Part 1

THE IRISH PENNY JOURNAL.

NUMBER 35. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1841. VOLUME I.

The entrance front building, forming a distinct structure, is placed about 150 feet in advance of the main building, and consists of one door (above the ground), on which the Board-room and clerk’s office are placed; underneath these are the waiting-hall, in which applicants for relief are received, and a room for a porter, who has charge of the paupers on their admission, for the purpose of seeing that they are washed, cleaned, and clothed in the workhouse dress; he is therefore placed near the probationary wards. Distinct wards are also provided for vagrants receiving temporary relief. This arrangement of the probationary and vagrant wards secures the vicinity of the body of the house from the risk of infection from persons previous to their being examined and declared free from disease.

The main building is separated from the entrance front by a courtyard and garden, which divide the two front yards for the boys and girls; the centre of the main building contains the master’s house, which is placed immediately among all classes, and from which ready access is had to any of the rooms; the kitchen offices are close under the master and matron’s inspection, as well as the several stores.

The wash-house and kitchen offices are placed in a situation distinct from the paupers in the yards, and none but those immediately employed in them have access thereto; on each side the master’s house are placed the rooms for children, who have separate staircases, used also by the master and matron; the extreme wings contain on the ground floor rooms for the old and infirm people, and some accommodation also for the able-bodied, which class, however, being employed (the women in the wash-house, &c., and the men at a mill, in breaking stones, or other useful occupation,) the same extent of day room is not requisite. The chapel and dining hall answers three purposes, inasmuch as it also serves, by means of a double partition, for day rooms for able-bodied men and women, should occasion require it. The situation of this building as a dining-hall is, from its central position, best suited for all classes, and is most convenient as regards the serving the food from the kitchen; the two rooms for boys and girls will also serve the purpose of a chapel, if required.

The Infirmary is placed at the back of the building, occupying a position distinct from the wards of the house, and sufficiently convenient for the supply of food from the kitchen offices without entailing the necessity of a separate establishment.

Wards are placed on each end of the infirmary buildings for idiots, epileptics, and lunatics, in which cells are provided for those for whom occasional restraint is unavoidable, or whose habits render distinct accommodation necessary.

The arrangement of the building is made with true regard to ventilation. At each end, in the centre of the building, a large hall, containing a superficial area of 425 feet, is carried up to the roof of the house, on which is constructed a large ventilator, containing windows hung on centres, and moveable with a line, to admit any circulation or change of air required. The several rooms throughout are arranged to open at once into the landing of the stone stairs, which are carried up in this space. The several doors have semicircular arches above them to be opened as occasion may require; and which, without producing any strong current, would always effect an extensive ventilation during the occupation of the rooms. The usual manner of ventilating the common sleeping rooms, is by placing the windows on each side of the room, which are very useful, but chiefly so after the paupers have left the apartment. The windows throughout are constructed with the upper part hinged, and to fall inside, which allows them to be opened during rainy weather.

Cast-iron air-gratings are to be inserted in small flues formed in the walls, and fixed a few inches above the floors, for obtaining, when required, an admission of external air.

A A A A, yards. B, women’s yard. C, men’s yard. D, girls’ yard. E, garden. F, boys’ yard. G and H, small yards.

THE DESTITUTE POOR OF IRELAND.

When we call to mind the interminable discussions which only a few years ago were usual in every society, as to the necessity, or advantages, or practicability, of a poor-law system in Ireland, and then transfer our attention to the actual progress which has been made in carrying into effect a certain, defined, and enacted arrangement, it is something like escaping from a dark, close wood, in which there was neither path nor direction, into an open country, with the bright canopy of heaven above, and our desired destination, or the sure road conducting to it, plainly in view.

To devise, and, much more, to bring into operation, a legalized system of poor relief suited to the wants and circumstances of Ireland, will, when duly considered, appear to have been a truly great and formidable undertaking. Innumerable plans had been set forth from time to time for this purpose, anterior to the act passed among the first of her present Majesty’s reign; but it may well be questioned if there was any one of them which would not on trial have proved to be a complete failure. Into that speculation, however, we have no occasion to enter at present, as there is now a law, having its machinery already so near to completion, that it must be in full effect at no distant day throughout the whole country, to the provisions and execution of which it will be at once more interesting and more profitable to direct our attention.

We may confidently attribute whatever facilities have been found to attend the practical introduction of the law into Ireland, to the fact that its management was entrusted in the first instance to a Commission; that the Commissioners were men already perfectly conversant with the subject, and that they were invested with sufficient powers to accomplish the object. No better machinery could have been devised, and we shall soon be enabled to perceive that it has not disappointed the expectations to which it might fairly have given rise.

The first great object which presented itself for consideration, in connection with the act of Parliament, may be supposed to have been the division of the country into suitable districts for the administration of the system. It required a new series of boundaries for its own provisions and purposes, as the proposed relief was to be afforded territorially, according to none of the existing divisions, either parochial, baronial, or by counties. The Commissioners were empowered to “unite such and so many townlands as they might think fit to be _a Union_ for the relief of the destitute poor;” and the subject was one that evidently demanded the most serious examination.

The principle of forming the Unions was that which the Commissioners had previously adopted in England, namely, that the Union should consist of a market-town as a centre, and the district of country surrounding and depending on it, and extending to about ten miles round it in all directions. The size of Unions was indeed a subject which caused a good deal of anxious consideration. People, generally speaking, were at first desirous of having smaller Unions--not taking into account, that by increasing the number of Unions, more expense would be incurred, as the larger the Union, the smaller is the establishment charge in proportion. However, the Commissioners, guided by local facilities, formed Unions of townlands already combined by social affinities as well as geographical position, and have thus exceeded the number at first estimated on a theoretical scale. The number declared up to the 25th of March last is 104, and 26 more, it is supposed, will comprise the whole of Ireland, and constitute the entire.

The most important subject which demanded attention was the construction of a governing power for each Union, in conformity with the terms and intention of the act of Parliament. It was to consist of a Board of Guardians, one-third being resident magistrates, and the remainder freely elected by the rate-payers. The Commissioners were authorised to fix the number for each Union, and they were of opinion that a number of elected Guardians, varying from 16 to 24, would be best calculated for carrying out the provisions of the act. These, with the addition of one-third, composed of the local magistrates, who are Guardians _ex officio_, would, it was calculated, give to each Union a Board of from 21 to 32 members, which would be sufficient for deliberation, and yet not so numerous as to impede efficient action. With regard to the actual elections, now numerous, which have taken place, the Commissioners in their last Report express their regret that much excitement and discordant feeling should have been exhibited in some instances; but at the same time they declare their belief, that, as a general result, efficient Boards of Guardians have been constituted.

The third important object which demanded attention, was the procuring of suitable workhouses for the several Unions. The Commissioners were of opinion that one central workhouse, of a size sufficient for the whole of the Union, would be best; but for the sake of hastening the practical benefits of the act, and to save expense as much as possible, they were disposed to avail themselves of existing buildings nearly central, capable of being converted into workhouses, if obtainable. Their expectations on this head, however, were very far from being realized. It seems certain that the opinion originally formed as to the excess of barrack accommodation in Ireland was unfounded, there being in fact no more than the exigencies of the public service require; and of barracks, eventually, they obtained but one, situate in the town of Fermoy, which is now in process of conversion into a workhouse for that Union. In other Unions, old houses and other buildings were carefully surveyed; but in no one instance, says Mr Wilkinson, the intelligent and skilful architect of the Commissioners, have premises of this kind been found eligible in point of economy or convenience of arrangement, the sums asked in nearly every instance having been far beyond the value for the purpose of conversion. As a general result, the only old buildings which have been actually converted, or are now in process of conversion, into workhouses, are, in Dublin, the House of Industry for the North Union, and the Foundling Hospital for the South; in Fermoy the barrack already mentioned; and the House of Industry in Clonmel.

The number of _new_ buildings contracted for, and in progress, was in March last 64; the notices for contracts since published amount to 50; so that building arrangements remain to be made for only 16 Unions.

In the appendix to the last Annual Report of the Commissioners there is a tabular statement, showing at one view the number and names of the Unions which have been declared up to April last--the area in statute acres, and population of each--the number of Guardians respectively--with other particulars, including indeed every thing necessary to afford satisfactory information on the subject; and, but that it would occupy a great deal of space, we would gladly transfer it to our columns.

Having thus briefly noticed the three leading points indispensably preliminary to the working of the poor-law, namely, 1st, the _Unions_, or districts within which each local administration is to be comprised; 2dly, the _Guardians_, or local administrators of the law; and, 3dly, the _Workhouses_ or buildings designed for the reception of the destitute poor, it only remains to add a few observations relative to certain topics on which there has been a good deal of discussion, and concerning which a clear opinion has not yet been arrived at by many.

In the first place, there has been much misconception as to the true nature of the work which the act of Parliament devolved upon the Commissioners of Poor-Laws. That such is the case, is evident from the many applications which have been made to them from time to time to afford relief in different districts under various circumstances of distress, as though the Commissioners possessed any general powers for this purpose. The applications were not indeed at all surprising. “Hunger,” saith the proverb, “will break through stone walls;” and it was not to be expected that those who witnessed and deeply sympathised with numerous and touching instances of extreme destitution would be very nice in scanning the phraseology or exact intendments of an act of Parliament. However, in reality the Commissioners had no power to act in any manner different from that which the legislative chart, if we may use the phrase, had prescribed to them. Their mission was to fulfil the great work of founding and bringing into operation an extensive system of poor relief, not to distribute a bounty, or immediately to afford relief in any specific case of distress, however urgent. Their task was formidable and onerous; and if the accomplishment of it has appeared to some to have been tedious in its course, it may well be asked, wherein has there been a failure of any means necessary to the end, or by what better means could the work have been made to advance more speedily and more securely to completion, than by those which have been employed? The law, it may be said, has as yet been brought to bear on the wants of the poor only in the Unions of Cork and Dublin. True; but for this the law itself, or that process which it made imperative in order to effect the essential and solid purposes which it had in view, is alone answerable.

Unions, Guardians, Workhouses, and Assessment, must, by the terms of the act, in every instance precede relief. By the 41st section it is enacted, “That when the Commissioners shall have declared the workhouse of any Union to be fit for the reception of destitute poor, _and not before_, it shall be lawful for the Guardians, with the approbation of the Commissioners, to take order for relieving and setting to work _therein_ destitute poor persons.” Thus it appears that until a workhouse be provided, the practical benefits of the act cannot be obtained.

It may be premature at present to speak of the interior economy of the workhouse, but we may shortly refer to the leading views put forth by the Commissioners on the subject. They disapprove, then, we collect in the first place, of more land being occupied in connection with the house than may be sufficient for the purpose of a garden, or than can be conveniently managed by the boys, or the aged and infirm men. Employment for the able-bodied is to be provided within the workhouse, to which they are to be strictly confined so long as they remain dependent on the Union for support. This, in the opinion of the Commissioners, given in their Fifth Annual Report, “Should be of such a nature as to be irksome, and to awaken or increase a dislike to remain in the workhouse, for which purpose corn-mills will probably be found, as in England, to be the most effective. With the aged and infirm the case is somewhat different: they should all be employed, but their employment need not partake so much of the character of a test: and with the children the test is altogether inapplicable; so long as they remain in the workhouse, they should be taught and trained to become useful members of the community; and for this purpose an acre or two of garden ground, in which the boys may work and acquire habits of industry, as well as skill and strength for manual labour, will be found extremely useful.”

With regard to diet, they observe in their Sixth Report, that, as a general rule, it is unquestionably desirable that the workhouse diet should be, on the whole, inferior to that of the labouring classes of the surrounding district; yet that it is not on this circumstance alone, or even in any very great degree, that the efficiency of the workhouse depends. On the contrary, say they, “We are satisfied that the diet, clothing, bedding, and other merely physical comforts, may in the workhouse be better than in the neighbouring cottages, and yet that none but the really destitute poor will seek for admission into the workhouse, provided that order and discipline be strictly maintained therein. It is in truth the regularity, order, strict enforcement of cleanliness, constant occupation, the preservation of decency and decorum, and exclusion of all the irregular habits and tempting excitements of life, on which reliance must mainly be placed for deterring individuals, not actually and unavoidably destitute, from seeking refuge within the workhouse, and not upon the absence of mere physical comforts. This is the view by which the legislature appears to have been governed in adopting the general principles of the Irish poor relief act; and to this view we consider it to be essential that the dietaries and the other regulations of the workhouse should conform.”

With these general views no reflecting person will, we should think, be disposed to quarrel.

A good deal of discussion has taken place as to the regulation which prohibits strangers, and particularly reporters of the press, from attending the meetings of Guardians. However, we in Ireland have nothing specially to complain of in this respect, as the same rule exists in England, and has not been attended there by any public inconvenience. The question properly is, why the rule should be _different_ here? _The Guardians_, it must be understood, are under no obligation of secrecy. _They_ are quite at liberty to note, report, and publish at their own discretion; the rule merely excludes strangers, and of course reporters who are _not_ Guardians, from the Board. The Commissioners in their Sixth Report very truly say that “the presence of strangers would be a restraint upon the deliberations of the Guardians; while the knowledge that their proceedings were to be published would certainly conduce to debate and display, and obstruct the dispatch of business. A desire for popularity would be awakened, and individual Guardians would too probably be led to address themselves to the passions of their hearers, or to party or sectarian feelings prevalent without doors, rather than to the sober disposal of the business in hand. Prejudices would be excited, passions inflamed, personalities would arise, and the most respectable members of the Board, who, from their property, position, and habits of business, would be best entitled and best fitted to take part in and guide its proceedings, would be borne down by clamour, or wearied by lengthened discussion, if not finally compelled to abandon their post.”

It was no easy matter to have brought this great work of a statutable poor relief to its present advanced state, without exciting stronger feelings of opposing party than any which fortunately have yet been elicited; but it may well be doubted if things would go on in the same quiet and businesslike manner if Guardian meetings were to be open to the public; and if there be any evil connected with the exclusion complained of, we may safely conjecture, at least, that it is the lesser of two--less than that which would arise from the jarrings and discord of party on a subject which, above any other, calls for unanimity, and should awaken only the feelings of a common benevolence and patriotism.

We may now advert, in the last place, to the ameliorations in our social condition which may be expected to arise when the new system shall have been put fully in operation. In the first place, a reproach will be wiped away from our country, which certainly existed against it so long as it could be said that no law existed in it for the relief of the poor. Destitution will then be provided for, and mendicancy will be without excuse. It is true that there is no direct provision in the act for the restraint of beggary, but a legalised provision for the destitute is indirectly a law against it, and must operate most powerfully as such. When people are taxed to maintain the poor, they naturally become unwilling to open their purse-strings, unless with great reluctance, at the solicitation of mendicants; the trade of mendicancy declines; and those who would still cling to it are forced, if of the class of the able-bodied, to apply themselves to some means of profitable industry, or to resort to the workhouse for subsistence. The Poor-Relief Act is thus, indirectly, a law against mendicancy, and in this point of view is calculated to work most beneficially, and greatly to alter the face of things in Ireland.

But it is also a law of positive economy to the country. The support of the destitute not being abandoned to casual charity, but conducted systematically by persons appointed to bestow their exclusive attention to it, and all rateable parties being under a legal obligation to contribute in due proportion to their circumstances, there cannot be a doubt that a less expenditure will suffice under such management for the maintenance of the really destitute than if the work were left to mere voluntary benevolence, and no means existed of compelling all classes fairly to share the burden among them.

Many persons have felt a terror at the idea of the taxation they supposed they should have to suffer under a poor-law; but the great probability, nay, almost the certainty of the matter, is, that it will be a considerable saving to them. The present rate in Dublin is 1s. in the pound for the year, on a very moderate valuation, and much more than half the rate is borne by landlords.[1] This, however, appears to be beyond the intention of the law as to town property, for which inordinate rents are not usually obtained; but the result is within the control of the Guardians, who may revise the valuation whenever they propose to levy a new rate.

The expense of the relief, even under higher rates, would be less, far less, on those who have hitherto supported the poor, than the outlay which they have annually made for that object; and now they will have the satisfaction of knowing that what they give is given to the destitute poor; that all is well applied, none misspent, and every part so economized in distribution, that the sum contributed relieves a greater number of poor than the larger sum formerly given in alms.

It must also be considered, that the poorer classes subsisting by labour will be relieved by the workhouses from the continual encroachments of beggars on their scanty meals, and the still more scanty means of lodging possessed by them. Let the opponent of such a provision for the poor--if any reflecting person in the country can on public grounds be opposed to it--let him, we say, contemplate the hard lot of the labouring classes, compelled by the importunities of beggars not only to give up a considerable share of the food actually insufficient for themselves, but also to divide their beds or their children’s beds with persons of the lowest habits, and thus see their families deprived of food, of rest, health, and morality; while a large number of the wealthy classes remained listless and inaccessible within their closed doors, or were exercising their better feelings in a distant land.