Chapter LXIV: Section 30: , Title 3, of the CONSTITUTION OF NORWAY (6)

"The Lewis and Clark Centennial and American Pacific
Exposition and Oriental Fair" (to give its full of fecial
title), conducted at Portland from the beginning of June until
the middle of October, 1905, in commemoration of the first
exploration of the American Continent from the Mississippi to
the Pacific, was one of the most interesting and attractive of
the undertakings of its kind in the last decade. Specially as
an exhibit of the wonderful natural resources of the great
Northwest, and of the more wonderful rapidity of their
exploitation, it seemed wholly satisfying to all who visited
it. The reclamation work of the United States Government,
shown elaborately by models and otherwise in the Irrigation
Building of the extensive national exhibit, afforded a feature
of uncommon attractiveness. The associated Forestry Building,
with its walls of mighty logs and its grand pillars of firs
and cedars, six and seven feet in diameter, was a piece of
unique architecture that drew all eyes. "The Oregon
Cathedral," it came to be called. In metals, minerals, fruits
and grains, the wealth of the Northwest was astonishingly
displayed; and the Japanese from the farther side of the
Pacific made the most of the opportunity to spread their
artistic wares before American buyers.

The scenic setting of the Exposition grounds, on the border of
a lake and with a background of hill rising from Willamette
River, was a theme of praise in all reports of it.

{504}

PORTO RICO: A. D. 1901-1905.
Change of Qualifications for the Elective Franchise.

The fundamental provisions of the Act of Congress, approved
April 12, 1900, under which the government of Porto Rico as a
dependency of the United States was organized, will be found
in Volume VI of this work.

See
PORTO RICO: A. D. 1900 (APRIL).

The Act has received amendment since, making one important
organic change. The Executive Council which it created was
authorized to fix the qualifications of voters for the first
election of a Legislative Assembly. The suffrage in that
election, held in 1900, was conferred by the Council on every
male citizen of twenty-one years, resident in the island for
one year and for six months in his municipal district, "who is
able to read and write, or who, on September 1, 1900, owned
real estate in his own right and name, or who on said date was
a member of a firm or corporation or partnership, or who on
September 1, 1900, owned personal property in his own right or
name not less in value than twenty-five dollars." The results
of the election held under that rule, and a brief summary of
the doings of the Legislative Assembly at its first session,
which opened on the 3d of December, 1900, and closed on the
31st of January, 1901, are given in Volume VI.

"At its second session, in 1902, the Legislative Assembly
availed itself of the power given to it by the organic act and
passed a law for the government of future elections. This act
followed closely the provisions of the orders that had been
issued by the executive council. The system created is similar
to that in the American States which have adopted the
Australian ballot. As regards the franchise, the only change
made was that the provision which gave the right to vote to
persons owning personal property to the value of twenty-five
dollars was dropped and in its place was substituted the
provision conferring the franchise upon those persons meeting
the conditions as regards age and residence who on the day of
registration are able to produce to the board of registry tax
receipts showing the payment of any kind of taxes for the last
six months of the year in which the election is held. The law
also provided that all persons who were registered during the
year 1900 would not be required to register anew or have to
meet the new requirements of the law. This was the law under
which the second election in 1902 was held. In 1904 the law
underwent a very important alteration as regards the
qualifications for the enjoyment of the electoral franchise.
By this new law the three conditions—ability to read and
write, ownership of real estate, or payment of taxes—any one
of which qualified a male citizen of Porto Rico who had
resided in the island one year and in the district in which he
offered to register for six months immediately preceding, to
vote, were until July 1, 1906, wiped out, leaving only the
conditions regarding sex, age and residence to be met in order
to qualify a voter. After that date the additional
qualification of being able to read and write must be met. The
result of this amendment to the law is to provide for
universal manhood suffrage until July 1, 1906, after which no
new name can be added to the registration list unless its
owner is able to read and write. Those persons, however, who
are properly registered before that date are not required to
offer themselves for registration, but continue to enjoy the
full rights of the franchise."

_W. F. Willoughby,
Territories and Dependencies of the United States.
page 95 (Century Company, New York, 1905)._

PORTO RICO: A. D. 1905.
Extension of Local Government asked for.

A convention of municipal delegates, chosen by the elective
municipal councils of the island, assembled at San Juan in
July, 1905, formulated a request to the Government of the
United States for a broadening of the fundamental law of 1900,
which "would largely transfer the control of the local
government to their own people. The Governor would remain a
Presidential appointee, but the appointments by the Governor
would be subject in many cases to revision by a locally
elected Senate, except the courts, which would remain as now,
for the most part, under our direct control. In other words,
the legislative, and largely the administrative functions,
subject to the limitations of the Organic Act, would be
exercised by the Porto Ricans. The courts, of our own
choosing, would construe limitations on these powers, and the
Governor, with his police and militia, would be solely
responsible for order and the lawful execution of lawful
mandates."

PORTO RICO: A. D. 1906.
Visited by President Roosevelt.
His account of it.

"On November twenty-first I visited the island of Porto Rico,
landing at Ponce, crossing by the old Spanish road by Cayey to
San Juan, and returning next morning over the new American
road from Arecibo to Ponce; the scenery was wonderfully
beautiful, especially among the mountains of the interior,
which constitute a veritable tropic Switzerland. I could not
embark at San Juan because the harbor has not been dredged out
and cannot receive an American battle ship. I do not think
this fact creditable to us as a nation, and I earnestly hope
that immediate provision will be made for dredging San Juan
Harbor.

"I doubt whether our people as a whole realize the beauty and
fertility of Porto Rico and the progress that has been made
under its admirable government. …

"I stopped at a dozen towns all told, and one of the notable
features in every town was the gathering of the school
children. The work that has been done in Porto Rico for
education has been noteworthy. The main emphasis, as is
eminently wise and proper, has been put upon primary
education; but in addition to this there is a normal school,
an agricultural school, three industrial and three high
schools. Every effort is being made to secure not only the
benefits of elementary education to all the Porto Ricans of
the next generation, but also as far as means will permit to
train them so that the industrial, agricultural and commercial
opportunities of the island can be utilized to the best
possible advantage. It was evident, at a glance, that the
teachers, both Americans and native Porto Ricans, were devoted
to their work, took the greatest pride in it, and were
endeavoring to train their pupils not only in mind, but in
what counts for far more than mind in citizenship—that is, in
character.

"I was very much struck by the excellent character both of the
insular police and of the Porto Rican regiment. They are both
of them bodies that reflect credit upon the American
administration of the island. The insular police are under the
local Porto Rican government. The Porto Rican regiment of
troops must be appropriated for by the Congress. I earnestly
hope that this body will be kept permanent. There should
certainly be troops in the island, and it is wise that these
troops should be themselves native Porto Ricans. It would be
from every standpoint a mistake not to perpetuate this
regiment. …

{505}

"There is a matter to which I wish to call your special
attention, and that is the desirability of conferring full
American citizenship upon the people of Porto Rico. I most
earnestly hope that this will be done. I cannot see how any
harm can possibly result from it, and it seems to me a matter
of right and justice to the people of Porto Rico. They are
loyal, they are glad to be under our flag, they are making
rapid progress along the path of orderly liberty. Surely we
should now show our appreciation of them, our pride in what
they have done, and our pleasure in extending recognition for
what has thus been done by granting them full American
citizenship. …

"The Porto Ricans have complete and absolute autonomy in all
their municipal governments, the only power over them
possessed by the insular government being that of removing
corrupt or incompetent municipal officials. This power has
never been exercised save on the clearest proof of corruption
or of incompetence such as to jeopardize the interests of the
people of the island; and under such circumstances it has been
fearlessly used to the immense benefit of the people. It is
not a power with which it would be safe, for the sake of the
island itself, to dispense at present. The lower house is
absolutely elective, while the upper house is appointive. This
scheme is working well; no injustice of any kind results from
it, and great benefit to the island, and it should certainly
not be changed at this time. The machinery of the elections is
administered entirely by the Porto Rican people themselves,
the governor and council keeping only such supervision as is
necessary in order to secure an orderly election. Any protest
as to electoral frauds is settled in the courts."

_Theodore Roosevelt,
Message to Congress
(Congressional Record, December 11, 1906)._

PORTO RICO: A. D. 1908.
Ten Years of Progress.

"Ten years ago exports from Porto Rico to the United States
were valued at $2,414,356, while in the fiscal year ending
June 30, 1908, they were $25,891,261. The new figures show a
probable further increase for 1909. In 1898, less than
$3,000,000 worth of sugar was exported, and to-day shipments
are more than $14,000,000. In coffee, once the leading staple,
increase is also marked, although sugar now holds first place.

"Four hundred and thirty-five miles of macadamized roads, in
good repair, now make communication easy between San Juan and
Ponce and cities on the west coast. Two-thirds of the roads
have been built since the occupation. The railroad around the
island, projected by the Spanish, but delayed year by year, is
now built, and harbor improvements have been made in San Juan
and Ponce. More than a thousand public schools are educating
the Porto Rican children—and sometimes their parents. The net
public debt is now less than $3,000,000 or less than 21 per
cent. of the assessed valuation, and the bulk of this money
has been spent in public improvements."

_Porto Rico Correspondent New York Evening Post,
March 27, 1909._

PORTO RICO: A. D. 1909.
Modification of the Fundamental Act.

In a special Message to Congress, May 10, 1909, President Taft
called attention to the failure of the Legislative Assembly of
Porto Rico to pass the usual appropriation bills, leaving the
government of the island without support after the 30th of the
next June. In his opinion, the situation indicated that the
United States had proceeded too fast in extending political
power to the Porto Ricans, and that the full control of
appropriations should be withdrawn from those "who have shown
themselves too irresponsible to enjoy it." He suggested,
therefore, an amendment of the fundamental act, known as the
Foraker Act, to provide that when the legislative assembly
shall adjourn without making the appropriation necessary to
carry on the government, sums equal to the appropriations made
in the previous year for the respective purposes shall be
available from the current revenues, and shall be drawn by the
warrant of the auditor on the treasurer and countersigned by
the Governor. Such a provision applies to the Legislatures of
the Philippines and Hawaii and "it has prevented in those two
countries any misuse of the power of appropriation." An
amendatory Act was passed in accordance with the President’s
suggestion.

PORTO RICO: A. D. 1909.
Change in the Governorship.

In September, 1909, Governor Regis H. Post resigned his
office, and was succeeded by Mr. George R. Colton, who had had
previous experience, both civil and military, in the
Philippines and in Santo Domingo. The Secretary of the island
underwent a change, also, Mr. Willoughby being called to
Washington to take the duties of Assistant Director of the
Census, and his place in Porto Rico being filled by Mr. George
Cabot Ward.

PORTSMOUTH, Peace Treaty of:
Circumstances and Text.

See (in this Volume)
JAPAN: A. D. 1905 (JUNE-OCTOBER).

PORTUGAL: A. D. 1906.
At the Algeciras Conference on the Morocco question.

See (in this Volume)
EUROPE: A. D. 1905-1906.

PORTUGAL: A. D. 1906-1909.
A "rotative" system of Party Government and its results.
King Carlos assumes dictatorial authority.
His Minister, Senhor Franco.
Murder of the King and Crown Prince.
Succession of King Manuel.
Recent Ministries.

For many years prior to 1906 Portugal had been governed by two
political parties, calling themselves the Regeneradors and the
Progressistas, who, it has been said, "relieved one another in
office, and in the spoils of office, at decent intervals, by a
tacit arrangement between their leaders." This regular
ministerial rotation led to the popular nickname of Rotativos,
applied to both parties, and significant of the contempt in
which they were held. The rotative system of party government,
"while ensuring a comfortable livelihood to a class of
professional politicians, was of no conspicuous benefit to the
country, and it was with a view to ending it that King Carlos
summoned Senhor João Franco, in May, 1906, to form a ministry.
Senhor Franco, who belonged to neither of the recognized
parties, set his hand zealously to the work of reform, but his
attempts to purge the Administration soon brought him into
conflict with powerful vested interests; and in May, 1907, the
politicians whose livelihoods he was reforming away united
against him in a policy of obstruction which made
Parliamentary government impossible.
{506}
He then dissolved the Cortes, and with the approval of the
King assumed the position of dictator. His work of reform
thenceforth proceeded apace. Drastic decrees, each aimed at
some abuse, followed one another with amazing rapidity. Strong
in the support of the King and of the best elements in the
country, execrated by the politicians whom he had spoiled, and
by the Press which he had done nothing to conciliate, he
continued on his headlong course, and at the end of January,
1908, he signed a decree practically amounting to a suspension
of civil liberties."

_Lisbon Correspondence,
London Times._

A tragedy followed quickly. On the 1st day of February, 1908,
the King, Dom Carlos, and the Crown Prince, Luiz Felipe, as
they rode through the streets of Lisbon, with the Queen and a
younger son in the same carriage, and attended by an escort,
were attacked by a throng of assassins and killed. The younger
prince was wounded; the Queen escaped by a miracle, one of the
assassins having been shot at the instant his pistol was aimed
at her. The two princes fought bravely, and the Queen threw
herself in front of her husband, attempting vainly to shield
him.

Prince Manuel, whose wound was not serious, succeeded to the
throne; but "the shots that killed Dom Carlos and Dom Luiz on
February 1 swept away the dictatorship of Senhor Franco and
the whole fabric which he had built up at so much cost during
18 months. Within a few hours of the murder Senhor Franco
resigned, under pressure, it is said, and left the country,
declaring that he had done with politics for ever. From being
the saviour of his country, the admiration of all enlightened
men, both at home and abroad, he became a pariah. His
supporters became mute and his system vanished. From that day
to this his followers have had no more than three or four
seats in the Chamber, where they have remained voiceless and
without influence on the course of events.

"That a seemingly vulgar crime should have so disproportionate
an effect was strange, and no less strange was the attitude of
the country. Whether owing to the widely entertained suspicion
that the murderers of the King were the tools of more
important personages whom it would not be safe to discover, or
to the fear of a Republican rising felt by the moderate and
respectable members of the community, is still a matter of
opinion; the fact remains that society lost its nerve. No
burst of indignation, no adequate expression of sympathy for
the Royal Family was heard; no steps were taken to trace the
authors of the crime. … The disappearance of Senhor Franco
left the two old ‘rotativist’ parties in presence, the
Progressistas under Senhor Luciano de Castro, and the
Regeneradores under Senhor Vilhena, the recently elected
successor of the veteran Hintze Ribeiro. Compared to these,
neither the Republicans, whose strength was supposed to be
considerable in the country, nor the ‘dissident’
Progressistas, under Senhor Alpoim, were of any account as
Parliamentary factors. A coalition Government was formed on
March 4, under Admiral Ferreira do Amaral, consisting of two
Regeneradores, two Progressistas, and two so-called
Independents, personal adherents of the Premier, who resembled
him in having no marked political ideals or convictions. The
elections, which took place in April, returned 62
Regeneradores and 59 Progressistas, thus starting the
Government on its career with the handsome following of 121 in
a House of 155. The matters with which the Government had to
deal were mainly three—namely, the revision of the decrees
issued by Senhor Franco as Dictator, the question of the Civil
List and of the advances made by the nation to the Royal
Family, and electoral reform. The Civil List was successfully
settled, but little progress had been made with the remainder
of the programme when the first serious defection occurred.
During the recess the Government announced that the municipal
elections, which had been suspended by Senhor Franco in favour
of nominated councils, would be held again in November, a
decision bitterly attacked by Senhor Vilhena, who announced
that the Regeneradores could no longer support the Government.
The elections were duly held, and, owing to the deliberate
abstention of the Monarchist parties, the Republicans captured
unopposed every seat on the Lisbon council. The unpopularity
incurred by the Government on account of this unnecessary gift
to the common enemy brought about a Government crisis. Admiral
Amaral referred the matter to the Council of State, who, to
his great surprise and annoyance, advised the resignation of
the Government. The Premier and his two independents
accordingly retired, and the Cabinet was reconstituted under
Senhor Campos Henriques, who together with Senhor Wenceslao de
Lima, Minister of Foreign Affairs, continued to represent the
Regenerador party. The late Premier’s ‘Independents’ made way
for the Progressistas, who thus held five seats in the Cabinet
to two held by the Regeneradores. Senhor Vilhena, who had
brought about the fall of the late Government, was not offered
a seat in the new one, and he immediately resumed his
opposition; but on this occasion he only carried two-thirds of
his party with him, 22 members deciding to support the
Government. This defection of the Regeneradores under Senhor
Vilhena, the first serious indication of a return to the old
system of ‘rotativism,’ was shortly followed by that of the
late Premier and his ‘Independents,’ so that when the Cortes
met on March 1, [1909], the imposing Government majority of a
year before had dwindled to 10 or 15."

Then followed daily scenes of disorder and obstruction in
Parliament until Senhor Campos Henriques surrendered, at the
end of March. As _The Times_ correspondent expressed it,
"as soon as the Opposition in the Lower House expressed its
impatience by a banging of desks, while its leader in the
House of Peers solemnly affirmed the ‘incompatibility’ of his
party with the Government, Ministers determined to avoid all
further unpleasantness by resigning." The resignation was
accepted by the King, and three party leaders in succession
made attempts in the next month to conduct the Government,
without success. Senhor Sebastiäo Telles held the reins for
three weeks, and then passed them to Senhor Wenceslao de Lima,
who framed up a nominally non-party Ministry on the 13th of
May. Senhor De Lima conducted the Government until the
following December, when, on the 19th, he resigned, and a
"Progressist Ministry" was formed, under Senhor Beirao.

_London Times Correspondence of various Dates._

{507}

Writing from Lisbon on the 5th of January, 1910, the
_Times_ correspondent said:

"It is the Republicans who alone seem to be making progress.
Their activities are unceasing, their newspapers the best
informed and most ably conducted, their meetings, held all
over the land, the most largely attended and most
enthusiastic. At the same hour as that of the Royal reception
on New Year’s Day the Republican municipality of Lisbon held a
like function, not only largely and most influentially
attended, but to the distinct diminution of the attendance in
the Royal Palace."

PORTUGAL: A. D. 1909.
Demonstration against the Religious Orders.

The following despatch to the Press was sent from Lisbon
August 3, 1909:

"Freethinkers from all political parties in Portugal,
represented by a Liberal committee, to-day presented to the
Cortes a petition for the suppression of the religious orders
in Portugal and the abrogation of the existing laws against
freedom of conscience. This step was an outcome of the meeting
held in this city yesterday.

"The committee was accompanied to the Houses of Parliament by
an immense crowd, and some wild scenes ensued. Among other
things the petitioners asked for the abrogation of the recent
law permitting religious associations to acquire landed
property, a procedure which up to the present time has been
illegal. Senhor Camacho moved the consideration of the
subject, and when the motion was voted down the galleries
broke out in protestation. There was considerable violence on
the floor of the House. The Deputies engaged in a struggle in
which desks and chairs were overturned, and the Chamber had to
be cleared twice. The tumult was continued in the streets, but
without serious results."

PORTUGAL: A. D. 1909.
Offer of Dom Miguel to renounce his Claim to the Throne.

Dom Miguel, son of the Dom Miguel who, from 1828 to 1833 held
the throne of Portugal in defiance of the rights of Maria da
Gloria, his elder brother’s daughter (see, in Volume IV.,
PORTUGAL: A. D. 1824-1889), had kept up his father’s
pretensions to the crown until the spring of 1909, when he
offered to renounce it, if permitted to live in Portugal as a
citizen. The permission was refused, for the reason that his
return, with that of a number of nobles of his party, "would
be regarded as a challenge to the rising tide of Liberalism."

PORTUGAL: A. D. 1909 (April).
Earthquake in and around Lisbon.

See (in this Volume)
EARTHQUAKES: PORTUGAL.

PORTUGUESE AFRICA.

See (in this Volume)
AFRICA: PORTUGUESE.

POSTAGE, BEGINNING OF INTERNATIONAL PENNY.

The postal treaty establishing two-cent or penny postage on
letters between Great Britain and the United States went into
effect October 1, 1909.

POSTAL SERVICE, IN CHINA.

See (in this Volume)
CHINA: A. D. 1908.

POSTAL SERVICE STRIKE, IN FRANCE.

See (in this Volume)
LABOR ORGANIZATION: FRANCE: A. D. 1909 (MARCH-MAY).

POSTAL AND TELEGRAPHIC STRIKE, IN RUSSIA.

See (in this Volume)
RUSSIA: A. D. 1904-1905.

----------POVERTY AND UNEMPLOYMENT: THEIR PROBLEMS: Start---

POVERTY AND UNEMPLOYMENT:
Old Age Homes, in Vienna.

"In most towns there is a tendency, in this our day, to deal
more generously with destitute children than with destitute
men and women. In Berlin and New York, for instance, both
money and thought are lavished on the young whom the community
supports; while as for the aged, what is given to them is
given only of necessity. In Vienna it is otherwise; there the
arrangements for the relief of the old people are better—both
more carefully considered and more liberal—than those for the
relief of children, a fact that says more, perhaps, for the
hearts than for the heads of the authorities.

"If a man—or a woman—above 60 is without money wherewith to
provide for himself, or the strength to earn the money, he
applies to the Guardian of his ward for help. Then, if he has
a home to live in, and someone to take care of him, or is able
to take care of himself, he is granted out relief, a money
allowance if he can be trusted to spend it wisely, otherwise
relief in kind. Supposing, however, he is homeless, feeble and
‘alone-standing,’ he is sent to a Versorgungshaus, or old-age
home, if there is a vacant place there; and, if not, to a
small poor-house until there is.

"Versorgungshäuser are the distinctive feature of the Austrian
Poor Relief system so far as the aged are concerned. Already
in the days of Joseph II. Vienna had two if not more of these
homes, and at the present time it has six. One of them is
reserved exclusively for Citizens; another, that at Mauerbach,
is reserved for persons who, owing to their perverted notions
as to what is seemly, cannot be accorded the full liberty the
old people in the other homes enjoy. In all the six together
there is space for more than 6,000 inmates. As the
Versorgungshäuser are looked upon by classes and masses alike
as the homes of the aged poor, the place where they have a
right to be, no disgrace is attached to going there. …

"Although in Vienna much is done for the poor, the burden
entailed by Poor Relief is by no means overwhelming. In 1903
the full cost of indoor relief, outdoor relief and sick
relief, together with the cost of administration, was only
£942,870, and of this £250,672 was obtained from private
sources. At that time the town was providing 31,000 adults—old
men and women for the most part—with allowances ranging in
amount from 30 kronen to 6 kronen a month; it was maintaining
6,790 more in old-age homes and other institutions; and was
defraying the cost of the Asyl and workhouse. It was
supporting, or contributing to the support of, 10,260 children
who were either with their own relatives or were boarded out;
and was maintaining 3,246 in orphanages, etc. It defrayed the
cost of the 27,000 babies who passed through the Foundling
Hospital, and of the 19,085 children who were temporarily in
institutions. It also provided 77,000 boys and girls with
school books, and contributed generously to many private
philanthropic societies. Roughly speaking, the cost to the
town of Poor Relief in Vienna per head of the population is
8s. 4d."

_Edith Sellers,
Poor Relief in Vienna
(Contemporary Review, December, 1900)._

{508}

POVERTY AND UNEMPLOYMENT:
Pensions, &c.: Denmark: A. D. 1907.
Old Age Pensions.

Some interesting details of the working of the Danish old-age
pensions system are contained in a British Consular report
issued in May, 1909. The latest available statistics show that
on March 31, 1907, 70,445 persons over 60 years of age were in
receipt of pensions, which amounted in the aggregate to
£451,000 [$2,255,000] for the financial year 1906-1907. The
number of pensioners on March 31, 1906, was 68,800, and the
amount distributed in the financial year 1905-1906, £420,444.
Both the number of pensioners and the average amount of the
pensions are increasing. The ages of the "principal"
pensioners (_i. e._, of the actual recipients of pensions
apart from wives and children dependent on them) were, on
March 31st, 1906, as follows:
60 to 65 years of age—3,173 men, 4,239 women;
65 to 70 years—5,831 men, 6,756 women;
70 years and over—13,974 men and 17,037 women.

About a quarter of the population over 60 years of age is in
receipt of pensions, the women especially availing themselves
of their benefits. The average amount distributed to each
"principal" recipient was £6 5s. in 1905-1906 and £6 11s. in
1906-1907.

POVERTY AND UNEMPLOYMENT: England: A. D. 1908.
Old Age Pensions Act.
The Working of the Law.
Its Pitiful and Appalling Disclosures.

The Act of the British Parliament, "to Provide for Old Age
Pensions" (August 1, 1908), declares in its first section that
"the receipt of an old age pension under this Act shall not
deprive the pensioner of any franchise, right, or privilege,
or subject him to any disability." The second section defines
the "statutory conditions for the receipt of an old age
pension by any person" to be: the person must have attained
the age of seventy; must satisfy the pension authorities that
he has been a British subject and resident in the United
Kingdom for at least twenty years; that his yearly means, as
calculated under the stipulations of the Act, do not exceed
thirty-one pounds ten shillings. But, notwithstanding the
fulfilment of these statutory conditions, a person is
disqualified while he is in receipt of any poor relief, other
than medical or surgical assistance on the recommendation of a
medical officer, or relief rendered by means of the
maintenance of a dependent in an asylum, infirmary, or
hospital, or any relief that by law is expressly declared not
to be a disqualification for any franchise, right, or
privilege. Furthermore, any person is disqualified for the
receipt of an old age pension "if, before he becomes entitled
to a pension, he has habitually failed to work according to
his ability, opportunity, and need, for the maintenance or
benefit of himself and those legally dependent upon him:
Provided that a person shall not be disqualified under this
paragraph if he has continuously for ten years up to attaining
the age of sixty, by means of payments to friendly, provident,
or other societies, or trade unions, or other approved steps,
made such provision against old age, sickness, infirmity, or
want or loss of employment as may be recognized as proper
provision for the purpose by regulations under this Act, and
any such provision, when made by the husband in the case of a
married couple living together, shall, as respects any right
of the wife to a pension, be treated as provision made by the
wife as well as by the husband."

Disqualification exists, also, during detention in a lunatic
asylum; and not only during any penal imprisonment that has
been ordered "without the option fine," but for ten years
thereafter.

Specific rules are given in the Act for "calculating the means
of a person" who seeks the pension; and the rate of weekly
pension to be paid is proportioned inversely to such
ascertained means, as follows: "Where the yearly means of the
pensioner as calculated under this Act:
Do not exceed £21.,—5s. 0d.;
exceed £21, but do not exceed £23, 12s. 6d.,—4s. 0d.;
exceed £23 12s. 6d., but do not exceed £26 5s.,—3s. 0d.;
exceed £26 5s., but do not exceed £28 17s. 6d.,—2s. 0c2.;
exceed £28 17s. 6d., but do not exceed £31 10s.,—1s. 0d.;
exceed £31 10s., no pension."

The Act became operative on the 1st of January, 1909. At that
time the persons recommended for pensions, throughout the
Kingdom, numbered 490,028, with somewhat over 148,000 pending
claims. The original estimate, on the discussion of the
measure, had been that the eligible pensioners would not
exceed 500,000, and that the cost of the undertaking, to begin
with, would be about £6,000,000. It was evident, therefore,
before pension payments began, that these estimates were much
too low.

From Ireland it was reported by the Press on the opening day
of pension payments that "more than 4,000 persons will to-day
receive old-age pensions in the city of Dublin. Claims
continue to be received in large numbers, and the pension
authorities estimate that, inasmuch as the last census of the
city showed that there were 6,800 persons over 70 years of age
then alive, at least 1,200 eligible persons have not yet made
application. Yesterday afternoon it was stated that in all
5,600 claims had been lodged.

"Of the 209,000 claims lodged altogether in Ireland, it is
estimated that 50,000 will be disallowed, and that £30,000
weekly will be required to satisfy those which have been held
to be good. So far as Dublin is concerned, less than 90 per
cent, of the inhabitants who are over 70 years of age have
claimed pensions, so that the rural districts are responsible
for the larger percentage of claimants in Ireland as compared
with England and Scotland."

From Scotland it was reported that "in Glasgow, the number of
persons of 70 years and over is 13,160, and fully half of
those made claims. A rough estimate places the number of full
pensions granted at about 5,550. In addition, a number of
allowances of the smaller amounts, ranging from 4s. to 1s.,
have been made."

In London, on the 1st of January, 1908, there had been 39,043
claims considered, of which 36,108 were allowed. Of these,
31,327 were for 5s., 1,701 for 4s., 1,827 for 3s., 797 for
2s., and 456 for 1s.

{509}

Speaking in Parliament on the 1st of March, with deep feeling,
of the working of the Pension Act and of the revelation of
poverty it had made, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr.
Lloyd-George, said: "The pension officers, especially in
Ireland, had been appalled at the amount of undisclosed
poverty, and that was why he was not disposed to criticize too
harshly the administration of the Act in that country, even if
it had resulted in addition of a considerable sum to the
estimate of the Government. The details of poverty in Ireland
were perfectly horrifying. It was a disgrace to any civilized
country that reasonable human beings should be allowed to live
under such conditions. But the same condition of things was
found in Great Britain also in many cases. He made a special
point of investigating the matter, and pension committees and
pension officers all told the same story of people facing
poverty and privation for years with resignation, fortitude,
and uncomplaining patience, and all asked the same question
and asked it in vain—How on earth could those poor people have
managed to keep body and soul together on such slender
resources? They had not understated their resources; on the
contrary, there were cases in which they had overstated them
from a feeling of pride.

"What struck one in such cases was how the people had fought
against the horror of the Poor Law. There were 270,000 people
over 70 years of age in receipt of Poor Law relief. The
Old-Age Pensions Act had disclosed the presence in the
community of over 600,000 people the vast majority of whom
were living in circumstances of great poverty, and yet
disdained the charity of the Poor Law."

In the report of the Local Government Board for 1908, the
inspector of poor-law administration in the eastern counties
of England reported a substantial decrease in pauperism during
the year, and attributed this mainly to the passing of the
Old-Age Pensions Act. Persons verging on the age of 70 were
doing everything possible to preserve their qualifications for
pensions, and their sons and daughters, in the hope that the
old folk will be able to stand alone, are maintaining them
till the pensions are due in order that they may not be
forfeited by parish relief.

POVERTY AND UNEMPLOYMENT: France: A. D. 1909.
State Railway Servants Pensions.

In July, 1909, the Chamber of Deputies adopted a Bill for
pensioning the railway employees of the State which had
already passed the Senate. It applies to some 308,000 persons,
who will be pensioned in several classes at ages ranging from
50 to 60 years, and the estimated annual cost will exceed
$5,000,000. The Minister of Public Works, M. Barthou,
described the measure as an acknowledgment on the part of the
country of a debt which it owed to a deserving body of public
servants, who for the last 11 years had waited patiently for
the fulfilment of a promise and upon various trying occasions
during that period had not abused the confidence which had
been reposed in their good sense and public spirit.

POVERTY AND UNEMPLOYMENT: France: A. D. 1910.
General Old-Age Pension Law.

A general measure for the pensioning of workmen in old age,
which had been pending in the French Parliament for nearly
three years, became law in April, 1910. Passed in the first
instance by the Chamber of Deputies in 1907, it was held in
the Senate, undergoing an extensive remodeling, until the 12th
of February, 1910, when that body gave it an unanimous vote.
In the Chamber of Deputies its exaction of compulsory
contributions from the wages of workmen to the pension fund
was opposed by a section of the Socialists, but supported by
the Socialist leader Jaures, as well as by the Briand
Ministry, and carried by a decisive vote on April 1st.
"Workingmen, domestic servants, clerks, and farm laborers to
the number of nearly 12,000,000, whose annual earnings are
below 3,000 francs, are placed under a system of compulsory
insurance. For the farmer and small proprietor whose income
ranges between 3,000 and 5,000 francs, an optional form of
insurance is provided. Of this class there are nearly six
million men and women in the country." In all, about
18,000,000 of the population of France are beneficiaries of
the Act.

POVERTY AND UNEMPLOYMENT:
The German System of State-aided Pensions,
compared with other systems.

The following is from the report of a lecture on State-aided
Pensions for the Poor, given in London, on the 3d of February,
1909, by the Honourable W. P. Reeves, Director of the London
School of Economics and Political Science. It is an admirable
summary of facts that exhibit the working, down to the present
time, of the German system of working men’s insurance adopted
between 1883-1889.

See (in Volume IV. of this work)
SOCIAL MOVEMENTS: A. D. 1883-1889.

See (in Volume VI. of this work)
GERMANY: A. D. 1897-1900, in Volume VI.):

"The subject, said the lecturer, fell into three
groups—contributory pensions, free State universal pensions,
and free State limited pensions. Germany, France, and Belgium
afforded examples of the contributory pensions, and Denmark,
Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom of the limited
free pensions. The universal free pensions were likely to
remain an ideal. The Belgian superannuation for the poor,
provided by voluntary contributions on the part of the insurer
and by State bonuses, had encouraged thrift, but it yielded an
average pension of only £3 a year. It could not, therefore, be
pronounced to be a success, and the State had recognized its
failure by inaugurating a system of free old-age pensions for
the utterly destitute. A similar superannuation scheme in
France, also maintained principally by voluntary
contributions, had only attracted 8 per cent. of the class for
which it was intended, and there, too, it had been found
necessary to introduce free old-age pensions. There was also a
voluntary system in Germany, but that was a kind of side show
to the great national system of insurance by compulsory
contributions. This latter system was a gigantic experiment,
and it really did deserve the name of national. Professor
Ashley had shown that of the 10,700,000 men who were insurable
under this scheme 8,857,000 actually were insured; and of the
5,800,000 women who were qualified to provide for pensions
4,524,000 were actually paying their contributions. The system
had been in operation for 26 years, and the amount paid out in
that time must have exceeded £300,000,000, while 70 or 80
million persons had been benefited by it from first to last.
The number of persons affected yearly by the system was
25,000,000; and in 1907 nearly £30,000,000 was spent in the
three divisions of the triple system—old age, sickness, and
accidents. He had only to deal with one division—old age and
infirmity. The accumulated funds in this division amounted to
about £70,000,000; and the amount paid out to the insurers in
1906 was nearly £8,300,000, and in 1907 £8,400,000. The
population liable to insure was about 14¼ millions, and the
number of pensions in force at the end of 1907 was 979,000.

{510}

"Under this German scheme the class compulsorily insured
consisted of men and single women earning less than £100 a
year. The funds were provided in equal contributions by
employers and employed—the principle underlying the system
being that of deferred wages. It was a question whether it was
encouraging thrift to withhold from such wage-earners 2 per
cent. of their wages. The State bore the cost of management,
and added to every pension a bonus of £2 10s. a year. For the
working of the system the wage-earners were divided into five
grades:

(1) Those who earn up to £17 10s. a year;
(2) those who earn any sum between £17 10s. and £27 10s.;
(3) those who earn any sum between £27 10s. and £42 10s.;
(4) those who earn any sum between £42 10s. and £57; and
(5) those who earn any sum between £57 and £100.

The lowest wage-earners paid seven-eighths of a penny per week
for their old-age pension, and the highest wage-earners about
2¼d. No special consideration was shown for a married man. The
five grades of pensions were:

(1) £5 10s. a year;
(2) £7;
(3) £8 10s.;
(4) £10; and
(5) £11 10s.

If the labourer died after subscribing for 200 weeks his wife
and children were entitled to receive what he had subscribed,
but nothing more.

"The lot of the widows and orphans was one of the black
features of the system. A married woman could not qualify for
an old-age pension. The amount of the weekly contribution was
fixed for ten years. In 1906 the receipts exceeded the
expenditure by £6,000,000; the cost of administration was only
£850,000. But that was only the minor part of the provision
made for elderly people in Germany. The main provision was
made under the head of infirmity or invalidity occurring
before the pension age—70. If the insurers, after having
subscribed for not less than four years, broke down and were
unable to earn wages, they were entitled to more generous
treatment. If curable they were cured in State sanatoriums and
received temporary sickness pensions. If incurable they
received a pension which was regulated by the number of years
they had subscribed, and varied from a _minimum_ of £5
16s. in the lowest grade for four years’ subscriptions to £22
10s. in the highest grade for 50 years’ subscriptions. The
insurer began to pay his contributions at the age of 17, and
for an old-age pension he had to subscribe 50 weeks a year for
24 years—1,200 weeks in all. Though the system had not checked
Socialism or militant trade unionism, it had attained its real
purpose, for it had conferred an enormous boon upon the poor."

At the time when the remark quoted above, touching the
defective provision of the German law for widows and orphans,
was made, the Imperial Government was preparing to amend it.
The London _Times_ of April 17, 1909, gave, in its
correspondence from Berlin, the account of a draft Bill, just
made public, which the Imperial Ministry of the Interior had
prepared for presentation to the Federal Council, the object
being to combine and coordinate "the seven compulsory
insurance laws of 1883 to 1899," together with certain
amendments and additions. "It is understood," wrote the
correspondent, "that the Bill will not reach the Reichstag
before the autumn of this year. Whereas many authorities …
have favored a thorough unification of the three systems of
invalidity and old age, accident, and sick insurance, the
immediate proposals of the Government would leave the three
systems separate and distinct, while codifying the law and the
regulations which are common to all branches of compulsory
insurance, and establishing a joint and threefold system of
higher administration." The main purpose of the bill was to
rectify that lack of proper provision for widows and orphans
which was noted above. "The need of solving this problem,"
said the correspondent, "is really the immediate occasion of
reform, and the proposed solution is the most important
feature of the reform scheme. An essential feature of the
tariff law of 1902 was the ear-marking—by the so-called Lex
Trimborn—for widows and orphans’ insurance of the surplus
revenue from the increased Customs duties on corn and cattle.
The Lex Trimborn takes effect on January 1, 1910, but the
surplus revenue is lacking. For the financial year 1906 there
was no surplus. For 1907 there was a surplus of about
£2,000,000. For the financial year 1908 there will be no
surplus, although £2,650,000 was estimated for. In these
circumstances the Government—while apparently still cherishing
the hope that, upon the average of a long period of years, the
revised tariff will do what was expected of it—proposes to
provide for widows and orphans insurance by a simple all-round
extension of the system of invalidity and old-age insurance.
That is to say, the ‘contributions’ of employers and employed
are to be raised, and an Imperial subsidy, of fixed amount,
without regard to the annual revenue from Customs, is to be
added to the contributions.

"It is at present proposed that the weekly 'contributions' to
invalidity and old-age insurance shall, in order to provide
funds for widows and orphans’ pensions, be increased—upon the
mean average of the contributions of the five classes of
wage-earners—by one-fourth, and that the Empire shall add a
subsidy of £2 10s. a year to each widow’s pension and a
subsidy of £1 5s. a year to each orphan’s pension."

In February, 1909, a Parliamentary Committee of the British
Trades Union Congress, composed of men representing the Labor
Party in Parliament, reported the results of a visit to
Germany which the Committee had made in the previous November,
to examine conditions in that country, especially with
reference to the operation of the state system of insurance.
In their report they said: "The State assistance has acted as
an incentive and encouragement to workmen to make additional
provision for themselves and families through their trade
unions and private sick clubs. This is especially the case in
invalidity and old age. It has always been the workman’s
complaint, as well as that of the organizations, that the
assistance obtainable under the workman’s insurance system is
quite out of proportion to the subscriptions paid, and quite
insufficient for the maintenance of the pensioner.
{511}
In this connexion, it is interesting to note that in 1907 the
'Free' or Socialist unions, with a membership of 1,866,000,
granted £174,000 in sick pay and £19,000 in invalidity pay;
the State subsidies to invalidity and old-age pensions
amounting in 1906 to £2,437,000. The insurance pensions are
continually increasing; and it is stated that the invalidity
pensions will eventually reach a _maximum_ in the lowest
wages class of £9 5s., and in the highest one of £22 10s. The
funds accumulated in the hands of the Invalidity Pension
Offices amounted at the end of 1907 to about 70 million
pounds, and the workmen maintain that the time has now arrived
when either the pensions paid should be increased, or the
contributions levied decreased, as provided for by law."

"The members of the deputation were struck by the absence of
slums in the manufacturing quarters of the towns visited.
Nowhere did they see any quarter that could be classified
under the heading ‘slum.’ The cleanliness prevailing
throughout all the towns visited was also remarkable. No
beggars, feeble or emaciated men in tatters and rags were
encountered in the streets. Hundreds upon hundreds of
unemployed were seen by the deputation, but they seemed to
lack that dejection and absolute misery that is so frequently
met with in the streets of English towns.

"Workmen throughout Germany do not complain of any compulsory
deductions made by their employers from their wages for the
purpose of workmen’s insurances. Many of the largest employers
are favourably disposed towards these laws, and pay willingly.
On the other hand, probably the majority do complain of the
cost, although not opposed to the laws in principle."

POVERTY AND UNEMPLOYMENT: Poor Laws: England: A. D. 1896-1906.
Report of Royal Commission.
Increasing Pauperism.

In December, 1905, a Royal Commission, composed of nineteen
men and women of distinguished ability and of special
qualifications for the service, was appointed in Great
Britain, "to inquire—(1) Into the working of the laws relating
to the relief of poor persons in the United Kingdom; (2) into
the various means which have been adopted outside of the Poor
Laws for meeting distress arising from want of employment,
particularly during periods of severe industrial depression;
and to consider and report whether any, and, if so, what
modification of the Poor Laws or changes in their
administration or fresh legislation for dealing with distress
are advisable."

After three years of laborious investigation, making "more
than 800 personal visits to unions, meetings of boards of
guardians, and institutions in England, Scotland, and
Ireland," as well as examining over 1300 witnesses, the
Commission submitted an elaborate report in February, 1909.
Its findings as to the present working of the poor-laws and
the relief-systems of the United Kingdom, and its
recommendations for reform, cannot be summarized with any
clearness in such space as can be given to the subject here;
but there is a startling significance in what it shows of the
increase of pauperism and of the public cost of poor relief in
late years.

It appears from the returns of the Local Government Board that
the mean number of paupers in 1906, 1907 and 1908, was at a
higher level than it had been for 31 previous years.
Excluding, however, these three especially bad years, it is
found that throughout the period 1896-1906 there were 24,000
more paupers than in the period 1888-1896, and 7000 more than
in the period 1880-1888. In discussing the report the London
_Times_ remarks: "Further examination even diminishes the
meagre consolation these figures afford as to the results of a
generation of effort at reducing pauperism. Comparing the
period 1896-1906 with 1871-1880, there has been a decrease of
3.9 per cent. in the total number of paupers, but this
decrease has been accompanied by a large increase of male
pauperism and is due entirely to the large decrease in the
number of children, whose numbers have decreased by 18 per
cent., and a small reduction in the number of women, whose
numbers have increased by 2 per cent. The decrease in these
two classes so affects the total as entirely to conceal an
absolute increase of 18 per cent, in the number of male
paupers. Even in regard to the children, at any rate during
the last 15 years, the decrease has been almost wholly in
rural unions, and in the children of widows, and there has
been a general increase in the number of children of
able-bodied men.

"Further, so far as figures are available, they show a greater
proportionate increase in the number of paupers during the
working years of life than in the very young or the very old.
Taking only the able-bodied in health, we find that in the
period 1896-1906 in metropolitan unions the indoor paupers
have increased by 38 per cent. and the outdoor by 137 per
cent.; in urban unions the indoor by 24 per cent. and the
outdoor by 133 per cent.; and in the whole of England and
Wales the indoor by 21 per cent. and the outdoor by 49 per
cent. In London alone 15,800 more paupers are being maintained
than in the eighties, and the rate per 1,000 of the
population, which used to be below that for England and Wales,
has risen above it."