ABSTRACT
Guardians, the facts will not apply so much to metl'O!O politan unions on the one hand, nor to rural nnioiis on the other-but to the large number of big provincial towns like my own (Leeds), which I believe so sorely need the participation of :women in their. Poo~law affairs. . Let me begin with duties outside the work:-. house, those which are the least referred to, and yet: in many ways I think the most important. I alwa~ felt it one of the most serious responsibilities to receive and decide the applications for relief. In Leeds these were heard on the weekly Board-day. not before the entire Board, but in sections, two or three guardians sitting in each relieving officer's room to decide on: those from his district. Each applicant came ~erson~ ally before us (unless prevented by sickness) either in makmg a new application, or in renewing it at the end of the term. I am sorry to hear that in some unions the guardians never see . the applicants, but deal with the cases on the relieving officer's report,_ which I venture to think a very unsatisfactory methocL Of course the officer knows far more about them .thait we could do, but after all his view is only that of one fallible mind, ·and I consider the guardians are bound by their office t<! exer~ise th?ir best'jud_g!Dent through a face-to-face mterv1ew w1th each. Where the application i~:~ for admission to " the ho'ilse," ·there is very little room for discretion, as we cannot re/ue a destitute case; but with the large majority who ask for out-door relief, judicious investigation and decision are required, and it must be done very quickly, as so~ scores of cases have to be dealt with in an hour· or two. I have sat in a section where we had as many as ninet.y in one afternoon. A ready insight is ther&-< fore invaluable, ana I venfure ·to think, cetera paribua, women have this qualification, and often "grasp ~ situation" more quickly than men. . On the other hand,
I am sure we have more ..P_atien~e, and shall be prepared to do the investigation thoroughly and thoughtfully, even if it takes longer than we like.· Then again, as to the nature and amount of relief to be given, I found it a duty to use my~heart as 'YelLas my head. I have been told by my fellow-guardians, that heart ought to be ignored when ratepayer's money is concerned-to which I replied, that the ratepayers who returned me expected me to use my heart as well as my judgment, and I would not be false to them. Not that the poor would always give me a character for tenderness. One
. old woman, to whom I explained our reasons for t·efosing her request, exclaimed : !'Well, they talk about the gentlemen, but the ladyis forty times worse" !-nor is me the only one who has rebuked me for hard judgment.
