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report of the yestry clerk.
Gentlemen,
During the year ending Lady-day, 1875, the amount
collected on the Poor's Rate was £62,006 5s. 7d.; the amount in the
pound levied for the four quarters was 2s. 5d., being for the quarter to
Midsummer, 1874, 8d.; to Michaelmas 9d.; to Christmas 7d.; and to
Lady-day, 1875, 5d. The gross amount levied was £63,512, from
which has to be deducted losses from defaulters, excused, vacant
premises, and allowances to owners, which, for this year, is equal in
all to about 8 per cent. of the gross amount charged. A portion of the
amount collected this year is upon rates previously made.
It will thus be seen that the Poor Rate was 6d. less this year than in
the previous year, and the reduction was made mainly in the two last
quarters. It was effected by absorbing for current expenses the
accumulated balances of former quarters, which had been rendered
necessary to compensate for outstanding Rates hitherto not available for
current purposes.
The most satisfactory feature in this year's parochial work is the
great improvement which has been effected in the collection of the
Rates. The Poor Law Auditor, Mr. Lloyd Roberts, in auditing
the accounts for the half year ending Lady-day, 1874, complained of
the backward state of the Collection, and intimated that in future
the Rates must be virtually collected within the period for which they
were made.
The Vestry resolved to give effect to this suggestion, and it has been
accomplished to a degree beyond expectation. On the 18th of April,