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 L I E) RARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UN IVE.R5ITY 
 
 or ILLINOIS
 
 LETTE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Rt. Hon. G. J. GOSCHEN, 
 
 PRESIDENT OF THE POOR LAW BOARD. 
 ON THE 
 
 EELIEP TO THE POOR IN THE 
 METROPOLIS. 
 
 Dated 20th November, 1869. 
 
 i 
 
 SHAW AND SOIs^S, FETTER LANE, 
 
 i'UBLISHBBS OF THE BOOKS AND POS^S OP THE TOO] 
 LAW BOARD, 
 
 1869.
 
 LONDON: PPlHrED BY 8I1AW AND SONS, FETTER LANE.
 
 RELIEF TO THE POOR IN THE 
 METROPOLIS, 
 
 The published statements of metropolitan pauperism 
 have for some weeks past shown a considerable in- 
 crease in the number of the out-door poor^ not only 
 as compared with previous weeks, but as compared 
 with the high totals of 1867 and 1868. At the 
 same time it has come to the knowledge of the 
 Board that many persons (especially in the East-end 
 of London) who two winters ago were most enger 
 in soliciting charitable contributions, have now ex- 
 pressed the opinion that the large sums spent then 
 in charity tended to attract pauperism to those dis- 
 tricts where money flowed most freely, and that 
 they deprecate a repetition of the system then pur- 
 sued. Under these circumstances, the Board con- 
 sider it equally important to guard on the one hand 
 against any alarm which might arise on the part of 
 the public, and result in an indiscriminate distribution 
 of charitable funds, and on the other hand to take 
 such precautions and make such preparations as 
 mav enable Boards of Guardians and charitable 
 agencies to work with effect and rapidity, if any 
 emergency should arise. And^ indeed, without 
 considering the question of an increase in the num-
 
 bers of the out- door poor, and looking- simply to the 
 present expenditure on poor relief, it appears to be 
 a matter of essential importance that an attempt 
 should be made to bring- the authorities administer- 
 ing the poor laws and those who administer 
 charitable funds to as clear an understanding- as 
 possible, so as to avoid the double distribution of 
 relief to the same persons, and at the same time to 
 secure that the most effective use should be made 
 of the larg-e sums habitually contributed by the 
 public towards relieving- such cases as the poor law 
 can scarcely reach. 
 
 The question arises, how far it is possible to mark 
 out the separate limits of the poor law and of 
 charity respectively, and how it is possible to secure 
 joint action between the two. 
 
 One of the most recognized principles in our poor 
 law is, that relief should be given only to the 
 actually destitute, and not in aid of wages. In the 
 case of widows with famih'es, where it is often 
 manifestly impossible tliat the earnings of the 
 wonian can support the family, the rule is 
 frequently departed from, but, as a general ])rin- 
 ciple, it lies at the root of the present system of 
 relief. In iniiumeraT)le cases its application appears 
 to be harsh for the uioment, and it might also be 
 held to be an aggravation of an existing difficulty to 
 insist that, so long as a person is in employment and 
 wages are earned, though such wages may be 
 insufficient, the poor law authorities ought to hold 
 aloof and refuse to supplement the receipts of the 
 family, actually offering in preference to take upon 
 themselves the entire cost of their maintenance. 
 
 uiucT
 
 Still, it is certain that no system could be more 
 dangerous, both to the working- classes and to the 
 ratepa3'ers, than to supplement insufficiency of 
 wages by the expenditure of public money. 
 
 The fundamental doctrine of the English poor 
 laws, in which they differ from those of most other 
 countries, is that relief is given, not as a matter of 
 charity but of legal obligation, and to extend this 
 legal obligation beyond the class to which it now 
 applies, namely, the actually destitute, to a further 
 and much larger class, namely, those in receipt of 
 insufficient wages, would be not only to increase to 
 an unlimited extent the present enormous expendi- 
 ture, but to allow the belief in a legal claim to 
 public money in every emergency to supplant, in a 
 further portion of the population, the full recogni- 
 tion of the necessity for self-reliance and thrift. 
 
 It is clear, therefore, that the poor law autho- 
 rities could not be allowed without public danger to 
 extend their operations beyond those persons who 
 are actually destitute, and for whom they are at 
 present legally bound to provide. It Mould seem 
 to follow that charitable organizations whose alms 
 could in no case be claimed as a right would find 
 their most appropriate sphere in assisting those who 
 have some, but insufficient, means, and who, though 
 on the verge of pauperism, are not actual paupers, 
 leaving to the operation of the general law the pro- 
 vision for the totally destitute. 
 
 It is, however, important not to ignore the fact 
 that, even in the case of the destitute, whose main-
 
 6 
 
 tenance tlie poor law authorities avowedly take 
 upon themselves, there is a g-reat disposition on the 
 part of charitable persons, in what may be known 
 to be deserving- cases, to add to the minvnum relief 
 granted as a matter of legal oblig'ation. At the 
 same time, so long* as the almoners of charities 
 know that tlie amount of any allowance made by 
 them to a poor family will be considered by the 
 poor law authorities in determining- the scale of out- 
 door relief, they are likely either to withhold the 
 money altogether, as only given in alleviation of 
 rates, or, what is more probable, to give it without 
 the knowledge of the local authorities. The first 
 course stops the flow of charity ; the second is 
 demoralizing-, and opens the door to many abuses. 
 The best means to meet the difficulty would seem 
 to be that in all those cases where the Board of 
 Guardians are granting- relief — and in all such cases 
 the relief must, by law, be adequate — the almoners 
 of cbarities should ab.Ntain from g'iving- food or 
 mone}', or supplying any such articles as the guar- 
 dians are themselves strictly bound to grant, and 
 especially from giving their charity in such a man- 
 ner as would constitute a regular increase of income. 
 If the charitable agencies wish to interpose at all 
 in such cases, they should confine their assistance 
 to donations of bedding or clothing, or any similar 
 articles which the Guardians may not consider 
 themselves bound to })rovide at a particular mo- 
 ment, and which can be easily distinguished i'rom 
 other relief. It may be well to add that Boards of 
 Guardians cannot legally g-ivc relief — 
 
 1. In redeeming" tools or clothes from pawn ; 
 
 2. In purchasing' tools J
 
 3. In pui'cLasing' clothes (except in cases of 
 urg-ent necessity) j 
 
 4. In paying- the cost of conveyance to any part 
 of the United Kingdom ; 
 
 5. In paying- rent or lodging ; 
 
 so that assistance rendered for anj' of these purposes 
 will not interfere with the action of the Guardians. 
 
 The general principle to be borne in mind seems 
 to be that the obligations of the Guardians should 
 not be curtailed, and that where the charitable 
 associations consider it within their province to 
 deal at all with persons on the pariih lists, they 
 should do so, not by affording additional means of 
 income, but by supplying once for all such articles 
 as do not clash with or overlap the relief adminis- 
 tered by the Guardians. It should, however, be 
 clearl}^ understood that no invitation is suggested 
 to the charities to come, even in an indirect way, to 
 the assistance of those for v\-hom the Guardians are 
 bound '^ to provide adequate relief." What is sug- 
 gested is that where the charities, as a matter of 
 fact, do come in contact with that class of poor, 
 they should act on the principles indicated, and, as 
 far as practicable, in concert with the Guardians. 
 
 A cordial under.<tanding between the Poor Lav/ 
 authorities and the charitable organizations, based 
 upon arrangements of the kind suggested, does not 
 appear to be hopele-s. 
 
 It remains to consider by what means such an 
 understanding can be brought about.
 
 8 
 
 The first point is that there should be every oppor- 
 tunity for every agency, official or private, engaged 
 in relieving" the poor, to know fully and accurately 
 the details of the work performed by all similarly 
 engaged. The lists of the relieving officers would 
 form the natural basis for the necessary informa- 
 tion. No funds are at the disposal of the Poor Law 
 Board with which the}' could appoint a staff and 
 provide offices for organizing a general registration 
 of metropolitan relief. Other means must therefore 
 be sought for providing that a public registering- 
 office should be established in every large district, 
 where registers should be kept of all persons in re- 
 ceipt of parochial relief, with such particulars 
 attached as might guide others in their inquiries. 
 The clergy of all denominations, and the representa- 
 tives of all the charities in the neighbourhood, 
 should be invited to send in their lists to such offices, 
 and to make themselves acquainted with the other 
 lists deposited there, by which means an accurate 
 dictionary or reference book might be framed which 
 would supply the necessary information about 
 almost every person who had once received relief, 
 either parochial or charitable. In the absence of 
 any sufficient legal power in the Poor Law Board to 
 enforce an organization of this kind, the working 
 of the plan must mainly depend on the voluntary 
 action of the Guardians and of the various charit- 
 able bodies, but the Poor Law Board will be happy 
 to afford any aid that may be in their power, and 
 to authorize such expenditure as may fall within 
 legal limits. They would be prepared — 
 
 1. To authorize the Guardians to print weekly
 
 9 
 
 lists, containing tlie names and addresses of out- 
 door paupers, and the sums g'iven in relief of each 
 case. 
 
 2. To authorize any reasonable remuneration for 
 extra work to officers whom the Guardians may em- 
 ploy to carry out tliis arrang-ement. 
 
 3. To instruct their inspectors to facilitate the 
 communication between the official and private 
 agencies, where such interposition may be of any 
 service, and to assist in systematizing- as far as 
 possible relief operations in various parts of the 
 metropolis. 
 
 It is evident that the sug-gestion made may be 
 acted upon in all those unions where the Guardians 
 may be prepared to adopt them, without waiting 
 for the adhesion of any union v/hich may be less 
 disposed to co-operate in the scheme. The success- 
 ful working of the plan in even a few of the largest 
 and most }):iu])erized districts would in itself be of 
 great value, and undoubtedly secure a similar orga- 
 nization throughout the metropolis. 
 
 When the means of communication are established 
 it might be possible to agree on certain regulations 
 which the charities might with much advantage 
 engage to observe, not indiscriminately or as an 
 inflexible rule, but as a general practice. They 
 might undertake — 
 
 1. To abstain from s'ivinc>* monev or food to those 
 
 in receipt of parish relief.
 
 10 
 
 2. To inform the relieving- officers of any gifts 
 of blankets or clotliing, upon the understanding' 
 that these gifts should not be taken into account for 
 the purpose uf curtailing the ordinary relief. 
 
 3. They might apply to the relieving officer on 
 behalf of all such totally destitute persons whom 
 in the course of their operations they might find 
 unrelieved, hut who properly fall within the sphere 
 of the relieving- officer. On the other hand, when 
 the relieving- officers are applied to for relief, and 
 are bound to refuse it because the applicants are not 
 actually destitute in the strict sense of the term, 
 they might pass on the names and addresses to the 
 charitable agencies where they think that the cases 
 are likely to fall within the class which the charity 
 undertakes to assist. 
 
 It will of course be understood that the Poor Law 
 Board have no power in this matter to act beyond 
 granting the necessary authority for the expenditure 
 incurred on a part of the organization required as 
 described above. They can only invite the various 
 charitable agencies and the Boards of Guardians to 
 consider the suggestions which they have made. 
 In 1867 great advantage resulted in the East-end 
 of London from the understanding- established be- 
 tween the Guardians, on the one hand, and the re- 
 presentatives of the charities on the other, with the 
 co-operation of Mr. Sclater-Booth, then Secretary 
 to the Poor Law Board, and Mr. Corbett, Poor Law 
 Inspector. At the time of the cotton famine the 
 Poor Law authorities and the administrators of 
 charities also worked together with great success.
 
 11 
 
 These precedents justify the belief that great bene- 
 fits would result to the metropolis if a cordial 
 understanding could be arrived at; and arrange- 
 ments made between all parties engaged in relieving 
 the poor, based on practical and systematic rules, in 
 conformity with the general plan sketched in this 
 Minute. 
 
 GEORGE J. GOSCHEN. 
 
 Poof Laid Board, 
 
 November 20th, 1869. 
 
 London : Printed by Shaw and Son?, Fetter Lane.
 
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