PREFACE.

The poor-laws of any single state cannot be adequately considered apart from the laws of other and especially of adjacent states. For general purposes, however, it is

not necessary to go every state; this would lead to wearisome repetition. It may be said in general that the states have followed the example either of Massachusetts or of New York in their poor-relief legislation; that is, they have adopted either the town or the county system. The historical development of poor-relief legislation in Massachusetts and New York is presented as typical of that development in other states as well. The history and experience of these two states is perhaps richer and more instructive than that of any others. They have had to face difficulties from an early period which have scarcely begun to make themselves felt even now in newer states removed from the sea-board; especially with regard to immigration. New York as the port whence immigrants spread all over the country has had to deal with a floating class of foreign paupers, and with problems connected therewith peculiar to this state alone. The complications which enter into interstate relations, owing to the diversity of laws in the several states, have received peculiar exemplification in the relations existing between Massachusetts and New York.

into a detailed account of the laws of

Differences in the conditions of settlement in the two states have led to strained relations between their administrative officers. So long as the laws of settlement in one state are made without reference to the laws of