■MIS' Qass LB -5+7^ Book_^ • Or ICHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS Reports on Underfed Children Reprinted from Minutes of the Board of Education of the City of Chicago October 21, 1908 f CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS Reports on Underfed Children Reprinted from Minutes of the Board of Education of the City of Chicago, October 21, 1908 D. or 0. -b^ 5\ . t>".^ Reports on Underfed Children Chicago, October 19, 1908. To the Board of Education of the City of Chicago. Ladies and Gentlemen : I transmit to you herewith the report of the Special Committee appointed upon the resolution of Mr. Spiegel to secure in- formation concerning underfed children. Appended thereto is the opinion of At- torney for the Board, Mr. Frank Ham- lin, stating that the Board of Education, under the law, has no right to expend inoney for anything except educational purposes. The report having reached the press before it could be placed before you, it was considered necessary to act in the matter as speedily as possible, as it seemed at first that this report was de- scribing unusual conditions. His Honor, the Mayor, called a con- ference at his office at which the Health Commissioner, the superintendents of various charitable institutions and relief and aid societies and your President were present and discussed matters. While it did not appear that the conditions de- scribed were unusual, but will be always found to exist to a greater or less extent in a city of a large population, the desire has been to minimize this as much as possible. The chief difficulty in finding this class of people lies in the fact that there are a number of poor people who are too proud to beg. Others are too disso- lute, negligent and lazy to provide prop- erly for their children. While it is dif- ficult to find the first mentioned, the dis- solute and lazy are easily encouraged if the doors* of charity are thrown wide open. Two methods, therefore, have been proposed to find the really needy. One was to discover them through the inspect- ing physicians of the Health Department, at the schools, to be augmented with nurses who should visit the houses and examine into conditions there. The other was an appeal to the prin- cipals of the schools, which I sent out in a circular letter last week, requesting them to report all cases of want to the Truant Officers of the Compulsory Edu- cation Department, to turn over to the charity associations for relief. Up to the present writing, the Compulsory Educa- tion Department has furnished in this way 3,021 names and addresses of children in 1,419 families. According to all informa- tion received this works satisfactorily without becoming a disturbing factor in the conduct of the schools. The differ- ent charitable institutions are attending to the reported cases, and are alleviating want and distress as quickly as the cases are brought to their notice. Respectfully submitted, (Signed) Otto C. Schneider, President. October 1, 1908. COMMITTEE ON SCHOOL MANAGEMENT. Board of Education of the City of Chi- cago. Ladies and Gentlemen : I have not attempted to make any de- tailed investigation of the matters which are contained in the reports of Superin- tendent Bodine and Doctor MacMillan, which are made to you contemporaneous with this report. It is frequently a very difficult matter to state clearly just what is an educational purpose for which the expenditure of pub- lic money will be justified. I do not think there can be any question, how- ever, about the fact that it would not be lawful for the Board of Education to un- dertake the feeding of children directly, and to expend money for that purpose, no matter how meritorious in their judg- ment such a purpose might be. I note, however, that in the City of New York this matter has been handled by the Board of Education con-jointly with public-spirited individuals, and that arrangements have been made for the fur- nishing of funds necessary for such a pur- pose by public-spirited individuals and by certain organizations which have been interested in this matter. If such an arrangement could be made in Chicago, there could be no objection from a legal standpoint for the Board ol Education to give these individuals or in- stitutions the benefit of the investigation which they have made and could co- operate with them in so far as it was proper and appropriate, without affecting the government of the schools in carrying out this work. It is quite clear, however, that the direct appropriation of money on the part of the Board of Education would not be legal. Yours very truly, Frank Hamlin, Attorney, Board of Education. To the Board of Education of the City of Chicago. Whereas, In certain sections of our city the educational work in the public schools is very greatly hampered, and the progress of all the pupils is seriously retarded because of the impoverished con- ditions, mental and physical, of some of the pupils (entitled to public school ad- vantages), due to want, lack of nourish- ment and the absence of proper care ; and, Whereas, It is the opinion of those ex- pert in the conduct of public educational systems that to alleviate such conditions is to promote the efficiency of the schools in a most far-reaching and beneficial manner; Therefore be it Resolved, It is the sense of this Board that it cause to be made a thorough and exhaustive investigation into such conditions, together with the best remedies to be adopted to remove or relieve them, including what has been done in other large public school educa- tional centers, and also what legal re- strictions and powers apply to this Board and concern this subject matter. (Signed) Modie J. Spiegel. Chicago, September 30, 1908. To the School Management Committee. Ladies and Gentlemen : Your Sub-Cominittee, to whom was re- ferred the resolution of Trustee Spiegel, authorizing an investigation of conditions among underfed school children in Chi- cago, and requesting a recommendation for the best means of relief, respectfully reports : That facts are herewith submitted showing the actual conditions among the children in question at school and at home. That 3'our Sub-Committee believes, after a careful investigation of the sub- ject and the systems for the relief of similar conditions in other cities, that the pathetic conditions in Chicago are such as to wari'ant relief either by the Board of Education or some municipal, state or coimty authority, or by private philan- thropy. If it be deemed illegal or inexpedient for the Board of Education to appropriate funds for the purpose of relieving the suffering among underfed school children, we recommend co-operation with private philanthropy, to the extent of the . free use of rooms and equipment in various districts where relief centers are needed. Respectfully submitted, W. L. BODINE, D. P. MacMillan. REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF COM- PULSORY EDUCATION ON THE SUBJECT OF INDIGENT CHILDREN. To the Members of the School Manage- ment CoMimittee. Ladies and Gentlemen : In compliance with the instructions con- tained in the resolution introduced by Trustee Modie J. Spiegel and adopted by your Committee, I respectfully report that this department has made an in- vestigation of conditions £;.mong indigent, under-fed school children in Chicago. Truant officers canvassed the schools and social settlements, and visited many homes in districts where great poverty exists. Principals, teachers, parents, chil- dren, charity workers and sociological experts were consulted. The method of obtaining information has been systematic, accurate and thorough. Actual conditions have been seen. Facts are presented. Introductory. 1. Five thousand children who attend the schools of Chicago are habitually hungry. They often go to school break- fastless, and at times go to bed hungry. As a result of being under-fed and living in insanitary homes they have become victims of malnutrition — which creates subnormal children. 2. I further report that 10,000 other children in the city — while not such ex- treme cases as the aforesaid — do not have sufficient nourishing food ; that the lack of "a square deal and a square meal" at home often presents the pathetic sequel of the child who is backward at study and forward in delinquency. 3. Last year, during the financial and industrial depression, the County Agent furnished rations that saved 11,097 chil- dren from starvation. In addition to this, 6,000 others were temporarily relieved by church societies, neighbors, relatives and relief organizations. Conditions have im- proved, but there are 15,000 under-fed children in Chicago today who do not have three full meals a day. The Child Study Department has examined 10,090 specific cases. 4. In the canvass made by Truant Officers, mothers were repeatedly found who go to bed hungry themselves in order that their children may have a scant breakfast next day. This self denial is habitual heroism in some large families, where the rations are scarce — particularly among widows and deserted wives. 5. The question of food is not the only question to be considered. Many children lack shoes and clothing. Many have no beds to sleep in. They cuddle together on hard floors. The majority of the in- digent children live in damp, unclean or over-crowded homes that lack proper ventilation and sanitation. Here, in the damp, ill-smelling basements, there is only one thing regarded as cheaper than rent — and that is the life of a child. 6. The investigation reveals the fact that girls stand hunger better than boys. Their pride makes them more reluctant to admit to their teachers that they are faint from lack of food. Teachers, prin- cipals and truant officers, moved to pity, have often personally relieved acute cases that called for immediate attention. 7. We find that a large number of children have only bread, saturated in water for breakfast day after day ; that the noon meal is bread or bananas, and an occasional luxury of soup made from pork bones ; that children often frequent South Water Street begging for dead fowl in the crates, or decayed fruit ; that others have been found searching for food in alley garbage boxes, and several cases were reported where hungry chil- dren at school picked up crusts of bread or fragments of lunch which other chil- dren had thrown away. 8. Many mothers are working for a pittance, sewing pants for the cheap clothing trade — some for fifty cents a day, and only working three days a week. Many of these are widows with families of four and five children, and some con- vert their insanitary homes into sweat shops. The environment, at times (when a sick child is suffering from a suppressed case of contagious disease), is a menace to public health. The under-paid mother, in many of the cases mentioned, has produced the under-fed child. 9. Some children have admitted that they have almost forgotten the taste of butter ; that lard has become the substi- tute, and meat an occasional memory. 10. Malnutrition has been produced in some instances by poorly cooked food. Many children are compelled to cook their own meals. The city has many deserted women who have large families to sup- port. These women respond to the early morning call of industrialism, and do not go home to lunch. The children go home and *cook the mid-day meal, and fre- quently breakfast. When there is noth- ing to cook, they go hungry. 11. Following the investigation into homes, we found that the cause of the poverty, which has produced so many un- der-fed school children in Chicago, is due to intemperance among parents, illness of the bread-winner, lack of employment, wife desertion, laziness among fathers, or the constant increase in the cost of living and increase in the family, without a corresponding increase in wages. In some homes both parents were found in a state of alcoholic prostration. The home from which the hungry child comes must be reached. Social conditions are to be con- sidered. 12. Cases were found where children not only went to bed hungry, but got up hungry. A few went without food for over twenty-four hours last winter. 13. Occasionally, children sicken and die from lack of prompt medical atten- tion, and in some homes contagious diseases wei-e suppressed and physicians never summoned. 14. An investigation of the free break- fast service at the Oliver Goldsmith School, maintained by the Jochanna Lodge shows that it has passed the experi- mental stage, and has been successful in results. It has improved the interest of pupils in their attendance and study. It has checked demotion and increased pro- motion in grades. It has also bettered the children of the poor, physically and mentally. The principal in charge be- lieves that the successful solution of the problem is to give indigent children the physical, rather than the psychological, cure ; that the practical is better than the theoretical. A report of the Dore School lunch service is also submitted. 15. A canvass among experts in soci- ology, charity workers and others shows a vast difference of opinion. Some believe the plan of free breakfast service at school a feasible step in progressive phi- lanthropy. Others — particularly charity workers — oppose it emphatically. They believe it will increase dependency and cause parents to shirk their responsibility. While experts disagree, the fact remains that thousands of children go hungry, and Chicago is confronted with the plain duty of the humanitarian to devise some method of relief. 16. Lack of shoes is one of the causes of temporary absence^ from school. The limited service of the School Children's Aid Society seems to be inadequate to meet conditions. The County Agent and the charity organizations have been of ma- terial assistance on meeting the emergency during months when the School Chil- dren's Aid Society had no relief service. 17. The discrimination of employers in refusing to employ children between 14 and 16 has resulted in 4,900 juveniles being thrown out of employment. If these boys and girls could work, they could assist at home in relieving the hunger of younger brothers and sisters who are at school. 18. This special census of under-fed children applies only to children between 6 and 16 years of age. There are several thousand more children under 6 who are also under-fed, and who are too young to attend school. 19. The intemperance of some fathers, which caused poverty and under-fed children, has been traced to b*d cooking at home, which drove them to drink. The theory of Jacob Riis, the New York soci- ologist, has been corroborated by a score of fathers who talked with representa- tives of this department. 20. The city is filled with abandoned wives, whose daily life is one of abject slavery to home, children and industrial- ism. Many over-worked and under-fed mothers are becoming physical wrecks, and their children are doomed to eventual dependency in institutions, or among rela- tives or foster parents. 21. The question among experts is, "shall there be relief in the home for all, or relief in the school for the child?" The above is a substance of what tru- ant officers ascertained. The report in detail follows : Conditions in Chicago. Reports from truant officers, principals and teachers, supplemented by visitations of homes in many instances, show that there is an average of 4,664 under-fed children attending the schools of Chicago who are habitually hungry from lack of nourishing food. Many often go to school breakfastless, or with such a scant morn- ing meal of dry bread or crackers, that they suffer from malnutrition, and lose interest in study. During the period of financial depression last year, the County Agent relieved 3,69 9 families, averaging three children each — a total of 11,097 children, who would otherwise have suf- fered from starvation. Of these families, 880 were deserted women and 2,819 were families. Nine-tenths were widows who were struggling, without friends or rela- tives who could aid them. With these figures and the canvass made by truant officers among the school, social settle- ments, charity organizations and homes as a basis, I estimated the total number of school children in Chicago who do not receive three square meals daily at 15,000. Many are cared for by charity organiza- tions, relatives, church societies, etc., while others, from pride, struggle along on one or two meals per day. A con- servative estimate of the number of child victims of malnutrition (who are in im- mediate need of free breakfast service and who would gratefully accept it) is 5,000. This makes allowance for a few hundred who may not have been re- ported. The greater number is on the West and South Sides, respectively. The North Side has the minimum. The districts, where there is the great- est poverty, and where there is the largest percentage of indigent pupils who lack sufficient food, are in the vicinity of the following schools : West Side — Foster, 200; Washburne, 203; Swing, 100; Jackson, 150; Jewish Manual Training. 100; Goldsmith, 70; (lunch service) ; Dore, 50 (lunch service) ; Dante, 56; Goodrich, 50; Garfield. 51; Smyth, 49 ; Rogers, 41 ; Montefiore, 25 ; Tilden. 35 ; St. Stanislaus, 150 ; St. Hed- wig, 75 ; St. Mary's of the Angels, 60 ; Kosciuszko, 50; Peabody, 30; Wells, 37; Drummond, 50 ; Burr, 60. South Side — Seward, 200; Haven, 100; Harrison. 150; Moseley, 100; Jones, 87; M. Sheridan, 93 ; McClellan, 92 ; Keith, 40; Brenan, 02; Fallon, 54; Healy 30; Holden, 17; Greene, 26; Libby, 80; Ful- ton, 25; Graham, 31; Hendricks, 20; Armour, 35 ; McAllister, 28 ; Sullivan, 25 ; Clay, 30. North Side — Stanley, 80 ; Schiller, 68 ; Jenner, 65 ; Adams, 54 ; Kinzie, 40 ; Ogden, 38 ; Prescott, 29 ; Mulligan, 20. Scattering reports from 300 other public and private schools, where the number varies from 2 to 10, have been obtained. Names and addresses of many, obtained in confidence, are on file in this department. The poor are sensitive. While specific cases of destitution are named in this report, I believe private rights, should be respected. For that rea- son names and addresses are omitted. The districts in the city where there are few, if any, under-fed children are : Ravenswood, Sheridan Park, Bdgewater, Kenwood and Hyde Park. In Austin the children were found to be normal, well- fed children as a rule, but a number of cases were found where children suffered from poorly cooked food. In South Chicago, particularly, the demand for shoes ex- ceeds the supply, especially in the Sulli- van and Thorp districts. In thousands of cases the lack of sufficient nourishing food was paralleled by lack of shoes. In many other instances there was lack of clothing. In 80 per cent of the cases the environment of the home was typical of poverty. Many children have no beds except upon the floor. They live in quar- ters that are damp, ill-smelling and poorly ventilated, such as basements, small rooms or crowded apartments in tene- ments, or hovels in the rear of flat build- ings, or small frame or brick buildings, where lives and rents are cheap. There is indifference to hygienic necessity, and many of the homes are in a wretched condition of squalor and filth, unfit for habitation. Rats swarm in some base- ment homes where children sleep upon the floor. In a few yardless homes families of from three to six children live in two small rooms, with a pig, a goat or several dogs. In one home on the Stock Yards district three children were found in a filthy bed, with four dogs curled among them. Out of 3,413 individual truants reported to the depart- ment last year, 949 came from homes where the sanitary conditions were ex- tremely bad. A FEW THINGS SEEN BY TRUANT OFFICERS. Here are some specific cases of extreme destitution found : .4. Armour School District — Father out of work, mother sick and not a scrap of food in the house. Five children ; th^^ee half naked and one garbed only in an undershirt, crying for bread. For three days they had lived on tea — no bread, milk nor sugar. B. Kinzie School District — Father in ill-health ; had worked only three weeks in seven years. A delicate mother sup- - ported the family by washing when she could work. Six children who often went to bed hungry and lived on one meal a day. C. Jenner School District — One mother supports a family of four children on $2.50 a week, sewing pants. Husband in- capacitated by tuberculosis. D. Stock Yards District — Mother earns living for family when father is on a spree. Four children, all in school. When father is sober and at work, mother lapses into intemperance. E. Burr School District — One Polish mother takes care of a family of nine, including her 85-year-old father. Goes without sufficient food herself, at times, so that others may have enough. F. Keith School District — Many fathers and mothers habitually sleep late morn- ings, and children often go to school without breakfast rather than be tardy. G. Tilden School District — Little house- keeper — oldest girl of 14 years — who cheers her widower father by cooking for five other children. Fairly good sup- ply of food, but she has limited knowl- edge of cooking. Never took domestic science at school. H. Fallon School District — One case wht^re father and mother both drank. Five children, who often cooked their own meals. I. Drummond School District — Family of seven ; no food in the house ; father out of work ; went to the lake to commit suicide, but changed his mind and com- mitted a misdemeanor in order to be locked up at West Chicago Avenue Po- lice Station and get a prison meal. Lack of shoes and hunger often interfered with children's school attendance. J. Seward School District — Step-father will not allow his step-son to eat at the same table with himself and children by second marriage, claiming he hates to see the son of another man eating his bread. The child is tossed some food and ordered to the kitchen. K. Southwestern District — Family of six found hungry — almost crazed by lack of food. Had lived five days on bread and water, and the last loaf of bread had been eaten for breakfast. L. Brainard District — Five children, half starved, found in a house unfit for habitation. Lack of food, shoes and clothing. Four of the children had no hats ; two of them were bare-footed, and none had tasted butter or meat for a week. M. Throop School District — One case where a mother tried to over-feed a baby less than a year old. Gave it a diet of dough-nuts dipped in coffee. N. Otis School District — One home where the father was a consumptive and the mother a drunkard ; three children. O. Ghetto District — Here, as elsewhere, were a large number of over-crowded, in- sanitary homes, lacking ventilation and cleanliness. Immediate need of the solu- tion of the housing problem. Good at- tendance at schools, through fear of pa- rents of being prosecuted. P. Kinzie School District — One philan- thropist contributed three quarts of milk every school day last winter, and it was distributed among children who came breakfastless to school. Humane teach- ers, here, as elsewhere, individually re- lieved many cases of hunger and paid for the same out of their salaries. Q. Mulligan School District — Several homes where children regularly had cold breakfasts and cold luncheons. Mothers away at work. An occasional warm meal with soup. R. Schneider School District — Two chil- dren found who cook their own meals most of the time. Mother demented. S. One South Side School — Boy, 12 years old, in first grade seventy-two weeks ; an under-fed child. T. Kosciuszko School District — Many homes found to be in an insanitary, un- clean condition. Food scarce. In the Wells District was found one case^typical — a hard-working woman who supports a lazy husband and keeps the children in school ; meals scant. U. — In two instances it was found that the families were so poor that their homes were dark several nights at a time be- cause there was no money to buy oil. There was lack of sufRcient food in both of these homes ; fathers out of work. V. Pulaski School District — Father dy- ing of consumption and mother sick with cancer in same room ; six children ; one- half loaf of rye bread and half a sausage was all that was left to eat. W. Stock Yards District — Bodily af- flicted and demented mother, covered with sores, who crawled around the house on all fours, and half clothed. Three children, poorly clad and poorly fed. Father had deserted. Supported, in a way, by relatives. X. — Several specific instances where wage-earning mothers' incomes did not exceed eighty cents a day, each. Children in each family not less than four ; scant meals. Principal dietary : bread, oat meal and tea or coffee. Housing condi- tions bad. Some of the children almost bare-footed until relieved at school. Y. First Ward — Five families residing in crudely partitioned apartments in on(i large store-room, vacated a few months prior by a merchant of hay and feed ; meals scant ; odor over-powering ; ventila- tion bad. A total of twenty-one children among the five families. Z. West Side District — In one of the West Side districts was found the mean- est man in Chicago, who had $600 in a savings bank, and locked in a chest deli- cacies for himself — denied to his wife and children, who were compelled to eat frugal meals. Boy out of school for lack of shoes. Father prosecuted and fined the limit. Where destitution was found the cases were reported by this department to va- rious charity organizations and relief ob- tained. Where home conditions showed lack of proper parental care, they were referred to the Juvenile Court. Where fathers were negligent drunkards, who were to blame for conditions and non- attendance of children at school, they were prosecuted. These prosecutions fre- quently brought fathers to a realization of their duty in sending their children to school regularly. The department has a policy of co- operation with charity organizations, and we iminediately report destitute cases found. OPINIONS OF INDIGENT PARENTS AND CHILDREN. Parents — particularly widowed or de- serted mothers — in impoverished homes, when asked for their views on the propo- sition of free breakfasts at school, with few exceptions, welcomed it as a helping hand. Some resented the idea. A few admitted that pride often prevented them from asking for assistance, and that even the children joined them in silent suffer- ing, temporarily, rather than let the neighbors know they were dependent upon the county or relief societies for rations. One mother said : "I do the best I can, but the children often go to school hungry, because the family is large and my em- ployment irregular and income small. It would be some consolation to know that the three children I am trying to keep in school had enough to eat at break- fast, because there are times when I have nothing to give them." Many fathers, out of work, were found to be regular beneficiaries of the free lunches served in saloons. They did not go hungry, but their wives and children often did. It is needless, perhaps, to report a unanimity of approval among many in- digent children for the free breakfast ser- vice. "We don't get enough to eat at home," is the substance of their request, "and we could get one good meal a day then." In response to a request for opinions on the subject, the managers of the fol- lowing public charity organizations re- ported as follows : Chicago Bureau of Charities — Mr. E. P. Bicknell, general superintendent of the Bureau of Charities, says : "The question is not whether there are under-fed school children in Chicago, That may be admitted. The actual ques- tion is how to correct the social condi- tions of which the under-feeding of chil- dren is one of the results. "These conditions cannot be charged -to extreme poverty alone, because whole- some, nourishing food is as inexpensive as any other kind, and because the most superficial acquaintance with the habits of life of a large part of the population shows that unwholesome food improperly prepared is absolutely common among families easily able to supply good and nourishing food. "When poverty is the cause, the remedy must go deeper than the provision of an occasional meal to the child of school age. What of the other children, espe- cially those below school age? Public or private charity has a duty here which cannot be met by school feeding. When poverty is not the cause, certainly the giving of meals to the children in the school is not the remedy. That would simply encourage the parents to unload their duties iipon the public, and would not teach or compel them to improve con- ditions at home. "It is absolutely necessary, in my opin- ion, to go back of the school and into the home. Anything short of that is playing with a serious condition, and tends to perpetuate rather than remove it. "The ultimate facts and the wisest way of dealing with them can only be ascertained by means of a thorough and extended investigation carried out along scientific lines. This subject, which is attracting constantly increasing popular interest, I believe, should be given the comprehensive investigation which its im- portance deserves. "The most effective method of going about this would seem to be to begin with a medical examination of the child in school, and when under-feeding was shown, to carry the inquiry into the home. If it were desired to begin with the home in which general conditions might seein to justify an expectation that under-feed- ing would prevail, charitable organizations could provide a list of such homes. "Should this course be adopted, the Chicago Bureau of Charities will gladly co-operate in any practicable way." Chicago Relief and Aid Society — Mr. S. C. Kingsley, superintendent of the society, says : "Accompanying this letter is a state- ment setting forth some of the circum- stances in sixty-six families under treat- ment by this society. They do not in any sense pretend to represent families from which children go to school hungry. They were not selected on that basis. They do represent, however, families where the income earned by the family is insufficient to maintain an adequate standard of living. They show, it seems to me, the necessity of more extensive treatment than the school meal to one or more of the children of school age. "You will notice that there are in the sixty-six families 228 children of school age, and 164 below school age, and seventy- three children at work. ' Of course, the same conditions of the family are opera- tive on the children below school age. Then there are conditions of intemper- ance, desertion, incompetency and neglect which would in no way be affected, but might be promoted by taking away from the responsibility of the home. It seems to me to indicate a need of treatment of home conditions. "This is a profoundly important ques- tion and seems to me to need a broad and thorough investigation. In this we shall be glad to co-operate in any way we can." The SwedisJu National Association^ through its secretary, Othelia Myhrman, gives as its opinion as follows : "After making careful inquiries among a number of Swedish people and charity workers as to whether these are under-fed school children in Chicago among our na- tionality, I wish to state that imder nor- mal conditions 90 per cent of our peo- ple are able to care for their children and do so. The only class who might need assistance are poor widows, left with a number of children to support. In these cases, which represent a very small percentage, a school breakfast might be a relief to the mother who is out work- ing all day, but what of the children left at home, who, in most cases, represent more than those who attend school? In cases of deserted wives, we think it would be relieving the husband of his respon- sibility, and in our opinion it would be a far better remedy if a law could be enacted that would compel the husband to return and do his duty by his family. We do not believe that a school break- fast in the largest number of cases would be of any great benefit." The Salvation Army — Brigadier Still- well, of the Relief Department of the Salvation Army, says : "I have before me letters from Ave districts, and all say there are a few, but I do not believe there are many. I enclose letter from one of the poorest districts, which speaks for itself." The letter is as follows, and is signed by Ensign S. Johnson : "In answer to your postal inquiring about the number of children going to school without any breakfast. During the winter months, in our visitation among the poor, we have found Several children who have gone to school without any breakfast, or only had a piece of bread, and not much more for lunch, and about the same for their supper. "The cause — husband out of work, sick- ness, drunkenness, or where the wife has been deserted by husband, and sometimes it is through laziness." The Cook County Agent, Mr. Victor Young, says : "That there are children in Chicago going to school on a very scanty break- fast because, many tim^s, there is next to nothing in their homes to eat, I be- lieve to be an absolute certainty ; that this dire condition has prevailed for a great number of years and exists to- day is undoubtedly true. I believe this to be well known to all the leading char- ities in Chicago ; and that, so far, no efforts have been put forth to relieve the situation, is perhaps not so strange when one becomes familiar with the past his- tory of charities in this cit^; that we are on the eve of solving this problem, of taking upon ourselves these duties, so long ignored, is a good sign of the time. But if we are going to do this thing, let us begin from the source and build up from the bottom, instead of. skimming the surface, and let us stop playing to the galleries — there, has been already too much of that. To my mind, no real good can be accomplished by furnishing break- fasts to such school children as may be hungry, by the Board of Education. If we admit that there are hungry children going to school, surely we must admit that there are hungry families from whence these children come. "The County Agent furnished relief, during last year, to 2,819 widows' fami- lies, with nearly an average of three chil- dren per familJ^ and 880 deserted women, with an average of three children per family. Nine-tenths of these families have no friends or relatives in a position to render them any financial assistance, and with the earnings of the mother of from three to five dollars per week (by going out scrubbing and washing to sup- port herself and children), and what as- sistance rendered them by this office, how can it be otherwise than that many of these families go hungry to bed and many of the children go hungry to school. Be- sides, what woman can bear this physical strain without breaking down in the course of a couple of years, and thus the earning capacity becomes less and less until she is entirely down and out ; then what happens? The family is broken up ; the children find their way to the Juvenile Court. Some get into institu- 8 tions, and others become criminals and are sent to the penitentiary. "To my mind the proper solution of this question is to furnish adequate assistance to the families ; help the mother, in order that she may have some little time to take care of her children, and to do this there must necessarily be assured funds. And since no charity organization society in Chicago is capable of meeting this need, it is the duty of the state — of Cook county — to relieve the situation. Make your appeal to the proper authorities — show that there is a need, and that, al- though the same has been neglected in the past, there is now no good reason why we should not begin to realize our duties. "The Charity Organization Societies are doing all they possibly can with such funds as thej^ have available, and their work is highly appreciated bj^ the writer, but their burdens are too heavy, and as ample funds are necessary to relieve any kind of a situation, it necessarily follows that the state should assume this re- sponsibility." Visitation and Aid Society — T. D. Hur- ley, president of the society, believes that the furnishing of free breakfasts by the Board of Education will do lasting harm to parents and children by making them dependent. He thinks intemperance and indifference are the causes in most cases where children are sent to school hungry ; more often than poverty, illness or lack of employment. Mr. Hurley says : "That the most effective results are obtained by the policy of the Compulsory Educa- tion Department, which, through friendly admonition, warning — and when that fails, prosecution — compels a parent to fulfil his duty toward his children." Mr. Hur- ley suggests that the same course be fol- lowed, when necessary, in regard to the feeding and caring for children. The correction should be made in the home, for if a child goes to school hungry, it is apt to go to bed hungry, which is equallj^ bad. The following is the report of Josephine Roughton, Truant Officer, detailed to visit the various social settlements and char- ity organizations, presenting the opinion of experts, and of men and women promi- nent in relief work : "Following is the result of an investi- gation made, upon your request, concern- ing the need of a free breakfast for school children. The investigation was made among the charity organizations, na- tional societies and social settlements of the city. "To this end we visited nine charity organizations, four national societies and twelve social settlements, the names of which follow : '■Charities — Relief and Aid Society, Bu- reau of Charities, Visitation and Aid So- ciety, Home and Aid, County Agent, A^isiting Nurses' Association, Bureau of Personal Service, Tuberculosis Institute and Salvation Army (Relief Department). "National Societies — Jewish Aid. Swed- ish National Association, Hungarian So- cietj^ and German Society. ''Settlements — Hull House, Gads Hill, March Home, Henry Booth H., Eli Bates House, Association H., N. W. University, Chicago Commons, Neighborhood H. and Jewish Manual Training. "None of the settlement workers wei-e able to give us any facts, but all gladly gave us their opinions, as follows: "Hull House — Mrs. Britton does not think a positive statement could be made as to how many children go hungry to school, until a house-to-house investiga- tion is made. She suggests following up the work of the medical examiner, by going into the homes of those children who are reported as being under-fed and endeavor to learn the cause in each family. She thinks that as many children go hungry because of carelessness and im- proper feeding as from lack of food, and is of the opinion that free breakfasts should be given. "Henry Booth House — Mr. Allenson does not favor the free breakfast idea : he does not think it will solve the prob- lem of under-fed children. "Jewish Manual Training School — Mr. Bache says that 30 per cent of the chil- dren from that school are under-fed. He told us of one boy who he was certain had come to school half the winter with- out any breakfast, and often had no noon- day lunch. He knew this boy was hungrs". He also told of a family where the father was dead ; six children, oldest 7 years ; one child works, earning $4 per week; mother scrubs. They receive some little help from the Jewish Aid Society — about $4 a week. The children of school age are given their breakfasts in the Helen Nursery, nearby, and show a marked im- provement. "Association House — Miss Wilson, hea-d assistant, is awaj'. Miss Ellis, who is in charge, could give no facts. Thought there might be a very few families in the neigh- borhood where the children go hungry to school, but does not think free break- fasts will do any lastinof good; thinks it will be a pauperizing influence." "March Home — Miss Hall thinks there are families where the children are ill- fed, but thinks it is more the result of indifference and carelessness and in- temperance than real poverty-. Thinks a few breakfasts will only relie^'e the par- ents of the responsibility of providing for their families. "Gads Hill — Mrs. Leila Martin does not know of any children who would be really benefitted by the free breakfasts. She thinks it would only increase depend- ency. "Christopher House — Miss Griffiths does not approve of the plan. She thinks there may be many who are hungry or under- fed through ignorance, intemperance and carelessness on the parents' parts. "Neighborhood House — Mrs. Van der Vaart does not think any children in this neighborhood need a free meal. If any be given, thinks a noon-day meal better than breakfast, but thinks the plan a poor one, as it would increase depend- ency. "As to the charity and national so- cieties, I am in receipt of letters from the following, which speak for them- selves : "Mr. S. C. Kingsley. Chicago Relief and Aid Society: Mr. E. P. Bicknell, Chicago Bureau of Charities ; Mrs. Brigadier Still- well, Relief Department, Salvation Army ; Mr. Victor Young, Assistant County Agent ; Mrs. Myrhman, Swedish National Alliance. "Also a report by districts from the Visiting Nurses' Association. Miss Fulmer, superintendent of nurses, does not approve of free breakfasts. Does not think it the best way to proceed in solving the prob- lem. Bad housing is responsible, in many cases, for the illness and back- wardness of children, as much as under- feeding. She cited the experiment made some years ago at the Jones School, at the suggestion of Mr. Robert Hunter. Children did not want breakfasts, and in many cases refused to be fed, saying they had all they wanted to eat at home. Miss Fulmer thinks a thorough investiga- tion is necessary before anything is done. This investigation to be conducted by per- sons competent to judge. '•Tuberculosis Institute — Mr. Alex. Wil- son asked the nurses of that organization for a report, by districts. There were eleven families comprising about thirty children. The causes given for the under- fed condition of the children were in- temperance, illness and lack of employ- ment. Mr. Wilson does not think a free breakfast would meet the conditions. He thinks it would be a superficial way of treating a big, serious problem. He thinks that if the school children are hungry, so are those at home under school age, and the parents as well. All of which should be remedied. '•Home and Aid Society — Mr. Whalen thinks most children are hungry all the time. Thinks breakfasts should be given in the schools even though the causes of the hunger are intemperance, careless- ness, etc., and the hungry child should be fed. Thinks it should be done even though the parents take advantage of it and impose upon the privilege. "German Society — Mr. Spaeth believes a free breakfast is needed. The society cares for from 125 to 200 families. "Jewish Aid Society — Miss Kalisky thinks free breakfasts unnecessary, and in many cases harmful in its results on the parents. She knows families where the mother will not' cook breakfast or lunch, because it can be had at the Goldsmith School free of charge. Many mothers are too lazy to cook, and prefer to give their children a couple of pennies with which to buy a lunch without coming home at noon. Of course, the pennies are not invested in nourishing food, but in whatever pleases the cJiild's fancy. Miss Kalisky thinks if any of the Jewish children go to school hungry, it is un- necessary, and the parents should be dealt with and compelled to do their duty, instead of being made even more depend- ent than they already are. "Miss Edith Atkinson, Special Census Enumerator, detailed on the subject, re- ports to me as follows : " 'You asked me to give you my opinion, after investigating the subject of break- fasts in the schools. It seems to be a great and complex question with much division of opinion as to the method of relief. As you will see by the report, there are only about three or four of the charitable societies in favor of it. The settlement houses seem to be more in favor of it. I do not see why the charity societies are not in favor of it, only that they may think it will interfere with their work. In my investigation of feeble- minded children, I cannot help but be- lieve that it would be a good thing. For example : The poor widows who have to go to work early in the morning, and have no time to get breakfast, and do not come home until after six in the evening, and their children go hungry all day. An- other thing I can't understand is how these charity societies are going to reach all the people in the homes, as they seem to think they can. I am in favor of these breakfasts in the schools. The Goldsmith School, where private philanthropy has financed the relief, has made a success of it.' " Henry W. Thurston, Chief' Probation Officer of the Juvenile Court, does not ap- prove of giving free breakfast in school. Judge R. S. Tuthill does not endorse the plan. Thinks the effect on the parent would be harmful. He also thinks that relief should be given in the home. Miss Vittum, of the Northwestern Uni- versity Settlement, thinks the need is not wide spread, but if there were only 500 children who need the breakfast, they should be given it, but in their homes, if possible. Mrs. Raymond Robins thinks the neces- sity exists. She thinks that breakfast should be given or sold for a small sum to every child, to avoid having some children known as "breakfast scholars." She believes the condition is due largely to the fact that so many mothers work and come home too tired to cook supper, and are still too tired in the morning to cook breakfast. Miss Jane Addams, of Hull House, feels that the Question is as yet premature. She has no facts at hand that would warrant her saying that there is need for a free breakfast. She thinks it would be better to have the families that need help looked after by the relief societies. Miss Mary McDowell, of the University Settlement, thinks it would be decidedly wrong to feed children in school or cen- ter set apart for that purpose, thereby "tagging" them as poor. She thinks that some parents would be indignant if their children were fed in school, and while there is great need for more and better food, every child should eat breakfast at its own table, if possible. She thinks re- lief should be given the entire family, and not one or two members of it. Miss McDowell says that in New York and London some of the social workers are disappointed in the results of the free breakfasts given in those cities. All of these experts agree, however, that there are hungry children in Chi- cago, and that they should be fed, but some think it would be better to feed them at home and not at school. Mrs. Marshall A. Roe, president of the Children's Day Association, favors a co- operative plan for free breakfasts at schools for under-fed children who need it badly. She states that the Children's Day Association might undertake financ- ing a few experimental centers if the Board of Education will give the use of 10 the rooms, and if the funds of the as- sociation are sufficiently maintained by public Interest. THE SYSTEM IN NEW YORK. New York is confronted by the same conditions of poverty that confront Chi- cago. Advices under date of June 3, 1908, are as follows: "Emergrency measures for the relief of hundreds of pupils in East Side schools who have been found to be suffering from lack of food, have been adopted by the Committee of East Side School Board members, organized as a result of the serious conditions which the reports of school principals in the section revealed. The Committee decided to arrange for the speedy opening of two kitchens on the lower East Side, at which the hungry children may be fed. While the funds for the support of these kitchens have been supplied only in part, the public has been so stirred by the disclosures of the pitiable plight of children fainting at their desks from want of sufficient nourishment, that the Committee antici- pates no trouble in obtaining, by sub- sci'iption, all the money needed for the purpose. "That the reports already made public have hardly painted the condition black enough, was the statement made by Isi- dore M. Levy, chairman of the Third School District Committee. 'An investiga- tion,' reports Mr. Levy, 'has shown that many of the destitute families have sent their little ones to school without having given them food for forty-eight hours. To my own personal knowledge several chil- dren have fainted while they were re- citing in their class-rooms.' "Destitution has visited hundreds of East Side families at the result of the business depression. Not only have the educational authorities taken up the mat- ter, but various charitable societies have begun active work for alleviating the dis- tress. Among these are the Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor and the United Hebrew Charities. "The teachers' and principals' organiza- tion, perfected, is to be called the 'Chil- dren's Relief Society,' and the hungry children in many of the lower East Side schools received tickets entitling them to a substantial luncheon consisting of soup, an egg, plenty of rolls and butter, crack- ers and sterilized milk." RELIEF WORK AT THE GOLDSMITH SCHOOL. The following is a report from Principal C. J. Lunak on the system of feeding in- digent children at the Oliver Goldsmith public school, Maxwell and Union streets : "In 1902 the Jochanna Lodge, under the leadership of its most excellent and able president, Mrs. Hannah Newman, re- ceived permission from the Board of Edu- cation to serve lunches to those children who came to school without breakfasts, and to those whose mothers are employed and so cannot supply the children with proper nourishing food at noon. A room was prepared for this purpose in the base- ment, and the work was directed by Mrs. Newman, who was ably assisted by Mrs. Emil Hirsch. After some consultation, it was decided that the lunches consist of oatmeal mush, bread and milk, and for this each child be required to pay one cent, unless it was found that even that svim could not be paid. "The neighborhood was canvassed, and upon recommendation of the teachers and principal, seventy children were sent to the lunch-room for their breakfasts and noon lunches. These children were ob- served, and many of them gained in health and a decided improvement in their school work was noticed. Several of them, who were backward and required two years to do the work of one grade, were pro- moted in eight months, and most of them required the usual one year's time to complete the work of a grade. "Specific Cases — Mother abandoned by husband. One of four poorly nourished children all suffering from malnutrition. It took Eddie two years to do the work of the first grade. He was examined by the school physician, and found to be anaemic and showing haemoglobin to be 60 per cent. He was sent to the lunch- room three times daily and given two glasses of milk with oatmeal and bread. A subsequent examination showed a great improvement, the haemoglobin percentage having risen to 85 per cent. Eddie is now in third grade, having completed the work of the second grade in eight months, and his teacher says he is one of the brightest children in the third grade. There is no doubt that the lack of food kept this boy back. "Jennie and Becky W. Father in the Bridewell ; mother ill. These are two bright little girls who are now two years in the first grade, and who will be pro- moted to the second grade in June. These children were given a piece of stale bread for breakfast and wretched coffee and bread for the noon meal, with soup and bread for supper. Their condition was unknown to us, but their teacher reported the case and Mrs. Newman investigated. The children were sent to the lunch-room for their breakfasts and noon lunches, and in less than a year's time, from weak, pale, backward little girls, they are now well-nourished, rosy and among the brightest in their class. The cost, per month, is about $40, made up of: At- tendant (at $3 a week), $12; bread (100 loaves at 6c), $6; milk (14 quarts daily at 7c), $20; oatmeal, $1; sugar, $1. "This entire expense is met by the ladies of the Jochanna Lodge. From seventy to eighty children are fed daily, thus making the cost about three cents per lunch. Perhaps a little variety in the food might be made, but it is difficult to conceive of a more simple and nutritious lunch than is offered here. "The serving of lunches at this school has passed the experimental stage, and we are satisfied, from the results ac- complished, that the cause for the back- wardness of many children is malnutri- tion, and that this backwardness is best treated not psychologically, but physically, with the proper and sufficient nourish- ment." RELIEF WORK AT THE DORE SCHOOL. Mr. F. J. "Watson, Principal of the Dore School, reports the system successfully iii effect at that school. 11 He says : "You ask me for an account of the free luncheon given to Indigent and sub-normal pupils at the Dore School. These luncheons have been served every- day since the beginning of the month of May. The food is furnished by the Chil- dren's Relief and Aid Society through the Crane Day Nursery. A pupil goes after it at 11 :30 and carries back the dishes at the close of the afternoon ses- sion. The luncheon consists generally of either sandwiches and cocoa, meat stew and bread, soup and bread, or rice and bread. We have a gas plate in an adjoin- ing room, but have not as yet found it necessary to use it as the soup and cocoa are sent over hot. Spoons, bowls and cups have been donated by some kind friends of the school. "Miss Brockett, of the Crane Day Nur- sery, has been very helpful in the matter. During the spring vacation she visited the homes of pupils recommended by the teachers, as likely to benefit by a lunch- eon being furnished, and made the ac- quaintance of the parents. In this^ way obstacles, due to racial and religious pre- judice, were removed. "As to results, it is too early in the ex- periment to judge them fully. Both teach- ers of subnormal classes, however, report an improved physical condition and greater alertness of mind and more en- durance of mental effort than before. They do not tire so quickly. Miss Keller, who has charge of those requiring only a little 'coaching' to fit them for regular work, reports a general improvement in effort and power of attention, less fatigue and better deportment. ":Miss Wendell, who has the less hope- ful pupils, reports an improvement in de- portment, and mental improvement in some, but not in all. Some pupils re- member and comprehend much better than they did before, are less inattentive and have more power of sticking to their work. "Should the experiment be continued, I hope by Christmas time to have better results to report." COST OF MAINTENANCE. The cost (including labor) of giving free breakfasts to 5,000 children for 200 school days would be about $30,000 per year. This is estimated on the average cost of maintenance of the service at the Oliver Goldsmith, where seventy pupils are supplied at an expenditure of $400 per year, or a per capita cost of three cents per meal each on school days. This is the minimum. The 5,000 indigent pupils of Chicago are scattered throughout the city, and it would be inexpedient to at- tempt to centralize them at any one or two schools in each division of the city. If your Cominittee decides to undertake the stupendous, but humane, task of re- lief at the expense of the Board of Edu- cation, or whether the plan is financed by private subscription or an endowment by some philanthropist, I believe it would be best to first have experimental centers established at schools in those districts where they are most needed, similar to that now in effect for manual training centers. This might give an opportunity to needy pupils from adjacent schools to be relieved, provided the breakfasts are served at an hour early enough to avoid tardiness or interruption of classes. If it would be found illegal to expend funds for other than educational purposes, legislative enactment would be necessary. Private philanthropy might be induced to provide the food and labor if the Board of Education would permit the use of a room, or basement, at the schools selected. Poverty will always exist in a metrop- olis like Chicago. We cannot change hu- man nature or the destiny of destitu- tion which fate often decrees, but the fact remains that corrective and charitable in- stitutions are being daily filled with de- linquent and dependent children who come in most cases from the ranks of the under- fed, and the question of the cost of pre- vention may be considered one of eventual- economy when compared with the cost of the cure. In considering the estimates, carefully based on reports from people in active touch with conditions, it should be re- membered that in the examination of 10,090 children at only twelve public schools, Dr. D. P. McMillan and his as- sistants, who constitute a recognized au- thority on child study and scientific pedagogy, found 1,123 children of the 5,000 mentioned in the Introductory of this report. It was impossible for Dr McMil- lan to examine all of the children at all the schools. If 1,123 cases were found in only twelve schools, what would have been the result if he had extended the examinations to all the schools of Chi- cago — public and private — 432 in number — with a total enrollment of 390,000? The truant officers know the poverty conditions in their respective districts. They cover all the schools of Chicago — public and private. They consulted teach- ers in class rooms, and principals. They had the knowledge of conditions in the homes of 3,413 individual truants; 1,646 homes in cases where warning notices were served on parents; 949 homes where the sanitary conditions and environments were not good ; and several thousand other homes of temporary absentees, in routine work during the school year. Moreover, there was available for infor- mation a previous report on 800 children filed by Miss Britton, of Hull House, and representatives of the Visiting Nurses' Association and Compulsory Educa'tion Department, who conducted a co-opera- tive intensive study of the causes of truancy. I have faith in the reports from truant oflHcers in every district, and the specific cases of destitution mentioned in this report are only a few that have been actually seen. It was deemed inadvisable to poll class rooms in the presence of pupils. Any child with the sensitive spirit of poverty would hesitate about admitting publicly in the presence of other pupils, that he or she came to school hungry. Privately, the admission could be obtained in many cases. There was also a reluctance on the part of a few principals to furnish complete lists of underfed pupils, doubtless because they disliked any possible pub- licity of linking the name of the school to the word "charity" — the coldest word in the dictionary. However, in such in- 12 stances, estimates were furnished, and the truant officer knew of indigence from previous visitation in some of the homes in those districts. Representatives of this department checked up the records in the County Agent's office. Here was found concrete evidence that 11.097 children were wards of a limited service of charity during the year, and that over 10,000 pairs of shoes had been supplied to children. In addi- tion to this, private philanthropy and other charity organizations relieved 6,000 other children. In the distribution of county rations among the 11,097 children aforesaid, not one drop of milk and not one pound of butter was given. I believe that the nu- tritional value of milk is essential to children — particularly the younger ones. The system of distribution of rations necessitates economy on account of the heavy demand and limited appropriation. This was admitted at the Countj' Agent's; office. The monthly single ration schedule is applied to families having three chil- dren or less. The monthly double ration schedule to families having more than three children (whether it be five or eight children) consists of : Two bars of soap. Six pounds of rice. Five pounds of beans. Five pounds of rolled oats. Two pounds of coffee. One pound of tea. Two bags of flour. Five pounds of corn meal. No milk. No butter. No potatoes. No sugar. No lard. If the famllj^ was large and the rations limited, without essentials that childhood likes, was it not inevitable that even these wards of the county's generosity often went to school with a scant meal? The annual report of this department filed with the Board of Education in 1906, showed that 56.69 per cent of the truants sent to the Parental School the preceding 5-ear, lacked proper nutritional food and care In the homes from which they came. The records of this department, and the records of the Parental School and re- ports of Child Studj' Department cover- ing over 1.400 cases of truants sent to the Parental School in the past, show that the majority of truants sent there had been backward in their grades in the schools frona which they came. Thej- also disclose the fact that the greater per- centage were underfed, victims of envi- ronment, and not normal. Investigation into the grade classifica- tion of 3.413 individual truants from the various schools of Chicago, public and private, for the past school 3-ear of 1907-8, ending in June. 1908, and with an aver- age age of eleven, twelve and thirteen, revealed the following low-grade classifi- cation for boj-s of that age : Grade. Truants. First 291 Second 493 Third 689 Fourth 654 Fifth 623 Sixth 354 Seventh 150 Eighth 49 Ungraded 110 The Health Department Inspectors re- port in the examination of 9,000 children that they found 108 cases of malnutri- tion. A child can go hungry for some time, according to the admission of phy- sicians, before it reaches that state that a medical inspector could classify as acute malnutrition. In the Investigation, the following re- port was obtained from Miss Azile B. Reynolds, who had charge of the old Hoyne School during the work of the Milk Commission of the Children's Hos- pital : "During the year 1903-4, the Kinzle School was temporarily located in the Hoyne School Building, while the Kinzle was under repair. The milk sold to the children by the Milk Commission was sterilized and sold in bottles containing from one-fourth to one-half pint ; the price was 1 and 2 cents a bottle, accord- ing to size. At that tline their wagons delivered milk to several schools in the cit3'. The children of our school' bought dally about one hundred fifty (150) bottles. Many of our children are given each day five cents (5c) with which to purchase lunch, their 'parents being away from home at noon at work and the home locked. At the present time this money Is spent for Ice-cream cones, apple taffy or candy. At the Hoyne it was spent for milk because the milk was to be bought in small quantities." In the presentation of this report. It Is not a random guess. I have presented the conditions as thej' exist to the best knowledge and belief of truant officers, teachers, principals, charity workers, and those who are in active touch with the school, the home, the parent and the child. I believe — in spite of the large number named — that it is a very conser- vative composite estimate, based on the location and investigation of a sufficient number of cases to warrant that esti- mate. If the records of the County Agent's office and other relief societies and the Child Study Department are not sufficient to verifj' it, if it be deemed nec- essary, I believe that a house-to-house canvass or special census will do so. This Department will do its share at any time. It is a problem of social conditions that involve even a greater research than food. There Is a field, with more time at our disposal, to prepare more complete so- ciological statistics on the housing prob- lem, etc., if the Board of Education cares to extend its research into home condi- tions. But I respectfully call j^our at- tention to the fact that many parents will resent too rigid an inquiry into their private affairs. 1 have not submitted any statistics on nationality, genealogj', or incidentals of home life, but have confined the investi- gation of home conditions to the intent of the resolution offered by Mr. Spiegel. If your Committee shall decide to fur- nish rooms and equipment to encourage any private endowment or society that would undertake to establish experimen- 13 tal centers in districts where they are most needed, I trust a system will be in effect to safeguard against the following : 1. The possibility of some parents to impose on the generous impulse of phi- lanthropy, by shirking responsibility for their cliildren's needs. Some parents might reason that if free breakfasts go with a free education, it should perpetually include free shoes and free clothing. 2. Sensitive parents of another class, might object to having their children re- garded by other children at school as dependents who do not get enough to eat at home. A question that has been raised and also to be considered is, where does the responsibility of the Board of Education end? If the mind of the indigent is given free text books, should the physical and mental condition of the abnormal or needy child be bettered to attain the nor- mal interest of the pupil in the course of study, in order to complete the educational training? If the dietary of three full meals at the Parental School cures tru- ants who were invariably backward in their grades at the regular schools, would the dietary of a morning meal at the reg- ular school and two inadequate meals at home, produce the same correctional and promotional result in backwardness in grade before the child became delinquent? The investigations show a preference among many sociological and charity workers to have the children fed at home. They also admit that the Board of Edu- cation has no jurisdiction, no legal right to supply provisions in homes. Several points emphasized by a number who favor the free breakfast plan at schools, are as follows : 1. If our charitable organizations can successfully cope with conditions in the home, why are there so many underfed children in Chicago — a fact established beyond a doubt by scientific examinations and admitted by all as true. 2. Is it due to lack of appreciation and adequate public support of some of our local charities ; or is it due to false pride, or reluctance on the part of some parents to ask for charity? 3. Could the appetites of school chil- dren in an impoverished family, or one accepting relief, always be appeased by limited rations from charitable organiza- tions in the home in instances where a selfish father or adult, either by parental intimidation or force, confiscated more than his or her share of the food and de- prived children of their full share? In sucih instances, would not a meal at school for the child be an assurance that the child at least would have one full morning meal. 4. If relief at school would create a spirit of dependency, does not relief at home do the same? 5. Does not the precedent remain that the co-operative plan at the Oliver Gold- smith School, between the Board of Edu- cation and Jochanna Lodge, has long been a success, and no protest has ever been received from parent, pupil, edu- cator or sociologist? I respectfully submit all this informa- tion, and all these various opinions, to your Committee, and trust this report will assist in the solution of a great and com- plex problem. Respectfully, W. L. BODINE^ Supt. of Compulsory Education. REPORT OP D. p. MAC MILLAN, DIRECTOR OF DEPARTMENT OP CHILD STUDY AND PEDAGOGIC INVESTIGATION. To the Committee on School Management. Ladies and Gentlemen : Complying with the request contained in your resolution received May 18, 1908, concerning the problem of feeding needy and ill-nourished pupils in the public schools of Chicago, I beg to submit the following data and considerations : Any report on the subject of underfed children attending the public schools of Chicago, made in such a brief period of time, must of necessity be lacking in de- tail as well as in breadth or scope. The fact that many comparatively small mu- nicipalities who undertook somewhat sim- ilar investigations, were compelled to de- vote one or two years, and sometimes even more time, to the collection of ade- quate data, will serve to indicate the work before a small committee whicli en- deavors to find out in four weeks the status and conditions relative to the ill- nourished or underfed children in Chi- cago. As presented by your Committee, the problem relates particularly to an in- vestigation of the impoverished conditions of the public school pupils "due to want, to lack of nourishment, and the absence of proper care ;" to suggest the best rem- edies to remove or relieve such condi- ions ; to determine what other large pub- lic school centers are doing, and what legal restrictions and powers relative to this subject-matter confronts the Board Of Education. Of course, it is perfectly obvious that our topic is elusive and one that is sus- ceptible of many misrepresentations. Mal- nutrition must be distinguished from the conditions induced by lack of sufficient food or poor food. Many a child gets enough to eat and yet that dietary may be poorly balanced and poorly cooked. Just how much is due to poor dietary or to insufficient feeding cannot be estimated even with the exact conditions before one. Again, many defects of development of children, that is, physical defects of growth and movement, may be due to lack of proper early care ; and yet though pres- ent conditions of home and environment are normalized, these defects have not entirely been eliminated, but persist in one form or another. From this point of view, it may therefore be a proper and legitimate question to ask whether every child showing physical defects should on that account be regarded as ill-nourished, in the strict and scientific significance of the term. No such general implication, however, is contemplated by the terms "malnutrition" and "ill-nourishment" in the investigation requested by the Com- mittee on School Management, but refer- ence is made rather to the common and popular notion implied in the term "mal- nutrition," that is to such conditions as prevail among poor and necessitous chil- 14 dren, and by "necessitous children" is meant, those children whose parents are really too poor to provide nutritious food in sufficient quantities to contribute to healthful growth and. such activity of iTiind and body as are called for in the ordinary routine of school life. In keeping with the first portion of the request — that referring to the impover- ished condition of the cliildren in the pub- lic schools of Chicago — a careful canvass was made, as far as time permitted, of some representative schools situated in those districts of the city where poverty prevails. From a preliminary survey it seemed safe to assume that in the poorer sections of the city there are situated 54 schools with a total enrollment of 59,820 pupils, or somewhat more than one-fourth the number of pupils in the elementary schools. The time at our disposal did not permit a study of the conditions that obtain in all these 54 schools and it was necessary to make a selection of as many representative schools as was possible to visit. We selected twelve schools for in- vestigation, in w^hich conditions, as far as it is possible to know, are fairly typi- cal of the whole, and in these twelve 10,090 children were examined, a number approximately one-sixth of the school population in the poorer districts. The schools visited were the Goldsmith, Wash- burne, Smyth, Foster, Dante (including Branch I), Jones, Jackson, Jenner, Schil- ler, Walsh and the Harrison. Of course to secure adequate and sat- isfactory data concerning the actual con- ditions of poverty among the children, it would have been advisable first to deter- mine the number of children in the schools who are actually afflicted with one form or another of malnutrition, as well as those who fatigue easily in their school work and, secondly, to visit the homes of these children in order to find out the exact number who are really suffering from want of food, that is, are necessi- tous. But here again the magnitude of School. Kindergarten. Grade I. Gr the task was far too great for the facili- ties and time at the disposal of the office. Consequently the only possible course available was to examine the children in the school rooms, and on the basis of their observed bodily nutrition, the con- dition of their clothing, general appear- ance and such information as could be gained from their re.spective teachers and the principals of the schools, to estimate the number which should be rated as really necessitous cases. It is necessary to note that estimations made on such a basis as this give num- bers which are considerably in excess of the actual, inasmuch as they include children who are emaciated by reason of sickness, and on account of chronic nu- tritional defects, in addition to those whose food is poorly prepared and ill adapted to their constitutional needs. To allow for these factors, we have dis- counted the figures submitted, by 30 per cent, a procedure which was shown to be necessary by an intensive study of smaller groups. It is thought advisable to present the data collected in such detail as to indicate (a) the total number of children exam- ined in each school, (b) the number in each instance found needy as well as the proportion of the whole number examined who were probably not receiving suffi- cient food. Obviously one would not ex- pect to find the needy children equally distributed among the grades, since ex- treme poverty and the want of nutritious food act as deterrents to school progress. Indeed, the results of our regular exam- inations in the case of subnormal and backward children show that the lack of proper food is a large factor in inducing backwardness and subnormality. Conse- quently the data have also been distrib- uted so as to indicate the relative number of the necessitous in the different grades. All these are summarized in the accom- panying table. Grade V ade II. Grade III. Grade IV. and above. o c 3 O IK :3 i^ o Goldsmith Washburne ... 48 11 Smyth 36 4 Foster 40 6 Dante 50 7 Dore 40 6 Jones 38 6 Jackson 46 5 Jenner 30 4 Schiller 81 13 Walsh . 28 5 Harrison 14 3 Total number of children observed in 12 schools 10,090 Total number rated as necessitous. 1,178 Less 30 per cent (probable number actually necessitous in 12 schools) 825 At the same ratio actual number necessitous in 54 schools 4,660 o a HH 164 358 445 457 403 171 234 192 323 334 182 286 O 0) zz 29 53 43 75 41 25 35 16 55 60 20 50 o fl HH 71 179 193 347 154 247 71 217 156 115 159 182 !3 t3 O ■^ «: . • o o d. per portion. During the winter of 1905-6 200,000 meats were supplied and it was estimated that the number fed represented only about two-thirds of the needy cases. Birmingham. In the city of Birmingham a dinner of soup, bread and jam is provided to the necessitous cases in canvas enclosures in the playgrounds during five days of the week. The work is under the patron- age of the "Birmingham School Cheap Dinner Society." A Mr. Hooker provides breakfasts in fourteen of the poorest schools. Between 1,600 and 1,700 are fed during the winter months. The worthy cases are picked out by the teachers and dependence is placed upon the reports of the children to eliminate those who might receive aid needlessly. Manchester. Early in the year of 1907 the provision of meals for ill-nourished or necessitous children was undertaken by the Educa- tion Committee and the Medical OfHcer was requested to examine and certify all such cases. Meals were provided in seven centers, covering 43 schools with an ag- gregate average attendance of 25,759. All children of these schools were examined by the Medical Officer and 1,511 selected and personally examined, meal tickets be- ing then issued to 1,208. Of this number, the parents of 1,026 accepted the pro- vision of food. The routine followed is that the teachers provide lists of the children whom they consider proper cases for the provision of meals. The children so se- lected, with any further cases found on inspection, are then individually examined by the Medical Officer, who at the same time, elicits such information as is pos- sible regarding the home conditions, etc. Some urgent cases are provided with tickets at once, but the majority are re- ferred for investigation to the truant of- ficers. The truant officers' reports and the medical officers' notes are then com- pared and tickets issued to those found eligible. The diet provided for the chil- dren, while inexpensive, is both nourish- ing and palatable, due regard being paid in each day's diet to the constituents nec- essary for the provision of a satisfactory meal. At present eight varieties of diet are provided. It is unnecessary to refer to more cities. Indeed, what has been outlined is typical of such other cities as Norwich, Bristol, Bolton and some dozen others. The English Foods Bill has been in operation for one winter only, but it is instructive to note the effect of its op- eration. In the first place, only a few of the County Councils have been willing to give the local educational authorities the necessary consent to furnish meals at public cost, and where permission has been given the results have shown that poverty is not nearly so prevalent as the earlier reports indicated. The law pro- vides that application for meals must be made by the children or their parents and free meals provided only after the home conditions have been thoroughly investi- gated. In Norwich 579 applications were received, but all but- 112 found unworthy. In Bristol, of 129 applications only 12 were found worthy. In Bolton, only 41 were found on investigation to be worthy of a total number of 528 applications re- ceived. There were no applications at all received in Liverpool and in Birmingham, where the Birmingham Free Dinner So- ciety had been feeding 4,000, investigation disclosed only 200 as really in need of free feeding. Mr. Hooker continued to feed 2,000, but the Birmingham Free Din- ner Society went out of existence. It was found that one parent whose children were being fed had an income on an average of 8 pounds ($40) a week. During the winter of 1906-7 1,300 pounds ($6,500) was spent for free meals in Bradford, but 3 pounds ($15) only recovered from the parents. Thus, in general, it may be said that the results of the provisions for feeding necessitous school children in English cities are unsatisfactory. GERMANY. In Germany the feeding of poor school children, or the "Schulspeisung fur ai-mer Kinder," has been carried on more or less extensively for twenty-five years. As a result of a careful investigation looking toward an improvement of the conditions of childhood, Professor Cuno (Fur sorge fur armer Schulkinder), in 1906, found that in seventy-nine municipalities of the empire of a population of 2 0,000 or more, something was being done in the way of providing school children with food. Since that date the number has increased, al- though we are in the possession of no statistics indicating how many there are at present date. The almost invariable rule in Germany seems to be that the pro- vision of meals rests with local charitable organizations usually designated as "Schulspeis Vereinen," and that in turn the local governing bodies make good the deficits or contribute specified sums to- ward the expenses which the provision of meals incur. In some cities the destitute school children are provided with break- fasts only. In other ■ cities a noonday lunch is given, while in still others the poor children receive both breakfast and dinners. Regarding the places where the meals or lunches are given there is likewise no uniformity. In some municipalities break- fasts are dispensed in the school rooms before the opening of the sessions, while 19 in others rooms adjacent to the schools are furnished witli the necessary equip- ment for preparing the food as well as suitable benches and tables from which the meals are to be eaten. Almost uni- formly the needy cases are first picked out by the teachers from their respective rooms. The home conditions in each par- ticular instance are then inquired into by the officials of the Speisverein and those fed only where the needs are found to be particularly grave. Admission to meals is by ticket, but parents are urged to con- tribute what they are able to the cost of feeding their children, though it needs to be mentioned that the sums thus received from parents amount to little. It will be interesting to pass in review briefly what is actually being done in a few representative cities of the German Empire. Bei'lin. There are in Berlin two associations whose objects are the provision of meals for necessitous children. The first was organized about twenty-five^ years ago, while the second was established in 1S93. During the earlier years of the first or- ganization each child known to be in want of sufficient food was given a glass of milk and a piece of bread, but during re- cent years the dietarj^ is varied by added soup, vegetables, beans, millet or some form of meat on occasions. Save in in- ternal organization the two societies do not differ significantly. Something of the scale upon which the feeding of school children is carried on may be apparent from the reports of the Berlin Speis Vereinen for the winter of 1905-6. Poor children in 230 of the 282 schools of the city were provided with midday meals in thirteen kitchens or cen- ters at a cost of 13,264 marks. 534,741 portions were served, of which all but 80,418 portions were free. Toward the expense incurred by the provisions of these meals the city contributed but 3,000 marks, which is the annual allowance, leaving by far the greater proportion to come from philanthropic sources. The societies are able to care for the wants of between three and four thousand chil- dren only owing to the lack of funds, while during the winter of 1906-7, more than 10,000 were discovered on investi- gation to be attending school without din- ners. An investigation made under the auspices of the "Vereinen" of the children in three schools in North Berlin, where the parents are extremely poor, showed that 7-9 per cent of the children remained at school or partook of coffee only at noon. In 70-74 per cent of the cases the children received only coffee and white bread, and in 11-23 per cent only was there added to the midday meals of the children soup, milk, meat or other nu- trient element. Dr. Bernhardt, school physician for Berlin, bitterly impeaches the civil au- thorities' indifferent attitude toward her starving population and especially in the face of the fact that for 5 pfg. {2% cents) per portion a child can be given all the lentil soup and bread he can eat. Dr. Bernhardt's observations covered 8,451 children, of whom he discovered that 578 were regularly coming breakfastless to school. Large numbers of the children too were receiving their first meal for the day in the evening. Conditions, however, are perhaps worse in Berlin than other cities of Germany, though it seems pro- portionately less is being done to render relief. Manheim. In Manheim breakfasts are provided almost wholly at the cost of the state. The selection of the necessitous cases lies with a special committee organized to carry on this particular work (Kommis- sion fur Speisung armer Schulkinder). Each poor child is provided with bread and one-half pint of milk, and the food is given in the schoolrooms before the beginning of the morning session. Dur- ing the winter of 1905-6 3.105 children were fed at a cost of 21,322 marks ($5,400 approximately), for which the city fur- nished funds in full. 13,445 marks ($3,330) for 67,229 quarts of milk and 6,086 marks ($1,516) for 247,448 loaves of bread. Breslau. Needy children in both Evangelical and Catholic schools of Breslau-^47 of the former, 30 of the latter — are provided with bread and milk or bread and coffee^ free of cost. In 1892 the record shows' that 57,215 portions had been served, the funds for this purpose having been raised partly by city appropriation and partly through private benevolent endeavors. Munchen. ( Munich. ) In this city a free meal, consisting of bread and soup, is served to the necessi- tous children after investigation by the charity organization. The cost of a single portion is about 2^2 cents. Mains. About 1,300 children of Mainz are fed annually at a cost of 4,292 marks ($1,073). In this city the teachers have voluntarily taken the matter into their own hands and bear the expenses the meals' provision incurs. Hamburg. The city authorities of Hamburg assist the charitable organizations to about 12,- 000 marks ($3,000) annually, and chil- dren are fed in kitchens separated from the schools. Frankfort-on-Main. The Verein for feeding poor children attending schools in Frankfort spent dur- ing the winter of 1904-5 24,500 marks, of which the greater portion was raised through private enterprise. Something like 2.362 different children were fed dur- ing the greater part of the winter sea- son. More cities might be cited but the above afford sufficient typical examples of what is being done in Germany. DENMARK. In 1902 a school meals law was passed by the Council of the Kingdom of Den- mark which permits school committees, when they see fit. to assist private char- ities in the matter of providing food to necessitous school children. 20 SWITZERLAND. In Switzerland the matter of school meals is left largely to the individual cantons. The question has come to the front in Switzerland, however, not because of the prevalence of poverty, but chiefly on account of long- and difficult journeys niany of the pupils find it necessary to make to reach the educational centers, thus precluding the possibility of their returning to their homes for luncheon during the noon recess. Luncheons arc consequently provided only in certain schools in the mountain sections of the country and to those children only who find it practically impossible to repair to their homes for a noondaj' meal. Zurich alone forms an exception to the general principle just laid down. In this city the municipality' partiallj^ provides for the needy. The latest statistics available re- late to the winter of 1903-4. During that winter approximately 3,000 children were furnished a noonday meal from December to April at a total cost of 42,296 francs of which 32,523 francs came from the city's treasury. AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. So far as can be learned the feeding of needy school children is carried on more extensively in Vienna and Buda- pest than in any other cities of the em- pire. I can best indicate the status of the problem in the city of Vienna, where, for many years, this question, has been one of great social concern. The information lelative to this enterprise is derived from private communications from persons in the city of Vienna, and from the anniial report of one of the most influential char- itable organizations of that city for the year 1906-07. (Zentralverein zur Be- kostig-ung armer Schulkinder in Wien). Quoting from Dr. Burgerstein in reply to pointed questions, the statement is made that "legal obstacles do not exist at all in the way of the city's spending money as it sees fit in behalf of the needy school children. This, however, it does not per- form directly. The aldermen vote sums of money varying from j^ear to j^ear about 700,000 crowns (or $200,000) annually to assist private charitable societies in providing lunches, clothes, and so on for poor children. The city also pays the expenses connected with the details of ad- ministration of these societies. There are, for example, charitable organizations which arrange for the feeding of poor people at particular stations in the city. These societies, especially interested in school children, take advantage of this opportunity and purchase tickets of the other organizations for the use of the needy children, and thus the pupils can eat in these dining halls or in the schools themselves to which the food is carried for them at luncheon time. For this pur- pose the city grants the free use of gym- nasium halls in the schools. The prob- lem of centralizing and unifying these dif- ferent societies is a difficult thing to bring about, although all agree that much more effective work is accomplished by some sort of organized co-operation between different bodies representing the 2,000,000 inhabitants. Quite frequently this closer contact of societies and city is brought about by having some of the chief offi- cers of the private organization chosen from municipal officials. Thus it has oc- curred in the greatest of these charitable societies, that persons of the elected repre- sentation CGemeinderat,' 'Stadrat'). and administration of the city ('Magis- trat') were members of the active com- mittees or even president of such com- mittees. Therefore, it may be said that the part which the city plaj^s directly in this enterprise of feeding the needy children consists in allowing the use of municipal properties such as school rooms for kmcheons, it does not wish the burden of details connected with their admini- stration, but it is willing to co-operate with any private organization which is able and willing to assume the responsibil- ity of the undertaking. If the teachers will select the needy school children, and the city co-operate in any duly recognized social organization, these problems of city life can be handled to the satisfaction of all." AMERICA. There are at hand no reliable data con- cerning the number of needy children nor the attempts at their relief in our own countrj'. The number of actually neces- sitous children in large centers of popu- lation has been variously estimated. Some place it as high as 35 per cent, of all school children in poorer districts of the cities, while other social workers esti- mate the number at less than one-third of this, or about 10 per cent, of the school population in certain very poor districts. It is pretty certain that even this lesser number is entirely too high, although it must be remembered that the actual num- ber of school children suffering in this re- spect is contingent upon many temporary and changeable factors of the localities in- vestigated, and, as might be expected, there is little or no uniformity among in- vestigators in the standards of estima- tion. But it must not be forgotten that the relatively graver needs of a few chil- dren may constitute just as aggravat- ing a social and educational problem as the proportionately lesser ones of a large number. Furthermore, there is no record with which we are acquainted that any municipality in this country undertakes directly the feeding of its more necessitous school children, so that we look in vain for examples of experience that might assist us to project a feasible scheme to extend the scope of work of relief in the city of Chicago, should such a project be deemed advisable. Chicago. To be sure, in our own city there have been meager attempts in certain of the schools to supplj- food to children who were receiving so little food at home that their health was being noticeably under- mined. . In most cases these attempts have been temporary only. A noticeable exception is that of the Goldsmith School. On February 19. 1902 (Proceedings of Board of Education, page 335). an or- ganization of philanthropic women af- filiated with the Sinai Congregation — the Johanna Lodge — secured authority from the Board of Education to prepare and furnish simple luncheons to very needy 21 children of the Goldsmith School, at the price of one cent per meal. Since that date, the feeding of the needy has been carried on, and regarding the success of the work and the extent of its opera- tion, I cannot do better than quote the following communication received from Mr. Hornbecker, until last year the prin- cipal of the Goldsmith School, and under whose inspiration the plan was first in- augurated : "The Oliver Goldsmith School is situated in the heart of the Russian-Jewish district on the West Side. The school contains about 1,100 pupils, and was opened in September, 1901, to relieve the Foster and Washburne schools. The poverty and dis- tress among the pupils was soon noticed by the teachers, who took upon themselves the task of clothing and even feeding many children. Some friendly visitors, working in the neighborhood, visited the school, and I called their attention to the great needs of the children. Mrs. Hannah Newman, Mrs. Hannah Moss and Mrs. E. G. Hirsch, among others, suggested that lunches might be served in the school. Permission was obtained from the Board of Education to serve simple lunches and to charge a penny a meal. This did not pay expenses, but the intention was to make the child feel that he was paying for what he received and that he was not an object of charity. The trouble of col- lection was great, and often the child who was most in need had no penny, so the practice of charging for the meal was abandoned. "At first, many children refused to eat because the food was not prepared by one of their religious faith. This difficulty was obviated by hiring a Jewish woman of the neighborhood to do the work. No attempt was made to serve anything but oatmeal with sugar and milk and bread. "From February, 1902, to the present time, any child of the Goldsmith School who was hungi^y could get all he could eat of this simple fare without cost. We found that many children had been sitting uncomplainingly all day without a bit of food. Often the mother had nothing to give them for breakfast ; went away look- ing for work, Ijeaving the house locked up. At noon the child had nothing to eat because the mother had not returned. No one, having seen the joy on the faces of those little ones at the prospect of un- limited food before them, can ever forget it. The ladies mentioned brought the matter before their organization — the Jo- hanna Lodge — and no difficulty was met in obtaining the necessary funds. An ac- cuT-ate account was kept of all the money expended but not of the meals served. The expenditures were: 1903-04, $188.47; 1904-05, $216.95; 1905-06, $270.00; 1906- 1907, $250.00. "From 40 to 70 meals were served each day at an average cost of 2y^ cents, not to exceed 3 cents, per meal. The cost of service was the largest item, $3.00 per week. Teachers' reports from time to time showed marked improvement in the general health and school work of the little children, especially those in the , Kindergarten. We believe that the lives 'of several children were saved. At first, children who did not need the food went to the lunch-room out of curiosity. This led to serving the meals just after school was called, at 9 and at 1 o'clock. The teacher then permitted the deserving ones to go to the lunch-roorti. I am sure that in the poor districts of Chicago there is no greater educational need than simple lunch-Fooms, and if they are properly managed, there is no danger of pauperiz- ing the pupil. The money expended will return to the state ten-fold by making self-respecting citizens, capable of earn- ing their own living, out of children who might become charges on the state, either through poverty or crime." During the past year, as a result of the investigations at the Harrison School by the Department of Child Study, showing that some of the children were handi- capped in their school work because they did not receive sufficient food at home, the principal and teachers at the school, at their own expense, undertook to pro- vide some food for the extremely needy. The food consisted chiefly of milk and crackers, and the work was continued until the close of the last school year. Again, during the latter part of the last year, the Crane Day Nursery were benevo- lent enough to yield to the representations of the principal of the Dore School, and furnished, after the requisite authority had been granted, a wholesome luncheon to all the pupils of the special room for subnormal children who wished to avail themselves of this provision. The need of some such provision was brought to the principal's attention through the re- ports from the Child Study Department on the cases individually as they entered the special room. The meals, in this case, were eaten in the school-room under the supervision of the teacher in charge, but because of the amount of time, effort and energy thus consumed by the teacher, it was considered inadvisable to continue the meal-provision. Suggestions. If the history of the meals-provision in foreign cities shows anything, it clearly gives evidence of the fact that the in- evitable outcome of the feeding of poor children at public expense, means a meals- provision for all pupils of the public schools — those from the homes of the rich and well-to-do as well as from the poor. Where meals are provided at the expense of the state or municipality, sooner or later the parents of all the children feel that they have a right to participate in the meals-provision. It was pointed out that in Madelaine, a well-to-do district in Paris, which compares favorably with the North Shore section of this city, 1,165 of the school population of 1,732 asked for free meals-provision. And, if we can credit the experience of Norwich, Bristol, Manchester, Bolton, Liverpool and Bir- mingham, in England, only between 15 and 20 per cent, of those making application for free meals were found to be really necessitous, and this, indeed, during the first year's operation of the act for pro- viding meals for needy school children. It seems reasonably safe to assume, therefore, that it is, at present, inad- visable for the City of Chicago to under- take the feeding of her needy children 22 on other than indirect lines. Private and public charities should be encouraged to reach, through their regxilar local branches, children who are really in need. In fact, the City Authorities and Board of Educa- tion should not only encourage such bene- ficiary and philanthropic undertakings, but might actually co-operate by placing at their disposal certain rooms in the school buildings, and assist in the gen- eral work of supervision of applicants and the conduct of meals, somewhat similar to the plan which has been followed in the schools for crippled children. It is even probable that nothing further ought to be undertaken in a positive way by the Civic Authorities than that of pro- viding a suitable place where meals can be prepared and dispensed. By this means, in a large measure, the positive benefits are secured with the attendent evils com- paratively lessened. Respectfully, D. P. MacMillan, Director of Child Study and Pedagogical Investigation. 23 v^ ■^RARY OF CONORfcAS ■llllilllf 00024=15aHfc.2