LAW OF SETTLEMENT. (Hansard, 31 July 1845)

§ Mr. W. H. Bodkin

, in moving for leave to bring in a Bill to amend the laws relating to the settlement of the poor in England and Wales, begged permission to state shortly the objects which he had in view, more in the hope that the House would permit him to bring in his Bill, and thus enable him to have it printed and circulated throughout the country during the recess, than with any hope of being able to proceed further than the present stage at present. He did not propose, as was contemplated by the right hon. Baronet the Home Secretary, to make any alteration in the present Law of Settlement. His object was to mitigate, if not to remove entirely, two very serious and very pressing evils which were found to exist under the present administration of the Poor Laws, in so far as the removal of paupers was concerned, and likewise in regard to the adjudication of disputed settlements. Under the present law a great deal of unnecessary hardship was inflicted by the immediate removal of persons from a parish to which they became chargeable by 1302 reason of sickness, accident, or other sudden and inevitable dispensations of Providence. It was very hard upon such persons to be compelled to see their little households broken up, and themselves and their families transported to a distant part of the country, in consequence of their becoming temporarily chargeable to the parish; and, moreover, he must point out that the evil was not all on one side, for a great and often an unnecessary expense was incurred by the parish in enforcing such removals. The Bill which he supposed to lay on the Table provided against both these evils, by enacting that no person circumstanced as he had described should be liable to be removed to his or her place of settlement until relief should have been continuously given to them for a certain specified number of days after the sickness or accident by which they had been rendered chargeable, should have ceased or have been remedied. The Bill of the right hon. Baronet did contain a proposition by which it was to be enacted that no widow who became chargeable by her husband's death should, be removed to her place of settlement until twelve months had elapsed since the death of her husband; he proposed to introduce that provision into his Bill, and to make such removal likewise contingent upon the consent of the widow being obtained. The next provision which he proposed to introduce into the Bill would remedy a most enormous and growing evil, which prevailed to a very serious extent under the present Poor Law. When the magistrates at quarter sessions had decided upon the evidence of parties before them, as to the place of settlement of persons chargeable to the parishes within their jurisdiction, those decisions came under the cognizance of the Court of Queen's Bench by appeal from the quarter sessions, and it was found that in consequence of technical objections, and without any reference to the merits of the case, or the real and substantial justice of the magistrates' award, these quarter sessions' decisions, in four cases out of five, were upset and reversed by the Court of Queen's Bench, thus entailing a useless, as well as a very heavy expense upon the ratepayers. What he proposed to do in order to put an end to a practice so ruinous was, to constitute a referee under this Bill, who should be a barrister of a certain standing, and who 1303 should be empowered to take evidence, to examine witnesses, and to decide upon the legality of the quarter sessions' decisions in cases of disputed settlement, due regard being had to the justice of each case, and technical points being overruled and set aside. He did not propose to alter in any degree the present Law of Settlement, or to make any change in the mode of proving the settlement; all he sought to effect was, to put a stop to the present system of allowing technical objections, instead of the real merits of each case, to govern the decision of the Judge to whom the appeal against the decision at quarter sessions was referred; and, having thus explained the objects which he had in view, he begged to move for leave to bring in a Bill to amend the laws relating to orders for removal of the poor to their places of settlement, and the trial of appeals against such orders.

§ Sir J. Graham

was sure that the House and the country would be greatly indebted to his hon. and learned Friend, who was a gentleman of great experience and legal knowledge, for devoting his time and abilities to a matter of such great importance, not only to the poor, who suffered extremely from removal, but also to the country generally, to whom these removals caused great expense. He should readily give his most anxious attention to the measure. The fact that it had emanated from his learned Friend, was a proof that it would embrace a great practical knowledge of the subject, and that it would conduce to an early and satisfactory arrangement of the question. The Law of Settlement as it at present stood was, he thought, most injurious and unsatisfactory; but he knew that the greatest possible difference of opinion existed as to the means which should be adopted for amending it. He himself could not, of course, propose any amendment which in his conscience and judgment he did not think would be effective. In his opinion, parochial settlements, small township and parish settlements, were the very root of the evil; at the same time, he knew that many persons believed, on the contrary, that it would be nothing less than sacrilege to interfere with those small settlements. However, he should be most happy to attend to the measure now introduced, which was limited to the subject of removal, though, in his opinion—and he thought it would 1304 be found so at last—the Law of Settlement was so intimately blended with the law of removal, that they could not come to a satisfactory arrangement of the one without including the other. He could not at present state what measure he might consider it his duty next Session to adopt; but, in the mean time, he certainly promised his hon. and learned Friend, that the measure before them should receive his careful perusal and best attention