and hold the respect of law break-
ers and the community, the city must pay adequate salaries with
increases for long and efficient service.

Springfield was seeking $75-a-month men for her police force,
with no chance of advancement except that of becoming a ser-
geant at $85 a month. The result was that the city was attract-
ing to her police force men who graded in ability below the
skilled mechanic and not much above the unskilled laborer.

FITTING MEN FOR DUTY

Another way of securing greater efficiency is to use every means
of fitting men for their duties. There were opportunities in this
direction which Springfield had not utilized. If it does not seem
practicable to have recruit schools similar to those in larger
cities, new members of the force might be given instruction in
first aid, in crime prevention, in the primary facts of sex hygiene,
in legal evidence, how to present their cases in court, and ways
in which the police may co-operate with other public and private
agencies. At the time, new recruits'merely patroled their beat
a few days with other patrolmen and absorbed knowledge of
these matters as best they could.

APPEARANCE OF THE FORCE

The appearance of Springfield's force was by no means bad,
but by requiring uniform neckwear and providing in headquarters
for the men a shoe-polishing stand and equipment for pressing
uniforms, improvement could easily be made.

DISCIPLINE AND HONORS

Discipline in Springfield was divided between the chief and
the civil service commission, and consisted of reprimands, fines,
and dismissals. Under the chief then serving, no nonreviewable
penalties had been inflicted, and but two of many charges against
officers by private citizens were pressed. There was marked in-
difference to charges of an alliance between the police force and
the segregated district one of the most serious charges that

296

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could be made against the department and an investigation was
requested by the men accused.

For the reward of meritorious service no system of honors was
in use by the department. Such a system is a stimulus to esprit
de corps and good service and may also be used effectively as a
disciplinary means revocation of honors being attached to vio-
lation of police rules. The plan of granting arm bands, stars,
or other insignia for each year of meritorious service or for special
acts of courage is worthy of adoption.

EFFICIENCY RECORD

If the requirements of the police book of rules had been met,
28 different record books would have been kept by the police
department. As a matter of fact, only one, an arrest and dis-
position book was kept. The survey recommended keeping the
following records: (i) efficiency record book; (2) book of lost,
stolen, and recovered property; (3) complaint book, showing all
complaints received, with action taken whether against members
of the force or other citizens. In addition, files for correspon-
dence, daily reports, notices of persons wanted, and official
orders were desirable. Moreover, a new compilation of city
ordinances was greatly needed.

POLICE PENSIONS

For retirement of men who had seen long service, a police
pension fund was established under an act of the legislature of
1910 amended in 1913. The administration of the fund was in
the hands of a board of three, one appointed by the mayor, one
by the police, and one by the pensioners. Persons who might
receive pensions, together with amounts were:

1. Men retiring who have served on the force twenty years
receive one-half the last year's salary but not over $900 or under
$600. Retirement after twenty years' service is optional.

2. Men injured while on duty receive, until reinstated, grants
at the same rate as those retiring.

3. Widows, and children under sixteen, of men killed in per-
formance of duties, receive the same amounts as men retiring.

4. Widows, and children under sixteen, of men who have

297

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

served ten years and die or become insane, receive one-half of
above amount but not over $900.

The purpose of this law was admirable, but the law itself was
an example of very bad legislation.

In the first place, men who have served on the force twenty
years may be perfectly competent to continue as wage-earners.
They may in fact, if they began work early, be just in the prime
of life. There is no reason why a policeman should retire with an
annuity if he is still able to serve the city. Under the law, at
that time, 19 of Springfield's 51 policemen would be eligible to
retire when under fifty years of age 6 of them under forty-five
and be paid $600 a year by the public the rest of their lives.
The state law should be at once amended to make this impos-
sible.

A second bad feature was that it created a financial tie between
the police department and tne saloons. The heaviest contribu-
tion to the pension fund came from the payment of licenses; thus
the fund was largely dependent upon the continuance of the
saloons of the city.

The law was bad, finally, because it violated a principle of
sound public finance, making, without data on how it would fit
the need, a set appropriation to a fund the demands upon which
will vary from year to year. It would be infinitely wiser and more
satisfactory if the state law, instead of diverting certain revenues
from the city treasury to the pension fund, were to require the
city to pay annually from the general revenues pensions to mem-
bers of the police force who have been retired according to the
pension law. Should it be deemed advisable to have a reserve
fund planned on an actuarial basis to meet accident emergencies,
this also could be raised in the same way. Under this arrange-
ment, too, men could continue to contribute 1.5 per cent of their
salaries for pensions, demands being met from these contribu-
tions until such amounts were exhausted. It was strongly recom-
mended by the survey that efforts be made to have the state
law in this particular amended.

We also recommend that the police pension board make a
better disposition of the pension fund of $19,849.77 (April, 1914)

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than that of deposit in a city bank at an interest rate as low as
2.5 per cent.

POLICE POLICY : THE MAKING OF ARRESTS
That every person found breaking the law should be arrested
is a commonly accepted point of view which in practice is never
followed. Policemen do and should exercise discrimination in
making arrests. A warning, for instance, is sufficient for the con-
tractor who unwittingly obstructs the street, for the housewife
who dumps ashes within 10 feet of a building, or for others whose
violations are technical in nature. In cases of offenses against
chastity, property, the person, and some of the more serious
offenses against public policy, arrest should follow. To make the
distinction clear between minor and technical offenses and those
which indicate delinquent tendencies, it was recommended that
the chief of police definitely designate offenses for the commission
of which arrest must always be made. Since there is always
danger in the use of discretion by individual patrolmen, care
should be taken to insure the enforcement of these rules set up
by the chief and to insure the wise use of discretion.

CRIME PREVENTION AND POLICE POLICY TOWARD SALOONS

Prevention of crime by the elimination of conditions which
foster delinquency is the responsibility of the entire community,
but the police have an important part to play in preventing the
development of crime.

More careful regulation of dance halls and commercial amuse-
ment places was recommended in the recreational survey. 1 The
police department should enforce the ordinances passed for this
purpose. A policewoman to deal with such problems and assist
with female offenders would be of great service, and such an
appointment was recommended.

At the time of the survey when Springfield had some 220
saloons another opportunity for crime prevention lay in the
power of the police to regulate the conduct of the saloons and
to suppress to some extent at least vice, gambling, and the sale

J See Recreation in Springfield, Illinois, by Lee F. Hanmer and Clarence A.
Perry, pp. 5-22, 87.

299

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

of drugs. In enforcing laws governing these matters the Spring-
field police had shown great leniency.

On July i, 1914, the number of licensed saloons was reduced
from 220 to 198, the reduction being due mainly to business
laxity, though in a few cases keepers who were in the bad graces
of the police department did not apply for renewals. There had
been no policy of restricting the number of saloons in Springfield
and practically every person applying for a license could get one
upon making proper representations. Under the keen competi-
tion which existed, in order to keep going and pay the high
license fee every year saloon keepers were often led into other
activities than liquor selling, such as the introduction of gambling
devices or alliance with vice. Moreover, under the stress of
financial need the temptation to encourage drinking in artificial
ways, to sell to minors and habitual drunkards, and to break
other regulatory statutes was unusually great.

In 1913, 869 arrests were made in which drunkenness was
specifically charged, and these represented only a part of those
in which arrested persons were intoxicated. Eighty-six cases of
alcoholism were treated at the county jail. However, no arrests
were made during the year for selling liquor to minors or for
selling to confirmed drunkards. The Sunday closing law was a
dead letter. The need of more vigorous enforcement of regula-
tory laws and ordinances and of those prohibiting the sale of
liquor to confirmed drunkards, intoxicated persons, or to any
others in sufficient quantities to cause intoxication was quite
apparent. While this need, as far as it relates to local enforce-
ment, will presumably be greatly changed by national prohibition,
a certain amount of watchfulness and co-operation on the part
of the local authorities will still be desirable.

DRUGS

The use of cocaine, opium, and their derivatives, according to
statements of the jailers and the city physician, was common
in the underworld of Springfield. In view of the fact that the
use of drugs tends to weaken will power and make succumbing
to temptation easy, and also since it often leads to trickery,
forgery, or other illegal means to secure supplies of the drugs,

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the subject demands attention. In this connection the police
should co-operate in enforcing the recently enacted federal habit-
forming drug act which places restrictions upon the sale of such
drugs in Illinois.

POLICE ATTITUDE TOWARD VICE

Segregation rather than suppression was the policy of the
Springfield police department toward vice. But vice was not
entirely confined to the segregated district, for clandestine prosti-
tution flourished in many hotels and rooming houses.

In the district at the time of the survey, there were 33 recog-
nized houses of prostitution containing white women, with a
total of about 143 inmates, also a considerable number of Negro
houses with something like 60 inmates. It was estimated that
the total yearly earnings of recognized houses, black and white,
were between $140,000 and $185,000. The extent of the profits
of such traffic makes it clear why the suppression of commercial-
ized prostitution is so difficult.

When this investigation was begun the segregated district was
indicated by red lights, house names painted on the doors, and
soliciting from windows. Later, however, names were removed
and open soliciting and street walking were largely abolished.
Still later the district itself was abolished.

The two chief methods of dealing with this evil are segrega-
tion, the plan followed in Springfield, and vigilant suppression.
Advocates of the segregation policy claim that the district brings
business to the city, but opponents reply that it brings business
of an 'undesirable sort. Advocates of segregation claim that the
district localizes crime and makes it easy to control, but oppo-
nents claim that toleration of vice attracts persons of delinquent
or criminal tendencies, creates an alliance between the under-
world and the police department, and undermines the whole city
government because of the political activity of the vice interests.

Advocates of segregation claim that abolition of the district
will subject all women to greater moral and physical dangers,
but opponents state that in cities where segregated districts have
been abolished, the facts do not support the claim.

Those favoring segregation contend that the existence of the

301

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

district diminishes the spread of venereal disease, but opponents
say that established houses are important conveyers of venereal
disease, and that a real policy of suppression diminishes prosti-
tution and reduces the spread of the disease to a minimum. The
investigation of venereal disease in Syracuse, New York, before
and after the abolition of the segregated district, while based to
a considerable degree on estimates, made a convincing showing
as to the reduction in gonorrhea and syphilis.

Advocates of segregation claim that such a policy reduces the
evil to a minimum, for attempted suppression only spreads it
over a city. Opponents answer that vigorous suppression has
largely freed cities from professional prostitutes, and that clan-
destine prostitution goes on always, even when there is a segre-
gated district.

Apart from arguments of those who favor segregation, oppo-
nents claim that the worst feature of the whole matter is the
great financial profit which vice interests make by drawing girls
into prostitution. The abolition of the segregated district
destroys, to a great extent, the commercial advantages of organ-
ized vice.

In answer to the argument of those favoring segregation, that
men's "personal liberty" should not be restricted because of the
moral views of others, it may be pointed out that all laws restrict
the personal liberty of the few for the benefit of the many.

As to our own view, we believe that most of the arguments in
favor of a segregated district cannot stand the light of searching
investigation, and that the commercial aspects of vice its worst
feature can never be destroyed or minimized until the policy
of segregation is abandoned. Significant is the fact that of the
vice investigations made by municipalities, states, and private
organizations during recent years some 15 reports of which had
been issued each condemned segregation in severe terms.

Suppression, however, will never suppress if a. police depart-
ment is friendly with vice and unfavorable to suppression. Any
effort to change the policy of the city with regard to vice must
be well organized and followed by the constant vigilance of
citizens who realize that the vice interests have thousands of

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THE CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM

dollars at stake and are willing to spend money freely, when and
where needed, to keep the business going.

RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE POLICE DEPARTMENT
The recommendations made concerning the work of the police
may be summed up as follows:

1. That control of the police department be returned to the
mayor where formerly it was vested.

2. That after more pressing needs have been met, the city
consider the advisability of a general increase in the police force.

3. That the city civil service commission adopt definite rules
applying to the arrest of children. 1

4. That when possible salaries in the department be raised
and that a graduated scale be adopted.

5. That more care be exercised in fitting policemen for their
work.

6. That means be adopted for helping policemen maintain a
neat appearance.

7. That complaints or rumors regarding the alliance of the
department with vice be carefully and thoroughly investigated
by the civil service commission when men in the classified ser-
vice are involved, otherwise by the city commission.

8. That an honor system be developed.

9. That a more adequate system of records be adopted.

10. That a new compilation of city ordinances be undertaken.

1 1 . That efforts be made to have the police pension law altered
by the state legislature along the lines suggested.

12. That the police pension board endeavor to secure payment
of a' higher rate of interest on the pension fund.

13. That official recognition be given to the use by patrolmen
of discretion in making arrests and that safeguards be adopted
to prevent its misuse.

14. That the police co-operate with the federal authorities in
enforcing the laws against the sale of drugs and intoxicating
liquors.

15. That in dealing with vice the policy of segregation be
replaced by a policy of suppression through vigorous enforcement
of the state law.

'A suggested set of rules is presented in Appendix B of the original report.
See Potter, Zenas L. : The Correctional System of Springfield, Illinois, pp.
174-175. (The Springfield Survey.)

303

XI
CITY AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATION 1

Since the reports on the other divisions of the survey, in deal-
ing with the local needs and with the agencies designed to meet
the needs, necessarily took up important phases of city and
county administration related to them, consideration of these
phases was omitted, in the main, from this investigation and
report. In other words, this division of the survey deals
chiefly with the work of public agencies not covered in the other
divisions. Further, because the work of the city of Springfield
and Sangamon County was found so interrelated and interde-
pendent, this division deemed it best to examine and report, as
far as possible, upon what was being done in both.

The data gathered fell along four main lines:

First, the plans on which the local governments were organ-
ized and administered a general view of the machinery set up
for providing public service.

Second, the organization and efficiency of the particular de-
partments of the city charged with furnishing this service the
methods used in spending the taxpayer's dollar.

Third, the assessment and collection of the government
income the methods of raising the money to be used for all
current public purposes.

Fourth, the methods of handling the special funds of the
city the practices followed in public borrowing, in levying
special assessments, and in meeting other than current expenses.

Thus the survey of city and county administration was con-
cerned with the methods used in securing the funds and in pur-
chasing public service through still other local agencies than those
examined in the previous divisions of the survey ; such agencies,

1 Summary of report on City and County Administration in Springfield,
Illinois, by D. O. Decker and Shelby M. Harrison.

304

CITY AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATION

among others, for example, as the fire department, water depart-
ment, street-cleaning, street-lighting, and building departments.

GENERAL ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE CITY

GOVERNMENT

Springfield adopted commission government in 1911, when
only about 30 American cities had taken similar action. Its
commission is composed of the following members: the mayor,
who at the time of the survey supervised the work of the comp-
troller, city attorney, corporation counsel, civil service commis-
sion, and the inspectors of weights and measures; the commis-
sioner of public health and safety, who supervised the fire, police,
and health departments, the city prison, isolation hospital, and
the work of the building and electrical inspectors; the commis-
sioner of public property, who directed the work of the muni-
cipal lighting plant and of the waterworks department and had
charge of the city hall; the commissioner of streets and public
improvements, who had charge of the streets, sewers, sidewalks,
garbage, and the work of the city engineer and of the superin-
tendent of special assessments ; and the commissioner of accounts
and finances, who was accountable for the work of the city clerk
and city treasurer.

The mayor's power to appoint members of the city civil ser-
vice commission gave him considerable control over the person-
nel and policy of the police department ; and through his power
to- issue and revoke saloon licenses he could exert influence to-
ward the enforcement or evasion of liquor laws. The other
activities of the commission dealt with general public policy
and included the raising and apportionment of budget funds.

ELECTION OF CITY COMMISSIONERS

The mayor was the only commissioner elected for his particular
duties. The others decide among themselves after election
what department each shall administer. Thus a man may be
assigned to work for which he is not fitted and with little chance
of being given more suitable duties later. Should he grow fit
through practise, the present system does not guarantee his
20 305

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

continuance in the same office after he has become proficient.
A better plan would be to elect men for clearly defined places
in the public service.

Moreover, election to definite duties would also tend to
separate issues now confused. For instance, law enforcement is
one among many questions relating to efficient administrative
work by the government, and it at least should be separated
from the other issues. Any doubts as to the policy on law en-
forcement could, under the plan suggested, be settled in the case
of Springfield by the avowed policy of the candidates nominated
for commissioner of public health and safety. The system
prevailing in Springfield lends itself to a misdirection of the
attention and thought of citizens, by bringing to the front in
each election campaign one or two issues at the expense of all
others. No consistent progress can be made while such be-
fogging of real issues is possible.

CITY MANAGER FORM OF GOVERNMENT

Indeed, the city manager form of government, which is in
many respects superior to the commission form, goes further.
It provides for the election of the officers who determine programs
and enact laws, and for the appointment of the officers who,
chosen because of special fitness, do the administrative work.
This form of government regards administration as a profession.
It assumes that the responsible head of a government may become
expert in choosing competent administrators, and that a first-
class man can be more easily retained in service if appointed
by a responsible officer who has been elected on a platform of
efficient administration, than would be the case if his tenure of
office depended on the uncertainties of a general election.

Springfield, however, had been comparatively fortunate in
its election of commissioners, and a radical change in its form
of government did not seem necessary. If any change were
contemplated, however, the city manager form was recommended
for consideration. Certainly the recently advanced suggestion
that the city return to its former large-council system should
not be followed.

306

CITY AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATION

THE SHORT BALLOT

The city wisely was using the short ballot, which presented
only the names of candidates for the mayoralty and for the
four commissionerships. This centralizes public opinion and
allows care in selecting the officers, who in turn are more
likely to make appointments of a higher type than could a
larger, and therefore less responsible, group, as was the case
in the older large councils.

APPOINTMENT OF DEPARTMENT HEADS

The commissioners, following the principle involved in the
appointment system, choose their subordinate department
heads. There appeared to be no good reason for changing this
procedure.

All minor officials in the departments, except a number of
employes appointed by the executive heads, were appointed
by the commission as a whole. Only part of the city employes
were under civil service regulations.

CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION

The city had a civil service commission of three members,
each of whom, in addition to a chief examiner who did practi-
cally all the work and was merely supervised by the commission,
drew an annual salary of $1,000. In 1915 the expense of the
commission was $4,292; and 31 persons were certified and re-
ceived appointments, the average cost for each appointment being
$138.45, or, if promotions are included, $116 an excessive
amount. The duties of members, except examiners, are no
heavier than are those of the unsalaried library and school boards,
and should be performed without compensation or for nominal
amounts.

CIVIL SERVICE APPOINTMENTS AND DISMISSALS
The civil service commission could improve its methods by
submitting for appointment the two or three names standing
highest, as it did for promotions, instead of the one that headed
its list. This would give opportunity to take personality into
account.

307

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

Springfield's former practice (with its defects eliminated) of
keeping efficiency records for civil service employes should be
resumed. It is essential to have full information on ability,
performance, and character in passing upon promotions, de-
motions, and dismissals.

Removal of civil service employes was being made through
charges by the employer to the civil service commission, which
then conducted a trial. With the possible exception of police-
men and firemen, better administrative results would be obtained
if public employes could be removed by a department head
after he had given the reasons in writing to the employe and
afforded the latter an opportunity to explain. This method
would not destroy the main purpose of civil service reform;
for since the appointing power through this system has pre-
sumably been removed from politics, one of the chief causes of
the abuse of the power to dismiss, the dropping of workers in
order to appoint political friends, has been eliminated. Enough
publicity would ordinarily attend such removals to enable the
public, in case the plan should be abused, to hold the depart-
ment head responsible at the next election a final recourse
which is at the bottom of the theory of commission government.

INDEPENDENT GOVERNMENT BODIES: NEED OF CENTRALIZATION
In addition to the city government proper the body presided
over by the mayor and the city commissioners several other
public boards or commissions, with independent taxing powers
and in most cases financed by their own tax levies, namely, the
board of education, park board, library board, and the city
cemetery board, were furnishing public service in the city.
These were in addition to separate township and county govern-
ment bodies operating in the city. The existence of so many
largely independent boards made local government administra-
tion in Springfield very complex. To increase the confusion,
the legislature had fixed by law for each board a limit which it
could not exceed in appropriating money from the city revenues
for its need, and had stipulated how parts of other revenues
should be distributed.

Obviously this method of furnishing the various boards of

308

CITY AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATION

the city with funds is faulty, since the income which it provides
for may sometimes be too large, and sometimes too small, to
meet the varying needs of a board. The budget for all public
purposes in the city indeed we would add, the budget also for
public service furnished by the township (Springfield and the
township in which it is situated, Capital, are co-extensive) and
the county should be fixed by one body, which, however, must
be composed of able persons if the plan is to succeed. All
revenues should then go into a general fund, and the distribution
of funds should be made on the basis of a unified program that
would take all factors and needs into account. Tax limits for
special purposes should be removed, and the city and county,
which know local conditions best, should be allowed to decide
their own tax levies to meet their needs instead of allowing the
legislature to fix by guess, and for several years in advance, the
program of the community.

BUDGET OF THE CITY OF SPRINGFIELD

Meanwhile, until the various governing boards are combined
in a unified system working on a flexible budget basis, and even
afterward, the same care as heretofore should be exercised in
making the city budget, which was found to be superior to that
of most cities of similar size and character and to that of the
county. Among the few defects of the budget was the fact that
its total figures were about double the probable expenditures.
This was unavoidable under the system prescribed by the state
laws, since if it were uncertain which among several projects
necessitating the expenditure of money would be adopted,
money for all had to be appropriated, although only one was to
be chosen. This was because money could be obtained only
through a vote for a definitely specified purpose, and if some-
thing different was later chosen in its place, the funds for the
one finally selected could be secured only through a new vote
taken the following year.

The budget should therefore be further improved by a change
in the law allowing transfers of items, after the adoption of the
budget, on a unanimous or four-fifths vote of the council, pro-
viding that the grand total is not increased. Until the law is

309

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

altered a budget something like the one being used, carrying
all probable extra items, should be adopted and then this should
be supplemented by an informal working budget, totaling exactly
the amount of the estimated needs and revenues.

CLASSIFICATION OF BUDGET AND MONTHLY REPORTS
Modern city budgets have been developing along uniform
lines of classification. Should Springfield change its present
budget, it would be advisable for officials to examine some of
the latest budget forms and adopt standardized classifications. 1
In a monthly report on the status of budget appropriations
the city comptroller of Springfield was giving the city commission
a statement showing important data under five separate columns.
A sixth column showing the unencumbered balance of appro-
priations was needed, since without it, to know the final figure
usually desired, the outstanding obligations had to be deducted
from the balance left in the appropriation. Such a monthly
report was found in comparatively few cities. Its use should be
universal. Springfield was to be congratulated upon being one
of the first cities that took this step.

CENTRALIZATION OF EXPERT ADVICE

Springfield possessed expert knowledge and experience among
its public officials which it was not using fully. The comptroller's
experience, for example, should have been taken advantage of in
the bookkeeping of every department and he should be respon-
sible for the installation of all accounting and financial systems.
That is his function and his specialty and he should have expert
assistance when needed. He should be continuously available
also for advising the departments; for his office is properly
more than merely a bookkeeping center. It should be charged
with systematizing the records of all the city work. Similarly
the experience of the engineer's department should have been

1 For detailed suggestions on approved methods of budget formulation see
Appendix A, page 149, of the original report, City and County Administration
in Springfield, Illinois. For further discussion of the purposes and requisites
of budgets, see pages 135-140 of the same report, where the subject is con-
sidered in connection with the administration of Sangamon County, which
had no real budget.

310

CITY AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATION

more generally utilized. The department should even be
strengthened with this end in view.

Such a plan would correct another weakness in the city ad-
ministration of Springfield, namely, the lack of full information;
and it would make available to the commission needed data con-
cerning matters upon which they are required to act. Cost
accounting, better budget preparation, the use of the comptrol-
ler's office to organize accounting and financial systems and to
supply statistical aid for each department, would much improve
the situation.

SERVICE AND COST RECORDS

Moreover, the available data should be increased by the in-
stallation of service and cost records a system of record keeping
that will put the cost of work done and the amount of service
rendered into comparable units for use locally and elsewhere.
Aside from the waterworks department and the city lighting
plant, there were no cost data reckoned by any city department
in Springfield; and no department kept service records.

The cost data need not be elaborately worked out, although
to have them so usually proves an economy; but a moderate
amount of cost calculation is a necessity. It is particularly
needed in street and sewer work. For example, in repair jobs
the calculations should show the cost of each job based on the
square yard or on some other unit; in street cleaning, the cost
based on each street or on a definite number of blocks; in refuse
disposal, the cost per ton destroyed; and so on. The system
should be installed by the city comptroller.

Time records showing the actual .number of hours devoted to
work by all employed, from mayor down to office boy, and how
it was used should also be kept. These data give a basis on
which to estimate service and efficiency, and would be useful
in tests for civil service promotion. They automatically tend to
hold workers to proper standards. Though it was not possible
for us to make tests of work done, the grade of service in a number
of cases was clearly as high as is found in the ordinary well-run
private business. At the same time in other cases very little
at all was being accomplished. The favorable experience of

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

other cities has its suggestion as to the practicability and the
usefulness of such record keeping for Springfield.

CITY ACCOUNTING SYSTEM AND AUDIT

Springfield's accounting system was good. Its books were
found to be in good condition ; the accounting methods followed
were above the average; and its practice of having an annual
audit was especially to be recommended, although the facts
shown by the audit needed more publicity.

Letting out the audit by competitive bid, however, was not a
good practice. The price paid, moreover, was not sufficient to
enable the necessary checking-back of accounts to be done
properly, and the best results could not be expected. The
annual audit is too important to run the risk of a superficial
examination of details. And indeed the service purchased was
not as good as it should have been, for serious errors were found
in the auditor's report for the last year before the survey. A
more careful audit was an obvious need.

INVENTORY OF PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT
Up to the time of the survey no inventories of city property
and equipment had been compiled annually nor kept up to date,
although a commendable beginning along this line was soon
afterward made. Such a listing should be further developed,
and should 'include from each official or employe, quarterly or
at least annually, a schedule of all equipment under his control,
goods or supplies on hand at the beginning of the period and their
condition, what had been received or purchased, what disposed
of, and what remained at the end of period, its condition, etc.
Department records of this kind would make it possible to com-
pile a general inventory for all the city ; and this should be kept
up to. date.

CITY PURCHASING

Springfield's charter requirements for city purchasing, in
theory at least, were excellent. As the plan worked out, how-
ever, the commissioner of accounts, who supposedly made all
the city purchases, in reality often merely approved the order

312

CITY AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATION

PAYMENT OF CLAIMS

You wish to cash this?

of purchase as made out by some other city officer. This pro-
cedure developed because the head of the city department was
usually better informed than the commissioner of accounts
regarding goods likely to be needed, their cost, quality, and so

on. The commissioner

needed to familiarize
himself with such
matters, keep service
and cost records of all
prior purchases, and,
in purchasing, com-
bine his data with
those of the official
specially concerned.
He should also take
more initiative in the
annual purchasing
contracts, which
should be let after
competition based
upon standard speci-
fications. Indeed, the
introduction of the full
procedure followed in
a modern city pur-
chasing bureau would
undoubtedly effect
large savings to tax-
payers.

Swear to a bill

go to city hall

receipt the bill

endorse the warrant

WHY NOT CUT THE RED TAPE

The business world has a' method
a just as safe or safer
b- more convenient

UNBUSINESSLIKE METHODS IN THE PAYMENT OF

CLAIMS AGAINST CITY AND COUNTY
Panel from Springfield Survey Exhibition.

PAYMENT OF CLAIMS
Springfield's over-
safeguarded system of

paying its debts was cumbersome and unbusinesslike. The pro-
cedure did not benefit the city and was laying an unnecessary
burden on its creditors. To secure payment of his claim the city
required a creditor to (a) swear before a notary to the claim ; (b)
wait one week for its audit ; (c) go to the city hall for his warrant ;

313

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

(d) receipt the bill prior to receipt of the warrant; and (e) exchange
the warrant for a city check. If the money called for by the
check was not ready, he must go again. A more efficient plan,
outlined below, which is finding general acceptance elsewhere,
was recommended as follows:

1. Claims are certified to but not sworn to. The commissioner
of accounts and finance and the comptroller should know whether
the claims are correct.

2. The comptroller 'prepares and orders paid a list of vouchers
which, properly signed and presented to the treasurer, is itself
a warrant.

3. The treasurer prepares and mails to creditors voucher
checks which themselves constitute receipts for individual
claims.

In contrast to the city's overcareful method of paying claims,
its laxity in approving bills was particularly surprising. It
made no provision that a person familiar with services rendered
and goods delivered should certify to that effect upon the claims
before their audit. Without such certification they should not
be approved unless the department head himself knows these
facts.

CENTRAL INFORMATION AND COMPLAINT BUREAU
Requests for information about and complaints registered
against city service were being handled in the various depart-
ments and bureaus. Much detailed work would be saved
officials if a plan were devised for receiving all such communica-
tions and bringing them together, say at the clerk's office. Com-
plaints, recorded on cards, should be answered promptly by
telephone or letter through this bureau. To insure prompt ser-
vice and develop popular confidence in the city's method of
conducting its business, an automatic follow-up system by means
of metal tabs attached to the cards is recommended.

REPORTS AND PUBLICITY

Knowledge of what the government is doing is essential to
real government by the people, and its necessity cannot be over-
emphasized particularly in a commission-governed city, since
one of the chief purposes of commission government is the

CITY AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATION

centralization of duties and powers to such an extent that
officials can be held responsible. And the plea of economy on
the cost of printing reports cannot be accepted, for it is obviously
shortsighted to spend thousands of dollars in elections and then
in order to save a few hundred dollars fail to give voters the
information they need to make the best decisions.

The Springfield city government failed to put fully before
citizens the essential facts regarding its activities. There was no
general report on all departments and except for the water de-
partment, which was issuing good monthly and annual state-
ments, the departmental reports were so few and so irregular
that their usefulness was very slight. The monthly summaries
of "Receipts" and "Expenses Vouchered" were not related nor
brought together at the end of the year, and therefore told the
layman but little.

The auditor's report of the city would be Greek to most
voters, even if they could be persuaded to wade through its
detailed schedules. The auditors, or some impartial expert,
should prepare a short statement for the public which would
give, first, a picture of general financial conditions; second, show
comparative tendencies; and third, refer to supporting schedules
which would verify conclusions if more intensive study is de-
sired.

This statement should then be given the widest publicity in
the local press, and should be included later in the annual report
which the city was urgently advised to publish. The issuing of
quarterly reports, so arranged as to be comparable with other
quarters and other years, would be another good practice.

COMMUNITY SERVICE THROUGH THE MUNICIPALITY

The foregoing discussions relate more particularly to the city
government as a whole. Let us look now at the functioning
of some of the departments of the local government.

FIRE DEPARTMENT

According to the insurance records of trie local fire depart-
ment, property worth over $700,000 was destroyed in Springfield

315

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

during the five years prior to 1915, the annual losses varying
from $94,000 in 1914 to $313,000 in 1913. The number of fires
per year ranged between 272 in 1911, and 336 in 1910. The
average loss for each fire, slightly above $500, was a moderate
figure; but the average per capita loss for the five years, $2.88,
was comparatively high. The average annual number of fires,
about 5.6 for each 1,000 people in the city, was also high.

Indeed, the loss was still greater, for much was destroyed that
did not appear in the insurance records. Such annihilation of
values annually demands that the public give greater attention
to work against fire, particularly since the underwriters' analyses
of the causes of fires in Illinois in 1915 showed over 62 per cent
to have been either wholly preventable or partly preventable.

ORGANIZATION AND OPERATION

Executive control within the department, which itself was
under the general supervision of the commissioner of public
health and safety, was administered by the fire marshal or chief,
who was appointed by the city commission for a four-year term
and was removable for cause. The force was under civil service
regulations, although the commissioner might make temporary
appointments when no eligible applicants were listed. New
members were on probation for six months.

Although no age was set for compulsory withdrawal, members
might be retired on a pension of half pay after twenty years'
service. Dependents in the deceased members' families and
totally disabled members were also pensioned.

The assistant fire marshal and over 80 other men, 77 of whom,
including the chief officers, in 1915 were members of the active
fire force as captains, engineers, etc., formed too small a depart-
ment to provide sufficient protection. Their number should be
large enough to insure continuous service notwithstanding
necessary absences.

The rules, discipline, and general administration of the de-
partment were comparatively good. The chief or the commis-
sioner might suspend members for thirty days or less, pending
civil service action. Though capable of suspending without
pay or imposing fines, the commission was obliged to delay dis-

316

CITY AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATION

missal until the evidence had been reviewed by the court. Trials
by the department head, not subject to court review, are pref-
erable.

FIRE ENGINES AND EQUIPMENT

In 1915 hardly half of the department's vehicles were motor
driven. As rapidly as possible horse-drawn apparatus should
be replaced by motor-drawn equipment. General experience
shows the immeasurable importance of saving every moment in

FIRE DEPARTMENT EQUIPMENT

Of the five fire engines, six hose reels, two chemical engines, two ladder
trucks, two chief's wagons, and two other wagons owned by the fire department
in 1915, only three an engine, hose wagon, and one of the chief's wagons
were motor driven. Complete replacement of horse equipment by auto appa-
ratus was recommended in the survey exhibition and printed reports. A start
has since been made toward such replacement.

reaching a fire. And Springfield's own experience had shown
that motor-drawn apparatus was far superior to horse-drawn.
Furthermore, it is cheaper to operate. The city could also
partly compensate for a shortage of firemen by purchasing an
auto-squad wagon, which carries from four to eight men, thus
enabling the present force to guard a larger area.

Since the five-minute zone for auto apparatus is two or more
times as large as that for horse-drawn, when the equipment is

317

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

completely motorized, station houses need not be so near together
as they were then. Changes in the location of stations may very
well wait such motorization, unless a thorough study of the
station house question with a view to a station house plan for
the whole city were immediately instituted.

It should be stated that in accordance with the recommenda-
tions of the first summary on this report, presented in the Spring-
field Survey Exhibition, the citizens voted (in April, 1917) to
motorize the fire department completely, and appropriated
$50,000 for the purpose. This action was opportune, because
much of the apparatus was unfit for use. The usable pieces
might still be kept for emergencies.

The survey revealed the need of other equipment, including
hose couplings to meet national standards, better charts showing
the location of water plugs, explosives, etc., and the need of
searchlights.

FIRE-ALARM SYSTEM

The fire-alarm system of the city, which was combined with
the police signaling system, was decidedly inadequate in equip-
ment, distribution of boxes, and general maintenance. The
matter was important and demanded careful consideration.
Pending the installation of a fire-alarm telegraph system, or the
making of some sort of improvement, alarms may be sent by
telephone, as was being done very largely; and as, indeed, will
always to some extent be done.

There are several difficulties connected with telephone trans-
mission of fire alarms, such as the fact that in emergencies the
telephone system in a large section of a city may be entirely dis-
abled, the difficulty that a person who does not own a telephone
may have in reaching one at night, and also the danger of error
in transmitting alarms. While all of these objections can be
met in part at least, that fact should not relieve the authorities
of the obvious necessity of careful attention to the fire-alarm
question.

WATER SUPPLY FOR FIRE

The two lines of pipe, one 15 inches in diameter and the other
24, which were conducting all water from the pumping station

CITY AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATION

to the city, although sufficient for ordinary needs did not insure
the city reliable protection against fire in emergencies. Since
both were laid close together, in many places over coal mines,
a cave-in or other accident might easily disable one or both
during the progress of a fire, which might then result in a great
disaster. The water department should provide another pipe,
laid along a different route, as soon as possible.

The large water mains should be joined by cross mains at
frequent intervals, and numerous gate valves should be installed
so that in case of a break in a large main the water could be sup-
plied by other mains through the cross mains.

Springfield must always be prepared to use pumps on all large
fires. Not only were the ordinary pressure of streams direct
from the hydrants too low for fire fighting, but the great public
and private expense involved in a reconstruction of old water
mains and pumping facilities to assure high pressure everywhere,
made any change in this respect prohibitive.

Additional hydrants should eventually be installed so that
they will nowhere in the city be over 300 feet apart. More
sprinkler systems were desirable, too. Less than ten were found
in the city.

INSTRUCTION OF MEMBERS

The department was weak on the training and drilling of its
members. Besides the practise provided in the operation of
engines and the harnessing of horses, the men should be in-
structed through lecture and reading courses and through
drills, supervised by a competent instructor who is familiar with
similar work in other cities. The drills should include the
following:

Use of the scaling ladder Handling of ladders

Use of the jumping net Resuscitation and first aid

Knotting of ropes Opening locked doors

Emergency repairing of hose Use of fire helmets

Use of chemicals Selection of hose and nozzles
Use of various couplings and of particular sizes

connections

319

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

The lectures should be on such subjects as:

Building inspection and fire Water system

prevention Personal hygiene

Laws and ordinances on fires Salvage of property

Care of fire apparatus Modern fire fighting
Combustibles and explosives

The men should also have daily physical exercise.

RECORDS OF THE DEPARTMENTS

The department was compiling valuable data on its work, but
these data and their significance were given very little of the
general publicity necessary in enlisting the proper support and
co-operation of the public, which is essential to successful fire
prevention.

More clerical help and assistance from the comptroller's office
was needed in order to improve the record keeping of the depart-
ment. For example, captains of all stations should file weekly
reports regarding the men's time on duty and these should ulti-
mately be compiled. Also, details should be kept regarding
delays and accidents, names of the senders of alarms and methods
of giving them, apparatus used and its effects. Duplicate sets of
such records should be forwarded to headquarters. Further-
more, regular routes to be taken in caring for the territory of
other companies whose own apparatus is in use somewhere else
should be indicated on printed sheets.

FIRE PREVENTION

In March, 1915, the department received 29 alarms due to
chimney fires, and 33 in February, 1916. Notwithstanding the
number of these calls, Springfield was paying little attention to
fire prevention work or to the education of owners and occupants
of buildings regarding fire dangers. The situation demanded the
amendment of the building laws to cover modern requirements
for safety and construction, for amplification of regulations for
the handling of inflammable materials, for more frequent inspec-
tions, for fuller enforcement of the regulatory rule, and in general
more educational work among owners and occupants in regard
to fire dangers.

320

CITY AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATION

BUREAU OF BUILDINGS

The establishment of the bureau of buildings as a subdivision
of the department of public health and safety and the consequent
centralization of all matters relating to building construction had
certain advantages. A further improvement would be to ap-
point the building commissioner from persons certified to by the
civil service commission.

Our investigation showed the need of more systematic and
continuous building inspections, to prevent fire hazards and poor
construction generally and to meet recognized housing standards,
than were then being made. A new housing code was the neces-
sary first step toward the satisfactory prosecution of a modern
program for the building bureau. The second step was the ap-
pointment of sufficient building inspectors.

To prevent depreciation in land values in residential districts,
the city itself should follow the example of progressive real estate
dealers in restricting the types of buildings to be constructed in
certain areas. The city should be divided, or zoned, into dis-
tricts of specific types, so that factory districts, for example, will
not encroach upon residential sections, and vice versa. Such
restrictions might be considered in the formulation of a new
housing code, or the park board or any other local body inter-
ested in city planning might deal with them.

WATER DEPARTMENT

The city owns its own water-supply system, which is super-
vised by the commissioner of public property. The 25 employes,
except the department superintendent who was appointed by the
commissioner, were, when the survey was made, under civil
service regulations.

The records of this department indicated that the value of
the waterworks system was approximately $1,000,000. The de-
partment had paid out of net receipts from water rates about
$500,000, thus leaving about $500,000 of the city debt due to
expenditures for the system.

All things considered, the pumping equipment was adequate.
But the insurance underwriters' report of needed changes should
21 321

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

be heeded; for the most part they were very important. The
proposed new trunk water main, to be laid along a new route
from the pumping station to the city, would then have cost
about $150,000. It was a clear necessity, however. Probably a
total sum of $50,000 would sooner or later be required to replace
mains which were too small because of the city's growth, and
possibly $100,000 more to meet some of the other suggestions of
the underwriters. The whole city, however, should bear part of
these costs, and the necessary funds raised by general taxation or
through city bonds.

The water department was facing still other costs, for people
were applying for extensions of the water mains into new sec-
tions of the city. Though desirable as health measures, it was
impossible from a business point of view to comply with all these
requests. A way suggested by the survey for the settling of the
problem was to install mains in new districts which requested
them, and to charge each lot owner a flat rate of, say, $15 for
each 4O-foot lot. The amount would probably need to be more
now. The large feed mains should be paid for by a general
charge over the entire city.

WATER CONSUMPTION AND RATES

The very general introduction of meters probably was one of
the chief causes of the reduction in annual per capita consump-
tion of water from 125 gallons in 1906 to 85 gallons in 1915.
The department had also begun to make periodic (biennial) tests
of the accuracy of meters, thus saving the city considerable loss
in this way also.

Many factors must be considered in passing judgment on the
fairness of water rates. A comparison of rates in different cities
is significant only as showing whether the particular ones in ques-
tion are within the bounds of general practice. Compared in
some detail with those of 640 other American cities in 1915,
Springfield water rates were considerably below the average.

The water service of the city at the time of the investigation
compared favorably with similar enterprises that were privately
owned. The state engineer, in an official report on the water-
works of Springfield in 1913, stated that the initial cost of the

322

CITY AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATION

city's waterworks system was comparatively low, and that the
unit costs, already moderate, were being gradually reduced.

Our examination confirmed his conclusions. Data were being
kept showing the cost of (i) operation, (2) fuel used, (3) oil used>
(4) waste used, (5) number of gallons pumped, (6) nature of ser-
vices on every meter and repair job and the cost, and (7) a
record of each connection made for supplying water service. In
addition, the uniform system of accounting and cost data re-
quired by the State Utilities Commission for privately, owned
waterworks had been voluntarily installed since our study.

WATER RATE MAKING

Although the charges for water rates were reasonably low, a
few inconsistencies remained to be equitably adjusted. Accord-
ing to the 1915 rates, under certain circumstances the use of an
unnecessarily large amount of water would decrease one's bill
instead of increasing it! Thus in December, 1915, a domestic
consumer was charged $7.50 10 cents a hundred- for using
7,500 cubic feet in the preceding three months. In February,
1916, the same consumer paid for 6,900 cubic feet at the rate
\\Y$ cents, and his bill was $8.05, or 55 cents more than the pre-
ceding quarter, although he had used 600 feet less of water.

This and similar inconsistencies were due, under the old rates,
to the whole plan of the rate schedule. Their remedy did not
demand changes in particular rates, but a general readjustment
of the rate plan. A popular method of correcting this difference
is to charge an amount determined according to the size of the
householder's meter and a certain maximum allowance of water
for the year; water exceeding this quantity is paid for by the
gallon. The rates should be computed, of course, after a careful
study of the cost of supplying water and the local method of
cost distribution to consumers.

Another method is to charge for each connection with the
water system an amount varying with the size of the meter;
and then to charge a uniform rate for all water furnished. Exact
rates could and should be computed from the water department's
very excellent cost data and from an operation statement similar
to the one now being issued at the time by the department.

323

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

The cost of furnishing service, reading meters, and all other
overhead charges should be covered, to a large degree if not
entirely, by the flat meter charge suggested in this second method.
After that, all persons should pay at the same fixed rates for the
water used. This principle underlies all regulation of rates, and
any substantial deviation from it savors of rebating and is par-
ticularly obnoxious in municipally owned utilities.

The water department as a whole, in the opinion of the investi-
gators, was being efficiently managed.

CITY LIGHT PLANT

For a number of years the city had owned and operated a
small electric light plant. Until within a few years the service
was used entirely for lighting streets and public buildings, but
by 1916 some 700 domestic consumers were being supplied.

The survey exhibition and the first draft of this report pointed
out that the installation of modern equipment in the city light
plant would save something like one-third of the operation cost,
and that consolidation with the waterworks would reduce the
cost of construction and operation and facilitate supervision.
Furthermore, the surroundings of the water-pumping station
were favorable to probable future extensions of the lighting
plant. The city later took these steps and the vacated electric
station became available for a much-needed city storehouse.

The municipal rates charged to consumers before the electric
light and waterworks plants were consolidated were from 25 to
60 per cent less than those of the privately owned lighting com-
pany of the city. In the opinion of a Chicago expert, these rates
could easily be maintained after the combination in equipment
was effected, and the first seven months of operation after con-
solidation (up to February, 1917, before costs had been greatly
affected by the war) tended to confirm that opinion. The ques-
tion, then, of extending the service to private consumers became
largely a matter of efficient management. If the citizens believe,
as there was some evidence to think they did, that the new
lighting plant could be as well managed as the public water-
works system, that is sufficient reason for wanting the city plant
to furnish private consumers with its surplus current, and to

324

CITY AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATION

build its plant for future development accordingly. No current
should be sold to private consumers, however, until the city, the
school district, and probably the county, also, have an adequate
supply.

GAS AND ELECTRIC METER INSPECTION

Springfield had an excellent equipment for testing gas and
gas meters, and was employing a well-qualified inspector to do
this work. But no meters had been submitted for tests for
two years, and the inspector's duties were thus largely confined
to the testing of newly installed meters. The gas company was
required to test and mark the date on each meter when installed.
The city inspector also tested these. In the fiscal year 1915-16,
only six of the 2,222 meters examined were over 2 per cent in-
correct.

No one but the inspector seemed to be aware of the fact that
the gas that was supplied to the city did not measure up to the
600 British thermal units of heating value required by ordinance ;
there was no publication of the facts brought together by the
inspector's tests. Such information should at least be brought
to the attention of the city commissioners or of the State Utilities
Commission promptly and the meaning of the figures made clear.
No tests of electric meters were being made. These should be
made if the gas and meter inspection department is continued.
The city's record in furnishing gas-testing service, however, made
the advisability of continuing any testing service seem doubtful.
It was therefore recommended that the city abandon this service
and that the work be turned over to the state. For a small sum
the work of the state could be periodically checked. This would
probably be desirable, since in that way the city officials could
keep in touch with what was being done.

BUREAU OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

The city was not giving sufficient attention and support to the
inspection of weights and measures. The sealer was hampered
by incomplete equipment and by insufficient salary. His equip-
ment and salary should be covered by the budget, since there
was enough work to warrant a living salary for full-time service.

325

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

The weights and measures laws and ordinances were not
adequate. The state law, which made the county clerk sealer of
weights and measures for the county, was too brief to be an
effective guide. Indeed what was needed was a new state law,
with adequate state inspection through a state bureau of weights
and measures. This would insure uniformity of requirements in
all cities and counties. In the meantime Springfield needed con-
stantly to test local dealers' weights by buying and weighing of
commodities, and should forbid the possession of unreliable
brands of scales. It should teach the public how to secure full
weight, and should give publicity to the work of the inspector
and to the convictions obtained. To obviate the present diffi-
culties in securing convictions in cases of violation of the law,
a special procedure and special rules of evidence in trials for
violating the statute or ordinance applying to weights and meas-
ures should be instituted.

CITY LAW DEPARTMENT

The city council should eliminate the office of either the city
attorney or the corporation counsel from the law department.
One person, empowered to appoint and discharge first and second
assistants if necessary, should control the department, which
should handle all the legal work of the different city departments
and boards. The work of the department at the time demands
but one assistant; but additional counsel might be advisable in
technical cases, and would be necessary when all the legal work
of the city is centralized in this department.

DEPARTMENT OF STREETS AND PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS
At the time of these field investigations, Springfield had
slightly under 161 miles of streets. About 93 miles, or 58 per
cent, were unpaved. Of the paved streets, by far the largest
proportion were covered with brick.

Many factors must be taken into account in choosing paving
materials; such as the grade of the street, the amount of shade,
soil conditions, volume and nature of the traffic, the character
of the district and its probable future development, and the

326

CITY AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATION

use of the street for car tracks. To meet these varying condi-
tions, pavements differ as to their original cost, probable life,
repair costs, the possibility of proper repair-making, riding sur-
face, cleanliness and the cost of cleaning, noiselessness, and slip-
periness. Thus it is obviously impossible to lay down any gen-
erally applicable rule as to any one best pavement. What is

ALONG A WELL-PAVED AVENUE
Showing one of Springfield's newer and attractive types of street lights.

best under certain conditions may not be best under others. In
order to determine what is best for Springfield, a careful study
should be made to learn what would most adequately suit dis-
trict conditions. Such a study would be quite within the prov-
ince of the city government ; or it could be a valuable contribution
by some civic or commercial organization. In the meantime only
some general observations on the pavement situation are possible.

327

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

PAVING MATERIALS

The streets unpaved in Springfield in 1916 were still more
than half of all. As already stated, on the paved streets brick
was very largely used. Asphalt, macadam, asphaltic concrete,
and a small amount of mineral rubber, dolarway, and wood
blocks was also used.

Brick is cheap and serviceable in Springfield. Asphalt, too, if
well laid and promptly repaired, especially where the traffic is not
heavy, usually shows good results for the money expended.
Macadam was little used in Springfield, and its further extension
was not desirable. Concrete, laid under certain precautions, is
fairly satisfactory. It was recommended that increased attention
be given to asphaltic types of pavement for medium- and light-
traffic streets, and to improved granite block and wood block for
heavy-traffic streets. These were suggestions for immediate con-
sideration. Beyond these, the study of the pavement question,
recommended above, should be made, and it should be supple-
mented by or include a survey of the need of pavement repairs.

PAVEMENT REPAIRS, OPENINGS, AND REPLACEMENTS
Prompt repairing of pavements is most important. To facili-
tate intelligent estimates of the city's needs, charts should be
made indicating the general condition of the streets. If the
charts are made of material from which pencilings may be erased,
the marks may be destroyed after repairs are computed, and the
charts thus remain a correct record of street conditions. The
pencil data thus shown are often very important in compelling
prompt repairs by contractors.

Pavements were being opened and replaced by individual per-
sons and companies not connected with the street department.
The uniform experience of other cities has proved the necessity
of confining this work to the street department, and this policy
has been adopted by Springfield since this report was first drafted.
The street repair gang should do refilling and replacement, and
the city department or persons responsible for the opening should
pay the cost. This will insure definite responsibility for the work,
and the experienced workmen will give the best results possible.

328

CITY AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATION

To prevent for as long as possible the opening of pavements,
notice of the laying of a new pavement should be served by the
commissioner of assessments upon the superintendent of sewers,
the commissioner of public property, and other persons likely to
be concerned, as soon as new pavement construction is reason-
ably certain. Work requiring later cuts in the street could then
be anticipated and useless controversy as to the person at fault
could be eliminated.

The ordinance prohibiting private individuals from opening a
pavement until it had been laid five years or more was too un-

A RAILROAD AND STREET CROSSING

Six railroad lines enter Springfield and three of them cut through either the
full length or breadth of the city. A very large number of the railroad crossings
are on the street level. Many of these were rough and dangerous, and called
for vigorous action to compel the railroad companies to put and keep them in
better condition.

reasonable to be enforced. Moreover, its legality was doubtful.
Owners of abutting property should be allowed to have openings
made, but they should be charged for the privilege according to
a sliding scale, the amount decreasing with the age of the pave-
ment and depending on the size and character of the cut.

STREET CLEANING AND FLUSHING

Considering the condition of the pavements and the compara-
tively small annual expenditure for cleaning, Springfield streets

329

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

were as clean as could be expected. The methods used were
good and the work of the street gangs was well managed. The
department was considering needed improvements in general sur-
face conditions of the streets, however; and this was essential
to really efficient cleaning work.

Sprinkling makes a pavement slippery if there is any dirt on
it, and it may eventually impair asphalt pavement. It is recom-
mended that sprinkling be discontinued and flushing substituted,
since the former merely makes mud which catches more dust;
and soon all turns into dust again.

It would probably be desirable to buy several street-flushing
wagons or an automobile flusher, for use at night on main streets
and by day on side streets. This sort of cleaning will still need
to be supplemented in the business section by that of men who
pick up refuse by hand and shovel. More refuse containers should
be placed on street corners.

CITY DIRT ROADS

A large proportion of the citizens of Springfield live along its
90 miles (in 1916) of unpaved streets. Obviously, these dirt
roads should be at least as good as the dirt roads outside the
city, but this was not the case.

Ultimately, all the streets should be paved. Meanwhile, their
condition can be greatly improved for nine or ten months of
the year by providing adequate road drainage at slight additional
expense, and by doing the spring work as early as the soil is
workable.

The road should first be smoothed and crowned to a height
at the center or crown of 18 or 20 inches in most cases, by a
scraper or road machine. It should then be thoroughly rolled
with a five- to lo-ton roller. The smooth surface and crown
should be restored after showers, but not until the ground is no
longer sticky, by dragging with a split-log drag, and should be
so treated several times during the summer. If this treatment
is applied when freezing begins, as well as when thaws are over,
the roads should remain in good condition through much of the
winter.

The method described is best adapted for quick results and

330

CITY AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATION

in cases where considerable soil needs to be moved. The split-
log drag is better and cheaper than scrapers and rollers for use
when extensive grading is not necessary.

WOODEN CROSS-WALKS AND SIDEWALK INSPECTION
The wooden street crossings of the city were undesirable.
The application of the treatment recommended for dirt roads
would probably make them unnecessary, or at least replaceable
by cinders or other filling.

RUTS IN A CITY DIRT ROAD

At certain seasons of the year the unpaved streets of the city are in bad
condition. The short stretch of dirt road shown in the picture is illustrative of
a number of roads which, while not in extremely bad condition, were in worse
shape than necessary. By a small amount of attention they could be greatly
improved. The importance of the subject is apparent when it is recalled that
93 of the city's 161 miles of street were improved.

Springfield had a sidewalk inspector who also inspects for
weeds and nuisances between the property line and the curb.
His work was handicapped because in Illinois the cutting of
weeds between the curb and the walk and the removal of snow
from the sidewalks could be enforced only through special assess-
ments. But weeds in a private lot were construed a menace to
health and therefore subject to police power. The city thus
could usually force attention to these nuisances, if not compel

331

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

their removal; but constitutional and legislative changes were
needed to facilitate legal action in the matter. Meanwhile, pres-

THE SPRINGFIELD

SURVEY

SPRINGFIELD

ILLINOIS

DEATHS AT GRADE CROSSINGS, SPRINGFIELD, 1908-1913
Grade crossings in Springfield were very dangerous, as is witnessed by these
deaths numbering nearly 50. The grade crossings should be done away with;
in the meantime the railroads should be required to guard the crossings more
effectively.

sure might be exerted on owners of abutting property if, upon
their neglect to comply with notices to cut the weeds along the

332

CITY AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATION

street, they were heavily penalized for allowing weeds to grow on
any lot they possessed.

The sidewalk inspector was doing little toward compelling lot
owners to cut weeds. The police were supposed to report cases
needing attention, but they did not do so to any great extent.
All curb conditions should be inspected and checked up by the
sidewalk inspector, together with conditions as to snow and
weeds in vacant lots.

The records and follow-up system of the department of streets
were unsatisfactory, and in general a thorough reorganization of
the method of sidewalk and weed control was recommended.

The city has a great asset in its multitude of shade trees, but
practically nothing was being done at the time of the survey for
their preservation and renewal. The city should have a tree
warden, and until his appointment the sidewalk inspector should
constantly report dangerous trees or limbs and take measures for
their removal.

REFUSE COLLECTION AND DISPOSAL

Springfield had a garbage incinerator but no collection system.
People might bring refuse to the plant and have it disposed of
free of charge, but this was not compulsory. The amount brought
for disposal was not large. A broad city collection system was
needed.

A study that would take into account the many varying factors,
such as the quantities of refuse to be disposed of, salvage qualities
of each sort of refuse, relative costs of different systems, etc.,
was recommended as a basis for a permanent program of disposal.
Until such a program can be determined, the use of the dump
system for disposal might be continued. Even though it was
still near the city, its objectionable character might be largely
removed if the emptying of refuse were done from movable plat-
forms, so that only a few square yards of garbages which should
be daily disinfected and covered with fresh earth, are "open" at
one time.

CEMETERY ADMINISTRATION

The management of the city cemetery was not covered by
the law providing for the new commission government. It is

333

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

controlled by its own board appointed by the mayor, and the
city clerk does its clerical work. It logically should be under
the supervision of the commissioner of public property.

Much work for lot owners was being done on credit; many
charges were uncollectable or disputed; and the collector was
receiving 10 per cent for collecting all bills not paid in advance.
The improvement introduced since our survey, which provided
that only those whose prior bills were paid should be allowed
credit, was not sufficient. Cash payment should be required for
all work done. Work for the indigent should be charged to the
proper charitable agency, either public or private. If accurate
records of all cost charges were kept, a superintendent would
soon learn to make estimates very close to the proper amounts
to charge, and to gauge the efficiency of work done.

To improve the general administration of the cemetery it was
suggested (i) that all orders contain a schedule of prices; (2)
that no work be done until payment is made or guarantee of-
fered; (3) that the superintendent be supplied with registered
orders (i.e., orders numbered consecutively in advance); and
(4) that employes be required to keep time and cost records.

ELECTIONS

If even a minor official, such as a justice of the peace, should
resign, a special election costing about $3,000 was necessary in
order to fill the vacancy unless his unexpired term was less than
a year. In 1914, a not unusual year, 10 elections, all calling for
a force of election officials, were held ; and all but two required
the use of polling places. The cost in time and money was not
inconsiderable.

In order to improve the situation, several suggestions for con-
stitutional changes were offered. Provision should be made (i)
for the general use of a short ballot, thus creating more appoin-
tive and fewer elective offices; and (2) for appointments to fill
all unexpired terms in judicial offices. In addition, legislative
changes should be made providing (3) for nomination of town-
ship and judicial officers on petition; (4) for the combining of
special elections on propositions, and any other elections occur-
ring within ninety days; and (5) for reducing the number of

334

CITY AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATION

registrations at polling places and for substituting registration
at the office of the local election commission.

SIZE OF POLLING DISTRICTS

The increased number of voters in the election districts at
certain elections since women were given the vote in Illinois,
made it seem advisable, for economical and other reasons, to
amend the law that made the standard number of voters in each
district 300 and restricted them to 450, so that more voters could
be handled in each instead of increasing the number of districts.

Too ,many reserve ballots were being supplied for each dis-
trict. Ten per cent more than the registered number of voters
would probably be sufficient. In addition, the board of election
commissioners might supply themselves with an additional re-
serve of 20 per cent of the total required for the city. The desig-
nation of the district should be omitted so that any district
might use them by filling in its name with a rubber stamp. This
would materially reduce printing costs.

Printers should be required to send in competitive bids for
ballots. This was not always done. The city's use. of public
buildings for election purposes is commendable. In general, the
administration of the election board seemed satisfactory.

CURRENT INCOME OF THE CITY GOVERNMENT

The corporate revenue of the city during the last few years
had been approximately $400,000, of which about $270,000 came
from city taxation and about $110,000 from retail liquor licenses.
The remainder (about 4 per cent) came from other license charges,
from franchise moneys, interest on deposits, fines, and miscel-
laneous smaller collections. Of the $270,000 derived from local
taxes, nearly three-fourths was raised from real estate assess-
ments, about one-fourth from personal property, and the re-
mainder from a small capital tax and an insurance tax.

ASSESSMENT OF REAL ESTATE

The total assessed value for the county (including the county
seat) during the last half-dozen years had averaged about

335

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

>, 000,000, Springfield's share of which had varied between
$n, 000,000 and $13,000,000. These figures represented only about
one-fifth or less of the actual value. Existing Illinois laws pre-
scribed that the taxable value should be 33^3 per cent (previous
to 1909 only 20 per cent was required) of the full value, but in
actual practice it worked out that the amount of which 33^3 per
cent was taken was not the full or 100 per cent value, but approxi-
mately 67 per cent. No one knows exactly how much. This
reduced the amount upon which taxes were assessed to 20 or 22
per cent of the true value.

The same situation, with consequent complications, prevails
throughout the whole county. With the valuation only about
one-fifth of what it should be, the nominal tax rate was of neces-
sity about five times as large as it should normally be. The
following dictum by Professor John A. Fairly was strikingly
exemplified in the county's methods of assessment: "When once
a departure is made from the standard of full value, it appears
to be impossible for assessors to adhere to any definite standard ;
and the inevitable result of undervaluations is not only an un-
necessary increase in the nominal tax rate, but also marked
variations in the standards of valuation between different classes
of property and different individuals; and a pronounced viola-
tion of the constitutional requirement that taxation shall be in
proportion to the value of property."

A change in the state law to require assessments at 90 to 100
per cent of actual value was strongly recommended; also better
qualified assessing officers were needed.

ASSESSING OFFICERS AND BOARD OF REVIEW
Sangamon County had 26 local assessing officers in addition to
the assessing officers for Springfield. Their terms of office were
usually short, and for the most part they possessed no special
aptitude for tax work. A county assessor, with provision for
deputies to assist, was recommended, as well as a reorganization
of the county board of tax review in order to allow for the inclu-
sion of one of the county tax officers among the membership.
The reorganization of the state board of equalization, to be made

336

CITY AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATION

100

135

6*5!

up of trained individuals giving their full time, was also needed
in the interest of better local tax administration.

ASSESSMENT METHOD IN SPRINGFIELD

The Somers system of making assessments, which was adopted
by the city several years ago, was an important step ahead. It
was founded upon
certain front-foot
values which had
been agreed upon
as fair and which
were used as bases
in working out
tables of local val-
ues, from which all
lot values in the
city were in turn
computed.

Similarly, in as-
sessing the im-
provements put on
land, rules based on
the square feet of
foundation and the
height of improve-
ments were being
used in valuing
buildings, a definite

01
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8

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70 70 75 SO

7* SI

40 -40 45 60

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COOK.

COWARDS

cost unit being as-
signed to each dif-
ferent class of con-
struction. The

SECTION OF LAND VALUE MAP IN COUNTY CLERK'S
OFFICE IN SPRINGFIELD

The figures show front-foot valuations placed upon
real estate for purpose of tax assessment in 1914.
The map was on*file in the county clerk's office but
was not published. Its reproduction in brief pam-
phlet form, section by section, showing the bases for
assessed valuations in all parts of the city, would be
a very desirable step in the direction of full pub-
licity in tax matters.

gross value thus

obtained was then depreciated by other tables, by scaling down
according to age of the building and the amount of upkeep it
had received or required. By using such definite rules, the
assessor could closely approximate absolute fairness, which of
course is a first requisite of assessing.
22 337

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

Still more equitable assessments could be obtained, however,
by using the fixed rules applied to land more as guides than
as inflexible standards or absolute determinants. It is obvious
that the desirable or undesirable use to which an adjoining lot
is permanently put, and the grade and "lay" of the land, par-
ticularly if it is very different from other land in the district,
will be a more nearly correct measure of valuation of a particular
lot than will the arbitrary computation of the tables, however
correct they may be in general.

The rules used in Springfield had a provision for flexibility
called "local influence," which allowed additions or subtractions
from the computed value of a lot ; but in practice the provision
was seldom employed. It should be used extensively.

As pointed out in the first edition of this report and in the
survey exhibition, corner lots were being assessed too high in
proportion to the valuations placed on the intermediate lots.
The corner "influence" rules were later improved in this respect
however. Again, the survey found no one who knew what differ-
ence was made in applying the corner-lot rules to business and
to residential sections. Such lack of full details as to the working
of the system was fatal of course to the best results. Moreover,
all rules should be simple enough for comprehension by a very
high proportion of the people ; they should be made public and
should be used, 'as already suggested, only as guides and not
as absolute determinants.

ASSESSING BUILDINGS AND IMPROVEMENTS
The tables and rules used for valuing buildings and improve-
ments since the Somers system was installed in 1911 were by
1916 no longer used exclusively, nor were they officially open
to the public. In fact no complete set of mathematical tables
was being used in that year nor were they shown in justification
of assessments. The first reason given for this partial aban-
donment of the system that the original rules were not correct
for Springfield did not appear to us sound, for the rules could
be changed until at least approximately correct for a given
community.

The second objection to the system that depreciation of

338

CITY AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATION

property depends upon the lack of upkeep and repair, and that
with the limited time available for assessing it was impossible
to determine all the facts necessary if the tables were to be
used for computing the depreciation had some merit. The
trouble, however, as far as it concerned real property, could
be obviated by administrative action and without legislation.
An all-time force was recommended to do the work which, with
time for more systematic study of all new improvements and for
rechecking all old buildings could, by using the fixed rules, reach
very uniform results ; and such an assessing method would be as
inexpensive and more efficient than that of the part-time force.
Land and buildings or other improvements were being valued
separately in Springfield a method which general experience
is tending strongly to approve. In accordance with the state
law, however, property valuations were being made up only
once in four years, except in the cases of new buildings or of
additions, destructions, or injuries to land or personalty, which
of course comprised a very small proportion of the whole. Ob-
viously the cash value of real estate fluctuates considerably
during so long a period. In this connection it was recommended
that consideration be given to the plan in use in several European
countries and in several American and Canadian cities by which
such an additional tax is placed on land as would claim a part,
at least, of the increased land value which is due to the general
growth of the community. Meanwhile, real estate valuations
should be made by competent assessors annually.

PUBLICITY OF ASSESSMENTS

Besides the method of giving publicity to assessments then
in use that of merely keeping the assessors' books open to
public inspection the city was advised to publish annually
and circulate a set of large maps, showing the front-foot assess-
ments for every block in the city, as a means of securing greater
equity of assessments.

PERSONAL PROPERTY ASSESSMENTS

The administration of the personal property tax in Spring-
field and Sangamon County, as in any other localities in this

339

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SECTION OF ONE OF THE LAND VALUE MAPS USED BY CITY ASSESSORS IN NEW

YORK CITY IN 1917

(Section reproduced in exact size of original)

In order to secure publicity to its tax valuations, the department of taxes
and assessments of the city of New York publishes annually a volume of land
value maps showing the front-foot valuations for all parts of the city. In view
of the importance of full publicity as a means of securing greater equity of
assessments, methods similar to those followed in New York are recommended
for Springfield.

340

CITY AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATION

country, was extremely unsatisfactory. Its undervaluation was
even worse than that of real estate. Indeed a large proportion
escaped assessment entirely. The result was that a small
number of property owners paid the personal property tax
property owners who were so burdened not by any just process
of selection, but because they were honest in listing their holdings,
because they were small investors with but little opportunity to
place their funds in untaxed districts outside the state, or because
they were corporations whose books were open to inspection.
Experience throughout this country indicates the impossi-
bility of taxing personal property, especially intangible per-
sonalty such as stocks, bonds, mortgages, etc., at the same rates
as those applied to real estate. A fairer and more practical
method is the laying of a more moderate tax on personal property,
say a tax at about one-fourth or one-fifth of the rate applied to
realty. Further, the centralization of the assessment work,
with a more expert assessing staff, already recommended, should
also help the situation.

COLLECTION OF TAXES

Outside of Springfield taxes were collected by town collectors,
one for each township, up to a certain date; after that by the
county treasurer. In Springfield (Capital Township) all taxes
were being collected by the county treasurer.

State and county taxes collected by township collectors were
paid over to the county treasurer. All other taxes collected in
the township were paid to the proper township official; that is,
school taxes were paid to the proper school officers, and so on.

Because of prompt and well-managed tax sales, the county
treasurer was collecting practically all real property taxes.
The results in the more difficult task of collecting personal
property taxes were almost equally good. In 1914 and 1915
the amounts uncollected were only about 2.5 per cent and 2.2
per cent respectively of the total personal property taxes.

The township collectors outside of Springfield were not able
to collect so large a proportion of the total levy. Since the
county treasurer must then collect the large remainder for the
township, the survey recommended that the township collectors

341

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

be abolished and that the work be put in the hands of the county
treasurer. For the convenience of rural taxpayers, the deputies
of the county collector might sit in the various townships on
certain previously advertised days.

TRANSFER AND SAFE CUSTODY OF TAX FUNDS
The county treasurer was not turning over to the city every
ten days, as required by law, all the tax money collected by
him. Neither were the books kept so that the city balances
could be readily ascertained. Only after considerable compu-
tation was it possible to discover that during a five-month
period just prior to the survey field work, he was withholding
from $5,140 to $72,795 balances belonging to the city school
district, park board, and other government bodies. Meanwhile
the city was borrowing money at 6 per cent interest, and might
have saved nearly $700 and retired the certificates drawing
5 per cent interest had this money been turned over at the
proper time. The practice being followed by the county treas-
urer deserved severe condemnation and required immediate
correction.

The Illinois law made the county treasurer liable under all
circumstances for money under his control. He must give a
very large bond in 1915 it was for $773,000 but might then
deposit the money wherever he chose. A better law would
provide for the naming of depositaries where he might deposit
and be relieved of responsibility. The depositaries could then
be required to give security for their deposits and pay interest
on daily balances, as they were doing on city funds which they
were holding.

The special funds and state moneys held by the treasurer
should also earn money, which should go to the county or be
added to the funds themselves.

THE HANDLING OF THE SPECIAL FUNDS OF THE CITY

BORROWING FOR CURRENT PURPOSES

Because the funds raised by taxation for paying the expenses
of the city government were not available until next to the

342

CITY AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATION

last month of the fiscal year in which they had been incurred,
the city was borrowing heavily to pay for a large part of its
current work. These loans in anticipation of tax returns were
bearing interest at 5 per cent. At the same time the city had
certain funds on deposit in the banks which drew 3 per cent
interest. Both of these rates were fair under the circumstances,
but the difference between them, which was a loss to the city,
should be saved by temporary use by the city of parts of these
bank balances. Also the dates for assessment of taxable property
and the collection of taxes should be set ahead from six to eight
months, with provision for penalties for delinquency in payments.

Such a plan would greatly relieve the situation. With an
efficient collection procedure, it has been found that the plan
of collecting taxes at two periods in the year does not add suffi-
ciently to collection expenses to materially reduce the savings
otherwise effected. This should prove to be true in Sangamon
County, as the county treasurer's force was not being largely
increased at tax collection periods.

To make these changes it probably would be necessary to
change the fiscal years of counties and other tax districts, and
generally to revise all revenue laws. Such a revision is desirable
in any event.

CITY BONDS AND SINKING FUNDS

The total city bonds outstanding at the end of February,
1915, was $727,700, a moderate amount in view of the value
of the public property alone. Very little was 1 known as to
how this indebtedness was incurred, the bonds then outstanding
having been issued to refund earlier issues regarding which the
records w r ere incomplete. The bonds for the p'urchase of the
waterworks were probably still unpaid.

In order to provide a more systematic method of paying the
city's bonded indebtedness, a sinking fund ordinance was passed
on April 5, 1909, which appropriated funds for the retirement
in 1925 of city bonds to the amount of $487,000. Although
this would leave a debt of $238,700 still unpaid at that time
it was a fairly liberal provision, since the bonds were partly
the debts of former generations and the citizens who are paying

343

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

for them have not enjoyed any special benefits from the original
expenditures.

At the time of the survey the city commissioners were not
exercising their powers of determining the kind and maximum
price of bonds to be purchased through the sinking funds in a
way to net the city the greatest possible saving. They should
advertise for offerings of bonds, and should direct that those
be retired first which would give the city the best values when
interest and market price are considered. On the basis of
1914 prices they could, by this method, have been saving the
city from $1,200 to $1,600 a year.

Bond moneys collected by the county treasurer were not
being paid over to the state auditor on the dates required by
law. If this were done and bonds were retired as soon as money
was available for their purchase, the city could thus have been
saving $300 to $400 more.

BONDING PROCEDURE

Obligating the future residents of the city for the payment
of debts made in the present is a matter of sufficient importance
to call for careful consideration of all the factors involved and
for the following of certain principles which experience has ap-
proved. A city should issue bonds only as a last resort when
current requirements of the community cannot be met through
current taxes. Moreover, the Illinois law providing that bonds
be used for no other purposes than those for which they were
issued should be strictly enforced.

Experience more and more favors bonds being made serial
in form ; that is, in the case of twenty-year bonds, one-twentieth
should fall due and be paid from current taxes each year. Post-
ponement of the first instalment to the end of the third or
fourth year after issuance of bonds should not be provided for.
Only the later issues in Springfield were serials.

Bonds should all be retired before the end of the life of the
improvement for which they were issued, or, preferably, in
three-quarters of that time since the upkeep charges toward
the end are excessive. Some of the serial bonds for riot judg-
ments .should have been made to fall due before 1918.

344

CITY AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATION

Every precaution should be taken to make the absolute
validity of bonds unquestionable, else their market value will
be impaired. Their increased marketableness would fully
compensate for the expense of employing a nationally recognized
bond expert to approve them and manage their issue.

It has been found a saving to cities and an advantage to
local investors to issue bonds in small denominations of $50 or
$100.

SPECIAL ASSESSMENT FUNDS

Special assessments are special taxes assessed for public
improvements. The property owners who particularly benefit
by the improvements pay part of their cost; the city pays for the
remainder. Residents of Springfield might complete settlement
immediately or might contribute their share of the expense
in five equal instalments. In the latter case the city, which was
acting as agent for property owners in the matter, paid the
contractor with serial bonds which he usually sold. The city
wisely (we believe) maintained the value of the bonds by
meeting the deficits between $2,000 and $3,000 a year
which usually exist between the money collected from the
owners and the funds expended in paying the bonds and interest
as they fall due.

These deficits in the collections were due to several largely
preventable causes. First, since most of the overdue assess-
ments were collected by June I5th, the county treasurer might
have turned them over to the city at that time; but (at least
in the last year previous to the survey) he did not do so until
September 22d, and the city was thereby delayed in retiring
its bonds and was thus obliged to pay longer than was necessary
the 5 per cent interest which they drew, at a yearly loss to the
city of $400 to $500. The county treasurer, in complying
with the law to turn over funds every ten days, for convenience
could do so on account and present his complete report with
the final payment.

Second, even after the funds were turned over to the city by
the county treasurer the delay in retiring bonds caused a further
loss of interest, since the city continued to pay the 5 per cent

345

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

interest due on the bonds until their retirement and meanwhile
received only 3 per cent interest on the funds in the bank. It
was possible to work out an equitable system of prompt retire-
ment without seeking any new legislation. Care needed to be
taken, however, that the methods used to call in bonds were not
unfair nor unpopular, since such methods would affect the
marketableness of future bonds.

Third, the county treasurer retained I per cent of overdue
collections for his services in securing them, and the city suffered
an annual loss from this source of $250 to $300. The city
should charge the cost of making overdue collections to the
property owners at 5 per cent of the amount due, as a penalty
for delinquency.

Finally, the maximum of 6 per cent which the law allowed for
the services of engineers and of the general supervision of the
work did not always cover the actual cost. The law should be
changed in order to allow an adequate appropriation for this
purpose.

CERTAIN PHASES OF SANGAMON COUNTY GOVERNMENT

The county board of supervisors, consisting of 21 members
from Capital Township and one from each of the 26 other town-
ships, was the governing body of Sangamon County. Its
work was done very largely through some 15 or 20 standing
committees which dealt with such matters as asylums and
hospitals, claims, and other county matters. In addition there
was a long list of elective officers chosen to render certain other
administrative services through the agency of the county.

LONG BALLOT

With several candidates running for each of these numerous
offices the ballot was long and confusing; furthermore, the
element of centralized responsibility, recognized as necessary
for efficient government, was lacking. It was recommended that
the county follow more closely the method of the city of Spring-
field in elections. A county commission of three or five members
should be elected to take charge of certain definite functions,

346

CITY AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATION

such as finance, poor relief, and so forth. This commission
should replace the present county board of supervisors, and
township government should be done away with. All the
administrative officers (the county clerk, county treasurer, etc.)
should then be appointed by the commission, or preferably by
its president or popularly elected chairman. The advisabil-
ity of appointing county judges
is probably still doubtful, but in
any case the court officers should
be appointed by the court.

Another improvement would
be the adoption of a non-partisan
election procedure similar to that
used by the city. It is absurd
to allow questions of national
politics to continue as important
factors in these strictly local elec-
tions.

CIVIL SERVICE

County officers were not sub-
ject to nor protected by civil
service regulations. The county
needed such regulations quite as
much as the city. A good civil
law should be formulated and
adopted as soon as the other
legislative changes can be made.
Citizens would then find the
problem of electing the right man
to office less difficult, since who-

THE LONG BALLOT
One of the many cartoons used
in the survey exhibition to illus-
trate points brought out in the
investigations. The cartoons were
by A. S. Harkness of Springfield.

ever is elected will have a trained and efficient organization and
staff for the continuance of the work of the office.

COUNTY BUDGET

Sangamon County had no real budget. As a makeshift
basis for the annual tax levy, each year an estimate or apportion-
ment of funds needed to carry on the county work was made up.

347

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

This schedule of figures had been used for a long time as the
chief guide for expenditures during the year.

This tax levy schedule, although later somewhat improved,
was still weak in the following particulars in comparison with
a real budget:

(i) It is not based on the total revenue actually receivable
or even accurately estimated ; (2) it is not used as a guide in
making expenditures, since a large deficit would sometimes
ensue if it were followed; (3) it is not properly classified as to
functions nor itemized in detail; (4) there is no adequate
control of accounts to prevent overcharging, as would be the
case if a ledger specially arranged for the handling of the different
funds were used; and no record of liabilities is kept.

A budget should be prepared under standard, detailed classi-
fications and should be accompanied by proper budget-account-
ing and control. It should show a total in excess of estimated
revenues from all sources and should cover every expenditure,
including even the cost of offices that depend upon fees for part
of their support. The items should be controlled and no ex-
penditures made nor liabilities legally incurred until the auditor
had vouched for the fact that funds were available.

The law should be changed to meet any legal difficulties
that would interfere with such a budget. Meanwhile an informal
working budget should be used.

Two of the main reasons for adopting the budget system are
that it forces officials to formulate intelligent programs for
their departments' future work and saves public funds. The
experience of many cities and counties proves the soundness of
this policy. Other results at which budget-making procedures
aim are: the lessening or elimination of "log-rolling," informing
the public on the city's financial aims; furnishing a formula to
guide and check administrative officers; providing a framework
for a proper accounting system and adequate reporting on
public work, and furnishing a basis for purposes of comparison.

ACCOUNTING SYSTEM NEEDED

The account keeping of the county contrasted poorly with
that of the city. Except for improvements brought about

348

CITY AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATION

at the end of 1912 by the creation of the office of auditor, the
situation was practically the same as that described in the
following excerpt from the report of O. R. Martin, of the Univer-
sity of Illinois, of his investigation of the county's business
methods:

No central set of books for the business of the county as a
whole is to be found, and such books as there are are kept on the
single entry basis. The county treasurer has a cash book, a
duplicate of which is kept in the office of the county clerk.
This and a register of the county warrants kept in the county
clerk's office constitute the most comprehensive records, but
they are by no means satisfactory for the purpose of presenting,
in a complete manner, the financial business of the county.
Each officer keeps a number of records and accounts which
relate directly to the work of his office, but these are nowhere
brought together to show their relation.

The system was complicated and its efficiency was impaired
by the existence of practically three fiscal years, for the super-
visors' year began on September 1st, although they do not take
office until April, and the other county officers began their
fiscal year on December ist. They should all use the same
fiscal year. The system was further complicated by the fact
that the fees received in some of the offices constitute a large
part of their income.

The account keeping needed to be thoroughly overhauled
and reorganized.

PURCHASING AND PAYMENT OF CLAIMS

The somewhat limited duties of the county auditor, whose office
was created in 1912, were: auditing claims and recommending
their payment or rejection; collecting statistical information;
approving all orders for supplies before the order was placed;
keeping a record of county offices and officers. He also pur-
chased some supplies. The great difference in prices paid by
different county officials in the past showed the need of such
a central agent, and the saving effected through this method
of purchasing had been estimated at $2,000 a year on only a
small proportion of all the purchases made for the county.

349

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

The best results, however, will not be obtained until such handi-
caps as the poor account keeping and the limited power of the
auditor over inventories of county officers, over the making of
the budget, and over county purchasing are removed.

As soon as the necessary amendments to the law are obtained,
the county's cumbersome and unbusinesslike system of paying
claims should be simplified in a way similar to that suggested
for the city.

COUNTY REPORTS AND PUBLICITY

Finally, Sangamon County was publishing no annual reports
that were in such form as to give citizens any clear idea of the
county activities of the year, their costs, and the general status
of county matters. Indeed, except for the auditor's statement,
which was limited by the deficiencies in the county accounting
system, practically no reports at all were issued. The situation
urgently called for a change. The public must be informed
upon public matters. The issuance of readable annual reports,
with the facts explained and so grouped as to be easily under-
stood, is essential to the intelligent participation of the public
in their government, and is necessary if officials are to be held
to the full performance of their duties.

350

PART THREE
PUTTING THE FACTS TO WORK

The people of Springfield took over the survey, so to speak,
during the preparation and course of the survey Exhibition in the
fall of 1914. The Exhibition at one stroke placed them in posses-
sion of the leading facts, ideas, and recommendations of the sur-
veyors; and in addition afforded an opportunity, grasped by
nearly a thousand, to participate personally in the venture and
in this way not only to feel a sense of proprietary interest but to
be in fact part owners. Here was a new broad channel through
which many citizens might help to put the survey's information
and suggestions to work; and through 40 and more exhibit com-
mittees they took up the task.

In addition to the opportunity for a wider sharing of the work
and responsibilities, and to the opportunity to present the major
findings in such simple, graphic, and entertaining ways as to gain
the attention and be understood by the many, particularly those
who are not habitual readers of periodicals or printed reports,
the Exhibition, as has been pointed out in an earlier chapter,
would create an event in the community, lasting ten days and
preceded by two months of active preparation, which would give
further "news" value to the survey's facts and conclusions. It
provided the occasion for focusing the attention of large numbers
of people upon the data at one particular time and gave added
timeliness to discussions of the material in meetings of clubs and
societies and in other gatherings. It moreover presented the in-
formation and suggestions which the survey had to offer as a unit
in the form of a great picture or a panorama spread out in a way
to bring new aspects, emphasis, and freshness of interest to con-
ditions in the city which too great familiarity or occupation in
other matters had obscured, even from the many who regularly
frequent the city's streets or take part in its daily routine.
2 3 353

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

A TOUR OF THE EXHIBITION HALL

Perhaps in a tour of the exhibition hall, using the floor plan and
the pictures scattered through these pages to aid, an idea of the
Exhibition may best be secured. The reader may then see it as
the "average" citizen saw it. At the same time a glimpse behind
the scenes will show something of the great co-operative effort
that added so much significance to the picture.

The state of Illinois is the co-operator first in evidence as you
approach the exhibition hall, for the state has given the use of
the huge and imposing First Regiment Armory and with it, light
and heat for ten days. Great stores of equipment have been
moved out to make room for building the elaborate framework
which will enclose the exhibits. As you enter the hall, your first
impression is that of a big achievement in decoration and con-
struction alone. The national colors are used with fine effect to
give dignity and beauty to the Exhibition and to soften the harsh-
ness of iron beams and brick walls. Large flags hung from the
ceiling take away from the great height of the building which
would otherwise overawe the low exhibit booths. Long rows of
booths line the walls and form a double row down the center of the
hall. These have walls of buff -colored panels framed in green.
Red, white, and blue bunting is draped in fan shapes over the
hall's balcony, the latter forming the ceiling of the booths. 1

The center of first interest, aside from the general effect, is
likely to be the attractive pavilion directly opposite the entrance,
with white pillars supporting a canopy top of red, white, and blue
and tall palms flanking the arch of the stage at the back. But
we will get to this again later. In the meantime it suggests other
co-operators. A number of busy men gave much time to planning
and building appropriate settings for the exhibits. It is especially
interesting, incidentally, and fairly typical of the spirit of the
whole enterprise, that the architect who planned the decorative
features and the manager of the public utilities corporation who
supervised the construction were both in disagreement with cer-
tain important findings of the survey. Like a great many other
public spirited citizens, not knowing "where the lightning would
1 See illustration on page 13.

354
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355

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THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

strike," they willingly endorsed the project as a whole without
regard to any quarrel they might have with some part of it.

A committee on drayage provided trucks and automobiles to
haul a large amount of equipment and exhibit material. A furni-
ture committee secured the chairs, tables, and rugs you will find
in the rest room, rest spaces, office, stage settings, and restaurant,
if you drop into byways and places "behind the scenes" along
your route.

FIRST REGIMENT ARMORY AS EXHIBITION HALL

The state of Illinois co-operated by turning over its huge armory, with light
and heat, for ten days to be used as the Exhibition hall.

THE ONE-WAY ROUTE

But you may not make a tour of the hall in any haphazard way,
dropping in here and there. For at the entrance an usher directs
you to turn to the left (even if he were not there a sign and a
guide rail would start you in that direction), and thereafter you
have little choice but to follow the one-way route that is marked
by the guide rails, reinforced by ushers at those points where it is
necessary to have an opening for fire protection. The ushers com-
mittee brought in one large group of co-operators, high school
boys in the afternoons, and members of the National Guard in the
evening. What better way than through a chance to be of service
could there have been for bringing these young men in contact
with the survey?

You come first to a booth labeled " Information " where several

356

THE SURVEY EXHIBITION

women workers are very busy, but are ready to answer any ques-
tions and to be of help in other ways. All ushers, explainers, and
other helpers report here, receive badges, and are marked "pres-
ent" on a large chart that hangs on the wall. Each day postal
cards are sent out from the information and management com-
mittee to the helpers who have been scheduled for the next day,
reminding them of the hours assigned to them. Here also is the
outpost of the office of the Exhibition directors, from which the

"INFORMATION" AT THE EXHIBITION

The first booth you come to; every visitor had to pass it on the way in.
Here several women volunteers were regularly on duty ready to answer ques-
tions and to help visitors get a right start in making the round of the hall.

directors and managing committees, working together, keep the
machinery of the Exhibition running, not always smoothly to be
sure, but with remarkably good results for a temporary and vol-
unteer organization.

AN INTRODUCTORY DEFINITION OF THE SURVEY
And now for the exhibits. Next beyond "information" is the
"introduction" to the exhibits. If you came without much ad-

357

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

vance information (as you probably did, representing as you do
the majority of visitors) you wonder what it is all about; what
is a survey anyhow; who is doing this and why? Your questions
are answered in the form of a dialogue between "Father Spring-
field " and the "Wise Owl," lettered in large type on panels cover-
ing one wall of the booth. Their conversation runs as follows:

WHAT IS A SURVEY?

FATHER SPRINGFIELD: " I feel a bit run down; I guess I need
a tonic."

WISE OWL: "Maybe you do, but you need a Sur-

vey first."

FATHER SPRINGFIELD: "A Survey? What's that?"

WISE OWL: "You call in specialists to examine

you, weigh you, and test your heart
and lungs. They make notes about
you and take them back to their
offices to study. Then they prescribe
for your real trouble."

FATHER SPRINGFIELD: "That sounds fine. But where can I
find these specialists?"

WISE OWL: "Ask the Russell Sage Foundation to

send them. But remember! They'll
tell you the facts whether you like it
or not."

FATHER SPRINGFIELD: " I'm not afraid. You send for them."
So the specialists were sent for and they came.

Father Springfield will become a familiar figure in the course of
the tour. He was the inspiration of a local artist and expressed
in his strong, determined bearing, and the dress and beard of the
elderly responsible citizen the type of middle westerner who, as a
pioneer, built cities like Springfield and felt a real stake in making
them good places in which young and old might work and play
and otherwise live their lives to the full.

You are assured in this same introduction that the survey be-
longs to you as a citizen. On the exhibit panels it was put some-
thing as follows:

358

THE SURVEY EXHIBITION

THE SURVEY IN THREE WORDS
SPRINGFIELD WELFARE CO-OPERATION

It is Springfield's
enterprise.

Started by Spring-
field.

Backed by Spring-
field.

It is for Better
Health.
Schools.
Recreation.
Morals.

Working Condi-
tions.

Home Conditions.
Government.

These matters affect
you.

They need your in-
terest, co-opera-
tion, and action.

THE SCHOOL EXHIBIT

If you are like most visitors you will spend ten minutes at least
on the next exhibit, but you will gather in the short time a sur-
prising amount and variety of information about the public
schools of your city. You are likely to tell about it afterward, too,
because the amusing and expressive pictures and devices impress
the facts and their importance upon your mind. For example,
there is the panel on "Overheated School Rooms" showing the
temperature found in 170 school rooms during a day in March.
Your attention is especially attracted to this because of the ther-
mometer over four feet high in which red "mercury" rises to 80
degrees, drops and rises again, while a series of sketches show a
child growing drowsier as the higher temperatures are registered.
Another panel called "Arithmetic Tests" gives illuminating in-
formation on the strong and weak points in the class room instruc-
tion. You learn that Springfield children stand almost at the
head in addition, above the average in multiplication, just above
the average in subtraction and division, way below the average in
problems calling for reasoning, and almost at the foot in accuracy.
Rows of silhouettes of children are cut of gummed paper, 27
figures in a row representing the school children of 27 cities. All
the figures are green except one representing the Springfield child,
which is red.

Again, 300 Springfield boys of thirteen years tell you what they
would like to do when they grow up. One-half of them chose
occupations for which industrial training is needed, and you are

359

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

Upper 6th grade children in Springfield
were given same arithmetic tests as
children in 26 other cities

SEE MOW THEY RANK

Almost head of the class in Addition

Above the average in Multiplication

chagrined to find that at present they cannot get such training in
the most helpful form in the public schools.

A diagram which moves up and down next attracts your atten-

tion; in fact, it must

be admitted that it
was made to move for
no other purpose than
to get your attention.
It shows by columns
of varying height and
color that about half
of the children who
leave school at four-
teen have not com-
pleted the sixth grade ;
and this is related to
the laws regulating
attendance.

In one of the school
booths there is a work-
ing model of a school
door with a self-releas-
ing fire exit latch.
You will probably
stop there longer than
otherwise if it hap-
pens that one of the
most enthusiastic ex-
plainers, a real fireman
from the city fire de-
partment, is on hand
to demonstrate the
advantages of this
door. He is here very
regularly, so you are not likely to miss him. Although he is espe-
cially enthusiastic about fire protection, he will not let you neglect
any feature of the school exhibit.

Extending clear across one side of the last booth in the school

360

Just above average in Subtraction and Division

Way below average in Reasoning Out Problems

Almost foot of the class in Accuracy

How THEY RANK IN ARITHMETIC
A panel from the Exhibition. The figures in
silhouette representing the school children of 26
other cities were in green, and the one represent-
ing Springfield was in red.

THE SURVEY EXHIBITION

series is a description printed in large letters. It shows the prog-
ress made in improving the schools in the eight months since the

THIRTEEN YEAP OLD

CHILDREN

731 children 13 years old
in Springfield Public Schools

The Law says

"They have finished their education
They may now go to work"

Have they finished
Are they ready

Boys

Girls

i 234- s e 7 s i n m

Nearly Yz of the 731 are in the

6fh grade or lower when the law

permits them to drop out

THE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL WILL
HELP TO KEEP THEM IN SCHOOL

GRADES OF BOYS AND GIRLS THIRTEEN YEARS OLD

In the blank space of this panel at intervals columns of varying heights and
colors automatically moved into place to show the distribution by grades of
children reaching the limit of the compulsory attendance period when large
numbers may be expected to drop out of school.

facts were gathered in March, 1914, and in the five months since
June when they were first published. The list makes a very en-

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

couraging showing and as a beginning gives promise for the sur-
vey as a whole.

The school exhibit, only a few of whose 1 8 or 20 main points
can be touched upon here, presents a good example of the way in
which local talent was commandeered. The survey staff and the
commercial exhibit makers were responsible for facts, copy, lay-
outs, construction, and lettering of panels. But the electrical
devices (there were two in this section) were made by volunteer
electrical engineers, members of the model committee; sketches
on eight or ten panels and the cleverly designed silhouettes were
contributed by as many amateur or professional artists, all the
arrangements being made by the art committee. The faithful
services of the member of the fire department was another illus-
tration of the wide range of interests that united in giving the
survey message to the people.

THE SCHOOL PLAYGROUND DEMONSTRATION

Each day of the Exhibition a different group of children, 20 to 30 at a time,
played games here under the direction of a play leader. During the ten days
every school and every grade was represented.

MANUAL TRAINING AND SCHOOL PLAYGROUNDS
By the time you have studied all of this part of the school
exhibit and even with the pictures, models, and other enlivening
features this exhibit does, after all, require close attention you
will find some mental relaxation in a visit to the manual training
department and the school playground. Here the exhibits are all
action.

362

THE SURVEY EXHIBITION

In the manual training booth there is a different class present
each session, taken from the eighth grade or the high school.
They are demonstrating drawing and bench woodwork. The
large open space just beyond is called the playground, and here
20 or 30 children are playing games under the direction of a play
leader. They are so absorbed as to be quite unconscious of the
crowd of visitors in front of the rail. There is no doubt that they
are having a good time and that it is wholesome fun.

But why a play director? And why playgrounds in a city of
generous outdoor spaces like Springfield? There are answers to
these questions in the recreation exhibit which comes next. Be-
fore going on, however, you may be interested to learn that there
is a different group of children on the playground every day, and
that during the ten days every school and every grade in the city
will be represented here. And of course nearly every child who
takes part brings parents and neighbors to the Exhibition.

THE RECREATION EXHIBIT

In the recreation exhibit, the first object to attract your atten-
tion is a remarkably realistic model of a school building and play-
ground. You will easily recognize the building, as it is an exact
reproduction of the Enos School, but the grounds have been
transformed from a bare and unused space to an attractive play-
ground equipped in one part with play apparatus, planted as a
garden in another, and with one section reserved as a ball field.
You may never guess that those shade trees are sponges dyed
green; and you probably will agree that the play apparatus is
worthy of a professional toy maker. The children of the Enos
School made the model from a plan furnished by the survey. Now
that they have pictured so vividly the possibilities, they are all
the more eager to have the real playground. You, for one, may
be ready to help get it for them too ; and after you have seen the
panels at the back of the booth, having a play director does not
seem a mere frill. For example, there is a photograph of a crap
game with the reminder, "Left to themselves, children sometimes
play wrong" ; and in contrast, boys playing basketball and dodge
ball with the caption, "Rightly conducted sports develop char-
acter."

363

364

THE SURVEY EXHIBITION

You pass the section on "Parks," glancing at the pictures and
brief labels that suggest more use of the parks for holiday cele-
brations and organized sports, for you are a bit curious to know
why so many people seem interested in lingering at the booth
next beyond.

Full of novelty as well as of practical suggestion is this next
section, which shows what Springfield does and fails to do to
provide good times for its young people. There is always a crowd
here and you have to wait your turn to see what is in that large
mysterious box with an opening at about the level of your eyes.
While you wait, you are attracted by the brightly lighted street
scene at the back of the booth, and a moment's observation con-
vinces you that here is a sensible and practical idea. After seeing
the gay and inviting theaters, dance hall, and pool room flanking
the dark and deserted church and school house, you read the ques-
tion, "Why not light up the schools and churches for evening
recreation?" and you echo, "Why not, indeed?"

But it is your turn to look through the peep hole of the box and
here you see a toy model of a school room standing idle, just as
all Springfield school rooms were doing at the time for eighteen
hours of every day. Obeying the directions on the box to
"switch the handle and see an empty school room changed to a
school center," you see in the place where the empty school room
stood an instant before a similar room with the seats pushed back
and young people dancing or seated in groups. If you still have
any doubts about the need for school centers, there is food for
thought in the map of Springfield dotted over with pool rooms
attached to saloons which are called "Youth traps in the heart of
Springfield." And there is also the discouraging record of
"Springfield's theatrical offerings" during two months when all
but four of 401 performances were slap-stick, farce or burlesque
and coarse, cheap humor.

On another panel, showing pictures of activities in school cen-
ters in other cities, you are reminded that, "In the movie you
only look on at life. At the social center you yourself live." So the
street scene takes on new meaning as you see it again. But your
attention will hardly fail to be called to this street scene also as a
work of art. The ingenious and painstaking work of the art com-

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THE SURVEY EXHIBITION

mittee in this scene well deserves your appreciation, for in color
and in looking after its many details they have spared no effort
in making it a faithful reproduction. You can even see the
shadows of the dancers against the windows of the dance hall.
And the crowds on the street, which are figures cut from maga-
zines and painted, are by no means crude and unconvincing, as
amateur work of this kind is likely to be. You cannot help having
faith that the Springfield volunteers who worked so faithfully and
well to present this recreation program to their fellow-citizens
will not fail to see that it is carried out.

THE HOUSING EXHIBIT

The last exhibit on this aisle is on Housing. There is one booth,
and in the main the exhibit confines itself to one idea, namely,
"Family Homes for Family Life." You may have some doubts
that those models represent houses that would be safe out on
the prairie. The roof of one is very insecure, and they all
look as though even a light wind would blow them away. But
the large and attractive photographs are perhaps convincing
enough to offset the crudeness of the models for along with
the remarkable achievements of the volunteer organization you
will observe, of course, that there was an occasional failure or
part-failure.

Father Springfield is found here again and his counselor, the
Owl, who warns against welcoming "Mr. Tenement" to Spring-
field. There are examples of evils that come in with multiple
dwellings if citizens are not watchful, such as dark rooms, lack of
fire protection, insanitary conditions, and the "borrowing of light
and air from neighbors" by building on all of the lot. There are
also pictures and facts about the bad housing conditions found
among Springfield's colored population.

HIGH SCHOOL PRINTING AND THE MOTION PICTURE HALL

Your floor plan shows you a small empty space at the end of the

aisle. There is just room enough here for the high school boys to

set up their printing press and show you what they can do. They

are making themselves very useful to the publicity committee,

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THE SURVEY EXHIBITION

for they are printing and distributing colored cards bearing such
messages as:

Please invite your friends to come

to the
SURVEY EXHIBITION

and see the

SPRINGFIELD HIGH SCHOOL
demonstrate printing

Springfield High School Press

At this point in your tour you can either go into the motion
picture hall or, if you are especially energetic and serious minded,
you will scorn the movies and continue along the exhibit route.
But, both as a rest from continuous standing and as a matter of
interest, it is worth while to spend fifteen or twenty minutes here.
It will be a welcome change from the scrutiny of still pictures and
reading matter. Even if you are a movie fan you will not stay
longer than this because the same picture is repeated at twenty-
minute intervals throughout each session of the Exhibition, so
that the picture may not compete with exhibits for your atten-
tion. A new picture is shown each afternoon and each evening.
The subjects are in keeping with the survey topics, chiefly health,
sanitation, safety in industry, and industrial training. Most of
the few good films on civic and health topics available at the
time will be shown during the ten days.

The films were collected by a business man who took the entire
responsibility for this feature of the program. In the back of the
guide book, among acknowledgments of contributions of ' ' materials
and professional services," you will find listed the Motion Picture
Operator's Union, whose members contributed their services in
showing the films for the entire period of the Exhibition. Before
you leave the hall one of the directors takes a few minutes to invite
the audience to bring or send their neighbors and friends to the
Exhibition and to take part themselves in carrying out its purposes.

MILK EXHIBIT OF STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
Leaving the motion picture hall, you find yourself facing the
Milk Exhibit of the State Department of Health. This exhibit
24 369

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

is more permanent in form than the other exhibits, for it was
made with a view to touring the state after its display here. The
model of good and bad dairies is made like a stage, set with
miniature buildings, fences, wagons, animals, and farmyard in
the foreground and a painted background of fields and trees. Be-
low the model, all of the elements that go to making a clean milk
supply for the city consumer are named on the links of a chain
with the title, "The milk chain is not stronger than its weakest
link." Facts about Springfield's milk supply are given on panels
on either side of the model.

THE MENTAL HYGIENE EXHIBIT

Now you round the corner and start toward the front of the
hall, coming first to the Mental Hygiene Exhibit. Here the facts
are striking enough, but most of the panels have too many words
and too few pictures. The amount of attention you give to this
booth may depend on whether or not a good explainer is present.
The "Kallikak family" is the conspicuous feature, with its sketch
in color of the two lines of descendants of Martin Kallikak demon-
strating the fact that feeble-mindedness is inherited. That, al-
though insane persons are really sick, "Springfield does not treat
them, but jails them," is illustrated by records of insane persons
held in the county jail from one to even twenty days. The need
of special classes for mentally defective children is pointed out in
other panels.

In an exhibition on so large a scale there is bound to be un-
evenness in the quality of the work for any one of several reasons :
the imagination of the "copy" writer and designer runs dry; or
the execution of a good idea is bad ; or the facts do not lend them-
selves readily to graphic forms; or, most commonly of all, the
time for preparation is too short. But you do not think about
why an exhibit looks dull ; you merely give it a casual glance and
seeing that it lacks color and movement you pass on, since there
is much to see that does not make a severe demand on your
attention. Fortunately, the Mental Hygiene Exhibit, which you
have somewhat slighted, will get its full share of public attention
later because of a political battle that is waging around some of
the facts shown here.

370

THE SURVEY EXHIBITION

THE HEALTH EXHIBIT

Five sections are devoted to health and, very naturally, the
section on babies comes first. Flashing lights are used here, both
to catch your eye and to make the facts more impressive. As you
look at a large map of Springfield tiny green lights scattered over
its surface flash up, and as they disappear tiny red lights appear in

BABIES BORN IN 1913

At least \ZSO babies born
in 1913

BUT THE SURVEYORS FOUND

375 babies born in 1913

not registered

Is your baby one of the 375?

BIRTH REGISTRATION

Count your family

Father Springfield !

A record of every baby
born will help prevent
j, ^ the useless waste

-- * of infant lives

THE LAW PEQUIPES DOCTORS AND
MIDWIVES TO REGISTER BIRTHS

About one-third of births

were not registered

in 1913

IS YOUf? BABY

REGISTERED?

IS YOUR NEIGHBORS

BABY REGISTERED?

BIRTH REGISTRATION

Three hundred and seventy-five unregistered babies found by the surveyors
are placed on the map, and Father Springfield is warned to count his family
more carefully hereafter.

other places. Then both green and red lights are flashed together.
Each light represents the home of one of the 1913 crop of 1,250
Springfield babies. No really proud parent would care to be
represented by one of the 375 red lights, for these stand for the
unregistered births, nearly a third of the total.

371

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

At least 20 or 30 volunteers can claim a share in producing that
interesting map. There were those who helped in the survey,
examining church christening records, interviewing ministers and
doctors, and following up various sources of information to find
the unregistered babies. A group of patient high school girls
dropped into the exhibit headquarters daily after school and
punched holes and pasted green and red paper over them at
points where the lights should shine through. When all this was
done, electricians planned and set up the apparatus that would
make the widely scattered green and red lights flash alternately
and then altogether.

Next to the map is a panel with a headline reading, "Count Your
Family, Father Springfield." One cartoon on the panel shows a
row of storks bringing babies for the doctor and nurse to examine,
and another shows Father Springfield industriously at work at an
adding machine; and the caption says that a record of every baby
born will help in preventing the useless waste of infant lives.

What happens to the 1,250 babies, registered and unregistered?
That is perhaps the saddest story the Exhibition has to tell.
Water-color sketches of ten winsome baby faces are grouped as
you see them in the panel or page 373. One face is painted on
ground glass, and the sudden flashing and gradual fading out of a
light shining through the glass calls your attention to "the tenth
baby" that does not reach its first birthday. On another panel
there are photographs and explanatory statements to show how,
by providing instruction for the mothers, the city could save
many of these babies.

The remaining sections of the health exhibit will invite and
hold your attention if you are interested in maps. The informa-
tion on these maps explains some of the most important reasons
why Father Springfield felt "all run down," as he told the Wise
Owl. For these maps are really charts of Father Springfield's
health, showing the weak spots in his system, and the reasons why
they were serious liabilities and should be looked after.

There is much about the water supply and sewerage system.
On a panel appropriately ornamented with two rows of shiny
brass faucets (here the much maligned plumber made his con-
tribution), is the reassuring statement that "Springfield appar-

372

THE SURVEY EXHIBITION

ently has on hand an adequate supply of pure ground water,"
but several improvements are needed, including protection

BABY DEATHS

Of every 10 babies born
in Springfield

'- C

One dies before reaching its first birthday

Probably

one -third of these babies die because
of improper care and feeding

THE CITY COULD SAVE
MOST OF THESE BABIES

^ '

by employing

Public Health Nurses

to
instruct the mothers

THE TENTH BABY

The face at the bottom was painted on ground glass. The flashing out of a
light behind this face at regular intervals called the visitors' attention to the
fact that one baby in every ten in the city was not reaching its first birthday.

against the possibility of pumping polluted river water. Two
relief maps in color show the sources of contamination of the
Sangamon River which runs through Springfield. The maps were

373

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

prepared by the State Historical Museum as a contribution to the
Exhibition.

A section also is devoted to tuberculosis, the disease which was
found to be responsible for more deaths than any other one cause.
The exhibitors have made quite an elaborate attempt to show the
battle against tuberculosis as a real modern battle with all of the
community represented in fighting units. But perhaps those who
collected the toys, the sign painters and other collaborators, did
not have quite enough of the fighting spirit and so the battle may
not thrill you as it should. This is indeed unfortunate, for the
good work being done by the Tuberculosis Association, as shown
in pictures and words, certainly needs and deserves the reinforce-
ment that you might be persuaded to give.

THE PLAYHOUSE

While you are viewing the health section you are on your way
to the playhouse, and the amount of time you devote to health
may depend on whether you are disturbed by the megaphoned
voice announcing that the performance is about to begin. If you
happen to be just a little early for a performance (given twice
each afternoon and evening), you may be glad to rest here for a
few minutes while an enthusiastic worker tells you about the
playhouse. There are seats for about a hundred people, and the
stage is built high enough so that all those who are seated and
those who stand at the back of the pavilion can see.

Five different playlets are produced here with over 100 actors
taking part. One young woman, recently out of college and with
an abundance of energy and organizing ability, gathered together
the players and with a few associates to help her, drilled them and
provided costumes and stage settings. For some of the plays two
casts were trained, so that it would not be necessary for any of the
performers to appear for more than two or three sessions. It
would be hard to say which was the biggest single undertaking of
the many big feats of construction and management carried
through by the Springfield people, but certainly the successful
organization and management of the playhouse with its seven or
eight groups of players made up of children, young people, and
grown-ups was a big achievement all by itself. Not that there

374

THE SURVEY EXHIBITION

were not plenty of mishaps and the usual number of trying
moments, but the percentage of smooth performances was high.

PLAYS PRESENTING SURVEY FINDINGS

The playlets, all of them about fifteen or twenty minutes in
length, were written especially for the Exhibition and dealt with
conditions and recommendations contained in the survey. They
were very simple and the moral always stood out frankly and
boldly so that you couldn't escape it. Indeed, the intention was
to make these performances little more than the acting out of

A SCENE FROM "Two BIRTHDAYS"

Five different playlets dramatizing survey facts and recommendations were
produced in the playhouse, with over 100 amateur actors taking part. "Two
Birthdays" deals with the effect on the family of the irregular employment of
miners. See page 147 for an illustration showing more of the setting of the
playhouse.

some of the things the surveyors saw in the everyday life of
Springfield people and the contrasted changes that might come
about if survey recommendations were followed. For example,
the play now about to begin is intended to boost the school center
idea. The title printed on a placard at the left of the stage is,
"Why the Gang Broke Up A Pantomime in Five Scenes." The
curtains are drawn back and the gang appears, looking very tough
and evidently seeking trouble. A boy carrying a notice of the

375

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

school center appears. The gang stop him, read his sign, hold a
whispered conversation and start off, evidently bent on mischief.

The stage setting for this scene is merely a painted back drop
showing an outdoor scene and borrowed from a local theater.
By running a curtain in front of this drop an indoor setting for
scene two was had. (These two backgrounds served for all of the
five plays.) In scene two a gymnasium instructor and some boys
are boxing and wrestling. The gang burst in aggressively and
then stop short, somewhat surprised by what they see. Soon they
are keenly interested, and one of the boys begins to strip off his
coat ready to get into the game. Immediately the instructor
shakes hands with him and invites him to come and join them.
The other boys back off the stage trying vainly to take their com-
panion with them. In successive scenes the fast dwindling mem-
bers of the gang visit a dance, a rehearsal of a play, and a glee
club and one member succumbs to the allurements of the enter-
tainment each time. This loosely built story made a good enter-
tainment, and the very simple plot merely told in action what had
already been told in printed words, pictures, and models in the
recreation exhibit.

The plots of the four other plays are outlined in your guide
book as follows:

The Playmaker

The school recess bell rings and boys come running out in a
disorderly manner. Some stand around idly, others shout and
run, and some of them are fighting. Then the playmaker comes
and interests several different groups in games, until they are
enjoying wholesome, lively, and worth-while play.

A Bundle or a Boost

Father Springfield, benevolent and kind-hearted, listens to
tales of distress from the poor and gives them the things they ask
for. Mr. Better Helper watches for a while, and then goes out to
investigate the cause of their poverty and troubles and tries to
remedy that. He refuses to give them baskets, but they are soon
able to help themselves.

The Imps and the Children

The "Handicap Imps" "Weak Eyes," "Sore Throat," "Can't
Hear," and the rest attack the unprotected school children, and
glory in their success is a mad "Dance of the Imps." But when

376

THE SURVEY EXHIBITION

the school board is told how dangerous the Imps have become, they
call doctors and nurses "Test Tubes" and "Air Pumps" and
drive the Imps off in a patrol wagon. Then the children who have
dropped like tired flowers, spring up and dance with gladness.

The Two Birthdays

There is joy in Mrs. Brady's little home for her Joe is a man with
a steady job, and it is Tim's birthday, and Tim has won honors
at school. But the mine closes, leaving Joe without a job. Mrs.
Brady and Tim go to work, so that on Nannie's birthday the
home shows neglect, the children have become unmanageable, and
the purse is empty. At last, Joe gets a job that will support them
until the mine opens again, and their troubles are over for
a while. So is the home affected by seasonal employment.

THE EXHIBIT ON THE CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM
Following the arrow as you leave the playhouse, you come to
the "Correctional System," an exhibit that has more dramatic
interest than its dull sounding title would imply. Your first
glance shows you a rather bewildering array of words, pictures,
and devices, and many of the titles such as "Indeterminate Sen-
tence" look rather technical.

If you were as docile in following directions as the exhibit plan-
ners expected you to be, you would begin at the left and read to
the right, getting the story in its proper sequence and finding it,
after all, easy to understand. You are not likely to do this of
your own accord, however, being an average visitor. While you
are trying vaguely to get some meaning out of it, an explainer
comes to your rescue and gathers you and a dozen others into a
group to be personally conducted through the section. You find
yourself following with close attention his interpretation of the
panels. He directs your thought first to the question, "Why are
thousands of dollars spent each year for police, jails, prosecutors,
and courts? " By way of helping you remember, you are requested
to find the answer for yourself; and turning a handle on a disk
you bring into focus out of a confused mass of letters this brief
reply: "To protect the public!"

Well, you know you want protection for your family and your
property. The explainer points to the next question, "Does
Springfield's system protect?" It seems that it does not deter
certain offenders from crime, and so it follows that it does not

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protect you. To make this point clear to you, you are first intro-
duced to "the repeater." You see him repeating endlessly a tour
of the same circle of court, jail, streets, and saloon. Springfield
in a year has had over 1,400 arrests of these repeaters, for whom
the correctional system has done nothing. The modern methods
that do correct and prevent repeating are described and illus-
trated; probation, indeterminate sentence, and parole. Instead
of these, Springfield has petty fines; 65 per cent of all sentences in
one year were fines and many of these were only three dollars.

For those who go to jail and those held awaiting trial, the demor-
alizing jail conditions serve as anything but a corrective influence.
If you will look at this picture of the "bull pen," which is a large
iron cage where a number of men are confined together, you will
know where to place responsibility for making repeaters of many
first offenders. While you are looking at this photograph it moves
upward like a stage curtain and reveals a pleasing scene, a land-
scape and buildings in the background and men working in the
fields in the foreground. This is the prison farm, which you are told
is "the right way, the way that protects by reforming." After a
brief glimpse of this hopeful picture, the ' ' curtain ' ' is lowered and you
are again faced with the reality, the cages, well called "bull pens,"
where men are herded together like beasts every day in your town.

You have seen how the adult offenders are treated. But what
of the children? One booth is devoted to the methods of dealing
with juvenile offenders. On one panel are the words "The Bad
Boy 'What made him do it' is more important than 'What he
did.' ' A door mounted on the panel arouses your curiosity.
Beyond this courtroom door, the explainer says, are found the
things the juvenile court judge needs to know before deciding a
case. He turns the door back, revealing pictures that suggest
some of the causes of juvenile delinquency: a vicious home, bad
companions, no place to play, and others. But the judge does
not have these facts, or at least does not take advantage of them,
as the story of one boy shows. There are four brief illustrated
chapters to the story of "John, aged 12 Delinquent." Chapter
One tells of a drunken mother and a neglected home; Chapter
Two of John's petty offenses; Chapter Three of his being placed
by the court on probation, under the control of his irresponsible

379

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

mother. The last chapter is " Arrested again What next?" The
juvenile court system at present apparently has no answer to

this question, so it
seems that the courts
are beginning with
twelve-year old boys
in the process of mak-
ing repeaters.

But there is even
more to the tale of this

COUNTY JAIL ANNEX

WHO ARE KEPT THERE

Insane Boys under 17

Delirium Tremens cases Girls under 18

ONE DAYS
8 boys I girl
4 Insane I"D,T."

RECORD

6 rooms
5 beds

wrongly named "cor-
rectional system."
Here is a cross-section
of the county jail
annex, showing its six
rooms and five beds.
One day's record
shows that eight boys
under seventeen, one
girl under eighteen,
four insane persons,
and one case of delir-
ium tremens were
kept in these six
rooms. You are in-
vited to solve the
puzzle: Can you, or
anybody, distribute
the 14 so that eight
boys and one girl, or
any of them, would
not be demoralized?

When you come to
the last panel the ex-
plainer leaves you and

goes back to the beginning to perform the same service for the
next group of visitors. How simple it all was to understand with
his help, and yet he did little more than call your attention to

380

PUZZLE:

Mow distribute the 14
so that 8 boys and I girl
are not demoralized ?

A PROBLEM IN MATHEMATICS AND MORALS
A combination panel and three-dimension
model used in the Survey Exhibition for bringing
home to citizens the demoralizing situation in the
jail annex, where sometimes as many as 14 per-
sons were held in the six rooms. In this case there
were eight boys, four insane persons, one girl, and
one suffering from acute alcoholism.

THE SURVEY EXHIBITION

what was before you, contributing in addition his own enthusiasm
for better methods of correction. He is a busy lawyer who is
giving generously of his time to help Springfield citizens to see
what the jails and courts which they never visit are like.

Many other volunteers have helped to make the picture vivid.
The art committee produced that cleverly painted scene of the
prison farm, the doll figures for the jail, and about a dozen car-
toons that illustrated various panels. The model committee has
made devices to work by hand or electricity, calling on carpenters,
a manual training class, and electricians for contributions of ser-
vice. The photograph committee has worked hard to get pictures
that furnish clear evidence of the conditions that are described.

THE CHARITIES EXHIBIT

"Charities" comes next. Here, you are told first about what
sort of a chance the handicapped have in Springfield ; what hap-
pens to those who are in want because of illness, unemployment,
widowhood, or desertion ; and what sort of a substitute for family
life is provided for children who for one reason or another are
homeless. "What the yard stick says" is the title of a panel on
which the care of dependent children in Springfield is measured
by modern standards and found to be far from satisfactory.

It has seemed best to the surveyors, however, not to dwell at
much length on what they have found in their study, but rather
to take this opportunity to give you a brief and elementary lesson
in the meaning of organized charity; and so half of the space is
devoted to an exhibit of nine panels loaned by the Charity Organ-
ization Department of the Russell Sage Foundation. This exhibit
gives in cartoons and a few words convincing answers to the usual
criticisms made against organized charity. It makes clear some-
thing of the difference between "helping the poor in their pov-
erty" and "helping the poor out of their poverty." A few people
who are keenly interested in the charitable work of the city are
making the exhibit the occasion for enlarging the circle of sym-
pathizers, and though the crowd at this section may not be large,
there are usually several there engaged in earnest conversation
with the explainer, potential recruits, many of them, for the move-
ment to put the charitable work on a sounder basis.

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

Now you pass around the end of the fence dividing the up-and-
down aisles and you are started on the last lap of the tour. You
pass somewhat regretfully the now deserted "coffee house," an
attractively decorated and roomy space filled with chairs and
tables. The only refreshments to be had in the evening are the
boxes of home-made candy, which high school girls are selling to
raise money for a school gymnasium. A placard announces that
lunch is served at 25 cents, dinner at 50 cents, and tea at 15 cents.
The school girls who serve tea in the afternoon are now busy in
the next booth showing the practical value of this branch of school
work, and the spaghetti and tomato sauce that they are preparing
certainly look appetizing.

THE GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY EXHIBIT

City Housekeeping comes next, giving a bird's-eye view of city
and county government. Just a glance at the titles bring home to
you how much a matter of practical housekeeping city govern-
ment is, and how important it is to the everyday life of all the
people. There are panels among many others, on fire protection,
garbage disposal, street lighting, trees, and pavements. Many ac-
customed inconveniences or dangers take on new significance by
being taken out of their familiar settings and presented to you as
matters that you as a citizen should take action upon. For
example, that bad railroad crossing; the neglect of the valuable
trees that are the pride of every citizen ; the lack of a city system
of garbage disposal. Concise and clear suggestions are given as to
what to do about these things.

There is a map of the city spotted thickly with red arrows indi-
cating the "jogs" in the street and the "dead end " streets which
are a great nuisance to everyone. The map gives point to the car-
toons on city planning, showing the old method of developing
additions to the city in a haphazard way, in contrast with the new
way in which Father Springfield is seen standing with his blue-
print in hand directing the distribution of dwellings and factories
and the opening of streets according to his well-thought-out plan.
There are other things here that you ought to know as a tax-
payer. Space does not permit describing them all; but by a
glance at random your eye is attracted to a subject to which you

382

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THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

have never given much attention. The method, or rather the
lack of method, in buying city supplies is here illustrated. On a
shelf is a row of five identical articles, each labeled with the price
paid for it at retail. The prices vary from $2.75 to $4.00. The
lowest price represents what the surveyors themselves paid at the
nearest drug store. The other prices are taken from the records
of city and county institutions. Any business conducted on as
large a scale as the city government would have a central pur-
chasing department; but in Springfield each department or
institution head does his own buying, often at top prices.

THE INDUSTRIES IN MINIATURE

You come now to a large booth more imposing than its neigh-
bors. In large letters on the broad arch above the front opening
are the words, "The Spring in Springfield." You look down at a
miniature industrial city, its buildings ablaze with light. There
are factories, stores, and office buildings and even a railroad with a
train of cars making a continuous run on the track that loops the
cluster. The walls of the booth are lined with panels, each carry-
ing information about one of Springfield's industries. This exhibit
is the contribution of the manufacturing and business firms whose
names appear on the panels. Here you see something of the
economic understructure upon which much of the city's life and
future progress depend. The exhibition committee has not over-
looked the advertising value of such a feature as this, for each
model proves to be of interest to a large group of people who are
workers in the particular plant so represented.

THE EXHIBIT ON INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS
Next door to the industrial city is the exhibit on Industrial
Conditions. You have seen the fine buildings and read the record
of output and sales and of the excellence of the products. Now it
is appropriate to give some attention to the workers in these
plants. What of their working hours and wages? Do they have
regular employment? Can they maintain a decent standard of
living? Are their surroundings comfortable and safe? Are the
children obliged to drop out of school to go to work at an early
age? If you are eager to know these things you will not hesitate

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THE SURVEY EXHIBITION

to tackle the rather heavily worded exhibit ; but fearing that you
might not be in a questioning frame of mind, the exhibitors
thought it best to work out numerous methods of attracting and
holding your attention. Thus if the exhibit seems dull in appear-
ance, that circumstance is offset by the very "live" explainer who
is usually present. Here a young poet of Springfield with a gift for
picturesque expression and a real interest in the cause of the
workers brings before you vivid pictures of the homes that fall
below "An American standard of living." He shows you dia-
grams, figures, and statements that tell why.

THE SPRING IN SPRINGFIELD

INDUSTRIAL SPRINGFIELD IN MINIATURE

This booth represented in models of factories, stores, office buildings, and
railroads some indication of the economic foundation upon which Springfield
was being built.

One great cause of poverty, aside from the low wages paid to a
large proportion of the workers, is irregularity of employment.
The miner (there are over 2,500 of them in Springfield) earns as
much as five and six dollars a day, but his yearly wages are likely
to average about $500. The miners hold the center of the stage in
this exhibit both because of the striking facts that are brought out
regarding their working conditions and because of the ingenious
device which lends fascination to otherwise dry statistics. A box
about four feet high and six feet wide has on its face a chart show-
ing "the working days in Sangamon County mines" during one
year. Those miniature miners that you see following a path up
2 5 385

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

and down across the chart are attached by a wire to the electric
motor which keeps them continuously in motion. Each worker
reaches the top of the employment peak in October when he has
twenty days of work, and from that irregular time on he con-
tinues down hill to almost total idleness.

"The law aims to protect growing children" is the heading on
another panel. Below are silhouettes of 55 children with dinner
pails. These are the working children found in a brief search by

Path shows number of working days
in Sangamon County Mines
July 1912 to July 1913

SEASONAL EMPLOYMENT AMONG THE MINERS

The curve, showing the working days in the mines of Sangamon County
during the last year before the survey, was represented graphically in the
Exhibition by this device. The course of employment was represented by a
path traveled up and down and across the chart by these miniature miners
attached to an electric motor which kept them continuously in motion. See
page 385.

the surveyors. Only twelve of them were obeying the law as to
the hours of work. As to hours for grown-ups, the figures for
72 establishments show that 85 per cent are working nine or more
hours a day, also that organized workers are far ahead of unor-
ganized workers in securing better hours.

THE LAST WORD SECTION

Beyond the Industrial Exhibit is a large open space invit-
ingly furnished with chairs, tables, rugs, and palms. Here you
may drop in for the "last word" before you go. You have spent

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THE SURVEY EXHIBITION

perhaps an hour and a half traversing the length of the hall four
times, but it is still early and you may as well respond to the
invitation on a placard to "Rest a Minute." Another says,
"Attend the Silent Lecture on Next Steps." A variety of ways to
spend the time here is offered. You may talk over what you have
seen with your friends ; or you may sit down at one of the tables
where pencil and paper are provided and write one or more ques-
tions about things that were not made clear; or there may be sug-

THE "LAST WORD" SECTION

Here in a large open space invitingly furnished with chairs, tables, rugs, and
palms, the visitor might stop for the "last word" before leaving the hall.
Opportunity was thus afforded for talking over what had been seen, learning
of follow-up plans of the survey, asking questions, and offering suggestions.

gestions that you care to offer. These may be dropped in the
question box and you will find the reply in one of the morning
papers the next day. Or you may join the group standing around
a leader mounted on a chair and bring your question into the dis-
cussion that is going on there. Once or twice every evening
impromptu meetings are held here. Sometimes questions found
in the box are read and someone especially qualified to answer
them is placed "on the stump"; more often questions are asked

387

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

from the floor. Always the meeting breaks up with an urgent
request to send your friends and neighbors to the Exhibition.

Then there are survey reports on the table; four of the nine
sectional reports are in print, and you can look them over here or
buy them to take along home.

But the "Silent Lecture" is the most important feature. A
series of lantern slides describing the follow-up plans for getting
results from the survey are shown on the small screen that you
see in the back of the room. The lecture was planned as a silent
one, but it was found much more successful in holding interest to
have a member of the committee talk with the slides. On the
slides a scheme of organization of a citizen's committee is out-
lined and offered for criticism and amendment. Above all, the
aim is to get citizens to join in taking over the survey as an enter-
prise that they are from now on to be responsible for. It is thus
hoped that, in leaving, visitors may feel some impulse stirring to
carry out the "co-ops' oath," displayed on a placard in this room,
which reads:

"We will transmit this city greater, better, and more
beautiful than it was transmitted to us."

ATTENDANCE AND METHODS OF SECURING IT
The "average citizen," through whose eyes you have seen the
Exhibition, was one of about 15,000 who came during the ten
days of the show. The sort of people who made up this audience
and the methods by which they were recruited are much more
significant than the numbers. The group of promotion commit-
tees made it their business to see that every interest in the com-
munity and every neighborhood should be well represented.

That nearly everyone in Springfield belonged to some organiza-
tion was evidenced by the "directory of organizations," a card
catalogue in the exhibition office which contained the names of
400 local organizations. That meant that for every 150 men,
women, and children in Springfield there was one club, a church,
society, lodge, union, parents' association, or a literary, musical,
athletic or social club. These groups were bombarded from many
angles. Ten-minute speakers attended their meetings and ex-
plained the plan and purpose of the Exhibition. About 25 speak-

388

THE SURVEY EXHIBITION

ers were kept busy in this way for a. month. The committee on
co-operation invited the groups to appoint co-operating commit-
tees to represent their organization in all relations with the Exhi-
bition. These co-operating committees were also offered their
choice in a long list of assignments of special work that their
organization might undertake, thus bringing them still more
closely in touch with the Exhibition. The special-days committee
asked them to name the day and hour when their group would
attend in a body. If desired, any club could hold its regular
weekly or monthly meeting in a room at the Exhibition set aside
for this purpose. They could come for luncheon, tea or dinner.
When all these arrangements were carried out, attendance was
further aided by the announcement in the daily papers each day
of the organizations expected on that day.

Most of the larger organizations responded to these invitations
and many small ones. The Ministerial Association, Knights of
Columbus, Rotary Club, Bar Association, Eastern Star, and sev-
eral church and literary societies were among those which held
luncheon or dinner meetings. On these occasions a member of the
Exhibition executive committee outlined the plan for follow-up
work. Some immediately offered to co-operate, and others agreed
to devote a session to some phase of the survey later. The
Catholic societies came in such large numbers that they filled the
hall one evening. Missionary societies, organizations among the
colored people, the medical and dental societies, supreme court
judges, and many lodges also came for an afternoon or evening.
"Labor Day" was the afternoon of Thanksgiving Day, and many
of the unions turned out in full force.

The efforts of the promotion committees spread far beyond the
city. A county committee carried the news through public
addresses and other methods to the rural districts. One Satur-
day was "County Day," since many farmers would be in town
then and the rural teachers could also come in. The committee
on out-of-town organizations worked chiefly through letters. At
the committee's suggestion the chamber of commerce sent mes-
sages on its own stationery to similar organizations in all towns
within a radius of one hundred miles inviting them to send delega-
tions. Similarly, the mayor wrote to other mayors; the super-

389

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

intendent of schools to other superintendents; the club women to
other clubs; and so on. Many individuals and some officially
appointed delegations came in response to these letters, and the
visitors' book showed names from towns scattered over the whole
state, and indeed, from a number of other states.

SCHOOL CHILDREN AT THE EXHIBITION

The educational value of the Exhibition for the school children
was fully appreciated by the school authorities, and the advertis-
ing value of their attendance was equally appreciated by the pub-
licity committees. The morning hours from 10 to 12 each day
were given over almost exclusively to the children from the fifth
grade up through the high schools. They came by classes, in
charge of their teachers, and were received by members of the
parents' associations from their own schools. These reception
committees brought the parents' associations into direct relation
with the survey, and also added a neighborhood interest to the
many other group interests represented.

As the children knew that they would be expected to write up
the Exhibition afterward, they came as reporters looking for a
story. Two sets of prizes for the best essays on the Exhibition,
one for grammar school and one for high school students, had
been offered by a citizen who was especially interested in the
teaching of civics in the schools. Many of the children w r ere eager
to win a prize.

An excellent plan was devised for getting rid of confusion both
in the touring of the hall by the children and in their search for
material that they could describe. The children of each school
as they arrived went directly to the motion picture hall where
they saw a one-reel film and then heard a five-minute talk on how
to see the exhibit. Bits of red ribbon had been attached to the ex-
hibits that would be of special interest and value to them, and
they were told to look especially for "red ribbon exhibits." Need-
less to say it required no labels to attract their attention to the
models, the pictures in color, and the moving devices. Composi-
tions written later showed not only that the flashing and moving
objects had caught their eyes but that they had understood and
remembered the ideas so conveyed. A further detail of the ar-

390

THE SURVEY EXHIBITION

rangements that saved a great deal of time and confusion was the
method of distributing the children around the big hall. When
they left the motion picture hall they marched in double files until
they were spread out over the entire circuit. Then the order to
halt was called out and they broke ranks, going thus in small
squads to the exhibits nearest them. After that they moved
around the complete circuit just as all other visitors did.

Each child was delegated as a special messenger to carry the
news of the Exhibition to his parents and neighbors. These 5,000
bearers of news were probably the best single advertising agent
the Exhibition had.

NEWSPAPER PUBLICITY AND ADVERTISING

Although the attendance was promoted chiefly through the
personal efforts of committees in setting aside special days, writing
letters, giving talks, sending messages by the children, and getting
the Exhibition widely talked about, this personal effort would
have amounted to little if it had not been backed by generous
newspaper publicity and advertising. For several weeks a con-
tinuously swelling volume of news in the four daily papers gave
evidence to the readers that the Exhibition was the event of the
hour, that it was enlisting the real enthusiasm of a great many
citizens, and that it was something quite different from anything
Springfield had ever seen before. Not only in the news columns,
but in club notes, society column, and on the editorial pages the
survey and the Exhibition had conspicuous place.

Three papers carried special features of their own. The State
Register published the "Survey Question Box" on its editorial
page for about ten days. Questions of all kinds about the survey
and the Exhibition were invited by this department, which was
edited by a local journalist with the help of exhibition directors.
The State Journal carried several signed articles by local writers
on such topics as health of school children, playgrounds, and
printed comments on the art and other aspects of the Exhibition.
Other series were planned for other papers, such as "Why Teach-
ers should See the Exhibitions" and similarly, why lawyers, par-
ents, business men, ministers, and others should go; but they were
not carried out.

391

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

Paid advertising was not used very extensively, partly because
the funds were not available and partly because the local com-
mittee placed much reliance on the effectiveness of the free pub-
licity secured through news and personal efforts. The city was
well placarded with window cards, and large illuminated signs
were displayed in windows at several of the busiest corners. A
good four-page folder containing the floor plan of the Exhibition
and a list of attractions was very widely distributed. A leaflet
was used in the campaign to secure workers and subscribers to the
Exhibition budget, and a window card called for volunteers. It
cannot be said that any of this material was particularly distinc-
tive, however. Perhaps the best advertising was secured by the
committee on advertisement mention, which did its work so
thoroughly that more than half of the local advertisers in daily
papers carried an announcement in their own ads of the Exhibi-
tion one or a number of times for almost two weeks.

More effective advertising undoubtedly would have increased
the attendance. But the limited amount of money and service
that it was possible to secure was probably much better invested
in the personal work of committees directed toward obtaining a
widely representative attendance.

SPIRIT AND VALUE OF THE VOLUNTEER WORK
We have reviewed the Exhibition as a picture and as an event
which reached practically every household of the city with the
survey facts. But, for permanent value in getting action on the
survey recommendations, the bringing together of a large body
of exhibition workers was at least equally important.

When the exhibition project was launched about one hundred
were actively interested in the survey. At the close of the Exhibi-
tion at least a thousand people had taken some part in presenting
the survey to their fellow-citizens.

It was as much a part of the exhibition plan that work should
be found for volunteers as that tasks should be accomplished. The
scheme of organization devised for carrying on the enterprise is
chiefly interesting for the way in which it provided for getting the
essential work done by people of known ability, and for extending
indefinitely the opportunities for service that would help the

392

THE SURVEY EXHIBITION

Exhibition if carried out and not hinder it if omitted. A small
and energetic executive committee took the entire responsibility
for the project and worked closely with the Exhibition director
in the administrative work. Four of its members headed the four
groups of committees into which the forty were divided and were
responsible for getting the work done in each group. These lead-
ers did their work so well that the director was left free to give
much time to making plans, meeting emergency situations, and
advising with committees about all sorts of details without carry-
ing the whole burden of the administrative machinery.

Committee work was made more efficient also because the ad-
vance plan, which was turned over to the executive committee at
an early stage in the preparations contained a brief typewritten
statement of the assignment for each committee. Such an outline
was prepared for each of the forty committees. 1 In addition, there
was always to be found at headquarters a list of special assign-
ments that any group of volunteers might undertake. These
usually went to the co-operating committees already referred to
as a feature of the promotion work. For example, one woman's
organization came in as a co-operating committee and took entire
charge of a rest room which was maintained for women and chil-
dren and for workers at the Exhibition. A club of high school
girls took charge of the sale of guide books.

Another feature of the committee plan that was of importance
in paving the way for future co-operative effort was the way in
which the committees were made up. "A Census of Useful
People" was the title for the card list of names which was pre-
pared and classified according to the ability and interests of about
700 men and women. The committee chosen to make up this
list included a member of the school board, a labor leader, a
minister, a business man, a lodge member, and enough others to
insure a committee having wide acquaintance among people of a
great variety of interests. This census was used by the committee
on committees, whose work took about a month.

The activities of committees were made as interesting as pos-

1 Eight of the committee outlines used in Springfield are reproduced in
Appendix B, beginning on page 199, of The A B C of Exhibit Planning, by
Evart G. and Mary Swain Routzahn, Russell Sage Foundation, New York.

393

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

sible both to the workers and to the public. A large vacant store
in an excellent location was secured for headquarters. A great
many people passed and stopped to wonder what was going on,
for at most hours of the day there were meetings at several of the
tables scattered over the large room; and many office helpers
were seen addressing and stamping envelopes, clipping news-
papers, and coming and going on numerous assignments. The
broad display windows were used for posters and announcements
and there was always an invitation to come in and learn about
the survey.

Perhaps the most useful experience for future work in using
the survey data was given to the explainers' committee. The
chairman of this committee was responsible for selecting, training,
and supervising about one hundred men and women to act as
interpreters in each of the exhibit booths. The explainers were
grouped in sub-committees, one for each topic, and they were
selected, as far as possible, because of their interest in and general
knowledge of their topic. Each group met once or twice to learn
what the exhibits would tell. Several meetings of all explainers
were held to discuss methods of attracting and holding the interest
of visitors; and the chairman toured the hall frequently during
the Exhibition to see that her helpers were taking the initiative in
getting attention for the exhibits and not waiting for visitors to
ask questions.

Finally, a feature of the organization work which tended to
bring about that esprit de corps so much needed in getting results
from the survey was the series of three rallies held at times when
there were good reasons for bringing the workers together. About
two weeks before the Exhibition opened, a committee rally was
held to spur the workers on to a big final effort. Spirited talks,
refreshments, and practical information about the progress of the
project were the ingredients from which new enthusiasm was
created at this meeting.

On the Saturday night preceding the formal opening of the
Exhibition a private view was held to which were invited 1,500
workers, public officials, reporters, teachers, ministers, and all
others who in any way had helped or would be expected to help
in making the show a success. This occasion was a fortunate one

394

THE SURVEY EXHIBITION

in stimulating the get-together spirit. As everyone expected to
come again they did not examine exhibits in detail, but obtained
a general impression of the thing as a whole and spent the evening
in meeting friends and rejoicing over the general attractiveness of
the hall, the fine attendance on this first occasion, and other indi-
cations of a satisfactory opening. The hospitality committee,
whose members had worked many hours in compiling the list and
getting out invitations, received the visitors.

The third rally came toward the end of the Exhibition. It was
a dinner meeting of explainers and all others who had taken any
part up to this time or were ready now to join in the plan of
follow-up work. Vachel Lindsay, writing of the Exhibition, said of
this dinner:

"The most contradictory factions in the town were represented
at the explainers' dinner the last evening. There assembled here
people destined to take opposite sides in many a future argument
or political campaign. If there was as much faculty for co-opera-
tion among hostiles in the whole nation of Mexico as there was
under that arsenal roof, there would have been a government
down there some time back. This spirit of co-operation showed
itself early in the survey and was not confined to the local workers
residents of Springfield."

395

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A
RESULTS OF THE SURVEY

The question is often asked whether surveys such as this one made in
Springfield actually lead to constructive action ; whether results in fact did
follow in Springfield. It is a fair question; but, as has been pointed out in
Chapter I, instead of attempting to answer it ourselves by making up a list of
developments which appear to have had their beginning in the survey, it
seems better to take the answer from the testimony of citizens of Springfield
particularly since a number have expressed themselves on the subject and
since, also, their statements were not made at our solicitation. The state-
ments came into our hands after they had been given out to the public. They
are printed, except for the letter of inquiry and the reply, in the order of their
dates.

RESULTS OF THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 1

By A. L. BOWEN

Executive Secretary, Illinois State Charities Commission, Springfield,

Illinois

The results of any great campaign are of two kinds: the tangible and the
intangible. The intangible results of the Springfield survey are worth more
to our community than those which we can actually see with our eyes or
touch with our hands. I would say a new community conscience, or perhaps
more truthfully an aroused and stimulated community conscience, is the
most noteworthy effect of the survey. Our attitude of a community
toward all questions affecting its well-being has radically changed. We see
new meanings in them and react to them in a different manner. Our sense of
duty in many cases where it formerly would have been dormant, now asserts
itself and prompts us to action. There is a new spirit in our work. Our
ideals of humanitarianism have undergone revolutionary process. All this
has occurred quietly, gradually, and we have been almost totally oblivious to
the changes.

1 From an address on this subject delivered at the City Conference of
Charities and Corrections, held in Springfield, March 17-19, 1916, as reported
in the Illinois State Register.

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THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

The survey has taken from us at least much of our smug provincialism,
that notorious state of mind and attitude which regards those things which
we have created or possess as right, correct or perfect, and the critic of them
as a rogue and public enemy. The greatest obstacle to any progress is this
provincialism known to some as loyalty to home and local pride. With
this complacency and satisfaction which we feel in our own possessions and
prowess there is always present the spirit of abuse for those who try to reveal
these faults or failures, or deficiencies against which we have closed our eyes.

A community has won a victory over self when it becomes able to stand
criticism of its own institutions and habits and to change them to meet the
ideas of constructive critics. It is difficult to look at a competitor and
acknowledge that his methods are better than ours. We frequently refuse to
do so, even though we lose by it.

NARROWNESS WAS EVIDENT

When the first survey report arrived we immediately began to display to
the world our narrowness of vision and character. Dr. Ayres told us some
unpleasant things about our schools, and at once we ruffled up our feathers
and began to denounce him as an unmitigated defamer of our fair name, an
enemy of Springfield, and withal a long-haired reformer and a short-haired
liar. Unfortunately there are some among us who are still in this frame of
mind. But it is to the everlasting credit of our city that we had a few present
with sense, poise, and courage sufficient to march heroically to the front, to
demand that this report be read and studied dispassionately. It is susceptible
to proof, they said. We can determine whether he has told the truth. We
can compare ourselves with others and decide whether other cities are getting
more for their money or are spending more money to get more than we have.

The agitation was short lived. We found that Dr. Ayres had not lied
about actual conditions. We made comparisons with other cities of our class
and we have found we do not have all that we should have, and we have be-
gun to acquire them. And we are going to continue the acquisitionary pro-
cesses until this city has a complete, modern, up-to-date school system,
capable not only of absorbing the good ideas that others originate but com-
petent to contribute to the world some original ideas. We must do this
because neither capital nor labor will settle in a community whose educa-
tional system is not fully abreast of the times.

EACH BROUGHT ITS FLARE

So one after another the reports came in, and after each one there was a
flare-up. They were not altogether complimentary. They did reflect upon
us. Our correctional system, our poor farm, our jail and city prison, our poor

400

SURVEY RESULTS

relief, our associated charities, and the rest of our institutions suddenly took
on a sacredness undreamed of. Before, we had considered them first class,
veritable world beaters. But we had been measuring them by a rule which
we had made ourselves. We were judging them by the amount of money we
were putting into them and not by the quality of the work they were doing.
This gave us excuse to flatter ourselves with our gross and vulgar liberality.

Among the tangible results of the survey, some are directly due to it. We
can hardly say that the closing of the segregated district was a direct effect,
but we know the survey attacked this infamous evil and presented its wrongs
so vividly that it must have made a deep impression. It must have been
responsible in large degree for the creation of that public opinion so necessary
in uprooting an institution forty years of age.

We know that there is better spirit of co-operation among all our private
agencies and between our private and public agencies. This meeting and the
organization of the Central Conference of Social Agencies are sufficient
demonstration of the new spirit. I feel that there is better feeling between
our local welfare organization and our city and county officials. The old dis-
trust of each other has passed to a large extent, and it is well that it has. The
agitation for a new jail and the demand for facilities whereby petty offenders
may be treated and cared for in a better institution than a jail are valuable,
not only to our county alone but to the whole state. There is some dif-
ference of opinion among us as to just what should be done on the jail ques-
tion, but we are a unit that our system is wrong. It is going to be changed.
Whether we make the change as a county or wait a little for the state to
assume its duty, the main point is that the change is coming and the survey
may be directly credited with our new interest.

WE KNOW OUR NEEDS

We have been awakened to the need for better attention to our insane.

There is a marked improvement in our handling of children in the courts.
Our juvenile detention home has been greatly improved, and our juvenile
court deserves credit for the many progressive methods it has adopted. Un-
doubtedly good may be expected from improved means of garbage and sew-
age disposal. This problem is a long ways from solution, but it is noticeable
that there has been serious consideration of it within the past year. We find
our milk dealers appealing to the public on the cleanliness, purity, and fresh-
ness of their supplies. Our milk situation is far from satisfactory, but the
survey and the exhibit inspired some of the dealers with a new idea.

Our school system has undergone many changes for the better junior
high school, new high school building, new buildings in the districts; more
attention to fire protection, health precautions, ventilation, and sanitation;
26 401

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

the use of the buildings as social and civic centers, as meeting places for pleas-
ure, education, political discussion, and the like; night schools for adults for
the time being suspended for lack of funds, and many things yet undone
because of no funds but agreed by all to be necessary functions of a complete
school system; as well as special classes for backward children, vocational
schools, continuation classes and open-air school rooms, and a wider and
broader use of the physical plant. Perhaps someone will say the survey
deserves no credit for these, but we must not forget that what has actually
materialized, has materialized since the survey report. Prior to that time we
had talked about them. The survey gave them a shove across the line.

CHARITIES WORK IMPROVED

The work of our Associated Charities has taken new directions. Let me
just mention this fact as a complete proof that something has happened. Last
year we had difficulty in raising $2,500. This year we have already raised
$4,000 and will gather in $5,000 before its close with no more labor and anxi-
ety than was expended the year before.

It is more than a year since the survey was made, yet today we are just
beginning to understand its importance and magnitude, just beginning to
feel some of the beneficial results and to see some of its immense possibilities.
It is to remain with us permanently, to prod our conscience, a light to our
feet and an inspiration to our effort to make Springfield the best place in the
land in which to live.

II
WHAT IS A SURVEY? 1

HOW SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, FOUND OUT

BY GRACE HUMPHREY

Springfield, Illinois

When the general manager and directors of a factory realize that things
aren't going as well as they might and their score is below one hundred per
cent, they summon an efficiency expert to go over their plant from A to Z.
This may be a task of weeks or months, for it involves a careful study of
conditions in workrooms and office and selling force, of raw materials and
finished product, of insurance and welfare work. Then comes his report,
pointing out the weak spots, making definite suggestions for improvements,
the next steps to be taken immediately and others to run over several years.

1 Reprinted by permission from The Outlook (New York) of December 27,
1916.

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SURVEY RESULTS

The same thing can be done for a community, which is only a factory of
another kind, for its product is citizens ready to do their work in the world.
Their one hundred per cent depends on schooling and public health and
recreation, and all the other things that go to make up living conditions in a
town.

Reporting on a community is called a survey, and one has recently been
made in this country that bids fair to become the standard. The place was
Springfield, Illinois, in many ways a typical American city.
* * * * *

It is impossible in so brief an article as this to tell the fascinating story of
each of the nine lines of work studied schools and recreation, housing and
charities, public health, the administration of city and county, corrections
and the care of mental defectives, industrial conditions in its entirety a
more complete community study than any previously attempted in America.
But one story is more or less typical of the others, just as the time and money
expended for one is an average for them all. So here only one of the reports
is considered, the subject of greatest importance perhaps to the entire popula-
tion of any city its schools.

For education in Springfield is one of its big industries, though we seldom
think of school and factory as being in the same class. But count all the
children, the teachers, custodians, office forces, and board of education, and
you have the amazing total of nearly twelve thousand persons, more than
half the number engaged in all the industries of the city. One out of every
five persons in Springfield is directly concerned in education, to say nothing
of parents and employers.

Indeed, the survey was in part a result of the community's interest in
school questions, suddenly aroused when the last census put Springfield into
the class of cities electing their board of education, the electorate in Illinois
including both men and women. Elections were lively affairs, widely dis-
cussed and argued, with sometimes as many as forty-seven candidates, to
choose seven serving without pay!

There were the most conflicting beliefs about the schools, some insisting
that Springfield had every right to be proud of them, and they wouldn't
hear of any hint to the contrary. Yes, if they'll hold their own in comparison
with other cities; but do they? was the reply. One group pointed with self-
satisfaction to the new buildings, for which so much money was being ex-
pended, while the next questioned if they were fully up to the highest modern
standard of construction and equipment. And still others asked if perhaps
the work in the schools ought not to be readjusted to the changed and chang-
ing new generation.

But every one felt that spending forty-five cents of every dollar of taxes

403

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

was none too much if forty-five cents was coming back in education; for
Springfield is proud, and for its children the best is none too good. In fact,
said some, we pay for the best; are we getting it? Let us have a survey.

So in 1914 Dr. Leonard P. Ayres, with his five assistants, spent ten weeks
on Springfield's schools, studying, comparing, interpreting, recommending.
And his report, containing both diagnosis and prescription, was eagerly
awaited by the entire community.

For the board of education he suggested a simplification of work. Meeting
for several hours almost every week, each member serving on at least three
committees, a large part of their time was given to petty details that should
be looked after by superintendent and principals. They, not the board,
should discharge a janitor, decide about new geographies, transfer teachers,
change ventilation and heating systems, buy supplies, make repairs, deter-
mine as to adjustable desks and how often to oil the floors, and all the
thousand and one little things that are matters of school housekeeping or
questions needing special professional knowledge.

More and more the board should act, says the report, like the directors
of a great corporation, putting authority on their general managers. This
change was made almost at once, and the result in these two years has been
all that was anticipated and more. Principals and superintendent accepted
the extra responsibilities, and the time of the board has been freed for big
questions bonds, new sites, building plans, extensions of the school system,
needed legislation.

A change making little difference on the surface? Perhaps; but it has
meant less work and worry, it has lessened the danger of petty politics and
personal influence, it has greatly increased the efficiency of all concerned.
And this is one instance in the survey where it takes an outsider to point out
the underlying difficulty, suggest a remedy, and show how to carry it out.

As to the children, whether they were in school or not, there was nothing
to judge by at the time of the survey. Springfield pays for a school census
every two years, but it gets one that fails to answer fundamental questions
though the city stands near the head of the list, in Illinois, for illiteracy. An
efficient school census, says the report ; and to insure attendance a trained
truant officer with some social service experience.

The census has been replanned, and a trained woman is looking after the
boys and girls who "play hooky." And not only are the working certificates
for school children now given under a new system, as the survey recom-
mended, but there was all last summer an employment bureau managed by a
committee of teachers; and here Springfield has gone one step beyond the
report, which pleases no one more than the surveyors.

A special study was made of the misfit children those over age, those

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SURVEY RESULTS

extremely retarded, those who drop out of school the minute they are thirteen
years old. In a list of thirty cities Springfield ranks above the average in its
low percentage of these "specials" ; but there are nevertheless a thousand of
them, and for their care two special classes are to be started this winter,
lessons for the most part individual.

To prevent the leaving school, which occurs much more among the boys
than the girls, the surveyors looked into the course of study to find its weak
spots. Much of it was behind the times, artificial, unrelated to the needs of
real life. And, as proof of this, a most amusing section of the report tells
how the experts prepared from their 684 class room visits short examinations
to see whether or not the upper grades were being taught what is actually
used by able business men in Springfield. These tests in spelling, history,
arithmetic, and geography were given to eleven of the most prominent and
successful citizens. And the lamentable and laughable result of those exami-
nation papers has made over the course of study. For the marks showed
between the work of the school and the work of the world little intimate rela-
tionship. This is changed now, and the course of study is being made
being made, not was made not by the board of education but at conferences
joined in by all the teachers of a grade, principals, and superintendent. And
this is true for grammar schools and high schools.

High schools? you ask. Does a city of sixty thousand have more than one?
Springfield does now, thanks to the survey. And so enthusiastic was the
community in putting into effect the recommendation for the junior high
schools, so enthusiastic has been the response of pupils and teachers and
parents, that it has been said that these schools alone are justification for the
survey.

It has always been true in Springfield that the high school cost more per
pupil, and for many less children, than the grammar schools. Instead of
having eight and four year systems, try the six-three-three plan, with inter-
mediate groups called junior high schools, of seventh, eighth, and ninth
grade children, said the report. This gives a special kind of schooling for
the difficult adolescent period, with a fine chance for vocational training for
both boys and girls. And it is especially wise for Springfield now, when the
high school is overcrowded. Ninth grade children remain in school, in their
own communities, and when the break does come, changing to the senior
high, it is accompanied by no break in studies.

This worked like a charm in the three junior high schools organized in the
city. One outlying district, generally sending one or two children to high
school, graduated 19 on a Friday at the end of January, and on Monday the
whole 19 turned up for high school work!

Regarding vocational training, Springfield's greatest need is for the boys,

405

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

and this could be given in the junior and senior high schools, using for its
material all the kinds of work involved in maintaining the school buildings
painting and carpentry and plumbing, electric wiring for lights and bells,
steam-fitting, tin- work and masonry vital and fascinating work because it is
real, instead of formal and artificial exercises assigned in the school shops.
It is an economical plan, using the $9,000 of manual training salaries and the
$22,000 for building maintenance, this fund having just now an ample
margin.

The plan fits in with manual training classes as at present organized, with
part time and continuation classes in the senior high school. If work in the
school buildings gives out, playgrounds and parks, hospitals, and children's
institutions could furnish more. There are limitless possibilities !

But the plan has not been adopted. Perhaps it seemed too great a depart-
ure from the old system to let a boy help the plumber during school hours and
count it as school work. But manual training and domestic arts teachers
are more than doubled in number since the survey, and perhaps uncon-
sciously they are doing this very thing.

Last year one group of boys made boxes and chests of drawers for the baby
welfare station and nursery in their school. The girls made the curtains and
kept them laundered. One class made steps for the auditorium platform, a
ladder for the motion picture booth, and the framework for the curtains over
the semicircular windows. This last item proved the survey correct as to
economy, for the curtains cost ten dollars less than the lowest estimate from
a downtown store!

Another school made most of the apparatus for a playground that is one
of the indirect results of the survey and a good illustration of community
action; for this summer of supervised play was financed by the Woman's
Club and carried on in a school yard ; the boys of the neighborhood did the
work and received in return a recommendation in both school and recreation
reports.

In any factory it is the little leaks that spell inefficiency; and one of the
valuable parts of the report are the many suggestions for little things which
in the past meant waste but may be easily corrected; such things as that the
filing system in the main office is needlessly complex, that few towns spend so
much for supplies, and recommending a businesslike way to remedy this and
save money; that class rooms and corridors and coat rooms have waste
space, with the result that Springfield's buildings are fifty per cent larger
than those of other cities for the same number of children.

It is a little thing, perhaps, to point out that coat-room hooks and black-
boards and seats should have some reference to the size of the children using
them; that there should be no running in fire drills; that all outside doors

406

SURVEY RESULTS

should have "panic bolts" preventions of tragedy; that the lighting in
class rooms is below standard in amount ; that just two rooms have windows
at the left only, these same windows being washed twice a year in some
schools, twenty times in others. But it is the little things that count in
school housekeeping.

You ask, however, is there nothing found satisfactory in Springfield?
Indeed, yes; scattered all through the report you will find emphatic indorse-
ments and little pats of approval, on which parents and teachers and children
and board may justly pride themselves; classes averaging only 36 and no
part-timers; high promotion rates; friendly relations between pupils and
teachers ; discipline good ; writing and spelling up to the average of other
cities, though the arithmetic is done more rapidly and less accurately; effi-
cient collection and accounting of funds; and board members unsparingly
generous in the time and attention they give, "their altruistic interest and
personal self-sacrifice" being "splendid and valuable assets to the city."

But the surveyors did not go to Springfield with any idea of bestowing
only approving nods, enlarging on the good points or work already well be-
gun. So these statements are briefly put, and almost every one is followed by
some little recommendation for still better results in the future. The school
nurse is entirely competent and devoted to her work, but has more to do than
one person can do thoroughly. Springfield needs three nurses and a half-
time doctor ; why not have a competent physician for this and the municipal
work, as suggested in the public health report? The city now has an extra
nurse.

Bubbling drinking fountains are a credit to Springfield, but place them in
the corridors, not in the toilet rooms as in some schools. The generous
grounds are another score in Springfield's favor; but unless they are used
after school hours, Saturdays, and in the summer they are a costly invest-
ment lying idle. The surveyors would have been delighted to see the super-
vised play carried on in five schools last vacation.

And the buildings themselves should be used more. Well, in these two
years the branch libraries have increased to eleven, all in schools, and five
hundred books circulating in a month is a frequent occurrence. In one week
last spring there were no less than seventy-five meetings held in the schools,
and in not one was there any disorder meetings for debates on municipal
questions to be submitted to the voters, pre-election talks by the city com-
missioners, mothers' clubs, even elections! Aside from the economy, polling
places in school houses have helped the community.

"If you could know what this district was like before! "said one principal.
"They used to drive right up to the door with their carriages of voters, half
of them drunk. But last election there was nothing like that, and I heard

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THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

one fellow advise the others, 'None of your rough stuff here our kids are
having school upstairs.' '

But how, people frequently ask, is the expense of carrying out the survey
recommendations to be met? Increased taxation? Impossible for Spring-
field, already taxed to the limit. A survey is all wrong if it tells only how to
spend money anybody can do that.

Here the cogs do not fit exactly ; they can be made to fit. Try this. There
oil is needed ; spend money for your oil but make sure you have the right
kind for this particular machine. And there is not, in the whole survey, one
wild guess, one chimerical recommendation. On the contrary, there is a
list of ten cities that have tested this plan and found it good, and there is a
list of states that have passed this law and tried it out.

Many of the school suggestions finance themselves, especially if you put
two and two together. Springfield could balance the additional nurses
against bookkeeper's and attorney's salaries, two offices to be abolished. You
can secure a trained truant officer for no more wage than must be paid the
policeman whose job it formerly was to round up truants. And one item
could be met by adopting the suggestion that the county treasurer turn over
each month the school funds collected, that the board may have the interest
on these balances. The building suggestions are, for the most part, minor in
cost but all-important in prevention and good housekeeping. Not increased
funds, but increased diligence from building committee, architect, and
parents' clubs, making impossible in the future waste space, badly drawn
specifications, and the paying of Springfield's good money for what was
never obtained.

The new buildings cannot be charged to the survey, as they were all under
way or planned before. But the junior high schools can, legitimately, for the
high school is still overcrowded and more teachers are employed. But just as
two neighboring towns may have an enormous disparity in tax rates, where
one gives remarkable parks and free lectures and music and clean streets
and good water, and the other none of these, but a man locates in the former
because he gets his money's worth from his tax, so in Springfield the people
are getting something for the junior highs in that children go to high school
who never went before, and children who dropped out are staying in school.

One of the things traceable to the survey but not suggested by it directly,
is the establishment of bank accounts for school children. Begun by four
banks at the request of the superintendent of schools, 1,314 children (17 per
cent of them all) now have accounts which last June totaled the sum of
$38,156. The Commercial Association became interested, and has offered
two cups to be awarded twice each year to the schools with the largest per-
centage of children depositing and the greatest percentage of increase.

408

SURVEY RESULTS

Does it pay the banks? No; in not one is the extra clerical expense met
by the extra interest on deposits. But wait a decade or two until these
youngsters now getting acquainted with the bank become investors and
borrowers. "And this isn't wholly selfish," commented a bank president.
" Children who failed to form the right habits at home, and the saving habit
is one, used to be at a disadvantage all their lives. Now the community is
trying to balance things up, to give the handicapped child a show. And in
this savings habit the banks of Springfield are doing their share."

These are but a few of the tangible results that can be pointed out. But
still more important are the intangible ones summed up in Springfield's new
view of things. Not only is the taking of the next step made easier, but in
those instances where the survey recommendations have been discussed
and rejected or where to date nothing has been done the city finds it im-
possible to go back to the old standards, to have the old indifferent spirit
about the community's work.

Perhaps Springfield hasn't a new conscience, for it must have been some
vague stirrings of community conscience that made the survey wanted; but
it has been aroused and stimulated. In the survey and its follow-up work
Springfield has resolved that the community "shall have under God, a new
birth of freedom." And this not for themselves alone but for the other
Springfields, the 26 that share its name, and the 196 that share its problems
and opportunities.

Ill
SPRINGFIELD SURVEY DEVELOPMENTS 1

BY REVEREND G. C. DUNLOP
Rector, Christ Episcopal Church, Springfield, Illinois.

Springfield has undergone a social awakening in the last eight years and
has made more progress during that time than at any other period in the
city's history, Rev. G. C. Dunlop, rector of Christ Episcopal church, de-
clared last night in his farewell sermon. Rev. Dunlop will leave Springfield
January 31 for Cincinnati, where he will take up new religious duties.

He referred to the survey of the Russell Sage Foundation as an event which
roused and quickened the dormant life of the community to do things never
before tried in Springfield. The speaker said in part :

1 Farewell sermon as reported in the Illinois State Register of January 29,
1917.

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THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

WHAT PASTOR SAID

The progress of this community in the past eight years has been truly
remarkable. I began with seeing the city in the depths in the hands of
rioters. I now see it scaling the heights. The city of Springfield in these
years, I venture to say, has made more progress than in all the previous years
of its existence. There is no other city of its class in the Middle West that
can begin to show a corresponding awakening of the civic conscience and the
realization of so many dreams of social betterment. The outstanding fact
is the social survey of the Russell Sage Foundation, noteworthy not because
of what has been accomplished but because it aroused and quickened the
dormant life of a somewhat ultraconservative community.

SEES BETTER SPRINGFIELD

It took us out of the flat existence of our prairie life and carried us up to
the higher levels to give us the vision of a new and better Springfield. It
stimulated our interest in constructive social work and encouraged us to
believe that what has been done in so many cities could readily be brought
about here. The value of the survey lies not so much in what has been done
but in the spirit which it generated in the social awakening which has taken
place.

FORERUNNER TO SURVEY

There is to my mind, however, danger of being puffed up when we talk
about the net results of the survey. Like every great and good movement it
had its forerunner which helped to make it possible. We had sanitary arid
housing surveys before the Sage survey was contemplated. Good work has
been done, as, for example, the closing of the saloons on Sunday, the purifica-
tion and increase of the city's water supply work which had no relation
to the survey whatever.

After all, our best asset has been our leaders, all Illinois and most of them
Sangamon County men who saw visions, dreamed dreams, and had the
audacity to work out what they saw and the courage to fight for the defense
of that for which most of them had sweat blood. So seven years ago this
city acquired the first real health officer; but to bring about milk inspection
and all the other good things which he accomplished as the pioneer of a
better Springfield he had to stand his ground against most offensive opposi-
tion.

HAS PRAISE FOR SHERIFF

Then comes a man who, as sheriff, wipes out the red light district. At
once every abuse is heaped upon him. His very life has been threatened on
more than one occasion. Again, one of the best servants of the people is

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SURVEY RESULTS

forced to defend his progressive policies as superintendent of schools, and
fight a group of reactionaries who want economy at the expense of efficiency.
It is manifest, therefore, that the city is blessed with leaders of no ordinary
intelligence men of courage and strength of character. What is to be done
with them? Stifle their convictions, persecute them, block them at every
turn? The thing is impossible. Springfield is not going to slap her prophets.

WANTS PREACHERS To ACT

And in my humble opinion it is the duty of the preacher, if he claims kin-
ship with these modern prophets as he does those of Israel's day, to make
their cause his cause and the cause of his church. We have read our Bible
to little purpose if we cannot preach social righteousness and give strength
to a group of men who would help to make our city one wherein dwelleth
righteousness.

IV
SOME OUTCOMES OF THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY 1

BY GEORGE THOMAS PALMER, M.D.

President of the Illinois Tuberculosis Association; President of the Illinois
Public Health and Welfare Association, Springfield, Illinois.

In the social and civic development which follows a general community
survey it is very difficult to determine how much is to be attributed to the
survey itself and how much is to be credited to the progressive spirit which,
among other things, made the survey possible. The very fact that a com-
munity realizes the need for a survey indicates that that community has ex-
perienced a considerable degree of social and civic awakening and, whether
the survey comes or not, that community will be very likely to go ahead pro-
gressively and more or less in the right direction.

And so, in enumerating the things which have occurred in Springfield dur-
ing the past two or three years, and bearing in mind what has happened there
during the past ten years, it is quite impossible to determine which of these
things are directly due to the more recent Springfield survey and which of
them would have occurred without the survey.

For a number of years there had been growing a spirit of civic unrest a
desire for better things an interest in sounder methods for solving the com-
munity problems. The'survey was one of the products of this unrest. The
advent of the surveyors did not terminate this temper of the people. It

1 Presented at the Second Annual Better Community Conference, Urbana,
April 10, n, and 12, 1917.

411

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

stimulated and increased it. We believe that the survey rendered its most
useful service in directing the energies of an already awakened people along
the soundest and sanest lines of action.

The benefits of the survey have proved greatest, of course, to those organi-
zations which felt most keenly the need for the survey and whose officers and
directors were instrumental in bringing it about. That these organizations
felt the need for the survey does not imply that they needed reorganization
and reform more than others. In fact, I think the contrary is generally true.

The Springfield survey and its influence upon the community cannot be
fully appreciated without some knowledge of the things which went before
it the gradual awakening of the town to its civic needs.

Only a few years ago Springfield was stumbling along with the community
equipment common to most mid-western, overgrown towns. Generally unin-
terested in social progress, most of the citizens went calmly on with the
assumption that the local conditions were quite as good as they need be. The
schools were better than some and worse than some. The sewer system,
which had followed the natural gullies and ravines with the same foresight
that was used when the streets of Boston followed the cow-paths, sent off
sewers in all directions with a polluting outflow at seven different points near
the border of the city. A cigarmaker held the job of health officer; saloons
operated on Sunday in violation of the state law but with the sanction of the
city officials; a red light district stretched along the streets traversed by the
incoming passenger trains of four railway lines, the houses so boldly labeled
that there could be no doubt as to their character. Shallow wells and privy
vaults were unrestricted in spite of the fact that the city had expended
almost five million dollars for sewer and water supply. Typhoid fever pre-
vailed to an inexcusable extent and a shabby pest house opened its inhos-
pitable doors to those sick with communicable diseases a pest house perched
on a hill with the open town branch sewer on one side and Oak Ridge ceme-
tery on the other, with nearby slaughter houses and rendering works making
their presence known to the afflicted.

A struggling associated charities was attempting to meet the needs of the
people under the direction of a volunteer worker. There was no public
hospital; no general dispensary; no tuberculosis dispensary; no visiting
nurse service; no school nurses; no infant welfare work; no tuberculosis
sanatorium, and no bed for the tuberculous except at the poorhouse. The
poorhouse was worthy of its name. Thus, ten years ago, Springfield slum-
bered: prosperous, indifferent, corrupt, and contented.

The social development of Springfield since that time appears to me to be
intensely interesting, its most interesting feature being the gradual but
definite change in the attitude of the people toward community betterment.

412

SURVEY RESULTS

Hard-headed business men, who once believed in relegating all relief and
social work to women and yet who frowned upon giving women the legal
authority to better local conditions, are now serving actively on the boards
of the charity organization, the tuberculosis association, the day nursery, and
similar organizations.

Perhaps Springfield's first step forward came with the creation of the park
system which, with only a few pages of blackened political history, has always
been the source of the utmost pride to the people. The wise expenditure of
large sums of public money for playgrounds, parks, drives, golf courses,
swimming pools, amusement halls, and flower beds was Springfield's first
step in the line of social progress.

The upheaval in the Springfield health department through the employ-
ment for the first time of a medical health officer, who served with the pay
but without the authority of a uniformed policeman, was perhaps the second
step and the one which led directly to the survey which we are considering
today.

Milk inspection was established; quarantine laws were enforced, at times
through the prosecution of physicians ; analyses of public and private water
supplies, made at public expense, led to the discovery of the great soil pollu-
tion of the community and pointed out the need for a sanitary survey.

This sanitary survey, now referred to as the old sanitary survey of Spring-
field, soon attained nation-wide repute. In a way it set a pace in sanitary
work of the smaller city, and it gave to the people of Springfield their first
idea of studying their own living conditions. Incidentally, a report of the
old sanitary survey appeared as an important part in one of the first publica-
tions issued by the Department of Surveys and Exhibits of the Russell Sage
Foundation, which was later to have so much to do with the extensive survey-
ing of Springfield.

The old sanitary survey awoke the people to the serious sanitary conditions
of the city ; impressed them that they had a real housing problem, real slums,
and deplorable lodging houses. Further, it seemed to stimulate social
activity in almost every direction. Following, or coincidental with the sani-
tary survey, as the case may be, a tuberculosis association was organized
with general visiting nurse service and a dispensary. A detention home was
established under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court. A trained worker
was employed by the associated charities. Then, with increasing rapidity,
came a day nursery, a probation officer, a general medical dispensary, a tu-
berculosis sanatorium, school nurses; the establishment of schools as com-
munity centers; the Sunday closing of saloons and the abolishment of the
red light district ; the improvement of conditions of the almshouse with pro-
vision of humane care for the destitute sick.

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THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

As to what started this interesting procession of civic progress, what con-
tinues its force and gives promise to its future, it is entirely impossible to say.
Whatever the part played by the first sanitary survey, whatever the part
played by the larger and more recent Russell Sage survey, the important
thing has been the rapidly developing spirit of the people, the rapidly growing
army of citizens marching steadily onward and upward. It is this spirit,
which has been in process of development for about ten years, which makes
it exceedingly difficult to determine just what influence any single event has
had in the social history of the town.

During that time certain fundamental changes have come in the com-
munity which have had much to do with shaping the course of events. The
city has adopted the commission form of government with more centralized
responsibility of public officials. More important, women are voting in all
municipal elections and are serving on the board of education. The voting
of women goes further in altering the social and civic complexion of a com-
munity than any other single thing.

Then, too, Springfield has been singularly favored by the presence of a few
strong individuals who have done things far in advance of public demand or
public sentiment. Conspicuous among these is Sheriff John A. Wheeler who,
single-handed, wiped out the red light district and brought about the Sunday
closing of saloons, and thereby brought upon himself the wrath of many
godly but conservative business men and the full wrath of the ungodly. As
a matter of good measure, Sheriff Wheeler has added the employment of the
first, or one of the first, women deputy sheriffs in the state.

Conspicuous also is Willis J. Spaulding, who set out years ago to secure an
abundant and pure water supply for the city and who has attained his pur-
pose. Conspicuous also are a few others who fearlessly, enthusiastically, and
alone have been piling up civic assets for Springfield, often in the face of
public opposition.

And out of all these things, marking an era of social awakening, the
Russell Sage survey came to Springfield the most noteworthy of Spring-
field's community achievements crystallizing the restless spirit of progress
and directing it along the best and most promising lines.

A survey is not self-acting. It is a picture of the community not a still
picture, but a movie of a community living and at work. It shows imper-
fections and perfections with equal fidelity. It neither overcolors nor under-
colors. It is neither yellow in its criticism nor all pink in its praise. And the
Russell Sage people took the movie of Springfield as accurately as the well-
focused lenses of men could get it as well as the camera of their minds could
interpret it, and they printed the picture as well as the pens of men could
draw it.

414

SURVEY RESULTS

But after the motion picture is completed and the artists have pointed out
the important parts of their picture and what it means to the experienced
eye, the survey is finished. It is up to the community to get the value out of
it to act upon its teachings. And it is very likely that the community
which has not been sufficiently interested in itself to actually want a survey
will derive very little from it. The sleepy lad, forced to church by parental
authority, does not absorb much from the sermon.

But Springfield, with its preceding years of awakening social conscience,
had wanted a survey. Groups of people had gotten together to consider the
matter. Finance had been discussed, and even a program had been outlined
with the assistance of Sherman C. Kingsley and other social and medical
experts. At this juncture it was found that we could secure the co-operation
of the newly created Department of Surveys and Exhibits of the Russell
Sage Foundation, under the direction of Shelby M. Harrison, whose interest
in Springfield had been aroused by the pioneer sanitary survey.

The Springfield survey was financed by private subscriptions; by an
appropriation by the board of education for the school survey; by an appro-
priation from the city council, and by a liberal grant by the Russell Sage
Foundation. In all, the expenditure for the survey and the exhibit which
followed it, exceeded fifteen thousand dollars.

The investigations were divided into nine general groups: Schools, by
Leonard P. Ayres; Recreation, by Lee F. Hanmer and Clarence A. Perry;
Housing, by John Ihlder; Care of the Mental Defectives, Insane, and
Alcoholics, by Dr. W. M. Treadway; Public Health, by Franz Schneider, Jr. ;
Corrections, by Zenas L. Potter; Charities, by Francis H. McLean; Indus-
trial Conditions, by Louise M. Odencrantz and Zenas L. Potter; and City
and County Administration, by D. O. Decker and Shelby M. Harrison.

The work was done in the creditable manner to be expected of this notable
group of workers, and the results have been published in nine pamphlets
supplemented by a tenth volume: The Survey Summed Up, by Shelby M.
Harrison. All are now published except the report on City and County
Administration by Mr. Decker, and Mr. Harrison's summary.

Incidentally, the association of this group of experts with those engaged as
professionals or volunteers in the various phases of social work in Spring-
field was of the utmost value to the community a beneficial phase of the
survey which is not appreciated as much as it should be. It must be borne
in mind that each of these surveyors spent at least several weeks in Spring-
field, while some of them were in more or less direct contact with the com-
munity for over a year.

As I have intimated, those organizations whose officers and directors were
most intimately associated with the inception and carrying out of the survey

415

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

have been the ones most benefited, not because there was the slightest dis-
crimination in favor of any lines of work, but because these particular
organizations have utilized the survey recommendations more thoroughly
ana more conscientiously.

The charities survey has produced most excellent results. Mr. McLean
has kept in close contact with Springfield, and Miss Margaret Bergen, one of
Mr. McLean's most valued assistants, has been in charge of the Springfield
Associated Charities for the purpose of reorganization. This has resulted in
great improvement in methods ; in closer co-operation between the various
private relief agencies and between public and private agencies; placing-out
work initiated in the Home for the Friendless; the organization of a central
council of social agencies and a cosmopolitan directory including all social,
religious, and racial classes of the city.

Among the more recent achievements of the Associated Charities has been
the taking over of the material relief formerly carried by the tuberculosis
association and the employment of a visiting housekeeper. Miss Bergen is
also responsible for the organization of a club of the professional social work-
ers of the city for exchange of ideas and better mutual understanding.

Perhaps the most significant thing in the development of charity work in
Springfield was the willingness of the community to pay the relatively high
salary for expert service naturally required by a woman of Miss Bergen's
reputation and the general opinion that this expenditure is a good com-
munity investment.

The schools of Springfield have been directly benefited perhaps more than
any other civic agency through the survey. The superintendent of schools,
who has been one of the most conspicuous figures in the social advancement
of the city, together with members of the board of education, including
women of broad viewpoint, had urged the appropriation of school funds for
the school survey with the idea of deriving all possible practical benefits from
it. The board has, consequently, made the best possible use of the recom-
mendations. While some of the survey recommendations have not been
accepted as practical, there is no question but that Mr. Ayres' investigations
and advice have been of the utmost value. The school board committees
have been reduced to a practical working basis ; the junior high school plan
has been adopted and four junior high schools have been established; a
modern high school building is being erected to accommodate 1,500 pupils;
lighting, ventilation, and general sanitation of schools have been improved;
a special supervisor of buildings has been employed, and school buildings
have been very generally employed for social centers, as meeting places for
parents' clubs, and for political meetings and polling places.

The employment of dead time for public good in our expensive school

416

SURVEY RESULTS

property I regard as one of the big results of the survey. It is to be regretted
that a similar use of the dead time of expensive church property for public
good could not have come out of it.

But the Springfield schools have had other improvements since the survey.
The number of teachers in manual training and household arts has been
doubled; the school census has been revised to secure more valuable infor-
mation; the standards for principals and teachers have been raised and a
salary schedule has been adopted based upon efficiency ; seven branch public
libraries have been established in the schools and the general course of study
has been modernized.

The citizen of any community will find much to interest him in the Spring-
field survey school report, and much benefit will come if he will take the
findings and recommendations and apply them to his home town.

If the entire expenditure for the Springfield survey had been charged to
schools and charities, the results would have proved the investment exceed-
ingly profitable. Yet it must be borne in mind that the officers and directors
of the associated charities and the members of the school board were among
those who especially wanted the survey and who made the most out of their
recommendations.

It is difficult to measure exactly the benefits derived from the survey on
recreations. The park board was already extending its means of public
amusement at the time the survey began, and it is possible that the survey
has not caused the program of the park board to be advanced more rapidly
than it otherwise would have been. On the other hand, the far-seeing recom-
mendations of the survey may have justified, in the eyes of the board, more
liberal expenditures and longer steps forward than they would otherwise
have regarded advisable.

Following the recreation survey, however, one of the most notorious of the
old-style burlesque theaters, purveying wine, woman, and song as it is seldom
done in this generation, has modified its methods of operation until it is no
longer an open scandal. Municipal dances, adequately chaperoned, have
filled the great state armory building. A board of censors of moving pictures
has been created by the city commissioners and has been given limited power.

A director of recreation, advised by the survey, was employed by the
board of education, but the position has been abolished.

The housing survey has served to accent and give publicity to those
glaringly bad conditions which were brought to light during the old sanitary
survey, but which the people had apparently forgotten. It is not improbable
that the housing survey report may be instrumental in aiding the passage of
a state housing bill, similar to the excellent laws of Indiana and Minnesota,
now pending in the General Assembly. It must be borne in mind that there

27 417

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

is no organization especially interested in bettering the housing conditions
of Springfield, and it must be recalled that a survey is not self-acting.

For the corrections survey to claim credit for the unusual personal accom-
plishments of a very exceptional sheriff is hardly fair. Whether one is for
him or against him, it may be said by all that Sangamon County had never
had a sheriff of this particular kind. He has voluntarily refunded to the
county the profit on the dieting of prisoners which former sheriffs put in their
own pockets. He has closed the red light district. He has appointed a
woman deputy sheriff to deal with women and children. He enforced the
state law closing saloons on Sunday. He has been active in attaining the
wonder of wonders the making of Springfield dry. And yet for all of these
things I believe that we must credit the eccentricity of a man who deter-
mined to observe his pledge of office and who had the courage to carry out
his determination in the face of powerful opposition.

But these things have occurred since the survey. How much inspiration
Sheriff Wheeler received from the survey no one can tell. In addition, how-
ever, two more probation officers have been appointed, the detention home
for children has been improved, and the city has established a farm for its
prisoners.

I approach the subject of the health survey almost with reluctance. The
survey itself was carried out by Franz Schneider, Jr., with the utmost skill,
and his recommendations, if followed, would have placed Springfield far
ahead of most Illinois cities in health administration. The presence in
Springfield of Dixon Van Blarcom, who had charge of the tuberculosis survey,
gave an opportunity for an interchange of ideas which did much toward
bettering the methods of warfare against tuberculosis. It is a rather delicate
matter for me to say, as I am compelled to state if I touch upon the matter
at all, that health administration in Springfield has not improved since the
survey.

The establishment of a free general dispensary, under the supervision of
the city physician, illustrates as well as any single thing the change in senti-
ment of the people of Springfield. Ten or more years ago, when such a
dispensary was suggested by Dr. Charles L. Patton, Dr. Don W. Deal, and
myself, the storm of protest it aroused in the medical profession was insur-
mountable. A year ago or less this excellent dispensary was established, with
an expenditure of $10,000 from St. John's Hospital without a word of protest.

This dispensary and the establishment of child welfare work with a nurse
employed by the city, mark practically all of the progress Springfield has
made in public health since the time of the survey. If anything, the health
department has shown distinct retrogression.

In saying this of the administrations of my friends Dr. Griffith and Dr.

418

SURVEY RESULTS

Deichmann, I want to add that the failure of the Springfield health depart-
ment points out one of the glaring defects of the commission form of govern-
ment. This form of government places the health department under a com-
missioner of public health and safety who is likewise charged with the police
and fire departments. Regardless of its actual paramount importance, the
health department is almost invariably the third in consideration in this
group. The competent health officer is placed on the plane with the fire
chief and the chief of police and yet, because he can be slighted without pro-
test from the hard-headed citizen, his appropriations are never comparable
with fire and police appropriations.

I do not believe that there can ever be a really efficient health department
operating under the present Illinois commission form of government law.
I could not serve under it, Dr. Griffith could not serve under it, and I feel
quite sure that Dr. Deichmann will not try to serve under it long. The idea
of complete subordination of a competent medical officer under a superior
officer without the slightest vestige of medical knowledge is intolerable. That
is why the Springfield health department has failed survey or no survey.

Evanston is the only Illinois city under commission form of government
which has risen above this condition, and that was through a violation of the
spirit of the law. The north branch of the Chicago Medical Society con-
cluded that no member in good standing should serve under an unschooled
commissioner of public health and safety, and through the guidance of
Sherman C. Kingsley, then an alderman, an arrangement was made whereby
the health of the city should be governed by the commissioner of public
health and safety, the health officer who had equal authority in matters of
health, and the mayor as the third person in the event of disagreement.

And now, to return to the survey. No one can measure the influence of
the Springfield survey on the people of the community. That will be told in
coming years. For those who were sufficiently awake to civic needs to actu-
ally want the survey, sufficient returns have already come. Springfield is
ahead in dollars and cents and in better civic conditions. But I cannot resist
the feeling that the survey performs its greatest good in outlining the course
of communities that have already had their first civic awakening; by direct-
ing the course into safe channels of those communities so thoroughly aroused
that "they don't know where they're going, but they're on their way."

419

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

Joliet, Illinois, March 10, 1916.
Mr. Victor E. Bender, Sec'y,
Commercial Association,
Springfield, Illinois.

Dear Mr. Secretary:

Your city some time ago had a survey under the direction of the Russell
Sage Foundation.

Joliet is interested and would like to have some information from you as
to the value of the survey results.

As a commercial organization proposition, would you let me hear from you
as soon as you can just how your business men regard this survey?

I am co-operating with the Ministerial Association in an effort to deter-
mine on a survey, and if such is to be handled here it will more than likely
be under the auspices of the Joliet Association of Commerce.

I desire the fullest information and data on all angles of the survey so that
our board of directors may act intelligently in the premises.

Yours very truly,

WILLIAM KENNEDY, Secretary,

Joliet Association of Commerce.

March 25, 1916.
Joliet Association of Commerce,

Joliet, Illinois.
Attention Mr. William Kennedy, Secy.

Dear Mr. Kennedy:

We received in due course, your letter of March loth in reference to the
survey made in our city two years ago by the Russell Sage Foundation of
New York. I have been somewhat delayed in replying, as I wished to dis-
cuss this matter with some of the people who were particularly interested in
the survey and instrumental in having it put through.

The idea of having a survey of the important facts of civic and social con-
ditions in Springfield originated with two or three persons in this city about
three years ago, as they realized some of our faults, as in school conditions,
recreation facilities, health conditions, etc. As a result of this, some of those
interested asked Mr. Shelby M. Harrison, Director of Department of Sur-
veys and Exhibits of the Russell Sage Foundation, to come to Springfield
and make a preliminary investigation, which he did two years ago in Novem-
ber. As a result of his suggestions, a committee of twenty-three persons,
called ' ' The General Survey Committee, ' ' was organized, and this committee
raised a sum of something over $6,000 to defray the cost of the survey in the
various lines as finally determined upon.

The field work of the survey was carried out during the spring and early
summer of 1914 by investigators of the Russell Sage Foundation, including

420

SURVEY RESULTS

several of the best known experts in the United States in their various lines.
The work of tabulating and publishing all the results of the survey has not
yet been finally completed, but I may say that we have now received reports
as noted on the enclosed slip, and expect to receive within the next month
the final reports on industrial conditions in Springfield and on city and county
administration.

As you will note from the attached slip, giving the list of reports, prac-
tically every phase of municipal activity has been covered except city plan-
ning, and this was omitted only on account of lack of funds.

The first report received was on the public schools, this having been issued
in June, 1914, immediately following the field work. I think I can safely say
that as a result of the school survey and the suggestions therein contained,
more improvement has been made in our schools, including the introduction
of special medical and dental examination of children, the junior high school
system, etc., than we have had in many years before. Equally important
improvements have already appeared and are now appearing as a result of
the survey on recreation facilities, on public health, on the correctional sys-
tem, and on charities.

I might add that aside from the money raised here, the Russell Sage
Foundation contributed about an equal amount, realizing as they did that
this was the first complete survey of a typical American city of average size
and therefore laid the foundation for similar surveys in other cities.

Following the survey, we had an exhibition in the State Armory here, in
November 1914, which showed in graphic form by means of charts, diagrams,
models, and playlets, the important and vital facts brought out by the sur-
vey. This exhibition was attended by nearly fifteen thousand persons, and
brought home the lessons of the survey in a vivid manner. The cost of the
exhibition, aside from the survey proper, was about $3,500.

We now have available all the reports as listed on the slip herewith, except
the two which are yet to appear, and would be glad to send you a complete
set of the reports as issued up to date, if you so desire.

In conclusion, I would recommend, if your association decides to go fur-
ther into this matter, that you get in communication with Mr. Shelby M.
Harrison, care the Russell Sage Foundation, 130 E. 22nd Street, New York.

With best wishes, I am

Yours very truly,

Springfield Commercial Association,

WM. H. CONKLING,

Secretary.

421

APPENDIX B
SPRINGFIELD SURVEY BLANKS

A few of the blank forms used in the survey are reproduced
below. In most cases the forms were drafted to meet the special
case in Springfield, where a previous examination of records
showed the kind of data available. The forms were thus not
prepared as models for similar studies elsewhere.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONS OF CLASSROOMS SPRING-
FIELD, ILL. MARCH, 1914

Building Teacher Room No Grade

Av. Attendance No. Sittings: Adjustable Non-Adjustable Total

Length. ...ft. Width. ...ft. Height. ...ft. Floor Area... .Sq. Ft. Cubic Contents. ...Cub. Ft.

Sq. Ft. of Floor Area per Sitting Sq. Ft.

Cubic Ft. of Air Space per Sitting Cub. Ft.

Total Window Area Sq. Ft. Distance from Top of Window to Floor ft.

Sq. ft. of Floor Area for each Sq. Ft. of Window Area Sq. Ft.

Windows at Left, Back, Right, or Front of Children

Lineal Ft. of Blackboard ft. Lineal Ft. per Sitting ft.

Inches from Base of Blackboard to Floor inches.

Do Seats Project under Front Edge of Desk How Far? Inches

How Many Pupils Cannot Easily Rest Feet on Floor

Distance from Rear Seat to Rear Wall ft.

Color of Walls Color of Ceilings Color of Window Shades

Do Shades Roll from Top or Bottom Has Room a Thermometer

CARD 4 BY 6 INCHES. USED IN SCHOOL SURVEY

422

SPRINGFIELD PUBLIC SCHOOLS

TEACHER'S RECORD

Name School Grade .

(Last) (First) (Middle)

Permanent Address Age

Preparation:

High School, Place No. Months Graduate, Date

Normal or Training " " " "

College or Univ " " " "

Other Special Work

Years taught, including current year, in Rural Schools in Graded

Schools in High Schools in other Schools .

Years taught in Springfield Schools In other Schools

Grade ol Certificate held , :

Salary this year Springfield, Illinois, Date 191

CARD 4 BY 6 INCHES. SCHOOL SURVEY

VOCATIONAL INQUIRY- 13-YEAR-OLD PUPILS-SPRINGFIELD. ILLINOIS. MARCH, 1914

NAME SCHOOI TEACHER , GRADE

WERE YOU BORN IN SPRINGFIELD T IN ILLINOIS? IN THE UNITED STATES?_ . .

-4TEND TO FINISH THE 8TH GRADE? DO YOU INTEND TO GOTO HIGH SCHOOL 7 TO COLLEGE?

DO YOU INTEND TO GO TO A BUSINESS SCHOOL? WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO FOR A LIVING WHEN YOU

WAS YOUR FATHER BORN IN SPRINGFIELD? IN ILLINOIS?

WHAT is YOUR FATHER'S OCCUPATION 7

1. Ace KIND OF WORK

2. AGE KIND Of WORK

3. AGE KIND OF WORK

1. Act KINO OF WORK.

2. AGE KIND OF WORK .

a. AGE KIND OF WORK

(IN GIVING OCCUPATION OR KIND OP W
CONDUCTOR ON STREET

CARD 4 BY 6 INCHES. SCHOOL SURVEY
423

PHYSICAL PLANT AND EQUIPMENT, BUILDINGS SPRINGFIELD, ILL. MARCH 1914

Building Principal.

Total number of sitting* in classrooms Seating capacity of asson.bly room_
Average attendance: boy* girls .Average enrollrr>ent:boy8 girls

Classroom: First floor Second floor Third floor Total classrooms.

Has principal room for office? Location of assembly rocm

Heating system: hot air furnace, direct steam, indirect steam.
Thermostatic regulation Hunddification

Ventilation: window, gravity, plenum fan, exhaust fan.

Location of fresh air intake Location of cloakroona_

How ventilated Location of toilets

Toilets: Number seats for boys Number seats for girls Automatic flush_

Number of individual urinals for boys Do urinals have automatic flush?

Material of walls and divisions of urinals of toilet floors

Number feet of urinal trough Material of urinal trough

Number of wash basins Individual soap provided Individual towels..

Number of bubbling fountains How often are win lows washed?.
System of cleaning employed

How often ere floors washed? Are floors oiled?

Stairways of fireproof material? Are stairways enclosed?.

Material of enclosure Handrails both sides Center handrail_

Width of stairwaysrflrst floor second floor Width of steps

Height of risers Width of corridors Corridors unobstructed,

Fire escapes: number and kind

Signal connection with fire department Inside hose equipmer.t_

Chemical extinguishers Autonatic sprinklers Automatic fire alarm.

Heating plant separated by fireproof walls, ceilings, and floora? .....

Is building of fireproof construction? of fire retarding construction?.

Material of outside walls of building of floor beams

Gymnasium facilities Area of playground.

Area of site Area of srace occupied by building Date of construction,

SHEET 8*4 BY 1 1 INCHES. SCHOOL SURVEY
424

SURVEY BLANKS

CARD 5 BY 8 INCHES. SURVEY OF INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS
425

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

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CARD 5 BY 8 INCHES.

SURVEY OF INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS
426

SURVEY BLANKS

CARD 5 BY 8 INCHES. SURVEY OF INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS
427

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

* * *

5 I I

CARD 5 BY 8 INCHES. CHARITIES SURVEY
428

INDEX

ACCIDENTS: data on, 168-169; Em-
ployers' Liability Commission, 169;
legislation to prevent, 170-174, 204-
205. See also Hazards

ADMINISTRATION. See City and County
Administration

ADULT OFFENDERS: cases of arrest, 256-
259; court sentences, 258, 280-282;
fines, 258-262; suspended sentences,
263; jail sentences, 263-274; state
care of, 274-277; temporary deten-
tion, 278; indeterminate sentence,
278-279; parole, 279; probation,
280; minor courts, reorganization,
280-282; legislative inquiry, 282-283

AGENCIES: social service through pri-
vate, 146-152; public agencies, 152-
158; Central Conference, 148, 155,
158, 161, 162; confidential exchange,
159; for law enforcement, 200-203;
and public health, 224

ALCOHOLICS: inadequate treatment of,
88-89 ! number of arrests, 88 ; care of,
141, 144. See also Drunkenness

ALMSHOXJSES: and mental defectives,
140

AMUSEMENTS: public recreation, 90-
112; municipal, 93 ; extension of, 95-
99; schools as social centers, 98-1102;
parks, 102-103; associations, 94, 105;
community art, 96; homes and re-
sources, 96-97; high school survey,
100; parks, 102, 103, 109-110; insti-
tutions, 104-105; commercial, 106-
107, in; program of, 110-112. See
also Recreation

ARRESTS: police records, 254-260;
disposition of cases, 256-260. See also
Corrections

ASSESSMENTS: real estate values, 336;
officers, 336 ; Somers system, 337,338;
personal property, 339, 341; land
value map, 340; special, 345

ASSOCIATED CHARITIES: families known
to, 143; and Tuberculosis Associa-
tion, 145; social service work and
recommendations, 146-148; agency
co-operation, 158-163

ATHLETICS: recreational activities, 94-
99; use of school yards, 101-102;
festivals and pageants, 109-110;
program of, no, in. See also Rec-
reation

ATTENDANCE AT EXHIBITION, 388-391;
publicity methods, 391-392; volun-
teer work, 392-395

ATTENDANCE BUREAU: suggestions for
schools, 157-158; at exhibition, 391

AYRES, DR. L. P., 7, 35

BEDFORD, CAROLINE, 8
BERGEN, MARGARET, 8, 416

BILLIARDS: and pool rooms, 91, 92, 93,
108-109; licenses, 108

BIRTH REGISTRATION : in 1913, 214, 215,
252,253,371

BLANK FORMS: for survey work, 422-
428

BOARDS: city government, 308
BONDS: and sinking funds, 343-345
BOWEN, A. L., 16, 399

BOY SCOUTS: and recreation needs, 94,
in

BUDGET: defects, 309; classification,
310; county, 347-349

BUILDINGS, BUREAU OF, 321
"BULL PEN," 266, 378

CABOT, DR. R. C., no

CAMP FIRE GIRLS: and recreation
needs, 94, 105; program for, in

CATHOLIC ORPHANAGE: at Alton, 124

431

INDEX

CEMETERIES: administration, 333-334

CHARITIES: directors of survey, 8; in-
stitutions for children, 124-137; out-
side aid for the sick, 137-141; family
rehabilitation, 141-146; social service
from private agencies, 146-152; pub-
lic agencies providing social service,
152-158; recommendations, 158-162;
exhibit, 381

CHILD LABOR: legislation for, 174-177,
199, 206; work certificates, 174-176,
206; State Factory Inspection De-
partment, 176, 206; trade unions,
199; law enforcement for, 206

CHILDREN: institutions for dependent,
124-163; detention home, 128, 286;
Department of Visitation, 125, 129,
160; placing out, 129, 134, 135, 136;
community welfare, 134, 135, 160;
infant mortality, 213-218, 252; con-
tagious diseases, 218-222; juvenile
offenders, 283-294; arrests and jail,
284-286. See also Juvenile Delin-
quents

CHILDREN'S HOME AND AID SOCIETY,
136, 160

CHILD WELFARE PROGRAM, 134-135,
136

CHURCHES: recreation and social ser-
vice, 105-106; co-operation needed,
160, 209, 366; Federal Council of
Churches, 165

CITY AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATION:
directors of survey, 9; work of public
agencies, 304-350; city government,
305-315. 3355 budget, 309-310;
community service, 315-335; current
income of city government, 335-342;
funds, handling of special, 342-346;
Sangamon County, 346-350; ex-
hibit, 382-384

CITY MANAGER FORM OF GOVERN-
MENT, 306

CITY PHYSICIAN, 138, 139, 269

CITY PLANNING, 119-120

CIVIL SERVICE, 307-308; county, 347

CLAIMS: payment of, against city, 313-
314; county, 349

CLARK, EARLE, 9

COMMERCIAL ASSOCIATION OF SPRING-
FIELD, 167

COMMITTEES: general survey, members,
2-3; local volunteers, 12, 14; ex-
hibit work of, 366, 388-389, 392-395

COMMONS, JOHN R., 203
COMMUNITY ART: and recreation, 96

COMMUNITY BETTERMENT: and child
welfare, 160-163; forces for improve-
ment, 194-210; city government,
304-315; community service, 315-
335 ; funds, handling of city, 342-346 ;
need of accounting system, 348-350

COMPLAINT BUREAU, 314

CONFERENCE OF SOCIAL AGENCIES, 148,
155, 158, 161, 162

CONFIDENTIAL EXCHANGE : agencies
recommended for, 159-160

CONTAGIOUS DISEASES: of children,
218-222; death rates, 219, 251

CO-OPERATION: national and state or-
ganizations, 5-6; Russell Sage Foun-
dation, 6; in preparing exhibits, 12,
14; high school needed, 64-65; value
of organized, 129-131, 136, 158-163;
for safety, 205; health officers, 250;
exhibit workers, 388-395

CORRECTIONAL METHODS: conclusions
regarding present, 272-274; insti-
tutional standards, 275-277; police
-recommendations, 303

CORRECTIONS: directors of survey, 9;
delinquency problem, 254-256; adult
offenders, 256-283; juvenile delin-
quents, 283-294; police department,
294-303; exhibit on, 377-381

COSTS: of survey, 14; operation of in-
stitutions, 125; living, 145; survey
conclusions on, 146; feeding prison-
ers, 269, 270

COURT SENTENCES, 257, 258, 282; minor
court system, 280-282. See also
Corrections

CROSSINGS: deaths at grade, 332

DANCING: and public recreation, 90-93,
107-108. See also Amusements

DEATH RECORDS: and public health,
211-253; pneumonia, 212; infant
mortality, 216-218; contagious dis-
eases, 219; tuberculosis, 222-223, 252;
typhoid fever, 229; venereal diseases,
J 231, 252; panel at exhibition, 373

432

INDEX

DECKER, D. O., 9, 116, 304

DEFECTIVES: directors of survey on, 8;
special school classes for, 62, 76-77;
classification, 74-75; census report
on, 75; in the schools, 76-77; com-
munity care of, 78; as law breakers,
261

DEFINITION OF SURVEY, 357-359

DELINQUENTS, See Corrections; Juvenile
Delinquents

DEPARTMENT OF VISITATION : and child
dependency, 125, 129, 160

DEPENDENTS: institutions for children,
124-162

DETENTION HOME: for delinquent
children, 124, 128, 284, 286; recom-
mendations, 287-289

DIPHTHERIA: ratio of deaths, 219, 221,
251

DISEASES : and preventable deaths, 211;
pneumonia, 212; infant mortality,
213-218; contagious, among children,
218-222; tuberculosis, 222-229, 2 5 2
typhoid fever, 229-231; venereal,
231-233; impure water, 233-235;
sewerage, 235-236; wells and privies,
menace of, 236-242; unclean milk,
242-243; food inspection necessary,
244; smallpox, 248; contagion hos-
pital, 249

DISPENSARIES: planning for, 138, 139;
Tuberculosis Association, 139; free
service, 227

DRAINAGE: Sangamon River map, 234

DRUGS: fines as a deterrent, 260;
federal act, 301

DRUNKENNESS: police records, 254,
259, 260, 300; and reforms, 271. See
Alcoholics

DUNLOP, REV. G. C., 409

EARL GIBSON SUNSHINE SOCIETY, 151

EDUCATION: vocational, 67-72; in-
stitutional workers, 132, 133; lim-
itations, and future scope, 136-137;
school attendance, bureaus to regu-
late, 157-158; and work certificates,
175; children leaving school, 193;
open-air schools, 228. See also Public
Schools
28

ELECTIONS: and polling districts, 334-

335

ELECTRIC METER INSPECTION, 325
ELEVATOR MILLING COMPANY, 27
EMPLOYERS' LIABILITY COMMISSION, 169

EMPLOYMENT OFFICES: state agencies,
182-186; shortcomings of, 183, 184;
comparative work, 184-185; recom-
mendations, 185

EXHIBIT HALL: descriptive tour of, 354;
floor plan, 355; in First Regiment
Armory, 356

EXHIBITION: of survey findings, 11-12,
353-395; purpose, 12, 352; commit-
tee work, 12, 14, 353; exhibit hall,
floor plan, 354, 355, 356; schools,
359-366; housing, 367, 368; milk,
369; mental hygiene, 370; health,
371-374; playhouse, 374-377; cor-
rectional system, 377-381; charities,
381; city government, 382-384; in-
dustries, 384-386; "last word" sec-
tion, 386-388; attendance, 388-390;
publicity, 391-392; volunteers, 392-
395

FACTORIES AND WORKSHOPS, State De-
partment of, 199

FACTORY INSPECTION DEPARTMENT,
176, 177, 206

FAMILY DISABILITY: outside care of
sick, 137-141; charity work, extent
of problem, 141-146; agencies for
social service, 146-158; study of
conditions in 100 families, 192-194

FEDERAL COUNCIL OF CHURCHES: prin-
ciples of, 165

FEDERATIONS OF LABOR, 197-203
FEEDING PRISONERS: cost of, 269, 270

FINES: and law breaking, 257, 258-262;
ineffectiveness of, 260, 272

FIRE DEPARTMENT: statistics, 315-316;
organization and operation, 316;
engines and equipment, 317-318;
alarm system, 318; water supply,
318-319; instruction of members,
319-320; records, 320

FIRE HAZARD: in multiple dwellings,
115; regulatory powers, 122, 204-205

433

INDEX

FLAG, MUNICIPAL, 15

FLOOR PLAN OF EXHIBITION HALL, 355

FOLLOW-UP WORK: personnel of survey
committees, 17; for employment
offices, 183

FOOD SUPPLY: inspection of, 244

FOREIGN-BORN GROUPS, 21-22, 25, 213,
219, 222

FUNDS TO PARENTS LIST: juvenile
court grants, 156

GARBAGE: collection system, 116, 333
GAS METER INSPECTION, 325

GEOGRAPHICAL CHARACTERISTICS, 28-
29, 113, 213

GODDARD, H. M., 26l'

GOLDMARK, JOSEPHINE, 187

GOVERNMENT: survey reports, lines of,
304; organization, 305; city com-
missioners, 305; city manager form
of, 306; short ballot, 307; civil serv-
ice, 307-308; public boards, 308;
budget, 309-310; municipal depart-
ments, 315-335; current income, 335;
handling special funds, 342-346;
Sangamon County, 346-350; effici-
ency exhibit, 382-384

HANMER, L. F., 8, 90, 299
HARRISON, S. M., 9, 116, 304
HART, DR. H. H., 9
HAY, LOGAN, 3

HAZARDS: industrial, 168-174; work
accidents, 168-170; occupational dis-
ease, 170-171; fire, 172-173, 204;
legislation, 199-210; grade crossings,
332

HEALTH: director of survey on, 8;
school inspections, 60-62; special
classes for children, 61; housing in-
spections, 120-123; in children's in-
stitutions, 133; outside aid for the
side, 137-141; city physician, 138,
139; hospital care, 139, 160; Tuber-
culosis Association, 138, 139, 141, 145,
148-149, 162; occupational diseases,
170-171; insurance, 204 ; preventable
diseases, 211; pneumonia, 212; in
fant mortality, 213-218; nurses, 217,
227; contagious diseases of children,

218-222; tuberculosis, 222-229, 2 47>
252; typhoid fever, 229-231; small-
pox, 248; exhibit, 371-374

HEALTH DEPARTMENT: housing recom-
mendations, 120-123; and public
health measures, 221-253; health
officers, 246, 247

HIGH SCHOOL: recreations, 100; print-
ing demonstration at exhibition, 369

HOME FOR THE FRIENDLESS, 124, 127,
128, 129, 132, 133, 134, 137, 160

HOSPITALS: care of mental defectives,
83-86; state, 85-88; city physician,
138; dispensaries needed, 138, 139,
227; free beds, 139; Springfield
Hospital, 139; Open Air Colony, 139,
140; St. John's Hospital, 139, 140,
224; Jacksonville State Hospital, for
insane, 140; provision of adequate,
226-229; for contagious diseases, 249

HOURS OF LABOR: standards for, 165,

187, 209; and social welfare, 186-191 ;
manufactures, 187, 190, 209; mines,

188, 202; railroads, 188-189

HOUSING: director of survey on, 8;
homes and tenements, 28, 113-119;
multiple dwellings, 113-116; bad
conditions, 114-119; city planning,
119-120; recommendations, 120-123;
exhibit, 367-368

HUMANE SOCIETY, 124, 149, 159
HUMPHREY, GRACE, 402

IDE, F. P., 1,7

IHLDER, JOHN, 8, 113, 121

ILLINOIS JUVENILE COURT ACT, 293-294

ILLINOIS STATE CONFERENCE OF CHARI-
TIES AND CORRECTION : survey activi-
ties of, 2, 6; on mental detectives, 140

ILLINOIS WATCH FACTORY, 5,27

ILLITERACY: percentage among foreign-
ers and natives, 22, 25, 213; and
school attendance, 42; a health fac-
tor, 213, 222, 252

IMPROVEMENT LEAGUE, 152, 161

INCOME OF CITY GOVERNMENT, 335-
342; assessments, 335-341; taxes,
collection of, 341-342

434

INDEX

INDUSTRIAL BETTERMENT: forces for,
194-210

INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION, 202-203;
Commons on, 203

INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS: directors of
survey on, 8; census of occupations,
26-28, 68-70; scope of survey, 164-
174; child labor, 174-177, 206;
wages, 178-182, 206-208; irregular
employment, 178, 179-186, 206-208;
employment bureaus, and recommen-
dations for, 182-186; hours of labor,
186-191, 209; wage-earners' families,
192-194; forces for improvement,
194-210; labor unions, 197-199, 207,
210; exhibit on, 384-386

INDUSTRIAL INJURIES : compensation
for, 173-174

INFANT MORTALITY: death ratio, 213,
215-218, 373; principal causes, 217;
panel at exhibition, 373

INQUIRY: survey results, 420-421

INSANE: commitment laws, 81-88; in
jail annex, 82-83, 267, 285; hospital
treatment, 83-85; after-care, 86-88;
at Sangamon County Poor Farm, 140,
152-154; cells illustrated, 153; Men-
tal Hygiene Exhibit, 370

INSTITUTIONS: and recreational educa-
tion, 104-105; churches and social
service work, 105-106; Sangamon
County Poor Farm, 84, 140, 152, 153,
154; Catholic Orphanage at Alton,
124; for dependent children, 124-137;
Orphanage of the Holy Child, 124,

127, 132, 133, 136, 137; Lincoln
Colored Home, 124, 126-127, 132,
137; Redemption Home, 124, 127,
I 3> i33> i3 6 ; record keeping, 125-
126; as educational forces, 132;
Home for the Friendless, 124, 127,

128, 129, 132, 133, 134, 137, 160; De-
tention Home, 124, 128; Rescue
Home, 132; Children's Home and.Aid
Society, 136, 160; Open Air Colony,
139, 140; Springfield Hospital, 139;
Jacksonville State Hospital, 8, 140;
St. John's Hospital, 140; King's
Daughters Home, 151; St. Joseph's
Home, 151-152; standards for cor-
rectional, 275-277

INSURANCE: health, 204; unemploy-
ment, 208-209

IRREGULAR EMPLOYMENT: and wages,
178-181, 193, 206, 210; in mines, 178,
207; manufactures, 179, 208; me-
chanical industries, 179, 207; unem-
ployment insurance, 208-209

JACKSONVILLE STATE HOSPITAL, 8, 140

JAIL ANNEX: insane patients in, 82,
141, 267, 284, 285; illustration, 285

JAILS: county jail and annex, 267-269,
274, 284-286, 287; men's ward, 268;
women's, 268-269; feeding of prison-
ers, 269, 270. See also Prisons

JUVENILE COURT: widows' grants, 156;
child offenders, 283, 284, 289-294;
act and amendments, 293-294

JUVENILE COURT ACT, 293

JUVENILE DELINQUENTS: complaints
against, 283-284; detention home,
284-288; county court, 289-292;
publicity, 290; probation, 292-293;
legislative needs, 293-294

KING'S DAUGHTERS HOME, 151

LABOR AND MINING, Department of,
201-202

LABOR UNIONS: miners, 28, 197, 207;
growth of movement, 197-199; and
wages, 207-210

LAND VALUE MAP, 337, 340

"LAST WORD" Section at exhibition,
386-388

LATTIMORE, FLORENCE L., 8, 124
LAW DEPARTMENT, 326

LEGISLATION: industrial, 170-172, 174-
177, 187, 191, 199-203; compensa-
tion for injuries, 173; child labor,
174-177, 206; violations of hour law
for children, 176-177; labor federa-
tions, 197; Department of Factories
and Workshops, 199; Department of
Labor and Mining, 201-202; in-
dustrial commission, 202-203; Mu-
nicipal Court Act, 281; for correc-
tional reform, 282-283; Juvenile
Court Act, 293

LIBRARIES: Lincoln, 104

LIGHTING PLANT, 324; gas and electric
meters, 325

435

INDEX

LINCOLN AN INSPIRATION, 18-20, 30

LINCOLN COLORED HOME, 124, 126-127,
132, 137

LINCOLN STATE SCHOOL AND COLONY:
mental deficients in, 79

LINDSAY, VACHEL, 16, 395
LIVING COSTS: data on, 145
LONG BALLOT, 346-347

MCLEAN, F. H.,8, 124

MANUFACTURES: Illinois Watch Fac-
tory, 5, 27; census reports, 26-27;
physical safety, 168, 172, 204; occu-
pational disease, 170-171, 204; hours
of labor, 187-188, 190, 209; labor
unions, 197, 198, 199, 206, 207; State
Department of Factories and Work-
shops, 199

MEDICAL INSPECTION OF SCHOOLS, 60-
6 1 . See also City Physician

MILK SUPPLY: dairy inspections, 242-
243; recommendations, 243; exhibit,
369-370

MINING: coal, 7, 27; housing at Ridgely,
119; income of coal miners, 178-179;
unions, 188, 197, 207; irregular em-
ployment, 207; exhibit chart, 385-
386

MINISTERIAL ASSOCIATION, 161

MOTION PICTURES: survey of theaters,
106; program for, in; exhibition
hall, 367

MULTIPLE DWELLINGS, 113-116
MUNICIPAL COURT ACT OF CHICAGO, 281
MURDERS: and suicides, 273
MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, 104

NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS: co-opera-
tion of, 6

NEGROES: census of, 21, 22, 25, 213;
housing conditions, 117-119; Lincoln
Colored Home, 124, 126-127, 137;
deaths from tuberculosis, 222; ward
statistics, 253, 268; police records,
254

OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE COMMISSION,
170

ODENCRANTZ, LOUISE C., 8, 164

OPEN AIR COLONY: private sanatorium,
139, 140, 224; for tuberculosis, 224

OPINIONS: and testimony on survey
results, 399-421

ORPHANAGE OF THE HOLY CHILD, 124,
127, 132, 136, 137

OVERSEER OF THE POOR: for Capital
Township, 154, 162

PALMER, DR. G. T.: 2, 15, 16, 139, 236,
411

PARKS: area of, 102; facilities for recre-
ation, 102, 103, 109; Washington
Park, 103; program for, no

PENSIONS: for police, 297, 298
PERRY, C. A., 8, 90, 299

PLACING OUT: and children's institu-
tions, 129, 134, 135, 136

PLANNING THE SURVEY, 2-5 ; main lines
of inquiry, 3 ; analysis and interpreta-
tion, 4; recommendations for im-
provement, 4; educational measures,
5

PLAYHOUSE: illustrations, 147, 375; at
exhibition, 374-377

PNEUMONIA: deaths from, 212

POLICE DEPARTMENT: headquarters,
264; size of force, 294; control of,
295; efficiency methods, 295, 296,
297; pensions, 297-298; policy of on
crime and vice, 299-302; recommen-
dations, 303

POLLING DISTRICTS, 335

POPULATION: in 1910, 6, 21; distribu-
tion of, 23-25; health factors, 213,
222; percentage of arrests, 254

POTTER, ZENAS L., 8, 9, 164, 254, 292,

303
PRISONS: description of city prison,

264-266; "bull pen," illustrated, 266,.

378; county jail and annex, 267, 284-

286; exhibit booths, 378-381. See

also Jails

PRIVIES: number of, 116, 236, 237, 230,
241; sanitary surveys of, 236, 237;
pollution from, 240

436

INDEX

PROBATION: for first offenders, 263;
juvenile work, 292-293

PUBLICITY: directors of survey, 9;
publication of reports, 10-11; cam-
paign of, 12; juvenile crime, 289, 290;
attendance at exhibition, 388-390;
newspaper and advertising, 391-392;
testimony on survey results, 399-421

PUBLIC SCHOOLS: census of attendance,
35, 41, 50-53; administration, 35-41;
board of education, 36, 38, 40; build-
ings, 37, 43; organization, 39, 65;
purchase of supplies, 40; compulsory
attendance, 41, 42; certificates, 41-
42; lighting, 44; heat and ventila-
tion, 45, 46; drinking water, 46;
janitors, 46; furniture, 47; toilets,
48; fire protection, 48; auditoriums,
48-49; teaching force, 53-54; train-
ing schools, 54-55; class room work,
55-56; tests, 56,57; courses of study,
56-57, 63; textbooks, 58; finances,
58-60; medical inspection, 60-61;
special classes, 61-62; high school,
62-66; teachers and salaries, 63;
study courses, 63-64; need of co-oper-
ation, 64-65; vocational education,
67-72; utilization of school plants,
72-73; mental defectives in, 75-80;
as social centers, 98-102; yard areas,
loo-ioi. See also Education; Schools

PURCHASING : recommendations for
commissioner, 312-313; county, 349

PURPOSE AND METHODS: of survey, i-
20, 164-167

RAILWAYS: irregular employment, 181;
hours of labor, 188-189; labor unions,
197-198

RECOMMENDATIONS: constructive, 4;
educational, 5; recreation .program,
110-112; housing, 120-123; charity
institutions for children, 152-163;
social agency co-operation, 158-163;
industrial requirements, 165, 167, 171,
179, 185, 208; for state employment,
185-186; public health, 221, 222,
225-253; correctional standards, 275-
277; for municipal court, 281-282;
detention home, 287-289; on police
department, 303

RECORD CARDS: for children's institu-
tions, 125; survey blank forms, 422-
428

RECORD KEEPING: child dependents,
125-126; and public health, 249;
service and cost, 311

RECREATION: directors of survey, 8;
needs and resources, 90-110; to over-
come evils, 93, 108-109; organiza-
tions which promote, 94, 105; danc-
ing and festivals, 96, 100, 107-110;
schools as social centers, 98-102;
parks, 102, 103; churches, 105; com-
mercial amusements, 106-107; bil-
liards and pool, 108-109; program
and recommendations, iio-in; in
children's institutions, 134; exhibit,
363-367. See also Amusements

REDEMPTION HOME, 124, 127, 130, 133,

136
RESCUE HOME, 132

RESULTS OF SURVEY: and opinions, 14-
Z 77 399~4 21 ; welfare problems, 164-
210; addresses on, 399-419; inquiry
about, 420-421

RIDGELY: miners' houses in, 119
ROUTZAHN, E. G., 9
ROUTZAHN, MARY S., 9

RUSSELL SAGE FOUNDATION: prelimi-
nary study of Springfield, 2 ; Depart-
ment of Surveys and Exhibits, 3,5,9,
it ; departments co-operating in
survey, 6, 7-9; publicity by, n, 155,
187

ST. JOHN'S HOSPITAL, 139, 140, 265
ST. JOSEPH'S HOME: for aged, 151-152

ST. VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY, 150,
162

SALMON, Dr. T. D., 8

SALOONS: and public recreation, 91-92,
108-109, 254, 299; license investiga-
tions, 108-109, 2 99> 3; recommen-
dation, 303. See also Vice

SALVATION ARMY, 151

SANGAMON COUNTY GOVERNMENT, 346-
350; long ballot, 346-347; civil serv-
ice, 347; budget, 347-348; account-
ing, 348-349; claims, 349-35; re-
ports and publicity, 350

SANGAMON COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY,
138

437

INDEX

SANGAMON COUNTY POOR FARM : insane
patients at, 84, 140, 152; description
of, 152; changes recommended, 152-
154, 161; cells in basement, illus-
trated, 153

SANGAMON RIVER, 29, 213, 233, 234;
drainage map of, 234

SANITATION: and health survey, 8, 211;
multiple dwellings, 114-115, 117;
water mains and sewers, 116, 233-236;
garbage, 116; Negro districts, 117-
119, 223, 253; recommendations,
120-123, 225, 253; and typhoid, 229;
drainage and sewers, 234-236; wells
and privies, 236-242; dairies, 242-
243; food supplies, 244; inspectors,
243, 244, 246; disposal of manure,
245; garbage, 246

SCHNEIDER, FRANZ, JR., 8, 116, 121, 211

SCHOOLS: for child dependents, 127;
attendance bureau, 156-158; work
certificates, 175-176; open-air, for
tuberculous patients, 228. See also
Public Schools

SCHOOL SURVEY: Department of Edu-
cation, Russell Sage Foundation, 7;
exhibit booths, 360-366

SEWERAGE: and sewage disposal, 116,
235-236,237-241; recommendations,
252

SHERIFF: feeding prisoners, 269, 270

SHORT BALLOT, 307

SICKNESS: outside aid for families, 137-
141; occupational diseases, 170-171.
See also Diseases; Health

SMOKE NUISANCE, 166

SOCIAL CENTERS: recreation needs, 95-
102; in other cities, 98; schools as,
98-102; organizations and churches,
104,^ 105; recreation program, 110-
112;' private agencies, 146-152; pub-
lic agencies, 152-158; recreation at
the exhibition, 365, 366
SOCIAL STANDARDS FOR INDUSTRY, 165
SPECIAL FUNDS: handling of, 342-346;
bonds and sinking funds, 343-346

SPRINGFIELD FEDERATION OF LABOR,
197

SPRINGFIELD HOSPITAL: children's free
ward, 139

STAFF: of survey, 7-9; administrative,
132

STATE CONTROL: over industries, 199-
201; Department of Factories and
Workshops, 199; Department of
Labor and Mining, 201-202; Indus-
trial Commission, 202-203

STATE ORGANIZATIONS: co-operation of,
6; State Board of Administration,
125, 129; industrial legislation, 199-
210

STATISTICS: preparation of by Earle
Clark, 9

STREET SYSTEM: and city planning,
1 19-1 20; roadway economy, 1 20, 3 28 ;
public improvements, 326-333; pave-
ments, 328-329; cleaning methods,
320-330; dirt roads, 330-331; grade
crossings, 329, 332; sidewalks, 331,
333

STUART SCHOOL, 127

SUBJECTS OF INQUIRY, 3; on industrial
conditions, 164-167

TAXES: collection, 341; transfer, 342

TEACHERS' TRAINING SCHOOL: yard
space of, 101; play festivals, exten-
sion of, 1 10

THEATERS: and recreation survey, 106-
107; motion pictures, 106, 107, in

TRANSPORTATION: railroads and elec-
tric lines, 26, 28; Transportation
Agreement, 155

TRANSPORTATION AGREEMENT: of Na-
tional Conference of Charities and
Corrections, 155

TREADWAY, DR. W. L., 8, 74

TUBERCULOSIS: deaths from, 211, 222-
223, 251, 252; agencies for control of,
224-229, 252; Open Air Colony, 224;
campaign suggestions, 225-228; free
dispensary, 227; responsibility for
control of, 229, 252-253; exhibit
booth, 374

TUBERCULOSIS ASSOCIATION, 138, 139,
141, 145, 148-149, 162, 224, 228, 374

TYPHOID FEVER, 229-231, 240, 251

438

INDEX

VAN BLARCOM, D., 8
VAN KLEECK, MARY, 8
VEILLER, LAWRENCE, 120

VENEREAL DISEASES : measures against,
231-233, 272, 302; segregation of
vice, 301,302,303

VICE: environment a factor, 90-93;
billiards and pool, 91,92; dance halls,
92, 93, 107-108; fines as a deterrent,
259-262; drugs, 260, 300; gambling,
260, 261; police attitude, 299, 301.
See also Corrections

VIOLATIONS OF HOUR LAW: for chil-
dren, 176-177, 206; and health, 186-
187; in manufactures, 187-188; rail-
roads, 188-189; women, 190-191,
209; unions would regulate, 209-210

VOCATIONAL EDUCATION, 67-72. See
also Public Schools

VOLUNTEERS: co-operation of, 6, 9, 12;
at exhibition, 372, 388, 302; valuable
work of, 392-395

WAGES: miners, 178-179, 198, 207;
and unemployment, 178, 193, 206-
209; in various industries, 180-181;
five-and-ten-cent stores, 181, 182;
labor unions increase, 197, 198, 207,
208

WARDS: population and map, 24, 25,
213; health facts, 213, 219, 252, 253

WASHINGTON STREET MISSION: relief
work of, 149-150

WATER SUPPLY: and sewerage, 116,
233-236, 240-241, 252; waterworks
system, 233, 321; Sangamon River,
map of drainage area, 234; wells, 236,
237,238,241; for fires, 318-319; de-
partment supervision, 321-322; con-
sumption and rates, 322-324

WATERWORKS: description of plant,
233-234; cost, 321-322

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES BUREAU, 325-
326

WELFARE: and children's institutions,
124-163; public agencies, 152-159;
recommendations, 158-163; county-
wide organization needed, 160; pur-
pose of survey of industry, 164-167;
safety in industry, 168-174; industrial
betterment, 194-210; labor legisla-
tion, 199-210

WELLS: number of, 116, 236, 237-238,
241; pollution, 240

WIDOWS' GRANTS: Funds to Parents
List, 156

WOMEN'S CLUB, 152, 161

WOMEN WORKERS : industrial standards
for, 165, 199, 208; wages, 181, 182.
196, 208; employment agencies for,
182-183; hours of labor, 190-191, 209

WORK ACCIDENTS . See A ccidenls

WORK CERTIFICATES: and child labor,
175-176, 206

YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION,
105

YOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSO-
CIATION, 105

439

THE SPRINGFIELD SURVEY

The individual reports of the Springfield Survey have
been much used by professors of sociology for teaching
material, and while this volume summarizes all of them and
will, in a way, take their place, there will, no doubt, be some
who prefer the original full reports. Six of the series are
still in print and may be secured for 25 cents each, paper
bound, as follows:

SE7 PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS.

LEONARD P. AYRES, PH.D.

A survey of Springfield's schools, including: the school plant,
the children, the teaching force, class room instruction, course
of study, financial administration, medical inspection, inter-
mediate schools, vocational education, educational extension,
etc. 152 pp.

SE 8 CARE OF MENTAL DEFECTIVES, THE INSANE, AND
ALCOHOLICS IN SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS. W. L.
TREADWAY, M.D., for the National Committee for Mental
Hygiene, New York City.

A study of methods of finding and caring for mental defectives
in the schools and in the community; commitment, treatment
and discharge of the insane and care of alcoholics. 46 pp.

SE 1 1 THE CHARITIES OF SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS. FRANCIS

H. MCLEAN.

A survey of the Springfield charities, including: the children
in Springfield institutions, the charitable care of the sick,
family disabilities and causes of distress, the social agencies
dealing with families, financial considerations, etc. 185 pp.

SE 13 CITY AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATION IN SPRING-
FIELD, ILLINOIS. D. O. DECKER.

A survey of the efficiency of the public offices, including assess-
ment and collection of taxes and other revenues; disburse-
ment methods; organization of city administrative functions;
budget; city department efficiency; county administrative
work; the park board ; publicity and reports, etc. 150 pp.

SE 14 PUBLIC HEALTH IN SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS. FRANZ

SCHNEIDER, JR.

A survey of Springfield's public health, including: infant
mortality, contagious diseases of children, the tuberculosis
situation, typhoid fever, venereal diseases, city water supply,
sewerage and sewage disposal, wells and privies, milk and food
supply, and city health department. 159 pp.

SE 15 THE CORRECTIONAL SYSTEM OF SPRINGFIELD.

ZENAS L. POTTER.

A survey of Springfield's correctional system, including: the
disposition of cases of arrest, the use of fines, hours to leave
town, suspended sentence, jail sentences, indeterminate sen-
tence and parole; probation of adults and children; detention
of children; the juvenile court; legislation needs; and the
work and policy of the police department. 185 pp.

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA

309.132H24S C002

SOCIAL CONDITIONS IN AN AMERICAN CITY N

30112025281699