and in all respects to be amenable to the law as at present in force.
But in the case of those whose want arises not from their fault but misfortune, the care of the local board of guardians may properly be exercised with kindness, and even some indulgence, often, be it remembered, shown by them at present on the worthless as well as the deserving poor. There is a class of able-bodied paupers whose necessities arise not from their idleness or other vice, but their incapacity in districts where there is some competition for farm labour to keep their employment. It is one of the advantages of the system of local boards that they can deal better in applying the principle of treating such applicants than any other organisation, past or present, in the relief of the poor. Taking care to avoid the rocks on which the old Poor Law struck and foundered, one of which was the contrivance of supplementing wages from the poor-rate,[1] there are many cases in which out-door relief might be afforded, to which, from a just fear of establishing a precedent liable to abuse, the guardians refuse relief other than the house.
It is further germane to the improvement of the poor that a reform of the law in points in which it is confessedly at variance with laws designed by the Creator for the good of the human race should be made. The regulations which break up families, which separate husband and wife, parent and child, perpetuate greater evil than that inflicted on those who are thus parted. Results of this unnatural law are plainly and sadly traceable in the brutality of husbands towards their wives and families, the relaxation of family ties, or in the unnatural coolness with which an only son will leave a widowed mother to end her days in the workhouse, and will refuse, unless compelled by the magistrates, to contribute one farthing of his ample wages towards her maintenance. It is true that the Act makes a distinction between able-bodied married people and couples infirm from age or other cause. With respect to the former, if there is good reason why a man, crushed by adversity and not by vice, should desire the consolation of his wife, instead of being compelled to separate at the time when mutual support is most strongly needed; if it is true that the
- ↑ In some parts of England it was a common contrivance of the farmers under the former Poor Law to pay their labourers a fixed sum, and "make up" by an additional grant from the rate, sufficient to support them and their families; by which means the parson or vicar, who was rated on his tithes, and owners of property not agricultural, were compelled to pay part of the wages of the farm labourers. A mere abuse of this kind may raise a smile at the expense of the ratepayers thus victimised by the proceedings in vestry of other days, but the evil inflicted on labourers in thus degrading them into paupers is no trifling matter, and its effects are felt to this day.
