BAVARIA.
With respect to the Bavarian institutions we have little information excepting the text of the law. The following extracts will show its general law tendency: (pp. 556, 557, 558, 559, 560, 562, 563.)
Poor Law authorities.
Each town, market, and village, is to have an institution for the poor; but if several villages wish to unite in forming one of these institutions, it is not only to be permitted, but every facility is to be afforded it.
Each provincial district (landgericht) must have an institution of its own.
All the inhabitants of such district are obliged, according to their means, to contribute to that purpose; each person is, besides, bound to continue to support those poor relations whom the laws direct him to maintain.
The claims for relief are to be fixed according to the laws of their district (heimath gesetz.) Sometimes, in cases of great necessity, relief is allowed to strangers who do not belong to the parish.
The overseers consist (unless it is otherwise determined) of the directors, of the police, commissaries, and magistrates.
In cases where medical aid is necessary, they are to be attended by physicians, who are appointed by the state.
In towns and larger market towns, besides the above-named overseers, a council is to be formed, consisting of the clergyman and the mayor and persons deputed by the magistrates and all classes of the people, in proportion to the number of inhabitants of each place.
In smaller market-towns the clergyman and deputies from the peasants form this council.
When several villages join together to form one of these institutions, a general committee is to be formed.
The members of the council for the institutions for the poor are to be elected in the same way as the magistrates and mayors (burgermeister).
When several parishes are joined together, a deputy is to be chosen from each, and again, several are elected from among these, who are to take immediate charge of the affairs. Each deputy is chosen for three years, and is obliged to perform his duties without remuneration; no inhabitant is allowed to refuse to perform his functions the first time he is elected; extraordinary merits in the service of the poor are to be publicly distinguished.
Mode of relief.
The public charge is brought into action in the following manner:
1st. By institutions for working.
2d. By institutions for taking care of people who are unable to work.
3d. By institutions for alms.
1. Finding work.
1. Materials and tools are to be distributed to those paupers who, notwithstanding all inquiries and interference, cannot obtain the necessary work, to be used at their houses until the required situation can be obtained. If in larger towns the number of these is very great, houses are to be opened and maintained at the expense of the institution for the poor, in which the paupers who are unoccupied are to work.
The choice among the different sorts of work in these houses is settled according to the local circumstances, and chiefly according to the facility with which either orders from private persons can be received, or with which the material is obtained and worked; then accordingly as the material can be used for the wants of the poor or can be usefully employed for any other purpose.
The houses for the employment of the poor are always to retain their original destination, namely, an employment, for the present, of poor men who would otherwise be without work, and therefore do not admit any such persons whose names are not down on the above-named register. Therefore those persons are no longer allowed to work in this house after they have had an offer of work from any other quarter.
2. In-door relief.
2. Houses of nourishment are to be erected for those poor who, besides having no fortune or means of obtaining their livelihood, are in an extraordinary degree helpless, namely, children, sick people, old persons, and cripples.
3. Money relief.
3. Poor people who do not require extraordinary care, and who are not fit to be admitted into the particular houses of nourishment, or cannot yet be received into them, but are unable to gain their livelihood, are to be assisted by alms, which, however, are not to be given without the most complete proof of want.
The alms are to be given in the form of gifts of money. These gifts are sometimes to be increased, according to the price of provisions; and from time to time a maximum is to be fixed, which is on no account to be exceeded.
Relief by quartering on householders.
These gifts of money may, either in part or entirely, be substituted by provisions, if this sort of aid is more easily afforded with regard to lodging, nourishment, and clothing.
Their lodging is to be changed every day among the different members of the parish, but the poor who are lodged are obliged to repay this lodging by work. Where there are opportunities, rooms are to be warmed, to which the poor may bring their work.
The nourishment of the poor can be facilitated and insured by the equal division of them amongst the public, to be maintained in turn, being obliged to partake of the work of their host, or by voluntarily offered days for food, or lastly, by distribution of bread and other nourishment. Where circumstances permit, kitchens are to be erected on purpose for preparing nourishing soups, partly gratis, partly very cheap.
Liabilities of pauper.
No pauper who partakes of the benefactions of the poor institutions may go away from his dwelling without the knowledge and leave of the head of the village, to stay for some time, or permanently in another village, even if it is in the same district.
The same leave from the police direction is necessary when a pauper wishes, for some good reason, to go out of his police district; the leave is only to be given in both cases on well-grounded reasons, and on proofs that the poor will not be burdensome to other villages and districts; also he must give in a declaration to the same, in which, besides his name and village, and the duration of his absence, the villages to which he intends to go must be expressed.
Paupers who have been warned in vain concerning bad conduct and idleness shall be proceeded against without favour, by the power of magistrates, and be punished accordingly.
The poor institutions can claim repayment from those hypocrites who, although they possess private means, embezzle and grasp at the gifts and assistance which are only intended for true poverty, which shall be fully repaid. The poor institutions can make the same claim from those persons who have renounced their duty of supporting those relations whom they are obliged to support, either by law or by contract.
No marriage between people without capital shall be allowed without the previous permission of the poor institutions. Directors who do not follow these orders, nor pay attention to the Act of the 12th of July, 1808 (Government Paper, page 1506), concerning marriages in the country, have to answer for the maintenance of the new families, should they not be able to maintain themselves. In the same manner, the priests and other churchmen shall be responsible for the support of such persons as they have married without leave from the authorities, besides other fines which are imposed on this breach of the rules of the marriage ceremony.
Sources of poor fund.
Besides the extraordinary sources, which consist partly in the restitution which hypocrites and relations who avoid their duty are obliged to make, and partly out of fines which are given to the poor fund, or may be hereafter given, are sources for charity from donations from the district fund, and from loans or from taxes.
The yearly produce of all charities belongs to the poor institutions, and is used for their purposes. With the establishments for the poor are united the already existing or still accumulating capitals of one or other of the poor institutions; the gain on mortgages or on those possessions whose owners cannot be discovered; the legacies for the poor, when by the will of the deceased they are to be laid out in a regular yearly income, and the fourth part of such legacies as are destined in general for pious purposes.
The voluntary donations consist of casual gifts in money and food which have been given by philanthropic persons of their own accord, for the use of the poor institutions, and in this manner are to be employed for their daily use. Besides these, are the legacies which are meant for immediate division among the poor, and those subscriptions which are collected either by single persons or by companies and corporations.
General and extraordinary collections, in the name of the institutions for the poor, are to be made monthly from house to house, when the members of the parish have bound themselves to a certain subscription; also in the churches on the great holidays, and in the public-houses by means of private poor-boxes; and lastly, on all important and joyful occasions of the state, or companies.
According to the circumstances of the place, certain accidental funds can be appropriated to the uses of the poor institutions, which particularly on great joyful occasions, namely, great marriages in the taverns, the permission to have music, particularly past the stated times, processions of the apprentices, shooting matches, &c. &c., at shows, balls, masquerades, and so on.
When all the aforesaid sources do not suffice to cover the wants of the poor institutions, it will be supplied out of the funds of the district, or through loans, and then only when all these means cannot be put in practice, or do not suffice to cover their wants, compulsory contributions or poor-taxes are to be resorted to. The manner and amount of these are to be according to the calls of the villages and districts, and are only to be levied for a certain time. It is to be observed, however, that these taxes are to be imposed with the greatest equality, and without any exception among all classes.
Central control.
The poor institutions and committees in such towns as have no police directors or commissaries, also in the market towns and parishes, are directly under the control of the district tribunal, and under their guidance and inspection.
The inspection of the poor institutions of the whole kingdom is given to the ministry for the interior, which is to receive regularly the report of the state of this branch of administration from the annual accounts and other proper sources, and which is to issue the necessary general orders and regulations, and is to judge of the proposals for the establishment, the arrangement and fitting up of workhouses, and others in which the poor are taken care of, for single districts, whole circles, or for the entire kingdom, which decides with the ministry of finance all proposals for allowing certain taxes and poor subscriptions, decides the complaints brought against the general circle and local commissaries, if such do not belong to the private council, and causes the election of certain poor directors where it may be found advisable.
It will be observed, that these institutions bear a considerable resemblance to those of Wurtemberg. Their effects are thus summed up by Lord Erskine:
Upon carefully examining and considering these poor laws of Bavaria. I have come to the conclusion in my own mind that they are useful, and well adapted to the purposes for which they were intended, because by the establishment of the poor institutions (as they are called), by districts over the whole kingdom of Bavaria, with sufficient power by law to carry their provisions into execution, the great and important object is attained of giving relief and support to the aged, helpless, and sick, and finding work in workhouses or at their own homes, at a moderate payment, for those who cannot otherwise obtain it; for which purpose a register is to be kept by the guardians of the poor of all those persons who are in want of work, and who are therefore either a burthen upon the parish, or are likely to become so, as also a list of those who wish to employ workmen, in order to endeavour to arrange between them the terms of employment; and that this object may be the more easily attained, the directors are required to be in continual communication with the overseers of public works, the masters of manufactories, with individual proprietors, and societies; in order that where there are a quantity of hands capable of work, they may be passed into that part of the country where they are most wanted; but whenever it may happen that, notwithstanding all inquiries and exertions, the necessary work cannot be obtained, in such cases materials and tools are to be distributed to those paupers who may be in want of them, to be used at their own houses; and if in larger towns the number of those paupers should be very great, houses are to be opened and maintained at the expense of the institutions for the poor, in which the paupers who are out of work are to be employed; but the number of paupers to be so employed is always limited to those who have not had a reasonable offer of work from any other quarter. But the great cause why the number of the poor is kept so low in this country, arises from the prevention by law of marriages in cases in which it cannot be proved that the parties have reasonable means of subsistence; and this regulation is in all places and at all times strictly adhered to.
The effect of a constant and firm observance of this rule has, it is true, a considerable influence in keeping down the population of Bavaria, which is at present low for the extent of country, but it has a most salutary effect in averting extreme poverty and consequent misery. (p. 554.)
The last of the countries subject to a system of compulsory relief, from which we have a return, is the ancient part of the