第40章

’Severalinstanceshavebeenmentionedtous，ofparishesnearlydepopulated，

inwhichalmostallthelabourisperformedbypersonssettledintheneighboring

villagesortowns；drawingfromthem，asallowance，thegreaterpartoftheir

subsistence。’(15*)Thismethodisdescribedmoreatlengthinthefollowing

passage：——

’Whenaparishisinthehandsofonlyoneproprietor，orofproprietors

sofewinnumberastobeabletoact，andtocompeltheirtenantstoact，

inunison，andadjoinstoparishesinwhichpropertyismuchdivided，they

maypulldowneverycottageasitbecomesvacant，andpreventthebuilding

ofnewones。Byasmallimmediateoutlaytheymayenableandinduceaconsiderable

portionofthosewhohavesettlementsintheirparishtoobtainsettlements

intheadjoiningparishes：byhiringtheirlaborersforperiodslessthan

ayear，theymaypreventtheacquisitionofnewsettlementsintheirown。

Theymaythusdepopulatetheirownestates，andcultivatethembymeansof

thesurpluspopulationofthesurroundingdistrict。’(16*)Aclergymanin

Reading(17*)saidthathehadbetweentenandtwentyfamilieslivinginhis

parishandworkingforthefarmersintheiroriginalparish，whosecottages

hadbeenpulleddownovertheirheads。Occasionallyabigproprietorofparish

A，inordertolessenthepoorrates，would，withunscrupulousingenuity，

takeafarminparishB，andtherehirefortheyearabatchoflabourers

fromA：theseattheendoftheirtermhewouldturnoffontothemercies

ofparishBwhichwasnowresponsibleforthem，whilsthesentforafresh

consignmentfromparishA。(18*)

TheReportoftheCommissionisaremarkableandsearchingpictureof

thegeneraldemoralisationproducedbytheSpeenhamlandsystem，andfrom

thatpointofviewitismostgraphicandinstructive。Butnobodywhohas

followedthehistoryoftheagriculturallabourercanfailtobestruckby

itscapitalomission。TheCommissioners，intheirsimpleanalysisofthat

system，couldnottaketheireyesofftheSpeenhamlandgoblin，andinstead

ofdealingwiththatsystemasawronganddisastrousanswertocertaindifficult

questions，theytreatedthesystemitselfastheoneandoriginalsource

ofallevils。Theysighedforthedayswhen’thepauperswereasmalldisreputable

minority，whoseresentmentwasnottobefeared，andwhosefavourwasof

novalue，’and’allotherclasseswereanxioustodiminishthenumberof

applicants，andtoreducetheexpensesoftheirmaintenance。’(19*)Theydid

notrealisethatthegoverningclasshadnotcreatedaFrankensteinmonster

forthemerepleasureofitscreation；thattheyhadnotsetouttodraw

upanidealconstitution，asRousseauhaddoneforthePoles。In1795there

wasafearofrevolution，andtheupperclassesthrewtheSpeenhamlandsystem

overthevillagesasawetblanketoversparks。TheCommissionersmerely

isolatedtheconsequencesofSpeenhamlandandtreatedthemasiftheywere

theentireproblem，andconsequently，thoughtheirreportservedtoextinguish

thatsystem，itdidnothingtorehabilitatethepositionofthelabourer，

ortorestoretherightsandstatushehadlost。ThenewPoorLawwasthe

onlygiftoftheReformedParliamenttotheagriculturallabourer；itwas

animprovementontheold，butonlyinthesensethattheeastwindisbetter

thanthesirocco。

Whatwouldhavehappenedifeitheroftheothertworemedieshadbeen

adoptedfortheproblemtowhichtheSpeenhamlandsystemwasapplied，it

isimpossibletosay。Butitiseasytoseethatthepositionoftheagricultural

labourer，whichcouldnothavebeenworse，mighthavebeenverymuchbetter，

andthatthenation，asapartfromthelandlordsandmoney-lords，wouldhave

comeoutofthiswhirlpoolmuchstrongerandmuchricher。Thiswasclear

toonecorrespondentofthePoorLawCommission，whosememorandum，printed

inanAppendix，(20*)ismoreinterestingandprofoundthananycontribution

tothesubjectmadebytheCommissionersthemselves。M。Chateauvieuxset

outanalternativepolicytoSpeenhamland，which，ifthegoverningclass

of1795orthegoverningclassof1834hadbeenenlightenedenoughtofollow

it，wouldhavesetupaverydifferentlabouringclassinthevillagesfrom

thehelp

后续内容为VIP可读请开通VIP，或购买此章节