, 1872-11-16

decrease Of crime. |
PAUPERIsM AND CRIME.
In England, which has sometimes spent forty
millions Of dollars year in poor-rehef, and is
this year spending at half that rate, and which,
according to Charles Tennant, IN The Peoples
Blue-Book, put 1000 vagrants to death IN the
last year Of Henry the Eighth's reign, pauperlsm
has always been more thoroughly discussed than
any other question Of social science. In Amet1ca'
our lower classes have not, except IN our large
cities, particularly those on the Atlantic coast
demanded serious attention, and statlst1cs
on the subject, which are fully and
accurately studied in England, are neg
1ected here. Even the Census law Sights this
matter, and General Walker, in submitting Table
10 Of the census, which tabulates the figures Of
pauperi6m and crime, acknowledges that the re-
turns for neither are accurate. f, as ne are
told, re are to have the poor with Us always, We
must study the causes OF their impoVerishment,
but this, Superintendent Walker says, is impos~
sible under the limited and faulty Census law Of
1860. It gayethe State Of New York, in the eighth
census, out of 3,880,7s5 inhabitants, a pauper~
ism of 164,782, supported at an average cost Of
80 head while Pennsylvania, nearly equal in
population and industrial Development, Was
charged with only IL, 1853, supported at q cost Of
$40 head. Statea we're reported by that
census to have & pauper-list five or
ten times larger than that Of States in
the same genera1.condition, because in some the
s'solid" amount Of pauperiBn obtained by
dividing the sum of al relief rendered by the
cost of supporting one pauper, the quotient be-
ipg the representative number OF paupers-was
given, and in others all cases Of assistance, null
tiplied many times by the temperance OF the
eame persons, we're returned as cases OF IN
dividual and permanent pauPeriam-
In country Of such diverse conditions as the
United States, accurate exhibits of paupe11sm
can be got only by ascertaining: the numbers
actually inmates Of alms-houses on q certain
day; the impe1sonal or solid amount Of panper-
ism; the number Of all who have received any
relief whatsoever; the number who have become
inmates for any period whatsoever. Only
the frat OF these four inquiries ia
specified in the present Census law. It
permits one Of the others to be made at
the discretion OF the takers Of the CENSUS, and
Superintendent Walker has chosen in this way
to ascertain what he apt1y styles the solid y
amount Of pauperism. This he considers the
| most exact single expression possible for the
| actual pauperigm of d country.
That the superintendents caution, not to use
| the figures Of the different censuses for COM
parison, is we'll founded, appears when we at
| tempt to do 80. According to the tables given,
| the total number supported during the year
ended June l, 1870, was 116, ,102. at cost OF
s1o $50 429; during 1sGo s21 ,665, at ,143
during 1850, 1874 972, at s., ,954, BOG. This makes
the cost, per head, in 1870, 994 in 1860, SIT; II
1850, $22. These discrepancies reveal the utter
wantof uniformity in the operation OF the Law
under which these figures have been gathered.
| More dependence can be placed upon the figures
showing the number receiving support on Junt
/. There were Of these, in the whole
country, in 1870, 76,737 in 1860, s2,942; il
1850, 60359. Co1ored paupers make their ap
pearance first in the CENSUS Of 1870, in Whlc1
they are 9,400. By far the most Of them are il
the Southern States, South Carolina having
1,106, and Virginia 1879. In each census, tn
native far outnumber the foreign paupers. Tht
proportions were, in 1850, nearly to 1 ; in 1860
about ~ to i; in 1870, about 20 to i. Illinois
had, in 1870, June 1, 1858 actually receiving re
lief,-1, 254 native and i ,10s foreign. OF the ma
tive, Il we're colored. During that year, COS
were supported at a cost Of s55G,061 In 1866
1885, 184 was spent for the support Of ,628, 1,85
Of whom we're on hand June (707 native an
1.149 foreign). In 1850 the corresponding
figures are S45, ,213 for 797 paupern 4s4 on ham
June /, 279 OF them natives. These statistic
make the average cost Of supper
vary from 957 in 1850 to $40 in 1860
and S92 in 1870. In gathering these statistic
Superintendent Walker has not included til
| relief given to distressed immigrants, nor to til
inmates Of charitable institutions or insan
asylums.
How to administer public charity 60 Us not
give premium to id1eness, and ut the sam
time to economize the funds, has been puzzlin
question. English poor laws, although the
visited upon vagabondage tho eeverest pena
ties, even to death without benefit Of clerg!
gave SO prodigal relief that in the end the e,
penditure rose to nearly s8,0o0,oo0 annuall
and warehouses became places #
idling in. The ignorant believed the poo
rate an ine1haustible fund which belonged
them. " To obtain their share" it was oflci
ly said, j" the brutal bullied the administrator
the proaigates exhibited their bastards whic
must be fed; the idle folded their arms an
waited till they got it ignorant boys and girl
married upon it; poachers, thieves, al
prostitutes e1torted it by intimidation countr
Justices laVished it for popularity, and guard
ans for convenience" Under the rigid metho
Of administration recommended by aener