shewing in language familiar to their habits, the advantages of
_Industry and Frugality_--The pleasure of living independent of the
Pawnbroker and the Publican--The disgrace and ruin attached to
drunkenness and dishonesty, and the glory and happiness of a _good
Husband_, a _good Father_, and _an honest Man_, might it not
reasonably be expected, that in a religious as well as a moral point
of view, advantages would be gained, while the people were both
instructed and amused?
Crimes have been generated in a considerable degree both by immoral
and seditious books and songs.--It is true the laws are open to
punishment. The road however to justice, with respect to the former,
is circuitous and difficult, while in the latter case their execution
is felt to be _harsh_, _severe_, and _ultimately ineffectual_: hence
licentious and mischievous Publications prevail, and Ballad-singers
are suffered often to insult decency, and to disseminate poison in
every street in the Metropolis.
Like many other evils they remain in spite of the statutes made to
prevent them.--They were evils suffered centuries ago where the laws
proved equally unavailing: but the state of society and manners
rendered them less dangerous.
In the Machine of Government there are many component parts where
responsibility attaches;--_but with respect to objects of Police, it
would seem at present to rest no where_, and hence is explained at
once, the want of energy in the execution of our laws, and why so many
excellent Statutes remain a dead letter.--To live encircled by _fears_
arising from uncontrolled excesses of the human passions, either
leading to turpitude or terminating in the commission of crimes, _is
to live in misery_.--Police is an improved state of Society, which
counteracts these excesses by giving energy and effect to the law. It
is like the Mechanical power applied to an useful Machine, devoid of
which, it remains without motion, or action, and without benefit.
"Government," _says the benevolent Hanway_, "originates from the love
of order.--Watered by Police it grows up to maturity, and in course of
time spreads a luxuriant comfort and security.--Cut off its branches,
and the mere trunk, however strong it may appear, can afford no
shelter."
CHAP. XIII.
_Indigence a cause of the increase of Crimes.--The System
with respect to the Casual Poor erroneous.--The miserable
condition of many who seek for an Asylum in the
Metropolis.--The unhappy State of broken-down Families, who
have seen better days.--The effect of Indigence on the
Offspring of the Sufferers.--The discovery of the Children
of unfortunate Families applying for Soup at the
Establishments.--The unparalleled Philanthropy of the
opulent Part of the Community.--Estimate of the Private and
Public Benevolence amounting to 850,000l. a year.--The
noble Munificence of the Merchants.--An Appeal to the
exalted virtue of the Opulent, who have come forward in acts
of Humanity.--The deplorable State of the Lower Ranks
attributed to the present System of the Poor Laws.--An
Institution to inquire into the Causes of Mendicity in the
Metropolis explained.--The State of the Casual Poor
resumed.--The abuses and inefficacy of the relief
received.--A new System proposed with respect to them and
Vagrants in the Metropolis.--Its advantages explained.--The
distinction between Poverty and Indigence explained.--The
Poor divided into five Classes, with suggestions applicable
to each.--The evil Examples in Workhouses a great cause of
the Corruption of Morals.--The Statute of 43 Elizabeth
considered.--The defective System of Execution
exposed--Confirmed by the opinion of Lord Hale.--A partial
Remedy proposed in respect to Vagrant and Casual Poor.--A
Public Institution recommended for the care of this class of
Poor, under the direction of three Commissioners.--Their
Functions explained.--A Proposition for raising a Fund of
5230l. from the Parishes for the support of the
Institution, and to relieve them from the Casual
Poor.--Reasons why the Experiment should be tried.--The
assistance of Sir Frederick Eden, and other Gentlemen of
talents, who have turned their thoughts to the Poor,
attainable.--The advantages which would result to the
Community, from the united Efforts of men of investigation
and judgment, previous to any final Legislative
Regulation.--Conclusion._
Indigence, in the present state of Society, may be considered as a
principal cause of the increase of Crimes.
The System which prevails in the Metropolis, with respect to these
unfortunate individuals who are denominated the _Casual Poor_, will be
found on minute inquiry to be none of the least considerable of the
causes, which lead to the corruption of morals, and to the
multiplication of minor offences in particular.
The number of persons, who with their families, find their way to the
Metropolis, from the most remote quarters of Great Britain and
Ireland, is inconceivable. In hopes of finding employment they incur
an immediate and constant expence, for lodging and subsistence, until
at length their little all is in the Pawnbrokers' shops, or sold to
raise money for the necessaries of life. If they have been virtuously
brought up in the country, despondency seizes upon their minds, in
consequence of the disappointments and hardships, their adventurous or
incautious conduct has doomed them to suffer; which as it applies to
the most deserving of this class, who will not steal, and are ashamed
to beg, often exceeds any thing that the human mind can conceive.
Their Parochial Settlements are either at a great distance, or perhaps
as natives of Scotland or Ireland, they are without even this
resource. The expence of removing, as the Law directs, is too serious
a charge to be incurred by the parish where accident has fixed them.
They are treated with neglect and contumely by the parochial Officers;
and even occasionally driven to despair. Willing to labour, but bereft
of any channel or medium through which the means of subsistence might
be procured. It is assigned to no person to hear their mournful tale,
who might be able to place them in a situation, where they might gain
a subsistence; and under such circumstances it is much to be feared,
that not a few of them either actually perish for want, or contract
diseases which ultimately terminate in premature death.
Such is frequently the situation of the more decent and virtuous class
of the labouring people, who come to seek employment in the
Metropolis. The more profligate who pursue the same course have
generally other resources. Where honest labour is not to be procured,
they connect themselves with those who live by petty or more atrocious
offences, and contribute in no small degree to the increase of the
general phalanx of delinquents. The young female part of such families
too often become prostitutes, while the males pursue acts of
depredation upon the Public, by availing themselves of the various
resources, which the defects in the Police System allow.
In addition to the families who thus resort to the Capital, young men
frequently wander up who have become liable to the penalties of the
laws, in consequence of being unable to find security for the support
of a natural Child in their own parish; or who perhaps have incurred
the punishment due to some other offence.--Without money, without
recommendations, and bereft of friends, and perhaps afraid of being
known, they resort to low public houses, where they meet with thieves
and rogues, who not unfrequently in this way recruit their gangs, as
often as the arm of Justice diminishes their numbers.
But it is to be lamented, that in contemplating the mass of indigence,
which, in its various ramifications, produces distresses more
extensive and more poignant than perhaps in any other spot in the
world, (Paris excepted) its origin is to be traced in almost every
rank of Society; and though sometimes the result of unavoidable
misfortune, is perhaps more frequently generated by idleness,
inattention to business, and indiscretion. But at all events, the tear
of pity is due to the helpless and forlorn offspring of the criminal
or indolent, who become objects of compassion, not only as it relates
to their immediate subsistence; but much more with respect to their
future situations in life. It is in the progress to the adult state,
that the infants of parents, broken down by misfortunes, almost
unavoidably learn, from the pressure of extreme poverty, to resort to
devices which early corrupt their morals, and mar their future success
and utility in life. Under the influence of these sad examples, and
their necessary consequences, do many females become Prostitutes, who
in other circumstances, might have been an ornament to their sex,
while the males, by contracting early in life habits that are
pernicious, become, in many instances, no less noxious to Society.
Familiarized in infancy to the Pawnbroker's shop, and to other even
less reputable means of obtaining temporary subsistence, they too soon
become adepts in falsehood and deceit. Imperious necessity has given
an early spring to their ingenuity. They are generally full of
resource, which in good pursuits might render them useful and valuable
members of the Community: but unhappily their minds have acquired a
wrong bias, and they are reared insensibly in the walks of vice,
without knowing, in many instances, that they are at all engaged in
evil pursuits.
In all these points of view, from indigence is to be traced the great
Origin and the Progress of Crimes.
In attending the different _Soup Establishments_ (where 50,000
indigent families, at the expence of one halfpenny per head, have a
meal furnished every day during the winter)[93] the Author has
observed, with a mixture of pain and satisfaction, particularly at one
of them, the children of unfortunate and reduced families, who, from
their appearance, have moved in a higher sphere, the humble suitors
for this frugal and nourishing aliment.
[Footnote 93: See page 81 and 82 for an account of this Charity.]
To have contributed in any degree to the relief of distress rendered
painful in the extreme from the recollection of better days, is an
ample reward to those benevolent individuals, who have joined in the
support and conduct of an undertaking, of all others the most
beneficial that perhaps was ever devised, for the purpose of assisting
and relieving suffering humanity.
While the wretchedness, misery and crimes, which have been developed,
and detailed in this work, cannot be sufficiently deplored, it is a
matter of no little exultation, that in no country or nation in the
world, and certainly in no other Metropolis, does there exist among
the higher and middle ranks of Society, an equal portion of
Philanthropy and Benevolence.--Here are to be discovered the extremes
of vice and virtue, strongly marked by the existing turpitude on one
hand, and the noble instances of charitable munificence, displayed by
the opulent part of the Community, on the other.
Nothing can place this in a stronger point of view, and perhaps
nothing will astonish strangers more than the following summary
Estimate of the various Institutions, supported chiefly by Voluntary
Contributions, in addition to the legal Assessments, all tending to
ameliorate and better the condition of human life, under the
afflicting circumstances of indigence and disease.[94]
[Footnote 94: For a specific account of these Institutions, see the
Chapter on Municipal Police.]
ESTIMATE.
1. Asylums for the Relief of Objects of Charity L.
and Humanity 30,000
2. Asylums and Hospitals, for the Sick, Lame, and
Diseased 50,000
3. Institutions for Benevolent, Charitable, and
Humane Purposes 205,000
4. Private Charities 150,000
5. Charity Schools for Educating the Poor 10,000
6. To which add the annual Assessments for the
Poor Rates, paid by the Inhabitants of the
Metropolis and its Environs 255,000
Total estimated amount of the annual Sums paid
for the support and benefit of the Poor in the ---------
Metropolis, &c. L.700,000
7. Besides the endowed Establishments, for which
the Poor are chiefly indebted to our Ancestors 150,000
---------
Total L.850,000
In addition to this, it is highly proper to mention the noble
benevolence, which has been displayed by the Opulent of all ranks, but
particularly the Merchants, in the very large sums which have been, at
various times, subscribed for the relief of the brave men, who have
been maimed and wounded, and for the support of the widows, orphans,
and relations of those who have meritoriously lost their lives in
fighting the battles of their country.
Such exalted examples of unbounded munificence the history of no other
nation records.
It is to this source of elevated virtue, and nobleness of mind, that
an appeal is made, on the present occasion, in behalf of those unhappy
fellow-mortals; who, in spite of the unexampled liberality which has
been displayed, still require the fostering hand of Philanthropy.
The cause of these distresses has been explained; and also the evils
which such a condition in human life entails upon Society. It is not
pecuniary aid that will heal this _gangrene_: this _Corruption of
Morals_. There must be the application of a correct System of Police,
calculated to reach the root and origin of the evil.--Without
_System_, _Intelligence_, _Talents_, and _Industry_, united in all
that relates to the affairs of the Poor, millions may be wasted as
millions have already been wasted, without bettering their condition.
In all the branches of the Science of Political Oeconomy, there is
none which requires so much skill and knowledge of men and manners, as
that which relates to this particular object: and yet, important as it
is to the best interests of the Community, the management of a
concern, in which the very foundation of the national prosperity is
involved, is suffered to remain, as in the rude ages, when Society had
not assumed the bold features of the present period,--in the hands of
changeable, and in many instances, unlettered agents; wholly
incompetent to a task at all times nice and difficult in the
execution, and often irksome and inconvenient.
One great feature of this evil, on which it is deplorable to reflect,
is, that nearly one million of the inhabitants of a country, the
utmost population of which is supposed to be short of nine millions,
should be supported in part or in whole by the remaining eight.
In spite of all the ingenious arguments which have been used in favour
of a System admitted to be wisely conceived in its origin, the effects
it has produced incontestably prove, that with respect to the mass of
the Poor, there is something radically wrong in the execution.
If it were not so, it is impossible that there could exist in the
Metropolis such an inconceivable portion of human misery, amidst
examples of munificence and benevolence unparalleled in any age or
country in the world.
Impressed with these sentiments, so far as they apply to the state of
indigence in the Metropolis, a design has been sanctioned by the
_Benevolent Society for bettering the Condition of the Poor_, the
object of which is to establish a department for inquiring into the
history, life, and the causes of the distress of every person who asks
relief in any part of the Metropolis: not with a view to support these
unfortunate persons in idleness and vice; but to use those means which
talents, attention, and humanity can accomplish--(means which are
beyond the reach of parochial officers), for the purpose of enabling
them to assist themselves.[95]
[Footnote 95: An office has for some time past been instituted under
the direction of _Mathew Martin, Esq._ assisted by one or two
philanthropic individuals, for inquiring into cases and causes of
distress.--The generality of the poor persons have been invited to the
office by the distribution of tickets, directing them when and where
they are to apply. On such occasions a small relief has been afforded,
arising from a fund constituted by private benevolence;--but the chief
advantage which these poor people have derived has been from the
consolatory advice given them, and still more from the assistance
afforded by the indefatigable industry, and laudable zeal of Mr.
Martin, in getting those into workhouses who have parochial
settlements in the Metropolis, or assisting in procuring the means of
passing them to their parishes, where such settlements are in the
country. Seasonable pecuniary relief has been also extended in certain
cases, and small loans of money, made to enable those who are able to
work to redeem their apparel, and tools to rescue them from
despondence, and to help themselves by their own labour, in such
employments as they could either themselves obtain, or as could be
procured for them.
From the beginning of the year 1796 to the end of the year 1797, Mr.
Martin investigated the cases of 120 poor persons, who attended him in
consequence of the tickets which were distributed.--Of these 21 were
men; the greater part maimed or disabled by age or sickness, only two
of whom had any legal settlement in London.--Of the women, 99 in
number, 48 were widows, about one-third were aged--some crippled, and
others distressed for want of work, while many were embarrassed by
ignorance of the mode of obtaining parochial relief, or by the fear of
applying for it--of the wives, in most cases, the difficulty arose
from want of work or incapacity of doing it, on account of a child in
arms. There were cases of very great distress. Above half had two or
more children. Some of them infants, and the chief part too young to
work. Of the women 24 claimed settlements in London and
Westminster--33 in different parts of England--22 belonged to Scotland
and Ireland, and the remaining 20 said they could give no account of
their place of settlement. In most instances by an application to
their parishes, and in some to their friends, Mr. Martin was enabled
to obtain effectual relief to all of them; the gift of a little food,
and hearing their melancholy story, afforded some comfort; and had a
small fund been appropriated to this object, it might have been
possible to have enabled those who were in health to have earned a
livelihood. See 12th Report of the _Society for bettering the
Condition of the Poor_.]
In the Metropolis the Magistrates interfere very little in parochial
relief, except when appeals are made to them in particular cases, or
when called upon to sign orders of removal, which is generally done as
a matter of course. Hence it is that the poor are left almost entirely
to the management of the Parochial Officers for the time being, who
frequently act under the influence of ignorance or caprice, or are
irritated by the impudent importunity of the profligate Gin-drinking
poor. These Officers also, it is to be remembered, have private
affairs which necessarily engage the chief part of their attention,
and are frequently no less incapable than unwilling to enter on those
investigations which might enable them to make the proper
discriminations: the modest and shame-faced poor are thus frequently
shut out from relief, while the vociferous and idle succeed in
obtaining pecuniary assistance, which is soon improvidently
dissipated.
The distress which is thus shewn to prevail, by no means arises from
the want of competent funds:--the misfortune is, that from the nature
of the present mode of management it is not possible to apply these
funds beneficially for the proper relief of those for whom they were
intended. A much more moderate assessment, under a regular and proper
management, would remove great part of the evil.
The expence of the class of persons denominated _Casual Poor_, who
have no settlement in any parish in the Metropolis, amounts to a large
sum annually.--In the united parishes of St. Giles in the Fields, and
St. George, Bloomsbury, this expence amounted to 2000_l._ in the year
1796. It arose from the support of about 1200 poor natives of Ireland,
who but for this aid must have become vagrants. The shocking abuse of
the vagrant passes previous to the year 1792, produced the Act of the
32 Geo. III. cap. 45. which requires that Rogues and Vagabonds should
be first publicly whipt, or confined seven days in the House of
Correction, (females to be imprisoned only, and in no case whipped)
before they are passed, as directed by the Act of the 17 Geo. II. c.
5. Hence it is that so many who are either on the brink of vagrancy
or have actually received alms, are permitted to remain a burden on
the parishes; the Magistrates being loth to incur the charge of
inhumanity, by strictly following the letter of the Act, in whipping
or imprisoning poor miserable wretches, whose indigence have rendered
relief necessary.
In all the 146 parishes within and without the walls, including the
Bills of Mortality, &c. it is not improbable that the casual charity
given in this way may amount to 10,000_l._ a year.
The loose manner in which it is given, and the impossibility either of
a proper discrimination, or of finding in the distributing these
resources, that time for investigation which might lead to the solid
benefit of the Pauper, by restoring him to a capacity of earning his
own livelihood, makes it highly probable that instead of being useful,
this large sum is perhaps hurtful, to the major part of the poor who
receive it. The trifle they receive, from being injudiciously given,
and frequently to get rid of the clamour and importunity of the most
profligate, is too often spent immediately in the Gin-shop.--No
inquiry is made into the circumstances of the family--No measures are
pursued to redeem the apparel locked up in the Pawnbrokers' shop,
although a small sum would frequently recover the habiliments of a
naked and starving family--no questions are asked respecting the means
they employ to subsist themselves by labour; and no efforts are used
to procure employment for those who are willing to labour, but have
not the means of obtaining work.
Hence it is that poverty, under such circumstances, contributes in no
small degree to the multiplication of crimes. The profligate thus
partly supported, too often resorts to pilfering pursuits to fill up
the chasm, and habits of idleness being once obtained, labour soon
becomes irksome.
Why should not the whole nation, but particularly the Metropolis, be
considered, so far at least as regards the vagrant and casual Poor, as
one family, and be placed under the review of certain persons who
might be considered as worthy of the trust, and might devote their
time sedulously to that object?--Were such an establishment,
instituted, and supported in the first instance by a sum from each
parish, equal to the casual relief they have each given on an average
of the five preceding years, with power to employ this fund in
establishing Houses of Industry, or Work-rooms, in various parts of
the Metropolis, where the Poor should receive the whole of their
earnings and a comfortable meal besides:--it is highly probable that
while the expence to the parishes would gradually diminish, beggary
would be annihilated in the Metropolis--the modest and deserving Poor
would be discovered and relieved, while the idle and profligate, who
resorted to begging as a trade, would be compelled to apply to honest
labour for their subsistence.
This is a point in the political oeconomy of the Nation highly
important, whether it relates to the cause of humanity or to the
morals of the people, upon which all good Governments are
founded.--That such an institution is practicable is already proved
from the partial experiments that have been made. That the advantages
resulting from it would be great beyond all calculation, is too
obvious to require elucidation.
While it operated beneficially to the lower classes of the people and
to the State, it would relieve Parochial Officers of a very irksome
and laborious task, perhaps the most disagreeable that is attached to
the office of an Overseer in the Metropolis.