Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/191

 PAUPERISM 181 parish thereof the rector and parishioners should support their own paupers. In Eng- land more than a hundred laws against beg- gary and vagrancy were enacted successively till after the reign of Henry VIIL, and en- forced with extreme rigor. Still the evil grew. It was very great before the reforma- tion, and was still greater afterward ; but the suppression of the monasteries, though one of the causes, was not the chief cause of the in- crease of pauperism under the Tudors. As to the poor laws properly so called, the first re- corded instance of a rate in aid appraised and collected in England for the relief of the poor is that of a manor in Cambridge then and now belonging to Merton college. This manor in 1319 was, together with other Cambridge par- ishes, subjected to an agistment for the relief of the sufferers by a famine then prevalent. The first known English statute for the relief of the disabled poor was that of 12 Richard II., c. 7 (1388). That of 27 Henry VIIL, c. 25 (1535), first made compulsory assistance incumbent on each locality ; the parishes were obliged to provide for the disabled poor by a fund raised by voluntary contribution or alms, and to find work for the able-bodied. This disposition was confirmed by 1 Edward VI., c. 3 (1547). By 5 Elizabeth c. 3 (1563), all who refused to contribute voluntarily to the parish poor fund were to be compelled by the magis- trates, who were empowered to tax the recu- sants and even to imprison them. In 1573 another law authorized the justices to assess all parishioners, and houses of refuge were ordered to be provided for the helpless poor. Finally, in 1601, came the statute known as 43 Elizabeth, which served as a basis for all subsequent legislation levying a rate in aid of the poor. For this purpose a tax was imposed on every parishioner, and a board of overseers was to be named by the local justices to aid the churchwardens in applying the poor fund to the relief of the helpless, the apprenticing of children, and the providing of work for the able-bodied. This was completed in 1662 by the statute 14 Charles II., c. 12, known as " the law of settlement and removal," which will be more fully explained hereafter; it aimed at determining the parish or locality in which every pauper should be relieved. Thus relief to the poor and the prevention of men- dicity were made a parochial function and duty ; and subsequent legislation till the year 1723 was only directed at so checking the powers of the overseers of the poor by the action of the local justices as to prevent the former from being either too liberal or too stringent, with a view of preventing the increase of pauperism. The act of 1723 (9 George I., c. 7), authorizing several parishes to unite in maintaining a workhouse and otherwise providing for their paupers, was the first step toward centraliza- tion. This law was relaxed by that of 1795 (36 George III., c. 23), and still more by that of 1814 (55 George III., c. 137). But pauper- ism and the taxes necessary for its support increased so alarmingly, that in 1817 the fear was expressed by a royal commission of in- quiry that the assessment would end in swal- lowing up the profits of the land. After several other parliamentary inquiries, the basis of a new system of public relief was laid by the law of 1834 (4 and 5 William IV., c. 76) and by that of 1835 (5 and 6 William IV., c. 69). By these acts the superintendence of public charity was centralized in the three capitals of the United Kingdom, and the local service of the poor in parish unions created for that pur- pose. This system was at first put on trial for five years, and then continued by successive enactments. Retaining the best features of the act of 1601, it provides for a central board of three commissioners for the general super- intendence and control of all bodies charged with the management of funds for the relief of the poor. Subordinate to these are nine dis- trict commissioners, and the whole are subject to the direction of the secretary of state for the home department. The commissioners are empowered to order workhouses to be erected or hired, enlarged or altered, with the consent of a majority of the board of guardians. They may unite a number of parishes in a poor-law union, for the purpose of a more economical and effective administration, but in such a way that each parish shall defray the actual cost of the support of its own poor. The parishes composing a poor-law union elect their board of guardians, without the consent of a majority of whom money cannot be raised for building purposes ; but the masters of the workhouses, and other paid officers, are under the orders of the commissioners, and removable by them. No wages are paid to the poor* out of the poor rates, and except in extraordinary cases relief is only given to the able-bodied poor and their families within the walls of the workhouse, where labor is required of them in return for it. The provisions in regard to illegitimate children are intended to materially check bas- tardy. The putative father, if prosecuted, is required to pay the sum fixed by law 2s. 6d. per week) to the union instead of the mother, and the mother and child are received into the workhouse. The children of paupers are educated in workhouse schools. In two years after its passage this law had reduced the cost of the relief of the poor 40 per cent. A similar system was introduced into Ireland in the first year of Queen Victoria, and by 10 and 11 Vic- toria, c. 90, a central board of commissioners was established, distinct from the English board, but with analogous powers. There are about 180 poor-law unions in Ireland, support- ing by assessment infirmaries, hospitals, and workhouses. There are besides numerous free institutions maintained by private charity. In Scotland the old system of parish relief con- tinued in force till 1845, when a special statute, 8 and 9 Victoria, c. 83, established a central board called the board of supervision, which