On the jurisprudence of chargeability for sanitary works and for poor rates, police rates, and other branches of local administration.

  • Chadwick, Edwin, 1800-1890.
Date:
1873
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the jurisprudence of chargeability for sanitary works and for poor rates, police rates, and other branches of local administration. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

    34/50 (page 28)
    Bickiiess from the want of medical relief. It is, moreover, a contribution, as to a mendicity society, for relief against the demoralising plague of mendicancy. In Ireland, this remuneration is given, as we have seen, at a rate of less than three farthings per week, per head of the population. This will be found to he a mucli lower rate of insurance charge, with a more certain return, than the charges of most sick clubs for curative relief. But a ])roperly apportioned charge iov preventive relief by well-combined sanitary works, such as have reduced general sickness and death-rates by one- third, is even less. In respect to such works, it is usual to present a greatly aggravated undistributed charge of a year as against the service of a week. An apportioned charge per house per week has been a penny-halfpenny for a constant water supply ; a penny per week for a water-closet, sink, seltV cleansing house drains; another penny per week for a system of self-cleansing sewers : total, threepence-halfpenny per house ; or, at the u>ual proportion of inhabitants, a little more than a halfpenny per head of the population per week. It was shown throughout our inquiry that it required great experience and knowledge, skill and firmness, to administer relief, or to dispense charity without creating mischief. It was therefore proposed, that the executive duties should be exclusively confided to paid officers who might be made responsible for adherence to settled principle, whilst the demand for the services of the unpaid, changing, and prac- tically irresponsible representatives, should be restricted to supervisory duties, like those of the county visiting justices. But the opposite course has been taken;—poor law inspectors are seen publicly trying to make guardians understand, that their notion of economy—giving half-a-crown a week as out- door relief because the pauper would cost five shillings if he went into the workhouse—was erroneous, inasmuch as since not oue in ten would accept the in-door relief, eight half-crowns out of the ten would be saved to the rate-payer. Such admonitions, which would not be needed by the responsible paid officers, •are seen to be disregarded, in some instances apparently,