As considerable attention has recently been directed to the state of lunacy in Scotland, and much difference of opinion still exists as to the best method of providing accommodation for the insane poor, I have thought it not unlikely that it may interest at least a section of your readers, to know “how they manage these things in France.” You are aware there is no compulsory poor-law in this country; nevertheless, there is much charitable expenditure. Each parish or commune has its own resources, derived from the rents of land, the interest of money, local imposts, or charitable bequests; and its ability to provide for its poor varies with the amount of its revenue. In some communes, accordingly, the poor are well cared for, while, in others “they are steeped in misery to the very lips.” In 1838, the present French law of lunacy came into operation. It provides for the erection of departmental asylums, and for the maintenance therein of the insane poor. The funds for the buildings are voted by the Conseil-Général of the department, while those for the maintenance of the patients are found in this way:—The law determines that a commune possessing a certain income shall pay a certain proportion of the keep of its pauper lunatics; the remaining portion is defrayed by the department. The proportion paid by the commune varies from a sixth to a half; but as it is rare that a commune pays the highest rate, by far the greater share of the cost of maintenance falls on the department. It is the duty of the préfet to ascertain the income of the different communes within his jurisdiction, and to fix the proportion which each has to contribute for the pauper lunatics belonging to it. The rate of maintenance to be charged by the asylum is also fixed from time to time by the same official. At present, in the department of the Seine Inférieure, it amounts to one franc twenty-five centimes a-day for males, and to one franc fifteen centimes a-day for females. The poorest communes, accordingly, get their pauper lunatics maintained for a sixth of these sums, or about twopence a-day. Of course, as forming part of the department, they have to pay their share of the departmental expenses, but these fall in a much greater ratio on the wealthier communes—on such, for instance, as those of Rouen and Havre. The natural effect of this system is to stimulate the poorer communes to send every possible case to the asylum.
Equality before the Law Principle and the Legal Aid for the Poor: An Indonesian Insight
