To say nothing of France and Prussia, both of which have effective Poor Laws, without incurring this danger, what has been the policy of Scotland in this respect? Has she not uniformly considered it more wise and more candid to inform the young labourer that he must not think he can qualify himself, by destitution, for support from the industry of others ?

Every one who is conversant with these enquiries is aware of the remarkable omission in the Scottish act (of 1579), of the clause which orders the procuring of work, contained in the 14th of Elizabeth, which is supposed to have been taken as the model. This was not matter of accident. Mr Monypenny, in his excellent treatise on the Poor-Laws of Scotland, informs us, that it appears to have been foreseen by the Legislature, that to extend, as a general measure of relief, parochial aid to able'bodied men, who happen to be precluded for a season, by the ⚫ state of the times, or other temporary causes, from drawing such " an amount of wages as may be necessary for supporting them'selves and their families, would speedily rivet on the country the same degree of oppression which has become the fruit of the 'Poor-Laws in England, and would involve the lower orders in • the most hopeless state of degradation, misery, and discontent.' In fact, the industrious and occasional poor,' as they are called in Scotland, have no right to demand an assessment; and can obtain no assistance except out of that half of the church collections which is not appropriated to the enrolled poor, and which remains at the discretion of the kirk-session. In other words, they have no resource but private charity; and though a contrary judgment was, in one case, pronounced, this took place by a narrow majority, and would not, it is thought, be now repeated.

The enactment of a Poor-Law is a great compact between a government and a people, and it is very desirable that the terms should not be misunderstood by the parties. What the public are willing to do, and what they decline to undertake, should be made clear beyond all dispute. The State should in all cases take possession of the safe ground, and leave the doubtful to private charity. It is no act of real kindness to teach the peasant to rely upon the public. To maintain him in idleness is what no one would propose; to find work for him without depriving some one else, is shown to be impossible. If the whole capital of a country, which the self-interest of its owners naturally devotes to the employment of labour, cannot furnish wages for him, it is preposterous to expect that the State can do so out of that small fraction, not of capital, but of revenue, that can be drawn by taxation into the hands of Govern

ment. True policy requires that the temporary difficulties of persons capable of labour should be met by temporary expedients alone; that no fund should be created à priori, either within a workhouse or without, to which such persons should be induced to look forward, and thus be tempted away from their interests and their duties.

The scheme of the Commissioners is therefore good, inasmuch as it excludes the able-bodied from a maintenance. The workhouse proposition, on the other hand, is objectionable, because it admits them. If the labourers refuse the offer, it is obvious that their condition is not bettered. If they accept it in any numbers, the project must be swamped at once, and further illustration afforded of the truth of M. Naville's doctrine, that the workhouse, if it continues at all, will either become a simple almshouse, or degenerate into a prison.

The letter of Colonel Torrens to Lord John Russell, published a few months ago, merits great attention from those who take an interest in this question. He concurs with the Commissioners in all that they have advanced in reference to emigration; and points out the utter hopelessness of removing the social diseases of Ireland by means of the intended enactment. His Tract is written in the best spirit; being wholly free from that acrimony which sometimes accompanies the struggles of rival opinions, even when the common object of all is the promotion of human happiness. The able administrators,' he apologetically remarks, who have been appointed to carry the provisions of 'the English Poor-Law Act into practical effect would be more ⚫ than men if they did not feel in some degree elated by the success which has hitherto accompanied their exertions. The

6

' workhouse system has been successful in England; therefore • it will be successful in Ireland. This is a conclusion to which 'they may be permitted to jump; but it is a conclusion in which the Government and the Legislature should be slow to concur. The circumstances which have contributed to the success of 'the workhouse system in England have in Ireland no existence. To infer, that because it has been successful in England during a period in which the demand for labour in some of the most important branches of industry has exceeded the supply, the 'same system must also succeed in Ireland, where the supply of ' labour exceeds in a frightful proportion the means of employ'ment-this is perhaps as remarkable an instance of headlong 'generalization as any which has occurred since Bacon first pro'pounded the principles of inductive logic.'

The name of Mr Senior stands so high in this branch of political science, that no one ought to make up his mind on

the subject in question without having read his excellent Letter to Lord Howick, published in 1831. To the sentiments therein expressed he still adheres in all essential points. The only modification of them that has taken place in the intervals is thus stated by himself:-'In that Letter I protested against any compulsory provision for the able-bodied or their families. The only change that subsequent experience has produced in my opinion is, that I now believe that in England, or in any other 'country in which the standard of subsistence is high, a provision for the able-bodied in strictly managed workhouses, in which their condition shall be inferior to that of the indepen'dent labourer, may be safely and even advantageously made. 'But as this is not the state of Ireland, as the standard of sub'sistence in that country is so low that any provision which the 'State could offer must be superior, as far as physical comfort ' is concerned, to that obtained by the independent labourer, this change of opinion does not apply to that country; and I am 'forced, therefore, so far as Ireland is concerned, to adhere to 'that Letter.' This clear and able reasoner, now known, we believe, to have been the principal author of the English PoorLaw Report (and, therefore, certainly free from all bias against workhouses), was very properly applied to by the Secretary of State in reference to the views of the Irish Commissioners. The above passages occur in the remarks on their Report, which he, in consequence, submitted to Government.

Here, for the present, we must conclude our remarks. The subject is one of such a character, that, whether we take it up or lay it down, we do so with a heavy heart. The state is now apparently about to undertake the maintenance of a vast population in buildings of its own. The able-bodied will henceforward be upon its hands. This is made a debt payable on demand. Ireland is a country where pledges are expected to be redeemed; and promises are not easily forgotten. The Government will be held to its bargain; and if it cannot perform its engagement in one shape, it must try to do so in another. In this manner a fresh round will probably be exemplified of vain endeavours to accomplish that which the best authorities have already denounced to be an 'impracticable purpose,'-' a condition which it is not in the power of any law to fulfil.'

If our impressions be well founded, the workhouse is a valuable instrument for enabling a wealthy, but highly-pauperized country, to shake off a burden which had better never bave been taken up. But to tamper with the independence of the poor man by an offer of this kind, when he has never been the victim of

impolitic laws, and in a country where no employment is waiting for him out of doors, is, we fear, an ill judged proceeding.

In conclusion, we must not forget to mention, that not one word of limitation of expense is contained in the proposed Bill. The Irish representatives cannot, we think, discharge their duty discreetly by subjecting their constituents to any impost for this purpose, which shall not be both specific in its objects, and limited in its amount. Hitherto they seem to have guarded against neither the one danger nor the other, in their zeal to benefit their suffering countrymen. But we who live at a distance, and have no personal interest in the question, may be excused, we trust, for warning them that the experience of other nations does not bear them out in their benevolent hopes; and that a measure brought forward with the best possible intentions now threatens Ireland, in the name of humanity, with effects more fatal perhaps, than any which the Penal Code in all its cruelty could inflict.

ART. X.-An Argument for more of the Division of Labour in Civil Life in this Country. Part First, in which the Argument is applied to Parliament. By WILLIAM WICKENS. 8vo. London: 1829.

E believe that there is little difference of opinion among those who are generally termed the Reformers, or Liberalparty, and none whatever among those, who, regardless of any party interests, look only to the progress of improvement in our institutions, upon a subject which must needs force itself on the attention of the Legislature at no distant day, we mean the further amendment of the elective system; and, at the very least, the removal of the serious imperfections which experience has discovered in the Reform Bill of 1832. If we consider for a moment the results of the late election, no doubt can remain as to the pernicious tendency of some parts of the Bill; perhaps not much greater doubt as to the necessity of extending its principle, and coupling it with other measures fitted to secure freedom to the people in the exercise of the franchise.

The rate-paying clauses have deprived vast numbers of their votes. The necessity of a yearly registration has disfranchised a still larger proportion. Observe only how these parts of the machinery work. Persons of a certain station, and who occupy themselves with political matters more or less, at all times have

their attention directed to the steps required to be taken for entitling them to vote at an election, come when it may; they have no occupation that makes the attendance a loss to them; or they can afford to pay agents for doing what is required. But a poor man feels little interest in the matter, unless on the very eve of a contest; and the steps which the act requires him to take, bring upon him some little loss and much inconvenience. We are now chiefly speaking of the registration; and its effect is to throw the whole into other hands than those of the voter ;that is to say, to give certain persons of large means, and who can afford to employ numerous agents, the control of that operation. There is the expense almost of annual election contests, which the enemies of Parliamentary Reform used always to maintain would fall heaviest upon the popular party, and increase the influence of the aristocracy; and which the advocates of Annual Parliaments never doubted would produce this effect, unless the measures recommended by them embraced some effectual check to the evil. The check which they hoped would be effectual, was the universal extension of the suffrage; but as most men seem now agreed that the people are not sufficiently intructed to render this a safe measure, and as it may reasonably be questioned whether it would wholly remove the mischief complained of, some other remedy must be sought; if we would not leave the representation entirely in the hands of a few wealthy families in the counties, and a few borough jobbers in all the smaller towns, It is in vain to say that Reform Associations can counteract the efforts of men who find their interest and gratification in spending their money upon keeping up an election influence, by watching the registration from year to year. These Associations will here and there succeed: in great towns, and even in a few contested counties, they may be depended on, at least while excitement prevails. But in ordinary towns, and in the vast majority of places, such voluntary exertion can never make head against the long purses of a few individuals, the train of agents, long in proportion to the purse that pays them. In seasons of tranquillity all men- -even in periods of a more stirring kind most men-are disposed to mind their private concerns, much more than those of the State. A few only are

*

This is certainly the prevailing opinion now; but it may be doubted if any part of the people are more ignorant or more open to imposition than the present electors would seem to have been considered by some of the candidates at the late contests, when they called upon them to support Reform because the Queen was for it; instead of asking them to support the Queen's Ministers, because they were for Reform.

VOL. LXVI. NO. CXXXIII.