Chapter V (2)

[Sidenote: 1848.
First annual Report of the Poor-law Commissioners for Ireland.]

The Report for 1847-8 would, in the regular order, have formed the tenth of the series. But it had now been deemed necessary to establish a separate commission for Ireland, entirely independent of the English commission, and the Report is consequently entitled the first of the new executive. This Report like the nine preceding, is dated on the 1st of May; and as three Acts making very important changes in the law for the relief of the Irish poor had been passed early in the period to which the Report applies, (namely on the 8th of June and the 22nd of July 1847), the insertion of the following summaries of these three Acts will be a fitting preliminary to our consideration of the Report itself.

[Sidenote: The Extension Act, _10th and 11th Vict. cap. 31._]

_The 10th and 11th Vict., cap. 31_, is entitled ‘An Act to make further Provision for the Relief of the Destitute Poor in Ireland’—_8th June 1847_.

_Section 1._—Directs the guardians of the poor to make provision for the
due relief of all destitute poor persons disabled by old age or
infirmity; and of destitute poor persons disabled by sickness or
serious accident, and thereby prevented from earning a subsistence
for themselves and their families; and of destitute poor widows,
having two or more legitimate children dependent upon them. Such
poor persons, being destitute, are to be relieved either in the
workhouse or out of the workhouse as the guardians may deem
expedient; and the guardians are also to take order for relieving
and setting to work in the workhouse when there shall be sufficient
room for so doing, such other destitute poor persons as they shall
deem to be unable to support themselves by their own industry.

_Sections 2, 3._—Whenever relief cannot be afforded in the workhouse
owing to want of room, or when by reason of fever or infectious
disease the workhouse is unfit for the reception of poor
persons, the Poor Law Commissioners may by order empower the
guardians to administer relief out of the workhouse to such
destitute poor persons, for any time not exceeding two months;
and on the receipt of such order, the guardians are to make
provision accordingly—Relief to able-bodied persons out of the
workhouse, is however to be given in food only, and the
commissioners may from time to time regulate its application.

_Sections 4, 5, 6._—The commissioners may direct the guardians to
appoint relieving officers to assist in the administration of
relief; and also medical officers for affording medical relief out
of the workhouse, whenever they shall deem such appointments to be
necessary or expedient. The commissioners may likewise, on
application of the board of guardians, wherever an electoral
division is distant six miles from the place of meeting, form such
division into a district, with a committee to receive applications,
and to report thereon to the guardians.

_Section 7._—Relieving officers are empowered to give provisional relief
in cases of urgent necessity, by an order of admission to the
workhouse or fever hospital of the union, or only affording such
relief as may be necessary in food, lodging, medicine or medical
attendance, until the next meeting of the board of guardians, to
whom the case is then to be reported, and their directions taken
thereon. The guardians are to furnish the relieving officers with
the necessary funds for the above purposes, in such manner as the
Poor Law Commissioners direct.

_Sections 8, 9, 10._—Relief to a wife or child is to be considered as
given to the husband or parent, as the case may be; and children are
liable for the relief afforded to their parents. Relief at the cost
of a union, is only to be given within the union. Occupiers of more
than a quarter of an acre of land are not to be deemed destitute,
nor to be relieved out of the poor-rates.

_Sections 11, 12._—Regulate the mode of charging out-door relief; and
provide that no person shall be deemed resident in an electoral
division, unless three years before he applies for relief, he shall
have occupied some tenement within it for three months, or usually
slept within it for thirty months.

_Sections 13, 14, 15._—Prescribe the conditions on which assistance may
be given to emigration, and the proportion of the expense that may
be defrayed out of the rates. The provisions of _6th and 7th Vict.
cap. 92, sec. 18_,[155] for the emigration of persons who have been
three months in a workhouse, extended to poor persons not in a
workhouse, or who have been there less than three months. The
expense incurred in aid of emigration not to be deemed relief.

-----

[155]

Ante, p. 293.

-----

_Section 16._—The limitation of ex-officio guardians to one-third the
number of elected guardians is repealed; but it is at the same time
provided that the ex-officios shall in no case exceed the number of
the elected guardians.

_Sections 17, 18._—The commissioners empowered to dissolve or alter
unions without consent of the guardians, and to form such other
unions therefrom as they shall deem expedient, and to adjust the
claims and liabilities consequent thereon. The commissioners also
empowered to dissolve a board of guardians on their failing duly to
discharge their prescribed duties, and to appoint paid officers to
carry into execution the provisions of the law, without any
intermediate election of guardians.

_Section 19._—Enables the commissioners to provide a chapel, and to make
such regulations as they deem expedient, for securing the religious
worship of any denomination of Christians in the workhouses.

_Sections 20, 21, 22, 23, 24._—Provide for the purchase of three
additional acres of land to be used for a cemetery, or for the
erection of fever wards. The commissioners are also empowered to
hire or purchase, not exceeding 25 acres, for the purpose of
erecting a school for the joint reception maintenance and education
of the children of the North and South Dublin unions, the management
of such school to be conducted by a board chosen from among the
guardians of the two unions, in such manner as the commissioners
shall by order direct. Other unions may also be formed into school
districts in like manner, and for a like purpose.

_Sections 25, 26._—The commissioners empowered to prescribe the
qualifications and the duties of all officers, and to determine
their continuance or removal, and to regulate their salaries, &c.
The administration of relief is also subject to the commissioners’
direction and control.

_Sections 27, 28, 29._—Accounts are to be kept and audited as prescribed
by the commissioners. Any payment disallowed by an auditor, is to be
recovered from the party debited therewith. And on or before the 1st
of May in every year, an account is to be laid before parliament of
the expenditure on relief of the poor, and of the total number
relieved in each union, during the year ended on the 29th of
September preceding.

[Sidenote: The 10th and 11th Vict. cap. 84.]

_The 10th and 11th Vict. cap. 84_, is entitled ‘An Act to make Provision for the Punishment of Vagrants, and Persons offending against the Laws in force for the Relief of the Destitute Poor in Ireland’—_22nd July 1847_.

_Sections 1, 2, 3._—After declaring it to be expedient to make further
provision for the punishment of beggars and vagrants &c., the _59th
section_ of the Irish Poor Relief Act[156] is repealed, and it is
enacted instead, that every person deserting or wilfully neglecting
to maintain his wife or child, so that they become destitute and be
relieved in or out of the workhouse of any union, shall on
conviction be committed to hard labour for any time not exceeding
three months. And persons wandering abroad begging or gathering
alms, or procuring children to do so, and every person going from
one union or electoral division to another for the purpose of
obtaining relief, shall be liable on conviction to be committed to
hard labour for any time not exceeding one month.

_Sections 4, 5._—Offenders may be apprehended by any person whatsoever,
and taken before a justice to be dealt with as is above provided. Or
when apprehended, the offender may be delivered over to a constable
or other peace officer, to be taken before a justice for like
purpose. Justices may upon proof of offence, issue their warrant for
the apprehension of any such offender, to be dealt with as the Act
directs. Proceedings by or before any justice are not to be quashed
for want of form, nor removable by writ of certiorari.

[Sidenote: The 10th and 11th Vict. cap. 90, 22nd July 1847.]

_The 10th and 11th Vict. cap. 90_, is entitled ‘An Act to provide
for the Execution of the Laws for Relief of the Poor in Ireland.’
After reciting the several previous Acts under which the
administration of relief to the poor in Ireland is subject to the
direction and control of the Poor Law Commissioners, whose
commission will shortly expire, it declares it to be “expedient that
the control of the administration of the laws for the relief of the
poor in Ireland should be wholly separated from the control of the
administration of the laws for relief of the poor in England,” and
enacts that her Majesty may from time to time by warrant under the
royal sign manual, appoint a fit person who, with the chief and
under secretaries of the lord lieutenant shall have the control, and
shall be styled “Commissioners for administering the Laws for Relief
of the Poor in Ireland,” and the person so appointed shall be styled
the Chief Commissioner—

-----

[156]

Ante, p. 227.

-----

_Sections 2, 3, 4, 5._—The appointment of every chief commissioner is to
be published in the ‘Dublin Gazette.’ The commissioners are to have
a seal, which shall have the same force and effect as the seal of
the Poor Law Commissioners; and they may appoint a secretary,
inspectors, clerks &c., and may assign to the inspectors such
duties, and delegate to them such powers as they may think
necessary.

_Sections 6, 7, 8._—One of the inspectors is to be appointed an
assistant-commissioner, to assist in the business of the office in
such manner as the commissioners direct; and to him may be delegated
the powers and functions of the chief commissioner in the latter’s
absence. The inspectors are entitled to attend boards of guardians,
and all meetings held for the relief of the poor, and may take part
in the proceedings, but are not to vote. All salaries are to be
determined by the Treasury.

_Sections 9, 10._—The powers and duties of the Poor Law Commissioners
are transferred to the new commissioners; and if any vacancy occur,
the surviving or continuing commissioners or commissioner may
continue to act. The commissioners are constituted a body corporate,
and for all purposes connected with the administration of the laws
for the relief of the poor throughout Ireland they are to be deemed
successors of the Poor Law Commissioners, all property held by whom
becomes vested in them accordingly.

_Sections 11, 12, 13, 14, 15._—The commissioners are empowered to make
rules orders and regulations, and to vary or rescind the same. Also
to make general rules with the approbation of the lord lieutenant,
who may at any time disallow the same or any part thereof, without
prejudice however to things lawfully done under them before such
disallowance. Every rule order or regulation directed to, or
affecting more than one union, is to be deemed a general rule.

_Sections 16, 17, 18._—The rules orders and regulations of the Poor Law
Commissioners are to continue in force until varied or rescinded by
the commissioners appointed under this Act, whose authority is in
all cases to be substituted for the former, and is to have like
force and effect in Ireland. Acts under seal not to be valid, unless
signed by two of the commissioners, or by the chief commissioner, or
in his absence by the assistant-commissioner.

_Sections 19, 20._—The commissioners empowered to summon witnesses not
exceeding twenty miles distant, and to make inquiries and call for
returns, and examine on oath. Persons giving false evidence are
subjected to the penalties of perjury; and on refusing to give
evidence, or neglecting to obey the commissioners’ summons, or to
produce books vouchers &c., are to be deemed guilty of a
misdemeanour.

_Sections 21, 22._—The commissioners are annually to report their
proceedings to the lord lieutenant. The Report is to be laid before
parliament, and is to contain a distinct statement of every order
and direction issued in respect to out-door relief. All lawful
proceedings of the Poor Law Commissioners, and all things done under
previous Acts, and not varied or repealed by this Act, are declared
valid.

_Section 23._—The chief commissioner and other persons to be appointed
and employed under this Act, are not to hold office or exercise any
of the powers hereby given, “for a longer period than five years
next after the day of the passing of this Act, and thenceforth until
the end of the then next session of parliament,” after which the
power of appointing commissioners is to cease to operate or have
effect.

These three Acts have, it will be seen, made very considerable changes in the law, and taken conjointly with the original Relief Act of 1838, and the Amendment Act of 1843,[157] may be considered as forming the entire code of Irish Poor Laws, and such moreover as they may be expected to continue, there being apparently no room for further alteration, or at least not to any material extent.

-----

[157]

That is _The 1st and 2nd Vict. cap. 56_, and _The 6th and 7th Vict.
cap. 92_. Ante, pp. 222 _et seq._ and 291 _et seq._

-----

[Sidenote: General import of the new Acts.]

The sanction of out-door relief given by the first of the three Acts is a most important departure from the principle of the original statute, and was wrung from the legislature by the distressing circumstances in which the country was placed by the successive failures of the potato crop. With starvation raging almost universally around, it was felt that it would be impossible to maintain the restriction of relief to the limits of the workhouse. The concession made in the _1st and 2nd sections_ must however be regarded as exceptional, and as being intended to meet an exceptional case; for the necessity of workhouse relief being the established rule, never perhaps commanded more general assent, than at the time when a departure from it was thus sanctioned. The author was examined before a committee of the house of lords on this question, and he gave it as his deliberate opinion that under the circumstances existing in Ireland the concession was necessary, the preservation of life being paramount to all other considerations; but at the same time he considered, that the rule of in-door relief should be departed from only so far, and in such a way, as would secure its resumption with the least difficulty and at the earliest possible period; and the two first sections of the Act are not at variance with this view.[158] In sanctioning out-door relief under the then emergency, the legislature limited its application, imposing certain conditions and restrictions, and at the same time investing the commissioners with large powers for checking abuse. Nay more, as if distrusting the discretion of the commissioners themselves, _the 21st section of cap. 90_ provides that their Report, which is to be laid before parliament, “shall contain a distinct statement of every order and direction issued by them in respect to out-door relief.” The appointment of relieving and medical officers and of district committees, was no doubt a considerable extension of the union machinery, but it was necessary for giving effect to the law at the time, and either or all might be discontinued when no longer required. The limitation of relief by the _9th section_, and the extension of assistance for the purpose of emigration to persons not in a workhouse by the _14th section_, are both likely to be of use, as may also be the provision in the _16th section_ with regard to ex-officio guardians. But the power given to the commissioners by the _17th and 18th sections_, to alter unions, and to dissolve boards of guardians and appoint paid officers to carry the law into execution, is by far the most important of the provisions of this Act, with the exception of those sanctioning out-relief.

-----

[158]

The necessity for adhering to the principle of indoor relief was fully
recognised by this committee, whose inquiries were for the most part
limited to that point, without going into the general question of the
Poor Law. Any detailed account of the committee’s proceedings does not
therefore appear to be called for at this time, as no new light was
thrown upon the subject by its investigations. The same may be said of
the commission for “inquiring into the state of the law and practice
in respect to the occupation of land in Ireland,” (of which the Earl
of Devon was chairman), and whose reports are exceedingly valuable;
but they do not directly bear upon our subject, and have therefore not
been noticed. I have indeed endeavoured to confine attention to the
Poor-law itself, and to those matters immediately connected with it,
and calculated to elucidate its working, these collectively presenting
a field sufficiently extensive.

-----

The second of the above Acts (_cap. 84_) is in fact a resumption of the vagrancy clauses which were intended to form part of the original Relief Act,[159] and which have now been rendered more necessary by the sanctioning of out-relief. The third of the above Acts (_cap. 90_) providing for the appointment of a separate commission for Ireland, may be regarded as a consequence of the unfortunate condition of that country, which was now said to require all the care and undivided attention of distinct functionaries. I have already stated that such was not my opinion, and after all that has passed I still am satisfied that the Poor Laws of England and Ireland might be administered under the superintendence of the same commission, as efficiently as under separate commissions; and that there would be a weight of authority influence and other advantages arising from the combination of the two, which would not be found in a separate commission. The example of Scotland was much relied upon as warranting the separation, but the cases are not similar, the Scottish Poor Law differing essentially from that of England, whereas the Irish law is directly founded upon it, and in its working must to a great degree be regulated by English experience. But the separation having taken place, it would be difficult to retrace the step, unless indeed there should be, as has on high authority been proposed, an entire amalgamation of the two governments by abolishing the office of lord lieutenant, in which case the Irish commission would naturally if not necessarily become merged in the English. It is bootless however to speculate upon these or other possible changes, and we will therefore resume our task of tracing out the progress of the law, and inquiring into the circumstances under which it has to be administered.

-----

[159]

Ante, p. 211.

-----

[Sidenote: Change of the commission. August 27, 1847.]

On the passing of the first of the above Acts (_10th and 11th Vict. cap. 31_, commonly known as the Relief Extension Act), copies of it were forwarded to all the unions, and the attention of the several boards of guardians was called to the necessity of making provision on a much larger scale than heretofore for the relief of the poor, and pointing out the conditions on which the relief was henceforward to be administered to the classes of infirm and able-bodied. Five additional assistant-commissioners were also appointed[160] to attend to the large increase of duties now devolved upon the commission. On the 27th of August the appointment of Mr. Twisleton as chief commissioner, under the _10th and 11th Vict. cap. 90_, was notified in the Dublin Gazette, and on the following day the administration of the law became vested in the new commission established by that Act, the ten gentlemen then acting as assistant-commissioners were appointed inspectors, and Mr. Power was appointed the assistant-commissioner.

-----

[160]

These were Mr. Crawford, Mr. Bourke, Mr. Stanley, and Mr. Barron. Mr.
Phelan had been appointed some months previously to superintend the
sanitary state of the workhouses. Mr. Stanley afterwards became
secretary, and was succeeded as inspector by Mr. Flanagan.

-----

[Sidenote: Decrease of sickness and mortality.]

The extent of sickness and mortality in the workhouses towards the middle of April, has already been noticed.[161] The returns continued to show a gradual decrease of deaths from that time, although there was no material decrease in the number of inmates or of fever patients until the month of July, when a decline rapidly took place in all three; and in the last week of August the number of inmates was reduced to 76,319, of sick (including 5,782 fever patients) to 15,240, and of deaths to 646, or 8 in every 1,000 weekly. In the first week of October the inmates had again increased to 83,719, but the deaths were only 433, averaging 5 per 1,000 weekly. These numbers show the extent of the pressure on the workhouses in the earlier part of 1847. But the extent of assistance afforded under the Temporary Relief and the Fever Hospital Acts (_10th and 11th Vict. caps. 7 and 22_) must also be stated, in order to show the universality of the distress. [Sidenote: Decrease of rations issued.]Under the former Act, on the 8th of May rations were issued to 826,325 persons; on the 5th of June to 2,729,684; on the 3rd of July to 3,020,712; on the 1st of August to 2,520,376; on the 29th of August to 1,105,800; on the 12th of September to 505,984; and at the end of September the issues altogether ceased. Under the latter Act accommodation was provided for the treatment of 26,378 fever patients, and the average number in hospital was about 13,000. The proceedings under these Acts, when viewed in conjunction with those under the Poor Law, will sufficiently explain the magnitude of the crisis through which the country passed at this period, and the fearful suffering and privations to which the people were unhappily and it may be added unavoidably exposed.

-----

[161]

Ante, p. 326.

-----

[Sidenote: Financial state of the unions.]

The financial state of the unions became greatly depressed during this trying period. The fact of the treasurers’ balances having turned against the unions is noticed in the Report of the previous year,[162] and this continued down to the end of September, when owing to great exertions in the collection, the returns again showed a credit balance of upwards of 10,000_l._ in favour of the guardians. There was still however a large arrear remaining for collection, and this continued to be the case throughout the succeeding half-year, notwithstanding that the large sum of 961,354_l._ was collected and lodged with the treasurers, a proof that the guardians were not backward in making provision for carrying out the law, although the impoverished state of many of the unions rendered the collection difficult after the rates were made.

-----

[162]

Ante, p. 328.

-----

[Sidenote: A good harvest.]

The harvest of 1847 proved to be a good one. Contrary to expectation the potato crop was free from disease, but the quantity grown was comparatively small, and the price continued so high that the peasantry were unable to purchase. The failure of the crop in the two previous years had discouraged them from planting, and they were consequently in great measure deprived of their usual means of living. The large importations of Indian meal had however so far reduced the price of that and other descriptions of food, that the general cost of subsistence was not much greater than in ordinary seasons, and in districts where the people found employment at moderate wages, they generally fared better than in former years. But in districts where there was no employment or money wages, and where the peasantry had been accustomed to subsist on potatoes raised by themselves, this resource being neglected, they would necessarily be in want of food, and would require assistance to preserve them from starvation. It was certain therefore, notwithstanding the non-appearance of the potato disease, that there would be much distress in many parts of the country long before the approach of harvest in the following year; and in order to be prepared for affording needful relief in such a contingency, without at the same time weakening the incentive to independent exertion in the labouring classes, it was necessary that a large increase of workhouse accommodation should be provided. This point the commissioners continued earnestly to press upon the attention of the several boards of guardians, and for the most part with success.

[Sidenote: 32 boards of guardians dissolved.]

The extent and population of the Irish unions and the constitution of many of the boards of guardians, rendered it probable that the new and more laborious duties imposed upon them by the Extension Act (_10th and 11th Vict. cap. 31_) would not always be fulfilled, and that in some instances there might either be a failure of necessary relief, or a misapplication of the union funds. The power of dissolving a board of guardians, and at once appointing paid officers to discharge their duties, was given to the commissioners for the purpose of enabling them to deal with cases of this kind; and being armed with such a power, they were responsible for its exercise whenever the occasion called for it—“Although reluctant in the highest degree, (they say) to interfere even temporarily with a system of self-government involving the great principle of popular representation in the raising and expenditure of a public fund, it appeared to them that in the immediate circumstances of the country, a more imperative object demanded for a time the sacrifice of those considerations, and that it was their paramount duty by every means which the legislature had placed at their disposal, to provide for the effectual relief of the destitute poor.” Acting under these views, and on the occurrence of what they considered to be serious default on the part of the guardians, the commissioners dissolved thirty-two boards,[163] and appointed paid officers in their stead. The default in nearly every instance was either a failure to provide sufficient funds, or to apply them efficiently in relieving the destitute. Full details of each case were laid before parliament, and the necessity of the proceeding was generally admitted, although it was no doubt much to be lamented that such a necessity should have arisen.

-----

[163]

These were—Athlone, Ballina, Ballinrobe, Bantry, Cahirciveen,
Carrick-on-Shannon, Castlebar, Castlereagh, Cavan, Clifden, Cootehill,
Enniskillen, Ennistymon, Galway, Gort, Granard, Kanturk, Kenmare,
Kilkenny, Kilrush, Longford, Loughrea, Lowtherstown, Mohill,
Newcastle, New Ross, Roscommon, Scariff, Trim, Tuam, Tullamore,
Waterford, and Westport.

-----

[Sidenote: Out-door employment.]

It is, however, satisfactory to find that in a great majority of the unions relief was provided and administered by the guardians in an orderly and efficient manner. There were some exceptions in addition to the above, it is true, and the commissioners had to exert all their influence and authority in procuring the appointment of relieving officers to receive and inquire into applications for relief, as provided by the Extension Act and directed by their own order. Another point on which the commissioners found much difficulty in winning the acquiescence of the guardians was with regard to the mode of employing poor persons, for whose relief out of the workhouse under the _2nd section_ of the Extension Act, a necessity had arisen in some unions. The guardians wished the employment to be of a productive or profitable nature, and that it should be applied mainly with that view. The commissioners were desirous that the employment should serve as a test of destitution, and recommended stone-breaking as open to least objection, the food to be given not as the price of labour but in relief of destitution, the labour being required simply as the condition of the relief; and in the unions where out-door relief in food was given to the able-bodied on this principle, the numbers are said to have been for the most part kept within moderate limits.

[Sidenote: Increase of workhouse accommodation.]

But although the labour-test might so far have succeeded, the operation of the workhouse system in the present difficult circumstances had been found far less equivocal, and its efficiency was more universally acknowledged by those engaged in the administration of relief. A large extension of workhouse room, partly permanent partly temporary had been provided. The whole accommodation including additional workhouses and fever hospitals connected with the workhouses would be sufficient for upwards of 150,000 persons, “being an addition of more than one-third to the accommodation originally provided.” In consequence of this great increase of workhouse accommodation, it appears that in 25 of the unions no relief was given out of the workhouse, “except perhaps in the occasional exercise of the provisional powers of the relieving officers,” and yet the workhouses of none of these unions were said to be full. In 35 other unions, out-door relief was afforded only under the _1st section_ of the Extension Act, that is to the infirm, widows with two or more children, and persons disabled by sickness or accident. In the remaining 71 unions, orders had been issued under the _2nd section_, authorizing out-door relief in food; but in only 23 of these was it authorized to be given without distinction of class.

[Sidenote: The Dublin unions.]

In proof of the efficiency of the workhouse in checking applications for relief, when not caused by actual necessity, the example of Dublin may be cited. In the first week of July, rations were gratuitously issued in the two Dublin unions to 57,509 persons, and the proportion of these classed as able-bodied amounted with their families to 46,432. In the South union the number on the relief lists was greatly reduced before the 15th of August, the day on which the issues under the Temporary Relief Act were ordered to cease; but in the North union more than 20,000 persons continued to receive rations, and the commissioners were entreated to issue an order under the powers given to them by the Extension Act sanctioning its further continuance, the guardians being apprehensive that so large an amount of relief could not with safety be suddenly discontinued. The commissioners deemed it to be their duty to resist the appeal, and recommended the guardians to convert a building then in their occupation and capable of accommodating 400 persons, into a subsidiary workhouse. This was accordingly done, and admission was offered to such of the able-bodied and their families as applied for relief when the rations were discontinued; but the new subsidiary workhouse was not filled by those who accepted the offer, and all the others found the means of living by their own exertions. The class receiving out-door relief under the _1st section_ of the Act (_i. e._ the aged and infirm poor and widows with two or more children) were at the same time, with some assistance from the mendicity institution, reduced to about 4,000 persons; and no necessity afterwards arose for issuing an order under the _2nd section_ in either of the Dublin unions.

[Sidenote: Report of commissioners appointed under the _10th and 11th
Vict. cap. 7_.]]

To this example of the efficiency of the workhouse in preventing undue applications for relief, may be added the testimony of the relief commissioners appointed under _The 10th and 11th Vict. cap. 7_,[164] as to the extreme difficulty or rather impossibility in the state of Ireland at that time, of guarding against gross abuse in the administration of relief without the corrective of the workhouse test, even although in the shape of daily rations of cooked food. In their third Report dated 17th June 1847, the commissioners make the following remarkable statement—“In several instances the government inspecting officers found no difficulty in striking off hundreds of names that ought not to have been placed on the lists, including sometimes those of servants and men in the constant employ of persons of considerable station and property. These latter are frequently themselves members of the committees, and in some cases the very chairmen, being magistrates, have sanctioned the issue of rations to tenants of their own of considerable holdings, possessed of live stock, and who it was found had paid up their last half-year’s rent.”... “In other districts, the measure is subject to deception and petty frauds practised by many of the order immediately above the class of actually destitute, and which cannot be entirely checked by the best exertions of the best committees. Even in the districts where the service is most correctly performed, the numbers on the lists will no doubt exceed those of the really destitute.” It was perhaps to be expected under the circumstances then existing in Ireland, that something like what is here described might occur; but it could hardly have been expected that it would have been to such an extent, or that persons in the positions named would have descended to practices at once so disgraceful and so unpatriotic. Against such frauds the workhouse seemed to be the only safeguard.

-----

[164]

Ante, p. 317.

-----

[Sidenote: Expenditure on relief of the poor.]

The entire expenditure from the rates on relief of the poor in the 130 unions during the twelve months ending 29th September 1847, was 803,684_l._ The number of inmates on that day was 86,376, and the total number relieved in the workhouses within the year was 417,139. There was some expenditure in a few of the unions shortly before the 29th September, although the issues under the Temporary Relief Act did not until then wholly cease. The relief under the Extension Act (_10th and 11th Vict., cap. 31_) which then commenced, continued to increase as the distress arising from the exhaustion of the small crops raised in many parts of the country became more and more severe. [Sidenote: Numbers in the workhouses.]On the 12th February 1848 the number in the several workhouses amounted to 135,467, and the mortality reached 11 per 1,000. This was perhaps to be expected from the great pressure upon the workhouses, and the wretched condition of very many of the poor persons at the time they were admitted. Contagious disease again prevailed, and the fatal effects again extended to the workhouse officers, ninety-four of whom died, chiefly of fever, and also two of the Poor Law inspectors, and one vice-guardian in course of the year.

[Sidenote: Out-door relief.]

Although the numbers in the workhouses went on increasing in the latter months of 1847, it was not until February and March 1848 that the houses became filled, and that out-door relief was largely administered. In February the cost of out-relief in money and food amounted to 72,039_l._, in March to 81,339_l._ The numbers and cost were then both at their maximum, and according to the best estimate which could be formed, the average daily number of out-door poor relieved was 703,762, and of in-door 140,536, making an aggregate of 844,298 persons. The description of food supplied to the poor in lieu of their habitual food the potato, consisted for the most part of a pound of Indian meal, that being the quantity of cereal food approved by the Central Board of Health in Ireland as necessary for the daily sustenance of an adult. The price of Indian meal was at that time about 1_d._ per lb., so that the cost of the food thus supplied probably did not exceed the cost of that to which the people had been accustomed. It appears therefore that in the early part of 1848 no less than 800,000 persons were relieved daily at the charge of the poor-rates, consisting chiefly of the most helpless part of the most indigent classes in Ireland; and the commissioners say they “cannot doubt that of this number a large proportion are by this means, and this means alone, daily preserved from death through want of food.” The above 800,000 is irrespective of the children supplied with food and clothing by “The British Association,” the number of whom in March 1848 amounted to upwards of 200,000.[165] So that the total number of persons then receiving eleemosynary support must have exceeded a million, or over one-eighth of the entire population.

-----

[165]

See Report of the association, p. 41.

-----

[Sidenote: Distress in certain unions.]

The official returns of the collection and expenditure of the poor-rates are made up to the 31st March 1848, and comprise six months only of the parochial year which will end on the 29th September following. They show that in those six months 961,356_l._ had been collected, and 781,198_l._ expended, thus exhibiting an excess of collection over expenditure of 180,158_l._ The state of the balances appears therefore to have greatly improved,[166] and rates to the amount of 661,855_l._ still remained on the books for collection. “Up to this point therefore (the commissioners observe) the financial progress has been favourable”—But they add, “if we should have to sustain operations for five months longer, at the rate of expenditure exhibited for March, it is clear that great exertions have yet to be made in the collection of rates, in order to escape a large accumulation of debt at the close of the year.” The above statements apply to the unions in the aggregate. There are however the commissioners say, certain unions which “cannot for some years be cleared from present debt under the most favourable circumstances, and in unions which on the whole are well provided with funds, many electoral divisions are in a state of almost hopeless bankruptcy.”

-----

[166]

Ante, p. 328.

-----

[Sidenote: British Relief Association.]

The proceedings of the “British Relief Association” have already been noticed.[167] The committee of the association had still a considerable sum at their disposal in the latter end of 1847, and this it was determined to appropriate in aid of such of the distressed unions above adverted to as the Poor Law Commissioners should recommend for that purpose, and also in “affording food and clothing to children through the medium of schools.” Accordingly grants to the amount of 143,519_l._ were successively made to the distressed unions[168] in aid of their general expenditure; and with regard to the school-children, it is said—“by the 1st of January 1848 the system was in full operation in thirteen of the more distressed unions, 58,000 children were on the relief-roll of the association, and this number gradually increased, until in the month of March upwards of 200,000 children, attending schools of all denominations in twenty-seven western unions, were participating in this relief. The total expenditure for feeding the children amounted to 80,885_l._, in addition to which the sum of 12,083_l._ was spent in clothing, making a total expenditure during the second period of the relief operations of the association of 236,487_l._”[169] Treasury grants to the extent of 114,968_l._ had also been made in aid of the distressed unions, during the present year.

-----

[167]

Ante, p. 321.

[168]

These were Ballina, Belmullet, Ballinrobe, Ballyshannon, Bantry,
Boyle, Cahirciveen, Carrick-on-Shannon, Castlebar, Castlereagh,
Clifden, Donegal, Galway, Glenties, Kenmare, Kilrush, Listowel,
Manorhamilton, Milford, Mohill, Roscommon, Scariff, Skibbereen, Sligo,
Swineford, Tralee, Dingle, Tuam, Westport, Athlone, Ennistymon, Gort,
Nenagh, Loughrea and New Ross. This list somewhat differs from the one
given in the commissioners’ Report, but I quote from that furnished by
the association, whose Report was made subsequently, being dated 1st
January 1849.

[169]

See Report of the British Relief Association, pp. 41 and 46.

-----

[Sidenote: Total amount of rates raised.]

It may not be irrelevant here to state, that the entire of the rates made in all the unions from the first introduction of the Poor Law down to the date of the present Report, have (exclusive of the last rate) amounted to 2,496,412_l._, of which not more than 48,804_l._, or 2 per cent., has been lost—143,046_l._, or 6 per cent., of arrears having been carried into the rates last made. The last-made rates amounted to 1,462,878_l._, which added to the above makes a total of 3,959,290_l._ assessed upon the property of Ireland for the relief of the poor, in course of the ten years since the introduction of the Poor Law, the last three being years of such intense distress as it was perhaps never before the lot of an entire people to be subjected to.

[Sidenote: 1849.
Second annual report of Poor Law Commissioners for Ireland.]

The Report for 1848-9 is dated, not on the 1st of May, as before, but on the 14th July. At the end of their last Report, the commissioners adverted to the great efforts which were made to restore the potato to its former position of the staple crop of Ireland, as being a circumstance at once hopeful and alarming. The policy of a people’s relying for subsistence on a crop so uncertain in its produce, and which so soon decays, is no doubt a question of momentous importance. But this was lost sight of in the promise of an abundant harvest; and as the disease had done little mischief last year, it was hoped the country would be equally free from its ravages in the present.[Sidenote: Recurrence of the potato disease.] At the beginning of August however, the appearance of blight was reported from many parts of the country, and although not so general nor so destructive as in 1846, the disease proved much worse than in 1847, and there can be no doubt that a considerable proportion of the crop was destroyed by it. In October sound potatoes were sold at 8_d._ per stone, a price at which the ordinary rate of wages would not allow a labourer to purchase them for the support of his family. Another season of distress was therefore evidently impending. The out-relief lists had been reduced from 830,000 in July, to 200,000 on the 1st of October, when the numbers again began to increase, and on the last day of December they amounted to nearly 400,000. The numbers in the workhouses increased in the same period from 114,000 to 185,000, with a weekly rate of mortality of 6½ per 1,000. Statements of the numbers relieved, and the cost of the relief afforded, were periodically submitted to parliament throughout the whole of this trying period.

[Sidenote: Great distress and sickness.]

In the earlier months of 1849 there was greater privation and suffering among the population of the western and south-western districts, than at any time since the fatal season of 1846-7. “Exhaustion of resources by the long continuance of adverse circumstances, caused a large accession to the ranks of the destitute. Clothing had been worn out or parted with to provide food, or seed in seed-time; and the loss of cabins and small holdings of land, either by eviction or voluntary abandonment, rendered many thousands of families shelterless and destitute of fuel as well as food.” The distress hence arising, aggravated by the inclement weather which then prevailed, was not we are told effectually met by the system of out-door relief. Where the workhouses were full, poor persons receiving out-relief were often compelled to part with a portion of their food to obtain a lodging. The cabins became crowded with ill-fed, ill-clothed, sickly people, and epidemic disease found victims prepared for its attacks. A great proportion of those who died in the workhouses at this period, had previously suffered from fever and dysentery, and entered the workhouse weakened by extreme privation, or in an advanced state of disease.

[Sidenote: Cholera breaks out.]

In the month of March a new enemy appeared, cholera having broken out in the western and south-western unions, whence it afterwards extended to other parts of the country. The disease however assumed its most virulent form in the above unions, and proved extensively fatal to the inmates of the workhouses, as well as to the population generally. Great exertions were made to check its ravages; but the commissioners express their regret that a want of means had crippled their efforts, and in some urgent cases they had been obliged to apply for permission to appropriate a limited portion of the funds placed at their disposal by government, to provide the means of treatment for cholera patients, at a time when they were anxious to apply every sum remitted to them to the purchase of food for the in-door and out-door poor in the distressed unions. After a time the cholera disappeared from most of the unions in the west and south, but at the date of the Report it still prevailed with much virulence in other parts of Ireland.

[Sidenote: Extent of relief and mortality.]

The inmates of the several workhouses in the first week of March 1849 amounted to 196,523, and the weekly mortality to 9½ per 1,000. In the first week of May the number of inmates was 220,401, with a mortality of 12½ per 1,000. At the end of June the inmates were 214,867, and the mortality was reduced to 6¼ per 1,000. The numbers receiving out-relief at the three periods respectively were 592,705—646,964—and 768,902. These numbers show the extent of distress to which the people had been reduced by famine and disease in the last four disastrous years. This is also evidenced by the inquests held in cases of alleged death through actual want, the number of which in the first five months of 1849 amounted to 431. The suffering must necessarily indeed have been greater in each successive year than in the one preceding, since the general means were being continually reduced by the failure of the crops, the weakest and poorest of the people suffering first, then those a degree above them, and so on, until the comparatively well-to-do occupier of a few acres of land who had contributed to the relief of others, is himself dragged down to the condition of the lowest.

[Sidenote: Extension of workhouse accommodation.]

A conviction appears to have become very general, that the abuses and shortcomings incidental to out-door relief, especially when administered on a large scale, cannot be altogether prevented; and that in-door relief is preferable, not only under ordinary circumstances, but in seasons of severe distress like the present. Hence the guardians had hired building after building in aid of the workhouses at first provided; and the entire accommodation, which was originally calculated for 100,000 inmates, and which during the previous year had been increased to 150,000, had now been so far extended as to be equal to the accommodation of 250,000. On this circumstance and the convictions out of which it arose, the commissioners chiefly founded their hope of securing an effective and economical administration of the law. It will be their duty, they say, to give a right direction to these views, by endeavouring to make the auxiliary establishments effective in point of classification and discipline, and to reduce where practicable the expenses of management; and if their efforts should be assisted by the gradual return of agricultural prosperity in the western and south-western parts of Ireland, they confidently expect at no very distant period to be enabled to withhold the exercise of the exceptional power confided to them in the _2nd section_ of the Relief Extension Act,[170] or at least to confine its operation within very narrow limits.

-----

[170]

Ante, p. 330.

-----

[Sidenote: Restriction of relief to the workhouse.]

The fact that in 25 of the unions no relief was given except in the workhouse is mentioned in the Report of the preceding year.[171] Several unions which then gave out-relief have since ceased to do so, and the number in which relief is restricted to the workhouse was now 35. In the great majority of these unions the result of such restrictions had been in all respects satisfactory. The applications of proper objects were not refused, and yet there had been sufficient means for relieving all the really destitute, whilst except in cases where epidemic disease had prevailed in the neighbourhood, and been thence imparted to the inmates, the workhouses of these unions had generally been healthy. In some instances however where the destitution was severe and wide-spreading, and where the auxiliary houses had been insufficient or defective, the adherence to in-door relief exclusively was less satisfactory. The insufficiency of workhouse accommodation led to overcrowding, and thence arose disease, fed and aggravated by the continual influx of destitute persons in a state of utter exhaustion, or bearing about them the seeds of the prevalent malady. In all such cases, and they were not many, the guardians were urged to resort to those provisions of the Act which empower them to afford out-door relief, until they had provided the necessary accommodation for enabling them to restrict it to the workhouse without endangering life, or violating the principle of the Poor Law.

-----

[171]

Ante, p. 343.

-----

[Sidenote: Mortality among the administrators of the law.]

In connection with workhouse relief, the mortality which took place among the officers and other poor-law officials ought to be noticed, as illustrating the duties which the exigencies of the service required from them. The subject has already been adverted to as creating difficulty in obtaining suitable persons to fill these offices.[172] Although not so great in the present year as in 1846-7, the deaths of workhouse officers by fever or cholera amounted to no less than seventy, including nine chaplains and eight medical officers. Seven of the vice-guardians likewise fell victims to disease in the discharge of their arduous duties, as well as eight of the temporary inspectors, together with Mr. Hancock, who had acted under the commission from the commencement, first as assistant-commissioner and then as inspector.[173]

-----

[172]

Ante, p. 326.

[173]

The vacancy caused by the lamented death of Mr. Hancock, was filled by
the appointment of Mr. Lynch, the temporary inspector of the Westport
union.

-----

[Sidenote: Emigration.]

An increased disposition had latterly been evinced by the boards of guardians for promoting emigration, under the provisions of the Extension Act.[174] The steady progress of the measure for sending orphan girls from the Irish workhouses out to the Australian colonies, the commissioners considered highly satisfactory. The number of these girls embarked for Adelaide and Sydney since the spring of 1848 was 2,219, at a cost to the unions of about 5_l._ each for outfit and conveyance to Plymouth, the remainder of the charge being defrayed from the colonial funds. Many other unions were desirous that the orphan girls from their workhouses should participate in this arrangement, but the number at first was limited to 2,500. A hope is however expressed that means will be found for continuing to remove from this country a class of emigrants so eligible in every respect, and so much required in the colonies. The entire amount expended on emigration during the year ending on the 29th September 1848, was 2,776_l._—a sum, it is observed, “less important in its direct effects, than as showing a growth of opinion in favour of this method of relief.” Spontaneous emigration, chiefly to the United States, and irrespective of aid from the poor-rates, was exceedingly active from all parts of Ireland at this time, the natural love of country having been deadened by the pressure of want and disease.

-----

[174]

Ante, p. 331.

-----

[Sidenote: The _11 and 12 Vict. caps. 25 and 47_.]

In the session of 1848 two short Acts were passed which it is necessary to notice. The _11th and 12th Victoria, cap. 25_, extends the powers for hiring or purchasing land for the use of workhouses to 25 acres, in addition to the 15 acres previously authorized. It likewise empowers the commissioners to combine unions for the maintenance and education of poor children, and also enables boards of guardians to provide for the burial of deceased poor persons. The _11th and 12th Vict., cap. 47_, provides “for the protection and relief of the destitute poor evicted from their dwellings,” and directs relieving-officers forthwith to take order for the relief of such persons, either in or out of the workhouse, and to report the circumstances to the guardians at their next meeting. The power of purchasing an additional 25 acres of land given by the first of these Acts, was chiefly with a view to the establishment of industrial schools, and was not intended to be used as a means of employing the workhouse inmates. Few things would be more objectionable on principle, or more conducive to lax management, than adding such a quantity of land to a workhouse for the purpose of being cultivated by the inmates.

[Sidenote: The _12 and 13 Vict. cap. 4_.]

In the session of 1849 likewise two Acts were passed requiring our attention. The first of these,—The _12th and 13th Vict., cap. 4_, relates to the appointment of vice-guardians. It provides that when a board of guardians shall have been dissolved, and paid officers appointed, before the 25th of March 1848, the commissioners may direct the continuance of such paid officers until the 1st of November 1849, and no election of guardians is to take place in the interim. But it also provides that the commissioners may if they think fit discontinue the paid officers, and direct the election of a board of guardians at any time. The second of these Acts is known as ‘The Rate-in-Aid Act,’ and its provisions require to be more fully explained.

[Sidenote: The Rate-in-Aid Act. _12 and 13 Vict. cap. 24._]