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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    Question 1.—7s there much poverty in your parish, and if so, is it increasing in intensity, and can you point to any special causes, moral or economic, to which it is due ? In reply to this question the great majority of Incumbents expressed the opinion that there does not exist much poverty in their par'shes, and that it is not increasing in intensity. Only sixteen Incumbents, of whom eight were from the Industrial area, stated that much poverty existed in their parishes; and only seven considered the poverty to be increasing in intensity. In the rural parishes, the poverty is said to be due to old age and sickness ; and in towms to drink, thriftlessness, and, in a few cases, lack of work. u [^Question 2.—Have you any special methods of administering charitable assistance to the sick, the aged, those in temporary, those in chronic distress ? Are you assisted hy a Committee ? Or do you leave it in the hands of district visitors ? The answers to this question show that charitable relief is administered in this diocese generally by the clergy themselves, who are assisted in the towns by district visitors, and in a very few cases by Committees. , ; Question 3.—7s there in your parish any appreciable amount of {unrelieved) distress due to the reluctance of destitute persons to resort to Poor Law relief ? If so, please give one or two instances, and state briefly what, in your opinion, is the cause of the reluctance. The great majority of Incumbents give it as their opinion that there does not exist much distress due to the reluctance of destitute persons to resort to Poor Law relief. While there is great objection to the idea of entering the workhouse there is no reluctance to apply for outdoor relief, as a rule. Whatever reluctance exists is attributed to self-respect. Question 4.—7s there in your parish any appreciable amount of distress due to the amount of Poor Law relief granted hy the guardians heitig inadequate ? If so, please give one or two instances. Only twenty-six Incumbents state that an appreciable amount of distress exists in their parishes, due to the inadequacy of Poor Law relief. Most of the distress that exists is attributed to inadequate relief in cases of sickness and old age. Two hundred and fifty- five Incumbents, however, answer the question in the negative. Question 5.—7s there in your parish any needless overlapping : (a) between various forms of charity ; or (b) between charity and the Poor Law ; and has any special effort been made with a view to prevent such overlapping ? All the Incumbents replying, except four, state that in their parishes there is no needless overlapping betw^een various forms of charity, or between charity and the Poor Law. Question 6.—If you can give or obtain any figures or estimate as to the annual amount spent in your parish in the charitable assistance of the poor, please do so ? No reliable estimate can be formed of the annual amount spent in the charitable- assistance of the poor. Question 7.—Can you give any approximate estimate of the number of families or individuals in receipt of charity other thafi the Poor Law in your parish during the course of a year ? If appears to be very difficult to form a reliable estimate of the number in receipt of charity other than the Poor Law, but the figures given in the Returns come to about 3,199.- D. A. JenkinSc Chairman. (For the Bishop of St. Davids.)