Transcriber’s Note: Suspected printer’s errors have been corrected. Upper-case accents weren’t used in the original, and differences of spelling (etc.) between the different reports have been preserved.

STATEMENT
OF THE
PROVISION FOR THE POOR,
AND OF THE
CONDITION OF THE LABOURING CLASSES,
IN A CONSIDERABLE PORTION OF
AMERICA AND EUROPE.

BY
NASSAU W. SENIOR, Esq.

BEING THE
PREFACE TO THE FOREIGN COMMUNICATIONS CONTAINED
IN THE APPENDIX TO THE POOR-LAW REPORT.

LONDON:
B. FELLOWES, LUDGATE STREET.
(Publisher to the Poor-Law Commissioners.)
MDCCCXXXV.

LONDON:
Printed by William Clowes and Sons,
Stamford Street.

ADVERTISEMENT.

The following pages were prepared for the sole purpose of forming an introduction to the foreign communications contained in the Appendix to the Poor-Law Report. Their separate publication was not thought of until they had been nearly finished. When it was first suggested to me, I felt it to be objectionable, on account of their glaring imperfections, if considered as forming an independent work, and the impossibility of employing the little time which can be withdrawn from a profession, in the vast task of giving even an outline of the provision for the poor, and the condition of the labouring classes, in the whole of Europe and America. But the value and extent of the information which, even in their present incomplete state, they contain, and the importance of rendering it more accessible than when locked up in the folios of the Poor-Law Appendix, have overcome my objections. The only addition which I have been able to make is a translation of the French documents.

I cannot conclude without expressing my sense of the zeal and intelligence with which the inquiry has been prosecuted by his Majesty’s diplomatic Ministers and Consuls, and of the active and candid assistance which has been given by the foreign Governments.

Nassau W. Senior.

Lincoln’s Inn, June 10, 1835.

CONTENTS

STATEMENT
OF THE
PROVISION FOR THE POOR,
AND THE
CONDITION OF THE LABOURING CLASSES,
IN A CONSIDERABLE PORTION OF
AMERICA AND EUROPE.

The Commissioners appointed by His Majesty to make a diligent and full Inquiry into the practical operation of the Laws for the relief of the Poor, were restricted by the words of their Commission to England and Wales. As it was obvious, however, that much instruction might be derived from the experience of other countries, the Commissioners were authorized by Viscount Melbourne, then His Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for the Home Department, to extend the investigation as far as might be found productive of useful results. At first they endeavoured to effect this object through their personal friends, and in this manner obtained several valuable communications. But as this source of information was likely to be soon exhausted, they requested Viscount Palmerston, then His Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for the Foreign Department, to obtain the assistance of the Diplomatic Body.

In compliance with this application, Viscount Palmerston, by a circular dated the 12th of August, 1833, requested each of His Majesty’s Foreign Ministers to procure and transmit, with the least possible delay, a full report of the legal provisions existing in the country in which he was resident, for the support and maintenance of the poor; of the principles on which such provision was founded; of the manner in which it was administered; of the amount and mode of raising the funds devoted to that purpose; and of the practical working and effect of the actual system, upon the comfort, character, and condition of the inhabitants.

The answers to these well-framed inquiries form a considerable portion of the contents of the following volume. They constitute, probably, the fullest collection that has ever been made of laws for the relief of the poor.

But as a subject of such extent would necessarily be treated by different persons in different manners, and various degrees of attention given to its separate branches, the Commissioners thought it advisable that a set of questions should also be circulated, which, by directing the attention of each inquirer and informant to uniform objects, would enable the influence of different systems on the welfare of the persons subjected to them to be compared.

For this purpose the following questions were drawn up:—

The following Questions apply to Customs and Institutions whether general throughout the State, or peculiar to certain Districts, and to Relief given:

• 1st. By the Voluntary Payment of Individuals or Corporate Bodies.
• 2nd. By Institutions specially endowed for that purpose.
• 3rd. By the Government, either general or local.
• 4th. By any one or more of these means combined.

And you are requested to state particularly the cases (if any) in which the person relieved has a legal claim.

QUESTIONS.

Vagrants.

• 1. To what extent and under what form does mendicity prevail in the several districts of the country?
• 2. Is there any relief to persons passing through the country, seeking work, returning to their native places, or living by begging; and by whom afforded, and under what regulations?

Destitute Able-bodied.

• 1. To what extent and under what regulations are they, or any part of their families, billeted or quartered on householders?
• 2. To what extent and under what regulations are they boarded with individuals?
• 3. To what extent and under what regulations are there district houses of industry for receiving the destitute able-bodied, or any part of their families, and supplying them with food, clothes, &c., and in which they are set to work?
• 4. To what extent and under what regulations do any religious institutions give assistance to the destitute, by receiving them as inmates, or by giving them alms?
• 5. To what extent and under what regulations is work provided at their own dwellings for those who have trades, but do not procure work for themselves?
• 6. To what extent and under what regulations is work provided for such persons in agriculture or on public works?
• 7. To what extent and under what regulations are fuel, clothing, or money, distributed to such persons or their families; at all times of the year, or during any particular seasons?
• 8. To what extent and under what regulations are they relieved by their children being taken into schools, and fed, clothed and educated, or apprenticed?
• 9. To what extent and under what regulations, and to what degree of relationship are the relatives of the destitute compelled to assist them with money, food, or clothing, or by taking charge of part of their families?
• 10. To what extent and under what regulations are they assisted by loans?

Impotent Through Age.

• 1. To what extent and under what regulations are there almshouses or other institutions for the reception of those who, through age, are incapable of earning their subsistence?
• 2. To what extent and under what regulations is relief in food, fuel, clothing, or money afforded them at their homes?
• 3. To what extent, and under what regulations, are they boarded with individuals?
• 4. To what extent and under what regulations are they quartered or billeted on householders?
• 5. To what extent and under what regulations, and to what degree of relationship, are their relatives compelled to assist them with money, food, or clothing, or by taking part of their families?

Sick.

• 1. To what extent and under what regulations are there district institutions for the reception of the sick?
• 2. To what extent and under what regulations are surgical and medical relief afforded to the poor at their own homes?
• 3. To what extent and under what regulations are there institutions for affording food, fuel, clothing, or money to the sick?
• 4. To what extent and under what regulations is assistance given to lying-in women at their homes, or in public establishments?
• 5. To what extent and under what regulations are there any other modes of affording public assistance to the sick?

Children:

Illegitimate.

• 1. Upon whom does the support of illegitimate children fall; wholly upon the mothers, or wholly upon the fathers; or is the expense distributed between them, and in what proportion, and under what regulations?
• 2. To what extent and under what regulations are the relatives of the mothers or fathers ever compelled to assist in the maintenance of bastards?
• 3. To what extent and under what regulations are illegitimate children supported at the public expense?

Orphans, Foundlings, or Deserted Children.

• 4. To what extent and under what regulations are they taken into establishments for their reception?
• 5. To what extent and under what regulations are they billeted or quartered on householders?
• 6. To what extent and under what regulations are they boarded with individuals?
• 7. To what extent and under what regulations, and to what degree of relationship, are their relatives compelled to support them?

Cripples, Deaf and Dumb, and Blind.

• 1. To what extent and under what regulations are there establishments for their reception?
• 2. To what extent and under what regulations are they billeted or quartered on householders?
• 3. To what extent and under what regulations are they boarded with individuals?
• 4. To what extent and under what regulations, and to what degree of relationship, are their relatives compelled to support them?

Idiots and Lunatics.

• 1. To what extent and under what regulations are there establishments for their reception?
• 2. To what extent and under what regulations are they billeted or quartered on householders?
• 3. To what extent and under what regulations are they boarded with individuals?
• 4. To what extent and under what regulations, and to what degree of relationship, are their relatives compelled to support them?

Effects of the foregoing Institutions.

You are requested to state whether the receipt, or the expectation of relief, appears to produce any and what effect,

• 1st. On the industry of the labourers?
• 2nd. On their frugality?
• 3rd. On the age at which they marry?
• 4th. On the mutual dependence and affection of parents, children and other relatives?
• 5th. What, on the whole, is the condition of the able-bodied and self-supporting labourer of the lowest class, as compared with the condition of the person subsisting on alms or public charity. Is the condition of the latter, as to food and freedom from labour more or less eligible? See p. 261 and 335 of the Poor Law Extracts.

You are also requested to read the accompanying volume[1], published by the English Poor Law Commissioners, and to state the existence of any similar mal-administration of the charitable funds of the country in which you reside, and what are its effects?

You are also requested to forward all the dietaries which you can procure of prisons, workhouses, almshouses and other institutions, with translations expressing the amounts and quantities in English money, weights and measures, and to state what changes (if any) are proposed in the laws or institutions respecting relief in the country in which you reside, and on what grounds?

In reply to the following Questions respecting Labourers, you are requested to distinguish Agriculturists from Artisans, and the Skilled from the Unskilled.

• 1. What is the general amount of wages of an able-bodied male labourer, by the day, the week, the month or the year, with and without provisions, in summer and in winter?
• 2. Is piece-work general?
• 3. What, in the whole, might an average labourer, obtaining an average amount of employment, both in day-work and in piece-work, expect to earn in a year, including harvest-work, and the value of all his advantages and means of living?
• 4. State, as nearly as you can, the average annual expenditure of labourers of different descriptions, specifying schooling for children, religious teachers, &c.
• 5. Is there any, and what employment for women and children?
• 6. What can women, and children under 16, earn per week, in summer, in winter and harvest, and how employed?
• 7. What, in the whole, might a labourer’s wife and four children, aged 14, 11, 8 and 5 years respectively (the eldest a boy), expect to earn in a year, obtaining, as in the former case, an average amount of employment?
• 8. Could such a family subsist on the aggregate earnings of the father, mother and children, and if so, on what food?
• 9. Could it lay by anything, and how much?
• 10. The average quantity of land annexed to a labourer’s habitation?
• 11. What class of persons are the usual owners of labourers’ habitations?
• 12. The rent of labourers’ habitations, and price on sale?
• 13. Whether any lands let to labourers; if so, the quantity to each, and at what rent?
• 14. The proportion of annual deaths to the whole population?
• 15. The proportion of annual births to the whole population?
• 16. The proportion of annual marriages to the whole population?
• 17. The average number of children to a marriage?
• 18. Proportion of legitimate to illegitimate births?
• 19. The proportion of children that die before the end of their first year?
• 20. Proportion of children that die before the end of their tenth year?
• 21. Proportion of children that die before the end of their eighteenth year.
• 22. Average age of marriage, distinguishing males from females?
• 23. Causes by which marriages are delayed?
• 24. Extent to which, 1st, the unmarried; 2nd, the married, save?
• 25. Mode in which they invest their savings?

[1] Extracts from the information on the Administration of the Poor Laws.

These questions, together with the volume to which they refer, of Extracts of Information on the Administration of the Poor Laws, were transmitted by Viscount Palmerston to His Majesty’s Foreign Ministers and Consuls on the 30th November, 1833.

The replies to them form the remaining contents of the following pages.

It will be perceived, therefore, that this volume contains documents of three different kinds:

• 1. Private Communications.
• 2. Diplomatic Answers to the general inquiries suggested by Viscount Palmerston’s circular of the 12th of August, 1833.
• 3. Diplomatic Answers to the Questions framed by the Commissioners, and contained in Viscount Palmerston’s circular of the 30th November, 1833.

Unfortunately, only a small portion of these documents had arrived when the Commissioners made their Report to His Majesty on the 20th February, 1834. The documents then received are contained in the first 115 pages of this volume, and were printed by order of the House of Commons, and delivered to Members in May, 1834. Those subsequently received were transmitted to the printers as soon as the requisite translations of those portions which were not written in English or French could be prepared. If it had been practicable to defer printing any portion until the whole was ready, they might have been much more conveniently arranged. But to this course there were two objections. First, the impossibility of ascertaining from what places documents would be received; and secondly, the difficulty of either printing within a short period so large a volume, containing so much tabular matter, or of keeping the press standing for six or seven months. The Parliamentary printers have a much larger stock of type than any other establishment, but even their resources did not enable them to keep unemployed for months the type required for many hundred closely-printed folio pages. The arrangement, therefore, of the following papers is in a great measure casual, depending much less on the nature of the documents than on the times at which they were received. The following short summary of their contents, may, it is hoped, somewhat diminish this inconvenience.

I.—The Private Communications consist of,

II.—The following are the answers to Viscount Palmerston’s Circular of the 12th August, 1833.

Some of these Reports were transmitted to the Commissioners without signatures. The names of the Authors have been since furnished by the Foreign Office, and are now added.

America.

Europe.

III.—Answers to the Questions suggested by the Commissioners, and circulated by Viscount Palmerston on the 30th November, 1833, have been received from the following places:

America.

Europe.

It is impossible, within the limits of a Preface, to give more than a very brief outline of the large mass of information contained in this volume, respecting the provision made for the poor in America and in the Continent of Europe.

AMERICA.

It may be stated that, with respect to America, a legal provision is made for paupers in every part of the United States from which we have returns, excepting Georgia and Louisiana; and that no such provision exists in Brazil or in Hayti, or, as far as is shown by these returns, in any of the countries originally colonized by Spain.

The system in the United States was of course derived from England, and modified in consequence, not only of the local circumstances of the country, but also of the prevalence of slavery in many of the States, and of federal institutions which by recognising to a certain extent each State as an independent sovereignty, prevent the removal from one State of paupers who are natives of another. Such paupers are supported in some of the northern districts not by local assessments, but out of the general income of the State, under the name of state paupers.

The best mode of treating this description of paupers is a matter now in discussion in the United States.

The following passage in the report of the Commissioners appointed to revise the civil code of Pennsylvania, shows the inconveniences arising from the absence of a national provision for them: (pp. 139, 143.)

We may be permitted to suggest one alteration of the present law, of considerable importance. In Massachusetts and New York, and perhaps in some other States, paupers who have no settlement in the State are relieved at the expense of the State. In this commonwealth the burthen falls upon the particular district in which the pauper may happen to be. This often occasions considerable expense to certain counties or places from which others are exempt. The construction of a bridge or canal, for instance, will draw to a particular neighbourhood a large number of labourers, many of whom may have no settlement in the State. If disabled by sickness or accident, they must be relieved by the township in which they became disabled, although their labour was employed for the benefit of the State or county, as the case may be, and not for the benefit of the township alone. If provision were made for the payment of the expenses incurred by the township in such case out of the county, or perhaps the State treasury, we think that it would be more just, and that the unhappy labourer would be more likely to obtain adequate relief, than if left to the scanty resources of a single township. A case which is stated in the second volume of the Pennsylvania Reports (Overseers v. M’Coy, p. 432), in which it appeared, that a person employed as a labourer on the State Canal, and who was severely wounded in the course of his employment, was passed from one township to another, in consequence of the disinclination to incur the expense of supporting him, until he died of the injury received, shows in a strong light the inconvenience and perils of the present system respecting casual paupers, and may serve to excuse our calling the attention of the legislature to the subject.

On the other hand, the Commissioners appointed to revise the poor laws of Massachusetts, after stating that the national provision in their State for the unsettled poor has existed ever since the year 1675, recommend its abolition, by arguments, a portion of which we shall extract, as affording an instructive picture of the worst forms of North American pauperism: (pp. 59, 60, 61.)

It will appear (say the Commissioners), that of the whole number more or less assisted during the last year, that is, of 12,331 poor, 5927 were State’s poor, and 6063 were town’s poor; making the excess of town’s over State’s poor to have been only 497. The proportion which, it will be perceived, that the State’s poor bear to the town’s poor, is itself a fact of startling interest. We have not the means of ascertaining the actual growth of this class of the poor. But if it may be estimated by a comparison of the State’s allowance for them in 1792-3, the amount of which, in round numbers, was $14,000, with the amount of the allowance twenty-seven years afterwards, that is, in 1820, when it was $72,000, it suggests matter for very serious consideration. So sensitive, indeed, to the increasing weight of the burthen had the legislature become even in 1798, when the allowance was but $27,000 that “an Act” was passed, “specifying the kind of evidence required to accompany accounts exhibited for the support of the poor of the Commonwealth.” In 1821, with a view to still further relief from the evil, the law limited its allowance to 90 cents a week for adults, and to 50 cents for children; and again, for the same end, it was enacted, in 1823, that “no one over twelve, and under sixty years of age, and in good health, should be considered a State pauper.” The allowance is now reduced to 70 cents per week for adults, and proportionally for children; and in the cases in which the poor of this class have become an integral part of the population of towns, and in which, from week to week, through protracted sickness, or from any cause, they are for the year supported by public bounty, the expense for them is sometimes greater than this allowance. But this is comparatively a small proportion of the State’s poor: far the largest part, as has been made to appear, consists of those who are but occasionally assisted, and, in some instances, of those of whom there seems to be good reason to infer, from the expense accounts, that they make a return in the product of their labour to those who have the charge of them, which might well exonerate the Commonwealth from any disbursements for their support. Even 70 cents a week, therefore, or any definable allowance, we believe, has a direct tendency to increase this class of the poor; for a charity will not generally be very resolutely withheld, where it is known that, if dispensed, it will soon be refunded. And we leave it to every one to judge whether almsgiving, under the influence of this motive, and to a single and defined class, has not a direct tendency at once to the increase of its numbers, and to a proportionate earnestness of importunity for it.

It is also not to be doubted, that a large proportion of this excess of State’s poor, more or less assisted during the year, consist of those who are called in the statements herewith presented, “wandering or travelling poor.” The single fact of the existence among us of this class of fellow-beings, especially considered in connexion with the facts, that nearly all of them are State’s poor, and that, to a great extent, they have been made what they are by the State’s provision for them, brings the subject before us in a bearing, in which we scarcely know whether the call is loudest to the pity we should feel for them, or the self-reproach with which we should recur to the measures we have sanctioned, and which have alike enlarged their numbers and their misery. Nor is it a matter of mere inference from our tables, that the number is very large of these wandering poor. To a considerable extent, and it is now regretted that it was not to a greater extent, the inquiry was proposed to overseers of the poor, “How many of the wandering, or travelling poor, annually pass under your notice?” And the answers, as will appear in the statements, were from 10 to 50, and 100 to 200. Nor is there a more abject class of our fellow-beings to be found in our country than is this class of the poor. Almshouses, where they are to be found, are their inns, at which they stop for refreshment. Here they find rest, when too much worn with fatigue to travel, and medical aid when they are sick. And, as they choose not to labour, they leave these stopping places, when they have regained strength to enable them to travel, and pass from town to town, demanding their portion of the State’s allowance for them as their right. And from place to place they receive a portion of this allowance, as the easiest mode of getting rid of them, and they talk of the allowance as their “rations;” and, when lodged for a time, from the necessity of the case, with town’s poor, it is their boast that they, by the State’s allowance for them, support the town’s inmates of the house. These unhappy fellow-beings often travel with females, sometimes, but not always their wives; while yet, in the towns in which they take up their temporary abode, they are almost always recognized and treated as sustaining this relation. There are exceptions, but they are few, of almshouses in which they are not permitted to live together. In winter they seek the towns in which they hope for the best accommodations and the best living, and where the smallest return will be required for what they receive. It is painful thus to speak of these human beings, lest, in bringing their degradation distinctly before the mind, we should even for a moment check the commiseration which is so strongly claimed for them. We feel bound therefore to say, that bad as they are, they are scarcely less sinned against in the treatment they receive, than they commit sin in the lawlessness of their lives. Everywhere viewed, and feeling themselves to be outcasts; possessed of nothing, except the miserable clothing which barely covers them; accustomed to beggary, and wholly dependent upon it; with no local attachments, except those which grow out of the facilities which in some places they may find for a more unrestrained indulgence than in others; with no friendships, and neither feeling nor awakening sympathy; is it surprising that they are debased and shameless, alternately insolent and servile, importunate for the means of subsistence and self-gratification, and averse from every means but that of begging to obtain them? The peculiar attraction of these unhappy fellow beings to our Commonwealth, and their preference for it over the States to the south of us, we believe is to be found in the legal provision which the State has made for them. Your Commissioners have indeed but a small amount of direct evidence of this; but the testimony of the chairman of the overseers in Egrement to this fact, derived from personal knowledge, was most unequivocal, and no doubt upon the subject existed in the minds of the overseers in many other towns. But shall we therefore condemn, or even severely blame, them? Considered and treated, in almost every place, as interlopers, strollers, vagrants; as objects of suspicion and dread, and, too often, scarcely as human beings; the cheapest methods are adopted of sending them from town to town, and often with the assurance given to them that there, and not here, are accommodations for them, and that there they may enjoy the bounty which the State has provided for them. Would such a state of things, your Commissioners ask, have existed in our Commonwealth, if a specific legal provision had not been made for this class of the poor? Or, we do not hesitate to ask, if the Government had never recognized such a class of the poor as that of State’s poor,—and, above all, if compulsory charity, in any form, had never been established by our laws, would there have been a twentieth part of the wandering poor which now exists in it, or by any means an equal proportion of poor of any kind with that which is now dependent upon the taxes which are raised for them? Your Commissioners think not.

Either an increase of the evils of pauperism, or a clearer perception of them, has induced most of the States during the last 10 years to make, both in their laws for the relief of the poor and in the administration of those laws, changes of great importance. They consist principally in endeavouring to avoid giving relief out of the workhouse, and in making the workhouse an abode in which none but the really destitute will continue. Compared with our own, the system is, in general, rigid.

In the detailed account of the workhouses in Massachusetts, (pages 68 to 93,) the separation of the sexes appears to be the general rule wherever local circumstances do not interfere: a rule from which exceptions are in some places made in favour of married couples. And in the returns from many of the towns it is stated that no relief is given out of the house.

The following passages from the returns from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York, are also evidences of a general strictness of law and of administration.

By the laws of New Jersey,

The goods and chattels of any pauper applying for relief are to be inventoried by the overseer before granting any relief, and afterwards sold to reimburse the township, out of the proceeds, all expenses they have been at; all sales of which by the pauper, after he becomes chargeable, are void.[2]

The same rule prevails in Pennsylvania. When any person becomes chargeable, the overseers or directors of the poor are required to sue for and recover all his property, to be employed in defraying the expense of his subsistence.[3]

By the laws of the same State,

No person shall be entered on the poor-book of any district, or receive relief from any overseers, before such person, or some one in his behalf, shall have procured an order from two magistrates of the county for the same; and in case any overseer shall enter in the poor-book or relieve any such poor person without such order, he shall forfeit a sum equal to the amount or value given, unless such entry or relief shall be approved of by two magistrates as aforesaid. (p. 142.)

Nor is the relief always given gratuitously, or the pauper always at liberty to accept and give it up as he may think fit; for by a recent enactment[4] the guardians are authorized—

To open an account with the pauper, and to charge him for his maintenance, and credit him the value of his services; and all idle persons who may be sent to the almshouse by any of the said guardians, may be detained in the said house by the board of guardians, and compelled to perform such work and services as the said board may order and direct, until they have compensated by their labour for the expenses incurred on their account, unless discharged by special permission of the board of guardians; and it shall be the duty of the said board of guardians to furnish such person or persons as aforesaid with sufficient work and employment, according to their physical abilities, so that the opportunity of reimbursement may be fully afforded: and for the more complete carrying into effect the provisions of this law, the said board of guardians are hereby authorized and empowered to exercise such authority as may be necessary to compel all persons within the said almshouse and house of employment to do and perform all such work, labour, and services as may be assigned to them by the said board of guardians, provided the same be not inconsistent with the condition or ability of such person.

And whereas it frequently happens that children who have been receiving public support for indefinite periods are claimed by their parents when they arrive at a proper age for being bound out, the guardians are authorized to bind out all children that have or may receive public support, either in the almshouse or children’s asylum, although their parents may demand their discharge from the said institutions, unless the expenses incurred in their support be refunded.

In New York the administration of the law is even more severe than this enactment:—

With respect to poor children, (says Mr. Buchanan,) a system prevails in New York, which, though seemingly harsh and unfeeling, has a very powerful influence to deter families from resorting to the commissioners of the poor for support, or an asylum in the establishment for the poor; namely, that the commissioners or overseers apprentice out the children, and disperse them to distant parts of the State; and on no account will inform the parents where they place their children. (p. 110.)

[2] New Jersey Revised Laws, p. 679.

[3] Act of 1819, p. 155.

[4] Act of 5th March, 1828, p. 149.

EUROPE.

It appears from the returns that a legal claim to relief exists in Norway, Sweden, Russia, Denmark, Mecklenburg, Prussia, Wurtemberg, Bavaria, and the Canton de Berne; but does not exist in the Hanseatic Towns, Holland, Belgium, France, Portugal, the Sardinian States, Frankfort, Venice, Greece, or Turkey. The return from Saxony does not afford data from which the existence or non-existence of such a claim can be inferred.

The great peculiarity of the system in the North of Europe is the custom of affording relief by quartering the paupers on the landholders in the country and on householders in the towns.

NORWAY.

Consuls Greig and Mygind, the authors of the return from Norway, state, that the—

Impotent through age, cripples, and others who cannot subsist themselves, are, in the country districts, billeted or quartered on such of the inhabitants (house and landholders in the parish) as have the means of providing for them. By them they are furnished with clothing and food, and they are in return expected to perform such light services as they can. In the distribution, respect is had to the extent or value of the different farms, and to the number of the indigent, which varies greatly in different parishes. In some they have so few poor that only one pauper falls to the lot of five or six farms, who then take him in rotation; whilst in other parishes they have a pauper quartered on every farm or estate all the year round, and on the larger ones several. (p. 696.)

It is to be regretted that the information respecting the existing poor laws of Norway is not more full and precise. The return contains two projects of law, or in other words, bills, for the relief of the poor in the country and in towns, drawn up in 1832, in obedience to a government commission issued in 1829; and also the arguments of the commissioners in their support; but it does not state how far these projects have been adopted.

In treating of the modes of relief, the bill for the country states that,

Section 26. The main principle to be observed everywhere in affording relief is to maintain “lœgd,” or the outquartering of the paupers, wherever it has existed or can be introduced, taking care to avoid the separation of families. The regulation of “lœgd,” where it has been once established among the farms, should be as durable and as little liable to alteration as possible; so that a fresh arrangement should be made only in instances where there exists a considerable decrease or increase in the number of the paupers quartered out, or a marked alteration in the condition of the occupiers upon whom they are so quartered. In the event of a fresh arrangement, it is desirable that the existing paupers hitherto provided for should, in as far as may be consistent with justice towards the parties to whom they are quartered, continue to have “lœgd” upon the same farm or farms where they have hitherto been relieved. Families not belonging to the class of peasants are bound to have paupers quartered upon them in “lœgd” in case they cultivate land; however, the overseer of the district is competent to grant permission to them as well as to other “lœgds-ydere,” to let out the “lœgd” when he finds that they individually are unable to provide for the pauper on their own lands, and the letting out can be effected without any considerable inconvenience to the latter. (p. 704.)

27. When a new regulation of “lœgd” takes place, or new “lœgd” is established, a statement in writing of the “lœgd,” or outquartering intended, is to be issued by the commission, or by the overseer on its behalf, containing the name of the pauper to be outquartered, and the farm or farms on which he shall receive “lœgd,” and in case it is on several, the rotation, and for what period, on each. In case the “lœgd” is only to be during the winter, or during a certain part of the year, this likewise is to be stated. In like manner the houseless and others, who are provided with relief in kind from particular farms, are to be furnished with a note setting forth the quantity the individual has to demand of each farm, and the time at which he is entitled to demand the same. In default of the furnishing of these contributions in proper time, they are to be enforced by execution, through the lensmand. (p. 705.)

5. In case the house poor, and other poor who are not quartered out, conduct themselves improperly, are guilty of idleness, drunkenness, incivility, obstinacy or quarrelsomeness, the overseer is entitled to give them a serious reprimand; and in case this is unattended with any effect, to propose in the poor commission the reduction of the allowance granted to the offender, to the lowest scale possible. Should this prove equally devoid of effect, or the allowance not bear any reduction, he may, in conjunction with the president of the commission, report the case, at the same time stating the names of the witnesses, to the sorenskriver[5], who on the next general or monthly sitting of the court, after a brief inquiry, by an unappealable sentence shall punish the guilty with imprisonment not exceeding 20 days, upon bread and water.

In case of a like report from the superintendent of the “lœgd,” of improper conduct on the part of the pauper quartered out, the overseer shall give the said offending pauper a severe reprimand; and in case this likewise proves devoid of effect, the mode of proceeding to be the same as has been stated already in reference to the house poor.

36. In case the person with whom a pauper has been quartered out do not supply adequate relief, or ill use the pauper so quartered upon him, and is regardless of the admonitions of the overseer, an appeal to the sorenskriver is to take place, and in other respects the mode of proceeding is to be the same as is enacted in s. 35: when all the conduct complained of can be proved, for which purpose, in default of other witnesses, the combined evidence of the superintendent of the “lœgd,” and of the overseer, is to be deemed sufficient, the offending party to be fined, according to his circumstances and the nature of the case, from 2 to 20 specie dollars, and in case of ill-usage, to be imprisoned on bread and water for from 5 to 10 days; and in the event of a repetition of the offence, for from 10 to 20 days.

39. None may beg, but every person who is in such want that he cannot provide for himself and those belonging to him, shall apply for aid to the competent poor commission, or to the overseer. In case any one is guilty of begging, for the first offence he is to be seriously admonished by the overseer of the district in which he has begged, who is likewise to point out to him what consequences will follow a repetition of the offence. In case he offends afterwards, he is to be punished according to the enactments set forth in s. 35; and afterwards, in case of a repetition of the offence, with from two months’ to a year’s confinement in the house of correction.

A person is not to be accounted a beggar who asks only for food, when it appears that his want of sustenance is so great that unless he tried to procure immediate relief he would be exposed to perish of hunger, provided he immediately afterwards applies to the overseer of the district for relief; or in case the poor administration is unable to relieve all the poor in years of scarcity, save in a very scanty manner, and the hungry mendicant then confines himself to the soliciting of food. (p. 706.)

The bill directs that the poor-fund shall consist, in the country,

1. Of the interest of legacies, and other property belonging to it.

2. An annual tax of 12 skillings (equal according to Dr. Kelly, Univ. Cambist, vol. 1, p. 32, to 2s. 6d. sterling,) on each hunsmand or cottager, and on each man servant, and six skillings on each woman servant.

3. A duty on stills equal to half the duty paid to the State.

4. Penalties directed by the existing laws to be paid over to that fund.

5. The property left by paupers, if they leave no wife or children unprovided for.

6. An annual assessment on the occupiers of land, and on all others capable of contributing, such as men servants, clerks, tutors, and pilots.

In towns,

Of all the above-mentioned funds, except No. 2, and of a tax of one skilling (2½d. sterling) per pot on all imported fermented liquors.

We have already remarked that the report does not state how far this bill has passed into a law, or how its enactments differ from the existing law: they appear likely, unless counteracted by opposing causes, to lead to considerable evils. The relief by way of lœgd resembles in some respects our roundsman system. It is, however, less liable to abuse in one respect, because the lœgd, being wholly supported by the lœgd-yder, must be felt as an incumbrance by the farmer, instead of a source of profit. On the other hand, the situation of the country pauper cannot be much worse than that of the independent labourer; and in towns, though this temptation to idleness and improvidence may be avoided by giving relief in the workhouse, the temptation to give out-door and profuse relief must be considerable, since a large portion of the poor-fund is derived from general sources, and only a small part from assessment to which the distributors of relief are themselves exposed. It is probable that the excellent habits of the population, and the great proportion of landowners, may enable the Norwegians to support a system of relief which in this country would soon become intolerable.

[5] Sorenskriver, an officer in the country, whose duties are chiefly those of a registrar and judge in the lowest court.

SWEDEN.

The fullest statement of the pauperism of Sweden is to be found in a paper by M. de Hartsmansdorff, the Secretary of State for Ecclesiastical Affairs, (p. 368); an extract from Colonel Forsell’s Swedish Statistics, published in 1833, (p. 375); and Replies to the Commissioners’ Queries from Stockholm, (p. 372), and from Gottenburgh, (p. 384.)

M. de Hartsmansdorff states that every parish is bound to support its own poor, and that the fund for that purpose arises from voluntary contribution, (of which legacies and endowments appear to form a large portion,) the produce of certain fines and penalties, and rates levied in the country in proportion to the value of estates, and in towns on the property or income of the inhabitants. Settlement depends on residence, and on that ground the inhabitants of a parish may prevent a stranger from residing among them. A similar provision is considered in the Norwegian report, and rejected, (p. 718,) but exists in almost every country adopting the principle of parochial relief, and allowing a settlement by residence. An appeal is given, both to the pauper and to the parishioners, to the governor of the province, and ultimately to the King.

M. de Hartsmansdorff’s paper is accompanied by a table, containing the statement of the persons relieved in 1829, which states them to have amounted to 63,348 out of a population of 2,780,132, or about one in forty-two. This differs from Colonel Forsell’s statement, (p. 376,) that in 1825 they amounted to 544,064, or about one in five. It is probable that Colonel Forsell includes all those who received assistance from voluntary contributions. “In Stockholm,” he adds, “there are 83 different boards for affording relief to the poor, independent one of the other, so that it happens often that a beggar receives alms at three, four, or five different places.” There is also much discrepancy as to the nature and extent of the relief afforded to the destitute able-bodied. We are told in the Stockholm return, (p. 372,) that no legal provision is made for them; but by the Gottenburgh return, (pp. 384 and 386,) it appears that they are relieved by being billeted on householders, or by money.

The following severe provisions of the law of the 19th June, 1833, seem directed against them. By that law any person who is without property and cannot obtain employment, or neglects to provide himself with any, and cannot obtain sureties for the payment of his taxes, rates, and penalties, is denominated unprotected (förswarlös). An unprotected person is placed almost at the disposal of the police, who are to allow him a fixed period to obtain employment, and to require him to proceed in search of it to such places as they think fit.

Should any person, (the law goes on to say,) who has led an irreproachable life, and has become unprotected, not through an unsteady or reprehensible conduct, but from causes which cannot be reasonably laid to his charge, and who has obtained an extension of time for procuring protection, still remains without yearly employment or other lawful means of support, and not be willing to try in other places to gain the means of support, or shall have transgressed the orders that may have been given him, and (being a male person) should not prefer to enlist in any regiment, or in the royal navy, or should not possess the requisite qualifications for that purpose, the person shall be sent to be employed on such public works as may be going on in the neighbourhood, or to a work institution within the county, until such time as another opportunity may offer for his maintenance; he shall however be at liberty, when the usual notice-day arrives, and until next moving-time, to try to obtain legal protection with any person within the county who may require his services, under the obligation to return to the public work institution in the event of his not succeeding. Should there be no public work to be had in the neighbourhood, or the person cannot, for want of necessary room, be admitted, he shall be sent to a public house of correction, and remain there, without however being mixed with evil-disposed persons or such as may have been punished for crimes, until some means may be found for him or her to obtain a lawful maintenance.—(p. 362.)

Servants or other unprotected persons who have of their own accord relinquished their service or constant employ, and by means of such or other reprehensible conduct have been legally turned out of their employ, or who do not perform service with the master or mistress who has allowed such person to be rated and registered with them, or who, in consequence of circumstances which ought to be ascribed to the unprotected person himself, shall become deprived of their lawful means of support, but who may not be considered as evil-disposed persons, shall be bound to provide themselves with lawful occupations within 14 days, if it be in a town, and within double that number of days if it be in the country. Should the unprotected person not be able to accomplish this, it shall depend on Our lord-lieutenant how far he may deem it expedient to grant a further extended time, for a limited period, to a person thus circumstanced, in order to procure himself means for his subsistence.—(p. 363).

Such persons as may either not have been considered to be entitled to an extension of time for procuring lawful maintenance, or who, notwithstanding such permission, have not been able to provide themselves with the same, shall be liable to do work, if a man, at any of the corps of pioneers in the kingdom, and if a woman, at a public house of correction. If the man is unfit for a pioneer, he shall in lieu thereof be sent to a public house of correction.—(p. 363.)

It appears that pauperism has increased under the existing system. Mr. Bloomfield states that since its institution the number of poor has increased in proportion to the population (p. 368). The Stockholm return states that—

The main defect of the charitable institutions consists in a very imperfect control over the application of their funds, the parish not being accountable for their distribution to any superior authority. This is so much felt, that new regulations are contemplated for bringing parish affairs more under the inspection of a central board. Another great evil is, that each parish manages its affairs quite independently of any other, and frequently in a totally different manner; and there is no mutual inspection among the parishes, which, it is supposed, would check abuses. Again, parishes are not consistent in affording relief; they often receive and treat an able-bodied impostor (who legally has no claim on the parish) as an impotent or sick person, whilst many of the latter description remain unaided.

The Swedish artizan is neither so industrious nor so frugal as formerly; he has heard that the destitute able-bodied are in England supported by the parish; he claims similar relief, and alleges his expectation of it as an excuse for prodigality or indifference to saving.—(p. 375.)

That the number of poor (says Colonel Forsell) has lately increased in a far greater progression than before, is indeed a deplorable truth. At Stockholm, in the year 1737, the number of poor was 930; in 1825 there were reckoned 15,000 indigent persons. Their support, in 1731, cost 9000 dollars (dallar). In 1825, nearly 500,000 rix dollars banco were employed in alms, donations, and pensions. Perhaps these facts explain why, in Stockholm, every year about 1500 individuals more die than are born, although the climate and situation of this capital is by no means insalubrious; for the same may be said of almshouses as is said of foundling hospitals and similar charitable establishments, that the more their number is increased, the more they are applied to.

In the little and carefully governed town of Orebro, the number of poor during the year 1780 was no more than 70 or 80 individuals, and in the year 1832 it was 400! In the parish of Nora, in the province of Nerike, the alms given in the year 1814 were 170 rix-dollars 4 sk.; and in 1832, 2138 rix-dollars 27 sk.; and so on at many other places in the kingdom. That the case was otherwise in Sweden formerly, is proved by history. Botin says that a laborious life, abhorrence of idleness and fear of poverty, was the cause why indigent and destitute persons could be found, but no beggars. Each family sustained its destitute and impotent, and would have deemed it a shame to receive support from others.

The price of 8 kappar = 1½ doll., or 2s. 5d.

When the accounts required from the secretary of state for ecclesiastical affairs, regarding the number of and institutions for the poor, shall be reduced to order, and issue from the press, they must impart most important information. By the interesting report on this subject by the Bishop of Wexio, we learn, that the proportion of the poor to the population is as 1 to 73 in the government of Wexio, and as 1 to 54 in that of Jönköping. The assessed poor-taxes are, on an average, for every farm (hemman,) eight kappar corn in the former government, and 12½ in the latter. With regard to the institutions for the poor, it is said, the more we give the more is demanded, and instead of the poor-rates being regulated by the want, the want is regulated by the profusion of charities and poor-taxes.

In the bishopric of Wisby (Island of Gottland), the proportion between the poor and those who can maintain themselves, is far more favourable than in that of Wexio; for in the former only 1 in 104 inhabitants is indigent, and in 22 parishes there is no common almshouse at all. Among 40,000 individuals, no more than 17 were unable to read.—(p. 377.)

RUSSIA.

A general outline of the provision for the poor in Russia, is contained in the following extracts from Mr. Bligh’s report, (pp. 328, 329, 330).

As far as regards those parts of the empire which may most properly be called Russia, it will not be necessary for me to detain your Lordship long, since in them (where in fact by far the greatest portion of the population is to be found), the peasantry, being in a state of slavery, the lords of the soil are induced more by their own interest, than compelled by law, to take care that its cultivators, upon whom their means of deriving advantage from their estates depend, are not entirely without the means of subsistence.

Consequently, in cases of scarcity, the landed proprietors frequently feel themselves under the necessity (in order to prevent their estates from being depopulated) of expending large sums, for the purpose of supplying their serfs with provisions from more favoured districts. There is no doubt, however, (of which they must be well aware) that in case of their forgetting so far the dictates of humanity and of self-interest, as to refuse this assistance to the suffering peasantry, the strong hand of a despotic government would compel them to afford it.

The only cases, therefore, of real misery, which are likely to arise, are, when soldiers, who having outlived their 25 years’ service, and all the hardships of a Russian military life, fail in getting employment from the government as watchmen in the towns, or in other subordinate situations, and returning to their villages, find themselves unsuited by long disuse to agricultural pursuits, disowned by the landed proprietors, from whom their military service has emancipated them, and by their relations and former acquaintances, who have forgotten them.

I am led to understand, that in all well-regulated properties, in order to provide for the contingencies of bad seasons, the peasants are obliged to bring, to a magazine established by the proprietor, a certain portion of their crops, to which they may have recourse in case of need.

In the estates belonging to the government, which are already enormous, and which are every day increasing, in consequence of the constant foreclosing of the mortgages by which so many of the nobility held their estates under the crown, more special enactments are in vigour; inasmuch as in them, all serfs incapable of work are supported by their relations, and those whose relations are too poor to afford them assistance, are taken into what may be termed poor-houses, which are huts, one for males, the other for females, built in the neighbourhood of the church, at the expense of the section or parish, which is also bound to furnish the inmates with fuel, food, and clothing.

The parish must, moreover, establish hospitals for the sick, for the support of which, besides boxes for receiving alms, at the church and in the hospitals themselves, all fines levied in the parish are to be applied.

The clergy are compelled to provide for the poor of their class, according to an ordonnance, regulating the revenues set apart for this object, and enacting rules for the distribution of private bequests and charities.

In Courland, Esthonia, and Livonia, the parish (or community) are bound to provide for the destitute to the utmost of their means, which means are to be derived from the common funds; from bequests, or from any charitable or poor fund which may exist; and in Esthonia, from the reserve magazines of corn, which, more regularly than in Russia, are kept full by contributions from every peasant.

When those are inadequate, a levy is made on the community, which is fixed by the elders and confirmed by the district authorities; and when this rate is levied, the landowners or farmers contribute in proportion to the cultivation and works they carry on, or to the amount of rent they pay; and the labourers according to the wages they receive.

The overseers consist of the elder of the village, (who is annually elected by the peasantry) and two assistants, one of whom is chosen from the class of landholders or farmers, and the other from the labourers, and who are confirmed by the district police. One of these assistants has to give quarterly detailed accounts to the district authorities, and the elder, on quitting office, renders a full account to the community.

Those who will not work voluntarily may be delivered over to any individual, and compelled to work for their own support, at the discretion of the elder and his assistants.

Those poor who are found absent from home, are placed in the hands of the police, and transferred to their own parishes.

All public begging is forbid by very strict regulations.

In the external districts of the Siberian Kirghese, which are for the most part peopled by wandering tribes, the authorities are bound to prevent, by every means in their power, any individual of the people committed to their charge from suffering want, or remaining without superintendence or assistance, in case of their being in distress.

All the charitable offerings of the Kirghese are received by the district authorities, and as they consist for the most part of cattle, they are employed, as far as necessary, for the service of the charitable institutions; the surplus is sold, and the proceeds, together with any donations in money, go towards the support of those establishments; when voluntary contributions are not sufficient for that purpose, the district authorities give in an estimate of the quantity of cattle of all sorts required to make up the deficiency, and according to their estimate, when confirmed by the general government, the number of cattle required in each place is sent from the general annual levy made for the service of the government.

In the Polish Provinces incorporated with the empire, as the state of the population is similar to that of Russia Proper, the proprietors in like manner, in cases of need, supply their peasantry with the means of existence; under ordinary circumstances, however, the portions of land allotted to them for cultivation, which afford them not only subsistence, but the means of paying a fixed annual sum to their lords, and the permission which is granted to them of cutting wood in the forests for building and fuel, obviate the necessity of their receiving this aid.

The same system existed in the Duchy of Warsaw prior to 1806, and every beggar and vagabond was then sent to the place of his birth, where, as there was not a sufficiency of hands for the cultivation of the soil, he was sure to find employment, or to be taken care of by his master, whilst there were enough public establishments for charity to support the poor in the towns belonging to the government, and those, who by age, sickness, or natural deformities, were unable to work.

But when the establishment of a regular code proclaimed all the inhabitants of that part of Poland equal in the eye of the law, the relations of the proprietor and the peasant were entirely changed; and the former having no power of detaining the latter upon his lands, except for debt legally recognised, was no longer obliged to support them.

So great and sudden a change in the social state of the country soon caused great embarrassment to the government, who being apprehensive of again altering a system which involved the interests of the landed proprietors, the only influential class in the country, for a long time eluded the consideration of the question, by augmenting the charitable institutions; but at length the progressive expense of this system compelled the Minister of Finance to refuse all further aid to uphold it, and by an arbitrary enactment, recourse was had to the former plan of passing the poor to the places of their birth. As this arrangement is only considered as provisional, and as the population has not hitherto more than sufficed for the purpose of agriculture, and the manufactories which were established prior to the late insurrection, it has not been much complained of, though the necessity for some more precise and positive regulations respecting the poor is generally acknowledged.

In Finland, there are no laws in force for the support of the indigent, nor any charitable establishments, except in some of the towns. In the country districts it is expected that reserve magazines of corn should be kept in every parish, but I cannot ascertain that the adoption of this precautionary measure is imperative upon the landed proprietors and peasantry.

On comparing, however, Mr. Bligh’s statement as to the law in Courland with that made by M. Kienitz His Majesty’s Consul, it does not seem that the provision afforded by law is often enforced, excepting as to the support of infirmaries. It appears from his report that the government provides expeditiously for vagrants by enrolling them as soldiers or setting them on the public works; and that the proportion of the population to the means of subsistence is so small, and the demand for labour so great, that scarcely any other able-bodied paupers are to be found.

DENMARK.

The information respecting Denmark is more complete and derived from more sources than any other return contained in this volume.

The Danish poor law is recent. It appears (p. 278) to have originated in 1798, and to have assumed its present form in 1803. The following statement of its principal provisions is principally extracted from Mr. Macgregor’s report (pp. 280, 283, 284-7, 288, 273-285, 289, 290).

Poor districts.

Each market town, or kiöbstœd, (of which there are 65 in Denmark,) constitutes a separate poor district, in which are also included those inhabitants of the adjacent country who belong to the parish of that town. In the country, each parish forms a poor district.

The poor laws are administered in the market towns by a board of commissioners, consisting of the curate, of one of the magistrates (if any), of the provost (byefoged) in his quality of policemaster, and of two or more of the most respectable inhabitants of the place.

In the country this is done in each district by a similar board, of which the curate, the policemaster, besides one of the principal landholders, and three to four respectable inhabitants, are members, which latter are nominated for a term of three years.

All persons are to be considered as destitute and entitled to relief, who are unable, with their own labour, to earn the means of subsistence, and thus, without the help of others, would be deprived of the absolute necessaries of life.

Classification of paupers.

The poor to whom parochial relief may be awarded, are divided into three classes. To the first class belong the aged and the sick, and all those who from bodily or mental infirmity are wholly or partially debarred from earning the means of subsistence. In the second class are included orphans, foundlings, and deserted children, as well as those, the health, resources, or morals of whose parents are of a description which would render it improper to confide the education of children to their care. The third class comprises families or single persons, who from constitutional weakness, a numerous offspring, the approach of old age or similar causes, are unable to earn a sufficiency for the support of themselves or children.

Relief to first class.

Paupers of the first class who are destitute of other support, are to be supplied by the proper parish officers:

(a) With food (or in market towns where the necessary establishments for that purpose are wanting, with money in lieu thereof); to which, in the agricultural districts, the inhabitants have to contribute, according to the orders issued by the commissioners, either in bread, flour, pease, groats, malt, bacon, butter or cheese, or in corn, or in money, or by rations, or in any other manner, which, from local circumstances, may be deemed most expedient:

(b) With the necessary articles of clothing:

(c) With lodging and fuel, either by placing them in establishments belonging to the parish, or in private dwellings:

(d) With medical attendance, either at their own dwellings, or in places owned or rented by the parish.

To second.

The children belonging to the second class are to be placed with a private family, to be there brought up and educated at the expense of the parish, until they can be apprenticed or provided for in any other manner.

The commissioners are carefully to watch over the treatment and education of the children by their foster-parents, and that such of them as have been put out to service are properly brought up and instructed until they are confirmed.

To third.

The paupers of the third class are to be so relieved that they may not want the absolute necessaries of life; but avoiding mendicity on the one hand, they must at the same time be compelled to work to the best of their abilities for their maintenance. To render the relief of paupers of this description more effectual, care must be taken that, if possible, work be procured for them at the usual rate of wages; and where the amount does not prove sufficient for their support they may be otherwise assisted, but in general not with money, but with articles of food and clothing, to be supplied them at the expense of the parish.

In cases where families are left houseless, the commissioners are authorized to procure them a habitation, by becoming security for the rent; and where such habitation is not to be obtained for them, they may be quartered upon the householders in rotation, until a dwelling can be found in some other place.

Should the rent not be paid by the parties when due, such persons must be considered as paupers, and be removed to that district where they may be found to have a settlement. The house-rent thus disbursed must in this case be looked upon as temporary relief, and be borne by the parish that advanced it. Where parish-officers refuse to obey these injunctions, they may be compelled by a fine, to be levied daily until they comply.

Liabilities of pauper.

The Danish law has established the principle, that every individual receiving relief of any kind under the poor-laws, is bound, either with his property or his labour, to refund the amount so disbursed for him, or any part thereof; and authority has therefore been given to the poor-law commissioners, “to require all those whom it may concern, to work to the best of their ability, until all they owe has been paid off.”

On relief being awarded to a pauper, the commissioners of the district have forthwith to take an inventory of, and to appraise, his effects, which are only to be delivered over to him for his use, after having been marked with the stamp of the board.

Any person receiving goods or effects so marked, either by way of purchase or in pledge, shall be liable to the restitution of the property, to the payment of its value, and besides to a fine.

The same right is retained by the parish upon the pauper, if he should happen to acquire property at a later period, as well as it extends to his effects at his demise, though he should not have received relief at the time of his death.

An ordinance of the 13th of August, 1814, expressly enacts, that wherever a person absolutely refuses either to refund or to pay by instalments the debt he has so contracted with the parish, he shall be forced to pay it off by working for the benefit of the same, and not be allowed to leave the parish; but that if he do so notwithstanding, he is to be punished by imprisonment in the house of correction. The commissioners are further authorized to stipulate the amount such individual is to pay off per week, in proportion to his capability to work, to the actual rate of wages and other concurring circumstances, and that where such person either refuses to work, or is idle or negligent during the working hours, he is to be imprisoned on bread and water until he reform his conduct.

Begging.

The poor having thus been provided for, begging is prohibited, and declared to be liable to punishment.

In adjudging punishment for begging, it is to be taken into consideration whether the mendicant was in need of support or not. In the first case he shall, the first time, be imprisoned fourteen days; the second time, four weeks; and the third time, work for a year in the house of correction. For every time the offence is committed, the punishment to be doubled. But if the mendicant is able to work, and thus not entitled to support from the parish, he shall, the first time, be imprisoned four weeks; the second time, eight weeks; and the third time, work for two years in the house of correction, which last punishment is to be doubled for every time the offence is committed. When the term of punishment is expired, the beggar is to be sent to his home under inspection, and his travelling expenses by land in every parish through which he passes to be paid by the poor-chest of the bailiwick in which the parish lies; but his conveyance by water to be paid by the parish bound to receive him.

Duty of the poor to seek service.

In the market-towns, all persons belonging to the working classes are obliged to enter into fixed service, unless they have some ostensible means of subsistence, which must be proved to the satisfaction of the magistrates, if required.

In the agricultural districts, every person belonging to the class of peasants, who is not a proprietor or occupier of land, a tacksman (boelsmand), or cottager (huusmand), or subsists upon some trade or profession, is to seek fixed service, unless he be married and permanently employed as a day-labourer.

Where a single person of either sex belonging to the labouring class is not able to obtain a place, he (or she) shall within two months before the regular term when regular servants are changed (Skiftetid) apply to the parish-beadle, who, on the Sunday following at church-meeting, is publicly to offer the services of his client, and inquire amongst the community if any person is in want of a servant, and will receive him (or her) as such. Should the said person not get a place within a fortnight, a similar inquiry is to be made in the neighbouring parish.

All those that have not followed the line of conduct pointed out in the preceding regulation, and are without steady employment, shall be considered as vagrants, and punished accordingly.

It is also provided, that where parents, without sufficient reason, keep more grown up children at home than they absolutely require for their service, it shall be considered indicative, either of their being in comparatively good circumstances, or that their income has been improved by the additional labour of their children, and their poor and school-rates are to be raised in proportion.

Mode of raising fund.

It is not only made obligatory upon the house and landowners to contribute to the parochial fund, but also upon servants and labouring mechanics; in short, upon all persons, without distinction of religion, who are not on the parish themselves, and whose circumstances are such that they can afford to pay the contribution in proportion to their incomes, without thereby depriving themselves of the necessaries of life.

The only exception are the military, and persons receiving pay from the military fund, who are only liable to contribute in so far as they have private means.

The receipts of the parochial fund are derived from various sources, which may be classed under the following heads, viz.—

1. Parochial fund.

1ᵒ. An annual contribution in money, either voluntary or levied upon the inhabitants, according to the assessment of the board of commissioners in each parish, and in proportion to the amount annually required for the relief of the poor.

This contribution is recovered in four quarterly instalments, each of which is payable in advance. The commissioners have to transmit a list of those persons that are in arrears to the bailiff of the division, who may levy the amount by distress.

2ᵒ. A contribution assessed upon the produce of the ground-tax in the townships.

3ᵒ. One-quarter per cent. of the proceeds of goods and effects sold by public auction in the townships.

4ᵒ. Fines and penalties adjudged to the parochial fund by the courts of justice, and the commissioners of arbitration in the townships.

5ᵒ. Produce of collections in churches and hospitals on certain occasions; of the sale of the effects of paupers deceased; of the sale of stray cattle having no owner; voluntary donations on the purchase or sale of houses and lands; contingencies.

6ᵒ. Interest on capital, and rent of lands or houses bequeathed to, or otherwise acquired by, the poor administration.

2. Bailiwick fund.

The receipts of the separate poor fund of the bailiwick consist chiefly,—1ᵒ. In a proportion of certain dues levied in each of its jurisdictions; 2ᵒ. In fines and penalties adjudged to the fund by the tribunals and the commissions of arbitration in the agricultural districts; 3ᵒ. In ¼% of all goods and effects sold by public auction in the country; 4ᵒ. In the interest on capital belonging to the fund.

This fund has been established for the following purposes:—1ᵒ. Of contributing to the support of paupers who, although not properly belonging to the poor of the district in which they have become distressed, must still be relieved; 2ᵒ. Of assisting the parochial fund in extraordinary cases; 3ᵒ. Of defraying all expenses of a general nature that ought to be assessed upon the several parish funds within the jurisdiction of the bailiwick.

Effects of these institutions.

With respect to the effects of these institutions the evidence is not consistent. Mr. Macgregor’s opinion is, on the whole, favourable.

Be the management (he says) of the poor-laws good or bad, yet the system itself seems to have answered an important object, that of checking the rapid growth of pauperism. I admit that paupers have increased in Denmark these last thirty years, in the same proportion with the increase of population (pari passu); but I am far from believing that the proportion which they bear to the whole population is much greater now than it was in 1803, namely, 1:32, although some of the townships, from particular circumstances, may form an exception. I have diligently perused all the different reports that have been published for the last five years upon the present state of the rural economy of the country, and they all concur in stating that there is a slight improvement in the value of land; that idle people are seldom found; and that there is sufficient work in which to employ the labouring population.—(p. 291.)

Pauperism is chiefly confined (especially in the country) to the class of day-labourers, both mechanic and agricultural, who, when aged and decrepit, or burdened with large families, throw themselves upon parish relief whenever they are distressed from sickness or from some other casualty. But happily the allowance-system, which is productive of so much mischief, is not acted upon here to the same enormous extent as in England, and as the able-bodied can expect nothing beyond the absolute necessaries of life, they have no inducement for remaining idle, and they return to work the moment they are able, and have the chance of obtaining any. Relief, therefore, or the expectation of it, has hitherto not been found to produce any sensible effect upon the industry of labourers generally, nor upon their frugality, although it is more than probable that any relaxation in the management of the system would stimulate them to spend all their earnings in present enjoyment, and render them still more improvident than they already are. Nor are the poor-laws instrumental in promoting early marriages among the peasants; but it being their custom to form engagements at a very early period of life, this, in the absence of all moral restraint in the intercourse between the two sexes, leads to another serious evil, bastardy, which has so much increased of late years, that out of ten children, one is illegitimate.

A pauper in this kingdom lives in a state of degradation and dependence; he only receives what is absolutely necessary for his subsistence, and must often have recourse to fraud and imposition to obtain that, what is reluctantly given.

The working labourer, on the other hand, enjoys a certain degree of freedom and independence, although his means may be small, and that sometimes he may even be subject to great privations.

Should it ever so happen that the labouring population readily submit to all the restrictions imposed upon them by the parish officers, and that this is found not to be owing to any transitory causes, such as a single year of distress or sickness, then, in my humble opinion, the time is arrived and no other remedy left to correct the evil than for the government to promote emigration. (p. 292.)

Mr. Thaloman states that,

Hitherto these institutions have had a salutary and beneficial effect on the nation, inasmuch as many thousand individuals have been prevented from strolling about as beggars, and many thousand children have received a good education, and have grown up to be useful and orderly citizens. Neither as yet have any remarkable symptoms of dissatisfaction appeared among the wealthier classes. But we cannot be without some apprehension for the future, since the poor-rates have been augmented to such a degree that it would be very difficult to collect larger contributions than those now paid. And as sufficient attention has not been paid to this circumstance, that the farmers are continually building small cottages, in which poor people establish themselves, since the government have been unwilling to throw any restraint on marriages between poor persons; there seems reason to fear, that in the lapse of another period of twenty years, the poor in many districts will to such a degree have multiplied their numbers, that the present system will yield no adequate means for their support.

In the towns much embarrassment is already felt, the poor having increased in them to a much greater extent than in the country.

All the taxes of a considerable merchant of Dram in Norway, who owns eight trading vessels actually employed, amounted during last year to not more than the school and poor-rates of one large farm in the heath district which you visited last year. (p. 279.)

M. N. N., a correspondent of Mr. Browne’s, and the author of a very detailed account of the existing law, after stating that,

Benevolent as the Danish poor system will appear, it is generally objected to it that the too great facility of gaining admittance, particularly to the third class, encourages sloth and indolence, especially in the country, where the means are wanted to establish workhouses, the only sure way of controlling those supported:

And that,

It is further objected to the present system, that it already begins to fall too heavy on the contributors, and that in course of time, with the constant increase of population, it will go on to press still more severely on them, inasmuch as their number and means do not by any means increase in a ratio equal to the augmentation of the number wanting support: (p. 274.)

Adds, in answer to more specific inquiries,

Before the introduction of the present poor law system, the distress was much greater, and begging of the most rapacious and importunate kind was quite common in the country. This was not only a heavy burthen on the peasantry, but was in other respects the cause of intolerable annoyance to them; for the beggars, when their demands were not satisfied, had recourse to insolence and threats, nay, even to acts of criminal vengeance. This is no longer the case, and in so far, therefore, the present system has been beneficial.

It is a fact that poverty now appears in less striking features than it did before the introduction of the poor law system. This may, however, proceed from causes with which that system has no connexion; for example, from the increased wealth of the country in general, from improvements in agriculture, from the large additions made to the quantity of arable land, which have been in a ratio greatly exceeding that of the increased population. If the clergyman, who is, and will always be the leading member of the poor committee, was able to combine with his other heavy duties, a faithful observance of the rules prescribed for him in the management of the poor, I am of opinion that the system would neither be a tax on industry nor a premium on indolence. But it rarely happens that the clergyman can bestow the requisite attention on the discharge of this part of his duty; and therefore it is not to be denied that the present poor law (not from any defect inherent in the system, but merely from faulty management) does occasionally act as a tax on industry and a premium on idleness. (p. 275.)

On the other hand, Mr. Browne thus replies to the questions as to the effects of the poor laws on the, 1. industry, 2. frugality, 3. period of marriage, and 4. social affections of the labouring classes, and on the comparative condition of the pauper and the independent labourer. (pp. 266, 267.)

1. On the industry of the labourers?—On their industry, most injurious, involving the levelling principle to a very great degree, lowering the middleman to the poor man, and the poor man who labours to the pauper supported by the parish. It tends to harden the heart of the poor man, who demands with all that authority with which the legal right to provision invests him. There is no thankfulness for what is gotten, and what is given is afforded with dislike and reluctance.

2. On their frugality?—The poor laws greatly weaken the frugal principle.

3. On the age at which they marry?—Encourage early and thoughtless marriages. The children are brought up with the example of indolence and inactivity before their eyes, which must be most prejudicial in after-life. I have often remarked amongst the people, who are naturally soft, susceptible and sympathizing, an extraordinary insensibility towards those who voluntarily relieve them, even at the moment of relief, and no gratitude whatever afterwards. I can attribute this most undesirable state of feeling, so contrary to what might be expected from the natural character of the people, solely to the perpetual association of right to relief. Thus does the system always disturb and often destroy the moral and kindly relation which should subsist and which is natural, between the higher and lower orders. The poor man becomes stiff and sturdy; the rich man indifferent to the wants and sufferings of the poor one. He feels him a continual pressure, at moments inconvenient to relieve, and under circumstances where he would often withhold if he could, partly from dislike to the compulsory principle, and often not regarding the case as one of real charity, and disapproving, as he naturally may, of the whole system of poor laws’ administration. From all I have observed, I feel persuaded (and I have lived a good deal in the country, having had much connexion with the lower orders, and not having been indifferent to their condition either moral or physical) that a more mischievous system could not have been devised—that poverty has been greatly increased by weakening the springs of individual effort, and destroying independence of character—that the lower orders have become tricky, sturdy and unobliging, the higher orders cold and uncharitable; and in short, that ere long, unless some strenuous steps are taken, Denmark will drink deep of the bitter cup of which England, by a similar system, has been so long drinking to her grievous cost. Were there no other objection, the machinery is wanting to conduct so delicate and complicated a system. And were it the best possible, and had the managers no other occupation but the one, the ingenuity of idleness to escape from action is so great, that it would often, very often, defeat eyes less actively open to detect it. I have spoken with few who do not object to the system from first to last, or who do not press an opinion that the state of the population before the existence of the poor laws was more desirable by far than at present.

4. On the mutual dependence and affection of parent, children, and other relatives?—No doubt it materially disturbs the natural dependence and affection of parent and child. The latter feels his parent comparatively needless to him; he obtains support elsewhere; and the former feels the obligation to support the latter greatly diminished. In short, being comparatively independent of each other, the affections must inevitably become blunted.

5. What, on the whole, is the condition of the able-bodied and self-supporting labourer of the lowest class, as compared with the condition of the person subsisting on alms or public charity; is the condition of the latter, as to food and freedom from labour, more or less eligible?—Were I a Danish labourer, I would endeavour to live partly on my own labour, and partly on the parish, and I feel persuaded that a labourer so living in Denmark will be better off than one who gets no help from the parish; that is, the former, from a knowledge that he may fall back on the parish, will spend all he earns at the time on coffee, spirits, tobacco, snuff, &c., whereas the latter, who certainly can live on his industry (except under extraordinary and occasional emergencies, sickness, &c.) is debarred from such gratifications. Under such circumstances, the poorer labourer is better off than the poor one.

And his views are supported by the following observations of Count Holstein:

1st. The dread of poverty is diminished, and he who is half-poor works less instead of more, so that he speedily becomes a complete pauper. Those who are young and capable of labour are less economical, always having the poor rate in view, as a resource against want; likewise marriages are contracted with much less forethought, or consideration as to consequences.

2d. The morality of the poor man suffers, for he looks upon his provision as a right, for which he, therefore, need not be thankful; and, 3d, the morality of the rich man suffers, for the natural moral relation between him and the poor man has become completely severed; there is no place left for the exercise of his benevolence; being obliged to give, he does it with reluctance, and thus is the highest principle of charitable action, Christian love, exposed to great danger of destruction.

4th. As the clergyman of the parish is the president of the poor committee, he becomes involved in transactions peculiarly unsuited to his sacred calling, sometimes even compelled to resort to the extremity of distraint to compel his own parishioners to pay the allotted proportions; and thus does the moral influence of him, who should be a picture of the God of love, become every day less and less powerful. (p. 276.)

We have entered into this full statement of the Danish poor laws, and of their administration, because they exhibit the most extensive experiment that has as yet been made in any considerable portion of the Continent of a system in many respects resembling our own.

MECKLENBURG.

The following passage, at the conclusion of M. Meyen’s report, gives a short summary of the poor laws of Mecklenburg: (p. 424.)

Every inhabitant is obliged to pay certain poor rates, with the exception of military men, up to a certain rank, students, clerks in counting-houses and shops, assistant artisans and servants.

When the crown lands are let, there is always a clause in the contract, to regulate what the farmer, the dairy farmer, the smith and the shepherd, are to give. A day labourer pays 8d. yearly.

The inhabitants of higher situation and public officers pay voluntarily. They ought to pay one per cent. of their income. If any one pays too little, the overseers of the poor rates can oblige him to pay more. The overseers are chosen by the inhabitants of the district.

In the towns all inhabitants pay a voluntary subscription; it ought to be one per cent. of their income. If they pay too little, the overseers can demand more. The overseers are chosen by the magistrate.

With respect to estates belonging to private individuals, the subsistence of the poor falls entirely to the charge of the proprietor, who is entitled to levy a trifling tax from all the inhabitants of the estate, equal to a simple contribution amounting to 8d. for a day labourer per annum, and 4d. for a maid servant. Few proprietors, however, levy such a tax.

Every one has a legal claim to assistance, and there are to be distinguished,

1st. Able-bodied persons. Work and a dwelling must be provided for them; the former at the usual rate, in order not to render them quite destitute, if through chicane work should be denied to them.

2d. People, impotent through age, must perform such work as they are capable of, and so much must be given to them that they can live upon it, besides a dwelling and fuel.

PRUSSIA.

There is some difficulty in reconciling Mr. Abercrombie’s report and Mr. Gibsone’s. The following is Mr. Abercrombie’s statement: (pp. 425, 426.)

Throughout the whole kingdom of Prussia, the funds for the maintenance and support of the poor are raised from private charity. No law exists enabling either the government of the country, or the subordinate provincial regencies, to raise funds explicitly appropriated for the provision of the poor, and it is only when private charity does not suffice for the exigencies of the moment, that the government, or the regency, advance money for that purpose. But to enable them to do so, the amount must be taken from those funds which had been destined for other purposes, such as, for improvements in paving, lighting, or for the public buildings of a town, or for the construction of roads, or other public works.

In Prussia, each town, and each commune, is obliged to take charge of the poor that may happen to reside within them; and consequently there is no passing from one parish to another, or refusal to maintain an individual because he belongs to another parish.

In each town there is a deputation (called armen-direction) or society for the poor, who undertake the collection and distribution of funds raised by charity. In small towns, of under 3,500 inhabitants, exclusive of military, this society is composed of the burgomaster, together with the town deputies (forming the town senate) and burghers chosen from the various quarters of the town.

In large and middle-sized towns, including from 3,500 to 10,000 inhabitants, exclusive of military, to the afore-mentioned individuals is always added the syndic (or town accomptant), and if necessary, another magistrate. Clergymen and doctors are likewise included in the society; and where the police of the place has a separate jurisdiction from the magistrate, the president of the police has always a seat as a member of the society.

Under this armen-direction the care of the poor is confided to different sub-committees formed of the burghers, and for this purpose the town is divided into poor districts (or armenbezirke). In small and middle-sized towns, these districts are again divided into sub-districts, containing not above 1,000, or less than 400 souls. In large towns the sub-districts are to comprise not above 1,500, or less than 1,000 souls; and in these last towns several sub-districts may, if requisite, be united into one poor district or armenbezirke.

From each armenbezirke must be elected one or more of the town deputies, or burghers, according to necessity, for the management of the affairs of the poor; and it is also required that at least one of those elected should be a member of the society for the poor (or armen-direction), and these individuals are required to find out and verify the condition of the poor of their own district.

The direction of the affairs of the poor is therefore, as thus established, confided entirely to the burghers of the town, and the provision of the funds rests upon the charity and benevolence of the inhabitants.

As regards hospitals and public charities, one or more of the members of the armen-direction undertake to watch that the funds are expended according to the provisions made by the founders.

In the villages, the direction of the funds for the poor is confided to the mayor (or schûltze), assisted by individuals chosen for that purpose from amongst the principal inhabitants of the commune.

This body is accountable to the councillor of the district (or land rath), who is in like manner under the jurisdiction of the provincial regency, and the whole is under the inspection of the 1st section of the home department.

I have now specified the authorities who control the maintenance for the poor, and who are likewise charged with the care of administering to their wants.

As regards the manner of obtaining the necessary funds, everything is done by donations and private charity. Each house proprietor, each inhabitant of a floor or apartment, is in his turn visited by some of the members of the sub-committee of the armenbezirke, who, in return for the donation, deliver a receipt for the amount.

The donations from residents are generally monthly, and vary in amount according to the number of individuals in the family, or to the feelings of generosity of the donor. No rate or calculated fixed table exists, regulating the sum to be given by each individual or head of a family.

Each town being governed by its own particular laws and customs with regard to the management of its poor, and each from accidental circumstances differing from its neighbour, it is impossible to particularize any other general principle that is followed, than the establishments of the armen-direction, and of the sub-committees; which detailed information I have extracted as above from the Städte Ordnüng, or town laws, as revised in 1831.

As regards the practical working of this system, I have no hesitation in affirming, that it is found universally to succeed; that the effect upon the comfort, character, and condition of the inhabitants, is, first, to afford speedy and sufficient means of relief when necessary; that it prevents in a great degree false applications, inasmuch as that the districts being small, the really needy are more easily discovered; and secondly, that as no tax is fixed for the maintenance of the poor, it renders all classes more willing and anxious to assist, according to their respective means, in sustaining the funds required for the support of the poor. (p. 426.)

On the other hand, the following is the statement of Mr. Gibsone: (pp. 460, 461, 463, 464.)

In general it is the duty of the police authority in every community, where any person in distress may come, to render him the needful assistance for the moment, which must be repaid,

a) by the provincial pauper fund, if the person be a foreigner, or have no domicile; or,

b) by the community, or owner of the estate (called the dominium), he belongs to, if a native of the country.

Destitute Able-bodied.