The final volume of the Small Loan Series of the Russell Sage Foundation, this 1935 book is a summary of previous publications of the series and the foundation of an independent study related to regulation of small loans. The historical background of lending, the beginning of the small loan business, character and technique of unregulated lending, small loan legislation, characteristics of borrows, and the question of the maximum rate of charge are discussed.

Louis N. Robinson was professor of economics at Swarthmore College. Rolf Nugent was director of the Department of Remedial Loans at the Russell Sage Foundation.

Factors influencing American education are numerous, various, and complex; it is impossible to conceive of any single set of factors that adequately explain what is happening in our schools. This volume attempts to describe some aspects of the New York City school system in order to provide a factual basis and perspective for examining and planning educational programs and policies. Staffing, school organization and programs, population change and school enrollment, and permissive zoning are discussed.

Eleanor Bernert Sheldon was sociologist and executive associate at the Russell Sage Foundation. Raymond A. Glazier was chief of the Bureau of Community Statistical Services at the Community Council of Greater New York.

From the preface: “This study was taken up in response to a need expressed by practical workers in public employment offices and in industry. The burden of what they had to say was that public employment office work had grown rapidly in recent years, that new and important questions of policy had arisen, and that many of these required more time to be thought through and worked out than persons in the midst of the exacting daily duties of the service could devote to them.” Topics include the nature of employment bureau work, the need for better organization methods, the case for establishing a public employment service, and the methods of organizing and performing the placement and administrative functions of a local office. In collaboration with Bradley Buell, Leslie E. Woodcock, Mary La Dame, and Frederick A. King.

Shelby M. Harrison was director of the Department of Surveys and Exhibits of the Russell Sage Foundation.

Foundations and charitable trusts receive from society certain privileges, of which tax exemption is the most tangible. In return for these privileges, and also in view of the fact that the ultimate beneficiary is society itself, it seems wholly proper that the foundation or trust should be held accountable for its stewardship. Accountability includes disclosure of the availability of this public trust; provision for its protection against theft, squandering, or unreasonable withholding; and requirement for adequate reporting. However, accountability should not be confused with control. Freedom of operation is as important in welfare as it is in business if social progress is to continue. Some abuses exist, and, as this book points out, in most states even the most rudimentary machinery of accountability does not function. The trend has been toward new legislation, chiefly in states, but on the federal level with respect to taxation. Public Accountability of Foundations and Charitable Trusts traces the development of state regulation under the courts and legislatures and presents an analysis of the regulatory machinery in 12 states, with brief consideration of Canadian and English law; it also offers a recommended program.

Eleanor K. Taylor was associate professor of the State University of Iowa.

A study of major disasters in the United States in the 1940s as accompaniments of technological change, with an emphasis on how to prevent fatal explosions in coal mines. Topics include explosion hazards and principles of safety in coal mines, the responsibility of managers, mining investigation committees, and a suggested program for miners’ safety.

Edward A. Wieck was research associate in the Department of Industrial Studies of the Russell Sage Foundation.

This is the first of a series of volumes dealing with the changing pattern of men’s aspirations for their society during a long and critical period in the history of western Europe. The present volume is an essay commenting on the subject and presenting conclusions drawn from a considerable mass of available evidence. Topics include the decline of the Middle Ages and the emergency of endemic poverty in the sixteenth century, the gradual assumption of national responsibility for the poor, the evolution of the charitable trust, the literature of exhortation, and the changing structure of class aspirations.

Wilbur Kitchener Jordan was president of Radcliffe College and professor of history at Harvard University.

From the preface: “This is a book about advice—especially advice to local public officials. It tries to determine why analyses and proposals offered to local public agencies by consultants of many kinds so often seem to be useless, or at least go unused. The book offers an answer to that question and then suggests a number of ground rules—for advisers, consumers of advice, and third-party funders of advice—that I believe would improve matters.”

Peter Szanton was president of the New York City–Rand Institute.

A report on the proceedings of the second National Service Conference, held April 2-4, 1967, in Washington, regarding the pros and cons of using national service to address a range of national problems, including improved health and education, the War on Poverty, and related challenges.

Contributors: Charles S. Benson, Roland M. Bixler, Jacob Clayman, Eli Ginzberg, Curtis Aller, Roger W. Little, Leon Bramson, Reed Martin, Mildred Robbins, Michael B. Katz, Dorothy M. Knoell, Leon M. Lessinger, Hyman Frankel, A. P. Angelides, Sydney Howe, Ruth Hagy Brod, Harold Taylor, John Naisbitt, Richard Graham, Al Carp, Jack Howard, David Squire, Donald Brown, Felix Rimberg, Dennis J. Clark, Homer Hagedorn, William Josephson, H. Donald Wilson, Terrence Cullinan, William A. Delano, Joshua L. Miner, Dyke W. Williams, David Dichter, Edward F. Hall, Robert Bird

Donald J. Eberly was National Service Secretariat.

This 1933 survey of moneylending in Great Britain is part of a general survey of small loans prepared for the Russell Sage Foundation, the Small Loan Series of the Department of Remedial Loans. It traces the development of British moneylending by chronological periods and aims to show the devices whereby the enterprise of moneylending has adapted itself to its changing legal, economic, and social environments.

Dorothy Johnson Orchard was research assistant at the Russell Sage Foundation. Geoffrey May was a member of the Inner Temple, London.

Migration and Social Welfare, published in 1940, identifies the more pressing problems faced by migrants in the United States, including the sources and causes of migration and the social effects of inadequate welfare provision. It was written on special commission from the Social Work Year Book Department. Topics include employment, housing, health, and education of migrants. It proposes a national immigration policy and includes a bibliography on interstate migration.

Philip E. Ryan was executive secretary of the Council on Interstate Migration.