BELIEF OF THE POOR. 331 



APPENDIX II. 



REASONS FOR DISSENTING FROM THE PRINCIPLE OF 

 RAISING FUNDS FOR THE RELIEF OF THE POOR BY 

 THE VOLUNTARY SYSTEM, AS RECOMMENDED IN THE 

 REPORT. 



HAVING given to the subject that full and anxious con- 

 sideration which its importance so imperiously demands, 

 we feel ourselves called upon to state the reasons which 

 prevent us from concurring in the recommendation, " That 

 provision be made by law towards the relief of the aged 

 and infirm, orphans, widows with young children, and 

 destitute persons in general, through the establishment, 

 in the first instance, of voluntary associations." 



I. Because all experience teaches that the greatest mi- 

 sery and want, often amounting to actual starvation, are 

 found to exist where the infirm and indigent of any great 

 community are left totally dependent on the precarious 

 charity of the wealthier classes of society. 



II. Because in Ireland, a country where private bene- 

 volence is eminently conspicuous, and where voluntary 

 charity abounds, we still find the poor in a state of un- 

 paralleled destitution. 



III. Because) in the lamentably distressed state of the 

 Irish poor, any system of relief to be effectual must be 

 comprehensive, uniform and prompt, while the very con- 

 stitution of voluntary associations proclaims that their 

 operations must be tardy, and, circumstanced as Ireland 



