Book Description

Excerpt from Evils of the State of Ireland: Their Causes, and Their Remedy A Poor Law Having held the office of Secretary to the Poor Law Inquiry for England and Wales, which led to the Amendment of the Laws in 1834, and subsequently that of Secretary to the Poor Inquiry Commission in Ireland, I have had peculiar opportunities for contrasting a state of society in which the most extensive public provision for the destitute has long been established, with one in which there is as little public provision as in any country in Europe. No other person has enjoyed equal opportunities, for no other person was engaged on both inquiries. The power of making the contrast is thus almost peculiarly mine. It becomes therefore my duty, as a public servant, to lay the knowledge which favourable circumstances have enabled me to acquire before the country, in order that it may come to a correct judgment respecting the important subject in the inquiry about which I was appointed to assist. I would hope that by thus attempting to be useful I take the best means of showing myself worthy of the two important trusts which his Majesty's Government thought fit to confer upon me. Few, perhaps, will be able to conceive, that the mode in which the destitute in society shall be subsisted can afford matter for very grave consideration. The mass of mankind consider it purely a question of benevolence to the poor, or of convenience to the wealthy. They are not aware that it is intimately connected wages, with capital, with rent, with crime, with population, and even with education; and that it vitally affects the interests of every member of society, although apparently only concerning a very insignificant portion of a single class. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.