Statement of the Provision for the Poor, and of the Condition of the Labouring Classes in a Considerable Portion of America and Europe

Chapter V: Section 26: The main principle to be observed everywhere in (4)

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It appears by that report (pp. 397, 398) that in 1832, 141,858 current dollars, or about 25,000_l._ sterling, was distributed in money, by way of weekly relief among registered or regular poor, amounting at an average to 2,900 individuals, or heads of families; the smallest weekly relief being 8 schillings or 7_d._ sterling; the largest for an individual, 2 dollars or 7_s._ sterling; and for family, 3 dollars or 10_s._ 6_d._ Half of the adult paupers appear to have been foreigners. Besides the amount of money relief, considerable sums were expended in the distribution of soup, clothing, beds and bed clothing, and fuel, and in the education and maintenance of poor children, and in medical relief to the sick. Both the Consul’s report and that of the institution, lament the absence of a workhouse. “Of those who are capable, but will not work,” says the latter, “a great number to be sure will be found: the only help against this would perhaps be an institution, under a strict superintendence of the police, for compelling them to work; the want of which, from the undeniably increasing degeneration of our lowest class of people, is sensibly felt from year to year.” (p. 402.) This statement is borne out by the progressive increase of the registered paupers, from 2,332 in May 1826 to 2,969 in May 1832, and by the large amount of the regular out-door relief in money, amounting, on a population of 130,000, to very nearly 4_s._ a head. Further evidence of the extent of pauperism is afforded by the number of persons buried in 1832 at the expense of the institution, which was 459, or nearly one-tenth of the average number of deaths.

No means exist of forcing parents to educate their children; a defect deplored by the institution. (p. 403.)

_Bremen._

2. BREMEN.--The poor institutions of Bremen seem to resemble those of Hamburgh; but the general enforcement of education, the use of a workhouse, and perhaps other circumstances not mentioned in the report, appear to have rendered their results more beneficial. The following answers to questions 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8 of the Commissioners’ questions, give a short outline of the existing system:--

3. To what extent and under what regulations are there district
houses of industry for receiving the destitute able-bodied,
or any part of their families, and supplying them with food,
clothes, &c., and in which they are set to work?--There
exists but one poor-house in Bremen, in which the destitute
able-bodied are received, to the number of 220, lodged, fed,
and clothed, for which they are bound to work, for the benefit
of the institution, as far as they are able.

4. To what extent and under what regulations do any religious
institutions give assistance to the destitute, by receiving
them as inmates, or by giving them alms?--Independently of
three houses for the lodging and partly providing for poor
widows, free of expense, there are other buildings set apart
for the reception of poor superannuated or helpless women;
but chiefly a number of private institutions for the relief
of poor deserving persons by testamentary bequests. Such are
the Rheden, the Tiedemann, the Nonnen, the Von Bühren, &c., so
called.

5. To what extent and under what regulations is work provided
at their own dwellings for those who have trades, but do not
procure work for themselves?--This is done, but in a very
limited degree, at the public expense, as those who have trades
come under the care and superintendence of their respective
guilds, whose duty and credit it is to prevent any of their
fraternity coming upon the parish, and who can easily afford
the means of providing them with work. Females, on application
to the poor-house, may receive hemp and flax for spinning, and
are remunerated accordingly.

7. To what extent and under what regulations are fuel,
clothing, or money distributed to such persons or their
families; at all times of the year, or during any particular
seasons?--Those who are registered in the poor-house list, and
thus come under the superintendence and control of the parish
officers, receive, as long as they may require assistance,--1.
A small monthly allowance in money. 2. Clothing for themselves
and their families. 3. If necessary, bedding. 4. In the winter,
during severe frost, fuel.

8. To what extent and under what regulations are they relieved
by their children being taken into schools, and fed, clothed,
and educated or apprenticed?--Means are not only afforded to
the poor for sending their children to school and for giving
them religious instruction, but they are here compelled to do
so, on pain of forfeiting all claim to parochial relief, or
by other modes of punishment. _That every child in the State,
of whatever descent, shalt be subjected to school discipline
and tuition_, is founded upon the principle, that no means so
effectually obviates that general poverty, among the lower
classes in particular, as an attention to the development of
their minds, by which they acquire that self-confidence that
stimulates exertion, and that proper spirit of independence
that keeps them above want, whilst by religious instruction
they are impressed with a sense of the duties and advantages
of good moral conduct through life. It has ever been the
prevailing opinion in this Republic, that the principal duty
of the State towards bettering the condition of its poorer
classes, rests upon a due regard to this school discipline,
and that it tends in its practice to prevent the frequent
recurrence of application for relief in the same family; the
descendants of which, without such control, would habitually
and irrecoverably become, in their turn, dependents upon
public charity. When such children have arrived at the age of
14 or 15 years, after having been taught reading, writing,
arithmetic, and any other acquirement consistent with their
situation, books, and other materials being furnished them by
the poor-house, gratis; they are, after confirmation, generally
put out to service, and thus prevented from returning to the
idle habits of their parents. Girls are, in like manner, often
provided for. They are taught reading, writing, knitting, and
needle-work. (pp. 410, 411.)

_Lubeck._

3. LUBECK.--If the statistical returns respecting Lubeck, which however do not appear to rest on enumeration, can be depended on, the proportion of deaths, births, and marriages to the whole population is less than in any other part of Europe. The deaths being stated to be 1 in 56; the births 1 in 53½; and the marriages 1 in 177. And, what is perhaps the strongest indication of the general welfare of a community, the deaths under the age of one year are stated to be only 1 in 7. The following answers to questions 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8, may be compared with the corresponding answers from Bremen:

3. To what extent and under what regulations are there district
houses of industry for receiving the destitute able-bodied,
or any part of their families, and supplying them with
food, clothes, &c., and in which they are set to work?--No
other institution of this kind exists here but the work and
poor-house, called the Cloister, into which, however, none are
admitted but persons totally incapable of contributing to their
own support, whether from drunkenness or other incapacitating
causes.

4. To what extent and under what regulations do any religious
institutions give assistance to the destitute, by receiving
them as inmates, or by giving them alms?--We have none such,
but a collection is made in all our churches every Sunday for
the poor; this, however, being a regular matter-of-course
thing, yields comparatively small sums, which are privately
distributed to poor persons by the churchwardens and deacons.

5. To what extent and under what regulations is work
provided at their own dwellings for those who have trades,
but do procure work for themselves?--or for such persons in
agriculture or on public works? Every able-bodied man is
supposed capable of providing for himself, and no such work
or relief is afforded him. In winter, many poor women are
supplied with a little work by the overseers of the workhouse,
who give them flax to spin. The average annual quantity thus
spun is about 6000 to 6500 pounds, the pay for which, amounting
to about 130_l._ annually, relieves about 300 poor women.
The linen yarn thus spun is disposed of by lottery among the
wealthier classes. No work is supplied at the public expense
or by public institutions to able-bodied men, merely because
they are destitute; they must seek and find it themselves,
and are of course accepted and employed on public works, as
far as there is a demand for them. Having no relief to expect
elsewhere, they are of course spurred on to exertion, and if
sober and of good character, it may be generally assumed that
they find work, at least sufficient for their bare existence,
since, if a man can earn but a few pence daily, it will suffice
to support him in this country.

7. To what extent and under what regulations are fuel,
clothing, or money, distributed to such persons or their
families; at all times of the year, or during any particular
seasons?--As above stated, no relief of this kind is afforded
to able-bodied men; their families, if considered destitute,
may perhaps obtain the relief afforded by the poor-board to the
poor generally, by means of portions of cheap food daily during
the five winter months, and four times a week during the other
part of the year. About 230,000 such portions are distributed
annually, and bread to the value of about 60_l._ Fuel is
distributed during the severer part of the winter, but money
is rarely given, and only in extreme cases, never exceeding
one mark, or about 14_d._ sterling a week, to the same party.
Clothing forms no part of the relief afforded. In Lubeck these
various kinds of relief are partaken of by about 850 persons
annually.

8. To what extent, and under what regulations, are they
relieved by their children being taken into schools, and
fed, clothed, and educated, or apprenticed?--Not only are
all the children of the poor admitted into the poor-schools
for instruction gratis, but when relief is afforded by the
poor-board, it is on the positive condition that they shall
send their children to such schools. Neither food, clothing,
nor any further provision is afforded them, in these schools,
excepting in a very few extreme cases, in which the maintenance
of very young children is undertaken by the poor-board. The
number of children in our poor-schools averages about 300. (p.
415, 416.)

The allowance in our poor and workhouse for every individual,
is--

Daily:--1½ lb. of coarse rye bread.
2½ -- vegetables or porridge, such as potatoes,
yellow peas, green peas, dried white
beans, carrots, peeled barley, cabbage, &c.,
according to the season, and sometimes rice.
1 bottle of weak beer.

Monthly:--1½ lb. of meat, and
½ lb. of butter, lard, or fat, to cook the food with.
(p. 420.)

Marriages among the poor are delayed by the necessity a man is
under, _first_, of previously proving that he is in a regular
employ, work, or profession, that will enable him to maintain
a wife; and _secondly_, of becoming a burgher, and equipping
himself in the uniform of the burgher guard, which, together,
may cost him nearly 4_l._ (p. 419.)

The condition of the labouring classes living on their own
earnings is considered by themselves to be far superior to
that of the paupers maintained in our poor-house. The partial
assistance afforded by the poor-board is chiefly directed
towards aiding those who are not devoid of honest pride, and
have some feelings of independence left, who consequently
earn their own maintenance as far as they can, and are thus
assisted in their endeavours to support themselves, and keep
out of the workhouse. The aid they receive is proportioned to
their age and families, and is mostly granted to females; it
is gratefully received, and no idea exists of ever thinking it
a right. As a rule, no persons fully able to work can receive
assistance; they are therefore forced to seek out employment,
and may be generally presumed to succeed. If they get but a
moderate portion of work, very trifling earnings place them
in a situation much more eligible than that of the pauper
maintained in the poor-house. (p. 418.)

FRANKFORT ON THE MAIN.

The institutions for the relief of the poor in Frankfort do not appear to require much notice.

The most striking circumstance mentioned in the report is, that the orphans and deserted children brought up in the public establishments are so carefully and successfully educated, that on an average they turn out better than those merely kept to school and living at home. (p. 567.) Permission to marry is not granted to a person who cannot prove his ability to support a family.

HOLLAND.

As the Canton de Berne appears to be the portion of continental Europe in which the burthen of legal relief is most oppressive, Holland appears to be that in which pauperism, unaided by a legal claim, is the most rapidly advancing. The Appendix contains an official communication from the Dutch government, and answers from His Majesty’s Consul in Amsterdam, to the Commissioners’ questions.

The clearest general view of the mode in which relief is administered, is contained in the following extract from the Consul’s report: (p. 581.)

[Sidenote: General view of the Dutch system.]

The main support of the poor is derived from religious
communities and charitable institutions. Every denomination of
Christians, as well as the Jews, relieve their own members;
and for this purpose have, for the most part, orphan and
poor-houses, and schools connected with them, which are
supported by property belonging to them, and by voluntary
contributions at the church-doors, and collections at the
houses of the members: the Jews being permitted occasionally
to make a general collection throughout the city for their
own purposes. These establishments, among the Protestants
(the most numerous community), are called Deaconries; and
they provide not only for the support of their indigent
members, but also for their relief in sickness. The deacons,
who have the immediate superintendence of the poor, limit the
assistance given according to the exigency of the case, which
they investigate very narrowly; and by becoming particularly
acquainted with the situation of the applicants, are enabled to
detect any imposition. The pecuniary relief afforded is very
small, and can only be considered as in aid of the exertions
of the poor to earn their own support, being limited to a
few pence in the week; a weekly donation of 2 florins (or
40_d._) being looked upon as one of the largest. In winter,
provisions, fuel, and clothing, are given in preference to
money. The aged and infirm are admitted into the poor-houses,
where, and at the schools, the children are educated, and
afterwards put out to different trades, till they are able
to provide for themselves. The deacons act gratuitously; and
being of the most respectable class of citizens, elected by
the churches to that office, the conscientious discharge of
it is ensured, and in consequence, malversations seldom take
place. The general poor (being inhabitants), including persons
who are and are not members of religious communities (Jews
excepted), are relieved at their own houses from the revenue of
property, long since appropriated to that use, administered by
commissioners appointed by the magistrates, and acting without
emolument (as is the case with most similar offices in this
country), and in aid of which public charitable collections at
private houses are permitted, while any eventful deficiency is
supplied from the funds of the city; but the relief afforded by
these means is very small, and is confined chiefly to bread,
with the addition of fuel in winter. Without other resources,
therefore, or the assistance of private charity, the claimants
could hardly subsist upon what they obtain in this way. By
a decree passed in the year 1818, it was enacted, that the
domicile of a male pauper is the place of his birth, superseded
by the place where he has resided four years and paid taxes;
and that of a child, the residence of his father, or of his
mother, if a widow. That the domicile of a stranger is the
place where he has resided six years; of married women and
widows, the place of their husband’s residence; of legitimate
minors, that of their fathers’, and of illegitimate, that of
their mothers’. This decree, fixing the domicile of paupers
for the purpose of obtaining relief, and a subsequent one, by
which gratuitous legal advice is allowed them, if they apply
for it, implies that they have a claim to support, which can
be enforced at law; but as the funds from which this support
must be obtained are uncertain, the amount of the relief that
can be given depends upon their extent, and it is in fact left
at the discretion of the overseers, who have the faculty of
withholding it on the proof of bad conduct of the recipients,
or when their children do not properly attend the school, or
have been neglected to be vaccinated. Those not members of
churches are, moreover, admonished to join some religious
community, and must promise to do so the first opportunity.
The decree above alluded to also regulates the proceedings
of one town against another, and of religious and charitable
institutions at the same place, in respect to paupers. There
are at Amsterdam, besides, a variety of private establishments
for the poor of different religious denominations, endowed by
charitable persons, in which the poor are relieved in different
ways, according to prescribed regulations. _In general, the
funds of all the public charitable institutions have greatly
diminished, while the number of claimants has much increased,
which causes frequent and urgent appeals to the public
benevolence._ In the country, the same system prevails, and
the deacons or office-bearers of the churches are often called
upon during the winter to assist in the support of indigent
labourers with families, till the return of spring enables them
to find work; but there are few permanent poor there, except
the old and infirm, who are generally boarded in poor-houses in
the adjoining town. (p. 582.)

It will be observed that the Consul considers the law which fixes the domicile of a pauper, and entitles him to legal advice, as implying in him a legal right to relief. We understand, however, that no such right is in practice acknowledged. And as a large proportion of the fund for the relief of the poor arises from endowments, the law may fix the legal settlement of every person, that is, his right to participate in the endowments of a particular parish, and allow him legal assistance in establishing it, without giving to him that indefinite claim which exists in those countries in which every person has a right to receive from the public subsistence for himself and his family.

The official report contains the following details respecting the funds from which public relief is afforded: (pp. 573, 574, 575.)

The principle which invariably has been acted on is, that
the charge of relieving the poor should in the first place
rest on the overseers of the poor of the religious sects in
each parish; but when the means of the administration of the
poor are not sufficient, they can indiscriminately (without
reference to the sect to which such poor belong) apply
to the local administration for relief, which, after due
investigation, generally grants it, according to the means
of the municipal administration, which is regulated by its
direction.

Paupers, however, who are not members of any congregation, or
any religious sect, in the place where they live and receive
relief, or where no ecclesiastical charity for the poor exists,
are supported by the municipal administration of the place
where they live and obtain their support; for which purpose,
in several cities and parishes, a separate administration
for the poor is established responsible to the municipal
administration; whereas in the remaining cities and parishes
such relief is granted either by the burgomaster, or by an
overseer of the poor nominated by him.

The hospitals, which in many cities exist, are for the greater
part government establishments, which are administered on
account of the local magistracy, by a number of directors
appointed thereto, in which hospitals all inmates, without
any distinction as to religion, are taken in; some of these
hospitals are however separate foundations, which exist wholly,
or in part, on their own revenues.

Amongst the orphan houses and charities for children and old
people, there are several establishments which exist wholly
or in part on their own revenues; whereas the remainder are
generally the property of particular church administrations of
the poor, which in great cities is almost generally the case in
orphan houses, or charities for children.

Foundlings and abandoned children, at the charge of the
place in which they are abandoned, are provided for in the
establishment for children of the society for charitable
purposes; by which institution the beggars are also provided
for in the establishments appropriated for that purpose, and
acknowledged by the government, at the charge of the place
where they have a claim for relief.

There exist three local workhouses, one at Amsterdam, one at
Middleburgh, and one in the commonalty Nieuwe Pekel A., in the
province of Groningen, in which paupers, generally those who
apply of their own accord, are taken in, upon condition that
they contribute to their support as much as possible by labour:
further, there are in several places twenty-one charitable
houses of industry, which procure work for paupers who are in
immediate want of work, either in the houses of industry, or at
their own dwellings.

Besides the before-mentioned institutions, there are also
various places, unions, and societies, the intentions of which
are to grant relief in some way or other; namely, some for the
relief of very indigent poor; others for granting relief to
poor lying-in-women; and the commissions or societies which
during the winter distribute provisions and fuel.

For the twelve years from 1820 to 1831, the receipts of the
administration for the established charity houses, and those
of the hospitals, taken on an average for each year, amount
together;

It appears from this statement that rather more than 6,000,000 guilders (equal, at 20_d._ the guilder, to 500,000_l._ sterling) has, on an average of the last 12 years, been annually expended on the relief of the poor, being an expense per head, on an average population of 2,292,350, of about 4_s._ 4¼_d._--an expenditure small compared with our own, but very large when compared with the average expenditure of Europe.

The official report does not state the progressive increase of the annual expenditure; but it contains a table of the progressive increase of the number of persons receiving relief, from which we extract the particulars of the 10 years ending with 1831. (p. 580.)

HOLLAND.--Statement of the Number of Persons who have received Relief, or to whom Work has been given, by the Civil or Ecclesiastical Charitable Institutions in North Netherland, during 10 years, from 1822 to 1831 inclusive.

+----+----------+-------------------------------
| | | Institutions for Relief.
| | +-----------+----------+--------
| | | | |
| | | | |
| |Population| Number of | |
| |of North | Persons | |
| |Netherland| relieved |Population| Number
| |on the | by the | of the | of
| |31st Dec. | direction |Hospitals.|Persons.
| | | of the | |
| | |Poor-House.| |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
+----+----------+-----------+----------+--------
|1822| 2,190,171| 174,802 | 20,501 | 195,303
| | | | |
|1823| 2,219,982| 193,633 | 17,430 | 211,063
| | | | |
|1824| 2,253,794| 196,786 | 19,955 | 216,741
| | | | |
|1825| 2,281,789| 240,400 | 17,943 | 222,343
| | | | |
|1826| 2,296,169| 227,501 | 18,731 | 246,232
| | | | |
|1827| 2,307,661| 232,426 | 19,775 | 252,201
| | | | |
|1828| 2,329,934| 217,343 | 17,928 | 235,271
| | | | |
|1829| 2,427,206| 235,771 | 17,884 | 253,655
| | | | |
|1830| 2,444,550| 244,503 | 17,870 | 262,373
| | | | |
|1831| 2,454,176| 248,380 | 17,887 | 266,267
+----+----------+-----------+----------+--------

Key to Column Headings:
Col A1: Fed and lodged in the Institutions.
Col A2: Those only who have worked in the same, or at their own Houses.
Col A3: Together.

Col B1: At Hoorn.
Col B2: At Veere.
Col B3: Together, or in the whole.

Col C1: Poor Families making the number of Persons.
Col C2: Orphans, Foundlings, or abandoned Children.
Col C3: Beggars.
Col C4: Persons, Veterans’ families, making together.
Col C5: Together, or in the whole.

Col D: Number of Persons

----+--------------------------------------------------------------------
| INSTITUTIONS FOR GIVING OR PROCURING WORK.
+---------------+-----------------+---------------------------+------
| Number of | | |
| Persons who | | |
|have worked in | |Population of the Colonies,|
| and for the | Population | and Establishments of |
| the local | of Paupers’ | the Society for |
|Workhouses and | Workhouses. | Charitable Purposes. |
| Charitable | | |
| Work-places. | | |
+---+-----+-----+----+-----+------+-----+-----+-----+---+-----+
| | | | | | | | | | | |
|A1 | A2 | A3 | B1 | B2 | B3 | C1 | C2 | C3 |C4 | C5 | D
| | | | | | | | | | | |
----+---+-----+-----+----+-----+------+-----+-----+-----+---+-----+------
1822|id.| id. |3,227|750 | .. | 750 |1,979| 456| 300| ..|2,735| 6,712
| | | | | | | | | | | |
1823|id.| id. |4,358|750 |273 |1,023 |2,295| 475|1,053| ..|3,823| 9,202
| | | | |[10] | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
1824|id.| id. |4,271|700 |200 | 900 |2,614|1,214|1,061| ..|4,889|10,060
| | | | | | | | | | | |
1825|862|2,982|3,844|323 |136 | 459 |3,227|2,174|1,377| ..|6,778|11,081
| | | | | | [11] | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
1826|920|3,199|4,119|380 | 82 | 462 |2,724|2,233|1,581|231|6,769|11,350
| | | | |[12] | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
1827|670|4,001|4,671|378 | .. | 378 |2,560|2,059|1,763|401|6,783|11,832
| | | |[13]| | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
1828|607|4,017|4,624| .. | .. | .. |2,510|2,358|1,826|562|7,256|11,880
| | | | | | | | | | | |
1829|672|4,077|4,749| .. | .. | .. |2,626|2,340|1,942|543|7,451|12,200
| | | | | | | | | | | |
1830|733|4,263|4,996| .. | .. | .. |2,619|2,288|2,111|473|7,491|12,487
| | | | | | | | | | | |
1831|973|4,637|5,610| .. | .. | .. |2,694|2,297|2,406|456|7,853|13,463
----+---+-----+-----+----+-----+------+-----+-----+-----+---+-----+------

----+---------+--------------------------------------+
| | Statement for the Population |
| | of North Netherland of 100 Persons. |
| General |------------+------------+------------+
| Total | | | Of the |
| Persons | Of the | | general |
|who have |Total Number|Of the Total| Total of |
|received | of Persons | of Persons | Persons |
| Relief, |relieved or | by the | who have |
| or to | maintained |Institution |participated|
|whom Work| by the | for | in the |
|has been |Institution | providing | Relief, or |
| given. |for granting| Work. | to whom |
| | Support. | | Work has |
| | | |been given. |
----+---------+------------+------------+------------+
1822| 202,015 | 8,914 | 0,306 | 9,220 |
| | | | |
1823| 220,265 | 9,507 | 0,415 | 9,922 |
| | | | |
1824| 226,801 | 9,617 | 0,446 | 10,063 |
| | | | |
1825| 233,424 | 9,744 | 0,486 | 10,230 |
| | | | |
1826| 257,582 | 10,724 | 0,494 | 11,218 |
| | | | |
1827| 264,033 | 10,929 | 0,513 | 11,442 |
| | | | |
1828| 247,151 | 10,098 | 0,510 | 10,608 |
| | | | |
1829| 265,855 | 10,450 | 0,503 | 10,953 |
| | | | |
1830| 274,860 | 10,733 | 0,511 | 11,244 |
| | | | |
1831| 279,730 | 10,849 | 0,549 | 11,398 |
----+---------+------------+------------+------------+

OBSERVATIONS.

_General Observations._--Although the persons who have only
worked in or for the charitable work-places, and are not lodged
or fed in them, are probably already included amongst the number
of those who have been relieved by the direction of the
Poor-house; it was, however, thought proper not to exclude
them from this Table, because the expenses of procuring work
belong likewise to these persons.

[10] This being the first year in which the establishment at
Veere was opened.

[11] This decrease is occasioned by the removal of able paupers
to the Ommerschans.

[12] This establishment was done away with on the 20th June,
and the able paupers were removed to the Ommerschans, and the
invalid paupers to Hoorn.

[13] This establishment was done away with on the 15th October,
all the paupers in it were removed to the Ommerschans.

It appears from this table that the number of persons relieved has steadily increased from 202,015, the number in 1822, to 279,730, the number in 1831; and that the proportion of paupers to independent members of society has also increased from 9²³⁰⁄₁₀₀₀ per cent., the proportion in 1822, or rather more than one-eleventh, to 11⁸⁹⁸⁄₁₀₀₀ per cent., or rather more than one-ninth, the proportion in 1831: a proportion exceeding even that of England.

And it is to be observed that the greater part of this great positive and relative increase of pauperism has taken place during a period of profound peace, internal and external; only one of these years being subsequent to the Belgian revolution. It is probable that if the years 1832 and 1833 had been given, the comparison with the earlier period would have been still more unfavourable.

We have omitted in the statement of the expenditure for the relief of the poor a sum of 200,000 guilders, or about 16,666_l._ sterling, annually employed on the gratuitous instruction of poor children: the number thus instructed in 1831 was 73,609. It does not appear, however, that any persons are compelled to attend to the education of their children, except by its being made (as is the general rule on the Continent of Europe) one of the conditions on which relief is granted: and the Consul states that the labourers in general think it beneath them to let their children go to school for nothing; and that some, when unable to pay, prefer keeping them at home.

It is remarkable that neither the official nor the consular report dwells on that portion of the Dutch poor institutions which has excited the greatest attention in Europe, namely, the Poor Colonies.

POOR COLONIES.

The following statements are extracted from the narrative of Count Arrivabene, who visited them in 1829: (pp. 610, 611, 612, 613, 614.)

The dearths of 1816 and 1817, and the consequent distress,
occasioned the establishment, in the northern provinces of
the Low Countries, of a Philanthropic Society (_Société de
bienfaisance_), to whose funds each subscriber was to pay one
halfpenny a week. The subscribers soon amounted to 20,000. One
of its projects was the foundation of poor colonies among the
heaths, with which this country abounds. The Colonies were
to be divided into Colonies for the Repression of Mendicity,
Colonies for Indigent Persons and Veterans, Free Colonies,
Colonies for Inspectors of Agricultural Works, Colonies
for Orphans and Foundlings, and Colonies for Agricultural
Instruction.

In the first year of its formation the Society established the
Free Colony, called Frederiks-Oord, on the heaths between the
provinces of Drenthe, Friesland, and Over-Yssel. It consisted
of 52 small farms, part of which had been previously cultivated
by the Society, of a store-house, of several workshops, a
school, &c. It was peopled with families, indigent, but not
dependent altogether on alms. The expense of its foundation
amounted to 68,000 flor. (5666_l._ 13_s._ 4_d._), and was
defrayed out of the annual subscriptions and donations of the
members of the _Société de bienfaisance_; and in order to give
employment to the colonists during the dead season of the year,
the Society engaged to purchase from them 26,000 ells of linen.

In 1819, the Society proposed to the directors of the Orphan
Institutions throughout the kingdom, to take charge, at a
fixed annual payment, of any number of orphans of the age
of six years, leaving to those institutions the right of
superintending their treatment. To meet this expense, the
society borrowed 280,000 flor. (23,333_l._ 6_s._ 10_d._). The
orphans were for a time placed in separate dwellings, six
orphans with two elderly persons, to act as their parents,
in each. But afterwards almost all were collected into large
buildings. In the same year the members of the society had
increased to 22,500, and their subscriptions to 82,500 flor.
or 6875_l._, and the society was enabled to establish two other
free colonies, and to place in them 150 families.

In 1820, the society borrowed 100,000 flor. more, or 8333_l._
6_s._ 8_d._, which, with donations to the amount of 78,000
flor. or 6500_l._, enabled it during that year to settle 150
more families.

In 1821, the society by means of loans and subscriptions had
collected a sum of 421,000 flor. or 35,083_l._ 6_s._ 8_d._, of
which 300,000 flor., or 25,000_l._ was borrowed, and 121,000
flor., or 10,983_l._ 6_s._ 8_d._ subscribed, and was possessed
of seven free colonies, consisting of 500 small farms, with the
public buildings to which we have alluded.

In 1822 the society founded the first colony for the repression
of mendicity; and engaged with the Government to receive and
settle on its colonies 4000 orphans, 2500 indigent persons, and
1500 mendicants, the Government engaging to pay for each orphan
45 florins, or 3_l._ 15_s._ a year, for 16 years, but nothing
for the others. As yet the society has fulfilled only a part
of its engagements. It has, however, established every kind of
colony which we have enumerated.

_Frederiks-Oord._

In August, 1829, we visited all the colonies of the society.
Those of Frederiks-Oord are spread over a space of two leagues.
The small farms, containing each about 9 English acres, extend
along the sides of roads, bordered with trees, and of canals,
which intersect the colonies in different directions. Each
house is composed of one great room, round the walls of which
are placed the large drawer-like beds, in which, according
to the custom of the Dutch peasantry, the family sleep.
A cow-house, a barn, and every building necessary for an
agricultural family, is annexed to the farm. Near the house is
the garden; beyond it the land to be cultivated.

Upon his admission into the colony, each colonist makes a
declaration, by which he binds himself to obey its rules, as
respects subordination to its officers, moral and religious
conduct on the part of himself and his family, modes of
working, wearing the colonial uniform, &c.

When a family of 8 persons (the number usually adopted by the
society) has been settled in a farm, the society opens an
account with them, in which they are debited in the sum of 1700
florins, or 141_l._ 13_s._ 4_d._, which is considered as having
been advanced for their use under the following heads:--

flor. _£_ _s._ _d._
Purchase-money of 9 acres of land 100 or 8 6 8
Labour previously expended on it 400 ” 83 6 8
Two cows and some sheep 150 ” 12 10 0
The house 500 ” 41 13 4
Incidental expenses 50 ” 4 3 4
Furniture and clothing 250 ” 20 6 8
Reserved fund for extraordinary occasions 250 ” 20 16 8
---- --- -- --
1700 141 13 4

The sum advanced for furniture and clothing is stopped out of
the wages of the colonist; and as soon as the farm has been
completely brought under cultivation, the head of the family is
annually debited 60 florins, or 5_l._, as the interest of the
remainder of the capital, and the rent of the farm.

During three years at the least, the colonists cultivate the
land in common, and receive wages, but are allowed to make
use of no part of the produce of the farm; though that of the
garden and the cows is their own. The farm produce (and it
appeared to us to be very trifling), consisting principally of
rye, potatoes, and buck-wheat, is taken to the storehouses of
the society to be preserved for subsequent distribution, either
as prepared food or otherwise, among the colonists, in payment
or on account of their wages.

As long as a family cannot provide its own subsistence, it
receives food daily from the society; but when it can provide
for itself (as it can when it earns 4 flor., or 6_s._ 8_d._ a
week), it is allowed to prepare its food at home.

The society distributes medals of copper, of silver, and of
gold. The first are the rewards of those who distinguish
themselves by regular labour and good conduct, and confer the
right to leave the colony on Sundays and holydays without
asking permission. The second are bestowed on those whose
industry supplies their whole subsistence; they confer the
right to leave the colony without permission, not only on
Sundays and holydays, but on every day of the week, at the
hours not devoted to labour. The golden medals are distributed
to those who have already obtained silver ones, when their
farms produce the annual value of 250 flor. (20_l._ 16_s._
8_d._), and upon obtaining them the colonist is no longer
subjected to the strict colonial regimen, though some
restrictions still distinguish him from an ordinary farmer.
The medals which have been obtained by good conduct may be lost
or suspended, with their privileges, by misbehaviour. They are
solemnly distributed, and withdrawn every fifteen days.

After a residence of three years in the colony, the colonists
are distributed into three classes:--1st, That of industrious
men who have received the silver medal: they may continue to
cultivate their farms in common, as before, or, after having
discharged their original debt to the society, may manage them
on their own account, at a rent payable to the society. 2nd.
That of colonists who have received the copper medal: they may
manage their own farms, and dispose of a part of the produce;
the other part must be sent to the magazines of the society, to
be applied in payment of the rent of the farm, in discharge of
the original advances, and in creating a common fund. A portion
of it, however, is returned to them in bread. But if in any
year a colonist does not raise a given quantity of potatoes,
or if he requires from the society extraordinary assistance,
he is forced to restore his medal, and to return to the third
class. 3. This last class, which is composed of those who have
obtained no medal, must, in addition to what is required from
the others, render to the magazines of the society a greater
amount of produce, and have therefore less for their own use.

A certain extent of ground is cultivated in common by the
colonists, each head of a family being required to work on
it three days in the year, at wages paid in a colonial paper
money. The produce of this common land is employed in supplying
the deficiencies of the harvests of the separate farms, and
meeting the expenses of the school, the hospital, and the
general Administration. The colonists are also allowed in
summer to pasture their cattle in the common pastures of the
colony. There are several shops for the sale, at prices fixed
by the Administration, of whatever the colonists are likely to
want, except spirituous liquors, the use of which is prohibited.

Whatever may have been the length of time during which the
colonist has resided in the colony he can never become the
proprietor of his farm. He may, however, acquire the ownership
of his furniture, and sell it or remove it when he quits the
colony.

No colonist is allowed to marry unless he be a widower, or
the son of a widower, and in possession of a farm. When his
children have attained 16 or 18 years of age, they choose
a trade (etat) with the consent of their parents and the
colonial authorities, and may follow it either in the colony or
elsewhere.

To every 25 farms there is a superintendent, who visits them
daily, and directs and distributes among the colonists the
labours of the day; and to every 100 farms a sub-director, who
gives instructions to the superintendent, keeps the registers,
and manages the manufactures.

In selecting the occupiers of each subdivision of 25 farms,
care is taken that persons of different trades shall be
included. The superintendence to which a family is subjected
diminishes day by day with its good conduct, and ceases almost
entirely as soon as the colonist has repaid the value of the
advances which have been made to him. Those who are idle or
disorderly are taken before a council of superintendence, of
which some colonists are members, and may be sent on to a
council of discipline, which has the power to transfer them
to Ommerschans, a colony for the repression of mendicity; of
which we shall speak hereafter. They are detained there for a
fixed period, in a place set apart for them, and kept to more
than usually hard labour. The industrious and well-disposed
colonists are appointed superintendents of the works in the
colonies for the repression of mendicity, and in those for the
reception of orphans and indigent persons.

Most of the inhabitants of Frederiks-Oord are Protestants;
there are, however, several Catholic and two Jewish families.

_Wateren._

In the morning of the 3d day we went to Wateren, which is
two leagues from Frederiks-Oord. Wateren is the colony of
Agricultural Instruction, to which are sent the orphans who
most distinguish themselves in their colonies. They amount
to 60, and acquire agricultural knowledge from a master, and
from the practice of working at a farm of 42 bonniers (nearly
103 acres) in arable, nursery grounds, and pasture. They are
instructed by the same master in the Bible, the history of
Holland, land surveying, natural-history, botany, mathematics,
chemistry, and gymnastics. They are better dressed than the
others, and wear a hat with a riband, on which is written the
name of the privileged colony to which they belong. Their
destination is to become superintendents in the free colonies.
The society derives from this colony an annual profit of about
900 flor. or 75_l._

_Veenhuisen._

On the same day, after a journey of three leagues, we arrived
at Veenhuisen, which contains one colony for the repression
of mendicity, two for orphans, one for indigent persons and
veterans, and one for inspectors of agricultural works. They
are intersected by high ways, bordered by trees and by canals
communicating with Amsterdam. Two great square buildings,
at the distance of a half mile from each other, contain, in
the part which looks into the interior quadrangle, the one
mendicants, the other orphans, and each contains, in the
rooms on the exterior, indigent persons and veterans. Another
similar edifice, at two miles distance, contains all these
three classes of individuals. In the midst of the three
edifices are situated two churches, one Catholic, the other
Protestant; twenty-four houses forming a colony of inspectors
of agricultural works, and an equal number of houses inhabited
by the officers of the colonies.

The children and grown-up persons have been placed thus near
one another for convenience, with respect both to their
agricultural and manufacturing employments.

The interior of each of the three great edifices is divided
into two sides, one for the males, the other for the females,
separated by the kitchen. On the ground-floor are large rooms,
containing each forty or fifty individuals. The upper floors
are mere lofts, and used as store-rooms.

The persons placed in the colonies for the repression of
mendicity receive a new and uniform dress, and for some time
are maintained without reference to the value of their work.
Their out-doors employment consists of agricultural labor,
brick-making, or turf-cutting: in-doors they work as artizans,
generally by piece work. The society fixes the amount of their
wages.

The lands of these colonies are divided into farms of
thirty-two bonniers, or about eighty acres each, half arable,
half pasture. To each of these farms are attached forty or
fifty colonists, who work under the orders of a superintendent,
who himself follows the instructions of a sub-director. The
annual expenditure on each of these farms is fixed at 1680
flor., or 140_l._

The accounts between the society and the colonists are kept in
the military form. Each colonist carries a book, in which is
entered the work which he has performed each day, the supplies
and paper money which he has received, and his share of the
general expenditure. If his earnings exceed what has been laid
out on him, which is said to be commonly the case, a third of
the excess is given to him in paper money, another third is
placed in a savings’ bank, to be given him on his leaving the
colony, and the remaining third is retained by the society to
meet contingent expenses.

Horse-patrols round the colonies, rewards to such as bring back
colonists who have attempted to escape, and a uniform dress
are the means employed to prevent desertion. The colonists
are detained for 6 years, unless they have previously saved
12½ flor. (1_l._ 10_d._), which entitles them to immediate
discharge.

Orphans are admitted in the orphan colonies at the age of six.
They work, either in-doors or in the fields, for a part of
the day, another part is employed in elementary instruction,
drawing, and singing. They leave the colonies at the age of 18,
generally for the sea or land service.

The colonies for indigent persons and veterans serve as
preparatory residences for those who are to be placed in the
free colonies. These colonists dwell with their families in
the outer apartments of the great buildings, the interior
quadrangles of which are inhabited by the mendicants and
orphans. Like the mendicants, they are considered day
labourers, and paid according to their work.

In every colony the supplies and wages vary according to the
difference of age, strength, or sex. The men are divided into 5
classes, the women into 7. The first class of men is supposed
to earn 1 flor. 70 cents, or 2_s._ 10_d._ per week; the second,
1 flor. 35 cents, or 2_s._ 3_d._; the third, 1 flor. 6 cents,
or 1_s._ 11_d._; the fourth, composed of children from 8 to 16
years, 1 flor. 1 cent, or 1_s._ 8½_d._; the fifth, composed of
children under that age, 67½ cents, or 1_s._ 1½_d._ The first
class of females is supposed to earn per week 1 flor. 51 cents,
or 2_s._ 6¼_d._; the second, 1 flor. 26 cents, or 2_s._ 1_d._;
the third, 98 cents, or 1_s._ 7½_d._; the fourth and fifth,
composed of children, 95 cents, or 1_s._ 7_d._, and 75 cents,
or 1_s._ 3_d._ respectively; the sixth and seventh, composed
also of children, but still younger, 63 cents, or 1_s._ 0½_d._,
and 55 cents, or 11_d._, respectively.

_Ommerschans._

On the morning of the fourth day we went to Ommerschans, which
is seven leagues from Veenhuisen.

At Ommerschans there is a colony for the repression of
mendicity, and one for indigent persons and veterans. The
first is composed of men and children; and has a separate
division for the free colonists who have been sent thither
as a punishment. The building can contain 1000 persons, and
resembles in several respects those in Veenhuisen, except
that its moat, and the iron-bars to its windows give it
more the appearance of a prison; and that it has a story
above the ground floor. Nor does it differ as to its interior
arrangement, or the employment or treatment of its inmates. In
the middle of the quadrangle there are shops for locksmiths,
joiners, and other trades; and for the manufacture of thread
and linen. On the outside stands the church, which serves for
both Catholic and Protestant worship, and as a school; the
house of the sub-director, the hospital, and other public
edifices; and 20 houses scattered about the lands, form a
colony of inspectors of agricultural works. Nearly 150 persons
are annually discharged from this colony for the repression of
mendicity.

On recurring to the official statement of the total number of persons relieved during the ten years ending 1831, it will be seen that in 1831 the population of the poor colonies consisted of 7853, being an increase of 402 from the time of Count Arrivabene’s visit, arising solely from an increased number placed in the repressive or most severe of the penal colonies; and that this population was thus distributed: 2297 in the colony assigned to orphans and abandoned children; 456 in the preparatory colony; 2694 in the colonies called free; and 2406 in the repressive or mendicity colonies.

The nature of these institutions appears to have been imperfectly understood in England. They are in fact large agricultural workhouses; and superior to the previous workhouses only so far as they may be less expensive, or, without being oppressive, objects of greater aversion.

It is scarcely possible that they can be less expensive.

The employing persons taken indiscriminately from other occupations and trades, almost all of them the victims of idleness and misconduct, and little urged by the stimulus of individual interest in farming the worst land in the country, (land so worthless that the fee-simple of it is worth only 24_s._ an acre,) at an expense for outfit, exclusively of the value of the land, of more than 130_l._ per family, and under the management of a joint-stock company of more than 20,000 members, cannot but be a ruinous speculation.

Nor does the institution appear to have repressed pauperism by the disagreeableness of the terms on which it offers relief: we have seen, on the contrary, that it has not prevented its steady increase. It will be shown subsequently that a similar establishment has signally failed in Belgium, and we cannot anticipate a different result in Holland.

BELGIUM AND FRANCE.

M. Lebau, the Belgian Minister of Justice, has furnished a detailed report on the poor laws of Belgium, together with a considerable number of printed documents. Of the latter, we have printed only the regulations of the schools for the poor in Louvain, and of the out-door relief in Tournay; the laws of August, 1833, respecting the Dépôts de Mendicité; and some statistical papers respecting the relief afforded in different manners in 1833, and in some of the preceding years. The others were too voluminous for this publication; and though we have consulted them (particularly the Code Administratif des Etablissemens de Bienfaisance, M. Quetelet’s statistical works on the Netherlands and Belgium, and M. Ducpétiaux’s on Indigence,) with great advantage, we have been forced to omit them. Baron de Hochepied Larpent and Mr. Fauche, His Majesty’s Consuls in Antwerp and Ostend, have given valuable replies to the Commissioners’ questions; and Count Arrivabene a detailed account of the state of Gaesbeck, a village a few miles from Brussels. And we have inserted three reports as to the state of the Belgian poor colonies; one from Count Arrivabene, who visited them in 1829, and one from M. Ducpétiaux, and another from Captain Brandreth, both dated in 1832.

The union and subsequent separation of Belgium and France, and afterwards of Belgium and Holland, occasion the Belgian laws on this as on every other subject to be divisible into three heads:

First, those which she received when incorporated with France; secondly, those which were made during the union with Holland; and thirdly, those which have been passed since the revolution of 1830.

By far the largest portion of the Belgian poor laws is derived from the first of these sources.

FRENCH POOR LAWS.

The government of the Directory, by three laws passed in the autumn of 1796, established the system under which the principal portion of the relief afforded by the public is now regulated in most of the countries which constituted the French empire.

Hospices and Bureaux de Bienfaisance.

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Statement of the Provision for the Poor, and of the Condition of the Labouring Classes in a Considerable Portion of America and EuropeChapter V: Section 26: The main principle to be observed everywhere in (4)

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