POOR LAWS —IRELAND. THREE REPORTS BY GEORGE NICHOLLS, ESQ., TO HER MAJESTY'S PRINCIPAL SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT. LONDON: PRINTED BY W. CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET, FOR HER MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE. 1838, 360.9415 N51p TABLE OF CONTENTS. REPORTS I. and II. Lord John Russell's Letters of Instruction, 3. 67. Course of Inquiry pursued, 5. 68. Heads of subject, 6. Present State of Ireland, and the habits and character of the people, 7. Improvement in the Country without a corresponding change in the mass of the population, 7. Great extent of distress, 7. 69. Subdivision of land into small holdings, 8. General prevalence of Mendicancy, 8 ; its mischievous effects, 8,17. Use of whiskey and tobacco excessive, 9; depression of feeling and condition among the peasantry, 9—11. Wretched state of their dwellings, 10. Analogy between their character and that of the English labourer under the old Poor Laws, 11. As to the Expediency of a Poor Law for Ireland, 11. Objections stated and examined, 11, 12. 75, 76. Apprehended demoralization of the people unfounded, 11. Expense, 12, 25, 26.—Irish poor, how supported from the resources of the country at present, 12, 13. 70. 77. 78. Preference of the principle of voluntary contributions, 12.—Scotch system, 13. Recommendation of Houses of Industry, 14.—Institutions for the relief of the poor and mendicants in various parts of Ireland; their management, 13, 14. 77, 78. Reasons in favour of the introduction of a Poor Law into Ireland, 15. General opinion in Ireland in favour of a compulsory poor-rate, 14. 16, 17. Present time favourable to its establishment* 15. 70. Its advantage in the transition from the present to an improved system in Ireland, 15, 16. Irish Clergy, their influence; favourable to a Poor Law, 16, 17. Necessary for the suppression of Mendicancy, 17. Collateral advantages: Encouragement to the cultivation of bog and waste land, and consequent increase of employment, 17.— Importance of this consideration, 18.—Fisheries, Planting, Drainage, 18, 19. Necessity of a system of Poor Laws: Its probable effect in improving the general character and condition of the Irish people, 20. 57, 58. 69. The Workhouse system, 21 . Its applicability to Ireland as a test, and efficiency for relief, 21—25. Evidence on this point taken in England, 70; at Bristol, 70 ; Liver­ pool, 71 ; and Birmingham, 71 ; London parishes, 21.—Result of inquiries in England and Ireland, 71, 72. 75. a 2 IV TABLE OF CONTENTS. Discipline of a Workhouse, and of Houses of Industry in Ireland, 22. 72. 77. Apprehension as to safety of the buildings unfounded, 22, 23. Principle of the Workhouse system, 23. Its practical efficiency, 24. Objection to the Workhouse principle drawn from Continental ex­ perience, answered, 73—75. Restriction of relief to the Workhouse proposed, 24. 37. Classes to be relieved, 25. 36. General assimilation of Workhouses in Ireland to the English recom­ mended, 25. Estimated expense of providing Workhouses, 25—27. 64. 99, 100. Belief. Estimated number for whom relief should be provided, 64. 99. Objects of, and on what ground to be given, 25. 36. Mode of, the Workhouse, 25. 36. 37. Objections thereto, answered, 37. Inexpediency of giving a right to relief, 36. 47. 93. Relief of part of a family, relief to the whole, 38. Obligations of relatives of poor persons, 38. Relief by way of loan, 38. Medical relief, 39. Inexpediency of providing out-door relief, 94. Abuses of out-door relief, 95. Proposed limitation of out-door relief to certain classes impracti­ cable, 95. Evidence thereon, 70—75. 95, 96. Migration and Emigration. Necessity and means of promoting, 53. 55. 97. Precautions as to Emigration, 55. Regulation of Emigration, expense, 56. 98. Provision for facilitating Emigration recommended, 96—9 9. Pauper Lunatics and Idiots. Mode of relief and treatment of, 52, Parochial Apprenticeship. Use and abuse of Relief by means of Apprenticeship, 50—52. Regulation of, in Ireland, 52. Bastardy in Ireland, and the relief of Bastards, 50. Institutions existing for the relief of the poor in Ireland, Houses of In­ dustry, &c, 57. Mqdes of relief therein, detailed, 76—79. Mendicancy. General prevalence of, and its mischievous effects, 8. 17. 48. 108—110. Suppression of, recommended, 49. 108. Mode of suppression, 49. 93, 94. 108. 110. Necessity of a Poor Law for the suppression of, 17. 108. Suppression of Mendicancy without conferring a right to relief, 93. Rating. Mode of, and assimilation of assessment to the English practice, 41— 44. 100—106. Rate, by whom to be paid, 42 ; and in what proportions, 43. Objections to Rating provisions answered, 100—106. Collection of Rate, 106. TABLE OF CONTENTS. V Scale of Voting according to Assessment, 41. As to cumulative Voting, according to amount of rate, 114. Voting by Proxy, 114. Settlement. As to the expediency of a Settlement Law for Ireland, 44—48. 83—93. Evils and difficulties of, exhibited, 45. 47. 84. ' Modes of, 45, 46. Effect of, as regards Mendicancy, 47. 88. Arguments in favour of Settlement enumerated and answered, 83—93. Central Authority. Proposed powers of in regard to the Formation and constitution of Unions and Boards of Guardians, 27, 28. 34,35. 58. 107. Promulgation of rules for the administration of relief, 37. Rating, 42. Suppression of Mendicancy, 49. Parochial Apprenticeship, 52. Migration and Emigration, 55, 56. Regulation of existing Institutions for the relief of the poor, Houses of Industry, &c, 57. Objections to proposed powers of, answered, 116—118, Constitution of, 59—63. 116—118. Expediency of a separate Commission for Ireland, or of extend­ ing the English Poor Law Commission to Ireland, discussed, 60. Modifications that would be necessary in the English Commis­ sion, 61—63. Provision for a Board sitting in Dublin, 62. Local machinery of a Poor Law; formation of Unions, 27. 39—41. Constitution of Boards of Guardians, 27. 34. 40. Magistrates ex-offlcio Guardians, 28. 115. Clergy, their ineligibility as Guardians, 30. Centralization of Union and other establishments; schoojs, dispensaries, police stations, 32. Appointment of parochial or district officers, 33. Assimilation of, to English local machinery, 39. Election of Guardians and scale of voting, 40. 41. Mode of proceeding in introducing the proposed Poor Law into Ireland : the formation of Unions, 58. 110 — 114. In regard to individual Unions, 59. Size and number of Unions, 106, 107. Objections to the Bill introduced by the Government, enumerated and ex­ amined, 75—118. Its alleged inapplicability to the North of Ireland, 76. Institutions for affording Relief in the North of Ireland, 77—79. State of the County of Donegal, 80—82. As to the expediency of a provision for Settlement, 83. Arguments in support of Settlement, stated and answered, 83—93. As to giving a right to relief, 93. As to the non-provision of out-door Relief, 94—96. As to a provision for Emigration, 96—99. Estimated number of destitute persons for whom relief would have to be provided, 99, 100. Mode of Rating and Collection of the Rate, 100—106. Size and number of Unions, 106, 107. As to the suppression of Mendicancy, 108—110. Mode of proceeding in the introduction of the measure, 110—-114. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS. Cumulative voting, 114: Voting by proxy, 114: Making Magistrates ex-officio Guardians, 115. Constitution and powers of the Central Authority, 116 — 118. APPENDIX to SECOND REPORT, containing Evidence as to the Applica­ bility of Poor Laws and the Workhouse system to Ireland, 119. 1. Extract of a Letter from the Deputy Governor of St. Peter's Hos­ pital, Bristol, 119. 2. Letter from the Governor of St. Peter's Hospital, Bristol, 120. 3. Letter from the Assistant Overseer of the parish of St. Philip and Jacob, Bristol, 121. 4. Letter from R* Weale, Esq., Assistant Poor Law Commissioner, 121. Enclosure—Letter from the Vestry Clerk of Birmingham, 122. 5. Letter from the Governor of the Workhouse of Liverpool, 122. 6. Letter from the Clerk of Liverpool Workhouse, 123. 7. Communication from the Governor of Birmingham Workhouse, 123. 8. Letter from the Treasurer, &c, to the Guardians-of Birmingham, 123. 9. Letter from the Mayor of Waterford, 124. Enclosure—Return of Paupers passed from Waterford to Eng­ land, 124. 10. Return of Inmates of Dublin House of Industry from different • Counties of Ireland, 125. 11. Return of Inmates of Dublin Mendicity Institution from different Counties of Ireland, 126. 12. Letter from W. Richardson, Esq., Dublin, 127. 13. Communication from William Stanley, Esq., Dublin, as to the extent of Destitution in Ireland, with statistical tables, &c, 127—147. 14. List of Unions in England and Wales, with a radius often miles from the centre, 148. 15. Extract from the Report of a Committee at Aberdeen as to Vagrancy, 148. REPORT III. HOLLAND AND BELGIUM. Report on the state of the poorer classes in those countries, and on the relief of paupers, 153. Holland;—cleanliness, comfort, propriety, and social order, appa­ rent, 153. Belgium;—the whole country exhibits proofs of industry and enter­ prise, 154. Education in Holland. Institutions for popular education, the most prominent objects in the social policy, 153. School instruction not obligatory, but a sense of its importance per- , vades the community, 155. TABLE OF CONTENTS. vii Interference of Government confined to regulating the system of in­ struction, 155. Government inspection, 155. Examination and authorization of the Teachers, 155. The Teachers may be suspended or dismissed by the authorities, 155. The Municipalities required by law to render the Teachers independent of payments for pupils, 156. All persons entitled to send their children to the Schools, on making payments regulated by the nature of the education desired, 156.