Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - III. Constitution and Administration. Introd. by E. Hildebrand - 3. Local Government. Introd. by G. A. Aldén - Poor Relief. By Agda Montelius
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294
III. CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION.
exist in each town. The country board, if such has been appointed, shall consist
of at least three persons, and that in a town of at least five, of either sex;
the rector is ipso facto a member of the board.
In Stockholm there is a local board in each district and a central governing
body for the whole city — "fattigvårdsnämnden" —; the latter consists of 12
members and 8 deputies, elected by the town council for two years at a time;
the local boards are elected by the central authority. Men and women alike
are eligible. A poor law inspector is appointed on the central board to control
the proper management of poor relief and its healthy development.
The Poor Law Guardians are bound, on receipt of application for relief, to
inquire carefully into the applicant’s position and needs, and into how far such
relief should be afforded; to see that necessitous children not only receive
maintenance, but also a fixed’ abode and Christian education; to take note that
support given is properly applied, and, with that object, to divide the community
into districts, each under the inspection of a special Guardian: and to
superintend special districts and private Unions for poor relief, where they exist.
Poor Law Guardians have the right of guardians and masters over those who
are entirely dependent on them for maintenance, and all that they possess
reverts to the community. The Poor Law Guardians have the right of masters
over a) everyone who is in receipt of other relief than full maintenance; b)
everyone whose wife, or children under age, are entirely dependent on Poor Law
for maintenance; c) those who, through idleness, bring their wives or children to
such poverty that they need assistance, even if it be only temporary.
If those falling under the authority of the guardians are capable of work, but
refuse to perform the tasks assigned to them, or otherwise conduct themselves
contumaciously or licentiously, they are to be warned, and if the warning is
unheeded, they are to be brought before the Governor, who may condemn them
to compulsory work. In the case of those under age, the Board can order them
a thrashing.
The community has the right to be compensated for relief given, for cost
of sending home or cost of burial, out of such property as the recipient
possesses or may come to possess, and out of the earnings from work performed
while under the authority of the guardians. If the recipient of relief has a
kinsman legal answerable for his maintenance, the latter shall pay this. If this
be not done voluntarily, then the matter is to be brought before the Governor,
who settles the dispute.
The State compensates for poor relief of those whose settlement cannot be
discovered, or who are not Swedish citizens, or for the year before receiving
relief belonged to the ranks of the enlisted troops. State grants can also be
apportioned to a community for the support of those who have lived without
intermission five years outside the community, provided that the latter has heavy
expenses for poor relief, or that the necessitous person has lived the whole
time outside the country.
Swedish citizens have a settlement in that commune where they have last
been or should legally have been registered as resident, and this again is
where he is considered to have his home and dwelling-place. After the age
of 60, a person retains ever afterwards the settlement he had when reaching
that age. A wife has the same settlement as her husband. A widow or
a divorced woman retains her last settlement during her married life, until she
obtains another. Legitimate children under age have their father’s settlement,
but, in the case of his death, their mother’s. Illegitimate children under age
have their mother’s. If a person who migrates to a community has, for himself,
his wife, or children, the year previous or subsequent, been in receipt of poor-
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