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<DATE>2014-11-18</DATE>
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<NAME>Mona Logarbo</NAME>
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<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed as part of batch B140732.pdcc.</ITEM>
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<DIV1 TYPE="text">
<PB N="1" REF="1" MS="y">
<HEAD><HI>PROPOSALS FOR</HI> Improving able Beggars to the be&s;t Advan|tage.</HEAD>
<P>ALL Laws that have hiterto been made in relation to the Poor, have been attended and rendred ineffectual by the&s;e following Dfficulties.
<LIST>
<ITEM>1. Mo&s;t or the&s;e Laws do appoint the imploying them at Work, and En|tertaining them within their own re&s;pective Paroches and Shires, whereas it is very well known, that the&s;e Paroches and Shires which produce mo&s;t Poor, are lea&s;t capable to afford them either Work or Entertainment.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. The executing of the&s;e Laws was committed to publick Officers, &s;uch as Ju&s;tices of Peace, Sheriffs, Magi&s;trats, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> And the Conduct of &s;uch of the&s;e Officers as were diligent, was always, and ever will be rendered ineffectual by the neglect of others. By this means, when idle People were attack't in one part of the Nation, where the&s;e publick Officers were diligent, they &s;hifted a|way to another part where, the&s;e publick Officers were le&s;s diligent, where they frequently would force Charity and Contribution from Countrey-men, who at the &s;ame time would have been very willing to have intertained and imploy|ed them in Countrey-work, but wanted Power to force them to it.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. The &s;ubject of Work, which in mo&s;t of the&s;e Acts is chalk't out for the&s;e idle poor People, is &s;uch work as is u&s;ed in formed Manufactories, and in mo&s;t of the&s;e Acts, the putting of them to Work is founded upon Projects of erecting of Manufactories for that purpo&s;e; And this one Circum&s;tance of all others, tends mo&s;t to impede and di&s;appoint &s;uch la&s;ting Mea&s;ures as might be found to imploy the Poor con&s;tantly, throughly and certainly: For fir&s;t, we have not at pre&s;ent &s;o many formed Manufactories in the Kingdom, as will entertain at work the hundred part of the able idle Poor, and &s;o they are at pre&s;ent unprovided untill Manufactories are &s;et up, and the Law &s;hall run in Di&s;order and De&s;uetude before the&s;e Manufactories are erected; Be&s;ide, there is not &s;o much Work to be wrought in all the formed Manufactories that can be &s;et up in <HI>Scotland,</HI> at lea&s;t for many years, as will be capable to afford Im|ployment or Intertainment for half the Poor of the Nation, &s;o that the remain|der of the Poor are not provided for; And be&s;ides all this, though it is a plain Advantage to any &s;tanding Manufactories, to have a priviledge to &s;eaze able idle People, and make them work for their Bread, yet it were a plain Bur|den to the Nation, to erect publick Work-hou&s;es of purpo&s;e, where People
<PB N="2" REF="2"> &s;hould be brought together to work under the Conduct of Managers, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> where the Product of their Work will not an&s;wer half the Expen&s;e, either through want of Skill in the Work-people, or want of Conduct, or unfaith|fulne&s;s of the Managers, when at the &s;ame time, if every privat Man were im|powered to Seize, detain and po&s;&s;e&s;s &s;uch able idle People&punc; their Work &s;hould be communicat through the Nation to more Advantage, bo<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">h of their Owner<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> and the Publick. And as to the building of Work hou&s;es <GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter">y certain Towns, injoined by the Law, and for their receiving and intertaining at Work &s;turdy idle Beggers, Experience hath di&s;covered, that it is utterly ineffectual, nor in|deed can it ever be made effectual: For neither have the&s;e Towns Ability to build &s;uch Hou&s;es, nor to &s;upport the Charge that will infallibly occur there|by, nor are there men to be found &s;ufficiently qualified for &s;uch Performances, or who&s;e E&s;tate or Condition in the World will &s;uffer them to follow &s;uch Methods, from which they can reap no particular Advantage to them&s;elves.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>For &s;upplying the defects of the&s;e Laws, It is humbly Propo&s;ed to the Con|&s;ideration of this Se&s;&s;ion o<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> Parliament.</P>
<P><LIST>
<ITEM>1. That there be a Law made, by which any per&s;on what&s;omever &s;hall be Impowered to &s;eize Beggers of what&s;over Sex or Age, wherever they &s;hall find them actually begging.</ITEM>
<ITEM>2. That the per&s;on &s;o &s;eized, &s;hall become Servant to the Party &s;eizer as Ma&s;ter for ever, and to his Heirs in ab&s;olute Property, to be imployed by him, and di&s;po&s;ed or &s;old by him as he &s;hall think fit.</ITEM>
<ITEM>3. That whatever the Servant &s;hall acquire during his Service by his Labour or Indu&s;try, or what Wives or Children he &s;hall get during that time, &s;hall belong to his Ma&s;ter; but whatever did belong to him before his Service, or what &s;hall fall to him by Succe&s;&s;ion or Donation, he &s;hall have Power to di&s;|po&s;e of the &s;ame at his plea&s;ure&punc;</ITEM>
<ITEM>4. That the Ma&s;ter &s;hall have an ab&s;olute Power of Correction in what manner he &s;hall think fit, by his own privat Authority, not extending to Death or Mutilation, and that this Puni&s;hment may either be inflicted in the Ma&s;ters own Family, or by &s;uch as are by publick Magi&s;trats appointed for &s;uch u&s;es, who by the Act may be obliged to inflict the &s;ame, upon the application of the Ma&s;ter alone, and without any allowance of Fee for &s;o doing.</ITEM>
<ITEM>5. That the Ma&s;ter &s;hall Entertain, Educat and Cloath his Servant with &s;uffi|cient Cloathing and Maintainance.</ITEM>
<ITEM>6. That any man may have power to &s;ell him&s;elf or Children as Servants, at &s;uch Rates as the Purcha&s;er and he can agree.</ITEM>
<ITEM>7. To prevent any per&s;ons being taken up unju&s;tly, the party &s;eizing &s;hall be oblidged within eight days after Seizure to pre&s;ent the party Seized to the next Ju&s;tice of Peace, Sheriff or orher Magi&s;trat within or without Burgh, and &s;hall prove by the Oath of two &s;ufficient Witne&s;&s;es, that the party Seiz|ed was actually Begging. And &s;hal get the name of the party &s;eized Regi&s;trat in the Court-Books of the &s;aid Magi&s;trat&punc; and &s;hall receive a Certificat of his having &s;o done, Signed by the fore&s;aid Magi&s;trat, and &s;hall afterwards affix his own Mark or Name upon the party Seized by a Collar or any &s;uch Badge as he &s;hall think fit.</ITEM>
<ITEM>8. That no per&s;on pre&s;ume to &s;eize or medle with any per&s;on carrying the Badge of another man, under the penalty of 500 Merks <HI>Scots,</HI> be&s;ides Re&s;ti|tution.</ITEM>
<ITEM>9. To prevent any Misfortues that might fall out by Seizing of People, who by &s;ome accident of Shipwrack, Fire or &s;uch like, may be put to pre|&s;ent Begging. Therefore no per&s;on is to be Seized, within holf a year after
<PB N="3" REF="2"> their &s;aid Misfortunes, providing they &s;how a Te&s;timonial, declaring the &s;ame under the hands of the Magi&s;trats of the place where the Misfortune did befall them.</ITEM>
<ITEM>10. To Retrive Misfortunes occa&s;ioned by &s;ea&s;ing of Children who per|haps either through Youthfulne&s;s, Ignorance or Di&s;content, may have gone a Begging from their Parents or Friends; Therefore, let all &s;uch be redeem|able within the &s;pace of a Year, upon paying &s;uch Expen&s;es, as their Ma&s;ters may have been at in entertaining them.</ITEM>
</LIST></P>
<P>By what is above propo&s;ed the imploying and providing for the able Beg|gars, will certainly take effect: For whereas formerly the putting of them to Work was manadged by Over&s;eers, who not finding any pre&s;ent Advan|tage to them&s;elves by their Diligence in the matter, did quite neglect the &s;ame, or if any of them did carefully and diligently Di&s;charge their Tru&s;t, the ef|fects of their Diligence was di&s;appointed by the neglect of others; But in this ca&s;e People &s;hall find a pre&s;ent plain Advantage, which &s;hall be oommuni|cate immediatly to all Degrees and Ranks of People. For if any Per&s;on of Quality hath a Hou&s;e to build, Gardens to cut out, Park Dykes to build, Ditches or Hedges to make, Grounds to drain, Whins or Broom to root out, or &s;uch like, he cannot fail of having it done by the one half as cheap as for|merly, by rea&s;on that he &s;hall find a great many to Work for their Bread a|lone; If its an Inferior Farmer, he has be&s;ide &s;ome of the Work &s;poke of a|bove, Clodding of Ground in Seed-time, Hearding of Cattle, Shearing in Harve&s;t, Grounds to clear of Stones, Whins or Broom, <HI>&amp;c.</HI> If a Trade&s;|man, he can have Servants more ea&s;ie, and if he breeds any to his Trade, he has their Labour all their Life for his Recompen&s;e.</P>
<P>It is to be ob&s;erved, that this Propo&s;al is not ab&s;olutely a new thing, for the 10th <HI>Act</HI> of the 22d. <HI>Parliament</HI> of K. <HI>Ja.</HI> 6. the &s;ame thing in &s;ome Mea&s;ure is enacted, but hath never been effectual, partly by rea&s;on of &s;ome Methods and Qualifications, with which it is clogged, by which the practice of it is rendred unea&s;ie, and partly by the little Advantage that could be got by it, by rea&s;on of the &s;hort time which wa<GAP DESC="illegible" EXTENT="1 letter"> allowed for detaining of them; The &s;ame being only Temporary, and not for Life, as now is propo&s;ed.</P>
<P>What is &s;aid above, does relate to able Beggars, and outting them to Work: As to entertaining of old and Infirm People, let former Laws be revived, which are &s;ufficient; E&s;pecially &s;eing the Number of Beggars will be reduced to a very &s;mall Compa&s;s by the Method propo&s;ed above.</P>
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