In Spain time state supports several asylums for lunatics, the blind, and deaf and dumb. It also distributes a large sum annually among the provinces for the relief of the -poor—each province being bound to raise double the amount received from the state. 'The state also steps in for the relief of great calamities, and devotes- a certain sum annu ally for the assistance of unfortunate Spaniards abroad. A general directory of the charitable and sanitary services superintends the parochial bodies charged with the distribution of assistance to the poor.
In Austria each commune is charged with the relief of the poor. All who have legal domicile, or, being unable to prove their domicile, are resident in the commune, are entitled to relief out of the general assessment. There is no special rate, and the administration is strictly municipal. In many provinces private charity is associated with public assistance, administered by the cure, a few chosen inhabitants, who are called " fathers of the poor," and an officer accountable to the commune. This system is called the "poor's institutes;" and their funds are principally derived from private sources; but they receive a third part of the property of ecclesiastics who die intestate, and certain fines, etc. Applicants are subjected to minute inquiry as to the cause of poverty, and a weekly allowance is made on a scale according to age and necessity. The infirm poor, who have no relatives to reside with, are taken into hospitals established in almost every commune, where they receive, besides lodging, fire, and light, clothing, medical care, and a small allowance in money to provide for their food and other wants. Children are either provided for in the homes of their parents, put into asylums, or boarded with people of probity, who receive a monthly payment, as in Scotland. The welfare of these children is superintended by the cures, the maires, the sanitary officers of the commune. Foundlings, lunatics, the blind, deaf, and dumb, are provided for by the state. Vagrancy is punished, and parcuts permitting children under 14 to beg are liable to three months' imprisonment. Able-bodied vagrants are sent to houses of correc tion, and kept to work. Pawnbroking is a charitable institution in Austria, under government control, and many pawnbroking establishments rest on endowments, and lend without interest. The trade is forbidden to private persons.
In France the relief of the poor is not compulsory, in as far as its distributors may, after making inquiry, refuse relief, except in the case of foundlings and lunatics. 'The minister of the interior has a general superintendence of the machinery of relief, as well as the immediate administration of many- large hospitals and refuses. He also assists a great number of private charities. The other ministers of state give assistance on the occurrence of great calamities. The departmental funds are called upon for the compulsory relief, but the commune is the main source of public assistance. Its duty is to see that no real suffering remains unrelieved, and that the nature of the relief is such as can most easily be discontinued when the necessity ceases. The commune 'encourages and stimulates voluntary charities, and receives gifts for the benefit of the poor's fund. Except in Paris, the administration of the hospitals, and of the relief given at the homes of the poor, are under different management, the communes only interfering to supplement the funds of the hospitals, when these arc insufficient. The maire is presi dent both of the administration of the hospitals and of the body for giving out-door (the bureau de bienfaisance). During industrial calamities, the poor are sometimes employed in work-shops supported by the public, and in public works. In Paris, since 1849, there has been a responsible director set over all the charities of the city. He manages the out-door relief through the medium of the committees of assistance, for merly called bureaux de isance. in each arrondissement. He is under the inspection of s council, composed as follows: The prefect of the Seine (president), the prefect of police, two members of the municipal council, two maires or deputy-maires, two mem bers of the committee of assistance, one councilor of state or a master of requests, one physician and one surgeon practicing at the hospitals, one professor of medicine, one member of the chamber of commerce, one member of the council of prud'hommes, and five members taken from other classes than those above mentioned. Begging is forbid den, and punished, wherever there are establishments for the relief of the poor.