The Union and eastern journal. [volume] (Biddeford [Me.]) 1854-1858, 1857-12-18
Report of the 0verseers.

The record of the doings Of our City
Council on Monday evening, our city
readers will perceive, embraces q report
made by the ovcrscrs of the poor, OF the
number Of persons who received support
from the city, during the month of Mo-
vcmbcr. Large rs is the number ofpau-
pcn reported for November, We learn
that the number has increased, and there
is reason to expect that the paupcr ca
penses Of the city, during the winter, will
be very large. The report mcagre, as it
is, tells a sad story Of the restitution and
suffering, existing in our city. The re-
port, although made probably to comply
with all the requirements of the order Of
the board of Aldermen, would have been
more perfect had it stated with some
precision the immediate causes of this
alarming increase of pauperism, distin-
gushing as near rs could well be done
between such cases as had resulted from
inability Of the persons supplied to obtain
employment, from such cases as are the
natural consequence OF improvidencc and
intcmpcrancc. The report will very nat
urally suggest to the tax payers OF our
city, the inquiry whether very consider
able portion of this paupcrism is not at
tribuablc to causes which exist in our
city, the remedy for which can only be
found in the enactment of laws which
have for their object, the limitation Of
the dcpravcd appetitcs and passions Of
men, or to speak with more directness,
laws which strike at once at the fountain
heads Of pauperisu, by the suppression
Of the places Of vicious indulgence. No
doubt much Of this paupcrism which will
add SO sadly to the public burdens, and
which will be so severely felt by the in.
nocen. tax payers, grows out OF causes
connected with the depression in business;
but, ly far its largest share, no doubt, has
its origin in the facility in which the in
cbriating draught is obtained. We new
or read such reports without feeling rc-
newed confidence in the moral right which
a community has, to strike at the root Of
paupcrism, by striking out of existence
the instruments by which il is produced.
The rum shop and the paupcr record
have intimate connections, and the length
Of the latter will always be in proportion
to the number Of the former.
But perhaps, after all, the most stIik.
ing fact Of the report is the information
that it contains respecting the proportion
Of forcigncrs who have been assisted, when
compared with the number OF Americans.
More than eight tenths Of the persons as-
sisted are persons Of foreign birth, and
when il is remembered that probably scv.
en- tcnths Of the population Of our city
arc American born, this disproportion is
still more striking, challenging invcs,iga-
ton and enquiry into its causes, by tho
tax payers. Assuming our foreign pop
ulation to be 1900, over sixteen per cent.
Of it, has required assistance, while not
one fourth Of one per cent Of the Amcri-
can born have been aided. We content
ourselves, for the present, with this bare
allusion to the matter. We received too
late for insertion in this paper, a synopsis
Of the remarks made by Alderman BetteA
before the board when the report vi.
made. Hereafter We may publish it. or
50 much as will explain Mr.. Bettes' views
with respect to this increase Of psuper-
ism.