The progress of the subventions for charity from 1844 to 1859 is shown in the following table.

Subventions For Charity, 1844 To 1859, Inclusive *1

Year End-

Total

Indigent Defectives

Neglected Children

Indigent Adults

Miscel-

mg

Nov.

30

The Blind

Deaf-mutes

Feebleminded Children

The

Insane

Orphans

Incorrigible Children

laneous

1844

$27,357 18,643 19,493 32,000 26,000 24,000 38,268 36,152 51,653 47,514 49,762 85,882 83,268 102,683 146,408 139,702

$12,357

3,643

4,493

18,000

9,000

9,000

24,000

10,500

12,000

12,000

12,000

14,500

17,000

19,500

22,000

22,000

$11,000 11,000 11,000 10,000 13,000 11,000 8,268 19,652 14,653 14,514 14,750 16,626 16,277 18,945 19,908 9,702

      

$ 4,000

4,000

4,000

4,000

4,000

4,000

6,000

6,000

15,000

21,000

22,000

33,000

45,000

55,000

57,000

38,500

    

1845

          

1846

          

1847

          

1848

          

1849

          

1850

          

1851

          

1852

  

$10,000

      

1853

        

1854

$ 1,012

21,756

1,991

3,738

34,000

26,500

        

1855

        

1856

      

$3,000

1857

5,000

7,000

30,000

$ 500 6,500 8,000

    

1858

    

1859

$5,000

  
           

1 From Reports of the Auditors General, 1844 to 1859. 128 See pp. 111-113, supra.

During the sixteen years ending November 30, 1859 the total of all subventions to charitable institutions increased from $27,357 to $139,702, or more than 410 per cent. During approximately the same period (1846-1860), the revenue of the state increased from $2,115,000 to $3,378,000, or about 59 per cent, and the total of all state expenditures decreased from $3,225,000 to $2,962,000, or about 8 per cent. *129 Slight as was the development of subventions to charitable institutions, as measured in dollars, its increase was proportionately more rapid than that of the total of all payments from the state treasury, maintenance of the state works excluded. Moreover, it should be remembered that during this period the payments to common schools, as shown by the reports of the Auditors General, declined until 1855. From 1846, when appropriations had already been reduced to relieve the pressure on the state treasury, to 1859, the increase in the common school subvention amounted to only $47,452. *130

There is no completely satisfactory explanation why charitable institutions were treated more liberally than were the common schools. As has been pointed out in the second section of this chapter, the people seem to have lost interest in the school system during the years 1844 to 1850. The charitable institutions were, on the other hand, always represented before the legislature by their officers and friends. It would be easy to assert that the subvention to charitable institutions afforded greater opportunity for manipulation to the advantage of unscrupulous politicians than did the grant in aid of common schools. But in the light of the revelations of corrupt practice in the conduct of common schools, such an assertion would be difficult to prove. *131

The outbreak of the Civil War, in 1861, did not immediately occasion any increase in the subventions for charity. In fact, the annual payments to the two houses of refuge were actually less during the four years, 1860 to 1863 inclusive, than during the four years immediately preceding. The two schools for the education of defective children received no important increases during the early years of the war.

After 1865, however, all the older institutions received much larger grants, and the subventions to orphanages, hospitals, and the asylum for the insane at Dixmont grew at an astounding rate. In 1865 also, the state began to care for the orphans of the soldiers of the Civil War.

129 Reports of Auditors General for years 1846 to 1860. 130 See Table II, Appendix. 131 See pp. 94 ff. supra.