The Shadow of Great Britain

Phillips nodded: ”Exactly. Therefore, I hope you can understand that what we’re discussing today will not result in any formal directives.”

This sentence caused Chadwick’s eyebrows to twitch slightly.

”However...” Phillips continued: ”It will influence the Home Office’s stance on the pace of local implementation of the Poor Laws over the coming months.”

As he spoke, he gently pushed the stack of documents to the center of the table: ”These are the summary records submitted by the local police systems over the past two months.”

Chadwick glanced at the cover of the document.

No title.

Just dates, numbers, and department identifiers.

Phillips continued: ”These records do not challenge the authority of the Poor Law Commission, nor do they question the legislative goals of the New Poor Law...”

Chadwick couldn’t help but stand up and say: ”Then I can’t think of...”

But before he could finish, Phillips politely raised his hand to stop him.

”Please allow me to finish.”

This sentence sounded polite, but considering it came from the mouth of the Permanent Secretary of the Home Office, it was not politeness but a warning.

Phillips opened the document and extracted one page: ”In several autonomous cities, police forces have been persistently deployed around Poorhouses. Most of what they handle does not constitute criminal offenses, yet it is highly likely to cause significant social upheaval.”

Speaking to this point, Phillips looked up: ”Mr. Chadwick, you and I both know the police were not established for this purpose.”

Chadwick’s expression became serious.

”The role of the police is to maintain order.” Phillips stood up to pour him a cup of tea: ”And order is precisely the prerequisite for reform to advance. Therefore, the Home Office hopes that in the coming period, the Poor Law Commission can moderately slow down the pace at the execution level.”

Chadwick did not immediately respond.

He sat down again but didn’t touch the cup of tea: ”Slow down the pace? Mr. Phillips, I hope we can at least agree on this term. Are you referring to adjustments in administrative procedures or concessions in execution principles?”

Phillips was not swayed by Chadwick’s sharpness: ”I am referring to risk management, not matters of principle, nor issues of legislative direction, but avoiding crises arising uncontrollably in certain areas without changing the law itself.”

”Crisis?” Chadwick’s face looked unpleasant: ”You should know my views on this word. Any reform that touches the old system is described as a crisis by vested interests. But if we choose to slow down whenever we face resistance, the reform will never materialize. We would compromise time and again with localities, allowing them to resist a system that could reduce long-term suffering under the guise of tradition, custom, and public opinion. Each retreat means more waste and dependence ultimately!”

Chadwick grew more and more agitated; it was clearly not the first time he had argued with the Home Office over the Poor Laws: ”I have emphasized to you time and again, local affairs repeatedly spiral out of control not because of flaws in the system itself, but because the system is entrusted to people without judgment capacity for execution. Poor relief is not a moral stance but a systematic institution. It requires selected, trained experts accountable for outcomes, not respectable gentlemen elevated by ballots!”

The room fell silent for a moment.

Phillips’s tone remained calm but noticeably tightened: ”You should understand if what you just said were to reach the Lower House, it would cause quite a stir.”

”I am fully aware.” Chadwick said unwaveringly: ”But that is precisely the issue! We initially pushed for centralized reform because local autonomy had proven its failure in poverty issues. Shortsighted, timid attempts to brandish one’s morality unscrupulously to please voters are the breeding ground for corruption and waste under the old Poor Laws. And now, the Home Office hopes we accommodate local discomfort and reopen the gates for watering down?”

Chadwick, now flushed with anger, fired off passionately: ”Mr. Phillips, I must remind you of one thing! The significance of the Poor Law Commission’s existence is to detach poverty affairs from ballot politics, handing them over to trained, selected professionals. Frankly, I cannot accept your request to slow down the execution pace!”

Phillips folded his hands on the table, contrasting sharply with Chadwick’s agitation; his emotions displayed almost no fluctuation.

”Mr. Chadwick.” He finally spoke, his tone not severe but noticeably cooler: ”I have never denied your understanding of the system’s depth. In fact, in the Home Office, no one more than I realizes that if the New Poor Law is not executed in the way you envision, it will eventually devolve into a variant of the old Poor Laws.”

This remark left Chadwick slightly stunned.

”However...” Phillips shifted gears: ”You seem persistently unwilling to acknowledge one thing.”

He raised his eyes and looked directly at the counterpart: ”We are not discussing whether a system in an ideal state is correct; rather, we are discussing how the government should bear the consequences when the system cannot be executed ideally.”

Chadwick stood up abruptly: ”So you mean, as long as reality cannot completely comply with design, we should revise the design, even if it means deviating from the original intention?!”