The Sun.
London, England, 1859-11-12 00:00:00

that of an elderly woman, who states that she had
been in your house, but had left it, and, although
quite usable to work, was only allowed one shilling
and a loaf. Now, this -is very clearly not relief,
under such circumstances; nominally it may be so,
but practically it is an absolute mockery.
A woman, about fifty, here got into the witness-
box, and stated that she had worked at the army
clothing, but that she was quite incapable of work
now, having on the forefinger of her right hand a
black gathering and abscesses, and that she was
now receiving only ls. and a loaf from the work-
house. She had been previously in the house, but
she could not support herself upon the allowance
now made her.
Mr. Painter—This woman is ashamed to say why
she left the house ; she committed a theft, and Was
discharged.
Mr. Safford, the clerk—Yes, she was charged
before Mr. D'Eyncourt with stealing stockings, and
I believe it transpired that she was induced to take
the things to wear herself instead of flannel, which
she had been accustomed to ; at any rate, she was
discharged from this court.
Mr. Howes—l must be allowed to say that a
woman like this is not the most desirable person to
have, in a workhouse.
Mr. flammill—Why, she is absolved from the
charge of robbery ; Mr. D'Eyncourt was clearly
satisfied with her account of her possession of the
things, or he would not have discharged her. She
cannot work, you hear, and it is impossible that any
one can conceive that a shilling and a loaf are suffi-
cient to keep her. As I have observed before, it is
a mero mockery. I think that this is clearly a case

for admission io the house.
Woman—The relieving-officer told me that the
house was too full, and that some more of the in-
mates must be got rid of.
Mr. Painter—The workhouse is under repair in
one of its wings, and we cannot accommodate all
that we should otherwise be enabled to do. The
woman shall be taken in, sir, when it is completed,
and meanwhile a lodging shall be procured for her.
Mr. Hammill—And something given her, I hope,
that will keep her soul and body together. I hate a
thousand cases in which the shilling-and-loaf relief
is all that is ordered, and so frequently is this told to
_me that I have almost surmised it is a set rule to allow
no more.
Fairall, the warrant officer—Here is a woman who
complains of St. Luke's. She says that she slept in
Shoreditch workhouse, and that they told her the
next day to get a lodgiug in St. Luke's, which I be-
lieve is her own parish ; and, when she applied there,
they sent her back to Shoreditch, to be passed in the
usual IN ay.
Mr. Hammill—Ay, there again is a great deal of
suffering endured by these poor creatures being
bandied about from one workhouse to another, starv-
ing, while they can scarcely crawl, and calling in at
the police-court on their way.
Ultimately this case was disposed of, and th 2
gentlemen left.

LAMBETH.—Among the persons who applied
for relief from the poor-box was the wife of a labourer
on the " strike," who said that in consequence of the
long duration of the turn-out and the small pittance
allowed by the society she and her family were re-
duced to the greatest possible distress._
Mr. Norton observed, that it was quite lament-
able to find such a state of things as persons allow-
ing themselves and their families to be on the brink
of starvation while they had plenty of work to go
to at remunerative wages, such as would provide a
proper maintenance. It had always been his wish
to afford every assistance to the distressed, and par-
ticularly thOse whose distresses were brought on
without any fault of their own, but he did not con-
ceive he should be justified in ordering assistance
from the poor-box in cases where, as in the one be•
fore him, the distress was occasioned by persons
obstinately refusing to go to work when they could
get abundance of employment, and earn the means
to support themselves and families. He should re-
commend the applicant to go home and persuade her
husband to go to work immediately, and and if after
doing so she came to him and applied for some
assistance, he should have no objection to do what
he could for her.

The applicant said she was afraid she would not
succeed in this, as her husband was about to go on
the tramp, but she would do her best to act on his
worship's suggestion.