The system of affording relief through the agency of public works having broken down, while that of administering it in a direct form on the principle of the Poor Law had generally been found effective wherever it had been tried, it was as above stated determined to give validity to this mode bypassing the _10th and 11th Vict., cap. 7_, which directs that a relief committee consisting of the magistrates, a clergyman of each persuasion, the poor-law guardian and the three highest ratepayers, shall be constituted in each electoral division, and that a finance committee of four gentlemen of character and knowledge of business should be formed to control the expenditure in each union. Inspecting officers are also to be appointed, and a central commission sitting in Dublin,[139] was to superintend and control the working of the whole system. The expense incurred was to be defrayed out of the poor-rates, and when these proved insufficient they might be reinforced by government loans, to be repaid by rates subsequently levied. But no loan is to be made, until the inspecting officer had certified that the guardians have passed a resolution for making the rate upon which the loan was to be secured. Such were the chief provisions of the Act, but free grants were also made in aid of the rates in the poorest unions, and when private subscriptions were raised the government made donations to an equal amount. The liability of the ratepayers would, it was considered, operate as a check to undue expenditure; and with regard to the recipients, the test applied consisted in requiring the personal attendance of all who needed relief, (excepting only the sick and impotent poor, and children under the age of nine) and that the relief should be given in cooked food,[140] in portions sufficient to maintain health and strength. ----- [139] Sir John Burgoyne was the chairman of this commission, and Mr. Twisleton the poor-law commissioner was a member. The other members were Mr. Redington the first under secretary, and Col. Jones and Col. M'Gregor the heads of the board of works and the constabulary. [140] The best form in which cooked food could be given was “stirabout,” made of Indian meal and rice steamed. It is sufficiently solid to be easily carried away by the recipients. The pound ration thus prepared swelled by the absorption of water to between 3 and 4 pounds. ----- [Sidenote: The cooked-food system of relief.]