Statement of the Provision for the Poor, and of the Condition of the Labouring Classes in a Considerable Portion of America and Europe / Being the preface to the foreign communications contained in the appendix to the Poor-Law Report

by Nassau William Senior

In-door relief.

67. Adult poor who, on account of their great age, or of weakness, infirmity, and sickness of body or mind, or on account of immoral conduct, cannot be left to themselves, and who have no relations legally bound and able to superintend and take care of them, and who consequently would not be sufficiently relieved merely by a present in money or in kind, are even now, especially in small towns, taken in by all the members of the community in their turn, from house to house, by the day or by the week, or else put out to board in a fixed private house at the expense of the local funds.

But as nobody readily determines to admit such persons to his table and his house, particularly persons affected with the itch and other contagious disorders; and as even the most careful selection of such private boarding-houses, with the best superintendence which is possible in such cases, frequently answers neither the expectations of those who provide such accommodation, nor the wants of those intended to be provided, it is very fortunate that, partly so far back as the 14th and 15th centuries,—partly in modern and very recent times, almost in every large and small town, and even in some villages,—partly by particular endowments for the purpose,—partly at the expense of the local funds, a distinct public poor-house, or even several such poor-houses, have been built, or purchased, or taken from debtors in lieu of payment, which were not precisely intended to provide for persons of the above description, but rather to receive foreign vagabonds, and also for fear of the leprosy, plague, or cholera; which establishments, founded under various denominations, such as poor-house, beggars’-house, hospital, lazaretto, infirmary, leprosy-house, cholera-house, &c., &c., now that the entrance of foreign vagrants is prevented, and the fear of plague, leprosy, and cholera is past, can be made use of for the reception of the native poor belonging to the above classes.

Many of these houses can, indeed, accommodate only 10, 20, 30, or 40 persons, but many of them are calculated for a hundred or several hundred persons.

Formerly it was usual to receive also poor children, with or without their parents, into these houses, but latterly the children are otherwise disposed of, and only married persons, without children, or single adult poor, are admitted, who for the most part are, as far as possible, kept separate according to their sex, and partly according to other circumstances, especially as prescribed by existing ordinances. Separate rooms for insane and sick persons, particularly for those who have the venereal disease and the itch, are fitted up in these poor-houses, so as to answer, as much as possible, this particular object; and in some cases separate buildings are allotted for this purpose.

90. In many of these poor-houses, those who are admitted into them have only free lodging and firing, and sometimes clothing; and to provide for their other wants, a weekly, monthly, or annual allowance in money or in kind.

In others, they are directly provided with every thing; that is, they have in the house free lodging, candles, firing, bedding, clothes, food, and in case of sickness, medical care, medicine, and attendance. In general, in this case, each of the two sexes, or a great number of such persons, nearly of the same class, have a common sleeping-room, and a common eating and working-room. Sometimes however only two, three, or four poor persons together, and often even individual poor have their separate rooms.

In the common sleeping-rooms, every person has his separate bed, generally feather beds, such as are usually found in poor independent families.

The clothing is mostly warmer and stronger, but not so good-looking and more old-fashioned than that of the poorer independent citizens.

The food consists, generally, in the morning of soup, at noon a farinaceous dish and vegetables, and once, twice, rarely three times in the week, of a quarter or half a pound of meat; in the evening of soup, together with milk or potatoes. There are, however, poor-houses where they get no breakfast in the morning; at dinner only farinaceous food or vegetables (not both together), and once a week only, or even but a few times in the year, on certain holidays, or even not at all, meat, and in the evening nothing but soup.[7] When this diet is furnished by contract, 5, 5½, 6, 7, 8 to 8½ kreutzer daily per head are at present paid for it; besides which, however, the contractor mostly has lodging and firing gratis, and the use of a garden.