Having thus generally stated the nature of the preliminary arrangements for bringing the law into operation, it is now proposed, as in the author’s ‘History of the English Poor Law,’ and as is also done in his ‘History of the Poor Law of Scotland,’ to take the Commissioners’ annual Reports as the groundwork of the narrative. Their first Report of proceedings is dated 1st May 1839.[89] It comprises only a short period, and will not require a lengthened notice; but it is of considerable interest, as showing the steps earliest taken in the introduction of the measure.
As the time approached for declaring Unions, and for constituting boards of guardians, it was necessary be prepared for conducting the elections. Arrangements were accordingly made, with the sanction of the Irish government, for the distribution and collection of the voting-papers by the constabulary; and as the commissioners were immediately responsible for the appointment of returning officers to conduct the elections, the assistant-commissioners were directed to seek for and recommend competent individuals for the purpose, that is, some one in each district about to be united who was well known, and possessed the confidence of the ratepayers; and the Report states that there is every reason to be satisfied with the manner in which the selections have been made.
To aid the returning officers in the performance of their novel duties, they were furnished with ample instructions on every point not provided for in the election order; and the assistant-commissioners were required to attend at all the early stages of the proceedings in every union, to afford such further assistance and counsel as might be necessary. Some few irregularities occurred, but not more than was to be expected under the circumstances. There were likewise a few instances of party or sectarian feeling, but in no case were improper individuals returned as guardians; and allowance being made for the want of previous training, the Irish boards will, it is said, “fairly bear a comparison with the boards in England,” and a hope is confidently expressed that the measure will not fail through the want of an efficient executive.
Relief in the workhouse being the only mode of relief sanctioned by the Act, it was evident that until a workhouse is provided the law must be practically inoperative. Attention was therefore early directed to this object, for the due execution of which the commissioners were alone responsible; and much pains were taken to ascertain the kind of buildings that would be most suitable, having regard to the circumstances of the country and the habits of the people. After extensive inquiry, as well in England as in Ireland, and a careful consideration of the whole subject, it was determined to engage an architect experienced in the construction of English workhouses, and to employ him in conjunction with the assistant-commissioners, and with the aid of the best local information that could be obtained, in devising a series of plans for the Irish workhouses, of different sizes, together with descriptive specifications and estimates for each.[90] This was accordingly done, and the proceeding was fully justified by the result. The style of building adopted for the workhouses, was of the cheapest description compatible with durability; and effect was sought to be obtained through harmony of proportion and simplicity of arrangement, all mere decoration being studiously excluded. The unoccupied barracks were originally proposed to be converted into workhouses, and at first a few of the unions were arranged with a view to this object. But after repeated discussions with the Ordnance authorities, it became evident that very few if any of these buildings could be obtained, the whole appearing to be considered necessary for military purposes.[91]
One of the first duties to which a board of guardians is required to attend, was the valuation of the property within the union for the purpose of its being rated to the relief of the poor. This under any circumstances is a matter of some difficulty, but in Ireland the difficulty was increased by the condition of the country, and the absence in many parts of any reliable data for framing such a valuation. To assist the guardians in the performance of their duties in this respect, they were furnished with very full instructions, pointing out in detail the principle on which the valuation and the rating were to be conducted, and all that was necessary to be attended to, in order to fulfil what the law required.
Shortly after the commencement of operations in Ireland, it was discovered, as has been before stated, that there were certain defects in the Act, which it was necessary forthwith to remedy; and this it has been shown was accordingly done by the passing of the 2nd Vict., cap. 1,[92] until after which no union could be formed in Dublin and some of the other chief towns, owing to the townland division not being there known.
On the 25th of March, the end of the usual parochial year, the Report states that—“the number of unions declared was 22, and that in 18 of these boards of guardians had been elected. The requisite statistical details were also completed for nine other unions, which would shortly be declared, and considerable progress had likewise been made in arranging nine more.” Such were the results of somewhat less than six months’ operations in the introduction of the Irish Poor Law, and they were generally regarded as satisfactory, and as warranting an expectation of the successful introduction of the measure.
The Report of the second year’s proceeding is dated 30th April 1840, and is considerably longer than the preceding Report. It was moreover report of accompanied by an Appendix containing copies of Orders and Reports, in fact a copy of each class of important documents issued or received by the Dublin board, thus showing not only everything that was done for bringing the law into operation, but also the mode of doing it, and whatever took place in connexion with it.
The first Report brings the proceedings down to the 25th of March 1839. The second Report brings them down to the same date in 1840, at which time the number, of unions declared was 104, and it was thought that 30 more would probably complete the number into which it might be desirable that the country should be arranged. This would be a greater number than was at first contemplated, but a strong desire for small unions was found to be very general; and this desire, added to the want of convenient centres, and other local circumstances, led to an increase of the number beyond the original estimate. Sixty workhouses had been contracted for, and were in progress of building, and arrangements for ten others were considerably advanced.
It soon appeared to be on many accounts exceedingly desirable, not only that the formation of the unions, but also that the necessary arrangements for administering relief, should be urged forward as rapidly as possible. The government concurred in this view, and sanctioned the appointment of two additional assistant-assistant-commissioners,[93] who after a short training in England, were assigned to their respective duties in Ireland, whither also another of the English assistant-commissioners was transferred.[93] The valuable services of Mr. Earle were in the present year withdrawn from the commission, and he was succeeded in the charge of the Dublin district by Mr. Hall, who had previously been acting in England.
Great pains were taken in forming the unions, and for the most part the arrangements made were satisfactory to the parties interested, but not always so to the extent desired; for it was not always found possible “to adapt the limits of the union to the limits of individual properties, and at the same time adhere to other local boundaries and pay a due regard to general convenience.” Difficulties likewise arose in determining the portion of rural district to be included in the same electoral division with towns, or with other places where the destitute and mendicant classes were numerous. Such places were regarded as likely to bring a burden upon whatever else they might be combined with. It does not follow however because mendicancy prevails in a town, that the poor-rates will be heavier there than in the neighbouring country districts. The reverse will often be the case, the larger amount of property rateable in a town, being more than equivalent to its comparatively greater charge of pauperism. The practice generally adopted on such occasions, was to attach to a town as much of the adjoining district as seemed naturally to belong to it, and over which the town mendicants habitually levied contributions. No part of an electoral division so formed would be subjected to any new burden. It had supported the mendicant classes heretofore—it would have to pay rates for supporting the destitute thereafter; and of the two, the latter would probably be found the lighter.
Before submitting a proposal for establishing a union, the assistant-commissioners in every instance called a meeting of the inhabitants of the district, and explained the nature and intent of the law, together with the proposed arrangements for carrying it into effect, and also took into consideration whatever objections or suggestions there might have been made on the occasion; and it was not until after this public exposition of the course proposed to be pursued, and a careful sifting of testimony for and against it, that the arrangements for the several unions were proposed to, and received the sanction of the board in Dublin. The Reports of the assistant-commissioners on these occasions were sometimes long and minute, entering into a detail of the circumstances of the district, and thus forming “a valuable body of information general and statistical, which may hereafter serve to test the working of the measure, and its effects upon the population.” A copy of one of these Reports furnished by each of the assistant-commissioners, was inserted by way of example in the Appendix to the annual Report.
The Board’s attention was early directed to the state of the charitable institutions in Dublin, and especially to the house of industry and the foundling hospital, both of which became vested in the commissioners under the 34th section of the Poor Relief Act. The house of industry consisted of an asylum for aged and infirm poor and incurable lunatics, together with the Hardwick, the Whitworth, and the Richmond Hospitals, and the Talbot Dispensary. It was constituted under the Irish Act of 11th and 12th Geo. 3rd, cap. 11,[94] and was expected to be supported by voluntary contributions, but these soon failed, and in 1777 it received a grant of 4,000l. from parliament, and had continued ever since to be supported in like manner. In 1816 it was determined to appropriate the house of industry to the reception of the aged and infirm and the sick poor, orphan children, and lunatics and idiots. This led to the introduction of a large number of persons requiring medical treatment, and made it necessary to provide hospitals for the purpose. The expense of the entire establishment was defrayed by parliament, and the grant for each of the preceding five years had been 20,000l. The estimate for 1839 was 21,136l. The number of inmates was as follows—
| Aged and infirm poor | 888 |
| Incurable lunatics and epileptics | 474 |
| 1,362 | |
| Sick in the hospitals | 303 |
| Total | 1,665 |
The foundling hospital was established in 1704 by the 2nd Anne, cap. 19, and was re-constituted in 1772 by the 11th and 12th Geo. 3, cap. 11.[95] With the exception of a small rent from property devised to it, the institution had been supported by parliamentary grants, which during the last five years had averaged 14,765l. The estimate for the current year was 11,255l. Infants were at first, and for many years subsequently, received into the hospital without payment or inquiry, the annual number varying from 1,500 to 2,000. In 1822 a deposit of 5l. was required with each child, which soon had the effect of reducing the admissions to below 500; and in 1829 a committee of the house of commons recommended that admissions should cease altogether, which they accordingly did in the following year. The previous admissions however had been so numerous, that on the 25th of March 1839 the dependents on the institution still amounted to 4,258, viz.—
| Children at nurse in the country, of whom 446 are under ten years of age | 1,484 |
| Apprentices | 2,528 |
| In course of being apprenticed, or under medical treatment in the house | 40 |
| Adults on the invalid list | 206 |
| 4,258 |
The invalid class consisted of 150 females and 56 males, and had accumulated principally since 1797, only 13 having been admitted previous to that year. “Many were blind, some crippled, others were severe cases of scrofula, and a few were deaf and dumb. They were quartered in the country, and were annually visited by the inspectors.”
The capacity of the house of industry and foundling hospital for being converted to workhouses, and the great prevalence of mendicancy in Dublin, made it expedient to introduce the new law with as little delay as possible; and steps were taken for this purpose, as soon as the passing of the Amendment Act[96] enabled the board to unite districts not being townlands. Arrangements were, with the approbation of government, made for the lunatic inmates of the house of industry, amounting with their attendants to 523, by preparing certain old barracks at Island Bridge for their reception; and as the hospitals and the dispensary, when detached from the house of industry, would stand in need of kitchen and other office accommodation, these essentials were accordingly provided, and the appointments in connexion with them were consigned to the Irish government. With regard to the foundling hospital, a suitable residence was provided for the officers, and for such of the children as it might be occasionally necessary to bring to Dublin. The expense attendant upon making these various changes was very considerable, but the whole was accomplished “without calling for any advance beyond the money already voted by parliament for the house of industry and foundling hospital, the balance remaining from the vote of the year preceding, and the saving of expenditure by enforcing a rigid economy during the past year, having afforded sufficient funds to effect all that was necessary.” This result is declared to have been chiefly owing to the confidence which government placed in the commissioners with regard to a matter of much intricacy, and which did not perhaps strictly come within the line of their duty. It was also in no slight degree owing to the prompt support afforded by his excellency the lord lieutenant, whose cordial co-operation and assistance on all occasions is gratefully noticed in the Report.[97]
A full account of the measures adopted with regard to the Dublin foundling hospital and house of industry, is given in the assistant-commissioners’ Report[98] on these institutions, and also of what was required to be done preparatory to their being used as the workhouses of the two Dublin unions, for which they were well suited both as to size and situation. One of the unions comprised the district on the south side of the Liffey, with a population of 182,767; and the other comprised the district on the north side, having a population of 125,245. The workhouses would each be made capable of accommodating 2,000 inmates, and were very conveniently placed, with a sufficiency of land attached to them. A belt of unions had been formed nearly encircling the city, so that the Dublin unions would be protected from undue pressure. The guardians exhibited a good spirit, and promised an active co-operation in carrying out the law.|Dublin workhouses declared, March 25, 1840.| The unions were both declared on the 6th of June 1839; and the order declaring the workhouses fit for the reception of paupers was issued on the 25th of March 1840, the interval being occupied in making the necessary preparations.
Cork possessed a foundling hospital and a house of industry as well as Dublin; but both were much smaller than the metropolitan ones, and the house of industry alone was susceptible of being used as a workhouse, and that only temporarily until an adequate building could be provided for the purpose. With respect to the foundling hospital, steps were taken as in the case of that of Dublin, to bring it to a close at the earliest period compatible with the wellbeing of the children maintained in it. The Cork guardians entered with alacrity on the discharge of their new duties, and took immediate steps for obtaining a valuation, and levying a rate. It was therefore determined in compliance with the desire strongly expressed by them, and by the inhabitants generally, to bring the law into full operation in the Cork union with the least possible delay, although it was not unlikely that some inconvenience might arise from relief being administered there so much sooner than it would be practicable to provide for its administration in the neighbouring districts. |Cork workhouse declared temporarily, February 15, 1840.| The union was declared on the 3rd of April 1839; and on the 15th of February 1840 an order was issued declaring the old house of industry to be the temporary workhouse of the union for administering relief. Full instructions were furnished to the guardians on the occasion, and an intention was expressed of watching the progress of the Cork and the Dublin unions, with a view to the prompt exercise of the powers provided by the law for mitigating “whatever inconveniences might arise from thus early bringing the law into operation.” The proceeding was one of great interest, and of great anxiety also to those on whom the responsibility rested, so much depending on the success of the first unions. The author has a vivid recollection of all that passed on the occasion, and of the deep thankfulness experienced on witnessing the efficient working of these unions, and this moreover under difficulties far greater than would be likely to arise when the course of procedure was more matured.
As the period approached for bringing the Cork and the Dublin workhouses into operation, it became necessary to prepare a code of workhouse regulations, and a system of union accounts. The latter, it was endeavoured to make as simple as possible, having regard to accuracy and to a proper discrimination of subjects; and the former it was determined to frame on the model of the English workhouse regulations, making such changes only as were necessary for adapting them to the circumstances existing in Ireland. The “order for regulating the workhouse, and for keeping and auditing accounts,”[99] was accordingly prepared, and was issued successively as the unions became sufficiently advanced for its reception. |The workhouse dietaries.| With regard to the dietaries, an “order” for which it was also necessary to prepare, the Board instituted inquiries into the mode of living in different parts of Ireland, so as to be able to establish dietaries in the different unions that should accord with the general habits of the people, and yet “not be in any case superior to the ordinary mode of subsistence of the labouring classes in the neighbourhood.” On this principle the Board continued to frame the workhouse dietaries, as being essential adjuncts of workhouse management. But for the efficiency of the workhouse, reliance was chiefly placed on the enforcement of order, sobriety, cleanliness, daily occupation, the observance of decency and decorum, and the exclusion of all stimulants to excitement—these constitute the real strength of the workhouse as a test of destitution, and would be in a great degree effective, even if the diet, clothing, and other merely physical appliances were superior to what is seen in the neighbouring cottages; and these essentials the workhouse regulations are calculated to maintain.
Very exaggerated notions prevailed as to what would be the effect of the Poor Law, when brought into full operation. Some declared that all the charitable institutions would be immediately annihilated, as people would cease to subscribe as soon as they were called upon to pay a poor-rate, and compensation was claimed on behalf of certain functionaries, on the ground that they would be deprived of their means of living when the workhouses were opened. Numerous applications were made on the subject, and among others by the officers of the Dublin Mendicity Association who claimed to be compensated on this account. They were however told that the association might still be continued with advantage, as an independent auxiliary to the Poor Law; for that it was highly probable there would be a class of persons whose destitution would not be so urgent as to compel them to become inmates of the workhouses, and who yet would be proper objects of such charitable assistance as it came within the province of the mendicity institution to bestow.
The measures connected with the erection of workhouses required much care and circumspection, and a constant watchfulness of the prices of labour and materials in the several districts. The buildings were proceeded with in such a way as to create the least disturbance in the labour-market, and it was endeavoured to spread the operations as equally as possible throughout the country. Notwithstanding these precautions however, a tendency to advance in prices was sometimes manifested; but on such occasions the Board made it to be understood, that it was prepared to put out repeated advertisements, or to postpone building altogether for a season, rather than submit to terms above what it considered to be the fair market price. On the other hand, the Board did not bind itself to accept the lowest tender, and generally gave a preference to builders resident in the district, when of good character and possessing a sufficient command of means. The extreme wetness of the previous season was very unfavourable to building, and also delayed the valuations, so that the completion and opening of the workhouses was delayed longer than had been at first contemplated; but an assurance was given, that no effort would be spared to effect this object at the earliest possible period.
Numerous representations were addressed to the board on the subject of mendicancy, urging provision should be made for its being put an end to simultaneously with the commencement of relief under the Poor Law. The question was very generally discussed by the boards of guardians, and forty of them, for the most part unanimously, passed resolutions in favour of a measure for the suppression of mendicancy; but three of the boards took a different view, and were adverse to such suppression. The correspondence which took place on these occasions appears in the Annual Report, and also a minute which the Dublin board addressed to the assistant-commissioners on the occasion. In this minute, after pointing out the necessity for repressing vagrancy and mendicancy as a measure of police, the repression is declared to be likewise necessary for ensuring the effective operation of the Poor Law; for so long as the vagrant classes were permitted to levy contributions on the plea of destitution, the ratepayers, although taxed for the relief of the destitute, would not be protected from the daily demands of the mendicant, nor be exonerated from those compulsory contributions which the mendicant so well knows how to exact. Unless mendicancy were repressed therefore, great injustice would be inflicted on the ratepayer, whose payment of the poor-rate entitles him to protection from such demands. The most expedient way of effecting this object, was considered to be by establishing a law founded on the English Vagrancy Act, with such modifications as might be necessary for adapting it to the state of Ireland.[100]
The subject of emigration was generally regarded with great interest in Ireland, and had latterly occupied more than usual attention, partly on account of a persuasion that it would be necessary to have recourse to it as the corrective for a redundant population, and partly also in consequence of the efforts which were made by certain associations to promote it. In answer to the various representations on the subject, the Board did not offer any opinion as to whether an extensive and organized system of emigration were necessary or not, but considered that there might be localities over-densely peopled, to which it might be applied with advantage. When the unions were all in operation, and when the effects of the Poor Law had been fully developed, the Board would be prepared to state its views on the subject—“but pending the introduction of the Poor Law, one object of which was to establish an identity of interest between the owners and occupiers of property and the working classes, and to hold out to the former the strongest inducements to extend the field of employment at home”—pending the development of this great impulse upon the home energies of the country, it was considered that it would be premature to offer any opinion on the general question of emigration.
As the summer of 1839 advanced, severe distress began to prevail in several districts of the west of Ireland, and the government deputed Captain Chads of the Royal Navy to investigate its extent and furnished him with means for affording such present relief as might be found imperatively necessary.[101] It was at first thought, that where poor-law unions had been formed, use might be made of the union machinery in dispensing the relief which government was prepared to furnish; but it soon appeared that this would be inexpedient if not impracticable, and that the administering of government aid must be kept totally distinct from the poor-law executive, except only as regarded information and advice and whatever other facilities the assistant-commissioners might be able to afford. The relief distributed by the agent of government on this occasion, was in every case made contingent upon an equal amount being raised by persons resident or having property in the district; and notwithstanding the danger from fraud and misrepresentation to which a person so deputed was obviously liable, and the still greater danger of creating an undue dependence upon government aid, there is reason to believe that a considerable amount of good was effected, and that little mischief was caused by what was done by the agent of government in this instance.
The extremely wet and ungenial summer and autumn of 1839, caused great apprehension throughout Ireland as to the effect upon the crops, and steps were taken to obtain correct information on the subject, particularly with regard to the potato crop, it being the one most universally important to the Irish people. The result of these inquiries through the assistant-commissioners and other sources, showed that there was much ground for alarm, “the crop appearing to be deficient in quantity in some districts, whilst owing to the almost incessant rains the quality would it was feared be found inferior in all, and probably so far inferior as not to admit of the potatoes being kept for the usual time.” If such should turn out to be the case, distress wide spreading and severe would inevitably ensue, and the distress would moreover be aggravated by the want of fuel, the people having been prevented by the continual wet from gathering in their turf.
Many applications were addressed to the Poor Law board, and to the Irish government on this subject, several of them containing schemes and suggestions for rendering the Poor Law available, in case the danger apprehended should actually arise; and it was therefore deemed advisable that the views of the Board in reference to this question should be made known. This was accordingly done by a minute, calling attention to the provisions by which relief was to be governed.
The minute states, that the 3rd section of the Act directed that relief should be administered “according to such laws as shall be in force at the time being;” and that the 41st section provides—“That when the commissioners shall have declared the workhouse of any union to be fit for the reception of destitute poor, and not before, it shall be lawful for the guardians to take order for relieving and setting to work therein destitute poor persons &c.” Nowhere else is power given to the guardians to administer relief—their functions in this respect are limited to receiving destitute persons into the workhouse, and relieving and setting them to work “therein.” And by the 52nd section it is further provided, “that it shall not be lawful for the commissioners, or guardians, or other persons acting in execution of this Act, to apply directly or indirectly any money raised under authority of this Act, to the relief of destitute poor in any other manner than is herein expressly mentioned, or to any purpose not expressly provided for in this Act.” Whether the relief so provided for be or be not in the opinion of the guardians suitable or sufficient, the Act under which they are constituted, and whence their administrative functions are derived, is thus seen to be precise and definite in its provisions; and they were told that they could not legally deviate in the slightest degree from the course it prescribes, neither did there reside in the Poor Law Commissioners any power or discretion to authorize any such deviation. Some persons however suggested that the law should be altered early in the next session, so as to allow of other modes of relief as a temporary measure, to meet the then apprehended exigency. But this, it was said, would be re-opening a question upon which the deliberate sense of the legislature had been recently recorded; and parliament having deemed it right to prohibit all relief except in the workhouse, the commissioners could not encourage an application which had for its object the reversal of that decision.
Such was the general purport of the minute, although considerably more in detail, and embracing some minor points not noticed above. It was circulated among the boards of guardians, and was thought to have produced a good effect by directing attention to the principle as well as to the provisions of the Act. There was reason to believe moreover, that the potato crop, although scanty in some districts, was on the whole not materially deficient in produce, and that although the quality was generally inferior, the potatoes would keep nearly as well as in ordinary seasons. There was likewise reason to believe that the dread of scarcity had influenced the people to be more careful and economical in the use of their stores than they probably otherwise might have been, and that they would thus by provident forethought avert the occurrence of any very serious amount of distress, notwithstanding that a general deficiency in the grain crops was superadded to the other evils arising out of the extreme wetness of the season.
The third Report of proceedings in Ireland is dated May 1st, and contains an account of all that was done during the previous parochial year, ending March 25th 1841. At the date of the second Report 104 unions had been declared. |Unions and workhouses.| At the date of the third Report we find the number increased to 127, and it is stated that only 3 more will be required, and that these will be declared in the course of the present month, making the entire number of unions in Ireland amount to 130. At the date of the last Report 60 workhouses had been contracted for, and the buildings were in different stages of progress. The number of workhouses contracted for and built or in process of building up to the 25th of March 1841, was 115, of which a particular account is given in a Report by the architect inserted in the Appendix to the present Report.
The providing of the Irish workhouses was a large and difficult operation, involving a great variety of details, and requiring constant attention. The contracts were as stated in the last Report entered into so gradually, and the works were spread so equally throughout the country, that although the number actually in progress at one time was greater than it might at first have been considered safe or expedient to undertake, it yet was not found that prices were materially affected, or that any other material inconvenience had arisen. One of the chief impediments was the delay and difficulty encountered in obtaining sites for the workhouses, owing to encumbrances and other circumstances connected with landed property in Ireland, and to the Act’s containing no special provision for the purpose. At one time indeed it was thought that it would have been necessary to apply to parliament on the subject; but by determined perseverance sites were at length everywhere obtained, and although not in every case so good as might be wished, no union was left without one sufficient for its object. The winter of 1841 began early, and continued late, and was unusually severe, which greatly retarded the progress of the buildings; but the contractors were generally sensible of the value of time, and whenever the weather permitted, exerted themselves to recover what was unavoidably lost through unfavourable seasons. It may perhaps not be deemed irrelevant to mention, that the author being then the resident commissioner in Ireland, he made a point of examining every workhouse site purchased, or intended to be purchased, and also inspected once at least in every year each of the workhouses, whether built or in progress of building. These inspections were no doubt a great addition to his other labours, but they were very necessary for correcting the defects and omissions which are sure to occur in carrying out so extensive an operation.
Eleven workhouses were completed and opened for the relief of the destitute poor during the year 1840-41 in addition to those of Dublin and Cork opened in the preceding year, and making fourteen in all. Two of these belonged to the important unions of Londonderry and Belfast. The Londonderry house had been open throughout the winter, and continued to work in all respects satisfactorily. The others had been too recently declared to afford reliable indications as to their future working, but nothing had occurred to excite apprehension with respect to them.
The two Dublin workhouses had been opened upwards of twelve months, and the guardians had attended to the administration of relief and the union business generally, in a very exemplary manner. Before the houses were thoroughly completed and organized, the closing of the Dublin mendicity institution threw a sudden pressure upon these establishments, especially upon that of the South Dublin union, as many as 500 poor persons having been admitted there in one week, and 1,473 within the first month, a great majority of whom had been previously supported in the Dublin Mendicity. Such an influx could hardly fail of causing embarrassment and confusion, and it may be regarded as a proof of the efficiency of the workhouse system, that notwithstanding the want of preparation which necessarily prevailed, and the inexperience of the guardians and union officers, so large an admission was provided for, and order speedily established. Even after the first influx of mendicity paupers had ceased, there was great pressure for admission, on which account a cautionary letter was addressed to the guardians, recommending that from the numerous applicants they should at one time select such a moderate number only “as could be conveniently cleansed, classified, placed in their proper wards, and registered in course of that and the following day;” and likewise, that the visiting committee should report as to the condition of the inmates, and whether they had been disposed of in accordance with the regulations, previous to further admissions taking place on the days fixed for the purpose. In the absence of strict discipline, the workhouse will, they are told, become a place to which the idle would resort to the exclusion of those who are real objects of charity; and this was the more to be apprehended in the Dublin unions, from the circumstance of their workhouses being open while no relief was given in the neighbouring unions, and were consequently attracting from the surrounding country those poor persons who needed or who professed to need such relief. The number of inmates in the South Dublin workhouse on the 25th of March was 2,080, and in the North Dublin the number was 1,837.
The case of Cork differed materially from the two Dublin unions. These had each a capacious workhouse in which classification could be established and order be enforced; but the Cork house was small, ill-arranged, and altogether insufficient for these purposes; and it was not without considerable misgiving, that in compliance with the wishes of the guardians, it had been permitted to be used as the temporary workhouse of the union, until the new house should be ready.[102] The inconvenience was certainly less felt than might be expected, the guardians having made the most of the old building, and established a tolerable degree of order among the inmates under circumstances extremely unfavourable for the purpose. The number of inmates on the 25th of March was 1,844, nearly the half of whom were former inmates of the old house of industry. This number was much beyond what could be properly accommodated, but owing to the severity of the winter and the high price of provisions there had been much distress among the poor, and the pressure for admission had consequently been very great. When relief shall be administered in the neighbouring unions, the pressure upon Cork may be expected to subside. The new house is calculated for 2,000 inmates, and will it is considered, when completed, be sufficient to meet the wants of the union.
The foregoing account of the proceedings in the Cork and Dublin unions, exhibits the actual working of the Poor Law in the only unions in which it had been in operation sufficiently long for showing any definite result. In each of these unions workhouse relief had been administered for upwards of a year, and the boards of guardians and other executives had mostly held office for double that period. The circumstances under which they had to act, were moreover peculiarly trying. These unions may therefore be regarded as average examples of the working of the law, and might be appealed to in proof of its sufficiency for the objects contemplated in its enactment. There was no doubt still in these three unions much to adjust and regulate, which it required time and watchfulness to effect. But the general establishment of the law throughout Ireland might now, it was considered, be looked forward to with confidence, nothing having hitherto occurred to raise a doubt as to its applicability; but on the contrary, all the proceedings had served to show that the system was suitable to the circumstances of the country, and adequate for the relief of the destitute poor.
By the 123rd section of the Relief Act it is directed, that an account of the expenditure upon the relief of the poor during the year, and the total number of persons relieved, in each union on the 1st of January, shall be annually laid before parliament, together with the commissioners’ General Report. On the 1st of January 1841, the returns showed that the expense of relief in the previous year, and the numbers relieved in the four unions then in operation, were as follows—
| No. in the workhouse on the 1st Jan. 1841. | ||||||
| Cork | £12,453 | 8 | 0 | 1,549 | ||
| North Dublin | 10,407 | 12 | 7 | 1,601 | ||
| South Dublin | 12,732 | 3 | 8 | 1,987 | ||
| Londonderry (two months) | 1,464 | 4 | 5 | 331 | ||
| £37,057 | 8 | 8 | Total | 5,468 | ||