POOR'S ROLL 



6251 



POOR'S ROLL 



On admission inmates have to be 

 cleansed and clothed in workhouse 

 clothes, their own being taken 

 away and kept for them. Any 

 money found upon an applicant 

 may be used by the guardians for 

 his immediate maintenance. 



Workhouse Classification 



On admission there is a medical 

 examination of the applicant, who, 

 if not sent to the sick ward, is 

 placed in one or other of the follow- 

 ing classes : (1) Infirm men ; (2) 

 able-bodied men and youths over 

 15 ; (3) boys between 7 and 15 ; 

 (4) infirm women ; (5) women and 

 girls over 15 ; (6) girls between 

 7 and 15 ; (7) children under 7. 

 No communication is allowed 

 between these classes except by 

 special permission. Married couples 

 are separated owing to lack of 

 accommodation, except that infirm 

 or aged couples may be together in 

 a separate sleeping department. 

 To each class certain duties or 

 tasks are assigned, such as shifting 

 goods, digging, scrubbing, wash- 

 ing, ironing, wood-chopping, hoe- 

 ing, needlework ; children come 

 under the Education Acts. When 

 a workhouse is full a labour test 

 has to be passed before outdoor 

 relief is given. 



If an inmate is found to have 

 outside resources sufficient for his 

 maintenance, the guardians may 

 withhold relief, or if they give it, 

 proceed against him before the 

 justices for the cost of maintenance. 

 The guardians may forcibly eject 

 in these circumstances an inmate 

 who refuses to go. Any inmate 

 may quit the workhouse on giving 

 reasonable notice. 



" Casual paupers " comprise any 

 destitute wayfarer or wanderer 

 applying for relief. There are 

 special wards for these, and those 

 admitted are called upon to do 

 certain tasks in return for a night's 

 board and lodging. Conditions are 

 much the same as in the other wards. 



OUTDOOR RELIEF. Outdoor 

 relief may be given by the guar- 

 dians in cases of (1) sudden and 

 urgent necessity ; (2) accident or 

 infirmity ; (3) funeral expenses ; 



(4) widows in first six months of 

 widowhood or if they have children ; 



(5) families of people abroad, in 

 gaol, or in asylums, of service men, 

 and of non-parishioners. It should 

 not in general be given to able- 

 bodied men; it should be granted 

 for a fixed period only, not exceed- 

 ing three months ; one-half of the 

 relief should be in kind, not cash ; 

 nor may the guardians establish 

 any applicant in trade or business, 

 or buy tor him tools or implements. 



The principle upon which out- 

 relief should be given was stated 



in a circular issued by the ministry 

 of health in Sept., 1921, in connex- 

 ion with the demands being made 

 by able-bodied unemployed men in 

 certain London boroughs for pro- 

 vision for themselves and their 

 families. The relief given must be 

 on a lower scale than the earnings 

 of a man at work ; it must be given 

 on loan where practicable, and the 

 applicant must give a signed state- 

 ment of the income of his house- 

 hold from all sources ; in each case, 

 then, there must be a careful inves- 

 tigation by the relieving officer ; 

 the bulk of the relief in each case 

 should be in kind. 



VAGRANCY LAWS. The law con- 

 fers upon the authorities certain 

 powers for punishing the incurably 

 idle and impostors who seek to 

 take advantage of the poor law 

 relief. " Idle and disorderly per- 

 sons " are liable to a month's hard 

 labour. An appeal lies to quarter 

 sessions. They include able- 

 bodied people who become charge- 

 able to the rates through refusing 

 to work, paupers becoming charge- 

 able to parishes from which they 

 have been removed under the old 

 law of settlement of paupers, 

 those who leave workhouses or 

 casual wards without leave or re- 

 main on after their time is up, those 

 who break the workhouse rules, etc. 



Meaning of " Incorrigible Rogues " 



" Rogues and vagabonds " are 

 liable to three months' hard labour. 

 They include men who abandon 

 their wives and children, thereby 

 making them chargeable to the 

 parish, workhouse inmates who 

 wilfully damage their clothes or 

 the guardians' property, and 

 those found wandering about in 

 suspicious circumstances without 

 visible means of subsistence. " In- 

 corrigible rogues " include the 

 foregoing on second or subsequent 

 conviction. Quarter sessions may 

 inflict a year's imprisonment and 

 order whipping for men. 



FOREIGN POOR LAW SYSTEMS. 

 In Germany the poor law obliges 

 local relief authorities to " relieve 

 every poor person conformably to 

 his need." There is no central con- 

 trol and no government inspectors. 

 There are poorhouses, but outdoor 

 relief is prevalent, though there is no 

 legal claim to it as in England. The 

 Elberfeld System (q.v.), which is 

 almost universal, proceeds by 

 means of voluntary officials in 

 every district, strongly centralized 

 in many respects. 



In Holland the principle of relief 

 is private charity with public ad- 

 ministration intervening only in 

 the last resort, but the tendency 

 is more towards public assistance 

 by means of the Elberfeld System. 



In the United States the system is 

 very like the English, except that 

 the charitable institutions take an 

 active part in cooperating with the 

 poor law authorities in the pre- 

 vention and removal of distress. 

 American charities are registered. 

 In a normal year (1910) there were 

 84,000 almshouse inmates. 



In France there are communal 

 institutions, the hopital for cur- 

 able illness, hospice for aged poor, 

 incurables, foundlings, and waifs ; 

 bureau de bienfaisance for out- 

 relief to the aged or needy ; and 

 bureau d' assistance for free medical 

 treatment. A branch of the 

 ministry of the interior is the con- 

 trolling authority. No poor rate is 

 levied. The funds spent come 

 from the amusement tax, the 

 profits on the state pawnshops, 

 and other sources. There is a de- 

 centralizad method of relief in the 

 arrondissement divisions exercised 

 by unpaid administrateurs. In 1905 

 a law was passed providing for an 

 allowance of from 5 to 20 francs 

 per month for every French per- 

 son without resources, and either 

 over 70 or incurably infirm. In 

 1909, 495,000 people were so as- 

 sisted. The system is non-contri- 

 butory as in the case of English 

 old age pensions, and takes into 

 account any resources that the re- 

 cipient may have. 



In Denmark there is a statutory 

 old age allowance beginning at the 

 age of sixty, the ordinary poor 

 relief authorities deciding who are 

 suitable recipients. But in Belgium, 

 where friendly societies were de- 

 barred by law from providing life 

 annuities for their members, the 

 ordinary poor law arrangements 

 have been supplemented by a con- 

 tributory system of state pensions, 

 and in addition a pension of 65 

 francs for every indigent worker 

 over 65. 



Bibliography. Histories of the 

 Scotch and Irish Poor Laws, G. 

 Nicholla, 1856 ; History of Vag- 

 rants and Vagrancy, C. J. Ribton- 

 Turner, 1887 ; Life and Labour of 

 the People in London, 9 vols., C. 

 Booth, 1889-97; History of the 

 English Poor Laws, vols. I, II, G. 

 Nicholls, new ed. 1898, vol. Ill, 

 T. Mackay, 1899 ; Our Treatment 

 of the Poor, Sir W. Chance, 1899; 

 The Vagrancy Problem, W. H. 

 Dawson, 1910 ; The Prevention of 

 Destitution, S. and B. Webb, 1911. 



Poor's Roll. In Scots law, a 

 register of persons who, on the 

 ground of poverty, have obtained 

 leave of the court to bring or 

 defend actions in forma pauper is. 

 They are exempt from payment of 

 court fees, and if the court is satis- 

 fied that they have reasonable 

 ground of action, it appoints agents 

 and counsel who represent them 



