The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1870-01-04 00:00:00

Corroponbence.

A PLEA FOR THE WIDOWS AND THE
FATHERLESS.
To the Edithr.

Sir, —A winter has now come upon us with great
severity, end many of the poor suffer mach from
cold and privation at this inclement season, I am
constrained to lay before the ratepayers of Wey-
mouth, and the Guardians of Weymouth union in
particular, through your oolums, the lamentable
condition of one class, at least, of the poor of the
fashionable watering place of Weymouth, and these
are the widows who receive out-door relief for their
fatherless children. I understand that that what is
called frill pay to such is Is. in money, and two
loaves of bread per week for each child, the widow
having to get her living in the beet way she can ;
which she usually does by char-work. During the
eanamor ..,t k. this allogw.noo for bla• oh:Mr-on is
reduced one half, that is, to at:penes and one loaf
of bread for each chial.

Now take the case of a woman with two children.
Each woman does not, on an average, during the
summer months, get more than three days work a
week ; for this she gate 104. cr Is. • day, and her
food. This at one shilling • day, would be 3a. out
of this she has to pay, at least, 44. a day to some
ether woman to look after her children while she is
at work, and Is. 64. or 2s. a week for the rent of a
room ; this leaves her, taking her rent at the lowest,
sixpence ; and with this and the allowance for the
children, together, Is. 6d. and two loaves of bread,
she hu to keep herself four days, and her children
the whole week, and to find herself and children in
clothes, shoes, tiring, and the many other little
necessaries of life. I find that for the present
winter the full pay has in many cases been withheld,
and the half pay only allowed, and I therefore ask,
what must be the condition of these poor widows
and their children during this inclement 110111101), when
the mothers are not able to get more than one or two
days work a week

They must, of necessity, be driven to ODO of throe
resources; that is, either to struggle through life by
soliciting and obtaining private charity ; or to do so
by some disreputable mode of living; or by going
into the workhouse ; and I ask, whether the first
is honest, the second reputable, or the third politic?
It cannot be expected that a widow with children
can, at the utmost, do more than support herself,
and if she is willing to do this, why should she not
be allowed by the Guardians for the support of her
children, the same as they see giving to strangers to
support the children they are sending from the
Union to other places to be kept?
To me it seems that the course adopted towards
these poor deserving objects is very like a system,
not merely of injustice, but of oppression. Will not
He who has said "H. will be the judge of the
fatherless and the widow," judge for such thine as
these? and should we be surprised if retribute
juatioe should sooner or later overtake the families
of some, at least, of those who have shown so little
consideration for those of whom they have been
appointed the Guardian& 0 tempera, 0 mores 1
—1 am, sir, yours faithfully,
PATERFA.MILIAB.