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　　36。Hewaspresidentforthefirstfiveyears，andagainfrom1806till1813。Foranaccountofthis，seeSirErnestClarke’sHistoryoftheBoardofAgriculture，1898。

　　37。NorthernTour，i，222-32。

　　38。NorthernTour，ii，186。

　　39。SouthernTour，p。20。

　　40。NorthernTour，iii，365。

　　41。ArthurYounghadalowopinionofSinclair，whomhetooktobeapushingandconsequentialbusybody，moreanxioustomakeanoisethantobeuseful。

　　SeeYoung’sAutobiography1898，pp。243，315，437。SirErnestClarkepointsouttheinjurydonebySinclair’shastyandblunderingextravagance；butalsoshowsthattheboarddidgreatserviceinstimulatingagriculturalimprovement。

　　42。Scott’sLetters，i，202。

　　43。Essayon’Turgot’。See，inDaire’sCollectionofthe&Eacute；conomistes，theargumentsofQuesnayp。81，DupontdeNemoursp。360，andMercierdelaRiv&egrave；reinfavourofalegalasdistinguishedfroman’arbitrary’

　　depotism。

　　CHAPTERIII

　　SOCIALPROBLEMS

　　I。PauperismPerhapsthegravestofalltheproblemswhichweretooccupythecominggenerationwastheproblemofpauperism。TheviewtakenbytheUtilitarianswashighlycharacteristicandimportant。IwilltrytoindicatethegeneralpositionofintelligentobserversattheendofthecenturybyreferringtotheremarkablebookofSirFrederickMortonEden。Itspurportisexplainedbythetitle：’TheStateofthePoor；or，anHistoryoftheLabouringClassesofEnglandfromtheNormanConquesttothepresentperiod；inwhichareparticularlyconsideredtheirdomesticeconomy，withrespecttodiet，dress，fuel，andhabitation；andthevariousplanswhichhavefromtimetotimebeenproposedandadoptedforthereliefofthepoor’3vols。4to，1797。Eden1*1766-1809

　　wasamanofgoodfamilyandnephewofthefirstLordAuckland，whonegotiatedPitt’scommercialtreaty。HegraduatedasB。A。fromChristChurch，Oxford，in1787；marriedin1792，andathisdeath14thNov。1809waschairmanoftheGlobeInsuranceCompany。Hewrotevariouspamphletsuponeconomicaltopics；contributedletterssigned’Philanglus’toCobbett’sPorcupine，theanti-jacobinpaperoftheday；andisdescribedbyBentham2*asa’declareddisciple’anda’highlyvaluedfriend。’Hemaybereckoned，therefore，asaUtilitarian，thoughpoliticallyhewasaConservative。Heseemstohavebeenamanofliterarytastesaswellasamanofbusiness，andhisbookisaclearandablestatementofthepointsatissue。

　　Eden’sattentionhadbeendrawntothesubjectbythedistresswhichfollowedtheoutbreakoftherevolutionarywar。HeemployedanagentwhotravelledthroughthecountryforayearwithasetofqueriesdrawnupafterthemodelofthosepreparedbySinclairforhisStatisticalAccoumtofScotland。HethusanticipatedtheremarkableinvestigationmadeinourowntimebyMrCharlesBooth。Edenmadepersonalinquiriesandstudiedtheliteratureofthesubject。HehadaprecursorinRichardBurn1709-1785，whoseHistoryofthePoor-lawsappearedin1764，andacompetitorinJohnRuggles，whoseHistoryofthePoorfirstappearedinArthurYoung’sAnnals，andwaspublishedasabookin1793secondedition，1797。Eden’sworkeclipsedRuggles’s。

　　Ithasapermanentvalueasacollectionoffacts；andwasasignofthegrowingsenseoftheimportanceofaccuratestatisticalresearch。Thehistorianofthesocialconditionofthepeopleshouldbegratefultoonewhobrokegroundatatimewhenthedifficultyofobtainingasoundbaseforsocialinquiriesbegantomakeitselfgenerallyfelt。Thevalueofthebookforhistoricalpurposesliesbeyondmysphere。Hisfirstvolume，Imaysay，givesahistoryoflegislationfromtheearliestperiod；andcontainsalsoavaluableaccountofthevoluminousliteraturewhichhadgrownupduringthetwoprecedingcenturies。Theothertwosummarisethereportswhichhehadreceived。Iwillonlysayenoughtoindicatecertaincriticalpoints。Eden’sbookunfortunatelywastomark，notasolutionofthedifficultybut，theemergenceofaseriesofproblemswhichweretoincreaseincomplexityandominoussignificancethroughthenextgeneration。

　　Thegeneralhistoryofthepoor-lawissufficientlyfamiliar。3*Themediaevalstatutestakeustoaperiodatwhichthelabourerwasstillregardedasaserf；andamanwhohadlefthisvillagewastreatedlikeafugitiveslave。Alongseriesofstatutesregulatedthetreatmentofthe’vagabond。’

　　Thevagabond，however，hadbecomedifferentiatedfromthepauper。Thedecayoftheancientorderofsocietyanditscorrespondinginstitutionshadledtoanewsetofproblems；andthefamousstatuteofElizabeth1601hadlaiddownthemainlinesofthesystemwhichisstillinoperation。

　　Whenthelabourerwasregardedasinaservilecondition，hemightbesupportedfromthemotiveswhichleadanownertosupporthisslaves，orbythecharitableenergiesorganisedbyecclesiasticalinstitutions。Hehadnowceasedtobeaserf，andtheinstitutionswhichhelpedthepoormanormaintainedthebeggarwerewrecked。TheElizabethanstatutegavehim，therefore，alegalclaimtobesupported，and，ontheotherhand，directedthatheshouldbemadetoworkforhisliving。Theassumptionisstillthateverymanisamemberofalittlesocialcircle。Hebelongstohisparish，anditishisfellow-parishionerswhoareboundtosupporthim。Solongasthiscorrespondedtofacts，thesystemcouldworksatisfactorily。Withthespreadofcommerce，andthegrowthofalesssettledpopulation，difficultiesnecessarilyarose。

　　Thepauperandthevagabondrepresentakindofsocialextravasation；the’masterlessman’whohasstrayedfromhislegitimateplaceorhasbecomeasuperfluityinhisowncircle。Thevagabondcouldbefogged，senttoprison，orifnecessaryhanged，butitwasmoredifficulttosettlewhattodowithamanwhowasnotacriminal，butsimplyaproductinexcessofdemand。Allmannerofsolutionshadbeensuggestedbyphilanthropistsandpartlyadoptedbythelegislature。Onepointwhichespeciallyconcernsusistheawkwardnessorabsenceofanappropriateadministrativemachinery。

　　Theparish，theunitonwhichthepauperhadclaims，meantthepersonsuponwhomthepoor-ratewasassessed。Theseweremainlyfarmersandsmalltradesmenwhoformedtherathervaguebodycalledthevestry。’Overseers’

　　wereappointedbytheratepayersthemselves；theywerenotpaid，andthedisagreeableofficewastakeninturnforshortperiods。Themostobviousmotivewiththeaverageratepayerwasofcoursetokeepdowntheratesandtogettheburthenofthepoorasmuchaspossibleoutofhisownparish。

　　Eachparishhadatleastaninterestineconomy。Buttheeconomicalinterestalsoproducedflagrantevils。

　　Inthefirstplace，therewasthewarbetweenparishes。Thelawofsettlement——whichwastodecidetowhatparishapauperbelonged——originatedinanactof1662。Edenobservesthattheshortclauseinthisshortacthadbroughtmoreprofittothelawyersthan’anyotherpointintheEnglishjurisprudence。’4*

　　Itissaidthattheexpenseofsuchalitigationbeforetheactof1834averagedfrom&#163；300，000to&#163；350，000ayear。5*Eachparishnaturallyendeavouredtoshifttheburthenuponitsneighbours；andwasprotectedbylawswhichenabledittoresisttheimmigrationoflabourersoractuallytoexpelthemwhenlikelytobecomechargeable。ThislawisdenouncedbyAdamSmith6*

　　asa’violationofnaturallibertyandjustice。’Itwasoftenharder，hedeclared，forapoormantocrosstheartificialboundariesofhisparishthantocrossamountainridgeoranarmofthesea。Therewas，hedeclared，hardlyapoormaninEnglandoverfortywhohadnotbeenatsometime’cruellyoppressed’bytheworkingofthislaw。EdenthinksthatSmithhadexaggeratedtheevil：butalawwhichoperatedbypreventingafreecirculationoflabour，andmadeithardforapoormantoseekthebestpriceforhisonlysaleablecommodity，was，sofar，opposedtothefundamentalprinciplescommontoSmithandEden。Thelaw，too，mightbeusedoppressivelybytheniggardlyandnarrowminded。Theoverseer，asBurncomplained，7*wasoftenapettytyrant：hisaimwastodepopulatehisparish；topreventthepoorfromobtainingasettlement；

　　tomaketheworkhouseaterrorbyplacingitunderthemanagementofabully；

　　andbyallkindsofchicanerytokeepdowntheratesatwhatevercosttothecomfortandmoralityofthepoor。ThisexplainstheviewtakenbyArthurYoung，andgenerallyacceptedattheperiod，thatthepoor-lawmeantdepopulation。

　　Workhouseshadbeenstartedintheseventeenthcentury8*withtheamiableintentionofprovidingtheindustriouspoorwithwork。Childrenmightbetrainedtoindustryandthepaupermightbemadeself-supporting。Workhouseswereexpectedthatis，toprovidenotonlyworkbutwages。Defoe，inhisGivingAlmsnoCharity，pointedouttheobviousobjectionstotheworkhouseconsideredasaninstitutioncapableofcompetingwiththeordinaryindustries。

　　Workhouses，infact，soonceasedtobeprofitable。Theirvalue，however，insupplyingatestfordestitutionwasrecognised；andbyanactof1722，parisheswereallowedtosetupworkhouses，separatelyorincombination，andtostrikeoffthelistsofthepoorthosewhorefusedtoenterthem。

　　Thiswasthegermofthelater’workhousetest。’9*Whengrievancesarose，theinvariableplan，asNichollsobserves，10*wastoincreasethepowerofthejustices。Theirdiscretionwasregarded’asacertaincureforeveryshortcomingofthelawandeveryevilarisingoutofit。’Thegreatreportof1834tracesthistendency11*toaclauseinanactpassedinthereignofWilliamIII，whichwasintendedtoallowthejusticestochecktheextravaganceofparishofficers。Theywereempoweredtostrikeoffpersonsimproperlyrelieved。Thisincidentalregulation，widenedbysubsequentinterpretations，allowedthemagistratestoorderrelief，andtherebyintroducedanincredibleamountofdemoralisation。

　　Thecoursewasnaturalenough，andindeedapparentlyinevitable。Thejusticesofthepeacerepresentedtheonlyauthoritywhichcouldbecalledintoregulateabusesarisingfromtheincapacityandnarrowlocalinterestsofthemultitudinousvestries。Theschemesofimprovementgenerallyinvolvedsomeplanforalargerarea。Ifahundredoracountyweretakenfortheunit，thedeviceswhichdepopulatedaparishwouldnolongerbeapplicable。12*Theonlyschemeactuallycarriedwasembodiedin’Gilbert’sact’1782，obtainedbyThomasGilbert1720-1798，anagentofthedukeofBridgewater，andanactiveadvocateofpoor-lawreformintheHouseofCommons。ThisschemewasintendedasatemporaryexpedientduringthedistresscausedbytheAmericanWar；andalargerandmorepermanentschemewhichitwastointroducefailedtobecomelaw。Itenabledparishestocombineiftheychosetoprovidecommonworkhouses，andtoappoint’guardians。’Thejustices，asusual，receivedmorepowersinordertosuppresstheharshdealingoftheoldparochialauthorities。