The Sun.
London, England, 1864-06-17 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, JUNE 17, 1864.

of the Union, the cold slays them no less certainly,
when aided by its two prime agents, want of food
and lack of clothing and shelter. The public have
grown somewhat impatient of hearing the same
story over and over again—want of work or ill-
ness, and consequent extreme distress, a dislike to
enter the Union, and on application for out-door
relief, sometimes granted, sometimes refused, and
so the paupers drag on a few months above the
level of starvation till the frost comes, and
they are carried to the home which no
one begrudges them. The difficulty of the question
always is the natural disinclination to assist Idle-
ness or imposture, and to encourage that thriftless
vagrancy which likes to live at other people's ex-
pense rather than its own. But this praiseworthy
caution is stretched too far, and, like the bed of
PROCRUSTES, the rules and regulations of guardians
and relieving officers too often know no possible ex-
tension or compression. They have no adaptability
to circumstances. According to the statistics pub-
lished in this Report, the average pauperism of the
metropolis is 96,752, but during three successive
weeks of the frost of 1862 the number rose so
largely that in the fifth week of the frost it was
135,389. This is surely an exceptional case—not
one for the application of rigid rules and uncom-
promising systems. The applicants at such a sea-
son should surely have the benefit of the doubt, and
temporary relief might be administered pending the
necessary investigation into their circumstances. It
would be more satisfactory to find that a man or
woman in no great need had received a loaf or a
night's shelter than to find that the houseless and
the starving had been sent away uncared for, espe-
cially when illness is added to their troubles. We
are glad to find that the committee have turned
much of their attention to the question of casual
relief, and they give their opinion that the central
authority should be empowered to direct boards of
guardians to provide suitable and sufficient wards
for the reception and relief of the wandering poor;
and they also recommend that such arrangements
should be uniform throughout the country. This
recommendation, if properly carried out, will be
highly efficacious in checking and suppressing
vagrancy ; and the suggestion of employing police
constables as assistant relieving officers for vagrants
is a very good one, inasmuch that they will pro-
bably be far more correct in their discrimination
between the really suffering and flees worthless
idler. It is not this class, however, that appeals so
forcibly to the public sympathies as the settled
poor, who from loss of work or other causes sink
into extreme distress; and it is these who are
the greatest sufferers from the inequalities of
the poor rate. It is easy for the reader
who hears casually of a death from
.starva-
tion or neglect to upbraid the officials of the eastern
parishes, and in some cases the reproach is, no
doubt, well merited. But it is manifestly a matter
of extreme difficulty, if not impossibility, for
parishes like Bethnal-green and parts of Lambeth
and Poplar, to support their own paupers, and there
will always be great unwillingness on the part of
the officials of such parishes to press heavily on the
rates. The question remains why an arbitrary
division of streets and houses should render it more

obligatory on a struggling tradesman at the East
end of London to pay for the relief of a poor man
whom he has never seen than it is in the wealthy
western householder. The duties of Christianity
and citizenship appeal alike to both. The claims
of mercy and humanity are certainly not measured
by parishes and precincts. But not only is the
poor man compelled to contribute equally
with the rich, which would be sufficiently un-
fair, bnt he is forced to pay five or six times as
much in discharge of his share of a common duty.
The difference of the poor rate in the two St.
George's, east and west, gives a most forcible exem-

plification of the absurd inequalities of the existing
system; but unhappily the system produces some.
thing more than absurdity—it results in needless
suffering and 'chose deaths from starvation of which
we are all so heartily ashamed. The committee have
had '.touch evidence laid before them, showing the
unequal pressure of the poor rate in different parts
of the metropolis, and have inspected various plans
for its equalisation. The result is that, although
they do not expressly recommend any particular
scheme, they direct the attention of the House to the
general question, and we hope that before long a
full and careful consideration will be given
to this very important rc atter. When we consider
the large number at which the Report estimates
our average pauperism in the metropolis alone, we
shall at once see the necessity for some improvement

in the manner of dealing with it. The Committee
recommend in plain terms, " That any measure for
extending the area of rating should, in the opinion
of the Committee, embrace provisions for making
the whole cost for the poor in each union chargeable
to the common fund of the union." Such a recom-
mendation will not, we hope, be without its effect ;
and we trust that even in the present session some
attention may be given to it. It will be neces.

sary to take some steps to provide agains.
the possibility of another severe frost, bat i

is difficult for the central authority to secure
united action in all the parishes under its care
—and the consequence is that the charge of the
casual poor presses nearly as unequally on the diffe-
rent parishes as the poor rate itself, since the

honselesa poor naturally walk on to the parish

where they know there is some accommodation for

them, and in which they aro likely to meet with a

tolerable reception. Another very important matter

mentioned in the report is the classification of

inmites in workhouses. The value of this classi-

fication it is difficult to over-estimate, and we are

not surprised that the Committee consider it de-

eirable that power should be given to the Central

Board to require guardians to make adequate

arrangements for such classification where there is
not at present sufficient accommodation. The im-

portance of separating the young and impression•

able from the incorrigible vagrant is very
great, and it is desirable that the aged and
infirm should have many indulgences which

cannot be included in the arrangements for
the able-bodied and healthy. There is no
fear, as matters at present stand, of the respectable

English poor being too fond of the workhouse ;
the great objects to attain are to secure prompt

and efficient relief for those who apply for it, to
prevent the rates from pressing unfairly on the

poor householder, and to maintain a sufficient
system of classification within the doors. It is
also desirable that the officials should not be hedged
round with such divinity that the mere approach
to theta is formidable, and that those who have
" seen better days.' should not deliberately prefer
death from gradual starvation to entering the
Union.

Captain SEMMES has done himself great credit
by hiS Fpirited vindication of the course he bas
straightforward style. It is time, indeed,
that
and
something was said or written in contradiction
opfutrhs pursued,
many
and successfully proved his case in a busi-
nessa y
reports that have been so eagerly cir-
culated on all sides. The only correct way in which
to look at a question of this sort, is to study both
sides and to take into consideration the pros and
cons of the affair. Instead of following this saga.
;ions plan, it has been the invariable custom of all