The Sun.
London, England, 1861-08-19 00:00:00

THE IRISH POOR LA TV.

The Select Committee appointed to inquire into
the administration of the relief of the poor in Ire-
land, under the orders, rules, and regulations, is.
sued by the Poor Law Commissioners, pursuant to
the provisions of the Poor Law Acts, and into the
operation of the laws relating to the relief of the
poor in Ireland, have considered the matters to
them referred, and have come to the following re-
solutions, which they have agreed to report to the
house :

That it is the opinion of this conunittec-
1. That the powers given by the statute (10th of Victoria,
chap. 31) to Poor Law Guardians in Ireland of affording
relief, both in• door and out-door, are sufficient; and that
no alteration of that statute in that respect is necessary or
desirable.

2. That, in the administration of the law, the guardians
appear to have made such provision in respect of the man-
agement of the workhouses, the education of children,
medical aid, and all other mattters relating to the effectual
relief of the poor, as to justify the power= conferred on them
by Parliament; and that it is not expedient to give to the
Pcor Lxw Commissioners, or to any other authority, com-
pulsory powers to control the discretion of the guardians.

:i. That time has not admitted of detailed inquiry into
the working of the Medical Charities Act, but that the evi-
dence shows that great benefits have been derived from that
statute, and that it is desirable to take further evidence upon
this subject.
4. That several of the witnesses have recommended the
substitution of union for divisional rating, but that it is not
desirable to alter the present law in that respect.
5. That an extension from three to five years (with a
minimum residence of two years in some one division) of
the time which suffices to make the pauper chargeable to
the electoral division, instead of to the union at large, would
tend to remove undue pressure imposed on town electoral
divisions from any sudden increase occasioned by the gravi-
tation of pauperism towards the more populous districts.
6. That power ought to be given to boards of guardians
t..) recover from the putative fathers the cost of the mainte-
nance of illegitimate children during the time they are in-
mates of a poorhouse, and while under the age of 14; and
that such cost of relief should be recoverable by process, in
the name of the guardians, before the barrister at quarter
sessions.

7. That it is exnedient to extend to cases of sickness or
accident the powers which the guardians now possess, in
regard to fever cases under the 15th and 16th sections of
6 and 7 Victoria, cap. 92.
S. To regulate the mode in which the religious educa-
tion of children, the religion of whose parents is not known,
shall be determined, by giving to the person who brings the
child to the workhouse the legal position of the parent or
guardian for that purpose.
9. To give to boards :of guardians the authority of the
parent up to the age of 15 years, in cases of orphan and de-
serted children.

10. To authorise boards of guardians to place orphan and
deserted children out to nurse up to the age of 12 years,
when they shall think it right to do so.
11. To repeal the quarter Acre clause.

12. To amend the law relating to the election of guar-
dians, by requiring a more accurate description of property
in respect of which claims to vote are made, by requiring
the execution of such claims to be executed before a justice
of the peace, by limiting the duration of property and
proxy claims, and by limiting the number of proxy claims
to be held by one person ; also by removing doubts which
have existed as to the'rights of owners or immediate lessors
of certain classes of property to vote ; and by limiting the
number of votes to be given in respect of rent received, ac-
cording to the rated value of the premises from which the
rent is received.
13. That a system of superannuation has been advocated
by official witnesses, who recommend that a claim should
be given to worn-out union officers giving up their whole
time to the service of the union, to superannuation, on the
scale of the Civil Service Superannuation Act, and subject
to the like restrictions as are contained in that Act ; and
tt
hh
at
tt
sit u iosh desirablen tso p h
ourlodv provide such pt
b emade su
ienr superannuation; nu
bill
a ttioo nam;
amend
the present Poor Law.

14. That a separate place for religious worship to which
the inmates should, subject to the regulations as to classi..
fication and discipline, have access during the day, ought to
be provided in every workhouse.
15. That the moral classification of inmates, particularly
in the larger workhouses, is a subject to which special at •
tention ought to be paid by those who administer the law.
16. That compulsory powers should be given to the Poor
Law Commissioners, upon requisition from boards of guar-
dians, to take land for burial grounds.
17. That since conflicting decisions as to the chargeability
of charitable institutions are being given by the assistant-
barristers of the different counties in Ireland, it is most de
sirable that the law on this point should be settled, and that
the principle of exemption from poor-rates is objectionable,
and ought not to form part of tho law.
18. That solicitors who are members o f boards of guar-
dians should be prohibited from acting professionally, either
for or against the boards of which they are members; and
that in the eventof their so acting professionally they should
be liable to the same penalties as are imposed by the present
law on guardians who, either directly or indirectly, have
any interest in a contract made by their board.
July 5, 1861.

I fear we must all confess that the present--
and chiefly so as regards Great Britain—is a mixed age of
cotton and of iron. And this pair, apparently so uncon-
genial, work together on terms of vast mutual advan-
tage. They are excellent co-partners. Of the two,
perhaps, cotton may be said, in some sense to have
the ascendancy, inasmuch-as iron, with all its rigidity of
temper and hardness of heart, is made to bend to
the needs and demands of its associate, whom it edu-
cates and conducts through the multiform stages of its
career,
and finally transmits to its local destina-
tion. In fact, much of its employment is 'in sup-
serviency to the destiny of cotton. It is instrumental to its
eminent success, and moat complacent in discharging.
rous offices of assistance ; and in so far as thett bigger
for
whom the agent acts is always in this world e nume-
ger of
the two, cotton must be deemed a gentleman of superior
consideration to iron,--Once a Week.