The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-10-15 00:00:00

'.10.4,,...

SELECT VESTRY,

• The usual fortnightly meeting of the Select Vestry was held
la
the thDe
18/1 offices, Brownlow hill, at ten o'clock, yesterday—
torßector Campbell occupied the chair. The other
ers present were—Messrs Woodruff, Shaw, Bairstow,
ha:, IN.nickson, Danton, Mellor, Smith, Whitty, Chesney, J.
; '''ven, Taylor, Luff, Critchley, W. Joncs, and Cook.
P!rnall, poor law inspector. was in attendance.
1' Minutes of the last meeting were read.

The Chair CONDITION OF THE UNION
teeet man said Mr. Farnall desired to lay before the
him
Ifng some information which it would be convenient for
° 40 just then, as he had to leave early.
Farnall said : I have the honour of attending here
to hfsilit'PlY to perform my duty as poor law inspector, and nut
144. 11.0 g any particular subject under the notice of the grial.d-
before 'at I have a few facts and figures which I wish to bring
heeee.ea, as I think they are likely to be interesting to you,
Anaer;e„theY will show you the exact position of your affairs,
also h"„4"1 speaking, for some two or three years hack, and
have the Yoe stand as compared with the rest of the district I
popei`fie honour to inspect. That district is a rather large and
tie„eus (me, because it extends, to take the outer line, from
thrn ' where we now are, to Lancaster, then crossing over
liretgit Settle and Skipton to Leeds, passing through Leeds,
to )4 field, Rotherham, Sheffield, and Stockport, and crossing
theseaT heater and Liverpool again, including in the line all
large towns.
MrChairman : What is the population ?
Leta Farnall : The population is about three millions six
kiiiired thousand, and the net rateable value about ten
thee"' Per annum, its wealth and population being thus more
the i ielaudaBl to some counties which have placed crowns upon
I. of the rulers, (Hear, hear.) Now, to go back
am ,01, Your own peculiar affairs. I shall lay the figures I
hite; to read upon your table, so that any gentleman may
frowhalls refer to them as he pleases, which will prevent you
Weeki„"ing the trouble of making notes of them. The average
Which'. not:ober of poor upon your books in 1854 was 13,948,
Looks Includes all the men, women, and children, upon your
1580-64 the time. In the year 1855, you had on your books
leer, Persons weekly. In 1855, therefore, there was an
ae on, Pauperism to the number of 1,857 in the weekly
Pee That was an increase equal, to 13 3.loths
the 1,- at. But while your pauperism thus increased at
eoate of 13 3.loths per cent., the district which I have the
22 Per t° represent increased at the rate of 21 7-10ths, or nearly
averse cent. I shall now pass on to the year 1856. The
ge number upon your books weekly of 1856 was 14,517,
dloetthat you
will perceive there has been a very material
Presireoate• You. numbers went down to 1,283 from the
a fro f;' year. That was a decrease of 8 per cent, and
"ea eca""---8 2.loths in fact. While you thus de-
of the district increased generally at the rate
le
an o.loths per cent ; so that you perceive you stand
eXtrornely
favourable position as regard the comparison
to thil:Ride• So much for the numbers. I shall now pass on
ando,:ast of these numbers. In 1854 you spent in relief in
telythi't of doors £57,468. That includes no salaries or
You.„:,n,F) but the pure relief administered to the poor by
hoe 'Lie bread, money, and other appliances which the poor
thie received at your hands. That £57,468 was spent in
enaY---relief in-doors, £21,138 ; out-doors, £36,330.
door ref pass on to 1855 The amount disbursed for in-
Rla 6re.ief that year was £27.935; and for out-door relief,
'acre, 5 ; making together, £72,490. As there was an
'acre se of Pauperism that year, so there was necessarily an
ainoe-ht'e of expenditure, which increase, you will perceive,
that -7:et' to £15,022, or, in other words, 26 per cent. While
districterease of 26 per cent was going on here, the whole
thott. expenditure increased at the rate of 19 per cent--so
rather Point of expenditure for relief, your relief appears
'tete. t°
„ have exceeded in its per tentage the cost of the
of et generally. Now I shall pass on to 1856. You are all
to Mdse aware that the poor law year goes on from Lady Day
the gY Day, therefore these estimates are made up to include
of
ttelitlaerter ending on each Lady Day. In 1856, the amount
tookihie"Pent in-doors was £28,910 ; out of doors, £39,763 ;
less ",g,, a total of £68,673 ; in other words, £3,817
bsiev `gan, that of the year before. Now, I shall
tlp ,ztlatters a little farther down, as nearly as possible,
fourth . the present moment. I have taken the
hays" week of the last September quarter, and I
so put the whole of the pauperism of the district together,
th „.,:e have a comparative table before me of the condition Of
VieeoC°le of the unions within it, and I find that in that
easi,e Yeu had 12,799 persons on the books. Now, you per-
il that the average weekly number, for the three years I
la67o,,amed, was upwards of 13,000 in 1854, upwards of
the Ss in 1855, and upwards of 14,000 in 1856. Coming to
12
i799Pteroher quarter, and the fourth week of it, we have
estimated Your population, at the present moment, cannot he
1 2.101.'4 under 270,000. That estimate is got by adding
census Per cent, per annum to the amount returned in the
h„ increases
of 1851, which is the ratio in which England
inorer°Pulation. Your town may, perhaps, have increased in a
the rarf,Pid ratio than 1 2-10ths per cent., but that, however, is
this t° In which all England increases, and it is safer to take
Le_
callow-- . ratio as the basis of our calculation, than to adopt
ite'ieo7-lectural proportion. Taking that then as the rate of
at 270', You will find that your population may be estimated
PopulatB7. If you divide your pauperism among your
cent, I°ll, you will find that 4 8 -10ths per cent., or nearly 5 per
Course I` Who
Population are receiving parochial relief. Of
Dumbwnea I speak of 12,799 persons upon your books, that
sod Meet
be understood to include all the men, women,
pad cruet children,even the child of one month old, among the
at tGerialt I have named. Now, while this union is pauperised
iaetl liitrate of 4
8-10ths per cent., the district generally is pauper-
ter, f the rateof 3 2.loths per cent. But Liverpool and Manches-
MayeTnitheir peculiar locality and their peculiar difficulties, I
the ut oat say,will bo always pauperised to a greater degree than
f
Livdistrict generally. In the first place, the confined areas o
z,4 Pool
;be and Manchester keep within themselves a great
iehoo. r of resident poor who may almost be said to go out to
led, I', and come back to get paroc:iial relief. You find
th_ed, all the suburbs of large towns infinitely less pauperised
04a
the towns themselves, which form the heart of the corn-
/Is catty. If Manchester were to be compared with Salford, with
iteestwies,
or wi.h Chorlton, you would find immediately that
noiroauPeriarn was nearly double that of either of the other
to to?! I have named. But if, on the other hand, you were
weep
Manchester and connect it with these unions, and put
weep° numbers together, you would then find that the result
t
i."
will not exceed the average pauperism of the whole district.
be also found in the case of Liverpool. If you take
West Derby, and one or two other neighbouring places—but
4,4 erby in particular—add them to the Liverpool union,
goit°MPute all other figures together, you will find yourselves
get " ee low in the ratio of pauperism as the whole of the district
ke,ser_a,llY. It is, therefore, never a fair test to take Liverpool or
o`!'un ster separately,and compare it with the district generally.
40.°Yr bring the calculation down to the week ending the
yttirf October—the last week bt one—and lam hap toe
t tell o 1.
you that your pauperiu sm is rapidly on the decline.
ht„, have now only 12,300 persons on the books, and, as I
`e
quart just told you, in the fourth week of the September
1.1 had 12,799—that is to say, you had in the week
"din gt h 6 4th of October, very nearly 500 paupers less than
el the other week. 500 paupers are a great many, as you will
Wr,llY suppose, to be reduced from the books within that time.
rw, I have also, in addition to computing those numbers,
ekealaified the pauperism in such a way that you may be able to
prelV Precisely the persons you have under your care at the
sflfe,nt moment, You will see that there are many thousands
00,;Te people in such a position as to give you no cause for
qu'irt,nOught. beyond that of affording them relief as they re-
in it. For instance, you have of old and infirm persons
poor old
1,035 and out of doors 2,BlB.making together 3,853
r"or old and infirm persons, whose work is done, and who
must, j am afraid, be for the rest of their lives, very probably,
iePendant upon the poor rates of Liverpool. But they
~,°r°3 a class of persons whom, unquestionably, no one would
"4/1 to disturb. (Hear, hear.) Workhouses were not built
t4O; teat the aged and infirm. They were built to test only the
4aolute, the idle, and the vicious—to give a shelter and an
13Itt°1 to those who have no other home. (Hear, hear.)
;ere is another class of persons about whom we need not give
rie....-rselves any other thought than that which we are already
jYing Out for their protection and advantage—l meanthe.
th-401 of children. There are 1,502 children within your work
li°llBe Walls receiving education. I have every reason to
ti';,'eYe the education they receive is the best the guardians can
tee„,,th,eco, because I find that of these children 879 are
aetll:',ll4 the schools, and of these 879 who are really the
44,;°"1, there are 449 receiving industrial training. Now, I
I IStated before at this board, and I think from the gentlemen
it as around me I have met almost all of you before, and gave
1414:1Y humble opinion that industrial training ought to be
reoraia4 Much care of, and made of as much account,' as the
very :end mental training of the children, or at all events
abe're "Y so. We cannot, of course, put industrial training
tr;'o 4;1)11241 training, but it is of almost equal importance to
to2,•r; "feu in this world, that they should he taught how best
their daily broad by their own honest industry. Reading,
watto
ed t-tYPhering, and so forth, are excellent portions of
());c of that kind which may be called precept, but
theqttire for these children practice as well as precept, to showf
tiooltyhew to make themselves useful and happy members o
; and th,o more the guardians in connection with these
teXcellent schools, Ood the more the visiting committee, or those
le, whore the care of !hese schools is entrusted, carry out that
t atthenii_o industrial training, the more likely they are, I think,
p° -a" a happy community bye and bye, and to check the
chrooTe__
el, es of pauperism. k,,now, indeed. of no other means of
heacrtg Pauperism but the yo Ong blood of the people, (Hear,
Rice/ These children are as yet: uncontaminated by anything
the stain of pauperism ; and it is not at all
Possible that these 1,502 may live to be themselves the
parents of childrea who will know how to maintain themselves,
having been that their parents could mairOain themselves. But
paten `grow up to be paupers, and themselves hereafter the
other paupers, all our systems which attempt to check by
-L
r,behmeans the spread of pauperism can do little or no good.
helix that industrial training for these children, showing
. _aeetn hoo work, and how best to work, is the greatest secret
70tIcan gi w tve them for the future comfort and prosperity next of
rse to their mental and moral training. (Hear, hear )
have
Tiler now accounted for a groat number of the paupers,
tro e °Le, however, 454 also which gives us no great
t..:st,?in ble They are the in-door able-bodied poor. We are
g them to the bestof ability, and we can do
nothing more our
12,30,, • This accounts for 5,809 persons out of
I now come to the class which gives us the
g_reatest cause for consideration—_l mean the able-bodied
,adult poor receiving out-door relief, and the children who