6th. To exercise the legal powers, through the medium of Constables, for the purpose of compelling all Mendicants, and idle destitute Boys and Girls who appear in the streets, to come before the Commissioners for examination; that those whose industry cannot be made productive, or who cannot be put in a way to support themselves without alms, may be passed to their Parishes, while means are employed to bind out destitute Children to some useful occupation.
7th. To keep a distinct Register of the cases of all Mendicants or distressed individuals, who may seek advice and assistance, and to employ such means for alleviating misery, as the peculiar circumstances may suggest—never losing sight of indigence, until an asylum is provided for the helpless and infirm, and also until the indigent, who are able to labour, are placed in a situation to render it productive.
8th. That these Commissioners shall report their proceedings annually, to his Majesty in Council, and to Parliament; with abstracts, shewing the numbers who have been examined—How disposed of—The earning of the persons at the different Work-rooms—The annual expence of the Establishment; together with a general view of the advantages resulting from it; with the proofs of these advantages.
Towards defraying the whole expence of this Establishment it is proposed, that (in lieu of the Casual Charity, paid at present by all the Parishes in the Metropolis, which under this System will cease, together with the immense trouble attached to it,) each Parish in the Metropolis shall pay into the hands of the Receiver of the Funds of this Pauper Police Institution, a sum equal to what was formerly disbursed in casual relief, which for the purpose of elucidation, is estimated as follows:—
| £. | s. | d. | ||
| 97 | Parishes within the Walls, average 10l. each | 970 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Parishes without the Walls, in London and Southwark, average 60l. each | 960 | 0 | 0 |
| £.1,930 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 23 | Out-parishes in Middlesex and Surry, average 100l. each | 2,300 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Parishes in Westminster, average 100l. each | 1,000 | 0 | 0 |
| 146 | £.5,230 | 0 | 0 |
This sum (which is supposed to be not much above one half of the average Annual disbursements of the 146 Parishes above-mentioned; especially since it has been shewn, that the expence in St. Giles' and St. George Bloomsbury alone, has been 2000l. in one year) will probably, with œconomy and good management, be found sufficient for all the relief that is required; more especially as the object is not to maintain the indigent, but to put them in a way of supporting themselves by occasional pecuniary aids well and judiciously applied.
The experiment is certainly worth trying. In its execution some of the most respectable and intelligent individuals in the Metropolis, would gratuitously assist the Commissioners, who as taking responsibility upon them, in the direction of a most important branch of Police, ought undoubtedly to be remunerated by Government, especially as it is scarcely possible to conceive any mode in which the Public money could be applied, that would be productive of such benefit to the State.
If that utility resulted from the design, which may reasonably be expected, it would of course extend to other great towns, as the private Soup Establishments have done, and the condition of the poor would undergo a rapid change. The destitute and forlorn would then have some means of communicating their distress, while information and facts of the greatest importance, to the best interests of Society, would spring from this source.
With respect to the general affairs of the poor, much good would arise from consolidating the funds of all the parishes in the Metropolis.