The Sun.
London, England, 1824-07-16 00:00:00

EDINBURGH, JULY 1.1.

1, &W—A LIM ENTA RV ALLOWANCE, &c.
A case of considerable interest was discussed in the First
Division of the Court on Friday. IL was the mother of a na-
tural child ; and it was said she had acted in the capacity of a
common home, servant to the father. It was not denied, how-
ever, that she had been intrusted with the keys of the father's
repositories at the time of his death. The father had settled
on the child—now five years of' age—a fortune of upward,.
of 50,000/. ; appointing trustees and tutors and curators, of
whom the mother was not ooLocei.:i'slhiwaiilpeatiestil:lsbnother wished to retain
the custody of her own child, while an infant ;_ but offering
at the same time to give all other facilities for ha proper
maintenance and education, and expressing a wish that a
respectable and qualified governess should immediately be em-
ployed. The trustees considered the mother—from the rank
in which she had rtiovad—from the stein which frailty had fixed
upon her—and from' her want of education—to be ttlferly: un-
fitted for having the custody of a child, having such prospects
but they were willing, that she should reside near and have all
reasonable means of access to her daughter. Differing in this ,
manner, the mother brought an action for about GOOl. a year of
eeoilTaht:
prin.
alimentary allowance for her child. This action was opposed
by the trustees, who, by the Dean of Faculty (Mr. Cranstourt)
and Mr. Solicitor General, contended the custody of this child
ought not to be in the mother ; that there was no remission for
women who had once been frail ; that no well-educated; re-
spectable lady, qualified to instruct the child, according to her
prospects; wouldlive in the same house with the mother; that
the good of the child required separation from the mother
that the Court hail power, and ought to exercise the power, of
Resigning the 'custody to the tutors. Messrs. Moneneff and
Marshall contended, that, by, law, the custody of the child
was entirely vested in the mother, at least for seven years; that
this had been decided—and recently by the other division of
the Court ; that the custody of a natural child belonged to the
mother, even when the father was alive ; • that the fattier could
not confer higher rights on trustees, or tutors (whom, by the
way, he could not name for a natural child, except as to the fem.
tune he might leave in its favour), than had belonged to him-
4elf; and that the Court could not interfere, unless a case of
improper treatment were made out. The Lord President said,
it was impossible to satisfy himohat this child could be properly
• educated in family with her mother. The idea was wild and ri-
diculous in the extreme. There were boarding schools even in
which natural children would not be received ; and no lady
qualified for instructing this child would associate with her
mother. His Lordship had no doubt whatever. Their Lord.
ships were thc.ultimate guardians of all the pupils in Scot.
land. They had a right to interfere when circumstances
required, and the interests of the pupils, and the inte-
rests of the
.pupils only, was what influenced and guided
their Lordships in such cases. As to the case founded on, he
would, had he sat in the other Division, have been of a very
different opinion. The mother, in that case, had married a low
spirit dealer, one of the most disreputable occupations in
the country. He would have been for removing the child.
There was also something in the shape of that question ;.
but it was one decision only, and his Lordship could. not
regard it here. In this case the character of the media
is lost irretrievably—her conduct was ungracious and un-
motherly, in the highest degree ; anti he would not give
her one sixpence beyond what was compulsory and indispens.
able. Lord Hertnand was of a similar opinion.- The child
was entitled totave a governess of the very first character and
'accomplishments. Such a person could not live with the Ma-
ther. The welfare and prosperity of the child required that she
should be placed in other custody. Lord lialgray regretted that
the question had been agitated in this form. It would have
been more prudent, and better for the child, if she mother had
takem a different course ; but their Lordships were bound to de.
a' their" itarvtie-
. coildeccauccostoartylinogr tnoatillerri laptirlidnrceilpi it?,
theTmheorlhAwert
f placed.
ships, from time immemorial, hail given effect to it.
which
ought
ciple was also deeply founded in the laws Orm"re' the
not rashly to be torn asunder. And if the law gave custody
"In'tureitli'titt°ityd trot
arilena:atat:tirrilgceapryt
10.,1
eAv ittniretiduthtfeoetisrir, ,
tweittilLetainniontnhegrt,o‘sveeerethitahtetihre
gard the interests of the child ?
ordired
and attended to, In the
tarmoriols.—(Rdinburgh Cantata.)
wlisiriliShui
exercisep g
_...c c concurredhu dtal:inciiclr teltigenerally
oae ntal !Ili;
ncii:tuhisenftl:
r:nlw It
Lordheitit') a 1
geha:
me
e:
tal

hlr'oeunegehethotetrut.haogiaeienosttlff
, ---
A epirit-tlealer on the Castlehill, PM I, 1
--.nmurgit,
ott'
SADLEn, for damages he alleged to have sustained, in come.
q
I access to his house on the darthat gentleman useended-i; his
ntrlheole.llenytii;inn;er;ossfuraonrthtlecro,sntrt,etemeottienpgtrheaedsgettadni precluding hinten
wfri:
on
brought an muffle in the Jumtici
balloon from Ileriot-green. The damages were laid at Nb
fress and egress into
col.alA 1
fact e was ready
prove, that the spirit-dealer had,
the day, except, perhaps, for a few mit
bis house, both for himself and friends.
had so cheerfully paid; The Judge, on
lutes, when the sl
!tut: tet
eepi irduc eiwtlhioaelletook place at the barrier, free in ' 'gime-
that he and his family had been mire'tot ar4"ared' besides,
out -being charged h
t e small so- i tiled the Castlehill with which every one, before the
barrier was forced,
considering all the circumstances, from the situation of the pre-
ntisel, and from the fact that all the shops in the other parts of
the city were shut, andall
not help thinking
the' complainer had over-estimated the pro-
ceeds of his t- and
very properly dismissed the action with
costs.

ACCIDENT.--A fine bey, six years of age, raps
,
killed on Tuesday evening, faring the Red LibU I eali,..roT,
Inackftiart-road, being run over by a boric that bzokii

IARLIAMENTAR.Y VA,PER.

RE PORT—LABOU'itERS W4GES.
The Select ,Committee appointed to inquire

into the practice which prevails in come parts of
the Country of paying the Wages-of Labour out
of the Poor Rates, and to consider whether any,
and what measures can he carried into•execution,

for the purpose of altering that practice, and to
report their Observations thereupon to the Ilouse,
haveppursuant to the Order of the House, ex-
amined into the matter to them referred, and
have agreed upon the following Report :

From the evidence, and other information collectedly your
Committee, it appears, that, in some districts of the country,
able-bodied labourers are sent round to the farmers, and receive
a part, and in some instances the whole, of their subsistence from
the parish, while working upon the land of individuals. This
practice was, doubtless, introduced at first as a means of em-
ploying the surplus labourers of a parish ; but by an abuse
which is almost inevitable, it hag been converted into a means
of obliging the parish to pay for labour, which ought to
have been lured and paid for by private persons. This abuse
frequently follows immediately the practice of sending the
unemployed labourers upon the farms in the parish. The '
farmer, finding himself charged for a greater quantity of la-
`hour man he requires, .naturally endeavours to economize,
by discharging those labourers of whom he has the least need,
and relying upon the supply furnished by the parish for
Work, hitherto performed entirely at his own cost. An instance
has been quoted of a farmer's team standing still, because the
'farmer bad not received the number of roundsmen he expect-
ed. Thus the evil of this practice segments itself ; and the
steak Joni-working labourer, employed by agreement with
his master, is converted into the degraded and inefficient pen.
sinner of the parish. •
Inutile; parts of the country this practice has been carried
SO a very great extent, for the sake of diminishing the income
of the clergyman of the parish, and paying for the expences of
one class.or men out of the revenue of another. In the parish
llttnitmoticeux, in Sussex, it appears that the wages of la-
bour were reduced in this manner to sixpence a day ; and a
clergyman of a neighbouring parish has been threatened with
the adoption of a shnilar practice.
This practice is the natural result of another, which is far
more common, namely, that of paying an allowance to la-
bourers for the maintenance of their children. In some coun-
ties, as in Ikelfordshire, this payment usually begins when the
labourer has a single child, wages being kept so low that it is
.utterly impossible for him to support a wife and child without
parish assistance.
The evils which follow from the system above described,
'may be thus enumerated :-
Ist. The employer does not obtain efficient labour from the
labourer whom he hires. In parts of Norfolk, for instance, a
labourer is quite certain of obtaining an allowance from the
parish, sufficient to support his family ; it consequently be-
comes a matter of indifference to him whether he earns a
small stun or a large one. It is obvious, indeed, that a disin-
amnion to work must be the consequence of so vicious a sys-
tem. He whose subsistence is secure without work, and who
cannot obtain more than a niece sufficiency by the hardest
work, will naturally be an Idle and careless labourer. Fre-
quently the work done by four or five such labourers, clot:knot
amount to what might easily be performed by a single labourer
working at task work. Instances of this fact are- to be found
in the evidence, and In the statements of all persons conversant
with the subject. •
2dly. Persons who have no need of farm-labour are obliged
to contribute to the payment ,01-work done for others.. This
must be the case wherever the labourers necessarily employed
.by the farmers receive from the parish any part of the wages
which, if not so paid, would be paid by the farmers them-
selves.

Illy. A surplus population is encouraged ; men who re.
ceive but a small pittance know that they have only to marry,
and that pittance will be augmented in proportion to the num-
ber of their children. Hence the supply of labour is by no
...means regulated by the demand, and parishes are burdened
• ,with thirty, forty, and fifty labourer*, for whom they can find
.no employment, and who serve to depress the situation or
their fellow-labourers in the same parish. An ,
gent witness, who is much in the habit of employing la-
hearers., states, that when complaining of their allowance, they
frequently. say whim, " We will marry, and you must main-
tain us."
far the worst consequence of the system 'is the de-
griulatton of the character of the labouring class.
There are but two motives by which men are induced to
work; the one, time hope of improving the condition of them-
selves and.their families; the other, the fear of. punishment.
The one is the principle of free labour, the other the principle
of slave labour. The one produces industry, frugality, sobrie-
ty, familyaffection, and puts the labouring class in a friendly
relation with the rest of theconanunity ; the other causes, as
.certainly, idleness, imprudence, vice, dissension, and places
• int master and the labourer in a perpetual state of jealousy
and mistrust. Unfortunately, it is the tendency of the system
- of Which we speak, to supersede the former of these principles,
And introduce The latter. Subsistence is secured to mill ; tO the
idle as wall as the industrious; to the profligate as well as the
whet.; and,. as fur as human interests are concerned, all in-
ducenient .to.obtain a good character is taken away. Time
•etrects have corresponded with the cause. Able-bodied men
,are found slovenly at their work, and dissolute in their hours
of relaxation ; a tether is negligent of hie children ; the chil-
dren do not think it necessary to contribute to the support of
,their parents; the employers and time employed are engaged,
in perpetual quarrels, and the pauper, always relieved, is
•al ways discontented; crime •advances with increasing bold-
WO, and the parts of the country where the system prevails
Are, in spite of our gaols and our laws, tilled with p.:achers and
thieves.

-The evil of this state of things has often induced individuals
desire further means of punishing labourare who refuse or
neglect to work,, and the Legislature has sometimes listened
with favour to such proposals; but we are persuaded that any
attempt to make the penalties of this kind more efficacious,
.would either he so repugnant to the national character as to be
...totally inoperative, or, Vaned upon, would tend still further
to degrade the labouring classes of the kingdom.
The effects of this system very ckarly show the mistake of
inunagining that indiscritninate relief is the best method of pro-
viding for the blitipineas of the labouring classes. Employers,
burdened with the support of a surplus population, endeavour
to reduce the wages of labour to the lowest possible price.---
Hence, where the system to which we allude haw gained ground,
the labourers arc found to live chiefly on !tread, or even .pota-
toes, scarcely ever tasting meat or beer, or being able even to
buy milk; while in other parts of the country, where high
wages ate still prevalent, the road and whole manner of living
of the labourer are on a greatly better scale. This difference is,
doubtless, to he attributed to the excess of population in parti-
cuiarparts of the country; hut that excess is du great part to
be Attributed to the mal-administration of the poor laws during
. the latter years of the late war.
d:Vititout assigning any precise period when the system of
paying part of the ••wages of labour out of the poor-rate, com-
"resentettare are-of opinion, that although. perhaps-it••begen
'earlier in some ,districts, it has generally been introduced
;,ittring the great fhtetuations of tic price of provisions which
have occurred in the last thirty yiars. In the year MS eve•
sully, a year of Scarcity, parishes, finding that employers
',could not afford to pay their, labourers a sufficient sum M
support their families, even on the most stinted scale, added
a contribution out of the poor-rats to healthy labourers In full
emPloyment.
We are happy to be able to say, that the evil of which we
cothydain is partial, and that many counties in England are
nearly, if not totally, exempt from the grievance. In Nor-
thumberlantl, wages are twelve shillings a week ; and labourers
having families do not usually receive assistance from the poor-
rate: In Cumbeiland, wages vary from twelve shilling,/ to
fiften shillings, a week, and the report is equally satisfactory.
In Lincolnshire, the wages are generally twelve shillings per
week and the labourers live in -comfort and independence.—
At Wigan, in Lancashire, wages are seven or eight shillings a
week, adrelief is afforded to a man with three children ; in '
the derision of Oldham, in the satne county, a great manufae- '
• luring. district, wages arefrom twelve shillings to eighteen shil-
lings a week, and no such practice is known. In Yorkshire,
wages are generally twelve shillings a week; but in some
parts of that extensive county, the practice of giving married
labourers easistance front the parish. appears very prevalent.
In Stalibrdshive, wawa are ebeet fps. ; anti labourers leaving fit-
only occasionally reteivirilieffrom the poor-rate. In the
divisions of Oswaldalow, in the county.of Worcester, the prar4
ilea of paying part of the wages of labour out of the poor.vote,
has Leen entirely put a atop to bythe vigilance of the Magi"-
trmas. .jf melon to the micilend, southern, anti western parts
of the country, we Sind a great variety in the rate of wages.
In the Winghatn division, in Kent, stoop, it appears, that the
lowtet arsgea.paid were, in one parish, xiapenc,, in four, eight-
pence ; in eleven, one 'billing and abcpence, in four, two
Oimings; and, in the greater, number, sow apaning.a. 1,,
Suffolk Sussex, Bedtbrdshire; Backingliamshire '
, °roux ire,
and Wiltshire, the plan of paying wages out of the poor-rate
has beset earned to Inc greatest extent. Norfolk, Huntingdon.
Aide, and Devonshire. are likewise afflicted by it- la souse

of these counties wages are eight shillings or nine shillings;
in others, five shillings; and irssome pans they have been and
are so low as three shillings a; week for a single man ; and four
shillings and sixpence for a man and his wife.
A great number of Retuths on this subject have been collected,
of which an Abstract, 'when made, will be presented to your,
Honourable House.
With respect to the remedy for the evils ilointed out, it is
obvious to remark,That a great, if not the greater part, 'arises
from the mel athritnistretion of the laws. -Vet when this re-
mark is made, it does not appear how, under the present sys-
tern, the laws which regard the poor should be otherwise than
ill administered. Where no select vestry or assistant overseer
has been appointed, the poor are consigned to the care of a per-
son named only for one year, and in general anxious chiefly to
get rid of his office with as little trouble to himself as possible;
or if he endeavours, in spite of clamour and vexation, to im-
prove the practice, his designs are liable to he overset by the
orders of Magistrates, who, with excellent intentions, are often
not conversant with the details of the management of the parish
in whose concerns they interfere.

The great object to be aimed at, is, if possible, to separate
the maintenance of the unemployed from the wages of the em-
ployed labourer; to divide two classes, which have been con-
founded ; to leave the employed labourer in possession of wages
Sufficient to maintain his family, and to oblige the rest to
work for the parish in the way most likely to prevent idleness.
In ordtr to effect this purpose of separating the wages of em-
ployed labourers from the poor-rate. it appears to its, that much
might be done by aflbrding to appellants against the yearly ac-
counts, the easiest remedy of which the law admits. The Act
of 50tg Geo. 111., c. 49., directs, that the early accounts, to be
made out according to prevrous,Acts of Parliament, tilittll be
submitted to two or more Justicesat a special sessions: and the
Act empowers the justice " if they shall so think fit," to exa-
mine into the matter of every such account, and to " disallow
and strike out of every such account, all such charges and pay-
Ments as they shall deent to be unfounded, and to reduce such
as they shall deem exorbitant ; and they are to specify the cause
for which any charge is disallowed or reduced."
Notwithstanding this provision, it appears, that at present,
even Whin a. complaint is made, that the sums levied on the
parish have not been applied according to the intention of the
law, a practice has in some places prevailed of directing the
complainant to appeal to the quarter sessions. This proceed-
ing entails the employment of counsel, and an expence both of
money and time, which is both unnecessary and oppressive--
There is some ambiguity certainly in the word " unfounded"
contained in the Act just quoted ; but there cannot well exist a
doubt that It is intended to apply to charges or payments which
do not come within the scope and intention of the poor laws.
On this, and on almost every, part of the subject, -we may
observe, that if' the payers of the rates do not complain, and
thereby enable the neighbouring Justices to execute the law at
present existing, It is needless to attempt, by any new Act, to
prevent abuses permitted or connived at by those who have the
i clearest interest n repressing them. Above all, the farmers
themselves ought to, perceive, that any practice which tends to
degrade the character of the labourer, tends, in the same de-
gree, to diminish the value of his Isbour, and to render agri-
cultural property less secure, and less desirable. -
By the Act of the 43d of, lairabetli, it is ordered, that the
" Churchwardens and tlverseerar .51)14 take order, from time
to time, with the consent .of two or more Justices, for setting
to work the children of all moth who shall not,be thought able
to keep and maintain their children. .This provision., while it
clearly shows that the framers of that Act never had it in con.
templation to raise a fund for the support of all the children of
all labourers, uftbrds the means of remedying, in some degree,
the existing evil of adding to the wages of labour from the
poor-rate. Wherever, from disinclination to work, parents
earn less than they might do, in order to draw from the parish
fund, it might be found highly useful that the parish officers,
With the consent of the Magistrates should, instead of giving
money to the parents, set to work their children, who would,
at the same time, be removed from the example of idle or dis-
solute parents. But this remedy must be used with caution,
and might he inexpedient, if applied in cases where the best
labourers, with their utmost exertions, cannot.earn sufficient to
bring up their children without parish assistance.
According to the system at.present pursued in manycounties,
a scale of allowance is drawn up by the Magistrates, fixing, in
money, the stints which a labourer is to receive, in proportion
to the size of his family, and the current price of flour or meal.
(hi this allowance, whether idle or industrious, the labourer
relies as a right; and when he receives less, he makes an angry
appeal to a Magistrate, not as a petitioner for charity, but as
a claimant for justice. Without questioning the flume; of the
scale upon which these tables have been fronted, we cannot but
regret that the Magistrates should promulgate general regula.
tions, the obvious tendency of which is to reduce the rate of
wages, and create dissatisfaction between the labourer and his
em ploy er.
ltitas been thrown out, that the practice of giving relief to
able-bodied labourers on account of their impotent children,
ought to he positively forbidden by legislative enactment.
Your Committee Are not' prepared to go this length ; but they
venture to suggest, that where wages have been reduced, with
a view to supply the deficiency from the parish rates, relief
might be refused to any person actually in the employment of
an individual. The consequence might certainly be to throw,
at first, soma married labourers entirely upon the parish, but
in a short time it is probable a more wholesome system of pay.
ing the wages of labour would be permanently adopted.
Aluch good has been effected in some parts of the country by.
the adoption of what has been called the Cropedy, or Oundle
Plan, or labour rate t and a bill has been introduced into the
House, for giving to such a plan, adopted under certain resit.
lations, the force of' law. It appears to usquite ; tr. ri i .1711—55..)..e to
frame any Act on this subject, which shall meet every case, but
a general aanction might be extremely beneficial ; and the fol.
lowing form, which has been 'suggested, appears as 'Una'.
ccptlonable as tiny. Indeed it is very similar to one contains
cd in a bill brought into the House in an early part of the
Session : _ _

" The parishioners in vestry shall, if they think fit, draw up
roles and regulations for. the maintenance of the old anal impor
tent and other poor unable to.work, as also far the employment
of the able poor; and the same, signed or agreed to by a ma-
jority in vestry, shall be presented to the Justices, to be by
them amended, approved or rejected, or sent back for el terations,
and when adjusted to thesitisfaction of the Justice* and pa-
rishioners, to he parochial law for one year."
With respect to the iteeand object, the Mode of fiodingem-
ployment for those who profess themselves unable to obtain it,
it appears to your Committee that the parish should, if it be
possible, provide them with. labour 'eta acceptable in its na.
tpre than ordinary labour, and at lower wages than the average
`rate of the neighbourhood. Your Committee can add, that this
method has been fotind practically beneficial in all places where
It has ben carried into effect.
It must never be forgotten, in considering this,eubject, that
the evils produced by the poor laws areelifferent in different
places ; that all the good effects .hitherto produced hare been
accomplished by improved management; and that, if those
effects have not I, more general, it is because the manage-
meat of the poor has in the 'grinner part of the country im.
proved very little.
For tli purpose of hastening and ensuring such improvement,
your Committee feel inclined to recommend to more general
adoption the appointment of select vestries, and of assistant
overseers receiving a salary. The greatest evils arise from in.
trusting a business, so complicated, to: inexperienced and in.
efficient officers; and much benefit ha's been produced by taking
advantage of the provisions of the ati Geo. 3. c. 12. on this sub.
ject. The greatest amendment may likewise be made by a
judicious attention to that part of the Act, wherein a select
'Vestry it required to 4‘ inquire, into Aid . determine upon the
proper objects of relief, and the nature and arnotint or the re.
lief to be given ; and in each case shall take into con sideration
the character anti conduct of the poor person to be relieved,
and shall be at liberty to distingnikh, in the relief to be granted,
between the deserving and the idle, extravagant of profligate
poor." e. •
In a Bill introduced into the Ilouse'in an early part of the
Session, there is a clause, imposing on the Quarter &Won* the
duty oieontroulling the parish azcoutits, which are ordered to be
laid before theft, and enabling them to appoint an examiner, to
look into the expendituretif each parish. Vi.'hether, in the shape
in which it at present stands, this provision is fit to be adopted,
we will not decide ; but, in the opinion of many persons, it
might be useful that the Quarter Sessions should appoint an in-
spector of parish accounts, whose duty it should he to report to
the Magistrates the state of the poor, and to point out any
flagrant instance of negligence or abuse. A more regular and
distinct method of keeping the parish accounts might likewise
prove highly advantngeoul. '
At the genre time we cannot too strongly express our opinion
that, even as the law at present stands, much might be done by
the vigilant and enlightened intention of the Magistrates'. If
they would point out to the farmer' the mischievous consee
quences of placing their labourers upon the public fund if they
would disemmtenanep _the abuses which prevail, and give
every supporte to those Who' endeavour to reform the present'
tipattll, th'ero 'Can' be 110 dotilit that a great good might he ,ef.
fated. .The frirmeee themselves, have adopted it. unwillingly,
and must be fiqix,atrere of its Mischicyoue effects. The ins-
. treiet which lies so hing restrained 'the application: of agricul-
tural capital is now happily disappearing, gin 4 lune never was
a more favourable. moment for refoenting an which in
very few places is as, yet of thirty years groin's, Ikt the Ma.
`gistrates, and, genera sty, Itll Charged with the iulininistration of
the poor laws, obsestve, that, if these lesre have been reta,ined,
with the humane purpose of preserving honest indigence filmn
starving, and remedying any sudden wind of ainplbyttretit, yet, ‘,l
that if misapplied, they may become
,a greater evil to the cell
try than any partial misfortune, er temporary calamity, could.
loftier.