tt. mo 
 
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71. hj- KM *>ff- ' 
 
THE FOURTH 
 
 OF THE 
 
 MANAGERS OF THE SOCIETY 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 IN THE CITY OF NEW-YORK. 
 
 Read and Accepted, January, 1821. 
 
 NEW-YORK : 
 
 PRINTED BY E. CONRAD, 
 
 4, FRANKFORT-ST. 
 
 1881, 
 
— o*o— 
 
 The Board of Managers, in presenting their Fourth 
 Annual Report to the Society for the Prevention of 
 Pauperism in the City of New-York, beg leave to sub- 
 mit the following facts and views to public consideration. 
 
 It is a fundamental principle of all enlightened go- 
 vernments, that originally all men possess equal rights. 
 In obedience to the social principle, and to promote 
 the common good, society is formed, civil institutions 
 established, and political improvements introduced, 
 until the whole social system is constructed, and all 
 the grand machinery of civil society is in full and har- 
 monious operation. It is the necessary, though not the 
 less salutary tendency of this beautiful system, however, 
 to take away that original equality, which was the 
 birth-right of all, and to create among individuals, dis.- 
 tinctions in rank, fortune and happiness. 
 
 With the increase of population, these distinctions 
 have widened and multiplied. As the social system 
 has become more complex and extended, evils have 
 arisen, which were not apprehended at earlier stages of 
 national existence. Extremes of affluence and indigence 
 are among those evils, under every form of govern- 
 ment; for they have invariably engendered luxury 
 dangerous to the state, and produced individual dis- 
 tress and moral ruin. The extreme of poverty, how- 
 ever, is justly considered by its unfortunate subjects, of 
 
all evils the most intolerable ; and it is certainly one of 
 alarming magnitude where it exists. Under the most 
 perfect forms of human society, therefore, want and 
 suffering will ever require aid from charity, and con- 
 solation from christian benevolence. To extend these, 
 is the great business of every institution, professedly 
 humane. But while we admire that beneficent spi- 
 rit which alleviates the weight of poverty by alms, be 
 it our study to exemplify a similar disposition in the 
 prevention of future want. 
 
 In the history of every government, a time has been, 
 when pauperism Avas not considered a subject of suf- 
 ficient importance to excite public anxiety; but its 
 causes, for a long time secretly, though always active, 
 have at last awakened general alarm in almost every 
 nation. In several countries in Europe, and particu- 
 larly in England, this subject has for ages been viewed 
 by the wise and good, as vitally affecting, not only 
 their domestic tranquillity, but the safety of their insti- 
 tutions, and the existence of their government. Ac- 
 cordingly, her best and ablest men have regarded the 
 sources and prevention of pauperism, as demanding 
 their profoundest investigation. They have written, 
 debated, and filled their statute books with laws to re- 
 medy this national evil. We enjoy the benefits of their 
 writings and experience ; and- from their example, let 
 us take warning, sedulously to prosecute the best sys- 
 tems for the melioration of the condition of the poor. 
 
 The same dangerous consequences of pauperism in 
 Europe, need not, however, be apprehended in this 
 country, only in degree ; for our territory is so expan- 
 sive, its soil so prolific, that the American population, 
 and the people of Europe cannot, for ages, bear the 
 
yjffle ratio to their respective means of subsistence. Our 
 great cities early feel the evils of pauperism. — Here the 
 increase of indolence, poverty and mendicity first ap- 
 pears. But when wc look abroad and contemplate the. 
 extent and fertility of our country ; the immense domain 
 which is still open to easy and successful cultivation ; 
 when wc reflect upon the trilling public burdens that 
 are imposed upon the citizen ; the freedom of our civil 
 institutions; and the protection and equal rights which 
 they guarantee to every class of the community — we 
 might naturally incline to the belief that pauperism 
 would be foreign to our condition. That it should be 
 incident to older countries, governing a crowded popu- 
 lation by unequal laws, neglecting early education, and 
 maintaining arbitrary distinctions in society, can excite 
 no wonder. But that the same calamity, to any consi- 
 derable extent, should be found in a nation exhibiting, 
 in these respects, the complete reverse of such a pic- 
 ture, is matter of astonishment and regret. The evil, 
 however, has not yet become so extensive and remedi- 
 less as to baffle all attempts for its suppression. Con- 
 sidering the facilities to reform, also afforded by our 
 representative system, the general intelligence and 
 moral sentiments of the community, we have reason to 
 expect, that, in its early stages, it will receive that ade- 
 quate attention, which a sacred regard for the purity 
 and happiness of society demands. 
 
 In order to remedy evils, we must first know that 
 they exist; and then investigate their causes. And 
 that man, who. from pure motives, perseveres In his un- 
 dertaking to reform the immoral practices, improve the 
 condition, and elevate the character of his countrymen, 
 may be justly styled a moral hero. Unmoved by the 
 
[ I ' j 
 
 denunciations of the wicked, the menaces ot' the proud, 
 and the obloquy of the vulgar, he is compelled in the 
 prosecution of his work, however unpleasant the task 
 may be, to exhibit the extent and sources of human 
 degeneracy, and to spread before the public eye, the 
 various vices which degrade the most abandoned of his 
 species. 
 
 To investigate, correct, and prevent moral evils in 
 this metropolis, this institution was established. It 
 therefore becomes a duty to speak with freedom ; and 
 the managers now proceed to call the attention of the 
 society, to those sources of pauperism, which attracted 
 notice during the last year. They may be classed under 
 the following heads, viz: 
 
 h INTEMPERANCE, 
 
 2. IGNORANCE, 
 
 Q. CRIMINAL PROSECUTIONS, 
 
 4. CONDITION OF PRISONS, 
 
 5. GAMBLING-HOUSES, 
 
 6. PARDONS, 
 
 7. LOTTERIES, 
 
 8. WANT OF CLEANLINESS, 
 
 9. EMIGRATION, 
 
 10. IDLENESS AND WANT OF EMPLOYMENT. 
 
 First. Intemperance. — This may be considered the 
 most productive source of human wretchedness, in all 
 its complicated forms. Perhaps war and pestilence do 
 not destroy a greater number of victims, than are sacri- 
 ficed by strong drink; certainly they produce no moral 
 devastation so appalling, as that which follows the in- 
 temperate use of ardent spirits. Those are relentless 
 agents, commissioned by the Almighty, to chastise the 
 nations; armed with his justice, they quickly execute 
 their fatal work, and peace and health return upon the 
 
[ 7 ] 
 
 earth. Not so with the progress of intemperance. — 
 This becomes a disease of lingering, but certain death, 
 to both soul and body — spreading poverty, guilt, pain, 
 sorrow and disgrace, throughout all the march of its 
 downward career. The once rich and noble, it levels 
 with the brute creation. Among the poor, it begets 
 every crime that enters into the catalogue of human 
 offences. Self-respect it first obliterates from the mind ; 
 then blunts and destroys the moral sense, by banishing 
 hope and memory, and enkindling the fiercest passions 
 in the bosom ; it. breaks every social and kindred tie ; 
 ruins the constitution; drowns mental energy, and 
 blasts domestic happiness. Where is the parent, bro- 
 ther, child, friend or stranger, who, pointing to some 
 melancholy instance of the direful ruins of intempe- 
 rance, within the circle of his own kindred or acquaint- 
 ance, would not, in the mute eloquence of his afflicted 
 heart, furnish ample testimony of the truth of this de- 
 scription ! 
 
 During the last year, the evils of intemperance have 
 not diminished. Judging from the relative number of 
 licenses granted in each of the three last years, there 
 has been a great increase in the consumption of ardent 
 spirits within the year just ended. By the most accu- 
 rate computation, there are 1680 licenses for retailing 
 ardent spirits, in actual force, in the city of New- York ; 
 making an average of one tippling-house to every four- 
 teen houses in this metropolis. And by adopting the 
 mode of calculation used by the managers for the year 
 1819, to ascertain the sum annually expended in New- 
 York, in the consumption of spiritous liquors, we ar- 
 rive at the frightful result, that, in 1820, the sum of 
 S 1,893,011 was squandered in the use of this single 
 
r . « i • 
 
 article ! And this, too, principally among that portion 
 of our population, who are destitute of any permanent 
 means of support, depending upon manual labor for their 
 daily bread. 
 
 Although from this statement, the desolating tide of 
 intemperance seems to have been expanding during the 
 past year, in spite of the efforts of this institution, se- 
 conded as they have been by some of our constituted 
 authorities, to resist its progress; yet the managers arc 
 happy to state, that they have ascertained some facts 
 on this subject, interesting to the public; and most, 
 clearly showing that, in this metropolis, the connexion 
 between the evil under consideration, and the commis- 
 sion of a great portion of the minor offences which 
 occupy our civil and criminal courts, is so close and 
 intimate, that in proportion as the use of ardent spi- 
 rits extends, crimes multiply, and vice versa. There- 
 cords of the Court of Sessions show, that, as the number 
 of licenses has been augmented, assaults and batte- 
 ries have multiplied ; and when the former has been 
 diminished, the latter have decreased. The whole 
 number of complaints for assaults and batteries, during 
 the last year, was 1061. During the first six months 
 of that year, the number was 409; in the last six months 
 652. Here it is to be observed, that about 180 new 
 licenses were granted in the early part of those last 
 six months, in the absence of the mayor. 
 
 The relation of cause and effect is here so apparent, 
 that there can be no mistake. The managers, there- 
 fore, declare it as their belief, that the multiplication 
 of licenses, promotes intemperate drinking among the 
 poorer classes, and that the growing use of ardent 
 spirits, swells the catalogue of criminal offences. And 
 
£ * } 
 
 by recurring to the official statement of complaints and 
 indictments which have been presented to the Court of 
 Sessions, since the 1st of January 1820, it appears that 
 shortly after the granting of the 180 additional licenses, 
 there was a great accumulation of offences within the 
 cognizance of that court. On the whole, therefore, 
 the managers have no hesitation in saying, that, by re- 
 ducing: the number of licenses, most of the dangerous 
 and shameful effects of intemperance would gradually 
 subside ; thousands of property would be saved to in- 
 dividuals and to the 6tate ; the character of the city 
 would be elevated; our criminal courts find less to do; 
 our jails, bridewell, penitentiary and state prisons, be 
 less burdened ; our poor houses would become less 
 numerous; all our various infirmaries would not long 
 remain the abodes of so much want, suffering, despair 
 and madness. In short, human nature would not so 
 frequently appear in that most deplorable and terrific 
 attitude, " without hope, and without God in the 
 world." 
 
 It is important to notice fn this place, another inte- 
 resting fact, which has fallen under the observation of 
 the managers, and one that may serve to correct a very 
 erroneous, though a very common opinion. It has long 
 been imagined that the laboring classes could not sus- 
 tain themselves under the weight of their daily em- 
 ployments, and especially in founderies and large ma- 
 nufacturing establishments, where they are much ex- 
 posed to heat, and breathe a confined atmosphere, 
 without the regular use of ardent spirits. The results 
 of an important experiment made during the last sea- 
 son, by Mr. James P. Allaire, and by him communicated 
 to the board, establish the fallacy of this opinion. 
 
[ 1" 3 
 
 Mr. Allaire is the proprietor of a large foundry at 
 Corlaer's-Hook. During the last season he employed 
 upwards of sixty workmen, more than thirty of whom 
 were men of families. In the course of the summer, he 
 was informed that many of them were in debt; and on 
 investigating their concerns, with surprise he ascertain- 
 ed the fact, that every one who was in the habit of 
 using ardent spirits, was involved to an extent beyond 
 his ability to pay ; and, with a satisfaction equal to his 
 former surprise, he learned the additional fact, that 
 those who made no use of spirits, were in easy circum- 
 stances, and their children well provided for at school. 
 Nor did a difference of wages from seventy-five cents 
 to ten shillings per day, make any perceptible change 
 in the situation of the former class of workmen. 
 
 With this picture before him, Mr. Allaire was at 
 once induced to prohibit the use of ardent spirits alto- 
 gether, in his shops, during working hours. But one 
 person left his employ in consequence of this restric- 
 tion ; and this man had borrowed of Mr. Allaire, while 
 in his service, upwards of % 300 to pay grocery-bills. 
 In conclusion of his letter, Mr. Allaire observes : I 
 have great reason to be pleased with the happy effects 
 of this regulation. I find my interest better served ; 
 and that those who, from excessive drinking, had be- 
 come of but little worth to me, and in many instances, 
 of less" to their families, have now become able and 
 steady ; earn more money ; and their families as well 
 as themselves, have expressed, in a language not to be 
 misunderstood, the many comforts and the domestic- 
 happiness, which they enjoy in consequence. 
 
 This single experiment speaks volumes ; and the 
 managers take this occasion to congratulate the com- 
 
munity, on the bold and successful stand taken by this 
 gentleman, to abolish altogether, the use of ardent spi- 
 rits from large manufactories. It is by prompt mea- 
 sures, persevered in, that evil habits are corrected, and 
 not by tampering and partial restrictions. 
 
 In many counties of this state, and in Pennsylvania, 
 strong inducements have been held out for abolishing 
 the use of ardent spirits. The agricultural societies 
 have offered premiums to the farmers who would se- 
 cure the greatest crops of grain and, hay, without the 
 use of spirituous liquors: and in many instances, not a 
 drop of ardent spirits has been used by the husband- 
 men, on very extensive farms, during the whole sum- 
 mer months. This fact may also serve to correct the 
 general erroneous impression before stated on this sub- 
 ject. This great evil and its remedies were fully con- 
 sidered in the last Annual Report, to which the mana- 
 gers refer the public* 
 
 It is with feelings of regret, that the managers are 
 constrained to inform the society, that their application 
 to the legislature during its last winter session, for the 
 enactment of a law calculated to diminish the evils of 
 intemperance, did not succeed. Under the deep con- 
 viction that legislative aid is necessary to suppress these 
 evils, the managers intend to renew their petition dur- 
 ing the present session. It is utterly impossible to en- 
 counter the extensive and destructive use of ardent spi- 
 rits, without the co-operation of our public guardians. 
 Let us speak, then, until we shall be heard — let us act, 
 until triumph crown our efforts ! 
 
 * See Correspondence between Mr. Colden and Mr. Haines, published 
 i'n the Appendix to the last Annnal Report. 
 
L 12 ] 
 
 2. Ignorance. — In a country like the United States,, 
 where the perpetuity of civil and religious rights, de- 
 pends upon the general diffusion of early education, and 
 the inculcation of correct early habits, and where the 
 instruction of youth is so easily maintained, it ought to 
 be felt as a reproach, that the elements of useful know- 
 ledge are in any degree neglected. The school system 
 of the state of New-York should prove a source of 
 elevated satisfaction to every member of this commu- 
 nity. But while our feelings are elated at the recollec- 
 tion, that more than $ 160,000 are annual!)' expended 
 in the instruction of at least 350,000 youth, composing 
 above six thousand common schools, we should also re- 
 member, that thousands of children are growing up in 
 this city, destitute of that superintendence over their 
 minds and morals, so indispensible to render them a 
 valuable acquisition to society. Under popular institu- 
 tions, early indigence and obscurity of birth present no 
 barrier to the attainment of the highest distinctions, 
 when genius, virtue and ambition are united. If timely 
 instruction then, can effect so much in the future for- 
 tune of individuals, and turn thousands from the paths 
 of indolence, poverty and guilt, to the paths of useful- 
 ness and renown, what benevolent spirit should sleep, 
 when the calls for action are loud and constant ? After 
 all the brilliant speculations that have marked the in- 
 vestigations of pauperism, and its general causes in 
 Europe, the most salutary benefit that has resulted 
 from the display of learning and eloquence on this sub- 
 ject, is found in the universal conviction, that early 
 education and self-respect, constitute the grand remedy 
 to be applied. 
 
I 13 ] 
 
 The managers are, however, gratified in being able 
 lo saj, that much has been done, during the past year, 
 in the city of New-York, to enlighten the minds, and 
 to fix the habits of youth, in the lower walks of life. 
 Every ornament of our metropolis ; every embellish- 
 ment that proceeds from the combination of taste, art, 
 and munificence, inspires feelings less grateful and 
 satisfactory, than that grand spectacle which is dis- 
 played in the united exertions of every christian deno- 
 mination, and of different classes of individuals, to 
 spread the glorious lights of knowledge among the 
 poor and destitute — stripping vice of her blandish- 
 ments — and raising the mind to the contemplation of 
 the great truths of Christianity. 
 
 The managers are not enabled to state the exact 
 number of children, who have received public and pri- 
 vate instruction in this city, during the past year. The 
 number taught in the schools aided by the state fund, 
 may be reckoned at five thousand. 
 
 The following is the result of an official return, up 
 to November 1820. — In the New-York Free School, 
 the number of scholars was 2145: in the Female As- 
 sociation, 664 : in the African School, 490 : St. Patrick's 
 Cathedral, 359 : St. Peters Church, 356 : the Method- 
 ist Episcopal Church. 305: the Economical School, 125 : 
 the Episcopal Church School, 124: the Orphan Asylum, 
 129: in the Reformed Dutch Church, 124: in the 
 Scotch Presbyterian Church, 28: in the Roman Catho- 
 lic Benevolent Society, 28: in the German Lutheran 
 Church, 24: St. Michael's Church, 13: First Presby- 
 terian Church, 9 : in Sherath Israel, 7. — The amount 
 expended during the past year, in the education of the 
 
( 14 ] 
 
 above pupils, is % 14,759 41.* — The present number of 
 pupils in the Institution for the Instruction of the Deaf 
 and Dumb, is 52: and in the Clarkson Association 
 School,f for the benefit of adult colored females, is 55. 
 In the private schools of three teachers, who belong to 
 the Society of Teachers, the average number of atten- 
 dants may be stated at 1500. It is much to be lament- 
 ed, that the managers are not able to present to the 
 public, a full statement of all the children who are 
 placed under private tuition. The list here furnished, 
 includes about six thousand six hundred. 
 
 The managers would congratulate the public on the 
 success which has attended the Sunday Schools in this 
 city. Those in connexion with the New-York Sunday 
 School Union Society, the Female Union Society, and 
 the several Episcopal Churches, amounting in the 
 whole, to the number of eighty, are attended by about 
 6500 pupils. About one thousand superintendents and 
 teachers are engaged in conducting these seminaries. 
 Since their first establishment in 1816, many thousands 
 of children have been under their supervision, received 
 the benefits which they confer, who are not now 
 attached to them. In the school united to St. George's 
 Chapel, there are 500 scholars. Since its foundation, 
 500 different teachers have been engaged, and up- 
 wards of 4000 children have been instructed. 
 
 During the last year, the Apprentice's Library has 
 been founded in this city. It contains upwards of 5000 
 volumes, and is rapidly increasing. Eight hundred 
 
 * The probable amount expended in the use of ardent spirits, 
 g 1,893.011. 
 
 t This was the first Sunday School established in New-York. It was 
 commenced by a number of young females of the Society of Friends, 
 in April 1811, for the teaching of adult colored women. 
 
[ 15 ] 
 
 different apprentices have already opened account's 
 with the librarian, and the list of subscribers is au<r- 
 
 o 
 
 merited weekly. The blessings that will flow from 
 this laudable association ; the tendency it will have to 
 enlarge and exalt the mind; the ambition which it will 
 inspire, and the future respectability which it will im- 
 part, require no illustration. 
 
 Great and salutary changes have been effected, since 
 our last Annual Report, in the foundation of churches, 
 and in the communication of religious instruction, in 
 the most obscure and profligate parts of this metropo- 
 lis. The church for seamen, opened in Roosevelt- 
 street, has been well attended. The new church at 
 Corlaer's-Hook has produced visible changes in its 
 vicinity. In the new church in Market-street, and in 
 the Mission House in Banker-street, strong proofs have 
 been exhibited of the mild and cheering tendency of 
 the gospel of peace. The extent to which Bibles have 
 been distributed, is calculated to inspire feelings equally 
 grateful and animating, although it is the opinion of 
 the managers, that much more might and should have 
 been done, in this sphere of exertion. 
 
 But in presenting this picture, enlivened as it is by 
 the glowing features of zeal, benevolence and perse- 
 verance, a deep expression of regret cannot be sup- 
 pressed, that there is still a vast mass of ignorant popu- 
 lation in this city. The theatre of action is still wide, 
 and the incitements to new and increasing efforts, are 
 perpetually before our eyes. No expedients should be 
 neglected to raise fresh and more powerful combina- 
 tions, to carryforward the grand work of reform, that 
 grows out of moral and religious instruction, and ts 
 
[ « J 
 
 spread knowledge throughout aH the ranks of society. 
 Here is the watch-tower of our strength — here is a 
 wall of defence that never fails, unless its sentinels 
 slumber on their posts. 
 
 3. Criminal Prosecutions. — This subject was fully 
 treated in the last year's report, under the head of 
 « litigation and law-suits in our Criminal Courts." It 
 then was, and still is, a source of evil as well as of good. 
 In every society governed by laws, offenders will be 
 found, whom the public security requires should bp 
 punished, or prevented from making future depreda- 
 tions upon the rights of others. Courts are established, 
 as the medium through which redress and punishment 
 shall be measured out. The existence of judicial tri- 
 bunals is therefore essential to the enjoyment of our 
 rights. It is the excellence of our free institutions, that 
 before these seats of justice, the rights of the poor man 
 and the rich, are equally respected. It is to the mode 
 of managing criminal prosecutions, that the managers 
 would again call the attention of the society. It is 
 this of which they complain, as an increasing source 
 of evil. 
 
 Since the first of January, 1820, the aggregate num- 
 ber of complaints and indictments which have been 
 presented to the Court of Sessions, amounts to 3032. 
 Of this total, it has been already mentioned, that 1061 
 were for assault and batteries ; of which last number, 
 612 were dismissed, 113 settled without trial ; and on 
 the entire number of complaints, 758 indictments were 
 found. 
 
 The bare statement of these facts, it should seem. 
 Would create alarm in the mind of overv citizen, and 
 
 ¥ * 
 
[ 17 ] 
 
 excite an anxious inquiry, generally, into the probable 
 causes of this great increase' of crime and litigation^ 
 and also into the best means of prevention. The 
 managers deem it unnecessary to go into particular 
 detail, to show the manner in which the present mode 
 of conducting criminal prosecutions is productive of 
 pauperism, among the lower classes. Far be it from 
 their intention to cast any censure upon those invested 
 with the administration of criminal justice. Their 
 only desire is, that some more summary mode of 
 punishing petty misdemeanors maybe devised; so that 
 remedial justice may be speedily dispensed to all that 
 class of minor offenders, who are doomed to await in 
 bridewell, the lingering day of trial. 
 
 Of all the offences included in the above statements 
 of complaints, assaults and batteries are the most mis- 
 chievous to the character and morals of the community. 
 The assassin commits his murderous deed alone. The 
 incendiary plants his torch under the cover of mid- 
 night ; while the thief lurks for plunder in the dusk ot 
 evening, as honest men are busy at their toil. All 
 these shrink from the day, and shun those who would 
 become companions in their spoil and guilt. But to 
 perpetrate the minor deed of atrocity, called assault 
 and battery, there must be an association of the dis- 
 turbers of the peace of society. One alone cannot com- 
 mit the act : and it is this communion of peace-break- 
 ers, which becomes so mischievous. Interdict the use 
 of ardent spirits, and the names of thousands, who are 
 now convicted of this barbarous offence, would not be 
 had in so disgraceful remembrance upon the record? 
 of our criminal courts. 
 
 Ai mi nil' i Ifi^ i) i i i iiiiii II lid 
 
t » 3 
 
 In civil matters, a delay of justice has been declared 
 as grievous as its denial. But in civil suits, pecuniary 
 damages are the great end in view. In criminal pro- 
 secutions, public justice and the general welfare are 
 concerned, on the one side : and the character, liberty 
 and life of the accused, are at stake on the other. 
 Owing to the benign principles of our jurisprudence, 
 every man shall be considered innocent in the eye of 
 the law, until his guilt be established ; and this princi- 
 ple is as salutary and sacred in trifling misdemeanors, 
 as in the most atrocious capital offences. If an inno- 
 cent man be, then, accused of a disgraceful crime, (and 
 the most virtuous and exemplary are not always secure 
 against the suspicions of the profligate and guilty) how 
 must the great end of justice be defeated — how must 
 his feelings, reputation and interests suffer, by a long 
 ignominious imprisonment with the vilest outcasts and 
 convicted felons, before he can have an opportunity of 
 establishing the cruelty and wantonness of his arrest I 
 The law presumes his innocence ; and until guilt be 
 made apparent, care should be taken in the administra- 
 tion of that law, that no intentional disgrace attach to 
 the character of the unfortunate. But there are odium 
 and infamy associated with the name of bridewell: 
 hence it should be a strong feature in the policy of our 
 criminal code, and criminal proceedings, to commit as 
 few as possible to bridewell, until the sentence of the 
 law shall have fixed its sanction upon crime. 
 
 All these evils must be cured, by endeavoring to en- 
 lighten and reform the great mass of the community. 
 Disseminate intelligence, and inculcate religious prin- 
 ciples among the lower classes, public prosecutors will 
 find fewer criminals to arraign. Let parents, masters, 
 
£ » 1 
 
 guardians, be more vigilant and exemplary, the evils 
 under consideration will gradually die away, and gene- 
 rations will rise up and call their forefathers blessed. 
 
 4. Condition of Prisons. — Under this head is to 
 be considered, chiefly, the state of our penitentiary and 
 bridewell. The whole number of persons confined in 
 the Bellevue Penitentiary, amounts to 345. The num- 
 ber of males is 220; the number of females, 125. 
 Among the males, there are upwards of thirty boys, 
 between the ages of ten and sixteen years. 
 
 In this building, the white and black females are 
 kept separate, in two large rooms ; the white and black 
 males are also consigned to two other distinct apart- 
 ments, except in cases of sickness, or when the arrange- 
 ments for labor require them to be mingled. There 
 is, however, very little employment afforded to the 
 females of either color; and none to the men, except 
 working on the highway, where they toil in chains. 
 
 This statement of facts must impress every reflect- 
 ing mind, with a deep conviction, that there is some- 
 thing radically wrong in the construction and discipline 
 of that institution. The pernicious tendency of crowd- 
 ing a large number of convicts together, of different 
 ages and feelings, and who have perpetrated crimes 
 of unequal magnitude, need not be enforced by argu- 
 ment — it is too palpable not to be seen and felt. 
 
 The great end of punishment, is the prevention of 
 future crime — by reforming the offender, by deterring 
 others by the dread of example, and by depriving the 
 party injuring of the power to do future mischief. Now, 
 with the facts above stated before us, we demand, if 
 there exist the slightest probability of moral reforma- 
 tion among these herded convicts in the penitentiary? 
 
[ 20 ] 
 
 There you find a mass of criminals, marked by very 
 different shades and distinctions of guilt, enduring one 
 common punishment! The comparatively innocent, 
 there suffer the same hardships which are adjudged to 
 delinquents of the deepest malignity — a fact which vio- 
 lates all our notions of retributive justice, and confounds 
 all sense of equity. If misery is to be inflicted at all 
 in prisons, it ought surely to be apportioned to the 
 crime of the offender. Besides this obvious injustice 
 resulting to the convicts, from this promiscuous and 
 indiscriminate infliction of punishments, there is no 
 ground to hope for any reform in their moral habits. 
 Good policy requires that these prisoners should be 
 dismissed, improved. To this end they should be sepa- 
 rated from each other ; they will then be forced to re- 
 collection, possibly to repentance. Seclusion probablv 
 never failed to subdue the most haughty, and reform 
 the most abandoned. 
 
 It should be remarked, that the means of instruc- 
 tion are afforded to the boys in this prison, and that 
 they exhibit an improvement in the elements of edu- 
 cation highly gratifying. Their teacher, however, 
 is a convict, and cannot feel that consciousness of 
 the rectitude of his own example, so necessary to give 
 sanction to the sacred lessons of morality. Several 
 other boys, it should also be observed, have been sent 
 to the penitentiary as vagrants, and therefore are not 
 confined there as convicts. This part of them would 
 be at once discharged, had they parents, guardians, 
 friends, employment, or the visible means of a liveli- 
 hood; but, in the providence of God, having neither 
 father nor mother, and being cast upon the inclement 
 tvorld, friendless and destitute, unoffending and young, 
 
t 21 J 
 
 they have been gathered by the cold arms of the law, 
 and thrust into-a prison filled with miscreants of every 
 description — there to imbibe the principles and habits 
 of their future course — there to unfold their immortal 
 powers, in an atmosphere polluted with crime ! And 
 shall it in future times be said of New-York, that she 
 has educated a portion of her native \outh with a gang 
 of felons in the penitentiary? And this, too, because 
 those youths have in their infancy been abandoned by 
 the hand that should have protected them? Justice 
 and humanity revolt at the idea, and require that the 
 innocent and the guilty should not be compelled to 
 associate together. Under the present state of things, 
 the penitentiarv cannot but be a fruitful source of pau- 
 perism — a nursery of new vices and crimes — a college 
 for the perfection of adepts in guilt. 
 
 The condition of the bridewell is no better. The 
 number at present confined there is 71, though the 
 number varies every month, in consequence of trials 
 and discharges by the public authorities. At the com- 
 mencement of each term of the criminal court, which 
 sits the two first weeks of every month, the average 
 number may be stated at about 120; and at the close 
 of each term of the said court, the number averages 
 from 70 to 80. The males and females, white and 
 black, are distributed into four principal apartments, 
 where they live, eat and sleep. The white females of 
 all descriptions of wretchedness and infamy, occupy 
 one large room, separated from that containing the 
 black females, by large wooden bars only, placed at 
 considerable distance from each other — so that oral 
 communications are uninterrupted, and whatever goes 
 on in one room, mav be seen, and heard in the other 
 
[ *2 3 
 
 Ml the black males, old and young, are confined in a 
 single room ; but the white men and boys are lodged 
 in separate apartments, one of which is called the 
 chain-room, where the more desperate villains are kept. 
 
 The same observations that have been made respect- 
 ing the evils of the penitentiary, are equally applicable 
 to the tendency of this establishment. In bridewell, 
 white females of every grade of character, from the 
 innocent, who is in the end acquitted, <lown to the 
 basest wretch that ever disgraced the refuges of 
 prostitution, are crowded into the same abandoned 
 abode. With the white male prisoners, the case is lit- 
 tle altered — the novice in guilt, and the obdurate of- 
 fender, are consigned to the same apartment. And so 
 it is with the colored prisoners of both sexes. Hun- 
 dreds are taken up and sent to these places, who after 
 remaining frequently several weeks, are found to bo 
 innocent of the crime alleged, and are then let loose 
 upon the community. But, vice is ever contagious. 
 Whatever moral differences might at first exist, be- 
 tween the characters of these joint-tenants of the prison 
 house, it is the principle of their condition, to become 
 more assimilated in all respects, until every remnant 
 of virtue, and dictate of conscience, are banished from 
 the fraternity, and vice and revenge reign triumphant 
 in every bosom. To strengthen and diffuse this blight- 
 ing influence, no seminary could be better calculated 
 than the New-York Bridewell — so far as want of dis- 
 crimination, want of separate apartments, want of em- 
 ployment, and want of proper internal regulations, 
 could ever effect it. Such, the managers are constrain- 
 ed to say, must in their opinion, be the inevitable ten- 
 dency of the existing mode of confinement in the peni- 
 tentiary and bridewell. 
 
[ 23 ] 
 
 It is but an act of justice to state, however, that the 
 manner in which these prisons are kept, reflects the 
 highest credit on their respective keepers. The rooms 
 are clean and wholesome; and there appears to be 
 order and system in their government, so far as it de- 
 pends on the superintendents. 
 
 The remedies for the evils pointed out under this 
 head, will shortly be laid before the society, in a report 
 to be made by a committee of the board, appointed to 
 investigate the evils generally resulting from our peni- 
 tentiary system, and to correspond on the subject with 
 eeveral of the first men in the Union. The managers 
 look for that report with great interest.* 
 
 5. Gambling Houses. The managers are not able 
 to state the number of gambling houses in this city; 
 they are doubtless far more numerous than the public 
 imagine. That gambling leads to ruin, is almost uni- 
 versally admitted. Around the gambling table, all 
 the vices cluster ; more especially, intemperance, pro- 
 fanity, fraud and falsehood. Hence, in every intelligent 
 and moral circle, gambler is an epithet of reproach 
 and detestation. Why does he endeavor to keep 
 his profession unknown to any, but his fellow asso- 
 ciates ? Why do the proprietors of gambling-houses 
 fit them up in the most secret places ? Evidently be- 
 cause they wish to avoid the odium, which the moral 
 sense of the community attaches to the character of a 
 gambler. And why is the night selected as the most 
 favorable time for gamblers to seek these by-places of 
 wickedness and amusement? Because the conscious- 
 
 .* That Committee is composed of the following Gentlemen : C. D. 
 Colden, Thomas Eddy, Peter A. Jay, James Milnor, C. Jones, C. G. 
 ilaines, and R. R. Ward. 
 
ness of their own dissipation cannot bear the light 
 of day. Few are so shameless as to resort to a 
 gambling-house by day-light; the curtain of dark- 
 ness must be gathered around them before they will 
 venture forth on their disreputable errand. 
 
 As gambling-houses are productive of the most 
 ruinous consequences in every way, and as there 
 cannot be assigned Ihe shadow of a reasonable apo- 
 logy for their existence, they should be discouraged 
 and suppressed. No penalty for this purpose would 
 be too exorbitant. Break up these haunts of wick- 
 edness and prodigality, and you would dry up 
 streams of bitter sorrow, that now flow from the bro- 
 ken heart of many a parent. 
 
 6. Pakdons. — The frequent granting of pardons, 
 by the executive of the state, contributes to the repe- 
 tition of crime, and the extension of pauperism. Un- 
 certainty in the execution of the laws, weakens their 
 preventive influence in restraining offences. If it be 
 conceded, that idleness and crime produce pauper- 
 ism, it must also be conceded, that whatever tends 
 to diminish the efficacy of safeguards to prevent 
 them, goes to favor their existence. That class of 
 persons who contemn all habits of industry — who 
 have lost all sense of moral obligation, and who sus- 
 tain themselves by committing depredations on the 
 rights of others, will feel but little dread of criminal 
 prosecutions, if they entertain a well-founded hope 
 of pardon, after trial and conviction. This antici- 
 pation has a tendency to render the dissolute and 
 abandoned, a public charge in the penitentiary, 
 bridewell, or the state prison, by lessening their re- 
 spect for industry, virtue and the laws, and leading 
 
[ 25 j 
 
 them to the fresh commission of crimes and misdemean- 
 ors. Many of the paupers of this city, and hundreds 
 who are in the way to become such, have been the 
 frequent tenants of our different prisons, and the un- 
 worthy objects of executive clemency. 
 
 During the administration of the late chief magistrate 
 of the state, and also during the existence of the present 
 state administration, pardons have been numerous. And 
 it is matter of regret, that gentlemen highly respectable 
 in the profession of the law, often permit themselves to be 
 retained as advocates to further the application of con- 
 victs, for the exercise of the pardoning power. Nor is 
 this all — jurors, after having convicted offenders under 
 the solemnities of an oath, and in the faithful discharge 
 of their duty, sometimes immediately turn round and 
 sign a petition to pardon the felon whom they have 
 condemned — thus abrogating their own solemn acts, 
 and setting the laws at defiance. This practice is not 
 unfrequent, and deserves severe reprehension. 
 
 The standing excuse for the practice of pardoning, 
 has long been, that there is not room in the state prison 
 and penitentiary, to hold all the convicts consigned to 
 those places. This is unquestionably true — but does it 
 not argue great neglect in our public authorities, that 
 for want of proper buildings, the end of criminal juris- 
 prudence should be defeated, and vice and pauperism 
 increased ? Far better would it be, to abolish those laws 
 which are found in our statute-book, for the punish- 
 ment of offences, if trials and convictions are thus to 
 be made a mere mockery of justice, because of some 
 glaring incapacity to inflict the penalty incurred by 
 their violation. 
 
 D 
 
L 20 ] 
 
 Let prisons be so modified, as to admit of solitary 
 punishment; the criminal code so altered, as to pro- 
 hibit the association of convicts, and their term of con- 
 finement made short, but certain. This would give 
 terror to the idea of punishment in prisons; it would 
 reduce the number convicted, destroy the present 
 excuse for pardoning, and do away all the evils of that 
 system. 
 
 7. Lotteries. — The last Annual Report contains 
 an account of all the legislative provisions relative to 
 lotteries. No man is at liberty to vend tickets, with- 
 out a license. If lotteries must be tolerated at all, per- 
 haps the legislature could not put them under better 
 regulations. But, in the opinion of the managers, they 
 have a pernicious tendency under any circumstances. 
 They are a species of gambling. In principle, they are 
 immoral : and they are authorized by the legislature, 
 because they are powerful engines for raising large 
 snms of money, for literary and state objects. No ends 
 could be more laudable ; but the means can scarcely 
 justify them. The possibility of drawing a prize, fre- 
 quently tempts the needy to purchase a ticket with the 
 earnings of months. Thus lotteries impoverish the 
 poor. They are also destructive of industrious regu- 
 lar habits, by exciting in the mind of the person inte- 
 rested, an improper dependance upon pernicious con- 
 tingencies. 
 
 The managers take this occasion to express their 
 strong convictions of the evil tendency of every species 
 of gambling ; and particularly of those kinds frequently 
 adopted as fashionable amusements. Let the votary 
 of the practice consider the unprofitable consumption 
 
[ 27 j 
 
 of time, as among- the fruits of the card-table and the 
 dice-board. Let him add up the moments which are 
 squandered here, without benefit to soul, to body, or to 
 society, and contemplate their sum. Great intellectual 
 dissipation is also among those fruits : and he who at 
 first plays for pastime, will gradually become involved 
 in the system of playing for money. There are those 
 who hate gaming, while they love the game. Have 
 they not heard of a youth, who received the rudiments 
 of his gaming education under his father's roof, be- 
 coming, in consequence of this acquisition, the compa.- 
 nion of vile associates, and the victim of their crimes? 
 
 8. WaMT ok Cleanliness. — Every year produces 
 n favorable change m the personal appearance of the 
 great body of children, who are under the patronage 
 of the various charitable institutions in this city. Uni- 
 formity in their dress undoubtedly stimulates their ef- 
 forts to keep themselves neat and clean. In their early 
 education, the necessity of personal cleanliness should 
 be inculcated. Virtue holds no communion with entire 
 carelessness about the habits of body. Want of clean- 
 liness argues want of shame, and when shame is ex- 
 tinguished, humanity degenerates to the lowest stand- 
 ard of degration. Hence it should be enjoined on 
 all persons under the concern of our humane institu- 
 tions, that they preserve a neat personal appearance. 
 It is impossible to enlighten the mind, and mend the 
 morals, while personal cleanliness is wholly neglected; 
 such is the connexion and mysterious influence of phy- 
 sical and moral agencies. 
 
 The managers feel great cause of congratulation, 
 that the lights of knowledge are so rapidly dispelling 
 
the ignorance which has hitherto enveloped the poor 
 children of the city, and introducing among thern a 
 love of mental and personal improvement. 
 
 9. Emigration. — The subject of foreign emigration 
 to this state, and the United States demands the atten- 
 tion of the citizens, and of the national and state legis- 
 latures. By the nations of the east, this country 
 has been regarded as the asylum of freedom — the 
 home of the exile and stranger : and accordingly, thou- 
 sands have flocked to our shores from every quarter 
 of the world. 
 
 The increase of foreign population among our na- 
 tive citizens, may require occasional revision of our 
 municipal regulations. In the year 1806, according 
 to Mr. Blodget's Statistical Manual, the number of 
 foreign emigrants in the United States, was but 4000. 
 Mr. Seybert states the number of emigrants who ar- 
 rived in this city, during the year 1817, to be 7634; 
 and the whole number that arrived, in the same year, 
 at ten of the principal ports in the United States, to 
 be 22,240. During the year 1819, 18,930 foreigners 
 arrived in vessels at the city of New-York; but during 
 the year 1820, the whole number was only 4662. 
 Generally, the number arriving annually at this port, is 
 considerably greater than the whole number of emi- 
 grants annually arriving at every other port in the 
 Union, Philadelphia only excepted. 
 
 These strangers generally come from populous 
 towns on the other side of the Atlantic. At home they 
 have, therefore, been unaccustomed to rural life ; and 
 on their arrival here, they are little disposed to seek 
 the interior, and less qualified to cultivate the soil. 
 
[ 29 ] 
 
 Frequently, they bring nothing with them ; sometime*, 
 a knowledge of their arts and manufactures. Conse- 
 quently, this mass of foreigners comes to our shores 
 chiefly dependent upon the means of subsistence to be 
 found here. The city of New-York thus becomes 
 their landing-place ; and the city of New-York must 
 not see the needy suffer. This statement does not, 
 however, include all the foreigners who come to this 
 city. To avoid giving bonds at the custom-house, mas- 
 ters of vessels frequently land foreign passengers destin- 
 ed to this port, along the adjacent coast, who afterwards 
 find their way hither by land ; or else they embark on 
 board our own coasting vessels bound to this port, all 
 of which are by the act of Congress exempted from 
 making entry, at the custom-house of the port of ulti- 
 mate destination. In this manner, all our legislative 
 precautions on this subject are evaded. Again : the 
 poor of the neighboring states, and many from the 
 neighboring: counties of our own state, crowd into this 
 fity, to live upon the charity of our citizens, during the 
 inclement months. Foreigners, too, frequently land 
 here late in the fall of the year. 
 
 Thus, New- York is made the receptacle of thousands 
 who depend, at least for the winter season, upon pub- 
 lic bounty for support. It is frequently difficult to dis- 
 tinguish between residents and non-residents ; and in 
 some cases, when the fact is ascertained, it is less expen- 
 sive and more humane, to feed, shelter and clothe the 
 sufferer, than it would be to transport him from county 
 to county in the midst of winter. 
 
 This state of things calls for serious attention. Last 
 yoar, the whole subject was put before the community 
 
I 30 j 
 
 in the strongest light ; and we, therefore, say less on 
 this occasion. In the last report, and in the mayor's 
 letter* published with that report, many important 
 suggestions were offered for legislative consideration. 
 The managers again refer the public to those docu- 
 ments for it is chiefly by legislative interposition, that 
 this prolific source of pauperism is to be diminished. 
 
 10. Idleness and want of employment. — The 
 managers must again call the attention of the society, 
 to the great extent of voluntary idleness which prevails 
 in our metropolis, and the vital necessity of making 
 some systematic exertions, to remedy the evil, by open- 
 ing sources of employment. It has been recently calcu- 
 lated, that the number of persons in this city, who, in 
 a greater or less degree, receive charitable aid, or are 
 maintained at the public expense, cannot be estimated 
 at less than from twelve to thirteen thousand. In this 
 aggregate, is included all those who are confined in the 
 bridewell, the penitentiary, the state-prison, the alms- 
 house, the New- York Hospital ; who receive support 
 from our different charitable institutions ; who are under 
 the benevolent care of the various churches and con- 
 gregations ; and who are assisted by charitable and 
 humane individuals. — Out of this portion of our popu- 
 lation, at least one-half may be selected of individuals, 
 who are capable of performing manual labor, and of 
 earning their subsistence. 
 
 The annual expenditures now incurred in their 
 maintenance is immense. It is greater than the dis- 
 bursements for each of the civil lists of two-thirds of 
 
 * See correspondence between Mr. Colden and Mr. Haines, published 
 "in the Appendix to the last Aunual Report. 
 
[ 31 ] 
 
 the states in the Union. The importance, therefore, 
 of entering into some system, by whieh these paupers 
 -an be employed, is fully evident. 
 
 The number of beggars and mendicants who wan- 
 der through the city, appears to have much increased, 
 since the last winter. Many of them bear the strong- 
 est marks of intemperance and vice. They boldly ap- 
 ply at the doors of our houses, under pretence of recent 
 misfortunes, wearing together in their fabricated nar- 
 ratives, a tissue of gross falsehoods and absurdities. 
 They change their misrepresentations to suit their pur- 
 poses, and are too far successful in extorting alms by 
 base expedients. Sometimes they plead accidents at 
 sea, and late shipwrecks. At other times they resort 
 to the pretence of death or sickness in their families ; 
 or express a desire of leaving the city, and their inability 
 to do it. Many of them assign their incapacity to ob- 
 tain shelter for the night, and when means of procuring 
 comfort are furnished them, they repair to the dram- 
 shop, expend the avails of their impudence and inge- 
 nuity, and again sally forth for fresh supplies. To be- 
 stow charity on such vagrants, and victims of moral 
 turpitude, is to extend a bounty on their impositions. 
 
 The managers recommend the practice of abstaining 
 from giving money to these voluntary paupers ; for, if 
 they can procure any thing which may be converted 
 into ardent spirits, the exercise of benevolence in their 
 behalf, only goes to increase the profit and business 
 of the dram-seller. If their petitions are to be heard 
 at all, it is warmly enjoined upon every family whom 
 they annoy, to furnish some temporary work, to make 
 them earn what they receive. When they apply for 
 aid, let them be shewn some employment on the spot. 
 
c * 1 
 
 by which they may be engaged for only a few hours, 
 and thus the merit and sincerity of their claims will be 
 put to the test. The result must be, that such calls will 
 seldom be repeated. This has been tried with excel- 
 lent effects in some of our cities further south, and 
 with a good tendency by some individuals in our own 
 metropolis. 
 
 The managers also recommend it to the society, to 
 make every possible effort, to interest the public au- 
 thorities of our city, in opening some means of employ- 
 ment to the poor and idle, during the severe seasons 
 of the year. In our apprehension it is far more politic 
 to make those public improvements, which are not 
 immediately wanted, and thus give labor to our pau- 
 pers, than to expend hundreds of thousands of dollars 
 annually to support them in idleness, and often in vice. 
 It will cost no more to employ them, than it will to 
 sustain them in indolence ; and when this course is pur- 
 sued, their numbers will greatly diminish. 
 
 <atm * 
 
 From the foregoing facts and observations, the so- 
 ciety and the public will be able to form some just es- 
 timate of the nature and importance of the objects and 
 exertions of this institution. But little more than three 
 years have elapsed since its formation. In its progress, 
 new subjects of investigation have been presented at 
 every step, and new obstacles have been encountered. 
 Past experience, however, induces the managers to 
 believe, that the fruits of their labors will be realized 
 in the visible and extensive improvement of the con- 
 dition of the poor. To compass this end, they have 
 
[ 33 ] 
 
 endeavored to ascertain, that they might counteract, 
 the more obvious causes of pauperism in this city. The 
 results of their researches are before the public. They 
 now appeal, not so much to the sympathies and cha- 
 rity, as to the known interest of that public, to co-ope- 
 rate with this society in the use of every proper mea- 
 sure for the prevention of pauperism. Their great 
 object is, not to solicit alms; it is rather to engage that 
 active philanthropy, whose timely and well-directed 
 exertions may diminish the necessity for alms-giving. 
 Prevention, more than relief, is what they aim at. 
 Who, then, will be backward to countenance their ef- 
 forts ? As the rich are taxed to maintain the poor, it 
 is the interest of the rich, to unite with this institution, 
 to prevent the increase of paupers. Talents, influence, 
 benevolence, authority and law, should all lend their 
 sanction to this object. 
 
 Indulging a lively expectation, therefore, of receiving 
 from the citizens generally, and from the legislature, 
 that decided approbation and efficient support, which 
 the important objects of the institution demand, the 
 managers cheerfully enter upon the discharge of their 
 duties. And in the beginning, they recommend to the 
 careful consideration of the society, during the current 
 year, the following general subjects : 
 
 L Civil and Criminal Police. 
 
 2. Intemperance. 
 
 3. Emigration. 
 
 4. Disorderly Houses. 
 
 5. Ignorance and neglect of Religious Worship. 
 
 6. Want of Cleanliness. 
 
 7. Lotteries, Pawn-brokers and Intelligence Offices. 
 
 8. Public Amusements. 
 
 E 
 
[ 34 ] 
 
 9. Idleness and Want of Employment. 
 
 10. Domestic Economy. 
 
 1 1 . Correspondence. 
 
 12. The Library. 
 
 .13. Juvenile Delinquency. 
 
 The managers have appointed from their own body, 
 a standing committee on each of die above mentioned 
 subjects. It will become the duty of those committees 
 to determine, as far as practicable, and at the close of 
 the year, to report how far any of them may be pro- 
 ductive sources of pauperism in this city. It has already 
 been observed, that before evils can be eradicated, their 
 cause and nature must be understood; it is to ascertain 
 facts, therefore, on the subject of pauperism, that the 
 managers have made the foregoing classification. The 
 evils resulting from several of those sources, have 
 already been pointed out, but others remain unex- 
 plored. 
 
 Such is the ample field of exertion presented to this 
 institution. Such are the strong incitements to bold 
 and vigorous action, that appeal to us on every side. 
 As v\ e march forward in the work of reformation, and 
 extend our investigations into new abuses, we must 
 expect to combat new prejudices, and encounter obsta- 
 cles hitherto hidden from our eyes. But let us never 
 forget that there is an inherent strength in virtue, that 
 will ultimately accomplish her grand and sublime pur- 
 poses. 
 
 Our cause is the cause of this metropolis; it is the 
 cause of distant times, and of other generations. On 
 the triumph of the principles which we have adopted 
 and proclaimed, depends the purity and character of our 
 social system, and the duration of those civil and reli- 
 
[ 35 j 
 
 gious institutions, which we love and venerate. Sooner 
 or later, our public rulers, and the leading members of 
 this community, must mingle their wishes, their zeal, 
 and their exertions, with our own, in the same rational 
 and exalted plans, to dry up the dark fountains of 
 moral evil, and increase the measure of human happi- 
 ness. Again, we repeat, let us advance in the great 
 and glorious work which we have begun — and may the 
 benedictions of the good, and the smiles of heaven rest 
 upon our labors ! 
 
 By order of the Board of Managers, 
 
 C. D. COLDEN, President. 
 J. Griscom, Secretary. 
 
 New-York, Dec. 1820. 
 
At the Fourth Annual Meeting of the Society for 
 the Prevention of Pauperism in the city of Nen - York, 
 held at the New-York Institution, the 11th December, 
 1820, the following gentlemen were elected a Board 
 of Managers for the ensuing year : 
 
 r ke-Presidents. 
 
 MANAGERS. 
 
 CAD WALLA DER D. COLDEN, 
 
 BROCKHOLST LIVINGSTON, 
 
 WILLIAM FEW, 
 
 THOMAS EDDY, 
 
 CAVE JONES, ) 
 
 JOHN E. HYDE, Treasurer. 
 
 JOHN GRISCOM, Secretary. 
 
 DANIEL E. TYLEE. Jlssistant Secretary. 
 GARRET N. BLEECKER, SAMUEL MARSH, 
 WILLIAM M. CARTER, 
 ROBERT C. CORNELL, 
 BENJAMIN CLARK, 
 
 ISAAC COLLINS, 
 JOSEPH CURTIS, 
 Dr. J. CLARK, 
 JAMES EASTBURN, 
 THOMAS FRANKLIN, 
 CHAS. G. HAINES, 
 JOHN R. HURD, 
 ANSEL W. IVES, 
 JOHN T. IRVING, 
 ZACHARIAH LEW S, 
 ELEAZER LORD. 
 
 JAMES M. MATHEWS. 
 JOHN PINTARD, 
 CYRUS PERKINS, 
 ALEX. PROUDFIT, 
 FRED. W. PORTER, 
 J. B. RAPELYE, 
 FRED. C. SCHAEFFER, 
 JOSEPH SMITH, 
 THOS. R. SMITH, 
 Dr. JOHN STEARNS, 
 SAMUEL WOOD, 
 H. VAN WAGENEN, 
 GEORGE W. WARNER, 
 RICHARD R. WARD. 
 
It 38 ] „# . * 
 
 The Managers have appointed the following 
 Standing Committees for the year 1821, on 
 the several subjects mentioned in a former 
 part of this Report, to wit : 
 
 On the Subject of Civil and Criminal Police. 
 
 CHARLES G. HAINES, JAMES M. MATHEWS, 
 THOMAS EDDY, GEORGE W. WARNER, 
 
 ELEAZER LORD. 
 
 On Emigration. 
 
 JOHN PINTARD, CORNELIUS DUBOIS, 
 THOS. R. SMITH, R. C. CORNELL. 
 
 On Intemperance. 
 
 WILLIAM FEW, JOHN E. HYDE, 
 JOHN R. HURD. 
 
 On Disorderly Houses. 
 
 T. R. SMITH, C. G. HAINES, 
 
 SAMUEL MARSH. 
 
 07i Want of Cleanliness. 
 CYRUS PERKINS, JAMES EASTBURN, 
 ISAAC COLLINS, BENJ. CLARK. 
 
 On Ignorance and JVfegleci of Religious Worship. 
 
 JAMES M. MATHEWS, JOHN GRISCOM, 
 JOHN R. HURD, R. R. WARD, 
 
 F. C. SCHAEFFER. 
 
 On Lotteries, Pawn-brokers and Intelligence Offices. 
 
 WILLIAM FEW, CAVE JONES, 
 DANIEL E. TYLEE. 
 
I 39 ] 
 
 On the Library. 
 
 F. C. SCHAEFFER, JOHN GRISCOM, 
 Z. LEWIS. 
 
 On Domestic Economy. 
 
 E. LORD, ANSEL W. IVES, 
 
 SAMUEL WOOD. 
 
 On Idleness and Want of Employment. 
 T. R. SMITH, F. C. SCHAEFFER, 
 
 WM. M. CARTER, THOS. FRANKLIN 
 
 On Public Amusements. 
 THOMAS EDDY, J. M. MATHEWS, 
 A. W. IVES. 
 
 On Correspondence. 
 JOHN GRISCOM, E. LORD, 
 C. G. HAINES, CYRUS PERKINS. 
 
 On Juvenile Delinquency.* 
 GEORGE W. WARNER, ANSEL W. IVES, 
 SAMUEL MARSH, CAVE JONES, 
 
 BENJAMIN CLARK.