There Were Some
Wretched Looking People, Applicants For Out-Door Relief, Waiting About
The Entrance When We Went In.
I have been informed and have seen it
confirmed in newspaper reports of the proceedings of Boards of
Guardians, that it is a rule of universal application by every means
possible to discourage out-door relief in every form.
"Let the poor come
into the union altogether," is the spirit that actuates the Boards of
Guardians, so it was pointed out to me that these applicants for out-
door relief had small chance of success.
It was a Board day, and the master of the house, a polite little man,
apologized profusely for not accompanying me over the building. He
deputed the schoolmaster of the establishment to show me through in his
place. I followed the Ballina Schoolmaster of the Union from the
entrance along the gravel walk bordered with flowers to the house
proper, and into the refectory or eating room. One does not want in
every workhouse to look at the same things, when they see they are the
same as in the last. I noticed the set of printed rules hung up on a
card and lifting it down sat down to read the rules contained on it.
They were very strict, and conceived in such a spirit that a naturally
tyrannical man could make a pauper's life a very miserable burden to
him.
After I read these rules I questioned the schoolmaster, a very nice
person, as to the administration of this workhouse.
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