TABLE 13.-Statistics of State public institutions for the feeble-minded, 1896-97.

paratus. Value of scientific ap

Value of grounds and

$423, 578 $91, 509 $10, 729

TABLE 14.-Statistics of private institutions for the feeble-minded, 1896–97.

CHAPTER XLVI.

STATISTICS OF REFORM SCHOOLS.

Boys and girls are no longer sent to the reform schools for the purpose of receiving punishment, but to be educated and taught useful trades. The aim of the reform school is to protect the helpless, to train the incorrigible to obedience, and to reform those who have wandered from the right way by education, by wholesome restraint, by moral and religious influences, and by the formation of industrial habits.

In the 88 schools represented in the Annual Report for 1896-97 there were 485 instructors and 21,243 pupils in the school departments and 11,757 pupils in the industrial departments. The total number of inmates reported was 23,696. The value of grounds and buildings was $16,319,017. The total expenditures were $4,150,761, of which amount $604,661 was for buildings and improvements and $3,546,100 for support. The number of assistants, not including instructors in the school departments, was 1,577. There were 18,096 white inmates and 2,639 colored inmates. There were reported 8,732 inmates of native parents and 5,722 of foreign-born parents. When admitted 3,065 could only read and 2,008 could neither read nor write. The number committed to the institutions during the year was 9,474, and the number discharged was 8,952. When discharged from the schools all could read and write, and a large number had received the equivalent of a common-school education. Of those released from the institutions more than 75 per cent are self-supporting, leading useful lives, and are honest and respected citizens of the communities in which they live.

The North Atlantic Division reports 35 schools, 208 instructors, 9,496 pupils in the school department, and 5,665 in the industrial department. The number of inmates reported was 9,552, of which number 7,663 were males and 1,889 females. The value of grounds and buildings was $8,050,154. The expenditures for the year amounted to $1,800,417; for buildings and improvements, $199,728, and for support, $1,600,689. The number of assistants, not including teachers in the school departments, was 603. Of the total number of inmates 6,970 were white and 676 were colored; 2,035 had native parents and 2,508 had foreign-born parents. When committed to the institutions 714 could only read and 978 could neither read nor write. The number committed during the year was 4,109 and the number discharged was 4,300.

The South Atlantic Division reports 12 schools, 56 instructors, and 1,985 pupils in the school departments and 1,309 in the industrial departments. Of the 2,002 inmates reported in the institutions 1,749 were males and 253 females. The total value of grounds and buildings was $1,416,000. The amount expended for buildings and improvements was $58,673, and for support $217,921, making a total expenditure of $276,594. The number of assistants, not including teachers in the school departments, was 118. Of the total number of inmates 1,289 were white and 713 colored; 1,568 had native parents and 175 had foreign-born parents. When committed to the institutions 341 could only read and 444 could neither read nor write. The number committed during the year was 782, and the number discharged or released was 722. The South Central Division reports 5 schools, 24 teachers, and 1,031 pupils in the school departments. The value of grounds and buildings was $77,000. The total