The year 1822 was a period of much distress in Ireland, and on the 24th of May The 3rd George 4th, cap. 3, entitled ‘An Act for the employment of the Poor’ was passed, empowering the lord lieutenant in certain cases to order advances to be made from the public treasury, in anticipation of but not exceeding the amount of grand-jury presentments actually made. This does not however appear to have been sufficient to meet the emergency, and on the 26th of July The 3rd George 4th, cap. 84, was passed, the preamble declaring that—“Whereas by reason of the distress that exists in many parts of Ireland, it is in many counties thereof impossible without great severity and great mischief to the country to levy and raise the sums heretofore presented by the grand juries of such counties, and which ought by law to be levied and raised on or within the said counties respectively; and whereas the roads and works and other objects and purposes for which many of the said sums have been presented, cannot be delayed without great injury to the persons interested therein, and the commencement of such works, by employing the poor, must tend to alleviate the existing distress”—it is therefore enacted that certain advances which had been provisionally made by the lord lieutenant should be confirmed, and that he may further order advances for public works to be applied according to such directions as he shall give in connexion therewith; and the respective grand juries on being certified of the sums so advanced, are to present the same, to be raised by not less than four nor more than twelve half-yearly instalments, according to the state of the country. Such advances are therefore loans at longer or shorter periods, for road-making or other public works, as a means of relieving the distress of the people, there being then no other source whence relief could be derived.
1825.
6 George IV. cap. 102.
Deserted children.
In 1825 an Act was passed ‘to amend the Laws respecting Deserted Children in Ireland.’ After referring to previous Acts, which provide that the sum of 5l. sterling shall be leviable on any parish for the support of each deserted child found therein, it proceeds—“and whereas the sum of 5l. is now required to be paid previous to the reception of any such deserted child into the General Foundling Hospital of Dublin, transmitted from any such parish; and whereas no fund at present exists either to pay the expense of maintaining such deserted children in the parishes wherein found, or of transmitting them to the city of Dublin”—It is therefore enacted that it shall henceforward be lawful “for the several parishes in Ireland to raise and levy such additional sum as may be necessary for maintaining such deserted children as shall be found therein, until such children shall be admitted into the foundling hospital aforesaid, and for transmitting such children thither.” But it is further provided that no greater sum than fifty shillings shall be raised in any one year for the support of any such deserted child, or for its transmission to the foundling hospital in Dublin. The city and liberties of Cork are exempted from the provisions of the Act, which is limited to two years. It will not fail to be observed that this Act gives a legislative sanction to the rating of a parish for the relief of a destitute class “found therein,” and so far may be said to amount to a species of poor-law.
The foregoing are the only Acts requiring to be noticed, between the period of the Union and the passing of the Irish Poor Relief Act in 1838. They show the feeling of the legislature with regard to the state of Ireland, and seem to point to further measures as being necessary for amending its social defects. But in the interval there were moreover several commissions appointed by the crown, and several committees of parliament, whose reports contain much valuable information as to the state of the country and the condition of the people at the respective periods; and some of the more prominent of these we will now proceed to notice.
Report of committee of house of commons respecting the poor in Ireland.
In 1804 a Report was made to the house of commons by a committee which had been specially appointed to make inquiry “respecting the Poor in Ireland.” The committee, after considering the several statutes, and examining such evidence as was laid before them, came to the resolution—“that the adoption of a general system of provision for the poor of Ireland, by way of parish rate, as in England, or in any similar manner, would be highly injurious to the country, and would not produce any real or permanent advantage, even to the lower class of people who must be the objects of such support.” The committee further resolved, “that the Acts directing the establishment of a house of industry in every county and county of a city or town, have not been complied with, nor any presentment made by grand juries to assist in the support of such establishments for relief of the aged and infirm poor, and the punishment of vagrants and sturdy beggars, except in the counties of Cork, Waterford, Limerick, and Clare, and in the cities of Cork, Waterford, and Limerick.” But the committee remark, that the house of industry in Dublin is open to the admission of the poor from all parts of Ireland, which may have induced the other counties and cities to consider it sufficient, “and precluded the necessity of their making further provision for the poor.” The futility of this excuse must be sufficiently apparent, and coupled with the resolution against any systematic provision for the relief of the poor “by way of parish rate,” shows the kind of feeling which prevailed at the time in parliament on the subject. It appeared to the committee however, that the Acts directing the establishment of infirmaries or county hospitals, and granting a certain allowance from the Treasury for the salary to the surgeon or physician attending thereon, “have been carried into effect in almost all the counties;” whilst the provisions of the 57th George 3rd[[30]] “empowering grand juries to present the sums necessary for support of a ward for idiots and insane persons have not been complied with; and the committee consider that there is a great want of accommodation for idiotic and lunatic persons, and recommend the establishment of an asylum in each of the four provinces, to be erected and maintained either by grand-jury presentment or otherwise as may thereafter be determined.” The very important objects which had been referred to the committee require however, they say, more deliberation than the advanced period of the session permitted, and they therefore recommend that the investigation should be resumed in the ensuing session; but it does not appear that this was done, although the Acts passed in the two following years with regard to dispensaries infirmaries and hospitals, may very possibly have had their origin in the inquiries instituted by this committee.
Dublin house of industry.
The notice taken of the Dublin house of industry in the above Report, as well as the real importance of the institution, renders some account of it here necessary. The house of industry was established in 1772, by the 11th and 12th George 3rd, cap. 11,[[31]] under the provisions of which Act it was separated from the foundling hospital, of which it had before formed a part; and was thenceforward applied to the maintenance of such helpless men and helpless women as from age and infirmity were deemed fitting objects for admission, for the confinement of men who were committed as vagabonds or sturdy beggars, and for the punishment of such idle strolling and disorderly women as the magistrates might commit thither. Considerable additions were made to the building, and after a time some changes and modifications took place in the management, which ultimately led to the house of industry being used for the reception of poor aged and infirm men and women, idiots and incurable lunatics removed from the Richmond Lunatic Asylum, the sick poor and persons labouring under acute chronic and surgical complaints, for whom appropriate hospitals had been provided, and lastly strolling beggars thither committed by the magistrates of police. From the year 1773 to 1776 inclusive, the house of industry was supported by subscriptions, donations, and charity sermons, and afterwards by annual parliamentary grants, voluntary contributions, the profits (so called) arising from the labour of the poor, and a small sum of interest accruing on certain legacies. The voluntary contributions became less after aid was obtained from parliament, and as might be expected, soon ceased altogether. In 1776 the parliamentary grant to the institution was 3,000l.—In 1786 it was 8,600l.—In 1796 it was 14,500l.—In 1806 it was 22,177l.—In 1814 it was 49,113l.—In 1820 it was 26,474l., and in 1827 it was 23,000l.[[32]] At first the house of industry was managed and governed by the corporation for the relief of the poor in the county of the city of Dublin, under the provisions of the Act of 1772—afterwards by seven persons balloted for and appointed “acting governors of the house of industry,” in conformity with the 39th George 3rd, cap. 38. In 1800 the number of governors was reduced to five, and in 1820 the management was vested in a single governor, with a salary of 500l. a year. The number of admissions in 1803 was 4,468, and the average number in the house was 1,313. In 1807 the admissions were 5,900, and the average number in the house was 1862. In this latter year 271 of the admissions were by committal.
Dublin Foundling Hospital.
The foundling hospital originally formed part of the house of industry, the joint establishments being founded in 1704 under the 2nd Anne, cap. 19.[[33]] They remained so united until 1772, when the objects of the two institutions being deemed incompatible, they were as before stated placed under separate and distinct government by the 11th and 12th George 3rd, cap. 11.[[33]] The object of the institution is thenceforward said to be “the preservation of the lives of deserted or exposed infants, by their indiscriminate admission from all parts of Ireland;[[34]] putting them out to nurse in the country until they are of a proper age to be drafted into the hospital, and educating them there in such manner as to qualify them for being apprenticed to trades, or as servants, and thus rendering them useful members of society.”[[35]] Down to 1823 the institution was supported partly by a house-tax levied on the citizens of Dublin and its liberties and suburbs, amounting to between 7,000l. and 8,000l. annually, and partly by parliamentary grants, and the rent of a small property of 115l. per annum: but the citizens of Dublin were then relieved from the house-tax, and the sum of 5l. was required to be paid with every child on its admission to the hospital, by the overseers or the minister and churchwardens of the parish whence the infant was sent, no child being admissible whose age exceeded twelve months. The aggregate of these latter payments amounted to about 2,000l. annually, and the annual grants by parliament varied from 21,554l. in 1800, to 34,000l. in 1828. The number of admissions was 2,041 in 1800, 2,168 in 1806, and 2,359 in 1811, at which time the number of children remaining on the books of the institution was 6,498.