EUROPE.

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

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

NORWAY.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In towns,

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

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

SWEDEN.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

RUSSIA.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

All public begging is forbid by very strict regulations.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DENMARK.

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

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

Poor districts.

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

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

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

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

Classification of paupers.

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

Relief to first class.

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

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

(b) With the necessary articles of clothing:

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

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

To second.

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

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

To third.

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

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

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

Liabilities of pauper.

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

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

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

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

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

Begging.

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

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

Duty of the poor to seek service.

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

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

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

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

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

Mode of raising fund.

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

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

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

1. Parochial fund.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2. Bailiwick fund.

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

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

Effects of these institutions.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mr. Thaloman states that,

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

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

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

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

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

And that,

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

Adds, in answer to more specific inquiries,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

MECKLENBURG.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PRUSSIA.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Destitute Able-bodied.

Every pretended needy person is duly examined by a medical man, whether he be bodily and mentally able to maintain himself (it is the same with families) by work, and in this case he is required by the police to do so, and to conduct himself properly. Any one who does not, is sent to the poor-and-workhouse (the work is compulsive) of the province, where he is taught to earn a livelihood. If the distress be temporary, the proprietor of the estate (called the dominium), or the community in which the indigent person has acquired a settlement, is bound to afford the requisite relief; yet having the right to claim restitution, upon the assisted person becoming able to make it. When this is not the case, and the relief has been afforded by a community, the members of it must bear the expense, if in a town, out of its general funds; if in the country, in the proportions they pay the land-tax to the king, called war-contribution. The support is rendered in giving a dwelling, (with a garden, if in the country), fuel, salt, money, &c., wholly or partly, sometimes by boarding the pauper, according to the necessity of the case.

There is in every province a poor-and-workhouse (the work compulsive), for receiving the following persons:

a) such as have indeed a fixed place of abode in the country, yet seek their livelihood by begging, although able to work;

b) actual paupers, who receive a fixed maintenance or aid from communities, benevolent institutions, &c., yet, notwithstanding, wander about the country begging;

c) invalid soldiers, found begging, as every soldier who has been rendered invalid in war enjoys a pension from the state (a very small one);

d) travelling handicraftsmen, as none are permitted to travel in their profession who have not the means of subsistence, or are above 30 years old;

e) foreign vagabonds, until they can be transported over the borders;

f) those who have been punished for crime, in the fortress or house of correction, and after expiration of their term of punishment, are unable to show how they can earn an honest livelihood;

g) such as by particular sentences are, or by future laws may be, declared subjects for the compulsive workhouse.

It is left to every proprietor of an estate (called the dominium), to every town and village community, to provide and select, at their option, a livelihood for those individuals, having a settlement under their jurisdiction, who cannot procure such for themselves. Should a proprietor of an estate, or a community, not fulfil this obligation, it is compelled to do so, but which seldom is necessary.

It is to be observed, that when, from bad crops, inundations, &c., a general scarcity occurs in particular parts of the country, works of public utility, such as turnpike-roads, drains, and the like, are ordered by government, in order to afford the inhabitants the means of subsistence, which work is paid for with money, grain, salt, or other articles, as most suitable, according to circumstances.

No person, able-bodied or capable of earning a livelihood, has a legal claim for support, but he can only, when misfortune befals him, receive a temporary aid in the way of an advance. For further answers to this question, see the preceding answers.

All children capable of going to school are obliged to attend it. Those whose parents are unable to pay the expense, must be sent thither at the cost of the community to which they belong, which must also do the needful for clothing, feeding, educating, and apprenticing them. Such children also frequently receive assistance from private benevolent societies and individuals.

Impotent through Age.

In the towns, the community must provide for all the absolute wants of the poor out of the municipal funds, and in every town a board is established for directing the management of these affairs.

In the country, the proprietors of the estates, or the village authorities, must provide for these wants, for which, in the latter case, the members of the village community must contribute in the proportions as they pay the taxes to the king, say the land-tax, called war contribution.

In Dantzig, the poor, besides being placed in the poor-house, or, otherwise assisted, receive alms at their homes from a charitable society of the citizens, whose funds arise partly from private contributions, and partly from an annual supply out of the municipal funds. From this society about 1000 persons yearly receive support (about one-third males and two-thirds females), but not above about 3s. to 4s., and not under 1s. monthly, for the time the support is required. In winter, when severe, they get also firing, partly in fir-wood, but chiefly in turf. The sum thus disbursed is now considerably less than before, from the control on the part of the magistracy being much stricter. The whole annual expense of the society is about 1200l. sterling.

Sick.

The law prescribes that every town and every village community must support its own members when in distress, provided there be no relations able to do so, and the owners of estates are under a similar obligation; hence the sick stand under the same regulations as the impotent through age.

Effects of the foregoing Institutions.

The regulations for the support of paupers operate beneficially on industry. Every proprietor of an estate, every community of a town or village has unquestionably the most correct knowledge of the bodily condition, of the moral conduct, of the expertness, of the capability to earn a livelihood in whole or in part, and of the pecuniary circumstances of the needy persons under their jurisdiction, whom they are bound to support, as well as of the circumstances of their relatives. The pauper knows that aid must always be given when necessary, and he applies to the proper authority for it, when not duly afforded; while he is, on the other hand, deterred from making exorbitant claims by his situation being so thoroughly known in every respect, and from ungrounded demands not being complied with. In general, therefore, neither the party called upon for assistance, nor that requiring it, inclines to let the authority interpose, but an amicable arrangement usually takes place between them, according to existing circumstances. The pauper must perform what service or work he can for those who assist him, or for himself, towards contributing to his own support as far as in his power; while those rendering assistance can seek only in themselves the means to do so, of course in the least expensive and most suitable manner. The paupers are employed at various kinds of work and service, accordingly as such is wanted and as they are able to perform it, and this as well for their supporters, privately, as in the public workhouses.

It is, in general, to be observed that the right of settlement of individuals is established in the following manner:—

If any person acquires the right of citizenship in a town, or a possession (house or lying-ground) in the country, or if he is permitted by the local authority to form a regular domicile by becoming a householder, he then is considered as an expressly accepted member of the community, and the obligation to support him, when reduced to want, immediately commences. So soon, therefore, as any person shows an intention to settle, or to become a householder, in a place, it is the business of the community, or of those interested, to ascertain, through the medium of the proper local authority, whether or not the emigrant possesses sufficient means to maintain himself there. Should this not be the case, and he is evidently unable to earn a livelihood, then must the support of the individual (or family) be borne by the community where he has previously dwelt, and it is not advisable to permit the change of domicile. Thence is the rule justified, that upon any person being regularly received as member of a community, with the express consent of its magistracy, that community becomes bound to render him support, when his situation requires it. Minors belong to the community in which their parents were settled, even after the death of these. With regard to other inhabitants, only that town or village community is bound to maintain a pauper where he last contributed to its public burthens.

A person who is of age, and has resided three succeeding years in a place (for instance, as servant,) acquires by that the right of settlement, but which he again loses by leaving the place for one year. Privileged corporations, that possess a particular poor-fund, or raise among themselves, pursuant to their laws, the means to provide for their needy members, are specially bound to maintain them.

In conformity with the rules before stated, must also the wives, widows, and destitute children of paupers be supported by the communities or corporations, or the owners of the estates.

Paupers for whom communities, corporations, proprietors of estates, or relatives are not bound to provide, according to the foregoing rules, or when these are unable to do so, have to be maintained in provincial poor and workhouses. These are established at the expense of government, and supported by contributions from the whole province.

We are inclined to suspect that the practice corresponds with Mr. Abercrombie’s account, and the general law with Mr. Gibsone’s, and that the pauper possesses a legal right to assistance, though that right is seldom enforced, because the impotent are voluntarily provided for, and the able-bodied would probably be sent to a penal workhouse. It is probable indeed that the law itself is vague as respects the relief of the able-bodied. The difficulty in framing a poor-law, of either expressly admitting or expressly rejecting their claim, is such that almost all who have legislated on the subject have left their legal right undecided. Mr. Gibsone’s statement, that no person able-bodied or capable of earning a livelihood has a legal claim for support, is inconsistent with his general account of the law, unless we change or into and.

SAXONY.

But little information has been received from Saxony.

Some of the modes in which relief is administered appear, as they are nakedly stated in the Report, to be liable to great abuse. We are told that persons receive from the parishes to which they belong assistance in proportion to their inability to maintain themselves; that a sum is fixed as necessary to support a man, and that if he cannot earn the whole, the difference is given to him as relief; and that with respect to lodging, the parish interferes in cases where ejectment takes place on account of non-payment of house-rent, and guarantees payment for a short time to those who agree to receive the houseless (p. 479). These customs, as they are mentioned, resemble the worst forms of English mal-administration,—allowance and payment of rent.

Mr. Forbes, however, states that more relief than is strictly necessary is never given; and that it has been the steady determination of every government to render the situation of those receiving parochial relief too irksome for it to proceed from any other than the merest necessity. It is probable, therefore, that a strict administration prevents the customs which have been mentioned from being sufficiently prevalent to produce what have been their consequences with us.

WURTEMBERG.

The information respecting Wurtemberg is remarkably full and precise, having been collected with great care by Sir Edward Disbrowe and Mr. Wellesley, assisted by the provincial authorities and the government.

The kingdom of Wurtemberg consists of about 8000 square English miles, inhabited by 1,578,000 persons, being about 200 persons to a square mile. It is divided into 64 bailiwicks, which are subdivided into civil communities or parishes, containing each not less than 500 individuals. Each parish constitutes a separate corporation, and the parishes in each bailiwick also constitute one superior corporation.

A large proportion of the parishes appears to possess a fund called pium corpus, arising partly from voluntary contribution and other casual receipts, but principally from funds which previously to the Reformation had been employed for the purposes of the Roman Catholic worship, and instead of being confiscated by the government, as was the case in England, were directed to be employed for charitable purposes.

Many of them also have almshouses, or, as they are called in the Reports, hospitals for the residence of the poor, and other endowments for their use; and almost all possess an estate called an allemand, which is the joint property of the persons for the time being having bürgerrecht, or the right of citizenship in the parish, and is, together with the pium corpus and endowments, the primary fund for the relief of the poor. Subject to the claims of the poor, the allemand is divided among the bürghers, without reference to their wealth or their wants, but apparently in equal proportion to each head of a family, and enjoyed in severalty, but inalienably, either for life or for a shorter period.

Sir E. Disbrowe states (p. 485) that the government of the parish is vested in the mayor and a certain number of counsellors for life (who appear to be appointed by the government), and an equal number of representatives chosen by the bürghers, half of whom go out by rotation every second year.

About nine-tenths of the population appear to be bürghers; the remainder are called beisitzers or settled non-freemen, and differ from the bürghers by having no claim on the allemand, or vote in the election of the parochial authorities.

Bürgerrecht is obtained by inheritance, or by purchase at a sum regulated by law, but varying according to the allemand and the population of each parish.

It is lost by emigration or misconduct. 1st, A person who has lost his bürgerrecht is entitled to purchase that right in the parish in which he formerly possessed it: a person who never possessed that right is entitled to purchase it; 2dly, In the parish in which he spent the last five years. In default of this claim, 3dly, in the parish in which he obtained his marriage license. 4thly, If unmarried, in the parish in which he was born; or 5thly, if he have none of these claims, in the parish to which the police thinks fit to assign him. If he cannot or will not pay the requisite purchase-money, he is bound by payment of half the previous sum to constitute himself a beisitzer, and has similar claims to admission as a beisitzer. If he cannot pay this sum he is assigned by the police to a parish, as a beisitzer, without payment.

Having given this outline of the mode in which the population is distributed, we proceed to state, from the report furnished by the government, the degree and mode in which the poor are relieved. (Pages 524, 525, 537, 538, 539, 540, 541, 542, 543, 547.)

39. He who cannot derive the necessaries of life either from his property, his labour, or his trade, nor be supported by his nearest relations and other persons bound to it by private right, has a claim on the support of the (political or civil) community in which he has the right of a burgher or of a beisitzer.

In times of particular distress, not only those who are absolutely poor, but those also who are indeed not without property, but, by the unfavourable circumstances of the times, are rendered incapable of providing the necessaries of life for themselves and their children, have a right to require, from the communities of which they are members, the necessary support. Thus, in the year of scarcity in 1817, the spiritual and temporal overseers of the communities were expressly made responsible by the government, that none of those who were confided to their superintendence and care should be exposed to suffer want; with the threat, that if, for want of care on the part of the overseers, any person should perish, the guilty should be prosecuted with all the rigour of the law.

If a person belonging to one or more communities has need of public support, the share to be borne by each is determined by the government authorities, having respect to the merely personal or family connexion with the several communities.

Each of the three religious persuasions prevailing in the kingdom has the full enjoyment of its poor fund. Poor members of the community, however, who belong to a religious persuasion different to that which prevails in the place, cannot be denied the necessary relief from the poor fund of the place, on account of the difference of religion.

Of the Bailiwick Corporations.

40. If a community has so many poor, or is so limited in its resources, that it is not in a condition properly to support its poor, the other communities of the bailiwick, particularly the towns, so far as they are better able, and have few or no poor, are bound by the law to assist such a poor community with their alms. A general obligation of the bailiwick corporation to assist those communities of the bailiwicks which are not able to afford the necessary assistance to their poor inhabitants, is not ordained by the laws, unless such assistance is to the interest of the bailiwick corporation as such.

In the year 1817, however, the bailiwick corporations were enjoined, so long as the dearth lasted, and with reference to old laws, in case single communities should be unable sufficiently to provide for all the inhabitants, to give them credit so far as to answer either partly or entirely for the debt, but always with the reservation of repayment by the receivers of the aid. And with respect to the support of the poor, which are assigned to a community, it is expressly ordered, that if the assignment is founded on one of the titles to a right of settlement enumerated under 1, 2, and 3[6], the community against which the right is established is to bear only one-third, and the whole of the bailiwick the other two-thirds; but if the assignment is founded on one of the other titles, the whole bailiwick has to take upon itself this support. The expense which is hereby incurred by a bailiwick, constitutes an object of what is called amtsvergleichung, and is imposed on the whole old and now rateable cadastre of the bailiwick.

Of the Duty of the State.

41. The public Exchequer affords, partly on account of the previous sequestration of the church property, and of some other funds and revenues destined for pious and charitable purposes, and partly without any such special legal ground, contributions for the foundation and support of various public beneficent institutions, and it sometimes assists single bailiwicks, communities, and individuals in particular cases, by contributions for charitable purposes. But a general obligation of the public Exchequer to intervene, in case of the inability of the communities or bailiwicks, is no where enacted in the laws of Wurtemberg, and is also not recognised by the government, because too great liberality on its part, and the grant of a distinct head of expenditure for this purpose, as in general the transferring of local burthens to the public exchequer, might lead to very extensive consequences, and might gradually give rise to always increasing claims, which, in the impossibility of ranging single cases under general points of view, it might not be always possible successfully to meet.

Amount of Relief to the Poor.

42. What is necessary for a poor person or a poor family, and how much such a person or family may require for their necessary support, is not expressed in the laws of Wurtemberg; on the contrary, the answer to this question is left to the judgment of the magistrate in every particular case. In fact, it is not well susceptible of a general answer, because the wants of men are so very different, according to their constitutions and inclinations, and the means of satisfying these wants depend too much on personal, local, and temporary circumstances.

Support and Employment of the Adult Poor.

Relief of the able-bodied out-doors.

75. With respect to the adult poor, it is enacted by our oldest laws, that such grown-up poor who would willingly work, but cannot find employment, shall, as far as possible, have means found them by the magistrates to earn a livelihood by their labour; but that lazy idlers who are strong and healthy shall be compelled to work; and, according to a recent ordinance, the able-bodied who claim support from the public funds are bound to take any work for which they have adequate strength, whether it be public or private, which is assigned to them by the local overseers, receiving for it proportionate moderate wages. If they refuse to do the work assigned them, and cannot allege that they can earn something by other work, or produce some other excuse, the overseer is authorized to employ towards them means of compulsion.

According to old laws, poor persons who still have a house and lands, or at least some little portions of land, and who have suffered by failure of the crops, frost, &c., or who cannot sow their lands, or are unable to dispose of them without great loss, but are still able to work, and have hopes of retrieving their losses in the harvest and autumn, shall be assisted by the communities, which, according as the case may be, shall lend to them from the public fund a sufficient sum, to be repaid as they may be able to do it in course of time, or shall at least give security for them.

The laws also order that in public works which the communities have executed by daily labourers, able-bodied poor who have a claim to support from the public funds shall be employed in preference. In places where the hospitals have lands of their own, and farm them on their own account, poor persons are also employed in preference, at suitable wages.

Not only in the year of scarcity, 1817, and subsequently, many adult poor have been employed at suitable wages on the public account in other hard work, such as forest labours, planting trees, cultivating waste lands, turf-digging, working in the quarries, lime-pits, or excavating for antiquities, pulling down old buildings, cutting down avenues of old trees, levelling ground, laying out new public walks or churchyards, draining marshes, cleaning common sewers and streets, working at bridges, roads, and canals, &c.

79. According to the ancient laws, the communities are bound to advance money on loan according to the ability of the poor fund, and to the circumstances of the persons, to poor mechanics who cannot begin or carry on their trade, without assistance, which sum they are to repay as they may be able to do in time.

81. But the indirect support of the poor by employment and loans has, however, its limits.

The extraordinary expense incurred in 1817, for public works, was indeed justified at that time by the extraordinary distress; but for the constant prosecution of such works, there would be wanting, in most places, occasion and opportunity, and at all events the necessary means; nor could the communities well be expected, merely for the sake of employing the poor, to have such works done by them if they are not absolutely necessary, or at least urgently required at the moment, or if they could be performed at a cheaper rate by contract or by statute labour.

In many places there is not always an opportunity to obtain work for daily wages, with private persons, especially in winter, and for women and children; or at least the wages at different times of the year, and for many kinds of work, are too small to support a family, and when public institutions for giving employment are in question, great prudence is necessary, that while one person is provided with work and wages, another may not find the source of gain interrupted or cut off by which he has hitherto obtained a livelihood without the assistance of the magistrates.

But when due attention is paid to these very important considerations, it is extremely difficult, in Wurtemberg at least, to find means of employing the poor capable of work, by the intervention of the magistrates, when they are themselves not able to obtain suitable employment, and this difficulty must increase from year to year, in which the number and extent of the public institutions for employing children increase, and as the employment of the prisoners in the penal establishments (police and workhouses, and houses of correction) is extended.

On this account, there are indeed in the capital, and in some other places, where for the sake of the moral gain a small pecuniary sacrifice is not regarded, particular public establishments for employing the adult poor in spinning, and other such work; but they nowhere extend to a whole bailiwick. Wherever they still exist, though the poor in them are not fed and clothed, but only employed, their support requires considerable annual aid from public funds; and in most places the establishments formerly opened for the employment of the adult poor have been entirely broken up, with the exception of a part of the inhabitants of the poor-houses (s. 91).

Consequently, and especially till the new institutions for the better education of the youthful poor shall have been able to produce their entire effect, there will still remain in Wurtemberg a very considerable number, not only of poor unable or unwilling to work, but also of such as are both able and willing, who cannot be supported otherwise than directly.

82. In many places the local poor are, with this view, allowed themselves to collect gifts in money, food, &c. from the wealthier inhabitants of the place; but in most of these places this kind of collecting of such gifts is limited to the houses of certain of the richer inhabitants, who have given them express permission to do so, and to fixed days and hours, and it is likewise subject to the superintendence of the police: but as a general rule, the poor are prohibited from personal collecting of gifts, even in their own place of residence. On the other hand, those poor persons in whose cases the above-described indirect means of relief are not applicable, or not sufficient for their necessary support, regularly receive everywhere out of the public funds of the community to which they belong, and under different names, such as alms, gratuity, pension, board, &c., partly weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annually, partly without any fixed time, as need may be, gifts according to the wants of the individuals relieved, and the ability of the community, sometimes amounting to only one or a few florins, sometimes to 20, 50, 70, and even 100 and more florins, for each person or family in a year. With respect to the extent of these gifts, there is nowhere any general, legal ordinance; but the question, how much is requisite for the necessary support of each individual or of each family, remains entirely for the consideration of the authorities which have to give the relief.

In-door relief.

67. Adult poor who, on account of their great age, or of weakness, infirmity, and sickness of body or mind, or on account of immoral conduct, cannot be left to themselves, and who have no relations legally bound and able to superintend and take care of them, and who consequently would not be sufficiently relieved merely by a present in money or in kind, are even now, especially in small towns, taken in by all the members of the community in their turn, from house to house, by the day or by the week, or else put out to board in a fixed private house at the expense of the local funds.

But as nobody readily determines to admit such persons to his table and his house, particularly persons affected with the itch and other contagious disorders; and as even the most careful selection of such private boarding-houses, with the best superintendence which is possible in such cases, frequently answers neither the expectations of those who provide such accommodation, nor the wants of those intended to be provided, it is very fortunate that, partly so far back as the 14th and 15th centuries,—partly in modern and very recent times, almost in every large and small town, and even in some villages,—partly by particular endowments for the purpose,—partly at the expense of the local funds, a distinct public poor-house, or even several such poor-houses, have been built, or purchased, or taken from debtors in lieu of payment, which were not precisely intended to provide for persons of the above description, but rather to receive foreign vagabonds, and also for fear of the leprosy, plague, or cholera; which establishments, founded under various denominations, such as poor-house, beggars’-house, hospital, lazaretto, infirmary, leprosy-house, cholera-house, &c., &c., now that the entrance of foreign vagrants is prevented, and the fear of plague, leprosy, and cholera is past, can be made use of for the reception of the native poor belonging to the above classes.

Many of these houses can, indeed, accommodate only 10, 20, 30, or 40 persons, but many of them are calculated for a hundred or several hundred persons.

Formerly it was usual to receive also poor children, with or without their parents, into these houses, but latterly the children are otherwise disposed of, and only married persons, without children, or single adult poor, are admitted, who for the most part are, as far as possible, kept separate according to their sex, and partly according to other circumstances, especially as prescribed by existing ordinances. Separate rooms for insane and sick persons, particularly for those who have the venereal disease and the itch, are fitted up in these poor-houses, so as to answer, as much as possible, this particular object; and in some cases separate buildings are allotted for this purpose.

90. In many of these poor-houses, those who are admitted into them have only free lodging and firing, and sometimes clothing; and to provide for their other wants, a weekly, monthly, or annual allowance in money or in kind.

In others, they are directly provided with every thing; that is, they have in the house free lodging, candles, firing, bedding, clothes, food, and in case of sickness, medical care, medicine, and attendance. In general, in this case, each of the two sexes, or a great number of such persons, nearly of the same class, have a common sleeping-room, and a common eating and working-room. Sometimes however only two, three, or four poor persons together, and often even individual poor have their separate rooms.

In the common sleeping-rooms, every person has his separate bed, generally feather beds, such as are usually found in poor independent families.

The clothing is mostly warmer and stronger, but not so good-looking and more old-fashioned than that of the poorer independent citizens.

The food consists, generally, in the morning of soup, at noon a farinaceous dish and vegetables, and once, twice, rarely three times in the week, of a quarter or half a pound of meat; in the evening of soup, together with milk or potatoes. There are, however, poor-houses where they get no breakfast in the morning; at dinner only farinaceous food or vegetables (not both together), and once a week only, or even but a few times in the year, on certain holidays, or even not at all, meat, and in the evening nothing but soup.[7] When this diet is furnished by contract, 5, 5½, 6, 7, 8 to 8½ kreutzer daily per head are at present paid for it; besides which, however, the contractor mostly has lodging and firing gratis, and the use of a garden.

Besides this, every person receives in most of these houses, 3, 3½, 4, 5, 6, and even 7 pounds of bread weekly, and in some places a few kreutzer every week for snuff; wine is given only where there are special endowments for that purpose, mostly on certain holidays. The sick have better and lighter food and wine, as the physician thinks fit to prescribe in every case.