1. In reading the minutes of the last, and in- 5. In considering and answering the claims of 6. In arranging and discussing examinations or legal questions, or any other business not comprehended under the above heads. Upon a plan very nearly resembling that above detailed, the concerns of the parish of Speen, in the county of Berks, have been conducted from Easter 1819, as early as possible after the passing of the Act 59 Geo. III. c. 12, introduced by the Right Hon. W. Sturges Bourne, commonly called the Select Vestry Act. The parish, which is entirely agricultural and inclosed, consists of about 3355 acres of land, is divided into five tythings, and contains a small town (Speenhamland) abutting on the market-town of Newbury, and three other small collections of houses. And now, 1829, in consequence of 67 new houses having been built, and reckoning five inhabitants to each house, is probably 2700. The number of houses in 1829 is 595. It is hoped and believed that the following are the results: First, That there has been that unity of system in the pay and management of the poor, which prevents the inequality of relief, to which the ability and temper of overseers of different characters, changing every year, will naturally tend. Secondly, The individual character of each poor person has been discovered, and is, in a certain degree, registered for the regulation of future vestries and parish officers. Thirdly, Abuses with respect to settlements. have been prevented, by examining with attention the cases of poor persons claiming relief; by conceding to the orders of removal, when they have been founded on justice; by discussing, in a friendly manner, with officers of the parish from whence poor persons have been removed, their respective cases, useless litigation has been prevented, and, consequently, the legal expenses have been very inconsiderable. Fourthly, A necessary consequence of the two preceding observations is, that appeals to the magistrates have been, in a great degree, rendered unnecessary, and, in fact, have rarely taken place. Fifthly, Previous to the passing of the Select Vestry Act, the parochial Minister had no efficient share in the administration of parochial concerns. From his connection with the poor, he is most likely to know their wants and merits; and as by this Act he is made an essential and constituent part of the Select Vestry, his interference in their concerns becomes a part of his duty. His presence renders him the moderator of disputes, and gives him an opportunity of adding dignity and respectability to his character. And the combined efforts of the clergyman and the vestry have, it is believed, had no inconsiderably beneficial effect on the morals and conduct of the poor themselves. Lastly, And what by many persons may be considered as the most efficient proof of the benefits of this mode of administration, the sums expended on the poor have been materially reduced the average expenditure of the last ten years having been one-third less than the average of the ten years preceding*. As, however, I have been arguing that the principle of the English Poor Laws is essentially good and right, and their administration only defective, it was incumbent in me to prove, as well as I could, that they could be better administered. And the interval between the first publication of this Essay in 1822, and the present time, has enabled me to * See Appendix. produce the statement in the Appendix, to which I need not add I have great pleasure in referring. It has proved, that without the exertion of any thing more than common talents and common honesty on the part of ordinary men, (for such are those who compose the Select Vestries,) the Act for establishing them will be found practicable in its execution, and efficient towards the end proposed, which was the reduction of the Poors' Rate, without being injurious to the real interests of the Poor.-The Poor Laws are now interwoven,-happily, in my opinion, with the Laws and Institutions of the country. There is no one, I believe, who has thought at all on the subject, who denies that in some way or other all the indigent who come under the various denominations as classified in p. 118 of this Essay, with the exception of the 7th, have claims on society for their support. And with respect to that unfortunate 7th Class, the children of able-bodied labourers, against whom Mr. Malthus and his followers have proclaimed everlasting war, referring to what is stated above, in p. 104, I am enabled to state the following fact.-It was not until the year ending March 25, 1824, that the accounts were kept so accurately as to discriminate the several classes as stated in p. 118. But for the last six years in which they have been so kept, I find that out of £7999 paid to the actual relief of the poor, £931 or about one-ninth only was paid to persons of this class*. It is difficult to produce decisive evidence of the success or failure of a practical moral experiment. The infinite variety of the motives of human actions elude the most habituated observer, however impartial, and prevent him from forming a correct opinion; and the testimony of the person who produces an experiment, grounded on his own theory, may be justly suspected. But there are evidences to be drawn from the nature of the propositions themselves, which appeal to our common reason and general experience, and are, therefore, entitled to more weight than solitary instances and insulated facts. The mode of administering to the wants of the indigent in Scotland is almost universally by the system of domiciliary relief. Their practice is held up, by almost every writer on the subject, * The accounts of the parish have been kept in the Italian method, or by double entry, which is the only one that I yet know of to prevent fraud, and present facility to the understanding of them. It may perhaps be also worth while to state that in the same six years 1. The sums actually paid for the relief of the poor were 7999 2. Connected with the poor, but not for their relief 1240 3. Unconnected with the poor 1424 .... The proportions are nearly as 40—6—7. + Dugald Stewart. Elements of the Philosophy, &c. vol. ii. chap. iv. sect. 5. p. 474. (8vo. edit.) |