The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-05-13 00:00:00

HEREDITARY PAUPERISM.

Mr. Henry Goodson, the Master of St. Pancras
Workhouse, in his Report read to the Board of Guar-
dians of that parish, has made some remarks and sug-
gestions on what he terms "hereditary pauperism."
In the first place, he says that "in-door and out-door
relief must be considered, no: apart, but as one sub-
ject," because "they are closely connected, and are
but two branches of one subject and act and re-act
upon each other." He says"out-door relief should
not be given and orders of admission to the work-
house should not be obtained with more facility
in one district than in another; " furthermore "it
is a question of paramount importance whether,
in any particular case, it would be more economical
to the ratepayers and more beneficial in the long run
to the poor themselves to give out-door or in-door relief,
and that as regards economy a fair guide in deciding
the question is what is actually the average weekly
cost per head in the workhouse." At St. Pancras this
cost seems to be little more than ss. He remarks that
"in certain cases out-door is more economical than in-
door relief. For instance, if by giving it temporarily
the home of a family is kept together, then there is
hope for that family in the future. The home is often
the last link that binds the family to the chance of its
recovering its position, but if that link is snapped
asunder the recovery becomes doubtful. To use a
simile, the home is the best chance the vessel has of
righting itself and regaining its buoyancy and sailing
power. When the home is broken up and all the old
domestic associations are weakened and scattered there
is the great risk, and more than the risk, that the
parish will become permanently saddled with the sup-
port of the entire family."
Mr. Goodson's remarks on "hereditary pauperism"
may be thus summarised in his own words :—" It is
hazardous," he says, "to admit a family of young
children into the workhouse. They become familiar
with it and with its schools, and in time attached to
them. The guardians stand to them in a stronger
position than do their real parents. They grow up
and leave the workhouse, but only for short intervals,
and they marry early; and when their first child is
born the mother of it is, perhaps' found in the Lying-
in Ward, and, at last, the parents drift into the House, '
and remain in it permanently, and die in it. This is
but one form of hereditary pauperism."
Mr. Goodson further adds :_"Speaking from long
experience, I can say that, in a vast number of cases,
pauperism, like many kinds of physical and mental
diseases, is hereditary. I could point out numerous
inmates with the same family names and peculiarities, I
continued in a long and unbroken line. The Work-
' house is never free from them. This is hereditary
pauperism. And if the Board of Guerdians should
tint that in the out door relief-books ramcs of the
same families are continued for long periods this is a
phase of hereditary pauperism which is very saddening
and very serious, and no amount of thought can be
too great to remove it. It will not he removed by
considering in-door and out-door relief apart, but as
parts ef one subject."
Mr. G-oodson rays that very stringent rules are re-
quired for the cases of young able-bodied men and
women who are incessantly presenting themselves for
re-admission into the workhouse, especially at St.
Pancras, where there is not at present a stoneyard,
except for the "casuals," in which a strict labour test
can be applied, and where the oakum ward is limited
in extent. He also roughly divides applicants for
either indoor or outdoor relief into these classes :-1,
Aged widowers and widows; 2, widowers and widows
respectively without children, or with children too
young to labour; 3, married couples without children,
or with children too young to labour; 4, young, single
able-bodied men and women. To the last-named class
is usually, if not always, offered the workhouse and
nothing more, But if the workhouse has not the
means of applying a strict labour test, it has no deter-
rent effect on the last-mentioned persons—at least,
such appears to be Mr. Goodson's opinion:: e ises-se-
alitO 3

GAINSBOROUGH'S DUCHESS OF
DEVONSHIRE."
In Lonaon, last Saturday, at the sale of the late Mr. Wynn
Ellis's pictures at Messrs. Christie and Manson's, the im-
mense sum of 10,100 guineas was realised for Gainsborough's
famous portrait of the Duchenof Devonshire.-2'he Times
gives the following description of the sale :
The sale of the modern pictures belonging to the
Wynn-Ellis collection on Saturday last created such a
sensation as has never been experienced in the picture
world of London. Throughout the week the pictures
had attracted considerable numbers of visitors, but on
the day preceding the sale the interest came to
a climax, and crowds filled the rooms of Messrs.
Christie, Manson, and Woods all day. Any one
passing the neighbourhood of St. James-square
might well have supposed that some great lady
was holding a reception, and this, in fact, was
pretty much what was going on within the gallery
in King-street. All the world had come to see
a beautiful Duchess created by Gainsborough, and, so
far as we could obstrve, they all came, saw, and were
conquered by the fascinating beauty. Even those who
were prepared by 'Walpole's glowing description of
Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire—that her "lively
modesty and modest familiarity made her a pheno-
menon "—were not disappointed, though there were
some few who, equally charmed with the picture,
failed to recognize the lovely sentiment and refinement
of the portraits of her by Sir Joshua at Chatsworth
and at Althorpe. Thus there arose constantly themost
lively discussions before the picture. To convince those
who were disposed to be sceptical as to the right
naming of the portrait, there were placed in the room
two small engravings from portraits of the same
personage, one of which bore the name plainly
engraved upon it, and was taken from a small whole-
length sketch or study in grisaille by Gainsborough
which has been in the possession of Lady Clifden for
a great length of time. This corresponded precisely
with the picture the sale of which we are about to
speak of, but it is not an old engraving, being one pub-
lished by Messrs. Graves. During the sale some
further information was afforded by Mr. Woods, who
was the auctioneer on the occasion.

When the portrait was placed before the crowded
audience, a burst of applause showed the universal
admiration of the picture, and after this Mr. Woods
proceeded to give the history of the picture, as far as
he knew it. It was exhibited as a whole length at
the Royal Academy in 1783, the year in which also
was exhibited the portrait of Mrs. Sheridan, by Gains-
borough, now belonging to Baron Rothschild. It
was purchhsed by Mr. Wynn Ellis of the late
Mr. Bentley, the picture restorer, who had it
from a Mrs. Magennis, and it had been many
years in Mr. Ellis's collection. The biddings then com-
menced at one of 1,000 guineas, which was immediately
met with one of 3,000 guineas from Mr. Agnew,
and, amid a silence of quite breathless attention, but
bids followed in quick succession, at first by defiant
shots across the roam of a thousand guineas ; then, as
If the pane was too severe, the bids were only 500 up to
6;000 guineas, when again another thousand-pounder
was fired by Mr. Agnew, making it 7,000 guineas.
Still the fight went on briskly with 500's, till there was
a shout of applause at 10,1( 0 guineas, and then a serious
pause for breath between the eorabatants, when Mr
Agnew was the first to challenge 'any further ad-
vance" with his 11,,000 guineas, and won the battle
in this most extraordinary contest. The whole
affair was, of its kind, one of the most ex-
citing ever witnessed ; the audience, densely packed
on raised seats round the room and on the "floor of
the house," stamped, clapped, and bravoed. After the
furore .had subsided a little, Mr. Woods, before going
OD wi`th the sale, said that he might tell his audience
that this sum which had just been bid was the highest
price ever paid in that room for any picture. He also
referred to an interesting record of GainsborougWe por-
traits of this Duchess of Devonshire, to be found in
Allan Cunningham's "Lives of the Painters," inwhich,
it is related that Gainsbarough once failed in painting
a full-length of her, and left he picture uefinished,
saying he found "the Duchess as too much for
him."