2. It being apprehended by the Government that the public
works would be calculated to withdraw from the husbandry of the country
a portion of the labour necessary for the cultivation of the soil, the
three following rules were laid down in the Minute, which, "in their
lordships' opinion, ought to be strictly observed":--"No person should
be employed on any relief works who could obtain employment on other
public works, or in farming, or other private operations, in the
neighbourhood. The wages given to persons employed on relief works
should, in every case, be at least, twopence a day less than the average
rate of wages in the district.[122] And the persons employed on the
relief works should, to the utmost possible extent, he paid in
proportion to the work actually done by them." 3. Under the former Act,
the members of Relief Committees had authority to issue tickets, which
entitled persons to obtain employment on the Public Works; a system
which, it was found, led to abuses, numbers having obtained employment
on such tickets who did not require relief. The Treasury _Minute_,
therefore, confines the powers of Relief Committees to the _preparation
of lists_ of persons in need of relief by employment on the works,
noting them in the order in which they are considered to be entitled to
priority, either on account of their large families, or from any other
cause; these lists to be supplied to the officers in charge of the
works, who are to revise them from time to time.
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