&c. (of which my knowledge is from hearsay,) the in- hardly believed it; yet, from this remarkable incident, I ference is not far from the truth. know it to be a fact, as I was an eye witness to it. July 27, 1828 I shall conclude with a brief outline of a few cases. They agree, in general, with all the others I have heard of, and only differ in the violence of the attack or some unimportant symptom. John Pleasants, passenger of the ship Hibernia, was sick in Havana. He states that he was attacked about twelve o'clock at night with fever, pains in his head, back, and lower extremities. He took a dose of calomel and jalap, which operated copiously. Afterwards he drank warm orange-water-threw a blanket over him which produced a free perspiration. In a few days he was well. Slight pains in his joints, and soreness of the muscles to the touch, continued for a short period after his convalescence. Captain Newton, of the brig Pomona, was seized about sunset with pains in the bones, and a little fever, with vomiting, which continued eight hours. The fever abated in twenty-four hours, but the pains continued for several days in the limbs. He drank orange-water cold, and took a dose of calomel and jalap, and several doses of oil during convalescence, and was nigh falling a sacrifice to the strong purgatives. His face and body were covered by red blotches. Mr. Astley Punton, passenger of the ship Hibernia, was taken sick in Havana, with pains in the head and fever, which continued thirty six hours. He drank warm orange-water, and had mustard cataplasms to the soles of his feet. He recovered in a few days with an impaired appetite, James Wetherly, carpenter of the ship Hibernia, had pain in the head, back, and limbs, nausea, but no vomiting; a dose of calomel and jalap was administered, and plenty of warm lemonade, and in three days he was well-covered with red blotches. Pimples similar to the prickly heat, and red spots on the cuticle, were very common during convalescence. Lazaretto, July 7th, 1828. Wheat Crop.-In the eastern sections, extending to Blue Ridge, the crop is in general abundant, and of fine quality, and with the exception of Northampton county, (where it was suffered to remain too long in the field) well secured. In the middle section, or Susquehanna country, and more particularly in Mifflin, Centre, and Huntingdon counties, very serious injury has been sustained by rust, and the crop reduced one-third to onehalf. On the west and north branches, the injury is believed not to be so serious. Delaware County.-George G. Leiper, of Ridley township, commenced his canal on Monday week last, and one lock is nearly completed. The length of the canal will be near a mile, and will be of great importance to this section of our country. It will be connected with Crum creek, which empties into the Delaware-and when completed, (which will be done as soon as possible) will have a tendency to enhance the value of property in that neighbourhood, as well as open a direct water communication between Philadelphia and the stone quarries belonging to Mr. Leiper. There are several mill seats near its location.-Upland Union. (From the Lycoming Gazette.) In the meadow of Mr. Philip Swisher, of Clinton township, Lycoming county, a few days since, while his hands were employed in making hay, they discovered a striped snake of about four feet in length, and of immense thickness, which being dissevered, was found to contain one hundred and eleven young ones of about five inches in length. I had often heard it said, these reptiles, on apprehension of danger, will expand their mouths, and receive their young into their bellies for protection, but had REGISTER OF PENNSYLVANIA. DEVOTED TO THE PRESERVATION OF EVERY KIND OF USEFUL INFORMATION RESPECTING THE STATE. EDITED BY SAMUEL HAZARD, NO. 51, FILBERT STREET. VOL. II.-NO. 5. PENNSYLVANIA LEGISLATURE. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Report of the Committee appointed to inquire into the operation of the Poor Laws. Read, January 29th, 1825. MR. MEREDITH, Chairman. [Concluded.] NO. 33. 1814 1816 The Orphan Asylum, instituted in the year 1824 Many more might, it is believed, easily be named, but enough has been said to prove that, notwithstanding the Your committee proceed now to the enquiries on the number of poor relieved at a vast expense from the the next head, whether the necessity for private charity public funds, there is still an increasing mass of unreliev has been done away by the operation of the public pro-ed pauperism, which is at last thrown upon the charity vision for the poor. of individuals, exerted either privately or through soci eties voluntarily formed for the purpose. Your committee, with these facts before them, can have no hesitation in saying, decidedly, that the necessity for private charity, has been in no manner removed by the operation of the poor laws. The following estimate, formed in the year 1800, of the annual sums paid for the support and benefit of the poor, in London and its environs, is taken from an author well acquainted with the subject. (1) ESTIMATE. 3. Of those who are relieved by the public bounty, whether the greater portion are not composed of such as have been reduced to penury by vice or improvidence? The evidence on this head, is thought by your committee to be clear and irrefragable. It is the opinion of all who have diligently investigated the subject, in dif ferent parts of the Union, that the great mass of pauper ism is produced by habits of dissipation and intemper ance. A committee, appointed at the session of the general court of Massachusetts, in the year 1820, to take into consideration the pauper laws of that commonwealth, reported as a result, supported by the experi ence both of England and Massachusetts, and which might be adopted as a principle, "That of all causes of pauperism, intemperance in the use of spirituous liquors was the most powerful and universal." (1) The follow ing passages, from the appendix to the same report, will place this subject in a striking light. The extracts are taken from the returns made to the committee by the overseers of the different towns in Massachusetts, and contain the assertions of men who speak from their own observation, and whose official situation must have bro't knowledge. for us to remark, that the cause of pauperage, in a very TOWNS.-Sutton."It may perhaps be totally useless large share of the instances on our list, may be traced to habits of intemperance." So far then had the poor laws of England failed to re-the facts which they avouch within their own personal move the necessity for private charity, that in the metropolis, when the poor rates stood at £255,000 the sum spent annually for the relief of the poor, in other ways, amounted to 595,000l. It is believed that, in this state, the system has not been more effectual for this purpose than in England. (2) In the year 1821, notwithstandCharlestown.-"By a recent and very particular ining the great number of poor, relieved by the public bounty, at a vast expense, in the city and county of Phi-vestigation of the subject, we are convinced that doladelphia, there existed in that city and county, at the very least, one hundred and sixty charitable and beneficial societies, besides sixty-nine religious institutions, all of which, as is well known, have a fund for the relief of the poor of their own congregations. In addition to this, the sums given by individuals, in private charity, are estimated at a large amount;-and withal, when a year of great pressure occurs, collections are made throughout the city and liberties, and the money thus raised is applied to the immediate relief of the indigent, under the direction of a committee of the citizens. New societies, for charitable purposes, are also springing up from time to time. A few may be named, established within the last ten or eleven years. (1) Colquhoun, Pol. of the Met. p. 357. 11. mestic pauperism is generated and subsisted mostly in the multiplied resorts of idleness and intemperance." West Cambridge.-"It is worthy of remark, that of the 28 persons now in our alms house, there are but two who were not brought there, either directly or indirectly, by intemperance." Beverly.It may be confidently stated, that the chief sources of pauperism in this county, are idleness, improvidence and intemperance. Intemperance is the most fruitful source of pauperism; more than half the adult persons who have been admitted to our work house, for sixteen years, have been addicted to the excessive use of ardent spirits." Heath. "Under this system, the shiftless place themselves at ease; their friends use no exertions to induce (1) Rep. Comm. Mass. 1821. p. 9. them to lay up off the town." the fruits of their labour and keep them The testimony on the same point, in the State of New York, is not less conclusive, as will be seen by the ensuing extract from a report of the Secretary of that State, on the poor laws, in the year 1824. "Of the whole number of permanent paupers, (6,896,) the returns and estimates will warrant the assertion, that at least 1,585 male persons were reduced to that state by the excessive use of ardent spirits; and, of consequence, that their families, (consisting of 989 wives and 2,167 children,) were reduced to the same penury and want; thus presenting strong evidence of the often asserted fact, that intemperance has produced more than twothirds of all the permanent pauperism in the State;and there is little hazard in adding, that to the same cause may be ascribed more than one-half of the occasional pauperism." In our own State, we are not without evidence to the same effect. The following passages have been taken from the communications of the directors of the poor, in different counties of this commonwealth, to be found on the Journals of the late House of Representatives. (1) Dauphin county.-"Could our poor houses be made, as well the schools of reform as asylums for the indigent, it would be a very pleasing circumstance; but it is a lamentable fact, that perhaps two-thirds of the paupers, in most of the poor houses in the State, have become such by dissipation, and only cease to remain its votaries from the want of means and physical abilities to indulge in it, and not from any change of disposition during their pauperage." Franklin county."At the present time we have a number here, that if there was no institution, they would not be a charge; they calculate on being kept here a considerable time before they acquire an order of relief. Dissipation and other bad habits is the cause." Chester county.-"Those who come to us able to work, come to be fed and clothed, and to pass through the world in the most idle and easy way, and, generally speaking, they are very debauched and much depraved in their morals." The answers from the directors of the poor, in some of the counties of this commonwealth, to the enquiries of the committee on pauperism, in the year 1821, shed further light on this subject. The directors of Chester county say, "The great ease with which paupers obtain admission, and the vagrant idle dispositions of many who apply, and the want of power in the board to dismiss or place to service those able to work, which they cannot employ, that might be employed elsewhere, are among the causes of pauperism with us. Intoxication, and a disposition in many to spend all they can earn, taking chance for public support in time of need, is another cause of pauperism with us. Fornication and bastardy is another cause of pauperism with us." The directors of the poor, for the townships of Oxford and Lower Dublin, use this language on the subject. "Of the number of paupers remaining in the house on the 1st of May, fifteen are coloured people, and of that number four are mothers of bastard children. It is difficult to designate with accuracy the particular cause to which the individual cases may be directly referred; it is believed, however, that by far the greater number may be attributed, directly or indirectly, to the deleterious poison of ardent spirits." Again: "The number of illegitimate children, together with their mothers, during the period of their nurture, is a serious and increasing evil." And again: "Intemperance, consider ed as the most productive source of pauperism, claims the most seous attention to measures of prevention.But if intemperance is considered as productive of pauperism, it should not be forgotten, on the other hand, that the unqualified mode of relief from the poor laws reciprocates equal encouragement to intemperance; and (1) p. 32. if drunkenness makes paupers, the poor laws in return makes drunkards, by holding out to them the public purse to supply the deficiences occasioned by their misspent earnings, and to support them when incapacitated by their intemperance from supporting themselves." (i) Upon the whole, your committee cannot shut their eyes to the fact, which they believe to be glaring and undeniable, that by far the greater number of paupers are individuals who have been reduced to want by their own debauched habits, intemperance or improvidence. 4. Whether any expedient has been found, by any modification of the system, to prevent the evils which it produces? So early as the 8th and 9th of William and Mary, much alarm was felt in England, on account of the rapid increase of the poor rates, and an attempt was then made to check the evil, by attaching an additional degradation to pauperism. By a statute passed in that year, every pauper was required, under severe penalties, to wear a badge or mark, indicating his situation. The effect of this badging law was, that although at first, some were deterred from asking relief, by an unwillingness to be subjected to a public exposure, yet the sense of shame gradually wore off-the evil was not arrested-the number of paupers continued to augment, as before, and any relics of pride and independence, which they might have possessed, and which might have been the means of redeeming them from their humiliating condition, were entirely destroyed. This expedient having failed entirely, another has been resorted to, in more modern times-that of erecting work houses for the reception of the poor. It is enough to say here, that the same effects have resulted from the system in England, which were produced by the device of badging the poor. The increase of their numbers has not been checked, and the character of that class has been, in every way, materially depressed. As this plan of erecting poor houses, has been introduced into this country, and is at this moment believed by many of our citizens, to afford the best mode of checking the progress of pauperism, it may not be improper to consider it more at large. The experience of England, has been briefly stated above; that of our own state, will be detailed hereafter. The present object of inquiry is, whether the plan be a reasonable one in itself, or at all likely to produce the effect for which it is designed. As a permanent check to the increase of pauperism, by acting on the sense of shame, the scheme appears altogether irrational. The humiliation attendant upon alms taking is, indeed, a powerful obstacle to mendicity, because the relief to be obtained is never entirely certain, and the feeling of degradation operates in its full force on a single beggar, who has no crowd of fellow paupers around him, with whom to share it. But the poor laws give a full assurance that assistance will be afforded, and thus enhance the temptation, while the ef fect of a poor house is to lessen the sense of shame, by creating a community of paupers, protected from the gaze of all who are not of their own class. If, howev. er, it should operate at all, it will be only upon the unfortunate virtuous and honorable, and thus individuals, of the very class for whose exclusive benefit the public charity ought to be exerted, will be shut out from a participation in it, in favor of the proffigate and abandoned. A poor house has been considered as affording a more comfortable and cheaper subsistence to the paupers, than could be afforded in any other mode; and there are even yet some persons, who, in spite of all experience, credit the possibility of such an institution producing an actual profit to the public. It is not to be denied that, with strict economy and attention, the same number of (1) The paper here quoted contains a very able view of the subject. It was probably written by Stephen Duncan, Esq. paupers may be more comfortably and more cheaply supported in one establishment, under the immediate superintendence of intelligent and efficient managers, than when maintained at board wages, or supplied with money, to be expended at their own discretion. It is to be observed, however, that as the accommodations are made more commodious and comfortable, the temptations to pauperism are rendered more irresistible, and of course the rapidity of its augmentation is enhanced. Even the industrious poor may be seduced to become members of this vast and well regulated family, in which they are to be better provided, in every way, than at their own houses, and to be protected entirely from all care and anxiety about their own subsistence. Thus the number of paupers will be augmented, and of course, though there may be a small saving at first, the expense must also at last be also increased. ready overstocked-Of course the wages of that laboumust be so reduced as to afford a bare subsistence to those engaged in it. No more can be brought into oper ration, without loss in the first instance. If the public choose to sustain that loss, and to force into operation a certain amount of labour, the effect is, that, at least, to an equal extent, they force out of employment, individuals who were already barely supporting themselves by the fruits of their labour. What then has been gained? A certain number of paupers have been relieved at the public expense, and the consequence is, that at least an equal number of industrious individuals have been depressed into the class of paupers, and are in like manner to be relieved, and with the like effects. Your committee observe, that they have been unable to find a single establishment of this kind in the United States which has ever supported itself. Poor houses, as has been already stated, have been introduced very generally into many parts of this state. The following extracts from communications of the directors of the poor (1) in different counties may serve to show how usefully. Dauphin county.-"The yearly increase of paupers might justify a belief that the poor find their comforts increased in the practical operation of alms houses."The population of the county in 1820, was 21,653; average number of paupers in that year 84; average expense, exclusive of the produce of the farm, interest of purchase money, about 50 dollars each per annum, or 96 cents per week. But it is to be further remarked, that there exists no probability that such an institution will, for a series of years, be well conducted. At first, indeed, there may be honest and intelligent men, of unusual public spirit, who having assisted in its establishment, will consent to devote their whole time and exertions to the promotion of its success. Such examples are honourable and laudable, but they are also of rare occurrence, and not to be looked for among ordinary men, or on ordinary occasions. The institution must at last fall, in a great degree, under the control of an hired superintendant. His office is not an honourable one; the incumbent will, in all probability, often be a man not very capable of resisting pecuniary temptations, or of persevering in the discharge York county."The effect of establishing workof a laborious duty, in spite of his own interest. His in-houses and houses of industry, is a great improvement on terest must always be, to promote waste and disorder, the old township system, the expenses are much rebecause, amidst waste and disorder, his opportunities of duced, and the paupers more comfortably situated." speculation will be more frequent and more secret. The population of the county, in 1820, was 38,759; aveWhen the abuses of profusion and ill government have rage number of paupers, 100; attached to the institution been once introduced into such an institution, it is diffi- is a farm of 134 acres of limestone land, on which the cult to eradicate them. They become at last inveterate buildings are erected, and another tract of woodland, and incurable-the public funds are dissipated-the 159 acres, from which fuel alone is obtained. comfort of the inhabitants is destroyed-all salutary re- Cost of real property and buildings, gulations for their ease and benefit are violated-they fall into the worst and most degrading habits of every kind, and a scene must ensue of vice, misery, and wretchedness, loathsome and irredeemable. The experience of England has proved the justice of these views. best regulated poor houses," says an English statesman, present a dreadful state of existence; a society with no one common bond of feeling; every endearing relation destroyed. In its place a principle of savage selfishness pervading all classes, engendering mutual jealousy and hatred. Age, infirmity, youth, idleness and profligacy, indiscriminately huddled together. Can any mortal contemplate such a conclusion of life, and not bless the attempt to preserve him from it." (1) "The With regard to the idea that an institution of this kind, be it ever so well conducted, may be made to produce a profit to the public, or even to support itself, it may be proper to say a few words. The profit, if any, must of course result from the labour of the able bodied inmates. They will come there, because they are too idle to work for themselves out of doors, or because they find it impossible to procure employment. In the first case, they will of course be as idle as ever, unless compelled to work, since it is not to be supposed that men, who will not labour for their own support, will voluntarily labour for that of the public, The only effectual mode of compelling them to work, is to withhold their subsistence, until they have earned it. If this be done, they might as well have been left out of doors, for precisely on this footing they stood before they threw themselves on the public. It seems absurd to incur the expense of erecting a poor house for a purpose such as this. Then, as to those who cannot procure employment. This must arise from the market for the kind of labour for which they are qualified, being al (1) Mr. Curwen, Deb. H. of C. May 28, 1816. The interest of which is Money annually drawn from county treasury upon average heretofore, $30,000 $1,800 2,000 3,800 Average expense of each pauper, exclusive of the produce of the farm, 38 dollars, or 73 cents per week. Franklin county." The effect of establishing such institutions. we give you such information as we have derived from our experience in our official situation. Such institutions we consider highly necessary for the blind and infirm that has met with misfortunes, and has not wherewith to support themselves. At the present time, we have a number here, that if there was no institution, they would not be a charge; they calculate on being kept here a considerable time, before they acquire an order of relief. Dissipation and other bad habits is the cause. This we consider as some of the effects of establishing such institutions. Such institutions we consider are abused in this way."-The farm consists of 160 acres; the average number of paupers in 1823, 64; average expense of each pauper, exclusive of the farm produce, $37 01. Delaware county.-"The establishment of a house of employment in this county, has increased the number, or from some other cause, there is more than when main. tained in the different townships; but we have no hesi tation in saying, that the effect has been such, as to make their situation more comfortable; the morals and health better preserved."-No statement of the expense dis. tinct from the produce of the farm. Chester county."By establishing poor houses with proper regulations, the paupers receive a more comforta ble subsistence and maintenance, with less expense, than (1) Journal H. R. 1823-4, p. 32. kept in the townships."-Number of paupers before the erection of a poor Louse, about 119. Annual expense $6,666 66; average 56 dollars per annum; $1 07 per week. No. of paupers in 1818 186 1819 219 1820 319 1821 292 Whole monies expended. $7857 00 7390 03 7984 78 6003 63 7074 06 Average annual expense of each pauper, $27 12, or 52 cents per week. 1822 306 tion. Your committee therefore suggest, that the overseers, directors, guardians, and managers, throughout the state, should be compelled to send annually to the Secretary of State, to be laid before the Legislature, an account of the actual state of pauperism in their respective counties, boroughs, townships, and districts. Complete and accurate information will thus be always within the reach of the house. In the city of Philadelphia, and the adjoining districts, however, the evil is much more aggravated, and the necessity of a reform more urgent than throughout the state-(since the paupers in 1822-3, composed nearly one thirty-eighth of the whole Philadelphia." The number in the alms house dur-population) and it seems necessary to institute, without ing the year ending the 4th Monday in May, 1823, was loss of time, a strict and thorough inquiry into the state of 1204, the number of regular out door paupers, 1222; pauperism in that part of the commonwealth. Your those who received occasional relief, average 330; in the committee therefore earnestly recommend the passage children's asylum, 173; amounting in the whole to 2929; of the bill from the Senate, (referred to them) entitled, which, as the census of our corporation amounted to "An act to authorise the appointment of commissioners 111,724, is a little less than 1 in 38; to these may be to investigate the causes and extent of pauperism within added 161 illegitimate children.” the city and liberties of Philadelphia, and for other purposes therein mentioned," in conformity with the prayer of the petition of the Society for the Promotion of Public Economy, which was also referred to them. When all the necessary information shall have been thus collected, measures may be taken for the extinction of the evil. In the mean time, it is very important to arrest, if possible, its further progress, and your committee would suggest the propriety of prohibiting the raising by poor rates or assessments, in any future year, in any part of this commonwealth, a greater sum than that levied by such rates or assessments during the present. Thus much it is believed might be wisely and safely done at once. "The average weekly expense of supporting the paupers in the alms house, during the period before mentioned, was 763 cents each; for the support of those out of doors 73 cents each; those in the children's asylum 70 cents each, and 2502 dollars were paid for bastard children, more than received from their putative fathers." The kind of inhabitants to be met with in these poor houses generally, may be found stated in the extracts from these same communications of the directors, in a former part of this report. Upon the whole, your committee are convinced, that the effect of a public compulsory provision for the poor, is to increase the number of paupers; to entail an oppressive burthen on the country; to promote idleness and licentiousness among the labouring classes; and to afford to the profligate and abandoned, the relief which ought to be bestowed on the virtuous and industrious alone. That the poor laws have not done away the necessity for private charity; that they have been onerous to the community, and every way injurious to the morals, comfort, and independence of that class for whose benefit they were intended. That no permanent alleviation of the system can rationally be expected from the erection of poor houses, or from any other expedient of a similar kind; and that the only hope of effectual relief, is in the speedy and total abolition of the system itself. In this country, where there are no privileged orders, where all classes of society have equal rights, and where our population is far from being so dense, as to press upon our means of subsistence, it is indeed alarming to find the increase of pauperism progressing with such rapidity. It should be observed, too, that in this State particularly, our citizens, in all probability, are on the verge of becoming extensively engaged in manufactures, and the example of England may teach us, that it is on a manufacturing population, that the poor laws operate most deleteriously and fatally. An agricultural people are naturally more hardy and independent, and will resist for a longer time, the temptations which the system holds out to them. It was when a large proportion of the inhabitants of England betook themselves to manufactures, that the rapidity of the increase of pauperism was enhanced in an enormous degree. We are rapidly treading in the footsteps of England; there the disease has been tampered with, until it has become inveterate and incurable; and her best and wisest men regard it and despair. We should profit of her experience, and return upon our steps while the path is open. It is believed, that with prudence and caution, we may still do so; but whatever is to be done, should be done quickly, for in the meantime, we are hurrying towards the precipice, and we cannot tell how soon retreat may become impracti cable. Care should be taken, however, not to act with rashness or precipitation. It is necessary to ascertain the precise extent of the evil, before it can be known what inode will be the safest and most operative of its extinc Your committee have not hitherto entered into the details of the system, but they will now offer one or two suggestions on the impropriety of some of its provisions. By the existing laws, any two justices or aldermen, on complaint made to them by the overseers or guardians, may direct any person "likely to become chargeable," to be removed to whatever place within the commonwealth, they may consider as the place of legal settlement of such person, unless the individual thus likely to be. come chargeable shall give sufficient security to discharge and indemnify the district or township. It is true that an appeal lies to the Mayor's Court or Quarter Sessions, from such order of removal, but in the mean time the order is executed and the man is dragged to perhaps a distant part of the state. If the order of removal should be quashed on an appeal, the consequence is, that perhaps just when the individual has become reconciled to his new place of residence, he is liable to be seized and dragged back again. The expense of these removals and of the litigation of appeals from them, is not trifling; but this is not the worst. The power is arbitrary and dangerous, and capable of being used tyrannically and oppressively, it is one to which no freeman, whose only offence is poverty, should ever be subjected. Those who are actually disabled by infirmity of any kind, should be relieved, if at all, at the place of their actual residence, and their proper township be called on to reimburse the expense. As to the able bodied poor, if they desire assistance, they should be left to find their own way, to the place in which they may be entitled to receive it. Your committee are desirous of calling the attention of the House to another highly objectionable feature of the present system, the mode of laying the rate. The imposition of taxes, is one of the most important acts of legislation; and it is held to be essential to a government, founded on free and just principles, that a tax should be imposed by a body directly responsible to the people, and never by the same body by which its proceeds are afterwards to be expended, particularly when that expenditure cannot possibly be subjected to a very strict accountability. This principle, however, is violated, in the existing mode of laying the poor rates, by the overseers and managers, with the approbation of two justices, or of a certain number of aldermen and |