The Sun. — London, England, 1819-08-11 00:00:00

Committee therefore have added to this Report I an-eligible form in which these accounts and lists Play be exhibited, in the hope that this practice may be very generally adopt ea, even without a compulsory enactment, to .which however it may `yet be,wise to resort ; and further, to direct that the clerk of each subdivision meeting of magis trates should • form an abstract of the total ex pence incurred in each year, for the support of the poor within such subdivision, and return the _same to the clerk of the peace of the county at the next ensuing quarter sessions, who should be required to publish such abstracts from all the subdivisions of the county annually, together with the amount of charge of each subdivision in the preceding year, so as to afford a comparative view of the diminution or increase of each respec tively ; and should make an annual return of the aggregate expeuce ot each county to the Secre tary of State for the home Department, for the Purpose of bringing the same under the view of Parliament. In order to prevent litigation in cases of re moval, a practice has been in some instances adopted by Magistrates df causing a communica tion to be made personally, or by letter (whiCh it would be extremely difficult to regulate by law) to she parish to which the removal is proposed to be made, of the day on which. the 'adjudication of the Settlement will take place; a fair hearing of both parties commonly ensues, and the expence of an apperters!lluently prevented. ley , itch provisions, and more especially by the establishment. of select vestries and assistant overseers, your Committee are, sanguine in their hopes, that themischief resulting from the reli ance on parish support may be ,in some degree palliated, and .that the loose and, careless Otiti s vistiation ofethe law,, by which it has been 'ag 7 gravated, will be essentially corrected. But this is not all that your 'Committee 06, requisite to secure the Kingdom' from the cala mities that most attend the continued.progrese df this evil ; and they do not believe that such Se curity can be obtained, .as long as by an erroWe out construction, as.your tenumittee believe, the Act of Elizabeth, parishes are supposed liable to be callednpon to effect the impracticablee put-, piese Of finding employment ior all who may at any time require it; they believe the ill conse toences which have arisen front this practice are most palpable, and most mischievous, and they are therefore peculiarly anxious to recal the most 'serious attention of the House to the construc tion which has been put practically on this part . of the statute. • Pecuniary raja' seems,,indiaputably to have been oisly contemplated by this . Act.for " the lame, impotent, old, blind, and such. Other among then~ being poor and not ableao work, and also for putting out children to be apprentices;" hitt Abe direction to " set to work all persons having oteaus to maintain them, and, using no ordinary or daily' trade of life to .get:i heir living, by," has been acted upon as if it were a clear authority for requiring the parish to .find 'employment for .tell avito want it. .The Committee in 1817 (location ed.the soundness of this construction, in the fad lowing.teross : " If the object of the Statute was merely to. set, to hard labour such.. idle wandering persons as might.be found in a state nearly ap proachiugao that of vagrancy, such an object might possibly be carried into eftect with a fairhope of beneficial consequences ;tut it the object of the Statute wt-s (as it is now interpreted), that the State is to find work for all who in the pre sent, and in all succeeding tine may require it, your Committee are of opinion, that this is a con dition which it is not in the power of any law 'to fulfil ; what number of persons can be employed in labour, must depend absolutely-upon the amount of ,the funds which 'alone are applicable to the maintenance of labour." The Committee pro ceeded to illustrate their position by a traits of reasoning, which will be found in the 14th page of that Report. The further consideration and investigation of this subject has confirmed their opinions ; for your Committee are not aware that the Courts of Law have at any-time construed the Act accord ing to this practice ; indeed the decision referred to in the former Report (p, 20.), in which it was held that an order of maintenance is not valid without it 'adjudges the party seeking relief to be impotent, leads_ to an opposite conclusion. If referencebe had also to the authority of early miters, or to those who in modern times have , bestowed the most attention on this subject, the same inference would follow. In a work which has been lately cited by au able anonymous author intituled "'A Description of England, by W. Harrison," and which, as published in the Clan •oicles of Holingsbed, is brought down to the year 1586, it is stated that " the poor are divided into three, sorts, So that sonte are poor by impotency, as th e ratuctli.,.. ,4,aa, the aged, blind, or lame, and the diseased person that is judged to be in curable ; the second are poor bycasualty, 'as the wounded .soldier e .the decayed householder, and ,the sick person visited with grievous and painful •diseases ; the third consistetb of, thriftless poor, as the rioterahat heti; consumed all,,the vagabond that will abide •no where, but tunneth up and down from place-tO place (as it were seeking work, and finding none) and finally, the .rogue, &c. " The two first sorts, that is to say, the poor -by impotency, andi the poor by casualty, are the trite poor, indeed, and for whom' the word doth bind its to make some daily provision ; there is order taker' throughout every parish in the 'calm that weekly collection shall be matte for their help and sustentation ; but they refuse to be sup ,ported hy,thia benefit of the law, apd will rather .endeavour, by going to and fro',„ to maintain their .idle trades, then they are parcel of the third sort, ,atid so, instead of courteous refreshing at home, .are. often corrected with sharp execution, and whip .ot justice abroad-." ••.. Now this classification of the poor, in the very sAge of - . Elizabeth, leads us to the conclusion, that she persons designed by the terms, " using no ordinary or daily trade of life to get their living 'by," were, as the Committee of 1817 supposed, hit iltierl class who are deemed " tioitticis poor, whee,,,it.would seem, were made to labour •as long as tbs.y continued wiciin their. own pa -1 but it they left it, were subject to the ...vete penalties then tuflicted on 'vagrancy and-would • Davettant'a Es.,ays. t Sur F. M. Eileh on- the state W the Poor. now come within the provisions of the present Vagrant Laws. In the year 1695, another author of eminence*, refet ting,to the some raised for the relief of the poor, says, '' as this money is managed in' most pieces, instead of relieving such as are truly poor and impotent (which the laws design), it serves only to nourish and continue vice and sloth in the nation. The real and true objects of charity would cost the neesion but little to maintain ; and it is to he doublitt e erbey have the least, share in the public rel.ek." lint to come nearer to our own times, and to the most laboi ions, copious, and valuable work on this subject, we find the opinion of the judicious and naprejudiced author of "'fife State of the Poor" expressed in the following decided terms:— " 1.4)..m the language of various statutes con ceruite ,the poor, which passed during the reign of Oaken Elizabeth, and which being in /serf ma ' teria, explain each other, either in matter of law, or illusteAe each other in matter of tact, it may fairly be'implied to prove, that the relief of the able bodied poor, with or without families, was no part of the original system of the poor laws," The third of William ,and Mary, c. 11, s. corroborates this ideti, which is put out of doubt by the preamble to 8 and 9 William and Mary, c. 30, s. 2. "To the end, that the money raised only for the relief of such as 'are as well impotent as poor, may not be misapplied or ,consumed by the idle, sturdy, and disorderly beggars."l - opinions would, in the absence of any decision of Courts of Law to the contrary, he en titled to much weight ; but this : preamble re ferred to by the last author, and which was cited in the former Report, p. 20, for the same purpose, seems decisive on the quest ion. Nor, indeed, can it be well imagined,'that the su;.reme legisla tive power of any country would have anticipated a permanent order of things in which a large class of the people should be habitually and ne cessarily without employment. Your C omi i i itt e e conceive that the demand aid supply of lebour hose; in the natural course of-things, such a ten dency to reglete and„belatice teeh other, un less counteracted by artificial institutions, that any excess of either seising from temporary causes, would, it met by temporary expedients alone, in no long' iMe'coo'rect itself; whereas the practice now under consideration, originating perhaps in a humane extension or the law to meet cases of occasional atiki pressitos emergency, and inconsi dteately confirmed, it calculated to perpetuate evils that would otheritest be transient, aod per manently to derange' the whole industry of the country. That such has been its effect in those parts of this kingdom Wherellit•practice bets WOst pre is but too manifest. Your Committee say, where the practice has most prevailed, be , cause they heee learned that some Magistrates have resisted this, whit!, they have'deemed, with your Committee, a miaConsttoction of the law.— We may tee! And lament that a compulsory provi sion, for even the helplessness of age and infir mity, hes a tendency to weaken in a degree the 'naturd efforts of men to provide 'against future ill ; but if by any human iiistitution the present wants of life are to obtained otherwise than by human exertion, the'very sources of sill industry must be destroyed. Jf, therefore; the parish be bound to find empleyinent for 'those who are, from whatever cause, without it, it is obyious that in cases where the fatuity is mono ous, and the honest pride and independence of self-support is extinguished, it becomes, on calculation, 'a matter of perfect indifference, whether the mo ney requisite for their maintenence is derived from the wages of labour, or the alms of the parish. The consequence is, that the motive that would naturally impel men to active and faiehful service is wanting ; for even if employment be forleited . by misconduct, the same mea as of support, in the case supposed, will be given, and probsb'y little labour will be exacted in return ; for the parish work is in all cases performed with out the Sifpr , llll ,- nThq:, centroul of private inte rest ; and it urns: be tared, that the pr rsons who Make this dernistl ersitls on the parii, are, generally speaking (thoueb at the prevent time it is certainly in many instances otherwise) the least active, the least strenoons,andthe least industri o us of the community. It is the 'want of those quali ties which has, generally speaking, deprived them of employment. It has consequently appeared to your Cmfitnittee that, under this practice, not on ly the pressure of the hurthen of the poor's rate : has become almost overwheltning, but that the. amount of regular labour has been greatly dimi nished, and its quality materially impaired ; and that it should he so, under such direct temptations to idleness, can scarcely be matter of surprise, or even of inculpation. But a striking proof ut the prejudicial consequences of this practice is afford ed by the circumstance, which for other purposes 1543 bcen pressed on the attention of. your Com mittee, that it is uniformly found that such inha bitants of a parish . as have not acquired a settle ment in it, and can obtain no such relief without being removed, arc distinguished by their activity and industry, and' generally posses not only the necessaries, but the comforts of life ; and your Conithittee have lately learnt with satisfaction, that the operation of the Act of this SesSion bas already relieved some pariShes of the Metropolis from tile heavy burthen of maintaining numbers of persons without settlements in England; who are stated, " Now to support theinselves, instead of 'applying for parochial relief, under the apPre hension of being sent home.'.' If therefore, front :a due consideration of this part of the statute of Elizabeth, from the opinions ,of early and late writers of authority on the sub-' ject, from the nature of the case itself, and above all, from the express terms of the statute of IVil- Hamill., this supposed obligation "of- parishes to find work for all .who require it, is at variance with the letter andaspirit of the law, anti 4as.been, and is productive of the most baneful effects ; it appears to your Committee to be ofs the last ins- portance, that the practice of the countrylhould be.made consonant with the law in .this respect, by a new enactment, specifying distinctly to whom, and to whom arlone, relAef derieed tram a compulsory llsessmant shall he afforded. . At the same time, they are well aware, that it is not at a moment like The .present, when from a concur , rence of circumstances, the country is unusually embarrassed by the number of persons without employment, that it should be attempted to bring this better system at once into operation ; and it would he probably expedient previously to remove any impedimenta which are thrown in the wavof the free circulation sof labour, either by the existing laws respecting the Settlement of the poor, or those which relate to vagrancy ; the former of which, it must be recollected, did. not exist in their present form, when the compulsory system of providing for the relief of the poor commenced. Your Committee indeed recommended to the House to replace the law of settlement upon its ancient footing, as the first step towards.removinis that restraint, which they deem a serious obstacle to any radical amendment of the system, and they regret that the view which they had formed for the attainment, of this object, and at the same time simplifying this law, and thereby diminish ing litigation, did not meet with the concurrence of the House ; which they attribute rather to its apprehended operation upon particular local in terests, than to any defect in the principle on which it was recommended. That the market for labour is in many parts of the kingdom at present much overstocked, does • not admit ot dispute ; nor does your Committee believe, • that in other parts the demand is greater than the .supply ; it is not probable, therefore, that even the entire and immediate-removal of all such impedimeots,• if it were .practicable, would of itself, at this moment, cure the existing evil. Other measures, assisted by the unrestrained operation of natural causes, will yet be wanting to bring the kingdom, in.,this respect, to its ordi nary and healthful state. Ytior - Committee, there fore, must, recur to the opinion expressed in the former Report, that " all obstacles to seek ing employment wherever it can be found, even.out :of the realm, should be removed, and eveiy facility that -is . reasonable afforded to those who may wish to resort to souse °Lour own Colonies ;" for it seems not,amnatural, that this country should, at suesiva time, recur to an expe dient sahith has been adopted successfully in other times, and in other countries, especially as it has facilities. for this purpose, . which no other State has •perhaps ever enjoyed to the same extent, by the possession of Colonies, affording an extent ot unoccupied territory, in which the labour of man, assisse4 by a genial and healthy climate, would produce an early and abundant return. Your Committee thought it desirable to make some in , quieies on this subject, the result of which will he found in the Minutes of Evidence. ,It by these and other means, by a continuance of the blessings of peace, and a consequent slug rnentation of capital, the dernand anti supply of la bour should be nearly balanced, and the .wages of labour become a rnoreadequate remuneration of in dustry, .your Committee are satisfied, that the ob ject which they recommend might be gradually at tained, without material ernbarrassment'Or dim catty ; provision continuing to be made by law for the infirm and helpleSs, and the partial and. temporary distress which might occasionally befal even the able • and industrious, being left, as it confidently might, to the aid of voluntary and dis criminating benevolence, to which alone it should be remembered the wants even of age and infirmity in most other countries are referred. The assess ment, thus limited in its application, would no longer threaten to absorb all the sources of supply,' nor continue to seduce the labouring part of the population, by the delusivepromise of parish re lief, from, their natural habits of industry. _ The greater part, your Committee believe, of the, sums of, money which are _now ,forced into the poor's rate, and undergo a compulsory, and for the most part unprofitable distribution, would probably be restored to their natural channel, giving thereby an increased activity to labour, under the interest ed but beneficial superintendence of their owners ; from which. would necessarily result a rise of • wagt s, with the IsenefiCial consequences that would „, t " a lly ensue to the labouring classes ; active stud lit ihful service would * indeed be found indis pensable for the . supply of present wants ; and re course nand(' doubtless 'he had to l those facilities and inducements which are now afforded to realiie tie benefits of exertion and frugality. Your Com mittee reed not dwell on the importance of giiiing ,littoiibteii security to the acquisitions of industry, however small. +'rolll the evidence in the Appendix.to the First Report (1817) it will be Seen'how much such se curity %v as wanting', and bow beneficially it siotild in elf probability operate. This advantage, for ataintnent of which hopes .only were ewer -18114(1 at a very recent period, is now very gene rally afforded, and in the most inviting form, by the numerous and successful establishments of Banks for Savings. They present the most un noubted security for theburn deposited, the cer tain progt of intercrq or ICCUMUIRtiOII, and the cou.stant and immediate comtnana over the plin cipal itself. If, however, insuring against the con tingeneks of life, should be more aeceptable, your Committee trust, that' the calculations on Which Benefit Societies may be formed, will in future be placed on a sitter footing ; some information re srecting-hoth those institutions has been obtained from a Gentleman to whom the public is under great, obligations for his exertions in construct ing avid promoting the-former of those-establish ments. . . , . . Under these circnmstances, your Committee woUld,tlietetore, met, the future at tention of the flouse to such measures es may be calculated diltidnatelVo relieve parishes from the impracticable obligation of finding employment for all who may at any:time kcqvire it at their hands, and to'confine tlic 'chief derived from corn, pillsory assessments to-" the lame, impotent, old, blind, and such other,:arnong 'their) ,being poor, atid not able to , work," and they are .satisfied that the best preparation for such an enact ment will be made by the careful execution of the Act of the present Session, by removing any' restraint on the free 'circulation of labour, and giving every failitY and encouragement to seek employment in any Tart' of the King's dominions : the provident' habit's of the. people being at the same time aided by the advantages re.iikitirfrom the aaiitiirthle-Intaittitiontto which tliey have a bo ve rt-Jcitthd, and from the improved of edocation ot their children in the priociPe66. morality and religion, united with habits 0! tistly. By such means your Committee belle; that the progress of the evil of the present 5Y5,10 may be arrested, and' its prejudicial effec k t ' moral, political, and economical vie w, ue i i3 - 19. dually and materially corrected.-30lliJgne, • THE. PLAGU j . REPORT. The Select Committee of the I-louse appointed to consider the validity of il le : no tt trine of Contagion in the Plague, and I ° 1.- : e ith their Observations thereupou, toget her los; the Minutes of the Evidence taken before to to the House-- , have considered the OW"'l a y the them referred, arid have agreed upon lowing Report : itie t to coastal; Your Committee being appointed the validity of the teceived doctrines con cer :, the nature of contagious and infectious dise ld ",;a• distinguished from other epidemics , bs i , e ;dr of Cotittoniorres! ceeded to examine' a number of Medical men, whose practical experience or getter o ledge of the subject appeared to your C° 11 : 11" ; most likely to furnish the means of aolilin.alsr, most satisfactory information. They nave e bot e had the evidence of a number of persons residence in infected countries, or eeli"s e g o , 0 mercial or official employments enabled t ha communicate information as to facts, and "-hie; principle and efficacy of the Laws of Queroei;oor all the opinions of the medical men v7 1 " )11/ hfoa Committee have examined, with the exeerthat of two, are in favour of the received doctrine, tot the plague is a disease communicable by en n e de only, and different in that respect Wort eV, f in fever ; nor do your Commi'tee see any Otero the rest of the evidence they have collecte d, 1 0 0. would induce them to dissent from that op to It appears from some of the evidence, that tryt' extension and virulence of the disorder is c % O CI derably modified by atmospheric in fl uence; "0. a doubt prevailed whether under any , cire va d voi stance the disease could be received an d P — h ' s e gated iu the climate of Britain. No fac t of ever has been stated to shear that any ins", b e een the disorder has occurred, or that it has ee e ;ites known to have been brought into the 1 , 1 82 ,, 8 , -‘ oo‘ for many years : but your Committee ', a ce think themselves warranted to infer froth that the disease cannot exist in England , h e° r e' in the first place, a disease resemblipg o°s- o re spects the plague, is well known to bs ce „„ l r ti• veiled here in many periods of our historYPr, - t its cularly iu 1665.6 ; and further, it appears t ", - tito many places, and in climates of various natt lf- Lsi• plague has prevailed after intervals of very &raffle duration. - do t. Your Committee would also observe ,(WY - fa the year 1800, regulations were adopted lie must have bad the effect ofpreventing gof% - ely fected with the plague ,)sing shipPed u- stti for Britain ; and they absz...l! g i vi n g ms s , opinion on the nature and applic Ilion of w e 'itts rantine regulations, as not ii;iing with"! p e t' scope of inquiry to which they have been ed . ; but they see no reason to question die ,1 00 0 tiny of the principles on which such reg u l 4 , - appear to have been adopted.—June 14, Ow A WOMAN FOUND DELOWNED.--.—Ye3tirdeY 4l- Y ing, about nine o'clock ? the attention of tb e sengers was arrested by something floating in ye pond, Green•park, Piccadilly, which quiry proved to be the body of a WOlllBO, rOg in a spotted cotton gown, without either 0-0 or cap. A sailor, who was sleeping ne, r f iiij spot, said he beard some one calling oa t 11 " - ote the night, hot conceiving it proceeded two woman in the street, lie took no no' 41 ' Both her bands were tied together will 4 : 1 10 but there appeared no marks of vioben ,f 41- 1 ,0 body. She was taken to the work-U(1 , 6+ 60 P Isr an inquest will be held. COURSE OF EXCHANGE, TUESDAY, Au Gusr ..-:.-...aiim...... C' f‘ Amsterdam Ditto, at Sight ll IS 4 e s . • n of Itotte"rdam ll 17,_ 00, Antwerp. Hawburgh 36 0 q t Ili" Altona 36 i c, OP Paris, 3 Day's sight , 25 10 l OP Ditto tourdeaux, ditto - . #Ol M 'te Ftank forton the Main Madrid ... ‘ B6 fec, l ! , Cadiz Bil boa Seville - - Gibraltar Barcelona , 3,4 Leghorn . 49f Genoa... 45 -Venice, Ital. Liv. 26 Ivl a Ila. .... .. ... 4S -Naples .... Pale! mo • .. iled. p er Lisbon Oporto - ltiojaneiro Dublin.... ..... 14.....C0rk..... 14 . per Ceut. Agio of the Bank on Holland.... 2 per Cent. BULLION. 00 ' Portugal Gold, in Coin I.s Is 6,P er New 'Dollars • 0• 5 °5 • Sliver In bars. Standard 1V111MM0N11MM1MP1P01M1N1M................ BIRTHS. n ti ). On the 9th inst., at his :.:: - :;1:•:r's seat, Wirablea i " Lady of Peter M'Evoy, Esq. of a :!:lutzliter. elf g°l4 On the ath inst. Mrs. H. Fuitou, Beil.urd-strecto ° square, of a daughter. ' . MARRIED. sea Yesterday, at St. George's, Hanover-square, by hepiete Spencer Madan, M. A. Canon Rcsidentiary of Lich6c ottf tenant-Colonel the Honourable James Henry Keith Ste, ones M. P. brother to the Earl of Galloway, to Henriee% a il' second daughter of the Rev. Spencer Madan, , 11 •,',;e 111 ' . Duchess of Marlborough and Lady Caroline Spen cer . honoured the Bridal Party with their presence. m ir sbe t !" Yeiterday; Captain Kearney White, R. N., to .- daughter of.losepb Neeld, Esq., of Norfolk-street. e r ~ i~ ~~ r •~ of 6 2Pplv .., Al h r 9cle ice, Ya • Pru t4 ett 0 .; e , tr ea i of the ht, C°loni j04, 1> itt - ',et" b e 4 44 le eq„ to ons • hp, 11,e 14 . , a T 1 ti,„ l 0, „ g r., 04,. ? Vie r t he t(.lrN6., iter ti , V4i., 41 . 1.),, A'„ o.r t ie , 4" : trt theft ap t 1640 t ? 4/ 4 , 4 2; •rli t `'Lt , 11 0 Nll tt,'N ti. r e ISt) h (i"er it DIED. i v. O f On Friday, the Gth inst. at Cheltenham, Mr. Joh n f Bridge-street, Westminster aged • 54. On the sth inst., at Kirkbp:Lonsdale, 'Westmorland'. 'iiree 67th year of his age, Mr. Wm. Howson, formerly r oc" houses, in Bolton, near Lancaster, and late o f:Bilthr t : t,% r i f ; Newington, Surrey= his death was occasioned hi- ;d6 o turning of the Eicinouth opposition ctsach from Neci gs preceding day. Ge t LONDON: Printed by 3. B. CARSTAIRS, of NO. Orniond-street, Queen-square; and published mCItIPPS, of No. 7, South Molton-street, at Floole" Ottice, No. 112, Strand ; where Adreitisemcnt 4 / Letters, 4c. (post-paid) tr. st be adUtcescd,