Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-10-07
BREEDING BEGGARS.
Paupers in This Common
Wealth,Made So by the Law
in Most Instances.
A STRIKING COMPARISON
Between Counties With AlmshouseS
and Those Without Them.
SHREWD SCHEME OF 0VERSEERS,
By Which Four Charitable Charges Are
Kept for the Cost Of One.
A STRIKING COMPARISON
SHREWD SCHEME OF OVERSEERS,
By Which Four Charitable Charges Are
Kept for the Cost Of One.
PLUPERS ARE KEEPERS OF PAUPERS
NO. 2.

NO. 2.
Some illustrations will satisfy the mos
cursory reader that pauperism is actuall,
promoted and encouraged in large part o
Pennsylvania by the operations of tn,
onerous poor law of 1886. They will show
that in distributing the public poor fund
in pensions and doles, alms-askers arr
demoralized, and fast develop into deceiv
ing, lying, idle and vicious members o
society. NJ. F. Black is at present one OF
the overseers of the poor in Manor town
ship, Armstrong county. He said to me:
There is a low class of people in every
community that try to get the best of the
overscers. The men are drinkers and idlers
and their wives, though generally able
bodied, are too lazy to work either. In the
neighborhood of almost every broken-d down
iron furnace along the various railroads, ol
at abandoned coal pits, you will generally
see a lot of deserted shanties. Such families
as 1 have described take possession of these
vacant houses, and, although, they may be
perfect strangers to US, or even foreigners,
all they need do under the poor law, is to
pay SO rent in those houses in the course OF
a wear and TO stay within the township Il
months. That decides the question of their
settlement and they can become n charge
upon the township without dispute.
THE USUAL PROGRAMME.
By the time the year is out, the husband
1ls generally disappeared. He will not be
s;led by his wife for desertion, for he has
only gone far enough away to be out of sight
when she makes application for relief. With
no visible means of support, and a house
c certainly bearing every mark of poverty,
Il tere is no other alternative for us than to
ri we her relief. That settles the husband in
hilS determination to loaf, and whether he
-e Is any of the aid we give his wife or not,
he continues in idleness, no good to this
cor pEIunity.
I.eterring to the poor law of 1886, found
Mr.. Blacks statement to be correct. Sec
TONS, part 3, says:
A settlement may be gained in any district
by a5y person who shall bona fide take a
leas nj any real estate of the yearly value
OF SlO and shall dwell upon the same for one
whole y ear and pay the said rent
That, certainly, is an easy condition to
get 1oothold in a township or borough.
The newt step such idlers may take in reach
ing the poor funds is to go before two jus
tices of 5he peace and ''swear themselves on
the township, " as it is called. That means
an atfida Eat that they are poo- and impo-
tent. in destitute circumstances, and unable
themselves. The Justice assumes no re-
sronsibiLsy but, leaving it to the overseer
to decide, if he wishes to, whether the man
or woman s oath is good, writes out the neces-
sarv order on the overs-er and hands it to
the applicant. receiving in fees from 25
cents 10 '$1.25 out of the township poor
funds
MUST OBEY THE LAW.
is able to week." SAYS Martin Yetter, an
overseer in Smithfeld township, Monroe
county I'VE dare not refuse. We feel
we have to do it if he has an order from
two justices. That is required by law
This shows tIEat the simple orders of JUS
tices, given without investigation, are not
always looked up, though the printed form
of that order FROM the magistrate invariably
reads: 'If YOU find the circumstances to be
as represented, etc"
KittanniHg waa overrun with paupers a
few years age. The town cut loose from
Armstrong counEyIin its poor system, and
buying q farm, established a poorhouse
upon it.
What was the.rssnlt?" / asked Frank
King, one OF the Ertanning directors, last
week.
Before we had rhe Poor House there
were 125 charges on the borough of Kittan-
ning," he replied, "and, now, there are only
II paupers whom the borough has to sup
port.
Manor township adioHns Kittanning, and
1t still 10. out its pauJpers to the lowest
b oder. Result, Kittai7ning, a populous
town, II paupers: Manor township, a farm
ing community, 16 paupeCs.
The city of New Castle sickened of the
beggar-breeding system, aud built itself
poorhouse. Out Of the reSRIrns of tax Just
made by the Commissioners of Lawrence
county, find that New Castle, with a pop.
ulation of II 600, raised a poor tax of Sc, ,691
this year. In the same conmty the town.
ships of North Beaver MahonIng, Pulaski,
slippery Rock, Shenango, and West Castle
had 10 raise SS.616. The population ofthese
six townships is several hundred less than
New Castle, and vet they had many more
pauperS than the well-built-up town.
A STRIKING COMPARISON.
According to the report of the State
Beard of Charities for 1889, Indiana county,
with population of AZ 175, had 341 pau
pers, while Lancaster county, with a popu-
lation of 149, ,095, only reported $50 paupers
Indiana still clings TO the township over
seer system, while Lancaster makas-its pau
pc-s go 20 one common almshouse.
Grouped together, fourteen of the coun-
ties which own alnlshouses, and which OBJ
iterate township lines in caring for the
poor, present the following exhibit: