(10.) The sum expended for the maintenance of the poor of England in the
year ending March 25th, 1830, was 6,553,443_l._ For Wales, the sum for
that year was 275,598_l._ Although the population since 1750 has only
about doubled itself, the poor rates have increased, since that year,
more than tenfold. For the ten manufacturing and mining counties,
mentioned in paragraph 2, (viz., Lancaster to Salop,) the increase has
been from 107,927_l._ in 1750 to 1,337,011_l._ in 1830; for the thirteen
counties in paragraph 3, (Surrey to Hertford, including the
Metropolitan,) from 294,070_l._ to 2,666,199_l._; and for the nineteen
agricultural counties, in paragraph 4, from 277,865_l._ to 2,550,330_l._
The sum expended for the poor of Middlesex in 1830, was 675,285_l._;
next to this comes Kent, 358,461_l._, though only the sixth county in
the order of population; then, Norfolk, 299,211_l._, though only the
ninth county in population; then, Lancaster, the third in population,
297,674_l._; then, Essex, the fourteenth in population, and containing
about one-fourth of the people in Lancashire, 282,133_l._; then, the
West Riding of Yorkshire, with a population of 976,400, 281,158_l._ The
ratio of the poor rates of the ten manufacturing counties to their
population is about as one to three; that of the thirteen metropolitan
and other counties, about one-half; and that of the nineteen
agricultural counties, as about two to three. The chief burthen of
pauperism, therefore, falls upon the agricultural districts.
(11.) The committals for crime in the ten manufacturing districts were
in 1805, 1,198, and in 1829, 6,430; in the thirteen metropolitan and
other districts, they were in 1805, 2,317, and in 1829, 7,844; and in
the nineteen agricultural counties, they were in 1805, 1,012, and in
1829, 4,158. In all Wales the committals decreased from 78 in 1805, to
24 in 1829. The number of persons committed for trial at Assizes and
Sessions in England and Wales in 1830, was 18,107, of whom 12,805 were
convicted, 3,470 acquitted, and 1,832 had no bills found against them
and were not prosecuted. Of the convicted, 1397 were sentenced to death,
and 46 executed. As a general result, the committals in England are thus
in the proportion of one to 740 inhabitants; and in Wales, of one to
2,320. In London and Middlesex the proportion is higher than in any
other county, being one committal to every 400 inhabitants; in Surrey
the proportion is one to 680; in Kent, one to 730; in Sussex, one to
750; in Essex, one to 650; in Hertfordshire, one to 520; in
Bedfordshire, one to 710. In the manufacturing districts the proportion
is in Lancashire one to 650; in Warwickshire, one to 480; in
Gloucestershire (including Bristol), one to 540; in Nottingham, one to
750; in Cheshire, one to 630. In the more remote counties the proportion
is small, that of Northumberland being only one to 2,700; of Durham, one
to 2,460; and of Cornwall, one to 1,600. It should be remarked, that of
late, other causes than the advance of crime have tended to fill the
prisons, such as the Malicious Trespass Act, and the law for paying
prosecutors their expenses in cases of misdemeanour; and it is most
satisfactory to observe that the darker crimes have, of late years, been
less apparent than of old.
(12.) The number of depositors in Savings’ Banks in England in 1830
(including 5,904 Friendly and Charitable Societies) was 373,716, and in
Wales 10,404. The total amount thus invested was, in England,
13,080,255_l._, and, in Wales, 340,721_l._ The proportion of the
depositors to the total population, is therefore about 34 in every 1000,
or one in 30. The average of the ten counties, in paragraph 2, is 25
depositors to every 1000; of the thirteen counties, in paragraph 3, it
is 33 depositors to every 1000; and of the nineteen counties, in
paragraph 4, it is 27 to every 1000. In Devonshire the proportion of
depositors is the highest, being 55 to 1000; in Middlesex and Berkshire
it is 50 to 1000; in Lancashire and Warwickshire, 20 to 1000; in Kent,
Sussex, and Dorset, 36 to 1000; and in Monmouth, Westmoreland, and
Buckingham about 12 to 1000 of the population. The average amount of
each deposit is about 34_l._, and there has of late been a considerable
increase in the number of depositors of sums under 20_l._, who amount
now to 192,881. By some this fact is regarded as a proof of the growth
of prudential habits among the mass of the working classes. It would be
more exact to say so, of a _small portion_ of the working classes, the
fact being that 29 out of 30 of our population do not contribute to
Savings’ Banks at all. There are some debatable questions in regard to
the effect produced by the appropriation of the funds of the Savings’
Banks by the Commissioners for the reduction of the National Debt, but
such questions cannot at all affect the manifest advantage to be
attained by every working man in saving his money at interest, in
preference to squandering it.
(13.) It has been already seen in paragraph 3, that the rate of increase
of the population of Middlesex (including the city of London) since 1700
has been 117 per cent., being 37 per cent. less than the average of the
rest of England. The following is a statement of the present population
of the Metropolis commonly called London, as compared with 1801:--
1801. 1831.
City of London, within the Walls 63,832 55,778
Ditto without the Walls 65,696 67,480
City and Liberties of Westminster 153,272 202,050
Holborn Division 73,835 97,373
Finsbury ditto 67,155 139,248
Tower ditto 185,508 351,647
Ten parishes in Surrey, viz. five in Southwark,
and Bermondsey, Rotherhithe,
Newington, Christchurch, and Lambeth,
adjacent 137,655 266,499
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Total within the Bills of Mortality 746,953 1,180,075
Five western parishes of St. Mary-le-bone,
St. Pancras, Paddington, St. Luke Chelsea,
and Kensington 117,802 273,587
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Total of the Metropolis 864,755 1,453,662
Those who desire fuller information in regard to London and its environs
should consult Mr. Marshall’s ‘Topographical and Statistical Details of
the Metropolis;’ a small and cheap work, which contains a great deal of
valuable information. Mr. Marshall has also recently published a more
elaborate work, in quarto, entitled, ‘Statistics, Mortality, &c. &c. of
the Metropolis.’ To both these publications we are indebted for some of
the materials of the statements in these ‘Statistical Notes.’
[To be continued.]
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