The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-06 00:00:00

underwent a -close inspection and a rigorous treat-
ment by 'Parliament, for, as at present constituted,
the principal object of all engaged in its department
appears to be to screen offences and palliate the con-
duct of offenders. The real interest of those for
whose gain the establishment is supposed to be
formed are cast to the winds, and the endeavour to
obtain attention to grievances is perfectly hopeless.
If we are to wait until the other officials of unions
and infirmaries volunteer to give evidence against
each other we may wait till doomsday for relief for
the neglected sick and suffering poor. A more de-,
cided case of mal-treatment and neglect is not likely
to be given to the public, and indeed it is only sur-
prising that so much should have come out; as it is,
the secrets of the prison-house are seldom so mani-
festly disclosed, and for one victim to workhouse ill-
treatment whose case is so prominently put forward,
there are hundreds who are never heard of beyond
the limits of their own immediate circle, who are
often too ignorant or too engrossed with their own
affairs to heed the particulars, or mark the conse-
quences of neglect. There was also the evidence
of the doctors who observed DALY'S case after
he left the Union, and this was as strong as it could
be against his treatment prior to their seeing him.
In the face of all, however, Mr. FARNALL makes his
report, that ignores all against the Holborn
Union, and is only virtuously indignant when Mr.
SHUTER is treated of. This was the head and front
of the offending, and it would be amusing were it
not so serious in import and consequences, to mark
how the official nonchalance concerning paupers
can fire into zeal and spark with vehemence when'
privileges are trenched upon, and proprieties scan-
dalised by undue comments upon matters that
ought to have been left alone. Mr. SHL-TER's letter
to the Times, that was headed " Horrible Case of
Union Treatment," was doubtless a great offence,
but certainly experience has shown that he was
fully justified in so doing, for had he confined his
remarks to some private sources no one would have
heard of the case. Well might the Coroner say
that " he entertained the opinion that remonstrance
would be useless to the Holborn Board of Guar-
dians." Mr. FARNALL must be gifted with a con-
juror's powers of divination to be able to state that
he had ascertained TIMOTHY DALY was supplied
with full diet, for these are the most vague and
unsatisfactory replies put to questions respecting the
matter. Mr. NORTON was decidedly vague when ques-
tioned concerning this point. He was asked to show
one instance of DALY'S having had arrow-root, and
he could not, but stated that he knew he had from
inquiries of the master and nurse. The evidence
concerning the non-attendance of Mr. NORTON on
the patient was fully proved by many witnesses,
and yet Mr. FARNALL contents himself by only
finding fault with his not keeping a book. Perhaps
this was the best proof of sense that he showed, for
such visits as his were not worth chronicling.
However, it is not fair to blame any in an official
particular, when the conduct of the heads of the
department is so faulty. It appears that it is only
in accordance with their ideas of their treatment
that paupers should be subjected to serious evils,
and all that makes them indignant is to find any
one impertinent enough to comment upon their pro-
ceedings. Were they rightly fulfilling their duties,
they would thank any one for pointing out defici-
encies in the system, and be only too glad to rectify
abuses and set matters straight again. Mrs. DALY'S
eNidence distinctly shows that her husband was
neglected. She had a great deal to say, by way of
complaint, as to the manner in which her husband
was treated while in the Union. He had said to her
that the doctor walked by and never examined him.
He also said he was getting no medicine whatever,
and could not eat ! Mr. SHUTER said that he asked
DALY what attention he had from the doctor in the
workhouse, and he replied that he had " hardly
any," that the doctor and master did not attend to
his request to see to him. It is insulting common
sense for Mr. FARNALL to put in as evidence that‘pr.
CARR declares the dietary said to be given to DALY
was all that could have been desired in the case of
a man in the patient's condition. What is the use
of diet, said to be given, when there has been fre-
quent evidence to the effect that DALY did not re-
ceive proper nourishment. Mr. FARNALL inspected
the ward, and found no fault with anything in it,
but he did not go there while DALY was in the
ward, and thus had no means of seeing
that the bed was too short for him, and that.
his condition was not as it should be. The doctor
of St. Bartholomew's Hospital gave it as his opinion
that " while the man was suffering from rheumatic
fever, such bed-sores ought not to have appeared,"
and surely his evidence is worth more than that of a
hundred doctors who did not see the patient ; but it
is otherwise-in the opinion of the Poor Law Board.
Mr. FARNALL says a great deal about the " dietary"
being correct, and the ward being in proper state
when he visited it, but he says very little concerning
the immediate cause of his death, the " bed-sores,"
which arose from neglect, and which all the doctors
who saw him after he left the Union agreed should
not have occurred at all in his case. A more painful
instance has seldom been recorded than the history
of this poor man's sufferings as they have reached us
through the ev,idence of various persons* who saw
him, and yet all goes for nothing in the sight of the
Poor-law officials. What chance is there for private
redress of grievances when publicity like that at-
tached to this case meets no attention. If the poor
of the land are to be` subjected .to this treatment,
who can wonder that they prefer to die in the
streets, and starve in out of the way corners, rather
than be subjected to the mercy of Union officials,
and the justice of Poor-law investigators ? It may
also be asked why so long a period has been allowed
to go by before this report was published. There
could have been no need of the delay, and it is
quite out of character that it should have taken
place. No one 'Can be surprised when they rea,d. this
report that Mr. RuNciptA;sl should have exhibited
so little compunction the other day when his con-
duct was "animadverted upon, and well might he
have exclaimed to the jury that their verdict
would not do her any harm. It would be difficult
to say what would harm one of their charmed circle ;
not the strongest evidence of neglect, nor the moral
certainty that a life has been embittered or a death
hastened by want of care and thought. The rules
o:ietdhe es Panodorf Lersawianßs;otahrdey are
are
nliekteaffthe eeteldawbsy
cokflnthcee
or change
their ;theay ffair end.\ll is e d
follow‘.i a predetermined course
allowed
to be
hoped that this destined
not be a
into the obscurity which may be convenient for some
parties, but which will not be consonant with the
interests of the community or in conformity with
close,
the material ideas of consistency. The e
fo r
e its
is on the eve of meeting, and if, b
some effort is not made to improve the mechanism
and alter the arrangements of the Poor Law Board,
a great social wrong will have been effected. It is
now evident that no distress or suffering can move
them from their fixed determination to recognise
the truth of anything that militates against their
notions, and this is not the proper condition of
things in a Christian country. TIMOTHY DALY has
a
and s life,busatdhtiaslecaosueghsthotulo
bdenaotwbarne
pfoarsaseodttefrnoinonethis,
make a change, and effect an a
ing to all who have the power anldteroaptpioonrtuniin ttyheti: