第12章

36。Hewaspresidentforthefirstfiveyears，andagainfrom1806till1813。Foranaccountofthis，seeSirErnestClarke’sHistoryoftheBoardofAgriculture，1898。

37。NorthernTour，i，222-32。

38。NorthernTour，ii，186。

39。SouthernTour，p。20。

40。NorthernTour，iii，365。

41。ArthurYounghadalowopinionofSinclair，whomhetooktobeapushingandconsequentialbusybody，moreanxioustomakeanoisethantobeuseful。

SeeYoung’sAutobiography(1898)，pp。243，315，437。SirErnestClarkepointsouttheinjurydonebySinclair’shastyandblunderingextravagance；butalsoshowsthattheboarddidgreatserviceinstimulatingagriculturalimprovement。

42。Scott’sLetters，i，202。

43。Essayon’Turgot’。See，inDaire’sCollectionoftheÉ；conomistes，theargumentsofQuesnay(p。81)，DupontdeNemours(p。360)，andMercierdelaRivè；reinfavourofalegal(asdistinguishedfroman’arbitrary’)

depotism。

CHAPTERIII

SOCIALPROBLEMS

I。PauperismPerhapsthegravestofalltheproblemswhichweretooccupythecominggenerationwastheproblemofpauperism。TheviewtakenbytheUtilitarianswashighlycharacteristicandimportant。IwilltrytoindicatethegeneralpositionofintelligentobserversattheendofthecenturybyreferringtotheremarkablebookofSirFrederickMortonEden。Itspurportisexplainedbythetitle：’TheStateofthePoor；or，anHistoryoftheLabouringClassesofEnglandfromtheNormanConquesttothepresentperiod；inwhichareparticularlyconsideredtheirdomesticeconomy，withrespecttodiet，dress，fuel，andhabitation；andthevariousplanswhichhavefromtimetotimebeenproposedandadoptedforthereliefofthepoor’(3vols。4to，1797)。Eden(1*)(1766-1809)

wasamanofgoodfamilyandnephewofthefirstLordAuckland，whonegotiatedPitt’scommercialtreaty。HegraduatedasB。A。fromChristChurch，Oxford，in1787；marriedin1792，andathisdeath(14thNov。1809)waschairmanoftheGlobeInsuranceCompany。Hewrotevariouspamphletsuponeconomicaltopics；contributedletterssigned’Philanglus’toCobbett’sPorcupine，theanti-jacobinpaperoftheday；andisdescribedbyBentham(2*)asa’declareddisciple’anda’highlyvaluedfriend。’Hemaybereckoned，therefore，asaUtilitarian，thoughpoliticallyhewasaConservative。Heseemstohavebeenamanofliterarytastesaswellasamanofbusiness，andhisbookisaclearandablestatementofthepointsatissue。

Eden’sattentionhadbeendrawntothesubjectbythedistresswhichfollowedtheoutbreakoftherevolutionarywar。HeemployedanagentwhotravelledthroughthecountryforayearwithasetofqueriesdrawnupafterthemodelofthosepreparedbySinclairforhisStatisticalAccoumtofScotland。HethusanticipatedtheremarkableinvestigationmadeinourowntimebyMrCharlesBooth。Edenmadepersonalinquiriesandstudiedtheliteratureofthesubject。HehadaprecursorinRichardBurn(1709-1785)，whoseHistoryofthePoor-lawsappearedin1764，andacompetitorinJohnRuggles，whoseHistoryofthePoorfirstappearedinArthurYoung’sAnnals，andwaspublishedasabookin1793(secondedition，1797)。Eden’sworkeclipsedRuggles’s。

Ithasapermanentvalueasacollectionoffacts；andwasasignofthegrowingsenseoftheimportanceofaccuratestatisticalresearch。Thehistorianofthesocialconditionofthepeopleshouldbegratefultoonewhobrokegroundatatimewhenthedifficultyofobtainingasoundbaseforsocialinquiriesbegantomakeitselfgenerallyfelt。Thevalueofthebookforhistoricalpurposesliesbeyondmysphere。Hisfirstvolume，Imaysay，givesahistoryoflegislationfromtheearliestperiod；andcontainsalsoavaluableaccountofthevoluminousliteraturewhichhadgrownupduringthetwoprecedingcenturies。Theothertwosummarisethereportswhichhehadreceived。Iwillonlysayenoughtoindicatecertaincriticalpoints。Eden’sbookunfortunatelywastomark，notasolutionofthedifficultybut，theemergenceofaseriesofproblemswhichweretoincreaseincomplexityandominoussignificancethroughthenextgeneration。

Thegeneralhistoryofthepoor-lawissufficientlyfamiliar。(3*)Themediaevalstatutestakeustoaperiodatwhichthelabourerwasstillregardedasaserf；andamanwhohadlefthisvillagewastreatedlikeafugitiveslave。Alongseriesofstatutesregulatedthetreatmentofthe’vagabond。’

Thevagabond，however，hadbecomedifferentiatedfromthepauper。Thedecayoftheancientorderofsocietyanditscorrespondinginstitutionshadledtoanewsetofproblems；andthefamousstatuteofElizabeth(1601)hadlaiddownthemainlinesofthesystemwhichisstillinoperation。

Whenthelabourerwasregardedasinaservilecondition，hemightbesupportedfromthemotiveswhichleadanownertosupporthisslaves，orbythecharitableenergiesorganisedbyecclesiasticalinstitutions。Hehadnowceasedtobeaserf，andtheinstitutionswhichhelpedthepoormanormaintainedthebeggarwerewrecked。TheElizabethanstatutegavehim，therefore，alegalclaimtobesupported，and，ontheotherhand，directedthatheshouldbemadetoworkforhisliving。Theassumptionisstillthateverymanisamemberofalittlesocialcircle。Hebelongstohisparish，anditishisfellow-parishionerswhoareboundtosupporthim。Solongasthiscorrespondedtofacts，thesystemcouldworksatisfactorily。Withthespreadofcommerce，andthegrowthofalesssettledpopulation，difficultiesnecessarilyarose。

Thepauperandthevagabondrepresentakindofsocialextravasation；the’masterlessman’whohasstrayedfromhislegitimateplaceorhasbecomeasuperfluityinhisowncircle。Thevagabondcouldbefogged，senttoprison，orifnecessaryhanged，butitwasmoredifficulttosettlewhattodowithamanwhowasnotacriminal，butsimplyaproductinexcessofdemand。Allmannerofsolutionshadbeensuggestedbyphilanthropistsandpartlyadoptedbythelegislature。Onepointwhichespeciallyconcernsusistheawkwardnessorabsenceofanappropriateadministrativemachinery。

Theparish，theunitonwhichthepauperhadclaims，meantthepersonsuponwhomthepoor-ratewasassessed。Theseweremainlyfarmersandsmalltradesmenwhoformedtherathervaguebodycalledthevestry。’Overseers’

wereappointedbytheratepayersthemselves；theywerenotpaid，andthedisagreeableofficewastakeninturnforshortperiods。Themostobviousmotivewiththeaverageratepayerwasofcoursetokeepdowntheratesandtogettheburthenofthepoorasmuchaspossibleoutofhisownparish。

Eachparishhadatleastaninterestineconomy。Buttheeconomicalinterestalsoproducedflagrantevils。

Inthefirstplace，therewasthewarbetweenparishes。Thelawofsettlement——whichwastodecidetowhatparishapauperbelonged——originatedinanactof1662。Edenobservesthattheshortclauseinthisshortacthadbroughtmoreprofittothelawyersthan’anyotherpointintheEnglishjurisprudence。’(4*)

Itissaidthattheexpenseofsuchalitigationbeforetheactof1834averagedfrom£；300，000to£；350，000ayear。(5*)Eachparishnaturallyendeavouredtoshifttheburthenuponitsneighbours；andwasprotectedbylawswhichenabledittoresisttheimmigrationoflabourersoractuallytoexpelthemwhenlikelytobecomechargeable。ThislawisdenouncedbyAdamSmith(6*)

asa’violationofnaturallibertyandjustice。’Itwasoftenharder，hedeclared，forapoormantocrosstheartificialboundariesofhisparishthantocrossamountainridgeoranarmofthesea。Therewas，hedeclared，hardlyapoormaninEnglandoverfortywhohadnotbeenatsometime’cruellyoppressed’bytheworkingofthislaw。EdenthinksthatSmithhadexaggeratedtheevil：butalawwhichoperatedbypreventingafreecirculationoflabour，andmadeithardforapoormantoseekthebestpriceforhisonlysaleablecommodity，was，sofar，opposedtothefundamentalprinciplescommontoSmithandEden。Thelaw，too，mightbeusedoppressivelybytheniggardlyandnarrowminded。Theoverseer，asBurncomplained，(7*)wasoftenapettytyrant：hisaimwastodepopulatehisparish；topreventthepoorfromobtainingasettlement；

tomaketheworkhouseaterrorbyplacingitunderthemanagementofabully；

andbyallkindsofchicanerytokeepdowntheratesatwhatevercosttothecomfortandmoralityofthepoor。ThisexplainstheviewtakenbyArthurYoung，andgenerallyacceptedattheperiod，thatthepoor-lawmeantdepopulation。

Workhouseshadbeenstartedintheseventeenthcentury(8*)withtheamiableintentionofprovidingtheindustriouspoorwithwork。Childrenmightbetrainedtoindustryandthepaupermightbemadeself-supporting。Workhouseswereexpectedthatis，toprovidenotonlyworkbutwages。Defoe，inhisGivingAlmsnoCharity，pointedouttheobviousobjectionstotheworkhouseconsideredasaninstitutioncapableofcompetingwiththeordinaryindustries。

Workhouses，infact，soonceasedtobeprofitable。Theirvalue，however，insupplyingatestfordestitutionwasrecognised；andbyanactof1722，parisheswereallowedtosetupworkhouses，separatelyorincombination，andtostrikeoffthelistsofthepoorthosewhorefusedtoenterthem。

Thiswasthegermofthelater’workhousetest。’(9*)Whengrievancesarose，theinvariableplan，asNichollsobserves，(10*)wastoincreasethepowerofthejustices。Theirdiscretionwasregarded’asacertaincureforeveryshortcomingofthelawandeveryevilarisingoutofit。’Thegreatreportof1834tracesthistendency(11*)toaclauseinanactpassedinthereignofWilliamIII，whichwasintendedtoallowthejusticestochecktheextravaganceofparishofficers。Theywereempoweredtostrikeoffpersonsimproperlyrelieved。Thisincidentalregulation，widenedbysubsequentinterpretations，allowedthemagistratestoorderrelief，andtherebyintroducedanincredibleamountofdemoralisation。

Thecoursewasnaturalenough，andindeedapparentlyinevitable。Thejusticesofthepeacerepresentedtheonlyauthoritywhichcouldbecalledintoregulateabusesarisingfromtheincapacityandnarrowlocalinterestsofthemultitudinousvestries。Theschemesofimprovementgenerallyinvolvedsomeplanforalargerarea。Ifahundredoracountyweretakenfortheunit，thedeviceswhichdepopulatedaparishwouldnolongerbeapplicable。(12*)Theonlyschemeactuallycarriedwasembodiedin’Gilbert’sact’(1782)，obtainedbyThomasGilbert(1720-1798)，anagentofthedukeofBridgewater，andanactiveadvocateofpoor-lawreformintheHouseofCommons。ThisschemewasintendedasatemporaryexpedientduringthedistresscausedbytheAmericanWar；andalargerandmorepermanentschemewhichitwastointroducefailedtobecomelaw。Itenabledparishestocombineiftheychosetoprovidecommonworkhouses，andtoappoint’guardians。’Thejustices，asusual，receivedmorepowersinordertosuppresstheharshdealingoftheoldparochialauthorities。