4 200 Advantageous Employment of the Poor. |Oct. 1, 
abstract truth of the discoveries of 
Quesnai and Turgot, he only doubted 
their practical utility; neither does 
Sismondi , nor those who adopt his 
views, undervalue the principles of the 
Wealth of Nations,—they only ques¬ 
tion their compatibility with an aug- 
mentation of public felicity. They do 
not deny that the doctrines of Smith 
may increase the riches of a country, 
but they doubt whether riches so ac¬ 
quired would be an advantage. Smith 
looked only to the total physical result 
of his system, not to its eftect on the 
internal oiganization of states. His 
chief error lay in contemplating man 
only in his selfish, social capacity, not 
as an individual being of sentiment and 
passion. Besides an abundance of the 
physical means of enjoyment, morality, 
liberty and independence are essential 
to human welfare; and besides society 
providing for an augmentation of the 
general wealth, it ought also to pio- 
vide for its equitable distribution , other¬ 
wise it may become a source of national 
disease rather than of healthful vigour. 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
AGREE with Mr. Wright in attach¬ 
ing great consequence to the manuer 
in which the overseers of the poor per¬ 
form the duties of their office in the 
present distressful times, but it is ne¬ 
cessary to consider that these gentle¬ 
men have double duties to attend to, 
they have their duties to their neigh¬ 
bours and themselves, on the one hand, 
and their duties to the poor, on the 
other; these two interests are conti¬ 
nually opposing each other, and while 
the overseer has to overcome the ava¬ 
rice and economy of the parish, he has 
also to contend against the cunning 
and the impositions which are well 
known to be practised by the paupers 
in most of the parishes of this king¬ 
dom, as has been correctly noticed by 
your correspondent; it must be ad¬ 
mitted, therefore, that his task is by no 
means an easy one. 
1st. How r can the poor be best em¬ 
ployed in agricultural districts ? 
A ns. By labour or spade husbandry. 
For this purpose laud must be engaged, 
and the poor must be superintended 
by those whose habits enable them to 
direct their labour to the most useful 
results; they will then leave their work- 
house, not as now, w T ith an accession of 
idle and depraved opinions and habits, 
but with the knowledge of the means 
of providing their bread honestly. 
2nd. What is the best method of 
preventing the impositions which are 
practised on the overseers ? 
Ans. By sending all applicants for 
relief at once to the workhouse: if 
they are distressed, they will be shel¬ 
tered, fed, and clothed; if they are 
impostors, the labour which they must 
be forced to undergo, or be subject to 
punishment, will soon induce them to 
shift their quarters. 
The third question, as to the success 
of such a plan as that I here propose, 
if it were to be adopted, I cannot an¬ 
swer; but I am quite willing and desir¬ 
ous to give my time and attention to 
any experiment which may be attempt¬ 
ed, and with this view I have sent 
round to several parishes in London a 
notice which follows, and with which 
I respectfully take my leave; observ¬ 
ing previously, however, that neither 
Mr. Owen’s plan, nor any other plan 
for establishing families in cottages, 
will ever relieve the parishes from the 
burthen of those temporary calls for 
relief, that are too frequent, trouble¬ 
some, and burthensome. 
Nothing, l humbly apprehend, can 
do for the employment of such persons 
but forming an establishment that will 
take applicants at all times,for a shorter 
or longer period , and that work or la¬ 
bour must be useful, and not consist 
of making holes and filling them up 
again. With such families as could 
with advantage be established in cot¬ 
tages, and permanently fixed, my plan 
would by no means interfere, it being 
merely intended for such as only want 
temporary relief. 
To the Churchwardens , Overseers , and 
Inhabitants of the Parishes of London, 
Westminster, and within the Bills of 
Mortality. 
Thomas Reid, of No. 6, Norfolk-street, 
Strand, begs leave to submit to the consi¬ 
deration of the above gentlemen a certain 
method of diminishing the poors’ rate, and 
rendering the poor more comfortable. 
This plan consists in finding advantage¬ 
ous employment for the poor on a farm 
near London, to be cultivated by the 
spade ; on which wheat aud other grain, 
potatoes, garden stuff's will be raised; 
from which the poor will be supplied with 
what is necessary, and the remainder to 
be sold in diminution of expences. 
The particulars of the plan may be seen 
at No. 6, Norfolk-street, or the gentlemen 
of any parish will be waited upon with it, 
by appointment made ; but the principle 
is to employ beneficially all who are able 
to work, and the result will be a great 
diminution of expence to the parish. 
