The Scottish Poor Law, and some contrasts between its principles and the practices that have grown upon it : read 28th May 1869 / by D. Curror.

Date:
1869
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The Scottish Poor Law, and some contrasts between its principles and the practices that have grown upon it : read 28th May 1869 / by D. Curror. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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

    30/32 (page 30)
    strength and working power of each, be it but a remnant of what it once had been. Take a turn through the present house, and what do you see? Strings of thovvless mortals without thought or object. No employment—'unavoidable idleness— a waste of human life and energy. Walk up and down the dreary wards—observe the listless faces of the inmates. Count their numbers—ask their histories, and then come to the con- clusion, if you can, that the country is doing the best it can for the poor.' Take a turn through the new house and grounds, when opened and in operation, and what may you expect to see ? The pauper baker baking the bread of the house. The pauper cook cooking the victuals. The pauper weaver weaving the cloth. The pauper tailor making the garments. The pauper shoemaker making the shoes. The pauper mason pointing the walls. The pauper painter ornamenting them. The pauper slater on the roofs. The pauper plumber upholding the rhones. The pauper wright making the various utensils required in the house connected with his craft. The pauper smith sweating at the anvil. The pauper gardener working and weeding. The pauper farmer sowing and reaping. The pauper old wives keeping the infants. The pauper young wives washing, or working in the garden or fields. And the unskilled labourers, male and female, weeding, reaping, and at many other turns which an intelligent manage- ment will readily find and point out; and, in the midst of all the joyous song of industry, displacing the sulks of the city poor-house. But there may not be work for so many. Why not? The mechanical arts need not be limited to the house's necessities. In the wrights' shops may be produced in a sub- stantial form tables, chairs, barrows, troughs, gates, implement handles, and numerous other useful articles, at all times com-