Pauperism is decreasing in the United States, according to the latest
statement issued by the U. S. Census Bureau. “The ratio of almshouse
paupers has steadily declined at every census since 1880,” declares the
bureau’s last bulletin. In detail, the bureau reports that one third of
the paupers in the almshouses in 1910 were under fifty-five years of age
and one third over seventy years of age; the males outnumbered the
females two to one, and there was a preponderance of persons of foreign
birth.
The important fact brought out, however, is that the almshouse
population is not only actually decreasing but is also steadily assuming
a more shifting character, which means that the poor-houses are becoming
merely a temporary shelter instead of a permanent home for the
unfortunates who are compelled to take advantage of their hospitality.