The Sun.
London, England, 1841-03-11 00:00:00

EVENING EDITION.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

MANSION-HO SE,-
.
TuE -Pooh-LAW.—The master of the Peckham
workhouse, into which• the destitute are removed from
the City of London Union, and which is the only
place of refuge for the poor of that extensive union,
appeared yesterday before Alderman Wilson, for the
purpose of complaining against. q trerson who had ran
away with some of the parish clothes.
Mr. Thwaites, the relieving overseer,. attended offici-
ally on the occasion, which was of itself a no import-
ance, but gave rise to 'some statements and obsciva-
tions which it is necessary to notice as connected with
the treatment or the poor.

The Master of the Pcokham workhouse stated (in
answer to an inquiry from Alderman WILSON, wuo
:,tt.riably takes a great interest in the condition of the
:.,'ustrious -labourer) that upwards of 1,300 casual
pccr bad been received and assisted in the house wit Lin
the last quarter. The Guardians of the City of
London Union had, to. their great honour, given orders
o aid the poor casuals, some of whom turned in for a.
0-gilt; and others begged to be accommodated for
ttvo or three, in such manner that b!essings instead of

complaints was the language uttered by these who de-
parted, after their experience of the humanity of the
authorities. -

Aldertuau WILSON asked whether .it. appeared to
:he Master of the Peckham workhouse, that the treat-

nient the poor met with at that asylum was better
than was usually adminiaered at the country unions.
The Master replied that there could exist no doubt
of it: The distress relieved at Peckham was extensive.,
and acute beyond description, and those who were as-
sis.e I were not slow in drawing the comparison be-
tween the miserable treatment they receited
where and that for which they were so thankful. By
the direction of the Guardians he gave to some of the
poor who casually entered the asylurn in the late severe
s( anon, shoes and stockings, and great-coats, and other

necessary garments.
Alderman WILSON said that suclian account did
honour to the gentlemen who superintended the affairs
of the City of London Union, and be regretted to hear
that in some of the country unions the contrast afforded
to the picture just drawn was extremely disgusting.
Mr.Thwaites said that as relieving officer of the City
of London Union he witnessed a vast deal of the out-

cry amongst the poor casuals against some of the coun-
try unions, the authorities of which appeared to him to
think of nothing but the readiest means of getting rid of
the poor. Since January there bad been no fewer
than six thousand destitute persons reiJved by the City
of London Union. The expense incurred vas, as might
well be imagined, immense.
Alderman WILSON—How can you account for this
- enormous increase of casual applicants for relief to your
-7 union ?

Mr. Thwaites—The Refuge for the Houseless Poor,
called the City Straw-yard, which was inteeded for the
real good of the casual poor, has done much mischief
in gathering together masses of poverty from all quar-
ters. I have every reason to believe that the metro-
pelitan police direct the destitute whom they see wan- •
dering about to the City Straw-yard. The poor crea-
tures upon entering the City, apply to the City police
to know where the House of Refuge is, and the City
police have directions from the City Commissioner not
to send any poor person to that place, but to take them
to the relieving officer, who is thus overwhelmed with
applications which it is impossible for any man of com-
mon humanity to dismiss without endeavouring to
sat'sfy. It is quite impossible for any one to form an ade-
quate idea of the misery I am. in the habit of witnessing.
During the late dreadful season to the poor, we had a
new set of claimants. The hardworking, able-bodied
men, who worked on the railroads, being prevented from
proceeding with their woik during the severe. frost,
came to us, I may say, by hundreds. They were
very .far, indeed, removed from beggars. They came
because it was impossible for them to wok, ,in I most
thankful they were for the relief we gave them, and
which, I am convinced, they never would have accepted'
if they were not actually famishing. Every man of
them had disposed of any little additional garment he
might hate had before he appealed to us ; and I need
not say that cur guardians felt much gratification in as-
sisting such persons.
Alderman WresoN—Why, the parishes in which
they worked ought to have supplied their necessities
during that severe season. Why should these poor fell
lows be obliged to weeder up to the City of London. to
seek the assistance which they ought to have received
on the spot.
It was stated to the Alderman that the poor had
such an utter and unconquerable abhorrence of the
Poor-law Unions that they would rather undergo hunger
and nakedness than enter them ; that labouring roti
were so stinted as to food in many of them as to be un-
able, after any stay, to resume work, and the dietary
was not much better than a mere mockery.
The Master of the Peckham Werkhouse declared
that ha had no doubt whites er, from what lie had
learned and obsezved in his experience, that, in some of
the country unions, the poor cid not receive enough to
support nature, and that such men as these lust de -
scribed would be deprived of the povr-er to labour by th a
famishing system adopted. In some of the unions a
little meat was dispensed once a week, and no more.
Alderman WILSON—They take credit to themselves
for giving to the poor adequate provision.
The Master of the Peckham workhouse said he was
convinced that there was no truth in the statement that
enough was given. Why should the poor railway la-
bourers leave the places in which they were in the
habit of working to come up to London for refute if
they could get enough ? Not one of them ILd a
bundle. They had sold all for food before they applied
for relief. -

---
Alderman WinsoN—Tbe evil must cure itself at
last. But it is dreadful to leave it to the slow and un-
feeling process of stir cure. I have uniformly from this
chair spoken of the obligation upon every union to
look to its own poor, and I have found the mos%
prompt aid in the press in urging the ne-
cessity. I find, however, that, instead of abating,
the evil becomes more aggravated, and it is quite
impossible to sit here without feeling the deepest
compassion for the poor, end the warmest indignation
at the outregcous abuses which prevai'. It is to this
qucat question of the prevalence of Pauperism that the
attention of the Legislature is now most selannly de-
manded. I shall here mention a most scandalous ex-
tortion committed on poor people in the neighbourhood
in which I reside. I have mentioned the ciremnstances
in several places, and have heard strong expressions of
indignation used upon the subject. The poor cottagers
are called upon to pay poor-rates, and .if unable to pay
arc visited by a broker, who takes their beds from un-
der them for the amount, so that the unfortunate, in-
hab:tants bdcome under the obligation of applyinc, for
relief them:kb/es. Well. Do they receive relief after
having been stripped of their all to relieve the desti-
tute!? No such thing. Their tenements are let at less
than 10/. a-year, and they are of course not included
in the 66th section of the Act, which says that a
settlement is acquired by an inhabitant who pays
101. a-year for his tenement and has paid the poor-rate
for one year. During the Itte rigorous season, a dis-
tress warrant was put in force upon one of the poor
cottagers to whom I allude. The husband was out of
employment, the wife was occupied in attending upon a
son who was sinking under a lumbar abscess. The
boy happened to be out of bed at the time the broker
entered, and the bed was actually taken out of the
house, and would have been sold if the neighbours who
could afford to render assistance had not rendered it.
On the folloriing day another warrant was put into
the house of a cottager for the poor-rate—the husband
was confined by illness, and the wife was also unable to
work, so that their home presented a scene of touching
misery. In this case, likewise,*the distress was taken
out by the humanity of the neighbours. ' The surveyor
of the highways was in the mesa thee busily occupied
in levying for the highway rate, and most of u
thfl
e scene
the
r cpuomor
people came to me to represe:t the tahwa t
stances in which they were placed, so
beggared all description.
greTethenullbaestrerof p to London with
Saturdayilo lia'astdp. 're. ,the • •
•mehuusbands, and, as a
their children in search of their
int)
caworkbouse said that a
their quarters at Peckham.
matter of course, set up to dinner with
12:3d. casualt rupsotortliatarliament
himw orkohno workhouse. opfoorPevecokmhae
poor cameos are
Alderman WresoN—l .-
h 1.. 1
the rates uy w tic i these wretched wan-
obliged to pay
deters are to be
sup- or.th all it b •
will take the subject. sin .
.sbeatings into conside-
rationltis of infinit 1
at once. e y greater importance
The abuses of the •• '
than any other. emsting system are
becomo intolerable, and I trust that some men of perso.
eerance and energy, and grasp of mind,
will come for-
ward in this pressing exigency.

-------
LADV ERTISETALN T.l
HOLLOWAY'S PILLS AND OINTMENT...—.
INFLUENZA.—An immediate and certaia cure will be
found for this Discase in thz following manner. For au
adult—Take four of Holloway's Pills ; and for children
ono to three pills, according to their age, right and morn-
ing. Two or three doses will immediately carry off 1•
Influenza, even in ernes of the greatest danger. Some of
the Ointment must also be well rubbed into the throat,
.0 •
other psrs affected. The Pills may be reduced tfaPbow
the
er
and taken in a little tea when for children. Sold
Proprietor, 244, Strand, near Temple Bar,.
i espectable _Chemist throughout the Kingdo_la
and by eyvery
About two or three weeks
glass and china dealer, Farringdovrtr:
at Guildhall by Sir John Cowaanile _
his housemaid, but afterwards b
nisances of 500/. and tn;moesrwas committed
c'apital assault on
ago,e Sam. Samuel Biss,
d out on his own recog..
tws of 2501. each. On Sa.
the accused was called at
Court.,crerbut he did not surrender, and
the Central Criminal
he rccogrizances to be estreated. It
turday morning the
the Court ordeiei t
has been ascertained since that he has absconded ; and
placards have been posted on his shop-window in Faring.
don-street, announ
c
ing the sale of the property. The
e • d• an h
orad been etaine in t e Compter, 50 that
young von' f thcoming at the trialh
she might bo
The Cork Southern Reporter states
that tht
Tor•e 79 after beating up in both the county and city,
could
not get mere than 398 signstures to their petition in favour
0: Lord Stanley's disfranchising Bill.