Limits of emigration as a means of assistance. Powers of the Guardians in regard to emigration. XXIX. EMIGRATION. Emigration is a frequently-proposed remedy for helping the unemployed poor. A reference to the Register will show the cost of passages, the outfit required, &c. Like other modes of charitable aid, it is injurious if applied wholesale. If, as Mr. Fawcett has pointed out, the population continues to increase at the same rate, there will not be, except for a short time, fewer hands and more work in the Old Country. Without self-help and a higher standard of living, such assistance, coming from without, will be of very partial advantage. Generally speaking, the expense of emigration is so small that those who are likely to become good emigrants are those who can save enough to emigrate; the cost is a fair test of fitness. But, as in other instances, charity is in no way fettered by the application itself. If emigration is a good remedy in a particular case, and can be applied without removing natural obligations, charity may well use it, as in other cases it would obtain admission to a home. Many wish and ask to be assisted to emigrate, who, even if generally suitable as emigrants, can be equally well aided in other ways. Sometimes, when a medical opinion is given to the effect that a breadwinner, out of health in England, would be strong and able to support himself in a Colony, e.g. at the Cape, he and his family have been sent out. The following is a case in which a good constitution, 'handiness,' and a large family of sons were considered reasons for assisting to emigrate. * R.—(42), married, with eight children, from 14 years to 11 months old, was for 18 years, up to a year ago, in and outdoor servant to a lady, who resided partly in Hackney and partly in Devon. He was discharged on her death with a quarter's salary, and had not been able to find any permanent employment since. He has a high character for honesty and intelligence, but being of somewhat mean appearance and not a skilled workman, he had little prospect of supporting his family in England. He had been used to gardening and looking after stock. It was therefore proposed to send them to Canada, where there was a better opening for a handy, hardworking man. The cost, nearly £50, was large, but destitution seemed the only alternative. In this instance the Guardians granted £10. They, or rather the Local Government Board if set in motion by them, have large powers in regard to emigration. If a majority of owners and ratepayers assembled at a duly convened meeting so direct, they may, with the approval of the Local Government Board, pay from a fund specially raised for the purpose, the expenses of poor persons settled in their Union and willing to emigrate. This fund, it is * The almoner should be warned against a plan recently adopted by persons who favour emigration, of offering a man who desires to emigrate a certain sum on condition that he raise the remainder. This is done without imposing on him any restrictions. Not unnaturally, therefore, he will often beg for it, using the promise to assist as a credential. stipulated, must not exceed half the average annual rate for the three preceding years, and is repayable in five years.* By order of the Poor Law Board and in conformity with their regulations the Guardians may, at the expense of the common fund of the Union, procure, or assist in procuring the emigration of any poor person who is irremovable by reason of a residence of one year.‡ Further, the Guardians may, § with the order and subject to the rules of the Local Government Board, expend, without being authorised to do so by any previous meeting of owners and ratepayers, any sum not exceeding £10 ' in and about' the emigration of any poor person settled in the Union, so long as the total money's so expended do not exceed one half the average poor rate during the last three years. The Guardians can thus, if there is a crisis requiring such remedies, provide for the emigration of a large number of persons; they can also assist individual cases, even though they are not at the time paupers. The confirmation of the Local Government Board is necessary, and therefore the decision rests in their hands. Owing to representations from the Government of the United States, the Local Government Board are 'precluded, except in very special cases, from sanctioning emigration to that country at the cost of the poor rate.' || Now, under the Local Government Act, 1888, the County Councils may from time to time, with the consent of the Local Government Board, borrow for, amongst other purposes, making advances (which they are hereby authorised to make) to any persons or bodies of persons, corporate or unincorporate, in aid of the emigration or colonisation of inhabitants of the county, with a guarantee for the repayment of such advances from any local authority in the county or the Government of any colony.' ¶ This clause gives to a new and more widely representative body the option of raising a fund for emigration. But it does not interfere with the powers already possessed by the Guardians. Further, the fund is to be raised under two very exact restrictions. Only advances are made by it, and these are repayable on guarantee, either by the Colony or by the local authority; and the only local authority that would appear to be competent to give a guarantee for repayment is the Board of Guardians. But if the Board of Guardians deal with these emigration cases, the objections now taken to 'pauper' emigration hold good. On the other hand, if the Colony gives the guarantee, it has * 4 & 5 Will. IV., c. 76, s. 62. † 11 & 12 Vict., c. 110, s. 5. 9 & 10 Vict., c. 66, s. 1, as modified by 24 & 25 Vict., c. 55, s. 1, and 28 & 29 Vict., c. 79, s. 8. § 12 & 13 Vict., c 103, s. 20. For a note on the amount spent by Guardians on emigration, see Addenda, p. clxxvii. | Glen's Archbold, p. 306. Local Government Act, 1888 (51 & 52 Vict., c. 41), s. 69. Power of County Councils in regard to emigration. indirectly a complete check on the amount of money expended, and the conditions imposed, in sending emigrants to it. To the enactments by which the machinery of the Poor Law can be utilised for purposes of emigration, the not unreasonable objection, just referred to, is taken, that the Colonies are unwilling to admit emigrants who bear the reproach of being 'pauper emigrants. But, even if this be admitted, it is almost certain that no other State-aided system would serve the purpose better. 'Is wheat-growing so profitable an industry in any part of the world just now that it should be selected as the one to be subsidised by State aid or State credit, so as to induce more persons to embark in it ? Does it require so little skill and experience as to be a suitable resource for the unemployed man, whatever his previous occupation? Those whom it is contemplated to take as Stateaided emigrants are, for the most part, men who have failed more or less in the race for success in the old country, and who are below rather than above the of capacity.' average , * In fact, highly organised attempts at emigration in large bodies have seldom met with success; and when philanthropists most desire emigration for others, people in general, if we may trust the returns, are rather less inclined to emigrate, for the rise in emigration is generally coincident with improving, the fall with declining trade. On the whole, then, State-aided emigration or emigration organised on a large scale cannot be advocated. It is better to trust to individual enterprise. In the case of orphan or deserted children who are under the age of 16 and chargeable to the Union, and who have no place of settlement, or whose place of settlement is unknown, the Guardians, with the consent of the Local Government Board, may procure or assist in procuring emigration.† The consent of the child must be given before justices in petty sessions, and a certificate of this consent has to be transmitted to the Local Government Board. The Guardians may, subject to the sanction of the Local Government Board, send orphan and deserted pauper children to Canada, under the following conditions‡: (1) That they obtain 'in each case an undertaking in writing from any person entrusted by them with the care of taking children to Canada, and of placing them in homes, that immediately after a child is placed out the Department of Agriculture at Ottawa shall be furnished with a report containing the name and age of the child, and the name and post office address of the person with whom the child is placed, and that a report containing similar * Natural Emigration,' by John Martineau. Blackwood, July 1889. Memorandum of Local Government Board, April 30, 1883. Glen's Archbold, p. 306. information shall be furnished to the Guardians of the Union from which the child is taken.' (2) That they send a copy of the report to the Local Government Board. (3) That they give notice to the person proposed to be entrusted by them with the emigration of a child, whether the child is Protestant or Roman Catholic, and he shall give an undertaking if the child is a Protestant that he shall be placed with a family of the Protestant faith, or if the child is a Roman Catholic, that he shall be placed in a Roman Catholic home.' (4) That'a child before being sent to Canada shall have been under previous instruction at least six months, in the workhouse or district school.' (5) That the Guardians have such evidence as they deem satisfactory, that the person taking out the children has reasonable prospect of finding suitable homes for them in Canada.' 'The Board consider that as a general rule girls should not be sent out above the age of 10 years, and in no case, except under very special circumstances, above the age of 12 years.' These regulations may suggest to charitable persons, desirous of sending children to Canada, the general conditions upon which they should insist, if they are to accomplish so difficult a task without any great risk of failure. XXX.-MARRIED WOMEN. I. RIGHTS IN THEIR OWN PROPERTY.* II. REMEDIES AGAINST ILL-TREATMENT OR NEGLECT. III. GUARDIANSHIP OF THEIR CHILDREN. I. The rights of married women with respect to their property are established by the Married Women's Property Act, 1882 (45 & 46 Vict., c. 75). A married woman is capable of acquiring, holding, and disposing, by will or otherwise, of any real or personal property as her separate ' property in the same manner as if she were a feme sole, without the intervention of any trustee; and she may, in respect of and to the extent of her separate property, present and future, enter into any contract, and sue or be sued alone; and she may carry on a trade separate from her husband, and in that case be subject to the bankruptcy laws. All property, including wages and earnings, to which she may become entitled after January 1, 1883, become her separate property with the same rights. A woman married after that date is entitled to keep the whole of her property, present and future, as her separate property. All deposits in savings or other banks, annuities, and other *The substance of this section was furnished for a previous edition by a member of the Society. securities, standing in her name alone, belong to her till the contrary be shown; and she may receive dividends, and transfer without the concurrence of her husband; and where they stand in her name jointly with others, she may act as if she were a feme sole. If, however, she make any fraudulent investment of the husband's money in her own name, or to defraud his creditors, it will be invalid. She may effect a policy of insurance on her own life, or her husband's, for her separate use, and a husband or wife who insures his or her life expressly for the benefit of the other, or of his or her children, with or without a trustee, shall create a trust in favour of the objects named in the policy; but if done to defraud creditors, they shall be entitled to receive the amount of premiums so wrongfully paid. Every married woman has the same remedies, civil and criminal, for the protection of her property as if she were a feme sole, but she cannot take criminal proceedings against her husband whilst they are living together, nor for any act done by him whilst they were living together, unless with regard to property taken by him when leaving or deserting her, and she is herself liable to criminal proceedings in respect of any act done to his property which if done by him to her property would make him criminally liable. A woman after her marriage continues bound in respect of and to the extent of her separate property by all liabilities incurred before her marriage, and may be sued alone in respect of them. Her husband is only bound to satisfy her previous liabilities to the extent of any property he may have received from her. A married woman who is an executrix or administratrix, or a trustee, either alone or with others, may sue and be sued, and transfer the property as if she were a feme sole. The Act does not interfere with settlements made before or after marriage, nor render inoperative any restriction against anticipation, but no such restriction to be made by her in respect of her own property shall be valid against debts contracted before marriage, and no settlement shall have any greater validity as against her creditors than would be given to a husband's settlement as against his creditors. If her husband become chargeable to the parish, she is liable to support him out of her separate property, and she must in like manner maintain her children and grandchildren in the same way as the husband is now liable to do, but without relieving him of his liability. The Act does not extend to Scotland. II. A married woman whose husband ill-treats or neglects to maintain her has the following remedies : 1. In case of personal violence, threatened or offered, the wife |