The Express.
London, England, 1858-01-14 00:00:00

(Stamped Id. Additional) [TWOPENCE.

The Her. Kr. could not say that all had bees
Invited: Three hundred circulars had been sent mt.
The Raw. Cum CkAIIVNETS proposed the !Mowing re-
solution :—" That it is the opinion of this meeting that the
present mode of levying the rates for the support of the
metropolitan poor is unfair to the poorer parishes, and abet a
more equitable adjustment of them is desirable and seceseary."
He frit It due to himself to eay that If be considered the sub-
ject before them a purely secular one, he would have nothing
to do with it. The Object was to take off a burden from the
poor. It was thsanlorie lessi-religious question. On that
ground alms he took part in it. If the poor were distri-
buted with anyttibig Bice a hie proportion over the various
parishes, the poorer paneled might bear their burden eithunt
I complsint ; but as there was a great disproportion in the
burden now borne by dieitent pariahs., it was most deeireble
that the evil of such a state of things should, if poeaible, be
remedied. One muse of the disproportion in the amount of
' ratan arose from the fact that as soon as parsons made a ear-
lain amount of income in the poorer parishes they
desired to leave those parishes and to live elsewhere.
The merchants of St. Mary-axe no longer resided
there, and it was no long r the custom for apprentices to carry
the bibles of their masters to church. The city of London
was a city of warehouses, and the poor of London were
thrown on the outlying parishes. The vast rows of *aces
in Belgravia forced the poor out of that quarter, and they
came to the east end of the town in the hope of employment.
There was thus a constant efflux of wealth from the poor
prodaZand a cotenant influx of poverty Into them, and this
the disproportion in the amount of the poor rate. If
this was so—lf the poor parishes bad not may to support
their own poor, bat the jroor of the visit parishes—it followed
that
a maanreasietritablaHis er;Zd coteamit taci the tau was d t
into the way in which
the adjustment should be made, preferring to leave that to
the wisdom of those who had to do it. It was their business
to put forwent the no amity of the case. It was for the
legislature to apply the remedy. He believed that the poor, the
rate-payers, and the owners of property might be besiefireiL
Of the.. three classed lie felt most keenly for those who were
just above the poor and tar below the rich ; that class of per-
sons whom the smallest increase of burden would throw
down from the position of struggling rate-payers into that of
dependent paupers. (Hear.) }le believed the evil could
only be met by an equaliestion of the rates and making the
richer imbibe* beer their fair share of the burden of the
poorer ones. If he thought this movement would lead to
communism he should fear to touch It, but believing that
them was a strong sense of justice in the country, he hoped
that sense ofjustios would see the necessity for some legisla-
tion ; so that, if they did not obtain all that they might wish
to obtain, they migttg obtain something in the shape of an
Instalment ;
fearful presure upon it, and mitigate the demoralisation
which resulted from driving large misses of poor into =-
fined spaces. (Hear, hear) _ .

The Rev. Mr. Lorrote said be concurred in the resolution,
which he begged leave to second. His perish of St.
Michael's, Queenhithe, contained a great number of poor
who went to work in the rich parishes in the neighbour-
hood, and when he asked charity from the wealthy men of
these rich parishes, ha was met with the reply, " Why, we
have no poor in our ceriah." Thus the burden of poor rates
and the burden of charity was thrown on the poor parishes,
which was a great hardship. Again, if St. Michasl'a pariah
paid three times as much poor-rate as the parish of St. Au-
gustine, it must also pay three times as much for the casual
poor. A rich man was afraid to take a tine warehouse in his
pariah, when he knew he would have to pay its. in the pound
for poor-rate. The conarquence was, that the owner let it
in tenements, which also increased the number of poor,
whilst it diminished the vele@ of the property. But the
guardians said, "If you do away with self-government, you
will open a door to wasteful expenditure." Rs denied the
premise, became he maintained that no perish could do
anything for Its own poor. It was the union board, and not
the pariah, which managed the poor. From what he had
witnessed of the evil of the present system, he felt pest
pleasure in seconding the resolution.

The Rev. Mr. CHAIM supported the resolution, mad to
doing so he was not actuated by any personal motive, be-
cause, though he was pastor of St. Anne's, Blackfriars,
where the rate was fle. In the pound, he heed on the opposite
side of the street, la the pariah of St. Andrew, where the rate
was only Is. 6d. or 2s. In the pound. The anomalies of the
present system were great and striking. The Bank of Eng-
land, for instance, formed one pariah. and though the value
of the Beak was estimated at 1,000,0001., or 60,0001. a year,
its poor rate was only 72/., whilst the Tinics ( Alice in St.
Anne's paid 1801. • and Apothecaries' Rail, in the same pa-
rish, paW 2301. Twelve houses m Bridge-street, Black-
friars, paid 1,2001. • whilst the parish in which the Mae-
sige-liesse vas siMated paid oaly 6161. The polish of
Paddington paid as much for the maintenance of six peepers
as the parish of St. George's in the East did for nine : the
inference from which was, that the poor of the latter pariah
did not get that proportion of relief to which they
might consider themselves entitled. This would net
be the ease if the rate was equalised in all the parishes.
The various improvements in the metropolis were carried out
at a great coat of suffering to the poor. They were driven
out of their homes in one place and they came to the nearest
poor parish, the result being overcrowding and Its come-
quest demoralisation. This was a question, therefore, which
could not be indifferent to the clergy, who saw so much of
the wretchedness of the poor. (Rear.)

Mr. Hinson observed that be cams from St. Leonard's,
Shoredltth, end St. Luke's, where they paid an enormous
rate. His object, therefore, was tot to oppose the resolu-
tion • but be still thought ft was not the badness of the
clergy to put themselves forward in the front of the battle on
a quertion which he could not but consider as one of a secular
character.

The Rev. Mr. Amass thought the clergy were In their
roper places when they advocated the cause of the poor.
%Hear.) His view wee that the poor were not the poor of a
particular locality, but of the tawdry at lute, and t'ut
everyone was bound to furnish his quota of relief in propor-
tion to his means. He was, therefore, in favour of a national
rate. It was said that this would give rim to waits
end mismanagement ; but that difficulty was not
so great as was supposed, and would umiak be.
epre a nail determination to overcome it. The reel

difficulty in the way tree selfishness, and the mem-
bers of ate Houses of Lade and Commons were the very
persons who did not las to move in this matter which in-
volved more in it than met the eye at OM view.' He bow
great landlords who did not like to have the poor near them,
and, being the owners of entire perishes, they drove the poor
out, put keeping • few ornamental cottages nee their own
mansions. Re lived in • parish where the labourers had to
toms to their work from a dictum of three miles. (Reez.)
With a national rate all the expenses caused by the law Of
settlement would be avoided. The poor rate at the present
time was 6,000,00014 sad • tax on property of 6.1. in the
pound would meet the expenditure on account of the poor.
Where the tree fell there it should lie, end where the poor
were there they should be fed. (Hear) lie should propose
to leave out the word " metropolitan " from the resolution.
The Rev. Mr. JACIC6ON bore testimony to the hardship
which the present system inflicted on the poor outlying
parishes—a hardship so great that he doubted whether a
national rating, even with a somewhat relaxed supervision,
would not be preferable to the present mode of rating. The
principle of • rate in aid had been adopted in Ireland, and he
had not heard that any evil effects followed from it. Why
not adopt the same principle for the metropolis? (Hear.)

The ;ambition was then put and sarriwi asap. oon.
Mr. Abbiss's sinendment did not find a seconder.

The nee. Mr. DlT•tu proposed the next resolution
" That this result may be best obtained by a general equal.
Milian of the rates throughout the metropolitan districts on
WI
equitable basis of assessment." Ile thought that means
might be devised which would obviate the objection which
was felt to a more general rating on the ground of the waste
which was likely to result from relaxed supervision. If the
average expenditure of the perishes for • few years was
taken, that expenditure might be taken from the common
fund, allowing a margin of 6 per cent. for • bettor treatment
of the poor; and if more than that was required for the
maintenance of the poor in say particular parish, it should
be raised by • separate rate on the property of that pariah.
That would interest the local authorities In keeping dove
wasteful expenditure. As to the objection that they were
interfering the right. of property, his answer
was that were interfering every day with the rights of
y. he repeal of the cern laws was an interference
riTteitte rights of pesperty, sod so was the poor law lode
(Hear.) The servants— of the doh did not acquire • right of
settle meat by Helot dye years in the houses of the rich, but
the poor who molded is parishes for five years acquired a
right of melthommL Tkie was ea anomaly in favour of the
wealthy psty kasia the wealthy wishes in fins
weedier had the Wadi of ties labour of the pour, but in bad
weals, the peer peribes bed the Lard= of keeping theca.
A amid apaellesesa in the nelsopolltan district, was the
only way of mesas the evil, sad en to the objection of mo-
bs thou& Reetteeed not be math fear on that
soesaat, as the lest aft the arthsritiss wookl be disposed to
snails wilt wadi he tie posiree of the ratepayers. The
argo* fa the equall of the laskiegnier parkins
steed upon view, penile this that et a aonael equalisa-
tion, cad the result was zoom attainable.
The Rev. Mr. leen.; b sexediag the resolution, said
thane Immo 38 unions, or 196 parishes, comprised within the
nesteerellima area. It was found that on • punkah: day in
theisr the holm ppoooar la those 86 onions animated to
, 27,080, and the poor to 68,000. Those who wore
Meet alb to Judge in this moire isted that if the in-
doer poor were nealtiplisd by 3, sod the oat door poor by
It would give the total amount of those who roosived relief
from the receiving officers. Calculating on this bob, there
was a total of 600,000 owning annually kw mild at therms
portioa of the year. I. his owe parish, • peer woman, 87
years old, was rendering • shilling • week and a lest abroad ;
inether postr, who. had Wen in the CiIIZOIS roceivei sae
&Mktg • week and two 41b. loaves. He woad sib whitlow
that was awash to live upon f It was not monk. In
Paddispka parish thin wars 288 in-door poor sad 863 out-
door , Imelda. • total at 840, who vooolved
ea C y. Tho property of the perish we
valued at 634,7031. Oa the was &Till:4qt
three parishes of Olorgria-thrEsat,

end Bethnsl-green, there were 3,869 in-door, and
6,772 eat-door poor, asking a total of 10,131, as
against 840, to be relieved out of the same property value.
la Ilie pariah of St. George, 1.141114T1T-NU•10, taler. MVO
262 in-door poor, end he supposed about 600 oundoor,
making • total of 762 relieved on Christmas-day out of a
Profortr veined at 1,087,680. ; whilst M theist& pariabes of
Sr George-in-the-East, Whit/chapel, Bethnal-green, Bt.
George's, douthwerk, Bermondsey, and Bhoreditch the num-
ber relieved wee 18,286, out of a property value equal to
that of Hanover-equate, or, in other words, these poor pa-
rishes kept 26 persona for every one kept in Hanover-square.
Inhabitants abthiteanwMeaomf Bethnal-"greeni-gn3*.l.nuit fiCirnthote mriakich inhawicsbitatrtsiboef
Manover-pluire, nor did the' dock labourers work for Shad-
well and Wapping, but for the merchants of the City.
(Hear, hear.) It appeared from the returns of 1856 that
I 487 persons died from starvation in London. He /poke to
Lord Mahuesbury about moving for • return to eaoartain
where these deaths occurred, but Lord Malrosabury said
there was no necessity for that, s it most be evident they
occurred where the poor dwelt. The qaeetion was, erase
they to shut their eyes to this state of things without at-
tempting to provide a remedy. lie thought it was eminently
a clerical question. (Hear, hear.) Charity would never
tops with the evil. (Haar, hear.)
Rev. Mr. Coxs concurred in the resolution, which
;eased unanimously.
The Rev. Mr. Cana moved —" 3. That apetition embody-
ing the foregoing resolutions be prepered fur the signature of
the clergy of the metropolitan districts, and presented to both
houses of parliatuenL"
The Rev. Mr. La& assonial the Tualatin
_ _

The Rev. Mr. Cianairr, of Fulham, thought it would
have been better if they mot with the sanction of the bishop
or archbishop. If the clergy held simultmstwas meetings in
their own parishes, and roused the sympathy of the middle
Blames and lower orders, l)e believed their effort' would be
sumessful.

The Rev. Mr. If TALL said the Bishop of London was
with them on this question, as were the Marquis of West-
minster, Lord Ebary, and Lord Chelsea.
A petition embodying the views set forth in the resolutions
was agreed to, and it was resolved that it should be entrusted
to the archbishop for presentation, with a request to the
Bishops of London and Winchester to support its prayer.
The moving thee aspirated.