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Public Assistance
By: Mr*. Elisabeth Buntin
This idea that people have a light to public assistance if they need it is a comparatively new one in the history of civilized man, but of course it is a development of all the thinking that nas gone before. And as we think about the various theories that have been popular in different eras, we can see reflections of them in the various feelings our neighbors express about social welfare. Let me say here that for the following history I am indebted to an article by Elizabeth and Karl de Schweinitz entitled “The Content of the Public Assistance Job”.
It was in the 16th century that the government first began taking responsibility fbr those in need. In medieval times the feadal lord had taken care of those who lived on his fief and worked for him. These peasants were largely at his mercy; if he were benevolent, they fared well; if he were cruel, they suffered miserably. Since the common people were in fact slaves, the feudal lord’s help was a type of private welfare. We are not forgetting that the church has always been active in charity work, but we shall not say so much about that since we are thinking right now about the development of public welfare.
Private aid wonted fairly well as long as people “stay put,’’ but when the feudal system began to break down and people began to move one community to another, there was real trouble. People began wrangling over who^e responsibility it was to help the poor. Finally in the 16th century the government first assumed the responsibility for helping the needy and the Elizabethan Poor Laws were passed. These laws recognized the necessity for helping the poor but they made almsgiving so unpleasant that the recipient hesitated to apply for help again, no matter how much in need he was. And the first Poor Laws passed by this country were modeled on These old English laws.
In the 19th century people’s attitude towai d pmTeTty"changed again. People had gained politi
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