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England. And it also almost goes without saying, that when we got there I took care to chaff my cousin about having inveigled me into marrying for a fortune which, like Fairy money, had crumbled into nothingness in my grasp. She said it was very strange, and admitted that it was most provoking-but I knew it

was all "khismet." I had married for dross and lost it; but I found in its stead the pure gold of affection, and in the unspeakable happiness which it brought me, I was enabled to look upon my loss as a gain, and to bless the fate which had given me my little wife, even though she was not an heiress.

TWO HOMES.

To a young English lady in a military Hospital at Carlsruhe. Sept. 1870.

WHAT do the dark eyes of the dying find
To waken dream or memory, seeing you?
In your sweet eyes what other eyes are blue,
And in your hair what gold hair on the wind
Floats of the days gone almost out of mind?
In deep green valleys of the Father-land

He may remember girls with locks like thine;
May guess how, where the waiting angels stand,
Some lost love's eyes grow dim before they shine
With welcome :-so past homes, or homes to be,
He sees a moment, ere, a moment blind,

He crosses Death's inhospitable sea,

And with brief passage of those barren lands

Comes to the home that is not made with hands.

A. L.

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE IN THE RELIEF OF THE POOR.

BY JAMES BRYCE.

Ir is at first sight surprising that there should be anything for Englishmen to learn from Americans in the matter of the relief of the poor. One is accustomed to think of the United States as the paradise of the poor, the land of plenty, comfort, and contentment; and this notion is so far a true one that pauperism is an infinitely smaller and less threatening phenomenon there than it is here. Everywhere in the Northern and Western States the great bulk of the land is in the hands of those who till it, so that there is no class corresponding to the wretched agricultural labourers of our English counties. In all but perhaps half-a-dozen of the cities, as well as in the manufacturing and mining districts of New England and Pennsylvania, work is usually abundant, wages are everywhere high, and the existence of great tracts of unoccupied land and of rising towns all round the great lakes and in the Mississippi basin, makes it easy for any working man who does not prosper at home to move off to a more promising field, travelling being both cheap and easy. Of the diffusion of education and its effects there is no need to speak. Pauperism, therefore, is comparatively limited in its area, and does not, as in England, menace the stability of the political fabric; it is not a "question" in American politics; but for the rapid influx of Irish immigrants it would be altogether insignificant. But at present, though virtually limited to the great cities of the Atlantic seabord, it is not insignificant. For there exists in these cities a genuine permanent pauper class, the same in kind as, although of course incomparably less numerous than, that which we have learnt to know and dread in England -a class which does not want to work, does not care to emigrate to regions

where work is hard, though abundant and well paid, and which, if it did migrate, would be found too weak, physically and morally, either for severe labour or for the exigencies of an isolated life in forest or prairie. So far as can be made out this class does not increase, but its mere existence is a dangerous symptom, a symptom which the Americans however, filled with confidence in the resources of their country, think lightly of, and are therefore somewhat less concerned to extirpate than one could wish. In this matter, as in many others, one is greatly struck by the way in which our descendants in the United States have preserved one of the most characteristic bits of English character, while yet avoiding, it must be confessed, some of its least happy results. Like the English, they have a dislike to all abstract reasonings, and to all presentations of what may be called the theory, the broad, leading principles, of a practical subject. For the so-called "wissenschaftlicher Geist" they have little sympathy. That frequently overformal process of systematic investigation in which a German delights is to them not merely wearisome, but positively offensive: even political declaimers recur far less frequently to general principles, and when they do are less able to deal effectively with them, than the like declaimers would in France or Italy. But they are much quicker and smarter in getting rid of a practical inconvenience than we in England are, make less account of traditions, established rules, vested interests; and when a particular arrangement or project has been shown to be promising, they go straight at it, sweeping away intermediate difficulties, and not stopping to inquire whether or no it can be made part of a general scheme,

or is conformable to any comprehensive principles. No doubt the circumstances, economical and political, of the United States, make it easier to introduce obvious practical reforms there than it is here, but something must also be set down to the more agile and enterprising spirit of the people. Thus it happens that although the great doctrines of political economy are most imperfectly understood in America, and though the subject of pauperism and the expediency of having any Poorlaw whatever, has been scarcely discussed, certainly very much less discussed than in England, as great or greater progress has been made in the way of dealing practically with the pauper class. The area in which the experiments in this matter have been tried is indeed limited, but their conditions are so similar in many respects to our own, that the method and the results attained are almost as full of instruction for us as if the trial had been made at home. In this, as in most other things, America is far nearer to us than either she or we to the nations of the European continent; and we may profit much better by her example in the way either of imitation or avoidance than we can by theirs. There is no great difference in the law of the two nations, and still less in their religion; the social instincts, sympathies, and prejudices of the people are substantially the same; both alike are possessed by a belief in the principle of laissez faire; dislike State interference, even when the State is their own creation; have little taste for uniformity of method, or logical consistency of principle, and great confidence in the possibility of putting everything straight by the action of vigorous individuals.

Pauperism, as has been said, is at present virtually confined to the great Atlantic cities. It is of two only of these, though both important, and both in different ways typical, that the present writer can undertake to speak.

Massachusetts is often described as the model State of the Union, and Boston as the model city. Although

now left behind other districts in respect of wealth and population, and losing her once prominent position in politics, New England, along with the intellectual leadership of the nation, preserves a higher tone and a higher moral practice than can easily be found elsewhere. The primitive manners of the country are said to be vanishing with its primitive beliefs, but the people uphold its traditional reputation for sobriety, purity, orderliness, industry, firmness of character and purpose. Massachusetts is in all respects confessedly at the head of New England, and is probably the best governed and best regulated community beyond the Atlantic. Nowhere in the world, except perhaps in Switzerland, does one find so perfect an accord between the laws and the sentiments of the people, and so hearty a co-operation on the part of the people with those who are appointed to administer the laws. Selfgovernment appears in its most attractive form, everyone feels that in obeying and aiding the law he is serving his own ends. One is prepared therefore to find in Boston not only judicious legislation on the subject of pauperism, but an active interest on the part of private citizens in its suppression, and a combination of private with official agencies for this object. And this is the point in the Boston system to which it is chiefly desirable to call attention.

The provisions of the Massachusetts Poor-law do not seem to differ much, in essentials, from those of our English law. Persons having a legal settlement are entitled to relief in the place where the settlement has been acquired, out of the funds raised by local taxation; the care of the unsettled poor devolves on the State. Hence, in Boston (population 250,526, of whom 172,450 were born in the United States), the city, represented by the Overseers of the poor, undertakes to provide only for the poor having a legal settlement, and for the sick poor, who cannot well be removed to their place of settlement. The unsettled poor, including, of course, the bulk of the Irish, are left to the State

officials, who receive them in the almshouse or the (almost penal) workhouse, and to private charity. Persons who have settlements elsewhere in the State are, however, frequently, perhaps usually, relieved by the Overseers, but at the charge of the town where they have their settlement. The number of the unsettled poor being large, and the distress among them, especially among the friendless and improvident immigrants, being often great (the terrors of an American winter can hardly be realized here), societies sprang up, which endeavoured, by means of voluntary subscriptions, to aid these unfortunates, giving out-door relief and medical attendance, or trying to find work for them. In course of time it was perceived that the action of these societies, unconnected with one another, involved great waste of money and pains, and even encouraged idleness, by giving opportunities of relief in several quarters. All the evils which a melancholy experience has made so familiar in London, the evils of lax and unorganized charity, appeared in Boston, though, indeed, in far less grave proportions. At last the brilliant idea, as simple as brilliant, occurred to some of the workers, that most of this waste and mischief might be avoided by establishing closer relations between the different charitable agencies, legal and voluntary, and that the first step to this was the bringing them into local proximity. A pretty large building was accordingly erected by the municipality in a central position, to which the office of the Overseers of the poor was transferred, and in other rooms of which free accommodation was offered to various charitable societies. In the basement was placed the dispensary, and the room of the city physician; on the ground floor (which the Americans call the first floor) the apartments on the left hand as one enters belong to the Overseers of the poor, those on the right hand to the Industrial Aid Society, of which more anon. Upstairs, on the first floor, accommodation is given to the Boston Provident Association, the great charitable society of the city, to the

Boston Ladies' City Relief Agency, and to the Boston Ladies' Sewing Circle. Rooms have also been allotted to the Boston Soldier's Fund, the Massachusetts Soldiers' Fund, and the Young Men's Benevolent Society. Several others remain still unoccupied, and in these it is proposed to receive any other societies which may desire to have a place, and are important enough to deserve it. Each society sits rent free, but defrays the expenses of cleaning, lighting, and firing the room or rooms allotted to it. A few yards off is the Temporary Home, an institution under the management of the Overseers of the poor, of which I shall speak presently.

The distinguishing feature and merit of this Boston system is the intimate communication maintained between these different centres of charitable action, and the co-operation which is thereby secured. How the whole or ganization works will be best understood by showing the function of each

member.

The Overseers of the poor, established on the ground floor of the Charity Building, are charged by law with the relief of the poor who have a settlement in Boston, and of the unsettled sick poor. The mode of relief, and the quantity, is practically left to their discretion." Their officers distribute out-door relief in the form of food and fuel sparingly, and never to the able-bodied; a strict record being kept of all persons aided, and of the circumstances under which aid is given. As respects in-door relief, the city maintains an almshouse, into which the aged and permanently infirm are admitted; and also a house called the Temporary Home, where women and children only may be received for a few days, until work can be found for them, or some arrangement made for sending them to the locality where they may happen to have a settlement. In the year 1870-71, there were ad

1 1,750 families were aided in Boston by the Overseers in the year 1870-71, besides 122 aided in other parts of the State, for whom Boston paid. Total expenditure for the year, $66,874 (£13,932).

mitted to it 1,333 persons, 211 of whom were natives, 645 foreigners, and 477 children; total expenditure, 8,113 dols. As the Home is intended for occasional applicants only, the permanently infirm are sent to the almshouse, and professional beggars rejected altogether. It is, therefore, anything but a "casual ward."

Able-bodied paupers, vagrants, and the whole class whom our old laws describe as "sturdy beggars," are refused all out-door relief, and if they insist on being supported are sent, under sentence for a fixed term, to the workhouse on Deer Island (an island at the mouth of Boston Harbour), where they are kept at work, and subject to an almost penal discipline. By thus pointedly separating the four classes of poor, the aged and infirm, the sick, women and children left temporarily helpless, and the able-bodied, and dealing with each on different principles, pauperism, say the Bostonians, is kept down, and the legal claims on the public purse reduced to the lowest point.

Next in importance to the Overseers of the poor stands the Boston Provident Association. As the Overseers deal with the settled poor, so this association, which depends entirely on voluntary contributions, makes the unsettled its special care, although it will sometimes also aid those who have a settlement, if the case seems a suitable one, and has not been already undertaken by the Overseers. Its organization is simple and effective, and consists of a central office, established in the Charity Building, and a staff of district visitors, unpaid volunteers. The city is mapped out into twelve districts, each placed under the charge of a committee of three persons, and each subdivided into sections, 167 in all. Every section has its visitor, who acts under the general directions of the district committee, and makes a monthly report to the central office of the visits he has paid and the relief he has distributed. His duty is to visit at his dwelling every poor person in his section who is either sent to him by a member

of the association (or, indeed, by any other person) or whose case is reported to him from the central office, to inquire into the history and present condition of the applicant for relief, record what he hears and sees in his book, and, if he thinks the case a proper one, give the applicant an order on one of the tradesmen employed by the Association for articles of food and fuel, and an order on the central office for articles of clothing. Money is in no case to be given, except under the special authorization of the district committee; no person is ever to be relieved, except in the section where he lives, and by its visitor or his deputy; assistance is to be withheld, except in cases of the extremest need, not only from the drunken, but even from their families, rules whose wisdom both English and American experience are sufficient to approve. This staff of committees and visitors are all directed by and in close communication with the central office, presided over by a paid secretary, called the General Agent. His duties are to advise the visitors, and supply them with any information which the office may possess respecting the applicants, to receive and preserve their monthly reports, to superintend the distribution of the clothes and food which may be applied for under the order of a visitor. He also sees those indigent persons who come directly for relief to the Charity Building, referring those who appear deserving to the visitor in whose section they reside, repelling the professional vagrants, and turning over able-bodied men who are willing to work to the officers of the Industrial Aid Society. Thus he holds in his hands the threads of the whole organization, and is able to discover and correct irregularities in its working.1

The Industrial Aid Society, as has been said, has rooms in the Charity Building on the ground floor, opposite

1 In 1869-70 the expenditure of the Association was $17,600 (£3,667), its visitors paid 7,500 visits to 2,627 families, containing 8,098 persons. 1,654 applications at the central office were recorded.

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