T8i\. 



On Mr. Scarlett^s Bill on the Poor Laws. 



fias befell rWilconed among tlie hardest 

 ♦imes they have seen. The sitxiation, 

 bt\ng oh the east fork of Wliite river, is 

 Very pleasant; the banks are full one 

 liundred feet above (he stream, on a fine 

 letcl plain. Yours, 



Robert Chapman. 



To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 



SIR, 



rr^IlE present code of poor laws, it is 

 M agreed on all hands, does not an- 

 swer the end for which it has been from 

 time to time formed ; for, instead of 

 •holding!; <mt merely a refuge for tire 

 aged, the infirm, and the diseased, in 

 the day of their affliction, it affoids pro- 

 tection to the idle and the dissolute; 

 and many persons, who an; now the in- 

 mates of the workhouse, would, but 

 for this encouragement of their idle- 

 ness, still have been useful members of 

 •society. 



The measure proposed by Mr. Scar- 

 lett, although it would, as it appears to 

 me, tend, in some degree, (o lessen the 

 *viis complained of, is lial>le to the 

 very serious objection shortly after 

 aaentioned. 



He says, fix a maximum for the 

 wliole country, beyond whioli it shall 

 not be lawful to Icvj' any poor rates, 

 and let that maximum be the amount 

 of the rate for the last year. After 

 the passing of this measure the poor 

 houses could not, at any rate, become 

 the rec<^ptacles of- more idleness than 

 they at jwesent contain, and without 

 inflicting any hardship on those who 

 have already availed themselves of 

 them, it would prevent the recurrence 

 •of such abuses. The husbandman and 

 the mechanic would be more anxious 

 to obtain provisions for their families 

 by their labour, if they found it im- 

 practicable to obtain any relief from 

 their parish. Tlic farmer would lie 

 obliged to jwy bis labourers better 

 wages, and so, by steps, we should 

 come to the root of the evil, and the 

 landloi-ds would be obliged to lower 

 their rents. 



The po6r rates, in the reign of Eli- 

 zabeth, were about seven hundred 

 thousand pounds — now they are about 

 seven millions. What is the cause of 

 this frightful increase? Has popula- 

 tion increased in proportion ?— No; 

 but idleness has. By this measure of 

 fixing a maximum, a finishing stroke 

 would be given to the expectations of 

 the labourer and mechanic, of {«i-ochial 

 Aw\. Aftording them relief is com- 



503 



pletely subversive of the jwlicy and 

 principle of the poor laws. It is to be 

 observed, that this measure does not 

 fix a minimum, though it does a max- 

 imum. 



The objection, which I before allud- 

 ed to, is this. The maximum could 

 not be fixed for every particular parish, 

 but it must be averaged for the whole 

 country, because the rates for this year 

 in A iiiay be sixpence in the pound, 

 and in B three shillings, and next year 

 the amount of tlie rates in A and B may 

 be reversed. 



The maximum, then, being for the 

 whole country, there could be but 

 one average rate, and the consequence of 

 this is obvious. The management of the 

 poor would be taken from the parochial 

 officers and made a government job. 

 Then we should have inspectors, gene- 

 ral commissioners, and the long etceteia 

 of officers appointed by government, 

 with salaries, &c. as under the tax 

 system. 



This is an evil which ought to ]ye 

 guarded against, as tending to increase 

 the already overwhelming influence of 

 government ; and if the maximum 

 could not be fixed for every particular 

 parish, and I do not see bow it could be 

 without manifest injustice, the measure 

 had better be relinquisiied, than to be 

 the cause of so pei-nicious an effect, 



Anotherpartof the measure proposed 

 is, to abolish the oppressive laws regu- 

 lating the removal, and to settle the 

 poor in that place where they actually 

 become chargeable. This seems to me 

 to be extremely well qualified to relieve 

 the poor rates from an expense which 

 they must sensibly feel, viz. the expense 

 of removing paupers, and of appeals to 

 the sessions against such removals. 

 And although it may appear a hardship 

 for any parish to maintain poor which 

 do not belong to it ; yet the balance 

 will be nearly equal in tlieend, for the 

 poor, whom, according to the present 

 laws, any particular parish would be 

 obliged to maintain, would, in like 

 manner, be supported by others. 



_ O. E. W. 



General rules for the cuitivatiow 



of ARABLE LAND. 



To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 



SIR, 



ri^HE first and most excellent rule is, 

 A that every sort of corn should be 

 succeeded by either clover or tares. 

 And to promote this succession, the 

 stubbles, where there arc not any clo- 

 ver 



