4 
4 
er 
55 
1891. ‘To find out some of the chief causes for this decrease, 
and to denote the reason for untoward exceptions in Liverpool 
and several other congested centres, would be to pave the way 
for further progress. We should then be enabled to gauge with 
accuracy the value of the demand for Compulsory Insurance. 
Why, for instance, had the pauperism fallen in the Burnley 
Union from 1 in 26 in 1851, to 1 in 50 in 1861—+ising a little 
during the next two decades owing to the Cotton Famine, 
followed by a prolonged strike and a heavy reduction in wages 
in 1878—until in 1891 the number has receded to 1 in 80? If 
you will turn to Appendix Table 5, a fair though by no means 
full explanation will be found. Wages were higher and work 
was better and more plentiful in the weaving department in 
1859-60—the golden age of the cotton trade—than at present. 
But voluntary payments in aid of the sick and unemployed, 
amounting in the aggregate to £8,000 per year, were not called 
into being at that time. Recent developments of trade 
organization shield operatives to a large extent from the 
immediate ill-effects of breakdowns, fires, failures, and stoppages 
for repairs. The Weavers’ Union alone has distributed during 
the past 12 months for this most laudable purpose £2,805 ; and 
in addition £721 as funeral money. A payment of 2d. per week 
insures £5 at death and 3s. per week during breakdowns, &c. 
Threepence per week insures £6 at death and 6s. per week; 
while a payment of 4d. weekly insures £7 at death and 9s. per 
week. Out of 16,000 weavers, 8,000 are enrolled in the society, 
and I am credibly informed that this proportion will hold good 
throughout Lancashire. The amount paid in out-door relief and 
for indoor maintenance during the past year (excluding lunatics 
and imbeciles) was £11,525, but the total voluntary payments in 
aid of the sick and out-of-work largely exceeded that, reaching 
an aggregate of £15,999 6s. 1d., as you will find on consulting 
Appendix Tables 4 and 5. 
In tabulating the amount of active living charity to be found 
in the Burnley Union, I have purposely refused to take into 
account periodic doles. But the recent erection of a voluntary 
hospital, doing an incalculable amount of good, enabling 
husband, wife, or child to receive careful and continuous 
narsing, while the remaining bread-winners are free to pursue 
their ordinary avocations, and by that means keeping hundreds 
of deserving people from having to depend upon the rates, ought 
not to be overlooked. To this hospital the workpeople of the 
district contribute quite £1,100 yearly by means of quarterly 
collections in mills and workshops, and they also subscribed the 
magnificent sum of £4,186 1s. 6d. towards the building fund. 
Long continued ill-health is a fruitful source of pauperism, and 
every step towards rendering efficient aid, directly by means of 
