3. Lubeck.—If the statistical returns respecting Lubeck, which however do not appear to rest on enumeration, can be depended on, the proportion of deaths, births, and marriages to the whole population is less than in any other part of Europe. The deaths being stated to be 1 in 56; the births 1 in 53½; and the marriages 1 in 177. And, what is perhaps the strongest indication of the general welfare of a community, the deaths under the age of one year are stated to be only 1 in 7. The following answers to questions 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8, may be compared with the corresponding answers from Bremen:
3. To what extent and under what regulations are there district houses of industry for receiving the destitute able-bodied, or any part of their families, and supplying them with food, clothes, &c., and in which they are set to work?—No other institution of this kind exists here but the work and poor-house, called the Cloister, into which, however, none are admitted but persons totally incapable of contributing to their own support, whether from drunkenness or other incapacitating causes.
4. To what extent and under what regulations do any religious institutions give assistance to the destitute, by receiving them as inmates, or by giving them alms?—We have none such, but a collection is made in all our churches every Sunday for the poor; this, however, being a regular matter-of-course thing, yields comparatively small sums, which are privately distributed to poor persons by the churchwardens and deacons.
5. To what extent and under what regulations is work provided at their own dwellings for those who have trades, but do procure work for themselves?—or for such persons in agriculture or on public works? Every able-bodied man is supposed capable of providing for himself, and no such work or relief is afforded him. In winter, many poor women are supplied with a little work by the overseers of the workhouse, who give them flax to spin. The average annual quantity thus spun is about 6000 to 6500 pounds, the pay for which, amounting to about 130l. annually, relieves about 300 poor women. The linen yarn thus spun is disposed of by lottery among the wealthier classes. No work is supplied at the public expense or by public institutions to able-bodied men, merely because they are destitute; they must seek and find it themselves, and are of course accepted and employed on public works, as far as there is a demand for them. Having no relief to expect elsewhere, they are of course spurred on to exertion, and if sober and of good character, it may be generally assumed that they find work, at least sufficient for their bare existence, since, if a man can earn but a few pence daily, it will suffice to support him in this country.
7. To what extent and under what regulations are fuel, clothing, or money, distributed to such persons or their families; at all times of the year, or during any particular seasons?—As above stated, no relief of this kind is afforded to able-bodied men; their families, if considered destitute, may perhaps obtain the relief afforded by the poor-board to the poor generally, by means of portions of cheap food daily during the five winter months, and four times a week during the other part of the year. About 230,000 such portions are distributed annually, and bread to the value of about 60l. Fuel is distributed during the severer part of the winter, but money is rarely given, and only in extreme cases, never exceeding one mark, or about 14d. sterling a week, to the same party. Clothing forms no part of the relief afforded. In Lubeck these various kinds of relief are partaken of by about 850 persons annually.
8. To what extent, and under what regulations, are they relieved by their children being taken into schools, and fed, clothed, and educated, or apprenticed?—Not only are all the children of the poor admitted into the poor-schools for instruction gratis, but when relief is afforded by the poor-board, it is on the positive condition that they shall send their children to such schools. Neither food, clothing, nor any further provision is afforded them, in these schools, excepting in a very few extreme cases, in which the maintenance of very young children is undertaken by the poor-board. The number of children in our poor-schools averages about 300. (p. 415, 416.)
The allowance in our poor and workhouse for every individual, is—
| Daily:— | 1½ | lb. | of coarse rye bread. |
| 2½ | — | vegetables or porridge, such as potatoes, yellow peas, green peas, dried white beans, carrots, peeled barley, cabbage, &c., according to the season, and sometimes rice. | |
| 1 | bottle | of weak beer. | |
| Monthly:— | 1½ | lb. | of meat, and |
| ½ | lb. | of butter, lard, or fat, to cook the food with. (p. 420.) |
Marriages among the poor are delayed by the necessity a man is under, first, of previously proving that he is in a regular employ, work, or profession, that will enable him to maintain a wife; and secondly, of becoming a burgher, and equipping himself in the uniform of the burgher guard, which, together, may cost him nearly 4l. (p. 419.)
The condition of the labouring classes living on their own earnings is considered by themselves to be far superior to that of the paupers maintained in our poor-house. The partial assistance afforded by the poor-board is chiefly directed towards aiding those who are not devoid of honest pride, and have some feelings of independence left, who consequently earn their own maintenance as far as they can, and are thus assisted in their endeavours to support themselves, and keep out of the workhouse. The aid they receive is proportioned to their age and families, and is mostly granted to females; it is gratefully received, and no idea exists of ever thinking it a right. As a rule, no persons fully able to work can receive assistance; they are therefore forced to seek out employment, and may be generally presumed to succeed. If they get but a moderate portion of work, very trifling earnings place them in a situation much more eligible than that of the pauper maintained in the poor-house. (p. 418.)