The Sun.
London, England, 1868-03-23 00:00:00

COUNTRY WORKHOUSES.

A terrible picture of the condition of many of the pro-
vincial workhouses was drawn by the Archbishop of York
at the interview of the deputation from the Workhouse
Infirmaries Association with the President of the Poor-law
Board. At Chesterfield workhouse, for instance, said his
Grace, quoting from the official inspector's report, some of
the beds in the infirmary are so near together as almost to
touch, the rain drips through the ventilators in the
ceiling on to the floor, and in one instance on to
the bed. There are no proper chairs, dining•
tables, or tablecloths : in one ward seven dirty and
neglected children were found eating their dinners on
the floor ; the medicines are handed over to the patients
themselves, who take them or not as they are inclined ;
there are no proper means of washing the sick, and only
one towel a week is allowed for use in each ward. In the
same infirmary an imbecile patient was lately beaten to
death by a pauper wardsman for some tr:fling act of negli-
gence. In the Shardlow Union there is no classification
even of the sexes ; at Ashton-under-Lyne the convalescent
sick share the lunatic day-room, confinements take place
in the general sick wards, and the fever wards are
used for itch and other disgusting diseases. This state of
things is more or less common to the Blackburn, Burnley,
Bury, Chorley, Clitheroe, the Fylde, Harlingden, Old-
ham, and Preston workhouses. His Grace recommended
that the reforms which have been made in the manage-
ment of the London workhouses should be extended
to those in the provinces ; that the sick poor should
be separated from the able-bodied paupers ; that
'in lieu of sick wards annexed to each work-
house, consolidated infirmaries managed on the
hospital system should be provided ; that from
1,000 to 1,500 cubic feet of air should be allowed
to each patient ; that nursing should be conducted
by a trained staff, with one assistant nurse for
each 50 patients ; tbat there should be a resident
medical officer to every 250 patients—the medical officer
to have no pecuniary interest in the medicines dispensed ;
and that Lord Devon should seek from Parliament
powers to enforce a code of regulations for the govern-
ment of infirmary establishments, and to appoint an
auxiliary corps of medical inspectors. Mr. Ernest Hart
suggested that these inspectors should report specifi-
cally like the gentleman just quoted. There were reports
and reports, and most of the stock phrases in use by
inspectors were mere euphemisms, covering a multi-
tude of workhouse sins. Inspectors were too fond
of reporting in adjectives ; thus what they called
" insufficient attendance " meant neglect of giving
the sick their proper diets, leaving them to their
own help or no help, mixing the convalescent sick
who needed rest and quiet with noisy lunatics ; " inade-
quate " and " insufficient" stood for the evils which had
been exposed in connection with the Bedminster Union ;
the scrubbing of hands black with gangrene as if they
were black with dirt, the killing of an infant by acciden-
tally placing it in scalding water, and then rubbing off the
blisters with a towel, &c., &c. The Earl of Devon, in
reply to the deputation, said that the Legislature was, not
always ready to give the Board powers over guardians, for
fear of strengthening centralisation. He acknowledged
the value of the recommendations of the Infirmary Com-
mittee, and said that many of them were already
embodied in the bill he should propose for second read-