The witness referred to the returns of parochial expenditure, | Very considerably, indeed. In the parish of Ewell it was and stated," It appears that the ninety-six city parishes, stated in evidence, if I recollect correctly, before a committee (many of which are extremely wealthy and lightly burthened of this House, that the poor's-rates were reduced one half, in with poor,) with a population of 55,000, expended for the consequence of the poor being employed on all the roads by relief of the poor in the year 1831, 64,000l. Lambeth, with task-work." 32,000 more people, and many densely-peopled districts containing very poor people, expended on the relief of the poor only 37,000l. during the same year. In the wealthy parishes of the city of London the money paid as poor'srates amounted to 17. 38. 34d. per head; whilst in Lambeth the amount paid is 88. 6d. and a fraction per head. I believe that the individuals relieved are much more numerous in Lambeth than in the city of London. They were so formerly, and I believe they are so now. The adults of Lambeth parish are now supported in the workhouse at 3s. 11d. per head; whilst in the city of London, the greater proportion of all classes of poor, including children, are farmed out at an expense of from 4s. 6d. to 7s. each, whilst the expense of those maintained in the small city workhouses varies from 58. to 8s. per head per week for all classes. Do you think this statement gives a fair view of the merits of management in small as compared with large town parishes?-It never occurred to me to make any comparison of this kind until it was suggested by the question; but my impression is, that it does afford a fair comparison. The management of the poor in incorporated hundreds is undoubtedly superior to the management by independent parishes; but still the good of the hundred management is much diminished by the numerous sets of officers, and quarrels and conflicting interests of the separate parishes." Profitable Work more easily provided in large Parishes.The evidence of the overseer of St. Mary's parish, Reading, (which we have given under another head,) is here also applicable. The following is, moreover, well worthy of consideration; it consists of another extract from Mr. Mott's evidence. (See Report, p. 318.) "It has been stated to us that in St. Paul's, Covent Garden, the paupers have been usefully employed in cleansing the streets more frequently than would be done by the contractor. Do you not think that much labour of that sort might be found for the paupers ?-The mischief is, that the superintendence of the paupers, and the application of their labour, and the management of the roads, are usually under distinct trusts. In most cases the surveyors do not like to be troubled with paupers. Arrangements might, I think, be made, to render the greater proportion of the road-labour available for the purpose of employing the poor. But this could only be by a union of management of large districts, in which there would always be a large stock of pauper labour available, and in which there could be skilful management. "Have you observed that, in the smaller agricultural parishes, one main difficulty in the way of the employment of the paupers is the want of permanent superintendents of adequate skill to direct their labours?—Yes; and the cause is obvious, in the want of sufficient extent of the parish to pay a competent person, and the want of a sufficient amount of disposable labour to make it worth while to employ such a person, even if the parish could afford it." Mr. M Adam, the celebrated improver of the art of roadmaking, is of opinion that great public advantage might be derived from the introduction of a general system for the employment of paupers in repairing the roads. We extract the following evidence, given by Mr. M'Adam before a committee of the House of Commons, on labourers' wages:"I am of opinion that if several parishes-three or six, according to the size-were consolidated, as to roads, under one management, or rather under one proper and efficient surveyor, paid for his services, and a very small portion (say a fourth part) of the value of the statute labour was taken in money, and that was judiciously applied upon the roads, that they would be in a much better state; the poor would be employed, and the roads would be put into a good condition. "A very fruitful source of employment might be found in parishes undertaking to supply the several trusts that run through their parishes with materials prepared for the repair of the roads; which materials they might obtain and prepare at such times as they were most oppressed with applications for relief from persons who could not otherwise obtain employment. "Do you find that by putting the labourers to task-work you have diminished the poor's-rates in many parishes? Superior Government in large Parishes.-The enlightened management adopted in the large parishes of Liverpool, Birmingham, Oldham, &c., has already been referred to. It indicates a very superior parochial government to that which is to be found in the generality of small parishes, where there is seldom a paid and responsible officer, or, at any rate, one whose time and attention are exclusively devoted to the business of the parish. The salary which a small parish can afford to pay is quite insufficient to provide a man with a respectable maintenance for himself and family; whereas, in a large parish, the magnitude of the concern makes it well worth while engaging competent persons to give their whole time and attention to the parish business. Men of enlarged views, with their thoughts concentrated on the subject, and with the advantage of daily and hourly experience, will not waste their time and the funds of the parish in silly squabbles about settlements, but will employ themselves in devising and carrying into effect plans for improving the discipline of paupers, reducing the expense of their maintenance, and (where practicable) for removing the causes of pauperism. In Birmingham and Liverpool a provision has been made for taking the children of paupers from the care of their parents, training them in habits of industry, and giving them the elements of education, so that they may never follow in the track of their parents. Even when the children have left the asylum in which they are brought up, and are placed out as apprentices, an eye is kept over them. Once every year they are all visited, and the master is questioned as to the conduct of his apprentice, while the apprentice is also examined as to the kind of treatment he receives from his employer; and whenever a case arises in which it appears that the child has not been kindly dealt with, measures are taken for compelling the master to give him up. But how can all this be done without that division of labour obtained by people acting on a large scale? It is evidently impossible. With a separate establishment and distinct set of officers for every little parish, the expense and labour attending the adoption of such plans would be enormous in comparison with the numbers benefited. We have already given specimens of mismanagement of parish business. The following short extract from Mr. Moylan's Report (p. 179) is all the additional matter of this kind for which we have room : "Nothing, I think, strikes one more than the unfitness of the men who (particularly in small places) fill the responsible office of overseer. From the temporary nature of the appointment, it would, indeed, be difficult for them to acquire a sufficient knowledge of their duties; to say nothing of the unreasonableness of expecting from men engaged in their own concerns such a devotion of their time, without remuneration, as would qualify them for the discharge of those duties. It necessarily follows, that the assistant-overseer is often left in the exclusive management of the poor, and almost unlimited control of the parish funds." In contrast with the ordinary mismanagement of small parishes, we will now give a description of the way in which parochial business is conducted at Liverpool. We extract from Mr. Henderson's Report, page 346: "The permanent usefulness of the select vestry consisting in their vigilance and intelligence in administering relief, it may be well to state a few details of their proceedings in this department. "The select vestry is divided into five boards, each of four members; one of these boards sits in rotation every weekday, except Tuesday, at nine or ten A.M., and the business usually lasts till one P.M. A salaried secretary constantly attends, and takes a principal share in conducting the busiThis preserves uniformity in the management of all the boards, and on changing the select vestry the parish still has the benefit of the secretary's experience and knowledge of the cases on the books. ness. "On a first application for relief, if entertained at all, the name and address of the applicant are taken down on a card, which is delivered to the visitor, a salaried officer, in order that he may ascertain the nature of the case at the abode of the party; the visitor makes a written report to the select vestry, on which, and on a subsequent examination of the party, relief is granted or refused. In cases of urgent necessity, a few shillings are sometimes ordered before visitation, and the visitor has always a discretionary power to relieve when he visits, but the general rule is for the vestry to decide on the propriety of relief. "When the distress is of a temporary nature, the pauper is required to appear once a week before the board. No excuse, except sickness, proved by a medical certificate, is admitted. The party is urged by the board, when it seems practicable, to seek other means of support; and when this is not done within a reasonable time, the relief is diminished or stopped. When the case presents no prospect of early improvement, a card or ticket is given for relief during a definite period of three or six months, according to circumstances, and the sum granted is paid weekly on presenting the card at the pay-office. When the period has elapsed, another visitation and examination takes place before another card is granted; the cards in cases apparently hopeless used to be perpetual, but are now subject to annual revision, and the members of the select vestry frequently act as visitors in such cases." General Board of Control.-In addition to an enlargement of parishes, and the other measures we have pointed out, it appears very desirable that there should be established a central body, having a certain influence over all the parochial governments in the kingdom. Until, however, its advantages were generally appreciated, and it had secured the confidence of the people, it would be well to allow any parish to obtain exemption from its authority, provided it could be shown that the administration of the poor-laws in the particular parish was in a good state. The good that would result from a well-appointed Central Board would be manifold. A Central Board is perhaps the only means by which a uniform system of administration can be obtained. The mere introduction of a general system of parish accounts (an arrangement which could be brought about at once by a Central Board) would be attended with great advantages in preventing fraud and jobbing; and would be of no little value to the country at large, by enabling it to obtain correct statistical information on the subject of the poor. All pretence for the interference of magistrates in parochial matters would be done away by the appointment of a Central Board. We have already given a good deal of evidence showing the mischievous effect of this interference; and we have remarked that they were the originators of the allowance system, and have always been its main supporters. We are far from attributing bad motives to the magistracy of the country, nor are we unmindful that the reformers of parochial abuses have in several instances been of their number. Still, taken as a whole body, and in their character of magistrates,-placed as they are above the authority of the rate-payers, and in fact subject to no efficient control of any kind, frequently not living in the parish in whose concerns they interfere, and paying nothing towards its poor-rates, -we must give it as our opinion that they have, as a body, exerted a most pernicious influence on the administration of the poor-laws. In fact, one of the great advantages of large towns (when they form but one parish) is the practical exemption they enjoy from the interference of magistrates. We could more than fill the remainder of our article with evidence of the evil complained of. The following, in addition to that which has been given, must suffice. Mr. Okeden, (pages 101 and 110): | most satisfactory improvement in morals, appearance, and - "I adduce these as instances of the impositions which, though detected and defeated before the board, unavoidably succeeded before the magistrates." [Mr. Waite had just given some cases of gross fraud on the part of paupers.] "These characters, males and females, at the office doors were often so clamorous and desperate, that it became necessary to let me out from the police-office by the private door. I have been pursued by them through the streets, and obliged to seek shelter in shops. During twenty-seven years at sea, I encountered many perils in the waves, but these never hurt my mind so much as apparent perils amongst paupers. Had this system gone on, the expenses of our parish must have materially increased, notwithstanding the utmost labour that I or any other officer could have bestowed. "Fortunately for our parish, and probably for the other parishes in the district, a different system was soon after adopted at Lambeth-street Police-office. The parochial bu siness of the office being left to Mr. Walker, and he having determined not to receive any appeals from the decisions of the parish-officers, who were the best acquainted with the circumstances of the paupers, we got rid of a number of this sort of cases, when we found that they were cases of imposture. 66 Had you any riots or any disturbances when the poor were thus left wholly at the mercy of the parish officers?No; not so many riots by far as we had before the alteration. Formerly the paupers of the worst class were accustomed to swear at us when we refused them relief, and would say that they would have us before our masters and compel us to relieve them. I had my windows broken several times, and was constantly threatened and annoyed at my doors. Since the appeal to the magistrates is altered, we find the parish materially benefited, and that there is less bad behaviour on the part of the paupers. "Did the independent people of the labouring classesthose who might become chargeable-manifest any sympathy with the paupers, or evince any disposition to rise for their protection ?-None whatever: they appeared to be perfectly satisfied with the proceedings of the parish officers. I received more praise from independent labourers than from any other classes." By the appointment of a general board of control, improvements made in particular parishes in the administration of the poor-laws might be readily introduced into other parishes. There is no doubt that if the reforms which have already been effected, and the means by which they were brought about, were generally known, they would be followed to a considerable extent. "Soon after the riots of 1830 a new and more liberal scale was made by the magistrates of the division; and in February, 1831, an order was given to the overseers of Hasilbury Bryan, requiring them to relieve ten families, all able-bodied and in employ, by the new scale. The overseers contended, and A general board of control would have sufficient inthe clergyman protested, against this order in vain. In this fluence with parliament and government to call attention district, indeed, the overseers know so well the inutility of to defects in the poor-laws requiring legislative enactments resistance, that to avoid trouble, expense, and reproof, they for their removal; such, for instance, as the present regulagenerally accede to the demands, and settle all claims, not tions respecting settlements, and the power of interference by character or merit, but by the rules of addition and sub-possessed by magistrates. The general board could also traction. I have already named, in my Report on Dorsetshire, the district of Sturminster Newton, as the worst regulated as to poor concerns, with the highest proportionate rates, in the county. It is certain that in no district is there so much magisterial interference. have good opportunities for collecting evidence as to the causes which affect the condition of the working classes generally. It would have the means of estimating the advantages which would be obtained by the adoption of a system of national education; of ascertaining how far certain taxes tend to injure the labourer and create pauperism, &c. &c. Lastly, when the working of the poor-laws was deranged by the bad state of some other department of government, the general board would at once become aware of the fact, Bread Loss in cooking per week 98 31 oz. and would have access to those with whom the remedy lay. | III. THE ABLE-BODIED Pauper— The evidence we have given on other points contains many facts connected with the general state of the police. The following also may be quoted: it is taken from Mr. Majendie's Report, page 26 : "The riots in the north-east parts of the rape of Hastings commenced simultaneously on the 5th and 6th of November, 1830. The farmers observed that their labourers all at once Cheese In addition to the above, which is an ave- Vegetables 48 oz. Soup 3 quarts. Milk Porridge. Table Beer and many other comforts. from Lancaster)— left their work: they were taken away by night by a system- IV. THE SUSPECTED THIEF-(see the Gaol Returns Bread. 16 Solid Food. 16-151oz. Meat 24 oz. "The mobs generally had written forms containing their demands; they varied a little in the amount of wages, but all agreed in the amount of allowance' of 1s. 6d. for every child above two; that there should be no assistant-overseer; that they should be paid full wages wet or dry; that they would pay their own rents *. There were nine cases of incendiarism that winter at Battle. The mob which assembled there, on the day of the magistrates' meeting, amounted to nearly 700 all the principal magistrates of the division, nineteen in number, assembled; the arrival of a troop of V. THE Convicted Thief— horse established order. "Though the guilt of one of the incendiaries, J. Bufford, who was executed, was clear and admitted by himself, yet the feeling of the country was so much in his favour that he was considered as a martyr: he was exhibited in his coffin, and a subscription made for his family. Winchester Bread. Loss in cooking 16 oz. 192 per week "A permanent bench of magistrates was established at Battle, at which Mr. Courthope presided, at their particular VI. THE TRANSPORTED THIEF request, and directed by day and night the measures which were requisite for public tranquillity. "This harassing duty continued during a month; but from that period, a certain degree of intimidation has prevailed in this district. The assistant-overseers having been then ill-treated by the mobs, are reluctant to make complaints for neglect of work, lest they should become marked men, and their lives rendered uncomfortable or even unsafe. Farmers permit their labourers to receive relief, founded on a calculation of a rate of wages lower than that actually paid: they are unwilling to put themselves in collision with the labourers, and will not give an account of earnings, or if they do, beg that their names may not be mentioned. A similar feeling prevails in East Kent: at Westwell, the farmers are afraid to express, at vestry-meetings, their opinions against a pauper who applies for relief, for fear their premises should be set fire to. Two of the fires immediately followed such a resistance; one of them happened to a most respectable farmer, a kind and liberal master, and a pro moter of cottage allotments." We have already referred to one gross abuse, arising, no doubt, in great measure, from the want of a general directing body, and a regular connexion between the police department and that of the poor-laws. We speak of the extraordinary fact, that criminals have in many gaols a greater allowance of food than that given to paupers, and that paupers in their turn are often better fed than independent labourers. The following striking document has been drawn up by Mr. Chadwick from authentic sources: 10 lbs. meat per week 56 oz. 10 lbs. flour, which will increase, EDUCATION. When we entered on the subject of the poor-laws, we hoped to have had an opportunity of touching on many topics which want of room compels us to pass by. Especially we wished to point out some of the immediate and exciting causes of pauperism, and to bring forward the remedies which private or local experience has proved to be successful. On some of the more remote causes, too, we should have tem of National Education is a matter which must force itself liked to dwell. The necessity of the establishment of a syson the attention of any one who dives below the surface in inquiring into the causes of pauperism. Nor is it less obvious, when we consider the mismanagement of the fund the leading causes of the creation of want, that those who for the relief of want, and the general ignorance of some of administer the poor-laws are in many essential particulars which is one of great importance, we refer our readers to an as ill-educated as the poor themselves. Upon this subject, article in the Quarterly Journal of Education, No. XI. which has just appeared. The concluding passage of that article may appropriately conclude our own paper, the limits of which have prevented us dwelling as fully as we had hoped to do upon the great remedy of pauperism-the elevation of the moral and intellectual condition of the people : "We hold that the poor-laws cannot be better administered until those who administer them are better educated. But we further maintain that the necessity for a vigilant, we had almost said a severe, administration of them will never cease, until the working classes are raised completely above a dependence upon charitable relief, whether forced or vo122 oz. luntary. The poor man must be made a thinking man-a man capable of high intellectual pleasures; he must be purified in his tastes, and elevated in his understanding; he must be taught to comprehend the real dignity of all useful employments; he must learn to look upon the distinctions of society without envy or servility; he must respect them, for they are open to him as well as to others, but he must respect himself more. The best enjoyments of our nature may be common to him and the most favoured by fortune": let him be taught how to appreciate them. Diminish the 168 "This last point is remarkable: perhaps it may be thus explained, that the labourers were aware that high rents, paid out of the poor-rates, formed part of the system of parish jobbing, of little advantage to them." attractions of his sensual enjoyments, by extending the range | Machinery and improved communication have doubled and of his mental pleasures. "Let the child be taught some of that knowledge which may render him happier in his domestic relations, and wiser in his public ones. He cannot be a good citizen if his obedience to the laws is founded upon ignorance. The greater part of the heartburnings of the working classes proceeds from their utter ignorance of the structure of society, and the principles of social happiness. They believe that everything is to be done by a government, and nothing by themselves. They know not how much their own powers of industry and of self-control influence their own condition and that of all the community. They have no means of comparing their own actual condition, bad as it may be, with the worse condition of the past generation, and the still worse condition of men less advanced in civilization. They are told by the ignorant or factious, that they live in a time of unexampled distress, and that the labouring man is worse off than at any previous period of our history. How can they arrive at the rejection of these monstrous falsehoods, unless they have a considerable share of accurate knowledgeknowledge, indeed, which the rich want as much as themselves? Capable as their condition may be of still further improvement, it has yet improved in spite of profligate poorlaws and lavish taxation. The great springs of our national industry have still preserved their elasticity under the loads imposed upon them. No one who has examined the history of the people can doubt that the humblest among us has now a larger command of the necessaries and comforts of life than a person of the same class had a quarter of a century ago. quadrupled the power of every consumer. It is a part of the general ignorance of which we complain, to believe that our condition is deteriorating. Our best hope for the final removal of social evil is the conviction that we are steadily progressing; that the body is sound, though it is deformed by external marks of disease. Mr. Chadwick, whose re searches into the causes and effects of pauperism are beyond all praise, gives his testimony to the improved condition even of the agricultural labourers "The evidence with relation to the labourers in agricultural districts which I visited appeared to establish these facts: that the labourers have now the means of obtaining as much of necessaries and comforts as at any former period, if not more:-i. e., that their wages will go as far, if not farther, than at any time known to the present generation: that, although the position of the agricultural labourers may be (as the subsequent evidence will show), relatively to others, one of great disadvantage, it is nevertheless a position from which they may fall still lower; and that the single labourers are aware, that if the factitious inducements to improvident marriages afforded by the ordinary administration of the poor-laws were removed, it would be their interest to remain unmarried until they had attained a situation of greater comfort and secured the means of providing for their offspring.' "The condition of the manufacturing population may be estimated by the following table, which has been communicated to us from an authority upon which reliance may be placed :— Wages of Young Women employed in Cotton-Mills at Manchester, compared with the Prices of Articles of Necessity. "Here, then, is our encouragement to pursue a wiser be the cases in which relief will be asked; for a moral course with the working population. They have the means of comfort in their own hands, if they could be provident and moral: they cannot be provident and moral while they are ignorant. Is there any other course but education-a large, comprehensive National Education? When we have advanced a few years in such a course, the poor will cease to be abject and the rich will cease to be overbearing. That friendly intercourse between man and man, which religion and philosophy equally prescribe, will stand in the place of that proud reserve, and that suppressed insolence, which are the remaining badges of feudality. The poor's-rate will then be the refuge of the helpless widow and the fatherless orphan, of the aged man tottering to his grave, and the infant whose mother is not here to cherish it. Few, indeed, will and provident race of working men will have a joint stock purse for the mitigation of casual misfortune. Then will come the time when the farmer may sleep in peace, without the dread of waking to the light of his own burning homestead; and then the better-educated lord of thousands of acres, whose miserable progenitor now rushes to a foreign land in the dread of anarchy, (leaving his proxy to be wielded against every improvement by which anarchy may be arrested,) may look upon a smiling tenantry and happy labourers, nor tremble at the phantom of political convulsion, nor dread that all the real distinctions of civilized life will be swept away, because the artificial pretensions are levelled, not by the degradation of the mighty, but by the elevation of the humble.' TABULAR ACCOUNT, showing the Cost of the POOR of ENGLAND and WALES at several Different Periods. also the Comparative State of the Country, as regards Pressure of Poor-Rates. [NOTE.-The amounts are given in round numbers.] NORTHERN AGRICULTURAL COUNTIES. The people in the northern districts are more generally educated than elsewhere. The peasantry, too, are paid for their services in a way which appears to be attended with the happiest effects. They receive the greater portion of their wages in kind, and that too without regard to fluctuations in prices. They are thus secured against the dangers of an irregular income, and the temptations created by the possession of ready money. In point of fact, the northern peasantry are distinguished for frugality, prudence, and sobriety; and for the great length of time they remain with the same employer. Surrey Totals L 48,000 S. d. 170,000 5 8 £ 121,000 145,000 16 8 86,000 254,000 6 9 93,000 160,000 11 7 Northumberland 78,000 223,000 7 0 26,000 55,000 86,000 191,000 9 0 London: published by CHARLES KNIGHT, 22, Ludgate Street; and 13, Pall-Mall East. WILLIAM CLOWES, Printer, Duke Street, Lambeth. |