erintending the issuing of relief, is set
down at two and a half per cent.--6d. in the pound,--a low figure,
indeed, but it must be taken into account that they only
_superintended_; the committees did the actual work of giving out the
relief. The issue of cooked food was opposed by the people in some
places, and this opposition was punished, by a reduction being made in
the quantity of rations issued in such places. In a fortnight, about
8,000 tons of the food in the Government depots were given in lieu of
money, the money value of which was L98,728, the daily market price
being that charged by the Commissary General. The arrangement was
carried out in this way: There was issued on the 1st of June a circular
to the inspecting officer of each Union, by virtue of which an order on
the Government depot was given to the Finance Committee of the Union,
instead of the amount (in cash) of the fortnightly estimate sent in of
the sum required for each electoral division of that Union; but the
whole fortnightly estimate was not usually supplied in meal only, to any
one electoral division; it was given partly in meal and partly in money.

At this time there were thirty-three Commissariat depots, and sixteen
British Association depots.

By circular No. 58 it was announced that after the 15th of August the
support of destitute persons was to be provided for under the new Poor
Law, 10 Vic., c. 31. All relief committees were warned to be prepared to
close their arrangements for the issue of rations, when the funds
provided for the estimates, ending on the 13th of August, would be
expended.

The hope expressed in the fourth report, that the Commissioners had
arrived at the maximum daily relief which the country required, was not
verified by fact. The fifth report was published on the 17th of August.
At that date there were 1,826 electoral divisions under the Act. The
maximum relief within the period embraced in the report was: Gratuitous
rations per day, 2,920,792; sold, 99,920; total, 3,020,712 rations
daily![266] Thus, considerably more than one-third of the whole
population was living on what may be termed out-door relief. This, the
highest point, was reached on the 3rd of July; the daily rations had, on
the 1st of August, come down to 2,467,989 gratuitous, and 52,387 sold
rations, being a total of 2,520,376 rations.

The absolute termination of advances on account of temporary relief was
fixed by the Act of Parliament for the