THE Temuka Leader. THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 1893. TREATMENT OF THE POOR..

Temuka Leader, Issue 2543, 17 August 1893, Page 2

THE Temuka Leader. THURSDAY, AUGUST 17, 1893. TREATMENT OF THE POOR..

“ It is no crime to bo poor” is a saying with which humbug too frequently attempts to comfort poverty. It is certainly no crime to be poor, but unfortunately it is very inconvenient, and it has for ages been treatedjlike a crime. In England criminals are shut up in houses set apart for them, and so are paupers; criminals are kept apart from their friends, so are pauper* ; criminals wear a distinctive garb, so do paupers ; and thus in many respects the mode of treating both classes .is exactly alike. The criminal is a branded man, and so is the pauper, and it has been so for generations. The first attempt to relievo poverty in the United Kingdom was in the shape of a license to beg, and thou the beggar was branded and had to wear a badge; and thus from the very first to the present time poverty has had to bear the brand, of disgrace, if not of crime,

It is certainly a disgrace to our civilisation that the paor should bo treated aa they are under the poor law system of the Old Country, and it appears that the modern rotormer ia beginning to see it. The London Liberals and .Radicals have put forth the following programme in a regent election, and with considerable success :

"1. The grant of adequate outdoor relief to the aged and the disabled. 2, Kindly treatment of such aged or disabled as prefer the workhouse, including—- («) Permission to smoke or to engage in harmless occupation. (b) Greater liberty to such as are we 1 !- conducted to go out. (c) Abolition of the distinctive pauper dress. (d) Accomodation in separate apartments of such marrried couples over sixty as prefer. (e) Provision of books and newspapers. Trained nurses for the sick and infirm in the workhouse and infirmary."

This is the programme for the treatment of the old and infirm, and the sick, and the children also have not been forgotten, as will be seen by the following : " 1. Proper care of children : (#) They shall not be made to feel that their dependence is either criminal or disgraceful. (b) Nor marked out, by dress or otherwise; from other children of like age. (c) They should receive a good general education up to at least fourteen years p.f age, and special teaching of a skilled trade. (cl) They should be removed from contact wiGti paupers, and boarded-out in the country where this course is practicable and convenient.

(e) They should, wherever possible, be Bent to the ordinary public elementary schools.

2. The removal of all taint of pauperism or disgrace from the public treatment of sickness or accident.

3. The formation of voluntary unsectarian Visiting Committees for the workhouse, school, and infirmary."

Now, putting aside humane considerations, one would think that common sense would suggest that from an economic point of view it would be unwise to demoralise the childron by degrading them as has hitherto been so frequently done. The difference between the cost of good and bad treatment could not be very great, but the effect on the minds of the children may be very serious. There can be no doubt but the pauper treatment is splendidly adapted for manufacturing criminals, and that it would pay the State to alter it. Now, how is it that this has never been suggested before 1 The answer ia simple. The making and administration of the law has been in the hands of the wealthy classes, and they, of course, thought anything good enough for the poor. Only one idea has ever got into the Poor Law System of England, and that is "let no one die of absolute starvation, but keep the expenses as low as possible." That is the sum and substance of the English Poor Law system, and that is what it would remain only for the extension of the franchise. The poor man has a vote now, aud consequently politicians are taking an interest in the eondition of the poor. In addition to the above quotations the Liberals of London have introduced into their programme co-operative labor on public works; eight hours a day, and no wages to ba, leis than ?Ai\ a week for ablebodied men; and no subletting. This makes up a very Radical programme, and the day is not far distant when that and a great deal more will be given effect to.