tees of the State reform school may bind out any boy committed thereto with his consent.

Kentucky.-A poor orphan and any other child, whose relatives or parents, in the judgment of the court, will not bring them up in moral courses, may be bound out by the county court. Any orphan minor may be bound out by its guardian, or if no guardian, by its mother, with the consent of the county court. The law only provides for the binding as apprentices of the above classes of minors.

Louisiana.-A minor may bind himself as an apprentice. The consent is necessary of a parent, tutor or curator, or, if there be no such person in the parish where the minor resides, then the consent of the mayor of New Orleans, in the parish of New Orleans, or of the parish judges of their respective parishes throughout the State.

Maine.-A minor may be bound out by the father, if living; if not, by the mother or legal guardian. The consent of a minor, who is over 14 years of age, is necessary, and if a minor is bound out prior to that age the indenture will not continue in force beyond that age unless the minor upon reaching it shall give his consent. A minor, having no parent or guardian, may bind himself out with the approbation of the municipal officers of the town where he resides. Overseers of the poor of a town may bind out the minor children of parents chargeable to the town or of those, who, in the opinion of the overseers, are unable to maintain them, and minor children who are themselves chargeable. The trustees of the State reform school may bind out boys committed thereto, and the trustees of the industrial school for girls, girls committed thereto, for a period not exceeding term of confinement.

Maryland.-The orphans' courts in the several counties and the city of Baltimore or any two justices of the peace, or in Somerset county a single justice of the peace, may bind out any orphan child, the increase or profits of whose estate is not sufficient for his maintenance, support, or education, children who are suffering through the indigence or poverty of their parents, children of beggars, illegitimate children and children of persons out of the State to whom sufficient sustenance is not afforded. The trustees of the poor in any county may, in the recess of the orphans' court, bind out the child or children of any pauper or vagrant, but the indentures must within two months thereafter be approved by the orphans' court by indorsement thereon. A minor may be bound out by his father. The directors of the penitentiary and the managers of the house of correction, or any three of them, may bind out the children of female convicts who are brought to or born in said institutions. The House of the Good Shepherd of the city of Baltimore may, with the consent of the minor, bind out such white female children as are committed to the institution. The managers of the House of Reformation may, with the consent of the minor, bind out such children as are committed to said institution. The managers of the House of Refuge may, with the consent of the minor, bind out such white male children as are committed to their care. The managers of the Industrial Home for colored girls may bind out such minors as are committed to their care. In Allegheny County the trustees of the almshouse may bind out any minor child under their charge and dependent on the county for support.

Massachusetts.-A minor may be bound out by the father; if he is dead or incompetent, by the mother or legal guardian, and if illegitimate, by the mother. If the minor is over 14 years, his or her consent is necessary and must be expressed in the indentures and testified by the signature of the minor. A minor child who is, or either of whose parents is, chargeable to a town, may be bound. out by the overseers of the poor. A minor who has no parent competent to act and no guardian, may, with the approbation of the selectmen of the town where he resides, bind himself out.

Michigan.-A minor may bind himself out. The consent, indorsed on the indentures, is necessary of the father, or, if the father is dead, not in legal capacity to give his consent, or if he shall have abandoned and neglected to provide for his family, then of the mother, or, if she is dead or not in legal capacity to give or refuse such consent, then of the guardian, or, if there is no guardian, then of any two justices of the peace of the township, of the recorder of the city, or of the circuit or probate judge of the county. The county superintendents of the poor can bind out a child who shall be sent to any county poorhouse, who is, or who shall become, chargeable, in whole or in part, to the county, or whose parent or parents shall become so chargeable,

Minnesota.-A minor can be bound out by the father; if the father is dead or incompetent, by the mother or legal guardian, and if illegitimate, he may be bound out by the mother. The consent of a minor who is over 14 years of age is necessary and must be expressed in the indentures and testified by his signing the

same. If there is no parent competent to act and no guardian, minor may bind himself, but must have the approbation of the county commissioners of the county where he resides. A minor chargeable upon a county for support may be bound out by the board of county commissioners of said county. The managers of the State reform school may, with the consent of the minor, bind out a minor committed to their care.

Mississippi.-The law provides only for the binding out of pcor orphan children and children whose parents are unable to support them. They can be bound out by the supervisor of the proper district under the direction of the board of supervisors of the county.

Missouri.-A minor may be bound out by the father, or, in case of his death, incompetency, when he shall have willfully abandoned his family for six months without making suitable provision for their support, or has become an habitual drunkard, then by the mother or legal guardian. If illegitimate, a minor may be bound out by the mother. When a minor who is over 14 years of age is bound out by a parent or guardian, the consent of said minor is necessary and must be expressed in the indentures and testified by his signing the same. An executor who is directed in the will of the father to bring up a child to some trade or calling may bind said child out in like manner as the father could have done. A poor child who is, or may be, chargeable to the county, or who shall beg for alms, or whose parents are poor and the father is an habitual drunkard, or whose father is dead and the mother is of bad character or suffers her children to grow up in habits of idleness without any visible means of obtaining an honest livelihood, may be bound out by the probate court. An orphan minor who has not estate sufficient for his maintenance may be bound out by his guardian under direction of the probate court.

Montana.-The law provides only for the binding out of a minor under 15, or of any other person who shall become, or is likely to become, chargeable to the county either because of being an orphan, or because the parents or other relatives are unable or refuse to support them. They can be bound out by the county commissioners.

Nevada.-A minor may be bound out by the father, or, in case of his death or inability, by the mother or guardian. An orphan or destitute child may be bound out by the board of county commissioners of the county or by the district judge of the district in which the child resides.

New Hampshire.-A minor may be bound out by the father, or, if he be dead, by the mother or guardian. If the minor is over 14 years of age his consent is necessary and must be expressed in the indentures and testified by his signing the same. If a minor has no parent or guardian he may bind himself out, with the approbation of the selectmen or overseers of the poor of the town where he resides. Overseers of the poor in any town may bind out all children who are not employed in some lawful business and whose parents are unable or neglect to maintain them. The county commissioners may bind out any minor chargeable or likely to be chargeable to the county. Trustees of the reform school may bind out any scholar of said school.

New Jersey.-A minor may bind himself out of his own free will and accord. The consent of the father is necessary, or, if he is dead, of the mother or guardian. The consent of the mother is necessary also where the consent of the father or guardian is obtained. Said consent must be expressed in the indentures and testified by the party signing and sealing the same. The overseers of the poor or any two of them, with the approbation of two justices of the peace of any county or township, may bind out any poor child, children who have no parents, children whose parents shall apply to the overseers for relief, and the child or children of any poor parents who shall bring up their said children in sloth, idleness and ignorance, and who, upon advice and direction given by the overseers, shall for three months after said advice and direction refuse or neglect to bind out their children. The trustees of the reform school may bind out boys committed to said school. The trustees of the industrial school for girls may bind out girls therein. The president of a board of trustees of a poorhouse with the consent of a majority of the board, or, where no trustees are appointed, the director of the board of chosen freeholders, with the consent of a majority of said board, may bind out poor children who are chargeable upon the county. New Mexico.-A minor may be bound out by the father, or, if the father is dead and no guardian has been appointed, by the mother. Guardians, under direction of probate court, may bind out orphan minors who have not sufficient estates for their maintenance and education nor friends or relatives willing to incur the expense of the same. In the above cases the indentures must be approved by the probate court. Judge of probate may bind out children who are poor orphans or whose parents have not the means of maintaining them or who

willfully neglect to support and educate them, and children who are poor and whose parent or parents shall be sentenced to confinement in jail or prison for a term of five years or more.

New York.-A minor may bind himself out of his own free will. The consent is necessary of the father, or if he be dead, not in a legal capacity to give his consent, or shall have abandoned and neglected to provide for his family, and such fact be certified by a justice of the peace of the town and indorsed on the indentures, then of the mother; or, if she be dead or not in legal capacity to give such consent, then of the guardian; or, if both parents are dead or not in legal capacity to give consent and there be no guardian, then of the overseers of the poor, or any two justices of the peace of the town or any judge of the county courts of the county where the minor resides. Executors, directed in the last will of the father to bring up a child to some trade or calling, may bind said child out. County superintendents of the poor and overseers of the poor of any town or city may bind out children who shall be sent to any county, town, or city house, or who or whose parents are, or shall become, chargeable to said county, town, or city. The overseers of the poor must have the consent in writing of any two justices of the peace of the town, or of the mayor, recorder, and aldermen of any city or of any two of them. The consent of the minor's legal guardian or guardians is necessary in all the above cases. Societies or associations incorporated for the purpose of taking care of and protecting destitute infant minor children may with the consent, expressed in writing on the indentures, of any justice of the supreme court, or of the county judge in the county where such society or association may be situated, bind out any such child or children, of the age of 8 years and upward, who have been in their care and keeping for three months.

North Carolina.-A minor above the age of 14 and under 21 years being a male, and 18 being a female, whether indigent or not, may be apprenticed to learn any trade or craft by the father, or, if he is dead, incompetent, has willfully abandoned his family for six months without making suitable provisions for their support, or has become an habitual drunkard, by the mother or legal guardian. If illegitimate such child may be bound by the mother. If said minor has no parents competent to act and no guardian he may bind himself, with the approbation of a superior court clerk of the county where he resides. The consent of such minor is necessary and must be expressed in the indenture and testified to by signing the same. A minor over 14 can also be apprenticed to learn a trade or craft by orphan asylums or charitable institutions organized and incorporated for the purpose of taking care of indigent children. Indigent children are defined to be as follows: All orphans whose estates are of so small value that no person will educate and maintain them for the benefits thereof; all infants whose fathers have deserted their families and been absent six months, leaving them without sufficient support; any poor child who is or may be chargeable to the county or shall beg alms; any child who has no father and the mother is of bad character or suffers her children to grow up in habits of idleness without visible means of obtaining an honest livelihood; and all children whose parents do not habitually employ their time in some honest, industrious occupation. Such indigent children may be bound out by the superior court clerk of the county where they reside.

North Dakota.-A minor may bind himself out. The consent is necessary of both the father and mother; if the father is dead, of the testamentary guardian or executor, or, if no such guardian or executor has been appointed, then of the mother; if the father lacks capacity to consent or has abandoned or neglected to provide for his family, of the mother; if the mother is dead or lacks capacity to consent, of the father; if there is no parent of capacity to consent and no executor, of the guardian; if there is no such parent, executor, or guardian, then of the officers of the poor of the town or county, of any two justices of the peace of the county, or of the probate judge. A child who is, or whose parents are, chargeable to a county or city poorhouse, or who is in such poorhouse, may be bound out by the proper officers of the poor with the written consent of a justice of the peace. Ohio. A minor may be bound out by the father, or, in case of his death or inability, by the mother or guardian. An orphan or destitute child may be bound out by the trustees of a township or by the officers of an orphan asylum wherein he is placed.

Oregon.-A minor may be bound out by the father, or, if he is dead or incompetent, by the legal guardian; if illegitimate, by the mother, and if there is no parent competent to act and no guardian, he may bind himself out with the approbation of the county court of the county where he resides. The consent of the minor who is above 14 years of age, bound out by a parent or guardian, is necessary and must be expressed in the indentures and testified by his signing

the same. The county court may bind out a child who is, or whose parents are, chargeable to the county. The superintendent of the reform school may, with the consent of the minor, bind out any minor committed to said institution. Pennsylvania.-Minors may be bound out with the assent of a parent, guardian, next friend, or of the overseers of the poor and approbation of any two justices. The justices of the orphans' court in the respective counties shall have full power, at the instance and request of executors, administrators, guardians, or tutors, to order and direct the binding out of minors. The overseers of the poor may, with the approbation and consent of two or more magistrates of the same county, bind out any poor child whose parents are dead or are found by said magistrates to be unable to maintain it. All corporations organized for the purpose of providing homes for friendless or destitute children, may bind out a child committed to their charge, whose maintenance is unprovided for by its parents or guardians. The directors of almshouses may bind out any child in their charge. The managers of the House of Refuge of Philadelphia and of the House of Refuge of western Pennsylvania may bind out, with the consent of the minor, any minor committed to their care.

Rhode Island.-A minor may be bound out by the father, or, if he is dead, by the mother when sole; or, being under the age of 14, by the legal guardian. A minor, if 14 years of age and having no parent, may bind himself out with the approbation of his guardian, or, if he has no guardian, by and with the approbation of the town council of the town where he resides. The overseers of the poor of a town, with the advice and consent of the town council, may bind out children of parents who are lawfully settled in and have become chargeable to the town; children of parents so settled, whose parents, whether they receive alms or are chargeable or not, shall be deemed by said overseers unable to maintain them; children of parents residing in the town who are there supported at the charge of the State; children of parents or a parent, residing in a town, who have no legal settlement in the State and are adjudged by the town council to be unable to maintain them, and children in a town without estate sufficient for their maintenance, who have no parents residing therein, and who have no legal settlement in the State. Such children may be bound out to any citizen or to any incorporated institution for the care of children, of the State or of the States of Massachusetts or Connecticut, to the Providence Children's Friend Society, to the Home for Friendless Children in Newport, or to the Providence Shelter for Colored Children.

South Carolina.-A minor may be bound out with the approbation of the father, mother, or guardian, or, if the minor has neither father, mother, nor guardian, of the grandfather, grandmother, or brother, sister, uncle, or aunt of mature age, in the order as above, or, if the minor has none of the above relatives, of the trial justice. Said approbation must be certified on the indentures by a trial justice under his hand and seal. A poor child chargeable to a county, and an illegitimate child likely to become chargeable to a county or to become demoralized by the vicious conduct and evil example of its mother or other person having charge of it, may be bound out by the county commissioners.

South Dakota.-The same as North Dakota, above.

Tennessee. The county court may bind out, in the name of the State, an orphan whose estates are of so small value that no person will educate or maintain him for the profits thereof, a base-born child, and any child totally abandoned by the father and for whom he fails to provide support and maintenance. In the last case above, the consent of the mother must be given in open court unless she is unable to provide for the maintenance of the child. The law does not provide for the binding out as apprentices of any other classes of children than those mentioned above.

Texas. The county court may bind out an orphan who is without sufficient estate for his maintenance and education, a child whose parents have suffered him to become a charge upon the county, and a child whose parents, not being a charge on the county, shall consent in writing to his apprenticeship, which consent shall be signed by them and filed and entered of record in such court.

Utah.-A minor may be bound out by a parent or guardian, and if the minor is over 12 years of age the indentures must also be signed by him. The probate court or selectmen may bind out an idle, vicious, or vagrant minor child without its consent and without the consent of its parents or guardians, if said parents or guardians neglect, refuse, or otherwise fail in properly controlling the actions and education of such child, and do not train it up in some useful avocation; also a child whose parents, from habitual drunkenness and vicious and brutal conduct, etc., are not deemed suitable persons to retain the guardianship or control the education of it.

Vermont.-A minor may be bound out by the father, or, if he is dead or incom

petent, by the mother or legal guardian, or, if there is no parent competent to act and no guardian, he may bind himself with the approbation of the selectmen of the town where he resides. If illegitimate it may be bound by its mother, but the power of a mother to bind out her children, whether legitimate or illegitimate, shall cease upon her subsequent marriage. If a minor, bound as above, is over 13 years of age, his consent is necessary and must be expressed in the indentures and testified by his signing it. The overseers of the poor may bind out the minor children of a poor person who has become chargeable to a town, or who is supported in whole or in part at the charge of such town, and minor children who are themselves chargeable to the town. The trustees of the reform school may bind out children committed to said school.

Virginia.-A minor may be bound out by the guardian, or, if none, by the father, or, if neither, by the mother. The consent, entered of record, of the court of the county or corporation in which the minor resides is necessary unless the minor, being 14 years of age, gives his consent in writing. An incorporated association, asylum, or school instituted for the support and education of destitute children, may bind out such children as have been placed in its charge. Overseers of the poor of a county or corporation may, if allowed by order of a court thereof, bind out any minor found begging in such county or corporation, or who is likely to become chargeable thereto.

Washington. The county commissioners may bind out a minor likely to become chargeable to the county, either because of its being an orphan or because its parents or other relatives are unable or refuse to support it. No other law on the subject of apprentices appears in the code or acts of the State.

West Virginia. A minor may be bound out by the father, if none, by the guardian, or, if neither, by the mother. The consent, entered of record, of the county court of the county where the minor resides is necessary, unless the minor, being 14 years of age, gives his consent in writing. The clerk of a county may bind out any minor who is found begging therein or who is likely to become chargeable thereto.

Wisconsin.-A minor may bind himself out of his own free will. The consent is necessary of the father, or, if he is dead or not in legal capacity to give consent or shall have abandoned and neglected to provide for his family and such fact be certified by a justice of the peace of the town and indorsed on the indentures, then, of the mother; if she is dead or not in a legal capacity to give consent, then by the guardian; if there are no parents living or none in legal capacity to give consent and no guardian, then by the supervisors or any two justices of the peace of the town where the minor resides. If a minor is illegitimate the consent of the mother is necessary whether its putative father is living or not. The managers of the industrial school for boys may bind out those committed to their care with the consent of their parents or guardians, if they have any.

PERSONS OF FULL AGE.

Delaware.-Only immigrants can so be bound, and the consent of a justice of the peace to such binding is necessary.

Georgia.-Persons of full age may bind themselves out.

Louisiana.-Persons over twenty-one years of age may bind themselves out. TERM FOR WHICH APPRENTICE MAY BE BOUND.

[See notes, pp. 41-43.]

In the States and Territories noted below no apprentice can be bound for a longer term than :

Males-Until 21 years of age-Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin.

Males-Until 18 years of age-Connecticut, Iowa, Kansas, Nevada.
Males-Until 16 years of age-Illinois.

Males-Until 14 years of age-Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Oregon.

Males-For a period of not more than one year-California, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota.

Males-For a period of not more than five years-Delaware, Georgia, Louisiana, New York, North Carolina.