Another class of men, who from the station they hold in society,
and their knowledge of the laws of the country, may be highly
useful in carrying into effect such an undertaking, are the civil
magistrates; and, however a committee for the government and
direction of an Establishment for the Poor may in other respects
be composed, I am clearly of opinion, that the Chief Magistrate
of the town, or city, where such an Establishment is formed,
ought always to be one of its members. The Clergyman of the
place who is highest in rank or dignity ought, likewise, to be
another; and if he be a Bishop, or Archbishop, his assistance is
the more indispensable.
But as persons who hold offices of great trust and importance in
the church, as well as under the civil government, may be so much
engaged in the duties of their stations, as not to have
sufficient leisure to attend to other matters; it may be
necessary, when such distinguished persons lend their assistance
in the management of an Establishment for the relief of the Poor,
that each of them be permitted to bring with them a person of his
own choice into the committee, to assist him in the business.
The Bishop, for instance, may bring his chaplain;--the Magistrate,
his clerk;--the Nobleman, or private gentleman, his son,
or friend, etc. But in small towns, of two or three parishes,
and particularly in country-towns and villages, which do not
consist of more than one or two parishes, as the details in the
management of the affairs of the Poor in such communities cannot
be extensive, the members of the committee may manage the
business without assistants. And indeed in all cases, even in
great cities, when a general Establishment for the Poor is formed
upon a good plan, the details of the executive and more laborious
parts of the management of it will be so divided among the
commissaries of the districts, that the members of the supreme
committee will have little more to do than just hold the reins,
and direct the movement of the machine. Care must however be
taken to preserve the most perfect uniformity in the motions of
all its parts, otherwise confusion must ensue; hence the
necessity of directing the whole from one center.
As the inspection of the Poor;--the care of them when they are
sick;--the distribution of the sums granted in alms for their
support;--the furnishing them with clothes;--and the collection
of the voluntary subscriptions of the inhabitants,--will be
performed by the commissaries of the districts, and their
assistants;--and as all the details relative to giving employment
to the Poor, and feeding them, may be managed by particular
subordinate committees, appointed for those purposes, the current
business of the supreme committee will amount to little more than
the exercise of a general superintendance.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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