Report of the Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and Relief of Distress. : Appendix Volume XIII. Special reports from the dioceses in England and Wales as to the extent and intensity of poverty and the administration of charitable and Poor Law relief.

  • Great Britain. Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and Relief of Distress.
Date:
1909
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Report of the Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and Relief of Distress. : Appendix Volume XIII. Special reports from the dioceses in England and Wales as to the extent and intensity of poverty and the administration of charitable and Poor Law relief. 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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    7. I think tliat the question of housing and caring for pea-pickers, who come from London every year in increasing numbers, should be faced at once, and some bye-laws adopted by the Essex County Council. This year in the wet summer their condition was simply disgraceful. 8. Large numbers are housed by farmers during potato-picking, under conditions which I regard as very bad. (Herts.) 9. We have a gipsy camp in the parish, which seems to be on the increase . . . To preach morality to persons who are herded together in a van or single room is futile. 10. A mission to homeless men—a most extraordinary success. I know nothing like it. A few months ago I gave an address on a Saturday afternoon to 400 of these men, in a church lent for that purpose. 10.—Have you had any lectures on methods of relief for your Church Workers or District Visitors ? Lectures. The number of parishes in which any special care is claimed to be taken in the instruction of district visitors for the due discharge of the important duties assigned to them is very small indeed compared to what it should be. One report says : The Medical Officer of Health addressed our visitors recently, chiefly on the care of infants. Another reports that he gives all his district visitors a book published by the S.P.C.K., on the subject of almsgiving and relief Some have lectures on C.O.S. methods, and others give more or less advice privately or at district visitor's meetings ; but where almsgiving is left to visitors, careful training should surely be the rule and not the exception. To quote a very worthy man's words, one who died suddenly within a few days of writing his report : A woman whose head rules is fiar the best almoner. Some use discretion itself in this work, but others have hearts with which the head has nothing to do. 1. Many of these attend lectures in connection with St. Helen's House Women's Settlement. Some are on the C.O.S. Committee. 2. Separate lectures and one course. 3. Lectures are advisable. 4. It is difficult to get persons to see that they need training for dealing with ihe question of relief. I give a small manual, and keep casual relief out of the district visitor's hands entirely. I should be glad to have lectures by really competent persons. KURAL DEANERY OF WEST HAM. At a special meeting of the Chapter to consider the questions asked on behalf of the Royal Commission, the following resolutions were unanimously approved:— 1. The members of the West Ham Rural Deanery Chapter express their entire approval of the principle of a Small Holdings Bill, and believe that the acceptance of such an Act will materially lessen the pressure of population in towns, and thereby alleviate the distress in urban districts. 2. The Chapter further strongly urges the formation of casual labour, on the lines suggested by the Central Unemployed Body. NOTE.—References made in this Volume and in the Reports of the Commission to the pages in this Volume