been increasingly emphasized in recent years. And there is no doubt that it has been one of the chief reasons why public opinion has favoured the sapping of the Poor Law by the local authorities, who are under no such restriction and are better able to apply preventive rather than palliative treatment. But the large increase of public assistance by these other bodies, while adding to the administrative confusion, still leaves a huge volume of pauperism and a huge ex- penditure by the Poor Law guardians.
The following figures show the total number of persons in England and Wales in receipt of Poor Law relief of all kinds on Jan. I of each year:
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1900
1905
1910
1914 1915
1916
803,247 924,630 935-738 761,578
762,060
684,549
1917 1918 1919
1920 1921
637,327 586,785
554,617 576,418 663,667
None of these figures of course represents the complete total of pau- perism in any one year, for they only relate to one day, and allowance must be made for many other individuals amounting to several hundreds of thousands who will receive relief at one time or another during the twelve months. The figures do, however, afford an accurate basis for tracing the movements of pauperism. It will be seen that between 1910 and 1914 there is a large decline. This is mainly due to the causes noted above the removal of a great num- ber of the aged and of the sick from the Poor Law. On the declara- tion of war in Aug. 1914 there was a sharp rise in pauperism, owing to the rapid and widespread dislocation of industry. Within three weeks of the outbreak of hostilities the total of persons in receipt of relief was over 40,000 higher than that for the corresponding date in 1913, and a month later it had risen by another 115,000. Very soon, however, there began an equally rapid recovery, and with the absorption of men into the army or munition work and the influx of women into industry, pauperism declined month by month. Many of the workhouses and infirmaries were taken over by the War Office for military use, their inmates being moved to other buildings or boarded out in neighbouring unions. The volume of pauperism continued to fall progressively till the end of the war, under the in- fluence of such causes as enlistment, the unsatisfied demand for labour of all sorts, both of men and women, the generally high rates of wages, and the steady income drawn from separation allowances and pensions by poor people whose earnings had previously been precarious or inadequate. Nevertheless, there was a permanent residue of sick and infirm, feeble-minded, aged and children. After the Armistice in Nov. 1918 the figures began to mount again. Demobilization brought jn its train a renewal of unemployment, together with industrial disputes and reduced earnings. Throughout 1919 and 1920 the rise continued until, at the beginning of 1921, when the whole country was involved in a serious trade depression, the total was approaching the pre-war level.
The movement of Poor Law expenditure during the first twenty years of the 2Oth century shows little fluctuation; it increased con- tinuously, as the following figures indicate: Total Expenditure on all Poor Law Services in England and Wales.
1900
1905
1910
1915
1916
11,567,649 13.851,981 14,849,584 15,804,073
16,085,586
1917 1918 1919 1920
16,187,748
17,039,623 18,423,883 23,501,241
The reason for the paradoxical increase of expenditure on a decreas- ing number of persons during the war is, of course, to be found in the rising cost of maintenance, including food, fuel, medicine, salaries and so on. The average cost of maintaining a pauper in the general workhouse before the war was 133. 8id. per week in London and los. lOjd. elsewhere (1910). In 1918 it was i8s. s$d. in London and 2os. 3id. elsewhere, whilst the weekly cost of maintenance in the infir- mary was 373. 6Jd. in London and 303. 4$d. elsewhere. In 1919-20 the cost had mounted to 243. sfd. in London and 253. 6d. elsewhere for maintenance in the workhouse, and to 463. 7id. in London and 403. 3d. elsewhere for maintenance in the infirmary. In Scotland the figures, both of persons relieved and of expenditure, pursue much the same course, though they are naturally much smaller since the population of Scotland is less than one-seventh of that of England and Wales. In May 1920 the total number of legal poor of all classes in Scotland was 87,868. The majority were on outdoor relief. 16,175 were insane, maintained in asylums, lunatic wards or private dwellings. Of the sane, between 8,000 and 9,000 (including nearly 800 children) were in the poorhouses. The Scottish Poor Law ex- penditure for 1918-9 amounted to 1,667,536 and for 1919-20 to 2,093,523. The weekly cost of maintenance in the poorhouse in 1920 averaged about 233 per head. (C. M. L.)
POPPER, DAVID (1846-1913), Bohemian violoncellist (see 22.91), died in 1913.
PORTER, BENJAMIN CURTIS (1843-1908), American painter (see 22.113), died in New York City April 2 1908.
PORTER, HORACE (1837-1921), American diplomatist and soldier (see 22.116), died in New York City May 29 1921.
PORTO RICO (see 22.124). Important developments in the affairs of Porto Rico political, economic, social took place in the decade 1910-20. Politically, the organic law was first amended and later materially changed. Economically, the agriculture and commerce of the island underwent notable increase. Socially, there was progress in the betterment of living conditions, in the spread of elementary education and in
the reduction of poverty and disease. The Act of Congress
approved April 12 1900 (the Foraker Act), under which the
island had been administered for the first decade of its existence
under the American flag, was amended by the Act of Congress
approved July 15 1909 (the Olmsted Act). In so far as supervised
by the United States, Porto Rican affairs were placed under the
jurisdiction of an executive department to be designated by the
president, the War Department being subsequently designated.
To prevent recurrent deadlocks over the insular budget, provision
was made that if the legislature failed to pass the appropriation
bill for an ensuing fiscal year, the sums authorized for the current
year should be deemed to have been appropriated and might be
lawfully expended. Far more thorough-going were the changes
effected by the passage of the Act of Congress approved March 2
1917 (the Jones Act). By its provisions citizens of Porto Rico are
deemed and held to be citizens of the United States.
Six executive departments are constituted: justice, finance, interior, education, agriculture and labor, and health. The governor, the attorney-general and the commissioner of educa- tion are appointed by the President of the United States, subject to the approval of the U.S. Senate; the heads of the remaining departments by the governor of Porto Rico subject to the approval of the insular Senate. The law-making power is vested in a legislature consisting of a senate of 19 members and a house of representatives of 39 members, all elected by manhood suffrage for a term of four years. Acts of the legislature may be vetoed by the governor; but his veto may be overridden by a two-thirds vote. The President of the United States may nevertheless interpose a final veto. Matters relating to franchises and conces- sions are vested in a public service commission consisting of the heads of the executive departments, the auditor, and two elected commissioners. A resident commissioner to the United States, paid by the Federal Government, is elected by popular vote for a term of four years; he represents the island in the House of Representatives, with voice but without vote, and is recognized by all departments in Washington.
The economic experience of the years 1910-20 was the increased and more profitable production of sugar, tobacco, coffee and fruits, consequent in the first instance upon duty-free access to the American market, and aided by the completion of insular projects of irrigation. The increase of exports was accompanied by larger imports, by a reversal of the island's adverse trade balance, and by an appreciable though unequal diffusion of gain among the island's population, the growers of sugar and tobacco being specially benefited. The com- merce of the island trebled in the decade, the combined value of imports and exports rising from $78,705,364 in 1911, 101247,199,983 in 1920. This amazing growth was uneven. The activity of 1911-2 was followed by reaction in 1913, accented by the dislocations con- sequent upon the outbreak of the World War. War demand for the island's staples made itself sharply felt in 1916-7 with some arrest in 1918-9. In 1920 came sensational developments, exports rising from $79,496,040 in the preceding year to $150,811,449, and imports from $62,400,360 to $96,388,534. The factors directly responsible were the world's runaway markets in sugar and to a less absolute degree in tobacco and coffee. Sugar exports in tonnage were actually less in 1920 than in 1916 and 1917; the price per ton rising from $75.81 in 1911, to $136.77 in 1919, and to $235.88 in 1920.
The visible trade balance in favour of the island rose from a pre- vious maximum of $27,780,417 (1916) to $54,422,915 in 1920. The great bulk of this trade, 90 % in 1920, was with the United States.
There was marked improvement during the decade in the island's material equipment. New schoolhouses were erected, and additional roads and bridges constructed. Even the remoter towns of the interior had in 1920 waterworks and electric-lighting plants, made possible through loans from the insular treasury. The increase in private wealth was reflected in the erection of many attractive residences, while the development of commerce and agriculture stimulated the extension of bank and transportation facilities. The basis of the insular revenue system remained the measure put into
