Mr. Cooper gives specific instances to show that the. Poplar
Guardians grant relief in many cases where the head of the. family' is in receipt of more than the: standard wages. of £3 4s.. a week; for manual labour. The weekly incomes of some of, the paupers ranged from a 16s. up to 47 5s. Since October last many frauds have . been discovered, but no prosecution* have been instituted. Many of the recipients of, out-relief are, getting more than they would earn ' if they were in reviler work. A. firm of millers in Poplar actually warned the Board that, if the scale of relief were raised still higher, they 'would dismiss, miss, their men, who could then take a holiday: and receive,
larger incomes than if they were employed. The Poplar Poor Law institution are managed in an extravagant fashion. For example, the levelling and draining of a small playground, under three acres, at the schools at Shenfield cost 0,706, instead of £2,000 ; the thirty-two men engaged practised " ca' canny " to their hearts' content, without any protest from the Guardians. When Mr. Lansbury and his colleagues were in gaol, the school band was sent to play outside the prison, and the ratepayers were charged £10 for the fares. Mr. Cooper says that the Board. might, by careful administration, save at. least £100,000 a year. Unfortunately,. it is the set purpose of Mr. Lansbury and his Labour men to spend as much as they can get, from rates, subsidies and loans, in order to redistribute wealth. In the interests of Poplar, the Ministry should suspend this Labour Board without further ado.
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