examinations board, and the school library department of New York State. The State Museum is on the fourth floor, and a splendid auditorium, beginning in the basement, occupies two stories. This building is the first of its kind in any state.

Railroad Commissions. Commerce within a state is entirely under the jurisdiction of the state authorities. A board of railroad commissioners exists in most states, whose duties are to protect individuals and corporations against injustice, and to see that the state laws are obeyed by the railroad corporations. While railroad abuses have not disappeared, conditions have certainly improved since the establishment of these commissions.

Public Service Commissions. In many states the railroad commissions have been abolished and in their place public service commissions have been established. These commissions have oversight not only of railroads within the state, but of street railroads, gas, and electric service companies, telephone companies, etc. Any person who considers that a public service corporation is not giving him satisfactory service may complain to the commission, and if, on investigation, the complaint is found to be a just one, the commission may order the company to improve the service and even to reduce rates. New York State has two public service commissions; that of the First District, which includes all of the city of New York, and that of the Second District, which includes the rest of the state. Each commission has jurisdiction over railroads and street railroads operating exclusively within its district, and over the manufacture, sale, and distribution of gas and electricity in

NEW YORK STATE CAPITOL BUILDING, ALBANY, N. Y.

the district. In addition to its other duties, the commission of the Second District has supervision over all the telegraph and telephone companies throughout the state. How valuable is the service given without cost to citizens by the public service commission may be seen from its annual reports. An examination of the work of the public service commissioners of New York State shows cases in which they have ordered an increased number of cars to be operated on street and elevated railroads, new stations to be established, telephone connections to be made after the telephone company had refused to make them, gas meters tested to see if they were running too fast, and many other cases of a like nature. There are five commissioners in each district and in order that qualified men may be secured, who can give undivided attention to the important duties of their office, the state pays each commissioner an annual salary of $15,000.

Public Charities and Corrections. Most states assign to a single board, or to several boards, supervision over charitable and penal institutions within the state. States usually maintain institutions for defective classes, which include schools for the deaf and dumb, schools for the blind, institutions for the feeble-minded, and asylums for the insane. Experience has amply proven that these unfortunate classes are better cared for in state than in county institutions, unless the county be a very populous and wealthy one. The proper care of the defective classes demands resources beyond the ability of most counties.

'The office of the public service commission of the First District is 154 Nassau Street, New York City; the office of the public service commission of the Second District is in the Capitol at Albany.

State penal institutions consist of state prisons and reformatories. Mature persons convicted of serious crimes are sent to the state prison, less serious offenders being confined in city and county institutions. Various industries are carried on within the walls of the prison, as work is necessary for the physical and mental welfare of prisoners as well as other persons. Industrial occupations in the prisons not only enable the prisoners to be in a measure selfsupporting and give the men needful occupation, but often teach them the only honest trade they ever knew.

Juvenile offenders offenders are sentenced to reformatories. Classes in all common branches are maintained within each reformatory, and each inmate is obliged to learn some trade. The "indeterminate sentence," whereby the judge names a maximum and minimum term, is usually employed by judges in sentencing juvenile offenders. When within the institution the prisoner soon learns that he can escape the maximum term only by good conduct, application to his studies, and careful attention to his trade. Prisoners are seldom unconditionally released after serving a term in a reformatory; they are "paroled." A paroled prisoner leaves the institution, but must make regular reports to the authorities for a definite time before his discharge is made permanent.

Other Administrative Boards. - Factory inspectors are appointed to see that the state laws in regard to labor conditions are enforced. Labor laws require that factories shall be sanitary and that machinery shall be so protected as to avoid as much as possible the danger of injury to employees. The maximum hours at which women and children may be employed are fixed by law in most states,

as well as the age at which children may be employed. These laws are in the interest of the individuals as well as for the public welfare. Especially is it true that children under fourteen years of age should not be employed in factories and stores because such work interferes with the development of their bodies, and they need the school for the development of their minds. A good child labor law should include the following: exclusion of children below the age of fourteen from all labor in factories and stores, at the same time requiring their attendance at school; regulation of the labor of children between the ages of fourteen and twenty-one, in their own interest and that of the public; prohibition of all night labor for children under sixteen years of age.

Permission to practise certain professions is subject to approval by a state board. These professions are of such a nature that most persons are not competent to judge the ability of the applicant, and it is therefore to the advantage of the public that an able body of men should decide upon the merits of candidates for permission to practise these professions. In all the states there are boards which give certificates to persons whom they think competent to practise medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy.

Many other state boards are in existence, the most common of which are fish and game commissioners, forestry commissioners, mine inspectors, and boards of health.

State Legislative Department. -Each state has a legislative body elected by the people. This body is generally called the legislature, but in New Hampshire and Massachusetts the colonial name of "general court" is still kept. In all the states the legislature consists of two chambers.