The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-12-21
The SCIENCE OF FAUPERISM
ITS PRINCIPLES EXPOUND BY
SIR ROBERT GIFEEN.
Poverty and Charity Dtscussed--The
Error of Forcing Charity on tho Poor
Their Conditions as Social Symp-

|
Their Conditions as al Social symp
tom.
At the annual Southeastern and Met
ropoltan Poor Law Conference Sir Rob
ert Giffen, the President for one year
occupied the chair, and delivered his
address. He said it might be of interest
to discuss some general aspects of the
question Of pauperism with which his
own studies has brough him into con-
tact. Their success in the fight against
pauperism depended upon the support
of public opinion, and those like him
self who We're not experts might per-
haps render assistance by making clear
to the public the nature Of the problem
on which the conference was engaged.
To begin with, he wished to empha
size the favorable position of the pres
ent generation as to the problem of pow
erty. Poverty and pauperism were not
the same things A community might
be poor, the whole mass, or nearly the
whole mass, being at the same dead
level of poverty; but from the very ma
ture of the case there was no pauper-
| ISM Vi illtit pdupClisiii Jtiot bSAHuNN
there were no funds with which to sup
port the very poorest, who had to strug-
gle on as best they might. Still a con-
dition of fireat poverty for the masses
of the community implied a lower state
than one in which teh poor had become
a minority, and the question of legal
relief for portion of the minority arose.
1t was the advance of this country and
of the civilized countries of Europe from
a condition In which the great majority
| were poor which gave cause for con-
graduation, and that advances was
much more recent than they were some
times apt to think. The increase of re-
sources was encouraging when the prob
lem of pauperism, the support of the
poor by the State, was faced. When
the bulk Of the most advanced portions
of the race were battling with dire pow
| erty themselves, or were in a state of
transition to their present security 1t
was impossible to look at the problem
of pauperism phlosophically.
| The question was really that of a
struggle for existence, and there was a
kind of fierceness in the ideas and meth
DDS for dealing with the very poorest
which it was difficult to realize. Now
it was possible to look at the question
more calmly. Just because the COM
munity as a whole seemed so far remov-
ed from the possibility of being over
whelmed by extreme poverty, because
our resources were so great, we were
getting famaliarized with the hopes that
pauperism might slowly and surely be
eliminated--that the minority of the
ops 10Th he 6icoir,tino6 o1t
Gated out Of dependence upon the state
and out of the poverty from which they
still suffered. He was speaking only of
many countries the condition of extreme
poverty for the masses remained, and
they were subject to the natural checks
of which Nautilus wrote--famine pesti-
lence, and war. He referred especially
to the condition of large parts of Rus
sia and of India, in both of which fam
ines had been of recent occurrence
large masses Of the population were per-
manently in a state of semi-starvation. |
Some parts of India at this very mo-
ment were on the brink Of another fam |
inc. He was not sure but that difficult
les of this kind might in the near flu
ture seriously affect the more advanc-
ed communities in their care of the |
sem-civiized We did our best to re-
move from the latter communities the
natural checks of which Nautilus wrote. |
One of them war, was almost wholly
removed, as far as Its effect in check
ing the increase of population was con-
cerned. Famine and pestlence, as In
India, were very greatly mitigated IL |
not quite prevented. AS result there
appeared to be danger of the growth
of large masses Of semi-clvilized peoples
under the protection of powerful Gov
ernments without adequate means Of
living, and with no sure methods in
prospect by which their food could be
increased. So far as the great civilized
communities were concerned their re-
sources seemed almost infinite, compar-
ed with what they were half century
ago, for preventing all possibility Of ex-
IRENE poverty in their midst.
The second point he wished to dwell
upon was the dimnution of the weight
of legal pauperism as an economic bur-
den since the time at which we began to
from a condition in which ex-
IRENE poverty ruled and there was lit
tie pauperism because the poor could
not be relieved and We're largely kept
uOWT III NUMBERS by IdIllHt ana peSLl-
lence. No exact date could be given for
this transition period, which this coun
try had been greatly prolonged, the ear
ly poor laws going back a long way
The transition period, however. was not
over until quite lately. What was
found pervading the discussions at the
beginning Of the present century, when
there was still such state of transit
ton as he had referred to- was a con-
slant fear Of pauperism as threatening
to engulf the property of the country.
It was from this point of view largely
that the problem was considered 50
urgent. To this day, he was inclined
% believe, the statistics of the finance
If pauperism We're much better than
hose of pauperism itself This feel
ng was certainly no longer SO keen as
t was, and when the figures were
BROADLY looked at ample cause was
ound for the existence of less enxiety
n the matter than used to be the case
At the beginning of the present century
he funds expended for poor relief in
england We're frequently six or seven
Millions sterling annually, and even af-
er the Introduction of the new poor law .
n 1884, although the figure for a year l
n two fell to about four millions, the /
more usual sum was from five to six !
Millions The expenditure of anything 1