Remarks on the report of Her Majesty's Commissioners on the Poor-Laws of Scotland, presented to Parliament in 1844, and on the dissent of Mr. Twisleton from that report / by William Pulteney Alison.

  • Alison, William Pulteney, 1790-1859.
Date:
1844
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Remarks on the report of Her Majesty's Commissioners on the Poor-Laws of Scotland, presented to Parliament in 1844, and on the dissent of Mr. Twisleton from that report / by William Pulteney Alison. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    the facts which came before the Commissioners, as to the condition and sufferings of this portion of the poor in Scotland. It is to he observed, that, by these admissions, the Commissioners have completely set aside many of the arguments formerly used, and still much relied on in many quarters, in support of the present system of management of the Poor in Scotland. It was said, first, that any kind of legal provision for the poor is a curse to any country where it existsthen, that the excellence of the Scotch system consisted in the smallness of the allowancesthat the more you do for the poor, the more you contribute to their increase, that it is therefore a false and ill-directed philanthropy, which would recommend any increase to the usual allowances in Scotland; that all sym- pathies must give way to general principles; that the sufferings and vicissitudes of the aged parents or dependents of the labourers, in countries where there are no poor laws, are the proper stimuli of their do- mestic affections; and that where poor-laws and work-houses exist, these affections, strong even in the utter abasement of the people, must be utterly extinguished among the poor. It has even been argued, that the Scriptural injunction, Thou shalt open wide thy hand to thy poor brother, thou shalt surely give him, excludes and prohibits the support of the poor by a legal impost. All these reasonings in favour of the voluntary system of management of this portion of the poor are abandoned, when the ad- mission is made, that the legal relief now administered in most parts of Scotland, is inadequate, and that evils, requiring remedies, result from the smallness of the allowances. Farther, it seems to me quite clear, that in this ad-