The capacity of the house of industry and foundling hospital for being converted to workhouses, and the great prevalence of mendicancy in Dublin, made it expedient to introduce the new law with as little delay as possible; and steps were taken for this purpose, as soon as the passing of the Amendment Act[[96]] enabled the board to unite districts not being townlands. Arrangements were, with the approbation of government, made for the lunatic inmates of the house of industry, amounting with their attendants to 523, by preparing certain old barracks at Island Bridge for their reception; and as the hospitals and the dispensary, when detached from the house of industry, would stand in need of kitchen and other office accommodation, these essentials were accordingly provided, and the appointments in connexion with them were consigned to the Irish government. With regard to the foundling hospital, a suitable residence was provided for the officers, and for such of the children as it might be occasionally necessary to bring to Dublin. The expense attendant upon making these various changes was very considerable, but the whole was accomplished “without calling for any advance beyond the money already voted by parliament for the house of industry and foundling hospital, the balance remaining from the vote of the year preceding, and the saving of expenditure by enforcing a rigid economy during the past year, having afforded sufficient funds to effect all that was necessary.” This result is declared to have been chiefly owing to the confidence which government placed in the commissioners with regard to a matter of much intricacy, and which did not perhaps strictly come within the line of their duty. It was also in no slight degree owing to the prompt support afforded by his excellency the lord lieutenant, whose cordial co-operation and assistance on all occasions is gratefully noticed in the Report.[[97]]
The two Dublin unions.
A full account of the measures adopted with regard to the Dublin foundling hospital and house of industry, is given in the assistant-commissioners’ Report[[98]] on these institutions, and also of what was required to be done preparatory to their being used as the workhouses of the two Dublin unions, for which they were well suited both as to size and situation. One of the unions comprised the district on the south side of the Liffey, with a population of 182,767; and the other comprised the district on the north side, having a population of 125,245. The workhouses would each be made capable of accommodating 2,000 inmates, and were very conveniently placed, with a sufficiency of land attached to them. A belt of unions had been formed nearly encircling the city, so that the Dublin unions would be protected from undue pressure. The guardians exhibited a good spirit, and promised an active co-operation in carrying out the law.|Dublin workhouses declared, March 25, 1840.| The unions were both declared on the 6th of June 1839; and the order declaring the workhouses fit for the reception of paupers was issued on the 25th of March 1840, the interval being occupied in making the necessary preparations.
The Cork union.
Cork possessed a foundling hospital and a house of industry as well as Dublin; but both were much smaller than the metropolitan ones, and the house of industry alone was susceptible of being used as a workhouse, and that only temporarily until an adequate building could be provided for the purpose. With respect to the foundling hospital, steps were taken as in the case of that of Dublin, to bring it to a close at the earliest period compatible with the wellbeing of the children maintained in it. The Cork guardians entered with alacrity on the discharge of their new duties, and took immediate steps for obtaining a valuation, and levying a rate. It was therefore determined in compliance with the desire strongly expressed by them, and by the inhabitants generally, to bring the law into full operation in the Cork union with the least possible delay, although it was not unlikely that some inconvenience might arise from relief being administered there so much sooner than it would be practicable to provide for its administration in the neighbouring districts. |Cork workhouse declared temporarily, February 15, 1840.| The union was declared on the 3rd of April 1839; and on the 15th of February 1840 an order was issued declaring the old house of industry to be the temporary workhouse of the union for administering relief. Full instructions were furnished to the guardians on the occasion, and an intention was expressed of watching the progress of the Cork and the Dublin unions, with a view to the prompt exercise of the powers provided by the law for mitigating “whatever inconveniences might arise from thus early bringing the law into operation.” The proceeding was one of great interest, and of great anxiety also to those on whom the responsibility rested, so much depending on the success of the first unions. The author has a vivid recollection of all that passed on the occasion, and of the deep thankfulness experienced on witnessing the efficient working of these unions, and this moreover under difficulties far greater than would be likely to arise when the course of procedure was more matured.
Workhouse regulations and order of accounts prepared.
As the period approached for bringing the Cork and the Dublin workhouses into operation, it became necessary to prepare a code of workhouse regulations, and a system of union accounts. The latter, it was endeavoured to make as simple as possible, having regard to accuracy and to a proper discrimination of subjects; and the former it was determined to frame on the model of the English workhouse regulations, making such changes only as were necessary for adapting them to the circumstances existing in Ireland. The “order for regulating the workhouse, and for keeping and auditing accounts,”[[99]] was accordingly prepared, and was issued successively as the unions became sufficiently advanced for its reception. |The workhouse dietaries.| With regard to the dietaries, an “order” for which it was also necessary to prepare, the Board instituted inquiries into the mode of living in different parts of Ireland, so as to be able to establish dietaries in the different unions that should accord with the general habits of the people, and yet “not be in any case superior to the ordinary mode of subsistence of the labouring classes in the neighbourhood.” On this principle the Board continued to frame the workhouse dietaries, as being essential adjuncts of workhouse management. But for the efficiency of the workhouse, reliance was chiefly placed on the enforcement of order, sobriety, cleanliness, daily occupation, the observance of decency and decorum, and the exclusion of all stimulants to excitement—these constitute the real strength of the workhouse as a test of destitution, and would be in a great degree effective, even if the diet, clothing, and other merely physical appliances were superior to what is seen in the neighbouring cottages; and these essentials the workhouse regulations are calculated to maintain.
Exaggerated expectations as to the effects of the Poor-law.
Very exaggerated notions prevailed as to what would be the effect of the Poor Law, when brought into full operation. Some declared that all the charitable institutions would be immediately annihilated, as people would cease to subscribe as soon as they were called upon to pay a poor-rate, and compensation was claimed on behalf of certain functionaries, on the ground that they would be deprived of their means of living when the workhouses were opened. Numerous applications were made on the subject, and among others by the officers of the Dublin Mendicity Association who claimed to be compensated on this account. They were however told that the association might still be continued with advantage, as an independent auxiliary to the Poor Law; for that it was highly probable there would be a class of persons whose destitution would not be so urgent as to compel them to become inmates of the workhouses, and who yet would be proper objects of such charitable assistance as it came within the province of the mendicity institution to bestow.
Erection of workhouses.