The people who first settled Vermont, in the middle and latter part of the eighteenth century, were chiefly of English origin. Coming largely from Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire where their families had already for two or three generations been accustomed to the rigors of pioneer life, they were admirably fitted to make homes for themselves in the dense wilderness which then covered this state. By 1790, the population numbered 85,425 of which the English element constituted about 81,200 and the Scotch element about 2,600. The growth of the state since that time is indicated by the following table:

It will be noted that the early decades show rapid growth in the population of the state, while since 1850 only in one decade has a gain of more than 4 percent been made.

Most of the early settlers brought with them a few head of livestock and started farming. Each family was very nearly self‐sufficing but soon, of course, local industries and trades connected with farming sprang up. There were blacksmith shops and gristmills, sawmills and tanneries. Almost every village had its general store. With improved communication and the development of machines, creameries, cheese factories, and butter‐tub factories were established. Schools and churches were also important elements in community life. Already villages were becoming small industrial and trade centers for the regions surrounding them. In the period from 1830 to 1850 most Vermont towns reached the peak of their development.

One town now having a population of less than 1,000 is thus described in the report for 1930 of the Eugenics Survey:

Between 1812 and 1830 the town grew rapidly so that even before 1850 it had reached the highest period of development with a population of nearly 1,700 At this time, besides the four sawmills, there were several distilleries and two tanneries. In the one village in the town were two general stores. There were four active church societies. An academy for secondary education flourished and drew its students from long distances. Though every farm family was self‐sufficient there was a strong sense of community life and members of the old families took keen interest in politics, religion and education.

The same source describes the present life in the town as follows:

Instead of keeping up the old local activities the interest of the people has centered more in the nearby city so that the town has become something like a suburb to that city. Most of its people go there for amusements and for shopping. Those wanting higher education go to the city, for the famous academy has long since died. Instead of the four Protestant churches, which‐ we may assume to have been well supported in the early days, only one now draws to it any congregation.

These changes and corresponding changes in the open country, characteristic of many towns of Vermont, have not been accidents. They have been caused by a variety of more fundamental changes. Partial exhaustion of natural resources, particularly forests, the coming of the railroads, the lure of new lands in the West and broader opportunities in the metropolitan centers have all been felt by Vermont towns for three‐quarters of a century. Changes in farm economy and the influence of summer visitors have been operating for a shorter period.

Reduction in the birthrate has been no small factor in the shrinkage of our towns. This is shown clearly in the age distribution of the population of different years.

We thus see that young children make up a distinctly smaller proportion of our population now than in 1850, and that the proportion of persons over fifty years of age has increased from one‐seventh of the total population to over one‐fifth.

Some of these changes and some others of equal importance are beyond the control of Vermonters. To such, the people must adapt themselves, and have in many cases. Still others can be controlled to a greater or less extent and shaped to suit our ends if we will but look and plan together far enough into the future.

The facts mentioned previously concerning the decline of our towns are abundantly confirmed by further study of census reports. Though the aggregate population of ten towns has increased 197 percent since 1850, the population of the rest of the state has actually decreased 8.3 percent. In spite of this tendency of the population to become concentrated in a few towns, Vermont remains dominantly rural if "rural" be defined according to the usage of the Census Bureau as applying to populations living outside of incorporated places having a population of 2,500 or more. In this respect it is unique among the New England states. A comparison of the trend of rural population in Vermont with that for the United States is shown in the following table:

One must not be misled into thinking that over half the population of Vermont is on farms. Small villages account for a large part of our rural population. In fact in 1930 only 31.1 percent of our population was on farms.

In the face of this substantial decline in the rural population of Vermont, there may be a tendency to be consoled by the fact that the decline within the state has amounted to very little more than one‐fifth of the 1890 proportion, while the decline in the country as a whole has been very nearly one‐third. It is dangerous, however, to assume that decrease in the rural population is a thing to be regretted This committee does not try to answer the question: How can the decrease of our rural population be stopped? but rather: Does this decrease produce better or worse living conditions for Vermont's people? Is it desirable that it should continue or be checked?

This tendency of the cities and larger towns to draw in the rural population has a greater effect on the women than on the men and, as might be expected, its greatest effect on people in the prime of life. The United States Census for 1930 shows nearly 118 males per hundred females in our farm population and only 94 per hundred females in our urban population. The discrepancy has been growing in recent years, and is characteristic of the country at large, though more marked in Vermont than in any other New England state.

The following table shows the effect of the cities in drawing the people in the prime of life:

Aside from showing the greater proportion of children and old people on our farms it shows that Vermont is not raising its proportion of children as compared with the country as a whole.

In spite of the decrease in the number of farmers and farm families there is a marked stability in the residence tendency of the farming population. In seven towns whose agricultural populations were studied intensively 1 the average length of residence of the farm families on their present farms ranged from 10.4 years in one town to 15.7 years in another. For the whole number of families (1,140) in the seven towns, the average length of residence was 13.65 years. Since these towns as a group are not thoroughly typical of Vermont, having an unusually high proportion of foreign born, it seems safe to conclude that the average farm tenure for the state as a whole is somewhat longer.

When farmers move they tend to move short distances. The majority of those investigated had moved to another location in the same town, a goodly number had moved to a neighboring town and fewer to more remote towns. Of those coming in from other states, the majority came from New York and New Hampshire, many having previously lived in Vermont. An attempt was made to find out why the few families which previously lived in Kansas, Minnesota or Illinois had come to Vermont, and it was found that almost without exception a parent or husband or wife had been a Vermonter, and family associations and visits to the old home had drawn some members back to become residents. Familiarity with a region and associations with friends and relatives appear to be the most effective of all motives leading to a change of farm homes.

The practice of renting farms rather than owning them makes for less stability o the population than would otherwise prevail. In the seven towns slightly less than one‐seventh of the farmers were tenants. Their length of residence on their present farms averages 7.6 years, a bit over half as long as the length for the group as a whole.

Summer residents are in some towns tending to cause shifts of the farming population. 2 Where hotels take many summer guests or where any significant number of city families occupy summer residences a considerable movement of the farming population often results The land sometimes becomes so valuable for these purposes that farmers cannot afford to hold it for farming. In these cases it is sold and the people either move away or change the nature of their work.

Some farms, not particularly desirable for summer residences, lose their value as agricultural plants through changes in the nature of the community. Because of scarcity of farmers it becomes impossible to exchange machines and labor. The school enrollment dwindles and winter activity is reduced to almost nothing. The community thus becomes unattractive for farmers and they move away.

Additions from other states. The population of Vermont has been continually augmented by immigration from other states. In 1850, this immigration was almost entirely from New England and New York, over [30 percent of the total number coming from the former. As years went on fewer people came from New England' more from New York and more from other states farther west. All during the present century more natives of New York than of any other state have come to live in Vermont At present, however, the New York proportion seems to be declining slightly and that from Massachusetts and Maine to be gaining. In 1920, 18.4 percent of the natives of the United States resident in Vermont had been born outside of the state. Neighboring states sent most of these people as follows:

New York 36.6% Massachusetts 20.0% New Hampshire 18.5% Maine 4.5%

Foreign born. As would be expected in an inland agricultural state, the proportion of foreign born residents of Vermont has always been low compared to that in the neighboring industrialized coastal states. Only twice has this figure been as high as 14 percent. Of late years it has been declining slightly, and in 1g30 it reached 12 percent. In the United States as a whole the proportion of foreign born persons is somewhat greater and in all New England it amounts to over one‐fourth of the total population.

There has been a marked change in the origin of our foreign population. Of those in the state in 1850, according to Rossiter,3 "approximately half were born in Ireland, and most of the remainder was contributed by what was probably the English‐Canadian element." Since that time there has been a strong swing toward a diversity of nationalities. The British immigration has waned decidedly, while the French‐Canadians now make up over 40 percent of our foreign born, and the Italian, Swedish, Polish, Russian and Spanish elements have made marked gains.

In the seven towns intensively studied the percentages of foreign born parents of native‐born farmers show a shift in the proportions of immigrants from different sources. Of these foreign‐born parents, 50 percent came from the British Isles, compared with 13 percent of the present generation of foreign born; and 41 percent from Canada, compared with 71 percent at present. Other nationalities make up 8 percent of the foreign‐born parents as against 15 percent of the present generation. Thus foreign born of the last generation served to strengthen the elements of the original settlers, while those of the present generation are in the main from Canada and of French extraction.

Until recently the various foreign‐born elements have tended to swell our urban population more than the farm population. The result is that at present they compose 15 percent of the former, but only slightly more than 10 percent of the latter. In recent years the trend seems to have been changing. In the past decade (1920‐30) though the percentage of foreign born in the state as a whole has decreased, the proportion on farms has increased from 9.9 percent to 10.8 percent. This change is due, no doubt, to the present large proportion of French‐Canadian immigrants and their marked tendency to take up farms rather than to live in the larger centers. While they form 55.7 percent of the foreign‐born farm population they make up only one‐third of the foreign population in villages and but slightly more in the cities. Along with the increase of the foreign‐born population on farms there has been an increase of foreign stock. According to the census of 1930, foreign‐born persons and persons one or both of whose parents were foreign born make up nearly 30 percent of our farm population.

In the seven towns where the farm population was completely canvassed, it was found that less than three children made up the average family of native parents while nearly five children were born on the average to each foreign‐born couple. This indicates a relatively more rapid increase in our foreign stock than in our native stock. Such relative increase seems to be becoming less rapid, however, if we judge by the age distribution in the following table:

There has been a decrease in the proportion of recent foreign stock in the lower age groups, meaning fewer children and people in the prime of life. On the other hand there has been a slight but perceptible increase in the proportion of children of native stock. It must be remembered, though, that the third generation of foreign stock is classified in this table with the native whites of native parentage, leaving it impossible to distinguish between the original Vermont stock and the descendants of the immigrants of sixty to eighty years ago. The only definite conclusion which we can draw, then, is that our recent foreign stork seems to be increasing less rapidly than was formerly the case. This points to assimilation of a kind.

The foreign‐born farmers in the seven towns studied have not stayed on their farms so long as the natives. The averages are 9.9 years for farmers of foreign stock (including those of foreign or mixed parentage) and 15.1 years for those of native stock. This difference can be only partly due to shortness of time in this country, because less than a quarter of these families of foreign stock are occupying their first Vermont farms.

There is evidence of a gradual shift southward on the part of the Canadians in Vermont. Those in the northern part of the state have moved but once or twice, while those in the central part have moved several times before reaching their present positions. More temperate climate and greater opportunity for diversity of crops seem to be the chief influences drawing them southward.

Contributions of the foreign born. Members of forty‐five farm families in Barre work in the stone sheds, of these thirty‐six belong to the foreign‐born group. In this way our foreign‐born farmers furnish a part of the labor for specialized industries. They also constitute a large part of the supply of farm laborers and by taking up farms that would otherwise be abandoned, keep the land active and enlarge the market for local merchants.

The other side of their contribution is more often overlooked. Most immigrant farmers bring with them a musical and artistic heritage far richer than that in possession of our native stock. Many a shy and unappreciated French woman could "show up" the Vermont housewives in needlework. Folk songs, dances and other forms of artistic expression are in the blood of these people. If they could but be given a suitable outlet and receive the appreciation they deserve they could add greatly to the enrichment of our rural life.

Assimilation of foreign born. The immigrants of British stock are on the whole quickly assimilated because they find themselves among people of similar origin. The French‐Canadian and natives of central Europe, however, are much more slowly absorbed into their communities if at all. Some of their customs, their language, and usually their religion are different from those of the people among whom they settle.

The chief agencies which could help these people to become a part of the communities in which they live are the church, the school and business contacts. Except in regions in which there is already a nucleus of native or Irish Catholics, the church more often keeps the foreign born separate from the rest of the community rather than merging them with it. In church contacts they often speak their native language and meet people of similar origin rather than native Vermonters. There are numerous cases where they must in fact go to another town for worship, thus having their interest definitely drawn away from the community in which they live.

The school is probably the most effective agency of assimilation. Here the children meet on an equal footing and grow up with common experiences and aspirations. The parents are also included to some extent in meetings, socials and entertainment. The possibilities of the school in developing community spirit are unlimited.

The business contacts of the men, such as creamery and store, the exchange of labor and machines, road work and other enterprises give them an opportunity to meet their neighbors and to learn the language. The women, confined by many household duties, often remain practically isolated from the community throughout their lives.

It is to be regretted that the town meeting is not more fully used to initiate the newcomers into the privileges of citizenship. In one town, thirty‐eight out of 110 farmers are not registered as voters. The majority of these, like the majority of non‐voting farmers in all towns studied, are foreign born. The expense and inconvenience of naturalization is probably the most important reason why these people do not take up the advantages of citizenship. Many have taken out first papers so as to be able to obtain hunting and fishing licenses, but have gone no further.

Clearly the burden of bringing our foreign‐born neighbors into community activities lies with the established residents. There is much that they can contribute. Neighborliness and willingness to meet them a little more than half way will do much toward turning their interest and support to community activities. Emigrants Vermont has always sent a 1,arge proportion of her sons and daughters to live in other states. In fact every census since 1850 has shown nearly 40 percent of the natives of this state to be living in other states. Until recently this proportion was greater than that for any other state. At present it is somewhat greater for Wyoming and Nevada. With 40.5 percent of Vermont natives living in other states in 1900 and 38.5 percent living in other states in 1920, it is interesting to compare their distributions at the two dates.

What of the seedlings ? How can Vermont stock best be conserved and made to continue to provide its share of leaders for the nation and builders for the state ? The remaining stock. 4 Emigration from the state and migration from the country to the larger centers within the state have had a definite effect on the general make‐up of the population remaining. This effect was studied intensively in three carefully chosen towns. One represented a progressive rural community, one an average one, and the third a community which seemed to be declining. The serious aspect of emigration from the rural communities is not in the number but in the kind of people who leave. Agricultural conditions are such that it is to the best interest of farming that many people leave the farms. But if the farming communities are drained of their outstanding members who are needed to produce the future leaders of the state, the loss can never be made up.

The members of the communities studied by the Eugenics Survey were little aware of any migration from their towns. The best informed citizens insisted that practically no one leaves town nowadays. It is true that a large proportion of those leaving had lived in the town in question for only a short time before they proceeded in their search for better opportunities. They may thus have made but little impression in the minds of the long‐standing residents. But they gathered into their number a surprising proportion of people who are either children or near relatives of the present residents. Between the transients and the scions of old stock, the emigration from each of these towns within the past twenty years has amounted to almost twice as many people as the present population of each town.

All types of people leave these towns. But more hired men, laborers and their families move than do tenants, their children or the children of farm owners. Farm owners themselves move least of all. More than 65 percent of this migrating body moves hesitantly from one town to the next until the majority locate in the larger towns within the state or in neighboring states. There, by far the larger number engage in other than agricultural pursuits. But there is within this migrating army a small group which differs from the average. It is composed almost entirely of the children of the present members of the community, and particularly of those who have descended from the early settlers of the town. This small group has received education far above that received by either the average resident or the average emigrant, and when they have emigrated there has been little hesitation in their movements. They have almost invariably gone direct to the largest cities of the country and there in competition with thousands have won positions of important responsibility. It is when this unnoticed but persistent drain of such people from the rural towns of the state impairs the social life and the quality of the stock that it is to be deplored.

There are, however, counteractive trends at work which may partially if not wholly compensate for this loss. In these towns the immigration of people who take up more or less permanent residence, though very small compared to the emigration, partially counterbalances it. The age, education and training of the average immigrant is similar to that of the average emigrant. In social background he is little different from the average resident of each town. Eighty‐nine percent of the immigrants in the three towns studied are of American stock 76 percent consisting of native Vermonters, 13 percent of natives of other states while only 11 percent are foreign born mostly French‐Canadians. (The figures are nearly the Same for the state as a whole.) Most of these immigrants fit into the work and the social life of the community and are therefore fair substitutes for the emigrants. But among them are very few who have an education and training comparable to the choice group of emigrants, and few of them seem to have that stability which is characteristic of the older residents.

One of the most obvious effects of the migration is that it has drained the countryside of its young people. By far the greater number of those remaining are old older than the average for Vermont, which according to the census has more old people anyway than almost any other state in the Union. Because the proportion of old people is high the birthrate is very low. A comparison of the excess of births over deaths per thousand in these towns with the excess for Vermont and for the United States shows the following: For rural United States the excess is 10.0; for Vermont it is 6.0; and for the three towns studied it is 3.1. There is little hope therefore that the people of these towns will reproduce their kind in any great numbers.

However, in two of the three towns studied there seems to be no very obvious deterioration in the quality of the stock of those remaining. There may be a lack of that energy and venturesomeness which marked the early pioneers. But there are found fine substantial qualities which show the people to be responsible citizens of upright character. The greater number in two of the towns show an earning capacity and an ability in making of their farms "going concerns" comparable to the success of the small business man.

But there are communities in which the effects of emigration are more serious. In a town which represented the poorer rural sections of the state, it would seem that the most enterprising stock had emigrated long since, and left a residue of poorer stock to which has been added the immigration of people who frequently have been failures elsewhere. Though most of the residents live on farms, few cultivate more than an acre of land. They prefer to earn their living at road work and odd jobs. The young people do not express any of that healthy discontent that is heard among the young people of the other towns. The whole philosophy of life in the town is not "to get on" but "to be content." Its charm is expressed in the words of one of its citizens, "There is no hurry here. It is always afternoon." But this very atmosphere is not conducive to bringing out the dormant capacities of the people. Even though they would probably not be happy anywhere else, one is compelled to suggest that for their own good and for the future well‐being of their children it would be advisable for them to move to more progressive communities in the state where in the competitive atmosphere of "getting on" they would have to make use of any latent capacities.

The outstanding conclusion of the study in these three towns is that the migratory movement tends to drain from the rural communities of the state two types of persons, first, the "potentially distinguished" who can best express their capacities in the responsible positions which exist in the complex environment of cities, and second, unsettled farming people whose abilities are often as well if not better adapted to the supervised routine of industry than to the independent responsibility of agriculture.

There remain in the rural sections where farming is still the chief industry, people of fine average talent who, judged by their ability to make of their farms "going concerns," are capable of carrying out constructive programs for the state. Furthermore, there is little reason to doubt that they will continue to produce many dependable future citizens and a few exceptionally talented ones, whose services belong to the country as a whole. At the same time there are sections in the state where the effects of emigration are more seriously felt in the social life of the community and in the quality of the stock of those remaining.

The chief recommendations of this study are two. First, that in the productive rural areas of the state all the relevant recommendations made by the other committees of the Country Life Commission be carried out. This is essential to the finest upbringing of the future generation in the state, and to encouraging those people to remain in farming communities who really "love the land" and are potential rural leaders. Second, that in the less productive rural areas of the state the recommendations made for the utilization of the land for whatever purposes it is most suited usually forests be carried out. This would encourage the people living in these sections to move both for their own good and for the well‐being of their children to more progressive communities in the state.

The prospect. From the foregoing studies it appears that though the old stock may be holding its own in quality for the most part, it shows a slow decrease in quantity. This decrease is not always apparent because in almost all communities the influence of the old families still predominates.

When we look at the prospect for the future‐whether Vermont stock will continue to furnish leaders in the state and nation two factors need attention. The first of these is the birthrate. It has been determined by students of eugenics that for a given group of people to maintain their numbers through several generations, allowing for celibacy, childless marriages and early death, most of the married couples must have four children and the rest must have three. With 40 percent of native Vermonters leaving the state, nearer six children to a family would be necessary to keep the quantity of old stock from decreasing in the state. Under present customs and economic conditions, families of this size are the exception rather than the rule. Unless in future the birthrate shows a marked increase it appears that the volume of the old Vermont stock is bound to dwindle.

The second factor needing attention is the quality of the rising generation of Vermonters. Perhaps we can make up in quality what we have to lose in quantity. It must be remembered that the natives of Vermont who have made their mark were growing up at a time when the amount and kind of activity in this state were similar to the amount and kind of activity throughout the country. They are at most one generation removed from the time when rural Vermont was rising to its greatest development. These conditions, besides furnishing an ideal environment for the development of youth, stimulated their ambition and imbued them with a tradition of achievement. In 1880, according to the Ayres Index, Vermont ranked sixth among the states in school rating; in 1920 it ranked twenty‐fourth. With this difference in send‐off, will the present generation of young Vermonters be able to accomplish what their uncles have?

It is clear that if the valuable characteristics of our old Vermont stock are to be conserved and passed on to future generations for the good of the state and the nation, conditions must be brought about which will favor the maintenance of that stock as far as possible. As farmers are the backbone of the state, ways must be found in which farming can be made to pay, so that desirable families will remain on the farms. Not only farming and other economic conditions must be made favorable, but community activities should be made to enrich rural life as much as possible, and our educational facilities must be of the best, that our youth may be given as good a start as those of any other state. In short all the potential resources of the state must be examined, and plans must be made for their fullest development.

3 W. S. Rossiter. "Vermont. An Historical and Statistical Study of the Progress of the State." From this article we have also taken certain statistical material as well as suggestions for arrangement.

4 This section is a condensation of the Fifth Annual Report of the Eugenics Survey of Vermont, 1931.

The study of the people of Vermont has revealed a sturdy British stock, augmented in recent years by a slow inflow of French‐Canadians and small numbers of other nationalities. This influx has been slow enough to be better assimilated in Vermont than in the rest of New England and there is prospect of its decreasing. Vermont families have a strong tendency to stay on the farm, and even a stronger one to stay in the same locality. In spite of this, there has been a persistent flow of young people in the prime of life into the larger towns and to other states. Many of these have found their way to positions of far more than ordinary importance.

To promote the best future citizenry in the state, this Committee makes the following recommendations:

1. That Vermonters be encouraged to keep and study their own family records with a view to arousing their pride in the achievements and high qualities of their ancestral stock so that this pride may in turn stimulate their better efforts and guide them in their choice of mates. 2. That the doctrine be spread that it is the patriotic duty of every normal couple to have children in sufficient number to keep up to par the "good old Vermont stock." 3. That public opinion be strengthened in regard to the importance of heeding those laws of nature which affect human inheritance. This can be done only by educating that public opinion. The circulation of the best library books on eugenics, population and heredity, public discussions, debates and study classes, lectures and newspaper letters are among the means to this end. The Eugenics Survey will gladly furnish reading lists and suggestions to organizations wishing help. 4. That the natural leaders of rural Vermont, individually and through their organizations, assume the responsibility for making general the best mental and moral attitudes, hopes and aspirations which they themselves now possess, with a view to increasing the appreciation of our people for their environment as it now is and their appreciation for it as their determined efforts to improve it can make it to be. Let every organization take up these opportunities to serve coming Vermont.

Prepared for the Commission by its Committee on the Human Factor.

PAUL D. MOODY, Chairman, E. A. STANLEY, Vice‐chairman, H. F. PERKINS, Executive Secretary, RUSSELL G. SHOLES.

Advisory Committee of Eugenics Survey:

H. F. PERKINS, Director, T. J. ALLEN, GUY W. BAILEY, CHARLES F. DALTON, W. H. DYER, SHIRLEY FARR, K R. B. FLINT, A.R. GIFFORD, HOWARD N. HANSON, HORACE G. RIPLEY, LENA C. ROSS, E. A. STANLEY, L. JOSEPHINE WEBSTER.

Sub‐committee on Population Changes:

RUSSELL G. SHOLES, Chairman, HENRY BRANCHAUD.

A Study of Agricultural Populations in Selected Vermont Towns, 1929‐1930. A Manuscript by GENIEVE LAMSON

A Study of the Effects of Summer Residents, 1930. A Manuscript by H. D. PEARL.

Eugenics Survey of Vermont. Annual Reports, 1927‐1931, published by the Eugenics Survey, 138 Church Street, Burlington, Vt.

United States Census Reports.

Vermont, An Historical and Statistical Study of the Progress of the State.W. S. ROSSITER Quarterly publications of the American Statistical Association, New Series, No. 93, Vol. XII, March, 1911.

This Committee was organized to give consideration to those groups in Vermont in need of special care, the blind, the deaf, the crippled, the pauper, the feeble‐minded, the insane, neglected and dependent children, as well as juvenile delinquents and adult offenders against the law.

Present method of care. Vermont's method of caring for its handicapped centers around the town overseers of the poor, the Department of Public Welfare and certain private institutions and agencies. Below is given a brief statement of the situation as it exists today.

The overseers of the poor in the two hundred and forty‐eight towns and cities of the state are charged with the duty of relieving poor and indigent persons within their borders "either in the poor house provided by the town or in such other manner as the town directs." Where it is ascertained that a pauper has a legal residence in some other town, the expense for his support may be charged to that town. The state provide5 institutions for the care and treatment of the insane, feeble‐minded, incipient cases of tuberculosis, criminals and juvenile delinquents. The Department of Public Welfare is in charge of all of the state institutions and of probation and parole. It designates indigent tuberculous persons for institutional care at state expense, pre‐tubercular children for Preventorium care, and also deaf and blind children to educational institutions. It is empowered with the licensing and inspection of all private institutions caring for dependent and neglected children and of all foster homes boarding children under two years of age. Town overseers of the poor and private child‐caring institutions and agencies are required by law to report to the Department of Public Welfare, and the placement of children b overseers is subject to the approval of the Department. The Department receives dependent and neglected children committed to it by courts and cares for them temporarily in its receiving home and then in foster boarding and free homes. It also administers mothers' aid to dependent children kept with their own mothers.

The public care of the handicapped is supplemented in Vermont by the work of various private institutions and agencies, both sectarian and non‐sectarian. Thus the expense of caring for the needy is met from two sources, public taxes and private contributions from benevolently‐minded individuals.

Method and scope of work. It was obviously impossible because of the limited time and money available for the Committee to attempt anything approaching a thorough study of all the handicapped of the state. As the problems of the handicapped first come to light in the various towns and are usually brought to the attention of the overseers of the poor, it was decided that the first undertaking of the Committee would be to study as intensively as possible the work of the town overseers. Forty‐two towns in four counties were chosen as a representative cross section of Vermont; in these were included an industrial city, a prosperous dairy region, a back hill section and a mining district. A worker was employed who spent over four months in gaining first‐hand information as to the nature and scope of the problem and the overseers' methods of meeting it.

The next undertaking of the Committee was a study of the aid rendered to these forty‐two towns by public and private institutions and agencies of the state in the care and training of its handicapped children. This study led directly to the child‐caring resources of the state, and while it was by no means an exhaustive or critical study of the individual institutions, it did give a complete picture of the provision Vermont has for the care of its dependent, delinquent, feebleminded and physically handicapped children.

The Committee was fortunate in including in its membership men and women in direct touch with the social problems of the state. A pooling of the knowledge of its individual members and a statement of the goals set by each in his own field was the third phase of the Committee's activity. Individual reports dealing with each one's specialty were prepared by the committee members which, after discussion and some revision by the Committee as a whole, became a part of its program. An effort was made in all of the Committee's thinking to keep "the long view" and to set up goals many of which are obviously not within reach at present. It is hoped that the Committee's objectives may contain some recommendations which may be utilized at an early date and others which may act as a guide and incentive for years to come.

The work of the overseers of the poor in the two hundred and forty‐eight towns and cities of Vermont is the foundation of the state's care of its handicapped. "The fact that Vermont is a rural state makes the problem of poor relief none the less serious. In the hamlets of Vermont there are forces at work which are even more menacing than those which attract the attention of social workers in areas densely populated and many of these insidious agencies are closely interwoven with the administration of public charity.'' 1

Outdoor relief. The giving of relief in families, or "outdoor relief" as it is called, is the most difficult problem confronting the overseer. The handling of this problem necessitates the giving of considerable time and thought for investigation of the facts and available resources; time and thought for making a constructive plan by means of which to develop the self‐respect and economic and social potentialities of the family; and time, energy, money and an understanding and love of one's fellows to work out an effective plan. Few of the overseers are in a position to give the time, even though they possessed all the other qualifications. They are necessarily busy about their own affairs, as in most cases the payment they receive is a mere pittance. In the forty‐two towns studied twenty‐seven overseers were being paid twenty‐five dollars or less per year. Great credit is due many overseers for a gift of time and effort in behalf of the poor of their communities out of all proportion to their financial reimbursement.

In some instances gratifying results are achieved but it is inevitable that in many cases there is inadequate handling of complex social problems Investigations are all too frequently incomplete. The amount granted occasionally seems to depend upon the persistency of the applicants and the amount of aid demanded more than upon the actual need. A mother struggling to bring up her children is sometimes given such meager help that she endangers her health by over work and the children stray into delinquency while she is working out side of the home. If the mother is inclined to be morally weak, she may even resort to questionable ways of living in order to keep her family together. The law allows an overseer to break up a home and place the‐children if the family is supported in whole or in part at the expense of the town. The threat of an overseer to take her children from her has been known to prevent a mother from asking for sorely needed help.

Strictly interpreted, the job of the overseer is concerned only with families or individuals applying for public relief. Almost every community in Vermont has its "sore spot" where neglected children and neglectful and discouraged or demoralized adults live in such a manner as to jeopardize the health and morals of other members of the community. Often such families are wise enough not to ask for public assistance or to show evidence of violation of the law. Under the existing law such cases are the concern neither of the overseer nor of the prosecuting officer of the town or county. What is needed is family case work administered by an organization closely identified with the community and near enough to the trouble to do constructive and effective work.

Welfare units. For situations like the above, which come without the strict limits of the duties of the overseer of the poor, and in order to provide assistance to the overseer for all of his problems, the Committee would recommend a long time program involving the establishment throughout Vermont of welfare districts. These districts could consist of a combination of towns in which an experienced case worker would work in connection with a board of representative citizens of both men and women. In N7ermont it is possible that a district larger than a county might be a practical working unit. It is suggested that topographical features should lie the controlling factors in making up such districts. The Committee is not at present prepared to recommend what unit shall be chosen but suggests that the matter be studied in connection with other committees facing the same problem. The work of such local units could do much to prevent the break up of family homes and resulting dependency and delinquency of children.

Psychiatric clinic. Another need which is felt by many agencies working in the field of health, education and social service is for a traveling psychiatric clinic. Such a clinic, composed of a psychiatrist, a physician, a psychologist, a social worker and clerical assistance might well be established under the combined auspices of the State Board of Health, Department of Public Welfare and Board of Education with private organizations cooperating. It would have as its aim: (1) To diagnose and recommend treatment for physical and mental defect and disease; (2) to diagnose and outline treatment for behavior problems; (3) to provide expert consultation for state institutions, judges, teachers, ministers, overseers of the poor and other welfare and health workers. A clinic of this kind should be a powerful agency for the prevention of insanity, delinquency and other maladjustments.

This committee joins with the Committee on Educational Facilities in recommending the immediate consideration of ways and means of establishing a psychiatric clinic. Even though Vermont may have to begin in a small way with part‐time service, it is believed that a clinic would soon demonstrate its worth and grow as its services were understood and utilized.

The value of a psychiatric clinic depends to a large extent upon the availability of good case work facilities to carry out its recommendations. Without such follow up, diagnosis and recommendations have a very limited value. The suggestion made in the preceding section for welfare districts with capable case workers would supplement the work of the clinic and should be kept in mind in connection with any clinic program. The use of psychiatric clinic in relation to work with various classes of the handicapped will be discussed in subsequent sections of this report.

Aged poor. Many aged poor are no longer cared for in Vermont in almshouses but are being supported in their own homes or boarded with relatives or neighbors. The plan of caring for the so‐called normal aged poor in families results in greater comfort, happiness and self‐respect for this class of dependents provided adequate support and adequate supervision are given. Without such supervision it is subject to great abuse. Several states have already provided for the aged poor by the establishment of old‐age pensions, thus removing the fear of pauperism which hovers about old age.

The Committee recommends for the aged poor who are not problems of physical or mental health or defect: 1. The ultimate establishment of old‐age pensions. 2. Adequate support in their own homes or in boarding homes at the expense of the town.

Effective results from either of the above plans depend upon skillful case work which should be administered either publicly or under public supervision. The district welfare worker previously recommended could be used for investigation and supervision of the aged within the district.

Institutional relief. Minute classification is the corner stone upon which a poor relief system should be erected. Such classification is beyond the realm of possibility in the town poorhouse where the sick, the normal aged, the crippled and the mentally unsound live together in confusion. The money now spent in maintaining inadequate not to say deplorable town and city poor farms would go a long way toward the building of a state infirmary for the chronic sick for whom there is now no room in the regular hospitals of the state. Towns or cities should bear a considerable part if not the whole of the expense involved in the care of patients. Such a system of institutional relief should not stand in the way of town or city homes for the aged in communities where funds or other resources are available for this purpose. Such homes, however, should not receive other unfortunate individuals and should not be connected with a farm. There is no relationship between successful farming and wise treatment of the derelicts of society.

Recommendations for poor relief. 1. Abolition of town poor farms. 2. Old‐age pensions or the relief of the aged poor in their own homes or in carefully selected and supervised boarding homes. 3. Establishment of a state infirmary for the indigent chronic sick, the expense of whose care should be met in whole or in part by the towns. 4. Establishment of welfare districts with skilled agents for ease work with families and individuals. 5. Establishment of a traveling psychiatric clinic, available to state institutions, courts, schools, health and welfare agencies.

For every child a home and that love and security which a home provides; and for that child who must receive foster care, the nearest substitute for his own home. (The Children's Charter, White House Conference, 1930.)

Cared for in own homes. Vermont is one of forty‐five states of the Union which make public provision to keep children of good mothers in their own homes. On July 1, 1930, aid was being granted through the Department of Public Welfare to ninety‐four mothers representing 252 children. In addition the Department had a long waiting list of applications from other mothers eligible under the law but for whom no money was available.

To keep children with their mothers by means of pensions is not only the humane but the economical way of providing for them, but as yet this is not thoroughly understood or appreciated. In the forty‐two Towns which the committee studied intensively, there were only eight families receiving mothers' aid and twenty‐four overseers had no knowledge of the law. All too frequently the home is needlessly broken up and the children placed in institutions or foster homes. To quote from Commissioner Dyer's last report:

There is a practice among some overseers when a good and worthy mother asks for temporary aid from the town to threaten to remove her children from her and place her in the poorhouse separated from the children. The consequence is naturally that the mother gets on the best she can and the children are undernourished and become broken in health, and are sent at state expense to the Preventorium for treatment. Adequate provision for mothers' aid will remedy this, but public sentiment in the towns where this may be the practice should be aroused to the extent that such methods bc stopped for they are barbarous and relics of slavery days that have no place in our beloved State of Vermont.4

The law provides for the payment of $2.00 a week per child, the expense to be divided between the town and state. This is obviously in many instances an inadequate allowance and defeats its own purpose of providing suitable care for children in their own homes. A mother forced to do hard work to supplement her pension, often away from home for many hours of the day, cannot do justice to her children. In place of the $2.00 a week allowance now in force, the Committee recommends that the Legislature empower the Department to make elastic grants based upon the budget needs and resources of the family and that the appropriation be large enough to care for all eligible mothers and children.

Mothers' aid should be accompanied by careful supervision by case workers. The Department is at present so understaffed that adequate supervision is impossible. The Committee recommends either larger appropriation to increase the Department's staff or a system of cooperation with the welfare districts previously recommended.

Cared for away from own home. Approximately 1,300 dependent children are cared for in Vermont outside of their own homes. The number of dependent children cared for away from their homes per 10,000 of the total population of the state is about thirty‐six. This is a high proportion as compared with other states, except for the other New England states whose rate is about the same. It is significant that the number of Vermont children receiving mothers' aid per 10,000 of the total state population is seven, a very low rate compared with other states. In states in which mothers' aid is fairly adequate the number of children receiving assistance in their own homes is at least as large as the number under care of institutions and agencies.

The above facts would indicate that Vermont is not providing the most humane and economical care for many children whose homes might be preserved. Another reason which undoubtedly increases the number of children cared for away from home is the lack of family welfare work in local communities. Case work applied in time by a skilled worker can often overcome the dangers which threaten a home. To meet this urgent need, the Committee again recommends welfare districts with experienced case workers.

With every effort made to preserve to children all family homes worthy of the name of home, there will still be many children who because of the death, illness or unfitness of their mothers must be cared for elsewhere. For them the state should provide the best substitute possible, which means the study of each individual child to determine where and how he can best develop. Institution or foster home should be chosen not because there is a vacancy or because of financial considerations but because it is fitted to the child's particular need.

As a general rule young normal dependents should be cared for in foster homes, and institutions should develop their resources to give specialized types of care to older children with vocational or trade training emphasized. For both institutions and foster homes the character of the persons intrusted with the care and training of the children is of the utmost importance. Except in unusual cases where a child would be handicapped by his family, he should be kept in his own community as far as possible. The welfare unit previously mentioned could well undertake the placement and supervision of many of these children.

A careful intake policy based on adequate case work should be a part of the equipment of every child‐caring institution and agency and is essential if they are to serve the children who need them most. All private institutions and agencies caring for dependent children should be inspected and licensed annually by the Department of Public Welfare.

No study was made by the Committee of illegitimacy or adoptions though it realizes that these are subjects which need very careful consideration.

1. The establishment of welfare districts with competent case workers to salvage threatened homes and place and supervise homeless children who are kept in their own communities. 2. A large enough appropriation for mothers' aid to give adequate relief to all eligible mothers. 3. An amendment of the mothers' aid law enabling the Department of Public Welfare to make elastic grants based on a budgeting of income and need. 4. Increased appropriation to the Department of Public Welfare so that it may be adequately staffed for its work of direct care of children and supervision of private child‐caring agencies and institutions.

4 Biennial Report of the Department of Public Welfare, June 30, 1930.

For every child who is in conflict with society, the right to be dealt with intelligently as society's charge, not society's outcast; with the home, the school, the church, the court and the institution when needed, shaped to return him whenever possible to the normal stream of life. (Children's Character.)

This report concerns itself almost entirely with the juvenile delinquent. Vermont is noted for its prison system and handling of adult offenders. Comparatively little preventive work can, however, be done with the adult offender. Prevention and study must begin with the juvenile delinquent, or better, with all children that show signs of maladjustment.

No accurate statement of the delinquency problem is possible. Delinquency is so closely related and interwoven with the problem of the feeble‐minded, dependent and neglected child that one is unable to draw a close line between them. Vermont in common with all sections has the problem and must face it constructively. The state has excellent physical equipment for caring for delinquents in the training school at Vergennes.

The problem of understanding the underlying difficulties of which the delinquency is but a symptom is complex. The state lacks facilities for solving it. The clinic already proposed would be a great help in working with the delinquent and pre‐delinquent child. It would also do much toward making specific recommendations as to the type of training which would most benefit the child, once he had been committed to the State Industrial School.

Increase of probation and parole facilities would reduce the number of delinquents committed to the institution and would insure greater success of the individuals leaving the institution. It would mean also that delinquents could be discharged after a shorter stay in the institution, because of more effective supervision available. It would protect the investment already made by the state in these persons. At the present time one parole officer from the State Industrial School is attempting to supervise 122 cases. This is obviously too great a load to secure the best results.

Another activity in which the state can well afford to engage is that of parent education. Juvenile delinquency is largely due to failure on the part of parents. Eventually' parent education should materially decrease delinquency by bringing to parents a better understanding of their children and of the best methods of training them.

At present Vermont is unable to handle defective delinquents satisfactorily. Separate provision, preferably in a special institution, will sometime be necessary. For the adequately studied and classified delinquent, special classes and types of training must be provided. These include specially trained personnel and more facilities for hand training.

1. Increase in the number of probation and parole officers. 2. Adequate case records for use of juvenile court judges. 3. Provision for separate care of defective delinquents. 4. The establishment of a traveling psychiatric clinic. 5. A program of parent education under the auspices of the state. 6. Family case work in welfare districts to prevent neglect and consequent delinquency of children.

For every child who is blind, deaf, crippled or otherwise physically handicapped, and for the child who is mentally handicapped, such measures as will early d cover and diagnose his handicap, provide care and treatment, and so t'" n him that he may become an asset to society rather than a liability. Expenses of these services should be borne publicly where they cannot be privately met. (Children's Charter, White House Conference, 1930.)

No complete figures of the number of persons involved under this head are available. A survey should be made for the purpose of ascertaining how many blind, deaf, crippled and otherwise physically handicapped individuals exist in the state. Vermont's program for the care of the physically handicapped children is in accord with the recommendations of the White House Conference. So far as is known, all blind and deaf children eligible for training in special educational institutions are receiving such education. It is possible, however, for the state to do much more toward early discovery and diagnosis. Welfare districts as mentioned previously in this report would undoubtedly lead to the finding of cases of physical handicap at a much earlier date. They would also contribute to the prevention of physical handicaps through elimination of their causes.

In all cases of blindness and deafness early detection is noted as the chief instrument in successful treatment and cure. The use of the audiometer for detection of deafness, for example, is advantageously used in many school systems. All the New England states except Vermont use this device for measuring the hearing of school children. Pre‐school clinics and medical inspection in schools aid greatly in early discovery and treatment of eye troubles. Such clinics must be accompanied by adequate follow‐up work. Babies are still discovered in Vermont, blind from ophthalmia neonatorum, showing that there is still room for better preventive measures at birth.

There exists a federal statute which assists states in the vocational rehabilitation of adults crippled in industry. This Committee believes that Vermont should study this statute with a view of the possibility of taking advantage of its provisions and assistance in reeducating crippled adults.

Those afflicted with tuberculosis in the various stages constitute a large group whose problem is being effectively met. Here again prevention is greatly needed. Physical examinations for school children and education of all adults as to prevention and cure are most important. Health colonies for bridging over the time between discharge from the sanatorium and the taking up of everyday life have been suggested by the Vermont Tuberculosis Association. The Committee recommends study of its plan. The need of case histories in the proper diagnosis and prevention of tuberculosis once more brings out the usefulness of the welfare district. A worker in such a district would be able to help with such histories and might even have much of the material already on file.

With no desire to minimize the very fine program of treatment and aid now in effect in Vermont, the Committee makes the following recommendations which it feels will greatly strengthen and further the program of early diagnosis and prevention of physical handicaps.

A. For the blind and deaf. 1. A survey of all blind and deaf in the state. 2. Early detection of blind and deaf in schools with preventive measures and special classes where practical. 3. Enforcement of Section 6206, Chapter 267, of the Laws of Vermont dealing with prevention of blindness. 4. Adequate follow‐up of blind and deaf children after discharge from special schools. 5. Provision for adequate instruction of adult blind and deaf at state expense. 6. Larger local responsibility for blind and deaf.

B. For the crippled. 1. Greater local interest and responsibility to the end that crippled children may be found and brought to already available resources of training and treatment at the outset of trouble. 2. Provision for continuance and permanence of the poliomyelitis clinics and for after‐care of Vermont poliomyelitis patients when needed. 3. Study of the desirability of the state's taking advantage of the federal act f or vocational rehabilitation. RURAL VERMONT 4. Study of ways and means of providing education and training for crippled children unable to attend public schools.

C. For the tubercular. 1. Health education and physical examinations in the public schools as important preventive measures. 2. Study of the plan for health camps to bridge the gap from sanitarium to private life. 3. Improvement of facilities for obtaining case histories through establishment of welfare districts.

The exact number of the feeble‐minded in Vermont is not known but it is estimated that there are about 5000 such persons in the state. 2 On June 30, 1930, 272 pupils were enrolled in the Brandon State School. Of these, 232 were cared for at the school, sixteen girls were at the Rutland Colony and nine boys at the Farm Colony. The remaining fifteen boys and girls were on parole. There is no question but that there are in the whole state a great many more mental defectives who need special help to enable them to become assets to society and not liabilities. Early identification of the feebleminded child is paramount. This can be accomplished by routine reporting of retarded school children who should then be given special tests by qualified examiners Here again is found al1 urgent need for the psychiatric clinic. It is generally accepted that the public school is responsible for working out a program to fit the need of the great majority of mentally defective children. This is a matter which pertains more directly to the Committee on Educational Facilities. Special classes are doubtless the solution of the problem for numbers of defective children living in centers large enough to make such classes practical. In other cases a special agent to assist rural teachers in their work with backward children, as recommended by the Committee on Educational Facilities, is here approved.

Community supervision and responsibility for the feeble‐minded are important planks in a state's program for the care of its defectives. Social service in the local communities is needed for the feebleminded as for the other maladjusted classes of the community. For this purpose welfare districts are again recommended. In a state program for the control and training of the feeble‐minded, the state institution is the pivot about which should revolve all other machinery. The present tendency is to receive the teachable young child at the Brandon State School and after a period of intensive training to return him to the community. Studies made of the after‐school careers of such children indicate definitely that the large majority are able to take their places in community life as ordinary, decent, working citizens who mind their own business and make their own way in such a manner as to be in no sense a social burden.

Vermont this year adopted a program of voluntary sterilization of certain defectives. Its marriage laws also take cognizance of the danger to the state of the marriage of defectives by forbidding a clerk to issue a marriage license to certain enumerated classes. 3

Two problems connected with the care of the feeble‐minded have been noted by the Committee but it is not yet ready to make recommendations in regard to them. The first is the care of the low grade feeble‐minded. Many such are now being cared for in poor farms. If poor farms are abolished as recommended on page 287, some other provision would have to be made for the care of this class as it is doubtful if they could be satisfactorily boarded in family homes. Some of the low grade feeble‐minded are now in the Brandon State School and at Waterbury State Hospital but are neither trainable at Brandon nor proper subjects for a hospital for the insane.

The other problem is that of the defective delinquent, both adult and juvenile. There are many pupils at the Industrial School who are feeble‐minded but who because of their delinquency do not fit into the program of the training school at Brandon. The delinquent feebleminded woman is even a worse social problem. While in the Reformatory at Rutland she is easily managed and happy; when discharged at the expiration of her sentence she returns to the community quite unable to meet its requirements because mentally she is only a little girl. Usually she becomes a sex offender and her neglected children either legitimate or illegitimate further tax the social resources of the state.

1. Early identification by means of reporting of retarded school children, followed by psychometric and psychiatric examinations as the need is indicated. 2. Special classes in larger centers and special aid to the rural school teacher in meeting the educational need of defective pupils. 3. Community supervision and responsibility by means of case work in the welfare districts previously recommended. 4. Selection of suitable defective children for intensive training in the State School with the expectation of returning them as assets to the Community. 5. Further study to determine the best program for the low grade feeble‐minded and the adult and juvenile defective delinquent. 6. A traveling psychiatric clinic, available to state institutions, courts, schools, health and welfare agencies.

2 First Annual Report, Eugenics Survey of Vermont, 1927, p. 15.

3 Public Acts of the 1929 General Assembly, State of Vermont. Permanent No. 51.

The Committee did not attempt to make an extensive study of the problem of the insane in Vermont. On June 30, 1930, there were in the State Hospital at Waterbury 879 patients and 608 patients at Brattleboro Retreat, making a total of 1,487 mental patients receiving hospital care. Undoubtedly there are many other Vermont patients cared for in private sanitariums both in and out of the state. The extent of the problem is evidenced by the fact that there are in Vermont more patients in hospitals for the insane than there are hospital beds in the entire state for the physically sick.

Science is discovering what a large place there is for prevention in the field of mental disease. Mental breakdown can in a large measure be prevented if the trouble is detected and treated in its early stages. Better yet, mental hygiene programs for the inculcation, especially in early childhood, of right attitudes and wholesome habits of thought and behavior are doing much in some communities to build up a balance of personality that can withstand the strain of our modern life. Vermont has no organized activity which has for its object the promotion of mental hygiene or the prevention of mental disease. The Committee for lack of time did not make definite study or recommendations along this line but points out the need for further study.

The work of the State Hospital at Waterbury could be greatly helped by the introduction of trained social service as a part of the hospital resources. The psychiatric social worker, trained in social service has in addition special training in psychiatry. She makes the contact between the State Hospital and the community, visiting the homes of the patients and collecting information in regard to the patient's home environment and the factors that led up to the mental breakdown. She also takes charge of the patient when he leaves the hospital and is thereby able to determine whether or not he is making a good readjustment at home. If the patient is not getting along satisfactorily she reports to the hospital any untoward symptoms that are developing.

The psychiatric clinic suggested above is urgently needed for preventive and remedial work with the insane. Instability which results in mental breakdown in adult life is often apparent in childhood, showing itself in such symptoms as so‐called "nervousness," excessive shyness, temper tantrums, and other behavior difficulties. If such children can be understood and properly handled, there is reason to believe that much insanity can be prevented. A psychiatric clinic would be an invaluable help to parents or guardians of such children; could detect and diagnose mental disease in its early stages and help the state hospital in follow‐up work with paroled and discharged persons.

1. The inclusion of psychiatric social service with the work of the state hospital. 2. The establishment of a traveling psychiatric clinic. 3. The establishment of welfare districts with competent case work with which the hospital and clinic can cooperate. 4. Dissemination of information regarding generally accepted principles of mental hygiene.

The Committee's program for the care of Vermont's handicapped rests upon the following foundations:

1. The establishment of district welfare units. This is in accord with a Statement in section 19 of the Children's Charter which reads: "Full‐time public welfare service for the fief, aid, and guidance of children in special need due poverty, misfortune, or behavior difficulties, and f or protection of children from abuse, neglect, exploitation moral hazard." 2. Care of the normal aged poor in their own homes or boarding homes under adequate supervision and the establishment of a state hospital for the indigent chronic sick. 3. The establishment of a traveling psychiatric clinic. 4. A strengthening of the resources of the Department of Public Welfare, especially in the way of personnel, so that it may assure adequate care and protection to all of the state's handicapped by (a) Development of its own program of direct care by the state. (b) Standardization of the work of private organizations. (c) Help to enable local communities to give suitable care near home to as many as possible of their unfortunates. 5. A coordination of the work of all public and private agencies, each supplementing and enforcing the work of the others.

All of the recommendations of this report are made with a view to a long‐time program and with the thought of prevention always in mind. The Committee presents this proposed program with the hope of having it tested by the thinking and experience of men and women from many walks of life in all parts of Vermont. Only when the program has met this test of public opinion and been revised thereby can it hope to become a real program for Vermont's care of its handicapped.

Prepared for the Commission by its Committee on the Care of the Handicapped.

W. I. MAYO, JR., Chairman, L. JOSEPHINE WEBSTER, Executive Secretary, T. J. ALLEN, M. D., Brandon, K. R. B. FLINT, Northfield, HOWARD N. HANSON, Vergennes, C. RUSSELL LITTLE, Fair Haven, MARY E. MCKEOUGH, Rutland, ANNA R. McMahon, Montpelier, LENA C. Ross, Rutland, FANNY G. SHAW, Burlington, HAROLD W. SLOCUM, Burlington, E. A. STANLEY, M. D., Waterbury, WM. H. DYER, Montpelier, (Consulting Member).

Source Material on Which Committee's Findings are Based

Report on Mental Deficiency, T. J. ALLEN, M. D. An Ideal Poor‐Relief System for Vermont, K. R. B. FLINT. Report on Juvenile Delinquency HOWARD N. HANSON. Report on Institutions for Children, W. I. MAYO, JR. Report on Mothers' Aid, ANNA R. MCMAEON. Report on Certain Physically Handicapped Persons in Vermont, FANNY G. SHAW. Special Report on the Tuberculosis Situation in Vermont, HAROLD W. SLOCUM. Report on the Waterbury State Hospital, E. A. STANLEY, M. D. Report on Child‐Placing, L. JOSEPHINE WEBSTER. A Study of Relief by Overseers in Forty‐two Towns, MARY V. BOLTON. A Study of Aid Rendered to Forty‐two Towns by Certain Public and Private Institutions, MARY V. BOLTON. Possible Objectives in Social Endeavor for Vermont, SARAH H. SPENCER Addresses and Abstracts of Committee Reports White House Conference on Child Health and Protection, 1930. Annual Reports, 1927‐1930, Eugenics Survey of Vermont.

There are two problems that call for our very best attention when we think of those among us who are crippled, blind, deaf, insane or endowed with less than enough brains to make their way in the world, or of those who through these or other causes are incapable of earning their own living the aged and those who have been or still are chronically sick. The first of these problems, that of the treatment of the handicapped by social agencies and methods, having been discussed, it remains to consider the prevention of further defectiveness. The immediate need that confronts us is to lessen distress of body or of mind in those about us. Common humanity calls for that. It is not a simple task. It demands the best efforts of keen minds, a long and careful study of conditions, needs, resources and approved methods. No hamlet is so small as to be exempt and every state and town has problems of its own concerning its unfortunate, its underprivileged, its handicapped.

The second of these problems, that of prevention, can be stated in the form of questions. How can a community, after caring to the best of its abilities for those who suffer from devastating ills, proceed to govern itself in such a way as to better its chances for the future? Are there any known and tried methods of lessening the danger of an increase or a continuance at present rates of mental and physical damage in our population? If my neighbor breaks his leg in a hole in my door‐yard I first get a doctor, later send in some flowers and then I proceed to fill up the hole. We have been getting doctors better and better ones as time has gone on. We have sent lots of flowers. But it has escaped us that there are ways of preventing future mishaps and that it is our job to use them. We are just beginning to wake up to such things. Eugenics is finding out what to do and has already much sound advice to offer us. If we will listen to that advice and follow it, there will be fewer defectives and delinquents among the population of coming Vermont than in the past or the present. There will be a larger proportion of the people who will enjoy the richer life that is made possible by sound minds in healthy bodies, and our children's children will be less hampered by the social and economic drag of avoidable low grade Vermonters.

The Eugenics Survey of Vermont has been engaged since the autumn of 1925 in a study of heredity in Vermont families and gratifying progress has been made in the gathering of useful facts. It has attempted to deduce conclusions leading toward the adoption of remedies and has been given not a few opportunities to place its findings and its recommendations before the people of this and other states.

Because more information had been previously gathered by social agencies than was elsewhere available, the records which were at hand to use as a starting point when the Survey began were those of families or persons who had at least come into contact with social agencies, and these were naturally dependent, deficient or delinquent. More than fifty families of these sorts were studied and catalogued, numbering in their five or six latest generations some six thousand persons. They came from many different parts of the state and every institution and social agency was drawn upon for reliable information about them, besides which, personal interviews were the principal source of data.

In addition to the articles included in the report of the Committee on the People of Vermont (chapter III of this volume), the Eugenics Survey makes the following recommendation:

Through the quickened public conscience aroused by the methods of education outlined in chapter III, we recommend the strict enforcement of our laws governing marriage of defectives and such other measures as are calculated to check the multiplication of the unfit.

Prepared for the Commission by the Eugenics Survey. H. F. PERKINS, Director.