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a parish council of a small town parish seeks to apply its scale to its non-resident poor, some of whom may be living in city parishes.

We are occasionally asked by inspectors of poor of country parishes for guidance in dealing with old age pensioners who are living alone and are physically unable to attend properly to their wants, and who nevertheless obstinately decline not only to allow anyone to attend them, but also to accept the offer of the parish council to board them in private lodgings or to arrange for their admission to the poorhouse hospital. Apart from the difficulty of advising without local and detailed knowledge of the circumstances, it is hardly possible for us to give any practical guidance in the absence of compulsory powers to remove such persons to a "place of safety." In these circumstances parish councils and inspectors of poor must deal with such persons as tactfully as possible. The inspector of poor should arrange for the patient to be kept under close but unobtrusive observation, and he should continue unceasingly his efforts to persuade the patient to accept what assistance may be advisable in the pensioner's own interest. To this end it may be possible to invite the aid of some person who has influence with the pensioner. As inspectors of poor are aware, their duty does not end with the refusal of the pensioner to accept the relief offered.

The problem of the vagrant or casual poor has become more prominent during the year. This was only to be expected at a time when so many men are unemployed, and there seems to be no doubt that in addition to the "professional" tramp a number of men genuinely desiring work are tramping in search of it. To enable us to consider whether any administrative or legislative action is necessary or desirable, we have instructed our general superintendents of poor to inquire specially into the vagrancy question in the course of their ordinary visits to parishes.

A grievance that has been felt for some time by parish councils was removed during the year by the passing of the Workmen's Compensation Act, 1923, Section 23 of which provides that out of the compensation payable to an injured workman or to the dependants of a workman who has been killed in the course of his employment, a parish council shall be entitled to recover within certain limits any sums that they may have expended by way of poor relief pending the settlement of the claim for compensation. We issued to parish councils a circular explaining the provisions of the section and suggesting model forms for use in making the statutory claims.

One of our medical officers, in the course of his routine visits to poorhouses, has been engaged on an enquiry into the standard of medical administration in poor law institutions. We have had his reports under consideration during the year, and we are not satisfied that in some of the smaller poorhouse hospitals the medical administration is of a sufficiently high standard for a public institution. We propose to issue a memorandum for transmission to poorhouse committees on this subject. On the other hand, it is gratifying to be able to record that in most of the poor law hospitals of the large town parishes the standard of medical administration leaves little scope for criticism.

During the year we decided to resume the practice, suspended for

some years, of calling annually for reports under specified heads by the governors and the medical officers of poorhouses.

We desire to place on record our appreciation of the valuable services rendered during the year by poor law officials, and particularly by inspectors of poor of the industrial parishes. The numerous applications for relief and the increasing complexity of the problems arising in the daily routine of a parish council office have made their duties difficult and onerous. Without exception they have shouldered the increased work and responsibility ungrudgingly, and in fact it has only been by their willing co-operation that the administrative machine has been enabled to function. A special tribute is also due. to parish councillors of industrial parishes who have given much time and thought to the problems confronting them.

We quote with pleasure the following extract from the Annual Report by Mr. A. B. Millar, General Superintendent of Poor :

"I desire to place on record my appreciation of the work performed by the Inspectors and Governors of the Western District. During the fourteen years I was in that District I always found them interested in their work and conscientious in the performance of their duties. They were always willing to assist the deserving poor, but at the same time they were careful to safeguard the interests of the ratepayers. I received considerable information and assistance during my interviews with the Inspectors in the larger parishes, which materially helped me in advising Inspectors of the smaller parishes. I was received cordially by all of them and given every assistance I required in the performance of my duties. The Assistants in the larger parishes I always found fully conversant with the details of their cases, showing that careful investigation was one of the instructions in dealing with the poor people under their charge."

NUMBER OF POOR.

Details of the number of poor in Scotland on three given days in each year, over a period of years, are given in Appendix XV.

Poor at 15th May, 1923.

The number of poor of all classes, including dependants, in receipt of relief on 15th May, 1923, was 263,092, made up as follows:

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Paupers. Dependants.

Other than sane poor (i.e., lunatics and

mental defectives):

In asylums and institutions for imbeciles 13,464
In licensed wards of poorhouses,

Greenock parochial asylum, and
poorhouses which are "certified in-
stitutions for mental defectives"

1,252

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Of the sane poor excluding destitute able-bodied (105,183), 10·9 per cent. were in receipt of indoor relief and 89.1 per cent. were receiving outdoor relief. Of the poor other than sane 77.6 per cent. were in asylums, etc., 7.2 per cent. in licensed wards, etc., and 15.2 per cent. in private dwellings.

Classifying the sane paupers exclusive of the destitute able-bodied (54,860) according to age :—

12,772 or 23.3 per cent. were 65 years of age and upwards;
7,836 or 14.3 per cent. were children; and

34,252 or 624 per cent. were between the ages of (say) 14
and 65.

Of the 7836 children relieved, 2446 were orphans, 1052 were deserted, and 4338 were separated from their parents by order of the parish council or by law.

995 of the children were in poorhouses. 6841 were boarded out, 3286 being orphan and deserted children and 3555 children separated from their parents. Of the children boarded out, 2082 or 304 per cent. were placed with relatives and 4759 or 696 per cent. were under the care of strangers. These latter include cases in orphanages, industrial schools, or institutions other than poorhouses.

Nearly 10 per cent. of the total poor relieved, excluding the destitute able-bodied, were natives of England and Ireland chargeable to Scotland, the total of this class being 12,065, of whom 8994 were born in Ireland.

Comparison with Number of Poor in 1922.

Destitute able-bodied unemployed in receipt of relief at 15th May, 1923, show an increase compared with 1922 of 3941 (2208 paupers and 1733 dependants).

Sane poor excluding the destitute able-bodied increased by 4502 (2078 paupers and 2424 dependants), indoor cases showing a decrease of 257 (245 paupers and 12 dependants) and outdoor cases an increase of 4759 (2323 paupers and 2436 dependants).

The increase in sane paupers excluding the destitute able-bodied (2078) is made up of an increase of 826 in those over 65 years of age, 1165 in those between (say) 14 and 65 years, and 87 in

children. Orphan children show an increase of 103, deserted children a decrease of 26 and children separated from their parents an increase of 10. The increase in dependants (2424) is made up of 892 adults and 1532 children under 14 years.

Poor other than sane show an increase of 499.

Comparative Statistics for several years.

The Tables in Appendix XV. give comparative statistics of pauperism for a number of years. These statistics relate to aged poor, children, and the ratio of poor of different classes per 1000 of population.

Monthly Statistics of Number of Poor.

Monthly statistics regarding the number of poor were obtained from certain parishes situated in the chief industrial centres. Those statistics have been published in the Labour Gazette.

Deaths.

The number of paupers who died during the year ended 15th May, 1923, was 6195, and of dependants 281.

SUMMARY OF RETURNS UNDER THE CHILDREN ACT.

In Appendix XXII. we give a summary of work performed by parish councils under the Children Act for the year to 15th May,

1923.

POOR LAW FINANCE.

Ordinary Receipts in 1922-1923 (Appendix XVIII.).

The ordinary receipts of parish councils for the year ended 15th May, 1923, according to the abstracts of parish council accounts (duplicate entries in transactions between parish councils being deducted), amounted to £3,719,796.

Of this sum there was derived from :

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:

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Contributions from Local Taxation (Scotland)
Account and Treasury Grants in lieu of
Rates, etc.

...

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£271,521

£3,362,427

...

(approx.) 57,850

£213,671

...

21,935

235,606

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Compared with the previous year, the ordinary receipts in 19221923 show the following variations :

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The expenditure of parish councils on poor relief during the year (so far as it was not defrayed out of loans raised for capital purposes and other capital receipts) amounted to £4,538,127. This sum includes the total expenditure during the year on the relief of the destitute able-bodied unemployed (£1,466,891), although such expenditure may be met from loans repayable in a period not exceeding 10 years or, in exceptional cases, 15 years.

* Includes £46,695 from Military Authorities and £899 (being rent of a poorhouse less rates, etc.) from H.M. Office of Works.

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