TRAXS ACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 231 



On the Relative Pauperism of England, Scotland, and Ireland, 1851-1860. 



By Fkedeeick Puedt, F.S.S., Principal of the Statistical Department, Poor 



Law Board. 



This paper treated of the relative pauperism of England, Scotland, and Ireland 

 during the ten years ended in 1860. It pointed out that each country had its own 

 Poor Laws, and its separate administrative machinery. Poor Laws had existed in 

 England for nearly three centuries ; but in Scotland there was nothing worthy of 

 the°name before 1845 ; and in Ii-elaud they were introduced in 1838. In England 

 the average number of paupers was 892,671; in Scotland, 120,724; in Ireland, 

 95,880 ; or 47, 4-0, and 1-5 per cent, on the population, respectively. It was stated 

 that those who had devoted themselves to study the working of the English Poor 

 Laws were opposed to the system of " out-door relief," from the difficidty of test- 

 ing the applicant's claim, aiid from the fear that it may be perverted, in the hands 

 of^the employers of labour, who constitute the majority of the immediate admini- 

 strators of relief, to the depression of wages. It appeared that for 1 in-door pauper 

 in England there were 6 out-door; in Scotland, 13; but in Ireland -03 only. 

 Thouo-h pauperism is lowest in Ireland, it was shown that in Scotland, where 

 nearly aU the relief is otd-door, the resident Irish were greatly pauperized, for 1 in 

 13 was there a pauper ; but in Ireland only 1 in 274. According to the most re- 

 cent statistics, there were 43,810 pauper lunatics in the United Kingdom, — England 

 having 33,068, Scotland 5103, and Ireland 5639 of this unfortunate class. On each 

 10,000 of the population, England has 17, Scotland the same, and Ireland 9 only. 

 The Commissioners, who in 1858 reported upon the Irish hmatic asylums, stated 

 that there were 3350 " insane poor at large and unpro\'ided for." This would, if 

 they were to be included hereafter as paupers, raise the Ii-ish ratio considerably. In 

 the ten years £92,S85,965 had been raised by poor-rates. In England, £77,960,190 ; 

 Scotland, £6,182,526; and Ireland, £8,143,249. But of the English portion, 

 £18,000,000 were for purposes quite imconnected with relief to the poor. The 

 sums actually spent in relief to the poor were, for England, £54,767,542 ; Scotland, 

 £5,917,634 ; and Ireland, £6,656,745, respectively equal to a rate per head on the 

 population of 5«. 9^cl., 3s. ll^d., and 2s. Iff/, annually. The proportion was nearly 

 triple in England, and doubk in Scotland, that which sufficed for Ireland. Compa- 

 ring the amount expended in 1860 with that of 1851, it appeared that in England 

 it was now 10 per cent., and in Scotland 25 per cent, higher. In Ireland, on the 

 other hand, it was now 60 per cent. loiver. The yearly cost per pauper was, for 

 England, £6 2s. Sd. ; Scotland, £4 18s. ; and Ireland, £6 18s. \Qd. Ireland stands 

 hiohest here, because relief in the workhouse is dearest individually, though in its 

 ultimate effects the most economical and the least demoralizing. The comparison 

 of the rate in the pound, on the property-tax assessment, was then made in respect 

 of the seven years ending in 1860, there being no return for Ireland previous to 1854. 

 The relief to the poor during that period was equal to an annual tax, on the Sche- 

 dule A assessment, of Is. \d. in England, llld. in Scotland, and lOf f7. in Ireland. 

 It was considered remarkable that, however diverse the pauperism of the three 

 kingdoms had otherwise been, yet, in this relation, there was a considerable ap- 

 proach to uniformity — England only exceeding Scotland by l^d. and Ireland by 

 2{d. ia the pound. The rate per head of the assessments under Schedides A, B, 

 and D, on the average population of the seven years, was computed to show the 

 relative wealth of the three countries : this ia England was £11 17s. ; in Scotland, 

 £9 13s. ; and in Ireland, £3 5s. Taking these in conjunction with previous ratios, 

 it would appear that the pauperism has been inversely as the poverty of the three 

 countries — England, the wealthiest and most pauperized ; Ireland, the poorest and 

 least pauperized ; Scotland coming between, but much nearer to England, both in 

 wealth and in pauperism. It was asked, in conclusion, If Ireland, under the judi- 

 cious administration of her Poor Laws, has reduced her pauperism to a quantity 

 which, at the present day, is less than oiie per cent, of the population, under what 

 conditions can we hope that similar results may be achieved for England and Scot- 

 land ? But it was obsei-ved that something beyond statistical information is re- 

 quired for the satisfactory solution of this important question. 



Some of the more important data discussed in this paper are briefly exhibited in 

 the subjoined Tables : — 



