On the evils of disunity in central and local administration especially with relation to the metropolis and also on the new centralisation for the people together with improvements in codifications and in legislative procedure / by Edwin Chadwick.

  • Chadwick, Edwin, 1800-1890.
Date:
1885
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the evils of disunity in central and local administration especially with relation to the metropolis and also on the new centralisation for the people together with improvements in codifications and in legislative procedure / by Edwin Chadwick. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

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    time ago, in Lancashire, there was serious rioting by election mobs at Wigan, and severe fighting with tlie police. A chief of police in the county observed to me that it was much to be regretted that arrangements had not permitted a distant force to be used for the service, which had engendered bitter feelings against the local police, which had not yet been allayed, and that such feeling was detrimental to their ordinary action. The chief officers of provincial forces agree in tlie great waste of force which there now is from disunity, and as to the economies derivable from unity. In the subsequent exposition of the principles of administrative unity in provincial and urban administration I may have to display more particularly the economy derivable fronci the unity of the police service in the Metropolis. The greatest economy derivable from unity of the police force of the United Kingdom would, it is agreed, be in the saving of military force. By the consolidation of the English, the Irish, and the Scotch forces of 51,000 men, a contingent of two thousand men might be obtained for several days for distant service on extraordinaiy occasions. By a grant of half a million of money from the consolidated fund for the relief of the local ratepayers, more, it may be averred, an economy of double that amount of the expenditure from the consolidated fund for military force of three millions now expended in Ireland would be derivable from the unity of this ])ranch of administration. I have a confident belief tlmt it will be found, on examina- tion, that Ireland has really the most economical and the best chief branches of local administration, aided by central service in the empire the best Poor Law administration, the best road administration, and, after all deductions, it has in essen- tials as a whole, the best police administration. If the principle of these branches be extended and made general—under unity— throughout the empire, there would be a great gain of adminis- trative force with a large reduction of the local rates. Tlie principles for the administration of relief to the destitute in Ireland are the principles whicli we proposed as more specially applicable to the institution of the central control for tlie administration of the Poor Law in England. It would appear to be of importance for Ireland that this central service shoidd on serious be distant and uninfluenced by local passion, and impartial as well as strong. When honourable members state tliat they do not wish to have more of centralisation of police force, tliey cannot be aware what this must mean ; that they would not have more of Economy of military force by a police force under unity. Economy and efficiency of unity for national sanitary ad- ministration, in poor law- administra- tion, in penal administra- tion, and in road adminis- trat ion.