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.dt A History of the Irish Poor Law, by George Nichols
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Transcriber’s Note:
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.h1
A HISTORY|OF THE|IRISH POOR LAW,
.nf c
IN CONNEXION WITH
THE CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE.
By SIR GEORGE NICHOLLS, K.C.B.,
LATE POOR LAW COMMISSIONER, AND SECRETARY TO THE POOR LAW BOARD.
.nf-
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.ll 66
“Let every man be occupied, and occupied in the highest employment of
which his nature is capable, and die with the consciousness that he has done
his best.”—Sydney Smith
.in
.ll
.hr 25%
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.nf c
LONDON:
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.
KNIGHT & Co., 90, FLEET STREET.
1856.
.nf-
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.hr 90%
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LONDON · PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET,
AND CHARING CROSS.
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.sp 4
.h2
DEDICATION.
.in 10
.ll 62
To the Ex-officio and Elected Members of the Boards
of Guardians in Ireland, in the hope that it may be of use
to them in the performance of their important Duties, this
History of the Irish Poor Law is dedicated,
.ll -6
.nf r
By their faithful servant,
THE AUTHOR.
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.ti 0
November 1856.
.in
.ll 72
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.pn v
.sp 2
.h2
PREFACE.
.hr 25%
The Irish Poor Law was in its origin no more than
a branch or offshoot of the English law, but it is a
measure of so much importance, and has so close a
bearing upon the social well-being of the Irish people,
that it seems to be entitled to a separate consideration.
The severe trials moreover to which the law has been
exposed, and the changes that have been made in its
organization and executive, have given to it a new and
distinctive character, on which account also a separate
description of its progress and the incidents connected
with it appears to be necessary. Hence therefore the
intention which I at first entertained of combining the
history of the Irish Poor Law with that of its English
parent has been abandoned, and it is now published as
a separate and independent work.
Notwithstanding the separate publication of the
histories however, it must always be remembered that
the English and the Irish laws are similar in principle,
and identical in their objects. The end sought to be
attained by each is, to relieve the community from the
demoralization as well as from the danger consequent
on the prevalence of extensive and unmitigated destitution,
and to do this in such a way as shall have
the least possible tendency to create the evil which it
is sought to guard against. This is the legitimate
object of a Poor Law, and the facts and reasonings
on which such a law is founded, are not limited to
Ireland or England or Scotland, but are in their nature
.bn 006.png
.pn +1
universal. I hardly need say that this object is distinct
from charity, in the ordinary sense of the term, although
it is undoubtedly charity in its largest acceptation, embracing
the whole community—It is in truth the charity
of the statesman and the philanthropist, seeking to secure
the largest amount of good for his fellow men, with
the smallest amount of accompanying evil.
The part that was assigned to me, first in the framing
of the Irish Poor Law, and then in its introduction,
seems to render any apology for my undertaking to
write its history unnecessary. Although failing health
and advancing years had compelled me to retire from
the public service, I thought that I might still be usefully
employed in recording the circumstances under which
the law was established, and the events attending its
administration; and I am most thankful for having been
enabled to undertake the task, and for being permitted
to bring it to a conclusion.
It is true that for the last nine years I have not
been immediately connected with the Irish Poor Law,
but I have nevertheless continued to watch its progress
with the greatest solicitude, and have spared no pains
to obtain information as to its working. I could indeed
hardly have failed to do this, after the part I had taken
in the framing of the measure, even without reference
to the heavy trials through which the Irish people have
passed, and which obtained for them universal sympathy
and commiseration. If such was the general
feeling with regard to Ireland in its season of trial, it
will readily be believed that mine could not have formed
an exception; and in the authorship of the present
work, I may therefore I trust venture to claim credit,
not only on account of my connexion with the origin
and introduction of the law, but also for having attended
to its subsequent progress, and acquired such a
.bn 007.png
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knowledge of its operation and results as to warrant
the undertaking.
A history of the Irish Poor Law, explaining its origin
and the principles on which it was founded, together
with an account of its progress and the effects of its application
would, it might reasonably be supposed, afford
information that must be generally useful—that it
would be useful to the administrators of the law, can
hardly admit of doubt. Such a history would place
before them in a complete and regular series, all that
it would be necessary for them to know, and all that
ought to be borne in mind, in order that the examples
of the past may prepare them for promptly dealing
with the present, or for anticipating the future. The
following work has been framed chiefly with this view;
and I can only say that I have earnestly endeavoured
to make it sufficient for the purpose, without any
other wish or object than that it should prove useful
in a cause to which during several years my best energies
were devoted, and to the furtherance of which I
could no longer contribute in any other way.
.ll 68
.rj
G. N.
.ti 0
November 1856.
.ll 72
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.sp 4
.h2
CONTENTS.
.ta h:64 rb:6
Preface | Page v
CHAPTER I.
State of Ireland before the conquest—Its subjection by Henry II.—Spenser’s\
account of the state of the country—Plantation of Ulster—Progress of\
population—Legislation previous to the accession of Anne—Dublin and\
Cork Workhouse Acts—Hiring and wages—Apprenticeship—Provision\
for foundling and deserted children—Licensed beggars—Arthur Young’s\
account of the state of Ireland | 1
CHAPTER II.
Rebellion of 1798—The Union—Acts of the Imperial Parliament: respecting\
dispensaries, hospitals, and infirmaries—Examination of bogs—Fever\
hospitals—Officers of health—Lunatic asylums—Employment of the\
poor—Deserted children—Report of 1804 respecting the poor—Dublin\
House of Industry and Foundling Hospital—Reports of 1819 and 1823\
on the state of disease and condition of the labouring poor—Report of\
1830 on the state of the poorer classes—Report of the Committee on\
Education—Mr. Secretary Stanley’s letter to the Duke of Leinster—Board\
of National Education—First and second Reports of commissioners\
for inquiring into the condition of the poorer classes—The author’s\
‘Suggestions’—The commissioners’ third Report—Reasons for and\
against a voluntary system of relief—Mr. Bicheno’s 'Remarks on the\
Evidence'—Mr. G. C. Lewis’s ‘Remarks on the Third Report’ | 67
CHAPTER III.
Recommendation in the king’s speech—Motions and other proceedings in the\
House of Commons—Lord John Russell’s instructions to the author—The\
author’s first Report—Lord John Russell’s speech on introducing a bill\
founded on its recommendations—Progress of the bill interrupted by the\
death of the king—Author’s second Report—Bill reintroduced and passed\
the Commons—Author’s third Report—Bill passes the lords, and becomes\
law | 153
.bn 010.png
.pn +1
CHAPTER IV.
Summary of the 'Act for the more effectual Relief of the Poor in Ireland,'\
and of the ‘Amendment Act’—Arrangements for bringing the Act into\
operation—First and second Reports of proceedings—Dublin and Cork\
unions—Distress in the western districts—Third, fourth, fifth, and sixth\
Reports—Summary of the Act for the further amendment of the Law—Seventh\
Report—Cost of relief, and numbers relieved—Issue of amended\
orders | 222
CHAPTER V.
Eighth Report of proceedings—Failure of the potato—A fourth commissioner\
appointed—Ninth Report—Potato disease in 1846—Public\
Works Act—Distress in autumn 1846—Labour-rate Act—Relief-works—Temporary\
Relief Act—Pressure upon workhouses—Emigration—Financial\
state of unions—First Annual Report of Poor-Law Commissioners\
for Ireland—Extension Act—Act for Punishment of Vagrants—Act\
to provide for execution of Poor Laws—General import of the new\
Acts—Change of the commission—Dissolution of boards of guardians—Report\
of Temporary Relief Act Commissioners—British Association—Second\
Annual Report of Poor-Law Commissioners—Recurrence of potato\
disease—Cholera—Rate-in-Aid Act—Further dissolution of boards of\
guardians—Boundary Commission—Select committee on Irish Poor Laws—Expenditure,\
and numbers relieved | 303
CHAPTER VI.
Third Annual Report of Poor-Law Commissioners—Further Amendment Act—Fourth\
Annual Report—New unions and electoral divisions—Consolidated\
Debts Act—Rates in aid—Fifth Annual Report—Annuities under\
Consolidated Debts Act—Treasury minute—Act to amend Acts relating\
to payment of advances—Medical charities—Medical Charities Act—First\
Report of Medical Charity Commissioners—Census of 1851—Retrospection—Sixth\
Annual Report—Rate of wages—Expenditure, and\
numbers relieved—Changes in Poor-Law executive—New order of accounts—Author’s\
letter to Lord John Russell, 1853—Present state and\
future prospects of Ireland | 364
Index | 405
.ta-
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.ll 72
.nf c
HISTORY
OF
THE IRISH POOR LAW,
IN CONNEXION WITH
THE CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE.
.nf-
.hr 50%
.sp 4
.h2
CHAPTER I.
.pm start_summary
State of Ireland before the conquest—Its subjection by Henry II.—Spenser’s
account of the state of the country—Plantation of Ulster—Progress of
population—Legislation previous to the accession of Anne—Dublin and
Cork Workhouse Acts—Hiring and wages—Apprenticeship—Provision
for foundling and deserted children—Licensed beggars—Arthur Young’s
account of the state of Ireland.
.pm end_summary
.sp 2
After Strongbow’s expedition to Ireland in the year
1170, which was followed by that of Henry the Second
and the general submission of the chieftains of the several
clans in 1172, the history of Ireland becomes closely
connected with and may be said to form a portion of
that of England. The accounts we have of the state of
the country anterior to Strongbow’s invasion are vague
and uncertain, although there are grounds for believing
that some degree of civilization had prevailed, and that
intercourse with the East had been to some extent
maintained, at a very early period. It has been said
that “The Gauls or Celtes from the north-west parts of
Britain, and certain tribes from the north-west parts of
Spain peopled Ireland, either originally or by subduing
the Ph[oe]nician colonies which had been established
there;” and that the Irish, and their kinsmen the Highlanders
of Scotland, are supposed to be “the remains of
a people who in ancient times had occupied not only
.bn 012.png
.pn +1
Britain, but a considerable part of Gaul and Spain.”[1]
The Irish were no doubt commonly known by the
name of Scots, and the proximity of the two countries,
irrespective of all other considerations, renders the
identity of origin highly probable.
.fm rend=t
.fn 1
See the ‘Liber Munerum publicorum Hibernie,’ the first and following
chapters on the Establishments of Ireland, supplementary to the History of
England, by Rowley Lascelles, of the Middle Temple, printed by authority in
1824. This work has been chiefly relied upon for historical reference. It bears
evidence of great research, and is on every account entitled to much weight in
the conflicting testimonies with regard to the early events of Irish history.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
The Romans never extended their conquests to Ireland,
and it was protected by its insular position from
the irruption of barbarians which burst upon the Roman
provinces in the fifth and sixth centuries, and caused
the dismemberment of the western empire. In that age,
we are told, “Irish missionaries taught the Anglo-Saxons
of the north, who also resorted to Ireland for
instruction.” Lingard says that “when learning was
almost extinguished on the continent of Europe, a faint
light was emitted from the shores of Erin; and that
strangers from Britain, from Gaul, and from Germany,
resorted to the Irish schools.” It is probable however
that the light was partial as well as faint, and that the
Christian monasteries with their learned men which
constituted the “schools,” existed in only a few places
in Ireland, each establishment forming as it were a
speck of civilization, like an oasis in the desert of barbarism.
It is certain that the Irish of that day paid no
Peter’s pence, and acknowledged no supremacy in the
see of Rome; and there is reason to believe that the
Irish Church was derived rather from the Greek than
the Latin hierarchy.[2] Whatever glimmering of civilization
prevailed in Ireland at this early period, must
have been damped and prevented from expanding “by
.bn 013.png
.pn +1
the rude influence of the native institutions, and it was
nearly if not quite extinguished by the irruptions of
the Northmen, or Danes, who annually made incursions
into Ireland from the middle of the eighth to the end
of the tenth century.” The ancient division of the
country into the four provinces of Munster, Connaught,
Leinster, and Ulster, which must be referred to this
early period, seems to have been for ecclesiastical purposes.
The division into counties, of which there are
thirty-two, took place long after.
.fm rend=t
.fn 2
See ‘The Handbook of Architecture,’ a recent publication in which the
ingenious author supports this conclusion by showing the similarity of the religious
buildings erected in the East and in Ireland, which in both differ
materially from what is seen in Italy and the other countries of Europe.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
The Conqueror is said to have at one time entertained
the project of bringing Ireland under subjection,
but notwithstanding its proximity to England, and the
obvious advantages that would result from uniting the
two islands under one government, neither he nor his
three immediate successors made any effort to accomplish
this object. In the reign of Henry the Second
however, a circumstance occurred which drew the
attention of the English sovereign to the state of Ireland,
and led to consequences most important to both
countries. In the year 1169 Dermod, king of Leinster,
who had been expelled by O'Connor, king of Connaught,
sought the protection of Henry, who accepted the tendered
allegiance, and permitted his subjects to assist
the Irish chief. 1172.| Subjection of Ireland by Henry II.Earl Strigul (or Strongbow) took
advantage of this permission, and in 1170
embarked for Ireland with a few armed retainers.
He was followed two years afterwards
by the king himself, with a considerable force. Henry
was everywhere received as a conqueror, the Irish
princes and chiefs submitting without opposition; and
at a council assembled at Lismore, the laws of England
are said to have been gratefully accepted by all, and
established under the sanction of a solemn oath.
The chieftains who had however, so readily submitted
to become Henry’s vassals, as readily withdrew their
allegiance on his quitting Ireland, which he was compelled
.bn 014.png
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to do at the end of little more than six months,
in consequence of Becket’s murder, and the rebellion of
his own sons. Thenceforward for the long period of
400 years, the country was distracted by local dissensions
and jealousies, and the conflicts of contending
chiefs. Treachery and murder everywhere prevailed.
The sovereigns of England were too much occupied
with the crusades, and their French wars, to attend to
the state of Ireland; and although the English race
maintained itself in that country, it is said to have
become wilder and less civilized in each succeeding
generation. “The first adventurers (we are told)
trampled down the original Irish; they were themselves
in their turn trampled down by the next adventurers;
these by subsequent ones; and so on in a continual
series, as if each race had forfeited all rights, or power
of acquiring and retaining any rights whatsoever, more
than a common robber or pirate.”
Little was done towards establishing order and the
supremacy of law in Ireland, until Henry the Seventh,
after having put an end to civil strife in England, was
enabled to direct his attention to the state of that
country, where he was alike successful. Henry the
Eighth assumed the title of king, instead of that of lord
of Ireland as used by his predecessors. His efforts
to establish the Reformation in Ireland, were not so
successful as in England, where a great majority of the
nobility and the people were with him, but in Ireland
he had neither. The power of the government moreover
was there less, and might be opposed or disregarded
with comparative impunity. On the accession
of Mary in 1553, “so little had been done in advancing
the Reformation, that there was little to undo.” In
the reign of Elizabeth, however, the whole ecclesiastical
system was assimilated to that of England, and such
of the clergy as would not conform, were deprived of
their cures. Throughout great part of Elizabeth’s
.bn 015.png
.pn +1
reign, Ireland was kept in a state of disquiet by Spanish
emissaries, the landing of Spanish troops, and the
intrigues of Tyrone and other Irish chieftains; but the
Spaniards were compelled to evacuate the country,
Tyrone submitted, and before the close of her reign in
1603, peace had been everywhere restored.[3]
.fm rend=t
.fn 3
In ten years Ireland is said to have cost Elizabeth the immense sum of
3,400,000l. See ‘History of the English Poor Law,’ vol. i. p. 205.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn 1596. | Spenser’s account of the state of Ireland.
Our great poet Spenser has left us a description of
the state of Ireland in the latter part of Elizabeth’s
reign. Both he and his friend Raleigh
had obtained grants of land there, and Spenser
had resided in Ireland for several years, and
thus acquired a knowledge of the country, which he
describes with all the fancy of a poet and the fervour of
a patriot—“and sure (he says) it is a most beautiful
and sweet country as any under heaven, being stored
thro’out with many goodly rivers, replenished with
all sorts of fish most abundantly, sprinkled with many
very sweet islands and goodly lakes, like little inland
seas, that will carry even shippes upon their waters;
adorned with goodly woods even fit for building houses
and ships, so commodiously, as that if some princes in
the world had them, they would soon hope to be lords
of all the seas, and ere long of all the world; also full
of very good ports and havens opening upon England,
as inviting us to come unto them, to see what excellent
commodities that country can afford, besides the soyle
itself most fertile, fit to yield all kinds of fruit that
shall be committed thereunto. And lastly, the heavens
most mild and temperate, though somewhat more moist
in the parts towards the west.”
After thus eulogising the country as most sweet and
beautiful, Spenser describes the habits of the people, in
less favourable colours certainly, but no doubt with
equal truth—
“All the Irish almost (he says) boast themselves to
.bn 016.png
.pn +1
be gentlemen, no less than the Welsh; for if he can
derive himself from the head of any sept (as most of
them can, they are so expert by their bardes) then he
holdeth himself a gentleman, and thereupon scorneth
to worke, or use any hard labour, which he saith is the
life of a peasant or churl; but henceforth becometh
either an horseboy or a stocah (attendant) to some
kerne, inuring himself to his weapon, and to the gentlemanly
trade of stealing, as they count it. So that if a
gentleman, or any wealthy man yeoman of them, have
any children, the eldest of them perhaps shall be kept
in some order, but all the rest shall shift for themselves
and fall to this occupation. And moreover it is a common
use among some of their gentlemen’s sonnes, that
so soon as they are able to use their weapons, they
straight gather to themselves three or four straglers, or
kearnes, with whom wandering up and down idly the
country, taking only meate, he at last falleth unto some
bad occasion that shall be offered, which being once
made known, he is thenceforth counted a man of worth,
in whom there is courage; whereupon there draw to
him many other like loose young men, which stirring
him up with encouragement, provoke him shortly to
flat rebellion; and this happens not only sometimes in
the sonnes of their gentlemen, but also of their noblemen,
specially of them who have base sonnes; for they
are not only not ashamed to acknowledge them, but
also boast of them, and use them for such secret services
as they themselves will not be seen in, as to plague
their enemies, to spoil their neighbours, to oppress and
crush some of their own too stubborn freeholders, which
are not tractable to their wills.”
Having thus given a general description of the
country and the people, Spenser next adverts to circumstances
connected with the landlord and tenant
classes in particular, to the first of which classes it will
be remembered he himself belonged—
.bn 017.png
.pn +1
“There is (he says) one general inconvenience which
reigneth almost thro’out Ireland: that is, the lords
of land and freeholders, doe not there use to set out
their land in farme, or for terme of years, to their
tenants, but only from year to year, and some during
pleasure; neither indeed will the Irish tenant or husbandman
otherwise take his land than so long as he list
himself. The reason hereof in the tenant is, for that
the landlords there use most shamefully to racke their
tenants, laying upon them coigny and livery at pleasure,
and exacting of them (besides his covenants) what
he pleaseth. So that the poor husbandman either dare
not binde himself to him for longer terme, or thinketh
by his continual liberty of change, to keep his landlord
the rather in awe from wronging of him”—“The evils
which cometh hereby are great, for by this means both
the landlord thinketh that he hath his tenant more at
command, to follow him into what action soever he
shall enter, and also the tenant being left at his liberty,
is fit for every occasion of change that shall be offered
by time, and so much the more ready and willing is he
to runne into the same, for that he hath no such state
in any his houlding, no such building upon any farme,
no such coste employed in fencing or husbanding the
same, as might withhold him from any such wilfull
course as his lord's cause, or his own lewde disposition
may carry him unto”—“and this inconvenience may be
reason enough to ground any ordinance for the good of
the common wealth, against the private behoof or will
of any landlord that shall refuse to graunt any such
terme of estate unto his tenant, as may tende to the
good of the whole realme.”
It appears that Tipperary was at that time distinguished
from the other counties, being the only county
palatine in Ireland; and of it and its peculiar privileges,
and the consequences to which these gave rise, Spenser
thus complains—“A county palatine is, in effect, to
.bn 018.png
.pn +1
have a privilege to spoyle the enemy’s borders adjoining.
And surely so it is used at this day, as a privilege
place of spoiles and stealthes; for the county of Tipperary,
which is now the only county palatine in
Ireland, is, by abuse of some bad ones, made a receptacle
to rob the rest of the counties about it, by means
of whose privileges none will follow their stealthes; so
as it being situate in the very lap of all the land, is
made now a border, which how inconvenient it is, let
every man judge.”
Spenser also describes several measures which he
considered necessary for the repression of disorder and
the protection of life and property. In this “enumeration
of needful points to be attended to for the
good of the common wealth,” he first wishes “that
order were taken for the cutting and opening of all
places through woods, so that a wide way of the space
of 100 yards might be laid open in every of them for
the safety of travellers, which use often in such perilous
places to be robbed and sometimes murdered. Next
that bridges were built upon the rivers, and all the
fords marred and spilt, so as none might pass any other
way but by those bridges, and every bridge to have a
gate and a gatehouse set thereon, whereof this good
will come, that no night stealthes, which are commonly
driven in by-ways, and by blind fordes unused
of any but such like, shall not be conveyed out of one
country into another, as they use, but they must pass by
those bridges, where they may be easily tracked, or not
suffered to pass. Also that in all straights and narrow
passages, as between two boggs, or through any deep
ford, or under any mountain side, there should be some
little fortilage set, which should keep and command that
straight. Moreover that all highways should be fenced
and shut up on both sides, having only forty feet for
passage, so as none shall be able to pass but through
the highways, whereby thieves and night robbers might
.bn 019.png
.pn +1
be more easily pursued and encountered where there
shall be no other way to drive their stolen cattle. And
further, that there shall be in sundry convenient places
by the highways, towns appointed to be built, the which
should be free burgesses and incorporate under bailiffs,
to be by their inhabitants well and strongly intrenched,
or otherwise fenced, with gates on each side to be shut
nightly, like as there is in many places in the English
pale, and all the ways about it to be strongly shut up,
so as none should pass but through the towne; and to
some it were good that the privilege of a market were
given, for there is nothing that doth sooner cause
civility in any country than many market townes, by
reason that people repairing often thither for their
needs, will daily see and learn civil manners of the
better sort.”[4]
.fm rend=t
.fn 4
See Spenser’s View of the State of Ireland, written in 1596, vol. viii. of
his works, printed in octavo in 1805.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
These extracts throw much light upon the social condition
of Ireland at that time, and no apology can be
necessary for giving them insertion here. It is impossible
to doubt the writer’s sincerity, or the truthfulness
of his descriptions; and it is no small advantage
to have such a testimony to the state of things then
existing in Ireland, which may be regarded as a kind
of standard or starting-point for future comparison.
Shortly after Elizabeth’s death, and the accession of
James the First, an insurrection again broke out in the
north of Ireland. It was soon put down however, but it
led to upwards of 500,000 acres of land being escheated to
the crown. The plantation of Ulster. This vast tract, situated in the six northern
counties, on which, we are told, “only robbers and
rebels had found shelter,” now afforded James
the opportunity for carrying into effect his
favourite scheme of a plantation in Ireland. The natives
were removed to other localities, and settlers from
.bn 020.png
.pn +1
England and Scotland introduced; and thus Ulster
shortly became the most civilized and best cultivated of
the four provinces, instead of being the most wild and
disorderly, as had previously been the case.
In the contest between Charles the First and the
parliament, the Roman Catholics of Ireland adhered to
the cause of the king; but their adherence to that
cause was accompanied by the treacherous massacre of
the Protestant settlers in 1641—an atrocity that gave
rise to the bitterest feelings throughout England, and
eventually led to the exacting of a stern and ruthless
retribution. In 1649, six months after the death of
Charles, Cromwell proceeded to Ireland, taking with
him a considerable body of his disciplined veterans.
He landed at Dublin in August, and shortly afterwards
Drogheda and Wexford were stormed with great
slaughter, upon which Cork, Kinsale, and other towns
opened their gates; and in ten months the entire
country was brought under subjection, with the exception
of Limerick and Waterford, the reduction of which
Cromwell left to his son-in-law Ireton, and re-embarked
for England where his presence had become necessary.
If Cromwell had remained longer in Ireland, it is probable
that he would with his usual vigour have crushed
the seeds of many existing evils, and laid the foundation
for future quiet; but this was not permitted, and
the elements of disorder remained, repressed and weakened
it is true, but still ready to burst forth whenever
circumstances should give vent to the explosion.
At the Revolution in 1688, when England adopted
William the Third, the Irish Roman Catholics adhered
to James; and it was not until after the battle of the
Boyne, and the surrender of Limerick, that Ireland can
be said to have been again entirely subject to the
English crown. During the insurrections which took
place in favour of the exiled family in 1715 and 1745,
Ireland remained quiet. But in 1798 the triumph of
.bn 021.png
.pn +1
democracy in France, together with the active interference
of French agents, and the promises of assistance
held out by them, led to the outbreak of a rebellion,
in the progress of which great enormities were perpetrated;
and which was not put down until after a
great loss of life, and the destruction of much property.
Although doubtless to be lamented on these accounts,
the rebellion of 1798 was not however without its use,
for it showed in the strongest light the defects of the
existing system in Ireland, and thus helped to establish
the legislative union of the two countries, which took
place at the commencement of the present century, when
the whole of the British islands were included under the
designation of “The United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland.” Since the passing of the Act of Union
in 1800, there is nothing distinctive requiring to be
noticed with regard to Ireland, its interests being
thenceforward merged in the general interests of the
empire.
.sn Progress of population in Ireland.
The following summary of the estimated population
of Ireland at several periods is abstracted from
the memoir of Mr. Shaw Mason, the officer
appointed under the Act for taking the census of
Ireland in 1821, as the same is given in the Appendix
to Selections from the Lords’ Journals, by Mr. Rowley
Lascelles—
.sp 1
.ta r:3 r:5 c:12 h:34 r:12 w=95%
\ |1672| as estimated|by Sir William Petty | 1,320,000
\ |1695| ” |by Captain South (doubtful) | 1,034,102
|1712| ” |by Thomas Dobbs Esq., founded on returns of the hearth-money collectors | 2,099,094
|1718| ” | do. | 2,169,048
|1725| ” | do. | 2,317,374
|1726| ” | do. | 2,309,106
|1731| ” |by the magistrates and clergy | 2,010,221
|1754| ” |by returns from the hearth-money collectors | 2,372,634
|1767| ” | do. | 2,544,276
|1777| ” | do. | 2,690,556
|1785| ” | do. | 2,845,932
|1788| ” |by Gervais Parker Bushe Esq., one of the commissioners of revenue | 4,040,000
.bn 022.png
.pn +1
|1791| as estimated|by returns from the hearth-money collectors | 4,206,612
|1792| ” |by the Rev. Dr. Beaufort | 4,088,226
|1805| ” |by Major Thomas Newenham | 5,395,456
|1813| ” |founded on the incomplete census under the Act of 1812 | 5,395,856
|1821| ascertained |by the census of 1821 | 6,801,827
[5]|1831| do. | 1831 | 7,767,401
[5]|1841| do. | 1841 | 8,175,124
[5]|1851| do. | 1851 | 6,522,386
.ta-
.fm rend=t
.fn 5
These are taken from the census returns of the respective periods.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sp 1
With reference to the above summary, it may be
remarked that a rapid increase in the population of a
country, cannot always be taken as a proof of the increase
of wealth and civilization, or of improvement in
the social condition of the people. It is possible indeed
that it may be productive of results the very reverse
in these respects, when the increase unduly presses upon
or outruns the ordinary means of subsistence, as it
sometimes undoubtedly did in certain parts of Ireland.
But on the whole, and making every allowance for
adverse circumstances, the above table affords grounds
for concluding, that subsequently to 1672, the productive
powers of the country were receiving continually
increased development, to meet the wants of a continually
increasing population. Or we might perhaps go
further back, and date the increase from the time when
Cromwell, with a strong hand, enforced order and
established the ascendancy of the law in Ireland. The
decrease in the population which took place between
1841 and 1851, when the number was forced back
below what it had been thirty years preceding, indicates
a period of great trial and suffering. In the latter
portion of this period, the country was assailed by
famine and pestilence—a fearful visitation which
will be noticed hereafter in its order of date, and
of which it would be out of place to say more at
present.
Until a comparatively recent period, there was no law
.bn 023.png
.pn +1
directly providing for the relief of the Irish poor. In
this respect the legislation of Ireland differed from that
OF England and Scotland, in both of which countries we
have seen that such a provision was early made. The
difference in this respect, was probably at first owing to
the disturbed and unsettled state of Ireland; and afterwards,
when it was brought more thoroughly under
subjection, the difference of race and religion with other
unfavourable circumstances, united to prevent the growth
of that orderly gradation of classes, and that sympathy
between one class and another, which exist in every
well-conditioned community, and of which a poor-law
is a natural development.
Although there was no direct provision for the relief
of the poor in Ireland, several Acts of the Irish parliament
were more or less subsidiary to that object,
whilst others were calculated to illustrate the progress
of civilization, and the general condition of the country.
Various institutions of a charitable character were likewise
established; and it will be necessary to notice certain
of these matters, before entering upon a consideration of
the important measure of 1838. The legislative enactments
have precedence in order of time, and to these we
will now in the first instance direct our attention.[6]
.fn 6
The citations hereafter made, are taken from ‘The Statutes at Large,
passed in the Parliament held in Ireland’—published by authority in thirteen
volumes folio, in 1786.
.fn-
.sn 1310.| Edward II.
As early as 1310, in the reign of Edward the Second,
we find that in a parliament assembled at Kilkenny
“it was agreed that none should keep
idle people or kearn in time of peace, to live upon the
poor of the country; but those which will have them
shall keep them at their own charges, so that the free
tenants and farmers be not charged with them.” And 1440.| Henry VI.
130 years afterwards, in the reign of Henry the
Sixth, among the ordinances established by a
parliament holden in Dublin, it was declared—“that
.bn 024.png
.pn +1
divers of the English do maintain and succour sundry
thieves robbers and rebels, because that the same thieves
robbers and rebels do put them into their safeguard and
comrick, so that the king’s faithful subjects dare not
pursue their right against such thieves robbers and
rebels, for fear of them which have taken them into
their safeguard and comrick”—wherefore it is ordained,
that such as do put themselves, and such as do grant
such safeguard and comrick, be adjudged traitors, and
suffer accordingly. 1450. | Henry VI.And in the same reign, at
a certain great council held in Dublin (1450) it
was declared—“that thieves and evildoers increase in
great store, and from day to day do increase in malice
more than they have done heretofore, and do destroy
the commons with their thefts stealings and manslaughters,
and also do cause the land to fall into decay and
poverty and waste every day more and more”—wherefore
it is ordained that it shall be lawful for every liege
man to kill or take notorious thieves, and thieves found
robbing spoiling or breaking houses—“and that every
man that kills or takes any such thieves, shall have one
penny of every plough and one farthing of every cottage
within the barony where the manslaughter is done, for
every thief.”
These enactments show that the state of the country
within the English pale, or that portion of it which was
subject to English rule, was then very similar to what
existed at the same periods in England and Scotland,
more prone to violence and disorder perhaps, and therefore
somewhat more backward in civilization; but all
the leading characteristics are nearly identical. Beyond
the pale however a far worse state of things prevailed.
There violence and disorder ranged without control.
“The Irishry,” as they were called, were continually
engaged in battleings and feuds among themselves, one
chief or one sept against another, or in making inroads
and committing robberies and murders within the pale,
.bn 025.png
.pn +1
which again led to retaliations; and thus a species of
domestic or border warfare alike injurious to all parties,—and
a state of ferment and insecurity throughout the
country, were kept up and perpetuated.
.sn 1447. | Henry VI.
A parliament held at Trim in 1447, laments—“that
the sons of husbandmen and labourers, which
in old time were wont to be labourers and
travaylers upon the ground, as to hold ploughs, to ere
the ground, and travayl with all other instruments
belonging to husbandry, to manure the ground, and do
all other works lawful and honest according to their
state—and now they will be kearnes, evildoers, wasters,
idle men, and destructioners of the king’s leige people”—wherefore
it is ordained that the sons of labourers and
travaillers of the ground, shall use the same labours and
travails that their fathers have done. 1457. | Henry VI.And ten
years afterwards, at a parliament held at Naas,
it was ordained—“forasmuch as the sons of many men
from day to day do rob spoil and coygnye the king’s
poor liege people, and masterfully take their goods
without any pity—that every man shall answer for
the offence and ill doing of his son, as he himself that
did the trespass and offence ought to do, saving the
punishment of death, which shall incur to the trespasser
himself.” This last enactment, making the father
answerable for the acts of his son, was perhaps under
the circumstances of the period calculated to check
violence and disorder and may be so far regarded as
defensible. But the same cannot be said of the former
enactment requiring the son to follow the same occupation
as the father. Yet such has been the practice
throughout a great part of Asia from the earliest period.
In the present instance, the enforcement of the practice
by special enactment, seems to imply that the demand
for agricultural labour was increasing in Ireland, either
through an increase of land under cultivation, or an
increased amount of labour applied to it; and either the
.bn 026.png
.pn +1
one or the other must be considered as indicative of
improvement.
.sn 1465. | Edward IV.
In the reign of Edward the Fourth (1465) an Act
was passed ordaining and establishing “that in
every English town of this land[7] that pass three
houses holden by tenants, where no other president is,
there be chosen by his neighbours or by the lord of the
said town, one constable to be president and governor
of the same town, in all things that pertaineth to the
common rule thereof”—doubtless a useful provision, and
calculated to aid the cause of order and good government.
1472.| Edward IV. In the same reign, at a parliament held
at Naas, (1472) it is recorded—“For that there
is so great lack of money in this land, and also the grain
are enhanced to a great price because of great lading
from day to day used and continued within this realm,
by the which great dearth is like to be of graines,
without some remedy be ordeyned”—whereupon the
premises considered it is enacted—“that no person or
persons lade no grain out of the said land to no other
parts without, if one peck of the said grains exceed the
price of ten pence, upon pain of forfeiture of the said
grain or the value thereof, and also the ship in which
the said grains are laden.”
.fm rend=t
.fn 7
That is every town within the English pale.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
The prohibition of export has always been clamoured
for, and often resorted to whenever the price of corn
becomes high, whether it be in Ireland, England, or
elsewhere; and this always moreover on the ground
here set forth, that is, for the sake of the poor classes, or
“for that there is so great lack of money in this land.”
All such prohibitions are however based on erroneous
views of economical policy. By prohibiting export cultivation
is discouraged, and so in the long run corn is
made dearer rather than cheaper. It may moreover be
remarked, that if grain be exported, it will be for the
.bn 027.png
.pn +1
purpose of obtaining a higher price than can be obtained
at home, and the exporting country will thus be better
enabled to go to another market for a supply, and will
have the benefit of whatever profit may arise in the
double interchange. With respect to grain therefore,
as with respect to all other commodities, the true principle
is that of non-interference—they will then each
and all find their own level, and that in the way most
beneficial to all parties interested, whether as producers
or consumers, whether those who want or those who
have to spare. But this great truth was not recognised
at that day. Neither is it indeed universally so at
present; for at this time (the end of 1855) there are
clamourings for a prohibition of the export of corn, on
account of the present high price.[8]
.fm rend=t
.fn 8
The average price of wheat in Mark-lane for the week ending on the 10th
of November, was 83s. 8d. per qr. For the week ending on Nov. 15, 1851 the
price per quarter was 36s. 4d.; and for the week ending Nov. 13, 1852 the
price per quarter was 39s. 11d.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
We are now arrived at the reign of Henry the Seventh,
by whom order was established in Ireland, as it previously
had been established in England. 1495.| Poynings’ Act.| 10 Hen. VII. | cap. 4. The first
important measure towards the accomplishment of this
object was the passing of Poynings’ Act,[9] 10th
Henry 7th, cap. 4, which directs that no parliament
shall be holden in Ireland, until the Acts
be first certified into England, and be thence returned
with sanction of the king and council expressed under
the great seal. This secured a harmony of action
between the legislatures of the two countries, and was
otherwise beneficial. But there were two other Acts
passed in the same year, not less important for the peace
and good government of the country than the preceding,
and therefore requiring to be separately noticed.
.fm rend=t
.fn 9
So called after Sir Edward Poynings, who was lord deputy in Ireland
during a great part of Henry’s reign, and in the earlier part of that of his successor.
The lord deputy is described as “the active scourge of all insurgents,”
and it was latterly said of him that “he might call all Ireland his own.” See
Liber Munerum, book ii. cap. 1. Mr. Lascelles gives 1494 as the year in which
this Act was passed. In the Statutes at Large it bears the date of 1495.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.bn 028.png
.pn +1
.sn 1495.|10 Hen. VII. cap. 6.
The first of these Acts, cap. 6, directs that no citizen
shall receive livery or wages of any lord or gentleman;
and it further enacts “That no lord nor
gentleman of the land shall retain by livery,
wages, or promise, sign or token, by indenture,
or otherwise, any person or persons, but only such as
be, or shall be his officers, as baylifs, steward, learned
counsel, receivors, and menial servants daily in household
at the said lord’s cost.” And if any lord or gentleman
retain any person contrary to this Act, both the
retainer and he that is retained are to forfeit to the king
twenty pounds of lawful money for every such offence.
10 Hen. VII. cap. 17. The second Act, cap. 17, directs “that no peace
nor war be made with any man without licence
of the governor.” It recites—“Forasmuch as diverse
lords and great gentlemen of Ireland, useth daily to
make several peace with the king’s Irish enemies, and
where the peace hath been taken and concluded by the
lieutenants and their deputies for the time being with
the aforesaid enemies, and for the universal weal of our
said sovereign lord’s true subjects, the said lords and
gentlemen for singular lucor and for malice, have diverse
and many seasons and without any authority of the
lieutenant or deputy, entered into the countries of such
Irish enemies as have standen under the protection of
our sovereign lord, and the same countries have robbed,
spoiled, hurt and destroyed, by reason whereof the said
enemies have likewise entered into the English country,
and the true English subjects have robbed, spoiled and
brent in semblable wise”—wherefore it is ordained,
that thenceforward “there be no peace nor war taken
or had within the land, without the lieutenant or
deputy’s licence;” and whatsoever persons break the
said peace, or rob or spoil contrary to this Act, as often
as they so offend are to forfeit 100l. to the king, and be
committed to ward until the same is paid.
We see from the above, that the Irish beyond the
.bn 029.png
.pn +1
pale were still regarded as enemies; and to prevent as
far as possible the barbarous conflicts that were continually
taking place between them and the people
within the pale, was doubtless one reason for passing
these Acts. But independently of this object, the general
policy of the two measures is abundantly obvious. They
amount, taken together, to no more than extending to
Ireland the principle observed by Henry in his government
of England, namely, that of reducing the exorbitant
power assumed by the great nobility and gentry,
and making them amenable to the general law, a thing
no less necessary in one country than in the other,
although widely differing in so many respects.
.sn 1522.| 13 Hen. VIII. cap. 1.
On the accession of Henry the Eighth, Irish legislation
became more active, but we shall only
notice a few of the Acts. The 13th Henry 8th,
cap. 1, declares, that “many ill-disposed persons for
malice, evil will, and displeasure, do daily burn corn,
as well in ricks in the fields, as in villages and towns,
thinking that it is no felony, and that they should not
suffer death for so doing”—wherefore it is enacted, that
all wilful burning of ricks of corn in fields and in
towns, and burning of houses of and upon any of the
king’s true subjects, be high treason, and that execution
be awarded against such evil-doers accordingly. 1534.| 25 Hen. VIII. cap. 1.Twelve
years afterwards another Act (the 25th Henry
8th, cap. 1) was passed against lezers of corn.
It recites—“That whereas many inconveniences within
this land ensueth by reason that many and diverse persons,
labourers strong of body, as well men as women,
falleth to idleness, and will not labour for their living,
but have their sole respect to gathering and lezing of
corn in harvest-time, and refuse to take money for their
wages to rippe or binde corn, to the intent that the
poor earth-tillers should give them sheaves of corn for
their labour, by colour whereof they steal men’s cornes,
as well by night as by day, to the great hindrance and
.bn 030.png
.pn +1
impoverishing of the poor earth-tillers; and also by
giving of said sheafes, the church is defrauded of the
tythe of the same.”—Wherefore it is ordained, that
henceforth no persons “being strong of body to labour
for their living, shall gather or leze in any place in
harvest-time, except it be in their own fields; and that
no impotent persons gather or leze in any other place,
saving in the parish where their dwelling is; and that
no man give nor take any corn in harvest for ripping
nor binding,” under penalty of the same being taken
from him and forfeited.
These Acts for the protection of the corn-grower
against waste in time of harvest, and against incendiarism
when the corn is in the rick, are indications of
the advance of agriculture in Ireland. The titheowner
may have had some influence in the passing of the
latter Act; but taking the two together, it seems impossible
to doubt that the occupation of the “poor
earth-tillers,” as they are termed, was considered to be
important with regard to the general welfare, and
therefore deserving of special protection.
.sn 1537. | 28 Hen. VIII. cap. 15.
Three years after the last preceding Act, another was
passed (The 28th Henry 8th, cap. 15) in which
it is declared that the king, considering that
“there is nothing which doth more conteyne and keep
many of his subjects of this his land in a certain savage
and wilde kind and manner of living, than the diversitie
that is betwixt them in tongue, language, order
and habite, which by the eye deceiveth the multitude,
and persuadeth them that they should be as it were of
sundry sorts, or rather of sundry countries, where indeed
they be wholly together one body”—wherefore it
is enacted, that no person shall wear hair on the head
or face nor any manner of clothing, mantle, coat, or
hood, after the Irish fashion, but in all things shall
conform to the habits and manners of the civil people
within the English pale. And it is further enacted,
.bn 031.png
.pn +1
that all persons of whatsoever degree or condition
“to the uttermost of their power cunning and knowledge
shall use and speak commonly the English
tongue,” and cause their children to do the same, “and
shall use and keep their houses and households as
near as ever they can, according to the English order.”
Spiritual promotion is moreover directed to be given
only to such as can speak English; so that nothing
appears to have been omitted for bringing about the
desired assimilation of the native Irish with their
fellow-subjects of the English race. Subsequent events
showed however that these efforts were not crowned with
success, and a long period elapsed before the Irish of the
western districts can be said to have at all assimilated to
English habits, or become amenable to English rule.
.sn 1542. | 33 Hen. VIII. cap. 9.
The regulation of wages by legislative enactment so
frequently adopted in England,[10] was likewise
attempted in Ireland, but apparently with no
better result; for we find The 33rd Henry 8th, cap. 9,
complaining, that “forasmuch as prices of victuals,
cloth, and other necessaries for labourers, servants at
husbandry, and artificers, yearly change, as well sometimes
by reason of dearth and scarceness of corn and
victual as otherwise, so that hard it is to limit in certain
what wages servants at husbandry should take by the
year, and other artificers and labourers by the day, by
reason whereof they now ask and take unreasonable
wages within the land of Ireland”—wherefore it is
enacted that the justices of peace at a sessions to be
held yearly within a month after Easter and Michaelmas,
“shall make proclamation by their discretion,
having respect to such prices as victuals cloth and
other necessaries then shall be at, how much every
mason, carpenter, sclantor, and every other artificer and
labourer shall take by the day, as well in harvest-season
as any other time of the year, with meat and drink,
.bn 032.png
.pn +1
and how much without meat and drink, between both
the said seasons; and also at the Easter sessions, how
much every servant at husbandry shall take by the
year following, with meat and drink; and that every
of them shall obey such proclamation from time to
time, as a thing made by Act of parliament for a law
in that behalf,” on pain of imprisonment. By thus
empowering justices to vary the rate of wages according
to the variations in the price of provisions and
clothing, the objection which exists to a permanent fixed
rate is no doubt so far obviated; but the great primary
objection to any interference with the natural range of
prices, and to subjecting them to other control than
that of supply and demand still remains, and is not
susceptible of any defence. Thus much on the score of
principle. But the passing of such a measure as the
above, is nevertheless a proof of the increasing demand
for labour, and of the advance of regular industrial
employment, which is always an important step in the
progress of civilization.
.fm rend=t
.fn 10
See ‘History of the English Poor Law,’ vol. i. pages 100 and 110. 11th
Henry 7th, cap. 2, and 6th Henry 8th, cap. 3.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn 1537. | 33 Hen. VIII. cap. 15.
The last enactment of the present reign requiring to
be noticed, in connexion with our subject, is
The 33rd Henry 8th, cap. 15, entitled ‘An Act
for Vagabonds.’ It recites—“forasmuch as at a parliament
holden at London, it was enacted and ordeyned
how aged poor and impotent persons compelled to live
by alms should be ordered, and how vagabonds and
mighty strong beggars should be punished, which
Act (22nd Henry 8th, cap. 12) for divers causes, is
thought very meet and necessary to be enacted in
this land”—wherefore it is ordained and established,
“That the same Act, and all and every article provision
and thing comprised in the same, be an Act and
statute to be continued and kept as a law within this
land of Ireland, according to the tenor and purport of
the same.” The English Act (22nd Henry 8th, cap. 12)
is then given at length, and stands in the statutes as
an Act of the Irish parliament, and is to be obeyed
.bn 033.png
.pn +1
accordingly. A full account of this statute will be
found in the ‘History of the English Poor Law’ (vol.
i. page 115) to which the reader is referred. Whether
the Act was entirely suited to the backward state of
Ireland at that time, may admit of doubt; but there
can be no doubt that if enforced it was calculated to
bring about a better order of things by repressing
vagabondism, and making some provision for the relief
of the destitute. We have no means of knowing to
what extent the Act was enforced, or whether it was
enforced at all. It could hardly have been brought
into operation beyond the English pale, and even
within the pale the arm of the law was then feeble,
and its action uncertain; so it is probable that like
many other measures intended for the benefit of Ireland,
the present Act was permitted to lie dormant. It
remained in force however, as one of the Irish statutes,
until 1772, when it was repealed by the 11th and 12th
George 3rd, cap. 30.[11]
.fm rend=t
.fn 11
See post, p. #51#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn 1569.| 11 Elizabeth, cap. 4.
There are only two of the Acts passed by the Irish
parliament in Elizabeth’s reign calling for
notice, and this rather as exhibiting the condition
of the country at that time, than as directly connected
with our subject. The first of these is The 11th
Elizabeth, cap. 4, entitled ‘An Act that five persons
of the best and eldest of every nation amongst the
Irishrie, shall bring in all the idle persons of their surname,
to be justified by law.’ It declares that her
Majesty’s “most humble and obedient subjects have been
these many years past grieved with a generation of
vile and base conditioned people (bred and maintained
by coynie and liveries), the ancient enemies to the
prosperity of this realm, of which sort the lords and
captains of this land hath to raise and stirr up some to
be maintained as outlaws to annoy each other’s rules,
.bn 034.png
.pn +1
and so serving the iniquitie of the time, hath not only
in attending those practices imbased their own particular
estates, but also brought the whole public wealth of
their supposed rules to ruin and utter decay.” For
remedy whereof, it is now ordained, “that five persons
of the best and eldest of everie stirpe or nation of the
Irishrie, and in the countries that be not as yet shire
grounds, and till they be shire ground, shall be bound
to bring in to be justified by law, all idle persons of
their surname which shall be hereafter charged with
any offence, or else satisfie of their own proper goods
the hurts by them committed to the parties grieved,
and also such fines as shall be assessed upon them for
their offences.” The Act we see applies to parts of
the country beyond the pale, “which be not yet shire
grounds,” where “the lords and captains of the land”
were in the habit of maintaining a number of base-conditioned
people in a state of outlawry to annoy each
other’s rules, which practice it is said hath not only
injured their own estates, but also brought the whole
country under their supposed rule to ruin and utter
decay. The remedy for these evils now sought to be
applied, is by making five of the principal people of
each sept or nation of the “Irishrie” answerable for
the rest of the clan, and it seems likely that nothing
better could have been devised under the circumstances;
but the resorting to it is nevertheless an
indication of the lawlessness and insecurity which prevailed,
and how imperfectly the country had yet been
brought under subjection.
.sn 1570.| 12 Elizabeth, cap. 1.
The other Irish Act of Elizabeth’s reign requiring
notice, is The 12th Elizabeth, cap. 1, entitled
‘An Act for the erection of Free Schools.’
It commences by reciting—“Forasmuch as the greatest
number of the people of this realm hath of long time lived
in rude and barbarous states, not understanding that
Almighty God hath by his divine laws forbidden the
.bn 035.png
.pn +1
manifold and heinous offences which they spare not daily
and hourly to commit and perpetrate, nor that He hath
by His Holy Scriptures commanded a due and humble
obedience from the people to their princes and rulers,
whose ignorance in these so high points touching their
damnation proceedeth only of lack of good bringing up
of the youth of this realm, either in public or private
schools, where through good discipline they might be
taught to avoid those loathsome and horrible errours”—Wherefore
it is enacted that there shall be a free
school established in every diocess of Ireland, and that
the schoolmaster shall be an Englishman, “or of the
English birth of this realm.” The archbishops of
Armagh and Dublin, and the bishops of Meath and
Kildare and their successors, are to appoint the schoolmasters
within their respective diocesses, and the lord
deputy for the time being is to have the appointment in
the other diocesses. The schoolhouses are to be built in
the principal shire towns, at the cost and charge of the
whole diocess, under direction of the ordinary, the
vicars general, and the sheriff; and the lord deputy for
the time being is “according to the quality and quantities
of every diocess,” to appoint a yearly salary for
every schoolmaster, whereof the ordinary of every
diocess is to bear the third part, and the parsons,
vicars, prebendaries, and other ecclesiastical persons of
the diocess, by an equal contribution, are to bear the
other two parts. The whole charge of these free schools
was therefore, we see, to be borne by the clergy, on
whom their superintendence also devolved.
The Reformation had at this time been established
in Ireland, and the clergy whom the state recognised
were necessarily all Protestant. The desire for extending
education as a means for improving and enlightening
the people, was therefore to be expected from them;
and it is not improbable this desire was accompanied,
and perhaps strengthened, by a belief that education
.bn 036.png
.pn +1
would bring about the conversion of such of the people
as were not yet of their flock, but still adhered to the
church of Rome. That such were the motives of the
Protestant clergy in the prominent part taken by them
with regard to these free schools, and that the government
and the proprietary classes generally were influenced
by similar motives, can hardly admit of doubt.
The result turned out different however from what was
anticipated. The great bulk of the people remained in
ignorance, and devotedly attached to the old religion,
as it was and still is called; and thus a separation
sprung up between one class and another, between the
more English and Protestant class, and the more Irish
and Romanist class, which has been a fruitful source of
evil to each, and in spite of the countervailing efforts
which have of late years been made, can hardly be said
to have altogether disappeared even at the present
day. How strange it seems that religion, which ought,
and we must believe was designed to be, a bond of concord
and union, should be perverted into an occasion for
hatred and strife!—Yet so it unhappily too often has
been, and in no country perhaps more than in Ireland.
.sn 1612. | 11 and 12 James I. cap. 5.
Little was done in the way of legislation during the
reign of James the First, and only one of
the Acts of the Irish parliament in his reign
requires to be noticed, namely The 11th and
12th James 1st, cap. 5.—It is entitled ‘An Act of
Repeal of divers Statutes concerning the natives of this
kingdom of Ireland.’ The preamble declares, that
“in former times the natives of this realm of Irish
blood, were for the most part in continual hostility
with the English and with those that did descend of
the English, and therefore the said Irish were held and
accounted, and in divers statutes and records were
termed and called Irish enemies.” But—“Forasmuch
as the cause of the said difference and of making the
said laws doth now cease, in that all the natives and
.bn 037.png
.pn +1
inhabitants of this kingdom, without difference and
distinction, are taken under his Majesty’s gracious protection,
and do now live under one law as dutiful subjects,
by means whereof a perfect agreement is and
ought to be settled betwixt them”—Wherefore it is
enacted, “that all the said Acts and statutes, and every
clause and sentence in them conteyned, shall for ever
be utterly and thoroughly repealed, frustrated, annihilated,
and made void to all intents and purposes.” The
passing of this Act manifests a change in public feeling,
and was certainly a step in the right direction.
To treat a people as enemies, is the sure way to make
them such; and that the native Irish had long been so
treated, the records of the antecedent period abundantly
prove. The present was therefore a healing measure.
By abolishing the distinction of race, and bringing all
alike under protection of the law, the Act was no doubt
intended to pave the way for an entire amalgamation
of the two people. National distinctions and national
grievances are however not easily obliterated or forgotten;
time, intercourse, and the mutual interchange
of good offices being necessary for effecting the one, or
blotting out the remembrance of the other. And even
after this has been accomplished, and a kind of oblivion
of the past established, ancient feuds are too apt to be
revived by the occurrence of some circumstance, trivial
perhaps in itself, and race to be again put at enmity with
race, class to be arrayed against class, and sect against
sect. The history of Ireland abounds in examples of
such revival of enmities, promoting discord and disorder,
retarding improvement, and exercising a baneful
influence on the character as well as on the condition
of the people.
.sn 1634-5. | 10 and 11 Charles I. cap 4.
The Irish parliament was somewhat more active in
the reign of Charles the First, than it had been
in that of his predecessor, and four of its Acts,
all passed in the same year, we will now
.bn 038.png
.pn +1
proceed to notice, the first of these being—The 10th and
11th Charles 1st, cap. 4—entitled ‘An Act for the
erecting of Houses of Correction, and for the punishment
of Rogues Vagabonds sturdy Beggars and other
lewd and idle persons’—For which purpose it is enacted,
that before Michaelmas in the following year
“there shall be built or otherwise provided within every
county of Ireland, one or more fit and convenient
house or houses of correction, with convenient backside
thereunto adjoining, together with mills, working-cards,
and other necessary implements, to set the said rogues
and other idle and disordered persons on work; the
same houses to be built or provided in some convenient
place or town in every county, which houses shall be
purchased conveyed or assured unto such person or
persons as by the justices of peace, or the most part of
them shall be thought fit, upon trust, to the intent the
same shall be used and employed for the keeping correcting
and setting to work of the said rogues, vagabonds,
sturdy beggars, and other idle and disorderly
persons.” The justices are empowered to make orders
from time to time, for raising money upon the inhabitants
of the county for providing the said houses, and
for the government and ordering thereof, and for
setting to work such persons as shall be committed to
the same; and also for the yearly payment of the governor
and such others as they shall think necessary
to be employed therein. The justices are moreover to
appoint honest and fit persons to be governors of such
houses,—which governors “shall have power and authority
to set such rogues vagabonds idle and disorderly
persons as shall be sent to the said houses, to
work and labour (being able) for such time as they
shall there continue, and to punish the said rogues &c.
by putting fetters or gyves upon them, and by moderate
whipping.” And it is further ordered, that the said
rogues and vagabonds during the time they remain in
.bn 039.png
.pn +1
such house of correction, “shall in no sort be chargeable
to the country for any allowance, either at their
bringing in or going forth, or during the time of their
abode there, but shall have such and so much allowance
as they shall deserve by their own labour and work.”
The justices at their quarter session of the peace are
required to assign to the governors of the said houses
a fitting salary, to be paid quarterly in advance by the
treasurer of the county, which if the treasurer neglect
to pay, the governor is empowered to levy upon him
by distress of his goods. And in order that more care
may be taken by the governors of such houses of correction,
“when the country hath been at trouble and
charge to bring all such disorderly persons to their safe
keeping,” it is directed that they shall at every quarter
session yield a true account to the justices of all persons
committed to their custody; and if any of such persons
“shall be troublesome to the country by going abroad,
or otherwise shall escape away from the said house of
correction before they shall be from thence lawfully
delivered, the justices may impose such fines and
penalties upon the said governor as they shall think
fit.” The justices are to meet at least twice a year for
the better execution of this statute, and are by warrant
to command the constables of every barony, town,
parish, village and hamlet within the county (“who
shall be assisted with sufficient men of the same places”)
to make a general privy search in one night for finding
out and apprehending all rogues, vagabonds, wandering
and idle persons, who are to be brought before
the justices to be examined of their wandering idle life,
and punished accordingly, or otherwise sent to the
house of correction and there set to labour and work.
.sn Who are to be deemed rogues, vagabonds, and sturdy beggars.
And that there may be no doubt as to who are liable
to punishment under these provisions, it is enacted—“that
all persons calling themselves scholars going
about begging; all idle persons going about in any
.bn 040.png
.pn +1
country either begging or using any subtle craft, or
unlawful games or plays, or feigning themselves
to have knowledge in physiognomy
palmistry or other like crafty science, or
pretending that they can tell destinies, fortunes,
or such other like phantastical imaginations;
all persons that be or utter themselves to be proctors,
procurers, patent gatherers, or collectors for gaols
prisons or hospitals; all fencers, bear-wards, common
players of interludes and minstrels wandering abroad;
all jugglers, wandering persons, and common labourers
being able in body, using loytering, and refusing
to work for such reasonable wages as is taxed and
commonly given, and not having living otherwise
to maintain themselves; all persons delivered out of
gaols that beg for their fees, or otherwise travaile
begging; all such as wander abroad, pretending loss
by fire or otherwise; all such as wandering pretend
themselves to be Egyptians, or wander in the habit
form or attire of counterfeit Egyptians—shall be taken
adjudged and deemed rogues vagabonds and sturdy
beggars, and shall sustain such punishments as are
appointed by the 33rd Henry 8th, cap. 15,[12] or be otherwise
dealt withall by sending them to the house of correction
in the county where they shall be found, as to
the justices shall be thought fit.”
.fm rend=t
.fn 12
Ante, p. #22#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
It appears moreover that many wilful people having
children, and being able to labour for the maintenance
of themselves and their families, “do nevertheless run
away out of their parishes, and leave their families upon
the parish”—Wherefore it is enacted that all such persons
so running away, shall be taken and deemed to be
incorrigible rogues, and suffer accordingly—“and if
either such man or woman, being able to work, shall
threaten to run away and leave their families as aforesaid,
.bn 041.png
.pn +1
the same being proved by two sufficient witnesses
upon oath before two justices of peace, the person so
threatening shall by the said justices be sent to the
house of correction, there to be dealt with as a sturdy
and wandering rogue, unless he or she can put in sufficient
sureties for the discharge of the parish.” This
enactment, and the recital by which it is introduced and
justified, might be taken for a part of our late English
poor-law system, so exactly does it accord with what
was frequently practised in English parishes. Yet nothing
like settlement, or a right to relief, or any organization
for providing or affording relief, existed in Ireland.
The great principle of parochial chargeability
for relief of the destitute embodied in the 43rd of Elizabeth,
seems nevertheless to have been in some degree
recognised, and was probably to some extent operative
in Ireland, although without legal sanction; for unless
such were the case, persons running away could not be
said to leave their families a charge upon the parish,
neither perhaps would their threatening to run away
be so stringently dealt with as we here find it to be.
The provisions of this Act are no doubt important,
and the Act itself taken as a whole, throws considerable
light upon the condition of Ireland at that time, and
shows that the state of society there was gradually approximating
to that which prevailed in England. The
persons subjected to punishment as rogues and vagabonds,
are identical with those described in the English
Act 22nd Henry 8th, cap. 12.[13] The provisions with respect
to houses of correction, are similar to those directed
by the English Acts 18th Elizabeth, cap. 3,[13] and the 7th
James 1st, cap. 4;[13] and the privy search ordered to be
made for apprehending vagrants &c. is the same as in
the Act of James.[13] With such a similarity of enactments
therefore, we can hardly doubt that there was a
.bn 042.png
.pn +1
general similarity in the circumstances of the two countries,
although those parts of Ireland which were latest
brought under subjection, may still have been in a rude
and backward state, as indeed it is known that they then
were, and for a long time afterwards continued to be.
.fm rend=t
.fn 13
See ‘History of the English Poor Law,’ vol. i. pp. 115, 171, 233 and 234.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
In proof of the backwardness of at least some parts
of Ireland at that time, two Acts passed in the
same year as the foregoing may be cited. 1634-5. |10 and 11 Charles I. cap. 15. The
first is, The 10th and 11th Charles 1st, cap. 15,
entitled ‘An Act against ploughing by the Tail and
pulling the Wool off living Sheep.’ It declares that
“in many places of this kingdom there hath been a long
time used a barbarous custom of ploughing, harrowing,
drawing and working with horses, mares, geldings,
garrans, and colts, by the tail, whereby (besides the
cruelty used to the beasts) the breed of horses is much
impaired in this kingdom, to the great prejudice thereof;
and also, that divers have and yet do use the like
barbarous custom, of pulling off the wool yearly from
living sheep[14] instead of clipping or shearing of them”—Wherefore
all such barbarities are prohibited, and it is
enacted that whomsoever shall so act in either case in
future, or procure the same to be done, shall be subject
to fine and imprisonment. 1634-5.| 10 and 11 Charles I. cap. 17. The other Act is the
10th and 11th Charles 1st, cap. 17, entitled ‘An
Act to prevent the unprofitable custom of burning
Corn in the Straw.’ It recites—“Whereas
there is in the remote parts of this kingdom of Ireland
commonly a great dearth of cattle yearly, which for
the most part happeneth by reason of the ill husbandrie
and improvident care of the owners, that neither provide
fodder nor stover for them in winter, nor houses
to put them in extremitie of stormy cold weather, but a
.bn 043.png
.pn +1
natural lazie disposition possessing them, will not build
barnes to house and thresh their corn in, nor houses to
keep their cattle from the violence of such weather; but
the better to enable them to be flitting from their lands,
and to deceive his Majesty of such debts as they may be
owing, and their landlords of their rents, do for a great
part instead of threshing, burn their corn in the straw,
thereby consuming the straw which might relieve their
cattle in winter, and afford materials towards covering
or thatching their houses, and spoiling the corn, making
it black, loathsome and filthy”—for prevention of which
unprofitable and uncivil customs it is ordained, that no
person shall “by himself, wife, children, servants, or
tenants,” burn or cause to be burned any corn or grain
in the straw, on pain of being imprisoned ten days for
the first offence, for the second offence one month, and
for the third offence to pay a fine of forty shillings and
be bound to good behaviour.
.fm rend=t
.fn 14
A parallel to the “pulling off the wool from living sheep,” may even now
be witnessed all over the west of Ireland, in the plucking off the feathers from
the living geese, a process that must be attended with great pain, and under
the cruel infliction of which many of the poor geese perish.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
These Acts certainly indicate the existence of very
rude and barbarous practices in some parts of Ireland—so
rude indeed, that one finds some difficulty in
giving credence to them; but that they did prevail,
there can be no reasonable doubt. To plough by the
tail, to strip the wool off sheep, and to burn corn in the
straw, are doubtless all indications of a lamentable state
of backwardness and barbarism; but how far this backwardness
was owing to “a natural lazie disposition” in
the Irish tenantry, or whether it was the “better to
enable them to be flitting from their lands to deceive
their landlords of their rents,” as asserted above, or
occasioned by the oppressive conduct of the landlords,
as described by Spenser,[15] it is impossible to say with
certainty. Most likely all these causes were in operation,
together with a general feeling of insecurity, a
.bn 044.png
.pn +1
backward state of civilization, and a feeble and uncertain
administration of the law.
.fm rend=t
.fn 15
See ante, p. #7#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
Another cause of backwardness and disorder is indicated
1634-5. | 10 and 11 Charles I. cap. 16.by the ‘Act for the suppressing of Cosherers
and idle Wanderers.’ This Act (the 10th
and 11th Charles 1st, cap. 16) commences with
the following recital—“Whereas there are many young
gentlemen of this kingdom that have little or nothing to
live on of their own, and will not apply themselves to
labour or other honest industrious courses to support
themselves, but do live idly and inordinately, coshering
upon the country, and sessing themselves their followers
their horses and their greyhounds upon the poor inhabitants,
sometimes exacting money from them to spare them
and their tenants, and to go elsewhere to their eaught
and edraugh, viz. supper and breakfast, and sometimes
craving helps from them; all which the poor people
dare not deny them, sometimes for shame, but most
commonly for fear of mischief to be done them so refusing,
and therefore do bear it although unwillingly, and
many times when they are scarce able so to do, and yet
dare not complain for fear of the inconveniences aforesaid,
and to that end do make cuts levies and plotments
upon themselves to pay them, and give such entertainment
and helps to the utter impoverishing and disabling
of the poor inhabitants to pay their duties to the king,
and their rents unto their landlords; and by that lawless
kind of life of these idle gentlemen and others,
being commonly active young men, and such as seek to
have many followers and dependants upon them, many
other inconveniences are likely to arise, for they are
apt upon the least occasion of disturbance or insurrection,
to rifle and make booty of his Majesty’s loyal
subjects, and to be heads and leaders of outlaws and
rebels, and in the mean time do and must sometimes
support their excessive and expenceful drinking and
gaming by secret stealths, or growing into debts often-times
.bn 045.png
.pn +1
filch and stand upon their keeping, and are not
amenable to law”—wherefore for prevention of such
inconveniences it is enacted, that if any person or persons
shall directly or indirectly follow any of the above
practices in future, the justices of assize are to cause
them to be apprehended and bound to good behaviour,
and imprisoned until good sureties for the same be
given. These “cosherers” are apparently the same
class of persons described by Spenser as infesting the
country half a century before,[16] too proud to beg, too
idle to labour, and for the most part living by the
plunder and intimidation of the poor tenantry. There
could hardly have been a greater obstruction to improvement,
or a more certain incentive to violence and
disorder, than the conduct of these “cosherers and idle
wanderers” as above described. They must have been
in every way a curse to the country, stirring up and
perpetuating whatever was pernicious oppressive and
demoralizing, and subverting whatever had a contrary
tendency.
.fm rend=t
.fn 16
Ante, p. #6#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
We have now approached the period of what is
emphatically called “the great Rebellion,” which was
followed by the Commonwealth, the Protectorate, and
the Restoration; and then, after an interval, by the
Revolution of 1688, which led to the establishment of
constitutional monarchy. But in none of these periods,
although all highly interesting and important in an
historical point of view, do we find anything in Irish
legislation so immediately bearing upon our present
subject, as to call for citation or remark.
The first enactment in the order of time which it is
necessary to notice,1703. | 2 Anne, cap. 19. | The Dublin workhouse. is The 2nd Anne, cap. 19,
entitled—‘An Act for erecting a Workhouse
in the city of Dublin, for employing and maintaining
the poor thereof.’ The preamble declares, that
.bn 046.png
.pn +1
“the necessities number and continual increase of the
poor within the city of Dublin and liberties thereto adjoining,
are very great and exceeding burdensome for
want of workhouses to set them at work, and a sufficient
authority to compel them thereto: and whereas the
lord mayor, sheriffs, commons and citizens of Dublin
for the encouragement of so charitable and necessary a
work, are willing not only to appropriate a piece of
ground for a workhouse within the said city, but also
to endow the same with lands of inheritance of the
value of one hundred pounds per annum”—It is enacted,
that from and immediately after the 1st of May 1704,
there shall be a corporation to continue for ever within
the county of the city of Dublin, to be entitled the
governors and guardians of the poor, and to consist of
the chief governor (or lord lieutenant) the lord mayor,
the lord chancellor, the archbishop of Dublin, the
sheriffs, the justices of peace, the members of the corporation,
and a great many others specially named, who
are to have perpetual succession, with all the usual
powers and privileges of a corporation. They are to
assemble on the first Thursday in every month, “for
relieving, regulating, and setting at work, all vagabonds
and beggars which shall come within the city or
liberties,” and are to provide such necessaries and
material as are needful for the same. They are likewise
empowered to apprehend all idle or poor people begging
or seeking relief, or who receive parish alms within the
city or liberties; and also to detain and keep in the
service of the said corporation until the age of sixteen,
any poor child or children found or taken up within
the said city or liberties above five years of age, and to
apprentice out such children to any honest persons,
being protestants, a male child until the age of twenty-four,
and a female child until the age of twenty-one.
The governors and directors are moreover empowered
to inflict reasonable punishment or correction, from
.bn 047.png
.pn +1
time to time, on all persons within the workhouse who
shall not conform to the established regulations; and
are to have the care of the poor of the said city and
liberties of what age or kind soever they be, infants
under the age of five years only excepted; and in order
thereto, are empowered “to examine, search, and see
what poor persons are come into, inhabiting, or residing
within the said city and liberties, or any part thereof,
and to apprehend any idle vagrants and beggars, and
to cause them to be set and kept at work in the said
workhouse, for any time not exceeding seven years.”
For the encouragement of such as shall become benefactors
to the foregoing “good design,” it is enacted
that a donor of fifty pounds and upwards shall be
eligible for the office of governor and guardian; and
power is also given for granting licences for the keeping
of hackney coaches not exceeding 150 in number, and
for sedan-chairs not exceeding 80 in number, to ply for
hire within the city and liberties, every licence so
granted being charged with the sum of 5l., to be paid
to the governors and guardians of the poor by way of
fine, and forty shillings annually afterwards, so long as
the said licence shall be continued. It is further
enacted for the support of the poor in the said workhouse,
that a rate of 3d. in the pound be charged on
every house within the city and liberties, to be levied
in the same way as ministers’ money; but in case any
surplus should remain after defraying the necessary
charges of the workhouse, and the poor maintained and
employed therein, a proportional abatement is to be
made in this tax upon houses.
The above is the substance of this important Act,
important, that is, as being the first in which a direct
provision is made for the relief of poverty in Ireland.
The Act is local, it is true, its operation being limited
to the city and liberties of Dublin; but it recognises
the principle of taxing the public for the prevention of
.bn 048.png
.pn +1
vagrancy and begging, conjointly with the alternative
of relieving the destitute—a principle universal in itself,
and susceptible of universal application. The endeavour
to effect these objects through the agency of workhouses,
was very generally resorted to in England
about this time. They had been recommended by Sir
Matthew Hale, and also by Mr. Locke in his Report on
the state of the poor, and the Bristol, Worcester, and
other workhouses were established with a like intent,[17]
although the employment of the inmates with a view
to profit, was no doubt at the same time regarded as a
collateral advantage. The direction that the poor
children “found or taken up” should be apprenticed to
“honest persons being protestants,” seems, as in the
case of the free schools already noticed,[18] to indicate a
desire in the framers of the measure to make it subservient
to the spread of the reformed religion; but at
that time the property, and nearly all the industrious
occupations of the country were in the hands of protestants,
so that with them alone was there likely to
be an eligible opportunity for apprenticing out the
children. The direction to do so was therefore superfluous,
but it indicates the dominant feeling of the
time. The corporation was reconstituted and its powers
extended by the 1st George 2nd, cap. 27, in 1728, and
ultimately the workhouse became merged in the Dublin
Foundling Hospital; but as it will hereafter be necessary
to revert to this point we need not dwell on it at present.
.fm rend=t
.fn 17
See ‘History of the English Poor Law,’ vol. i. pp. 302, 372, 373 and 385.
.fn-
.fn 18
Ante, p. #24#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
The Act passed in 1635, ‘for the suppression of
cosherers and idle wanderers,’ has already been
noticed.[19] 1707. | 6 Anne, cap. 11.In 1707 another was passed (the 6th
Anne, cap. 11,) explaining and amending the former,
and entitled ‘An Act for the more effectual suppressing
tories robbers and rapparees, and for preventing persons
.bn 049.png
.pn +1
becoming tories or resorting to them.’ It directs—“that
all loose idle vagrants, and such as pretend to be
Irish gentlemen, and will not work nor betake themselves
to any honest trade or livelihood, but wander
about demanding victuals and coshering from house to
house among their fosterers followers and others, and
also loose persons of infamous lives and characters, upon
presentments of the grand juries at assizes and general
quarter sessions, and upon warrant of the justices, shall
be imprisoned until sent on board the fleet, or transported
to some of her Majesties plantations in America,
whither the justices are empowered to send them, unless
sufficient security for their good behaviour be given.
Many persons are moreover said to make a trade of
obtaining robbery money from the country, pretending
to have been robbed, “whereas they never were robbed,
or were not robbed of near the value they allege, and
so get money on that account which they never lost”—Wherefore
it is directed that all persons pretending
to be robbed, shall not only give notice thereof to some
neighbouring justice, but likewise to the high constable,
who is forthwith to publish the same in all the market
towns of the barony.
.fm rend=t
.fn 19
Ante, p. #34#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
There appears to have been another species of fraud
in connexion with this “Robbery money.” “robbery money,” for
the principal inhabitants, when applotments
were made for reimbursing the persons that had been
robbed, do it is said, “usually lay the whole burthen on
the poorer sort, that are least able to bear it, or least able
to resist or pursue the tories, and thereby they pay
little or nothing themselves, who ought to be charged
according to their abilities”—Wherefore the parties
aggrieved are authorised to appeal to the judges of
assize, who are empowered to examine into the case
upon oath, and to determine the same. We thus see
how apt a law, however good in itself, is to be perverted
to a bad purpose. The making the county answerable
.bn 050.png
.pn +1
for reimbursing a person who had been plundered,
would seem calculated to array all the inhabitants on
the side of honesty and good order; but without preventing
robbery, the law in this case appears to have
given rise to a fraudulent trafficking in “robbery
money,” and to gross injustice in other respects. There
is no other Act of the Irish parliament in Anne’s reign
requiring to be noticed, but there is one in that of her
successor which must not be passed over.
.sn 1715. | 2 George I. cap. 17.
The 2nd George 1st, cap. 17, may be called a multitudinous
Act, as it comprises a great variety of
enactments, but such parts only will be noticed
as bear upon our subject. It is entitled ‘An Act to
empower justices to determine disputes about servants’
wages &c.’ and it recites—“Whereas several persons
do refuse or neglect to pay the wages due to servants,
artificers, and day labourers, and there being no remedy
whereby they can in a summary way, without much
charge or delay recover what is due for their service”—it
is therefore enacted for the more easy recovery of
the same, that any neighbouring justice of the peace
or chief magistrate may receive the complaint of any
such servant upon oath, and may summon the master or
mistress and determine the demand, which if not paid
within ten days as so determined, may be levied by
distress. “And forasmuch as several servants are
drunkards, idle or otherwise disorderly in their services,
or waste and purloin their master’s goods, or lend the
same without their master’s or mistress’s consent or
knowledge, or depart their service within the time for
which they had obliged themselves to serve,” it is
further enacted, that on complaint upon oath of any
master or mistress to such effect before any justice of
peace or chief magistrate, they are to hear and determine
the same, and if the offence be duly proved, may
commit the offender for six hours to the stocks, or to
the house of correction with hard labour for any time
.bn 051.png
.pn +1
not exceeding ten days. It is also enacted, that on the
discharge or quitting service of any servant, the master
or mistress shall give a certificate in writing to that
effect, “and shall in the said discharge certify, if desired,
or if the master or mistress shall think fit, the behaviour
of such servant;” and no servant is in future to be
hired without producing such discharge or certificate of
character. These enactments appear alike calculated
to benefit the master and the servant class, and if fairly
administered could hardly fail of so doing. They show
moreover that social organization in Ireland had attained
a more stable and orderly form, that its gradations
were more distinctly marked and better understood,
and that the duties of each were more clearly
defined. We no longer see any allusion to the “Irishry”
as a separate race. All are brought within the pale of
the law, or it may rather be said that the law and the
pale have become conterminous.
.sn 11th section. Apprenticing of helpless children.
By the 11th section of the Act provision is made for
apprenticing helpless children. It commences
with this preamble—“and whereas there are
in almost every part of this kingdom great
numbers of helpless children who are forced to beg
their bread, and who will in all likelihood, if some
proper care be not taken of their education, become
hereafter not only unprofitable but dangerous to their
country; and whereas it is hoped that many of them
may be entertained in comfortable services, and others
may be bound out to and bred up in useful callings, if
well-disposed persons could have any fair prospect of
receiving hereafter by the labour of such poor children,
any return suitable to the trouble and charges they
must necessarily undergo in bringing them through
that state of childhood”—Wherefore it is enacted, that
the minister and churchwardens shall have power, with
consent of a justice of peace, to bind out any child they
find begging within their parish, or any other poor
child with consent of the parents, to any honest and
.bn 052.png
.pn +1
substantial protestant housekeeper or tradesman that
will entertain such child, until the age of 21, if as a
menial servant, or till the age of 24, if as an apprentice
to a trade. And to prevent abuse of power in masters
and mistresses towards such servants and apprentices,
it is further enacted that justices of peace may, on
complaint of ill usage or cruel treatment examine into
the case, and if the complaint appear groundless, may
order reasonable correction for the servant or apprentice
complaining without cause; but if immoderate
severity or cruel usage be fully proved against the
master or mistress, the justice is empowered to discharge
the servant or apprentice from their service, and to bind
him or her to some other master or mistress for the
remainder of the time. We here see that the power of
apprenticing out poor children conferred upon the
Dublin corporation of governors and guardians of the
poor,[20] is now extended to the minister and churchwardens
of every parish in Ireland, accompanied by a
like condition as to the master’s being a protestant. In
this respect only is there any material difference
between the present enactment, and The 39th Elizabeth,
cap. 3,[21] with regard to apprenticing poor children,
although better provision is now made for protecting
them against improper treatment subsequently.
.fm rend=t
.fn 20
Ante, p. #35#.
.fn-
.fn 21
See ‘History of the English Poor Law,’ vol. i. p. 183.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn 1735.| 9 George II. cap. 25.
In 1735 an Act was passed for establishing a workhouse
at Cork, similar in its main provisions
to that which was passed for Dublin in 1703.[20]
The present Act (The 9th George 2nd, cap. 25) however
makes provision for rebuilding the cathedral church of
St. Finbarry, as well as “for erecting a workhouse in
the city of Cork for employing and maintaining the
poor, punishing vagabonds, and providing for and educating
foundling children.” With respect to the former
of these provisions, it is only necessary to remark, that
the money authorised to be raised by a coal-tax, was
.bn 053.png
.pn +1
directed to be applied during the first four years to the
purposes of the cathedral; and we may therefore abstain
from further noticing that point, and proceed at once to
a consideration of the other provisions of the Act.
.sn Strolling beggars and vagabonds to be seized.
The 9th George 2nd, cap. 25, has the same preamble
as the Dublin Act. It constitutes the bishop of Cork,
and the mayor, recorder, aldermen, sheriffs, common
councilmen, the common speaker, together with twenty-six
other persons who are to be elected annually, a
corporation and body politic, entitled the “Governors of
the Workhouse of the City of Cork.” They are to have
a common seal, with all the usual powers, and may
purchase and take for the uses of the corporation any
lands or other hereditaments not exceeding the annual
value of 2000l. The ground for the workhouse is given
by the city corporation, and in order to defray the
expenses to be incurred in carrying the several provisions
of the Act into effect, a duty of one shilling per
ton is imposed on all coal and culm imported into Cork
during the term of thirty-one years, to be paid to the
governors of the workhouse. Four general assemblies
of the governors are to be held in every year, and they
may from among themselves annually appoint fifteen to
be assistants, any five of whom are to have full power
to carry the regulations established by the governors
into effect, and likewise to regulate the management
of the gaol or house of correction. The beadles
and constables are authorised to seize all
beggars and other idle vagabonds, found strolling
in or frequenting any of the streets or houses
within the city and suburbs, and to carry them
before one of the said assistants, who is empowered
to commit them to the workhouse and hard labour
until the next meeting of the governors, who may
if they see cause confine such beggars or vagabonds
in the workhouse for any term not longer than four
years, and keep them to hard labour or otherwise as
.bn 054.png
.pn +1
shall be thought fit. If disorderly, they may be committed
to the house of correction.
.sn Section 17. Foundling children.
The workhouse at Cork, like that established in
Dublin, is thus we see primarily intended for the
repression of mendicancy and vagabondism, and like
that too it is further designed for the reception and
maintenance of foundlings. The 17th section
of the Act declares that “the exposed or foundling
children left yearly on the several parishes in the
city and suburbs of Cork are very numerous, and do
frequently perish for want of due care and provision
for them”—Wherefore it is enacted, that as soon as
the workhouse shall be built, the governors shall receive
from the churchwardens of the respective parishes all
the exposed or foundling children that are then within
the same, and likewise all such as may thereafter be
found exposed or left to be maintained by any of the
said parishes, “and shall take due care to have such
children nursed, clad, and taught to read and write,
and thoroughly instructed in the principles of the protestant
religion.” The male children are to be taught
some trade or calling, and employed thereon within
the workhouse until the age of 21, when they are to be
discharged, and furnished with a certificate under the
seal of the corporation, stating their having been so
brought up and taught such trade in the workhouse,
which certificate will entitle them to the freedom of the
city of Cork, with all the privileges other freemen enjoy.
If the number of male foundlings should become so
great, that the fund appropriated to the maintenance
of the workhouse proves insufficient for continuing
them therein until they severally attain the age of 21
years, the governors or assistants are empowered to
place out so many of the male children to such art trade
or calling, or to the sea service, or to be household
servants, for any term not exceeding seven years, as
they shall judge necessary and expedient. The female
.bn 055.png
.pn +1
children are to be instructed in such proper trades and
employments, and disposed of at such ages and in such
manner, as the governors may deem advisable; and
in order to prevent the improper interference of the
parents of such deserted children, many of whom being
Roman catholics are said to strive to hinder their
children from being brought up protestants, the governors
of the workhouses of Dublin and Cork are
empowered to exchange the children maintained therein,
whenever such interchange shall be agreed upon by
the respective governors. This appears the only material
addition suggested by the experience obtained in
the thirty years between the passing of the two Acts,
and it strikingly illustrates the difficulty of dealing
with matters connected in any way with differences in
religion. Here are parents so wanting in natural
affection as to desert their own progeny, and leave
them to be cared for by their protestant fellow-subjects,
and who yet make it a point of conscience to
hinder their children’s being brought up in the religion
of their protectors. It would seem impossible to carry
unreasoning inconsistency further.
Foundling hospitals have, from a remote period,
existed on the continent of Europe, especially in Italy
and France. It appears to have been thought that by
providing a place where mothers might deposit their
illegitimate offspring in safety, the frequent recurrence
of child-murder would be prevented. But it may be
doubted whether the exemption from the consequences
of illicit intercourse, does not tend to relax moral
restraints, and to increase the number of illegitimate
children.
.sn 1771-2. | 11 and 12 George III. cap 11. Dublin Foundling Hospital.
The double functions assigned to the Dublin workhouse,
of dealing both with vagrants and foundling
children, were deemed to be inconsistent,
and The 11th and 12th George 3rd, cap. 11, was
passed to remedy this defect, and in fact to
.bn 056.png
.pn +1
reconstitute the entire establishment. All former Acts
affecting it were accordingly repealed, and a new corporation
appointed, comprising a long list of persons
official and non-official, from the lord-lieutenant downwards,
who are to be called “the Governors of the
Foundling Hospital and Workhouse of the city of
Dublin.” The corporation is invested with large powers,
and may for its own use and benefit purchase and hold
any lands, tenements or hereditaments, not exceeding
the annual value of 2,000l., or any personal estate
whatsoever; and may make such rules by-laws and
other regulations, as the governors shall judge necessary
and expedient for the good government of the institution.
There are to be four quarterly meetings of the
governors in the year, and as in the case of Cork the
governors may appoint annually from among themselves
fifteen or more “to be called the Court of Assistants,”
who are to assemble as often as they think
proper for putting in execution the orders and regulations
ordained by the governors, and are invested with
authority to inspect and regulate the management of
the institution, “and the children received therein or
sent out to nurse therefrom.”
.sn Vagabonds and strolling beggars not to be admitted.
And as “the reception of vagabonds and strolling
beggars into the same house, or within the same
walls with will be manifestly injurious
by the setting a bad example,”—it is enacted
that no vagabond or strolling beggar shall be sent into
the same house, or kept within the same walls with the
children; but when apprehended shall be sent to bridewell,
or to such other place as the governors shall
appoint, separate and apart from the said children, and
be there maintained and set to work at the expense
of the corporation, under such management and regulation
as the governors shall prescribe, the produce of
their labour to be applied in aid of the revenues of the
institution. The governors and the court of assistants
.bn 057.png
.pn +1
are empowered to inflict reasonable punishment or correction
from time to time, on any vagabond beggar or
poor person within the said bridewell, or other place
of confinement; and each of the governors, and every
justice of peace, may apprehend any poor persons begging
or seeking relief, and all vagabonds and strolling
beggars, within the city and liberties. The beadles,
constables, and inhabitants generally, are moreover
required to seize and take all such persons before one
of the said governors, or one of the said justices, in
order to their being committed to bridewell or other
appointed place, until the next quarterly court of governors,
who may confine the beggars and idle vagabonds
so committed for any term not exceeding three
years, “there to be kept to hard labour, or otherwise
usefully employed, as they shall see cause and shall
order and direct.”
.sn Section 16. |\
Foundling children.
The entire separation of the vagrant classes from the
foundling children being thus provided for, it
is then by the 16th section enacted—“that all
and every poor child and children under the age of six
years, who shall be found or taken up within the said
city and liberties, or sent to the foundling hospital,
shall be received and kept therein, or sent to nurse
therefrom; and that all children presented for reception
who appear to be six years old, and not exceeding
eight, shall be received if there be room, and the
children appear to be sound in mind and body.” The
children are to be instructed in the principles of the
protestant religion, and taught to read write and cast
accounts, together with such other useful matters as
“may tend to increase the fund for the support of the
said house.” The governors may, from time to time,
place out as apprentices by proper indentures any of the
said children to persons being protestants and following
any trade or calling, or to seafaring men, or to gentlemen
or housekeepers for servants, for any term not
.bn 058.png
.pn +1
exceeding seven years.[22] The maintenance and education
afforded to these poor children, and their being
thus placed out as servants, or apprenticed to a trade,
naturally made the institution attractive; and it is declared
to be necessary “that some further funds should
be provided, as it is found by experience that the
numbers of children are of late years greatly increased,
and the children are brought to the hospital from all
parts of the kingdom, and from his Majesty’s neighbouring
dominions.”
.fm rend=t
.fn 22
This limitation was afterwards removed by the 25th George 3rd, cap. 48,
which allowed of children being apprenticed for any term, provided it did not
exceed the age of 21 for a male and 18 for a female.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
Accordingly, the governors are empowered for “the
better support of the said Foundling Hospital and
workhouse, and for the maintenance and education of
the children and other purposes of the Act,” to grant
licences to persons keeping hackney coaches, stages, or
other vehicles plying for hire, and to porters or messengers
within the city or suburbs or seven miles thereof,—on
conditions and at rates of charge prescribed in the
Act; and also to charge and receive 6d. in the pound on
the yearly rent of all houses within the city and liberties,
or within two Irish miles of Dublin Castle, as the
same is returned for the minister’s money, or if not so
returned, on the rents payable by tenants in possession.
And whenever the number of children causes the expense
to exceed the revenue provided by the Act, the
governors are to cause notice thereof to be inserted in
the Dublin Gazette, after which no child is to be again
received until notice to that effect be in like manner
given.
On comparing this with the original Act of 1703,
and with the Cork Act of 1735, it will be seen that the
chief difference is the entire separation of the vagabond
or culpable class from the foundling children which is
now directed, and the reason for which is distinctly
.bn 059.png
.pn +1
stated. This was doubtless an advantage, and it led to
so many other improvements in the care and management
of the children, that the numbers deserted and
pressed upon the institution went on continually increasing,
and soon became excessive. It is indeed complained
of in the present Act, before the separation it
directs was carried into full effect, and the influence we
are told even extended beyond the limits of Ireland.
To provide for the additional charges thus arising, the
area of the house-tax was extended, and its rate increased
from 3d. to 6d. in the pound. No change is
made in the charge for licensing carriages, but the
number to be licensed was increased, hackney coaches
from 150 to 300, and sedan-chairs from 80 to 400,
which may be taken as proof of the increasing wealth
and population of Dublin, if not of the country generally.
This Act was repeatedly amended; and even in
the following year, on the ground that “the number of
children of the age of six years and under, have of late
years increased so far beyond the expectation of the
governors,” it is directed by the 13th and 14th George
3rd, cap. 17, that children of three years old and
upwards are not to be received, and that the house-tax
be raised from 6d. to 10d. in the pound for two years,
on houses of 10l. rental and upwards.
.sn 1772-74. | 11 and 12 George III. cap. 15. | 13 and 14 George III. cap. 24.
Nothing further need at present be said with respect
to the above statute. But two other Acts were
subsequently passed, one in the same year, and
the other in the year following which require
to be noticed.—The first is The 11th and 12th
George 3rd, cap. 15, ‘for the relief of poor infants who
are or shall be deserted by their parents’—the other is
The 13th and 14th George 3rd, cap. 24, for amending the
same. The first-named Act commences with this recital—“Whereas
poor infants are frequently deserted
by their parents, and left exposed to the inclemency of
the weather in the streets and other places in cities;
.bn 060.png
.pn +1
and whereas the inhabitants of several parishes in which
children are so exposed refuse to raise money for the
support of such children, by which many of them
perish”—it is therefore enacted, that in every parish
of every city (excepting Dublin and Cork) a vestry
shall be held in the first week of June annually, at
which three overseers are to be chosen, who shall take
up and provide for the maintenance and education of
all such children as shall be so deserted and exposed
within their respective parishes. The sum of 5l. is
allowed for the bringing up of each child, and the
entire expense is to be equally borne by the inhabitants
of the cities respectively. The overseers are to collect
the sums assessed upon each inhabitant, and apply the
money so collected to the maintenance and education of
such deserted children within their respective parishes.
This provision is, we see, limited to cities; but the other
Act (13th and 14th George 3rd, cap. 24) makes the provision
general throughout the country. After citing
the former Act, it directs—“that in every parish in
this kingdom (except in the cities of Dublin and Cork
for which particular provision is made) a vestry shall
be held annually, at such time and with such powers as
the former Act prescribes;” and the overseers in such
parishes are to “take up and provide for the maintenance
and education of all such children as shall be
deserted and exposed within their respective parishes
at the age of twelve months or under;” and such sums
of money as shall be necessary for the purpose, are to
be “raised upon the respective parishes in the same
manner and with such remedies as other parish cesses.”
If any parish refuses or neglects to raise the amount
necessary, the next going judge of assize, upon complaint
of the minister or curate thereof, may order such
sum to be raised as he shall think fit, “so as the same
do not exceed the sum of 5l. for each child;” and the
money so directed to be raised is to be assessed and
.bn 061.png
.pn +1
levied in the manner and with the like remedies as the
presentments of grand juries, and is to be paid to the
minister or curate of such parish, and by him applied to
the purposes of the Act.
These Acts, taken together, make provision for the
support of exposed and deserted children of tender age
in every parish in Ireland, by means of a compulsory
assessment upon the inhabitants. This amounts in fact
to a limited relief of the poor, or a restricted kind of
poor-law, the children being in almost every instance
the offspring of parents too poor to rear and maintain
them, whence (as was the case in England) the parish
of necessity becomes responsible for the performance of
these duties, and stands in loco parentis. After thus
legislating for one class of the destitute, and recognising
the principle of compulsory assessment, it seems
remarkable that nothing further should be done in the
way of establishing a regular system of relief for the
destitute of every class, especially as vestries were now
being organised, and overseers appointed in all the
parishes of Ireland. Perhaps an Act passed about the
same time, and to which we will now turn, may serve
to explain this omission, as it attempts to effect the
object circuitously and by indirect means, instead of
openly charging property for the relief of destitution.
.sn 1771-2. | 11 and 12 George III. cap. 30.
The 11th and 12th George 3rd, cap. 30, is entitled
‘An Act for Badging such Poor as shall be
found unable to support themselves by labour,
and otherwise providing for them, and for restraining
such as shall be found able to support themselves
by labour or industry from begging.’ It commences
as follows—“Whereas strolling beggars are
very numerous in this kingdom, and whereas it is
equally necessary to give countenance and assistance to
those poor who shall be found disabled by old age or
infirmities to earn their living, as to restrain and punish
those who may be able to support themselves by labour
.bn 062.png
.pn +1
or industry, and yet may choose to live in idleness by
begging; and it is just to call upon the humane and
affluent to contribute to the support of real objects of
charity; and whereas those purposes may be better effected
by one law, than by many laws tending to the same
purpose”—it is enacted that the 33rd Henry 8th, cap. 15,[23]
and the 10th and 11th Charles 1st, cap. 4,[23] be repealed.
.fm rend=t
.fn 23
Ante, pp. 22 and 28.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
The Act then proceeds—“And whereas the good
purposes intended by this Act are most likely to be
promoted by creating corporations in every county at
large, and in every county of a city or town in this
kingdom, Corporations to be established in every county.who may execute the powers and
trusts hereinafter expressed”—it is enacted that
such corporations be established accordingly,
consisting in counties of the archbishop or bishop, the
county members, and the justices of peace; and in
counties of a city or town, of the chief magistrate,
sheriffs, recorder, members of parliament and justices of
peace. Every such corporation is to be called “The
President and Assistants instituted for the relief of the
Poor, and for punishing Vagabonds and Sturdy Beggars,”
of the county, city, or town, as the case may be;
and is to have a common seal, and to hold meetings at
which the bishop when present is to preside, and to
make by-laws and appoint standing committees, and
is likewise empowered to elect such other persons as
shall be thought fit, including those who contribute
any sum not less than 20l., or subscribe annually not
less than 3l., to the charitable purposes of the corporation,
to be members thereof respectively. The corporations
are authorised to accept donations, and to
take or purchase lands and tenements not exceeding
500l. annual value, and to hold leases for terms not
exceeding 21 years, and may also take by grant or
devise any quantity of land in a city or town not exceeding
.bn 063.png
.pn +1
two roods, and in the open country not exceeding
twenty acres, “for the sites of houses to be
built for the reception of the helpless poor, and for
keeping in restraint sturdy beggars and vagabonds.”
.sn The poor to be badged and licensed to beg.
The corporations, constituted as above, are empowered
to grant badges to such of the helpless poor as
have resided one year in their respective counties
cities or towns, with a licence to beg
within such limits for such time as may be thought fit;
and are also empowered to appoint certain of the justices
to grant badges and licences likewise—“specifying
the names and places of birth and the character of the
persons so licensed, and the causes as nearly as may
be collected of their poverty, and whether reduced to
that state by sickness or misfortune.”
.sn Houses of industry or workhouses to be provided.
The said corporation are moreover required as soon
as they possess sufficient funds, to build hospitals
to be called workhouses or houses of industry for
the relief of the poor in their respective counties,
“as plain, as durable, and at as moderate expense as
may be;” which hospitals are to be divided into four
parts, one for such poor helpless men, and one other
for such poor helpless women as shall be judged worthy
of admission, a third for the reception of men able to
labour and committed as vagabonds or sturdy beggars,
and the fourth for idle strolling and disorderly women
committed to the hospital and found fit for labour.
.sn Persons begging without a licence to be apprehended.
Every man above the age of fifteen found begging
without a licence, and not wearing a badge,
is to be committed to the stocks for any time
not exceeding three hours for the first offence,
and six hours for every subsequent offence; and old
persevering offenders may be indicted at the sessions,
and if convicted are to suffer imprisonment not exceeding
two months; after which if they again offend they
may be publicly whipped, and be again imprisoned for
four months, and so on continually for every subsequent
.bn 064.png
.pn +1
offence. Every female found begging without a
licence and badge, may be confined in any place appointed
for that purpose, not exceeding three hours for
the first offence, and for every subsequent offence not
exceeding six hours; and every old and persevering
offender is, as in the case of the men, to be proceeded
against at the sessions; and in order that these directions
may be carried into effect, the corporations are
empowered to appoint “such and so many persons as
they shall think fit, at reasonable salaries, to seize and
arrest all such persons whom they shall find begging
without such licence and badge, and carry them before
the next justice, who may commit the party to the
stocks or otherwise as aforesaid.” Justices are moreover
empowered on their own view, to cause such
persons to be seized and dealt with as is above directed
for every first and subsequent offence.
.sn Poor children to be provided for.
Whenever a poor person deemed worthy of having a
licence to beg, has one or more children under
the age of ten years not apprenticed or otherwise
provided for, the age and number of such
children are to be inserted in the licence by the person
applied to in such case, or he may “at his or their election
take such and so many of them as he or they shall
think fit from the parent, and convey such child or
children to the committee of that county, city or town,
and insert the names of the rest in the parents’ licence.”
If any fatherless or deserted poor children under eight
years of age are found strolling and begging, they are
to be conveyed to the committee of the particular county
city or town, to be placed in such charter school nursery
as will receive them when under eight, and the rest are
to be apprenticed. The committees are required to keep
up a correspondence with the Protestant Charter Schools
Society,[24] that they may be informed from time to time
.bn 065.png
.pn +1
when there is accommodation for poor children, in order
“that all poor children may as much as possible be prevented
from strolling, and may be put to trades or to
industry.”
.fm rend=t
.fn 24
Ante, p. 25.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Strolling vagabonds to be seized and committed.
As soon as the houses of industry are provided and
furnished for the purpose, the corporations are to place
therein so many vagrants sturdy beggars and vagabonds,
and so many helpless poor as their funds admit
of; “and they are authorised and required to seize every
strolling vagrant capable of labour who hath no
place of abode, and who doth not live by his or
her labour or industry, and every person above the
age of fifteen who shall beg publicly without a
licence or badge, and every strolling prostitute capable
of labour, and to commit the said persons to the divisions
allotted for them respectively in the said houses, and
there to keep them to hard labour, and compel them to
work, maintaining them properly,” and inflicting reasonable
punishment when necessary, for the periods named
in the Act, varying from two months to four years.
.sn Money to be provided by grand-jury presentments.
“In order to furnish some revenues for the said corporations
at the outset,” the grand juries are
required to present annually at every spring
assizes in every county of a city or town, to be
raised off the lands and houses equally and rateably, any
sum not less than 100l. nor more than 200l., and in every
county at large any sum not less than 200l. nor more
than 400l., to be assessed and collected as other county
taxes are, and paid to the corporations respectively,
without fee or deduction whatever, for the charitable
purposes of the Act. All rectors vicars and incumbents
of parishes are likewise required to permit such clergymen
as the respective corporations may appoint, to preach
sermons in their churches annually, and to permit collections
to be made for the objects contemplated by the
Act.
.sn Recapitulation.
We here see that provision has been made, partly by
.bn 066.png
.pn +1
compulsory assessment, partly by voluntary contributions,
and through the instrumentality of corporations
specially appointed—for the badging
and licensing of the poor to beg—for providing hospitals
workhouses or houses of industry in every county at
large and county of a city or town—for separately confining
therein able-bodied vagabonds and disorderly
women who are to be kept to hard labour—and for the
maintenance therein of poor helpless men and women.
Authority is likewise given to seize any one found
begging without a badge or licence, and to send such
as are above fifteen to the house of industry for punishment,
whilst the children are to be placed at school or
put out to trade or service. And finally, persons are
appointed at reasonable salaries to carry these enactments
against unlicensed begging into effect.
In this Act therefore we have stringent provisions
against mendicancy, coupled with a conditional permission
for practising it. The deserving poor are
permitted to beg, or if helpless are maintained; the
undeserving poor if they beg are punished: but the
distinction between the two is not defined, neither is
it perhaps possible so to define it as to guard against
continual deception and fraud. The punishment of
vagrancy in every shape prescribed by this Act, accords
with what we find in all the earlier Scottish and English
statutes, and if due provision were at the same
time made for relieving the destitute poor, this would
be open to little objection; but the relief of poverty
is here proposed to be effected chiefly by means of an
organised system of begging, the helpless poor for whom
provision is made in the houses of industry, being evidently
those only who are too infirm to travel about for
that purpose. By thus combining two objects of an
opposite nature, it is evident neither will be accomplished—vagrancy
will not be put down, and poverty
will not be relieved. The providing for the establishment
.bn 067.png
.pn +1
of corporations in every county, with powers to
erect hospitals, houses of industry, or workhouses, and
to tax the property of the country for such purpose, was
no doubt an important advance in the legislation with
regard to the poor; but like many other Irish enactments
the present does not appear to have been carried
into effect, except in a very few instances; and as a
general measure the Act may be said to have been
inoperative. It possessed however so much of a general
character, and seemed to hold out such a promise of
efficiency by consolidating the provisions of former Acts,
that it was for a time relied upon, and upwards of half
a century elapsed before anything further was attempted
for the relief of the poor in Ireland.
The foregoing is the last of the Acts of the Irish
parliament which we shall have occasion to notice, and
when the Union took place in 1800, the Imperial legislation
superseded that which had been local.
On here closing the last volume of Irish statutes, it may
be convenient to give a short statement of the nature
and extent of the previous legislation connected with our
subject. Houses of industry and foundling hospitals,
supported partly by public rates, and partly by voluntary
contributions, were we have seen established at Dublin
and Cork, for the reception and bringing up of exposed
and deserted children, and the confinement of vagrants—free
schools were directed to be maintained in every
diocese, for educating the children of the poor—parishes
were required to support the children exposed and
deserted within their limits, and vestries were organised
and overseers appointed to attend to this duty—hospitals,
houses of industry or workhouses, were to be
provided in every county, and county of a city or town—severe
punishments were enacted against idle vagabonds
and vagrants; whilst the deserving poor were to be
badged and licensed to beg, or if infirm and helpless
were to be maintained in the hospitals or houses of
.bn 068.png
.pn +1
industry, for the building and upholding of which however,
reliance was chiefly placed on the charitable aid
of the humane and affluent, assessments for the purpose
being limited to 400l. in counties at large, and to 200l.
in counties of cities or towns.
It is evident that each of these measures partakes
more or less of the nature of a poor-law, but there is
one material deficiency pervading them all, that is, the
want of a certain and sufficient provision for carrying
them into effect. In no instance is such a provision
made compulsory upon the public. A portion only of
what is necessary for the purpose is so imposed, and
the remainder is sought to be obtained by voluntary
contributions, a combination always attended with uncertainty,
and in most cases leading to an insufficiency
of the necessary means. Even if the various provisions
were fully carried into effect and generally acted upon,
this would go far towards rendering them practically
inefficient; but at that time in Ireland, it by no means
followed because an Act was passed that its provisions
would be enforced, and there is reason to believe that
in very few instances only were the provisions contained
in these Acts carried into operation. The existence of
such provisions however, defective and for the most
part inoperative as they were, would nevertheless serve
as an answer to any person who might be desirous of
seeing an efficient system established for the relief of
the destitute; and thus the semblance of such a system
may have prevented the establishing of one that would
have been real, which it only could be when founded upon
a general rate, as in the Act of Elizabeth. No such
foundation was however, we see, here provided. Neither
parochial nor parental liability as recognised and enforced
in England, was established by these Acts.
Even in the case of fatherless and deserted children, the
entire chargeability of the parish for any such child
was limited to 5l., an amount surely insufficient for its
.bn 069.png
.pn +1
rearing and maintenance until it attained an age to
support itself; so that here also reliance must have been
placed on the co-operation of private charity, or else
upon the child’s being received into one of the foundling
hospitals, and the parish being thus relieved from
further expense. In short, the training up and educating
poor children as protestants, and the repression
of vagabondism, appear to be the objects chiefly sought
to be attained in all these Acts of the Irish parliament;
and to these objects the relief of the infirm and destitute
poor, seems to be regarded as a matter altogether
secondary and subordinate.
.sp 2
A short account of the state of Ireland at this time
will be a fitting conclusion of the present chapter, as
well as a useful preparative for what is to follow. The
best authority we can refer to for furnishing such an
account I believe to be Arthur Young,[25] who devoted
three years from 1776 to 1778 inclusive, to a personal
examination of the country, its agriculture, commerce,
and the social condition of the people. I have had considerable
opportunities of testing the accuracy of Arthur
Young’s statements, and making due allowance for the
changes which must be presumed to have taken place
during a period of some sixty years, they have appeared
to me to exhibit the circumstances of the country about
the time they were written with remarkable accuracy
and perspicuity. Of these statements, the following is
such a condensed summary as will, it is hoped, show
the reader what were Arthur Young’s views of the
then condition of Ireland, more especially with regard
to matters bearing upon our present subject.
.fm rend=t
.fn 25
See Arthur Young’s Tour in Ireland in the years 1776-77-78 and
brought down to 1779. 2 vols. 8vo. Published in 1780.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Arthur Young’s account of the state of Ireland.
In natural fertility, acre for acre, Ireland is said to be
superior to England. It has no such tracts of uncultivated
.bn 070.png
.pn +1
mountain as are seen in the English northern
counties, and its lighter shallower and more
rocky soil (chiefly of limestone) is nourished by
and flourishes under a fall of rain, which if it
took place in England, would render the stiff clay lands
almost useless. There is no chalk, and little sand or
clay in Ireland. The fertility of England may be said
to be in great measure owing to the application of skill
industry and capital, that of Ireland chiefly to the soil
and climate; whilst the bogs, which else would be waste,
afford abundance of fuel. Notwithstanding the naturally
superior fertility of Ireland however, the rent of land
there as compared with England is in the proportion of
two to five, or in other words, the land which lets in
Ireland for two shillings, would in England let for five.
It is considered that 5l. per acre expended over all
Ireland (which would amount to about eighty-eight
millions) “would not more than build, fence, plant,
drain and improve that country to be upon a par in
those respects with England;” and that it would take
above twenty millions more to put the farmers in the
two countries upon an equal footing. Profit in all
undertakings depends upon capital, and the deficiency
of capital thus accounts for the inferiority of the Irish
rents. Tillage is little understood, and the produce is
very inferior; “and were it not for potatoes, which
necessarily prepare for corn, there would not be half
of what we see at present.” The practice of harrowing
by the tail, and burning corn in the straw, was
still seen at Castlebar and other places in the west, notwithstanding
its being prohibited by statute.[26] The
moisture of the climate is favourable to pasturage and
the keeping of cattle was much followed, as it well suited
the indolent habits of the people.
.fm rend=t
.fn 26
See 10th and 11th Charles 1st, caps. 15 and 17, ante page #32#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
Considerable pains are taken to show that the system
.bn 071.png
.pn +1
of middlemen which then prevailed, or persons holding
tracts of land intermediately between the head landlord
and the smaller occupiers, was injurious to both, and a
bar to improvement. It was defended on the ground of
its affording greater security for the rent. But Arthur
Young says that the smaller tenantry were found to be
the most punctual rent-payers; and he further observes,
“that at the last extremity it is the occupier’s stock
which is the real security of the landlord,—it is that he
distrains, and finds abundantly more valuable than the
laced hat hounds and pistols of the gentleman jobber,
from whom he is more likely in such a case to receive
a ‘message’ than a remittance.” These “profit-renters”
are said to waste their time and their means
in horseracing and hunting, and to be the hardest
drinkers and most dissolute class of men in Ireland, as
well as the greatest oppressors of the poor tenantry,
whose condition is described as little better than the
cottars they employ.
Arthur Young declares, that—to be ignorant of the
condition of the labouring classes and the poor generally,
is to be wanting in the first rudiments of political
knowledge, and he states that he made every endeavour
to obtain the best information on the subject, from persons
in every class of life. According to some, the
poor were all starving. According to others, they were
in a very tolerable state of comfort.—Whilst a third
party, who looked with a jaundiced eye on British administration,
pointed at their poverty and rags as proofs
of the cruel treatment of their country. When truth is
thus liable to be warped, an inquirer should, he remarks,
be slow to believe and assiduous to examine, and he intimates
that such had universally been his practice.
The recompense for labour is the means of living.
In England the recompense is given in money, in Ireland
for the most part in land or commodities. Generally
speaking the labouring poor in Ireland are said to
.bn 072.png
.pn +1
have a fair bellyfull of potatoes, and the greater part of
the year they also have milk. If there are cabins on a
farm, the labourers reside in them. If there are none,
the farmer marks out the potato-gardens, and the
labourers raise their own cabins, the farmer often
assisting them with the roof and other matters. A
verbal contract is then made for the rent of the potato-garden,
and the keep of one or two cows, as the case
may be; after this the cottar works with the farmer at
the rate of the neighbourhood, “usually sixpence halfpenny
a day, a tally being kept, half by each party,
and a notch cut for every day’s labour.” At the end
of six or twelve months they reckon, and the balance is
paid. Such it is said is the Irish cottar system, and it
does not differ materially from that which prevailed in
Scotland at a period somewhat anterior. Many cabins
are however seen by the road-side or built in the ditch,
the inhabitants of which have no potato-gardens—“a
wandering family will fix themselves under a dry bank,
and with a few sticks, furze, fern &c., make up a hovel
no better than a pigsty, support themselves how they
can by work begging and pilfering, and if the neighbourhood
wants hands or takes no notice of them the
hovel grows into a cabin”—these people are not
cottars, but are paid in money for whatever work they
perform, and consequently have no potato-ground.
The food of the smaller tenantry the cottars and
labouring poor generally, was potatoes and milk, of
which for the most part they are said to have a sufficiency.
The English labourer’s solitary and sparing
meal of bread and cheese, is contrasted with “the
Irishman’s potato-bowl placed on the floor, the whole
family upon their hams around it, devouring quantities
almost incredible, the beggar seating himself to it with
a hearty welcome, and the pig taking his share.” It
must be admitted that the contrast is sufficiently
striking, and scenes such as here described were no
.bn 073.png
.pn +1
doubt then often witnessed in Ireland, and with some
little modification may even occasionally be met with
at the present day. This luxurious abundance was
however by no means universal, as is evident by statements
in other parts of the work, where many of the
people are described as living very poorly, “sometimes
having for three months together only potatoes and salt
and water.” There is said to be a marked difference
between the habits of the people in the north, and those
inhabiting the southern and western districts. In the
latter, land is alone looked to for affording the means of
subsistence. The former are manufacturers as well as
farmers, each man holding from 5 to 10 acres of land,
and sometimes more, on which he raises the usual crops
of corn and potatoes, together with a certain quantity
of flax, which is prepared and spun, and sometimes also
wove by himself and his family. This double occupation
is however not favourable to excellence or improvement
in either. The farming was bad, and the people
generally very poor. The practice of subdividing the
land, until it is brought down to the smallest modicum
that can support a family, prevailed in the north as in
the other parts of Ireland at that time, and has not
entirely disappeared at the present day.
The people are said to be everywhere very indifferently
clothed. Shoes and stockings were rarely
seen on the feet of women or children, and the men
were very commonly without them. They appeared
more solicitous to feed than to clothe their children, the
reverse of which is the case in England, where, as has
often been remarked, it is common to pinch the belly in
order to clothe the back. Education as far as reading
and writing goes was pretty general. “Hedge
schools,” as they are called, were everywhere met with,
and it is remarked that they might as well be called
ditch schools, many a ditch being seen full of scholars.
This shows the people to have been desirous of instruction,
.bn 074.png
.pn +1
another proof of which is, the fact of there being
schools for men. “Dancing is so universal among
them that there are everywhere itinerant dancing-masters,
to whom the cottars pay sixpence a quarter for
teaching their families.” The people are said to be
more cheerful and lively than the English, but lazy to
an excess at work, although active at play; and their
love of society is as remarkable as is their curiosity,
which is declared to be insatiable. Their truthfulness
is however not to be relied upon, and petty thefts and
pilferings are very common. They are “hard drinkers
and quarrelsome, yet civil submissive and obedient.”
Such is the summary of the Irish character at that
time, as drawn by Arthur Young, and there is no
reason to doubt its general accuracy.
With regard to other matters, an Irish cabin is described
as being the most miserable-looking hovel that
can well be imagined. It is generally built of mud,
and consists of only one room. There is neither
chimney nor window. The door lets in the light, and
should let out the smoke, but that for the sake of the
heat it is mostly preferred to keep it in, which injures
the complexion of the women. The roof, consisting of
turf straw potato-stalks or heath, has often a hole in it,
and weeds sprouting from every part, giving it all the
appearance of a weedy dunghill, upon which a pig or
a goat is sometimes seen grazing. The furniture accorded
with the cabin, often consisting only of a pot for
boiling the potatoes, and one or two stools probably
broken. A bed is not always seen, the family often
lying upon straw, equally partaken of by the cow and
the pig. Sometimes however the cabin and furniture
were seen of a better description, but on inquiry it
generally appeared that the improvement had taken
place within the last ten years.
The readiness with which habitations are procured
in Ireland, and the facility of obtaining food for a
.bn 075.png
.pn +1
family by means of the potato, are considered to be one
cause of the rapid increase of population which is shown
to have taken place towards the end of the 18th century.[27]
Marriage was, and indeed still is, more early and
more universal in Ireland than in England. An unmarried
farmer or cottar is there rarely seen, and even
the house-servants, men as well as women, are commonly
married. Yet notwithstanding the rapid increase
of population, there was a continual emigration
from the ports of Derry and Belfast, several ships
being regularly engaged in this passenger trade as it
was called, conveying emigrants to the American
colonies. These emigrants were however chiefly from
the northern counties, partly farmers partly weavers.
When the linen trade, the great staple of Ireland flourished,
the passenger trade was low, and when the
former was low the latter flourished. The emigrants
are said to have been chiefly protestants, the Roman
catholics at that time rarely quitting the country.
.fm rend=t
.fn 27
See table at pages 11 and 12 ante.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
The towns were said to have very much increased
during the last twenty years. “It may in truth be
said that Ireland has been newly built over within that
period, and in a manner far superior to what was the
case before.” Towns are the markets for the general
produce of the country, which they help to enrich, and
at the same time also to improve. The rise of rents
is a natural consequence of the increase of towns; and
on an average throughout Ireland, the rents are said
to have doubled in the last twenty-five years. The
entire rental of Ireland at that time is set down at
5,293,312l., but Arthur Young considered it to be not
less than six millions. The cost of living was on the
whole found to be nearly one-half less than in England.
All the articles of use and consumption were cheaper in
Ireland, and the taxes trifling in comparison. There
.bn 076.png
.pn +1
was no land-tax, no poor’s-rate, no window-tax, no
candle or soap tax, only half a wheel tax, no servants’
tax; and a variety of other things heavily burthened
in England, were free or not so heavily burthened in
Ireland. The expenses of a family in Dublin and in
London, are considered to be in the proportion of five
to eight; but the Irish do however, it is added, nevertheless
contrive to spend their incomes.
.bn 077.png
.pn +1
.sp 4
.h2
CHAPTER II.
.pm start_summary
Rebellion of 1798—The Union—Acts of the Imperial Parliament: respecting
dispensaries, hospitals, and infirmaries—Examination of bogs—Fever
hospitals—Officers of health—Lunatic asylums—Employment of the
poor—Deserted children—Report of 1804 respecting the poor—Dublin
House of Industry and Foundling Hospital—Reports of 1819 and 1823
on the state of disease and condition of the labouring poor—Report of
1830 on the state of the poorer classes—Report of the Committee on
Education—Mr. Secretary Stanley’s letter to the Duke of Leinster—Board
of National Education—First and second Reports of commissioners
for inquiring into the condition of the poorer classes—The author’s
‘Suggestions’—The commissioners’ third Report—Reasons for and
against a voluntary system of relief—Mr. Bicheno’s ‘Remarks on the
Evidence’—Mr. G. C. Lewis’s ‘Remarks on the Third Report.’
.pm end_summary
.sp 2
The commencement of the nineteenth century is memorable
for the legislative Union of Great Britain and
Ireland. This measure, fraught with such important
benefits to both countries, was probably hastened by
what occurred in Ireland in 1798, when the partizans
of democracy, excited by the events of the French
Revolution, and stimulated by French emissaries and
promises of support, broke out into open rebellion.
1798. | Irish Rebellion.The rebellion was however soon put
down, although not without the sacrifice of many of
the ignorant misguided people who had been led on to
take a part in it; and the speech from the throne at
the opening of the session on the 20th of November
1798, announced that “the French troops which had
been landed for its support were compelled to surrender,
and that the armaments destined for the same
purpose were, by the vigilance and activity of our
squadrons, captured or dispersed.” On the 22nd of
January following, a royal message relative to a union
with Ireland was delivered to parliament, in which the
king expressed his persuasion, that the unremitting
industry with which the enemy persevered in their
.bn 078.png
.pn +1
avowed design of effecting the separation of Ireland
from this kingdom, cannot fail to engage the particular
attention of both houses, and he recommended them to
consider of the most effectual means of counteracting
and defeating such design.
.sn 1800. | Mr. Pitt’s speech on proposing the Union, January 22.
In the debate which followed the delivery of the
royal message, Mr. Pitt observed—“Ireland
is subject to great and deplorable evils, which
have a deep root, for they lie in the situation
of the country itself—in the present character
manners and habits of its people—in their want of
intelligence—in the unavoidable separation between
certain classes—in the state of property—in its religious
distinctions—in the rancour which bigotry engenders
and superstition rears and cherishes.” If such
circumstances combine to make a country wretched, the
remedy ought, he said, to be sought for in the institution
of “an imperial legislature, standing aloof from
local party connexion, and sufficiently removed from
the influence of contending factions, to be the advocate
or champion of neither. A legislature which will
neither give way to the haughty pretensions of a few,
nor open the door to popular inroads, to clamour, or to
invasion of all sacred forms and regularities, under the
false and imposing colours of philosophical improvement
in the art of government.” This, he said,
“is the thing that is wanted in Ireland. Where is it
to be found?—in that country or in this?—certainly in
England; and to neglect to establish such a legislature
when it is possible to do so, would be (he declared) an
improvidence which nothing could justify.”
Much of the evil which Ireland then laboured under
arose, Mr. Pitt considered, from the condition of the
parliament of that country. “When there are two
independent parliaments in one empire,” he observed,
“you have no security for a continuance of their harmony
and cordial co-operation. We all have in our
mouths a sentence that every good Englishman and
.bn 079.png
.pn +1
good Irishman feels—we must stand or fall together,
we should live and die together—but without such a
measure as that which is about to be proposed, there can
be no security for the continuance of that sentiment.”
And he concluded a long and powerful address, by
saying, “I am bound to convey to this house every
information which it may be in my power to give; but
however acceptable to the one or to the other side of
the house, however acceptable or otherwise to those
whom I respect on the other side the water, my sentiments
upon this subject may be, my duty compels me
to speak them freely. I see the case so plainly, and I
feel it so strongly, that there is no circumstance of
apparent or probable difficulty, no apprehension of
popularity, no fear of toil or labour, that shall prevent
me from using every exertion which remains in my
power to accomplish the work that is now before us,
and on which I am persuaded depend the internal tranquillity
of Ireland, the interest of the British empire at
large, and I hope I may add, the happiness of a great
part of the habitable world.” The address in answer
to the Royal message was carried without a division.
.sn 1800. | Mr. Pitt’s speech on submitting resolutions for the Union.
On the 31st of January following, Mr. Pitt submitted
to the house of commons certain resolutions
declaratory of the principles on which it was
proposed to establish the union between the
two countries, and explained most fully the
various circumstances connected with the measure. It
was not merely in a general view, he said, that the
question ought to be considered—“We ought to look
to it with a view peculiarly to the permanent interest
and security of Ireland. When that country was threatened
with the double danger of hostile attacks by enemies
without, and of treason within, from what quarter
did she derive the means of her deliverance?—From
the naval force of Great Britain—from the voluntary
exertions of her military of every description, not called
for by law—and from her pecuniary resources—added
.bn 080.png
.pn +1
to the loyalty and energy of the inhabitants of Ireland
itself, of which it is impossible to speak with too much
praise, and which shows how well they deserve to be
called the brethren of Britons.” Great Britain has, he
observed, always felt a common interest in the safety
of Ireland; “but the common interest was never so
obvious and urgent as when the common enemy made
her attack upon Great Britain through the medium of
Ireland, and when their attack upon Ireland went to
deprive her of her connexion with Great Britain, and
to substitute in its stead the new government of the
French Republic. When that danger threatened Ireland,
the purse of Great Britain was as open for the
wants of Ireland as for the necessities of England.”
Among the great defects of Ireland, Mr. Pitt remarked,
“one of the most prominent is its want of
industry and capital—How are those wants to be supplied,
but by blending more closely with Ireland the
industry and the capital of this country?”—The advantages
which Ireland will derive from the proposed
arrangement are, he said, “the protection she will
secure to herself in the hour of danger, the most effectual
means of increasing her commerce and improving her
agriculture, the command of English capital, the infusion
of English manners and English industry necessarily
tending to ameliorate her condition, to accelerate
the progress of internal civilization, and to terminate
the feuds and dissensions which now distract the country,
and which she does not possess within herself the power
either to control or to extinguish.” And he added,
“while I state thus strongly the commercial advantages
to the sister kingdom, I have no alarm lest I should
excite any sentiment of jealousy here. I know that the
inhabitants of Great Britain wish well to the prosperity
of Ireland; that if the kingdoms are really and solidly
united, they feel that to increase the commercial wealth
of one country, is not to diminish that of the other, but
.bn 081.png
.pn +1
to increase the strength and power of both.” He then
cited the example of the union with Scotland—“a union
as much opposed, and by much the same arguments
prejudices and misconceptions, as are urged at this
moment; creating too the same alarms, and provoking
the same outrages as have lately taken place in Dublin.”
Yet the population of Edinburgh is said to have nearly
doubled since the Union, a new city being added to the
old; whilst the population of Glasgow since the Union,
has increased in the proportion of between five and six
to one. The division in favour of the measure was
140 to 15.
On the 2nd of April 1800 Mr. Pitt presented a
message from the king, expressing his Majesty’s satisfaction
at being enabled to communicate to the house,
the joint address of the lords and commons of Ireland,
containing the terms proposed by them for an entire
union between the two kingdoms; and he earnestly
recommends the house to take all such further steps as
may best tend to the speedy and complete execution of
a work so happily begun, and so interesting to the
security and happiness of his subjects, and to the general
strength and prosperity of the British empire. The
session terminated on the 29th of July, when the king
in his speech from the throne congratulated both houses
on the success of the steps taken for effecting the union
of Great Britain and Ireland, emphatically adding—“This
great measure on which my wishes have been
long earnestly bent, I shall ever consider as the happiest
event of my reign, being persuaded that nothing could
so effectually contribute to extend to my Irish subjects,
the full participation of the blessings derived from the
British constitution, and to establish on the most solid
foundation the strength prosperity and power of the
whole empire.”[28]
.fm rend=t
.fn 28
See British Statute 39th and 40th Geo. 3rd, c. 67, and Irish Statute 40th
Geo. 3rd, c. 38.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.bn 082.png
.pn +1
It would seem impossible, having regard to the circumstances
of the times, to doubt the necessity for
such a union as was thus established, and perhaps
equally impossible to doubt or over-estimate the benefits
it was calculated to confer. But as in the case of Scotland
a century previous, the Union was now denounced
as an act of injustice and degradation to Ireland, although
it is difficult to see how the combining of the
two countries under one united government and common
designation, thus adding to the security and general
importance of both, could be an injustice or degradation
to either. The author is able to remember the
circumstances of that period, the alarms, the forebodings
of evil, the fervid declamations of popular patriots,
who regardless of the benefits that would ensue to their
country, could only be induced to acquiesce in the
measure by some immediate benefit accruing to themselves.
The Union has indeed continued down even to
the present day, to be declaimed against as a grievance
by certain parties in Ireland, whenever for factious or
sectarian objects it suited their purpose to do so; and
the blending and amalgamation of the two peoples
which was hoped for, and which was foretold and
relied upon as a certain consequence of the Union by
its great promoter, has therefore been less entire than
it otherwise would have been. Notwithstanding this
drawback however, the material resources of Ireland
have vastly increased, and its general condition been in
all respects greatly improved, since it has by the Union
become an integral portion of the British empire.
.if t
.sn 1801. | First parliament of “The United Kingdom of Great |Britain and Ireland.”
.if-
.if h
.sn 1801. | First parliament of “The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.”
.if-
The first parliament of “the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland,” assembled on the
22nd of January 1801, when the king, in his
opening speech, declared his confidence “that
their deliberations will be uniformly directed
to the great object of improving the benefits of
that happy union, which by the blessing of Providence,
.bn 083.png
.pn +1
has now been effected, and of promoting to the utmost
the prosperity of every part of his dominions.”
.sp 2
There were certain Acts passed subsequent to the
Union which it will be requisite to notice, as they exhibit
the views of the now united parliament in regard
to Ireland and the relief of the Irish poor, and form
also a necessary introduction to the more important
measure which followed in 1838.
.sn 1801. | 41 Geo. III. cap. 73.
The first of these Acts is The 41st George 3rd, cap. 73,
which directs the application of certain sums of
money granted by parliament to the Dublin
Society and the farming societies in Ireland—namely
any sum not exceeding 4,500l. Irish currency to the
Dublin Society, to be applied towards completing their
repository in Hawkins Street, and the botanic garden at
Glassnevin; and any sum not exceeding 2,000l. Irish
currency, to be applied in promoting the purposes of the
farming societies in Ireland for the current year. The
Irish Society is an institution founded for the purpose
of promoting improvements generally, and the
farming societies are exceedingly valuable as promoting
agricultural improvements in particular. The imperial
parliament could hardly therefore have better shown
its desire for the improvement of Ireland, than by thus
so immediately after it assembled giving its aid and
high sanction to these two societies.
.sn 1805. | 45 Geo. III. cap. 111. Dispensaries.
After referring to the Irish Acts which provide for
the establishment of infirmaries and hospitals,
The 45th Geo. 3rd, cap. 111, recites—“and
whereas the distance of many parts of each
county from the infirmary therein established, does not
allow the poor of those parts the advantages of immediate
medical aid and advice which such infirmary was
proposed to afford”—it is then enacted, that in all
cases where the governors of the county infirmary shall
certify to the grand jury of the county, that they have
.bn 084.png
.pn +1
actually received from private subscription or donation
any sum since the preceding assize, for the purpose of
establishing in any place a dispensary for furnishing
medicine, and giving medical aid and relief to the poor
therein—the grand jury are empowered to raise from
the county at large a sum equal in amount to the sum
or sums so received, to be applied by the said governors,
together with the moneys so received, in providing
medicines and medical or surgical aid and advice for
the poor of such place and its neighbourhood, in such
manner as the said governors shall deem most advisable.
Every person subscribing not less than one
guinea towards the establishment or maintenance of
any local dispensary, or towards the county hospital or
infirmary, is entitled to be a member of the body corporate
thereof, “so far as relates to the management of
and direction of such local dispensary.” The dispensaries
are perhaps the most extensively useful of all
the medical institutions in Ireland, and this Act providing
for their establishment, cannot therefore fail of
being considered as of great importance, more especially
as regards the rural population residing at a
distance from towns, and who are consequently deprived
of access to hospitals or infirmaries.
.sn 1806. | 46 Geo. III. cap. 95. Hospitals and infirmaries.
The 46th Geo. 3rd, cap. 95, is entitled—‘An Act for
the more effectually regulating and providing
for the Relief of the Poor and the Management
of Infirmaries and Hospitals.’ It refers to the
11th and 12th Geo. 3rd, cap. 30, of the Irish
parliament,[29] and directs—that in case it shall be made
to appear to the satisfaction of the judge at the summer
assize in any county, that the corporation instituted
under that Act is properly conducted, and that on
comparison of the expense incurred in the former year,
it is expedient that a greater sum should be presented
.bn 085.png
.pn +1
and levied, or that it is expedient to provide for the
expense of building the house of industry—the grand
jury in the county of a city or town may present and
levy a sum not less in the whole than 400l., nor more
than 500l., and in any county at large a sum not less
than 500l., nor more than 700l., to be applied to the
purposes directed by the said Act. The limits of such
presentments are thus we see greatly enlarged from
what was prescribed by the Act of 1772; but the entire
amount permitted to be raised by assessment is still
small, showing that voluntary contribution was still
chiefly relied upon. All infirmaries and hospitals are
moreover now required to make out returns annually,
showing in detail the amount of their funds and their
expenditure, and the lord lieutenant may order an
examination of their state and condition. By an Act
in the following year another sum of 100l. was allowed
to be presented for a fever hospital, “whenever one
had been established.”
.fm rend=t
.fn 29
Ante, p. #51#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn 1809. | 49 Geo. III. cap. 101. |Irish bogs.
‘An Act to appoint Commissioners for two years, to
examine into the nature and extent of the several
Bogs in Ireland &c.,’ was passed in 1809,
commencing with this recital—“whereas there
are large tracts of undrained bog in Ireland, the draining
whereof is necessary for their being brought into a
state of tillage; and whereas the adding their contents
to the lands already under cultivation, would not only
increase the agriculture of Ireland, but is highly expedient
towards promoting a secure supply of flax
and hemp within the United Kingdom for the use of
the navy, and support of the linen manufacture”—it is
therefore enacted that the lord lieutenant may appoint
not exceeding nine persons, to be commissioners for ascertaining
the extent of such bogs as exceed 500 acres,
and for inquiring into the practicability and best modes
of draining the same, and the expense of so doing,—also
as to the depth of bog soil, the nature of the strata
.bn 086.png
.pn +1
underneath, the nature and distance of the manure best
fitted for their improvement &c.—“together with the
opinion of the said commissioners as to such measures
as they shall deem necessary or expedient for carrying
into speedy effect the drainage cultivation and improvement
of all such bogs, and the future increase of
timber in Ireland, by providing for the plantation and
preservation of trees in such parts thereof as shall be
best fitted for the purpose;” and it is further enacted
that the commissioners shall act without a salary.
This inquiry could hardly fail to prove useful, by
directing attention to a subject of very great importance,
both in a general and a local point of view: but
in this, as in most other instances, the result fell short
of what was anticipated. The appointing of such a
commission however, evidenced a strong desire on the
part of the imperial legislature for the amelioration of
Ireland. The term of the commission was afterwards
extended for another two years by the 51st George 3rd,
cap. 122; and four elaborate Reports, the 1st in June
1810, and the last in April 1814, accompanied by a
large mass of evidence on all matters connected with
the subject, are proofs of the commissioners’ zeal and
industry in discharging the duties assigned them. The
subject was moreover again reported upon by a special
committee in 1819, and valuable evidence was taken in
reference to it, in connexion with the employment of
the poor.
.sn 1814-18.| 54 Geo. III. cap. 112, and 58 Geo. III. cap. 47.| Fever hospitals.
The 54th George 3rd, cap. 112—provides—“that
whenever any fever hospital has been or shall
be established in any county, or county of a
city or town, it shall be lawful for the grand
jury at the spring or summer assize to present
such sum or sums of money, not exceeding 250l., as
shall appear to be necessary for the support of such
fever hospital, to be raised off the county at large, or
the county of a city or town as the case may be;” and
.bn 087.png
.pn +1
four years afterwards another Act on the same subject
was passed (The 58th George 3rd, cap. 47) entitled—‘An
Act to establish Fever Hospitals, and make other regulations
for relief of the suffering Poor, and for preventing
the increase of Fevers in Ireland,’ commencing with
this preamble—“Whereas fevers of an infectious nature
have for some time past greatly prevailed among the
poor in several parts of Ireland, whereby the health of
the whole country has been endangered, and it is expedient
that hospitals should be established for the
relief of the sufferers in such cases, and that regulations
should be made to prevent, as effectually as possible,
the increase of infection; and such good purposes are
most likely to be promoted by creating corporations in
every county at large, and every county of a city or
town”—it is therefore enacted that such corporations
shall be created accordingly, to consist in counties of
the bishop or archbishop of the diocess, the representatives
in parliament, and the justices of peace for the
county; and in the county of a city or town, to consist
of the chief magistrate, sheriffs, recorder, representatives
in parliament, and justices of peace, all for the
time being, and also donors of not less than 20l., or
contributors of one guinea annually—which corporation
is to be called “The President and Assistants of the
Fever Hospital of ——,” and is to have perpetual succession
&c., and to hold meetings and make by-laws &c.,
and purchase and hold lands not exceeding 500l. yearly
value, as they shall think fit.
The corporations are required to build or hire houses
for hospitals for relief of the poor who are ill of fever,
in the several counties or counties of cities or towns,
“as soon as they shall be possessed of funds sufficient
for this purpose, as plain, as durable, and at as moderate
expense as may be.” The hospitals are to be divided
into two parts, one for poor helpless men, the other
for poor helpless women, and the corporations are to
.bn 088.png
.pn +1
appoint masters, physicians, surgeons, apothecaries,
nurses, and other fit persons and servants to govern
and take care of such hospitals and the patients therein.
Grand juries are empowered to present sums, not exceeding
double the amount of private donations and
subscriptions to fever hospitals, whether the same be
attached to any dispensary or not, and they may also
present in like proportion for local dispensaries; and
whenever such presentments are certified by the clerk
of the crown, the lord lieutenant may order an advance
of money from the consolidated fund; and on the appearance
of fever in any town or district, he may also
appoint a board of health, with powers “to direct that
all streets, lanes and courts, and all houses and all
rooms therein, and all yards gardens or places belonging
to such houses, shall be cleansed and purified, and that
all nuisances prejudicial to health shall be removed
therefrom.”
.sn 1819. | 59 Geo. III. cap. 41.|\
Officers of health to be appointed.
The powers of this Act were extended in the following
year by The 59th George 3rd, cap. 41, which
declares that—“it has become highly expedient
to provide for and secure constant attention to
the health and comforts of the inhabitants of
Ireland,” and authorizes the appointment of officers of
health to carry the sanitary measures specified above
into effect. The increase of fever indicated by the
passing of these Acts, would seem to have been very
marked about this time, and may possibly have been in
part owing to the rapid increase of the population, and
the consequent overcrowding in the dwellings of the
poorer classes. The practice of subdividing their land
among all the members of a family, may also have had
some share in causing fevers, by reducing the means
and lowering the general standard of living, as well in
their dwellings as in their food clothing and ordinary
mode of subsistence.
.sn 1817. | 57 Geo. III. cap. 106. |\
Lunatic asylums.
The 57th George 3rd, cap. 106, commences by declaring
.bn 089.png
.pn +1
it to be “expedient, that the distressed state of
the lunatic poor in Ireland should be provided
for;” and it empowers the lord lieutenant to
direct, that any number of asylums for the
lunatic poor shall be established in such districts as he
shall deem expedient; “and that every such district
shall consist of the whole of two or more counties, or of
one or more county or counties, and one or more county
or counties of cities or towns, but shall not include part
only of any county, or county of a city or town;” and
that all lunatic poor within any such district respectively,
shall be maintained and taken care of in the
asylum belonging thereto; and that every such asylum
shall be sufficient to contain such number of lunatic
poor, not being less than 100, nor more than 150 in
any one asylum, as shall seem expedient to the lord
lieutenant. The grand juries respectively are to present
such sum or sums of money as shall be requisite for
defraying the expenses of erecting and establishing
such asylums, and for maintaining the same, to such
amount and in such proportion as shall be directed
by the lord lieutenant; who is further empowered
to appoint such persons as he shall think fit, to
be governors and directors of every such asylum,
and also to nominate any persons not exceeding
eight to be commissioners for superintending directing
and regulating such asylums—“provided that
all such governors directors and commissioners shall
act without salary fee reward or emolument whatsoever.”
The necessity for attending to the state of the poor
generally, including the lunatic and insane poor, seems
now to have been strongly felt, and this feeling naturally
led to the passing of the present Act. Lunacy is
said to be more prevalent in Ireland, than it is either in
England or Scotland, whilst the poverty of the people
caused it to be there, if possible, a greater affliction than
.bn 090.png
.pn +1
elsewhere, and rendered greater care necessary for the
protection of its hapless victims.
.sn 1822. |\
3 George IV. caps. 3 and 84. |\
Distress and extension of relief.
The year 1822 was a period of much distress in
Ireland, and on the 24th of May The 3rd George
4th, cap. 3, entitled ‘An Act for the employment
of the Poor’ was passed, empowering the
lord lieutenant in certain cases to order advances
to be made from the public treasury, in anticipation
of but not exceeding the amount of grand-jury
presentments actually made. This does not however
appear to have been sufficient to meet the emergency,
and on the 26th of July The 3rd George 4th, cap. 84, was
passed, the preamble declaring that—“Whereas by
reason of the distress that exists in many parts of
Ireland, it is in many counties thereof impossible
without great severity and great mischief to the country
to levy and raise the sums heretofore presented by the
grand juries of such counties, and which ought by law
to be levied and raised on or within the said counties
respectively; and whereas the roads and works and
other objects and purposes for which many of the said
sums have been presented, cannot be delayed without
great injury to the persons interested therein, and the
commencement of such works, by employing the poor,
must tend to alleviate the existing distress”—it is
therefore enacted that certain advances which had been
provisionally made by the lord lieutenant should be
confirmed, and that he may further order advances for
public works to be applied according to such directions
as he shall give in connexion therewith; and the respective
grand juries on being certified of the sums so
advanced, are to present the same, to be raised by not
less than four nor more than twelve half-yearly instalments,
according to the state of the country. Such
advances are therefore loans at longer or shorter
periods, for road-making or other public works, as a
means of relieving the distress of the people, there
.bn 091.png
.pn +1
being then no other source whence relief could be
derived.
.sn 1825. |\
6 George IV. cap. 102. |\
Deserted children.
In 1825 an Act was passed ‘to amend the Laws respecting
Deserted Children in Ireland.’ After
referring to previous Acts, which provide that
the sum of 5l. sterling shall be leviable on any
parish for the support of each deserted child found
therein, it proceeds—“and whereas the sum of 5l. is
now required to be paid previous to the reception of
any such deserted child into the General Foundling
Hospital of Dublin, transmitted from any such parish;
and whereas no fund at present exists either to pay the
expense of maintaining such deserted children in the
parishes wherein found, or of transmitting them to the
city of Dublin”—It is therefore enacted that it shall
henceforward be lawful “for the several parishes in
Ireland to raise and levy such additional sum as may
be necessary for maintaining such deserted children as
shall be found therein, until such children shall be
admitted into the foundling hospital aforesaid, and for
transmitting such children thither.” But it is further
provided that no greater sum than fifty shillings shall
be raised in any one year for the support of any such
deserted child, or for its transmission to the foundling
hospital in Dublin. The city and liberties of Cork
are exempted from the provisions of the Act, which is
limited to two years. It will not fail to be observed
that this Act gives a legislative sanction to the rating
of a parish for the relief of a destitute class “found
therein,” and so far may be said to amount to a species
of poor-law.
The foregoing are the only Acts requiring to be
noticed, between the period of the Union and the
passing of the Irish Poor Relief Act in 1838. They
show the feeling of the legislature with regard to the
state of Ireland, and seem to point to further measures
as being necessary for amending its social defects.
.bn 092.png
.pn +1
But in the interval there were moreover several commissions
appointed by the crown, and several committees of
parliament, whose reports contain much valuable information
as to the state of the country and the condition
of the people at the respective periods; and some of the
more prominent of these we will now proceed to notice.
.sp 2
.if t
.sn 1804. |\
Report of committee of house of commons |respecting the poor in Ireland.
.if-
.if h
Report of committee of house of commons respecting the poor in Ireland.
.if-
In 1804 a Report was made to the house of commons
by a committee which had been specially
appointed to make inquiry “respecting the
Poor in Ireland.” The committee, after considering
the several statutes, and examining
such evidence as was laid before them, came
to the resolution—“that the adoption of a general
system of provision for the poor of Ireland, by way of
parish rate, as in England, or in any similar manner,
would be highly injurious to the country, and would
not produce any real or permanent advantage, even to
the lower class of people who must be the objects of
such support.” The committee further resolved, “that
the Acts directing the establishment of a house of
industry in every county and county of a city or town,
have not been complied with, nor any presentment
made by grand juries to assist in the support of such
establishments for relief of the aged and infirm poor,
and the punishment of vagrants and sturdy beggars,
except in the counties of Cork, Waterford, Limerick,
and Clare, and in the cities of Cork, Waterford, and
Limerick.” But the committee remark, that the house
of industry in Dublin is open to the admission of the
poor from all parts of Ireland, which may have induced
the other counties and cities to consider it sufficient,
“and precluded the necessity of their making further
provision for the poor.” The futility of this excuse
must be sufficiently apparent, and coupled with the
resolution against any systematic provision for the relief
of the poor “by way of parish rate,” shows the kind
.bn 093.png
.pn +1
of feeling which prevailed at the time in parliament on
the subject. It appeared to the committee however,
that the Acts directing the establishment of infirmaries
or county hospitals, and granting a certain allowance
from the Treasury for the salary to the surgeon or
physician attending thereon, “have been carried into
effect in almost all the counties;” whilst the provisions
of the 57th George 3rd[30] “empowering grand juries to
present the sums necessary for support of a ward for
idiots and insane persons have not been complied with;
and the committee consider that there is a great want
of accommodation for idiotic and lunatic persons, and
recommend the establishment of an asylum in each of
the four provinces, to be erected and maintained either
by grand-jury presentment or otherwise as may thereafter
be determined.” The very important objects which
had been referred to the committee require however,
they say, more deliberation than the advanced period
of the session permitted, and they therefore recommend
that the investigation should be resumed in the ensuing
session; but it does not appear that this was done,
although the Acts passed in the two following years
with regard to dispensaries infirmaries and hospitals,
may very possibly have had their origin in the inquiries
instituted by this committee.
.fm rend=t
.fn 30
Ante, p. #79#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Dublin house of industry.
The notice taken of the Dublin house of industry in
the above Report, as well as the real importance
of the institution, renders some account
of it here necessary. The house of industry was established
in 1772, by the 11th and 12th George 3rd, cap.
11,[31] under the provisions of which Act it was separated
from the foundling hospital, of which it had before
formed a part; and was thenceforward applied to the
maintenance of such helpless men and helpless women
as from age and infirmity were deemed fitting objects
.bn 094.png
.pn +1
for admission, for the confinement of men who were
committed as vagabonds or sturdy beggars, and for
the punishment of such idle strolling and disorderly
women as the magistrates might commit thither. Considerable
additions were made to the building, and after
a time some changes and modifications took place in
the management, which ultimately led to the house of
industry being used for the reception of poor aged and
infirm men and women, idiots and incurable lunatics
removed from the Richmond Lunatic Asylum, the sick
poor and persons labouring under acute chronic and
surgical complaints, for whom appropriate hospitals had
been provided, and lastly strolling beggars thither committed
by the magistrates of police. From the year
1773 to 1776 inclusive, the house of industry was supported
by subscriptions, donations, and charity sermons,
and afterwards by annual parliamentary grants, voluntary
contributions, the profits (so called) arising from
the labour of the poor, and a small sum of interest
accruing on certain legacies. The voluntary contributions
became less after aid was obtained from parliament,
and as might be expected, soon ceased altogether.
In 1776 the parliamentary grant to the institution was
3,000l.—In 1786 it was 8,600l.—In 1796 it was 14,500l.—In
1806 it was 22,177l.—In 1814 it was 49,113l.—In
1820 it was 26,474l., and in 1827 it was 23,000l.[32] At
first the house of industry was managed and governed
by the corporation for the relief of the poor in the
county of the city of Dublin, under the provisions of
the Act of 1772—afterwards by seven persons balloted
for and appointed “acting governors of the house of
industry,” in conformity with the 39th George 3rd, cap.
38. In 1800 the number of governors was reduced to
.bn 095.png
.pn +1
five, and in 1820 the management was vested in a
single governor, with a salary of 500l. a year. The
number of admissions in 1803 was 4,468, and the
average number in the house was 1,313. In 1807 the
admissions were 5,900, and the average number in the
house was 1862. In this latter year 271 of the admissions
were by committal.
.fm rend=t
.fn 31
Ante, p. #45#.
.fn-
.fn 32
The grants were made annually, and these years are selected as indicating
the average amount. The whole is abstracted from a return made to parliament
in 1828, and from Warburton Whitlaw and Walsh’s History of Dublin, published
in 1818.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Dublin Foundling Hospital.
The foundling hospital originally formed part of
the house of industry, the joint establishments
being founded in 1704 under the 2nd Anne, cap.
19.[33] They remained so united until 1772, when the
objects of the two institutions being deemed incompatible,
they were as before stated placed under separate
and distinct government by the 11th and 12th George
3rd, cap. 11.[33] The object of the institution is thenceforward
said to be “the preservation of the lives of
deserted or exposed infants, by their indiscriminate admission
from all parts of Ireland;[34] putting them out to
nurse in the country until they are of a proper age to
be drafted into the hospital, and educating them there
in such manner as to qualify them for being apprenticed
to trades, or as servants, and thus rendering them
useful members of society.”[35] Down to 1823 the institution
was supported partly by a house-tax levied on
the citizens of Dublin and its liberties and suburbs,
amounting to between 7,000l. and 8,000l. annually,
and partly by parliamentary grants, and the rent of a
small property of 115l. per annum: but the citizens of
Dublin were then relieved from the house-tax, and the
sum of 5l. was required to be paid with every child on
its admission to the hospital, by the overseers or the
minister and churchwardens of the parish whence the
infant was sent, no child being admissible whose age
.bn 096.png
.pn +1
exceeded twelve months. The aggregate of these latter
payments amounted to about 2,000l. annually, and the
annual grants by parliament varied from 21,554l. in
1800, to 34,000l. in 1828. The number of admissions
was 2,041 in 1800, 2,168 in 1806, and 2,359 in 1811, at
which time the number of children remaining on the
books of the institution was 6,498.
.fm rend=t
.fn 33
Ante, pp. 35 and 45.
.fn-
.fn 34
“Every child presented at the gate, or placed in the cradle, was immediately
received, and taken to the infant nursery by a person appointed for that
purpose.” See Warburton Whitlaw and Walsh’s History of Dublin.
.fn-
.fn 35
See Parliamentary Return No. 2, ordered to be printed 21st March 1828.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.if t
.sn 1819. |\
Report on the state of disease, and the condition of the|labouring poor in Ireland.
.if-
.if h
Report on the state of disease, and the condition of the labouring poor in Ireland.
.if-
In 1819 a select committee of the commons of
which Sir John Newport was the chairman,
was appointed to inquire into the state of disease,
and also into the condition of the labouring
poor in Ireland; and a Report on each of
these subjects was presented to the house in
course of the session, of which Reports the following is
an abstract.
.sn On the prevalence of fever.
With regard to the first point, although it is said not
to be “the most essential or most difficult
object of their investigation,” the committee
consider the prevalence of contagious fever in Ireland a
calamitous indication of general distress; and in order
“to prevent the migration through the country of
numerous bodies of mendicant poor, who pressed by
want and seeking for relief, have fatally contributed to
the general diffusion of disease,” they recommend that
magistrates, churchwardens, or other appointed officers
“be empowered to remove out of their respective
parishes any persons found begging or wandering as
vagabonds therein, or to confine such persons to hard
labour for twenty-four hours in any bridewell or other
public place of confinement, or to adopt both measures
as the case may require; and also to cause the persons
and clothes of such vagabond beggars to be washed
and cleansed during the period of such confinement.”
The committee consider that the Act of last session
(58th George 3rd, cap. 47)[36] “enacted under circumstances
.bn 097.png
.pn +1
of severe and calamitous visitation,” has on the
whole been productive of good, and they think it of
infinite moment that there should be a systematic local
control established in all cities and great towns for the
removal of nuisances which generate and increase disease;
for which purpose they recommend that officers
of health should be annually elected by the householders
in places containing above 1,000 inhabitants,
with power to direct the cleansing of streets &c., the
removal of nuisances, the ventilation of houses, and the
doing of all things necessary for the health and preservation
of the inhabitants; and also that such country
parishes as think proper may do the same, and that
the expenses incurred in performance of these duties
should be levied as a parish rate, and the expenditure
accounted for as in the case of other parochial assessments.
.fm rend=t
.fn 36
Ante, p. #76#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
The committee then express their intention of proceeding,
“in further execution of their duty,” to
inquire into the practicability of ameliorating the condition
of the labouring poor, “by facilitating the
application of the funds of private individuals and
associations for their employment in useful and productive
labour,” by which alone the entire and permanent
removal of the malady can be expected, although it is,
they say, much mitigated in its severity, and more
circumscribed in its extent than heretofore. The disease
still however, it is observed, continues to press
heavily on the community, and by “the united testimonies
of every competent inquirer is attributed to the
want of employment of the labouring classes, as a
primary and powerfully efficient cause.”
.sn 1819.|\
On the condition of the labouring poor.
On the second head of inquiry, the condition, or in
other words, the employment of the labouring
poor, the committee “find themselves in a
great measure controlled by the unquestionable
principle that legislative interference in the
.bn 098.png
.pn +1
operations of human industry is as much as possible to
be avoided.” There are however, they say, certain
exceptions to such a rule, either when injurious impediments
are to be removed, or where any branch of
industry cannot at its commencement be carried on by
individual exertion, on which occasions, it is considered,
parliament may with advantage interpose its aid. The
existence of general distress and the deficiency of employment
were so notorious, that the committee deemed
it unnecessary to encumber their Report with evidence
on the subject. Their inquiries were particularly directed
to agriculture and the fisheries, as being the two
most important departments of labour, and as “those
likewise to which the greatest extension may be given
without hazarding reaction.” They refer to the Report
of the Commissioners on the Bogs of Ireland, which
they consider “prove the immense amount of land
easily reclaimable, and convertible to the production of
grain almost without limit for exportation”—whilst,
“the small extent to which the commissioners’ recommendations
have been acted upon, demonstrates lamentably
that want of capital which in Ireland unnerves all
effort for improvement.” The institution of commissioners
of sewers, as in England, is then recommended,
as is also the draining of the great bogs and marshes,
and the making a legal provision for repayment of the
necessary outlay. The formation of roads in the mountainous
districts is likewise recommended, those districts
not having, it is said, “their due share of the benefits
of the grand-jury system.”
The want of capital the committee consider is attributable
to a variety of causes. Capital, they justly
remark, “can accumulate only out of the savings of
individuals; and in Ireland there are few persons who
conduct their operations on such a scale, as to admit
of much surplus for accumulation.” The manufacture
which flourishes most is the linen-trade, and this is said
.bn 099.png
.pn +1
to be “spread abroad amongst a population which at
the same time cultivates the soil for their sustenance,”
a state of things incompatible with large savings.
Whilst in agriculture, the tendency to the subdivision
of farms, and the practice of throwing the expense of
buildings and repairs on the tenants, prevent the accumulation
of profit in the hands of the farmers, and its
application to agricultural improvements. There are,
it is said, two millions of acres of bog in Ireland, capable
when reclaimed of growing corn; and the mountain
districts comprise a million and half of acres at present
nearly unproductive, but about one-half of which is
suitable for agriculture, and the remainder for pasturage
and planting. The reclamation and improvement
of these bogs and mountain districts would, the committee
observe, afford profitable employment to the
people, and greatly increase the productive powers of
the country; but for this capital is necessary, and in
Ireland the capital is not to be found.
With regard to the fisheries, it is declared that “in
whatever view they can be considered, whether as a
source of national wealth, as a means of employing an
overflowing population, or as a nursery of the best
seamen,” they are of the utmost importance; and the
revision and simplification of the fishery laws, and the
direct application of encouragement to the fishermen of
the coast, whose actual condition is said to be miserable,
the committee consider essential to any successful fishery
in Ireland. The northern, western, and southern coasts,
are said to afford every advantage for a bay or coast
fishery, and to be admirably suited for a deep-sea cod-fishery
of great importance; and after noticing what
had been done in Scotland, where an improved system
of fishery laws, and parliamentary encouragement wisely
applied, had been eminently successful, the committee
earnestly recommend “on every ground of policy as
well as justice,” that the precedent of Scotland should
.bn 100.png
.pn +1
be applied to Ireland. The circumstances of the two
countries are declared to be remarkably similar, “both
being mountainous and uncultivated, and abounding
with an unemployed population.”
On this last point, the committee remark—“It is
almost impossible in theory to estimate the mischiefs
attendant on a redundant, a growing and unemployed
population, converting that which ought to be the
strength into the peril of the state.” It is obvious, they
say, that the tendency of such a population to general
misery, and the boundless multiplication of human
beings satisfied with the lowest condition of existence,
must be rapid in proportion to the facility of procuring
human sustenance; and it is declared—“that such a
population, excessive in proportion to the market for
labour, exists and is growing in Ireland, a fact that
demands the most serious attention of the legislature,
and makes it not merely a matter of humanity, but of
state policy, to give every reasonable encouragement
to industry in that quarter of the empire.” The non-residence
of a great portion of the proprietors, and
their spending their incomes in England, is then adverted
to, as being a circumstance which “enhances
the claim of Ireland on the generous consideration of
parliament.”
No one better knew the state of Ireland than the
chairman of this committee, the substance of whose
Report is here given. We may therefore rely upon
the correctness of the statement, that there was then,
twenty years after the Union, a redundant, an increasing,
and unemployed population in Ireland, subsisting
on food obtained with peculiar facility, (the potato) and
consequently “leading to the boundless multiplication
of human beings satisfied with the lowest condition of
existence.” Yet the land was fertile, the sea-coasts
abounded in fish, and the bogs and mountain districts
solicited improvement. It will probably be said that
.bn 101.png
.pn +1
there must be something wrong in the character,
habits, or social position of a people, where such circumstances
existed. The Report points to want of
capital, and the non-residence of proprietors, as being
the cause or causes of what was wrong; and no doubt
both circumstances may have been influential in the
matter. But capital we are told is the accumulation of
savings, which are the fruits of industry, which again
is nourished and supported by its own progeny; so
that a want of industry may have lain at the root of
the evil as regards the mass of the population, whilst
the proprietors through absence, or want of sympathy
with the other classes, probably failed in their duty of
originating and urging forward improvement. With
the proprietor class indeed, as with the others, the
capital arising from savings and applicable to objects
of improvement, was of slender amount; and the committee
appear to rely more upon “the generous consideration
of parliament,” than upon native energy or
resource, for supplying the deficiencies and remedying
the evils of which they complain.
.sn 1823.|\
Report on the condition of the labouring poor.
In 1823 another select committee[37] was appointed
“to inquire into the condition of the labouring
poor in Ireland, with a view to facilitate the
application of the funds of private individuals
and associations for their employment in useful
and productive labour.” The committee made their
Report on the 16th of July, and after adverting to the
course pursued in the former inquiry of 1819, they
state that during the last year “a pressure of distress
wholly unexampled was felt in Ireland, which directed
the attention of government, of parliament, and of the
British public, to the condition of the Irish peasantry,
and led to the appropriation of large sums voted by the
legislature, and subscriptions by individuals for the
.bn 102.png
.pn +1
purpose of mitigating if not of averting, that famine
and disease which had extended to so alarming a degree
in many districts in Ireland.”[38]
.fm rend=t
.fn 37
Mr. Spring Rice, now Lord Monteagle, was the chairman of this committee.
.fn-
.fn 38
Ante, p. #80#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
It appears that early in May of the preceding year,
a public meeting was held in the city of London to
raise subscriptions for the relief of the distress in Ireland,
and a committee of gentlemen was appointed to
superintend the distribution of the money subscribed.
Considerable grants of public money were also made by
parliament for the same purpose. The committee state
that the distressed districts comprised one-half of the
surface of Ireland, and there were grounds for believing
that considerably more than one-half of the entire population
of these districts depended upon charitable assistance
for support. The sums distributed through the
city of London committee amounted to nearly 300,000l.,
which with the amount advanced by government furnished
means for continuing the relief until the month
of August, when the necessity for its further continuance
seems to have ceased; and it is satisfactory, the
committee observe, to find that the most lively feelings
of gratitude have been excited by this benevolent
interposition, “which it is to be hoped will tend
to unite the two parts of the empire in the strong ties
of sympathy and obligation.”
In the districts where the distress chiefly prevailed,
the potato constituted the principal food of the peasantry,
and the potato crop had failed; but there was
no deficiency in the other crops, and the prices of corn
and oatmeal were moderate. Indeed the exports of
grain from ports within the distressed districts, was
considerable during the entire period of the distress:
so that those districts, the committee observe, “presented
the remarkable example of possessing a surplus
of food, whilst the inhabitants were suffering from
.bn 103.png
.pn +1
actual want.” The calamity of 1822 may therefore be
said to have proceeded less from want of food in the
country, than from the people’s want of the means to
purchase it, “or in other words, from their want of
profitable employment.” In some districts where the
potato failed, but where the population were engaged
in the linen-trade, no individual so employed is said to
have had occasion for relief; and the committee come
to the conclusion that the late distress had chiefly
arisen from the circumstance that the peasantry depended
for subsistence upon the food raised by themselves.
When the potato fails, they have not the
means to purchase other food, and the potato is not
only uncertain as a crop but it soon decays, so that the
surplus of one year cannot be preserved to supply the
deficiency in another.
The agents of government, and of the London contributors,
as well as the local associations which had
been formed, made a point on all occasions as far as
possible, of affording the necessary assistance in return
for labour; and the committee express their entire approbation
of this principle. “Relief purely gratuitous
(they observe) can seldom in any case be given without
considerable risk and inconvenience; but in Ireland,
where it is more peculiarly important to discourage
habits of pauperism and indolence, and where it is the
obvious policy to excite an independent spirit of industry,
and to induce the peasantry to rely upon themselves
and their own exertions for support, gratuitous
relief can never be given without leading to most mischievous
consequences.” Any system of relief, it is
remarked, which leads the peasantry to depend upon
the interposition of others, rather than upon their own
labour, however benevolently it may be intended, cannot
fail to repress the spirit of independent exertion
which is essentially necessary to the improvement of
the condition of the labouring classes.
.bn 104.png
.pn +1
The condition of the people in the districts to which
the evidence obtained by the committee chiefly applied,
appears “to be wretched and calamitous to the greatest
degree.” A large portion of the peasantry in those
districts, are described as living in a state of the utmost
misery. Their cabins scarcely contain an article that
can be called furniture. In some families there are no
such things as bedclothes, the place of which is supplied
by a little fern, and a quantity of straw thrown
over it, upon which they sleep in their working clothes.
The witnesses agreed in this description with regard
to a large portion of the peasantry, and they agreed
also in attributing the existence of this state of things
to the want of employment. Yet the people are represented
as being willing to labour, and we are told
that they quit their homes at particular seasons in
search of employment elsewhere, whilst the inhabitants
of the coasts bordering on the Atlantic, carry on their
backs the sand and seaweed many miles inland for the
purpose of manure.
The committee are of opinion that the rapid increase
of the population[39] is one immediate cause of the want
of employment. The demand for labour, they say, has
not kept pace with the continually increasing number
of persons seeking employment. Another cause of
the want of employment, they consider, arises from the
effect produced on the gentry of the country by the
fall of prices. The fixed payments to which many of
the landlords are subjected, whether in the shape of
head-rents or interest on incumbrances, bear a greater
proportion to the whole income than they did during
the war, and consequently the balance remaining in
the hands of the resident gentry is diminished, a reduced
employment follows, labourers are discharged,
and the distress of the higher class is thus visited upon
the lower.
.fm rend=t
.fn 39
See table, ante pp. #11# and #12#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.bn 105.png
.pn +1
The want of capital was however in most instances
assigned as the principal cause of the want of employment.
This want was manifested in the wretched description
of implements commonly in use. The ploughs,
carts, harrows, were of the very rudest kind, and there appeared
to be a deficiency even of these. The same want
of capital has, it is said, led to the payment of wages, not
in money, but by allowances in account, or as a set-off
against the landlord’s claims for rent, or presentments,
or some other object, which is not only a hardship to
the labourer, but tends to an increase of local burdens;
and as it was “generally admitted that if the wages of
labour were paid in money, the labour would be more
cheaply purchased and more cheerfully and efficiently
given,” the committee express a hope “that a system
of ready money payment may be introduced, so far at
least as the public works of the country are concerned.”
The encouragement of the fisheries, the erection of
piers, the formation of harbours, and the opening of
mountain roads, are all recommended, as is also the
instruction of the peasantry in agriculture, by combining
instruction in this branch, with the other instruction
imparted in the various educational establishments
throughout the country. In conclusion, the committee
admit that danger attends all interferences with industrial
pursuits, which prosper best when left to their
own natural development; but they consider that the
state of Ireland constitutes it an exception to the general
rule, and that the aid of government in support of
local effort is there absolutely necessary.
.sp 2
.if h
.sn 1830. | Report of select committee on the state of the poorer classes in Ireland.
.if-
.if t
.sn 1830. | Report of select committee on the state of the poorer|classes in Ireland.
.if-
At the end of seven years, another select committee
of the commons was appointed “to take into
consideration the state of the poorer classes in
Ireland, and the best means of improving their
condition,”[40] and their very elaborate and comprehensive
.bn 106.png
.pn +1
Report, (which was ordered to be printed on
the 16th of July,) will require to be especially considered.
.fm rend=t
.fn 40
Mr. Spring Rice (now Lord Monteagle) was also the chairman of this
committee.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
The committee commence their Report by declaring
that they entertain a deep sense of the difficulty and importance
of the question referred to them, and that they
have felt it their duty to make most minute inquiries
into the actual state and condition of the Irish poor,
considered in all points of view, moral, political, physical
and economical, in order to enable the house to form a
correct opinion on the entire subject. The Report is
arranged under three principal heads—1st, the state
and condition of the poorer classes—2ndly, the laws
which affect the poor, and the charitable institutions—3rdly,
the remedial measures suggested; and each of
these is again subdivided into several minor headings.
It is not intended to adhere to these divisions in the
following summary, but to select such portions only as
immediately bear upon our subject, and as are calculated
to show what was then the general state of the country
and the condition of the people.
.sn State of the country, and condition of the people.
Regret is expressed by the committee at their being
compelled to state “that a very considerable
portion of the population is considered to be out
of employment.” The number is, they say, estimated
differently—by some at one-fifth, by others at
one-fourth; and this want of demand for labour necessarily
causes distress among the labouring classes, which
combined with the consequences of an altered system of
managing land, is said to produce “misery and suffering
which no language can possibly describe, and
which it is necessary to witness in order fully to estimate.”
Yet the price of labour is not considered to
have materially fallen. By returns from the county
treasurers, the rate of wages appears to average 10d.
per day on presentment works throughout Ireland, and
an extensive contractor thinks that there is a tendency
in wages to increase rather than otherwise, notwithstanding
.bn 107.png
.pn +1
that the labourers can now, he says, purchase
for 6s., what would formerly have cost them 12s.
These are seemingly contradictions, and there is much
more of the same kind of conflicting testimony given
in the Report, which can only be accounted for by the
fact, that the several parts of Ireland differ widely
from each other, and that what is true in one case is
not true in another. This indeed appears to be the
view taken by the committee, for they say however
consolatory the favourable testimony may be, it would
lead to a false inference were it to induce a disbelief
in the existence of very great distress and misery in
Ireland. “The population and the wealth of a
country may (they observe) both increase, and increase
rapidly; but if the former proceeds in a greater ratio
than the latter, an increase of distress among the poor
may be concurrent with an augmentation of national
wealth.” The state of the labouring classes must, it is
considered, mainly depend on the proportion existing
between the number of the people and the capital which
can be profitably employed in labour. Of the truth of
these propositions, there can be no reasonable doubt;
neither can it well be doubted, that much of the distress
and misery which were seen in Ireland, was owing
to a disturbance of this proportion, the population
having become greatly in excess of the capital necessary
for and applicable to profitable employment.
The committee consider that it would be impossible
to form a correct estimate of the condition of the poorer
classes in Ireland, without first ascertaining the nature
of the relations which existed between landlord and
tenant,—“the connexion between the inheritor and the
occupier of the soil being one which must influence if
not control the whole system of society.” Great attention
is accordingly bestowed on this part of the subject,
and much evidence was taken in reference to it.
Under the excitement of war prices, it is observed,
.bn 108.png
.pn +1
agriculture advanced with extreme rapidity. The demand
for labour increased, and the population augmented
in proportion. Land rose in value from year
to year, and lessees realised large profit rents by subletting,
one or more persons being frequently interposed
between the owner and the occupier who was
ultimately liable for the rent, both to the head landlord
and the intermediate tenants. It became the practice
in most cases, we are told, for the occupying tenant
either to sublet, or to divide the land among the members
of his family—in the former case a class of middlemen
was created, which operated as a bar to improvement,
and led to the paying or to the promise of paying
higher rents—in the latter case the practice of subdividing
led to consequences perhaps still more mischievous.
When the farmer of 40 acres subdivided
the land among his children, those children were led
to do the same among theirs, until the farm of 40
acres was cut up into holdings of one two or three
acres, each holding occupied by its particular owner,
and yielding no more than was barely sufficient for his
subsistence. “Now if the tenant of 40 acres had been
prevented from subdividing his land, he would,” as is
observed by one of the witnesses,[41] “have provided for
his children by sending them one into the army, another
into the navy, and then left his holding to a third, and
thus the farm would have been continued in its first
state.” The cultivation of the land so subdivided and
cut up is moreover always of the very worst description.
The crops are uncertain, the liabilities to scarcity greater,
the cabins are most miserable, and the visitations of
fever are more frequent. The soil itself becomes deteriorated
by bad tillage, and not a bush nor a tree is
left standing; whilst the ease with which a cabin is
.bn 109.png
.pn +1
reared, and the meal of potatoes provided, induces early
marriages, and the land teems with an excessive population.
.fm rend=t
.fn 41
Dr. Doyle, the Roman catholic Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, whose
evidence is entitled to the utmost consideration on this and every other question
connected with the state of Ireland.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
The above is not an overdrawn description of the
consequences of subdividing land, but a change in
management is said to have taken place soon after the
peace, when the decline in the price of agricultural
produce disabled many of the middlemen as well as the
occupying tenants from paying their rents, and created
much anxiety and alarm in the minds of the landlords.
An apprehension was , we are told, generally
felt that a pauper population would go on increasing,
and the value of the land at the same time go on
diminishing, until the entire produce would become
insufficient to maintain the people. The proprietors
sought to devise a remedy for this state of things, so as
to prevent the occurrence of such an evil; and Dr.
Doyle stated in his evidence, that they did apply
remedies, the principle of which he fully approved; but
he added “that he thought, and still thinks, that those
remedies ought to have been accompanied by some
provision for the poor.”
The remedy or change in management here adverted
to was the consolidating of farms, which it is said would
lead to better husbandry, to a greater of crop,
to the providing farm-buildings and more comfortable
habitations, and to an increase in the quantity and improvement
in the quality of the produce. These are all
important considerations, and if the landlords and the
tenants who continued in possession were alone to be
regarded, the change would appear an unmixed good.
But there is another class, the ejected tenants, whose
condition, it is said, necessarily becomes most deplorable.
“It would be impossible for language to convey an
idea of the state of distress to which the ejected tenantry
have been reduced, or of the disease, misery, and even
vice, which they have propagated in the towns wherein
.bn 110.png
.pn +1
they have settled; so that not only they who have
been ejected have been rendered miserable, but they
have carried with them and propagated that misery.”
Such is the testimony of Dr. Doyle on this point, and
although the committee express a hope that it may be
regarded as descriptive of an extreme case, they yet
have no doubt “that in making the change, in itself
important and salutary, a most fearful extent of suffering
must have been produced.” The change was
however, they say, unavoidable, and delay would have
increased and aggravated the evil which followed in its
train. Various suggestions were made with a view to
carry the country through the period of change, and
the severe trials by which it must be attended—“Emigration,
the improvement of bogs and waste
lands; the embankment and drainage of marsh lands;
the prosecution of public works on a large scale; the
education of the people not only in elementary knowledge,
but in habits of industry; the encouragement of
manufactures; the extension of the fisheries; and lastly,
the introduction of a system of poor-laws, either on the
English or Scotch principles, or so modified as to be
adapted to the peculiar circumstances of Ireland,” were
all recommended, and on each of these questions, the
committee say, valuable evidence had been taken and
would be submitted to the house.
.sn Vagrancy.
On the subject of vagrancy, after referring to the
old laws against it which had fallen into
desuetude, and which are recommended to be
repealed, the committee quote the 6th Anne, cap. 11,[42]
under which (as amended by the 9th George 2nd, cap.
6) idle vagrants, or pretended Irish gentlemen, who
will not work &c., may on the presentment of a grand
jury be apprehended and transported for seven years.
They likewise quote The 11th and 12th George 3rd,
.bn 111.png
.pn +1
cap. 30,[43] for establishing houses of industry, and these
statutes are said to be in full force. A table is also
given, showing that on an average of eight years the
number of commitments under the first-named statutes
was 160 annually; and the committee observe, that
“although it is necessary to continue penalties against
vagrancy,” they “cannot but think that a more constitutional
and efficient system may be adopted, than
one which allows the penalty of transportation to be
inflicted upon the mere presentment of a grand jury,
and this, not for an offence defined with precision, but
under contingencies extremely vague and uncertain.”
In the opinion thus expressed by the committee, every
one must concur.
.fm rend=t
.fn 42
Ante, p. #38#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.fn 43
Ante, p. #51#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
With regard to the county infirmaries, of which
County infirmaries.there were thirty-one,[44] the committee, after
referring to the several Acts under which they
were established,[45] state that during the last year relief
had been given to 7,729 intern patients, besides other
medical assistance; and that the entire incomes amounted
to 54,693l., the whole derived from local subscriptions
and grand-jury presentments, excepting 3,000l.
(Irish currency) furnished by government. The committee
recommend that the several statutes should be
consolidated, and that the grand juries should be enabled
to provide more than one infirmary in the larger
counties, and that their presenting powers should be
extended in order to guard against insufficiency in any
case. An efficient audit of the accounts, and a duly
authenticated Report half-yearly of all particulars connected
with the hospitals, together with a regular inspection
by the grand juries, are likewise recommended;
.bn 112.png
.pn +1
and with these alterations, the committee are of opinion
that “the county infirmaries of Ireland may be considered
as adequate to the purposes for which they were
intended.” There does not however, it is added, appear
to be any reason for continuing the government grant
of 3,000l. Aid from the public purse should, it is said,
be reserved exclusively for loans and advances, “and
for cases in which local funds are inadequate to the
immediate discharge of a necessary duty.”
.fm rend=t
.fn 44
There was an infirmary in every county excepting Waterford, where the
peculiar provisions of a local Act had prevented one being erected.
.fn-
.fn 45
Namely 5th George 3rd, cap. 20; 45th George 3rd, cap. 111; and 47th
George 3rd, cap. 50.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Fever hospitals and dispensaries.
The subject of fever and fever hospitals is next
adverted to by the committee. “From the
occasional failure of the potato crop, and the
misery which then invariably ensues, the poor
of Ireland are (it is said) peculiarly liable to fever,
which has at various times spread with such violence,
and to such an extent, as to require extraordinary aid,
not only from private charity and local assessment, but
from the public purse.” Dublin had suffered most
severely from this calamity, upwards of 60,000 persons
having in one year passed through the fever hospitals
of that city. In 1817 fever extensively prevailed in
Ireland, and a board of health was constituted whose
Report to government showed “that on a moderate
calculation a million and a half of persons suffered from
fever, of which number at least 65,000 had died.” By
the 58th George 3rd, cap. 47,[46] additional facilities were
given for establishing fever hospitals, and provision
was made for the appointment of local boards of
health. By the 59th George 3rd, cap. 41, effect was
given to the recommendations of the select committee
of 1819,[47] and under these statutes fever hospitals have
been established in most parts of Ireland. No county
is said to be without one in Munster, and the county
of Cork has four, and Tipperary eight; but many
.bn 113.png
.pn +1
counties in the provinces of Ulster and Connaught have
omitted to provide fever hospitals, and the committee
consider that if the grand juries persist in such omission,
the providing of them should be made compulsory.
With respect to dispensaries for the medical relief of the
sick poor, these were sanctioned by the 45th George 3rd,
cap. 111,[48] under which Act nearly 400 are said to have
been established, “affording relief annually to upwards
of half a million of persons.” But some doubts appear
to have arisen as to whether the presentments for their
support were optional or otherwise, and the committee
recommend that such doubts should be removed by
making the presentment imperative, as was apparently
the intention of the framers of the statute; and for
security against abuse, it is also recommended that a
Report of all matters connected with the dispensary,
should in each case be annually submitted to the grand
jury making the presentment.
.fm rend=t
.fn 46
Ante, p. #77#.
.fn-
.fn 47
Ante, pp. #78# and #86#.
.fn-
.fn 48
Ante, p. #73#. The chapter is by mistake stated in the Report to be 91.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Lunatic asylums.
The provision for the lunatic poor is said to have
been for a long time very defective in Ireland.
A hospital attached to the house of industry in
Dublin, a large asylum at Cork, and cells connected
with some of the county infirmaries, were all that existed
for the safe custody and proper treatment of the
insane poor. In 1810 a grant was made for the establishment
of the Richmond Lunatic Asylum, with
accommodation for 200 patients. In 1817 the subject
was inquired into by a select committee,[49] in accordance
with whose recommendation the 57th George 3rd, cap.
106,[50] was passed, empowering the lord lieutenant to
fix certain districts within which lunatic asylums should
be erected, the cost in the first instance to be advanced
by government, but to be ultimately repaid by local
.bn 114.png
.pn +1
presentments, from which also the maintenance of the
asylums is to be derived. “When these institutions
are completed, which is easily practicable within three
years, every county in Ireland will be provided with
receptacles for their lunatic poor; and if these shall not
be found sufficient for incurable as well as curable cases,
a ward or two may be attached to each at a moderate
expense, and the exigency may be thus completely provided
for.” This quotation is given from the inspector’s
Report to the Irish government on the subject in 1830,
and the committee express their satisfaction, that as
regards “one of the most painful afflictions to which
humanity is exposed, there has been provided within a
few years, a system of relief for the Irish poor as extensive
as can be wished, and as perfect and effectual as is
to be found in any other country.” Still however the
cases of idiots and incurable lunatics are not separately
provided for; and the committee consider it important
that curable and incurable cases should be kept distinct,
and that space should not be appropriated to the safe
custody of incurables, which would be more usefully
employed in the treatment of cases where there was
a probability of recovery. Every lunatic establishment
in Ireland, whether public or private, is subject to the
visitation of the inspectors of prisons, who report regularly
upon the condition and management of these
institutions.
.fm rend=t
.fn 49
Of this committee Mr. Vesey Fitzgerald was chairman.
.fn-
.fn 50
Ante, p. #79#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
After referring to the 11th and 12th Geo. 3rd, cap. 30,
the 46th Geo. 3rd, cap. 95, and the 58th Geo.
3rd, cap. 47,[51] Houses of industry. the Acts under which houses of
industry are established and regulated, the committee
state that the number of these institutions in Ireland
does not exceed twelve “including the great establishment
bearing that name in Dublin, which is supported
exclusively by votes of parliament.” There are eight
.bn 115.png
.pn +1
in Munster, and three in Leinster, but none either in
Ulster or Connaught. A proposition is said to have
been made for extending houses of industry generally
throughout the country, and for rendering their erection
and support compulsory. But the committee are
of opinion that “establishments of this description combining
the two distinct purposes of punishment and
relief, are not likely to be useful either as prisons or
hospitals.” They think that coercion is more likely to
be effective when applied in houses of correction, than
when applied in asylums intended for old age infirmity
and destitution. They also think that the criminal
ought to be separated from the distressed poor, and that
these asylums should be reserved for particular descriptions
of the latter class only—or in the words of Dr.
Chalmers, for “cases of hopeless and irrecoverable disease,
and all cases of misery the relief of which has no
tendency to increase the number of cases requiring
relief.” To the poor who suffer from loss of sight or
limbs, and the deaf and dumb, the house of industry
judiciously managed, would they say “afford a suitable
place of refuge.” Such are the views of the committee
with regard to houses of industry, and they do not
materially differ from what prevailed in England a century
previous with regard to the almshouses or old
parish poorhouses then so common.
.fm rend=t
.fn 51
Ante, pp. #51#, #74#, and #77#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Voluntary charities.
The number of voluntary charities in Ireland maintained
by private benevolence, independently of
any contribution from general or local taxation,
said to be very great, and they are stated to be most
liberally supported. “Among them will be found
schools, hospitals, Magdalen asylums, houses of refuge,
orphan establishments, lying-in hospitals, societies for
relief of the sick and indigent, mendicity associations,
and charitable loans.” Yet notwithstanding the existence
of these multifarious institutions, and the active
exercise of private benevolence, and the frequent collections
.bn 116.png
.pn +1
by the clergy of all persuasions,[52] “the committee
have not the satisfaction to hope that more is
accomplished than the mitigation of distress.” Societies
for the suppression of mendicity have it is said been
formed in many parts of Ireland, on a plan similar to
those established in London, Bath, and other places in
England. In Dublin the income of the Mendicity
Society amounts to 7,000l., and the committee are informed
“that although the voluntary contributions are
scarcely sufficient to maintain the establishment, still on
the whole, supporting the poor as they do, they have
enough.” When the funds are very low, a threat is
held out either of applying to parliament for a power
of compulsory assessment, or else that the poor people
supported by the society will be discharged into the
streets, “and by these means additional subscriptions
are called in.” Institutions of this kind, supported by
private contributions, are said to be complained of as
casting an unfair and unequal burden upon the benevolent,
and it has been suggested that they should be
supported or at least aided by local assessment: but this
suggestion, the committee observe, involves the entire
principle of a poor-law, a question on which at that
advanced period of the session they are not prepared to
enter. They however recommend it as a subject for
future consideration and inquiry.
.fm rend=t
.fn 52
Dr. Doyle in his before the committee, stated that the poor were
almost exclusively supported by the middle classes; and that “although these
form a class not over numerous, and subject to great pressure, still of the
million and a half or two millions now expended to support the Irish poor,
nearly the entire falls upon the farmers and the other industrious classes.”
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Emigration.
With regard to emigration, although in some districts
“there exists a population exceeding that for
whose labour there is a profitable demand,” the
committee nevertheless consider emigration to the full
as much an imperial as a provincial question. The
cause of the great influx of Irish labourers into Great
.bn 117.png
.pn +1
Britain is, they say, the higher rate of wages which
prevails there, and emigration from Ireland would
“diminish that inducement, and lessen the number of
Irish labourers in the British market.” It might seem
therefore that the expense of such emigration should be
defrayed out of the general funds of the empire. But
the committee say they are not prepared to recommend
any compulsory system of taxation for the purpose,
“nor yet to discuss the probability of the repayment of
advances made to colonial settlers.” They have however
no doubt that colonization might be carried on to
a great extent, “if facilities were afforded by government
to those Irish peasants who were disposed voluntarily
to seek a settlement in the colonies, and who
could by themselves or their landlords provide all the
expense required for their passage and location.” In
districts where the population is in excess, it must be
alike the interest of all, of the landlords, the tenants,
and the labourers, that such excess should be removed;
and the committee consider the most legitimate mode of
effecting this to be—“that upon the actual deposit of a
sum sufficient to cover the entire expense, the government
should undertake the appropriation of that sum
in the way most effectual for the purpose”—that is, for
the conveyance of the emigrants to, and helping them
to obtain a suitable location in, some British colony.
Amongst the various remedial measures suggested, the
committee urge at great length the importance of an
extension of public works, roadmaking, drainage, embankments
&c., founded chiefly on the example of
Scotland, and the benefits which there ensued from
opening out the Highlands by the formation of roads
and the construction of the Caledonian canal. The evidence
given by Mr. Telford the eminent engineer in
1817, is cited and much relied upon in this particular,
and certainly no higher authority on the subject could
have been adduced. An emendation of the grand-jury
.bn 118.png
.pn +1
and vestry laws is also recommended, together with
several other matters of minor import.
In the present very comprehensive Report, as in all
preceding Reports on the state of Ireland,
Education. whether by committees of parliament or Royal
commissions, the necessity for education is adverted
to as a matter of paramount importance. It is now
moreover said, that “the entire body of the Roman
catholic hierarchy have by petitions to both houses of
parliament, entreated that the recommendations of the
select committee of 1827,[53] should be adopted”—on
which account, as well as on account of its intrinsic
importance with regard to the question of education
generally, that Report now requires to be noticed.
.fm rend=t
.fn 53
The committee consisted of twenty-one members, and Sir John Newport
was the chairman.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn 1828.|Report of the Select Committee on Education in Ireland.
The Report of the select committee appointed in
1827 here referred to, was printed by order
of the House of Commons on the 19th May
1828.[53] The committee declare that they “have
proceeded to consider the Reports on the state
of education in Ireland, with a full sense of the importance
of the subject, and of the peculiar difficulties with
which it is encompassed.” During several centuries,
they observe, the necessity for providing the means of
education in Ireland has been recognised. As early as the
reign of Henry the Eighth the prevalence of crime was
attributed to the ignorance of the people, “and education
was relied upon as producing moral improvement,
and supporting the institutions of civil policy.” Various
statutes were passed and charters granted, and endowments
made, with a view to this object; and inquiries
had likewise been at different times instituted with the
same intent. Of the commissions appointed, the two
latest are the most important, namely that issued in
1806, and which terminated in 1812, after making
.bn 119.png
.pn +1
“fourteen Reports upon the schools of royal and private
foundation, the charter schools, foundling hospital,
and the parochial and diocesan schools;” and that
issued in 1824, which terminated in 1827, after making
“nine Reports on the various establishments for education.”
But the interference of the State was not solely
confined to regulation and inquiry. “Parliamentary
grants have been at various times most liberally made
for the purposes of education,” and of these a list is
given, amounting in the whole to 2,914,140l. The
number of scholars receiving instruction in the existing
schools in 1826, is stated to be 560,549, “leaving in
all probability upwards of 150,000 without the means
of education.” Of the number of scholars returned, it
is said that 394,732 are brought up in the common pay
schools, 46,119 in schools supported exclusively by the
Roman catholic priesthood and laity, 84,295 in various
establishments of private charity, and 55,246 in schools
maintained in whole or in part at the public expense.
In pursuing their investigations, the committee say
“their sole object has been to consider the principle
upon which it will be expedient hereafter to grant
public money in aid of Irish education;” and they prefer
recording the conclusions at which they have arrived in
the form of abstract propositions, instead of reasoning
upon and discussing the merits of different modes of
procedure in this respect. After the most anxious deliberation,
they have, they say, adopted a series of resolutions
on the subject, which are given at length, and
in fact constitute the substance of their Report; and it
is now proposed to select such portions of these resolutions
as will enable the reader to see clearly what the
views of the committee were. To give the whole is
unnecessary, and would be inconvenient. The various
Reports of committees and commissioners on Irish education
are so voluminous, as to make it impossible to
quote them at length, and the abstracts of the more
.bn 120.png
.pn +1
important portions herein given will be sufficient for
our purpose.
A passage from the Report of the commissioners in
1812[54] is cited, to the effect—“that no plan of education,
however wisely and unexceptionably contrived in other
respects, can be carried into effectual operation in Ireland,
unless it be explicitly avowed, and clearly understood
as its leading principle, that no attempt shall be
made to influence or disturb the peculiar religious tenets
of any sect or denomination of Christians.” A passage
from the Report of the commissioners in 1824 is likewise
cited, to the effect—“that in a country where mutual
divisions exist between different classes of the people,
schools should be established for the purpose of giving
to children of all religious persuasions, such useful instruction
as they may severally be capable and desirous
of receiving, without having any ground to apprehend
any interference with their respective religious principles.”
Another passage of the same Report is also
cited—“in favour of the expediency of devising a
system of mutual education, from which suspicion should
if possible be banished, and the causes of distrust and
jealousy be effectually removed; and under which the
children may imbibe similar ideas, and form congenial
habits, tending to diminish, not to increase, that distinctness
of feeling now but too prevalent.”
.fm rend=t
.fn 54
This Report was signed by three bishops, the provost, and several other
distinguished clerical and lay members of the established church.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
The committee of 1828 adopt these several propositions,
and resolve—“that it is of the utmost importance
to bring together children of different religious persuasions
in Ireland, for the purpose of instructing them in
the general subjects of moral and literary knowledge,
and providing facilities for their religious instruction
separately, when differences of creed render it impracticable
for them to receive religious instruction together.”
.bn 121.png
.pn +1
And in accordance likewise with the recommendations
of the commissioners of 1812 and 1824, the committee
further resolve—“that considering the very large sums
of public money annually voted for the encouragement
of education in Ireland, as well as the extreme discretion
required in adopting a new system of united education,
without permitting any interference in the peculiar
religious tenets of the scholars—it is indispensably
necessary to establish a fixed authority acting under
the control of the government and of the legislature,
bound by strict and impartial rules, and subject to full
responsibility for the foundation control and management
of such public schools of general instruction, as
are supported on the whole or in part at the public
expense.”
The committee likewise record their opinion, that the
selection of teachers in the schools should be made
without regard to religious distinction, and that their
qualifications should be proved by instruction or examination
in a model school, the teacher first producing a
certificate of character from a clergyman of his own
communion. And they further resolve—“that for the
purpose of carrying into effect the combined literary,
and the separate religious education of the scholars, the
course of study for four days of the week should be
exclusively moral and literary; and that of the two
remaining days, the one should be appropriated solely
to the separate religious instruction of the protestant
children, the other for the separate religious instruction
of the Roman catholic children—the religious instruction
in each case being placed under the exclusive superintendence
of the clergy of the respective communions.”
The committee moreover recommend that a board of education
should be appointed, “all persons being eligible
without reference to religious distinctions;” and they
also recommend, that as a rule the children be required
to pay such small sums as may be directed, “but that free
.bn 122.png
.pn +1
scholars, being either orphans or the children of parents
unable to afford payment, be received on the recommendation
of the parochial clergy, and dissenting ministers,
and persons subscribing to the schools, or having
granted land for the site.”
The conditions under which the committee consider
that the parliamentary grants in aid of the establishment
and support of schools in Ireland, should in future be
made, are as follows—
.pm start_quote
“Not to exceed two-thirds of the sum required.
“The school-houses and site to be conveyed to the
commissioners.
“The managers to undertake to conduct the school
according to the prescribed rules.
“Gratuities to teachers according to regulations prescribed
by the commissioners.
“Books for the literary instruction of the children to
be furnished at half price, and for the separate
religious instruction at prime cost.
“A model school for the education of teachers to be
provided.
“A system of inspection to be established.
“Public aid to depend on private contributions, and
adherence to the commissioners’ rules.”
.pm end_quote
In conclusion the committee observe, that it has been
their object to discover a mode in which the combined
education of protestant and Roman catholic children
may be carried on, resting upon religious instruction,
but free from the suspicion of proselytism.—They have
endeavoured, they say, “to avoid any violation of the
liberty of conscience, or any demands or sacrifices inconsistent
with the religious faith of any denomination of
Christians.” They propose to leave to the clergy of
each persuasion, the duty and the privilege of giving
religious instruction to those who are committed to their
care. And finally, they express an earnest hope that if
.bn 123.png
.pn +1
adopted, their recommendations will satisfy moderate
and rational men of all opinions.
There can be no doubt that the committee were
entitled to avow the expectation here expressed. The
perfect fairness and impartiality of what they proposed
with regard to religious teaching, and the simplicity
and moderation of their recommendations, fortified
moreover as these substantially are by the Reports of
the commissions of 1812 and 1824, seem to leave no
room for cavil or objection on any side. Yet we do not
find that any steps were specifically taken for carrying
the committee’s recommendations into effect until October
1831, when Mr. Stanley,[55] the then Secretary for
Ireland, addressed a letter to the Duke of Leinster,
stating that it had been determined to constitute a board
for the superintendence of a system of national education
in Ireland, and that it was proposed, with the duke’s consent,
to place him at its head. The motives for constituting
the new board, and the powers intended to be
conferred upon it, “and the objects which it is expected
that it will bear in view and carry into effect,” are all
then very fully explained.
.fm rend=t
.fn 55
Afterwards Lord Stanley, and now Earl of Derby.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.if t
.sn 1831. |Mr. Stanley’s letter to the Duke of Leinster on the|\
formation of the Board of National Education.
.if-
.if h
.sn 1831. |Mr. Stanley’s letter to the Duke of Leinster on the formation of the Board\
of National Education.
.if-
A preceding government, it is observed, imagined
that they had found a superintending body
acting upon the impartial and non-proselytising
system recommended by the committee of 1812,
and had intrusted the distribution of the
national grants to the care of the Kildare-street
Society.[56] But, the letter proceeds—
.bn 124.png
.pn +1
.pm start_quote
“His Majesty’s present government are of opinion
that no private society deriving a part, however small,
of their annual income from private sources, and only
made the channel of the munificence of the legislature,
without being subject to any direct responsibility, could
adequately and satisfactorily accomplish the end proposed;
and while they do full justice to the liberal views
with which that society was originally instituted, they
cannot but be sensible that one of its leading principles
was calculated to defeat its avowed objects, as experience
has subsequently proved that it has. The determination
to enforce in all their schools the reading of the
Holy Scriptures without note or comment, was undoubtedly
taken with the purest motives; with the
wish at once to connect religious with moral and literary
education, and at the same time not to run the
risk of wounding the peculiar feelings of any sect, by
catechetical instruction, or comments which might tend
to subjects of polemical controversy. But it seems to
have been overlooked, that the principles of the Roman
catholic church (to which, in any system intended for
general diffusion throughout Ireland, the bulk of the
pupils must necessarily belong) were totally at variance
with this principle; and that the indiscriminate reading
of the Holy Scriptures without note or comment, by
children, must be peculiarly obnoxious to a church
which denies, even to adults, the right of unaided
private interpretation of the sacred volume, with respect
to articles of religious belief.”
“Shortly after its institution, although the society
prospered and extended its operations under the fostering
care of the legislature, this vital defect began to
be noticed; and the Roman catholic clergy began to
.bn 125.png
.pn +1
exert themselves with energy and success against a
system to which they were on principle opposed, and
which they feared might lead in its results to proselytism,
even although no such object were contemplated
by its promoters. When this opposition arose,
founded on such grounds, it soon became manifest
that the system could not become one of national
education.”
“The commissioners of education in 1824-5, sensible
of the defects of the system, and of the ground, as well
as the strength of the objection taken, recommended
the appointment of two teachers in every school, one
protestant and the other Roman catholic, to superintend
separately the religious education of the children;
and they hoped to have been able to agree upon a
selection from the Scriptures that might have been
generally acquiesced in by both persuasions. But it
was soon found that these schemes were impracticable;
and, in 1828, a committee of the house of commons,[57]
to which were referred the various Reports of the commissioners
of education, recommended a system to be
adopted, which should afford, if possible, a combined
literary, and a separate religious education, and should
be capable of being so far adapted to the views of the
religious persuasions which prevail in Ireland, as to
render it, in truth, a system of National education for
the poorer classes of the community.”
.pm end_quote
.fm rend=t
.fn 56
This society, originally founded in 1811 under the designation of “The
Society for promoting the Education of the Poor in Ireland,” was managed by
gentlemen of various religious persuasions, on the principle of promoting the
establishment and assisting in the support of schools, in which the appointment
of governors and teachers, and the admission of scholars should be uninfluenced
by religious distinctions, and in which the Bible and Testament,
without note or comment should be read, excluding catechisms and books of
religious controversy. In 1814-15 a grant of 6,980l. Irish currency, for the
above objects, was made to this society, which removed its establishment to
Kildare-street, and thence took the name of “The Kildare-street Society;”
and annual grants were continued subsequently, varying from 10,000l. in 1821,
to 25,000l. in 1830, the number of pupils within that period increasing from
36,637 to 132,530.
.fn-
.fn 57
Ante, p. #108#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sp 2
The letter next points out, that on the composition of
the board will in a great degree depend the obtaining
of public confidence, and the success of the measure; and
it is then declared to be the intention of government—
.pm start_quote
“That the board should exercise a complete control
over the various schools which may be erected under
its auspices; or which having been already established,
.bn 126.png
.pn +1
may hereafter place themselves under its management,
and submit to its regulations. Subject to these, applications
for aid will be admissible from Christians of
all denominations; but as one of the main objects must
be to unite in one system, children of different creeds,
and as much must depend upon the co-operation of
the resident clergy, the board will probably look with
peculiar favour upon applications proceeding either
from—
“1st.—The protestant and Roman catholic clergy of
the parish; or
“2nd.—One of the clergymen, and a certain number
of the parishioners professing the opposite creed; or
“3rd.—Parishioners of both denominations.
“Where the application proceeds exclusively from
protestants, or exclusively from Roman catholics, it will
be proper for the board to make inquiry as to the circumstances
which lead to the absence of any names of
the persuasion which does not appear.
“The board will note all applications for aid, whether
granted or refused, with the ground of the decision;
and annually submit to parliament a Report of their
proceedings.
“They will invariably require, as a condition not to
be departed from, that local funds shall be raised, upon
which any aid from the public will be dependent.”
.pm end_quote
The letter then goes into a statement of various kinds
of local aid to be required; the school-hours to be
observed; and the time for religious instruction. After
which, it proceeds—
.pm start_quote
“The board will exercise the most entire control
over all books to be used in the schools, whether in
the combined moral and literary, or separate religious
instruction; none to be employed in the first except
under the sanction of the board, nor in the latter, but
with the approbation of those members of the board
.bn 127.png
.pn +1
who are of the same religious persuasion with those for
whose use they are intended. Although it is not designed
to exclude from the list of books for the combined
instruction such portions of sacred history, or of religious
or moral teaching as may be approved of by the board, it
is to be understood that this is by no means intended to
convey a perfect and sufficient religious education, or to
supersede the necessity of separate religious instruction on
the day set apart for the purpose.”
.pm end_quote
.sp 2
.ti 0
The part here printed in italics is not in the copy of the
letter published with the 1st Report of the Commissioners
of National Education, but it is in a copy annexed to the
8th Report, and is believed to be the true one. The
remainder of the letter relates to school arrangements
and other proceedings of the board.
.sn 1832. | Discussion in parliament on the government plan of education.
On the 6th of March 1832, a lengthened discussion
on the government plan of education took
place in the house of commons, in the course
of which Mr. Stanley stated his views on the
subject in answer to the objections raised
by several members; and ended by saying, that “He
was far from thinking the system now about to be
carried into effect was perfect, but he believed that
it was the most likely to unite the people of all religious
persuasions in the education of their children,
and produce those results which, the Scriptures said,
were the fruits of the Christian religion—peace, meekness,
gentleness and love.” On the 23rd of July following,
37,500l. was voted “in aid of the funds to be
appropriated to the new system of education,” which
thenceforward may be regarded as permanently established;
and in 1844 the board was duly incorporated
by royal charter.
.bn 128.png
.pn +1
We now approach a period when public attention
was very generally and very earnestly directed to the
condition of the poor, and to the operation of the
laws providing for their relief. In 1832 commissioners
were appointed to inquire into these subjects in England,
and the reader is referred to the 2nd volume
of the ‘History of the English Poor Laws’ for information
as to their Report on the occasion, and also for
an account of the important measure which was founded
thereon.
.if t
.sn 1833. |\
Commission to inquire into the condition of the poorer |classes in Ireland.
.if-
.if h
.sn 1833. |\
Commission to inquire into the condition of the poorer classes in Ireland.
.if-
On the 25th September 1833, commissioners were
appointed “to inquire into the condition of the
poorer classes in Ireland, and into the various
institutions at present established by law for
their relief; and also whether any and what
further remedial measures appear to be requisite
to ameliorate the condition of the Irish poor or any
portion of them.”[58] An extensive field of inquiry was
thus laid open to the commissioners, who forthwith
entered upon the duties confided to them; and it must
be admitted that there could hardly have been any
more important, or more highly responsible.
.sn 1835. |The commissioners’ first report.
In July 1835 the commissioners made their first
Report—“as to the modes in which the destitute
classes in Ireland are supported, to the extent and
efficiency of those modes, and their effects upon
those who give, and upon those who receive relief.” A large
body of evidence is appended to the Report, which evidence
the commissioners say is now complete, containing
parochial examinations made in one parish in each of
seventeen counties, relative to the present modes of
relieving—
.bn 129.png
.pn +1
.pm start_quote
“Deserted and orphan children.
“Illegitimate children and their mothers.
“Widows having families of young children.
“The impotent through age or other permanent
infirmity.
“The sick poor, who in health are capable of earning
their subsistence.
“The able-bodied out of work.
“Vagrancy as a mode of relief.”
.pm end_quote
.fm rend=t
.fn 58
The commissioners were, the Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. Murray (the
Roman catholic Archbishop), Rev. Charles Vignoles, Richard More O'Farrall
Esq., Rev. James Carlisle, Fenton Hort Esq., John Corrie Esq., James Naper
Esq. and William Battie Wrightson Esq. The Right Hon. A. R. Blake was
subsequently added to the commission.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
An examination of every dispensary in nine counties
is also given, and of every infirmary, and some dispensaries
and hospitals in eleven counties. Likewise
the examinations concerning institutions not medical,
for the relief of different classes of the poor, which are
said to be “principally mendicity institutions, houses of
industry, almshouses, and societies for visiting the destitute
and distributing food, money, or clothes,” in all the
large towns.
After thus enumerating the several heads or divisions
under which their investigations were conducted, the
commissioners proceed to state—
.in 6
.ti -4
1st.—The difficulties they had to encounter from
the extensive and complicated nature of the subject,
and the peculiar social condition of the Irish people.
.ti -4
2ndly.—The course they pursued in collecting information,
“showing how far it is full and impartial,
and therefore how far worthy of confidence.”
And
.ti -4
3rdly.—The reasons why they are not yet able to
report—“Whether any and what further remedial
measures appear to be requisite to ameliorate the
condition of the Irish poor, or any of them.”
.in
These points are all largely dwelt upon, especially
the first. On every side, the commissioners say, they
were assailed by the theories of persons who might be
.bn 130.png
.pn +1
supposed to possess means of forming a sound judgment—“one
party attributed all the poverty and wretchedness
of the country to an asserted extreme use of ardent
spirits, and proposed a system for repressing illicit distillation,
for preventing smuggling, and for substituting
beer and coffee. Another party found the cause
in the combination among workmen, and proposed
rigorous laws against trades unions. Others again were
equally confident, that the reclamation of the bogs and
waste lands was the only practicable remedy. A fourth
party declared the nature of the existing connexion
between landlord and tenant to be the root of all the
evil. Pawnbroking, redundant population, absence of
capital, peculiar religious tenets and religious differences,
political excitement, want of education, the maladministration
of justice, the state of prison discipline,
want of manufactures and of inland navigation, with a
variety of other circumstances, were each supported by
their various advocates with earnestness and ability, as
being either alone, or jointly with some other, the
primary cause of all the evils of society; and loan
funds, emigration, the repression of political excitement,
the introduction of manufactures, and the extension of
inland navigation, were accordingly proposed each as
the principal means by which the improvement of
Ireland could be promoted.” The commissioners abstain
from expressing their opinion upon any of these propositions,
but they determine “that the inquiry should
embrace every subject to which importance seemed to
be attached by any large number of persons.”
Under the second division of their Report, the commissioners
advert in considerable detail to the obvious
impossibility of collecting the necessary information
themselves, and the difficulty of finding Irishmen at
once competent and impartial to undertake the duty;
and they determine as the only mode of combining
local knowledge with impartiality, to unite in the inquiry
.bn 131.png
.pn +1
“a native of Great Britain with a resident
native of Ireland.” And in order that the evidence
might be full and impartial, and be collected and registered
in a satisfactory manner, the assistant-commissioners
who had been appointed were desired to adopt
in their investigations the following course of procedure:—
.sp 2
.in 6
.ti -4
First—“To request the attendance of persons of each
grade in society, of each of the various religious
persuasions, and of each party in politics; to give
to the testimony of each class an equal degree of
attention, and to make the examinations in presence
of all. Not to allow any person to join in
conducting the examination, and to state at the
opening of the proceedings, that any statement
made by an individual, and not impugned by any
person present, would be considered to be acknowledged
as at least probable by all.”
.ti -4
Second—“To note down at the time of examination,
the replies given, or the remarks which occurred
to him; to register, as nearly as might be possible
in the words of each witness, the statements which
might be made; to register the names of all
the persons who attended the examination; and
before proceeding to examine another district, to
send the minutes of the previous examination to
the office in Dublin, signed by both the assistant-commissioners.”
.in
.sp 2
With regard to the third head, that is the reasons for
not yet being able to report “whether any and what further
remedial measures appear to be requisite to ameliorate
the condition of the Irish poor, or any portion of
them”—The commissioners observe that the reasons
are sufficiently apparent in the fact that they have not
yet completed their inquiry into the causes of destitution.
.bn 132.png
.pn +1
They would, they say, be little worthy of the
high trust reposed in them, were they content with
deciding upon the extent and nature of distress, or
upon the means of only present alleviation. “We
consider it our duty (they remark) to endeavour if
possible, to investigate the causes of the destitution
which we discover, and to ascertain why classes of his
Majesty’s subjects are from time to time falling into
a state of wretchedness; why the labouring population
do not provide against those events which seem
inevitable; why the able-bodied labourer does not
provide against the sickness of himself, or that of the
various members of his family; against the temporary
absence of employment; against the certain infirmity
of age; against the destitution of his widow and his
children in the contingent event of his own premature
decease; whether these omissions arise from any peculiar
improvidence in his habits, or from the insufficiency
of employment, or from the low rate of his
wages.” It would not even be sufficient to answer that
the limited amount of employment and the rate of his
wages will not permit him. “It is our duty (they
say) to carry the investigation further, and at least to
endeavour to trace whether there be any circumstances
which restrict the amount of employment, or the rate
of wages; or in any other way offer impediments to
the improvement of the people, which are such as can
be remedied by legislation.”
The commissioners accordingly in the first place
directed their attention to agriculture, that being,
they observe, the principal occupation of the Irish
people. There was said to be much unreclaimed land
which might be brought into cultivation, and throughout
Ireland the land already in cultivation might be
better worked, and thus the demand for labour be
increased. The commissioners wish to ascertain the
.bn 133.png
.pn +1
extent to which such statements are well founded, and
whether the evil is attributable to want of capital or to
want of skill; and “whether there are any circumstances
which have deterred British capitalists from
coming to Ireland, or have prevented the investment
in agriculture of capital existing in Ireland, and to
what extent those circumstances have proved injurious;
and in case the evil arises from a deficiency of skill in
the tenantry, to ascertain whether there are any means
by which a superior knowledge of agriculture can be
diffused.” By endeavouring to prevent the occurrence
of destitution, they consider that they will more effectually
fulfil their mission, than if they merely devised the
means for its alleviation after it had arisen. They
shall, they say, “feel deep pain should they be compelled
to leave to any portion of the peasantry of
Ireland, a continuation of distress on the one hand, or
a mere offer of charity on the other—far more grateful
(it is added) would be the office of recommending measures
by which the industrious labourer might have the
prospect of a constant field for his exertions, with a
remuneration sufficient for his present demands, and
admitting of a provision against those contingencies
which attach to himself and to his family.” They declare
it to be their anxious wish to do more than diminish
the wretchedness of portions of the working classes, and
that they are most solicitous to place the whole of those
classes in the greatest state of comfort consistently with
the good of the rest of society.
In answer to certain complaints which appear to
have been made “within and out of parliament” of the
time and money consumed in the present inquiry, the
commissioners explain at some length the impossibility
of proceeding more rapidly. They however admit that
the time will exceed that occupied by several other inquiries,
and particularly by that on the English Poor-law,
.bn 134.png
.pn +1
to which they specially refer—“because the highest
estimate has been formed of the manner in which it
was conducted, both as regards diligence and accuracy,
and because they feel that in measuring their labours,
and the time they are likely to occupy by such a standard,
they shall have taken the surest mode of showing
that they have used the utmost diligence.”
The foregoing summary exhibits the general purport
of the commissioners’ first Report, which it will be observed
aims rather at explaining what ought to be and
what is further intended to be done, than pointing out
remedies or deducing practical conclusions from the
“large body of evidence” which had been taken. It
is impossible not to concur in the views and reasonings
expressed by the commissioners with regard to the
spirit in which the inquiry should be conducted, and
also as to the objects sought to be attained: but nothing
definite is proposed, nor any practical suggestion
offered; and as the commissioners admit that they had
been occupied a year and ten months in the inquiry,
we can hardly wonder that some impatience should be
manifested “both in and out of parliament” on the
occasion. The evidence presented with the Report was
no doubt important, and calculated to afford much
valuable information on the several points to which
it specifically referred;[59] but the mere collecting and
grouping of such evidence, unaccompanied by any condensed
summary of its import, or practical deduction
from its details, could not be expected to be very satisfactory
or very useful, either to the legislature or to
the public generally.
.fm rend=t
.fn 59
See the seven heads of inquiry set out, ante page #119#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn 1836.|\
The commissioners’ second report.
In the early part of the following year the commissioners
made a second Report “on that part of
the inquiry which respects the various institutions
at present established by law for the relief
.bn 135.png
.pn +1
of the poor.” These are said to be—medical institutions,
lunatic asylums, houses of industry, and foundling
hospitals; and although much of the information given
respecting them has been anticipated by the Report of
the select committee of 1830,[60] it will be convenient to
insert in this place a short abstract of the Report on
these institutions, the most numerous of which are the
medical charities.
.fm rend=t
.fn 60
Ante, pp. 95 to 108.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Infirmaries.
To establish an infirmary, 500l. must be first raised
by voluntary contributions, to which a grant
not exceeding 1,500l. may be made by government,
provided the distance be not less than ten
miles from any existing infirmary. The funds for its
support are provided by grand-jury presentments not
exceeding 600l. in any one year, and a grant of 100l.
by government towards the salary of the surgeon. The
number of county infirmaries is stated to be 31, in addition
to which there are 5 city and town infirmaries.
Each is governed by a corporation, consisting of certain
official persons, together with the donors of twenty
guineas and upwards, and annual subscribers of three
guineas. The corporation of governors appoint the
medical officers, regulate the admission of patients,
enact by-laws, and have the entire control of the institution.
.sn Dispensaries.
Dispensaries were established for affording medical
relief to those poor persons who are too distant
to receive aid from an infirmary. They are
governed by the same corporation, with the addition
of subscribers of not less than one guinea annually,
and are supported by such subscriptions, together with
grand-jury presentments not exceeding a like amount.
The number of separate dispensaries is 452, and there
are 42 more united with fever hospitals.
.sn Fever hospitals.
The great prevalence of fever in Ireland rendered
.bn 136.png
.pn +1
hospitals for the special treatment of fever cases, absolutely
essential to the general security; and
for providing such hospitals, of which there
are 28, grand juries may present sums equal to double
the amount of voluntary subscriptions, and government
may also make advances for the purpose, to be subsequently
repaid by instalments. By the 58th Geo. 3rd,
cap. 47,[61] provision is made for the appointment of a
board of health, with extensive powers, whenever fever
occurs in a town or district; but it appears that this
provision has been rarely acted upon.
.fm rend=t
.fn 61
Ante, p. #77#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
The total expense of supporting these infirmaries,
dispensaries and fever hospitals, in the year 1833 as
stated in tables appended to the Report, was 109,054l.—of
which amount grand-jury presentments furnished
55,065l.—subscriptions 37,562l.—parliamentary grants
6,661l., and petty-sessions fees and miscellaneous
funds 9,766l. The entire number of cases relieved
in the same year, was 30,634 intern, and 1,243,314
extern.
.sn Lunatic asylums.
The lord-lieutenant is empowered to direct as many
lunatic asylums to be provided as he may think
fit, and grand juries are required to present
such sums as may be necessary for defraying the
expense of erecting and supporting them. Eleven
were completed, or in progress towards completion;
and the total amount of expenditure on them in 1833
was 26,247l.
With regard to these institutions the commissioners
remark—“The medical relief at present afforded
throughout Ireland is very unequally distributed. In
the county of Dublin, containing exclusive of the city
about 176,000 inhabitants, and about 375 square miles,
there are 24 dispensaries, or one to every 7,333 inhabitants.
In the county of Meath, containing about
.bn 137.png
.pn +1
176,800 inhabitants, and about 886 square miles, there
are 19 dispensaries, or one for every 9,306 inhabitants.
In the county of Mayo, containing 366,328 inhabitants,
and about 2,100 square miles, there is only one dispensary
supported at the public expense.” Such inequalities,
it is observed, are the necessary consequence of a
law which renders the establishment of a dispensary
contingent upon voluntary contributions. In districts
abounding in rich resident proprietors, a medical charity
is least wanted, but subscriptions are there most easily
obtained; whilst in districts where there are few or
possibly no resident proprietors, the aid is most wanted,
but there are no subscribers, and consequently there is
no medical charity.
.sn Houses of industry.
Houses of industry (or workhouses) are established
and regulated under the provisions of the 11th
and 12th Geo. 3rd, cap. 30,[62] the 46th Geo. 3rd,
cap. 95,[62] and the 58th Geo. 3rd, cap. 47.[62] There are
nine of these institutions in Ireland, and of some of
them a brief account is given; but it is said to be
difficult to judge of the economy with which they are
conducted. The total income of the houses of industry
in the year 1833 derived from grand-jury presentments,
subscriptions, and miscellaneous sources, and including
a parliamentary grant of 20,000l. to the Dublin institution,
was 32,967l., and the number of inmates on the
books was 2,732.
.fm rend=t
.fn 62
Ante, pp. 51, 74, and 77.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Foundling hospitals.
There were two large foundling hospitals, one in
Dublin, the other in Cork, and a small one in
Galway. With the exception of one child under
peculiar circumstances, there have been no admissions for
some time into the Dublin house, and the establishment
is only used for the occasional accommodation of such
children as are still on the books; and as these are disposed
of, will cease altogether. The Cork hospital is
.bn 138.png
.pn +1
supported principally by a tax on coals: it is still open,
and has 1,329 on the books. At Galway the number of
children is only eight. These institutions, the commissioners
remark, are now acknowledged to be in their
nature utterly indefensible. The expense of the Cork
and Galway establishments in 1833, derived from miscellaneous
sources, was 6,628l. The parliamentary grant
to the Dublin foundling hospital in 1828 was 34,000l.
Supposing it to have been 30,000l. in 1833, it would
make the entire charge of these institutions, in the
latter year, amount to 36,628l.
The total charge of the foregoing institutions as
stated in the tables appended to the Report, is as
follows:—
.ta lm:20 cm:3 rm:8 w=60%
.if t
Infirmaries |}|
Dispensaries |}| £109,054
Fever hospitals |}|
.if-
.if h
Infirmaries
Dispensaries
Fever hospitals|}| £109,054
.if-
Lunatic asylums | | 26,247
Houses of industry | | 32,967
.if h
Foundling hospitals| | 36,628
.if-
.if t
Foundling hospitals| | 36,628
| | —-—-—
.if-
| | £204,896
.ta-
Of this sum upwards of 50,000l. appears to have been
furnished by parliamentary grants, the remainder being
derived from grand-jury presentments, voluntary contributions,
and other local sources.
The commissioners think that some provision ought
to be made for poor persons discharged from hospitals
in a state of convalescence, and also for persons suffering
from chronic and incurable disease, neither
being proper objects of ordinary hospital treatment.
They are likewise of opinion that a public provision
should be made for the deaf dumb and blind poor, such
persons being, they consider, peculiarly deserving of
assistance.
The impatience of the public was not likely to be
satisfied by the appearance of this second Report, which
contained no recommendations, and added nothing to
.bn 139.png
.pn +1
what was previously known of the condition of the
Irish poor. For a series of years inquiry after inquiry
had been instituted by commissions and committees
into that condition, with a view to devise means for its
amelioration; but without leading to any satisfactory
result. And now, after two years and a half had been
spent in prosecuting like inquiries, and this moreover
by men specially selected for the task, and standing
deservedly high in public estimation for talent and
acquirements, people began to fear that the result
would be again the same, and that time labour and
money would have been expended in vain. It was
known, or at least generally surmised, that differences
of opinion existed among the commissioners, as to the
nature of the recommendations which should be made
by them conjointly; some being in favour of the imposition
of a general rate for the relief of the poor, and
others advocating a system of voluntary contributions
for that purpose. The latter pointed to Scotland as an
example to be followed, and the former to England.
Under these circumstances it is not surprising that the
question should occupy a good deal of public attention,
and that those who possessed, or were supposed to
possess information on the subject, should be induced
or invited to express their opinions with regard to it.
Pamphlets were written, and speeches made, contrasting
the advantages and disadvantages inherent in the
compulsory and the voluntary systems of relief, as well
generally, as with reference to the case of Ireland; and
the entire subject became a matter of very general discussion,
of which the proceedings under the amended
Poor Law in England naturally formed a part, and thus
gave additional interest to the question.
.sn ‘Suggestions’ by the author, January 21, 1836.
The author being at that time a member of the
English Poor Law Commission, the subject was
necessarily much pressed upon his notice; and
having reason to believe that a statement of
.bn 140.png
.pn +1
his views in reference to it would be acceptable, he prepared
for the consideration of government, a series of
suggestions founded upon a general view of social requirements,
and upon his experience of the working of
the English Poor Law. He did not pretend to any personal
knowledge of the state of Ireland, but considered
that the information furnished by the evidence appended
to the commissioners’ first Report, showed that destitution
and wretchedness prevailed to such an extent among
the poorer classes in that country, that legislative interference
could no longer be delayed without compromising
the general security; and contrasting the state
of the English poor with what existed in Ireland,
he attempted to point out a remedy, or at least a
palliative for the evils which prevailed there. This
he was induced to do without waiting for the final
report of the inquiry commissioners, as the mode of
comparison pursued by him was different from the
course which they would adopt, and likewise because
the commissioners indicated their intention of taking
the general circumstances of the country into consideration,
whilst he proposed to limit his suggestions to one
object, with a view to a single and specific remedy.
These ‘Suggestions’ were framed in considerable
detail, and recommended the application of the amended
system of English Poor Law to Ireland, with certain
modifications, calculated to guard against the evils which
had sprung from the old law in England, and at the
same time be sufficient for the relief of a large portion
of the destitute classes who stood most in need of it.
The ‘Suggestions’ were presented to Lord John Russell
in January, about the same time as the commissioners’
second Report; and on perusing them now, after so
long an interval, and with all the experience since acquired,
the author finds little to alter in what he then
ventured to suggest.
.sn 1836.|\
The commissioners’ third report.
The long-expected final Report was at length received,
.bn 141.png
.pn +1
embodying all the recommendations for ameliorating
the condition of the Irish poor, which
after nearly three years of inquiry and deliberation,
the commissioners felt themselves warranted
in submitting to government. It commenced
by stating, that the evidence annexed to the former
Reports proves the existence of deep distress in all parts
of Ireland. There is not, it is said, the division of
labour which exists in Great Britain. The labouring
class look to agriculture alone for support, whence the
supply of agricultural labour greatly exceeds the demand
for it; and small earnings, and widespread misery, are
the consequence. Tables are given of the population
of Great Britain and Ireland respectively, of the classes
and occupations in each, the quantity of cultivated and
uncultivated land, the proportions of agricultural produce,
and the wages of agricultural labourers—from
which, the commissioners say it appears—“that in
Great Britain the agricultural families constitute little
more than a fourth, while in Ireland they constitute
about two-thirds of the whole population; that there
were in Great Britain in 1831,—1,055,982 agricultural
labourers, in Ireland 1,131,715,—although the cultivated
land of Great Britain amounts to about 34,250,000
acres, and that of Ireland only to about 14,600,000.”
So that there are in Ireland about five agricultural
labourers for every two that there are for the same
quantity of land in Great Britain. It further appears
that the agricultural produce of Great Britain is more
than four times that of Ireland; that agricultural wages
vary from 6d. to 1s. a day; that the average of the
country is about 8½d.; and that the earnings of the
labourers come on an average of the whole class, to from
2s. to 2s. 6d. a week, or thereabouts, for the year round.
Thus circumstanced, the commissioners observe, “it
is impossible for the able-bodied, in general, to provide
against sickness or the temporary absence of employment,
.bn 142.png
.pn +1
or against old age, or the destitution of their
widows and children in the contingent event of their
own premature decease.” A great portion of them
are, it is said, insufficiently provided with the commonest
necessaries of life. “Their habitations are
wretched hovels, several of a family sleep together
upon straw, or upon the bare ground, sometimes with a
blanket, sometimes even without so much to cover
them; their food commonly consists of dry potatoes,
and with these they are at times so scantily supplied,
as to be obliged to stint themselves to one spare meal
in the day. There are even instances of persons being
driven by hunger to seek sustenance in wild herbs.
They sometimes get a herring or a little milk, but they
never get meat except at Christmas, Easter, and Shrovetide.[63]
Some go in search of employment to Great
Britain during the harvest, others wander through
Ireland with the same view. The wives and children
of many are occasionally obliged to beg, but they do so
reluctantly and with shame, and in general go to a
distance from home that they may not be known.
Mendicity too is the sole resource of the aged and impotent
of the poorer classes in general, when children
or relatives are unable to support them. To it therefore
crowds are driven for the means of existence, and the
knowledge that such is the fact leads to an indiscriminate
giving of alms, which encourages idleness, imposture
and general crime.”
.fm rend=t
.fn 63
To partake of meat at these seasons is enjoined upon all the members of
the Roman catholic church.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
Such is described as being the condition of the great
body of the labouring classes in Ireland, and “with
these facts before us (the commissioners say) we cannot
hesitate to state, that we consider remedial measures
requisite to ameliorate the condition of the Irish poor—What
those measures should be is a question complicated,
.bn 143.png
.pn +1
and involving considerations of the deepest importance
to the whole body of the people, both in
Ireland and Great Britain. Society is so constructed,
its various parts are so connected, the interests of all
who compose it are so interwoven, the rich are so dependent
on the labour of the poor, and the poor upon
the wealth of the rich, that any attempt to legislate
partially, or with a view to the good of a portion only,
without a due regard to the whole of the community,
must prove in the end fallacious, fatal to its object, and
injurious in general to a ruinous degree.”
None will deny the truth of these propositions, which
doubtless ought to be kept in view in legislating for the
relief of the poor, or for any other matter of general
interest or importance. Their enunciation does not
however materially assist in discovering a remedy for
the fearful amount of destitution and suffering shown to
prevail in Ireland, the descriptions of which as given in
the Report, are here brought together in one point of
view, in order that the reader may have the extent of
the evil laid open before him.
It has, the commissioners say, “been suggested to us
to recommend a Poor Law for Ireland similar to that
of England, but we are of opinion that the provision to
be made for the poor in Ireland must vary essentially
from that made in England.” The English law, it is
said, requires that work and support should be found
for all able-bodied persons who may be out of employment,
and such work and support will now be provided
for them only in a workhouse; so that if workhouses
were to be established in Ireland as a means of relief,
they must be sufficiently capacious for setting vast
numbers of unemployed persons to work within them.
The commissioners state that they “cannot estimate the
number of persons in Ireland out of work and in distress
during thirty weeks of the year, at less than 585,000,
nor the number of persons dependent upon them at less
.bn 144.png
.pn +1
than 1,800,000, making in the whole 2,385,000—This
therefore (it is added) is about the number for which
it would be necessary to provide accommodation in
workhouses, if all who require relief were there to be
relieved;” and they consider it impossible to provide
for such a multitude, or even to attempt it with safety.
The expense of erecting and fitting up the necessary
buildings would, they say, “come to about 4,000,000l.,
and allowing for the maintenance of each person 2½d.
only a day (that being the expense at the mendicity
establishment of Dublin) the cost of supporting the
whole 2,385,000 for thirty weeks would be something
more than 5,000,000l. a year; whereas the gross rental
of Ireland (exclusive of towns) is estimated at less than
10,000,000l. a year, the net income of the landlords at
less than 6,000,000l., and the public revenue is only
about 4,000,000l.”
The commissioners do not however think that such
an expense would actually be incurred. On the contrary
they are convinced that the able-bodied and their
families would endure any misery rather than make a
workhouse their domicile; and they add—“now if we
thought that employment could be had provided due
efforts were made to procure it, the general repugnance
to a workhouse would be a reason for recommending
that mode of relief, for assistance could be afforded
through it to the few that might from time to time fall
into distress, and yet no temptation be afforded to
idleness and improvidence; but we see that the labouring
class are eager for work, that work there is not for
them, and that they are therefore, and not from any
fault of their own, in permanent want.” This, it is said,
is just the state to which, on the authority of a passage
quoted from the English Poor Law Commissioners,[64]
.bn 145.png
.pn +1
the workhouse system is held not to be applicable;
and if it were established in Ireland, would, the commissioners
are persuaded, “be regarded by the bulk of
the population as a stratagem for debarring them of
that right to employment and support with which the
law professed to invest them.” It is unnecessary, the
commissioners add, to point out the feelings which must
thus be created, or the consequences to which they
might lead; and they conclude this section of their
Report by saying—“We cannot therefore recommend
the present workhouse system of England as at all
suited to Ireland.”
.fm rend=t
.fn 64
The entire of the paragraph quoted would not bear out the interpretation
here put upon it.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
Having thus rejected the workhouse, the commissioners
next consider how far the objections applicable
to a provision for enforcing in-door work, would be
applicable to one for enforcing out-door employment;
and they come to the conclusion, that having regard to
the number of persons for whom work must be found,
and the experience of the consequences to which out-door
compulsory employment led in England, any
attempt to introduce it into Ireland would be attended
with most pernicious results. “If (it is said) the
farmers were compelled to take more men than they
chose or thought they wanted, they would of course
reduce the wages of all to a minimum. If, on the other
hand, magistrates or other local authorities were empowered
to frame a scale of wages or allowances, so as
to secure to each labourer a certain sum by the week,
we do not think they could, with safety to their persons
and property, fix a less sum than would be equal to the
highest rate of wages pre-existing in the district for
which they were required to act; nor would anything
less enable the labourer to support himself and his
family upon such food, with such clothing, and in such
a dwelling, as any person undertaking to provide permanently
for human beings in a civilized country could
say they ought to be satisfied with. It would therefore
.bn 146.png
.pn +1
(the commissioners think) be necessary to fix different
scales of wages or allowances, which would average
for the whole of Ireland about 4s. 6d. a week. This
would be to double the present earnings of the body
of labourers, and these appear to amount to about
6,800,000l. a year. The additional charge would therefore
come to about that sum.”
The tenantry, the commissioners say, cannot be expected
to bear this burden. They have not capital for
it, and the charge must therefore fall upon the landlords.
Rents would diminish, commerce would decay, and the
demand for agricultural produce and all commodities
save potatoes and coarse clothing would contract, while
the number of persons out of employment and in need
of support would increase, and general ruin ensue. The
well-known case of “Cholesbury” is then cited, and
held up as an example of what would follow in Ireland,
“at the end of a year from the commencement
of any system for charging the land indefinitely with
the support of the whole labouring part of the community.”
“With such feelings,” the commissioners observe,
“and considering the redundancy of labour which now
exists in Ireland, how earnings are kept down by it,
what misery is thus produced, and what insecurity of
liberty property and life ensues, we are satisfied that
enactments calculated to promote the improvement of
the country, and so to extend the demand for free and
profitable labour, should make essential parts of any
law for ameliorating the condition of the poor. And
for the same reasons, while we feel that relief should be
provided for the impotent, we consider it due to the
whole community, and to the labouring class in particular,
that such of the able-bodied as may still be unable
to find free and profitable employment in Ireland,
should be secured support only through emigration, or
as preliminary to it—those who desire to emigrate
.bn 147.png
.pn +1
should be furnished with the means of doing so in
safety, and with intermediate support when they stand
in need of it at emigrant depôts. It is thus, and thus
only, that the market of labour in Ireland can be relieved
from the weight that is now upon it, or the
labourer be raised from his present prostrate state.”
Long quotations are then given from the several
Reports of the assistant-commissioners, showing that,
“the feelings of the suffering labourers in Ireland are
also decidedly in favour of emigration.” They do not
desire workhouses, it is said, but they do desire a free
passage to a colony where they may have the means of
living by their own industry.
The commissioners conclude this section of their
Report by saying, that they do not look to emigration
as an object to be permanently pursued upon an extensive
scale, nor as the chief means of relief for the
evils of Ireland, but “as an auxiliary essential to a
commencing course of amelioration.” They then “proceed
to submit a series of provisions for the improvement
of Ireland, and the relief of the poor therein,
including in the latter means of emigration.”
The recommendations extend from section 5 to 15
inclusive, and are all more or less connected with agriculture,
which is said to be the only pursuit for which
the body of the people of Ireland are qualified by habit,
and that it is chiefly through it that any general improvement
in their condition can be effected. It is
recommended—
.in 6
.ti -4
1st. That a board constituted on the principle of the
Bedford Level Corporation should be established,
for carrying into effect a system of national improvement
in Ireland, having a president and vice-president
with suitable salaries, and who together
with two of the judges to be appointed for the
purpose, are to form a court of review and record,
.bn 148.png
.pn +1
with power to hear and determine all matters connected
with such improvements.
.ti -4
2nd. The “Board of Improvement” is to be authorized
to appoint commissioners, who are to be
armed with the usual powers given to commissioners
under Enclosure Acts, and are from time
to time to make surveys and valuations, and partitions
of waste lands, the Board of Works making
such main drains and roads as may be required,
and taking, in consideration thereof, an allotment
of a certain part of each waste in trust for the
public, in proportion to the expense incurred in
making the survey, partition, drainage, and roads.
.ti -4
3rd. With regard to land under cultivation, it is recommended
that both draining and fencing should
be enforced by law, and that the “Board of Improvement”
should be empowered to appoint local
commissioners for the purpose, for any district they
may think proper. If the outlay to be incurred
should exceed what the landlords or occupiers may
be able to pay, 5 per cent. on the amount may be
annually assessed and made payable to the Board
of Works, which in consideration thereof is to
advance the requisite sum—the funds placed at its
disposal being proportionally increased.
.ti -4
4th. The “Board of Improvement” to be enabled to
cause cabins which may be nuisances to be taken
down, and to require the landlords to contribute
towards the expense of removing the occupants
and providing for them.
.ti -4
5th. The “Board of Improvement” to establish an
agricultural model school, with four or five acres
of land attached, in so many parishes or districts
as may be thought necessary, the master to undergo
due examination, and to give instruction in letters
and in agriculture.
.ti -4
6th. Tenants for life, with the approval of the
.bn 149.png
.pn +1
“Board of Improvement,” to be empowered to
grant leases for thirty-one years, and to charge the
property with the amount expended in effecting
permanent improvements.
.ti -4
7th. A fiscal board to be established in every county,
with the powers to make presentments for public
works now vested in grand juries, and to be required
to present such sums as may be appointed
by the Improvement Board.
.ti -4
8th. The Board of Works to be authorized to undertake
any public works “such as roads, bridges,
deepening rivers, or removing obstructions in them,
and so forth,” that within certain limitations may
be approved by the “Board of Improvement.”
.in
.sp 2
A dissertation is then introduced on the effect of
Irish immigrants on the labour-market of England, and
ending with this quotation from Burke—“England and
Ireland may flourish together. The world is large
enough for us both. Let it be our care not to make
ourselves too little for it.” The commissioners say it
was their intention “to inquire relative to trade and
manufactures, to the fisheries, and to mining; but that
it has been found impossible to go into those matters
through want of time.”
The foregoing summary of the commissioners’ recommendations
can hardly be said to come within the province
of poor-law legislation, but it has been thought
right to insert them here, in order that the reader may
see what were the commissioners’ views with regard to
the state of Ireland, and especially with regard to its
wants, which apparently consist in a want of capital,
and a want of skill. The first is proposed to be furnished
by government through the Board of Works,
the last it is proposed to supply by constituting a
“Board of Improvement.”
The 16th section of the Report commences with the
.bn 150.png
.pn +1
declaration “We now come to measures of direct relief for
the poor.” After adverting to the Poor Laws of England
and Scotland, the one carried into universal effect
by local assessments, and the other “in general supported
by voluntary contributions administered by
officers known to the law and responsible to it”—the
commissioners say “they have shown by their second
Report that the institutions existing in Ireland for the
relief of the poor are houses of industry, infirmaries,
fever hospitals, lunatic asylums, and dispensaries; that
the establishment of these, except as to lunatic asylums,
is not compulsory, but dependent upon private subscriptions,
or the will of grand juries; that there are
but nine houses of industry in the whole country; that
while the provision made for the sick poor in some
places is extensive, it is in other places utterly inadequate;
and that there is no general provision made for
the aged, the impotent, or the destitute.” Much, it is
added, is certainly given in Ireland in private charity,
“but it is not given upon any organised system of
relief, and the abundant alms which are bestowed, in
particular by the poorer classes, unfortunately tend to
encourage mendicancy with its attendant evils.”
The commissioners then declare that upon the best
consideration they have been able to give to the whole
subject, they think that a legal provision should be
made, and rates levied, “for the relief and support of
incurable as well as curable lunatics, of idiots, epileptic
persons, cripples, deaf and dumb and blind poor, and
all who labour under permanent bodily infirmities—such
relief and support to be afforded within the walls of
public institutions; also for the relief of the sick poor
in hospitals, infirmaries, and convalescent establishments,
or by extern attendance and a supply of food as
well as medicine where the persons to be relieved are
not in a state to be removed from home; also for the
purpose of emigration, for the support of penitentiaries
.bn 151.png
.pn +1
to which vagrants may be sent, and for the maintenance
of deserted children; also towards the relief of
aged and infirm persons, of orphans, of helpless widows
with young children, of the families of sick persons,
and of casual destitution.”
For effecting these several purposes, it is recommended
that powers should be vested in Poor Law Commissioners
as in England, “for carrying into execution all
such provisions as shall be made by law for the relief
of the poor in Ireland, and that they shall be authorized
to appoint assistant-commissioners to act under their
directions.” It is proposed that the commissioners
should divide the country into relief districts, and cause
the lands of each to be surveyed and valued, with the
names of all proprietors of houses or lands and of all
lessees and occupiers thereof, and the annual value of
such houses and lands respectively, the same to be
lodged at such place within the district as the commissioners
shall appoint, and public notice thereof to be
given.
It is also recommended that a board of guardians
should be elected for each district by the ratepayers,
consisting of proprietors, lessees, and occupiers, a certain
number of the board to go out each year and others to
be elected in their stead. The board of guardians to
have the direction of all the institutions for the relief
of the poor within the district which are supported by
local rates, and to cause them to be duly upheld and
maintained. If any district refuse or neglect to appoint
guardians, or when appointed if the guardians refuse or
neglect to act, the Poor Law Commissioners to be empowered
to appoint assistant-commissioners for such
district with suitable salaries, who are to exercise all
the powers of the board of guardians. The salaries to
be paid by a rate on the district.
It is likewise proposed that there should be so many
asylums in Ireland for the relief and support of lunatics
.bn 152.png
.pn +1
and idiots, and for the support and instruction of the
deaf and dumb and blind poor, so many depôts for
receiving persons willing to emigrate, and so many
penitentiaries for vagrants, as the Poor Law Commissioners
shall appoint—that these several establishments
should be national, and that for maintaining them &c.
the commissioners should be empowered to rate the
whole of Ireland, and to require the boards of guardians
to raise a proportional share thereof in each district,
according to the annual value of its property. It is
moreover recommended that there should be in each
district an institution for the support and relief of
cripples, and persons afflicted with epilepsy or other
permanent disease; also an infirmary, hospital and convalescent
establishment, and such number of dispensaries
as may be necessary, the whole to be provided
for by local assessment. A loan fund administered
according to regulations approved by the commissioners,
is likewise recommended to be established in
every district.
With regard to emigration, as the whole United
Kingdom will, it is said, “be benefited in a very great
degree, and particularly in point of revenue, by the
improvement which extensive emigration coming in aid
of a general course of amelioration cannot fail to produce
in Ireland, one-half of the expense should, the
commissioners submit, be borne by the general funds
of the empire.” And considering the particular benefit
which Ireland will derive from it, and especially those
landlords whose estates may thus be relieved from a
starving population, it is proposed that in rural districts
the other half should be defrayed partly by the national
rate, and partly by the owners of the lands from which
the emigrants remove, or from which they may have
been ejected within the preceding twelve months. It
is further proposed that all the necessary arrangements
for carrying on emigration, should be made between the
.bn 153.png
.pn +1
Poor Law Commissioners and the Colonial Office;
“and that all poor persons whose circumstances require
it, shall be furnished with a free passage and with the
means of settling themselves in an approved British
colony;” and likewise—“that the means of emigration
shall be provided for the destitute of every class and
description who are fit subjects for emigration; that
depôts shall be established, where all who desire to
emigrate may be received; that those who are fit for
emigration be there selected for the purpose, and that
those who are not shall be provided for under the
directions of the Poor Law Commissioners;” who will
moreover be authorized to borrow moneys from the
Exchequer Bill Loan Commissioners for the purposes
of emigration, or for defraying the cost of any buildings
they may think necessary, and also “to secure
the repayment thereof by a charge upon the national
rate.”
The commissioners likewise propose that the laws
with respect to vagrancy should be altered. “At present,”
they say, “persons convicted of vagrancy may
be transported for seven years—our recommendation
is that penitentiaries shall be established to which
vagrants when taken up shall be sent; that they be
charged with the vagrancy before the next quarter
sessions, and if convicted shall be removed as free
labourers to such colony, not penal, as shall be appointed
for them by the Colonial Department.” But
the wages earned in the colony are to be attached until
the expense of their passage be defrayed; and it is
added by way of summary, that by such provisions as
are now suggested, “all poor persons who cannot
find means of support at home, and who are willing
to live by their labour abroad, will be furnished with
the means of doing so, and with intermediate support,
if fit to emigrate; and if not, will be otherwise provided
for, while the idle who would rather beg than
.bn 154.png
.pn +1
labour, will be taken up, and the evil of vagrancy suppressed.”
The 58th George 3rd, cap. 47, and an Act of the following
year (cap. 41)[65] amending the same, are then
referred to, and the commissioners recommend that the
powers given by these Acts to vestries should be transferred
to the boards of guardians of each district, and
that officers of health should be elected by them for
every parish within their jurisdiction—such officers of
health to grant tickets of admission to the next emigration
depôt to any poor inhabitants of their parish who
may, on behalf of themselves or their families, demand
the same; and also, where necessary, to procure means
for passing such persons to the depôt. The officers of
health are moreover to pass all persons taken up under
the provisions of the above Acts to a penitentiary, and
also to cause all foundlings to be sent to nurse, “and
when of a suitable age to cause them to be removed
to an emigration depôt, from whence they may be
sent to an institution in some British colony, which
shall be appointed for receiving such children, and
training and apprenticing them to useful trades or
occupations.” The officers of health are also to provide
in like manner for all orphan children,[66] and the funds
for the several purposes are to be raised by local assessment
in the district. Provision is likewise to be made
at each depôt for receiving the persons sent thither
by the officers of health, such persons to be there supported
and set to work until the period for emigration
arrives; and any persons who after entering an emigration
depôt shall leave it, “without discharging such
expenses as may have been incurred with respect to
them, or who shall refuse to emigrate, shall be subjected
.bn 155.png
.pn +1
to the provisions recommended with respect to
vagrants.”
.fm rend=t
.fn 65
Ante, pp. 77 and 78.
.fn-
.fn 66
The duties here proposed to be performed by the officers of health, are
similar to what are required from the relieving officer under the amended Poor
Law in England.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
With respect to the relief of the aged and infirm, of
orphans, helpless widows with young children, and
destitute persons in general, it is stated that there is a
difference of opinion—some of the commissioners “think
the necessary funds should be provided in part by the
public through a national rate, and in part by private associations,
which, aided by the public, should be authorized
to establish mendicity-houses and almshouses, and to
administer relief to the indigent at their own dwellings,
subject however to the superintendence and control of
the Poor Law Commissioners; while others think the
whole of the funds should be provided by the public,
one portion by a national rate and another by a local
rate, and should be administered as in England by the
board of guardians of each district.” The majority are
however of opinion, “that the plan of voluntary associations,
aided by the public, should be tried in the first
instance.” Recommendations are then made as to the
mode of raising and apportioning the rate. The commissioners
have, they say, “anxiously considered the
practicability of making the rate payable out of property
of every description; but the difficulty of reaching
personal property in general by direct taxation,
except through very inquisitorial proceedings, has
obliged them to determine on recommending that the
land should be the fund charged in the first instance
with it.”
There being, the commissioners say, reason to believe
that the landed property of Ireland is so deeply encumbered,
that a rate might absorb the whole income
of some of the nominal proprietors, the Masters of the
Court of Chancery were consulted on the subject, and
from the facts they stated, “it appears that the average
rent of land is under 1l. 12s. 6d. the Irish acre, equal to
about 14s. 2d. the English; that the gross landed rental
.bn 156.png
.pn +1
of Ireland amounts to less than 10,000,000l.; that the
expenses and losses cannot be taken at less than ten
per cent., nor the annuities and the interest of charges
payable out of the land at less than 3,000,000l. a year;
so that the total net income is less than 6,000,000l.”
The commissioners think therefore, that the encumbrancers
should bear a share of the burden, and recommend
“That persons paying any annual charge in
respect of any beneficial interest in land, shall be authorised
to deduct the same sum in the pound thereout,
that he pays to the poor-rate.” They also recommend
“that the original rate shall never be raised by more
than one-fifth, unless for the purpose of emigration.”
As regards voluntary associations, it is proposed that
the Poor Law Commissioners shall frame rules for their
government, and that each association shall transmit to
the commissioners an estimate of its probable expenditure
and its funds for the year ensuing, and that they shall
award such grant to it as they think proper. The
commissioners to be also authorised “to advance to any
voluntary association, out of the national rate, the
whole sum which may be necessary for the building
and outfit of a mendicity or alms house for any parish;”
and if such mendicity or alms house be not afterwards
duly maintained, the sum so advanced is to be repaid
by the parish to the credit of the national rate.
Certain recommendations are then made with the
view of promoting sobriety, and lessening “the inordinate
use of ardent spirits”—also with reference to
the Board of Charitable Bequests, whose functions may,
it is suggested, be advantageously transferred to the
Poor Law Commissioners—likewise the details of a
plan for purchasing the tithe composition, and vesting
it in the Poor Law Commissioners as a fund for the
relief of the poor, by doing which, it is said, “there
would be a surplus of 313,000l. a year applicable to
the purposes of the national rate.” In conclusion, the
.bn 157.png
.pn +1
commissioners express their belief, that upon the whole
there is a rising spirit of improvement in Ireland,
which however requires to be stimulated by sound
legislation, “or it cannot speedily relieve the country
from the lingering effects of the evil system of former
times.” At present, it is observed, with a population
nearly equal to half that of Great Britain, Ireland
yields only about a twelfth of the revenue to the state
that Great Britain does, nor can it yield more until it
has more to yield. Increased means must precede
increased contribution, and to supply Ireland with these
is, the commissioners say, the great object of their recommendations.
Such was the commissioners’ final Report on the condition
of the Irish poor and the means for its amelioration,
the substance and general import of which I have
endeavoured to give with the fulness and completeness
the importance of the subject demanded. The Report
was not however signed by all the commissioners.
Three of their body withheld their signature, and recorded
their “reasons for dissenting from the principle
of raising funds for the relief of the poor by the voluntary
system, as recommended in the Report.”[67] The
‘Reasons’ are set forth in thirteen propositions, the
most material of which are the following.
.fm rend=t
.fn 67
These were Dr. Vignoles, J. W. S. Naper Esq., and Lord Killeen.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.pm start_quote
“Because—in the lamentably distressed state of the Irish poor,
any system of relief to be effectual must be comprehensive,
uniform, and prompt; whilst the very constitution of voluntary
associations proclaims that their operations must be tardy;
and circumstanced as Ireland is in the distribution of her
population, must be partial and precarious.
“Because—it is notorious that many contributions, in name voluntary,
are frequently obligations of the severest character.
The pressure of such a tax must be unequal. The class least
removed from want, would furnish as it now does, the largest
number of contributors, and to the greatest amount; whilst
.bn 158.png
.pn +1
the wealthier classes, resident as well as absentee, would in a
great measure be exempted from the liability of contributing
in proportion to their wealth, or even from contributing at all.
“Because—viewing the peculiar state of society in Ireland, the
extent to which religious zeal prevails, as well as the influence
it must exercise, we consider the difficulties attendant on the
raising of a voluntary fund in the first instance, and of an
impartial distribution of relief in the next, all but insurmountable.
“Because—the mendicity institutions of Dublin, Limerick,
Newry, Birr, Sligo, Waterford and Londonderry, as well as
the voluntary poor’s fund established in some of the rural
districts, afford strong proofs of the inefficiency of the support
afforded to these institutions; for although they have not
totally failed, yet their subscriptions are falling off, and they
are by no means adequate to the relief of the objects they
contemplate.
“Because—although we admit that there are districts in Ireland
in which voluntary societies might be established, and which
would afford means of constructing a local administration for
the management of the poor’s fund—still we feel satisfied
that in the present state of society, and under the existing
distribution of the population, such a system cannot be either
comprehensive or uniform. We are therefore of opinion that
the fund should be obtained by an assessment, wholly and
not partially compulsory; and that it will be most efficiently
managed by elective boards of guardians as in England,
directed by responsible public officers whose proceedings shall
be subjected to the strictest public scrutiny.”
.pm end_quote
These are no doubt weighty reasons in favour of
certain means being provided to meet a certainly recurring
contingency. But reasons were also adduced
on the opposite side of the question, the other eight
commissioners having in a series of sixteen propositions
likewise recorded their “reasons for recommending
voluntary associations for the relief of the poor;”[68] of
which ‘Reasons’ the following are the chief:—
.bn 159.png
.pn +1
.pm start_quote
“Because—there are and must necessarily be continually arising,
many cases of real destitution which cannot be relieved by a
compulsory assessment, without bringing claims upon it to
an unlimited extent. The attempt was made in England to
meet all cases of distress by a compulsory rate, and the consequence
was, that in one year the rate amounted to the
enormous sum of more than 7,800,000l. sterling; and besides
the oppressive amount of the assessments, it did much evil
in pauperising a large portion of the labouring population.
“Because—although such cases of distress might, and probably would
be, relieved by spontaneous charity, yet the leaving of such cases
of distress to be relieved by the operation of undirected benevolence,
inevitably leads to an extensive vagrancy. This is
now the state of Ireland. On the most moderate computation
the amount of spontaneous alms given, chiefly by the smaller
farmers and cottars, is from one to two millions sterling
annually; but being given without system or without inquiry
to the good and to the bad, the really destitute and the pretenders
to destitution receive alike their maintenance out of
the earnings of the industrious, to their great impoverishment,
and to the great injury of the morals and good order
of the kingdom.
“Because—the most direct and effectual, if not the only means
of avoiding these two great evils, namely, an extensive and
ruinous pauperism created by an attempt to make compulsory
provision for all cases of destitution, and an extensive and
equally ruinous vagrancy created by the want of public provision,
is to endeavour to bring voluntary almsgiving under
regulations and system, so as to direct it to the relief of real
distress exclusively.
“Because—the best means of systematising and regulating voluntary
almsgiving, is to hold out the offer of a measure of public
aid for all voluntary associations, based on certain principles,
and governed by fixed regulations approved by a central
board.
“Because—while a fund thus founded upon voluntary contributions
would provide effectual relief for those who are really destitute,
the very nature of it would debar the poor from establishing
legal claims upon it; since the contribution to a
voluntary fund being wholly spontaneous, the contributors
could at any time withhold them, if an attempt were made to
compel an appropriation of the joint fund contrary to their
instructions.
“Because—the example of an organised system of relief for the
.bn 160.png
.pn +1
poor by voluntary contribution is afforded in Scotland, where
it has been eminently successful.
“Because—although the system of providing for the poor by means
of voluntary associations, aided by the public purse, and constructed
upon well-digested principles, may not succeed at
once in every part of the country—yet that, so far as it
does succeed, it will tend to bring the population into a
sound state with respect to the poor, and will we trust
gradually work its way over the face of the island, and probably
supersede in many places, as the Scottish system does
so extensively, the necessity of a compulsory rate. Whereas
we are convinced, that although a compulsory rate might be
rendered general more rapidly, and be administered by
artificial means, it would every day become more difficult to
manage, and tend to bring the country into a worse state than
our inquiry has found it.”
.pm end_quote
.fm rend=t
.fn 68
The commissioners who signed this schedule of reasons are, the Archbishop
of Dublin, Dr. Murray the Roman catholic archbishop, Rev. Mr. Carlisle, Mr.
F. Hort, Mr. John Corrie, Mr. W. B. Wrightson, the Right Hon. A. R. Blake,
and Mr. J. J. Bicheno. The two latter had been subsequently added to the
original commission.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
The arguments for and against establishing a system
of relief in Ireland founded upon voluntary contributions,
are here deliberately stated by the advocates of
such a procedure on one side, and by its opponents on
the other. The question is vitally important with regard
to the relief of the Irish poor, and deserves the
most careful consideration. If the voluntary system
be susceptible of the organisation and the certainty its
advocates assume, it might doubtless be made to a considerable
extent available, although still open to the
objection that it would operate unequally upon the absentee
and the resident proprietor, upon the liberal man
and the niggard. The majority of the commissioners,
we see, attach much weight to the example of Scotland,
where they believe the voluntary system to have “been
eminently successful.” How little ground there was
for such belief, is shown in the recent working of that
system;[69] and as regards the combining public aid with
voluntary contributions which is recommended, it may be
.bn 161.png
.pn +1
remarked, that such a combination has always led to
the whole charge being eventually borne by the public.
.fm rend=t
.fn 69
See ‘History of the Scotch Poor Law.’ The number of parishes assessed
to the relief of the poor in Scotland in 1855, was 700, and the number unassessed,
in which the relief is raised by voluntary contributions, was 183.
The latter are continually diminishing, and will probably ere long cease altogether.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Mr Bicheno’s remarks on the evidence.
In addition to the two schedules of ‘Reasons’ already
noticed, another document was appended
to the Report, entitled ‘Remarks on the Evidence
&c., by one of the Commissioners.’
This was prepared by Mr. Bicheno, as an exposition
of his own peculiar views, and fills upwards of forty
closely printed folio pages. It contains a good deal of
information upon the state of the country, and the
condition and habits of the people, selected from the
evidence furnished by the assistant-commissioners; but
is too long for insertion. The concluding paragraph
however indicates the spirit in which the ‘Remarks’
were written, and may therefore have a place; it is as
follows—“After all the assistance that can be extended
to Ireland by good laws, and every encouragement
afforded to the poor by temporary employment of a
public nature, and every assistance that emigration and
other modes of relief can yield, her real improvement
must spring from herself, her own inhabitants, and her
own indigenous institutions, irrespective of legislation,
and English interference. It must be of a moral nature;
the improvement of the high and the low, the rich
and the poor. Without this, her tenantry will be still
wretched, and her landlords will command no respect;
with it, a new face will be given to the whole people.”
.sn Mr. G. C. Lewis’ remarks on the third report.
Another paper, entitled ‘Remarks on the Third Report
of the Irish Poor Inquiry Commissioners,’
was submitted to government shortly after the
delivery of that Report. It was dated in July
1836, and was drawn up by George Cornewall Lewis
Esq.,[70] who had been one of the assistant-commissioners
for prosecuting the inquiry in Ireland. The objections
to the system, or rather the several systems of relief
.bn 162.png
.pn +1
recommended by the commissioners, are stated by Mr.
Lewis with great force and clearness, and he comes to
conclusions on the whole question very similar to those
contained in the ‘Suggestions’ which had been submitted
by the author in the month of January preceding.[71]
He proposes to apply the principle of the
amended English Poor Law to Ireland, including the
workhouse, with regard to the rejection of which by
the commissioners, he remarks—“as the danger of
introducing a poor-law into Ireland is confessedly
great, I can conceive no reason for not taking every
possible security against its abuse. Now if anything
has been proved more decisively than another by the
operation of the Poor Law Amendment Act in England,
it is that the workhouse is an all-sufficient test of
destitution, and that it is the only test; that it succeeds
as a mode of relief, and that all other modes fail. Why
therefore, this tried guarantee against poor-law abuses
is not to be employed, when abuses are, under the best
system, almost inevitable, it seems difficult to understand.
If such a safeguard were to be dispensed with
anywhere, it would be far less dangerous to dispense
with it in England than in Ireland.”
.fm rend=t
.fn 70
Now Sir George Cornewall Lewis Bart., and Chancellor of the Exchequer.
.fn-
.fn 71
Ante p. 129.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
An account of the further steps taken with reference
to the commissioners’ Report, and as regards the whole
of the very important question to which it applies, will
be given in the next chapter.
.bn 163.png
.pn +1
.sp 4
.h2
CHAPTER III.
.pm start_summary
Recommendation in the king’s speech—Motions and other proceedings in the
House of Commons—Lord John Russell’s instructions to the author—The
author’s first Report—Lord John Russell’s speech on introducing a bill
founded on its recommendations—Progress of the bill interrupted by the
death of the king—Author’s second Report—Bill reintroduced and passed
the Commons—Author’s third Report—Bill passes the Lords, and becomes
law.
.pm end_summary
.sp 2
The impatience generally felt for the Report of the
Irish Poor Inquiry Commissioners, was not a little
increased by the uncertainty as to what would be its
nature. It was known that there were great differences
of opinion among the commissioners with regard to the
remedy, although they were all agreed as to the existence
of the evil, and the necessity for something being done
towards its mitigation; but what that something should
be, was a question on which it was understood they by
no means coincided. It was feared therefore, that the
present inquiry would end, as others had ended, without
any practical result. An impression had long prevailed,
and was daily becoming stronger, of the necessity
for making some provision for the relief of the
destitute poor in Ireland. The perpetually-increasing
intercourse between the two countries, brought under
English notice the wretched state of a large proportion
of the people in the sister island; and the vast numbers
of them who crossed the Channel in search of the means
of living, and became more or less domiciled in the
large towns and throughout the western districts of
England, made it a matter of policy, as it assuredly was
of humanity, to endeavour to improve their condition;
and nothing seemed so equitable or so readily effective for
the purpose, as making property liable for the relief of
destitution in Ireland, as was the case in England—in
other words, establishing some description of poor-law.
.bn 164.png
.pn +1
.sn The king’s speech on opening parliament, February 4, 1836.
On the assembling of parliament, the subject was
thus referred to in the Royal speech—“a further
Report of the Commission of Inquiry
into the condition of the poorer classes in Ireland
will speedily be laid before you. You
will approach this subject with the caution due to its
importance and difficulty; and the experience of the
salutary effect produced by the Act for the amendment
of the laws relating to the poor in England and Wales,
may in many respects assist your deliberations.” A
few days after (February 9th) Sir Richard Musgrave
moved for leave to bring in a bill for the relief of the
poor of Ireland in certain cases—“He himself,” he said,
“lived in an atmosphere of misery, and being compelled
to witness it daily, he was determined to pursue the
subject, to see whether any and what relief could be
procured from parliament.” On the 15th of February
another motion was made by the member for Stroud for
leave to introduce a bill for the ‘Relief and Employment
of the Poor of Ireland;’ and on the 3rd of March following,
a bill was submitted by Mr. Smith O'Brien,
framed upon the principle that in a system of poor-laws
for Ireland, there ought to be local administration, combined
with central control—“local administration by
bodies elected by, and representing the contributors to
the poor-fund, and general central supervision and control
on the part of a body named by the government,
and responsible to parliament.”
.sn Lord John Russell’s observations on the commissioners’ Report, April 18, 1836.
These bills were all introduced, it will be observed,
irrespective of the final Report of the Commissioners
of Inquiry, which indeed had not yet
been presented. But on the 18th of April, in
answer to a question respecting it, Lord John
Russell, then Secretary of State for the Home
Department, said “that the Report had been under
the consideration of government, and they certainly
had found in it a great variety of important matters;
.bn 165.png
.pn +1
at the same time he must add, that the suggestions in
it were not of that simple and single nature as to allow
them to be adopted without the caution which was
recommended by the commissioners themselves.” He
could not, he said, conclude without adding, “that the
Report was not only of extreme importance, but that
the subject of it was of a nature to render it absolutely
necessary that some measure should be brought forward
and adopted. It would be anxiously considered by the
government with a view to such measures, and there
were none as affecting Ireland, either at present or
perhaps within the next hundred years, which could
possibly be of greater magnitude.” Lord Morpeth’s observations in reference to the Poor-Law question. On the 4th of May
Mr. Poulett Scrope moved a series of resolutions expressive
of the necessity for some provision for the
relief of the Irish poor—in commenting on which,
Lord Morpeth[72] admitted “that the hideous nature of
the evils which prevailed amongst the poorer
classes in Ireland, called earnestly for redress,
and he thought no duty more urgent on the
government and on parliament than to devise a
remedy for them.” Government were now he said engaged
in determining on the steps proper to be taken,
and at the first moment they were in a condition
to propose such a general measure as they could recommend
for adoption on their own responsibility,
they would do so. On the 9th of June following,
on the motion for postponing the consideration of
Sir Richard Musgrave’s bill, Lord Morpeth again
assured the house “that the subject was under the
immediate consideration of government; and that he
was not without hope of their being enabled to introduce
some preparatory measure in the present session;
but at all events they would take the first opportunity
.bn 166.png
.pn +1
in the next session, of introducing what he hoped would
be a complete and satisfactory measure;” and here the
matter rested for the present.
.fm rend=t
.fn 72
The present Earl of Carlisle, then Secretary for Ireland, and now Lord
Lieutenant.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Parliament prorogued August 20, 1835.
Parliament was prorogued on the 20th of August,
without anything having been done, either
with the bills introduced by individual members,
or in regard to the Report of the commissioners
of inquiry. The recommendations of the
commissioners seem indeed to have increased rather
than lessened the difficulties attending any measure for
the relief of the Irish poor, owing probably to the
recommendations “not being of that simple and single
nature” to which the home secretary adverted in his
address to the house on the 18th of April. Public
attention nevertheless continued to be directed to the
subject with undiminished earnestness, and government
felt the necessity of coming to some early and definite
conclusion as to the steps to be taken in regard to it.
.sp 2
.sn The author’s connexion with the subject.
We have now reached a portion of our narrative
when the author will be compelled to speak of
himself, and the part taken by him, first in devising
a poor-law for Ireland, and next in superintending
its introduction into that country; and he is
very anxious to bespeak an indulgent consideration for
the difficulty in which he is placed, by having been thus
personally engaged in the transactions which he will
have to describe. The great social importance of the
Irish Poor Law, imposes upon him the duty of giving
a full and complete account of all that took place with
regard to it; and he feels that this duty cannot be rendered
less imperative, by the fact of his official connexion
with the measure. He will therefore proceed to detail
the circumstances as they severally occurred; and it
will be more simple, and may save circumlocution for
him to speak in the first person, on the occasions in
which he was himself immediately concerned.
.bn 167.png
.pn +1
.sn Lord John Russell’s letter of instructions, August 22, 1836.
On the 22nd of August I received directions to proceed
to Ireland, taking with me the Reports of the
commissioners of inquiry, and there to examine
how far it might be judicious or practicable to
offer relief to whole classes of the poor, whether
of the sick, the infirm, or orphan children—whether
such relief might not have the effect of promoting
imposture, without destroying mendicity—whether the
condition of the great bulk of the poorer classes would be
improved by such a measure—whether a rate limited in
its amount rather than its application, might be usefully
directed to the erection and maintenance of workhouses
for all those who sought relief as paupers—whether
any kind of workhouse can be established which should
not give its inmates a superior degree of comfort to
the common lot of the independent labourer—whether
the restraint of a workhouse would be an effectual
check to applicants for admission; and whether, if the
system were once established, the inmates would not
resist, by force, the restraints which would be necessary.
Supposing the workhouse system not to be advisable, I
was directed to consider in what other mode a national
or local rate might be beneficially applied; and to
examine the policy of establishing depôts where candidates
for emigration might resort. My attention was
also specially directed to the machinery by which rates
for the relief of the poor might be raised and expended;
and to the formation and constitution of a central
board, of local boards, of district unions, and of parochial
vestries. I was also directed to inquire whether
the capital applied to the improvement of land, and the
reclaiming of bogs and wastes was perceptibly or notoriously
increasing or diminishing, and to remark generally
upon any plans which might lead to an increased
demand for labour; and lastly, to “carefully read the
bills which had been brought into the house of commons
on this subject during that year, and the draft
.bn 168.png
.pn +1
of a bill prepared by one of the commissioners of inquiry
in conformity with their Report.”
It will thus be seen that the proposed inquiry was
sufficiently extensive; and I hardly need say that I
entered upon the duty assigned me with a deep sense
of the responsibility it involved. The working of the
English Poor Law, afforded means for obtaining some
insight into the character and habits of such of the
Irish as had become resident in the metropolis and
the larger towns of England, and I immediately instituted
inquiries on the subject among the workhouse
masters and other officers of several of the London
parishes where the Irish labourers principally resided.
They all assured me as the result of their experience,
that the discipline of a workhouse operated with
the Irish precisely as it did with the English poor.
There was in fact no difference in this respect, nor
any greater difficulty with regard to the one, than
there was in the management of the other. This
was so far satisfactory; but further examination and
inquiry were necessary for giving entire confidence
on this point, and these could best be pursued in
Ireland whither I accordingly proceeded early in September.
The evidence collected by the late commissioners of
inquiry and appended to their Report, established so
conclusively the existence of a state of poverty throughout
Ireland, amounting in numerous cases to actual
destitution,[73] that I felt it to be unnecessary to adduce
any proofs on the subject. To this extent
moreover, the evidence was fully borne out by previous
investigations of committees and commissions on the
state of Ireland. The fact of wide-spread destitution
.bn 169.png
.pn +1
was therefore notorious, and its existence was universally
admitted; so that in reporting to government at
the end of my mission, I considered it enough to state as
the result of my own inquiries, “that the misery now
prevalent among the labouring classes in Ireland,
appears to be of a nature and intensity calculated to
produce great demoralization and danger;” and such
being the case, it was doubtless the duty of government
and the legislature to endeavour to devise a
remedy for the one, and thus at the same time to guard
against the other.
.fm rend=t
.fn 73
Whether the number of persons in distress and requiring relief during
thirty weeks in every year, amounted to 2,385,000, as estimated by the commissioners,
may admit of question; but there can be no doubt that much distress
prevailed, and that occasionally it was exceedingly severe.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn The author’s first report, Nov. 15, 1836.
My first Report was delivered on the 15th of November.
It stated that after examining the
several institutions in Dublin, I had visited the
west of Ireland from Cork to Limerick Westport
and Sligo, and back by Armagh—“everywhere
examining and inquiring as to the condition and habits
of the people, their character and wants; and endeavouring
to ascertain whether, and how far, the system of
relief established in England, was applicable to the present
state of Ireland.” The above route was deemed the
most eligible, because the inhabitants of the manufacturing
and commercial districts of the north and east,
more nearly resembled the English than those of the
southern and western parts of Ireland; and if the English
system should be found applicable to them, there
could be no doubt of its applicability to the others.
The Report is divided into three parts or principal
divisions—
The first, gives the general result of inquiries into
the condition habits and feelings of the people, especially
with regard to the introduction of a law for the
relief of the poor.
In the second part, the question whether the workhouse
system can with safety and advantage be established in
Ireland is considered, and also whether the means for
creating an efficient union machinery exists there.
.bn 170.png
.pn +1
Assuming these questions to be answered affirmatively,
the chief points requiring attention in framing
a poor-law for Ireland, are in the last part considered.
It is now proposed to insert, under the above divisions,
so much of the Report as will be sufficient for
showing its general import, and the nature of its recommendations;
but omitting such portions as are not
necessary for this purpose—
.pm start_hang
.ce
First Report.—Nov. 15, 1836.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Part the First.—“The investigations and inquiries in which
I have been engaged, have led to a conviction that Ireland
has, on the whole, during the last thirty or forty years, been
progressively improving. It is impossible to pass through the
country without being struck with the evidence of increasing
wealth almost everywhere apparent, although it is of course
more visible in towns than in the open country. Great as
the improvement in England has been within the same period,
that in Ireland, I believe, has been equal. There are towns
and districts there, as there are towns and districts in England,
in which little improvement is seen, or which may even
have retrograded; but the general advance is certain, and
the improvement in the condition and increase in the capital
of the country, are still, I think, steadily progressive. If it
be asked how this accords with the misery and destitution
apparent among a large portion of the people, the answer is
obvious—The capital of the country has increased, but the
increase of the population has been still greater; and it
therefore does not follow that there is an increase of capital
or comfort in the possession of each individual, or even of the
majority. The reverse is unhappily the fact—Towns, exhibiting
every sign of increased wealth, are encircled by
suburbs composed of miserable hovels, sheltering a wretched
population of mendicants. In the country, evidence of the
extreme subdivision of land everywhere appears, and as a
consequence, the soil, fertile as it naturally is, becomes exhausted
by continual cropping; for the cottier tenant, too
often reduced to a level little above that of the mendicant, is
unable to provide manure for his land, and has no other mode
of restoring its vigour but by subjecting it to a long and profitless
fallow. Farmers of three hundred acres, or even of
two or one hundred, except in the grazing districts, have become
almost extinct in Ireland. A variety of circumstances
seem to have contributed to bring about this change. In
.bn 171.png
.pn +1
some instances the proprietor has himself subdivided his land
into small holdings of five, ten, or fifteen acres, with a view
of increasing his rent-roll, or adding to his political influence.
In other cases the land has been let on lease to a single
tenant on lives, or for a term of years, or both conjointly;
and he has sublet to others, who have again gone on dividing
and subletting, until the original proprietor is almost lost
sight of, and the original holding is parcelled out among a
host of small occupiers.
.ti -4
.sp 1
“The occupation of a plot of land has now gotten to be considered,
by a great portion of the Irish people, as conferring
an almost interminable right of possession. This seems to
have arisen in great measure out of the circumstances in
which they have been placed; for there being no legal provision
for the destitute, and the subdivision of the land into
small holdings having destroyed the regular demand for
labour, the only protection against actual want, the only
means by which a man could procure food for his family, was
by getting and retaining possession of a portion of land; for
this he has struggled—for this the peasantry have combined
and burst through the restraints of law and humanity. So
long as this portion of land was kept together, it was possibly
sufficient to supply his family with a tolerable degree of comfort;
but after a time he would have sons to provide for, and
daughters to portion off, and this must all be effected out of
the land—until the holding of ten or fifteen acres became
divided into holdings of two, three, or five acres. After a
time, too, the same process of subdivision is again resorted
to, until the minimum of subsistence is reached; and this is
now the condition of a large portion of the Irish peasantry.
Land is to them the great necessary of life. There is no
hiring of servants. A man cannot obtain his living as a day-labourer.
He must get possession of a plot of land to raise
potatoes, or starve. It need scarcely be said that a man will
not starve, so long as the means of sustaining life can be
obtained by force or fraud; and hence the scenes of violence
and murder which have so frequently occurred in Ireland.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“One of the circumstances that first arrests attention on visiting
Ireland, is the prevalence of mendicancy. It is not perhaps
the actual amount of misery existing amongst the mendicant
class, great as that may be, which is most to be deprecated;
but the falsehood and fraud which form a part of their profession,
and spread by their example. Mendicancy appeals
to our sympathies on behalf of vice, as well as want; and
encouragement is often afforded to the one, by the relief
intended for the other. To assume the semblance of misery
.bn 172.png
.pn +1
is the business of the mendicant, and his success depends
upon the skill with which he exercises deception. A mass of
filth, nakedness, and squalor, is thus kept moving about the
country, entering every house, addressing itself to every eye,
and soliciting from every hand; and much of the filth and
indolence observable in the cabins, clothing, and general
conduct of the peasantry, may I think be traced to this
source, and I doubt even if those above the class of labourers
altogether escape the taint. Mendicancy and filth have become
too common to be disgraceful.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“The Irish peasantry have generally an appearance of apathy
and depression. This is seen in their mode of living, in their
habitations, in their dress, in the dress of their children, and
in their general economy and conduct. They seem to have
no pride, no emulation; to be heedless of the present, and
careless of the future. They do not strive to improve their
appearance, or add to their comforts. Their cabins are
slovenly, smoky, dirty, almost without furniture, or any article
of convenience or common decency. On entering a cottage,
the woman and children are seen seated on the floor surrounded
by pigs and poultry, the man is lounging at the
door, which can only be approached through mud and filth.
Yet he is too indolent to make a dry approach to his
dwelling, although there are materials close at hand, and his
wife is too slatternly to cleanse the place in which they live,
or sweep the dirt and offal from the floor. If you point out
these defects, and endeavour to show how easily they might
improve their condition and increase their comforts, you are
invariably met by excuses as to their poverty. Are a woman,
and her children, and her cabin filthy, whilst a stream of
water runs past the door—the answer invariably is, ‘Sure,
how can we help it? we are so poor!’ With the man it is
the same; you find him idly basking in the sun, or seated by
the fire, whilst his cabin is scarcely approachable through the
accumulation of mud—and he too will exclaim, ‘Sure, how
can we help it? we are so poor!’ whilst at the very time he
is smoking tobacco, and has probably not denied himself the
enjoyment of whisky. Now poverty is not the cause, or at
least not the sole cause, of this condition of the Irish
peasantry. If they desired to live better, or to appear better,
they might do so; but they seem to have no such ambition,
and hence the depressed tone of which I have spoken. This
may be partly owing to the remains of old habits; for bad as
the circumstances of the peasantry now are, they were yet, I
am persuaded, worse fifty or thirty years ago. A part also
may be attributed to the want of education, and of a feeling
.bn 173.png
.pn +1
of self-respect; and a part likewise to their poverty—to which
last cause alone, everything that is wrong in Ireland is invariably
attributed.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“The desultory habits of the peasantry are likewise remarkable.
However urgent the demands for exertion—if, as in the present
season, their crops are rotting in the fields from excessive
wet, and every moment of sunshine should be taken advantage
of—still, if there be a market to attend, a fair, or a funeral,
a horse-race, a fight, or a wedding, all else is neglected or
forgotten; they hurry off in search of the excitements which
abound on such occasions, and with a recklessness hardly to
be credited, at the moment that they are complaining of
poverty, they take the most certain steps to increase it. Their
fondness for ardent spirits is probably one cause of this, and
another will be found in their position as occupiers of land.
The work required upon their small holdings is easily performed,
and may, as they say, ‘be done any day.’ Working
for wages is rare and uncertain; and hence arises a disregard
of the value of time, a desultory sauntering habit, without
industry or steadiness of application. Such is too generally
the character, and such the habits, of the Irish peasantry;
and it may not be uninstructive to mark the resemblance
which these bear to the character and habits of the English
peasantry in the pauperised districts, under the abuses of the
old Poor Law. Mendicancy and indiscriminate almsgiving
have produced in Ireland, results similar to what indiscriminate
relief produced in England—the like reckless disregard
of the future, the like idle and disorderly conduct, and the
same proneness to outrage having then characterised the
English pauper labourer, which are now too generally the
characteristics of the Irish peasant. An abuse of a good law
caused the evil in the one case, and a removal of that abuse
is now rapidly effecting a remedy. In the other case, the evil
appears to have arisen rather from the want, than the abuse
of a law; but the corrective for both will, I believe, be found
to be essentially the same.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“The objections usually urged against the introduction of Poor
Laws into Ireland, are founded on an anticipated demoralization
of the peasantry—and on the probable amount of the
charge. The first objection derives its force from the example
of England under the old Poor Law; but the weight
of this objection is destroyed by the improved administration
under the new law, which is rapidly eradicating the effects of
previous abuse; and will, there is good reason to believe,
effectually prevent their recurrence. This belief is founded
.bn 174.png
.pn +1
on the experience of the effects of the system in every instance
in which it has been brought into operation, and particularly
in two important parishes in Nottinghamshire, where
the workhouse principle was first established in its simplicity
and efficiency fifteen or sixteen years ago, and where it has
continued to be equally effective up to the present time.
Similar results have invariably attended its application in the
unions formed under the new law, which are conducted essentially
upon the same principle, but with a superior combination
of machinery, and administrative arrangement.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“With respect to the second objection, founded on the probable
amount of expenditure, it may be remarked that the Irish
population, like every other, must be supported in some way
out of the resources of the country; and it does not follow
that the establishment of such a system of relief will greatly
increase the charge, if it increase it at all. During the progress
of my inquiries, I was often told that the recognition of
any legal claim for relief would lead to universal pauperism,
and would amount to a total confiscation of property. Many
Irish landowners appeared to participate in this apprehension—under
the influence of which it seems to have been overlooked,
that the only legal claim for relief in England is
founded on the actual destitution of the claimant, and that as
the existence of destitution is the ground of the claim, so is
its removal the measure of relief to be afforded. This, if the
destitution be rightly tested, will be a sufficient protection to
property. At present there is no test of destitution in Ireland.
The mendicant, whether his distress be real or fictitious,
claims and receives his share of the produce of the soil in the
shape of charity, before the landlord can receive his portion
in the shape of rent, and before the tenant has ascertained
whether he is a gainer or a loser by his labours and his risks.
The mendicant’s claim has now precedence over every other.
If the whole property of Ireland was rated to the relief of the
poor, it would be no more; but in such case the charge would
be equally borne, whereas at present it is unequal, and tends
to evil in its application.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“The voluntary contributions of Scotland have been recommended
as an example to be followed, rather than the compulsory
assessments of England; and the Dublin Mendicity Association
has been referred to, and its working described as at
once effective for the suppression of mendicancy, and for the
relief of the indigent within the sphere of its operations, without
injury to the sensibilities of individual benevolence. But
the feelings of charity and gratitude, which it is delightful to
contemplate as the motive and the fruit of benevolent actions,
.bn 175.png
.pn +1
can only exist between individuals. It matters not whether
the fund to be distributed has been raised by voluntary contribution,
or by legal assessment, or whether it has been
devised for purposes of general charity. The application of
the fund becomes, in each case, a trust; it is distributed as a
trust, and it is received as a right, not as a gift. It may
moreover be remarked, that the Dublin Mendicity Association
has with difficulty been kept in existence by great exertions
on the part of the committee, and by threats of parading
the mendicants through the streets. If difficulty is thus found
in supporting such an institution in Dublin, how impracticable
must it be to provide permanent support for similar institutions
in other parts of the country. Some persons contend
that relief for the indigent classes in Ireland should be provided
in ‘houses of industry,’ similar to those now existing
in Dublin and a few other places. These institutions are in
general not badly managed, and some classification is enforced
in them, and the sexes are invariably separated. But they
are certainly not entitled to the designation of ‘houses of
industry.’ They are in fact places for the maintenance of a
number of poor persons, mostly aged or infirm, and idiots,
and lunatics; but as a general means of supplying necessary
relief, and of testing the necessity, they are totally inefficient.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“Notwithstanding these objections, I found everywhere, after
quitting Dublin, a strong feeling in favour of property being
assessed for the relief of the indigent. At present, the burthen
falls almost exclusively upon the lower classes, whilst the
higher classes generally escape. A system of poor-laws,
similar in principle to the English system, would go far to
remedy this inequality—the people are aware of this—and,
as the general result of my inquiries, I have been led to the
conclusion, that poor-laws may be now established in Ireland,
guarded by the correctives derived from experience in
England, with safety and success. I think also, that such a
measure would serve to connect the interest of landlords and
tenants, and so become a means of benefiting both, and promoting
the general peace and prosperity of the country. The
desire now so generally expressed for a full participation in
English laws and English institutions, will dispose the Irish
people to receive with alacrity any measure tending to put
them on the same footing as their fellow-subjects of England—a
circumstance particularly favourable to the establishment
of a poor-law at this moment. At another season, or under
other circumstances, it might be difficult to surround a legal
provision for the relief of the Irish poor, with sufficient guards
.bn 176.png
.pn +1
against abuse; but at present, I think the legislature may
venture to entertain the subject, having the experience of
England before them, with a reasonable confidence of being
able to bring the measure to a successful issue; and if the
landed proprietors and gentry of Ireland will there perform
the same part, which the proprietors and gentry of England
are now performing in the administration of the new Poor
Law, the result will be neither distant nor doubtful.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“If a poor-law were established in Ireland, it must not however
be expected to work miracles. It would not give employment
or capital, but it would, I think, help the country
through what may be called its transition period; and in
time, and with the aid of other circumstances, would effect a
material improvement in the condition of the people. The
English Poor Laws, in their earlier operation, contributed to
the accomplishment of this object in England; and there
seems nothing to prevent a similar result in Ireland. Facilities
now exist in Ireland for helping forward the transition,
and for shortening its duration as well as securing its benefits,
which England did not possess in the time of Elizabeth, or
for a century and a half afterwards. By ‘transition period,’
I mean that season of change from the system of small holdings,
con-acre, and the subdivisions of land, which now prevails
in Ireland, to the better practice of day-labour for
wages, and to that dependence on daily labour for support,
which is the present condition of the English peasantry. This
transition is, I believe, generally beset with difficulty and
suffering. It was so in England; it is, and for a time will
probably continue to be so in Ireland; and every aid should
be afforded to shorten its duration, and lessen its pressure.
It has been considered that the existence of the con-acre
system is favourable to such a transition. I am disposed to
concur in this view, and think that the annual hiring of the
con-acre, may help to wean the Irish peasantry from their
present desire of occupying land, and lead them to become
labourers for wages. The eager clinging to land, and its
subdivision into small holdings, is at once a cause and a consequence
of the rapid increase of the people, and of the
extreme poverty and want which prevail among them. It is
not because the potato constitutes their food, that a kind of
famine occurs annually in Ireland between the going out of
the old, and the in-coming of the new crop; but it is because
the peasantry are the sole providers for their own necessities,
each out of his own small holding; and being all alike hard
pressed, and apt to under-calculate the extent of their wants,
they thus often find themselves without food before the new
.bn 177.png
.pn +1
crop is ripe. In this emergency there is no store provided to
which they can have recourse, and misery and disease ensue.
A poor-law would lighten the pressure under such a visitation,
and the poor-law machinery might be useful in cases
of extreme need, as well as for preventing a recurrence of the
calamity.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“It is impossible to mix with the Irish people without noticing the
great influence of the clergy, and it seemed important therefore
to ascertain their views in regard to a poor-law. I discussed
the subject with many of them, as well Roman catholic as
protestant, in all parts of the country; and I found them,
with few exceptions, decidedly favourably to such a law. In
the cases where they were not so, it appeared to be owing to
an apprehension that their influence might be lessened, by
taking from them the distribution of the alms which now pass
through their hands; but this feeling was of rare occurrence,
and I am warranted in saying, that the clergy of every denomination
are almost unanimously favourable to a system of
Poor Laws for Ireland. This was perhaps to be expected,
the duties of the clergy leading them to mix more with the
people, and to see more of their actual wants, than any other
class of persons. The shopkeepers too, and manufacturers
and dealers generally, I found favourable to a poor-law.
They declared that they should be gainers at the end of the
year, whatever might be the amount legally assessed upon
them; for that they could neither close their doors, nor turn
their backs upon the wretched objects who were constantly
applying to them; whilst the gentry, if resident, were in a
great measure protected from such applications, and if non-resident,
escaped them altogether.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“A legal provision for the destitute, is moreover an indispensable
preliminary to the suppression of mendicancy. If the state
offers an alternative, it may prohibit begging—it would be in
vain to do so otherwise, for the law would be opposed to our
natural sympathies, and would remain inoperative. This was
the course adopted in England, where it was long endeavoured
to repress vagrancy by severe enactments, but apparently
with little advantage. At last the offer of relief was
coupled with the prohibition of mendicancy, and until our
Poor Law administration became corrupt, with perfect success.
To establish a poor-law, then, is I believe a necessary
preliminary to the suppression of mendicancy. That it will
be, on the whole, economical to do this in Ireland, it is I
think scarcely possible to doubt; but whether it be so or not,
the advantage both morally and socially of removing such an
evil, is beyond question important.
.bn 178.png
.pn +1
.sp 1
.ti -4
“It may be regarded as a circumstance favourable to the introduction
of a poor-law, that so much land is lying waste and
uncultivated in Ireland. Much of this land is susceptible of
cultivation, and the order and security which a poor-law
would tend to establish, will encourage the application of
capital to such objects. If capital were to be so applied, considerable
tracts would be brought under culture, and thus
afford occupation to the now unemployed labourers. Most of
the reclaimed bog which I saw in the western counties, was
effected by the small occupiers, who partially drained and
enclosed an acre or two at a time; but such operations were
without system or combination, and for the most part indifferently
performed. In this way, however, the reclamation
of these wastes will of necessity proceed—constantly adding
to the number of small cottier tenants, and swelling the
amount of poverty and wretchedness in the country—unless
proprietors and capitalists shall be induced to take the matter
in hand, and by enclosing and effectually draining whole
tracts, secure the means of applying economical management
on a large scale. The enclosing and draining, and the whole
process of reclamation, would afford employment to labourers
who are now, for a great portion of the year, idling about
without occupation; and when the land so reclaimed becomes
subjected to a regular process of cultivation, it will continue
to afford them regular employment at daily wages, instead of
the often miserably insufficient produce of their own small
holdings, to which they now are compelled to cling as their
sole means of support.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“It appears then, I think, that a poor-law is necessary for relieving
the destitution to which a large portion of the population
in Ireland is now exposed. It appears too, that
circumstances are at present favourable for the introduction
of such a measure. A poor-law seems also to be necessary,
as a first step towards bringing about improvement in the
habits and social condition of the people. Without such improvement,
peace, good order, and security cannot exist in
Ireland; and without these, it is in vain to look for that
accumulation of wealth, and influx of capital, which are
necessary for developing its resources, agricultural and commercial,
and for providing profitable employment for the
population. Ireland is now suffering under a circle of evils,
producing and reproducing one another. Want of capital
produces want of employment—want of employment, turbulence
and misery—turbulence and misery, insecurity—insecurity
prevents the introduction or accumulation of capital—and
so on. Until this circle is broken, the evils must continue,
.bn 179.png
.pn +1
and probably increase. The first thing to be done is to give
security—that will produce or invite capital—and capital will
give employment. But security of person and property cannot
co-exist with extensive destitution. So that, in truth, the
reclamation of bogs and wastes—the establishment of fisheries
and manufactures—improvements in agriculture, and in the
general condition of the country—and lastly, the elevation of
the great mass of the Irish people in the social scale, appear
to be all more or less contingent upon establishing a law providing
for the relief of the destitute.—How such a law may
be best formed, so as to secure the largest amount of good,
with the least risk of evil, it is proposed next to consider.
.sp 2
.ti -4
Part the Second.—“There are two points for consideration
under this division of the subject which are of primary import,
the question of a Poor Law for Ireland mainly depending
upon them. First—Whether the workhouse system can be
safely and effectively established in Ireland; and secondly—Whether
a machinery can be there established for their
government, such as exists in the English unions.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“In my inquiries with regard to these points, I endeavoured to
exercise a care and vigilance proportioned to their importance.
The inquiry was entered upon under an apprehension that
the workhouse would be less efficient in Ireland, than experience
had shown it to be in England; and that it would probably
be applicable to the able-bodied in a limited degree
only, if applicable to them at all. I was doubtful also,
whether it would be practicable to control any considerable
number of the able-bodied in a workhouse—whether the
proneness of the Irish peasantry to outrage and insubordination
would not, as had often been represented, lead them to
break through all restraint, and perhaps demolish the building,
and commit other acts of violence. The probability of such
outrage is strongly insisted upon by the Commissioners of
Inquiry, and the same argument was urged upon me by some
persons with whom I communicated in Dublin. In the
progress of my inquiries however, I soon found reason for
concluding that there was no ground for apprehension, either
as to the applicability of the workhouse for the purposes of
relief, or as to any danger of resistance to such a system of
classification and discipline within it, as would make it a test
of destitution. In the several ‘houses of industry’ established
in Ireland, a strict separation of the sexes is enforced, and a
discipline more or less approximating to our workhouse discipline
is established. No spirits are admitted, and on the
.bn 180.png
.pn +1
whole, there is enough in these institutions to render them
distasteful as places of partial restraint. Yet from no governor
of a house of industry could I learn that resistance had ever
been made to their regulations, and surprise was even expressed
at my thinking it necessary to make the inquiry. I
received the same opinion from the governors of gaols. In
short, every man whom I conversed with, who had any experience
of the habits of the people, declared that the peasantry
are perfectly tractable, and never think of opposing authority,
unless stimulated by drink, or urged on by that species of
combination for securing the occupancy of land, which has
become so common in certain districts. Neither of these
influences will interfere with the establishment of a workhouse,
or the regulation of its inmates, all of whom will have
sought refuge in it voluntarily, and may quit it at any moment.
As regards the security of the workhouse, therefore,
and the establishment of a system of discipline as strict as
that maintained in the English workhouses, I believe that
there will be neither danger nor difficulty.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“How far the workhouse, if established, may be relied upon as a
test of destitution and a measure of the relief to be afforded;
how far it will be effectual for the prevention of pauperism,
and for stimulating the people to exertion for their own support;—how
far, in short, the workhouse system, which has
been safely and effectually applied to dispauperise England,
may be applied with safety and efficiency to prevent pauperism
in Ireland, now remains for inquiry. The governing
principle of the workhouse system is this:—that the support
which is afforded at the public charge in the workhouse, shall
on the whole be less desirable than the support obtained by
independent exertion. To carry out this principle, it might
seem to be necessary that the inmates of a workhouse should
be in all respects worse situated—worse clothed, worse lodged,
and worse fed, than the independent labourers of the district.
In fact, however, the inmates of our English workhouses are
as well clothed, and generally better lodged and better fed
than the agricultural labourer and his family: yet the irksomeness
of the discipline and confinement, and the privation
of certain enjoyments, produce such disinclination to enter the
workhouse, that experience warrants the fullest assurance that
nothing short of destitution, and that necessity which the law
contemplates as the ground for affording relief, will induce
the able-bodied labourer to seek refuge therein; and that if
driven thither by necessity, he will quit it again as speedily
as possible, and strive (generally with increased energy and
consequent success) to obtain subsistence by his own efforts.
.bn 181.png
.pn +1
.sp 1
.ti -4
“It would perhaps be in vain, even if it were desirable, to seek to
make the lodging, the clothing, and the diet, of the inmates
of an Irish workhouse, inferior to those of the Irish peasantry.
The standard of their mode of living is so low, that the establishment
of one still lower is difficult, and would under any
circumstances be inexpedient. In Ireland therefore, there
would not perhaps be found the same security in this respect
for the efficiency of the workhouse test, which may in some
degree be operative in England. There are countervailing
circumstances in Ireland however, which more than balance
this drawback, even if it were greater than it really is. The
Irish are naturally, or by habit, a migratory people, fond of
change, hopeful, sanguine, eager for experiment. They have
never been practically limited to one spot by a law of settlement,
as has been the case with the English peasantry. They
have never been enervated by a misapplied system of parish
relief. Rather than bear the restrictions of a workhouse, the
Irishman, if in possession of health and strength, would
wander the world over to obtain a living. All the opinions I
have collected from persons most conversant with the Irish
character, agree in this. Confinement of any kind is even
more irksome to an Irishman than to an Englishman. Hence,
although he might be lodged, fed, and clothed, in a workhouse,
better than he could lodge, feed, and clothe himself—he
will yet, like the Englishman, never enter the workhouse,
unless driven thither by actual necessity; and he will not
then remain there longer than that necessity exists. The
test of the workhouse is then, I think, likely to be as efficient
in Ireland, as it is proved to be in England; and if relief be
there restricted to the workhouse, it will be at once a test of
destitution, and a measure of relief, and will serve to protect
the administration of a legal provision for the destitute poor,
from those evils and abuses which followed the establishment,
and led to the perversion, of the old Poor Laws in England.
I speak of the workhouse as a test of destitution generally,
without limiting its operation to age, infirmity, or other circumstances;
for independent of the difficulty of discriminating
between those who may fairly be considered as aged and
infirm, and those who are not—as well as certain other difficulties,
practical and theoretical, in the way of making any
such distinction—I have found in the state of Ireland, no
sufficient reason for departing from the principle of the English
Poor Law which recognises destitution alone as the ground
of relief, nor for establishing a distinction in the one country,
which does not exist in the other.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“The expense of providing workhouses, will not, I apprehend, be
so considerable as has by some been anticipated. If the surface
.bn 182.png
.pn +1
of Ireland be divided into squares of twenty miles each,
so that a workhouse placed in the centre would be distant
about ten miles from the extremities in all directions, this
would give about eighty workhouses for the whole of Ireland.
A diameter of twenty miles was the limit prescribed for the
size of unions by Gilbert’s Act, but it was often exceeded in
practice—it may however, be assumed as a convenient size
on the present occasion. In some cases, owing to the position
of towns, or other local causes, the unions will probably be
smaller; in others, especially in the thinly-peopled districts
of the west, they may be larger: but still, there is, I think,
every probability that the number of workhouses required
will not greatly exceed eighty. In aid of this number, the
houses of industry, and mendicity and other establishments,
which will be unnecessary as soon as a legal provision is made
for the relief of the destitute, will become available at probably
a small expense. In some instances, moreover, barracks,
factories, or other buildings suitable for conversion into
workhouses, may perhaps be obtained on easy terms:—but
excluding all such considerations, and assuming that instead
of eighty workhouses, a hundred will be required, and that
the cost of erecting each will be about the same as for the
largest class of English workhouses, namely, about 7,000l.—this
would give a gross outlay of 700,000l. for the whole of
Ireland—a sum not disproportionally large, when the nature
of the object is taken into account. If government were to
advance the sum necessary for providing the workhouses by
way of loan, as has been done to the unions in England, requiring
an instalment of five per cent. of the principal to be
paid off annually out of the rates, it would make the whole
charge so easy, that it would scarcely be felt. The payment
of 35,000l. per annum for twenty years, with the interest on
the constantly-decreasing principal, could not be considered a
hardship on Ireland; and this is in fact the whole of the
new or additional outlay proposed: for as regards the relief
of the destitute, that would not be a new charge, the destitute
classes being now supported, although in a manner calculated
to injure and depress the general character of the
people.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“As respects the means for local management in Ireland, if it
were attempted to establish a parochial machinery similar
to that which exists in England, I believe the attempt would
fail. The description of persons requisite for constituting
such a machinery, will not be found in the majority of Irish
parishes. In some parts however, and especially in the north
and the east, competent individuals would be found in many,
.bn 183.png
.pn +1
if not in most of the parishes. If an Irish Poor Law were
established, the uniting of parishes for the purpose of securing
the benefits of combined management, is therefore more
necessary even than it was in England; and by making the
unions sufficiently large, there can be no doubt that in almost
every instance, such a board of elected guardians may be
obtained as would secure the orderly working of the union,
under a due system of supervision and control.
“In the first instance, and until a rate for the relief of the destitute
is established, the contributors to the county-cess might
be empowered to elect the guardians. But in some cases an
efficient board may not be obtainable by election, and this is
most likely to occur at the commencement, when individuals
will be ill instructed as to their duties, and when the public
will perhaps have formed erroneous notions of what is intended
to be done. To meet such a contingency, it seems essential
that large general powers should be vested in some central
authority, to control and direct the proceedings of the boards
of guardians, and even to supersede their functions altogether,
whenever such supersession shall be necessary. Power should
also be given to declare unions, and to appoint paid officers
to conduct the business, under the direction of the central
authority, without the intervention of a board of guardians;
and in order to guard against mistakes to be expected on the
first introduction of an entirely new order of things, and to
prevent the mischief that might ensue from failure or misconduct
at the outset, the central authority should also, I think,
be empowered to dispense with the election of the first board
of guardians, and to appoint such persons as may appear
most fit and competent to act as guardians of the union, until
the Lady-day next ensuing, or the Lady-day twelvemonths.
The number and selection of such specially-appointed
guardians to be at the discretion of the central authority.
These powers are greater than were given to the English
commissioners by the Poor Law Amendment Act: but they
are, in my opinion, necessary in the present state of Ireland.
With such powers confided to the central authority, no difficulty
can arise for which it will not be prepared; and it will,
I think, be enabled to establish the unions, and to constitute
an adequate machinery for their government throughout the
whole of Ireland, with certainty and efficiency.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“In England, the county magistrates residing and acting within
a union, are ex-officio members of the board of guardians.
The number and position of the magistracy in Ireland seem
to require some modification in this respect. The principle
.bn 184.png
.pn +1
of administration established in England by the Poor Law
Amendment Act, is based essentially upon popular representation.
The guardians are elected by the occupiers and
owners of the property rated, and in the hands of the
guardians the administrative power is vested. The county
magistrates, it is true, in virtue of their office, sit and act as
members of the board; but this does not destroy its elective
character, as the number of elected so far exceeds that of the
ex-officio guardians, that the popular character of the board
is maintained; whilst the presence of the magistrates, who in
virtue of their office are permanent members, and therefore
connecting links between the successive boards of elected
guardians, secures a stability and continuity of action, which,
if based entirely upon election, the board might not possess.
This is the constitution of the boards of guardians in England,
and nothing can work better: but in Ireland, the
number of magistrates who would be entitled under a similar
provision to act as ex-officio guardians, would in general
greatly exceed the number so qualified in England, and in
some cases might outnumber the elected guardians. If this
should occur, the elective character of the board would of
course be destroyed; but even if this should not be the case,
yet any undue preponderance of the permanent ex-officio
guardians would detract from the popular character of the
governing body, and lower it in the confidence of the people.
With a view therefore of keeping as nearly as possible to the
practical constitution of the English boards of guardians, I
propose in the Irish unions,—1st. That the number of ex-officio
guardians shall never exceed one-third the number of
elected guardians: 2dly. That immediately on the declaration
of a union, the county magistrates residing and acting
within its limits, shall nominate from among themselves a
number nearest to, but not exceeding, one-third of the elected
guardians,—which magistrates so nominated by their compeers,
shall be entitled to act as ex-officio guardians of the
union, until the Michaelmas twelvemonth after such nomination:
and 3dly. That at each succeeding Michaelmas, the
magistrates entitled as aforesaid, shall proceed to a new election.
These regulations will, I think, not only preserve a
due proportion in the constitution of the boards of guardians,
but also ensure the co-operation of the most efficient portion
of the magistracy in the government of the unions; as the
magistrates will doubtless nominate those members of their
body who are most active and able.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“A different practice from that established in England, seems
also to be necessary with respect to the Clergy. Under the
.bn 185.png
.pn +1
provisions of the Poor Law Amendment Act, ministers of
religion of every denomination are eligible for the office of
guardian, elected or ex-officio. In the present condition of
Ireland, I fear this would be attended with inconvenience,
and might destroy the efficiency of the boards of guardians.
I therefore propose that no clergyman, or minister of any
religious denomination, shall be eligible to act either as elected
or ex-officio guardian. This exclusion is not proposed from
any notion of the general unfitness of the clergy to fill the
office of guardian; but with reference solely to the present
state of religious opinion in Ireland, and to the importance
of keeping the functions of the boards of guardians free from
the suspicion of sectarian bias. If the ministers of one persuasion
were to be admitted, the ministers of every persuasion
must be so; and then the deliberations would too probably
he disturbed by religious differences. On no point have I
taken more pains to arrive at a sound conclusion than on this,
being fully sensible of the objections, on principle, to the
exclusion of any class of men from office: but the great
majority of the clergy themselves with whom I have conversed,
Roman catholic and protestant, have agreed in thinking that
it will be, on the whole, inexpedient to admit any of the
ministers of religion to act as guardians; and after the fullest
consideration and inquiry, I therefore recommend that they
should all be declared ineligible.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“In England, under the provisions of the Poor Law Amendment
Act, every parish or township rated for the maintenance of
its poor, and included in a union, is entitled to return a
guardian. In Ireland it will, I think, be essential that the
central authority should be empowered to fix the limits of a
union, without being restricted to parish boundaries. It
should be enabled to divide parishes, either for the purpose
of electing guardians, or for joining a portion of a parish to
one union, and another portion to another union. It should
also be empowered to consolidate parishes for the purpose of
electing one or more guardians, and likewise to form election
districts for this purpose, without reference to parochial
boundaries. And lastly, the central authority should be empowered
to add to, take from, and remodel unions, whenever
such change might be found necessary. These powers would
have enabled the English Poor Law Commissioners to make
their unions more compact and convenient than they at present
are, local prejudices and local interests having frequently
compelled them to abandon the arrangement which would
have been best for the general interest. In Ireland, full
powers in these respects are, I think, indispensable for enabling
.bn 186.png
.pn +1
the central authority to deal with the various circumstances
under which the unions will there have to be formed.
But with adequate powers, and with such modifications as are
before described, the principle of union which has been established
in England by the Poor Law Amendment Act, may
I think be advantageously extended to Ireland; and as it
has been shown that no insurmountable difficulty exists to
prevent the introduction of the workhouse as a test of destitution—so
neither will there be any insurmountable difficulty
in establishing an adequate machinery for the government of
the unions when formed.
.sp 2
.ti -4
Part the Third.—“Assuming that a system of Poor Laws ought
to be established in Ireland; that the workhouse system may
there be relied upon, as a test of destitution; and that the
means of forming and governing unions exist there, as well
as in England—It now remains to describe the several points
which require attention in framing a measure comprising these
objects; and also to offer such further observations, as did not
seem to come within the scope of the preceding divisions.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“The governing principle to be observed in dealing with this
portion of the subject is, that the Poor Law of Ireland should
assimilate in all respects as nearly as possible to that established
in England,—varying only in those instances, in
which the different circumstances of the two countries require
it. In conformity with this principle, the first point
for consideration would naturally be the constitution of the
central or chief authority, and the powers to be confided to
it; but I postpone this part of the subject—assuming only
that a central authority is to be established, with powers
similar in kind to those conferred upon the English Poor Law
Commissioners. The other points for consideration are the
following—
.sp 1
.ti -4
1st. Of Relief.—“The only legal claim for relief in England, is
founded upon the destitution of the party claiming it. I
propose to extend the same principle to Ireland; and as a
test of the actual existence of such destitution, and to guard
against the evils which have invariably attended the distribution
of out-door relief, (that is, of relief administered either
in money or in kind to parties out of the workhouse) I further
propose that, in Ireland, no relief should be given except in
the workhouse. I do not propose to impart a right to relief,
even to the destitute poor. The claim to relief in England,
is founded on prescription, rather than enactment; for although
the 43rd of Elizabeth provides for the levying a rate
.bn 187.png
.pn +1
for the purpose of relieving the destitute poor, it invests them
with no right to claim relief, the administration of which is
left to the local authorities, who are of course responsible for
its due exercise. The promulgation of rules for the administration
of relief will therefore rest with the central authority,
limited by the proviso that relief is only to be administered
in the workhouse. The central authority will declare when
the workhouse shall be so applied in each union, and will also
take care that no time be lost in providing suitable workhouse
accommodation, as well as to establish such regulations as
may be necessary for the guidance of the local authorities in
the interim; but it will be most safe to prohibit all relief
whatever, until the test of the workhouse can be applied.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“The strict limitation of relief to the workhouse may possibly be
objected to, on the ground that extreme want is found occasionally
to assail large portions of the population, who ought
then to be relieved at the public charge, without being subjected
to the restraint of the workhouse. But this is an
exceptional case, and it would not, I think, be wise to adapt
the regulations of poor-law administration in Ireland to the
possible occurrence of such a contingency. In a period of
famine, the whole population may be said to become destitute;
but it surely would not be expedient to hold out an
expectation, that if this should unhappily occur, support for
all would be unconditionally provided at the public charge?—During
such a visitation, the workhouse might not be sufficient
for the numbers who were anxious to crowd into it; but
to the extent of its means of accommodation it would help to
relieve the general distress, and the union machinery would
probably be found useful in other respects. The occurrence
of a famine, however, if general, seems to be a contingency
beyond the powers of a poor-law to provide for. There is
then an actual deficiency of supply; and as there is less to
consume, less must be consumed. It is however, I think, impossible
to contemplate the continuance of such a state of
things in Ireland, as that in which any considerable portion of
its population would be subjected to the occurrence of famine.
As the habits and intelligence of the people improve, these
visitations will be guarded against or averted; and I do not
propose to make any exception permissive of out-door relief
in such cases, but recommend that relief should be limited
strictly to the workhouse. It is moreover necessary that no
individual of a family should be admitted, unless all its
members enter the house. Relief to the father or husband is
equivalent to relief to the child or the wife, and vice versâ;
and, while they continue one family, a part cannot be considered
.bn 188.png
.pn +1
as destitute, and the rest not so; a family must be
taken as a whole, and so admitted or excluded. The provisions
of the 43rd of Elizabeth, requiring parents to support
children, and children to support parents, should also be extended
to Ireland; and I think relief by way of loan, as provided
for by the 58th section of the Poor Law Amendment
Act, might in certain cases be useful, and if exercised with
discretion, can scarcely be productive of mischief.
.sp 1
.ti -4
2ndly. Of the Local Machinery.—“I propose that the local machinery
for the administration of relief to the destitute in
Ireland, under the direction of a central authority, should be
the same as is provided in England by the Poor Law Amendment
Act; namely, the union of a district for common
management, under a board of guardians elected by the
ratepayers, with paid officers appointed or approved by the
central authority.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“In forming the unions, it will be necessary to observe the civil,
rather than the ecclesiastical boundaries of parishes; but
cases will arise, in which it may be requisite to disregard all
such boundaries—it being obviously more important that the
district to be united should be compact, convenient, and accessible,
and be naturally connected with its centre, than that
the old and often inconvenient boundaries should be observed.
This applies no less to county or baronial boundaries than to
those of parishes or other divisions. The principle which has
governed the formation of the English unions, whenever the
commissioners have not been driven from it by local circumstances,
has been to fix upon some market-town conveniently
situated as a centre, and to attach to it the whole surrounding
district, of which it may be considered the capital, and in
which the general business of the district, both public and
private, for the most part centres. The roads of a district
always converge upon the market-town. The communications
with it are constant, and the people settled within the range
of its influence constitute almost a distinct community. To
form such a district into a union, seems an obvious course,
and I recommend its being adopted in Ireland. There may
be parts of the country in which such a convenient centre
does not exist, but this will be of rare occurrence, and the
general powers of the central authority will be competent to
deal with it.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“Much of what appeared to be necessary with reference to the
members of the boards of guardians, both elected and ex-officio,
is given in the second part of this Report: but the
important question—in whose hands the right of appointing
.bn 189.png
.pn +1
guardians shall be confided, and in what way that right shall
be exercised, still remains to be considered. In this, as in
other cases, the principle established in England, should, I
think, be applied to Ireland, and the election of guardians be
vested in the ratepayers and owners of property within the
union; but the circumstances of Ireland require some modification
of the English practice, in this respect. The owners
of property in England, are entitled to vote according to the
scale which was established by the Select Vestry Act, and
which ascends by gradations of 25l. each, from a rated value
of 50l. per annum up to 150l. per annum, giving one vote
for the former, and six votes for the latter. This scale seems
open to some objection, on the grounds of complexity and
over-minuteness. It moreover differs from the scale of voting
fixed for the ratepayers by the Poor Law Amendment Act,
which provides that ratepayers, if rated under 200l. shall
have one vote; if rated at 200l. and under 400l., two votes;
and if at 400l. and upwards, three votes. Such a scale seems
on the whole well adapted to the condition of ratepayers in
England, but the amounts specified are too high for Ireland;
and the scale is not sufficiently minute in its graduation, for
the subdivision of property which prevails there. Instead of
adopting these English scales, therefore, I propose to establish
one scale in Ireland, by which simplicity of detail, and
a right result, will I think be more effectually secured; and
I recommend the following for regulating the votes of owners
of property, as well as occupiers,
.ta r:7 l:10 l:10 l:15 w=75%
above 5l. and under 5l.||| one vote.
50l.| and under |100l. | two votes.
100l.| ” | 150l. | three votes.
150l.| ” | 200l. | four votes.
200l.| and upwards | | five votes.
.ta-
.sp 1
.ti -4
3rdly. Of Rating.—“The power to assess the property and levy
a rate within a union for the purpose of relieving the destitute,
must, I think, be confided to the board of guardians,
by whom such relief is to be administered. The mode of
assessing and collecting the rate, as well as its application,
will be prescribed by the central authority. The Parochial
Assessments Act passed last session, establishes the principle
that the rates are to be paid upon the net annual value of
property. This was always the law, although it had not
always been acted upon. As regards the principle by which
the assessment of property should be regulated, it will therefore
be only necessary to extend the provisions of that Act to
Ireland, substituting the union for the parish authorities.
The valuation of property for rating need not, I apprehend,
.bn 190.png
.pn +1
be made in every instance by surveyors or professional valuators.
The fairly-estimated value of the property is all that
is necessary. In many instances a valuation has already been
made for the purpose of tithe commutation, and wherever
that, or any other fair valuation has been made, it will be
available for rating to the relief of the poor. Hitherto there
has been no such rate in Ireland. The destitute classes have
gone on increasing in numbers, but still there has been no
recognised or legal provision for their relief. Property has
been acquired, capital invested, and contracts made, under
this state of things, and it will be impossible now to impose a
rate upon property, without affecting existing arrangements:
but I believe the effect will be slight, and that in a few years it
will cease altogether. If it were far greater than I anticipate
however, all objections to the imposition of a rate on this ground
must be overborne by considerations of the public welfare.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“The question as to who shall pay the rate, and in what proportions,
is next to be considered. The parties immediately
interested are the owner or person possessing the beneficial
interest of the property assessed, and the tenant or occupier.
Between these therefore, it seems both equitable and expedient
to apportion the rate. Where the two are combined,
the same person would be answerable for the entire rate.
The Irish Poor Inquiry Commissioners appeared to be of
opinion that the owner should pay two-thirds of the rate,
and the occupier one-third; and it seemed to me, at first,
that this would be a suitable division: but after further consideration
and inquiry, I thought that each should be called
upon to pay half the rate.[74] I was mainly influenced to adopt
this view, by the consideration that at present nearly the
whole support of the destitute falls upon the tenantry. It is
to the occupiers that the mendicant resorts, and from them
he receives his daily rations. There is thus in reality, a rate
now levied, although not sanctioned by legal enactment; and
no occupier, however limited may be his means, turns away
the mendicant empty-handed from his door. The pressure of
these continual calls upon the occupiers, help to bear them
down, and keep them at their present low level; but if the
destitute classes were relieved by means of a general rate
upon property, of which the occupiers were called upon to pay
half, they would be relieved from nearly one-half their present
burthen. A poor-law, if rightly administered, although
it ensures relief for the destitute, will not increase their
number, or eventually swell the fund appropriated to their
.bn 191.png
.pn +1
support. On the contrary, I believe it will help to lessen
both. But admitting that the number and the amount remain
the same, still the occupiers will then have to pay only one-half,
the landlord the other; whereas now the occupier
contributes nearly the whole.
.fm rend=t
.fn 74
In Scotland the rate is divided equally between the landlord and tenant.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sp 2
.ti -4
4thly. Of Settlement.—“Parochial settlement, as established in
England, is almost universally admitted to have been productive
of great mischief. It has led to much litigation and
expense; and by fixing the peasantry to the narrow limits
of their parish, beyond which the world was to them almost
a blank, it has done more to injure their character, to
destroy its elasticity, and to banish self-reliance and resource,
than any other portion of the old Poor Law system. It will
not, therefore, I presume, be considered right to establish
parochial settlement in Ireland. The habits of the Irish are
migratory, their movements depending upon their own volition.
To establish a law of settlement, would be to fix them
to one locality. No such law has yet been established there;
and it is therefore open to the legislature to prescribe the
limits, if a settlement shall be deemed advisable; or else to
dispense with settlement altogether.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“Without a law of settlement, it is true, vagrants from other districts
may congregate in particular unions, and may claim
relief, or be sent to the workhouse; but if the workhouses are
all regulated upon the same scale of diet and discipline, there
would be no inducement for the vagrant classes to prefer one
union to another, and they would probably remain scattered
throughout the country, in much the same proportion as at
present. If such a preference was in any instance shown by
them, it might be taken as a proof of inefficient management
or lax discipline on the part of the favoured union, and would
be a signal for the central authority to interfere. Thus, if
there should be no law of settlement, the number of inmates
in the several workhouses would serve as a kind of index to
the management of each; and the local authorities would be
compelled in self-defence to keep their unions in good order,
to prevent their being overrun with paupers. Such a competition,
if well regulated, might go far to ensure the general
efficiency of the unions.
.sp 1
.ti -4
5thly. On Mendicancy—“Whenever relief is provided for the
destitute, mendicancy may be suppressed. A law which says,
‘You shall not beg or steal, but you shall starve,’ would be
contrary to natural justice, and would be disobeyed; but if
the law first makes provision for the destitute, and then says,
‘You shall not beg, but you shall be relieved at the public
.bn 192.png
.pn +1
charge,’ the alternative thus offered will entitle the community
to suppress a practice which is held to be injurious.
On these grounds, I think the law which establishes a system
of public relief for destitution, should at the same time prohibit
mendicancy. The present state of Ireland however,
and the habits and feelings of the Irish people, throw considerable
difficulty in the way of an immediate suppression of
mendicancy. The number of mendicants is very great, and
they are therefore of some importance as a class, and support
and keep each other in countenance whilst following, what
they consider, no disreputable vocation. They enter the cottages
of the peasantry as supplicants, it is true, but still with
a certain sense of right; and the cottager would be held to
be a bold, if not a bad man, who resisted their appeal. In
fact, the appeal never is resisted,—if there is only a handful
of potatoes, they are divided with the beggar; and there is
thus perhaps levied from the produce of the soil in Ireland
for the support of mendicancy, as large a contribution as it is
now proposed to raise by an assessment of property for the
relief of destitution. The ‘sturdy beggars,’ noticed in the
14th of Elizabeth, must have been very similar to those now
common in Ireland. Indeed the state of society at the two
periods seems to have been nearly the same in both countries,
the prevalence of begging in each being accompanied by the
same general disposition to give, and this disposition of course
increasing the number of beggars.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“The evils of mendicancy in Ireland are certainly very great, and
its suppression should be provided for at the earliest practicable
period. The best mode of effecting this would probably
be, to enact a general prohibition, and to cast upon
the central authority the responsibility of bringing it into
operation in the several unions, as the workhouses became
fitted for the reception of inmates. The central authority
might, I think, so regulate their proceedings, as that the now
itinerant mendicants who may be really unable to provide for
themselves, should be placed in the several workhouses with
the least degree of coercion and inconvenience; and that the
ablebodied vagrants and disorderly persons should be compelled
to provide for their own subsistence, by the application
of strict workhouse discipline. Time and forbearance will
doubtless be necessary in carrying such a measure into operation
in Ireland, and these the powers of the central authority
will enable it to afford. The present generation will
probably pass away before the disposition to encourage begging
by indiscriminate almsgiving, which now prevails so generally
among all classes in Ireland, will be corrected by the
.bn 193.png
.pn +1
adoption of a more enlightened benevolence. It will then
we may hope be seen, that the real friends of the people are
those who lead them to independent exertion, to a reliance
upon themselves and their own efforts for support—not those
who, by the constant doling of miscalled charity, entice the
people into a state of dependence. It may minister to human
pride, to be surrounded by a crowd of such dependents; but
it surely is inconsistent with genuine benevolence to encourage,
or even to permit this, if it can possibly be prevented.
.sp 1
.ti -4
6thly. Of Bastardy.—“As far as I had opportunity of observing
and inquiring, the Irish females are generally correct in their
conduct. I am aware that opinions somewhat different have
been expressed; but my own impression of the moral conduct
of the Irish females is highly favourable. Their duties
appear to be more laborious than those of the same class in
England. Their dress, too, is inferior, and so likewise seems
their social position; yet they universally appear modest,
industrious, and sober—I state this as the result of my own
observation; and if the Irish females have preserved their
moral character untainted hitherto, as I believe in the main
to be the case, it affords an argument for ‘letting well alone.’
If it had been otherwise however, and if the extent of bastardy,
and its demoralising influence on public manners had
been greater, I should still have recommended that the Irish
females should be left, as now, the guardians of their own
honour, and responsible in their own persons for all deviations
from virtue. The abuses under the old English bastardy
law, and our brief experience of the improved practice established
by the Amendment Act, warrant the recommendation
that no such law should be applied to Ireland; but that
bastards, and the mothers of bastards, in all matters connected
with relief, should be dealt with in the same manner
as other destitute persons solely on the ground of their
destitution.
.sp 1
.ti -4
7thly. Of Apprenticeship.—“The experience which England
affords with regard to apprenticeship, is of a somewhat conflicting
character, although the preponderance of testimony
is opposed to it. It is open to much abuse, and has operated
mischievously in several parts of the country, by increasing
that dependence upon the parish which under the old Poor
Law had become so characteristic of the English peasantry.
It must however I think be admitted, that the apprenticing
of orphan and destitute children, as provided for by the 43rd
of Elizabeth, has in many cases been productive of good;
and if judiciously limited, so as not to be regarded as the
ordinary mode of providing for the children of the labouring
.bn 194.png
.pn +1
classes, but merely as a resource for the destitute and the
orphan, it might still I think be continued with advantage.
I am aware that this opinion differs somewhat from that
of the members of the late English Poor Law Inquiry Commission;
but the evidence of abuse submitted to the commissioners
was taken in the time of the old Poor Law, which
converted everything it touched into an abuse; and it does
not follow, because apprenticeship added to the accumulation
of evils under such circumstances, that it is incapable of
producing good under others. It is on the different application
of apprenticeship, and on the different circumstances in
which it would be applied, that I now rely. None of the
abuses exist in Ireland which prevailed under the old parochial
management in England; and by the aid of the union
machinery apprenticeship may, I think, be safely applied to
the placing out of destitute and orphan children, the number
of whom in Ireland is very considerable. The Poor Law
Amendment Act empowers the commissioners to frame regulations
for apprenticing the children of poor persons; and I
propose to extend this provision to Ireland, by which it may
be hoped that all the beneficial effects of the law may be
secured, whilst the evils which certainly have resulted from
it in England will in great measure be avoided.
.sp 1
.ti -4
8thly. Of Pauper Idiots and Lunatics.—“For individuals of this
description, if not dangerous, the union workhouses will be
available. Dangerous lunatics, and insane persons, must of
course be sent to asylums, as at present; and it is important,
I think, that these institutions should be kept distinct from
poor-law administration. The deprivation of reason is a
misfortune so extreme, that special efforts are called for on
behalf of individuals subjected to such a visitation. The
careful supervision of such unhappy persons is necessary for
the protection of the community. But with respect to pauper
idiots and lunatics not dangerous, these might, I think, be
advantageously provided for in the several workhouses, where
a lunatic ward should be prepared for such of them as might
be unfitted to mingle with the other paupers. Idiots, labouring
under a deficiency, rather than a deprivation of reason,
appear in general to feel contentment in proportion as they
are employed on something of a nature suitable for them.
In a workhouse, such employment might always be found,
and they would probably there partake as largely of comfort
as their unhappy state is susceptible of. I propose, therefore,
that the provision of the Poor Law Amendment Act,
permissive of the retention in a workhouse of idiot and lunatic
paupers, not dangerous, be extended to Ireland, and that
.bn 195.png
.pn +1
their mode of treatment and employment be in all cases
subject to the direction of the central authority.
.sp 1
.ti -4
9thly. Of Emigration.—“A country may be so circumstanced, as
to require that a portion of its population should migrate
from one part of it to another, either permanently or occasionally;
and may still, on the whole, have no actual excess
of population. A country may also, with reference to its
means of employment, labour under an excess of population;
or both these circumstances may exist at the same time,
which appears, in fact, to be the state of Ireland at present.
The Irish population is excessive, compared with the means
of employment; and the effect of this excess would be more
felt, were it not for the opening which England presents for
migration. Where the population is in excess, it must be
exceedingly difficult to effect any material improvement in
the condition of a people; for as long as the labourers exceed
the number required, so long will their competition for employment
serve to depress their condition, and counteract
whatever efforts may be made to improve it. The only
alternative in such case is, either to increase the amount of
employment, or to decrease the number of labourers depending
upon it. To bring about by direct interposition any
material increase of permanent employment, is in every view
difficult, and under common circumstances, perhaps impossible;
but something may be done indirectly in this respect,
by the removal of impediments and the establishing of increased
facilities for the application of capital, and something
also perhaps by the intervention of government: but all such
aids must of necessity be limited in their application, as well
as remote in their effects—it is from spontaneous or natural
employment alone, that the labouring classes can look for
permanent occupation, and the means of support.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“To aim directly at effecting an increase of employment in Ireland,
is beyond the powers if it be not foreign to the province
of a poor-law, the immediate object of which is to provide for
the relief of the destitute. Now destitution may be caused
by an excess of labourers, or by a deficiency of employment,
which are in truth convertible terms. If an able-bodied
labourer becomes destitute through want of employment, he
must be relieved at the common charge, like any individual
reduced to a state of destitution by age or infirmity. If the
want of employment and destitution be owing to an excess of
population, to relieve that excess by emigration must be a
good. Yet it may be doubted whether the parent stock is
not enfeebled by the remedy, for in general the most active
and enterprising emigrate, leaving the more feeble and less
.bn 196.png
.pn +1
robust at home; and thus a continual drain of its best elements
will lower the tone and reduce the general vigour of a
people, at the same time that it imparts an additional stimulus
to their increase.
“Emigration however, not only may, but I believe must be had
recourse to as a present means of relief, whenever the population
becomes excessive. The excess will be indicated by
the pressure of able-bodied labourers on the workhouse. If
any considerable number of these enter the workhouse, and
remain there subject to its discipline, it may be taken as a
proof of their inability to provide for themselves, and of the
consequent excess of labourers beyond the means of employment.
Under such circumstances, emigration must be looked
to as the only present remedy; and provision should be made
for defraying the expense which this would occasion, as well
as for the regulations under which it should be carried into
effect. With regard to the expense, I propose that the
charge should in every case be equally borne by the government,
and the union from which the emigrants proceed. This
division of the charge appears equitable, for although the
union only is immediately benefited, yet eventually the whole
empire is relieved, excess in one portion of it tending to occasion
an excess in the whole. But the emigration should, I
think, be limited to a British colony, and should be conducted
under the control of the central authority, and be subjected
to such regulations as the government may deem it right to
establish.
.sp 1
.ti -4
10thly. Of Houses of Industry, and Charitable Institutions.—“There
is now a kind of poor-law established in Ireland,
under which the ‘houses of industry’ are managed, but it
is partial and ineffective; and the several statutes providing
for these houses of industry, and the other institutions intended
for the relief of the poor, should be repealed, and the
management of such establishments placed under the central
authority. Institutions strictly charitable, and supported by
voluntary contribution or otherwise, would of course remain
as at present; but it would, I think, be extremely desirable
to invest the central authority with such a power of revising
their rules and superintending their practice, as would ensure
their acting in unison with, or at least prevent their acting in
contravention of, the principles which the Act establishes for
poor-law administration in Ireland. The ‘houses of industry’
would generally become available as union workhouses,
for which they are for the most part well adapted;
and the other establishments, where they are public property,
or supported by government, or by local grants from the
.bn 197.png
.pn +1
county-rates, may be appropriated in like manner, under
direction of the central authority.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“The foregoing appear to be the only points requiring especial
attention, in framing a poor-law for Ireland, although there
are several other matters of minor interest not to be overlooked.
The ‘Poor Law Amendment Act’ should, I think, be
taken as a guide in framing the measure, and the language,
order, and general provisions of that Act should be adhered
to, except where the contrary is herein indicated, or where a
variation is obviously necessary. There will be much practical
convenience in thus assimilating the two statutes, which
provide for poor-law administration in the two countries.
A measure framed on the principles developed in this Report,
is I think necessary for Ireland. Unless the people are protected
from the effects of destitution, no great or lasting improvement
in their social condition can be expected. The
establishment of a poor-law is, I conceive, the first step necessary
to this end; and followed as it will be by other ameliorations,
to the introduction of which it is a necessary
preliminary, we may hope that it will ultimately prove the
means of securing for Ireland the full amount of those benefits
which ought to arise from her various local advantages, and
the natural fertility of her soil.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“The proposed measure may, I believe, be carried into effect,
either by means of a separate commission in Ireland, or by
the existing English Poor Law Commission. One of these
modes, I presume, must be adopted; and before deciding
which, it will be necessary to consider the advantages and
disadvantages of each. In doing this, it is important to bear
in mind, that it is the English Poor Law system which is now
proposed to be established; and that the knowledge and
experience acquired in working that system, can be best
made available for Ireland, by employing individuals conversant
with the English practice. If there should be a
separate commission for Ireland, it would be necessary that
the commissioners should be acquainted with the English
Poor Law, as now administered; and this, I apprehend,
would exclude most of those Irishmen who might otherwise
be deemed qualified for the office. Such exclusion, however
necessary, would have an ungracious appearance, and might
excite angry comment. But independent of this consideration,
if there were a separate commission, the law would be similar
in both countries, but the practice might become widely different,
as was the case in different parts of England under
the old Poor Law administration. With two commissions,
.bn 198.png
.pn +1
there might possibly be no unity of principle,—there would
certainly be no unity of action,—and probably no identity of
result. Unless the existing English Poor Law Commission
should be unequal to the additional duty of introducing the
proposed law into Ireland, or unless it should appear that
the commissioners ought not to be intrusted with the performance
of this duty, the above reasons would seem to be
conclusive against a separate commission.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“It must be admitted that the official duties of the English Poor
Law Commissioners have been, and in fact still are, very
heavy. As a member of the commission, and one too not
unaccustomed to work, I may be permitted to say, that the
labour has been throughout unceasing and excessive, to an
extent that nothing but the hope of accomplishing a great
public good would have rendered bearable. The success of
the measure, however, in lessening the pressure on the ratepayers,
and in improving the condition of the labouring
classes, coupled with the support which has been afforded by
government, and by nearly all the intelligent portions of the
community, have given the commissioners encouragement and
confidence; and when the process of forming unions shall be
completed, their labours will become lighter. Under these
circumstances, there would seem to be no insuperable difficulty
in the way of the present Poor Law Commissioners
being made the instruments of establishing the new law in
Ireland; and whatever may be the difficulty at first, it will
lessen as the amount of English business decreases, and the
organisation of the Irish machinery is perfected. If, then,
no other grounds of objection exist, and if it shall be deemed
desirable, I see no reason to doubt that the English Poor
Law Commissioners are competent to the additional duty of
introducing the proposed measure into Ireland.”
.pm end_hang
Such was the substance of my first Report, which it
has been here endeavoured to condense as far as was consistent
with a full exposition of its import; and this it
is necessary to give, in order to prepare the reader for
correctly appreciating the important measure which was
founded upon it. After undergoing much consideration,
the Report was finally adopted by government on the
13th of December 1836, and on the following day I was
directed to have a bill prepared embodying all its recommendations.
This was accordingly done, and after being
.bn 199.png
.pn +1
scrutinised clause by clause in a committee of the Cabinet
specially appointed for the purpose, and receiving
various emendations, the bill was introduced on the
13th February 1837.[75] The public and parliament bad
been prepared for the measure by the Royal speech at
the commencement of the session, in which his Majesty
recommended for early consideration “the difficult and
pressing question of establishing some legal provision
for the poor in Ireland, guarded by prudent regulations,
and by such precautions against abuse as their experience
and knowledge of the subject enable them to suggest.”
.fm rend=t
.fn 75
The author’s Report was presented to the house at the same time.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Lord John Russell’s speech, February 13, 1837.
Lord John Russell[76] introduced the bill in a comprehensive
and very able speech—It appears, he
said, from the testimony both of theory and
experience, that when a country is overrun by
marauders and mendicants having no proper means of
subsistence, but preying on the industry and relying on
the charity of others, the introduction of a poor-law
serves several very important objects. In the first place
it acts as a measure of peace, enabling the country to
prohibit vagrancy which is so often connected with
outrage, by offering a substitute to those who rely on
vagrancy and outrage as a means of subsistence. When
an individual or a family are unable to obtain subsistence,
and are without the means of living from day to
day, it would be unjust to say they shall not go about
and endeavour to obtain from the charity of the affluent,
that which circumstances have denied to themselves.
But when you can say to such persons—here are the
means of subsistence offered to you—when you can say
this on the one hand, you may on the other hand say,
“you are not entitled to beg, you shall no longer infest
the country in a manner injurious to its peace, and liable
to imposition and outrage.” Another way, he observed,
.bn 200.png
.pn +1
in which a poor-law is beneficial is, that it is a great
promoter of social concord, by showing a disposition in
the state and in the community to attend to the welfare
of all classes. It is of use also by interesting the landowners
and persons of property in the welfare of their
tenants and neighbours. A landowner who looks only
to receiving the rents of his estate, may be regardless
of the numbers in his neighbourhood who are in a state
of destitution, or who follow mendicancy and are ready
to commit crime; but if he is compelled to furnish means
for the subsistence of persons so destitute, it then becomes
his interest to see that those around him have the
means of living, and are not in actual want. He considered
that these objects, and several others collateral
to them, were obtained in England by the Act of
Elizabeth. Almost the greatest benefit that could be
conferred on a country was, he observed, a high standard
of subsistence for the labouring classes, and such a benefit
was secured for England chiefly by the great Act of
Elizabeth. His lordship then alluded to the abuses
which subsequently arose, and to the correction of those
abuses then in progress under the provisions of the Poor
Law Amendment Act; and said that “we ought to endeavour
to obtain for Ireland all the good effects of the
English system, and to guard against the evils which
had arisen under it.”
.fm rend=t
.fn 76
Then secretary of state for the home department, and leader in the house
of commons.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
The Report of the Poor Inquiry Commissioners for
Ireland was next adverted to. They had, he said, recommended
many measures of improvement for Ireland,
and suggested certain measures with regard to the indigent.
It was to the latter he wished to call the attention
of the house, as being the principal object of the present
bill. The other suggestions for the general improvement
of Ireland he proposed to leave for future consideration.
With regard to the question of immediate
relief for the destitute, the commissioners, he said, propose
in the first place, that a large class of persons
.bn 201.png
.pn +1
should be provided for at the public expense by means
of a national and local rate. They advise also that there
should be money afforded for emigration, and that depôts
should be provided for persons preparing to emigrate.
In considering that Report, great doubts occurred to his
Majesty’s ministers whether it was a good principle to
provide only for certain classes, and whether those
depôts for emigration could be safely and advantageously
adopted. It appears, he observed, from every reflection
on the subject, that the real principle is to afford relief
to the destitute, and to the destitute only; and it would
be quite as wrong to refuse relief to the able-bodied
person in that situation, as to afford relief to the cripple,
the widow, or a deaf and dumb person who had other
means of support. It is not then the peculiar circumstances
which excite public or individual compassion that
we are to regard; but if we have a poor-law at all, it
ought to be grounded on destitution, as affording a plain
guide to relief. Then with regard to the emigration
depôts, that part of the commissioners’ recommendations
could not be adopted without a great deal more of consideration
than the plan proposed by them appears to
have received. And, he added, “deeply impressed as
we have been with the responsibility that attaches to a
government which proposes a law upon this subject, it
occurred to us that the best method was to see whether
the law which, as amended, has been applied to England,
could be introduced with advantage in Ireland.” For
this purpose Mr. Nicholls, one of the Poor Law Commissioners,
was requested to go to Ireland, and ascertain
on the spot whether anything resembling the machinery
of the English Poor Law could be there applied; and
the result of Mr. Nicholls’s inquiry is, that supposing it
to be expedient to extend a poor-law to Ireland, there
was no insurmountable obstacle or objection to the establishment
of a law in many respects resembling the
amended Poor Law in England. The reasons for that
.bn 202.png
.pn +1
opinion are stated in the Report which has been laid on
the table, and on which the bill is founded. His lordship
then adverted to the chief portions of the Report,
and stated generally his own views on the subject.
There is no doubt, he said, that there have occurred
in Ireland many outrages consequent upon vagrancy
and destitution, and the people’s being left without
remedy or relief; and also that a large portion of the
people, especially those not having land, do practise
mendicancy for a great portion of the year. He had
made some inquiry with respect to the amount of the
relief thus afforded to mendicants, and the result is that
in most cases a shilling an acre is paid in course of the
year by farmers for the support of mendicants. In
some cases it has been 6d. an acre, in others 9d., and in
others 1s.; but in one case it amounted to 2s. an acre.
This is a heavy tax, which cannot upon the whole
amount to less than between 700,000l. and 800,000l.,
perhaps a million a year. But this practice of mendicancy,
which raises so vast a sum, is not like a well-constituted
poor-law, which affords relief to the really
indigent—that which seems to afford relief to the distressed,
also promotes and keeps up imposture, and in
Ireland where mendicancy is so general, and relief so
freely given, the number of impostors must be enormous.
His lordship then proceeded to consider whether the
workhouse system was applicable to Ireland; and after
noticing the objection made by the commissioners of
inquiry, and urged by others, that the workhouse would
not be safe—that there would be too much violence—that
there would be such a dislike of restraint that it
could not be enforced—he came to the conclusion “that
there was no reason to apprehend anything of the sort.”
In some of the houses of industry, he remarked, they
have carried the system of restraint further than in the
old English workhouses, and have established the separation
of sexes such as exists in the new English workhouses;
.bn 203.png
.pn +1
and no regulation was proposed which did not
now exist, so “there need be no fear that violence would
be used, or that we could not protect the workhouses in
Ireland, as well and as securely as the workhouses in
England.”
It had been much urged, he said, as a means of preventing
undue pressure on the workhouse, that a residence
in the district of three years or some other definite
period should be a condition to any person’s being relieved
therein; but he declared that he was opposed to
establishing a law of settlement in Ireland, being quite
convinced that it is one of the greatest evils of the poor-laws
in England. It circumscribes the market for industry.
It has led to immense litigation, and any person,
he observed, “who has attended the quarter sessions,
and there witnessed the disputes that arise between
parishes as to whether a person had been hired for a
year and a day, whether he had been ordered to go
home on the day before the expiration of the term so as
to destroy the settlement, or whether he had served a
full year and a day, and various other similar questions—any
person who has attended to this litigation and
those disputes, will not have any wish that I should
introduce the question of settlement into this bill.”
When the whole of the workhouses are in operation,
and we are enabled to relieve all that are entitled to it,
we may then, he observed, prohibit vagrancy; but until
we can do the one, it will not be just altogether to prohibit
the other. It is not therefore proposed to prevent
persons asking alms, if they can show they have applied
for and failed in obtaining relief. This is a necessary
step in the transition from one state to another. If
it succeeds, we shall hereafter be able to prohibit
vagrancy.
His lordship then went over the ground more fully
discussed in the Report, with regard to the local machinery,
the question of rating, the extent of the unions,
.bn 204.png
.pn +1
cost of the workhouses, emigration, and some other
minor points; and then stated that the safest way of
introducing such a law as had been described, would be
to use the simple machinery which had been found so
advantageous in England. It was therefore proposed,
instead of forming a separate commission for Ireland,
that the Poor Law Commissioners for England should
have the power of intrusting to one or two of their body,
the power of acting in Ireland for carrying the law
into operation. This would he thought be better than
establishing a separate commission. A lengthened discussion
then took place in reference to the proposed
measure, in which Mr. Shaw, Mr. O'Connell, Lord
Howick, Sir Robert Peel, Lord Stanley, and other members
took part. The bill read a first time. Doubts were of course expressed, and
objections stated; but on the whole the measure
was not received unfavourably, and the bill was
ordered to be read a first time.
.sn The bill read a second time and committed.
On the 25th of April Lord John Russell moved the
second reading of the bill, and the debate thereon
was continued by adjournment to the 1st of
May, when the second reading was carried
without a division, although not without long and somewhat
hostile discussion. On the 9th of May the house
went into committee on the bill, and the first fourteen
clauses were passed with only a few verbal alterations.
On the 11th the committee got to the end of the
20th clause, after two unimportant divisions. It had
been announced that on the 12th of May the question
of settlement should be considered. Many members
were still of opinion that a settlement law was necessary;
but after a long and temperate discussion of the
subject in all its bearings, the committee decided against
the introduction of settlement by 120 to 68. On the
26th of May the bill was again in committee, when the
clauses up to the 35th were agreed to. Vagrancy clauses postponed. On the 2nd,
5th, 6th and 7th of June, the committee proceeded in
.bn 205.png
.pn +1
considering the clauses of the bill up to the 60th,
but the vagrancy clauses (53 to 58 inclusive)
were postponed. These clauses provided for the
repression of mendicancy in the unions, as the workhouses
were successively completed and in operation;
but there appeared to be a strong feeling in the house
that nothing should be done to prevent begging, until the
poor-law was everywhere fully established. The clauses
were therefore postponed for further consideration.
.sn Death of William IV. June 20, 1837.
At this time the king’s illness had so much increased
that his recovery became highly improbable,
and the business of parliament was consequently
suspended. William the Fourth died on
the 20th of June, and was succeeded by his niece the
Princess Victoria, our present gracious sovereign. On
the 17th of July parliament was prorogued by the
youthful queen, in a speech from the throne, which the
manner of its delivery and the occasion combined to
render more than ordinarily interesting. The Irish Poor
Relief bill, and the other measures then in progress,
were therefore put an end to, and would have to be
commenced anew on the re-assembling of parliament.
.sp 2
The interval thus interposed, afforded opportunity for
further consideration and inquiry, and it was determined
that this should be taken advantage of, and that the
author should again proceed to Ireland for the purpose of
visiting “those districts which a want of time prevented
his inspecting last year.” I was also directed to bear
in mind the discussions which had taken place during
the progress of the bill in the late session, and generally
to report whether the circumstances of the districts about
to be visited, or any new matter that I might discover,
“shall have caused me in any way to alter or modify
the recommendations set forth in my last Report.”
Accordingly at the end of August I proceeded to
Ireland, and continued in the active prosecution of my
.bn 206.png
.pn +1
inquiries until early in October. I moreover took advantage
of the opportunity afforded me in going and
returning, to inquire very carefully at Bristol, Liverpool,
Manchester, and Birmingham, into the habits of
the large number of Irish congregated in each of these
towns, and into the mode of dealing with such of them
as become destitute, or stand in need of relief, on which
points I obtained much valuable information, for the
most part confirmatory of my previous views. On the
3rd of November I reported the result of my further
inquiries;[77] and I will now, as was done in the case of
the ‘First Report,’ give an abstract of this ‘Second
Report,’ although much less fully, it not being now
necessary to go so much at length into what may be
considered matters of detail, as was requisite in the first
instance—
.fm rend=t
.fn 77
The Report was accompanied by appendices containing important evidence
on several of the points to which it referred; and in particular a communication
from Mr. Stanley, on the extent of destitution among the poorer classes
in Ireland, in which he shows that the estimate of the inquiry commissioners
was founded on erroneous data.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.pm start_hang
.ce
Second Report.—Nov. 3, 1837.
.ti -4
“The investigations which I have just concluded, have not
afforded ground for any material change of opinion. I may
perhaps estimate the difficulty of establishing a poor-law in
Ireland somewhat higher than I did before, but of the necessity
for such a measure, I am if possible more fully convinced; and
now, after a more extended inquiry, both in England and in
Ireland, I am enabled substantially to confirm the statements
in my Report of last year, to which I can add but little in
the way of recommendation, although it may be necessary to
notice certain objections which have been made to portions
of the Report, and to some of the provisions of the bill of last
session. No material change in the bill however appears to
be called for, and I presume government will again proceed
with it as then proposed. The measure is essentially based
upon the English workhouse system; and as, notwithstanding
the facts and reasonings which were adduced in proof of its
applicability to Ireland, doubts were still expressed both in
and out of parliament upon this vital point, it seemed important
to ascertain whether any grounds for such doubts
really existed.
.bn 207.png
.pn +1
.sp 1
.ti -4
“With this view I visited Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester, and
Birmingham, through which places nearly the whole of the
Irish migrants pass and repass, and in all of which there is a
large resident Irish population, and where therefore their
habits are well known. All the persons whom I consulted in
these places, were unanimous in declaring their belief, that
nothing but absolute inability to provide for himself would
induce an Irishman to enter the workhouse. But it may
be objected, that although disinclination to the workhouse is
characteristic of the Irish when in England, such would not
be the case if the system were established in Ireland. This
objection does not admit of an answer founded on direct
experience; but judging from analogy, and making due
allowance for the circumstances of the two countries, there
seems no reason to doubt that the result would be the same
in one as in the other. The Irishman is by habit and temperament
more roving and migratory than the Englishman;
but this is surely not calculated to reconcile him sooner
to the restraints of a workhouse. I made it my business to
inquire, and obtain information from all classes of persons,
and was everywhere assured that the Irish would not go into
the workhouse, if they could in any way obtain support out
of it. The result of my investigations in the several houses
of industry and mendicity establishments has been to the
same purport, all tending to show that if the workhouse
is properly regulated, it will be resorted to only by the actually
destitute. It is not less important to state however, that
I found the same persons decidedly opposed to anything in
the shape of out-door relief. I have not met with an individual
conversant with the subject, either in England or in
Ireland, who did not declare against out door relief. ‘Confine
relief to the workhouse,’ was the general reply, ‘and you
will be safe; but if you once grant out-door relief, your
control is gone, and the whole Irish population will become a
mass of paupers.’
.sp 1
.ti -4
“It has been argued that the workhouses will eventually fail in
Ireland, as they have failed in France, at Munich, and at
Hamburgh; but there is no analogy between the two cases.
The workhouse principle was never recognised in these establishments,
which were all either poorhouses for the maintenance
of the aged and infirm, or manufactories for setting to
work vagrants, mendicants, and other idle persons. All these
institutions were established under the notion that profitable
labour could be always found, and that pauper labour could
be made profitable to the community, and their management
had reference to these objects. There were certain variations
in practice to suit local circumstances, but this was the
.bn 208.png
.pn +1
view under which the institutions were founded, by Count
Rumford, at Munich, by the imperial government in France,
and by Baron de Voght, at Hamburgh. I need scarcely say
that this view is essentially different from the workhouse
system established in England, and as it is proposed to
establish it in Ireland. Experience has proved that pauper
labour can never be profitable. The workhouse is here used
merely as a medium of relief; and in order that the destitute
only may partake of it, the relief is administered in such a
way, and on such conditions, that none but the destitute will
accept it. This is the workhouse principle, as first established
in the two parishes of Bingham and Southwell eighteen or
twenty years ago, and as it has recently been established in
the unions formed under the Poor Law Amendment Act;
and we have the experience of these parishes, and the more
varied, though less prolonged experience of the English
unions, in proof of the efficiency of the system, which has
worked hitherto without a single instance of failure. It is
not therefore upon mere hypothesis, that it is proposed to
proceed with regard to the Irish Poor Law, but upon the
surer ground of experience.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“It has been further argued, that there is always a tendency
to deterioration in such institutions, and that after a time
they fall away from the principle on which they were originally
established—to which it may be answered, that no
such deterioration occurred in the two parishes above named—on
the contrary, the workhouse principle continued to
operate in these parishes in all its simplicity and efficiency,
up to the day when they were each constituted the centre
of a union. May it not therefore be inferred, that if established
as a test of destitution, the workhouse will continue
to be effective, and the principle free from deterioration,
as in the two cases named above? But the proposed measure
does not depend on this inference alone—a safeguard is
provided by the Poor Law Amendment Act in the appointment
of commissioners, who under the control of the executive,
and the supervision of parliament, are to superintend
the working of the measure, and to apply from time
to time such correctives, whether local or general, as may be
necessary for securing its efficiency. Whatever doubts may
have arisen on either side of the Channel, as to the sufficiency
of the workhouse for relieving the destitute, as well as for
protecting the ratepayers, I therefore feel warranted in
expressing my conviction, not only that the workhouse
system is applicable to Ireland, but that it is the only mode
in which relief can be safely administered to the destitute
classes in that country.
.bn 209.png
.pn +1
.sp 1
.ti -4
“The question of the workhouse being thus disposed of, I shall
now proceed to notice such objections as have been made to
the bill generally, or to any of its provisions; and in doing
this, I will endeavour to introduce such illustrations as seem
to be called for, and such further information as I have been
able to collect during my recent visitation, which extended
from Waterford to Belfast and Londonderry, and the counties
of Donegal, Fermanagh, Cavan, and Meath.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“The chief objections which have been made to the measure,
as it was introduced in the last session, are comprised under
the heads hereafter specified, to each of which a full explanation
is appended in the Report. From these several
explanations, so much is here given, as will, it is hoped,
serve to lessen, if not altogether to remove, the weight of the
objections which were raised during the discussion on the bill,
or which may have appeared in pamphlets or in any other
shape.
.sp 1
.ti -4
The measure is said not to be applicable to the North of Ireland.—“It
has frequently been asserted, both in and out of parliament,
that the condition of the people in the north of Ireland
differs so essentially from those in the south, that a poor-law
which might be applicable in one case, would be inapplicable
in the other; and it was urged as a ground of objection to
the measure of last session, that it had been framed exclusively
with reference to the southern and western districts.
This objection seems to have been made mainly on the
ground, that no specific information had been obtained as to
the north of Ireland; whereas, in fact, a large mass of information
had been collected by the commissioners of Irish Poor
Inquiry, with respect to the north, as well as the other parts
of the country; and this information, coupled with what I
had obtained from other sources, and supported by my own
observation in those of the northern counties which I had
visited, appeared to be sufficient, without further examination
of the northern districts. An opportunity for such examination
having however been afforded by the postponement of
the bill, I have now visited most of the northern counties,
and carefully examined the condition and habits of the people,
with special reference to the contemplated measure; and I
can with entire confidence state, in my opinion, it is as well
adapted to the circumstances existing in the north, as to
those which prevail in the south. The habits of the people
are there in some degree fitted for its reception. The necessity
of relieving the destitute is there admitted, and in most
of the northern towns of any note, there is now a kind of
voluntary poor-law established. In Monaghan, in Armagh,
.bn 210.png
.pn +1
at Newry, Belfast, Coleraine, Londonderry, I found provision
made for relieving destitution, and the principle virtually
recognised, that it is the duty of a civilised community to
protect its members from perishing by want. Indeed, if any
doubt existed as to establishing a poor-law in Ireland, an
inspection of the northern counties would, I think, remove
the doubt, and show the expediency of such a measure. The
extent of poverty is there less than in the south and west;
but the amount of destitution is probably as great. There is
this important difference however—in the south and west the
destitute depend for support upon the class immediately above
them, the small cottiers and cultivators; but in the north, the
sympathy existing between the different ranks of society—between
the opulent and the needy—has led to the making of
some provision for the relief of the latter class. If the charge
of this provision was fairly spread over the whole community—if
the relief afforded was sufficient, and permanent, and equally
distributed, it would be equivalent to a poor-law; but the
charge is unequal, the provision uncertain, and the relief
partial and inefficient. To apply the proposed measure to
the north of Ireland, will therefore be little more than carrying
out, in an equal and effective manner, that which has been
long but unequally and ineffectually attempted by the communities
themselves.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“In speaking of the north of Ireland, I ought to except the
county of Donegal, the inhabitants of which differ materially
from those of the other northern counties, and approximate
to those of the west and south. Small holdings, and minute
subdivisions of land, prevail in Donegal to a greater extent
than I have found in any other part of Ireland; and the consequent
growth of population there presses so hard upon the
productive powers of the soil, as to depress the condition of
the people to nearly the lowest point in the social scale—exposing
them, under the not unfrequent occurrence of an unfavourable
season, or a failure of the potato-crop, to the
greatest privations. This has unhappily been the case during
the last four years, in each of which, and especially in the
last, there has been a failure of the crops in Donegal. In
May, June, and July last, nearly the whole of the population
along the northern and western coasts of the county,
were reduced to a state bordering on starvation; and had
not government sent a supply of meal and medical aid,
numbers of the people would have fallen victims to famine
and disease. The surface of Donegal is generally covered
with bog, susceptible of profitable cultivation wherever lime
or sea-sand or sea-weed is obtainable, and the people have
.bn 211.png
.pn +1
in consequence congregated wherever these elements of fertility
abound—along the coasts, and on the shores of the
numerous bays and inlets opening upon the Atlantic, along
the banks of the rivers, and up the narrow valleys and ravines
with which the country is intersected—everywhere, in short,
where the soil is most easily reclaimed by individual exertion.
But wherever combined effort, or an outlay of capital is necessary
for draining, fencing, and reclaiming—there nothing
has been done, and the surface is permitted to lie waste and
unproductive. The process of reclamation in such circumstances
is above the limited means of the people, each one of
whom just manages to cultivate land enough to raise potatoes
for his family—a patch of oats to supply them, mostly I fear,
with whisky—and then, as to rent (for they all pay rent),
they rely for raising that upon a few cattle or sheep running
wild upon the mountains.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“Nothing can exceed the miserable appearance of the cottages in
Donegal, or the desolate aspect of a cluster of these hovels,
always teeming with a crowded population. Yet if you enter
their cabins, and converse with them frankly and kindly, you
will find the people intelligent and communicative, quick to
comprehend, and ready to impart what they know. They
admitted that they were too numerous, ‘too thick upon the
land,’ and that, as one of them declared, ‘they were eating
each other’s heads off,’—but what could they do? There
was no employment for the young, nor relief for the aged,
nor means nor opportunity for removing their surplus numbers
to some more eligible spot. They could only therefore
live on, ‘hoping,’ as they said, ‘that times might mend, and
that their landlords would sooner or later do something for
them.’ To improve the condition of such a people would
increase the productive powers of the country, a point well
deserving the attention of the great landowners, with whom
it mainly rests. But no material or lasting improvement can
be effected, so long as the present subdivision of land continues.
This practice, wherever it prevails, forces the population
down to the lowest level of subsistence—to that point
where subdivision is arrested by the dread, or by the actual
occurrence of want; and it is alike the duty and the interest
of the landowner, so to exercise the right of property as to
guard his tenantry from such depression. In the case of
Donegal, a two-fold remedy seems to be necessary, that is,
emigration, and an extension of cultivation. There is abundant
room for the latter, and if undertaken with spirit and
intelligence, it will not only ensure an ample return on the
capital expended, but also afford employment, and provide
.bn 212.png
.pn +1
suitable locations for a part of the surplus population. If a
portion of this surplus were removed by emigration, and another
portion placed on new grounds, effectually reclaimed,
a consolidation of the present small holdings might be effected.
This would be a great point gained, where the average rental
of such holdings does not exceed 2l., and numbers are under
1l. per annum. A poor-law would facilitate this change, so
necessary for the landowners, as well as for the great mass of
the people of Donegal. The principle of a poor-law is to
make the property of a district answerable for the relief of destitution
within it; and the application of this principle would
serve to connect the several orders of society, and teach them
to act together—it would show them that they have reciprocal
interests, reciprocal duties—that each is necessary to the
other—and that the cordial co-operation of all is necessary
to the well-being of the whole. I therefore augur much
good from the establishment of a poor-law, under circumstances
similar to those now existing in Donegal; and believe
that such a law, whilst it provides for the relief of the destitute,
will be a safeguard to property, and facilitate the introduction
of other ameliorations.
.sp 1
.ti -4
There ought to be a law of Settlement.—“There is no part of the
subject to which I have given more attention than to the
question of settlement. Of the evils arising from settlement
in England, there can be no doubt, and the grounds on which
it was proposed to establish a poor-law in Ireland without
settlement, are explained in my former Report. But it appears
that many persons still consider some law of settlement necessary
for securing local co-operation based upon local interests,
for the protection of particular unions from undue pressure,
and for guarding the towns on the eastern coast from being
burdened with the destitute who may flock thither, or be sent
thither from England or Scotland, or with the families of the
large body of migrants who proceed to Great Britain in the
harvest season and return at its conclusion. If there were
danger from all or any of these sources, it might be right to
make provision against it in the bill; but I am satisfied that,
in carrying out the measure as now proposed, none of these
inconveniences would arise, beyond what the commissioners
could meet by special regulations, without recurring to a
settlement law. There is this primary objection to settlement,
that it impedes the free distribution of labour, and interferes
with the fair and open competition which is alike
necessary for protecting the employer and the employed, and
by which an equalisation of supply and demand in the labour-market
can alone be maintained. Its direct tendency is to
.bn 213.png
.pn +1
depress the social condition and character of the people; for
by narrowing the field of labour, and binding individuals to a
particular locality, not perhaps favourable to the development
or most profitable employment of their faculties, improvement
is checked, independence is destroyed, and the working
classes, without resource or elasticity of spirit, are led to
depend upon their place of settlement in every contingency,
instead of upon themselves. If therefore the bill as at present
proposed, by requiring the rate to be levied upon the
union for relief of the actually destitute within it is sufficient,
as I believe it to be, for securing attention to the business
of the union, there can be no necessity to establish a law of
settlement for such purpose; and nothing short of absolute
necessity in that or some other respect, could justify the introduction
of a law, the direct tendency of which would be
in other respects so injurious.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Out-door Relief should have been provided for.—“Much has been
said as to the necessity of providing out-door relief in Ireland;
but most of the arguments in favour of an extension
of relief beyond the workhouse appear to be founded, either
upon a misapprehension of the objects of a poor-law, or upon
an exaggerated estimate of the number of destitute persons
for whom relief would be required. The object of a poor-law
is to relieve the destitute—that is, to relieve those individuals
who from sickness, accident, mental or bodily infirmity,
failure of employment, or other cause, may be unable to
obtain the necessaries of life by their own exertions. Under
such circumstances, the destitute individual, if not relieved,
might be driven to beg or to steal; and a poor-law, by providing
for the relief of destitution, prevents the necessity or
the excuse for resorting to either. This is the legitimate
object of a poor-law, and to this its operations are limited in
the bill of last session. But if, disregarding this limitation,
it be attempted to provide relief for all who are needy, but
not destitute—for all who are poor, and whose means of
living are inferior to what it may be desirable that they
should possess—if property is to be taxed, not for the relief
of the destitute only, but for ensuring to every one such a
portion of the comforts and conveniences of life as are assumed
to be necessary—the consequence of any such attempt
must be in Ireland, as it notoriously was in England, not
only to diminish the value of property, but also to emasculate
and demoralise the whole labouring population.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“The evidence collected by the Commissioners of Poor Law Inquiry
in England, establishes the conclusion that out-door
relief is inevitably open to abuse, and that its administration
.bn 214.png
.pn +1
entails consequences prejudicial to the labouring classes, and
to the whole community—in short, that there is no security
for the prevention of abuse, nor any mode of ensuring a right
administration of relief, but by restricting it to the workhouse.
The facts and reasonings contained in the Reports on this
subject, have been confirmed by the experience of the present
Poor Law Commission; and although out-door relief has not
yet been totally prohibited in any of the English unions,
there can be no doubt that the intention of the Poor Law
Amendment Act points eventually to the workhouse as the
sole medium of relief, and requires that it should be so
restricted as early as circumstances permitted. To establish
out-door relief in Ireland, would therefore be in direct contradiction
to English experience, and to the spirit of the
English law. It would introduce a practice in the one country,
under the prejudicial effects of which the other has long been
suffering, and from which it has not yet entirely recovered.
Some persons have recommended that out-door relief in Ireland,
should be restricted to the aged, sick, and infirm; but
even with this limitation, how is abuse to be prevented, and
how is the precise limit to be defined of the age, sickness, or
infirmity, entitling an individual to be relieved out of the
workhouse?—I believe it to be impossible so to define the
conditions as to prevent the occurrence of gross abuses, which
would not only be a source of demoralisation, but would
also serve to engender strifes jealousies and ill feeling in
every locality. After the best consideration which I have
been able to give the subject, in all its bearings, I still retain
the opinion that in Ireland relief should be restricted to
the workhouse, or in other words, that out-door relief in any
shape should be prohibited.
.sp 1
.ti -4
The mode of Rating is objected to.—“The question of rating is
obviously open to much contrariety of opinion. The mode of
valuation, of assessment, of collection, and the proportions in
which the rate shall be paid, are all questions on which different
opinions might possibly be formed by different persons;
and accordingly the views expressed upon these points have
been various and conflicting. Some have contended that the
whole of the rate should be charged upon the owner, on the
ground that the tenant derives little profit, often no profit whatever
from the occupation, and ought not therefore to be called
on to pay any part of the rate. Those taking this view,
appear to overlook the fact that the destitute classes in Ireland
are now supported almost entirely by the occupiers, who
will be relieved from this charge when the proposed measure
shall have come into operation. To require the occupiers to
.bn 215.png
.pn +1
pay half the rate, is not therefore to impose on them a new
charge, but a portion only of an old charge, to which they
had long been accustomed. Moreover the occupiers have an
interest in the property rated—not permanent indeed like
the owners, but more immediate; and on this ground also
they are fairly chargeable with a portion of the rate. If the
owners paid the whole, the occupiers would of course not be
entitled to take part in the distribution of the funds, nor in
the management of the business of the union—they would
have no interest in common with their landlords, and would
to a certain extent be arrayed against them; for their interest
and their sympathies would probably lead them to increase
the amount of the burthen, rather than lessen it. Even if
there were a sufficient number of resident owners, it would be
inexpedient to place the whole control of the unions in their
hands, thus constituting them a separate class, and at the
same time lowering the position of the occupiers; but in the
present state of Ireland, such a proposition seems especially
open to objection. The exemption in favour of occupiers of
5l. value and under, and the charging the owners of such
property with the entire rate, forms an exception to the above
reasoning, and will probably be disapproved by those whose
interests may appear to be affected by it. But every such
charge is eventually borne by the property, and in the long run
it is perhaps not very material whether the rate is paid by the
owner or by the tenant, it being in fact a portion of the rent.
This arrangement is proposed, partly as a matter of convenience,
on account of the difficulty and expense of collecting a
rate from the vast number of small holdings of 5l. value and
under which exist in Ireland, and partly also with the view
of relieving this description of occupiers, who are for the most
part in a state of poverty bordering on destitution, from a
portion of the burthen; and it is gratifying to find that this
proposition has on the whole been favourably received.
.sp 1
.ti -4
The Unions as proposed are too large.—“In almost every discussion
during the progress of the bill last session, the proposed
number and size of the unions were objected to. Yet the
discretion of the commissioners is unfettered in these respects.
They are left at liberty to form the unions, as may appear
best adapted to the circumstances in each case. The same
discretion was confided to the commissioners in England, and
it must be equally necessary that they should possess it in
Ireland. The objections to the intended size of the unions,
do not therefore apply to the bill, but to my first Report, in
which it is stated that, ‘If the surface of Ireland be divided
into squares of twenty miles each, so that a workhouse placed
.bn 216.png
.pn +1
in the centre would be about ten miles from the extremities
in all directions, this would give about eighty workhouses for
the whole of Ireland.’ Instead of eighty workhouses however,
I assumed that a hundred might be required, and calculated
the probable expense accordingly. But this was mere
assumption, for it is obviously impossible to state what will
be the precise number of unions, until some progress has been
made in the work of formation. The commissioners are
bound to form the unions in the best manner, according to
the best of their judgment. Their credit as public functionaries
would be compromised by any failure in this respect;
and it may be fairly presumed that they will use due vigilance
and impartiality, and avail themselves of all the experience
which England affords in this matter.
.sp 1
.ti -4
The suppression of Mendicancy objected to.—“Objections have
been made to the vagrancy clauses, and it has been contended
that if such provisions were necessary, they should be established
by a separate Act. Whether the suppression of mendicancy
be provided for in the Poor Law Bill, or by a separate
bill, does not seem very material; but it is important that
the provision should be made concurrently with the Poor
Law measure. To establish a poor-law, without at the same
time suppressing mendicancy, would be imperfect legislation,
especially with reference to the present condition of the Irish
people. It is true there are now vagrancy laws in Ireland,
which enact whipping, imprisonment, and transportation as
the punishments of mendicancy; but these laws are inoperative,
partly from their severity, and partly from other causes.
Ireland wants a vagrancy law that shall operate in unison
with the Poor Law, for without such concurrent action, both
laws would be in a great measure ineffective. The suppression
of mendicancy is necessary for the protection of the
peasantry themselves. No Irish cottier, however poor, closes
his door whilst partaking of his humble meal. The mendicant
has free access, and is never refused a share. There is
a superstitious dread of bringing down the beggar’s curse,
and thus mendicancy is sustained in the midst of poverty,
perpetuating itself amongst its victims. Much of the feeling
out of which this state of things has arisen may, I think, be
traced to the absence of any provision for relieving the destitute.
A mendicant solicits charity on the plea of destitution.
His plea must be admitted, for it cannot be disproved; and
to refuse relief, may occasion the death of a fellow-creature,
which would be a crime of great magnitude. Hence the
admission of the mendicant’s claim, which is regarded in the
light of an obligation by the Irish peasantry. To make provision
.bn 217.png
.pn +1
for relieving mendicants at the public charge, without
at the same time preventing the practice of begging, would
leave the peasant exposed to much of the pressure which he
now sustains from this source; for the mendicant class would
generally prefer the vagrant life to which they are accustomed,
to the order and restraint of a workhouse. To suppress
mendicancy, is therefore necessary both as an adjunct
of the proposed Poor Law, and for the protection of the
labouring classes throughout Ireland.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Objections to cumulative voting, &c.—“It might perhaps be sufficient
to say, in answer to the objections which were made to
cumulative voting, voting by proxy, and constituting magistrates
ex-officio guardians, that the Irish bill follows in these
cases the example of the English Poor Law Amendment Act.
There are, however, weighty reasons in favour of each of
these provisions, some of which it may be useful to notice.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“With respect to cumulative votes, it may be observed, that the
raising and disbursing of a poor-rate involves nothing political,
but is to be regarded rather in the light of a mutual
assurance, in which the community joins for the purpose of
being protected against the effects of pauperism, each member
contributing in proportion to his means, and each having an
interest according to the amount of his contributions. If
therefore the amount contributed be the measure of each
ratepayer’s interest, it ought in justice also, within certain
convenient limitations, to be the measure of his influence;
and these limitations the bill provides, by fixing a scale
according to which every ratepayer is entitled to vote. As
regards the voting by proxy, such a power is necessary for
enabling the owner to protect his property, his interest in
which is permanent, although he may not always be present
to represent it by his personal vote; and the bill therefore
provides for his doing so by proxy. The occupier is always
present, and may vote in person; not so the owner, whose
interest would be unprotected without this power of voting by
proxy. That the owner’s interest ought to be represented
will not be denied. The rate is levied upon property, and
thus in fact becomes a portion of the rent, which would be
increased by the amount of the rate, if this were not levied
for Poor Law purposes; so that in reality it is the landlord,
the permanent owner of the property, who finally bears the
burthen of the rate, and not the tenant or temporary occupier.
It seems consonant with justice therefore, that every facility
should be afforded to the owner for protecting his interest by
his vote.
.bn 218.png
.pn +1
.sp 1
.ti -4
“There are many reasons why magistrates should form a portion
of every board of guardians. The elected guardians will for
the most part consist of occupiers, or renters, not the owners
of property; and their interest will be temporary, whilst the
interest of the owner is permanent. Some union of these two
interests seems necessary towards the complete organization
of a board of guardians; and as the magistrates collectively
may be regarded as the chief landed proprietors of the
country, the bill proposes to effect this union by creating them
ex-officio members of the board. The elected guardians
are moreover subject to be changed every year, and their
proceedings might be changeable, and perhaps contradictory,
and confusion might arise through the opposite views of successive
boards. The ex-officio guardians will serve as a corrective
in this respect. Their position as magistrates, their
information and general character, and their large stake as
owners of property, will necessarily give them much weight;
whilst the proposed limitation of their number to one-third of
the elected guardians, will prevent their having an undue
preponderance. The elected and the ex officio members may
be expected each to improve the other, and important social
benefits may arise from their frequent mingling, and from the
necessity for mutual concession and forbearance which such
mingling cannot fail to teach. Each individual member will
feel that his influence depends upon the opinion which his
colleagues entertain of him, or upon the respect or regard
which they feel towards him; and hence will arise an interchange
of good offices, and a cultivation of mutual good-will,
beginning with the board of guardians, and extending
throughout the union, and eventually it may be hoped
throughout the country; and thus the union system may become
the means of healing dissensions, and reconciling jarring
interests in Ireland. On these grounds, I consider that the
establishment of ex-officio guardians, voting by proxy, and
cumulative voting, as provided in the bill, should be adhered
to.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“Many measures, local as well as general, have been suggested,
either for removing restrictions to the application of capital,
or for giving direct encouragement to its application in Ireland;
and some of these measures, I understand government
intend taking into early consideration. In the survey which
I have been able to take of the state of Ireland, and of the
condition of the Irish people, it has appeared to me that
quiet, and the absence of excitement, is the object chiefly to
be desired. With repose would come security, and the
investment of capital, and thence would arise employment,
.bn 219.png
.pn +1
and the development of the productive powers of the country.
The proposed Poor Law will not of itself accomplish these
objects, but it will be found a valuable accessory; and with
the progress of education, and that orderly submission to
lawful authority which is at once the cause and the consequence
of peace and prosperity, all those other objects will,
we may hope, be eventually secured for Ireland.”[78]
.pm end_hang
My Report was considered by the Cabinet,[79] and the
whole subject was again very fully discussed, and
several minor alterations in the bill were decided upon.
It was also determined to bring it forward as the first
measure of the session. The subject continued to occupy
.bn 220.png
.pn +1
a good deal of public attention, as well in England as
in Ireland. It was discussed in the papers, and pamphlets
were written upon it. In this instance however,
as in most others, the opponents were the most active,
and much ingenuity was displayed in animadverting on
the asserted incongruities of the proposed Irish Poor
Law. The inquiry commissioners also had their advocates,
and in Ireland especially their recommendations
were, as might be expected, more popular than the
government bill. However, on the whole, the measure
may be said to have held its ground, and to be
regarded as a matter of first-rate importance.
.fm rend=t
.fn 78
The following estimate was prepared during the progress of the bill, and
was printed by order of the house of lords.
Assuming that there will be a hundred unions, each having a workhouse
capable of accommodating 800 persons, the paid officers, with their respective
salaries in each union, may be stated as follows:—
.ta l:50 r:5 r:4 c:3 r:4 w=95%
Clerk of the union | from |£60 |to| 80
Master and mistress of the workhouse | | 60 | ”| 80
Chaplains | | 50 | ”| 80
Medical officers and medicines | |100 | ”| 150
Auditor | | 20 | ”| 30
Returning officer | | 10 | ”| 20
Collector | | 50 | ”| 70
Schoolmaster and schoolmistress | | 50 | ”| 80
Porter and assistant-porter | | 20 | ”| 30
.if h
Other assistants in the workhouse and union, say | |30 | | 30
.if-
.if t
Other assistants in the workhouse and union, say | | 30 | | 30
| | —— | | ——
.if-
| |£450 |to| 650
.ta-
For the hundred unions, this would give a total expenditure in salaries of
from 45,000l. to 65,000l. per annum; or say 55,000l. on an average.
In addition to the above, it may be further assumed, that on an average
throughout the year the workhouses will be three parts full, and that the
total cost of maintenance clothing bedding wear and tear &c., will amount
to 1s. 6d. per head per week, which is equal to 3l. 18s., or say 4l. per head per
annum; this will give an expenditure of 240,000l. per annum for maintenance
&c., in the hundred unions: which added to the 55,000l. for salaries,
will make a total charge of 295,000l. annually for the relief of the destitute,
under the provisions of the bill.
The money for building the workhouses is to be advanced by government,
free of interest for ten years; and is to be repaid by annual instalments of five
per cent. The cost of the workhouses has been stated at 700,000l., but
assuming it to amount to 1,000,000l., this would impose an additional charge
of 50,000l. annually for the first twenty years (exclusive of the interest after
the first ten years on the then residue of the principal), which, added to the
above, makes an aggregate charge of 345,000l. per annum.—G. N.
.fn-
.fn 79
It was laid on the table of both houses on the assembling of parliament.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn The bill reintroduced, December 1, 1837.
Parliament assembled on the 10th of November, and
on 1st of December Lord John Russell reintroduced
the bill, in an argumentative speech
of considerable length. After going through
and commenting on the several recommendations of the
inquiry commissioners,[80] and noticing the objections to
which they were all more or less open, he explained by
way of contrast the principle on which the present bill
was founded, much in the same manner that he had
done on the first introduction of the measure. The
statement was generally well received, although there
were some marked exceptions in this respect, and the
bill was read a first time without a division. It was in
like manner read a second time on the 5th of February
1838. But on the motion for going into committee on
the 9th, Mr. O'Connell strongly opposed the bill, and
moved that it be committed that day six months. The
amendment was however negatived by 277 to 25, a
majority which made the passing of the measure in
some form pretty certain. On the 23rd of February
the question of settlement was again very fully discussed,
and its introduction decided against by 103 to
31, the latter number comprising all who could be
.bn 221.png
.pn +1
brought to vote for a settlement law of any kind. The
vagrancy clauses were now also withdrawn from the
bill, on the understanding that there would hereafter
be a separate measure for the suppression of The bill passed the commons and read a first time in the lords. .
The bill continued to be considered in successive committees
until the 23rd of March, when all the clauses
having been gone through and settled, it was ordered
to be reported, which was done on the 9th
of April. On the 30th of April the bill was
read a third time and passed by the commons,
and on the day following was introduced and
read a first time in the lords.
.fm rend=t
.fn 80
Ante, pp. 137 to 146.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
It had been thought desirable that during the Easter
vacation I should visit Holland and Belgium, with the
view of ascertaining whether there was anything in the
institutions of those countries, or in the management of
their poor, that could be made available in the present
measure of Irish Poor Law; and it was arranged that
Dr. Kay, one of our assistant-commissioners should
accompany me. The time at our disposal was short,
and our investigations were necessarily hurried; but
the letters with which we were furnished procured for
us ready access everywhere, and enabled us to obtain
information which would not otherwise have been accessible.
On our return, I reported to government
the result of our inquiries.[81] The first portion of the
Report was chiefly furnished by my companion, and
had reference to the subject of education, in which Dr.
Kay[82] felt a deep interest, and in the promotion of
which he afterwards took a distinguished part. The
latter portions of the Report applied more immediately
to our present subject, and from these portions I will
now abstract so much as seemed calculated to be useful
with regard to the question of Irish Poor Law, or to
bear in any way upon the state of Ireland—
.fm rend=t
.fn 81
The Report was printed, and laid before parliament.
.fn-
.fn 82
Now Sir James Kay Shuttleworth, Bart.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.bn 222.png
.pn +1
.pm start_hang
.ce
Third Report.—May 5, 1838.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“The institutions for the relief of indigence are numerous in Holland,
and consist of hospices for the aged and infirm, orphan-houses,
workhouses of towns, depôts de mendicité, or district
workhouses, the poor colonies, and private charitable institutions.
The funds for the support of these establishments are
to a great extent derived from endowments and voluntary
contributions, the direct tax not being more than about
1,800,000 guilders, or 150,000l. per annum. Among the
classes having ability to labour, a state of even temporary
dependence is considered disgraceful, and great exertions are
made by the labouring population to avoid it. But no sense
of degradation attaches to the orphan establishments, which
are calculated to invite rather than to discourage dependence.
The depôts de mendicité, or provincial workhouses bear so
close a resemblance to the old English workhouses and those
established under Gilbert’s and the various local Acts, as to
warrant a belief that the English workhouses must have been
formed upon a Dutch model; but however this may be, the
result has certainly been the same in both countries, the evil of
pauperism having been increased rather than diminished by these
institutions, in which the profitable application of pauper labour
has been sought for, rather than the repression of pauperism.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“The workhouse of Amsterdam is a vast building, capable of containing
upwards of 1,500 inmates. The imposing character
of its exterior, the elegance of its entrance-hall, and the decorations
of the rooms appropriated to public business, were in
marked contrast with the aspect of the several wards. The
inmates chiefly consisted of the lowest and least moral part
of the population of the great cities, who had sought refuge
in the workhouse because they had forfeited their claim to
regular employment, and the vigilance of the police did not
permit them to subsist by mendicancy. The sexes were
strictly separated at all times, but the children were in the
same apartment with the adults of each sex. The males and
females each occupied separate day-rooms, in which the dirt
and disorder were very offensive. In these rooms the inmates
ate their meals, without any attention to regularity or propriety.
Here also they worked in the looms, or at other
occupations. The first group of men to whom we advanced,
were seated at a table playing at cards; we found another
party playing at draughts, and a third at hazard. Others
were idly sauntering up and down the room. The women’s
day-room presented a scene of similar disorder. Both men
and boys were clothed in a coarse kind of sacking. The
chief article of their diet is rye-bread, almost black, and not
.bn 223.png
.pn +1
over-abundant, with an indefinite quantity of boiled buttermilk;
but they are permitted to work at certain rates of
wages, and to spend a portion of their earnings at a canteen
in the house, where coffee tobacco gin &c. may be obtained.
On application for admission, the paupers undergo a strict
examination as to their ability to maintain themselves; and
while inmates they are not permitted to go abroad, ‘unless
they give positive hopes that on re-entering society, they will
render themselves worthy of their liberty, by diligently endeavouring
to gain their own livelihood by honest means.’
.sp 1
.ti -4
“The establishment at La Cambré, near Brussels, was superior in
its internal arrangements to the workhouse at Amsterdam,
particularly in the separate classification of the aged, the
children, and the adults, and also in the good arrangement
and cleanliness of the sleeping-rooms. The sexes are strictly
separated, as is invariably the case in all the other Dutch and
Belgian institutions. By the penal code, a mendicant once
condemned to a depôt de mendicité for begging, may be kept
there during the remainder of his life; but in practice, he is
allowed to leave the establishment whenever the commission
of superintendence are satisfied that he is disposed to labour
for his subsistence, without resorting to mendicancy.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“There are three great workhouses for the whole of Holland,
which are situated, one at Amsterdam, another at Middleburgh,
and a third in the commonalty Nieuve Pekel A, in
the province of Groningen. Belgium has five great workhouses,
situated respectively at La Cambré, near Brussels,
for the province of Brabant; at Bruges, for the two Flanders;
at Hoogstraeten, for the province of Antwerp; at Mons, for
Hainault, Namur, and Luxembourg; and at Reickheim, for
Liege and Limburgh. Under their present regulations, these
provincial workhouses, or depôts de mendicité, both in Holland
and Belgium, are I think, judging from what we could
learn and what we saw, very defective institutions; and
hence seems to have arisen the necessity for resorting to some
stricter measures, which ended in the establishment of the
poor colonies. In England, the defects of the old workhouses
were remedied by the introduction of regulations calculated
to render them efficient tests, by the aid of which we
have succeeded in establishing the distinction between poverty
and destitution: for the latter we have provided relief, but
we have left the former to its own natural resources. In
Holland and Belgium no such distinction has been made, or
test established. Their workhouses remain as they were
originally formed—nurseries for indolence, and stimulants to
pauperism. But in order to correct this evil, the Dutch have
.bn 224.png
.pn +1
had recourse to the establishment of penal colonies, to which
all persons found begging (or committing vagabondage as it
is termed) are sent, if able to work, and compelled to labour
for their subsistence, under strict discipline and low diet.
Had the workhouses been made efficient, there would have
been no occasion for these establishments; but the workhouses
not being efficient, recourse has been had to the penal
colonies, where the test of strict discipline, hard labour, and
scanty diet, is so applied as to be held in the greatest dread
by the vagrant classes. All beggars are apprehended by the
police; if able to work, they are sent to the penal colonies; if
aged or infirm, or unable to perform out-door work, they are
sent to the workhouses; and although the discipline of the
workhouses is defective, and the management in many respects
faulty, yet with the aid of the penal colonies they secure the
repression of mendicancy.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“In the workhouses of the penal colonies to which the able-bodied
mendicants are sent, one ward is used in common as a dormitory,
refectory, and workshop. The inmates sleep in
hammocks, and are very coarsely clad. They labour in the
fields, or in making bricks, or at manufactures in the house,
under the superintendence of an inspector. Each colonist is
furnished with a book, in which is entered the work executed
daily, the amount of food and clothes furnished, his share of
the general expenses of the establishment, and whatever he
has received in the paper-money of the colony. Guards on
horseback to patrol the boundary of the colony, rewards
given for bringing back any colonist who has attempted to
escape, and an uniform dress, are the means adopted to prevent
desertion from the colony. Mendicants when arrested,
may choose whether they will be brought before the tribunals
as vagabonds, or be sent to the coercive colony, where they
must remain at least one year. These rigorous measures for
the suppression of mendicancy, have been adopted in the
absence of any acknowledgment of a right to relief, and notwithstanding
that a large portion of the relief actually administered
arises from endowments and voluntary contributions.
This forms an important feature in the Dutch and Belgian
system; and if, as I believe, the rigour of this part of their
institutions has been caused by the imperfect organization of
the others, the true remedy would have been, not in the establishment
of penal colonies, but in such an improvement of
those other institutions as would have rendered them efficient
for the repression of mendicancy, as well as for the administration
of relief. On comparing the modes of relief existing
in Holland and Belgium, with the system of relief it is proposed
.bn 225.png
.pn +1
to establish in Ireland, the latter will I think be found
to be much more simple and complete, and consequently to
promise greater efficiency. No right to relief exists in Holland
or Belgium, yet mendicancy is suppressed in both those
countries. It is proposed not to give a right to relief in Ireland,
and it is intended to suppress mendicancy,—in this
respect therefore the circumstances are similar. But in Ireland,
it is proposed to divide the whole country into districts
of convenient extent, with a workhouse to each, so that every
destitute and infirm person will be within easy reach of adequate
relief; and this arrangement is obviously preferable to
the various, and in some respects conflicting modes of relief
which exist in Holland and Belgium, and will be more effective
in its operation. The example of Holland and Belgium
may therefore be cited, in addition to that of England, in
support of the proposed Irish Poor Law.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“Another matter of much interest, is the different condition of the
smaller class of cultivators in the two countries. Small farms
of from five to ten acres abound in many parts of Belgium,
closely resembling the small holdings in Ireland; but the
Irish cultivator is without the comforts and conveniences of
civilised life, whilst the Belgian peasant-farmer enjoys a large
portion of both. The houses of the small cultivators in Belgium
are generally substantial, with a sleeping-room in the
attic, and closets for beds connected with the lower apartment,
a dairy, a store for the grain, an oven, a cattle-stall, piggery,
and poultry-loft. There is generally decent furniture and
sufficient bedding, and although the scrupulous cleanliness of
the Dutch may not be everywhere observable, an air of comfort
and propriety pervades the whole establishment. In the
cowhouse the dung and urine are preserved in the tank; the
ditches are scoured, the dry leaves potato-tops and offal of
every kind are collected for manure, and heaps of compost
are in course of preparation. The premises are kept in compact
order, and a careful attention to economy is everywhere
apparent. The family are decently clad, none are ragged or
slovenly, although their dress may be of the coarsest material.
The men universally wear the , and wooden shoes are
in common use by both sexes. Their diet consists chiefly of
rye-bread milk and potatoes. The contrast of what is here
described, with the state of the same class of persons in Ireland,
is very marked. Yet the productive powers of the soil
in Belgium are certainly inferior to the general soil of Ireland,
and the climate does not appear to be superior. To
the soil and the climate therefore, the Belgian does not owe
his superiority in comfort and position over the Irish cultivator.
.bn 226.png
.pn +1
The difference is rather owing to the greater industry economy
and forethought of the people.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“A small occupier, whose farm we examined near Ghent, paid
225 francs per annum for about two bonniers, or six acres of
land, with a comfortable house, stabling, and other offices
attached, all very good of their kind; this makes the rent
(reckoning the franc at 10d.) equal to 9l. 7s. 6d. sterling per
annum; and, if we allow 3l. 7s. 6d. for the rent of the house,
stabling, and other offices, there will be 6l., or 1l. per acre
for the land, which accords with the information we obtained
at other places. This farmer had a wife and five children,
and appeared to live in much comfort. He owed little or
nothing, he said, but he had no capital beyond that employed
on his farm. We questioned him respecting his resources in
case of sickness. He replied that if he were ill, and his illness
was severe and of long duration, it would press heavily
upon him, because it would interrupt the whole farm-work;
and in order to provide for his family and pay the doctor he
feared he should be obliged to sell part of his stock. If his
wife and family were long ill, and he retained his strength,
the doctor would give him credit, and he should be able to
pay him by degrees in a year or two. We suggested that
the Bureau de Bienfaisance, or charitable individuals, might
afford him aid in such a difficulty, but he replied cheerfully
that he must take care of himself If a sick club, or benefit
society, were established among these people, to enable them
by mutual assurance to provide for the casualty of sickness,
the chief source of suffering to their families would be obviated,
and there would be little left to wish for or amend in their
social condition. The Belgian peasant farmer here described,
is not very different from the small Irish occupier as respects
his position in society, but how much better is his condition as
regards the comforts and conveniences of life. The cause of
this difference I believe to be, the more skilful system of culture
pursued by the six-acre farmers of Belgium, the rigid
economy which characterises them as a class, and the persevering
industry and forethought with which they adjust their
limited resources to their wants; and one of the first steps to
the improvement of this important class in Ireland should be,
to endeavour to assimilate their farming operations and
domestic management, to that of the same class in Belgium.
.sp 1
.ti -4
“It is not necessary to discuss the comparative advantages of small
and large farms, it being notorious that the former abound in
all parts of Ireland, in some districts almost to the exclusion
of the other; and that any attempt at a rapid consolidation of
these small holdings would occasion great misery and suffering.
.bn 227.png
.pn +1
Changes of this nature cannot be successful, without
special regard to local circumstances; and the obstructions
which arise from fixed habits and old social arrangements,
generally render any great organic change impracticable, excepting
in the lapse of years. An improved management of
the small farms in Ireland, would however afford the means
of increasing the comfort, and ameliorating the condition of
the cottier tenantry, and at the same time facilitate the progress
of other changes conducive to their general well-being.
It would, in fact, be beginning at the lowest point of the
scale—improved management would bring increase of capital
and improved habits, and thence would arise an enlargement
of occupancies, which the vast extent of now waste but
reclaimable land in Ireland would greatly facilitate. The
establishment of a poor-law, by removing the burthen of
supporting mendicancy which now presses almost exclusively
on the class of small cultivators, will afford them relief and
encouragement, and facilitate the improvement of their condition:
but the Poor Law alone will not effect the necessary
ameliorations, which can only be accomplished by a combination
of efforts, of which the establishment of a poor-law is
one, possibly it is the chief; for a poor-law will unite the
interests of the other classes with the well-being of the poorest,
and thus secure for the least intelligent, and therefore the
most dependent portion of the community, the sympathies and
the assistance of the most competent and intelligent of the
middle and higher classes. The Poor Law will in this way,
I believe, become the means of combining the now discordant
elements of society in Ireland, for the promotion of the common
interest; but the first impulse in the career of amelioration
must be given by the landed proprietors, who should unite in
promoting improvements among their tenantry, as well as in
carrying out the provisions of the law.”
.pm end_hang
.sn Bill read a first time in the lords, May 1, 1838.
The feeling in the house of lords with regard to the
bill, was decidedly more adverse than had been the
case in the house of commons. Many of the
Irish peers whose properties were deeply encumbered,
were alarmed at the threatened
position of a poor-rate, which they feared would
swallow up a large portion of their incomes. These
fears were appealed to, and the danger declaimed against
and magnified, both by the economical opponents of
any poor-law whatever, and by the opponents of the
.bn 228.png
.pn +1
present measure. It was evident therefore from the
first that the bill would encounter a strenuous opposition
in the lords, and that its passing was far from
certain. Bill read a second time in the lords. On the 21st of May the bill was read
a second time, after a long and stormy debate,
which lasted nine hours. Lord Melbourne
moved the second reading in a judicious and temperate
speech, touching skilfully on most of the leading points,
and deprecating the intervention of party feeling. The
bill was, he said, founded on the amended system of the
English Poor Law. It was in fact an adaptation of the
Act of 1834 to the circumstances of Ireland, with such
alterations as were required by the peculiar condition
of that country, and as the experience of its working
suggested. He thought the establishment of the measure
would be the beginning of a system of order, and
that it would introduce order in a beneficial form. It
would among other things form the foundation of a
measure for the suppression of mendicancy; and one
great advantage to which he looked as arising from it
was, that the struggle for land, and the violent means
the people took of enforcing what they conceived to be
their right with regard to it, would be much lessened, if
not extinguished. The writings of eminent political
economists had, he said, led him at one time to doubt
whether the evil effects attending a system of poor-laws,
did not more than counterbalance any advantage
to be derived from them; but a full and careful consideration
of the subject had convinced him, that it was
most beneficial for the landlords to be made to take an
interest in the condition of the people on the land.
The principle on which a poor-law should be established,
was that of the general benefit of the country—we
should relieve the destitute, but not do so in a way
to paralyze the feeling of energy and enterprise which
ought to be paramount in every man’s bosom; and for
this purpose he thought the workhouse system was the
.bn 229.png
.pn +1
one best adapted for testing the necessity and means of
the applicant.
The Marquis of Londonderry spoke strongly against
the bill, and moved that it be read that day six months.
Many other peers joined in denouncing the measure,
but none more violently than Lord Lyndhurst, who
declared that it would lead to a dissolution of the Union.
The Duke of Wellington supported the second reading,
with a view to amending the bill in committee, and
rendering it better fitted for its objects. The distress
existing in Ireland was he said undoubted. There had
been inquiry after inquiry on the subject, and on the outrages
of every description to which it led. He expected
from this bill that it would improve the social relations
of the people of Ireland, and prevent the distress which
now so often prevailed there. Another result he anticipated
from the measure was, that it would induce the
gentry of Ireland, whether resident or not, to look after
their properties, and pay some attention to the state
of the population on their estates. This, the duke observed,
would improve the social relations between landlord
and tenant—between the occupier and the labourer
of the soil. If the Poor Laws had not been amended in
England, he should have hesitated before consenting to
the introduction of a poor-law into Ireland; but seeing
the results the measure of 1834 had produced in this
country—seeing the great advantage which had occurred
from the working of that system—and seeing
how it has improved the relations of landlord and tenant,
he could not help desiring some such measure for
Ireland, in order, if possible, to remedy in like manner
the evils of that country. With regard to settlement,
he was firmly convinced that its establishment in connexion
with the bill, would be productive of unbounded
litigation and expense, and lead to disputes of which
no one could foresee the end. At the same time, he
thought care should be taken that all parishes should
.bn 230.png
.pn +1
be required to pay the expenses connected with the
relief of their paupers, “that being one of the principles
of the Poor Law in this country; and such an
amendment should be introduced into the present bill.”
The measure being thus supported by the duke, the
second reading was carried by a majority of 149 to 20.
.sn The bill in committee.
It was proposed that the bill should be committed on
the 28th of May, but the debate was exceedingly
violent and was continued by adjournment
to the 31st. It is difficult to describe the scene
which took place, on the motion for going into committee
on the bill. The confusion then, and indeed
during the whole night, surpassed anything one could
have expected in such a deliberative assembly. The
alarms of the Irish peers as to the effects of the measure
exceeded all bounds, and they were joined by several
English peers who are supporters of the English Poor
Law. On the resumption of the debate on the 31st
however, and after a further discussion for eight hours,
the house resolved by 107 to 41 to support the principle
of the bill, as embodied in the 41st clause. This clause
provided that relief to the destitute might be administered
in the workhouses, at the discretion of the boards
of guardians, subject to the condition—in the first place
of a preference being given to the aged and infirm
poor, and to destitute children; and in the second place
to persons residing in the union before those not so
resident, when there is not sufficient accommodation for
all the destitute.
These latter provisions were introduced at the instance
of the Duke of Wellington, in order to meet the objections
and mitigate the hostility of the opponents of
the bill, as was also the provision in the 44th clause
charging the cost of relief to the several electoral divisions,
instead of to the unions at large, as it before stood.
These changes were arranged between the duke and
myself, with the approval of government, previous to
.bn 231.png
.pn +1
the second reading. The bill read a third time. The bill was considered in committee
on the 7th, 21st, 22nd, and 26th of June, and
was read a third time on the 6th of July. On
the 11th I find it recorded in my journal—“The
bill is now clear of the lords, altered and in
some respects improved, although the localisation of
the charge upon the electoral divisions approximates
too nearly to settlement to be quite satisfactory. I
wish this had been left as it at first stood; but so
long as no right to relief, and no power of removal are
given, we shall I trust be able to avoid the infliction of
actual settlement.”[83]
.fm rend=t
.fn 83
This quotation is from a journal which I had kept of the proceedings
with regard to the Irish Poor Law, from the commencement of my connexion
with the question in August 1836, and which has been very useful in framing
the present narrative. In this journal is recorded from day to day, the progress
of my inquiries in Ireland and elsewhere, the deliberations and consultations
with government on the subject, the discussions with different public
men in reference to it, and also the various interviews with the Duke of Wellington
after the bill had passed the commons, in which it was my good
fortune to be the medium of communication for settling the points at issue
be tween his grace and the government. I say “my good fortune,” for without
the duke’s assistance the bill would not have passed the house of lords, and
without the part taken by myself in negotiating and bringing about a right
understanding on the subject, I doubt if that assistance would have been
accorded. If therefore the enactment of the Irish Poor Law was, as I believe,
a measure of great social importance, and as subsequent events have moreover
I think shown it to be, it cannot but be regarded as a great privilege to have
been permitted to assist in any way towards the accomplishment of such an
object. With this privilege I was so fortunate as to be invested, and I feel
happy in the consciousness of having spared no pains to fulfil the obligations
it involved.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
Although so far “clear of the lords,” there nevertheless
remained much to be done in reconciling differences
between the two houses with regard to some of the
amendments, and in particular with regard to the
schedule of rating, which it was desired to make available
for the purposes of the municipal franchise.
Several conferences were held, and “reasons” pro and
con were delivered in, and it was not until the 27th of
July that the bill was ready for the royal assent—This
was given on the 31st, and thus a law was at length
established, making provision for the systematic and
efficient relief of destitution in Ireland.
.bn 232.png
.pn +1
.sp 4
.h2
CHAPTER IV.
.pm start_summary
Summary of the ‘Act for the more effectual Relief of the Poor in Ireland,’ and
of the ‘Amendment Act’—Arrangements for bringing the Act into operation—-First
and second Reports of proceedings—Dublin and Cork unions—Distress
in the western districts—Third, fourth, fifth, and sixth Reports—Summary
of the Act for the further amendment of the Law—Seventh
Report—Cost of relief, and numbers relieved—Issue of amended orders.
.pm end_summary
.sp 2
Having in the last chapter described the progress of
the bill from the commencement till it became law, I
now propose, as in the case of the English and Scottish
Acts,[84] to give a summary of the Irish statute sufficiently
in detail for enabling the reader, with the aid of the
Reports on which the measure was founded, to understand
clearly both the import and the object of the
several provisions—
.fm rend=t
.fn 84
See the author’s Histories of the English and Scotch Poor Laws.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.pm start_hang
.nf c
Summary of the 1st and 2nd Victoria, cap. 56,
Entitled 'An Act for the more effectual Relief of the Poor in\
Ireland'—31st July 1838.
.nf-
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 1, 2, 3.—Empower the Poor Law Commissioners for the
time being to carry the Act into execution, and to issue such
orders for the government of workhouses, the appointment
and removal of officers, the guidance and control of guardians,
and for keeping and auditing of accounts, as they shall think
proper.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.—General rules issued by the commissioners
are to be submitted to the secretary of state, and not to take
effect until the expiration of forty days, and are to be laid
before parliament at the commencement of every session.
The rules are to be made public, and to be open to the
inspection of the ratepayers; and whenever disallowed, the
disallowance is also in like manner to be made public.
.bn 233.png
.pn +1
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 9, 10, 11.—The assistant-commissioners, secretary, and
other officers appointed by the commissioners, are to be officers
under the present Act. The commissioners may with the
approbation of the secretary of state, delegate their powers
(except the power to make general rules) to one of the commissioners,
or to one or more of the assistant-commissioners
acting in Ireland, subject to such regulations as the commissioners
may direct.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 12, 13, 14.—The assistant-commissioners are empowered
to summon and examine witnesses on oath, and persons refusing
to attend, or giving false evidence, or altering or concealing
documents required for the purposes of the Act, are
to be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor. The commissioners
may order reasonable expenses of witnesses to be defrayed.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 15, 16.—The commissioners may by order under their
seal, unite so many townlands as they think fit to be a union
for the relief of the destitute poor; and may add to, take
from, or dissolve the same, and may determine the proportionate
amount chargeable in any such case, as shall appear
to them to be just. But no such dissolution or alteration of a
union is to take place without the consent of a majority of the
guardians, and a copy of every order for the same is forthwith
to be transmitted to the secretary of state.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 17, 18, 19.—Whenever a union is declared, a board of
guardians is to be elected, for which purpose the commissioners
may divide the union into electoral divisions, and
from time to time alter the same; but in making or altering
such electoral divisions, no townland is to be divided. The
commissioners are to determine the number of guardians,
having regard to the circumstances of each electoral division;
and also the qualification, which in no case is to exceed a
rating of 30l. net annual value—“provided always that no
person being in holy orders, or being a regular minister of
any religious denomination, shall be eligible as a guardian.”
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 20, 21, 22.—The first election of guardians is to take
place at the time fixed by the commissioners, and afterwards
on the 25th of March in each year. Outgoing guardians
may be re-elected, and in case of vacancy occurring through
death removal or resignation, the remaining guardians are
to act.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 23, 24.—Every justice of peace not being a stipendiary
magistrate or assistant-barrister or minister of any religious
denomination, is an ex-officio guardian of the poor of the
union in which he resides, and after the board of guardians
.bn 234.png
.pn +1
is duly constituted may act as a member of the board, in like
manner as an elected guardian. But when the justices duly
qualified and residing in the union exceed one-third the
number of elected guardians, they are at a meeting specially
assembled for the purpose, to appoint from among themselves
a number nearest to but not exceeding one-third of the
elected guardians, to act as ex-officio guardians from the time
of such , until the 29th of September following,
and so annually on each succeeding 29th of September—the
number of ex-officio guardians being in no case permitted to
exceed one-third the number of the guardians elected by the
ratepayers.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 25, 26.—If an election of guardians does not take place, or
if any of those elected shall neglect or refuse to act, the commissioners
may order a fresh election, and on failure thereof
may appoint another to fill the place of any guardian so
failing, until an election of guardians takes place under the
provisions of the Act. And if regular meetings of the
guardians be not held, or if their duties be not effectually
discharged according to the intentions of this Act, the commissioners
may dissolve such board, and order a fresh election;
and if the guardians then elected likewise fail, the commissioners
may appoint paid officers to carry out the provisions
of the Act, and define their duties, and regulate their salaries,
which are to be paid out of the poor-rates of the union.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 27, 28, 29, 30.—The board of guardians is declared a body
politic and corporate for all the purposes of the Act. The
commissioners and assistant-commissioners may attend the
meetings, and take part in the discussions of the boards of
guardians, but are not entitled to vote. The guardians are
to assemble at such times as the commissioners direct, and
no guardian, whether ex-officio or elected, has power to act,
except as a member, and at a meeting of the board, for constituting
which the presence of three members is necessary. No
defect in the election or qualification of a guardian, is to
make void the proceedings of any board in which he may
have taken a part.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 31, 32, 33.—The commissioners may direct the appointment
of such paid officers, with such qualifications, as they think
necessary in every union, and may define their duties and
determine their continuance in office or dismissal, and regulate
their salaries. The commissioners are further empowered,
with or without the concurrence of the guardians, to remove
any paid officer whom they deem unfit or incompetent, and to
require the appointment of a fit and competent person in his
.bn 235.png
.pn +1
room, failing in which the commissioners may themselves
make the appointment.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 34, 35, 36.—When a union is declared, every house of industry,
workhouse, and foundling hospital within its limits, and
supported wholly or in part by parliamentary grant &c., with
all things thereto belonging, is to become vested in the Poor
Law commissioners, subject to the debts and encumbrances
thereof—in trust for, and subject to, the powers and provisions
of this Act. The commissioners may from time to time as
they see fit, build or cause to be built a workhouse or workhouses
for any union, or may hire any building or buildings
to be used as a workhouse, and may enlarge and alter the
same, in such manner as they deem most proper for carrying
the provisions of the Act into execution, and may purchase or
hire any land not exceeding twelve acres to be occupied with
such workhouse, and may order the guardians to uphold and
maintain, and to furnish and fit up the same, and provide
means for setting the poor to work therein—for all which
purposes the guardians are required to raise and levy the
necessary sums as a poor-rate, or to borrow the money and
charge the same on the future poor-rate, as the commissioners
shall direct. But after the workhouse has been declared fit
for the reception of the destitute poor, the commissioners are
restricted from ordering the expenditure of more than 400l.
without the consent of the guardians.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 37, 38, 39, 40.—Incapacitated persons empowered to
convey land &c.—the powers of 7th George 4th, cap. 74, regarding
the purchase and valuation of sites extended to this
Act—Where the purchase-money is paid into the bank of
Ireland, the commissioners exonerated from liability as to its
application—The commissioners may sell lands &c., and
apply the proceeds in purchase of other lands &c.; but are
restricted from selling the workhouse of a union without the
consent of the guardians.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Section 41.—When a workhouse has been declared fit for the
reception of destitute poor, and not before, the guardians,
subject to the orders of the commissioners, are to take order
for relieving and setting to work therein, in the first place,
such destitute poor persons as by reason of old age infirmity
or defect, may be unable to support themselves, and destitute
children; and in the next place, such other persons as the
guardians deem to be destitute poor, and unable to support
themselves by their own industry or other lawful means—provided
that in any case where there may not be sufficient
accommodation for all the destitute persons who apply, the
.bn 236.png
.pn +1
guardians shall relieve such as reside in the union, in preference
to those who do not.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 42, 43, 44.—A register-book in a prescribed form, is to
be kept by the master of every workhouse of the persons
relieved therein, and such register is to be examined, corrected
and signed by the chairman at every meeting of the guardians,
and countersigned by the clerk—Accounts of the expenditure
are to be kept and made up every six months, charging
to every electoral division the proportion incurred in respect
of persons relieved who are stated in the registry to have
been resident in such electoral division; the expenses incurred
in respect of all others are to be charged against the whole
union. At the end of three years, any two or more electoral
divisions may, with the commissioners’ concurrence, agree to
bear the expense of the relief chargeable to each in common,
a copy of every such agreement to be deposited with the
commissioners, and another copy with the clerk of the peace.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 45, 46, 47.—On the declaration of a workhouse in any
union, all local Acts relating in any way to the relief of the
poor therein, are to cease and determine. The commissioners
are to inquire into the state of fever hospitals and
dispensaries, and report thereon to the secretary of state,
stating the number of such institutions which in their opinion
ought to be provided. They are also to examine into the
administration of hospitals and infirmaries, and give directions
for the more effective management thereof.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 48, 49.—The commissioners are to take order for the due
performance of religious service in the workhouse, and are to
appoint fit persons to be chaplains for that purpose, one being
of the established church, another a protestant dissenter, and
another of the Roman catholic church, and they are to fix
the salaries of such chaplains. But no inmate of a workhouse
is to be compelled to attend any religious service contrary
to the religious principles of such inmate, or to which his
or her parents or guardians object.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Section 50.—The board of guardians are to appoint a fit person in
each parish or townland within the union to be the warden
thereof, who is to provide for the conveyance to the workhouse
of such destitute poor persons as the guardians shall direct,
and perform such other duties as the orders of the commissioners
shall prescribe.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Section 51.—If a meeting of the ratepayers of any electoral division
agree to the raising of a rate to assist emigration, the commissioners
may direct the guardians to raise such sums (not
.bn 237.png
.pn +1
exceeding 1s. in the pound in any one year) as they think requisite
for the purpose, either by a rate under this Act, or by
a charge on the future rates; and the money so raised is,
under the direction of the commissioners, to be applied by the
guardians of the union in assisting the emigration to British
colonies of poor persons residing in such electoral division.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Section 52.—The money raised under authority of the Act, is only
to be applied as is expressly provided for in the Act.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 53, 54, 55, 56.—Every husband is made liable for the
maintenance of his wife, and every child under the age of 15,
whether legitimate or illegitimate, which she may have; and
every father is liable to maintain his child, and every widow
to maintain her child, and the mother to maintain her bastard
child, until such children respectively attain the age of fifteen.
Relief given to a wife or child, is to be considered as given to
the person liable to maintain such wife or child. Relief may
be declared to be a loan, and be recoverable accordingly, and
when given to a person entitled to any pension or other allowance,
the guardians may require the next payment thereof to
be made to them for indemnity of the union, and are then to
repay the surplus to the person entitled thereto.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Section 57.—Every child of a poor person who may be unable to
support himself, shall be liable according to his ability to
support his parents, and if any relief under this Act be
afforded to such parents, it may by order of two justices
be recovered by the guardians from such child, together with
such other relief as shall subsequently be given.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 58, 59, 60.—Every person absconding from a workhouse
and leaving his wife or child to be relieved therein, or who
refuses to work, or is guilty of drunkenness or disobedience to
the rules prescribed for the government of the workhouse, or
who shall introduce spirituous or fermented liquors into any
workhouse, is on conviction to be subjected to imprisonment
with hard labour for not exceeding one month. Any person
who deserts and leaves his wife or child so that they become
chargeable, is on conviction to be subjected to hard labour in
the house of correction for not exceeding three months; and
every justice of peace may issue his warrant for apprehension
of the offenders.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 61, 62, 63.—For defraying the expenses incurred under
this Act, the guardians are empowered to make and levy such
rates as may be necessary on every occupier of rateable hereditaments
within the union, regard being had to the proportion
previously charged upon any electoral division. The
.bn 238.png
.pn +1
rateable hereditaments are then enumerated. But it is provided
that no church chapel or other building exclusively
dedicated to religious worship, or used for education of the
poor, nor any burial-ground or cemetery, nor any building
used for charitable or public purposes shall be rateable,
except where any private profit or use is derived therefrom,
in which case, the person deriving such profit or use, is to
be rated as an occupier according to the annual value of the
same.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 64, 65.—Every rate is to be a poundage rate, made upon
an estimate of the net annual value of the several hereditaments—“that
is to say, of the rent at which, one year with
another, the same might in their actual state be reasonably
expected to let from year to year, the probable annual
average cost of repairs insurance and other expenses, if any,
necessary to maintain the hereditaments in their actual state,
and all rates taxes and public charges, if any, except tithes,
being paid by the tenant.” The particulars of every rate are
to be entered in a book (the form of which is given in a
schedule annexed) and the guardians and other officers whose
duty it may be to make the rate, are to sign the declaration
at the end of the same, after which it is to be evidence of the
truth of the particulars contained therein.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 66, 67, 68, 69, 70.—Existing surveys and valuations may
be used, but if these are not deemed sufficient, the guardians
may cause new ones to be made. All proprietors of tolls and
profits liable to be rated are to keep accounts thereof, which
the guardians are to have liberty to inspect. The commissioners
may direct the cost of any survey and valuation to be
defrayed by a separate rate, or by a charge upon the poor-rate,
as they see fit. Twenty-one days’ notice to the ratepayers
for inspecting the valuation is to be given before
making a rate, copies of which may be taken at all reasonable
times.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 71, 72, 73.—The poor-rate is to be paid by the occupiers,
but in cases where the property is rated at less than 5l. and
where the parties have agreed thereto, the lessor may be
rated instead. County-cess collectors may be appointed to
collect the poor-rate on giving security and being approved
by the commissioners—failing in which the rate may be collected
by any other officer appointed for the purpose with like
approval.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 74, 75, 76, 77.—Every occupier may deduct half the
poundage rate paid by him, from the rent payable to the
owner; and where any person so receiving rent, shall also
.bn 239.png
.pn +1
pay a rent in respect of the same property, he will be entitled
to deduct from such rent a sum proportionate to what was
deducted from the rent he received. The entire rate is to be
deducted from tithe; and all agreements to forego the deduction
of rate are declared void.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 78, 79.—If a rate is not paid within two months after it
has been made, the guardians may levy the same by distress,
or sue for such rate by civil bill. The receipt for poor-rate
is in all cases to be accepted by persons entitled to receive
rent or tithe, in lieu of such sum as the person tendering the
receipt is entitled to deduct from such rent or tithe. But no
deduction is to be made from any rent-charge or terminable
annuity.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 80, 81.—Every occupier paying rate, and every receiver
of rent from which a deduction has been made on account of
rate, and every owner of tithe, is to be deemed a ratepayer;
and at the election of guardians in any union, every ratepayer
is entitled to vote[85] according to the following scale—
.dv class='tablefont'
.ta c:17 h:40 lb:12
Where the annual value of the property rated shall not\
amount to 20l. | | One vote.
Where it amounts| to 20l. and not to 50l. | Two votes.
” | to 50l. and not to 100l. | Three votes.
” | to 100l. and not to 150l. | Four votes.
” | to 150l. and not to 200l. | Five votes.
” | to 200l. and upwards | Six votes.
.ta-
.dv-
.ti 0
Where the occupier is also the owner, he will be entitled to
double the above number of votes; and where the net annual
value of the property rated exceeds the rent paid by the
occupier, he is in addition to his votes as occupier, to be entitled
to vote for such excess as if it were rent received by
him.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 82, 83, 84, 85.—Where two or more ratepayers are
jointly liable, each is to be entitled to vote according to the
proportion borne by him, but one may claim to vote for the
whole. The votes are to be given in writing in such manner
as the commissioners may direct, and the majority returned
in each electoral division is to be binding on such division.
.bn 240.png
.pn +1
Votes may be given by proxy, but no occupier can vote unless
all rates assessed upon him of six months’ standing be first
paid.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 86, 87, 88.—The members of a corporation or joint-stock
company are not entitled to vote, but their officers may do so
if duly authorised by the governing body. Where a rate has
not been made, the cess-payers are to form a constituency
for electing guardians, with the same proportion of votes as
is prescribed for ratepayers, each shilling of county cess to
be reckoned as one pound of annual value. The commissioners
are to appoint a returning officer, and prescribe the
duties to be performed by him in the election of guardians.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 89, 90, 91.—The guardians may with consent of the commissioners
borrow money for purchasing and providing a
workhouse, either from the Exchequer Bill Loan Commissioners,
or any persons willing to advance the same on
security of the rates. The money so borrowed is to be repaid
in twenty years by annual instalments, together with the
interest accruing thereon. The securities for money so advanced
to a union may be transferred or assigned on notice
thereof being given to the guardians.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 92, 93.—Contracts made by the guardians are not valid,
unless conformable to the rules of the commissioners; and no
guardian, paid officer, warden or other person engaged in
collecting the rates, or in the management of the union, is
either directly or indirectly to furnish supplies of any kind for
the use of the union, under penalty of 100l. with full costs
of suit to any person who shall sue for the same.
Sections 94, 95, 96, 97.—Guardians treasurers and other officers
are to render a true account of receipts and payments &c.,
at such times and in such a form as the commissioners shall
direct. Auditors are to be appointed to examine such accounts,
and are to disallow all payments made contrary to the
Act, or at variance with the orders of the commissioners.
Bonds contracts advertisements &c. for carrying the Act into
effect are exempted from stamp-duty, and letters relating
exclusively to the execution of the Act, sent by or addressed
to the commissioners, are exempted from postage.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 98, 99, 100, 101, 102.—Justices may proceed by summons
for recovery of penalties—penalty on officers disobeying
guardians—penalty on officers and others purloining goods
&c. belonging to any union—penalty on persons wilfully
disobeying the orders of the commissioners or assistant-commissioners.
.bn 241.png
.pn +1
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 103, 104, 105.—Forfeitures costs and charges may be
levied by distress under warrant of two justices, and are to be
applied to the use of the union—ratepayers are competent
witnesses—distress not to be deemed unlawful for want of
form in the proceedings—plaintiff not to recover for wrongful
proceeding, if tender of amends be made.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 106, 107, 108, 109.—Persons aggrieved may within four
months after the cause of complaint, appeal against the poor-rate,
or against a conviction where the penalty exceeds 5l.,
and the justices and assistant-barrister before whom the appeal
is brought, are empowered finally to determine the same; but
fourteen days’ notice of the appeal is to be given.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 110, 111, 112.—Notwithstanding any appeal or notice
thereof, the rate is to be paid, unless and until it be actually
quashed or amended. Persons appealing are to enter into
recognisance to prosecute the same at the next sessions, and
to abide the order and pay such costs as the justices and
assistant-barrister shall award.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Section 113.—No action to be commenced against any person for
anything done under authority of the Act, until after twenty-one
days’ notice thereof, nor after sufficient satisfaction has
been tendered to the party aggrieved, nor after three months
from the time the action complained of was committed; and
the defendant may plead the general issue.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 114, 115, 116, 117.—No order of the commissioners,
assistant-commissioners, or guardians, is removable by writ of
certiorari except into the Court of Queen’s Bench in Dublin,
and every order or rate[86] so removed is to continue in force
until declared to be illegal. No application for writ of certiorari
to be made, unless ten days’ notice of the particulars
thereof shall have been delivered in writing to the commissioners,
who may thereupon show cause against such application,
and the court may if it think fit, proceed at once to hear
and determine the case. Recognisances must be entered into
previous to application for a writ of certiorari, and if the
order be quashed, notice thereof is to be given to the unions
to which it was directed; but the judgment is in no case to
annul existing contracts.
.fm rend=t
.fn 85
In altering the bill to localise the charge upon the electoral divisions respectively
(see ante, p. #220#) it was omitted to substitute the term Electoral
Division for that of Union in the 81st sect.; so that a person who might pay
a rate in every electoral division of the union, could only as the clause stood
vote in one, although each electoral division was separately chargeable. This
would be contrary to what was intended by the Duke of Wellington’s amendment,
and the error was remedied as soon as discovered by the 2nd Vict. cap.
1, sec. 5. See post, p. #233#.
.fn-
.fn 86
A rate was excepted from such removal by the Amendment Act passed
shortly afterwards, 2nd Vict. cap, 1. See post, p. #233#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 118, 119, 120, 121.—The Poor Law Commissioners for
England and Wales are declared to be “The Poor Law Commissioners”
.bn 242.png
.pn +1
under the provisions of this Act, and are
empowered to carry the same into effect. A fourth commissioner
may be appointed, and any two or more of the
commissioners may sit as a board in England and Wales, or
in Ireland, as they shall deem expedient. They are to have
a common seal, and all orders or copies thereof purporting to
be sealed therewith, are to be received as evidence that the
same have been duly made.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 122, 123.—When required by the secretary of state, or
when the board shall think fit, one of the commissioners may
act in Ireland, and have all the powers given to the board of
commissioners, except the power of making general rules;
but the whole of the commissioners are to assemble in London
once at least in every year, for the purpose of submitting a
report of their proceedings, which report is to be made on or
before the 1st of May, and is to be annually laid before parliament,
“together with an account of the expenditure upon
the relief of the poor in each union, and of the total number
relieved in each union during the year ended the 1st of
January preceding.”
.sp 1
.ti -4
Section 124.—Interpretation clause.
.pm end_hang
Notwithstanding all the care that had been taken
in framing this Act, it was found on proceeding to
carry it into operation that there were several defects,
partly owing to a want of information with regard
to certain peculiarities existing in Ireland, but
principally arising out of the changes made in the passage
of the bill through parliament. Thus, on the
assumption that the division into townlands was universal,
an alteration was made in the Lords constituting
a townland the unit in the formation of unions; but in
some places it was found that no townland existed, and
in very many cases the extent of the townland was not
known. There was uncertainty also with regard to
parishes, their limits being in many instances undefined.
It became necessary therefore with as little
delay as possible to take steps for remedying these
defects, and to pass a short Act amending the former,
which was accordingly done; and as this last was
.bn 243.png
.pn +1
essential to the one which preceded it, so that the two
Acts may be said to form one statute, it will be convenient
to insert a summary of it here in continuation of
the above—
.pm start_hang
.ce
Summary of the 2nd Victoria, cap. 1, to amend the 1st and 2nd\
Victoria, cap. 56.—15th March, 1839.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Section 1.—The boundaries of many townlands not being accurately
known, and there being places which are not known as
townlands—it is enacted that the provisions in the preceding
Act relating to townlands, shall “apply to every place in
Ireland whether known as a townland or not.”
.sp 1
.ti -4
Section 2.—Where the population of any city borough or town
exceeds ten thousand, or where the population of any other
place within an area of three miles exceeds ten thousand, the
commissioners may constitute such city borough town or other
place, or any part or parts thereof respectively, an electoral
division; and may divide such electoral division into wards for
the purpose of conducting the election of guardians.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 3, 4.—The commissioners may by order under seal declare
any place not known as a townland, to be a townland;
and where the boundaries of a townland are not known, may
declare and determine the boundaries thereof.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 5, 6.—In the election of guardians, every ratepayer
who under the last rate made shall have paid or be liable to
pay rate in respect of property in any electoral division, “shall
have a vote or votes in the election of guardians in such
electoral division, according to the scale of votes prescribed.”
And where needful expenses are incurred before any rate can
be levied for defraying the same, a sum not exceeding 200l.
may be borrowed and charged upon the first rate made.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 7, 8.—Conveyances of land &c. to the Poor Law commissioners
are to be made according to the form set forth in
the schedule annexed to the Act, or as near thereto as circumstances
admit. The purchase-money is to be paid into the
Bank of Ireland to account of the accountant-general of the
Court of Chancery, “ex parte the Poor Law commissioners.”
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 9, 10.—Appeals may be made heard and determined
at general or quarter sessions of the peace, although an
assistant-barrister be not present. So much as relates to the
removal by writ of certiorari of any rate made under the previous
Act, is by the present Act repealed.
.pm end_hang
.bn 244.png
.pn +1
.sn 1838.| Proceeds to Ireland to bring the Act into operation.
We will now resume our narrative, in the order of
date. It has been stated that the Irish Poor
Relief Act was passed on the last day of July.
A fortnight afterwards it was arranged that
I should proceed to Ireland for the purpose
of carrying the new law into operation. I had an
interview with Lord John Russell on the occasion,
and urged the necessity of proceeding vigorously and
without delay in the introduction of the measure, and
expressed my conviction that our so doing was essential
to success. His lordship assured me that government
approved of our at once going forward with the formation
of unions and providing workhouses, and were
prepared to afford every assistance that we might require.
It was settled that I should go to Ireland at the
end of the month, taking with me four of our assistant-commissioners,
whose experience in the administration
of the English Poor Law would, it was thought,
be found highly useful in Ireland.[87] I quitted London
on the 1st of September, and as soon as the assistant-commissioners
had assembled in Dublin, one of them
was sent to Belfast, another to Limerick, a third to
Cork, and one was retained in Dublin. They were furnished
with instructions in which the objects to which
their attention should be chiefly directed were pointed
out. The mode of commencing operations was one of
the first things which had to be considered. Would it
be better to commence by forming unions of the chief
towns, and then work back from them to the interior of
the country; or else to begin in the interior, and work up
to the great towns?—This, the assistant-commissioners
were told, was an important question, requiring to be
decided as quickly as possible; and in order to obtain
the requisite data for so deciding, it was necessary that
.bn 245.png
.pn +1
some of the chief towns should he first examined, in
doing which, they were desired at the same time to
endeavour to obtain such a knowledge of other parts of
the country, as would assist them in forming a judgment
upon the question.
.fm rend=t
.fn 87
The gentlemen selected for this purpose, were Mr. Gulson, Mr. Earle, Mr.
Hawley, and Mr. Voules.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
The investigations in which the assistant-commissioners
would thus he engaged, would it was considered,
serve to bring them acquainted with the condition and
habits of the people, and prepare them for entering
upon the formation of unions as soon as arrangements
for the purpose were sufficiently advanced. The position
size and character of the towns, the existence of
barracks or other buildings readily convertible into
workhouses, the disposition of the inhabitants with
respect to the new law, whether favourable or otherwise,
were all to be noted, as constituting materials for
judging of when and where the unions should be
formed; it being important to begin, where the least
difficulty or opposition would have to be encountered.
The principle adopted in the formation of unions in
England was considered applicable to Ireland, namely,
that the union should consist of a market town as a
centre, and the district surrounding and communicating
with it. The unions so formed would, it was supposed,
be pretty equally distributed throughout the country,
and be of a size not materially differing from what had
been stated in the Reports to be the most eligible, that
is embracing a radius of about ten miles. Some persons
had contended for smaller unions, but the smaller the
union, the larger in proportion would be the establishment
charges; and as the provisions introduced in the
house of lords for localizing the rate upon each electoral
division, had removed one of the objections to large unions
chiefly insisted upon, it would now probably be considered,
that in taking the market town as a guide, the
commissioners could not be far wrong, since the people
who frequent the market would find no difficulty in
.bn 246.png
.pn +1
attending at the union workhouse, whether as guardians
or applicants for relief. At the same time however,
local interests were not to be disregarded in the arrangement
of unions and electoral divisions; but the
boundaries of private property, and of counties and baronies
were to be observed, as far as might be consistent
with the general interest and convenience.
The assistant-commissioners were likewise cautioned
as to the sensitiveness of the Irish people, and the
importance of conciliating their feelings and gaining
their confidence, which would be best accomplished
by observing a simple straightforward line of conduct
towards them, a scrupulous fulfilment of promises, and
not raising or encouraging expectations unless they were
pretty certain of being fulfilled. “We know,” it was
added, “that the object of the law we are called upon
to administer is kind and beneficent, and calculated to
better the condition and improve the social habits of
the people; and knowing this, we cannot feel otherwise
than confident in its application, and earnestly zealous
in working out the results contemplated by the legislature
in its enactment.”
The assistant-commissioners re-assembled in Dublin on
the 9th October, and reported the result of their investigations;
and being joined by four others who had
been appointed in the interim,[88] the whole question as to
the mode of bringing the law into operation was very
fully discussed and considered. The assistant-commissioners
shortly afterwards proceeded to Cork, Limerick,
Londonderry, and Belfast, furnished with full instructions
for their guidance in the formation of unions
in and around those places, it being considered that
clusters of unions so formed would be better protected
.bn 247.png
.pn +1
from undue pressure at the outset, than if they stood
singly and isolated. Mr. Earle remained in Dublin for
a like purpose. With regard to the formation of unions,
the instructions previously given were confirmed, but
careful consideration, they were told, would be required
in arranging the electoral divisions, as well as in determining
the number; for although the commissioners
were empowered “to alter the electoral divisions from
time to time as they may see fit,” it was important that
the divisions should be so formed at the outset as to
render subsequent alteration unnecessary. As a general
rule the board considered that there should be as many
electoral divisions as there were elected guardians, and
that the divisions should be all nearly of the same size.
There might however be cases, owing to the extent of
individual properties or other cause in which this rule
could not be observed, and in such cases, the larger
divisions might properly have more than one guardian,
as in the larger English parishes: but it would be well
to deal with such cases as exceptions, and as far as
practicable to form the several electoral divisions of the
same size, and each to return one guardian.
.fm rend=t
.fn 88
These were Mr. Clements, Mr. Hancock, Mr. O'Donoghue, and Mr. Phelan,
the latter with an especial view to the medical charities. Mr. Stanley had been
appointed secretary to the board in Dublin.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
The townland being the unit, and some townlands
being heavily charged with pauperism, while others were
comparatively free, it was thought that difficulties might
sometimes arise in determining upon the townlands of
which an electoral division should consist. Landed proprietors
might be naturally desirous of having all their
land in one division, unmixed with the land of others,
especially where they have taken pains, or incurred
expense to improve their properties. The board deemed
it impossible to lay down any unvarying rule that would
be applicable to all such cases, but considered that the
wishes of the proprietor, where the lands are contiguous,
should be attended to whenever it could be done without
injury or inconvenience to others; and in grouping
pauperised and unpauperised townlands together, it
.bn 248.png
.pn +1
should be endeavoured so to arrange the district, as to
make the junction as little oppressive as possible to the
latter. In Dublin, Limerick, and a few of the older
towns, it was thought likely that the electoral divisions
could not be so formed as to maintain an equality of
pressure, owing to some parishes being exclusively inhabited
by the poor and mendicant classes, whilst others
were entirely free from them. The board declared that
it was “very sensible of the magnitude of this difficulty,
which will receive its best attention with the view of
endeavouring to devise a palliative, if not a remedy; and
it is much to be desired that the efforts of the assistant-commissioners
should be directed to the same end.”
.sn Number and qualification of guardians.
As respects the number of elected guardians to be
assigned to a union, it was on the whole considered,
having regard to the satisfactory despatch
of business as well as the importance of there being an
executive so extended as to command the confidence of
the ratepayers, that a number varying according to
circumstances from 16 to 24, would be best calculated
for carrying into effect the provisions of the Act. These
numbers, with the proportion of one-third ex-officio
guardians, would give to each union a board of from 21
to 32 members, which would be sufficient for the purpose
of deliberation, and yet not so numerous as to impede
efficient action. The qualification of guardians must of
course depend very much upon the circumstances of the
district. “In some parts of Ireland a 5l. qualification
would not be too low, whilst in others the maximum of
30l. would not be much if at all too high;” and the
assistant-commissioners were told to use their discretion
between these extremes in the recommendations they
might make. The board however considered that it
would be advantageous to assume 10l. as a preferable
medium to be observed, except in cases where a greater
or a smaller amount of qualification appeared to be
required. Recommendations were then made as to the
.bn 249.png
.pn +1
selection and duties of returning-officers, the nomination
of parish wardens, and the appointment of clerks to the
boards of guardians, and also as to the necessity for
observing strict economy in all the arrangements connected
with the formation and working of the unions.
The board likewise, under the heavy responsibility devolved
upon it, considered it to be a duty “to point out
to the assistant-commissioners the vast importance of
their avoiding even the semblance of party bias, either
in politics or religion.”
The commissioners being by the 35th section of the Act
made responsible for providing the workhouses, very particular
instructions were given to the assistant-commissioners
on the subject, which constituted in fact the foundation
of the whole measure. They were directed “at
the formation of every union to make a careful survey,
not only of the present state of destitution and mendicancy
within it, and of what will be the extent of workhouse
accommodation required immediately, or in the
first two or three years, but also what was likely to be necessary
afterwards; so as to frame such plans and adopt
such arrangements in the construction of the buildings,
as should afford the earliest present accommodation, and
at the same time afford facilities for enlargement whenever
it should become necessary.” In cases where
barracks or other buildings should be taken for workhouse
purposes, care ought likewise to be taken that the
necessary alterations and additions were so framed that
a portion only need be constructed in the first instance,
and that the whole of the plan as designed might be
completed whenever it should afterwards be found
necessary, without materially interfering with the parts
already in use. The quantity of land to be occupied
with the workhouse is by the Act restricted to twelve
acres, and the assistant-commissioners were recommended
to endeavour to convince the guardians of
the inexpediency of occupying more land than was
.bn 250.png
.pn +1
sufficient for the purposes of a garden, or than could
be conveniently managed by the boys and aged and
infirm men.
Next in importance to the workhouse, was the establishing
an assessment founded upon the actual value
of all the rateable property within the union, in conformity
with the 54th section of the Act. The assistant-commissioners
were directed to call the attention of the
boards of guardians at their first and second meetings to
this important duty, for the performance of which they
were responsible. Suggestions were then offered with
regard to the government valuation, and that made
under the Tithe Composition Act, and also to the probable
necessity in some cases of procuring a new valuation;
although in general it was considered that it
would be found practicable at the outset to establish a
fair and equitable assessment for the poor-rate, without
resorting to the expensive process of a valuation by
professional men.
The board next determined upon the kind of returns,
statistical and otherwise, to be required from the assistant-commissioners,
and the extent of information in all
cases to be obtained before any unions should be declared;
and a circular containing full directions on every
point, together with a form for tabulating the several
heads of information, was addressed to the assistant-commissioners
for their guidance in this highly important
part of their duty.
Whilst the assistant-commissioners were pursuing
their inquiries and collecting information preparatory
to forming unions, the commissioner acting as a board
in Dublin was occupied in preparing the several forms
and orders for declaring unions, governing elections,
and regulating the proceedings of boards of guardians.
These were all framed, as nearly as circumstances admitted,
on the model of those issued in England, and
were transmitted to the board in London for revision
.bn 251.png
.pn +1
and approval. And here it may be well to state, that
although under the 122nd section, I was when acting
singly in Ireland invested with all the powers of a board,
and might make and issue all orders and regulations
with the exception of “general rules,” yet I never
directly exercised this power, but forwarded every such
instrument to be approved and sealed by the board
in London. This course was adopted in consideration
that it afforded greater certainty of keeping up a unity
of action, and a more complete interchange of information
between the two boards, than would be likely to
exist if the commissioner acting in Ireland were to frame
and issue orders without the participation of his colleagues
acting in England.
At the commencement of their proceedings, the assistant-commissioners
found that vague and often very
exaggerated notions prevailed with regard to the new
law, and their approach was at first everywhere viewed
with more or less of suspicion and alarm. By great
patience and perseverance however in explaining the
objects and intentions of the Act, and by the examples
they were enabled to cite of the working of the amended
law in England, they generally succeeded in removing
these impressions, and in obtaining a willing co-operation;
so that ere long, the requirements of the law, if
not universally popular, were at least very generally
acquiesced in. Perhaps this change may also have
been in some degree owing to the magistrates and the
clergy of each denomination having been furnished with
copies of the Act, elucidated by copious explanatory
notes, and likewise with copies of the Reports on which
the Act was founded. The extensive correspondence
which was continually going forward, and the frequent
personal communications with the board in Dublin, contributed
moreover to diffuse information as to the nature
objects and working of the law, and not only helped to
prepare the way for its introduction, but proved likewise
.bn 252.png
.pn +1
the means of raising up zealous administrators for carrying
it into execution.
.sp 2
.sn 1839. |\
First report of proceedings in Ireland.
Having thus generally stated the nature of the preliminary
arrangements for bringing the law into operation,
it is now proposed, as in the author’s ‘History
of the English Poor Law,’ and as is also done in his
‘History of the Poor Law of Scotland,’ to take the Commissioners’
annual Reports as the groundwork of the
narrative. Their first Report of proceedings
is dated 1st May 1839.[89] It comprises
only a short period, and will not require a
lengthened notice; but it is of considerable interest, as
showing the steps earliest taken in the introduction of
the measure.
.fm rend=t
.fn 89
This is included in the fifth annual Report of the Poor-Law Commissioners,
but I shall continue to number the Reports of proceedings in Ireland separately,
without regard to the number of the commissioners’ general Reports.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Election proceedings.
As the time approached for declaring Unions, and
for constituting boards of guardians, it was
necessary be prepared for conducting the
elections. Arrangements were accordingly made,
with the sanction of the Irish government, for the
distribution and collection of the voting-papers by the
constabulary; and as the commissioners were immediately
responsible for the appointment of returning
officers to conduct the elections, the assistant-commissioners
were directed to seek for and recommend competent
individuals for the purpose, that is, some one in
each district about to be united who was well known,
and possessed the confidence of the ratepayers; and
the Report states that there is every reason to be
satisfied with the manner in which the selections have
been made.
To aid the returning officers in the performance of
their novel duties, they were furnished with ample
instructions on every point not provided for in the
.bn 253.png
.pn +1
election order; and the assistant-commissioners were
required to attend at all the early stages of the proceedings
in every union, to afford such further assistance
and counsel as might be necessary. Some few
irregularities occurred, but not more than was to be
expected under the circumstances. There were likewise
a few instances of party or sectarian feeling, but
in no case were improper individuals returned as guardians;
and allowance being made for the want of previous
training, the Irish boards will, it is said, “fairly
bear a comparison with the boards in England,” and a
hope is confidently expressed that the measure will not
fail through the want of an efficient executive.
.sn The workhouses.
Relief in the workhouse being the only mode of
relief sanctioned by the Act, it was evident that
until a workhouse is provided the law must
be practically inoperative. Attention was therefore early
directed to this object, for the due execution of which
the commissioners were alone responsible; and much
pains were taken to ascertain the kind of buildings that
would be most suitable, having regard to the circumstances
of the country and the habits of the people. After
extensive inquiry, as well in England as in Ireland,
and a careful consideration of the whole subject, it was
determined to engage an architect experienced in the
construction of English workhouses, and to employ him
in conjunction with the assistant-commissioners, and
with the aid of the best local information that could
be obtained, in devising a series of plans for the Irish
workhouses, of different sizes, together with descriptive
specifications and estimates for each.[90] This was
accordingly done, and the proceeding was fully justified
by the result. The style of building adopted for
.bn 254.png
.pn +1
the workhouses, was of the cheapest description compatible
with durability; and effect was sought to be
obtained through harmony of proportion and simplicity
of arrangement, all mere decoration being studiously
excluded. The unoccupied barracks were originally
proposed to be converted into workhouses, and at first
a few of the unions were arranged with a view to this
object. But after repeated discussions with the Ordnance
authorities, it became evident that very few if
any of these buildings could be obtained, the whole
appearing to be considered necessary for military purposes.[91]
.fm rend=t
.fn 90
The architect engaged for this service was Mr. Wilkinson, who had
erected several of the English workhouses, and who continued to superintend
the building operations in Ireland until all the workhouses were completed,
and for some years subsequently.
.fn-
.fn 91
A portion only of one barrack was ultimately taken, that of Fermoy; and
it turned out to be neither satisfactory nor economical. At the end of a few
years it was restored to its original use, and a new and more convenient workhouse
was provided for the union.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Valuations and rating.
One of the first duties to which a board of guardians
is required to attend, was the valuation of the
property within the union for the purpose of its
being rated to the relief of the poor. This under any
circumstances is a matter of some difficulty, but in
Ireland the difficulty was increased by the condition
of the country, and the absence in many parts of any
reliable data for framing such a valuation. To assist
the guardians in the performance of their duties in this
respect, they were furnished with very full instructions,
pointing out in detail the principle on which the valuation
and the rating were to be conducted, and all that
was necessary to be attended to, in order to fulfil what
the law required.
Shortly after the commencement of operations in
Ireland, it was discovered, as has been before stated,
that there were certain defects in the Act, which it was
necessary forthwith to remedy; and this it has been
shown was accordingly done by the passing of the
2nd Vict., cap. 1,[92] until after which no union could be
.bn 255.png
.pn +1
formed in Dublin and some of the other chief towns,
owing to the townland division not being there known.
.fm rend=t
.fn 92
Ante, p. #233#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Unions declared.
On the 25th of March, the end of the usual parochial
year, the Report states that—“the number
of unions declared was 22, and that in 18 of
these boards of guardians had been elected. The requisite
statistical details were also completed for nine
other unions, which would shortly be declared, and
considerable progress had likewise been made in arranging
nine more.” Such were the results of somewhat
less than six months’ operations in the introduction
of the Irish Poor Law, and they were generally
regarded as satisfactory, and as warranting an expectation
of the successful introduction of the measure.
.sp 2
.sn 1840.|\
Second report of proceedings in Ireland.
The Report of the second year’s proceeding is dated
30th April 1840, and is considerably longer
than the preceding Report. It was moreover report of
accompanied by an Appendix containing
copies of Orders and Reports, in fact a copy of each
class of important documents issued or received by the
Dublin board, thus showing not only everything that
was done for bringing the law into operation, but also
the mode of doing it, and whatever took place in connexion
with it.
.sn Unions declared, and workhouses in progress.
The first Report brings the proceedings down to
the 25th of March 1839. The second Report
brings them down to the same date in 1840,
at which time the number, of unions declared
was 104, and it was thought that 30 more would probably
complete the number into which it might be
desirable that the country should be arranged. This
would be a greater number than was at first contemplated,
but a strong desire for small unions was found
to be very general; and this desire, added to the want
of convenient centres, and other local circumstances,
led to an increase of the number beyond the original
.bn 256.png
.pn +1
estimate. Sixty workhouses had been contracted for,
and were in progress of building, and arrangements for
ten others were considerably advanced.
.sn Three additional assistant-commissioners.
It soon appeared to be on many accounts exceedingly
desirable, not only that the formation of the unions,
but also that the necessary arrangements for administering
relief, should be urged forward as rapidly as possible.
The government concurred in this view, and
sanctioned the appointment of two additional
assistant-assistant-commissioners,[93] who after a short
training in England, were assigned to their
respective duties in Ireland, whither also another of the
English assistant-commissioners was transferred.[93] The
valuable services of Mr. Earle were in the present year
withdrawn from the commission, and he was succeeded
in the charge of the Dublin district by Mr. Hall, who
had previously been acting in England.
.fm rend=t
.fn 93
These were Mr. Burke and Mr. Otway; and Mr. Muggeridge was transferred
from England.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Formation of unions.
Great pains were taken in forming the unions, and
for the most part the arrangements made were
satisfactory to the parties interested, but not
always so to the extent desired; for it was not always
found possible “to adapt the limits of the union to the
limits of individual properties, and at the same time adhere
to other local boundaries and pay a due regard to
general convenience.” Difficulties likewise arose in determining
the portion of rural district to be included in the
same electoral division with towns, or with other places
where the destitute and mendicant classes were numerous.
Such places were regarded as likely to bring a
burden upon whatever else they might be combined
with. It does not follow however because mendicancy
prevails in a town, that the poor-rates will be heavier
there than in the neighbouring country districts. The
reverse will often be the case, the larger amount of
.bn 257.png
.pn +1
property rateable in a town, being more than equivalent
to its comparatively greater charge of pauperism.
The practice generally adopted on such occasions, was
to attach to a town as much of the adjoining district as
seemed naturally to belong to it, and over which the
town mendicants habitually levied contributions. No
part of an electoral division so formed would be subjected
to any new burden. It had supported the mendicant
classes heretofore—it would have to pay rates
for supporting the destitute thereafter; and of the two,
the latter would probably be found the lighter.
Before submitting a proposal for establishing a union,
the assistant-commissioners in every instance called
a meeting of the inhabitants of the district, and explained
the nature and intent of the law, together with
the proposed arrangements for carrying it into effect,
and also took into consideration whatever objections or
suggestions there might have been made on the occasion;
and it was not until after this public exposition
of the course proposed to be pursued, and a careful
sifting of testimony for and against it, that the arrangements
for the several unions were proposed to, and
received the sanction of the board in Dublin. The
Reports of the assistant-commissioners on these occasions
were sometimes long and minute, entering into
a detail of the circumstances of the district, and thus
forming “a valuable body of information general and
statistical, which may hereafter serve to test the working
of the measure, and its effects upon the population.”
A copy of one of these Reports furnished by each of
the assistant-commissioners, was inserted by way of
example in the Appendix to the annual Report.
.sn The Dublin house of industry.
The Board’s attention was early directed to the state
of the charitable institutions in Dublin, and
especially to the house of industry and the
foundling hospital, both of which became vested in the
commissioners under the 34th section of the Poor Relief
.bn 258.png
.pn +1
Act. The house of industry consisted of an asylum
for aged and infirm poor and incurable lunatics, together
with the Hardwick, the Whitworth, and the Richmond
Hospitals, and the Talbot Dispensary. It was constituted
under the Irish Act of 11th and 12th Geo. 3rd, cap. 11,[94]
and was expected to be supported by voluntary contributions,
but these soon failed, and in 1777 it received
a grant of 4,000l. from parliament, and had continued
ever since to be supported in like manner. In 1816
it was determined to appropriate the house of industry
to the reception of the aged and infirm and the sick
poor, orphan children, and lunatics and idiots. This
led to the introduction of a large number of persons
requiring medical treatment, and made it necessary to
provide hospitals for the purpose. The expense of the
entire establishment was defrayed by parliament, and
the grant for each of the preceding five years had been
20,000l. The estimate for 1839 was 21,136l. The
number of inmates was as follows—
.sp 1
.ta l:40 r:6 w=75%
Aged and infirm poor | 888
.if h
Incurable lunatics and epileptics | 474
.if-
.if t
Incurable lunatics and epileptics | 474
| —-—
.if-
| 1,362
.if h
Sick in the hospitals | 303
.if-
.if t
Sick in the hospitals | 303
| —-—
.if-
Total | 1,665
.ta-
.sp 1
.fm rend=t
.fn 94
Ante, p. #45#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn The Dublin foundling hospital.
The foundling hospital was established in 1704 by
the 2nd Anne, cap. 19, and was re-constituted
in 1772 by the 11th and 12th Geo. 3, cap. 11.[95]
With the exception of a small rent from property devised
to it, the institution had been supported by parliamentary
grants, which during the last five years had
averaged 14,765l. The estimate for the current year
was 11,255l. Infants were at first, and for many years
subsequently, received into the hospital without payment
or inquiry, the annual number varying from 1,500
to 2,000. In 1822 a deposit of 5l. was required with
.bn 259.png
.pn +1
each child, which soon had the effect of reducing the admissions
to below 500; and in 1829 a committee of the
house of commons recommended that admissions should
cease altogether, which they accordingly did in the following
year. The previous admissions however had
been so numerous, that on the 25th of March 1839 the dependents
on the institution still amounted to 4,258, viz.—
.ta h:50 rb:6 w=85%
Children at nurse in the country, of whom 446 are under\
ten years of age | 1,484
Apprentices | 2,528
In course of being apprenticed, or under medical treatment\
in the house | 40
.if h
Adults on the invalid list | 206
.if-
.if t
Adults on the invalid list | 206
| —-—
.if-
| 4,258
.ta-
.fm rend=t
.fn 95
Ante, pp. 35 and 45.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
The invalid class consisted of 150 females and 56 males,
and had accumulated principally since 1797, only 13
having been admitted previous to that year. “Many
were blind, some crippled, others were severe cases of
scrofula, and a few were deaf and dumb. They were
quartered in the country, and were annually visited by
the inspectors.”
.sn Arrangements with regard to the house of industry and foundling hospital.
The capacity of the house of industry and foundling
hospital for being converted to workhouses,
and the great prevalence of mendicancy in
Dublin, made it expedient to introduce the
new law with as little delay as possible; and steps
were taken for this purpose, as soon as the passing
of the Amendment Act[96] enabled the board to unite
districts not being townlands. Arrangements were,
with the approbation of government, made for the
lunatic inmates of the house of industry, amounting
with their attendants to 523, by preparing certain
old barracks at Island Bridge for their reception; and
as the hospitals and the dispensary, when detached
from the house of industry, would stand in need of
kitchen and other office accommodation, these essentials
.bn 260.png
.pn +1
were accordingly provided, and the appointments in
connexion with them were consigned to the Irish government.
With regard to the foundling hospital, a
suitable residence was provided for the officers, and for
such of the children as it might be occasionally necessary
to bring to Dublin. The expense attendant upon
making these various changes was very considerable,
but the whole was accomplished “without calling for
any advance beyond the money already voted by parliament
for the house of industry and foundling hospital,
the balance remaining from the vote of the year
preceding, and the saving of expenditure by enforcing
a rigid economy during the past year, having afforded
sufficient funds to effect all that was necessary.” This
result is declared to have been chiefly owing to the
confidence which government placed in the commissioners
with regard to a matter of much intricacy, and
which did not perhaps strictly come within the line of
their duty. It was also in no slight degree owing to
the prompt support afforded by his excellency the lord
lieutenant, whose cordial co-operation and assistance on
all occasions is gratefully noticed in the Report.[97]
.fm rend=t
.fn 96
Ante, p. #233#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn The two Dublin unions.
A full account of the measures adopted with regard
to the Dublin foundling hospital and house
of industry, is given in the assistant-commissioners’
Report[98] on these institutions, and also of what
was required to be done preparatory to their being
used as the workhouses of the two Dublin unions, for
which they were well suited both as to size and situation.
One of the unions comprised the district on the
south side of the Liffey, with a population of 182,767;
and the other comprised the district on the north side,
.bn 261.png
.pn +1
having a population of 125,245. The workhouses
would each be made capable of accommodating 2,000
inmates, and were very conveniently placed, with a
sufficiency of land attached to them. A belt of unions
had been formed nearly encircling the city, so that the
Dublin unions would be protected from undue pressure.
The guardians exhibited a good spirit, and promised an
active co-operation in carrying out the law.Dublin workhouses declared, March 25, 1840. The
unions were both declared on the 6th of June
1839; and the order declaring the workhouses
fit for the reception of paupers was issued on the 25th
of March 1840, the interval being occupied in making
the necessary preparations.
.fm rend=t
.fn 97
Lord Ebrington (now Earl Fortescue) was lord lieutenant at this time, and
I feel it a duty to state that much of our success in the early part of our proceedings,
was owing to the aid and countenance he was ever ready to afford us.
He knew the difficulties with which the commission had to contend, and
never withheld assistance when it was needed.
.fn-
.fn 98
This is inserted in the Appendix to the Annual Report.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn The Cork union.
Cork possessed a foundling hospital and a house of
industry as well as Dublin; but both were much
smaller than the metropolitan ones, and the
house of industry alone was susceptible of being used as
a workhouse, and that only temporarily until an adequate
building could be provided for the purpose. With
respect to the foundling hospital, steps were taken as
in the case of that of Dublin, to bring it to a close at
the earliest period compatible with the wellbeing of the
children maintained in it. The Cork guardians entered
with alacrity on the discharge of their new duties, and
took immediate steps for obtaining a valuation, and
levying a rate. It was therefore determined in compliance
with the desire strongly expressed by them, and
by the inhabitants generally, to bring the law into full
operation in the Cork union with the least possible
delay, although it was not unlikely that some inconvenience
might arise from relief being administered
there so much sooner than it would be practicable to
provide for its administration in the neighbouring
districts. Cork workhouse declared temporarily, February 15, 1840. The union was declared on the 3rd of April
1839; and on the 15th of February 1840 an
order was issued declaring the old house of
industry to be the temporary workhouse of the
.bn 262.png
.pn +1
union for administering relief. Full instructions were
furnished to the guardians on the occasion, and an
intention was expressed of watching the progress
of the Cork and the Dublin unions, with a view to
the prompt exercise of the powers provided by the
law for mitigating “whatever inconveniences might
arise from thus early bringing the law into operation.”
The proceeding was one of great interest, and of great
anxiety also to those on whom the responsibility rested,
so much depending on the success of the first unions.
The author has a vivid recollection of all that passed
on the occasion, and of the deep thankfulness experienced
on witnessing the efficient working of these
unions, and this moreover under difficulties far greater
than would be likely to arise when the course of procedure
was more matured.
.sn Workhouse regulations and order of accounts prepared.
As the period approached for bringing the Cork and
the Dublin workhouses into operation, it became
necessary to prepare a code of workhouse
regulations, and a system of union accounts.
The latter, it was endeavoured to make as simple as possible,
having regard to accuracy and to a proper discrimination
of subjects; and the former it was determined
to frame on the model of the English workhouse regulations,
making such changes only as were necessary
for adapting them to the circumstances existing in
Ireland. The “order for regulating the workhouse,
and for keeping and auditing accounts,”[99] was accordingly
prepared, and was issued successively as the
unions became sufficiently advanced for its reception.
The workhouse dietaries. With regard to the dietaries, an “order”
for which it was also necessary to prepare,
the Board instituted inquiries into the mode of living in
different parts of Ireland, so as to be able to establish
dietaries in the different unions that should accord with
.bn 263.png
.pn +1
the general habits of the people, and yet “not be in
any case superior to the ordinary mode of subsistence
of the labouring classes in the neighbourhood.” On
this principle the Board continued to frame the workhouse
dietaries, as being essential adjuncts of workhouse
management. But for the efficiency of the workhouse,
reliance was chiefly placed on the enforcement of
order, sobriety, cleanliness, daily occupation, the observance
of decency and decorum, and the exclusion of
all stimulants to excitement—these constitute the real
strength of the workhouse as a test of destitution,
and would be in a great degree effective, even if the
diet, clothing, and other merely physical appliances
were superior to what is seen in the neighbouring
cottages; and these essentials the workhouse regulations
are calculated to maintain.
.fm rend=t
.fn 99
A copy of the order is appended to the 2nd Annual Report.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Exaggerated expectations as to the effects of the Poor-law.
Very exaggerated notions prevailed as to what would
be the effect of the Poor Law, when brought
into full operation. Some declared that all the
charitable institutions would be immediately
annihilated, as people would cease to subscribe
as soon as they were called upon to pay a poor-rate,
and compensation was claimed on behalf of certain
functionaries, on the ground that they would be deprived
of their means of living when the workhouses
were opened. Numerous applications were made on
the subject, and among others by the officers of the
Dublin Mendicity Association who claimed to be compensated
on this account. They were however told
that the association might still be continued with advantage,
as an independent auxiliary to the Poor Law;
for that it was highly probable there would be a class
of persons whose destitution would not be so urgent as
to compel them to become inmates of the workhouses,
and who yet would be proper objects of such charitable
assistance as it came within the province of the mendicity
institution to bestow.
.bn 264.png
.pn +1
.sn Erection of workhouses.
The measures connected with the erection of workhouses
required much care and circumspection,
and a constant watchfulness of the prices of
labour and materials in the several districts. The
buildings were proceeded with in such a way as to
create the least disturbance in the labour-market, and
it was endeavoured to spread the operations as equally
as possible throughout the country. Notwithstanding
these precautions however, a tendency to advance in
prices was sometimes manifested; but on such occasions
the Board made it to be understood, that it was prepared
to put out repeated advertisements, or to postpone
building altogether for a season, rather than submit to
terms above what it considered to be the fair market
price. On the other hand, the Board did not bind
itself to accept the lowest tender, and generally gave
a preference to builders resident in the district, when of
good character and possessing a sufficient command of
means. The extreme wetness of the previous season
was very unfavourable to building, and also delayed
the valuations, so that the completion and opening of
the workhouses was delayed longer than had been at
first contemplated; but an assurance was given, that no
effort would be spared to effect this object at the earliest
possible period.
.sn Repression of mendicancy.
Numerous representations were addressed to the
board on the subject of mendicancy, urging
provision should be made for its being put
an end to simultaneously with the commencement of
relief under the Poor Law. The question was very
generally discussed by the boards of guardians, and
forty of them, for the most part unanimously, passed
resolutions in favour of a measure for the suppression
of mendicancy; but three of the boards took a different
view, and were adverse to such suppression. The correspondence
which took place on these occasions appears
in the Annual Report, and also a minute which the
.bn 265.png
.pn +1
Dublin board addressed to the assistant-commissioners
on the occasion. In this minute, after pointing out the
necessity for repressing vagrancy and mendicancy as a
measure of police, the repression is declared to be likewise
necessary for ensuring the effective operation of
the Poor Law; for so long as the vagrant classes were
permitted to levy contributions on the plea of destitution,
the ratepayers, although taxed for the relief of the
destitute, would not be protected from the daily demands
of the mendicant, nor be exonerated from those
compulsory contributions which the mendicant so well
knows how to exact. Unless mendicancy were repressed
therefore, great injustice would be inflicted on
the ratepayer, whose payment of the poor-rate entitles
him to protection from such demands. The most expedient
way of effecting this object, was considered
to be by establishing a law founded on the English
Vagrancy Act, with such modifications as might be
necessary for adapting it to the state of Ireland.[100]
.fm rend=t
.fn 100
Clauses to this effect had been inserted in the original bill, but were withdrawn,
as has been before stated. Ante, p. #195#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Emigration.
The subject of emigration was generally regarded
with great interest in Ireland, and had latterly
occupied more than usual attention, partly on
account of a persuasion that it would be necessary to
have recourse to it as the corrective for a redundant
population, and partly also in consequence of the efforts
which were made by certain associations to promote it.
In answer to the various representations on the subject,
the Board did not offer any opinion as to whether an
extensive and organized system of emigration were
necessary or not, but considered that there might be
localities over-densely peopled, to which it might be
applied with advantage. When the unions were all in
operation, and when the effects of the Poor Law had
been fully developed, the Board would be prepared to
.bn 266.png
.pn +1
state its views on the subject—“but pending the introduction
of the Poor Law, one object of which was to
establish an identity of interest between the owners and
occupiers of property and the working classes, and to
hold out to the former the strongest inducements to
extend the field of employment at home”—pending the
development of this great impulse upon the home
energies of the country, it was considered that it would
be premature to offer any opinion on the general question
of emigration.
.sn Distress in the western districts—relief afforded by government.
As the summer of 1839 advanced, severe distress
began to prevail in several districts of the west
of Ireland, and the government deputed Captain
Chads of the Royal Navy to investigate its
extent and furnished him with means for
affording such present relief as might be found imperatively
necessary.[101] It was at first thought, that
where poor-law unions had been formed, use might be
made of the union machinery in dispensing the relief
which government was prepared to furnish; but it soon
appeared that this would be inexpedient if not impracticable,
and that the administering of government aid
must be kept totally distinct from the poor-law executive,
except only as regarded information and advice
and whatever other facilities the assistant-commissioners
might be able to afford. The relief distributed by the
agent of government on this occasion, was in every case
made contingent upon an equal amount being raised by
persons resident or having property in the district; and
notwithstanding the danger from fraud and misrepresentation
to which a person so deputed was obviously
liable, and the still greater danger of creating an undue
dependence upon government aid, there is reason to
believe that a considerable amount of good was effected,
.bn 267.png
.pn +1
and that little mischief was caused by what was done
by the agent of government in this instance.
.fm rend=t
.fn 101
The money expended on this occasion amounted to 5,441l. See ‘The
Irish Crisis,’ by Sir Charles Trevelyan, p. 18.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Unfavourable season.
The extremely wet and ungenial summer and autumn
of 1839, caused great apprehension throughout
Ireland as to the effect upon the crops, and
steps were taken to obtain correct information on the
subject, particularly with regard to the potato crop, it
being the one most universally important to the Irish
people. The result of these inquiries through the
assistant-commissioners and other sources, showed that
there was much ground for alarm, “the crop appearing
to be deficient in quantity in some districts, whilst
owing to the almost incessant rains the quality would
it was feared be found inferior in all, and probably so
far inferior as not to admit of the potatoes being kept
for the usual time.” If such should turn out to be the
case, distress wide spreading and severe would inevitably
ensue, and the distress would moreover be aggravated
by the want of fuel, the people having been prevented
by the continual wet from gathering in their turf.
.sn Suggestions for relieving the distress.
Many applications were addressed to the Poor Law
board, and to the Irish government on this
subject, several of them containing schemes
and suggestions for rendering the Poor Law available,
in case the danger apprehended should actually arise;
and it was therefore deemed advisable that the views of
the Board in reference to this question should be made
known. This was accordingly done by a minute, calling
attention to the provisions by which relief was to be
governed.
.sn Board’s minute, Dec. 5th 1839.
The minute states, that the 3rd section of the Act
directed that relief should be administered “according
to such laws as shall be in force at
the time being;” and that the 41st section provides—“That
when the commissioners shall have declared
the workhouse of any union to be fit for the reception
of destitute poor, and not before, it shall be lawful
.bn 268.png
.pn +1
for the guardians to take order for relieving and
setting to work therein destitute poor persons &c.”
Nowhere else is power given to the guardians to administer
relief—their functions in this respect are limited
to receiving destitute persons into the workhouse, and
relieving and setting them to work “therein.” And by
the 52nd section it is further provided, “that it shall not
be lawful for the commissioners, or guardians, or other
persons acting in execution of this Act, to apply directly
or indirectly any money raised under authority
of this Act, to the relief of destitute poor in any other
manner than is herein expressly mentioned, or to any
purpose not expressly provided for in this Act.”
Whether the relief so provided for be or be not in the
opinion of the guardians suitable or sufficient, the Act
under which they are constituted, and whence their
administrative functions are derived, is thus seen to be
precise and definite in its provisions; and they were
told that they could not legally deviate in the slightest
degree from the course it prescribes, neither did
there reside in the Poor Law Commissioners any power
or discretion to authorize any such deviation. Some
persons however suggested that the law should be
altered early in the next session, so as to allow of other
modes of relief as a temporary measure, to meet the
then apprehended exigency. But this, it was said, would
be re-opening a question upon which the deliberate
sense of the legislature had been recently recorded;
and parliament having deemed it right to prohibit all
relief except in the workhouse, the commissioners could
not encourage an application which had for its object
the reversal of that decision.
Such was the general purport of the minute, although
considerably more in detail, and embracing some minor
points not noticed above. It was circulated among the
boards of guardians, and was thought to have produced
a good effect by directing attention to the principle as
well as to the provisions of the Act. There was reason
.bn 269.png
.pn +1
to believe moreover, that the potato crop, although
scanty in some districts, was on the whole not materially
deficient in produce, and that although the quality was
generally inferior, the potatoes would keep nearly as
well as in ordinary seasons. There was likewise reason
to believe that the dread of scarcity had influenced the
people to be more careful and economical in the use of
their stores than they probably otherwise might have
been, and that they would thus by provident forethought
avert the occurrence of any very serious
amount of distress, notwithstanding that a general deficiency
in the grain crops was superadded to the other
evils arising out of the extreme wetness of the season.
.sp 2
.sn 1841.| Third report of proceedings in Ireland.
The third Report of proceedings in Ireland is dated
May 1st, and contains an account of all that
was done during the previous parochial year,
ending March 25th 1841. At the date of the
second Report 104 unions had been declared. Unions and workhouses. At the
date of the third Report we find the number increased
to 127, and it is stated that only 3 more will
be required, and that these will be declared in the
course of the present month, making the entire number
of unions in Ireland amount to 130. At the
date of the last Report 60 workhouses had been
contracted for, and the buildings were in different
stages of progress. The number of workhouses contracted
for and built or in process of building up to the
25th of March 1841, was 115, of which a particular
account is given in a Report by the architect inserted
in the Appendix to the present Report.
.sn Erection of the workhouses.
The providing of the Irish workhouses was a large and
difficult operation, involving a great variety of
details, and requiring constant attention. The
contracts were as stated in the last Report entered into
so gradually, and the works were spread so equally
throughout the country, that although the number actually
in progress at one time was greater than it might
.bn 270.png
.pn +1
at first have been considered safe or expedient to undertake,
it yet was not found that prices were materially
affected, or that any other material inconvenience had
arisen. One of the chief impediments was the delay
and difficulty encountered in obtaining sites for the
workhouses, owing to encumbrances and other circumstances
connected with landed property in Ireland, and
to the Act’s containing no special provision for the
purpose. At one time indeed it was thought that it
would have been necessary to apply to parliament on the
subject; but by determined perseverance sites were at
length everywhere obtained, and although not in every
case so good as might be wished, no union was left without
one sufficient for its object. The winter of 1841
began early, and continued late, and was unusually
severe, which greatly retarded the progress of the
buildings; but the contractors were generally sensible
of the value of time, and whenever the weather permitted,
exerted themselves to recover what was unavoidably
lost through unfavourable seasons. It may perhaps
not be deemed irrelevant to mention, that the
author being then the resident commissioner in Ireland,
he made a point of examining every workhouse site
purchased, or intended to be purchased, and also inspected
once at least in every year each of the workhouses,
whether built or in progress of building. These
inspections were no doubt a great addition to his other
labours, but they were very necessary for correcting the
defects and omissions which are sure to occur in carrying
out so extensive an operation.
.sn Fourteen workhouses in operation.
Eleven workhouses were completed and opened for
the relief of the destitute poor during the year
1840-41 in addition to those of Dublin and
Cork opened in the preceding year, and making fourteen
in all. Two of these belonged to the important
unions of Londonderry and Belfast. The Londonderry
house had been open throughout the winter, and continued
.bn 271.png
.pn +1
to work in all respects satisfactorily. The others
had been too recently declared to afford reliable indications
as to their future working, but nothing had
occurred to excite apprehension with respect to them.
.sn The Dublin unions.
The two Dublin workhouses had been opened upwards
of twelve months, and the guardians
had attended to the administration of relief
and the union business generally, in a very exemplary
manner. Before the houses were thoroughly completed
and organized, the closing of the Dublin mendicity
institution threw a sudden pressure upon these establishments,
especially upon that of the South Dublin
union, as many as 500 poor persons having been admitted
there in one week, and 1,473 within the first
month, a great majority of whom had been previously
supported in the Dublin Mendicity. Such an influx
could hardly fail of causing embarrassment and confusion,
and it may be regarded as a proof of the efficiency
of the workhouse system, that notwithstanding
the want of preparation which necessarily prevailed,
and the inexperience of the guardians and union officers,
so large an admission was provided for, and order
speedily established. Even after the first influx of
mendicity paupers had ceased, there was great pressure
for admission, on which account a cautionary letter
was addressed to the guardians, recommending that
from the numerous applicants they should at one time
select such a moderate number only “as could be conveniently
cleansed, classified, placed in their proper
wards, and registered in course of that and the following
day;” and likewise, that the visiting committee
should report as to the condition of the inmates, and
whether they had been disposed of in accordance with
the regulations, previous to further admissions taking
place on the days fixed for the purpose. In the absence
of strict discipline, the workhouse will, they are told,
become a place to which the idle would resort to the
.bn 272.png
.pn +1
exclusion of those who are real objects of charity; and
this was the more to be apprehended in the Dublin
unions, from the circumstance of their workhouses being
open while no relief was given in the neighbouring
unions, and were consequently attracting from the surrounding
country those poor persons who needed or who
professed to need such relief. The number of inmates in
the South Dublin workhouse on the 25th of March was
2,080, and in the North Dublin the number was 1,837.
.sn The Cork union.
The case of Cork differed materially from the two
Dublin unions. These had each a capacious
workhouse in which classification could be established
and order be enforced; but the Cork house was
small, ill-arranged, and altogether insufficient for these
purposes; and it was not without considerable misgiving,
that in compliance with the wishes of the
guardians, it had been permitted to be used as the temporary
workhouse of the union, until the new house
should be ready.[102] The inconvenience was certainly less
felt than might be expected, the guardians having
made the most of the old building, and established a
tolerable degree of order among the inmates under circumstances
extremely unfavourable for the purpose.
The number of inmates on the 25th of March was
1,844, nearly the half of whom were former inmates of
the old house of industry. This number was much
beyond what could be properly accommodated, but
owing to the severity of the winter and the high price
of provisions there had been much distress among the
poor, and the pressure for admission had consequently
been very great. When relief shall be administered
in the neighbouring unions, the pressure upon Cork
may be expected to subside. The new house is calculated
for 2,000 inmates, and will it is considered, when
completed, be sufficient to meet the wants of the union.
.fm rend=t
.fn 102
Ante, p. #251#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.bn 273.png
.pn +1
The foregoing account of the proceedings in the
Cork and Dublin unions, exhibits the actual working of
the Poor Law in the only unions in which it had been
in operation sufficiently long for showing any definite
result. In each of these unions workhouse relief had
been administered for upwards of a year, and the
boards of guardians and other executives had mostly
held office for double that period. The circumstances
under which they had to act, were moreover peculiarly
trying. These unions may therefore be regarded as
average examples of the working of the law, and might
be appealed to in proof of its sufficiency for the objects
contemplated in its enactment. There was no doubt
still in these three unions much to adjust and regulate,
which it required time and watchfulness to effect. But
the general establishment of the law throughout Ireland
might now, it was considered, be looked forward
to with confidence, nothing having hitherto occurred to
raise a doubt as to its applicability; but on the contrary,
all the proceedings had served to show that the
system was suitable to the circumstances of the country,
and adequate for the relief of the destitute poor.
By the 123rd section of the Relief Act it is directed,
that an account of the expenditure upon the relief of
the poor during the year, and the total number of persons
relieved, in each union on the 1st of January, shall
be annually laid before parliament, together with the
commissioners’ General Report. On the 1st of January
1841, the returns showed that the expense of relief in
the previous year, and the numbers relieved in the four
unions then in operation, were as follows—
.ta l:25 r:8 r:2 r:2 c:7 c:6 c:7
| | | | No. in the workhouse on the 1st Jan. 1841. ||
Cork | £12,453 | 8 | 0 | | 1,549|
North Dublin | 10,407 | 12 | 7 | | 1,601|
South Dublin | 12,732 | 3 | 8 | | 1,987|
.if h
Londonderry (two months)| 1,464 | 4 | 5 | | 331|
.if-
.if t
Londonderry (two months)| 1,464 | 4 | 5 | | \ 331|
| ————————————— || | | ———— |
.if-
| £37,057 | 8 | 8 | Total|5,468|
.ta-
.sp 1
.bn 274.png
.pn +1
.sn Education and training of workhouse children.
The education of the children maintained in the
workhouse, was from the very outset felt to
be a matter of the utmost importance. In
the North Dublin workhouse there were 500
children under sixteen years of age, and in the South
Dublin workhouse there were 635. That these children
should be trained up in moral and religious habits, and be
fitted by education and by instruction in useful branches
of industry for earning their own living, all must admit
to be necessary; and for these purposes a protestant
and a Roman catholic chaplain, and a schoolmaster and
schoolmistress, were appointed to each workhouse. The
girls were taught sewing, and were employed in the
domestic work of the house, so as to fit them for service.
The boys were taught tailoring, shoemaking,
carpentering, and some were set to work in the garden:
but the various employments to which boys reared in
the workhouse are likely in after life to betake themselves,
hardly admit of their being specifically trained
for them, and little more can be done in the way of preparation
than to send them forth imbued with habits
of industry, their frames strengthened and inured to
labour, their tempers and mental faculties duly cultivated,
and above all with their minds duly impressed
with a sense of their moral and religious duties. When
thus prepared, they will be best fitted for entering upon
the duties incidental to their position, on the right performance
of which their future condition in life must
depend. The earnest attention of the Dublin boards
was given to this subject, and arrangements were made
with the Commissioners of National Education for inspecting
the workhouse schools, and for supplying them
with books and other requisites on the most favourable
terms. The Board likewise took advantage of every
opportunity for impressing upon the guardians and
union officers the great importance of attending to the
education and training of these children, and of getting
.bn 275.png
.pn +1
them out into service and other occupations as soon as
they were fitted for it.
.sn Mendicancy.
Shortly after the opening of the Dublin workhouses,
a marked decrease was observed in the number
of beggars, and persons before adverse to the
Poor Law were then heard to speak in its favour.
Many of the beggars had in fact entered the workhouses,
and thus the public were relieved from their
solicitations; but the relief was short-lived, for others
soon flocked in from the neighbouring districts, and
many who had entered the workhouses experimentally
as it were, or through fear that their vocation might be
suddenly put a stop to, again left them and resumed
their former practice of begging; and thus after a time,
the streets and suburbs of Dublin were as full of beggars
as before. This circumstance appears to have produced
a very general conviction, not in Dublin only but
throughout the country, of the necessity for suppressing
mendicancy, and Lord Morpeth[103] introduced a
bill for the purpose, which however was not proceeded
with. The commissioners nevertheless again emphatically
declared “that a law for the repression of mendicancy
was essential to the well-working of the Poor
Relief Act in Ireland.”
.fm rend=t
.fn 103
Then secretary for Ireland.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn The valuations.
Much attention was given to the valuations of the
rateable property in the several unions, and
such advice and assistance as appeared to be
necessary were afforded on the occasion. The valuations
were said to be complete in fifty of the unions,
and were in progress in most of the others; and notwithstanding
that they were said to be too low, “there
was on the whole reason to be satisfied with the manner
in which this very important duty had been performed,
although in so large an operation, entered upon under
such a variety of circumstances, there must be variances
.bn 276.png
.pn +1
and imperfections requiring time and experience to
rectify.” It was at this time proposed to found the
parliamentary franchise upon the Poor Law valuations,
and the author’s opinion was asked as to their accuracy,
and whether the commissioners possessed sufficient power
for securing their correctness in future. A good deal
of communication took place on the subject, and the
author stated that he considered no further powers to
be necessary—that strictly speaking the valuation was
only applicable to one rate, and was constantly open to
revision as the value of property changed, or as circumstances
required it; so that supposing the valuations
not to be accurate then, as provision was made for successive
revisions, it could hardly be doubted that after
a few rates had been levied, they would be made to
approximate very closely to what was contemplated by
the Act, and would also be kept in that state by the
self-corrective principle with which they were imbued.
With respect to any consequences likely to arise from
basing the parliamentary or the municipal franchise
upon the Poor Law valuations, if either should be determined
on, he thought “that whatever influence such
a connexion might have, must tend to raise the valuations;
and as these were now confessedly too low, the
effect would be so far beneficial.”
.sn Election of guardians.
Many irregularities had occurred in the election of
guardians, and there had likewise been instances
of improper interference with the distribution
and collection of the voting papers. An
inquiry was therefore instituted with a view to ascertain
whether it might not be expedient to make some change
in these respects. Under the Municipal Corporation
Act, the suffrages are required to be given at polling-places
appointed for the purpose, while by the Board’s
order for the election of guardians they are directed to be
given by means of voting papers; and of the two modes,
many persons thought the former best suited to the
.bn 277.png
.pn +1
state of Ireland. But although irregularities and improper
influence had no doubt in some cases interfered
with the distribution and collection of the voting papers,
intimidation and undue influence of another kind might,
it was thought, be as effectually practised, and in a more
turbulent manner, when the electors proceed to polling-places
to record their votes; and to make so important
a change at the then early stage of the proceedings,
unless it were absolutely necessary, would tend to
weaken public confidence—on all which accounts, and
after much consideration, it was determined to adhere
to the mode of conducting the elections then established—endeavouring
however at the same time to improve
the details, and as far as possible to guard against
irregularities and improper influences of every kind.
Elections had taken place in 99 unions, and in 25 of
these the guardians were returned without a contest.
The other 74 unions comprised 1,234 electoral divisions,
and ten divisions which were subdivided into 54
wards, making in all 1,288 election districts, in 254 of
which contests took place, whilst in 1,034 the guardians
were returned without a contest. These results seemed
to augur well for the future elections under the existing
order. A tabular statement showing the particulars of
all these elections, with the names of the several returning
officers, is given in the Appendix to the Annual
Report.
.sn The medical charities.
A limited inquiry into the state of a few of the
medical charities had been made in the previous
year, but a more extended inquiry under the
provisions of the Poor Relief Act appearing to be
desired, and the time indicated by the 46th section for
commencing such inquiry, namely “so soon as conveniently
may be after the formation of the unions,”
having arrived, it was determined that the whole of the
medical charities should forthwith be examined, and a
series of instructions were accordingly prepared for the
.bn 278.png
.pn +1
purpose.[104] At the date of the commissioners’ third
Annual Report the medical charities within 53 of the
unions had been examined and reported upon, and as
these were spread over every part of the country, and
comprised every variety of circumstance usually connected
with such institutions, they might be considered
as presenting a fair sample of the wants, and of the
actual state and condition of the whole. It was therefore
thought that a sufficient amount of information had
been obtained for reporting the same to government,
and suggesting such corrective measures as appeared to
be called for, although the inquiry had not been completed
in all the unions; and this was soon afterwards
accordingly done.
.fm rend=t
.fn 104
The gentlemen to whom this very important duty was confided were Mr.
Phelan who had been specially appointed with a view to this object, and Dr.
Corr afterwards temporarily employed for the like purpose; and to them was
joined the assistant-commissioner in charge of the district within which the
particular inquiry took place.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Vaccination.
The 3rd and 4th Vict., cap. 29, ‘to extend the practice
of vaccination,’ had been passed in the year
preceding, and no time was lost in bringing the
Act into operation in Ireland, so far as depended on the
Poor Law executive. Letters were addressed to the
unions, advising and instructing the guardians as to
the steps to be taken by them on the occasion, and furnishing
them with the necessary forms of contract &c.
for carrying the law into effect. These were generally
found sufficient for the purpose, and ninety of the
unions had already contracted in the form and on the
terms proposed; and the others would, it was expected,
do the same, when their organization became sufficiently
advanced. The rate of remuneration recommended for
the medical practitioners, was a shilling for each case of
successful vaccination treated during the year up to 200,
and sixpence for each such case beyond that number;
but the guardians were not restricted to these rates, if
in any case they should appear to them to be unsuitable.
.bn 279.png
.pn +1
.sn Union agricultural societies.
It had always been considered that the union machinery
would afford facilities for the introduction
of local improvements in Ireland. Hitherto
there had been a want of means for carrying any such
object into effect. But the Union authorities now afforded
the means, and possessed sufficient local influence for
setting on foot and supporting whatever local measures
might be necessary for promoting the comfort and
well-being of the people. I had frequent communications
on this interesting subject with persons residing
in different parts of the country, and I omitted no opportunity
of adverting to the important considerations
which it involved. Agriculture is the chief staple of
Ireland, on which the welfare, and it may be said the
very existence of its inhabitants depended. Yet agriculture
was, with few exceptions, confessedly in a very
backward state; and it appeared to me likely that this
backwardness might to some extent be remedied by the
establishment of union agricultural societies—that is,
associations for promoting improvements in agriculture
within the limits of the respective unions; but of course
to be in no way connected with the administration of
the Poor Law. Efforts were accordingly made for
accomplishing this object, and with considerable success,
several such associations having been formed at the date
of the third Report, the Ballinasloe union under its
chairman Lord Clancarty being the first, and others
likewise being in course of formation, with every prospect
of beneficial results.
.sn Prevalence of distress.
The prices of provisions were high during nearly
the whole of last year (1840), and there was
a good deal of distress in some districts. Applications
for assistance were as usual made to government
on the approach of summer in the present year,
and these being referred to the Dublin Board, were in
every instance fully inquired into. It was evident that
much pressure prevailed in some parts of the country,
owing to the exhaustion or short supply and consequent
.bn 280.png
.pn +1
dearness of the potato; but “it did not appear
that the pressure was so great, or the distress in any
district so urgent, as to call for extraordinary interference
on the part of the government.” The distress
which usually took place in the western parts of Ireland
between the months of June and September, from
a failure of the old and pending the incoming of the
new crop, will it may be feared continue more or less
to prevail, so long as the potato continues to be the
chief or nearly sole food of the population. The intensity
of the distress is always in proportion to the
length of the interval between the exhaustion of one
crop and the maturity of the other; and this interval
under ordinary circumstances can only be reduced by
the exercise of forethought and prudential considerations
by the people themselves. These qualities happily
appear to be increasing and becoming more
general, the pressure of the preceding year having been
sustained, not only without the usual aid from government,
but with less suffering and privation than had
prevailed in former years, although the last year’s
crops were considerably under an average. The people
therefore must have been more careful in husbanding
their means, and were likewise, it may be presumed,
better informed with regard to their social position, and
the duties which it imposed upon them. Perhaps a
portion of this improvement may be attributed to the
frequent discussions with reference to the Poor Law
question during the last five or six years, partly also to
the organization of unions latterly in progress throughout
the country, and partly likewise to the spread of
temperance which had happily taken place of late.
.sp 2
.sn 1842. |\
Fourth report of proceedings in Ireland.
The Report for 1842 brings the account of proceedings
down to the 1st of May, instead of ending
at the 25th of March, as in the case of the
three preceding Reports. This was done in
.bn 281.png
.pn +1
order to assimilate the dates of the English and Irish
Reports, the statements of proceedings in each now terminating
at the same period.
.sn Unions declared.
At the date of the preceding Report, the unions had
all been declared excepting three, for the declaring
of which the preliminary arrangements
had all been made, and these were declared shortly
afterwards.[105] The whole of Ireland must now therefore
be regarded as being divided into unions, with the extent
of each union defined, and its population and other circumstances
ascertained and recorded. In each union
likewise, an administrative body had been formed on a
broad representative principle, and there could be no
doubt that the boards of guardians so elected would
possess the confidence of the people. A complete return
of the 130 unions, with their area and population,
the number of electoral divisions, the number of
guardians elected and ex-officio, and the date of declaration
of each union, is given in the Appendix to the
Report.
.fm rend=t
.fn 105
Ante, p. #259#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn The workhouses.
Next in order to the formation of the unions, and
it may be added next also in importance,
is the erection of the workhouses; and to a description
of the steps taken in carrying forward this
extensive operation, several pages are devoted in the
fourth Report, at the date of which, all the workhouses
had been built, or were in progress of building, and 81
had been declared fit for the reception of destitute
poor. In all of these, excepting a few of the last
finished, relief was being then administered, and by the
end of the summer it was expected that at least 100 of
the workhouses would be completed and opened, and
the others far advanced towards completion. A hope
is also expressed that by the end of the following
spring, “or at latest by midsummer,” the workhouses
.bn 282.png
.pn +1
throughout Ireland would be all in operation. This it
is observed was perhaps as much as could be expected
under the most favourable circumstances; but the prevalence
of wet weather during the last three years had
greatly impeded the progress of the buildings, and much
increased the labour and difficulty of superintendence.
Even in favourable seasons, it would not be a light
task to superintend and direct extensive buildings, proceeding
simultaneously in every part of the country;
but with such weather as had prevailed in the last
three years, and with a hundred of these buildings in
progress at one time, all requiring constant attention,
the labour and the difficulty must obviously have been
increased. The builders likewise were sufferers from
the same cause, which made them lose much time, as well
as incur much additional expense. Generally however
the buildings were well finished, and the several contractors
evinced, with few exceptions, an honest determination
to fulfil their engagements, although this was
in some instances done to their own loss.
.sn Workhouse loans.
The money required for providing the workhouses,
being under the provisions of the Relief Act,
and with consent of government, advanced
by the exchequer-bill loan commissioners, arrangements
had been made for its reception, safe custody,
and correct appropriation, through the medium of
the Bank of England and the Bank of Ireland. A
separate loan was in the first instance granted to each
union, and as the money was successively required to
pay for land purchased, or to pay the stipulated instalments
to the contractor, the amount was transmitted
to the Bank of Ireland for the credit of the person to
whom it was payable in Dublin; and thus these loans
passed from her Majesty’s exchequer into the hands of
the parties severally entitled to receive them, without
ever departing from the custody of one or other of the
two great national banks, and consequently without
.bn 283.png
.pn +1
risk, or the possibility of malversation. On the completion
of the buildings, and after the accounts had
been duly examined and certified, they were together
with all the original documents laid before the boards
of guardians, in order that every step which had been
taken in the matter might be distinctly seen by them—the
amount claimed, the amount deducted, and the
quantity and price on which the deduction was founded
or the claim allowed, all appeared on the face of the
accounts; and a statement was at the same time delivered
showing in detail the amount of the several
receipts from the loan, and the expenditure on account
of the union, and exhibiting the excess if there were
a balance in hand, or the deficiency if there was not
enough to cover the expenditure, in which case a further
order to the guardians to raise or borrow the sum
deficient was necessarily issued.
.sn Cost of the workhouses.
It was originally estimated that the cost of the workhouses
would not exceed a million sterling, and
provision had been at the outset made to that
extent: but as the buildings advanced, it became evident
that this amount would not be sufficient, and application
was made for a further loan of 150,000l.. One cause of
the excess was, that it had not been originally proposed
to finish and fit up the workhouses in so expensive a way
as was afterwards found to be necessary. As the general
condition of the people with respect to their habitations
and mode of living, was inferior to that of the corresponding
classes in England, it was thought that the
workhouses might properly be of a somewhat less finished
and costly character, and the arrangements for the buildings
were framed in accordance with this view. Further
experience however showed it to be necessary that the
Irish workhouses should be made in all respects as complete
as those in England. Indeed the guardians very
generally wished that the finishing and fittings should
be more costly and complete than was the case in the
.bn 284.png
.pn +1
English houses; and if the prevalent desire on this
point had been complied with, the workhouses in
Ireland would have been finished and fitted up after
the model and with all the appliances of an hospital
or infirmary. This will account for much of the excess
beyond the original estimate in providing the Irish
workhouses.
.sn Workhouse employment.
In connexion with the workhouses, the difficulty of
always finding suitable employment for the
inmates requires to be noticed. That pauper
labour is unprofitable, was generally admitted; and if
it were so in England where there is a constant demand
for labour, it could not fail of being so in Ireland where
the labour market was for the most part overcharged.
All that had hitherto been done in this respect in the
Irish workhouses, was to keep the inmates occupied as
far as possible in employments of the commonest kind.
The aged and infirm of both sexes who constituted a
great majority of the inmates, were generally employed
in oakum-picking, in the picking carding and spinning
of wool, in knitting, and some few in making and mending
the clothes belonging to the establishment. There
were scarcely any able-bodied men in the workhouses,
although there were many partially disabled, who were
mostly occupied in the kitchen or doing the rougher
work about the yards, and where this did not afford
sufficient occupation they were employed in breaking
stones. The able-bodied women were employed in household
work, and there were not always a sufficient number
of these to clean and keep the house in proper order;
but where the number was greater than could be so
employed, they were set to work with the needle, or in
carding spinning or knitting. With regard to the
children of both sexes, when not at school, they are
employed in occupations suited to their age and strength—the
girls under the matron in household work, or in
working with their needle; the boys working in the
.bn 285.png
.pn +1
yards, or in the garden, or at some trade in the house,
thus accustoming their hands to labour, and fitting them
for the everyday occupations of life. Much difficulty
had always been found in getting young persons out
into service or other occupation in Ireland. The better
the workhouse children are trained and educated however,
the better will be their chance in this respect.
With the boys there will probably be less difficulty than
the girls. Emigration would seem to be the suitable
remedy for an excess of numbers in either case; but
emigration, contrary to what was originally intended,
was by the 51st section of the Relief Act made a charge
upon the electoral division. The board of guardians
collectively had no power to deal with it. And hence,
although there were a number of friendless young persons,
mostly females, the residuum of a former system,
in the workhouses of the two Dublin unions, and at
Cork, Waterford, Limerick, and Belfast, for whom no
employment could be found, the money necessary for
defraying the expense of their emigration could not be
raised, and they continued a burden upon the unions
instead of becoming useful as colonists.
.sn Sanitary state of the workhouses.
The sanitary condition of the workhouses had generally
been good, although they were in some
instances much crowded during the winter.
This was especially the case with the Dublin
and Cork houses. Yet the inmates had on the whole
been remarkably healthy, and fewer deaths occurred
than might have been expected, looking at the advanced
age and generally depressed physical condition of a large
proportion of the individuals admitted. But the absence
of all exciting influences, the regular hours, due supplies
of food and clothing, and the warmth and ventilation
which are found in a workhouse in a superior degree to
what can be obtained by the same class out of it, no
doubt conduce to the preservation of the health, and the
extension of the life of its inmates. Such is not always
.bn 286.png
.pn +1
the case however with respect to children. In the Dublin
workhouses, a large proportion of the infants were in a
diseased or extremely emaciated state when admitted,
and very many of them in their then condition could
hardly be expected to live. The mortality which took
place was accordingly so considerable as to lead to an
inquiry being instituted, the result of which showed—“that
although the mortality among the infants under
two years of age in the workhouse was large, it yet had
not exceeded, but rather fallen short of the average
mortality among infants of the same age and class in
foundling hospitals and other like institutions, or even
at large under the care of their parents.”
.sn Audit of the accounts.
The accounts of the unions in which workhouses were
in operation were severally audited by the assistant-commissioners,
and duly reported upon.
These reports showed the working of the system in all
its details, pointing out and commenting upon the good
and bad parts of the administration, and exhibiting and
explaining the general results. The audit reports are
in fact calculated to afford a complete view of the working
of the Poor-law, wherever the administration of
relief under its provisions had been brought into operation.
Several of these were appended to the fourth
annual Report.
.sn Amount of expenditure and number relieved.
The expenditure on relief of the poor during the
previous year, and the numbers relieved on the
1st of January, in the four unions then in operation,
of which an account has been given,[106] was
in the year ending January 1st 1842 as follows—
.ta l:25 r:8 c:25
| | Number in the house on the 1st January 1842.
Cork | £11,775 | 1881
North Dublin | 14,643 | 1940
South Dublin | 15,613 | 2124
Londonderry | 3,711 | 385
| _______ | ____
| £45,742 | Total 6,330
.ta-
.bn 287.png
.pn +1
.ti 0
These unions may therefore be considered as being in
orderly working, and equal to the duties imposed upon
them by the Poor Relief Act. Thirty-three other unions
in different parts of the country were likewise in operation
during a portion of the year, longer or shorter
according to the respective orders of declaration; and
the expenditure in these unions down to the same date
as the above, had amounted to 64,535l., the number of
inmates in the several workhouses at that time being
8,916, of which number 1,310 were in the Limerick
house. It thus appears that at the commencement of
1842, after somewhat more than two years’ preparation,
workhouse relief was administered in 37 unions, to
15,246 destitute persons, at an expense of 110,277l.—a
result which, having regard to all circumstances, could
hardly fail of being deemed satisfactory, and as holding
out a promise of the early maturing of the other unions,
all of which had been declared and were in progress of
organization.
.fm rend=t
.fn 106
Ante, p. #263#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Collection of the rate.
Apprehensions had been expressed, that in some parts
of the country it would be difficult if not impossible
to collect the poor-rates; but with very
few exceptions no difficulty whatever occurred. There
was nowhere any concerted resistance to the payment
of the rate. “In a few instances, (it is observed) personal
caprice or misapprehension of the law, has led
individuals to refuse to pay the rate when it has been
demanded; but such refusals have not been persisted in,
after the commencement of legal proceedings, or after
due explanation has been given; and in no instance
has any material difficulty arisen, where the magistrates
have evinced a prompt and firm determination in carrying
out the law.” Whatever apprehensions may have
been felt on this point, experience hitherto had therefore
shown to be without foundation.
.sn Liability relatives.
By the 53rd and four following sections of the Relief
Act, the relatives of persons maintained in a workhouse
.bn 288.png
.pn +1
are, when of sufficient ability, made liable for the cost of
such maintenance; and the boards of guardians
were advised, whenever a case of this kind
occurred, and the ability of the relatives was undoubted,
to take the necessary steps for enforcing the law. That
the guardians ought to do this can hardly admit of doubt,
it being no less a legal than a social obligation. No
fitting opportunity of pressing the fulfilment of this
duty upon the guardians was therefore omitted, and an
intention was expressed of continuing to do so—“in the
conviction that the liabilities of natural relations, as
established by the 53rd and following sections, were
calculated to confer an important benefit upon the whole
community.”
.sn The valuations.
The valuations of rateable property had now been
completed in a hundred and ten of the unions,
and were in progress in all the others. Before
the end of the present year they would it was expected
be complete throughout Ireland, and confidence is expressed
as to their general sufficiency, “without however
venturing to assert that they are in every instance
free from error.” It was indeed said to be almost impossible
that they should be so, the value of properties continually
changing; but they had attained a satisfactory
state of average accuracy, and would, it was considered,
become more and more correct through the successive
revisions they will undergo previous to the imposition
of every new rate. On the Municipal Corporations Act
coming into operation in Dublin however, and when the
poor-rate was taken as the basis of the municipal franchise,
respecting the possession and exercise of which
much excitement prevailed, the accuracy of the valuations
was more closely scrutinised, and an inquiry with regard
to the means for their revision was instituted. The
result of the inquiry was, that although the valuations
in their present state might be sufficient for poor-law
purposes, yet with reference to the Municipal Act, it
.bn 289.png
.pn +1
was desirable that a supervisor of the rates should be
appointed in the unions comprising large towns. This
was accordingly at once done in Dublin and Limerick,
and was determined to be done in other places, as it
should be found necessary. Instructions were at the
same time prepared for the guidance of supervisors in
the execution of this duty.
.sn Report on the medical charities.
The Report on the medical charities in pursuance of
the powers conferred by the 46th and 47th sections
of the Poor Relief Act, was presented to
government shortly after the date of the last annual
Report,[107] together with the evidence which had then
been taken, and including “the heads of a proposed bill
for the better regulation and support of the medical
charities of Ireland.” The remainder of the evidence
was presented on the conclusion of the inquiry, and
the whole was in due course laid before parliament.
I was then the commissioner acting in Ireland, and
being highly impressed with the importance of the
numerous medical institutions, and with the necessity
for their better support and regulation, I had bestowed
much time and labour on the subject, and had earnestly
endeavoured to devise the means of placing these
valuable charities in a more secure condition with regard
to their finances, and at the same time to improve the
position of the medical practitioners by whose exertions
they were in very many cases chiefly supported. All
my efforts were directed to these ends, and to increasing
the efficiency of the charities for the objects for which
they were instituted. I was aware that there were difficulties
to be overcome, arising from interested motives
professional jealousies and misapprehensions; but there
was no concealment, the course adopted was open, no
pains were spared, able assistance had been obtained,
and I was hopeful of success. The Report, with the heads
of the proposed bill, was sent to every medical institution
.bn 290.png
.pn +1
throughout Ireland, and had also been otherwise extensively
circulated, without calling forth any expression of
dissent, either from the medical profession or other parties;
and with the sanction of government a bill was
prepared in exact conformity with the headings set forth
in the Report, and was about being introduced into parliament,
when so violent an opposition was suddenly
manifested by a great majority of the medical profession,
that government deemed it inexpedient to proceed with
the bill. The measure for “the better regulation and
support of the medical charities in Ireland” was therefore
suspended, but it was not abandoned; and the
author had a few years afterwards the satisfaction of
seeing a measure substantially the same as he had recommended,
and founded on the inquiry which he had
instituted, generally acquiesced in and become the law.[108]
.fm rend=t
.fn 107
Ante, p. #268#.
.fn-
.fn 108
The 14th and 15th Vict. cap. 68. See post, p. #382#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Vaccination.
Every attention was continued to be given for carrying
into effect the provisions of the Vaccination Act,
and no efforts were spared to realize the benevolent
intentions of the legislature for extending the
benefits of vaccination, and for preventing the occurrence
and the spreading of smallpox. The Appendix
to the Annual Report contains a return showing the
numbers successfully vaccinated in each of 100 unions,
the whole amounting to 104,713, a number fully equal
to if not exceeding what could reasonably have been
expected under the circumstances.
.sn Mendicancy.
The prevalence of mendicancy continued to be felt as
a burden, and was very generally regarded as
an evil which ought to be put an end to. It is
true that the law did not confer an actual right to relief,
and that the workhouses might possibly be sometimes
inadequate for the reception of all who were in a state
of destitution; but a rate was nevertheless made for the
relief of the destitute, and the persons who were most
helpless would be received into the workhouses. It was
.bn 291.png
.pn +1
therefore considered that means should be taken, if not
for putting an end to mendicancy altogether, at least for
its diminution in a ratio corresponding with the means
which had been provided for the relief of destitution.
Many of the boards of guardians had passed resolutions
to this effect; and at a public meeting held in
Dublin for considering the subject, it was resolved to
apply to the Irish government, urging the necessity of
immediate steps being taken to put down the evil. The
prevalence of mendicancy was found to be a positive
obstacle to the working of the Poor Law. Thus in
some of the unions, after the stock of habitual mendicants
had for the most part been taken into the workhouses,
the ratepayers of particular electoral divisions
finding that the removal of what might be called their
own established poor did not protect them from mendicancy,
but was followed by inroads of beggars from
other districts, deemed it better that their own poor
should be permitted to levy contributions from house to
house as theretofore, than that the ratepayers should
incur the charge of maintaining them in the workhouse,
and at the same time be called upon for contributions
to the mendicants by whom their doors were beset. If
the mendicancy clauses in the Poor Relief Bill as
originally framed had been retained, these evils would
have been prevented, and the repression of begging
would have kept pace with the administration of relief
under the Poor Law; but in the passage of the measure
through parliament, these clauses, as before stated, were
withdrawn, and no step had subsequently been taken for
their re-enactment in any shape, as was understood to
be intended at the time.[109]
.fm rend=t
.fn 109
Ante, p. #211#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Unfavourable weather, backward crops, and consequent distress.
During the greater portion of the last year, excessive
rains and a general prevalence of cold ungenial
weather affected both the grain and the potato
crops, which were in consequence neither so
early, so good, nor so abundant, as under more
.bn 292.png
.pn +1
favourable circumstances they might have been. The
same had been the case in the two or three previous
years; and this succession of adverse seasons necessarily
tended to increase the distress which usually
more or less prevails in Ireland, especially in the western
districts, during the months of June July and August.
But notwithstanding the existence of much distress from
these causes, it was in the present as in the preceding
year met and overcome by the energies of the people
themselves, without aid from government as on former
like occasions; a circumstance which must be regarded
as indicative of improved habits, and as warranting
hopeful anticipations with regard to the future.
.sp 2
.sn 1843.|\
Fifth report of proceedings in Ireland.
At the date of the last Report (May 1st 1842), the
whole of Ireland had been formed into 130
unions, all the workhouses were either built or
in progress of building, and 81 had been declared
fit for the reception of destitute poor. It was
then likewise expected that by midsummer of the following
year all the workhouses throughout Ireland
would be in operation.[110] This expectation however was
not fulfilled, for at the date of the present Report (1st
May 1843) no more than 110 of the workhouses had
been declared, and in only 98 of these was relief administered.
In the earlier proceedings, it had been the
practice to declare and bring the workhouses into operation
as quickly as possible, leaving certain minor matters
to be more leisurely completed afterwards. This was
done, often at some inconvenience, in order to give
effect to the law at the earliest practicable period. But
it was now deemed more expedient to have the workhouse
and all the arrangements fully completed before
bringing it into operation; and hence a period longer
or shorter according to circumstances, would necessarily
intervene between the declaration of the house and the
.bn 293.png
.pn +1
actual admission of applicants by the guardians. This
accounts for relief being administered in only 98 of the
houses, although 110 had been declared. It may also
account for the non-fulfilment of the expectation which
had been expressed, as to the declaration of the whole
of the workhouses.
.fm rend=t
.fn 110
Ante, p. #271#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Cost of relief and numbers relieved.
In the 37 unions, the workhouses of which were in
operation previous to the 1st of January 1842,
the numbers then relieved and the amount of
expenditure have already been stated.[111] On the
1st of January 1843 the numbers relieved in these
unions amounted to 17,529, and the expenditure to
150,050l., thus showing an increase in the former of
2,283 persons, and in the latter of 39,773l. And in 55
other unions in which the workhouses had been brought
into operation in course of the preceding year, the
numbers relieved on the 1st of January 1843 amounted
to 14,043, and the expenditure to 131,183l., making
when added to the above—31,572[112] persons receiving
relief in 92 workhouses, at a cost of 281,233l. The
comparative amount of relief administered in the years
1840, 1841, and 1842 will thus stand as follows—
.ta c:22 c:5 c:15 c:10 c:15
| | No. of workhouses in operation|\
No. of
inmates.|\
Cost of relief in the previous year.
On the 1st of January | 1841| 4 | 5,468 | £37,057
” | 1842| 37 | 15,246 | 110,277
” | 1843| 92 | 31,572 | 281,233
.ta-
In connexion with this statement of the relief afforded
during these three years, it should be borne in mind
that the relief was administered in workhouses so regulated
as not to deter the really destitute from availing
themselves of the shelter afforded, whilst the discipline
and regularity of the establishment made it an unwelcome
residence for such of the able-bodied as had the
means of supporting themselves by their own exertions.
.fm rend=t
.fn 111
Ante, p. #277#.
.fn-
.fn 112
Although this was the total number in the 92 workhouses on the 1st of
January 1843, no less than 56,000 had been admitted and discharged, and
consequently relieved for a longer or shorter period, during the previous year.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.bn 294.png
.pn +1
.sn The author quits Ireland.
At the end of 1842, the author quitted Ireland. The
charge and direction of the proceedings in
that country, had hitherto from the commencement
been devolved upon him; and as these were so
far advanced as to leave no doubt with regard to their
completion, and as the commissioners were jointly responsible
for carrying the law into effect, it was considered
desirable that his colleagues should now take
their full share in the management of the Irish business.
It was intended that each of the commissioners should
reside for a time in Dublin, when and as it might be
found necessary, as had been recommended in the
author’s first Report, and as is provided for by the 11th
section of the Act. This arrangement was accordingly
acted upon, but only for a short time, it not being
deemed satisfactory; and with the sanction of the Home
Office, it was determined to delegate to two of the
assistant-commissioners the powers necessary for conducting
the Irish business,[113] this being considered, it is
said—“a course more consistent with the intention of
the legislature as expressed in the Irish Poor Relief
Act.” The author will now therefore be relieved from
a difficulty he has hitherto experienced in regard to
the proceedings in Ireland. With these proceedings he
will no longer be individually connected, and may
advert to them with greater freedom, as being the acts
of the commission collectively.
.fm rend=t
.fn 113
The gentlemen selected for this duty were Mr. Gulson and Mr. Power;
and the instrument of delegation is dated 20th April 1843.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Inspection of the workhouses.
Before leaving Ireland, I visited the several unions,
and inspected all the workhouses whether
completed or in course of erection, as I had
done in previous years, for the purpose of satisfying
myself with respect to the arrangements and management
in the former case, and as to the condition
and progress of the works in the latter. The result
of this inspection was for the most part satisfactory.
.bn 295.png
.pn +1
There were exceptions, no doubt, and in two instances
owing to the bankruptcy of the contractors, the houses
had to be in great measure built, and entirely fitted up
and completed by the Dublin Board. But on the whole,
the contractors had fulfilled, and were fulfilling their
engagements satisfactorily. The workhouses in operation
were also managed in a creditable manner; and
the guardians were generally attending to the business
of their respective unions with regularity and efficiency.
I quitted Ireland therefore without apprehending
the occurrence of any material difficulty or
delay, and looked forward with confidence to the early
and universal establishment of the law, and with a
deep sense of thankfulness for the prospect which was
afforded of its successful operation.
.sn Distress, and government aid.
In the early part of the summer of 1842, the weather
having continued unfavourable, distress again
manifested itself especially in the western districts,
as had been the case in the three preceding
years; and it was considered necessary that some assistance
should be afforded, and that the people should
not be left entirely to their own resources, as on the
two last occasions. Accordingly on the application of
the Irish government, coupled with an intimation of its
desire to extend its aid “in such a way as not to prejudice
or embarrass the future proceedings of the commissioners,”
the assistant-commissioners in charge of the
districts where the distress prevailed, were directed to
give all the facilities in their power by making inquiries
and furnishing information on the cases forwarded
to them, preparatory to the distribution of such
aid as the government might think fit to bestow.[114] But
before the end of June the weather changed, and became
so favourable as to promise abundant crops. The
.bn 296.png
.pn +1
markets immediately fell, and the scarcity, which had
arisen rather from the holding back of supply than from
any general deficiency, no longer existed.
.fm rend=t
.fn 114
The amount distributed by government on this occasion, in aid of local
subscriptions, was 3,448l. See ‘The Irish Crisis’ by Sir Charles Trevelyan,
p. 19.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
These facts appear to indicate, that a portion of
the distress which periodically takes place in Ireland,
may be referred to a cause, the operation of which is
likely to be increased by grants of public money; for
provisions are said to be sometimes accumulated in the
stores of persons who will not bring them to market,
under the expectation of being able to dispose of them
at a famine price as soon as government shall be induced,
on the plea of distress, to make an advance of
public money for the purpose. Wherever the union
workhouse was in operation, it proved of the greatest
use throughout these periods of difficulty, from whatever
cause arising. It not only afforded efficient relief
in numerous cases where it was needed, but likewise
effectually tested the representations of distress which
were continually being made. The fluctuations in the
numbers admitted and discharged, afforded moreover
the means of forming from time to time a correct judgment
on the condition of the poor in the surrounding
district, and was thus an index of the intensity of the
distress wherever it existed.
.sn Pauper lunatics.
Applications had been frequently made both to the
Irish government, and to the Board in Dublin,
representing that if the idiotic and harmless
lunatics then confined in the gaols or maintained in the
lunatic asylums, were transferred to the workhouses of
the unions to which they belonged, those institutions
would be greatly relieved, more especially the asylums,
which would then be enabled to receive more curable
cases, and thus extend their usefulness. To such communications
it had always been replied—“that the Irish
Poor Relief Act made no provision for the support of
insane and lunatic persons, specially as such; but that
a destitute person, being insane or lunatic, might be
.bn 297.png
.pn +1
admitted into the workhouse if the guardians so decided,
in the same manner as any other destitute individual.”
To provide for cases of this description, idiot
wards had been prepared in every workhouse, which
were calculated to afford accommodation for about 2,400
of this class of paupers, whenever the guardians in the
exercise of their discretion, should think fit to admit
them. It had however been thought right to discourage
any forced or immediate transfer of insane or
idiotic persons or harmless lunatics from the asylums
and gaols, but rather to wait for the gradual absorption
by the workhouses of such of these unfortunates as could
be properly relieved therein.
.sn Emigration.
Fruitless efforts were made, particularly at Cork
and Belfast, to raise the funds necessary for
defraying the expense of emigration. In Cork,
Dublin, Waterford, Belfast, and certain other large
towns, a considerable number of young persons chiefly
females, and for the most part the remnants of a former
system, had as has been before stated,[115] accumulated in
the workhouses, for whom emigration would afford at
once the most eligible, and it may almost be said the
only outlet. Yet in the present state of the law, it was
found nearly if not quite impossible to take advantage of
it. The workhouses had not created the present burden,
but they had gathered it into mass, and might be made
useful auxiliaries to a well-directed plan of emigration.
The commissioners declared that it would materially
facilitate this object, if the boards of guardians were empowered
to apply a portion of the rates for the emigration
of such fit persons as had been resident sufficiently
long in the workhouse for testing their actual helplessness
and destitution. This would in fact be reverting
to what was originally proposed, but which had been
altered in the progress of the bill through the house of
.bn 298.png
.pn +1
lords, by substituting divisional chargeability for that
of the entire union—a change to which is mostly owing
whatever difficulties have since occurred in the working
of the measure.
.fm rend=t
.fn 115
Ante, p. #275#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Electoral divisions.
The 18th and 44th sections of the Relief Act provide
for dividing the unions into electoral divisions,
and for charging against each electoral division
not only its proportion of the general expenses of the
union, but also the expense incurred for the relief of
persons stated in the registry to have been resident in
such electoral division; the relief of others not stated
to have been so resident, being charged against the
union at large. These provisions were inserted in the
bill in the house of lords, on the motion of the duke of
Wellington, with the professed view of assimilating the
mechanism of the Irish unions to the unions in England;
but the circumstances in the two countries were
widely different, and there would be little analogy
between the long-established English parish, and the
newly-created electoral divisions. This difference was
however overlooked in the desire for assimilation, and
the electoral division system was incorporated in the
Act, together with a sort of quasi settlement as between
the different divisions, approximating to settlement as
between parishes in the English unions. Under these
circumstances, it can hardly occasion surprise, that
although arranged with the utmost care, and with
every endeavour to give them a general harmony and
coherence, the electoral divisions did not work smoothly.
Their separate chargeability interfered with the efficient
action of the unions for general purposes, as in the case
of emigration, and led to struggles and contention in
the boards of guardians as soon as the unions got fully
into operation, each division endeavouring to relieve
itself from the charge of a registered pauper, by fixing
it upon some other, or by casting it upon the union at
large; and thus one of the evils of the English settlement-law
.bn 299.png
.pn +1
was inflicted upon the Irish unions, contrary
to the intentions of the original framers of the Act, and
contrary likewise to what a more thorough knowledge
of the condition of the two countries would it is believed
have dictated.
.sn Valuation and rating.
There was moreover still considerable difficulty with
respect to the valuations, and the difficulty was
not a little increased by the complexity of the
form in which the rate is directed to be made out.
This form is expressly prescribed by the Amendment
Act, and is rather calculated for the state of things
in England, than for what exists in Ireland, although
it is too minute and complex to admit of its working
satisfactorily in either. The form was engrafted
on the bill in the house of lords, with a view to
other than poor-law purposes, and contrary to the
author’s earnest representations. As the number and
the business of the unions increased, it was found
nearly impossible to adhere to this form, owing to
the extreme subdivision of property.[116] In all the 130
unions the number of persons rated whose valuations
did not exceed 5l. was 630,272, whilst the number
whose valuations were above that amount was
550,866, and those at 50l. and upwards 46,565; thus
showing that a considerable majority of the ratepayers
were valued at and under 5l.[117] Believing that such
would turn out to be the case, the author had recommended
.bn 300.png
.pn +1
that no occupier under 5l. should be called
upon to pay the poor-rate, but that the rate on all such
holdings should be paid by the landlord. It was however
provided by the 72nd section of the Act, that
instead of the exemption of 5l. holdings, the landlord
might agree to pay the rate himself, and be allowed a
rebate of 10 per cent. for so doing: but this provision
has not been acted upon, and all the small tenements
are required to be rated in the complex form of the
2nd schedule of the Act, comprising no less than eighteen
distinctive columns, under penalty of the rates
being deemed illegal. There can be no doubt that in
the abstract, as the commissioners observe, “all property
should contribute to the rate, and the whole
population be interested in the prevention of pauperism,
and in the well-being of the class for whose immediate
benefit statutory provision has been made.” But the
small ratepayers in Ireland are so numerous, and the
amounts to be severally collected from them are so
trifling, whilst the distinction between them and the
destitute is often so little perceptible, that Ireland seems
to constitute an exception to the general rule in this
respect; and it would be a great convenience, and tend
to facilitate the working of the Poor Law, if as was
at first proposed, the burden of the rate on the smaller
holdings were to be thrown upon the owner or immediate
lessor, rather than on the tenant himself.
.fm rend=t
.fn 116
See the author’s first Report on Irish Poor Laws, p. 160.
.fn-
.fn 117
These numbers were ascertained by returns which the author had obtained
in 1842, and caused to be tabulated by desire of the Irish government, with a
view to the parliamentary franchise. The same returns show that the net
annual value of property assessed to the relief of the poor in Ireland, was
13,428,787l.; but more exact returns subsequently obtained place the amount
at 13,253,825l. The annual value of property assessed to the poor-rate in
England and Wales at that time was 62,540,003l.—See return to an order of
the house of commons dated 3rd May 1842. Both of these valuations are no
doubt below the actual amount, probably by 20 or 25 per cent.; but of the
two, the Irish valuation is perhaps somewhat nearer the truth than the
other.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
The defects above noticed are explained and commented
upon at great length in the fifth Report. They
no doubt impede the orderly working of the law, and
add to the labours and embarrass the proceedings of
the entire executive; but they do not affect the principle
of the measure, nor very materially detract from
its usefulness. They are of a different origin from the
measure itself, having been grafted upon the bill in its
progress through parliament; and they will no doubt
be removed, or so modified as to be less obstructive
.bn 301.png
.pn +1
than at present, to which end they were now brought
prominently under notice.
.sp 2
.sn 1844. | Sixth report of proceedings in Ireland.
The Report of 1844, like those preceding, is dated
the 1st of May; and it will be convenient to
commence the account of the year’s proceedings
with a summary of the Act for amending the
law, which was passed on the 24th August 1843, and
which what is said above will have prepared the
reader to expect.
.pm start_hang
.ce
Summary of the 6th and 7th Vict. cap. 92.
.ce
For the further Amendment of the Law for the Relief of the Poor\
in Ireland.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 1, 2.—That where the property rated is not of greater
value than 4l., or in certain boroughs named than 8l., the
rate on such property shall be made on the immediate lessor,
and if his name be not known he may be rated as “the
immediate lessor;” and the rate is to be recoverable together
with costs, notwithstanding any defect or error in the name,
by action, or by civil bill, or by complaint before a justice,
but no action is to be brought without consent of the Poor
Law Commissioners.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 3, 4.—If a rate be not paid by the lessor in four months,
it may be recovered from the occupier, who in such case may
deduct the amount from the rent due to the lessor, or recover
it from him. If a house be let in lodgings, the lessor is to be
rated for the whole house, and if the rate be not paid within
thirty-one days, it may be recovered from the occupiers, who
will be entitled to deduct it from the rent due by them; but
the Municipal Corporations Act is not to be affected by any of
these provisions.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 5, 6.—When the property rated is above 5l., the lessors
may in like manner be rated instead of the occupiers, if both
enter into a written agreement for the purpose, and if the
guardians consent thereto. All goods and chattels to whomsoever
belonging, found on premises for which the occupier is
liable to pay rate, may be distrained for the same.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 7, 8.—To remove certain doubts with regard to valuators
and valuations, the commissioners are empowered to appoint
valuators, or they may direct the guardians to do so; and the
person so in either case appointed, may enter premises for the
.bn 302.png
.pn +1
purpose of making or revising any survey or valuation; and
rates are to be assessed on the valuations so made or revised,
and sealed by the commissioners; and are not to be altered
unless appealed against, when on receiving a copy of the
order of court amending such rate, the commissioners are to
authorize its alteration in conformity therewith. The appeal
in all cases is to be made to the sessions of the peace of the
county, or county of a city or town within which the hereditaments
are situate.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 9, 10, 11.—Any person affected by a rate, may on all
days except Sunday, between ten o’clock and four, inspect the
valuation on which the rate is made, and take copies thereof.
The form of rate prescribed by the Amendment Act is repealed,
and the commissioners are empowered to prescribe the form in
which the rates are to be made. The clerk to certify that
the rate when made conforms to the valuation, and the chairman
and two or more of the guardians present are to certify
that they allow the same. In Dublin the poor-rate is to be
collected in the same manner and with the like remedies as
the grand jury cess.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 12, 13.—The residence required in order that the expense
of relief may be charged to an electoral division in any case,
is the occupation of a tenement for eighteen months, or having
usually slept within such division for twelve months before
the person’s admission to the workhouse. The expense of all
others not having so occupied or slept, is to be charged against
the whole union. If a person after quitting the workhouse
be again admitted within six months, the expense of such
person is to be charged as before. The charge of every child
admitted, is to conform with that of the person liable for its
maintenance. The guardian or any three or more ratepayers
of an electoral division, may with consent of the commissioners
appeal against its being separately charged in any case.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 14, 15, 16.—The guardians, subject to the commissioners’
approval, may send any poor deaf and dumb or blind child
under the age of eighteen, to a deaf and dumb or blind institution,
and defray the expense of its maintenance therein;
and may also defray the expense of conveying any poor person
from the workhouse to a fever hospital or lunatic asylum
and his maintenance therein. Persons affected with fever or
other contagious disease, may be relieved in houses hired for
the purpose under the commissioners’ regulations, and the
expense be charged upon the rates.
Section 17.—The guardians may charge the rates with any expense
reasonably incurred, in apprehending or prosecuting
.bn 303.png
.pn +1
offenders against the provisions of any of the Poor-law
Acts.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Section 18.—Two-thirds of the guardians of any union, subject to
the regulations of the commissioners, may assist any poor
person who has been in the workhouse for three months, to
emigrate to a British colony, and may charge the expense on
the union, or on the electoral division to which such poor
person has been chargeable; but the entire amount of such
expense is not in any one year to exceed sixpence in the
pound on the net annual value of the rateable property of the
union or the electoral division respectively.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 19, 20, 21.—If the number of ex-officio guardians be
reduced by death removal or disqualification, the commissioners
may appoint a day for the election of another ex-officio
guardian in the place of the one so removed. A person put
in nomination for an elected guardian, may refuse by notice
in writing to serve the office; and in case of vacancy or refusal
to act, the commissioners may order a fresh election if they
think fit, but not otherwise.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 22, 23.—A person convicted of felony fraud or perjury, or
adjudged liable to forfeiture under the provisions of the Poor
Law, is incapacitated for acting as a guardian. The commissioners
empowered to inquire into and decide disputes in
regard to the elections.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 24, 25.—Notice of claims to vote by owners and proxies,
extended from one week to one calendar month. Any person
knowingly tendering a false claim to vote, or forging falsifying
or altering any such claim, or altering carrying off destroying
or defacing any voting-paper, subjected to a penalty
of ten pounds.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 26, 27.—In case of reasonable doubt in regard to any
claim, the returning officer may refuse the vote until proof of
its correctness be produced. Ratepayers, guardians, and
union officers, not incapacitated for giving evidence.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Section 28.—This and the two previous Acts (1st and 2nd, and 2nd
Vict. cap. 56 and 1) to be construed as one Act, except where
otherwise provided.
.pm end_hang
The alterations made by the above Act relate exclusively
to matters of detail. There is no change of
principle in the measure. The electoral division system
remains entire, except only as regards emigration, the
expense of which the guardians have now the option of
.bn 304.png
.pn +1
making either a union or a divisional charge. The
definition of residence for establishing the chargeability
of an electoral division, may be of some practical convenience,
and would amount to a law of settlement if a
power of removal were given; but as it is, it will
merely in a slight degree facilitate the working of the
divisional system. The abolition of the previous complicated
form of rate is no doubt an advantage, as is
also the power of rating the immediate lessors in certain
cases, instead of leaving it optional with them to compound
for the rates of their tenantry as before. The
provisions in regard to fever cases will be of much use,
especially as the measure proposed for regulating the
medical charities was not carried into effect.[118] The additional
powers given to the commissioners in election
cases are likewise desirable; and it may indeed be said
of the Act generally, that it is calculated to remedy
certain minor defects and omissions, and to promote the
more orderly working of the law.
.fm rend=t
.fn 118
Ante, p. #280#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
We will now turn to the commissioners’ Report of
1844, which commences by declaring that “The administration
of relief of the poor in Ireland had been
attended with some difficulties during the past year,
arising in a great measure from the political influences
which had agitated that country.” The influences and
agitations here alluded to, were connected with the
great movement for a repeal of the Union, stirred up
and organized by the late Mr. O'Connell, the consequences
of which were in various ways exceedingly
pernicious, diverting the people from their legitimate
and necessary occupations, exciting jealousy and ill-feeling
towards England, inculcating distrust of the
government, weakening the authority of law, and inciting
to a resistance of whatever was established, of
course including the Poor Law. Some indications of this
.bn 305.png
.pn +1
hostility appeared before the author quitted Ireland
towards the end of 1842, but shortly afterwards it was
openly manifested, and the Poor Law was declaimed
against as being an intolerable burden inflicted and
enforced by England and English officials, and that it
ought consequently to be opposed by every true Irishman.
.sn Resistance to the law.
Under these circumstances, and in the then state of
Ireland, it cannot excite surprise that there
should be resistance to the law, and that efforts
should be made to evade its provisions. As early as
the end of 1842 there had been resistance to payment
of the rates in some of the divisions of the Skibbereen
and Waterford unions, which afterwards extended to
Tipperary and several other unions in different parts
of Ireland. At Skibbereen indeed a death had unhappily
occurred, through the violent resistance made to
the constabulary while assisting the collectors in levying
the rates. In a return made to an order of the
house of commons, 21 unions are named as having
down to the 1st of January 1844, so far resisted the
payment of the poor-rates as to require the intervention
of the constabulary or the military to enforce the collection.
In 11 of these unions, a military as well as
constabulary force was deemed necessary. In the
other 10, the constabulary alone were found sufficient
to protect the collectors in the execution of their duty.
But it was not alone resistance to the rates which obstructed
the working of the law; in the Tuam union a
rate was made in October 1842,[119] but no part of it had
been collected on the 1st of January 1844. This was
not owing to resistance on the part of the ratepayers,
but to the unwillingness of the guardians to proceed
in the administration of relief. The workhouse, capable
.bn 306.png
.pn +1
of accommodating 800 persons, had been declared fit
for the reception of destitute poor in August 1842, a
master matron medical officer and porter had been
appointed, but such was the backwardness of the
guardians in fulfilling the requirements of the law, that
no case of destitution however urgent, was or could be
relieved except by application to some neighbouring
union.
.fm rend=t
.fn 119
The rate amounted to 1,796l. The population of the union exceeded
70,000.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
Even after the workhouse had been opened, and
relief therein administered, there were several instances
of unwillingness on the part of the guardians
to make rates of sufficient amount to meet the liabilities
of the union, and at the same time to provide for the
relief of the poor. Some of the boards moreover refused
to borrow and charge the rates with the sums
necessary to cover the expense of building the workhouses,
on the alleged ground of dissatisfaction with the
architect’s certificates in favour of the contractors, or
of the manner in which the work had been executed.[120]
Legal proceedings against the guardians were in consequence
taken on account of these refusals, and much expense
was thus injudiciously incurred, whilst the poor
were curtailed of their needful relief. The contracts
entered into under such circumstances for supplying the
workhouse, if they could be made at all, were necessarily
made on extremely disadvantageous terms; and thus
the intentions of the legislature were frustrated, and
disaffection towards the law was generated, by the very
parties appointed to carry out the one, and guard
against the occurrence of the other. Several unions
are named in the Report, in which such was or had
been the case, and in one (Carrick on Shannon) a poor
.bn 307.png
.pn +1
man had died in consequence of being refused relief.
Yet there can be no doubt that where the unions were
properly in operation, a large amount of actual destitution
and extreme suffering was effectually met by opportune
relief afforded in the workhouses. In many cases
however the poor people were so reduced as to be in
an extremely debilitated state when admitted, and they
often died shortly afterwards. In this worst extremity
to which, in a physical sense, a human being can be
exposed, an institution affording shelter, medical attendance,
and the last consolations of religion, must
surely be one of the most effective forms in which relief
can be administered, more especially among a population
such as exists in Ireland.
.fm rend=t
.fn 120
The complaints of the architect’s certificates were not confined to the
guardians, for whilst these complained of his too liberal allowance of charges,
the contractors complained that their charges were unduly cut down. Both
complaints were however totally without foundation, and in fact one negatived
the other.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Divisional chargeability.
Much dissatisfaction continued to be expressed with
regard to the apportioning the charge of relief
upon the several electoral divisions. Those in
which the rated property was large, and the number
of poor inconsiderable, complained of the proportion
they had to pay towards the common charges of the
union, whilst the amount of relief required by them was
so small. The divisions on the contrary in which the
number of paupers was considerable, and the amount
of relief bore a large proportion to their rated value,
complained of the high rate of poundage to which they
were subjected, in comparison with the other divisions.
The change now made in the law may help gradually
to reconcile although it does not remove these distinctions.
As new admissions take place, the proportion
charged upon the union at large would most likely increase,
and there would thus be a closer approximation
towards an equal rating of the whole union. But many
boards of guardians expressed themselves as not satisfied
with this gradual and partial change, and declared
themselves favourable to a union rate, whereby all
charges would be borne by an equal poundage-rate
over the several electoral divisions. That these guardians
.bn 308.png
.pn +1
took a correct view of the question seems hardly
to admit of doubt. They had seen the evils of divisional
chargeability, and wished to apply the obvious
remedy by bringing the law back to what was
originally proposed; but the time for so doing had not
arrived, and the evils and inconveniences were still to
be continued, although perhaps in a somewhat mitigated
form.
.sn Collection of the rates.
At the date of the present Report (1st May 1844)
resistance to the collection of the rates was in
great measure overcome, and the authority of
the law vindicated. The general results of the collection
are stated to have been as follows—In 98 of the unions,
in which the rates made previously to the 24th August
1843 amounted to 605,864l., there remained uncollected
on the 1st January 1844 only 46,322l., or something less
than 8 per cent. of the entire amount. But it must not
be supposed that even the whole of this arrear was collectable.
All tenements, whether occupied or not, are
usually included in the rate, the infinite number of
small tenements making it impossible to distinguish
with certainty what are unoccupied at the time the rate
is made; and it is only the occupied tenements which
pay. Public property legally exempt is also often included
in the rate, and the arrears in the South Dublin
union amounting to 4,479l., are likely to include sums
of this nature. On the whole therefore, it appeared to
the commissioners, that “considering the great difficulty
of collecting the rates from the occupiers of very small
tenements, on which class a large portion of the entire
rate is laid, these results would not be regarded as unsatisfactory.”
.sn Auditors appointed.
In order to secure regularity and efficiency in the
collections, and the proper keeping of the union
accounts, it was determined to appoint four
auditors, who would be employed exclusively in that
capacity; and it is expected that they would be the
.bn 309.png
.pn +1
means of establishing a greater degree of uniformity as
well as accuracy throughout all the unions in Ireland.
.sn Cost of relief, and numbers relieved.
Fourteen workhouses had been brought into operation
in course of the year 1843, the cost of relief
administered in which amounted to 23,277l.,
and the number of inmates to 1,529, on the
1st of January 1844—on which day the number of inmates
in the 92 workhouses in operation prior to 1843
was 31,981, and the cost of relief 221,097l. So that
the entire number of persons relieved on 1st January
1844 in 106 workhouses was 33,510, and the cost of
relief during the year amounted to 244,374l. This
appears less than in the preceding year, but the difference
is probably owing to the much greater number of
workhouses which were opened in 1843, and the extra
expenditure always attendant upon first bringing the
houses into operation. By a statistical table appended
to the Report, the total number of inmates of all classes
in the several workhouses on 31st January 1845, is
shown to have been 43,293, of whom 9,231 were able-bodied
(that is 2,809 males and 6,422 females) and
11,441 were disabled through sickness age or other
infirmity. Another minutely framed table in the Appendix
to the Report shows, that of 27,529 adults above
the age of fifteen, and 22,585 children under that age,
5,942 of the former were widows, and 3,622 widowers;
and that of the children 19,886 were legitimate (4,164
being orphans) and 2,639 were illegitimate.
.sp 2
.sn 1845.|\
Seventh report of proceedings in Ireland.[121]
The Report of 1st May 1845, commences by declaring
that “the administration of the law in Ireland
had proceeded satisfactorily upon the whole
since the date of the last Report.” The instances
of resistance to the collection of the rates, or in
which violence had occurred, were comparatively few,
.bn 310.png
.pn +1
and the financial embarrassments which had operated
prejudicially in several of the unions, had for the most
part ceased. There were altogether 118 workhouses
open for the purposes of relief. Of the 12 which remained,
3 were not yet declared fit for the reception of
inmates, and in a few instances the guardians still neglected
or refused to proceed in duly administering relief,
although the workhouses had long since been declared.
The most remarkable instance of this kind was in the
Tuam union; but the commissioners had deemed it
right to proceed against the Tuam guardians by mandamus,
and their submission to the authority of the law
was shortly expected. Meantime however they had, it
is said, been sued for debts which they did not hesitate
to incur, although they neglected to provide the means
of payment.
.fm rend=t
.fn 121
This forms a part of the eleventh Report of the Poor Law Commissioners.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Provision for fever cases.
Many of the unions had taken steps under the 15th
and 16th sections of the late Amendment Act,
for providing for the relief of persons suffering
from fever or other contagious complaints, either by
building fever wards distinct from the workhouses, or
hiring premises for the purpose, or by arranging for the
reception of such cases into fever hospitals; and the
result had in several instances been highly beneficial.
“In Galway for example, during a severe epidemic, the
guardians erected a temporary hospital near the workhouse,
and received into it during a period of about six
months 1,096 cases, of which 995 were discharged cured.”
.sn Vaccination.
A statement is given in the Appendix to the Report,
showing the progress made in bringing the
Vaccination Act into operation in Ireland. By
this statement it appears that, although not duly carried
out in several of the unions, the measure had obtained
a wide and beneficial operation, and was in course of
gradual extension. The amount expended for vaccination
in all the unions during the previous year, exceeded
4,000l., the rate of payment being 1s. on each
.bn 311.png
.pn +1
case successfully vaccinated for the first two hundred
cases, and 6d. on each successful case afterwards. This is
one of the charges for which the poor-rate is made liable,
although not strictly appertaining to the relief of the
poor; but it is no doubt calculated to prevent a far
greater charge, by protecting the people against the
smallpox, a fearful scourge which generally leaves disablement
and destitution in its train.
.sn Cost of relief, and numbers relieved.
In the 106 workhouses which had been opened prior
to 1844, the number of inmates on the 1st of
January 1845 was 37,701, and the expenditure
on relief amounted to 251,467l.[122] In the 7 workhouses
declared in course of that year, the number of inmates
on January 1st 1845 was 1,474, and the expenditure
18,063l., making the total number of persons relieved
on that day in 113 workhouses amount to 39,175, and
the expenditure on relief during the year to 269,530l.
The average weekly cost of the inmates of the workhouses
was 1s. 5½d. per head for maintenance, and 2½d.
for clothing, making together 1s. 8d. per head. The
cost had at the outset been estimated at 1s. 6d. per
head.[123] Rates were made in 126 of the unions, in all in
fact excepting four[124] situate in the extreme west; but in
8 of the unions in which rates had been made, the workhouses
were still not in operation. The commissioners
trusted however, that they would “be enabled to report
next year that the whole of the 130 workhouses in Ireland
were open for the reception and relief of the destitute
poor, in accordance with the intention of the legislature,
and the provisions of the Irish Poor Relief Act.”
.fm rend=t
.fn 122
No return could be obtained from the Athlone union, which is one of the
106, and its operations are therefore not included in these amounts.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.fm rend=t
.fn 123
See author’s memorandum at page 209 ante.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.fm rend=t
.fn 124
These were Cahirciveen, Clifden, Glenties, and Milford.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
On comparing the expenditure with the net annual
value of property rateable in each union, it will be
found that it does not on an average amount to sixpence
.bn 312.png
.pn +1
in the pound. The expenditure moreover includes the
instalments which had been repaid on account of the
workhouse loans; but as there was a large arrear of
these instalments then due, and few of the workhouses
had their full complement of inmates, it was thought
likely that the average might be higher by and bye,
although not so much higher as to afford reasonable
ground for dissatisfaction or alarm. The aggregate of
the loans granted by government for building and
fitting up the workhouses amounted to 1,140,350l., or
about 1s. 8d. in the pound, on the net annual value of
rateable property in Ireland, that is a poundage of somewhat
less than 1d. in the pound per annum for repayment
of the money borrowed. The poundage varied
considerably however in different unions, according to
the proportion the cost of the workhouse bore to the
value of the rateable property.
.sn Issue of amended orders.
Advantage was at this time taken of the experience
acquired during the five years that the law had
been in operation, to revise the orders and regulations
which were at first promulgated. And accordingly
an amended order was issued for the election
of guardians, together with a new circular of instructions
to the clerks of unions with regard to the duties
to be performed by them as returning officers. An
amended general order was also issued regulating the
proceedings of boards of guardians, and defining the
duties of union officers; and likewise a general order
containing amended regulations for the management of
workhouses, together with a new form for the half-yearly
abstract of accounts, with ample instructions
thereon. In short, nothing in the way of regulation
which came within the powers confided to the commissioners,
was omitted or neglected; and all resistance to
the payment of the poor-rates having ceased, it was
hoped that henceforward the working of the law would
everywhere proceed in an orderly and effective manner.
.bn 313.png
.pn +1
.sp 4
.h2
CHAPTER V.
.pm start_summary
Eighth Report of proceedings—Failure of the potato—A fourth commissioner
appointed—Ninth Report—Potato disease in 1846—Public
Works Act—Distress in autumn 1846—Labour-rate Act—Relief-works—Temporary
Relief Act—Pressure upon workhouses—Emigration—Financial
state of unions—First Annual Report of Poor-Law Commissioners
for Ireland—Extension Act—Act for Punishment of Vagrants—Act
to provide for execution of Poor Laws—General import of the new
Acts—Change of the commission—Dissolution of boards of guardians—Report
of Temporary Relief Act Commissioners—British Association—Second
Annual Report of Poor-Law Commissioners—Recurrence of
potato disease—Cholera—Rate-in-Aid Act—Further dissolution of
boards of guardians—Boundary commission—Select committee on Irish
Poor Laws—Expenditure, and numbers relieved.
.pm end_summary
.sp 2
.sn 1846.|\
Eighth report of proceedings in Ireland.[125]
The Report for 1845-6, like those of preceding years,
is dated on the 1st of May, and represents the
progress of the law during the previous twelve
months as being on the whole satisfactory. All
the workhouses were open and the rates in course of collection,
except in the two small unions of Clifden and
Cahirciveen, in each of which however the guardians had
taken steps for making a rate and opening the workhouse.
.fm rend=t
.fn 125
This eighth Report of proceedings in Ireland, is included in the twelfth
Report of the Poor Law Commissioners; but as before stated it has been
thought better to keep the Irish portion of the Reports distinct from the
other, and to give them a separate number.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Numbers relieved, and cost of relief.
The number of persons relieved in the several workhouses
continued to increase throughout the
present year, the total number amounting to
114,205. In the week ending 27th December
1845 the number so relieved was 41,218, whilst in the
week ending 28th March 1846 (the last for which
the returns were complete) the number was 50,717,
being an increase of 9,499 in three months, and indicating
that the distress which had now become very
general was beginning to press upon the workhouses.
The number described as able-bodied was 8,246, that
.bn 314.png
.pn +1
is 1,984 males and 6,262 females. The total expenditure
on relief of the poor during the preceding year
in the 113 unions of which the workhouses were opened
prior to 1845, amounted on the 1st of January 1846 to
298,813l. The number of inmates at that date was
40,876. In the 10 other unions the workhouses of which
were opened in the course of 1845, the expenditure on
relief amounted to 17,213l., and the number of inmates to
1,192,—so that on January 1st 1846 there were 42,068
poor persons relieved in 123 workhouses, and the entire
cost of relief during the year amounted to 316,026l.
The financial state of the unions generally, appears
to have been satisfactory. In the monthly returns for
February 1846, comprising 128 unions, the rates collected
during the month amounted to 41,871l., leaving
206,664l. in course of collection. The aggregate of the
balances against the guardians in 25 unions was 5,294l.,
whilst in the remaining 103 unions, the whole of the
balances were in favour of the guardians and amounted
to 54,314l., thus showing a net balance of 49,020l. in
the hands of the treasurers. This sum added to what
was in course of collection, making together 255,684l.,
must be regarded as sufficient for covering an expenditure
of say 320,000l. per annum, the rates in a great
number of the unions being made half-yearly.
.sn Electoral divisions.
The number of electoral divisions amounted to 2,049,
each on an average containing a population of
about 4,000 persons. The dissatisfaction expressed
in many instances with the divisional system, and
with the inequalities of charge to which it gave rise, has
already been noticed.[126] The 44th section of the Poor Relief
Act seeks to provide a remedy for, or at least a mitigation
of such inequalities, by enabling the guardians
of the several divisions of a union to agree to a common
rating: but it is evident that wherever the inequality
.bn 315.png
.pn +1
of rating is greatest, there will be the greatest difficulty
in effecting such an arrangement. In fact the
only instance in which it has been effected is in the
Dunmanway union, where the guardians of all the
electoral divisions signed an agreement in the terms of
the statute, that the charges should thenceforth be borne
in common. In this union therefore one great source
of contention will have been removed, although at a
sacrifice in some degree of that local interest which
attaches to guardians representing a district separately
chargeable: but enough of such interest will remain in
a common chargeability to secure attention to the
general interests of the union, in which all that is
exclusively local will become merged; and it may therefore
be expected that the well-working of the Dunmanway
board will not be impeded through a want
of harmony among its members.
.fm rend=t
.fn 126
Ante, p. #288#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn The Tuam and Castlereagh boards dissolved.
The Tuam guardians, against whom judgment had
been pronounced under the proceedings by mandamus,
as noticed in the last Report,[127] although
professing compliance with the peremptory
order issued by the court, were still backward in fulfilling
the duties which the law imposed upon them, as
were also the guardians of the Castlereagh union. The
commissioners therefore deemed it right to dissolve
both these boards, on whom it was evident that reliance
could not be placed for an effective administration of
the law, in the impending season of scarcity and distress
through the failure of the potato crop; and it was
at the same time intimated, that if the boards elected
in lieu of those dissolved “failed to discharge effectually
their duties as guardians of the poor,” paid officers would
be appointed under the 26th section of the Relief Act
to carry its provisions into execution. “It is satisfactory
(the commissioners observe), prepared as we are
.bn 316.png
.pn +1
in case of necessity to resort to the exercise of those
powers, that we have, in the first instance, always endeavoured
to give effect to the views of the legislature,
when resisted, by an appeal to judicial authority. We
still trust that the decisions which the Court of Queen’s
Bench has pronounced in vindication of the law, and
which have invariably been followed by submission
elsewhere, will finally have their due effect in the Tuam
and Castlereagh unions, and render unnecessary the
appointment of paid officers to perform the functions of
guardians in those unions.”
.fm rend=t
.fn 127
Ante, p. #300#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Fever wards.
Considerable progress had been made in providing
for poor persons afflicted with fever. In 50 of
the unions, fever wards in connexion with the
workhouses were either built or in course of building,
and in others houses had been hired for the purpose,
or temporary provision was made until fever wards
could be erected. Arrangements had likewise been
made for sending fever patients from the workhouses to
county fever hospitals, and no pains were spared in
urging upon the guardians the necessity of their being
prepared for the occurrence of fever, which experience
had shown to be always prevalent in seasons of distress,
from whatever cause arising.
.sp 2
.sn Failure of the potato.
We are now arrived at the period of the potato
failure, some account of which as affecting England
and Scotland has been given in the respective
histories.[128] “The potato disease,” so called to
distinguish it from the less general and entire failure
of that root which has occasionally occurred, first appeared
in America in 1844, but it did not show itself
in Ireland until the autumn of 1845. The early crops
generally escaped its ravages, but the late or main crop
.bn 317.png
.pn +1
was found to be so far tainted with the disease, that
although much of it was susceptible of being used at
the time the potatoes were dug, they afterwards rotted
in the pits, and became an offensive mass unfitted for
the use of man or beast. This was especially the case
in the western districts; and there as well as wherever
the small cottier or the conacre systems prevailed, any
failure in the potato crop, even although it were small
and partial, would necessarily occasion much distress,
the population being in such cases generally redundant,
and subsisting nearly altogether on that root.
.fm rend=t
.fn 128
See ‘History of the Scotch Poor Law,’ p. 199. See also ‘History of the
English Poor Law,’ 2nd vol. pp. 391-393.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
In the present instance there was not only a failure
in the quantity raised, but the portion of the crop
stored for future use was known to be in jeopardy, and
the distress and alarm were proportionally increased.
Both were in fact excessive, the one adding to the other,
and causing the most serious apprehensions throughout
the country. Government participated in these apprehensions,
and took early steps for obtaining 100,000l.
worth of Indian corn from America, in anticipation of
the distress and difficulties sure to arise through the
failure of the potato, and for which the country itself
afforded no substitute.[129] This timely supply arrived in
course of the spring of 1846, and in order to its distribution,
depôts were established in various places
along the coast under the direction of commissariat
officers, with sub-depôts in charge of the constabulary
and coast-guard.[130] Wherever the ordinary supplies of
food were found to be deficient, Indian meal was sold
from these depôts at a moderate price, to the relief
.bn 318.png
.pn +1
committees if any such had been formed, and likewise
to all who applied for it. The meal was not however
at first relished by the people, for although far more
nutritious than the potato, it was new, and they preferred
that to which they had been accustomed. But
necessity is ever a successful controller of taste, and
Indian meal which was at first disliked, and about
which the most absurd stories were promulgated, became
ere long, and after the mode of preparing it came
to be understood, a favourite description of food with
the Irish people.
.fm rend=t
.fn 129
In March 1846, on the introduction of the measure (9th and 10th Vict. cap. 2)
for enabling the Treasury to make advances on security of grand jury presentments,
Mr. O'Connell, whose knowledge of Ireland must be admitted, declared
that government had acted wisely in causing a quantity of maize or
Indian corn to be imported, to replace the damaged potatoes, as by so doing
they had added to the quantity of food for the people.
.fn-
.fn 130
See ‘The Irish Crisis,’ by Sir Charles Trevelyan, reprinted in 1848 from
the Edinburgh Review No. 175.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
Although the potato had thus failed, not only in
Ireland but in England and Scotland, and throughout
the greater portion of Europe, the grain crops were
generally abundant, and would in a great degree supply
the deficiency caused by such failure, except where the
potato constituted the chief or nearly sole article of
subsistence, as was the case in many parts of Ireland.
Here the void caused by the loss of the potato could
only be supplied by imports from abroad, and this circumstance
was adduced by Sir Robert Peel in January
1846 as one of the reasons for a reduction of the corn-duties,
and led to Indian corn being admitted at a duty
of 1s. per quarter, instead of being charged the same
duty as barley, as it previously had been, and owing to
which charge probably, it was little used or known
either in England or Ireland.
In the autumn of 1845, as soon as the prevalence of
the “potato disease” had been ascertained, government
deputed three gentlemen of high scientific attainments[131]
to examine into its nature, and to suggest means for
checking its ravages. But the result showed that the
evil was beyond the reach of human skill, for notwithstanding
the application of every remedy which science
could devise or experience dictate, the decay of the
.bn 319.png
.pn +1
root continued with undiminished rapidity. On the
appearance of the disease, the Poor Law Commissioners
entered into active communication with the several
boards of guardians on the subject, and endeavoured to
mitigate the consequences of the potato failure, by authorizing
the use of other kinds of food in the union
dietaries. These were for the most part modified accordingly,
and bread, or stirabout prepared from Indian
meal, was substituted for potatoes.
.fm rend=t
.fn 131
These were Professors Kane, Lindley, and Playfair.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn A fourth commissioner appointed.
The circumstances of Ireland at this time, induced
the government to exercise the power conferred
by the 119th section of the Irish Poor Relief
Act, and to appoint a fourth commissioner to act in
that country. The gentleman selected was Mr. Twisleton,
of whom mention has been made in connexion
with the Scotch Poor Law;[132] and on his proceeding to
Ireland, the powers previously delegated to the two
assistant-commissioners[133] were revoked.
.fm rend=t
.fn 132
See ‘History of the Scotch Poor Law,’ pp. 130 and 165.
.fn-
.fn 133
Ante, p. #284#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sp 2
.sn 1847. | Ninth report of proceedings in Ireland.
The ninth Report (for 1846-7) is like the others
dated on the 1st of May. It describes very
fully the effects consequent on the potato disease
of the previous autumn, so far as these
effects bore upon the working of the Poor Law. The
connexion between the two, although in one sense intimate,
is in other respects limited; for where the land
has ceased to be productive, the necessary means of
relief cannot be obtained from it, and a poor-law will
no longer be operative, or at least not operative to an
extent adequate to meet such an emergency as then
existed in Ireland. A poor-law, rightly devised and
judiciously administered, will generally be found equal
to the relief of destitution in the ordinary progress of
events; but a state of famine, or a total failure of the
.bn 320.png
.pn +1
means of subsistence is extraordinary, and the wide-spread
destitution thence arising is beyond the powers
of a poor-law effectually to relieve, although it may
doubtless be applied to some extent in mitigation.
Under the circumstances at that time unhappily existing
in Ireland, other aid was necessary beyond what
could be derived from any modification of the Poor
Law; and the nature of those circumstances, and the
means pursued in dealing with them, will be explained
in the following pages.
.sn The potato disease in 1846.
The potato disease made its appearance in 1846
much earlier than in the preceding year, and it
was also much more general and destructive.
Captain Mann in his narrative of events in the county
of Clare at this period, says that the symptoms of the
disease were first noticed in the latter part of July;
but that the change which took place in one week in
August was such as he shall never forget—“On the
first occasion (he says) I had passed over thirty-two
miles thickly studded with potato-fields in full bloom.
The next time the face of the whole country was
changed—the stalk remained a bright green, but the
leaves were all scorched black. It was the work of a
night. Distress and fear was pictured in every countenance,
and there was a general rush to dig and sell,
or consume the crop by feeding pigs and cattle, fearing
in a short time they would prove unfit for any use.”
And in a letter printed in the Parliamentary Papers,
Father Mathew[134] states—“On the 27th of July I passed
from Cork to Dublin, and this doomed plant bloomed in
all the luxuriance of an abundant harvest. Returning
on the 3rd of August, I beheld with sorrow one wide
waste of putrifying vegetation. In many places the
wretched people were seated on the fences of their
.bn 321.png
.pn +1
decaying gardens, wringing their hands and wailing
bitterly the destruction that had left them foodless.”
.fm rend=t
.fn 134
Commonly known in Ireland as “the Apostle of Temperance,” a worthy
and benevolent man.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
The disease made its first appearance in the form of
little brown spots on the leaves of the plant. These
continued to increase until the leaves became withered,
leaving the stem bare, and so brittle that it snapped
off on being handled. The whole was effected in less
than a week, the fields appearing as if they were burnt,
and the growth of the root entirely destroyed. No
potatoes were pitted this year, and the wheat crop
barely amounted to an average, whilst barley and oats
were decidedly deficient. “On the continent the rye
and potato crops again failed, and prices rose there
early in the season above those ruling in England,
which caused the shipments from the Black Sea, Turkey
and Egypt to be sent to France, Italy and Belgium;
and it was not till late in the season that our
prices rose to a point which turned the current of
supplies towards England and Ireland. The Indian
corn crop in the United States this year was however
happily very abundant, and it became a resource of
the utmost value to this country.[135]
.fm rend=t
.fn 135
See ‘The Irish Crisis,’ by Sir Charles Trevelyan, p. 41.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Reduction of duty on corn imported.
In June 1846, The 9th and 10th Vict. cap. 22, was
passed, providing for the gradual reduction of
the import duty on corn, and fixing it at 1s.
per quarter on every description imported after
the 1st of February 1849. On the assembling of parliament
in January 1847, two other Acts were passed[136]
making further reductions in the duty on corn, and
removing the restriction imposed by the Navigation
Laws on the importation of corn in foreign vessels;
and shortly afterwards the whole duty on rice and
Indian corn and Indian meal was suspended.
.fm rend=t
.fn 136
The 10th and 11th Vict. cap. 1 and 2.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Relief committees formed.
In the early part of 1846, relief committees were
.bn 322.png
.pn +1
formed throughout Ireland, under the superintendence
of a central commission established in Dublin,
for the purpose of dispensing food, the requisite
funds being furnished by private subscriptions assisted
by donations from government. The months of June
and July was the period of heaviest pressure, during
which one of the central depôts established by government,
issued in a single week no less than 233 tons of
meal to its various sub-depôts, and one of these latter
again retailed 20 tons to the public daily. If the people
had lived by wages like the labouring classes in England,
the providing a cheap substitute for the potato
would have been sufficient for the present emergency.
But money-wages were comparatively little known in
Ireland, the people chiefly subsisting on produce raised
by themselves; and it was therefore necessary to adopt
some plan for enabling them to purchase the new
description of food which had been procured for them.
.sn The Public Works Act, 9th and 10th Vict. c. 1.
The plan adopted was by establishing public works,
as had been done on former somewhat like occasions;
and an Act was accordingly passed
enabling the magistrates and principal cess-payers
to obtain advances of public money for
this purpose, one-half as a free grant, the other half as
a loan to be repaid by the barony out of the grand-jury
cess. The greatest number of persons employed under
this system was 97,000. It was brought to a close in
the month of August, and may be said on the whole
to have answered its intended purpose, although not
without considerable drawbacks, partly through the misapplication
of public money, and partly by increasing
the tendency which has always prevailed in Ireland to
rely upon government aid. The entire amount expended
by the government down to the 15th of August
1846, in affording relief to the Irish people during this
season of distress was 733,372l., of which one-half was
a free grant, and the other half a loan. The sum raised
.bn 323.png
.pn +1
by voluntary subscription for like purposes was 98,000l.,
making together 831,372l., obtained from other than
poor-law sources, and expended during this first season
of severe pressure in relief of persons many of whom
would else have perished through absolute want.
.sn The autumn of 1846. Severe distress.
With the approach of autumn another period of distress
commenced in Ireland, far heavier and
more intense than the preceding, the potato
crop having now almost universally and entirely
failed. In the former season there were helps or
palliatives, some districts having nearly escaped the
disease and others being less generally affected by it;
but in the present season there were no such exceptions,
and neither help nor hope was to be found in the
natural resources of the country. A new emergency
may thus be said to have arisen, and the public works
which had been put an end to in August were renewed
in the following month, and the entire machinery of
provision depôts and relief committees was reorganized
on a more comprehensive scale than before.
.sn The Labour-rate Act, 9th and 10th Vict. c. 107.
In order to check the exorbitant demands which had
in many instances been made in the previous season,
the whole expense of the public works was now
under the new Labour-Rate Act made a local
charge, to be defrayed by a rate levied and assessed
in a manner similar to the poor-rate, which makes
the landlord liable for the whole on tenements under 4l.
yearly value, and for half the rate on tenements valued
above that amount. It was also determined that as far
as possible task-work should be adopted, and at a rate
of payment below what was usual in the district. It
was further determined in order to avoid embarrassing
the operations of the private trader, that government
should not order supplies from abroad, and that its
interference should be confined to the western districts,
in which no trade in corn for local consumption existed.
Moreover, the government depôts were not to be opened
.bn 324.png
.pn +1
for the sale of food so long as it could be obtained from
private dealers, and no purchases were to be made in
the local market, where the appearance of government
as a purchaser would be certain to raise prices.
.sn The board of works.
Such generally was the plan proposed to be pursued
under the pressure of famine, and the other distressing
circumstances consequent on the failure of the potato
crop at the end of 1846; and it was expected that the
resident proprietors and ratepayers would perform their
part, by ascertaining the extent of destitution in the
several localities, and determining what was necessary
to be done in the way of relief, and the best mode of
doing it. This expectation however was not fulfilled, and
in almost every instance these duties were left to be performed
by the board of works, which had thus to
obtain the best information it could through
hired agents, “to advance the necessary funds, to select
the labourers, to superintend the works, to pay the people
weekly, to enforce a proper performance of the labour,
to ascertain the quantity of labour required for farm-works,
to select and draft off proper persons to perform
it, to settle the wages to be paid to them by the farmers
and to see that they were paid, to furnish food not only
for all the destitute out of doors, but in some measure
for the paupers in the workhouses”—in short, “the
board of works became the centre of a colossal organization,
5,000 separate works had to be reported upon,
12,000 subordinate officers had to be superintended, and
their letters averaged upwards of 800 a day.”[137]
.fm rend=t
.fn 137
See ‘The Irish Crisis,’ by Sir Charles Trevelyan, under whose able superintendence
the government aid was chiefly administered in Ireland, and on
whose statements of what took place I have chiefly relied in this account of the
dismal periods of 1846 and 1847.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn The relief-works.
The strain upon the executive through this system of
centralization was excessive. Government had
to bear the entire pressure of the masses on the
sensitive points of wages and food. Task-work was
.bn 325.png
.pn +1
generally objected to, and its enforcement gave rise to
frequent struggles, in which the safety of the superintending
officers was sometimes put in jeopardy. The
number of persons employed on the works continued to
increase—“Thousands upon thousands were pressed
upon the officers of the board of works in every part of
Ireland, and it was impossible for those officers to test
the accuracy of the urgent representations which were
made to them. The attraction of money wages regularly
paid from the public purse, or ‘The queen’s pay,’
as it was popularly called, led to a general abandonment
of other descriptions of industry, in order to participate
in the advantages of the relief-works.Evils of the system. Landlords
competed with each other in getting the names
of their tenants placed on the lists; farmers dismissed
their labourers and sent them to the works; the
clergy insisted on the claims of the members of their respective
congregations; the fisheries were deserted; and
it was often difficult even to get a coat patched or a pair
of shoes mended, to such an extent had the population
of the south and west of Ireland turned out upon the
roads. The average number employed in October was
114,000, in November 285,000, in December 440,000,
and in January 1847, 570,000.” It was obviously impossible
to exact from such a multitude the amount of
labour that would operate as a test. Huddled together
in masses they screened each other’s idleness. It was
thought that the enforcement of taskwork would stimulate
their industry; but when after a hard struggle
this point had been carried, an habitual collusion between
the labourers and the overlookers appointed to
measure their work revived the former abuse, and the
labourers were as idle as ever.
The Labour-Rate Act (9th and 10th Vict. cap. 107)
was founded on the assumption that the owners and
occupiers of land would themselves make efforts commensurate
with the magnitude of the crisis, and that
.bn 326.png
.pn +1
only a manageable number of persons would have to
be supported on the public works. But including the
families of those so employed, more than 2,000,000
persons were maintained by the relief-works, and there
were others behind including the most helpless, for
whom no work could be found. Failure of relief-works.The extent to which
the rural population were thrown upon the relief-works,
threatened likewise to interrupt the ordinary
tillage of the land, and thus to perpetuate a
state of famine. In short, a change of system had
become necessary, and at the end of January (1847) it
was announced that government intended to put an end
to the public works, and to substitute another mode of
relief. The pressure nevertheless continued to increase.
The 570,000 men employed daily in January, became
708,000 in February, and 734,000 in March, representing
with their dependents upwards of 3,000,000 of
persons. The expenses were in proportion, and exceeded
a million sterling per month.[138] At the end of
February however preparation was made for a change
of system by passing the Temporary Relief Act (10th
Vict. cap. 7). In March the numbers employed were
reduced by 20 per cent., and successive reductions continued
to be made as the change of system was brought
into operation. In the first weeks of April, May and
June respectively, the numbers employed were 525,000,
419,000, and 101,000; and in the week ending the
26th of June the number was reduced to 28,000. The
necessary labour was thus returned to agriculture, and
a foundation was laid for the ensuing abundant harvest.
“The remaining expenditure was limited to a
sum of 200,000l. for the month of May, and to 100,000l.
a month for June, July, and the first 15 days of
August, when the Act expired.”
.fm rend=t
.fn 138
In the month of March the expenditure upon relief-works including labour
and plant, and the cost of the staff, amounted to 1,050,772l.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.bn 327.png
.pn +1
.sn 26th Feb. 1847.|\
Temporary Relief Act. 10th and 11th Vict. c. 7.
The system of affording relief through the agency of
public works having broken down, while that
of administering it in a direct form on the
principle of the Poor Law had generally been
found effective wherever it had been tried, it
was as above stated determined to give validity to this
mode bypassing the 10th and 11th Vict., cap. 7, which
directs that a relief committee consisting of the magistrates,
a clergyman of each persuasion, the poor-law
guardian and the three highest ratepayers, shall be
constituted in each electoral division, and that a finance
committee of four gentlemen of character and knowledge
of business should be formed to control the
expenditure in each union. Inspecting officers are also
to be appointed, and a central commission sitting in
Dublin,[139] was to superintend and control the working of
the whole system. The expense incurred was to be
defrayed out of the poor-rates, and when these proved
insufficient they might be reinforced by government
loans, to be repaid by rates subsequently levied. But
no loan is to be made, until the inspecting officer had
certified that the guardians have passed a resolution
for making the rate upon which the loan was to be
secured. Such were the chief provisions of the Act,
but free grants were also made in aid of the rates in
the poorest unions, and when private subscriptions were
raised the government made donations to an equal
amount. The liability of the ratepayers would, it was
considered, operate as a check to undue expenditure;
and with regard to the recipients, the test applied consisted
in requiring the personal attendance of all who
needed relief, (excepting only the sick and impotent
poor, and children under the age of nine) and that the
.bn 328.png
.pn +1
relief should be given in cooked food,[140] in portions sufficient
to maintain health and strength.
.fm rend=t
.fn 139
Sir John Burgoyne was the chairman of this commission, and Mr. Twisleton
the poor-law commissioner was a member. The other members were Mr.
Redington the first under secretary, and Col. Jones and Col. M'Gregor the
heads of the board of works and the constabulary.
.fn-
.fn 140
The best form in which cooked food could be given was “stirabout,” made
of Indian meal and rice steamed. It is sufficiently solid to be easily carried
away by the recipients. The pound ration thus prepared swelled by the absorption
of water to between 3 and 4 pounds.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn The cooked-food system of relief.
The cooked-food system of relief was found to a
great degree efficacious in preventing abuse,
but it was objected to at first, and the enforcement
of it was in some cases attended with
difficulty. Undressed meal might be sold or exchanged
for other articles. “Even the most destitute often
disposed of it for tea tobacco or spirits,” but stirabout
soon becomes sour by keeping, and was not likely to
be applied for except by persons who wanted it for
their own immediate use. Depôts of corn and meal
were formed—relief committees were established—mills
and ovens were erected—huge boilers cast specially for
the purpose were sent over from England for preparing
the stirabout—and large supplies of clothing were collected.
In July 1847 the system reached its highest
point “3,020,712 persons then received separate rations,
of whom 2,265,534 were adults, and 755,178
were children.” This vast multitude was however
rapidly lessened at the approach of harvest,[141] which
happily was not affected by the disease. Cessation of famine. Food became
comparatively abundant, and labour in demand.
By the middle of August relief was discontinued
in nearly one-half the unions, and ceased altogether
on the 12th September. It was limited by the
Act to the 1st October.
.fm rend=t
.fn 141
The price of Indian corn in the middle of February was 19l. per ton, at
the end of March it was 13l., and by the end of August it had fallen to 7l. 10s.
per ton. The quantity of corn imported into Ireland in the first six months
of 1847 was 2,849,508 tons.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
This was the second year in which upwards of
3,000,000 of people had been fed “out of the hands of
the magistrate” in Ireland, but it was now done more
effectually than at first. The relief-works had been
.bn 329.png
.pn +1
crowded, often to the exclusion of numbers who were
really destitute; but a ration of cooked food was less
attractive than money wages had been, and it also
proved a more effectual relief to the helpless poor.
“The famine was stayed.” Deaths from starvation no
longer occurred. Cattle-stealing and other crimes connected
with the want or insufficiency of food became
less prevalent, and the system of relief which had been
established is with allowable self-gratulation declared to
be “the grandest attempt ever made to grapple with
famine over a whole country.” Organized armies, it is
said, had been rationed before; “but neither ancient
nor modern history can furnish a parallel to the
fact that upwards of three millions of persons were
fed every day in the neighbourhood of their own
homes, by administrative arrangements emanating from
and controlled by one central office.”[142] The expense
of this great undertaking amounted to 1,557,212l.,—a
moderate sum in comparison with the extent of the
service performed, and in which performance the machinery
of the Poor Law unions was found to afford
most important aid. Indeed without such aid, the service
could hardly have been performed at all; and the
anticipations of the advantage to be derived from the
Poor Law organization in such emergencies,[143] were
fully verified.
.fm rend=t
.fn 142
See ‘The Irish Crisis.’ See also the Reports of the Irish relief commissioners,
which give full information on this interesting but distressing subject.
.fn-
.fn 143
See the author’s first Report, p. 167 ante.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Fever.
Fever as usual followed in the train of famine, and
in order to check its ravages the 10th and 11th
Vict. cap. 22 was passed, “making provision
for the treatment of poor persons afflicted with fever,”
and enabling the relief committees to provide temporary
hospitals, to ventilate and cleanse cabins, to
remove nuisances, and to procure the proper burial of
the dead, the funds necessary for these objects being
.bn 330.png
.pn +1
advanced by the government in the same way as for
furnishing food. Upwards of three hundred hospitals
and dispensaries were provided under this Act, with
accommodation for at least 23,000 patients, and the
sanitary powers which it conferred were extensively
acted upon. The expense incurred for these objects
amounted to 119,055l., “the whole of which was made
a free gift to the unions in aid of the rates.”
.sn Advances by government.
The amount expended under the Public Works Act
(9th and 10th Vict. cap. 1) was 476,000l., one-half
a grant, the other half to be repaid
by twenty half-yearly instalments. The expenditure
under the Labour-Rate Act (9th and 10th Vict. cap.
107) was 4,850,000l., half of which was a grant and
the other half to be repaid as before. The sum advanced
under 9th and 10th Vict. cap. 2 for local purposes,
was 130,000l., to be repaid in various periods out
of grand jury presentments. Lastly the sums expended
under the Temporary Relief Act, 10th Vict. cap. 7,
in the distribution of food, and under the 10th Vict.
cap. 22 in medical and sanitary relief, amounted to
1,676,268l., of which 961,739l. was to be repaid, and
the remaining 714,529l. was a free grant. So that the
entire amount advanced by government in 1846 and
1847 towards the relief of the Irish people under the
fearful calamity to which they were exposed, was
7,132,268l., of which 3,754,739l. was to be repaid
within ten years, and the remaining 3,377,529l. was a
free grant.[144]
.fm rend=t
.fn 144
See ‘The Irish Crisis,’ p. 110.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
But it was not the government alone that contributed
to the relief of the Irish people in this
trying emergency.Private subscriptions. Individual subscriptions
were poured forth from all parts of the British empire.
Associations were formed, local committees were appointed,
all were active in sympathy and benevolent
.bn 331.png
.pn +1
efforts for the relief of Irish distress. The chief organ
for receiving and dispensing these various contributions
was “The British Association,”[145] which collected subscriptions
to the amount of 269,302l., and to which was
likewise committed the proceeds of two royal letters
inviting contributions, amounting to 200,738l., making
together no less than 470,041l., one-sixth of which was
apportioned to Scotland,[146] and the remainder to Ireland.[147]
Then there was the “Society of Friends” who collected
168,000l., which was distributed almost entirely
in provisions, whilst a great number of persons in all
parts of England acted independently of any association,
but all directing their efforts to the same benevolent
object.
.fm rend=t
.fn 145
The present Lord Overstone, then Mr. Jones Loyd, was chairman of the
acting committee of the association, and Mr. Thomas Baring was the vice-chairman.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn The British Association.
In administering the funds placed at its disposal, the
committee of the British Association acted concurrently
with the government and the Poor-Law
authorities, each of whom bore testimony to its great
usefulness. It determined at the outset “That all grants
should be in food, and not in money;” and “That no
grant should be placed at the disposal of any individual
for private distribution.” The committee conclude
their Report to the subscribers by declaring, that
although evils of greater or less degree must attend
every system of gratuitous relief, they are confident that
any evils which may have accompanied the application
of this fund, will have been far more than counterbalanced
by the benefits which have been conferred upon
their starving fellow-countrymen. “If ill desert has
sometimes participated in this bounty, a vast amount of
human misery and suffering has (it is said) been relieved.”[148]
.fm rend=t
.fn 146
See ‘History of the Scotch Poor Law,’ p. 202.
.fn-
.fn 147
In fact the amount applied to these objects by the association exceeded
500,000l., upwards of 130,000l. having been obtained by the sale of provisions
and seed-corn in Ireland, and interest accruing on the money contributed.
.fn-
.fn 148
See Report of the British Association for the Relief of extreme Distress in
Ireland and Scotland, 1st January 1849.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.bn 332.png
.pn +1
The foregoing account of proceedings by the government
and by individuals for relieving the distress
which prevailed in Ireland during the years 1846 and
1847, through the failure of the potato-crops, has been
continued down beyond the date of the ninth Report in
order to keep the subject together, and to obviate the
necessity of again recurring to it. These proceedings
form no part of the Poor Law administration, and are
only so far connected with it as being directed to the
relief of distress, and as having been latterly carried on
very much in accordance with recognised Poor Law
principles, and moreover to a considerable extent with
the aid of the Poor Law machinery. We will now
return to the detail of proceedings during the twelve
months preceding the 1st of May 1847, as given in the
commissioners’ ninth Report.
.sn Amount of expenditure, and numbers relieved.
All the workhouses had been opened for the relief of
poor, and every union had made a rate, so
that the law might now be said to be in operation
throughout Ireland. The amount of expenditure
for the year ending 31st December 1846 was
435,001l., and the number of persons then receiving
relief in the several workhouses was 94,437, which
exceeds by 52,369 the number in the preceding year,
and the expenditure is greater by 118,975l. The entire
number of persons relieved during the year was 243,933.
All the unions being now in operation, and their
accounts being made up and audited half-yearly on the
25th March and 29th September, it is intended hereafter
to substitute the latter dates for the return which has
hitherto been made up on the 1st of January, at which
time no perfectly authentic account of the expenditure
could be obtained, owing to its not corresponding with
either of the audit periods. This therefore is the last
occasion on which that statement will be given; and it
may here be convenient to exhibit in a tabular form
its progress from the commencement, as shown in the
several annual Reports—
.bn 333.png
.pn +1
.ta c:15| r:10| r:12| r:15| r:15
_
The year ended December 31st.|\
Number of unions in operation. |\
Expenditure during the year.|\
Number in the workhouses on December 31st.|\
Total number of persons relieved during the year.
_
1840 | 4 | £ 37,057 | 5,648 | 10,910
1841 | 37 | 110,278 | 15,246 | 31,108
1842 | 92 | 281,233 | 31,572 | 87,604
1843 | 106 | 244,374 | 35,515 | 87,898
1844 | 113 | 271,334 | 39,175 | 105,358
1845 | 123 | 316,026 | 42,068 | 114,205
1846 | 130 | 435,001 | 94,437 | 243,933
_
.ta-
.sn Reappearance of the potato disease in the autumn of 1846.
“The potato disease” having as before stated again
appeared at the end of July (1846), letters were
addressed to the boards of guardians requiring
full information as to the state of the crop in the
several electoral divisions. Early in September
replies were received, which left no doubt as to the almost
total destruction of the crop that had everywhere taken
place, and the commissioners had anxiously to consider in
what manner the poor-law could be made operative in
mitigation of the distress which must inevitably ensue.
Relief from the poor-rates being limited to accommodation
in workhouses, it was manifest that such relief would
be insufficient for meeting the present calamity, “and
that the comprehensive remedial measures adopted by
government in the establishment of a general system of
public works, and the organization of relief committees,
were to be looked to as the principal means.” Measures taken by the commissioners. The
commissioners nevertheless considered that it was imperatively
necessary to use all the powers provided
by the law on this occasion, and they addressed
letters to the several boards of guardians, drawing
their attention to the probability of a great increase
of distress, and requesting them “to be prepared to make
the utmost use of the means of relief which the law
placed at their command.” They were urged to look to
the state of their contracts for provisions and other supplies,
and to their stocks of bedding and clothing, and to
base their financial and other estimates on the assumption
.bn 334.png
.pn +1
that the whole accommodation in the workhouse
would be required, probably for a considerable time.
These recommendations were very generally acted upon.
The total rates made in the months of September, October,
November and December, amounted to 232,251l.,
and much activity was manifested in the collection of the
rates, as well as in providing the necessary supplies.
.sn Pressure upon the workhouses.
On the 29th August 1846, the returns for the week
showed that the inmates of the several workhouses
amounted to 43,655, and the numbers
continued to increase until on the 17th October, four
of the workhouses were reported to be full,[149] and most
of the others became so shortly after, although they
fluctuated in this respect from time to time. The aggregate
weekly returns however showed a continual increase
down to the end of February 1847, when the inmates
amounted to 116,321. From that time the number
decreased, but the decrease was probably owing to the
distressed circumstances in which the unions were themselves
placed, rather than to any abatement of the general
distress. There can, it is observed, be few situations
more painful than that of a board of guardians in the
present condition of Ireland, surrounded by an appalling
extent of destitution, yet without the means of relieving
the sufferers. “Possessed of a workhouse capable of
holding a few hundred inmates, the guardians are looked
to with hope by thousands of famishing persons, and are
called on to exercise the mournful task of selection from
the distressed objects who present themselves for admission
as their last refuge from death.” It was no longer
a question whether the applicants were fit objects for
relief, but which of them could be rejected and which
admitted with the least risk of sacrificing life. Were
persons in the last extremities of want to be denied
admittance, or on the other hand were those already
.bn 335.png
.pn +1
admitted to be made the victims of over-crowding?—The
course which prudence dictated was the one most
opposed to human sympathies. Eyewitnesses of the
distress which was endured, the guardians could not
always resist the appeals made to them; and applicant
after applicant was admitted to the workhouse, long after
the sanitary limit had been passed.
.fm rend=t
.fn 149
Those of Cork, Granard, Ballina, and Skibbereen.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Overcrowding of the workhouses.
It was the duty of the commissioners to resist all such
impulsive yieldings, and they failed not to urge
upon the guardians the necessity for such resistance
on their part, without which the limited means
of relief at their disposal would be sacrificed. They
were told that effectual relief, even to the extent of the
existing accommodation could not be given, if contagious
disease took possession of the workhouse; and that in
attempting to go beyond due sanitary limits, the guardians
would turn what was designed and adapted for
good purposes into an active evil, and deprive themselves
of the power of using effectually those means of
relief which had been placed at their command. In
some instances orders under seal were issued, prohibiting
the guardians from admitting beyond a certain number.
The commissioners likewise “called into action the
proper functions of the medical officers of the workhouses,
and placed upon them the direct responsibility
of advising and warning the guardians of those limits,
beyond which their admissions could not be extended
without danger.” Notwithstanding these precautions
however, such was the fearful prevalence of distress,
especially in Connaught and the south of Ireland, that
all considerations of this nature were borne down, and
the workhouses became crowded to an extent far beyond
their proper capacity, the consequences of which were
in some cases very disastrous.
The workhouse hospitals were prepared for cases of
sickness occurring among inmates, presumed to be in an
average state of health, and they were generally found
.bn 336.png
.pn +1
sufficient for the purpose. But now unhappily, almost
every person admitted was a patient—was either suffering
from dysentery or fever, or extreme exhaustion, or had
the seeds of disease about him. Under such circumstances
separation became impossible, diseases spread,
and the whole workhouse was changed into one large
hospital, without the appliances necessary for rendering
it efficient as such. Mortality among the union officers. This state of things was
not a little aggravated by the illness retirement
or death of many of the principal officers. The
usual difficulty of replacing a master or a matron, or
medical officer when suddenly removed, was much increased
by the dangerous nature of the service, there
having been great mortality among these officers. During
the first four months of the current year, at least
a hundred and fifty were attacked with disease, of whom
fifty-four had died, including seven clerks, nine masters,
seven medical officers, and six chaplains—a number unusually
large, and calculated no doubt to excite some indisposition
to undertake such duties.
.sn Mortality in the workhouses.
The weekly mortality in the workhouses went on increasing
from 4 in the 1,000 at the end of
October 1846, to 13 in the 1,000 at the end of
January 1847,—20 in the 1,000 at the end of February,
and 25 in the 1,000 at the middle of April; the number
of inmates at these periods respectively being 68,839—111,621—116,321—and
104,455. In the last week of
February, when the number of inmates attained its maximum,
the deaths amounted to 2,267; whilst on the 10th
of April, when the inmates had been reduced to 104,455,
the deaths of the preceding week were 2,613, thus showing
an increase of mortality notwithstanding a reduction
in the number of inmates. The people had in fact become
so exhausted by the severity of the distress, that in many
cases death occurred immediately after admission. This
was the time when to escape famine and pestilence at
home, the great rush of immigrants to Liverpool and the
.bn 337.png
.pn +1
western coasts of England and Scotland took place, and
it is needless to say that the pressure must have been
fearful to cause such an outpouring of the population.[150]
We must not omit to state however, that at this time
great exertions were being made in many, indeed it may
be said in most of the unions to obtain increased accommodation
for fever patients, by erecting or hiring buildings
temporary or permanent according to the urgency
and nature of the case; and also in like manner for increasing
the means of workhouse accommodation, so as
to bring it more nearly up to the wants of the period.
The money expended upon these objects was in some instances
obtained by way of loan, and in others was defrayed
directly from the rates; but in all cases there was
a considerable addition to the current expenditure by
the provision thus made for affording additional relief.
.fm rend=t
.fn 150
See ‘History of the English Poor Law,’ vol. ii. p. 393, where however there
is a misprint in the eighth line from the bottom, of 1846 for 1847, which the
reader is requested to correct.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Emigration.
Emigration was regarded by many persons as the
most prompt and effective remedy, under the circumstances
then existing in Ireland; and government
was appealed to for assistance in promoting it, by
defraying the expense of passage and outfit for the
emigrants. But it was thought highly probable that the
emigration which would take place independently of
any such inducement, would be quite as large as the
United States and Canada could with advantage receive;
and the government therefore limited its interference to
appointing additional agents to superintend the embarkation
of the emigrants, and to increasing the fund
applicable to the relief of the sick after their arrival
in the colonies.[151] In 1846 the emigration from Great
Britain amounted to 129,851. This was the largest ever
then known; but in the first nine months of 1847 the
.bn 338.png
.pn +1
number of emigrants was 240,461, nearly the whole of
them from Ireland, and proceeding to Canada and the
United States, whence large remittances had been sent
by former emigrants to enable their relations and friends
in Ireland to follow them. Within the same period
278,000 immigrants reached Liverpool from Ireland, of
whom only 123,000 sailed from thence to foreign parts;
and the remainder must therefore have continued a
burden on the inhabitants, or wandered about the
country begging, or died of disease the seeds of which
they had brought with them, and which proved fatal to
a great number of other persons as well as to the immigrants
themselves. It was the same everywhere.[152] Mortality among the emigrants. In
the United States, in Canada and on the voyage
out, the poor emigrants seeking to escape from
famine at home, were assailed by disease whithersoever
they turned, and very many of them sunk under its
ravages. During this fearful crisis, the deaths on the
voyage to Canada increased from 5 in the 1,000, to about
60; and so many more arrived sick, that the proportion
of deaths in quarantine to the numbers embarked, increased
from a little more than 1 to about 40 in the 1,000,
besides still larger numbers who died at Quebec, Montreal,
and elsewhere in the interior.[153]
.fm rend=t
.fn 151
Upwards of 100,000l. was expended in relieving the sick and destitute emigrants
landed in Canada in 1847.
.fn-
.fn 152
See ‘History of the Scotch Poor Law,’ p. 205. See also ‘History of the
English Poor Law,’ vol. ii. p. 393.
.fn-
.fn 153
See ‘The Irish Crisis,’ p. 143.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Financial state of the unions.
Reference is made in the Report of 1846, to the
generally satisfactory state of the finances of
the unions;[154] but such was no longer the case
in 1847, the heavy pressure consequent on the potato
failure having exhausted their resources, and in many
cases caused the most serious embarrassment. The
returns show, that instead of there being as before
money in the hands of the treasurers to meet the
current expenditure, there was now, taking in the
whole of the unions, a considerable deficit. Even
.bn 339.png
.pn +1
those unions which were accustomed to maintain their
finances in a fair state of efficiency, had latterly failed
to obtain funds from the ratepayers proportioned to
their expenditure. In some instances, the commissioners
say, they have been compelled by the extreme
urgency of the case, to supply the guardians with
bedding and clothing, and with the means of procuring
food to satisfy the immediate wants of the inmates,
“the means of doing so having been furnished by
government;” and they close their observations on
these financial difficulties by stating, “that while the
total expenses have been at the rate of at least 756,000l.
a year, the sums collected have not much exceeded the
rate of 609,056.”
.fm rend=t
.fn 154
Ante, p. #304#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Increase in the cost of relief.
The effect upon prices caused by the failure of the
potato, may in some measure be judged of by the weekly
cost of maintenance in the workhouses, which instead
of being about 1s. 5d. per head as in former years,
averaged 1s. 8d. per head in March, and 1s. 9d. per
head in September 1846, after which it exceeded
2s. per head. This increase of cost must
have materially added to the difficulties of the unions,
not only by augmenting the pressure of the poor-rate,
but also by reducing the means of the ratepayers for
satisfying its demands. On every side there appeared
ground for alarm, and no one could venture to look
forward without feeling the most serious apprehensions.
A third failure of the crops, should such unhappily
occur, would be attended with consequences
the disastrous extent of which it must be alike impossible
fully to estimate or guard against; and the period
was approaching when uncertainty on this vital point
would be removed—At the end of another three months
it would be seen whether want disease and misery were
again, but in a more aggravated form, to overspread the
land, or whether the earth would yield forth its increase
for the sustenance of man.
.bn 340.png
.pn +1
.sn 1848.|\
First annual Report of the Poor-law Commissioners for Ireland.
The Report for 1847-8 would, in the regular order,
have formed the tenth of the series. But it
had now been deemed necessary to establish a
separate commission for Ireland, entirely independent
of the English commission, and the
Report is consequently entitled the first of the new
executive. This Report like the nine preceding, is
dated on the 1st of May; and as three Acts making
very important changes in the law for the relief of the
Irish poor had been passed early in the period to which
the Report applies, (namely on the 8th of June and the
22nd of July 1847), the insertion of the following summaries
of these three Acts will be a fitting preliminary
to our consideration of the Report itself.
.sn The Extension Act, 10th and 11th Vict. cap. 31.
The 10th and 11th Vict., cap. 31, is entitled ‘An Act
to make further Provision for the Relief of the
Destitute Poor in Ireland’—8th June 1847.
.pm start_hang
.sp 1
.ti -4
Section 1.—Directs the guardians of the poor to make provision for
the due relief of all destitute poor persons disabled by old
age or infirmity; and of destitute poor persons disabled by
sickness or serious accident, and thereby prevented from earning
a subsistence for themselves and their families; and of
destitute poor widows, having two or more legitimate children
dependent upon them. Such poor persons, being destitute,
are to be relieved either in the workhouse or out of the workhouse
as the guardians may deem expedient; and the guardians
are also to take order for relieving and setting to work
in the workhouse when there shall be sufficient room for so
doing, such other destitute poor persons as they shall deem to
be unable to support themselves by their own industry.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 2, 3.—Whenever relief cannot be afforded in the workhouse
owing to want of room, or when by reason of fever or
infectious disease the workhouse is unfit for the reception of
poor persons, the Poor Law Commissioners may by order empower
the guardians to administer relief out of the workhouse
to such destitute poor persons, for any time not exceeding two
months; and on the receipt of such order, the guardians are to
make provision accordingly—Relief to able-bodied persons
out of the workhouse, is however to be given in food only, and
the commissioners may from time to time regulate its application.
.bn 341.png
.pn +1
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 4, 5, 6.—The commissioners may direct the guardians to
appoint relieving officers to assist in the administration of
relief; and also medical officers for affording medical relief
out of the workhouse, whenever they shall deem such appointments
to be necessary or expedient. The commissioners may
likewise, on application of the board of guardians, wherever
an electoral division is distant six miles from the place of
meeting, form such division into a district, with a committee
to receive applications, and to report thereon to the guardians.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Section 7.—Relieving officers are empowered to give provisional
relief in cases of urgent necessity, by an order of admission to
the workhouse or fever hospital of the union, or only affording
such relief as may be necessary in food, lodging, medicine or
medical attendance, until the next meeting of the board of
guardians, to whom the case is then to be reported, and their
directions taken thereon. The guardians are to furnish the
relieving officers with the necessary funds for the above purposes,
in such manner as the Poor Law Commissioners
direct.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 8, 9, 10.—Relief to a wife or child is to be considered as
given to the husband or parent, as the case may be; and
children are liable for the relief afforded to their parents.
Relief at the cost of a union, is only to be given within the
union. Occupiers of more than a quarter of an acre of land
are not to be deemed destitute, nor to be relieved out of the
poor-rates.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 11, 12.—Regulate the mode of charging out-door relief;
and provide that no person shall be deemed resident in an
electoral division, unless three years before he applies for
relief, he shall have occupied some tenement within it for
three months, or usually slept within it for thirty months.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 13, 14, 15.—Prescribe the conditions on which assistance
may be given to emigration, and the proportion of the expense
that may be defrayed out of the rates. The provisions of 6th
and 7th Vict. cap. 92, sec. 18,[155] for the emigration of persons
who have been three months in a workhouse, extended to poor
persons not in a workhouse, or who have been there less than
three months. The expense incurred in aid of emigration not
to be deemed relief.
.fm rend=t
.fn 155
Ante, p. #293#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sp 1
.ti -4
Section 16.—The limitation of ex-officio guardians to one-third
the number of elected guardians is repealed; but it is at the
same time provided that the ex-officios shall in no case exceed
the number of the elected guardians.
.bn 342.png
.pn +1
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 17, 18.—The commissioners empowered to dissolve or
alter unions without consent of the guardians, and to form
such other unions therefrom as they shall deem expedient, and
to adjust the claims and liabilities consequent thereon. The
commissioners also empowered to dissolve a board of guardians
on their failing duly to discharge their prescribed duties, and
to appoint paid officers to carry into execution the provisions
of the law, without any intermediate election of guardians.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Section 19.—Enables the commissioners to provide a chapel, and
to make such regulations as they deem expedient, for securing
the religious worship of any denomination of Christians in the
workhouses.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 20, 21, 22, 23, 24.—Provide for the purchase of three
additional acres of land to be used for a cemetery, or for the
erection of fever wards. The commissioners are also empowered
to hire or purchase, not exceeding 25 acres, for the
purpose of erecting a school for the joint reception maintenance
and education of the children of the North and South Dublin
unions, the management of such school to be conducted by a
board chosen from among the guardians of the two unions, in
such manner as the commissioners shall by order direct. Other
unions may also be formed into school districts in like manner,
and for a like purpose.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 25, 26.—The commissioners empowered to prescribe the
qualifications and the duties of all officers, and to determine
their continuance or removal, and to regulate their salaries,
&c. The administration of relief is also subject to the commissioners’
direction and control.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 27, 28, 29.—Accounts are to be kept and audited as prescribed
by the commissioners. Any payment disallowed by
an auditor, is to be recovered from the party debited therewith.
And on or before the 1st of May in every year, an
account is to be laid before parliament of the expenditure on
relief of the poor, and of the total number relieved in each
union, during the year ended on the 29th of September
preceding.
.pm end_hang
.sn The 10th and 11th Vict. cap. 84.
The 10th and 11th Vict. cap. 84, is entitled ‘An Act
to make Provision for the Punishment of Vagrants,
and Persons offending against the Laws
in force for the Relief of the Destitute Poor in
Ireland’—22nd July 1847.
.pm start_hang
.ti -4
Sections 1, 2, 3.—After declaring it to be expedient to make further
provision for the punishment of beggars and vagrants
.bn 343.png
.pn +1
&c., the 59th section of the Irish Poor Relief Act[156] is repealed,
and it is enacted instead, that every person deserting or
wilfully neglecting to maintain his wife or child, so that they
become destitute and be relieved in or out of the workhouse
of any union, shall on conviction be committed to hard labour
for any time not exceeding three months. And persons
wandering abroad begging or gathering alms, or procuring
children to do so, and every person going from one union or
electoral division to another for the purpose of obtaining relief,
shall be liable on conviction to be committed to hard labour
for any time not exceeding one month.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 4, 5.—Offenders may be apprehended by any person
whatsoever, and taken before a justice to be dealt with as
is above provided. Or when apprehended, the offender may
be delivered over to a constable or other peace officer, to be
taken before a justice for like purpose. Justices may upon
proof of offence, issue their warrant for the apprehension of
any such offender, to be dealt with as the Act directs. Proceedings
by or before any justice are not to be quashed for
want of form, nor removable by writ of certiorari.
.sn The 10th and 11th Vict. cap. 90, 22nd July 1847.
The 10th and 11th Vict. cap. 90, is entitled ‘An Act
to provide for the Execution of the Laws for
Relief of the Poor in Ireland.’ After reciting
the several previous Acts under which the
administration of relief to the poor in Ireland is subject
to the direction and control of the Poor Law Commissioners,
whose commission will shortly expire, it declares
it to be “expedient that the control of the administration
of the laws for the relief of the poor in Ireland should
be wholly separated from the control of the administration
of the laws for relief of the poor in England,” and
enacts that her Majesty may from time to time by
warrant under the royal sign manual, appoint a fit
person who, with the chief and under secretaries of
the lord lieutenant shall have the control, and shall be
styled “Commissioners for administering the Laws for
Relief of the Poor in Ireland,” and the person so appointed
shall be styled the Chief Commissioner—
.fm rend=t
.fn 156
Ante, p. #227#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.bn 344.png
.pn +1
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 2, 3, 4, 5.—The appointment of every chief commissioner
is to be published in the ‘Dublin Gazette.’ The commissioners
are to have a seal, which shall have the same force and
effect as the seal of the Poor Law Commissioners; and they
may appoint a secretary, inspectors, clerks &c., and may
assign to the inspectors such duties, and delegate to them
such powers as they may think necessary.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 6, 7, 8.—One of the inspectors is to be appointed an
assistant-commissioner, to assist in the business of the office
in such manner as the commissioners direct; and to him may
be delegated the powers and functions of the chief commissioner
in the latter’s absence. The inspectors are entitled to
attend boards of guardians, and all meetings held for the
relief of the poor, and may take part in the proceedings, but
are not to vote. All salaries are to be determined by the
Treasury.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 9, 10.—The powers and duties of the Poor Law Commissioners
are transferred to the new commissioners; and if any
vacancy occur, the surviving or continuing commissioners or
commissioner may continue to act. The commissioners are
constituted a body corporate, and for all purposes connected
with the administration of the laws for the relief of the poor
throughout Ireland they are to be deemed successors of the
Poor Law Commissioners, all property held by whom becomes
vested in them accordingly.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 11, 12, 13, 14, 15.—The commissioners are empowered
to make rules orders and regulations, and to vary or rescind
the same. Also to make general rules with the approbation
of the lord lieutenant, who may at any time disallow the same
or any part thereof, without prejudice however to things lawfully
done under them before such disallowance. Every rule
order or regulation directed to, or affecting more than one
union, is to be deemed a general rule.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 16, 17, 18.—The rules orders and regulations of the Poor
Law Commissioners are to continue in force until varied or
rescinded by the commissioners appointed under this Act,
whose authority is in all cases to be substituted for the former,
and is to have like force and effect in Ireland. Acts under
seal not to be valid, unless signed by two of the commissioners,
or by the chief commissioner, or in his absence by the
assistant-commissioner.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 19, 20.—The commissioners empowered to summon witnesses
not exceeding twenty miles distant, and to make
inquiries and call for returns, and examine on oath. Persons
giving false evidence are subjected to the penalties of perjury;
.bn 345.png
.pn +1
and on refusing to give evidence, or neglecting to obey the
commissioners’ summons, or to produce books vouchers &c.,
are to be deemed guilty of a misdemeanour.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 21, 22.—The commissioners are annually to report their
proceedings to the lord lieutenant. The Report is to be laid
before parliament, and is to contain a distinct statement of
every order and direction issued in respect to out-door relief.
All lawful proceedings of the Poor Law Commissioners, and
all things done under previous Acts, and not varied or repealed
by this Act, are declared valid.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Section 23.—The chief commissioner and other persons to be
appointed and employed under this Act, are not to hold office
or exercise any of the powers hereby given, “for a longer
period than five years next after the day of the passing of this
Act, and thenceforth until the end of the then next session of
parliament,” after which the power of appointing commissioners
is to cease to operate or have effect.
.pm end_hang
These three Acts have, it will be seen, made very
considerable changes in the law, and taken conjointly
with the original Relief Act of 1838, and the Amendment
Act of 1843,[157] may be considered as forming the
entire code of Irish Poor Laws, and such moreover as
they may be expected to continue, there being apparently
no room for further alteration, or at least not to any
material extent.
.fm rend=t
.fn 157
That is The 1st and 2nd Vict. cap. 56, and The 6th and 7th Vict. cap. 92.
Ante, pp. 222 et seq. and 291 et seq.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn General import of the new Acts.
The sanction of out-door relief given by the first of
the three Acts is a most important departure
from the principle of the original statute, and
was wrung from the legislature by the distressing
circumstances in which the country was placed
by the successive failures of the potato crop. With
starvation raging almost universally around, it was
felt that it would be impossible to maintain the restriction
of relief to the limits of the workhouse. The
concession made in the 1st and 2nd sections must however
be regarded as exceptional, and as being intended
to meet an exceptional case; for the necessity of workhouse
.bn 346.png
.pn +1
relief being the established rule, never perhaps
commanded more general assent, than at the time when
a departure from it was thus sanctioned. The author
was examined before a committee of the house of lords
on this question, and he gave it as his deliberate
opinion that under the circumstances existing in Ireland
the concession was necessary, the preservation of life
being paramount to all other considerations; but at the
same time he considered, that the rule of in-door relief
should be departed from only so far, and in such a way,
as would secure its resumption with the least difficulty
and at the earliest possible period; and the two first
sections of the Act are not at variance with this view.[158]
In sanctioning out-door relief under the then emergency,
the legislature limited its application, imposing certain
conditions and restrictions, and at the same time investing
the commissioners with large powers for checking
abuse. Nay more, as if distrusting the discretion
of the commissioners themselves, the 21st section of cap.
90 provides that their Report, which is to be laid before
parliament, “shall contain a distinct statement of every
order and direction issued by them in respect to out-door
relief.” The appointment of relieving and medical
officers and of district committees, was no doubt a considerable
extension of the union machinery, but it was
necessary for giving effect to the law at the time, and
either or all might be discontinued when no longer
.bn 347.png
.pn +1
required. The limitation of relief by the 9th section,
and the extension of assistance for the purpose of emigration
to persons not in a workhouse by the 14th
section, are both likely to be of use, as may also be the
provision in the 16th section with regard to ex-officio
guardians. But the power given to the commissioners by
the 17th and 18th sections, to alter unions, and to dissolve
boards of guardians and appoint paid officers to carry
the law into execution, is by far the most important of
the provisions of this Act, with the exception of those
sanctioning out-relief.
.fm rend=t
.fn 158
The necessity for adhering to the principle of indoor relief was fully recognised
by this committee, whose inquiries were for the most part limited to
that point, without going into the general question of the Poor Law. Any detailed
account of the committee’s proceedings does not therefore appear to be
called for at this time, as no new light was thrown upon the subject by its
investigations. The same may be said of the commission for “inquiring into
the state of the law and practice in respect to the occupation of land in Ireland,”
(of which the Earl of Devon was chairman), and whose reports are exceedingly
valuable; but they do not directly bear upon our subject, and have
therefore not been noticed. I have indeed endeavoured to confine attention to
the Poor-law itself, and to those matters immediately connected with it, and
calculated to elucidate its working, these collectively presenting a field sufficiently
extensive.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
The second of the above Acts (cap. 84) is in fact a
resumption of the vagrancy clauses which were intended
to form part of the original Relief Act,[159] and
which have now been rendered more necessary by
the sanctioning of out-relief. The third of the above
Acts (cap. 90) providing for the appointment of a
separate commission for Ireland, may be regarded
as a consequence of the unfortunate condition of that
country, which was now said to require all the care
and undivided attention of distinct functionaries. I
have already stated that such was not my opinion,
and after all that has passed I still am satisfied that
the Poor Laws of England and Ireland might be
administered under the superintendence of the same
commission, as efficiently as under separate commissions;
and that there would be a weight of authority
influence and other advantages arising from the combination
of the two, which would not be found in a
separate commission. The example of Scotland was
much relied upon as warranting the separation, but the
cases are not similar, the Scottish Poor Law differing
essentially from that of England, whereas the Irish
law is directly founded upon it, and in its working
must to a great degree be regulated by English experience.
.bn 348.png
.pn +1
But the separation having taken place, it
would be difficult to retrace the step, unless indeed
there should be, as has on high authority been proposed,
an entire amalgamation of the two governments by
abolishing the office of lord lieutenant, in which case
the Irish commission would naturally if not necessarily
become merged in the English. It is bootless however
to speculate upon these or other possible changes, and
we will therefore resume our task of tracing out the
progress of the law, and inquiring into the circumstances
under which it has to be administered.
.fm rend=t
.fn 159
Ante, p. #211#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Change of the commission. August 27, 1847.
On the passing of the first of the above Acts (10th
and 11th Vict. cap. 31, commonly known as the Relief
Extension Act), copies of it were forwarded to all
the unions, and the attention of the several boards of
guardians was called to the necessity of making provision
on a much larger scale than heretofore for the
relief of the poor, and pointing out the conditions on
which the relief was henceforward to be administered
to the classes of infirm and able-bodied. Five additional
assistant-commissioners were also appointed[160] to
attend to the large increase of duties now devolved
upon the commission. On the 27th of August
the appointment of Mr. Twisleton as chief
commissioner, under the 10th and 11th Vict.
cap. 90, was notified in the Dublin Gazette, and on the
following day the administration of the law became
vested in the new commission established by that Act,
the ten gentlemen then acting as assistant-commissioners
were appointed inspectors, and Mr. Power was appointed
the assistant-commissioner.
.fm rend=t
.fn 160
These were Mr. Crawford, Mr. Bourke, Mr. Stanley, and Mr. Barron.
Mr. Phelan had been appointed some months previously to superintend the
sanitary state of the workhouses. Mr. Stanley afterwards became secretary,
and was succeeded as inspector by Mr. Flanagan.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Decrease of sickness and mortality.
The extent of sickness and mortality in the workhouses
towards the middle of April, has already
been noticed.[161] The returns continued to show
.bn 349.png
.pn +1
a gradual decrease of deaths from that time, although
there was no material decrease in the number of
inmates or of fever patients until the month of July,
when a decline rapidly took place in all three; and in
the last week of August the number of inmates was
reduced to 76,319, of sick (including 5,782 fever patients)
to 15,240, and of deaths to 646, or 8 in every
1,000 weekly. In the first week of October the inmates
had again increased to 83,719, but the deaths were
only 433, averaging 5 per 1,000 weekly. These numbers
show the extent of the pressure on the workhouses
in the earlier part of 1847. But the extent of
assistance afforded under the Temporary Relief and the
Fever Hospital Acts (10th and 11th Vict. caps. 7 and 22)
must also be stated, in order to show the universality of
the distress. Decrease of rations issued.Under the former Act, on the 8th of May
rations were issued to 826,325 persons; on the
5th of June to 2,729,684; on the 3rd of July to
3,020,712; on the 1st of August to 2,520,376; on the
29th of August to 1,105,800; on the 12th of September
to 505,984; and at the end of September the issues altogether
ceased. Under the latter Act accommodation
was provided for the treatment of 26,378 fever patients,
and the average number in hospital was about 13,000.
The proceedings under these Acts, when viewed in conjunction
with those under the Poor Law, will sufficiently
explain the magnitude of the crisis through which the
country passed at this period, and the fearful suffering
and privations to which the people were unhappily and
it may be added unavoidably exposed.
.fm rend=t
.fn 161
Ante, p. #326#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Financial state of the unions.
The financial state of the unions became greatly depressed
during this trying period. The fact of
the treasurers’ balances having turned against
the unions is noticed in the Report of the previous
year,[162] and this continued down to the end of September,
when owing to great exertions in the collection, the
.bn 350.png
.pn +1
returns again showed a credit balance of upwards of
10,000l. in favour of the guardians. There was still
however a large arrear remaining for collection, and
this continued to be the case throughout the succeeding
half-year, notwithstanding that the large sum of 961,354l.
was collected and lodged with the treasurers, a proof
that the guardians were not backward in making provision
for carrying out the law, although the impoverished
state of many of the unions rendered the
collection difficult after the rates were made.
.fm rend=t
.fn 162
Ante, p. #328#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn A good harvest.
The harvest of 1847 proved to be a good one. Contrary
to expectation the potato crop was free
from disease, but the quantity grown was comparatively
small, and the price continued so high that
the peasantry were unable to purchase. The failure of
the crop in the two previous years had discouraged them
from planting, and they were consequently in great
measure deprived of their usual means of living. The
large importations of Indian meal had however so far
reduced the price of that and other descriptions of food,
that the general cost of subsistence was not much greater
than in ordinary seasons, and in districts where the
people found employment at moderate wages, they generally
fared better than in former years. But in districts
where there was no employment or money wages, and
where the peasantry had been accustomed to subsist on
potatoes raised by themselves, this resource being neglected,
they would necessarily be in want of food, and
would require assistance to preserve them from starvation.
It was certain therefore, notwithstanding the
non-appearance of the potato disease, that there would
be much distress in many parts of the country long
before the approach of harvest in the following year;
and in order to be prepared for affording needful relief
in such a contingency, without at the same time weakening
the incentive to independent exertion in the
labouring classes, it was necessary that a large increase
of workhouse accommodation should be provided. This
.bn 351.png
.pn +1
point the commissioners continued earnestly to press
upon the attention of the several boards of guardians,
and for the most part with success.
.sn 32 boards of guardians dissolved.
The extent and population of the Irish unions and
the constitution of many of the boards of guardians,
rendered it probable that the new and more laborious
duties imposed upon them by the Extension Act (10th
and 11th Vict. cap. 31) would not always be fulfilled,
and that in some instances there might either be a failure
of necessary relief, or a misapplication of the union
funds. The power of dissolving a board of guardians,
and at once appointing paid officers to discharge their
duties, was given to the commissioners for the purpose
of enabling them to deal with cases of this kind; and
being armed with such a power, they were responsible
for its exercise whenever the occasion called for it—“Although
reluctant in the highest degree, (they say)
to interfere even temporarily with a system of self-government
involving the great principle of popular
representation in the raising and expenditure of a public
fund, it appeared to them that in the immediate circumstances
of the country, a more imperative object demanded
for a time the sacrifice of those considerations,
and that it was their paramount duty by every means
which the legislature had placed at their disposal, to
provide for the effectual relief of the destitute poor.”
Acting under these views, and on the occurrence of
what they considered to be serious default on the part
of the guardians, the commissioners dissolved
thirty-two boards,[163] and appointed paid officers
in their stead. The default in nearly every instance
was either a failure to provide sufficient funds, or to
apply them efficiently in relieving the destitute. Full
.bn 352.png
.pn +1
details of each case were laid before parliament, and
the necessity of the proceeding was generally admitted,
although it was no doubt much to be lamented that such
a necessity should have arisen.
.fm rend=t
.fn 163
These were—Athlone, Ballina, Ballinrobe, Bantry, Cahirciveen, Carrick-on-Shannon,
Castlebar, Castlereagh, Cavan, Clifden, Cootehill, Enniskillen, Ennistymon,
Galway, Gort, Granard, Kanturk, Kenmare, Kilkenny, Kilrush,
Longford, Loughrea, Lowtherstown, Mohill, Newcastle, New Ross, Roscommon,
Scariff, Trim, Tuam, Tullamore, Waterford, and Westport.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Out-door employment.
It is, however, satisfactory to find that in a great majority
of the unions relief was provided and administered by the
guardians in an orderly and efficient manner. There
were some exceptions in addition to the above, it is true,
and the commissioners had to exert all their influence
and authority in procuring the appointment of relieving
officers to receive and inquire into applications for relief,
as provided by the Extension Act and directed by their
own order. Another point on which the commissioners
found much difficulty in winning the acquiescence
of the guardians was with regard to the
mode of employing poor persons, for whose relief out of
the workhouse under the 2nd section of the Extension
Act, a necessity had arisen in some unions. The guardians
wished the employment to be of a productive or
profitable nature, and that it should be applied mainly
with that view. The commissioners were desirous that
the employment should serve as a test of destitution, and
recommended stone-breaking as open to least objection,
the food to be given not as the price of labour but in relief
of destitution, the labour being required simply as the
condition of the relief; and in the unions where out-door
relief in food was given to the able-bodied on this principle,
the numbers are said to have been for the most
part kept within moderate limits.
.sn Increase of workhouse accommodation.
But although the labour-test might so far have succeeded,
the operation of the workhouse system
in the present difficult circumstances had been
found far less equivocal, and its efficiency was
more universally acknowledged by those engaged in the
administration of relief. A large extension of workhouse
room, partly permanent partly temporary had been provided.
The whole accommodation including additional
.bn 353.png
.pn +1
workhouses and fever hospitals connected with the workhouses
would be sufficient for upwards of 150,000 persons,
“being an addition of more than one-third to the
accommodation originally provided.” In consequence
of this great increase of workhouse accommodation, it
appears that in 25 of the unions no relief was given out
of the workhouse, “except perhaps in the occasional
exercise of the provisional powers of the relieving
officers,” and yet the workhouses of none of these unions
were said to be full. In 35 other unions, out-door relief
was afforded only under the 1st section of the Extension
Act, that is to the infirm, widows with two or more
children, and persons disabled by sickness or accident.
In the remaining 71 unions, orders had been issued
under the 2nd section, authorizing out-door relief in food;
but in only 23 of these was it authorized to be given
without distinction of class.
.sn The Dublin unions.
In proof of the efficiency of the workhouse in checking
applications for relief, when not caused by actual necessity,
the example of Dublin may be cited. In the first
week of July, rations were gratuitously issued
in the two Dublin unions to 57,509 persons, and
the proportion of these classed as able-bodied amounted
with their families to 46,432. In the South union the
number on the relief lists was greatly reduced before the
15th of August, the day on which the issues under the
Temporary Relief Act were ordered to cease; but in the
North union more than 20,000 persons continued to
receive rations, and the commissioners were entreated
to issue an order under the powers given to them by
the Extension Act sanctioning its further continuance,
the guardians being apprehensive that so large an
amount of relief could not with safety be suddenly discontinued.
The commissioners deemed it to be their
duty to resist the appeal, and recommended the guardians
to convert a building then in their occupation and capable
of accommodating 400 persons, into a subsidiary workhouse.
.bn 354.png
.pn +1
This was accordingly done, and admission was
offered to such of the able-bodied and their families as
applied for relief when the rations were discontinued;
but the new subsidiary workhouse was not filled by
those who accepted the offer, and all the others found
the means of living by their own exertions. The class
receiving out-door relief under the 1st section of the Act
(i. e. the aged and infirm poor and widows with two or
more children) were at the same time, with some assistance
from the mendicity institution, reduced to about
4,000 persons; and no necessity afterwards arose for
issuing an order under the 2nd section in either of the
Dublin unions.
.if t
.sn Report of commissioners appointed under the 10th and 11th Vict. cap. 7.]
.if-
.if h
.sn Report of commissioners appointed under the | 10th and 11th Vict. cap. 7.]
.if-
To this example of the efficiency of the workhouse in
preventing undue applications for relief, may be added
the testimony of the relief commissioners appointed
under The 10th and 11th Vict. cap. 7,[164] as to the extreme
difficulty or rather impossibility in the state of Ireland
at that time, of guarding against gross abuse in the
administration of relief without the corrective of the
workhouse test, even although in the shape of daily
rations of cooked food. In their third Report
dated 17th June 1847, the commissioners make
the following remarkable statement—“In
several instances the government inspecting
officers found no difficulty in striking off hundreds of
names that ought not to have been placed on the lists,
including sometimes those of servants and men in the
constant employ of persons of considerable station and
property. These latter are frequently themselves members
of the committees, and in some cases the very
chairmen, being magistrates, have sanctioned the issue
of rations to tenants of their own of considerable holdings,
possessed of live stock, and who it was found had
paid up their last half-year’s rent.”... “In
.bn 355.png
.pn +1
other districts, the measure is subject to deception and
petty frauds practised by many of the order immediately
above the class of actually destitute, and which
cannot be entirely checked by the best exertions of the
best committees. Even in the districts where the
service is most correctly performed, the numbers on the
lists will no doubt exceed those of the really destitute.”
It was perhaps to be expected under the circumstances
then existing in Ireland, that something like what is
here described might occur; but it could hardly have
been expected that it would have been to such an extent,
or that persons in the positions named would have
descended to practices at once so disgraceful and so unpatriotic.
Against such frauds the workhouse seemed
to be the only safeguard.
.fm rend=t
.fn 164
Ante, p. #317#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Expenditure on relief of the poor.
The entire expenditure from the rates on relief of the
poor in the 130 unions during the twelve
months ending 29th September 1847, was
803,684l. The number of inmates on that day was
86,376, and the total number relieved in the workhouses
within the year was 417,139. There was some
expenditure in a few of the unions shortly before the
29th September, although the issues under the Temporary
Relief Act did not until then wholly cease.
The relief under the Extension Act (10th and 11th
Vict., cap. 31) which then commenced, continued to
increase as the distress arising from the exhaustion of
the small crops raised in many parts of the country
became more and more severe. Numbers in the workhouses.On the 12th
February 1848 the number in the several workhouses
amounted to 135,467, and the mortality reached
11 per 1,000. This was perhaps to be expected from the
great pressure upon the workhouses, and the wretched
condition of very many of the poor persons at the time
they were admitted. Contagious disease again prevailed,
and the fatal effects again extended to the workhouse
officers, ninety-four of whom died, chiefly of fever,
.bn 356.png
.pn +1
and also two of the Poor Law inspectors, and one vice-guardian
in course of the year.
.sn Out-door relief.
Although the numbers in the workhouses went on
increasing in the latter months of 1847, it was
not until February and March 1848 that the
houses became filled, and that out-door relief was
largely administered. In February the cost of out-relief
in money and food amounted to 72,039l., in
March to 81,339l. The numbers and cost were then
both at their maximum, and according to the best estimate
which could be formed, the average daily number
of out-door poor relieved was 703,762, and of in-door
140,536, making an aggregate of 844,298 persons.
The description of food supplied to the poor in lieu of
their habitual food the potato, consisted for the most
part of a pound of Indian meal, that being the quantity
of cereal food approved by the Central Board of Health
in Ireland as necessary for the daily sustenance of an
adult. The price of Indian meal was at that time
about 1d. per lb., so that the cost of the food thus supplied
probably did not exceed the cost of that to which
the people had been accustomed. It appears therefore
that in the early part of 1848 no less than 800,000
persons were relieved daily at the charge of the poor-rates,
consisting chiefly of the most helpless part of the
most indigent classes in Ireland; and the commissioners
say they “cannot doubt that of this number a large
proportion are by this means, and this means alone,
daily preserved from death through want of food.”
The above 800,000 is irrespective of the children supplied
with food and clothing by “The British Association,”
the number of whom in March 1848 amounted to
upwards of 200,000.[165] So that the total number of persons
then receiving eleemosynary support must have exceeded
a million, or over one-eighth of the entire population.
.fm rend=t
.fn 165
See Report of the association, p. 41.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.bn 357.png
.pn +1
.sn Distress in certain unions.
The official returns of the collection and expenditure
of the poor-rates are made up to the 31st March 1848,
and comprise six months only of the parochial year
which will end on the 29th September following. They
show that in those six months 961,356l. had been collected,
and 781,198l. expended, thus exhibiting an
excess of collection over expenditure of 180,158l. The
state of the balances appears therefore to have greatly
improved,[166] and rates to the amount of 661,855l. still
remained on the books for collection. “Up to this
point therefore (the commissioners observe) the financial
progress has been favourable”—But they add, “if
we should have to sustain operations for five months
longer, at the rate of expenditure exhibited for March,
it is clear that great exertions have yet to be made in
the collection of rates, in order to escape a large accumulation
of debt at the close of the year.” The above
statements apply to the unions in the aggregate. There
are however the commissioners say, certain
unions which “cannot for some years be cleared
from present debt under the most favourable circumstances,
and in unions which on the whole are well
provided with funds, many electoral divisions are in a
state of almost hopeless bankruptcy.”
.fm rend=t
.fn 166
Ante, p. #328#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn British Relief Association.
The proceedings of the “British Relief Association”
have already been noticed.[167] The committee
of the association had still a considerable sum
at their disposal in the latter end of 1847, and this
it was determined to appropriate in aid of such of
the distressed unions above adverted to as the Poor
Law Commissioners should recommend for that purpose,
and also in “affording food and clothing to children
through the medium of schools.” Accordingly grants
to the amount of 143,519l. were successively made to
.bn 358.png
.pn +1
the distressed unions[168] in aid of their general expenditure;
and with regard to the school-children, it is said—“by
the 1st of January 1848 the system was in full
operation in thirteen of the more distressed unions,
58,000 children were on the relief-roll of the association,
and this number gradually increased, until in the
month of March upwards of 200,000 children, attending
schools of all denominations in twenty-seven western
unions, were participating in this relief. The total expenditure
for feeding the children amounted to 80,885l.,
in addition to which the sum of 12,083l. was spent in
clothing, making a total expenditure during the second
period of the relief operations of the association of
236,487l.”[169] Treasury grants to the extent of 114,968l.
had also been made in aid of the distressed unions,
during the present year.
.fm rend=t
.fn 167
Ante, p. #321#.
.fn-
.fn 168
These were Ballina, Belmullet, Ballinrobe, Ballyshannon, Bantry, Boyle,
Cahirciveen, Carrick-on-Shannon, Castlebar, Castlereagh, Clifden, Donegal,
Galway, Glenties, Kenmare, Kilrush, Listowel, Manorhamilton, Milford, Mohill,
Roscommon, Scariff, Skibbereen, Sligo, Swineford, Tralee, Dingle, Tuam,
Westport, Athlone, Ennistymon, Gort, Nenagh, Loughrea and New Ross.
This list somewhat differs from the one given in the commissioners’ Report,
but I quote from that furnished by the association, whose Report was made
subsequently, being dated 1st January 1849.
.fn-
.fn 169
See Report of the British Relief Association, pp. 41 and 46.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Total amount of rates raised.
It may not be irrelevant here to state, that the entire
of the rates made in all the unions from the first
introduction of the Poor Law down to the date
of the present Report, have (exclusive of the
last rate) amounted to 2,496,412l., of which not more
than 48,804l., or 2 per cent., has been lost—143,046l.,
or 6 per cent., of arrears having been carried into the
rates last made. The last-made rates amounted to
1,462,878l., which added to the above makes a total of
3,959,290l. assessed upon the property of Ireland for
the relief of the poor, in course of the ten years since
the introduction of the Poor Law, the last three being
years of such intense distress as it was perhaps never
before the lot of an entire people to be subjected to.
.bn 359.png
.pn +1
.sn 1849. | Second annual report of Poor Law Commissioners for Ireland.
The Report for 1848-9 is dated, not on the 1st of May,
as before, but on the 14th July. At the end
of their last Report, the commissioners adverted
to the great efforts which were made
to restore the potato to its former position of
the staple crop of Ireland, as being a circumstance at
once hopeful and alarming. The policy of a people’s
relying for subsistence on a crop so uncertain in its
produce, and which so soon decays, is no doubt a
question of momentous importance. But this was lost
sight of in the promise of an abundant harvest; and
as the disease had done little mischief last year, it
was hoped the country would be equally free from its
ravages in the present.Recurrence of the potato disease. At the beginning of
August however, the appearance of blight was
reported from many parts of the country, and although
not so general nor so destructive as in 1846, the disease
proved much worse than in 1847, and there can be no
doubt that a considerable proportion of the crop was
destroyed by it. In October sound potatoes were sold
at 8d. per stone, a price at which the ordinary rate of
wages would not allow a labourer to purchase them for
the support of his family. Another season of distress
was therefore evidently impending. The out-relief lists
had been reduced from 830,000 in July, to 200,000 on
the 1st of October, when the numbers again began to
increase, and on the last day of December they amounted
to nearly 400,000. The numbers in the workhouses
increased in the same period from 114,000 to 185,000,
with a weekly rate of mortality of 6½ per 1,000. Statements
of the numbers relieved, and the cost of the relief
afforded, were periodically submitted to parliament
throughout the whole of this trying period.
.sn Great distress and sickness.
In the earlier months of 1849 there was greater privation
and suffering among the population of
the western and south-western districts, than
at any time since the fatal season of 1846-7. “Exhaustion
.bn 360.png
.pn +1
of resources by the long continuance of adverse
circumstances, caused a large accession to the ranks of
the destitute. Clothing had been worn out or parted
with to provide food, or seed in seed-time; and the loss
of cabins and small holdings of land, either by eviction
or voluntary abandonment, rendered many thousands of
families shelterless and destitute of fuel as well as food.”
The distress hence arising, aggravated by the inclement
weather which then prevailed, was not we are told
effectually met by the system of out-door relief. Where
the workhouses were full, poor persons receiving out-relief
were often compelled to part with a portion of
their food to obtain a lodging. The cabins became
crowded with ill-fed, ill-clothed, sickly people, and
epidemic disease found victims prepared for its attacks.
A great proportion of those who died in the workhouses
at this period, had previously suffered from fever
and dysentery, and entered the workhouse weakened by
extreme privation, or in an advanced state of disease.
.sn Cholera breaks out.
In the month of March a new enemy appeared,
cholera having broken out in the western and
south-western unions, whence it afterwards extended
to other parts of the country. The disease however
assumed its most virulent form in the above
unions, and proved extensively fatal to the inmates of
the workhouses, as well as to the population generally.
Great exertions were made to check its ravages; but
the commissioners express their regret that a want of
means had crippled their efforts, and in some urgent
cases they had been obliged to apply for permission to
appropriate a limited portion of the funds placed at
their disposal by government, to provide the means of
treatment for cholera patients, at a time when they were
anxious to apply every sum remitted to them to the
purchase of food for the in-door and out-door poor in
the distressed unions. After a time the cholera disappeared
from most of the unions in the west and south,
.bn 361.png
.pn +1
but at the date of the Report it still prevailed with much
virulence in other parts of Ireland.
.sn Extent of relief and mortality.
The inmates of the several workhouses in the first
week of March 1849 amounted to 196,523, and
the weekly mortality to 9½ per 1,000. In the
first week of May the number of inmates was 220,401,
with a mortality of 12½ per 1,000. At the end of June
the inmates were 214,867, and the mortality was reduced
to 6¼ per 1,000. The numbers receiving out-relief
at the three periods respectively were 592,705—646,964—and
768,902. These numbers show the extent
of distress to which the people had been reduced
by famine and disease in the last four disastrous years.
This is also evidenced by the inquests held in cases of
alleged death through actual want, the number of which
in the first five months of 1849 amounted to 431. The
suffering must necessarily indeed have been greater
in each successive year than in the one preceding, since
the general means were being continually reduced by
the failure of the crops, the weakest and poorest of the
people suffering first, then those a degree above them,
and so on, until the comparatively well-to-do occupier
of a few acres of land who had contributed to the relief
of others, is himself dragged down to the condition of
the lowest.
.sn Extension of workhouse accommodation.
A conviction appears to have become very general,
that the abuses and shortcomings incidental to
out-door relief, especially when administered on
a large scale, cannot be altogether prevented; and that
in-door relief is preferable, not only under ordinary
circumstances, but in seasons of severe distress like the
present. Hence the guardians had hired building after
building in aid of the workhouses at first provided;
and the entire accommodation, which was originally
calculated for 100,000 inmates, and which during the
previous year had been increased to 150,000, had now
been so far extended as to be equal to the accommodation
.bn 362.png
.pn +1
of 250,000. On this circumstance and the convictions
out of which it arose, the commissioners chiefly founded
their hope of securing an effective and economical administration
of the law. It will be their duty, they
say, to give a right direction to these views, by endeavouring
to make the auxiliary establishments effective
in point of classification and discipline, and to
reduce where practicable the expenses of management;
and if their efforts should be assisted by the gradual
return of agricultural prosperity in the western and
south-western parts of Ireland, they confidently expect
at no very distant period to be enabled to withhold the
exercise of the exceptional power confided to them in
the 2nd section of the Relief Extension Act,[170] or at least
to confine its operation within very narrow limits.
.fm rend=t
.fn 170
Ante, p. #330#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Restriction of relief to the workhouse.
The fact that in 25 of the unions no relief was given
except in the workhouse is mentioned in the
Report of the preceding year.[171] Several unions
which then gave out-relief have since ceased to do so, and
the number in which relief is restricted to the workhouse
was now 35. In the great majority of these unions the
result of such restrictions had been in all respects satisfactory.
The applications of proper objects were not
refused, and yet there had been sufficient means for
relieving all the really destitute, whilst except in cases
where epidemic disease had prevailed in the neighbourhood,
and been thence imparted to the inmates, the
workhouses of these unions had generally been healthy.
In some instances however where the destitution was
severe and wide-spreading, and where the auxiliary
houses had been insufficient or defective, the adherence
to in-door relief exclusively was less satisfactory. The
insufficiency of workhouse accommodation led to overcrowding,
and thence arose disease, fed and aggravated by
the continual influx of destitute persons in a state of utter
.bn 363.png
.pn +1
exhaustion, or bearing about them the seeds of the
prevalent malady. In all such cases, and they were
not many, the guardians were urged to resort to those
provisions of the Act which empower them to afford
out-door relief, until they had provided the necessary
accommodation for enabling them to restrict it to the
workhouse without endangering life, or violating the
principle of the Poor Law.
.fm rend=t
.fn 171
Ante, p. #343#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Mortality among the administrators of the law.
In connection with workhouse relief, the mortality
which took place among the officers and other
poor-law officials ought to be noticed, as illustrating
the duties which the exigencies of the
service required from them. The subject has already
been adverted to as creating difficulty in obtaining
suitable persons to fill these offices.[172] Although not so
great in the present year as in 1846-7, the deaths of
workhouse officers by fever or cholera amounted to no
less than seventy, including nine chaplains and eight
medical officers. Seven of the vice-guardians likewise
fell victims to disease in the discharge of their arduous
duties, as well as eight of the temporary inspectors,
together with Mr. Hancock, who had acted under the
commission from the commencement, first as assistant-commissioner
and then as inspector.[173]
.fm rend=t
.fn 172
Ante, p. #326#.
.fn-
.fn 173
The vacancy caused by the lamented death of Mr. Hancock, was filled by
the appointment of Mr. Lynch, the temporary inspector of the Westport union.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Emigration.
An increased disposition had latterly been evinced
by the boards of guardians for promoting emigration,
under the provisions of the Extension
Act.[174] The steady progress of the measure for sending
orphan girls from the Irish workhouses out to the
Australian colonies, the commissioners considered highly
satisfactory. The number of these girls embarked for
Adelaide and Sydney since the spring of 1848 was 2,219,
at a cost to the unions of about 5l. each for outfit and
.bn 364.png
.pn +1
conveyance to Plymouth, the remainder of the charge
being defrayed from the colonial funds. Many other
unions were desirous that the orphan girls from their
workhouses should participate in this arrangement, but
the number at first was limited to 2,500. A hope is
however expressed that means will be found for continuing
to remove from this country a class of emigrants
so eligible in every respect, and so much required in
the colonies. The entire amount expended on emigration
during the year ending on the 29th September 1848,
was 2,776l.—a sum, it is observed, “less important in
its direct effects, than as showing a growth of opinion
in favour of this method of relief.” Spontaneous emigration,
chiefly to the United States, and irrespective of
aid from the poor-rates, was exceedingly active from all
parts of Ireland at this time, the natural love of country
having been deadened by the pressure of want and
disease.
.fm rend=t
.fn 174
Ante, p. #331#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn The 11 and 12 Vict. caps. 25 and 47.
In the session of 1848 two short Acts were passed
which it is necessary to notice. The 11th and
12th Victoria, cap. 25, extends the powers for
hiring or purchasing land for the use of workhouses to
25 acres, in addition to the 15 acres previously authorized.
It likewise empowers the commissioners to combine
unions for the maintenance and education of poor
children, and also enables boards of guardians to provide
for the burial of deceased poor persons. The 11th and
12th Vict., cap. 47, provides “for the protection and
relief of the destitute poor evicted from their dwellings,”
and directs relieving-officers forthwith to take order for
the relief of such persons, either in or out of the workhouse,
and to report the circumstances to the guardians
at their next meeting. The power of purchasing an
additional 25 acres of land given by the first of these
Acts, was chiefly with a view to the establishment of
industrial schools, and was not intended to be used as a
means of employing the workhouse inmates. Few things
.bn 365.png
.pn +1
would be more objectionable on principle, or more conducive
to lax management, than adding such a quantity
of land to a workhouse for the purpose of being cultivated
by the inmates.
.sn The 12 and 13 Vict. cap. 4.
In the session of 1849 likewise two Acts were passed
requiring our attention. The first of these,—The
12th and 13th Vict., cap. 4, relates to the
appointment of vice-guardians. It provides that when a
board of guardians shall have been dissolved, and paid
officers appointed, before the 25th of March 1848, the
commissioners may direct the continuance of such paid
officers until the 1st of November 1849, and no election
of guardians is to take place in the interim. But it also
provides that the commissioners may if they think fit
discontinue the paid officers, and direct the election of a
board of guardians at any time. The second of these
Acts is known as ‘The Rate-in-Aid Act,’ and its provisions
require to be more fully explained.
.sn The Rate-in-Aid Act. 12 and 13 Vict. cap. 24.
The ‘Rate-in-Aid Act,’ 12th and 13th Vict. cap. 24,
makes provision for levying “a general rate in
aid of certain unions and electoral divisions in
Ireland,” and it enacts as follows:—
.pm start_hang
.ti -4
Section 1.—The Poor Law Commissioners, with the approval of
the lord lieutenant, may during each of the years ending
the 31st of December 1849 and 1850, from time to time
declare the amount they deem necessary for the above purposes,
and may assess the same upon the several unions in
proportion to the annual value of the property in each rateable
to the relief of the poor; but the sum levied in any union in
either of the two years is not to exceed 6d. in the pound on
such annual value. The commissioners are to transmit to the
guardians of each union an order under seal, stating the
amount so assessed, and the portion leviable in each electoral
division, according to the value of its rateable property.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Section 2.—In the rate next made on each electoral division, the
guardians are to provide for the sum so leviable; and the
treasurer of the union, out of all lodgments made with him of
such rate, or any subsequent rate, on account of any division,
is to place one moiety thereof to the credit of such division in
an account to be entitled “The Union Rate-in-Aid Account,”
.bn 366.png
.pn +1
until the whole sum leviable on such division shall have been
so placed. And the treasurer is to pay over all sums so from
time to time received by him to a separate account at the
bank of Ireland, entitled “The General Rate-in-Aid Account.”
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 3, 4, 5.—The commissioners of the Treasury may order
the whole or any part of the money standing in such separate
accounts at the bank of Ireland, to be paid to such persons,
at such times, and under such conditions as they may think
fit, for affording relief to destitute poor persons in any union
or electoral division, or for assisting emigration, or for repaying
advances made for any of these purposes. And for the
more speedy affording of such relief, the commissioners of the
Treasury are empowered to advance out of the consolidated
fund, any sums not in the whole exceeding 100,000l., the
same to be repayable out of any rates levied in pursuance of
the Act. Accounts of all receipts and payments under the
Act are to be made up to the 31st December, in the present
and the following year respectively.
.pm end_hang
This Act was passed on the 24th May 1849, and its
duration is limited to the 31st December 1850. It must
therefore be regarded as a temporary measure directed
to a temporary object, and it was accompanied by a
vote authorizing an advance by the Treasury of 50,000l.
for relief of the distressed unions in the west of Ireland.
The calls which had been made upon England during
the three preceding years, amounting altogether to
probably little short of 10,000,000l. in the shape of
loans advances or donations by the government, and
contributions and subscriptions of one kind and another
by individuals, for the relief of Irish distress, had evidently
excited alarm, and appear to have given rise to
a determination on the part of the legislature to revert
to the precedent of the Elizabethan law, and to make
the property of Ireland answerable for the relief of
Irish poverty. This was certainly open to no objection
in point of principle, although it may be questioned
whether the most suitable time was selected for its
application. We have seen the calamities to which
Ireland had been exposed by the successive failure of
.bn 367.png
.pn +1
the potato crop. Such failures were unprecedented
and exceptional. The calamity had been emphatically
designated as imperial; and if it were so, there would
be no violation of principle, but rather the fulfilment of
a duty, in one part of the empire coming to the assistance
of the other. It was in fact a common cause, and
was so regarded throughout England, until the repeated
failures caused apprehensions as to the perpetuity of
the burden, and seemed to point to the necessity of
compelling the Irish people to abandon the treacherous
potato, which it was thought they would hardly do, so
long as they could turn to England for help whenever
it failed them. The rate-in-aid was calculated to effect
this object, by casting the consequences of the failure
entirely upon Ireland itself, which in such case would
be unable to persist in its reliance upon a crop so treacherous
and uncertain as the potato.
.sn A subscription promoted by government.
Such it is believed were the impressions under which
the Rate-in-Aid Act was passed. Its duration was
limited to a little over a year and a half, and yet within
that period, indeed within less than a month after it
had passed, a subscription was set on foot by
the government, each of its members subscribing
100l. and her Majesty 500l., in the belief,
it is declared, “that there are ways in which this money
may be expended most usefully, without interfering
with the relief administration through the Poor Law,
such as the supply of clothing, which has now become
a matter of paramount importance, especially to the
children.” The prospects of the next harvest were said
to be favourable, but the promoters of the subscription
declare “that the short intervening period must be one
of such overwhelming misery, as to afford a strong claim
for the exercise of private charity.”[175] The distribution
.bn 368.png
.pn +1
of the money subscribed on this occasion, which did not
quite amount to 10,000l., was intrusted to the same benevolent
gentleman who had superintended the application
of the funds of the “British Relief Association,” and
who deservedly possessed the confidence of all parties,
as well in Ireland as in England. That the urgency
was great, as is above stated, there can he no doubt;
and if it were susceptible of effectual relief by such
means, it may be lamented that the remedy was not
earlier resorted to, as it probably would have been but
for the alarms which gave rise to the Rate-in-Aid Act,
and prevented the intervention either of the government
or individuals in furnishing eleemosynary aid.
.fm rend=t
.fn 175
This is quoted from the heading of the subscription list, as published in the
‘Times’ of 16th June 1849. The money raised was confided for distribution
in Ireland to Count Strzelecki.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
It must not however be supposed that the whole of
Ireland was in a state of “overwhelming misery.”
Distress more or less severe was doubtless very prevalent,
and everywhere arising from the same cause; but
distress so intense and overwhelming as to require
immediate assistance from some extraneous source, only
prevailed in certain of the western unions, where the
people had depended entirely on the potato, and when
that crop failed became poverty-stricken and helpless
in the highest degree. The potato constituted the
chief, or it may almost be said the only source of
wealth in these unions, and its failure left them without
other resource. Rates could not be levied, for the land
yielded no available produce; and the population,
accustomed to subsist in a semi-civilized state upon the
potatoes raised by themselves, would nearly all have
perished, as numbers of them did perish, but for the
assistance which was afforded to them from England.
.sn The western unions.
It was chiefly with reference to these western unions
that the Rate-in-Aid Act was passed. There
were 22 of them,[176] comprising a population of
.bn 369.png
.pn +1
1,468,248, thus giving an average of nearly 67,000 to
each union; and they stood in much the same relation to
the other unions in Ireland, as a pauper stands in towards
the independent labourer. The other unions were generally
equal to the occasion, trying as the period undoubtedly
was, and supported themselves through it, although
not without undergoing severe privations. But these
western unions were utterly destitute and without resource,
and aid of some kind was necessary to prevent a
fearful sacrifice of life. The aid had hitherto been furnished
by England, and chiefly from the imperial treasury.
The legislature now determined that it should be
derived from Ireland itself, a determination that seems
only open to objection, on the ground of the distress being
so general and severe as to constitute an exceptional
case, warranting a recurrence to extraneous sources.
.fm rend=t
.fn 176
These were Ballina, Ballinrobe, Bantry, Cahirciveen, Carrick-on-Shannon,
Castlebar, Castlereagh, Clifden, Ennistymon, Galway, Glenties, Gort, Kenmare,
Kilrush, Mohill, Roscommon, Scariff, Sligo, Swineford, Tuam, Westport,
and Dingle. All the distressed unions had either paid guardians, or
temporary inspectors, appointed by the commissioners.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn A rate in aid of 6d. in the pound.
The power which had been given of levying a rate
in aid was forthwith acted upon, a general order being
issued on the 13th of June, declaring the sum to be
levied in each union and electoral division throughout
Ireland, according to the value of the rateable property
for the year 1849. The whole amount so assessed was
322,552l. 11s., being at the rate of 6d. in the
pound. The commissioners say that the resources
thus placed at their disposal, and the advances
by the Treasury on security of the rate in aid, “have
been most seasonable, and have enabled the guardians
of the unions assisted, to provide the necessaries of life
during the last two months for a large mass of recipients
of in-door and out-door relief, who must otherwise have
been without food, the money and credit of the unions
having been previously quite exhausted,” and the continuance
of such assistance until the period of harvest, is
declared to be necessary for the relief of pressing destitution
in these impoverished and overburdened districts.
.bn 370.png
.pn +1
.sn Boards of guardians dissolved.
In the year preceding 32 boards of guardians had been
dissolved, and paid officers appointed to execute
the law.[177] It became necessary likewise to dissolve
some others in the present year;[178] but two of the
preceding boards (Trim and Cavan) were revived under
the provisions of the original Relief Act, and another
(Mullingar) was revived under the 12th and 13th Vict.,
cap. 4. By the operation of the latter Act, the boards of
guardians will, on the 1st November next, be reinstated
in all the unions now under the management of paid
officers, except the five last dissolved, which will continue
under paid officers until the 25th March 1850, unless
previously re-established by order of the commissioners.
.fm rend=t
.fn 177
Ante, p. #341#.
.fn-
.fn 178
These were Mullingar, Boyle, Cashel, Thurles, Listowel, and Tipperary.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Sanction of out-relief.
The orders issued authorizing out-relief under the
2nd section of the Extension Act had, the commissioners
say, been more numerous during the
present year than was intended at its commencement.
“But the rapid filling of the workhouses in certain
unions, and the pressure of the representations of distress,
left them no alternative but to intrust once more
this extraordinary and exceptional power of affording
relief to the able-bodied out of the workhouse, to
those charged with the administration of relief in the
western and south-western unions.” Distressed unions.The financial state
of many of these unions was a source of continual
anxiety. In the last year 23 of them had
been furnished with assistance in aid of their rates, by
grants from government and from the funds of the
British Association, and they required like assistance in
the present. The sums remitted for this purpose from
time to time by the Treasury, were guarded by the condition
that they should not be used in payment of debts
already incurred, but be applied in purchasing the means
of preserving the lives of the people, when in danger of
perishing through want of the necessaries of life. There
.bn 371.png
.pn +1
were other unions also whose finances were much embarrassed,
although they had not yet received assistance;
but all, whether assisted or not, are said to require
perpetual watchfulness on the part of the commissioners
and their inspectors.
.sn The Boundary Commission.
The difficulties and distresses to which the country
had latterly been exposed through the failure
of the potato, together with the sanction given
to out-door relief by the Extension Act,[179] had led many
persons to consider that the unions and electoral divisions,
as originally formed, were too large for the convenient
and effectual administration of relief under
existing circumstances. Representations to this effect
were made to the government, and in March 1848 commissioners[180]
were appointed for the purpose of inquiring
and reporting—“whether the size and other geographical
circumstances of the unions, are such as to prevent
the guardians and relieving officers from attending the
boards without serious interruption to their other duties”—“whether
the same circumstances prevent the applicants
for relief, who desire or who may be required to
attend the board, from doing so without serious inconvenience”—“whether
the amount of population and
pauperism in each union is greater than would render
it possible for the guardians in ordinary times to transact
the business of the union conveniently in one day of the
week”—and lastly, “what alterations it would be advisable
to make in the boundaries of existing unions,
and what new unions it would be desirable to form, in
order to meet the wants of the country on the points
adverted to, or any others which may present themselves
in the course of the inquiry: due regard being had to
the position of the existing workhouses, and the charge
to be incurred in the erection of new workhouses.”
.bn 372.png
.pn +1
Similar inquiries were likewise to be made with respect
to the electoral divisions. Fifty new unions recommended. Early in 1849 the commissioners
reported the result of their inquiries, and recommended
the formation of 50 new unions, the
details of which, together with maps explanatory
of the system on which the recommendation was
made, were appended to the Report.
.fm rend=t
.fn 179
Ante, p. #330#.
.fn-
.fn 180
The commissioners were Captains Larcom and Broughton of the engineers,
and Mr. Crawford a poor-law inspector.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Select committee on the Irish Poor-laws.
Early in the session of 1849, a select committee on
the Irish Poor Laws was appointed in the commons,
and empowered “to report their opinion
and the minutes of evidence taken before them
from time to time, to the house.” Many intelligent
witnesses were examined, and much information was
elicited with regard to the immediate object of the
inquiry, and as to its bearing upon the state of the
country generally. The recommendations of the boundary
commissioners were also much canvassed, and there
appeared to be considerable diversity of opinion on the
subject, some preferring large areas both for unions and
electoral divisions, and others being favourable to small
ones. This is of course in some measure a question of
degree, and must likewise depend very much upon local
circumstances. Size of the unions. The size of a union or an electoral
division might be perfectly suitable at one
time, or under one class of circumstances, and yet may
be unsuitable at another. When the unions were formed,
we were aware that some of them were too large, and
we reckoned upon these being afterwards divided, and
the district readjusted. For instance, in the case of
Ballina, the materials for constituting two efficient
boards of guardians could not be found, and so an extent
of territory sufficient for two unions, was formed into
one, until adequate executives could be found for two,
when a division might readily be effected. It was so
likewise in other cases, that of Dingle, now taken from
Tralee union and constituted a separate union, being
one; and for my own part I always reckoned upon five
.bn 373.png
.pn +1
or six additional unions being created after the law had
come into orderly working. I certainly never thought
it likely that 50 new unions, or anything like that
number, would be required; but neither did I foresee
the fearful visitations to which Ireland has latterly been
subjected, or the sanctioning of out-door relief under
the Extension Act.
.sn Amount of expenditure, and numbers relieved.
The expenditure from the rates on relief of the poor
in the 131 unions, (Dingle being now added to
the former number) during the twelve months
ending 29th September 1848, was 1,835,634l.
The number of inmates on that day was 124,003, and
the total number relieved in the workhouses within
the year was 610,463. The number receiving out-door
relief on that day was 207,683, and the total number
relieved out of the workhouse during the year was
1,433,042. There is here a large increase both of expenditure
and numbers relieved, over the amounts in
the preceding year; but the excess is perhaps in neither
case greater than might be expected under the circumstances,
the cause of the distress continuing, and its
pressure consequently becoming year by year more
severe. In proof of the great efforts which had been
made to meet this distress, it is only necessary to state
the amount of the poor-rates collected during the three
last years, each ending on the 29th September, viz.:—
.ta l:6 r:10 w=25%
1846 | £371,846
1847 | 638,403
1848 | 1,627,700
.ta-
.sn Change in the commission.
Mr. Twisleton who had ably discharged the duties of
chief Poor Law Commissioner since the separate
establishment of the Irish board, resigned office
in the month of May in the present year, and was succeeded
by Mr. Power, the assistant-commissioner, whose
vacated office was filled by the appointment of Mr. Ball,
one of the inspectors.
.bn 374.png
.pn +1
.sp 4
.h2
CHAPTER VI.
.pm start_summary
Third Annual Report of Poor-Law Commissioners—Further Amendment
Act—Fourth Annual Report—New unions and electoral divisions—Consolidated
Debts Act—Rates in aid—Fifth Annual Report—Annuities
under Consolidated Debts Act—Treasury minute—Act to amend Acts
relating to payment of advances—Medical charities—Medical Charities
Act—First Report of Medical Charity Commissioners—Census of 1851—Retrospection—Sixth
Annual Report—Rate of wages—Expenditure,
and numbers relieved—Changes in Poor-Law executive—New order of
accounts—Author’s letter to Lord John Russell, 1853—Present state
and future prospects of Ireland.
.pm end_summary
.sp 2
The period comprised in the last chapter was one of
great suffering and privation. Famine and pestilence
prevailed throughout Ireland, to an extent only equalled
by what is said to have occurred in some rare instances
among eastern nations, if indeed it has ever been
equalled in the world’s history. It was altogether a
fearful visitation. I have endeavoured to compress the
chief incidents of the period, more especially those at
all connected with the administration of the Poor Law,
into one chapter, in order to place consecutively before
the reader such a condensed account of the great calamity,
as will prevent the necessity of again recurring
to it. We will now turn to the brighter and more
hopeful period which followed—when famine and disease
having disappeared, the energies of the country revived,
and all classes united in making strenuous efforts
to remedy the evils which had taken place, and as far
as possible to prevent their recurrence.
.sp 2
.sn 1850.|\
Third annual report of the Poor-law Commissioners for Ireland.
The third Annual Report of the commissioners is
dated 25th May 1850, and continues the narrative
of events and proceedings from the date of
the preceding Report.
.bn 375.png
.pn +1
.sn Decrease of relief.
The maximum number in the workhouses during the
year 1849-50, was 227,329 on the 16th June
of the first-named year, and the maximum on
the out-relief lists was 784,367 on the 7th July. From
these dates the numbers went on rapidly decreasing
throughout the succeeding months, until on the 6th
October the inmates of the workhouses were reduced to
the minimum of 104,266, and the number on the out-relief
lists to 124,185, all orders for relief under the
2nd section of the Extension Act being likewise then
withdrawn. This sufficiently proves the change which
took place shortly after the date of the last Report.
.sn The crops generally sound and abundant.
The crops in the autumn of 1849 turned out generally
sound and abundant, and famine no longer cast
its blight upon the land. Yet while all other
parts of the country, including Mayo and Galway
heretofore the most depressed and suffering, rejoiced
in the favourable change, we are told that the
unions in the county of Clare, especially those of
Kilrush and Scariff, continued to exhibit a lamentable
extent of destitution. There were still 30,000 persons
on the out-relief lists in the Clare unions, nearly twice
the number so relieved in the whole province of Connaught;
“and the rate of mortality in the workhouses,
and the number of inquests, although less than in
former seasons, attest the indigent and suffering state
of a great part of the population.” Reduction of expenditure anticipated. A hope is nevertheless
expressed “that the ground has been laid for a
further very considerable reduction of expenditure
after harvest, and that a material alleviation
of the burden of poor-rates throughout Ireland, will
be experienced during the year which will end on the
29th September 1851.”
.sn Increase of workhouse accommodation.
The large increase of workhouse accommodation which
the last Report states to have been provided,[181] and the
.bn 376.png
.pn +1
opinion which generally prevailed as to the importance
of limiting relief as much as possible to the workhouse,
appear to have realized the hope then
expressed of successfully contending with the difficulties
of the period. The large expenditure, amounting
to 1,498,047l., connected with in-door relief in 1848-9,
shows the determined character of the struggle, and
although only partial success in establishing the system
was obtained, events have shown the prudence of the
course then pursued. When the boards of guardians
which had been dissolved, resumed the charge of their
unions in November, as provided by the 12th and 13th
Vict. cap. 4,[182] they not only evinced a desire to limit
relief to the workhouse, but were also with few exceptions
prepared to make a further increase of their
workhouse accommodation wherever it appeared to be
necessary. So that “the change from out-door relief
to the safer system of relief in the workhouse, has (it is
said) been found practicable throughout a large part
of Ireland, not excepting some districts which suffered
most severely during the famine.” Decrease of out-door relief.The conclusion of
the harvest was as usual followed by an increase of
applicants for relief, but the extent of workhouse accommodation
being now greater by 70,000 than in the
previous year, out-door relief instead of increasing
actually continued to decrease until the end
of December, when the numbers so relieved
amounted to 95,468, the number in the workhouses
being then 194,547. At the end of March 1850, the
number on the out-relief lists was 131,702, and in the
workhouses 224,381, the sanitary state of the houses
being at the same time satisfactory. No out-door relief
whatever was then administered in 51 of the unions, and
at the date of the Report the number of unions thus
exempt was increased to 58.
.fm rend=t
.fn 181
Ante, p. #351#.
.fn-
.fn 182
Ante, p. #355#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.bn 377.png
.pn +1
.sn 24 new unions formed.
The recommendations of the Boundary Commissioners
have been already noticed.[183] In carrying out these recommendations,
the proposed arrangement of the electoral
divisions was generally adhered to; but with
regard to the new unions, it was not thought advisable
to make the entire of the changes recommended. The
commissioners have, they say, “refrained from forming
such new unions in districts where it appeared that
there was a preponderance of opinion against it, on the
part of those who would be locally affected by the
change, unless where the necessity for new union
centres appeared, in a territorial point of view, to be
placed beyond doubt.” Orders were however issued for
the formation of 24 new unions,[184] and forms
of procedure were prepared for adjusting the
liabilities of townlands in unions and electoral divisions
of which the boundaries were altered, in accordance
with the provisions of the 12th and 13th Vict. cap.
104. This Act now requires our attention, some of
its provisions being of considerable importance.
.fm rend=t
.fn 183
Ante, p. #361#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.fm rend=t
.fn 184
These were Belmullet, Killala, Dromore West, Newport, Oughterard,
Skull, Castletown, Clonakilty, Tulla, Killadysert, Corrofin, Ballyvaghan,
Portumna, Mount Bellew, Glennamaddy, Strokestown, Claremorris, Tobercurry,
Glin, Croom, Millstreet, Mitchelstown, Bawnboy, and Ballymahon.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn The 12th and 13th Vict. cap. 104.
The 12th and 13th Vict. cap. 104, was passed on the
1st August 1849, ‘to further Amend the Acts
for the Relief of the Destitute Poor in Ireland;’
and the following is a summary of its provisions:—
.pm start_hang
.ti -4
Section 1.—Provides that every person applying for relief, is to be
deemed chargeable to the electoral division in which during
the last three years he has been longest usually resident,
whether by occupying a tenement or usually sleeping therein;—provided
that if he have not been so usually resident for at
least one of the said three years, the expense of his relief is
to be borne by the union at large.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Section 2.—Requires the Poor Law Commissioners in all cases
where a change is made in the boundaries of any union or
electoral division, to make such order under seal as appears
.bn 378.png
.pn +1
to them to be necessary for the adjustment of the liabilities
existing at the time of such change, and the proportionate
share thereof to be borne by any townland affected thereby,
and likewise for indemnifying any union electoral division or
townland for any loss on exchange of property occasioned by
such alteration of boundaries.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 3, 4, 5.—On the formation of new unions, the commissioners
are empowered to prescribe the arrangements for the
joint use of the existing workhouses, until the new unions are
provided with workhouses of their own, and from time to
time to alter or rescind the same, and to enforce payment
of the expenses consequent thereon; and for the purpose of
providing workhouses, ‘the Lands Clauses Consolidation
Act’ (8th and 9th Vict. cap. 18) is declared to be incorporated
with the Poor Relief Acts.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 6, 7, 8, 9.—In fixing the qualification of elected guardians,
the commissioners are empowered to fix a different amount
for different electoral divisions of the same union. The full
number of ex-officio guardians may be made up from non-resident
justices, if the number resident be not sufficient.
Two or more electoral divisions may be combined for the
purpose of electing a guardian; and upon the request of a
board of guardians the commissioners may appoint an assistant-guardian
for such union, whom they are also empowered to
remove or discontinue.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 10, 11, 12.—Rents arising from exempted property, are to
be rated to the extent of half the poundage. Occupiers are
not to deduct from their rent more than one-half the amount
of the rate paid by them; and the provisions making void all
agreements to forego deductions from rent are repealed.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 13, 14.—The valuations are not required to be signed and
sealed by the commissioners. “To encourage the employment
of labour in improving the value of land,” the valuation
is not to be increased in consequence of improvements made
under the Land Improvement Act, within seven years after
such improvements.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 15, 16, 17, 18, 19.—A short form of declaration is prescribed,
and costs are limited in actions for recovery of rates.
Judges may make rules and orders regulating proceedings
in actions for poor-rates. Civil bill decrees for poor-rates
may be filed, and have force as judgments of superior court.
Judgments for poor-rates are to be registered, and take
priority as charges on the land, with the exception of crown
.bn 379.png
.pn +1
and quit-rents and rent-charges in lieu of tithes. The
recovery of arrears of rate limited to two years.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 20, 22, 23.—Date of audit to be stated on the accounts,
and all disallowances thereof to be inserted by the auditor.
The rate-books are to be open for inspection, and due notice
is to be given to the ratepayers. In cases of appeal, the
known agent of the appellant may sign the notices and enter
into the recognizances required by law.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 24, 25.—The names of persons relieved to be entered
in books kept for that purpose, which are to be open for
inspection; and weekly statements of the numbers relieved
and chargeable to the union, and to the electoral divisions
respectively, are to be posted on the workhouse door.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 26, 27, 28.—With consent of the commissioners the rates
may be applied, or loans may be raised on security of the
rates, for defraying the expenses of emigration; but vice-guardians
are not so to apply or borrow without the consent
of the ratepayers, and the amount borrowed is in no case to
exceed 11s. 8d. in the pound, of the yearly value of the rateable
property chargeable with the same. The money borrowed
is to be applied under direction of the commissioners, in
defraying the expenses connected with the emigration to
British colonies, of poor persons resident within the union
or electoral division, on the rates whereof the same shall have
been respectively charged.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 29, 30, 31.—For the purpose of facilitating proceedings
for the recovery of rates, assistant barristers &c. may “correct
or amend any variance, clerical error, or irregularity not
affecting the substantial merits of the question,” in the notices
&c. brought before them. Fourteen days’ notice is to be
given of proceeding by civil bill against immediate lessors for
recovery of rates. The present and preceding Acts are to
be construed as one Act.
.pm end_hang
.sn Emigration.
The facilities afforded by the above Act for promoting
emigration, were productive of less effect
than would otherwise probably have been the
case, owing to the financial embarrassments existing
in many of the unions. The guardians were naturally
indisposed to apply the poor-rate or to borrow money
for purposes of emigration, whilst there was an urgent
pressure upon them for relief, and great difficulty in
.bn 380.png
.pn +1
obtaining the means of affording it. The amount expended
by the unions on emigration during the year
ending 29th September 1849, was 16,260l., being an
increase of 13,484l. over that of the previous year.[185]
The number of orphan girls selected from the several
workhouses, and sent out as emigrants to Australia,
had been 1,956, which added to the 2,219 so sent out in
the preceding year, makes a total of 4,175 from the commencement,
under regulations jointly established by the
Poor Law and Emigration Commissioners in 1848.[186]
.fm rend=t
.fn 185
Ante, p. #354#.
.fn-
.fn 186
Twenty ships had been despatched in the two years, from May 1848, to
April 1850, with orphan girls selected from the workhouses in Ireland, as
emigrants to the Australian colonies. Of these emigrants, 2,253 were taken to
Sydney, 1,255 to Port-Philip, and 606 to Adelaide. The remaining 61 were
sent to the Cape of Good Hope.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Employment.
Notwithstanding that past experience and the deductions
of sound principle were alike opposed
to the notion that pauper labour could be made
a source of profit, many boards of guardians and other
persons of undoubtedly excellent intentions, are said to
have advocated plans for employing the able-bodied
inmates of the workhouses in ordinary agricultural
labour, or in the draining and subsoiling of lands
belonging to private individuals, or in carrying on
manufactures within the workhouse, the produce to be
disposed of to other unions, or else sold to the public
under the current market-price. But none of these nor
any similar propositions were sanctioned by the commissioners,
who nevertheless failed not to urge upon
boards of guardians the importance of enforcing work
of some kind amongst the inmates, not only as tending
to promote health and keep up habits of industry, but
also as a means of securing the discipline of the establishment,
and maintaining the efficiency of the workhouse
as a test of destitution.
.sn The workhouse children.
The case of the workhouse children differs essentially
from that of the adults. The house is no longer a test,
.bn 381.png
.pn +1
as applied to them; but a place of refuge, supplying in a
great degree the wants of home, and responsible also for
the fulfilment of home duties. Every consideration
of humanity and policy therefore establishes
the propriety, not only of providing for the education of
these children, but also for their instruction in useful
occupations by which they may earn their subsistence
in after life; and much appears to have been done in
these respects with the children of both sexes in the
several workhouses. The power conferred of forming
district industrial schools had not yet been acted upon,
neither under the depressing circumstances which have
existed in most parts of the country, could it be expected
that the guardians would attempt to found such
institutions, which must, especially at the outset, entail
a very considerable expenditure.
.sn Amount of expenditure, and numbers relieved.
The expenditure from the rates on the relief of the
poor in the 131 unions during the twelve
months ending 29th September 1849, as stated
in Table No. 1, Appendix B, was 2,177,651l.[187]
The number of inmates on that day was 141,030 and
the total number relieved in the workhouses during
the year was 932,284. The number then receiving
out-door relief was 135,019; and the total number who
received out-door relief during the year was 1,210,482.
.fm rend=t
.fn 187
As was the case in the preceding year, the half-yearly statements made up
and audited on the 25th March and 29th September (Appendix 2 and 3) exhibit
different amounts, and make the total expenditure in the present year
2,141,228l.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sp 2
.sn 1851.| Fourth annual report of the Poor Law Commissioners for Ireland.
The commissioners’ Report for 1850-51 is dated on
the 5th May. After giving the usual statistics,
and adverting to the fact that the maximum
number on the out-relief lists in the
previous year terminating on the 29th September
1850, was 148,909, whilst in the following
seven months the number had in no instance
.bn 382.png
.pn +1
exceeded 10,935; the commissioners “notice the still
more satisfactory circumstance, that during the year
ended 29th September 1850, and the seven months
which had since elapsed, the worst evils of the famine,
such as the occurrence of deaths by the wayside, a high
rate of mortality in the workhouses, and the prevalence
of dangerous and contagious diseases, had undergone a
very material abatement.” This change was, they
consider, owing to a combination of favourable circumstances;
but they “do not hesitate to affirm that the
extension of workhouse room had afforded the means of
relieving actual destitution, far more efficiently than
could have been done by a corresponding expenditure
in out-door relief; and that life has been preserved with
more certainty, and the general condition of the population
been improved, wherever a sufficient extent of
workhouse room has enabled the guardians to meet all
applications for relief, and thus to remove from the
minds of the labouring population every expectation of
the recurrence of an extensive system of out-door
relief.”
.sn State of the workhouses.
With regard to the mortality which had occurred in
the workhouses, it is remarked “that an accumulation
of cases of chronic sickness among
persons who survived the famine, but whose enfeebled
constitutions afford little hope of any other result than
a permanent residence in the workhouse, had filled the
workhouse hospitals and infirmaries with a great number
of sick.” Many of these poor people die in the
more inclement seasons of winter and spring, and thus
the average mortality of the workhouses is stated in
the returns to be increased. Yet if not admitted into
the workhouse, larger numbers would have perished, as
is shown by the great mortality which took place in
the county of Clare, where the unions were too much
impoverished to provide sufficient workhouse accommodation
for the extent of destitution that prevailed,
.bn 383.png
.pn +1
the condition of Clare being at this time much worse than
any other part of Ireland. The people had there suffered
more, and the revival of the potato crop had brought
them less relief. State of Clare. They exhibited in fact an exception
to the improvement elsewhere happily
apparent, and nowhere more so than in Connaught, the
unions in which province were among the most forward
in recovering from the effects of the famine.
.sn Emigration.
A portion of the fund raised by the rate-in-aid,[188] was
applied to assist the emigration of poor persons
from the workhouses of some of the overburdened
unions. But in order to prevent such assistance
from operating injuriously, and serving as an inducement
to persons to claim admission to the workhouse,
the commissioners directed that it should be afforded
only to those who had been inmates for one year at
least. Certain of the unions were thus relieved from
the charge of maintaining persons able to work, but
unable to find employment; and by the removal of
such persons additional workhouse room was obtained,
without incurring the charge of providing additional
buildings. The number thus assisted to emigrate
during the present year, was 360 adult males, 844
females, and 517 children, at an expense of 21,075l.
.fm rend=t
.fn 188
Ante, p. #355#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn New unions and electoral divisions.
Since the last Report eight more new unions[189] had been
formed, which with the 24 formed last year, and
the 131 previously existing make 163 in all.
The old unions in which the boundaries either
of the Union or its electoral divisions had been altered,
were 86; and the number of electoral divisions had
been increased to 3,404, instead of 2,049 as originally
constituted. Some of the recommendations contained
in the boundary commissioners’ Reports, were disapproved
.bn 384.png
.pn +1
by the guardians of the unions to which they
applied. This was particularly the case in the north of
Ireland, and in several instances the Poor Law Commissioners
deemed it expedient to yield to the objections
which were made to any change; so that instead of 50
new unions as recommended in the boundary Reports,
no more than 32 had been created; and to these,
advances to the extent of 200,000l. were made by the
exchequer loan board, for enabling them to provide
the necessary workhouses.
.fm rend=t
.fn 189
These were Borrisokane, Castlecomer, Donaghmore, Kilmacthomas, Tornastown,
Urlingford, Youghal, and Castletowndelvin.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
It was likewise considered inexpedient to proceed
further in making alterations in the unions or electoral
divisions, “until the task of consolidating the debts due
for workhouse loans, relief advances, labour-rate, and the
advance of 300,000l. authorized by the 13th and 14th
Vict., cap. 14, had been completed.” The proceedings
under this Act are said to be far advanced. They are
of considerable importance, as is the Act itself, of
which the following is an abstract—
.sn The 13th and 14th Vict. cap. 14.
The 13th and 14th Vict., cap. 14, was passed on the
17th May 1850, and after reciting the several
Acts under which advances had been made,
and declaring that considerable sums in respect of such
advances remained unpaid, but that it was nevertheless
expedient to authorize a further advance of public money
to assist certain distressed unions and electoral divisions
in Ireland &c., it empowers—
.pm start_hang
.ti -4
Section 1.—The commissioners of the Treasury to make advances
from time to time not exceeding in the whole 300,000l., to
such unions as they shall think fit, such advances to be paid
to the Poor Law Commissioners, and by them applied towards
the discharge of the debts or liabilities of the union or division
&c., as the Treasury shall direct. All sums so advanced
are to bear 3 per cent. interest, and be repaid out of the poor-rates
at such times as the Treasury prescribe.
.sp 1
.ti-4
Sections 2, 3, 4.—The commissioners of the Treasury may cause
the debts and liabilities of the several unions and electoral
divisions &c. to be ascertained, and may cause the same to
.bn 385.png
.pn +1
be consolidated and proportionably charged upon such unions
or electoral divisions, and may charge such an annuity upon
the same as shall be equivalent to such proportionate amount.
A statement of the annuities so charged is to be transmitted
to the Poor Law Commissioners, who are to issue orders to
the guardians directing the punctual payment thereof.
.sp 1
.ti-4
Sections 5, 6.—If payment be not so punctually made, the treasurer
of the union is to reserve a third part of the moneys collected
and lodged with him on account of the electoral division, and
place the same to a separate account, to be entitled the
“Loans Repayment Account,” until all arrears have thereby
been discharged. But the rate in aid under the 12th and
13th Vict. cap. 24, is to be paid, before the annuities charged
under this Act.
.sp 1
.ti-4
Sections 7, 8.—The Treasury are further empowered to make additions
to the annuities chargeable under this Act, in respect of
loans for building or enlarging workhouses; and may likewise
suspend the recovery of workhouse loans, and moneys directed
to be levied by grand-jury presentments.
.pm end_hang
The consolidation of the various claims upon the
unions and electoral divisions, and converting them
into annuities on terms which, whilst they secured the
government from loss, would make the repayment as
little burdensome as possible, must no doubt have been,
as was intended, an easement and an advantage to the
borrowers. The financial difficulties of many of the
western unions were however, it was apprehended, such
as would not only disable them from making any payment
for some years, but such as would render further
aid necessary, in order to keep them in operation as
dispensors of relief to the destitute poor.
.sn Second rate in aid of 2d. in the pound.
A statement is given in the appendix to the Report,
of the appropriation of the loan of 300,000l. advanced
under the above statute, which was, the commissioners
say, “a most seasonable relief to many unions and electoral
divisions that were deeply embarrassed by debt in
the early part of 1850.” But in addition to
this loan of 300,000l., a second rate in aid of
2d. in the pound, amounting to 99,362l. 3s. 3d., was
.bn 386.png
.pn +1
levied under an order issued on the 23rd December
1850, “for the further assistance of distressed unions
and electoral divisions.” The Rate-in-Aid Act would
expire on the 31st of December, and it had been hoped
that the raising a second rate under it might have been
avoided. “But after the conclusion of the harvest of
last year (the commissioners say) they perceived indications
of the continuance of distress in so serious a degree
in the counties of Clare and Kerry, that they could not,
with the small balance at their disposal, feel justified in
omitting to avail themselves of the power of declaring a
further rate;” and subsequent experience, they observe,
confirmed the propriety of the step thus taken. The
two rates in aid amounted together to 421,990l. The
distribution of this large sum among the distressed
unions was, under direction of the government, intrusted
to the Poor Law Commissioners, by whom an account
of its application was furnished in detail.
.sn Amount of expenditure, and numbers relieved.
An expectation had been held out in the last Report
of a very considerable reduction of expenditure taking
place in the following year,[190] and this expectation was
fulfilled. In the 163 unions the total expenditure
from the rates for the relief of the poor
during the year ending on the 29th September
1850, was 1,430,108l. The number of inmates on that
day was 155,173, and the total number relieved in the
workhouses during the year was 805,702. The number
then receiving out-door relief was 2,938, and the
number who received out-door relief during the year was
368,565.—It is seen therefore that, as was expected, a
very considerable decrease had taken place; but to show
this clearer, I will recapitulate the several amounts for
the three preceding years. In the year ending 29th September
1848, the total expenditure for relief of the poor
was 1,835,634l.—in 1849 it was 2,177,651l.—and in
.bn 387.png
.pn +1
1850 it was 1,430,108l. The total number relieved in
the workhouses in these years respectively, was 610,463—932,284—and
805,702; and the total number who
so respectively received out-door relief, was 1,433,042—1,210,482—and
368,565. The decrease in the numbers
who received in-door relief, may perhaps seem disproportionately
small; but this is accounted for by the fact of
the workhouse being more extensively used for the purposes
of relief, than had been the case in former years.
.fm rend=t
.fn 190
Ante, p. #365#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Extension of workhouse accommodation.
The generally improved circumstances of the country
must doubtless be regarded as the chief cause of the
present decrease of pauperism; but the commissioners
consider that it is likewise in no small degree attributable
to the extension of workhouse accommodation.
This extension has, it is said, “enabled the
administrators of relief throughout Ireland, with
very few exceptions, to meet the actual destitution
existing, without having recourse to out-door relief.”
The progress of the extension may thus be tabulated:—
.sp 1
.ce
Extent of Workhouse Accommodation.
.ta |c:8 |c:15 |c:15| w=60%
_
Year. | On March 25. | On Sept. 29.
_
1847 | 114,129 | 114,865
1848 | 154,429 | 169,142
1849 | 228,458 | 244,942
1850 | 276,073 | 289,931
1851 | 308,885 | —
_
.ta-
.sp 1
And at the date of the Report (5th May 1851), the
aggregate of the workhouse accommodation available,
beyond the numbers then receiving in-door relief, was
60,491. Improvement in the sanitary state of the
workhouses, and of the labouring population generally,
is said always to follow the increase of workhouse
accommodation, and the substitution of in-door for
out-door relief; so that although a great reduction of
expenditure took place in the last year, a still further
reduction may be expected in the present.
.bn 388.png
.pn +1
.sn 1852.|\
Fifth annual report of the Poor Law Commissioners for Ireland.
The Report of the commissioners for 1851-52 is
dated on the 1st of May, as had been theretofore
generally the practice, although this date
was not adhered to in the three preceding
Reports.
.sn Improved circumstances of the country.
The transition from out-door to in-door relief was said
to be now complete throughout Ireland, accompanied
by a reduction in the number of applicants, as well as
a most satisfactory decrease in workhouse mortality,
The crops generally had everywhere regained
their usual state of productiveness. Famine or
fear of famine no longer prevailed, and its
effects were only perceptible in the decrease of the population,
and the consequent increased demand for
labour. All in short was prosperous and promising
compared with the state of things five years ago.
There was however one exception, several of the western
unions being still much embarrassed in their finances,
and continuing to require assistance. The Munster unions an exception. This was especially
the case in Munster; for the Connaught
exception, unions had passed successfully through the
ordeal, and were comparatively prosperous. “Thus on
the 23rd February 1850, while the whole number receiving
out-door relief in Ireland was 148,909, the
unions in the province of Munster contained 101,803 of
that number, and those in Connaught only 19,261;
and again, on the 26th April 1851, when the number
on out-relief was reduced to 10,935, the eight unions in
the county of Clare comprised 6,846, and the 29 unions
in the province of Connaught only 232.”
.sn Increase of workhouse relief.
During the progress of the important change which
was now taking place in the circumstances of
the country, the number of persons relieved
in the workhouses had always considerably increased
in the spring and early part of the summer. These
persons were generally in a state of great exhaustion,
and the aid and shelter they received enabled them
.bn 389.png
.pn +1
afterwards in most cases to leave the house with their
health and strength restored. Some however remained,
especially females and the children of both sexes, by
whom it appears the workhouses continued to be unduly
burdened. So long as there was an expectation of out-door
relief being administered, a considerable amount of
disease and mortality often prevailed, owing to the way
in which persons really destitute persisted in hanging
upon that expectation, instead of earlier seeking for admission
to the workhouse; but when all hope for relief
otherwise than in the workhouse was removed, “the
sequel has invariably been a reduced number of applicants,
a decreased rate of workhouse mortality, and
an improved sanitary state of the population.”
The increased extent of workhouse accommodation
which has been noticed, had been obtained, either by
means of permanent additions to the original workhouses,
or by building new ones in the newly-formed
unions, or by the erection of a cheap kind of temporary
structure to meet the emergency; or else by hiring
premises for the purpose. The latter of these expedients
had been resorted to more extensively than was consistent
either with economy or with efficient management,
and most of these premises were now given up, or shortly
would be so. Anxiety is expressed that the succeeding
year should be commenced with the workhouse establishments
concentrated as far as practicable in each union,
“so as to avoid the disadvantage of using auxiliary
buildings.” Such a concentration was no doubt essential
to efficient management, and it was only by such management,
the commissioners observe, and by a further
reduction of expenditure, “that some of the distressed
unions in the west can be expected to become so far solvent
as to support their own pauperism without further
external aid.”
It is certainly important on many accounts that there
should be only one workhouse in a union, and that it
.bn 390.png
.pn +1
should have been expressly constructed for the accommodation
of the classes to be relieved therein, with all
suitable means for their separation and employment.
Without these essentials, a workhouse can hardly be
effective either as a test of destitution or a medium
of relief; and there is always danger of an inefficient
workhouse becoming a stimulant, instead of being a
check to pauperism.
.sn Annuities under the Consolidated Debts Act.
Most of the unions made provision for the payment of
first annual instalment under the Consolidated
Debts Act (13th and 14th Vict. cap. 14),[191]
the arrangements under which, including the
advance of 300,000l.,[192] appear to have been all completed
by the end of September. But in the following month a
Treasury minute was issued, that although “my
lords” are of opinion that the present state of the
greater part of Ireland does not call for any relief from
the operation of the Act, yet they cannot doubt that
there are districts in which relief must be given—“in
the case of those districts, for instance, where the local
resources are insufficient to meet the ordinary expenditure
for relief of the poor, and where it is necessary to
have recourse to assistance from the relief-in-aid fund
for this purpose, it cannot be expected that further sums
for payment of the consolidated annuities can be
raised.” With regard to postponement, their lordships
are of opinion that it would only tend to prolong a feeling
of uncertainty as to future payments, whilst it is
deemed of great importance to restore confidence in the
owners and occupiers of land in the distressed districts,
to which end the demands should be definite both in
amount and in time. It is thought therefore that a remission
of payment, either altogether or in part according
to circumstances, is preferable to postponement, and
.bn 391.png
.pn +1
an intimation is given of its being intended to apply to
parliament with this view. Meantime however, the
Poor Law Commissioners were authorized to direct the
treasurers of the unions to retain the whole annuity payable
by electoral divisions of which the expenditure in
relief was ascertained to be 4s. in the pound, or more;
and also to direct “so much only of the annuity to be
paid in other divisions as might, together with the relief
expenditure, amount to 4s. in the pound.”
.fm rend=t
.fn 191
Ante, p. #374#.
.fn-
.fn 192
A statement of the appropriation of this loan is given in the Appendix to
the commissioners’ fourth Report.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn The Treasury minute, October 21, 1851.
This was doubtless a considerate, but it was at the
same time a necessary proceeding on the part
of the government. The impoverished unions,
whose utmost exertions could not raise within
themselves sufficient for relieving their own urgent necessities,
would of course find it impossible to pay the
consolidated annuity for which they were made liable;
whilst the continual accumulation of this charge hanging
over them would paralyze local effort, and tend to
prevent the introduction of capital from other quarters.
The accumulation would for the present be put a stop to
by this Treasury minute; and if, in consideration of their
late sufferings and present difficulties, parliament should
confirm the boon, it will it is thought inspire confidence,
as well as afford present relief; and it may then be
hoped, that at no very distant day the impoverished
unions would be able to emerge from their state of depression,
and join in the general race of improvement. The 15 and 16 Vict., cap. 16.
The requisite confirmation was given in the following
year by the 15th and 16th Vict. cap. 16, entitled
‘An Act to amend the Acts relating to the
Payment of Advances made to Districts in Ireland.’
After reciting the 13th and 14th Vict. cap. 14, and the
Treasury minute of the 21st October 1851, made “upon
representations contained in memorials from many
unions in Ireland, of the pressure upon the local resources
of several electoral divisions on account of the
necessary expenditure for the relief of the poor, and in
.bn 392.png
.pn +1
anticipation of a measure to be submitted to parliament”—it
is declared to be expedient that the directions contained
in the said minute should be confirmed, and it is
accordingly enacted that “the sums payable in the year
1851 in respect of the annuities mentioned in such
minute and directions, shall be remitted and deemed to
be discharged without further payment.” The remissions
thus sanctioned amounted altogether to about 75,000l.—that
is 48,000l.. to Munster, 24,000l. to Connaught, and
3,000l. to Leinster. The remission, it will be observed,
only applied to the annuities due in 1851, and no expectation
was held out of similar indulgence in future.
.sn The medical charities.
Some account has already been given of the inquiry
into and Report upon the medical charities in
1842, and of the bill then prepared but not proceeded
with, in consequence of the opposition made to
it by the medical profession.[193] In August 1851 however
a bill, founded on that Report, and similar in principle
and in its main provisions to the bill of 1842, was
introduced and readily passed, the necessity for such a
measure, and for bringing the rating powers and machinery
of the Poor Law in aid of the medical charities,
being then admitted by all parties; and this was the
object of the Act of 1851, as it had been of the bill prepared
under the author’s direction in 1842.
.fm rend=t
.fn 193
Ante, pp. 267 and 279.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Medical Charities Act, 14 and 15 Vict., cap. 68.
On the passing of the 14th and 15th Vict. cap. 68, the
working of the medical charities became so
closely connected with the operations of the
Poor Law, that a description of the chief provisions
of the Act is here necessary—
.pm start_hang
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.—Provide for the appointment of a medical
commissioner, being a physician or surgeon of not less than
thirteen years’ standing, to be united with the Poor Law Commissioners
in the execution of the Act. The commissioners
may appoint fit persons, being physicians or surgeons of not
less than seven years’ standing, to be inspectors, but the
.bn 393.png
.pn +1
medical commissioner and the inspectors are restricted from
practising professionally.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 6, 7, 8, 9.—The guardians are, whenever required by
the commissioners, to divide unions into dispensary districts,
having regard to extent and population; and are
to appoint a dispensary committee, and provide necessary
buildings, and such medicines and appliances as may be
required, for the medical relief of the poor. A committee
of management consisting of the dispensary committee, the
ex-officio guardians, and ratepayers of 30l. annual value,
are to appoint one or more medical officers, to afford advice
and medical aid to such poor persons as may be sent by any
member of the dispensary committee, or by the relieving
officer or warden.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 10, 11, 12, 13.—On the declaration of a dispensary
district, all provisions for affording dispensary relief from the
poor-rate or county cess are to cease. Guardians or members
of the committee of management, are not to be concerned in
furnishing medicines or goods for the use of the dispensary,
under penalty of 50l. The commissioners are to frame regulations
for the government of each dispensary district, and
the medical officer is required to vaccinate all persons who
may come to him for that purpose.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 14, 15.—Existing medical officers are in the first instance
to be the medical officers of the dispensaries. The medical
officers of a dispensary district are to attend at the examination
of dangerous lunatics, and are also to attend the bride-wells
within their districts.
.sp 1
.ti -4
Sections 16, 17, 18.—The commissioners and inspectors are empowered
to examine on oath, and to summon witnesses. The
giving false evidence is declared a misdemeanour, and the
refusing to obey summons &c. is subjected to a penalty of 5l.
Inspectors may visit dispensaries, and attend meetings of
guardians. The commissioners are to report upon hospitals
and infirmaries. They are also to execute the powers and
purposes of the Nuisances Removal and Diseases Prevention
Acts, and to report their proceedings annually to the lord-lieutenant.
.pm end_hang
Such were the chief provisions of this Act, and the
powers conferred by it appear sufficient for procuring the
establishment of dispensaries in districts where they were
much needed, and also for securing better management
.bn 394.png
.pn +1
with regard to medical relief. First report of Medical Charity Commissioners.In their first Report
dated 15th February 1853, the commissioners
remark, that by the Medical Charities Act, a
partial and imperfect system of medical relief,
unattended with responsibility in its agents, and resting
on a financial basis at once uncertain in duration, and
unequal in its pressure as a tax, has been exchanged
for a system uniform and universal, supported out of
the poor-rates, and “influenced in its administration by
well-defined responsibilities, under the direction and control
of a central authority.” The expenditure is estimated
at 102,700l. per annum. Anticipated expenditure.But “having regard to the diminution
of pauperism, and the improving circumstances
of the country,” it is thought probable that
the cost of dispensary relief under the Medical Charities
Act, will not exceed 100,000l. in future years.
.sn New electoral divisions.
A few more of the electoral divisions were divided, in
addition to the subdivisions which had been made
the preceding year,[194] and the total number of electoral
divisions was now increased to 3,439, that is 1,390
more than what were originally constituted, although still
short of the number recommended by the Boundary Commissioners.
The permission of out-door relief, and the increase
in the number of unions, especially the latter, would
no doubt render some increase of electoral divisions necessary;
but after the distress out of which these changes
had arisen shall have passed away, and when the country
has regained its normal state, it is not unlikely that these
changes may be found burthensome, and the machinery
they have created be beyond what is really necessary
for affording relief to the destitute poor. New order of proceedings issued. The various
changes which had been made in the law, also rendered
a new order for regulating the proceedings of boards
of guardians necessary; and accordingly on the
19th January 1852, the old order was rescinded,
.bn 395.png
.pn +1
and a new one adapted to the altered circumstances of
the unions and the state of the law was issued.
.fm rend=t
.fn 194
Ante, p. #373#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Apprenticing boys to the sea-service.|\
14 and 15 Vict., cap. 35.
In July 1851, the 14th and 15th Vict. cap. 35 was
passed, to extend the benefits of the General
Merchant Seamen’s Act relating to apprentices
bound to the sea-service by guardians of the
poor in Ireland. By this Act, the board of guardians
of a union is empowered to apprentice any boy of the
age of twelve and upwards being of sufficient health
and strength, and who is or whose parents are receiving
relief in such union, and who consents to be so bound,
into the sea-service for not less than four years, or
until he attains the age of twenty-one, or has served
seven years, as the case may be. The apprentice is to
be furnished with a suitable outfit at the expense of
the union, and sent to the seaport where the master
or owner of the ship resides; and it is further provided
that any such boys may, if they desire it, be placed out
in the naval service. This is a well-devised Act,
although it may not be very operative, at least for a
time, the Irish generally having little predilection for
the sea. The Act however supplies what was certainly
an omission in the Act of 1836, and which became more
apparent as the number of boys accumulated in the
workhouses, without any means for apprenticing or getting
them out into service. But the abuses which had
resulted from the apprenticeship law in England, prevented
its introduction in any shape into the original
Irish Poor Relief Act.
.sn Emigration.
Emigration under the provisions of the Poor Law was
more active during the year 1850-51 than in any
preceding year, although many unions were prevented
by their poverty from resorting to it.[195] The commissioners
had, as is before stated, applied a portion of
the rate-in-aid fund in relieving the overcrowded workhouses
.bn 396.png
.pn +1
in the counties of Clare and Kerry, but the nearly
exhausted state of that fund disabled them from meeting
other urgent applications for similar aid. Indeed the
decrease of the population in the impoverished districts,
as shown in the census returns, together with the smaller
number of applicants for relief, and a greater demand
for labour, would seem to render further aid or stimulus
to emigration both unnecessary and inexpedient. Where
the guardians and ratepayers of a district however were
desirous of raising funds for the purpose, the commissioners
did not refuse to give effect to the proposition.Extent of emigration.
It appears from the Reports of the colonial land and
emigration commissioners, that the total Irish emigration
from 1847 to 1850 inclusive, was 833,692,
nearly all of which was for North America—the
Canada and New Brunswick immigration from all
countries in the same period amounting to 210,904. In
1851, the emigration from Great Britain to the United
States was 267,357, and it was 244,261 in 1852, in
which year the number of Irish emigrants to New York
alone was 118,134. This continuous emigration was
chiefly effected by the aid of remittances from persons
who had previously emigrated, to their friends and relatives
at home, to enable them to follow.
.fm rend=t
.fn 195
Ante, p. #373#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Population census of 1851.
The above figures show the extent of the drain upon
the population of Ireland which had been in
progress during the last six years, and will go
far to account for the startling results of the census
returns of 1851, which exhibit an actual decrease of
considerably over a million and a half in the previous
decennial period, and make the population less than it
was in 1821. The census commissioners,[196] after stating
that the numerical decrease of the inhabitants between
1841 and 1851 amounted to 1,622,739, go on to remark—“But
this being merely the difference between the
.bn 397.png
.pn +1
number of people in 1841 and 1851, without making any
allowance for a natural and ordinary increase of population,
conveys but very inadequately the effect of the
visitation of famine and pestilence”—“We find that the
population of 30th March 1851, would probably have
numbered 9,018,799, instead of 6,522,385; and that consequently
the loss of population between 1841 and 1851
may be computed at the enormous amount of 2,496,414
persons.” That is to say, the population in 1851
amounted to 6,522,385, whereas under ordinary circumstances,
and with the average rate of increase, it would
have amounted to 9,018,799.
.fm rend=t
.fn 196
See 6th part of the Report on the census of Ireland for 1851, published in
1855.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
It may be convenient in the way of elucidation, to
place the numbers of the four census periods in juxtaposition,
thus—
.ta r:25 c:4 l:10
The population of Ireland in 1821 |was| 6,801,827
” ” in 1831 | ” | 7,767,401
” ” in 1841 | ” | 8,175,124
” ” in 1851 | ” | 6,522,385
.ta-
How much of the present decrease was owing to emigration,
and how much was occasioned by want and
disease, it is impossible to predicate with any degree of
certainty. Both causes were in operation at the same
time, and both were consequent upon the potato failure.
The universal and almost exclusive use of the potato as
an article of subsistence, led to a rapid increase of the
population—its failure led to a still more rapid decrease,
accompanied by an amount of suffering and privation
for which it would be difficult to find a parallel in the
history of any people.
.sn Amount of expenditure, and numbers relieved.
The expenditure from the rates for relief of the poor
in all the 163 unions now established, during
the year ending on the 29th September 1851,
was as had been expected, considerably less than
the preceding year, and amounted to 1,141,647l. The
number relieved in the workhouses on that day was
140,031, and the total number so relieved during the
.bn 398.png
.pn +1
year was 707,443. The number then receiving out-door
relief was 3,160, and the total number who received
out-door relief during the year was 47,914. It seems
almost superfluous to add, that none of these were
relieved under the 2nd section of the Extension Act.
The results of the year as regards relief, both numerically
and financially, was deemed highly satisfactory,
and it was expected that a still further reduction would
be effected in the year following.
Before entering on the proceedings of another year
(which will moreover be the limit of our inquiry), it
may be well to look back for a moment to the disastrous
period through which we have latterly passed.
Famine and pestilence now happily no longer prevail,
and the country has in great measure recovered from the
effects of the severe ordeal to which it was subjected.
The Poor Law has likewise nearly regained its ordinary
state, after passing through the dangers and difficulties
of a most calamitous visitation; and has risen from its
trials with an increase of reputation, and also it may be
added, with a greatly increased capacity for effecting its
objects, through the large additional workhouse accommodation
that has been provided. The failure of the
potato in 1845 and 1846, the partial failure in 1847,
and the more general destruction of the crop in 1848,
were followed in each year by the vast efforts made to
palliate, and as far as possible to relieve the consequent
distress—first by importations of food, and employing
the people on public works—next by a partial adoption
of the Poor-law principle of relief, as it was administered
under the Temporary Relief Act—and lastly by extending
the provisions of the Poor Law to meet the
emergency, and permitting relief to be afforded out of
the workhouse. These circumstances have each occupied
our attention in the foregoing pages. They are all
exceptional in their nature, but are at the same time
most instructive in their results, whether viewed locally
.bn 399.png
.pn +1
or generally—as affecting the empire at large, or Ireland
in particular.
The character of the period—the waxings and wanings
of distress—the variations in its extent, and the phases
of its intensity, are all unmistakeably indicated in the
weekly returns from the several unions, of the numbers
and mortality in the respective workhouses from the
commencement of 1846, and the numbers on the out-relief
lists from the passing of the Extension Act in
1847. Tables of numbers relieved and extent of mortality. See p. #404#. These weekly returns are given at length
in the commissioners’ Reports, and from them I
have compiled two tables, which will be found at
the end,[197] showing the dates in each year when
the most marked changes occurred in the numbers
relieved both in and out of the workhouses, and the
extent of mortality which took place; but always giving
the maximum and minimum numbers in each case.
The cost of out-door relief in the respective weeks is
also inserted, so that the state of the country at the
several periods is as it were mapped out before the
reader, and can be taken in at a glance, requiring
nothing further in the way of explanation; and to this
table the reader’s attention is requested.
.fm rend=t
.fn 197
See p. #404#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sp 2
.sn 1853. | Sixth annual report of the Poor Law Commissioners for Ireland.
The commissioners’ sixth Report is dated 2nd May
1853. After the usual weekly summary of the
in-door and out-door recipients of relief, it is
remarked that the number of out-door poor is
so inconsiderable, and liable to so little fluctuation,
that “the comparative extent of pauperism
in successive years is now almost wholly dependent on
the number receiving relief in the workhouses.” This
number, it is added, “continues to fluctuate almost in
the same degree as formerly, notwithstanding the absolute
decrease which has taken place; the number in
autumn not usually much exceeding one-half the number
at another period of the year.”
.bn 400.png
.pn +1
.sn State of Connaught and Munster.
The satisfactory progress made by the province of
Connaught in surmounting the effects of the famine
years has already been noticed.[198] Although
some of the Connaught unions were still in a
state of financial embarrassment, and subject to
payment of heavy rates, the reduction of relief in the
last three years had been remarkable, the number in the
workhouses having decreased from 42,286 in April 1851,
to 17,389 in April 1853. In Munster on the contrary
improvement continued to be comparatively backward,
that province still containing more than half the pauperism
of Ireland.
.fm rend=t
.fn 198
Ante, pp. #373# and #378#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn The workhouse children.
A large number of the children and young persons
who had been admitted during the prevalence
of the famine, were discharged from the workhouses
in the course of the last two years. These must
be regarded with satisfaction as the fruits of the Poor
Law, but for which, they would in all probability have
fallen victims to want and disease. The children still
remaining in the workhouses, a great proportion of
whom were likewise rescued at the time of the famine,
were chiefly orphans, or illegitimate or deserted, and
without friends able or willing to take charge of them.
The number of these children in the workhouses on the
2nd April 1853 under the age of fifteen, was 82,434,
of whom 5,710 were illegitimate; and looking at the
large proportion who were returned as being orphans
or deserted, the commissioners say they “cannot but
feel that the prospect of enabling a large number of
them to leave the workhouses and obtain a permanent
position in society, must depend in a great degree upon
the exertion made to educate and train them in such a
manner as to enable them to do this at an early age.”
A child of twelve or thirteen is, it is observed, “more
easily grafted into society, than if he resides in a public
establishment till eighteen or nineteen, when he becomes
.bn 401.png
.pn +1
too much accustomed to its routine to exert himself in a
new position, where more labour and individual efforts
have to be exacted, and greater hardships and privations
endured.”
.sn Their education and industrial training.
The literary education in the workhouse schools was
considered to be on the whole satisfactory. But
letters alone, without industrial training, will
not, it is truly said, help a boy or girl of fifteen
to get into employment; and the commissioners therefore
encouraged the formation of agricultural schools, in
connexion with the national education board. The boys
were moreover in most of the workhouses taught some
kind of trade, such as tailoring, shoemaking, carpentering
&c. The girls were taught to wash, and make and
mend their own clothes, and clean their own dormitories
and day-rooms; but there is obviously more difficulty
with them than with the boys, in regard to employment.
As the country improves however, “and when the drain
caused by the continued emigration is more felt,” there
can be little doubt, the commissioners say, that in all the
unions where proper attention has been paid to the
education and training of the children, there will be a
demand for those educated in the workhouses as soon as
they are of an age fitted for being useful; and in the
mean time it is satisfactory to learn, that during the year
1852, no less than 5,371 of these children under fifteen
years of age, found employment out of the workhouse.
.sn Rate of wages and cost of subsistence.
The drain of emigration just adverted to, must have
given rise to an increased amount of employment for
those who remained, but this was attended with a less
apparent effect upon the rate of wages than
might have been expected. Another circumstance
had however occurred closely bearing
upon wages which it is necessary to notice, for we find
that the weekly cost of maintenance in the workhouses,
the average of which in 1847, exclusive of clothing, was
as high as 2s. 1½d. per head, had fallen to little more than
.bn 402.png
.pn +1
1s. per head in the years 1850, 1851, and 1852.[199] Comparing
the cost of subsistence with the rate of wages, it
will therefore appear that there has been relatively a
very considerable rise in the latter, although the money-rate
in 1852 and 1853 may not appear to differ very
materially from what it was in 1845. Employment had
likewise become more certain and more steady, so that
the labourer’s actual earnings during the year were
probably greater than before, which coupled with the
general reduction in the price of provisions, would
enlarge his command of the necessaries and conveniences
of life, and tend to improve his condition.
.fm rend=t
.fn 199
See table at p. 397.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Remittances from emigrants.
Returns had been obtained from the several unions
showing the extent of remittances from abroad,
for enabling certain of the workhouse inmates
to emigrate. From these returns it appeared, that
in the last year 2,158l. was so remitted to enable
877 of such inmates to join their friends in America;
136l. to assist 489 to go to England and Scotland;
and 221l. to enable 31 to proceed to Australia. When
the sums remitted were insufficient, assistance was often
afforded by the guardians under the provisions of the
Poor Law, and 14,041l. was so expended for this purpose
in the year ending 29th September 1852. In the
following year (ending September 1853), 12,865l. was
so expended by the unions for the emigration of 403
men, 1,202 women, and 996 children, making together
2,601 persons; and including the cost of free passages,
about 3,500l. is known to have been remitted to enable
more than 1,100 inmates of the workhouses to join their
friends who had emigrated, or had settled in Great
Britain. Others are likewise supposed to have left the
workhouses in consequence of similar remittances, which
were not made through or known to the boards of
guardians.
.sn The valuations.
The valuations of rateable property in the several
.bn 403.png
.pn +1
unions had, as was to be expected, varied more or less
with the changes which took place from time to
time in the circumstances of the country. In 1845
they appear to have amounted to 13,404,403l., and to
13,187,421l. in 1847; but in 1851 the entire valuation
of Ireland for the purposes of the poor-rate was
only 11,500,000l., so great had been the change caused
by the severe ordeal through which the country had
passed. Although the principle on which the valuation
of property in the several unions was originally
founded, namely, what it would let for, was undoubtedly
correct, there were counteracting influences at work,
and the valuations made under it were rarely altogether
satisfactory. Some persons denounced them as being
too high, some as being too low, and others as being
unequal or partial.
.sn Commissioner of valuations.
In order to remedy these asserted defects, and place
the valuations on what was expected to be a better
footing, the 15th and 16th Vict. cap. 63 was passed in
1852, ‘to amend the Laws relating to the Valuation of
Rateable Property in Ireland.’ The Act declares it to
be expedient to make one uniform valuation of lands
and tenements, which may be used for all public and
local assessments and other rating. The lord-lieutenant
is empowered to appoint a commissioner
of valuation “who shall make or cause to be made
a valuation of the tenements and hereditaments within
every barony, parish, or other division when directed
so to do.” But further legislation was still necessary,
and in the following year the 16th and 17th Vict. cap.
7, was passed to amend the above, and directing the
clerks of unions to prepare lists of tenements proposed
for revision by the collectors, and to transmit the same
to the commissioner of valuation, together with the
opinion of the guardians whether a revision is necessary,
and the name of a person whom the guardians
recommend as fit to revise the same. The combined
.bn 404.png
.pn +1
provisions of these Acts are no doubt calculated to
effect improvement in the valuations; but the principle
of fair letting value as originally prescribed, must still
be adhered to in whatever changes are made.
.sn 1852. | Amount of expenditure and numbers relieved.
The expenditure for relief of the poor during the
year ending on the 29th September 1852, was
883,267l., being 258,380l. less than in the preceding
year,[200] and fully realizing the expectations
then held out. The number relieved in the workhouses
at the above date was 111,515 and the total number so
relieved during the year was 504,864. The number
then receiving out-door relief was 2,528, and the total
number who received out-door relief during the year
was 14,911. A further reduction was likewise still
expected. “But the reduction must not, it is said, be
expected to go so far as it would have gone if 32 new
unions had not been formed, inasmuch as a certain
amount of establishment charges must be incurred to
maintain the new workhouses, and the necessary staff of
officers, in whatever degree the pauperism of the districts
in which they are built may hereafter be found
diminished.”
.fm rend=t
.fn 200
Ante, p. #387#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn 1853. | Amount of expenditure, and numbers relieved.
The expected further reduction was again confirmed,
the expenditure on relief of the poor during the
year ending on the 29th September 1853, being
785,718l., or nearly 100,000l. less than in the
previous year. The number relieved in the 163 workhouses
was 79,600, and the total number so relieved
during the year was 396,436. The number receiving
out-door relief was 2,245, and the total number who
received out-door relief during the year was 13,232—and
now also, important as the reductions which have
latterly taken place assuredly are, we are again told that
still further reductions may be looked for.[201]
.fm rend=t
.fn 201
Such in fact took place, the expenditure on relief of the poor for the
year 1854 being 760,152l., and for 1855 being still further reduced to 685,259l.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.bn 405.png
.pn +1
A tabular statement[202] has been given of the annual
expenditure and the numbers relieved, down to the end
of 1846, after which time the date of the returns was
altered to correspond with the half-yearly audits in
April and September. The following is a continuation
of the statement before given, but also including the
number of persons who were relieved out of the work-house
in the successive years under the provisions of
the Extension Act—
.sp 1
.ta cm:9| cm:10| rm:12| lm:12| rm:11| lm:12| rm:10
_
The year ending Sept. 29.|\
No. of unions in operation.|\
Expenditures during the year.|\
No. in the workhouses on the 29th Sept.|\
Total no. relieved in the workhouses during the year.|\
No. receiving out-relief on 29th Sept.|\
Total no. who received out-relief during the year
_
1847 | 130 | £ \ 803,684 | \ 86,376 | 417,139 | — | —
1848 | 131 | 1,732,597 |124,003 | 610,463 |207,683 | 1,433,042
1849 | | 2,177,651 |141,030 | 932,284 |135,019 | 1,210,482
1850 | 163 | 1,430,108 |155,173 | 805,702 |\ \ 2,938 | 368,565
1851 | | 1,141,647 |140,031 | 707,443 |\ \ 3,160 | 47,914
1852 | | 883,267 |111,515 | 504,864 |\ \ 2,528 | 14,911
1853 | | 785,718 |\ 79,600[203]| 396,436 |\ \ 2,245[203]| 13,232
_
.ta-
.sp 1
This table speaks at once to the eye, and by its
ascending and its descending numbers indicates the circumstances
of the period to which they severally refer.
But in addition to the expenditure in the third column,
it must not be overlooked that since the passing of
the Consolidated Debts Act[204] in 1850, a considerably
larger amount of rates has been collected than was required
for the immediate relief of the poor. Thus the
amount collected in the year ending in September 1853
was 1,000,312l., whereas the expenditure on relief was
only 781,523l., the remainder being applied in payment
of the consolidated annuities, and in defraying expenses
incurred under the Medical Charities Act. At present,
it is said, out of 357,858l. the entire amount of the two
.bn 406.png
.pn +1
annuities payable in 1852 and 1853, only 28,768l. remains
unpaid; and the advances made on security of
the Rate-in-aid have been wholly repaid, with the exception
of a trifling sum due on certain newly arranged
townlands. But it is expected that in a short time
“all the exceptional charges on the poor-rates will cease,
and that thenceforward the rates will be exclusively
applied to the relief of the poor, and the support of the
medical charities.”
.fm rend=t
.fn 202
Ante, p. #323#.
.fn-
.fn 203
The number in the workhouses on the 29th September 1854 was 66,506,
and at the same date in 1855 it was 56,546.—The number receiving out-door
relief on these days respectively was 926 and 655.
.fn-
.fn 204
Ante, p. #374#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Further advance to the impoverished unions.
Notwithstanding the general improvement, and the
reduction of expenditure which has been shown
to have taken place, assistance was still required
by some of the western unions, and the
government consented to an advance of 30,000l. being
made to eleven of them,[205] to pay their debts and relieve
them from financial embarrassments; but this was done
however, on the express condition that they “should
not expect further assistance, and should make rates
to the satisfaction of the Poor Law Commissioners, to
meet their immediate and future wants.” The condition
and the assistance were alike well timed and judicious,
and secured the objects for which they were
intended.
.fm rend=t
.fn 205
These were Cahirciveen, Dingle, Kenmare, Kilrush, Killadysert, Ennistymon,
Scariff, Tulla, Clifden, Newport, and Oughterard.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Average cost of maintenance.
The cost of subsistence in the workhouse, may be
considered to afford a fair criterion for judging
of what is required for the subsistence of the
labouring classes generally, there being in fact little
difference between the food usually consumed by the
peasantry, and that supplied to the inmates of the work-houses.
The average weekly cost per head is ascertained
half-yearly, when the union accounts are audited
in March and September, and the following table shows
the results on these occasions from 1847 downwards[206]—
.bn 407.png
.pn +1
.sp 1
.if t
.ta lm:5 lm:26| r:5 l:6| c:10| r:5 l:5
.if-
.if h
.ta lm:5 lm:22| r:5 l:6| c:10| r:5 l:5
.if-
_
Half-year ending.|| Average weekly cost of provisions and necessaries.|\
| Average weekly cost of clothing.\
| Total.|
_
| |s.| d.| d. |s.|d.
1847.| 25th March | 2 | 1 | 3½ | 2 | \ 4½
.if t
| 29th September | 2 | 1½ | 3\ | 2 | \ 4½
.if-
.if h
| 29th September | 2 | 1½ | 3\ \ \ | 2 | \ 4½
.if-
1848.| 25th March | 1 | 7 | 3¼ | 1 | 10¼
| 29th September | 1 | 5 | 3¼ | 1 | \ 8¼
1849.| 25th March | 1 | 4½ | 3¼ | 1 | \ 7½
.if t
| 29th September | 1 | 2¾ | 3\ | 1 | \ 5¾
.if-
.if h
| 29th September | 1 | 2¾ | 3\ \ \ | 1 | \ 5¾
.if-
1851.| 25th March | 1 | 0½ | 2½ | 1 | \ 3
| 29th September | 1 | 0 | 2¼ | 1 | \ 2½
.if t
1852.| 25th March | 1 | 0½ | 2\ | 1 | \ 2½
.if-
.if h
1852.| 25th March | 1 | 0½ | 2\ \ \ | 1 | \ 2½
.if-
| 29th September | 1 | 0½ | 1½ | 1 | \ 2
1853.| 25th March | 1 | 1¾ | 1¾ | 1 | \ 3½
| 29th September | 1 | 2½ | 1½ | 1 | \ 4
1854.| Week ended 22nd April[207]| 1 | 9 | | |
_
.ta-
.sp 1
.fm rend=t
.fn 206
The returns for 1850 were not completed, in consequence of the alterations
which were then being made in the number and the boundaries of the
unions.
.fn-
.fn 207
The average for the half-year ending 25th March 1854, was 1s. 7½d., and
for the half-year ending 29th September it was 1s. 8½d. per head. For each of
the corresponding periods in 1855, the average was 1s. 10¼d.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Cost of subsistence and rate of wages.
In April 1854, we see there was a large increase
in the cost of workhouse maintenance, arising
no doubt from the increase which had taken
place in the prices of provisions. This increase
would bear hard upon the labouring classes, unless
there were a somewhat proportionate increase in wages.
To obtain information on this point, the Poor Law Commissioners
caused inquiry to be made by the inspectors
in their several districts; and we find it stated as the
combined result of their Reports—“that there is now[208]
observable a material increase in the money value of
agricultural labour, to the extent of about 1s. per week
on the average throughout Ireland.” It appears also,
that agricultural employment was more continuous than
formerly, and that in most parts of the country the
wages of artizans had improved in a still greater ratio
than those of common labourers. Unless there were
some advance in the price of labour, it is probable that
the great increase in the price of provisions would cause
an increase in the numbers applying for relief, which
.bn 408.png
.pn +1
does not appear to have occurred; and this may be regarded
as a further proof, that on the whole the rate of
wages had about kept pace with the increased cost of
subsistence.
.fm rend=t
.fn 208
That is on the 1st May 1854.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.sn Changes in the poor law executive.
Certain changes took place in the Poor Law executive
in 1852, which it is necessary to notice.
Mr. Ball resigned the office of Poor Law Commissioner,
and was succeeded by Mr. Senior.
The temporary inspectors were all discontinued. The
number of these officers in 1847, on the passing of
the Extension Act, was 48; but they had been subsequently
reduced to 11, and of these 4 were now
discontinued, and the remaining 7 were placed on the
permanent staff, making the number of inspectors 16,
each having the charge of a larger or smaller number of
unions according to the circumstances of the district.
.sn New order of accounts.
A new order of accounts adapted to the alterations
made in the law had been completed, and was
issued in April of the present year; and the
commissioners remark in their Report that “the administration
of relief to the destitute poor in Ireland, may
be now looked upon as nearly identical with its normal
state, as originally contemplated on the passing of the
Act 1st and 2nd Vict. cap. 56. Such a result could
hardly have been expected after the severe trials to
which the country had so recently been exposed, but it
was most satisfactory, and must be regarded as a proof
of the enduring soundness of the principle on which
that measure was founded.
I have now brought the narrative of the Irish Poor
Law, down to a period coincident with my histories of
the English and the Scottish Poor Laws; and here, as
originally intended, I should conclude. But in the
autumn of 1853 I again visited Ireland, and examined
many of the unions, chiefly in the south and the west,
in order to see and form my own judgment as to the
working of the law, and the condition of the people.
The results of what came under my own observation,
.bn 409.png
.pn +1
and of the inquiries which I was enabled to make, were
embodied at the time in a letter to Lord John Russell,
by whom the measure of Irish Poor Law had been
originally introduced and carried through parliament,
and who always took a lively interest in everything
connected with it; and it now appears to me that I
cannot do better than give the substance of that letter,
written with all the facts and incidents fresh before me,
as a fitting close to the statements contained in the
present work. The letter is dated Dublin 16th September
1853, and omitting a short introduction is substantially
as follows—
.sn The author’s letter to Lord John Russell, September 1853.
“Eleven years have passed since I quitted Ireland.
In the interim the country has suffered from
famine and pestilence, and the Poor Law has
been subjected to a most severe trial. An examination
of the present condition of the country
and state of the law cannot therefore fail of being
deeply interesting, and I should have been glad to have
given more time to it, if other claims had permitted.
“The circumstance that now first arrests attention in
passing through the country, is the comparatively small
number of beggars. Formerly the roads were lined with
them, and the traveller wherever he stopped was surrounded
by clamorous miserable-looking solicitors of
charity. This is now changed. Beggars are rarely
seen on the roads, less frequently in the towns; and are
not I think on the whole, more numerous than in England.
The famine may have been partly the cause of
this change, but another if not the chief cause is the
workhouses, where the old the feeble the sick and infirm
poor are now supported, as the law designed, and as
sound policy required that they should be. The workhouses
are entirely occupied by this description of
paupers, and the very young—there are no able-bodied.
The total number of inmates of all classes is now 84,000,
which is about the number I estimated at the outset as
requiring to be provided for. The cost of relief is
.bn 410.png
.pn +1
moreover about the same as I then estimated that it
would probably amount to; and it is not a little gratifying
to find that our calculations in these respects are so
far verified.
“The Poor Law appears to be now thoroughly naturalized
in Ireland. Your lordship would have been
delighted to have heard it spoken of as I have done, and
that by persons who did not know me, and who praised
it as having been the salvation of the country, exclaiming
“what should we have done without it!”—Complaints
of the expense are it is true sometimes heard, but
these are directed rather against the inequality of the
charge than against the general amount, some electoral
divisions paying heavily, whilst others pay little or
nothing, as is sometimes the case with English parishes.
“The changes which have been made, are not I think
all of them improvements. Although the subdivision of
a few of the unions might have been necessary, this as
well as the subdivision of the districts of chargeability,
has I fear been carried too far—it has added to the
working friction, and swelled the aggregate charge.
“When settlement shall be abolished in England, and
union rating established instead of parochial, as I trust
will ere long be the case, we may hope to see a similar
reform extended to Ireland, which would bring the law
back nearly to what your lordship first proposed and carried
through the house of commons; and most of the
changes which were subsequently made, as well as some
of those since added, have in my judgment served to
detract from its simplicity, and tended to impede its
effective operation.
“All the workhouses which I have seen are in good
order and the buildings in perfect condition, and such also
I am informed is the case with the others. It is not a little
satisfactory to find this the case, after the complaints
that were made of these buildings, which are now as
much praised as they were at one time decried.
.bn 411.png
.pn +1
“The most pleasing circumstance connected with the
workhouse is the state of the pauper children, who are
there educated and trained up in habits of order cleanliness
and industry, instead of being left as outcasts, with
every likelihood of their becoming a burthen, and possibly
a bane to the community. I wish you could have seen with
me some of these workhouse schools, and witnessed the
benefits they are conferring upon the country. In the
rural districts there is little difficulty in getting the boys
out to service as soon as they are of an age fit for it,
and the girls likewise now generally obtain places,
although not so readily; but in the large towns there
is still a difficulty with these last, there being proportionally
less employment for females in Ireland than in
England. A considerable number of girls and young
women have been assisted to emigrate within the last
three years, and it is very desirable that others should
be so assisted and sent out from such of the workhouses
as are overstocked with this class of inmates.
“With respect to emigration, I think that it has been
already carried farther than was desirable. There appears
to be no excess of labourers anywhere, and now
in the harvest season there is evidently a want of hands
to do the work, and high wages are paid, as much in
some instances as 2s. and 2s. 6d. a day; but this is
only during the period of urgency. There is still a
want of certain and continuous employment in Ireland,
and the people do not rely upon regular daily labour as
a means of support, although they are I think approximating
to it; and the extensive emigration which has
taken place, will no doubt help forward the change.
The rage for emigrating however continues, although
the occasion for it has ceased. It pervades every class,
and is strongest with the best educated and most intelligent.
I found this to be the case among the boys in the
workhouse schools. The sharp active intelligent lads
were all eager to emigrate. It was only the more dull
.bn 412.png
.pn +1
feeble and inert who appeared content to remain at home.
Yet I know of no country where labour can be applied
with the certainty of a better return. Labour is here in
fact the thing chiefly needed. It is impossible to pass
through Ireland without seeing this, and lamenting the
omission.
“It is encouraging to reflect however, that were there
less room for improvement in this and other respects,
there would be less incentive to exertion; and when the
rage for emigration which still prevails shall have subsided,
as subside it will, we may with greater confidence
expect that the energies and increased intelligence of
the people will be turned to the improvement of their
own country, in which they will assuredly find a rich
reward, and in furtherance of which they will, in the
Poor Law, have a valuable auxiliary.”
Such were the impressions derived from what came
within the limit of my own observation and inquiry, on
again visiting Ireland in the autumn of 1853. That
these impressions were not more favourable than the
circumstances warranted, is proved by the progressive
ameliorations which have since taken place, of the extent
of which generally, the proceedings under the Poor Law
may be regarded as an index; and these have shown a
continual reduction, both in expenditure and in the
numbers relieved. The total cost of relief in the year
ending 29th September 1855, including every item of
charge, was no more than 685,259l.; and the total
number of persons relieved on that day was 57,201, of
whom 655 (being exceptional cases) were relieved out
of the workhouse.[209] This reduction in expenditure has
moreover taken place, notwithstanding the greatly increased
cost of maintenance in the workhouses as compared
with what it was in 1850 and 1851,[210] making a difference
.bn 413.png
.pn +1
on the whole of probably not less than 150,000l.;
so that but for this increase, the entire cost of relieving
the poor in 1855 might perhaps not have exceeded half
a million, and in the event of prices falling to their
former level, and other circumstances proving favourable,
it may hereafter possibly range at about that
amount.
.fm rend=t
.fn 209
The weekly cost of the out-relief so given was 40l. 4s. 4d.
.fn-
.fn 210
Ante, p. #397#.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
At present however the expenditure under the Irish
Poor Law contrasts favourably with what is taking place
under the English and Scottish laws—in Ireland it
averages 2s. per head on the population, whilst in Scotland
the average amounts to 4s.,[211] and in England to
5s. 6d. per head—or if we take the valuations in the
three countries as a standard of comparison, it will appear
that the expenditure on relief of the poor in Ireland
amounts to 1s. 2½d., in Scotland to 1s. 4d., and in England
to 1s. 5½d. in the pound. These comparisons are I
think satisfactory, and it is encouraging also to find the
commissioners declaring in their last Report,[212] that—“a
material diminution of pauperism in Ireland is still
going on”—and that—“the improvement in the rate of
wages and the increased constancy of employment have
not only been sustained, but have further advanced and
acquired a still more permanent and healthy aspect.”
Emigration likewise, both spontaneous and that conducted
at the expense of the poor-rates,[213] is considerably
lessened, and seems likely ere long to be reduced within
its natural limits. The future therefore appears in every
way hopeful for Ireland—may the Irish people on their
part, not be wanting in due effort for securing the
benefits of which there is at present so fair a promise!
.fm rend=t
.fn 211
See the tenth Report of the board of supervision.
.fn-
.fn 212
The ninth, dated May 1st 1856.
.fn-
.fn 213
The amount expended from the poor-rates in 1855, to assist in the emigration
of 830 poor persons from different unions, was 6,859l. In the previous
year the amount had been 22,651l., including 10,000l. from the rate in
aid, to assist in the emigration of 1,500 young females from the workhouses
in the south and west of Ireland.
.fn-
.fm rend=t
.bn 414.png
.pn +1
.ce
Tables of the Numbers relieved in and out of the Workhouse, with \
the extent of Mortality, etc., referred to at page #389#.
.dv class='column-container'
.dv class='column40'
.ig
.in 2
.ti -2
Numbers relieved in the workhouses
houses in each of the weeks
ending on the dates in the first
column respectively; together
with the number and the
rate per 1,000 of the deaths.
.ig-
.ta |rm:10| r:12| r:6| r:6| w=100%
_
Numbers relieved in the workhouses\
houses in each of the weeks\
ending on the dates in the first\
column respectively; together\
with the number and the\
rate per 1,000 of the deaths. |||
_
| | |
Weeks ending |\
Total number in the workhouses.|\
Deaths in the week. |\
Rate per 1,000.
| | |
_
1846. | | |
4 April| 50,861 | 159 | 3.0
4 July | 50,693 | 146 | 2.9
7 Nov. | 74,175 | 312 | 4.2
| | |
1847. | | |
2 Jan. | 98,762 | 1,206 | 12.2
6 Mar. | 115,645 | 2,590 | 22.0
3 July | 101,439 | 1,239 | 12.2
4 Sept.| 75,376 | 589 | 7.8
13 Nov. | 102,776 | 523 | 5.1
| | |
1848. | | |
1 Jan. | 117,568 | 1,362 | 11.6
12 Feb. | 135,467 | 1,316 | 9.7
1 July | 139,397 | 620 | 4.5
9 Sept.| 107,320 | 350 | 3.3
2 Dec. | 172,980 | 787 | 4.5
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
1849. | | |
13 Jan. | 191,445 | 1,477 | 7.7
3 Mar. | 196,523 | 1,846 | 9.4
5 May | 220,401 | 2,730 | 12.4
16 June | 227,329 | 2,009 | 8.8
6 Oct. | 140,266 | 488 | 3.5
1 Dec. | 180,641 | 471 | 2.7
| | |
1850. | | |
5 Jan. | 203,320 | 792 | 3.9
2 Feb. | 230,348 | 994 | 4.3
2 Mar. | 237,939 | 1,150 | 4.8
4 May | 243,224 | 1,247 | 5.1
22 June | 264,048 | 1,126 | 4.3
3 Aug. | 219,231 | 808 | 3.7
28 Sept.| 155,173 | 526 | 3.4
7 Dec. | 191,341 | 501 | 2.6
| | |
1851. | | |
4 Jan. | 206,468 | 654 | 3.2
22 Feb. | 251,836 | 1,201 | 4.8
22 Mar. | 248,501 | 1,512 | 6.1
7 June | 263,397 | 1,264 | 4.8
2 Aug. | 222,038 | 789 | 3.6
27 Sept.| 140,458 | 386 | 2.8
| | |
1852. | | |
3 Jan. | 168,248 | 407 | 2.4
21 Feb. | 196,966 | 594 | 3.0
5 June | 187,003 | 541 | 2.9
18 Sept.| 111,117 | 261 | 2.3
25 Dec. | 134,476 | 281 | 2.1
| | |
1853. | | |
19 Feb. | 160,774 | 627 | 3.9
30 July | 113,099 | 272 | 2.4
1 Oct. | 79,410 | 202 | 2.5
_
.ta-
.dv-
.dv class='column60'
.ig
.in 2
.ti -2
Number of destitute persons relieved out of the
workhouses under the 1st and 2nd sections of
the Extension Act (10th and 11th Vict., cap. 31)
respectively, in each of the weeks ending on
the dates in the first column; together with
the weekly cost of such relief.
.ig-
.ta |rm:10| rm:12| rm:12| rm:9| rm:6 rm:3 rm:3| w=100%
_
Number of destitute persons relieved out of the\
workhouses under the 1st and 2nd sections of\
the Extension Act (10th and 11th Vict., cap. 31)\
respectively, in each of the weeks ending on\
the dates in the first column; together with\
the weekly cost of such relief.||||||
_
Weeks ending.|\
Numbers relieved under Section 1 of Extension Act.|\
Numbers relieved under Section 2 of Extension Act.|\
Total|\
Weekly cost of relief. ||
_
.if h
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
.if-
1848. | | | | £. | s.|d.
5 Feb. | 337,665 | 107,811 | 445,476 | 12,788 | 9 | 0
4 Mar. | 425,949 | 228,763 | 654,712 | 17,564 | 18 | 2
1 April| 408,923 | 235,076 | 643,999 | 17,092 | 6 | 6
6 May | 485,364 | 266,430 | 751,794 | 18,786 | 18 | 5
1 July | 490,902 | 342,987 | 833,889 | 21,800 | 14 |10
2 Sept.| 279,567 | 96,523 | 376,090 | 10,335 | 14 | 5
7 Oct. | 192,401 | 7,202 | 199,603 | 5,925 | 4 | 2
2 Dec. | 246,125 | 31,859 | 277,984 | 7,845 | 12 |10
| | | | | |
1849. | | | | | |
6 Jan. | 327,733 | 75,622 | 423,355 | 11,170 | 7 | 5
3 Mar. | 422,693 | 170,012 | 592,705 | 15,051 | 14 | 3
2 June | 402,184 | 239,229 | 642,413 | 19,263 | 7 | 1
7 July | 492,503 | 291,864 | 784,367 | 21,757 | 8 | 3
1 Sept.| 425,197 | 50,796 | 276,793 | 6,493 | 13 |11
13 Oct. | 114,316 | 1,647 | 115,963 | 2,653 | 7 | 2
3 Nov | 102,247 | 13 | 102,260 | 2,336 | 11 |11
| | | | | |
1850. | | | | | |
5 Jan. | 104,305 | 345 | 104,650 | 2,159 | 0 | 3
23 Feb. | 148,909 | | 148,909 | 3,216 | 8 | 8
1 June | 127,727 | 128 | 127,855 | 2,805 | 9 | 2
3 Aug. | 73,129 | 40 | 73,169 | 1,617 | 7 | 5
14 Sept.| 3,794 | | 3,794 | 96 | 14 | 2
19 Oct. | 2,249 | | 2,249 | 63 | 13 | 6
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
1851. | | | | | |
4 Jan. | 2,713 | 6 | 2,719 | 76 | 14 | 0
22 Feb. | 9,103 | 20 | 9,123 | 229 | 4 | 6
3 May | 11,145 | 7 | 11,153 | 268 | 17 | 4
5 July | 19,454 | 28 | 19,482 | 486 | 4 | 11
4 Oct. | 3,084 | | 3,084 | 75 | 10 | 4
| | | | | |
| | | | | |
1852. | | | | | |
3 Jan. | 3,170 | | 3,170 | 88 | 6 | 3
6 Mar. | 3,396 | | 3,396 | 100 | 0 |10
3 July | 3,579 | | 3,579 | 102 |19 | 0
9 Oct. | 2,491 | 1 | 2,492 | 74 | 1 | 3
25 Dec.| 2,998 | | 2,998 | 87 | 12 | 10
| | | | | |
1853. | | | | | |
26 Feb. | 4,152 | | 4,152 | 116 | 16 | 10
30 July | 3,092 | | 3,092 | 96 | 5 | 2
8 Oct. | 1,977 | | 1,977 | 61 | 16 | 10
_
.ta-
.dv-
.dv-
.bn 415.png
.pn +1
.sp 4
.h2
INDEX.
.sp 2
.ix
Able-bodied disorderly persons and vagrants to be compelled to provide their own subsistence by strict workhouse discipline, #182#.
Absconding from a workhouse, punishment for, #227#.
Abuses of out-door relief, impossibilities of avoiding, #204#.
Accounts, new order of issued in 1853, #398#.
Acre, amount per, paid by farmer in relieving mendicancy, #192#.
Act of 1 and 2 Vict., cap. 56, #222# et seq.
——- make further provision for the relief of the destitute poor in Ireland, #330#.
——- to make provision for the punishment of vagrants, &c., #332#.
——- to provide for the execution of the laws for relief of the poor in Ireland, #333#.
——- for a rate-in-aid, summary of, #355#, #356#.
——- to amend the previous acts for the relief of the poor in Ireland, summary of, #367#-9.
——- for a further advance of public money for distressed unions, summary of, #374#, #375#.
——- for the regulation of medical charities, summary of, #382#, #383#.
Actions under the Irish Poor-Law Act, preliminary notice of to be given, #231#;
to recover poor-rates, regulations as to, #368#.
Adoption by government of the author’s first Report in December 1836, #188#.
Agents empowered to sign notices of appeal, #369#.
Agricultural labourers in Great Britain and Ireland, comparative proportions of, #131#.
Agriculture, recommendation to encourage by legislative grants, #88#;
efforts of the Poor-Law Board to improve, #269#.
Almsgiving, desirableness of bringing under a system, #149#;
prevalence of in Ireland, #182#;
discontinuance of anticipated, #183#.
Alms, spontaneous, amounts bestowed by small farmers and cottars, #149#.
Amended orders for the election of guardians, #302#.
Amendment of the new poor-law, act for, #291#.
Amount, total, contributed by England in 1847-8-9, for the relief of Ireland, #356#.
Amsterdam, account of the workhouse in, #212#.
Amusements, love of, and reckless pursuit of by the Irish peasantry, #163#.
Anglo-Saxons taught by Irish missionaries, #2#.
Annuities under the Consolidated Debts Act, arrangements for paying, #380#;
partial remission of, #381#.
Apathy of the Irish peasantry, #162#;
poverty not a real excuse for, #ibid.:Page_162#
Appeals, how and before whom to be brought, #231#, #233#.
Apprenticeship of poor children recommended for Ireland, #183#, #184#.
Architect engaged to erect workhouses, #243#.
Ardent spirits, recommendations of the Commissioners of Inquiry for lessening the inordinate use of, #146#.
Assessment, instructions to the assistant commissioners relating to, #240#.
Assistant barristers allowed to correct clerical errors in actions for the recovery of poor-rates, #369#.
Assistant commissioners, in 1833, appointment of and instructions for, #121#;
enactment for the appointment of, #223#;
duties of, #ibid.:Page_223#;
exertions of, #241#;
additional provided, #246#;
reports of, #247#;
appointment of additional, #338#.
Assistant guardians may be appointed by the commissioners at the request of the guardians, #368#.
Asylums for lunatics and idiots, the erection of in each of the four provinces recommended, #83#.
Audit of accounts, and half-yearly reports of, infirmaries and hospitals recommended, #101#;
report as to, #276#.
Auditing of poor-law accounts, #222#.
Auditors, enactment for the appointment of, #230#;
appointment of four, #298#;
regulations as to, #332#.
.bn 416.png
.pn +1
Author’s first Report, Nov. 1836, #159#;
second Report, Nov. 1837, #196#;
third Report, #212#;
second visit to Ireland in 1837, #195#;
departure for Ireland as chief commissioner, #234#;
departure from Ireland in 1842, #284#;
visit to Ireland in 1853, #398#.
Auxiliary workhouses, hired buildings ill adapted for, #379#.
Average cost per head of paupers in the workhouses, #301#;
of maintenance of the poor in workhouses, #396#;
rate per head paid for the relief of the poor by the population of England, Scotland, and Ireland, #403#.
.ix-
.sp 1
.ix
Badging the poor, act for, #51#.
Ballinasloe union agricultural society, notice of, #269#.
Barracks to be converted into workhouses, if suitable, #237#, #239#.
Bastardy, recommendation that no law should be enacted for Ireland, #183#.
Bay and coast fisheries in Ireland, facilities for, #89#.
Beadles and constables authorized to seize beggars and vagabonds in Cork, and commit them to the workhouse, #43#.
Becket’s murder, notice of, #4#.
Bedford Level Corporation, a board on the principle of recommended, to carry into effect a system of national improvement in Ireland, #137#.
Beggars, act for the punishment of, #22#.
Beggar’s curse, superstitious dread of the Irish peasantry of, #206#.
Begging, not to be prohibited, where persons have asked for, and failed in procuring, relief, #193#.
Belfast, assistant-commissioners sent to, #234#, #236#.
Belgium, visit of the author to, #211# et seq.;
report of the management of the poor in, #213#.
Bicheno, Mr., remarks of upon the evidence submitted by the Inquiry Commissioners, #151#.
Bill, directions for the preparation of, embodying the measures proposed in the author’s first Report, #188#;
introduced to parliament in Feb. 1837, #189#;
discussion on the first reading of, #194#;
second reading of, and proceedings in committee on, #194#, #195#;
dropped in consequence of the death of William IV., #195#;
of the Irish Poor Law of 1837-8 introduced to the house of commons by Lord John Russell, #210#;
passing of, #211#;
introduced into the house of lords, #211#;
for the relief of the Irish poor read a first time in the house of lords, #217#;
a second time, #218#;
division upon in committee, #220#;
read a third time and passed, #221#.
Board of Charitable Bequests, recommendation to transfer the functions of to the Poor Law Commissioners, #146#.
——- of Education, recommendation for the appointment of, #111#.
——- of Improvement, proposed duties of, #138#.
—— of Works, proposed duties of, #138#, #139#.
—— of Works, efforts of to supply employment to the poor during the distress in 1846, #314#;
numbers employed under, #315#, #316#.
Boards of guardians, enactment for the appointment of, #223#;
enactment constituting them corporations, #224#;
enactment giving the commissioners power to dissolve, #332#;
thirty-two dissolved in 1847, #341#;
five in 1849, #360#.
Bogs, Irish, act for reclaiming, #75#.
Boundaries of unions, where changed, the commissioners to adjust the liabilities, #368#.
Boundary commission, appointment of to regulate the size of unions, #361#;
recommendation of, to form fifty new unions, #362#.
Boyne, the battle of, #10#.
Bread and cheese, contrast of the English labourer’s meal of, with the Irish labourer’s potato-bowl, #62#.
Britain, strangers from, resort to the Irish schools, #2#.
British Association, amount collected by to relieve the distress in Ireland occasioned by the potato disease, #321#;
number of persons relieved by in 1848, #346#.
—— capitalists, inquiry into the circumstances which have prevented their investing in Irish agriculture, #123#.
Building of workhouses, means taken to secure a fair payment for, #254#;
inspection of by the chief commissioner, #260#.
Buildings and repairs of tenements, consequences of throwing the expense on the tenants, #89#.
Bureau de Bienfaisance, notice of, #216#.
Burgesses, recommendation of Spenser that they should be nominated, #9#.
Burke, quotation from, #139#.
‘Burning corn in the straw,’ act against, #32#;
punishment for, #33#.
.ix-
.sp 1
.ix
Cabinet, the author’s report on the state of the north of Ireland in 1837, considered by, #209#.
.bn 417.png
.pn +1
Cabins, wretched construction of, in Ireland, #62#, #64#.
Caledonian Canal, beneficial effects of employing Highland labourers on, cited, #107#.
Capital, amount of, sunk upon the land in England, #60#;
causes of the scarcity of, in Ireland, #88#;
inducements required for the investment of, #208#.
Carrick-on-Shannon, death of a poor man in the union of, from having been refused relief, #296#, #297#.
Castlereagh union, board of guardians dissolved by the commissioners, #305#.
Cattle, improvident care of, #32#;
reared in Donegal to pay the rent, #201#.
Cemeteries, guardians empowered to provide, #332#.
Census of Ireland in 1851, decrease of population shown by, #386#, #387#.
Central authority, necessity for, in administering the poor-laws, #176#.
Certificates to be given servants on leaving their employment, #41#.
Certiorari, actions under the Irish Poor Law Act not removable by, except into the Court of Queen’s Bench, Dublin, #231#, #233#.
Chapels for workhouses, guardians empowered to provide, #332#.
Character and habits of Irish poor in English poorhouses, #158#.
Charitable institutions, establishment of, #13#;
recommendation to allow them to subsist as they are, #185#.
Charity, private, tendency of, to encourage mendicancy, #140#.
Charles the First, the Roman catholics of Ireland adhere to his cause, #10#.
Chief commissioner of the Irish Poor Law Board, enactment for the appointment of, in 1847, #333#.
Children, punishment for the desertion of, #30#;
required age of, for admission into the Dublin Foundling Hospital, #85#, #86#;
indiscriminate admission of, #85 note:f34#;
enactment making them chargeable, if able, for the support of their parents, #227#;
number of, in the Dublin Foundling Hospital, #249#;
amount expended in feeding, #388#;
number of, in the workhouses in 1851, #390#.
Cholera, appearance of, in 1849, #350#.
Cholesbury, the case of, cited, #136#.
Christian monasteries, state of, in Ireland at an early period, #2#.
Church collections for the relief of distress, #106#.
—— holidays, meat eaten by the poor only on, #132#.
Churchwardens to remove from their parish, or to confine in bridewell, wandering beggars and vagabonds, #86#.
Cities, towns, &c., of 10,000 inhabitants may be divided into wards for the purpose of electing guardians, #233#.
Clare, distressed state of, #365#;
mortality in, #372#.
Clergy of various persuasions to furnish religious instruction to the children of their own faith, #112#;
favourable to a system of poor-laws, #167#.
Clergymen to preach sermons for the support of houses of industry, #55#;
of whatever denomination not to be poor-law guardians, #175#.
Clerks of workhouses to keep register books, #226#.
Clothes of vagabond beggars to be washed and cleansed, #86#.
Clothing of the labourers in Ireland, inferiority of, in Ireland, #63#.
Coals imported into Cork, a duty imposed on, in 1735, for the support of the workhouse, #43#.
Cod-fishery, facilities for, on the coasts of Ireland, #89#;
success of the encouragement of in Scotland, #ibid.:Page_89#, #90#.
Corn, clamourings for a prohibition of the export of, in 1855, #17#.
Collection of rates, no difficulty found in the, #277#.
Colonization by Irish labourers, recommended to be undertaken by government in 1830, #107#.
Comforts and conveniences, the providing of, not the proper object of a poor-law, #203#.
Commission appointed in 1833 to inquire into the condition of the poorer classes in Ireland, #118#;
first Report of, in 1835, #ibid.:Page_118# et seq.;
heads of inquiry adopted, #119#;
second Report of, in 1836, #125# et seq.;
third Report of, in 1836, #131# et seq.
Commissioners to inquire into the nature and extent of Irish bogs, appointment of, #75#;
utility of, #76#;
Reports of, #ibid.:Page_76#
—-—-— of 1833, names of, #118#.
—-—-— of Inquiry, differences of opinion among, as to the nature of their Report, #129#.
—-—-— to appoint guardians if not duly elected, #224#.
—-—-— empowered to levy a rate-in-aid for the relief of distressed unions, #356#.
—-—-— of valuation, commissioners empowered to appoint one, #393#.
Commissions for the Poor Laws, difficulty of union of purpose if separate are appointed for England and Ireland, #188#.
.bn 418.png
.pn +1
Committee of the house of commons on the poor in Ireland, Report of, #82# et seq.
Compulsory and voluntary relief, agitation of the question as to the advantages and disadvantages of, #129#.
—— rates, enormous amount asserted to be necessary for relieving all cases of distress, #149#.
Con-acre, use to be derived from, in diminishing the number of small holdings, #166#.
Condition of the poor, variations of in different parts of Ireland, #97#.
Confinement more irksome to an Irishman than an Englishman, #171#.
Connaught, the province of, probably an ecclesiastical formation, #3#;
unions, satisfactory state of, in 1851, #378#;
and Munster, state of, in 1851, #390#.
Consolidation of farms, good and evil effects of, #97#;
of small holdings in Donegal, desirableness of, #202#;
new Poor Law likely to assist in effecting, #ibid.:Page_202#
Constables to be appointed presidents of every town within the English pale, by an Act in 1465, #16#;
to make privy search for rogues, vagabonds, and idle persons, #29#.
Contracts made by guardians not valid unless conformable to the rules, #230#.
Contributions called voluntary frequently a real and unequal tax, #147#.
Convicted persons, of felony fraud or perjury, ineligible for guardians, #293#.
Cooked-food system of relief, adoption of, #318#;
number of persons fed under, #ibid.:Page_318#;
expense incurred under, #319#.
Cork, surrendered to Cromwell, #10#;
act for erecting a workhouse in, #42#;
regulations for the government of, #43#;
exempted from the provisions of the act for providing for deserted children, #81#;
assistant-commissioners sent to, #234#, #236#;
union, establishment of, #251#;
progress of, #262#;
workhouse, inconvenient state of, in 1841, #262#.
Corn-laws, alteration of, #311#.
Corporate bodies, boards of guardians constituted, #224#.
—— to vote for guardians by their officers, #230#.
Corporations in Ireland, act for the establishment of, #52#;
regulations for, #ibid.:Page_52#
Correspondence of assistant-commissioners with the Dublin board, #241#.
Cosherers, act against, #34#.
Cost of relief, increase of in 1847, #329#;
of subsistence in 1851, #391#;
in 1853, #397#.
Cottages in Donegal, miserable appearance of, #201#.
Cottier-tenants, deterioration of the soil by, #160#.
Cottiers, Irish, extreme charity towards mendicants, #206#;
reasons of, #ibid.:Page_206#, #207#.
Counties made answerable for robberies, #39#.
County-cess collectors may be appointed to collect the poor-rates, #228#.
County hospitals, act for the establishment of, #74#.
—— infirmaries, number of, number of patients in, and incomes of, in 1830, #101#.
—— magistrates to be ex-officio guardians, but not to exceed in number one-third of the number of elected guardians, #174#.
Coynie and liveries, grievances occasioned by, #23#.
Cromwell, conquest of Ireland by, #10#.
Crops, deficiency of, in Ireland, in 1839, #257#.
Cultivated land in Great Britain and Ireland, comparative quantities and produce of, #131#.
Cultivation of land, extension of needed in Donegal, #201#.
Cumulative voting, answer to the objections against, #207#.
Customs, barbarous, existing in Ireland in 1634-5, #33#.
.ix-
.sp 1
.ix
Dancing, universality of among the labouring poor in Ireland, #64#.
Danes, irruptions of, into Ireland, #3#.
Day-labourers, no employment for, in Ireland, #161#.
Deaf dumb and blind poor, recommendation of a provision for, #128#;
to be sent to institutions, and their maintenance to be paid for by guardians, #292#.
Deceased poor, boards of guardians enabled to provide for the burial of, #354#.
Demoralization of the poor, fallacious objection that a system of poor-laws would occasion, #163#.
Depôts for emigrants, the establishment of recommended, #137#.
—— de mendicité, in Holland and Belgium, defects of, #213#.
—— for meal, determination not to establish government, in 1846, #313#.
Dermod, king of Leinster, expelled by O'Connor, king of Connaught, seeks the assistance of Henry the Second of England, #3#.
Deserted children, provision for, #49#;
act for providing for, #81#.
.bn 419.png
.pn +1
Deserving poor allowed to beg, #56#.
Destitute persons, means of emigration to be provided for, #143#;
a legal provision for, an indispensable preliminary to the suppression of mendicancy, #167#;
danger of their flocking to one union in case of there being no law of settlement, how to be obviated, #181#;
Irish in England, strong disinclination of to the restrictions of a workhouse, #196#, #197#;
poor, work to be provided for in workhouses, #225#.
Destitution, inquiry as to why the Irish labouring poor do not provide against, #122#;
the workhouse the all-sufficient test of, #152#.
Deterioration and misery of a too-rapidly increasing population, #90#.
Dietaries, workhouse, order for, #252#.
Difficulties in deciding upon objects for out-door relief, #204#.
Distress, unexampled, of the Irish labouring poor in 1822, #91#;
parliamentary grants in aid of, #ibid.:Page_91#;
amount of subscriptions to alleviate, #92#;
government advances to be made to relieve in 1822, #80#;
again occurs in Ireland owing to a failure of crops in 1839 and 1842, #256#, #285#;
amount of government relief afforded, ibid., note:f114#;
and again most severely in 1846 to 1849, #307# to 360.
Distressed unions, number of assisted, #360#;
further advance to in 1853, #396#.
Divisions on the Irish Poor Law bill in the house of commons, #210#;
in the house of lords, #220#.
Divisional chargeability, dissatisfaction with, #297#.
Diocesses of Ireland, a free school to be established in each of the, #25#.
Discussion on the first reading of the Irish Poor Law bill in 1837, #194#.
Dispensaries, local, act for the establishment of, #74#;
number of in 1830, and number of patients relieved by, #103#;
number of in 1836, #126#.
Dispensary districts, enactment for dividing unions into, #383#.
Donegal, peculiar condition of the county of, #200#.
Doyle, Dr., evidence of on the condition of the poor in Ireland, #98#, #100#, #106#.
Draining of bogs and marshes recommended as a means of providing employment for the labouring poor, #88#, #89#.
Drogheda stormed by Cromwell, #10#.
Drunkenness or disobedience in a workhouse, punishment for, #227#.
Dublin, assistant-commissioner stationed at, #234#.
Dublin Foundling Hospital, account of, #85#;
objects of, #ibid.:Page_85#;
means of support of, #ibid.:Page_85#;
parliamentary grants to, #86#;
number of admissions of children to, #ibid.:Page_86#;
state of in 1839, #248#;
formed into a workhouse, #250#.
—— House of Industry, account of, #83#;
means of support of, #84#;
sums raised for, #ibid.:Page_84#;
management of, #ibid.:Page_84#;
number of admissions to, #85#;
state of in 1839, #247#, #248#;
formed into a workhouse, #250#.
—— Mendicity Society, difficulty of supporting, #165#;
application of the officers of, for compensation, #253#;
closing of, #261#.
—— Society, grant of money to, #73#.
—— workhouse, act for erecting in 1703, #35#;
regulations for the government of, #36#;
rate to be levied for the support of, #37#;
merged in the Foundling Hospital, #38#;
workhouses, establishment of, #250#;
progress of, #261#.
—— unions, examples afforded by, of the efficacy of the workhouse test, #343#;
numbers relieved in, #ibid.:Page_343#
Dunmanway union, separate rating of electoral divisions abolished in, #305#.
Dwellings, overcrowding of, productive of fevers, #78#.
.ix-
.sp 1
.ix
Earth-tillers, act of Henry VIII. for the protection of, #20#.
Ebrington, Lord (now Earl Fortescue), exertions of, in favour of the establishment of the new Poor Law, #250#.
Ecclesiastical promotion, directions for regulating, #21#.
Education adopted as a means of extending the Reformation, #25#;
effects of, #26#;
of the poor in Ireland, generality of, #63#;
the necessity of not interfering with religious belief in, pointed out, #110#;
of workhouse children, arrangements for, #264#;
nature of, #391#.
Egyptians, or feigned Egyptians, to be punished as vagabonds, #30#.
Eighth Report of proceedings in 1846 under the New Poor Law Act in Ireland, #303#.
Election districts for guardians, power of the Poor Law Commissioners to form, #175#.
Election of guardians, the first proceedings under the new Poor Law Act, #242#;
amended order for, #302#.
Electoral divisions, difficulties arising from having adopted, #288#;
number of in 1846, #304#;
two or more may be combined for the election of a guardian, #368#;
.bn 420.png
.pn +1
increase in the number of, #373#, #384#.
Electors of guardians, who ought to be, #173#.
Elizabeth, assimilation by of the ecclesiastical establishments in Ireland to those of England, #4#.
Emigration, notice of, #65#;
recommended as a means of alleviating the state of the poor in Ireland, #100#;
recommendation of as a government measure in 1830, #106#;
recommended by the Commissioners of Inquiry as a means of relieving the distress in Ireland, #136#;
direct interposition in favour of, not recommended, #185#;
probability of its weakening the parent stock, #186#;
if necessary, to be promoted by the equal contributions of government and the district relieved, #186#;
rates for, how to be raised, #226#;
view of the Irish Poor Law Commission as to, #255#;
defects in the Irish Poor Relief Act for providing means for, #275#;
want of funds for promoting, #287#;
amount of, in 1846-7, #327#, #328#;
enactment giving guardians the power to assist, #331#;
amount expended by unions in 1849 for promoting, #370#;
numbers assisted in 1850, #373#;
total amount of from 1847 to 1850, #386#;
in 1851 and 1852, #ibid.:Page_386#;
amount expended on in 1855, #403, note:f213#.
Emigrants from Ireland to Canada in 1846-7, sickness and expense caused by, #327, note:f151#;
mortality amongst, #328#.
Employment, want of by the labouring poor, a cause of disease, #87#;
act for providing, #80#;
of pauper idiots in a workhouse recommended, #184#;
increase of, beyond the duties of a poor-law, #185#;
in workhouses, the nature of, #274#.
England and Ireland, difference between as to provision for the poor, #13#.
English adventurers in Ireland, conduct of, #4#.
—— Poor Law Commission recommended to carry into effect a new Poor Law for Ireland, #187#, #188#.
—— and Scottish provisions against vagrancy, similarity of the Irish legislation to, #56#.
—— Poor Law, asserted unfitness of for Ireland, #133#.
Escapes from houses of correction, to be followed by a fine on the governor, #29#.
Evidence presented with the second Report of the Commissioners of Inquiry, value of, #124#.
Excess of population in Donegal, #201#.
Expenditure, probable amount of under a poor-law, would not exceed what is now given in mischievous alms, #164#;
for relief in 1841, #276#;
in 1842, #283#;
total, for the relief of the distress occasioned by the potato disease in Ireland, #320#.
Ex-officio guardians, reasons for having, #208#;
to be elected in cases of vacancies, #293#;
extension of, but not to exceed the number of elected guardians, #331#;
guardians, non-resident justices may be appointed where a sufficient number are not resident, #368#.
Expense, probable, of maintaining the Irish poor on the English poor-law system, #134#.
—— of emigration, where necessary to be borne equally by the government and the district relieved, #186#.
Expenses of the Cork and Dublin workhouses in 1840, #263#.
.ix-
.sp 1
.ix
Falsehood and fraud, parts of the profession of mendicancy, #161#.
Families, punishment for the desertion of, #30#;
to be relieved as a whole, and not separately, #177#.
Famine, annual occurrence of between the exhaustion of the old crop of potatoes and the ripening of the new, #166#;
cessation of in Ireland in 1847, #318#.
Farming societies of Ireland, grant of money to, #73#.
Farms, large, small number of, #160#.
Fathers made answerable penally for the offences of their sons by an act in 1457, #15#.
Fatherless poor children under eight years old, to be sent to the charter school nursery and to be apprenticed, #54#.
Female foundlings, instructions for, #45#.
Fermoy barrack, taken for a workhouse, #244, note:f91#.
Fertility of Ireland and England, causes of difference in, #60#.
Fetters gyves and whipping, punishments for rogues and vagabonds, #28#.
Fever, dangerous prevalence of in Ireland, #86#;
number of patients passing through the Dublin Fever Hospital in one year, #102#;
numbers suffering from and dying of in 1817, #102#;
act for making provision for persons afflicted with, #319#.
—— hospitals, act for providing and for the support of, #77#;
number of in 1836, #126#;
dispensaries, &c., commissioners to report on the management of, #226#.
.bn 421.png
.pn +1
Fever patients, numbers of, in 1847, #339#.
—— wards in workhouses, number of provided in 1846, #306#.
Fevers in Ireland, increase of, #77#.
Fifth Report of Proceedings in Ireland under the new Poor Law Act, #282#.
Fifth Annual Report of the Poor Law Commissioners for Ireland, #378# et seq.
Finances of unions, depressed state of in 1847, #339#, #340#;
state of in 1848, #347#.
First Report of Proceedings in Ireland under the New Poor Law Act, #242#.
First Report of Medical Charity Commissioners, #384#.
First Report of the Irish Poor Commissioners, 1848, #330# et seq.
Fiscal boards, proposed establishment of in each county, #139#.
Fisheries, recommendation to encourage by legislative grants, #88#;
utility of as a nursery for seamen, #89#.
Flax, grown, prepared, and spun by the small farmers in the north of Ireland, #63#.
Flax and hemp, bogs to be reclaimed for the purpose of growing, for the use of the navy, and for the support of the linen manufacture, #75#.
Flitting, practice of, to defraud the revenue and the landlords, #33#.
Food of Belgian peasantry, #215#.
Forfeitures, costs, &c., to be levied by distress if not paid, #231#.
Form of valuation, difficulties arising from, #289#.
Fortune-tellers to be punished as vagabonds, #30#.
Foundling hospital and workhouse in Dublin, act for the establishment of in 1771-2, #46#;
endowment of and regulations for the government of, #ibid.:Page_46#;
regulations for the admission of children into, #47#;
increased rate for, #49#;
to receive deserted children, #81#;
charge for in 1833, #128#.
Foundling hospitals on the continent, notice of, #45#.
—-—-—, enactment for appropriating as workhouses, #225#.
—-—-— of Cork and Galway, expenses of in 1833, #128#;
number of children in, #ibid.:Page_128#
Foundlings, provision for the care of, #44#;
male, to be apprenticed, and to have the freedom of the city on the expiration of their apprenticeship, #ibid.:Page_44#
Fourth Report in 1842 of Proceedings under the new Poor Law in Ireland, #270#.
Fourth Annual Report of the Poor Law Commissioners for Ireland, #371#.
France, the workhouse test principle not adopted in, #197#.
Free distribution of labour, impediments offered by a law of settlement to, #202#.
Free-schools, act for the erection of, #24#;
expenses of, how to be defrayed, #25#.
French wars prevent the attention of the English to Ireland, #4#;
agents lead to the rebellion in 1798, #11#;
troops landed in Ireland in 1798, surrender of, #67#.
Funds, founded on voluntary contribution, advantages of for the relief of distress, #149#;
difficulty of supplying to afford means of emigrating, #287#.
.ix-
.sp 1
.ix
Galway, effective fever hospital established in, #300#.
Gauls or Celtes, from Spain supposed to have peopled Ireland, #1#.
Geese, plucking the feathers from live, #32, note:f14#.
General rules for management of workhouses, &c., to be issued by commissioners, #222#.
General Merchant Seamen’s Act, extended to workhouse boys in Ireland, #385#.
Gentlemen, idle, mode of living, oppressions occasioned thereby, and transportation made a punishment for, on the presentment of a grand jury, #34#, #35#.
Germany, strangers from, resort to the Irish schools, #2#.
Ghent, manner of living of a small occupier near, #216#.
Goods and chattels to be liable to distress for poor-rate to whomsoever belonging, if found on the premises, #291#.
Governors to be appointed by the justices for houses of correction, #28#.
—— and guardians of Dublin workhouse, donors of 50l. to become, #37#.
—— of Cork and Dublin workhouses empowered to exchange children in order to prevent parents interfering with the protestant education of their children, #45#.
Government loans to be made to relieve the distress in Ireland in 1822, #80#;
for the erection of workhouses, mode of managing, #272#;
amount of, #273#.
—— interference with labour, though not generally advisable, recommended for Ireland, #95#.
—— supervision of schools supported wholly or partly at the public expense, necessity for, #111#.
.bn 422.png
.pn +1
—— relief afforded to the west of Ireland, during the distress in 1839, #256#;
afforded to alleviate the distress in 1842, #285, note:f114#.
—— measures to alleviate the distress occasioned by the potato-disease, #307#.
Grain, act against the exportation of, 1472, #16#;
erroneous policy of, #16#, #17#;
exportation of from Ireland during the distress of 1823, #92#.
—— crops, deficiency of in 1841, #281#.
Grand juries empowered to assess rates for erecting and supporting county hospitals and dispensaries, #74#;
to present sums for the support of fever hospitals, #78#;
and for lunatic asylums, #79#.
Grants to distressed unions, amount of in 1848, #347#, #348#.
Gratuitous relief, an encouragement to pauperism and indolence, #93#.
Greek church, probability of the Irish church being derived from, #2#.
Guardians, boards of, recommended by the Commissioners of Inquiry, #141#;
who should be electors of, #173#;
clergymen of whatever description not to be chosen, #175#;
and paid officers of unions not to furnish supplies for the union under a penalty, #230#;
directions as to the number of and qualifications for, #238#;
number of elections contested and not contested, #267#;
may employ rates in apprehending or prosecuting offenders against the Poor Law Act, #292#;
or may employ the rates in assisting emigration, #293#;
warning of the commissioners to, against overcrowding the workhouses, #325#;
commissioners empowered to fix different amounts of qualification in different electoral divisions, #368#.
.ix-
.sp 1
.ix
Habitations of the poor, wretched condition of, #132#.
Hackney coaches licensed for the support of Dublin workhouse, #37#;
licensed for the support of the Dublin Foundling Hospital, #48#;
number increased for, #49#.
Hair, act against the Irish fashion of wearing, #20#.
Hamburgh, the workhouse-test principle not adopted in, #197#.
‘Handbook of Architecture,’ notices of, #2, note:f2#.
Harbours, the formation of recommended, #95#.
Harrowing by the tail, practice of, #60#.
Harvest in Great Britain, Irish labourers seek employment at, #132#;
beneficial effects of a good, in 1847, #340#.
Hedge-schools, notice of, #63#.
Helpless children, act for the apprenticing of, #41#;
remedy for in cases of ill usage, #42#.
—— poor to be maintained, #56#.
Henry the Second, submission of Ireland to, in 1172, #1#, #3#.
Henry the Seventh, exertions of to restore order in Ireland, #4#.
Henry the Eighth assumes the title of king of Ireland, #4#.
‘History of the English Poor Laws,’ cited, #5#, #21#, #23#, #31#, #38#, #42#, #118#, #241#, #306#, #327#, #328#.
Holland, visit of the author to, #211# et seq.;
report of the management of the poor in, #212#.
Holy Scriptures, objections of the Roman catholics to the indiscriminate reading by their children, #114#.
Hood, act against wearing the Irish, #20#.
Hospitals for the poor to be provided, #53#;
how to be divided, #ibid.:Page_53#
House of lords, bill for the relief of the Irish poor read a first time in, in 1838, #217#;
read a second time, #218#;
division in committee upon, #220#;
read a third time and passed, #221#.
Houses to be cleansed and purified, #78#.
—— of the peasant farmer in Belgium, contrast of with those of Ireland, #215#.
—— of correction to be built or provided in every county, 1634-5, #28#.
—— of industry to be provided, #53#;
imperfect provision of, #82#;
number of in 1830, #105#;
ineffectiveness of while combining the functions of hospitals and prisons, #ibid.:Page_105#;
number of and total income of, in 1833, #127#;
number of inmates in, #ibid.:Page_127#;
to be made available as workhouses, recommended, #186#;
enactment for using as workhouses, #225#.
Husbandmen and labourers, act in 1447 for preventing the sons of, from changing their profession, #15#.
Husbands, enactment for making them chargeable for the support of their wives and children, #227#;
deserting their wives and families, enactment for the punishment of with imprisonment, #333#.
.ix-
.sp 1
.ix
Idiots and insane persons, wards not provided for, #83#.
Idle persons, to be brought to be justified in law, #23#.
Illegitimate children to be dependent on their mother, recommendation of, #183#.
Immigration of Irish poor into England, necessity occasioned by of improving their state in their own country, #153#.
.bn 423.png
.pn +1
Immigrants to England during 1846-7, expense and sickness caused by, #326#, #327#.
Impatience of the public for the Report of the Commissioners of Inquiry, #124#.
Impediments to emigration, propriety of removing, #185#.
Implements, agricultural, rude nature of, #95#.
Impositions practised under the Temporary Relief Act, #345#.
Imprisonment a punishment for begging without a licence, #53#.
Improved circumstances of the country in 1851, #378#.
Incapacitated persons empowered to convey land, &c. for workhouses, #225#.
Incorporations, formation of to provide and maintain fever hospitals, #77#.
Incumbrances on estates of proprietors a cause of distress and want of employment, #94#;
on Irish landed property, great extent of, #145#.
Incumbrancers on Irish estates, recommendation that they should be rated for the support of the poor, #140#.
Indian corn, importation of to mitigate the distress occasioned by the potato disease, #307#;
reduction of the duty on, #308#;
prices of in 1847, #318, note:f141#.
—— meal, daily amount supplied to each person, #346#.
Indirect means adopted for charging property for the relief of destitution, #51#.
Indolence of Irish peasantry, #162#.
Industrial schools, enactment enabling additional land to be provided for, #354#.
—— training of children in workhouses, nature of, #391#.
Industry, what branches of may be safely encouraged by legislative means, #88#.
Infants, poor, deserted by their parents, provision for, #49#.
Infectious fevers in Ireland, increase of, #77#.
Infirmaries and hospitals, act for the management of, #74#;
required to make annual returns, #75#.
—— number of, in 1836, government grants to, and constitution of, #125#.
Inmates of workhouses, not to be compelled to attend religious services not of their own creed, #226#;
number of, in the Cork and Dublin workhouses in 1841, #263#;
number of in, on January 1, 1841, 1842, and 1843, #283#;
in 1844, #299#;
in 1845-6, #303#;
in 1848, #322#;
in 1847, #345#;
in March 1848, #346#;
in September 1848, #363#;
in March 1849, #351#;
in June 1849, #365#;
in 1848-9, #366#;
in September 1849, #371#;
in March 1850, #366#;
in September 1850, #371#;
in September 1850, #376#;
in September 1851, #387#;
in September 1852, #394#;
in 1853, #ibid.:Page_394#;
in 1854, #402#.
Inspection of workhouses by the author, #284#.
—— of rate-book, how and to whom allowed, #292#.
Inspectors, medical, commissioners empowered to appoint, #362#;
enactment empowering them to visit and examine dispensaries, to examine witnesses upon oath, and to execute the powers of the Nuisances Removal and Diseases Prevention Acts, #383#.
Institutions supported by voluntary charity, notice of, #105#;
established for the relief of the poor, Report of the inquiry commissioner on, in 1836, #125#;
total amount of charge for in 1833, #128#.
Instructions, letter of, from Lord John Russell to the author, relative to his investigation of the state of Ireland, #157#.
Investigation, unsuccessful, as to the cause of the potato disease, #308#.
Ireland, supposed to have been peopled from Spain, #1#;
not attacked by the barbarians who dismembered the Roman empire, #2#;
ancient division of, into four provinces, #3#;
how differing from England and Scotland in making no provision for the poor, #13#;
state of, in 1776-78, #59# et seq.;
various opinions as to, #61#;
the real improvement of, must spring from herself, #151#;
distress of, in 1839, through an unfavourable season and deficiency of crops, #257#;
extreme distress of, 1846 to 1849, #307# to 360;
population of, in 1821, 1831, 1841, and 1851, #387#.
Ireton, completion of the conquest of Ireland by, #10#.
Irish, supposed to have occupied great part of Britain, #1#;
known by the name of Scots, #2#;
description of by Spenser, #6# et seq.;
character, summary of, by Arthur Young, #64#;
parliament, acts of, #13# et seq.;
bogs, act for the reclaiming of, #75#;
peers, alarm of at the supposed extent of the poor-rate, #217#;
government, applications to, for relief, and schemes and suggestions for relieving the distress in 1839, #257#.
‘Irish Crisis,’ by Sir Charles Trevelyan, notice of, #256, note:f101#; #285, note:f114#; #307#, #311#, #314#, #319#, #320#, #328#.
.bn 424.png
.pn +1
Irish Poor-Law Commission, re-formation of, #338#.
—— Poor-Law board delegated to assistant-commissioners, #284#;
establishment of, #330#, #333#;
powers of the previous commissioners transferred to, #334#.
Irishrie, five of the best, to bring all idle persons of their surname to be justified by law, #23#.
Irishry, feuds and disorders of the, #14#.
Island Bridge barrack adapted for the reception of lunatics, #249#.
.ix-
.sp 1
.ix
James the First, insurrection of Ireland during the reign of, #9#.
James the Second, the Roman catholics of Ireland adhere to the cause of, #10#.
Joint-stock companies to vote for guardians by their officers, #230#.
Judges of assize to impose rates on parishes refusing to provide for poor deserted infants, #50#.
Justices of the peace to regulate wages, #21#;
empowered to decide disputes between masters and employers, and servants, artificers, and labourers, #40#;
enactment for their being ex-officio members of the boards of guardians, #223#;
time and mode of electing, #224#;
empowered to proceed on summons for recovery of penalties, #230#.
.ix-
.sp 1
.ix
Kay, Dr., visit of to Holland and Belgium, #211#;
report of on education, #ibid.:Page_211#
Kearns and idle people, act relating to in 1310, #13#.
Kildare Street Society, notice of, #113, note:f56#;
Mr. Stanley’s (Earl of Derby) remarks on, #114# et seq.
King’s speech, in relation to Ireland, on opening parliament in 1836, #154#.
Kinsale surrendered to Cromwell, #10#.
.ix-
.sp 1
.ix
Labour, act for the regulation of the wages of, #21#;
impolicy of, #22#;
method of paying for in Ireland, #61#.
—— Rate Act, passing of, #313#.
Labouring poor in Ireland, description of the state of in 1823, #94#;
legislative interference with to be avoided if possible, #88#;
proportion of out of employment, #96#;
in Ireland, condition of, #132#.
La Cambré, account of the workhouse of, #213#.
Land, enactment that not more than twelve acres be annexed to workhouses, #225#.
Land, rise in the value of, #98#.
Landlord and tenant, relations between, #97#.
Landlords, ill effects apprehended from imposing a poor-rate on, #136#.
Landowners, advantages of making them contribute to the support of the destitute, #190#.
Lands, limitation of the quantity of, to be held by corporations for the use of the poor, #52#.
Lascelles, Rowley, notice of, #2, note:f1#.
Legal claims to relief, advantage of not giving the poor, #149#.
—— provision recommended by the Commissioners of Inquiry for sick and infirm poor, for emigration, and for casual destitution, #140#, #141#.
—— proceedings taken against unions for neglecting to collect rates, #296#.
Legislation, Irish, for the relief of the poor, summary view of, #57#, #58#.
Leinster, Duke of, Mr. Stanley’s (now Earl of Derby) letter to, announcing the formation of a national system of education, #113#.
—— the province of, probably an ecclesiastical formation, #3#.
Lessor made liable for the poor-rate in certain cases, #291#.
Letter of author to Lord John Russell in 1853, #399# et seq.
Lewis, G. C. ‘Remarks on the Third Report of the Irish Poor Inquiry Commissioners,’ 151.
Lezers (gleaners) of corn, act against, temp. Hen. VIII., #19#.
Liability of persons to support their destitute relatives, #278#.
‘Liber Munerum Publicorum Hibernie,’ notice of, #2, note:f1#.
Licences to beg, how and to whom to be granted, #52#.
Limerick, the surrender of, #10#;
assistant-commissioners sent to, #234#, #236#.
Limited relief for the poor, adoption of, #51#.
Linen manufacture in Ireland, ill consequences of a mixture of with agricultural pursuits, #89#.
Lingard, Dr., statement as to the early learning of Ireland, #2#.
Lismore, council at, submits to Henry the Second in 1172, and receives the English laws, #3#.
Livery, act of 1495 against retainers, #18#;
penalty for transgressing, #ibid.:Page_18#
Living in Ireland, cheapness of, as compared with England, #65#.
Loan funds, recommended for the assistance of the poor, #142#.
Loans to families, by way of relief, recommended in certain cases, #178#;
for erecting workhouses, mode of managing, #272#;
.bn 425.png
.pn +1
amount of, #273#;
amount of from government in 1845, for the erection of workhouses, #302#;
may be raised on the security of the rates, to defray the expenses of emigration, #369#.
Local machinery for the administration of relief, proposed to be the same as in England, #178#.
—— acts to cease on the establishment of workhouses under the New Poor Law Act, #226#.
London subscription to alleviate the distress in Ireland in 1823, amount of, #92#.
Londonderry, Marquis of, opposition to the Irish Poor Law bill, #219#.
—— ——, assistant-commissioners sent to, #236#.
Lunacy more prevalent in Ireland than in England, #79#.
Lunatic asylums, act for providing, #79#;
increase of in 1830, and effectiveness of, #103#, #104#;
number of in 1836, and expenditure of in 1833, #126#.
.ix-
.sp 1
.ix
Magistrates, why some should be ex-officio members of boards of guardians, #208#.
Mann, Capt., account of the appearance of the potato during the disease, #310#.
Mantle, act against wearing the Irish, #20#.
Manufacturing and farming, prejudicial effects of the union of, #63#.
Market-towns to be fixed on for centres of unions, #237#.
Marriages, early, facilities for and encouragement of in Ireland, #55#;
prevalence of in Ireland, #99#.
Marshes and bogs, increased advantages of draining on a large scale, #168#.
Mary, accession of in 1553, #4#;
retards the Reformation, #ibid.:Page_4#
Mathew, Father, his account of the appearance of the potato during the disease, #310#.
Meal, amount of distributed in 1846, #312#.
—— and medical aid, government supply of to relieve the poor in Donegal, #200#.
Measures for the relief of the poor, necessity of considering the good of society in general in the construction of, #133#.
Meat seldom eaten by the Irish labouring poor, except at seasons prescribed by the Roman catholic church, #132#.
Medical and surgical aid, provision for the supply of to the poor, #74#.
Medical charities, Report of the Inquiry Commissioners on, #125#;
total expense of supporting in 1833, and number of cases relieved, #126#;
inquiry into, #268#;
report on in 1842, #279#;
act, summary of, #382#, #383#.
—— commissioner, enactment for the appointment of, #383#.
—— practitioners, remuneration of for vaccination cases, #268#.
—— relief for the poor, inequality in the distribution of, #127#.
Melbourne, Lord, speech of on introducing the new Irish Poor Law bill to the house of lords in 1838, #218#.
Mendicancy, measures for the repression of, #44#;
prevalence of, in Ireland, #161#;
filth and squalor the accompaniments of, #162#;
means taken for the repression of under the new Poor Law, #254#;
bill introduced to the house of commons for the suppression of in Ireland, #265#;
not proceeded with, #ibid.:Page_265#;
continued existence of, #280#, #281#.
Mendicants, poor-law relief necessary for the suppression of, #181#;
prevalence of and encouragement of in Ireland, #182#;
to be removed as soon as possible into workhouses, #ibid.:Page_182#
Mendicity Society of Dublin, income of, #106#.
—— the sole resource of the aged and impotent poor, #132#.
—— institutions, examples of the inefficiency of, #148#.
Middle classes, almost entirely the supporters of the poor in 1830, #106, note:f52#.
Middlemen, practice of employing, #60#;
injurious consequences of, #61#.
Migration of mendicant poor, tends to diffuse contagious fevers, #86#.
Migratory habits of the Irish opposed to a law of settlement, #181#.
Milk, use of by the labouring poor in Ireland, #61#.
Ministers and churchwardens of every parish to bind helpless children as apprentices, #41#, #42#.
Minute of the Poor Law Board of Ireland, of Dec. 5, 1849, #257#.
Missionaries, Irish, teachers of the Anglo-Saxons, #2#.
Model schools, agricultural, proposed establishment of, #138#.
Monasteries in Ireland, oasis of civilization, #2#.
Money to be raised for building and supporting houses of correction, #28#;
provision for borrowing by boards of guardians, #230#.
—— wages, the disadvantages of not paying, #35#.
.bn 426.png
.pn +1
Morpeth, Lord, announcement by of the intentions of government, #155#;
introduces a bill to the house of commons for the suppression of mendicancy in Ireland, but it is not proceeded with, #265#.
Mortality, greatly increased ratio of in workhouses during the distress occasioned by the potato disease, #326#;
decrease of in 1847, #338#;
in workhouses, increased ratio of in Feb. 1848, #345#;
in 1849, #351#.
Munich, the workhouse test principle not adopted in, #197#.
Munster, the province of, probably an ecclesiastical formation, #3#;
unions, embarrassed state of in 1851, #378#;
and Connaught, state of in 1851, #390#.
Musgrave, Sir Richard, introduction of a bill by for the relief of the poor in Ireland, #154#;
consideration of postponed, #155#.
.ix-
.sp 1
.ix
National Board of Education, formation of in 1831, #113#;
powers of, #116#, #117#;
incorporated in 1844, #118#.
—— distinctions between Irish and English, act for abolishing, #26#.
—— establishments, recommendation of providing, for lunatics, deaf dumb and blind poor, vagrants, and persons willing to emigrate, #142#;
the whole of Ireland to be rated for, #ibid.:Page_142#
—— improvement of Ireland, a board recommended for carrying into effect, #137#.
—— schools, regulations for applications for aid, #116#;
debate in the house of commons in 1832 on the government plan for, #117#;
parliamentary grant in favour of, #118#.
Navigation laws, alteration of, #311#.
Needy but not destitute persons, not objects of poor-law relief, #203#.
Newport, Sir John, chairman of the select committee to inquire into the state of disease and the condition of the labouring poor in 1819, #86#;
chairman of the select committee of the house of commons in 1827, on education in Ireland, #108#.
Nicholls, Mr. G. ‘Suggestions’ of, in 1836, #130#;
recommendation of Lord John Russell to the house of commons to adopt the means proposed by, in order to relieve the distress in Ireland, #191#;
Second Report of, #196# et seq.
Ninth Report of the in 1847 under the new Poor Law Act in Ireland, #309# et seq.
Nobility and gentry of Ireland, measures of Henry VII. for reducing the power of, #19#.
Non-residence of proprietors in Ireland a cause of distress, #90#.
North of Ireland, difference between and the south and west, #63#;
the author’s examination of the state of, #199#;
alleged inapplicability of the new Poor Law to, refuted, #ibid.:Page_394#
Northmen, irruptions of into Ireland, #3#.
Notice of claims to vote for guardians, term for making extended, #293#.
Nottinghamshire, continued efficiency of the workhouse test in two parishes of, #164#.
.ix-
.sp 1
.ix
Oatmeal, moderate price of during the famine in Ireland in 1823, #92#.
Oats, cultivation of in Donegal, to procure whiskey, #201#.
Objections to the establishment of the English workhouse system in Ireland, combated by Lord John Russell, #192#, #193#;
to the new Irish Poor Law bill answered by the author, #197# et seq.
O'Brien, Smith, bill introduced by for a system of poor-laws, #154#.
Occupiers, to pay one-half of the poor-rate, #180#;
rated under 5l., reasons for exempting from payment of poor-rates, #205#;
to pay the poor-rate, #228#;
and to deduct half from the owner, #ibid.:Page_228#;
under 5l. annual rent, regulation as to, #290#;
of more than a quarter of an acre not to be deemed destitute, #331#.
O'Connell, Mr. D., opposition of to the Irish Poor Law bill of 1837-8, #210#;
difficulties arising in the execution of the poor-laws from his agitation for a repeal of the Union, #294#.
Officers of health, appointment of, #78#;
recommendation that they be elected in all towns having 1000 or more inhabitants, with power to direct the cleaning of streets, removing of nuisances, &c. 87;
to cause foundlings and orphan children to be taken care of, and when of suitable age to be sent to some British colony, #144#.
—— of unions, commissioners empowered to fix salaries, prescribe duties, &c. 332.
Opinions, various, respecting the causes of distress in Ireland, and the means of relieving, #120#.
Order of proceedings of boards of guardians, a new, issued, #384#.
Orders and regulations of the commissioner acting in Ireland forwarded to the London board, #241#.
—— issued in 1850 for forming twenty-four new unions, #367#.
.bn 427.png
.pn +1
Orphan-girls, number of enabled to emigrate, #353#, #370#.
Out-door compulsory employment, not adapted for Ireland in the opinion of the commissioners of inquiry, #135#;
employment, difficulty in providing for the poor, #342#.
—— relief not to be given, #176#;
objections to affording in any case, #204#;
decision of the board against affording during the distress of 1839, #258#;
limited power given to the guardians for distributing, #330#, #331#;
necessity for allowing, #336#;
amount expended on, in 1848, #346#;
number of persons receiving, #ibid.:Page_346#;
in 1849, #365#;
in 1850, #376#;
in 1851, #387#, #388#;
in 1852, #394#;
in 1853, #ibid.:Page_394#;
in 1854, #402#.
Outlaws, maintained by the lords to annoy each other’s rule, #23#.
Out-relief lists, number of persons on in 1848, #349#;
in 1849, #349#;
in March 1850, #366#;
in 1850, #376#;
in 1851, #387#, #388#;
in 1852, #394#;
in 1853, #ibid.:Page_394#;
in 1854, #402#.
Overcrowding of workhouses, dangerous results from, #325#.
Overseers to collect assessed rates to provide for poor deserted infants, #50#.
Owners of property to pay one-half of the poor-rate, #180#, #229#;
objections to charging the whole of the poor-rate on, #204#.
.ix-
.sp 1
.ix
Paid officers, recommendation of employing in administering relief, #178#;
Commissioners to direct the appointment of, to carry the poor-law into effect, #224#;
of unions, the importance of the provision enabling the Commissioners to appoint, #337#.
Pale, English, notice of, #11#.
Pamphlets, on the relative value of compulsory and voluntary relief, #129#.
Parish rates, recommendation that they should be levied for sanitary purposes, #87#.
Parishes refusing to provide for poor deserted infants, how to be proceeded against, #50#.
Parliament, prorogation of, #156#;
prorogation of on the death of William IV., #195#.
Parliamentary franchise, proposition to found upon the poor-law valuations, #266#.
—— grants for educational purposes in Ireland, total amount of in 1827, #109#.
Parochial machinery for union management, necessity for varying in Irish parishes, #172#.
Pasturage, favourable climate of Ireland for, #60#.
Pauper idiots and lunatics, permission to be retained in workhouses under certain regulations, #184#.
—— labour, impolicy of endeavouring to make it a source of profit, #370#.
—— lunatics, wards in workhouses appropriated to, #266#.
Paupers affected with fever or contagious diseases may be maintained by the guardians in an asylum, or houses may be hired for them, #292#.
Pay-schools, number of scholars taught at in 1827, #109#.
Peace not to be made with Irish enemies without consent of the governor, #18#.
Peasantry, the desirableness of exciting to depend on their own exertions, #93#;
the necessity of their obtaining plots of land, the occasion of crime, #161#;
indolence and apathy of, #162#;
desultory habits and love of amusement of, #163#.
Penal colonies in Holland, account of, #214#, et seq.
Penalties, justices empowered to proceed on summons for the recovery of, #230#.
Perjury, witnesses giving false evidence to the poor-law commissioners, subjected to the penalties for, #334#.
Personal property, difficulties of subjecting to a rate, #145#.
Persons relieved in 1847, number of, #339#.
Peter’s-pence, not paid by the Irish at an early period of their history, #2#.
Petitions of the Roman catholic hierarchy for means of education, #108#.
Phelan, Mr., investigation by into medical charities, #268#.
Ph[oe]nician colonies, probable existence of in Ireland, #1#.
Pitt, Mr., speech of on proposing the Union, #68#;
speech of on submitting resolutions for, #69#, #70#.
Players of interludes and minstrels, found wandering, to be punished as vagabonds, #30#.
Plots of land, strong desire of the Irish peasantry for, #161#.
Ploughing by the tail, act against, #32#.
Political influence, the desire for, leading to the subdivision of lands, #161#.
Poor in Ireland, no provision for, until a recent period, #13#.
—— children in Dublin above five years old, to be apprenticed to protestants, #36#.
.bn 428.png
.pn +1
Poor-laws, a modified system recommended for Ireland, #100#;
English commissioners recommended for carrying into execution, #187#, #188#.
—— Law Commissioners of England to be Commissioners of Ireland, #231#;
changes in 1852, #398#.
—— rate to be recovered from the occupier, who may deduct it from the rent in certain cases, #291#.
Poor-rates, amount of charged and collected in 1844, #298#.
Poor relief, amount expended on in the year ending Sept. 1847, #345#;
to March 1848, #347#;
to Sept. 1848, #363#;
to March 1849, #351#;
to Sept. 1849, #371#;
to Sept. 1850, #376#;
to Sept. 1851, #387#;
to Sept. 1852, #394#;
in 1853, #ibid.:Page_394#;
in 1854, #402#.
Population of Ireland, amount of at various periods, #11#, #12#;
decrease of between 1841 and 1851, #12#;
in 1821, 1831, 1841 and 1851, #357#.
——, too rapid increase of, a cause of distress, #94#.
Porters and messengers to be licensed for the support of the Dublin Foundling Hospital, #48#.
Potato, the facility of procuring, leads to a boundless multiplication of human beings, #90#.
—— crop, distress occasioned by the failure of in 1823, #92#;
evils of a total dependence on, #93#;
in 1839, estimate of the state of, #259#;
deficiency of in 1841, #281#.
—— disease, occurrence of in 1845-6, #306#;
distress occasioned by, #307#;
re-appearance of in the autumn of 1846, #323#;
recurrence of in 1848, #349#.
Potatoes, the food of the labouring poor in Ireland, #61#.
Poverty, conclusive evidence as to the state of in Ireland, #158#;
not the sole cause of the condition of the Irish peasantry, #162#.
Poyning’s Act, 1495, effect of, #17#.
Presidents and assistants for the relief of the poor, institution of, #52#.
Price of labour in Ireland in 1830, #96#.
Private trade in corn, determination not to interfere with, #313#.
—— subscriptions, amount of for the relief of the poor in Ireland during the prevalence of the potato disease, #320#, #321#.
Progress of population in Ireland, #11#, #12#.
Promotion, spiritual, to be given to such only as speak English, #21#.
Property, feeling prevalent in Ireland in favour of taxing for the relief of the poor, #165#;
what is to be assessed for poor-rates, #228#;
amount of, rated to the poor in Ireland and England, 269, note.
Prostitutes, strolling, to be sent to houses of industry and kept to hard labour, #55#.
Protestant settlers in Ireland, massacre of in 1641, #10#.
—— Charter Schools Society to receive poor children, #54#.
—— clergy, favourable to the introduction of a system of poor-laws, #167#;
salaries to be appointed for in workhouses, #226#.
—— and Romanist classes, division of the kingdom into, #26#.
—— and Roman catholic children, separate religious instruction recommended for, #111#.
Protestantism, church establishment of in Ireland, #25#.
Provisions, high price of, in 1840, #269#.
Proxy, reasons for allowing owners to vote for guardians by, #207#.
Public works, the extension of recommended in 1830, as a means of employing the Irish poor, #107#.
—— act, passing of, #312#;
amount expended under in 1846, #ibid.:Page_312#
.ix-
.sp 1
.ix
“Queen’s pay,” ill effects of under the relief works, in withdrawing labourers from their proper employment, #315#.
.ix-
.sp 1
.ix
Rapparees, act for suppressing, #38#.
Rate to be levied in Dublin for the support of the workhouse, #37#;
for the support of the Foundling Hospital, #48#;
increase of for that purpose, #49#.
—— in aid, amount of the levy of, #359#;
amount of the second, #375#.
—— of wages in 1851, #391#;
in 1853, #397#.
—— payers, joint, empowered to vote according to the proportions borne by each, #229#.
Rateable property, amount of in 1845, 1847, and 1851, #393#.
Rates to be assessed in every county and town for the support of houses of industry, #55#;
for emigration, how to be raised, #226#;
for the support of the poor, guardians empowered to levy, #227#;
to be a poundage rate, #228#;
to be recovered by distress if not duly paid, #229#;
collection of, apprehended difficulties proved groundless, #277#;
amount of, collected for the poor in 1845-6, #304#;
total amount raised for the poor, up to 1848, #346#;
in 1846, 1847, and 1848, #363#;
may be raised for defraying the expenses of emigration, #369#.
.bn 429.png
.pn +1
Rating, power of vested in the board of guardians, #179#;
valuation for the purposes of, #180#;
under the new Poor-Law bill of 1837, objections to the plan answered, #204#.
Reasons against the voluntary system, by a portion of the Commissioners of Inquiry, #147#.
Rebellion of 1798, notice of, #11#, #67#.
Reclamation of waste land, need of on a large scale in Donegal, #201#.
Reformation not so successful in Ireland as in England, #4#;
education adopted as a means for extending, #25#.
Register-book, enactment for the keeping of in workhouses, #226#.
Relatives, liabilities of, to support their destitute parents, &c., #278#.
Relief, imperfect recognition of the right of to the poor, #31#;
to be effectual must be uniform and prompt, #147#;
destitution to form the only grounds for, #176#;
rules for to be issued by the central authority, #177#;
amount expended in during 1841, #276#, #277#;
in 1842, #283#;
in 1843 and 1844, #299#;
in 1845, #301#;
amount of afforded from various sources under the Public Works Act in 1846, #312#.
—— committees, formation of in 1846, #311#.
—— Extension Act, copies of sent to all the unions, #338#.
—— works, failure of, #316#;
amount expended on, ibid. #note:f138#.
Relieving-officers, enactment for the appointment of, #331#.
Religious persuasions, importance of bringing together children of different, for purposes of education, #110#;
zeal, difficulties offered by in raising voluntary funds and in affording impartial relief, #148#;
service, to be performed in workhouses by clergymen of different denominations, #226#.
Remark on the evidence of the Inquiry Commissioners, by Mr. Bicheno, #151#.
‘Remarks’ by Mr. G. C. Lewis on the Third Report of the Inquiry Commissioners, #151#.
Remittances from emigrants, amounts of, #392#.
Rental of Ireland in 1776-78, #65#.
Rents, comparative, in England and Ireland, #60#;
arising from exempted property, to be rated to the extent of half the poundage, #368#.
Report of the Committee of the House of Commons on the state of the poor in Ireland, #82# et seq.
—— of the Select Committee of the House of Commons in 1823 for providing funds for the useful employing of the labouring poor in Ireland, #91#.
Report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons on education in Ireland, #108# et seq.
——, the first, in 1835, of the Commissioners appointed in 1833 to inquire into the condition of the poorer classes in Ireland, #118# et seq.;
the second, in 1836, #125# et seq.;
the third, in 1836, #131# et seq.
—— of the Poor Inquiry Commissioners, rejection of the means proposed by them for alleviating distress in Ireland, #190#, #191#.
——, the first, of Mr. G. Nicholls on the state of Ireland in 1836, #159#;
the second, #196#;
the third, #212#.
—— of Commissioners for Ireland to be annually laid before parliament, #232#.
—— of Commissioners under the Temporary Relief Act, #344#.
Residence required to give a claim to relief, #292#.
Residents for less than three years, if receiving relief, to be charged to the union, #367#.
Resistance to the law, instances of unions offering, #295#.
Resolutions submitted by Mr. Pitt for effecting an Union with Ireland, #69#;
agreed to, #71#.
Returning-officers, instructions to, under the new Poor-Law Act for the first elections, #242#.
Revenue, comparative proportions raised by Ireland with that of Great Britain, #147#.
Revolution of 1688, the Roman Catholics of Ireland support James II., #10#.
Rice, Mr. Spring (now Lord Monteagle), chairman of the select committee of the house of commons in 1823, #91#.
Richmond Lunatic Asylum, notice of, #84#.
Rick-burning, Act against, temp. Hen. VIII., #19#.
Road-making to be undertaken in order to employ the distressed poor in 1822, #80#.
Roads in mountainous districts, the formation of recommended as providing employment for the labouring poor, #88#.
“Robbery-money,” frauds exercised in order to obtain, #39#.
Rogues vagabonds and beggars, act for the punishment of, #28#;
who are to be deemed, #29#.
Roman Catholic clergy, notice of their opposition to the Kildare Street Society schools, #115#;
.bn 430.png
.pn +1
favourable to the introduction of a system of poor laws, #167#;
clergymen in workhouses, salaries to be appointed for, #226#.
Roman Catholics of Ireland adhere to the cause of Charles I., #10#.
Romans, never extended their conquests to Ireland, #2#.
Rome, the supremacy of the see of, not acknowledged by the early Irish, #2#.
Royal message to the parliament recommending an Union, #67#;
congratulating them on the measure being effected, #71#;
assent given to the Irish Poor-Law bill in 1838, #221#.
Rumford, Count, attempts of to make pauper establishments self-supporting, failure of, #198#.
Russell, Lord John, announcement of the necessity of some government measure respecting the poor of Ireland, #155#;
letter of instructions to the author, #157#;
speech of on introducing the new Irish Poor-Law bill in 1837, #189#;
introduction by of the Irish Poor-Law bill in 1837-8 to the house of commons, #210#;
interview of the author with, urging the carrying of the new law into immediate operation, #234#;
letter of the author to in 1853, #399# et seq.
.ix-
.sp 1
.ix
Salaries, estimated scale of, for union officers, #209#.
—— to be paid to persons employed to seize persons begging without a licence, #54#.
Sanitary state of workhouses, #275#.
Scale of voting for guardians, #229#.
Scholars, found begging, to be punished as vagabonds, #29#;
number taught in the various public schools in Ireland in 1827, #109#.
School-houses to be built in each of the shire-towns, #25#.
Schoolmasters and schoolmistresses, appointed for workhouses, #264#.
Schools, supported by Roman Catholics, number of scholars taught at in 1827, #109#;
for union children, permission given to provide with land, #332#;
number of children attending in 1848, #348#.
Scotland and Ireland, difference between as to provision for the poor, #13#.
——, alleged success of the system of voluntary contributions for the poor in, #150#;
number of parishes assessed and unassessed in 1855, #ibid. note:f69#.
Scots, ancient name for the Irish, #2#.
Scottish rebellions of 1715 and 1745, the Irish take no part in, #10#.
Scrope, G. P., introduction of a bill by for the relief and employment of the poor in Ireland, #154#;
resolutions proposed by as to the necessity of providing relief for the Irish poor, #155#.
Sea-sand and sea-weed, use of as manure in Donegal, #200#.
Sea-service, male foundlings in certain cases to be apprenticed to, #44#.
——, guardians in Ireland empowered to apprentice poor boys to, #385#.
Seaweed and sand, carried on the backs of the poor for manure, #94#.
Second Report of Proceedings in Ireland under the New Poor-Law Act, #245#.
Second Annual Report of the Poor Law Commissioners for Ireland in 1849, #349#.
Secretaries, enactment for the appointment of, #223#.
Security of property, necessary to induce the investment of capital, #208#.
Sedan-chairs licensed for the support of Dublin workhouse, #37#.
Select Committee of the house of commons in 1819, to inquire into the state of disease, and the condition of the labouring poor in Ireland, report of, #86#;
in 1823, to facilitate the application of the funds of private individuals and associations for the employment of the labouring poor in useful and productive labour, report of, #91#;
in 1830, to consider the state of the poorer classes in Ireland, and the best means of improving their condition, report of, #93#;
heads of the report, #96#;
in 1828, on education in Ireland, report of, #108# et seq.;
resolutions adopted by, #112#.
Separate instruction in their religious duties for protestant and Roman Catholic children recommended, #111#.
—— Poor Law Commissioners, not necessary, #338#.
Servants, drunken, idle, or quitting their employment improperly, to be punished with the stocks or imprisonment, #40#;
agricultural, not hired in Ireland, #161#.
Settlement, law of, to be dispensed with altogether, #181#;
litigation caused by the law of, #193#;
not intended to be introduced into the new Irish Poor-Law bill, #ibid.:Page_193#;
provision for decided against in the house of commons, #210#.
Seventh Report of proceedings in 1845 under the new Poor-Law Act in Ireland, #299# et seq.
Sexes, the separation of, practised in houses of industry, #192#.
.bn 431.png
.pn +1
Sheep, reared in Donegal to pay the rent, #201#.
Sickness, inquiry as to why the Irish labouring poor do not make provision for, #122#;
prevalence of in 1849, #349#.
Single women, enactment making them chargeable with the support of their children, #227#.
Sixth Report of proceedings under the new Poor-Law, #291#.
Sixth Annual Report of the Poor-Law Commissioners of Ireland, #389#.
Skibbereen, resistance to the payment of rates in, #295#.
Small holdings, the work required easily performed and therefore constantly neglected, #163#;
prevalence of in Donegal, #200#.
Social importance of the Irish Poor-Law, #156#.
Society, the disordered state of in Ireland a consequence of the want of a well-regulated poor-law, #168#.
—— of Friends, amount contributed by to relieve the distress in Ireland occasioned by the potato disease, #321#.
Soil of Ireland, peculiarities of, #59#.
Southwell and Bingham, encouragement of the workhouse test principle afforded by the example of, #198#.
Spain, Gauls or Celtes from, supposed to have peopled Ireland, #1#.
Spanish emissaries and troops, disquieting effects of, temp. Eliz., #5#.
Speeches of Mr. Pitt on proposing the Union, #68#;
on submitting resolutions for, #69#, #70#.
Speech of Lord John Russell on introducing the new Irish Poor-Law bill in 1837, #189# et seq.
Spenser, the poet, grant of lands to, #5#;
his description of Ireland, #5#, et seq.;
proposals of for securing the quiet of Ireland, #8#.
Stage-coaches licensed for the support of the Dublin Foundling Hospital, #48#;
number increased for, #49#.
Stamp-duty, exemptions from in poor-law proceedings, #230#.
Stanley, Mr. (now Earl of Derby), letter of to the Duke of Leinster, announcing the formation of a system of national education, #113#.
Stanley, Mr., communication from respecting the state of the poor in Ireland, #196 note:f77#.
Starvation, near approach to of the population of Donegal, #200#.
State of Ireland in 1776-78, #59# et seq.;
various opinions as to, #61#.
Statements of numbers relieved and chargeable to be posted weekly on workhouse doors, #369#.
Statistical returns, instructions for to the assistant-commissioners, #240#.
Statutes at Large, notice of, #13, note:f6#.
Statutes cited.—
Edw. II. 1310, #13#;
Hen. VI. 1440, #13#;
Hen. VI. 1447, #15#;
Hen. VI. 1450, #14#;
Hen. VI. 1457, #15#;
Edw. IV. 1465, #16#;
Edw. IV. 1472, #16#;
10 Hen. VII. cap. 4, Poynings’ Act, #17#;
10 Hen. VII. cap. 6, #18#;
10 Hen. VII. cap. 17, #18#;
13 Hen. VIII. cap. 1, #19#;
22 Hen. VIII. cap. 12, #22#, #31#;
25 Hen. VIII. cap. 1, #19#;
28 Hen. VIII. cap. 15, #20#;
33 Hen. VIII. cap. 9, #21#, #52#;
33 Hen. VIII. cap. 15, #22#, #30#;
11 Eliz. cap. 4, #23#;
12 Eliz. cap. 1, #24#;
18 Eliz. cap. 3, #31#;
43 Eliz., #31#;
7 Jas. I. cap. 4, #31#;
11 and 12 Jas. I. cap. 5, #26#;
10 and 11 Chas. I. cap. 4, #27#, #52#;
10 and 11 Chas. I. cap. 15, #32#;
10 and 11 Chas. I. cap. 16, #34#;
10 and 11 Chas. I. cap. 17, #32#;
2 Anne, cap. 19, #35#, #248#;
6 Anne, cap. 11, #38#, #101#;
2 Geo. I. cap. 17, #40#;
9 Geo. II. cap. 25, #42#;
11 and 12 Geo. III, cap. 11, #45#, #83#, #248#;
11 and 12 Geo. III. cap. 15, #49#;
11 and 12 Geo. III. cap. 30, #23#, #51#, #101#, #104#;
13 and 14 Geo. III. cap. 24, #49#;
25 Geo. III. cap. 48, #48 note:f22#;
45 Geo. III. cap. 111, #73#;
46 Geo. III. cap. 95, #74#, #104#;
49 Geo. III. cap. 101, #75#;
51 Geo. III. cap. 101, #76#;
54 Geo. III. cap. 112, #76#;
57 Geo. III. cap. 106, #78#, #103#;
58 Geo. III. cap. 47, #76#, #102#, #104#, #144#;
59 Geo. III. cap. 44, #78#, #144#;
3 Geo. IV. caps. 3 and 84, #80#;
6 Geo. IV. cap. 102, #81#;
7 Geo. IV. cap. 74, #225#;
1 and 2 Vict. cap. 56, #222#, #398#;
2 Vict. cap. 1, #233#, #244#;
3 and 4 Vict. cap. 29, #268#;
6 and 7 Vict. cap. 92, #291#;
9 and 10 Vict. cap. 1, #312#;
9 and 10 Vict. cap. 22, #311#;
9 and 10 Vict. cap. 1, #312#;
10 and 11 Vict. cap. 7, #320#, #339#, #344#;
10 and 11 Vict. cap. 22, #319#, #339#;
10 and 11 Vict. cap. 31, #330#, #338#, #341#, #345#;
10 and 11 Vict. cap. 84, #332#;
10 and 11 Vict. cap. 90, #333#;
11 and 12 Vict. caps. 1 and 2, #311 note:f136#;
11 and 12 Vict. cap. 25, #354#;
11 and 12 Vict. cap. 47, #354#;
12 and 13 Vict. cap. 4, #355#, #360#;
12 and 13 Vict. cap. 104, #367#;
13 and 14 Vict. cap. 14, #374#, #380#;
14 and 15 Vict. cap. 35, #385#;
14 and 15 Vict. cap. 68, #382#;
15 and 16 Vict. cap. 16, #381#;
15 and 16 Vict. cap. 63, #393#;
16 and 17 Vict. cap. 7, #393#.
Stirabout, found to be the best form of food for distribution, #318#.
Stirpes or septs, heads of, to be answerable for the rest, #24#.
.bn 432.png
.pn +1
Stocks, a punishment for idle, drunken, or dishonest servants, #40#;
for begging without a licence, #53#.
Stone-breaking, recommended as a test for relief to the able-bodied poor, #342#.
Streets, recommendation for the cleaning of, #87#.
Strigul or Strongbow, expedition of against Ireland, #3#.
Strolling beggars, Act for lodging, #51#.
Strongbow, expedition of to Ireland, #1#.
Stuarts, the Irish take no part in the movement in their favour in 1715 and 1745, #10#.
Subdivision of land, excessive prevalence of in Donegal, #201#.
Subdivisions of lands, by lowering the standard of living, productive of fevers, #78#.
Sub-letting of land, evils consequent on, #98#.
Subscriptions to alleviate the distress in Ireland, 1823, amount of the London, #92#;
promoted by government for the relief of Ireland, #357#.
Sufferings of the population of Ireland between 1841 and 1851, #12#.
‘Suggestions’ by the author in 1836, #129#, #130#.
Summary of act of 1 and 2 Vict. cap. 56, #222# et seq.;
of the 2 Vict. cap. 1, #233#;
of the 6 and 7 Vict. cap. 91, #291#;
of the act to make further provision for the destitute poor in Ireland, #330#;
of the act to make provision for the punishment of vagrants, &c., #332#;
of the act for the execution of the laws for the relief of the poor in Ireland, #334#, #335#;
of the Rate-in-Aid Act, #355#, #356#;
of act to amend the previous acts for the relief of the Irish poor, #367#;
of an act for the further advance of public money to distressed unions, #374#, #375#;
of the Medical Charities Act, #382#, #383#.
Supervisor of rates, appointed in large towns, #279#.
Suppression of mendicancy, answer to the objections against the measures for, #206#.
Surgeons and physicians for infirmaries and county hospitals, generally provided, #83#.
Surveys, new ones to be made where necessary, #228#.
.ix-
.sp 1
.ix
Table of the numbers of persons in workhouses, of the number and rate of deaths per week, of the numbers relieved, and of the weekly cost of relief, from 1846 to 1853, both inclusive, #404#.
Tabular view of number of unions, of the expenditure, of the number of workhouses, the number of inmates, and the number relieved, in the years from 1840 to 1846, both inclusive, #323#.
Tabular statement of number of unions, expenditure, number of inmates, number receiving out-door relief, and total cost from 1847 to 1853, both inclusive, #395#.
—— statement of average cost of maintenance from 1847 to 1854 both inclusive, #397#.
Tally, the use of by the labouring poor in Ireland, #62#.
Task-work, adoption of as a test, #313#;
inefficiency of, #315#.
Tax, levied under the new Poor Law not likely to exceed greatly that now levied by mendicants in Ireland, #192#.
Taxes in Ireland, lightness of previous to the Union, #66#.
Teachers of schools, recommendation that they be selected without regard to religious distinctions, #111#.
Temporary Relief Act, passing of, #316#;
provisions of, #317#.
Tenants, ejected, deplorable condition of, #99#;
disease generated thereby, #100#;
for life, proposed empowering of to grant leases for certain terms, and to charge the property for permanent improvements, #138#, #139#.
Tenantry, not able to bear the burden of a rate for the support of the poor, #136#.
Thieves, reward for killing or capturing in 1450, #14#;
robbers and rebels, act against in 1440, #14#.
Third Report of proceedings in Ireland under the new Poor Law act, #259#.
Third Annual Report of the Irish Poor Law Commissioners, #364#.
Threshing, custom of burning the corn in the straw instead of, #33#.
Tillage, inferiority of in Ireland, #60#.
Time of election for boards of guardians, enactment for fixing, #223#.
Tipperary, peculiar state of as a county palatine, #7#;
resistance to the payment of rates in, #235#.
Tithe-owners, influence of in passing the act in favour of earth-tillers, #20#.
—— composition, plan for purchasing and making the surplus available to the relief of the poor, #146#.
Tithes to pay poor-rate, #229#.
Townlands, enactment for the union of, #223#;
regulation with regard to the boundaries of, #233#.
Towns, recommendation of Spenser that they should be built, #9#;
increase of and wealth in, #160#;
a voluntary poor-law established in the principal of the north of Ireland, #200#.
.bn 433.png
.pn +1
Transition-period, difficulties to be overcome during, #166#.
Transportation, act for the punishment of rogues and rapparees by, #89#.
Treasurers, guardians, &c. to furnish accounts, #230#.
Trevelyan’s (Sir Charles) ‘Irish Crisis,’ notice of, #256, note:f101#; #285, note:f114#; 307, #311#, #314#, #319#, #320#, #328#.
Twisleton, Mr., appointed as fourth Commissioner of the Poor Law Board, and sent to Ireland, #309#;
appointed chief of the Irish Commission, #338#.
Tuam union, neglect of to collect poor-rates, #295#;
legal proceedings commenced against, #300#;
board of guardians dissolved by the commissioners, #305#.
Tyrone, rebellion of, #5#.
.ix-
.sp 1
.ix
Ulster, the province of, probably an ecclesiastical formation, #3#;
plantation of by James I., #9#.
Uncultivated land, the existence of a favourable circumstance for the introduction of a poor-law, #168#.
Unemployed labourers in Ireland, number of, #133#;
numbers dependent on, #134#.
Union agricultural societies, plan for the formation of, #269#.
—— of Ireland with England, in 1800, #11#, #71#.
—— officers, mortality among during the distress in Ireland occasioned by the potato disease, #326#;
in Feb. 1848, #345#;
in 1849, #353#.
Unions, suggested size of in Ireland, #172#;
principles to be observed in forming, #178#;
answers to the objections to proposed size of in the Report of 1836, #205#;
estimated expenses of, #209#;
enactment for the formation of by Commissioners, #223#;
directions to the assistant commissioners for the formation of, #236#, #237#;
number of, in 1839, #245#;
in 1840, #245#;
difficulties in forming, #246#;
number of in 1841, #259#;
number of declared in 1842, #271#;
number of, in which resistance to the payment of rates were made, #295#;
unsatisfactory state of the finances of in 1847, #328#, #329#;
number of, in which no out-relief was given, #343#, #352#;
numbers of, not giving out-relief in 1850, #366#;
where new ones are formed, the commissioners to make arrangements for the joint use of the workhouse till a new one is built, #368#;
eight new formed in 1850, #373#.
United Kingdom of England and Ireland, the assembly of the first parliament of in 1701, #72#.
.ix-
.sp 1
.ix
Vaccination, act for extending, #268#;
number of unions in which it had been introduced, #280#;
extension of in 1845, #300#;
amount expended on, #ibid.:Page_300#
Vagabonds, act for the punishment of, #22#;
and beggars to be kept separate in bridewells from the children, #46#.
Vagrancy, recommendation for an amendment of the laws relating to, #100#;
clauses in the Poor Law Bill of 1837, postponement of, #195#.
Vagrants and vagabonds, to be sent to houses of industry and kept to hard labour, #55#;
recommendation of their being sent as free labourers to some British colony, and no longer to be punishable by transportation, #143#.
Valuation of lands and houses recommended by the Commissioners of Inquiry, #141#.
Valuations, new, to be made where necessary, #228#;
and ratings, instructions for, #244#;
progress made with, #265#;
difficulties arising from the form adopted, #289#;
not to be increased in consequence of improvements, for seven years, #368#;
number of unions in which they had been completed, #278#;
objection to the correctness of, #ibid.:Page_278#
Valuators, enactment appointing, #291#.
Victoria, Queen, subscription of for the relief of the poor in Ireland, #357#.
Visiting committee of Dublin work-houses directed to report on their state, #261#.
Voght, Baron de, attempt of to make pauper establishments self-supporting, #198#.
Voluntary charity, institutions supported by, #105#.
—— associations for the relief of the poor, recommended by the Commissioners of Inquiry, #145#;
rules to be framed for, #146#.
—— system of relief, reasons against recommending by some of the Commissioners of Inquiry, #147#;
reasons for, #149#.
Votes, scale of according to property, in the election for guardians, #179#, #229#.
—— doubtful, for guardians, may be refused by the returning officer, #293#.
Voting papers for guardians, improper interference with, #266#;
penalty for destroying or defacing, #293#.
.ix-
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Wages, act for the regulation of, #21#;
impolicy of, #22#;
of agricultural labourers in Ireland, rate of, #62#;
average rates of in 1836, #131#.
.bn 434.png
.pn +1
Wanderers, idle, act against, #34#.
Wardens, enactment for the appointment of in townlands and parishes, #226#.
Wards in workhouses appropriated to pauper lunatics, #286#.
——, towns with 10,000 inhabitants may be divided into, for the purpose of electing guardians, #233#.
Wars, private, not to be made without consent of the governor, #18#.
Waste lands in Ireland, quantities of, #89#.
Waterford, resistance to the payment of rates in, #235#.
Wealth and distress may be concurrent in a country, #97#.
Wellington, duke of, support given by to Irish Poor Law bill, #219#, #220#.
West of Ireland, portion taken by the author in his First Report, #159#;
severe distress in during 1839, #256#;
amount of government relief to, #ibid. note:f101#.
Western unions, total destitution of in 1849, #358#.
Wexford, stormed by Cromwell, #10#.
Wheat, average price of in Mark Lane in November 1853, 1854, and 1855, #17, note:f8#.
Whipping, a punishment for begging without a licence, #53#.
Widows, helpless, mendicity-houses and almshouses recommended for, #145#;
enactment making them chargeable with the support of their children, #227#.
Wild herbs, used as sustenance by the distressed poor, #132#.
Wilkinson, Mr., engaged as architect for the Irish workhouses, #243 note:f90#.
William the Conqueror, design of for bringing Ireland under subjection, #3#.
William the Third opposed by the Roman Catholics of Ireland, #10#.
William IV., death of, #195#.
Witnesses, Commissioners empowered to summon, #334#.
Wool, act against the pulling from living sheep, #32#.
Work to be provided for the destitute poor in workhouses, #225#.
Workhouse, act for erecting one in Dublin in 1703, #35#;
regulations for the government of, #36#;
rate to be levied for the support of, #37#.
—— relief, advantages and disadvantages, as regards Ireland, #134#;
not recommended by the Commissioners of Inquiry, #135#.
Workhouse system recommended for Ireland by G. C. Lewis, #152#.
—— masters in London, testimony of as to the characters and habits of Irish poor, #158#.
—— system of England, doubts whether practicable in Ireland, #169#;
assurance arrived at that it is, #170#;
doubts whether fitted for a test of destitution, #ibid.:Page_170#;
assurance arrived at that it would be more so in Ireland than in England, #171#;
expense occasioned by adopting not likely to be inordinately large, #172#.
—— officers, estimated expenses of salaries for, #209#;
dietaries, order for, #252#;
employment, nature of, #274#.
—— expenditure in the years 1842 to 1846, #323#;
in 1847, #329#, #345#;
in 1848, #363#;
in 1849, #366#, #371#;
in 1850, #376#;
in 1851, #387#;
in 1852, #394#;
in 1853, #ib.:Page_394#
—— accommodation, extreme pressure upon, occasioned by the potato disease, #324#;
necessity for an increase of in 1847, #342#, #343#;
auxiliary establishments provided in 1849, #352#;
amount expended in procuring increased, #366#;
extent of, from 1847 to 1851, #377#.
—— hospitals, insufficiency of during the prevalence of the potato disease, #325#.
—— mortality, greatly increased ratio of during the distress of 1846-7, #326#.
Workhouses to be provided in each county, #53#;
recommendation that houses of industry should be made available for, #186#;
estimated expenses of constructing, #209#;
architect engaged to erect, #243#;
number of provided in 1840, #245#;
in 1841, #260#;
number of in operation in 1842, #271#;
cost of up to 1842, #273#;
sanitary state of, #275#;
number in operation in 1843, #282#;
inspection of by the author in 1842, #284#;
amount of government loans for the erection of in 1845, #302#.
Works, useful, recommended as a means of employing the distressed poor in Ireland, #100#.
.ix-
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Young, Arthur, his account of the state of Ireland in 1776-78, #59# et seq.
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Footnotes
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Transcriber’s Note
On p. 215, the quoted material refers to the Belgian ‘bleuse’ (blouse). This
may be a misprint, however the report being quoted is closely paraphrased
in other texts using the same spelling.
On p. 398, a quoted passage introduced by “commissioners remark in their Report”
opens with a quotation mark which has no corresponding close. It is not obvious
where that passage closes.
Errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, and
are noted here. The references are to the page and line in the original.
References with three numbers refer to corrections to footnotes.
.ta l:10 l:46 l:12 w=90%
| or within the same walls with child[r]en, | Inserted.
| An apprehension was more[o]ver | Inserted.
| to a greater certain[t]y of crop | Inserted.
| The men universally wear the [bleuse] | Sic.
| Dr. Doyle in his eviden[e/c]e before the committee | Replaced.
| to adduce any ad[d]itional proofs | Inserted.
| me[n]dicancy | Inserted.
| from the time of such app[p]ointment | Removed.
| de[c]laring that | Inserted.
| Ninth Report of the proce[e]dings in 1847 | Inserted.
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