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the money paid out, the taxes to be collected as other township taxes were collected, and paid into the county treasury. The effect of this law was to make the trustee responsible directly to his constituency for his management of the poor funds of his township.
The statistics gathered under the operation of the new law proved most interesting and valuable. In 1898 it was found that in 64 of the 1,014 townships in the state no levy was required; in 515 the levy was under 5 cents, while in 435 it ranged from 5 to 30 cents on $ioo. 14 It is obvious that in some of the more sparsely settled communities, where land is not valuable, the tax levy will be higher than in the more prosperous districts. The reports, however, brought out the fact that some of the highest levies were made in the richest townships; for example, Portage in St. Joseph County, containing the city of South Bend ; Troy in Fountain County, containing the city of Covington. In many of the townships the levy found necessary was more than double the ordinary state levy.
A full report of the conditions found to be existing was made by the Board of State Charities in its report for 1898. Atten- tion was also called to the facts gathered from the reports of township trustees, which by that time were far more satisfactory. Poor-relief and medical aid in 1897 amounted to $388,343. 67* 5 and in 1898 to $375, 206.92. 16 The number of persons aided in 1897 was reported as 82,235; in 1898, 75,119.
The conditions were brought forcibly to the attention of the people of the state. The more business-like trustees, the State Board of Commerce, and many citizens in different parts of the state were becoming actively interested. A township trustee, the secretary of a charity-organization society, a former secretary and the then secretary of the Board of State Charities, formed a committee to draft a bill for presentation to the legislature, to correct some of the evils. A carefully drawn bill was submitted to the General Assembly of 1899; ^ was received with favor and
"Annual Report, Board of State Charities, 1898, p. no. , u lbid., 1897, p. 62. " Ibid., 1898, p. 99.
