Speeches on Questions of Public Policy, Volume 1Bright, John
History
Speeches on Questions of Public Policy, Volume 1
Bright, John
Great Britain -- Politics and government -- 1837-1901
Of the sum levied as poor-rate in the city parish, it is estimated that,
on an average, two-thirds are spent upon Irish paupers. The ranks of
these Irish paupers are recruited to a comparatively small extent from
the Irish workmen, who have been, with their families, attracted by, and
who have found employment in, the numerous manufactories of Glasgow. The
Irish paupers, upon whom two-thirds of the Glasgow poor-rates are spent,
are principally squalid and destitute creatures who are brought over as
deck passengers, clustering like bees to the bulwarks and rigging, by
almost every steamer that sails from a northern Irish port. With respect
to the town of Manchester, I am able to give some more definite
particulars as to the burthen imposed upon the inhabitants for the
support of the Irish casual poor. In the year 1848, the sum expended in
the relief of the settled poor, which term includes the resident Irish
who are not distinguished by name from the English, amounted to
37,847_l_. The sum expended for the relief of the non-settled
English paupers in the town of Manchester, in the year 1848, was
18,699_l_. The amount expended for the relief of casual Irish poor
alone was 28,007_l_. The total assessment of Manchester is
647,568_l_., which, if divided by the amount required to relieve
the casual Irish poor, would amount to a rate of 10 1/2 _d_. in the
pound upon every pound of rateable property in the town of Manchester;
but if estimated according to the property really rated (as there are
great numbers of persons who, from poverty, do not pay the poor-rates on
the property they occupy), the amount of assessment for the relief of
the casual Irish poor alone will be from 15_d_. to 18_d_. in
the pound, and the charge upon the ratepayers of Manchester for the
relief of the Irish casual poor during the last year is not less than
2_s_. 1_d_. per head upon the whole population of that town.
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