Part 1

Transcriber’s Note:

Suspected printer’s errors have been corrected. Upper-case accents weren’t used in the original, and differences of spelling (etc.) between the different reports have been preserved.

STATEMENT OF THE PROVISION FOR THE POOR, AND OF THE CONDITION OF THE LABOURING CLASSES, IN A CONSIDERABLE PORTION OF AMERICA AND EUROPE.

BY NASSAU W. SENIOR, ESQ.

BEING THE PREFACE TO THE FOREIGN COMMUNICATIONS CONTAINED IN THE APPENDIX TO THE POOR-LAW REPORT.

LONDON: B. FELLOWES, LUDGATE STREET. (_Publisher to the Poor-Law Commissioners._)

MDCCCXXXV.

LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, Stamford Street.

ADVERTISEMENT.

The following pages were prepared for the sole purpose of forming an introduction to the foreign communications contained in the Appendix to the Poor-Law Report. Their separate publication was not thought of until they had been nearly finished. When it was first suggested to me, I felt it to be objectionable, on account of their glaring imperfections, if considered as forming an independent work, and the impossibility of employing the little time which can be withdrawn from a profession, in the vast task of giving even an outline of the provision for the poor, and the condition of the labouring classes, in the whole of Europe and America. But the value and extent of the information which, even in their present incomplete state, they contain, and the importance of rendering it more accessible than when locked up in the folios of the Poor-Law Appendix, have overcome my objections. The only addition which I have been able to make is a translation of the French documents.

I cannot conclude without expressing my sense of the zeal and intelligence with which the inquiry has been prosecuted by his Majesty’s diplomatic Ministers and Consuls, and of the active and candid assistance which has been given by the foreign Governments.

NASSAU W. SENIOR.

_Lincoln’s Inn, June 10, 1835._

CONTENTS

Page INTRODUCTION 1

AMERICA

Pennsylvania 13-18

Massachusetts 14-17

New Jersey 18

New York 19

EUROPE

Norway 20

Sweden 24

Russia 29

Denmark 33

Mecklenburg 44

Prussia 45

Saxony 53

Wurtemberg 53

Weinsburg House of Industry 65

Bavaria 68

Berne 74

CAUSES favourable to the Working of a Compulsory Provision 84

Hanseatic Towns

Hamburgh 95

Bremen 96

Lubeck 98

Frankfort 101

Holland 101

Poor Colonies of 109

Frederiks-Oord 110

Wateren 113

Veenhuisen 113

Ommerschans 115

Belgium and France 117

French Poor-Laws:

Hospices et Bureaux de Bienfaisance 118

Foundlings and Deserted Children 120

Mendicity and Vagrancy 122

Belgium

Monts-de-Piété 126-138

Mendicity 126

Foundlings and Deserted Children 133

Antwerp 139

Ostend 143

Gaesbeck 145

Poor Colonies 148

France 154

Havre:

Hospital 155

Bureau de Bienfaisance 156

Rouen:

Workhouse Regulations 157

Brittany 160

Loire Inférieure:

Nantes 163

Gironde:

Bourdeaux 170

Basses Pyrenées:

Bayonne 176

Bouches du Rhone:

Marseilles 178

Sardinian States:

Piedmont 181

Genoa 186

Savoy 187

Venice 189

Portugal:

Oporto 194

The Azores 196

The Canary Islands 199

Greece 201

European Turkey 203

General Absence of a Surplus Population in Countries not affording Compulsory Relief 204

Agricultural Labourers in England.

Wages of 206

Subsistence of 208

Wages and Subsistence of Foreign Labourers.

_Vide_ Tables 210-235

Comparison between the state of the English and Foreign Labouring Classes 236

STATEMENT OF THE PROVISION FOR THE POOR, AND THE CONDITION OF THE LABOURING CLASSES, IN A CONSIDERABLE PORTION OF AMERICA AND EUROPE.

The Commissioners appointed by His Majesty to make a diligent and full Inquiry into the practical operation of the Laws for the relief of the Poor, were restricted by the words of their Commission to England and Wales. As it was obvious, however, that much instruction might be derived from the experience of other countries, the Commissioners were authorized by Viscount Melbourne, then His Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for the Home Department, to extend the investigation as far as might be found productive of useful results. At first they endeavoured to effect this object through their personal friends, and in this manner obtained several valuable communications. But as this source of information was likely to be soon exhausted, they requested Viscount Palmerston, then His Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for the Foreign Department, to obtain the assistance of the Diplomatic Body.

In compliance with this application, Viscount Palmerston, by a circular dated the 12th of August, 1833, requested each of His Majesty’s Foreign Ministers to procure and transmit, with the least possible delay, a full report of the legal provisions existing in the country in which he was resident, for the support and maintenance of the poor; of the principles on which such provision was founded; of the manner in which it was administered; of the amount and mode of raising the funds devoted to that purpose; and of the practical working and effect of the actual system, upon the comfort, character, and condition of the inhabitants.

The answers to these well-framed inquiries form a considerable portion of the contents of the following volume. They constitute, probably, the fullest collection that has ever been made of laws for the relief of the poor.

But as a subject of such extent would necessarily be treated by different persons in different manners, and various degrees of attention given to its separate branches, the Commissioners thought it advisable that a set of questions should also be circulated, which, by directing the attention of each inquirer and informant to uniform objects, would enable the influence of different systems on the welfare of the persons subjected to them to be compared.

For this purpose the following questions were drawn up:--

The following Questions apply to Customs and Institutions whether general throughout the State, or peculiar to certain Districts, and to Relief given:

1st. By the Voluntary Payment of Individuals or Corporate Bodies.

2nd. By Institutions specially endowed for that purpose.

3rd. By the Government, either general or local.

4th. By any one or more of these means combined.

And you are requested to state particularly the cases (if any) in which the person relieved has a legal claim.

QUESTIONS.

VAGRANTS.

1. To what extent and under what form does mendicity prevail in the several districts of the country?

2. Is there any relief to persons passing through the country, seeking work, returning to their native places, or living by begging; and by whom afforded, and under what regulations?

DESTITUTE ABLE-BODIED.

1. To what extent and under what regulations are they, or any part of their families, billeted or quartered on householders?

2. To what extent and under what regulations are they boarded with individuals?

3. To what extent and under what regulations are there district houses of industry for receiving the destitute able-bodied, or any part of their families, and supplying them with food, clothes, &c., and in which they are set to work?

4. To what extent and under what regulations do any religious institutions give assistance to the destitute, by receiving them as inmates, or by giving them alms?

5. To what extent and under what regulations is work provided at their own dwellings for those who have trades, but do not procure work for themselves?

6. To what extent and under what regulations is work provided for such persons in agriculture or on public works?

7. To what extent and under what regulations are fuel, clothing, or money, distributed to such persons or their families; at all times of the year, or during any particular seasons?

8. To what extent and under what regulations are they relieved by their children being taken into schools, and fed, clothed and educated, or apprenticed?

9. To what extent and under what regulations, and to what degree of relationship are the relatives of the destitute compelled to assist them with money, food, or clothing, or by taking charge of part of their families?

10. To what extent and under what regulations are they assisted by loans?

IMPOTENT THROUGH AGE.

1. To what extent and under what regulations are there almshouses or other institutions for the reception of those who, through age, are incapable of earning their subsistence?

2. To what extent and under what regulations is relief in food, fuel, clothing, or money afforded them at their homes?

3. To what extent, and under what regulations, are they boarded with individuals?

4. To what extent and under what regulations are they quartered or billeted on householders?

5. To what extent and under what regulations, and to what degree of relationship, are their relatives compelled to assist them with money, food, or clothing, or by taking part of their families?

SICK.

1. To what extent and under what regulations are there district institutions for the reception of the sick?

2. To what extent and under what regulations are surgical and medical relief afforded to the poor at their own homes?

3. To what extent and under what regulations are there institutions for affording food, fuel, clothing, or money to the sick?

4. To what extent and under what regulations is assistance given to lying-in women at their homes, or in public establishments?

5. To what extent and under what regulations are there any other modes of affording public assistance to the sick?

CHILDREN:

_Illegitimate._

1. Upon whom does the support of illegitimate children fall; wholly upon the mothers, or wholly upon the fathers; or is the expense distributed between them, and in what proportion, and under what regulations?

2. To what extent and under what regulations are the relatives of the mothers or fathers ever compelled to assist in the maintenance of bastards?

3. To what extent and under what regulations are illegitimate children supported at the public expense?

_Orphans, Foundlings, or Deserted Children._

4. To what extent and under what regulations are they taken into establishments for their reception?

5. To what extent and under what regulations are they billeted or quartered on householders?

6. To what extent and under what regulations are they boarded with individuals?

7. To what extent and under what regulations, and to what degree of relationship, are their relatives compelled to support them?

CRIPPLES, DEAF AND DUMB, AND BLIND.

1. To what extent and under what regulations are there establishments for their reception?

2. To what extent and under what regulations are they billeted or quartered on householders?

3. To what extent and under what regulations are they boarded with individuals?

4. To what extent and under what regulations, and to what degree of relationship, are their relatives compelled to support them?

IDIOTS AND LUNATICS.

1. To what extent and under what regulations are there establishments for their reception?

2. To what extent and under what regulations are they billeted or quartered on householders?

3. To what extent and under what regulations are they boarded with individuals?

4. To what extent and under what regulations, and to what degree of relationship, are their relatives compelled to support them?

EFFECTS OF THE FOREGOING INSTITUTIONS.

You are requested to state whether the receipt, or the expectation of relief, appears to produce any and what effect,

1st. On the industry of the labourers?

2nd. On their frugality?

3rd. On the age at which they marry?

4th. On the mutual dependence and affection of parents, children and other relatives?

5th. 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? _See_ p. 261 and 335 of the Poor Law Extracts.

* * * * *

You are also requested to read the accompanying volume[1], published by the English Poor Law Commissioners, and to state the existence of any similar mal-administration of the charitable funds of the country in which you reside, and what are its effects?

You are also requested to forward all the dietaries which you can procure of prisons, workhouses, almshouses and other institutions, with translations expressing the amounts and quantities in English money, weights and measures, and to state what changes (if any) are proposed in the laws or institutions respecting relief in the country in which you reside, and on what grounds?

* * * * *

In reply to the following Questions respecting Labourers, you are requested to distinguish Agriculturists from Artisans, and the Skilled from the Unskilled.

1. What is the general amount of wages of an able-bodied male labourer, by the day, the week, the month or the year, with and without provisions, in summer and in winter?

2. Is piece-work general?

3. What, in the whole, might an average labourer, obtaining an average amount of employment, both in day-work and in piece-work, expect to earn in a year, including harvest-work, and the value of all his advantages and means of living?

4. State, as nearly as you can, the average annual expenditure of labourers of different descriptions, specifying schooling for children, religious teachers, &c.

5. Is there any, and what employment for women and children?

6. What can women, and children under 16, earn per week, in summer, in winter and harvest, and how employed?

7. What, in the whole, might a labourer’s wife and four children, aged 14, 11, 8 and 5 years respectively (the eldest a boy), expect to earn in a year, obtaining, as in the former case, an average amount of employment?

8. Could such a family subsist on the aggregate earnings of the father, mother and children, and if so, on what food?

9. Could it lay by anything, and how much?

10. The average quantity of land annexed to a labourer’s habitation?

11. What class of persons are the usual owners of labourers’ habitations?

12. The rent of labourers’ habitations, and price on sale?

13. Whether any lands let to labourers; if so, the quantity to each, and at what rent?

14. The proportion of annual deaths to the whole population?

15. The proportion of annual births to the whole population?

16. The proportion of annual marriages to the whole population?

17. The average number of children to a marriage?

18. Proportion of legitimate to illegitimate births?

19. The proportion of children that die before the end of their first year?

20. Proportion of children that die before the end of their tenth year?

21. Proportion of children that die before the end of their eighteenth year.

22. Average age of marriage, distinguishing males from females?

23. Causes by which marriages are delayed?

24. Extent to which, 1st, the unmarried; 2nd, the married, save?

25. Mode in which they invest their savings?

[1] Extracts from the information on the Administration of the Poor Laws.

These questions, together with the volume to which they refer, of Extracts of Information on the Administration of the Poor Laws, were transmitted by Viscount Palmerston to His Majesty’s Foreign Ministers and Consuls on the 30th November, 1833.

The replies to them form the remaining contents of the following pages.

It will be perceived, therefore, that this volume contains documents of three different kinds:

1. Private Communications.

2. Diplomatic Answers to the general inquiries suggested by Viscount Palmerston’s circular of the 12th of August, 1833.

3. Diplomatic Answers to the Questions framed by the Commissioners, and contained in Viscount Palmerston’s circular of the 30th November, 1833.

Unfortunately, only a small portion of these documents had arrived when the Commissioners made their Report to His Majesty on the 20th February, 1834. The documents then received are contained in the first 115 pages of this volume, and were printed by order of the House of Commons, and delivered to Members in May, 1834. Those subsequently received were transmitted to the printers as soon as the requisite translations of those portions which were not written in English or French could be prepared. If it had been practicable to defer printing any portion until the whole was ready, they might have been much more conveniently arranged. But to this course there were two objections. First, the impossibility of ascertaining from what places documents would be received; and secondly, the difficulty of either printing within a short period so large a volume, containing so much tabular matter, or of keeping the press standing for six or seven months. The Parliamentary printers have a much larger stock of type than any other establishment, but even their resources did not enable them to keep unemployed for months the type required for many hundred closely-printed folio pages. The arrangement, therefore, of the following papers is in a great measure casual, depending much less on the nature of the documents than on the times at which they were received. The following short summary of their contents, may, it is hoped, somewhat diminish this inconvenience.

I.--The Private Communications consist of,

Page 1. Two Papers by Count Arrivabene, containing an account of the labouring population of Gaesbeck, a village about nine miles from Brussels (p. 1.); and a description of the state of the Poor Colonies of Holland and Belgium in 1829 610

2. A Report, by Captain Brandreth, on the Belgian Poor Colonies, in 1832 15

3. A Statement, by M. Ducpétiaux, of the Situation of the Belgian Poor Colonies, in 1832 619

4. An Essay on the comparative state of the Poor in England and France, by M. de Chateauvieux 2

5. Notes on the Administration of the Relief of the Poor in France, by Ashurst Majendie, Esq. 34

6. A Report made by M. Gindroz to the Grand Council of the Canton de Vaud, on Petitions for the Establishment of Almshouses 53

7. A Report by Commissioners appointed by the House of Representatives, on the Pauper System of Massachusetts 57

8. A Report by the Secretary of State, giving an Abstract of the Reports of the Superintendents of the Poor of the State of New York 99

9. A Report by Commissioners appointed to draw up a Project of a Poor Law for Norway 701

II.--The following are the answers to Viscount Palmerston’s Circular of the 12th August, 1833.

Some of these Reports were transmitted to the Commissioners without signatures. The names of the Authors have been since furnished by the Foreign Office, and are now added.

AMERICA.

1. _New York_--Report from James Buchanan, Esq., his Majesty’s Consul 109

2. _New Hampshire and Maine_--Report from J. Y. Sherwood, Esq., Acting British Consul 111

3. _The Floridas and Alabama_--Report from James Baker, Esq., his Majesty’s Consul 113

4. _Louisiana_--Report from George Salkeld, Esq., ditto 115

5. _South Carolina_--Report from W. Ogilby, Esq., ditto 117

6. _Georgia_--Report from E. Molyneux, Esq., ditto 123

7. _Massachusetts_--Report from the Right Hon. Sir Charles R. Vaughan, his Majesty’s Minister 123

8. _New Jersey_--Report from ditto 673

9. _Pennsylvania_--Report from Gilbert Robertson, Esq., his Majesty’s Consul 135

EUROPE.

1. _Sweden_--Report from Lord Howard de Walden, his Majesty’s Minister 343

2. _Russia_--Report from Hon. J. D. Bligh, ditto 323

3. _Prussia_--Report from Robert Abercrombie, Esq., his Majesty’s Chargé-d’Affaires 425

4. _Wurtemberg_--Report from Sir E. C. Disbrowe, his Majesty’s Minister 483

5. _Holland_--Report from Hon. G. S. Jerningham, his Majesty’s Chargé-d’Affaires 571