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296
III. CONSTITUTION AND ADMINISTRATION.
any rate, by voluntary workers no account was taken regarding the steps taken
by the poor law. In the nineties an awakening took place, and the organization
of poor relief became a point of interest in the towns, and it has increased in
strength until our ow days and is now a burning question over the whole
country.
Various systems in respect of the method of poor law administration prevail
in different communities: the system with only officials, the Elberfeld-system
with helperB or almoners, and a combination of the two. According to the
official system, salaried persons perform the whole work: they receive applicants,
investigate conditions, and report to the board, who decide the question. The
Elberfeld or almoner system is the name given to the poor law administration
based upon help by volunteers or honorary officers; each almoner has only a
few recipients of relief to look after, and a very thorough individualization, and
consequently suitable treatment, is rendered possible. Such an organization has
been in operation in Elberfeld since 1852, but long before that (1819) a
Scotsman, named Chalmers, organized something like it in Glasgow; it was there
proved that, by careful individualization, in four years the cost was reduced
to a fifth of what it had been before, and at the same time the really
necessitous obtained better care and help than had previously been the case. The same
experience was gained at Elberfeld: in 30 years, during which time the
inhabitants doubled in number, those in receipt of relief decreased by nearly a
third, and the care of the poor was on an improved footing at an appreciably
less cost. This system has also been adopted in many different places, and
in various towns of Sweden; yet it imposes very great claims on leading
people — on the guardians, as well as on the almoners — and if these
claims are not fully met, the whole organization may well come to lack that
stability and uniformity which is desirable. Therefore in many parts of Germany,
as well as in Sweden, the adoption of a "combined system" has been attempted,
in which the best points in both the other methods are utilized, and the salaried
officials co-operate with and complete the work of volunteers.
These various methods have importance only for the so-called outdoor relief
of the poor, that is to say, where the relief given, either in money or in kind, is
taken to the applicant’s home; it is suitable that such assistance should be
accompanied by supervision. Indoor relief is afforded in institutions or homes to
various classes of the poor. In larger towns are to be found work-houses and
infirmaries for the destitute — with departments for chronic cases of sickness,
either physical or mental — homes for the aged and for children, asylums for
the homeless and for women in confinement and for nursing mothers, night refuges
etc. Pauper children are likewise boarded out in simple but good private homes;
this is in rural parts the usual means of provision with respect to pauper
children, and is also resorted to for elder people. In those parishes where no
parochial institutions are to be found, or such as do exist are inadequate,
outdoor relief is frequently given. In 1912, over the whole kingdom, outdoor
relief was given to 60’8 % of all in receipt of relief. The danger of abuse in
this system is, nevertheless, great, and at the same time aversion to seeking
this form of relief is so slight as to create a temptation to apply for help
without necessity. A well managed poor law farm, with work on the land, has
proved to be remunerative for parish and inmates alike; the weakly ones obtain
needful care, while those who have more or less working capacity there get
farm-work after their ability, and are strictly kept to its performance.
The number of poor law farms is annually increasing and in 1912 amounted
altogether to 504. Institutions for the care of the poor numbered in all 4 203,
farms included: the rest were 34 work-houses, 1 414 poor-houses, 29 homes for
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