The Sun.
London, England, 1868-02-21 00:00:00

THE POOR LAW IN LONDON'.

Yesterday a very large deputation waited upon
the President of the Poor Law Board, at White-
hall, to urge views for an alteration of the law for
the relief of the poor in the metropolis by the ex-
tension of the area of rating—in other words, for
the equalisation of the poor rates beyond the ex-
tent laid down by Mr. Hardy's act of last session.
With the Earl of Devon, who received the deputa-
tion in one of the large rooms of Gwydyr-house,
where Mr. Sclater-Booth, M.P., Mr. Fleming, Mr.
Lumley, Mr. Fletcher, Mr. Hugh Owen, Mr. John
Lambert, Mr. Corbett, and other officers ; and the
deputation was headed by Mr. Locke, M.P., Mr.
C. S. Butler, M.P., Mr. Ayrton, M.P., Mr. J. C.
Parkinson, the Rev. Mr. M'Gill, the Rev. T. S.
Evans (vicar of Shoreditch), Mr. Charles Reed, Mr.
Ilows, Mr. Enoch Walker, and many other gentle-
men well-known in connection with the government
of the metropolis. The deputation was introduced
by Mr. C. S. Butler, M.P.
Mr. AYRTON, M.P., first, addressed his lordship,
and in the course of a very long speech said the
question of having one rating for the purposes of
the poor over the metropolis was formerly looked
upon as a very startling one, but it could not be
doubted that it had gained favour in the public
opinions, seeing that Mr. Hardy's proposition of
last session to adopt this principle to a certain ex-
tent had been generally regarded as just and equi-
table, and had passed through the Legislature with
perfect accord ; whereas a few years ago it would
have been met with a great outcry. The distinc-
tion which was made by Mr. Hardy in declaring
that certain classes of the pauper poor (as the small
pox and fever patients) should form a charge upon
the whole metropolis ought to be extended to the
indoor poor, but he did not go so far as to say that
it should be ata'once extended to the outdoor poor as
well. The extension of the principle would admit,
he urged, of an absolute uniformity of administra-
tion of the Poor-law throughout London, by
permitting the formation of a central Board,
to have control over the local authorities,
whom he would still keep to deal with the
local pauperism, supervised by the central body ;
and he suggested that the 41 workhouses in the
metropolis, under the management of a body having
control over the whole of the-London indoor relief,
could be used for the proper classification of the
different classes of paupers, as one class of women
in one, the lunatics in another, and so on—a point
which would have an important bearing in dealing
with the increasing pauperism of London. He enu-
merated various details which he thought would
prevent objectionable outlays, or objectionable ex-
tension of relief.

Mr. LOCKE said that, having been engaged for
many years with the last speaker in dealing with
this question, he was well acquainted with the ob-
jections made against the adoption of a uniform
rating for the poor in the metropolis, and the
greatest objection was that such a course would lead
to great extravagance in the administration of re-
lief. The proposition of Mr. Ayrton had been
framed to meet this objection, and this being sur-
mounted it was hardly necessary to urge arguments
proving that the metropolis was bound to support
the poor of the metropolis, for that was the ques-
tion. And in close relation to that question was
another—the dwellings of the labouring classes. The
labouring classes were, by the operation of the
present parish rating, driven out of the richer
parishes, and sent to dwell in the poorer pa-
rishes, which were thus overburdened with
poor and overwhelmed with rates, while having
a population from a large portion of which
it was impossible to collect rates. If the rates were
equalised the wrong done to the labouring popula-
tion by shutting them out from dwelling near their
work would gradually cease, for the landlords would
not be so unwilling as they were at present to let
land for workmen's dwellings. If the proposition
of an equalised rating were carried out, in his opi-
nion the objections now made against that plan
would be found not to be well-founded, and by the
new and improved working of the Poor-law he be-
lieved the rating throughout the metropolis would
be much reduced. At present the state of things
must be pronouneed as utterly disgraceful.
The Rev. T. S. EVANS, the vicar of Shoreditch,
having addressed his lordship,
The Rev. Mr. M'GILL, of St. George's in-the-
East, spoke at length upon the unjust manner in
which the rating was levied throughout the metro-
polis. He enumerated statistics to show that the
seven rich districts of Kensington, Paddington, St.
George's, Hanover-square, Hampstead, Islington,
the City of London, and Lewisham, having
£15,000,000 of property, paid only £150,613 as the
rate in 1866, while the parishes of East London,
Shoreditch, Bethnal-green, St. George-in-the-East,
Stepney, St. James, Southwark, and St. George,
Southwark, the property in which combined parishes
amounted to only £1,370,574, paid £195,215 for
their contribution to the poor-rate. He further de-
scribed the condition of things at the East- end as
most terrible, and as hardly realised by the general
inhabitants of London, and he urged that it was
not safe nor politic that such a condition of things
should be allowed to remain.
Several other gentlemen addressed his lordship,
and it was stated that to such a pass had things
come in some parishes that people summoned for
rates brought pawntickets, showing that they had
parted with their clothes and homes, while others
brought relief tickets, showing they were themselves
paupers.
Lord DEVON, in reply, begged the deputation
would not assume any opinions he might utter to
be the opinions of the Poor-law Board. He would
wish the gentlemen who had waited upon him to
understand that he had a strong sense of the im-
portance of the subject, for he considered it to be
one of the most important of the social questions of
the metropolis. It was important to the poor them-
selves, it was important to those who administered
the law, and it was important to that very large
class of poor-rate payers in the eastern districts
whose sufferings he could quite believe were in no
way exaggerated. The gentlemen there must be all
aware that on the original introduction of the Poor-
law it was framed to take effect On the area of the
parishes already formed, but that area had been
from time to time enlarged by the Legislature, who
had recognised the necessity of enlarging the area
of chargeability, as in the Union Chargeability Act,
and in some clauses of the act of last session. He
had always been anxious to discover any mode by '
which the principle of equalisation could be recog-
nised and adopted consistently with the mainte-
nance of economy ; for extravagance by guardians
who did not feel responsibility would not only do
wrong to the ratepayers, but would demoralise the
recipients. Another point was that it was always
considered to be beneficial to have local authorities
to deal with local cases, and he had always favour-
ably regarded the law which placed in the hands of
gentlemen the discretion of administering relief,
and a change in this should be regarded with great
caution. He then proceeded to touch upon various
points urged by the deputation, and pressed upon
the notice of those present that a difficult feature in
dealing with a partial equalisation—as, for instance
taking in, as n metropolitan charge, the sick classes
—would be the want of a line of distinction. In
conclusion, he said he should regard as a great
public mischief any proposition which should pre-
vent gentlemen from acting in their own localities
for the relief of the poor, and the Poor-law
Board would consider the subject thus brought be-
fore them without prejudice for either the East or
the West, and would come to a fair and impartial
opinion.
The deputation thanked the noble lord and with-
drew.

THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD AT THE CAPE.—The
announcement of the discovery of gold-fields in the Trans-
vaal is principally founded on the report of a German
mineralogist, Herr Mauch, who has been exploring the
country. He writes under date Potchefsroom, Dec. 2,
1867 :—" Just returned from a second trip in Moselikatse's
country. I give you a short notice that I have been very
successful in finding gold—not in small, scarcely visible
specks, but in great veins of quartz, i.e., gold-fields, one of
them more than 60 miles long, the other about 20 miles
broad, besides numerous small parallel veins."—Reuter's
Express.

Cif Tt:Citcithr.

HER MAJESTY.

OSBORNE, Feb. 20.
The Queen drove out, accompanied by Prince
Leopold.
Her Majesty afterwards went out, accompanied
by Princess Louise.

THE EARL OF DERBY.—It was stated, in answer
to inquiries made at Knowsley, yesterday afternoon, that
his lordship continued to improve.
His Excellency the Swedish Minister and
Baroness Hochschild had a dinner party yesterday even-
ing at the Swedish Legation in Great Cumberland-street.
A select company assembled after dinner.