The Sun.
London, England, 1867-10-25 00:00:00

LONDON, FRIDAY, OCT. 25, 1867.

The Reform question being so far settled, the at-
tention of Parliament can very profitably be turned
in other directions, and it is no exaggeration to say
that nowhere is it more needed than in that of the
management of our unions and workhouses. Proofs
are not wanting of the necessity that exists for a
remedy in this respect, and those who desire a case
in point may turn to the account given last Satur-
day in the Lancet, of the Farnham, near Aldershott,
Workhouse. The state of things may truly be described
as deplorable,and it seems difficult to understand how
they can be tolerated by those whose duty it is to
respect and supervise the arrangements. Some
features common to all the infirmary wards aro
given, and they cannot fail to strike and startle
those who peruse them. It can hardly be thought
that much, if any, care or consideration is bestowed
upon matters that appertain to health, and are
furthermore required by decency, that one room
may serve for all, which is thus described :—" The
walls were bare and dirty, the bedsteads Were narrow,
the beds were single mattresses, filled with chopped
straw ; there are only two round towels per week
allo-ved for all purposes of ablution to this whole
ward, and a proportionately niggardly allowance
reigns through the house ! ! The other arrange-
ments are all i❑ conformity with these meagre al-
lowances, and the next thing we pass on to is the
subject of the nursing, or man nursing as it may
more properly be called, for there is but one paid
female nurse, aided by a broken down male
pauper, for all purposes of nursing whatever
in the whole establishment. The nursery de-
partment is a most melancholy affair, and
the woman in charge of the children com-
plained of the bareness of the room ; they
visibly had, it is said, " no toys, no amusement, no
education." Some attempts bad been made by the
guardians to provide toys for these little ones, but
only a small portion of the money subscribed for the
purpose was laid out upon them, and when broken
these were not replaced. The practice of seven
or eight little children sitting on a wooden bench in
front of the fire is not a pleasant one, but it is in
keeping with the dejected style that reigns through
the place.
The ward for infirm women was net less pitiable.
Here were shown seven aged women, toothless and
decrepid, crouching by the fire, and endeavouring
to dine, but the repast is more make-believe than
reality. The doctor has ordered them some mutton,
but this is changed into thick lumps of beef or
bacon, and only knives are furnished to them to
dispose of these " tough morself." Another faulty
plan is to cut up the meat in the dining hall, and
therefore, by the time it reaches its destination for
the sick and infirm, it is in a condition " of tepid
greasiness, well calculated to repress inordinate
appetites." A gloomy room, barer and more cheer-
less than any " prison cell of modern construction,"
is the place where some dozen old men are found
sitting on hard benches, with no occupation what-
ever. The only happy looking among them were
two imbeciles, one of whom did all the dirty work
of the house. One of these was a man of eighty,
who had been a hard-working, respectable fellow
till late in life ; then he was supported by his wife ;
she died, however, and he was allowed 2s. Gd. a
week and one loaf as out-of-door relief. It will
not occasion surprise to hear that he found this sum
insufficient, so he was obliged to come into the house
to avoid starvation. It is a disgrace to our country
that this should be the provision made for the old age
of the respectable poor, and it is doubly disgraceful
when we remember that the condition of a deter-
mined reprobate and an often-convicted offender
would be much more comfortable. Another of these
occupants had been 62 years a ratepayer, but was
compelled to enter the house through the insuffi-
ciency of the out-door relief. At one time these
men had some newspapers to amuse themselves
with, but they were taken away. Two rabbit-
hutches in appearance were found in the yard,
which were devoted to the use of the male and
female tramp wards. The men are allowed no
food, and the women are allowed a piece of bread if
they have any children with them, otherwise they
have to go without. These are locked up at night,
and the same undesirable custom is followed in-
&ors with the able-bodied.

Bad as this state of things is, it appears that the
condition of the house was actually worse previous
to the cliares produced by the evidence of the
medical man. The astounding part of the business
is that the guardians should have allowed these evils
to go on so long unchecked. It would seem
plain to every one that many of these offensive
rules must have been sufficiently evident to all who
inspected the place to call for indignant reproach
and remonstrance. The cruelty of locking up "faint
and weary travellers all night in a mere cage with-
out a morsel of food," in defiance of the request of
the doctor to the contrary, is a thing that cannot
be excused by any means. We fully agree with
the conclusion arrived at by the Lancet, that