Author: George A. Mackay

Publisher:

Published: 2015-07-12

Total Pages: 260

ISBN-13: 9781331242031

Excerpt from Practice of the Scottish Poor Law As a result of many conversations with Inspectors of Poor, Parish Councillors, and Parish officials generally, I have come to think that there is a real need for a little manual of Poor Law practice. Since the publication of Mr. Guthrie Smith's classic book some forty years ago, nothing of this kind has been attempted. It is true that Mr. Graham, in a most valuable work on Poor Law, has collected all the Acts and decisions, and linked them together with lucid notes. But Mr. Graham necessarily dwells on the strictly legal side of his subject. To one engaged in active Poor Law work, the practice appeals more strongly than the law, and accordingly the present book is more a manual of practice than any of its predecessors. In dealing with the law of Settlement and Recourse, I have endeavoured, as far as possible, to express the law in the form of general propositions, and have avoided argument upon debatable points. I have not set for myself any high aim, as I know that many Inspectors of Poor, from long experience, and from native shrewdness, have acquired such a mastery of the law of Settlement that one must not expose the weak places in his armour to the shafts of their criticism. But I am hopeful that Assistant Inspectors, Inspectors of the smaller parishes who may not have all the authorities at command, and especially new Inspectors, may find my notes useful. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.