The Express.
London, England, 1864-12-09 00:00:00

THE HOME:LISS POOR.

The destitute pauper who seeks admission Into
the workhouse of the Strand Union has by no
means concluded his ordeal when he receives his
ticket from the inspector on duty at Bow-street.
We have seen that, before arriving even at this
stage, he has given his name, age, birthplace, last
occupation, name of parents, causes of destitution,
and iutentious for the future ; that he has been
searched and admonished, had all particulars con-
cerning him entered in a book or (3-sheet, and
after isusweriug questions satisfactorily and proved
to have less than fourpence in his possession, is
warned that continuous vagrancy will surely bring
him to prisou entrusted with a slip of paper, and
directed to Cleveland-street, Fitzroy-square. On
a receut evening we saw some of these slips of paper
preseuted, and marked the further precautions
taken against imposture. Neither the fact of having
successfully passed the searching examination of
the police nor the production of the Bow-street
passport entitles applicants to a bed until they
have answered or parried another series of ques-
tions, been carefully scrutinised at the gate, and
again admonished by a parochial functionary, who
enters the particulars concerning them in a
book, and at length utters the welcome words,
" You way go in." At ten minutes to nine on the
evening, we quote, J. W—, aged 40, and
—, his wife, aged 42, presented themselvea.
He was a dirty, unshaven, shambling fellow, a resi-
dent in the parish of St. Clement Danes, and well
known as a frequent applicant for relief. A refer-
ence to the workhouse books of a few weeks back
proved him to have been the first person admitted
into the casual ward for several nights running.
Both he and his wife—a careworn, wretched crea-
ture, with limp and flaccid garments and unwashed
face—stated that they bad walked the streets the
whole of the preceding night. When told that they
need not have done this, and asked if they remained
without shelter from choice, they replied that no
other workhouse would receive them and that a
Mr. (not a police officer) had refuted to give
them a ticket for this. These second examinations
took place in the workhouse yard, the paupers
standing at the door of the porter's lodge, while a
young man in uniform inside first asked the ques-
tions. and then posted up the book. J. W— and
his wife were now sent into the house, after being
rather sternly reminded that they were "old hands,'
and in the habit of seeking parish aid. B. W—, a
young man of 20, whose coat was pinned up to the
throat to conceal the absence of shirt, came next.
He bore a troubled, anxious look, mil uncertain as
to the result of these inquiries, and uneasy as to his
fate if he failed to give satisfactory replies. He
was a labourer, and willing to work at anything he
could get, had cones from Birmingham, where he
had been employed in some iron works, and was
now making his way back to Birmingham again.
In answer to the questions pressed upon him as to
his latest whereabouts, he said he had slept at
the Greenwich Union last 'light., the Graveseuti one
the night before, and at that of Maidstone on the
night before that. He bad tried hard for work,
but had been obliged to live on what had been given
him on the road, and was now hoping to gain em-
ployment ou his return hums. B. W. then
limped into the house, after having meekly
thanked the official for the permission ac-
corded him to go in. The next youth
looked tramp and vagabond to the backbone, and
prevaricated and shuffled terribly during his exami-
nation. A boot and shoemaker by trade, who bad
not worked at his own calling since May, 1862, he
bad great difficulty in accounting for his proceedings
during the last eighteen months. He had slept at
Woolwich last, where he had been looking for work
at the docks—the most frequent answer in all the
cases we have heard—and had been in Dover for
one month, at home doing nothing for six months,
and at Chatham, where a relative was stationed
with his regiment, for three weeks more. " Well,
that's only eight months out of the eighteen. What
have you been doing for the remaining ten ?" re-
ceived " About the country looking for work" for
answer, and was thought most unsatisfactory by
the official questioning. " Your relative at Chat-
ham wouldn't be at all pleased to see you. I'm sure,"
was met by " He's a soldier, sir, in the re-
giment," which if inconsequent was not without
its pathos, especially when, " Why don't
you enlist then instead of corning here r'
elicited, " I tried to, air, only the doctor
rejected me, he did indeed." There was
no gaining any further information as to the ten
months unaccounted for, and the lad was here per-
mitted to enter the house, having as it seemed un-
dergone no small amount of mental worry and an-
noyance in return for the one night's shelter to be
given him. W. C. was a man of 29, and a sawyer
seeking work. He had never been in London until
that night, had been out of employment three
weeks, and had only slept in two unions (Ware and
Hertford) before. He was a decent-looking,
civilly-spoken fellow, who apparently felt acute)
the degradation of having to accept assistance at all,
and his manifest discomfort as query after query
was levelled at him, made one wish all these preli-
minary formalities could be gone through at one
time, and their mortitications be swallowed in a
single dose. These people, one and all, seemed
puzzled and dazed at having to again furnish forth
biographical details, within half an hour of the
same details being entered on the archives of
Bow-street ; and however admirable and complete
may be the precautions taken by these finar-
dians against an improper and lavish distri-
bution of parochial alms, it seems cer-
tain that they will cause an undue pressure upon the
various night refuges, and upon workhouses which
do not refuse to admit on application at their doors.
This the guardians of the Strand Union decline to
do, and the reason assigned illustrates not inaptly
the anomalies and absurdities of the parochial sys-
tem. The workhouse in Cleveland-street pays taxes
as a private house to the parish of St. Pancras, and
any dweller on the lame side of the way becoming
indigent has a claim on the workhouse of that
pariah, while opposite neighbours, as we are told,
belong to St. Marylebone. Thus, as none of the
people living in the immediate vicinity are eligible,
and as no casual wayfarers or wanderers can
oome in without first being certificated at Bow-
street, the result is that admission to the workhouse
door is practically denied. Whether this be legal or
illegal is another question. It seems to be op-
posed both to the letter of the law and the spirit
of the regulations of the Poor-law Board,
and it is therefore right to add, that we were told,
as a sort of saving clause, that '• the master wouldn't
mind, perhaps, admitting a woman who was very
ill, just going to be confined, or the like of that."
The people whose admission we have just described
were all to be bathed before they alept, another
rule which is expected to effect a vast reduction in
the number of applicants for shelter and relief.
Prior to their bath they would have five ounces of
bread and a pint of broth for their supper, and in
the morning six ounces of bread and a pint of gruel,
before picking a prescribed quantity of oakum in
return fur the hospitality received. The regula-
tions adopted have already caused a considerable
decrease in the number of people sheltered, as the
following 6,;ures show :—Ou the week ending
the 29th October, 55 men, 26 women, 6 girls, and 6
boys, making &total of 89, were admitted into these
casual wards. On that ending the sth November,
76 men, 24 women, 6 boys, and 2 girls, making a
total of 108. On that waling 12th November,
66 men, 22 women, 10 boys, and 1 girl—total, 99 ;
and on that ending November 19, 67 men, 23
women, 11 boys, and 7 girls—total, 108. The
week ending December 2, when the police tickets
were first made au indispensable condition, the num-
bers relieved were 48 men, 5 women, and 2 infants—
total, 55—or but little more than half the average
number during the preceding month. Three out of
the tickets given out at Bow-street have never been
brought in, their owners losing their way, or fearing
the discipline in store for them, and it is a curious
speculation as to what became of the paupers, who,
we may fairly assume, were deterred from applying
through dread of the interior of a police office, or
were refused tickets as unworthy. The night refuge
in Newport-market, which admits, after due ques-
tioning and examination, on application at the door,
was, during this very time, full to overflowing.
The hour for admitting here is half-past 5 in the

afternoon, and though accommodation is provided
for from 80 to 100 men, 50 women, and 30 boys,
who, in addition to being housed, have eight
ounces of bread and half a pint of hot coffee at
night and morning, many poor wanderers were
perforce turned away daily for want of room.
This, be it remembered, when the casual wards of
many workhouses, besides the one we have in-
I steamed, were confessedly far from full. Indeed,
the impression of all the parochial officials with
whom we have been in communication seems to be
that the preparations made will more than meet
any demand actually made. If this be true, and
'the homeless can only be made to understand and
appreciate the system of examination, bathing, and
work, if it can only be brought thoroughly home
to the various guardians that in this country desti-
tution constitutes • right to help ; if, in short, the
new wards are not rendered useless by churlish
obstructiveness and a rigid determination to restrict
their capabilities to the minimum, our streets may
yet be relieved of much of the helpless, hopeless
misery which has been such a stigma on us all. We
are bound to say that in every workhouse we have
visited something has been done. That something
does not always correspond with the requirements
of the law, and does not invariably entitle the
guardians to make • claim upon the common
fund, but so far as the mere increase
in the number of beds, and augmented provision
for the reception of "casuals" goes, efforts, some
of them more or lees restricted in their result, have
been made. Thus, at Lambeth, in place of beds
for 16 men and 20 women on the old plan, there
are now 31 for men and 31 for women, and both in
fitness, cleanliness, and ventilation, the new casual
wards in this workhouse are models for the rest.
Up a staircase leading from a side yard, and in a
tolerably lofty chamber, are ranged the trays
wherein the beds are put. These are divided by
the usual strip of wood, and move on hinges at the
pillow end, so as to give facilities for the floor to be
scrubbed and swept, and above each division have
a partitioned shelf for the sleeper's clothes. The
men and women will enter by separate doors, and
be kept at opposite ends of the building, but in
every case, save serious ill-health, will be subjected
to a bath before they are permitted to retire.
These baths are not yet erected, but are expected to
be in full operation in a fortnight from this date.
Meanwhile each male pauper works for two
bells (If hour) on the mill before leaving
in the morning, and all people admitted have six
ounces of bread at night, and eight next day.
During the week ended last Saturday, 62 men, 92
women, and 58 children were taken in here, or,
reckoning two children as one adult, little more
than a third of the number for which the new
wards will provide. The workhouse at Clerkenwell
is a cramped old-fashioned building, little suited
for its purpose, but even here something has been
done since the passing of the new act. The num-
ber of beds has been increased, and every available
loft and cellar has been pressed into the service.
Out of the narrow, gloomy, flagged yard, where
the dark and lofty buildings shut out light and air,
are steps leading into what seems to have been
wine or owl cellars, but in which beds are now
ranged. Here the casuals sleep, but it is note-
worthy that as there is space neither for the labour
test nor that of the bath, the Clerkenwell
guardians cannot claim back any money they ex-
pend on the casual poor. Thus, when their wards
are full there will be uo attempt to relegate appli-
cants to the lodging-houses, and we were told
during our visit that if " 30 men are taken in we
consider we do our proportion." It is this restricted
view of the claims of the houaeless poor, shared, as
it appears to be, in a greater or lees degree by every
board of guardians in London, that makes us doubt,
even now, whether the improvements we have
named will be effectual. The parochial mind is
slow to receive impressions which involve outlay,
even with the certainty of reimbursement; and an
utterly erroneous opinion is abroad that when wards
are full, or a "fair proportion" have been relieved,
responsibility ceases, or, at all eventa, is consider-
ably lessened. It cannot be too widely known that
this is the reverse of the fact, and that every one
of the people excluded, say from the establish-
ment in Moutt.street, or that of St. Martin's, has
as strong a claim upon the guardians as if their
wards were empty. The law provides that urgent
necessity shall entitle all corners to relief, and neither
the crowded state of a workhouse, nor the doubts of
any official engaged in it, would prove a justification
if serious consequences were to ensue upon •
refusal to admit. Whether we have a right to place
an inordinate number of impediments in the way,
to insist upon obnoxious rites, and to make our
necessary charity as repulsive as possible, is another '
question, and one upon which it is not difficult to
pronounce judgment. We refrain, however, from
criticising the bath test until we have had a fuller
opportunity of watching its working than has been
possible at present ; but it may be safely said that
whatever is declared necessary by one pariah should
be enforced by its neighbour, and that no reform
will be effectual until uniformity of action has been
secured. In the lack of this, in the petty jealousy
and covert hostility too frequently displayed by one
local board against another, and in the want of
means for immediately compelling stupid, stingy,
or churlish guardians to do their duty, may be
discerned the most serious blots on the present
system of relief.