PRUSSIA.
There is some difficulty in reconciling Mr. Abercrombie’s report and Mr. Gibsone’s. The following is Mr. Abercrombie’s statement: (pp. 425, 426.)
Throughout the whole kingdom of Prussia, the funds for the maintenance and support of the poor are raised from private charity. No law exists enabling either the government of the country, or the subordinate provincial regencies, to raise funds explicitly appropriated for the provision of the poor, and it is only when private charity does not suffice for the exigencies of the moment, that the government, or the regency, advance money for that purpose. But to enable them to do so, the amount must be taken from those funds which had been destined for other purposes, such as, for improvements in paving, lighting, or for the public buildings of a town, or for the construction of roads, or other public works.
In Prussia, each town, and each commune, is obliged to take charge of the poor that may happen to reside within them; and consequently there is no passing from one parish to another, or refusal to maintain an individual because he belongs to another parish.
In each town there is a deputation (called armen-direction) or society for the poor, who undertake the collection and distribution of funds raised by charity. In small towns, of under 3,500 inhabitants, exclusive of military, this society is composed of the burgomaster, together with the town deputies (forming the town senate) and burghers chosen from the various quarters of the town.
In large and middle-sized towns, including from 3,500 to 10,000 inhabitants, exclusive of military, to the afore-mentioned individuals is always added the syndic (or town accomptant), and if necessary, another magistrate. Clergymen and doctors are likewise included in the society; and where the police of the place has a separate jurisdiction from the magistrate, the president of the police has always a seat as a member of the society.
Under this armen-direction the care of the poor is confided to different sub-committees formed of the burghers, and for this purpose the town is divided into poor districts (or armenbezirke). In small and middle-sized towns, these districts are again divided into sub-districts, containing not above 1,000, or less than 400 souls. In large towns the sub-districts are to comprise not above 1,500, or less than 1,000 souls; and in these last towns several sub-districts may, if requisite, be united into one poor district or armenbezirke.
From each armenbezirke must be elected one or more of the town deputies, or burghers, according to necessity, for the management of the affairs of the poor; and it is also required that at least one of those elected should be a member of the society for the poor (or armen-direction), and these individuals are required to find out and verify the condition of the poor of their own district.
The direction of the affairs of the poor is therefore, as thus established, confided entirely to the burghers of the town, and the provision of the funds rests upon the charity and benevolence of the inhabitants.
As regards hospitals and public charities, one or more of the members of the armen-direction undertake to watch that the funds are expended according to the provisions made by the founders.
In the villages, the direction of the funds for the poor is confided to the mayor (or schûltze), assisted by individuals chosen for that purpose from amongst the principal inhabitants of the commune.
This body is accountable to the councillor of the district (or land rath), who is in like manner under the jurisdiction of the provincial regency, and the whole is under the inspection of the 1st section of the home department.
I have now specified the authorities who control the maintenance for the poor, and who are likewise charged with the care of administering to their wants.
As regards the manner of obtaining the necessary funds, everything is done by donations and private charity. Each house proprietor, each inhabitant of a floor or apartment, is in his turn visited by some of the members of the sub-committee of the armenbezirke, who, in return for the donation, deliver a receipt for the amount.
The donations from residents are generally monthly, and vary in amount according to the number of individuals in the family, or to the feelings of generosity of the donor. No rate or calculated fixed table exists, regulating the sum to be given by each individual or head of a family.
Each town being governed by its own particular laws and customs with regard to the management of its poor, and each from accidental circumstances differing from its neighbour, it is impossible to particularize any other general principle that is followed, than the establishments of the armen-direction, and of the sub-committees; which detailed information I have extracted as above from the Städte Ordnüng, or town laws, as revised in 1831.
As regards the practical working of this system, I have no hesitation in affirming, that it is found universally to succeed; that the effect upon the comfort, character, and condition of the inhabitants, is, first, to afford speedy and sufficient means of relief when necessary; that it prevents in a great degree false applications, inasmuch as that the districts being small, the really needy are more easily discovered; and secondly, that as no tax is fixed for the maintenance of the poor, it renders all classes more willing and anxious to assist, according to their respective means, in sustaining the funds required for the support of the poor. (p. 426.)
On the other hand, the following is the statement of Mr. Gibsone: (pp. 460, 461, 463, 464.)
In general it is the duty of the police authority in every community, where any person in distress may come, to render him the needful assistance for the moment, which must be repaid,
a) by the provincial pauper fund, if the person be a foreigner, or have no domicile; or,
b) by the community, or owner of the estate (called the dominium), he belongs to, if a native of the country.
Destitute Able-bodied.
Every pretended needy person is duly examined by a medical man, whether he be bodily and mentally able to maintain himself (it is the same with families) by work, and in this case he is required by the police to do so, and to conduct himself properly. Any one who does not, is sent to the poor-and-workhouse (the work is compulsive) of the province, where he is taught to earn a livelihood. If the distress be temporary, the proprietor of the estate (called the dominium), or the community in which the indigent person has acquired a settlement, is bound to afford the requisite relief; yet having the right to claim restitution, upon the assisted person becoming able to make it. When this is not the case, and the relief has been afforded by a community, the members of it must bear the expense, if in a town, out of its general funds; if in the country, in the proportions they pay the land-tax to the king, called war-contribution. The support is rendered in giving a dwelling, (with a garden, if in the country), fuel, salt, money, &c., wholly or partly, sometimes by boarding the pauper, according to the necessity of the case.
There is in every province a poor-and-workhouse (the work compulsive), for receiving the following persons:
a) such as have indeed a fixed place of abode in the country, yet seek their livelihood by begging, although able to work;
b) actual paupers, who receive a fixed maintenance or aid from communities, benevolent institutions, &c., yet, notwithstanding, wander about the country begging;
c) invalid soldiers, found begging, as every soldier who has been rendered invalid in war enjoys a pension from the state (a very small one);
d) travelling handicraftsmen, as none are permitted to travel in their profession who have not the means of subsistence, or are above 30 years old;
e) foreign vagabonds, until they can be transported over the borders;
f) those who have been punished for crime, in the fortress or house of correction, and after expiration of their term of punishment, are unable to show how they can earn an honest livelihood;
g) such as by particular sentences are, or by future laws may be, declared subjects for the compulsive workhouse.
It is left to every proprietor of an estate (called the dominium), to every town and village community, to provide and select, at their option, a livelihood for those individuals, having a settlement under their jurisdiction, who cannot procure such for themselves. Should a proprietor of an estate, or a community, not fulfil this obligation, it is compelled to do so, but which seldom is necessary.
It is to be observed, that when, from bad crops, inundations, &c., a general scarcity occurs in particular parts of the country, works of public utility, such as turnpike-roads, drains, and the like, are ordered by government, in order to afford the inhabitants the means of subsistence, which work is paid for with money, grain, salt, or other articles, as most suitable, according to circumstances.
No person, able-bodied or capable of earning a livelihood, has a legal claim for support, but he can only, when misfortune befals him, receive a temporary aid in the way of an advance. For further answers to this question, see the preceding answers.
All children capable of going to school are obliged to attend it. Those whose parents are unable to pay the expense, must be sent thither at the cost of the community to which they belong, which must also do the needful for clothing, feeding, educating, and apprenticing them. Such children also frequently receive assistance from private benevolent societies and individuals.
Impotent through Age.
In the towns, the community must provide for all the absolute wants of the poor out of the municipal funds, and in every town a board is established for directing the management of these affairs.
In the country, the proprietors of the estates, or the village authorities, must provide for these wants, for which, in the latter case, the members of the village community must contribute in the proportions as they pay the taxes to the king, say the land-tax, called war contribution.
In Dantzig, the poor, besides being placed in the poor-house, or, otherwise assisted, receive alms at their homes from a charitable society of the citizens, whose funds arise partly from private contributions, and partly from an annual supply out of the municipal funds. From this society about 1000 persons yearly receive support (about one-third males and two-thirds females), but not above about 3s. to 4s., and not under 1s. monthly, for the time the support is required. In winter, when severe, they get also firing, partly in fir-wood, but chiefly in turf. The sum thus disbursed is now considerably less than before, from the control on the part of the magistracy being much stricter. The whole annual expense of the society is about 1200l. sterling.
Sick.
The law prescribes that every town and every village community must support its own members when in distress, provided there be no relations able to do so, and the owners of estates are under a similar obligation; hence the sick stand under the same regulations as the impotent through age.
Effects of the foregoing Institutions.
The regulations for the support of paupers operate beneficially on industry. Every proprietor of an estate, every community of a town or village has unquestionably the most correct knowledge of the bodily condition, of the moral conduct, of the expertness, of the capability to earn a livelihood in whole or in part, and of the pecuniary circumstances of the needy persons under their jurisdiction, whom they are bound to support, as well as of the circumstances of their relatives. The pauper knows that aid must always be given when necessary, and he applies to the proper authority for it, when not duly afforded; while he is, on the other hand, deterred from making exorbitant claims by his situation being so thoroughly known in every respect, and from ungrounded demands not being complied with. In general, therefore, neither the party called upon for assistance, nor that requiring it, inclines to let the authority interpose, but an amicable arrangement usually takes place between them, according to existing circumstances. The pauper must perform what service or work he can for those who assist him, or for himself, towards contributing to his own support as far as in his power; while those rendering assistance can seek only in themselves the means to do so, of course in the least expensive and most suitable manner. The paupers are employed at various kinds of work and service, accordingly as such is wanted and as they are able to perform it, and this as well for their supporters, privately, as in the public workhouses.
It is, in general, to be observed that the right of settlement of individuals is established in the following manner:—
If any person acquires the right of citizenship in a town, or a possession (house or lying-ground) in the country, or if he is permitted by the local authority to form a regular domicile by becoming a householder, he then is considered as an expressly accepted member of the community, and the obligation to support him, when reduced to want, immediately commences. So soon, therefore, as any person shows an intention to settle, or to become a householder, in a place, it is the business of the community, or of those interested, to ascertain, through the medium of the proper local authority, whether or not the emigrant possesses sufficient means to maintain himself there. Should this not be the case, and he is evidently unable to earn a livelihood, then must the support of the individual (or family) be borne by the community where he has previously dwelt, and it is not advisable to permit the change of domicile. Thence is the rule justified, that upon any person being regularly received as member of a community, with the express consent of its magistracy, that community becomes bound to render him support, when his situation requires it. Minors belong to the community in which their parents were settled, even after the death of these. With regard to other inhabitants, only that town or village community is bound to maintain a pauper where he last contributed to its public burthens.
A person who is of age, and has resided three succeeding years in a place (for instance, as servant,) acquires by that the right of settlement, but which he again loses by leaving the place for one year. Privileged corporations, that possess a particular poor-fund, or raise among themselves, pursuant to their laws, the means to provide for their needy members, are specially bound to maintain them.
In conformity with the rules before stated, must also the wives, widows, and destitute children of paupers be supported by the communities or corporations, or the owners of the estates.
Paupers for whom communities, corporations, proprietors of estates, or relatives are not bound to provide, according to the foregoing rules, or when these are unable to do so, have to be maintained in provincial poor and workhouses. These are established at the expense of government, and supported by contributions from the whole province.
We are inclined to suspect that the practice corresponds with Mr. Abercrombie’s account, and the general law with Mr. Gibsone’s, and that the pauper possesses a legal right to assistance, though that right is seldom enforced, because the impotent are voluntarily provided for, and the able-bodied would probably be sent to a penal workhouse. It is probable indeed that the law itself is vague as respects the relief of the able-bodied. The difficulty in framing a poor-law, of either expressly admitting or expressly rejecting their claim, is such that almost all who have legislated on the subject have left their legal right undecided. Mr. Gibsone’s statement, that no person able-bodied or capable of earning a livelihood has a legal claim for support, is inconsistent with his general account of the law, unless we change or into and.