Whole No. received into the poor-house in one year, 190 Doubtful,.. Intemperance, 33 5 152 Of the temperate, 5 were sent here for safe keeping, and 4 others were lunatics. Seventy-one were children of drunken fathers, and nineteen were wives of intemperate husbands. GEORGE W. STILLMAN, Keeper. N. B. Mr. Turner was the first clerk of supervisors I had found, who had adopted the plan I have pursued, of exhibiting the pecuniary evils of intemperance. Mr. T. published a statement of the expenses of Otsego county, in 1832, founded on the same data from which I have made my statements. The clerk of supervisors of Schenectady county, on whom I recently called, had just made a similar examination and statement in relation to that county. PUTNAM COUNTY.-Population 12,628. Jail. Whole No. committed since the 1st of March last (at which time I took charge of this jail,).. 6 Temperate, 2 3 One of the temperate was committed for assault and battery and another was a pauper who had threatened to burn the poorhouse! Poor-House. Whole No. assisted since the 19th of Feb. last,... 81 Among the temperate, are a number of idiots and lunatics, and among the doubtful, are 18 children. Carmel, Dec.. 14, 1833. CHARLES TOWNSEND, Keeper. I would not question Mr. Townsend's veracity; he has certified to what he thought was true; but who will believe that the parents of all these 18 children, or even a majority of them, were temperate. I have found but very few children whose parents were temperate, supported at the public expense. County tax for 1833, Expenses. Raised for the support of poor, 2,140 00 Balance, $3,200 00 216 00 2,356 00 $844 00 Dec. 14, 1833. J. MOREHOUSE, County Clerk. and acting Clerk of Supervisors. N. B. Jurors are not paid in this county, and none of the expense of summoning jurors is included. QUEENS COUNTY.-Population 22,460. Of the temperate, one was imprisoned for disobeying an injunction from the chancellor; two for bastardy; two were boys; two were females. Of the doubtful, two were vagrants, and probably intemperate; another was an Irish woman, for abuse. JOHN SIMONSON, Sheriff. North-Hempstead, March 1, 1834. N. B. There is no county poor-house in this county. An indi vidual is hired to keep them, at one dollar per week, including all ages. I called upon Mr. Tappan, who keeps them this year, and who has, I believe, kept them a number of years past, and obtained the following statement, after a careful examination. Whole number received in one year, Not from intemperance, Doubtful, Intemperance,. 31 2 0 29 LEONARD TAPPAN, Jericho, March 1, 1834 Balance,...... $1,545 14 The six towns of Queens county each maintain their own town poor at an aggregate expense of $4,300. JOSEPH DODGE, Clerk of Sup. N. Hempstead, March 1, 1834. N. B. Most, if not all, the towns in the county have each their own town poor-house. RENSSELAER COUNTY.-Population. 49,424 Jail. Whole No. committed in the month of January last, 66 Of this number, (66) 13 were for assault and battery; 6 disorderly conduct; 26 for breach of the peace; 5 were intemperate females; and 6 were men for whipping their wives, or abuse to their families. The whole number committed during the year 1833, was 1,275 ; and I have no doubt that they would average, as regards the use of ardent spirit, about the same as for the month given above. Among the doubtful, are two men who are generally considered as temperate, but were intoxicated at the time they committed the offences for which they were imprisoned; one was for grand larceny, the other, breach of the peace. Troy, Feb. 12, 1834. BENJAMIN READ, Der Jailer Whole No. (town paupers) during the year ending Poor-House. ing 1st of Oct., last,.. Not from intemperance,. 234 10 9 215 Intemperance, Whole number assisted during the same time as county paupers, ··· Not from intemperance,. 11 328 Doubtful,.... 18 299 Among the town paupers, is the wife of a lawyer; also, a lawyer once eminent in his profession, both the direct result of intemperance. There is a constant decrease in the number of town paupers; there are not more than two-thirds as many as five years ago. Of county paupers, there is an increase, most of them are foreigners. ISAAC LOVEJOY, Keeper. Vagrants supported or assisted here during the same time, (at the expense of the county). 120 Not from Intemperance, Doubtful, Intemperance, 2 4 114 Leaving In this there is an extra item provided for, of Support of poor at poor house, 1,584 04 $33,439 45 and for temporary relief,.. $8,690 00 Also for support of vagrants,. 976 80 9,666 80 For the expense of the poor, I have the certificate of SAMUEL KENDRICK, One of the Superintendents of Co. poor. For the Expense of crime, as the clerk of the board of supervisors was absent attending to his duties as a member of assembly at Albany, I called upon "NATHAN DAUCHY, Esq. one of the supervisors for the city of Troy," who very obligingly, examined the books and accounts of the clerk of the board, and gave me the statement above Here an explanation is necessary. In the first place, let it be remarked, that the city of Troy, as relates to county business, counts for three towns, and has three supervisors. It has no city court, so that the amount above given as the criminal expense of the county, includes those of the city. In relation to the poor, the system of raising money for their support is entirely different from that of any other county in the State. The towns own the poor-house, and support the county poor, for which the county pays them a sum which in fact defrays all the expenses of the establishment, as well of the town as of the county poor indeed, the towns frequently receive considerably more than to defray all the expenses; they make a profit by the support of county poor, and it is said that many of the good people imagine they are making money by having paupers to support. They do not reflect that they PAY in their COUNTY TAX, the money which they thus receive; still when examined, it will probably be found that this is the most economical plan that has been devised. The one set down as temperate, was committed for assault and battery, and is supposed to be a woman in male attire; two of the doubtful are colored women, one of them sent here for assault and battery! Another was a deranged female. It is probable that the whole four are intemperate. Feb. 27, 1834. A. AUTEN, Jailer. Poor-House. Whole No. received into the poor-house the past |