Chapter V (3)

The ‘Rate-in-Aid Act,’ _12th and 13th Vict. cap. 24_, makes provision for levying “a general rate in aid of certain unions and electoral divisions in Ireland,” and it enacts as follows:—

_Section 1._—The Poor Law Commissioners, with the approval of the lord
lieutenant, may during each of the years ending the 31st of December
1849 and 1850, from time to time declare the amount they deem
necessary for the above purposes, and may assess the same upon the
several unions in proportion to the annual value of the property in
each rateable to the relief of the poor; but the sum levied in any
union in either of the two years is not to exceed 6_d._ in the pound
on such annual value. The commissioners are to transmit to the
guardians of each union an order under seal, stating the amount so
assessed, and the portion leviable in each electoral division,
according to the value of its rateable property.

_Section 2._—In the rate next made on each electoral division, the
guardians are to provide for the sum so leviable; and the treasurer
of the union, out of all lodgments made with him of such rate, or
any subsequent rate, on account of any division, is to place one
moiety thereof to the credit of such division in an account to be
entitled “The Union Rate-in-Aid Account,” until the whole sum
leviable on such division shall have been so placed. And the
treasurer is to pay over all sums so from time to time received by
him to a separate account at the bank of Ireland, entitled “The
General Rate-in-Aid Account.”

_Sections 3, 4, 5._—The commissioners of the Treasury may order the
whole or any part of the money standing in such separate accounts at
the bank of Ireland, to be paid to such persons, at such times, and
under such conditions as they may think fit, for affording relief to
destitute poor persons in any union or electoral division, or for
assisting emigration, or for repaying advances made for any of these
purposes. And for the more speedy affording of such relief, the
commissioners of the Treasury are empowered to advance out of the
consolidated fund, any sums not in the whole exceeding 100,000_l._,
the same to be repayable out of any rates levied in pursuance of the
Act. Accounts of all receipts and payments under the Act are to be
made up to the 31st December, in the present and the following year
respectively.

This Act was passed on the 24th May 1849, and its duration is limited to the 31st December 1850. It must therefore be regarded as a temporary measure directed to a temporary object, and it was accompanied by a vote authorizing an advance by the Treasury of 50,000_l._ for relief of the distressed unions in the west of Ireland. The calls which had been made upon England during the three preceding years, amounting altogether to probably little short of 10,000,000_l._ in the shape of loans advances or donations by the government, and contributions and subscriptions of one kind and another by individuals, for the relief of Irish distress, had evidently excited alarm, and appear to have given rise to a determination on the part of the legislature to revert to the precedent of the Elizabethan law, and to make the property of Ireland answerable for the relief of Irish poverty. This was certainly open to no objection in point of principle, although it may be questioned whether the most suitable time was selected for its application. We have seen the calamities to which Ireland had been exposed by the successive failure of the potato crop. Such failures were unprecedented and exceptional. The calamity had been emphatically designated as imperial; and if it were so, there would be no violation of principle, but rather the fulfilment of a duty, in one part of the empire coming to the assistance of the other. It was in fact a common cause, and was so regarded throughout England, until the repeated failures caused apprehensions as to the perpetuity of the burden, and seemed to point to the necessity of compelling the Irish people to abandon the treacherous potato, which it was thought they would hardly do, so long as they could turn to England for help whenever it failed them. The rate-in-aid was calculated to effect this object, by casting the consequences of the failure entirely upon Ireland itself, which in such case would be unable to persist in its reliance upon a crop so treacherous and uncertain as the potato.

[Sidenote: A subscription promoted by government.]

Such it is believed were the impressions under which the Rate-in-Aid Act was passed. Its duration was limited to a little over a year and a half, and yet within that period, indeed within less than a month after it had passed, a subscription was set on foot by the government, each of its members subscribing 100_l._ and her Majesty 500_l._, in the belief, it is declared, “that there are ways in which this money may be expended most usefully, without interfering with the relief administration through the Poor Law, such as the supply of clothing, which has now become a matter of paramount importance, especially to the children.” The prospects of the next harvest were said to be favourable, but the promoters of the subscription declare “that the short intervening period must be one of such overwhelming misery, as to afford a strong claim for the exercise of private charity.”[175] The distribution of the money subscribed on this occasion, which did not quite amount to 10,000_l._, was intrusted to the same benevolent gentleman who had superintended the application of the funds of the “British Relief Association,” and who deservedly possessed the confidence of all parties, as well in Ireland as in England. That the urgency was great, as is above stated, there can he no doubt; and if it were susceptible of effectual relief by such means, it may be lamented that the remedy was not earlier resorted to, as it probably would have been but for the alarms which gave rise to the Rate-in-Aid Act, and prevented the intervention either of the government or individuals in furnishing eleemosynary aid.

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[175]

This is quoted from the heading of the subscription list, as published
in the ‘Times’ of 16th June 1849. The money raised was confided for
distribution in Ireland to Count Strzelecki.

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It must not however be supposed that the whole of Ireland was in a state of “overwhelming misery.” Distress more or less severe was doubtless very prevalent, and everywhere arising from the same cause; but distress so intense and overwhelming as to require immediate assistance from some extraneous source, only prevailed in certain of the western unions, where the people had depended entirely on the potato, and when that crop failed became poverty-stricken and helpless in the highest degree. The potato constituted the chief, or it may almost be said the only source of wealth in these unions, and its failure left them without other resource. Rates could not be levied, for the land yielded no available produce; and the population, accustomed to subsist in a semi-civilized state upon the potatoes raised by themselves, would nearly all have perished, as numbers of them did perish, but for the assistance which was afforded to them from England.

[Sidenote: The western unions.]

It was chiefly with reference to these western unions that the Rate-in-Aid Act was passed. There were 22 of them,[176] comprising a population of 1,468,248, thus giving an average of nearly 67,000 to each union; and they stood in much the same relation to the other unions in Ireland, as a pauper stands in towards the independent labourer. The other unions were generally equal to the occasion, trying as the period undoubtedly was, and supported themselves through it, although not without undergoing severe privations. But these western unions were utterly destitute and without resource, and aid of some kind was necessary to prevent a fearful sacrifice of life. The aid had hitherto been furnished by England, and chiefly from the imperial treasury. The legislature now determined that it should be derived from Ireland itself, a determination that seems only open to objection, on the ground of the distress being so general and severe as to constitute an exceptional case, warranting a recurrence to extraneous sources.

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[176]

These were Ballina, Ballinrobe, Bantry, Cahirciveen,
Carrick-on-Shannon, Castlebar, Castlereagh, Clifden, Ennistymon,
Galway, Glenties, Gort, Kenmare, Kilrush, Mohill, Roscommon, Scariff,
Sligo, Swineford, Tuam, Westport, and Dingle. All the distressed
unions had either paid guardians, or temporary inspectors, appointed
by the commissioners.

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[Sidenote: A rate in aid of 6_d._ in the pound.]

The power which had been given of levying a rate in aid was forthwith acted upon, a general order being issued on the 13th of June, declaring the sum to be levied in each union and electoral division throughout Ireland, according to the value of the rateable property for the year 1849. The whole amount so assessed was 322,552_l._ 11_s._, being at the rate of 6_d._ in the pound. The commissioners say that the resources thus placed at their disposal, and the advances by the Treasury on security of the rate in aid, “have been most seasonable, and have enabled the guardians of the unions assisted, to provide the necessaries of life during the last two months for a large mass of recipients of in-door and out-door relief, who must otherwise have been without food, the money and credit of the unions having been previously quite exhausted,” and the continuance of such assistance until the period of harvest, is declared to be necessary for the relief of pressing destitution in these impoverished and overburdened districts.

[Sidenote: Boards of guardians dissolved.]

In the year preceding 32 boards of guardians had been dissolved, and paid officers appointed to execute the law.[177] It became necessary likewise to dissolve some others in the present year;[178] but two of the preceding boards (Trim and Cavan) were revived under the provisions of the original Relief Act, and another (Mullingar) was revived under the _12th and 13th Vict., cap. 4_. By the operation of the latter Act, the boards of guardians will, on the 1st November next, be reinstated in all the unions now under the management of paid officers, except the five last dissolved, which will continue under paid officers until the 25th March 1850, unless previously re-established by order of the commissioners.

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[177]

Ante, p. 341.

[178]

These were Mullingar, Boyle, Cashel, Thurles, Listowel, and Tipperary.

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[Sidenote: Sanction of out-relief.]

The orders issued authorizing out-relief under the _2nd section_ of the Extension Act had, the commissioners say, been more numerous during the present year than was intended at its commencement. “But the rapid filling of the workhouses in certain unions, and the pressure of the representations of distress, left them no alternative but to intrust once more this extraordinary and exceptional power of affording relief to the able-bodied out of the workhouse, to those charged with the administration of relief in the western and south-western unions.” [Sidenote: Distressed unions.]The financial state of many of these unions was a source of continual anxiety. In the last year 23 of them had been furnished with assistance in aid of their rates, by grants from government and from the funds of the British Association, and they required like assistance in the present. The sums remitted for this purpose from time to time by the Treasury, were guarded by the condition that they should not be used in payment of debts already incurred, but be applied in purchasing the means of preserving the lives of the people, when in danger of perishing through want of the necessaries of life. There were other unions also whose finances were much embarrassed, although they had not yet received assistance; but all, whether assisted or not, are said to require perpetual watchfulness on the part of the commissioners and their inspectors.

[Sidenote: The Boundary Commission.]

The difficulties and distresses to which the country had latterly been exposed through the failure of the potato, together with the sanction given to out-door relief by the Extension Act,[179] had led many persons to consider that the unions and electoral divisions, as originally formed, were too large for the convenient and effectual administration of relief under existing circumstances. Representations to this effect were made to the government, and in March 1848 commissioners[180] were appointed for the purpose of inquiring and reporting—“whether the size and other geographical circumstances of the unions, are such as to prevent the guardians and relieving officers from attending the boards without serious interruption to their other duties”—“whether the same circumstances prevent the applicants for relief, who desire or who may be required to attend the board, from doing so without serious inconvenience”—“whether the amount of population and pauperism in each union is greater than would render it possible for the guardians in ordinary times to transact the business of the union conveniently in one day of the week”—and lastly, “what alterations it would be advisable to make in the boundaries of existing unions, and what new unions it would be desirable to form, in order to meet the wants of the country on the points adverted to, or any others which may present themselves in the course of the inquiry: due regard being had to the position of the existing workhouses, and the charge to be incurred in the erection of new workhouses.” Similar inquiries were likewise to be made with respect to the electoral divisions. [Sidenote: Fifty new unions recommended.] Early in 1849 the commissioners reported the result of their inquiries, and recommended the formation of 50 new unions, the details of which, together with maps explanatory of the system on which the recommendation was made, were appended to the Report.

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[179]

Ante, p. 330.

[180]

The commissioners were Captains Larcom and Broughton of the engineers,
and Mr. Crawford a poor-law inspector.

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[Sidenote: Select committee on the Irish Poor-laws.]

Early in the session of 1849, a select committee on the Irish Poor Laws was appointed in the commons, and empowered “to report their opinion and the minutes of evidence taken before them from time to time, to the house.” Many intelligent witnesses were examined, and much information was elicited with regard to the immediate object of the inquiry, and as to its bearing upon the state of the country generally. The recommendations of the boundary commissioners were also much canvassed, and there appeared to be considerable diversity of opinion on the subject, some preferring large areas both for unions and electoral divisions, and others being favourable to small ones. This is of course in some measure a question of degree, and must likewise depend very much upon local circumstances. [Sidenote: Size of the unions.] The size of a union or an electoral division might be perfectly suitable at one time, or under one class of circumstances, and yet may be unsuitable at another. When the unions were formed, we were aware that some of them were too large, and we reckoned upon these being afterwards divided, and the district readjusted. For instance, in the case of Ballina, the materials for constituting two efficient boards of guardians could not be found, and so an extent of territory sufficient for two unions, was formed into one, until adequate executives could be found for two, when a division might readily be effected. It was so likewise in other cases, that of Dingle, now taken from Tralee union and constituted a separate union, being one; and for my own part I always reckoned upon five or six additional unions being created after the law had come into orderly working. I certainly never thought it likely that 50 new unions, or anything like that number, would be required; but neither did I foresee the fearful visitations to which Ireland has latterly been subjected, or the sanctioning of out-door relief under the Extension Act.

[Sidenote: Amount of expenditure, and numbers relieved.]

The expenditure from the rates on relief of the poor in the 131 unions, (Dingle being now added to the former number) during the twelve months ending 29th September 1848, was 1,835,634_l._ The number of inmates on that day was 124,003, and the total number relieved in the workhouses within the year was 610,463. The number receiving out-door relief on that day was 207,683, and the total number relieved out of the workhouse during the year was 1,433,042. There is here a large increase both of expenditure and numbers relieved, over the amounts in the preceding year; but the excess is perhaps in neither case greater than might be expected under the circumstances, the cause of the distress continuing, and its pressure consequently becoming year by year more severe. In proof of the great efforts which had been made to meet this distress, it is only necessary to state the amount of the poor-rates collected during the three last years, each ending on the 29th September, viz.:—

1846 £371,846
1847 638,403
1848 1,627,700

[Sidenote: Change in the commission.]

Mr. Twisleton who had ably discharged the duties of chief Poor Law Commissioner since the separate establishment of the Irish board, resigned office in the month of May in the present year, and was succeeded by Mr. Power, the assistant-commissioner, whose vacated office was filled by the appointment of Mr. Ball, one of the inspectors.