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Home The Industrial Revolution and Social Progress, 1750-1909 Social Progress in the Nineteenth Century Social Progress; Part 7 |
Social Progress; Part 7By an Act passed in 1579 each parish looked after its own poor. But relief was not given to the able-bodied, and there were no poorhouses, whilst in most parishes money relief was obtained, not by compulsory rates, but by other means, such as voluntary contributions. Consequently in Scotland it was not the profusion but the exiguous ness in the relief given, not the extravagance but the parsimony of the local authorities, which were the chief evils. But in 1845 a law was passed which recommended the provision of poor-houses, and which ordered compulsory rates where necessary. The Poor Law Commission of 1909, however, found grave defects in the Scottish system. The parishes, which (except in the large towns) remain the unit of administration, are in many districts either too small or too large, whilst the prohibition of outdoor relief to the able-bodied, where it is not evaded, often leads to great hardships being inflicted. The Scottish poorhouse is composed of as diverse elements as the English workhouse, and in other respects the Scottish system is open to the same objections as the English system; for instance, the inadequate control exercised by the Local Government Board, and the lack of supervision in the distribution of outdoor relief.It has been evident from this brief summary that the State has taken, to an increasing extent, a larger share in controlling the lives of its citizens. Not only does it concern itself with the education of the young, the care of the destitute, the protection of the workers, but it has passed laws regulating the public health and the supply of food; it often arbitrates in disputes been masters and men; and in 1908 it passed laws which laid down a mass of regulations with regard to the children, and provided pensions for the aged over seventy. It may be reckoned that on education, public health, the poor, and the aged, some £70,000,000 of public money was spent in 1909. As civilization advances and gets more complex, the probability is that the duties of the State will become even heavier. Yet it must not be supposed that the State has brought about all the improvements that have taken place. Employers have become more humane; private charity has done much to alleviate distress; education is still largely assisted by voluntary effort; and, finally, the workmen themselves, by co-operation and by trade unions, have helped to better their own lot. The Trade Unions, composed of workmen - though not . all the workmen - employed in each particular branch of industry, have gone through many vicissitudes. In 1800 a law - called the Combination Act - was passed, under which any artisan organizing a strike or joining a trade union was a criminal, and liable to imprisonment. Though this Act was repealed in 1825, a strike might still be a conspiracy, and a trade union could not claim the protection of the law. In the seventies unions were legalized, whilst in 1906 a bill was passed which gave them a privileged position, because the courts are not allowed to entertain any action against them in their corporate capacity, and they are no longer held financially responsible for the illegal actions of their officials in a strike. Though they have in some ways prevented the labourer from making the best use of his ability, and though the strikes which they have organized have not always been justifiable, yet the trade unions have done much to raise the wages of their members, to find them employment, and to help them when sick or out of work (Of late years the membership of trade unions has largely increased; in 1906 the number of trade unions was over one thousand, with a total membership of over two millions). |
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