Sardinian States
The information respecting the Sardinian States consists of answers from Piedmont, Genoa, and Savoy, obtained by Sir Augustus Foster from the Minister of the Interior, from M. de Vignet, a Senator of Chambery, from Marquis Brignole Sale, Syndic of Genoa, and from the Marquis Cavour, Syndic of Turin, and his son, Count Camille Cavour.
The following extracts comprise their most material contents. (Pages 653, 654, 655, 656, 657, 659, 660, 661, 662.)
The general system appears to resemble that of France, except that in Piedmont mendicity is not an offence.
Piedmont
Mendicants.
Mendicity is not forbidden by law; every person who is considered unable to obtain by his own industry subsistence for himself and his family may station himself in the streets, and ask charity of the passers by. The government and the local authorities have often, but in vain, endeavoured to repress the innumerable abuses which have followed. But the regulations which have been made for this purpose have been ineffectual and even nugatory. The law, however, which forbids the poor to beg out of their parishes, is frequently put in force. When a great number of strangers are found begging in a town, the municipal authorities drive them out en masse, leaving it to the gendarmerie to oblige them to return to their country, or to the places considered to be their homes. But as the law in question is not enforced by any punishment, if they find any difficulty in living at home, they soon return to violate it afresh.
There are no means of ascertaining, even by approximation, the total number of mendicants. It depends, too, in part on many causes continually varying; such as good or bad harvests, hard or mild winters, and the changes of employment in those trades which afford subsistence to many hands. It is spread, however, over the whole country, but in different degrees. In the valleys of the Alps it scarcely exists; in those of the Apennines it is considerable, as is generally the case where chestnuts are the ordinary food of the lower orders.
If a labouring man, not domiciled in the place of his residence, finds himself, from accident or illness, unable either to earn his living, or to reach his home, the authorities, both of his temporary residence, and of the places that lie in his route homewards, are required to supply to him the means of travelling. In Turin, a small pecuniary assistance is given to all workpeople who wish to return to their own homes, but this is not a general practice.
Destitute Able-bodied.
Are there any establishments for the reception of the destitute able-bodied and their families, in which they are set to work, and furnished with food and clothes?
There are none. The only attempt of the sort was one made some years ago at Raconis, and it failed almost immediately, among difficulties and bad consequences of every description. An establishment called Ergastolo exists near Turin, in which young vagrants are confined and kept to constant work; but although a person may be committed to it without trial on a simple order from the police, it is considered rather as a house of correction than a workhouse.
There are still convents at whose doors soup, bread, and other kinds of food are distributed. But this deplorable practice is not now sufficiently prevalent to produce a sensible effect except in some parts of the Genoese coast, where the mendicant orders are the most numerous, and the poverty the greatest.
Many charitable institutions have ecclesiastical forms and names, but their attention is almost confined to the sick and the impotent. When a bad harvest or a hard winter occasions much distress, the municipal authorities, either spontaneously or on the suggestion and with the aid of the government, undertake public works in order to give employment to the able-bodied. This is more frequent in the large towns, such as Turin and Genoa.
To what extent do they obtain relief in kind and in money?
They never receive either from the government or from the municipal authorities; what they get is from private charity. But on some great occasions, such as the anniversary of the Restoration of the Monarchy, or the celebration of the King’s Birth-day, food and clothes are distributed among some of the most needy families.
Many of the towns have Monts-de-piété, which lend on pledges at 6 per cent., but under very rigorous rules. If the unhappy borrower cannot redeem the pledge before the fixed time, it is sold, whatever may be its value, for the amount of the debt. In spite of this, the number of people who have recourse to them is immense. I do not think I exaggerate in saying that there are very few poor housekeepers some of whose furniture or clothes is not thus in pawn.
Impotent through Age.
1. Are there hospitals for the reception of those who through age are incapable of earning their subsistence?
There are none avowedly for this purpose, but there are several intended for incurables, into which those whose only infirmity is old age, manage to get received.
2. Do they receive relief in kind and in money at their own homes? They receive none from the government or the municipal authorities, but such relief is afforded by many charitable institutions. In Turin, for example, the congregation of St. Paul has large revenues; and by law, there ought in every parish to be a charitable association. But, in fact, none are to be found excepting in some villages and towns; almost all the rural parishes are without them. The resources of those which exist arise from endowments, from donations, and from periodical collections made in churches, or from house to house. These associations certainly do much good, but being subjected to no general rules or central control, their proceedings are neither uniform nor regular; a source of enormous abuse, which, in the present state of things, it is impossible to correct or even to verify.
Much charity is also given through the hands of the clergy. This is, without any doubt, the best distributed, and the most effectual; much of it is devoted to the aged and impotent.
The Sick.
In all the towns, and in many of the large villages, there are hospitals in which any individual suffering under acute sickness, or casualty, may be nursed until his perfect recovery. The principal acute complaint is fever. But there are few hospitals for chronic or incurable cases, and few such patients can obtain access to them: they are, therefore, in general left to private charity.
The hospitals have in general property in land, in the public funds, or lent on mortgage, and when these revenues are insufficient, they are assisted from the local assessments of the parishes and provinces, and by charitable persons. The management of the different hospitals is not uniform; it is in general much under the influence of the government. In some towns, the ecclesiastical authorities and the chapters interfere, and it is in such cases in general that there is most of disorder and abuse. In most parishes the indigent sick receive gratuitous treatment from the physicians and surgeons, who are paid an annual salary by the municipal authorities, or the charitable associations. In Turin, and in some other places, there are dispensaries, distributing gratis, to those who have a certificate of poverty from their clergyman, the most usual and necessary remedies, whenever medically ordered. In general, the sick who cannot procure admission to the hospitals are in a pitiable state of poverty and distress.
Children.
Illegitimate.
If an unmarried woman has a child by an unmarried man, she has recourse to the ecclesiastical tribunal, that is to say, to the episcopal court of the diocese to compel him to marry her. If she succeeds in proving her previous good conduct, and that promises, or other means of seduction were employed against her, the tribunal orders the marriage. The defendant may refuse; but in that case the cause is carried before the civil judges, who admitting the seduction as already proved, award to her damages, regulated by the circumstances of the case.
The child is by law entitled to an allowance for its maintenance, which may be demanded from either parent.
It is to be observed that, in consequence of the constant inclination of the ecclesiastical tribunal, in favour of the female plaintiff, in order that the harm done may be repaired by marriage, and the ease with which children are disposed of in the Foundling Hospitals, few illegitimate children are brought up at home, even in the lowest classes of society.
If the seducer is a member of the family, and under the authority of his father, the girl in general has recourse to his parents for the damages awarded to her. The illegitimate child may claim its allowance from its paternal or maternal grandfather; and if its father and mother have died without leaving it any provision, may claim one from those who have succeeded to their property.
Foundlings, Orphans, and Deserted Children.
Many towns have hospitals for foundlings. Their parents may remain perfectly unknown; they have only to deposit the child at night in a wheel which in all these hospitals communicates with the street and with the interior of the house, ring a bell to warn the person on the watch, and go away. The wheel turns, the child is received into the hospital, and numbered, and no further trace remains of the transaction.
Genoa possesses a splendid orphan establishment; and there is one in Turin for girls only. But they are far from being sufficient for this numerous and interesting class. There is no further public assistance for orphans and deserted children; they are thrown on private charity.
Cripples, Deaf and Dumb, and Blind.
There is no establishment for persons maimed or deformed. Even in the surgical hospitals, as soon as a patient no longer requires the assistance of art, he is dismissed, even if he should have lost the use of his limbs.
In Genoa there is an establishment for the deaf and dumb, which enjoys a well-founded celebrity. On certain conditions poor children are gratuitously admitted. There is no institution for the blind, or any further public relief for any of the classes in question: they are left to private charity.
Idiots and Insane.
There are two large establishments for the insane, one at Turin, the other at Genoa. In each a small payment is made, in respect of the lunatic, either out of his own property, or, if he has none, by his parish or province. In some rare cases insane persons are received gratuitously.
Some mountain districts, and particularly in the valley of Aoste, contain many of the idiots, commonly called Cretins. They are in general gentle and inoffensive, and the objects of the pity and zealous assistance of all around them, so much so that it is never necessary to place them in an hospital. The interesting popular belief that a special protection of heaven is attached to the house inhabited by a Cretin is well known.
Effects of these Institutions.
It is not to the encouragement given by public charity that the great number of premature and improvident marriages contracted in this country is to be imputed. With the exception of those between professional beggars, we owe the greater part of them, first, to the natural disposition of ignorant and rude persons to follow, without reflection, the passions of the moment, and, secondly, to the blind zeal with which the clergy and bigotted people encourage all kinds of marriages, with the erroneous idea of thus preventing the immorality and scandal of illegitimate connexions. Nor are family ties affected by the charitable institutions. Whatever those may be, the poor man ever considers his relations as his sole support against adversity. Besides, as the Roman law with respect to paternal authority has been preserved among us unimpaired, family union is more easy and common than anywhere else.
Though some individuals, skilled in working on the public compassion, may gain more than the average wages of labour, we cannot compare the results of the honest and independent labourer’s industry with the mendicant’s profits: so immense is the difference between the honourable existence of the one, and the humiliation, debasement, and moral degradation of the other.
Genoa
1. Public mendicity not being at present forbidden, it is difficult to ascertain the number of professed mendicants. Those on the town of Genoa may however be estimated at, at least, 200. If we add to these their families, or at least those members of their families who exist on the profit of their begging, the whole mendicant population may amount to from 600 to 70020.
2. The unemployed poor, not being mendicants, are relieved at their own homes by the “magistrat de misèricorde,” the “dames de misèricorde,” and by other governors of charities, out of the revenue of many pious bequests, with the administration of which they are charged.
3. The children of the poor, to whatever class they may belong, are gratuitously instructed in the primary public schools, under the direction of the municipal authorities. Six of these schools are for boys, and two for girls.
4. There is a mont de piété in Genoa, from which the poor can borrow on pledge; at 8 per cent. interest.
5. The poor of all ages, from the earliest childhood, who are natives of the town of Genoa, are gratuitously received, lodged, and fed, in the poor hospital, as far as the means of that establishment will go. The poor of the other parts of the duchy are also received there on payment of a small allowance.
6. There are two large hospitals in Genoa, one for the treatment of acute disorders, the other for the incurables and insane. Another lunatic asylum has been just begun, and there is a small establishment in the suburbs for leprosy and other diseases of the skin.
7. The “Conservatoire des Sœurs de St. Joseph,” and a charitable institution, called “Notre Dame de la Providence,” furnish in pursuance of their rules, medical and surgical advice, and remedies to the poor who do not publicly solicit relief [pauvres honteux].
8. Poor lying-in women, born in the town, or domiciled there for the three previous years, are received and nursed gratuitously in the great hospital, called “de Pammatone.”
9. The same hospital receives illegitimate and deserted children, if secretly placed on the turning box. The hospital takes the charge of the boys until 12 years old, and of the girls until their marriage or death. Ten poor lunatics and idiots, natives of Genoa, are gratuitously received in the hospital for the incurables and insane. Those of the other parts of the duchy, and those who are not poor, are also received there, on paying a sum proportionate to the sort of food given to them.
Savoy
1. Mendicity is very common in the environs of Chambery and the Haute Tarentaise. In the other provinces it is not more extensive than in Florence, and much less so than in Italy. In 1789, the total number of mendicants was 3688. Under the French dominion it rose to 4360. Since that time it has much diminished, partly from the diminution of the public taxes, and partly from the discontinuance of the sales of property which were enforced by the French treasury against the relations of refractory conscripts, and by Genoese creditors against their debtors. It cannot now be estimated at more than 2500.
2. Vagrant mendicity being prohibited by law, beggars have no right to relief. The town of Chambery contains a depôt de mendicité, in which 100 paupers are endeavoured to be kept to work.
3. The duchy possesses nearly 250 charitable establishments, possessing funds distinct to the relief of the poor of the place in which they are situated. Their resources are very far from being sufficient for that purpose, especially in years of bad harvests. But poor families are assisted by their neighbours, their relations, the clergy, and other charitable persons in their parishes. This relief is distributed in the town of Chambery, according to a simple and excellent system. The poor are divided into 24 districts, each confided to a committee consisting of three ladies of charity (dames de charité), belonging in general to the highest class of society. Each committee seeks out, registers, and superintends the poor of its district, gives secret assistance to those families who would be disgraced by the publicity of their situation, and withdraws relief from the unworthy. The resources of the dames de charité consist only of one tenth of the price of the theatrical tickets, of the great public collections (quêtes) made at Easter and Christmas, and of some secret gifts from individuals. If this establishment were rich enough to provide employment for indigent families at their own homes, it would be far superior to all other charitable institutions.
We have as yet spoken of the relief given to those who have no plea beyond that of mere poverty. For those who have some other claim there are several institutions. The Hospice de Charité of Chambery receives 171 persons, consisting of orphans, infirm persons, and old men. The “Asyle de St. Benoit” in the same town is destined to the old of both sexes who once were in easy circumstances; and the Orphan House educates young girls without fortune belonging to the middling classes, in such a manner as to enable them to earn an independent subsistence.
4. The Duchy of Savoy now possesses a great number of gratuitous religious schools, receiving, among others, the children of the poor. At Chambery the two schools de la Doctrine and de St. Joseph provide education for more than 700 children of both sexes, four-fifths of whom could not pay for it.
5. There is no Mont-de-Piété in Savoy.
6. Chambery contains a hospital with 80 beds, all constantly occupied. There are also institutions for the relief of those suffering under incurable or contagious disease, and for sick travellers. There are also hospitals for the sick at Annecy, Thonon, St. Jean-de-Maurienne, Montmelian, Moûtiers, Yenne, la Roche, la Motte-Servolex, and Thônes.
7. Many establishments of sisters of charity have been founded, either by parishes, or by opulent individuals, for the relief of the sick at their own homes. But with respect to the poorest classes it has been necessary to abandon this kind of relief, as they either neglected to use the remedies supplied to them, or used them with fatal imprudence. It can safely be bestowed on those only whose situation is raised above actual poverty.
8. Lying-in women, married or unmarried, are received at Chambery in the Hospice de Maternité.
9. In Chambery, and in Thonon, the greater part of the illegitimate children, whatever be the circumstances of their parents, are taken, the first night after their birth, to the foundling hospitals, which receive them, though clandestinely deposited. Those born in the distant provinces are generally brought up by their mothers, and partake their fortune, or their poverty.
10. At some distance from Chambery a hospital has been established, intended for the gratuitous reception of 60 lunatics. But as yet it has had room for only 20. The others are at the charge of their parishes.
The class of day labourers, such as it exists in England, is not at all numerous in Savoy, almost all the population consisting of proprietors. Out of 102,000 families in the Duchy, 85,000 heads of families are owners of some portion of land; 80,000 of them subsist by agriculture. There is therefore little employment for day labourers. According to the enumerations of 1789 and 1801 the number of persons, including both sexes, and artisans, as well as agriculturists, employed in day labour in that part of Savoy, which formed after 1789 the departement de Mont Blanc, did not exceed from 9000 to 10,000 individuals, which would make for the whole Duchy more than from 14,000 to 15,000 such individuals. The day labourers in general hire, from a small proprietor, part of a cottage, and half an acre, or an acre of land, at the rent of from 60 to 100 francs, which they work out. Saving is a thing almost unknown in Savoy. With the rich people and with the poor, from the gentleman to the peasant, it is unusual and even strange to put a revenue to any other use than that of spending it. A few men of business, and usurers, are the only persons who think of augmenting their patrimonies. Sometimes indeed a merchant or a manufacturer will economise something from his profits, but with no other object than that of procuring a country-house, which from that time swallows up all that he can spare.
The poor never apply for relief to the authorities, but always to private charity; and it is inexhaustible, for (except during the famine of the year 1817) no one has ever perished from want. Vagrants are forced to return to their parishes, or, if foreigners, driven out of the country.
Notes
20 The population of Genoa exceeds 80,000.