■,>• : HOW TO HELP ■ASES OF DISTRESS 'Hiifk:: :l!'.i:>i im/ih 'im ;■'■;>'.;'!; r-W W>f;''; t'fiVi'. i^,e UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNI AT LOS ANGELES GIFT OF ■"R, FOr^^RT HUNTER flow TO HELP CASES OF DISTRESS A HANDY REFERENCE BOOK FOR ALMONERS AND OTHERS BY C. S. LOCH SECKETARY TO THE COUNCIL OF THE CHARITY ORGANISATION SOCIETY, LONDON FI FTH EDITION JUNE 1895 • . » - • » LONDON CHARITY ORGANISATION SOCIETY, 15 BUCKINGHAM STREET, STRAND,W.C. AND LONriMAXS, (illEKX, ,t CO.. PA'I'l'^RNOSTER ROW PRINTED BY BPOTTIBWOODE AND CO., NKW-8TBEET SQDAWt LONDON CD CO or D- ■< HV PBEFACE. CO This book is a reprint of the Introduction to the * Charities "~ Register and Digest,' the fourth edition of which has been CO pubKshed this year. In the Register will be found very complete information in regard to Charitable Institutions available for the metropolis. In an Appendix attached to I it are given particulars in regard to Provident, Friendly, 4^ and Trade Societies, and Savings Banks.' J In this, the Introduction, the attempt is made to furnish -^ such general information as a person desirous of assisting -^ those in distress would wish to have at hand. Many are H ignorant of the powers and functions of our public authorities r^ in the administration of relief, and overlook the large and complicated machinery which the community has from time ^ to time created for that purpose. To them an account of the \2 duties and responsibilities of these authorities, and of the ^ machinery which has been placed at their disposal, may be of service. On the other hand, to many who are more or less skilled in the administration of relief a short book of reference, which is written from their own point of view, and deals only with the facts with which they are primarily concerned, may be useful for consultation. The selection of subjects in this book is based on the needs of every-day practical charitable work. A case of distress might be cited as a reason for almost every paragraph. ' For the Tablo of Contents of the Register see p. ccvi at the end of this •voluuie. IV PREFACE. Readers desirous of further information are urged to refer to the books mentioned in the Hst on page cxcvi. These, with other pubhcations on charitable questions, can be seen at the offices of the Council of the Society. The Table of Contents has been enlarged and the Index omitted. It has been thought that, as the book is written in short sections, any particular point may, after consulting the Contents, be found with sufficient precision by reference to the section in which it is likely to be mentioned. For this edition a very large part of * the Introduction ' has been re-written, and care has been taken to introduce notes on the many new Acts of Parliament that have been passed during the last five years and bear more or less closely on the work of an almoner. C. S. L. June 1895. CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION. SECTION PACK I. The Scope OF THE Introduction ... ... ... ... i II. Explanatory OF THE Rkgistek ... ... ... ... ii III. Chauities Lists GENERALLY ... ... ... ... iii IV^. Principles OF Charity ... ... ... ... ... iv V. On the Responsikility of the Charitadle and Methods OF Charity : Cases Eligible and Ineligibh^ ; Inquiry ; Co-operation ... ... ... ... ... ... ix VI. On Interim OR Instant Help ... ... ... ... xii VII. On Charitable Institutions : the Test of them ; Restric- tions on Admission; Income; Management; Precautions xiii VIII. On District Visiting : Personal Charity and Wholesale Charity: Almsgiving and Religious Teaching; After- care; Charities in Kind ... ... ... ... xvi IX. The Municipal Administration OF the Metropolis ... xix X. On the Functions of the Poor Law and of Charity . . . xxi XI. The Local Goveenment Board ... ... ... ... xxii XII. The Board of Guardians: Advantage of Co-operation between Poor Law and Charity ... ... ... xxiii >iIII. The Election of Boards of Gu.\.rdians : its Importance . the Parochial Elector ; the Women's Vote ; Qualifi- cation of Candidates, etc. ... ... ... ... xxiv XIV. The Duties of Guardians in regard to In door and Out-door Relief: Workhouse Cases ; the Definition of 'Pauper'; the Prohibitory and Out-door Relief Regulation Orders ... ... ... ... ... xx\ XVa. The Pros and Cons as to Out-dooe Relief; the Circular of 1871; Investigation; Non-outdoor Relief, etc.; Manchester Rules: Paddington Rules; Whitechr.pel Procedure; what should take the place of Out-door Relief xxxvi XVA. The Organisation of the Workhouse: Admission; Classification ; Employment; Aged and Infirm Couples; Visits to Paupers; Leaving the Workhouse ... ... xiii XV. Poor Law Relief hv Way of Loan ; and Recovery of Relief ... ... ... ... ... ... ... xliv XVI. Settlement and Rf.movai. ... ... ... ... ... xlr VI CONTKiVTS. LNTIJOIJLCTION', SKCTIOX XVII. xvin. XIX. XX. XXI. XXII. XXIII. XXIV. XXV. XXVI. XXVII. XXVIII. XXIX. XXX. XXXI. XXXIi. XXXIII. XXXIV. XXXV. XXXVI. XXXVII. XXXVJII. XXXIX. The Legal Rksponsibilities of RELiTiONS ; Parents. Grandparents, Children ; Husbands, Wives, and Children ; Illegitimate Children ; Guardians' Control over Deserted Children ; Custody of Children brought Tip at other persons' expense ... Deserted Women ... Faxlen Women Inebriates ... dischaeged prisoners Vagrants, Casuals, and Homeless Cases: Poor Law- Arrangements; Obligations of the Charitable; Recom- mendations of Special Committee ; Poor Law Pro- vision for ' Sudden and Urgent Necessity' Street Beggars and Vagrants Begging Letter Writers : ' False Pretences ' ; Mendicant Cnarities.., Pedlars Soldiers and Seamen : Liability to Maintain their Fami- lies, etc. ; Reserve Men, Pensioners, Seamen in Royal Navy; Allotment Notes ; Seamen in Merchant Service; Allotment Notes; Guardians' Claim on Wages; Seamen in Distress Abroad ; Seamen natives of Asia, etc. Shoeblacks, Commissionaires, and Messengers ... The Unemployed: Causes; Limits of Charitable Help; Women's Wages ; Provision of Employment by Charity; Charitable Help Emigration : Limits ; Powers of Guardians, etc. ; State- aided ; of Childi-en Married Women : Rights in their own Property ; Reme- dies against Ill-treatment or Neglect; Guardianship of Children Non-provision FOR Widows AND Children Poor Law Provision FOR Children: Schools: Contracting with other Unions; Sending to Voluntary Schools ... Poor Law Provision for Children : Training Ships . . . Poor Law Provision for Children: Boarding-Out Poor Law Provi.sion for Children: Apprenticeship; to Sea Service; by Charitable Persons; the M.A.B.Y.S Protection of Infants and Young People : Masters and Servants; 'Baby Farming'; Seduction, etc.; Cruelty to Children ; Child-begging ; dangerous performances Assistance of Widows and Children Subscription to Institutions by Guardians Thi; School Board and the Education of Children : Attendance of Children; Employment of Children; Payment of Fees by Guardians : Parent.-' who are Out- door I'aupei'K PAUK 1 Ivi Ivi Ivii lix lix Ixvi Ixvii Ixiz Ixi Ixxvi Ixxvi Ixxxi Ixxxv Ixxxix Ixxxix xcii xciii xcv xcviii civ cvi evil COXTEXTS. IXTRODUCTIUX. VU SKCTION XL. XLI. XLII. XLIII. XLIY. XLV. XLVI. XLYII. XLVIII. XLIX. L. LI. LII. LIIL LIV. LV. LVI. Lvn. LVIII. LIX. LX. Rkstkictions on E.mpi.oymknt : Factories aiul Workshops ; Inspectors; Certificates of Fitness ; Children's Em- ployment, Mpal Iloui'.'i, etc. ; Young Persons and Women ; Domestic Workshops ; Sanitary Provisions ; Dangerous Trades ... ... ... ... ... cxi CiiiLDRKX Morally Neglected or Refractory : Indus- trial and Reformatory Schools generally ... ... cxvi Certified Industbiai. Schools ... ... ... ... exxi Reformatory Schools ... ... ... ... ... cxxiv The School Board Authorities a.vd Ikdcstrial, Day Industrial, and Trdant Schools ... ... ... cxxr The Blind, Deaf and Dumb: Prevention of Blindness; Powers of Guardians : Elementary I'^dueatinu of Children exxviii The Blind, Deaf and Dumb — the I'udvi^-io.v madk hy ihe School Board: the Act of 1S04 cxxxi The Metropolitan Asylums Board ... ... ... exxxiii Lunatics ... ... ... ... ... ... ■• cxxxiv Idiots and Imbeciles ... ... ... ... ... cxxxviii Feeble-minded, Epileptic, and Deformed ... ... cxxxix Fever and Small-Pox : ^letropolitan Asylums Board Asylums; What to do; Xon-pauper Patien's ... cxli Metropolitan Common Poor Fund ... ... ... cxliii The Sick : Charitable and Poor Law Provision : Out- patients ; a Central Hospital Board ; Poor Law Out- door Relief and Dispensaries ... ... ... ... cxliv Vaccination cxlvii The Vestries AND District Boards ... ... ... cxlviii The London County Council ... ... ... ... cl The London County Council and the Vestries and District Boards as Sanitary Authorities : — I. the public health act 1891 : (1) Nuisances; (2) Offensive Trades ; (3) Removal of Refu.se : (4) Unsound Food ; (.5) Provisions as to Water Supply ; (6) Notification of Infectious Diseases; (7) Cleansing and Disinfecting Premises; (8) Ambulances ... TI. the LONDON building act HI. the dwellings act: Unhealthy Areas; Un- healthy Dwelling Houses ; Municipal Pro- vision of Dwellings ; Common Lodging Houses Endowkd ('rarities Judicial Control over Endowments : The Charity Commissioners: (1) Inquiry and Advice; (2) Official Trusteeship; (3) Making New Schemes : Educational P^ndowments ; Cy-prh ; the New Digest ; Accounts ... ... ... clxrii PAwvnROKERS ... ... .., ... clixii clvi clxiii clxiii clxvi Vlll CONTENTS. — INTRODUCTION. SECTION LXI. LXII. LXIII. LXIV. LXV. LXVI. LXVII. LXVIII. Loans... ... ... ... Pensions Means of Thrift : Juvenile Friendly Societies ... Friendly Societies : Tests of Soundness ; Growth, etc. ... The Friendly Societies' Registry : Privileges ; Invest- ments ; Loans ; Insurances of Children ; Out-door Relief to Members ; Lunatics... Post Office Arrangements for Thrift and Saving The Collecting Savings Bank Exceptional Distress Appendix: Employers' Liability Act Books for Reading and Reference PAOK clxxiii clxxv clxxvii clxxviii clxxx clxxxiii clxxxvi clxxxvii cxciv cxevi inteoduction; -»o»- TISIOUS. I. — The Scopk of the Intkoduction. This 'Introduction' is ratlier a reference book tlian an introductory Necessity of preface. A list of charities, without some knowledge of the modes ^f Z'Jilods'^ in which their benefits ou^ht to be turned to account, is like a of ciiaritrii.ie ~ ' _ _ work aud ot pharraacopoBia without a knowledj^e of the elements of medicine, letrui pio- An outline of the principles of charitable work has therefore been given. Legislation also has created public bodies with definite responsibilities, which, if properly fulfilled, narrow the field of charity. At present there is a mingling of obligations and an over- lapping of responsibility. A division of labour would add to the eflicacy of charity ; but before this becomes possible, those who take an interest in these questions (and in some way or other most people are dealing with them) must learn what public autho- rities have to do, and how their resources can be made use of with the greatest advantage to the poorer classes. For this reason particulars have been insei'ted in the Introduction in regard to tho Poor Law, lleformatory and Industrial Schools, the vestries and their sanitary duties, &c. &c.^ As the object of charity is to ' The Introduction may be had separately, price 2s. 6d. ^ With re^aifl to the necessary limits under which this information is piven, see note p. xlv. A list of books for reference and reading, and a list of some of the publications of the Charity Organisation Society, will be found on p. cxcv. N.B. — It is particularly requested that any corrections, information regarding new or omitted charities, and suggestions with regard to the improvement of the Charities Register and Digest, and of tliis Intro- duction in future editions, be sent to the Secretary, Charity Organisation Society, 15 Buckingham Street, London, W.C. Persons desirous of assisting cases of distress of a difficult nature are invited to refer to the same address, should they be unable to find f(^r them a suitable mode of help in the Register, or if tliey cannot ascertain from the Introduction the information they require. a 11 INTRODUCTION. benefit the individual and his family, and the attainment of this object depends on the disci-imination of circumstances and the application of remedies, typical instances of various classes of cases have been given ; e.g. widows with families, the unemployed, chronic cases, inebriates. These are, generally speaking, intended as ilhistrations of what cases may rightly be left to public bodies and what should be undertaken by charity. The ' Introduction ' does not deal with those social and economic questions, -which lie partly within and partly without the province of charity — in what ways the conditions which tend to the degrada- tion of life in large sections of the people may be removed. Such questions must repeatedly occur to every one who has any experi- ence in, or has given any thought to, the relief of individuals. But though they be most important, and though the study of them in connection with a knowledge of the daily life of the people be a chief duty of our time, yet, except incidentally, they lie beyond the scope of this work. II. — Explanatory of the Register. The scope of the Register is larger than that usually aimed at in such works. This is mainly due to the introduction of information in regard to the various provident agencies, a knowledge of which is of the first importance to the almoner. And also the attempt has been made to give prominence to those large charities of the working classes which are habitually overlooked, but which are administered with a familiar acquaintance with the general circumstances of the recipients, and have a potency for good which may greatly exceed the more distant though equally genuine charities of other classes. Charit}'- is of no class and of no sect ; it has to prevent, to remedy, and not merely to alleviate distress ; every spiritual and material agency that has this purpose or can be so utilised is its minister : for those who are in distress it has to open the way to sober living, health, and self-support, and, so far as it is both wise and strong, for their children's children. It is with this idea that the Register has been compiled. To refer to the Register it will be well in every case to consult the index first. The entries in the index refer to classes of charities, to individual charities, to the places at which insti- tutions are, and to those names which are commonly nsed as short titles of well-known institutions, e.g. the Bexhill Con- valescent Home, the Strangers' Friend Society (otherwise called the Benevolent Society), &c. Of the religious charities only an alphabetical list has been given. Those which combme religious and material work are entered twice, and full particulars are given INTRODUCTIOX. Ill in regard to the latter. Those that are engaged in religious work only (with some very important exceptions, such as the City Mission, the Parochial Mission- women Fund, of which more lengthy entries have been inserted), are concerned with evangelisa- tion abroad, or have special objects which do not come within the ordinary cognizance of" the almoner. The entries of the material charities show (1) the name and object, (2) the mode of admission, (3) the management, (4) the number of persons bencKted, and (5) the income. The second head is the most important to tlie almoner. Under it he will find details of the exact conditions under which each institution will deal with cases, and the class of case which it takes. The almoner will thus be able to classify cases for himself, ascertaining without correspondence with institutions, and hence without expense and delay, whether they are or are not suitable. The lists of charities for the Blind, Deaf and Dumb, Reformatory and Industrial Schools, Training Ships, Boarding-out Committees and Schools for Children, Training and other flomes lor Girls, Institutions for Idiots and Imbeciles, Convalescent Homes, have been made as complete as possible — including institutions which are not metropolitan. The thanks of the Council of the Charity Organisation Society are due to the very large number of persons who have co-operated in the production of this work, and to whom the Council is indebted both for information and suggestions. It has been found convenient to use the word almoner through- out this Introduction. Many persons give up time to almsgiviny'. They are those whom questions of the administration of cliarity most closely affect, and on whose capacity and intelligence its beneficence largely depends ; yet, as almost all have some part in this work, the word should be taken in its widest sense. III. — CnArariES Lists generally. Before passing to the functions of charity, the Poor Law, and other subjects, a word of recognition is ^lue to those who have been forerunners in this work. The late Mr. Samuel Gurney, it would appear from his paper at the London meeting of the Con- gres de Bienfaisance in 18G2, had commenced a Register of Charities. He says ' that he had begun a register the object of which was ' to enable the benevolent,' by means of authentic data, ' to in- vestigate for themselves, either briefly or fully, the Avorkings of tlio various charities of the metropolis, or to ascertain without trouble the institutions suited to the special circumstances of cases in which ' Quoted in the Annual Report of the Council of the Charity Orgiinisalion Socit'ty, 1S70, [\ 15. 1 ?. IV IXTRODUCTIOX. they are interested.' The late Dr. Hawksley's well-known paper on the London Charities (18(>8) pointed significantly to the necessity of more general knowledge on the whole subject. Mr. G. M. Hicks compiled a most elaborate tabular statement of some of the London charities, which was published in the ' Times ' in 186!) ; his continned interest in the subject, and his subsequent notes upon it, which showed that weighty conclusions might be drawn from a caref'al analysis of the rejjorts of institutions, have encouraged in their task those who have been entrusted with the compilation of this Register. And the successively published Annual Guide-books of !^^essrs. Fry, Low, and Howe have all been of service in turning attention to the large number and various kinds of charitable institutions in the metropolis; and some editions of the second especially contained, with a plan of classification, much detailed information which was most valuable. ' The Charities R'-gister and Digest' of the Charity Organisation Society has grown out of the wants of the Society. Frequent inquiries were and are made of it in regard to the action and merits of institutions ; a manuscript register was commenced for purposes of reference in 1879. It was found that its usefulness would be greatly increased if it were printed. At the same time the want of some book of reference in regard to con- ditions of admission to the benefits of institutions and societies was widely felt in the District Committees of the Society. The plan of the Register was therefore altered to its present form, and its com- pilation was commenced in 1881.' IV. — The Principles of Charity, Truism as it may appear, it is very necessary to say in the first place, that charity unwisely administered is capable of doing incal- culable harm to its recipients. Almsgiving or charity is, properly speaking, the rendering of service to another out of love or pity. The pressure of the ' wholesome urgencies of life ' is a condition of moral and physical sanity. The individual should provide against hunger, ' It may bo mentioned that in tlie prepivriition of the last edition of the Register the Society bad the assistanoe of Mr. R. B. Prosser, to whom the credit of many improvements in its compilation is due. Mr. R. Hepburn has edited this, the 1895, edition, with thp Hssistance of several sub-eiitors. Mr. H. .1. W Ison, the Secretary to the Gardners Trust for the Elind, lias had charge of the eection relating to that class. Mins Puole, the Secretary to the Mot'-opolitan Association for Befriending Youn^ Servants, has supervised the revision of the sections relating to Homes, especially those for girls and young women. Mr. C. H. Baker, the Assistant Secretary to the Church Penitentiary Association, has reviser! and enlarged the section ' J'enitents.' In the section relating to Hospitals and Dispensaries, which has been recast and, it is believed, greatly improved, the S ciety has had the advantage of very useful expert assistance. Much care has been taken to include in the Register the latest available information respecting Endowed Charities. INTRUDL'tTlOX. V nakedness, and want of shelter; the father against these things both for himself and his wife and family. The ordinary contingencies of life, which fall within the range of ordinary foresight, should, for the individiud's own sake and for society's sake, be met by the efforts of the individual. Charity which, for love or pity's sake, seduces the individual from the wise and natural toilsomeness of life, or which does not induce him to bear the burden, by helping him to overcome his weakness and pushing him forward to sell- maintenance, is, under the cloak, real or assumed, of love and pity, the pool" man's greatest foe — greatest because it comes like an angel of loving-kindness, and yet produces far-reaching woe like a spirit of evil. Next we would draw attention to a distinction which Burko drew between the poor and the indigent. The former are those wage- earners who are the real wealth-creators of the community. They are well, and should, so far as material charity is concerned, be left alone. Bad charity tends to tempt them into the indigent class ; good charity, if they are in distress, prevents their falling into that class. The indigent are those who are habitually in want ; good charity with adequate help raises them to self-support ; bad charity M'ith intermittent, purposeless help degrades them to ever lower degradation. Consider the matter economically, commercially, socially, and religiously. Every one in the indigent class represents a deficit. His keep, if the whole period of his life and his recognised indi- vidual responsibilities are taken into account, is more than his earnings : the diil'ereace in some way or other is made up by his neighbours — by charity or a poor's-rate ; or if it is not made up, there is, to use a medical term, a decline or consumption. Not maintained in these ways, he is underfed, underclad, insanitarily housed, and sinks to weakness and inability to work. If he has children, the evils pass to them and subsequent generations. Ob- viously, therefore, economically the indigent are a ' dead loss ' to the community. Next consider the matter commercially. There is indigence — much indigence — due to ])hysical and mental weakness, to weakness of character and feebleness of purpose. But some methods of employment aggravate these tendencies ; some diminish them. Intermittent employment, which no doubt cannot be wholly dis- pensed with, has the former result. It may be caused by the exigencies of the labour market, or by the necessary slackness of many kinds of employment in the winter months. Each of these causes suggests a different remedy — ami in each, so far as a remedy is forthcoming, indigence will be lessened. Take the former cause tirst — intermittent employment duo to the varying exigencies of the labour market. This tends VI INTRODUCTION. to make men work hard, sometimes excessively hard, for days or weeks, leaving them idle and listless afterwards ; till pressui^e rouses them to seek work elsewhere, or a new job turns up. It makes them careless or, at least, unmindful of the future; and sometimes they seem to have no sense of its obligations at all. Some are disheartened by failure ; others relapse into an easy-going dependence, of which one sign is ' a horror of hard work ' and an extraordinary shiftiness in finding excuses so as to avoid it. It is natui-al that those who belong to the lowest ranks in our labour market should gravitate to centres where they have a cbance of obtaining work on demand. To take the Docks as an illustration. Much of the labour at the Docks is adept labour — it requires strength and knack, or skill. Tliose who have these qualifications are more likely to obtain employment than others. They are therefore less likely to be indigent. But as adaptability and strength decrease, indigence is more likely to supervene, even if personal faults and weaknesses do not drag the individual down. This indigence, due often to the lessened adapta- bility and strength which is felt at a comparatively early period of life — a life in which the pressure is sometimes tense, sometimes almost nil — can only be guarded against by regularity of employ- ment, as dock and other authorities have recently been learning, even if the boon be purchased by a lower wage. This lower wage may be but the higher wages earned intermittently throughout the year reduced to an average, and may seem, by comparison, small when contrasted with the wages earned in particular weeks, as, for instance, when an unusually large number of hands are I'equired at a wool sale. But its regularity is a sufficient com- pensation for this comparative smallness ; and to systematise work and thus employ, Avith as much regularity as possible, an average number at an averacfe wage is to prevent indigence. Next,with regard to the intermittent work of the winter. The effect of a cause such as this, which is due to the very seasons themselves, can hardly be modified, except so far as men undertake different kinds of work at different times in the year ; and probably comparatively few do this. There is therefore, in most instances, only one way out of the difficulty. Where, again, personal faults and weaknesses do not drag the individual down, he may be protected by a trade combina- tion, or he may protect himself. If he is in an union, he may have out-of.work pay at about IO5. a week. If he is not in an union, he may average his own pay, so that from the summer he may carry enough over to last him through the two months or so of lessened work in the winter. But as a rule the persons who suffer from the winter's pressure are labourers or unskilled workmen who belong to trades for which there are no strong unions ; or they are, for instance, men who are painters, but not painters indeed, who have never served lXTR0DUtT10i\. Vll an apprcntiocsliip, and who are disqualified from joining any trade society. Hence, in tlieir case, if indigence is to be avoided, they must become a rule tolbeniselves and average their own wage. But again, in regard to winter slackness, too, it may be said that, so far as work can be systematised so as to equalise the differences of de- mand due to the differenceof the season, indigence will be prevented. On what principle each man will apply his wage each must be the judge. But any system by which intermittent labour is needlessly employed is injurious to the community. Those who are employed intermittently, if they do not by trade organisation or personal contrivance fill in the blanks of the year, when employment is slack, by drawing on their stock of savings, must become the ' corner men ' of life. They do not live on air : they live at the cost of others, on their wives and on their children. They borrow and live on credit. Sometimes they exact toll of their comrades in pence and pots of beer ; sometimes they beg ; sometimes they are on short commons, underfed or well-nigh starved. So far as their services are of any value, the community loses their unexpended labour and their unearned wage. Thus, commercial I3', it is to the interest of the community, and indirectly of each business man, that there should be as few indigent persons as possible. Charity or relief is often, in fact, an insufficient and wasteful self- imposed tax on the part of the more regularly employed population to compensate for these 'deficits,' which the unfitness of the labourer for work requiring strength, knack, or skill, his personal faults and weaknesses, combined with the rigour of competition and an imperfect industrial organisation, tend to create. Thus, out of intermittent labour spring many woes. It produces intermittent energy ; the off-days become habitual ; with indolence comes intemperance; with nncertainty of employment comes recklessness about the future ; from these result pauperism, and the whole series of mental and physical infirmities which are features of pauperism. If these are the results, viewed economically and commercially, those who know how the good of 'the masses' is but, stated in another way, the good of the individual — powerful to influence neighbours by example in all smaller domestic and personal matters, and intelligent in the choice of councillors, ' guardians,' and other representatives — will see that indigence is also a social evil. With regard to it religiously — to pass by many urgent witnesses, it has been said : ' On all sides, in the most degraded localities, phy- sically and morally, we find ourselves surrounded with religious agencies busying themselves in attending to the higher interests of the masses in the most devoted manner, and at great out- lay. Bitter complaints have been made as to the poverty of the results obtained by such multifarious and strenuous endeavours. This need be no wonder, when we reflect on the overwhelming dis- // Vlll INTRODUCTION. a(U-aiitage agjainst which the missionary and pliilanthropist, have to contend. Our poor are so lodged, that to inhale the atmosphere in tbeir houses is enough to produce a lethargic depression, to escape from which is but to be exposed to the temptations of the High Street and Cowgate. With no comfort at home, the poor labourer is forced to go elsewhere for enjoyment. To his sleeping-place he returns to lind himself in a crowded apartment, where is no attempt to main- tain the ordinary decencies of life. With so many and varied proclivities to vice in all its forms it is a heartless task to talk to such a one of "righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come.'"' On all grounds, therefore, to prevent distress from lapsing into habitual indigence, to create safeguards against indigence, and to rescue from indigence, is the interest — to put it at the lowest in- ducement — of every one in the community, whatever his vocation, business, or personal views about politics or religion. What has been said will, we trust, give a glimpse of the tracts of work which lie alongside of the work of charity, and to which the thoughts of all who would not ' hill with kindness ' must frequently pass. What, then, are the principles of charity — that charity which will lessen misery, not merely without weakening, but by producing, self-reliance, which will do kind acts and yet not diminish the energy or impair the character and morality of the people ? The subse- quent sections of this introduction are an answer to this question. But it may be well to state these principles here, omitting for brevity's sake some modifying conditions and reservations. (1) As a rule, no work of charity is complete which does not place the per.^on benefited in self-dependence. Obviously if this principle is true, the administration of most of our charitable institutions must be altered ; many must be reorganised. All gifts and all forms of relief should be but parts of a treatment having self-dependence and recovery from distress as its end. Relief given practically to all comers, without reference to the whole of the circumstances of the individual, is given at haphazard, and is injurious. Charity nhoald abandon such relief and become a partner, as it were, in the work of thrift. There is now no such partnership. Conveniences and opportunities and possibilities for thrift and saving exist, but charity does not use them. There is no organised relation between the two. (2) All means of pressure, such as the fear of destitu- tion, a sense of shame, the influence of relatives, must be brought to bear, or left to act upon the individual. He must, as far as possible, be thrown on his own resources. (3) In deciding whether relief should or should not be given, or what assistance should be provided, the family must be taken as a whole ; otherwise the strongest social bond will be weakened. Family obligations — ' ' Report on the Sanitary Condition of Edinburgh,' by Dr. H. J. Littlejohn. 1 866. LNTKODUCTION. IX care for the aged, responsibility for the young, lielp in sickness and trouble — should be cast, so far as possible, on the family. (4) Further, as material charity is only a part, and a small part, of efficacious charity, a thorough knowledge is necessary both of the circumstances of the persons to be benefited and the means of aiding them ; and the element of personal influence and control must very largely predominate over the monetary and eleemosynary element. At present this is out of all proportion small. ( ")) The relief, to effect a cure, must be suitable in kind and adequate in quantity. The individual treatment of individual cases on a definite plan, and with sufficient knowledge, is a sine qua noit in beneficial almsgiving. Charity also must learn to require just terms of its beneficiaries. It must consider them not as recipients of gifts, but men and -women ■whose standard of life has to be raised. The truest charity often lies in the righteous fulfilment of duty, whether personal or public ; and next to it must often be placed that charity which is vigilant to see duty done. Charity that fulfils the natural duties of others is in the main a wrong and deceptive charity. Charity that lielps others to do their duty is the most genuine and salutary, as it is the most difficult, charity. ^ v.- On the Responsibilitt of the Charitable, and Methods OF Charity. We have for convenience' sake considered those in distress cither C-ise? , . ■,. , . . elijribic for as the indigent who are habitually in want, or as those who can be cbaritj : saved or rescued from indigence. The former, making allowance, ineligible. of course, for special circumstances in each individual instance, we may call, for want of a better word, ineligible for charitj' — the latter eligible. In England there is State charity, or at least a State fund for the destitute: it rightl}^ deals with the indigent. Subject, therefore, to considerations to be afterwards dealt with, charity can, without fear of consequences, limit its scope to the curable. It may be said that the Poor Law does its work with a want of uniformity, and at best but indifferently well : if so it should be improved, and not superseded, by charity. But the true position of charitable work remains intact. All eligible cases should properly be dealt with by it. But how can a distinction be drawn ? By no other plan than either a thorough personal acciuaintance with the history and circumstances of those in distress, which is possible only when there has been long-continued familiar intercourse or frequent and sufficient contact with them and people of the same type ; or by an inquiry which, combined with personal experience, may be a satisfactory substitute for this. It will hardly be said that the former method is possible, unless in a very few exceptional instances, in London or large towns : it is very X INTIIODUCTIOX. often impossible even in the country. We mnst content ourselves therefore with considering what is the best substitute. Rich and poor do not live in the same quarter of the town ; even if they did, social distinctions and interests would much divide them; each cannot pretend to know much about the other: individuals no doubt may make inroads into ' poor districts,' or the poorer quarters of well-to-do neighbourhoods, but they seldom make a chief purpose of their life the acquisition of a knowledge of the facts of social life by their own personal observation in con- j'lnction with charitable work. Separated by birth and education, if not b}'' residence, they seldom become members, as it were, of the same community. Class differences remain, though class distinctions may be softened, obliterated, and altogether forgotten in good- will. Yet, however sei'ious these difficulties may be, the obligation of the almoner remains the same. Whoever gives charitable aid undertakes a definite responsibility : he is not, for instance, entitled to injure the person he thinks he will help. To make sure that he does not, he must learn all the circumstances, on a consideration of which he will decide whether or how he can help effectually. We may even put it more strongly — he has no right to interfere, unless he justifies his interference not merely by a well-meaning but by a Inquiry. well-directed charity. Inquiry then is the acquisition of such information as may make charity productive of good results. Two kinds of knowledge are required for the purpose : a knowledge of particular facts and of the social life of the class of which the person in distress is a member (for this purpose the services of an inquiry officer may be desirable), and a general knowledge of character — com- bined with a discernment of the value of evidence, and a knowledge of the modes and possibilities of chai-itable assistance (for this purpose a well-educated and instructed almoner is a sine qua nou). And to check the individual judgment, which it is always necessary to do, there should be a committee, especially a committee containing members of all classes and having all kinds of influence and special knowledge. Many have no aptitude for almoner's work ; none can do it to good purpose without study and training. Doctors have to be educated methodically, registered, and certificated. Charity is the work of the social physician. It is to the interest of the community that it should not be entrusted to novices or to dilettanti, or to quacks. The scope of the inquiry which usually is necessary may be indi- cated by the following heads, on which usually information must be obtained : — (1) The parents ; earnings at the time of application and previously ; cause of leaving last employ ; their children ; the ages of parents and children ; whether the children go to school, and, if so, where ; or, if they are employed, what they earn. (2) The previous addresses of the family. (3) Their references. (4) Whether INTRODUCTION. XI they belong to a club, or have relations who ought to assist. (5) What debts they have ; and what their rent is. (6) How they are obtaining a living at the time of application, and how they think they can be thoroughly helped. Then follows the investitjation on this basis : to learn the cause of distress ; to verify; to search out the best mode of helping; to throw a fair share of the burden of assistance on relatives ; by visiting the home, and in other ways to ascertain the character of the family ; to learn on whom, if the head of the family lacks force of character or is weak, reliance can be placed to re-establish the family fortunes ; to settle what means of future thrift and self-sup- port can be oi-ganised. A sympathetic and thorough investigation will elicit facts on all these points. Upon them the committee will then have to decide. We say ' the committee,' but if a private almoner can spare the time to work in this fashion and has the necessary resources at his command, the ends of charity will be equally gained. Yet single-handed he cannot effect so much as he will if associated "with others. Investigation, then, will indicate who are the curable, and will limit the field of charity, as apart from tbat of the Poor Law and other public bodies. To these statements one or two obiections may be made. Objections T • .11 1 ^ • J to luqiiiry Inquiry will check enthusiasm and devotion, it may be said, considered. Facts prove the contrary. Inquiry startles the novice as a revelation of new knowledge ; but it gives him eventually a security in his work, which imposes on him many restrictions, and requires of him perpetual thoughtfulness, but which is as a high road compared with the fool's paradise in which be formerly walked boldly along. Inquiry, also, throws into prominence the imperative necessity of nourishing and bringing into operation all the finer elements of charity— personal influence, a long-suffering patience, a quick sympathy, the setting aside of social prejudice and patronage for charity's sake. It shows that material help, if these things arc lacking, is but as husks, flung before the poor as if they were without common humanity. It is needless to add that religion, if sternly refusing to attract by loaves and fishes, will increase her opportunities for exercising a rightful authority and influence. But committees, it may be said, curtail the proper individuality of the almoner. That is the individual's fault, if it be so. Many w'ork in co-operation, who otherwise would not work at all ; and as inquiry shows the need of that kind of charity which is usually the most neglected, so does the committee afford occasion to each member for meeting, according to the best use of his individual powers, the higher wants of those in trouble or distress. No doubt committees may become official, as individuals may become indolent. Another argument is that people ought only to be asked to state their XII INTRODUCTIOX. tronblea privately ; tbat., however guarded, their statement is in the nature of a confession, and should be made, heard, and considered in tliis spirit : the facts ought not to be revealed to more than one or two. Of course such a view is quite inapplicable to scores of the seekers for charity — public opinion in their class has rubbed off this fineness of feeling : it is one of charity's works to replace it. But it is applicable to some cases ; and in them the personal and, as it were, private work may well be delegated to an individual, if he be without doubt one who with much kindness of heart is yet suffi- ciently instructed and experienced to be able to obtain corroborative testimony, and to judge of evidence, for unhappily the stress of life, ill which vice plays a part, creates an hypocinsy, the cunning simu- lation of which has an air of reality, that deceives all but a very few. Next it may be said, true charity recognises no limits ; none are so abandoned that it has to give up all hope of their refoi'm. Facts again prove the contrary, with some limitations. When the will is weakened and the nerve irresolute, the lives of many become hopeless : as they have sown they reap ; on the bed they have made they lie. Hope must therefore limit its hopefulness ; if it be worthy of the name, it must spring from a knowledge of the true condition of the un- fortunate, however determined it may be to make the best of the facts. This makes one limit. And there is another. Were all the powers of religious and material charity co-ordinated and avail- able for the rescue of the individual, each ready to assist according to its kind and the circumstances of the patient, the ability of charity to help to good purpose would be enormously increased. As this co-operation becomes a reality, charity will be able to extend its usefulness. Experience, however, of the sum and character of tbe means available and also of the conditions and causes of disti'ess in a large number of cases, imposes a natural limit to remedial work, which may be gainsaid, but does in the issue prove itself a mat- ter of fact. What that limit is a methodic study of charity and its results will show to each. These general principles then may be allowed — that charity has to discriminate ; that for this and other purposes inquiry is necessary ; that, as far as possible, it has to cure and not merely to alleviate distress ; that to do this and to know its own limits, it must be instructed in the modes of assisting, spiritual and material; and that to use these modes beneficially the charitable must co-operate — combining the resources of charity, supplemeutiug individual action, and taking common counsel. VI. — On Interim oe Instant Help. It will be said that while this careful inquiry is being made, and suitable help in all quarters is sought, the applicant will INTIiODUCTIOX. XUl starve; and if the case is ineligible — to be dealt with eventually by the Poor Law — there will be delay none the less, and tlii.s delay will be cruel. People in real distress only ask for help, it will be nrged, when every other hope has failed ; and comin«^ in the direst need, they are quietl}' left in their necfl, while elaborate measures are taken to aid them. This evil, so far as it exists, may be met by interim help — especially in cases in which it has been decided to give assistance. The applicant in some instances may be placed in a refuge or other temporary abode. If he has already been in the workhouse, he may be sent to the relieving officer, and the interim help will thus be supplied by the Poor Law, while the case, if suitable, will eventually be helped by charity. The greatest care is necessary in dealing with cases of urgency. Urgency is often the most effective instrument for extort- ing alms, and many of the poor are quite ready to use it to gain the interim help of a few shillings. They have many resources besides the charity of their superiors. Nothing but a knowledge of their ways of life will be a sufl&cient guide to the almoner. Yet, as even plausible allegations of hardship are likely to discredit the cause of wise charity, it must be remembered that it is a small matter to spend a few shillings in a case about which you are settling once and for all whether it should be left to the Poor Law or thoroughly dealt with by charity. Were almoners ready to accept some common principles of discrimination, so that ineligible applicants, when adjudicated on, were left to the Poor Law only, instead of having merely one source of charity cut off, interim help might be given and would be fully justified in very many cases. The proper use of the large mass of charity referred to in Section V. of the Register, ' Relief in Distress (temporary),' is for interim help only. VII. — On Charitable Institutions. Generally speaking, the test of the usefulness of charitable insti- The tost of tutions is, whether or not they produce self-help in the recipients of iusiitiltiona. their bounties and in the people at large. If they do not, they are misnamed charities, for they are undermining the manliness of the people. What then, to prevent their abuse, are the self-im- posed safeguards of charities "^ A consideration of the modes of admission will show that the restrictions have rather the object of Rpstrictions limiting their use than of guarding it. Destitution, for instance, is a s/u,'*.' ""'" frequently recurrent condition ; but this, so far from being a safe- guard, suggests rather a distinction quite unreal from the charitable, as opposed to the Poor Law, point of view, for vice can soon reduce a family to destitution, and improvidence often leaves the individual in extreme want towards the end of life. Charity would rather XIV INTRODUCTION. prevent destitution, than accept it as a condition of help. Passing by minor restrictions — election by votes is in many large institutions Decessary to admission. The evils of this system have been modified in several instances ; but it is in principle a limitation and not a safeguard. The chief plea for it is, that large establishments dependent on a regular income must give to each contributor a specific advantage — a ciuicl pro quo in the shape of patronao-e — for otherwise the income would be diminished. The con- tributor, in fiict, purchases by his contribution a quantum of influence in the admission of candidates, acoordinor to a rpsrular tariff. The rules of the institution lay down certain conditions, but if these are satisfied, the choice rests with electors, who are canvassed and often induced to subscribe for the benefit of par- ticular candidates. The question therefore is, not which candi- date most requires assistance, but which has the most interest: and the fanning up of this interest depends on the circulation of papers and a clever manipulation of the voting power of the institu- tion. A large donor has many votes and mucli influence. But a large donor has often very little time to learn the relative merits of candidates, and he may be a most uninstructed almoner. As in other matters, the choice demands skill and not a battle of interests. The plea that the system is necessary to the maintenance of insti- tutions is in itself invalid. If the system is woi'king in a manner detrimental to the poor at large it should be altered, or, if the logical alternative must be pressed, it is only right that the institution should be closed. Recent changes and experiments show, how- ever, that it is not necessary to the maintenance of institutions. Admission by election is only one of various similar questions, which oueht to be discussed dispassionately and with a recognition of the obvious, but sometimes forgotten, fact that charitable institutions exist only for the benefit of the poor, and have to justify their existence on these terms. No one can pretend to have solved the problem of the best methods of assistance ; everyone, therefore, should be ready to make frequent reforms. Charity, by its very nature, is extremely cxpo.sed to misuse. Its funds must always be a last hope to indo- lence and improvidence. Its rules have something of the force of social custom : they re-act on the lives of possible recipients, who form their habits according to the chances open to them. Charity, especially institutional and public charity, must thus, in the interests of the poor, be always in an attitude of wise self-protection, changing and varying its scope and benefits to their needs, and ever working to reduce the number of applicants by initiating them in self-help. The income Jn this book there are entries of Endowed Charities and General Voluntary Charities. Church and Congregational Charities are omitted. It is not possible without a careful analysis of tlie INTRODUCTIOxX. XV receipts of these institutions and charities to ^ive any trustworthy- estimate of their total income. The total must however be ex- tremely large. An enormous sum is spent annually on begging- letter writers of every kind and degree or given to street mendicants. The incomes which have been entered in the Register are those returned by the Institutions themselves, but it has not been found possible to compile a satisfactory return of the total income of the charities. Some institutions return their income as 'from all sources,' making no distinction between ■what is received — e.rj. from patients and from contributors. Others state their income on one or two heads separately and place the rest of their receipts together, as ' from other sources.' Others return their income under one heading — e.g. ' Charitable contributions, bazaars, sales of work,' &c. Others give the gross amount of industrial sales, without deducting the cost of material, labour, &c. Others make a return of income for years, or periods, other than the year last past. A number of institutions make no return whatever as to income. Passing next Manage- to the management of institutions, information on this point also "ustltutions. has been inserted. It is not enough to have committees, but to have 'working' committees, who understand the accounts and internal arrangements of their institutions or societies. Inquiry not nnfrequently proves that the display of names on the cover of a society's report is entirely deceptive. The committee are men of straw ; the patrons know nothing of the institution, never make use of it, and support it only by giving their names ; the ofBcials are sometimes absolute managers, sometimes even managers prima- rily in their own interests. Unpaid service, it is said in extenuation, is shifty and irresponsible, but it is well that as many people as possible should be interested in charitable work, even if their services be often only nominal. This argument might be passed by, if the pageantry of names did not cover the working of institutions which are affecting for good or for evil the future lives of many who cannot protest on their own belialf and are practically in the absolute control of their superiors. To guard the donor and the recipient, there ought to be a ready means of ascertaining whether there is a frequent periodical meeting of a committee of manage- ment, composed of members qualified to serve from a knowledge of the details of their Society's work and of its general bearing. Charities want not patrons, but workers. They are puffed, advei-- tised, and pleaded for in a self-seeking, self-laudatory style, as if bent on gaining the applause of men ; or they arc aided by dinners, festivals, balls, and the like, as if they should find a place among the pastimes of Society and make money out of its fashionable pleasui'cs. Instead of this, they should assume their rightful position XVI IXTRODUCTION. as institntions to which in one department the nation entrusts the constant work of national regeneration. They would then combine to put down all that is false in themselves, and expend and economise their resources in men and money to fulfil this duty in the most perfect manner. Nest to the constitution of the committee of an institution come the accounts and the annual report. A yearly balance-sheet should be made out and audited by public accountants or other competent persons, whose addresses should be given. A report should be published every year and sent to all subscribers and donors : to this report should be appended a list of subscribers and donors, with the amount of their contributions added up and arrreeinsr with the balance-sheet. These may seem obvious precautions. They are, however, often overlooked. A friend, who contributes to many institutions, acts upon and suggests to others the following rules : — (1) Not to give to charitable institutions that publish no list of contributors. (2) To require that the amounts in such lists be added up and carried for- ward from page to page, and finally totalled at the end." C3) To pRv all contributions by cheque, on account of the charity named, crossed by its bankers. In this book mala fide charities have been excluded as far as possible : of the comparative utility of those mentioned the reader must be his own judge. Alm<itor teai'het^ or is a matiafrer. XV ill INTRODUCTION". (Hiarities in kinil ; how usetul. may make the poor more imlependeut. Like the villagers who were about to establish a frieudlj society, but repented when they remembered that for its benefits they would have to pay many annual contributions, and in the end would have no out-relief, while to qualify for out-relief no such contributions Avere necessary — so the poor may fairly argue that, as relief is both fairly abundant and recurs with the recurrence of the winter, it is against their own interest to make any very hard and unpleasant effort to provide entirely for themselves. If they push themselves out of the class ' poor,' or rather * indigent,' they lose these casual alms. Indeed, charities given to the multitude are alto- gether wrong. To be beneficial, charity must adjust its means to the wants of the particular case, and not leave that case till it has effected a cure. Wholesale charities either demoralise tho poor by their periodicity — e.g. in every hard winter — or they feed the casual pauper, who, if charity is plentiful, lives out of the workhouse; or if, as in a mild winter, it is scarce, retires to the more rigorous discipline of the house. The use of the charities given in kind is limited. They are suitable for interim help until the case is permanently aided ; and they are useful in sick cases, in which nourishing diet is required. The way in which tickets and trifles in food and money are often given is illustrated in the following cases : — (1) ' This case had long been known to the Committee. The man was a cabman, aged 41, but suffers from gout, and can seldom do any work The wife applied to a Indy in the neighbourhood for assistance. Their rooms were very dirty and untidy, and £3 was due for rent. There were six children, aged from 3 to 21. " It was ascertained that the wife and children were earr.ing 28s. a week and some food, and that they were receiving broken food daily from one lady, and Is. a week from another, and occasional tickets from the clergy, making their income at least 34s. or 35s. a week, besides anything the husband might parn.' (2) ' A woman and her grown-up daughter, living together, had been receiving charitable tickets for a long time, till the visitor thought it would not be right to spend more on these people, who seemed to get no lietter off; and the case was referred to this Committee. On inquiring into particulars it was ascertained that their earnings, though not larce, would be sufficient to maintain them, if it was not that their rent was very high- 6s 6d. The Committee persuaded them to move into cheaper lodgings, at 3s. 6d., which were found fur them by the Bihlewoman ; but to enable them to move, and to prevent their furniture being detained for the h<='avy arrears of rent they had incurred, about .tOs. had to be paid, which was given about half bv the rector of the parish and half by the Society for the Relief of Distress. They thus became sf If-supporting ; but if the tickets liad never been given they would hare had to move long before ; the 3,s. a week which Hiey would thus have saved would have been more to them than the value of the tickets ; and as the.arrears of rent would not have been incurred, a little thoughtfulness would both have saved them from being long dependent on charity, and have saved the valuH of the tickets and the i")0.?. for more necessitous cases.' (3; 'A middle-aged single woman, about eight years ago, applied to this Cotttw raittee. She was represented by all who knew her as highly respectable ; she was said to be well-connected, but she was in great distress, as she could not earn enough to keep herself by needlework. Pending inquiries as to means of permanent employ- ment or assistance, the Committee organised a temporary weekly allowance for- LNTKODUCriO.N. XIX Ikt. But those who gave it were not willing to continue ;iny regular help, the woman herself was not willing to work, unfortunately finding begging easier, and the good connections vanished on inquiry. The Committee then relused further help, unless she took a situation. But oilier persons took au'ither view of the matter. Whenever she called at certain houses she was sure of "a trifle" iu money and food ; from others she would beg for, and receive, 6s. for materials to make up servants' caps, &c., and from many she received help in reply to letters. One lady sent Is. a week, but inquired no further into her resources. And what was the result ? Side by side with the habit of begging grew the habit of drink- ing, and last year she was found living in abject wretchedness, in a miserable room containing only a box and a mattress, on bare boards. Still she obtained enough money from •'charitable people"' to find means to spend her evenings in public-houses, returning into.xicntcd late in the night. At length her strength held out no longer against such habits, and she found her way to the workhouse, only at first to stay there a short time, and then to come out and drink once more ; but there can be little doubt where her days must end. Her tale is a and monu- ment to the " cruel kindness '" of unthinking charity.' IX. — The Municipal Admlnistratiox of the Mktropolis. The local administration of the Metropoli.s is of so complex a character that attention should be drawn to it at the outset. Here and throughout we wi.'sh to place before the reader the charities on the one hand, and on the other the legislative provisions for the relief of affliction and destitation. The area c^f the Metropolis is different, and differently divided, for different purposes. The most important area of administration is that known as ' the Metropolitan area.' It covers 75,462 acres, and in 1891 it contained a population of 4,211,743. It now forms the new county of London (see p. cl.). (1) For the election of members of Parliament it is divided into 58 boroughs and electoral divisions, each of which returns one member, excepting the City, ■whicli returns two. For the election of members of the County Council the same electoral districts are used. The registered 'County electors' elect 118 members, two for each division, ex- cepting the City, -which has four. (2) For the purposes of local management, local drainage, sanitation, etc., the Metropolitan area is divided into 27 parishes, each under a Vestry elected by the parochial electors, and 13 Di-strict Boards of Works, including the Woolwich Local Board (see p. cxlviii.). (3) For the administration of the Poor Law there are, in the Metropolitan area, 30 Poor Law parishes or unions. In each of these there is a Board of Guardians elected by the parochial electors (see p. xxiv.), and entrusted with the legal relief of the poor.' (5) For the management of Asylums for Imbeciles and Idiots (see p. cxxxviii.), and of Hospitals for 1 In the Metropolis for Poor Law purposes there are 14 parishes and 16 unions. For brevity's sake, however, the word ' Union ' has been gener.illy used (see also p. xlvii.). A Union is a union of two or more parishes, each of which send its representatives to a common Board cf Guardians. The parish (29 & 30 Vict,, c. 1 3,s. 18, and the Interpretation Act 1889) is a place for which a separate poor-rate i . or can be, made, or for which a separate overseer is, i>r can be, appointed. h 2 XX INTRODUCTION. Infectious Diseases (ses p. cxli.), there is a Metropolitan Asylums Board, consisting of representatives of the Poor Law parishes and unions, and members nominated by the Local Government Board (see p. cxxxiii.). (6) For the administration of the School Board, and for the election of its members, the Metropolitan area is divided into 11 parts (xet p. cvii.). The members of the Board are elected by the ratepayers, except in the City, where the voters include all the Parliamentary voters. (7) There is the Police. The Metro- politan Police District covers the area within a radius of 15 miles from Charing Cross. The City has an independent administration of polii-e. (8) For magisterial purposes, the Metropolis is divided into 13 Police Court districts, in addition to two courts held in the City. The Metropolitan police courts are named from the streets or districts ■where they are held — Bow Street, Westminstei-, Marlborough Street, ISIarylebone, Clerkenwell, Thames, Southwark, Lambeth, Worship Street, Dalston (or North London), Hammersmith, Wandsworth (or South- Western), and Greenwich with Woolwich. Except at the last- named courts, which are open, the former from 10 a.m. to 1.30, and the latter from 2,30 p.m. to 5, a magistrate is in attendance daily from 10 to 5. The City police courts are at the Justice Rooms in the Mansion House and the Guildhall. They are open daily from 10 to 4, and on Saturdays from 10 to 1. (9) The Metropolis is divided into the districts (generally conterminous with the parishes or unions) and sub-districts of the Registrar- General for statistical purposes, returns of births and deaths, etc. (10) The local government of the City is in the hands of a Court of Common Council consisting of 20 Aldermen, out of whom the Lord Mayor is annually elected,' and 206 Common Councillors. Both Aldermen and Common Councillors are elected by the Parliamentary voters in the City,^ the former for life, the latter annually. The elections are by Avards, of which there are 26. The duties which elsewhere devolve upon a Vestry or District Board are there entrusted to Commissioners of the Sewers, appointed by the Court of Common Council. It is almost inevitable that an almoner should be brought into contact with most of these bodies, or have to ascertain their duties on some points, in order to endeavour to remove evils and to assist cases which he will meet with in the course of his work. ' The City Livery Companies have an indirect influence on the govern- ment of the City. There are 74 of these Companies. Their ' Liverymen ' form the chief part of the Court of Common Hall of the City of London. This Court of Common Hall consists of ' the Lord Mayor, at least four Aldermen, and such of the Liverymen of the various City Companies as are of one years standing, free of the City, and have paid their livery fees.' It elec's the City Sheriffs, Chamberlain, Bridjre Masters, and Auditors. The Lord Mayor is elected from amonf^it such of the Aldermen as have served as City iSheriff.— iSee 'Greater London and its Government,' by George Whale, and Firth's ' Municipal London.' ^ The ' Liveivrnen, free by birth or servitude, and residing within twentv-five ibiles i)f the Ciiy, ^iru umvu^ the Parliumentary voters in the City. INTRODUCTION'. XXI X. — On the Fum:tiuns ok thk Poou Law and ok Chakity. It has been said above tliat cliai-ity, as there is a Poor Law in "J.iie"'*'" England, may safely restrict itself to eli<)jible cases. It is hardly between too much to say that no person should take part in at least public relief »ii.i charitable work without a general knowledge of the functions of reUei. "^ the Poor Law. The claim for Pour Law relief rests, it may be broadly stated, upon the destitution of the claimant. Merit has nothing to do with it. The vicious and virtuous are equally entitled to it. The humane from motives of charity, and the prosperous from motives of self- protection, would not suffer the destitute to starve. A Poor Law was therefore established. But neither would they tempt the self-supporting to destitution. Therefore it was established under just but hard restrictions. ' The fundamental . principle '—to quote the often-quoted passage of the report of the \^ Poor Law Commissioners, 1834--' with respect to the legal I'elief of ^ the poor is, that the condition of the pauper ought to be on the whole less eligible than that of the independent labourer. The equity and expediency of this principle are equally obvious. Unless the condition of the pauper is on the whole less eligible than that of the independent labourer, the law desti'oys the strongest motives to ^ good conduct, steady industry, providence, and frugality among the labouring classes, and induces persons, by idleness or imposture, to throw themselves upon the poor rates for support.' The indepen- dent labourer has to be protected only against destitution. 'The pauper has no just ground for complaint, if at the same time that his physical wants are amply provided for, his condition should be less eligible than that of the poorest class of those who contribute to his support.'' On the threshold of the question then we see the boundary lines of charity and the Poor Law. To charity it is not a matter of primary importance, whether a person is destitute or not. For it destitution is no test. It has more chance of helping effectually if a person be not destitute. It has to prevent destitution and indigence. It may have to supply actual nece.ssaries, but to place the poor beyond the reach of need or to prevent the recurrence of need is its true vocation. It is unlimited in its scope, and gives as a free gift. From the point of view of the Poor Law the question of destitution is all-important. It is the j^assport to relief. Its ' Subject to modificiitions, to be subsequently nieLtioned, but which do not m;iteri;dly affect the gfneiiil principle — ' The function of the Guardians is to re- lieve destitution actually existing, and not to expend the money of the ratepayers in preventing a person becoming destitute, that is to say, they can only expend the poor rates in .supplying th<» destitute pereons with actual necessaries, such as food, clothing, or lodging, or the means of obtaining food, clotliing, or lodging temporarily, if the destitute person cannot be immeditttely received into the work- house." — • The Poor Law Orders of the Poor Law Commis.sioners, the Poor Law Board, and the Local Government Board,' by \V. Cunningham Glen. 1SS3 p 63, XXll INTKODLCTIOX. administration is tied and bound with restrictions. Its supplies are drawn from a ratepayers' trust fund. Its main purpose is not to prevent or remove distress, but to alleviate it. It is a stern alleviative measure. It helps only when it must ; charity always when it wills. Charity like the Poor Law may destroy ' the strongest motives to good conduct, steady industry, providence, and frugality.' Investigation, fortified by tests, guards the one ; know- ledge and inquiry ought to guard the other. XI. — TiiE Aj^ministration of the Poor Laws : The Local Government Board. The administration of Poor Law relief is vested in the Board of Guardians, the local authority established for the purpose in each union, subject to the direction and control of the Local Government Board, the central authority. The Board by elaborate ' orders ' and numerous forms has settled with precision the duties of each officer to be employed by the Guardians, how their establishments are to be managed, how their accounts are to be kept, and generally how their relief is to be given.' Without the consent of the Local Government Board the Guardians may neither appoint nor remove any officer. On the other hand, the limitations to the powers of the Local Government Board are these: it cannot interfere with the laws of settlement and removal (of which a few words further on) ; it cannot order relief in a particular case ; and it cannot compel attendance at a worship, or education in a religious creed, objected to by the pauper. The Local Government Board (Whitehall) is composed of a President (at present the Right Hon. G. Shaw-Lefevre, M.P.), and as ex-nfficio members, the Lord President of the Privy Council, the principal Secretaries of State, the Lord Privy Seal and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. For the supervision of the local admin- istration the Board has Inspectors and Auditors. The former are entitled to visit workhouses, attend and, without a vote, take part in meetings of Boards of Guardians, and to hold inquiries and summon witnesses in regard to any question of Poor Law administration. The latter have full powers to 'examine, audit, allow or disallow of accounts and of items therein.' Any payment at variance with the rules or orders of the Local Government Board is dis- allowed, though the Board has discretionary power of remitting the di.sallowance surcharged. There is thus a very strict control. ' • As regards the relief of per.^ons wlio are in receipt of chnritable contribu- tions, it may be ohsen-ed that if the fact comes to the knowledge of the Guardians, in the ca»e of an application to them for relief, they are bound to act upon it, and either wholly refuse relief, or to give such an amount only as, with the other assistance the applicant receives, will be sufficient to rflieve his actual necessities.' Glf-n : P..v.r T..-1W Orders, p. 64 n?S3;. 1NTR0J)UCT10N, XXlll In the Metropolitan area tbere arc three Inspectors and two Auditors, and tliere are 30 Parishes or Unions. XII. — The Board OF Gl'Akdians : Illustrations of the Importance OF CO-OPliKATION WITH THF, ChAR1TABI,E. The popuhitiou and area of these Unions is stated in the local lists (printed in the Register), with the addresses of the District Schools, Workhouses, Casual wards, and other particular^. If there is tiiorough co-operation between the Guiidians and tivMenceof I'll 1 • • 1 c 1- tlieailvan- charitable persons on sound principles, many cases of distress which tape of co- would otherwise have been improperly or insufficiently assisted, between" will be carefully attended to. Two plans of co-operation may be and c^a7ity mentioned. At Ivensington members of the Charity Organisation Committee see most of the applicants for out-relief, and at once interfere if they think their money or advice can prevent a man from becoming a pauper. Similarly, they and other charitable persons are constantly examining the more hopeful of the inmates of the workhouse, and are ready to do what they can to restore the paupers to independence. In oi-der to investigate these cases more closely, members of the Charity Organisation Committee attend the meetings of the Guardians' House Committee, and a Sub-Committee of the Charity Organisation Committee meets at the workhouse. The following instances show how such plans of co- operation work : — A., a young wom;in, presented herself for admission to the workhouse, but the officer wlio saw her, struck by her appearance and innnner, a Ivised her, before taking any fiirtlier step, to ci insult a hidy, a nienibcr of this Committee, whose addri'ss he gave her. She did so, and, her story being at once inquired into, it appeared that she had been in highly respectable service; had left to nur.-e a sister in ill-healih, on whom she spent all her savings ; had come to London on her sister's death, hoping to fiiid employment, but failed ; and, findinii herself getting into debt, had rtsolved, in desperation, to seek refuge in the workhouse. .-Assist- ance was inimediaiely given her, the money necessary to g^t requisite clothing was advanced, and employment obtained for her. She is now in a superior situation, has repaid the money lent to her, and acknowledged with deep gratitude the help ■which saved her. 15., a girl of wandering habits, but apparently nut of bad character, who had drifted into the workhouse, was sent to a training home and thence to service, A widow of 47, who was in receipt of parish relief, asked for help. S.'ie had four daughters of earning age. The home was very dirty, and the family of low type. The Committee decioed not to assist the family with money, but advised the mother to try and get work, and offered to assist in improving the position of any of the daughters. The second one, a cripple of no occupation, was the only one who consented to be helped. Medical opinion was taken, and a boot supplied her at a cost of 23.'*. The boot was found to ho of very little, it any, use, and the girl was sent to the Westminster Hospital. It was decided that, an operation was necessary. This was done, and later on a second one, and the doctor ordered a surgical appliance, which was supplied by the Committee at a cost of *°3. 10s. The girl wms sent to a home (where she impruveil vi ry much) to learn Imusework, and afterwards a situation was found for lur. This she lost at once liirouch temper. Another situation was found her, where she seemed comfortably settled, and was left to the care of the Metropolitan Association for Befriendinfj Yenug Servants. XXIV INTRODICTIOX. H. T. This old man was referr.d to the Committee by a member of the Board of G-uardians. T. is aged 77. His wife is 74, and paralysed. He has worked 30 years for one lirm, he has been 30 years in a friendly society, which ha hflped to found, ai'd he has beeu for .")0 years a member of his trade society. Hie friendly sociefy has no superannuation allowance. His only ohild, a daughter, is married to a brushmaker, and slie keeps a sweet shop. She helps her old paretits as far as she can, and. living in the immediate nt.'ighbourhood, sends one of her children to look after them. T. is in receipt of 6.s. a week from his trade society, and this Committee have raised a pension of iis. a week for him. In the middle of next \ear he will receive from his friei'dly society 8.v. a week for 12 weeks, and after that -i.^. a wet k for 12 weeks. The Committee will regulate their pension acc^rdintr'y. In the following case, in which defects of character had brought the applicant fo the workhouse, it was found impossible to rescue him. 'L.,' a painter, was given a fresh st«rr. after bting many months in the workhous". He did a good summer's work, earning from ZOs. to £2 a week, but lie afrerwards applied again to tHe Guardians for relief and probably spent the winter wiih his family in the workhouse. At Kensington a Workhouse Girls' Aid Committee has also been formed. A member of the Committee takes down the case of each girl. Inquiries are made either by the Charity Organisation Society or by a lady familiar with their practice. If the Com- mittee are satisfied that the girl wishes to lead a better life, a situa- tion is looked out for her, and help granted according to her require- ments for herself and for her child. Parents are sought out. Mother and child are visited periodically, and payments received on the children's behalf. At St. Pancras and elsewhere there are similar committees. There are thus manj'' reasons why those who possess time and leisure, and desire to undertake charitable work, should become members of Boards of Guardians. XTII. — The Electiox of Boards of Guardians: its Importance. The Local '['j^p Local Government Act of ] 894 has placed the election of Poor Government ' ■< ni Actifc94. Law Guardians and, subject to the orders of the Local Government Board, the whole management of the Poor Law, in the hands of the parochial electors. Whatever it may have been in the past, now at least in one sense the administration of the Poor Law will be popular. In future there will be no plural vote, no necessary qualification by rate, no ex-officin Guardians : the elections will be by ballot ; and any resident of twelve months may stand for election. Now, therefore, it is the task of the true reformer to make the Poor Law popular in the best sense of the word. It should not, under its new administrators, become an institution which the people will regard as a mere source of relief, distributed according to the seeming wants of pa-ticular cases, but it should be a system of relief administered ■with jnstice, and in such a way that those who, from feebleness of character, poorness of spirit, or carelessness easily slip into habits of dependence, shall not be tempted to rely on ?,ny help except the help of their own heads and bands. These principles are quite INTi;()l)l(TI()X, XXV compatible with a thoughtful and kindly provioion for the sick and also for the aged, for whose ruaintenauce no other and better source of assistjuice is available; but they may quickly be for- gotten, and the (country may become involved in many old evils, habited in new guises and called by new names, if the administra- tion of the Poor Law is not as deliberative, conscientious, and even, as in the hist twenty years it has tended to become. If on the old by.stem it was the duty of those who enjoyed the magnified influence of the plural vote to take part in P(jor Law elections, now they should do more. They should ex|)lain their views fully and support them by appeals to personal and general experience ; and they should show that good sense, kindness, and real humanity form the groundwork of methods of relief which at first sight may appear to many over-precise and unsympathetic. ^listakes may now very likely be made, with the result that pauperism will increase ; but, unless the whole policy of electing the Poor Law Guardians by popular vote is a vast and irreparable mistake, we must believe that the change will produce good and not evil, and that the new electorate will be open to persuasion and guidance, if men and women of the same earnestness and ability as those who have in the last generation devoted themselves to this branch of work, come forward and use their influence wisely and persistently. Then tbe spirit of opposition to the Poor Law which often shows itself, and which is now used sometimes as a political lever, will be superseded by a spirit of confidence. It will no longer be felt to be a harsh system devised and controlled to protect the pockets of the richer ratepayers, and to dole out meagre relief to the indigent, but a system administered equitably for the well-being of the community as a whole, by the representatives of the whole people. There are two main points to be explained : (T.) What is the new franchise for electi(m on Boards of Guardians ; (II.) Who are quali- fied to serve as candidates. We have also (III) to touch on a few miscellaneous points of importance. I. The change that has taken place may be summed up in two The words : the parochial elector has taken the place of the ratepayer, efector.* But some preliminary explanation is needed. Before the Local Government Act of 1894 ' was passed the country, apart from other administrative districts not important for our purpose, was divided into Parishes — places where ' a separate poor rate is, or can be, made,' or for which ' a separate overseer is, or can be, appointed '^ — Rural and Urban Sanitary Districts, Unions of Parishes for Poor Law purposes, Municipal and County Boroughs, and Counties. The Local Government Act of 1888 reformed the ' Local Government Act 1894, 5fi & 57 Vict., c. 7>'. • The Infrrpret-ition Act 1889, n2 dv 53 Vict., c. 63, s. 4. XXVI INTRODUCTIOX, The Register of P»rocliial Electors. administration of tbe larger areas, the Counties. The Act of ] 894 retbfmed that of tlie lesser areas, some for the purposes of general administration, all for the purposes of the Poor Law. In future therefore : — 1. Each Rural Parish will have a Parisli Meeting or Parish Council.' 2. Each Rural or Urban Sanitary District will have its District Council. 3. As the Rural Parishes before elected Guardians, who were also the Rural Sanitary Authority, so now they will elect District Coun- oillons who will represent the parish as (a) District Councillors, and (6) Guardians, and as Guardians they will be an administrative body separate and distinct from ths District Conncil. 4. Elsewhere — i.e. everywhere except in Rural Districts — there will be Boards of Guardians as heretofore. 5. When the Union includes part of a Rural and part of an Urban District, the Rural Parishes within it will send their Council- lors to the Board of Guardians, the Urban Parishes their Guardians. 6. But everywhere the members of Boards of Guardians will, like Rural or Urban District Councillors, be elected by the parochial electors. 7. To be a parochial elector a person must have his or her name on the Local Government register of electors, or the Parliamentary register of electors, so far as they relate to the parish. These two registers together form the register of the parochial electors.^ The names on these registers make up a constituency of every rank and class. A. — The Parliamentary Registkr. Subject to disqualificaticns to be mentioned below, the follow- ing qualifications entitle a man of full age to have his name placed on this register : — 1. As OWNKR : if he is the owiifr of — (a) A freehold of forty shillings clear yearly value if the estate be for in- heritance, or in actual occupation, or acquired by marriage settlement, devise, or promotion to any benefice or office ; {h) A freehold of five pou7ids clear yearly value if an estate for life or lives ; (c) A copyhold or other tenure (not freehold) held for lives, or any larger estate, of the char yearly value of five pounds ; {d) A leasehold of five pnunds clear yearly value if originally created for a period of not ]^ss than sixty years, or of not less than fifty pounds clear yearly value if originally created for a term of not less than fwenly years. 2. As to OCCUPATION : the following have the franchise us occupiers : — (a) Every man of full ape, who is the occupier (whether owner or tenant" and for twelve months previous lo the fifteenth cf July has been th« occupier, of lands or tenements in the parish of the value of ten pounds, the rates on which have been paid ; ' Where the Urban Sanitary Authority was the Corporation or Council of a. Borough, that title remains. Vestries in the Metropolis retain their title (sec' p. cxiix.). ■Sjnr^n] Oovernnr^nt Ari 1894, s. 44. INTRODL'CTIOiV. XXVll (h) Every iuLabitant male of full age, who lias on the fifteenth of July and during the whole of the preceding twelve months occupied, as owner or tenant, or by virtue of any office or service, a dwellina-liousf, or any pan of a dwelliug-hout.e, which has been rated and on which the rates hiive been piiid ; (c) Every occupier of lodgings, being a man of fi.U Hge, of the clear yearly value unfurnished of ten pounds, who has resided in ihem for the whole of tweixe iiiunths previously to the fifteenth of July of the year in which he claims to be registtrcd. B. — Thk Local Government (or Countv) Kkgister. To be qualified as an elector on this register, it is necessary (1) to be registered as a county elector; and (2) to be entitled to register under the County Electors Act 18^8 (sections 2 and 3).' There are two franchises : the extended burgess franchise, and the ten pounds occupation qualification. Under the former a person is not entitled to be registered unless qualified as follows : — • (rt) Is of full age on or before the preceding fifteenth of July; {h) Is on the fifteenth of July in ;iny year, and has been during the whole of the then last preceding twelve months, in occupation, joint or several, of any house, warehouse, counting-house, shop, or other building (in this Act referred to as qualifying property) in the county ; and (c) Hts (.luring the whole of those twelve months rtsided in the county or within fifteen miles thereof ; - and (d) Has been rated in respect of the qualifying property to all po.ir rates made during those twelve months for the prirish wherein the property is situate ; and (c) lias on or before the twentieth of the same July paid all such rates, includ- ing county rales (if any), as have become payable by him in respect of the qualifying property up to the then last preceding fifth of January.* Under the ten pounds qualification franchise a person is nob entitled to be registered unless qualified as follows : — (a) Ilemnst. during the whole twelve months immediately preceding the fifteenth day of July, have been an occupier as owner or tenant of some land or tenement in the county of the clear yearly value of not lel5 than ten pounds ; and (h) ilust have resided in or within fifteen miles of the county during six months immediately preceding the fifteenth day of July ; and (c) Such per.'on, or some one else, must, during the said twelve months, have been rated to all poor rates made in respect of such land or tenement; and (d) All sums due in respect of the said land or tenement on account of any poor rate made and allowed during the twelve months immediately preceding the fifth of January next bef(u-e the registration, or f)n account of any assessed taxes due before the said fifth day of January, must have been piid on or betbre the twentieth dav of July. ' See the ' County Councillor's Guide.' pp. 2.i3, 2ol, 195, 20S. * ' The name of the person must appear in the rate book, and an occupier who pays or tenders to the overseers the amount due for his poor rate is entitled to have his name registered, and, even if the overseers fail to enrol it, he is nevertheless deemed to be rated. Where a person succeeds to property by descent, marriage, marriage settlement, devise, or promotion to a benefice or oflScc, the occupancy and rating of his predecessor are equivalent to those of his successor.' =• When the owner pays the poor rate, there is by the Ponr Rate Assessment and rollpction .Act a ron-tvU''tivt> paymrnt by the occupier. Qualification ot electors. (1) The extended burKess fraucbise. (2) The ten pounds occupation qualiiicatioii. XXVUl INTRODUCTION". Joint occupiers, if the value of the laud or tenement is such as to give £10 or more to each occupier, are entitled to register. T^verv person (including unmarried women and widows, of full age) so quiilitied shall be entitled to be registered as a London county elector, unless he be (a) an alien, or (b) has, within the twelve months aforesaid, received union or parochial reHef or other alms ; or (c) is disentitled under any Act of Parliament, e.g. convicted of treason or felony or of corrupt practices at elections. A person in receipt of parochial relief is thus under (b) disentitled, but with the following exceptions : it parochial relief is given to his blind or deaf and dumb wife, child, or children ; if such relief is given to his father ; if he accepts public vaccination; if the Guardians pay his children's fees ; if he receive assistance by admission to a hospital of the Metropolitan Asylums Board (52 & 53 Vict., c. 56, s. 3), or by the receipt 'for himself or any of his family, of any medical or surgical assistance or any medicine at the expense of any poor rate.' Medical and surgical assistance is deKned as including ' all medical and surgical attendance, and all matters and things supplied by or on the recommendation of the medical ofl&cer having authority to give such attend- ance and recommendation at the expense of the poor rate ' (48 & 49 Vict., c. 46). Further, a person is not disentitled to be regis- tered (Municipal Corporations Act 1882, 45 & 40 Vict., c. 50, s. 33) if he has received medical and surgical assistance from the trustees of the county charities, or has been removed, by order of a justice, to a hospital or place of reception for the sick at the cost of any local authority ; nor if his child has been admitted to and taught in any public or endowed school.^ If a person's name is on the register of parochial electors, that is in itself sufficient evidence that he has the right to vote.^ Th« Finally, not only unmatiied women and widows are entitled to Votc!^°* vote, but married women also, if they are qualified; that is, if they possess any of the qualifications required for registration in the Local Government register. A husband and wife cannot be qualified in respect of the same property,^ but if, for instance, one is entered as owner and the other as occupier of different properties in the same parish, each may vote for that parish. " Cf. ' London Government,' pp. 236 and 248. It would ceem tliat whore, as in Rural Listriets, the work of the Poor Law Guardians will, under the Local Government Act of 1894, be p'aced in the hands of District Counpillors, those ■who ref-eive medical relief as defined by 48 & 49 Vict. c. 46, the Medical Relief Difcqualificiition Act, will retain their franchihs, although in voting tor District Councillors they will also be voting for Guardians. But inUrban Districts, where the Boards of Guardians still remain separate bodies, they will be able to vote (as in London) for the Local Board or Vestry, but not for the Board of Guardians. 'Local Government .\ct 189i, s. 44 (1). ' Soc. 43. INTRODICTIOX. XXIX These paragraphs ou the y>arochial electorate may seem rather intricate, and after all reforonce mnst be often had to technical books when questions of dilliculty arise. Bat it is worth while to study with some closeness the question who is a parochial elector, when so much turns upon local elections. II. 'Next, iu regard to the qualification of candidates; A person Local shall not be iiualihed to be elected or to be a Guardian for a Poor v^ctTssT^c! Law Union unless ' (according to the Local Goverment Act 1894) — ^^' ^- ^'^ ^^^^ ' (1) He is a parochial elector ; or ' (2) Has during the whole of the twelve months preceding the election re.sidod in the Union, or '(3) [Unless] in the case of a Guardian for a parish wholly or partly situate within the area of a borough, whether a county borough or not, he is qualified to be elected a councillor for that borough ; ' And no person shall be disqualified by sex or marriage for being elected or being a Guardian.' Therefore all persons, men or women, are eligible for service as Guardians who are either (1) parochitil electors, or (2) twelve months' residents. The candidates may thus be chosen from an even wider field than the electorate. III. Lastly, some miscellaneous points. (1) Nominations must be made iu writing on papers provided by the returning officer, usually the Clerk to the Guardians. The nomi- nation paper must be signed ' by two pai-ochial electors of the parish or other area as proposer and seconder, and no more, and shall state their respective places of abode.' The parochial elector can only sign a nomination paper for any parish or other area for which he is regis- tered as a parochial elector ; and he can sign papers for only one parish or other area. He cannot nominate a larger number of candidates than the total number that are to be elected for that parish or area. (2) 'Each elector may give one vote and no more for each of any number of persons not exceeding the number to be elected.* * (3) The poll on the day of election must be open between 6 and 8 in the evening. (4) The term of office of a Guardian is three years, but 'one- third, as nearly as may be, of every Board of Guardians shall go out of office on the fifteenth day of April in each year, and their places shall be filled by the newly-elected Guardians.' A County Council is, however, empowered, on application from a Board of Guardians, to order a retirement of the wln)le Board every third year. ' ' " I\(!si(lence " appears to mean a personal dwelling within the union, as distinguished from the mere occupation of property. For some purpuses a person may have more tlian one ^^.'^idence. Thus he may have houses in difTerent places, each of which may ba called liis residence ; but it may be doubted whether, for purposes of this Act, a man can reside in more than one place.' iSc*" The Local Government Act 1894, p. 122. Macmorran & Dill. '' Sec. 20 (4). XXX INTRODUCTION. (5) ' A Board of Guardians may elect a ohairman or vice- chairman, or both, and not more than two other persons from ont- side their own body, but from persons qualified to be Guardians of the Union, and any person so elected shall be an additional Guardian and member of the Board.' It is greatly hoped that readers of this ' Introduction ' will take an active interest in the election of Guardians wherever they may have votes, and, if they are almoners, wherever their work may lie. A misguided or lavish bestowal of Poor Law relief produces evil re- sults on character and on family life with w^hich the most widely diffused State education cannot cope. The Board of Guardians are i;i the most practical, forcible mauner — viz. by giving or withholding relief — either the moral instructors or the well-intentioned enemies of that large section of the poor which is on the verge of pauperism. XIV. — The Duties of Goardians in regard to Indoor and Outdoor Relief. Under the management of the Guardians are Workhouses, Infirmaries, and Schools (Indoor Relief) ; Casual wards and casual relief; and outdoor general and medical relief, including medical relief at Poor Law Dispensaries. In the Metropolis several unions share District Schools and other establishments. What these are will be seen in the local lists. Worthouse The workhouse (or rather, perhaps, we should say, indoor relief) is the corner-stone of the English Poor Law system. That com- bination of buildings which is usually called the ' workhouse,' consists of wards or blocks for old men, for old women, for able- bodied men, and for able-bodied women, and for children also, if they are not lodged in a separate or district school. It has a nursery. It affords shelter to persons of unsound or feeble mind and epileptics. It has sick wards or an infirmary. And it has a casual ward. It is an institution partly alleviative, partly restrictive. It is alleviative because it is intended to supply nothing beyond humane and con- siderate relief, including, of course, curative relief to the sick, and depauperising education to the children. It is restrictive because it is managed in such a way as not to attract claimants, but to limit relief to tho.se wbo cannot maintain themselves. The cases which charity raay fitly leave to the Guardians for indoor treatment are incurable cases of vice and intemperance ; chronic cases, i.e. cases of intermittent need, in which no provision is or can be made for future contingencies ; or cases of continuous need, in which, owing to the applicant's fault, no provision iias been made for old age, and in which without an allowance he will lack the means of subsistence ; canes in which relatives are able to assist adequately, and avoid doing so ; able-bodied persons out of work and with no definite prospect of work. cases. introi)U(;tiox. xxxi This list (loos not pretend to be exliuustive; and it is (rliarity's first luty to take each case on its merits. An oiF-hand classification of charitable ap])lications as falling tinder any of the above categories is greatly to be deprecated. But here we have only to consider in some detail what the distinctions are which the Guardians them- selves have to draw between indoor and outdoor relief, and what are the arrangements of a workhouse. A pauper is defined as any ' person maintained wholly or in part A pauper. by or chargeable to any parish, borough, or city.' ' But a person who receives medical or surgical assistance, or any medicine at the expense of any poor rate for himself or any of his family, is not a pauper, in the sense that he does not lose bis vote for Parlia- mentary and County Council elections. He has, however, no vote for the election of Guardians."^ Also, elementary education of a blind or deaf and dumb child does not deprive the parent of any franchise ^ ; and there are other exceptions (see p. xxviii.). In the Returns ])ublished by the Local Government Board, the ' indoor paupers ' include the paupers in all the establishments under the control of the Guardians, and also in some establishments not under their management, puch as certified schools, schools for deaf, blind, and idiots.'' Children boarded-out are entered as in receipt of outdoor relief. The classes of paupers, in and outdoor, are the able-bodied male and female, and their children under 16; the not able-bodied male and female, and their children, or children without parents ; the insane and idiots, and vagrants. Another sub-division has also been introduced recently. The able-bodied in- door paupers are divided, both males and females, into the two categories, 'In health,' and 'Temporarily disabled.' The able- bodied out-door male paupers are also divided into two classes: ' Relieved on account of their own sickness, accident, or infirmity,* and ' Relieved from other causes.' By this means the pauperism due to siikness may in some degree be discriminated from the pauperism due to other causes.^ For the guidance of Guardians in the administration of outdoor relief there are three Orders. Firstly, the General Prohibitory Order (Dec. 21, 1844). This applies to the larger number of Unions, but not to Unions in the Metropolis, or to Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle-on-Tyne, and several other large towns. It ' Rre Glen, p. 192. •-Medical Relief Disqualification Removal Act 1885 (48 & 40 Vict., c. 46). See ante, page xxviii., and Note. 'Elementary Education (Blind and Deaf Children) Act 1893. 56 & 67 Vict., c. 42, s. 10. See also pp. cxxix. and cxxxi. * Si-e Local Oovernment Report 1887-8. pp. 1S7, 188. * In compiliiie the statistical portion of the Outdoor Relief List, the following rules are observed. If the relief is granted to the head of the family for himself [or herself], then he and all the family dependent on him are entered as relieved, if the relief is granted to the head of the family for a member or members of his family, then the numl)er of members relieved is entered plufi one for the head of the family. Scf Poor Law Gcner.il Orders (Macmorraii and Lusliington, p. 417). XXXU INTRODUCTIOX. indicates the high-water mark of the actual [prohibition of outdoor relief at the present time. Next, there is the Outdoor Labour Test Order (Oct. 31, 18-42). This applies to many of the Unions under the Prohibitory Order, and may be considered as an appendix to it. Thirdly, there is the Outdoor Relief Regulation Order (Dec. 14, 1852), which applies to the ^letropnlis and the larger towns. Several of the more advanced metropolitan Boards of Guardians are now in practice adopting an administration of outdoor relief ia accordance with the Prohiliitory Order. They are makino- the grant of out-relief the exception instead of the rule. It is desirable, therefore, to place an outline of both Orders before the reader. TheProhibi- The Prohibitory Order falls into two main sections: relief to RSident^ " cases resident in the Union ; relief to non-resident cases. Subject to certain exceptions mentioned below, in cases resi- dent in the Union, relief, except in the workhouse, is prohibited to any able-bodied person, male or female, or to such members of his or her family ' as may reside with him or her, and may not be in employment,' or to the wife of such able-bodied person, if she be resident with him. Whether a person is or is not able-bodied is a question of fact depending upon the physical strength and condition of the applicant for relief. Thus, children of 14 or 15, able to maintain themselves, may be considered able-bodied, and a man over 60 is not necessarily ' not able-bodied.' ' The exceptions then follow : Relief out of the workhouse is not prohibited to an able-bodied person, where such person (1) Shall require relief on account of sudden or urgent necessity ; (2) Shall require relief on account of any sickness, accident, or bodily or mental infirmity affecting such person, or any of his or her family ; (.S) Shall require relief for the purpo.se of defra^ang the expenses, either wholly or in part, of the burial of his or her family ; (4) Shall require relief, being a widow in the first six months of widowhood ; (5) Shall require relief, being a widow, who has a legitimate child or children dependent on her, is incapable of earning his, her, or their livelihood, and has no illegitimate children born after the commencement of her widowhood ; (6) Shall require relief, being a wife, whose husband is confined in any gaol or place of safe custody (subject to Article 4, quoted below) ' (7) Shall be the wife or child of any able-bodied man who shall be in the service of Her Majesty, as a soldier, sailor, or marine. ' See Glen. pp. 422, 4 14 (ed. )883). ' INTRODUCTION. XXXllI (8) ' Whore any able-bodied person, not being a soldier, sailor, or marine, shall not reside within the Union, bat his wife, child, or children shall reside within the same, the Board of Guardians of the Union, according to their discretion, may (subject to the regulation contained in Article 4) afford relief in the workhouse to such wife, child, or children, or may allow outdoor relief for any such child or children being within the age of nurture [/.e. seven years old], and resident with the mother within the Union.' The Article 4 of the Order referred to above in exceptions (C) and (8) is as follows: — * Where a husband of any woman is beyond the seas \_t.e. out of Great Britain], or in custody of the law, or in confinement in a licensed house or asylum as a lunatic or idiot, all relief which the Guardians shall give to the wife, or her child or children, shall be given to such woman in the same manner, and subject to the same conditions, as if she were a widow.' The conclusions to be drawn from the exceptions (6) and (8) and the Article 4, appear to be, that ' able-bodied women deserted by their husbands should only receive relief in the workhouse ' ; but ' if such a woman requires relief for her children, any child tinder the age of nurture and residing with the mother may I'eceive outdoor relief, but the children above that age must be taken into the workhouse.' If, however, the husband has gone beyond the seas, is in gaol, or confined as a lunatic, she is entitled, to relief as if she were a widow. To non-residents the Order prohibits outdoor relief, except in TheProhiW. the workhouse, unless (1) where such person, being casually within noL^'^'^^ such parish, shall become destitute. residents. This covers relief to vagrants ; as to the provision for whom see p. lix. Or (2), where such person shall require relief on account of any sickness, accident, or bodily or mental infirmity affecting such person or any of his or her family. Then follow other exceptions to the prohibition, two of which may be noted : an exception by which outdoor relief may be given to a widow not resident in the Union for the first six months of widowhood ; and an exception by which such relief mny be given to a widow who has a legitimate child or children dependent on her (see above (5) ), and who at the time of her husband's death was resident with him in some other place than the parish of her legal settlement, and not situated in the Union in which such parish may be comprised. The object of this clause ' appears to be to avoid the disturbance of those connections and mode of life at a distance from the Union to v^hich the family may have become accustomed, and which existed at the time of the husband's death.' XXXIV INTRODUCTION. The OnMoor Test Regula- tion Order. The Outdoor Relief Regu- lation Order: Resident cases. The Prohibitory Order, it will be noticed, prohibits and regulates relief in the case of able-bodied men and women only. It neither prohibits nor regulates relief to those who are not able-bodied. Hence it in no way interferes with or alters that part of the law of Qneen Elizabeth which provides for ' the necessary relief of the lame, impotent, old, blind, and such other among them being poor and not able to work.' In all these cases the Guardians can provide ' necessary ' indoor or outdoor relief as they may think best. The Outdoor Test Regulation Order, as has been said, supple- ments the Prohibitory Order. It requires the Guardians, if they depart from the instructions in regard to able-bodied paupers, and relieve them out of the workhouse, (1) to give half of the relief in food, clothing, and other articles of necessity ; (2) to give no relief ■while the able-bodied person is employed for wages or hire or remuneration by any person ; (3) to set every such pauper to work ;' (4) to report to the Local Government Board within fourteen days from the date when this Order comes into force, and from timo to time afterwards, as to the place of work, kind of work, &c. The Outdoor Relief Regulation Order (that applicable to the Metropolis) maybe divided into three chief sections ; dealing with resident cases, with non-resident cases, and with the employment of the able-bodied. It is limited to setting forth certain conditions under which outdoor relief shall be given; but the general view of the Board is as follows : — ' The Board ' (as the letter of instruction to Boards of Guar- dians in regard to this Order states), ' are of opinion that where there is a commodious and efficient workhouse, it is best that the able-bodied pauper should be received and set to work therein ; but looking to the circumstances of most unions and parishes in London and other populous places, they have not thought it expedient in this Order to prohibit outdoor relief to any class of paupers.' Accordingly it is required (1) that whenever the Guardians allow relief to any able-bodied male person out of the workhouse, one half at least of the relief so allowed shall be given in articles of food or fuel, or in other articles of absolute necessity. (2) In resident cases, to prevent relief being squandered, or more being given than will provide against actual necessities, outdoor relief granted to an indigent poor person for mox^e than one week must be given or administered weekly or oftener. ' WTiat the aLle-bodied person rceives if, it should be noted, not wages but relief. ' The object is " to provide a tfst of destitution," not primarily to pet the largest return for the labour done. It is doubtless desirable that the paupers for tlie independent employment of whom either capital or inclination is wanting, should in return for their maintenance out of the rate be made to work, with as little loss to the union as possible, at some work in which they will not directly intfrrfere with the independent labourer.' — Instructional letter re Outdoor Labour Test Order. INTKODUCTIOy. XXXV Tlje Ontdoor Relief Regu- lation Order: (3) ' Tlio nnnrdians or tlioir ofTieors ' aro absolutoly [jroliibitcd from using tlio jioor-rates, directly or indireotl}', to ' establish any applicant for relief in trade or business ' ; to ' redeem from pawn for any applicant any tools, implements, or other articles ' ; to purchase or give him any tools, implements, or otiier articles, except clothing or bedding when urgently needed, or ' fof)d or fuel, or articles of absolute necessity ' ; to pay for the conveyance of any poor person, nnless it be for the removal of a pauper to a workhouse, district school, &c. ; to pay rent wholly or in part. There are in regard to resident cases no restrictions, except in the case of able-bodied men. The rules in regard to the relief of non-resident cases are the same as in the Prohibitory Order. (See p. xxxiii.) The place of the Outdoor Relief Test Regulation Order is taken dent cases. by clauses of a similar character: — Thus, (I) 'No relief shall be given to any able-bodied male Out-Reiief person while he is employed for wages or other hire or remuneration bodied, by any person.' (2) ' Every able-bodied male person, if relieved out of the workhouse, shall be set to work by the Guardians, and be kept employed under their direction and superintendence so long as he continues to receive relief.' In cases of sudden and urgent necessity, sickness, &c., these requirements may, it is added, be dispensed with. A comparison of the two Orders will show the indulgences which the Regulation Order permits in the Metropolis and other large towns. Thus, in these towns able-bodied women may receive outdoor relief; under the Prohibitory Oi'der, except in cases of widowhood, they cannot. Again, under the Regulation Order, de- serted wives may, if the Guardians so decide, i-eceive outdoor relief ; and further, several exceptions which, when the general rule is prohibitory, have an appearance of fairness and consideration, are of no importance one way or the other when the prohibition is withdrawn. Thus, where all may receive outdoor relief, there is no occasion for making an exception in the case of the wife of a soldier or sailor. So while sickness or urgency form a reasonable exception to the prohibitory rule, under the Regulation Order no such excep- tions are required. That out- relief may be given in such cases goes without saying. From this statement in regard to outdoor relief, it follows that Mr. (as Mr. Goschen in his circular of 1869 pointed out) establishment c'ircuk"o"n in trade, taking goods out of pawn, purchasing tools, paying fares or rent, are, so far as the Poor Law is concerned, works of charity ; but charity finds, for reasons which may have led to the Poor Law prohibitions, that these things (e.g. the payment of rent) can only be done by it with very great precaution. c2 The Orders compared. Co-opera uon of Guaniiaaa nith Charity. XXXVl INTRODUCTION, Arguments for auil against ont> door relief. It is evident that very larj^e rliscretion is given to the Guardians in the Metropolis in distinguishing between cases in which they grant indoor and those in which they grant outdoor relief, and that, by co-operation with the charitable, all cases, with which charity is better fitted to deal, may be taken up by it, while the Guardians relieve the remainder. It will be noted also that while there are many rules and restrictions respecting the able-bodied, there are none respecting the disabled — 'the lame, impotent, old, blind, and such other among them being poor and not able to work,' though the limitation of the Act of Queen Elizabeth holds gfood, and in these cases only ' necessary relief can be given. In regard to these the discretion of the Guardians is unfettered. Sometimes the Guardians give relief according to a scale, e.g. to a widow with so many children, so much in money and so many loaves. These scales, it may be well to mention, have no legal validity ; they are adopted by the Guardians merely for their own convenience, to save the trouble of separate settlements of detail in each separate case. Their utility is very questionable. XVa. — Pros and Cons as to Outdoor Relief. The question of the desirability of reducing out-relief is much debated. Some of the arguments in favour of doing so are, that it lacks the restrictive character of wholesome State relief; that it is looked upon as the recompense in old age of the pauper's pay- ment of I'ates during life, and hence it weakens the inducements to thrift ; that it is impossible to administer it on any large scale without encouraging deception, for the means of making an exhaustive investigation In a very large number of applications must necessarily be insufficient, and insufficient inquiry is a direct temptation to mis-statement and the concealment of material facts ; that discrimination on moral or general grounds is hardly possible, and, even if It were, it would not be justifiable, as destitution is the sole test in Poor Law relief; that outdoor relief becomes a kind of inadequate and unsatisfactory supplementation of wages — tending to keep wages down ; that it is no safeguard against starvation, for it is seldom sufficient to maintain the recipient, and for this reason, and on account of the difficulty of supervising constantly those who receive it, it is likely to cause rather than to prevent starvation ; that it tempts the poor to neglect their relatives, since thej^ will not come forward to help them if outdoor relief is given, but will do so if the ' house ' is offered. Its advocates plead that the cost of a work- house system (quite apart from infirmaries for the sick and helpless) is excessive ; that, whether or not it be expensive in the aggregate, it in Bo certainly case for case ; that in this sense, at least, it is cheaper than indoor relief; that indoor relief Is too punitive in its nature; that, since no reliance can be placed in charity — nor, indeed, should be, LNTRODUCTIOX. XXXVll inasmuch as a State system should be self-sufficient — there is no satisfactory alternative to outdoor relief; that it is bard in most cases, directly or indirectly, to oblige the labouring poor to support their relations, since their wages can seldom be enough to meet their legiti- mate wants; that to diminish outdoor relief is a harsh measure, and ■will lead to a reaction in favour of a lavish administration, or even a general attack on the whole Poor Law system. Ou the whole, judging from the results of the system of restricting out-relief at St. George- in-the-East, Whitechapel, Stepney, Manchester, Birmingham, Brad- field, and elsewhere, the arguments against it appear to be con- clusive.' There have, no doubt, been other causes at work besides good administration to produce the large reduction in pauperism that has taken place during the last 25 years, for prices have been low and wages have risen. Yet beyond question also in that period, with the constant discussion of methods of administration, adminis- tration itself has improved. The general decrease of pauperism has been very striking. It affects all classes of paupers alike, chil- dren, the able-bodied, and the aged. The population has increased since 1871 27"6 per cent. ; nevertheless there is an actual numerical decrease in the number of child-paupers of 37 per cent. ; and of 38 per cent, in the case of the able-bodied ; and 18 per cent, in the case of the not able-bodied or infirm and aged. In the Metropolis out-relief is discouraged by the an-angement by which the cost of it is thrown on the union, while the cost of indoor relief is borne by the Metropolitan Common Fund (see p. cxliii.). By circular letters and in other ways the Local Government Board have tried to guide opinion in regard to the administration of outdoor relief; and different methods for its reduction or regula- tion have been adopted by different Boards of Guardians. One or two of these it may be well to mention. First, there are the limitations in the administration of tho Outdoor Relief Prohibitory and Regulation Orders, which have been officially approved by the Local Government Board as tending to a ' rigid and discriminating system of outdoor relief.' 1. As a general principle it is urged that instead of making the orders more stringent, ' it is competent for the Guardians to pass resolutions laying down the rules by which they will be guided in dealing with particular classes of cases.' 2. A circular issued in 1871 makes the following suggestions: — .j.,,p ^jro^i^ (1.) That outdoor relief should not be granted to sins^lo able-bodied men, or to "f isn. single able-bodied women, either with or without illegitimate children. (2.) That outdoor relief should not, exeept in special cases, be granted to any woman deserted by her liusbantj during the tWst twelve months after the desertion, or to any able-bodied widow with one ch'ld only. (3.) Tliat in the case of an\- able-bodied widow with more than one child it may be desirable to take one or more of the children into the workhouse in preference to givicg outdoor relief. ' Sfe various papers on ' Outdoor Relief,' published by the Charity Organisation Society. ^ _ XXXVlll INTRODUCTION. (4.) Tli!tt in unions where the Prohibitory Order is in force, the workhouse test ^huuld be striL'tly applied. (5.) That outdoor relief should be granted for a fixed period only, which should not, in anj' case, exceed three months. (6.) That all orders to able-bodied men for relief in the labour-yard should only be given from week to week. (7.) That outdoor relief should not be granted in any case unless the relieving officer has, since the application, visited the home of the applicant, and has recorded the date of such visit in the relief application and report book. Cases in which the relieving officer has not had limo to visit, should be relieved by him in kind only, or by an order for the workhouse. (8.) That the relieving officer should be required to make at least fortnightly visits to the homes of all persons receiving relief on account of temporary sickness, and of able-bodied men receiving relief in the labour-yard, and to visit the old and infirm cases at least once a quarter ; and the relieving officer should be required to keep a diary with the dates and results of his visits. (9.) That the provisions with respect to the compulsory maintenance of paupers by relations legally liable to contribute to their support should be more generally acted upon. (10.) That as the recommendation of medical officers for meat and stimulants are regarded as equivalent to orders for additional relief, they should in all cases be accompanied by a report from the medical officer in a prescribed form, setting forth the particulars of each c;xse ascertained by personal inquiry. (11.) That in the most populous unions it may be expedient to appoint one or more officers to be termed ' inspectors of out-relief,' whose duty it would be to act as a check upon the relieving officers, and ascertain also the circumstances con- nected with the recipients of relief. Such appointments have already been tried in Liverpool,' and found to answer very successfully. 3. Stress is also laid on three other most important points. The district of the relieving officer must not be so large as to pre- vent the thorough, investigation of each iodividual case. The application and report book mnst be properly and completely filled np, so that the whole evidence is in writing and comes before the Guardians in a clear and sufficient manner. The relieving officers must be competent and painstaking, and must visit fre- quently. The following paragraphs state these points very clearly : — 'It is of essential importance to any sound system of outdoor relief that the relief districts should not be too large, or the number of relieving officers too small. If a relieving officer's district be too large, it will be impossible for him, however zealous and vigilant he may be, to investigate with sufficient care the case of each applicmt for relief, or pauper in receipt of relief; and nothing can be more ol jecrionablc than that an officer should be compelled to perform his duty in a hurri?d and incomplete manner.'^ 'One cauBP of a lax administration^ of outdoor relief, is the imperfect manner in which applications for relief are often presented by the relieving officers to the Guardians. This remark is intended to point amongst other things to the frequent omission to enter in the proper column of the application Miid report book the names of relations of applicants for relief who are legally liable for their support. ' [Now also at West Derby, Birmingham, Manchester, and elsewhere (1894).] 2 Circular of 1871. Local Government Board Iteport, 1877-8. • Memorandum of 1878. LXTRODUCTIOX. XXXIX 'To ensure relief being strictly limited to the class for whom it is intended [those in actual destitution], it is only rt-quisite that those wiio are entriLSted with the administration of tho iuw should, by dilif^out and minute inquiry, ascertain the exact condition and circnmstanecs of each applicant, and to enable the Guardians to do this eff'ectually, it is essential that they thould have the aid of competent and painstaking relieving officers, whose districts should not be so extensive as to preclude them from visiting each recipient of relief at bis own home, and at frequent intervals, in conformity with the regulations of the Board.' 4. Some other points are these ' : — (1.) Non-resident relief might, in the opinion of the Board, be almost entirely discontinued. (2.) While disapproving a suggestion that the Prohibitory Order should be altered so as to make it illegal to grant relief in sudilen and urgent cases for more than a month at a time, the Board state 'it will still bo competent for the Guardians to limit the relief in those cases, where such a limitation may be properly imposed, and that without interference on the part of the Board.' (3.) Another suggested alteration of the Prohibitory Order the Board declares impracticable, viz., that the exception allowing relief to widows within SIX months of their widowhood should be omitted. But they ttate: ' It may be that the period of six months now allowed is too long, but the President, as at present advised, is not prepared to shorten it, preferring that the Guardians should exercise their discretion in dealing with each case according to its merits.' 5. As an example of rnles to be adopted by Guardians, the Jranchester Local Government Board have more than once referred with relief rules. vy ave as approval to those adopted by the JMauchester Board. Th folio wrs : — 1. Outdoor relief shall not be granted or allowed by the Relief Committees (except in cases of sickness) to applicants of any of the loUowing classes: — (a) Single able-l)0(liL'd men ; (b) Single able-bodied women; (c) Able-bodied widows without children, or having only one child to support ; {d) Married women (with or without families) whose husbands having been convicted of crime, are undergoing a term of imprisonment ; (e) Married women (with or without families) deserted by their husbands ; (/) Married women (with or witliout familips) left destitute tlirougii their husbands having joined tlie militia, and being called up for training; (ff) Persons residing with relatives, where the united income of the family is sufficient for the support of all its meudjers, whether such relatives are liable by law to support the applicant or not. 2. Outdoor relief shall not be granted in any case for a longer period than 13 weeks at a time. 3. Outdoor relief shall not be granted to any able-bodied person for a longer period than six weeks at a time. 4. Outdoor relief shall not be granted on account of the sickness of the appli- cant, or any of his family, for a longer period than two weeks at a time, unle^s such sickness shall be certified in writing by the district medical officer as being likely to be of long duration, or to be of a permanent character. 5. When relief is allowed to a parent through the admission of a child or children into the Swinton Schools or the workhouse, such relief shall not be granted for a longer period than six months at a time; and if at the expir.ition of such period a continuance of the relief is required, the relieving officer shall visit and inquire into the circumstances of the parent, and bring the case up for reconsider- ation by the Relief Committee, in the same manner as if it were a case for outdoor relief. ■ ' Memorandum of 1878. xl INTRODUCTION. The Padilington Rules. Whitechapcl Procedure. Other rules mnj also be raeiitioned. Tlioso adopted by the Paddiugton Guardians are somewhat ditferent, but they are of interest inasmuch as they tarn upon the principle that (excepting in cases of emergency) outdoor relief should be given only in those cases in which charity would ordinarily and rightly step in. Accordingly, where these rules are adopted, if the charitable organisations of the union are ready to do their duty, outdoor relief must necessarily disappear and charity take on the work that else- whei'e is often inadvertently undertaken by the Poor Law. These rules are : — Outdoor relief may be granted only to such aged and infirm persons as (1) are deserving at the time of applica- tion, (2) have shown signs of thrift, (3) have no relations legally or morally bound to, and able to, support them, (4) are unable to obtain sufficient assistance from charitable sources, (5) are desirous of living out of the workhouse and can be properly taken care of. 6. In Whitechapel and St, George-in-the East, where outdoor relief has been reduced to a minimum, no general rules have been adopted, but rather a new practice has been introduced and adhered to for the last twenty years. This practice was thus described by Mr. Vallance in his evidence before the Select Committee of the House of Lords on Poor Relief: — 'Up to 1870 the system may be said to have been that of meeting apparent existing circumstances of need by small doles of outdoor relief; the indoor estab- lishments — at that time consisting of a mixed workhouse for the adult sick and healthy poor, and a separate sc'^ ool at Forest Gate — being reserved for the destitute poor who voluntarily sought refuge in them. Able-bodied men who applied for relief on account of want of employment were set to work under the Outdoor Relief Regulation Order, and in return for such work were afforded outdoor relief in money and kind. Under this system the administration was periodically subjected to great pressure, so much so that the aid of the police had not unfrequenlly to be invoked to restrain disorder and afford necessary protection to officers and property. Police protection was even at times required for the Guardians during their administration of relief. The experience of the winter of 1869-70, however, was such as to lead the Guardians to re^dew their position, and earnestly to aim at reforming a system which was felt to be fostering pauperism and cncuuraging idleness, improvidence, and imposture, whilst the " relief " in no true sense helped the poor. It was seen that voluntary charity largely consisted of indiscriminate almsgiving; that it accepted no definite obliga- tion as distinct fiom the function of Poor Law relief ; that the Poor Law was relied upon to supplement private benevolence; that the almsgivers too frequently were the advoaites of the poor in their demands upon the public rates; and that h •But must it not have to considerable extent the effect of discouraging thrift, inasmuch as the man can fairly look forward to his family being provided fcr in such cases, and therefore does not feel the necessity of making provision himseli ? ' Mr. Vallance said : — • ' I do not think that it can be regarded as a certainty of provision. The Charity Organisation Society, for instance, in the case of a man admitted to the infirmary or the workhouse, would make their usual inquiry, and it is those who have homes worth preserving, those who have given some evidence of having exer- cised thrift, that are assisted. In other cases the Charity Organisation iSociety ■would probably refuse help, so that there could be no certain' y; and where it ■was refused, then a porticjn of the family would be offered .tdmission with the head of the family, the mother and the youngest child probably being left out, so that she might achieve indeppudenoe if she could, and tide over the period of her husband's illness. So that it is not a uniform grant by the [Charity Organi- sation Society, or what I may term a system of Poor Law administration outside the Poor Law with the same certainty.' As to ■widows, he said : — ' A widow with dependent children is first referred to the Charity Organisa- tion Society, the relieving officer being authorised to meet any circumstances of urgent necessity by relief in kind. In some cases the Soci'-ty may succeed in introducing the widow to service, or employment, or may, by the purchise of a mangle or sewing machine, affoi'd her the means of achieving independence, cr — succeeding in part only — the Society may refer the case lack to the (iuardians "with a request that one or more children may be admitted into the district school. It should also be stated that 36 poor widows are emphncd in the infirmary as washers and scrubbers at w ekly wages. . . . The relief which the Guardians ■would not hesitate to affiird trmpf-rarily to widows of respectable character is rendered unnecessary by the interveiilion of organised charity.' And, answering the question whetlier thus ' the -whole of the support of widows of respectable churactcr in jour union is thrown on charity P ' he replied : — * Not the " support " so much as seeing to it that the poor woman is brought ■within reach of the friendship, the sympathy, the personal help which will enable her to achieve independence.' ' A quotation from a recent Annual Report of the London Charity ' Evidence : Select Committee of the Ilouse of Lords. Poor Law Relief. 1888. xlii INTRODUCTION. \\'hat should take the place of out- door relief. Whitechapel and outdoor relief. Organisation Society tlirows further light on the advantages of a policy of closely restricted outdoor relief : — ' One obstacle in the -way of reform is the common argument that a large amount of charitable relief must already be forthcoming and available for the assistance of cases in receipt of outtloor relief, if the latter is to be withdrawn. At first sight this seems piausible, but the substitute for outdoor relief is not, unless in exceptional instances, charitable relief, but providence, thrift, and the enforcement of family responsibilities. The mass of the people have within their reach the means of relieving themselves and their dependents in a thousand and one small ways, just as they have the means of supplying themselves with food. The distribut on of food is self-acting, and presses to meet the demands of the multitude. It organises itself. So to a very large extent would it be with the ordinary relief of the people if they were not arbitrarily interfered with by the State and by philanthropists. What others press to do for them they may naturally think it foolisli to do for themselves ; and petty charities, doles, and allowances, and petty outdoor relief, are but means of diverting them from duties ■fl'hich they, like othtrs, will only perform under the natural constraints of life. Helitrf is not for ordinary but exceptional cases ; not for the mere maintenance of its recipients, but for the removal and prevention of their distress. ' On this point the following figures, taken from Mr. Vallance's evidence, throw light. In 1869 the indoor paupers at Whitechapel numbered 1,232; in 1888, 1,264. In 1869 the outdoor numbered 4,135; in 1888, 1,312. The totals are thus (1860) 5,>67 ; (1S88) 2,676. The cost of relief in money and kind for the year was, in 1869, £7,-lo8; in 1888, £117. ' From this it appears that some £7,300 formerly spent annually for outdoor relief has been set tree. It is available (without an increase of the rates) for more salutary relief of other kinds, such as nn improved infirmary, or a careful and educational supervision of the inmates of the workhouse. Or it is left in the ratejmyers' pockets, and the community has the advantage of so much more ex- pended on industry and commerce. On the other hand, those who received it before no long°r ask for it. They are maintaining themselves, or are maintained by their friends and relations, to the extent of the £'7,300 a year. To that amount, either the relief was not wanted, or by the natural distribution of private charities it has been silently and unostentatiously provided by the people at large. Exceptional cases (including pension cases) in which charitable relief is required are referred to the Whitechapel Charity Organisation Committee, and the payment of some portion of the £'7,300 has thus been undertaken by charity. It out relief were reduced throughout the metropolis as it has been in Whitechapel, St. George-in-the-East, and Stepney, the outdoor paupers would number about 22,800 instead of 49,118, and the annual saving in outdoor relief would amount to about £'1(J0,000; and for the m^st part private charity, which happily lies beyond the ken of any institution, would be .stimulated to make that sum good, 60 far as it was actually required at all, and could not be met by the honest exertion of the would-be recipitnts.'' XVb. — Thk Organisation of the Workhouse. The Work- What then is the organisation of the Avorkhouse ^ ? A large bouse ! itfl Bdminirtra- building now often built in the suburbs, used not so much ^aifg^ for work as for residence. It is under the charge of a inente. master ard matron. Admission to it is given on an order from the Guardians, or on a provisional order from the Relieving ' Annual Report of the Charity Organisation Society, 1887-8. 2 Formerly, the workhouse included separate wards or blocks for the sick asylum or infirmary, the school, and for casuals. Now, in London, and niHny other large towns, tht- infirmary is, with few exceptions, a separate building; the schools are separate ; and in many instances the casual wards are separate. INTRODUCTION. :s:liii Officer, or (now very seldom) from an Overseer, or from the Master 'in any case of sudden or urgent necessity.' All such cases are admitted irrespective of the settlement of the pauper — that is, irrespective of the question whether the Union in which lie is relieved ought to bear the cost of his relief as one of their ' settled' population (see p. xlix.). There is a receiving ward, in which the pauper is examined by a medical officer, thoroughly cleansed, and clothed in the workhouse dress ; his own dress is set aside and puritiod. He is searched also, and if he has money upon him it may be used for his maintenance.' If he is suffering from infectious or contagious disease he is placed in a special ward. In the work- house there is a classification of paupers in separate wai-ds : — !Malos — (1), the aged and infirm; (2), the able-bodied from 15 years old upward ; (3), boys from 7 to 15 ; (4, 5, and 6), Females in three similar divisions ; and (7), one class of children under 7. Further classification is recommended to prevent the moral contamination of inmates. Mothers of children under 7 have access to them at all reasonable times. All have to attend meals, except the sick, children, persons of unsound mind, 'casual' poor, wayfarers, women suckling their children, and the aged and infirm. There is a fixed dietary ; and only the dietary food is allowed. The whole institution is managed on a system of rigorous routine. It may be useful to add a few miscellaneous details. Able- Empioy- 1T1-I 1 1 ii T-11 nient of bodied inmates may be employed as superintendents, and still are inmates. used to some extent as nurses, and the Master has, according to the words of the Order, to employ the able-bodied, train the youths, occupy the partially incapable, and allow no idleness. Separate separate accommodation may be provided for aged and infirm couples. dation™r (1) In the case of ' any two persons being husband and wife,' and f^^'^^^ 'either of them infirm, sick, or disabled by an injury, or above the Couples, age of 60 years,' the Guardians may, in their discretion, permit them to live together in the workhouse.''^ (2) But if both husband and wife are over the age of 60, they will not be compelled to live separate in the workhouse.** Any person may visit any pauper in Visits to the workhouse by permission of the Master, subject to 'conditions the'work" prescribed by the Guardians.' To keep discii)line, the Master can punish offences according as the delinquent pauper is ' disorderly,' or ' refractory ' ; terms which are defined with great precision, so as to include in the former 13, and the latter eight definite ofi'ences. The former, the first of which is ' If any per.'ion wlio applies for relief at a ■woikliouse or to a relieving offiL-er, has at the time in his possession, or under his control, money or other property, he has to make 'correct ami complete disclosnre," or ho is liable to be punished as ' idle and disorderly' (aic p. Ixvi.), 11 & 12 Vict., c. 110, s. 10. And ' any person ' who obtains relief 'by wilfully giving a false name, or making a false statement,* is so liable. 39 & 40 Vict., c. 61. s. 4-1. -• .30 k 40 Vict., c. 61 (1876), s. 10. ' 10 .S: 1 1 Vict., c. 100, s. 23. Sec Lumley : ' Divided Parishes and Poor Law Amendment Act.' house. xliv INTRODUCTION. Leaving the Workhouse. making ' any noise when silence is ordered,* are piTnishable hy the Master at his own discretion — by substituting a less satisfactory diet for any time less than 48 hours. The latter are only punishable, except in aggravated cases, by the direction of the Guardians, by reducing or changing the diet, and by confinement for any term less than 24 hours. The corporal punishment of adults is not allowed. If a pauper wishes to leave the workhouse, he must be allowed to do so, provided that he gives a reasonable notice. If he has a family, he has to take it with him. A pauper who has stayed for a month in a workhouse is, after giving notice, detained 24 hours ; if within the month be has left the workhouse, or, as the phrase is, 'discharged himself once or oftener, he is detained 48 hours; if twice in two months, 72 hours. ^ But these paragraphs concerning the workhouse would give an altogether misleading impression if it were not added that the infirmary or sick asylum, which is usually, in London, a large hospital, built according to well-approved methods of construction and provided with a nursing staff, is included under that name. Of late years the institutions that bear the common name ' work- house ' have tended to become more and more the refuge of the sick, the feeble, and the aged. For the aged there is a separate dietary, and they have many minor comforts ; while for the sick in the Metropolis all reasonable requirements are usually met. Recovery of Poor Law relief as a loan. XV. — Poor Law Relief by way of Loan ; and Recovery of Relief. Two important powers of the Guardians should be noted here : (1) Relief given in accordance with the outdoor relief regulation (December 14, 18-52) may be given by way of loan to or on account of any person over 21, or to his wife, or to any of his family under the age of IG. The master or employer of the recipient can, in all cases in which relief has been given as a loan, be required by a justice, on application from the Guardians, to show cause Avhy wages due, or from time to time due to the recipient should not be paid 0%'er in whole or in part to the Guardians; and the justice can, if he think fit, taking into consideration the circumstances of such poor person and his family, require the employer from such wages to pay the debt to the Guardians direct by instalments or in a lump sum as may be arranged, ^ By these provisions the Guardians, if they can bestow sufficient time on the individual case, may deal effectively with a large class ' It may be noted th-H, witli the approval of tho Local Government Board, the workhouses in the Metropolis may he iippropriated to diflferent classes of cases to be received fr-m any of the metroijolitan unions. (30 Vict., c. 6, s. 80, and 32 & 33 Vict., c. 63, s. 17.) 2 Poor Law Amendment Act, 1834 (4 & 5 Will. IV., c. 76), s. 59. IXTRODUCTION. xlv of ineligible cases, in which the parent is to blame for his family's distress, or in wliich, in fairness to the community, the applicant should be required to pay for what he has received. In regard to Medical Relief, it is Stated that ' as the exa^t cost of it in any individual case cannot in general be severed from the total cost of medical relief in the Union, it does not seem to be such relief as can be given by way of loan. But in some Unions it is nevertheless so given.'' (2) Guardians can recover^ as a debt the cost of the relief or Recovery of of part of the relief they have given in tlie previous twelve months, relief asa if a pauper has in his possession any money or valuable security. ' In the event of the pauper's death, they may be reimbursed for twelve months' expenditure and the cost of burial. XVI. — Settlement and Removal.^ The words ' settlement' and 'removal ' frequently occur in con- nection with Poor Law cases. They require some explanation. Here, too, it is convenient to give in the briefest terms some particulars with regard to the words ' parish ' and ' union,' in reference to Poor Law relief. By the Poor Law Act of Queen Elizabeth,'* the relief and charge- ability of the poor were limited to the area of the parish. In the reign of Charles II. a law was passed by which parishes, often of an unwieldy size, might be subdivided. This law was unmirly applied, in order to create what were called ' close ' parishes, sec- tions of parishes in which there were few paupers, and hence low rates, while hard by were parishes with many paupers and high * Glen, p. 435 (ed. 1883). * Poor Law Union Chiiri^es Act Amendment, 1849(12 & 13 Vict, c. 103), s. 16. ' Some grave diificulties liave to be met or allowed for in any attempt to put down shui-tly the leadino; features of tlie legal provisions reprardinn: intricate sub- jects such as settlement and removal, and many others touched upon in this 'Introduction.' Decisions on cases are continually modifying the statute law. Sometimes, every word in the section of an Act is limited by conditions to be found elsewhere. There is thus, practically, no alternative between a lengthy and somewhat technical memor;!ndum and a brief statement, which, omitting many details and reservations, cannot but bo more or less misleading. Notwithstanding these objections, it has been tliought well to adopt the latter course, rather than to omit all reference to these questions, or to deal witli them sn generally, that the information given would hardly be found even suggestive. The almoner is likely to pass by many important provisions altogether, unless they are brought to his notice, in tlio first instance, in some compendious form. But if once the suggestion is made to liim, and his work shows him its practical bearing, he can, by reference to the proper authorities or to books, ascertain any further particulars that may be necessary, or what the requirements of the law more exactly are. It has been desired to make this ' Introduction ' suggestive, and so far as tlie limits of space allow, detailed and accurate. To make it exhaustive would be impossible, and it must thus also bo, in a measure, incorrect. A list of Books of Reference will be found on pp. cxcv.-cxeviii., and in the notes numerous references arc given. * 4" Hliz., c. 2. 'Parish, 'and ' Union.' Xlvi INTRODUCTIOX. rates. Thp Poor Law Commissioners (1834) introduced the system of unions, by which, while each parish supported its own poor, the workhouse was maintained by the parishes in union, each givinor its quota towards the cost. It was subsequently enacted, in 1848 and the years following,! that persons who acquired the status of irremovability, should be relieved from the ' common fund of the Union,' and with some other classes of paupers, such as destitute wayfarers, &c., they became ' union paupers.' And the basis upon which the common fund was assessed was altered. It had been based on the averao-e expense incurred by each parish in the relief of its own poor, during the three years previous. It was now, and has since been based, on the annual value of the rateable property of each parish. In 1865 another great change was made. The relief of all paupers was throsvn on the common fund of the union. ^ Concurrently with these changes, changes were made in regard to the position of the parish in questions of removability. It had been necessary that, to obtain irremovability by residence, the poor person should not reside outside the parish. Afterwards residence in any one or more parishes, in a single union, was computed to make up the period of residence that conferred irremovability.^ Removability, therefore, depends on residence in a union. In the enactments with regard to settlement, the words defining the local area are ' parish,' ' parish or place,' ' parish or township ' ; and no change has been made in the law, similar to that with regard to removability, by which the union is substituted for the parish as the area of settle- ment. Yet the distinction between parish and union has in a great measure lapsed. Many parishes, of course, were not considered too small, or otherwise unsuitable for administrative purposes. They remained parishes, such as Kensington, Islington, and others. Many, again, were made parts of unions ; e.g. St. Luke's, Clorkenwell, and Holborn, which have been formed into the Holborn Union.'* Settlement Parliament, in the reign of Charles II., appears to have been Kemovai. apprehensive of the undue growth of large towns, and of the diseases incident to a crowded population ; and it was desirous of checking vagrancy, and of regulating, and as a result, of checking also, the circulation of labour.'^ It therefore made a law enabling ' Irremovable Poor Act, 1861 (24 k 25 Vict., c. .55), s. 8. 2 Union Chargeability Act, 1865 (28 & 29 Vict., c. 79), s. 2. ' The case of a deserted wife is an exception. She must continue to reside in the same parish as that in which she lived when deserted, to gain exemption from removal, ^ee p. xlviii. (6). * Sec the Poor Removal and Chargeability Acts, by W, G. Lumley. Knight & Co., Fleet Strr-et, 1865. A short paper. ' Poor Removal within the Metropolis,' by Mr. li'jbf-rt W. Monro, a guardian at Paddington, will be found of interest, in regard to the present state of this question in London. ' U Charles II., c. 12. See ' History of the English Poor Law,' by Sir George Nich )IIb, vol. I. p. 293. IXTRODLXTION. xlvil jnsticos, undor cerffiin ponditiona, to send hack to Mieir homes — to the place of their lust settlement — persons who were likely to hecome chargeable to the parish. A procedure which had been previously introduced for dealing with vagrants only, was thus extended to the ordinary poor. By a later statute this power of the justices was limited to persons who became actually chargeable.' Since then many modifications have been made (see below) by which a right of irremovability is secured to persons who are residing in and become chargeable to a parish or Tmion,^ in which they have not a settlement. The result of the law of Charles IT. has thus been that two series of ([uestions have to be asked by the Guardians, in the case of every pauper; can we remove him, or must we pay ibr him liere ? and, if we can remove him, where is the place of his last settlement ? Further, by successive enactments it has come about that, while residence, under certain conditions, confers irremoval)ility, the same residence does not confer settlement. If, therefore, the Ouardians have to pay for the relief of a pauper, because he is irre- movable, they are no less interested in securing that, if he leaves their union, he should leave it without having contracted there a right of settlement ; for in the event of his requiring relief, before he has acquired any new right of irremovability in the union to "which he goes, he will be sent back, not to them, but to the place of his last settlement, the place to which, on his becoming chargeable, they would themselves have removed him if the law had allowed them ,to do so. The question of removal and settlement is, it is obvious, intricate, whether for purposes of administration or to the student. One set of conditions govern ' irremovability,' and another ' settle- ment.' A person who is settled in the union in which he becomes chargeable, is, of cour.se, irremovable from it ; but many that are irremovable from the union in which they become chargeable, are not settled in it. Under what circumstfinces, then, is a person who becomes Removal, chargeable to a parish, not to be removed ; when is he ' irremovable ' ? (1) He cannot be removed, if he is legally settled where he is (see below). (2) If he has resided in the union without interruption for one irromova- year ne.xt before the application for a warrant of removal, he cannot residence, be removed.' (3) A child under 10), left an orphan, while residing' with its Orphans ^ ■' ' ^ . under IflL surviving parent, cannot be removed, if the parent at the time of death was exempt fi-om removal by reason of length of residence.' ' 35 (ieo. IJT.. c ini. s. 1. '14 Charles II., c. 12. See 'History of the English Poor Law,' by Sir George Nicholls, vol. I. p. 293. ' 28 & 29 Vict., c. 79, s. 8. See as to the definition and condition'; of rpsidenre. Glen's Poor Law Sututes, vol. II. p. 84o, 1873; sec also W. G. Lumley's Poor Removal and Union Chur^oability Acts. * 24 & 25 Vict., c. 00, s. 2. xlviii INTRODUCTION. Chililren under 16. Wife and children. Deserted ■wife. Widows. (4) No cLild under IG, whether legitimate or illegitimate, resi- ding in any parish with father or mother, stepfather or stepmother, or reputed father, can be removed, unless the parent can also be lawfully removed.' A child cannot be removed from its parent if it be under the age of seven years, which is called the age of nurture; and if it become chargeable and have a different settlement from its parent, it must, nevertheless, be allowed to remain with the parent until it attain the age of seven years, or if the parent be removed, it must be removed also, to the same parish. ^ (5) If a wife becomes chargeable in the absence of her husband she may be removed to his last legal settlement, if he has one, or if not, then to the place of her maiden settlement.^ Children and wife are only removable witb the father and husband. (6) If a deserted wife continues to reside for one year in the same parish in such a manner as would, if she were a widow (see next clause), render her exempt from removal, she is not liable to removal unless her husband returns to live with her.* (?) A widow residing in any parish with her husband at the time of his death, cannot be removed for twelve calendar months after, if she so long remains a widow.' Also ' non-resident relief may (7 & 8 Vict., c. 101, s. 26) be given by the Guardians of the union of her settlement to a widow who continues on her husband's death to reside in the union where he died. The widow, in such a case, must have a legitimate child dependent on her for support, and no illegitimate child born after the commencement of widow- hood. (8) Persons who become chargeable for relief received owing to sickness or accident are not removable, unless they are likely, in the opinion of the justices, to become permanently disabled.^ When they are cured they become chargeable to their own union. It should be noted that persons exempted from removal do not by reason of such exemption acquire any settlement.^ Also in computing the length of residence there must be excluded — among other exceptions — the time during which a person is in prison, or in an asylum, or hospital.^ The Guardians, if satisfied as to the facts of settlement, arrange for the removal or reception of paupers to or from other unions. But in cases of dispute a removal order is made by two justices on the complaint of the Guardians. If a pauper, removed by a removal order, returns and becomes » 9 & 10 Vict., c. 66, 8. 3, ' Glen's Archbold, p. 565 ' Glen's Archbold, p. 571. ■• 29 & 30 Vict., c. 113, 6. 17. * 9 & 10 Vict., c. 66, 8. 2, and Glen's Archbold, p. 594. « 9 & 10 Vict., c, 66, s. 4 ; 24 & 25 Vict., c. 5, s. 55. ' J/Ad., H. 5; and 28 & 29 Vict., c. 79, s. 13. " Ibid., s. I. iXTRODUCTroN. xlix cliarpfeal)lo witliin twelve months lie is lialile to be convicted and pniiislied as 'idle and disorderly' (see p. Ixvi.).' If, then, a person may be removed, the next question is where may he be removed to ? Where is the place of his last settlement ? What constitutes settlement ? Settlements are said to be of two kinds — orifjinal, when the Settlement, person has acquired it himself; derivative, when he has acquired it indirectly, e.g. as a child by parentage, a wife by marriage. The only derivative settlements now recognised are as follows :"^ (1) A wife acquires on marriage the settlement of her husband, ^'''<'- if he have one. Slie cannot while married acquire any .separate settlement of her own. (2) A child under the age of 16 takes the settlement of its children father or widowed mother, which it retains until it acquires another settlement. (3) Au illeoritimate child retains the settlement of its mother Tiiesitimate ... . child. until it acquires another settlement. Of original settlements there ai'e the following amongst others: (4) Residence for three years ' in any parish iti such manner settlement and under such circumstances as would, in accordance with statutes ' '''^' in that behalf, render a person irremovable,' gives settlement,^ until settlement in some other parish may be acquired. (5) The occupation for one year of a tenement, being a sepa- Byoccnpa- rate and distinct dwelling-house of a not less annual value than £10, for which the occupant has been assessed, and has paid poor- rate for one vcar, skives settlement.^ (0) The owner of an estate in land, however small in value, by By estate. a residence of forty days in the parish in which it is situated, acquires a settlement.'^ Questions of settlement are often of practical interest to the interest of almoner. Thus, to the displeasure of the Guardians, a charitable cu'ilol«i p. 409, etc. * Residt*iice in a charitiible institution does not confer settlement, but such residence is no bar to contracting irremovability. In 1882 a 'Settlement of Penioval Law Araemlment Bill' was brouirht in by the Government. It W!\s proposed to reduce srttlenient by residence tVoni three years to one. and irremova- bilirv by re.'^ideiieo tmni one year to three months. d settlement and removal. 1 INTRODUCTION. child slioald be assisted, and the cost of relief, will then fall upon the Guardians of the union of her settlement. XVII. — The Legal RESPONsiBiLrrrEs of Relations. Any relief which removes a natural obligation is in its results of very doubtful benefit. The law according to its letter at least fully recognises this. Charity often forgets it. The issue is fairly rai^ed in such a case as that mentioned on p. cv. Why the Money given in such an instance is only spent in drink: and obligations 1 • .' ' ' Of reiatioi.g tlio removal of the child sets the parent free to indulge himself eu'forceu. without fear of consequences. It may be tirged that the child should be saved. ; and the plea is a strong one. But, unless the case be exceptional, the effect on the class will be bad : existing ties and I'esponsibilities are none too numerous to keep men to their duty. What a man sees done for his neighbour, he thinks he is entitled to himself, and he yields to self-indulgence, well aware that there is charity in the background and in the last resort the Poor Law. There is abundant evidence in proof of this. "Whenever it is possible, therefore, the relations should be required to do their part. The disgrace of leaving the falfilment of their duty to strangers should be insisted on, and a definite scheme of help should be submitted to them, with a request for assistance of a definite kind or to a definite amount. No trouble should be spared to reassert the family bond. The law deals with the question very precisely ; a knowledge of it may enable the almoner to push relations to the alternative which they often dread, of letting those for whom they are legally or morally liable 'go on the rates,' or assisting them. The moral and pecuniary result of the enforcement of the law against rela- tions, is shown in a return kindly furnished by the Clerk of the Barton Regis Union, near Bristol. In the year ended March 1870, £242. 155. was received from relations and friends. During that and previous years only those paid who offered to do so. Bat in the nineteen years ended March 1889, £26,831 were received from relatives; £1,719 was received in 1880-81; £2,247 in 1889. ' These figures represent the cash n dually received, hnt cases often occur,' the return states, ' where the relations, on notice being given them that proceedings are about to be commenced, maintain the pauper rather than submit to proceedings. The relief saved in such cases is considerable. Tin; amount now collected in excess of 1870 pays the salaries of all the Clerks and Relieving Officers, which wore previously a heavy charge upon the ratepayers.' Other Boards of Guardians act more or less persistently on the same plan. The St. Pancras Parish recover about ,£2,000 a } ear from relatives and friends of persons chargeable. In 18S9 the Wandsworth Union collected from this source £1,667 : in 1885 the corresponding sum was £1,042. INTRODUCTION. H (1) Parents, Grandparents, and Children. — With the exceptions The oi.iit'a- mentioned below, all related within these degrees are, under the Act tioiin in tt.o of Queen Elizabeth, 43, c. 2, s. 6', on an order by justicis in petty "uw!" '"* sessions, liable for the maintenance of the others ; but on two conditions : (a) That the relation to be niaii'.tained is ' a poor, blind, lame and impotent person or other person uvahle to work.' Inability to woi-k is a sine qiut non. (h) That the relation that should maintain him is, in the opinion of the justices, ' of siifjicient ahilUy' to do so, at the time when they make their order. What the manner and rate of maintenance are to be the justices have to assess. If there be non-compliance witli their order, the defendant forfeits 20^. a month so long as the non-compliance lasts. ^ The Act 'extends only to natural relations, that is to say, to cases where there is relationship by blood between the parties, to lawful and not to reputed parents or children. And therefore under the statute a man cannot be compelled to contribute to the maintenance of his wife's mother, or his wife's child by a former husband, or her illegitimate child — after the wife's death, or after such child has attained the age of sixteen ; or of his son's wife or widow ; or of his own brother, a brother not being mentioned in the statute. But a grandfather is liable to contribute thus to the maintenance of his grandchild, even although the father be alive, if the latter be unable to support him ; or indeed whether the father be unable or not ; and, therefore, in such an or der against a grandfather, it is not necessary to state that the father is dead or unable to support his children ; but under 43 Eliz., c. 2, B. G, a grandchild is not liable to maintain a grandfather.' ^ ' A grandmother under coverture is not liable to maintain her grandchild, notwithstanding that she has separate estate and is of "sufficient ability." The 21st section of the Married Women's ' Tho wording of the statute, Eliz., c. 2, is : ' Tho father and grandfather, and the mother and grandmother, and the cliililren of every poor, old, blind, and iiiipiitcnt person, or other person not able to work, being of sufficient ability, shall, at their (iwn charges, relieve and maintain every such poor person, in that manner, and according to that rate, as shall be assessed by the justices ; upon p^iin that every one of them shall forfeit twenty shillings for every month which they shall fail therein.' " In Stone's Justice's Manual there is the following suggestive note: — 'The condition of the laliouring cl.iss was such in a.d. 1601 that it cannot be con- sidered labourers were included, or were intended to be includeil, as of "sufficient ability" in the Statute of Queen Elizabeth, which imposed a penalty of one pound a month (the equivalent of five pounds a month of our present money) in case of failure to perform the order. We doulit whether persons of that class, earning the orilinary weekly wages of thirteen shillings and fourteen shillings a week, are within these Statutes, which ought to be strictly interpreted. An application to quash such an order was made to the Queen's li'^nch in Hilary Term, 1X76, but the procopilinjjs failcl, because the ccrluirari was not applied for within six nninrhs of the date of the order. The hearing of that order was not reported. ( I'arslev's casfi, 39 .IP. 79/)|.' The orders must be enforced as civil debts. ' Cilen's .\rehl.nld. p. 221. d-1 lii INTRODUCTION. Property Act provides tliat a marriecl woman shall be subject to all such liability for the maintenance of her children and gfrandchildren as the "husband is now bj law subject to for the maintenance o{her children and grandchildren." There can be no doubt that it was intended to make a woman who has married a second, husband liable for the maintenance of her grandchildren, but as a husband is not bound to maintain a second wife's grandchildren, and she is onl}' liable to the same extent, it wonld seem, that she is still not bound to maintain her grandchildren.'' ' The marriage of the mother does not relieve her children by a former marriage from liability to maintain her, whilst she is living with her second husband.'* An illegitimate child does not come within the Act, nor the father or the mother of an illegitimate child. (2) Husbands, their Wives and Children, — Relief given by the Guardians to wife or to children, not being deaf, dumb, or blind, till they reach the age of IG, or on their account, is considered as given to thehu.sband. A husband is liable to maintain his wife's chil- dren, legitimate or illegitimate, born before marriage,^ until the ase of 16, or the death of their mother, and he is chargeable with all relief Liability of granted to them. Any persons wilfully refusing or neglecting to main- tain themselves or their families when able to do so wholly or in part, are liable to imprisonment and hard labour for a term not ex- wife deser- Deeding One month. ^ Desertion of wife and children, if they are left '^'""' chargeable to the parish, is punishable by imprisonment and hard labour for a term not exceeding thi'ee months.'* The property, if any, of the husband is available for the maintenance by the Nesrieccof Guardians of his wife and cliildren. Any parent who neglects cluldruu. . . . . , . to provide adequate food, clothing, medical aid, or lodging for his child being in his custody under the age of 14, whereby the health of the child has been, or is likely to be, seriously injui-ed, is liable to be imprisoned for six months with or without hard labour.'^ In these cases 'the Guardians of the union or parish in vhich such child may be living shall institute the prosecution and pay the costs thereof out of their funds.' It does not appear to be necessary that the child should be chargeable, before the Guardians take action. Liability go long as it may appear that a husband is beyond the seas, or in and wife. custody of the law, or confined as a lunatic or idiot, relief given to the wife, or to her childi-cn, is given to her as if she were a ' .Stone's .Justice's Manual, e<3iteil hy Tieorge B. Kennett, pp. 684, 68<'), ed. 1893 2 4 & 6 Will. IV , c. 76, ss. 66 & 57. ' .1 Geo. IV., c. 83, 8, 3, and Glen's Poor Law Statutes, p. 431 ; c/.also Stone's Justice's Manu-I (1893). p. 957. * .5 Geo. IV.. e. 83, s. 4, and Glen's Poor Law Statutes, p. 433; Addenda. * 31 & 32 Vict. c. 122. s. 37, and Glen's Poor Law Statutes, p. 1335. The Prevention of Cruelty to Childrf-n Act 18P4, very largely increases the po>.sibility of pr jcee'ling against persons who have tne custody, chrtrge, or care of children under 16, for neglect and other offences. See p. xcix. ' INTUODUCTIOX. llli widow, and she is considered responsible for the maintenance of her family ; but the obligations and liabilities of the hasband are in no way diminished by this.' A woman living separate from her husband is similaily responsible ; '^ and if she have separate pro- perty, she 'shall be liable for the maintenance of her children and grand(!hildren, in like manner as her hasband is liable, but he is not thereby relieved from his liability in that respect.' {See also as to grandmother under coverture, above.) When a married woman applies to the Guardians for relief without her hnsband, he may be summoned and required to pay towards the cost of the relief of his wife. •* On the other hand, the wife is liable for the support of her husband, and, having separate property, for the support of her children. This does not, however, relieve the husband of his responsibilities in any way. Widows are liable for the relief given to their children, until the age of 16.^ (3) Illegitimate Children. — In the case of illegitimate children, iiieritiinat* an affiliation order may be made bj justices m petty sessions charg- ing the putative father to pay expenses incidental to the child's birth, or for its funeral, and any sum not exceeding 5s. a week to support and educate it till it reaches the age of 13 or 16. The Guardians can summon the putative father if, and so long as, the child is chargeable to the parish.'^ The mother of an illegitimate child is bound to maintain it until the child is 16, or acquires a settle- ment in its own right, or till it marries, if a female, or till the mother ' 7&8 Vict., c. 10]. s. 25. - 39 & 40 Vict., c. 61, s. 18. See E. Liimley's Poor I.iiw AnieiKlment Act 1876, p. 12. This does not apply to cases of desertion. Cf. Married Women's Property Act 1882 (45 & 46 Vict., c. 75), s. 21. 3 31 & 32 Vict., c. 122. s. 33. * 4 & 5 Will. IV., c. 76, s. 56. * Two notes may be added : (1) as to the procedure adopted by Guardians ; (2) thiit to be adopted by any single womjin. (1) When a bastard child becomes chargeable to a union or parish, the Guardians may apply to any two justiceg, having jurisdiction in the union or parish, in petty sessions. This application may be made at any time ■when the child becomes chargeable an'i is under the age of 13. Thereupon the justices may hunini"n the man alleged to be the father of the child to appear before any two justices having the like jiu'isdiction, to show cause why aD order shoidd not be made upon iiim to contribute towards the relief of the child, and upon his appear- ance, or on proof that the summons was duly served on liim, or left at bis last place of abode, six days at least {i.e. clear days) before the petty se-sions, the justices in such pett}' sessions shall hear the evidence of the mother, and such other evidence as she or the Guardians may produce, and shall also hear any evidences tendered by or on behalf of the man alleged to be the father, and, if i he evidence -be corroborated in some material particular by other evidence to the satisfaction of the justices, they may adjudge the man to be the putative father, and make .-in order on him to pay what shall appear to them proper. (/. Stone's Justice's IMaiuial, p. 168. (2) 3,5 & 36 Vict., c 65, s. 3. 'Any single woman (married wman living apart from her husband, or widow) may apply to any justice' acting for the place in which she is resident, 'for a summons, to be served on the man alleged to be the father of the child, in respect of which she applies ; also a woman not cohabiting witli her husbjuid, may, upon sufficient evidence of non- access, founded on other testimony than lier own, make a similar application ; but liv INTRODUCTION. ' marries* ; and 'any woman neglecting to maintain lier bastard child, bring able wholly or in part so to do, whereby such child becomes chargeable, is punishable as an idle and disorderly person ; and for a second offence, or for deserting her bastard child, whereby it becomes chargeable, as a rogue and vagabond ' (Poor Law Amend- ment Act 1844, 7 & 8 Vict., c. 101, s. Q.y (4) Deserted Children.— By the Poor Law Act 1889 (52 & 53 Vict., c. 56), the Guardians may by resolution assume control over a deserted child until the age of 16. The main section of this Act is as follows : — 'Where a child is maintiint^d by tlie Guariians of any Union, and was deserted by ity parent, tiie Guardians may at any time resolve that, such child shad be under the control of the Guardians until it reaches the ag^-, if a boy, of sixteen, and, if a girl, of eighteen years, and thereupon until the child reaches that age ail the powers and rights of such parent in respect of that child shall, subject as in this Act mentioned, vest, in the Guardians: Pr )Vided that the (iuardiaus may rescind such resolution if they think that it will be for the benefit of the child to be either permanently or temporarily under the control of such parent, or of any other relative, or any friend.' A court of summary jurisdiction, if satisfied, on complaint of the parent, that the child has not been maintained by the Guardians, or deserted, or that it is for the benefit of the child to be per- manently or temporarily under the control of the parent, may make an order determining the resolution of the Guardians. 'Maintained by the Guardians ' is defined as 'wholly or partly maintained by them in a workhouse or in any district school, separate school, separate infirmary, sick asylum, hospital for infectious diseases, institution for the deaf, dumb, blind, or idiots, or any certified school tinder 25 and 26 Vict., c. 43, or boarded- out by the Guardians, whether within or without the limits of the Union.' ' Where a parent is imprisoned under a sentence of penal ser- vitude or imprisonment in respect of an offence committed against a child.' the section of the Act applies as if the child had been deserted. The liability of parents to contribute towards the child's maintenance remains intact. A provision is added to safeguard the religious education of the child in accordance with its own creed. (5.) Children deserted or abandoned, or brought up at the expense of some other person, school or institution, or Board of Guardians. — The power of the parent over a child is, under certain cir- cumstances, still further limited by the Custody of Children Act 1891. she cannot, in other cases, thus relieve her husband from the duty of maintaining her illecitimato child, whether born or begotten before their marriage.' .... Should the woman's application ' be delayed for more than a year after the birth, it will be too late, unless she be in a position to support it by a declaration upon oath that the alleged father has, during that twelvemonth, paid money towards the child's maintenance.' See The .Justice's Note Book, by W. Knox Wigram, p. 99. ' 4 & .5 Will. IV., c. 70, s. 71. As to husband's responsibilities in regard to his wife's illegitimate children, see p. lii. * See Stone, p. 960 (1893), notes. INTRODUCTION. Iv This Act applies to children being brought up by another person than the parent — 'person ' including any school or institution — or by a Board of Guardians. It is not linaited, therefore, to cases in which Boards of Guardians only are concerned, but it may be conveniently quoted here. Its main sections are as follows : — ' 1. Where the parent, of a child [i e. any person at law liable to maintain such child or entitled to lii.s cu.stot and reasonable, having regard to all the circumstances of the case. ' 3. Where a parent has — ' («) abandoned or deserted his child ; or ' (b) allowed his child to be brought up by another person at that person's expense, or by the Guardians of a Poor Law union, for such a length of time and under such circumstances as to satisfy the Court that the parent was unmindful of his parental duties ; th« Court shall not make an order for the delivery of the child to the parent unless the parent has satisfied the Court that, having regard to the welfare of the child, he is a fit person to have the custody of the child. ' 4. Upon any application by the parent for the production or custody of a child, if the Court is of opinion that the parent ought not to have tlie custody of the child, and that the child is being brought up in a diflferent religion to that in which the parent has a legal right to require that the child should be brought up, the Court shall have power to make such order as it may think fit to secure that the child be brought up in the religion in which the parent has a legal right to require that the child should be brought up. Nothing in this Act contained shall interfere with or affect the power of the Court to consult the wishes of the cliilil in considering what order ought to be made, or diminish the right which any child now possesses to the exercise of its own free choice.' On this Act we have received the following useful comment, which we reprint : — 'The Custody of Children Act 1891 does not confer on a Board of Guardians any power to adopt a child ; what it does is to diminish tlie right of a parent, in certain cases, to have his child given up to him, if he applies to the Court for the purpose. Thus if in the case of a parent of idle or vicious habits, or who is con- stantly in and out of the workhouse, the Guardians refused to give up his child to him and he applied to the Court to compel them to give it up, the Court might, in thtir discretion, refuse to do so, if they were of opinion (1) that he had abandoned . or deserted the child, or {'2) that he had otherwise so conducted himself that they should refuse to enforce his right to the custody of the child. ^Moreover, if the parent had abandoned or deserted the child, or had allowed it to be broucht up bv another person at that person's expense, or by the Guardians for such a length of time and under such circumstances as to satisfy the Court that he was unmindful of his parental duties, the Court must not make an order fir the delivering of the child to him unless he satisfies tbem that, having regard to the welfare of tlia Power of Court as to proiiuctioa of child. Powpr to Court to onlor repnvmpnt of costs of brii ging up child. Court in inakiiiK order to have regard to conduct of parent. Power to Conn as to cliild's religions education. ' ' Person ' includes any school or institution. Ivi INTRODUCTION. Charity should not, a- a rule, a-isist de- serted women. chiM, he is ,i fit person to have the custody of it. It will be seen that th*^ Act does not directly give powers to the Guardians, but it practically enables the Court to exercise h discretion as to whether the child shall be given up in the CH»es conimg within its terms, if application is made to them to order this to be done. Moreover, if they make the order they have certain powers for directing the parent to repa^' the costs incurred in bringing up the child.' XVIII. — Deserted Women. The lej;al obligations of husbands have been just referred to (see p. lii.). As soon as a deserted woman, or her child or children, become chargeable to the parish, the Guardians may proceed against the husband. Formerly (under 5 Geo. IV., c. 83, s. 4) proceedings had to be taken within six months ; they may now be taken within two years after the commission of the offence.' [See also below, Section XXX., 'Married Women ' — desertion.) As a rule the cases of deserted women may be considered ineligible for chai^itable help for the folhiwing reasons: the Guardians have this ready means of enforcina: the husband's oblig-ation ; there is often collusion be- tween the husband and wife ; the offer of the ' house' is a whole- 8ome check in wife-desertion, for the husband is likely to dread for his wife and children the alternative between the workhouse and desertion, but not the alternative between desertion and cliarity or out-relief. Speaking at a meeting of the Xorth-Western District Conference of Poor Law Guardians, Mr. Henley, then one of the general inspectors of the Local Government Board, said : ' Before 1871 there was a very general disposition on the part of Boards of Guardians, in the centre of England at any rate, to give out-relief to deserted women. A conference was held to consider the question, and after immense discussion the Conference came to the conclusion that deserted women should be relieved only in the workhouse. The consequence was that they rarely heard now of women deserted by their husbands. There used to be more women deserted by their husbands in Birmingham than in any other place in the kingdom. He did not say that desertion had decreased, but lie did say that the cases of desertion which came before the Guardians had entirely disappeared. Because, what did the Guar- dians do ? They spared neither time nnr money to bring the men to justice, and the end of it was that these applications were pat an end to altogether.'^ XIX. — Fallen Women. A very large proportion of the mothers of illegitimate children have recourse to the Union Infirmary. In the.se, as in other cases, the first question is, not ' Is this person " deserving " ? ' but ' Can ' Poor Law Amendment Act 1876 (39 & 40 Vict., c. 61), s. 19, E. Lumley, p. 12. ^ S''e Keport of Fourteenth Annual Poor Law Conference for the North- western iJistrict, October 1888. (Knight & Co., Fleet Street.) PrincipUs of Llecifaiou, Charity Orgaiiisatiou Paper, No. 0, p. 4. INTRUDUCTIOX. Ivii ■we in this instance effect an improvement or cure ? ' If the answer is in the affirmative, charity will be guided by the special character and tendencies of the individual, and help may be given to good purpose. The usefulness of a Workhouse Girls' Aid Committee such as those at Kensington and elsewhere for helping them "was shown on p. xxiv. No doubt many may rightly be inter- cepted by charity and never 'go on the rates.' But as there must be a quality of sternness in the kindness that is to stamp out vice, and as the Poor Law has properly no preventive functions, it is right that as a rule the Poor Law should deal •with these cases. It may thus afford temporary maintenance for the mother and permanent maintenance for the child while it requires both parents to support their offspring ; and charity may step in to do what the Poor Law cannot do — to replace, in a position of respectability and self-dependence, the person who has, in a manner, been punished by the disgrace of the Poor-Law relief. Natural obligations may thus remain unimpaired. For such difficult "work the most careful personal cliarity is requisite. If the chari- table "were to make the Infirmaries in the Metropolitan Unions centres for work of this kind, many lives made hopeless by pressure of circumstances and by association with vice would be saved, when a fresh start — downwards or upwards — must be made. XX.— Inebriates. It is generally allowed that intemperance is the cause of a large part of the crime and pauperism of this country. As a rule cases of intemperance, especially if the intemperance be of long standing, must be left to the Poor Law. The able-bodied man may reduce his family to misery, but so long as he is in receipt of wages neither he nor his children have any claim on the Poor Law. Habitual intemperance is not yet considered a penal offence, or, like lunacy, a malady so harmful to others that it must be sub- jected to State control, though in the Habitual Drunkards Act, and ill the section, referred to below, of the Act for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children 1894, we find methods which may be extended into a system of State intervention, without requiring, as at pre- sent, the consent of the individual concerned, in cases in which in- temperance leads to the neglect or injury of children, servants, or apprentices. If charity is given, the drunkard is only set free to indulge himself the more. At last, however, when drink has led to destitution, the case falls to the Poor Law. Much might be done by personal influence before the intemperance has become habitual, if religious and moral agencies were so organised as to take charge of individual cases for a period. This at present they are seldom able to do. ' Retreats,' managed under improved conditions and at less cost, would be verv useful. Iviii INTRODUCTION. The Habitual Drunkards Act (1879), amended by a further Act in 1888, established a system of 'retreats.' Justices of the Peace in special or quarter sessions can give licenses to keep retreats for thirteen months at a time. The keepers are responsible for the management and have to reside in the retreats, to each of which a duly qualified medical man must be attached. For their super- vision there is an Inspector of Retreats, who has to visit them twice a year and report. Any habitual drunkard may apply to the licensee or keeper of the retreat for admission, sio-nine- a statement that he will conform to regulations and remain in the retreat a certain time. Two persons have also to make a decla- ration that they are satisfied that the applicant is an habitual drunkard and understands the effect of the application. Then two Justices of the Peace have to attest the applicant's signature, on the same two conditions. The applicant cannot then leave the retreat till the time fixed for his detention has elapsed, unless he is discharged by order of a Justice. If in the retreat he neglects or wilfully refuses to conform to the rules, he may, on summary conviction, be fined 51. or imprisoned 7 days ; any person thinking himself aggrieved may appeal to quarter sessions. Very little has yet been done to take advantage of this legislation. There are at present only eight homes certificated under the Act, and the admis- sions in 1893 numbered only 129. The reports from the Licensees of Homes published in the last annual report of the Inspector show that the stay of the patients is often far too short to make it possi- ble to effect a cui-e of the disease, while at some homes, as, for instance, that at Twickenham, ' fully 50 per cent, of the admissions are suffering from disease other than or in addition to the liquor habit.' The managers of the Rickmansworth home write: — ' To be effectual, legislative measures must be on a broader and more liberal basis; (1) To include power of committal by justices of criminal inebriates to (special institutions for detention and curative treatment. (2) To apply more Completely to non-crimmal inebriates in so far as to maintain a voluntary section, which should be as purely voluntary and free from objectionable procedure as possible; and compulsory powers wpplieable to those cases who— although incap- able of managing themselves or their affairs — are still unwilling to place them- Belves under protection and curative influence. (3) Provision for the poorer cla8SP.s. (4) Safeguards should be provided amply sufficient for the protection of the liberty of the subject, and all interests bearing upon the individual, his relatives, and the j>ublic. Finally, all legislative provisions should be framed with the object of treating a morbid mental condition ; this principle forms the basis of the whole question. Typical inebriety is a diseased condition closely allied to, if. not an actual form of, insanity. The craving for liquor in an inebriate is an impulse as strong as that in the kleptomaniac or suicidal monomaniac. The de- generation of simple inebriety into pure accepted forms of lunacy, and the frequent history of insanity in the progenitors of inebriates, are evidences which strongly support an opinion the result of clinical observation.' An habitual drunkard may now also be dealt with under the Act for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children 1894, if he or she is the parent of the child, or is liviug with the parent of the child, and is INTRODUCTION. llX convicted of any of the following offences: (1) cruelty to cLildren ■within the meaning of the Act; (2) neglect or refusal to provide necessary food, clothing, or lodging to an apprentice or servant, doing them bodily harm, so as to endanger life or health; (3) causing a child to take part in any public exhibition or performance whereby, in the opinion of a court of summary jurisdiction, the life or limbs of such child shall be endangered ; or (1) committing any other offence involving bodily injury to a child under the age of 16 years.' Upon conviction for any of these offences, the court, in lieu of sentencing Buch person to imprisonment, may order his detention for any period not exceeding twelve months in a retreat, and the order is to have the same effect as an application made and approved under the Habitual Drunkards Acts. But there are three conditions: (1) the person, having had such notice as the court deems sufficient of the intention to allege habitual drunkenness, must consent to have the order made; (2) any representations of the wife or husband, objecting to the order being made, must betaken into consideration; and (3) 'before making the order the court shall, to such extent as it may seem reasonably sufficient, be satisfied that provision will be made for defraying the expenses of such person during detention in a retreat.' XXI. — Discharged Prisoners. For the aid of discharged prisoners there is more than one Cnnified Society in London. In the course of the year one or two cases Aid""^"^ of this kind will probably come under the almoner's attention. Societies, Prisoners' Aid Societies are ' certified ' by Justices in quarter sessions.^ To aid prisoners on their discharge a certain sum, voted Allowances annually by the Government, is apportioned to each prisoner accord- ^.frfred ing to the annual discharges. This apportionment the Societies prisoners. receive under certain restrictions, to be applied for the prisoners' benefit ; but a sum exceeding £2, inclusive of ' mark ' money, cannot be expended on any one prisoner.^ XXII. — Vagrants, Casuals, and Homeless Cases. To give money in the streets to beggai's, and do nothing more. Giving aims is, in the eyes of charity, a crime. People say, if I have relieved one streets, deserving case out of ten to whom I have given money, I have done a good work. But, first, nine may have been injured on that hypothesis, and nine persons so relieved must almost certainly be injured ; next, the dole has relieved one person, but no one can be relieved properly > Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act 1894, 57 & 58 Vict., c. 41, s. 11. and schedule referrine: to the Offences against the Person Act 18()1, 24 & '25 Vict., c. 100, and the Children's Dangerous Performance Act, 42 & 43 Vict., c. 34. 2 25 tV- 2(5 Vict., c. 44, s. 1. ' Sec lettiT of Home Secretary to the Chairmen of Discharged Prisoners' Aid Societies, 5 March, 1880. Ix INTRODUCTION. What to do when asked ior eli:irity iu the streets. The Poor Law arrange- tnente for the casual poor or pauper. by a dole ; tlien, again, thu ten gifts represented ten seductive chances to poor persons, who have little inducement enough, apart from such bribes as these, to stick to their w^ork ; and, lastly, 'deserving,' the (avourite woi"d of thoughtless aim sgi vers, implies a wrong test. Strictly used, it is merciless ; loosely used it is mean- ingless. Almoners should assist in order to cure and not in order to reward. A person who asks alms of a stranger may be referred by him to a casual ward or to a Charity Organisation Committee. If the case is of such a kind as is prima facie unsuitable for reference to the casual ward, the Committee would give whatever immediate help niay be required, and finally deal with it after inquiry. There is no room for doubting that the applications in the streets are in almost every instance made by indolent persons, who live sometimes in and sometimes out of the workhouse, and are seldom engaged in hard work of any kind. To refer them to those who will look into their circumstances may be wise ; but to give them money (or food) is to invest it in manufacturing pauperism. The ' casual poor are those poor persons who are not settled in the parish or reside there, but who happen casually to be there at the time when, from some accident occurring to them, or being suddenly afflicted with some illness, they are obliged to resort to the parish officer for relief.' ' For the care of these casual poor, if they be admitted into the workhouse, the General Order (Consolidated), July 24, 18i7, provides. But the casual poor are chiefly ' destitute wayfarei'sor wanderers applying for and receiving relief,' and, under the title of ' casual paupers,' special provision has been made for them since that date by way of ' casual wards.' For their convenience there are casual wards — proper sleeping accommodation, consisting of separate cells, beds, and compartments, or other arrangements ap- proved by the Local Government Board. There is a fixed dietary and scale of task work, to be done by the casual in return for the food and lodging. In the metropolis the wards are inspected, on behalf of the Local Government Board, once in every four months. Tliey are open to casuals between October and March inclusive after 6 p.m., between April and September after 8 p.m. Orders, which are available only for the night for which they are issued, "■^ are given by a relieving officer, or, in cases of sudden and urgent necessity, by an overseer; but the master, of the workhouse or superintendent of a casual ward may admit without order cases of urgent necessity, or, if there is room in the wai-d, persons brought to it by a constable. Refusals to admit them are to be reported to the Guardians. Any policeman in the metropolis may conduct any destitute wayfarer, wanderer, or foundling, or ' Glon's Archholrl. p. 284. * Pauper InmaLcb' Discharge and Regulation Act (31 & 35 Viet., c. 108). IXTUODL'CTIUX. Ixi otlier destitute person, to a casual ward personally.' On his admis- sion every ca-^nal is searched ; all aitioles found on him are taken from him and returned on his discharge, except money, -which is retained. He has to take a bath ; he is supplied with other clothes while in the ward ; his own are dried, disinfected, and returned to him on leaving. The casual is liable, on conviction, to hard labour f(n' one month as ' idle and disorderly ' (see p. Ixvi.), if he abscond, I'cfuse orneg-lect to do his work, or fail to observe the regulations ; or if he wilfully gives a false name or makes a false statement for the purpose of obtaining relief. And if, besides committing these olfences, he has on a previous occasion been convicted as ' an idle and di-iorderly person,' or if he destroys his own clothes, or the (ruardians' property, he is punished as a 'rogue and a vagabond ' (see p. Ixvi.). The master of the workhouse can take a disorderly inmate or casual before the magistrate without warrant.^ Subject to discretionary power in the hands of the Guardians, a casual pauper cannot discharge himself before 9 o'clock in the morning of the day following his admis.sion, nor before he has performed the work prescribed for him. If he has already been ad- mitted once in the period of a month to any of the casual wards in the metropolis, he is not entitled to discharge himself before 9 A.M. on the fourth day after his admission, and he may during that interval be removed to the workhouse. Sunday is not included in the computation of days.^ But discretion in regard to the application of this rule is vested in the Guardians and their officers : — ' (1) The Guardians may give any directions to the master of the ■workhouse, or to the superintendent of the cisual ward, with respect to the discharge of any cdass or classes of casual paupers before the expiration of the respectivtj periods specified in the section above cited, and such directions shall be followed by the master or superintencient ; ' (2) If, in the opinion of the master of the workhouse, or the superintendent of the casual ward, any special circumstances shall require that a casual pauper shall be discharged before the expiration of the periods mentioned, ... he may discharge such pauper accordingly, and report the facts of the case to the Guar- dians at their next meetitig. ' (3) A casual pauper who has been debvined for more than one night, and who represents to the master of the workhouse or the superintendent of the casual ■ward that he is desirous of seeking work, shall, if he lias to the liest of his abihty performed the prescribed task of work, be allowed to discharge hiniself at the time hereinafter mentioned on the day upon which he is discharged ; that is to say — ' During the period between Lady-Day and Michaelmas- Day . . . half-pa.st five o'clock in the morning ; ' During the period between Micbaelmas- Day and Lady-Day . . . half-past six o'clock in the morning. ' The request of such casual pauper shall not be refused except on the ground ' Metropolitan Houseless Poor Art, sec 4. As a rule, all cases of real op apparent urgency in the streets should be brought to the notice of the police, or referred or taken to a workhouse or Ciisual ward. ■-■ ;M & :?.") Vict ., c. 1 (»8, s. S. " Casual Poor Act 1 88'2 (4 t i**. ir> Vict., c. 3G). Ixii INTRODUCTION. Obligations ot tbe charitable. that he has not performod the prescribed task of -work to the best of his ability, and every such refusiil shall bo repi^rteil to the Guardians at their next ordinary meetinipr, by the master of the workhouse or the superintendent of the casual ward, as the aise may be.'' There is tlins free public accoramorlation for all travellers who, beinj^ withont money, are prepared to put up with rather rough accommodation, and to do a task of work by way of pay- ment. This provision, unless carefully guarded, has a tendency to harbour vagrants and to facilitate vagrancy. Especially is this the case where the wards are 'associated,' and the men can gossip and compare notes and settle plans with one another. But wards consisting of separate cells, both for sleeping and for performing the task, are now being introduced ; and these, provided the full task of an ordinary nine hours' day be required, appear to reduce vagrancy. For the ordinary vagrant, and for that class of wanderers who profess that they are not vagrants, but are men who are unemployed and are seeking work, this system is suit- able. For those ' undoubted working men making their way as quickly as they can from one centre of industry to another to work which they know to be awaiting them,' ^ generally speaking no provi.-ion is necessary. But if they do require casual relief, they would undoubtedly prefer the ' separate ' to the ' associated ' system. Upon the charitable in regard to vagrants, two chief obligations are laid : As a rule to refuse relief, but to inquire into and to try to assist thoroughly any cases in which — judging from a knowledge of the class — it may seem likely that the vagrant, tramp, or wanderer may be placed in self-dependence. With the young especially this is sometimes possible. The following is an instance of apparent success : — ' F. P. is a boy of 17, pock-marked, and starvc^d in appearance. Some years ago bis father deserted him, and for eighteen months he had been in the workhouse school. From there he was placed in the House Buy Brigadt;, and transferred immediately to a working boys' home. Ue said that there he was sent out to get work, but could not succeed on account of deficient eyesight, and that, afraid of being unable to pay his expenses at the home, he ran away, and tramped about homeless for three or four months, when he was found in a London casual ward. The character given him rom his former school was not good. This boy was placed in the Lads" Labour Home in the neiirhbourhood, where for the last five weeks he has earned his living bj' wood-chopping. Clothen were given him. He has now obUiined an indoor situation as sorter in a shop at Battersea.' This, on the other hand, is a case of apparent failure : — ' M. R. was a helpless and hopeless looking girl over 18. Admission was detained for her from a casual ward to a home, and thi n she was transferred to a hospital. She could not be received back at the home, as her conduct had been Lad whilst in it. But it was ascertained that she had good parents and a good ' Order Amending General Order ('Regulations as to (Casual Paupers'), 18 DecemVer, 1882: Annual Report: Local Government Board, 1892-3, p. 14. ^ See a paper on Vagrancy, with reference to the effect of the Act of 1882, by l!r. W. I']. Kiiollys, Loi-al (iovernment Inspector. INTRODUCTION. Ixiii home of her own in the North of London. She was therefore returned to it, 1;ut there is some reason tu believe she has run away again, and probably will reappear at the casual ward.' ' It will again and again be noticed how many * chances ' thope who sink into the vagrant class have had — how often tlieir fi'ieiids, and then charitable persona outside their family, have helped them, found them employment, forgiven them, and tried to make the best of them. Thorough assistance in this branch of work is most difficult. If children, as in the cases above quoted, have been so often relieved and aided without good result, the task of helping the adult is, it will be realised, still more difficult and often quite hopeless. Gene- rally speaking, there is only one method, and that will, after all, rescue oidy a small percentage — the alliance for mutual help and assist- ance of the almoner and charity with the Guardians and the Poor Law, the provision of some means, as in F. P.'s case, of test and supervision. The latter may be as practicable, with the help of a good workhouse master, in a workhouse as in any other institution. The individual by himself, however earnest he may be, cannot accomplish much without the organised and systematic assistance of others. But for work of this kind no further supply of charitable refuges or shelters is wanted. These are usually planned on the ' associated ' principle, and are often without the bath and the other salutary and sanitary contrivances of the casual ward. At the casual wards there is an ample field for charitable intervention under at least as good conditions. Whoever wishes to do this work should turn them to account. The other obligation which is imposed upon the charitable is to promote uniformity in the general methods of dealing with vagrancy. The number of vagrants in relation to the population is not large. The mean number relieved (1st January and 1st July) 1893 in Euglaud and Wales was 6,888.^ Of those who obtained relief, about 75 per cent. probably are recurrent cases.* A night census of homeless persons in refuges and casual wards in London on January 19, 18l'l, showed the total to be 1,781. A night census of tramps and vagrants, both in casual wards and common lodging houses, in Wiltshire showed that their number in that county was 79 on December 1, 1892 ; 101 on December 1, 1893. In Gloucestershire a similar census, taken annually on the first Tuesday in April, proves that their numbers have varied since 1887 only from 74 to 103. Usually about half of those included in the census are, it is stated, livino- entirely by tramping. In Scotland the night census of vagrants in prisons or police cells, refuges and poor-houses, common lodging and other houses, pul)lic parks, outhouses, &c., on June 26, 1892, gave the following figures: 6,027, or 63 percent., adult males; 2,042, or ' ' Some Cases from Ca^^ual Wards,' C^iarift/ Organisation Eeview, Jdnuary 1892. * Local Govcrnnii-nt Board Report, p. 2G9. * Cf. ' Vagrancy,' a pap-^r by ^Ir. G. Paul, Workhouse Master at Knares- borough, Poor Law Conferences, 1892. Ixiv IXTRODUCTION. 21 per cent., adnlt females ; 1,486, or 16 per cent., children under 14. The vagrants nnmbored 1*.59 per thousand of the population. Fin- ally, Colonel Curtis Hay ward estimates the number of vagrants at not more than 10,000.' The numl^er no doubt rises and falls, to some extent, according to the industrial condition of the country. In bad times a certain number of unskilled labourers tramp after vrork, wlio in good times remain settled and employed. But, after making every allowance, the total number is not very large, and it would seem quite possible to limit it still further by the adoption of a uniform system. A Special Committee of the Charity Organisation Society on the Homeless Poor of London made the following recommendations in 1891. They deal especially with London : — SUMJIART OF THK PrINCIPAI. RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE. 1. It seems clear that the aecommodation in the casual wards and the refup:es mpiitioned in the Report is more than sufficient to meet the demand. The total accommodation is for 2.806 persons: the inmates on January 16, 1891, vere only 1,781. Thus it appears that no further shelters, pure and simple, are required. 2. The Committee would strongly recommend that some of the existing aecommodation should be used for the purpose of small homes for the careful treatment, from a religious and moral point of view, of individuals who, it is thought, may be reclaimed. 3. It is obvious that, as a matter of humanity, every destitute person, good, bad, or indifferent, ought to have the opportunity of obtaining a night's shelter in London ; but the Committee are strongly of opinion that all vagrants and homeless persons who seem incapable of being reclaimed and raised from their position of dependence should be left to the Poor Law, to be received either in the workhouses or the casual wards, and that the charitable refuges should deal with the helpable only, treating each case according to its particular requirements, and endeavouring to bring back the objects of their .sympathetic care to a settled mode of life, thus diminishing homelessDess instead of merely relieving and thereby encouraging it. 4. In the opinion of the Committee investigation should, as soon as possible, be made inr.o the condition and antecedents of each applicant for admission to a refuge, with the object of ascertaining whether he can be helped, and what form of assistance is most appropriate to his case. Pending investigation, the npplic;iiit should either be received provisionall} into the refuge or sent on to the casual ward or workhouse. 5. It would seem unwise to fix any period for the ordinary duration of stay at the refuges ; the period should rather be adapted to the circumstances of the individual case. .Similarly it is, in the opinion of the Committee, inexpedient to make a rule of refusing readmission within a certain time: the question should depend upon the reason in the particular case for readmission becoming needful. 6. The Committee are of opinion that the c; sual ward system shouUl be amended. They think that greatly increased powers of detention, in regard to habitual or recurrent cases, should be given, and, while retaining the casual ws.rds for the reception of casual paupers in the first instance, they would suggest that, where the in-rea-sed powers of detention are exercised, the pauper shoul I be sent on to the workhouse to complete his period of detention, l)eing treated there some- what less favourably than the resident pauper as regards diet or otherwise, and subjected to a system of ' dissociation,' and industrial occupation, such as Mr. Vallance recommends. 7. In the opinion of the Committee no real improvement in the condition of the homeless can bo effected except by co-operation between the Poor Law and ' West Midland Poor Law Conf.-rence, 1804. i INTROIU'ITIOX. IxV charity, nnd lietween the various charitable iuHtitutions inter .iv. And, for tliis purpose, the Committt-e recomiiu'iid that each refuge should link itself with a certain number of casual wanU, the Guardians being askeJ to give the superin- tendents of their wards power to send on to the refuge persons who might appear helpable. In the event of the Council suggested below being established, such arrangements might best be brought about, by consultation with that body. The Committee recommend the formation of a Council for the purposes of organisation and consultation, consisting of Poor Law Guardian^, representatives of refuges, and others interested in the homeless class. The work of such a Council would be: (1) To arrange with Guardians for a systematic visitation of the various casual warde, with the object of picking out helpable cases aiid referring them to appropriate charitable ins.itutions. (2) To secure the proper investigation and treatment of homeless cases. (3) To arrange for the inspection of refuges on the lines of the exis'ing inspection of casual wards, for ih^ purpose of detecting ineligible persons, and so preventing them from resorting successively to the various refuges. To employ one or more inspectors for a similar purpose. 8. The Committee would also have had much pleasure in makin2 some recommeriduions for the benefit of old soldiers, who are found in such large numbers amongst the homeless class, and they cannot but feel that there must t^e something radically wrong in the short service system which compels men with good discharges to seek the aid of the charitable public. The question, however, is such a large oue, and of so great importance, that it can only be dealt with by the aut'iorities at the War Office, who, the Committee understand, are now considering the question. In the country utiiformify of provision for vagrants is quite a.s important as it is in London. At present often the vagrants are not detained for the second night. If they are numerous the ward cannot receive tlieni all, and they have to be sent on to the reliev- ing officer, who gives thera a ticket to a common lodging hoa.se. There is in these cases no task of work at all ; and in others the task of work is wholly insufficient. The safegtiards which the law requires for the prevention of vagrancy are thus neglected, and a system, which is serviceable enough when properly carried out, breaks down because conditions essential to its success are not uni- formly adopted. Outside the workhouse or casual ward there is the same need of uniformity — on the part of almsgivers. The sparrows will come where every day breadcrumbs are thrown to them, so will the vagrants resort wherever houses good for their purpose are to be found; and, moreover, in the country it is a matter of commcn knowledge that they are often relieved out of fear of their threats rat,her than out of sympathy for their condition. As a substitute for the casual relief which they obtain at houses and cottages, en- deavonr is made in several counties to supply them with absolute necessaries, sucti as bread, in such a way that the alrosgiver may at least feel that th«'y need not starve, and that, being sufficiently provided for, they do not require his help. The Dorsetshire and Gloucestershire systems have, both alike, this object. By the latter way, tickets are supplied under the supervision of the e Ixvi INTRODUCTION'. police: and the var2;rant tliat keeps to his route has preferential treatment : and to meet his actual needs bread is supplied. By the former, the Dorsetshire system, tickets tor bread are widely distil- buted to residents throughout the county: the tickets are exchange- able for bread at certain shops on the main roads, and however large the number of tickets the vagrant may have in his possession, he can only be supplied with a fixed amount of bj-ead in return for them. The object of both these methods is to make the public understand tha^., as the needs of the vagrants are fully met by the Poor Law and by the bread tickets, the vagrants cannot be in want, and may therefore be refused relief The success of both methods depends largely on constant propagandism in the country. Poor Law In addition to the system of casual wards, there are stringent cH-.^sof legal provisions for the assistance of cases 'of sudden and urgent nrjj'.nt''" necessity.' In such cases the relieving officer has to afford relief necessity. either by admission to the workhouse, or by relief (not in money) out of the workhouse. The powers of the masters of workhouses and of the police in such cases we have alluded to (see p. xlii.). In any case of sickness or accident, requiring medical attendance, the relieving officer has to give an order on the district medical officer. The (Hjst of relief given in cases of accident or sudden illness is paid by the Union in which application is made, subject to reim- bursement from the Union to which the applicant belongs. Justices of the Peace may give an order for medical relief ' in cases of sudden and dangerous illness, irrespective of settlement. XXITI. — Street Beggars and YAGARONns. Lrw-; re- We pass from the casual and vagrant poor to the law for begging, etc. punishment of idle and disorderly persons and rogues and vaga- bonds ' in that part of Great Britain called England. "■' There are — (1) Idle and disorderly persons. (2) Rogues and vagabonds. (3) Incorrigible rogues and vagabonds. In the first category comes ' every person wandering abroad, or placing himself or lierself in any public ])lace, sti'eet, highway, court, or passage, to beg or gather alms, or causing, or procur- ing, or encouraging any child or children (under IG) to do so.' The punishment for this is hai-d labour for any time not exceed- ing one calendar, month.' The offijnder can be convicted if the > i AVill. JV.. c. 7(5. s. 54. « 5 Geo. IV., c. 83, s. 3. etc. ' In lieu of iDjprisonment fin^s may be required in accordance with the scale in the SumniMry Jurrsdiction Act 1879, in the case of idle and disorderly persjiis, and rogues and VHgabomls. The provisiois of tliis Act so far as it concerns children have been greatly strengthened by the Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act ISIH (>,',' p. xi-ixj. fNTHn|)r( TION'. Ixvil Justice saw tlie offt'iico fonuiiitted, if the ofiferuler confesses, or if one or more credible witnesses give evidence against the offender on oath. In the second category comes 'every person committinef any of the ottences hereinbefore mentioned after liaving been convicted a3 an idle and disorderly person . . . every person wandering abroad and endeavouring, by the exposure of wounds or deformities, to obtain or gather alms, or endeavouring to procure charitable contri- butions of any nature or kind, under any false or fraudulent pre- tence.' The punishment in this case is bard labour for not more than three months. Conviction is by confession or on evidence on oath (as above). In the third category is placed ' every person committing an offence against this Act which shall subject him or her to be dealt with as a rogue and vagabond, such person having been at some former time adjudged so to be and duly convicted thereof.' The punishment is in this case committal to the House of Correction with hard labour till the next general or (juarter ses- sions ; and at quarter sessions the incorrigible rogue mav be furth(>r imprisoned with hard labour for one year, and (if not a female) punished by whipping. It should be noted that it is lawful for any person whatsoever to apprehend anyone 'found offending against this Act,' and forth- with to take him, or cause a constable to take him, befoi'e a Justice.' A constable is liable to a penalty of >il. if he refuses or wilfull}^ neg- lects to take STich a perscm into custody, or does not use his best endeavours to apprehend and convey him before a Justice. There, by the Justice's order, he may be seai-ched ; and on conviction nmney found on him is applied to the expenses of his apprehension and maintenance. On warrant lodging-houses suspected of con- cealing vagrants and persons of the above classes can be searched by the police or other persons. XKIV.— Bkcgixg-lkitkr Writkhs. ' False or fraudulent pretence,' in the second category of offences iust mentioned, sut^crests ' begryinff-letter writers.' The hiibit of begging na.turally leads to the exaggeration of facts; often true and pitiable, which become the beggar's stock-in- trade. The habit of responding to beggilig-letters leads to the encouragement of this form of lying- The fault is with both beggar and giver. Instead of ascertaining and considering the facts, and assisting accordingly, the donor gives as a quittance a contribution, ' This Act, besides the offences mentioned in the above cHfewories, deals with, amono;st others, Ciises of persons wilfully rt-t'using t ■> maintain theinsilves and th-^ir families {f^ef p. Hi.). In tJicse eases al.so, tlnrefore, any jipisnn niMy take the initiative. Ix VUi INTRODUCTIOX. • False pre- tences.' Mendicant charitable institutions. which is probably spent by the recipient in immerllate needs, if not turned ro evil uses. The one lacks charity and gives money; the other learns the lesson of begging, and makes money out of charity. The only remedy is to inquire, and, in eligible cases, to help thoroughly. Repressive measures, prosecutions, and the like, can only open people's eyes to the need of inquiry. In themselves they are useless. IF donors were not the prey of piteous tales, and roused to give rather by a show of words than by a knowledge of facts, it might be .said, that the money given to worthless beggars was money of which those in distress were robbed. But now this money seems their fair spoil ; at least they are more entitled to it than the donors who give it away without thinking that its worth is only in its suitable application ; and the distressed have practi- cally no chance of obtaining it, for distress cannot compete success- fully with practised hypocrisy. Penal servitude for five years, or imprisonment for two, is the puni.shraent of anyone who is convicted of having by false pre- tence obtained from any person any chattel, money, or valuable security, with intent to defi'aud.' Anyone may apprehend and take before a Justice, without warrant, a person found eommittivg this offence. ' There must be (1) an intentional and specific state- ment of some pretended existing fact which the maker knows to be untrue ; (2") it must be material to the matter in hand ; (3) it must be made with intent to defraud; and (4) the person to whom it is addressed must, in point of fact, believe it, and make over property on the strength of it.'"'^ The attempt to obtain pro- perty Viy false pretences is indictable. Many so-called charities exist by begging of strangers. Much of this begging is carried on by letter and circular ; much by a house-to-house visitation of those who seem likely to be able to spare a little for a charitable purpose. Agents call at houses in the suburbs, and tell of spiritual destitution and want. The master of the house is absent. They are asked no questions ; they show a collection-book and a list of donors, and, possibly, of members of committee. No word they say is verified. They receive countless small donations, and their profits are large. From beginning to end, except perhaps in that wish to do good which makes the listener feel in his pocket for a half-crown, there is not a jot of charity in the whole trans- action. Here, again, inquiry is the only remedy. Donors have to learn to support only useful and well-regulated charitable institutions, which give on inquiry good guarantees for their work and management. One of the prevalent forms of mendicity in the Metropolis is ' 24 & 25 Vict , p. 96, s. 88. ' 'The .Tiistioe's r^oie Book,' by TA'. Knox Wigram, p. 204. INTRODUCTION. Ixix worthy of mention. It is that of Volunteer Fire Brigades, Volunteer ■which, with hardly an exception, are conducted for the personal Brigades benefit of one or two promoters, and are quite useless for MetropoUs. extinguishing fires. Their collectors appear in the dress of firemen, and the unwary may be led to believe that they are men of the Metropolitan Brigade. The responsibility of ' pro- viding and maintaining an efficient force of firemen, and of furnishing them with all such fire-engines, horses, accoutrements, tools, and implements for the complete equipment of the force, or conducive to the efficient performance of their duties,' rests with the London County Council.' With regard to Volunteer Brigades it is enacted ' that on the occasion of a fire the chief or other officer in charge of any fire brigade may, on his discretion, take the command of any volunteer fire brigade.' These brigades therefore have a locus standi, such as it is ; and it is argued that the provision made by the Council for several of the outlying parts of the Metropolis is insufficient. On the latter point there may be some ground of complaint. The expenses of the Brigade are met by contributions from Fire Insurance Companies, and by a rate of a halfpenny in the pound in the Metropolis. The sum at the disposal of the Council from these sources is insufficient, and Bills have been in- troduced into Parliament for increa.sing it, hitherto without result. But even if this hindrance be removed, the Volunteer Brigades are likely to remain. They are a source of profit to their proprietors, though useless for real service. If, therefore, they are to be recognised at all, some system of licenses is necessary. The licenses might be granted by the County Council and the Police, and it might be made an offence for any unlicensed brigade to collect contributions. The evil would then be checked. The Metropolitan Fire Brigade never sends men from house to house to collect subscriptions. All such applications by, or on behalf of, firemen should be summarily rejected. XXV.— Pedlars. The pedlar is a kind of legalised vagrant— a vagrant with a cost of , . . ' , . , ' . . "- ,, ' -11 ^i pedlar's oer- Vgitmiate and recognised purpose in roving. Almoners will often tificate, etc. have applications made to them to ' renew stock ' and to pay for a pedlar's. certificate. The words pedlar and hawker are often used indifferently. Hawker is the name of the genus, with two species, one also named ' hawker ' and one ' pedlar.' Both hawker and pedlar, when provided with license or certificate, are ' licensed hawkers ' ; but the hawker takes out a license, for which he pays £4, and ' pursues his hawking trade on horseback or inside his caravan,' and carries to sell or expose to sale ' goods to be afterwards ' Motropolit;in Fire Brigade Act, '.'8 v^ 2'J Vict., cap. 90 (1865). Ixx INTRODUCTION. delivered,' while tlie pedlar ' travels or trades on foot ' without any horse or other beast bearing or drawing burden, and sells goods ' to be immediritely delivered, or offers for sale his skill in handicraft,' and has to take out a yearly certificate, for which he pays 5s. It is with him rather than with the hawker that the almoner will come in contact. He obtains his certificate from the ch ief office of the pohce district in which he resides. Any policeman may open aud inspect his pack; and if he resists or has no certificate, he may be appre- hended. If convicted of begging, the magistrate has to deprive him of his certificate; if convicted of other offences under the Act (34 & 35 V'ict., c. 96), each offence has to be endorsed on the certifi- cate. Many itinerant peisons profess to be licensed hawkers ; if they allege that they are in disti-ess, it is always well to ask for their certificate. Hawkers' licenses are not required for the sale of printed papers ' licensed by authority,' fish, fruit, or vegetables, nor for the sale of goods by their makers or the maker's .servants. Nor are licenses required of tinkers, harness-menders, and others who carry about with them materials for mending household goods ; nor for ' people who are makers of their goods or wares, or servants of such makers ; wholesale traders ; and persons selling coals by retail.'' XXVI. SOLDIKKS A\D SeAMEK: THEIK LIABILITIES AND MeANS OF Providing for their Families during Ahsence, etc. For another class, whose work takes them from home, the law makes special provision. Many cases occur in which the almoner may want information in regard to the liability of the soldier or seaman to support his family ; the possibility of his assigning his pay, or making out an allotment for their benefit. In this section these points are touched on in regard to (1) Soldiers, Seamen and ^Farines in the Royal Navy, and (2) Seamen in the Merchant Service. I. — Soldiers ; Seavien and Mariups in the Iloyal Navy. Soldiers and sailors appear to be liable, like other men, to support their kindred, but it is not always easy to enforce the liability. The following enactments may be noticed : — Soldiers. ]_ Soldiers serving in the regular forces are not personally amenable to the civil courts, excepting (1) on account of a charge or conviction for crime, (2) on account of any debt or damages or sum of money, when the amount sought to be recovered exceeds £(iO over and above all costs of suit.^ A soldier, however, may, ' See 'Thf Justice^ Notfi Book,' pp. 238 and 3.50. 50 Geo. III., c. 41, .s. 16,; 22 & 23 Vict., <•. 36 s. 3 ; 24 & 26 Vici., .■.21. h. '.). ^ Army Act 1S81, 41 & 16 Vict., c. 08, c 144. INTRODUCTION. Ixxi after notice in writing, he sued to judguient in the ordinary course, bat is protected from the issue of execution against his person, pay, arms, or clothing.' Indeed, it seems that his pay cannot be tonched in any way except under a spofial provision, by which lie is declared to be liable to contribute to the maiuteiuiiice of his wife and childien and of any bastard child to the same extent as if he were not a soldier.^ Tliis liability, which specifically includes the cost of any relief given to his wife or child by way of loan, is enforced by sending a copy of the order or decree establishing it to a Secretary of Svate, who thereupon is bound to order a portion of his daily pay, not exceeding (5rf. in the case of a non-commissioned oflicer who is not below the rank of sergeant, and 3cZ. in the case of any other soldier, to be stoj)pcd, to meet the claim.'"' Furthermore, if it be shown to the satisfaction of the Secretary of State that a soldier serving in the regular forces has deserted or left in destitute circumstances without reasonable cause his wife or any of his legitimate children under 14 years of age, the Secretary has to withhold his pay in a similar manner, and aj)ply it towards the maintenance of the wife or children in such manner as he may think fit.^ A soldier is ' not liable to he punished for the offence of deserting or neglecting his wife and family, or leaving them chargeable to the rates.' ^ 2. As regards Reserve men and pensioners, we find that no Resprve military pay, rewai'd, or pension is capable of assignment by the pe"rio"ners: soldier to his widow, child, or other relative who may be entitled ^"'™'',","°* to it, except in pursuance of a Koyal Warrant for the benefit of the family of the person entitled to it, or nnder an Act of Parliament.'' 8. If First-class Army Reserve men are called out, they receive Assistance an allowance from the Government of 8d. a day for their wives and ^',*7rp?* 2d. a day for each girl unrler 10 or bov nnder 14. This allowance serve wiea . , ^ "..„,. . , called out. is issued monthly, in advance. CTuardiaiis, if applications are made to thom to assist the families of reserve men, have to decide * whether the applicants are really destitute to such an extent as to require relief.' The pay and allowances of men are such that, ' as a rule, an able-bodied woman should have no dilliculty in finding, if not immediately, at least within a reasonable jieriod of hor hus- band's departure, sufficient employment to enable her to maintain ' Army Act 1881, 44 & 45 Viet., c. 68, s. 136. = l/ give full work throughout the year if he could. The system of employing ou'door hands makes it unnecessary to increase unduly the number of indoor hands in very busy times, and when trade returns to its normal condition the home workerH are loft unemjiloyed, hut the factory ijirls earn about ihe same as before.' Then after referring to the irregular haniis employed in the confLvtionery and match trades, which are conducted wholly in factories (' thi' regular hands are a class apart, both socially and industrially'), Miss Collet puts the problt-m thus : — 'Which alternative should the emploj'er choose? Should ho divide the work among them all, or should he in slack times dismiss hands ? 'This problem in some form or other must be faced by employers in every trade. Is half a loaf better than do bread? Durin? a temponiry scarcity it is. In the factory the cxpen-^e of machinery and building* lends to prevent the Ixxviii INTRODUCTION'. employer from t:iking on more hands tluin are requin^d in full work ; and in slack times il seems besl to divide work among them all. But. unless the girls have saved iu their best times, they nnturally complain so much at their smaller earn- ings, that it sometimes pays the employer better to dismiss the inferior bands, and to give the rest an opportunity of earning their usual amount. And the girls never do save. If their standard of living included saving for slack times, they could forc6 wages up to that point in the season. But so long as they only wish they could save, and always spend all their money, so long will full wages merely correspond to necessary wages ; i.e. they will only be enough for present wants. 'The same question— whether Haifa loaf is better than no bread — presents itself to the employer in another form. Granted that three girls at 10s. a week are worth the same as four girls at Is. Q'i . a week, is it not better to give employment to the four than the three? If the employer decides that he will eaploy no one who is not worth 9s. a week, he really divides the work among a smaller number of efficient girls. It may be true that no girl by herself can live respectably on less than 9*. a week ; but it is also true that there are many girls who would not be worth employing at that rate. In other words, there are girls who, as things are, are not worth decent maintenance wages. The employer who only employs girls who are worth this may preserve the even tenor of his way, iind congratulate himself that he at least is free from the guilt of employing hands at starvation wages. But what about the large numbers who are thus left unemployed? This is the question asked by a large number of manufacturers, and their answer to those who demand that a minimum wage should be fixed is that in that case they will have to dismiss many of their hands. What would be done with the great mass of unemployed left to starve? 1 do not attempt to answer this question. But two facts should be noticed. Fix a minimum rate of ■wages, and an incentive is given to tho«e whose working power has hitherto been below p^r through indolence or lowness of standard, to raise themselves to the required level. Those who are left are the physically or mentally incapable, or the idle. Secondly, if these are left as wholly unemployed, they can be dealt with much more ea>ily than the half-paid or partly unemployed, who drag down the population to their level. They are not left to starve. The parish rates and charitable contributions, which at present are spent in doing harm to the many, and in lowering wages, could be wholly devoted to the improvement of the condition of the few, either in pleasure-houses or in workhouses, according to the circumstances of the case. The inefficient are always irregularly employed. Irregular employment causes irregular demand, and irregular demand causes irregularity of employment. Eich force acts with increased momentum.' em'j'OTnient ^^ ^"^^7 ^6 .Suggested fhat the evil should be repaired by giving by ciiiirity. work at a fancy or fair rate of wages; or by co-operation, by which the profits of middlemen or ' sweaters ' would be added to the wages of the workwomen ; or by combination, and striking or negotiating for higher wages. Suppose that the first suggestion be adopted, and that, in order to carry it out, a benevolent despot, otherwise called Charity, supply the material below cost price or free of exprnse. Then the manufactured article may be sold just below the market late, and the workwoman may have a larger wage than she could otlierwise earn, made up in part of the price of her labour and in part of the price of the material that the benevolent despot has supplied ; but injury will be done to all women working at a less advantage, that is, unas.'^isted by Charity. Or the manufactured article niay be sold at the ordinary market rate. Then in thfs same way the workwoman will have a larger wage, made up of the price of her labour flwi the gift — the price of the material that has been 8uj)plied gratnitou.sly. This in;ty hcnclit a few cases, hut tiio liclp INTRODUCTIOX. Ixxix iq in tlie nature of au alli)\v:uu;c, regulated according to the ainonnt (if work produced. Given to the iiidig(;nt, or to those who are rather poor than distressed, instead of to those whom it is desired to assist out of misfortune, it has the tendency of out-relief or periodic charity in keeping ihjwn wages. Given for a time as an exception, and on a definite plan, with other help to the distressed, it may be a useful means of assistance. In some pension cases also (see p. clxxv.) it may be useful. Yet, wdiat charity gives to feeble hands it takes from strong hands. The demand it thus supplies would have been supplied in the way of business by others. The amonnt of work available in ditFofent occupations is to a great extent a fixed quantity. In women's work so great is the com- petition, and, for many reasons, so low is the scale of yjayment, that charitable interference in regard to it should be jealously ■watched. The poor often ask to be assisted by sewing machines and mangles. But unless they can make new cuntora, so assisted, they merely deprive others of their living; and charity, instead of helping, only takes half or a part of one poor man's loaf to give it to another. By co-operation then, or by combination, rather than by charitv, the conditions of labour are to be improved. In general, charitv in these matters will but do mischief.' In those cases in which the want of employment is due to mis- Howchnrity fortune, and properly remediable by charity, work may be found by ^n^pa-es Tf'' careful advertising in suitable papers, and by private influence. '^,o"m"nt!'"" Sometimes hv the migration of families of children, and often by placinp- o-irls in service, by obtaining charing for women, etc., it is comparatively easy to help the unemployed. As a rule, particularly A\hen the applicant is of any special trade, he is better qualified to find work for himself than the almoner for him. Applicants for employment frequently say that ' they don't want charity ' ; yet their lack of employment is often due to distress or to some special circumstance which must he dealt wi'h ; and then, the cause of distress removed, employment is forthcoming, not because employ- ment is given, but because the applicant becomes an efficient work- man. The following instances are illustrative cases in which charity, chiefly by indirect methods, enables those who are in distress from want of work to regain their position and their employment. C. N..';3(), m.irried, wifli two childrpn ; carman for six years for one firm; out of work several months. • A steady man; clever at his work: left owing to reduc ion of staff; waists 30*'. a wn^y spent on him. His family is slowly recovering from the straits to which they were reduced, and he IB full of thankfulness to those who inspired him with hope when all seemed over. Mark R was once a sailor, but had to leave the navy owing to defective eye-sight. He has no pension. For many years he supported his family (wife and tour children) by different kinds of rough labour, ilis eye-sight has been graflually growing worse for a long time, until now he is unable to get work any- where. He was sent to us by the vicar of the parish, who had known him for many years. His wife is a monthly nurse, and has not been fortunate in getting employment, owing to the poverty of the district in which she has been living. She has now moved to a district where she is better known, and is more likely to INTRODUCTION. IXXXI earnTnonpy. Meanwhile ber husband went into Moorfields Eye Hospital. It was found that one eye must be removed in order to aave the other. After the operat'on we sent him to a convale.scent home fjr throe weeks. He came back and tried to a:et work, but failed. The worry and anxiety made his eye ba-,p. 71. XCVl IXTRODUCTIOX. Apprenticea ship to sea service by the Gnard- ians. Snpervision of appren- tices and gffrvants placed out by the OuardiacB. general capacity. If the child is not in the workhouse, the relieving officer has to inquire and report on the circumstances of the case, the condition of the child and of his parents, if any, the residence and trade of the proposed master and other points; and subsequently, if the child is less than 14 years of age, a medical certificate of fitness is obtained. The person to whom a child is bound must be a ' housekeeper or assessed to the poor-rate in his own name ' — not a journeyman or 'person not carrying on trade or business on his own account,' a person under 21 years of age, or a married woman. The place of business at which the apprentice has to live and work must not be more than 30 miles from the place where the child is residing at the time of apprenticeship. If the apprentice is above the age of 16, and not by reason of deformity, or other such cause, unfit for work, no premium is given except clothing. In other cases the premium is given part in money, part in clothing ; and the former is payable, one moiety at the binding, the remainder after the first year of apprenticeship. The term of apprenticeship is not more than eight years. The consent of the person to be bound apprentice, if not more than 14 years of age, has to be obtained, and if he be not more than 16 years of age, the consent of the parent or guardian is, with some exceptions, required. The apprenticeship is by indenture. The master has to teach the trade or business agreed upon, and has to provide proper food, lodging and clothing, and in case of sickness or accident, ' adequate medical or surgical assistance ' ; he must arrange for suitable religious instruction being given, according to the creed of the apprentice; after 17, the appren- tice may be paid such wages as the Guardians may stipulate. If the terms of the indenture are transgressed by the master, or he becomes bankrupt, the indenture is cancelled. (6) Apprenticeship to sea service. — The Guardians may appren- tice boys by indenture to masters and owners of ships. • The indenture must be attested by two justices, who shall ascertain that tlie boy has consented, that he is sufficiently healthy, strong, and that he is bound to a proper person. Guardians may also pay the expenses of boys who, or whose pareuts, are in receipt of Poor Law relief, in going to the nearest port to be examined, and they may pay for their outfit.^ There are a large number of training and coastguard ships at which boys are sent by the Guardians for entry in H.M. naval service. The Guardians are bound to keep a register of those under the age of 16 whom they have placed as apprentices or in service, and to cause them while under that age and in the same service to be ' Merchant Shipping Act, August 10, 1854 (17 & 18 Vict., c. 104), s. 141, etc. * 39 & 40 Vict., c. 61, h. 28. INTRODUCTIOX. XCVU visited twico a year by a relievirii^ officer, who reports to the Guardians on their food and treat incut.' Furtherinon;, tlie Guardians, or the managers ofa district school, may employ a visitor to report upon the condition, treatment, and conduct of any child under the aj^'o of 10 who has gone into service fi-om the workhouse or the school. - The conditions required in cases in which apprenticeship fees Apprentice- are paid from charitable funds are similar to those required in the chaiiui.ia cases dealt with by Boards of Guardians. The almoner will p^""""'"*- probably have little difTiculty in securing skilled advice so far as it may be necessary, and suitable forms, such, for instance, as those used by the East London Apprenticing Fund. Since 1879 the Guai'dians have, with the consent of the Local Government Board, been empowered to subscribe towards any association or society for aiding girls and boys in service, or towards any other asylum or institution which appears to the Guardians to be calculated to render useful aid in the administration of the relief of the poor.^ As regards servants placed out by the Guardians, the Metro- '^^^ politan Association for Befriending Young Servants, Buckingham Street, Strand, W.C., is of the greatest nse. The Local Government Board in their Annual Report'* for 1887-8, state tliat ' a considerable proportion of the girls who go from the Poor Law Schools of the Metropolis into domestic service are placed by the Guardians under the sujjcrvision of the Metropolitan Association for Befriending Young Servants.' In the report of the Association for the year 18',>1 the number of girls supervised by the Association during the year was 3,392, and of these 2,504 were from the District and Separate Poor Law Schools of the Metropolis. Of the 3,392 girls referred to, 1,743 were classed as 'good,' 680 as 'fair,' 243 as ' un.satis- factory,' and 35 as ' bad.' As regards the remainder, 5 are dead, 53 were unfit for service, 86 refused to be visited, 131 were lost sight of or not ti-aced ; 38 have emigrated or married, 131 are with their relatives, 186 arc in training homes, and 77 arc not as yet reported on. The almoner is strongly recommended, in dealing with the many cases in which assistance can be given by way of training for service or obtaining a place for an elder daughter, to co-operate with such societies as the M.A.B.Y.S. For- assisting children, then, as these six sections indicate, the Guardians have almost unlimited powers. Before considering the part which charity should take in deal- ing with the cases of widows, wt^ ni;iy refer to tlit- liabllKies uf ' 14 & 15 Viot., c. 11, ss. 3, 4. an.! T). -■ 3<) & 40 Vict., c. 61, 8. 33. ' 42 &, 43 Vict , I'. ;J4, s. 10 (.w p cvi.l. * Sevi'iiteeiith .Aiaiiml Kepurt, p. lii. 1M87-8. XCVlll INTRODUCTION. masters, and tlie supervision which the Guardians exercise over ser%-ants and apprentices. The survey of the powers in this depart- ment will then be complete. XXXVI. — Protection of Infants and Young People : Liability of Masters. ui'^'^piVaua' Besides the provision made for the supervision and care of terTants. apprentices or servants placed out by the Guardians, there are some general provisions, greatly strengthened by recent legislation, for the prevention and punishment of neglect in the cases of infants, childi'en, and young persons. The almoner will very likely come across some such cases. Any person legally liable as master or mistress to provide necessary food, clothing, lodging, to an apprentice or servant who shall wilfully and without lawful excuse refuse or neglect to do so, or shall unlawfully and maliciously do or cause to be done any bodily harm so that the life of such apprentice or servant shall be endangered, or the health of such apprentice or servant shall have been or shall be likely to be permanently endangered, is liable, on conviction, to three years' penal servitude, or imprisonment for any term not exceeding two years, with or without hard labour.' If complaint be made to two justices of any such neglect as this, or of any bodily injury inflicted on any person under 16, the circum- stances of which amount to a felony, or the attempt to commit a ft'lony, they may require the Guardians to prosecute ; and the Guardians will ' pay the costs reasonably and properly incurred by them out of the common fund of the Union.' ^ Further, a master who, being legally liable to provide for his apprentice necessary food, clothing, medical aid, or lodging, wilfully and without lawful excuse refuses or neglects to piovide the same, whereby the health of the apprentice is or is likely to be seriously or permanently injui"ed, is liable, on conviction, to a penalty of not exceeding £20, or imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, with or without hard labour.^ Thpprfven- There is another legal provision worthy of note in this con- fan'ii'.ng.'' nection. No person may retain or receive for hire or reward more than one infant, and in case of twins more than two infants, under the age of one year, for the purpose of nursing or maintaining them apart from their parents for a longer period than 24 hours, except in a registered house.'' The Act does not extend to relations or guardians, nor to j)ublic institutions, etc. The local authority (in London the County Council) are empowered, after careful inquiry as to fitness, ' 24 & 2-5 Vict., c. 100, s. 26. -' 24 & 2o Vict., c. 100, s. 73. • .'i8 & :i'J Vict., c. 86, .ss. G & 10. " 35 & 3G Vict., c. 38. INTRODUCTION. XCIX to regiHter bouses and persona for the above pvirpose (registration tjratis — renewable annually), and from time to time to make bye- laws for fixing the number of infants which may be received into each such house. It has been the practice in London to make a special bye-law upon each individual application. Offenders are liable to six months' imprisonment with hard labour, or a fine of £'5. When, on the trial of any offence under the Criminal Law fii'is Amendment Act 1885, it is proved to the satisfaction of the Court that the seduction or prostitution of any girl under the age of 16 has been caused, encouraged, or favoured by her father, mother, guardian, master, or mistress, the Court may divest such person of all authority over her, and appoint a guardian for her until she is 21, and appoint, if necessary, a new guardian from time to time.' Bat during the last session of Parliament (1894) has been passed the most stringent Act for the punishment for ill-treat- ment and neglect of children, a consolidation of Acts adopted in 1889 and 1894.' The following am the fir.-^t seven sections: — ' Cruelty to Children. ' 1. — (1) If any person over the age of sixteen years who has the custody, PunUhmsnt charge, or care of any child under the age of sixteon years, wilfully assaults, [°'^^h\iii.g^ ill-treats, neglects, abandons, or exposes such child, or causes or procures such ciiild to be assaulted, ill-treated, neglected, abandoned, or exposed in n manner likely to cause snch child unnecessary suffering, or injury to its health (including injury to or loss of sight, or hearing, or limb, or orgnn of the body, and any mental derangement), that person shall be guilty of a misdemeanor; and ' («i on conviction on indictment, shall lie liable, at the discretion of the court, to a fine not exceeding one hundred pounds, or alternatively, or in default of payment of such fine, or in addition thereto, to imprisunment, with or without hard labour, for any term not exceeding two years ; and * (})) on summary conviction shiill be liable, at the discretion of the court, to a fine not exceeding twenty-five pounds, or alternatively, or in default of payment of such fine, or in addition thereto, to imprisonment, with or without hard labour, for any term not exceeding six mouths. ' (2) A person may be convicted of an offence under this section either on indictment or by a court of summary jurisdiction notwithstanding the death of thi- child in respect of whom the offence is committed. ' (3) If it is proved that a person indicted under this section was interested in any sum of money accruable or payable in the event of the death of the child, and had knowledge that such sum of money was accruing or becoming payable, the court, in it" discretion, may ' {a) incf'-ase the amount of the fine under this section so that thefinedoes not excfcd two hundred pounds ; or ' (i) in lieu of awarding any other penalty under this section, sentence the person indicted to penal servitude for any term not exceeding five years. ' (4) A person shall be deemed to be interested in a sum of money under this section if he hes any share in or any benefit from the payment of that money, tliough he is not a person to whom it is legally pn\able. '(5) An offence under this section is in this Act referred to as nn offence of cruelly. ' 48 & 49 Vict.,e. C.9, s. 12. - Pr<:-v.ntiou of Cruelty to Children Act ISOJ {/>', \- .')8 Vid.. c 51). hall be sufficient protection to all persons acting under or in accordaiicc with the same. ' (2) A Secretary of Stite may assign to any inspector appointed under section 4' s of such child shall f>e endanger<-d, an--. a ■week. The ill-health of the mother prevented her going out to work. Nearly everything the family possessed was pivwned ; but, though their distress was very great, they had never applied for parish relief. The Comniiltee placed the girl aged 12^ in a Training Home for Young Servants, from whence, whpn she is 13, she will be put into a situation. The girl of 10 they tried to place in a school, but her heaUh not being sufficiently good to pass the medical examination reijuired she was sent to a sea-side Convalescent Home for three months, as a lengthened stay at the sea-side was said to be the only thing to prevent her becoming a per- manent invalid. The child of five was enabled to attend school. Sufficient things were redeemed from pawn to restore the family to comparative comfort, and some needlework obtained for the mother, who was thus enabled to add a few shillings to the weekly income. CVl LXTRODUCTIOX. Out-relief, Poor Law assistance, Bnd educa- tion. ' Mr.s. L. came to us in the sprin£» of last year, whose huHband had died six months before. She had seven children to bring up, two of them twin babies, b irn after her husband's death. The problem was, how could she be helped ? Fortunately, her relations had come forward and helped her over lier confinement, and one of them had adopted a boy age three, but they could do no more. The first thing that we did was to place three of the little boys in good schools ; two of them wore admitted to the Shaftesbury Homes, and are now doing well at Bisley, and the thii-d is boarded-out in a cottage home at Harrow, through the Waifs anl Strays Society. Emma, the eldest girl, age 14, began to learn artificial flower making, and is nov earning a few shillings weekly ; it is such a comfort to her mother to have her at home that we did not urge domestic service in this case, as we usually do for girls at her age. Then we had to think of work for the mother, which on account of her babies must be homo work. She thought if she could have a wringing machine she could take in washing, so with the help of the Widow's Friend Society we obtained this, and she is now working up a connection, but. seeing that her twins require a good deal of her attention, we hare obtained from friends interested in her two shillings a week to help towards her rent, until she is able to go alone. A lady vi-its her regularly in a friendly way, and te'ls us that her home is always clean and tidy, and her children well cared for. In the summer, finding Mrs. L. and her babies ailing, we sent them to the seaside for a few weeks, and altogether we have spent over £'10 on this family. Has it not been well spent in keeping a respectable woman off the parish, and giving her and her children a chance of becoming independent ? ' When the parent of a child between 5 and 14 years of age, or the child, receives relief out of the workhouse, by way of weekly and other continuing allowance,' it is a condition of relief that, subject to reasonable excuses,'^ the child should attend school, if the child has not reached the third standard (187G), or is not entitled to take fall time employment, or is required by the bye- laws of the School Board to attend .school.' The Guardians in such cases are not precluded from allowing additional relief to the parent in conse- quence of the reduction of the parent's income by loss of the child's earnings. They niay also pay for clothing for the child's attendance at school.^ See also below (Section XXXIX.) as to the School Board. XXXVIIT. — Subscriptions to Institutions by* Guardians. The question is frequently asked whether the Guardians can pay subscriptions towards institutions of which they make use, and if so, to what institutions; and it is worth while to quote the sections of the Acts on the subject as they stand, though they in- clude several classes of cases besides those already referred to. ' By 14 & 15 Vict., c. 10.^>, s. 4, the Guardians of any union or parish may, with the consent of the Poor Law Board, pay out of the common fund of such union, or, in the case of a parish, out of the funds in hand of such Guardians, any sum of money as an annual sub.scription towards the support and maintenance of any ' .30 & 40 Vict., c. 79, s. 40 (1876). ^ For what are reasonable excuses, see ' Summary of Law,' &c., published by the Lf)ndon School Board, p. cviii. ' Bye-iaws cannot be made with regard to children above the age of 13, there- fore this last pronso will only apply to children und'-r the age of l.'J. * See on the whole question, 'The Elementary Education Acts,' 1870 to 1880, by Hugh Owen. Kni^rht & Co.. 1H81. See especially pp. 200 and ;n<). KNTRODUCTIOX. CVll public Lospital or infirmary for the reception of the sick, fliseased, disabled, or wounded persons, or persons suffering from any per- manent or natural infirmity. 'The provisions of 14 & 15 Vict., c. 105, s. 4, shall extend to authorise the Guardians, with such consent as is therein mentioned, to subscribe; towards any asylum or institution for blind persons, or deat and dumb persons, or for persons suifering tVoni any j)er- mHnent or natural infirmity, or towards any association or society fcr aiding sucli persons, or for providing nur.ses, or for aiding girls or boys in service, or towards any other asylum or institution which appears to the Guardians, with such consent as aforesaid, to be calcuKted to render useful aid in the administration of the relief of the poor.' 'Provided always, that nothing herein contained shall authorise any subsciiption to any asylum or institution unless the Local Govern- ment Board be satisfied that the paupers under the Guardians have or could have assi.stance therein in case of necessity.''^ XXXIX. — The School Board and the Education oe Children. The School Board (Victoria Embankment) consists of 50 members, elected triennially in numbers varying from four to seven from the eleven electoral divisions of the City, Chelsea, Finsbury, Greenwich, Hackney, East and West Lambeth, Marylebone, Southwark, Tower Hamlets, Westminster. The local woi'k is entrusted to Divisional and Sub-divisional Committees, under whom serve paid superintendents of visitors. Education is free' in the schools of the London School Board. The pjducation Act of 1870 declares that — ' It shall be the duty Genera] of the parent of every child (between the ages of 5 and 14) to cause bUitiesof such child to receive efficient elementary instruction in reading, ro'^^rd^to" tiio wlnra- ' 42 & 43 Vict., c. 54, s. 10. Glon's Archbold, p. 82. tion of tlieir ^ It is c-onvciiient to refer hero to the p(nver of Boards of Guardians, to ehikiren. contract with the pruprietors of certaui establishments, to send paupers to them. Ky 12 Vict., c. IS, ss. 1 and 2, the Local Government Board are required from time to time, as they shall see occasion, to ' issue rules, orders, and regulations for the managenient, and government of any house or establishment wherein any poor person shall he lodged, boarded, or maintained, for hire or remuneration, under any contract or agreement entered into by the proprietor, nian:'.ger, or superinten- dent, or on his Lehaf, with any guardians ... in like manner and to the same extent as thej' are empowered to do in the case of any workhouse belonging to any union or parish.' But this does not apply to lunatic asylums or ' to any hospital, infh-mary, school, or other institution supported by public subscriptions, and maintained tor purposes of ciiaritj- only.' Tiie Board can also regulate the contra''ts made with such pro]irietors and inspect tiieir establislimeiits. The Board have issued an order containing, in accordance with the above -Act, 'regula- tions for seaside infirmaries for scrofulous cases ' ; and contracts have been entered into with two establishments at ^Margate, and one at Rottingdean. (Cf. Glen, Poor Law Statutes, p. 9(14. and Orders, p. 267.) The order is addressed to, amongst others, the ■ several Unions and .'•eparate Parishes of the [Metropolis.' ' Elementary Education Act 1891, .it ife do Vict., c. o6. CVm INTRODUCTIOX. writing, and aritliniotic' To ensure the fulfilment of this duty, there are safeguards against the child being employed, unless sufficiently instructed, i.e. unless he has passed a certain ' standard,' and there are penalties against the parent if the child does not go to school.' The following is taken from a paper published by the London School Board. It puts the requirements of the Board very clearly, and as the compulsory education of the children is a domestic question, sometimes a domestic difficulty, in the households of the poor, and is frequently put forward as a grievance or a claim for help, the almoner should know what the require- ments are. 'DiSTKlCr OF THE ScHOOL BOARD FOR LONDON. • Elenienfari/ Edacalion Acts r/1870, 1873, 1876, 1880, 1891, & 1893. ' 1. — Summary of the Law relating to the Attendance at School OF Children between 5 and 14 tears of age, and to the Employment of such Children. 'J.. As to children between 5 mid 13. ' A child between o and 13 years of age must attend a certified efficient school during the whole time for which such school is open. ' Exceptions : — ' (i.) A child between 11 and 13 years of age is not required to attend school for more than five attendances in each week, if such child shall be shown to the satisfaction of the School Board to be beneficially and necessarily employed, and shall have received a certificate from one of Her Majesty's Inspectors that it has passed the Fourth Standard. ' (ii.) A child between 11 and 13 years of age is not required to attend school at all, if such child shall have received a certificate from one of Her Majesty's Inspectors that it has passed the Sixth Standard. ' The following are reasonable excuses for the non-attendance of a child at school : — ' (a) That the child is under efficient instruction in some other manner. ' (h) Tliat the child is prevented from attending school by sickness or any unavoidable cause. ' (c) That there is no public elementary school open which ihe child can attend within two miles. ' The parent, or guardian, of any child who ought to attend but ' ' "Parent" includes guardian and everyone who is liable to maintain or has the custody of any child.' INTROQUCTIOX. CIX docs not attend school, is liable upon conviction to a penalty not exceeding, with the costs, five shillings for each offence. ' Moreover, the employer' of any child who ought to attend but does not attend school, is liable to a penalty not exceeding forty shillings for each offence. ' B. As to children hekveen 13 and 14. ' No person, parent or other, may take into his employment any child between 13 and 14 years of age unless such child (a) slnill have obtained a certificate that he has passed the Fourth Standard, or (b) shall have made 250 attendances in not moi-e than two schools during each year for five preceding years, whether consecu- tive or not, or (c) shall be attending school in accordance witii the provisions of the Factory Acts. ' TLe em[)loyer of a child between 13 and 14 years of age, who has not satisfied one of these two conditions, is liable to a penalty not exceeding forty shillings: and if such child is liabitu- ally absent from school, the parent is liable to successive penalties of five shillings each.' The second part of the summary from which we quote deals with the payment of fees, and the third with the attendance of blind or deaf children. These points are set forth more conveniently for our purpose in the ' Byelaws,' etc., of the Board, which explain the Board's procedure in this matter. II. — The Payment of Fees. With regard to the payment of fees the law stands thus, as set forth in the ' Byelaws, Arrangements, and Code of Instructions ' of the School Board for London (March 15, 1894) : — ' A parent mav be summoned to a "Notice B " meetintr in con- Payment /> 1 " PI- 1-11 11 1 -n oC .School sequence ot tlie non-attendance ot his clnld at school, and, if fees by attending, or proposing to attend, a non-Board school where fpes thTFoorr" are charged, may plead as a reason his inability to pay the fees.' ' (1) Cusrs of pare 'its who are non-paupers. ' A parent (not being a paupor) of any child [lietween tlie agres of 5 and 14. or in tlie case of a deaf child bctwcfn the ages of 5 aud 16, or in tiie ease of a blind child between the ages of 7 and 16] "who is unable by reason of poverty to pay the ordinary fee for such child at a public elementary school, or any part of such fee, may apply to the fruardians having jurisdiction in the jvarish in which he resides; and it shall be the duty of such Guardians, if satisfied of such inability, to pay the said fee. not exceeding threepence per week, or such part thci'eof as he is, in the opinion of the Guardians, so unable to pay." [Klementary Education Act 1876, Section 10.] 'In the above cases the parents should be informed that application for the payment of the fees must be made to the Giiarorate index, hy .Mexaiider Rcdirrave. Ksq.. C.B., 1885. It is only possible in this ' Introlui'tion " tn refer to a few of the leading points of the Act. 'I'I'e reader should consult .Mr. Rrdgrave"s book as 'o further details. The Factory and Workshop A.t 1891 (.Vl & o.j Vict.,c. 7.')) ameuds and eitends the Act of 1878. Factories and work- sliop- to whicli the Factory Act applies. Textile factories. Non-textil» factoriea. CXll INTRODUCTION. Workshops. In!!peotors ; their powers; and proferu- tions under the Factory Act. aud wheroin or within tlip close, or curhilage, or precincts of which steam, water, or other mechanic;il power is used in aid of the manufacturing process carried on there. ' The expression "factory " in this Act means textile factory and non-textile factory or either of such description of factories. 'The expression "workshop" in this Act moans — '(1) Any premises or places named in Part II. of the Fourth Schedule [see above] to this Act, which are not a factory within the meaning of this Act. ' (2) Also any premises, room, or place, not being a factory witliin the meaning of tliis Act, in which premises, room, or pkce. or mthin the close, or curtilage, or precincts of which premises, any manual labour is exorcised by way ot trade or for purposes of gain, in or incidental to the following purposes ; that is to say — 'In or incidental to the making, altering, repairing, adapting, etc., uf any article [as above], and to which, or over which premises, room, or place, the em- ployer of the persons working therein has the right of access or control.' It would seem, then, that the -whole length and breadth of manu- facture is fairl}' covered by this Act. For the enforcement of the Act there is a Chief Inspector, Mr. R. E. Spragne Oram, and forty- five inspectors, of whom four are Superintending Inspectors and one is Superintending Inspector of Workshops. There are also twenty-three junior inspectors for the United Kingdom, besides two female inspectors and fifteen inspectors' assistants. The south and south-east of England is under one Superintend- ing Inspector, Mr. E. Gould (Home Office, S.W.), who has districts ol to 39 under his charge. Of these, four are Metropolitan districts, each under the charge of one or more inspectors and junior inspectors. The Superintending Inspector of Workshops, Mr. J. B. Lakeman (Home Office, S.W.), is the Inspector of Workshops for the county of London, in which the registered workshops number 15, .543. One of the female inspectors, Miss M. E Abraham, has her headquarters also at the Home Office.' The inspector may ' enter, inspect and examine at all reasonable times, by day or night, a factory and a workshop and every part thereof when he has reasonable cause to believe that any person is employed therein, and to enter by day any place which he has reasonable cause to believe to be a factory or workshop.' If he has reasonable cause to apprehend obstruction, he may take a constable with him; he may require the production of registers and other papers ; and 'he may examine either alone or in the presence of any other person, as he thinks fit, with respect to matters under this Act, any person whom he finds in a factory or workshop, or whom he has reasonable cause to believe to be or to have been employed within the preceding two months.' He may also enter 'any room or place actually used as a dwelling as well as for a factory or workshop.' ^ ' Report of the Chief Inspector of Factories and Workshops, year ending October, 1893. 2 C/. Factory and Workshop Act 1891, o4 & 55 Vict., c. 75, s. 25. ' A room ' [not a dwelling, as in the Act oi' 1S78] 'solely used for the purpose of sleeping therein shall not be deemed to f()rm part of the factory or workshop for the purposea of this Act' (s. 31). Amount of Amount of pi'iialtv. CO°t^. i; s. ' d. £ .«. d. 2 3 2 n 4 1 2 1 2 3 1 10 INTRODUCTION". CXIU The report of the Cliiof Inspector contains a list of the prosecu- tions under the Act during the previous twelvemonth. Some of the entries are suggestive, and will throw light on the i-egulationa to be quotid in the next paragra])h. We taVe these: — Nature of ofTeiicc. ' Having employed a cliilil for full time wlio produce.l no school qualilications 'Having (Miiployeil a young person, under the age of 16 years, Ijcfore tlie hour of o a.m., to wir, at 4 A.M. ....... ' Having neglected to atfix an Abstract of the Acts in his factory ....••■ 'Having neglected to keep a register of young persons in the prescribed form 'Employing six young persons under the age of 10 years for periods varying from five weeks to 15 months, without having previously obtained certificates of fi ness for employment from the surgeon, and after having been cautioned by Mr. Lakeman wiih reference to this matter upon a former visit ..... ' Employing one woman and one young person (female) all night (m 29 March, 1893 ' . . 2 10 4 One or two regulations may be noted in regard to (1) certificates of fitness for emploj-ment; and (2) employment, meal hours, and prohibitions of employment. (1) Certificate of Fitness. — Persons under the age of IG cannot be employed beyond seven or, if the certifying surgeon for the district resides more than three miles from the factory, beyond thirteen days, unless the 'occupier' of the factory (or employer) ha.s obtained a certificate of fitness from the certifying surgeon of the district. The certificate includes a statement that the snigeon, by the production of a certificate of birth or other sufficient evidence, has satisfied himself as to the age of the person. If the inspecti)r considers any such person incapacitated for working the full time allowed by law, he may require the employment of the child to be discontinued, unless the certifying surgeon per.sonally examines the child and certifies to his ability. (2) Emjdoyment auil Meal llonrs, and Prohibition ofEmploi/meiif. — ciiiUren. Children (i.e. persons under 14 years of age) may not be em- ployed under the age of 11. After that age they may be em|)loyed in morning and afternoon sets or on alternate days only. In the former case the hours are from G or 7 a.m. to 1 P.Ji. or dinner time ; or 1 p.m. or dinner time to 6 or 7 : in the latter case they may be employed as if they were ' young persons,' but not on two suc- cessive days or on the same day in the week in two successive weeki*.' ' This statement refers to the employment of children in textile factories ; tho arrangements differ a little in the case of non-textile factories and \vorkshop»i. I'or Saturdavs tin-re are special hours for vonng persons and childn-n. h rxiv iXTRODUCTION. Young persons and 'Aomen. Workshops in which neither children nor young persons are employed. Women in workshops. ' Domestic workdhopB.' If orevtime is to be worked in a factory or worlcsliop under exceptional conditions, notice has to be sent to the inspector 'nob later than eight o'clock in the evening on which the child, young person, or woman is employed.' {Of. Act: 1891, s. 14.) The parent of the child has to ' cause his child to attend some recognised efficient school,' on either the alternate days, or the alternate mornings or afternoons in which it is not at work. Due allowance is made for reasonable causes of absence as defined in the School Board paper quoted above. These regulations apply to all factories and workshops, excepting, of course, workshops at which no young persons or children are employed, and domestic work- shops. Each week the occupier of the factory or workshop receives a certificate of attendances from the teacher of the school attended by the child — to be produced to the inspector if required, within the next two months. Every occupier has, within the limits allowed by the Act, to specify in a notice affixed in the lactory or workshop, the period of employment, the times allowed for meals, and whether the children are employed on the system of morning and afternoon sets, or of alternate days. In the case of young persons and women, the period of employ- ment, inclusive of meal hours, has to be either between 6 a.m. and 6 P.M., or between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. By a ' young person ' is meant ' a person of the age of 14 and under the age of 18 years.' 'Woman' m.eans a woman of 18 years and upwards. A child between the ages of 13 and 14 who has obtained the certificate, or made the attendances required by the Code,^ is considered a ' young person.' With some exceptions, a child, young person, or woman may not be employed on Sunday. There remain two kinds of workshops not yet specially referred to, ' workshops' in which neither children nor young persons are employed, and ' domestic workshops.' In the former the period of employment for a woman begins at 6 and ends at 10, and on Saturday G to 4. For meals and absence from work during the period of employment is allowed a specified period of (except on Saturday) not less than one hour and a half; and on Saturday an hour. A workshop is not deemed to be a workshop of this type unless the occupier serves a notice on the inspector to that effect. A ' domestic workshop ' is one ' where persons are employed at home, that is to say, in a private house, room or place, which, thongh used as a dwelling, is by reason of the work carried on there, a factory or workshop within the moaning of this Act, and in which neither steam, water, nor other mechanical power is used in aid of the ' Spf p. cix. a.s to oliililren between 13 ;irid 11 ; .'ind s. 26 of tlie F.-icfory and Workshop Act. INTRODUCTION. CXV mannfactuT'ing process carried on there, and in which the only persons employed are members of the same family dwelling there.' ' ' Children can only be employed in domestic workshops in the morning and afternoon. They cannot be employed on the alternate day system. The restrictions upon labour, etc., do not apply to women employed in domestic workshops as defined by this section. . . . Domestic workshops are exempted from the sanitary regula- tions of the Act, from the fixing actual times for work and meals, and from affixing notices in the workrooms. . . . But they remain under the supervision of the local authority in respect to sanitary condition. They are also precluded from working overtime. The penalties for violation of the regulations of the Act by occupiers of the workshops are much less than is provided in other cases.' ^ * An occupier of a factory or workshop shall not knowingly allow a woman to be employed therein within four weeks after she has given birth to a child. "^ (3) Sauitary Provisiuns. — As to factories : A factory has to be ' kept in a cleanly state and free from effluvia arising from any drain, water-closet, earth-closet, privy, urinal, or other nuisance.* It must not be so overcrowded as to be 'dangerous or injurious to the health of the persons employed therein,' and it must be so ventilated as to avoid such danger or injury. Factories have also to be periodically washed, lime- washed, and painted.^ In the case of sanitary defects in factories or workshops (whether children and young persons are employed in the latter or not) and laundries, the inspector under the Factory Acts gives notice to the local sanitary authority ; and if that authority does not within a reasonable time take proceedings to 'remedy or punish the act, neglect, or default,' the inspector may do so, recovering expenses, if successful in his prosecution, from the sanitary authority.'' In the case of workshops (defined as above), the local sanitary authority has power to enter, inspect, take proceedings, etc., to ensure that they are periodically washed, lime-washed, and painted ; and, if the occupier fails to comply with its notice, it may itself carry out the work and recover the cost from the occupier.^ In the case of Loudon, the local sanitary authorities, on the certificate of a medical officer of health or sanitary inspector, have to enforce the lime-washing, cleansing, or purifying of factories not under the Factory and Workshop Act of lb 78, and of workshops and workplaces.^ (4) Dangerous Trades. — The last annual report of the Chief Inspector contains the amended special rules recently adopted in ' Factorj' and Workshop Act, s. 16. * Reiiffrave, p. 61, and Act of 1891, s. 21. ' Act 1878, modified by Act 1891, s. 5. 3 (1). otc. ' Act 1S91. ss. 2, 3 (1). . * Act lf91. s. 4. « The Public Health (Lotuion) Act 1891 Hee p. c!vi.\ h i ex VI INTRODUCTION. res. a week ; and if this sum is not paid, on the complaint of the Inspector of Industrial Schools, his agent or a constable acting on his directions, the magistrate may require its payment, or that of any less sum which he may think fit, to the inspector or his agent, for a specific time or until further order. When the amount of the payment ordered exceeds the amount paid in respect of any child by the Treasury, the balance is paid to the school managers. XLIII. — Reformatory Schools. Condifiono The conditions of admission to reformatory schools are these : — t^ ^forma°° The offender must be, in the opinion of the magistrate before whom tor}' scboob. jjy jg charged, less than 16 years of age. He must have been con- victed of an offence punishable with penal servitude or imprison- ment. He may then be sentenced to imprisonment for ten days or longer, and suljsequently sent to a certified reformatory school for as many as five and not less than two years. Now, however, he can under certain circumstances be detained beyond the age of 15. If he appear to the court to be not less than 12 years of age, or is proved to have been previously convicted of an offence punishable with penal servitude or imprisonment, the court may, in addition IXTKODIKTIO.V. (WXV to, or in lien of, soiif.oncing him according; to law to anv punish- ment, order that he be sent to a certified i-eformatory school, and bo tlicre detained for a period of not less than three and not more than five years, so, however, that the period is such as will, in the opinion of the coiitt, expire at or before the time at which the offender will attain the ago of 19 years. Also in reo^ard to the ton days' irapiisonment a change has been made. The court (without prejudice to any of its other powers) may direct that the oflft-nder be ' tiiken to a prison or to any other place, not being a prison, and the occupier of which is willing to receive him, and be detained therein for any time not exceeding seven days, or, in case of necessity, a period not exceeding fourteen days, or until an order is sooner made for his discharge or for his beinsr sent to a reformatory school, or otherwise dealt with under this ur any other Act.' • A child of less than 10 yoars of age cannot be sent to a reforma- tory unless he has been previously charged with an offence punish- able with penal servitude acd imprisonment, or sentenced by a Judge of Assize or Court of General or Quarter Sessions. There are pi'ovlsions in regard to reformatory schools similar to those in the Industrial Schools Act, relating to the religions persuasion of the child, placing him out on license, his apprenticeship, etc., etc. XLIV. — The School Board Authorities and Industrial and Truant Schools. - In cases of the habitual neglect of children, it is best probably to powprs of refer to the School Board authorities in the first instance. ' If,' n''"''"'j'. ' iioarcl in says the Education Act of 187G (oU & 40 Vict., c. 79, s. 11), ' either regar-i to (1) the parent of any child above the age of 5 years who is under cuiiiieu. this Act (see p. cviii.) prohibited from being taken into full time employment, habitually and without reasonable excuse neglects to provide efficient elementary instruction for his child ; or (2) any child is found habitually wandering, or not under proper control, or in the compan}' of rogues, vagabonds, disorderly persons, or reputed criminals; it shall be the duty of the local authoi-ity, after due wai'uing to the parent of such child, to complain to a court of summary jurisdiction.' The local authority is the School Board. Tlie magistrate may then make an attendance order, and if Attendance the cliild docs not go lo school the parent is fined 5s. ; or if he has '""*''"*• used all reasonable effort to get the child to school, the child may be sent to a day industrial school, or to a certified industrial school, ]f there isfurtlier non-compliance, there are further similar penalties. By the 13th section of the Act, if the School Board ' are informed ' 56 & 57 Viet., c. 48, Reformatory Schools Act 1893. - Ser The Kh'inenr.irv EiliicHtion .\cts, 1870 to ISSO. l.y TTuirli Owen; see e»peci;illy pp. '2o 1 >■/ .H'q. CXXVl IXTRODL'CTIOX. Industrial schools of the Loudon School Board. Short detention useful in truant cases. Truant Schools. by any perpon of any child in their jurisdiction who is stated by that person to be Uahle to he ord'^red by a court under this Act to attend school, or to be sent under this Act or the Industrial Schools Act 186G, to an industrial school, it shall be the duty of the School Board 'to take proceedings under this Act or the Industrial Schools Act 18G6, unless' the Board 'think it is inexpedient to take such proceedings.' If, then, any almoner or district visitor finds a child habitually away from school or neglected, he should write to the superintendent of the visitors in that division of the School Board.* At Lady Day 1804! the School Board for London had under their management the following (a) industrial, and (h) truant schools, viz. : — (a) Brentwood (100 places), the ship ' Shaftesbury ' (500 places) ; and {h) the Upton House Truant School (140 places), and the Highbury School, at Highbury Grove (200 places). They had also agreements with 35 voluntary industrial schools for boys, and 24 schools for girls ; and they have also use of accommodation at the Holme Court Truant School at Isleworth. At the above date there were, altogether, 1,308 children in industrial schools who had been sent at the instance of the Board, including 686 children (boys) at truant schools. Thei-e is one advantage in putting the School Board in motion, viz.: that, whereas by the Industrial Schools Act a child is not allowed to have a license to live outside the home until 18 months have expired, a child sent on the representation of the School Board can receive a license any time after one month's stay at the school.^ ' It is desirable,' the Royal Commission on Reformatory and In- dustrial Schools reported, ' that children whose only oflTence has been truancy, either by their own fault or that of their parents, or who are unable by poverty to attend school, should be dealt with by terms of short duration in schools other than the reformatory and industrial schools.' Truant schools have, it is said, been very successful where, as at Upton House, penal treatment, such as solitary confinement, is not resorted to, and where there is ' a shortened term of detention, amount- ing now, as a general rule, to about two months, or in a case of revocation of license, to about three months.' ' The essential features of the system seem to be a temporary deprivation of liberty, sub- jection to the regular hours and discipline of the establishment, daily schooling, plenty of drill, some industrial occupation, and very little play.' ' The results at the truant school at Upton House, to which, since November 6, 1878, all the worst cases of truancy ' iSVe Inrlustrial Schools, p. pxxi. ; and as to non attendance of blind or deaf children, below, p. cxxxi. 2 .'jg & 40 Vict., c. 79, s. 15. See Elementary Education Acts, 1870 to 1880. bv Sir Hugh Owen. p. 262. iNTUoDUcrrox. cxxvu among Protcstauf- boys in the voluntary and Board schools of the Metropolis have been sent, are remarkable. Of 658 boys, G27 were licensed after an average absence from home of ten weeks and two days. In 252 cases the licenses were revoked, 204 boys were licensed a second time, and of these second licenses only 92 had to be revoked ; 40 boys were licensed a third time, half of whom had their license revoked, and were transferred, with some of the other unsuccessful cases, making 92 in all, to ordinary industrial schools. ' In 1888 (to M:iy) the percentage of possible attendance with these boys was 92'(»9. ' The subsequent attendances of the boys who had been truants have been considerably better than the average attendance of the other boj's of the London Board schools.' The question, indeed, is the same in schools of all kinds — the question of training versus beating. Mr. J. T. Kilner, of the Hnddersfield Union, at a Poor Law Conference at Wakefield, in a paper on the treatment of workhouse children, put it as follows : — Allow me to illustrate the treatment of an untrartalile child. His age is 8. He is a liar and a thief, has twice or three times attempted to set tire to his house, has been turned out of several schools, has killed a cat and a parrot, and is most incorrijjiljle. Boating has no etF^ct on him. his mother and his relatives are afraid of him, and no one can control him. Such is the problem placed before Mr. Steel at the Westminster Police Court by an anxious mother. Mr. Steel, however, could not answer the question, and merely suggested beating, beating, beating. Sir Edwin Chudwick says : 'I sent the statement of the case to 31r. Marshland, the superintendent of the district half-time school at Anerley. and asked lor his observations on the case. I give his answer to it: "There needs no human Earey to deal with a boy of this sort. Place him in better surroundings, give him no time to steal, ask him no questions for some time, and his habits of lying and stealing will die a natural death much quicker than by any amount of beating. Quite lately L had a boy with an inveterate habit of getting up in the night time and stealing from the clothes of his schoolfellows who slept in the same dormitory. I put him through an extra course of gymnastics before going to bed. and tired nature improved his moral nature. IVly remedy for a bad habit is to fill up boys' wakinsj time with thoughts and actions of as pleasant a nature as possilde, and with such a genial supervisor that the delight he takes in his new life leaves no roimi for his old life, and then .send him to bed too tired to talk or do anything but go to sleep. Systematic and constant employment of time, made as pleasant as possible, never fails to alter and improve what are called incorrigible boys." ' Besides these schools, certified day industrial schools may be certified dny established if, owing to the circumstances of any class of the popu- schools, lation in any school district, the Secretary of State thinks them desirable for the proper training and control of the children. In such schools industrial training, elementary education, and one or more meals a day, but not lodging, are provided.' A certified day industrial school will probably be established shortly in the Metro- polis. Children who may be sent to industrial schools under the Industrial Schools Act may, under ' an order of detention,' be sent, ' Kducalinn Act, ;','.i ».<;; 10 Vict., c. 79, s. IG. ox XVI 11 INTRODUCTIOX. at the discretion of the court, to a certified day industrial school, if they are under 14 and found begging or receiving alms, etc. (see p. cxxi.) ; or frequenting the company of thieves ; or, being under 12, are charged with an offence punishable by imprisonment or any less punisliment, but not convicted in England or Ireland of felony, in Scotland of theft; or, being under 14 and under the care of a parent, are refi'actnr}' (see p. cxxii.). They may also be sent under an attendance order, or if tliej^ have not complied vvitli an attendance order.' The child is then detained daily during school hours, but he cannot be kept in this detention beyond three years or beyond the age of 14. The certified day industrial schools are supported by grants from the School Board, by grants from the Treasury of not more than Is. a head per vsreek, and (vphere a child is sent by a court of summary jurisdiction, otherwise than by an attendance order) by contributions from the parents of not more than 2s. per week. If the parent is unable to pay, the Guardians, if satisfied of his inability to do so, ' shall give him sufficient relief to pay the said sura.' Children are also received into day industrial schools without any attendance order upon the request of a local authority, ani of the parent of a child. The parent then pays not less than Is. a week, and the Treasury may pay not more than 6d. per week for the child. XLV. — The Blind, Deaf and Dumb : the Powers of the Guardians. The Royal Commission on the condition of the Blind, the Deaf, and Dumb, etc. (1889), write:— ' The blind, deaf and dumb, and the educable class of imbeciles form a distinct group, which, if left uneducated, become not only a burden to themselves, but a weighty burden to the State. It is the interest of the State to educate them, so as to diy up as far as possible the minor streams which ultimately swell the great torrent of pauperism. Indigence is found to exist in the great majority of the cases of persons so afflicted.' An inquiry made by the Com- mission shows that out of 5,848 blind persons no less than 4,605 declare their iuabilify to maintain themselves without charitable assistance, while only 950 state that they can so maintain themselves; 3,282 state that they earn nothing at all. ' It cannot be said that they are as a rule impoverished by any fault of their own ; to deal with them, therefore, liberally in such matters as education or outdoor relief cannot be viewed as offering any reward to vice, folly, or im- providence. They are as distinct from the "pauper" in the ordinary sense as the " pauper " is distinct from the " criminal." . . . Their education is more expensive than that of ordinary children, and in many instances (especially in rural districts) necessitates the ex- ' Ordor in Coiirifil, nrt. 12 ; are Owen, pp. '2(il, .')(>8. IXTRODUCTIOX. OXXIX pensc of both cdncaiion and maintonaiico. Frar liaa bron oxprcssfd tliat, if their cdufation were iiuderlakcii by tlio Slate, the ellect iiii^lit be to diminish that generous be uevoleuce which has already- done so much for them in this country. When it is remembered how much remains to be done for them, it is obvious that, even if such aid be given, there will still be room for the action of privato benevolence, which experience shows to be often stimulated rather than discouraged by State aid when judiciously given.' We take from the report the following note in regard to the prevention of blindness' : — It is stated that ' a fi^equent cause of blindness is the inflamma- tion of the eyes of now-boru infants, which can be prevented, and, if taken in time, cured. It has been found by the Ophthalmological Society that 30 per cent, of the inmates of asylums (i.e. schools for the blind) are blinded from purulent ophthalmia in early life ; and about 7,000 persons in the United Kingdom have lost their siglit from that cause.' Dr. Glascott states : — ' It has been distinctly proved in the large maternity and foundling hospitals of the Coutitieiit thiit the percentage of cases of purulent ophthalmia in the new- born can be materially diminished by simply cleansinir tlie eyes of all ciiildreii with clean water as soon as they are born. More recently the number of sufferers has been further diminished hy the use of antiseptics, such as weak solutions of boraeic or salicylic acid, a two-por-cent. solution of carbolic acid, however, giving the best results. As a further development of the preventive plan of treatment, the method of Cred(5 has been introduced. It has the merit of being extremely simple, and very efficient. It consists in washing the infant's eyes with pure water as soon as it is born, and then by means of a drop-tube instilling a single drop of two-per-cent. solution of nitrate of silver into the eyes. This simple method of prevention should be known to, and carried out by, every midwife in the country, and, wiiat is more, parents should insist upon its being done.' The provision made for the blind and deaf or deaf and dumb has recently been greatly extended. 1. The Guardians of the poor may give 'necessary relief to the lame, impotent, old, blind, and such other among them being ' poor and unable to work.' All categories of afflicted persons come under this definition, if they are ' poor and unable to work,"'^ irrespective of age. 2. The Guardians may relieve a blind or deaf and dumb vrife, and the relief thus given will not be considered as relief given to the husband. Thus the husband will not become a pauper, owing to bis being (as he would be under the ordinary law) the legal recipient of such relief, and he would thus keep the Parliamentary and other franchises.' He is liable to pay for her if he has the ' The almoner -will find the papers of the Society for the Prevention of Blind- ness of use. * 43 Eliz., c. 2. ' 4 & 6 Will. IV., c. 76, s. .56. This refers also to children under 16 ; but these are now dealt with under the Elementary Education (Blind and Deaf Children) Act 1893, s. 10, with certain exceptions (sfe p. cxxxi.), and in these casea relief given to the child under 16 would not be considered relief given to the parent. Tlif preven- ticin of blindness. Powers of Guardians, etc., as to the blind and Jeaf and dnnib adults and children. CXXX INTRODUCTIOX. means, but the relief is not relief to him so as to make him I'emovable. The words are : — ' And be it further enacted, that from and after the passing of this Act all relief given tc or on account of the wife, or to or on account of any child or children under the age of 16, not being blind or deaf and dumb, shall be considered as given to the husband of such wife, or to the father of such child or children, as the case may be, and any relief given to or on account of any child or children under the age of 16 of any widow shall be considered as given to such widow.' Nothing in the Act is, however, to dis- charge relations responsible under 43 Eliz., c. 2, of that responsi- bility. 3. The legal responsibilities of parents towards children and children towards parents in regard to maintenance are, in the case of the blind and deaf and dumb, the same as those fixed by the law in other cases (see ante, p. 1.). 4. By 30 & 31 Vict., c 106, s. 21 (1867), ' the Guardians may provide for the reception, maintenance, and instruction of any adult pauper, being blind or deaf and dumb, in any hospital or institution established for the reception of persons suflPering under such infir- mities, and may pay the charges incurred in the conveyance of such, pauper to and from the same, as well as those incurred in his main- tenance, support, and instruction therein.' •5. Next, as to children, the Guardians (see p. xcii.) may, nnder25&26Vict., c. 43, ss. 1 & 10 (1862), send a child to any certified school — i.e. any institution for the instruction of the blind, deaf, dumb, lame, deformed, or idiotic, but not a certified reformatory school. But the child must be an orphan or deserted by his or her pai'ents or surviving parent, or one whose parents or surviving parent shall consent to the sending of such child to the said school. And by 45 & 46 Vict., c. 58, s. 13 (1882), the Guardians may * pay the reasonable expenses incurred in the maintenance, clothing, and education of such child whilst in such school, to an amount not exceeding such rate of payment as may be sanctioned by the Local Government Board for pauper children sent to such school,' anything contained in the 25 & 26 Vict., c. 43, notwithstanding. ' The Local Government Board sanctions six shillings as the weekly sum to be paid for each child under the above provision.'' The Guardians may also, by 31 & 32 Vict. (1868), c. 122, s. 42, ' with the approval of the Local Government Board, send any poor deaf and dumb or blind child to any school fitted for the reception of such child, though such school shall not have been certified under 25 & 26 Vict., c. 43.' The P:iementary Education (Blind and Deaf Children) Act 1893 (56 & 57 Vict., c. 42, s. 13), however, limits the field of the ' Glen's Archbold, p. 291. INTRODUCTIOX. CXXXl Guardians in tin's department of work. From the 1st July, 1894, tlu! Ciuardiaiis have been al)h! to j)la<'e in scliools only blind or dt-itf ciiildron who arc (a) idiots or imbeciles; or (b) resident in the workhouse or in an institution to which they have been sent by a Board of Guardians from a workhouse; or (c) boarded-onb by Guardians. The responsibility of a parent towards the maintenance of a blind or deaf and dumb child relieved by the Guardians remains intact, though he does not by the receipt of such relief become, in the eye of the law, a pauper (see above s. 2, where the section from 4 & 5 Will, IV., c. 76, 8. 56, is quoted). 6. The Guardians can also pay the tecs in non-pauper cases in which a blind or deaf child is ' attending, or pi-oposiug to attend, a non-Board School where fees are charged,' between the ages of 7 and 16 in the case of a blind, and 5 and 16 in the case of a deaf child. Further, where the Guardians are giving outdoor relief to a parent, they must make it a condition that elementary education is provided for his blind or deaf child, and must give further relief, if necessary, with that object (see ante, p. cxi.). 7. By 42 & 43 Vict., c. 54, s. 10 (1879) (see p. cvi.), the Guar- dians have a large general power. They may ' subscribe towards any asylum or institution for blind persons, or for deaf and dumb persons,' if the Local Government Board be satisfied that the paupers under the Guardians have, or could have, assistance therein in case of necessity. XLVI. — The Blind, Deaf and Dumb: the Provision made BY THE SCHOOIi BOARD, Till the year 1893 the Guardians were the only authority that could pay for the maintenance of blind or deaf and dumb children in schools ; and they could deal alike with the children of parents who were or were not in receipt of Poor-Law relief. By the Act of 1893, for the better provision for the elementary educa- tion of blind and deaf children in England and Wales,' the power.s of the educational authorities in dealing with the.se children are clearly defined, and their field of work divided from that of the Guardians : — 1. It is now obligatory on the parent of a blind or deaf ^ child, except in the case of a deaf child undeV seven years of age, to cause it to attend school. The blindness or deafness is not a ' reasonable excuse ' ' for neglecting to provide efficient elementary instruction for the child ' ; nor is the fact that there is no school which the child can attend, within two miles. ' 56 and 57 Vict., c. 42. * ' Blind ' means ' too blind to be able to read the ordinary school books used by children.' ' Deaf means ' too deaf to be taught in a class of bearing childrea in an elementary school.' t2 CXXXU IXTRODUCTION. 2. On tlie other hand, the school authority must make ' efficient and suitable pr.^vision.' They may do this by establishing or acquiring and maintaining a school certified for the purpose by the Education Department ; or they may contribute to such a school for the education of such children under conditions approved by the Education Department, and ' arrange for boarding-out any blind or deaf child in a home conveniently near to the certified school where the child is receiving elementary education.' ' The expression " school " includes any institution in which blind or deaf children are boarded or lodged as well as taught, and any establish- ment for boarding or lodging children taught in a certified school. If there is no School Board which may serve as school authority for the area for the purposes of this Act, the District Council for that area may be the authority. 3. The expenses which the school authority may incur include ' the expenses of and incidental to the attendance of the child at a school, and of and incidental to the maintenance and boarding-out of the child while so attending, and the expenses of conveying the child to or from the school.' ' Maintenance ' includes the supply of clothing. 4. The parent is liable to contribute such weekly sum as may be agreed upon between him and the local authority. If they fail to agree, a court of summary jurisdiction may arbitrate ; and ' any sum so agreed on or settled may, without prejudice to any other remedy, be recovered by the school authority summarily as a civil debt.' 5. The parent is deprived of no franchise, right, or privilege, nor is subject to any disability or disqualification, by reason of the education afibrded to his child. 6. The period of compulsory education extends to the age of 16 in the case of blind and deaf children, and no such child is entitled to total or partial exemption from the obligation to attend school. ' In London the blind children usually attend the ordinary day- schools, and share, as far as possible, in the instruction there given ; V;ut they also, on specified days, receive special instruction at centres, of which there are 20. The attendance at these centres ranges from one to 19. The position and times of meeting of the different centres are frequently altered to meet the varying circumstances of School Boari the Scholars. The average number on the roll for the year ended RefKJrt, ' at Lady Day 1894 was 175, and the average attendance 134.' ' Blind children who have not passed the second standard, although over seven years of age, are admitted into the infants' departments. ' For the instruction of the deaf and dumb there are now 17 centres. The addresses of these will be found in the Register. The average attendance of children is 375. There is a superin- tendent, 35 women and 10 men, and 24 assistant instructors. The lbi«3-94. INTIIODUCTION. CXXXm teacliing is on the oral system. So far as it can be arranged no teacher has more than ten children under instruction. The arrangements for the attendance of children are similar to those for tlie bliud. Tlie superintendents of visitors send to the central office of the Board lists of the names and addresses of deaf children. They are then, if found suitable, sent to the nearest centre of instruction. An almoner, on hearing of a blind or a deaf and dumb child who does not go to school, should communicate with the superintendent of the School Board visitors in the division, or with the clerk of the School Board, Victoria Embankment, E.G. XLVII. — The Metropolitan Asylums Board. As the charge of idiots and imbeciles and harmless lunatics is in London entrusted to the Metropolitan Asylums Board, who have also powers in regard to the supply of accommodation for the sick — the subject to which we pass next — it is convenient to state here the constitution of that Board. The Metropolitan Asylums Board was established under the Metropolitan Poor Act 18(37. The Local Government Board were empowered to combine into districts * unions or parishes, or unions and parishes ' in the Metropolis for the provision of asylums ' for the reception and relief of the sick, insane or infirm, or other class or classes of the poor chargeable in unions or parishes in the Metropolis.' Accordingly in May of that year the Board formed the Meti-opolis into one asylum district, under a board of management, since enlarged to 72 elective and nominated managers. The former (54) are elected by the Guardians ; the latter (18) are appointed by the Local Government Board. Elected members may be chosen from among the Guardians themselves, or from among the ratepayers, but they must be rated to the poor-rate within the asylum district upon a net annual value of not less than £"40.' Nominated members must be selected from among the 'justices of the peace for any county or place resident in the district,' or from among ' ratepayers assessed to the poor-rate therein on an annual rateable value of not less than £40,' or partly from the one and partly from the other.' They serve for three years. The Board has under its supervision the training ship ' E.xmouth ' (see p. xcii.) ; four asylums — two for harmless lunatics, the asylums at Leavesden and Gaterham, and two for imbeciles, the Dareuth Adult Asylum and the Darenth Idiot School ; eight disti-ict hospitals, two hospital ships, and three ambulance stations, with three wharves and a river ambulance service. It has also had at Gore Farm a convalescent hospital for smallpox or fever patients (see p. c.xli.). ' It would seem that the conditions as to rating, etc., attached to the appoint- ment of members of the Metrop jlitan Asyhims Board remain in force, although theqnaliticaiions of Guardians have been altered by the Loc»l Government Act 1894, cxxxiv introductio:n. XLVIII.— Lunatics. ' The almoner may in the course of his work have occasion to deal with cases of lunatic persons above the pauper class, for which he may desii-e to find accommodation. Or he may have to make arrangements for cases of pauper lunatics and cases of lunatics wandering at large. The law regarding lunatics was consolidated by a Statute passed in 1890, and amended in 1891. The supervision of institutions for lunatics, idiots, and imbeciles is in the hands of the Lunacy Commissioners. They consist of a chairman, one unpaid Commissioner, and six paid Commissioners, of whom three are legal and three medical. Each asylum is inspected annually by two or more Commissioners ; each licensed house six times a year, or, if not within the immediate jurisdiction of the Commissioners, twice a year ; each licensed hospital once a year. The Commissioners also visit lunatics, idiots, and imbeciles in workhouses, and unlicensed houses they visit once at least in the year. They publish an annual report. The local control is vested in the case of (1) county and borough asylums, in the visiting committee of the county or town council. They have to visit once at least in every two months. (2) Licensed houses are visited by visitors consisting ot three or more justices and one or more medical practitioners, appointed by the justices of the county or quarter sessions borough. They have to visit at least six times a year. (3) Further, institutions in which pauper lunatics are placed are visited by a medical practitioner appointed by the Poor Law Guardians of the union from which they have been sent, or by some of the Guardians themselves. Pauper lunatics who are not in an institu- tion are visited by the medical officer of the union once a quarter. And lunatics who are in a workhouse must be visited once a quarter by the medical officer of the workhouse. Lunatics may be detained in six ways, which entail expenditure from several different sources. Tliey may be placed (1) in county or borough asylums. By the Local Government Act 1888, instead of grants in aid of local purposes being made from the Exchequer, it was arranged that the counties and ' county boroughs ' should receive the proceeds of duties on local taxation licenses (licenses for the sale of intoxicating liquor on and off the premises, etc., etc.), and a grant from the proceeds of the probate duty. They were, in return, to make various payments to meet local needs. Amongst these arc payments for the maintenance of pauper lunatics at the rate of 4«. a head per week, when the cost of such lunatics is equal to or exceeds that sum. The difference over and above the 4s. is made good from the rates. The counties and boroughs of a certain * Lunacy Act 18?*^; 63 Vicl.; c. o , and Amendinjr Act 1801, 6i & bo Vict., c. 6."j. INTRODUCTION. CXXXV population are empowered to provide, maintain, enlarge, and visit asylums for pauper lunatics. Lunatics other than paa[)er lunatics can be received into county and borough asylums on payment, if there is room. (2) Lunatics may also be placed in licensed houses. These are institutions carried on for private profit. (3) Or they may be placed in rej^istered hospitals. These are all, or almost all, supported by cliaritable endowments plus payments for patients. (4) They may be kept temporarily — under observation — in special wards of workhouses, or they may be retained in them, if harmless. (5) They may be placed under the care of relations ; or (6) in un- licensed houses carried on for private profit. In this case not more than one patient can be received in the house. Details on a few points may be of use to the almoner : — 1. Non-Pauper Lunatics. — Private patients may be found lunatic by judicial inquisition or by a petition for a reception oi-der. In regard to the former it is only necessary to say that ' the Judge in Lunacy may, upon application by order, direct an inquisition whether a person is of unsound mind and incapable of managing himself and his affairs.' In certain circumstances the inquiry is made before a jury ; and in any case 'the inquisition shall be con- fined to the question whether or not the alleged lunatic is at the time of the inquisition of unsound mind and incapable of managing himself and his aiiairs ; and no evidence as to anything done or said by him, or as to his demeanour or state of mind at any time being more than two years before the inquisition, shall be receivable in proof of insanity, or on the trial of any traverse of an inquisition, unless the person executing the inquisition otherwise directs.' ' For the grant or refusal of reception orders, and other purposes, there is a 'judicial authority,' who may be a justice of the peace specially appointed for this purpose, year by year, by the justices of every county or quarter sessions, ' or a judge of county courts, or a magistrate, having respectively jurisdiction in the place where the lunatic is.' '(1) The petition shall be presented, if possible, by the husbiintl or wife, or by a relation of the alU-gtd lunMlic. If not so presented, it shall contain a statement of the reasons why the petition is not so presented, and of the connection of the petitioner with the alleged lunatic, and the circumstances under whioh be presents the petition. (2) No person shall present a petition unless he is at least 21 years of age, and has within 14 days before the pre>entafi()n of the petition personally seen the alleged lunatic. (3) The petitioner shall in the petiiion undertake that he will personally, or by someone specially appointed by him, visit the patient once at least in every six months; and the undertaking shall be recited in the order. (4) The petition shall be signed by the petitioner, and the statement of particulars by the person making the statement.' The petition must be accompanied by a statement of parti- culars and by two medical certificates on separate she its of paper - for all which form.s rccpiircd by the Act have to be used. The 'Part IV., Lunacy .\cl 1890. CXXXVl INTRODUCTION. judicial authority then makes further inquiry, if necessary, and grants or refuses the petition. 2. Urgency Orders. — ' In cases of urgency, where it is expedient, either for the -welfare of a person (not a pauper) alleged to be a lunatic, or for the public safety, that the alleged lunatic should be forthwith placed under care and treatment, he may be received and detained in an institution for lunatics, or as a single patient, upon an urgency or.ler, made (if possible) by the husband or wife, or by a relation of the alleged lunatic, accompanied by one medical certificate.' No person sliall sign an urgency order unless he is at least twenty-one years of age, and has within two days before the date of the order personally seen the alleged lunatic. The order re- mains in force seven days. For urgency orders the Act supplies forms. No doubt in all these cases the almoner will obtain skilled advice for his guidance. The above notes only indicate the nature of the conditions which have to be fulfilled. 3. Summary Reception Orders. — ' Every constable, relieving officer, and overseer of a parish who has knowledge of any person within the district or parish of the constable, relieving officer, or overseer who is not a pauper and not wandering at large, is deemed to be a lunatic, and is not under proper care and control, or is cruelly treated or neglected by any relation or other person having the care or charge of him, shall within three days after obtaining such knowledge, give information thereof, npon oath, to a justice being a judicial authority under this Act.' The justice may in such case visit, or direct examination by two medical practitioners, and so proceed as in the case of a reception order, eventually, if desirable, sending the lunatic to some insiitntion. 4. Pauper Luyiatics, and Lunatics wandering at large. — The sections of the Act on these points we quote : — ' 14. (1) Every medical officer of a union who has knowledge that a p'luper resident within the district of the officer is or is deemed to be a lunatic and a proper person to be sent to an asylum, shall, within three days after obtaining such knowledge, give notice thereof in writing to the relieving officer of the district, or, if there is no such officer, to an overseer of the parish where the pauper resides. ' (2) Every relieving officer, and every overseer of a parish of which there is no relieving offic-r, who respectively have knowledge, either liy notice from a medical afficer or otherwise, that any pauper resident within tlie di.-trict or parish of the relieving officer or overseer is deemed to bo a lunatic, shall, within three days after obtiiining such knowledge, give notice thereof to a jttstice having jurisdiction in the place where the pauper resides. ' (3) A justice [not necessarily a "judicial authority " under the Aft, but any justice], upon receiving such notice, shall by order require the relieving officer or oversef-r giving the notice to bring the alleged lunatic before him, or some other justice having juris- liction in the place where the pauper resides, at such time and plac*>, within three days from the time of the notice to th(i justice, as shall be appointed by the order. ' 1.5. (1) Kvry constable and relieving officer and every overseer of a parish who ii.is knowleilgc that any purson (whether a pauper or not) wandering at large INTRODUCTION. CXXXVU within the district or parish of the const-iblo, relieving officer, or overseer is deemed to be a lunatic, shall immL-diately appreiiend and take the alleged lunatic, or cause him to be apprt-iiended and taken, before a justice. '(2) Any justice, upon the information upon oath of any person that a person wandering at larjze within the limits of his jurisdiction is deemed to be a lunatic, may by order require a constable, relieving officer, or overseer of the district or parish where the alleged lunatic is, to appreiiend him and bring him before the justice making the order, or any justice having jurisdiction where the alleged lunatic is. '16. The justice before whom a pauper alleged to be a lunatic or an alleged lunatic wandering at largo is brought under this Act shall call in a medieal practitioner, and shall examine the alleged lunatic, and make such inquires as he tliinks advisable, and if upon such examination or other proof the justice is satis- fied in the first-mentioned case that the alleged lunatic is a lunatic and a proper , person to be detained, and, in the secondly-mentioned case, that the alleged lunatic is a lunatic, and was wandering at large, and is a proper person to bo detained, and if in each of the foregoing cases the medical pi'aetitioner who has been called in signs a medical certificate with regard to the lunatic, the justice may by order direct the lunatic to be received and declined in the institution for lunatics named in the order, and the relieving officer, overseer, or constable who brought the lunatic before the justice, or, in the case of a lunatic wandering at large, any constable who may by the justice be required to do so, shall forthwith convey the lunatic to such institution. ' 17. Where, under this Act, notice has been given to, or an information upon oath laid before, a justice that a pauper resident within the limits of his jurisdic- tion is deemed to be a lunatic, and a proper person to be sent to an asylum, or that a person, whether a pauper or not, wandering at large within the limits aforesaid, is deemed to be a lunatic, suchjustice may examine the alleged lunatic at his own house or elsewhere, and may proceed in all respects as if the alleged lunatic had been brought before him. ' 18. A justice shall not sign an order for the reception of a person as a pauper lunatic into an institution for lunatics, or workhouse, unless he is satisfied tnat the alleged pauper is cither in receipt of relief, or in such circumstances as to require relief for his proper care. If it appears by the order that the justice is so satisfied, the lunatic shall be deemed to be a pauper chargeable to the union, county, or borough properly liable for his relief. A person who is visited by a medical officer of the union, at the expense of the union, is, for the purposes of this section, to be deemed to be in receipt of relief. '19. (1) A justice making an order for the reception of a lunatic otherwise than upon petition, in this Act called a ' summary reception order,' may suspend the execution of the order for such period not exceeding fourteen days as he thinks tit, and in the meantime may give .such directions or make such arrangements for the proper care and CiUtrol of the lunatic as he considers proper. ' (2) If a medical practitioner who examines a lunatic as to whom a summary reception order has been made, certifies in writing that the lunatic is not in a tit state to be removed, the removal shall be suspended until the sanip or some otjier medical practitioner certifies in writing that the lunatic is fit to be removed, and every medical practitioner who has certified that the lunatic is not in a fit state to be removed shall, as soon as in his judgment the lunatic is in a fit state to be re- removed, be bound to certify accordingly. ' 20. If a constable, relieving officer, or overseer is satisfied that it is neces- sary for the public safety, or the welfare of an alleged lunatic with regard to whom it is his duty to take any proceedings under this Act, that the alleged lunatic should, befont any such proceedings can be taken, be placed under care and control, the constable, relieving officer, or overseer may remove the alleged lunatic to the workhouse of the union in which the alleged lunatic is, and the master of the workhouse shall, unless there is no proper accommodation in the workhouse for the alleged lunatic, receive and relieve, and detain the alleged lunatic therein, but no person shall be so detained for more than three days, and before the expi- ration of that time the constable, relieving officer, or overseer shall take such proceedings with regard to the alleged lunatic a.s are required by this Act. '21. (1) In any case where a summary reception order might be made, any CXXXVm INTRODUCTION. justice, if satisfied that it is expedient for the welfare of the lunatic, or for the public safety, that the hanatic should forthwith be placed under care and control, and if it appears to him that there is proper accommodation for the lunatic in the •workhouse of the union in whicii the lunatic is, may make an order for taking the lunatic to and receiving him in that workhouse. ' (2) In any case where a summary reception order has been made, an order tinder this section may be made to provide for the detention of the lunatic until he can be removed. ' (3) An order under this section shall not authorise the detention of a lunatic in a workhouse fi>r more than fuurteen days, after which period such detention shall not be lawful, except in accordance with the provisions of this Act as to the detention of lunatics in workhouses. ' (4) An order under this section may be made by any justice having jurisdic- tion in the place where the lunatic is. ' 22. In I he case of a lunatic as to whom a summary reception order may be made, nothing in this Act shall prevent a relation or friend from retaining or taking the lunatic under his own care, if a justice having jurisdiction to make the order, or the vi^itl'rs of the asylum in which the lunatic is or is intended to be placed, shall be satisfied that proper care will be taken of the lunatic' As a rule, in cases of emergency it will be found best to apply- to the relieving officer. The Chairman of a Board of Guardians may be authorised to act as a judicial authority under the following section of the amending Act' : — ' If, for the due administration of the Lunacy Acts, 1890 & 1891, in any union it appears to the Lord Chancellor desirable, he may, by writing under his hand, empower the Chairman of the Board of Guardians to sign orders for the reception of persons as pauper lunatics in institutions lor lunatics, and every order so signed shall have efft-ct as if made by a justice of the peace under the principal Act.' A lunatic may not remain in a workhouse unless the medical officer certifies in writing that he is a proper person to be allowed to remain there, and that the accommodation is sufficient for his proper care and treatment. He may on this certificate be detained fourteen days. Lunatics not recovered may be discharged to a workhouse and there detained ; and chronic lunatics, not being dangerous, may be kept in a workhouse, by arrangement with au asylum and with the consent of the Local Government Board. Reception orders may remain in force a year, and then two years, then three years, and so on up to five years, being renewed subject to report from the medical officer of the institution.^ XLIX. — Idiots and Imbeciles. 'There is no clear line separating idiots and imbeciles; it is merely a diffi^rence of degree, not of kind. Idiocy means a greater de- ficiency of intellect, and imbecility a lesser degree of such deficiency.' But the two, the idiot and the imbecile, are now definitely separated from the lunatic by the Idiots Act 1886, in which, ' if not inconsis- tent with the context, "idiots" or "imbeciles" do not include "lunatics," and "lunatic" does not mean or include "idiot" or *' imbecile." ' The formalities of the Lunacy Acts are set aside, and ' Lunacy Act 1891, 54 & bb Vict., c. 65, s. 26. ^ Act 1891. s. 7. INTKODUCTION. CXXXIX * a feeble-minded child can now be admitted into an institution to receive the benefits of its educational and industrial training upon a simple medical certificate that it is ' imbecile ' and ' capable of receiving benefit from admission into an asylum.' The Lunacy Commissioners inspect all institutions, whether certified by the Local Government Board or not, which are registered or licensed under the Lunacy Acts for the reception of idiots and imbeciles, and they visit all workhouses where persons of unsound mind are detained. But there is no Government inspection of the education of educable imbeciles, nor general superintendence of the training and education of these classes.' For the treatment also of cases of idiots and imbeciles the Guardians have large permissive powers. They may send ' idiotic persons' to certified schools by 26 & 26 Vict., c. 43 (see p. xcii.), and they may with the like consent send any idiotic, imbecile, or insane pauper who may lawfully be detained in a workhouse to the workhouse of any other union or parish, paying the cost of maintenance, etc.^ Tliey may, with the consent of the Local Government Board, send idiotic paupers to an asylum or establish- ment for the reception and relief of idiots maintained at the charge of the county rate or by public subscription."^ For imbecile children in the Metropolitan Poor Law area, the im'it'ciie Metropolitan As^-lums Board has an asylum at Darenth. And at the same place and under the same management is an asylum for adult imbeciles. Cases are admitted to these institutions through the Guardians. Application should be made to the relieving officer. The relief carries Avith it the disqualifications of pauperism. The Darenth Asylum is the only institution for idiots supported wholly by the rates In the rest of England there are seven Hospitals or Homes for Imbeciles registered under the Idiots Act ; and there is some special provision for them in connection with one or two Ijunatic Asylums, but the existing accommodation is altogether insufficient, and it is greatly to be desired that County Councils should have the power to establish for this class asylums similar to those at Darentli, to which both pauper and, on payment, non- pauper cases could be admitted. L. — Feeble-minded, Epileptic, and Dkformed. Mention may here be made of some other classes of the afflicted, the feeble- minded, and deformed. The Royal Commission on the Blind, etc., inquired, at the request of the Royal Commi.^sion on the Elementary Education Acts, in regard to feeble-minded children. ' Report of the Royal Commission on the Bliiul, etc., p. slv. ; and Report of Special Committee of the Charitv Organisation Society. ' The Idiots Act l^-Sti, if) f;'M) \wi., c. 2.\ b. Id. cxl INTRODUCTION. Need of sepai-ate classes and special education for feeblc- niinded childi-en. Cripplerl. deform ev me^iical relief. Ounrdisns T-iay Hub- gcribe to hodpitals. ' (h) A stfltpment by a competent authority as to the existing; sanitary con- dition antropolis. '(6) The proposed Board should early tnrn its attention to the possibility of so organising nipdical charity as to secure co-operati(jn of hosp'tals and dispensaries with one another, and the co-operation of medical charity with general charity.' Overlapping and intercrossing the medical relief given by- charitable institutions is a vast system of Poor Law medical relief. Since 1867 the Poor Law infirmaries have become hospitals ; and in construction, medical treatment, and nursing they now take a high place. At the same time, the poor draw a distinction between the infirmary and the workhouse, and have no scruple in entering the former. To co-ordinate this system with the charit- able medir^al system is one of tlie problems of medical reform in London at the present time, while in many instances admission obtained during illness is necessarily given with but little inquiry. In the metropolis, under the Metropolitan Poor Act 1867, the Local Government Board have formed two districts. The Central London Rick Asylum District comprises Strand, West minster, and St. Giles, and has an asylum at Cleveland Street, Fitzroy Square. It has also an asylum at Highgate, whicb is to be sold very shortly to the St. Pancras Union. The Poplar and Stepney Sick Asylum District, which includes these two Unions, has an asylum at Devons Road, Bromley. The managers of these asylums are partly elected by the Boards of Gnardians concerned, partly nominated by the Local Government Board. They may ^ contract for the reception in the asylums of paupers chargeable to other unions ; and if, under circumstances of urgency, they relieve at the asylums persons who are not paupers, all reasonable charges are, subject to restrictions of the Local Government Board, recoverable, and the relief given is deemed to be given by way of loan.'^ The asylums maybe used for training nurses. Guardians may,^ with the consent of the Local Government Board, pay annual subscriptions towards the support and main- tenance of any public hospital or infirmary for the reception of sick, diseased, disabled, or wounded persons, or of persons suffering from ' 39 & 40 Vict., c. 61, s. 22. = 39 & 40 Vict., c. 61, s. 42. = 14 & 1.5 Vict., c. 105, s. 4. IXTRODUCTIOX. Cxlvii any pprmaneTit or natural infirmity. Thoy may witli similar consent also subscribe towards any association for providing nurses. ' Next witli regard to the out-patient accommodation pro- pwr ' aw vidcd by the Poor Law (we local lists). The general medical nK'"iu^\ Poor Law relief of a union is under the supervision of one '"'^'i'^^ or more medical officers. Unions are, if necessary, subdivided for medical purposes. In that case district medical otTicers are appointed to the several districts. 13ut, except in the metro- polis, no district is to contain more than tiftcen thousand statute acres, or a population exceeding fifteen thousand persons, ^riie medical ofBcer has to attend and supf)ly with medicine all tho poor requiring medical attendance in his district, on an order from tho Guatdiaiis or the relieving ofllcer. If he attends aside person without an oicler, he has to inform tho relieving officer. In the Metropolis, under the Metropolitan Poor Act 1867, rnor Law special provision is made for the establishment of Poor Law in the dispensaries m the several parishes and unions. The dispensaries *-'^^'^p° '^■ are, if the Guardians so desire, placed under the management of dispensary visiting committees, of not less than five or more than nine, elected by the Guardians from their own body. Medical relief, as may be required, at the dispensary or at tlie patient's home, is given on an order to the district medical officer, signed bv the relieving officer or the clerk to the Guardians. ' Urgent ' i.^ written on tlie order if the case is so considered. Drugs, medicines, and medical appliances are supplied. A dispenser and medical officer are in daily attendance, Sundays excepted. The cost of medicines, etc., and the salary of medical officers are charged to the ]\Ielro- politan Common Poor Fund, and if, on the requisition of the Local Government Board, they refuse or neglect to provide a dispensary', they forfeit the repayment from the fund. They may, with the consent of the Board, make arrangements for the treatment of paupers at some general hospital or dispensary.''^ LI V. — Vaccination. The influence of the almoner may be of lasting benefit in urging tho poor to be vaccinated, especially at times when there is appre- hension of small -pox. Unions or parishes are divided into Vaccination Districts, nptniintion These are in charge of Vaccination Officers, ' appointed to see to as to vnooi- natioii. ' 42 & 43 Viet., c. 54. s. 10. 'The Guardians may, with the consent of the Local Government Board, subscribe towards anj' other asylum or institution,' l)f'sidcs tiiose .«pcoifieec. 3. Clviii INTRODUCTION. (2) Offensive TrarJes} — 'Where any manufactory, building, or premises used for any trade, business, process or manufacture causing' effluvia is certified to the sanitary authority by their medical officer of health, or by any two legally qualified medical practitioners, or by any ten inhabitants of the district of such anthoritv, to be a nuisance, or iniurious or danererous to the health of any inhabitants of the district, such authority shall make a complaint to a petty sessions court.' A fine not exceeding fifty pounds may be levied, unless it is shown that the best practicable means for abating the nuisance have been adopted. (3) Removal of 'Refuse. — The following clauses may be quoted : — ' 29. — (1) It shall be the duty of every sanitary aiithority to keep the streets of their district, which are repairable by the inhabitants at lar<^e, including tli of the sanitary authority to take proceedings against any company in default. ' (3) This section shall apply to every water company which is a trading com- pany supplying water for profit.' (6) Notification of Infections Disease. — The following section (section 55) refers to this constantly-recurring question: — 'c5. — (1) Where an inmate of any house within the district of a sanitary clx INTRODUCTION. authority is suffering from an infectious disease to which this section applies, the following provisions shall hari' eflfeot, that is to say: — '(u) The head of the family to which such inmate (in this section referred to as the patient) belongs, and in his default the nearest relatives of the patient present in the house or being in attendance on the patient, and in default of such relatives, every person in charge of or in attendance on the patient, and in default of any such person the master of the house, shall, as soon as he becomes aware that the patient is suffering from an infectious disease to which this section appl-es, send notice thereof to the medical ofBcer of health of the district, : ' (i) Every medical practitioner attending on or called in to visit the patient shall forthwith, on becoming aware that the patient is. suffering from an infectious disease to which this section applies, send to the medical officer of health of the district a certificate stating the full name and the age and sex of the patient, the full postal address of the house, and the infectious disease from which in the opinion of such medical practitioner the patient is suffering, and stating also whether the case occurs in the private practice of such practitioner or in his practice as a medical officer of any public body or institution, and where the certificate refers to the inmate of a hospital it shall specify the place from which and the date at which the inmate was brought to the hospital, and shall be sent to the medical officer of health of the district in which the said place is situate : ' Provided that, in the case of a hospital of the Metropolitan Asylum Managers, a notice or certificate need not be sent respecting any inmate with respect to whom a copy of the certificate has been previously forwarded by the medical officer of health of the district to the said managers. ' (2) Every person required by this section to send a notice or certificate, who fails forthwith to send the same, shall be liable to a fine not exceeding forty shillings: Provided that if a person is not required to send notice in the first instance, but only in default of some other person, be shall not be liable to any fine if he satisfies the court that he had reasonable cause to suppose that the notice had been duly sent. ' (3) The Local Government Board may prescribe forms for the purpose of certificates to be sent in pursuance of this section, and if such forms are so pre- scribed, they shall be used in all cases to which they apply. The sanitary authority shall gratuitously supply forms of certificMte to any medical practitioner residing or practising in their district who applies for the same, and shall pay to every medical practitioner for each certificate duly sent by him in accordance with this section a fee of two shillings and sixpence if the case occurs in his private practice, and of one shilling if the case occurs in his practice as medical officer of any public body or institution. ' (4) Where a medical officer of health receives a certificate under this section relating to a patient within the Metropolitan Asylum district, he shall, within twelve hours after such receipt, send a copy thereof to the Metropolitan Asylum Managers, and to the head teacher of the school attended by the patient (if a child), or liy any child who is an inmate of the same house as the patient. The Metropolitan Asylum Managers shall repay to the sanitary authority the fees paid by that authority in respect of the certificates whereof copies have been so sent to the managers. The managers shall send weekly to the county council, and to every medical officer of health, such return of the infectious diseases of which they receive certificates in pursuance of this section as the countv council require. 'lo) Where in any district of a sanitary authority there are two or more medical officers of health of that authority, a certificate under this section shall be sent to such one of those officers as has charge of the area in which is thu patient referred to in the certificate, or to such other of those officers as the sanitary authority may direct. ' (6) A notice or certificate fx) be sent to a medical officer in pursuance of this section may be sent to such officer at his office or residence. ' (7) This section shall apply to every building, vessel, tent, van, shed, or similar structure used for human habitation, in like manner as nearly as may be as if it were a house ; but nothing in this section shall extend to any house. INTRODUCTION. clxl building, vessel, tent, van, sheJ, or similar structure helonginsj to Ht MajcHty the Qiioen, or to any inmate thereof, nor to any vess'^l belonging to any foreign govern mf-nt. '(8) In this section the expression "infectious disease to wiiich this sect'on applies" means any of the folowing diseases, namely, small-pox, cholera, diphtheria, membranous cr vup, erysipelas, the disease known as scarlatina or scarlet fever, and the fevers known by any of the fallowing names, typhus, typhoid, enteric, relapsing, continued, or puerperal, and includes as respects any particular district any infectious disease to which this section has been applied by the sanitary authority of the district in manner provided by this Act.' (7) The Cleansing and Disinfecting of Premises. — Section 60 is as follows : — '60. — (1) Where the medical officer of health of any sanitary authority or any other legally qualified medical practitioner, certifies that tlie cleansing and disinfecting of any house, or part thereof, and of any articles therein likely to retain infection, or the destruction of such articles, would tend to prevent or cheek any dangerous infectious disease, the sanitary authority shall serve notice on the master, or, where the house or part is unoccupied, on the owner, of such house or part, that the same and any sucli articles therein will be cleansed and disinfected or (as regards the articles) destroyed, by the sanitary authority, unless he informs the sanitary authority within twenty-four hours trom the receipt of the notice that Le will cleanse and di.sinfect the house or part and any such articles, or destroy such articles to the satisfaction of the medical officer of health, or of any other legally qualified medical practitioner, within a time fixed in the notice. ' (2) If either— ' (a) within twenty-four hours from th^ receipt of the notice, the person on whom the notice is served does not inform the sanitary authority as aforesaid, or ' (i) having so informeii the sanitary authority, lie fai's to have tJie house or part thereof and any such articles disinfected or such articles destroyed as aforesaid withiu the time fixed in the notice, or ' fc) the master or owner without such notice gives his consent, the house or part and articles sliall be cleansed and disinfected or such articles destroyed by the officers and at the cost of the sanitary authority, under the superintendence of the medical officer of health. ' (3) For the purpose of carrying into effect this section the sanitary authority may enter by day on any premises. ' (4) The sanitary authority shall provide, free of charge, temporary shelter or house accommodation with any necessary attendants for the members of any family in which any dangerous infectious disease has appeared, -who have been compelled to leave their dwellings for the purpose of endbling such dwellings to be disinfected by the sanitary authority. '(5) When the sanitary authority have disinfected any house, part of a house, or article, under the provisions of this section, they shall compensate the master or owner of such house, or part of a house, or the owner of such article, for any un- necessary damage thereby caused to such house, part of a house, or article; and when the authority destroy any article under this section they shall compensate the owner thereof; and the amount of any such compensation shall be recoverable in a summary manner.' (8) Hospitals and Ambulances. — Sections 75, 76, 77, and 78 are : — ' Power of sanifari/ authority to provide hospitals. '75. — (1) Any sanitary authority may provide for the use of the inhabitanta of their district hospitals temporary or permanent, and for that purpose may — ' (a) themselves build such hospitals, or ' (fi) contract for the use of any hospital or part of a hospital, or I cLxii INTRODUCTION. '(c) enter into any agreement with any person having the management of any hospital for the reception of the sick inhabitants of their district, on pay- mr-nt of such annual or other sum as may be agreed on. ' (2) Two or more sanitary authorities may combine in providing a common hospital. ' Recovery of cost of maintenance of non-infectious patient in hospital. ' 76. Any expenses incurred by a sanitary authority in maintaining in a hospital (whether or not belonging to that authority) a patient who is not a pauper, and is not suffering from an infectious disease, shall be a simple contract debt due to the sanitary authority from that patient, or from any person liable by law to maintain him, but proceedings for its recovery shall not be commenced after the expiration of six months from the discharge of the patient, or if he dies in such hospital from the date of his death. ' Power to provide temporary supply of medicine. ' 77. Any sanitary authority may, with the sanction of the Local Government Board, themselves provide, or contract with any person to provide, a temporary supply of medicine and medical assistance for the poorer inhabitants of their district. ' Provision of conveyance for infected persons. ' 78. A sanitary authority may provide and maintain carriages suitable for the conveyance of persons suffering from any infectious disease, and pay the expense of conveying therein any person so suffering to a hospital or other place of destination.' (9) Bye-Laws for Lodging Houses. — The sanitary authorities have power to make bye-laws as to lodging houses under the following section of the Act of 1891 : — '94. — (1) Every sanitary authority shall make and enforce such bye-laws as are requisite for the following matters : (that is to say) '(a) for fixing the number of persons who may occupy a house or part of a house which is let in lodgings or occupied by members of more than one family, and for the separation of the sexes in a house so let or occupied: '(h) for the registration of houses so let or occupied : ' (c) for the inspection of such houses : • ' (d) for enforcing drainage for such houses, and for promoting cleanliness and ventilation in such houses : '(e) for the cleansing and lime-washing at stated times of the premises: ' (/) for the taking of precautions in case of any infectious disease.' These bye-laws the almoner should obtain. They will probably differ in detail in different districts, but they will represent with fair accuracy what is the standard of sanitary requirement that should be aimed at in the dwellings of the poor. To the medical officer of the Vestry or the Inspector of Nuisances the almoner should complain in writing, if he comes across evils or defects which come within their jurisdiction. By endeavouring to have the law enforced in cases of overcrowding, defective sanitation, and other similar matter.s, the almoner can do acts of charity of untold value. The law is complete enough. But the poor are too often busy and too accustomed to bad sanitation to care about change. PnbHc Under the Sale of Food and Drugs Act (38 & 39 Vict., c. 63) Anaiirts. 1375, Vestries and District Boards can appoint, subject to the approval of the Local Government Board, one or more persons poBsessing competent knowledge, skill and experience, as analysts of all articles of food and drugs sold within the district. Any medical INTRODUCTION'. clxiil officer of health, inspector of nuisances, or inspector of weights and measures, or any inspector of a market, or any police constable under the direction and at the cost of the local authority, may procure any sample of food or drugs. Any purchaser of an article of food or of a drug in any place where there is an analyst appointed under the Act may, on payment to him of a sum not exceeding ten fjhillings and sixpence, have the article analysed, and receive a certificate from the analyst. • The person purchasing any article -with the intention of submitting the same to analysis shall, after the purchase shall have been completed, forthwith notify to the seller, or his agent, selling the article his intention to have the same analysed by the public analyst, and shall offer to divide the article into tliree parts CO be then and there separated, and each part to be marked and sealed, or fastened np in such manner as its nature will permit, and shall, if required to do so, proceed accordingly, and shall deliver one of the parts to the seller or his agent. He shall afterwards retain one of the said parts for future comparison, and submit the third part, if he deems it right to have the article analysed, to the analyst.' II, — The London Building Act. There is now a London Building Act.' It consolidates and amends the enactments relating to streets and buildings. It came into force on January 1, 1895. It provides for the formation and widening of streets, open spaces about buildings, and the height of buildings, construction, dangerous and neglected structures, dwelling houses on low-lying land, etc. It also (Sec. 164) gives to the London County Council the power to make bye-laws on many important points. III. — The Dwellings Acts. The Housing of the Working Classes Act ^ contains three parts ■which especially concern London. The first deals with unhealthy areas ; the second, with unhealthy dwelling-houses ; the third, with working-class lodging houses. Unhealthy areas are areas in which, owing to the badness of the houses, the narrowness, closeness, and bad arrangement of the streets, sanitary defects, etc., nothing short of an improvement scheme will prove an eflfectual remedy. An official representation respecting them may be made to the local authority (in the Citj% the Corporation, and outside the City, tho County Council) by their medical officer of health, or any medical officer of health. 'A medical officer of health,' the fifth section says, 'shall make such representation wherever he sees cause to make the same ; and if two or more justices of the peace, acting within the district for which he acts as medical officer of health, or twelve or more persons liable to be rated to the local rate complain to him of the unhealthiness of any area within such district, he must inspect and make an official representation on the facts of the case.' If an improvement scheme is carried out, accommodation has to be ' provided for at ' 57 & 58 Vict., c. ccxiii., 189i. - 53 & 5-t Vict., c. 70. I 2 Clxiv INTRODUCTION. the least as many persons of the working- classes as may be dis- placed ' in suitable dwellings, which, unless there are any special reasons to the contrary, shall be situate within the limits of the same area, or in the vicinity thereof, unless it is proved to the satisfaction of the confirming authority — a Secretary of State- that other equally convenient accommodation has been or will forthwith be provided, or where the local authority receives per- mission from the confirming authority freeing them from this obligation. Unhealthy dwelling-houses — 'buildings unfit for human habita- tion ' — may ' be closed, and, if necessary, demolished by the order of the local authority ' (in this part of the Act, the vestry or local board) : — ' 30. It shall be the duty of thp medical officer of health of every district to represent to the local authority of that district any dwelling-house which appears to him to be iu a state so dangerous or injurious to health as to be unfit for human habitation. ' 31. — (1) If in any district any four or more householders living in or near to any street complain in writing to the medical officer of health of that district that any dwelling-house in or near that street is in a condition so dangerous or injurious to health as to be imfit for human habitation, he shall forthwith inspect the same, and transmit to the local authority the said complaint, together with his opinion thereon, and, if he is of opinion that the dwelling-house is in the con- dition aforesaid, shall represent the same to the local authority, but the absence of anj' such complaint shall not excuse him from inspecting any dwelling-house and making a representation thereon to the local authority. ' ("J) If witliin three months aftt-r receiving the .said complaint and opinion or representation of the medical officer, the local authority, not being iu the admini- strative county of London, or not being a rural sanitary authority in any other county, declines or neglects to take any proceedings to put this part of this Act in force, the householders who signed such complaint may petition the Local Government Board for an inquiry, and the said Board, after causing an inquiry to he held, may order the local authority to proceed under this part of this Act, and such order shall be binding on the local authority. ' 32. — (1) It shall be the duty of every local authority to cause to be made from time to time inspection of their district, with a view to ascertain whether any dwelling-house therein is in a state so dangerous or injurious to health as to be unfit for human habitation, and if, on the representation of the medical officer, or of any officer of such authority, or information given, any dwelling-house appears to them to be in such state, to forthwith take proceedings against the owner or occupier for closing the dwelling-house under the enactments set out in the Third Schedule of this Act.' Failing the closing order, the house may be demolished under the following section : — '33. — (1) Where a closing order has been made in respectof any dwelling- house, and not been determined by a subsequent order, then the local authority, if of opinion that the dwelling-house has not been rendered fit for human habitation, and that the necessary steps are not being taken with all due diligence to render It so fit, and that the continuance of any building being or being part of thedwell- ing-hcuse is dancerous or injurious to the health of the public or of the inhabitants of the neighbouring dwelling-houses, shall pass a resolnticjn that it is expedient to order the demolition of ttie building.' The third part of the Act deals with working-class lorlging- honses, inchiding ' separate houses or cottages for the working- classes, whether containing one or several tenements ; and the INTRODUCTIOX. clxV purposes of tliis Act shall include the provision of such houses and cottages.' For this part in London outside the City the local authority is the London County Council. They are enabled by the Act to acquire land, or purchase existing lodging-houses, to ' erect any buildings suitable for lodging-houses for ihe working-classes, and convert any buildings into lodging-houses for tlie working- classes, and may alter, enlarge, repair, and improve the same respec- tively,' ' fit up,' ' furnish,' etc. They may make bye-laws for their regulation, and if the lodging-houses are found too expensive, they may sell them. But 'any person who, or whose wife or husband, at any time while such person is a tenant or occupiei- . . . receives any relief under the Acts relating to the relief of the poor other than relief granted on account only of accident or temporary illness, shall thereupon be disqualified for continuing to be such a tenant or occupier.' Under this Act the London Council are building dwellings for the working-classes in various parts of London (see the Register). There is thus placed in the hands of the municipality the amplest means of providing, for the labouring classes, lodging-houses at what rents and under what conditions they please. They may become the absolute managers of the houses, and they may, with the aid of the local rates, supplant private endeavour, wherever they may wisli to do so. Impatient of slower processes, and even of ' enormous ' improvements, they may apply this short and summary method of dealing with the ill-housed poor, trusting to their own sagacity to carry out, with good results to the community, that which others have failed to do. Common Lodo-ingr-houses. — A common lodjringr-house is defined Common ° . . on lodging- as that class of lodging-house in which persons of the poorer class houses : are received for short periods, and. thougb strangers to one regarding" another [i.e., not members of one family or houseliold], are allowed to inhabit one common room. It does not include hotels, inns, public-houses, or lodgings let to the upper and middle classes.' It is a lodging-house often of a very rough description, at which the poor are housed for the night at about 4'7. to 6(7. a head. These houses have to be inspected on behalf of the County Council, now the local authority,- before they are opened as lodging-houses ; and they are registered. The local authority may require a proper supply of water ; the house has at all times to be open to inspec- tion ; the walls and ceilings have to be lime-washed in April and October of each year. The keeper of a common lodging-house, when a person in such house is ill of fever or any infectious or ^ -See page 96, Lumley's 'Public Healtli," 3rd edition, by W. Patchett, Q.C., and A. JIaemorran ; and rf. 'A Treatise on Hygiene and Public Health,' edited by Stevenson and Murphy, Vol. III. Sanitary Law (p. 329). 'Common Lodging-houses Act 1851; and Local Government Order, May 7, 1894. tliem. Clxvi INTRODUCTION. contagions disease, has to give immediate notice thereof to the local authority, and also to the Poor Law medical officer and the relieving officer of the union or parish in which the common lodging-house stands. Sick persons may be removed to a hospital ; and in infectious cases, clothes or bedding disinfected or destroyed. Regulations for the management of these houses may be adopted by the local authority. The keeper of a common lodging-house in which beggars or vagrants are received must, if required by the Commissioners of Police, report every person who resorted to such house during the preceding day and night. LYIII. — Endowed Charities. The evils of The creation of the Charity Commissioners was the first sys- endowtd . •ici t • • • r> charities, as tematic attempt to provide for the proper administration of the BdmTniT charitable endowments in England and Wales, and to turn them tered. ^q better uses. That race of poor persons known as ' gift-hunters ' are sometimes kept in existence by the casual or periodic distri- bution of small charitable endowments, supplemented by similar voluntary alms. The injury that many of these endowments have done, and are doing, is incalculable. Their administration is frequently hampered by numerous restrictions, which necessitate a distribution to persons who comply with their conditions, rather than to persons who require their benefits. Their benefits are distributed rather with the object of satisfying the terms of a trust than in ways that would meet the special wants of an individual or a family in distress. They lose any remedial or really charitable element that they might possess if they were associated with the personal work and enthusiasm of the passing generation. And thus often they remain inadequate, inelastic, and official. In 1879 Sir Arthur Hobhouse said ' : — ' A charitable endowment or, in curt popular language, " a charity," has abso- lutely nothing to do with the virtue so called. It is simply a gift to be made to public uses, and to be governed for indefinite periods of time by the will of the giver. It nepd not be for the benefit of the poor; it need not be beneficial or ■wise ; if not illegal or contrary to public policy — a source of objection which has been allowed an extremely narrow range — it is a good gift to "charity," and must take effect accordingly. Neither need it be made from any good motive. ' No ground of policy or expediency can be assigned for allowing [the founder] to dictate for ever, or for centuries, the mode in which his property shall be used. No human being, however wise and good, is able to foresee the special needs of society even for one or two generations. And yet our law says that any- body, although he may be a person whose opinion we should never think of taking in ai;y subject whatever during his life, may compel us to take for pJl time property with almo.st any amount or kind of conditions not positively immoral. They may be foolish at the outset; change of circumstances may have made them useless or hurtful ; still we must obey them. We do not allow such things to be done when the gift is to individuals or to families. An individual legatee, if he di,slikes the condition, may decline the gift. . . . The consequences of so absurd a law are such as might be expected. The fruit is as the tree is. We have man- ' ' The L)ead Hand.' Addresses on Endowments by Sir Arthur Hobhouse, Q.C. INTRODUCTION. clxvii aged our endowments according to the fortuituus views of myriads of testators, aiid the result is that uutil quite recently nearly the whole of these endowments were, and still a very large portion is, mismanaged so far as to produce in some cases no good, and in others positive injury to the persons aflFected by them.' Under these cironnistances, an almoner can hardly overlook almost the only raachin(uy that exists for reforming these charities. It rests with the Chai-ity Commissioners to remodel charitable trusts on wise principles ; it rests with almoners and trastees throughout the country to give a new usefulness to these trusts by making them part and parcel of a well-organised system of in- dividual charity. Possibly the clauses of the Local Government Act 189^!, which place in the hands of the parish councils in rural districts a large share in the management of the parochial endowments, may, in the course of time, promote such a reform as this. LIX. — Judicial Control over Endowments.^ A very ancient department of the jurisdiction of the Court of chancer '^*°^ Chancery, now merged into the High Court of Justice, is that which and chari- relates to Charitable Trusts. The Court has jurisdiction to compel dowments. all trustees, and among them trustees of endowments, to perform the trusts reposed in them. In the case of endowments, whicli are for the benefit of the public and which never come to an end, the Court assumed a further jurisdiction, not existing in the case of ordinary trusts which are for the benefit of private individuals and which come to an end iu, at least, the second generation after the donor's death. If the founder of an endowment failed to state his purpose with sufficient clearness, or if he omitted to prescribe the details requisite for carrying his purpose into etfect, the Court could supply what was wanting. Again, if it was found that the particular objects contemplated by the founder did not exist, or if the details prescribed by him were found to be unworkable, the Court could remodel the arrangements But the Court has dis- claimed the power of remodelling arrangements made by the founder merely because they are inconvenient or even pernicious to society. The creation of a tribunal, with power to remodel pernicious or useless arrangements, is a cardinal point in dealing with endow- ments, is earnestly insisted on ^ by all who have studied the subject, and is Sternly and successfully resisted by others. In order, there- fore, that those who wish endowments to work well, instead of working in the way described in the preceding section, should have ' See, for a most useful Memorandum on the origin and scope of the relations between the Charity Commissioners and the Trustees of Chnrities, Appendix A, 39th Keport of the Charity Commissioners for England and Wales, 1882. ^ See 'The Dead Hand," quoted above ; also the Reports of the Charity Com- mis.^ioncrs, etc. clxviii INTRODUCTION. Illustrations of difficul- ties in remodelling endowed charities. The Charity Com mission- ere and their powers. ']) Inqniry and advico. a clear idea what is the defect iti our law, it will be well to illustrate it by examples of circumstances in which the Court can and cannot alter the founder's arrangements. At a period of our history people were in the habit of devoting property to the ransom of Christians enslaved by the Mahometan powers. The time came when slaves of this kind ceased to exist. In these cases it has been held that the Court can devote the property to some kindred purpose, cy-pres, as the legal phrase goes. At the period of the Reformation, zeal for improved education led a great many persons to give property to maintain what were called grammar schools. What happened may be exemplified by the case of the Leeds School. In the year 1552 the founder had given property to pay a schoolmaster to teach in the Grammar School. In the early part of this century the people of Leeds wanted to learn other things than Greek and Latin, which alone were taught in the school. So the school became useless to them, and stood empty, or nearly so. The trustees and the Attorney- General proposed to introduce some modern subjects of learning. The schoolmaster resisted that. Lord Eldon decided in his favour. He held that it was not in the power of the Court to direct that anything but Greek and Latin should be taught in a grammar school. ' Other things might be very useful to the ^people of Leed^, but could not possibly be represented as useful to that charity' In other words, an endowment in Leeds, for the people of Leeds, could not be made useful to them because the founder, nearly 300 yeai-s before, had contemplated, as the objects of his foundation, a school- master to teach in a grammar school ; and those objects, though useless and a ncandal, were capable of existence. The Leeds case is taken as a striking illustration, but is illus- tration only ; not because it stood alone, for numbers of schools throughout the country were in a similar position, but because the requisite reform has been eifected so far as regards educational endowments. As regards other endowments, they are still, with one exception, under the narrow law just set forth. Owing to its dilatory, cumbrous, and ruinously expensive pro- cedure, the Court of Chancery was found totally inadequate as an administrator or supervisor of endowments. After attempts ex- tending over fifty years, and during that time successfully resisted by the actual managers of endowments, a new machinery was created in the shape of the Charity Commissioners. They were estab- lished in 1853, and their jurisdiction was greatly enlarged in the years 1855 and 18G0.' In the first place, they possess the important power of inquii'ing into the condition and administration of the great bulk of charitable endowments. Thoy exercise this power through a staff of inspec- 'The principal Acts are 16 & 17 Vict. c. 1.37 ; 18 & 19 Vict., c. 121 ; 23 & 24 Vict., c. i:J6. 'J'heir office is at Gwyd^r House, WLitclinll. INTUODUCTIOX. clxix tors, and they register annnal accounts of the income and expendi- ture of the trustees. It is important to all persons interested in the workin;^ of an endowment to know tliat, by inquiring at the Charity Commission, they may obtain ample information — usually helpful advice — and if the case demands it, an inspection entirely free of cost. The broad light thus thrown on the working of en- dowments, and the constant communication of their trustees and others with a central authority, has already done more for their impi-ovement than all the actions of the Couit of Chancery for centuries. In the second place, the Charity Commissioners have, by the establishment of oCBcial trustees, got a very simple machinery by which the safety of charity property is secured, and the expense of its devolution from one lot of trustees to another is saved, while the administration of the income by its managers is not interfered with. It is very important that this advantage to charity propei'ties should be widely known. In the third place, the Charity Commissioners now exercise the old jurisdiction of the Court of Chancery in remodelling arrangements, or, as it is called, making new schemes. But the exercise of this power is subject to a very mischievous limitation. As regards small endowments, it may be exercised in every case ; for the Commis- sioners may proceed to make a scheme on the application of the Attorney-General, or of any trustee of the endowment in question, or of any two inhabitants of the place it belongs to. But it is a curious instance of the dislike which the managers of these endowments have to reform, and of their great power in the legislature, that if the income of an endowment exceeds £bO a year, the Commissioners cannot make a scheme for it unless the trustees themselves ask to have one. For endowments worth £49 a year, it is a good thing that the Commissioners shall have jurisdiction upon being set in motion by agencies certain to be forthcoming if there is reasonable cause ; but if an endowment has £51 a year, it may cry aloud for reform, the whole population of the place, a large minority of the trustees, and the Attorney-General may all be willing to ask for it, but the Commissioners cannot act unless a majority of the trustees themselves will ask to be reformed. Attempts have been made to remove this glaring absurdity, but hitherto the House of Lords have strenuously opposed the change. The result of the establishment of the Charity Commission is that the old jurisdiction of the Court of Cliancery, though it still exists in the High Court of Justice, is very rarely exercised. When the Commissioners find trustees obstinate, refusing to apply for a scheme, or when they find combative elements with which they cannot well deal, they call in the Hi^h Court. Otherwise the whole administration ol charitable endowments is in their hands. (2) OfTicial trusieesbip. (3) Making: new schemes. Limitations on ("oiumia- sioners' powers. Clxx INTRODUCTION. eDdmv-'''""' It Las been before observed that educational endowments stand ments. on E more favoui'able footing than others. A direct reform was effected bj^ the Acts of 1869 and 1870, which not only established a tribunal (the Endowed Schools Commission) to remodel them ■without waiting till it pleased trustees or managers to be remodelled, but altered the law itself, so that the teaching and other arrange- ments might be brought into accordance with the needs of the public. It was also provided, in favour of education, that the trustees of useless endowments, notably dole-funds, might enable the Endowed Schools Commissioners to apply them to the purpose of education.' The Endowed School Commissioners and the Charity Com- missioners are now one and the same body. But it must always be borne in mind that with the important exception of endowed schools, and the small exception of the rarely used power given to trustees of useless endowments, there exist no legal means of remodelling an endowment because it has become useless and mis- chievous to society, or otherwise, than on the ground acted on by the Court of Chancery as above explained. - of^e^mll!"^ The application of the doctrine of cij-'pres under the Charitable Trusts Acts has, however, been of late years greatly extended. In the comparatively recent case of the Campdeu Charities, Sir George Jessel, after referring to the entirely different circumstances of Kensington in Queen Elizabeth's time, when the trust was created, and to those of Kensington of the present day, said; — ' The next point is as regards the other half of Lady Campden's Charity, which is given in what is technically called doles. It is £5 per year to be distributed in two half-yearly payments to the poor alone, and in the church or porch thereof. That means 50s. each half-year, to be paid in money, in shilHngs and sixpences and half-crowns, to the poor people of the village who came to church. That is the practice in many parishes in England, and it is a practice which, I think, would be more honoured in the breach than in the observance. There is no doubt that it tendr. to de- ' moralise the poor and benefit no one. With our present ideas on the subject, and our present experience, which has been gathered as the result of very careful inquiries by various committees and commissions on the state of the poor in England, we know that the extension of doles is simply the extension of mischief. That is a very great reason for not extending them if we can help it That being so, and we being bound to administer the funds cij-'pres, ' The endowments which may be utilised (32 & 33 Vict. c. 56, s. 30) are those the income of which is wholly or partially applicable to doles in money or kind, roarriagf portions, redemption of prisoners and relatives, relief of poor prisoners in deV;t, loans, apprenticeship fees, advancement in life or any purposes which have failed altogether, or have become insignificant in comparison with the magnitude of an endowment for them— originally given to charitable uses in or before 1800. ^ The preceding paragraphs of this section hare been very kindly contributed. INTRODUCTlOxV. clxxi ■what is the principal object which the testatrix had in view — as distinguished from the means by which she wished that object to be carried out ? The principal object was to provide for the poor ; and what poor ? " For the relief of the most poor and needy that be of fjood life and conversation that should be inhabiting the parish of Kensington.'" ' It was thus decided according to the scheme proposed by the Charity Commissioners to use the moiety of the endowment, referred to in the above quotation, in various sums to relieve cases of sudden sickness and other exceptional distress ; for the aid of a hospital or dispensary, or nursing institution ; for pen- sions ; and for theencouragement of provident habits by contributions towards the payment of annuities. In the case of the City Parochial Charities the principle was adopted of resettlement of the non- ecclesiastical endowments with a view to the physical, moral, and social improvement of the poorer inhabitants, regardless of the special purposes for which the individual trusts were created. Under a recent Act the Charity Commissioners are, in conjunc- tion with the County Councils, conducting a most useful series of inquiries into the endowed charities of the several counties, and publishing a series of reports, which will form a New Digest of Endowed Charities, such as that issued by them some thirty years a,go, but more complete. The following circular of the Charity Commission will show the reader what is required of trustees and others by the Charity Com- mission in the matter of accounts : — ' The Charitable Trusts Acts require tliat the trustees or persons acting in the administration of every charity shall, in books to be kept by them for the purpose, regularh' enter or cause to be entered full and true accounts of all money received and paid respectively on account of such charity, and shall also on or before the 2oth day of March in every year, or such other day as may be fixed for that purpose by the Board of Charity Commissioners, prepare and make out the following accounts in relation thereto (that is to say): '(1.) An account of the gross income arising from the endowm,^nt, or which ought to have arisen therefrom, during the year ending on the 31st day of December then last, or on such other day as may have been appointed for this purpose by the Board ; ' (2.) An account of all balances in hand at the commencement of the year and of all moneys received during the same year on account of the charity ; ' (3.) An account for the same period of all payments ; '(4.) An account of all moneys owing to or from the charity, so far as conveniently may be ; which accounts shall be certified under the hand of one or more of the trustees or administrators, and shall be audited by the auditor of the charity, if any; and that the said trustees or administrators shall, within fourteen days after the day appointed for making out such accounts, deliver or transmit a copy thereof to the Commissioners, at their office in London, and, in the case of parochial charities, shall deliver another copy thereof to the churchwarden or church- wardens of the parish or parishes with which the objects of such charities are Tlie New Digest of Endowed Charitieo. Circular rel.iting to accounts. See 16 & 17 Vict.,c. 137, 8. 61 ; and 18 & 19 Vict., c. 124, 8. 44. • iSee Charity Commission Acts, by R. E. Mitcheson (Stevens and Sons, 1887), and TudorV Charitable Trusts, by L. S. Bristowe and W. J. Cook (Reeves & Turner, 1889). clxxii INTRODUCTIOX. The Loral f;.)vernment Board and endowed chai'irios. identified, who sliall present the same at the next general meeting of the Vestry of such parisihess, and insert a copy thereof in the minutes of the restry book ; and that every such copy shall be open to the inspection of all persons at all seasonable hours, subject to such regulations as to the said Board may seem fit ; and that any person may require a copy of every such account, or of any part thereof, on paying therefor after the rate of twopence for every seventy-two words or figures.' The duties of the Vestries in regard to charitable trusts we have seen on p. cl. The Local Government Board have also authority in the matter, though it would seem probable that the en- actment is practically obsolete.^ They can require of all persons in whom are vested any property or funds belonging to any parish, and held in trust for or applicable to the relief of the poor, or which may be applied in diminution of the poor-rate, or of per- sons who are in the receipt of the rents, profits, or income of such property or funds, a true and detailed account in writing of the place where the estate is situated, or the manner in which the funds are invested. Details of the rents and profits and their appropriation have to be given, with all such other particulars relating thereto as the said Board may direct and require. This enactment applies only to endowed charities. Pawning aurt saving. Segnlationg regarding pawn- brokers. LX. — Pawnbrokers. Pawnbrokers are the bankers of the unthrifty. They give them advances on goods and household gear, and thus help them at a pinch. In a sense pawnbroking is a kind of inverse method of saving— taking credit for stock. And the poor will buy things, quite prepared to make capital out of them, in a time of need, and even estimating their prospective value for this purpose. ' The number and value of pawn-tickets ' is a point on which information has to be obtained in most cases of distress, when the means at the disposal of the family for re-establishing themselves have to be reckoned up. Also a man who saves will often invest his money in furniture and other articles of worth. It is important, therefore, that the kind of goods pawned should be noted. If they be small articles they may be a sign of the constant anthrift of a needy family ; if they be useful and of solid value they may indicate the break up of a good home. Pawnbrokers must have certificates from a magistrate.^ They make the following charges : ' When a loan does not exceed 40.';., ^rl. per month on every 2.s'. or fraction of 2s. Half a month's charge if the pledge is redeemed within the first 14 days of any month except the first. When a loan exceeds 40s., ^d. per month, or part of a month, upon every 2s. 6d. or fraction of 2s. 6d. The charge for the pawn-ticket is lr7. if the loan is under 10.<.-., Id. if above. Upon loans between 40s. and £10, the parties may, •1 & .S Will. IV., c. 67, s. 85. 30&36 Vict. 93. IXTKODUCTIO.V. clxxiii if they please, make their own bargain, to be sj)ecifie(l on a special ticket. All pledges are redeemable within 12 months and 7 days. A pledge for 10s. or under, if not so redeemed, is absolutely for- feited. Pledges over 10s. must be sold by public auction, and the pawnbroker is bound at any time within three years to account, upon demand, for the surplus.' ' LXI. — Loans. The assistance of those in distress by loan has been frequently Loans useful - , ... and useleflM, advocated. The high percentage charged by loan societies makes them pitfalls for the distressed, rather than aids. The working man who has contracted such a loan is considered well-nigh doomed by his mates, so great are the chances against him. Yet a loan on good security without interest, or at a low interest, has helped many. The most convenient form for a loan is the following : — Promissory Note.^ I [or We jointly aud severally] promise to pay to [or the Treasurer for the time being of the Charity Organisation Committee]', or order, the sum of , value received, by weekly instalments of shilling , payable on in every week, the first payment to be made on . In default of payment of any one instalment, the whole balance then remaining unpaid shall thereupon become due. [Date] [Sigried] The stamps required, are mentioned in the following note : — By 33 & 34 Vict., c. 97, the duty on any bill of exchange of any kind whatso- ever (except a hank note') and promissory note of any kind whatever (except a bank note), drawn, or expressed to be payable, or actually paid, or endorsed, or in any manner negotiated in the United Kingdom, is : — Where the amount or value of the money for which the bill or"! . , note IS drawn or made docs not exceed £'0 . . . / Exceeds £5 and does not exceed £10 . . . . . 2d. „ £10 „ „ £25 U. „ £2") „ „ £50 U. „ £50 „ „ £76 9rf. „ £75 „ „ £100 U. By the same Act, section 54, every person who issues, indorses, transfers, negotiates, presents for payment, or pays any bill of exchange or promissory note liable to duty, and not being duly stamped, shall forfeit the sum of ten pounds ;• and the person who takes or receives from any other person any such bill or note, not being duly stamped either in payment or as a security, or by purchase or otherwise, shall not be entitled to recover hereon, or to make the same available for any purpose whatever. ' 'The Justices' Note Book,' by W. K. Wigram, p. 344. ^ This form of Promissory Note is to be given by a borrower alone, or by a borrower and surety or sureties. ^ Sec 45 & Id Vict., c. CI. s. 7. clxxiv INTRODUCTION. Conditions of success iu loans. Loans with surety. To make a loan effectual mucli care must usually be expended on the method of its repayment. There is not, as some would seem to think, any inherent virtue in a loan as against other forms of relief. It may be repaid and yet, like a gift, leave the borrower in as unsatisfactory a position as before. But a loan upon which sufficient care is spent may be as good a way as any of promoting thrift and foresight. In such a case the almoner should require that the instalment be paid weekly on a fixed day, and he should call for it himself, or arrange that it be called for on his behalf, or received at the rooms of some society. The former is the better plan, as it will thus be easier for him to induce the borrower to lay by in the savings bank the instalment, which, until his loan was repaid, he continued to pay to the lender. Of course this, like other good methods, requires constant personal care on the part of the almoner — a condition not always fulfilled. Success in most instances depends rather on such care as this than on the actual form of the loan, for instance — with surety, or without surety, or as 'a returnable grant.' In special cases, at least, the loan with surety is advisable. To ensure that the surety is satisfactory and that the payments are made punctually, the almoner would do well to employ such a society as the Charity Organisation Society. These loans must be treated as business, and on non-payment the borrower or his surety should, after due warning, be proceeded against by a summons to the County Court. It shoxild be required that the instalment be paid on a fixed day in the week ; and immediately on its non-payment a letter should be sent to the borrower. Subsequently if the payment is not made, he phould be visited at once. The surety should be as nearly as possible in the same rank of life as the borrower. The borrower is then re- luctant to let the security pay on his behalf. A surety in a better position in life than the borrower is inclined to think it a grievance if he has to make good his obligation. Loans, of course, should not be granted except in cases where there is a thoroughly reasonable prospect of repayment. Sometimes what may be termed a returnable grant may be a substitute, especially where there is a possibility rather than a prospect of repayment ; and where care has been taken, these have been usually repaid as promptly and fully as loans. In such a case the applicant maybe told that he is expected to pay : when the character of applicants has been ascertained by inquiry, it is often found that tliey readily make good this obliga- tion. Sometimes part of the assistance may be by way of loan. A typical loan case of the right character may be mentioned : — A coppersmith of 30, who the relievinj^ officer, who had three children under six, and a week from his trade society, had been ill for five weeks, was referred to us by granted relief for the first time. The man had was soon expecting another, and was getting 12s. His character from his employers was good, but he had dissipated his money in the past. The relatives were induced to do what INTRODUCTION. clxxv they could ; an allowance was begun. The Church gave 1?. 6d. a week ; the club excused tho man his arrears and exempted him from payment for a quarter ; clothes were granted ; a relative was induecii to take one girl; the man was sent to a convalescent home ; the wife was helped after her confinement, and sent by n mothers' meeting to the country. On tho man's return a loan of £l was made to him for immediate wants, which has been punctually repaicl. Case was regularly visited, and it is hoped that iuflucuco brought to beir will make the man more careful in the future. In a few instances assistance by way of the loan of a machine is i-oans of desirable. It is usual in these instances to mark the machine as the etc. ' property of the Society until the loan is paid. Cases have occurred in which the question of the exemption of the machine has been raised, when a distress has been levied on the borrower. When a distress is levied, the wearing apparel of the person or defendant and ot his family, and the tools and implements of his trade to the value of £b, are exempted from seizure. {Gf. 9 & 10 Vict., c. 95, and Law of Distress Amendment Act 1888.) But when distress is levied owing to non-payment of rent, the tenant loses this privilege (1) ' where the lease, term, or interest of the tenant has expired ; (2) possession of the premises has been demanded ; and (3) the distress is made 'not earlier than seven days after such demand.' See Stone's Justices' Manual, p. 538.] LXII. — Pensions. Charity has to use the most determined efforts to replace the ^^^n distressed in independence. There is one cla.ss of cases, however, shouiri in whicli such efforts would be thrown away, but for which, notwith- ^'^®°' standing, assistance must be found. They are chronic or pension cases, in which misfortune has reduced a poor person to want, in spite of provision for the future and continued thrift, or wlien some special cause, such as the care of an aged or afflicted relation, has diminished the means of saving ; or, again, when confirmed ill- health has made it impossible that the patient should earn a living, and yet it is not a case that should be left to the infirmary. A power recently granted to the Guardians of subscribing, with the consent of the Local Government Board, ' towards any asylum or institution for persons suffering from any permanent or natural infirmity or towards any association or society for aiding- such persons ' ' is important. There is a great temptation to give pensions to respectable old people, without reference to any special conditions or qnalifications. When there is a plain, private and pernonal responsibility on the part of the donor to relieve such persons by a pension, no objection can be raised to this beincf done ; but when there is no such re- sponsibility, and the onus of decision and relief rests upon those who have associated themselves together for charitable purposes,, ' 42 & 43 Vict., c. f)i, a. 10 (see p. ovi). clxxvi IXTRODUCTIOX. some limitations are necessary, otherwise the pensions will tend to weaken providence and family ties, and to become an ill-regulated system of allowances, not unlike outdoor relief. The ditBcalty of procuring the necessary assistance and of providing sufficient per- sonal supervision, must in any case, however, put a check on the granting of pensions, bat the need of scrutiny thus enforced is beneticial. The folio wiog general conditions may be suggested : — 1. That the pensioner should be of good general characrer. 2. That he should be over 60 years of age, except in cases in which he has been incapacitated by some serious accident or severe affliction. . In every instance a medical certificate should be obtained. 3. That he should be unable to support himself by his own exertions. 4. That he should have made reasonable efforts to provide for old age. Due allowance would, of course, be made for exceptional difficulties against which he may have had to contend. 5. That relatives, employers, or others on whom he has either a legal or a strong moral claim, should join in assisting him. 6. That the pension should lie sufficient to enable the recipient to live decently and in moderate comfort. For a couple, one shilling a day may perhaps be taken as a maximum adequate allowance for maintenance ; for single men or women, 8d. a day. In each case the rent must be allowed for in addition. 7. That the allowance be taken to the home weekly by an almoner. 8. That it should be revised every quarter, and any alterations in the condi- tion of the pensioner, his means, and resources, may be ascertained and considered. If granted in the first instance out of a kind of favouritism, and disbur.sed without constant personal supervision, pensions may entice the poor to manifold small deceits and pretences. Pensioners may, for instance, receive aid from others, even outdoor relief, and hide the fact that they are doing so. It is as with loans and much other relief; friendly watchfulness on the part of the almoner is indispensable. For some cases in which the pensioners are, owii>g to old age and infirmity, unable to look after themselves, it is very difficult to make provision. An effort has to be made to procure for them admission to some one of the comparatively few suitable homes mentioned in the Register, or to board them out, if possible, with friends and relations. Very often in these cases the old people are best cared for in an infirmary. The following cases may be quoted as illustrative : — J. and M. G. are 66 and 6 4 years old. The man was a club (kitchen) porter, and his wife did nursing. Their earnings were never great, and they suffered the loss of all their six children. But they kept, straight and saved £111. When the man became past work, this was spent. The woman still earns 2s. a week for charing, which has been supplemf-nted by an allowance of 9s. M. >S., aged 72, was left a widow a year ago. She was married very young. The husband's earnings were always .small. They had .six children, of whom they had to bury two. In later years the man became very infirm, and could only earn a ffw shUlintrs. He was insured, and the widow received t'lo. She still does a little M'Hshing, and friends and relations allow 3-. dd. in small sums. The Committee have raised 2-. dd. a week in addition. T., a French governess, aged 63, had been unfit for any employment for 11 years, through illness, and had been supported ly an elder brother who was INTRODUCTION. clxxvii an artist, who, through old a^e and rpJuoed circumstancos, could not continue to support her, farther rliiin givinfr hur u hiine ; she boro an cxridlcnt charactf-r, an^ are likely to stick to the society tbey join. Girls might leave school with a Post Office or Penny Bank banking account. At pre- sent, at least, there are not many friendly societies available for them. The School Board can, however, open savings banks in connection with the Post Office, and many of the schools have savings banks. Many of those who fall into dis- tress do not belong to clubs. Teste of the soandDe^e of LXIV. — Friendly Societies. Connts have frequently been made of the proportion of men who belong to clubs among those who apply for charitable relief. More recent data could be furnished, but the extract that we quote from the report of the St. Olave's Committee of the Charity Organisation Society for 1880 is still of interest, and indicates the great need of a large class of applicants in this respect. It must be remembered, however, that since then there har> been a consider- able increase in the membership of friendly societies. The Com- mittee state that, out of 447 cases on their books in one year, 140 were casual labourers. ' Of these 99 were not members of any club or benefit society — that is, were making no provision whatever in case of sickness or death. Of the remaining, 15 belonged to clubs, 10 to slate clubs, and 16 had lost their clubs through not keeping up their payments. Such statistics,' the Report proceeds — 'must not of course be taken as affording any accurate testimony. But it is sufficiently clear that little can be done for a class where the most common form of providenoe does not prevail, and where the circumstances of their labour seem to foster vices which carry such hard consequences. As a further illustra- tion we may note the fact that only 25 of the 4i7 were men engaged in the leather trade, which is carried on so extensively in Bermondsey. Of these 11 were members of a club, 8 were without a club, and 6 had been struck off for non- paym«nt. It may be worth while to add that among the 447 consecutive cas'-s examined there were 10 shoemakers (8 without a club), 8 painters (6 without a club), 7 clerks (6 without a club), 3 tailors (all without a club), 10 hawkers (all without a club). The importance of the sick club is generally acknowledged. Numerous applications for aid are made owing to sickness, where membership in a club would have insured a weekly payment of 18s. (Hearts of Oak), 14.) Societies for any benevolent or charitable purpose. (4) Societies (herein called working men's clubs) for the pur- poses of social intercourse, mutual happiness, mental and moral improvement, and rational recreation. (T)) Specially authorised societies. The central office has to prepare and circulate forms of accounts, etc., for the use of societies, to collect returns, to publish information regarding statistics of life and sickness, and their aoplication to the business of friendly societies; to publish from time to time generally, or in particular districts, such particulars of their returns and valuations, and such other information useful to members of, and persons interested in, friendly societies ; to coDHtrnct and publish tables for the payment of suras of raoney on 38 & 30 Vict., c. 60; 60 & 51 Vict., c. 56 ; 51 & 52 Vict., c. 66. IxNTllODUCTIOX. clxxxi deatli, in sickness, or old age, etc. The Chief Registrar has to report yearly to Parliament. The conditions required of societies that register and the forms Friendly to be filled up can be had on application to the Registrar. regutratioa A registration of a society fraudulently registered may be cancelled or suspended. Registered societies must have a registered office, must appoint trustees, whose appointment has to be notified to the Registrar, and must have its accounts audited annually by 'one of the public auditors appointed under the Act, or by two or more persons appointed as the rules of the society provide.' Societies registered before 1876 can bo converted into the branches of other registered societies.' An annual return has to be made to the Registrar of the ' receipts and expenditure, funds, and effects, of the society as audited,' and ' the expenditui-e in respect of the sevei-al objects of the society ' ; the name and address and calling of the auditor have also to be given if the public auditor does not audit. Any member or person having an interest in the fnnds of the society may inspect the books, and, on application, have gratuitously a copy of the last annual return. The last balance-sheet, auditor's report, and quinquennial return has to be ' always hung up in a conspicuous place at the registered office.' A quinquennial valuation of assets and liabilities has to be made. The privileges of the societies are, amongst others, thjxt they Privileges may hold land in the names of their trustees ; that they are exempt ° societies, from stamp duty ; that they have priority of claim in respect of money or property belonging to them in the possession of an oflicer by virtue of his office ; and that a member of a friendly society who is 16 yeais of age can nominate a husband, wife, father, mother, child, brother, sister, nephew, or niece, or any other person who is not an officer or servant of the society, to receive on his death moneys due to him not exceeding £100 by autharisation sent to the, registered office ; and that in the event of a member of a society entitled to a sum not exceeding £100 dying without having made a nomination and intestate, the sum shall be payable without letters of administration to the person who appears to the majority of the trustees npon such evidence as they may deem satisfactory to be entitled by law to receive it. Persons above the age of 16 and less than 21 may enjoy all the rights of a member, execute instruments and give acquittances, but they cannot l>e members of the committee of management, trustees, maiuigers, or treasurers. Societies consisting wholly of members of any age under 21, or exceeding these years, are allowed to register under special regulations. Members may obtain certificates of birth, death, etc., at Is., paying (>ya duly regiNtored industrial and provident society not chargeable with income tax. In this case deposits may be made without limit. '(J) By a charitable or provident society, penny bank, or similar institution, through the trustees or treasurer. In this case deposits may be made to the extent of £100 in any one year, and £300 in the wholi', ami, if the consent of the National Debt Commissioners be obtained, without limit. '(K) By societies, limited companies, and other corporations not coming under (H), (I), or (.T). In these cases the ordinary limits for deposits, as explained above under "Deposits" {sec clause 3, "Post Office Savings Bank," in Postal Guide), api>ly. The cLxxXvi INTRODUCTION. ' (L) By vicars and rectors of parishes and other official persons, being cor- porations sole, in their official titles. In these cases the ordinary limits apply. ' (M) In the name of the registrar of any County Court. Under the 70th sec- tion of the County Courts Act, 51 & 52 Vict., c. 43, "trust moneys" not in excess of jt'5O0 may be thus deposited; and under the 71st sec- tion, money paid into a County Court in " equitable proceedings '' may be deposited b}' the registrar without restriction as to amount. 'When it is desired to deposit under (H), (I), or (J), application must first be made for authority to the Controller of the Savings Bank Department, accompanied by a copy of rules. ' Special facilities are provided for assisting managers of penny banks and for the .saving of pence by children attending elementary schools. Full information will be furnished on ajjplication to the Controller of the Savings Bank Department.' In connection with the public elementary schools in London, there are many school savings banks. LXVII. — The Collecting Savings Bank. As a means of reaching the labouring class and drawing them Collecting into liabits of thrift and saving, the Collecting Savings Bank Bani.^ ^^^^ ^^ found useful, but its usefulness will depend on its being dissociated from relief work and on regularity in collection. It should assume the character of a business, and it cannot be too strongly insisted that the Collecting Savings Bank should be chiefly a stepping-stone to some other kind of thrift — a savings bank account, membership of a friendly society, etc. The following extracts are taken frora a paper published by the London Charity Organisation Society : — ' Probably in every parish or district in England there exists some organisa- tion for collecting money for special purposes, such as coal, clothing clubs, &c., but the distinctive feature of collecting banks is that they are for saving pure and bimple, the money when saved being absolutely at the disposal of the depositor. ' Without doubt the Post Office Savings IJank, offering as it does a fair rate of interest combined with absolute security, is well adapted to meet the requirements of the naturally thri I ty and better educated class of skilled artisans; but as regards the uneducated and poorer class of workpeople, it has remained almost a dead letter. There are other savings banks where depositors may place a humbler amount than the l.s. required by the Post Office, but experience shows that there are great numljers of the people who, either through ignorance or shiftlessness, will not make use of any of the ordinary channels for saving. They will go to no savings bank. In the first instance, at any rate, the savings hank must go to them. 'It is here that the collecting bank steps in, the .small amount that can well be spared, but would never have found its way to any savings bank, being inter- cepted, as it were, before the wage-earner has let it slip through his fingers. 'This is not an ideal state of things, and it is highly desirable, where a Collecting Savings Bank is established, that depositors should be led on to place their savings either with the Post Office or some other well-established bank, instead of making their thrift dependent upon the weekly visit of the collector. For this reason it is belter not to allow any interest or bonus whatever upon the money collected.' ' The usual method of starting a collecting bank is for some responsible persons ^nown in the district to introduce to the people those who propose to undertake • The largest collecting societies, viz., those of Liverpool and Manchester, and other-H who follow on their lines, allow no interest. It does not appear that those ■which give interest flourish better than those which do not. INTRODUCTION. clxxxvii the collection, and inform them upon what day and at about what time the collector will call ; or Hoiinjlinns uoticcs are di.stribuli-d ^'iving tin; same information and Btiiling tlio objects of tiiu bank. The collector gives to each depositor a card ruled on one side, so as to allow tlio entering of a payment for every week in the year, and on the otiier the rules of the bank are printed. Upon a payment being made, it is the Vnisiness of the collector to enter it upon the card and also in a book kept for that purpose. It is very advisable that there should be more than one person responsible fur the; money collected and general management of the bank, not only as a precaution against the possible contingency of fiaud (although this is not to be overlooked), but chiefly because, should there be but one per.ion responsible, and he were to die or meet with an accident rendering him incapable of attending to the afiiiirs of the bank, the depositors might be placed in a very awkward position. It must be borne in mind that any hitch, such as delay in repaying deposits, &c., is destructive of confidence, and may be a serious matter to the humble depositor. ' The best time for visiting the houses for collecting purposes is in the early part of the week (Monday morning being quite the best time); but whatever day may be arranged, it is highly important that the collection should be made regularly, as experience shows that if a week be missed the money that would have been saved is inirdly ever forthcoming the following week. ' The money collected should at onee be handed over to the person responsible for the management of the bank, and it is very desirable that all sums collected should be paid into the Post Office Savings Bank to an account opened for that purpose, both as a precaution of safety and also because the interest obtained, eveu if of a very small amount, will go far towards defraying the trifling expenses of printing, &c. ' It will be fcnind that in most cases the bulk of the money deposited is drawn out before Christmas, the depositors starting again early in the new year. But although this is not satisfactory, yet the fact that the depositor has something in hand during the year to meet his requirements and need not run into debt is a point gained for the cause of thrift, and may lead to a better state of things. An important feature of this collecting system is the opportunity which it gives of bringing to the knowledge of working people the advantages offered by the Post Office Savings Bank and by the various friendly and other societies -which exist for their benefit. ' The work of collecting is but slight. Two hours a week will do a great deal, and with fair organisation a large district can bo worked by a few collectors. ' Another plan which lias been found by well-known and experienced workers to be useful is that of the sale of stamps, to be affixed to the forms supplied by the Post Office. When a form is filled up by the twelve stamps required, the visitor is able to open a Post Office Savings Bank account, which can be constantly added to in the name of the depositor. The advantnges of this plan are (1) that the visitor becomes a link between the depositor and the I'ost Office Savings Bank, and (2) that no book-keeping is necessary. ' Collectors should be strictly forbidden to give anything in the shape of relief, either in money or goods. ' All collectors who have had experience can relate instances where the humble start made in the Collecting Savings Bank has led to permanent habits of thrift and to prosperity.' LXVIII. — Exceptional Distress. The following suggestions were formulated by a Special Com- mittee in 188G, and may be found useful in times of emergency. SUGGESTIONS AND SUGGESTED RULES FOR DEALING WITH EXCEPTIONAL DISTRESS BY LOCAL COMMITTEES. I. General Policy of Rki.ief. It has now been repeatedly proved that the onl}' way to meet wide-spread and exccptioual distress, without doing permaucut clxxxviii INTRODUCTION. ' Tests ' and inquiry. Classes re resources they would otherwise have obtained by their own exertions.' — Dr. Kay, Third Annual Keport of the Poor Law Commissioners. ' It is the stoutest, not the kindest, heart that is wanted' ' in times of scarcity or unusual stagnation ' ; and ' all we have to do is to weather the storm as well as we arc able, taking additional care to be vigilant and strict in keeping all members of the community within tlie bounds of duty.' — Quoted by Mr. Longley in liis ' Keport to the Local Government Board on Poor Law Administration in Loudon,' 1874. INTRODUCTION. clxxxix will be an improvement in the labour marlcet. If the distress is occasioned by deeper and more permanent causes, public works will act merely as a palliative which may divert attention from the source of the evil and tend to become as chronic as the shortness of work. If public or other works are opened — (1) Men should only be admitted to them after inquiry or on satisfactory recommendation. (2) The wages and the hours should be as nearly as possible according to contract rates ; and the work should be piece-work, given out and paid for according to measure. (3) Care should be taken to supply sufficient overlookers, and to group the men according to character and ability. (4) If a meal is wanted, or clothing, it is better that this should he supplied separately from a relief fund. The emjjloyment should be given, as far as possible, in accordance with ordinary business contracts, and not as ' charity work,' which tends to be as ill-done as it is ill-paid, and to degrade men instead of improving them. (5) Public and other relief works should be of a local character, planned according to estimates drawn by the local auth.orities, and conducted nnder local superintendence. This will be some guarantee against waste and irresponsibility. Such works only should be undertaken as are likely to create the least disturbance in the labour market. Poor Law Labour-yards are sometimes the only test available, Labour- but they have a tendency to become permanent institutions for the ^^"^ *' supply of cheaply pPvid and practically useless labour to casual and idle labourers of all kinds. The plan of applying a modified form of the workhouse test in Thcmos Act shall not e.xceed such sum as may be fi und to be equivalent to the estimated earnings dui ini,' the three years preceding the injury, of a per^on in the same grade employed during those years in the like em.loyment and in the district in which the workman is employed at the time of the injury. 4. An action for the recovery under this Act of compensation for an injury shall not be maintainable unless notice that injury bus been sustained is given within six weeks, and the action is commenced within six months from the occurrence of the accident causing the injury, or, in case of death within twilve months from the time of death : Provitled always, that in case of dea'h 1 he want of such notice shall be no bar to the mainteiuince of such action if the judge shall be of opinion that there was reasonable excuse for such want of notice. 0. There shall be deducted from any compensation awarded to any workman, or representatives of a workman, or persons claiming by. under, or thriugh a ■workman in respect of any cause of action arising under this Act, any penalty or part of a penalty which may have been paid in pur-uance of any other Act of Parliament to such workman, representatives, or persons in respect of the same cause of action; and where an action has been brought under this Act by any workman, or tiie representatives of any workman, or any persons claiming by, under, or through such workman, for compensation in respect of any cause of action arising under this Act, and payment has not previously been made of any penalty or part of a penalty under any other Act of Parliament in respect of the same cause of action, such workman, representatives, or person shall not be entitled thereafter to receive any penalty or part of a penalty under any other Act of Parliani(!nt in respect of the same cause of action. 6. — (1.) Every action for recovery of compensation under this Act shall be brought in a county court, but may, upon the application of either plaintiff or defendant, be removed into a superior court in like manner and upon the same conditions as an action commenced in a county court may by law be removed. (2.) Upon the trial of any such action in a county court before the judge without a jury one or more assessors may be appointed for the purpose of ascer- taining the amount of compensation. (3.) For the purpose of regulating the conditions and mode of appointment and remuneration of such assessors, and all matters of procedure relating to their duties, and also for the purpose of consolidating any actions under this Act in a county court, and otherwise preventing multiplicity of such actions, rules and regulations may be made, varied, and repealed from time to time in the same manner as rules and regulations for regulating the practice and procedure in other actions in county courts. 8. For the purposes of this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, — The expression "person who has superintendence entrusted lo him" means a person whose sole or principal duty is that of superintendence, and who is not ordinarily engaged in manual labour: The expression "employer" includes a body of persons corporate or unincorporate: The expression •• workman " means a raihv.tv servant and any person to whom the Empluyers and Workmen Ac\ , 1n7-'>, applies. n '2 Limit of anm recoverable a.scouipeusa- tiou. Lin it of time for recovery of compensa- tion. Mone.v pa.v- able iiridpr pe aliv to be del from CMiii- peiisa'ion under Act. Ti-ial of actiuns. Deflnitlona. CXCVl ROOKS FOR REFERENCE & READING CONCERNING CHARITY ND QUESTIONS BEARING UPON CHARITABLE WORK. The reader who desires to learn what grave issues depend on a right a*^ ministration of the Poor Law and of charity cannot do better than study the Report of the Poor Law Commissioners, 1834. Chalmers' works ; Edward Denison's Letters ; \Yalker's Original will be found most useful and suggestive. We give a list, by no means exhaustive, of books wliich those who wish to learn something of the subject generally should read. There is a library at the offices of the Council of the Charity Organisation Society which contains a large number of books, pamphlets, returns, and reports wliich may be of use to students and inquirers. I. — General. THE REPORT OF THE POOR LAW COMMISSIONERS (1834). Extracts from tlie infDrmation receivpd by H.iM. CoM:\nssiONERS as to the Administra- tion iind Operation of the Poor Laws (1837). THE CHRISTIAN AND CIVIC ECONOMY OF LARGE TOWNS. By Thomas Chalmers, D.D. (184G). Also ON THE SUFFICIENCY OF THE PAROCHIAL SYSTEM. By the earae author. THE ORIGINAL. By the late Thomas Walker, M.A. Fifth Edition. Edited, with Additions, by Wm. A. Gut, M.B., F.R.S. Henry Renshaw, 356 Strand, London (1875). LETTERS AND OTHER WRITINGS OF THE LATE EDAVARD DENISON. Edited by Sir Baldwvn Leighton, Bart. London : Richard Bentley & Son (1875). SOCIAL DUTIES, considered with reffrence to the organisat'on of effort in ■works of benevolence and public utility. London and Cambridge : Macmillan & Co. (1867). »HOMES OF THE LONDON POOR. By Oct avi a Hill. London: Macmillan & Co. (1881). Price Is. »OUR COMMON LAND. By Octavia Hill. London: Macmillan & Co. (1877), CONFESSIONS OF AN OLD ALMSGIVER. London: Wm. Hunt & Co. (1871). THE THOUGHTS AND EXPERIENCES OF A CHARITY ORGANISA- TIONIST. By J. Hornsby Wright (1878). METHOD IN ALMSGIVING. A Handbook for Helpers. By M. W. MoGORiiKiE. John Murray, Albemarle Street (1882). 3s. dd. THE MAKING OF THE HOME. A Reading Book of Domestic Economy. By Mrs. Samuel A. Bahnett. London : Cassell & Co. THE DE.AD HAND : Addresses on the subjeet of Endowments. By Lord Hobhoose, Q.C, K.C.S.L London: Chatto & Windus, Piccadilly (1880). * Besides the Espays to which the titles more especially refer, these volumes contain Essays on the 'Work of Volunteers in the Organisation of Charity,' ' Di.strict Visiting,' ' A Few Words to Volunteer Visitors among the Poor,' ' A More Excellent Way of Charity," &c. BOOKS FOR REFERENCE AND READING, ETC. CXCVll TRADE UNIONS : their Origin and Objects, Influence and Efficacy. By William Tkant. London : Kegan Paul, Trench & Co., 1 Paternoster .Square (1884). THE ENGLISH POOR : a Sketch of their Social and Economic History ; and an attempt to estimate the inHuenct- of private property on ciiaracter and habit. By Thomas Mackay. John ^Murray, Albemarle Street (1889). A HISTORY OF VAGRANTS AND VAGRANCY AND BEGGARS AND BEG'. ilNG. By C. J. Rihton Tubner. London: Chapman & Hall (1889). DISPAUPERIS.ITION : a popular treatise on Poor Law evils and their remedies. By J. R. Pketyman, M.A. Second Edition. Longmans, Green, & Co. (1878). PAUPERISM: ITS CAUSES AND REMEDIES. By Henry Fa-wcett, M.A., M.P., Professor of Political Economy to the University of Cambridge. London and New York: Maeinillan & Co. (1871). CHARITY ORGANISATION. By C. S. Loch. London : Swan, Sonnenschein &Co., Paternoster Square (189o). II. — Poor Law and other Books of Reference. A HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH POOR LAW. By Sir George Nicholls, K.C.H., late Poor Law Commissioner and Secretary to the Poor Law Board. Loudon : John Murray, Albemarle Street (18o4). THE ENGLISH POOR LAW SYSTEM PAST AND PRESENT. By Dr. P. F. AscHKOTT, Prussian District Judge; translated by Herdert Thomas, with a Preface by Henry Sidgwick, Knigiitbridgo Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Cambridge. London: Kuight & Co., 90 Fleet Street, E.C. (1888). THE POOR LAW. By T. W. Fowlb, M.A., Rector of Islip. London : Mac- millau & Co. (1881). This is one of tlie 'English Citizen' Series, other volumes of which, dealing with the National Budget, Trade, Local Government, &c., may bo found useful. POOR LAW CONFERENCES : Current opinions, criticism, and suggestions in regard to many questions of Poor Law administration will be found in the Reports of Poor Law Conferences. London : Knight & Co. THE POOR LAW GUARDIAN : his powers and duties in the right execution of his office. Third Edition. By William W. JMackenzie, M.A. Shaw & Sons, Fetter Lane (1893). THE STATUTES IN FORCE RELATING TO THE POOR LAWS. From 43 Eliz., c. 2, to 53 Vict., c. 6 (1889); with Digests of Decisions. Two vols, by Wm. Cvnnincjham Gi.en ; and two vols, by Messrs. Alex. MACMOKitAN and M. S.J. Macmokran. London : Shaw & Sons, Fetter Lane (1873). POOR LAW GENERAL ORDERS : being ' Orders issued by the Local Govern- ment Board and their predecessors under the Acts relating to the relief of the poor, the Elementary Education Act 1876, and the Vaccination Acts '1867, 1871, and 1874,' by Alex. Macmorran and S. G. Lushi.ngton. Shaw & Sons, Fetter Lane (1890). THE POOR LAW; comprising the whole of the Law of Relief and Settlement, and Removal of the Poor, &c. By J. F. Ahchhold, Esq. Twelfth Edi'ion, bv W. Cunningham Glen, Esq. London* Shaw & Sons, F'etter Lane (1880). THE BETTER ADMINISTRATION OF THE POOR LAW. (Charity Organisation Series.) By W. Chance. London: Swan, Sonnenschein & Co., bs. net (1S9.J). CXCVlll BOOKS FOR REFERENCE AND READING, ETC. REPORT OX rOOR LAW ADMINISTRATION IN LONDON; ^-ith special ret'eri'iii-e to the Disposal by Boanis of Guardians of Applications for Relief. By Henry Longley, Local Government Inspirator (1873). KNIGTirS GUIDE TO THE ARRANGEMENT AND CONSTRUCTION OF WORKHOUSE BUILDINGS. Witli Notes and Diagrams of tht^ Reqnire- iiienls and Recommendations of the Local Government Board in regard to the Erection of Poor Law Institutions. London: Knight & Co. (1889). REPORT ON OUTDOOR RELIEF. By Edmond H. WoDEHorsE, Esq., Poor Lavr Inspector (1872). CHILDREN OF THE STATE. By Florence Davenport Hill. Edited by Fanny Fu'wke. London : Macmillan & Co. (1889). POOR LAWS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES: Reports coninmnicated to the Local GovernniPnt Board b)' H.M. Secretary of State fur lui'cign Atlkirs, witli Introductory Remarks by Andrew Doyle, Esq., Local Governnu-nt In- spector (187o). A Short Summary of these Reports, and of Information furnished in the simdar Collection edited by Emminghaus, has been published by Miss L. Twining under the title ' Poor Relief in Foreign Countries and Outdoor Relief in England.' London: Cassell & Co. (1889). Price Is. REPORTS ON THE ELBERFELD POOR-LAW SYSTEM AND GERMAN WORKMEN'S COLONIES. By J. S. Daty, Local Government Board; C. S. Loch, Secretary of the London Charity Organisation Society; and A. F. Hanewinkel, of the Liverpo^il Central Relief and Charity Organisation Society. Eyre & Spottiswoode, East Harding Street, Fleet Street, E.C. Price 9(f. THE COUNTY COUNCILLOR'S GUIDE: being a Handbook to the Local Government Act 1888 and the various Provisions of the Municipal Corporations and other Acts incorporated with it. Edited by Henry Hokhoise, M.P., and E. L. Fanshawe. London: W. Maxwell & Son, 8 15ell Yard, Temple Bar (188^). LONDON GOVERNMENT UNDER THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 18S8. By J. F. B. Firth, LL.B., M.P., and Edgar R. Simpson, LL.M., M.A. London : Knight & Co., 90 Fleet Street, E.C. (1888). THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 1894: forming an Epitome of the Law relating to Parish Couneds, and showing the alteration in the Law relating to District Councils Hnd Boards of Guardians. Second Edition. By Alexander JIacmorran, M.A., and T. R. Coi.quhoun Dill, B.A. Loudon : Shaw & Sons, Fett.^r Lane (1894). L( C .L GOVERNMENT AND LOCAL TAXATION IN ENGLAND AND WALES. SiC nd Edition. By Henry Hobhouse, M.P., and E. L. Fan- shawe. London : Sveet^tfe Maxwell, Limited, 3 Chancery Lane (lb94). A TREATISE ON HYGIENE AND PUBLIC HEALTH. Edited by Thomas Stevknson, M.D., and Shirley F. 3Iuephy. In 3 vols. Vol. III. 'Sanitary Law.' London : J. & A. Churchill (1894), THE EDUCATION ACTS MANUAL. Fifteenth Edition. By Hugh Owen. London: Knight (Sc Co., Fleet Street (1881). THE FACTORY AND WORKSHOP ACT 1878. With Introduction by Alexander Red-jrave, Esq., C.B., Her Majesty's Inspector of Factories, &c. Third Edition. London: Shaw & Sunt, Feilfr Lane (1885). rUBLICATIO.XS OF CIIAUITV OllGANISATiON iJOCiETV. CXCIX THE LAW OF CHARITIKR AND MORTMAIN. Being a Third Edition of Tudor's ' Charituble Trusts.' IJy L. 8. Jjkistowk and Waltku 1. Cuok. London; Reeves & Turuer (1889). THE JTjyTICE'S NOTE-BOOK. By the late W. Knox Wigkam. Fifth PMition, by Waltku S. Shiuley, M.P. London : Stevens & Sons, 119 Chancfry Lane (1888). THE JUSTICE'S MANUAL; or Guide to the Ordinary Duties of a Justice of the Peace. By tlie late Samuel Stcine, Esq. T-\venty-Hev( nth Edition, edited by (jeokue B. Kkn>-ett, Ebq. Loudon: Shaw & Sons (1893). THE PROVIDENT KNOWLEDGE PAPERS. By Georoe C. T. Bartley. On Pensions, Insuring One's Life, Penny Banks, Pawnbrokers, &c. THE POST OFFICE GUIDE. Published quarterly, giving information about Savings Banks, Insurances and Annuities. Price (id. SOME rUBLICATIONS OF THE CHAIUTY ORGANISATIOxN SOCIETY. To BH OBTAINED AT THE OfFICE OF THE SOCIETY AND THROUGH ALL BoOKSELLEKS I. -Some General Papers. ANNUAL REPORTS OF THE COUNCIL FROM 1875 TO 1893. Price 6d each. MANUAL, CONTAINING A LIST OF THE DISTRICT COMMITTEES AND THEIR MODE OF OPERATION. Gratis. THE CHARITY ORGANISATION PAPERS: PAPERS ON THE CON- STITUTION AND METHODS OF WORK OF THE SOCIETY:— 1. Objects, Constitution, and Method of the Charity Organisation Society. 2. Charity Organisation and Relief: a paper of Suggestions for Chanty Organisation Societies. 3. The Relief of Distress. 4. Suggested Rules and Byelaws of a Charity Organisation Committee. 6. Principles of Decision. 6. Assistance by Loan. 7. Suppression of Mendicity. 8. Office Work : Books and Forms. 9. On the Accounts of District Committees. . 10. Annual Reports of Charity Organisation Committees. 11. Exceptional Distress. 13. Regulations for the Conduct of Inquiry at the Offices of the Council of the London Charity Organisation Society. 14. Lists of Publications. 16. Memorandum on Out-of-work Cases. 17- Rules and Suggestions in regard to Pensions. 18. Reference of Exceptional Cases to the Administrative Committee. 1S>. ReBolulions regarding I'iiiaiicd and (^rg;uiisjitiun. CC rUBLICATIONS OF CHARITY ORGANISATION SOCIETY. II. — Papers ox Charity Organisation. CHAKITY ORGANISATION. By C. S. Loch. (Social Science Series.) Price 2s. 6rf. RKPORT ON THE PERSONAL VISITATION OF THE POOR (1S77). Price Id. REPORT OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE OF THE WHITECHAPEL COM- MITTEE OF THE C.O.S. ON LOCAL CHARITIES (1878). REPORT OF THE MIGRATION SUB-COMMITTEE OF THE ST. GEORGE (HANOVER SQUARE) COMMITTEE OF THE C.O.S. (1872). THE PREP.ARATION AND AUDIT OF ACCOUNTS OF CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS. Report of a Special Committee of the Society (1890;, Price Is. THE EFFECTS OF CHARITIES. Illustratpd (1882). Price 1^. THE DWELLINGS OF THE POOR. By C. S. Loch (1883). Price 3d. HELPFUL AVORK. By a Member of the Chelsea CO. Committee. Price 2i. THE CHARITY' TH.AT IS KIND. By C. S. Loch. Price Id. THE FUTURE OF CHARITY'. By C. S. Loch. Price Id. THE RNCHARITABLENESS OF INADEQUATE RELIEF. By Franc Peek (1879). Price Id. THE C.O.S. IN PROVINCIAL TOWNS. By J. Whitcomke, Hon. Sec Gloucester C.O.S. (1882). Price Id. SOME NECESSARY REFORMS IN CHARITABLE WORK. By C. S. Loch (1882). REGISTRATION OF APPLICANTS FOR CHARITABLE ASSISTANCE. Bv J. T. Strang, Secretary of the Glasgow Charity Organisation Society (1883). THE PREPARATION AND AUDIT OF THE ACCOUNTS OF CHARIT- ABLE INSTITUTIONS. By Gerard Van db Linde, F.C.A. (1888). Price 6rf. THOROUGH CH.ARITY. By Miss H. Dendy (1893). ENQUIRY AND OFFICE WORK. By H, L. Woollcombe (1893). EMPLOY'MENT of volunteers. By H. V, Toynbke (1893). THE ' FRIENDLY^ VISITOR' AT BOSTON, U.S.A. By Miss A. H. Thwinq (1893). THE ADEQUATE TRE.ATMENT OF TEMPORARY DISTRESS. By the Rev. L. R. Phelps (1894). Price IcJ. CHARITY ORGANISATION ON SELECTING THE BEST CHARITY ON BEGGING -LETTER WRITERS . COMMITTEES OF MANAGEMENT . CO: LECTIONS OF FUNDS BY CHARIT ABLE INSTITUTIONS *»]TAT WORKERS CAN DO . WHY I JOINED THE CHARITY OR- GANISATION SOCIETY . THEC.OS. (M.esO. Him.) . . Occasional Paper 1 Price, Id. >> 2 j> • » 4 >j >i 6 »» i» 6 >» • i» 9 >» » 11 (> • »» 13 It PUBLICATIONS OF CHARITY ORGANISATION SOCIETY. CCl IS THE ADMINISTRATION OF RELIEF THE ONLY FUNCTION OF THE SOCIETY? (T.Mackay) THE C.O.S. (Miss 0. Hill) .... ORGANISATION AND LOCAL WORK . IT IS CHEAPER THE REGISTRATION OF RELIEF . ALMSGIVING NO CHARITY" (Defoe) CHARITY ORGANISATION (C. S. Loch, in Weekl-y Dispatch, July 181)3) EFFECTUAL WORK (Miss Sewell) . CHARITY ORGANISATION. By the late J. H..ensby Wrioht (1883). Price Zd. LONDON AND PROVIXCIAL ASPECTS OF CHARITY ORGANISATION. By M. W. MouGuiDGE, Esq. (1881). Price \d. A FEW FACTS AND REFLECTIONS CONCERNING THE ST. MARYLE- BONE INQUIRY BOOK. Ccmpiled, for that District Committee of tlie Society, by 0. H. (1870). Price Id. Price. Occasional P apor 17 \d. f » M 20 yy i» 22 »» It 27 19 It 38 ff M 39 ft 40 41 THE PROVINCIAL REGISTER. A Register of Provincial Charity Organisa- ticjii and Relief Societies in correspondence with the London C.O.tJ., conlaiiiing Summaries ot the last Annual Reports of nearly 100 British Societies, with tbcir Officers, Hours, and Methods of Work ; also a List of Colonial and Foreign Societies, and other iulormation. Price Qd. III. — The Charity Organisation Society and the Clergy. A SCHEME FOR A PAROCHIAL ^RELIEF COMMITTEE. By the late G. Charles. Price &d. THE ORGANISATION OF RPXIEF IN THE PARISH. By the Rev. C. E. BuooKE. (Occasional Paper l(i.) Price \d. THE CLERGY AND RELIEF. By the Rev. H. Meyer. (Occasional Paper 18.) Price \i. THE SCIENCE OF CHARITY". By the Archbishop of Canterbury. (Occa- sional Paper 19.) Price Id. THE CHARITIES OF CHURCH AND CHAPEL. (Occasional Paper 23.) Price Id. DISTRICT VISITING. By Miss 0. Hill. (Occasional Paper 28.) Price \d. CHURCH CHARITY': a Good Example. (Occasional Paper 37.) Price Icf. CHARITY' ORGANISATION AND CHURCH AGENCIES: Papers read by the Hon and Rev. W. H. Freemantle and the Rev. S. A. Barnltt (1880). Price 1(/. IV. — The Charity Organisation Society and the Poor Law. THREE LETTERS TO THE TIMES, with Leading Article, &c., on ' London Pauperism.' By the late Sir Charles Trevelyan (1870). Price 6rf. VOLUNTARY VERSrS LEGAL RELIEF. By the Rev. K.J. Peettman (1870) Price \d. ecu PUBLICATIONS OF CHARITY ORGANISATION SOCIETY. CO-OPERATTOX OF CHARITAELE AGENCIES WITH THE POOR LAW. By T. Mackay (1893). Price hi. FROM PAUPERISM TO MANLINESS. By the late T. Bland Garland. (Occasional Paper 21.) Price Id. RELIEF OF THE POOR IN THE METROPOLIS: a Minute of the Poor Law BuarJ (1869). (Occasional Paper 24.) Price Id. OUTDOOR RELIEF. By T. Mackay. (Occasional Paper 33.) Price Id. WHY IS IT WRONG TO SUPPLEMENT OUTDOOR RELIEF? (Occa- sional Paper 31.) Price Id. THE INTEREST OF THE WORKING-CLASS IN THE POOR LAW. By T. Mackay. (Occasional Paper 34.) Price Id. THE TRUE POLICY OF POOR RELIEF. (Occasional Paper 43.) Price Id. RELIEF IN KIND TO THE OUTDOOR POOR. By a Metropolitan Relieving Officer. Price Id. STATE ORGANISATION AND VOLUNTARY AID. By Miss L. Twining. (1882). Price Id. V. — Papers on Medical Relief. MEMORANDUM ON THE MEDICAL CHARITIES OF THE METRO- POLIS, with special reference to the proposal for an inquiry in regard to the administration and common organisation of Voluntary Hospitals and Dispensaries, and Poor Law Infirmaries and Dispensaries by a Select Com- mittee of the House of Lords (18b9). Price Is. INTERIM REPORT OF A SPECIAL COMMITTEE FOR PROMOTING AN INQUIRY BY THE HOUSE OF LORDS ON THE MANAGEMENT AND COMMON ORGANISATION OF MEDICAL CHARITIKS OF THE METROPOLIS ; with Notes of Evidence. By Lieut.-Col. Montefioue, R.A. (1890). Price Is. FINAL REPORT OF ABO YE COMMITTEE (1892). Price 6d. METROPOLITAN MEDICAL RELIEF. Read by the late Sir Charle.s Trevelyan at a Conference presided over by Dr. Acland, with Remarks by the late Sir Wm. Gull, Bart., Mr. Prescott Hewett. Sir Rutherford Alcock. and others. With Appendices. (Revised 1880.) Price 6d. Contents of Appendices : 1. Report on the Social Position of the Out-Patients of the Royal Free Hospital. 2. The Limits of Unpaid Service. 3. First Report of the Medical Committee of the Charity Organisation Society. 4. Revised Model Rules for Provident Dispensaries (June 1878), by the Medical Committee of the Charity Organisation Society. 5. Correspondence relating to the Memorial to the British Medical Associa- tion. 6. Speeches delivered by the late Sir William Gull, Bart. REPORTS OF THE COMMITTEES AND SUB-COMMITTEES of Members of the Medical Profession in London, appointed to inquire into the subject of Out-patient Hospital Administration in the Metropolis (1871). Price Is. THE EXTENSION OF PROVIDBNT DISPENSARIES THROUGHOUT LONDON AND ITS ENVIRONS. Read by the late Sir Charles Trevelyan before a Special Meeting of the Charity Organisation Society, presided over by the late Lord Frederick Cavendish, M.P. (1878). Price ]d. PUBLICATIONS OF CHARITY ORGANISATION SOCIETY. CCIU THE DOCTOR'S RILL, OR NO DOCTOR'S BILL. A Word to Working Men and their Fitmilies (1878). Price Id. OUT-PATIENT REFORM, including Letters to the Times from Mr. Timothy Holmes, Mr. T. Fowell Buxton, ihe late Sir Charles Trevelj'an, and the litv. Canon Erskine Clarke; and a Speech by the late Sir William Gull (1878). Price Sd. CROSS- PURPOSES IN MEDICAL REFORM: a Paper read by C. S. Locu, Secretary to the Charity Organisation Society (1885). Price 2d. VI. — Rkports and Papers on the Disteibution of Food and Fhke Feeding. CHARITY AND FOOD. The Report of a Special Committee of the Society upon Soup Kitchens, Children's Breakfasts and Dinners, and Cheap Food Supply; wiih Evidence (1887). Price Is. REPORT ON SOUP KITCHENS (1877). Price Zd. A SOUP KITCHEN IN ST. GILES'S: a Report by the St. Giles's Committee of the Society on the Condition and Character of Recipients of Soup Relief in January 1879. Price Sd. FIRST REPORT OF A SPECIAL COMMITTEE OF THE SOCIETY appointed to consider the best means of dealing with School Children alleged to be in Want of Food (January 1891). Price 6d. THE BETTER WAY' OF ASSISTING SCHOOL CHILDREN : a Report on Experiments in the Organisation of Charity for the better Assistance of School Children, with Suggestions and Recommendations (1893). Price 23. 6d. THE SCHOOL BOARD AND CHILDREN IN WANT OF FOOD : a Reprint of a Letter to the Tiines (December 18b9). THE FEEDING OF ADULTS. (Occasional Paper 13.) Price \d. THE FEEDING OF SCHOOL CHILDREN. (Occasional Paper 14.) Price \d. THE ASSISTANCE OF SCHOOL CHILDREN. By Mrs. Leon. (Occa- sional Paper 45.) VII. Repoets and Papers regarding Homeless Cases and Street Mendicancy. CONFERENCE ON NIGHT REFUGES AND REPORT OF COMMITTEE (1870). Price 46?. REPORT ON THE EMPLOY'MENT OF ITALIAN CHILDREN FOR MENDICANT AND IMMORAL PURPOSES. By a Special Committee of the Society. Second Edition, enlarged. With appendix, and report of a dejiutation to the Home Secretary (1877). Price \s. REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON HOMELESS CASES. With evidence (1891). Price 1». INVESTIGATION IN SOME OF ITS FEATURES. By the late J. Hornsby . WiuiiHT (1872). Price 2d. BEGGARS AND IMPOSTORS. By the late J. Hor.nsby Wright (1883). Price 2d. THE PLAGUE OF BEGGARS. By the late Dr. Gtrv (1868). Price \d. THE NUISANCE OF SIREET MUSIC. By the late Dr. Gvy (1868). Price \d. STARVATION CASES. Reprinted from letters pul'lithed in Ihp Times (December 1892). Price \d. CCIV PUBLICATIONS OF CHARITY ORGANISATION SOCIETY. VIII. — Reports and Papers on Want of Employment and Exceptional Distress. REPORT OX THE BEST MEANS OF DEALING WITH EXCEPTIONAL DISTRESS. By a Special Committee of the Society; with evidence (November 1S86). Price 6d. THE DUTCH HOME LABOUR COLONIES: their Origin and Development. By U. G. WiLLiNK (18&9). Price Is. 6d. UNSKILLED LABOUR AND RELIEF WORKS. By Sir S. G. Johnson (1894). Price Id. MUNICIPAL WORKSHOPS. By the late Dr. Bradbt. (Occasional Paper 29.) Price Id. THE UNEMPLOYED. By H. C. Bourne. (Occasional Paper 30.) Price li. FIRST REPORT OF THE MANSION HOUSE CONFERENCE ON THE CONDITION OF THE UNEMPLOYED (November 1887 to July 1888). Price ad. THE STATE AND THE UNEMPLOYED ; with Notes regarding the Action of Vtstries in different parts of London (1892-93). Price 2d. IX.- -Reports and Papers on the Afflicted. INTERIM REPORT OF SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON THE FEEBLE- MINDED, EPILEPTIC, DEFORMED, AND CRIPPLED. With siatis- tical tables (1891). Price 2s. 6d. THE FEEBLE-MINDED CHILD AND ADULT: a Report on an Investigation of the Physical and Mental Condition of .50,0(10 School Children, with Suggestions for the better Education and Care of Feeble-minded Cliildren and Adults (1893). Price 2s. 6d. THE EPILEPTIC AND CRIPPLED CHILD AND ADULT: a Report on the Present Condition of these Classes of Afflicted Persons, with Suggestions for their better Education and Employment (1803j. Price 25. 6d. X. — On the Blind. REPORT ON THE TRAINING OF THE BLIND. By a Special Committee of the Society; with Appendix (1878). Price Is. THE TRAINING OF THE BLIND: Extracts from the first European Con- gress of Teachers of the Blind. (Vienna, August 1873.) Translated by Major-General Bainbrigge, R.E. (1876). SUGGESTIONS TO THE PARENTS AND FRIENDS OF BLIND CHILDREN. XL — Reports and Papers on Thrift. REPORT OF SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON INSURANCE AND SAVING (Charity Organisation Series, published by IMessrs. Swan Sonnenschcin & Co., Paternoster Square, E.C.) (1892). Price 2s. 6d. FRIENDLY SOCIETIES AND THE LIMITS OF STATE AID AND CONTROL IN INDUSTRIAL INSURANCE. By Sir George Y'ouno, I'art., formerly Assistant Commissioner to the Friendly Societies Commission, 1870-3(1879). I'nceld. THE WORK OF CHARITY IN PROMOTING PROVIDENT HABITS. By a. C. T. Bartley, Manager of the National Peuny Bank, Limited (18/9). Price Id. PUBLICATIONS OF CHARITY ORGANISATION SOCIKTV. CCV THRIFT AND PROVIDENCE. By Mr. R. A. Lkach (1894). Price ]d. THREE FRIENDLY SOCIETIES. (Occa.sionaI Paper 25.) Price ItZ. A SAFE ANNUITY. (Occasional Paper 26.) Price Id. THE PROVIDENT FUND COLLECTOR. (Occasional Pappr 32.) Price Id. THE COLLECTING SAVINGS BANK. (Occasional Paper 3G.) Price Id. NIL — Pamphlets and Papers regahdinq Old Aoe and Pensions. NATIONAL PENSIONS. By H. C. Bourne. (Occasional Paper 3o.) Price Id. OLD-AGE PENSIONS: an Ounce of Fact. (Occasional Paper 42.) Price Id. PRIVATE CHARITY AND PENSIONS. (Occasional Paper 44.) Price Id. OLD-AGE PENSIONS AND PAUPERISM: an Enquiry as to the bearing? of the Statistics of Pauperism' quoted by the Right Hon. J. Chamberlain, il.P., and others in support of a Scheme for National Pensions (1892). Price Is. PAUPERISM AND OLD-AGE PENSIONS: a Paper read at the South Wales Poor Law Conference, 1892. By C. S. Loch. Price 6d, THE CHARITY ORGANISATION REVIEW, The Official Orgran of the Charity Opg-anisation Society. Principally addressed to persons interested in charitable work. It contains articles on social and economic subjects, charity and the Poor Law, and notes on current matters relating to artisans' dwellings, industrial insurance, thrift, Poor Law administration, charitable institutions, &c. The proceedings of the Council aie published in it, with notes I'especting the work of charity organi.sation in the provinces and abroad. It contains also reviews of books, short abstracts of Blue Books, Parliamentary Papers, itc, which may be useful to almoner.s for purposes of reference. Fnblished 1st of each month, 2>>'ice (id., or sent, pout free, for 6s. (id. per annum. Back numbers of the REVIEW, from 1885 to date, can be obtained on application. CCVl TABLK OF CONTENTS OF CHAEITIES REGISTER AND DIGEST.* FOURTH EDITION (1895). \ I.— CHARITY ORGANISATION" 80CIE3»y . . 1 List of Charity Organisation and other Institutions in the United Kingdom ...... 6 List of Foreign Charity Organisation and other Societies . 1 il ^ II.— RELIEF IN AFFLICTION 17 I Blind : Pensions . . . . , . . .17 Homes for Men and Women . . . .25 Education, Maintenance, and Employment . . 27 Education and Employment for Non-liesidents . 40 II. — Deaf and Dumb : Pensions ,58 Education ........ .58 Education and Maintenance .... 6(1 III Cripples 71 IV. — Lunatics 74 V. — Inebriates . ....... 78 VI. — Imbeciles and Idiots . . . . . .82 VII. — Incurables : Adults 85 Childrtn 95 III.— BELIEF IN SICKNESS 96 I. — Administrative Societies . . . . .97 II. — General Hospitals : With Medical Schools 98 Without Medical Schools 104 For Foreigners . . . . . . .109 Suburban and Cottage . . . . . .110 For Paying Patients 115 III. — Special Hospitals : Cancer . . . . . . . .117 Consumption and Diseases of the Chest . .117 Dental 122 Fever (exclusive of M. A. Board Hospital) . . 1 22 Fistula 123 Lock 124 Lying-in . 124 Mental Disorders ...... 127 Ophthalmic 127 Orthopsedic 129 Paralysis and Epilepsy 130 Skin . 132 Stone, &c 134 Throat, Nose, Ear 134 V/omen and Children 136 ♦ Published by the Charity Organisation Society, 15 Buckingham Street, London, W.C., and Longmans, Green, & Co. CONTENTS. — LIIARITI ES RtlU ISTER. CCVll IV. — Rate Supportkd Institutions : Metropolitan Asylums Board Hospitals for In- fectious DiseaNCS ...... Mitropolitiin Poor Law Infirmaries and Sick Asylums ........ V. — Sea Batuino and Mineral Waters Hospitals . VI. — Surgical Aid Societies VII. — Medical and Surgical Homes VIII. — Convalescent Homks IX. — Dispensaries : "Free and Provident Metropolitan Poor Law X. — Nursing Institutions . (4, IV.— RELIEF IN DISTRESS (Permanent) I. — Homes for the Aged and Incapacttated : Homes for Men .... Homes for Men and Women Homes for Men and Women (Special) Homes for Women Homes for Women (Special) , Homes for Ladies Homes for Ladies (Special) . II, — Pensions : For Men Pensions for Men and Women Pensions for Men and Women (Special) Pensions for Women .... Pensions for Women (Special) III. — Homes for the Employed : Homes for Boys . . ••.- • Shoeblack Brigades Homes .fl^J.ij/ Homes for Young Women . Homes for Ladies IV. — Homes for Children : Homes for Boys .... Training Siiips (Voluntary) . Roman Catholic Homes for Boys . Sppcial Bomes for Boys H©mes for Boys and Girls , Special Homes for Boys and G-irls Homes for Girls (Free or Partially Free) Homes for Girls (Payinfj) Training Homes for Servants Roman Catholic Homes for Girls Special Homes for Girls V. — Education : Educational Societies, Boiijds of Education, and Training Colleges. -, . ■ ' . Exhi> itions. Scholarships, and Grants-in-Aid Boarding Schools (Boys') ..... Boarding Schools (Girls') .... Day Schools ....... Day Schools (Jewish, Roman Catholic, and Foreign) VI. — Day Nuuskries ....... paos 145 146 147 149 152 155 230 254 256 269 269 271 273 282 284 286 290 293 295 300 3(19 310 315 320 323 331 337 338 340 341 361 370 382 400 426 433 438 446 45o 465 470 478 481 CCVlll CONTENTS. CHARITIES REGISTER. PAGE v.— RELIEF IN DISTRESS (Temporaby) . . . .484 I. — Shklter -^ . ^(^ . ^ r 484 II. — KEt.iKF IN Money : General . . , . . , . ■ , 492 Loan Charities . . . . . . . 500 Special Relief 501 Jewish Charities ....... 520 Foreign 524 III. — Relief in Kind : JMissions, Soup Kitchens, and Ragged Schools . 527 Special Missions ....... 651 Foreign . . 555 Jewish ■ . 557 Roman Catholic ....,., 559 VI.— REFORMATORY RELIEF ... . . 561 I. — Refobmatoeies : General 561 Boys' Reformatories ...... 662 Girls' Reformatories ...... 567 II. — Certified Industrial Schools : ■Boys' Industrial Schools aTrdrTfainrng- Ships . 569 Girls-' Industrial Schools 579 III. — Prisoners' Aid Societies 585 IV. — Penitents .... . . 591 Societies ........ 592 Metropolitan Homes ...... 696 Provincial Homes ...... 603 ' '■" „■' Scotch and Irish Homes 615 Metropolitan Refuges . . . . . .616 ProvincitU-RHfuges ...... 622 Scotch and Irish Refuges ..... 628 Roman Catholic Refuges and Homes . . .629 VII.- MISCELLANOITS : I. — Social and Physical Improvement . . .631 II. — Employment 675 III. EmI iRATION . . 679 IV. — Protection : Protection of Life 689 Protection of Helpless 691 VIII.— SPIRITUAL INSTITUTIONS . . .697 IX.— LOCAL CHARITIES, POOR LAW, &c., arranged ACCORDING TO UnIoNS ... ... 710 Itil APPENDIX. X.— BENEVOLENT INSTITUTIONS . . . .837 XI.— FRIENDLY SOCIETIES 883 XII. — TRADE SOCIETIES .903 XIII.— REGISTRY OFFICES 917 XIV.— SAVINGS BANKS 919 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Tin''- 1->f ^1- -■" T»TT''^ 58 00929 4868 p^p^ 000 415 5^ 'l.i: ■),",]«