64 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY
For cripples the governments have done little. A few very use- ful institutions have been erected for the physical improvement, education and protection of those helpless human beings. Many municipal schools are provided for the blind, but attendance is not compulsory. The chief field for the Inner Mission is preventive work in the homes of the poor, since blindness often results from the neglect of infants. Asylums are provided for the adult blind, employment is found for them, and the public is moved to befriend them. Deaf mutes are not required to attend school, and state provision is not yet complete. Voluntary benevolent societies supply this need pending governmental action. The feeble-minded are by no means adequately provided for. While the movement to make public custody and education compulsory is pushed forward, the chief burden falls on private institutions. When the state has provided for these classes the function of the Inner Mission will be to furnish that friendly and personal touch which the mechanical agencies of government are never able to supply.
The Vicious and Criminal. Wichern was profoundly interested in the prison population. He hoped to train "brothers" as officers of prisons, but did not succeed. The humanitarian ideas of the eighteenth century prepared the way for reforma- tion of the debasing conditions which disgraced the civilized world so long. But it was to the fervent and self-sacrificing labors of such positively religious persons as John Howard, Elizabeth Fry, T. Fliedner, and J. Wichern that the advance was due. They secured a more rational classification of prisoners, improved sanitation, and the appointment of moral and relig- ious instructors. They organized societies to provide visitors who should seek to influence the prisoners during their confine- ment and provide work for them after their discharge. The workmen's colonies have come to be, in large measure, tempo- rary asylums for discharged prisoners who cannot find employ- ment.
Voluntary societies have sought to help the drunkard. There is a very common notion among superficial tourists that
