The Sun.
London, England, 1846-09-11 00:00:00

►SICTION F.—STATEsTics.

At the hour for commencing business, the audience
consisted of two persons. Mr. Porter, the chairman,
however, desired one of the two secretaries who attended
him to begin the business of the day. Subsequently the
number present increased to six, besides those three
official personages ; beyond that number it never rose.
A report was read, written by Dr. Alison, of Edin-
burgh, on the medical relief to the parochial poor of
Scotland under the former law. Dr. Alison considered
that this inquiry would supply the best test of the effi-
ciency of the voluntary system of relief, which had pre-
vailcl in Scotland until the New Poor-law. Returns
had been obtained from 40 towns, and it was found that
in l s of them the parochial authorities had supplied no
medical relief at all, and in the rest only trifling occa-
sional payments'had been made, chiefly during the pre-
valence of some-epidemic. 25 practitioners had made a
return of the estimated money value of their unrequited
professional labour bestowed on sick, paupers ; the
average was 401. ss. 7d. a year.. In thirty-three out
of the forty towns in_ question, no altefation had
yet , taken place. Of 325 professional men in the
country districts of Scotland who had been ap-
plied to, 305 had furnished information respecting
-their remuneration for attending sick paupers; 94 of
them had been receiving spore remuneration, 39 of them
an annual one varying from a few shilling for drugs up
to 20/., but only 13 received above Si. a year; among
those who had received no regular annual sum, two had
been paid 3s, each; in one case that was the sole remu-
neration received during 12 Years of attendance on a
number of paupers averaging 70 constant, and 13 occa-
sional; in the other instance it was given for attendance
on passing paupers to other parishes, and the medical
gentleman in that ease-had received nothing for 21 years
attendance on paupers numbering 44 constant patients.
Of the 305, 211 had never received any remuneration
of. any kind for their professional attendance upon the
parochial poor, or for drugs ; one of these had at-
tended 400 paupers for eight years, Another calcu-
lated his loss by this at 701. a year; 208 had had occa-
sion to give wine, food, clothing, &c., to the sick poor,
from their own limited income, or to beg such things
from their wealthy neighbours for them; one had known
the Session sell the effects of his deceased pauper pa-
tient, and appropriate the proceeds without paying
him. 136 returns had been obtained of the estimated
value of unrequited professional labour in the country
districts; on an average the parties had been ten years
in practice, and the sum total given by them to the poor
in professional labour and outlay was 34,447/., or about
2531. each on an average; they calculated the average
for each pauper, including drugs, at 4s. a year. Four-
fifths of these practitioners reported their opinion to be
in favour of giving the poor the right of applying to any
medical man in the district, instead of being compelled
to resort to such as had been appointed for them by the
parochial boards.
A desultory conversation followed, in which
Professor More, of Edinburgh, observed that Scot-
land owed her poor-law almost wholly to Dr. Alison's
exertions. The relief now given was generally 2s. 6d.
a week to a single poor person; and, considering the
price of food there, that was a tolerable provision for
them. _ _

Another paper was then read; a review of the Mines
and Mining Industry of Belgium, by Mr. Richard Valpy,
f9ttuded 01A OW mod of the Meister of Public Werke