Proposed Bill for hetlering the condition of the Poor. 



1821.] 



1« regularly supplied with rape-cake- 

 soup, prepared by dissolving ttie cakes 

 with an equal quantity of either be;ni 

 or barley-meal in water. 



The Hainault scytlie is an excellent 

 iinpleiueut, of the bagging kind, by 

 wliieh six men reap five acres of wheat 

 daily, and it is in general use over all 

 Flanders, p, 124, 192, &c. 



Rent, taxes, and the sale prices of 

 laud, are specified in page 180, and 

 there it is said the rents vary from five 

 siiilliugs to three pounds per English 

 acre ; and the sale price from 2o to 30 

 years purchase. John aiiDDLETON. 

 Lambeth, Fe&. 7-1821. 

 To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 



SIR, 



TO ascertain the means whereby to 

 afford encouraiiement to our na- 

 tional iudvistry, and reduce the enor- 

 mous burthen of poor's rates and crime, 

 liaving occupied the labours of the Pro- 

 Tisional Commiltce, the following is 

 now submitted to tlu; legislature, and 

 to the country. Our iudiistrious popu- 

 lation having been considered under 

 its two natural divisions : viz. 1. Agri- 

 cultural labourers: and 2dly. Manu- 

 facturers, includhig artizans and all 

 others: and the present circumstances 

 of our trade, and commerce, and the 

 great and valuable improvements in 

 the application of mechanic power in 

 our manufoctures being duly weighed, 

 it has been determined that the culti- 

 vation of the soil offers itself as an 

 eminent reserve. 



In examining the statute book, we 

 perceive the sagacity of our ancestors, 

 very shortly after the Reformation, had 

 marie provision for these important 

 objects. 



In addition to the provision made by 

 43 Elizabeth, whereby employment to 

 tbe unoccupied was ascertained, it was 

 also enacted in the same reign, that 

 every newly erected cottage in the 

 country, should be furnished with four 

 acres of land. Also in tlie reign of 

 King Charles I. a special commission 

 was appointed to enforce the same. 



We rejoice that the waste lands in 

 the present times will yield the ample 

 mejms of restoration to our impover- 

 ished and degraded community, in- 

 volving tile revival of (hat stay of 

 our country, — our home trade; es- 

 tablisiiijig the fame of British society 

 outiie most firm and stable basis. 



PLAN FOR A lULL. 



Wheresw, it is c-sseiitial to our prosperity 

 th«t the population fehould have adequate 



227 



employment ; and a large proportion of tbe 

 labouring community are either unemploy- 

 ed, or if employed, are unable to subsist 

 by their labour, the following is proposed 

 for legislative enactment : 



1 . That Commissioners be appointed, to 

 be denominated General Commissioners, 

 and who shall be composed of some of the 

 most distinguished characters. 



2. That the said Commissioners shall re- 

 ceive the assistance of the Board of Agri- 

 culture ; also of other intelligent and pa- 

 triotic individuals. 



3. That Commissioners, to be intituled 

 Local Commissioners, composed of Magis- 

 tracy, aud other intelligent, suitable, and 

 patriotic characters, shall be elected by an 

 union of parishes, or by the hundred, aud 

 appointed by the Genera! Commissioners. 



■i. That for the purposes of employment 

 aud for letting, the Commissioners shall 

 obtain the necessary land, and v.hich will 

 generally consist of waste laud, making 

 compensations, &c. &c. causing necessary 

 abodes and buildings to be erected, pro- 

 viding superintendents over the labourers, 

 &c. &c. * 



5. That cottages shall be constructed of 

 the cheapest materials, and the rents to be 

 charged shall not exceed the interest at five 

 per cent, per annum, of the monies ex- 

 pended thereon. The Commissioners are 

 also to assist with loans, (bearing interest, 

 and payable by instalments) such labourers 

 as shall be desirous to erect suitable cot- 

 tages for themselves; advances so made, 

 being generally to workmen, or for ma- 

 terials, &c. 



6 That portions of land to be granted to 

 labourers, shall not be less than a quarter 

 of an acre, nor exceed an acre and half, in 

 proportion to their family ; aud for which 

 a lease shall be granted for a term of forty- 

 two years -, the tenant being freed from the 

 expense of the lease on the following terms, 

 viz. — 



A peppercorn rent for the first fourteen 

 years, or longer, determinable by the 

 quality and condition of the land ; after 

 which, a rent to commence equal to one 

 third part of the present annual value, and 

 which to continue for fourteen years, when 

 the rent to be increased to one moiety of 

 the present annual value, and which to be 

 continued during the remainder of the term ; 

 also, that the land shall be exempt during 

 the terra, from parliamentary and parochial 

 burthens, and tithes. 



7. That such lands shall not be re-let for 

 any term exceeding three years •, the Com- 

 missioners may, however, in the event of 

 death, &c. at the desire of the occupier, re- 

 occupy the same, paying at a valuation for 

 all improvements which shall have been 

 made thereon. 



8. That on lands inclosed under this act, 

 the Commissioners shall cause to be made 



suitable 



