Rouen Depôt of Mendicity.Regulations.Section1.—Duty of the Porter of the Outside Gates.Art.1st. All the gates shall be kept constantly shut.3. The porter shall not allow any one to enter or go out during the day without a permission or passport from the Governor.6. The porters and other officers are expressly forbidden, onpain of dismissal, to allow the inmates to send any message or commission, or have any correspondence whatever beyond the walls of the establishment. Letters to and from them must be laid before the governor before they are forwarded.Section 2.—In-doors Porter.Art. 3.To prevent all communication between the mendicants of different sexes and ages, the porter is ordered to keep locked the doors of the dormitories, the work-shops, the courts for recreation, and other places to which the inmates have access, as soon as they have quitted them, in pursuance of the regulations of the place.4. It is the duty of the porter and other officers and servants to see that the inmates are carefully kept to the apartments provided for them respectively. The porter must go the rounds from time to time to ascertain this.Section 3.—Dormitories.Art. 1.The bell is to announce the hour of rising from the 1st of March to the 30th of September at 4 o’clock in the morning, and from the 1st Oct. to the 28th Feb. at 6. The inspectors must take care that the inmates immediately rise.3. After prayers at 6 o’clock in summer, and 7 in winter, the inmates, accompanied by the inspectors, are to proceed to their respective workshops. The dormitories are to be swept and cleaned by two inmates, selected by turns for this employment out of each dormitory, and then to be kept locked.4. At 9 in the evening, in all seasons, the bell is to announce bedtime. The inmates are immediately to proceed to their respective dormitories; the roll is to be called by the inspector, and prayers (not lasting more than a quarter of an hour) are to be said, and listened to attentively; after prayers each shall go quietly to bed, and perfect silence be kept in every dormitory.Section 4.—Refectories.Art. 1.Breakfast shall take place during the summer six months precisely at 8 in the morning, and during the six winter months at 9, and last half an hour. Immediately after breakfast the inmates are to return to work until precisely half-past 12 o’clock, the dinner hour at all seasons.5. From half-past 12 till 2 is allowed for dinner and for recreation, under the inspection, in each division, of a servant. At 2 o’clock precisely the bell is to summon the inmates to return towork, and the inspectors are to call the roll in each workshop.6. At 8 in the evening, in all seasons, the bell is to be rung for supper; the inmates may remain in the refectory till nine.7. The same regulations shall be observed in the dormitories and refectories of each sex, except that as respects the aged, sick, and infirm.Section 4.—Workshops.Art. 1.The inspectors are to see that every workman is busily employed, and loses no time.2. The workshops are to be kept locked during the hours of work, and the inmates not allowed to leave them.3. Each able-bodied inmate is to have a task set him, proportioned to his strength and skill. If he do not finish it, he is to be paid only for what he has done, put on dry bread, and kept to work during the hours of recreation.4. Every workman, who for three consecutive days fails in completing his task, is to be kept during the hours of meals and of recreation, and during the night, confined in the punishment-room upon bread and water, until he has accomplished his task.5. Every workman who wilfully or negligently spoils the materials, tools, or furniture in his care, shall pay for them out of the reserved third of his earnings, besides still further punishment as the case may deserve.6. Every workman doing more than his task is to be paid two-thirds of the value of his extra labour.7. With respect to every inmate who shall have been imprisoned, 5 centimes for each day of imprisonment shall be deducted from the reserved third of his earnings. The amount of these deductions, and of all fines and other casual sources of profit, is to form a reserved fund for the purpose of rewards for those inmates who may distinguish themselves among their companions by good conduct and industry.Section 7.—Religious Instruction.Art. 1.Religious and moral instruction is to be given in the chapel twice a week—on Sundays and Thursdays, at 7 in the evening.All the able-bodied inmates are to be present, in silence and attention, under the inspection of their respective superintendents. On Sundays, and the holidays established by the Concordat, all the inmates and the officers of the depôt shall hear mass at half-past 8 in the morning, and vespers at half-past 1 in the afternoon.2. At periods determined by ecclesiastical authority, the children who are to be confirmed are to be instructed for two months.7. When any of these regulations are broken, the inspectors and other officers are to report to the Governor, and he is to pronounce sentence on the inmates.
Art.1st. All the gates shall be kept constantly shut.
3. The porter shall not allow any one to enter or go out during the day without a permission or passport from the Governor.
6. The porters and other officers are expressly forbidden, onpain of dismissal, to allow the inmates to send any message or commission, or have any correspondence whatever beyond the walls of the establishment. Letters to and from them must be laid before the governor before they are forwarded.
Art. 3.To prevent all communication between the mendicants of different sexes and ages, the porter is ordered to keep locked the doors of the dormitories, the work-shops, the courts for recreation, and other places to which the inmates have access, as soon as they have quitted them, in pursuance of the regulations of the place.
4. It is the duty of the porter and other officers and servants to see that the inmates are carefully kept to the apartments provided for them respectively. The porter must go the rounds from time to time to ascertain this.
Art. 1.The bell is to announce the hour of rising from the 1st of March to the 30th of September at 4 o’clock in the morning, and from the 1st Oct. to the 28th Feb. at 6. The inspectors must take care that the inmates immediately rise.
3. After prayers at 6 o’clock in summer, and 7 in winter, the inmates, accompanied by the inspectors, are to proceed to their respective workshops. The dormitories are to be swept and cleaned by two inmates, selected by turns for this employment out of each dormitory, and then to be kept locked.
4. At 9 in the evening, in all seasons, the bell is to announce bedtime. The inmates are immediately to proceed to their respective dormitories; the roll is to be called by the inspector, and prayers (not lasting more than a quarter of an hour) are to be said, and listened to attentively; after prayers each shall go quietly to bed, and perfect silence be kept in every dormitory.
Art. 1.Breakfast shall take place during the summer six months precisely at 8 in the morning, and during the six winter months at 9, and last half an hour. Immediately after breakfast the inmates are to return to work until precisely half-past 12 o’clock, the dinner hour at all seasons.
5. From half-past 12 till 2 is allowed for dinner and for recreation, under the inspection, in each division, of a servant. At 2 o’clock precisely the bell is to summon the inmates to return towork, and the inspectors are to call the roll in each workshop.
6. At 8 in the evening, in all seasons, the bell is to be rung for supper; the inmates may remain in the refectory till nine.
7. The same regulations shall be observed in the dormitories and refectories of each sex, except that as respects the aged, sick, and infirm.
Art. 1.The inspectors are to see that every workman is busily employed, and loses no time.
2. The workshops are to be kept locked during the hours of work, and the inmates not allowed to leave them.
3. Each able-bodied inmate is to have a task set him, proportioned to his strength and skill. If he do not finish it, he is to be paid only for what he has done, put on dry bread, and kept to work during the hours of recreation.
4. Every workman, who for three consecutive days fails in completing his task, is to be kept during the hours of meals and of recreation, and during the night, confined in the punishment-room upon bread and water, until he has accomplished his task.
5. Every workman who wilfully or negligently spoils the materials, tools, or furniture in his care, shall pay for them out of the reserved third of his earnings, besides still further punishment as the case may deserve.
6. Every workman doing more than his task is to be paid two-thirds of the value of his extra labour.
7. With respect to every inmate who shall have been imprisoned, 5 centimes for each day of imprisonment shall be deducted from the reserved third of his earnings. The amount of these deductions, and of all fines and other casual sources of profit, is to form a reserved fund for the purpose of rewards for those inmates who may distinguish themselves among their companions by good conduct and industry.
Art. 1.Religious and moral instruction is to be given in the chapel twice a week—on Sundays and Thursdays, at 7 in the evening.
All the able-bodied inmates are to be present, in silence and attention, under the inspection of their respective superintendents. On Sundays, and the holidays established by the Concordat, all the inmates and the officers of the depôt shall hear mass at half-past 8 in the morning, and vespers at half-past 1 in the afternoon.
2. At periods determined by ecclesiastical authority, the children who are to be confirmed are to be instructed for two months.
7. When any of these regulations are broken, the inspectors and other officers are to report to the Governor, and he is to pronounce sentence on the inmates.
Mr. Perrier’s report from Brest, and Mr. Newman’s from Nantes, give a very interesting account of the state of Britany. We will begin by Mr. Perrier’s, as the more general view. (pp. 728, 729.)
Finisterre524,396Côtes-du-Nord598,872Morbihan433,522Ille-et-Vilaine547,052Loire Inférieure470,0932,573,935It is extremely difficult to obtain any statistical information in Britany, all inquiries being received with distrust, not only by the authorities, but also by the inhabitants. This has been the principal cause of my delay in replying to the series of questions. The answers, imperfect as they may appear, are the result of patient and persevering inquiry.The state of society in Britany, and its institutions, differ so widely from those of any other civilized country, that few of the questions are applicable. In order, therefore, to convey the information which they are intended to elicit, it is necessary to enter into a description of the population, which I shall endeavour to do as briefly as possible.The population of Britany may be classed under the following heads:Old noblesse, possessing a portion of the land.Proprietors, retired merchants, and others, who have vested their money in landed property.Peasants, owners of the ground they till.Farmers.Daily labourers and beggars.The abolition of the right of primogeniture causes a dailydiminution of the two first classes. As property, at the demise of the owner, must be divided equally amongst his children, who can seldom agree about the territorial division, it is put up for sale, purchased by speculators, and resold in small lots to suit the peasantry. Farmers having amassed sufficient to pay a part, generally one-half, of the purchase-money of a lot, buy it, giving a mortgage at five or six per cent. for the remainder. Thus petty proprietors increase, and large proprietors and farmers decrease.A man, industrious enough to work all the year, can easily get a farm.Farms are small. Their average size in Lower Britany does not exceed 14 acres. Some are so small as two acres, and there are many of from four to eight. The largest in the neighbourhood of Brest is 36 acres. The average rate of rent is 1l.5s.per acre for good land, and 8s.for poor land (partly under broom and furze).The farmers are very poor, and live miserably: yet, their wants being few and easily satisfied, they are comparatively happy. Their food consists of barley bread, butter, buck wheat (made into puddings, porridge, and cakes). Soup, composed of cabbage-water, a little grease or butter and salt poured on bread. Potatoes; meat twice a week (always salt pork).A family of 12, including servants and children, consumes annually about 700 lbs. of pork and 100 lbs. of cow beef; the latter only on festivals.The class of daily labourers can only be said to exist in towns. In the country they are almost unknown.The inmates of each farm, consisting of the farmer’s family, and one, two, or three males, and as many female servants (according to the size of the farm), paid annually, and who live with the family, suffice for the general work. At harvest some additional hands are employed. These are generally people who work two or three months in the year, and beg during the remainder. Daily labourers and beggars may, therefore, in the country, be classed under the same head.Farmers’ servants are orphans or children of unfortunate farmers.The conditions of the poorer farmers, daily labourers and beggars, are so near akin, that the passage from one state to another is very frequent.Mendicity is not considered disgraceful in Britany. Farmersallow their children to beg along the roads. On saints’ days, especially the festivals of celebrated saints, whose shrines attract numerous votaries (all of whom give something, be it ever so little, to the poor), the aged, infirm, and children of poor farmers and labourers, turn out. Some small hamlets are even totally abandoned by their inhabitants for two or three days. All attend the festival, to beg.The Bretons are hospitable. Charity and hospitality are considered religious duties. Food and shelter for a night are never refused.Several attempts to suppress mendicity have been unsuccessful. District asylums were established. No sooner were they filled than the vacancies in the beggar stands were immediately replenished by fresh subjects from the country; it being a general feeling that it is much easier and more comfortable to live by alms than by labour.In towns where the police is well regulated, the only mendicants permitted to sojourn are paupers belonging to the parish. They are known by a tin badge, for which they pay at the police office.No such thing is known as a legal claim for assistance from public or private charities.In towns, destitute workmen or other persons in distress must be authorized by the municipality previous to soliciting public or private assistance. To this effect, the pauper makes known his case to the commissary of police of the quarter he inhabits, who makes inquiry among the neighbours. Should the destitute case of the applicant be established, the mayor grants him a certificate of indigence, which authorizes him to apply for relief to the public institutions, and to solicit private charity. It also exempts him (or rather causes his exemption) from the payment of taxes.The principal cause of misery is inebriety; its frequency among the lower orders keeps them in poverty. The “cabaret” (wine and brandy shop) absorbs a great portion of their earnings. This vice is not confined to men; the women partake of it. It has decreased within the last five or six years, but is still considerable.
It is extremely difficult to obtain any statistical information in Britany, all inquiries being received with distrust, not only by the authorities, but also by the inhabitants. This has been the principal cause of my delay in replying to the series of questions. The answers, imperfect as they may appear, are the result of patient and persevering inquiry.
The state of society in Britany, and its institutions, differ so widely from those of any other civilized country, that few of the questions are applicable. In order, therefore, to convey the information which they are intended to elicit, it is necessary to enter into a description of the population, which I shall endeavour to do as briefly as possible.
The population of Britany may be classed under the following heads:
The abolition of the right of primogeniture causes a dailydiminution of the two first classes. As property, at the demise of the owner, must be divided equally amongst his children, who can seldom agree about the territorial division, it is put up for sale, purchased by speculators, and resold in small lots to suit the peasantry. Farmers having amassed sufficient to pay a part, generally one-half, of the purchase-money of a lot, buy it, giving a mortgage at five or six per cent. for the remainder. Thus petty proprietors increase, and large proprietors and farmers decrease.
A man, industrious enough to work all the year, can easily get a farm.
Farms are small. Their average size in Lower Britany does not exceed 14 acres. Some are so small as two acres, and there are many of from four to eight. The largest in the neighbourhood of Brest is 36 acres. The average rate of rent is 1l.5s.per acre for good land, and 8s.for poor land (partly under broom and furze).
The farmers are very poor, and live miserably: yet, their wants being few and easily satisfied, they are comparatively happy. Their food consists of barley bread, butter, buck wheat (made into puddings, porridge, and cakes). Soup, composed of cabbage-water, a little grease or butter and salt poured on bread. Potatoes; meat twice a week (always salt pork).
A family of 12, including servants and children, consumes annually about 700 lbs. of pork and 100 lbs. of cow beef; the latter only on festivals.
The class of daily labourers can only be said to exist in towns. In the country they are almost unknown.
The inmates of each farm, consisting of the farmer’s family, and one, two, or three males, and as many female servants (according to the size of the farm), paid annually, and who live with the family, suffice for the general work. At harvest some additional hands are employed. These are generally people who work two or three months in the year, and beg during the remainder. Daily labourers and beggars may, therefore, in the country, be classed under the same head.
Farmers’ servants are orphans or children of unfortunate farmers.
The conditions of the poorer farmers, daily labourers and beggars, are so near akin, that the passage from one state to another is very frequent.
Mendicity is not considered disgraceful in Britany. Farmersallow their children to beg along the roads. On saints’ days, especially the festivals of celebrated saints, whose shrines attract numerous votaries (all of whom give something, be it ever so little, to the poor), the aged, infirm, and children of poor farmers and labourers, turn out. Some small hamlets are even totally abandoned by their inhabitants for two or three days. All attend the festival, to beg.
The Bretons are hospitable. Charity and hospitality are considered religious duties. Food and shelter for a night are never refused.
Several attempts to suppress mendicity have been unsuccessful. District asylums were established. No sooner were they filled than the vacancies in the beggar stands were immediately replenished by fresh subjects from the country; it being a general feeling that it is much easier and more comfortable to live by alms than by labour.
In towns where the police is well regulated, the only mendicants permitted to sojourn are paupers belonging to the parish. They are known by a tin badge, for which they pay at the police office.
No such thing is known as a legal claim for assistance from public or private charities.
In towns, destitute workmen or other persons in distress must be authorized by the municipality previous to soliciting public or private assistance. To this effect, the pauper makes known his case to the commissary of police of the quarter he inhabits, who makes inquiry among the neighbours. Should the destitute case of the applicant be established, the mayor grants him a certificate of indigence, which authorizes him to apply for relief to the public institutions, and to solicit private charity. It also exempts him (or rather causes his exemption) from the payment of taxes.
The principal cause of misery is inebriety; its frequency among the lower orders keeps them in poverty. The “cabaret” (wine and brandy shop) absorbs a great portion of their earnings. This vice is not confined to men; the women partake of it. It has decreased within the last five or six years, but is still considerable.
We now proceed to give some extracts from themore detailed report of Mr. Newman, who writes, it must be recollected, from Nantes. (pp. 171, 172, 173, 174, 178, 175, 176, 177.)
Population of the Department, 470,093. Population of Nantes, 87,191.
Vagrants.In the department Loire Inférieure there is no asylum for mendicants; but Nantes has a species of workhouse, “St. Joseph’s House,” supported entirely by private subscriptions. To this house the tribunals often send vagabonds, in virtue of the 274th article of the Penal Code, although the directors of the establishment have contested, and still contest, the right assumed by the judges to do so; and they never receive any person so sent as a criminal to be detained a certain number of days at labour as if in a prison, but merely give him a refuge as an act of charity, and liberty to leave the place, if he likes to go before the time expires. The number of vagrants that formerly infested Nantes (strangers to the department as well as to the city) have decreased to about a tenth part since begging in the streets was prohibited, and the paupers sent to this establishment.The hospitals of Nantes receive all workmen, travellers, and needy strangers, that fall sick in the city (if foreigners, at the charge to their consuls of 1s.3d.sterling per day for men, and 10d.for women.) If a man, (and his family also,) being destitute, wishes to return to his native place, and has not rendered himself liable to be committed as a vagrant, the préfet has the power to give a passport to him for that place; on the production of which at the mairie of the commune from which he sets out he receives from the public funds of the department three halfpence per league for the distance from thence to the next place he is to be relieved at, and so on to the end of his journey, each place he has to stop at being set down on his passport; if he deviates from the route designated, he is arrested as a vagabond.There is in France throughout the whole country a general union for each of several trades, the carpenters, bakers, masons, tailors, &c. In each city or town of consequence, each society has a member who is called “the mother,” who receives the weekly contributions of those who reside in that place, affords relief to all of its members passing through it, and is obliged toprocure work for the applicant, or support him at a fixed rate, established by their bye-laws, until a situation be provided for him there or elsewhere. Those unions sometimes assume a very dangerous power, by compelling masters to hire all their members that are without work, before they engage one man who does not belong to them.Destitute Able-bodied.In times of political commotion, of unforeseen events, of rigorous seasons, when the usual courses of labour are stopped, the civil administrations create temporary workshops, furnish tools, &c., to the labourers, and enter into contracts for repairs to the streets, quays, bridges, roads, &c., from which a large city, as well as the country parishes, can always draw some advantages for the money so distributed, to employ those persons who would otherwise be supported without work by the same funds. The money required on those occasions is furnished by the treasury of the city or commune, assisted by private subscriptions from nearly all persons in easy circumstances. The want of regular or parish workhouses for labourers, unemployed, is in some measure supplied by private charities, for a great number of wealthy families, and others of the middling class, give employment to old men, women, and children, in spinning, and in weaving of coarse linen, at prices far beyond those that the articles can be purchased at in the shops; but this plan is adopted to prevent a disposition to idleness, although at a greater sacrifice, perhaps, than would be made by most of the promoters of it, in a public subscription.The bureau de bienfaisance distributes annually about 80,000 fr.; the chief part, or very nearly the whole, to poor families at their homes, in clothes, food, fuel, and sometimes money; but of the latter as little as possible. Les dames de charité (ladies of the first families, who are appointed annually to visit and give relief to the poor, each having a fixed district) distribute about three-fourths of that sum, which would be insufficient for the indigent if it were not assisted by distributions made by the priests of the different parishes and other persons employed to do so by private families, who give their alms in that manner, and not at their own residences. It is generally supposed that, in the whole, not less than 250,000 fr. are so distributed annually in the city of Nantes. In making this distribution care is always taken to prefer invalidsto those in health.Impotent through Age.In the city of Nantes there is a general hospital, called the “Sanitat,” for the reception of the old and impotent; at present it contains about 800; it answers to an English workhouse; the inmates are lodged, fed, clothed, and are taken care of in every way: they are employed about trifling work, but the average gain by it does not exceed 20 fr. per annum for each. The average cost appears to be about 11 to 12 sous per day for each person. The establishment of St. Joseph’s, already alluded to, is, in fact, a sort of assistant to the Sanitat (although supported by private charity) for the 100 to 120 old people it contains. The Sanitat has a ward for dangerous as well as ordinary lunatics; is under the same board and direction as the Hôtel Dieu (the general hospital for the sick); but each is supported by its own funds, arising from bequests and donations from private persons, and from the city funds; yet if either hospital should require any assistance, the money wanted would be voted by the city treasury.The general council for the department votes about 1200 to 1250 fr. annually to the Sanitat from the departmental funds.Sick.Nantes has a general hospital (Hôtel Dieu) for the sick, containing 600 beds, 300 of which are reserved for the indigent of the city. The expense of this establishment is about a franc to 25 sous per day to each person. The military are received at 20 sous per man per day, which is paid by the government. It is supported by its own funds, arising from bequests and donations, and grants made from time to time by the city; is under the same board and direction as the Sanitat. If a poor person becomes sick in the country, he is either relieved by the curé of the parish or by some of the more wealthy neighbours, or he comes into Nantes and resides there for a week or ten days before he makes an application to the mayor to be admitted into the hospital; he is then sent there as an inhabitant of the city. The authorities in the country have not the right to send a patient to the Hôtel Dieu, yet a great number arrive at the hospital, sent by country practitioners, who have not the skill, or perhaps the leisure or inclination, to attend to them; andthey are always received, if it be possible to take them in. The students at thehospital are ever ready to admit any difficult cases or fractures from the country, for their own improvement.There are also hospitals for the sick at the following places in the Loire Inférieure: Ancenis, for the town and commune; Chateaubriand, Paimbœuf, Savenay, and Clisson, for the towns only.Besides the succour afforded to the poor at their homes by the bureau de bienfaisance, there are three dispensaries supported by that establishment, for administering relief to the sick, who are attended at their homes, if necessary, by the nuns of St. Vincent de Paule, 12 or 14 of whom are kept in the pay of, and are wholly supported by the bureau. They carry to them soup and other victuals, remedies, &c., and lend them linen and clothes, if wanted. There are a number of young men, who are either studying, or have just completed their study of medicine, who are anxious to give their assistance gratis, and who are in constant attendance on those who are receiving relief from the dispensaries. It is impossible to state the extent to which such relief is given. The nuns are paid by the bureau de bienfaisance, which also pays for the medicines, &c. they distribute; but the sum that is thus expended bears but a small proportion to the amount that is distributed by the hands of those sisters, who, from the accurate knowledge they possess of the real situation and condition of each person they visit, are employed by numerous wealthy persons to distribute privately such charities as they feel disposed to give; and can thus be well applied in providing those little comforts for the invalids, which cannot be sent from the bureau to all those who require them, although the funds are increased from time to time by the proceeds of representations at the theatre, public concerts, &c. given for that purpose.Independent of the foregoing, there are several tradesmen’s societies on the plan of benefit societies in England, the members of which pay five or six sous per week, and receive, in case of sickness, all necessary assistance in medicines, &c., besides an indemnity of a franc to a franc and a half per day during the time they are unable to work.Orphans, Foundlings, or Deserted Children.The law requires an establishment (a tour) in each department, for the secret reception of children. Every arrival is particularly noted and described in a register kept for that purpose, that the infant may be recognised if it should be claimed. Thechildren, after having received all necessary assistance and baptism, are confided to women in the country (a regulation of this department only), to dry-nurse them (au biberon); they are paid eight francs per month for the first year, seven for the second and third, six until the ninth year, and four francs per month from that time until the child is 12 years old; when the nurse who has taken care of one from its birth to that age receives a present of 50 fr. for her attention. A basket of requisite linen is given with the child, and a new suit of clothes annually for seven years. These regulations are observed for orphans and foundlings. The registers for the last 20 years give an average of 360 to 370 admissions annually;more than one-half of them die under one year old; therefore, with the deaths at other ages, and the claims that are made for some of them before they attain 12 years, the establishment has seldom at its charge more than from 1200 to 1300, of all ages, from 0 to 12.The parents being unknown when they place their infants in the “tour,” cannot be traced afterwards, unless they acknowledge themselves; they are, however, as has been observed before, liable for the expenses of their offspring; and whenever they are discovered, whether by claiming their children or otherwise, the right to make them repay the costs they have occasioned is always maintained, and they are compelled to pay the whole, or as much as their finances will admit of.Deserted children of the city, or the children of poor persons, who cannot support them, are received and treated in a similar manner, without being placed in the “tour;” they are admitted according to the state of the finances appropriated to such branch of the establishment, which in general permits from 80 to 100 to be on it. Certificates are required that the parents are dead, the child abandoned, or that the mother is totally unable to support it, or that she has a number of young children. Independent of the 1400 children thus received by the Hôtel Dieu, the bureau de bienfaisance supports 200legitimatechildren, and the société maternelle from 60 to 80, until they attain the age of 18 years.The number of deaths in 1832 was 11,999; the number under one year old, 1970, or one in 6¹²⁄₁₉₇. Chateauneuf states,for all France, 33 deaths, under one year old, out of every hundred births, which is nearly double the number of deaths of that description for this department; but the mortality is much greater amongst the orphans, foundlings, and deserted children of thiscity received at the hospital. An account, made up to the year 1828, gave an average of 52 deaths, under one year old, of every hundred children received there; and since that date it has increased considerably.There are women in the city who make it their business to place infants in the “tour,” and who afterwards attend the delivery of them to the country nurses, and thus, knowing where certain children are placed, give notice to the parents, who can visit them without being discovered. Children thus recognised are frequently demanded by their parents for servants, in the ordinary way; and by this plan they screen themselves from the payment of the child’s support.Effects of these institutions.There can be no doubt that the prospect of an asylum for the indigent creates amongst the working class a disposition to idleness and debauchery, whilst at the same time there are those who look down with disgust on their miserable brothers who are compelled to accept a public charitable support; and the shame which they consider attaches to a man who does it stimulates them to avoid the doors of an hospital by industry and sobriety. The number of these, however, is very small, whilst the applications for admittance to the Sanitat and to St. Joseph’s are so very numerous, so far beyond the accommodation that can be granted, that after the name of an applicant is registered he has (frequently) to wait 18 to 24 months for his turn. For the sick, however, at the Hôtel Dieu it is not so; for arrangements are made that no delay takes place with any case requiring immediate relief or treatment.The shades between the healthy labourers of the lowest class that support themselves, and those who obtain relief from charitable institutions, are so slight, that it is almost impossible to state the difference in their conditions.No manhas alegal claimupon any of the charities; in the distribution of which, however, there is but one fixed rule that governs the distributors, and that is, to compel the applicants for relief to work to their utmost power, and to give such relief only in each individual case as they suppose to be necessary with the wages he can or ought to earn, according to the demand for labourers at the time.According to the price of lodgings, victuals and clothing inNantes, a steady labourer at the highest rate of wages, 1s.3d.per day, supposing he had 300 days’ employment in the year, is considered to be able to support a wife and three young children; if he has a larger family, is out of employ, or is at a lower rate of wages, without his wife and children being able to gain a little, he is regarded as indigent, and in need of succour. A labourer, his wife, and three children consume in the day from 8 to 10 lbs. of bread, which is their chief food, and will cost him 240 fr.; his cabbages and other vegetables, butter or fat for his soup, 90 fr.; his room, 50 fr.; leaving 70 fr. or 2l.18s.4d.for clothes, fuel, &c.; which make up the sum of his wages for 300 days at 1½ fr., or 1s.3d.per day. The wife in general adds a little to the husband’s earnings by spinning, and sometimes weaving; but it is not much when the family is young.To prevent the increase and lessen the present state of disorder into which the greater part of the labouring class and mechanics of Nantes has fallen, a number of master tradesmen and proprietors of factories will not employ those men who do not agree to allow a certain sum weekly to be retained from their wages for the use of the wife and family. The example spreads, and will no doubt become more general; but this circumstance shows forth, in strong colours, the immoral state of the working class in France.There are no cottages for labourers, as are seen in England: the chief part of the work on farms in this part of France is done by servants in the house of the farmer, or by married labourers, to whom an acre or two, sometimes as high as 10, according to the quality, is fenced off from the estate for the use of the man and his family; for which he has to give a certain number of days’ work. If such patch of land requires to be ploughed, the farmer does it for him, for an additional number of days’ work. Besides those, there are an immense number of little proprietors, having from an acre and a half to 10 or 15 acres; and they give their labour also to the farmers of larger estates, receiving in return either assistance with oxen, carts, ploughs, &c., or an equivalent in some produce which they do not raise on their own land. Very little money, if any, passes between them. These little properties have sprung up from labourers and others fencing in small patches of commons or waste lands. Nearly all the vineyards in the Loire Inférieure are cultivated by labourers, who have a small spot of ground partitioned off from the main estate: it is for married men only that ground is so divided; the single men livewith their families in the villages, or in public-houses, but generally in the latter. In regard to these questions, it must be observed that almost every farmer who hires an estate takes such a one as will just sustain his family, without the aid, or with the assistance only of a man or a man and woman servants, and that therefore very few daily labourers find employment. Few estates run to 200 acres, and if so large, a daily labourer is only hired during harvest, so wretchedly is the husbandry of the country managed.The cottages or houses in villages for labourers are in general the property of the owners of the large estates in the neighbourhood, as well as those that are built on the patches of land for the use of those who are married; some of the latter, however, are built at the joint expense of the farmer and labourer. A cottage or cottages in a detached place from a village, or a house in such a situation, with a little plot of ground for a garden for each apartment, lets for about 20 to 30 francs a year per room, whether the building consists of one or of four rooms. In the villages the rent is a little higher, from 30 to 50, and sometimes as high as 80, if the garden be large to a cottage with only one room. These buildings are so seldom on sale, that the price cannot be stated with accuracy.
In the department Loire Inférieure there is no asylum for mendicants; but Nantes has a species of workhouse, “St. Joseph’s House,” supported entirely by private subscriptions. To this house the tribunals often send vagabonds, in virtue of the 274th article of the Penal Code, although the directors of the establishment have contested, and still contest, the right assumed by the judges to do so; and they never receive any person so sent as a criminal to be detained a certain number of days at labour as if in a prison, but merely give him a refuge as an act of charity, and liberty to leave the place, if he likes to go before the time expires. The number of vagrants that formerly infested Nantes (strangers to the department as well as to the city) have decreased to about a tenth part since begging in the streets was prohibited, and the paupers sent to this establishment.
The hospitals of Nantes receive all workmen, travellers, and needy strangers, that fall sick in the city (if foreigners, at the charge to their consuls of 1s.3d.sterling per day for men, and 10d.for women.) If a man, (and his family also,) being destitute, wishes to return to his native place, and has not rendered himself liable to be committed as a vagrant, the préfet has the power to give a passport to him for that place; on the production of which at the mairie of the commune from which he sets out he receives from the public funds of the department three halfpence per league for the distance from thence to the next place he is to be relieved at, and so on to the end of his journey, each place he has to stop at being set down on his passport; if he deviates from the route designated, he is arrested as a vagabond.
There is in France throughout the whole country a general union for each of several trades, the carpenters, bakers, masons, tailors, &c. In each city or town of consequence, each society has a member who is called “the mother,” who receives the weekly contributions of those who reside in that place, affords relief to all of its members passing through it, and is obliged toprocure work for the applicant, or support him at a fixed rate, established by their bye-laws, until a situation be provided for him there or elsewhere. Those unions sometimes assume a very dangerous power, by compelling masters to hire all their members that are without work, before they engage one man who does not belong to them.
In times of political commotion, of unforeseen events, of rigorous seasons, when the usual courses of labour are stopped, the civil administrations create temporary workshops, furnish tools, &c., to the labourers, and enter into contracts for repairs to the streets, quays, bridges, roads, &c., from which a large city, as well as the country parishes, can always draw some advantages for the money so distributed, to employ those persons who would otherwise be supported without work by the same funds. The money required on those occasions is furnished by the treasury of the city or commune, assisted by private subscriptions from nearly all persons in easy circumstances. The want of regular or parish workhouses for labourers, unemployed, is in some measure supplied by private charities, for a great number of wealthy families, and others of the middling class, give employment to old men, women, and children, in spinning, and in weaving of coarse linen, at prices far beyond those that the articles can be purchased at in the shops; but this plan is adopted to prevent a disposition to idleness, although at a greater sacrifice, perhaps, than would be made by most of the promoters of it, in a public subscription.
The bureau de bienfaisance distributes annually about 80,000 fr.; the chief part, or very nearly the whole, to poor families at their homes, in clothes, food, fuel, and sometimes money; but of the latter as little as possible. Les dames de charité (ladies of the first families, who are appointed annually to visit and give relief to the poor, each having a fixed district) distribute about three-fourths of that sum, which would be insufficient for the indigent if it were not assisted by distributions made by the priests of the different parishes and other persons employed to do so by private families, who give their alms in that manner, and not at their own residences. It is generally supposed that, in the whole, not less than 250,000 fr. are so distributed annually in the city of Nantes. In making this distribution care is always taken to prefer invalidsto those in health.
In the city of Nantes there is a general hospital, called the “Sanitat,” for the reception of the old and impotent; at present it contains about 800; it answers to an English workhouse; the inmates are lodged, fed, clothed, and are taken care of in every way: they are employed about trifling work, but the average gain by it does not exceed 20 fr. per annum for each. The average cost appears to be about 11 to 12 sous per day for each person. The establishment of St. Joseph’s, already alluded to, is, in fact, a sort of assistant to the Sanitat (although supported by private charity) for the 100 to 120 old people it contains. The Sanitat has a ward for dangerous as well as ordinary lunatics; is under the same board and direction as the Hôtel Dieu (the general hospital for the sick); but each is supported by its own funds, arising from bequests and donations from private persons, and from the city funds; yet if either hospital should require any assistance, the money wanted would be voted by the city treasury.
The general council for the department votes about 1200 to 1250 fr. annually to the Sanitat from the departmental funds.
Nantes has a general hospital (Hôtel Dieu) for the sick, containing 600 beds, 300 of which are reserved for the indigent of the city. The expense of this establishment is about a franc to 25 sous per day to each person. The military are received at 20 sous per man per day, which is paid by the government. It is supported by its own funds, arising from bequests and donations, and grants made from time to time by the city; is under the same board and direction as the Sanitat. If a poor person becomes sick in the country, he is either relieved by the curé of the parish or by some of the more wealthy neighbours, or he comes into Nantes and resides there for a week or ten days before he makes an application to the mayor to be admitted into the hospital; he is then sent there as an inhabitant of the city. The authorities in the country have not the right to send a patient to the Hôtel Dieu, yet a great number arrive at the hospital, sent by country practitioners, who have not the skill, or perhaps the leisure or inclination, to attend to them; andthey are always received, if it be possible to take them in. The students at thehospital are ever ready to admit any difficult cases or fractures from the country, for their own improvement.
There are also hospitals for the sick at the following places in the Loire Inférieure: Ancenis, for the town and commune; Chateaubriand, Paimbœuf, Savenay, and Clisson, for the towns only.
Besides the succour afforded to the poor at their homes by the bureau de bienfaisance, there are three dispensaries supported by that establishment, for administering relief to the sick, who are attended at their homes, if necessary, by the nuns of St. Vincent de Paule, 12 or 14 of whom are kept in the pay of, and are wholly supported by the bureau. They carry to them soup and other victuals, remedies, &c., and lend them linen and clothes, if wanted. There are a number of young men, who are either studying, or have just completed their study of medicine, who are anxious to give their assistance gratis, and who are in constant attendance on those who are receiving relief from the dispensaries. It is impossible to state the extent to which such relief is given. The nuns are paid by the bureau de bienfaisance, which also pays for the medicines, &c. they distribute; but the sum that is thus expended bears but a small proportion to the amount that is distributed by the hands of those sisters, who, from the accurate knowledge they possess of the real situation and condition of each person they visit, are employed by numerous wealthy persons to distribute privately such charities as they feel disposed to give; and can thus be well applied in providing those little comforts for the invalids, which cannot be sent from the bureau to all those who require them, although the funds are increased from time to time by the proceeds of representations at the theatre, public concerts, &c. given for that purpose.
Independent of the foregoing, there are several tradesmen’s societies on the plan of benefit societies in England, the members of which pay five or six sous per week, and receive, in case of sickness, all necessary assistance in medicines, &c., besides an indemnity of a franc to a franc and a half per day during the time they are unable to work.
The law requires an establishment (a tour) in each department, for the secret reception of children. Every arrival is particularly noted and described in a register kept for that purpose, that the infant may be recognised if it should be claimed. Thechildren, after having received all necessary assistance and baptism, are confided to women in the country (a regulation of this department only), to dry-nurse them (au biberon); they are paid eight francs per month for the first year, seven for the second and third, six until the ninth year, and four francs per month from that time until the child is 12 years old; when the nurse who has taken care of one from its birth to that age receives a present of 50 fr. for her attention. A basket of requisite linen is given with the child, and a new suit of clothes annually for seven years. These regulations are observed for orphans and foundlings. The registers for the last 20 years give an average of 360 to 370 admissions annually;more than one-half of them die under one year old; therefore, with the deaths at other ages, and the claims that are made for some of them before they attain 12 years, the establishment has seldom at its charge more than from 1200 to 1300, of all ages, from 0 to 12.
The parents being unknown when they place their infants in the “tour,” cannot be traced afterwards, unless they acknowledge themselves; they are, however, as has been observed before, liable for the expenses of their offspring; and whenever they are discovered, whether by claiming their children or otherwise, the right to make them repay the costs they have occasioned is always maintained, and they are compelled to pay the whole, or as much as their finances will admit of.
Deserted children of the city, or the children of poor persons, who cannot support them, are received and treated in a similar manner, without being placed in the “tour;” they are admitted according to the state of the finances appropriated to such branch of the establishment, which in general permits from 80 to 100 to be on it. Certificates are required that the parents are dead, the child abandoned, or that the mother is totally unable to support it, or that she has a number of young children. Independent of the 1400 children thus received by the Hôtel Dieu, the bureau de bienfaisance supports 200legitimatechildren, and the société maternelle from 60 to 80, until they attain the age of 18 years.
The number of deaths in 1832 was 11,999; the number under one year old, 1970, or one in 6¹²⁄₁₉₇. Chateauneuf states,for all France, 33 deaths, under one year old, out of every hundred births, which is nearly double the number of deaths of that description for this department; but the mortality is much greater amongst the orphans, foundlings, and deserted children of thiscity received at the hospital. An account, made up to the year 1828, gave an average of 52 deaths, under one year old, of every hundred children received there; and since that date it has increased considerably.
There are women in the city who make it their business to place infants in the “tour,” and who afterwards attend the delivery of them to the country nurses, and thus, knowing where certain children are placed, give notice to the parents, who can visit them without being discovered. Children thus recognised are frequently demanded by their parents for servants, in the ordinary way; and by this plan they screen themselves from the payment of the child’s support.
Effects of these institutions.
There can be no doubt that the prospect of an asylum for the indigent creates amongst the working class a disposition to idleness and debauchery, whilst at the same time there are those who look down with disgust on their miserable brothers who are compelled to accept a public charitable support; and the shame which they consider attaches to a man who does it stimulates them to avoid the doors of an hospital by industry and sobriety. The number of these, however, is very small, whilst the applications for admittance to the Sanitat and to St. Joseph’s are so very numerous, so far beyond the accommodation that can be granted, that after the name of an applicant is registered he has (frequently) to wait 18 to 24 months for his turn. For the sick, however, at the Hôtel Dieu it is not so; for arrangements are made that no delay takes place with any case requiring immediate relief or treatment.
The shades between the healthy labourers of the lowest class that support themselves, and those who obtain relief from charitable institutions, are so slight, that it is almost impossible to state the difference in their conditions.No manhas alegal claimupon any of the charities; in the distribution of which, however, there is but one fixed rule that governs the distributors, and that is, to compel the applicants for relief to work to their utmost power, and to give such relief only in each individual case as they suppose to be necessary with the wages he can or ought to earn, according to the demand for labourers at the time.
According to the price of lodgings, victuals and clothing inNantes, a steady labourer at the highest rate of wages, 1s.3d.per day, supposing he had 300 days’ employment in the year, is considered to be able to support a wife and three young children; if he has a larger family, is out of employ, or is at a lower rate of wages, without his wife and children being able to gain a little, he is regarded as indigent, and in need of succour. A labourer, his wife, and three children consume in the day from 8 to 10 lbs. of bread, which is their chief food, and will cost him 240 fr.; his cabbages and other vegetables, butter or fat for his soup, 90 fr.; his room, 50 fr.; leaving 70 fr. or 2l.18s.4d.for clothes, fuel, &c.; which make up the sum of his wages for 300 days at 1½ fr., or 1s.3d.per day. The wife in general adds a little to the husband’s earnings by spinning, and sometimes weaving; but it is not much when the family is young.
To prevent the increase and lessen the present state of disorder into which the greater part of the labouring class and mechanics of Nantes has fallen, a number of master tradesmen and proprietors of factories will not employ those men who do not agree to allow a certain sum weekly to be retained from their wages for the use of the wife and family. The example spreads, and will no doubt become more general; but this circumstance shows forth, in strong colours, the immoral state of the working class in France.
There are no cottages for labourers, as are seen in England: the chief part of the work on farms in this part of France is done by servants in the house of the farmer, or by married labourers, to whom an acre or two, sometimes as high as 10, according to the quality, is fenced off from the estate for the use of the man and his family; for which he has to give a certain number of days’ work. If such patch of land requires to be ploughed, the farmer does it for him, for an additional number of days’ work. Besides those, there are an immense number of little proprietors, having from an acre and a half to 10 or 15 acres; and they give their labour also to the farmers of larger estates, receiving in return either assistance with oxen, carts, ploughs, &c., or an equivalent in some produce which they do not raise on their own land. Very little money, if any, passes between them. These little properties have sprung up from labourers and others fencing in small patches of commons or waste lands. Nearly all the vineyards in the Loire Inférieure are cultivated by labourers, who have a small spot of ground partitioned off from the main estate: it is for married men only that ground is so divided; the single men livewith their families in the villages, or in public-houses, but generally in the latter. In regard to these questions, it must be observed that almost every farmer who hires an estate takes such a one as will just sustain his family, without the aid, or with the assistance only of a man or a man and woman servants, and that therefore very few daily labourers find employment. Few estates run to 200 acres, and if so large, a daily labourer is only hired during harvest, so wretchedly is the husbandry of the country managed.
The cottages or houses in villages for labourers are in general the property of the owners of the large estates in the neighbourhood, as well as those that are built on the patches of land for the use of those who are married; some of the latter, however, are built at the joint expense of the farmer and labourer. A cottage or cottages in a detached place from a village, or a house in such a situation, with a little plot of ground for a garden for each apartment, lets for about 20 to 30 francs a year per room, whether the building consists of one or of four rooms. In the villages the rent is a little higher, from 30 to 50, and sometimes as high as 80, if the garden be large to a cottage with only one room. These buildings are so seldom on sale, that the price cannot be stated with accuracy.
We now proceed to the
Population of the Department, 554,225. Population of Bourdeaux, 109,467.
There are no houses of industry in this department for the destitute able-bodied, except that known as theDepôt de Mendicité.This institution was first established in the year 1827, with a view to suppress the great number of professed beggars who infested the streets and public walks, taking advantage of any defect of conformation, &c. to attract the notice of passengers. By law all persons found begging in the streets are liable to be taken up, and imprisoned; but instead of imprisonment, those arrested are conveyed to theDepôt de Mendicité, where, if able, they are made to work. The good effects of this institution are visible; for instead of the number of professed beggars amounting to 800, which it did before the institution of the establishment, it does not now amount to above 150 or 200.This institution is supported by private contribution. The King and the town contribute a certain portion to make up what may be wanting. The average number of the population of the depôt amounts to 350 souls.Generally speaking, owing to the want of population, employment is to be found in commerce, trade or agriculture. The high price of wages in the towns and in the country proves that work is always to be found.When any unforeseen circumstances have arisen to interrupt the common order of things, the local authorities have come to the assistance of the population, by giving work to those out of employment. Public subscriptions are also resorted to on these occasions.All indigent families, and in which there are those capable of working, but who are not able to obtain it, or whose numbers are so great that all cannot be subsisted, are relieved by theBureaux de Charité.The same relief is given to those who, having a habitation, are unable of themselves, through age or infirmity, to support themselves.The mode of obtaining this relief is by petition, signed by some credible person, and attested by the priest or protestant clergyman. It is proportioned to the number of the family, and to the number of those able to work, and whose wages go to the maintenance of the family. The relief consists in bread, soup, wood for fuel, and sometimes, though rarely, blankets and woollen clothing; medicines for the sick, and broth.Generally speaking, these distributions of food would be insufficient; but most indigent families are assisted by private persons, so that, on the whole, they have wherewithal to sustain life.The annualdistribution à domicile(domiciliary relief) amounts to the sum of 100,000 francs (4,000l.).3,520 families are relieved. The number of impotent in these families, father and mother included, though able to work, amounts to 9,634, or less than a franc per head per month.It is in proportion to these numbers that the relief is given, but it is greater in winter than the other parts of the year.As to the medicines and broth, whenever there are sick in these families a sufficiency is given. Physicians are attached to each auxiliary bureau of every district, who visit the sick, prescribe the remedies, &c., all of which are distributed by theSœurs de Charité(Sisters of Charity, an order of nuns who devote themselves tothe care of the poor and sick, and who undertake, gratuitously, the elementary education of their children). It is a most respectable and praiseworthy institution.The same Sisters receive in their houses the little girls of these families who are old enough to read. Books are supplied by the instructors.In extraordinary cases, recourse is had to subscriptions and collections, which increase the means of theBureaux de Charité; so that during long and hard winters, more clothing, &c. is distributed. It seldom happens that money is given.There are, however, no positive regulations on these points. The whole is in the hands of the directors of this establishment. A responsible receiver is attached to it, whose accounts are submitted to the examination of theCours des Comptes(audit office). Thus, though the distributions are left to the judgment of the directors, they are subjected to control.The above details relate to the city of Bourdeaux. There are, however, proportionate institutions in most of the larger towns of the department, but in the poorer parishes and rural districts theBureaux de Charitéare merely nominal. These parishes being without a revenue, are unable to assist their poor, who subsist on the alms they may receive at the different dwelling-houses, and who when ill, if possible, come to the nearest hospital, generally to that of Bourdeaux.In this department there are no schools in which indigent children are received to be fed and clothed gratuitously, but there are those in which they receive a certain degree of instruction.For Boys.—The institution ofFreres des Ecoles Chrétiennes(Brothers of the Christian Schools), and two Lancasterian schools, which have been lately instituted.For Girls.—A Lancasterian school, a few boarding schools, in which a certain number of indigent girls are taught gratuitously; and also the Sisters of Charity attached to the administration of theBureaux de Charité.TheEcoles Chrétiennesare at the charge of the town. The sum appropriated to those establishments amounts annually to about 14,000 francs (560l.). Admissions are granted by the town. The number of children instructed in reading, writing, and a little arithmetic, amounts to about 1,800 for the town. At the Lancasterian school, the instruction is on a more extended scale. Grammar, drawing and surveying are taught, in additionto what is taught at theEcoles Chrétiennes.There are at present in these latter schools 300 boys and 150 girls in all.The department pays the expenses of these schools.The girls received in the private boarding schools, where they learn to read, to write, and to sew, amount to the number of about 600. This is entirely a private act of charity.The number of girls received by the Sisters of Charity amounts to about 900.There has also been established within the last year a model infant school, founded by private subscriptions, for the children of labourers and journeymen artisans. At present, however, it is so little known, that it is of very little importance.Impotent through Age.Bourdeaux is the only town of the department which possesses any establishments of this kind, viz., the Hospital of Incurables (Hospice des Incurables), and that of the old people (Hospice des Vieillards).These two establishments support 300 old people. This number falls very short of that which the population requires. The requisite qualifications for admission are, to have passed the age of 60, and to prove that the candidate has no means of subsistence.It may be added, that at Bourdeaux the number of old people who are candidates for admittance to these hospitals amounts to 300, and that on an average a vacancy occurs for each at the end of four years at theHospital des Incurables, and two years atHospice des Vieillards, and that all these claimants find either in their families, theSecours à Domicile, or private charity, means of subsistence.Sick.The department possesses, for the reception of the sick, a small hospital at Bazas; one at St. Macaire, and one at La Réole; a more extensive one at Blaye and Libourne, and the great hospital at Bourdeaux.The great hospital of Bourdeaux contains always from 600 to 650 sick. The daily admittances average 30; the discharges, 28, and the deaths two.No distinction is made as to country, &c. either in admittance,treatment, or discharge.The inmates of this hospital are generally composed of inhabitants of the town, who are too poor to be treated at home, or who prefer the care that is taken of them there to that which they would experience at home; of workmen, &c. from the neighbouring departments employed in the town, and who have nowhere else to go; of peasants, even in easy circumstances, who, from illness or accidents, have not the same resources at home.Bourdeaux possesses aHospice de la Maternité, or Lying-in Hospital, and a society, founded by private benefactions, for the same purpose.The Lying-in Hospital is an asylum in which any woman who presents herself in the ninth month of her pregnancy, whatever may be her state, her country or condition, is admitted without difficulty, without question or inquiry, under the name she pleases, and in such a manner, that the fear of being known or discovered may not prevent those who wish to remain unknown from benefiting by the institution.Women admitted at the ninth month remain in the establishment till they have completely recovered their lying-in. (p. 231.)The number of those women, either lying-in or subsisted in the hospital, varies from 35 to 60, and their stay is about 30 days. The births amount annually from 400 to 450; upon this number, 30 or 40 at most are kept and suckled by their mothers; the rest are abandoned and sent to the Foundling Hospital.Among these inmates, about one-fifth is composed of married women, who have no means of being confined at home; two-fifths of young girls of the town, chiefly servants; the rest of peasants, who leave their homes in order not to be discovered.Illegitimate children deserted by their parents, and which are deposited at the Foundling Hospital, are clothed and nourished by women in the institution, till a nurse out of it can be procured.These children, after being suckled, remain with their nurses till the age of 12 years. At this age, if the individuals who have brought them up do not wish to keep them gratuitously till their majority and give them a trade, they return to the hospital, and they then cease to be at the charge of the special funds. The establishment itself provides for their expenses; and until they can be placed as apprentices, they receive, in the Bourdeaux hospital, the rudiments of reading and writing, and they are taught some trade.Once placed as apprentices, they remain with the master till theage of 21, when they are to shift for themselves.Those that cannot be placed, or are infirm, remain in the hospital, and form a sort of permanent population there.Children whose parents are known, and who are living, but have either disappeared or are confined, are received in the same way as foundlings, the mode of admission differing only. This must be granted by the prefect after an inquest. For the remainder, they enjoy the same advantages as the foundlings.As to orphans, they are also admitted into the Foundling Hospital, upon the order of the administrative commission, after information as to the state of the family. At Bourdeaux the orphans of the town alone are received. Those of the rest of the department remain at the charge of their parishes, and generally live by alms. The orphans received into the hospital enjoy the same privileges as the foundlings and deserted children.The annual exposal of children amounts at Bourdeaux to 900, comprising all those abandoned at the Lying-in Hospital, those of the town, and those sent from the various parts of the department, as well as from the neighbouring departments.From 10 to 15 deserted children, and the same number of orphans, are annually admitted.The population of the hospital amounts generally to 40 new-born infants, waiting to be sent to nurse; 150 children beginning their apprenticeships, and waiting to be placed; about 150 infirm of all ages forming the permanent part of the population.The number of children from the age of one month to that of 12 years, amounts to 3,600; and that of children above 12 and below 21 apprenticed out, amounts to above 1,500.The expenditure of the hospital, comprising the clothing for the children brought up out of the establishment, amounts to 110,000 francs per annum (4,400l.) That for the nurses or board in the country, to 240.000 francs (9,600l.), of which104,000 fr. (4,160l.) is given by the government upon the common departmental fund.27,000 fr. (1,080l.) taken from the revenue of the town of Bourdeaux.60,000 fr. (2,400l.) voted by the general council on theCentimes Facultatifs.49,000 fr. (1,960l.) on the revenue of the other parishes of the department.
There are no houses of industry in this department for the destitute able-bodied, except that known as theDepôt de Mendicité.
This institution was first established in the year 1827, with a view to suppress the great number of professed beggars who infested the streets and public walks, taking advantage of any defect of conformation, &c. to attract the notice of passengers. By law all persons found begging in the streets are liable to be taken up, and imprisoned; but instead of imprisonment, those arrested are conveyed to theDepôt de Mendicité, where, if able, they are made to work. The good effects of this institution are visible; for instead of the number of professed beggars amounting to 800, which it did before the institution of the establishment, it does not now amount to above 150 or 200.
This institution is supported by private contribution. The King and the town contribute a certain portion to make up what may be wanting. The average number of the population of the depôt amounts to 350 souls.
Generally speaking, owing to the want of population, employment is to be found in commerce, trade or agriculture. The high price of wages in the towns and in the country proves that work is always to be found.
When any unforeseen circumstances have arisen to interrupt the common order of things, the local authorities have come to the assistance of the population, by giving work to those out of employment. Public subscriptions are also resorted to on these occasions.
All indigent families, and in which there are those capable of working, but who are not able to obtain it, or whose numbers are so great that all cannot be subsisted, are relieved by theBureaux de Charité.
The same relief is given to those who, having a habitation, are unable of themselves, through age or infirmity, to support themselves.
The mode of obtaining this relief is by petition, signed by some credible person, and attested by the priest or protestant clergyman. It is proportioned to the number of the family, and to the number of those able to work, and whose wages go to the maintenance of the family. The relief consists in bread, soup, wood for fuel, and sometimes, though rarely, blankets and woollen clothing; medicines for the sick, and broth.
Generally speaking, these distributions of food would be insufficient; but most indigent families are assisted by private persons, so that, on the whole, they have wherewithal to sustain life.
The annualdistribution à domicile(domiciliary relief) amounts to the sum of 100,000 francs (4,000l.).
3,520 families are relieved. The number of impotent in these families, father and mother included, though able to work, amounts to 9,634, or less than a franc per head per month.
It is in proportion to these numbers that the relief is given, but it is greater in winter than the other parts of the year.
As to the medicines and broth, whenever there are sick in these families a sufficiency is given. Physicians are attached to each auxiliary bureau of every district, who visit the sick, prescribe the remedies, &c., all of which are distributed by theSœurs de Charité(Sisters of Charity, an order of nuns who devote themselves tothe care of the poor and sick, and who undertake, gratuitously, the elementary education of their children). It is a most respectable and praiseworthy institution.
The same Sisters receive in their houses the little girls of these families who are old enough to read. Books are supplied by the instructors.
In extraordinary cases, recourse is had to subscriptions and collections, which increase the means of theBureaux de Charité; so that during long and hard winters, more clothing, &c. is distributed. It seldom happens that money is given.
There are, however, no positive regulations on these points. The whole is in the hands of the directors of this establishment. A responsible receiver is attached to it, whose accounts are submitted to the examination of theCours des Comptes(audit office). Thus, though the distributions are left to the judgment of the directors, they are subjected to control.
The above details relate to the city of Bourdeaux. There are, however, proportionate institutions in most of the larger towns of the department, but in the poorer parishes and rural districts theBureaux de Charitéare merely nominal. These parishes being without a revenue, are unable to assist their poor, who subsist on the alms they may receive at the different dwelling-houses, and who when ill, if possible, come to the nearest hospital, generally to that of Bourdeaux.
In this department there are no schools in which indigent children are received to be fed and clothed gratuitously, but there are those in which they receive a certain degree of instruction.
For Boys.—The institution ofFreres des Ecoles Chrétiennes(Brothers of the Christian Schools), and two Lancasterian schools, which have been lately instituted.
For Girls.—A Lancasterian school, a few boarding schools, in which a certain number of indigent girls are taught gratuitously; and also the Sisters of Charity attached to the administration of theBureaux de Charité.
TheEcoles Chrétiennesare at the charge of the town. The sum appropriated to those establishments amounts annually to about 14,000 francs (560l.). Admissions are granted by the town. The number of children instructed in reading, writing, and a little arithmetic, amounts to about 1,800 for the town. At the Lancasterian school, the instruction is on a more extended scale. Grammar, drawing and surveying are taught, in additionto what is taught at theEcoles Chrétiennes.
There are at present in these latter schools 300 boys and 150 girls in all.
The department pays the expenses of these schools.
The girls received in the private boarding schools, where they learn to read, to write, and to sew, amount to the number of about 600. This is entirely a private act of charity.
The number of girls received by the Sisters of Charity amounts to about 900.
There has also been established within the last year a model infant school, founded by private subscriptions, for the children of labourers and journeymen artisans. At present, however, it is so little known, that it is of very little importance.
Bourdeaux is the only town of the department which possesses any establishments of this kind, viz., the Hospital of Incurables (Hospice des Incurables), and that of the old people (Hospice des Vieillards).
These two establishments support 300 old people. This number falls very short of that which the population requires. The requisite qualifications for admission are, to have passed the age of 60, and to prove that the candidate has no means of subsistence.
It may be added, that at Bourdeaux the number of old people who are candidates for admittance to these hospitals amounts to 300, and that on an average a vacancy occurs for each at the end of four years at theHospital des Incurables, and two years atHospice des Vieillards, and that all these claimants find either in their families, theSecours à Domicile, or private charity, means of subsistence.
The department possesses, for the reception of the sick, a small hospital at Bazas; one at St. Macaire, and one at La Réole; a more extensive one at Blaye and Libourne, and the great hospital at Bourdeaux.
The great hospital of Bourdeaux contains always from 600 to 650 sick. The daily admittances average 30; the discharges, 28, and the deaths two.
No distinction is made as to country, &c. either in admittance,treatment, or discharge.
The inmates of this hospital are generally composed of inhabitants of the town, who are too poor to be treated at home, or who prefer the care that is taken of them there to that which they would experience at home; of workmen, &c. from the neighbouring departments employed in the town, and who have nowhere else to go; of peasants, even in easy circumstances, who, from illness or accidents, have not the same resources at home.
Bourdeaux possesses aHospice de la Maternité, or Lying-in Hospital, and a society, founded by private benefactions, for the same purpose.
The Lying-in Hospital is an asylum in which any woman who presents herself in the ninth month of her pregnancy, whatever may be her state, her country or condition, is admitted without difficulty, without question or inquiry, under the name she pleases, and in such a manner, that the fear of being known or discovered may not prevent those who wish to remain unknown from benefiting by the institution.
Women admitted at the ninth month remain in the establishment till they have completely recovered their lying-in. (p. 231.)
The number of those women, either lying-in or subsisted in the hospital, varies from 35 to 60, and their stay is about 30 days. The births amount annually from 400 to 450; upon this number, 30 or 40 at most are kept and suckled by their mothers; the rest are abandoned and sent to the Foundling Hospital.
Among these inmates, about one-fifth is composed of married women, who have no means of being confined at home; two-fifths of young girls of the town, chiefly servants; the rest of peasants, who leave their homes in order not to be discovered.
Illegitimate children deserted by their parents, and which are deposited at the Foundling Hospital, are clothed and nourished by women in the institution, till a nurse out of it can be procured.
These children, after being suckled, remain with their nurses till the age of 12 years. At this age, if the individuals who have brought them up do not wish to keep them gratuitously till their majority and give them a trade, they return to the hospital, and they then cease to be at the charge of the special funds. The establishment itself provides for their expenses; and until they can be placed as apprentices, they receive, in the Bourdeaux hospital, the rudiments of reading and writing, and they are taught some trade.
Once placed as apprentices, they remain with the master till theage of 21, when they are to shift for themselves.
Those that cannot be placed, or are infirm, remain in the hospital, and form a sort of permanent population there.
Children whose parents are known, and who are living, but have either disappeared or are confined, are received in the same way as foundlings, the mode of admission differing only. This must be granted by the prefect after an inquest. For the remainder, they enjoy the same advantages as the foundlings.
As to orphans, they are also admitted into the Foundling Hospital, upon the order of the administrative commission, after information as to the state of the family. At Bourdeaux the orphans of the town alone are received. Those of the rest of the department remain at the charge of their parishes, and generally live by alms. The orphans received into the hospital enjoy the same privileges as the foundlings and deserted children.
The annual exposal of children amounts at Bourdeaux to 900, comprising all those abandoned at the Lying-in Hospital, those of the town, and those sent from the various parts of the department, as well as from the neighbouring departments.
From 10 to 15 deserted children, and the same number of orphans, are annually admitted.
The population of the hospital amounts generally to 40 new-born infants, waiting to be sent to nurse; 150 children beginning their apprenticeships, and waiting to be placed; about 150 infirm of all ages forming the permanent part of the population.
The number of children from the age of one month to that of 12 years, amounts to 3,600; and that of children above 12 and below 21 apprenticed out, amounts to above 1,500.
The expenditure of the hospital, comprising the clothing for the children brought up out of the establishment, amounts to 110,000 francs per annum (4,400l.) That for the nurses or board in the country, to 240.000 francs (9,600l.), of which
104,000 fr. (4,160l.) is given by the government upon the common departmental fund.
27,000 fr. (1,080l.) taken from the revenue of the town of Bourdeaux.
60,000 fr. (2,400l.) voted by the general council on theCentimes Facultatifs.
49,000 fr. (1,960l.) on the revenue of the other parishes of the department.
Owing to the extreme carelessness and entire absence of frugalityon the part of the peasantry and other classes of labourers, it is impossible to give an accurate account of their expenditure. They live entirely from hand to mouth; and nine-tenths are in debt for the common necessaries of life. The men are addicted to gambling, and the women spend the greater part of what they earn in useless articles of dress. As to the expenditure for schooling and religious teaching, no provision is thought of.
Population of the Department, 428,401. Population of Bayonne, 14,773.
On recurring to the statistical statements respecting this department, it will be seen that it supports its population with a smaller number of deaths, births, and marriages, than any other extensive district in Europe. Compared with the countries which have been lately considered, its provisions for public charity are trifling, as will appear by the following extracts from Mr. Harvey’s report. (pp. 260, 261, 262.)
Vagrants.Mendicity, under the head of vagrancy, is not prevalent in the department of the Lower Pyrenees; the relief afforded to French subjects passing through the department, seeking work (which seldom occurs), or returning to their native places, is at the rate of three sols per league, or ½d.per mile; but this relief is more frequently granted to foreigners in distress, and is paid by the several mayors at certain stations or towns on their route. There is no public relief granted to vagrants living by begging.Destitute Able-bodied.There are no public or private establishments or relief afforded to the destitute able-bodied or their families; but this description of pauper is seldom or ever to be met with in this department.Impotent through Age.There are no public or religious institutions or regulations for the relief of the poor in general; they subsist by begging; and when no longer able to do so, they receive a trifling relief from “The Ladies of Charity” (Dames de la Charité), who make quarterly collections from the respectable inhabitants, which theseladies distribute in food, fuel, or money, to thepauvres honteux, or infirm, as the case may be; but this private voluntary subscription is very inadequate.The inhabitants of Bayonne (and it is hoped and expected that the example will be followed in other places) are now occupied in forming, by voluntary annual subscriptions, an establishment for the relief of the poor; a commission of gentlemen has been appointed, and there is every prospect that this charitable undertaking will be crowned with success.Sick.In the towns there are public hospitals for the sick and wounded; but when convalescent, they are obliged immediately to quit the hospital, destitute or not.Children.Illegitimate.Illegitimate children (infants only) are received into the hospitals established by the famous St. Vincent de Paul, but where the parents have no communication with or control over them; these children are placed out to nurse in the country at about 5s.a month, and are afterward provided for by the hospital, if in the course of seven years they are not claimed by the parents.When not deposited in the hospitals, the mothers have invariably been found to bestow upon their infants the most scrupulous care and attention, the natural consequence of having had the firmness and humanity not to abandon their offspring, notwithstanding the facility of concealment held out to them by the hospital.Orphans or Deserted Children.There are no public or private institutions or regulations for orphans.Deserted Children.—There are no public or private regulations or institutions under this head; but I have not heard of a case in question in this department.Cripples, Deaf and Dumb, and Blind.Cripples.—Obliged to beg if destitute, there being no public or private institutions or regulations for cripples.The deaf and dumb, if poor and destitute, are obliged to beg; there are excellent establishments in the large towns for their instruction, for those who have the means.Blind.—Obliged to beg, there are no public or private institutions for them.Idiots and Lunatics.There are no public or private institutions for idiots.There is an institution (Maison de Force) for the admission of lunatics at the Chef Lieu of the department only (at Pau).The questions relative to hired country labourers are not altogether applicable to this department, which is invariably divided into small farms, not exceeding from 20 to 30 English acres each, the families on each farm sufficing for the cultivation thereof, the proprietors or the farmers being themselves the labourers of the soil, the neighbours assisting each other in time of harvest; consequently it seldom occurs that a hired labourer is called in; but when employed they are paid at the rate of about 1s.per diem, without food. The women, and the children from the age of 10 years, constantly work on the land. The children generally receive a primary education at the village day schools, where there is always a schoolmaster or mistress appointed by the authorities; price of education, 2 francs (about 1s.7d.) per month. At these schools the children are prepared for their first communion; they learn reading, writing, and calculation. The food of the proprietor or farmer labourer chiefly consists in vegetable soups, potatoes, salt fish, pork, bacon, &c., and seldom or ever butcher’s meat, and invariably Indian corn bread, homebaked. These persons (who are generally the owners of the soil) procure for themselves a comfortable subsistence, but they are seldom able to lay by anything. The equal division of the land prevents in a great measure mendicity. The families on each farm in the whole department consist on an average of about five persons.It is calculated that persons attain a more advanced age in this department than in any other in France.
Mendicity, under the head of vagrancy, is not prevalent in the department of the Lower Pyrenees; the relief afforded to French subjects passing through the department, seeking work (which seldom occurs), or returning to their native places, is at the rate of three sols per league, or ½d.per mile; but this relief is more frequently granted to foreigners in distress, and is paid by the several mayors at certain stations or towns on their route. There is no public relief granted to vagrants living by begging.
There are no public or private establishments or relief afforded to the destitute able-bodied or their families; but this description of pauper is seldom or ever to be met with in this department.
There are no public or religious institutions or regulations for the relief of the poor in general; they subsist by begging; and when no longer able to do so, they receive a trifling relief from “The Ladies of Charity” (Dames de la Charité), who make quarterly collections from the respectable inhabitants, which theseladies distribute in food, fuel, or money, to thepauvres honteux, or infirm, as the case may be; but this private voluntary subscription is very inadequate.
The inhabitants of Bayonne (and it is hoped and expected that the example will be followed in other places) are now occupied in forming, by voluntary annual subscriptions, an establishment for the relief of the poor; a commission of gentlemen has been appointed, and there is every prospect that this charitable undertaking will be crowned with success.
In the towns there are public hospitals for the sick and wounded; but when convalescent, they are obliged immediately to quit the hospital, destitute or not.
Illegitimate.
Illegitimate children (infants only) are received into the hospitals established by the famous St. Vincent de Paul, but where the parents have no communication with or control over them; these children are placed out to nurse in the country at about 5s.a month, and are afterward provided for by the hospital, if in the course of seven years they are not claimed by the parents.
When not deposited in the hospitals, the mothers have invariably been found to bestow upon their infants the most scrupulous care and attention, the natural consequence of having had the firmness and humanity not to abandon their offspring, notwithstanding the facility of concealment held out to them by the hospital.
Orphans or Deserted Children.
There are no public or private institutions or regulations for orphans.
Deserted Children.—There are no public or private regulations or institutions under this head; but I have not heard of a case in question in this department.
Cripples.—Obliged to beg if destitute, there being no public or private institutions or regulations for cripples.
The deaf and dumb, if poor and destitute, are obliged to beg; there are excellent establishments in the large towns for their instruction, for those who have the means.
Blind.—Obliged to beg, there are no public or private institutions for them.
There are no public or private institutions for idiots.
There is an institution (Maison de Force) for the admission of lunatics at the Chef Lieu of the department only (at Pau).
The questions relative to hired country labourers are not altogether applicable to this department, which is invariably divided into small farms, not exceeding from 20 to 30 English acres each, the families on each farm sufficing for the cultivation thereof, the proprietors or the farmers being themselves the labourers of the soil, the neighbours assisting each other in time of harvest; consequently it seldom occurs that a hired labourer is called in; but when employed they are paid at the rate of about 1s.per diem, without food. The women, and the children from the age of 10 years, constantly work on the land. The children generally receive a primary education at the village day schools, where there is always a schoolmaster or mistress appointed by the authorities; price of education, 2 francs (about 1s.7d.) per month. At these schools the children are prepared for their first communion; they learn reading, writing, and calculation. The food of the proprietor or farmer labourer chiefly consists in vegetable soups, potatoes, salt fish, pork, bacon, &c., and seldom or ever butcher’s meat, and invariably Indian corn bread, homebaked. These persons (who are generally the owners of the soil) procure for themselves a comfortable subsistence, but they are seldom able to lay by anything. The equal division of the land prevents in a great measure mendicity. The families on each farm in the whole department consist on an average of about five persons.
It is calculated that persons attain a more advanced age in this department than in any other in France.