The Sun.
London, England, 1849-07-10 00:00:00

TULE HUSH. POOR-LAW.

FINAL REPORT FRO .1 THE LORDS' COMMITTEE.

The Lords' Select Committee appointed to in luire
into the operation of the Irish Poor-law, and the ex.
pediency of making any amendment in its enact••
ments and to report to the House, and to whom
were referred several petitions and documents re
lating to the subject-matter of the inquiry, have met,
and further considered the subject-matter referred
to them, and have agreed to the following resolu-
tions, viz.:—

" 1. That the original Poor Law Act of 1838 was
founded upon inquiries, reports, and recommendations,
all of which led to the c inclusion that the relief for Irish
distress should be afford-e 4 through the medium of the
workhouse only, and that this -conclusion was recognised
and adhered to by the Legislature both in 1838 and in
1848, when specific propositions for outdoor relief were
made, disci: ised, and, on mature consideration,
rejected. l'eat, up to the autumn of 1846,
the law of 1833 was not found inadequate to the general
necessities of Ireland; and, even unler the altered cir-
cumstances of the country and the destitution of large
masses of the people by the pressure of the pet.co
failure during the lest three years, 25 unions out of 180
have confined all their grants of relief to the workhouse;
while other, and among them s elle in distressed dis-
tricts, which had temporarily availed themselves of the
power given uteler the Act of 1817 (10th and 11,h
Victoria, c. 31) for the grant of out-door relief, have, by
Unproved management, been subsevently enabled alto-
gether, or nearly so, to dispense with it.
"2. That though the Act of 1847, especirlly followed
as it was by that for the punishment of vagrants
(10th and 11th Viet., c. 84), a,pix!ars to bare been called
for as a temporary measure to meet a pressing emer-
gency, the abuses to which it has led, and the bid effects
which have been produced on the general habits of
the people by the extension, however necessary in
some instances, of out-door relief to able-bodied, prove
beyond all doubt, in the opinion of the Committee,
that nn permanent 53 stem for the relief of the poor can
be carried out in Ireland safely and beneficially to re-
ceivers or payers, without a return to the priacip!e of
the original ;aw, by a strict application of in-door relief
to all CII,PS of paupers. subject only to occasional excep-
tion, under authority of the Puor-law Commissioners, of
the old and impotent, when it is impossible to find room
for them in the workhouse.
" 3. That to effect this, additional workhouse accom-
mo cation must be provided; and. considering the vast
tr:ze of some of the present unions, especially in the
poorest parrs of the country, the Committee concur in
the iveummendation of the boundary Commissioners,
that a considerable number of new unions should t e
formed, and workhouses attached to them, according to
the order suggested by the comparative urgency of the
several eases.

" 4. Tut, for the erect on of new workhouses in the
distrrsied di-ticts, it is ilidisp-usable that advances
shiuld be mid. on the settle principles as those under
the Act ot 1838 for the workhous. s already crewed;
that to obviate any clitticultie, such al have here-
tofore occurred in ob'aining the most eligible iite for
such workhouses, the Poor-law Corntuissiotters ought to
oe it.vesttd with poker tJ take lands for their erection,
similar to that now given by the Legislature tor the
erredun of county court houses, gauls, and lunitic

asylu•ns.
" 5 That the Committee are of opinion that a re-
arrangement should be made of electoral divisions, on
the prirciples successfully and bei.eficially adopted in
the irovince of Ulster, on the principles Also proposed
by the Bi,unclary C:numission, and in conformity with
the spirit of the original instructions of the Poor—law
Commissioners, as referred to in the boundary r. port.
6. That the Committee have noticed in their former
report the great inequalities in the present valuations,
hoti of tudons and el, ctoral divisions, and they now
feel it their dory strongly to impress upon your Lord-
ships the necessity of procuring, at the earliest pos-
sible period, a lair and uniform valuation through-
out Ireland us the basis t'or rating. They also re-
comm,nrl that such valuation when once adopted,
.hould not be subject to alteration without an order
of the Poor-law Commissioners, to be approved by the
Lord-Lieutenant in Couded, and that fit and competent
person;, duly sworn, should, on such order being given,
be appointed by the Pour-law Commissioners to carry it
into circa.

" 7. That, to guard against all inequality in the ap-
portionment of the poor. rates between landlord and
tenant, no greater proportion than one-half of the poor.
rates actually paid shutid in any case be deducted from
(he person rtceiViug rent is respect of any rateable pro-
perty.
" 8. That, to check the practice of subletting and sub-
dividing lands wh,ch has produced much of toe misery
and pauperism of Ireland, the Committee recommend
that where any such subletting and su'Alivision shall
hereafter take place contrary to covenant, it shall de-
prive the party subletting or subdividing of all powers
of deducting any part of the poor-rive from his rent,
and that he oily shall be held liable for the rate.
"9. That in all holdiogs of the rated value of 30/. a
year and upwards, power be given ler voluntary arrange-
ments between landlord and tenant to throw the whole
pa) mew or the rates on the latter.
- • - •

. .
" 10. That it has been shown that whilst in England
rateable property sa only liable for the poor-rate last
struck and in course of coWction, in Irela,id arrears
of poor-rate may accumulate to any extent, possibly to
the uti,nption of the who', of the pr,.tiert) ; the Com.
mittee eonsi,ler it good policy to encourage the owner to
as,iet in the coll-.ction of the rates upon his e.tate, and
only justice to enable him to free it from charges which
might ultiinati ly lead to its confisc:,.tion; they there-
fore recommend that it i•hould be incumbent on the
p ,or ,law guardians to certify to tile landlord or his
agent halt yearly the awount of poor rates three
niondli in arreer from the different tenants on the estate
on the lit of b 1 9y or lit of November preceding. They
further recoil:atm n 1, that when the landlord, within two
tnol,ths of the receipt of such notice, t•hall f'icharge the
whole or any pzrt of such arrears, he shoold he allowed
tot per cent. for cods of collection, and be ,Inpowered to
recover the tenant's portion by distress, and to proceed
b. ejectint.nt when the rates of one year, or one yeer's
rent are outstanding.

11. rtlAt the practice in Ireland of holding the
landlord personally rosponsibte for rates owing by out-
going and defaulting tenants, and postbly so lett out-
standing by the tn-4lect or connivance of the poor.law
officers, app,itr.4 unjust; and ai tne Corninito e cutout re-
comm,nd a rimvssion of such arrears, they cousider that
the rewen4ibinty should b? limited to th.• person or pr-
sons originally and to the land upuu which such
arrears have accrued.

" 12. That to encourage as much as possible the in-
vestment of capi al, and the employment of labour in
the cultivatio of land in Ireland, farms should not be
liable to the valuation, or increased racing, on account of
the erection of farm buildings, or of any drainage or any
other permanent agricultural improvement specified un-
der the provisions of the L ands Improvement Act, until
seven years after their completion.
" 13. That the attention of the Committee has been
directed to the technical difficulties, and the consequent
injugice and expense incident to the prosecution of ap-
peals against poor-rates; and they deem it not only
right that no unnecessary obstructions should be off,rred
to the appellant, but that every fair opportunity should
be afforded to enat'le him to free himself from
unjust or excftsive rating ; arid with the view of ren-
dering the rating more correct, and of reducing the num-
ber of appeals, now. so inconveniently large, the Com-
mittee would recommend that the rate-book should be
left for the inspection of the ratepayers during at least
fourteen days before the striking of a rate, and that the
names of the occupiers of all holdings of 41. value and
under shall be given in the rate-books. They
are also of opinion that in no case when the name of
the immediate lessor is discoverable should that
name ba omitted from the book. That the agent of a
proprietor seeking to appeal should be legally entitled to
do so in the name of his principal, and that his signature
to the recognisance should be equally valid with that
of his principal. That the mode of proceeding here-
after for the recovery of rates should be either before
the justices of the peace at petty sessions, or before the
assistant barristers, with an appeal (as in the ease of
civil bill) to the judge of the text asizos, the
,jurisdic-
tion of the assistant barrister being enlarged for the
purpose of enabling him to entertain causes to any
amount. That a discretionary power should be vested
in the assistant barrister to correct clerical errors
or variances in the forms of proceeding. which he
crnsi-
ders casual and unimportant, so as to admit of a decision
on the merits in cases in which it is of the utmost
ireport.ince ihst there should be expeditious as Well as
cheap justice, this remedy being made equal and applic-
able to all partiet4. That it is also deserving of
consideration whether the sheriff, who reedit', a a fee fer
putting his name to the warrant for executing a decree,
should not be made responsible for the execution of the
duty, though a public officer, thus rendering the law
more effrTtive for the recovery of rates.

. _
" 14. Tnat, with the view of correcting some of the
abuses practised in the administration of relief, the
names of all recipients of relief should be entered, under
the names of the townlands in which they are stated to
have last resided, in a WA to be kept for each electoral
division, and that those books thcald be always open
for the inspection of the ratepayers on two days in each
week.
" 15. That the Committee have heard from several
witnesses somewhat confi;cting opinions on the opera-
tion of the clause in the Act of 1847 which prohibits
relief to the occupiers of more than a quarter of an
acre of land.. It is clear that no au. render is required
on the part of the tenant of any portion of his land,
in order to qualify himself as en atplicant for re-
lief. If he ceases to occupy, that in itself is sufficient;
under these circurnsta.nces he m;y cease to occupy a
portion or portions of land,
except the quarter of an-
sere upon which his house is situated. The non-occu•
pation of such land by the tenant dies not, without pro.
cess of law, confer upon the landlord the right of
re-entry and resuming possession ; -the land, there-
fore, lies wave. It does not appear clear who
is liable to the rates of such lani, if any one indeed
is liable; the arrears, however, accumulate. It' the
landlord were to re•enter for the purposes of cultiva-
tion, without having taken legal steps to terminate the
tenancy, he would be a wrongdoer, and if he
the land the original tenant would be erritl.d
to enter at harvest and to take the produce. The
landu
pa leling
by waste is likewise open to the possible
a squatter hel dog without a tithz, who
o
canwtts however, be removed
from such land without the
troublesome and expensive process of ejectment. The
Committee, thetefore, recommend such rxp,anation or
amendment- of that clause as may make its op.-ration
eft-cave, uniform, and consistQnt with the inieres.:s of the
owner, the occupier, and the public.
" 16. That the appointment of auditors, and the na-
ture of the duties impo:ed upon rho'e officers, are
Provided for by the Ist and 21 Victoria, C. 56, s.
95, . and that the auditors are required to disallow
ancrstrike out of every account MU charges as they