Eighth Report of proceedings—Failure of the potato—A fourth commissioner
appointed—Ninth Report—Potato disease in 1846—Public Works
Act—Distress in autumn 1846—Labour-rate Act—Relief-works—Temporary
Relief Act—Pressure upon workhouses—Emigration—Financial state of
unions—First Annual Report of Poor-Law Commissioners for
Ireland—Extension Act—Act for Punishment of Vagrants—Act to provide
for execution of Poor Laws—General import of the new Acts—Change of
the commission—Dissolution of boards of guardians—Report of Temporary
Relief Act Commissioners—British Association—Second Annual
Report of Poor-Law Commissioners—Recurrence of potato
disease—Cholera—Rate-in-Aid Act—Further dissolution of boards of
guardians—Boundary commission—Select committee on Irish Poor
Laws—Expenditure, and numbers relieved.
[Sidenote: 1846.
Eighth report of proceedings in Ireland.[125]]
The Report for 1845-6, like those of preceding years, is dated on the
1st of May, and represents the progress of the law during the previous
twelve months as being on the whole satisfactory. All the workhouses
were open and the rates in course of collection, except in the two small
unions of Clifden and Cahirciveen, in each of which however the
guardians had taken steps for making a rate and opening the workhouse.
-----
[125]
This eighth Report of proceedings in Ireland, is included in the
twelfth Report of the Poor Law Commissioners; but as before stated it
has been thought better to keep the Irish portion of the Reports
distinct from the other, and to give them a separate number.
-----
[Sidenote: Numbers relieved, and cost of relief.]
The number of persons relieved in the several workhouses continued to
increase throughout the present year, the total number amounting to
114,205. In the week ending 27th December 1845 the number so relieved
was 41,218, whilst in the week ending 28th March 1846 (the last for
which the returns were complete) the number was 50,717, being an
increase of 9,499 in three months, and indicating that the distress
which had now become very general was beginning to press upon the
workhouses. The number described as able-bodied was 8,246, that is 1,984
males and 6,262 females. The total expenditure on relief of the poor
during the preceding year in the 113 unions of which the workhouses were
opened prior to 1845, amounted on the 1st of January 1846 to 298,813_l._
The number of inmates at that date was 40,876. In the 10 other unions
the workhouses of which were opened in the course of 1845, the
expenditure on relief amounted to 17,213_l._, and the number of inmates
to 1,192,—so that on January 1st 1846 there were 42,068 poor persons
relieved in 123 workhouses, and the entire cost of relief during the
year amounted to 316,026_l._
The financial state of the unions generally, appears to have been
satisfactory. In the monthly returns for February 1846, comprising 128
unions, the rates collected during the month amounted to 41,871_l._,
leaving 206,664_l._ in course of collection. The aggregate of the
balances against the guardians in 25 unions was 5,294_l._, whilst in the
remaining 103 unions, the whole of the balances were in favour of the
guardians and amounted to 54,314_l._, thus showing a net balance of
49,020_l._ in the hands of the treasurers. This sum added to what was in
course of collection, making together 255,684_l._, must be regarded as
sufficient for covering an expenditure of say 320,000_l._ per annum, the
rates in a great number of the unions being made half-yearly.
[Sidenote: Electoral divisions.]
The number of electoral divisions amounted to 2,049, each on an average
containing a population of about 4,000 persons. The dissatisfaction
expressed in many instances with the divisional system, and with the
inequalities of charge to which it gave rise, has already been
noticed.[126] The _44th section_ of the Poor Relief Act seeks to provide
a remedy for, or at least a mitigation of such inequalities, by enabling
the guardians of the several divisions of a union to agree to a common
rating: but it is evident that wherever the inequality of rating is
greatest, there will be the greatest difficulty in effecting such an
arrangement. In fact the only instance in which it has been effected is
in the Dunmanway union, where the guardians of all the electoral
divisions signed an agreement in the terms of the statute, that the
charges should thenceforth be borne in common. In this union therefore
one great source of contention will have been removed, although at a
sacrifice in some degree of that local interest which attaches to
guardians representing a district separately chargeable: but enough of
such interest will remain in a common chargeability to secure attention
to the general interests of the union, in which all that is exclusively
local will become merged; and it may therefore be expected that the
well-working of the Dunmanway board will not be impeded through a want
of harmony among its members.
-----
[126]
Ante, p. 288.
-----
[Sidenote: The Tuam and Castlereagh boards dissolved.]
The Tuam guardians, against whom judgment had been pronounced under the
proceedings by mandamus, as noticed in the last Report,[127] although
professing compliance with the peremptory order issued by the court,
were still backward in fulfilling the duties which the law imposed upon
them, as were also the guardians of the Castlereagh union. The
commissioners therefore deemed it right to dissolve both these boards,
on whom it was evident that reliance could not be placed for an
effective administration of the law, in the impending season of scarcity
and distress through the failure of the potato crop; and it was at the
same time intimated, that if the boards elected in lieu of those
dissolved “failed to discharge effectually their duties as guardians of
the poor,” paid officers would be appointed under the _26th section_ of
the Relief Act to carry its provisions into execution. “It is
satisfactory (the commissioners observe), prepared as we are in case of
necessity to resort to the exercise of those powers, that we have, in
the first instance, always endeavoured to give effect to the views of
the legislature, when resisted, by an appeal to judicial authority. We
still trust that the decisions which the Court of Queen’s Bench has
pronounced in vindication of the law, and which have invariably been
followed by submission elsewhere, will finally have their due effect in
the Tuam and Castlereagh unions, and render unnecessary the appointment
of paid officers to perform the functions of guardians in those unions.”
-----
[127]
Ante, p. 300.
-----
[Sidenote: Fever wards.]
Considerable progress had been made in providing for poor persons
afflicted with fever. In 50 of the unions, fever wards in connexion with
the workhouses were either built or in course of building, and in others
houses had been hired for the purpose, or temporary provision was made
until fever wards could be erected. Arrangements had likewise been made
for sending fever patients from the workhouses to county fever
hospitals, and no pains were spared in urging upon the guardians the
necessity of their being prepared for the occurrence of fever, which
experience had shown to be always prevalent in seasons of distress, from
whatever cause arising.
[Sidenote: Failure of the potato.]
We are now arrived at the period of the potato failure, some account of
which as affecting England and Scotland has been given in the respective
histories.[128] “The potato disease,” so called to distinguish it from
the less general and entire failure of that root which has occasionally
occurred, first appeared in America in 1844, but it did not show itself
in Ireland until the autumn of 1845. The early crops generally escaped
its ravages, but the late or main crop was found to be so far tainted
with the disease, that although much of it was susceptible of being used
at the time the potatoes were dug, they afterwards rotted in the pits,
and became an offensive mass unfitted for the use of man or beast. This
was especially the case in the western districts; and there as well as
wherever the small cottier or the conacre systems prevailed, any failure
in the potato crop, even although it were small and partial, would
necessarily occasion much distress, the population being in such cases
generally redundant, and subsisting nearly altogether on that root.
-----
[128]
See ‘History of the Scotch Poor Law,’ p. 199. See also ‘History of the
English Poor Law,’ 2nd vol. pp. 391-393.
-----
In the present instance there was not only a failure in the quantity
raised, but the portion of the crop stored for future use was known to
be in jeopardy, and the distress and alarm were proportionally
increased. Both were in fact excessive, the one adding to the other, and
causing the most serious apprehensions throughout the country.
Government participated in these apprehensions, and took early steps for
obtaining 100,000_l._ worth of Indian corn from America, in anticipation
of the distress and difficulties sure to arise through the failure of
the potato, and for which the country itself afforded no
substitute.[129] This timely supply arrived in course of the spring of
1846, and in order to its distribution, depôts were established in
various places along the coast under the direction of commissariat
officers, with sub-depôts in charge of the constabulary and
coast-guard.[130] Wherever the ordinary supplies of food were found to
be deficient, Indian meal was sold from these depôts at a moderate
price, to the relief committees if any such had been formed, and
likewise to all who applied for it. The meal was not however at first
relished by the people, for although far more nutritious than the
potato, it was new, and they preferred that to which they had been
accustomed. But necessity is ever a successful controller of taste, and
Indian meal which was at first disliked, and about which the most absurd
stories were promulgated, became ere long, and after the mode of
preparing it came to be understood, a favourite description of food with
the Irish people.
-----
[129]
In March 1846, on the introduction of the measure (_9th and 10th Vict.
cap. 2_) for enabling the Treasury to make advances on security of
grand jury presentments, Mr. O'Connell, whose knowledge of Ireland
must be admitted, declared that government had acted wisely in causing
a quantity of maize or Indian corn to be imported, to replace the
damaged potatoes, as by so doing they had added to the quantity of
food for the people.
[130]
See ‘The Irish Crisis,’ by Sir Charles Trevelyan, reprinted in 1848
from the Edinburgh Review No. 175.
-----
Although the potato had thus failed, not only in Ireland but in England
and Scotland, and throughout the greater portion of Europe, the grain
crops were generally abundant, and would in a great degree supply the
deficiency caused by such failure, except where the potato constituted
the chief or nearly sole article of subsistence, as was the case in many
parts of Ireland. Here the void caused by the loss of the potato could
only be supplied by imports from abroad, and this circumstance was
adduced by Sir Robert Peel in January 1846 as one of the reasons for a
reduction of the corn-duties, and led to Indian corn being admitted at a
duty of 1_s._ per quarter, instead of being charged the same duty as
barley, as it previously had been, and owing to which charge probably,
it was little used or known either in England or Ireland.
In the autumn of 1845, as soon as the prevalence of the “potato disease”
had been ascertained, government deputed three gentlemen of high
scientific attainments[131] to examine into its nature, and to suggest
means for checking its ravages. But the result showed that the evil was
beyond the reach of human skill, for notwithstanding the application of
every remedy which science could devise or experience dictate, the decay
of the root continued with undiminished rapidity. On the appearance of
the disease, the Poor Law Commissioners entered into active
communication with the several boards of guardians on the subject, and
endeavoured to mitigate the consequences of the potato failure, by
authorizing the use of other kinds of food in the union dietaries. These
were for the most part modified accordingly, and bread, or stirabout
prepared from Indian meal, was substituted for potatoes.
-----
[131]
These were Professors Kane, Lindley, and Playfair.
-----
[Sidenote: A fourth commissioner appointed.]
The circumstances of Ireland at this time, induced the government to
exercise the power conferred by the _119th section_ of the Irish Poor
Relief Act, and to appoint a fourth commissioner to act in that
country. The gentleman selected was Mr. Twisleton, of whom mention has
been made in connexion with the Scotch Poor Law;[132] and on his
proceeding to Ireland, the powers previously delegated to the two
assistant-commissioners[133] were revoked.
-----
[132]
See ‘History of the Scotch Poor Law,’ pp. 130 and 165.
[133]
Ante, p. 284.
-----
[Sidenote: 1847.
Ninth report of proceedings in Ireland.]
The ninth Report (for 1846-7) is like the others dated on the 1st of
May. It describes very fully the effects consequent on the potato
disease of the previous autumn, so far as these effects bore upon the
working of the Poor Law. The connexion between the two, although in one
sense intimate, is in other respects limited; for where the land has
ceased to be productive, the necessary means of relief cannot be
obtained from it, and a poor-law will no longer be operative, or at
least not operative to an extent adequate to meet such an emergency as
then existed in Ireland. A poor-law, rightly devised and judiciously
administered, will generally be found equal to the relief of destitution
in the ordinary progress of events; but a state of famine, or a total
failure of the means of subsistence is extraordinary, and the
wide-spread destitution thence arising is beyond the powers of a
poor-law effectually to relieve, although it may doubtless be applied to
some extent in mitigation. Under the circumstances at that time
unhappily existing in Ireland, other aid was necessary beyond what could
be derived from any modification of the Poor Law; and the nature of
those circumstances, and the means pursued in dealing with them, will be
explained in the following pages.
[Sidenote: The potato disease in 1846.]
The potato disease made its appearance in 1846 much earlier than in the
preceding year, and it was also much more general and destructive.
Captain Mann in his narrative of events in the county of Clare at this
period, says that the symptoms of the disease were first noticed in the
latter part of July; but that the change which took place in one week in
August was such as he shall never forget—“On the first occasion (he
says) I had passed over thirty-two miles thickly studded with
potato-fields in full bloom. The next time the face of the whole country
was changed—the stalk remained a bright green, but the leaves were all
scorched black. It was the work of a night. Distress and fear was
pictured in every countenance, and there was a general rush to dig and
sell, or consume the crop by feeding pigs and cattle, fearing in a short
time they would prove unfit for any use.” And in a letter printed in the
Parliamentary Papers, Father Mathew[134] states—“On the 27th of July I
passed from Cork to Dublin, and this doomed plant bloomed in all the
luxuriance of an abundant harvest. Returning on the 3rd of August, I
beheld with sorrow one wide waste of putrifying vegetation. In many
places the wretched people were seated on the fences of their decaying
gardens, wringing their hands and wailing bitterly the destruction that
had left them foodless.”
-----
[134]
Commonly known in Ireland as “the Apostle of Temperance,” a worthy and
benevolent man.
-----
The disease made its first appearance in the form of little brown spots
on the leaves of the plant. These continued to increase until the leaves
became withered, leaving the stem bare, and so brittle that it snapped
off on being handled. The whole was effected in less than a week, the
fields appearing as if they were burnt, and the growth of the root
entirely destroyed. No potatoes were pitted this year, and the wheat
crop barely amounted to an average, whilst barley and oats were
decidedly deficient. “On the continent the rye and potato crops again
failed, and prices rose there early in the season above those ruling in
England, which caused the shipments from the Black Sea, Turkey and Egypt
to be sent to France, Italy and Belgium; and it was not till late in the
season that our prices rose to a point which turned the current of
supplies towards England and Ireland. The Indian corn crop in the United
States this year was however happily very abundant, and it became a
resource of the utmost value to this country.[135]
-----
[135]
See ‘The Irish Crisis,’ by Sir Charles Trevelyan, p. 41.
-----
[Sidenote: Reduction of duty on corn imported.]
In June 1846, _The 9th and 10th Vict. cap. 22_, was passed, providing
for the gradual reduction of the import duty on corn, and fixing it at
1_s._ per quarter on every description imported after the 1st of
February 1849. On the assembling of parliament in January 1847, two
other Acts were passed[136] making further reductions in the duty on
corn, and removing the restriction imposed by the Navigation Laws on the
importation of corn in foreign vessels; and shortly afterwards the whole
duty on rice and Indian corn and Indian meal was suspended.
-----
[136]
_The 10th and 11th Vict. cap. 1 and 2._
-----
[Sidenote: Relief committees formed.]
In the early part of 1846, relief committees were formed throughout
Ireland, under the superintendence of a central commission established
in Dublin, for the purpose of dispensing food, the requisite funds being
furnished by private subscriptions assisted by donations from
government. The months of June and July was the period of heaviest
pressure, during which one of the central depôts established by
government, issued in a single week no less than 233 tons of meal to its
various sub-depôts, and one of these latter again retailed 20 tons to
the public daily. If the people had lived by wages like the labouring
classes in England, the providing a cheap substitute for the potato
would have been sufficient for the present emergency. But money-wages
were comparatively little known in Ireland, the people chiefly
subsisting on produce raised by themselves; and it was therefore
necessary to adopt some plan for enabling them to purchase the new
description of food which had been procured for them.
[Sidenote: The Public Works Act, _9th and 10th Vict. c. 1_.]
The plan adopted was by establishing public works, as had been done on
former somewhat like occasions; and an Act was accordingly passed
enabling the magistrates and principal cess-payers to obtain advances of
public money for this purpose, one-half as a free grant, the other half
as a loan to be repaid by the barony out of the grand-jury cess. The
greatest number of persons employed under this system was 97,000. It was
brought to a close in the month of August, and may be said on the whole
to have answered its intended purpose, although not without considerable
drawbacks, partly through the misapplication of public money, and partly
by increasing the tendency which has always prevailed in Ireland to rely
upon government aid. The entire amount expended by the government down
to the 15th of August 1846, in affording relief to the Irish people
during this season of distress was 733,372_l._, of which one-half was a
free grant, and the other half a loan. The sum raised by voluntary
subscription for like purposes was 98,000_l._, making together
831,372_l._, obtained from other than poor-law sources, and expended
during this first season of severe pressure in relief of persons many of
whom would else have perished through absolute want.
[Sidenote: The autumn of 1846. Severe distress.]
With the approach of autumn another period of distress commenced in
Ireland, far heavier and more intense than the preceding, the potato
crop having now almost universally and entirely failed. In the former
season there were helps or palliatives, some districts having nearly
escaped the disease and others being less generally affected by it; but
in the present season there were no such exceptions, and neither help
nor hope was to be found in the natural resources of the country. A new
emergency may thus be said to have arisen, and the public works which
had been put an end to in August were renewed in the following month,
and the entire machinery of provision depôts and relief committees was
reorganized on a more comprehensive scale than before.
[Sidenote: The Labour-rate Act, _9th and 10th Vict. c. 107_.]
In order to check the exorbitant demands which had in many instances
been made in the previous season, the whole expense of the public works
was now under the new Labour-Rate Act made a local charge, to be
defrayed by a rate levied and assessed in a manner similar to the
poor-rate, which makes the landlord liable for the whole on tenements
under 4_l._ yearly value, and for half the rate on tenements valued
above that amount. It was also determined that as far as possible
task-work should be adopted, and at a rate of payment below what was
usual in the district. It was further determined in order to avoid
embarrassing the operations of the private trader, that government
should not order supplies from abroad, and that its interference should
be confined to the western districts, in which no trade in corn for
local consumption existed. Moreover, the government depôts were not to
be opened for the sale of food so long as it could be obtained from
private dealers, and no purchases were to be made in the local market,
where the appearance of government as a purchaser would be certain to
raise prices.
[Sidenote: The board of works.]
Such generally was the plan proposed to be pursued under the pressure of
famine, and the other distressing circumstances consequent on the
failure of the potato crop at the end of 1846; and it was expected that
the resident proprietors and ratepayers would perform their part, by
ascertaining the extent of destitution in the several localities, and
determining what was necessary to be done in the way of relief, and the
best mode of doing it. This expectation however was not fulfilled, and
in almost every instance these duties were left to be performed by the
board of works, which had thus to obtain the best information it could
through hired agents, “to advance the necessary funds, to select the
labourers, to superintend the works, to pay the people weekly, to
enforce a proper performance of the labour, to ascertain the quantity of
labour required for farm-works, to select and draft off proper persons
to perform it, to settle the wages to be paid to them by the farmers and
to see that they were paid, to furnish food not only for all the
destitute out of doors, but in some measure for the paupers in the
workhouses”—in short, “the board of works became the centre of a
colossal organization, 5,000 separate works had to be reported upon,
12,000 subordinate officers had to be superintended, and their letters
averaged upwards of 800 a day.”[137]
-----
[137]
See ‘The Irish Crisis,’ by Sir Charles Trevelyan, under whose able
superintendence the government aid was chiefly administered in
Ireland, and on whose statements of what took place I have chiefly
relied in this account of the dismal periods of 1846 and 1847.
-----
[Sidenote: The relief-works.]
The strain upon the executive through this system of centralization was
excessive. Government had to bear the entire pressure of the masses on
the sensitive points of wages and food. Task-work was generally objected
to, and its enforcement gave rise to frequent struggles, in which the
safety of the superintending officers was sometimes put in jeopardy. The
number of persons employed on the works continued to increase—“Thousands
upon thousands were pressed upon the officers of the board of works in
every part of Ireland, and it was impossible for those officers to test
the accuracy of the urgent representations which were made to them. The
attraction of money wages regularly paid from the public purse, or ‘The
queen’s pay,’ as it was popularly called, led to a general abandonment
of other descriptions of industry, in order to participate in the
advantages of the relief-works.[Sidenote: Evils of the system.]
Landlords competed with each other in getting the names of their tenants
placed on the lists; farmers dismissed their labourers and sent them to
the works; the clergy insisted on the claims of the members of their
respective congregations; the fisheries were deserted; and it was often
difficult even to get a coat patched or a pair of shoes mended, to such
an extent had the population of the south and west of Ireland turned out
upon the roads. The average number employed in October was 114,000, in
November 285,000, in December 440,000, and in January 1847, 570,000.” It
was obviously impossible to exact from such a multitude the amount of
labour that would operate as a test. Huddled together in masses they
screened each other’s idleness. It was thought that the enforcement of
taskwork would stimulate their industry; but when after a hard struggle
this point had been carried, an habitual collusion between the labourers
and the overlookers appointed to measure their work revived the former
abuse, and the labourers were as idle as ever.
The Labour-Rate Act (_9th and 10th Vict. cap. 107_) was founded on the
assumption that the owners and occupiers of land would themselves make
efforts commensurate with the magnitude of the crisis, and that only a
manageable number of persons would have to be supported on the public
works. But including the families of those so employed, more than
2,000,000 persons were maintained by the relief-works, and there were
others behind including the most helpless, for whom no work could be
found. [Sidenote: Failure of relief-works.]The extent to which the rural
population were thrown upon the relief-works, threatened likewise to
interrupt the ordinary tillage of the land, and thus to perpetuate a
state of famine. In short, a change of system had become necessary, and
at the end of January (1847) it was announced that government intended
to put an end to the public works, and to substitute another mode of
relief. The pressure nevertheless continued to increase. The 570,000 men
employed daily in January, became 708,000 in February, and 734,000 in
March, representing with their dependents upwards of 3,000,000 of
persons. The expenses were in proportion, and exceeded a million
sterling per month.[138] At the end of February however preparation was
made for a change of system by passing the Temporary Relief Act (_10th
Vict. cap. 7_). In March the numbers employed were reduced by 20 per
cent., and successive reductions continued to be made as the change of
system was brought into operation. In the first weeks of April, May and
June respectively, the numbers employed were 525,000, 419,000, and
101,000; and in the week ending the 26th of June the number was reduced
to 28,000. The necessary labour was thus returned to agriculture, and a
foundation was laid for the ensuing abundant harvest. “The remaining
expenditure was limited to a sum of 200,000_l._ for the month of May,
and to 100,000_l._ a month for June, July, and the first 15 days of
August, when the Act expired.”
-----
[138]
In the month of March the expenditure upon relief-works including
labour and plant, and the cost of the staff, amounted to 1,050,772_l._
-----
[Sidenote: 26th Feb. 1847.
Temporary Relief Act. _10th and 11th Vict. c. 7_.]
The system of affording relief through the agency of public works having
broken down, while that of administering it in a direct form on the
principle of the Poor Law had generally been found effective wherever it
had been tried, it was as above stated determined to give validity to
this mode bypassing the _10th and 11th Vict., cap. 7_, which directs
that a relief committee consisting of the magistrates, a clergyman of
each persuasion, the poor-law guardian and the three highest ratepayers,
shall be constituted in each electoral division, and that a finance
committee of four gentlemen of character and knowledge of business
should be formed to control the expenditure in each union. Inspecting
officers are also to be appointed, and a central commission sitting in
Dublin,[139] was to superintend and control the working of the whole
system. The expense incurred was to be defrayed out of the poor-rates,
and when these proved insufficient they might be reinforced by
government loans, to be repaid by rates subsequently levied. But no loan
is to be made, until the inspecting officer had certified that the
guardians have passed a resolution for making the rate upon which the
loan was to be secured. Such were the chief provisions of the Act, but
free grants were also made in aid of the rates in the poorest unions,
and when private subscriptions were raised the government made donations
to an equal amount. The liability of the ratepayers would, it was
considered, operate as a check to undue expenditure; and with regard to
the recipients, the test applied consisted in requiring the personal
attendance of all who needed relief, (excepting only the sick and
impotent poor, and children under the age of nine) and that the relief
should be given in cooked food,[140] in portions sufficient to maintain
health and strength.
-----
[139]
Sir John Burgoyne was the chairman of this commission, and Mr.
Twisleton the poor-law commissioner was a member. The other members
were Mr. Redington the first under secretary, and Col. Jones and Col.
M'Gregor the heads of the board of works and the constabulary.
[140]
The best form in which cooked food could be given was “stirabout,”
made of Indian meal and rice steamed. It is sufficiently solid to be
easily carried away by the recipients. The pound ration thus prepared
swelled by the absorption of water to between 3 and 4 pounds.
-----
[Sidenote: The cooked-food system of relief.]
The cooked-food system of relief was found to a great degree efficacious
in preventing abuse, but it was objected to at first, and the
enforcement of it was in some cases attended with difficulty. Undressed
meal might be sold or exchanged for other articles. “Even the most
destitute often disposed of it for tea tobacco or spirits,” but
stirabout soon becomes sour by keeping, and was not likely to be applied
for except by persons who wanted it for their own immediate use. Depôts
of corn and meal were formed—relief committees were established—mills
and ovens were erected—huge boilers cast specially for the purpose were
sent over from England for preparing the stirabout—and large supplies of
clothing were collected. In July 1847 the system reached its highest
point “3,020,712 persons then received separate rations, of whom
2,265,534 were adults, and 755,178 were children.” This vast multitude
was however rapidly lessened at the approach of harvest,[141] which
happily was not affected by the disease. [Sidenote: Cessation of
famine.] Food became comparatively abundant, and labour in demand. By
the middle of August relief was discontinued in nearly one-half the
unions, and ceased altogether on the 12th September. It was limited by
the Act to the 1st October.
-----
[141]
The price of Indian corn in the middle of February was 19_l._ per ton,
at the end of March it was 13_l._, and by the end of August it had
fallen to 7_l._ 10_s._ per ton. The quantity of corn imported into
Ireland in the first six months of 1847 was 2,849,508 tons.
-----
This was the second year in which upwards of 3,000,000 of people had
been fed “out of the hands of the magistrate” in Ireland, but it was now
done more effectually than at first. The relief-works had been crowded,
often to the exclusion of numbers who were really destitute; but a
ration of cooked food was less attractive than money wages had been, and
it also proved a more effectual relief to the helpless poor. “The famine
was stayed.” Deaths from starvation no longer occurred. Cattle-stealing
and other crimes connected with the want or insufficiency of food became
less prevalent, and the system of relief which had been established is
with allowable self-gratulation declared to be “the grandest attempt
ever made to grapple with famine over a whole country.” Organized
armies, it is said, had been rationed before; “but neither ancient nor
modern history can furnish a parallel to the fact that upwards of three
millions of persons were fed every day in the neighbourhood of their own
homes, by administrative arrangements emanating from and controlled by
one central office.”[142] The expense of this great undertaking amounted
to 1,557,212_l._,—a moderate sum in comparison with the extent of the
service performed, and in which performance the machinery of the Poor
Law unions was found to afford most important aid. Indeed without such
aid, the service could hardly have been performed at all; and the
anticipations of the advantage to be derived from the Poor Law
organization in such emergencies,[143] were fully verified.
-----
[142]
See ‘The Irish Crisis.’ See also the Reports of the Irish relief
commissioners, which give full information on this interesting but
distressing subject.
[143]
See the author’s first Report, p. 167 ante.
-----
[Sidenote: Fever.]
Fever as usual followed in the train of famine, and in order to check
its ravages _the 10th and 11th Vict. cap. 22_ was passed, “making
provision for the treatment of poor persons afflicted with fever,” and
enabling the relief committees to provide temporary hospitals, to
ventilate and cleanse cabins, to remove nuisances, and to procure the
proper burial of the dead, the funds necessary for these objects being
advanced by the government in the same way as for furnishing food.
Upwards of three hundred hospitals and dispensaries were provided under
this Act, with accommodation for at least 23,000 patients, and the
sanitary powers which it conferred were extensively acted upon. The
expense incurred for these objects amounted to 119,055_l._, “the whole
of which was made a free gift to the unions in aid of the rates.”
[Sidenote: Advances by government.]
The amount expended under the Public Works Act (_9th and 10th Vict. cap.
1_) was 476,000_l._, one-half a grant, the other half to be repaid by
twenty half-yearly instalments. The expenditure under the Labour-Rate
Act (_9th and 10th Vict. cap. 107_) was 4,850,000_l._, half of which was
a grant and the other half to be repaid as before. The sum advanced
under _9th and 10th Vict. cap. 2_ for local purposes, was 130,000_l._,
to be repaid in various periods out of grand jury presentments. Lastly
the sums expended under the Temporary Relief Act, _10th Vict. cap. 7_,
in the distribution of food, and under the _10th Vict. cap. 22_ in
medical and sanitary relief, amounted to 1,676,268_l._, of which
961,739_l._ was to be repaid, and the remaining 714,529_l._ was a free
grant. So that the entire amount advanced by government in 1846 and 1847
towards the relief of the Irish people under the fearful calamity to
which they were exposed, was 7,132,268_l._, of which 3,754,739_l._ was
to be repaid within ten years, and the remaining 3,377,529_l._ was a
free grant.[144]
-----
[144]
See ‘The Irish Crisis,’ p. 110.
-----
But it was not the government alone that contributed to the relief of
the Irish people in this trying emergency.[Sidenote: Private
subscriptions.] Individual subscriptions were poured forth from all
parts of the British empire. Associations were formed, local committees
were appointed, all were active in sympathy and benevolent efforts for
the relief of Irish distress. The chief organ for receiving and
dispensing these various contributions was “The British
Association,”[145] which collected subscriptions to the amount of
269,302_l._, and to which was likewise committed the proceeds of two
royal letters inviting contributions, amounting to 200,738_l._, making
together no less than 470,041_l._, one-sixth of which was apportioned to
Scotland,[146] and the remainder to Ireland.[147] Then there was the
“Society of Friends” who collected 168,000_l._, which was distributed
almost entirely in provisions, whilst a great number of persons in all
parts of England acted independently of any association, but all
directing their efforts to the same benevolent object.
-----
[145]
The present Lord Overstone, then Mr. Jones Loyd, was chairman of the
acting committee of the association, and Mr. Thomas Baring was the
vice-chairman.
-----
[Sidenote: The British Association.]
In administering the funds placed at its disposal, the committee of the
British Association acted concurrently with the government and the
Poor-Law authorities, each of whom bore testimony to its great
usefulness. It determined at the outset “That all grants should be in
food, and not in money;” and “That no grant should be placed at the
disposal of any individual for private distribution.” The committee
conclude their Report to the subscribers by declaring, that although
evils of greater or less degree must attend every system of gratuitous
relief, they are confident that any evils which may have accompanied the
application of this fund, will have been far more than counterbalanced
by the benefits which have been conferred upon their starving
fellow-countrymen. “If ill desert has sometimes participated in this
bounty, a vast amount of human misery and suffering has (it is said)
been relieved.”[148]
-----
[146]
See ‘History of the Scotch Poor Law,’ p. 202.
[147]
In fact the amount applied to these objects by the association
exceeded 500,000_l._, upwards of 130,000_l._ having been obtained by
the sale of provisions and seed-corn in Ireland, and interest accruing
on the money contributed.
[148]
See Report of the British Association for the Relief of extreme
Distress in Ireland and Scotland, 1st January 1849.
-----
The foregoing account of proceedings by the government and by
individuals for relieving the distress which prevailed in Ireland during
the years 1846 and 1847, through the failure of the potato-crops, has
been continued down beyond the date of the ninth Report in order to keep
the subject together, and to obviate the necessity of again recurring to
it. These proceedings form no part of the Poor Law administration, and
are only so far connected with it as being directed to the relief of
distress, and as having been latterly carried on very much in accordance
with recognised Poor Law principles, and moreover to a considerable
extent with the aid of the Poor Law machinery. We will now return to the
detail of proceedings during the twelve months preceding the 1st of May
1847, as given in the commissioners’ ninth Report.
[Sidenote: Amount of expenditure, and numbers relieved.]
All the workhouses had been opened for the relief of poor, and every
union had made a rate, so that the law might now be said to be in
operation throughout Ireland. The amount of expenditure for the year
ending 31st December 1846 was 435,001_l._, and the number of persons
then receiving relief in the several workhouses was 94,437, which
exceeds by 52,369 the number in the preceding year, and the expenditure
is greater by 118,975_l._ The entire number of persons relieved during
the year was 243,933.
All the unions being now in operation, and their accounts being made up
and audited half-yearly on the 25th March and 29th September, it is
intended hereafter to substitute the latter dates for the return which
has hitherto been made up on the 1st of January, at which time no
perfectly authentic account of the expenditure could be obtained, owing
to its not corresponding with either of the audit periods. This
therefore is the last occasion on which that statement will be given;
and it may here be convenient to exhibit in a tabular form its progress
from the commencement, as shown in the several annual Reports—
───────────────┬──────────┬────────────┬───────────────┬───────────────
The year ended │Number of │Expenditure │ Number in the │Total number of
December 31st. │unions in │ during the │ workhouses on │ persons
│operation.│ year. │December 31st. │relieved during
│ │ │ │ the year.
───────────────┼──────────┼────────────┼───────────────┼───────────────
1840 │ 4│ £ 37,057│ 5,648│ 10,910
1841 │ 37│ 110,278│ 15,246│ 31,108
1842 │ 92│ 281,233│ 31,572│ 87,604
1843 │ 106│ 244,374│ 35,515│ 87,898
1844 │ 113│ 271,334│ 39,175│ 105,358
1845 │ 123│ 316,026│ 42,068│ 114,205
1846 │ 130│ 435,001│ 94,437│ 243,933
───────────────┴──────────┴────────────┴───────────────┴───────────────
[Sidenote: Reappearance of the potato disease in the autumn of 1846.]
“The potato disease” having as before stated again appeared at the end
of July (1846), letters were addressed to the boards of guardians
requiring full information as to the state of the crop in the several
electoral divisions. Early in September replies were received, which
left no doubt as to the almost total destruction of the crop that had
everywhere taken place, and the commissioners had anxiously to consider
in what manner the poor-law could be made operative in mitigation of the
distress which must inevitably ensue. Relief from the poor-rates being
limited to accommodation in workhouses, it was manifest that such relief
would be insufficient for meeting the present calamity, “and that the
comprehensive remedial measures adopted by government in the
establishment of a general system of public works, and the organization
of relief committees, were to be looked to as the principal means.”
[Sidenote: Measures taken by the commissioners.] The commissioners
nevertheless considered that it was imperatively necessary to use all
the powers provided by the law on this occasion, and they addressed
letters to the several boards of guardians, drawing their attention to
the probability of a great increase of distress, and requesting them “to
be prepared to make the utmost use of the means of relief which the law
placed at their command.” They were urged to look to the state of their
contracts for provisions and other supplies, and to their stocks of
bedding and clothing, and to base their financial and other estimates on
the assumption that the whole accommodation in the workhouse would be
required, probably for a considerable time. These recommendations were
very generally acted upon. The total rates made in the months of
September, October, November and December, amounted to 232,251_l._, and
much activity was manifested in the collection of the rates, as well as
in providing the necessary supplies.
[Sidenote: Pressure upon the workhouses.]
On the 29th August 1846, the returns for the week showed that the
inmates of the several workhouses amounted to 43,655, and the numbers
continued to increase until on the 17th October, four of the workhouses
were reported to be full,[149] and most of the others became so shortly
after, although they fluctuated in this respect from time to time. The
aggregate weekly returns however showed a continual increase down to the
end of February 1847, when the inmates amounted to 116,321. From that
time the number decreased, but the decrease was probably owing to the
distressed circumstances in which the unions were themselves placed,
rather than to any abatement of the general distress. There can, it is
observed, be few situations more painful than that of a board of
guardians in the present condition of Ireland, surrounded by an
appalling extent of destitution, yet without the means of relieving the
sufferers. “Possessed of a workhouse capable of holding a few hundred
inmates, the guardians are looked to with hope by thousands of famishing
persons, and are called on to exercise the mournful task of selection
from the distressed objects who present themselves for admission as
their last refuge from death.” It was no longer a question whether the
applicants were fit objects for relief, but which of them could be
rejected and which admitted with the least risk of sacrificing life.
Were persons in the last extremities of want to be denied admittance, or
on the other hand were those already admitted to be made the victims of
over-crowding?—The course which prudence dictated was the one most
opposed to human sympathies. Eyewitnesses of the distress which was
endured, the guardians could not always resist the appeals made to them;
and applicant after applicant was admitted to the workhouse, long after
the sanitary limit had been passed.
-----
[149]
Those of Cork, Granard, Ballina, and Skibbereen.
-----
[Sidenote: Overcrowding of the workhouses.]
It was the duty of the commissioners to resist all such impulsive
yieldings, and they failed not to urge upon the guardians the necessity
for such resistance on their part, without which the limited means of
relief at their disposal would be sacrificed. They were told that
effectual relief, even to the extent of the existing accommodation could
not be given, if contagious disease took possession of the workhouse;
and that in attempting to go beyond due sanitary limits, the guardians
would turn what was designed and adapted for good purposes into an
active evil, and deprive themselves of the power of using effectually
those means of relief which had been placed at their command. In some
instances orders under seal were issued, prohibiting the guardians from
admitting beyond a certain number. The commissioners likewise “called
into action the proper functions of the medical officers of the
workhouses, and placed upon them the direct responsibility of advising
and warning the guardians of those limits, beyond which their admissions
could not be extended without danger.” Notwithstanding these precautions
however, such was the fearful prevalence of distress, especially in
Connaught and the south of Ireland, that all considerations of this
nature were borne down, and the workhouses became crowded to an extent
far beyond their proper capacity, the consequences of which were in some
cases very disastrous.
The workhouse hospitals were prepared for cases of sickness occurring
among inmates, presumed to be in an average state of health, and they
were generally found sufficient for the purpose. But now unhappily,
almost every person admitted was a patient—was either suffering from
dysentery or fever, or extreme exhaustion, or had the seeds of disease
about him. Under such circumstances separation became impossible,
diseases spread, and the whole workhouse was changed into one large
hospital, without the appliances necessary for rendering it efficient as
such. [Sidenote: Mortality among the union officers.] This state of
things was not a little aggravated by the illness retirement or death of
many of the principal officers. The usual difficulty of replacing a
master or a matron, or medical officer when suddenly removed, was much
increased by the dangerous nature of the service, there having been
great mortality among these officers. During the first four months of
the current year, at least a hundred and fifty were attacked with
disease, of whom fifty-four had died, including seven clerks, nine
masters, seven medical officers, and six chaplains—a number unusually
large, and calculated no doubt to excite some indisposition to undertake
such duties.
[Sidenote: Mortality in the workhouses.]
The weekly mortality in the workhouses went on increasing from 4 in the
1,000 at the end of October 1846, to 13 in the 1,000 at the end of
January 1847,—20 in the 1,000 at the end of February, and 25 in the
1,000 at the middle of April; the number of inmates at these periods
respectively being 68,839—111,621—116,321—and 104,455. In the last week
of February, when the number of inmates attained its maximum, the deaths
amounted to 2,267; whilst on the 10th of April, when the inmates had
been reduced to 104,455, the deaths of the preceding week were 2,613,
thus showing an increase of mortality notwithstanding a reduction in the
number of inmates. The people had in fact become so exhausted by the
severity of the distress, that in many cases death occurred immediately
after admission. This was the time when to escape famine and pestilence
at home, the great rush of immigrants to Liverpool and the western
coasts of England and Scotland took place, and it is needless to say
that the pressure must have been fearful to cause such an outpouring of
the population.[150] We must not omit to state however, that at this
time great exertions were being made in many, indeed it may be said in
most of the unions to obtain increased accommodation for fever patients,
by erecting or hiring buildings temporary or permanent according to the
urgency and nature of the case; and also in like manner for increasing
the means of workhouse accommodation, so as to bring it more nearly up
to the wants of the period. The money expended upon these objects was in
some instances obtained by way of loan, and in others was defrayed
directly from the rates; but in all cases there was a considerable
addition to the current expenditure by the provision thus made for
affording additional relief.
-----
[150]
See ‘History of the English Poor Law,’ vol. ii. p. 393, where however
there is a misprint in the eighth line from the bottom, of 1846 for
1847, which the reader is requested to correct.
-----
[Sidenote: Emigration.]
Emigration was regarded by many persons as the most prompt and effective
remedy, under the circumstances then existing in Ireland; and government
was appealed to for assistance in promoting it, by defraying the expense
of passage and outfit for the emigrants. But it was thought highly
probable that the emigration which would take place independently of any
such inducement, would be quite as large as the United States and Canada
could with advantage receive; and the government therefore limited its
interference to appointing additional agents to superintend the
embarkation of the emigrants, and to increasing the fund applicable to
the relief of the sick after their arrival in the colonies.[151] In 1846
the emigration from Great Britain amounted to 129,851. This was the
largest ever then known; but in the first nine months of 1847 the number
of emigrants was 240,461, nearly the whole of them from Ireland, and
proceeding to Canada and the United States, whence large remittances had
been sent by former emigrants to enable their relations and friends in
Ireland to follow them. Within the same period 278,000 immigrants
reached Liverpool from Ireland, of whom only 123,000 sailed from thence
to foreign parts; and the remainder must therefore have continued a
burden on the inhabitants, or wandered about the country begging, or
died of disease the seeds of which they had brought with them, and which
proved fatal to a great number of other persons as well as to the
immigrants themselves. It was the same everywhere.[152] [Sidenote:
Mortality among the emigrants.] In the United States, in Canada and on
the voyage out, the poor emigrants seeking to escape from famine at
home, were assailed by disease whithersoever they turned, and very many
of them sunk under its ravages. During this fearful crisis, the deaths
on the voyage to Canada increased from 5 in the 1,000, to about 60; and
so many more arrived sick, that the proportion of deaths in quarantine
to the numbers embarked, increased from a little more than 1 to about 40
in the 1,000, besides still larger numbers who died at Quebec, Montreal,
and elsewhere in the interior.[153]
-----
[151]
Upwards of 100,000_l._ was expended in relieving the sick and
destitute emigrants landed in Canada in 1847.
[152]
See ‘History of the Scotch Poor Law,’ p. 205. See also ‘History of the
English Poor Law,’ vol. ii. p. 393.
[153]
See ‘The Irish Crisis,’ p. 143.
-----
[Sidenote: Financial state of the unions.]
Reference is made in the Report of 1846, to the generally satisfactory
state of the finances of the unions;[154] but such was no longer the
case in 1847, the heavy pressure consequent on the potato failure having
exhausted their resources, and in many cases caused the most serious
embarrassment. The returns show, that instead of there being as before
money in the hands of the treasurers to meet the current expenditure,
there was now, taking in the whole of the unions, a considerable
deficit. Even those unions which were accustomed to maintain their
finances in a fair state of efficiency, had latterly failed to obtain
funds from the ratepayers proportioned to their expenditure. In some
instances, the commissioners say, they have been compelled by the
extreme urgency of the case, to supply the guardians with bedding and
clothing, and with the means of procuring food to satisfy the immediate
wants of the inmates, “the means of doing so having been furnished by
government;” and they close their observations on these financial
difficulties by stating, “that while the total expenses have been at the
rate of at least 756,000_l._ a year, the sums collected have not much
exceeded the rate of 609,056.”
-----
[154]
Ante, p. 304.
-----
[Sidenote: Increase in the cost of relief.]
The effect upon prices caused by the failure of the potato, may in some
measure be judged of by the weekly cost of maintenance in the
workhouses, which instead of being about 1_s._ 5_d._ per head as in
former years, averaged 1_s._ 8_d._ per head in March, and 1_s._ 9_d._
per head in September 1846, after which it exceeded 2_s._ per head. This
increase of cost must have materially added to the difficulties of the
unions, not only by augmenting the pressure of the poor-rate, but also
by reducing the means of the ratepayers for satisfying its demands. On
every side there appeared ground for alarm, and no one could venture to
look forward without feeling the most serious apprehensions. A third
failure of the crops, should such unhappily occur, would be attended
with consequences the disastrous extent of which it must be alike
impossible fully to estimate or guard against; and the period was
approaching when uncertainty on this vital point would be removed—At the
end of another three months it would be seen whether want disease and
misery were again, but in a more aggravated form, to overspread the
land, or whether the earth would yield forth its increase for the
sustenance of man.
[Sidenote: 1848.
First annual Report of the Poor-law Commissioners for Ireland.]
The Report for 1847-8 would, in the regular order, have formed the tenth
of the series. But it had now been deemed necessary to establish a
separate commission for Ireland, entirely independent of the English
commission, and the Report is consequently entitled the first of the new
executive. This Report like the nine preceding, is dated on the 1st of
May; and as three Acts making very important changes in the law for the
relief of the Irish poor had been passed early in the period to which
the Report applies, (namely on the 8th of June and the 22nd of July
1847), the insertion of the following summaries of these three Acts will
be a fitting preliminary to our consideration of the Report itself.
[Sidenote: The Extension Act, _10th and 11th Vict. cap. 31._]
_The 10th and 11th Vict., cap. 31_, is entitled ‘An Act to make further
Provision for the Relief of the Destitute Poor in Ireland’—_8th June
1847_.
_Section 1._—Directs the guardians of the poor to make provision for the
due relief of all destitute poor persons disabled by old age or
infirmity; and of destitute poor persons disabled by sickness or
serious accident, and thereby prevented from earning a subsistence
for themselves and their families; and of destitute poor widows,
having two or more legitimate children dependent upon them. Such
poor persons, being destitute, are to be relieved either in the
workhouse or out of the workhouse as the guardians may deem
expedient; and the guardians are also to take order for relieving
and setting to work in the workhouse when there shall be sufficient
room for so doing, such other destitute poor persons as they shall
deem to be unable to support themselves by their own industry.
_Sections 2, 3._—Whenever relief cannot be afforded in the workhouse
owing to want of room, or when by reason of fever or infectious
disease the workhouse is unfit for the reception of poor
persons, the Poor Law Commissioners may by order empower the
guardians to administer relief out of the workhouse to such
destitute poor persons, for any time not exceeding two months;
and on the receipt of such order, the guardians are to make
provision accordingly—Relief to able-bodied persons out of the
workhouse, is however to be given in food only, and the
commissioners may from time to time regulate its application.
_Sections 4, 5, 6._—The commissioners may direct the guardians to
appoint relieving officers to assist in the administration of
relief; and also medical officers for affording medical relief out
of the workhouse, whenever they shall deem such appointments to be
necessary or expedient. The commissioners may likewise, on
application of the board of guardians, wherever an electoral
division is distant six miles from the place of meeting, form such
division into a district, with a committee to receive applications,
and to report thereon to the guardians.
_Section 7._—Relieving officers are empowered to give provisional relief
in cases of urgent necessity, by an order of admission to the
workhouse or fever hospital of the union, or only affording such
relief as may be necessary in food, lodging, medicine or medical
attendance, until the next meeting of the board of guardians, to
whom the case is then to be reported, and their directions taken
thereon. The guardians are to furnish the relieving officers with
the necessary funds for the above purposes, in such manner as the
Poor Law Commissioners direct.
_Sections 8, 9, 10._—Relief to a wife or child is to be considered as
given to the husband or parent, as the case may be; and children are
liable for the relief afforded to their parents. Relief at the cost
of a union, is only to be given within the union. Occupiers of more
than a quarter of an acre of land are not to be deemed destitute,
nor to be relieved out of the poor-rates.
_Sections 11, 12._—Regulate the mode of charging out-door relief; and
provide that no person shall be deemed resident in an electoral
division, unless three years before he applies for relief, he shall
have occupied some tenement within it for three months, or usually
slept within it for thirty months.
_Sections 13, 14, 15._—Prescribe the conditions on which assistance may
be given to emigration, and the proportion of the expense that may
be defrayed out of the rates. The provisions of _6th and 7th Vict.
cap. 92, sec. 18_,[155] for the emigration of persons who have been
three months in a workhouse, extended to poor persons not in a
workhouse, or who have been there less than three months. The
expense incurred in aid of emigration not to be deemed relief.
-----
[155]
Ante, p. 293.
-----
_Section 16._—The limitation of ex-officio guardians to one-third the
number of elected guardians is repealed; but it is at the same time
provided that the ex-officios shall in no case exceed the number of
the elected guardians.
_Sections 17, 18._—The commissioners empowered to dissolve or alter
unions without consent of the guardians, and to form such other
unions therefrom as they shall deem expedient, and to adjust the
claims and liabilities consequent thereon. The commissioners also
empowered to dissolve a board of guardians on their failing duly to
discharge their prescribed duties, and to appoint paid officers to
carry into execution the provisions of the law, without any
intermediate election of guardians.
_Section 19._—Enables the commissioners to provide a chapel, and to make
such regulations as they deem expedient, for securing the religious
worship of any denomination of Christians in the workhouses.
_Sections 20, 21, 22, 23, 24._—Provide for the purchase of three
additional acres of land to be used for a cemetery, or for the
erection of fever wards. The commissioners are also empowered to
hire or purchase, not exceeding 25 acres, for the purpose of
erecting a school for the joint reception maintenance and education
of the children of the North and South Dublin unions, the management
of such school to be conducted by a board chosen from among the
guardians of the two unions, in such manner as the commissioners
shall by order direct. Other unions may also be formed into school
districts in like manner, and for a like purpose.
_Sections 25, 26._—The commissioners empowered to prescribe the
qualifications and the duties of all officers, and to determine
their continuance or removal, and to regulate their salaries, &c.
The administration of relief is also subject to the commissioners’
direction and control.
_Sections 27, 28, 29._—Accounts are to be kept and audited as prescribed
by the commissioners. Any payment disallowed by an auditor, is to be
recovered from the party debited therewith. And on or before the 1st
of May in every year, an account is to be laid before parliament of
the expenditure on relief of the poor, and of the total number
relieved in each union, during the year ended on the 29th of
September preceding.
[Sidenote: The 10th and 11th Vict. cap. 84.]
_The 10th and 11th Vict. cap. 84_, is entitled ‘An Act to make Provision
for the Punishment of Vagrants, and Persons offending against the Laws
in force for the Relief of the Destitute Poor in Ireland’—_22nd July
1847_.