statement, judging from the context, excludes the endowed
charities, which are mentioned immediately afterwards.
It includes all the voluntary institutions, of which in
1888-89 ^^ total income, according to Howe's Classified
Directory, was ;^5,o63,i37. Of this ;^2,i3i,o58 was
available for Bible, Book, and Tract Societies, Home and
Foreign Missions, and Church and Chapel Building Funds,
and ;^462,992 for Education and Apprenticeship. The
disbursement for purposes of relief is thus not ^4,000,000,
but, according as Education and Apprenticeship be included
or not, ;^2,932,o79 or ^2,469,087.
Of the estimate of pauperism I will speak later. Now
as to the starvation cases : —
Returns should not be used without previous reference
to the series of which they form part. I have shown this
in regard to the returns of mortality in London institutions.
persons outside free to go about as they pleased. Pictorial statistics are
among the latest inventions for confusing popular thought anrl overmaster-
ing popular intelligence by mere agitation.
276
ASPECTS OF THE SOCIAL PROBLEM
The starvation returns are another instance. The follow-
ing table gives the " Deaths in the Metropolitan District,
upon which a coroner's jury have returned a verdict of
' death from starvation,' or ' death accelerated by privation,' "
since 187 1 : —
Deaths {^Starvations <'A'.), Metropolitan District.
V'ear.
Total.
Year.
Tola
1871
100
1881
54
1872 .
103
1S82
55
1873
107
1883
44
1874
II
1884
37
1875
46
1885
37
1876
44
1886
40
1877
71
1887
32
1878
n
1888
29
1879
80
1889
27
1880
lOI
1890
31
The decade, it is evident, shows a marked decrease in
these cases, and the figures for 1888 were at that time the
smallest on record, except the year 1874, to which I will
refer again. Probably the writer did not think of this ; if
he had, it would have weakened his argument. But the
error -is frequently committed of taking one year's return
only. Mr. Charles Booth commits it, it appears to me, in
dealing with two groups of unions in support of his theory
that there has been a general lack of improvement in Poor
Law administration. So, too, does Mr. Moore Ede, who
also adopts without reserve the statements which I have
been criticising as to mortality in public institutions in
London. He divides the funds of the large Friendly
Societies by the number of members, and concludes that
"the formidable total represents ^i to jQ'] per member,
and, as most of these are heads of families, the stored-up
wealth of each household is small." If we turn from such
a statement to the comparison of 1876 and 1886, made
by the Registrar of Friendly Societies in his Report for 1890,
we find that the estimated growth of societies with and
without branches is in membership 1,079,500 — that is, from
XV RETURNS IN SOCIAL SCIENCE 277
6,392,745 to 7,472,245, — and of funds, ;^i,466,988 — that
is, from ^20,352,256 to ;j^2i,8i9,244. This includes a
multitude of small insurances against sickness and death,
apart from other savings and investments — by no means a
hopeless position.
Of the evil of ignoring the historical context of a return,
perhaps a word more should be said. Some writers, and
in turn their readers, naturally dwell upon the badness of
the present state of things, the dark background to the
proposals of deliverance which are about to be advocated.
Now these proposals and their results are in the main an
unknown quantity. They presuppose new conditions of
one kind and another, and cannot in themselves contain
the material out of which we can frame a standard for our
guidance. They are the subject-matter to which we would
apply our rule and measure, and nothing more. Our
standard of judgment must be found outside them, and it
can only be found in previous experience. With all its
uncertainties, what our people have done and are doing is
a better guide than what under assumed conditions they
are likely to do. To use returns without reference to
history is to deprive us of their help as a standard of
judgment and criticism, and to ignore either that power of
growth which is in a series of returns measured for us
unconsciously, and upon which all progress ultimately
depends, or else that decadence, an analysis of which, if
there be decadence, will show us where the evil lies.
But we must go back to the " Starvation " Return. The
cases are not all cases of "direct and obvious starvation."
Here is No. i : —
" A man unknown, about 60 years of age, inquest on
whom was held on iSth January 1888. He was not
receiving outdoor relief at the time of his death, nor had
been offered or refused admission to the Workhouse. He
was found dead, lying in a doorway. The verdict was,
" Serum on the brain and disease of the kidneys, accelerated
by cold and exposure."
No. 2 is Eliza Duggan, 9 Urighlon Street, St. Pancras,
wife of Michael Duggan, labourer, 40 years of age ; the
278 ASPECTS OF THE SOCIAL PROBLEM xv
inquest was held on 21st January. The deceased was
receiving " outdoor relief, medical attendance, is. and food
one day," and had not been offered admission to the Work-
house. The verdict was, " Pleurisy and bronchitis, acceler-
ated by want of proper nourishment and medical treatment,
owing to the poverty of the deceased and her husband, and
the absence of forethought on the part of her husband
to obtain parochial relief."
Another is the case ^ of an infant who had died of
" exhaustation from rickets, accelerated by insufficient
and improper nourishment from neglect of parents."
Our law as to cases of sudden and urgent necessity is
about as strong as it could be ; and the desire to give
immediate relief in such cases could not well be greater.
These instances, it appears to me, are not, as is stated,
" referred to direct and obvious starvation," but to many
other causes besides, such as disease, mal-administration
perhaps, and parental neglect. Further, of how doubtful a
character the verdict really is may be shown, amongst
others, by a case that happened in 1890. The verdict on
the death of a child of twelve months, named Dulk, was
" Death from want of proper nourishment." The coroner's
officer spoke strongly of the destitution of the parents ;
the jury subscribed jQi : 5s., and outsiders sent other con-
tributions. As a matter of fact, for nine weeks previous to
and including the date of the birth of his child, the father
had been in steady work and had earned in that period
£,!<). Before that he had been earning for six months
with another employer 25s. a week, and he could have
continued to work with a previous employer at 40s. a week,
if he had chosen to do so.
I referred to the year 1874. In that year and in 1875,
in the central division of the metropolis, the number of
"starvation cases was only seven." In 1873, ^^c previous
year, it was 76. Amongst these were 43 infants. In 1874
there were no infants; in 1875, 2; and we note that
during 1874 a new coroner succeeds. Hence we cannot
but conclude that in that year there was a change of
policy, and with it a decrease in the number of starva-
XV RETURNS IN SOCIAL SCIENCE 279
tion cases, which never in that division have risen to
their former figures, while especially is it apparent that
there has been more discrimination in the verdicts on
children.
All this shows, it seems to me, that a return should not
be used without reference to its historical context or without
reference to its social context ; also that returns, however
definite in form, require to be analysed before use, so that
the reality of their definitions may be tested ; and that
special care must be taken in any generalisation to explain
the differences of the units, as well as their similarity. A
return so used may be instructive. Not so used, it may be
of service to the agitator as a missile ; it is a weapon not
of science but of combat.
Poor Law Returns.
These conclusions are further supported by the few
words I shall say about the Poor Law returns. " One in
1 1 of the whole metropolitan population," says the text,
" is driven to accept Poor Law relief in one year." It is
explained that these figures are arrived at by multiplying
by 3 1 the number of the recipients of poor relief on a
single day. But of the true meaning of the figures and of
their social context, or of the difference of the units that
are here totalled together, not a word is said.
First, as we have seen, the number is increased by the
greater attraction of the infirmaries and the greater facili-
ties for Poor Law medical reUef. If this be a good
result, as the writer of The Facts would seem to hold,
why quote the figures as a sign of social trouble ? They
are pro tanto the result of a policy of which the writer else-
where approves, not of a policy against which he has a
grievance. Next, all the lunatics, imbeciles, and idiots,
numbering as many as 15,652 on ist January 1888, are
included amongst those " driven " to accept poor relief.
What could be more misleading ? Surely our better pro-
vision for the afflicted should be counted to the credit, and
not to the discredit, of the nation. In a fair statement of
28o ASPECTS OF THE SOCIAL PROBLEM xv
the pauperism of the metropolis for the use of an ordinary
reader they should be expressly referred to as affecting the
total or else omitted. And there are further important
considerations. As appears from a further subdivision of
the returns recently adopted, some 3000 adults receive in-
door relief as temporarily disabled. Over 14,000 are the
children of not able-bodied parents. In individual cases
the amount of permanent relief, in and out, is large. Very
rightly, on the other hand, much of the relief is given only
for a short period ; and some of it is so trifling in amount
that it is a question whether it should not, if supplied at
all, be provided from charitable sources.
The following is a note of an analysis of 35 out-relief
cases taken at random from the books of one relieving
officer's district : —
In 25 cases a medical order or (9) admission to the in-
firmary was given, with, in most instances, small pecuniary
help averaging between 3s. and 4s. In one case the
father had broken his arm. In two cases, some of the
children of men admitted to the infirmary were sent to the
district school ; in one three of the children of a widow.
A permanent allowance of 4s. 6d. a week was given to a
widow who suffered from lung disease and had three
children. The out-relief in one instance consisted in
IS. 6d. for cab hire to take a man to the infirmary; in
another p^i : 5s. was paid for the funeral of an infant.
Pauperism from this point of view then means many
things and not one. And this affects greatly the question
of the multiplier to be used to ascertain from the number
of paupers on a single day what their number in a year is
likely to be. Properly, we should have several multipliers
according to the nature of the pauperism. That the multi-
plier of the total pauperism of a single day is 3 A- has long
been a moot point, upon which the evidence is decidedly
unfavourable. Probably it is much less. Yet in a paper
for London citizens it is remarkable that the plain un-
certainties of the question are evaded. A telling statistic
is put forward on the basis of a very doubtful calculation.
Mr. J. R. Hollond's Return (1881), which, as Mr. C. Booth
XV RETURNS IN SOCIAL SCIENCE 281
points out, has been overlooked in this discussion, gives for
England and Wales 31 per 1000 as the ratio of a year's
pauperism to population — that is, 3. i per cent, or i in
32. And for London its figures are 60 per 1000, 6 per
cent, or i in 16. But this return is for six months only,
and includes lunatics, etc., for whom it gives no separate
classification ; and these, I think, should be deducted or
calculated separately.
Returns re Old-Age Pauperism.
I now pass from the question of the use and abuse of
returns, and I will refer to some returns that appear to me
to be incomplete in certain necessary particulars, or in-
sufficient or misleading in the first analysis of the data on
which they are based.
An instance of this is Mr. Burt's return of old-age
pauperism, which he did not, I understand, obtain in the
form he desired. It was very material to the question of
old-age pauperism to know what number of those in receipt
of relief were in the infirmary or sick wards, and what
number in receipt of medical out-relief This want is to
be repaired, it would seem, by the return asked for by the
Local Government Board in May last, in which the
Guardians are instructed to make a separate entry of those
who have received medical and no other kind of relief in
the year. But these are likely to be few indeed, as even
the brief analysis I have made above shows ; for many
who apply on account of sickness and receive medical
relief receive also general relief, and in all these instances
the fact that their application was due to sickness will not
appear. Another object of the May return is to ascertain
the number of those who, being 65 years of age and older,
receive relief in the course of the year. Those who advo-
cate pension schemes will thus, it is thought, know the
number of their pauper clients. But this is very insuffi-
cient information for such a purpose. The date of the
chargeability of the pauper should be known. If the bulk
282 ASPECTS OF THE SOCIAL PROBLEM xv
of the paupers are chargeable before 65, a scheme for the
supply of pensions after that age will, so far as pauperism
is concerned, be almost entirely nugatory.^
Pauper Members of Benefit Societies.
A return, generally known as Lord Lymington's return,
professes to give the numbers of paupers in the workhouses
of England and Wales on the 31st March 1891, who,
having been members of a benefit society, had then from
any cause ceased to be members. There is a similar
return for 1881, but not including women.
But (i) the return does not show what are the societies
referred to, whether friendly societies or collecting societies,
or sharing out and yard clubs. If the societies were named
it would be of service. The reader could then gauge the
value of the return on this point. Now he cannot do so.
^ Since this paper was written the "May" return, now better known
as Mr. Ritchie's return, has been pubHshed. It is a return of paupers
on the ist January 1892, and at any time during the twelve months ended
Ladyday 1892. Lunatics and vagrants in receipt of indoor relief are in-
cluded, but vagrants in receipt of outdoor relief and lunatics in asylums,
licensed houses, and registered hospitals are not. There is also a separate
count of persons in receipt of medical relief only. As has been shown
in the Economic Journal for September 1894, the figures, in so far as
they relate to the year's count in several Unions of the metropolis, are cer-
tainly untrustworthy and excessive ; and there must be much duplication
of entries, especially in the case of vagrants and the more migratory poor
between union and union. With this reservation, it may be said that the
day count of persons in receipt of relief (including medical relief) was 700,746
against 1,573,074, the year count — that is to say, to obtain the latter
figure the former should be multiplied by about 2.2 instead of 3|. Those
over 65 in receipt of medical relief alone are returned at 3910 on the ist
January, and 25,477 in the year, out of a total of 268,397 on the day
count, and 401,904 on the year count. The comparative smallness of
the numbers in receipt of medical relief confirms the view expressed in the
text. Of the persons over 65 in receipt of indoor relief, numbering
114,144, many were in infirmaries or sick wards ; and all these are ex-
cluded from the count of those who "received medical relief alone,"
because, besides receiving medical relief, they were also being maintained
within Poor Law institutions. And further, in addition to the 25,477,
many would probably receive medical as well as outdoor relief during
the year. In regard to chargeability, the question stands much as it
did in 1892. See, for the most complete statement respecting it, p. 153,
above.
XV RETURNS IN SOCLVL SCIENCE 283
(2) Unless actual documents are produced, it must be very
difficult — indeed, almost impossible — for the returning
officer to ascertain with accuracy, as the return requires,
how long a man has been a member of a society which has
broken up. (3) When we note that — e.g. at Alton — out
of 20 paupers who have ceased to be members 19 had
belonged to broken-up clubs, we suspect that the figures
point to some single local smash. But whether this be so
the return does not show. (4) The extraordinary varia-
tions between the years 1881 and 1891 in certain
Unions seem inexplicable, except on the ground of
inaccuracy in the count on the one or the other occasion.
Thus : —
Paupers ivho had Ceased to be Alembers.
Kensington
Chelsea
St. George's-in-the-East
Lewisham .
St. Saviour's
53
24
20
54
S
100
72
3
59
249
These differences suggest that the judicious pauper
knew what to say, and answered according to the manner
of the officer who questioned him, and did not seek or
obtain documentary evidence. They can hardly be
accounted for by any single fact, as, for instance, the in-
clusion of women in the 1 89 1 returns; and without more
information and greater definiteness of entry, the figures
seem to be of no service whatever. As they stand, the
figures would seem to show that in London, where there is
a comparatively low degree of out-relief pauperism and a
large extension of the infirmary system, out of 32,403^ in-
door poor (omitting children, infants, and lunatics), 6 per
cent had belonged to Friendly Societies of one kind and
another, and that 1.5 per cent had ceased to be members
because of their society's break-up.
^ li Return, July 1891.
284 ASPECTS OF THE SOCIAL PROBLEM
Elementary Education [Schemes of Chanty Commissioners).
Another return ^ I would submit to you. It should
show " by counties the schemes for schools made by the
Charity Commission since the year 1870, in which charit-
able funds have been applied to elementary education,"
and it should state amongst other items " the application
of endowment under the scheme, specifying the amount
applied to elementary education (a) for general main-
tenance, {l>) for scholarships or free education, (c) for
buildings." In the return, then, we look up, say, Ashover,
in Derbyshire, and we find these entries against the
" endowed school " there : {a) Applied for general main-
tenance — " net income " ; {l>) applied to scholarships — a
sum " not exceeding £'i.o annually"; and {c) amount
spent on buildings — " proceeds of sale of site of buildings
of old school, and of ^297 : los. stock." A search in the
Digest of 1869-70, and the Supplementary Digest of 1891,
throws no light on the question. How can one then,
after all, find what amount of charitable endowments has
in this instance been applied to elementary educa-
tion ? No specific " amount " is stated. What, we ask,
is the " net income " ? What were the proceeds of
the sale of the site and buildings ? The return fails to
tell us.
These instances must serve my purpose as evidence in
favour of the following suggestions : —
(i) When on general grounds it has been decided to
compile a return, the form of it might be settled by a select
or other committee, and evidence taken from experts in
each branch of work to which the return appHes. Most of
the difficulties in the way of accurate compilation would
thus come to light and be tested beforehand. If demand
be made for information in the form of a return, which
cannot be so supplied, or which, if so supplied, would be
insufficient or inaccurate, the proposal might be set aside
1 Dated "Charity Commission, 31st May 1891, No. 275."
XV RETURNS IN SOCIAL SCIENCE 285
at the outset or care taken that the defects were fully ex-
plained.
(2) The return might often be prefaced with a state-
ment setting forth the method upon which the figures are
compiled. Thus, take the May return respecting aged
paupers. Few will realise the very great probability
of serious errors occurring in it in a populous union,
unless at least four or five sets of books for two half-years
are most carefully checked. Those who use a return
should know what are the possibilities of error in the count.
A return often sets in motion a large machinery. A Poor
Law return in England and Wales may move the hands of
some 664 clerks, 760 masters of workhouses, and over
1500 relieving officers; and often their books are not
drawn up in a form at all suitable for the supply of the in-
formation which is asked.
(3) The preface to a return might also contain further
explanatory matter. The Appendix E of the Local
Government Board, in which is analysed the nature of the
outdoor relief granted on ist January and ist July, is a good
example of what might more often be done.
(4) The preface also might refer to and give some
account of previous returns of a similar nature.
(5) In the "Starvation" returns (and possibly in
others, mutatis mutandis) some short official account might
in each case be published of the proceedings of the
coroners' courts, with the names of witnesses and their
evidence. A clearer meaning would then be given to the
return than is now often the case. It is not possible for
most people to look up the reports of proceedings in the
public press. ^
(6) There is published a general index of Bills, Reports
of Committees, etc. etc., of the Houses of Parliament from
1 80 1 to 1879. Since that date annual indexes are also
published, out of which every ten years a general index
1 The "Starvation Returns," issued since this paper was written, have
been greatly improved by a commentary attached by the Local Govern-
ment Board to the statistics furnished by the Coroners. This commentary
consists of the statements of Boards of Guardians respcctinjj the cases in-
cluded in the returns in which application was made for Poor Law relief.
286 ASPECTS OF THE SOCIAL PROBLEM xv
for that period is compiled. That for the last decade will
now, I understand, be very shortly issued. Might not
some society, like the Statistical Society, issue a com-
pleter catalogue and subject index, containing very brief
statements of the purport of the returns, reports, and
papers relative to different branches of social study ? Im-
portant previous returns are now sometimes overlooked,
and even those who are in a measure students of social
questions are sometimes ignorant of the material that is to
hand.
These suggestions, if adopted, would, I think, lead
to greater precision and completeness in some of our
returns, and to a less arbitrary and absolute use of
them.
Lastly, of the limitations of the return system. I will
refer to one point only, touching on a question which con-
cerns other returns besides the parliamentary. Compared
with the statistics of social science, it seems comparatively
easy to collect the statistics of natural history, if the eye
and judgment of the observer be trained. The fine notes
made by Mr. Allen on the variation of length of wing and
other parts of the body in birds in Florida are an instance
of this kind. So are the medical statistics of the Registrar-
General, which are compiled by trained members of a pro-
fession. The chief difficulty in the latter instance must lie
in the changing nature of diseases and their nomenclature.
But in the branches of social science that we have been
discussing, though we may have a single simple fact to
chronicle, we are also at every point touching the domain
of character. This in a degree affects the import of all
returns as to pauperism, starvation, and old age. It is
well to know what number of paupers receive relief on a
single day, but we cannot classify them by merit or by mis-
fortune, and only very roughly, and for a purely administra-
tive purpose, as able-bodied and not able-bodied; nor, as the
Poor Law is administered, can we conclude that all paupers
are destitute. What applies to the pauper class applies
still more strongly to attempts at classification and statistic
in the classes above them. To find a statistic applicable
XV RETURNS IN SOCIAL SCIENCE 287
to them we must in each case force divergent groups into