The Sun.
London, England, 1840-10-07 00:00:00

THE POOR-LAW IN SCOTLAND.

The following is the substance of a paper read at the
British Association by Dr. W. Alison, on the Manage-
ment of the Poor in Scotland :
He stated that it was not his intention to enter into
the question of the religious obligation, humanity, or
policy of systematic relief, but merely to illustrate the
system established in Scotland. The Scottish law re-
quires the heritors, ministers, and elders of parishes to
levy a tax for the support of their poor ; but the law
is disobeyed or evaded, and the assessment varies
from la. to 3s. 6d. per head in different parishes, the
lowest sum being often levied in those districts where
relief is most required. This irregularity arises from
the tax-payers having nearly an uncontrolled power
of assessing and distributing the poor-rates. There
is also a prevalent belief that poor-laws tend to in-
crease the amount of pauperism, and deteriorate the
character of the paupers. But it was plain that the
onus probandi rested with those who did not obey the
law ; for those arguments would apply equally well
to private charity, which must have the same tendency
as that attributed to the legal provision. Now,
many facts might be quoted to prove that the Scotch
system had not had any beneficial effect in decreasing
the numbers of the poor, but that on the contrary,
the poor pressed upon the means of subsistence, and
endured privations as painful to human life, as was
the case in any country in Europe, where the relief
of the poor had law in its favour. The amount of
destitution in the rural districts is very various, but
those which present the most favourable aspect arc
either in the vicinity of large towns, or have a very
small proportion of non-resident proprietors. It must
not be supposed that those who come from. the country
to the towns intend to become paupers ; ihey come to
ook for labour, but they cattle in greater }4filubers than
were needed ; many of them are feeble and disabled,
end in spite of their privations they are unwilling
to return home. The Scotch law of settlement, which
requires only three years' residence, has no founda-
tion in statute, but was sanctioned by the Court
of Session so late as 1767, previous to which the
support of indigent persons was thrown upon the
place of their nativity. Were the old law re-
vived, there were facts to prove that the amount o
misery in Edinburgh would be greatly diminished. Of
871 out-pensioners of the city charity, only 259, or 1
in 3 36, are natives of Edinburgh, and of 432 inmates
of that house, only 143 are natives ; and of the out-
pensioners
82 are Irish and 24 English. Similar dis-
proportions,
between natives and strangers receiving
relief, were shown to exist in Dundee, Aberdeen, and
several other towns. Out of 1,000 admissions into
the Night Refuge, 487 only were natives of Edin-
burgh ; 163 were Irish ; 37 English ; 9 foreigners,
and the rest from various parts of Scotland, Of
346 persons applying for relief to the Benevolent
and Strangers' Friend Society in July, 1840, only
14 were natives of Edinburgh ; 65 Scotch ;
.51 Irish, and 21 English, who had spent the prime of
their life in that city ; 89 Scotch, 77 Irish, and 29
English had not done so. Several other tables were
quoted in proof that the larger proportion of the
charitable relief given in Scottish towns is bestowed on
strangers, and that a change in the law of settlement
would relieve the towns from the pressure which they
now feel. Evidence of redundant population, want
of employment, and distress of the poor, was collected
from the answers to queries issue d by a society for
inquiring into pauperism in Edinburgh. The num-
ber of persons who replied to these queries was 28 ;
out of these, 26 declared that they had seen a vast
amount of destitution during the last winter ; 22
out of 25 declared that in numerous instances they
had seen necessary articles of furniture and clothing sold
to procure subsistence ; 27 out of 28 described the
food of the poor as scanty and precarious ; 20 out of
26 ascribed much of this misery to intemperance,
but some were inclined to believe that the in-
temperance might have been as much the result as
the cause of misery ; 23 out of 24 declared that
many families of labourers arc out of work several
months in the year, and added that this was the case
with artizans, single women, and widows with fami.
lies, who were willing to work ; 13 out of 15 dc.
scribed several instances in which numbers of indi-
viduals or families were associated in one room to
diminish rent, and were thus exposed to influences
pernicious to health and morals. To take one instance
(said the Doctor), where fifty might be given, there was
a close in the Cowgate of Edinburgh where 48 families
resided, ccnsisting of 158 persons. Of this 48 there
were 10 widows who did not earn, even when em-
ployed, more upon an average than 2s. 6d. a-week ;
the larger portion of them had only occasional em-
ployment ; few of them had permanent employ-
ment, and some of the men did not earn mare than
3s. 6d. by their labours. Their furniture was
scanty in the extreme ; and 16 of them had neither
furniture nor bedding at all ; out of the whole number
not more than five could be stated to be of intem-
perate habits. Of the very small number who received
aid from the parish, the allowance did. not amount to
more
did nii!.then.
receive' anything. Under these ezreprostanoss
' 'huddled together inlirrEl4t efittibth-s4W iff
sd. per week. A widom.,with.ugg,oikec,hihi,
the pctir were
of self-respect--step by step they sunk into the depths
single apartment ; wretchedness banished every fieling
of wretchedness and demoralization. He dwelt at some
length on the increasing neglect of the education of
their children by the poor ; and endeavoured to prove
that disease, particularly fever, ought to be ascribed to
destitution, rather than to the want of drainage, ven-
tilation, or cleanliness. He referred to the exhumations
which had been made in Paris, and in Seville, to the
prevalence of fever in localities which were compare.
tively high and clean, while those in apparently less fa-
vourable situations were free from disease ; and to the
reports published under the sanction of Government,
respecting the great fever in Ireland, to show that want
of proper food was more commonly the source of conta-
gioustlisord, r than any otherphys'cal circumstance. Hence I
he concluded, that the drainage of the irrigated meadows,
which bear the blame of the insalubrity of Edinburgh,
wille ect allto h
expected, but that a proper
want and misery would
supply
lf
effective food
more sanatory regulations of po-
lice. of
The Doctor concluded by stating the social re-
sults which he expected to follow from establishing a
Poor ; dwelling chiefly on its
destroyingthe nests of pauperism which are
frightful extent in nearly all the towns of
legaleS sffc'teoactbtl l eas ir: provision
d;dd t
eacha for
the
of which is a source of misery to the
time entire community.
inhabitants, disease to the neighbourhood, and terror to