118 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1800. 



these houses, nevertheless, are in- 

 cluded many which pay a rent of 

 less than 3l. per annum. 



The proportion of small houses, 

 or of houses divided into small lodg- 

 ings, in the two other parishes, is 

 represented as also great ; and the 

 deficiencies in the collection of the 

 present poor-rates of all the three 

 are large and increasing, and the 

 debt of each is considerable. 

 . Thepninthowever to whichyour 

 committee would more particularly 

 call the immediate attention of the 

 house, is the very great distress to 

 which the poor of these parishes, 

 who are obliged to make application 

 for parochial relief, are necessarily 

 reduced, through the inadequacy of 

 the funds provided for them. The 

 officers have given in statements to 

 your committee, by which it ap- 

 pears that they are not able to grant 

 pecuniary aid to so much as one- 

 tenth part of those persons, who 

 would be likely now to receive it, 

 if they resided in other parishes ; 

 and also that to the few whom they 

 relieve, on account of their being 

 entirely out of work, they give only 

 about one-fifth or one sixth part of 

 the sum commonly granted in Lon- 

 don to persons in like circumstances. 

 It is also stated, that the work- 

 houses are at this time exceedingly 

 crowded. 



The rental of all these parishes 

 charged to the poor-rates, which it 

 is usual to do according to the rack 

 rent, is about 60,000/. ; the rental 

 of the metropolis (if by that term is 

 understood the district lying within 

 the bills of mortality, together with 

 the parishes of St. Pancras and St. 

 Mary-la-bonne) may be estimated at 

 about fifty times that sum, or at 

 about three milliors. The number 

 of persons in the ihiee parishes, who 



are of the poorer class, and are not 

 now relieved, are computed at be- 

 tween 16 and 17,000, forming un- 

 questionably a large portion of the 

 poorer labourers and manufacturers 

 of various descriptions, who work 

 both for the city and for other parts 

 of the town. 



In order to relieve the peculiar 

 pressure on this body of persons, ari- 

 sing from the circumstances which 

 have been represented, it is obvious 

 that a considerable sum will be ne- 

 cessary ; and it is also certain, that 

 thisnecessary sum cannot be obtain- 

 ed by additional burdens on the 

 parishes themselves, since it hasbeen 

 lately found that every advancement 

 of the rates causes an almost pro- 

 portionate deficiency in the receipts, 

 by producing in a short time an ab- 

 solute necessity for allowing a very 

 material increase in the exemptions. 



Your committee, in proceeding to 

 considerthe remedyfor the evilwliich 

 they have stated, have adverted to a 

 clause in the act of the 43d year of 

 the reign of queen Elizabeth, en- 

 tituled, " An act for the Relief of 

 the Poor ;" by which it is enacted, 

 that " if the justices charged with 

 the execution of that act shall per- 

 ceive that the inhabitants of any 

 parish are not able to levy among 

 themselves sufficient sumsof money 

 for the purposes of the act, that 

 then two justices may tax, rate, and 

 assess, as aforesaid, any other of other 

 parishes, or out of any parish within 

 the hundred where the said parish 

 is, to pay such sum and sums of 

 money to the churchwardens and 

 overseers of the said poor parish, 

 for the said purposes, as the said 

 justices shall think fit: and if the 

 said hundred shall not be thoughtby 

 tlie said justices able and fit to re- 

 lieve the said several parishes not 



