PAUPERISM A PICTURE AND THE ENDOWMENT OF OLD AGE AN ARGUMENT BY CHARLES BOOTH London MACMILLAN AND CO. AND NEW YORK 1892 All rights reserved The statistics used in this book have been reprinted (with some necessary corrections) from a paper read before the Royal Statistical Society in December 1891. INTRODUCTION IN 1889, when studying the aspects of poverty at Stepney, I came upon the written records of parochial relief upon which I have mainly relied for the account of pauperism given in this book. The investigation begun at Stepney was afterwards extended to St. Pancras, but I was obliged to abandon any idea I may have had of making a general, or even sufficiently representative, examination of London pauperism. Still less can what I now submit to the public claim to cover the ground for the whole of England, although, by way of contrast to the two London Unions, I have included a short description of one country Union. It is, therefore, only as a picture that what is here written should be regarded— true as far as it goes, and possibly suggestive, but very incomplete. Questions as to the true volume of pauperism, and especially of old age pauperism, as to the method to be adopted in enumerating paupers, and as to the relative advantages of different plans of affording them relief, came into prominence while my inquiry was proceeding. classed 3-25-31 AVM |