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The evils of the pauper nurse system have been so incessantly and continuously brought forward, that it hardly seems necessary to dwell upon it again, especially as it is being gradually, at least in part, done away with. In no case should they ever be entrusted with, or allowed access to, the stimulants and medicine furnished to the sick. The baneful influence of these women, especially in the nurseries, and all the departments for children, is so self-evident and well known, that it is needless to speak of it again here. It is alleged that respectable women would be found to become nurses at workhouse infirmaries (as has been proved at Highgate) if proper accommodation be provided for them; but, unhappily, this is rarely the case in an adequate degree, though few instances may now be found like those brought forward twenty years ago, when the same nurse lived and slept night and day, in the ward filled with her patients.

Another suggestion urged by those who have practical knowledge of the subject is, that no officer of whatever rank should be appointed to any post in a new infirmary which is intended to be carried on in a manner different from the "workhouse" (an institution long since entirely misnamed) who has ever been connected with a workhouse; and in this idea there is surely much good sense and reason. It is still further suggested that with a Board of Guardians drawn from a higher class, the clerk should be a solicitor, by which arrangement many difficulties would be avoided.

Why the appointment of master should not invariably have been given to a man of superior position we have never been able to understand,— the post being one that requires great discretion and powers of government, such as we might expect to find in retired officers from the army and navy, who are now chosen for our prisons. The instance of a former porter of a London

workhouse who was (twenty years ago) promoted to the post of master and governor over 500 persons, is still fresh in my mind, with all the results of his horrible mismanagement.

Then, again, reporters should be admitted to the meetings of Boards, for only in this way can the ratepayers have a chance of knowing what goes on in this little Parliament. It has always been a matter of astonishment that the electors (the public) should have so little curiosity as to the proceedings of their representatives, jealous as Englishmen generally are upon this point, especially where the expenditure of money is concerned. Equally astonishing is it that so little curiosity should ever have been manifested as to the condition and treatment of the thousands of inmates throughout the country. Great as are the improvements that have been made, especially with regard to the sick, since their separation from the workhouses, so called,

* See Appendix IX.

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there can be little doubt that much still remains to be done and many grievances to be redressed. It would be impossible to enumerate all these, but one or two may be mentioned, which it is feared still exist. Only two years ago the following statement was made with regard to the burial of the dead :- "The dead are laid in shells, the boards unplaned inside, upon a sprinkling of sawdust, perfectly naked, with a strip of calico over the body only. The poor woman I saw in the shed (probably the deadhouse) adjoining the stone yard, was in a shell, intended for a very large body, and whoever laid her out had not even closed the mouth."

That such practices were common some time ago there can be no doubt; but the fact was confirmed also quite recently by another instance when a respectable poor and worn-out old woman, who had worked to the last to support herself, at length "went in;" and her only request to a former kind visitor was that she

would give her some old garment which she might keep for her burial (probably bribing the nurse so to use it), expressing her horror at finding that paupers were buried without any covering, beyond perhaps shavings, which we have known to be employed.

Such things could not exist if the management of these institutions were in the hands of superior persons, who, with or without the consent of the guardians, would arrange such matters with decency and order.

That the burial of paupers is still far from being always conducted with due propriety is certainly also a fact to be lamented. The curtailment or omission of parts of the service, and the burials of several together in indecent haste, has been frequently observed by those who have attended the funerals; but it is possible that the blame for this is due rather to the chaplains of the cemeteries than to the officials of the Poor Law.

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