J 4 Unequal Pressure of Poor-rates on Artizans and Lahourers. [Aog. I, 



To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine, 



SIR, 



NO WING, fmm having been a 

 constant reader of this Magazine 

 iiom its commencement, that its lead- 

 ing object is to disperse information 

 ■»'hich tends to benefit, improve, or in- 

 strnct, I take the liberty of requesting 

 Ibose readers wlio may have the power 

 aad inclination, 1o give me opinions on 

 Ihe following: — What county, and which 

 part of it, is best, for cheapness and sa- 

 labrity, for a man and his wife to reside in 

 trho have 100/. per annum to live on ? 

 T^e motives for soliciting information 

 OD this subject is, that I think many of 

 jonr readers will, according to the 

 atariuing state of the times, have occa- 

 sion to seek such places of retirement. 

 1 am one of that number. I Iiave been 

 *ogaged in trade, in London, for the last 

 twenty-one years, and am now forty-fwrj 

 years of age : by strict economy, and 

 close attention, I liave been enabled to 

 jKiy a very heavy rent, and a large 

 amonnt of taxes ; but for the last «x 

 months I have not done business enough 

 to teep my house ; and, if I continue, I 

 jBXiSt break into the small income I 

 possess. I think it prudent, therefore, to 

 retire to some part of the country that is 

 cheap and healthy, where 100/. per an- 

 noin will purchase the necessaries of 

 fife at a cheaper rate tlian in London. 

 LoTiifhv ; L. 0. 



Jkj»e20, 1816. 



To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 



SIR, 



IN the present depressed state of our 

 commerce, when the little foreign 

 liade which we have we owe to the su- 

 perior talent and industry of our arti- 

 saus and manufacturers, it may be useful 

 to consider some of the disadvantages 

 •which they, in common w ith other indus- 

 Irioijs labourers, are subject to, when 

 compared with their more wealthy 

 Bcighbonrs. The most prominent is the 

 very high rent they are obliged to pay 

 fijT their scanty dvv'ellings, which is ge- 

 nerally from ten to tweive per cent, up- 

 aa the value of the freehold ; while the 

 man in easy circumstances pays only 

 fiom five to seven, and the more afflu- 

 ent very frequently less than four per 

 cent. This, it mnst be allowed, u a 

 -■very gjeat disadvantage; since, however 

 poor or humble a man may be, he must 

 have a lotlging for himself and family : 

 but this is not the end of the evil, for, as 

 the parochial rates are equally made up- 

 M) the rent, the occupier »i a siunlj 



house is consequently called upon t<* 

 contribute a much larger proportion of 

 his income to the maintenance of the 

 poor, &c. than bis more wealthy neigh- 

 bour ; and here I m ould observe that in 

 those parishes where the poor-rate it 

 made upon the landlord of small houses, 

 and not upon the tenant, the landlord 

 will always bo found to receive an addi- 

 tional rent. In the assessed taxes the 

 legislature has bees more just ; and the 

 rate per poiwid upon inlrabited bonscs 

 increases with their value, and the tax 

 per window with the number of win- 

 dows, &c. It may be said that the evil 

 complained of is partly provided against 

 by the Act of Parliament imposing poor- 

 rates, rendering stock or capital also 

 liable to be rated, thereby making the 

 poor-rate a tax upon property ; but, ow- 

 ing to the considerable (Ufficnlly of 

 ascertaining the amount of the latter 

 description of property liable to be 

 rated (llic right of examining a man 

 against himself being a modern disco- 

 very), and to our parisii rulers, bciuj; 

 those most atfetted by it, ihis part of 

 the rate has becsi generally abandoned, 

 and is now collected in but very few 

 parishes. 'I'hus the equitable intentioa 

 of the Act is defeated; and the me- 

 chanic, pos.^essing no other property 

 than his labonr, and, of course, not sulv- 

 ject to the rate upon stock, is, by the 

 arbitrary imposition of the capitalist, 

 compelled to [lay Irom theliard earnings 

 of his industry, in addition to hfs pro- 

 portion ujinn the rental of the parisb, 

 that tax which was only intended for 

 those possessing property. 



The militia laws are also mncb more 

 oppressive U[>oii the l»houfcr than upon 

 the monied man ; for, s^ioukJ the former 

 be ballctted, he is forced into the ser- 

 vice, his poverty, and not his vr\\\, con- 

 senting ; while, if the ballot fall upon 

 the latter, he is exempted by providing: 

 a substitute ; in which case the number 

 of men to be drawii from in the next 

 ballot is decreased two-told, and the 

 ])robabi!)ty of those being drawn who 

 iiiid prcn'iousiy escaped, increased in the 

 same ratio. In providing fnod lor him- 

 self and family, the poor man has still to 

 contend against the wcli-(illcd purse of 

 his more fortunate neighbour; and he 

 whose indastiy will only yield him a 

 meat dinner one day in scve«, is obliged 

 to pay \d. per lb. more for hss meat, than 

 he whose family is feasted upon that articiw 

 twice daily. The same may be said re- 

 specting many of the other necessarieK 

 «)f lifu ; and, wbau this is considered, in 



