one another, the rates do not vary in amount to any great extent. In the North, for instance, they range from 1_s._ to 1_s._ 7_d._, Hampstead being the exception, and below the shilling. In the South they are rather higher, being from 1_s._ 2_d._ to 2_s._ 11_d._, Lewisham alone being below the shilling. In the East, as might be expected, the figures are fearfully high, all, with one exception, being above 2_s._ 6_d._, and in the majority of cases exceeding 3_s._ Bethnal Green, that most afflicted of all unions, is the highest, reaching the enormous sum of 3_s._ 11_d._ in the pound, being nearly seven times the amount of the rate in the City of London. In the Central District, which is situated in an intermediate position, the rates range from 1_s._ 11_d._ to 3_s._, the City itself being excluded. No one who reads the foregoing statistics can fail to be struck with the inequality and mismanagement that they exhibit. No one can deny that this state of affairs urgently needs some reorganisation or reform, for who could defend the present system that makes the poor pay most, and the rich least, towards the support and maintenance of our poor? There appears to be a very general impression that the sum levied for the relief of the poor goes entirely to the relief of the poor; but there is a great distinction between the sum levied and the sum actually expended for that purpose. Taking the average amount of poor-rates levied throughout England and Wales for the same periods, it is found that for the ten years ending 1860 the average was 7,796,019_l._; for the seven years ending 1867, 9,189,386_l._; and for the latest year, 1868, when a number of other charges were levied nominally under the same head, 11,054,513_l._ To gain an idea of the amount of relief afforded, it was necessary to look to the amount which had actually been expended. For the ten years ending 1860 the average amount expended for the relief of the poor was 5,476,454_l._; for the seven years ending 1867, 6,353,000_l._; and in the latest year, 7,498,000_l._ Therefore the amount actually expended in the relief of the poor was, in the ten years ending 1860, at the average annual rate of 5_s._ 9½_d._ per head upon the population; for the seven years ending 1867, 6_s._ 1_d._; and for the year 1868, 6_s._ 11½_d._ The average number of paupers for the year ending Lady-day 1849 was 1,088,659, while in 1868 they had decreased to 992,640. Thus, in 1849 there were 62 paupers for every 1,000 of the population, and in 1868 there were but 46 for every 1,000, being 16 per 1,000 less in the latter than in the former year. In 1834, the rate per head which was paid for the relief of the poor was 9_s._ 1_d._ If we continued in 1868 to pay the same rate which was paid in 1849, the amount, instead of being 6,960,000_l._ would be 9,700,000_l._, showing a balance of 2,740,000_l._ in favour of 1868.