Aug 16 1827 Criminal Commitments & Convictions #3 - Cumberland and Westmorland Newspaper Transcriptions

Aug 16 1827 Criminal Commitments & Convictions #3

The Times, Thursday, Aug 16, 1827; pg. 4; Issue 13359; col A

       REPORT of the COMMITTEE of the HOUSE of COMMONS on
             CRIMINAL COMMITMENTS and CONVICTIONS, &c.
                                                  [continued]

Sir James GRAHAM, Bart., had acted for the last eight years as a magistrate for
the county of Cumberland; until within the last eighteen months he had not
observed any increase of crime; but since the commencement of distress among the
hand-loom weavers in Carlisle and its vicinity, crime has increased in that
particular district. In the county of Cumberland it is universally the custom to
refuse any payment of wages out of the poor rates; the consequence is, that the
rate of wages is higher in Cumberland than in almost any other agricultural
county. A ploughman there receives at least 12s. a week; in many cases the
cottagers have rooms rent free, and in no case does a field labourer receive
less than 1s. 6d. a day if he be a good workman. Mr. STURGES BOURNE's Act has
been carried almost universally into execution; select vestries assemble
regularly according to the provisions of that Act; neither rent nor wages are
paid out of the poor-rates; except in special cases, relief is refused; and the
poor-rates, notwithstanding the increase of manufacturing poverty, have
diminished even in the manufacturing districts since 1819. "In the parishes with
which I am more particularly connected, as being the principal proprietor within
them, upon the first passing of Mr. STURGES BOURNE's Act, I availed myself, with
the concurrence of the vestry, of a provision contained in it for raising money
for the purpose of enlarging the poor-house. At that time the parishes to which
I allude were in the habit of paying rents out of the poor-rates; they became
convinced that this was an unwise and prodigal expenditure; and though the
outlay in enlarging the workhouse was considerable, amounting to somewhat more
than 400L., at least half of one year's rate, yet, when the workhouse was
finished, they were enabled at once to refuse relief to all persons unwilling to
go there, and the number of applicants diminished so much, that in the course of
two years the parish was reimbursed for the whole outlay; and at the present
moment, as I mentioned before, no rents are paid out of the poor-rates, and no
persons are relieved, except under very special circumstances, at their own
houses. The habits of the agricultural labourers are moral, industrious, and
economical. There still exists a great spirit of independence, and the utmost
want and distress are often endured with patience, in preference to an
application to the vestry. In Cumberland, however, both the farmers and
agricultural labourers are content with very mean and scanty food; the
sustenance of the labourer consists almost entirely of milk, potatoes, and
oatmeal; he very rarely eats meat. The situation of the farmer is very little
better, or more luxurious. Upon the whole, neither the farmer nor the
agricultural labourer is in a worse condition than he was 30 years ago. Sir
James GRAHAM is of opinion, "that the power given by Mr. STURGES BOURNE's Act of
enlarging workhouses, and of making them capable of containing all persons to
whom the parish is bound to give relief, and a steady adherence to the principle
of never giving it out of the workhouses, coupled with such regulations of the
workhouse itself as are now consistent with the law of the land (the utility of
which is exemplified in the management of the workhouse at Liverpool), would
supply the means of checking the natural improvidence of the labourer, and his
disposition to early marriage; he would fear to make himself dependent on parish
relief; he would look at the workhouse with dread, not, as at present, almost
with indifference; and by the increased exertions of the labouring classes
themselves, by greater prudence on their part, formed by a wiser administration
of the existing law, I am disposed to think that the poor-rates might be reduced
throughout England; at all events, that their rapid inroads might be arrested."
The select vestries exercise the power vested in them with sound discretion:
character is almost invariably an ingredient in their decisions. The most
fertile source of crime is the preservation of game; the lower orders, in common
with the highest, have a natural love of the sport, even stimulated, perhaps, by
the risk attendant on its gratification; the tameness of the pheasants, which
were formerly almost unknown in this neighbourhood, and which are now seen
constantly in the fields close to the road, is a great temptation to the lower
orders to take them. "Persons going armed at night on a marauding excursion
seldom confine their depredations to the taking of game, and many cases of petty
thefts, such as robbing of hen-roosts and outhouses, have been brought before
me, which I have been able clearly to trace to persons going out at night with
the intention of poaching. On the whole, I should think poaching the cause,
rather than the consequence, of criminal habits." When an unemployed labourer
applies to the parish for relief, he is usually sent to break stones upon the
turnpike road, which work is paid by the square yard of stone broken; he is fed
and clothed at the expense of the parish, his earnings are carried to the
account of the parish; if he does not break the average quantity of stones, the
keeper of the workhouse brings the pauper before a magistrate, who has it in his
power to send him to the house of correction.