THE ENGLISH POOR-LAW SYSTEM, VIEWED IN RELATION TO EDUCATION AND MORALS, IN ENGLAND AND WALES. By the Rev. Thomas Moore, M.A., CHAPLAIN OF THE WEST DERBY UNION. (READ DECEMBER 13TH, 1856.) The subject of the following sketch is the bearing of the English Poor-Law on the Education and Morals of the people. Its importance will appear from a variety of considerations, of which it may be sufficient to mention, the number of the pauper class, the expense of their maintenance, and the great influence for good or evil, which they may exercise on the community at large. Number.-To shew the number, we have but to refer to the Official Returns, and we find that there were in receipt of relief— Of the above, there were under the age of 16 years Total. 767,080 806,126 In may not be unimportant to remark, that in 1853 the in-door pauper children were nearly 37 per cent. of the in-door paupers, and the out-door pauper children above 30 per cent. of the whole out-door relief list. On the 1st of January, 1854, the in-door children were 41 per cent. and the out-door 37 per cent. of their respective totals. The children are composed in the main of two great classes-the orphans and the illegitimate. In the years 1853, 1854, they formed when taken together, 78 per cent. of the whole, as out of 35,911 in the former of those years, there were nearly 22,000 orphans and upwards of 6000 illegitimate; and in the latter year, out of 45,431, there were upwards of 23,000 orphans and nearly 12,000 illegitimate. Expense. Having thus stated the numbers relieved, we next proceed to the expense of their maintenance. There was levied for poor-rates The expenditure in each of these years was somewhat greater. It is instructive to compare these rates with those of 1834, the year immediately preceding the passing of the Poor-Law Amendment Act. In that year the rates were £8,338,079; and allowing for the increase of population since then, the levy for poor-rate would at the same proportion have been in 1853, £10,720,387, but it was actually only £6,522,412, or a decrease of nearly 40 per cent. This result is satisfactory, as it proves that a great saving has been effected by the introduction and working of the New Poor-Law system. Influence of the Pauper Class.-The influence which such a large class as the pauper one exercises on the community, must be sensibly felt; and those best acquainted with the subject have stated that under the old system, crime recruited its ranks largely from the inmates; and it is only too much to be feared that modern workhouses are not altogether free from the same defect. That a great change for the better has taken place in the condition of the pauper class, by the new system, is evident to anyone who glances at the reports of the state of the poor before, or for a few years after the passing of the Act, and who contrasts their present condition with such description. As the present paper does not propose to treat the subject fully and in detail, the writer intends to confine himself to one branch of it, viz., the means employed for training the young to be useful citizens. Adults and Children differently regarded.-The feelings with which the adult pauper and the pauper-child are regarded are very different, and rightly so. The condition of the former is regarded with suspicion; and though poverty is not a crime in itself, yet it so often arises from crime, and from controllable causes, that the pauper is looked upon as guilty of criminality to some extent; and hence severe tests are often applied to ascertain the reality of the destitution. But the orphan, the child of destitute parents, and the illegitimate, ought to be, and are generally regarded in a different light; and self-interest, as well as reason and right feeling, point the way to a very different mode of treatment. It is not meant that all adult paupers are to be regarded in a suspicious light. It is generally the able-bodied who are so, but the old and infirm always meet with sympathy and attention. Poor-Law; its object. The object of the poor-law is, while it aims at relieving cases of real distress, to diminish as much as possible the pauperism of the country. This it attempts to do by detecting unworthy applicants for parochial relief, while at the same time it endeavours to de-pauperise those who have sunk into that pitiable condition from whatever cause. In England this is no easy task to accomplish, as it is at once the richest and the poorest country in the world; and while some of its people arrive at the extreme of wealth and luxury, there are others who feel an extent of hardship and distress unknown in any other country. Workhouse Test.-To diminish pauperism by detecting unworthy applicants, is a use which is made of the workhouse. If persons can readily get parish relief, and remain at their own homes and have their freedom, they will apply for it. In such cases, the offer of the workhouse often removes the application, as in general nothing further is heard of the case. If relieving officers, whose duties are most onerous and responsible, are not careful and conscientious, cases of hardship may occur in really deserving cases, where a little temporary relief would remove the distress, whereas the offer of the house would, if accepted, make paupers of those who never desired to be so. Pauper Children.-The children may be divided into two classes-the in-door and out-door relief list. From what has been already stated, it will be seen that there is a great disparity between them, the numbers being in 1854, 45,431 and 258,747 respectively. From this it is seen that about 15 per cent. only of the pauper children are maintained in the workhouse. Education. For the educational purposes connected with workhouses, England and Wales are divided into five districts, viz., the Metropolitan, the Southern, the Eastern and Midland, the Northern and the Western including Wales, and over each of these there is a Government Educational Inspector. In the case of children, the problem to be solved, is to give them such training as will fit them for the active duties of life, and make them useful citizens—in a word, to raise them permanently from the pauper class. Anything which falls short of this is comparatively thrown away; as those who have not been fitted for honest occupations, will soon find those who will indoctrinate them in pursuits congenial to man's evil and degrading propensities, and make them the pest of society. Schools. For the training of the children, there are schools attached to most workhouses, and the necessary officers to take charge of them. The law provides that every child shall have three hours' instruction daily, and the remainder is supposed to be given up to industrial occupations of various kinds. Wherever land is attached to workhouses and is cultivated by the boys, it is found beneficial in its influence on health and character. Industrial Schools.—Another plan has been much approved of, and has been adopted in the Metropolitan and Northern districts chiefly, and with marked advantages. I refer to District, or as they are sometimes called, Industrial Schools. In these the children are entirely removed from the adults, and the whole establishment is devoted to the training of the young. District Schools are usually intended for the education of the children of several parochial unions, but sometimes a single parish has one of its own. Of the latter Liverpool is an example; and of the former Swinton, which is intended for Manchester, Bury, Rochdale, Barton and Prestwich. Teachers.-The Committee of Council on Education have devoted particular attention to the improvement of workhouse teachers, and pays their salaries according to their merits. Boards of Guardians are thus induced to have properly qualified teachers; whereas, had the various Unions to pay the teachers, it is quite clear that the education in most cases would be greatly neglected. School Books.-Workhouse schools have a great advantage in being able to obtain grants of books at a cost much more moderate than is practicable for National Schools, and hence there is every inducement to have the schools well supplied with the best class of school books. Chaplain.—It it further provided that the schools be catechised monthly by the Chaplain; and in those Unions which have a Chaplain who undertakes no other clerical duty, it is expected that the Schools should have his special attention. |