Of the Means which may be used by Individuals in affluent Circumstances for the Relief of the Poor in their Neighbourhood.
As nothing tends more powerfully to encourage idleness and immorality among the Poor, and consequently to perpetuate all the evils to society which arise from the prevalence of poverty and mendicity, than injudicious distributions of alms; individuals must be very cautious in bestowing their private charities, and in forming schemes for giving assistance to the distressed; otherwise they will most certainly do more harm than good.-- The evil tendency of giving alms indiscriminately to beggars is universally acknowledged; but it is not, I believe, so generally known how much harm is done by what are called the PRIVATE CHARITIES of individuals.--Far be it from me to wish to discourage private charities; I am only anxious that they should be better applied.
Without taking up time in analyzing the different motives by which persons of various character are induced to give alms to the Poor, or of showing the consequences of their injudicious or careless donations; which would be an unprofitable as well as a disagreeable investigation; I shall briefly point out what appear to me to be the most effectual means which individuals in affluent circumstances can employ for the assistance of the Poor in their neighbourhood.
The most certain and efficacious relief that can be given to the Poor is that which would be afforded them by forming a general Establishment for giving them useful employment, and furnishing them with the necessaries of life at a cheap rate; in short, forming a Public Establishment similar in all respects to that already recommended, and making it as extensive as circumstances will permit.
An experiment might first be made in a single village, or in a single parish; a small house, or two or three rooms only, might be fitted up for the reception of the Poor, and particularly of the children of the Poor; and to prevent the bad impressions which are sometimes made by names which have been become odious, instead of calling it a Work-house, it might be called "A School of Industry," or, perhaps, Asylum would be a better name for it.--One of these rooms should be fitted up as a kitchen for cooking for the Poor; and a middle-aged women of respectable character, and above all of a gentle and humane disposition, should be placed at the head of this Establishment, and lodged in the house.--As she should serve at the same time as chief cook, and as steward of the institution, it would be necessary that she should be able to write and keep accounts; and in cases where the business of superintending the various details of the Establishment would be too extensive to be performed by one person, one or more assistants may be given her.
In large Establishments it might, perhaps, be best to place a married couple, rather advanced in life, and without children, at the head of the institution; but, whoever are employed in that situation, care should be taken that they should be persons of irreproachable character, and such as the Poor can have no reason to suspect of partiality.
As nothing would tend more effectually to ruin an Establishment of this kind, and prevent the good intended to be produced by it, than the personal dislikes of the Poor to those put over them, and more especially such dislikes as are founded on their suspicions of their partiality, the greatest caution in the choice of these persons will always be necessary: and in general it will be best not to take them from among the Poor, or at least not from among those of the neighbourhood, nor such as have relations, acquaintances, or other connexions among them.
Another point to be attended to in the choice of a person to be placed at the head of such an Establishment, (and it is a point of more importance than can well be imagined by those who have not considered the matter with some attention)-- is the looks or EXTERNAL APPEARANCE of the person destined for this employment.
All those who have studied human nature, or have taken notice of what passes in themselves when they approach for the first time a person who has any thing very strongly marked in his countenance, will feel how very important it is that a person placed at the head of an asylum for the reception of the Poor and the unfortunate should have an open, pleasing countenance, such as inspires confidence and conciliates affection and esteem.
Those who are in distress, are apt to be fearful and apprehensive, and nothing would be so likely to intimidate and discourage them as the forbidding aspect of a stern and austere countenance in the person they were taught to look up to for assistance and protection.
The external appearance of those who are destined to command others is always a matter of real importance, but it is peculiarly so when those to be commanded and directed are objects of pity and commiseration.
Where there are several gentlemen who live in the neighbourhood of the same town or village where an Establishment, or Asylum, (as I would wish it might be called,) for the Poor is to be formed, they should all unite to form ONE ESTABLISHMENT, instead of each forming a separate one; and it will likewise be very useful in all cases to invite all ranks of people resident within the limits of the district in which an Establishment is formed, except those who are actually in need of assistance themselves, to contribute to carry into execution such a public undertaking; for though the sums the more indigent and necessitous of the inhabitants may be able to spare may be trifling, yet their being invited to take part in so laudable an undertaking will be flattering to them, and the sums they contribute, however small they may be, will give them a sort of property in the Establishment, and will effectually engage their good wishes at least, (which are of more importance in such cases than is generally imagined,) for its success.
How far the relief which the Poor would receive from the execution of a scheme like that here proposed ought to preclude them from a participation of other public charities, (in the distribution of the sums levied upon the inhabitants in Poor's taxes, for instance, where such exist,) must be determined in each particular case according to the existing circumstances. It will, however, always be indispensably necessary where the same poor person receives charitable assistance from two or more separate institutions, or from two or more private individuals, at the same time, for each to know exactly the amount of what the others give, otherwise too much or too little may be given, and both tend to discourage INDUSTRY, the only source of effectual relief to the distresses and the misery of the Poor.--And hence may again be seen the great importance of what I have so often insisted on, the rendering of measures for the relief of the Poor as general as possible.
To illustrate in the clearest manner, and in as few words as possible, the plan I would recommend for forming an Establishment for the Poor on a small scale--such as any individual even of moderate property, might easily execute; I will suppose that a gentleman, resident in the country upon his own estate, has come to a resolution to form such an Establishment in a village near his house, and will endeavour briefly to point out the various steps he would probably find it necessary to take in the execution of this benevolent and most useful undertaking.
He would begin by calling together at his house the clergyman of the parish, overseers of the Poor, and other parish officers, to acquaint them with his intentions, and ask their assistance and friendly co-operation in the prosecution of the plan; the details of which he would communicate to them as far as he should think it prudent and necessary at the first outset to entrust them indiscriminately with that information.--The characters of the persons, and the private interest they might have to promote or oppose the measures intended to be pursued, would decide upon the degree of confidence which ought to be given them.
At this meeting, measures should be taken for forming the most complete and most accurate lists of all the Poor resident within the limits proposed to be given to the Establishment, with a detailed account of every circumstance, relative to their situation, and their wants.--Much time and trouble will be saved in making out these lists, by using printed forms or blanks similar to those made use of at Munich; and these printed forms will likewise contribute very essentially to preserve order and to facilitate business, in the management of a private as well as of a public charity;--as also to prevent the effects of misrepresentation and partiality on the part of those who must necessarily be employed in these details.
Convenient forms or models for these blanks will be given in the Appendix to this volume.
At this meeting, measures may be taken for numbering all the houses in the village or district, and for setting on foot private subscriptions among the inhabitants for carrying the proposed scheme into execution.
Those who are invited to subscribed should be made acquainted, by a printed address accompanying the subscription lists, with the nature, extent, and tendency of the measures adopted; and should be assured that, as soon as the undertaking shall be completed, the Poor will not only be relieved, and their situation made more comfortable, but mendicity will be effectually prevented, and at the same time the Poor's rates, or the expense to the public for the support of the Poor, very considerably lessened.
These assurances, which will be the strongest inducements that can be used to prevail on the inhabitants of all descriptions to enter warmly into the scheme, and assist with alacrity in carrying it into execution, should be expressed in the strongest terms; and all persons of every denomination, young and old, and of both sexes, (paupers only excepted,) should be invited to put down their names in the subscription lists, and this even, HOWEVER SMALL THE SUMS MAY BE WHICH THEY ARE ABLE TO CONTRIBUTE. --Although the sums which day-labourers, servants, and other in indigent circumstances may be able to contribute, may be very trifling, yet there is one important reason why they ought always to be engaged to put down their names upon the lists as subscribers, and that is the goods effects which their taking an active part in the undertaking will probably produce ON THEMSELVES.--Nothing tends more to mend the heart, and awaken in the mind a regard for character, than acts of charity and benevolence; and any person who has once felt that honest pride and satisfaction which result from a consciousness of having been instrumental in doing good by relieving the wants of the Poor, will be rendered doubly careful to avoid the humiliation of becoming himself an object of public charity.
It was a consideration of these salutary effects, which may always be expected to be produced upon the minds of those who take an active and VOLUNTARY part in the measures adopted for the relief of the Poor, that made me prefer voluntary subscriptions, to taxes, in raising the sums necessary for the support of the Poor, and all the experience I have had in these matters has tended to confirm me in the opinion I have always had of their superior utility,--Not only day-labourers and domestic servants, but their young children, and all the children of the nobility and other inhabitants of Munich, and even the non-commissioned officers and private soldiers of the regiments in garrison in that city, were invited to contribute to the support of the institution for the Poor; and there are very few indeed of any age or condition (paupers only excepted) whose names are not to be found on the lists of subscribers.
The subscriptions at Munich are by families, as has elsewhere been observed; and this method I would recommend in the case under consideration, and in all others.--The head of the family takes the trouble to collect all the sums subscribed upon his family list, and to pay them into the hands of those who (on the part of the institution) are sent round on the first Sunday morning of every month to receive them; but the names of all the individuals who compose the family are entered on the list at full length, with the sum each contributes.
Two lists of the same tenor must be made out for each family; one of which must be kept by the head of the family for his information and direction, and the other sent in to those who have the general direction of the Establishment.
These subscription-lists should be printed; and they should be carried round and left with the heads of families, either by the person himself who undertakes to form the Establishment, (which will always be best,) or at least by his steward, or some other person of some consequence belonging to his household. --Forms or models for these lists may be seen in the Appendix.
When these lists are returned, the person who has undertaken to form the Establishment will see what pecuniary assistance he is to expect; and he will either arrange his plan, or determine the sum he may think proper to contribute himself, according to that amount.--He will likewise consider how far it will be possible and ADVISABLE to connect his scheme with any Establishment for the relief of the Poor already existing; or to act in concert with those in whose hands the management of the Poor is vested by the laws.--These circumstances are all important; and the manner of proceeding in carrying the proposed scheme into execution must, in a great measure, be determined by them. Nothing, however, can prevent the undertaking from being finally successful, provided the means used for making it so are adopted with caution, and pursued with perseverance.
However adverse those may be to the scheme who, were they well disposed, could most effectually contribute to its success--yet no opposition which can be given to it by INTERESTED PERSONS,-- such as find means to derive profit to themselves in the administration of the affairs of the Poor;--no opposition, I say, from such persons, (and none surely but these can ever be desirous of opposing it,) can prevent the success of a measure so evidently calculated to increase the comforts and enjoyments of the Poor, and to promote the general good of society.
If the overseers of the Poor, and other parish officers, and a large majority of the principal inhabitants, could be made to enter warmly into the scheme, it might, and certainly would, in many cases, be possible, even without any new laws or acts of parliament being necessary to authorize the undertaking, to substitute the arrangements proposed in the place of the old method of providing for the Poor;--abolishing entirely, or in so far as it should be found necessary,--the old system, and carrying the scheme proposed into execution as a GENERAL MEASURE.
In all cases where this can be effected, it ought certainly to be preferred to any private or less general institution; and individuals, who, by their exertions, are instrumental in bringing about so useful a change, will render a very essential service to society:--But even in cases where it would not be possible to carry the scheme proposed into execution in its fullest extent, much good may be done by individuals in affluent circumstances to the Poor, by forming PRIVATE ESTABLISHMENTS for feeding them and giving them employment.
Much relief may likewise be afforded them by laying in a large stock of fuel, purchased when it is cheap, and retailing it out to them in small quantities, in times of scarcity, at the prime cost.
It is hardly to be believed how much the Poor of Munich have been benefited by the Establishment of the Wood-magazine, from whence they are furnished in winter, during the severe frosts, with fire-wood at the price it costs when purchased in summer, in large quantities, and at the cheapest rate. And this arrangement may easily be adopted in all countries, and by private individuals as well as by communities. Stores may likewise be laid in of potatoes, peas, beans, and other articles of food, to be distributed to the Poor in like manner, in small quantities, and at low prices; which will be a great relief to them in times of scarcity. It will hardly be necessary for me to observe, that in administering this kind of relief to the Poor it will often be necessary to take precautions to prevent abuses.
Another way in which private individuals may greatly assist the Poor, is, by showing them how they may make themselves more comfortable in their dwellings. Nothing is more perfectly miserable and comfortless than the domestic arrangement of poor families in general; they seem to have no idea whatever of order or economy in any thing; and every thing about them is dreary, sad, and neglected, in the extreme. A little attention to order and arrangement would contribute greatly to their comfort and conveniences, and also to economy. They ought in particular to be shown how to keep their habitations warm in winter, and to economise fuel, as well in heating their rooms, as in cooking, washing, etc.
It is not to be believed what the waste of fuel really is, in the various processes in which it is employed in the economy of human life; and in no case is this waste greater than in the domestic management of the Poor. Their fire-places are in general constructed upon the most wretched principles; and the fuel they consume in them, instead of heating their rooms, not unfrequently renders them really colder, and more uncomfortable, by causing strong currents of cold air to flow in from all the doors and windows to the chimney. This imperfection of their fire-places may be effectually remedied;--these currents of cold air prevented,--above half their fuel saved,--and their dwellings made infinitely more comfortable, merely by diminishing their fire-places, and the throats of their chimnies just above the mantle-piece; which may be done as a very every trifling expence, with a few bricks, or stones, and a little mortar, by the most ordinary bricklayer. And with regard to the expence of fuel for cooking, so simple a contrivance as an earthen pot, brat top, for receiving a stew-pan, or kettle, and narrow at bottom, with holes through its sides near the bottom, for letting in air under a small circular iron grate, and other small holes near the top for letting out the smoke, may be introduced with great advantage. By making use of this little portable furnace, (which is equally well adapted to burn wood, or coals.)--one eighth part of the fuel will be sufficient for cooking, which would be required were the kettle to be boiled over an open fire.--To strengthen this portable furnace, it may be hooped with iron hoops, or bound round with strong iron wire:--but I forget that I am anticipating the subject of a future Essay.
Much good may also be done to the Poor by teaching them how to prepare various kinds of cheap and wholesome food, and to render them savoury and palatable.--The art of cookery, notwithstanding its infinite importance to mankind, has hitherto been little studied; and among the more indigent classes of society, where it is most necessary to cultivate it, it seems to have been most neglected.--No present that could be made to a poor family could be of more essential service to them than a thin, light stew-pan, with its cover, made of wrought, or cast iron, and fitted to a portable furnace, or close fire-place, constructed to save fuel; with two or three approved receipts for making nourishing and savoury soups and broths at a small expence.
Such a present might alone be sufficient to relieve a poor family from all their distresses, and make them permanently comfortable; for the expences of a poor family for food might, I am persuaded, in most cases be diminished ONE HALF by a proper attention to cookery, and to the economy of fuel; and the change in the circumstances of such a family, which would be produced by reducing their expenses for food to one half what it was before, is easier to be conceived than described.
It would hardly fail to re-animate the courage of the most desponding;--to cheer their drooping spirits, and stimulate them to fresh exertions in the pursuits of useful industry.
As the only effectual means of putting an end to the sufferings of the Poor is the introduction of a spirit of industry among them, individuals should never lose sight of that great and important object, in all the measures they may adopt to relieve them.--But in endeavouring to make the Poor industrious, the utmost caution will be necessary to prevent their being disgusted.--Their minds are commonly in a state of great irritation, the natural consequences of their sufferings, and of their hopeless situation; and their suspicions of every body about them, and particularly of those who are set over them, are so deeply rooted that it is sometimes extremely difficult to sooth and calm the agitation of their minds, and gain their confidence. --This can be soonest and most effectually done by kind and gentle usage; and I am clearly of opinion that no other means should ever be used, except it be with such hardened and incorrigible wretches as are not to be reclaimed by any means; but of these, I believe, there are very few indeed.--I have never yet found one, in all the course of my experience in taking care of the Poor.
We have sometimes been obliged to threaten the most idle and profligate with the house of correction; but these threats, added to the fear of being banished from the House of Industry, which has always been held up and considered as the greatest punishment, have commonly been sufficient for keeping the unruly in order.
If the force of example is irresistible in debauching men's minds, and leading them into profligate and vicious courses, it is not less so in reclaiming them, and rendering them orderly, docile, and industrious; and hence the infinite importance of collecting the Poor together in Public Establishments, where every thing about them is animated by unaffected cheerfulness, and by that pleasing gaiety, and air of content and satisfaction, which always enliven the busy scenes of useful industry.
I do not believe it would be possible for any person to be idle in the House of Industry at Munich. I never saw any one idle; often as I have passed through the working-rooms; nor did I ever see any one to whom the employments of industry seemed to be painful or irksome.
Those who are collected together in the public rooms destined for the reception and accommodation of the Poor in the day-time, will not need to be forced, nor even urged to work;--if there are in the room several persons who are busily employed in the cheerful occupations of industry, and if implements and materials for working are at hand, all the others present will not fail to be soon drawn into the vortex, and joining with alacrity in the active scene, their dislike to labour will be forgotten, and they will become by habit truly and permanently industrious.
Such is the irresistible power of example!--Those who know how to manage this mighty engine and have opportunities of employing it with effect, may produce the most miraculous changes, in the manners, disposition, and character, even of whole nations.
In furnishing raw materials to the Poor to work, it will be necessary to use many precautions to prevent frauds and abuses, not only on the part of the Poor, who are often but too much disposed to cheat and deceive whenever they find opportunities, but also on the part of those employed in the details of this business:--but the fullest information having already been given in my First Essay, of all the various precautions it had been found necessary to take for the purposes in question in the House of Industry at Munich, it is not necessary for me to enlarge upon the subject in this place, or to repeat what has already been said upon it elsewhere.
With regard to the manner in which good and wholesome food for feeding the Poor may be prepared in a public kitchen, at a cheap rate, I must refer my reader to my Essay on Food; where he will find all the information on that subject which he can require. --In my Essay on Clothing, he will see how good and comfortable clothing may be furnished to the Poor at a very moderate expence; and in that on the Management of Heat, he will find particular directions for the Poor for saving fuel.
I cannot finish this Essay, without taking notice of a difficulty which frequently occur in giving employment to the Poor, that of disposing to advantage of the produce of their labour:--This is in all cases a very important object; and too much attention cannot be paid to it.--A spirit of industry cannot be kept up by making it advantageous to individuals to be industrious; but where the wages which the labourer has a right to expect are refused, it will not be possible to prevent his being discouraged and disgusted.--He may perhaps be forced for a certain time to work for small wages, to prevent starving, if he has not the resource of throwing himself upon the parish, which he most probably would prefer doing, should it be in his option; but he will infallibly conceive such a thorough dislike to labour, that he will become idle and vicious, and a permanent and heavy burden on the public.
If "a labourer is worthy of his hire," he is peculiarly so, where that labourer is a poor person, who, with all his exertions, can barely procure the first necessaries of life; and whose hard lot renders him an object of pity and compassion.
The deplorable situation of a poor family, struggling with poverty and want,--deprived of all the comforts and conveniences of life--deprived even of hope; and suffering at the same time from hunger, disease, and mortifying and cruel disappointment, is seldom considered with that attention which it deserves, by those who have never felt these distresses, and who are not in danger of being exposed to them. My reader must pardon me, if I frequently recall his attention to these scenes of misery and wretchedness. He must be made acquainted with the real situation of the Poor--with the extent and magnitude of their misfortunes and sufferings, before it can be expected that he should enter warmly into measures calculated for their relief. In forming Establishments, public or private, for giving employment to the Poor, it will always be indispensably necessary to make such arrangements as will secure to them a fair price for all the labour they perform. They should not be OVER-PAID, for that would be opening a door for abuse;--but they ought to be generously paid for their work; and, above all, they ought never to be allowed to be idle for the want of employment. The kind of employment it may be proper to give them will depend much on local circumstances. It will depend on the habits of the Poor;-- the kinds of work they are acquainted with;--and the facility with which the articles they can manufacture may be disposed of at a good price.
In very extensive Establishments, there will be little difficulty in finding useful employment for the Poor; for where the number of persons to be employed is very great, a great variety of different manufactures may be carried on with advantage, and all the articles manufactured, or prepared to be employed in the manufactures, may be turned to a good account.
In a small Establishment, circumscribed and confined to the limits of a single village or parish, it might perhaps be difficult to find a good market for the yarn spun by the Poor; but in a general Establishment, extending over a whole country, or large city, as the quantity of yarn spun by all the Poor within the extensive limits of the institution will be sufficient to employ constantly a number of weavers of different kinds of cloth and stuff, the market for all the various kinds of yarn the Poor may spin will always be certain. The same reasoning will hold with regard to various other articles used in great manufactories, upon which the Poor might be very usefully employed; and hence the great advantage of making Establishments for giving employment to the Poor as extensive as possible. It is what I have often insisted on, and what I cannot too strongly recommend to all those who engage in forming such Establishments.
Although I certainly should not propose to BRING TOGETHER, under one roof, all the Poor of a whole kingdom, as, by the inscription over the entrance into a vast hospital began, but not finished, at Naples, it would appear was once the intention of the government in that country; yet I am clearly of opinion that an institution for GIVING EMPLOYMENT TO THE POOR can hardly be too extensive.
But to return to the subject to which this Chapter was more particularly appropriated, the relief that may be afforded by private individuals to the Poor in their neighbourhood; in case it should not be possible to get over all the difficulties that may be in the way to prevent the forming of a general Establishment for the benefit of the Poor, individuals must content themselves with making such private arrangements for that purpose as they may be able, WITH SUCH ASSISTANCE AS THEY CAN COMMAND, to carry into execution.
The most simple, and least expensive measure that can be adopted for the assistance of the Poor will be that of furnishing them with raw materials for working. Flax, hemp, or wool, for instance, for spinning; and paying them in money, at the market price, for the yarn spun. This yarn may afterwards be sent to weavers to be manufactured into cloth, or may be sent to some good market and sold. The details of these mercantile transactions will be neither complicated nor troublesome, and might easily be managed by a steward of house-keeper; particularly if the printed tickets, and tables, I have so often had occasion to recommend, are used.
The flax, hemp, or wool, as soon as it is purchased, should be weighed out into bundles of one or two pounds each, and lodged in a store-room; and when one of these bundles is delivered out to a poor person to be spun, it should be accompanied with a printed spin-ticket, and entered in a table to be kept for that purpose; and when it is returned spun, an abstract of the spin-ticket itself, should be bound up with the bundle of yarn, in order that any frauds committed by the spinner, in reeling, or in any other way, which may be discovered upon winding off the yarn, may be brought home to the person who committed them. When it is known that such effectual precautions to detect frauds are used, no farther attempts will be made to defraud; and a most important point indeed will be gained, and one which will most powerfully tend to mend the morals of the Poor, and restore peace to their minds. When, by rendering it evidently impossible for them to escape detection, they are brought to give up all thoughts of cheating and deceiving; they will then be capable of application, and of enjoying real happiness, and, with open and placid countenances, will look every one full in the face who accosts them: but as long as they are under the influence of temptation --as long as their minds are degraded by conscious guilt, and continually agitated by schemes of prosecuting their fraudulent practices, they are as incapable of enjoying peace or contentment, as they are of being useful members of society.
Hence the extreme cruelty of an ill-judged appearance of confidence, or careless neglect of precautions, in regard to those employed in places of trust, who may be exposed to temptations to defraud.
That prayer, which cannot be enough admired, or too often repeated, "LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION," was certainly dictated by infinite wisdom and goodness; and it should ever be borne in mind by those who are placed in stations of power and authority, and whose measures must necessarily have much influence on the happiness or misery of great numbers of people.
Honest men may be found in all countries; but I am sorry to say, that the result of all my experience and observation has tended invariably to prove, (what has often been remarked,) that it is extremely difficult to KEEP THOSE HONEST who are exposed to continual and great temptations.
There is, however, one most effectual way, not only of keeping those honest who are so already, but also of making those honest who are not so; and that is, by taking such precautions as will render it EVIDENTLY impossible for those who commit frauds to escape detection and punishment: and these precautions are never impossible, and seldom difficult; and with a little address, they may always be so taken as to be in nowise offensive to those who are the objects of them.
It is evident that the maxims and measures here recommended are not applicable merely to the Poor, but also, and more especially, to those who may be employed in the details of relieving them.
But to return once more to the subject more immediately under consideration.--If individuals should extend their liberality so far as to establish public kitchens for feeding the Poor, (which is a measure I cannot too often, or too forcibly recommend,) it would be a great pity not to go one easy step further, and fit up a few rooms adjoining to the kitchen, where the Poor may be permitted to assemble to work for their own emoluments, and where schools for instructing the children of the Poor in working, and in reading and writing, may be established. Neither the fitting up, or warming and lighting of these rooms, will be attended with any considerable expense; while the advantages which will be derived from such an Establishment for encouraging industry, and contributing to the comfort of the Poor, will be most important; and from their peculiar nature, and tendency, will be most highly interesting to every benevolent mind.
END OF ESSAY TWO.
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