Circular of the City Council on Retrenchment,
and Report of the Commissioners of the Orphan House:
Electronic Edition.
Charleston (S.C.). City Council. Committee on
Retrenchment and Relief.
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Academic Affairs Library, UNC-CH
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Library of Congress Subject Headings, 21st edition, 1998
LC Subject Headings:
Charleston Orphan House.
Orphanages -- South Carolina -- Charleston.
Finance -- South Carolina -- Charleston.
Child welfare -- South Carolina -- Charleston -- Finance.
Charleston (S.C.) -- Appropriations and expenditures.
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CIRCULAR
OF THE
CITY COUNCIL
ON
RETRENCHMENT,
AND
REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS
OF THE
ORPHAN HOUSE.
CHARLESTON:
STEAM-POWER PRESSES OF EVANS & COGSWELL,
No. 3 Broad and 103 East Bay Street.
1861.
To the Chairman and Board of
Commissioners of the Orphan House:
GENTLEMEN: At a regular
meeting of the City Council, held on the 16th July,
it was referred to the Committee on Retrenchment and Relief, to inquire
and
report in what manner the Corporation's expenses can be reduced to meet
the
necessities, and relieve as much as possible the burden of Tax Payers
while
the country is in a state of war.
At a meeting of the
Committee, the Chairman was instructed to address a
circular to all the different Boards of the City, respectfully asking of
them
to take the matter into consideration, and report if any reduction of
expenditures in the different departments of the Institution under their
charge can be made, and in what manner it can be accomplished.
The Committee are
confident that there are none in our community who
will more readily and cheerfully co-operate with the City Council in this
desirable object than the Board of Commissioners of the Orphan House.
An early report to the
Chairman of the Committee will be duly appreciated.
The Committee on
Retrenchment and Relief who were instructed by
resolution of Council to inquire and report what corporation expenses,
if any, can be reduced, beg leave to make the following report:
The committee deemed it
proper in the beginning of their
inquiries to address a circular to each of the Boards of Commissioners of
the
different Institutions of the city, asking their co-operation in the
desirable
object that Council had in view, and if any reduction in expenses could be
made in the institutions under their charge, in what manner it could be
accomplished.
As the report from the
several Boards of Commissioners in reply to the
communication from the committee are of much interest, not only to
the City Council but to the citizens at large, they are made a part of
this
report.
[Extract from the
Minutes of the Board of Commissioners of the Orphan House,
September 7,
1861.]
Resolved
unanimously,
That the report of the Committee on
Retrenchment, to whom was referred the communication from E. W.
Edgerton, Esq., Chairman of the Committee of Council, dated 7th August
last, be adopted, and that the chairman be requested to transmit the
same to said committee as a reply to their communication.
ORPHAN HOUSE, Charleston, September 10, 1861.
E. W. EDGERTON, Esq., Chairman of Committee on
Retrenchment and Relief:
DEAR SIR: In obedience
to the foregoing resolution, I
have now the honor to enclose the report referred to therein, which I
trust will be found to embrace all the information sought by your note of
7th
ult. With great respect, your obedient,
WM. C. BEE,
Chairman
pro tem.
The Committee on
Retrenchment, to whom was referred the letter
transmitted by the City Council, soliciting a special investigation by the
Commissioners of the Orphan House into its economics, in order to discover
whether it be not possible, by a more rigid economy, to lessen the burthen
of
its expense to the public, and to return an answer at their earliest
convenience, beg leave to state that, duly impressed with the importance
of
the inquiry, they have endeavored to fulfil the duty which has been
assigned them.
For the more minute
examination of the subject they have
considered it under three heads, viz: Service, Food and Raiment,
as the expenses of the establishment will be found arrayed
mainly under these.
The Institution now
consists of three hundred and sixty
orphans, one steward and family, one matron and family, one
principal of the school and eight teachers and assistants, three
dependents, nine nurses and one hospital nurse and assistant
nurse, two assistant seamstresses, eight washers, two cooks,
one engineer, and four servants--making an entire population
of four hundred and seven persons. The cost of the whole
establishment for 1860, as charged by the city treasurer, is
$34,734 18, and for 1861, $35,079 19--though the actual cost to
the city is only about $25,000; a uniformity of expenditure
which of itself bespeaks economy.
The first question to
be answered then is, can any of this service
be dispensed with? Let us put each in its place and see.
There is one male officer for the entire supervision, discipline
and provisioning of the whole; and one matron for general management and
direction; these are, of course, essential. There
are in the school one principal, and eight teachers and assistants,
for three hundred and thirty pupils; being one teacher to about
forty children; and their united salaries do not amount to
$2,000; giving a tuition cost of about $6 for each pupil per
year. When it is considered that this is the best school of its
kind in the Confederacy, and the cheapest in dollars and cents,
it becomes us to be satisfied, and to endeavor to preserve it as
is. One officer and two assistants direct and arrange all the
work of the sewing department; teach over one hundred little girls from
seven to thirteen years of age to sew, and incidentally to make and mark
(with the occasional aid of a cutter and other assistants, when needed for
the heavy suits of the larger boys) about eight thousand garments of
various sorts inclusive of bed and table linen, towels, the trimming of
hats,
and the innumerable repairs and jobs always necessary in such
a family. It does not seem then that any retrenchment can be
made in this department of our expenditures.
But one nurse is
allowed to a dormitory, and she is responsible
for its order, and for the care of from thirty to forty-five
children; is required to attend upon them at meals and at all
times and occasions; to be with them at night; to mend their
clothes and to take charge of their wardrobes generally. They
are thus employed by night and by day, and no one of them,
accordingly, can be spared.
The fourth officer
directs the operations of the laundry, and with the aid
of eight washers, and the required machinery, receives, washes,
irons, assorts and returns punctually and properly, four thousand seven
hundred, or five thousand pieces weekly or fifty dozen, or six
hundred pieces, to the hand. It may be doubted if any laundry in the
country
can show better results, and at less cost, than this.
One cook prepares all
the food for three hundred and sixty children,
and another for the rest of the household, inclusive of the sick. One
engineer directs all the machinery and mechanical operations of the
house; and one porter, acting also as gardener, takes charge of the gate,
garden, cemetery and grounds generally. These are all demanded by the
positive necessities of the Institution, and, with the physician's salary,
cost about $10,550.
Next is food.
Three simple meals are allowed per
day. Avoiding
the dull detail of statistics and accounts, let us allow for each child
six cents as the average per day for three meals,
and twenty cents for
each employee. Surely, no one would wish to curtail this already scanty
allowance. The cost of food for the establishment, at these rates,
is then $10,950.
Of Steward of Orphan House of the present actual daily
Cost of Food
for Children in September, 1861.
BREAKFAST.
1 bushel grist. . . . . $1 00
2 gallons molasses. . . . . 80
9 quarts milk. . . . . 81
4 1/2 lbs. bro. sugar at 8c. . . . . 36
Bread . . . . . 2 91
Salt . . . . . 13
DINNER.
Beef, veal&bacon. . . . . $6 61
Rice, 110 lbs., 2 1/4 c.. . . . . 2 48
Vegetables. . . . . 25
Salt, pepper&vin'gar. . . . . 31
Dinner. . . . . $9 65
SUPPER.
Bread. . . . . $2 91
Sugar. . . . . 36
Milk. . . . . 81
Supper . . . . . $ 4 08
Breakfast. . . . . $6 01
Dinner. . . . .
9 65
Supper. . . . . 4 08
$19
74 [divide] 359 children=5 1/2 cents each.
Beef, veal and bacon, for one week, $46
25[divide] 7days=
$6 61 per day.
The subject of
raiment
alone remains for examination. Let
us here also pass by book details of articles, their cost and
number, and content ourselves, with a view to brevity, with
the remark, that three and one half suits per year is necessary
for each child, consisting of a heavy winter suit for the
boys, and flannel for the girls, summer suits and under clothing,
aprons, shoes, hats or caps, etc. An entire suit, inclusive
of hat or cap and shoes, cannot be had for less than $4 50.
Three and a half suits will then average $15 75 per year for
each child; and three hundred and sixty children will cost
$5,654 for the same period. These items expose fully to view
our economics, but do not suggest to your Committee any
object for retrenchment. They enable them, however, with a
few additions, to account for, and balance, the debit against us
on the City Treasurer's books, viz:
Paid for food for three hundred and forty children,
at six cents per day, and for officers at twenty
cents per day. . . . . $10,950 00
Service of all description, inclusive of physician. . . . . 10,550 00
Raiment for three hundred and fifty-nine children,
at three and a half suits each, at $15 75 per year,. . . . . 5,654 25
Fuel, $1,450; gas, $900; beds, etc., $700; school
books and medicines, $450. . . . . 3,500 00
The balance, about
$2,000, is spent for accidents, anniversaries,
books, burials, church, and crockery, and an interminable number and
variety of demands always incident to so large an infant family; a
sum, of course, scarcely adequate to such necessities. But the Board
dispenses a portion of the income from a "Private Fund," which
has
been left to them in trust for the benefit of the children, and in this
way are enabled to make good all deficiencies and contingencies. For
instance: Council allows the special sum of $1,200 for educational
purposes, about one-half of what is positively necessary; the balance
being supplied from this fund. This, of course, cancels so much of
the above account, increasing proportionally the reserve for
sundries. It is in this way that accounts independent of each other
become blended. It ought not to be overlooked, however, that this
"Fund" is a bequest from the honored dead to the Board of
Commissioners, sacred to the execution of the purposes which have been
mentioned. It is they, therefore, who supply whatever extra advantages and
privileges are enjoyed by the children of the Institution. It
is they who, without stint or limit, sustain our admirable
Sunday School. It is they who provide a master to teach
them to sing so sweetly, and give us our instrumental music
on the holy Sabbath. It is they who supply the exigencies
of those who are sent to College, or who study for the ministry. It is
also they who provide premiums for the diligent and
faithful. It is they who, in like manner, tenderly furnish a
little marriage portion to our meritorious girls, and a timely
help to our boys at their first steps into life. It is they who
furnish encouragement and recreation to our well; change and
delicacies to our ill; and a grave to our dead. Peace be to
their ashes! all honor to their memories!
But let us return, and
take a comparative view of our main
subject. Unfortunately, the records of this Institution do not
enable us to run a parallel of statistics for any extent; but
from it the glimpses which we can obtain of those of the "Old
House" and its management, we do derive some comfort and
consolation in view of what has been accomplished. It thus
appears that the entire cost of a child in 1852 and 1853,
the last years of the "Old House" and its regime, was
respectively
$126 63 and $124 17, while the entire cost of a child in 1860
and 1861, under the reformed condition of the new, is respectively
$106 22 and $101 97; showing a difference in favor of
the latter of $20 and $22 20 per child, notwithstanding
the inflated war prices which are attached in these latter years to
articles
of common consumption. These, if multiplied by the number of
children in the house, are equal to a very respectable interest on the
investment for improvement; by calculation being over five and a
half per cent.
But the records of the
School having been better preserved,
enable us to present a more detailed comparison of the operations
of this department, at the two above periods, with their expenditures
(not results); the developments of which are both instructive and
valuable. We place the items in tabular lines to facilitate
comparison:
It thus appears that
the scholars have increased two and a fifth times;
that the School is much more faithful in gathering in the children,
inasmuch as a much greater proportion are numbered therein now
than formerly; that three per cent. of the A B C class, against forty
per cent., evinces the greater rapidity with which they are advanced
through the elements; that the cost of books is three hundred per
cent. less than formerly; that the salaries and other costs are forty
per cent. less, though the number of pupils is twice and a fifth
greater; that the actual saving is nearly equal to the present
salaries that the former cost of tuition and books for each child, of
twenty-four dollars, is reduced by the new system to six and a
half, making difference in favor, of the new, which, multiplied by
the number of children now taught, would be equivalent to four
per cent. on the entire outlay for improvements; or which, had it
been productively invested from the inauguration of the new
system until now, would have been more than sufficient to
support the School permanently. But this is not all; could the
moral, educational and physical superiority be similarly
contrasted, it would exhibit differences beyond comparison. The
results, however, are sufficiently apparent. It has immeasurably
elevated the Institution in the pride and affections of the people,
and caused the stranger to honor the city itself, on account of
this striking. expression of its nobleness. But, alas! its very
excellencies have awakened the jealousies of some who are
unacquainted with its economics. No complaint of extravagance,
however, has ever been heard from those who are familiar with its
merits.
The present views of
the working and management of this
noble Institution, it is to be hoped will not fail to impress
all with the conviction that this Board has been not only
anxious and sedulous in its efforts to secure the welfare of the
children and the public interest, but has wisely and successfully
accomplished it. That they have at least imparted vigor,
faithfulness and economy to every one of its departments, is
apparent, they think, in the fact, that now, in the day of
trouble and reckoning, when called upon to contribute to public
economy, they have no retrenchment to suggest. They
have thus gone minutely through our whole role of service, and shown
everywhere accomplishing more than could have been expected, or
exacted by any ordinance or contract. For where
else is there to be found a School that will teach successfully and
satisfactorily, and furnish also books, for one dollar and sixty-two
and a half cents per quarter? Where else do infant children make
seven-eighths of the family clothing after school hours while learning
to sew? Where else will a nurse take entire charge of forty children,
and do as much, as well, and indeed everything for them? Where
else will one hand wash and iron, and properly assort and deliver
eight dozen pieces per day upon an average? Where else will one
cook, properly and punctually, prepare the food for three hundred
and sixty persons? It is vain to look here then for supernumeraries or
retrenchments.
Turn we then to our
regimen. We accordingly find for
breakfast a plate of hominy, a drop of molasses, and a cup of
milk-- and water tea, costing say, two cents; for dinner, soup
meager and rice, meat, rice and peas at a cost of two and a
half cents; and for supper a slice of bread and a cup of milk
and water tea, costing a cent and a half. Neither of these
can be reduced without superinducing hunger.
A like economy is
enforced with respect to the clothing. The cloth
is carefully selected by judges, bought advantageously at wholesale,
well made up, well cared for, and well worn. Children are proverbially
hard upon their clothes: but play is a part of their health, as
indulgence is of their discipline. To reduce the quality, therefore, we
must either increase the quantity, or otherwise incur exposure. They
seldom wear shoes except for dress or during cold weather.
After a most careful
survey of the whole field, the Committee have,
they regret to say, failed to find the object of their pursuit. It would,
nevertheless, have afforded them a sincere pleasure to have been able
to contribute somewhat at this trying moment to the public relief; but
truly, the orphans have nothing to contribute. Nor is the Board more
fortunate; for they enjoy no privileges or indulgences at the City
cost, but on the contrary, often furnish encouragements to the
children from their own means, and instead of enjoying a yearly
dinner at the public expense, as is usual and proper, have invariably
given one to the friends of the Institution on its anniversary.
With a familiar
knowledge of all the facts which have been elicited
by the communication from the Council, the Committee
are at a loss to account for the existence of the idea entertained by
some, of the extravagant administration of the moneys placed at the
disposal of the Commissioners by the City, unless it be the
manifestation of order and cleanliness which habitually obtain
throughout the house, or the aspect of taste which is ever present
where the ideal that sustain it is not absent from the mind of its
supporter. These cost nothing, however, in a material point of view.
They belong to another element, and it would be uncivilized to bar
the doors against them.
But although unable to
retrench, we may suggest to you two
considerations for effecting the purposes of Council. The first is to
limit our admissions to a severer necessity, than has been hitherto
conditioned; the second, as the period comes round for binding out,
to apprentice the children as fast as justice to them will permit, to the
industrial engagements of life.
In conclusion, your
Committee are forced to the conviction --a
conviction confirmed by increased intimacy with the working of the
Institution, that there exists nowhere, one more excellent in its
conception, or which is more faithfully administered in every respect.
In confirmation of this they confidently refer to the amount of actual
misery daily relieved; the character and extent of that relief; the wide
scope of its charity; the present importance and ever-extending
influence of the results achieved; and the intelligence and spirit with
which it has been conducted.
In this connection it
is encouraging to allude to the number who,
since they have left us, have, in the last few years, been seeking to
become physicians, apothecaries, surveyors, merchants, factors,
printers, engineers, plasterers, carpenters, bakers, shoe makers,
harness makers, as well as votaries of all the mechanical or other
employments; to those also who have gone into the pursuits of the
country, or army or navy; as well as to the girls who have given us
like cause for gratulation.
Scarcely a day, Sunday
not excepted, but one or more of the
members of this Board are in attendance upon the Institution,
notwithstanding its general charge is committed to one in weekly
rotation, and its leading interests are besides specially confided to
zealous committees. It may be true, nevertheless as sometimes
asserted, that in the admission of children
by the Board, they have been sometimes imposed upon. But this
can only happen by violating the sanctity of an oath, and
deliberately and wickedly deceiving others than those that compose
the Board. Such cases, however, are few, while they bring with them
the consolation of knowing that little children have, not the less,
been rescued from the domestic influences of such parents. We
may err, but it is upon the side of charity.
The Committee feel
bound also to say, that the officers of the Institution are all
apparently actuated by a similar devotion; and merit, as they do
receive, the respect and confidence of the Board.
They would further
suggest, in view of all that has occurred and
is occurring, the propriety of inviting and urging upon Council the
propriety of visiting the Institution, collectively and individually,
morning, noon and night, as may suit their convenience; of
inspecting the Institution generally; of examining our books;
making themselves personally familiar with our routine and
economics; and thus, from actual knowledge, appreciate our
labors, sympathise with our efforts, and rejoice with us in our
benevolent achievements.
Respectfully submitted,
JAS MOULTRIE, Chairman.
BENJAMIN HUGER, M. D.
W. H. HOUSTON.
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